Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has warned that it may be compelled to shut down its two major social media platforms in Nigeria following a series of hefty fines totaling over $290 million and what it describes as “unrealistic” regulatory demands from Nigerian authorities.

The crisis stems from regulatory actions taken by three Nigerian oversight bodies: the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON). The FCCPC levied the largest fine—$220 million—for alleged anti-competitive practices. The NDPC fined Meta $32.8 million for data privacy violations, while ARCON imposed a $37.5 million penalty over unapproved advertising content.

These actions followed a 38-month joint investigation by the FCCPC and NDPC, covering the period between May 2021 and December 2023. In a court filing recently made public, Meta said that unless the rulings are overturned, it may be forced to “effectively shut down” Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria by the end of June to avoid enforcement measures.

Though Meta also owns WhatsApp, the messaging platform was not included in the shutdown threat or the primary court filings.

At the heart of Meta’s grievance is the NDPC’s interpretation of Nigeria’s data protection laws. The commission has demanded that Meta seek prior approval before transferring Nigerian users’ data abroad and create and display educational content on data privacy risks. These videos, to be developed in collaboration with approved local institutions, must highlight dangers such as manipulative data processing that could expose users to health or financial risks. Meta has pushed back strongly, calling the demands “unworkable” and accusing the NDPC of misapplying the law.

The competition tribunal in Abuja upheld the fines in April 2025, and the court has given Meta until the end of June to comply.

What Nigeria and Nigerians Stand to Lose if Meta Pulls Out

If Meta follows through on its threat to exit the Nigerian market, the economic and social impact could be profound:

1. Disruption of Communication:

Facebook is one of the most widely used platforms in Nigeria, with tens of millions of users relying on it for daily communication, information sharing, and community building. A shutdown would fracture these digital networks overnight.

2. Economic Fallout for Small Businesses:

Thousands of small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria use Facebook and Instagram as cost-effective platforms for marketing, customer engagement, and e-commerce. A shutdown would immediately cut off these businesses from their customer base, leading to lost revenue and possibly job losses.

3. Reduced Access to Global Markets:

Nigerian entrepreneurs, content creators, and service providers who depend on Meta’s platforms to reach international audiences would face severe limitations, undermining Nigeria’s growing digital economy.

4. Setback for Digital Literacy and Inclusion:

Facebook and Instagram play an indirect role in digital education, advocacy, and civic engagement. Their exit would shrink the online public space and may weaken efforts in digital inclusion and awareness.

5. Investor Confidence and Regulatory Risk:

The standoff could signal to global tech companies that Nigeria’s regulatory environment is unpredictable or hostile, potentially deterring future investments in the country’s tech sector.

6. Data Sovereignty vs. Global Integration:

While Nigeria has the right to enforce data protection laws, overly rigid or poorly coordinated regulatory actions risk isolating Nigerian users and businesses from global platforms. Finding a balanced, collaborative regulatory framework is essential to safeguarding sovereignty without sacrificing innovation or access.

In summary, while the Nigerian government is rightly prioritizing data privacy, fair competition, and advertising standards, the broader consequences of Meta’s withdrawal would ripple across communication, commerce, and development. A negotiated compromise, involving clearer legal standards and stakeholder consultation, may be the only viable path forward to avoid a lose-lose outcome.

At a time when many American students are struggling to keep up, a private school in Texas is doing more with less, much less.
At Alpha School, students spend just two hours a day in class, guided by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tutor. But results are impressive: students are testing in the top 1 to 2% nationally.
"We use an AI tutor and adaptive apps to provide a completely personalized learning experience," said Alpha co-founder MacKenzie Price during an interview on Fox & Friends.
"Our students are learning faster. They’re learning way better. In fact, our classes are in the top 2% in the country."

After the short morning academic block, the rest of the school day is spent building real-world skills like public speaking, teamwork and financial literacy.

Price, a Stanford-educated psychologist, said she launched Alpha after her daughters came home from school bored and unchallenged. The first Alpha campus opened in Austin in 2016 after two years of development.

The idea was simple and bold: compress core academics into two hours per day using technology, and free up the rest of the day for students to grow in other ways.

That model appears to be working. Elle Kristine, a junior who’s been at Alpha since second grade, shared her experience on Fox & Friends.

"I have a lot of friends at traditional school," Kristine said. "They’re spending all this time on schoolwork, they’re so stressed out, and they’re just miserable."

