Please put some water in your mouth so you can spit it out
Hi, <<First Name>>,
Nigeria is hot and so are you
Congrats to everyone who ran the Access Bank Lagos marathon yesterday. You’re crazy and I love it
What happens when you stress dream? You wake up a thousand and one times from a stressful situation (naked, stuck in rain, stranded) until finally, your alarm goes off and you’ve been asleep the whole time. Are you tired?
The Lagos #Okadaban has intensified the traffic and as a result, this newsletter will be shorter than usual. Man cannot die by Sanwo-Olu.
Okada ban has everybody on their feet
On Monday, 3rd of February, just a day after it’s implementation, the Okada ban was already taking its toll on the average Lagosian. From complaints of walking over 30km to people sitting in the already hectic traffic for longer than usual, due to more cars on the roads and terribly planned bus stops.
So a steady supply of outcry on social media turned into a state-wide offline protest.
People on social media (intellectuals call you people ‘netizens’) organised a peaceful protest to challenge the ban. Tagged ‘OccupyLagos’, the protest was held on Saturday the 8th, which coincidentally, was the same day as the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon-- apparently one of the only events the government gives a hoot about.
So the protesters, some of whom had registered for the marathon, staged a peaceful sit-in standing on the sidelines, some with banners detailing their ordeals (such as the time it takes to get to work, transportation to school for kids, no source of income), others urging the government to stop trying to erase its lower-income population.
The governor is constantly ignoring and shunning protests, even those staged right in front of his office. However, this was at a state-sponsored event where photographs were taken for the state's benefit, so we know he has seen them.
Your move, Sanwo-Olu (or whoever runs the show).
When Lagos shoots, everybody gets a bullet
While we who sit in traffic and walk everywhere are still on about the recent ban on commercial bikes, the Lagos state government has moved on
Just days after the commercial bike ban, the state has started to clamp down on cab-hailing companies like Uber and Taxify. The drivers not happy
According to the Lagos State Vehicle Inspection Services, commercial vehicle drivers and those on Uber and other ride-hailing platforms must be certified by the Lagos Drivers’ Institute and obtain commercial permits before they can operate within the state, and the Vehicle officials are just enforcing this law.
In typical Nigeria fashion, enforcing this law would include: extorting and harassing anybody who happens to catch their eye and haggling. The Guardian reports that so far, the owners of the cars that have been seized have each been hit with a N60,000 release fine.
Some drivers have decided ‘screw this’ and stopped operating as taxi-hailing services, some have decided to go on strike and others have elected to void police checkpoints.
The trekking intensifies.
Nigerians don’t trust Buhari with their money
That's not exactly news, but this is:
Two newsletters ago, we reported that in addition to the Buhari and his administration sought to borrow 2 trillion from the existing 10 trillion Naira of the National Pension Funds to finance ‘infrastructure’ and that they were wrapping up the details of this loan.
Well, the people who own the money are not having it
The first issue, Honorable Nicholas Ossai of the National Assembly points out, is that the loan was approved without approval from the National Assembly. The bigger issue here, though, is that workers unions have outrightly dismissed the loan. The United Labour Congress, the Nigerian Guardian reports, says that the future of Nigerian workers and their retirement funds is shaky if their fates are held in the hands of “crass, profligate and often insensitive politicians famous for their careless handling of public funds”. Word
But the funds are not held with the government. Since 2004, the pension has been fully funded by workers and employers and privately managed by appointed Pension Fund Administrators. So the fact that the government can borrow without approval from the owners or their reps is troubling.
The main objective of the pension plan is that, in a country whose foundation is so shaky, workers should at least have a fairly stable retirement plan, so, in the words of the ULC President, Joe Ajaero, “any other person thinking of cornering “workers’ money” through the pension fund to look elsewhere”.
Stuff we can’t get into but you should
Media outlets seem sure that the coronavirus is going to kill everybody in Africa. They said we're the 'least equipped' to handle the epidemic.
The land borders are still closed - Prices are up, but the government says local rice sales are up and they're working on developing the textile industry. yay
Recommended Reads
This long read by Suchitra Vijayan for The Polis Project, aptly titled “Misogyny and Racism as Spectacle and Performance”, depicts the point where tone-deaf privilege, crisis porn, arrogance and superficiality meet. It’s about an Indian documentary photographer who made a mess of documenting the struggles Africans living in India face.
In 2017, 5 teenage Nigerian boys living in India were harassed and accused of cannibalism because an Indian boy they knew fell sick and died in the hospital days later.
Meditation isn’t all paradisiacal. Sometimes, apparently more often than you’d imagine, it could lead to or dredge up old psychosis issues or disorders. Here, Michael Holden recounts an incident where an ambulance escorted by police had to take him to a psychiatric hospital after an episode.
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