April 2022
1st April 2022

30 April 2022
The Times
The Real Housewives of Lagos are taking the world by storm
Dressed to the nines, the women sit down to dinner in a beach house garden after settling into their $600-a-night rooms. Soft basket lamps dangle above them. Rose garlands and wooden candles burst with life nearby…
29 April 2022
Al Jazeera
How expensive are everyday items in Nigeria?
More than ever before, Nigerians are struggling to buy food commodities as the country struggles through a record hike in inflation, signalling what experts warn is a “food crisis”…
BusinessDay
Six things Nigerians pay more for since Russia-Ukraine war started
Nigerians were already struggling with surging prices of goods and services before the Russian-Ukraine war. The ripple effect of the conflict has intensified the hardship many people are facing in Nigeria, with prices increasing further in the weeks since the war started…
28 April 2022
AFP
Nigeria struggles to tame banditry ravaging northwest
When dozens of gunmen raided Abubakar Aliyu’s village in central Nigeria two weeks ago, they stormed in on motorbikes, each carrying one or two attackers who opened fire and chased down residents…
AP
Nigeria’s Senate passes bill to bar kidnap ransom payments
Nigerian lawmakers have taken steps to bar the payment of ransoms to kidnappers at a time when thousands are in captivity, including passengers kidnapped during a train attack in late March near the nation’s capital…
Foundation for Investigative Journalism
Funtua: Once a Safe Haven for Refugees, Now a Stronghold of Bandits
As the sun rose and showered its warmth on Funtua, the district town of Funtua Local Government Area in Katsina State, some residents, who had packed their bags overnight and were ready to relocate to a new settlement, proceeded on a journey to Kano State on April 20…
Guardian Nigeria
Jollof Index, Chicken Republic, inflation and changing food consumption patterns
On April 22, one of Nigeria’s best-known fast-food chain restaurants, Chicken Republic, announced the addition of a new meal to its menu. The ‘Egg Star’ is a simple dish that consists of rice, stew, and an egg that costs just ₦500…
Stratfor
Nigeria: Senate Passes Bill to Outlaw Ransom Payments
The Nigerian Senate passed a bill to amend the Terrorism Prevention Act by outlawing ransom payments, imposing the death penalty for kidnapping cases in which the victim dies, and imposing life imprisonment in other cases, Al Jazeera reported April 2…
VOA
Families of Kidnap Victims Reject Nigerian Bill Punishing Ransom Payments
Relatives of kidnap victims in Nigeria have expressed concerns about a bill passed the Nigerian Senate on Wednesday that would outlaw ransom payments for someone’s release. Paul Mshelia, the father of a kidnap victim, was alerted by phone of an attack at a forestry college in Kaduna state the morning of March 12, 2021. His caller told him that his son, who is a student at the school, and 38 others had been taken away by armed gangs…
27 April 2022
Al Jazeera
Nigeria outlaws ransom payments, kidnap now punishable by death
The Nigerian Senate has passed a bill imposing jail terms of at least 15 years for paying a ransom to free someone who has been kidnapped and made the crime of abduction punishable by death in cases where victims die…
26 April 2022
The News
Nigeria: Any Hope Left?
