Africanewswatch

13/09/2023

25/08/2023

The BRICS group of developing nations has ignored Nigeria as they invited Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina, among others to become new members of the bloc.

This came after Vice President Kashim Shettima attended the BRICS summit as a representative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday.

Mr Shettima declared that the federal government was passionate about empowering Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, for the development of the nation’s economy, during a tour of exhibition stands at the BRICS Trade Fair.

Cyril Ramaphosa, South African President, who is also hosting the summit of BRICS leaders, announced the new members.

Mr Ramaphoda added that the new candidates will be formally admitted as members on January 1, 2024.

22/08/2023

No fewer than 161 Nigerians whose releases were secured from detention facilities in Libya over various Immigration offences have been repatriated by the federal government.

This was made known by Kabiru Musa, the Charge d’Affaires En Titre of the Nigerian Mission in Libya, on Monday in Abuja, noting that the Nigerian government, through its Mission in Libya, secured the release of the detained Nigerians to enable them to return home and rebuild their lives.

He explained that the evacuees were expected to arrive at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, on Monday night, adding that the evacuees were also sensitised on the dangers of irregular migration, warned against embarking on such perilous journeys again, and warned others to get home to avoid irregular migration.

17/08/2023

At least 63 migrants from Senegal are feared to have died after a fishing boat transporting them sank at the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean, Aljazeera reports.

This was disclosed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) spokeswoman Safa Msehli on Wednesday.

“We must open our arms and welcome the living and bury the dead with dignity,” said Cape Verdean Health Minister Filomena Goncalves, as quoted by the Inforpress news agency.

The vessel, according to the Spanish migration advocacy group Walking Borders, was a big fishing boat known as a pirogue that left Senegal on July 10 with more than 100 refugees and migrants on board.

Families in Fass Boye, a beach hamlet 145 kilometres (90 miles) north of Dakar, contacted Walking Borders on July 20 after 10 days of not hearing from loved ones on the boat, according to Walking Borders founder Helena Maleno Garzón.

Cheikh Awa Boye, president of the local fishermen’s association, said two of his nephews were missing. “They wanted to go to Spain,” Boye said.

According to the AFP news agency, Jose Rui Moreira, a health officer in Sal, seven survivors needed to be transferred to the hospital.

12/08/2023

The former governor of Abia State and Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has advised President Bola Tinubu to withdraw Nigeria's membership from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) instead of allowing the US and France to push him to what he described as unnecessary military action against the junta in the Niger Republic.

Senator Kalu said this on Thursday while reacting to ECOWAS’ declaration of the deployment of a standby force against the junta after the bloc's emergency summit held in Abuja, Nigeria's capital.

07/08/2023

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, on Sunday, warned the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is legally obligated to seek the consent of the United Nations Security Council to undertake any interventions in Niger Republic.

The warning comes on the heels of a one-week ultimatum issued by the President Bola Tinubu-led ECOWAS last Sunday to putschists in the West African nation, demanding the release and reinstatement of Niger’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held by the military for over 10 days.

Falana, in a statement, pointed that ECOWAS is required to seek and obtain the authorisation of the UN Security Council to launch an attack on a sovereign nation pursuant to Article 53(1) of the United Nations Charter.

Citing Article 53(1), the senior advocate said, “The Security Council shall, where appropriate, utilize such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under its authority.

04/08/2023

President Bola Tinubu has written the Nigerian Senate, intimating it of the proposed military action and other sanctions against the military officers who recently seized power in the Niger Republic by the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.

Since the soldiers seized power in Niger on July 26, the leaders of the West African regional bloc headed by President Tinubu, has been in discussions, especially on sanctions against the coup plotters.

However, the junta has remained adamant. Not even a delegation by Tinubu, yesterday, could de-escalate the situation.

04/08/2023

A team from the West African bloc left without fulfilling scheduled meetings and plans. Meanwhile, the country's ousted president warned that his country's security was at risk amid the junta rule.

03/08/2023

Niger Republic is heavily dependent on Nigeria for most of its electricity supplies.

A number of cities in the Niger Republic are currently experiencing prolonged blackouts after Nigeria cut its power supply to the neighbouring West African country.

According to Nigelec, an electricity company in Niger, the development followed an emergency meeting by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), where sanctions, including freezing utility services, were imposed on the Niger Republic over its coup.

03/08/2023

It should not be an option to being with, except you want war

02/08/2023

Ugandan musical superstar cm politician Bobi Wine has explained why he is reluctant to engage in the debate on gay rights in his country.

The presidential candidate in the 2021 presidential election in Uganda spoke in an exclusive interview with 90MinutesAfrica's Rudolf Okonkwo in New York City.

The former Member of Parliament said he only refrains from commenting on the topic because his political enemies could use it against him.

"The anti-gay law was brought against the opposition, including myself," Bobi Wine said.

02/08/2023

The Secretary-General of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Ms Fatma Samoura has told Super Falcons of Nigeria that it is because of players like them that FIFA decided to pay prize money directly to players.

The FIFA secretary general who addressed the Super Falcons after their 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland in their dressing room, noted that she knows “it has been tough” and that they had to “face the reality of Nigeria.”

She, however, added that for the first time, the prize money would be paid to them – players – because of such realities.

01/08/2023

The military junta in Burkina Faso and Mali have warned that any military intervention in Niger Republic to restore deposed President Mohamed Bazoum would be considered a “declaration of war against their two countries."

The warning from Niger’s military-ruled neighbours came a day after West African leaders, supported by their Western partners, threatened to use “force” to reinstate the democratically elected Bazoum and slapped financial sanctions on the putschists.

In a joint statement, the governments of Burkina Faso and Mali warned that “any military intervention against Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali”.

