Real-life Money Heist
EFCC has discovered the biggest corruption mess yet
Good morning, Big Brains. I don’t like to speak negative words but something is seriously wrong with this country. You should share today’s edition with as many people as possible so we can all sigh together.
- Margaret
Word count: ~ 1, 000
Reading time ~ 4 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
EFCC has discovered Nigeria’s biggest corruption mess yet
UNICEF is giving Nigerian kids a shot at education
The Big Deal
EFCC has discovered Nigeria’s biggest corruption mess yet
Principalities & Power - 1, Nigeria -0. If you’re one of the people who criticised Remi Tinubu’s call for a national crusade, we need you to come outside so we can tell you a few things. The forces working against this country have obviously been hustling with a work rate that only higher spiritual forces (that Remi wanted to evoke) can match.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has just achieved its biggest asset seizure yet - a massive housing estate on the outskirts of Abuja with over 750 properties. And no, this isn’t one of those modest estates with a few okay-looking flats scattered here and there. This is a prime estate carefully built across 150,000 square meters of luxury.
For years, the luxurious buildings have left people in Abuja questioning who’s behind such a display of wealth. The answer to that question is still a mystery because the EFCC is keeping that information to itself, revealing only that it belongs to a former high-ranking government official who allegedly funded this lifestyle with public money. Even though they haven’t dropped names, you can take at least 300 guesses in a country like Nigeria.
Why is this a big deal?
A property expert who spoke to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) valued the estate at tens of millions of dollars, which sounds about right for 750 luxury houses built with money that could have fixed roads, built hospitals, or even given Nigerian students a break from academic strikes.
Corruption is the uninvited guest who refuses to leave Nigeria’s table. This estate seizure is just another reminder of how much public money has gone into the pockets of a few government officials while the masses suffer.
A recent report by Stanbic IBTC Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI®) shows that the employment rate in Nigeria’s private sector has declined for the first time in seven months. For context, this sector has consistently created jobs (especially for young Nigerians who make up 70% of the country’s total population) for six months, but it can’t afford to do that anymore because the economy is getting worse, along with the purchasing power of Nigerians.
The private sector isn’t the only sector struggling. In 2024, the doctor-to-patient ratio in Nigeria slumped so much that it’s now 1000% below the World Health Organisation’s recommendation. In case you were wondering, relocation of doctors (to countries that offer better benefits to health workers) has been cited as the main reason for this decline
You’d think the call for higher pay for Nigerian doctors is something that hasn’t made headlines for a minute now, but it has. In October 2024, doctors (especially those in rural areas) asked the federal government to review their salaries. Before that, the last time that demand reached FG’s ears was in 2013 when it approved a salary review for medical practitioners under the Harmonised/Consolidated Health and Medical Salary Structures but local reports confirm that it never took effect because Nigeria is allegedly broke.
We can go on and on about the failures of other Nigerian sectors, but we’re not sure if that’s a healthy way to start your day.
For now, the EFCC’s seizure is a small win in a bigger war, but if the government official behind the seized properties isn’t held accountable, that would be the biggest waste of every Nigerian’s time.
UNICEF is giving Nigerian kids a shot at education
We promise this is the last failure we’ll rub in your face but the education sector is another area that remains down bad while government officials continue to pull a nonfiction version of Money Heist on us (allegedly please) so we need to talk about it.
The “leaders of tomorrow” motto sounds like mockery now that 10.5 million children in Nigeria barely even recognise what the four walls of a classroom look like.
While the Nigerian government continues to spend only 6.39% of the 2024 budget on education (because Nigeria is allegedly broke), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in partnership with the Global Partnership for Education Accelerated Funding (GPE-AF) project, has chosen to do the Lord’s work.
What’s UNICEF up to?
UNICEF is starting a project that is expected to help two million out-of-school children in Northeast Nigeria get access to quality learning opportunities.
Safiya Yoba Akau, UNICEF’s Communications, Advocacy, Media, and External Relations officer, said the project directly responds to the impact of insecurity and climate disasters in the region—two major problems that have left many children displaced and without access to education.
With the new funding phase for this project, UNICEF plans to make education more accessible for kids in this region and improve existing schools and education quality in the Northeast.
In Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states alone, two million children have no access to education, and less than 30% of schools are able to meet basic teacher qualification standards, making the kids from these states automatically disadvantaged in liferace.
Between 2024 and 2025, the GPE-AF project plans to fix these long-standing problems through different strategies, like training programs to upgrade teaching quality, delivering learning materials that schools have been crying out for, and setting up systems that make education fairer for everyone.
We’re not sure if there’s light at the end of any tunnel, but for the sake of these out-of-school kids, we hope UNICEF finds something close.
This Week’s Big Question
“What do you think 2025 is going to look like for you?”
Ayomipo’s response - “I’m not sure how it’s going to happen yet but I’m going to get a fully-funded scholarship.”
You can also share your response here, and if it’s as interesting as Ayomipo’s, we’ll feature it in the next edition.
The Big Picks
South Africa Relaxes Visa Rules For Nigerian Tourists, Business People: The South African government has made life easier for Nigerian tourists and businesspeople by relaxing its visa rules—now, you can apply for a visa without handing over your passport.
Reps Direct Transport Ministry To Probe Boat Mishaps Across Country: The House of Representatives has called on the Ministries of Marine and Blue Economy, and Transportation to thoroughly investigate the recent spate of boat mishaps in Nigeria.
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