In a recent interview, ex-Osun Governor, Chief Bisi Akande, alleged that the #EndSARS movement that roiled Nigeria in 2020 was a conspiracy against his friend, Bola Tinubu. By narrating how a set of circumstances that did not begin with Tinubu became wrapped around him and his ambitions, Akande tried to increase the moral value of his electoral victory. The interesting part for me was that he claimed that those who ambushed Tinubu through EndSARS were “the Obi-dients”, a well-organised army who “came from America (the USA) with a lot of money”. I am willing to bet that Akande has no evidence whatsoever to substantiate his allegations and would demur if asked to name those Obi-dients. But stories like that do not need to be true; they only need to be believed.

But why “America”? Why did the conspiring Obi-dients that Akande conjectured come from the USA and not anywhere else? There is a significant Nigerian diaspora in the UK and Canada, could they also not have funded such a campaign? Given the outsized role regularly ascribed to the USA in our political and economic predicaments, no other country would have sufficed. The imagination that produced that allegation must be substantive to some degree to sound somewhat credible.

Ask a Nigerian or an African why our countries are so poor, and it will not be long before they gravitate towards detecting Western-based institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank as why we fail at self-management. Those USA-based organisations are the physical manifestations of the transcendent forces we blame for our woes. Since there are several documented instances of their unpalatable institutional interference in economically challenged countries like Nigeria, there is a mix of truth that justifies how they have come to embody the trope of the evil that keeps Africa from attaining its destiny. That is why one of our Daddys in the Lord could pray that “Either the IMF likes it or not, I decree the naira will rise again.”

The USA is also routinely fingered in the restlessness that bedevils our society. Some people are convinced that terrorism in Nigeria is funded by the USA. I have met a few of those folks before; their attributed reasons for the USA’s supposed malevolence can be internally contradictory, but the conspiracy imagination needs not to be coherent before it rings true to those who believe them. Then there are Nigerians who also believe that the only reason that Muhammadu Buhari won the election in 2015 was because the USA sponsored him. Some of those folks, if they are reading this article, are ready to defend that assertion by pointing to one or two examples they hold as indelible proof. They need not worry. I have read all those arguments; I know where those folks are coming from.

The trouble with such speculation is that we become so invested in tracing the outlines of an alternative reality where “the spiritual determines the physical” that we lose sight of ourselves as human agents who determine our destiny. To the folks who believe that the USA masterminded the 2015 election loss by the PDP, it matters less that it was Nigerians who used their hand to vote for Muhammadu Buhari. They override the agency of fellow Nigerians, some of whom sought genuine reforms and many of whom were also motivated by religious/tribal identities, to blame a supernational force. One would think it was America that created “Febuhari” or “March for Buhari” and helped Yemi Osinbajo distribute the N10,000 pittance they used to bid for votes.

The 2015 election loss was so humiliating for the religious and tribal blocs that Goodluck Jonathan represents, that the only way they can justify the turn of events is to attribute it to a higher power. Even Jonathan himself believes that he lost to the USA, not his countrypeople who got tired of his crass ineptitude. Our society is so invested in the supernatural that if we are not leaving our human responsibility to God, we are blaming the devil for our failings. The same attitude extends to our political and economic behaviours where we always look for otherworldly forces to blame for our self-induced problems.

What gets lost in the narrative is the temporal context. Occupy Nigeria, the anti-subsidies removal protests of 2012 that activated disaffection against Jonathan, and which his supporters (like Akande too) insist was a funded campaign by clandestine agents, also happened in different parts of the world at that time. That of Nigeria occurred in the light of the legislative probe that revealed the huge scam that the subsidy had become. In the era of Arab Spring and the #OccupyUSA movement, was it unthinkable that the young Nigerians embedded within a global media ecosystem would react to oppressive corruption like their counterparts elsewhere? Yes, certain characters like Muhammadu Buhari profited from the anti-Jonathan sentiment that the protest generated, but the emotions that drove it were not baseless.

