We sat down with the great (and I don’t use that word lightly) Professor A.G. Hopkins for the latest episode of Frontier Matters. All our podcasts are free for the first 30 days and we currently release a new episode every 2 weeks.
Enjoy the usual selection below
Inside Nigeria
Some things just leave you speechless. As the saying goes, if someone explains Nigeria to you and you understand it, the person has done a poor job of explaining it to you:
The Federal Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Investonaire Academy to train 100,000 young Nigerians every year in foreign exchange trading, as part of efforts to tackle unemployment and drive financial inclusion.
This was contained in a statement on Tuesday, signed by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Omolara Esan.
The MoU, sealed on Monday in Abuja, will see Nigerian youths equipped with practical skills in forex trading, risk management, and financial literacy, with the aim of preparing them to actively participate in the global financial ecosystem.
Speaking at the signing, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, described the initiative as a strategic step toward empowering young people with digital and entrepreneurial skills that can yield long-term benefits for both individuals and the economy.
“This partnership reflects our strategic vision for sustainable youth development.
“Beyond trading, we’re teaching our youths to think critically, embrace digital tools, and seize global opportunities to build wealth and contribute meaningfully to the Nigerian economy,” Olawande said.
Clash of civilisations in Ondo:
Masquerades have invaded Imam’s house and mosque in Oke Agbe, Akoko, Akoko North Local Government, Ondo State. They beat up the Imam’s wives and children.
Meanwhile, the attack has been condemned by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).
The Islamic human rights organisation described the attack as evidence of increased anti-Muslim proclivities which Muslims now face in Yorubaland. MURIC called for the arrest and prosecution of the culprits.
MURIC’s reaction was contained in a statement issued on Sunday, 15th June 2025, by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The group said: “Scores of masquerade traditionalists invaded the house and mosque of the Chief Imam of Oke Agbe, Akoko, Akoko North Local Government, Ondo State. They beat up the Imam’s wives and children. The unprovoked attack occurred on Thursday, 12th June 2025, in Oke Agbe Akoko, Akoko North Local Government, Ondo State.
“We strongly condemn this attack. It is weird, irrational and barbaric. This attack is another evidence of the increased anti-Muslim proclivities which Muslims now face in Yorubaland.
“To add salt to injury, the king of the town imposed fines on the Muslim victims after the attack allegedly because the Muslim women ‘screamed and cursed the masquerades while they were being beaten instead of crying and begging’.
“The Imam and his wives were therefore ordered to bring nine goats, seven sheep and 200 pieces of kolanuts as fines not later than Monday 16th June 2025 (today), or they would all be banished from the city while no one should practice Islam in the area henceforth. Nothing was said about the masquerades who attacked the women!
The reason why they were able to defraud a medical doctor is perhaps the more interesting story here:
Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday ordered the remand of two self-proclaimed Islamic clerics, Saheed Atanda Aremu and Tolani Osuolale, at the Nigerian Correctional Centre over their alleged involvement in a ₦280 million fraud scheme targeting a medical doctor.
The defendants, who were arraigned by the Nigeria Police Force from the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Lagos, pleaded not guilty to a five-count charge bordering on advance fee fraud, obtaining by false pretences, impersonation, conspiracy, and stealing.
According to the police, Aremu and Osuolale allegedly deceived one Dr. Patrick Eloka Akaraiwe into believing that a spiritual ritual needed to be performed on his money to prevent untimely death if he intended to invest the funds in property acquisition.
Counsel for the police, Mr. J.I. Eboseremen, told the judge that the fraud occurred between November 2020 and September 2023, primarily in Ibadan, Oyo State, and the Oworonshoki area of Lagos State.
The defendants, posing as “Alfas” (Islamic spiritual leaders), allegedly convinced the doctor to part with $200,000 (approximately ₦280 million) in three instalments under the pretext of conducting spiritual fortifications on the money.
