Poll rates Tinubu’s performance as abysmal in first year as President

In his inaugural address one year ago, President Bola Tinubu championed unity and promised to remodel the economy to bring about growth and development through job creation, food security and ending extreme poverty.

As Mr Tinubu begins his second year as president, most Nigerians score him very low on the economy, according to results from a new national Africa Polling Institute (API) poll.

At least 84 per cent of respondents expressed sadness with the current state of affairs in the country under Mr Tinubu while 81 per cent said that the president is driving the country in the wrong direction.

One such Nigerian dissatisfied with Mr Tinubu’s performance is Abubakar Ibrahim, a development worker in the Nigerian capital and former supporter of the president.

Mr Ibrahim told PREMIUM TIMES that he was no longer happy to have voted for Mr Tinubu and remains sceptical of how much he can achieve. Mr Ibrahim, 31, sees Mr Tinubu’s first year as one of “ups and downs.”

“The biggest problem that continues to face us is inflation and in turn the cost of living crisis. Unfortunately, these are problems induced by the president’s policies,” Mr Ibrahim said.

The latest API national survey brings to light a stark reality, said Bell Ihua, the API’s executive director. “Hunger, poverty, and dissatisfaction are the harsh realities of President Bola Tinubu’s one year in office.”

In terms of the biggest challenges facing the country under Tinubu’s stewardship, 36 per cent of respondents said hunger, 28 per cent identified with inability to meet basic needs and 13 per cent said unemployment. This is followed by heightened insecurity (9 per cent) and poor electricity supply (5 per cent).

Similarly, about 74 per cent of respondents affirmed that their economic situation has deteriorated over the last year, compared to 20 per cent who said their economic situation had remained the same and a meagre 5 per cent who said it had improved.

“The impact of the cost of living crisis we are in is weighing heavily on me,” Muhammad Sani, a resident of Kano State, told PREMIUM TIMES. “The prices of goods have more than doubled under this administration. There are basic things we can’t afford now as a family and that has impacted our living standard negatively.”

“The biggest problem that continues to face us is inflation and in turn the cost of living crisis. Unfortunately, these are problems induced by the president’s policies,” Mr Ibrahim said.

The latest API national survey brings to light a stark reality, said Bell Ihua, the API’s executive director. “Hunger, poverty, and dissatisfaction are the harsh realities of President Bola Tinubu’s one year in office.”

In terms of the biggest challenges facing the country under Tinubu’s stewardship, 36 per cent of respondents said hunger, 28 per cent identified with inability to meet basic needs and 13 per cent said unemployment. This is followed by heightened insecurity (9 per cent) and poor electricity supply (5 per cent).

Similarly, about 74 per cent of respondents affirmed that their economic situation has deteriorated over the last year, compared to 20 per cent who said their economic situation had remained the same and a meagre 5 per cent who said it had improved.

“The impact of the cost of living crisis we are in is weighing heavily on me,” Muhammad Sani, a resident of Kano State, told PREMIUM TIMES. “The prices of goods have more than doubled under this administration. There are basic things we can’t afford now as a family and that has impacted our living standard negatively.”

By Kabir Yusuf, Premium Times

Rushed reversion to old national anthem of Nigeria met with incredulity

Nigeria has reverted to a national anthem it dropped nearly 50 years ago after lawmakers replaced the current one, prompting widespread criticism over the lack of public consultation on the change.

The country’s president, Bola Tinubu, confirmed the law on Wednesday, a day after it was approved by both chambers of Nigeria’s national assembly, which is dominated by the governing party. The federal lawmakers introduced and passed the bill in less than a week – an unusually fast process for important bills that usually take weeks or months to be considered.

Nigeria’s economy has plunged during Tinubu’s first year in office, with inflation reaching a 28-year high of 33.2%, and the change of anthem was dismissed by some as a cynical distraction from an escalating economic crisis.

The reintroduced anthem was played publicly for the first time at a legislative session attended by Tinubu. Titled Nigeria, We Hail Thee, it was introduced in 1960 when Nigeria gained independence from Britain. It was written by Lillian Jean Williams, a British expatriate.

It was replaced in 1978 by Arise, O Compatriots under the military government of Olusegun Obasanjo. That anthem was composed at a time when the country was reeling from a deadly civil war and calls on Nigerians to “serve our fatherland with love and strength” and not to let “the labour of our heroes past [be] in vain”.

The change was met with incredulity by some Nigerians as the country reels from the economic crisis and deteriorating security.

“It is a waste of time,” said Cheta Nwanze, lead partner at SBM Intelligence. “What is more important are inflation and security problems: that is what the government should squarely be looking at.”

Oby Ezekwesili, a former education minister and presidential candidate, said the law showed that the country’s political class did not care about the public interest.

“In a 21st century Nigeria, the country’s political class found a colonial national anthem that has pejorative words like ‘native land’ and ‘tribes’ to be admirable enough to foist on our citizens without their consent,” Ezekwesili posted on X.