The funny thing is that I know people who supported Buhari and campaigned for him from door to door. Imagine how amused I was when I saw some of them—against the backdrop of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s campaign against USAID, the cultural arm of the US government—on Twitter (now called X) also crowing about how the USA imposed Buhari on Nigeria in 2015! Buhari was such a huge failure that his once devoted supporters are erasing their own participation in making him president! To distance themselves from the monumental disgrace he became, they delete their complicity.

In the same way that the anti-Buhari people have outsourced their agency in that protest to the USA, Akande too weaponises the EndSARS to blame some shadowy agents for confronting Tinubu. In doing so, he similarly erases the agency of the Nigerians who were genuinely driven to the streets because they were frustrated with the failings of a judicial institution under Buhari’s watch. The EndSARS was about Nigerian youths who had been driven to the wall by the excesses of the police, and just like OccupyNigeria in 2012, they took energies from similar protests abroad. Akande’s historical revisionism had nothing to say about the genuine issues that precipitated those protests.

Notice also that even though Tinubu contested against two opponents, only Peter Obi haunts Akande’s imagination. Yes, Obi profited from the anti-establishment sentiment of EndSARS the same way OccupyNigeria helped Buhari. So immense was his popularity among Nigeria’s Gen Z that he sent the conservative political class into a tailspin. If today, Tinubu struggles with a crisis of legitimacy even as the sitting President, it is also because he lost something irrecoverable to Obi in that election. The Obi who was said to lack “structure” and his supporters who were ridiculed as “people without PVCs” stunned everyone with what they achieved. That is why Akande thinks American money and strategy had to have been involved. If Obi had been declared the winner of that election, Akande’s narrative would have held up to justify how a combination of Yoruba and Northerners, the majority of whom also happen to be Muslims, could lose to a Christian southerner whose supporters were not even taken seriously.

Here is the thing: the fact that Akande’s story is laughable today does not mean it will always be. The APC will not rule forever. Many of their top brass are older men who will eventually lose their vice-like grip over the existing political structure. Nature will do its thing, and they will eventually be defeated in a hostile takeover. Those who will replace them are the current anti-establishment figures who are tweeting while waiting in the wings. From the fringes where they are sensationalising the USA as the God/Satan whose invisible hands move our history to mobilise their army of the disaffected, they will become the dominant ones. The ones in power today will look back at moments like 2020 EndSARS, pick up the narrative of “money, strategy, and America” including the one Akande put out and they too will start running with it.

Punch

The U.S. will "take over the Gaza Strip," level it and rebuild the area, President Donald Trump said during a press conference Tuesday evening after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. 

"The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too," Trump said Tuesday evening in a joint press conference with Netanyahu. "We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site."

"Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area," he said. "Do a real job. Do something different. Just can't go back. If you go back, it's going to end up the same way it has for 100 years."

Netanyahu, who joined Trump for the Tuesday press conference, is the first world leader to meet with the president at the White House under his second administration.

When asked about taking over the Gaza Strip, Trump said he could see the U.S. in a "long-term ownership position" of the piece of land, which would likely bring stability to the Middle East.

"I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East and maybe the entire Middle East," Trump said. "And everybody I've spoken to – this was not a decision made lightly – everybody I've spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land. Developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent in a really magnificent area that nobody would know. Nobody can look because all they see is death and destruction and rubble." 

Netanyahu, when also asked about the Gaza Strip, reiterated to the media that he has three goals, one of which is to "make sure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again."

"President Trump is taking it to a much higher level," the Israeli leader said. "He sees a different – he sees a different future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so much, so many attacks against us, so many, so many trials and so many tribulations. He has a different idea, and I think it's worth paying attention to this."

The pair's White House meeting included discussing the current ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group and its future, Iran's grip on the Middle East and resettling Gaza residents in other nations.

"In our meetings today, the prime minister and I focused on the future, discussing how we can work together to ensure Hamas is eliminated and ultimately restore peace to a very troubled region," Trump said during the press conference. "It's been troubled, but what's happened in the last four years has not been good."