"We get all of our academics done in just three hours a day, and then the rest of the day we get to spend doing what we love and working on passion projects," she said.

"For me, I’m creating a safe AI dating coach for teenagers. It was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal. What 16-year-old has time for that? It’s awesome."

Alpha currently operates campuses in Austin, Brownsville, and Miami, serving students from Pre-K through high school.

The Austin location includes both a K–8 academy and a dedicated high school campus downtown. Alpha’s Brownsville school is the fastest growing, and the Miami campus now serves students through 10th grade.

Enrollment is intentionally small, around 150 students at the original Austin site, allowing for a highly personalized experience. 

Instead of traditional teachers, Alpha employs guides who focus on coaching and emotional support, while AI handles the academic instruction.

"Our teachers spend all of their time working with our students," Price said. "That human connection can never be replaced by AI. But the AI makes it possible to personalize learning for everyone."

With results and parent demand growing, Alpha is now taking its education model nationwide. The school has announced plans to open seven new campuses by Fall 2025.

Upcoming locations include:

Texas: Houston and Fort Worth (K–8)

Florida: Orlando, Tampa, and Palm Beach (K–8)

Arizona: Phoenix (K–8)

California: Santa Barbara (K–12)

New York: New York City (K–8)

Applications are already open for many of these sites. Tuition varies by location, averaging around $40,000 to $50,000 annually, though the Brownsville campus is subsidized to make it more accessible.

"This is infinitely scalable and accessible," Price said. "It’s going to help students who are struggling, and also those who are just bored in traditional classrooms."

Alpha’s rise comes as school choice found a champion in the Trump administration.

In January, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Education to help states reallocate federal education funds toward school-choice programs, including charter schools, private vouchers, and education savings accounts.

"Parents want and deserve the best education for their children," the order states. "But too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K–12 school."

Education Secretary Linda McMahon praised the policy shift as "history-making" and stressed that the administration is giving power back to families and local communities.

"We are sending education back to the states where it so rightly belongs," McMahon said. "Families deserve control over how their children learn. That includes AI-powered schools, faith-based options, or traditional public classrooms."

The Trump administration’s plan also allows parents to use 529 savings accounts to pay for private K–12 tuition and encourages states to apply for federal grants that support innovation in education.

The Alpha School did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News

Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis launch two missiles towards Israel

Israel intercepted a second missile fired from Yemen on Friday, its military said, as the U.S. intensifies its strikes in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthi group.

The militant group claimed responsibility for firing two missiles thousands of kilometres north targeting Israel's Ramat David air base and the Tel Aviv area.

Alarms were sounded in several areas, the military added, after the launch of both missiles, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.

The military said it had intercepted both missiles.

U.S. President Donald Trump in March ordered large-scale strikes against the Houthis to reduce their capabilities and deter them from attacking ships in the Red Sea.

The deadly strikes on the group were the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January.

The Houthis say their attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping are in solidarity with the Palestinians over the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.

The group pledged to expand its range of targets in Israel in retaliation for a renewed offensive in Gaza that began two months ago.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine can’t reclaim lost territory – Rubio

Ukraine will not be able to reclaim its 2014 borders from Russia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said.

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has publicly stated he will never recognize the lost territories, including Crimea, as Russian. The peninsula voted overwhelmingly to join Russia in 2014, shortly after the US-backed armed coup in Kiev. Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Lugansk regions held their own referendums in 2022 to become part of Russia.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg told Fox News that Kiev has expressed a willingness to cede land de facto, if not de jure, as part of a peace deal.

“Ukraine can’t push the Russians all the way back to where they were in 2014,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.

After months of US-brokered peace efforts, Washington has a pretty clear idea of what both sides want, the top US diplomat noted.

“We kind of can see what it would take for Ukraine to stop. We can see what it would take for the Russians to stop,” he said, adding that Moscow’s and Kiev’s settlement demands are still “far apart.” 

“It’s going to take a real breakthrough here very soon to make this possible, or I think the President is going to have to make a decision about how much more time we’re going to dedicate to this,” Rubio said.

Both Trump and Rubio have previously warned that the US could walk away from being a peace broker in the Ukraine conflict, if there is no progress soon.

“Not that a war in Ukraine is not important, but I would say what’s happening with China is more important,” Rubio said, adding that Iran is another US concern.

