From trash-strewn pavements to street vendors packing meals in polystyrene containers, plastic waste is a constant menace in the urban landscape of Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital and the continent’s most populous city.
That image could soon change if the local Lagos State government manages to implement its recent ambitious ban on the use of polystyrene and single-use plastics.
The announcement of the ban on styrofoam boxes and single-use plastics, “with immediate effect”, by Tokunbo Wahab, the state’s commissioner for environment, took many Lagosians by surprise, especially those who earn a living in the informal sector.
“Styrofoam boxes are cheaper than reusable plastic ones,” said Cecilia Mathew, 20, who sells dishes of rice, meat and garri – or cassava flour – on the streets of the popular district of Obalende in Lagos.
“It does not make sense to put food inside poly bag [plastic bag],” said another food vendor, Funmilayo Oresanya, 43.
For environmentalists, the Lagos State move was a welcome one that could not only cut down on waste but also reduce carbon emissions.
But other critics questioned the feasibility of an immediate ban on such commonly used products, especially for businesses.
“It’s too sudden,” said Kehinde Bakare, 61, a polystyrene box seller. “There are people that are using it as a means of living so what will they be doing? How about the production people?” she said, asking that they be offered “substitutes”.
Nigerian fast-food chain Food Concepts, known for its popular restaurants Chicken Republic, PieXpress, and The Chopbox, “applauded” the measure, saying in a statement it was “beginning its transition” to end polystyrene boxes and encouraging its customers “to come with their own containers”.
Bakare Kehinde, a retired principal, holds various types of plastic plates in her store in Lagos. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]
Action plan
Folawemi Umunna, co-founder of the NGO Initiative for Climate and Ecological Protection, said the decision to eliminate non-biodegradable materials was positive if Lagos State properly manages its action plan.
On his X account, Wahab published a video on Tuesday showing health workers carrying out checks in the city.
In 2019, Nigerian MPs passed a law banning plastic bags but it hit a dead end because it did not complete its legislative process. Other African countries have also attempted to ban plastic bags with mixed success.
But in Lagos, a megacity of more than 20 million inhabitants, the issue of waste management is key as rubbish regularly blocks sewers and evacuation routes, particularly during the rainy season, causing floods and encouraging the proliferation of mosquitoes, vectors of malaria, in stagnant water.
Nigeria is Africa’s second-largest importer of plastics, according to the German Heinrich-Boell Foundation, representing 17 percent of the total plastic consumption on the continent, and more than 130,000 tonnes of plastic ends up in Nigerian waters each year.
If nothing is changed, imports and consumption of plastics will exceed 40 million tonnes by 2030, it warned in a 2020 report.
Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) staff clean up waste from the roadside in Lagos. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]
‘Socio-economic consequences’
Plastic microparticles are ingested by animals and can be found in human beings, said Temitope Olawunmi Sogbanmu, environmental toxicologist at the University of Lagos, pointing to the “non-degradable” nature of these materials.
But if the ban on polystyrene and single-use plastic is “good news” for climate and sustainability, Sogbanmu says she still worries about “the socio-economic consequences” of this measure on “those whose livelihood depends on this value chain”.
Climate benefits may be offset by the impact on vendors of food and water in plastic bags as well as waste collectors who are part of the informal economy in a country which is already undergoing an economic crisis with a tripling of fuel prices since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came to power in May.
The annual inflation rate stood at almost 29 percent in December.
“There will be more people impoverished and it will become even harder for people to get the basic things,” said Sogbanmu, who recommends the implementation of “strategic interventions” especially for the poor.
Environmental activist Oluwaseyi Moejho said the Lagos government took a bold step, but agreed that state officials must ask people what they want and how it can support them.
“There was once a Nigeria without plastic, and we survived it. It is very much possible,” she said. “I understand the convenience of plastics, it’s quite blinding, but convenience at the cost of our lives and future is too expensive.”
About 75 items are to go under the hammer in a deal between Mandela’s family and a New York-based auctioneer.
The South African government has said it will challenge the auctioning of dozens of artefacts belonging to the nation’s anti-apartheid stalwart Nelson Mandela, saying the items are of historical significance and should be preserved in the country.
The 75 items belonging to Mandela – the country’s first democratically elected president who spent 27 years in jail for his anti-apartheid struggle against white minority rule – are to go under the hammer on February 22 in a deal between New York-based auctioneers Guernsey’s and Mandela’s family, mainly his daughter Makaziwe Mandela.
But South Africa’s Ministry of Culture said it has filed an appeal to halt “the unpermitted export” of the objects.
“Former president Nelson Mandela is integral to South Africa’s heritage,” Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa said in a statement.
“It is thus important that we … ensure that his life’s work and experiences remain in the country for generations to come.” Mandela passed away in 2013.
