Foreign Minister of Nigeria says No justification for Gaza carnage

 Israel must stop its war on Gaza, and the world needs to drop its “double standards” over the killings in the besieged enclave, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told Al Jazeera.

Tuggar was visiting Qatar as part of a delegation led by Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Nigeria and Qatar signed a series of memorandums of understanding and discussed potential collaboration in sectors such as energy, trade, labour, agriculture and more.

The visit came at a time when Nigeria faces mounting economic and social challenges with armed attacks proliferating and an inflation rate at 30 percent.

Yet Nigeria, with a population of more than 200 million people and Africa’s largest economy, is also eyeing a greater role in regional and global affairs.

Tinubu leads the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) established in 1975. The bloc faces an uncertain future with Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announcing in late January they are quitting the regional grouping.

Al Jazeera sat down with Tuggar in Doha to learn more about what the government has in store for Africa’s largest economy.

Al Jazeera: Over the past week, there have been many meetings between Qatari and Nigerian officials. What are some of the key agreements and partnerships that have been made?

Yusuf Tuggar: Qatar has this Arabic concept of the word “irth” which is legacy, or inheritance. Nigeria is here to forge a common irth, legacy, inheritance with Qatar. They’re both major gas producers and if they work closely together, they can establish or expand further their market share.

We have cargo planes that go to Nigeria and come back empty. They take electronics and all sorts of other stuff from Qatar to Nigeria. They can be filled with agricultural produce because we have 12 huge river basin development authorities that we invested in during the oil boom in the 1970s, with dams ready for irrigation. Nigeria produces a lot of pineapple, a lot of mangoes that can be readily exported to Qatar.

There are so many opportunities. We want to see some of the big players here going to Nigeria and doing business. We’ve already signed several MOUs (memorandums of understanding). Even today, we signed MOUs on labour because we have huge human resources that Qatar can put to good use that we can apply to the medical sector and several others. The sky’s the limit.

And then of course, Qatar is also strong in services, airports. We have so many airports that are in existence that are underutilised that can be turned readily into cargo airports. We’ve got ports, we need more ports to be developed.

Al Jazeera: What are some of the upcoming gas projects?

Tuggar: There are several ongoing gas projects in Nigeria that we hope Qatar can invest in. We have so many opportunities for floating LNG projects. We’ve got an LNG plant that has run out of gas that is right next to us in Equatorial Guinea. All it needs is a pipeline, to pipe Nigerian gas to Equatorial Guinea and Bob’s your uncle. This is something that Qatar can take advantage of.

We have a Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline that is in the making to supply 15 African countries with gas and it can go on to Europe. I know Europe is looking to phase out gas but let’s work with the reality. The reality right now is that gas is still in demand.

We have a trans-Saharan gas pipeline. The leg of the pipeline within Nigeria has gone very far, it’s almost completed and it’s supposed to deliver gas all the way to Algeria. And you throw in Algerian gas and it can go all the way into Europe. These are all projects that are ongoing that Qatar can be a part of when it comes to gas.

But we’re not just looking at gas, we’re looking at agriculture, the health sector. All the relevant ministers are here; we’re looking at metals refining for rare earths; Nigeria is rich in lithium. This is something that can be taken advantage of.

Al Jazeera: Regarding the biggest conflict in the world right now, in Gaza more than 30,000 people have been killed. What are your thoughts on this?

Tuggar: There is no justification for the carnage that is going on in Gaza. It has to stop. There is no justification for the complete disregard for the proportionality of force that is being meted out on innocent civilians, on kids on children, on babies on women.

Nigeria has been consistent with its support for a two-state solution. The state of Palestine has every right to exist as an independent sovereign nation, the same way that Israel has a right to exist as an independent sovereign nation.

But this carnage is completely out of hand and totally unacceptable. There is no way to explain the double standards; it has to stop.

Al Jazeera: Regarding the war in Ukraine, the US and EU have been pressuring other countries to join in on sanctions against Russia. Nigeria has maintained a neutral, non-aligned stance. How difficult or easy has it been to maintain this stance?

