In Nigeria, a proposed bill to reserve more parliamentary seats for women is gaining momentum. Proponents say it could boost female representation in the country where women hold only 20 of 469 seats. The bill proposes one additional seat for women in each state in both houses of parliament, along with three special seats for women in every state assembly.
Monday, September 1, 2025
Video - Nigeria pushes bill to boost women’s representation in parliament
In Nigeria, a proposed bill to reserve more parliamentary seats for women is gaining momentum. Proponents say it could boost female representation in the country where women hold only 20 of 469 seats. The bill proposes one additional seat for women in each state in both houses of parliament, along with three special seats for women in every state assembly.
Video - Nigerian businesses grapple with rising taxes amid declining output
Nigeria’s industrial sector is facing challenges, with manufacturers paying higher value-added taxes in 2024 than in the past five years, while net output has plummeted to a 15-year low. CGTN examines the implications for businesses and consumers in West Africa’s largest economy.
Nigeria ranked 3rd world country with highest detention of underage children
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other participants at the Nigeria Bar Association Conference (AGC) in Enugu have urged NBA to institute a framework that will strengthen the law, improve the situation of children in detention and promote child justice in Nigeria.
This was after the moderator of “the end detention of child season”, Uchenna Emereonye and the lead discussant, Uju Agomoh Executive Director PRAWA, separately gave evidence and statistics of Nigeria children deprived of liberty and the role of NBA in ending arbitrary detention of children in Nigeria.
They said that Nigeria is ranked among top three countries in the world that has the highest number of children in detention and the worst is that those children are detained where they are not supposed to be; in the same cell with adults which is completely against the law.
She said that “the existing laws on the right of Nigeria child should be fully implemented for continued efforts to improve the situation of children in detention and promote child justice in Nigeria.”
“The number of children in detention, awaiting trial in Nigeria is unacceptable. And the question is how can the Bar help to stop this abuse of our children? How can the Bar stand tall in ending child detention in Nigeria?”
Agomoh, a renowned Health Practitioner and Human Right Advocate, presented statistics from a national survey supported by UNICEF, indicating the number of young persons in detention as alarming and unacceptable and that about 70% lacks access to legal representation.
She reminded the NBA of the Nigerian Correctional Services Act 2019 that requires Custodial Centres to refuse admittance of offenders not meant for their facilities.
The session, she said, aims at exploring the best ways to ensure compliance with legal provisions and improve the situation of children in detention, hence the need for a better enforcement of provisions and enhance the role of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in advocating for child justice.
She announced that only three Borstal Institutions are functional in the whole country where every state supposed to have one, and asked where are those children that go against the law in the other 29 States are kept.
She emphasised on the role of the NBA in raising awareness and advocating for child justice and also calling for specialised training for lawyers handling child justice cases.
This was after the moderator of “the end detention of child season”, Uchenna Emereonye and the lead discussant, Uju Agomoh Executive Director PRAWA, separately gave evidence and statistics of Nigeria children deprived of liberty and the role of NBA in ending arbitrary detention of children in Nigeria.
They said that Nigeria is ranked among top three countries in the world that has the highest number of children in detention and the worst is that those children are detained where they are not supposed to be; in the same cell with adults which is completely against the law.
She said that “the existing laws on the right of Nigeria child should be fully implemented for continued efforts to improve the situation of children in detention and promote child justice in Nigeria.”
“The number of children in detention, awaiting trial in Nigeria is unacceptable. And the question is how can the Bar help to stop this abuse of our children? How can the Bar stand tall in ending child detention in Nigeria?”
Agomoh, a renowned Health Practitioner and Human Right Advocate, presented statistics from a national survey supported by UNICEF, indicating the number of young persons in detention as alarming and unacceptable and that about 70% lacks access to legal representation.
She reminded the NBA of the Nigerian Correctional Services Act 2019 that requires Custodial Centres to refuse admittance of offenders not meant for their facilities.
The session, she said, aims at exploring the best ways to ensure compliance with legal provisions and improve the situation of children in detention, hence the need for a better enforcement of provisions and enhance the role of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in advocating for child justice.
She announced that only three Borstal Institutions are functional in the whole country where every state supposed to have one, and asked where are those children that go against the law in the other 29 States are kept.
She emphasised on the role of the NBA in raising awareness and advocating for child justice and also calling for specialised training for lawyers handling child justice cases.