The items include the late leader’s iconic Ray-Ban sunglasses and “Madiba” shirts, personal letters he wrote from prison, as well as a blanket gifted to him by former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
Nelson Mandela, left, was known for wearing his iconic ‘Madiba’ shirts, some of which are up for auction. A champagne cooler that was gift to him from former US president Bill Clinton, right, is also up for auction [File: Scott Applewhite, Pool/AP]
A champagne cooler that was a present from former President Bill Clinton is also on the list, with bidding on it starting at $24,000. Among the items is also Mandela’s ID “book”, his identification document following his release from prison in the 1990s.
Last month, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria gave the go-ahead for the auction after dismissing an interdict by the South African Heritage Resources Agency, which is responsible for the protection of the country’s cultural heritage.
‘Almost unthinkable’
On its website, Guernsey’s says the auction “will be nothing short of remarkable”, and that proceeds will be used for the building of the Mandela Memorial Garden in Qunu, the village where he is buried.
“To imagine actually owning an artefact touched by this great leader is almost unthinkable,” it says.
In an interview with US media published on Thursday, Makaziwe Mandela said her father wanted the former Transkei region where he was born and raised to benefit economically from tourism.
“I want other people in the world to have a piece of Nelson Mandela – and to remind them, especially in the current situation, of compassion, of kindness, of forgiveness,” she told the New York Times.
Reports of the auction have sparked heated debates on social media platforms in South Africa, with many criticising the auctioning of what they consider to be the nation’s cultural heritage.
The planned auction has come as many African countries seek to have treasured African artworks and artefacts that were removed from the continent during colonial years returned to Africa.
Most recently, Nigeria and Germany signed a deal for the return of hundreds of artefacts known as the Benin Bronzes.
The deal followed French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision in 2021 to sign over 26 pieces known as the Abomey Treasures, priceless artworks of the 19th century Dahomey kingdom in present-day Benin.
Oyo state governor said explosives stored by illegal miners triggered the blast on Tuesday evening.
At least two people were killed and dozens injured when explosives stored at a private residence detonated in Nigeria’s southwest Oyo state, its governor said on Wednesday.
Several houses collapsed from the impact of the blast on Tuesday evening in the Bodija area of the city of Ibadan, witnesses said, sending panicked residents into the streets. Residents said the impact was also felt in different parts of the city.
In a statement, the governor, Seyi Makinde, said there were two deaths while 77 people were treated for injuries, most of them being discharged.
“Preliminary investigations by the security agencies revealed that illegal miners occupying one of the houses in Bodija had stored explosive devices there which caused the blast,” Makinde added.
Ibadan, 130km (80 miles) from Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos, is Nigeria’s third most populous city with four million people, but its largest by land mass.
Makinde said search and rescue operations were under way and the state government would provide temporary accommodation for those who lost their homes.
As the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicks off in Ivory Coast this weekend, few players will be under the spotlight as much as Victor Osimhen.
Despite only recently turning 25, the Nigeria striker is central to the Super Eagles’ hopes of a fourth continental triumph, a distinction he seeks to cap a steep rise in his profile over the last 18 months.
Since breaking out as a star at the under-17 World Cup in 2015 by finishing as top scorer, Osimhen has borne comparisons with some of Nigeria’s greats, from Rashidi Yekini to Nwankwo Kanu.
In leading Napoli to title success in Serie A – the Italian top flight – last season and becoming the first Nigerian to win the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Player of the Year for 24 years, he has begun to justify some expectations. In December, Osimhen also secured top 12 finishes in the Ballon d’Or and FIFA The Best awards, cementing a reputation as one of the deadliest finishers in world football.
Still, the springy forward believes there is more to come.
“It is a huge honour to be compared to some of our legends,” he tells Al Jazeera. “It motivates me a lot. But what motivates me more is making my own way, achieving my own goals.”
Within football, there is little doubt that he is capable of doing precisely that. Emmanuel Adebayor and Didier Drogba, both former African Footballer of the Year winners and global footballing icons, have spoken highly of the Nigeria international, touting him for a move to the Premier League in England.
The transfer market agrees: interest in Osimhen was so fierce that Napoli moved, following protracted negotiations, to sign him on to an extension until 2026, keen to avoid the loss of their headline asset.
Victor Osimhen, one of the most exciting forwards in the world at the moment [Filippo Monteforte/AFP] (AFP)
‘A lot of responsibility’
Having proven himself at club level, attention now shifts to him at AFCON, where Nigeria will face perhaps the strongest field – there are no debutants in this year’s edition – the competition has ever seen.
On paper, the Super Eagles have one of the best squads in Ivory Coast, a fact that, despite poor recent results and performances, is not lost on Osimhen.