Trump said the Gaza Strip has become "a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it."

"It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there," he added. 

Netanyahu lauded Trump's tenacity and ability "to think outside the box" during his comments to the press. 

"Your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time and time again, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas, will help us achieve all these goals," he said. "And I've seen you do this many times. You cut to the chase. You see things others refuse to see. You say things others refuse to say, you know. And after the jaws drop, people scratch their heads, and they say, 'You know, he's right.'" 

The Israeli leader continued that his nation's victory would also be a win for America.

"Israel's victory will be America's victory," Netanyahu said. "We will not only win the war working together, we will win the peace. With your leadership, Mr. President, and our partnership, I believe that we will forge a brilliant future for our region and bring our great alliance to even greater heights."

Fox News

The Federal Government began collecting tolls Tuesday on the 227.2km Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi Highway, marking a significant shift in infrastructure management. The launch took place at the Garaku Toll Plaza.

Minister of Works David Umahi, represented by Minister of State Bello Goronyo, emphasized the highway's crucial role in connecting central and northern Nigeria. The project operates under a 25-year concession agreement with MS China Harbour Operations and Maintenance Company, established in 2023 and funded through a China Exim Bank loan.

The toll rates are:

- Cars: N500

- SUVs: N800

- Minibuses: N1000

- Multi-axle vehicles, trucks, and buses: N1600

Commercial light vehicles will receive a 50% discount. Several vehicle categories are exempt from tolls, including security forces, diplomatic missions, ambulances, tricycles, motorcycles, and bicycles.

According to Lai Are, Managing Director of Catamaran, the toll system will operate cashlessly through POS terminals and electronic payment systems. The company plans to develop mobile apps and websites to facilitate easy payment.

This highway represents the first of nine corridors to be concessioned under the Highways Development and Management Initiative's Phase 1. The government aims to use toll revenue for maintenance and expansion, working toward a "modern, safe" transportation system that meets Nigeria's growing needs.

The new toll system prioritizes efficient traffic flow while generating funds for infrastructure maintenance. Similar toll launches are planned across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones in the coming months.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Federal Government plans to issue bonds worth N758 billion to clear outstanding pension liabilities, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, announced on Tuesday in Abuja.

Speaking after the 23rd Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Edun explained that the debt, accumulated under the old Defined Benefit Scheme before the Contributory Pension Scheme was introduced in 2004, will be addressed through the Debt Management Office (DMO).

According to the minister, these pension arrears have built up over time due to periodic wage increases, making it difficult to settle them through regular payments. The bond issuance, he said, will provide long-overdue relief to affected pensioners.

“The government, through the DMO, has received approval to raise a Federal Government Bond of about N758bn to clear the backlog of pension liabilities,” Edun stated. “This will cover various categories of pensioners who are owed under the Defined Benefit Scheme, which was in place before the Contributory Pension Scheme came into effect in 2004 and was updated in 2014.”

He further explained that some pension obligations accrued due to adjustments in salaries every five years, requiring additional payments to retirees under the old scheme. Over time, this liability grew beyond what could be managed on an ongoing basis.

“To resolve this issue and ensure pensioners receive their rightful entitlements promptly, the government has approved this bond issuance. It will help settle all outstanding pension liabilities, bringing much-needed relief to the beneficiaries,” Edun added.

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) reported an oil spill on Tuesday at its facility in Ogale, near Port Harcourt, Rivers State, after a saver pit overflowed during flushing operations in the Niger Delta region. The oil major confirmed that its spill response team swiftly contained the overflow and notified relevant authorities. A Shell spokesperson stated that arrangements are underway for a regulator-led joint visit to assess the cause and impact of the spill.

According to the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), the spill occurred when an underground pit filled with crude oil began flowing into a pipeline that separates an area of the Ogoni cleanup project. This incident adds to the long history of oil spills in the Niger Delta, which have caused severe environmental damage, destroyed livelihoods, and impacted the health of millions in local communities.

