General News
Nigeria Monetary Policy Makers in Tight Spot as Stagflation Takes Hold

Monetary policymakers are in a tough spot after COVID-19 claimed the economy as a victim of lockdowns and reduced activity. The central bank has to take on a therapeutic role to nurse the country back to health. Are the available remedies enough to save the patient or have decades of over-reliance on the cover-all solution of strong oil revenues blunted their effectiveness?
CBN unlikely to cut rates
In its January decision, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) left its key interest rate unchanged at 11.5 percent, citing the pursuit of price stability. While other central banks adopted looser monetary policy to defend their economies against COVID-19, the CBN simply doesn’t have enough breathing room because it is dealing with stagflation marked by price inflation in the essential needs sector and a loss of productivity at the same time.
The CBN shows decisiveness and determination to reverse the stagflation and loss of output trends, according to its January meeting statement. Even amid the headwinds, it’s encouraging that the CBN realises the problem and is taking measures to handle it.
Nigeria faces severe stagflation
The economic consequences of COVID-19 are the environment of stagflation with rising inflation and a recessionary economy, said the CBN. Stagflation is characterised by price rises which occur when there is an increase in inflation and at the same time an increase in unemployment and lower economic output. Meanwhile, import restrictions announced by the central bank to help local producers have added to fuel inflation which hit a three-year high in December.
Traditional monetary policy is hard-pressed to find a solution to both stagflation and a depressed economy at the same time. Lowering interest rates is one option but in Nigeria’s case might lead to an increase in inflation which is well above the target rate of six to nine percent and make things worse.
The remedy for stagflation depends on treating the root causes. These are the extensive pandemic lockdowns, chronically high inflation, and uncertainties in the oil markets feeding into reduced output and fiscal risks. While most of the causes are likely to pass once the pandemic is under control, none of them appears to have an early ending at the time of writing. Vaccination programmes take time to be effective and meanwhile demand for oil remains at relatively low levels because of travel restrictions.
Economic recession
Nigeria struggles with a recession with the threat of higher unemployment and poverty rates exacerbated by the public health threat from COVID-19. The recession impacts the buying power of the Naira and comes at a bad time after the central bank’s efforts to manage the currency and stoke economic growth in recent years rather than just focusing on keeping inflation in its target band of six to nine percent.
Monetary authorities had to devalue the Naira twice last year after a shortage of dollars pushed up import prices and increased the gap between the official and black-market exchange rates.
Unconventional tools of growth
In January, the CBN disbursed N20 trillion to cushion the pandemic effects and support the signs of improvement which came thanks to easing lockdown restrictions and more promising Oil prices. The CBN said that N192.64 billion was disbursed to households and small businesses from the COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility.
The deployment of funds directly to their targets is certainly a significant support for the economy but the second wave of infections and ongoing uncertainty about the vaccine rollout threatens to sabotage any meaningful recovery, at least in the short term.
Too early to tighten?
The coronavirus is the dovish factor in the CBN’s price stability mandate and the central bank is likely to adopt a wait-and-see approach for the foreseeable future. Tightening monetary policy this year may be too soon and make Nigeria an outlier among major economies expected to ease or hold rates at record lows to breathe new life into their economies.
Other than direct funding, the CBN may end up using additional unconventional tools to revive growth including tweaking the loan to deposit ratio, the liquidity ratio, and cash reserve ratio. The questions are whether these will be enough to save the patient from more financial pain and what will be the long-term effects on Nigeria’s economic health.
General News
Xenophobic Attacks: Anonymous Nigeria Threatens to Leak South African Stolen Data

Anonymous Nigeria, hacktivism, known for launching coordinated cyberattacks and protests in support of socio-political movements, has threatened to leak stolen South African government data unless its demands were met.

