Nigeria’s fuel subsidy debate has resurfaced with renewed intensity following the Federal Government’s last-minute intervention to prevent an imminent strike by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

The crisis was triggered by the government’s failure to pay N100 billion in outstanding bridging claims, a situation that threatened to disrupt fuel supply across the country. While the government’s pledge to settle the debt has temporarily diffused tensions, it has also drawn fresh scrutiny over whether the fuel subsidy—officially declared abolished in May 2023—has actually been removed or merely continued under a different name.

The controversy erupted when IPMAN issued a seven-day ultimatum on February 24, 2025, demanding that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) settle the long-overdue bridging claims owed to petroleum marketers. The association warned that failure to make the payment would result in a nationwide shutdown of petrol supply, an action that could have plunged the country into yet another fuel scarcity crisis.

As the deadline loomed, the government moved swiftly to de-escalate the situation. On February 27, 2025, IPMAN’s National President, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, announced that the government had assured marketers of payment and expressed commitment to resolving other outstanding issues in the sector. He called on members to remain patient and suspend any planned industrial action while discussions with the NMDPRA continued.

”We have been in communication with the NMDPRA and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources. They have expressed their commitment to addressing these pending claims and other issues.

”In the meantime, we kindly implore all members to remain calm and patient as we work towards securing the necessary approvals and payments.

”We understand the importance of these claims to you and appreciate your understanding during this process.

”We also encourage all members to refrain from any actions that may disrupt our collective efforts, including strike actions.

”Our upcoming official meeting with the NMDPRA will be a critical opportunity to discuss these matters further, and your participation will be invaluable,” he said.

However, the episode has raised deeper concerns about the true status of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy policy. The very existence of unpaid bridging claims suggests that the government is still subsidizing fuel distribution, contradicting its earlier stance that subsidy payments had been completely abolished.

The Subsidy Removal Controversy

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, he announced an immediate and total removal of the fuel subsidy, a longstanding policy that had drained government finances and fostered inefficiencies in the oil sector. The move was widely seen as a bold economic reform aimed at reducing public spending and attracting private-sector investments in fuel importation and refining.

However, the decision came with severe economic consequences. Fuel prices tripled overnight, soaring from N185 per liter to over N500, and later surpassing N600 per liter in several states. The sharp increase led to an inflationary spiral, with the cost of transportation, food, and essential goods skyrocketing. Public frustration mounted, and labor unions staged multiple protests, arguing that the policy had pushed millions of Nigerians deeper into poverty.

As pressure intensified, the government introduced palliatives to cushion the impact, including cash transfers to vulnerable households and salary adjustments for civil servants. However, these interventions failed to prevent widespread economic hardship. Amid growing discontent, the government quietly resumed fuel subsidies under a different guise, despite insisting publicly that the subsidy regime had ended.

Subsidies Disguised as “Price Stabilization”

Although fuel prices were expected to fluctuate with global crude oil prices and exchange rate movements following subsidy removal, this has not been the case. Analysts noted that despite the naira’s depreciation and rising international crude prices, petrol prices in Nigeria remained artificially low—a clear indication that the government was still subsidizing fuel behind the scenes.

The clearest evidence of this came from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which retained control over fuel imports even after subsidy removal. By early 2024, experts estimated that without any subsidy, the actual market price of petrol should have been over N1,000 per liter. Yet, the government ensured that prices remained within the N600 to N700 range, effectively covering the cost difference—just as it did during the official subsidy era.

The N100 billion bridging claims owed to IPMAN further confirm the continued existence of subsidies. Bridging claims are transportation subsidies meant to equalize fuel prices across different regions, ensuring that consumers in remote areas pay the same price as those in urban centers. If the government had truly eliminated the subsidy, there would be no reason to maintain these payments. Yet, as this crisis has shown, the government remains indebted to marketers, proving that fuel prices are still being manipulated through indirect subsidies.

After years of speculation and last-minute updates that prolonged its lifespan, Microsoft has officially announced that Skype will be retired in May 2025.