This is not the first oil spill incident involving Shell in recent months. On December 14, 2024, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) reported an oil spill at Shell’s loading terminal in Bonny, Rivers State. Shell responded by shutting down the affected pipeline and deploying containment booms to protect nearby communities. Earlier, on August 14, 2024, another spill occurred at an SPDC facility in Imiringi, Bayelsa State, which Shell attributed to oil theft.

The latest spill has reignited concerns about the environmental and social impact of oil operations in the Niger Delta, with calls for stricter oversight and accountability from oil companies operating in the region.

Hamas says talks start on second phase of Gaza ceasefire deal

Talks have started on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, the spokesperson for the Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Tuesday.

The first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into force on Jan. 19 after 15 months of war and involved a halt to fighting, the release of some of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners.

Phase two of the three-phase deal is intended to focus on agreements on the release of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

"Contacts and negotiation on the second phase have begun," Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua said, without providing further details.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said earlier on Tuesday that Israel was preparing to send a high-level delegation to the Qatari capital Doha to discuss continued implementation of the deal.

Netanyahu was due to hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, with the focus likely to be on the ceasefire as well as a possible normalisation of relations with Saudi Arabia.

The initial six-week truce, agreed with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and backed by the U.S., has remained largely intact but prospects for a durable settlement are unclear.

The war began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military campaign in Gaza since then has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, Palestinian health authorities say.

Hamas and Netanyahu's government, which includes hardliners who opposed the ceasefire deal, say they are committed to reaching an agreement in the second phase although each has criticised the other over its implementation.

Israeli leaders say Hamas cannot remain in Gaza, but the movement has taken every opportunity it could to show the control it still exerts despite the loss of much of its former leadership and thousands of fighters during the war.

Qanoua said Israel had stalled in implementing the humanitarian protocol of the ongoing first phase, hindering the repair of hospitals, roads, water wells and infrastructure destroyed by Israel's 15-month offensive.

Israel did not immediately comment on Qanoua's assertion although Israeli deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show that Hamas had broken a lot of the rules that had been set.

Despite this, she said: "We are hopeful. We want to bring back all of our family members, and we need to make sure that Israel's security can be guarded."

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Zelensky says he’s ready for talks with Putin

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has expressed readiness to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin if it is the only option to bring the Ukraine conflict to its end. 

He made the remarks during an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, with excerpts published on Tuesday. When asked if he was prepared to meet with the Russian president, Zelensky indicated his willingness to do so.

“If that is the only setup in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely we will go for this setup, for this meeting,” he said. “What is my attitude to him [Putin]? I will not be kind to him and I… consider him an enemy. And to be honest, I believe he considers me an enemy as well,” he stated.

The remarks appear to reflect an apparent shift in Zelensky’s stance. He had repeatedly refused to negotiate with Putin in the past and even signed a decree explicitly banning any negotiations with Moscow and President Vladimir Putin specifically. Last month, Zelensky claimed the ban applied to all Ukrainian officials except himself, while the original 2022 decree only stated that such negotiations were “impossible” without specifying any individuals or entities prohibited from engaging in them.

Last week, Putin reiterated Moscow’s position that Zelensky lacks the legitimacy to sign any agreement, given that his presidential term expired in May 2024 and no constitutional mechanism exists to extend it. However, the Russian president stated that he was willing to send negotiators to talk to Zelensky if the latter was open to discussions.

“It’s possible to negotiate with anyone. However, due to his illegitimacy, [Zelensky] has no right to sign anything. If he wishes to participate in talks, I will deploy people who will conduct such negotiations,” Putin said.

The Ukrainian decree banning negotiations with Russia remains a major obstacle to any meaningful talks between Kiev and Moscow, Putin suggested. Additionally, he pledged to deploy a team of legal experts to assess the authority of any Ukrainian negotiating team and determine whether they had the proper legal standing to sign an agreement.

