Cash-strapped and in dire need of N30,000 (about $20), Mariam Ogundairo turned to a loan app, downloading it and registering her phone number.

The money was quickly sent over but came with a 21.6 percent interest rate, due in two weeks.

Like many in Nigeria, battered by inflation, Ogundairo was too broke to pay back what she owed.

Then came a deluge of harassment — a tactic that has become the hallmark of many loan apps in Africa’s fourth-largest economy.

“They started calling my phone contacts when I couldn’t pay back on time, saying I owed them. “I lost my security, and it makes me so sad and scared,” Ogundairo told AFP.

Such loan apps in Nigeria, branded “predatory” by campaigners, are texting threats and leaking sensitive photos to their mobile phone contacts when people squeezed by the country’s ongoing economic crisis cannot pay up.

Often enticed by false promises of low interest rates, thousands of Nigerians have turned to personal finance apps seeking quick access to short-term loans as galloping prices put pressure on incomes, with inflation standing at 21.8 percent at the end of July.

Ogundairo struggled through the embarrassment for weeks until she was able to pay off her balance.

– ‘Quick fix’ gone wrong –

“A friend recommended it because I needed a quick fix,” another victim, a 24-year-old who took out a loan two years ago as a university student and asked his name not be used, told AFP.

After spending more than N300,000 conducting laboratory investigations for his final thesis and still needing more funds to complete his research and beat submission deadlines, the money seemed like a lifesaver.

He took out N70,000 when he was a final-year student in 2023. He was meant to pay back about N110,000 within a month, but was too broke.

The loan app then began sending messages to his phone contacts that he was a “ritualist killer”. He said he was not aware he had given the app access to his contacts.

“A couple of my coursemates got the messages.

“It wasn’t the case of unwillingness to pay; it was just a case of impossibility,” he told AFP.

An increasing number of Nigerians have turned to personal loans following reforms by President Bola Tinubu to shock the country’s moribund economy and remove costly subsidies.

Though some economists have voiced approval for the measures, Tinubu’s policies have sent inflation skyrocketing and the value of the naira plunging, hitting many ordinary Nigerians in their pockets.

Even when apps mislead people on interest rates, they can often provide better rates than traditional banks — with the benchmark interest rate at 27.5 percent, conventional loans can come with interest rates at 27 to 48 percent.

While there was no breakdown for so-called fintech apps, lenders in the country handed out about 470 billion naira in personal loans in the last quarter of 2024.

By December, outstanding personal loans jumped “by 21.27 percent to 3.82 trillion naira compared with the level at end-September 2024”, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in March.

As of the same month, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) approved 408 loan apps, up from 269 in September 2024, with 42 receiving conditional clearance.

The CBN approved 23 apps, up from 14 in the third quarter of last year.

Forty-seven were delisted and 88 placed on watchlists for various offences, including harassment.

The watchdog had said in the past that some loan apps were operating in the country illegally.

– Loan sharks ‘thrive’ –

Many of the loan apps’ ease of access and swift processing create a trap, said Funmi Oderinde, a lawyer at Citizens’ Gavel, a civil society organisation that has been pushing back against the lenders.

The organisation has so far received at least 1,300 complaints over “predatory digital loan apps”.

“These promises are deceptive, and borrowers soon face unethical recovery practices such as defamation, harassment, threats, breaches of data privacy, arbitrary fines, and excessively high interest rates aimed at pressuring them into repayment,” Oderinde said.

Some victims of the harassment have formed different support groups on Facebook. One such group has more than 21,000 members.

A victim told Citizens’ Gavel that, after her phone was accessed remotely, a fake obituary and a real nude photo were shared with her contacts by a loan app.

According to Oderinde, two of the people who approached the organisation for legal help “could have died” due to harassment from loan app agents.

The FCCPC, in a note sent to lenders in August, said it would “periodically monitor interest rates for services of consumer lending, and ensure rates are not exploitative”.

But despite regulatory moves, dozens of apps continue to operate under new names, and desperate borrowers often do not check approval lists before applying.

The result is that loan sharks “thrive”, Oderinde said, “because of weak sanctions and poor enforcement”.

AFP

Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Shehu Mohammed, has stated that one of the major factors of road crashes in Nigeria is the human factor.

In an interview on Arise News on Wednesday, he noted that the driving culture of our drivers is a huge factor, adding that most drivers lack the required and adequate training to drive in a large population like Nigeria.

“There are so many factors [to road crashes]. One of the major factors is the human aspect of it. That is the human factor.

“The driving culture of our drivers. They lack the training, the required and adequate training to drive in an environment like Nigeria, where we have a larger population, where there is a little bit of illiteracy, a little bit of poverty, and therefore that really contributes to the growing fatality and injuries that is going on on our roads,” he said.

Asked what exactly the FRSC is doing to face these challenges squarely, especially when it comes to compliance and enforcement, he added:

“Of course, we have been doing our best, pushing for enforcement, pushing for training and retaining of our personnel to be able to sensitize, you know, do public education, because if we are able to get the public education right, telling people what to do, how to obey traffic rules and regulation, how to use the road properly, how to do safe driving, how to imbibe safe driving culture, I think we can get it right right now.

