Readers’ comments on Of journalists’ deaths, security lapses and cut-throat taxes, by Hassan Gimba

Inna lilLahi wa inna ilaihir raji’un! May Allah have mercy upon their souls and grant them Aljanna Firdausi. My condolences to you and through you, to the entire Neptune Prime family as well as Borno journalists. – Governor Mai Mala Buni.

Inna lil Lah, wa inna ilahirraji’un! May Allah forgive their shortcomings and grant them aljannah firdausi, amen. My sincere condolences, and may Allah give you the courage and fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. – SK Usman

Please accept our sincere condolences. – Eng Suleiman Bah Gimba, Magajin Garin Fika

May Allah forgive them. Ameen. – Ibrahim Sheme

May Almighty Allah forgive her shortcomings and dwell her soul in Aljannat firdausi. – Shu’aibu Usman Leman

Innalillahi Wa Innailaihir Raji’un. May Allah be merciful to her. May he forgive all her shortcomings and reward her with al-Jannah Firdausi. May Allah give all of us the fortitude to bear this huge loss to the pen profession once again, just a few days after we lost our VOA North East reporter and the NUJ State Chairman, Haruna Dauda Biu. Our hearts and prayers are with their families at this moment of grief. Amin Yahaiyyu Yaqaiyuum Yazuljalal Walikram. – Medina Dauda

Allah Ya jikan ta da rahama. Sannu Hassan. My condolences to you and the family. – Hadizatu Mustapha

InnalilLahi wa inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Allah (SWT) forgive them their sins and accept them into Jannatul Firdaus. Please accept my condolences. – Barrister Farida Kera

InnalilLahi wa inna IlaiHir rajiun! May God forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannah. Amin. – Ibrahim Isa

Please accept my deepest condolences, may Allah rest her soul and make aljanna her abode. – Zare Baba

May Allah repose her soul in Jannah. My sincere condolences to the Management and staff of Neptune Prime. – Yahaya Abdulrahman

May Allah forgive her and bless what she left behind. – Faithful Saadatu Musa

May her soul rest in peace. – Peace Sally Abu

Ahh!! May her gentle soul rest in peace. – Choji Ruth

So sad. God rest your souls. – Oluwasanjo Razak Ahmed

Rest in peace. My condolences to their families. – Juanita Candotan

May Allah forgive their sins and make death a blessing for them. – Khadija Alee

May Allah forgive them. – Hadiza Adamu

May Allah forgive them. – Hauwa Maina Gimba

Chai! Amina Alhassan. So you’re gone! – Celestine Okafor

May her soul rest in peace. – Tabita Burha

May the precious souls of Amina Alhassan Ahman and Haruna Dauda Biu rest eternally in perfect peace in the bosom of God Almighty.

Verily, the scriptures proclaim, “When the righteous rule, the people rejoice.”

We can only pray for the intervention of our merciful God Almighty, our creator, to pave the way for his anointed to come to the rescue, to liberate the people from injustice, oppression and exploitation. Amen. – Tongha Fiubode

Ayyah, what a loss! May Allah admit them into Jannatul Firdaus. – Princess Teemah Paga

May her soul rest in peace with the Lord. – Anna Nasara

May her soul rest in peace. – Nelson Iyobosa Aimienoho

May her soul rest in peace. – Amina Abdullahi

May Allah grant her Aljannatul Fiddausi. – Mairo Hassan

OMG! May her soul rest in God’s bosom. – Maureen Linus

May her soul rest in peace. – Hauwa Maina Gimba

May Allah forgive them their sins and admit them into Al-Jannah Firdaus. – Maimuna Muhammad Babangida

Allahumma gafirlaha wa rahamha. – Mohammed Jankoli

May Allah forgive them. – Hadiza Narogo Ishaq

May Allah forgive them, ameen. – Altine Junior

May Allah forgive all her shortcomings, and may Jannatul Firdaus be her final destination. My condolences, sir. – Usman Idriss

