Is it for Garri? Is it for Eba?

FG is doing ₦6.9 billion giveaway-ish for flood disaster victims

Good morning, Big Brains. It’s officially Moonshot week, and if I weren’t attending, FOMO would have killed my enemy. I still don’t know what to wear, but I know I’ll be there. I hope you make it too.

- Margaret

Word count: ~ 1,100
Reading time ~ 6 mins

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Let’s get into today’s edition:

• FG is doing ₦6.9 billion giveaway-ish for flood disaster victims

• ASUU is not moved by FG’s threats

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The Big Deal

FG is doing ₦6.9 billion giveaway-ish for flood disaster victims

The Great Lock-in (or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days) has kicked off, and the Tinubu-led administration is hopping on that self-development train too. The administration has repented from solving every problem with bags of rice and is now moving on to “bigger” things. Specifically, interest-free loans for flood victims.

The Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Yusuf Sununu, announced on Monday, October 13, that 21,000 Nigerians affected by the recent floods will soon receive a ₦300,000 interest-free loan from a ₦6.3 billion fund. If it wasn’t clear enough, this isn’t your typical giveaway. It is a loan, and President Tinubu will be collecting his money back when the time comes.

The Minister explained that this loan is one of the many ways the government is trying to “mitigate the impact of flooding and its consequences on food security.” He also added that over 8.1 million households have received more than ₦300 billion under the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme. According to him, these transfers have improved people’s health and education.

As for flood victims, the plan is to “dole out” interest- and collateral-free loans to help at least 21,000 of them recover from the crisis.

Why is this a big deal?

People might say Sununu’s fancy English is bigger than this ₦300,000 loan, and we’d agree.

As of October 10, 2025, flooding has displaced 135,764 people across 27 states in Nigeria, with 47,708 homes either damaged or completely destroyed. According to the 2025 Flood Dashboard of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the disaster has affected a total of 409,714 people this rainy season.

The worst part is that children are the largest group of victims affected by this crisis—188,118 of them specifically. 125,307 women and 77,423 men have also been affected. NEMA itself says the best way to support victims is to provide food, shelter, water and sanitation, health services, and livelihood support. It also recommends nutrition, education, protection, and security as additional means of support for victims.

Although the government has occasionally provided relief items like rice, spaghetti, and macaroni to flood victims, it has also been criticised for its approach to handling such crises. Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, for instance, was seen earlier this year begging regular Nigerians on X to donate to provide relief items for flood victims in the state despite receiving a $10 million flood prevention grant from the World Bank.

While it’s good to see FG put some effort into this crisis control, we can’t exactly understand what a ₦300,000 loan is supposed to do for someone counting losses in Tinubu’s economy, especially when thousands of people are concerned.

ASUU is not moved by FG’s threats

The world has moved past the “no gree for anybody era,” but if the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is serious about standing on business, that era might be making a comeback.

The union has officially announced that it’s not even slightly bothered by the Federal Government’s “No Work, No Pay” directive. ASUU’s President, Chris Piwuna, said during an interview on Channels TV that the union “doesn’t respond to threats,” and no one can bully them into submission.

According to Piwuna, the government is trying to play divide-and-rule by telling other academic groups like the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) and the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) that they can get their salaries, while ASUU misses out. But the union insists that all parties involved are “united in this matter,” including lecturers in polytechnics and colleges of education.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, also caught a few strays from Piwuna, who would rather watch Alausa put this threat energy into solving the problem.

Regarding the status of the strike, the union clarified that it’s not completely closing the door to peace. Piwuna also shared that the Minister of State for Labour has reached out to find a resolution, but until then, ASUU’s stance on the strike remains the same.

If both sides keep this nonchalant competition going, Nigeria’s academic calendar might soon be on life support again.

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This Week’s Big Question

“Do you think the Tinubu administration should amp up taxes or slow it down?”

Folawe’s response - “Personally, I think he can do better. He needs to tax us until there’s nothing left to tax.”

You can also share your response here, and if it’s as interesting as Folawe’s, we’ll feature it in the next edition.

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