Nigeria to withdraw troops from Mali

Plans are underway by the Nigerian Army to withdraw some of its 1,200 soldiers from the UN peacekeeping force currently operating in the troubled west African country, Mali. This was revealed by the Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara.

Mr Ouattara who is the Head of Regional Group Ecowas, disclosed that the troops would be leaving for Nigeria to tackle the ongoing Boko Haram campaign in the country.

Mr Quattara however, did not confirm the number of troops that Nigeria will leave behind in Mali. Mali would be holding its general elections on 28 July.


The Nigerian troops form part of a force of 12,600 African troops that took charge from a French-led mission early July.

A combined troops of French and West African succeeded in driving militants out of northern Mali in February.

The UN force, with its French acronym Minusma has aligned with the Malian army to secure the forthcoming election. The troop is expected to grow up to 11,200, plus 1,400 police towards the end of the year.

Speaking at a summit of West African nations in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, President Ouattara said, the withdrawal was “because of the domestic situation in Nigeria”.

“They are not withdrawing everyone. A good part of the troops are going to be there,” he said.

Daily Post

Video - Nigeria's booming fashion industry

In Nigeria, the economy is booming thanks to the country s rich oil supplies, and now the country s fashion designers are wanting to ride the wave of economic prosperity with the hope of making Lagos an international fashion hotspot.

Bloomberg ranks Nigeria as most stressful country in the world

Overview

Bloomberg ranked countries based on the stressfulness of their living environments.

Methodology

Seven equally weighted variables were considered: homicide rates, GDP per capita on a purchasing-power-parity basis, income inequality, corruption perception, unemployment, urban air pollution and life expectancy. Income inequality was measured by the Gini Index, where a score of 0 represents perfect equality and 100 perfect inequality. Corruption perception refers to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, which scores countries on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being the most corrupt. Urban outdoor air pollution is the annual mean concentration of fine particles smaller than 10 microns, measured in micrograms per cubic meter. Countries were allotted points for each variable based on their relative position in that category's ranking. The country with the least-stressful measure for each variable received 0 points, while the country with the highest stress level received 100 points. All other countries were scored on a percentile basis depending on their position between the two extremes. Points for the seven variables were averaged for a final score from 0 to 100, a higher score indicating a more stressful living environment. All data were the latest available. Only countries with data available for all seven variables were included.



Source(s)

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, International Monetary Fund, Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, Transparency International, World Health Organization
Last Updated

May 10, 2013
Bloomberg

Related stories: Video - homeless battle in Makoko 

Africa's richest man speaks about the future of Nigeria

India has now become Nigeria's biggest crude oil buyer

India has overtaken the U.S. as the top buyer of Nigerian crude oil, a top Indian diplomat in Abuja has said.

Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria Mahesh Sachdev said recent statistics showed that India had been buying more of Nigeria’s crude than the U.S. over the last three months.

“India will continue to cooperate with Nigeria to improve its economy and it will also assist the country in capacity building of workers in both the public and private sectors,” Mr. Sachdev said, during a courtesy visit to the Governor of Niger state in northern Nigeria last Wednesday.

On the bilateral trade, he said the present figure stands at $10 billion, even as the total investment of India in Nigerian economy could be valued at $16.6 billion.

Mr. Sachdev disclosed that India would partner with the government of Kano state to establish a film city and also collaborate with the Niger state government to establish health care facilities as well as improve agriculture.

He also promised assistance in the state on the training of young people who wish to embark on vocational education.

Governor of the state Babangida Aliyu commended India for being one of the few countries that had kept faith with strengthening the work force.

According to him, this has helped Nigeria to develop in every ramification.

India has recently reduced its dependence on Iranian oil in the wake of the U.S. and European sanctions on the import of oil from the Islamic Republic.

The Hindu

Secondary schools in Northern Nigeria close after 42 students killed

Secondary schools in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Yobe have been ordered to close until September after a massacre at a boarding school.

Authorities said 42 people were killed in a gun and bomb attack by suspected Islamist extremists early on Saturday in the Mamudo district.

Witnesses said the assailants, believed to be Boko Haram Islamists, rounded up students and staff in a dormitory before throwing explosives inside and opening fire.

The gunmen "stormed the school around 5:30am and began to shoot at the students from different directions," said a spokesman for a military task force in the state, Lieutenant Eli Lazarus.

A senior police officer said the students were asleep when the attackers stormed their school.

It was the third school attack in the region in recent weeks, and the second in Yobe.

The government issued a statement ordering "all secondary schools in the state be closed down from Monday 8th July 2013 until a new academic session begins in September."

Boko Haram, which translates roughly to "Western education is a sin," has repeatedly targeted schools in the north-east as part of its four year insurgency.

One local resident said Saturday's attack was believed to be a reprisal for the killing of 22 Boko Haram members during a military raid in the town of Dogon Kuka earlier in the week.

The European Union condemned the Yobe school attack, as a "horrific murder by terrorists."


Calls for phone network to be restored

The state government also called on the military to restore local mobile phone services, saying a blackout was preventing residents from reporting suspicious activity.

Nigeria's military cut phone service in much of the country's north-east in mid-May, in an effort to end Boko Haram's insurgency.

Satellite phones have also been banned, with the military saying insurgents use them to plan attacks, and landlines are rare.

A number of residents had initially expressed support for the phone cut if it could lead to peace.

Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has left some 3,600 people dead since 2009, including killings by security forces, which have come under criticism for alleged abuses.

The current military offensive was launched after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states on May 14.

He said at the time that the insurgents had managed to take control of a number of remote, border areas of the region.

Since then, the military has claimed major successes and say they have pushed the insurgents out, but the violence has continued, indicating the gains may be short-lived.

ABC

Related story: Video - Thousands flee Boko Haram violence