Since the forced amalgamation in 1914, the entire Niger area has never been this unsafe and miserable for its inhabitants. Not even the birth pangs of 1960, nor the bitter acrimony of the three-year civil war between 1967 and 1970 generated the level of trauma as those being threatened by today’s anarchists…
Plus TV Africa
Insecurity: PDP, Others Lament Killing Of 12,250 Nigerians In One Year
The Peoples Democratic Party and two other opposition parties have lamented the rising insecurity in the country which has caused the death of 12,250 citizens between January 2021 and March 2022. According to a report compiled by research group, SB Morgen, and an advocacy network, Enough is Enough Nigeria, 6,102 civilians were killed within the period while 1,055 security personnel were killed…
25 April 2022
BBC
Africa’s changing debt landscape
SBM Intelligence’s Head of Research, Ikemesit Effiong shares insights on options available to African countries as China recalibrates its lending strategy to the continent…
Nairametrics
Nigerians react as Chicken Republic unveils ‘odd’ breakfast menu without chicken
Popular Nigerian fast-food chain, Chicken Republic recently announced a new food menu option which has sparked a series of conversations on social media. The fast-food chain, recently reported the launch of a new “Egg Star” combo under its “Breakfast on a budget” promo, which costs ₦500. The meal consists of rice, boiled eggs and tomato sauce (stew), which they say will only be available in Lagos stores from 8am to 12noon…
23 April 2022
Daily Independent
AfDB Perfects Plans To Tackle High Fertilizer Prices Affecting Food Production
The African Development Bank (AfDB), has stated that it will partner with African countries to combat high prices of fertilizer through improving sustainable infrastructural efficiencies, including storage and fixing infrastructure required for food production…
Tekedia
Nigeria Reopens 4 Additional Borders – But What Did the Closure Achieve?
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari has approved the reopening of four additional land borders, three years after they were closed…
22 April 2022
Channels TV
Inflation: How Much Does It Cost To Make A Pot Of Jollof Rice?
SBM’s Glory Etim explains how the SBM Jollof Index helps to calculate food inflation in Nigeria…
Dataphyte
The Jollof Index Warns More Nigerians May Face Food Crisis
A report by SBM Intelligence has warned of the growing price of essential food commodities in the country. The report, “The SBM Jollof Index” expressed concerns over the rising inflation in the country, describing the response of the government through policies as ‘comical’ and noting that these responses have led to even more people facing food insecurity…
ICIR
Food crisis: Cost of preparing pot of jollof rice rises by 7.3 per cent to ₦8,500
The average cost of making a pot of jollof rice for a family of five in Nigeria has risen by 7.3 per cent, from ₦8007.50 in the third quarter of 2021 to ₦8,595 at the end of the first quarter of 2022, reflecting the worsening food crisis in the country…
Nairametrics
FG inaugurates national steering committees to boost food production and security
The Federal Government has announced the launch of five national steering committees for donor-funded projects implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to boost food security and create jobs…
New Frame
Nigeria’s troubles are reflected in its football
The ugly reaction to Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the Fifa World Cup highlighted frustrations of the nation that go beyond the disappointment of losing a football match. The response to their elimination by West African arch-rivals Ghana was immediate as home fans at Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja invaded the pitch at fulltime…
Nigeria Info
Buhari Chairs Security Meeting Amid Rising Abductions
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, security chiefs, and some cabinet ministers gathered in the Council Chambers at the Statehouse on Thursday for an all-important meeting, amid worsening insecurity in the country…
21 April 2022
The Authority
PDP youth group launches ‘Operation Rescue Nigeria’
The PDP New Generation has launched “Operation Rescue Nigeria “, to salvage Nigeria from the lingering challenges it has faced under the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC. The PDP youth group said it deemed it fit to address the nation after an exhaustive scrutiny of all the issues relating to the economy, health, unemployment, corruption, insecurity of lives, property and other incessant unruly affairs in the country and the APC’s inability to live up to its campaign promises…
Guardian Nigeria
Mr. President, Nigeria is running wild
Minus the swashbuckling propaganda mill, Nigeria is having its worst nightmare that is causing it to fail and fall apart. Rarely since the civil war ended have Nigerians been so helpless and near hopeless on the same day. With terrorism and banditry brazenly capturing swathes of territory in daylight, Nigerians are asking – who is in charge of their affairs? An aloof president or sponsored criminal gangs? Why is the Buhari administration seemingly complacent and for what purpose? Where is the Commander-in-Chief while the country bleeds on all arteries and dying..?
