Here is a roundup of some Nigerian newspaper headlines, accompanied by our advocacy-driven demands for government action in addressing citizens’ concerns.
1. The Guardian: Outrage over Ibom Air incident as IG orders KWAM 1’s probe
What began as a confrontation on an Ibom Air flight has exploded into a national row over human rights, privacy and due process, drawing in lawyers, regulators, civil society groups and the public after passenger Ms Comfort Emmanson was banned for life.
Our Take: When a passenger ends up stripped and humiliated on an Ibom Air flight, and on the same runway of events, KWAM 1 turns an airport into his personal concert stage, it may sound like plotlines from two different Nollywood films, but both raise the same serious question about professional conduct and strict regulations in the aviation sector. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Police Force must conduct thorough, independent investigations into both incidents, not the usual ‘abracadabra’ enquiries that vanish without a report.
2. The Guardian: Lagos Moves to Regulate Rent, Curb Abuse with New Tenancy Bill
The Lagos State House of Assembly has proposed a new law aimed at fostering harmonious relations between landlords and tenants by clearly defining rent payment structures, including yearly and monthly options and procedures for issuing eviction notices, among other provisions.
Our Take: We urge other state governors to borrow a page from Lagos State and update their tenancy laws, because in too many states, renting a house still feels like negotiating with a feudal lord for a plot in 1625. By capping exploitative advance rent demands and putting eviction processes where they belong, in the courts, not at midnight with a padlock, states can replace landlord-tenant warfare with fair play and transparency.
3. Daily Trust: Nine at Large after Keffi Jail Break
Chaos erupted at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Keffi, Nasarawa State, in the early hours of Tuesday, as 16 inmates escaped in a violent jailbreak that left five correctional officers injured, two of them critically.
The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) confirmed the incident in a statement, sparking a nationwide manhunt and renewing concerns over prison security across the country.
Our Take: We call on Controller General Sylvester Nwakuche and Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo to treat the Keffi jailbreak as more than just another headline in Nigeria’s jailbreak hall of fame. It is time to fix the weak security, give officers proper training and equipment, and close the gaps that make our prisons look like bus stops.
4. Punch: Health Sector Crisis Persists Despite N5.4 Trillion World Bank Loans
The Punch reports that the World Bank approved a total of $3.53bn (N5.4tn at the official exchange rate of N1,535/$) in health-related loans to Nigeria over the past nine years.
However, the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, as well as health officials in states, argued that despite the substantial funds committed to healthcare infrastructure in Nigeria and the loans from the World Bank, the results are not visible.
Our Take: Dear Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), and Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigerians deserve to know how nearly $4 billion in World Bank loans and grants for healthcare managed to vanish into thin air without leaving behind functional hospitals, stocked pharmacies, or even a waiting room with working fans. If this much money can pass through the system and the result is still broken beds, missing drugs, and patients buying their own gloves, then maybe the next loan should come with GPS tracking, not just for the funds but for the promises made.
