Actress, Chinonso Arubayi, reveals how social expectation drove her into depression following her husband’s death

‘Covication’: After crowd storms NMC office, FG extends NIN registration deadline | The #YNaijaCover

It seemed as though Nigerians were escaping the Coronavirus pandemic when reports recently showed that cases were beginning to rise exponentially. A second wave was upon us. The Lagos State Government swung into action; setting up new restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. Public and private schools in the state were ordered to... Read More

Cover Stories

Babajide Sanwo-Olu

COVID-19 is not enough reason to digitise the NIN registration | How will LASG respond to this?

For most of the year, the world had to battle with the emergence of a new virus. While there were universal guidelines that were adopted globally, each region had its own way of observing and enforcing these rules. For Nigeria, it was an ironic mix of ignorance (mostly inadequate information) and paranoia, with some believing... Read More

COVID-19, lagos state, Lagos State Government, Lock down, NIMC

‘Gay tops’ in Nigeria, Queen Bridget Bema, Detty December at NIMC | Funny tweets we saw from Nigerians today

Every day on the Nigerian Internet, there are people who keep our eyes glued to our phone screens as we read their rants, opinions, perspectives on political and social issues, etc. Sometimes, they are just downright ridiculous. 1. We all make mistakes… no? 2. Isaa party 3. The temptation… 4. Where’s the lie? 5. Nigeria???... Read More

Top Stories

funny tweets

Amid a second wave of the pandemic, Nigerians troop to register for NIN

If Nigerians were hoping that the Federal Government will see reason and do what every right-thinking person has been asking of them – scrap the unreasonable directive to block all SIMs not linked to valid National Identification Number (NIN) by December 31, 2020, that hope has died today. The President’s Personal Assistant on New Media,... Read More

NIMC, NIN, registration of SIM Cards

Public Eye: “It’s worse for girls accused of being witches…”- David Etim tells Funmi Iyanda

On Sunday, December 20th, 2020, Funmi discussed the long-standing issue of child witches with the Principal Council, Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRCI), Mr James Ibor; lawyer, activist and writer, Dr Leo Igwe; a representative of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Mrs Amaka Omo; and a survivor, David Etim Otu. Throughout Nigeria, it is common to... Read More

Partners

David Etim, Funmi Iyanda, Public Eye

#YNaija2020Review: Laycon, Omah Lay, Anthonieta Kalunta…The Revelations of the Year

2020 was traumatic enough it is easier to forget. Don’t forget the 10 people on this list. Oluwatobiloba Ajayi Oluwatobiloba Ajayi is the inaugural winner of The Nigeria Prize for Difference and Diversity. She claimed this honor and N1million Prize for her work with the Let Cerebral Palsy Kids Learn Foundation. A lawyer and disability... Read More

Anthonieta Kalunta, Arie and Chuko Esiri, Chimezie Imo, Fisayo Longe, Laycon, Logan February, Oluwatobiloba Ajayi, Omah lay, Tomi Owó, Yanmo Omorogbe

Japan supports Nigeria’s COVID-19 response, co-funds N2.95 billion Unconditional Cash Transfer Project to benefit 39,700 Individuals

As part of its support to the coordinated COVID-19 response in Nigeria, the Government of Japan has launched a series of initiatives aimed at cushioning the socio-economic impact of the pandemic on vulnerable communities –part of which is the Unconditional Cash Transfer Project. The N2.95 billion project, launched in partnership with the UNDP, Federal Government of Nigeria, Lagos and Kano... Read More

Partners

japan, nigeria

#YNaija2020Review: Duduke, Abule, Damages…The 10 Best Pop Songs of 2020

2020 was a weird and difficult year. The coronavirus pandemic shuttered the music industry with one fell swoop as governments issued stay at home and no travel orders in a scramble to keep the raging pandemic under control. Still, artistes found a way to create new music and to present them to the world via... Read More

Abule, Bad influence, damages, Duduke, fantasy, Heartbreak Songs are Better in English, Monsters You made, nobody, Roju, smile

Nigeria emerges as third most popular user of gay dating app Grindr

Popular gay dating platform Grindr has released its inaugural Grindr Unwrapped – think Spotify Unwrapped, but this time an overview of the platform’s sex and dating trends among the nearly 13 million gay, bisexual, trans and queer folks who use the app each month. Posted on their social media platforms, the results is unsurprising as... Read More

