Comprising five of the country’s 36 states, south-east Nigeria is the site of resilient atrocity. In the eight years from the middle of 2015 to the end of 2023, the monitoring coalition, Nigeria Mourns, confirmed about 3,000 killings in this theatre from open source records, but unofficial estimates suggest that there may be up to five killings missed for each counted. The worst of the killings have occurred since 2019, and the worst hit state in the zone over that period is Anambra.

Many erroneously date the origins of this to the radicalisation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the aftermath of its proscription in 2017. In reality, the escalation has lasted for over a quarter of a century, dating back approximately to the assassination in Enugu in 1998 of Igwe Amobi IV of Ogidi.

The annual Conflict Barometer by the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research identifies the south-east as one of eight different conflicts of concern in Nigeria, describing it as a “violent crisis of secession” and ranks it on a par with the crisis of armed pastoralism in the Middle Belt of the country; ahead of the crisis of resource militancy in the Niger Delta; and only below the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east and the armed bandits in the north-west of Nigeria.

Three framings define the crisis in south-east Nigeria in popular narrative. One is that it is about secession. A second is that most of the fatal incidents connected with it are perpetrated by “unknown gunmen”. The third is that the response to the situation is predominantly kinetic. Each of these is flawed. Together, they miss the underlying issues, with the result that they have turned an otherwise manageable crisis into an interminable atrocity.

Let’s begin with the first. The simplicity of the secession narrative is appealing at both the emotive and pecuniary levels. The former unites other Nigerians with subliminal appeal against a historical “Igbo question”. The latter enables the managers of expeditionary military deployments in the region to finagle more money for themselves using the excuse of preserving Nigeria’s territorial integrity. This would not be so if the situation were to be understood as a policing preoccupation with crime and criminality.

What’s the reality? IPOB’s business model does not stand a snowball’s chance in hell in any of the truly deadly sites of atrocity in south-east Nigeria. Awkuzu, host to the most horrendous atrocities in the region, is the site of “Nigeria’s most brutal police station” where hundreds, if not more, detainees have been killed extra-judicially. In Obosi, the ancient city on the banks of the Idemili River; and in Awka, the state capital, hundreds of young men routinely exterminate one another in murderous inter-cult and inter-gang warfare. In Ogbaru, located between the banks of Oguta Lake and the floodplains of River Niger, organized gangs mobilize deadly violence in sophisticated operations to rustle hydrocarbons. Lokpanta, the point along the Enugu-Port-Harcourt motorway where all the states of south-east Nigeria come close to sharing common borders, is an ungoverned territory where commercial kidnapping meets atrocity liquidation. None of these square with the convenience or simplicity of the secession narrative or with its profitability.

Turning to the second popular narrative about the situation in south-east Nigeria, the mythical “unknown” perpetrator is a figure of considerable antiquity in Nigeria. It has been around since the inconclusive judicial inquiry into the attack on Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Kalakuta Republic in February 1977, which blamed the incident on the “unknown soldier”. In 2011, the traditional ruler of Ihembosi, a community in Anambra State, was disappeared by “unknown gunmen.” They were also to blame in the violent abduction and subsequent disappearance in May 2014 of Chike Okoli, former Commissioner in the same state.

The legend of the unknown perpetrator in Nigeria has over the years emerged as both metaphor and measure of what is widely seen as state incapacity and leadership indifference to the scourge of impunity in the country. Far from an affirmation of unknown actors, Nigeria’s legend of the unknown perpetrator signposts a sense of popular despondency or loss of belief in the capacity of the state to end impunity for atrocities.

In the face of these tendencies, therefore, the third idea that the country or region can shoot its way out of this crisis is worse than wishful thinking. The complex landscape of drivers and factors in the situation in south-east Nigeria does not lend itself to such over-simplifications. To reprise a useful metaphor, it is more deserving of a scalpel than a hammer.

Over 24 months from 2022 to 2024, Bianca Ojukwu, the current minister of state for foreign affairs, and I together led a Truth, Justice and Peace Commission (TJPC) into the causes of the crisis in south-east Nigeria, the perpetrators, the consequences and possible solutions. The commission met and consulted with hundreds of victims and witnesses, including the security services, community leaders, clergy, politicians, vigilante elements, as various armed militias in the region.

Two things were evident. One is that the situation in the south-east is fundamentally a crisis of governance and of popular lack of belief in the legitimacy of many in political office in the region. The second is a clear desire on the part of most people to recover their communities and address the tasks of reconstruction and healing from the traumas of the violence.

There are no easy answers to these, but there are common threads. Rather perversely, the perpetrators who insist on rendering the region uninhabitable and the security providers who feed the secessionist trope are both engaged in a mutually profitable joint enterprise. Neither wishes insecurity in the south-east to end. This is why the audacity of Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo in enacting the new Anambra State Homeland Security Law, 2025, is welcome because it evinces a durable solution to the crisis. The law establishes a complementary security provider for the state called “Agun’echemba” (sentinel at the gate) and launches Udo g’Achi (peace shall reign) targeting atrocity insecurity.

Several aspects of the new law have come under scrutiny. In particular, section 18 which targets transactional ritualism has drawn attention, with claims that it lacks the clarity required to pass constitutional muster and discriminates against traditional worship. For context, the TJPC which I led met twice with Juju priests. Separately, I met privately with some senior exponents of the trade. They were united in acknowledging that some amongst them had chosen to parlay their skills in support of atrocity insecurity and made detailed proposals, including asking the government to help root out such practitioners, prohibit infiltration, and regulate and support legitimate practitioners.

