Did Putin say Nigeria rejected Russia’s help on electricity in 1980?

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Claim: A Facebook page, Afrocania, claimed that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said Nigeria rejected the Soviet Union’s help to develop electricity infrastructure in 1980. 

Verdict: FALSE. No credible media organisation reported such a claim. DUBAWA’s analyses also indicated the likelihood that the statement was generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Full Text

A Facebook page, Afrocania, posted that Vladimir Putin, Russia’s leader, gave an in-depth analysis of how Nigeria refused electricity from the Soviet Union.

According to the claim, Putin said Russia assisted Nigeria in building the Ajaokuta Steel Company in 1980 to foster friendship between the two countries. The quote also stated that Russia intended to create a mutually beneficial partnership with Nigeria during its oil boom.

However, he allegedly accused Western countries of interfering in the project, and Nigeria still bears the loss. “Western influences intervened, as they often do, swaying Nigeria and leaving our Ajaokuta project abandoned and left to deteriorate. Nigeria continues to struggle to find its footing today, yet that project could have positioned it as a global leader in the steel industry,” the quote reads.

As of Oct. 1, 2025, the post had garnered over 20,000 reactions, 3,700 comments, and 5,000 reshares. Many of the comments that DUBAWA identified indicated support for the claim.

Muhammed Bah praised Putin as the only leader who wishes for African countries well. “His [alliance] with any nation is a win-win situation. Look at Mali and Burkina Faso, they are progressing,” he wrote.

Another Facebook user, Olumide Matthew, said, “The fight was between Russia and the British. Russia tried, but our rulers decided to obey the colonial masters because they viewed Russia as spies.”

Isaiah Akpan said, “We already know that Russia is the key, not France, or China, or America.”

The statement’s implication on the nation’s foreign policy prompted DUBAWA to fact-check the claim.

Verification

DUBAWA inboxed Afrocania to provide the source of his claim on Facebook. As of Oct. 2, 2025, he has yet to respond to DUBAWA’s inquiry, despite having read the request.

When we used keyword search to trace the quote’s source, we found no results from any credible media organisation. This was the first red flag in the claim. International news agencies or national media platforms would have widely reported a statement of this significance from a world leader as Putin. Also, the occasion on which he made the claim would be identifiable.

We also checked the official Kremlin website, which publishes transcripts of the president’s official speeches and interviews. We searched the website using keywords from the statement, but found no relevant event where Putin made such a statement.

DUBAWA confirmed that the Soviet Union, now Russia, provided technical and financial support for the Ajaokuta Steel project during the 1970s as part of Nigeria’s industrialisation efforts. The Russian firm TPE (Tyazhpromexport) was heavily involved in its design and construction.

Historical records indicated the project was abandoned primarily due to corruption, mismanagement, and a lack of funding by successive Nigerian governments. The project’s failure has been a long-standing domestic issue, not a result of foreign intervention.

Muhammadu Buhari and Putin signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to resume work on the steel plant. This confirms ongoing cooperation, but does not validate the fabricated quote.

There is also no credible evidence that Putin’s public comments at the 2019 and 2023 Russia-Africa Summits indicated a lengthy historical narrative with a specific anti-Western accusation over the factory’s operation.

DUBAWA used different tools to confirm whether the statement was generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Analyses showed that the statement has a 67% probability rate on Undetectable AI, 57% on Scribbr, and 100% on Grammarly.

Conclusion

The claim that Vladimir Putin accused the West of interfering in Nigeria’s infrastructural development in partnership with Russia lacks evidence. No credible media organisation reported such information, and several analyses conducted by DUBAWA showed that the statement was likely generated using AI.