🚨 NAFDAC identifies fatal medicines
+ Flood updates & how to help, oil woes, Nigeria's 2023 budget, Secret Boho Haram swap + more
Hi,
Today’s newsletter is 2,013 words (approx. 7 mins read)
If you’re looking for a digital bank/wallet, streets say DON’T use Wallets Africa.
In this week’s edition
Nigeria’s flood crisis & how to help
Oil theft
Government dumps some Govt owned businesses from the national budget
Secret swap between Boho Haram & FG
Health
NAFDAC warns against poisonous medicine
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians to stay away from four poisonous cough syrups.
The four products are Promethazine Oral Solution,
Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup,
Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and
Magrip N Cold Syrup.
WHO reported in September that these medicines have been [linked to the death of 66 children in Gambia
NAFDAC said that laboratory analysis of samples from the four products confirms that they contain fatal amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol,
In 1938 the United States passed stringent legislation in response to a public health crisis that occurred when 105 people died from diethylene glycol poisoning.
Flooding in Nigeria
Nigeria is suffering a natural disaster.
Since last month Nigerian states have endured a series of fatal floods. 31 (of 36) states across the country are reported to have been affected, with casualties running in the hundreds.
The floods have completely swallowed homes; over 500,000 people have lost their homes since the disaster was first reported in September.
Reports say that since September, over 500 people in affected states have died, 45,000 homes destroyed, millions are now homeless, and 70,000 farms submerged.
The states most impacted are those along the edges of River Benue in Nasarawa State and River Niger between Kwara and Niger states.
Director-General, NiMet, Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu says it will get worse. “We’re going to see more floods”, he said. “And now the rain concentrates on the North Central and the southern states. So that will be a combination of short-duration, high-intensity rain”.
People have been attempting to leave their submerged communities in boats. Recently, a boat evacuating over 80 people capsized in Anambra.
This is not Nigeria’s first flood crisis. Poor environmental practices, unplanned infrastructure and non-existent draining systems have caused the rainy season in Nigeria to always come with excessive flooding. But this year’s is the worst reported.
Nigerian officials say the hellish condition is caused by rainfalls that have long stretched beyond the usual season, and the release of excess water from Cameroon’s Lagdo dam. Additionally, at least three of Nigeria’s overfilled reservoirs have overflowed.
Matazu says water disasters will worsen in the coming years as the full weight of climate change continues to unravel.
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) director general Mustapha Habib Ahmed urged the government to move communities at risk of flooding out of those areas and provide temporary housing.
Rollover effect
The situation has caused fuel scarcity in Abuja, and its environs as tankers from the southern part of the country have not been able to move beyond Kogi, a gateway from the south to the north.
The situation is also threatening food security.
But don’t panic, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammed Abubakar, says this issue will definitely not affect food supply across the country.
What the govt is saying
There is little to report on state governments attempting to manage the situation; most governments seem to be mute.
A few state governors have called on the FG to fix the state flooding.
In Kogi, where the floods have submerged homes, and you can barely see the rooftops, the wife of Kogi state governor, Rashida Yahaya Bello, donated canoes to the disaster victims in the state.
Meanwhile, her husband, the governor, is giving his social media followers fashion influencer content.
President Buhari assures that the situation is under continuous monitoring, and the government will keep sending teams to assess the situation with a view to rendering all necessary help.
Buhari said that NEMA wrote to each of Nigeria’s 36 states advising on the appropriate action to take given the gloomy forecasts of more rains this year.
Rescue missions
While the government is strategising, international and national non-profits are working to rescue and provide shelter for affected communities. You can support their work by donating to any of these organisations (I suggest donating to local organisations).
Nigeria vs money (because it is a fight at this point)
Of the N20.51tn national budget presented, the Presidential Villa plans to spend N14.8bn on Internet access in Aso Rock. The national budget allocated N67.1m for the Internet, while stationery and computer consumables would be N79m.
Electricity in Aso Rock is budgeted at N35.9m, telephone charges and water rates each got N306.2m, N6m and N40.6m, respectively.
Taxpayers, you’re also paying N35m for the president’s books and newspapers— newspapers are N26.4m, and books are N8.5m.
Out of the total budget for the Villa, N1.6bn would be spent on personnel costs.
This newly prepared budget was shared after the House of Representatives approved the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which was presented earlier.
The MTEF/FSP framework budget came to N19.76tn, and this new proposed budget is about N750bn higher than MTEF’s.
Speaking of budgets and MTEF/FSP
The Senate has approved the removal of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and 8 other Government-owned Enterprises (GoEs) from the 2023 national budget.
GoEs are entities with the capacity to fund themselves, so the government has decided that is what they should do.
According to the MTEF/FSP report, the 10 will serve as test subjects, and the experiment's outcome will determine if to withdraw funding from the other 53 GOEs.
The other 8 are: Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMPDRA) and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Read more about Nigeria’s budget plans here.
Oil thieves update
This week, a Ghana-bound vessel carrying approximately 650 cubic meters of stolen crude oil was intercepted.
The vessel was arrested with eight crew members and the captain while stealing crude oil from Escravos-Abiteye trunk line in Niger Delta.
According to a maritime intelligence consultant working for Tompolo’s outfit, Tantita Security Services, Capt. Warren Enisuoh, the vessel had been coming into the Niger Delta and loading illegal oil to Ghana for some time.
The captain of the vessel, Temple Manase, said the vessel was hijacked by some people, who forced them to load the crude into the vessel.
The NNPC says they’ve been working to locate all illegal fuel pipelines and transporters in the country.