Allahu Akbar. Allahumma agfirlaha warhamha ba’adaha. – Hafsat Idriss

Allahummagh firlaha warhamha. – Ahmad Gimba

Rest in peace. – Daniel Ochekawo Ondugbe Achadu

May Almighty Allah forgive her shortcomings, Ya Hayyu, Qa qayyum. – Usman Ibrahim

May the Almighty Allah grant her eternal rest and admit her into Aljannatil Firdausi. – Saleh Inusa

May Allah (SWT) forgive her her sins and admit her into al-Jannah Firdaus. – Mohammed Umaru Sulyman

May Allah (SWT) forgive her and admit her into al-Jannah Firdaus. – Hafsatu Muhammad

Innā lilLaah wa innā ilaiHi rājiūn. May Allah forgive her shortfalls and grant her Jannah. – Abdul-Aziz J. Maisamari

May Almighty Allah forgive her and grant her Jannatul Firdaus. – Sadiq Farashis

Inna lilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Allah SWT forgive her shortcomings and grant her Al Jannatil Firdaus. Ameen. – Hassan Madu Fika

Allah mata rahama, may her soul rest in Jannatul Firdaus. – Hawwah Jiddare

Inna LilLahi wa inna IlaiHir raji’un! May her soul rest in Jannatul Firdausi. Aisha Bashir

InnalilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Almighty Allah continue to rest her gentle soul in Jannatul Firdaus. – Muhammed Aliyu

May the Almighty Allah grant her eternal rest and admit her into Aljannatil Firdausi. – Ali Baba Adamu

May her soul rest in peace, ameen. – Rajab Mohammed Ismael

Condolences. – John Akpan

May her soul attain eternal bliss. – Abdullahi Buba

Allahu Akbar, may Almighty Allah forgive their shortcomings and grant them Janna. – Umar Adamu

Innah lilLahi wa inna IlaiHir raji’un. May Allah have mercy on her soul and grant her Jannatul Firdaus. Allah ya baku dangana da ranka ya dade. – Halima AbdurRauf

May Allah grant her soul peaceful repose and Jannatul Firdaus be her final abode. Rest on Aunty Amina Alhassan Ebbo. – Hafsat Aleeyu Muye

May Almighty Allah grant her Jannatul Firdausi. – Sa’adatu Lawal Dauda

Subhanallah! May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace. – Abubakar Muhammad Usman

Calm woman. May her soul rest in peace. – Cynthia Talatu Batuta

May her soul rest in peace. – Okafor Vivian

May Almighty Allah forgive and grant her eternal rest. – Malam Usman Bin-Affan

May Allah forgive her of her shortcomings. – Ibrahim Musa

May Allah forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannah. – Yusuf Lawan

May Allah forgive her shortcomings and make her last abode in Jannah, amin. – Ayuba Apagu

InnalilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir rajiun! May her soul rest in peace and Jannatil Firdaus her final abode. – Abubakar Mohammed Bawa

InnalilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Allāh forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannat Al-Firdaus. – Ibrahim M Aliyu

May Allah forgive her and grant her Jannah. – Yakubu Abubakar

OMG…may her gentle soul find solace in the Lord. – Inigreat Akong

May her gentle soul continue to rest in Jannatul Firdausi. – Maryam Salihu S

My condolences. – Kemi Yesufu

May Allah grant her Aljannatu Fridaus..Aameen Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum. – Aziza Sani

May Allah SWT repose her soul and grant her eternal rest. – Aliyu Abubakar Iliyasu

My condolences, sir. May her soul rest in eternal peace. – Adams Absalom Kushi

May Allah forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannah. – Dauda Ali

Allahu Akbar kabiran. Please accept my heartfelt condolences. May Allah Ta’ala forgive her soul and grant her Jannah without reckoning. Sannun mu da hakuri. – Aminatu Musa Kida

InnalilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Allàh rahma her departed soul with Jannatul Firdaus. – Mohamed Bello

Hajiya was an epitome of all that was positive. I’m personally missing her. My cry cannot bring her back. – Taofeek Lawal Olayemi

May Allah be pleased with her nd grant her peaceful eternity. – Abdul’Azeez Ahmad

May Almighty Allah forgive and have mercy on her. – Shuaibu Umar

May her soul rest in peace. – Aluta King

May her soul rest in Jannah Firdaus. – Baba Ado

May Allah grant her gentle soul eternal peace and mercies, forgive her shortcomings and transgressions and us all. Aameen Ya Allah. – Muhammad H. Bawa

May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace. – Ahmadu Bello

May her soul continue to rest in perfect peace. – Muhammad Jajere Babayo

May God Almighty comfort her family and grant Amina aljannah. What a huge loss of a gentle and calm woman, always in the company of her two children and brother, Ahman. May God comfort us in the media also. – Timothy Golu

Allahu Akbar, May Allah grant her jannah. – Maji MB  · 

May the Almighty God grant her Aljannatu Firdausi. – Yusuf Buba

Allahummaghfir laha warhamha. Accept my condolences. – Abare Mohammed

May Allah forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannah. – Mustapha Umar

May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace. – Nazy H. Abdullahi

May her soul rest in perfect condition in Jannatul Firdausi. – Suleimana Adamu Musa

May her soul rest in Jannatul Fiddaus. – Dayyib Abdullahi Abdullahi

Take heart Malam Gimba. May her soul rest in peace. – Onyenwe Oti

May Allah SWA forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannatul Firdaus, ameen. – Garba Kaigama Bilal

Multiple taxation is one of the major problems that kill businesses in Nigeria. Those who are forced to pay (the organised private sector) are squeezed more annually. While +75% of the “unorganised” traders are never taxed at all, if not for bank charges and the pittance paid to local governments. – Mohammed Bello Dahiru

TWO YEARS OF PRESIDENT TINUBU: A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE BY ABDUL SAMAD RABIU

As Nigeria marks two years under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I believe it is important to reflect, not from the lens of politics, but from the perspective of business, of industry, and of the economy. I speak not only as the Chairman of BUA Group – one of Africa’s largest conglomerates, but also as someone who has lived through the complexity of Nigeria’s reforms. I have seen the cost of dysfunction, the burden of inefficiency, but more importantly, the promise of a level playing field and the dividends of decisive governance.

FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVAL
The removal of the fuel subsidy is one of the most important decisions taken by this administration. Before that, Nigeria was selling PMS at 200 or 250 Naira per litre, which was about 25 or 30 cents. I doubt there was any country in the world where fuel was being sold at that price. During my trip to Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj in February this year, I checked the pump price at one of the petrol stations as we drove from Jeddah to Mecca. When I converted the price to Naira, it was almost 1,500 Naira per litre. That was Saudi Arabia.

We could simply not afford the subsidy. It was not just Nigerians who were benefiting from it. We were subsidising the entire region. I remember visiting Niger Republic a few years ago when President Bazoum honoured us. During dinner, he joked and said, “Thank you for the subsidy.” He said 100 percent of all PMS consumed in Niger was coming from Nigeria because it would cost them three times more to import. There was no incentive for them to bring in their own fuel or refine crude at their own refinery. This was the situation across the region.

Today, I understand that our fuel consumption has dropped by almost 40 to 50 percent. It is not because Nigerians are consuming less, but because neighbouring countries have stopped tapping into our subsidised fuel. The PMS is still cheaper in Nigeria, even at 800 or 900 Naira per litre, but the logistics no longer support easy access. Countries like Niger and Benin Republic still take fuel from Nigeria, but others have stopped.

The removal of subsidies was needed not only to save the economy but to ensure that Nigerians alone benefit from what is imported. Even if there must be subsidy, it should be for Nigerians only. The money saved is now being channelled to infrastructure, to better support for states, and to other developmental priorities. All the states are receiving more money now, and that has made a real difference.

