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‘I’d rather hawk groundnuts than do hookup’

Published

4 months ago

November 30, 2025

Assistant Editor, Jide Babalola in this piece, captures the story of final-year female varsity student who keeps faith with dignity in season of despair.....TAP TO CONTINUE READING

Principle or convenience? For one 21-year-old female Nigerian undergraduate, that question isn’t theoretical. Forget the lecture hall; the most powerful lesson is being taught from a groundnut tray. While the path of least temptation beckons many of her generation, she has chosen a harder road – one paved not with quick cash, but with groundnuts and daily treks. It is a real-life drama where integrity wins the final act. Her story is a defiant answer to the pressures that ensnare so many.

At dusk, when the sun loosens its grip on Abuja’s ring of suburbs and the road begins to glitter with brake lights, a young woman walks behind her mother with a tray balanced like a halo. Daily, the day’s sale of boiled groundnut is concluded with much sweat and toil under the sweltering Abuja sun but still, the rhythm of survival hums from her step. When you encounter her just before sundown, she smiles cautiously, makes her pitch, counts out small change. Then she slips her small phone back into her pocket and whispers the vow that has carried her through the hardest of seasons: “I’d rather hawk groundnuts than do hookup.”

An Igarra from Auchi area of Edo State, her name is Deborah Lawani, 21, a final-year student of the University of Abuja. She is one of four children—two boys, two girls—raised by a mother who turned grief into a stall by the roadside. Their single room in Masaka, on the far edge of the Federal Capital Territory, holds a family of five and a stubborn hope that refuses to be evicted.

In an age when cynicism does brisk business—“This generation is lost,” people mutter—Deborah’s quiet orbit lays a modest ambush on despair. She is a reminder that moral courage often arrives without fanfare: a young woman walking a narrow path in a city where temptation dresses up as necessity and calls itself hustle.

“The day my father left was the day I was writing Common Entrance examination towards getting into secondary school,” she recalls, voice steady, eyes briefly clouded. Long before then, memories of her primary school days had left scarring impact on her fragile mind. “He used to drink, he used to smoke. When my mother advised him, he beat her. One day he brought divorce papers. Maybe he thought she would fight, but she had already suffered enough.” The sentence lands with the weight of a Bible verse: after so much sorrow, some endings feel like mercy.

Left with four children and very little else, her mother did what many unschooled women do to outrun hunger—she went out to the road to sell groundnuts. “That is how we have been living,” Deborah says. “I help her whenever there is a break from school. During the last two-week warning strike, I came back to hawk. Now that they’ve called it off, I will return to campus.”

To watch her by the toll of evening traffic is to see the republic of the resilient at work: women who bend without breaking, men who bargain with a smile shaped by hardship, children who memorise the choreography of danger between bumpers and buses. Abuja is a city of glass towers and tin roofs, of new money and old hunger. If you listen closely, you hear the arithmetic of survival in the clatter of coins.

On campus, Deborah’s life is another ledger—of odd jobs and dignity. “There is nothing I don’t do to support myself,” she says, not as apology but as mantra. “When students move into new accommodation, I clean and mop. Some people don’t know how to cook; I cook for them and they pay something. I make hair. I sell peppermint. I am not a lazy girl.”

What emerges is not a sob story but a portrait of character, the thing the old philosophers insisted was formed by habit—choosing, one day after another, the harder right. Deborah speaks with the piety of someone who has discovered that faith is not only a church thing but a way of tying your life to a promise you cannot yet see. “I believe God will vindicate me and my mother,” she says. “I believe that when I am done with university, I can get a job and take care of my family.”

There are other routes, of course. In Abuja, as in many cities, the euphemism “hookup” floats across conversations like a scented veil. It is the new code for what the old people, without apology, called prostitution, now packaged in the gloss of the smartphone era—fast, discreet, transactional. Many girls consider it, some do it, others justify it. Poverty, after all, is impatient; and the cost-of-living crisis has rearranged the moral furniture in many homes.

Deborah has watched the drift with clear eyes, and she refuses it. “I have seen what other girls do,” she says. “But I will not sell my body. I will not let desperation carry me where I cannot return from. You don’t even know who these men really are. Some bring disease. Some have violence in their hands. Some girls get harmed, even killed. I tell my friends, ‘please, find something else to do. You can sell groundnuts like me. You can clean, you can cook, you can learn hair-making. Don’t let peer pressure decide your life.’”

She says it simply, but something luminous sits behind her words: a belief in the dignity of labour as the old antidote to shame. It is the stubborn ethic our parents sang into us—work is the cure for worklessness—now spoken by a daughter who has watched her mother turn smoke and sand and nuts into a budget.

