Palestinian president urges Hamas to lay down arms

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas on Wednesday to lay down arms and hand the running of Gaza to his Palestinian Authority, part of efforts to answer international doubts over the authority's role at a key moment for the region.

Abbas was speaking at a leadership council where he is expected this week to name a successor amid pressure from Western and Arab powers concerned about the PA's ability to play a viable-long term role in peace efforts.

While Abbas had previously called on Hamas to put its forces under the PA's control, he has not done so since the start of the war in Gaza, when the militant group's gunmen attacked Israel, prompting fierce military retaliation by Israel.

Hamas killed around 1,200 people and seized about 250 hostages in its October 7, 2023 attack, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign has killed more than 50,000 people, local health authorities say, and left much of Gaza in ruins.

Diplomatic efforts to craft a plan for Gaza's future have focused on pushing aside Hamas but Israel has also said it will not accept any role for the PA, which exercises limited autonomy in the West Bank.

"Hamas must hand over (its) Gaza responsibilities and hand over its arms to the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority and transform into a political party," said Abbas.

Hamas, which ousted the PA from Gaza during a brief civil war in 2007, has refused calls in recent months by Israel and the United States to lay down its arms.

PRESSURE TO NAME A SUCCESSOR

Abbas was speaking to the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which holds observer status at the United Nations as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and dominates the PA.

Abbas, 89, took over the Palestinian leadership after the death of veteran PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 2004. He has for years resisted naming a deputy or successor but the war in Gaza has intensified pressure for him to do so.

Last month, Arab states proposed a post-war plan for Gaza to be temporarily run by a committee before being returned to the PA's control. The United States, European Union and Gulf monarchies expected to play a role in financing any post-war reconstruction of Gaza have repeatedly urged PA reform.

Abbas has criticised the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which he said gave Israel a pretext to destroy Gaza. Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack.

Reuters

For a sermon that urges people to “understand their terrain”, it is ironic how many things Pastor Poju Oyemade got wrong in his message that compares realities between Nigeria and the USA. Most of the blowback to the respected pastor focuses on the controversial claim that Nigerian doctors are trained with a mere N500,000, but his sermon contains the same fallacious claims Nigerian leaders make when they relativise their country with advanced economies. It is one thing for the average talker on social media to construe subsidised medical education as a government charity to doctors, but it is another thing when a cleric repeats it. How come those who mouth these things never stop to ask why the government at the state and federal levels chooses to subsidise rather than demand full monetary value?

Nigerian universities, public or private, cannot come anywhere close to medical training in US schools simply because of affordability. For an under-producing economy, there is a practical limit to what can be charged if you want people to be able to afford medical training. Already, we are a society short of doctors; erecting any more financial barriers in their training system will be hugely detrimental. It is in the interest of the government and society to keep the costs of doctor training low enough. Can the existing arrangement be better structured to enhance value for the parties involved? Absolutely! But we cannot progress by making misleading arguments that fail to weigh the current calibration of interests by the parties involved.

In addition to the affordability, countries where they charge far more for medical training are incomparable to Nigeria in terms of training facilities and amenities. Do we want to compare Johns Hopkins Medical School with even our UCH, where their electricity supply was cut off for 100 days plus? It was just in January that medical students at UCH protested the prolonged power outage. When you listen to the heartbreaking accounts of how they coped during that dark period, you will be amused that someone thought comparing us with a country where no one worries over something as basic as electricity makes for a logical argument. Doctors at Johns Hopkins pay more, but their training also returns value for money. Can the same be said of Nigerian doctors? How many times has Poju heard of doctors in the USA going on strike over salaries, like they frequently do in Nigeria? Even our leaders know the difference, and that is why successive presidents opt for foreign hospitals rather than local ones staffed with N500,000 trained doctors!

Some of the arguments that Poju made in that video reprise what you read on social media by netizens, given to blindly defending Nigeria. One of them is that Nigerians work harder abroad while those at home are shiftless. He specifically said, “If you ask a Nigerian to do two jobs, he will curse your life out.” Really? Does the opportunity to take multiple jobs exist for Nigerians as it does for their counterparts elsewhere? To have a society where people can take multiple jobs, you must also have a productive economy that rewards. When the pastor looks around in his Lagos abode and sees the thousands of people who leave their homes at 4am to return at night, does he think they remain poor because they do not do enough?

