Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Dangote Refinery Retained 13% of Nigeria’s Crude Exports in 2024

The Dangote Refinery retained 13% of Nigeria’s crude oil exports in 2024, marking a significant increase from just 2% in 2023, according to Reuters. This shift helped to reduce Nigeria’s exports to Europe while boosting the country’s domestic share of oil supply.

Despite being a major net exporter of crude, Nigeria still imported 47,000 barrels per day of US oil in 2024, a move that experts find unusual for an oil-exporting country. The Dangote refinery, with a capacity of 600,000 barrels per day, played a key role in this trend, receiving multiple shipments of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil due to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s failure to meet its supply needs.

The year also saw global crude exports decline by 2% due to weak demand and the reshuffling of trade routes. Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, along with sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil, caused significant shifts in global oil supply chains, influencing both exports and imports.

As the global oil market faces continued uncertainty, particularly in 2025, experts predict a rise in demand from India, while some countries are increasingly turning to gas and renewable energy sources.

By Abdullahi Jimoh, News Central






Pastor in Nigeria Arrested in Major Child-Trafficking Bust, 13 Children Rescued

Authorities in Nigeria have arrested a prominent pastor and dismantled a major child-trafficking syndicate he led in Plateau State, rescuing 13 children in the process.

Pastor Dayo Bernard, a well-known cleric from the End Time Army Ministry in Bukuru, was identified as the alleged leader of the trafficking ring, local officials said. The operation, described as a significant breakthrough, also led to the arrest of other key members of the network.

Police Commissioner Aliyu Abdulrahman praised the crackdown as a victory for the protection of vulnerable children. “Efforts are intensifying to ensure that those responsible face the full force of the law,” he said.

During police questioning, Bernard reportedly confessed to trafficking at least 13 children, admitting to buying and selling them at varying prices. Authorities said the syndicate targeted families in vulnerable situations, abducting children for illegal adoption or forced labor.

Human trafficking remains a critical issue in Nigeria, with Plateau State frequently identified as a hotspot due to poverty and insecurity. UNICEF estimates tens of thousands of Nigerian children are trafficked annually, with many sent across borders to neighboring countries or beyond.

The rescued children have been placed under the care of child welfare services while efforts are being made to reunite them with their families, officials said.

The investigation is ongoing, with authorities vowing to prosecute those involved and crack down further on trafficking networks operating in the region.

By Nneoma Omeje, OCCRP

Nigeria make historic hire of Sékou Chelle to manage Super Eagles

 


In a historic move, Nigeria have named former Mali coach Éric Sékou Chelle as the new manager of the men's senior national team, the Super Eagles announced on Monday.

Sékou Chelle, from Mali, will make history as the first non-Nigerian African to coach the Super Eagles. The 47-year-old came to the attention of Nigerian football fans last year when he led Mali to their first victory over the Super Eagles in 50 years of contests between the sides.

His Mali side defeated Finidi George's Eagles 2-0 in a friendly in March 2024.

A statement from Nigeria Football Federation communications director Ademola Olajire said: "The Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has endorsed the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee for the appointment of Mr. Éric Sékou Chelle as head coach of Nigeria's senior men national football team, Super Eagles.

"His appointment is with immediate effect, and he has the responsibility of guiding the Super Eagles to earn a ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, with the next round of matches [Matchdays 5 and 6] taking place in March."

Born in Ivory Coast to a French father and a Malian mother, Sékou Chelle holds three nationalities -- Mali, Ivory Coast and France -- and played the majority of his career in France, where he featured for FC Martigues, Valenciennes, Lens, Istres and Chamois Niortais.

He represented Mali at international level, making five appearances for the national team.

His coaching career included spells at GS Consolat, FC Martigues, Boulogne and MC Oran. He was appointed Mali head coach in 2022, and he took them within a minute of a place in the semifinals at the Africa Cup of Nations.

His wards led hosts and eventual winners Ivory Coast for most of the game before conceding an equaliser in the last minute of regulation time, and eventually losing 2-1 after extra-time -- with Chelle's reaction turning into a viral meme.