Moscow has repeatedly stated that its peace terms include Ukraine’s neutrality, demilitarization and denazification, as well as for Kiev to give up its ambitions to join NATO. Also, ceding the new Russian regions of Kherson, Zaporozhye and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics is not up for discussion, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year. Should Kiev abandon plans to join the US-led military bloc and withdraw its troops from the four new territories, Moscow is ready to institute an immediate ceasefire, he added.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian drones hit apartment block in Ukraine's Kharkiv, 46 hurt

Russia launched a mass drone attack late on Friday in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, hitting a high-rise apartment block, triggering fires and injuring 46 people, officials said.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said there had been strikes in 12 locations in four central districts of the city, a repeated target of Russian air attacks lying 30 km (19 miles) from the country's northeastern border.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced the drone strikes, which hit Ukrainian cities several times a week. He said dozens of drones had been launched and Ukraine's allies were moving too slowly in helping beef up its air defence capability.

"There were no military targets, nor could there be any. Russia strikes dwellings when Ukrainians are in their homes, when they are putting their children to bed," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.

"As the world delays decisions, almost every night in Ukraine turns into a horror that results in the loss of lives. Ukraine needs stronger air defences. Stronger and real decisions from our partners: the United States, Europe, all our partners who seek peace."

Terekhov said a house had also been hit. An 11-year-old child was among the injured. Eight of those hurt were being treated in hospital.

Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said emergency crews were working through the night to tackle the aftermath of the attack despite fears of repeat strikes.

Pictures posted online showed firefighters battling flames, charred building facades with smashed windows and cars aflame in streets littered with rubble.

Regional authorities said four people were also injured in a Russian joint drone and artillery attack on localities east of Nikopol in southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region.

In southern Kherson region, a village resident died when a fallen drone detonated as he was trying to carry it away from a house.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, though many thousands have been killed since it launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Russia's Defence Ministry, meanwhile, reported that its air defence units had destroyed 10 Ukrainian drones in an hour: eight over the border region of Bryansk and two over Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Yuri Slyusar, acting governor of Rostov region, on Ukraine's eastern border, said air defence units had destroyed Ukrainian drones over five districts. Falling fragments had damaged some homes, he said, but there were no casualties.

RT/Reuters

The passing of our revered leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, has left a void that words alone cannot fill. He was not just a leader but a father, a mentor, and an unwavering pillar of strength in my life and in the struggle for a just and restructured Nigeria.

Pa Adebanjo was central to my political journey, playing a decisive role in my election to the Federal House of Representatives and my emergence as Leader of the Alliance for Democracy in the House. His wisdom, guidance, and unshakable principles were the bedrock upon which many of us built our political careers. He was a man of his word—firm, dependable, and as constant as the Northern Star. Once he gave his word, he stood by it, regardless of the pressures that came his way.

What struck me most about Baba was his humility and respect for others, regardless of age or status. Though many of us on the National Executive Council of Afenifere were far junior to him in experience and stature, he treated us as colleagues, never as subordinates. He listened, he debated, and he valued every voice in the room. The false accusations by some that he was dictatorial or that he “played solo” were nothing but malicious fabrications. Those of us who worked closely with him knew better—he was a democrat to the core, a leader who led by consensus and conviction.

Now, as I step into the enormous shoes he left behind, I am acutely aware of the weight of this responsibility. Pa Adebanjo was a titan—a fearless advocate for restructuring, true federalism, and the unity of Southern and Middle Belt Nigeria. His life was a testament to the relentless pursuit of fairness, equity, and justice in a balanced federation.

The task ahead is daunting, but I take solace in the fact that I do not walk this path alone. With the grace of God and the unwavering support of my colleagues in the national and state executives of Afenifere, I pledge to uphold the ideals he lived and died for. We will continue the fight—the fight for a Nigeria where no region is oppressed, where power is decentralized, and where every citizen can thrive in dignity.

Baba, you have run your race with courage and honour. You fought the good fight, and now it is left to us to carry the torch forward. Rest well, knowing that your legacy will never fade.

** Oladipo Olaitan is the new leader of Afenifere

An English man unknowingly bought back his own Honda Civic just weeks after it was stolen from his driveway in Solihull, West Midlands.

Ewan Valentine was devastated when his 9-year-old Honda Civic Type R was stolen. His girlfriend woke up one morning to drive his car to work, but it was gone. He notified police and his insurer about the theft, but things were moving along at snail’s pace, so he started looking around online to replace his pride and joy. Having become attached to his little speed demon, when he found one that was virtually identical down to the custom exhaust system, he couldn’t believe his luck. The car had different registration plates, but other than that, it looked just like his stolen Type R. For some reason, he never even considered the possibility that it could actually be his car.