I am of firm opinion that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made the right decision, and he made it boldly. On the first day he took office, he did what everyone knew had to be done but no one dared to do. He acted immediately. Many criticised him, but he did the right thing, and it saved the country. Had we continued under that burden, only God knows where we would be today. I always say, Mr President is probably the only one who had the courage to take such hard and necessary decisions.

ON THE UNIFICATION OF THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE REGIME
The unification of the foreign exchange market is another critical reform. Before this, many of us in the business community spent most of our time chasing foreign exchange. I personally spent half of my time trying to get FX from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The CBN was the only source of official exchange, offering FX at around 500 Naira when the parallel market was 800 or 900. No business could survive outside the CBN structure.

Every two weeks, we would go to Abuja to seek allocations. It was exhausting and inefficient. You had to camp there for three or four days before Allocation Monday, waiting for the CBN to allocate dollars. Today, I have met the new CBN Governor, Mr Cardoso, only once in two years. The reason is simple: I do not need to go to Abuja now to get foreign exchange. The system is open. It is working.

This was also a bold move by President Tinubu. It was necessary, and he took that decision as well. We are very glad because today we can focus on our businesses. These reforms are saving the economy.

FAIRNESS, SANITY AND STABILITY IN BUSINESS
Under this administration, we have seen a return to fairness and stability in business. We no longer worry about arbitrary shutdowns or politically motivated disruptions. Let me give a real example. We started a new business in Port Harcourt four or five years ago under BUA Foods, operating at the Rivers Ports under a concession with the Nigerian Ports Authority. It was going very well. One day, we woke up to a letter stating that the concession had been revoked, the terminal shut down, and the lease agreement terminated. There was no prior warning, no issue, no conflict.

Later, we discovered that the Managing Director of NPA at the time decided to close the business simply because our operations were competing with those of her friend. She wanted to impress her friend. That was the only reason. Today, that kind of thing cannot happen. Nobody would dare take such an action under President Tinubu. You can wake up now without fear that your business has been shut down by an agency or politician.

That stability is critical. That Port Harcourt plant alone has seen over 500 million dollars in investment and has employed over 4,000 people. The confidence this government has brought is real, and it is helping us plan better.

I must also personally acknowledge former President Muhammadu Buhari. When our Port Harcourt plant was unfairly shut down, it was his intervention that saved it. I had the privilege of explaining the situation to him. He agreed it was wrong and acted. He said he would not permit injustice under his watch. That decision saved the business. But the reality is, I had access. What if I did not? That is the difference today. Now, nobody needs access to the President to be treated fairly. Everyone knows that if you do something wrong under President Tinubu, you may lose your job or even face prosecution and go to jail. That is why I can now spend more time focusing on the business and relaxing.

The President Tinubu reforms are creating a level playing field. Like I said previously, every business had to lobby the CBN for FX. If you did not, your business would collapse. Now, you do not need to go to Abuja. You just focus on your operations.

INFRASTRUCTURE AS A KEY DRIVER OF DEVELOPMENT
In infrastructure, the difference is also clear. Look at the Lagos-Calabar highway. Look at the Sokoto-Badagry road. Look at the Kwara projects we are executing under the tax credit scheme. Look at Kano-Kongolam. Look at the Okpella to Kogi State corridor. These projects are progressing because of the savings from subsidy removal and FX unification. With more revenue, Nigeria is building.

These roads and others being built are critical because logistics have become a major challenge. Transporting goods from Lagos to the North is very expensive due to bad roads. Now, the President is addressing this. With better infrastructure, logistics will improve, and businesses will grow. These reforms have enabled long-term planning and serious investment.