Tuggar: [The non-aligned stance] has been the policy of the state of Nigeria since its inception, since it was created in 1960. Nigeria was part of the non-aligned movement and has remained so and at the moment we’re currently practicing what is now referred to as strategic autonomy.

We get along with all countries, and we’re not the only country that has that policy. Nigeria has always been an independent sovereign nation. So we are not compelled to follow any other country’s lead. We do what is right for our people, what’s in the interest of our people.

We get along famously with both of them [the US and Russia]. They also don’t have a problem with us being autonomous, being an independent country, with the freedom to maintain relations with all nations.

Al Jazeera: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have announced they’re leaving ECOWAS. Is there maybe a need to reinvent ECOWAS in any way?

Tuggar: No, there isn’t. There’s a process [for leaving] and it takes about a year. It’s one thing to pronounce that you’ve left, it’s another to really disengage from ECOWAS itself because every citizen of ECOWAS carries a passport. (An ECOWAS passport guarantees visa-free travel within the bloc). We’re waiting to see if they’re even going to print the passports which is going to cost millions of dollars.

We’re talking about 30 percent of, let’s say, Cote d’Ivoire, coming from Burkina Faso, and Mali, which means they would need new residencies or they will have to leave Cote d’Ivoire and the same thing with Nigeriens in Nigeria, in several other places. So it’s not as simple as it’s made out to be. The process of them leaving takes a lot more than just a simple pronouncement and there are certain procedures that have to be followed.

ECOWAS has shown clearly that there’s no bellicosity towards those countries because sanctions were removed out of humanitarian considerations. Fasting during Ramadan is coming up, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the Chairman of ECOWAS, heads of state and government pushed for the removal of sanctions. The ECOWAS leaders endorsed it and the sanctions have been removed, borders have been opened.

There’s no compulsion in the membership of ECOWAS, it’s up to the regimes in those countries to make a decision. ECOWAS is a union of a community of people and the emphasis is on the community, on the people, on the citizens.

Al Jazeera: In Nigeria, between 40 and 45 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. How does the government plan for economic growth and to address the issue of poverty?

Tuggar: We’re talking about 300,000 training centres across the country. We’re talking vast exponential job creation through ICT, information technology that is happening. we’re talking about providing fast-speed internet to the youth. We’re talking about business process outsourcing.

So these are all a lot of the opportunities but even before that, there’s a social investment programme that is ongoing, that provides directly to the poorest section of Nigeria because we can’t wait until the jobs are created. There’s a direct government intervention that has been going on so these are some of the measures that are being taken towards addressing this.

Al Jazeera: The country is seeing an exodus of youth going abroad for opportunities. What would be the consequences for Nigeria to seeing all this youth leave?

Tuggar: We have what we refer to as the 4Ds in my Ministry of Foreign Affairs – That’s democracy development, demography and diaspora. And the fourth D, the diaspora, is where we look to engage other countries that are in demand of our human resources, get them to invest in certain sectors so that we will be able to train enough skilled workers for both ourselves and the country that is demanding for that.

So doctors, nurses, and at the moment you actually even have Nigeria supplying software engineers to places like Lithuania.

We need to do it in a structured way. We’re not saying that Nigerians cannot go abroad to work. By all means they should. But at the same time, for every nurse that goes abroad, we want to be able to create many more in Nigeria that would cater for our needs. We need to partner with countries that are prepared to invest in those sectors.

Al Jazeera: We’re seeing unprecedented inflation; Nigerians are struggling with the costs. The prices of food and transport have more than tripled since President Tinubu took over and removed the fuel subsidy, even though he promised to ease an already bad situation. What are your thoughts on this? Has he failed to deliver on his promise one year in?

Tuggar: He certainly hasn’t. This is something that was anticipated. This is one of the consequences and, unfortunately, we are feeling it even more because we delayed for so many years, subsidy removal.

This is a sort of bitter pill that Nigeria has to take but there are other measures that are being taken to serve as palliatives for the situation that we’re facing.