The TJPC report diagnosed this phenomenon as “transactional accultism”, which it identified as enabling “violent cultism” and “the crisis of insecurity”. The report argues that this is “a major component of the psychological armor plate of impunity” providing the perpetrators of the violence with deadly rituals which lead them to believe that they have “an aura of both impenetrability to projectiles and invincibility in the field of atrocity, an immense psychological boost in an environment of impunity.”

The law also targets the compounded deficit of legitimate political leadership as an underlying driver of the crisis of insecurity in the region. In 2005, the New Humanitarian reported on the situation in south-east Nigeria that “rigged elections increase disenchantment”, explaining that sympathy for separatism “has been growing since the general elections of April and May 2003, which were marred by widespread allegations of vote rigging.” Officeholders who are widely seen as lacking legitimacy are liable to be compromised when confronted with atrocity insecurity. Instead, they get reduced to belligerents instrumentalizing the violence rather than seeking to end it. In this law, Governor Soludo shows he is different.

Above all, this law also addresses the need to rebuild the capacity to administer criminal justice fairly and effectively, beginning with responsible policing; capable magistrates, coroners and the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP). In many states in the region, the police have been rendered destitute of confidence, denuded of the trust of communities. Similarly, most magistrates are desolate and DPP’s offices in the region are unfunded, leaving prosecutorial personnel at the mercy of self-interested parties or of adversaries who threaten them into being ineffectual. The result is that in much of the region, all sides glamourise summary, arbitrary or extra-judicial killing as the solution to crime or deviance, disagreement or dissonance.

None of these is easy to implement. As a programme, it confronts organized opposition from those who have profited so far from the over-simplification in a single narrative of secession that has bedeviled the search for solutions to the situation. The present government of Anambra state has demonstrated single-mindedness ending this. For that, it deserves support and other states in the region can adapt this model.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Peter Nwaebonyi, deputy chief whip of the senate, says Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has a history of making “reckless and false allegations of sexual harassment against prominent figures”.

Nwaebonyi said the sexual harassment allegations tabled by Akpoti-Uduaghan, senator representing Kogi central, against Senate President Godswill Akpabio is a desperate attempt to divert attention from legitimate disciplinary proceedings.

The rift between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan began following a recent seat reallocation in the red chamber.

Akpoti-Uduaghan firmly resisted her new seat placement after the rearrangement, claiming the move was intended to stifle her voice.

The issue came to a head on Friday when Akpoti-Uduaghan accused the senate president of attempting to make sexual advances toward her in his office and home.

The allegation triggered responses from prominent Nigerians, including a lawsuit by Ekaette Akpabio, the senate president’s wife, while others demanded an investigation into the claims.

Bukola Saraki, former senate president, who voiced his concern in the controversy, said the senate ethics committee must conduct a transparent probe of the allegations.

Saraki added that “both parties must submit to the investigation, fully cooperate with the committee, and stake their claims before it.”

‘SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, DIVERSIONARY STUNT’

Reacting to the controversy, Nwaebonyi said Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claims were “politically motivated” and aimed at manipulating public sentiment.

He claimed that her allegations surfaced only after she was summoned for disciplinary action, questioning why no prior complaints were made within the senate or to female colleagues.

The lawmaker acknowledged Saraki’s call for transparency and protection but found the comparison between his experience and current allegations against Akpabio “flawed.”

“In Saraki’s case, the matter revolved around his official duties as Senate President— specifically, an accusation concerning the importation of an official vehicle,” Nwaebonyi said.

“The claim was factually incorrect, and Saraki, knowing this, subjected himself to scrutiny to clear his name. It was an administrative and procedural issue directly tied to his office, and a swift resolution through the Senate Ethics Committee restored confidence in the institution.

“In contrast, what we have before us today is a case of personal, unsubstantiated, and conveniently timed accusations— claims of sexual harassment that supposedly took place over a year ago but surfaced only after the accuser was summoned for disciplinary action.

“There was no prior complaint, no record of distress, no mention to her husband, and no disclosure to female colleagues in the Senate.

“Instead, the accusation was unleashed only at the point of reckoning, in a desperate attempt to divert attention from legitimate disciplinary proceedings.

“If we take Saraki’s argument to its logical conclusion, we would be establishing a dangerous precedent—one where any gold digger or habitual liar can throw out an unsubstantiated allegation and expect the Senate to come to a halt while they are entertained.”

The deputy chief whip further described Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegations as “wild claims, media noise, and no evidence.”

Nwebonyi also questioned why the female lawmaker never addressed the issue in the red chamber and noted that she was appointed chairperson of the senate committee on local content before the alleged harassment.

While reaffirming Saraki’s concerns about senate integrity, Nwebonyi insisted that the institution must not be manipulated by “baseless allegations.”

He asked Akpoti-Uduaghan to pursue legal action if she had legitimate claims rather than using the senate and the media as a “shield against accountability.”

“This case, however, is about a personal vendetta and a desperate attempt to escape disciplinary action — the senate must resist the temptation to legitimize a distraction campaign designed to avoid legitimate scrutiny,” the Ebonyi lawmaker said.

He, however, implored the senate and Nigerians to remain focused and not allow blackmail to dictate the institution’s agenda.

