Showing posts with label russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label russia. Show all posts

Friday, March 7, 2025

From nuclear deal to military co-operation, Russia continues its push into Nigeria

 

Officials from both countries recently discussed the expansion of a defence pact between Nigeria and Russia.

Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Yunus-bek Yevkurov and Chief of Defense Staff of the Nigerian Army Christopher Musa conversed on the subject, as realyed by the Russian embassy.

The embassy further added that both parties seemed pleased with the progress Nigeria and Russia have made regarding military-technical cooperation and discussed plans to deepen the relationship in the area.

Both countries struck an agreement in 2021 for the Russian military to provide training and supplies to its Nigerian counterpart, as seen on Sputnik.


Nigeria and Russia energy deal

Midway into February, Russia and Nigeria got into talks about a nuclear partnership.

The Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, made this known during an interview with the Russian newspaper, Sputnik, on the sidelines of the 38th AU Summit in Addis Ababa.

He disclosed that the West African economic giant and Africa’s largest oil producer is currently negotiating a potential partnership with Russia in nuclear energy and several other areas.

"There are so many opportunities that have been discussed. We have discussed atomic energy, we've discussed mining, we've discussed previous investments during the Soviet era that need to be carried on," the minister revealed.

At the start of the year, Nigeria was accepted as a partner state into the BRICS group of nations, where Russia is a primary stakeholder.

Shortly after, Yusuf Tuggar noted that Nigeria would be bolstering its economic cooperation with other BRICS nations across different sectors.

“The formal acceptance to participate as a partner country [of BRICS] underscores Nigeria's commitment to fostering international collaboration, leveraging economic opportunities, and advancing strategic partnerships that align with Nigeria's development objectives,” he stated at the time.

Nigeria’s current membership falls in line with its original goal, as it had stated back in 2023 that it planned to join BRICS within the next 2 years.

By Chinedu Okafor, Business Insider Africa

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

75 Nigerian football fans vanish in Russia after 2018 World Cup

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 75 out of 230 stranded Nigerian Football fans vanished in Russia after the 2018 FIFA World Cup .

The ministry’s spokesperson, Dr Tope Elias-Fatile, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the fans absconded in spite of government’s efforts to repatriate them.

Fatile said that 230 stranded Nigerian football fans were profiled to board chartered Ethiopian Airline to Abuja but at the last minute, only 155 boarded the flight.

“As at the last count, over 230 stranded Nigerians had been cleared to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Abuja, however, only 155 boarded the flight that arrived Friday night July 22,” he said.

He said that the ministry officials had to contribute to feed some of the stranded Nigerians in Moscow as many of them were left with nothing.

He said that though they had the rights not to come back, it would be better for them to return because of the unfavourable weather in that country.

He said that the mission had done a lot to facilitate their coming back, but they did not appreciate it.

”Do you know that the officials at the mission had to sacrifice their earning by contributing money to feed the stranded fans?,” he said.

He said that if, however, they repented and decided to come back, the ministry was ever ready to assist them.

Fatile said that Federal Government was ever willing to assist Nigerians at anytime, anywhere in the world

The spokesperson said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, had also made some contacts with relevant agencies to commence investigation into suspected human trafficking in the case.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the stranded football fans including a nursing mother in her mid-thirties arrived Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja at about 9.12 p.m. on July 20.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, who was at the airport to monitor their arrival, had said that the Federal Government was going to probe the case.

Onyeama said that the plan to probe the issue surrounding the incident was underway.

He said after a discussion with the Director-General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Ms Julie Okah–Donli, it was clear that there were possible cases of human trafficking among the returnees.

“I have spoken to the D-G of NAPTIP and she had also indicated that they had sounded the alarm bells for these young children not to leave the country, that it had all the hallmarks of trafficking and irregular migration,” he said.

The minister insisted that some of them, among whom was a nursing mother, were quite too young to have travelled to Russia by themselves solely for the purpose of the World Cup tournament.

He added that an investigation would also be launched into an allegation that some travel agents cancelled the return tickets of the football fans without informing them, leaving them stranded in the European country.


Monday, June 18, 2018

Video - Nigerian fans disappointed after 2-0 Group D loss to Croatia



Nigerians gathered at viewing centres across the West Africa nation to catch the action from the Kaliningrad Stadium. It was a disappointing ending for most of them, who now believe making it out of the group will be a tall order. Others however, remain optimistic.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Nigerian football star Nwankwo Kanu robbed in Russia

Nigerian legend Nwankwo Kanu had $11 000 stolen from his luggage in Russia as he arrived for a World Cup curtain-raiser.

The former Arsenal star was in Moscow to play for for the FIFA Legends against their Russian counterparts, and reported the missing money upon arrival in Kaliningrad, where the Super Eagles open their World Cup campaign against Croatia on June 16.

Russian Interior Ministry Irina Volk confirmed that two workers at the Sheremetyevo Airport had been arrested, saying: "The stolen money has been confiscated and will be returned to its owner."

The FIFA Legends team won the match 6-4, with Niko Kranjcar, Nuno Gomes and Cafu each scoring a brace.