Special Reports

Nigeria, a country long used to hardship, is facing a crushing cost-of-living crisis. Prices for some vital food staples have doubled in a matter of months. Trucks hauling items like rice and pasta are being hijacked along rural highways. Protests have bubbled up in major cities and soldiers now stand guard to prevent grain warehouses from being ransacked by desperate citizens. At the heart of the upheaval in Africa’s most populous country are aggressive reforms by President Bola Tinubu, who scrapped a popular but costly fuel subsidy and eased foreign-exchange controls shortly after taking office in May. The moves were…
• Importation of devices drops by 45%, says player • Companies opt for fairly-used laptops as prices of new units rise by 300%• Importers express frustrations, lament banks’ indifference to their painsThe protracted foreign exchange (FX) crisis has found expression in computer hardware and software, cutting consumer electronics importation by as much as 45 per cent. Though there have been pockets of imports in the last four months, The Guardian learnt that the last time a container of computer and related devices were imported into the country was the last quarter of 2022. A major importer and vendor at the…
As Nigeria’s vice president cut the ribbon on Procter & Gamble Co.’s diaper production line in 2017, the $300 million facility near Lagos was hailed as a symbol of the country’s economic ambitions. In December, P&G said it was leaving the West African state. The US consumer goods giant is not alone. In recent months at least three other global conglomerates have announced they are exiting Africa’s most populous nation, and second biggest economy. Among them GSK Plc, Bayer AG and Sanofi SA. Last year Unilever Plc cut some of the products it was manufacturing in the country. Nestle SA…
Standard Chartered Plc had a wild 2023 with Nigeria’s volatile currency as the African nation struggled with foreign-exchange rules to attract investment from overseas and boost the supply of dollars. The London-based lender, in its corporate filings last week, said it made almost $120 million in a single day on June 1, in anticipation of new policies including an impending naira devaluation. By November, its position whipsawed as it made around $40 million only to lose more than $20 million later after the government announced a crackdown on the black market, where the US dollar at one point commanded a…
The brains of men and women operate differently, scientists have shown for the first time in a breakthrough that shows sex does matter in how people think and behave. ‌The issue of whether male and female brains are distinct has proven controversial, with some academics arguing it is society – rather than biology – that shapes divergence. ‌There has never been any definitive proof of difference in activity in the brains of men and women, but Stanford University has shown that it is possible to tell the sexes apart based on activity in “hotspot” areas. ‌They include the “default mode…
With inflation nearing 30% and its currency hitting an all-time low, Nigeria is facing one of its worst economic crises in years. The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed that the headline consumer price index (CPI) rose to 29.9% year-on-year in January, its highest level since 1996. The surging cost of living and economic hardship sparked protests across the country over the weekend. With annual inflation nearing 30% and a currency in freefall, Nigeria is facing one of its worst economic crises in years, provoking nationwide outrage and protests. The Nigerian naira hit a new…
Nigeria’s households and businesses are going through very difficult times as a result of the continued escalation of cooking gas, diesel and other resources. This becomes unbearable as their incomes have not experienced any meaningful increase in the past few years, which also recorded a significant drop in the value of the Naira, currently going for N1,515/$ at the official market. A market survey by Energy Vanguard, weekend, indicated that the price of cooking gas (12.5kg) that was N11, 250 in December 2023, has risen to N15, 000, indicating an increase of 33.3 per cent. Similarly, the price of diesel…
This is not the best of times for Nigerian families, who have had to adopt bizarre cost-cutting measures to cope with the recent hardship occasioned by the dramatic hike in the prices of goods and services. Several of them lamented that their income could no longer take care of their daily needs, adding that the prices of staples had almost tripled in the market. Rice, which is arguably one of the commonest consumed staples in the country, has risen to N77,000 per bag. In December, the National Bureau of Statistics stated that the country’s inflation rate hit a 27-year high…
Like every other sector, the building and construction industry may be witnessing one of its worst moments, as exchange rate, building materials, and labour prices have triggered an increase in construction costs by 200 per cent in the last two years. Nigeria’s inflation rate as of December 2023 climbed to 28.9 per cent. The recent upsurge in inflation is primarily linked to the effects of petrol subsidy removal and the devaluation of the official exchange rate, both exerting substantial impacts on consumer prices. The exchange rate crisis has worsened the woes of the building sector. The direct effect of exchange…
Philippa Kelly ‘I don’t sweat the small stuff any more’ Mari Isdale, 40, Greater Manchester, England In 2015, Isdale, then 31, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer and given 18 months to live. Despite a period of remission and 170 rounds of chemotherapy, the disease has since spread to her lymph nodes. I always thought, “I’ll get my career sorted, then we’ll get married, have children, go travelling.” And then cancer happened. You grieve for your future self. Your imagined children and your career. If I died tomorrow, what I’d be saying on my deathbed is I regret not…
April 30, 2025

NNPCL faces criticism as Warri Refinery fails to take off after $897m in repairs bill

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is under scrutiny after the Warri Refining and Petrochemical…
April 28, 2025

Natasha mocks Akpabio in scathing ‘apology’ over sexual harassment claim

Suspended Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Sunday delivered a blistering, sarcastic "apology" to Senate…
April 29, 2025

How African popes changed Christianity - and gave the world Valentine's Day

Now predominantly Muslim, North Africa was once a Christian heartland, producing Catholic popes who left…
April 26, 2025

Declassified CIA file about UFO aliens attacking soldiers released

A declassified document posted to the CIA’s website is raising eyebrows with claims of an…
April 29, 2025

At least 26 people killed as 2 vehicles run over bomb planted by Boko Haram…

At least 26 people were killed on Monday when two vehicles detonated an improvised explosive…
April 30, 2025

Here’s the latest as Israel-Hamas war enters Day 572

UN chief urges 'irreversible action' on Israel, Palestinian two-state solution United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres…
April 27, 2025

Smartphone use could reduce dementia risk in older adults, study finds

The first generation that has been exposed consistently to digital technology has reached the age…
January 08, 2025

NFF appoints new Super Eagles head coach

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed Éric Sékou Chelle as the new Head Coach…

NEWSSCROLL TEAM: 'Sina Kawonise: Publisher/Editor-in-Chief; Afolabi Ajibola: IT Manager;
Contact Us: [email protected] Tel/WhatsApp: +234 811 395 4049

Copyright © 2015 - 2025 NewsScroll. All rights reserved.