Sékou Chelle was fired by Mali in June 2024, days after they were held to a goalless draw by 10-man Madagascar in a Group I World Cup qualifier in Johannesburg.

By Colin Udoh, ESPN

A mother's mission to help Nigerians with cerebral palsy

Although Babatunde Fashola, affectionately known as Baba, is 22 years old, he is less than 70cm (2ft 4in) tall.

He has cerebral palsy and requires lifelong care. He can neither speak nor walk and is fed via a tube attached to his stomach.

As a baby, he was abandoned by his parents but 10 years ago, he found a home at the Cerebral Palsy Centre in the Nigerian city of Lagos.

"Baba weighs about 12kg [26lb]. He is doing well," the facility's founder, Nonye Nweke, tells me when I visit.

Ms Nweke and her staff work around the clock to support him and other youngsters living with permanent brain damage.

Although there is a lack of official data, cerebral palsy is believed to be one of the most common neurological disorders in Nigeria. In 2017, a medical professor from the University of Lagos said 700,000 people had the condition.

For many of those living with cerebral palsy in the country, their condition was caused by a common phenomenon among newborns - neonatal jaundice.

This is caused by a build-up of bilirubin, a yellow substance, in the blood, meaning the babies' skins have a yellow tinge.

Professor Chinyere Ezeaka, a paediatrician at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, tells the BBC that more than 60% of all babies suffer from jaundice.

Most babies recover within days. More severe cases need further medical intervention - and even then the condition is easily treatable.

Children are basically exposed to ultra-violet light to dissolve the excess bilirubin in their red blood cells. The treatment lasts a few days depending on the severity.

However, in Nigeria this treatment is often not immediately available, which is why the country is among the five with the most neurological disorders caused by untreated jaundice in the world, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Any treatment for neonatal jaundice "must occur within the first 10 days of life, else [the condition] could cause permanent brain damage and severe cerebral palsy", says Prof Ezeaka.

To make matters worse, the West African country lacks facilities to care for those with neurological disorders. There are just three cerebral palsy centres, all privately run, in Nigeria, which has a population of more than 200 million.

Ms Nweke - a single mother - set up the Cerebral Palsy Centre after struggling to find support for her own daughter, Zimuzo.

"When I took her to a day-care [centre], they asked me to take her back because other mothers would withdraw their children. As a mum, I must say it was quite devastating," Ms Nweke tells the BBC.

Zimuzo is now 17, and Ms Nweke's Cerebral Palsy Centre provides full-time support for others with similar experiences.

On the day I visit, colourful playtime mats and toys are neatly arranged on the floor. Mickey Mouse and his friends converse on a wide-screen television in the lounge.

Twelve youngsters, some as young as five, gaze at the TV, their bright environment ignored for a moment. They are all immobile and non-speaking.

At lunchtime, caregivers help the youngsters eat. Some take in liquified food through tubes attached to their stomachs.

Carefully and slowly, the carers support their heads with pillows and push the contents of their syringes into the tubes.

The youngsters are fed every two hours and require regular muscular massages to prevent stiffness.

But they are the lucky 12 receiving free care from the Cerebral Palsy Centre, which is funded exclusively by donors.

The facility has a long waiting list - Ms Nweke has received more than 100 applications.

But taking on more youngsters would require extra financial support. The cost of caring for someone at the centre is at least $1,000 (£790) a month - a huge amount in a country where the national minimum wage is about $540 a year.

"As a mum, I must say it's quite overwhelming. You have moments of depression, it gives you heartaches and it is quite expensive - in fact it's the most expensive congenital disorder to manage," Ms Nweke says.

"And then of course, it keeps you away from people because you don't discuss the same things. They are talking of their babies, walking, enjoying those baby moments. You are not doing that. You are sad," she adds.

Ms Nweke explains that she adopted Zimuzo from an orphanage.

A few months after taking her new daughter home, Ms Nweke realised Zimuzo was not developing in the same way as the children around her were. She was assessed at a hospital and diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Ms Nweke was told she could take Zimuzo, who was then just a few months old, back to the orphanage and adopt another baby instead, but she refused.

"I decided to keep her and I began researching what the disorder was about, the treatment and type of care my child would need - she's my life.

