Hi! Yesterday I did not send this because I was out. Nothing “fun” (what? You people are having a good time in Lagos? Where? Tell me, please!).
Let’s get into it!
In this edition
Nigerians are not allowed into the UAE
Petrol subsidy or “under-recovery”?
Police brutality in various parts of the country
Introducing: the new CBN president
Malaria is going down fast, but doctors are relocating faster
This episode is 1,965 words (approx. 7 min read)
Power grid woes
Last week, the entire country experienced several days of darkness due to another issue with the power grid. This was the 138th collapse since the power sector went private 10 years ago, and the government invested $7.5 billion to improve the grid.
One of the causes attributed to the current grid collapse was a fire at the National Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in Birnin, Kebbi State.
The fire, reports say, started at night and “nobody knows why it happened”. There was a loud explosion, and it cut off electricity in some states.
One thing I will say though is that recovery time has somewhat improved. Grid collapse and no light for just two days? Can never be 2015 Nigeria.
The UAE is still not letting you in
Last year, the United Arab Emirates (UAE- where Dubai is 🌚) imposed a visa rule that did not allow Nigerians to visit the country. But last week, Nigeria’s presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale announced that following efforts from the president, the ban had officially been lifted.
According to Ajuri, the leaders of Nigeria and the UAE met and “finalised a historic agreement” and made a special agreement to end this restriction. The announcement said flights between the two countries will start again soon.
Turns out the president’s office lied. Or at least a grossly embellished the truth. The UAE’s reps reached out to CNN to correct this statement. According to an official, “There are no changes on the Nigeria/UAE travel status so far”.
Speaking of the President, ICYMI, here’s what happened at the Presidential tribunal two weeks ago
Recap: since the current President, Tinubu, was announced as the winner of Nigeria’s presidential elections, other candidates, particularly Peter Obi (Labor Party) and Atiku Abubakar (PDP) along with a considerable number of voters, challenged the results of the elections. Two weeks ago, the tribunal presented its verdict: Tinubu is the winner
According to the court’s verdict, there wasn't enough evidence to prove neither Obi nor Atiku’s claims.
One of the evidence exhibits tended by Obi’s lawyers was a report from the European Union which stated that there was quite a bit of rigging and voter’s oppression going on. The tribunal rejected this as viable evidence because the report was not given to them by an official person from the European Union who made it.
But it might not be over: Atiku and Obi can still appeal to the Supreme Court if they want to.
Meanwhile, last week, Atiku’s party, PDP claimed that they found President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s legal team's mark on copies of a tribunal judgment about the presidential election. The PDP says it's suspicious because Tinubu's team admitted to adding this logo. They think this could mean that APC manipulated the tribunal’s results and they want Tinubu's team to explain how they added this mark, particularly because APC has a history of manipulating things. - Guardian ng
Kogi State Tribunal results
The Kogi State Election Tribunal has said that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the PDP won the Senatorial election in Kogi Central. They changed the results because some votes for Natasha were not counted, and some votes for the APC candidate were made up - Premium Times
Power woes
The global price of petrol keeps going up, and since there’s a subsidy, it means the cost of petrol in Nigeria is susceptible to these increases, so the government is considering…a subsidy.
The price of petrol is going up because OPEC, a group of oil-producing countries, is expected to reduce the supply of oil. Saudi Arabia reduced its oil production voluntarily by 1.3 million barrels per day, but many OPEC countries, including Nigeria, are not meeting their production targets.
Libya had to close four of its oil export terminals due to a storm, and Kazakhstan's daily oil production also decreased to 213,800 metric tons.
This has caused quite a bit of chaos. For one, the price of diesel and aviation fuel prices are already close to N1,000 per litre (from about N828 per litre in January) which makes the cost of business higher, especially businesses in manufacturing and aviation.
In August, Nigeria produced 100,000 more than in July, which should mean the country is benefiting from the high prices rather than the disadvantaged.
But we can’t because, despite all the chat about it, Nigeria currently does not have the capacity to refine enough oil locally and has to import the high-priced refined product.
OPEC predicts that global oil demand will grow in 2023 and 2024 because major economies are recovering. They expect demand to increase by 2.25 million barrels per day in 2024.
Here’s a kick: the government is already subsidising petrol.
According to a report from the Guardian NG, the government currently subsidising petrol through the national oil company, NNPC, to keep control of the oil and gas market.
Only it’s not called a subsidy. They’re calling it "under-recovery”. This also happened under the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, where the government secretly returned subsidies and called it under-recovery in NNPC’s books.
Also, the agency that usually shares updates on petrol prices has stopped it. A source at the organisation told the Guardian Ng that there is an instruction not to share the update because the government has said there would be no price increase.
Money and economy
New CBN president
In June President Tinubu suspended Godwin Emefiele — the CBN governor. As acting CBN governor, Deputy Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi was put in his place temporarily. Recently, Tinubu nominated Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso as the new CBN governor; this week, he was officially approved.
About the new CBN governor: Olayemi Michael Cardoso has a career in finance, public policy, and development, working with organisations like the World Bank.
He's known for his leadership in various roles, including as a Commissioner in Lagos State.