[TheCable]

 Are you still wondering what has been going on in the Lagos State House of Assembly? Never mind; it is the usual power dynamics on full display by our politicians. They have taken positions and fighting for leverage. No one is amused except that, this time, Lagos State – a highly prized jewel and the centre of excellence – is the latest victim of the show of shame that Nigerians put up with on a regular basis.

From the National Assembly to the State Houses of Assembly, what can we really point to as a higher sense of purpose that drives the conversations and engagements among our lawmakers? After the shenanigans that we witnessed in Rivers State in what turned out to be a long-running soap opera before the Supreme Court judgments, it never occurred to me that Lagos State would be the next perfidious playground.

Without a doubt, Lagos State is the richest state in Nigeria with a GDP of about $34 billion, followed by Rivers State with $21 billion, according to available data. These two states can stand on their own without federal allocations from Abuja. It is understandable that there’s so much at stake in Lagos State, but do we need the political chicanery?

But the bizarre behaviour of a majority of our political elite leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Politicians can align to protect their interests which is okay, but it should not be at the expense of Nigerians when our wellbeing should be their number one priority. What Nigerians want at all levels – from the local councils to the subnational governments and federal government – is exemplary leadership, and I do not think we are asking for too much.

According to John Maxwell, a world renowned leadership expert, “Being a great leader is all about having a genuine willingness and true commitment to lead others to achieve a common vision and goals through positive influence.”

Maxwell also says, “A leader knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.” Great leaders craft a vision for progress and foster a buy-in culture from their followers.

Lagos State not only has the highest urban population in Nigeria, it is arguably the 6th largest economy in Africa arising mainly from its commercial and industrial activities. It explains why the internally generated revenue (IGR) reached a historic N1 trillion milestone last year.

The 40 members in the Lagos State House of Assembly have always worked together in peace and harmony over the years based on a leadership structure for Lagos that is superintended by the Governance Advisory Council (GAC).

However, on January 13, 2025, an unexpected turn of events led to the impeachment of Mudashiru Obasa, speaker of the house of assembly, who staged a dramatic comeback last Thursday and presided over a plenary of only four members. Although Obasa declared that he had returned as speaker, the purported plenary was a joke taken too far.

Meanwhile, Obasa has instituted a legal challenge to what transpired on January 13 while he was away in the United States on vacation. At that time, the house of assembly was on recess. Politicians say when they have a problem, they will find a political solution. But when they don’t, you will see them washing their dirty linen in the public and end up in court, keeping their Lordships busy and working overtime. Never have a dog in their fight.

When Obasa who had been speaker of the house for 10 years was impeached, 36 members voted in favour of the resolution, but Obasa is faulting the process because the House Rules, according to him, requires the majority leader to inform the clerk to notify the members to resume.

But the clerk must obtain the prior approval of the speaker before the notice of resumption from recess can be circulated. Obasa says this process was breached, because, as it turned out, the plan to remove him was an “urgent matter” that had been hatched and consecrated by his political adversaries.

Obasa has also not helped his own case because of his alleged highhandedness, arrogance and overbearing nature. “As speaker,” some insiders alleged, “Obasa had become too powerful and disrespected some of his political associates.” A case in point was when the Lagos State 2025 budget was scheduled for presentation. Obasa kept Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State and members of GAC waiting for longer than necessary.

The impeachment process produced Mojisola Labat Meranda as the new speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly with 35 members of the house rooting for her. Their aim was to effect a change in the power calculus in the house.

But this is just the beginning of the crisis which has been receiving multiple interventions by some elders like Chief Segun Osoba, a media titan and former governor of Ogun State, and Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun State – two influential stalwarts of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

These elders have called for truce from the warring parties which requires a multifaceted approach, but politicians are good chess players and the end will always justify the means. Although the presidency was fingered as backing Obasa to instigate the crisis, it is not entirely true. The facts of the matter do not support this allegation. What is playing out is the usual political intrigues and the fight for relevance by Obasa and his supporters. Insiders say President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was unaware of the plot to remove Obasa, one of his foot soldiers and die-hard loyalist which many see as an affront to the presidency.

In order to take care of the interest of all the critical stakeholders, what is likely to happen is that Meranda will resign and Obasa will perish the idea of returning as speaker. Since Obasa is from Agege 1 Constituency in the Lagos West Senatorial District, the next speaker, according to a very dependable source, is expected to emerge from that District and the likely beneficiary is David Setonji, a civil engineer and current chief whip of the house of assembly representing Badagry constituency. Both Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor and Meranda are from the Lagos Central Senatorial District.

This scenario is likely to pave the way for Obasa, all things being equal, to head to the Senate in 2027 in a game of political engineering and brinkmanship. The rally by Obasa and his supporters after he returned from his vacation was stage managed to display his political sagacity and make the point that he will not go down without a fight.

My reading of the situation is that he poured gasoline into the raging fire by taking the additional step of convening the plenary, not to pre-empt the court hearing which was to hold the next day, but to escalate the matter based on the script he held close to his chest which was being used to manipulate the crisis by his sponsors. Clearly, Obasa could not have been acting alone.

Besides Osoba and Akande, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the APC leaders in Lagos State and Abuja, and GAC members must work together to prevent any further escalation of the crisis. The situation in Rivers State and Lagos State are similar, but they are not taken from the same playbook. It is why I am hopeful that the efforts of peacemakers Osoba and Akande – the bridge between Abuja and Lagos – will yield the desired results within the shortest possible time.