You have to bear in mind also that Nigeria is not the only country that is facing these economic challenges; it’s almost global. Inflation is something that a lot of countries are facing, but we have to bite the bullet and do what is right now, for the future.

We’re continuing to supplement and things are getting better. Our crude oil production has gone up, so has our gas production through LNG. We’re going to be feeling the effects of a spike in foreign exchange earnings, which would serve to ameliorate the situation and we’re plugging all the leakages in our economy.

Al Jazeera: There’s also been a surge in kidnappings across the country as well. Does the government bear any responsibility for this?

Tuggar: The government is always there to tackle the challenges.

At the same time, there are so many measures being taken to address these through the three different tiers of government. Because you have to bear in mind also that the responsibility is not simply on the federal government, the government at the centre.

Nigeria’s constitution prescribes rules for the three tiers. So you’ve got the federal government headed by Mr President, you’ve got state governments headed by governors and then you’ve got local government. We have 774 local government areas that are under state governments and they need to be working so that responsibility for them to work and work efficiently rests squarely on the state governors and the state governments.

By Mersiha Gadzo, Al Jazeera

Students from Nigeria who fled war in Ukraine are being told to leave Europe

Olabisi* was out to get groceries during her post-graduate clinical rotations at the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University in western Ukraine on the morning of 24 February 2022 when she heard loud bangs. Then came breaking news alerts: Russia was invading Ukraine. She rushed home to pack a few belongings.

“In the course of moving, I lost my certificates and even my passport,” she said.

She headed towards the border between Ukraine and Romania with hundreds of thousands of others. Thankfully, with her Ukrainian ID card, she was allowed passage. From Romania, she travelled by train to the Netherlands, along with other students whose lives had just been uprooted.

Olabisi chose the Netherlands because – like a number of western European countries – it had announced plans to take in people displaced from the Ukraine war, and she had heard it was cheaper and more welcoming than others.

In 2022, the European Union activated a rule called a Temporary Protection Directive, granting those fleeing war a stay for up to two years – until March 4, 2024. In mid 2023, the Netherlands decided that non-Ukrainian citizens or “third world nationals with temporary residence” must leave a year earlier than previously announced. They – most of them students – brought a collective case against the Dutch government insisting that they be allowed to stay the allotted time. The Council of State, the Netherlands’ highest administrative court, agreed.

But now time is running out for Olabisi and those like her. Roughly 2,200 people from different nationalities are said to be affected. (Students interviewed for this story say they prefer their luck in Europe over the option of returning to Nigeria, where they consider the academic system sub-par and prone to interruptions.)

Olabisi is one of an estimated 4,000 Nigerian students who had been studying in Ukraine before the war. The eastern European country had attracted African students, particularly medical students, partly due to the relatively low costs of studying and partly as a product of student exchange programmes dating back to the former Soviet Union’s investment in African countries.

Olabisi and other students say that, to make matters worse, the Nigerian government has not adequately intervened via its embassies to help them.

They say Nigeria has left them in limbo, just as it did with the 1,625 Nigerian students in Ukraine who were finally evacuated to Nigeria in July 2022, four and a half months after the war broke out.
 

Nigerian diplomats missing in action, in Europe?

The Nigerian mission in the Netherlands disputes this. Eniola Ajayi, Nigeria’s ambassador to The Hague, told openDemocracy: “All the reprieve that students got in the Netherlands was due to my efforts… I have helped them as much as is possible within my capacity. This is the truth.”

The embassy claimed the mission housed some “families at the Guest Chalet of [Ajayi’s] Residence until they were able to get alternative accommodation” and cash assistance was given to others. The embassy also mentioned the case of a depressed student who was sent back to Nigeria for medical treatment.

The mission said it had given Nigerian nationals ample notice of the Dutch government’s intentions. To stay beyond the March 2024 deadline, the Dutch government has advised students to either seek asylum if they could prove their lives would be at risk back home, or accept an independent offer of 5,000 euros to return there.

Olabisi does not qualify for asylum as her life is not at risk in Nigeria but she doesn’t want to return to the country she left since she was 17. Now 30, she cannot imagine rebuilding her life again, especially as Nigeria experiences a steep economic decline.
 