"I was also told by the doctors she won't live beyond two years. Well here we are - 17 years later," says a smiling Ms Nweke.

A lack of awareness and adequate medical support hinders the diagnosis and treatment of neonatal jaundice in Nigeria.

Ms Nweke also says the common local belief that children with congenital disorders are spiritually damaged or bewitched leads to stigmatisation.

Some children with neurological disorders - mostly in Nigeria's rural areas - are labelled witches. In some cases, they are abandoned in prayer houses or cast out of their families.

Ms Nweke is not alone in her mission to dispel myths and improve care.

The Oscar Project - a charity aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of neonatal jaundice - recently began operating in Lagos.

The project is named after Vietnamese-born British disability advocate, Oscar Anderson, whose untreated jaundice caused his cerebral palsy.

"We're equipping health facilities at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels with the equipment to treat jaundice, primarily light boxes, but also detection and screening equipment," Toyin Saraki, who oversaw the launch, tells the BBC.

Project Oscar, backed by consumer health firm Reckitt, is training 300 health workers in Lagos. The hope over the first year is to reach 10,000 mothers, screen 9,000 children and introduce new protocols to try and prevent babies with jaundice from developing cerebral palsy.

In a country where the public health system is overstretched, the government has little to say about the disorder, although it lauded the Oscar project's goals.

Treatment for neonatal jaundice is significantly cheaper than the cost of lifelong care, doctors say.

First launched in Vietnam in 2019, Project Oscar has helped about 150,000 children in the Asian country.

Mr Anderson, 22, says he wants to prevent other children experiencing what he has been through.

"People with disabilities are not to be underestimated," he tells the BBC.

He is working to ensure screening for every newborn infant for neonatal jaundice, and, with the support and courage of mums, midwives and medical professionals, ensure there is better understanding and quicker treatment.

However, achieving this is a hugely ambitious goal in Africa's most-populous country, where thousands of babies are born each year with neonatal jaundice.

Regardless, Mr Anderson is determined to defy the odds.

"The work doesn't stop until every baby is protected against neonatal jaundice," he says.

By Nkechi Ogbonna, BBC

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Nigerian humanist freed after imprisonment for ‘blasphemy’

The National Secular Society has welcomed news that Nigerian atheist Mubarak Bala has been freed from prison, after spending four years behind bars for 'blasphemy'.

In 2022, Bala was sentenced to 24 years in prison, after Kano State High Court convicted him of 18 counts of causing a public disturbance.

He was arrested in 2020 after a petition from a group of lawyers alleging he had called the Islamic prophet Muhammad "all sorts of denigrating names" was sent to police.

Bala's legal team said they believe Bala is still in danger. Bala told the BBC that that whilst he is now free, there remains "an underlying threat", and "the concern about my safety is always there".

When asked why he pled guilty to the charges in court, which was not part of the agreed legal strategy, Bala said he believed this would save "not only my life, but people in the state, and especially those that were attached to my case".

Humanists International said it is likely he was subjected to intimidation, and there have been unconfirmed reports of threats against his family members.

During his ordeal, Bala was held without charge for 462 days and was denied access to a legal team for over five months. Bala was also denied access to medical care. In December 2020, a judge at the High Court in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, ruled that Bala should be immediately released, but Kano State authorities failed to comply.

Bala said that: "In Kano [prison], I never thought I would get out alive."

The NSS contributed to Humanists International's campaign to release Bala, and in 202 urged authorities in Nigeria to release him after he had spent a year in detention.

Blasphemy laws exist in at least 95 countries, including Northern Ireland. In 12 countries, including Nigeria, blasphemy or apostasy are punishable by death.

NSS: Abolition of blasphemy should follow Bala's freedom

NSS spokesperson Jack Rivington said: "We are delighted that Mubarak Bala has been freed, but he should never have faced imprisonment in the first place.

"Criticising religion should never be a crime. Blasphemy laws of any kind have no place anywhere. They are an affront to the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief.

"We call again for the abolition of all blasphemy laws, everywhere."



Imam Sentenced to Death Over Blasphemy in Nigeria