Since the pastor’s data on Nigerians’ work culture is anecdotal, let me offer him one too. The other day, a well-meaning activist shared a video of herself scolding a mother who had brought her underage daughter to assist her in her sweeping job at 5am. We later learned from that poor mother that she leaves her home in Oworo by 3am to resume at the job at Ikoyin by 5am, and for a salary of N19,800! Will Poju agree that such a woman’s poverty is a consequence of her not taking a second job or driving for Uber? I can offer him more examples of how Nigeria’s problem of undervaluing labour contributes to the poor work culture. Once, I wrote a column on the poor remuneration of labour in Nigeria and I was shocked when several readers got back to me with figures of what they earn across sectors. The details were so ridiculous; I do not know how possible it is to survive on those salaries. For people to raise families on those amounts, they must already work on multiple fronts.

Before we accuse Nigerians of laziness compared to their immigrant counterparts, let us be sure that we have provided them with similar opportunities, but they failed to take them. Each time I think of the Oworo-to-Ikoyi woman’s 11-year-old daughter who joins her mother to do a menial task for a pittance, I wonder how exhausted she must be by a life that has not even started! If she grows up to despise work, some privileged person who does not know where she has been will compare her to her mate in the USA and conclude she is “lazy”. I am admittedly sensitive to an unnuanced comparison between Nigerians at home and abroad.

Poju made an important point about “employment data”, which he says does not capture the reality of Nigeria’s underground economy. I agree with him on that score. Truly, we can make a legitimate argument that the mathematics of “less than a dollar per day”, which international organisations use to count the number of poor people in the third world, focuses too much on what we lack at the expense of what we have. Those measurement scales are designed to be universal and can therefore elide the complexities of people’s lives in their respective countries. Yet, that should not becloud the reality of the harshness of our economic situation. If we decide to calibrate our own barometer for calculating poverty in the country, it should be to more accurately pinpoint where the problem lies and how it might be addressed, rather than being merely defensive against external agents.

We are a society so invested in faux patriotism that when we challenge poverty figures, we do so simply to contend with the international organisations that calculated them and not necessarily because we have developed a better understanding of the problem. You will hear economic advisors share spurious examples, such as the price of a bottle of Coke in the USA or how much a plate of food in Lekki Phase One costs. Those are unsophisticated understandings of what constitutes poverty in the world and its realistic effects in a modern world. Even Poju had yet another anecdote of a woman who bought wigs to prove that Nigeria might not be as poor. If a person can invest enough capital to sell wigs at N250,000 each, can she really be classified as part of the country’s informal economy system?

The people who feel the effects of these issues keenly and express their angst on social media are not, contrary to Oyemade’s wild assertion, being “programmed to hate their country”. That claim misunderstands the social terrain that precipitates these discussions and the issues that will not disappear simply because people engage in some syrupy positive speak. It is not self-hatred, expressing frustrations with your country. Those who act otherwise are not necessarily patriotic; they are just partisan. Many of them will turn coat the day the government they dislike comes to power.

It is also a part of the expression of our citizenship to stand up to a country that diminishes us. James Baldwin once said, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticise her perpetually.” As a cleric, Oyemade must also know that not every prophet in the Bible spoke peace to Israel at its crucial moments. Some denounced their homeland with curses. Was that (self-)hate or exhortation to righteousness? Those who still criticise Nigeria do so because they care and do not want to see it drown in injustices. I will take that over their indifference any day.

Punch

The International Monetary Fund has lowered its economic growth projection for Nigeria, citing falling oil prices as a primary factor behind the adjustment.

According to the IMF's April 2025 World Economic Outlook report published Tuesday, Nigeria's real GDP is now forecast to grow by 3.0 percent in 2025, down from the previous estimate of 3.2 percent. This revised figure also falls below the 3.4 percent growth estimated for 2024, with a further slowdown to 2.7 percent anticipated in 2026.