There is, too, the psychology of a firstborn who understands that her choices whisper instructions to younger siblings. “We are four,” she says, “and I am the first. If I break, they break. So I must stand.” In the cramped economy of that room in Masaka, leadership is not a title; it is what you do with the little in your hands.

Against the chorus that declares Gen Z a lost generation, her life suggests a different reading. Yes, there is excess and there is drift; but there is also grit, courtesy, and moral defiance. The internet can be a highway to ruin, but it has also taught a new generation to improvise, to monetise skill, to learn. If you listen to young Nigerians—really listen—you will find the kind who donate blood to strangers, who crowdfund school fees for classmates, who start small businesses between lectures and night class. Deborah belongs to that quiet company: ordinary heroes disguised as students.

Her days have the measured rhythm of someone who has no time to waste. Lectures. Notes. A cleaning job in the evening. A hair appointment over the weekend. A small batch of peppermint to hawk to course mates who like the sweetness after a meal. And then, when school pauses for any reason, back to the roadside to help the woman who raised her from the ashes of a marriage.

“Help me if you can,” she says with disarming directness, and then—because she is her mother’s daughter—she corrects herself. “If you choose to help my mother, I will be happiest. It is still me you are helping.”

It is an unusual kind of ambition in a time of glittering self: to centre the parent first, to make caring for family the measure of achievement. It took some fatherly reassurances to convince her about parting with her telephone number – 07048444313 – in case one or two readers of The Nation want to help her out.

There is always the temptation, in stories like this, to make poverty a spectacle or to baptise suffering as a virtue. Deborah resists both. What she articulates is moral clarity under pressure. Not a saint’s perfection, but a young Nigerian’s stubborn insistence that her body is not for sale, that work – however humble – is better than a bargain that wounds the soul.

Her resolve is also a quiet indictment of a society that too easily blames the young while underfunding schools, underpaying labour, and outsourcing hope. If more girls took this path, society would blossom. If society made this path less brutal, more girls could take it.

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Exporters raise the alarm over container shortage at Lagos ports

Published

45 minutes ago

March 23, 2026

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The Association of West African Exporters and Marine Professionals has warned that the worsening scarcity of shipping containers at Lagos ports is threatening the country’s export sector, which is valued at $44.06bn as of 2025.....TAP TO CONTINUE READING

This is even as the group lamented the refusal of shipping lines to pick export cargoes, a development they said is undermining Nigeria’s growing export market.

The President of AWAEMAP, Bunmi Olumekun, stated this in a recent chat with journalists in Lagos. The warning comes as Nigeria’s export sector has recorded significant momentum under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

In February, The PUNCH reported that Nigeria’s total exports in the first nine months of 2025 outpaced the corresponding period of 2024 by $3.76bn. The figures feed into the improving local currency amid calls for inclusive gains for businesses and households.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria Quarterly Statistics (December 2025) showed that the country’s total exports in the first nine months of 2025 rose to $44.06bn, an improvement over the $40.29bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.

However, Olumekun warned that deliberate actions by foreign shipping lines are now putting those gains at risk.

“The shipping companies don’t even bring vessels to Nigeria to take exports again. They prefer to go to Cotonou rather than coming to Nigeria. They want to make sure that Nigerian goods are not sellable outside Nigeria. You will see a vessel coming in to discharge cargoes and sail empty to Cotonou to carry exports,” he said.

The AWAEMAP president said export cargoes are now piling up inside terminals across the Lagos ports, with no vessels available to evacuate them and no containers to load intended exports.

“Currently, we are having a challenge getting containers to load our export cargoes out of the country. Currently, we have more export than import cargoes lying inside the terminals. Somebody told me that his export containers of perishable items have been at the port since December 2025, and there is no vessel to evacuate them,” Olumekun stated.

He said the problem is further compounded by a lack of space at the terminals to accommodate export containers, adding that the situation has triggered congestion that plagued Lagos ports before the introduction of the e-call-up system.

The AWAEMAP president also raised concerns that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East could provide foreign shipping lines with additional justification to avoid Nigerian ports, further worsening the situation.

Despite the setbacks, Olumekun acknowledged the progress recorded under the current administration. “Under President Bola Tinubu, the Nigerian economy is improving in terms of export, but these foreigners want to cripple it,” he said.

Olumekun called on the Federal Government to urgently address the container scarcity.

Also speaking, an exporter who is the Managing Director of LWL Concept, Lawal Wasiu, said, “One of the challenges we are facing at the port right now is so many empty containers with no vessel to pick them up. And one big reason for that is the Iran-US war, which has affected the routes these ships follow. For example, some shipping lines have cancelled any Middle East consignment because of the war.

