General News
Nigeria Leaders Licenced to Loot- Channel 4 News
Another damning report has exposed the depth of corruption in Nigeria, a country where the report said the leaders have been licensed to loot her treasuries.
The report by Channel 4 News, UK based news channel claimed that the breath-taking scale of official corruption is blighting the lives of more Nigerians than even the deadly insurgency.
It also quoted a former Nigerian government minister as saying that “Nigeria, is a country where you can disappear an elephant into the pocket of a shirt.”
The minister claimed that his civil servants offered him a 20 per cent slice off his department’s multi-billion dollar budget, assuring him they could bury their tracks.
Their expectation, he said, was that they too would be rewarded with a generous tranche of the loot.
The senior politician, who cannot be named for his own safety, alleged that he had been approached shortly after his appointment to cabinet, while staying in a hotel on a high-profile foreign trip.
He told Channel 4 News that he refused the offer, telling his civil servants that he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.
“The scale of corruption by this country’s political elite is breaking people,” he said. “Some see it as the dispensing of patronage, so they can survive. But let’s say it straight. It is theft. Theft with a sense of entitlement.”
Jonathan Miller of Channel 4 News said that a couple of days later, “I was interviewing Nigeria’s flamboyant finance minister. Inevitably, before long, our conversation homed in on the C-word. “Your country has become a byword for corruption,” I said.
“I reject this completely!” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, shouted indignantly at me across the six-foot gap between our two armchairs in her ministerial office, strewn with photographs of herself with world leaders past and present.
“This country has a tendency for people to throw out wild numbers and because of the perception of corruption, people believe a lot of this. Nigeria is not a lawless country where you just lob accusations.”
Dr Ngozi, who earned her doctorate from MIT and who has spent years as a managing director of the World Bank, has a street named after her in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. Half way along it, there’s a slum called Utako, whose residents live hand-to-mouth. Few have jobs; the rat-infested, malarial shanty lacks all basic services.
“The masses are suffering because of the greediness of our leaders,” said Stanley, a man in his late 20s, and one of the millions of Nigerians who do actually believe the “wild numbers” but are powerless in their poverty to hold their leaders to account.
“They are so corrupt don’t care about the masses,” he said. “All they care about is how to embezzle our money. If you look around this place, there is no sanitation, no water, no electricity. They don’t live in this environment.”
Nigeria now ranks as Africa’s largest economy, powered by vast oil reserves. Average incomes have doubled since 2010, yet a third of Nigeria’s people live on less than one pound a day.
For decades, it has been alleged that corrupt politicians were skimming huge sums off the national oil revenues – hundreds of billions of dollars according to the UN.
Most of Nigeria’s 500 languages don’t even have words for “million”, let alone “billion”, but people know the score. Power is perceived as the licence to loot.
Until last year, these “wild numbers” were indeed just “thrown around,” as the finance minister put it. Then, finally, a whistle-blower emerged who put some flesh on the bones.
The numbers were indeed wild. But he came with some pedigree. The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria was no ordinary whistle-blower.
Dr Lamido Sanusi, who had been awarded “Central Banker of the Year 2010″ by the Financial Times Banker magazine (an award which cited his “radical anti-corruption” campaign) discovered what he figured was a US$20-bn black hole in Nigeria’s national finances.
He wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan, detailing the mechanisms by which be believed an astronomical fraud had been committed.
He calculated that over the course of a year and a half, a billion dollars a month had been siphoned off national oil revenues. These “leakages” were, Dr Sanusi told the president, “unsustainable”.
For his trouble, the president first suspended, then fired him, accusing his central bank governor of “financial recklessness”.
Last month, Dr Sanusi, a blue-blooded descendent of the Kano royal line, was reincarnated as the northern kingdom’s new emir.
He swapped his pin-striped suit for flowing robes and a turban. Sitting in his throne room the day after his coronation (pictured below), HRH Muhammad Sanusi II told Channel 4 News exactly how he believed the alleged fraud had been perpetrated. He sticks by all his allegations.
“At the heart of the problem, to my mind,” he said, “is that the entire political system is held hostage by a small group of vested interests.”
