U.S. Vice President meets with President Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria

 The U.S. government has advised Nigerian politicians to work towards ensuring a peaceful and violence-free February general elections.

The U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, gave the advice at a news conference on Sunday in Lagos at the end of a closed-door meeting he held with President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammad Buhari, the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, respectively.

“The U.S. government strongly believes in Nigeria having credible, free and fair elections next month,” Mr. Kerry said.

He said that the international community and the U.S. government were keenly interested in the conduct of next month’s election.

Mr. Kerry said that he was impressed with the outcome of his meeting with the two major presidential contenders in the forthcoming elections.

He, however, said that the U.S. government would not hesitate to deny American visa to any political office seeker involved in political violence in Nigeria.

“We want to say that any Nigerian who promotes any form of violence during the elections remains ineligible for U.S. visa,” Mr. Kerry said.

Mr. Kerry said that President Obama specifically sent him to meet with the two candidates with a view to having a violence-free election.

On security, the secretary of state also restated his government’s commitment to continue to support Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram sect.

“The U.S. will continue to work with the Nigerian military in putting an end to the continuous killings of innocent Nigerians and attack on communities.

“The U.S strongly condemns these attacks which have escalated in the last few weeks and it is gradually spreading to neighbouring countries.”

Mr. Kerry also refuted allegation that the U.S. would in future discriminate against Nigerians and other West Africans suspected to have contacted the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD.

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Boko Haram attack in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Nigerian Islamist Boko Haram fighters have attacked the strategically important north-eastern city of Maiduguri, with dozens reported dead.

Earlier on Sunday they captured the north-eastern town of Monguno.

The BBC's Will Ross in Lagos says that with the insurgents gaining ground, Maiduguri is increasingly at risk.

US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile has arrived in Nigeria to call for peaceful elections next month which need to set "a new standard".

The vote looks set to be the closest since the end of military rule 15 years ago.

Our correspondent says that Mr Kerry is in Nigeria to show solidarity in the fight against Boko Haram, which has increased its attacks in recent days.

People in Maiduguri woke up to the sound of explosions and heavy gunfire as Boko Haram launched a pre-dawn attack on this strategic city.

Ground troops, air strikes and local vigilantes managed to stop the jihadists from penetrating the city. Much of the fighting was around a barracks.

In a separate attack the town of Monguno was captured - the latest to be seized by the group.

With the insurgents gaining more and more territory Maiduguri is increasingly vulnerable. It is home to tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes because of the conflict.

Fierce fighting has been reported on the outskirts of Maiduguri. A curfew remains in place and dozens of militants and soldiers are reported to have been killed.

Human rights group Amnesty International has warned that hundreds of thousands of civilians are now "at grave risk''.

Militants also attacked Monguno, 140km (86 miles) north of Maiduguri. The army there was reported to have been overwhelmed, with houses set on fire.

A journalist in Maiduguri told the BBC that fleeing soldiers from Monguno were now arriving at the barracks in in Maiduguri.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language, launched guerrilla operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state.

Thousands of people have been killed throughout the insurgency, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria.

In his Lagos talks, Mr Kerry urged President Goodluck Jonathan and the main opposition's presidential candidate, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, not to condone violence during what is expected to be a tense election campaign,

"We are prepared to do more [to counter the Boko Haram threat] but our ability to do more will depend to some degree on the full measure of credibility, accountability, transparency and peacefulness of this election," Mr Kerry said.


BBC

Video - Nigeria reaching a landmark of 6 months without a single case of polio

Nigeria was earlier this week awarded 8.1 million US dollars in funding in a final push to eradicate polio. Africa's most populous nation has so far been polio-free for six months.

Nigeria will start producing anti-retroviral drugs

Dr Bilali Camara, UNAIDS Country Director, said on Thursday that four companies will commence production of anti-retroviral drugs in Nigeria.

Camara, who is also the UNAIDS Focal Point for ECOWAS, disclosed in an interview with newsmen in Abuja. He said the local production of anti-retroviral drugs would enable people access treatment at a cheaper rate. He added that it will also help those on life treatment, stressing that people live on treatment for 15 to 30 years.

“We have commenced negotiations with four pharmaceutical companies; the companies have been certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the general manufacturing practices,” he said. The official said WHO would assist to conduct the prequalification processes, “and as soon as that is concluded they will commence the production of the anti-retroviral drugs in Nigeria’’.

Camara said many West and Central African states would benefit from the production, because nobody is producing the drugs in this region. He added that beside Nigeria, seven million other people may need the drugs for treatment from West and Central Africa, which shows that there is good return of investment to the companies. In related development, Camara said UNAIDS would enter into partnership with telecommunication companies to ensure that basic information about HIV/AIDS was advertised.

He said this would assist to further increase access to treatment to 101 million people in Nigeria are targeted. “We want to give more people access to basic information on HIV/AIDS. We want our target to know how to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV where and how to get HIV/AIDS related services.So that in the next few years we have more people accessing the services which many result into many infants born HIV positive mothers and born infants without the disease,” he said.
Accoring to him, “if we do it correctly it will effect on the overall HIV transmission in the country’’. Camara said: “Things are going in the right direction, more people are on treatment, more people are accessing preventive measures and new infections are coming down. It is not as speedy as we want it but clearly things are on the right track.”

Vanguard

Nigeria pressured to reduce fuel prices further

Nigeria's government was under pressure Tuesday to cut petrol prices further, with unions saying people were being "short-changed" over the global crude price plunge.

The main opposition accused the government of "tokenism" before the February 14 elections, after Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke announced 10-naira (five US cent, 4.5 euro cent) reduction on Sunday.

A litre of fuel at the pump in Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer now costs 87 naira.

But the opposition and unions said the price of petrol as well as diesel and kerosene should be slashed further.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) said in a statement on Monday that the new price of petrol was "mere tokenism at a time the price of crude oil has crashed by about 60 percent".

Party spokesman Lai Mohammed said the government should immediately cut the price of petrol to 70 naira a litre and diesel and kerosene to no more than 90 naira.

Mohammed charged that state corruption was to blame for the size of Sunday's reduction, saying the government was unwilling to reduce the price further as it would hit its so-called "commissions".

The plunge in crude prices to below $50 a barrel has slashed the Nigerian government's revenue, forcing it to revise its 2015 budget forecast.

Africa's leading economy based on gross domestic product derives 70 percent of government revenue and 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings from crude sales.

Nigeria currently produces 1.75 million barrels of crude a day, according to OPEC, but imports most of its refined petroleum products, which the government subsidises to keep prices low.

A devaluation of the currency against the US dollar has also hiked the cost of imports, with a knock-on effect on the price of imported goods and services to consumers.

Peter Ozo-Eson, general-secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress workers' union, echoed calls for further reductions at the pump.

"If we consider all the variables in determining petrol prices, Nigerians are still being short-changed," he told AFP.

"The 10-naira drop is not enough. It should have been 30 percent or even more. If you check other oil-producing nations, you will notice that the drop is at least one-thirds."

AFP

Related story: Nigeria reduces fuel price