We no really send you for here
Majority of Nigerian children cannot read, and the government doesn’t give a shit
Good morning, Big Brains. I think it’s important to go outside and touch grass every now and then. We’re all so out of touch with the reality of lower-income Nigerians. If you spent the weekend on Tinubu’s internet, you’d understand what I’m talking about.
This Week’s Big Question: ”What’s something you used to buy easily before Tinubu but now feels like a luxury?” Share your responses with us, and if we think they’re fun enough, we’ll feature them in the newsletter :) so be on the lookout.
- Margaret
Word count: ~ 1, 000
Reading time ~ 5 mins
Let’s get into the news you missed during the weekend:
Leaders of tomorrow” cannot read, and the government doesn’t give a shit
Senator Kinigbe is cosplaying as a girl’s girl
The Big Deal
Leaders of tomorrow” cannot read, and the government doesn’t give a shit
Big Brains, do you actually feel like the “leader of tomorrow” everyone and their grandma promised you’d be? Yeah, neither do we. And at this rate, the kids growing up today won’t feel that way either.
The World Bank recently gave us another reason to say “God abeg”. They revealed that 37 million out of 50.7 million children aged 7 to 14 in Nigeria can’t read or understand a simple sentence.
Over the weekend, Nubi Achebo, the director of academic planning at the Nigerian University of Technology and Management (NUTM), confirmed that this isn’t just an education problem; it’s an economic disaster waiting to happen. Achebo warns that if Nigeria doesn’t take urgent steps to fix this mess, we’d be looking at a more disappointing future.
Why is this a big deal?
We can confirm that the federal government is either out of touch with the reality of its citizens or just doesn’t give a shit. In the 2025 budget (which also happens to be Nigeria’s largest budget yet, by the way), the education sector was allocated only 7%. The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) recommends that underdeveloped countries like Nigeria allocate up to 15% of each year’s budget to education, but our country obviously hasn’t gotten the memo.
Nigeria's primary school completion rate is currently 73.1%, while junior secondary school completion rate is 67.7%. We have too many kids dropping out of school before they even get a proper shot at learning. These supposed leaders of tomorrow are getting sucked into a loop of generational poverty, and that affects all of us.
When the youngest and most vibrant population in Nigeria cannot read, it becomes harder for the country to compete globally. Illiteracy will continue to fuel poverty, and poverty will fuel more illiteracy. The World Bank estimates that every extra year of education can increase a person’s earnings by up to 10%. In other words, Nigeria is sitting on wasted potential by refusing to address its failing education system.
At this point, we’re all victims of Nigeria.
Senator Kinigbe is cosplaying as a girl’s girl
If you’re tired of reading about the nonsense happening in Nigeria’s Senate, imagine how tired we are of writing about it. But here we are again.
Ireti Kingibe, the senator representing Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has suddenly remembered that women should be supporting women and is now throwing her weight behind Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment allegations against Godswill Akpabio.
ICYMI, Akpoti-Uduaghan recently accused Akpabio of making inappropriate advances towards her during a visit to his home in Akwa Ibom.
Initially, Kingibe played down the case, saying Akpoti-Uduaghan wasn’t the only senator affected by seat rearrangement in the Senate and that the matter had been blown out of proportion. But on Friday, March 12, she claimed she had no idea sexual harassment was part of the issue. We could have sworn that Nigerians dragged this woman for saying that none of the other female senators had ever experienced sexual harassment in the Senate, and Akpoti-Uduaghan never told any of them that she was harassed. But if she says she didn’t know about the sexual harassment case, we’ll all pretend to have selective amnesia.
Now “fully informed”, Kingibe is demanding an open and fair investigation. As the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women's Affairs, she’s calling for justice, transparency, and an end to the culture of sweeping sexual harassment under the carpet.
She also used the opportunity to advocate for more female representation in governance, mentioning her efforts with the 35% Gender Inclusion Bill and a Gender Equity Bill currently advancing through the Senate.
If her President, the Jagaban of the Boys Club, kept his manifesto promise, she wouldn’t need to stress herself out about the bill, but what do we know?
Your next big read
→“I Helped a Nigerian Friend Get a Loan in Canada, But He Ghosted Me Without Paying”: Cynthia tried to be a brother’s keeper by offering to co-sign a car loan for a fellow Nigerian in Canada four years ago – that decision has caused her regrets, pain and financial loss since then.
→It’s Akpoti-Uduaghan to You, Not Natasha: Since February, Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, have been in the news over allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of power against Akpabio.
The Big Picks
FG Must Stop Threatening Nigerians for Criticising Govt: Amnesty International said on Sunday that the federal government must stop threatening individuals and groups who criticise the current administration.
Musk Says Starship To Depart For Mars At End Of 2026: SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Saturday its massive Starship rocket would leave for Mars at the end of 2026 with Tesla humanoid robot Optimus onboard, adding that human landings could follow “as soon as 2029.”
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