Special Reports

Tuesday, 18 June 2024 04:56

Nigerians skip medications, resort to herbal remedies as drug prices skyrocket

For patients in Nigeria, the outrageous cost of life-saving drugs is a daily burden. Several people are now forced to take a risk with their health by extending or missing doses, settling for less potent substitutes, resorting to self-medication or traditional healers, or stopping medication entirely. For those battling chronic ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer, the affordability crisis has pushed essential medications and treatment out of reach for many Nigerians and strained the public healthcare system. Experts are worried that a significant number of patients who are not taking their medications as prescribed, stand to develop…

Monday, 17 June 2024 04:14

‘I’ve slaughtered a ram yearly starting from 1976 but this year I can't, I just can't’, Nigerian Muslims lament the ‘driest’ Sallah in a generation

“I have slaughtered a ram every year starting from 1976 but this year I can't, I just can't.” Like many of the estimated 100 million Muslims in Nigeria, 78-year-old Kabiru Tudun Wada is not celebrating Eid al-Adha as he normally would because of the cost-of-living crisis. Muslims around the world traditionally slaughter a ram or another animal on Eid al-Adha, in memory of the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his own son when God ordered him to. The meat is used to prepare a huge feast for the entire family, while friends and neighbours visit each other and eat the…

Saturday, 15 June 2024 02:56

Hardship: Nigerians face most expensive Sallah in a generation as prices of ram, foodstuffs skyrocket

As Sallah approaches, Nigerians, particularly the Muslim faithful, will be struggling with record-high inflation, which has driven up the costs of rams, tomatoes, bags of rice and other food items. A Nairametrics market survey shows that ram prices have nearly doubled since last year, and staples like tomatoes have also seen big price hikes. These rising costs make it hard for families to afford traditional Sallah celebrations. This year, many may be bracing up for what could be the most expensive Sallah in over three decades. Nigerians are bracing up for the most expensive Sallah holidays in over 30 years…

Tuesday, 11 June 2024 04:53

N700/litre in Nigeria; N2,000 in Cameroon - smuggling petrol across West African borders becomes hugely profitable

The Federal Government, on Monday, raised the alarm over the renewed smuggling of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, following the massive hike in the pump price of the commodity in neighbouring countries. It stated that while the average price of petrol in Nigeria was about N701/litre, the average cost of the product in neighbouring countries was N1,787/litre, a development that heightened PMS smuggling out of Nigeria in the past two weeks. The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, who disclosed this at a press conference in Yola, said the NCS had to join forces with the Office…

Friday, 31 May 2024 04:57

‘The cost of living wants to kill the living’: Nigerians struggle to afford the basics - The Guardian, UK

For visitors to Lagos, the gentle plea begins with immigration officials at the airport and is echoed across the streets of Africa’s most populous city: “Show me love.” It is a familiar request for tips in a city of omnipresent hustle, but residents say the requests have intensified in the last year as people struggle under the crushing weight of Nigeria’s underperforming economy. Wednesday marked the completion of the first year in office of the president, Bola Tinubu, after the disputed election of February 2023. It was also the 25th anniversary of Nigeria’s return to democracy, a promising point in…

Thursday, 30 May 2024 04:47

‘Hunger, poverty, dissatisfaction are the harsh realities of Tinubu’s one year in office’, 84% of Nigerians lament in new poll

In his inaugural address one year ago, President Bola Tinubu championed unity and promised to remodel the economy to bring about growth and development through job creation, food security and ending extreme poverty. As Tinubu begins his second year as president, most Nigerians score him very low on the economy, according to results from a new national Africa Polling Institute (API) poll. At least 84 percent of respondents expressed sadness with the current state of affairs in the country under Tinubu while 81 per cent said that the president is driving the country in the wrong direction. One such Nigerian…

Wednesday, 29 May 2024 04:30

Insecurity worsens as 4,500 killed, 7,000 kidnapped on Tinubu’s watch

In his inaugural speech on 29 May, 2023, President Bola Tinubu vowed to tackle the lingering insecurity in the country. “Security shall be the top priority of our administration because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence,” the new president declared in his inauguration speech at the Eagle Square, Abuja, promising to overhaul the sector. “To effectively tackle this menace, we shall reform both our security doctrine and its architecture. We shall invest more in our security personnel, and this means more than an increase in number. We shall provide better training, equipment, pay, and firepower,” he…

