Welcome to today’s roundup of Nigerian newspaper headlines, accompanied by our advocacy-focused calls for government action on pressing issues that impact citizens.
1. Punch: Doctors Dispute Federal Government’s N11.9 Billion Payout, Strike Continues
We begin with the Punch this morning, which reports that the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr. Muhammad Suleiman, has faulted the federal government’s claim that it is releasing N11.9bn within 72 hours for the payment of outstanding arrears and allowances to doctors and other health workers across the country.
According to Suleiman, only about N500m of the said amount is meant for resident doctors.
Our Take: The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare must stop the performance. Your N11.9bn payout announcement rings hollow when only a tiny fraction (N500m) is earmarked for the striking resident doctors. Skip the press releases and deliver the full, equitable payment immediately, so doctors can return to saving lives, and your ministry can avoid the appearance of a very expensive, and very unfunny, bureaucratic joke.
2. Daily Trust: Nigerians Denounce US Invasion Threat
Daily Trust reports that many Nigerians, including diplomats, lawyers and regional groups, have denounced American President Donald Trump’s threat of a military invasion of the country over alleged Christians’ genocide.
Our Take: To President Bola Tinubu and the Security Chiefs, since the international community is now threatening military intervention based on a ‘Christians’ genocide’ narrative, it is clear that your administration’s response to insecurity needs to move beyond simple ‘engagement’ and ‘consistent efforts’. While you rightly defended Nigeria’s constitutional democracy, the most effective rebuttal to external threats is not a press statement, but demonstrable, decisive action that ends the killings and restores peace across all affected regions, regardless of faith, because if the security situation were truly under control, you wouldn’t need to argue with foreign presidents about whose definition of ‘atrocities’ is more dramatic, you would simply have the peace to prove them wrong.
3. The Guardian: NRC Train Derails 189th Time, Three Days after Resumption
The Guardian reports that for the 189th time in six years, Nigeria has recorded yet another train derailment, casting a dark shadow over the country’s ambitious rail modernisation drive that has already consumed more than $7.3 billion in borrowed funds.
Our Take: To Dr. Kayode Opeifa (MD, NRC) and the Honourable Minister of Transportation, your railway system is a $7.3 billion disaster: the 189th derailment just three days after resuming proves that blaming generic ‘track vandalism’ is no longer an excuse. Stop the pathetic cycle of closures and immediately deliver a safe, operational railway that justifies the colossal national debt; otherwise, the public will conclude that your primary expertise is in making trains and money disappear.