“We have a very strong team, full of players with talent and experience,” he says. “All over Europe, we have players in all the top teams showing great form. We also get along really well: I’m friends personally with a lot of them. Our spirit is strong.”
Despite that strength in depth and team ethos, Nigeria go into the AFCON with a cloud hanging over them. Coach Jose Peseiro divides public opinion and has only won six of his 14 matches since taking charge of the team. The Super Eagles opened their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with consecutive draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, and there remains a lack of clarity over who the team’s starting goalkeeper is.
The onus, therefore, is on the attack: if Nigeria is to equal its championship-winning performances of 1980, 1994, and 2013, it will be on the back of Osimhen’s goals. Other attackers like Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface and Real Sociedad’s Umar Sadiq have withdrawn from the squad due to injuries.
Having missed out on the last edition of the competition two years prior, he feels the need to make up for lost time; for all his success at club level and in qualifying matches for the Super Eagles, Osimhen has yet to headline a major international tournament at senior level.
“Like I’ve said before, if I never win the AFCON for Nigeria, people will question me,” he says. “And it would be justified: there is a lot of responsibility on me. I know that, and I’m not running away from it.
Nigerian author and Super Eagles fan Joshua Omojuwa thinks he will deliver as expected: “Osimhen has proven to be a reliable striker through the years … if the team plays to enhance his strengths, he’d easily win top scorer of the tournament and possibly even lead Nigeria to the final.”
The Super Eagles kick off their campaign against Equatorial Guinea on January 14, and will then face the host nation Ivory Coast and underdogs Guinea-Bissau – to whom they lost in qualifying – on January 18 and 22 respectively.
Nigeria has not failed to progress from the group stage at an AFCON since 1982; it has also won four silver medals and eight bronze.
However, since 2019’s bronze medal finish, their fans have had little to smile about. Nevertheless, many Nigerians at home and in the diaspora are supporting the squad to perform well at the tournament, led by their star striker.
“There’s a lot of weight on his shoulders, no doubt, but the next few weeks will be his biggest moments in a Super Eagles shirt,” says Abuja-based Tunde Sawyerr, a longstanding Super Eagles fan. “His supporting cast and how much Peseiro is able to maximise Osimhen’s well-known abilities and deploy the most suitable tactics will make all the difference.”
To that, Osimhen says this crop of players is “desperate” for the big prize and will perform against all odds.
“We want to win every match, every trophy available, to make Nigerians proud of us again. Our coaches have some new ideas to help us get there, and if we work together as a team, anything is possible,” he told Al Jazeera.
“I want to win the AFCON with my country and write my own legacy. All the greats in Nigeria have a title to their name and to be mentioned in that space I must win it, too.”
The CAF Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in Ivory Coast when the hosts face Guinea-Bissau on January 13 at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan.
Senegal are the defending champions as they beat Egypt on penalties at the last edition in Cameroon.
Here’s a look at our top 10 players whose performances are likely to be decisive if their side is to lift the trophy on February 11:
1. Mohamed Salah: Egypt
The hopes and dreams of a nation rest on one man’s shoulders. If Egypt are to add to their record seven continental titles, then Mohamed Salah will have to bear the brunt of the work for the Pharaohs. Egypt have not won an AFCON title since 2010, and Salah has been left on the losing side in the final in both 2017 and 2021.
This edition of AFCON may not be the 31-year-old’s last, but it will be the last one where Egypt can truly boast that the king is still at the peak of his powers. How many international goals Salah will add to the 53 he has already netted, in only 93 appearances, is likely to be the decisive stat for Egypt’s hopes for erasing the memory of defeat in the final of the last AFCON by Senegal.
Although not set to be as defining a role in the Senegal team as his former Liverpool teammate Salah is to Egypt, Sadio Mane is still the main man for his nation. His loss to the Senegal team at the Qatar 2022 World Cup cannot be overstated. As reigning AFCON champions, the Lions of Teranga were thought to be the African team that could break through to the semifinal stage in the global event for the first time.
Without Mane, the Lions lost their bite and could not repeat their previous best of a quarterfinal appearance as they were well beaten in the group by the Netherlands and in the round of 16 by England. The 31-year-old’s 39 goals in 100 appearances for his country simply could not be replicated. It’s hard to see how Senegal defend their crown if Mane fails to fire.
If Nigeria are to lift their fourth crown, and only their second in 30 years, then it is likely that Osimhen will be very close to securing the tournament’s leading scorer accolade. The 25-year-old already has 20 goals in 27 appearances. There is no shortage of riches for Nigeria in their attacking options, but the 2023 African Player of the Year will need to carry either the goalscoring for his team or the workload to keep the focus of the defences on him and, in doing so, free up space for others.
