SOCRATES

Life is LIFE

[Nairametrics @Nairametrics]

World Bank Country Director Mathew Verghis told Channels Television that Nigeria should not be characterised as a heavily indebted country, describing it instead as "moderately indebted" — in line with many other developing economies that borrow to meet national needs.

"Nigeria does not have a high indebtedness problem but a low revenue problem," Verghis stated directly.

[archivi.ng @StartArchiving]

In 1988, Nigeria's Olympic team returned from the Seoul Games with more electronics than medals.

When the delegation landed in Lagos, athletes and officials were seen carrying televisions, video recorders, air conditioners, teddy bears and other gadgets. The haul was so large that only nine of the 19 tonnes of excess luggage could fit aboard the Nigeria Airways DC-10.

The remaining 10 tonnes, according to The Republic, had to be flown separately, with officials reportedly chartering aircraft for $25,000 and an estimated ₦150,000 to bring the goods from London to Lagos. Altogether, the exercise was expected to cost about ₦200,000.

The aircraft captain had reportedly refused to load everything, forcing the delegation to find another way home for their load.

When reporters questioned delegation member Dagogo Wilcox he had this to say:

"At 48, I cannot travel so long with this small bag and expect me to come home empty-handed."

[Instablog9ja @instablog9ja]

“We’ll be paying close attention to Nigeria’s 2027 election.” — U.S. Congressman Riley Moore reveals

[BRICS News @BRICSinfo]

JUST IN: 🇷🇺🇺🇸 Russian President Putin calls President Trump to congratulate him for America's 250th anniversary and invites him to visit Russia.

The call lasted over an hour.

[Nigeria Stories @NigeriaStories]

The President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has said strategic investments in aquaculture, hatcheries, feed production, processing, cold-chain logistics and export infrastructure could reduce imports, conserve foreign exchange, create more than 500,000 jobs and position Nigeria as a leading exporter of fisheries products.

[Bolaji Fesomade @MasterBolaji]

BREAKING: The National Hospital Abuja told the ICPC that Nasir El-Rufai is not its patient and said the medical report used for his bail application was forged. Because of this, the court rejected his request for bail on medical grounds.

[oseni rufai @ruffydfire]

I will hardly trust any data that comes out of government if 8.8 trillion can be hidden

A plane landed on an expressway and people came down but the government can’t produce manifest of the plane ?

[Tuchel @Officially_Kriz]

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, co-founder of Flutterwave, reveals that the President of Nigeria doesn't know what is going on in the country.

He says President's reality is constructed.

He's in a motorcade driving so fast, so he can't see the surrounding, his phone is with an aide, and he doesn't read newspapers.

He has security briefings and that's all he knows.

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🇯🇵 Japan wants a drone that hunts drones

Tokyo just asked its industry to build a machine whose only job is to chase down another drone and kill it in the air, and 38 companies raised their hands.

Forget the headcount, watch the calendar. Japan's defense procurement is famously slow, the kind that measures programs in years. This one's measured in weeks.

Contract in late August, first units to the ground forces by September. That's not how Tokyo usually moves.

What lit the fire is everything it just watched, cheap drones reshaping Ukraine, the Iran war draining U.S. missile stockpiles, and Chinese drones drifting past its southwestern islands.

Turns out nothing speeds up a cautious bureaucracy like watching the future arrive somewhere else first.

Source: Defence Blog, Defense News / Writer: Daniyal

[oseni rufai @ruffydfire]

Hahahahah Na wa ooo

[Visegrád 24 @visegrad24]

BREAKING:

Egypt inaugurates its new Strategic Command Headquarters “The Octagon” in the new capital city “The New Capital” east of Cairo.

Larger than the Pentagon, it will serves as Egypt’s central military and national security command hub.

The people working there will coordinate defense, crisis response, national security data and operations across government and armed forces branches across the country.

Spanning more than 9 million m² of built area, it includes 13 integrated zones and houses:

- The Ministry of Defense
- Command of the Egyptian Armed Forces
- Advanced data centers, secure networks, simulation systems and cybersecurity infrastructure.

[Dr Joe Abah, OON @DrJoeAbah]

Everyone I’ve spoken with who is currently serving in government has told me that this Prince Adeniyi case is simply a scam, but when I start asking questions, none of them has been able to answer.