Since Obasa went to court to challenge his impeachment, he should be patient and take it easy. When you are speaker for 10 years, it should count for something. At the end of the day, it is Lagosians that are bearing the brunt of the needless crisis.

How can Babajide Sanwo-Olu function effectively when the house of assembly is divided? In fact, the governor has also been accused in certain quarters of being responsible for the crisis because he wanted checkmate Obasa and teach him a political lesson. Can this be true? I do not have any empirical evidence to support this claim, but who is to be blamed for the ongoing crisis? That is the story of our democratic culture and political evolution which manifests in power play in high places.

Well-meaning political leaders and stakeholders must rise above the fray and douse the tension immediately. I challenge the sponsors of the political gladiators – whoever they maybe – to act in the interest of Lagosians and do the right thing in order to save our Lagos.  

Braimah is a public relations consultant and marketing strategist. He is also the publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times (https://ntm.ng) and Lagos Post (https://lagospost.ng), and can be reached via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..    

Nobody had expected that Gen. Ibrahim Babagandida would be truthful in all the claims in his autobiography; or that there would not be twist of history in his narrations and recollections. After all, autobiographies in their very nature are typically replete with embellishments and overstatement of personal acts of heroism. In my preview of the book, titled a Journey in Service, published three weeks before its launch on February 20, I had forewarned that the book may not offer much more than we had known on the major issues of his eight-year rule. I noted that because most of those who were part of his government had passed away, ‘’IBB therefore has enough motivation to engage in revisionism and embellishment of his story’’. I wrote: ‘’Babangida has a lot to tell Nigerians and I hope that he would be honest and candid. Coming this late, will IBB’s book be worth the wait? Will he give honest answers to the many puzzles that dogged his administration or is this a mere attempt to burnish his image and rewrite history as he prepares for the final phase of his life? It’s been a generation since Gen. Babangida hurriedly put together a contraption called interim national government and left office after an eight-year deceptive dictatorship. His transition programme was a farce, illusory and wasteful’’.

I have just finished reading the book, and I must confess that I was not prepared for the scale of obfuscations and revisionisms embedded in it, and in no other section is this more obvious than the one on the Dele Giwa assassination. Babngida claims that Giwa was killed as ‘’part of a series of booby traps and acts of destabilization being hatched against (his) administration’’ and it was meant as a ‘’political blow to the young military administration’’. He says the insinuations that the parcel bomb had emanated from ‘’the headquarters of the administration as cheap and foolish’’, asking: ‘’why would an officially planned high-level assassination carry an apparent forwarding address of the killer?’’.

 In other words, IBB is arguing that, if indeed, the military or his government had dispatched the bomb, the parcel would not have borne the coat of arms and the words ‘’From the C-in-C’’. He blames Newswatch management for frustrating police investigation by ‘’recourse to play to the gallery of public sentiment’’, and noted that “the involvement of high-profile lawyer Gani Fawehinmi and the populist slant given to the case by the media poisoned the investigation with political overtones. The investigation into the Giwa murder became part of the tools in the armour of a growing political opposition targeted at discrediting the military over the planned political transition programme and human rights issues’’. 

This is as specious as you can possibly get; and to blame the management of Newswatch, and Gani Fawehinmi (who died many years ago) is to say the least very cruel. Many Nigerians are still convinced that the régime and/or the military authorities were complicit in the murder of Giwa. No civilian individual or organization had the technology, capability and sophistication to deliver a parcel bomb in Nigeria of 1986; and even as I write, the technique of packing explosives into a package; wrapping, sealing and delivering it to the intended receiver, in such a way that it could only explode when opened is a complicated technique available only to military and security authorities. That is why parcel bombs have not been used to settle scores with all the political assassinations we have had since 1999. The idea that Giwa’s murder was all ‘’bobby traps’’ and a ‘’political blow’’ meant to destabilize the régime suggests that Babangida knows more than he’s telling us. As experts often tell us, understanding the motive could be crucial to solving a crime.

In the days leading up to the assassination, Giwa was thoroughly hounded, harassed and hunted by the officials of the military intelligence. He was falsely accused of gun running and other heinous crimes. Afraid for his safety and security, Giwa reported the matter to his lawyer and senior government officials, but the snare had already been set up for him. The parcel was delivered to him a day after a military intelligence officer called Giwa’s home and asked for the address; and Giwa’s wife, Fumi, who took the call, innocently obliged the caller. Curiously, IBB omitted this damning sequence of events in his book.

That the parcel bore the seal of the government was just a clever ploy to deceive the recipient into opening the package. The planners of the plot had known that since Giwa was in regular contact with the President, and had previously received letters from the government; such an insignia on the package would be a convincing reason for him to open it. The aim was to kill him at all cost.

 I have spoken to Ray Ekpu, the editor-in-chief of Newswatch, and he’s promised to issue a statement on IBB’s claims after consulting Dan Agbese; Yakubu Mohammed and their lawyers. I look forward to reading their rejoinder, and Ekpu’s autobiography set for publication next year. I am sure he will tell the Giwa story more truthfully.

Another disturbing aspect of the book is Babangida blaming Sani Abacha for the annulment of the June 12 election. He claims that the election was annulled by forces loyal to Sani Abacha while he, IBB, was in Katsina to visit with the Yara’Adua family that had just lost its patriarch. The government and the military were polarized and split in the middle with some officials opting for the annulment while others were against it. He stated he was afraid for his life and safety and believed that Abacha was ready to lead a coup and assassinate him and/ Abiola. Babangiga concludes that it was Abacha that deceived Abiola into rejecting his offer to be head of the interim government he was setting up.

