Business
Hardship: Nigerian-used car market booms as more owners sell off private vehicles
Published
2 months agoon

Soaring living costs, high exchange rates, and rising import tariffs are pushing foreign-used cars out of reach for many Nigerians, with Nigerian-used cars becoming the popular option.
This trend is fuelling a boom in the Nigerian-used cars market as more buyers turn to locally pre-owned vehicles for affordability.
Findings revealed a sharp increase in vehicle listings by private owners, particularly on online marketplaces, social media platforms, and roadside car lots.
This is even as car dealers lamented the rising costs and falling demand for imported vehicles.
According to them, while foreign-used vehicles, popularly known as Tokunbo, remain popular, their prices have doubled or even tripled in the past year due to the depreciating naira and heavy import charges.
The development comes amid a significant decline in the volume of imported vehicles, following the introduction new four per cent Free On Board levy, which replaced the former one per cent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme charge.
The Nigerian Customs Service had earlier announced that the new levy was enshrined in the Customs Act 2023 and would serve as a major funding source for its operations, including the deployment of the B’Odogwu cargo clearance system.
NCS’s Comptroller-General, Adewale Adeniyi, said the transition from the CISS to the FOB levy was aimed at modernising the service and reducing clearance bottlenecks.
“The one per cent CISS has served the country for decades,” Adeniyi said at a recent stakeholder forum in Lagos. “But as we embrace digitisation and indigenous technology like the B’Odogwu platform, the Customs must find sustainable ways to fund these transformations.”
Nigerian-used cars market booms
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, a dealer in Nigerian and foreign used vehicles, Nurudeen Amodu, decried the rising cost of automobiles in the country, saying the situation had also reversed the old practice of Nigerian dealers travelling to Cotonou and other neighbouring countries to buy cars.
“Back then, what we usually did in the car business was to travel to Cotonou and other neighbouring countries to bring cars because our money was valuable, but currently they come to us to buy now because our money has lost value.
“Recently we hosted some customers from Cotonou that came to buy cars, and I asked them why, they said because their money has more value now than the naira and that they would make more buying Nigerian used cars,” Amodu said.
He gave examples of price jumps in recent years: foreign used Toyota (2003–2006) models that sold for about N1.5m now cost between N8m and N10m; the Honda CR-V (2010) rose from N5m to N13m; the Lexus RX330 from N5m to N15m; and the Toyota Venza from N6m to nearly N20m.
Amodu said the sharp depreciation of the naira had pushed the prices of foreign used cars, popularly called Tokunbo, to levels comparable to, or even higher than, locally used vehicles.
“Some companies have liquidated. Imagine running a business with N100m capital and stocking vehicles for N5m each before. You could have 10 cars in stock then, but now that each costs around N15m, you can see how the business is affected.”
“What we do presently to address the situation for our customers is car swap, where we collect your old car and you add a little money to get another,” he added.
Several car dealers in Sokoto also said that they are witnessing an influx of buyers from neighboring Niger Republic, to buy Nigerian-used cars due to better pricing.
They attributed the growing trend to the relative strength of the Nigerien currency against the Nigerian naira, making Nigerian-used vehicles more affordable for Nigerien buyers.
A car dealer operating along Maiduguri Road in Sokoto, Haruna Abubakar, said the number of customers from Niger Republic had surpassed local patronage in recent times.
“I now have more customers from Niger Republic than within Nigeria,” he said. “They often buy popular models like Toyota Corolla, Camry, and Sienna. It used to be the other way around, but with the current exchange rate, they are the ones buying from us, and it is good for our business,” Abubakar said.
Another dealer, Mallam Jamiu Bello, disclosed that he had been consistently selling Nigerian-used vehicles to Nigerien nationals over the past few years.
“Many of them not only buy vehicles here, but also request Nigerian number plates,” he disclosed. “From what I understand, their laws permit them to use Nigerian plates after securing a single document, and they drive the cars like that back home.”
Bello added that it is not uncommon to find several cars in Niger Republic bearing Nigerian registration numbers, especially from Sokoto.
According to him, the development is boosting the local automobile market in Sokoto, even as economic challenges continue to affect domestic buyers.
Also speaking, a Lagos-based car seller, who only identified himself as Sam, said people now patronise Nigerian-used cars more than foreign-used ones because of the Customs duty hike and high exchange rates.
