Nigeria ranks fifth globally in daily social media usage

Nigeria has been named among the world’s top social media engagements in 2024.

Figures from Cable.co.uk and We Are Social in 2024, shared on Sunday by World of Statistics on X, ranked Nigeria fifth for average daily use of social media in the world.

The data disclosed that Nigerians spend an average of 3 hrs and 23 minutes on social media daily.

While Kenya led the list with an average of 3 hrs and 43 minutes daily, South Africa followed with 3 hrs and 37 minutes.

Full list:

Kenya – 03:43

South Africa – 03:37

Brazil – 03:34

Philippines – 03:33

Nigeria – 03:23

Colombia – 03:22

Chile – 03:11

Indonesia – 03:11

Saudi Arabia – 03:10

Argentina – 03:08

Mexico – 03:04

Malaysia – 02:48

Ghana – 02:43

Egypt – 02:41

Thailand – 02:30

Bulgaria – 02:26

Vietnam – 02:23

Portugal – 02:23

Romania – 02:20

Italy – 02:17

By Racheal Ayodele, Daily Post

Nigeria rights body to present findings on abortion allegations against military

Nigeria's human rights commission will on Friday deliver its findings from an investigation into Reuters reports, which found the military ran a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme and massacred children in its fight against Islamist insurgents in the northeast.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which is appointed by the government, established a special panel in February 2023 to investigate the findings published by Reuters and conducted hearings in the capital Abuja and northeastern Borno state.

The Nigerian military denied the findings in the news agency's reports.

The NHRC on Thursday sent invitations to the media saying the panel was ready to present its findings and recommendations to the public in Abuja.

In advance of the Friday session, Reuters was unable to independently establish what the report will conclude.

Obinna Jude Nwakonye, NHRC head of corporate affairs who signed the invitations, did not immediately respond to calls for further comment about the commission's findings.

In the past, some rights activists have accused the NHRC of failing to hold the government to account, citing the agency's inability to secure prosecution of senior Nigerian officials accused of rights abuses – a lack of accountability underscored in United Nations and U.S. State epartment reports.

However, the commission also has previously presented hard hitting reports against the government.
In October 2020, thousands of protesters successfully demanded the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit, members of which the NHRC found had extorted, tortured and killed civilians.

That same month, the army and police opened fire on protesters in Lagos, killing at least 11 people, according to a state judicial panel that the NHRC helped set up.

The government rejected the panel's report, citing errors and insufficient evidence.

Reuters reported in December 2022, based on dozens of witness accounts and documentation, that the military abortion programme involved terminating at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls, many of whom had been kidnapped and raped by Islamist militants.

In another Reuters report, more than 40 soldiers and civilians told the news agency they witnessed the Nigerian military kill children or saw children's corpses after a military operation.

Two decades ago, an Islamist fundamentalist movement, Boko Haram, was born in Nigeria's northeast.
In 2009, the killing of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, by Nigerian police spurred its transformation into an armed insurgency that the Nigerian military has been fighting.

Boko Haram gained global notoriety in 2014 for the abduction of 276 secondary school girls in the town of Chibok, a raid that prompted the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Some of the girls have never been returned.

Although weakened by the military and internal divisions that splintered the group in 2016, Boko Haram remains a threat as it launches deadly attacks against civilians and government targets.
Tens of thousands of women and children have been sucked into the conflict, with some recruited into the insurgency's ranks and others forced to become fighters and suicide bombers, according to human rights groups and academics. 

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

Related story: Nigeria government denies Reuters report of mass ‘abortion programme’ of Boko Haram victims

Peter Obi Urges FG To Resolve Power Crisis Challenges

Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has called on the federal government to proffer lasting solutions to the power crisis in the country.

Obi made the call on his X handle while raising concerns about the ongoing power crisis following another collapse of the national grid.

The call came after Nigerians were plunged into a fresh round of darkness following another collapse of the national power grid.

Since January 2024 till date, the grid has collapsed 10 times, and three times in October alone.

Speaking on the issue via a statement on Wednesday via X, Obi contrasted Nigeria’s struggles with power supply to South Africa’s recent success in achieving seven months of uninterrupted electricity.

He said, “Again, yesterday the now regular news came that the National Grid had collapsed once again. Just a few days ago, on the 25th of October, South Africa that was the second-largest economy in Africa behind Nigeria until recently, with a quarter of our population, celebrated seven months of uninterrupted power supply.

“South Africa generates and distributes about 40,000 MW of electricity, while Nigeria struggles to generate and distribute just 10% of that.”

“Is there any tribe in Nigeria that enjoys uninterrupted power supply like South Africa? I am labelled a tribal bigot. When I ask if any religion enjoys special privileges in this crisis, I am called a religious bigot. But I will continue to speak the truth about our situation today,” he said.

“The fact remains that we are all suffering equally from this failure,” he said.

Obi urged Nigerians to move past “primordial sentiments” and instead focus on electing leaders who can drive the country towards development.

He said, “The fact remains that we are all suffering equally from this failure. The solution lies not in tribal or religious affiliations but in visionary leadership and a shared commitment to progress.