By blaming his failure to handover and conclude the eight-year transition on Sani Abacha, IBB appears as a coward who could not rein in on a fearsome fiend. In one breath, he commends Abacha for his loyalty and sparing his life in two instances, and in another, he presents Abacha as an evil, power drunk officer who was desperate to torpedo the transition programme and plunge the country into turmoil in order to take power. If IBB knew this much about him, why was Abacha not retired? It is a reasonable assumption that the two might have entered into a pact to let Abacha take over after IBB had ‘’stepped aside’’.

Babangida’s accounts of the Giwa murder and the annulment of the June 12 election nearly rendered the whole volume distasteful. But it’s a good reading, rich in history, and well researched and written. I suspect that that it was ghost-written by Yemi Ogunbiyi and Chidi Amuta, two of Nigeria’s outstanding journalists, who are well acknowledged by the author for their support. In fact, IBB’s book has a striking similarity in style and language to Ogunbiyi’s memoire, The Road Never Forgets, published in 2022.

DSTV, Nigeria’s leading pay-TV provider, faces increasing scrutiny as analysts question its long-term viability in an era dominated by streaming services.

Experts have raised concerns about the company’s business model, competitiveness, and long-term survival in the face of digital disruption, with many suggesting it must evolve or risk obsolescence.

This was a key topic during a recent episode of Nairametrics’ Drinks and Mics podcast, with industry experts; Tunji Andrews, CEO and Founder of Awabah, Arnold Dublin-Green, Chief Investment Officer at Cordros Capital LTD, Ugodre, Founder of Nairametrics, and Dele Akintola, Chief Commercial Officer of Alerzo.

Tunji Andrews, CEO and Founder of Awabah, stated that the pay-tv provider is losing its grip on consumer loyalty due to a lack of innovation.

Andrews disclosed that DSTV remains dominant in live sports, especially football, but argued that in general entertainment, its stronghold has significantly weakened due to the rise of Netflix, Disney+, and IPTV services.

“The issue right now is that people are not looking at DSTV as value creation because the product itself has not improved in terms of content on the platform,” he said.

“To be honest, the thing that appeared to look like a monopoly for DSTV broke like maybe six, seven years ago. And on the basis of content outside football, you know, movies, people want to get entertained in your house. And then the emergence of things like smart TVs, where you can have all this Netflix and everything on your TV. 

You know, this just basically broke their back. However, they still have the football thing,” he stated.

Shift in subscription habits 

Dele Akintola highlighted how Nigerian consumers engage with DSTV differently than before, subscribing only for specific events like Big Brother Naija or major sports tournaments rather than maintaining year-round subscriptions.

• This pattern, he said, indicates that DSTV is losing its must-have status. Andrews emphasized that DSTV’s struggle stems from its failure to innovate beyond sports content.
• Andrews recalled a period when a competitor temporarily secured Premier League rights in Nigeria, prompting DSTV to bolster its Africa Magic offerings to retain subscribers.

However, he noted that such aggressive content expansion has since stalled.

“There are very few dedicated sports fans willing to pay for DSTV to watch it, I am not talking about the guys in viewing stations,” he said.

Shareholder value 

Akintola weighed in on the financial realities behind the company’s decisions.

He said that DSTV’s pricing decisions are driven by the need to maintain profitability and deliver value to its investors.

“Their job is to create shareholders value and obviously with the way the currency has increased from N400 to whatever it is now, they lost subscribers, cost gone up. So maybe they are making 5% margin, the implication is that as a company that is listed, how do they create shareholder value,” he said

• He argues that, as a business, DSTV must ensure shareholder returns, especially in a challenging economic environment where the Naira has depreciated significantly, leading to higher operational costs.
• He suggests that even though DSTV has increased subscription fees, its profit margins remain relatively low—possibly around 5%—compared to other businesses in Nigeria that enjoy much higher margins, some as high as 65%.

This financial pressure forces DSTV to make difficult pricing decisions to stay competitive and sustainable in the long run.

‘Sell’ or rethink the business model 

As discussions on DStv’s survival in the next 3-5 years unfolded, the experts debated whether investors should hold or sell their shares in the company. The consensus leaned toward selling, with concerns over the viability of its current business model.

• Arnold Dublin-Green was direct in his assessment, advising investors to sell DSTV shares unless the company undergoes significant restructuring.

“Those guys are dying, man. They need to figure it out,” Green said, emphasizing that the traditional pay-TV model is struggling against the rise of on-demand streaming services.

• Tunji Andrews, echoed this sentiment, issuing a “super sell” rating. He pointed out that DSTV’s challenges extend beyond Nigeria, affecting markets in Ghana and other regions outside South Africa.

“The situation is not just Nigeria. The situation is Ghana. The situation is across every other country outside South Africa,” he noted.

• He stated that DSTV is essentially an “elevated version of terrestrial TV”, a model that is becoming obsolete.

Dele Akintola stated that unlike streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime, DSTV relies on a linear broadcasting model that no longer aligns with changing consumer preferences.

“Netflix is charging $25 a month, and they don’t blink at customers. People are willing to pay. But DSTV? They need a complete rethink,” Dele stated.

The conversation also touched on Showmax, DSTV’s streaming service, questioning whether it offers competitive content. While Showmax provides African movies, they argued that top Nollywood films still prefer platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime for better visibility.