By Regis Anukwuoji, Business Day
Nigerian U.S. visa holders quietly blocked from entry as investigations unfold
A new report has revealed that the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria has quietly begun revoking visas without warning, disrupting the lives of Nigerian professionals, entrepreneurs, frequent travelers, and families who suddenly find their mobility stripped away.
The revelation, made by Olufemi Soneye, former Chief Corporate Communications Officer of Nigeria’s national oil company, the NNPC Ltd, in an article published in The Cable, points to an unsettling pattern of unexplained cancellations.
According to Soneye, many Nigerians who had long traveled to and from the U.S. without incident are now receiving terse notices of revocation.
“Each had to abruptly cancel engagements, refund tickets, and explain to partners abroad why they could no longer show up. In some cases, the humiliation has been unbearable: travelers discovering at the airport, sometimes even at boarding gates, that their visas had been quietly invalidated."
"A few were briefly detained by immigration authorities before being sent home in shame,” Soneye disclosed, describing the embarrassment some affected visa holders faced at airports as they attempted to leave the country.
The cancellation letters, citing Title 22, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 41.122, claim only that “new information became available after the visa was issued.”
But beyond that line, no details are shared. No evidence is presented. No avenue for appeal is offered.
Recipients are told only that they may reapply, a costly and uncertain process that offers little reassurance to those who had already built business plans, family reunions, or educational opportunities around U.S. travel.
An offshoot of Trump’s immigration clampdown?
What makes the development more troubling is its timing.
The Trump administration has recently rolled out a series of visa restrictions targeting countries in Africa, citing security and immigration risks.
Nigeria, one of Africa’s top economy and a longstanding U.S. partner, has increasingly found itself caught in the dragnet. While Washington has not publicly linked the Nigerian cancellations to the broader policy shift, observers say the pattern fits within a tightening of U.S. entry controls for African nationals.
Yet the opacity of the process is raising alarms. Neither the U.S. Embassy in Abuja nor Nigerian authorities have issued a public statement explaining the sudden wave of cancellations.
For those affected, the silence is devastating. Many insist they have never overstayed their visas, violated immigration rules, or raised any security red flags. For them, the revocations feel less like routine enforcement and more like a targeted policy shift operating in the shadows.
“For many, this is not just about stamps on a passport. These visas are lifelines for education, family reunions, medical treatment, and critical business. To have them snatched away without explanation is to leave lives suspended in confusion and despair.” Soneye argued
The implications are wide-reaching. Each revoked visa represents not only an individual setback but also a blow to Nigeria’s international business and professional networks. Entrepreneurs lose access to global markets, students face uncertainty over study plans, and families are left grappling with missed reunions.
Shipping, oil and gas, and tech executives, sectors heavily reliant on U.S. ties, are particularly exposed.
In the absence of transparency, speculation is filling the void. Some see the cancellations as fallout from shifting U.S.–Africa relations under Trump.
Others suggest bureaucratic overreach or unannounced security screening measures.
But until officials in Washington or Abuja break their silence, thousands of Nigerians remain stranded in uncertainty and holding visas that no longer open doors.
The revelation, made by Olufemi Soneye, former Chief Corporate Communications Officer of Nigeria’s national oil company, the NNPC Ltd, in an article published in The Cable, points to an unsettling pattern of unexplained cancellations.
According to Soneye, many Nigerians who had long traveled to and from the U.S. without incident are now receiving terse notices of revocation.
“Each had to abruptly cancel engagements, refund tickets, and explain to partners abroad why they could no longer show up. In some cases, the humiliation has been unbearable: travelers discovering at the airport, sometimes even at boarding gates, that their visas had been quietly invalidated."
"A few were briefly detained by immigration authorities before being sent home in shame,” Soneye disclosed, describing the embarrassment some affected visa holders faced at airports as they attempted to leave the country.
The cancellation letters, citing Title 22, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 41.122, claim only that “new information became available after the visa was issued.”
But beyond that line, no details are shared. No evidence is presented. No avenue for appeal is offered.
Recipients are told only that they may reapply, a costly and uncertain process that offers little reassurance to those who had already built business plans, family reunions, or educational opportunities around U.S. travel.
An offshoot of Trump’s immigration clampdown?
What makes the development more troubling is its timing.
The Trump administration has recently rolled out a series of visa restrictions targeting countries in Africa, citing security and immigration risks.