The group, called for the department to stop xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa, or it will expose the data.
“They call themselves correctional services, but they can’t correct the citizens. What a shame,” the group said in its Telegram channel, MyBroadband reported.
“They killed a lot of Nigerians while the so-called correctional services watched and the ministry of justice.”
It is immediately know if Anonymous Nigeria is affiliated to Nullsec Nigeria.
But in a post on a hacker forum, Nullsec Nigeria included a link showcasing an example of data stolen from the department.
It included two bid invitation notices, bid results, a copy of the bids received, and a notice of a bid awarded in various formats.
“We’ll expose all your evil deeds for the world to see, unless this attack stops. But if not, we’ll leak everything they got,” Nullsec Nigeria said.
“Unless the government of South Africa ends these xenophobic attacks on Nigeria, we’ll expose everything about you, your evil deeds will be exposed, and the world shall know.”
MyBroadband asked the Department of Correctional Services about the claimed breach and Nullsec Nigeria’s demands, but it did not immediately respond to our questions.
Nullsec Nigeria also claimed responsibility for breaching several other entities in South Africa, while responding to an X post about its OpSouthAfrica campaign in its Telegram channel.
“I wanna express something here. I saw a report on the #OpSouthAfrica hack by Nullsec Nigeria, but it was stolen by another person,” it said. “Tag the real breachers next time.”
In a separate thread on the hacker forum, Nullsec Nigeria also claimed responsibility for breaching the Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality’s systems.
It claimed to have hacked the local government’s website and threatened to expose “everything you got for others to see how heartless you are. You killed mothers, brothers, students.”
Nullsec Nigeria said the breach and the threats were in response to the xenophobic attacks on and killing of Nigerians and the South African government’s supposed silence on the issue.
“These attacks are still going on in the dark, and we’ll expose them all. If the South African government doesn’t act first, the whole of South Africa will suffer,” it said.
“This is just a wave. These documents are about 11GB, but we decided to pull just this one.”
Its post included two images: one for a public hearing and another, a handwritten tender document for the appointment of an insurance service provider.
It also included a link to several other documents, including an old annual report, council resolutions, financial statements, and various other notices.
The Nigerian Government recently announced plans to bring citizens back to the country from South Africa after violent protests over foreign nationals in the country erupted earlier in May.
President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the protests and criminal acts directed at foreign nationals in his From the Desk of The President weekly newsletter on 11 May 2026.
He emphasised the recent demonstrations and attacks did not represent the views of the South African people, nor the government’s policy.
“These are the acts of opportunists who are exploiting the legitimate grievances, particularly those of the poor, under the false guise of ‘community activism’,” The President said.
“Some of these people are assuming functions that only state officials are permitted to perform, including stopping people to check identification and conducting searches of private property.”
He added that such lawlessness would not be tolerated, regardless of who the perpetrators or victims were.
General News
MTN Targets 8m Homes in Fibre Expansion Drive

MTN Nigeria says it plans to pass fibre to eight million homes over the next three years as part of efforts to deepen broadband penetration and expand digital service offerings across the country.

Tobe Okigbo
Tobe Okigbo, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, disclosed this at the MTN Media Innovation Programme (MIP) Alumni “Ask Me Anything” session held on Saturday.
Okigbo said the telecom company was making significant investments in home fibre infrastructure despite challenges such as regulatory approvals, physical deployment requirements and the long period needed to recover costs.
According to him, fibre broadband differs from mobile internet services because customers pay for connection speed rather than bandwidth consumption.
He said the investment formed part of MTN’s broader strategy to gradually shift customers from mobile-heavy internet usage to fixed broadband services for home connectivity.
Okigbo noted that the global telecommunications industry was evolving beyond traditional voice and data services, driven by advances in artificial intelligence, 5G, smart devices and internet-connected homes.
He warned that telecom operators that fail to adapt risk becoming mere providers of connectivity infrastructure while technology companies capture greater value from digital services.
“The future of telecoms is no longer just about expanding coverage. It is also about building services and platforms around network infrastructure to remain relevant and competitive,” he said.
On recent tariff increases, Okigbo said the adjustments were necessary to address rising operating costs, inflation and sector sustainability concerns.
He cited increased diesel prices and other operational expenses as major factors affecting the cost of delivering telecom services in Nigeria.
According to him, tariff pricing should increasingly reflect market realities and inflation trends, while allowing consumers to switch providers offering better value.
Speaking on service quality, Okigbo said MTN had compensated customers in cases of poor network performance and remained in discussions with regulators on accountability for service failures.
He explained that discussions were ongoing to distinguish between network issues caused directly by operators and those resulting from external factors such as vandalism, construction activities and infrastructure damage.
Okigbo said MTN supported compensating customers for genuine service lapses but sought clarity on regulatory parameters guiding such liabilities.
He added that fibre deployment remained more complex than mobile network expansion because it involved physical cable installation, local government approvals and detailed service planning.
On mobile money operations, Okigbo said MTN Group had acquired a 60 per cent stake in MoMo across its markets to strengthen competitiveness and improve customer experience.
He said the future of telecoms would also be shaped by embedded connectivity, smart homes, connected vehicles and broader Internet of Things adoption.
General News
World Bank Blocks Social Media Comments from Nigerians over Loan Backlash

World Bank has restricted comments on its Instagram page after thousands of Nigerians flooded the platform begging them to stop lending money to Nigeria.

The protest erupted after reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is seeking a fresh $1.25 billion dollar loan for approval on June 26.
Some Nigerians asked the World Bank to provide more details about the purpose of the loan and how the funds would be managed.
Others said the country should reduce dependence on foreign loans and focus on improving local revenue.
The federal government has continued to defend its borrowing plans.
Officials say the funds will support economic reforms, development projects and efforts to strengthen the economy.
Nigeria remains one of the major borrowers from the World Bank in Africa, with different administrations securing loans over the years for infrastructure, social programmes and economic support.
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