What DSTV needs to do 

The experts concluded that DSTV must redefine its identity for the next decade. They suggested a corporate retreat to reassess its strategy, especially as younger audiences gravitate toward digital platforms.

“DSTV needs a retreat. They need to ask themselves: what are we for the next 10 years?” Dele advised.

Additionally, shifts in consumer behavior—such as the rising popularity of Korean dramas among Nigerian female audiences—highlight the urgency for DSTV to evolve or risk losing relevance.

[Nairametrics]

Senate President Godsill Akpabio, has commended President Bola Tinubi for the bold economic reforms embarked upon by his administration.

Akpabio submitted that despite the initial challenges, the reforms are yielding positive results, and Nigeria is getting better.

Naija News reports the Senate President made the submission on Friday during the signing of the 2025 budget into law by President Tinubu.

Recalling one of the conversations he had with President Tinubu regarding the policy of fuel subsidy removal and the possibility of denying the President a second term ticket, Akpabio disclosed that Tinubu damned the consequences and told him there’s no need for gradual removal as the last administration didn’t include it in the budget.

He said Nigeria and Nigerians are now reaping the rewards of the bold decision.

“By the time you removed the fuel subsidy, which many had failed in over 40 years, I came back to you and asked Mr President, ‘don’t you want re-election in 2027’?”

“You asked ‘why’. I said, ‘how can you do this? Let’s remove it gradually’. You said ‘I met a fuel subsidy that was no longer available. The last administration made a budget and ended fuel subsidy in May’.

“So from June, when you took over, you re-echoed that subsidy is gone, you didn’t elaborate otherwise. So you started, meandered, and today Nigeria is about to float even without petroleum products coming in as income,” Akpabio said.

You Have Done Well With The Budget

Akpabio also commended Tinubu for presenting what he described as the “largest budget” in Nigeria’s history, and also working out a way to finance it.

He assured that the National Assembly carried out due diligence on the appropriation bill before it was passed.

The Senate President also pledged the loyalty of the lawmakers to working with Tinubu in delivering the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

“Your reforms are working. When you came to the national assembly with a very ambitious budget of N49.7 trillion, little did we know that by working with your team, we would discover other sources of bringing revenue in today.

“We are about to make history by signing the largest budget in Nigeria since independence, N54.7 trillion, so I say congratulations, sir.

“We on this side of the aisle believe strongly that anything that can alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians, any policy that you propose that can alleviate the suffering of Nigerians, be rest assured that the national assembly — both chambers — will go with you. We are behind you because we know that you mean well for this country.

“You gave the budget to us in December; people may think we delayed it, but we went through it line by line, clause by clause to ensure we meet the aspiration not just of your administration but that of the entire nation,” he said.

[NaijaNews]

•Why President Tinubu deserves commendation

PRIOR to Nigeria’s Independence in 1960, agriculture was the mainstay of its economy, even as reflected in the economic activities of the regions there were in the country at that time. Famous stories of the First Republic chronicled how the defunct regions were reliant on revenues from the groundnut pyramids in the North, the cocoa export receipts from the defunct West and the rubber as well as palm oil proceeds from the East.

With the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantities, beginning from Oloibiri in the present-day Bayelsa State in 1956, agriculture, over time, became supplanted by black gold in terms of contributions to national revenue pool. And not only did crude oil receipts ride the wave as far as the total collectable revenue was concerned, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), became the cornerstone entity for the three tiers of government to look up to for salvation in terms of their fiscal projections.

However, those days when the federal, states and local government councils wait zealously for revenue figures from NNPC have not only receded into the past but appear to have gone for good. At the monthly meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), focus has shifted to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the goose that is laying the golden egg for the fiscal stability and wellbeing of the Federation.

For those who may not know, the ‘cake’ shared monthly by the Federation is baked by four major entities: NNPC, FIRS, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), formerly known as Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS).

Of the body of ‘bakers,’ FIRS under Zacch Adedeji has emerged the cream of the crop, singlehandedly and aggregately accounting for close to 70 percent of the total revenues collected and shared by the three tiers of government at FAAC meetings in 2024.

Out of N2.068 trillion that accrued to the Federation Accounts in January 2024, tax collected by FIRS accounted for more than 50 percent with the agency’s contribution totalling N1.275 trillion. The other three revenue-remitting bodies jointly raked in the balance. While oil receipts from NNPC brought N115billion, NUPRC grossed N469.8billion, just as the Nigeria Custom Service remitted N207 billion.

The contribution of FIRS to the pool grew in February by N300billion from what it brought to the account in January. From the N2.3trillion that accumulated into the account, takings by FIRS amounted to N1.491 trillion, a collection figure that was more than 50 percent of the total revenue for the month. In fact, NNPC’s contribution to the pool was just N92billion. NUPRC and NCS contributed N487billion and N254billion, respectively.

In March, FIRS contributed N1.061trillion out of N1.867 trillion in the pool and in April, the Federation Account got N1.187 trillion from FIRS out of the N2.192trillion revenue accrual. For May, out of the N2.324trillion shared by the three tiers of government, FIRS alone contributed N1.571trillion.

The last month in the first half of 2024 finished on a strong note for the Federation in terms of the size of the ‘cake’ available for sharing among the three tiers of government. Of the N3.5 trillion accrual in the Federation Account for the month, FIRS accounted for N2.841 trillion. Contributions from NNPC for the month was N8.3 billion with NUPRC and NCS remitting N402.5 billion N264 billion, respectively.

