Jamara Home has launched a three-week sales campaign offering discounts on household appliances as Nigerian consumers enter a period of continued rainfall and increased demand for some home products.

The retailer says its “Stay Dry, Shop Fly” campaign will run from 4 to 24 August 2026, with televisions, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, air conditioners, gas cookers, fans and other household products included.

Jamara Home says the campaign covers products from more than 30 international brands.

Oluwatomi Faniran, Head of Marketing at Jamara Home, said the campaign was intended to make household appliances more affordable.

“The rainy season changes the way many families live and interact within their homes, making dependable home appliances even more essential. Through our ‘Stay Dry, Shop Fly’ campaign, we’re giving customers access to genuine products from trusted global brands at exceptional prices, helping them create comfortable homes without placing unnecessary pressure on their finances. At Jamara Home, our focus has always been on delivering quality, value, and an enjoyable shopping experience for every customer.”

Who stands to benefit?

For Jamara Home, the campaign provides an opportunity to increase sales during a period when retailers traditionally promote weather-related products.

For consumers, the potential benefit is straightforward: a genuine reduction in the cost of an appliance that a household already needs.

Nigeria Customs says it has intercepted components for more than 140 pump-action rifles and cannabis-infused products valued at ₦373.8m at Tincan Island Port in Lagos.

The seizures, announced on Thursday, 6 August, involved three containers and have raised fresh questions about how prohibited weapons and psychoactive substances are being concealed within Nigeria’s legitimate import system.

Customs said one container, which arrived aboard the vessel MV VELIKA on 8 July, was subjected to enhanced scrutiny after being flagged by its intelligence-led risk management system.

Officers subsequently found concealed crates containing what Customs described as knocked-down components preliminarily identified as JOJEFF pump-action rifles.

Two people have been arrested, according to the service, while another alleged principal suspect remains at large.

Customs has not publicly identified the suspects or disclosed the declared contents of the container, the country of origin of the components, their intended destination or how the shipment entered the port’s clearance process.

Those details will be important in determining whether the seizure was simply a case of successful interception or also points to weaknesses in the systems designed to prevent prohibited cargo from entering Nigeria.

A familiar name in Nigeria’s arms-trafficking history

The reference to JOJEFF weapons is significant because the brand has appeared in previous Nigerian arms seizures.

In 2017, Customs intercepted 661 pump-action rifles concealed in a 40-foot container in Lagos.

The weapons were identified in reports at the time as JOJEFF-branded and had been concealed among goods declared as steel doors and other merchandise.

A separate Conflict Armament Research investigation later documented JOJEFF and other Turkish-manufactured shotguns in Nigeria.

It found that Nigerian authorities had seized more than 2,000 pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns in four shipments in 2017, with the weapons concealed in containers shipped by sea to Lagos.

That history means the latest seizure is more than an isolated customs announcement.

It potentially forms part of a longer pattern in which firearms are moved through commercial shipping routes and disguised among legitimate cargo.

But the available information does not establish that the latest shipment is connected to any of those earlier cases.

Why rifle components matter

The Customs statement refers to “knocked-down components”, rather than assembled firearms.

That distinction matters. Components can be easier to conceal than complete weapons, while the exact number of complete firearms that could ultimately be assembled from the seized parts has not been independently established.

Customs’ description of the items as components “preliminarily identified” as JOJEFF rifles also indicates that technical identification or further examination may still be required.

Nigeria’s Firearms Act regulates the possession, importation and export of firearms and includes provisions governing prohibited firearms and their components. The law requires authorisation for the importation of prohibited firearms.

The 1966 amendment to the legislation specifically brought pump-action or other mechanically reloaded shotguns within the category of prohibited firearms.

The precise legal classification of the seized components, however, would depend on what exactly was recovered and the applicable licence and import documentation.

Customs’ risk system faces a bigger test

Customs says the shipment was detected through its intelligence-driven risk management system.

That claim is consistent with the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, which requires the service to use organisational and intelligence-driven risk management in its operations, including customs clearance procedures. The law also provides for risk registers and profiles to support those operations.

But a successful interception does not, by itself, show how effective the system is across all cargo entering Nigerian ports.

The unanswered question is how many similar consignments are identified before clearance, how many escape detection, and whether intelligence is being shared quickly enough between Customs and other security agencies.

Those figures were not provided in the announcement.

Cannabis products worth ₦373.8m

In a separate operation, Customs said officers intercepted two 40-foot containers carrying cannabis-infused products hidden alongside used vehicles, generators, batteries and other imported goods.

The agency listed 109 cartons of Delta-8 cannabis-infused pre-roll cookies, 125 cartons of Delta-8 cannabis-infused gummies and 73 cartons of cannabis-infused cookies.

It put their combined street value at ₦373,802,640.

The announcement does not explain how Customs arrived at that valuation, whether laboratory testing has confirmed the stated cannabinoid content, or whether the products have been formally handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, which is responsible for combating drug trafficking in Nigeria.

That distinction is important because a “street value” is an enforcement estimate, not necessarily the amount that the goods would have fetched in a legitimate market.