BUA WILL CONTINUE TO BET ON NIGERIA
Since President Tinubu took office, BUA Group has invested over one billion dollars in the Nigerian economy. We are expanding our food business, doubling our flour and pasta facilities in Port Harcourt and building another in Lagos. Demand is increasing. People are earning more. Confidence is returning. We have also completed the first POP plaster manufacturing plant in Nigeria which is now operating and are soon starting construction of a 30MW solar energy project in Sokoto State.

In the oil and gas sector, we are completing our LNG project in Ajaokuta, Kogi State. These investments are possible because of stability that has been brought about by President Tinubu’s reforms. We can plan now. The exchange rate has been fairly stable for almost a year. FX is accessible. Money is coming in from different sources, and investors are responding. If you want 200 million dollars a week for trade, you can get it without lobbying anyone at the Central Bank. These are the results of good policies.

ON FOOD SECURITY
When I met President Tinubu recently, he raised concerns about food prices. He wanted to know what BUA Foods was doing. I explained that his six-month tariff waiver had worked. It disrupted hoarding in the rice market. In Nigeria, the rice harvest is short and runs for about three months. Middlemen were buying paddy rice, hoarding it, and raising prices post-harvest. This artificial scarcity drove prices to as high as 110,000 Naira per bag. The farmers did not benefit. Farmers just wanted to sell and move on yet some people were buying from them, hoarding it, and creating a food crises in the country.

The temporary waiver allowed rice to be brought in, and milled immediately. The hoarders were cut out. Prices began to drop. It was a short-term solution, but it worked. It showed foresight. I told the President it helped and that if the situation persists, further steps can be taken. But for now, it has made a difference.

PRESIDENT TINUBU’S NIGERIA FIRST POLICY AND BACKWARD INTEGRATION
President Tinubu’s Nigeria First policy has aligned well with our own belief in backward integration. Our cement business is almost entirely local. We mine our own limestone. We use Nigerian gas even though it is dollar-denominated. The only foreign element is the equipment, and even that benefits from government concessions for mining equipment which everyone else in the industry benefits. If we had to import cement today, prices would be over 15,000 Naira per bag. Nigeria does not have the port infrastructure to even handle the import volume. Producing locally has saved the economy and stabilised the sector.

We are doing more, and we will continue to do more. Nigeria has everything—population, arable land, resources, water, and now, strong leadership under President Tinubu. We believe in Nigeria because the fundamentals are now strong. My advice to all is to take a Bet on Nigeria. This is the place to be.

So for me, what has this administration done right? First, it removed the fuel subsidy which was the biggest economic scam in our history. Second, it unified the foreign exchange market and third, it restored stability, fairness, and confidence in the economy. These are the foundations of growth. Nigeria is full of potential. With the right leadership, which we now have, there is no limit to what we can achieve.

Abdul Samad Rabiu is the Founder and Chairman, BUA Group. Watch the full, exclusive interview on youtube – https://bit.ly/pbatbua

Of journalists’ deaths, security lapses and cut-throat taxes, by Hassan Gimba

Last week was a dark one for journalism in Nigeria. The light of two of its bright stars, Hajiya Amina Alhassan Ahman and Haruna Dauda Biu dimmed and blew out.

Amina was cast in the print section of the profession, while Haruna was a star in broadcast journalism.I first noticed Amina in 2014 at a Leadership Newspaper editorial meeting for editors and senior editorial management staff.

The meeting, held every Monday, had each editor defending their paper comparatively against its counterparts from other media houses.

Friday Leadership, for instance, would be compared against every paper around the country published on the same day.

Amina was a striking lady with a queenly pose who had a masterful command of English, spoken with the inflexion of the British tone.

If you were in another room and overheard her speak, you might assume a Briton was speaking next door.As a diplomat’s daughter, she had the opportunity to study at Kuwait English School (KES) when her late father, Ambassador Yahya Alhassan, was an ambassador in the country.