Nigerian government, still missing in action

While the Nigerian government backs the return of students who are currently abroad, there is no safety net for those who do so, the students claim.

Wasiu Sidiq, 21, was studying at Lviv National Medical University when the war broke out and he was evacuated. When he returned to Nigeria, he attempted to continue his studies remotely – but stopped when the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria said it would not recognise medical certificates issued for online study.

The government claimed it was providing an option for the evacuated students to continue their education in Nigerian universities instead. The Foreign Affairs Ministry published a call-out on its website asking concerned students to register towards being placed locally – but the website link never worked and no students could register.

Sidiq, frustrated, decided to return to Europe, where he headed for Lisbon and is currently working in customer services for 890 euros a month. He tried to start uni there, but does not speak Portuguese and so has been unable to.

“If I don’t go to work, I cannot eat or pay my rent,” he said. “So I don’t have the time to go to the language class. All of us are just doing that.”

Sidiq claims students have tried to contact the Nigerian embassy in Lisbon for assistance with resettlement and negotiations on residence permits.

“They have not responded to us at all,” he said. “The embassy is not working. I have to leave Portugal to go and renew my passport.”

openDemocracy approached the Nigerian embassy in Lisbon for comment. A consular assistant insisted the embassy could only respond in person, in a physical meeting. Written questions and requests for a virtual meeting were ignored. Repeated requests were also made to Aminu Tanko, head of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and the Abuja office of the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM). The latter promised a response that did not come.

Consular failures, according to John Osuntokun, a professor and former Nigerian ambassador to Germany, are largely due to lack of priority.

“It is a large country and there are so many issues waiting for attention and this situation is going to be the least important to them,” he said. “My advice to them will be to come home.”

Osuntokun said standard practice is for complaints from Nigeria’s foreign missions to be relayed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for advice.

Asked if the ministry had received any such requests from the embassy, the foreign ministry spokesperson told openDemocracy: “The ministry has not received any such complaints.”

Two years into the war and with fate hanging in the balance, experts believe there is little the embassies can offer now. “Consular services are not services that provide long-term solutions; they are supposed to provide immediate help and assistance,” said Matthew Ayibakuro, a governance adviser at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Nigeria.

* Name has been changed.

Ope Adetayo, openDemocracy

Related story: Video - Fourth Batch of Nigerian Evacuees Arrives Nigeria

Video - Nigeria's medical council bans certificates issued from Ukrainian universities

Nigerians blocked from volunteering to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia

Nigeria halts all Christian pilgrimages to Israel

Nigeria has temporarily halted all pilgrimages to Israel. This move follows a surge in deadly hostilities over the weekend, disrupting the plans of eager Easter pilgrims.

Originally scheduled to depart for Israel and Jordan on Tuesday, the pilgrimage for a group of committed Christians has now been canceled until further notice. The Nigerian government's Christian Pilgrim Commission has confirmed this decision, emphasizing the prevailing uncertainty caused by the ongoing conflict.

Sunny Udeh, the commission's Director for Mobilization and Sensitization, shared his thoughts on the matter, stating, "The war has created uncertainties in our planning for the main pilgrimage in December... we do hope the hostilities will end before the end of the year." It is a sentiment that underscores the desire for peace in the region.

On average, approximately 18,000 Christian pilgrims from Nigeria embark on journeys to holy sites in Israel and Jordan each year. The commission's commitment to ensuring the safety of these Nigerian pilgrims remains unwavering, prompting them to closely monitor the situation in Israel.

The recent escalation in violence stems from an attack launched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel last Saturday. Tragically, the conflict has claimed the lives of at least 1,200 Israelis, with retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip from Tel Aviv resulting in the deaths of at least 1,000 Palestinians.

The Nigerian government has called for an end to hostilities and a ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters. Their stance prioritizes a peaceful resolution to the conflict through dialogue.