Friday, 24 May 2024 04:44

Mandela's vision of Black unity fades as South Africa closes door to migrants

Munera Mokgoko was just three when apartheid fell. She can barely remember, much less fathom, the swell of hope that accompanied Black liberation three decades ago, shaped by Nelson Mandela’s vision of social equality and pan-African solidarity. “South Africa doesn’t have any ubuntu,” the 33-year-old said, using a Zulu word meaning humanity, ahead of an election in which the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is pledging to crack down on undocumented migrants from the rest of the continent. “It’s like we don’t know how to welcome people.” Mokgoko’s Tanzanian husband is among many African migrants who have flocked here since…

Tuesday, 30 April 2024 04:48

Report reveals Nigeria's massive deforestation: Equivalent to losing Lagos, Enugu, and FCT

A recent study has unveiled that Nigeria has lost a staggering 17,400 km² of forest cover between 2000 and 2020 due to deforestation. This area is equivalent to the combined size of Lagos (3,577 km²), Enugu (7,161 km²), and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) (7,315 km²). The study, presented by Aliyu Salisu Barau, a professor and Dean of the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Bayero University Kano, during the Final Workshop of a Research Project on "Improving Access to Clean and Modern Energy for Cooking while Reducing Land Degradation and Biodiversity Loss in Nigeria," highlighted the alarming rate…

Sunday, 07 April 2024 04:54

Nasarawa gov set me up to establish militia group, Miyetti Allah leader confesses to investigators

President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo, has alleged that the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, was behind the establishment of the ethnic militia group, Kungiya Zaman Lafiya. Bodejo, who is facing terrorism charges, accused the governor of pressurising him to form the militia group. The Miyetti Allah leader was arrested by operatives of the Defence Intelligence Agency on January 23, 2024, at the group’s office in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State for allegedly unveiling a militia group and has been in custody since then. He was arraigned before Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High…

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Monday, 01 April 2024 04:50

Despite FG’s promise to streamline tax waivers, beneficiaries increase across industries - Report

About 107 companies including Dangote and Mikano International are currently enjoying tax exemption from the Federal Government despite its insistence on discontinuing the programme and drastic steps to improve its revenue base. It also increased the number of beneficiaries enjoying Pioneer Status under the Industrial Development Income Tax Act by 24 from 83 in the first quarter of 2023 to 107 firms by the fourth quarter of 2023. This was disclosed in the latest Pioneer Status Incentive reports released by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and obtained by our correspondent on Sunday. An analysis of the PSI report showed that…

Friday, 22 March 2024 04:46

Nigeria’s high-cost oil industry is in decline - The Economist

A chief economist at Shell once described Nigeria as the “jewel in the crown” of the oil major’s empire. Yet in recent years the jewel has lost its lustre. Early this year Shell, which has been pumping oil in Nigeria for nearly seven decades, agreed to sell its onshore subsidiary to a consortium of mostly local companies. Other oil firms are packing up too. In February TotalEnergies, a French group, said it also planned to offload its own stake in Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary. It joined a long list of firms, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Eni and Equinor that have shed Nigerian…

Friday, 15 March 2024 04:48

Children drop out of schools, families torn apart as over 7,000 Nigerians get kidnapped in 9 months

Esther Joseph said she went "almost mad" with anguish when her 13-year-old daughter Precious Sim was kidnapped from a northern Nigeria high school along with other students on July 5, 2021. In the following days, she tried to go after the kidnappers in the surrounding forest, but soldiers - alerted by fellow community members - caught up with her and brought her back. In the end, she sold her meagre possessions - including pots, fans and a television set - and enlisted the help of her brothers and in-laws, as well as local church members, to pay a ransom of…

Tuesday, 12 March 2024 04:32

Hunger spreads as cost of living crisis deepens in Nigeria - Reuters

Blessing Joseph has been weaving bags, sandals and jewellery earning enough money to feed her son and send him to school. But since November, she has fallen on hard times as customers have stopped coming and she and her son routinely go to bed hungry. She is among millions in Africa's largest economy, grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades, that has deepened since President Bola Tinubu assumed office last May. Last year, Joseph could easily make 30,000 naira ($18.83) a week but now she will be lucky to get 5,000 naira, she said. "People used to…

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