Public infrastructure update (and note the ‘autonomous’ name in the area’s name):
Vigilantes in Otampa autonomous community in Isuikwuato LGA of Abia State have apprehended a male suspect for allegedly vandalizing and stealing a solar-powered streetlight belonging to a neighbouring village.
The suspect, simply identified as Ifeanyi, an indigene of Amaoho, Amaba in the same LGA, was nabbed by the Otamkpa community security personnel while trying to sell the stolen public property at meagre N5,000.
Luck ran out on the suspect as he was arrested through security intelligence and surveillance mounted by the Otamkpa security outfit and other security agencies.
His accomplice, one Mr Onyebuchi Amadi, an indigene of Amaogudu Otamkpa in Isuikwuato local government area, was also arrested while negotiating to pay for the stolen solar power panel.
It is really absurd that FCCPC is now an agency that can seal public buildings:
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Wednesday sealed off the TLS Visa Application Centre in Lagos for allegedly obstructing ongoing investigations into consumer rights violations.
The Commission’s Director of Surveillance and Investigations, Mrs Boladale Adeyinka, who led the operation, said the move followed multiple breaches of the FCCPC Act, including assault on government officials and uniformed police officers, and the wilful refusal to honour lawful summons.
According to Adeyinka, the investigation into TLS—a private company offering visa support services to Nigerians—began in March 2025, following complaints from consumers over the non-provision of services they had paid for.
“On the 25th of March, we served TLS a letter in line with our normal complaint resolution process,” she said. “Instead of addressing the complaint, their officers assaulted FCCPC operatives carrying out their lawful duty of enforcing consumer rights.”
These scams never cease to amaze me:
Many farmers in Nasarawa State are currently calculating their losses after being defrauded of millions of naira by fraudulent agricultural loan syndicates who claimed to be offering them credit facilities.
The scammers approach farmers with loan offers ranging from N100,000 to N20 million after purportedly setting up an office in Doma town to enhance their credibility.
The initial deposit required of farmers seeking N100,000 is N20,000; those seeking N500,000 must deposit N100,000; those seeking N1 million must deposit N200,000; and those seeking N4 million must deposit N800,000.
Many farmers hurried to apply with the hope of receiving more funding to support their wet season production after being informed that the loan would be available in less than three weeks.
Several farmers in Doma Town and the villages of Agyeshamatu, Alagye, and Alwaza were defrauded; some even sold their properties in an attempt to raise more money.
In an interview with Daily Trust, some of the victims explained how well-dressed agents, including those who wore hijabs, convinced the low-income farmers to apply for the lending facilities.
Together with another woman, Ms Azizi Yusuf raised N100,000, which she delivered to them in the hopes of receiving N500,000, only to discover that they had been tricked, she told Daily Trust.
“What they got in my area is more than N4 million. I know people who gave up to N350,000, some N200,000, some N100,000, and some N400,000. Mine was N50,000. I joined hands with another woman to raise N100,000. We were hoping to get N500,000,” she said.
Outside Nigeria
News from York:
A York Hospital worker who sexually assaulted a patient has been jailed.
Adewale Kudabo was working as a health care worker at York Hospital when the offences happened, said Henry Fernnandez, prosecuting.
Judge Alex Menary said Kudabo had “abused the trust” placed in him as a medical professional.
The York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs York Hospital, said it offers its “sincere apologies” to the victim, adding that Kudabo had left his job at the hospital soon after the offences.
Mr Fernnandez said Kudabo, 47, was allocated to bathe a patient who was in a lot of pain.
He said the offences did not relate to the bathing but what happened afterwards.
When finished bathing the patient, Mr Fernnandez said Kudabo leant down and kissed her on the lips.
The victim, despite being in considerable pain, was able to move away slightly but could not avoid the kiss, Mr Fernandez said.
She was “left in a state of confusion and felt uncomfortable” by the incident, he added.
Days after the incident, Mr Fernnandez said Kudabo asked the victim if she wanted another “bed bath” and again tried to kiss her.
