* The Naira/Dollar rate was calculated by averaging buying rates from several Nigerian FinTech startups.
Good morning.
Welcome to the Tuesday briefing. This newsletter keeps you updated with the latest news from Nigeria. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive it in your email before 7 am (WAT) every weekday.
Facebook goes down again. Why?
When my phone started to buzz unusually yesterday, I knew it was related to the downtime on all Facebook services, including Instagram and Whatsapp. I checked Twitter and the timeline was abuzz with jokes and grief about the outage.
A service that tracks Internet service failures, Downdetector, said millions of people around the world had been affected.
It took about six hours for Facebook to rectify the problem, making it one of the most significant failures of the service. According to the BBC, the last time Facebook had a disruption of this magnitude was in 2019.
So, what happened?
Technology news website Wired says the issue is most likely related to Facebook’s Domain Name System (DNS) records becoming unreachable. But the root cause of why its DNS became unreachable in the first place remains a mystery.
“It appears that Facebook has done something to their routers, the ones that connect the Facebook network to the rest of the internet,” one Internet technology expert told Wired.
Meanwhile, according to Facebook, “configuration changes on the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between our data centers caused issues that interrupted this communication.
“This disruption to network traffic had a cascading effect on the way our data centers communicate, bringing our services to a halt.”
As resident doctors resume work . . .
After nine weeks, the National Association of Resident Doctors suspended its strike action on Monday.
According to the association’s new president, Godiya Ishaya, resident doctors are expected to resume at their posts on Wednesday.
The doctors had previously vowed to not go back to work until after all their demands are met, but it appears they eventually caved under pressure from the government.
They went on strike over poor conditions of service and unpaid benefits.
Conditions: New president, Ishaya, said the strike had only been suspended for six weeks, after which the association will review whether the federal government was living up to its promises.
Good faith: Ishaya also noted that the federal government has shown readiness to withdraw its suit against the doctors at the National Industrial Court and has started the payment of the medical residency training fund, among others.
What next: This is at least the second time resident doctors are suspending a strike. Chances are that if the government doesn’t resolve their demands in time, we will soon be back where we started.
The VAT dispute is dividing the country
As I mentioned yesterday, there were indications that about five Northern states are set to join the federal government to fight for the latter’s right to keep collecting Value Added Taxes (VAT) on behalf of states.
On Monday, South-South Governors, with the exception of Cross River’s Ben Ayade, met in Port-Harcourt and resolved to join Rivers State in the Appeal Court to contend the Federal Inland Revenue Service’s claim on VAT.
Lagos and Oyo states have already filed applications to join Rivers in the suit.
As it stands, it appears most southern states are in favour of states keeping their VAT while their northern counterparts prefer the status quo.
Context: The VAT issue is a metaphor for resource control in Nigeria. There’s a perception that southern Nigeria, with its ports, oil reserves, and relatively higher literacy rates, has always subsidised northern Nigeria economically. In fact, historians have cited the same reason for why the British decided to amalgamate its southern and northern protectorate in the Niger to form Nigeria. While many in the south believe the status quo is unsustainable, northern leaders have pushed back on the idea that the region is dependent.
Related: The Lagos state government is demanding special status in revenue allocation over its “huge financial obligations” to the national coffers.
What else is happening?
Security: The military has launched an operation, ‘Exercise Golden Dawn’, in the South-East as insecurity in the region worsens after the arrest of IPOB’s leader Nnamdi Kanu.
NAFDAC: The drug and food agency has warned Nigerians against consuming frozen poultry products smuggled into the country as they may contain toxic preservatives, such as formalin.
Peter Obi: The former Anambra state Governor was said to have operated offshore accounts that may have put him in contravention with Nigerian laws, according to an investigation by Premium Times.
Judiciary funding: The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in a suit, brought by the 36 states of the federation, challenging President Muhammadu Buhari’s order to fund state judiciaries from state government allocations.
Boko Haram: It appears the terrorists have taken over some communities in Niger State. According to one report, they are coercing residents of Shiroro Local Government Area to marry off their daughters at the age of 12 years.
Muhammadu Buhari: The President called for peace and stability in Ethiopia while attending the inauguration ceremony of the East African leader Abiy Ahmed.
Blackout: Parts of Lagos are expected to experience extended periods of power outages for eight weeks, according to electricity distribution firm, Ikeja Electric.
And that’s it for today. Thank you for starting your day with me. Let’s do this again tomorrow, okay?