Doctors have raised the alarm over a sharp rise in the cost of insulin, warning that the medication, essential for survival for people living with Type 1 diabetes, has become increasingly out of reach for many young Nigerians.

The concern was raised on Wednesday during the sixth Annual Ogun State Youth Diabetes Camp, organised by the Talabi Diabetes Centre in Abeokuta. Speaking at the event, the centre’s Camp Coordinator, Dr Olubiyi Adeshina, said a vial of insulin that used to cost about ₦5,000 now sells for approximately ₦25,000, a fivefold increase that has placed a heavy financial burden on patients and their families.

According to Adeshina, many patients require about two vials a month, bringing the total monthly cost of insulin alone to roughly ₦50,000, not including additional expenses such as blood glucose monitoring.

For people living with Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune condition where the pancreas stops producing insulin entirely, the medication isn’t optional. “All the days of their lives, at least three times a day, they will need to inject that insulin, or else the blood sugar goes excessively high,” he said, warning that prolonged failure to access insulin can lead to dangerously high blood sugar, coma, and death.

The centre’s Acting Director, Dr Ayotunde Ale, echoed the concern, describing the price increase as a growing crisis compounded by inflation. “Insulin is very, very expensive. Now, with inflation and everything ongoing in society, a packet, a month’s supply, now costs about ₦25,000 against ₦5,000 that we used to purchase insulin,” she said.

Beyond the cost burden, Ale also addressed a separate, deeply rooted challenge facing families of children with undiagnosed diabetes: cultural misconceptions that often prevent early testing.

She urged parents not to attribute unexplained childhood deaths to spiritual causes without first seeking medical screening. “All those children we call ogbanje, they die in their youth, and you don’t know the cause. Don’t call them ogbanje. Please, come for testing. Let’s do screening for all these children,” she said.

Both doctors called on the Federal Government to introduce a dedicated policy and subsidy framework to make insulin more accessible for people living with Type 1 diabetes, particularly children and young adults.

Ale further appealed to the National Assembly to address the broader challenges facing patients, warning that treatment costs could significantly affect their quality of life if left unaddressed.

The Talabi Diabetes Centre currently stands as the only non-profit organisation in Nigeria dedicated specifically to primary diabetic care, and both doctors called for more NGOs and stakeholders to get involved in supporting people living with the condition

Former Big Brother Naija housemate, Erica Nlewedim, has opened up on the mental struggles she faced after her time on the reality show. The actress and reality star revealed that she battled serious anxiety after leaving the show, as she struggled with constant insults and criticism from fans and social media users. Erica made the revelation while reflecting on her experience after her time on Big Brother Naija and the impact of staying in the public eye.

Speaking about the impact of her time on the reality show, she said she was grateful for the opportunities it created but admitted that the constant trolling took a toll on her mental health.

“I am happy I did it (BBN) because it changed my life, money-wise and all of that. I had to see a therapist afterwards. At first, I didn’t know it was getting to me until after like three years of back-to-back insults.

If I open Instagram and see notifications, I will be like, “Are they dragging me for something again?” I was always anxious, and I didn’t like that.

2024 was my quiet time. I didn’t act on any movie; I just decided to take a break in 2024. It was just last year that I decided to start coming back.

They are like, “Oh, you signed up for this, or you should be used to it by now. One shouldn’t be used to insults or trolling because they are celebrities.”

According to her, some movie producers dismissed her acting ability because of her background as a Big Brother Naija star. She said some producers cast her in lead roles mainly to attract her fans, rather than because they believed in her talent.

“Before I went for Big Brother in 2019, I went to film school in London and I came back thinking I was going to take over, and then Covid happened. So, I had to go for Big Brother.

I was already acting before Big Brother, but most of the characters I played were not lead roles. But after Big Brother, they would put me as the lead and be like It’s only because they want my fans to buy the tickets that they put me in a lead role. It was just all about, you can’t do this. That’s all I kept hearing, and then some producers would be like they put us because they need our fans to come and watch the movie and they would say it to my face. At some point, it just broke me, and that’s why I took a break in 2024. The hardest time was 2023.”

Erica was one of the housemates on the 2020 Lockdown edition of Big Brother Naija. Her time on the show attracted significant attention, particularly because of her relationship with fellow housemate Kiddwaya and her clashes with Laycon.

Nigerian music legend Innocent “2Baba” Idibia has unfollowed his wife, Natasha Osawaru, on Instagram, days after a reported public confrontation between the two at a nightclub opening in Abuja.

The incident reportedly occurred on Friday at the launch of the “90s Lounge,” where 2Baba was billed to perform. According to accounts circulating online, Osawaru arrived at the venue accompanied by several men before approaching the singer’s vehicle, triggering a commotion that required the intervention of police and security personnel.

An eyewitness account shared by a social media user claimed Osawaru had demanded to speak with 2Baba on arrival, though the widely circulated video from the scene does not show what specifically triggered the confrontation.

Following the incident, 2Baba was said to have told Osawaru he was no longer interested in continuing their relationship. Checks on his Instagram account on Sunday confirmed he had unfollowed her, while Osawaru continued to follow him.

The fallout comes just over a year after 2Baba’s very public split from his ex-wife, actress Annie Macaulay Idibia, ending a 13-year marriage in January 2025. He confirmed his relationship with Osawaru, an Edo State lawmaker, shortly after, proposing in February 2025 and marrying her in a private traditional ceremony that July.

In a further twist, checks on Monday showed that 2Baba and Annie have since followed each other again on Instagram, more than a year after the pair had unfollowed one another following their separation. The renewed connection has fuelled fresh speculation and reactions online, with many commenters framing the timing as a kind of poetic justice given the current strain between 2Baba and Osawaru.

This isn’t the first sign of tension surrounding the marriage. In a previous incident, 2Baba reportedly interrupted a livestream in which his former managers were discussing his private life, telling them directly to stop. Shortly after, a heated exchange between him and Osawaru was heard off-camera before the broadcast was abruptly cut.

Throughout the public scrutiny surrounding his relationships, 2Baba has maintained that Osawaru was not the reason for his separation from Annie.As of publication, neither 2Baba nor Osawaru has issued a public statement addressing the nightclub incident or the changes to their social media activity.