Here is a roundup of some Nigerian newspaper headlines with our advocacy calls.

1. ‘Community Leaders, Bandits Work out Peace Deal in Katsina’ – Daily Trust

Jibia, Batsari, and Safana local government areas have reportedly ‘negotiated peace’ with the bandits who have held them hostage for years. Not by disarming them. Not by securing justice for murdered loved ones. But by shaking hands and hoping for the best.

Our Take: What a ‘noble art of diplomacy’, where communities terrorised for years finally get a seat at the table with the very criminals who burnt their homes, looted their farms, and turned their villages into war zones.

To President Bola Tinubu, the National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu, and the security chiefs, these ‘peace deals’ between community leaders and bandit kingpins raise urgent questions about the state of our national security. When did we, as a country, officially adopt the policy of negotiating with terrorists?

2. ‘Lassa Fever: Nigeria issues public advisory after UK returnee dies in Ondo’ – Premium Times

Lassa fever, the uninvited guest that Nigeria never seems to kick out, has claimed yet another victim, a 31-year-old doctor in Ondo State. 

How many more lives must we lose before we take epidemic preparedness seriously? How long will our hospitals remain war zones without the right weapons—protective gear, testing kits, and, dare I say, proactive policies?

Our Take: The Federal Ministry of Health should step up in fulfilling its mndate to Nigerians by prioritising frontline workers, equipping our doctors with protective gear and hazard allowances, funding disease surveillance, proactive tracking, not reactive advisories, and strengthening treatment centres. Every high-risk state needs a fully functional Lassa fever response unit.

3. ‘Sources: Petrol price hike looms as NNPC halts naira-for-crude deal with local refineries’ – TheCable

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited may have decided that selling crude in naira to local refineries.

Instead, they have ‘forward-sold’ all our crude to foreign buyers, leaving our refineries to scavenge for feedstock in the international market, where dollars rule and naira drools.

Our Take: The NNPC should disclose who these crude sales benefit and why local refineries are being left stranded. If refining locally was the promise, why are we back to foreign dependency?