“If we start negotiations now, they will be illegitimate… Because when the current head of the regime – that’s the only way to call [Zelensky] today – signed this decree, he was a somewhat legitimate president. But now he can’t cancel it because he is illegitimate. That’s the trick, the catch, the trap,” Putin explained.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine's politics warms up as US focuses on war's endgame

After Russia's 2022 invasion, Ukraine's normally febrile political life was becalmed under martial law. But there have been growing signs of activity picking up, as the United States has set its sights on finishing the war with Russia quickly.

In the past week, one Ukrainian political camp has accused President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's team of caring more about elections than the war, Kyiv's mayor has said a presidential appointee is sabotaging his work and opposition figures have been travelling overseas.

"It's to do with Trump, the expectation that there will be negotiations ... The activity has increased, there's clearly more domestic political nervousness," said Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst.

In what could fuel a sense of a looming return to politics, Reuters reported on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump's team wants Kyiv to hold a presidential election by the year-end, especially if it can agree on a ceasefire with Moscow.

Petro Poroshenko, a former president and leading opposition figure, has been pictured shaking hands with numerous foreign officials in recent weeks.

He denies it has anything to do with elections, which he says would work in Russian President Vladimir Putin's favour and destabilise Ukraine at a dangerous moment.

"Our task is to win the war," Poroshenko told Reuters.

Yet his European Solidarity Party has accused Zelenskiy of trying to bar him from parliament and of focusing on "upcoming elections instead of handling the war".

A former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, has become more visible of late, meeting European Union officials abroad and protesting about Ukraine's detention of a general over a botched defensive operation last May.

Last week, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, a potential presidential challenger, accused Zelenskiy's entourage of political intrigue, saying the city's military administrator, appointed by the president, had deliberately derailed the work of his civilian administration.

Asked to comment, Zelenskiy's team referred the matter to the city administrator, who has dismissed Klitschko's allegations as unsubstantiated.

Fesenko said some political groupings were assembling activists and working on election campaign teams. He said he had seen no such activity in Zelenskiy's camp and that politicians were probably jumping the gun if they saw an election looming.

"It's a false start in my opinion," he said.

FALSE PRETEXT?

U.S. officials say no policy decisions have been made and their strategy on Ukraine is evolving. Ukrainian politicians, both from the ruling bloc and opposition, say elections before the war ends could undermine national unity.

There are also logistical challenges.

Serhiy Dubovik, deputy head of Ukraine's Central Election Commission, told Reuters it would take at least four to six months to prepare so that campaigning could start ahead of an election, given the displacement of voters and widespread destruction.

Millions of Ukrainians still live abroad, millions more are internally displaced by the war, a fifth of Ukraine is occupied and frontline areas have been devastated.

Zelenskiy has said elections will happen straight after the end of martial law, which was declared to provide the state with emergency powers to fight Russia. The legislation explicitly prohibits holding elections.

Zelenskiy, whose five-year-mandate would have ended last May, has not said whether he will run again. This is not his focus, he says.

Putin, who has been in power for 25 years, says Zelenskiy is not a legitimate leader in a position to negotiate because no election has been held.

In Ukraine, even those who say they disapprove of Zelenskiy's record largely see him as the legitimate leader, said Anton Hrushetskyi, director of the Kyiv-based KIIS survey centre.

A Ukrainian government official told Reuters that Putin was trying to create a false pretext to avoid talks. Ukraine wants to hold elections but it is impossible during a full-scale war, the official said.

Zelenskiy's public trust rating is above 50%, according to opinion polls, although it has dropped since Russia's Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, when it rose to over 90% as Ukrainians rallied around the flag.

The elephant in the room for some observers is Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, who led the armed forces for two years after that invasion before being replaced and named ambassador to London.

Some lawmakers have asked whether Zaluzhnyi could be co-opted by an established political force and run for president.

Ukraine's London embassy did not respond to a written request for comment.

