NEWS
Lagos Accountant commits suicide over ‘depression, Loneliness’
An accountant, simply identified as Folake Abiola, has reportedly committed suicide at her apartment in Osapa London, Lekki, area of Lagos State.
The 45-year-old was reportedly found at her home on Friday when she allegedly drank what was thought to be pesticide.
She was believed to have died shortly after, as her family, friends, and Nigerian police officers arrived to find her unresponsive.
Abiola had been suffering from depression for years, according to a colleague who talked to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, and the news of her death was shocking.
Despite allegations on the internet that Abiola committed suicide as a result of loneliness, a lack of a husband, and other factors, a colleague said her coworkers were aware that she had been in love relationships, which she stopped due to sadness.
Abiola was described as an angel, a meticulous accountant, and a Christian who was generous in her giving by a colleague, who added that she had been stating she wanted to end it all before she took her own life.
The source said, “She had been suffering from depression for years and her death has nothing to do with loneliness or lack of a husband or sex. Within the last seven years, I know she was in a relationship twice.
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“She ended those relationships on her own because of depression. She said she did not want to bring someone else into her life when she could not take care of herself. She was going through extreme depression, but people that did not know what she was going through have been posting rubbish online.
“She was a senior accountant at a telecoms firm and we are colleagues. She took her life herself and was buried that same Friday as she was the only Christian in her family.
“In Nigeria, we don’t pay attention to mental health; a lot of people are going through depression and it is not necessary that it has to be caused by anything,” she added.
A source said the deceased worked with Globacom Limited, adding that she was on leave when the incident happened.
“She recently celebrated her 45th birthday. She was not talking to people; she always kept to herself,” the source added.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the police visited Abiola’s house and met her lifeless body on the floor.
Hundeyin said, “The moment the police in that area were alerted, they arrived at the scene and met the woman lifeless on the floor. A bottle of insecticide was also found by her, apparently, she had ingested that insecticide.
“The family members that were there officially wrote to the divisional police officer requesting for the release of the corpse to enable them to bury her in accordance with Islamic rites and the corpse was released to the family on compassionate grounds.”
NEWS
Moghalu Prescribes Good Governance As Panacea To Ethnic Agitation
The President of the African School of Governance, Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu has admonished state actors against resorting to brutal force in the bid to muscle out separatist agitators.
In the aftermath of Mazi Simon Ekpa, the Finland based Biafran nationalist agitator being caught in legal web and the Nigerian government moving swiftly to seek his repatriation, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned that ‘We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.’
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The political economist, while expressing his hope in Nigeria, made it clear that “hope is not a strategy”.
He bared his mind in a series of posts on his verified handle on micro-blogging site, X on Friday.
Moghalu wrote, “Despite sustained contemporary difficulties, I am hopeful about Nigeria. But hope is not a strategy. We need to improve state capacity for effective governance.
“We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.
“We must learn to be honest with ourselves and address the root causes of our problems. Why ignore them, when the problem is actually quite solvable? The problem with continuing with this approach is that when the danger crystallizes, those who thought they were benefiting from
NEWS
N1.7trn Loan: Atiku Blames NASS For Worsening Nigeria’s Debt Burden
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
International News
ICC Issues Arrest Warrants For Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Others
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
In a detailed statement, the ICC accused the Israeli leaders of “intentionally and knowingly depriving the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
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The ICC’s move marks a significant escalation in international scrutiny of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant are alleged to have orchestrated policies that caused severe harm to the civilian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Alongside the charges against Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Deif has long been a central figure in Hamas’s military operations. Israel’s military claims to have killed him in a July airstrike, although this has not been independently verified.
The warrants highlight growing calls for accountability amid the ongoing conflict in the region. The ICC’s actions are likely to provoke heated debate and may complicate diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
With the warrants issued, global attention now turns to how the international community will respond and whether any practical steps will be taken to enforce them.