🗞️*dramatic crying*
Hi!
I can’t count how many times I fell asleep on the floor while writing this edition. Partly because I was asleep, but mostly because I am BEAT and will be passing out after sending this.
That New News is an independent, self-funded project by me (Adetomiwa). Thank you for reading, sharing and donating. I love you like I birthed you 😘
In this edition
Petrol good news
What has Trump’s tariff wahala got to do with Nigeria
Nigeria’s health woes
This edition is 1,100 words (approx. 3 min read)
Money woes
Good news(?) on the petrol front
In March, the price of petrol increased from around N850 per liter to about N950 partly because Dangote Refinery stopped selling to commercial marketers in Naira.
Dangote’s decision was based on the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and their decision to suspend the sale of crude oil to Nigerian refineries in Naira — they refused to “grow the Naira”
The FEC has now decided to resume selling to local refiners in Naira. And marketers predict that with this decision will most likely come a drop in the price of petrol
9 months after the new minimum wage was imposed, here’s how its implementation is going
So far, less than half of the state governments have started to pay the new minimum wage.
The National President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Alhaji Haruna Kankara, revealed that the following states have not yet implemented the minimum wage: Yobe, Gombe, Zamfara, Kaduna, Imo, Ebonyi, Cross River, Kwara*, Borno, and FCT.
*Kwara implemented the new wage in October 2024 but the workers have still been struggling with heavy taxes, so the state recently announced a 3-month tax break
In the FCT, LG teachers and workers have staged multiple strikes (4 so far this year) over the non-payment of the new wage. Their most recent strike in March 2025 disrupted school exams. Teachers demanded full implementation of the wage, payment of arrears, and additional allowances.
China-US Tarrif war: how does it affect us?
The United States imported $643.1 million worth of goods from Nigeria in just the first two months of 2025 — a month before President Trump’s new wave of tariffs kicked in. Will this slow down US–Nigeria trade? Unclear. But here’s a quick explainer on what’s going on and how it could affect us:
What is Trump, and what are his tariffs?
In February, President Donald Trump announced a new round of trade tariffs. The US slapped a 145% tax on certain goods from China. China clapped back with 125% on US goods and now it is a full-blown trade war.
Trump also imposed a blanket 10% tariff on imports from most countries — Nigeria included. That’s actually down from our previous 14%, which sounds like good news. But let’s hold that thought.
What are tariffs?
Tariffs are taxes on imported goods. If there’s a 10% tariff on a $10 product, it’ll now cost $11. A 145% tariff? That same product shoots up to $24.50. Companies usually pass these costs onto consumers, which means global prices are likely to rise.
So Nigeria’s 10% is better than 14%. We're safe, right?
Not quite.
While Nigeria’s tariff rate technically dropped, the broader ripple effects of the China–US trade war will still hit us. As costs rise between the world’s biggest economies, the cost of global supply chains goes up, too. That could mean more expensive goods, higher logistics costs, and squeezed margins for Nigerian exporters and importers.
Trump has decided some items are exempted from the tariff tax, so maybe not everything will be expensive.
Insecurity
Terrorist Attacks
This year, terrorists have attacked and killed people from at least 60 communities across Katsina, Benue and Plateau. During these attacks, they have killed over 50 people, displaced and took over homes from people across 64 communities and kidnapped multiple people.
IPOB
Twelve IPOB members who had been detained since May 24, 2021, were finally released on April 10, 2025, after a court ruling in Ebonyi State.
Their release had been delayed for years, despite multiple court judgments that had already acquitted them.
According to IPOB’s lead lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, the breakthrough came when the Ebonyi State Director of Public Prosecution withdrew the latest charges in court.
Ejiofor described the moment as “history made”, saying it was a long-overdue recognition of the court's rulings that had consistently found them innocent.
He added that 24 others from the same group are still in custody, even though four separate High Courts have also discharged and acquitted them.
Mass murder in Edo: update
On March 28, a mob intercepted a group of Northerners traveling across Udune Efandion in Edo State and brutally attacked them and murdered 16 people.
The travellers were on their way from Elele in Rivers State to Kano Eid and were profiled as kidnappers.
HumAngle reports that Survivors described how they were ordered to get off the truck and were then immediately assaulted. Dayabu Yahaya, one of the survivors, said they were beaten aggressively and had their belongings confiscated and burned. All the vigilantes found on them were hunting knives, some palm oil, and a few locally made guns, which the travellers claim were licensed.
Another survivor said no one questioned them before the violence began, just profiling and assumptions.
The police later confirmed the attack, noting that the group had 25 travellers and that 16 were lynched. Ten people were rescued, and two are still receiving treatment.
Following the incident, 14 suspects linked to the mob attack have been arrested. The Inspector-General of Police has handed the case over to the Force Criminal Investigation Department, signalling the seriousness of the situation.
The Federal Government and the Edo State Government also set up a joint fact-finding committee to investigate the incident
Nigeria’s health crisis
The death toll recorded from cerebrospinal meningitis has increased to 156, up from the previous 74 deaths, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention - Leadership
Meanwhile, over 14,815 Nigerian-trained nurses and 16,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country in the last 5 years to seek more conducive employment in other countries
The doctor-to-population ratio now stands at around 3.9 per 10,000, well below the suggested global minimum.
All in all, we’re fucked.
Other News
A Court in Abuja on Tuesday awarded the sum of N100m in general damages against Louisville Girls Secondary School, Gwagwalada, for negligence of duty of care, which led to the death of a student - Punch
NBC banned Edris Abdulkareem’s song, “Tell your Papa,” where Edris and Nigerians ask Seyi Tinubu to tell his father that Nigerians are struggling (since Seyi Tinubu likes to talk to “the people” so much) - BBC
The Lagos State Police Command has discovered a baby factory in the Ijegun area of the state and rescued 10 people. Punch