“This current situation will make it difficult for many Nigerians to get cars. Even people now sell their cars so they can eat. I bought a fairly used 2005 Toyota Corolla for N4m. Also, in Lagos State, I saw another one whose owner said it was going for N5.2m. This is because the man has issues,” he noted.
Sam added, “Not only do people from Benin Republic buy Nigerian-used cars, but people also come from Cameroon. This is because their currency is stronger. Recently, I compared the prices of a 2013 Ford Escape in Cotonou, and it is between 2.8m to 3m CFA. In Nigeria, it is being sold for N11m to N13m.”
Dealers make case for locally assembled cars
Amid the rising cost of foreign-used vehicles and dwindling import volumes, the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria has urged the federal and state governments to increase their support for locally assembled cars as a sustainable alternative.
The national president of the association, Ajibola Adedoyin, argued that strengthening local automobile production would not only reduce dependence on costly imports but also create jobs and stabilise vehicle prices in the long term.
Adedoyin disclosed that the association was planning to engage car manufacturers in Nigeria to produce affordable cars for average Nigerians.
He stated, “With the current prices of cars, low-income earners earning around N100,000 monthly, even if they get a loan, they will find it very difficult to pay it back. There are many other financial obligations for such individuals.
“That is why we will be on better leverage when we purchase vehicles assembled in Nigeria. But, car manufacturers in the country are not thinking of average Nigerians. They should think about producing cars that are reasonably good and suitable for our usage. Right now, they are building supersonic cars with prices far beyond the reach of common Nigerians.
“We are trying to look inwards so as to patronise our own local assemblies in Nigeria. That is why we have been trying to partner with the National Automotive Development Council to see how we can bring that to reality. We have been talking about how to make our own cars here more efficient and durable.”
Adedoyin also expressed concern over the increase in car duties, adding that the new percentage will further push imported cars out of Nigerians’ reach.
Adedoyin said, “What was introduced is an increment, because four per cent was introduced and only one per cent was removed. They said they are cancelling the one per cent levy, and now they have added four per cent. So, there is an increment of three per cent at the end of the day.
“The other seven per cent that we thought they were going to remove is not even meant for the Customs. It was meant for the Nigerian Ports Authority and others. They did not remove it.
“It is a demand and supply thing. There is no patronage like before due to the prices. If you check the level of vehicle importation, it has also dropped. Right now, on our side, we are trying to see how we can really bring in locally assembled Nigerian cars to be sold by our members, rather than importing from the USA or Canada.”
The AMDN National President noted that it would be difficult for many Nigerians to afford any car at the moment, as prices had increased outrageously.
Lamenting the havoc the price hike had wreaked, Adedoyin said that expired cars were being refurbished, leading to accidents on the roads because they were no longer roadworthy.
He said, “That is why we are advocating that we look inwards. However, this issue has affected car sales. Invariably, this problem is causing harm on our roads because when people cannot replace their old vehicles, they tend to manage them. Managing such vehicles leads to a lot of accidents.
“Cars are necessities. If the purchasing power is not increased, there will definitely be a drop in purchasing. The exchange rate is another factor affecting the importation of cars. Although the exchange rate is not determined by Nigeria, if we check the rate now, the amount we exchange for dollars has greatly increased. Some years ago, it was not like this. Today, the duty for a car is based on the amount it is purchased for in dollars.”
More Nigerians sell cars
A private car owner, Olumide Adegbola, told our correspondent that he had to sell his vehicle due to the worsening economic situation in the country.
He explained that feeding his family had become a daily struggle, making it nearly impossible to afford fuel for transportation.
“The economy has really been tough lately. I can’t even afford basic necessities,” he said. “To stay afloat, I had to sell my car to meet my family’s needs. It was a Corolla I bought a few years ago for N2,000,000, but I had to sell it for N4,000,000.”
Another car owner, identified simply as Yunusa, also shared that he sold his car as a result of financial hardship.
Recounting his experience, he said, “I lied to my client that I was travelling just so I could sell my car. I wasn’t travelling, hunger will make you do anything just to survive.
“Now, I don’t have a car, and honestly, I don’t know when I’ll be able to afford one again. Things are really hard.”
“It’s the profit that made me sell it so that I can help my family and be stable financially.”
Agents speak
Licensed Customs agents operating in the nation’s maritime sector opined that introducing the four per cent FOB levy would negatively affect vehicles and other imports.