Nairametrics
AfDB reveals plan to tackle high fertilizer prices affecting food production
The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it will partner with African countries to combat high prices of fertilizer through improving sustainable infrastructural efficiencies, including storage and fixing infrastructure required for food production…
Sahara Reporters
Over 1,880 Nigerians Violently Killed In 3 Months Under Buhari Government, North-West Tops Tragedy List, Report Says
At least 1,884 persons were reportedly killed in Nigeria in the first quarter of the year in violent incidents, including attacks by Boko Haram members, other terrorists, militia herdsmen, bandits, and violent gangs…
20 April 2022
Arise TV
“Insecurity in the country, impacting on the cost of making jollof rice”
Analyst, SBM Intelligence, Glory Etim in an interview with ARISE, looks into the hike in the cost of producing jollof rice for family consumption stating that insecurity ravaging the country has contributed to the hike…
Blueprint
Cost of preparing jollof rice in Nigeria up 7.3% amid insecurity, fuel scarcity
The average cost of making a pot of Jollof rice for a family of five in Nigeria, which has been on the rise as a result of the increase in the price of a bag of rice and tomatoes rose from ₦8,007 in the third quarter of 2021 to ₦8,595 at the end of the first quarter of 2022, a new report by SB Morgen has shown…
BusinessDay
Another policy lying fallow
If we are to look at all the indexes typically used to gauge the level of a society’s socio-economic development and how meaningful life is for its citizens, then it would be difficult to disagree with those who insist Nigeria is on its last legs…
Guardian Nigeria
Nigeria’s piecemeal constitutional amendments
Throughout Nigeria’s 23-year-old 4th Republic, many have argued that the current constitution is not a true representation of the democracy it practices, given that it was thrust into the country by former military governments…
PR Nigeria
Security Forces and Fixing the Gordian Knot of Insecurity
It is commendable now that security forces are waking up to reality in stemming the rising tide of ransom payments for kidnap victims…
19 April 2022
BusinessDay
Cost of preparing Jollof rises by 7% on diesel price
The average cost of making a pot of Jollof rice, a popular Nigerian delicacy for a family of five rose by 7.3 percent to ₦8,595 in Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2022 from ₦8,008 in Q3 (Jul-Sep) last year, the latest Jollof Index report released Tuesday shows…
CNBC Africa
How Nigeria’s inflation is driving food prices
Ikemesit Effiong, Head of Research at SBM Intelligence, joins CNBC Africa to discuss these fundamentals…
Legit
Cost of Preparing a Pot of Jollof Rice for Family of 5 In Nigeria Rises by 7.3% to over ₦8k as Economy Bites
Making a pot of Jollof rice for five Nigerians has climbed from ₦8,595 to the end of Q1 2022. This is a 7.3 per cent increase over ₦8007.50 in the third quarter of 2021. This was revealed in SBM Intelligence’s quarterly SBM Jollof index report for Q1 2022…
Nairametrics
Cost of Jollof Rice rises to ₦8.5k per pot
The cost of making a pot of Jollof rice for a family of five went up from ₦8007.50 in Q3 2021 to ₦8595 at the end of Q1 2022, a 7.3% increase. This was disclosed in the quarterly SBM Jollof index report for Q1 2022, published by SBM Intelligence…
Premium Times
Cost of preparing Jollof rice in Nigeria up 7.3% amid insecurity, fuel scarcity
The average cost of making a pot of Jollof rice for a family of five in Nigeria rose from ₦8,007 in the third quarter of 2021 to ₦8,595 at the end of the first quarter of 2022, a new report by SB Morgen has shown…
Punch
Food prices jump over insecurity, fuel scarcity in Q1
The rise in diesel prices, petrol scarcity, and heightened insecurity in the nation drove food prices to a record high in the first quarter of 2022, a new report by SB Morgen, has shown…
The Sun
Q1 2022: Cost of preparing Jollof rice in Nigeria rises by 7.3%
The cost of making a pot of Jollof rice for a family of five has risen by 7.3 per cent from ₦8007.50 in Q3 2021 to ₦8,595 at the end of Q1 2022. This was disclosed in the quarterly SBM Jollof index report for Q1 2022, published by SBM Intelligence. The report also added that insecurity has also plagued the country to disturbing degrees, citing that this has affected food distribution as some food supply routes are considered unsafe…
Vanguard
Insecurity, sit-at-home, petrol scarcity caused food price hike in Q1 2022
The latest report of SB Morgen (SBM Intelligence) has indicated that security challenges in the north, recent petrol scarcity across the country and the activities around the sit-at-home order in the south-east caused the hike in prices of foodstuffs in the first quarter of 2021…
18 April 2022
The Cable
Insecurity, sit-at-home, petrol scarcity caused food price hike in Q1 2022
Security challenges in the north, recent petrol scarcity across the country and the activities around the sit-at-home order in the south-east caused the hike in prices of foodstuffs in the first quarter of 2021, according to a report by SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence…
Menas Associates
US vote of confidence in Nigeria’s future
The US has announced it will spend US$537 million to build a new consulate in Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos in what many see Washington’s vote of confidence in the future of Africa’s most populous country despite the growing turmoil…
The Robert Lansing Institute
Causes of the security crisis in Nigeria’s Kaduna State
The growing infamy of Kaduna as the most terrorised state in Nigeria in recent times despite the heavy presence of the military and police in the state is raising concerns in the security community. The security situation does not reflect the fact that Kaduna has some of the most critical military and police establishments in the country…
17 April 2022
BBC
Nigeria’s Chibok girls: Why was this former captive treated differently?