Kudus has taken the Premier League by storm with West Ham this season – something a player transferring to England rarely does in their first year. The midfielder is 12th on the list in the English top flight for goals per minute – not bad for a midfielder in a team where even the strikers are demanded to work back first and foremost. The 23-year-old, who has scored 10 goals in 24 matches in all competitions for the Hammers, first caught the attention of European clubs when Danish side FC Nordsjaelland brought him from Ghana at the age of 17 – a relative latecomer in the modern football world.
His rise from there has known no bounds as, two years later, he was snapped up by Ajax where he impressed greatly in his three seasons in Amsterdam, as well as at the 2022 World Cup.
Ghana will relish the impact he could have in providing extra quality behind a forward line of the Ayew brothers and Inaki Williams.
5. Youssef En-Nesyri: Morocco
On a far different note to that of Salah, Mane and Osimhen, Youssef En-Nesyri’s performance in front of goal is likely to hold the key to Morocco’s ambitions. The historic achievement of reaching the World Cup semifinal in Qatar left their manager Walid Regragui with a clear mission ahead: to win the 2023 AFCON. To do so, Morocco need to find goals.
Their defence is their rock and is securely guarded by Sofyan Amrabat, but their attack needs to find the net more regularly and criticism has been planted at the feet of En-Nesyri. The 26-year-old’s return of 17 goals in 61 matches is not exactly an embarrassment at the international level and Regragui has highlighted the Seville striker’s work rate for the team as a key element of their success. France famously won the 1998 World Cup without a recognised goalscorer, so perhaps Morocco do not need to panic. There are, however, some incredible goal scorers at the tournament who might just pinch a tight game for their side and leave the Atlas Lions licking their wounds.
Onana’s return from international retirement in goal for Cameroon could be as problematic for the coach as it is, no doubt, welcome for the fans and his teammates. His dismissal from the World Cup squad during the tournament and subsequent retirement appeared to spell the end of this international career – at least while Rigobert Song was in charge of the team anyway.
The 27-year-old’s recall to the squad in September for the AFCON qualifiers was a shock. Whether Onana and Son have buried the hatchet or not, the ultimate sweeper keeper’s role will be vital to his team’s chances of success.
7. Riyad Mahrez: Algeria
Mahrez captained Algeria to victory in the 2019 final against Senegal but a repeat in Ivory Coast does not appear on the cards. The winger was a magician in the Premier League winning the title with both Leicester City and Manchester City.
It was with the former where a tightly knit group of players, sprinkled with some star-studded magic, defied all the odds imaginable to secure their first English top-flight crown. They had only ever been runners-up previously and that was in 1928-29. The 32-year-old, now with Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League, has an impressive 30 goals in 89 appearances for Algeria.
Arsenal’s one-time record signing has yet to achieve his full potential and there would be no better time to do so than at an AFCON hosted in his own country. His 10 goals in 37 international appearances is hardly enough evidence to excite fans before the tournament.
With Wilfred Zaha overlooked for the squad and Sebastien Haller misfiring at Borussia Dortmund, however, Pepe seems the most likely to shine. Indeed, it was Pepe’s goal that sealed the demise of the defending champions, Algeria, at the last edition. Should both Pepe and Haller shine then, with home advantage perhaps a second AFCON, to add to their 1992 triumph, could be in store for the Elephants.
9. Hakim Ziyech: Morocco
Morocco are expected to be the team to beat at AFCON 2023, the strength in all areas is clear but it mainly lies in their defensive set up. As much as En-Nesyri must find the net more regularly, he will need help. The most likely source of goals and assist contributions to aid the striker will come from Ziyech on the flank.
The Chelsea forward, on loan at Galatasaray, has scored 20 goals in 54 international appearances and the Atlas Lions needs him to rediscover his form at FC Twente and Ajax that led to his move to Stamford Bridge in 2020.
24 managers, 24 dreaming nations behind them. One cup at stake. 🏆
Were there to be a real dark horse to emerge as contenders for the AFCON title, then Mali are a team on the move. They are unbeaten in seven matches, winning six of those including a 6-2 drubbing of Guinea-Bissau in their final warm-up match. The centre of midfielder is a particularly powerful area in terms of quality and depth for Mali but Tottenham star Bissouma has the potential to be one of the players of the tournament.
Could an AFCON to remember for the 27-year-old be enough to propel Les Aigles to their first AFCON title? Never say never and, much like the favourites Morocco, their best form of attack may be their defensive set up.
Betta Edu and predecessor are being investigated for suspicious financial dealings in the humanitarian affairs ministry.
Nigeria’s president on Monday suspended the country’s minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation over the use of a private bank account for ministry financial transactions in the government’s social welfare program.