Counter Culture Blog

Grindr, Grindr Unwrapped, nigeria

#YNaijaPOTY2020, Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, Kenedy Nzechukwu, Sodiq Yusuff, UFC middleweight championship, Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ifreke Inyang profiles Israel Adesanya; the Last Stylebender | Nominee for #YNaijaPOTY2020

One of the simple pleasures of being Nigerian is watching your compatriots excel in their chosen fields. Naija to the world is a cute expression that takes on greater significance whenever a Nigerian or someone of Nigerian origin is making huge exploits on a global stage. It is all well to root for a compatriot,... Read More

Specials

Adeoye ‘Bobo’ Omotayo, Alliance Française de Lagos, FUJI: A Opera, general ayinla kollington, k1 de ultimate, King Saheed Osupa, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall 1 (K1 De Ultimate), Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Sule Alao Malaika, Sunny T Adeshokan, Taiye Currency, Tosin Ashafa, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma

Fuji music just got the attention it rightly deserves with Fuji: A Opera

by Toluwalope Omoyeni It was the juxtaposition of two unrelated elements – Fuji and opera – that caught not just my eye but all my senses. As a millennial who considers Fuji the most authentic local music genre, I knew I had to show up for this epoch-making event that promised not just music, but... Read More

Extra

NASS wants voting right for married underage girls; NIPSS DG dies | 5 Things That Should Matter Today

National Assembly wants voting right for married underage girls The national assembly joint committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has recommended that married underage girls be recognised as eligible voters. The national assembly joint panel made the recommendation to a technical committee which will work on the new electoral act proposed by the... Read More

Ado Aminu, Chude Jideonwo, The Daily Vulnerable

“Penetrating, Intense…” – 2020, a year in review | The Daily Vulnerable

By Ado Aminu Some of the most intense – both feel and repercussion wise, experiences I have ever had in my life happened this year. It is why when people speak about the year 2020 and how peculiar it has been, I get it, I get them. I have been there. But there is something... Read More

The Daily Vulnerable

December 20, 2020

Ode to Wizkid, The ‘other woman’ in a typical Nigerian relationship – the best Nigerian articles of the week

Each week here at YNaija, we round up the best Nigerian writing on the internet, highlighting the stories, profiles, interviews and in-depth reporting that rise above the daily churn. Here are the ones that caught our attention: ARTISH Picks: Top 50 Best Songs of 2020 – Art Dealers There have been whispers across the music... Read More

December 20, 2020

Edwin Okolo profiles Davido; the hitmaker | #YNaijaPOTY2020 Nominee

David ‘Davido’ Adeleke (28) Being a popstar is hard work. Davido makes it look easy. Since he burst onto our collective consciousness, screaming his wealth and privilege from the top of his voice, Davido has managed to seize the imagination of the entire country. As Afrobeats became embraced by wider audience across the globe, Davido... Read More

Specials

#YNaijaPOTY2020, A Better Time, Davido, FEM

Aminu Bello Masari, Bello Matawalle, John Enenche

‘What about the Chibok Girls?’: Kankara schoolboys freed week after abduction | The #YNaijaCover

Nigerians were plunged into worry, and trepidation when the news became public that over 300 school students had been kidnapped in Katsina by the insurgent group, Boko Haram. It was a deja-vu moment when the news broke as many feared a Chibok Girls repeat, who are still yet to be completely rescued. In an announcement... Read More

Cover Stories

#ElectHER at one: ‘A New Agender’

It has been one year since ElectHER launched in December 2019 with the goal of bridging inequality gaps in Nigerian politics by addressing the underrepresentation of Nigerian women in elective office through behavioural change communication, skills development, human and financial capital mobilization using an end-to-end approach. Nation building and socio-economic progression cannot be attained without equal representation especially in a country such... Read More

Partners

#ElevtHer

Tems and Omah Lay post-release statement says nothing about learning to do better

Nigeria’s fast-rising music acts, Tems and Omah Lay, are back home. The duo, who were arrested and detained in Uganda until the case against them was withdrawn, are settling back into their normal lives. Tempers are down, eyes are clear, and both Tems and Omah Lay have released statements recounting what really happened. Now that... Read More

Nigerian Music, Omah lay, Tems, uganda

#YNaijaSportsExtra: Anthony Joshua and Fury set to fight without their titles on the line

The last two years for heavyweight boxing has rested on the shoulders of three exceptional athletes: Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. We all want to see a mammoth battle between two great fighters and shower admiration to the one who comes out on top, we all want to know who the best is... Read More

Deep Dive, The Sports Blog

Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Eddie Hearn, fury, WBC

Emir of Kaura Namoda’s convoy attacked | How many before decisive steps are taken to end banditry?