Hassana Adamu is delighted to be back home with her family almost eight years after she was kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists from her school in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Chibok, but she is distressed that she is not receiving the same special treatment as her classmates who were freed long before her…
Premium Times
Why insecurity persists in Kaduna despite heavy military, security presence
Terrorists have turned Kaduna State into a war zone and made travelling between the state and Abuja a nightmare with impudent attacks on road, rail and air facilities. The growing infamy of Kaduna as the most terrorised state in Nigeria in recent times despite the heavy presence of the military and police in the state is raising concerns in the security community. Experts say the security situation does not reflect the fact that Kaduna has some of the most critical military and police establishments in the country…
15 April 2022
Nairametrics
FG approves ₦4 trillion for fuel subsidy in 2022
Following the approval of a revised 2022 budget by the Nigerian Senate on Thursday, what was also amended was an upward review of the budget amount for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) subsidy for 2022 by ₦442.72 billion, from N3.557 trillion to ₦4 trillion…
14 April 2022
The Independent
‘A very sad day’: Parents of Nigeria’s missing Chibok girls demand action eight years after kidnapping
Easter in Nigeria is a time when many people traditionally get together with their relatives to celebrate weddings and other festivities, but for Yana Galang, the holiday serves as an agonising reminder of her family’s suffering…
TRT World
Eight years on, more than 100 Chibok girls still missing
Eight years ago, 276 girls were abducted from their high school in northeast Nigeria and bundled into trucks in the middle of the night. The kidnapping of the Chibok girls by Boko Haram militants shocked the world. And while many were later released or escaped, more than 100 girls remain missing. Cheta Nwanze from SBM Intelligence explains why it has been difficult to find the missing schoolgirls…
13 April 2022
African Press Agency
Press focuses on call by Northern Elders on Buhari to resign over insecurity, others
The call by Northern Elders Forum on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign for failing to provide security in the country dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday…
Associated Press
Nigeria says armed gangs in north are working with militants
Armed gangs attacking remote communities in Nigeria’s troubled northwest are now working with extremist rebels who have waged a decade-long insurgency in the country’s northeast, a top government official said Wednesday…
Guardian Nigeria
Kaduna most hit as attacks on power plants, rail, airports peak
Power and rail infrastructure are the most attacked assets in Nigeria in the last three years. This was disclosed in a report by a socioeconomic research firm, SBM intelligence, yesterday, titled: ‘Attacks on infrastructure in Nigeria.’…
12 April 2022
Nairametrics
Infrastructure: Power plants, rail, airports suffer most attacks in 3 years– Report
Nigeria’s power and rail infrastructure are the most attacked infrastructures in Nigeria in the last three years. This was disclosed in a report by a socioeconomic research firm, SBM Intelligence, on Monday titled, “Attacks on infrastructure in Nigeria…”
Nigeria’s gas export to suffer as Eni reports vandalism on gas pipeline
The rise in vandalism in critical Nigerian economic infrastructure hit a major level as Italian oil and gas development company, Eni, announced an attack on its 24-inch gas line at Okaka in Yenagoa, which forced the company to declare a force majeure’…
Premium Times
More attacks on infrastructure occurred in Kaduna than elsewhere
An overwhelming majority of attacks on infrastructural installations since 2009 by non-state actors occurred in the country’s north, according to an analysis by SBM Intelligence, a geopolitical research consultancy…