“The government is doing well in terms of funding, in terms of infrastructure, in terms of even using technology.

FRSC is using more technology now to be able to drive our processes and also to do the enforcement. What we require more is sensitization. The main issue now is the mixed-loading.

“Mixed-loading is where people, passengers use trucks and animals and goods to travel from one location to the other. Whenever there is a crash, we have several fatalities.

“So the main issue now is for us to be able to continue to educate people, to educate the citizens on the proper use of these roads, and then obeying the traffic rules and regulation.”

The Minister of State for Finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, has reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to pension reforms, highlighting his understanding of the challenges faced by pensioners.

The Minister made the remarks during the launch of the revised Service Charter for the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate in Abuja on Wednesday.

This assurance follows persistent protests by pensioners in Abuja and Lagos over unpaid arrears and N35,000 palliative allowances.

In her address, Uzoka-Anite reflected on the significant improvements brought by pension reforms, which, she said, gave workers across Nigeria renewed hope.

She noted that the reform provided workers in both the public and private sectors with “lifetime insurance,” ensuring that they would have financial security after retirement.

She added that the pension scheme had become a vital part of workers’ financial plans, particularly as it offered a reliable alternative when facing economic challenges.

The Minister also addressed the government’s ongoing efforts to secure and grow pension funds.

“We’ve been working with PENCOM to ensure that pension funds are not only invested securely but also leveraged to drive economic development,” Uzoka-Anite said, underscoring the importance of pension assets in national growth.

She expressed gratitude towards Tinubu for his leadership in addressing pension liabilities, with a focus on clearing outstanding pension payments.

Uzoka-Anite revealed that the government has plans to issue N758bn bond to clear these liabilities, a step she described as crucial in securing the future of pensioners.

The Minister reiterated that the issue of pensioners not receiving their dues promptly must come to an end.

“It breaks our hearts every time we see pensioners come to demand their pensions. It shouldn’t be like that. If you worked and gave your best years to your country, the least we can do is give you your best years when you retire,” she said.

Uzoka-Anite also praised the work of PTAD and its leadership, emphasising that pensioners now had a system in place that they could rely on.

“We want pensioners to know that it is now a thing of the past that they have to cry before they see their money,” she assured.

The minister reaffirmed that the government, under President Tinubu’s leadership, is fully committed to pension reform.

“The President understands the pain of being a pensioner. He was a pensioner first before we gave him a mandate to come back. He’s a man who has empathy for the suffering of the people,” she stated.

Also speaking at the event, the Director General of the National Pension Commission, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, expressed deep commitment to ensuring the welfare of pensioners.

“There is no greater honour than making an impact in the life of those who have given their all to this nation,” she stated, underscoring the importance of helping pensioners retire with dignity.

She highlighted the significance of the service charter as a renewed promise to pensioners, emphasising that their welfare is central to PenCom’s mission.

“It is more than a document; it’s a renewed commitment to our senior citizens,” she said.

Oloworaran also noted recent achievements, including the approval of long-outstanding arrears and the introduction of healthcare for pensioners.

She stressed that these initiatives are “life-changing” and will positively impact the lives of many households.

She reaffirmed PenCom’s commitment to ensuring pensioners’ dignity, transparency, and respect in retirement.

In her welcome remarks, the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, Tolulope Odunaiya, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to enhancing service delivery for pensioners.

“I am truly honoured to stand before you today at the official launch of our second edition of the Service Charter,” she began, noting that the event symbolised PTAD’s collective commitment to “entrenching excellence and beneficial impact in service delivery.

”The Executive Secretary stressed that the revised Service Charter is “more than a document,” calling it a “covenant” between PTAD, pensioners, and stakeholders.

The revised charter, she explained, includes realistic performance metrics, a renewed commitment to quality, and clearer accessibility for all pensioners.

“Our goal is to ensure you clearly understand your entitlements and the standards you can expect from us,” she added.

The National President of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Godwin Abumisi, expressed both gratitude and frustration at the state of pension administration in Nigeria during the launch of the revised Service Charter.

“I recognise the struggles we faced in collecting our pensions. Many of us died while trying to rectify issues with our pensions,” Abumisi said, reflecting on the past challenges pensioners faced during verification exercises.

He acknowledged the positive strides made by PTAD, stating, “We have left Egypt, but we are not yet at the promised land.”

While commending PTAD for its work, Abumisi highlighted that many pensioners, particularly in remote areas, still face difficulties with verification.

“Many of them do not have phones, and cannot complete this exercise without assistance,” he said, urging authorities to reach out to those left behind.

Abumisi concluded by thanking President Tinubu for his empathy towards pensioners, vowing that come 2027, pensioners would rally behind him.

“I wish to thank the president of Nigeria for his empathy for the pensioners of Nigeria.

We are seeing all that is needed to ensure that pensioners of Nigeria raise their heads above the water, and I want to make a promise that come 2027, we will direct all pensioners to vote for him,” he said.