It's worth noting that, despite the ongoing chaos in the region, commercial flights from Nigeria to Tel Aviv remain unaffected. The situation continues to be closely monitored, with hope for a swift return to normalcy and peace in the region.

Africa News

Two soldiers from Nigeria killed by Islamist insurgents

Three soldiers from Nigeria and Niger were killed and at least 12 others were injured on Sunday after attacks by Islamist fighters in northeastern Nigeria, two military sources said on Monday.

The troops were part of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) made up of forces from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria that are seeking to end an Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and displaced millions more.

A Nigerian military source said that two Nigerian soldiers of the MNJTF were killed when their vehicle set off an improvised explosive device while they were pursuing insurgents in the Arege area in northeastern Borno state, the heartland of the insurgency.

Ten troops, including the commanding officer, were injured and another two civilians working with the troops were also wounded, the source added.

A Nigerien soldier was killed when the vehicle he was travelling in detonated another explosive device in a separate part of Arege, while the number of wounded was not immediately known, a source with the Nigerien army said.

An MNJTF situation report seen by Reuters confirmed the attacks.

MNJTF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kamarudeen Adegoke was not reachable for comment.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters

Nigeria Planning on Evacuating Nearly 3,000 From Sudan

Nigeria plans to start evacuating nearly 3,000 of its nationals, mostly students, from Sudan by convoy to Egypt this week, a top official said on Monday.

Foreign countries are rushing to get their nationals out of Sudan as fighting between forces loyal to two rival generals rages into a second week.

Western nations have sent special forces and military aircraft to help get out embassy staff and other nationals. Others have fled the capital Khartoum by road.

Onimode Bandele, special duties director for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency or NEMA, told Channels TV the plan was to move about 2,650 to 2,800, including families of embassy staff.

"Nobody has been evacuated yet," he said. "There are plans to get buses to start movement tomorrow morning."

Officials say a total of around 5,000 Nigerian nationals could be looking for evacuation.

Since fighting erupted in Sunday, at least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies, which also reported Sudanese civilians fleeing areas affected by fighting, including to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

AFP

Nigerian students trapped in Sudan call for help

"We from the IUA and the students that live around IUA experienced the worst day of our lives and this is because the RSF base is right behind the male and female hostels and most of the attacks that were launched were on us. For three days and nights, we have witnessed this rough scenario," he narrated.

Nigerian students have appealed to the Nigerian government to evacuate them from Sudan where fighting between the military and a para-military force has killed hundreds of people.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how fighting erupted in the capital city, Khartoum, on Saturday between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over political power in the crisis torn country.

The Nigerian students on Wednesday in a memo by their association said they were stranded, with no access to basic needs.

"Fear, panic and desperation are one of the few emotions we are currently feeling. Our lives are not safe," Sumyyah Yusuf, a second year medical student at Sudan International University in Khartoum, said to PREMIUM TIMES.

Ms Yusuf said it had become difficult to access anything, including food, water, and electricity because it is unsafe to go out and most stores are either shut or empty.

She said they (students) were trying to stay in touch with each other through social media. Although they had received a memo from the Nigerian embassy in Sudan reassuring them, she said "we need more action."

Ms Yusuf said she wants Nigeria "to get its nationals out of here (Sudan), swiftly and safely."

Sadiq Haruna, an Islamic Studies graduate from the International University of Africa, Khartoum confirmed the students have no way of confirming if the memo was from the Nigerian embassy in Sudan.

He said the condition where he lives, "is a little bit better" after they had witnessed the worst days of their lives.

"We from the IUA and students that live around IUA experienced the worst day of our lives and this is because the RSF base is right behind the male and female hostels and most of the attacks that were launched were on us. For three days and nights, we witnessed this rough scenario," he narrated.

According to Mr Haruna, female students had been evacuated by the university from their hostels to staff accomodations for safety.

He added that the students had also come under several forms of attacks including theft. He said some students were moving to parts of the country that are relatively peaceful.

According to news reports, the fighting is happening in major cities like Khartoum and Merowe.

Mr Haruna appealed to the government to come to their rescue as it did to Nigerian students in Ukraine.