Supporters of the new anthem argued it was wrong for the country to use an anthem introduced by the military.

“Anthems are ideological recitations that help the people to be more focused. It was a very sad development for the military to have changed the anthem,” said the public affairs analyst Frank Tietie.

The Guardian

‘Nigerian scammer’ takes credit for bizarre Graceland auction scare

A self-described scammer based in Nigeria has taken credit for a bizarre, failed attempt to auction off Elvis’ iconic Graceland property.

Earlier this month, a mysterious company with little paper trail, Naussany Investments and Private Lending, contacted Promenade Trust, which controls the Memphis estate, claiming it owed millions for failing to repay a loan.

Riley Keough, Elvis’ granddaughter who inherited Graceland after her mother Lisa Marie Presley died last year, sued Naussany alleging its documents were falsified. She also asked a judge to block the Graceland auction. The judge granted her request, putting a pause on the sale, one day before it was set to be finalized.


On Tuesday, the apparent perpertrator of the scheme was revealed when The New York Times reported that an individual based in Nigeria with a Naussany-associated email address contacted them and took credit for it.

The individual said he and his associates typically scam the vulnerable and elderly. The Times also reported that the email was written in Luganda, a language spoken in Uganda. “We figure out how to steal,” the individual told The Times. “That’s what we do.”

Experts also told the Associated Press that scammers often target people’s assets after they’re dead. “It’s very difficult for someone to say, ‘Well, no, I didn’t take out this loan, I didn’t sign these papers,’ when they’re dead,” Mark Sunderman, a University of Memphis real estate professor, told the AP.

The Independent was unable to verify specific details about Naussany Investments and Private Lending due to a lack of public records and unreliable contact information listed online.

No representative for the company appeared at a recent hearing over Graceland, however Naussany filed court papers denying Ms Keough’s allegations and asked the judge for more time to prepare a defense in the case, the Times reports.

Nikos Passas, a Northeastern University criminology and criminal justice professor, also told the AP the scammers likely knew that successfully auctioning off Graceland was impossible.

“The chance of succeeding in what they were trying to do — that is, to get the property auctioned off and get the proceeds and then use the money — doesn’t seem to be the actual intent, unless they are incredibly stupid,” Dr Passas said. “So, the question is then, ‘What was the intent, and who was behind it?’”

By Katie Hawkinson, Independent

Related story: Two arrested in Nigeria for sextortion after Australian boy's suicide

At least 160 kidnapped in hours-long deadly raid in Nigeria

Ten people were killed and 160 others, including children, were abducted during a raid by suspected Boko Haram militants on a remote village in north-central Nigeria, a local official told CNN on Monday.

The attack occurred in Kuchi village, Munya district, in Niger state, beginning at about 5:30 p.m. on Friday and lasting until 4:00 a.m. Saturday, according to district official Aminu Abdulhamid Najume.

Niger state, which borders Nigeria's capital Abuja, has experienced repeated kidnappings for ransom by armed groups, including mass abductions, in recent years.

Najume reported that about 300 gunmen arrived on motorbikes and stayed for several hours, making themselves at home before leaving with the abductees. "They made a fire to curb the cold because it was raining throughout that day," Najume said. "They cooked and made tea; they made Indomie (instant noodles) and spaghetti."

Some of those killed were members of a local vigilante group who confronted the attackers but were overpowered. Najume added that security forces had not yet started rescue operations. "The police visited Kuchi yesterday [Sunday] and left, nothing else."

A spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

"This is not the first or second time Kuchi village has been attacked. This is the fifth time," Najume said, noting that the area frequently suffers from kidnappings for ransom. The kidnappers have not yet made any demands regarding the latest abduction, he said.

Amnesty International said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday that it was "deeply concerned by the abduction," criticizing Nigerian authorities for leaving "rural communities at the mercy of gunmen."

"Since 2021, gunmen have been consistently attacking Kuchi village and raping women and girls in their matrimonial homes," the agency stated.

"The invasion of the village by the gunmen is yet another indication of the Nigerian authorities' utter failure to protect lives," Amnesty added.

Nigeria's security forces have struggled for years to control insurgent groups in the north of the country.

The Kuchi abduction comes two months after 21 people, including a newlywed, were killed when gunmen described locally as 'bandits' stormed a market in Rafi, another affected district in Niger.

At least 137 schoolchildren were kidnapped(opens in a new tab) earlier in March in Niger's neighbouring Kaduna state but were later released after the kidnappers made an initial demand of 1 billion naira (over US$675,000) and threatened to kill them all if their demands were not met. 

By Nimi Princewill, CNN

Related stories: Video - Over 350 abductees rescued in Nigeria’s Borno state

Video - Gunmen abduct over 100 people in Zamfara state, Nigeria

Video - Nigeria facing a decline in foreign remittances

Insecurity at home appears to be one factor deterring Nigerians abroad from sending money back to the country. The decline in foreign exchange remittances affects the country's ability to import goods and services and could lead to further inflation. But authorities in the country say they are tackling the challenges.

CGTN