Nigeria, one of Africa’s top economy and a longstanding U.S. partner, has increasingly found itself caught in the dragnet. While Washington has not publicly linked the Nigerian cancellations to the broader policy shift, observers say the pattern fits within a tightening of U.S. entry controls for African nationals.
Yet the opacity of the process is raising alarms. Neither the U.S. Embassy in Abuja nor Nigerian authorities have issued a public statement explaining the sudden wave of cancellations.
For those affected, the silence is devastating. Many insist they have never overstayed their visas, violated immigration rules, or raised any security red flags. For them, the revocations feel less like routine enforcement and more like a targeted policy shift operating in the shadows.
“For many, this is not just about stamps on a passport. These visas are lifelines for education, family reunions, medical treatment, and critical business. To have them snatched away without explanation is to leave lives suspended in confusion and despair.” Soneye argued
The implications are wide-reaching. Each revoked visa represents not only an individual setback but also a blow to Nigeria’s international business and professional networks. Entrepreneurs lose access to global markets, students face uncertainty over study plans, and families are left grappling with missed reunions.
Shipping, oil and gas, and tech executives, sectors heavily reliant on U.S. ties, are particularly exposed.
In the absence of transparency, speculation is filling the void. Some see the cancellations as fallout from shifting U.S.–Africa relations under Trump.
Others suggest bureaucratic overreach or unannounced security screening measures.
But until officials in Washington or Abuja break their silence, thousands of Nigerians remain stranded in uncertainty and holding visas that no longer open doors.
By Solomon Ekanem, Business Insider Africa
Mob burns Nigerian woman to death for alleged blasphemy
A woman has been burnt to death by a mob in northern Nigeria's Niger state after she was accused of blaspheming against Prophet Muhammad, police have said.
Police condemned the killing of the woman - identified in local media as a food vendor named Amaye - as "jungle justice", saying that an investigation was under way to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators.
Local media quoted eyewitnesses as saying a man jokingly proposed marriage to the vendor, and her response was considered blasphemous by some people in the area.
"Unfortunately, it led to a mob attack, and [she] was set ablaze before a reinforcement of security teams could arrive at the scene," state police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said.
He appealed to members of the public to remain calm and not to take the law into their own hands following the killing on Saturday in Kasuwan-Garba town.
Such killings are not uncommon in northern Nigeria, where blasphemy is regarded as a criminal offence under Islamic (Sharia) law, which operates alongside secular law in 12 mainly Muslim states.
At least two other people have been lynched over such accusations in the last three years, with critics pointing out that not enough is being done to prevent the killings that have targeted both Muslims and Christians.
In 2022, student Deborah Samuel was beaten and burned alive in Sokoto state after being accused of making blasphemous comments.
Last year, a butcher, Usman Buda, was stoned to death in the same state under similar circumstances.
Though Nigeria's constitution upholds freedom of speech, the country remains deeply divided on matters of faith and justice.
Nigeria's Supreme Court has in the past ruled that blasphemy allegations must be proven in a court of law.
By Chris Ewokor, BBC
Police condemned the killing of the woman - identified in local media as a food vendor named Amaye - as "jungle justice", saying that an investigation was under way to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators.
Local media quoted eyewitnesses as saying a man jokingly proposed marriage to the vendor, and her response was considered blasphemous by some people in the area.
"Unfortunately, it led to a mob attack, and [she] was set ablaze before a reinforcement of security teams could arrive at the scene," state police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said.
He appealed to members of the public to remain calm and not to take the law into their own hands following the killing on Saturday in Kasuwan-Garba town.
Such killings are not uncommon in northern Nigeria, where blasphemy is regarded as a criminal offence under Islamic (Sharia) law, which operates alongside secular law in 12 mainly Muslim states.
At least two other people have been lynched over such accusations in the last three years, with critics pointing out that not enough is being done to prevent the killings that have targeted both Muslims and Christians.
In 2022, student Deborah Samuel was beaten and burned alive in Sokoto state after being accused of making blasphemous comments.
Last year, a butcher, Usman Buda, was stoned to death in the same state under similar circumstances.
Though Nigeria's constitution upholds freedom of speech, the country remains deeply divided on matters of faith and justice.
Nigeria's Supreme Court has in the past ruled that blasphemy allegations must be proven in a court of law.
By Chris Ewokor, BBC
Related story: Nigeria’s blasphemy laws must be repealed, orders court
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