Betta Edu was suspended with immediate effect while Nigeria’s anticorruption agency carries out a “thorough investigation” of all ministry financial transactions,” presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement. It said the investigation would extend to the entire framework of Nigeria’s social investment programs.
President Bola Tinubu came to power last year promising to crack down on graft in Nigeria despite longstanding question marks around his source of wealth and educational records. Within a month of his inauguration, he suspended the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) indefinitely for abuse of office.
His government said the suspension follows his commitment “to uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency and accountability” in how Nigeria’s resources are managed.
Edu’s suspension comes days after local media cited an official memo in which she directed that 585 million naira ($663,000) worth of grants meant for vulnerable groups should be paid into a private account — a decision that the minister’s office said followed due process. The minister has denied any wrongdoing.
In a country where the government’s austerity measures have further squeezed millions of people facing extreme levels of poverty, many Nigerians criticised the use of a private bank account for the grants program and called for the minister to be fired.
The office of Nigeria’s Accountant General of the Federation said in a statement that such funds are meant to be sent directly from government accounts to the beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Umar Farouq, reported to the EFCC on Monday as it investigated alleged corruption in the disbursement of public funds during her time as minister. Farouq said on social media that she was at the commission’s office to “offer clarifications in respect of some issues that the commission is investigating”.
Ibadan, Nigeria – A wave of red corrugated roofs welcomes visitors to the city of Ibadan in southwest Nigeria. Inside the 200-year-old city’s centre, incessant traffic winds through narrow, unpaved roads and past crowded open-air markets.
At the edge of the city, Opeyemi Dasola’s home, a square fortress of cement, is a calm oasis. Dasola, a streetside cheese seller, is a quiet soul, and the only sound in her living room is the gentle hum of the air conditioner circulating air through the sparsely furnished space.
But just a week earlier, this house was rocked with chaos. Fowarogun, Dasola’s 17-year-old daughter, had woken at midnight with a shooting pain starting in her feet and eventually engulfing every part of her body. The girl was frightened, but Dasola already knew what was causing the problem.
Fowarogun had been diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia, a hereditary condition that limits the supply of oxygen to the blood, when she was four years old. The disorder occurs due to clusters of sickle-shaped red blood cells, which can obstruct blood vessels, hindering blood flow around the body. It can shorten life expectancy by 20 to 30 years in many countries, but in Nigeria, about 80 percent of sufferers do not even make it to the age of five. The mean age of death for those who do is currently just over 21.
This is a condition that Fowarogun’s mother has learned to manage by giving her daily folic acid supplements and avoiding extreme temperatures. Nevertheless, roughly every three years, Fowarogun requires a blood transfusion to keep her healthy.
Obtaining blood for her daughter is a source of great anxiety for Dasola. Severe blood shortages have left patients in Nigeria scrambling to find their own private donors, a practice that is illegal, according to the country’s blood regulator, the National Blood Transfusion Commission. The unmet demand for blood, however, has spawned a black market in which people donate blood for profit and where there are few regulations to ensure the blood is free of disease and safe to use.
A refrigerator with a few dozen donations of blood type B at Ibadan Transfusion Service [Omotayo Omokehinde/Al Jazeera]
With a population of 200 million people, Nigeria requires an estimated 1.8 million units of blood each year for patients who have been in accidents, undergo surgery and need it to treat conditions such as anaemia and other genetic blood disorders. However, each year, only about 500,000 pints (236,600 litres) of blood are collected through official channels. Nigerians are often reluctant to give blood because of beliefs that donating it will make them sick or will weaken men’s libidos.
The National Blood Transfusion Commission faces other challenges besides low supplies. Lack of funding is a major problem, Amedu Omale, the commission’s former director general, told Al Jazeera shortly before he retired in August.
He said it will cost an estimated $15m to reform the system but it has received only $50,000 from the government since its creation in 2021 by the National Assembly. Before the commission, Nigeria’s blood service was run by the National Blood Transfusion Service, which was created in 1990 and was merely a task force under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare without much decision-making power. Al Jazeera contacted the ministry for comment but received no reply.
A spokesman for the National Blood Transfusion Commission told Al Jazeera that after the agency was established, the government quickly became preoccupied with the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis but the commission hopes to conduct its own fundraising drives in 2024.
‘Family replacement’
With adequate funding, the commission could build a centralised blood collection system in which blood from donors could be screened and separated into components to avoid waste. Blood could also be stored in the right conditions and sorted so it would be ready for delivery to hospitals when needed. There would also be a system to allow hospitals all over the country to coordinate with each other to share blood supplies.