“So it seemed perfect,” 36-year-old Ewan told Yahoo News UK. “I went down to the garage to check it over, but I think my judgment was a little clouded by how desperate I was to replace my car, so I didn’t do the most thorough check.”

Valentine ended up paying 20,000 pounds ($26,800) for the black Honda Civic, but he quickly started noticing strange things. While checking the trunk, he found a tent hood and some Christmas tree pines that he had had in his stolen car, then he found some wrappers he remembered leaving in his old Honda, and finally, there was this distinctive smell of beer that his Honda had had ever since he accidentally shattered a beer bottle in it.

“I started driving home, feeling a little strange about the situation because it could all have been a coincidence,” he recalled. “So I suddenly had the idea of checking the satnav history. Sure enough, there was my address, my parents’ address, my partner’s address, and places we’d visited over the previous couple of years. It then dawned on me that my phone connected instantly as I left the garage, rather than needing to pair it as a new device. So it was pretty clear at this point that it was my car.”

After contacting the police, Ewan learned that the vehicle identification number (VIN) did not match the one of his old car because the thieves had gone to great lengths to replace it. It had been scratched off the engine, the embossed plate on the door frame had been replaced with a sticker, and the engine serial number had been painted over.

“It was my car. They did further checks, plugging a laptop into the car, and managed to find the original VIN number,” Ewan said. “So they’d attempted to override the VIN number in the ECU, even though that was tricky to find.”

So far, the evidence collected by police suggests that the garage Ewan had bought back his stolen car from had no idea it had been stolen either, they had just been deceived by the thieves.

Oddity Central

President Bola Tinubu has openly acknowledged the severe economic hardship facing Nigerians, admitting that hunger, unemployment, and insecurity are real and demand urgent solutions. His admission comes as workers nationwide marked May Day amid skyrocketing living costs, mass job losses, and escalating violence.

Speaking through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, at the Workers’ Day celebration in Abuja, Tinubu stated: “I am aware of the peculiarities of the economic hardship Nigerians face—rising living costs, hunger, insecurity, unemployment, and the loss of livelihoods. These challenges are real and demand definitive solutions.”

Dire Statistics Highlight National Crisis

The President’s acknowledgment aligns with grim economic and security data:

- Inflation has surged to 33.69%, the highest in 28 years, with food inflation hitting 40.53%, making basic meals unaffordable for millions.

- Unemployment remains catastrophic, with underemployment at 70%, youth joblessness exceeding 40%, and over 60 multinational companies (including GlaxoSmithKline and P&G) exiting Nigeria since 2023 due to harsh business conditions.

- Poverty has deepened, with 115 million Nigerians in absolute poverty and 175 million suffering multidimensional deprivation, according to UNDP’s Human Development Index.

- Insecurity has crippled farming and livelihoods, with banditry and terrorism contributing to food shortages. Nigeria ranks 109th out of 125 on the Global Hunger Index.

Labour’s 20-Point Demand: End Bloodshed, Poverty Wages

Organized Labour, led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), presented a 20-point demand to the Federal Government, including:

- Reversing anti-worker policies, such as unfair taxation and privatization of essential services.

- Implementing a living wage to match economic realities, as the current N70,000 minimum wage is now worth less than N15,000 in 2019 terms.

- Ending killings and kidnappings nationwide, citing failures to protect citizens in Plateau, Benue, Zamfara, and other hotspots.

NLC President Joe Ajaero and TUC leader Festus Osifo warned: “If we do not address these systemic failures, we risk descending into a state where governance is determined by brute force, not democracy.”

Oil prices settled nearly 2% higher on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened secondary sanctions on Iran after a fourth round of U.S.-Iran talks was postponed.

Brent crude futures settled at $62.13 a barrel, up $1.07, 1.8%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed $1.03, or 1.8%, higher at $59.24 a barrel.

Trump said all purchases of Iranian oil or petrochemical products must stop and any country or person buying any from the country would be immediately subject to secondary sanctions.

His comments follow the postponement of talks. which had been due to take place in Rome on Saturday, over Iran's nuclear program. A senior Iranian official told Reuters a new date will be set depending on the U.S. approach.