This decision marks the end of an era for one of the most well-known digital communication platforms, which at one point dominated the global market for video and voice calls. Instead of trying to revive the aging service with another update, Microsoft is now directing users to Microsoft Teams, its newer, more widely used collaboration platform.

According to XDA, the news was first spotted inside the latest Skype for Windows preview by a sharp-eyed user and later confirmed by XDA Developers, which found an embedded message stating: “Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available. Continue your calls and chats in Teams.”

Accompanying the message was a note indicating how many of the user’s contacts had already transitioned to Teams Free, subtly nudging holdouts to make the switch before Skype disappeared permanently.

The Rise and Fall of Skype

Skype’s journey has been marked by meteoric success, missteps in development, and eventual obsolescence. It was first launched in 2003 and quickly became the go-to platform for online voice and video calling, at a time when broadband internet was becoming more widespread.

The service revolutionized communication by enabling free calls over the Internet, eliminating the need for expensive international phone calls. Its popularity led to Microsoft’s acquisition of the platform for $8.5 billion in 2011, a move intended to position Skype as the company’s flagship communication tool.

Following the acquisition, Microsoft discontinued its own Windows Live Messenger and attempted to integrate Skype into its ecosystem. However, the transition proved far from seamless. Over the years, Skype underwent multiple redesigns, and Microsoft’s efforts to merge it with Windows were inconsistent. In 2015, Skype was bundled into Windows 10 with separate apps for messaging, calling, and video conferencing, but the confusing implementation lasted only nine months before Microsoft scrapped it. The company then introduced a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app, which was later abandoned as well, in favor of returning to a Win32-based version.

Despite Microsoft’s continued investment in Skype, it failed to maintain relevance in a rapidly changing digital landscape. While it once dominated video calling, it faced increasing competition from emerging platforms that offered greater simplicity, ease of use, and mobile-friendly experiences.

The Role of Competition in Skype’s Decline

Although Microsoft’s internal strategy shifts played a role in Skype’s struggles, analysts have pointed to competition as another major factor in its downfall. Over the years, the platform faced mounting pressure from tech giants, each offering more streamlined and user-friendly communication alternatives.

One of the biggest blows to Skype came with the rise of Zoom. Unlike Skype, which had gradually become bloated with unnecessary features and suffered from connectivity issues, Zoom provided a simple, intuitive, and highly efficient video-calling experience. Its ease of use, particularly for business meetings and online events, made it the preferred choice during the COVID-19 pandemic, effectively cutting into Skype’s user base. Zoom’s dominance was so profound that it became the default term for video conferencing, much like Skype had been in its heyday.

Additionally, nearly all major social media platforms have integrated video calling features, further reducing the need for Skype. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, FaceTime, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams have all made video communication more accessible, often without requiring separate software installation. These platforms provided seamless cross-device functionality, something Skype struggled to perfect in later years.

Microsoft’s Shift to Teams and the End of Skype

Microsoft’s introduction of Teams in 2017 marked the beginning of Skype’s final decline. Originally developed as a workplace collaboration tool, Teams leveraged Skype’s technology but quickly evolved into a full-fledged competitor to Slack, focusing on business communication and productivity.

By the time Microsoft officially retired Skype for Business in 2021, it was evident that the company had deprioritized Skype in favor of Teams as the primary communication platform. The shift became even more pronounced with the launch of Windows 11, which came pre-installed with Teams instead of Skype. Unlike Skype’s failed attempt at Windows integration in 2015, Teams’ placement in Windows 11 felt more natural and well-received.

For years, it seemed like Microsoft was unwilling to completely pull the plug on Skype. Each time users speculated about its impending demise, Microsoft would release an update, keeping the platform alive but without any clear long-term vision. However, the writing was on the wall. As Teams gained traction among businesses and individual users, Skype became increasingly redundant.

Now, Microsoft has finally decided to shut down Skype for good, encouraging its remaining users to migrate to Teams Free.

With Skype set to cease operations in May 2025, Microsoft is expected to roll out in-app notifications urging users to transition to Teams. However, the company has yet to provide a formal statement explaining the transition process or how it plans to support users during the migration.