A former Interim National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Pius Ujubonu, told Saturday PUNCH on Friday that the policy would make the acquisition of vehicles purely luxurious.
He added that in a few months to come, vehicles would be out of reach for nearly everybody in the country.
“It is almost making the acquisition of a vehicle purely a luxurious thing. It didn’t take into consideration the necessity of transportation, because there was no exemption in the policy introduction. If it is a situation where, for example, commercial, special-purpose vehicles, among others, are exempted, it would have been a different thing. But the moment you make it a policy without any exemption, it affects several ways. In the next one or two or three, four months, vehicles will almost be out of reach for nearly everybody,” Ujubonu said.
The National Public Relations Officer of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria, Mr. Taiwo Fatobilola, said, “The very moment there is an increase, it affects everything. But, the only area where we are disturbed is the seven per cent surcharge that has not been removed. Because the assurance they gave was that they were going to remove the one per cent CISS and the seven per cent surcharge. FOB is supposed to cover both that one per cent and seven per cent, but the seven per cent is still appearing on the system, so that is the only area where I feel.”
A member of the Elders Maritime Agents Association, Nnadi Ugochukwu, described the four per cent FOB as an addition to the cost of doing business.
“So, that is an addition. Many people are abandoning their goods, especially their vehicles, in the ports, because of the cost of clearing. And now they want to add more money to the cost. And when you push that to the people, it goes to the economy to cause inflation; it’s as simple as that.
“Many businesses will have to fold. But the point is that they will add the prices they sell in the market. So, of course, it will affect imports. Some people may no longer be able to travel. They just stay around and manage what they have here,” Ugochukwu said.
A member of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Stanley Ezenga, however, said it was too early to attribute the introduction of the four per cent FOB levy to the drop in imported vehicles.
“The thing just started, so it would be too early to judge the effect. But, no matter what, importation can never stop, and for now, it hasn’t dropped. So, we should give them like three months to see because already some products have been imported into the country that are yet to be cleared.
“To me, it won’t lead to any decline in imports; rather, it will lead to inflation because importers will add what they have spent on the goods, and it will trickle down to the final consumers,” he said.
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Equities jumped Thursday after data showing job losses in the US private sector fanned optimism for more interest rate cuts and overshadowed a partial shutdown of the country’s government.
Tech firms led the way higher as a deal between South Korea’s biggest chip firms and OpenAI added fuel to the AI-led rally that has helped push markets to record highs.
While debate rages over the impact of the closure of some US departments owing to a standoff between lawmakers in Washington, investors continue to focus on the outlook for more Federal Reserve rate cuts.
And hopes were given a boost Wednesday by figures from payrolls firm ADP showing companies shed 32,000 posts last month, confounding forecasts for a gain of more than 50,000.
The data was the latest in a string of below-par reports indicating the labour market in the world’s top economy continues to slow and will give more impetus for the Fed to cut rates twice more before the end of the year.
Observers said the reading had a little more significance owing to expectations that crucial non-farm payrolls statistics will not be released as usual on Friday owing to the shutdown.
“The market is going to have to focus on independent private sources to get a sense of what’s going on,” Wellington Management’s Brij Khurana said.
“If the administration does go forward with cutting headcount, there is potential for this to have an economic impact and probably more so than what we’re used to.”
Economists at Bank of America wrote before the release: “Some downside risks remain on the horizon for labour demand. Goods producing sectors have been shedding jobs since May, in part due to tariff uncertainty.
“Also, we expect to see continued layoffs in the professional and business services sector, where AI adoption is presumably relatively faster.”
They added that recent government layoffs by Donald Trump’s administration would also weigh.
After all three main indexes on Wall Street rose, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting records, Asia was happy to take up the baton.
Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta were all up, with Hong Kong piling on more than one percent as traders returned from a midweek break. Shanghai is closed for a week-long holiday.
But Seoul and Taipei led the rally thanks to a boost in chip firms following news of the deal between OpenAI and Samsung and SK Hynix.
The Korean firms said they had signed preliminary deals with the US company to provide chips and other equipment for its Stargate project during a visit to Seoul by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.
SK hynix soared around 12 per cent at one point and Samsung around five per cent, helping the Kospi index to add 2.7 per cent to a record high.
Taipei’s TAIEX index jumped 1.5 per cent as chip titan and market heavyweight TSMC piled on three per cent.