The victim attempted to “get away”, Mr Fernnandez said, but was unable to avoid Kudabo kissing her on the lips for a second time.
He said the victim later reported the incident to police.
Benin Bronzes are like the Abacha loot in their own way:
The Netherlands on Thursday returned 119 artifacts looted from Nigeria, including human and animal figures, plaques, royal regalia and a bell.
The artifacts, known as the Benin Bronzes and mostly housed in a museum in the city of Leiden, were looted in the late 19th century by British soldiers.
In recent years, museums across Europe and North America have moved to address ownership disputes over artifacts looted during the colonial era. They were returned at the request of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
During the handover ceremony in Edo State, Oba Ewuare II, the monarch and custodian of Benin culture, described the return of the artifacts as a “divine intervention.” The Benin Bronzes were returned at the request of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
The restitution is a testament to the power of prayer and determination, the monarch said.
This guy ate ayamase and it changed his life. I know that feeling:
The ayamase has a semi-dry, fibrous consistency similar to other spice pastes like Mexican salsa macha or Indonesian sambal. It packs a slight vegetal sweetness thanks to the peppers, while the meat and egg make it a well-rounded, savory meal. Though the stew is not especially spicy, an overly ambitious spoonful won't go unnoticed on the way down your throat.
While not as well-known as jollof, Nigeria’s national dish of spiced rice from which Jollof Buka gets its name (buka is a term for a casual restaurant in Yoruba, one of three major languages spoken in Nigeria), ayamase is extremely popular in the West African country. Unlike centuries-old jollof, ayamase has likely only been around for about a hundred years.
The most popular origin story for ayamase tells of a woman living in the small Nigerian town of Ikenne named Felicia Ajibabi Adesina, who in the 1920s developed a sauce of peppers and palm oil to serve at her food stand with Ofada rice (ayamase is often referred to as Ofada stew). Supposedly, Adesina’s short-tempered husband would often get into scraps with neighbors, prompting concerned friends and family members to call him Mase, a Yoruba word that means “don’t” — as in, come on, man, don’t hit him. In turn, Adesina’s wildly popular sauce became known as obe aya Mase, meaning “Mase’s wife’s sauce,” and eventually just ayamase.
Education interventions in Nigeria, that the country desperately needs, do not have to break the bank:
Mrs. Bangwell, who had spent years working with young people, understood the mother’s concerns. Although public schools in Nigeria are mostly free, they are chronically underfunded, which has led to crumbling infrastructure, teacher shortages, and frequent strikes. Private schools provide better alternatives, but with nearly 39% of Nigerians living below the poverty line, many families find such schools out of their reach.
Mrs. Bangwell shared the cleaner’s story with her husband, who has a background in youth development. They started Knosk in September 2019 after reaching out to community leaders, churches, mosques, and public primary schools, asking them to refer students who couldn’t afford secondary education. “My husband and I make a perfect team,” Mrs. Bangwell says. “We knew exactly what we wanted to build.”
Parents contribute $4 per term.
“We cater to the poorest of the poor,” Mrs. Bangwell says. “If we don’t take the child in, they have no other chance at an education.”
The school provides a curriculum that integrates computer and vocational skills, daily lunch, menstrual supplies for female students, and a boarding facility for a few students.
“When a child walks through that gate, the only thing we want on their mind is how they they can be better than they were when they came in,” Mrs. Bangwell says.
More global Nigerian food content. You’re welcome:
Nigerian fried rice, seasoned with curry powder, dried thyme and a handful of aromatics, inspired this weeknight-easy meal-in-a-skillet.
Beef liver and an assortment of vegetables are classic ingredients, but in this recipe from our cookbook “ Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year,” we opted for chicken thighs and fresh green beans.
Seeded, thinly-sliced jalapeño or Fresno chilies bring a pleasant heat, while curry powder adds depth, warmth and a golden hue.
Instead of using just-cooked rice, which results in a softer texture in the finished dish, we start with plain cooked rice that’s been chilled and dried, a process that allows the starches to recrystallize so the grains “fry” up light and fluffy. Fragrant basmati is especially good, but any variety of long-grain white rice works.