His was an almost identical assessment to that offered by Stanley in the slum on Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Street, where most people I spoke to knew all about the former central bank governor’s staggering allegations.
But Dr Ngozi herself dismisses his claim. “It just so happens that on this that he was not correct,” she said. Last year, she claimed more than US$10bn was “missing”.
The Nigerian government commissioned an independent “forensic audit” to determine the truth, but has chosen only to publish edited highlights of the final report – and many Nigerians still smell a rat.
Nigeria ranks 136th out of 175 countries surveyed for Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index – which measures how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be.
Obiageli Ezekwesili is Transparency’s co-founder. She too has served with the World Bank – as its vice-president for Africa – and as a Nigerian government minister.
“There is nothing cultural about corruption in African societies. What has happened is that the is an alienation of the systems and institutions of governance from the people,” she said.
“So when you see elite greed manifested in grand corruption, perpetrated over time, it is simply that nobody has made the link to the fact that government owes us something.”
Oby Ezekwesili remains optimistic about Nigeria, despite its politicians’ winner-takes-all approach. “Give this country about a decade and a half, it won’t be the same. You know, when citizens awaken to the power of the office of the citizen, no society remains the same.”
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has projected that the pump price of petrol would hover around N950 per litre in the year 2026.
The CBN stated this in its 2026 Macroeconomic Outlook for Nigeria.
In its outlook for the domestic economy, the bank made what it called baseline projections predicated on assumptions like crude oil price at an average of $60 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2025 and $55 per barrel in 2026 and the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market exchange rate at an average of N1,451.63/$ in Q4 2025 and N1,400/$ in 2026 (supported by a more efficient foreign exchange market, higher capital inflows, a current account surplus, and a broad-based improvement in economic activity).
The CBN stated that domestic crude oil production is assumed to be at about 1.5 million barrels per day throughout the forecast period, as premium motor spirit is expected to sell around N950, an amount higher than the current pump prices.
“The baseline projections are predicated on the following assumptions: crude oil price at an average of $60/barrel in Q4 2025 and $55/barrel in 2026 (consistent with the US EIA’s outlook that rising global crude oil inventories and supply glut would moderate prices); NFEM exchange rate at an average of N1,451.63/$ in Q4 2025 and N1,400/$ in 2026 (supported by a more efficient FX market, higher capital inflows, a current account surplus, and a broad-based improvement in economic activity).
“Furthermore, domestic crude oil production is assumed at about 1.5 mbpd (excluding condensates) throughout the forecast period. PMS price is expected to hover around N950 per litre in 2026. Government expenditure is projected to follow the 2025-2027 MTEF/FSP path, reflecting an expansionary fiscal stance aimed at supporting the $1tn economy initiative. MPR and CRR are assumed at 27.00 and 45.00 per cent, respectively. The baseline projections were generally supported by the assumption of continued improvement in business optimism and stronger investor sentiment,” the CBN said.
The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to grassroots artisans to upgrade local skills to meet both national and international benchmarks and compete in the global markets.
Speaking recently during the Skill-Up Artisans (SUPA) zonal rally, Dr Afiz Ogun, director-general of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), stated that the initiative is designed to professionalise the sector.
The rally was designed to raise awareness of the programme throughout the North-West region.
The rally saw a diverse turnout of professionals, including those in construction and engineering such as welders, fabricators, plumbers, and carpenters.
Those in the technical service comprised of electrical installers and automobile mechanics, while those in the creative and digital space were fashion designers and ICT technicians.
Represented by Muhammad Aminu, the former zonal director of the ITF, Ogun explained that the SUPA scheme seeks to convert traditional craftsmanship into sustainable livelihoods.
He emphasised that the goal is to transform artisans from job seekers into employers of labour.
“We are calling on artisans across the North-West to embrace the SUPA programme,” Ogun remarked. “This is an opportunity to enhance productivity, increase earnings, and ensure our workforce can compete on a global stage”.
According to the DG, the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, focusing on restoring dignity to manual and technical work.
He noted that a competent artisan class forms the essential foundation of a productive economy.