Here’s more about him and the new list of deputy CBN governors
Climate change support
The African Development Bank introduced the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA) at the Africa Climate Summit.
ACRIFA aims to provide insurance to help African countries, especially agriculture, deal with climate change impacts like floods and droughts.
It will raise $1 billion to support this effort and improve resilience. Comoros President and the United Nations also praised this initiative, which will help prepare for climate disasters and build early warning systems.
OAU fees increase
Despite the President's directive that Nigerian public universities should not increase student fees arbitrarily, the management of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Osun State has announced a fee increase for its students.
However, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education stated that fee increases had been stopped after the President's directive, except for the University of Lagos, which had special approval to cover specific expenses like accommodation and technology costs only.
OAU recently increased fees for different faculties, causing concern among students.
This fee increase trend has been seen in other Nigerian public universities, including the University of Maiduguri, the University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, the University of Lagos, and the University of Abuja. Students and parents are upset about these increases, especially because of rising living costs due to the removal of petrol subsidies by the government.
University administrators argue that fee hikes are necessary to cover increasing maintenance costs and keep staff motivated, as they face financial deficits.
Police Brutality
Abuja
On September 8, 2023, a Department of State Services (DSS) operative shot a fashion designer during a dispute at Garki International Market in Abuja.
The altercation began when a customer accused the designer of not delivering clothes on time and the customer called a secret service agent to intimidate the designer over a dispute that had nothing to do with the secret services
The DSS operative killed the designer and injured others.
The Police intervened and the still unidentified DSS operative was said to be arrested.
Both the FCT Police Command and the DSS are “investigating” the incident.
Niger State
In an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Rijau in Niger State, there was a centre where they were giving out food provisions to help people with the economic effects of the petrol subsidy.
A policeman was there to make sure everything stayed organised. But things got chaotic because many people rushed to get the food.
To make people stop, the policeman fired his gun in the air. The bullet hit a 12-year-old boy named Sani and his grandmother.
They were both taken to the hospital. Sani’s grandmother was mildly injured and treated, but Sani sustained a more critical injury and is being treated.
The policeman who fired the shot was arrested.
Mohbad’s death to be investigated
The Nigerian Police Force says they’re investigating the death of a musician Mohbad, who passed away on September 12, 2023.
They announced the decision to investigate days after Mohbad was buried and after quite a bit of pressure from Mohbad’s fans on social media
They are aware of rumours and concerns about his death and are committed to a thorough investigation.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police will look into the circumstances surrounding his death, and updates will be provided as the investigation progresses. The police have asked for information from Mohbad's family or close associates to assist in the process.
They also urged people to avoid making statements or taking actions that could hinder the investigation.
There is controversy and accusations on social media regarding his death, especially involving his former record label, Marlian Records, its owner Naira Marley, and Sam Larry. It was revealed that Mohbad had reported threats to his life in a letter dated June 27, 2023.
Terrorism
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has used military airstrikes to push Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists out of the Bama-Mafa area in Borno State. - Guardian Ng
These airstrikes were done because intelligence reports showed that terrorists were planning to attack Nigerian troops in these areas.
As a result of the airstrikes, many terrorists were killed, and their camps were destroyed in the forests.
Lagos Road repair PSA
The government in Lagos is going to fix parts of the Third Mainland Bridge on two Sundays, September 17th and 24th, 2023, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. During the repair, the bridge won’t function as usual as they’ll need to change the traffic routes. See lagosstate.gov.ng for more details
Malaria is down like the economy
The World Health Organization (WHO) released a report about malaria in Nigeria in 2022. It showed that Nigeria had a 55% decrease in malaria deaths.
The report also said that the number of people getting malaria dropped by 26% since 2,000.
The WHO says Nigeria is doing better in health, like with HIV and tuberculosis. But there are still challenges, like a large population, not enough data, not enough money, and terrible public health care which forces people to go to private doctors instead of public ones.
Meanwhile, Nigerian doctors are still moving big on leaving. Not only to the EU and North America. They’re also off to other African countries like Egypt and Uganda.
Other news
The Niger Delta Itsekiri Oil Producing Communities are angry with Chevron and the Delta State Government for not hiring certain graduates after 15 years. They're threatening to shut down Chevron facilities in protest - punch
Less than 1% of unemployed youth get support from the government safety nets, a new report published by Jobberman Nigeria, has revealed - Punch
In the 2022 Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP), 42 oil and gas companies won 49 flare sites. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) approved KPMG for partnership to ensure success. Some companies are reserve bidders if preferred ones fail to meet conditions. Awards are being sent out - The Cable
The newly appointed Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Oluyinka Olumide, says transparency in the built sector and “zero tolerance for building collapse” will be his watchword - Channels TV
The federal government has set a new target for the Nigeria Immigration Service to produce 24, 000 passports daily in order to meet the demand for the document and ease the process for applicants - Guardian Ng
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced that there has been an increase in the price of pre-paid electricity meters across the country, cost of electricity is still the same - Guardian Ng
The Senate on Thursday, said the allegation by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that each member of the National Assembly collected N100 million from the executive arm of government as a subsidy palliative was strange, ludicrous and unthinkable - Arise