“We must set aside these primordial sentiments and elect leaders who are competent, capable, and have the vision to transform our nation from a consumer-driven economy to a productive one by investing our meagre resources in critical areas of development like health and education, lifting our people out of poverty, and ensuring increased electricity production and distribution.”

Channels

Related story: Nigeria's power grid partially collapses again, causing blackouts

Nigeria s Chief of Army Staff passes away

The Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, is dead. He was 56.

Mr Lagbaja, a lieutenant general, died in Lagos after a brief illness, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga wrote in a Wednesday morning statement.


“He passed away on Tuesday night in Lagos after a period of illness.

“President Tinubu expresses his heartfelt condolences to the family and the Nigerian Armed Forces during this difficult time. He wishes Lt. General Lagbaja eternal peace and honours his significant contributions to the nation,” Mr Onanuga wrote.

He was rumoured dead two weeks ago but the Defence Headquarters debunked the news, explaining that he was on leave.

A week after the rumoured death, PREMIUM TIMES reported that President Bola Tinubu appointed Olufemi Oluyede, a major general, as acting chief of army staff.

On Tuesday, Mr Oluyede was decorated with the new rank of lieutenant-general, an indication he is set to be made substantive army chief.

Lagbaja’s background

Mr Lagbaja was appointed as the army chief by President Tinubu on 19 June 2023

He was born on 28 February 1968, in Ilobu, Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State. He lived his early life in Osogbo where he attended St Charles Grammar School and Local Authority Teachers College.

He was admitted into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in 1987 as a member of the 39th Regular Course. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 19th September 1992 into the Nigerian Infantry Corps.

Between 1992 and 1995, Mr Lagbaja was platoon commander of the 93 Battalion. From 1995 to 2001, he was platoon commander of 72 Special Forces Battalion. In 2001, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the Nigerian Defence Academy. He studied Strategic Studies at the US Army War College at the Master’s level.

He was an instructor at Nigerian Defence Academy between 2001 and 2004. He was a Grade 2 Staff Officer in charge of peacekeeping at the Army Headquarters Department of Army Training and Operations. Then he was a Directing Staff at Armed Forces Command and Staff College from 2006 – 2009.

By 2009, he became Deputy Chief of Staff G1 at Headquarters 81 Division and subsequently, he became Commanding Officer at 72 Special Forces Battalion Makurdi from 2012 to 2013 and 2014 to 2015.

In 2016, he was named the Chief of Staff at Headquarters 8 Task Force Division, Monguno. He served as Director of Operations at the Army Headquarters Department of Army Training and Operations from January – December 2018. He was a Commander of Headquarters 9 Brigade, Ikeja, Lagos State and Headquarters 2 Brigade, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Before he was appointed as army chief, Mr Lagbaja was General Officer Commanding Headquarters 82 Division from March 2021 – August 2022 and Headquarters 1 Division – from August 2022 – June 2023.

Earlier in 2008, he attended the Military Observers Course on Peacekeeping Wing at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry Jaji (February – May 2008) and ECOWAS Standby Force Battalion Command Post Course – Peacekeeping Centre, Bamako, Mali – (June – August 2010).

He started his career as a second lieutenant and died as a lieutenant general, a rank he attained in September 2019

Mr Lagbaja participated in Operation HARMONY IV in Bakassi Peninsula; United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC); Operation ZAKI Internal Security Operation in Benue State; Operation LAFIYA DOLE; Operation MESA/Operation UDO KA – March 2021 – August 2022 – Internal Security Operation in South-east Nigeria (Anambra/Abia/Ebonyi/Enugu and Imo States); and Operation FOREST SANITY – Aug 2022 to 2023 – Internal Security Operation in Kaduna/Niger states.

The deceased was married to Mariya Abiodun-Lagbaja and their marriage was blessed with two children.

Mr Lagbaja is not the first army chief to die while in office.

In 2021, Ibrahim Attahiru, a lieutenant general and then chief of army staff died in a Kaduna-bound plane crash. Mr Attahiru died alongside 10 other military officers and crew.

Premium Times

Nigeria's power grid partially collapses again, causing blackouts

Nigeria's national grid suffered a partial collapse on Tuesday, the state power transmitter said, marking the ninth incident this year to have caused power outages across the country.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said the grid experienced a disturbance at around 1252 GMT, triggered by a series of line and generator trips destabilising the system.

While some regions, including the capital Abuja, regained power about an hour after the collapse, outages continued elsewhere.

"TCN engineers are already working to quickly restore bulk power supply to the states affected by the partial disturbance," spokesperson Ndidi Mbah said.

Blackouts are frequent in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with over 200 million people, due to ageing power infrastructure, vandalism and inadequate gas supply for its thermal plants, which account for over 75% of output.

Although Nigeria has the infrastructure to generate about 13,000 megawatts of power, its creaking grid can only distribute a third of it, forcing businesses and households to run costly fuel generators. 

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters 

Related story: Nigeria's state transmission company restoring power after grid collapse