Things are still bad.
Hello! Things are still bad.
Airlines are going on strike.
Nigeria's airlines have said that from Monday, they will halt domestic flights across Nigeria in protest at the spiralling cost of jet fuel which has increased again from N500 per litre to N680 per litre. This is happening while people who took the train are still in the custody of kidnappers with no known action from the government.
As is their way, the government has not yet commented on the planned strike.
In this episode:
Abacha is still rich and a current governor is a known accomplice
We’re paying more for electricity
Terrorists are now openly recruiting
Money and other nonsense
Does it feel like your cost of electricity increased again recently? It’s because it probably did.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved requests from 6 power distribution companies (DisCos) to increase tariffs.
They got the approval in December last year and implemented in February, a month before the government secretly removed electricity tariffs without informing anyone. This is the third cost of electricity increase in the last year. (Remember 2021)
The six are: Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC); Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC); Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC); Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC); Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
The approval document shows an average of N3 increase for every electricity tier.
The commission explained that this increase is necessary because the cost of other factors has gone up. Factors such as gas price, inflation, exchange rate, US inflation rate and available generation capacity.
They said they will review the costs every six months and adjust the tariffs accordingly.
More calls, more problems
Telcos also want to increase the cost of making calls by 40%
They said this is because the introduction of the recent excise duty of five per cent on telecom services has further increased the burden of multiple taxes and levies on the industry.
One of the recent levies on the industry is the 5% tax the federal government just bestowed upon recharge cards.
Nigeria is broke, but Abacha STILL isn’t
The UK recently discovered $23.5 million in funds Sani Abacha stole while he was the military leader of Nigeria.
Abacha was Nigeria’s last military dictator in the 90s until he died in 1998 (technically not last. our current president is an elected former military leader who was also very terrible during his tenure. If you can’t tell, I’m still perplexed).
UK’s National Crime Agency says the funds were retrieved as part of a wider pool of funds identified by the United States Department of Justice as having been stolen out of Nigeria in the 1990s by Abacha and his accomplices.
One of said accomplices is the current governor of Kebbi State, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu who, in 2020, was discovered to have laundered over $308 million on behalf of Sani Abacha.
Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has been Kebbi’s governor since 2015 and even though Jersey (the country) issued an arrest warrant for him concerning the loot discovery, Nigeria has made no moves to impeach or arrest him.
He is currently enjoying immunity as a governor, so we’ll see if EFCC picks him up in 2023 when he has to give up the seat.
We’ll also see how the ministry of finance handles this loot. In the past they have “borrowed some” to fund the budget deficit. When asked exactly how much they borrowed and what they used it for, the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed said they can’t say.
The Senate is working on an anti-money laundering bill so this will NOT be happening again. Don’t worry.
The state of insecurity
Daily Trust reports that the Ansaru militant group, a faction of Boko Haram, has started a “massive recruitment” of residents in communities in Birnin Gwari LGA of Kaduna state.
Birnin Gwari, located in Kaduna Central Senatorial District has one of the highest terrorist infiltration numbers in the country.
In April this year, terrorists suspected to be members of the group attacked a military formation along the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari highway and killed 11 soldiers and 4 villagers.
Daily Trust says residents of the area they spoke to say the terrorists shared Eid gifts, performed motorcycle stunts and shared recruitment pamphlets on the group’s activities.
The pamphlets claim that they are not a terrorist group, but experts say that’s a lie.
While this is going on, the UN is appealing to the humanitarian community to support Borno in its quest to help residents recover from the consequences of the ongoing terrorist crisis.
But don’t worry, the House of Reps just passed an anti-terrorism bill so maybe we now have a framework on how to effectively arrest terrorists and recruiters.
There is no report on if the Nigerian government intends to arrest these terrorist recruiters, but there is an update on IPOB Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest.
On Buhari's visit to Ebonyi State, some Southern leaders asked the President to weigh in on Kanu’s trial. They shared that since his arrest last year, there has been an increase in violence in the states— including Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma whose house was attacked last year.
IPOB say they’re not responsible for these attacks, but the leaders believe Kanu’s release will go a long way in minimizing them.
However, the President doesn’t intend to weigh in. He says the courts will decide Kanu’s fate.
Journalists aren’t allowed into the trials anymore as of April, but last we heard, in April, the court cancelled 8 of the 15 charges levied against Kanu.
Health
Your Lassa fever update
As COVID-19 cases decline in Nigeria, Lassa fever is increasing.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control says out of Nigeria’s 36 states, 22 now have Lassa fever cases and so far in 2022, they have confirmed 751 cases of Lassa fever in 2022.
This means Nigeria now has over 5,000 Lassa fever cases, of which 140 deaths have been reported.
68% of the cases are from Ondo, Edo and Bauchi states. Others are in Ebonyi, Kogi, Taraba, Enugu, Benue, Gombe, Nasarawa, and Delta States.
New Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):
The Congolese Health Ministry confirmed a new case of Ebola in Mbandaka, DRC on Thursday (May 4), the third since they confirmed a new outbreak on April 23rd.
The first 2 were relatives who the ministry says died shortly after showing symptoms.
They say they have confirmed 444 contact cases from the 3 confirmed cases.
This current outbreak is the 6th in DRC in the last two years.
2023 elections
VP Osibanjo has officially gotten the (100 million Naira priced) form declaring his interest in being Nigeria’s president under his current political party, APC. APC has still not decided on how they intend to choose their candidates.
There was the controversial withdrawal form that the party asked every electoral aspirant to sign, in case they decide to go with one person. But most are not comfortable signing an anticipatory withdrawal form.
Whatever strategy they decide, APC (and other parties) will have to present their official candidates this month.
Godwin Emefiele, current governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria reportedly also wants to be president. Someone ask him how far the exchange rates.
Other news
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says fresh registration in the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) has hit 8,855,996 on May 2 - Guardian.ng
A Lagos-based pastor, Michael Oliseh has been sentenced to life imprisonment by Lagos State Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court for raping his friend’s 12-year-old twin daughters - Punch
Efcc is blocking civilian accounts without reason and not being responsive when contacted - Guardian.ng
Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje apologises to residents over acute water scarcity in Kano - Guardian.ng
In a case between Rivers and Imo states over the ownership of 17 oil wells in their territories, The Supreme Court, rules in favour of Rivers state, saying revenue from oil wells located in Ndoni and Egbema communities belong to them- Punch
Nigerian students vow to frustrate APC PDP conventions over ongoing education and non-education staff strikes across Nigerian universities- Arise
The family of Oluwabamise Ayanwola, who was allegedly raped and murdered in a bus rapid transit (BRT), has written to Moyosore Onigbanjo, attorney-general of Lagos state, seeking a formal authorisation to prosecute Andrew Ominnikoron, the accused BRT driver. Bamise’s family also asked for an independent body to prosecute BRT driver. (The Cable). Attorney General’s Office however declined the request, stating that the state government had the constitutional responsibility to prosecute the case and it will not shy away from it’s responsibility.