28/07/2023

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres have backed Nigeria’s efforts toward restoring constitutional order in the Niger Republic. President Bola Tinubu is taking the lead as the ECOWAS leader.

This is contained in a statement by Dele Alake, the presidential spokesman.

The presidency said the support was made in separate telephone conversations with Mr Tinubu on Thursday in Abuja. According to the statement, the two leaders also commended Mr Tinubu for spearheading the peace moves.

28/07/2023

General Abdourahmane Tchiani has declared himself as the new leader of Niger after a dramatic coup.

Also known as Omar Tchiani, he staged a takeover which started on Wednesday when the presidential guards unit he led seized the country's leader.

This shatters Niger's first peaceful and democratic transition since independence in 1960.

President Mohamed Bazoum is thought to be in good health, and still held captive by his own guards, the BBC reports.

26/07/2023

Ghana's parliament on Tuesday voted to abolish the death penalty, making the country the latest of several African nations that have moved to repeal capital punishment in recent years.

The parliamentarian, Francis-Xavier Sosu who tabled the bill told Reuters that research conducted showed that the majority of Ghanaians want the death penalty removed.

25/07/2023

Police have arrested and detained Cecilia Dapaah, a former Ghanaian minister of sanitation and water resources, for keeping $1 million cash at her house in Accra. She had reported to the authorities that the cash haul was stolen from her home.

According to reports by the BBC, Ms Dapaah told the police that $1 million cash, as well as €300,000 and several million Ghana cedis, were allegedly stolen by two of her female domestic workers.

The domestic employees believed to have committed the crime at Ms Dapaah’s home in October of last year were only reported to police seven months later, a development that investigators found had enabled the accused to embark on a spending spree.

Ms Dapaah tendered her resignation to President Nana Akufo-Addo, who accepted it on Saturday, following public outcry about the $1 million cash kept at home.

24/07/2023

Nigeria is set to host the International Centenary Commemoration of the passing of Vladimir Lenin, the Russian who led the first Socialist Revolution and thereby changed the course of human history.

The former Russian and Soviet Union leader was born on July 6, 1923. He died on January 21, 1924.

The event will hold in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital from January 21-23, 2024.

20/07/2023

Nigeria has received a CAD9.3 million grant from the Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity (CanGIVE) to boost COVID-19 vaccine delivery and strengthen the broader health system in the country.

The Canadian High Commissioner, Jamie Christoff, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the launch of CanGIVE in Nigeria.

The Federal Ministry of Health hosted the event in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NpHCDA) and Nigeria Centre For Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), supported by World Health Organisation (WHO).

Mr Chrisoff said Nigeria, amongst six other countries, would benefit from Canada’s global initiative of CAD317 million.

18/07/2023

The Head of the European Union, EU, Delegation to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, has said it was up to Nigeria to decide what to do with the report of the European Union Election Observation Mission, EU EOM, to Nigeria for the 2023 general elections.

Isopi stated this in Abuja on Monday while briefing journalists on the award of postgraduate scholarships to 135 Nigerians.

The statement by the EU envoy is coming after the recent harsh reaction of the presidency to the report presented by the EU EOM. The presidency had rejected the report, saying it was a product of a poorly-done desk job that relied heavily on few persons.

10/07/2023

President Bola Tinubu has decried the emerging pattern of coup d’état in West Africa.

Nigeria’s President, who emerged on Sunday as the new Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), charged the body to stand firm in defence of democracy.

Tinubu emerged as the new ECOWAS president in a unanimous endorsement by his counterparts at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government on Sunday in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.

07/07/2023

President Bola Tinubu has praised the decision of his Senegalese counterpart, President Macky Sall, not to seek a third term in office after the end of his tenure.

There had been protests in Senegal in the past few weeks following speculations about a third-term ambition of President Sall, who is moving towards the end of his second term in office.

Sall is due to complete his second term of office in 2024.

07/07/2023

joint military task force has neutralised at least five members of Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) while trying to enter Nigeria from Cameroon.

The troop made this known in a press briefing released on Thursday by Brig. Gen. Abdullahi Haruna Ibrahim, for the Director of Defence Media Operations, detailing the troops' operations in tackling the terrorist groups in the six geopolitical zones in the country.

According to the statement, the terrorists were attacked after the troops received an intelligence report on their movement.

05/07/2023

The weekend incident provoked outrage in South Africa after the video of the armed plainclothes officers attacking the motorists was posted on social media.

The four officers are facing charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, pointing of a firearm, and malicious damage to property, police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe said.

One of the men who was kicked and stomped on by the officers appeared to be unconscious after the incident and lay motionless on his back on the side of the highway in Johannesburg.

03/07/2023

The Labour Party (LP) has described the report of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) on the 2023 general election in Nigeria as confirmation of connivance between the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress-led government.

The party disclosed this in a press statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, on Sunday night in reaction to the Federal Government’s dismissal of the EU Mission report.

The statement said, “The leadership of the Labour Party has noted with dismay the statement by the Federal Government discrediting the European Union’s conclusion on the 2023 General Election wherein it faulted the modalities by which the conclusion was reached.

29/06/2023

A South African court on Wednesday ruled against the government and ordered it to reconsider its decision to terminate the special permits allowing nearly 200,000 Zimbabwe nationals to live and work in the country.

The government's decision was set to force Zimbabweans to return home if they didn't obtain regular work visas, even if they have children who were born in South Africa and are South African citizens.

In its ruling, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria said the Department of Home Affairs' decision in 2022 to end the special exemption for citizens from neighboring Zimbabwe was "unlawful" and "unconstitutional" because it didn't follow "a fair process" of consultation.

The permits were extended until at least June 28 next year under the court ruling.