10 April 2022
Punch
Ex-Generals demand crackdown as terrorists kill over 700 soldiers in 18 months
Worried by the incessant killing of soldiers by terrorists and other criminals in some parts of the country, especially the North, some retired army generals have called on the concerned authorities to urgently halt the dangerous trend…
9 April 2022
The Sun
APC: The Limits of Propaganda
On May 29, 2015, The Cable online newspaper catalogued the 81 promises with which the All Progressives Congress (APC) wooed Nigerians ahead of the 2015 presidential election. Nigerians were given postdated cheques that APC was ab initio aware would bounce…
7 April 2022
Africa Check
Nigeria’s education system ‘dire’? Grading claims in Business Day editorial
To mark this year’s International Day of Education, Nigeria’s Business Day newspaper turned the spotlight on learning in the country…
Foundation for Investigative Journalism
How DSS, Military Shortchanged the South During Recruitment Exercises
The Department of State Services (DSS) has been accused of secretly engaging in a recruitment that not only directly contravenes Nigeria’s federal character principle, but also favours candidates or cadet trainees from the northeast and northwest…
Institute for Security Studies
Kaduna’s train attacks add to Nigeria’s deep security problems
On 28 March, bandits attacked a Kaduna-bound train in central Nigeria carrying 970 passengers. At least eight people were killed, and 168 were kidnapped and are still missing. This unprecedented act of violence, attributed to the failure of authorities to act on intelligence reports, has heightened concerns about a breakdown of security in the country…
Sahara Reporters
South-East Maintains Low Numbers In Recruitment Into Nigerian Security Agencies From 2016 Till Date — Report
A report by civic organisation, SBM Intelligence, has shown how the South-East region maintains a relatively low profile with regards to recruitment into Nigeria’s various security agencies from 2016 to 2021…
5 April 2022
Al Jazeera
‘Bandits’ kill 10 soldiers in attack on Nigerian military facility
At least 10 soldiers have been killed and an unconfirmed number of others wounded after an attack by armed groups locally known as bandits on a military facility in Birnin Gwari in the northwestern state of Kaduna in Nigeria…
4 April 2022
Channels
Fighting Insecurity: Forestalling Bandits Attacks In Nigeria
Security Analyst Confidence McHarry joined a panel to discuss the implications of the recent attacks in Kaduna as well as the general state of insecurity in Northwest Nigeria…
2 April 2022
Channels
What Is The Cost Of Russian-Ukraine War?
SBM Analyst Confidence McHarry analysed the geopolitical and economic implications for Africa of the current war in Ukraine…
1 April 2022
Arise TV
Policing and terrorism in Nigeria still a game of numbers in 2022
Head, Research, SBM Intelligence, Ikemesit Effiong said in an interview on Global Business Report that policing in Nigeria has become warped in the area of financial incentives for policemen which is the main reason for Nigeria being underpoliced…
Blueprint
Petrol subsidy: Has market forces taken over?
When January this year when the federal government announced that it would be stopping the payment of subsidy on petrol by July, all hell was let loose. The government was criticised for not been sensitive to the plight of Nigerians whom it promised to improve their lot…
BusinessDay
Growing insecurity poses risks to Nigeria’s energy projects
The growing insecurity in Nigeria is seen as posing risks to oil and gas projects, including the $2.6 billion Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project and the rehabilitation of the Kaduna refinery…
Chatham House
Date with history: 100 reasons for Chibok to cry
When the Islamist terrorists of Boko Haram snatched 276 girls from their school dormitory in the northeast Nigeria town of Chibok on the night of April 15, 2014, it sparked outrage – and a global social media campaign…