Zaluzhnyi has publicly voiced no political ambition but polls suggest he is popular. Zaluzhnyi's image is all over bookstores in Kyiv, where thousands of copies of his new book "My War" have been sold.

Hrushetskyi said gauging the public's political preferences during the war was difficult, especially when it was not known who would run in an election.

Polls show the public broadly against holding elections until the war is over, Hrushetskyi added.

"For the majority, the priority is to achieve success in the war, and then hold elections," he said.

RT/Reuters

You must have heard this axiom at some point your life, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” If you did not hear it as a child, you must have heard it as an adult. Even now, many can see their school teachers in their mind’s eye restating this axiom. Its veracity was not in dispute then, and I do not think many have bothered to find out whether or not it is true. We somewhat believe that if we can eat at least an apple a day, then we will not have any business with the doctor.

The truth is that apple is one of the most consumed fruits around the world. It can be eaten raw, cooked, or juiced. Its reasonable affordability and wide availability, especially in regions with temperate climates, has made it a staple in many diets.

One of the reasons apples are touted as a wonder fruit is that it is abundant in antioxidants, particularly flavonoids like quercetin and catechin. These compounds help protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals, reducing the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and certain types of cancer. Apples are equally a good source of both soluble and insoluble fibre. Soluble fibre helps lower cholesterol levels, while insoluble fibre aids in digestion and promotes regularity.

Apples also provide a decent amount of vitamin C, which supports immune function and collagen production, and contains potassium, which is essential for heart health and blood pressure regulation. The fact that apples are relatively low in calories and high in fibre makes them a satisfying and filling snack. Including apples in one’s diet, can help especially those watching their weight feel full and reduce overall calorie intake, thus aiding in weight management.

Although an apple a day might not, in reality, completely keep doctors at bay, incorporating it into a balanced diet can significantly contribute to overall health and well-being. The axiom “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” therefore serves as an allegorical statement that reminds us of the importance of incorporating fruits like apples into our daily diets. It reminds us in some way of the need for a healthy, balanced diet.

You can therefore imagine my shock when I went out recently to pick up some fruits for the house (something I had not done in a while), and my eyes fell on the apples. I was taken aback when the seller told me an apple was N500. That, I thought, was the joke of the year. How can an apple that sold for N200 in the recent past be selling for N500? I thought it was either the seller wanted to cheat me or things were much more expensive in that place, as we had only recently temporarily moved there. How can apples be more expensive in this place than in Lagos? I asked. The seller had no idea how much apples were selling for in Lagos, so he simply reiterated the fact that it was N500 for one.

I lamented to my wife and other family members when I got home, but they all reminded me that I had no idea of the current price of apples even in Lagos. This happened in December last year, less than two months ago. Today, the price of the same size of apple has gone up to N700. Some are even selling it for N800 or N900. An average Nigerian can simply no longer afford an apple a day.

Now, this is not just about apples anymore, as the prices of other fruits have similarly gone up. The big size of cucumber that sold for N200 in the not-too-distant past now sells for N700. And oranges? They have suddenly become four for N500, instead of the 10 for N500 in the recent past. It is unimaginable that prices can change so drastically, and so dramatically, within a few months in spite of the many assurances by the government and its top officials that things have started looking up.

And what can be said of apples and other fruits can also be said of every food item: prices have gone irretrievably beyond the reach of the average Nigerian. Worst hit are those who have been advised by their doctors to avoid certain foods. Many who had embraced healthy living as part of the solution to their health challenges (or as a pre-emptive measure) are suddenly falling back on whatever they can find to eat. They know this is not good for their health, but they would rather eat and at least stay alive, while they watch their health deteriorate.

The government therefore needs to urgently tweak its strategies with a view to tackling the problem of skyrocketing food (and fruit) prices which, from every indication, are not showing any signs of slowing down. Throwing handouts at some people every now and then is not the solution to the current hardship and deprivation experienced by the vast majority of Nigerians.