Instead, the lack of such a system has forced most hospitals to source blood through a problematic practice known as “family replacement”, in which patients must find a family member to donate the same amount of blood that has been used for the patient. The people donating will typically have to answer a questionnaire about their health, sign an agreement and then donate blood. The blood type does not have to match.
People who do not have a family member available to donate will need to find someone who they can pay who will pose as a family member – the hospitals do not check ID. Most hospitals impose a deadline of three to seven days and will not approve a patient for discharge until the blood has been replaced.
A commercial blood donor on a stretcher at a local clinic in Ibadan [Omotayo Omokehinde/Al Jazeera]
“Family replacement is not ideal because it creates shortcuts and discourages voluntary donation,” said John Aneke, a professor of haematology at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in the southeastern state of Anambra. This system is frowned upon by the public health community, he said, because it helps promote commercial donations from donors who engage in risky lifestyles and increases the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections, such as hepatitis.
The requirement that blood replacements must be found before patients are discharged also puts immense pressure on patients, whose bills from spending extra days in the hospital will continue to accumulate. Many end up turning to social media to appeal for donations and to illegal commercial donors or “racketeers”.
Commercial donors give blood to earn cash and are normally contacted by middlemen who broker deals between them and the patients. A donor is advised to donate no more than twice a year, but because this practice is illegal, it is not regulated in any way. Many commercial donors donate blood much more frequently than this.
Oloyede Adebola, a 37-year-old mother of two, has had to deal with racketeers twice. Talking to Al Jazeera at her home in Sarumi, a quiet neighbourhood in Ibadan, she explained that her eight-year-old daughter suddenly fell ill in 2021 and received a transfusion at an Ibadan hospital that then refused to discharge the girl until the blood was replaced. Like most Nigerians, she prefers not to donate blood, so she was connected by a friend to a network of middlemen, which in turn connected her to a commercial donor. Adebola told the hospital this man was a relative and paid $23 for donating a pint (nearly half a litre) of blood – three times her monthly earnings. The middleman took half the money.
There are some privately run blood banks in Nigeria, but not all are registered with the National Blood Transfusion Commission and are, therefore, unregulated.
This causes an additional layer of anxiety for patients and their families who worry about the quality of blood they are receiving, especially for economically disadvantaged families who receive blood via clinics that don’t have state-of-the-art facilities and are not regulated.
There is no way to be sure that this blood has been checked at all, let alone collected and stored in accordance with proper medical practice. Patients also worry about the extra costs because they have to pay for the screening of the blood as well.
The commission itself does not have the resources to monitor these blood banks or oversee screenings of blood used by hospitals that has been sourced by patients themselves.
Selling blood is illegal in Nigeria, but in practice, it is rarely prosecuted [Linus Unah/Al Jazeera]
Commercial blood donations carry a penalty of six months in prison. In reality, however, few people have ever been prosecuted.
Even in Lagos, where the blood donation service receives higher funding than the one in Ibadan and where blood donations are screened and tracked, only two clinics have been shut down for operating without a licence. One prosecution is currently going through the courts but has dragged on for five years because of backlogs in the court system.
Ideally, Omale said, the commission aspires to transform all six regional blood transfusion services from mere donation centres to resources similar to the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service, which carries out regular inspections of blood banks and hospitals to ensure that they follow safety guidelines.
For now, most hospitals cannot even verify the identity of donors. The process of doing so is just too far down the list of priorities that the commission needs to meet. Its primary focus is on meeting the demand for blood, which currently outstrips supply by 75 percent in Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization.
While enforcement of blood donation regulations is “the next phase in the plan”, Omale says, the commission is currently throwing its energies into advertising campaigns across the country to encourage voluntary blood donations through official channels.
In the meantime, the use of commercial blood donors remains a thriving business in most parts of the country.
A group of men wait at Ibadan University College Hospital to donate blood in return for payment [Linus Unah/Al Jazeera]
At Ibadan University College Hospital, the region’s main government hospital, a nurse and a janitor who spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity confirmed that most people who come to donate blood are commercial blood donors.
These donors, overwhelmingly men, are usually contacted by a middleman and paid to pretend to be relatives of patients. One of the donors waiting at the clinic, a motorcycle taxi driver, told Al Jazeera that he donates blood at least twice a year in exchange for money and has been doing it since 2017.
“The price for donating blood changes depending on how I negotiate. Normally, I earn $10 from donating a pint of blood,” he said. “That’s double what I can earn on a good day if I work for 10 hours straight.”
A family in debt
To pay for Fowarogun’s emergency blood transfusion this year, Dasola took out a loan of $70 from a local lender who she frequently turns to whenever she needs a bailout. She had agreed to pay $3 a day for 24 days on the condition that missing a single payment would double her daily payment to $6. And if she failed to pay the lender back in full, he said he would show up at her house to cause a scene and seize her furniture. He even threatened to have her arrested for the debt.