The IMF explained that the downgrade reflects how declining oil prices are affecting Nigeria's fiscal and external positions, emphasizing that energy exports continue to be the country's main source of foreign exchange and government revenue.

"For sub-Saharan Africa, growth is expected to decline slightly from 4 percent in 2024 to 3.8 percent in 2025 and recover modestly in 2026, lifting to 4.2 percent," the report stated. "Among the larger economies, the growth forecast in Nigeria is revised downward by 0.2 percentage point for 2025 and 0.3 percentage point for 2026, owing to lower oil prices."

While Nigeria is maintaining a current account surplus, its external position is expected to weaken in coming years. The IMF projects the country's current account balance will decrease from 9.1 percent of GDP in 2024 to 6.9 percent in 2025, dropping further to 5.2 percent in 2026.

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently reported a balance of payments surplus of $6.83 billion for 2024, driven by a goods trade surplus of $13.17 billion. However, these surpluses may not be sustainable according to the latest IMF projections.

Investment bank JP Morgan has warned that Nigeria could slip into a current account deficit if oil prices remain below the fiscal breakeven benchmark of $60 per barrel. Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings offered a more optimistic view, projecting that Nigeria's current account surplus will average 3.3 percent between 2025 and 2026, supported by improved refining capacity and ongoing energy sector reforms.

Regarding inflation, the IMF forecasts that Nigeria's headline inflation will average 26.5 percent in 2025—down from 33.2 percent in 2024—but could surge to 37.0 percent in 2026.

These projections follow the National Bureau of Statistics' rebasing of the Consumer Price Index in January 2025, which updated the base year from 2009 to 2024. After rebasing, inflation eased to 24.48 percent in January from 34.80 percent in December 2024, falling further to 23.18 percent in February before rising again to 24.23 percent in March.

The Central Bank of Nigeria maintained its Monetary Policy Rate at 27.5 percent in February to contain inflation, though it may need to implement further rate hikes as inflation and money supply increased in March 2025.

The IMF also highlighted concerns about weak income growth among Nigerians. It projects that Nigeria's real output per capita will grow by just 0.6 percent in 2025 and 0.3 percent in 2026, indicating limited improvements in living standards. These figures remain below the Sub-Saharan African average, underscoring the slow translation of economic growth into improved household incomes.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Residents of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states have been undergoing hardship following cuts in power supply by the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).

They said in the last three days, they got power supply for between two and three hours daily.

This is just as several Small-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the states said they were facing difficulties operating due to poor power supply and shortages.

Daily Trust’s findings revealed that businesses like welding, tailoring, phone charging, ice making and other small trades have been thrown into difficulties due to the shortage in electricity supply while others don’t even receive any power supply from the distribution company for days.

The KEDCO has apologised for the poor supply and blamed it on a system upgrade on its critical distribution infrastructure and vegetation control on electricity feeders requiring safe working space for its engineers.

Residents in the affected states have also been groaning as several basic amenities such as water supply and others are affected.

Water vendors increase price in Kano

In Kano State, a resident of Hotoro North in Nassarawa Local Government Area, Gambo Muhammad, said 25 litres of water sold at N70 before the shortage is now selling at N120 due to the power shortage.

“We are finding it very difficult to get access to affordable drinking water here. The main source of water in Kano is through boreholes and these boreholes are being powered by electricity. Therefore, without power supply, operators of the water businesses were forced to use other sources, which are expensive to operate and as such, water vendors incur additional charges which necessitate an increase in price of the water. To make it worse, not every centre can adequately afford it and that has made the water a little bit scarce in some places,” he said.

In some places, it was gathered that one had to wake up as early as 6:00am to look for a water vendor, while some water vendors claimed that they had to spend the night in the queue just to get their supply for the day.

It was also revealed that the ice block made from sachet water selling at N100 is now N200 per piece.

Why poor power supply?

Speaking on the poor supply in the state, the Head, Corporate Communications of KEDCO, Sani Bala Sani, in a statement on Saturday, blamed the poor supply to the ongoing network upgrades in some of its critical distribution infrastructure.

While apologising for the continuous outage, Sani said the company is also engaging in vegetation control on its feeders, which require safe working space for its engineers.