The upward trajectory of FIRS contribution to the Federation Account continued at the beginning of the second half of the year. It accounted for N2.295 trillion out of N3.508 trillion remitted into the Federation Account for July, representing 65.4 percent of the total haul. For August, FIRS figure for FAAC was N1.87 trillion out of the N2.7 trillion in the pool. In September, October, November, and December the agency’s contributions were N1.45trillion (out of N2.4trilion), N1.74trillion (out of N2.9) and N1.56trillion (out of N2.8trillion) and N1.41trillion (out of NN2.2trillion), respectively.

The significance of FIRS contributions displacing oil receipts and turning tax revenue into the country’s new ‘crude oil’ has been well situated by the Accountant General of the Federation, Dr (Mrs) Oluwatoyin Madein. At an event in Abuja, she declared: “Tax revenue, as of today, is the highest source of revenue accruing to the Federation. Therefore, at FAAC meetings, we eagerly await the numbers coming from FIRS because the performance of the agency keeps on increasing and this brings succour to all tiers of government.”

Putting FIRS contribution to FAAC revenue pool in 2024 in context, we will see how it has helped the three tiers of government to plan, project and experience fiscal stability. There is nothing like fiscal discipline except you have accurate revenue prediction. If you say you want to spend N10, that means you must assurance that the N10 will come from somewhere. This commendable collection performance is in tandem with Adedeji’s vision of making taxation the pivot of national development.

What did FIRS do differently?

The impressive revenue collection posted by FIRS is not a product of happenstance. It is the outcome of a well-thought-out strategy and process re-engineering that formed the bedrock of a cocktail of administrative and process reforms embarked upon by the agency under Adedeji. One of his key refrains is that if FIRS is going to succeed in its critical national mandate of domestic revenue mobilisation, taxpayers must beat the centre of all policies and initiatives of the agency.

The FIRS chairman summarised the restructuring and re-orientation that powered the huge revenue collection and turned it to a customer-centric agency thus: “We restructured our operations at FIRS in such a way that we are now effectively carrying out our duty of assessing, collecting and accounting for taxes. We used to have functional types of taxes, but we have since identified that the only customers we have are the taxpayers. We have, therefore, improved the way we relate with our customers by rearranging our operations based on our customers, using their turnover as the basis to categorise them into large, medium, and emerging tax groups. 

“We did this to develop expertise in what we do. Secondly, to provide them with a one-stop shop for their activities. If you are in a large tax group, you only need to go to one office to pay all forms of taxes, including conducting audit and other activities. You do not need to move from one office to another again.

“We are here to serve the taxpayers. The taxpayers are not armed robbers or criminals that we will be chasing about. FIRS is also not a law enforcement organisation. We are partners in progress. The taxpayers are the trees in our vineyard. The only thing we can do is to ensure they are well watered and well pruned so they can bear good fruits for us to have big harvest.

Because of the streamlining of tax processes, the removal of hurdles in the way of tax payment as well placing a high premium on transparency and accountability, a total number of 182, 724 new taxpayers, representing 25.3% increase, voluntarily enrolled on the agency’s tax administration platform called Tax Pro-Max in 2024. It is the single biggest leap in the number of firms in the tax net in recent history of the tax agency. This not only underscores the level of trust reposed in the new processes emplaced at the agency. It also lends credence to Adedeji’s sharp vision of making the agency one of the world’s most efficient and trusted revenue authorities.

The president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr Gabriel Idahosa, testified to the unusual transformation witnessed at FIRS. Idahosa commended the agency for conducting reforms that align with the needs of businesses, particularly singling out the increasing use of technology in tax administration as well as the shift in mental geography of tax officers from being mere tax collectors to “actively providing services that enhance business operations.” 

One key import of the unprecedented growth in tax revenue for the Federation is that the non-oil sector account for about 75% of the total haul. This clearly signposts the commitment of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to truly diversify the economy from its mono-product, crude oil. According to Adedeji, all accolades for the impressive tax collection by FIRS should go to President Tinubu. Of a truth, two key policies by the President, namely the removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the exchange rate gave fillip to the record tax revenue collection by FIRS. The negative consequences of not setting these economic fundamentals at the time President Tinubu did would have unbearable for an economy that was already in ICU before President Tinubu assumed office.

Despite the laudable achievements of the agency since assumption of office in September 2023, Adedeji is not resting on his oars. He believes the success recorded so far is just a beginning with his key fiscal focus being on growing Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 18% in the next three years. This, he believes, is achievable without putting additional burden on the taxpayers but by making the pie bigger to collect more revenue for government at all levels to be able to meet their obligations to the citizenry.

For him, there is irreducible minimum if the upward tax revenue trajectory must continue. “We can play with everything, but what we cannot afford to play with, if we are going to succeed, are data and merit,” he once said.

It needs to be said that prior to Adedeji’s leadership, the agency’s contribution to FAAC had been growing. However, the coming of Adedeji has moved the quantum significantly higher through a potpourri of internal administrative and process reforms he introduced, leading to simplifying of tax payment.

For 2025, FIRS is targeting to collect N25.2 trillion in tax revenue and this means more money for the three tiers of government to meet their needs. This is another reason why there should be no opposition to the tax reform bills currently before the National Assembly. If FIRS could post these huge records in a shortly time, breaking its own records and setting higher target and goals, a tax system that is modernised and fit for purpose can only add impetus to the task of domestic revenue mobilisation given to FIRS.