"If the Trump administration is successful in enforcing secondary sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil that could lead to a reduction in supply of about a million and a half, barrels per day," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.

"These low prices of oil are giving the Trump administration cover to more strictly enforce those sanctions, especially at a time that OPEC+ is producing well over their quota and looking to increase production."

Several OPEC+ members are set to suggest the group accelerates output hikes in June for a second consecutive month, three people familiar with OPEC+ talks have said. Eight OPEC+ countries will meet on May 5 to decide a June output plan.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is telling allies and industry experts that it is unwilling to prop up the oil market with supply cuts and can manage a prolonged period of low prices, sources told Reuters.

On the demand side, however, the U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years in the first quarter, data showed on Wednesday, swamped by a flood of imports as businesses raced to avoid higher costs from tariffs and underscoring the disruptive impact of Trump's unpredictable trade policy.

Trump's tariffs have made it probable the global economy will slip into recession this year, a Reuters poll suggested.

Reuters

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote said on Thursday he was "comfortable" with the impact President Donald Trump's tariffs would have on his urea exports to the U.S. because major competitor Algeria had been slapped with a higher levy.

Trump imposed a 14% tariff on imports from Nigeria, Africa's largest oil exporter, as part of widespread trade measures introduced last month, later paused for 90 days.

Dangote told an investment conference in Lagos that Dangote Fertiliser, which began commercial operations in 2022, shipped 37% of its 3 million metric tonnes of urea production to the United States.

He said he was initially worried by Trump's tariff on Nigeria, which also exports crude to the U.S.

"But when I checked who we are really competing with, we are competing with Algeria. So luckily for us Algeria were slapped with 30%," said Dangote. "So it actually makes us a bit comfortable."

Dangote, who built Africa's largest petroleum refinery, said he expected revenues from Dangote Group, also a major cement producer, to grow to more than $30 billion next year from about $25 billion projected in 2025.

Reuters

Looting of Gaza stores signals worsening hunger crisis

Increased looting of food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip shows growing desperation as hunger spreads two months after Israel cut off supplies to the Palestinian territory, aid officials say.

Palestinian residents and aid officials said at least five incidents of looting took place across the enclave on Wednesday, including at community kitchens, merchants' stores, and the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency's (UNRWA) main complex in Gaza.

Israeli forces are continuing their aerial and ground offensive across Gaza in the war with Palestinian militant group Hamas that began nearly 19 months ago. Israeli air strikes on Thursday killed at least 12 people, the territory's health ministry said.

The looting "is a grave signal of how serious things have become in the Gaza Strip -- the spread of hunger, the loss of hope and desperation among residents as well as the absence of the authority of the law," said Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) in Gaza.

Thousands of displaced people broke into the UNRWA complex in Gaza City late on Wednesday, stealing medicines from its pharmacy and damaging vehicles, said Louise Wateridge, a senior official for the agency based in Jordan.

"The looting, while devastating, is not surprising in the face of total systemic collapse. We are witnessing the consequences of a society brought to its knees by prolonged siege and violence," she said in a statement shared with Reuters.

Hamas deployed thousands of police and security forces across Gaza after a ceasefire took effect in January, but its armed presence shrunk sharply since Israel resumed large-scale attacks in March.

Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza Hamas-run government media office, described the looting incidents as "isolated individual practices that do not reflect the values and ethics of our Palestinian people."

He said that despite being targeted, Gaza authorities were "following up on these incidents and addressing them in a way that ensures the preservation of order and human dignity".

CHILD MALNUTRITION

Thawabta said Israel, which since March 2 has blocked the entry of medical, fuel, and food supplies into Gaza, was to blame. Israel says its move was aimed at pressuring Hamas to free hostages as the ceasefire agreement stalled.

Israel has previously denied that Gaza was facing a hunger crisis. It has not made clear when and how aid will be resumed.

Israel's military accuses Hamas of diverting aid, which Hamas denies.

The United Nations warned earlier this week that acute malnutrition among Gaza's children was worsening.

Community kitchens that have provided lifelines for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are at risk of closure due to lack of supplies, and face an additional threat from looting.

"This is going to undermine the ability of the community kitchens to provide meals to a great number of families, and an indication that things have reached an unprecedentedly difficult level," PNGO's Shawa told Reuters.

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's campaign in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.

It was launched after thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Much of the narrow coastal enclave has been reduced to rubble, leaving hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in tents or bombed-out buildings.

Reuters