In August, the company reported the discovery of illegal pipelines in churches and mosques across the.
They claim that petrol theft has caused Nigeria to lose a lot of petrol. Two weeks ago, That New News reported that Nigeria has lost its status as the highest oil-producing country due to this theft.
9 out of 16 functional oil pipes were reportedly shut down because their locations were identified as the highest theft stations.
However, Nigeria’s production might rise again soon. Shell has decided to resume their oil exportation.
The oil company plans to investigate and clamp down on theft within their pipeline and successfully resume exports. This might be good for Nigeria’s economy on all counts because all exports have been suffering recently.
If you missed it, we also discussed what’s happening with Nigeria’s export economy — it’s a combination of corruption and negligence. you can catch up here.
On their end, the NNPC says they have hired security companies, including some owned by ex-military officers, to resolve the oil theft.
Road to election 2023
Prof Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, has stated that insecurity may hinder elections in the North-West and South-East states - Punch
In all, the electoral body recorded nine attacks in 2019, 21 incidents in 2020 and over 12 as of May 2021. It also lost 9,836 smart card readers, 345 ballot boxes, and 135 voting cubicles, among other assets.
The INEC chairman, however, said he has received assurances from the service chiefs that they would secure the voting environment during the 2023 polls.
Terrorism
Terrorists in exchange for the terrorisedSe
Foundation for Investigative Journalism reports that an insider revealed to them that 101 Boko Haram inmates were released from the Kirikiri Medium Security Prison in Lagos, in exchange for the remaining Abuja train kidnap victims who were released last week.
FIJ says the insider said the freed suspects had been awaiting trial since 2009, and had spoken about their release happening before a new administration took over.
The insider says the terror suspect told them they’d be going home by October.
“They told me that their release was based on negotiations and the pressure their sponsors gave Buhari”, the anonymous source said.
FIJ reports that the prison wardens questioned the prisoners a day after their story was released to find out who told.
The gag is that the same source supposedly told FIJ this. I need to see the wardens’ faces after this second scoop dropped 😭. I love a good inside scoop.
Human Rights reaction
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a civil rights advocacy group, slammed President Buhari's administration for lack of transparency over the alleged secret swap.
“Nigerians are shocked at the latest antics of the regime of the President in the reported release of over 100 Boko Haram terrorists from the Kirikiri prison. It shows the total absence of transparency and accountability in the fight on terror. The secrecy behind the intermittent release of terrorists under different guises by the current government is abysmal and anti-people and illegal”, said Emmanuel Onwubiko, the National Coordinator of HURIWA.
Recall that in 2021, former Navy Commodore, Kunle Olawunmi, said in a Channels news interview that the presidency is sponsoring Boko Haram.
Also, in 2012, Buhari was invited by Boko Haram to become their terrorist negotiator. Although reports indicate that he rejected the role.
HURIWA says had the government been transparent about their plan, the suspicions of long-term collaboration might not be brought up.
Nnamdi Kanu is out of prison
The Court of Appeal in Abuja quashed the terrorism charge the FG charged against the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu was arrested in Kanya in June 2021. Since then, he has been in Nigerian police custody.
The FG’s court case against Kanu said he should be imprisoned for treason and leading IPOB, which they define as a terrorist group.
Kanu’s trial has been postponed on may occasions until a verdict was finally reached this week.
In response to the trial’s result, the National Security Council, on Friday, said it was “considering the appropriate action to be taken”.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, The Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, and others are not happy and want to set the record straight.
Malami said the release is “clarified that Kanu’s release was not equivalent to an acquittal”, and Dingyadi said Kanu was only discharged, and that the FG is exploring other legal instruments to pursue the matter
Education
ASUU has called off the strike… temporarily
After 8 months of uncertainty, endless meetings, legal threats and holding students back from their education, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has finally called off their strike
However, ASUU president, Emmanuel Osodeke, made it unequivocally clear that it was a temporary settlement.
“School resumes on Monday, October 17. But the issue is yet to be resolved”, he said.
The issues are: funding for revitalisation of public universities; earned academic allowances; proliferation of public universities; visitation panels/release of white papers; adoption of university transparency and accountability solution (UTAS) as a broad spectrum software to stop illegality and provide for an alternative payment platform in the university system; renegotiation of the 2009 agreement.
Other news
The Federal Executive Council approved MTN's takeover of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway construction for more than N202.8 billion under the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme on Wednesday.- Punchng
More facts have emerged over the abduction and murder of an Assistant Chief Surveyor with the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, Alamu Abayomi- PunchNG.
President Buhari has sworn in Olukayode Ariwoola as substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria at the State House Council chamber in Abuja - Premium Times.
Lagos State has received formal approval from the Federal Government on Tuesday for the construction of the Lekki international airport on the state's Lekki-Epe axis - Vanguard
The United Kingdom is considering tightening restrictions on the number of relatives migrants can bring into the country - Vanguard
The about 10% price adjustment by telecommunications operators on their data services is not sitting well with subscribers in Nigeria- GuardianNG.
Ex-governor says other countries are “wicked” for making migration from Nigeria easier. Lol. Punchng.
A fire broke out early this morning at the Kogi State House of Assembly complex in Crusher Area, Lokoja. Punchng.
Things on the internet
My latest of a 6-part series about Money.
Researching this topic brought up a lot of questions about my own relationship with money. I soon realised there is no material on dealing with money anxiety (if there is, it’s not on the searchable web), so I asked Ibifubara Davies my money questions, and she enlightened me… greatly. I hope this article does the same for you - adetomiwa.
Read why we are the way we are with money: a therapist’s insights