Nnamdi Kanu: Nigerian separatist allowed to watch Liverpool games on TV

 A Nigerian separatist in detention on treason charges has been allowed by a judge to watch the matches of his favourite team, Liverpool, on TV.

Nnamdi Kanu, who denies the charges, leads the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) group.

In detention since last year, his privileges have not extended to watching whole football matches live.

But thanks to the judge, a fellow Liverpool fan, Mr Kanu can now view the climax to a possibly historic season.

Having already bagged the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, Liverpool are just two matches away from winning the English Premier League title and the European Champions League.

Bizarrely, the change in fortunes for Mr Kanu did not come at his request and resulted from the discovery that Mr Kanu, his lawyer and the judge were all Liverpool fans.

He was in court on Wednesday for a hearing on a bail application following his arrest last year for campaigning for the independence of south-east Nigeria, which he refers to as Biafra.

The bail application was refused but during the discussions about whether he should be granted bail, Justice Binta Nyako complained that Mr Kanu had disobeyed a previous order that he stop appearing in court wearing clothes from the Italian luxury brand Fendi, when he had other options.

She may have been referring to a tweet in which Mr Kanu was seen in an Atletico Madrid tracksuit during a visit by Charles Soludo, the Anambra state governor.

The judge, then joked that she was a Liverpool supporter and asked Mr Kanu's lawyer, Mike Ozekhome if he was also a fan of the football club. The lawyer said: "Yes."

Mrs Nyako then turned to Mr Kanu in the dock. "What is your team?" she asked.

"My team is Liverpool even from age of seven," Mr Kanu, standing upright in the dock, responded.

The judge then ordered the prison representative to allow Mr Kanu to watch next week's Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool and any other match of his favourite football club.

"You must allow the defendant to watch the matches any day they are playing," she said, adding that she was going to make an order to that effect.

Mr Kanu may now be able to sit down and watch Liverpool's last Premier League match on Sunday, but whether that will be an enjoyable experience is another matter.

Manchester City are currently one point ahead of Liverpool in the title race and are favourites to retain the trophy.

BBC

Related story: Nigerian separatist Nnamdi Kanu's Facebook account removed for hate speech

Video - Nigerians turn to charcoal as cooking gas prices soar

 

Fuel prices have tripled in less than a year, forcing many people to use firewood to cook their meals. Officials hoping to increase the use of cooking gas say expanding liquefied petroleum gas would save millions of trees and the environment. But the rising prices threaten that objective. Nigeria’s state oil company blames the rising costs on global price increases. But with the country still importing most of its gas, users are bracing for more price hikes. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from Kano, Nigeria.

Nigeria Becoming Destination for Africa’s Promising Tech Startups

In February, the Nigerian technology startup CrowdForce announced a big break: It had received $3.6 million from investors to expand its financial services operations to many more underserved communities.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Tomi Ayorinde said new funding will boost its mobile agent network from 7,000 to 21,000 this year.

"We were looking to scale faster and really gain market share," Ayorinde said. "And what we're doing is also very impact-related because we're creating jobs, avenues for people to make extra income in their communities. So, it was also very interesting for impact investors to be part of what we're trying to do."

When Ayorinde helped launch CrowdForce seven years ago, he intended it to be a data collection company. But after about two years, the company overhauled its business model when Ayorinde realized it could fill a need for bank accounts.

"When we collected data of 4.5 million traders what we saw was, a lot of them didn't have bank accounts and the ones that have bank accounts had a very tough time accessing the cash that was sent to them," said Ayorinde."That's when we kind of realized that there's a bigger problem to solve here.”

Experts say about 60% of Africa's 1.2 billion people lack access to banks or financial services. Technology startups in Africa are trying to fix that, said the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association known as AVCA.

In a recent report, the industry group said African startups attracted $5.2 billion in venture capital last year, and that West Africa – led by Nigeria – accounted for the largest share of investments.

AVCA research manager Alexia Alexandropoulou said investors are looking to tap into Africa's huge population of young people.

"Africa is the world's most youthful population, so as the proportion of skilled labor increases, then the result will be more human capital in order to power African businesses and also the industrial development within the continent," said Alexandropoulou.

AVCA's report also cites increased internet penetration in Africa and more favorable government policies as contributing to increased investments in financial technology services knwoFintech.

But Fintech Digital Marketing Expert Louis Dike said there are obstacles to overcome, such as weak currencies and policies.

"Africa is not a perfect place because it's still made up of virgin markets," said Dike. "The standard of living is quite low, our regulations are not consistent, today the government will say this and tomorrow they will change the law and restrict some startup activities."

But with new talents emerging in technology, more startups with big dreams are emerging in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa.

Timothy Obiezu 

VOA

Nine dead after explosion in Kano

Nine people were killed after a gas cylinder explosion led to the collapse of a building close to a popular market in Nigeria’s northern state of Kano, the national emergency service and witnesses said.

The incident happened on Tuesday in the Sabon Gari area of the city, mostly populated by people who moved to Kano from elsewhere.

Mustapha Habib Ahmed, head of the National Emergency Management Agency, said a gas cylinder in a welding shop exploded, killing nine people. Emergency responders pulled bodies from the rubble during a search and rescue operation.

At a nearby school, parents rushed to pick up their children after hearing news of the blast, witnesses said. There were no reported injuries among the school children.

Kano, renowned for centuries as a centre for Islamic scholarship and a commercial hotspot in trans-Saharan trade, is the capital of the eponymous Nigerian state in the northwest region of the country.

Al Jazeera

Nigeria’s treasury chief arrested over multimillion-dollar fraud

The head of Nigeria’s treasury has been arrested for alleged involvement in fraud and money laundering worth 80 billion naira ($190m), the country’s anti-graft agency said.

Ahmed Idris, Nigeria’s accountant-general, was arrested on Monday “after failing to honour invitations” to respond to the allegations, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said.

The EFCC said Idris “raked off the funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members and close associates”.

The proceeds were invested by Idris in real estate in the capital Abuja and in his home state of Kano in northern Nigeria, it said in a statement issued late Monday.

Idris has not commented on the accusations.

President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015 on a pledge to end endemic graft, but has barely made a dent in corruption on a national scale.

Under his watch, the EFCC has secured a string of high-profile convictions, including ministers, state governors, senior public servants and prominent political figures.

But last week, the president announced a pardon for two ex-governors jailed for corruption, despite public outcry.

Last year, the agency said it had recovered 714 million euros ($750m) that had been plundered from the nation’s coffers.

The government has been accused of targeting the opposition in its anti-corruption drive, an allegation it denies.

Al Jazeera