Bandits reportedly attacked the Emir of Kaura Namoda, HRH Sanusi Muhammad Asha and his convoy, killing three policemen and five others during the attack. The incident occurred Thursday, December 17, 2020, when the Emir was returning from Abuja to his base in Zamfara. This happened same day hundreds of the Kankara schoolboys were released by the abductors believed... Read More

Banditry, Emir of Kaura Namoda, FG, HRH Sanusi Muhammad Asha, Insecurity

#YNaijaSportsAnalysis: Ronaldo to Man-U and Pogba to Juventus, seems like a good deal

It may seem like a totally ridiculous idea but there has been talk of Manchester United considering the prospect of a sensational swap deal for Cristiano Ronaldo back to the team, giving Paul Pogba in exchange. Talks about Paul Pogba’s future at Manchester United has gone on for months now, and his agent, Mino Raiola... Read More

Deep Dive, The Sports Blog

football, Juventus, manchester united, Paulo Dybala, pogba, ronaldo

#COVID19 vaccine – mark of the beast or just biology?

2020 has been a peculiar year and has definitely taught us many things. But, one thing asserted itself so forcefully we can’t ignore it going forward – how easily swayed people are by conspiracy theories. Of course, human memory is fickle. Which means that however devastating the impact conspiracy theories are, we are apt to... Read More

Coronavirus vaccine, COVID-19, Nigeria coronavirus, Science, vaccine

#YNaija2020Review: Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant, Diego Maradona… 15 deaths that shook the world

2020 was that year that claimed the lives of public figures across the globe with huge footprints on the sands of time. While this 15 deaths that shook the world is in no way exhaustive, the shock the world received from the demise of these stars (some of whom were quite young) still reverberates up... Read More

#YNaija2020Review, Chadwick Boseman, diego maradona, Ennio Morricone, Hosni Mubarak, Irrfan Khan, John le Carré, John Lewis, Katherine Johnson, Kenny Rogers, Manu Dibango, Qassem Soleimani, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sean Connery, Tony Allen

#YNaija2020Review: Ogadinma, Black Sunday, new Wole Soyinka…The Notable books of the year

The titles that kept us reading through a pandemic. A Broken People’s Playlist- Chimeka Garricks Almost ten years after publishing his debut novel, Chimeka Garricks returns with his first collection of short stories. Garricks’ playlist may be made up of cheesy pop songs, but the stories that he pens are made of sterner stuff. One... Read More

A Broken People’s Playlist, Black Sunday, Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth, Dreams and Assorted Nightmares, Everything Will be All Right, Love in Colour-, Ogadinma, Sacrament of bodies, The Death of Vivek Oji, The Girl with the Louding Voice, The Mechanics of Yenagoa

Sanwo-Olu gives LASU best graduating student N5m, scholarship | 5 Things That Should Matter Today

Sanwo-Olu gives LASU best graduating student N5m, scholarship Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has rewarded the best graduating student of the Lagos State University (LASU), Oladimeji Shotunde, with a cash prize of N5 million and a postgraduate scholarship. The governor announced the rewards during the varsity’s 24th convocation ceremony, which was held virtually on Thursday.... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, The Daily Vulnerable

Be grateful, even to your addictions | The Daily Vulnerable

Chude Jideonwo and The Daily Vulnerable At the Joy retreat that we do, I said to someone, who was struggling with an addiction, although he had recovered from it, but he was so bitter that he was addicted to taking cocaine. I told him to do an exercise of gratitude to be grateful to the addiction. Of... Read More

The Daily Vulnerable

December 17, 2020

“We will deal with all that” | President Buhari says as kidnapped #KankaraBoys reportedly return home

Authorities in Katsina have reported that hundreds of students abducted from a school in Kankara Local Government Area (LGA) have been released. The Governor, Aminu Masari, confirmed the release of the students Thursday, a week after they were kidnapped by gunmen who came on bikes. According to him, the boys are presently kept safe in... Read More

Kankara boys, Kankara kidnap, katsina, Muhammadu Buhari

December 17, 2020

Open letter to H.E. Muhammadu Buhari as he turns 78

Ask for a President beleaguered from all sides, and I’ll show you Muhammadu Buhari, the ramrod straight man from Daura, in Katsina State, who turns 78 today. In the build-up to the 2015 presidential election, we used to say everything had been thrown at him as projectiles, except the kitchen sink. Permit me to update... Read More