Monday 23 March, 2026

Tuesday, 24 March 2026

1. THE HANDSHAKE AND THE HANDCUFFS 

Nigeria signed a £746m UK ports deal and a deportation agreement in the same room on the same day, with British Steel taking £236m in contracts while Nigeria removed the passport requirement that had slowed the removal of nearly 2,000 Nigerians awaiting deportation.

2. WHEN ONE MAN CONTROLS YOUR FUEL 

Nigeria froze gasoline import licenses in early March, handing Dangote Refinery 92% of the domestic fuel market, then the Iran war arrived and the refinery raised its gantry price four times in the same month, from N774 to N1,245 per litre, with no competition to constrain it.

3. FOURTH MOST TERRORISED COUNTRY ON EARTH 

The 2026 Global Terrorism Index ranked Nigeria fourth globally on March 19, the same day Tinubu met Starmer at Downing Street, recording 750 terrorism deaths in 2025, a 46% increase, while global terror deaths fell 28% and the Presidency did not respond.

4. YOUR PORT DEAL, EXPLAINED 

The £746m UK-backed port financing deal covered Apapa and Tin Can Island, Nigeria's two busiest ports handling over 70% of trade, with UK Export Finance backing the loan and £236m in contracts allocated to British suppliers.

5. THE CUP THEY GAVE AWAY 

Arsenal lost the Carabao Cup Final 0-2 to Manchester City at Wembley, leaving the title race intact at nine points clear but handing City a trophy, a crowd, and a different mentality before the April 18 head-to-head at the Etihad.

6. THE SIGNAL BEFORE THE LETTERS 

HMRC's 13.1% efficiency savings target, the steepest of any UK government department, was published in the March 2025 Spring Statement a full year before the redundancy letters arrived, visible to any reader looking at the right document.

BEFORE YOU GO!

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This Nigerian Life | Nigerian. Life. Explained.

Publishing Editor: Adeyemi EKO

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