On the one occasion Dasola could not afford to pay, Fowarogun’s 25-year-old brother, who works in aluminium manufacturing, was able to step in. He then became the guarantor for the loan – another issue that causes anxiety. “I am not happy about my condition,” Fowarogun said. “I get teary when I think about how burdensome it has been for my family.”
Fowarogun faces a future of constantly “chasing” safe blood. The teenager says she’s given up on her dream of becoming a nurse because her family can’t afford to pay for more schooling when they have already fallen into debt because of her medical treatment.
Dasola, preoccupied by a stack of medical receipts tucked into a maroon Bible on the family’s living room table, said that while she’s glad her daughter is healthy for the time being, she’s not sure how she’ll pay for the future blood transfusions that Fowarogun will inevitably need.
“I fear for my daughter,” Dasola says. “Her condition has taken a major toll on my health too because of stress and family finances. This would not be our situation if blood was readily available and safe.”
Twenty-five-year-old Naomi Iwelu is now settled, living in a room in the centre of Catania, Sicily. Here she recounts the robberies, betrayals and rape she experienced on her journey from Benin, Nigeria.
It was her mother’s death, four years after her father’s, that prompted Naomi to quit school and leave Benin in 2018. As the eldest of six children, all now orphans, continuing her education beyond secondary school was an impossibility.
“We couldn’t afford the expenses to continue my studies,” Naomi tells Al Jazeera, “so I started working in bars, restaurants and cleaning.”
However, the family’s living conditions deteriorated. Leaving Nigeria to start a new life in Europe became an ever more considered option.
“I got in touch with a friend who was living in Libya at the time,” she says. “We had attended the same school, but we had lost contact with each other. I found her contact on Facebook. She was the one who convinced me to leave Nigeria and said that she would help me to do so.”
Naomi was told the trip would cost about 4,000 euros ($4,370), far more than she could raise.
“I asked my boyfriend at the time for money to help my sister. I lied to him,” she says. “That’s how I sent the money to my friend in Libya, and that’s how the journey started.”
She set out as part of a group organised by the contact her friend had provided. Today, she struggles to remember the number of people, only that there were “a lot”.
“We spent two weeks in the desert,” she recalls. “There was barely any water for us, and many things happened.”
Prompted for details, Naomi becomes silent, speaking volumes.
Eventually, she arrived in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, where she stayed for six months, finding cleaning work in a local man’s house.
One day on returning home, Naomi found two local men waiting for her.
“They were holding a knife. They threatened me and asked for money. But I did not speak Arabic well. I did not understand. Then they ordered me to undress. That’s how they both raped me,” she says.
Despite the experience, Naomi had no option but to continue her work, eventually raising the money for her passage to Europe.
“The journey was extremely hard. There were many of us in a rubber dinghy,” she says, describing how she had been sick throughout the crossing.
After reaching Lampedusa, the Italian doctors who examined her told her she was pregnant.
“I didn’t know I was pregnant. It was so painful for me,” she says. “I wanted to study, and for that, I had to get [an] abortion. I didn’t want the baby.”
Naomi was eventually able to secure an abortion, and now, having graduated from an Italian school, she works in a restaurant a few steps away from Via Etnea, Catania’s central street.
She remains in regular contact with her family in Nigeria and sends them what money she can. “I miss them a lot, but I don’t want them to make the same journey as me and experience what I experienced,” she says.
This article is the fifth of a five-part series of portraits of refugees from different countries, with diverse backgrounds, bound by shared fears and hopes as they enter 2024. Read the first, second, third and fourth parts here.
Lagos, Nigeria – Chinenye Ikechukwu’s Decembers are usually dotted with concerts, parties, and restaurant and beach outings with friends. But this year, the 27-year-old resident of Yaba in Lagos has stayed mostly at home due to the economic downturn plaguing Africa’s largest economy.
The rising cost of living and soaring inflation, which stands at 28 percent, forced her to draw up a preference list. What was most painful to strike out was Detty December, as Nigeria’s end-of-year celebrations are known. They feature a rolling succession of concerts, parties and other festivities.
“The point is that Detty December this year is very tough, and this is the worst recession I have ever seen. These days, you come back to something that you saw just the day before, and it has an increased price,” she told Al Jazeera. “And there is nothing to do about it.”
Lagos, the nerve centre of Nigeria’s entertainment scene, puts on hundreds, if not thousands, of events every December. This extravaganza also goes on in towns and villages far from Lagos but at a much slower pace.
These concerts are a big contributor to the music industry’s more than $2bn in annual revenue.
“What has happened over the last decade and a half is that a lot of brand and artists have created this modern experience that basically builds on the culture of people gathering to have fun and enjoy themselves,” said Ikemesit Effiong, a partner at SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based sociopolitical risk consultancy firm.