He further called upon traditional rulers, community leaders, and trade associations to assist the ITF in disseminating information about the programme to ensure high participation rates.
“We are here to engage the technicians, the tradespeople, and the young talents who serve as the backbone of our economy,” he added.
Nancy Ekong, director of the Technical Vocational Skills Training Department, highlighted the programme’s recent successes. She revealed that over 30,000 artisans were trained and upgraded during the initial SUPA cycle in 2025.
The ITF remains optimistic that the continued expansion of SUPA will bridge the existing skills gap in Nigeria’s industrial sector.
American billionaire businessman Bill Gates, has paid $8 billion to his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates’ charity, five years after their split over his affairs with other women.
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates
Gates made the $7.88 billion donation to Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation in 2024, The New York Times revealed.
The sum, one of the largest public donations ever recorded, was revealed in a new tax filing, which shows the first specific financial terms of the couple’s high-profile split in 2021.
Melinda resigned from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in May 2024. Despite leaving the charity, she suggested her ex donate $12.5 billion to a new charitable foundation she intended to create.
A representative for Pivotal told the Times the $12.5 billion agreement has been fulfilled, and the nearly $8 billion donation was part of that agreement.
Melinda set up her Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation in 2022, the year after the divorce. At the end of 2023, it had $604 million on hand.
The billionaire pair split after 27 years together in 2021, embarking on what is considered the most expensive divorce settlement in the world. Melinda later received approximately $76 billion in assets.
Months later, details of Gates’ affair with a Microsoft employee were exposed.
The woman penned a letter to the company’s board in 2019, divulging details about the fling which began in 2000 and demanded that his wife, Melinda “read it”.
Microsoft’s board investigated the women’s claims and deemed the relationship “inappropriate”, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
Gates suddenly quit the board in March 2020 while the investigation was still in progress – and before the board could make a formal decision on the matter.
Two further bombshell reports were then revealed, alleging Gates had routinely hit on staffers at Microsoft and at the philanthropic foundation he founded alongside his wife.
A separate shocking report claimed that Gates had sought marriage advice from Jeffrey Epstein, with whom he reportedly shared a “close” relationship, having first met the convicted sex offender in 2011.
Gates’ and Epstein’s friendship first came to light in 2019, months after Epstein killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on charges of child sex trafficking.
The two men reportedly spent time together on multiple occasions, flying on Epstein’s private jet – dubbed the “Lolita Express” – and attending late-night gatherings at his Manhattan home.
CBN Projects Petrol to Hover around N905/Litre this Year
Court Dismisses N1Bn Suit against MTN, Awards N3m Costs
Nigeria, Egypt to Lead Africa’s Data Center Boom
FG to Empower Artisans for Global Value
KPMG Identifies ‘Flaws, Inconsistencies, and Omission’ in New Tax Law
Banks quietly move to enforce new ₦50 transfer levy from Jan. 1
FIRS says NIN, CAC Numbers to Serve as Tax IDs from 2026
PalmPay Launches N400 Million World Travel Carnival, Rewarding Users with Free Global Trips
Check Point Reveals Nigeria as Second Most Targeted African Country for Cyberattacks in November
Nigeria Takes the Lead in the Global WSIS+20 Digital Agenda
News3 days agoKaspersky Shares AI Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026
General News3 days agoPalmPay Deepens Its Long-Term Commitment in Nigeria with New Office @ Yaba
Broadcasting3 days agoYouth Talent Takes Center Stage as T2 Ignites High-Octane Rap Battles @ Carnival Calabar
E-Financial3 days agoWema Bank Launches SAW AI Voice Assistant for Seamless Banking on ALAT 2.0
E-Financial3 days agoKuda Microfinance Bank Releases ‘My Year on Kuda’ 2025 Financial Recap
E-Financial3 days agoFidelity Bank Completes N500Bn Capital Raise ahead of Deadline
E-Business3 days agoKonga launches Jara sales with 25% discount on Starlink kits, free delivery
General News2 days agoPawnith Appoints Martina Ogbebor as Managing Director to Lead Strategic Launch into Nigeria’s Fintech Ecosystem