Other regional tech firms also enjoyed a run-up, with Hong Kong-listed Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com all up between two and four per cent.
Tech companies have been at the forefront of a surge across markets this year as investors pile into all things linked to artificial intelligence, with hundreds of billions being pumped into the sector.
London, Paris and Frankfurt opened with healthy gains.
– Key figures at around 0715 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 per cent at 44,936.73 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.9 per cent at 27,363.39
Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holiday
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 per cent at 9,465.92
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1737 from $1.1728 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3480 from $1.3476
Dollar/yen: UP at 147.22 yen from 147.14 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 87.07 pence from 87.04 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 per cent at $61.89 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 per cent at $65.45 per barrel
New York – Dow: UP 0.1 per cent at 46,441.10 (close)
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Inside Abuja, ‘business centres’ disguised as schools
Published
13 hours agoon
October 2, 2025
In what is fast becoming an eyesore in Abuja, the nation’s seat of power, sub-standard schools built primarily for money-making now dot the landscape of most satellite towns in the FCT. With the education inspectorate doing little or nothing to address the menace, stakeholders fear that the practice may harm a system already struggling with the scourge of multi-layered neglect. DIRISU YAKUBU reports!
education is seen largely as both a service and a right. It is the responsibility of the government across all tiers to dispense education to the citizenry, whose right it is to embrace. Difficult as it is to enumerate its mileage in a single report, it suffices to suggest that the biggest weapon in the armoury of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists and Africa’s freedom fighters was the education they had, which enabled them to dare the colonial imperialists, forcing the latter to relinquish power reluctantly.
So big is the harvest of a good quality education that the Sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the then Premier of the Western Region, made education compulsory and free for children, many of whose parents could not afford fees and other payments required to keep their wards within the four walls of an educational institution.
The near collapse of governance at all levels in subsequent years culminated in the fall of education standards, forcing well-to-do parents to withdraw their children and wards from public schools for enrollment in private institutions.
With improved earnings over the years, many parents took the private schools’ option, given their ability to pay more remuneration to teachers while exposing pupils and students to better-teaching models and other extra-curricular activities.
The patronage of private schools, needless to state here, has seen education morph from a service to business ventures. Across major cities in Nigeria, including Abuja, the seat of power, those who have no expertise in school administration have, with a combination of greed and crass opportunism, set up schools, targeting the children of low-income earners, to earn a living.
In most of the satellite towns in the FCT, schools lack basic infrastructure, and qualified manpower and recreational facilities are a common sight today. With government officials either playing the ostrich or abdicating their duties, enforcement of standards has thus been relegated to the background.
In a tour of some ‘schools’ in Abuja, The PUNCH uncovered a litany of rot, ranging from the engagement of semi-literate teachers to the absence of libraries, laboratories, sports facilities, to name just a few.
Findings revealed that the school proprietors, while charging relatively high fees, pay their teachers peanuts, citing the harsh economic realities of the times.
At Leaders Academy Drive, off Tiga Street, Kurudu, Abuja Municipal Area Council, is a three-bedroom apartment housing a family of four. It is a middle-class residential building, plastered but not painted. On this fateful Tuesday morning, a sharp voice emanating from a store in this building got the attention of this correspondent.
To his surprise, a young lady reading out Nigerian States and their capitals announced to a class of four children an impending examination to test their mastery of what she had taught them thus far.
Surprised that a school was being run in such a location, this reporter took a few steps in the direction of the young teacher, and this conversation ensued.
“Good morning, madam. How are you doing today? You run a school here?,” I asked her.
Good morning, sir. Yes, we are just starting,” she replied. “Our target is the young children who are old enough to be in school now, but due to one reason or another, are not. Things are tough for many families, and we are trying to make sure that we have in place a system that can be of assistance to these young children and their parents.”
Then I went further by asking to know if it was a conventional school she set out to run.
“Interesting! I will be right to say this is not a formal school but an arrangement to get these young minds engaged, preparatory to having them enrolled in a conventional school.”
She replied, “It is a conventional setting, sir. From here, their parents can take them straight to basic four or five and after a year or two, they will proceed to junior secondary school. I have ten pupils here of different ages. They did not start at the same time, and I don’t teach them the same thing.”
When I asked which curriculum they used in teaching the kids, she added, “I teach them the things I believe they should know. I teach them English, Mathematics, Civics Education, Christian Religious Studies and Basic Science. We are not using any curriculum for now.”