This year, the fun has been muted.
Dancers perform at the annual Felabration music festival in Lagos [File:Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP]
Hard times
Since his inauguration in May, President Bola Tinubu has been on a mission to improve the economy, but his policies have hardly done so. Floating the currency and removing fuel subsidies have triggered record inflation in a country where 133 million people live in poverty.
Disposable income has declined for many like Ikechukwu who have now opted to “cook rice at home”, Nigerian speak for staying away from the party circuit.
After realising she’d be unable to join the yuletide frenzy, Ikechukwu decided to host a Christmas party at home for her friends, but the price of basic goods at the market made her cancel that plan.
From April to May, the cost of making a pot of jollof rice increased by almost 30 percent. By December, it had almost doubled as the minimum wage barely changed all year.
“The prices of food stuff and cost of catering … is next to impossible. I haven’t even looked at anything that is happening since,” she said.
Analysts like Effiong said inflation has eroded the incomes of every demographic in the country, especially in December.
“There is always an extra inflationary top-up in December because a lot of service providers tend to go home, so prices generally go up in December even in the best of times,” he told Al Jazeera.
Concerts have been a recurrent fixture in Odunayo Odedoyin’s December plans for the past three years. Last year, she attended several shows, including gigs by CKay and Runtown, but she is unable to continue that streak this year.
“Ticket prices are even scary now,” the 25-year-old said.
The minimum amount for a ticket to a major show goes for about 20,000 nairas ($22). Experts said show organisers are only responding to the rising cost of securing venues and logistics services.
Her plans were not only impeded by ticket prices but also by the rising cost of transportation. Charges on ride-hailing apps like Uber and Bolt have doubled or tripled in some cases. Thirty-minute rides that previously cost about 4,000 naira ($4.42) now go for about 12,000 naira ($13.27) or more.
“I planned to party hard, but Bolt ride prices are now crazy, making it hard to move around like I had planned,” she said.
Reduced show traffic
This year, the number of concerts in Lagos has drastically fallen. Organisers cancelled some before the start of the December festivities. For those that are still being held, the economic downturn has affected their attendance, said Bizzle Osikoya, co-founder of The Plug, a Lagos-based entertainment company.
“A lot of shows are not really packed like they usually are because people can’t really afford it. Some people now prefer to go to free or smaller events,” he told Al Jazeera. “More people are looking to go to end-of-the-year parties of big corporations where they don’t have to buy tickets.”
Osikoya’s company decided to make its Island Block Party affordable with the cheapest ticket set at 2,000 naira ($2.21), so partygoers can still attend the shows despite the cash crunch.
“Our shows have not been affected because our show prices are not high. We make it so that the fans can come and enjoy themselves. … Our production might not be as expensive as the other ones, so that is why our show is not that expensive,” he said.
According to a report in November by SBM Intelligence, Nigerians spend 97 percent of their income on food, leaving a tiny margin for other essentials like transport, healthcare and even shelter. Little or nothing goes to entertainment.
“Detty December is becoming a byword for either being economically secure or being financially irresponsible because it is expensive to [partake in] now. That really sums up where Nigeria is now, which is not a very good place,” Effiong said.
This, he added, shows that structural weaknesses in Nigeria’s economy are manifesting themselves in the services sector.
“The services sector has traditionally been the engine of growth at a time when many service providers need financial support. It is really concerning that the only economic sunshine we have had for a while now is beginining to come under pressure,” Effiong said.
In Lagos, despite having a quiet December, Ikechukwu is still worried about what will come in January, which Nigerians jokingly say extends for 60 days due to the limited spending capacity after the festive expenses of December.
“I worry about this because what it tells me is that our economy is in shambles and there is nothing to be done about it,” Ikechukwu said. “From all indications, 2024 is going to be worse.”
Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in attacks by armed groups.
The Nigerian government says at least 160 people were killed in attacks by armed groups on remote farming communities at the weekend.
It’s the worst violence in the central Plateau state in more than five years.
No group has claimed responsibility but nomadic herders are believed to be responsible.
Herders and farmers have been locked in a decades-long conflict over access to land and water.
Why has the Nigerian government failed to prevent these attacks?
And what does it mean for the country’s wider security problem – as it faces challenges on multiple fronts?
Presenter: Laura Kyle
Guests:
Isa Sanusi – Nigeria country director at Amnesty International and a former journalist
Chris Kwaja – Associate professor at Centre for Peace and Security Studies at Nigeria’s Modibbo Adama University and country director for USIP – the United States Institute of Peace
Musa Ashoms – Commissioner of Information and Communication for the Plateau state government in Nigeria
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