Governments at all levels — federal, state and local — should be involved in seeking a lasting solution to this gargantuan problem. After all, only the living and healthy can enjoy the bright future which the government has promised the Nigerian people, and keeps promising.

Gili Malinsky

During her 15 years at Microsoft, "I was looking at thousands of resumes a year," says Sabina Nawaz.

Nawaz, who served in roles such as Director of Human Resources, eventually left to start an executive coaching company where she's been working with senior leaders. She has a book coming out in March, "You're the Boss," about how to be a good manager.

Among the resume red flags she suggests job seekers avoid are general statements that give no sense of what the candidate did in previous positions.

And here are two of her top job interview red flags.

1. Not getting the basics right

Many jobseekers have a hard time adhering to the parameters of the job interview. "I cannot tell you the number of people who simply don't get the basics right," says Nawaz.

Those could include:

• Being on time for the interview
• Making sure your camera and audio are working correctly
• Making sure you have researched the people and organization you're interviewing with
• Dressing appropriately
• Following up with a "thank you" note

These mistakes can come off as inconsiderate or disrespectful of your prospective employer's time. They can also give a negative impression of "how you show up at work," she says.

2. Not highlighting your positives

By "not outlining your strengths in the best way possible," she says, you'll miss an important opportunity.

The job interview is a chance to flesh out what you can do as a worker with in-depth examples. When Nawaz works with her clients, she tells them to find 20 to 30 anecdotes of projects or experiences that "they're proud of the results and they enjoyed doing," she says. These can be drawn from both personal and professional lives.

Once they've identified those achievements, she has her clients look for patterns: What strengths do those anecdotes highlight? Pick out the ones most relevant to the job, she says, and reframe them within a story that's half about the problem and then half about the resolution.

If you can deliver these stories correctly in an interview, you end up "looking like a hero," she says.

CNBC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reported a significant decline in internet subscribers to 139.28 million in December 2024, down 15% from 163.83 million in December 2023. This sharp decrease appears to coincide with Nigeria's deepening cost of living crisis, as many citizens struggle to afford basic telecommunications services.

Economic Context

The reduction in internet subscriptions reflects the broader economic challenges facing Nigerian consumers. The removal of fuel subsidies in 2023, combined with rapid currency devaluation and soaring inflation, has severely impacted household purchasing power. Many Nigerians have been forced to prioritize essential needs like food and housing over telecommunications services, leading to dropped subscriptions or reduced data usage.

Telecom Provider Performance

The economic hardship has affected telecom providers differently:

- MTN Nigeria reached 72.22 million subscribers, adding 1.56 million year-over-year despite the challenges

- Airtel grew to 47.41 million, gaining 2.34 million subscribers

- Globacom experienced a dramatic decline to 17 million, losing 26.92 million subscribers

- 9mobile dropped to 2.06 million, down 1.56 million

The stark contrast in performance suggests that consumers may be consolidating their subscriptions to larger providers offering better value propositions during these difficult economic times.

Overall Telecommunications Landscape

Total telephony services subscribers decreased to 164.9 million in December 2024 from 224.7 million the previous year, a decline of 59.7 million users. Market share distribution showed:

- MTN: 84.6 million subscribers

- Airtel: 56.61 million

- Globacom: 20.13 million

- 9mobile: 3.23 million

Technology and Infrastructure

Despite the economic challenges, some positive trends emerged:

- Broadband penetration increased to 44.43% in December 2024

- Data usage grew to 973,455.35 terabytes, up from 713,200.6 terabytes in December 2023

- Technology usage breakdown:

  - 4G: 47.2%

  - 3G: 8.75%

  - 5G: 2.46%

This increase in data usage among remaining subscribers suggests that while many Nigerians have had to cut back on multiple subscriptions, those who maintain their internet access are consuming more data, possibly due to increased reliance on digital services for work, education, and communication.

The contrasting trends of decreased subscriptions but increased data usage per subscriber highlight the complex relationship between economic hardship and digital connectivity in Nigeria.