"It is taking time and we do not want to lose anyone but we are on the verge...," he appealed.

This reporter heard the sound of gunshots in the backgroung while speaking with Mr Haruna.

Nigerian government speaks

However, the federal government through the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), had early Thursday said it received the letter from the students' association.

NIDCOM in a statement signed by Gabriel Odu assured that the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) was consulting with the Nigerian mission in Sudan and other relevant agencies .

It urged all Nigerian Students in Sudan as well as Nigerians living in thecountry to be security conscious and calm.

An official copy of the memo the students spoke about was seen by PREMIUM TIMES in a WhatsApp group "Nigerian Community in Sudan."

It was shared by a user who signed off their messages with 'ambassador' but gave no names.

The Embassy in the letter, appealed to Nigerian nationals to exercise caution and restraint, noting that it is in touch with all the relevant stakeholders in Khartoum and Abuja, respectively, for protection and well-being of Nigerians in Sudan.

"The Embassy is making plans for possible evacuation of Nigerian Nationals with approval of the Federal Government of Nigeria as soon as the situation allows it and you will be communicated in due course," the letter said.

The memo attributed to the ambassador urged nations to stay safe and be wary of fake news circulating in social media, adding that the Embassy will keep a close contact with the leadership of all the Nigerian Union for further consular assistance and updates.

Sudan fighting

The fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF has entered its sixth day after four failed ceasefire attempts.

At least 300 people have died in the fighting and almost 3,200 more have been wounded in Khartoum, the western region of Darfur and other states, Ahmed Al-Mandhari of the World Health Organisation says.

By Chiamaka Okafor, Premium Times

Nigeria's Obasanjo clinches truce in Ethiopia

Olusegun Obasanjo has had mixed results as a mediator of intractable conflicts across Africa since he stepped down as Nigeria's president in 2007, although he has never tired of trying.

But on Wednesday the 85-year-old secured a surprise win, leading the team that announced a cessation of hostilities in Ethiopia, marking a diplomatic breakthrough in a conflict that has killed thousands, displaced millions and left many starving.

Aware that permanent progress in ending two years of fighting with roots that can be traced far further back in Ethiopia's history, the former army officer struck a cautious note.

"This moment is not the end of the peace process," the African Union mediator said. "Implementation of the peace agreement signed today is critical for its success."

Welcoming Ethiopia's government and the Tigray forces to a signing ceremony on Wednesday in South Africa's capital Pretoria, where talks have been held since Oct. 25, he said the agreement would allow the restoration of humanitarian supplies to Tigray.

Obasanjo stepped down from Nigeria's presidency in 2007 and presided over elections that marked the first handover of power from one civilian head of state to another in Nigeria since it became independent from Britain in 1960.

Many Nigerians wondered at the time of that vote whether the man who regularly spoke of his plans to retire to his chicken farm really meant to relinquish power, after his allies had at one stage sought a constitutional change to secure a third term for him.

In the end, he delivered on his promise, at least in part.

He gave up the presidency, but instead of heading off to tend his poultry he launched a new career trying to calm flare-ups across the continent, stretching from the Ivory Coast and Liberia to Congo, Angola, Burundi and Mozambique.

Some cooled down, others simmered on.

The test now is whether Ethiopia's conflict is on track for a permanent peace deal or just a temporary respite.
 

ONCE HAILED A DEMOCRATIC HERO

His own country, meanwhile, has remained prey to instability.

When president of Nigeria, an OPEC state which has struggled with violence across much of its territory, he faced insurrection in the oil-producing Niger Delta, which he was criticised for dealing with harshly.

He did all in his power to block a presidential bid by his estranged deputy, Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

That move was blocked by the Supreme Court, although Abubakar never managed to secure the top job.

In the eyes of many in Nigeria and abroad, these manoeuvres tarnished his reputation as a democrat.

Obasanjo first gained prominence during the 1967-1970 civil war over the Biafra region. As a young colonel in the federal army, he received the surrender of the secessionist Biafrans.