“So there are so many containers laden with exports, as we speak, that are still at the port waiting for vessels to come. Some terminal operators have stopped accepting export containers. Even transporters now do not want to drop empty containers at the ports because of the delay. So this is also causing the scarcity of empty containers.”

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Breaking News

Airlines under pressure after jet fuel surges 100%

Published

45 minutes ago

March 23, 2026

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There are indications that airfares may jump in the coming weeks following the hike in the cost of aviation fuel, commonly referred to as Jet A1, a development that is already putting pressure on airline operations and signalling higher ticket costs for passengers.....TAP TO CONTINUE READING

The spike in JetA1 price is largely due to the crisis in the Middle East, which has slowed the production and movement of crude oil across countries, worsening the operational cost of domestic carriers.

Checks by our correspondent with airlines showed an astronomical increase in the operating cost of airlines, particularly caused by the spike in aviation fuel, which has become the dominant cost driver in recent weeks.

At the time of filing this report, aviation fuel, which was sold between N900 and N995 before the Middle East crisis commenced, has jumped to between N2,500 and N2,700, depending on the airport of delivery, sharply raising the cost burden for operators.

Operators said they were monitoring developments, stressing that an increase in airfares was imminent, with strong indications that the prices of air tickets might double if the current trend persists.

Aviation fuel remains the single highest component of airline operations, accounting for about 30 to 35 per cent of total operational costs, a figure that industry players say is rising rapidly under current market conditions.

Airline sources said the price of the product had remained unstable since February 28, 2026, when the war started in Iran, changing about five times since that time, further complicating planning and pricing decisions.

The spokesperson for United Nigeria Airlines, Chibuike Uloka, challenged the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to urgently engage domestic airline operators over the sustainability of current ticket pricing amid rising operational costs.

The FCCPC recently accused airlines of price fixing, with special attention on five unnamed airlines. This was, however, dismissed by the airline operators.

Uloka noted that despite aviation fuel prices soaring beyond N2,000 per litre, many carriers had continued to maintain fares at around N195,000, raising concerns about how long such pricing could be sustained under prevailing economic conditions.

He, however, warned that the situation could deteriorate further if fuel prices get to N3,000 per litre, stressing that not all airlines would be able to remain in operation under such pressure, a development that could further shrink capacity and push fares even higher.

He said, “Honestly, this is a very good time for FCCPC to come out and ask operators how they have been able to sustain flight tickets at N195,000 despite the increase in aviation fuel crossing N2000 and above. They should please ask how operators have kept on with operations? These are hard times. But most definitely, the current prices can’t be sustained for long periods.

“If this continues the way it is, because the way we are now, the price is also getting to N3000 per litre, and if it eventually gets to N3000, not all operators will be able to fly. And the ones that will be able to fly will not be Father Christmas. What we are asking now is not even profit, but at least to be able to operate optimally. Aviation has become a daily necessity because people must be able to move from one place to another. But FCCPC must be able to come out now and ask operators how we are faring.”

The PUNCH understands that Nigeria has been unable to produce enough crude oil for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, forcing the indigenous refining company to import crude.

Crude prices have jumped from $65–$69 to about $112 per barrel as of the time of filing this report, further worsening the cost of aviation fuel and pushing airlines closer to inevitable fare adjustments.

This effect has also upped gantry prices, with operators warning that sustained increases will ultimately be transferred to passengers through higher ticket fares.

Industry expert, Samuel Caulcrick, projected an imminent rise in airfares, attributing it to the growing burden of operational costs on airlines, which is increasingly being driven by the surge in aviation fuel prices.

He explained that current market conditions suggest that operating expenses have surged significantly, with aviation fuel now accounting for about 45 per cent of total airline costs, making it the single largest cost component in the sector and leaving operators with little choice but to adjust fares.

Caulcrick noted that the shift in cost structure marks a departure from previous years when maintenance expenses dominated airline spending. However, the persistent increase in the price of Jet A1 fuel has altered the dynamics, placing greater financial pressure on operators and inevitably influencing ticket pricing across the industry.

He stated, “Before now, the highest component of airline operation was maintenance, but that has changed with the continuous rise in the prices of Jet A1. In those days when aviation fuel was less costly, the maintenance cost was higher, but now fueling has taken over.

“If that component goes up, it will definitely affect the prices of every seat. But we should expect the airfares to go up by 20 to 25 per cent in the coming days.”