On the affordability of her arrangement, she replied, “We have an agreement with the parents. I am also a bit careful because there are basic requirements for setting up a school. The parents love what I do here, and they support me. I don’t want to speak in detail about fees or whatever you call it.”
She refused to state whether she was a trained teacher or not, when this correspondent asked to know. Instead, she stated her love for teaching endeared her to the project.
“I will go back to school. It is my love for teaching that inspired me to start this. I will go back to school soon. Like I said, these children are very young. I am just trying to teach them basic things they should know at this stage of their lives,” she added.The story of this unnamed “school” resonates across many communities in the Federal Capital Territory. Taking advantage of a system with a near-zero disposition to the enforcement of basic standards, individuals with little or no training in education set up ‘schools’ that can best be described as business centres.
Still in the Kurudu District, the story is slightly better at the Lifespring Academy, which runs nursery/primary and secondary schools.
At Lifespring, the school lacks a modest space required for the sporting needs of the students. As it were, students here make use of public fields at the Local Education Authority Primary School for their interhouse sports and other outdoor activities.
A man who simply identified himself as Mr Joshua told our correspondent that though Lifespring is an upgrade on other schools in the vicinity, it suffers from a lack of adequately trained manpower needed for imparting knowledge.
He said, “Everything is turning to business, and we should be worried. Here (Lifespring), one is surprised to see that they have an SSCE and NECO accreditation centre. That is their biggest bargaining chip. They will tell you that their accreditation status indicates the high rating they enjoy in the books of the Federal Capital Territory Administration authorities.
“We must not manage two things: education and health. If health and education facilities are substandard, let us not expect much to reap thereafter. What is happening is that business is winning, but services are neither here nor there.”

A trip to the Ivy Academy, Kpeyegi, revealed a similar pattern of poor standards and lack of trained manpower. A pre-nursery, nursery, and primary school, Ivy Academy boasts a handful of skilled teachers and several school certificate holders.
At the Graceland International Academy, Orozo, a magnificent edifice, paints a phoney picture of efficiency on how things ought to be done.
The PUNCH’s findings, however, revealed a litany of shady deals, including the poor payment of teachers, some of whom have complained to no avail.
“While the management of the institution frequently announces an increment in the fees paid by the students, the same does not reflect in the remuneration of teachers who do the bulk of the work,” a young woman who declined to be named told our correspondent.
According to her, “These people see themselves as destiny helpers and in a way, they are right. They make you feel that you are indebted to them for life for allowing you to earn a living. So, you have no power to influence things and a staff member, you also have to be careful because colleagues who are into eye service can betray you,” she added, without providing further explanation.
Perhaps, the worst of these private schools is the Potter’s Legacy Ville Academy, Anka. Located along the Karu/Orozo/Karshi expressway, one can be carried away with the allure of its beautiful name.
Exposed to multiple dangers, including security threats and noise pollution, the unfenced school is certainly where everything happens except conducive learning. Without a gate, the school, as well as its pupils and teachers, are exposed to the threat of abduction, invasion, and all forms of criminal activities.
Needless to state here, the school is an employer of poorly-trained teachers, who are only too glad to be earning a living with the little knowledge they can dispense.
At the City Royal Junior and Secondary Schools, Nyanya, Abuja, the major challenge identified by our correspondent is the lack of a playing field for extra-curricular activities for both teachers and students.
“Without striking a balance between education and sports, “a Mathematics teacher, Mr Haruna Kebe, argued that the needed psychological equilibrium needed to excel may prove a huge challenge for students.
While noting that education has gone beyond the rendering of essential services, Kebe frowned at the influx of businessmen into the sector, who merely built schools for the sole purpose of financial gain.
He said, “People are setting up schools as business ventures. Many of them are not educationists, but they are in the business of running schools everywhere. In some cases, residential buildings are converted to schools. They are tapping into a gap in the system to make the argument that they are also creating jobs. These people don’t care about standards. This is a grave concern we must address as a nation,” he said.

He further lamented the absence of a sports field for the physical development of children in the areas of football and track events, saying, “Most of them don’t have the environment for sporting activities, and this is one of the requirements for setting up a school.”
The Maths teacher, who has taught the subject in different schools, further revealed how the lack of standards makes it easier for school proprietors to enslave teachers, taking advantage of the scarcity of jobs in the country.