And in her gait and carriage, you would know she was a polished individual.Haruna, the Voice of America (Hausa Service) reporter for Borno and Yobe states, was a gentleman of the first order. And humble, too. I would call him “maci gauta”, or “garden egg eater”, because the Babur, the tribe he belonged to in Biu Local Government in Borno State, are known to consider the small bitter types of garden eggs a delicacy, sometimes eaten with pepper.

He always answered respectfully.In life, only Allah knows how every one of us will end our lives. A seemingly inconsequential sickness, thought to be high blood pressure, escalated into something else that caused him partial paralysis.

The last time we spoke, he told me he had just returned from a Cairo hospital facilitated by the Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum.Amina’s case differed; she did not tell close friends about her ailment.

I am still at a loss as to why she hid it. Being the considerate and kind-hearted person she was, was it that she did not want to bother people or be seen as a liability? She must have been seriously bedridden six months ago, as the mammary cancer spread to her brain about that time.

According to one of her sons, she was diagnosed with it about three years ago, but she would not go for chemotherapy until it spread.After her death, I went through our chats to see if she had left me any hints, and I saw our SMS chat of 12 September 2022. I sent her a message that a man with a so-and-so number had called me from Alliance Hospital regarding her request for an interview on something related to cancer. And she replied to me, “Oh, yes.

That must be the MD. I’ll call him, thank you.”That was the closest I came to associating her with cancer. At the time, she was my staff. She was an editor and rose to become Neptune Prime’s chief operating officer because of her diligence, dedication, and loyalty.

She was the type who was ready to take the flak for others if anything went wrong.As the publisher, you could understand if I assumed she wanted to interview the MD for our paper because she drove our newspaper’s content direction and editorial policy.

After her death, I realised that she wanted to consult a specialist.As I said, we first met at Leadership Newspaper. She was a features editor, and I was the stable’s Friday title editor. In 2014, I became the spokesman for Dr Abdu Bulama, minister of science and technology, and she was made acting editor in my place. She also rose to become editor of the weekend edition and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board.Our paths crossed again when I floated Neptune Prime, an online newspaper, in 2016; she was no longer with Leadership.

The rest, as is often said, is history.While I was not very close to Haruna, who was Maiduguri-based, from my few interactions with him and the testimonies of friends, journalism has lost a gem, and humanity has lost a part of it.As for Amina, I knew her as a very compassionate, thoughtful, considerate, morally upright lady who was chaste and mindful of how God and society would look at her.

Her British-intoned “assalamu alaikum” rings in the ears always. She is not just a loss to journalism but to humanity at large.May Amina Alhassan Ahman be in Jannatul Firdaus with her late father and beloved husband, and may Haruna Dauda Biu find favour with Allah (SWT).Insecurity, Our Immigration, Our Airports last week, many Nigerians heard the news that the wife and mother of Ado Aleiro, a bandit kingpin making life a living hell for Nigerians in the Zamfara axis, were apprehended. Please wait for it; the arrest was made in Madina.

No, not Gusau! Not at any of our airports. Not by the Immigration officers who processed their passports and were at the airports to monitor travellers. Our NDLEA officials were napping. DSS? No, Patrick Utomi has taken their attention.

Where were the police, NSCDC, FAAN and NAHCO officials?But that is not even the worst part of it. Wait and watch. No heads would roll. And so, there is no “medicine” against future occurrences.Don’t Tax Us Out of BusinessLast week, at the 2025 Taraba International Investment Summit, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, disclosed that foreign investors would come without invitation if local investors were treated well, that is, “if they were making a good profit to offset the cost of production.”He said that for every ₦1 he or any investor made, 52 kobo went to the Federal Government as tax. He should know because, last year, the Dangote Group and its subsidiaries paid over ₦402.3 billion in taxes, making them the highest taxpayers in Nigeria.

Surely, there would be serious problems in our economic development if entrepreneurs who invest their resources to create employment opportunities for our teeming populations are taxed out of business.

What of the wise saying not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?Hassan Gimba, anipr, is the CEO/Publisher of Neptune Prime.