For those asking the question: where does tax revenue by FIRS go? The answer is this: every month that the federal, states and local government councils gather in Abuja for FAAC meeting and money shared accordingly, about 70% of that money comes from the tax revenue FIRS collects from taxpayers.

For perceptive observers, President Tinubu deserves to be hailed for the huge jump in shareable FAAC allocations which continue the upward swing since his assumption of office. All the states now collect almost three times of what they used to get as FAAC allocation prior to the coming of the Tinubu administration. Every month, managers of the three tiers smile to the banks, thanks to the President’s courageous leadership.

• Adekanmbi is the Special Adviser on Media to the executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)

AMID her continued reign as Nollywood’s box office queen, Funke Akindele has laid bare the driving force behind her success, attributing her journey to God’s grace.

Speaking at the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) 2025 event, the award-winning filmmaker made it clear that no individual can take credit for her stardom.

According to her, it was only by God’s will that she became the force she is today in Nollywood.

“I am who I am today because of God. Nobody made me a star, only God did. When I started, I had so many challenges, but I kept pushing. The idea for Jenifa came to me at a time when I needed to reinvent myself, and I trusted God’s direction. I wrote my scripts, put in the work, and kept believing that my time would come,” Akindele shared.

The actress further reflected on the obstacles she has had to overcome to maintain her relevance in the industry.

“This journey has not been easy, but I have learnt to stay focused and keep evolving. The audience changes, trends come and go, but I remain determined. I was told to keep milking the Jenifa brand, and yes, I did, but I also expanded my craft. God keeps giving me the strength to push through, and I will continue to do so.”

Beyond her personal journey, Akindele delved into the evolving landscape of audience engagement and content marketing in Nigeria, stressing the importance of adaptability in staying relevant in the competitive film industry.

Akindele also spoke about the importance of resilience and innovation in Nollywood, especially in a time when the entertainment industry is constantly evolving.

She noted that remaining at the top requires more than just talent—it takes discipline, consistency, and the ability to adapt to changing audience preferences.

According to her, filmmakers must be ready to embrace new storytelling techniques and market trends while staying true to their artistic vision.

Reflecting on her journey, the actress expressed gratitude for the support she has received over the years, acknowledging that success in the industry is not a solo effort. While she credited God for her rise, she also appreciated the fans who have stood by her and the colleagues who believed in her vision.

[Nigerian Tribune]

Reno Omokri, a former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has narrated an unpleasant experience with Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

In a statement on Saturday, Omokri explained how an issue between him and an acquittance of Natasha triggered the allegation.

He said he was able to prove his innocence because of the evidence presented that he was not in Nigeria at the time which his accuser claimed that the incident happened.

“I have been inundated with calls from almost all major media outlets in Nigeria to interview me about the issues involving the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Senator Natasha Akpoti. These media organisations wanted my take, seeing that I was once accused by Senator Natasha Akpoti of the exact grave allegations that she is now accusing the Senate President of.”

“Against my will, I have been trending on various social media platforms, and for the sake of my family, it would be best to put this matter to rest. Rather than speak with multiple media outlets, perhaps I can ease the pressure on me by putting out this statement.’

“I do not know if what Senator Natasha Akpoti accused the Senate President of is true, as I was not physically present when the alleged events took place. However, I can testify that Senator Natasha Akpoti once had an altercation with me on social media over a post where a woman made advances at me and I rejected her and stated that my wife is a beauty queen and is more than enough for me.

“Apparently the woman is or was a friend of Senator Akpoti. And after I had scorned her friend’s advances, Senator Akpoti accused me of sexually harassing her at Aso Rock Presidential Villa, during a reception held for the visiting Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, when he visited Nigeria between May 4 and May 7 2014.

“Unfortunately for Senator Akpoti, during those dates, I was sent to the United States of America as President Jonathan’s special envoy. I met and was photographed with multiple U.S. officials, including State Department officials, in Washington, D.C.

“I then published a First Class British Airways ticket and my passport (which was a different class of passport from the regular Nigerian passport and requires a special kind of stamp), proving that I was not in Nigeria on the dates Senator Akpoti alleged I sexually harassed her.

“After I published that evidence, Miss Natasha Akpoti, as she then was, deleted every trace of her allegations against me and the video she had made insulting me, my wife and my newborn daughter.”

Omokri said he was contemplating on the next step to take as a result of the damage done to his person but there was an intervention that led to out-of-court settlement.

“As I was pondering the next steps to take, a very influential and respectable man from my ethnic nationality, reached out to a prominent Christian clergyman, who mediated between him and I. The gentleman greeted me in my mother tongue, Itsekiri, and was most gentlemanly and expressed regrets over the incident, and I was prevailed on by the clergyman to reach an out-of-court settlement.

“Thereafter, I dropped the matter since my name had been cleared, and the out-of-court settlement was adequate.

“That is the extent of my encounter with Senator Natasha Akpoti. I hope the media can now leave me alone, as I am reluctant to grant any interviews or get entangled in this matter, seeing as I have the highest respect for the man who reached out to me to settle the matter.

“As for the Senate, I have the highest respect and confidence in that institution and its leadership and believe that the right thing to do would be to institute a Senate investigation by the appropriate committee to determine the veracity of the present allegations.”

The development comes amid the sexual harassment allegation against Nigeria’s number three citizen by Natasha.

[DailyTrust]