The NDLEA has separately reported several major seizures of cannabis products entering Nigeria through Lagos. In July, for example, the agency took custody of 6,778.5kg of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis, after a joint examination involving Customs and other security agencies at Apapa Port.

In May, the agency also reported the arrest of a foreign national over an attempt to bring 31kg of synthetic cannabis into Nigeria through Lagos airport.

The latest Customs seizure therefore comes against a backdrop of continuing attempts to move cannabis products through Nigeria’s international transport gateways.

Customs links seizure to 2027 election security

Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi also connected the latest interception to preparations for Nigeria’s next general election.

“We are about entering a major election cycle and we know that by this period, men of the underworld will want to use our borders, our ports, our airports to bring in items like this. We are going to redouble our efforts to ensure that we do not allow them to do so.”

Adeniyi also warned against internal collusion within the service.

“The Nigeria Customs Service will not harbour any of these people who want to serve as accomplices or use their position to influence the importation of goods that will threaten our peace and security and the peaceful conduct of the next general election.”

What happens next?

Customs says investigations are continuing and that it intends to identify and prosecute everyone connected with the consignments.

The critical test will therefore come after the seizure.

Authorities will need to establish who imported the goods, who financed them, where they came from, their intended destination, how they were declared to Customs and whether anyone within or outside the port system helped them move through the supply chain.

The identities of those arrested, the charges eventually filed and the outcome of any prosecution will provide a clearer measure of the success of the operation than the seizure figures alone.

For now, Customs has demonstrated that prohibited weapons components and cannabis products can still be concealed within commercial cargo entering Lagos.

Nigeria’s young entrepreneurs can now apply for loans of up to ₦2 million under a new federal government-backed credit programme aimed at expanding access to finance for small business owners who have traditionally struggled to secure bank loans.

The Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) on Wednesday launched YouthCred for Entrepreneurs in Abuja, completing the third phase of the YouthCred initiative promised by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to support young Nigerians with structured consumer credit.

Why it matters

Access to affordable finance remains one of the biggest obstacles facing Nigeria’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), many of which operate informally without the documentation required by conventional lenders.

CREDICORP says the new programme is designed to bridge that gap by providing loans based on applicants’ affordability, financial education and repayment capacity rather than company registration or collateral.

The corporation believes the approach could help thousands of informal businesses establish credit histories, improve financial inclusion and expand their operations.

The launch also marks the completion of a phased rollout announced by President Tinubu during his Democracy Day address, beginning with National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, followed by employed young Nigerians and now entrepreneurs.

According to CREDICORP, more than 51,000 corps members enrolled during the pilot phase, while over 30,000 participants have completed financial education and received financing.

How the programme works

Unlike many traditional business loans, YouthCred requires every applicant to complete a financial literacy course before becoming eligible for credit.

Participants are taught budgeting, responsible borrowing, repayment planning and credit management before loans are approved.

CREDICORP says this “learn-before-you-borrow” model is intended to reduce loan defaults while helping beneficiaries build long-term credit profiles.

The entrepreneur phase targets Nigerians aged 18 to 35, offering working and growth capital of up to ₦2 million.

The loans are aimed at market traders, artisans, service providers, manufacturers and other small business owners whose businesses often operate in their personal names rather than as registered companies.

Officials say each successful loan will establish a formal credit record that could improve access to larger financing opportunities in the future.

Government says promise has been fulfilled

Speaking at the launch, the Honourable Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, said the initiative delivers on the Federal Government’s commitment to Nigerian youth.

“Mr. President made a commitment to Nigeria’s young people, and today we complete its delivery: Corps Members, employed youth, and now the entrepreneurs who power our markets and workshops. YouthCred for Entrepreneurs is capital deployed with discipline, matched to young Nigerians who are already building. This is how we unlock the next million Nigerian businesses.”

CREDICORP’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Uzoma Nwagba, said the programme focuses on supporting entrepreneurs who have often been excluded from formal lending.

“Hardworking young Nigerians deserve structured credit, not charity.

More than 90% of our MSMEs trade in the name of the person who built them so that is exactly how we built this credit line: for the individual, not just the entity.

Every naira is tied to eligibility, repayment discipline and business growth, because when builders win, Nigeria wins.”

Pilot begins with Wema Bank

CREDICORP said Wema Bank has become the first Partner Financial Institution for the entrepreneur phase, with applicants being onboarded immediately during the Abuja launch.

The corporation said additional financial institutions will be introduced in the coming months as the programme expands through markets, trade associations and cooperative societies across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

According to CREDICORP, it has so far disbursed more than ₦47 billion to over 301,000 applicants across its various programmes, while maintaining a reported non-performing loan rate of 0%.

The organisation said applications are now open through the YouthCred portal, where prospective beneficiaries can complete the mandatory credit education programme before applying.

What happens next

CREDICORP plans to extend the programme nationwide with a long-term goal of reaching one million young Nigerians.

If widely adopted, the initiative could increase access to formal finance for thousands of young entrepreneurs while helping expand Nigeria’s consumer credit system.

Industry observers say the programme’s long-term success will depend on sustained funding, transparent loan administration and whether beneficiaries are able to repay and grow their businesses despite prevailing economic challenges.