Gazelle Mba

Towards the end of February, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan accused the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, the third most powerful man in Nigeria, of sexual harassment. According to Akpoti-Uduaghan, in December 2023, on a visit to the Senate president’s house, Akpabio held her hand while giving her a tour, her husband walking behind them. In one of the mansion’s many sitting rooms, she says, he asked her if she liked his house and told her: ‘I’m going to create time for us to come spend quality moments here. You will enjoy it.’ In a second incident, Akpoti-Uduaghan says that Akpabio told her a motion she put forward would appear before the Senate if she ‘took care of him’.

Nigeria already struggles with inadequate healthcare funding. This year’s budget allocates only 5.18 per cent of the total (2.48 trillion naira) to health – which is up from 1.23 trillion naira last year but still far below the 15 per cent target set by the Abuja Declaration in 2001. Without USAID, an already fragile system is weakened. This crisis forces a cruel reckoning: what happens when a nation accustomed to foreign aid is left to fend for itself? The abrupt withdrawal has revived debates among development economists. Critics argue that foreign aid fosters dependency and corruption, enriching elites while leaving ordinary citizens in poverty.

The Aylesbury estate in Walworth was built between 1963 and 1977 and has since been left to rot. It is now being regenerated or socially cleansed, whichever word you prefer. Described in the Times as ‘one of the most notorious estates in the United Kingdom’, it may seem an unlikely venue for an exhibition. Going in you felt as if you were visiting someone’s home, because you were.