Another day, another outbreak
Meningitis is spreading fast in the Northeast
Good morning, Big Brains. It’s a good time to take your health seriously. Wear your nose masks, practice social distancing and be extra careful, even if you’re not in the North.
- Margaret
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Meningitis is spreading fast in the Northeast
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan isn’t going down without a fight
The Big Deal
Meningitis is spreading fast in the Northeast
This isn’t exactly what you want to read (or what we want to write about) on a Wednesday morning, but Nigeria has yet another outbreak to handle.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has announced that there’s a surge in meningitis cases across Northwest Nigeria, particularly in Kebbi and Sokoto States. And when we say “surge,” we mean over 500 admitted patients and more than 60 deaths in Kebbi alone.
According to MSF’s Field Communications Manager, Teresa Krug, the disease, which spreads quickly and has the potential to become life-threatening within 24 hours, has been a major problem since March. And not to be prophets of doom, it’s probably going to get worse if the government doesn’t do something about it.
Despite being a foreign agency, MSF is currently trying to manage the situation by treating patients in Kebbi’s hardest-hit areas, supplying hospitals with medicine, and training medical staff. They are also doing the same thing in Sokoto and are pushing for a mass vaccination campaign expected to kick off this month.
Why is this a big deal?
Beggars cannot be choosers, but this is another classic case of Nigeria waiting for a foreign saviour before taking care of its own people.
Meningitis was already spreading fast in March, but we expected the state government to manage the spread in all affected areas. We were told that the Kebbi state government had approved ₦30 million to supply drugs and set up isolation centres across the state. At that point, there were only 248 suspected cases; now, the number has disturbingly doubled in less than a month.
The Kebbi state government also promised to request vaccines to control the spread, so it's a bit surprising that MSF, a Switzerland-based humanitarian organization, is the one playing saviour by doing what the government should be doing.
You’d think Nigerian leaders might have learnt a lesson or two from the United States Agency for International Development’s USAID) sudden funding cut in 2025 and how it left millions of Nigerians without access to basic healthcare services, but here we are, relying on another nation’s kind deed to manage a pretty manageable outbreak.
It is well o!
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan isn’t going down without a fight
We’d offer you a backstory on the Akpabio vs Akpoti-Uduaghan case, but you wouldn’t need it since it’s one of our most covered stories.
But there’s a new development and we’d love to catch you up to speed. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of playing instigator in the petition to recall her from the Senate.
Speaking to a hyped-up crowd in Okehi LGA on Tuesday, April 1, she claimed that INEC wasn’t just processing the petition; it was actively coaching petitioners (allegedly from the APC) on how to recall her. According to her, the initial petition was filled with errors—no addresses or phone numbers. But instead of tossing it out, INEC allegedly stepped in to fix the initial mess.
She also threw shade at the “Kogi Central Political Frontier,” the group behind the recall attempt, claiming it only exists on paper . A Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) search reportedly showed that the organisation isn’t registered, and its listed address (No. 4, Oboroke) isn’t real.
But here’s the iconic gag — all these happened despite the fact that the Kogi state government banned public gatherings due to "security concerns”. That didn’t stop Akpoti-Uduaghan from pulling up to Okehi in a chopper.
While the fate of the recall remains uncertain, Akpoti-Uduaghan made it clear that she’s ready to fight this battle in court. With 250,000 “signatures” on the recall petition, it most likely won’t be an easy fight.
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