After a coup in 1975, Obasanjo was number two in the military government of Murtala Mohammed, and when Mohammed was assassinated the following year, he became head of state.

He presided over elections in 1979 and handed over power to an elected president -- the first Nigerian army ruler to do so.

Ater a long period out of the limelight, Obasanjo was convicted of plotting to overthrow dictator Sani Abacha, on what were widely seen as trumped-up charges, and jailed in 1995.

After Abacha's death in 1998, Obasanjo was released and was elected as civilian president in 1999.

As president, he restored Nigeria's status as a major African power after years of isolation under Abacha, sending peacekeepers into several war zones and being feted at international summits.

He brought in a team of economic reformers who introduced more budget discipline and launched a war on corruption, although critics at the time said that crackdown was aimed mainly at his opponents. Despite its oil wealth, Nigeria's economy has continued to falter.

Obasanjo, like others before and after him, failed to curb ethnic, religious and regional tensions, including the continuing instability in the Niger Delta, where oil production has been severely disrupted by kidnappings and violence.

Reuters

Related story: FMR Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo quits ruling party PDP after criticising President Goodluck Jonathan

 

Video - Fourth Batch of Nigerian Evacuees Arrives Nigeria

 

Another set of Nigerians fleeing the crisis in Ukraine, have been successfully evacuated by the Nigerian Government. The 306 Nigerians arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport this morning bringing the total number of Nigerians returned to the country to 1,149.

Nigerians blocked from volunteering to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia

The Nigerian government on Monday said it will not tolerate the recruitment of its citizens as mercenaries to support Ukraine fighting Russia.

Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry spokesman Francisca Omayuli in a statement said Nigeria is in talks with Ukrainian counterparts to forestall such an occurrence.

“As a responsible member of the international community and consistent with our obligations under international law, Nigeria discourages the use of mercenaries anywhere in the world and will not tolerate the recruitment, in Nigeria, of Nigerians as mercenaries to fight in Ukraine or anywhere in the world,” Omayuli said.

“The Federal Government will continue to engage with the Embassy of Ukraine in Nigeria and other relevant authorities to prevent this possibility.”

Nigeria’s opposition to hiring its citizens to fight Russia in Ukraine comes days after media reports suggested that Nigerian volunteers were being drafted for the ongoing war.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky last week called on foreign nationals who are “friends of peace and democracy” to travel to the country to fight against the Russian invasion.

“Anyone who wants to join the defence of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and fight side by side with the Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals,” Zelensky said.

About 115 Nigerians volunteered to join the Ukrainian forces after Zelensky made the call.

But Omayuli said Nigeria will prevent Nigerians from volunteering as mercenaries in the European country despite media reports that Nigerians were asked to pay $1000 for visas and travel tickets before they could be allowed to volunteer.

The Nigerian official, however, said the Ukraine Embassy refuted the reports that any money was demanded from Nigerian volunteers.

“Furthermore, the Embassy clarified that the Ukrainian government is not admitting foreign volunteer fighters and as such dissociated itself from the claim that it is requesting $1,000 from each Nigerian volunteer for air ticket and visa,” Omayuli said.

By Dennis Erezi

The Guardian

Video - Nigeria celebrates selfless efforts of it's armed forces

Nigeria has marked its 50th armed forces anniversary in the capital Abuja. The ceremony celebrated the selfless efforts of its servicemen and women. Tributes were paid especially to those killed in the line of duty. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam reports.

Fifty years on, Nigeria struggles with memory of Biafra civil war

Diekoye Oyeyinka, 33, has been billed as one of the most promising Nigerian writers of his generation.

He went to some of the finest schools in his West African homeland but says that, like the majority of his classmates, he “didn’t know about Biafra until I was 14.”

When he did begin to find out about the brutal civil war that nearly tore Nigeria apart, it was not in the classroom. Instead it was a schoolmate in his dormitory who showed him a separatist leaflet demanding Nigeria’s southeast break away from the rest of the country.

Before then, Oyeyinka had known nothing about how leaders from the Igbo ethnic group declared the independent state of Biafra in 1967.