Fresh rice needs two hours minimum to chill adequately, but it can be prepared up to three days in advance and kept refrigerated. To chill the rice, fluff with a fork, then spread on the baking sheet. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate until cold.
The UK Nursing regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, is in some trouble:
One key standard the NMC failed to meet is the requirement to ensure that its register of nurses and midwives is accurate. This came after the PSA found that more than 350 people had been added to it in error, allowing them to work as nurses in the UK.
It said: “The total number of people added to the register without meeting the NMC’s requirements is over 350, and could be over 400, depending on the outcomes of the CBT and OET investigations. The NMC’s register is so large that this amounts to a relatively small proportion, but we consider it a large number of individuals to be registered in error.
“Maintaining an accurate register is a key function and duty of a regulator, in the interests of public safety and public confidence. The NMC has added a large number of people to the register who had not met its requirements, and by the end of our review period it had not been able to fully remedy the situation.”
These included “fraudulent” applications from centres in India, Nigeria and Pakistan that test nurses against NMC requirements, such as being able to speak English to the required standard.
The errors also included hundreds of newly qualified nurses who had not completed enough training hours, as revealed last year by The Independent.
The NMC told The Independent that out of those investigated for fraudulent entries, 16 people were removed in relation to one centre in Pakistan and of the 30 registrants at a centre in Nigeria to face investigations, 19 were removed. For those in the India-based centre, 68 nurses were affected, and in all cases, it was found that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove fraud.
Amos Tutuola’s Palm Win Drinkard is getting a makeover:
Everything about the book spoke in riddles to me: the abstract orange-and-black stick figures on the cover; the vague, enigmatic tag line calling it “a novel from Africa”; the blurb from Dylan Thomas heralding “a grisly and bewitching story of indescribable adventures.”
Then there was the title itself: “The Palm-Wine Drinkard.” (What, exactly, is a “drinkard”?)
This was my first introduction to the author Amos Tutuola, a Nigerian with little formal education. But he soon became one of the most intriguing international writers I discovered during college and the ravenous, slightly delirious years that followed, their dusty paperbacks excavated from small New York bookstores that have long since vanished. Published in 1952, at the dawn of African independence (and a decade before the classic Heinemann African Writers series appeared), Tutuola’s novel stood apart from the others I took home, and its mystery continues to exert a powerful pull.
This month, THE PALM-WINE DRINKARD (Grove, 144 pp., paperback, $17) returns to life in a striking new edition, along with Tutuola’s 1954 follow-up, “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts,” with introductions by Wole Soyinka and Kaveh Akbar. Originally published under the Evergreen imprint of Grove Press, the books appeared alongside the storied house’s rogues’ gallery of midcentury American and European avant-garde authors like William Burroughs, Henry Miller, Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet.
Nice long feature on that iconic 2018 Nigerian football jersey:
In 2018, ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Russia, designer Matthew Wolff and Nike made a Nigeria home strip that went on to drive significant demand and became a modern trailblazer in the football kit market.
“It was probably the first football shirt to have this drop moment that transcended football,” Doug Bierton, CEO of Classic Football Shirts, tells The Athletic. “It wasn’t just Nigeria fans or even just football shirt enthusiasts who wanted it — it was something where everybody who became aware of it wanted one and a secondary market for that shirt was almost instantly created.
“It was the first football shirt that went straight over its RRP (recommended retail price) on launch. Prior to that, it was just sneakers doing that kind of thing.”
When the kit was released on June 1, 2018, lines wrapped around the block at Nike’s London store, and it received three million pre-orders, according to the BBC, meaning it was sold out within minutes. The green and white home shirt was accompanied by other gear, including track jackets, bucket hats and shorts, which also rapidly sold out.
While it ended up appealing to the masses, being an international kit that people could get behind, for Wolff and Peter Hoppins, Nike senior design director from 2016 to 2020, the focus had to be on pleasing the Nigerian fans, players, and federation.