“Most of the teachers are overworked. In the last school I taught (name withheld), I was teaching Mathematics from JSS 1-3, taking SS1 students in Physics and handling Basic Science for JSS1-3 Basic Technology. You can see that they don’t care about the staff’s mental health. They are only interested in what comes into their pockets,” he added.
He also faulted religious bodies for setting up schools that they cannot manage.
“The churches are establishing schools because through these schools, they make money to run the churches. I have no issue with well-run schools owned by churches. But a situation where a church struggling to find its feet also sets up a school simultaneously leaves much to be desired,” he added.
Qualification
“How many teachers are qualified? There are very few. But I don’t think a Bachelor’s degree in Education is the main thing, because some of these so-called qualified teachers are not better than those who do not have degrees in education. I have a B.Sc in Mathematics and a National Diploma in Chemical Engineering, but I have a passion for teaching. I see it as my calling. I have been in teaching, off and on, since 2007, but I don’t think a B.Ed holder in Mathematics will look me in the eyes and tell me he is a better teacher than I am. I will not accept it,” he added.
“What they pay the teachers is nothing to write home about. The money is very small compared to their workload. Before now, school owners in Abuja were paying N15,000 for NCE holders, N20,000 for B.Sc. This was before inflationary pressure forced them to have a rethink. Some of the schools now pay holders of B.Sc N30,000 a month, especially those who are not in the sciences.
“In the last school I taught, the owner paid N30,000, and she deducted N2,000 each from those monthly salaries until it accumulated to N30,000. This amount was kept for each other, and anytime they wanted to leave, they were required to give a month’s notice. It’s this N30,000 that would be given to him or her in full anytime they choose to walk away. But if a teacher chooses to leave without a month’s notice, the N2,000 deductions would be forfeited.
“But as a Science teacher, I earned twice what my counterparts in the Arts were earning. The money is not encouraging. But the standard schools pay as much as N70,000 to N80,000 a month,” he explained.
Unskilled teachers
Accoroding to the Mathematics teacher, “Most of the school owners prefer school certificate holders as teachers because they are comfortable with the little token they pay them. The graduates demand higher salaries. In most of the schools, the school certificate and NCE holders are more in number compared to graduates because it costs less to retain their services.
“In the last place I taught, the proprietor retained me because she was bent on having an SSCE/NECO centre accredited for her. One of the requirements for having this centre approved for you is that your teachers must be well-educated. You must have at least five or six B. Ed or BSc holders before a NECO centre will be approved for a school. When the officials came to inspect the place, we were the qualified teachers who stood in defence of the school. The NCE and SSCE holders stayed away.”
A teacher in one of the privately-owned schools in Jikwoyi, identified simply as Chidi, called on the FCTA education inspectorate department to take its job seriously, noting that some of the schools operating in the nation’s capital today have no business existing in the first instance.
He said, “Ultimately, it is the future of the young ones we are jeopardising by sharp practices happening in these so-called schools. I know a man who turned the three-bedroom flat built for him by his son in Lagos into a private school. He goes around telling gullible parents that God instructed him to start a school.

“Being an evangelist, it is understandable that people are listening to him. What shocked me more was that with time, some parents withdrew their children from their schools and enrolled them at the there-bedroom apartment turned school.”
Asked how the evangelist cum educationist is paying the teachers, he was temporarily lost for words before continuing, “That is the interesting part of the story. He brainwashed some young people in his church into believing that the school is God’s project. When he collects fees from the pupils, he pays the teachers. At times, he pays when his son sends him money. This is how the place is run.”
Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH, school proprietor, Mustapha Haruna, urged those with genuine interest in running schools to abide by due process and avoid cutting corners.
Haruna, who runs the Discovery International Academy, Suleja, Niger State, described education as the finest gift a nation can bequeath to the younger generation, stressing that anyone desirous of owning a school to build the lives of young minds must be prepared to go the whole distance.
Lamenting the influx of Nigerians into the system who have no training in school administration, Mr Haruna warned that if left unchecked, such a system may end up doing more harm than good.
In an interview with our correspondent, The Imiegba, Edo-born school proprietor said, “One needs to be passionate about education. It is not about making money. If you are making money and not impacting the lives of the pupils and students, you have not started, and you have no reason to remain in the system.”
