Textiles Rise, Universities Flee the Grid
Textile production up 45%, universities flee grid, exam fees suspended, woman returns bride price, Ebola vaccine trial.
Good morning,
A tailor in Kano who spent years stitching imported fabrics now buys locally woven textiles. Nigerian textile production is up 45 percent, reversing decades of decline and creating jobs across the country. Manufacturers say stronger consumer confidence in Nigerian-made products has stimulated investment and increased employment. The challenge is sustaining the momentum. Without stable electricity, affordable financing and modern equipment, the industry could relapse. The winners are Nigerian workers and the economy, conserving foreign exchange. The losers: importers losing market share, and a government that must provide the infrastructure to keep the growth going.
While textile manufacturers plead for stable power, Nigeria’s universities have given up waiting. Nigerian universities are abandoning the national grid and building their own power plants as the electricity crisis deepens. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, universities accounted for 32.8 megawatts of captive generation capacity approved by the regulator. The University of Port Harcourt secured the largest approval at 10.7MW. When you see a tax authority unplugging itself from the grid, that tells you everything. It is no longer a private sector problem. It is a national productivity problem.
The Federal Government has suspended its plan to hike WAEC and NECO examination fees to ₦50,000 following widespread public outcry. Under the suspended plan, WAEC’s fee would have nearly doubled from ₦27,000. Parents and civil society mobilised and won. But it is a temporary reprieve. The government has not ruled out future increases. This mirrors the 2018 tuition fee hikes in federal universities, which were suspended after protests but later reintroduced.
A pregnant woman in Kaduna secured a divorce by returning the ₦50,000 bride price she received, insisting on Khul’i despite her husband’s attempt at reconciliation. The complainant told the court she was seven months pregnant and wanted her ex-husband to continue taking care of the pregnancy. The judge dissolved the union. The case highlights a growing pattern in Nigeria’s Shari’a courts, where women are increasingly using Khul’i to exit unhappy marriages. The winners: a woman who secured her freedom. The losers: a husband who lost his wife, and a child who faces a separated family.
And Oxford has launched the first human trial of a vaccine against Bundibugyo ebolavirus, as an outbreak worsens in DRC and Uganda. The vaccine was developed using the same viral vector platform as the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The Nigerian stake is urgent. Nigeria’s public health surveillance systems are weak. The country’s borders are porous. The 2014 Ebola outbreak showed how quickly a virus can spread across West Africa. The lesson of 2014 was clear. The question is whether Nigeria has learned it.
Textile production is up. Universities are fleeing the grid. Exam fees are suspended. A woman buys her freedom with ₦50,000. Oxford is testing an Ebola vaccine. These are not separate stories. They are the same story: a country where manufacturers struggle for power, where institutions build their own electricity, where parents fight for their children’s education, where women assert their rights, and where a virus in DRC could reach our borders at any moment. The question is whether we will build systems that work, or simply wait for the next crisis.
Think about that as you start your day.
Warmly,
Lolade