Nike’s official media release described the kit as “a tribute to Nigeria’s 1994 debut on the world stage, the 2018 home kit features the traditional green torso, with the Super Eagles-inspired black-and-white sleeves. To modernise the jersey, the feather pattern has been abstracted and the colours updated, for a bold look on pitch”.
Nigeria is MAGA, apparently:
Israel is one of only a small handful of countries where a majority of the population has confidence in U.S. President Donald Trump, a report published on Wednesday by the Pew Research Institute shows.
Israel was also the country with the highest percentage of respondents - 83 percent - who take a favorable view of the United States.
The report found that 69 percent of Israelis believe Trump is doing the right thing when it comes to world affairs. Out of 24 countries, only in Nigeria did a larger share of the population (79 percent) hold this view. The other countries with majorities that have faith in Trump are Kenya (64 percent), Hungary (53 percent), andIndia (52 percent).
Update from Chicago:
A Nigerian man who conned numerous US citizens and businesses through a variety of cyber scams will spend more than three years in federal prison.
Ridwan Adeleke Adepoju, 33, of Lagos, Nigeria, was handed the 43-month prison sentence on Tuesday, according to Andrew Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
Prosecutors say Adepoju, who pleaded guilty in March to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, victimized numerous US citizens and businesses through a multitude of scams, including phishing scams, romance scams and the submission of fraudulent tax returns.
Adepoju used multiple spoofed email addresses, fictional social media personas and unwitting money mules to conduct his schemes and his victims included individuals and companies in the Chicago area.
Adepoju was arrested in the United Kingdom last year before being extradited to the United States.
And some new research on pangolins:
The vast majority of pangolin hunting in African forest landscapes is done for meat consumed by people in the region, rather than for scales shipped to East Asia, a new study led by the University of Cambridge suggests.
Pangolins are the most heavily trafficked wild mammal in the world. A solitary, insect-eating animal about the size of a large domestic cat, pangolins are famous for their highly prized keratin scales—a staple of traditional Chinese medicine.
All eight existing pangolin species are threatened with extinction and are on the IUCN's Red List, with three Asian species categorized as critically endangered.
As Asian pangolins have declined dramatically, Nigeria has seen a boom in the export of pangolin scales to Asia. While hunting pangolins is illegal in Nigeria, the West African country is now the world's largest hub for the criminal trade in pangolin products.
However, a new study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution suggests that some 98% of Nigerian pangolins are caught for meat first and foremost, with around two-thirds of scales from these animals simply thrown away.
A research team led by Cambridge collected data from over eight hundred hunters and traders in thirty-three locations across Nigeria's Cross River Forest region, primarily between 2020 and 2023, during which time the conservationists estimate that around 21,000 pangolins were killed annually in the area.
US medical funding update:
Gay men in Africa are blaming President Trump's decision to cut funding for HIV/AIDS prevention for their diagnoses of the virus.
The administration's sweeping cuts to foreign aid have reduced access to medications like Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, which decreases the risk of contracting HIV by 99 percent.
Emmanuel Cherem, 25, a gay men in Nigeria, told Reuters that he tested positive for HIV two months after losing access to the US-supplied drug.
'I blame myself... Taking care of myself is my first duty as a person,' he said.
'I equally blame the Trump administration because, you know, these things were available, and then, without prior notice, these things were cut off.'
Echezona, 30, another gay man from Nigeria, told Reuters that he took PrEP pills daily for three years until he was told by a clinic worker that the drug was now only available to pregnant and lactating women.
'I just pray and wish that Trump actually changes his policy and everything comes back to normal so that the spread and transmission of the virus would be reduced,' he said.
I read the stories of the farmers scammed in nasarawa and the doctor who was scammed by "clerics" and I wonder. So, the value of my vote is the same as theirs? It's one kind fr.
Re: Benin bronzes/Abacha loot - gifts that keep on giving, eh