For longtime Skype users, this marks the end of an era, but for Microsoft, the move is part of a larger strategy to consolidate its communication tools under a single brand. The digital landscape has changed significantly since Skype’s glory days, and with Microsoft fully committed to Teams, the legacy of Skype is now coming to a definitive close.

Meta has reportedly terminated roughly 20 employees for allegedly leaking confidential company information, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg intensifies efforts to crack down on internal leaks.

The terminations follow Zuckerberg’s frustrated remarks during an all-hands meeting last month, where he complained that “everything I say leaks. It sucks.”

Zuckerberg’s lament about leaks was ironically leaked almost immediately, fueling further scrutiny of Meta’s internal culture and management practices. During the meeting, he hinted that the company would need to be less transparent going forward and warned that employees caught leaking sensitive information would face termination.

Now, according to a report by The Verge, Meta has followed through on that warning. In a statement, the company said: “We tell employees when they join the company, and we offer periodic reminders, that it is against our policies to leak internal information, no matter the intent. We recently conducted an investigation that resulted in roughly 20 employees being terminated for sharing confidential information outside the company, and we expect there will be more. We take this seriously and will continue to take action when we identify leaks.”

Meta’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, confirmed earlier this month that the company was close to identifying the leakers, implying that additional dismissals could follow.

In response to the leaks, Meta has introduced sweeping changes to internal meetings to limit information from spreading. Employees can no longer vote on which questions to ask Zuckerberg, a system that previously allowed the most popular topics to be addressed. Additionally, comments during live presentations have been disabled, and questions deemed potentially problematic if leaked are now skipped altogether.

Zuckerberg has also indicated that Meta’s overall transparency will be reduced, making it harder for employees to access sensitive discussions. These measures highlight a growing culture of secrecy within the company, signaling a shift from its previous open-information approach.

Why the Surge in Leaks?

The sudden spike in leaks at Meta appears to coincide with Zuckerberg’s increasing alignment with Donald Trump in recent months.

Meta’s recent decision to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund in December has raised eyebrows, as have several controversial policy shifts perceived as concessions to Trump’s political base. These include:

• The termination of Meta’s DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs
• The removal of third-party fact-checkers
• The scaling back of content moderation policies

Zuckerberg, who previously positioned himself as a champion of free expression, has now faced accusations of bowing to political pressure. While he was among the first tech executives to congratulate Trump on his 2024 election victory, the relationship between the two remains complicated.

Trump has publicly criticized Meta in the past, accusing the company of censorship and political bias. In 2021, Facebook (now Meta) banned Trump for two years following the January 6 insurrection, leading to Trump labeling the platform an “enemy of the people”. He also accused Zuckerberg of plotting against him during the 2020 election, vowing that the Meta CEO would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he ever did it again.

Now, with Meta’s policies seemingly shifting in Trump’s favor, internal discontent within the company appears to be mounting, leading to a rise in leaks exposing these controversial changes.

Lavish Bonuses for Executives Amid Layoffs

The firing of rank-and-file employees for leaking information comes against the backdrop of executive pay increases at Meta.

The company recently approved a plan to boost executive bonuses by up to 200% of their base salary—a move that has sparked criticism given that Meta is simultaneously cutting 5% of its workforce (approximately 4,000 employees).

Meta has already conducted mass layoffs since 2022, with more than 21,000 employees losing their jobs as part of what Zuckerberg calls the “Year of Efficiency”. However, the contrast between lavish executive bonuses and widespread job cuts has fueled employee dissatisfaction, making leaks even more likely.

Meta Apologizes After Reels Flooded with Explicit Content

Adding to Meta’s recent troubles, the company was forced to apologize yesterday after an “error” caused its Reels platform to be flooded with violent and pornographic content. The incident embarrassed the company at a time when it is already facing backlash over content moderation issues, particularly following its decision to scale back fact-checking and moderation efforts.

With internal tensions rising, Zuckerberg’s crackdown on leaks appears to mark a new era of secrecy at Meta. Employees who were once accustomed to an open culture are now facing harsh penalties for sharing information, while the company’s ties to Trump and executive pay increases continue to spark controversy.