“We wish to sincerely apologise to our valued customers for the slight drop in power supply currently experienced across our franchise area….

“Recall that we have made significant progress in enhancing electricity distribution, and the results are evident, with longer hours of uninterrupted power, quicker response times, and better service delivery.

“As we remain committed to maintaining and even surpassing these improvements and in view of the forthcoming rainy season, it became necessary to carry out the upgrades to forestall any network disruptions.

“We sincerely regret all inconveniences caused, while assuring you that normal supply shall be restored as soon as the work is completed. We appreciate your understanding and patience.

Welder loses ‘mouthwatering contract’ in Jigawa

In Jigawa State, people have resorted to the use of abandoned wells to source for water and also various businesses such as welding and other related businesses have been grounded due to shortage of power supply. It was also gathered that the shortage had affected the price of some commodities such as cooking oil, ice blocks and phone charging as operators had increased their charges to cover the extra expenditure they incurred.

According to a water vendor, Sani Talle, electricity has been elusive in his area for three days and thus has not loaded his truck due to lack of water as a result of power shortage in the state. He explained that the power shortage has forced many water vendors to abandon their trucks and look for other things to be able to keep body and soul alive.

“They only provide electricity two or three hours a day, and in Jigawa here, the source of water is usually the boreholes and you can imagine the volume of water a two-hour power supply can pump. For three days now, I have been sitting down because there is no water to sell. If you go round, you will find out people are now using well water for their daily usage,” he said.

He added that there are many vendors like him who are considering adopting other means of survival and abandoning their vendor work as electricity supply is always going down.

On his part, Jamilu Shuwarin, a welder said he does nothing in his shop daily due to the power outage.

“I open in the morning and close in the evening without doing anything. I have lost a mouthwatering contract to someone who has more capital than me and can work with big electricity generating machines.”

He said his situation has made feeding his family difficult as he couldn’t afford to complement the shortage of electricity with other sources of power supply.

Netizens react

The conversation has also made waves on Nigeria’s cybersphere with netizens complaining how long it took for KEDCO to speak on the poor power supply.

Writing under an X post of KEDCO, Abdulmalik Attah described the position of the company as a ‘story’, adding that the situation means there wouldn’t be electricity in the franchise states for three weeks if the maintenance lasted that long.

Another X user, Muhammad Madaka, said the notice is coming late and is basically useless.

“It is after people have been complaining seriously you decided to come up with this excuse of a notice, no timeframe of when the supposed upgrade will be done.”

Rabiu Adam, who tagged the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in his comment, alleged that KEDCO is prioritising Kano as Katsina has always suffered at the hands of KEDCO.

“Even the KEDCO staff in Katsina don’t know the reason for the power outage. Almost a week of no supply and calling it a slight drop is crazy.”

Ibrahim Salisu Jibia said he is not happy with the current situation as the GRA feeder in Katsina supplying electricity to his house has gone for three days, keeping residents in darkness. “Something needs to be done please,” he pleaded.

SMEs shut down in Katsina

In Katsina State, the situation is similar, as residents claimed that they don’t get electricity supply that lasts for three hours. Residents of the state revealed that it is disheartening the rate at which SMEs are shutting down their businesses due to poor electricity supply.

NERC fines 8 DisCos

This is coming two weeks after the NERC announced it had fined eight electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) N628,031,583.94 (million) for violating its capping order on estimated bills for unmetered customers.

According to NERC, the companies, which included KEDCO, were fined in pursuant to section 34(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 2023 (“EA 2023”) and for not to fully complying with the monthly energy caps issued by the commission between July – September 2024 (2024/Q3).

Others include Abuja, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, and Yola DisCos.

“The public may recall that in 2020, the commission issued the Order on Capping of Estimated Bills (Order No: NERC/197/2020) and subsequently issued monthly energy caps, which aimed to align the estimated bills for unmetered customers with the measured consumption of metered customers on the same supply feeder. A review of DisCos’ billing of unmetered customers for July – September 2024 (2024/Q3) revealed non-compliance with the monthly energy caps issued by the Commission.”