Yes, you can forge an appointment letter and claim that you are a DG but appointment letters are signed by the SGF not the COS. Who allegedly issued his appointment letter or what signature is his allegedly forged appointment letter showing?

Someone higher than a DG must ask that you be allocated office space in the Federal Secretariat. Who made that request?

Someone higher than a DG must write asking that you be given an alleged take-off grant. You cannot yourself write to the Budget Office and the Office of the Accountant General that you should be given a take-off grant. Who allegedly wrote?

How did the agency get into the budget?

Usually, you will go for budget defence as part of a cohort. In this case, it will probably be as part of the State House cohort. Who defended or coordinated the defence of the budget estimates before the National Assembly before they were appropriated?

Did the guy earn a salary in the more than one year he was there? If so, who documented him and asked that he be paid?

With which money was the guy running the office for more than one year if nothing was allegedly released?

Who allegedly wrote to the CBN asking them to open an account for the ‘Council’? The ‘Council’ cannot just walk into CBN and ask to open an account, as if it’s a commercial bank looking for customers.

Who allegedly approved the ‘Council’s’ manning levels and who allegedly approved the waiver to recruit 300 staff?

Was the guy allegedly really that good? Or were there egregious failings at multiple points in the system?

These questions and more are often met with deafening silence. Everyone sighs heavily and uses the ubiquitous expression “Na waa.” Me sef, I sigh heavily and answer “Na real waa!”

This is a case of the proverbial tse tse that has landed on the scrotum. Leave it and it will cause sickness and pain. Swat it and it will cause pain because of its location.

Anyhow you look at it, there are questions begging for answers. And whatever the answers will be, they will not be good.

Still, I hope that there’ll be some answers soon…for the sake of our public administration system.

I am Ezemmuo. I know things.

[Parallel Facts @ParallelFacts]

Former President Biden Once Refused White House Meeting With Tinubu Over Narcotics History — US Firm https://t.co/Jwq7trjHDp

[Bolaji Fesomade @MasterBolaji]

He has reformed:

1. NNPC

2. State police

3. Local govt autonomy

4. Tax & revenues

5. Education

6. NIMC

7. Region commissions

8. Electricty

9. BDC

His next project is to reform:

1. Civil service

2. Micro economy

3. Tourism

4. Restructuring

All this he'll do.

End.

[Instablog9ja @instablog9ja]

European lender targets $1.5bn investment drive in Nigeria, with power sector a key focus

[RT @RT_com]

Trump ‘SHOCKED’ by crowds flooding Iran streets to MOURN Khamenei

‘I thought PEOPLE HATED him’

‘Neither side will shoot the other during funeral proceedings’

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🇷🇺 Russia turned every AK into a drone killer

Rostec, the Russian state's sprawling weapons giant that also owns Kalashnikov, just started shipping its new Mnogotochie round to frontline troops, with serial production already running.

Instead of one bullet it packs three stacked elements that split apart in flight, throwing out a spread that catches small drones a normal round would sail right past.

It comes in 5.45 and 7.62, feeds into any standard Kalashnikov, and still fires clean with a suppressor on.

No new weapon, no shotgun to lug around, just swap the mag and the same rifle doubles as air defense.

The drone war rewrote the rules, and the cheapest fixes are the ones that stick.

Source: Defence blog / Writer: Daniyal

[Bolaji Fesomade @MasterBolaji]

BREAKING: Nigeria supplies electricity to Togo, Benin, and Niger Republic. They have not yet paid for all the power they used and now owe Nigeria about ₦17.45 billion for electricity supplied in the first three months of 2026.

[Tuchel @Officially_Kriz]

Tony Elumelu reveals the best decision he's made.

He had two options. Either to acquire a distressed bank or a going concern. But he chose the distressed bank which was later Standard Trust Bank.

No group of people had ever acquired a distressed bank in Nigeria at the time.

So he was the first to do that.

[Nigeria Stories @NigeriaStories]

BREAKING: Rolex has named Nigerian 🇳🇬conservationist Rachel Ikemeh as 2026 Laureates for the Rolex Awards after she saved the red colobus monkey and other endangered monkey species in Niger Delta.