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Dangote boosts Africa fuel supply with massive exports

Published

46 minutes ago

March 23, 2026

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The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has ramped up its regional footprint with the export of 12 cargoes of refined petroleum products totalling 456,000 tonnes to five African countries, amid a growing fuel supply crisis triggered by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.....TAP TO CONTINUE READING

The PUNCH gathered on Sunday that the cargoes, sold through international traders on a Free on Board basis, were shipped to Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Tanzania, Ghana, and Togo, marking a significant milestone since the refinery attained its 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity in February 2026.

A senior official at the refinery, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly, described the development as a reflection of growing confidence in Nigeria’s refining capacity and a shift in Africa’s fuel supply dynamics.

“The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has strengthened Nigeria’s presence in the regional energy market with the successful sales of 12 cargoes by traders, totalling 456,000 tonnes (456KT) of refined petroleum products.

“The shipments by traders, destined for countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Tanzania, Ghana, and Togo, represent the refinery’s export of Premium Motor Spirit since achieving 650,000 barrels a day capacity in February 2026.

“The products were sold on an FOB (Free on Board) basis to international traders for deliveries to the above-identified countries of export,” the official said.

A total of 456,000 tonnes of refined petroleum products is equivalent to roughly 608 million litres, underscoring the massive scale of the shipments and their potential impact on fuel supply across multiple African markets.

The official further noted that the surge in export volumes aligns with recent reports indicating increased demand from several African countries grappling with fuel supply shortages and rising import costs linked to global market disruptions.

“This accomplishment underscores the Dangote Refinery’s capability to not only meet but also exceed Nigeria’s domestic fuel demands. It also demonstrates the refinery’s growing role in supplying high-quality Euro 5 gasoline and diesel to West Africa, a region long underserved and historically regarded as a dumping ground for lower-quality fuels, and other regions which have become destinations of exports,” he added.

According to him, the refinery’s production of Euro 5 standard gasoline and diesel is also a key factor driving patronage, as many African markets move to phase out lower-quality fuels.

The exports, the official explained, are expected to improve energy security in West, East, and Central Africa by reducing dependence on long-haul imports from Europe and the Middle East, while also cutting logistics costs and delivery timelines.

“By supplying neighbouring and other economies, the Dangote Refinery is expected to contribute to enhanced energy security in West, East, and Central Africa, reducing logistics and supply chain delays associated with long-distance fuel imports, lowering cost pressures on regional fuel markets through proximity sourcing, and building stronger trade relations between Nigeria and key African economies,” the official asserted.

The development signals a gradual reordering of Africa’s fuel supply chain, with Nigeria emerging as a refining hub following years of reliance on imports despite being a major crude oil producer.

The refinery official also addressed concerns that increased exports could tighten supply in the domestic market, insisting that adequate provisions had been made from the outset.

“Solid yes, it won’t affect meeting local demands, because we factored that into our strategy from the time we started constructing the refinery,” he stated.

“We have 54 countries in Africa, but how many of them have functional refineries? The reality is that demand will continue to rise, and we are positioning to meet both domestic and regional needs,” he added.

The export milestone comes as the Dangote refinery continues to scale operations, following its phased ramp-up and eventual attainment of full production capacity earlier this year.

Africa, despite being rich in crude oil resources, relies heavily on imported refined petroleum products due to limited refining capacity across the continent.

Recent geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions have further exposed the vulnerability of many African countries, leading to fuel shortages and price volatility.

In response, several nations have increasingly turned to regional suppliers, with Nigeria’s Dangote refinery emerging as a key alternative due to its scale, proximity, and product quality.

A report by Bloomberg on Friday revealed that at least three African countries—South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya—have formally reached out to the refinery, while several others are making enquiries, as disruptions linked to the Iran war continue to choke global fuel supply chains.

According to the report, the refinery, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is witnessing an unprecedented surge in demand from across the continent.

A company executive confirmed that the facility “has been approached by South Africa and many other countries” seeking alternative fuel supply arrangements.

The report read, “Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has been approached by South Africa and many other countries to secure fuel supplies after the Iran war disrupted flows.

“South Africa is seeking a standard contract for fuel supplies with Nigeria, and other countries such as Ghana and Kenya have also reached out to Dangote for fuel supplies.”

This development follows earlier projections that the crisis in the Middle East is tightening the noose around Africa’s fuel supply chain, with many countries now running on just weeks of refined petroleum products as key import routes come under severe strain.

The sustained exports from the refinery would not only stabilise fuel supply across Africa but also boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings and strengthen its strategic influence in the continent’s energy market.

The latest shipments underscore a broader trend of rising intra-African energy trade, positioning Nigeria at the centre of a new regional fuel distribution network.

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