For a country desirous of joining the league of advanced nations, education is a sector too significant to be left in the hands of unskilled men whose interest lies not in quality service delivery but in profit-making. From basic to secondary school education, the government, including federal, sub-national, and local, must take decisive steps to address the looming danger threatening the progress of the Nigerian state.
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Nigeria’s eight-month debt service bill hits $2.86bn – CBN
Published
14 hours agoon
October 2, 2025
Nigeria spent a total of $2.86bn servicing external debt in the first eight months of 2025, according to the international payment data from the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday. This accounted for 69.1 per cent of the country’s total foreign payments of $4.14bn in the period.
In the same eight-month stretch of 2024, debt service stood at $3.06bn, representing 70.7 per cent of total foreign payments of $4.33bn. The figures show that while the absolute value of debt service fell by $198m between 2024 and 2025, the share of debt in overall foreign payments has remained persistently high, with about seven out of every ten dollars leaving the country used to meet debt obligations.
The monthly breakdown highlights the volatility of Nigeria’s repayment schedule. In January 2025, $540.67m was spent compared with $560.52m in January 2024, a fall of $19.85m or 3.5 per cent. February 2025 recorded $276.73m, slightly below the $283.22m in February 2024, down by $6.49m or 2.3 per cent.
March 2025 surged to $632.36m against $276.17m in March 2024, an increase of $356.19m or 129 per cent. In April 2025, payments reached $557.79m, which was $342.59m or 159 per cent higher than the $215.20m of April 2024.
May 2025 stood at $230.92m, sharply lower than the $854.37m in May 2024, a drop of $623.45m or 73 per cent. June 2025 rose to $143.39m compared with $50.82m in June 2024, a rise of $92.57m or 182 per cent.
July 2025 fell to $179.95m, down by $362.55m or 66.8 per cent from $542.5m in July 2024. By August 2025, debt service climbed to $302.3m, which was $22.35m or 8 per cent higher than the $279.95m of August 2024.
Month-on-month trends in 2025 further underline the erratic nature of the payments. The country began January with $540.67m, which dropped by $263.94m or 48.8 per cent to $276.73m in February.
March then spiked to $632.36m, up by $355.63m or 128.5 per cent. April fell to $557.79m, down by $74.57m or 11.8 per cent from March. May dropped to $230.92m, down by $326.87m or 58.6 per cent. June slipped further to $143.39m, a decline of $87.52m or 37.9 per cent.
July rebounded slightly to $179.95m, an increase of $36.56m or 25.5 per cent, before August rose again to $302.3m, which was $122.35m or 67.9 per cent higher than July.
The dominance of debt service in Nigeria’s foreign obligations is clear. In the eight months of 2025, $2.86bn of the $4.14bn total foreign payments went to debt, giving it a share of 69.1 per cent. A year earlier, $3.06bn of the $4.33bn total foreign payments went to debt, accounting for 70.7 per cent.
These figures show that, despite spending nearly $200 million less on debt this year compared to 2024, debt still accounted for the overwhelming majority of foreign exchange outflows.
This high ratio of debt service to total foreign payments highlights Nigeria’s vulnerability, as nearly three-quarters of its international outflows are being channelled into debt repayment rather than critical imports or investments.
Fitch Ratings recently noted that Nigeria’s external debt service will increase from $4.7bn in 2024 to $5.2bn in 2025. This includes $4.5bn in amortisation payments and a $1.1bn Eurobond repayment due in November. Fitch noted, “Government external debt service is moderate but expected to rise to $5.2bn in 2025 (with $4.5bn of amortisations, including a $1.1bn Eurobond repayment due in November 2025), from $4.7bn in 2024, and fall to $3.5bn in 2026.”
The agency also cited a minor delay in the payment of a Eurobond coupon due on March 28, 2025, as a reflection of persistent challenges in public finance management. Although Nigeria’s external debt service remains within manageable levels, Fitch warned that high-interest costs, weak revenue performance, and limited fiscal space remain significant concerns.
Fitch said general government debt was expected to remain at about 51 per cent of GDP in 2025 and 2026. However, it expressed concern over the government’s revenue position, noting that interest payments will consume a substantial portion of income.
It stated, “We expect general government revenue-to-GDP to rise but to remain structurally low (averaging 13.3 per cent in 2025–2026), largely accounting for a high general government interest/revenue ratio, above 30 per cent, with the Federal Government interest/revenue ratio of nearly 50 per cent.”
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