He knew nothing of the conflict that resulted and the 30 months of fighting and famine that are estimated to have cost over a million lives before the secessionists surrendered 50 years ago in January 1970.

“We’ve had a very brutal history, the older generation went through a lot of trauma,” Oyeyinka said. “We just sweep it under the carpet, pretending nothing happened. But without knowing our history, we will repeat the same mistakes. Our history is a succession of deja vu.”

It was to try to break this cycle of ignorance that Oyeyinka wrote the novel “Stillborn” — a historic epic about Nigeria from the days of British colonial rule in 1950 to 2010. In it the civil war is the pivotal event.

Unlike other famed Nigerian writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, with her novel “Half Of A Yellow Sun,” or Chinua Achebe’s memoir “There Was A Country,” Oyeyinka is one of the few non-Igbo writers to have dwelt on the conflict.

“An Igbo friend got angry at me and said ‘You can’t write about us, it’s our conflict,'” he recounted.

But Oyeyinka insists that all Nigerians need to be made aware of what happened.

“We need to address these traumas ourselves, as a country, otherwise we are a tinder box ready to explode.”

While in the rest of Africa’s most populous nation many know little about the history of Biafra, in the former capital of the self-proclaimed state at Enugu the memory of those years lives on.

Biafran flags — an iconic red, black and green with a rising golden sun — make appearances on the front of buildings and hard-line separatists still demand independence.

The security forces — deployed heavily in the region — are quick to stamp out any clamor for a new Biafra.

At the end of the war in 1970, Nigerian leader Yukubu Gowon famously declared there would be “no victor, no vanquished” as he sought to reunite his shattered country.

The leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, went into exile for 13 years before being pardoned. He returned to Nigerian politics but was detained for 10 months in prison.

Leading Nigerian intellectual Pat Utomi says that many Igbos — the country’s third-biggest ethnic group, after the Hausa and the Yoruba — still feel marginalized.

One key event was when current President Muhammadu Buhari — then a military chief — seized power in 1983, and stopped the only Igbo to get close to leading Nigeria since the war from becoming head of state.

“In the early 1980s, people had forgotten about the war, but this succession of poor leadership brought bitterness among the new generations,” Utomi said.

Nowadays any incident — from the closure of the only airport in the southeast last year to the sacking of Igbo shops by customs officials in economic hub Lagos — can cause grievances to flare.

“It’s important to deal with history, to write it down. In Nigeria, we try to cover it up,” Utomi said. “We are more divided today than we’ve ever been before the civil war. We learnt nothing from it.”

In order to try to heal the rifts, Utomi helped organize the Never Again conference aiming to bring together key cultural and political figures to discuss the lessons of the Biafra war half a century after it ended.

He is also a patron of the Center for Memories in Enugu, a combination of a museum and library where visitors can come and “dig into history.”

History itself has been absent from Nigerian schools.

The current government reintroduced it only from last term as an obligatory subject for pupils from ages 10 to 13, after more than a decade off the curriculum.

“Teaching history is essential to build our identity as a country, and defend our patriotic values,” said Sonny Echono, permanent secretary at the education ministry.

But schools still remain woefully short of qualified history teachers, and there is no unified narrative about the civil war that does not figure in the lessons.

“We need to teach the war in our schools,” said Egodi Uchendu, a history professor at University of Nsukka, in the former Biafra territory. “Eastern Nigeria is completely different from how it was experienced in other parts of the country. We need to bring in the different angles to it.”

Chika Oduah, a Nigerian American journalist, has crossed the country to collect hundreds of testimonies of the victims and combatants of the Biafra conflict, which she publishes on her website Biafran War Memories.

She says that for many of those she interviewed it was the first time they had retold the horrors of the period.

“A seventy-something former soldier … broke down crying, when he told me how he lost his brother during the war,” she said.

She herself only learned at the age of 17 that her mother as a child spent two years in a camp for displaced people.

“Our parents wanted to move on, not look at the past,” Oduah insisted.

“But we need to talk about it, otherwise we won’t heal.”

By Sophie Bouillon

The Japan Times