Many tech professionals continue to leave the country in search of better job opportunities. This talent drain has left organizations and institutions grappling with shortages, impacting the industry's growth and innovation.
Monday, February 17, 2025
Video - Nigeria struggling to keep its tech talent
Many tech professionals continue to leave the country in search of better job opportunities. This talent drain has left organizations and institutions grappling with shortages, impacting the industry's growth and innovation.
Video - Nigerians in Chad return home a decade after fleeing insurgent violence
The repatriation is being coordinated by the Borno state government, Chad and the UN High Commission for Refugees. This is following an agreement signed last week in Chad's Lac province.
No evidence Trump banned Nigerian politicians entering US
There is no evidence that Donald Trump banned Nigerian politicians from visiting the United States, contrary to a claim that appeared online during the U.S. president’s first full day in office.
“Breaking News: Trump has imposed a ban preventing all Nigerian politicians from visiting the U.S. for any reason,” said January 21 posts on TikTok and Facebook.
The posts also claim that Trump ordered a freeze on international Nigerian bank accounts and that 2 million Nigerians now face deportation from the U.S.
But there is no evidence that the new U.S. president ordered any such travel ban or financial freeze that targets Nigerians. Trump did, however, begin a promised immigration crackdown at the start of his term, but available immigration statistics suggest thousands, not millions, of Nigerians could be affected.
NO BAN OR FREEZE
Trump was inaugurated on January 20.
As of February 14, there have been 94 presidential directives, including executive orders, memorandums, and proclamations, published on the White House website and in the Federal Register. None of the directives include restrictions on Nigerian politicians or actions against Nigerian bank accounts or their holders.
Citing experts, Reuters reported on January 27 that investors were showing interest in frontier markets, like Nigeria, as they are unlikely to be in Trump’s direct firing line for things like tariffs and other policy shifts.
FACING DEPORTATION
Trump’s immigration policies have primarily targeted illegal border crossings from Mexico, with the president declaring a national emergency and a broad ban on asylum for migrants crossing the southern border.
But there is no evidence that 2 million Nigerians face deportation from the United States.
There were 3,690 Nigerian citizens on ICE’s non-detained docket with final orders for removal as of November 24, 2024, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) document obtained by Fox News
Data from Pew Research Center, a think tank that conducts research on demographics, race, and ethnicity in the U.S., does not support the claim that 2 million Nigerians face deportation, a spokesperson for the organization told Reuters via email.
A spokesperson for the Migration Policy Institute, another think tank that conducts research and analysis on migration and refugee policies, said the organization estimates that all countries in Africa combined total around 3% (415,000) of the 13.7 million people it estimates live in the U.S. illegally.
The White House press office, a spokesman for Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. embassy in Nigeria and Nigeria’s embassy in the U.S. also did not respond to requests for comment.
VERDICT
No evidence. There is no evidence that U.S. President Donald Trump banned Nigerian politicians from entering the U.S., nor taken action on Nigerian bank accounts and their holders. The total Nigerian population in the U.S. is estimated to be less than 500,000, thus impossible for 2 million to be deported.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
“Breaking News: Trump has imposed a ban preventing all Nigerian politicians from visiting the U.S. for any reason,” said January 21 posts on TikTok and Facebook.
The posts also claim that Trump ordered a freeze on international Nigerian bank accounts and that 2 million Nigerians now face deportation from the U.S.
But there is no evidence that the new U.S. president ordered any such travel ban or financial freeze that targets Nigerians. Trump did, however, begin a promised immigration crackdown at the start of his term, but available immigration statistics suggest thousands, not millions, of Nigerians could be affected.
NO BAN OR FREEZE
Trump was inaugurated on January 20.
As of February 14, there have been 94 presidential directives, including executive orders, memorandums, and proclamations, published on the White House website and in the Federal Register. None of the directives include restrictions on Nigerian politicians or actions against Nigerian bank accounts or their holders.
Citing experts, Reuters reported on January 27 that investors were showing interest in frontier markets, like Nigeria, as they are unlikely to be in Trump’s direct firing line for things like tariffs and other policy shifts.
FACING DEPORTATION
Trump’s immigration policies have primarily targeted illegal border crossings from Mexico, with the president declaring a national emergency and a broad ban on asylum for migrants crossing the southern border.
But there is no evidence that 2 million Nigerians face deportation from the United States.
There were 3,690 Nigerian citizens on ICE’s non-detained docket with final orders for removal as of November 24, 2024, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) document obtained by Fox News
Data from Pew Research Center, a think tank that conducts research on demographics, race, and ethnicity in the U.S., does not support the claim that 2 million Nigerians face deportation, a spokesperson for the organization told Reuters via email.
A spokesperson for the Migration Policy Institute, another think tank that conducts research and analysis on migration and refugee policies, said the organization estimates that all countries in Africa combined total around 3% (415,000) of the 13.7 million people it estimates live in the U.S. illegally.
The White House press office, a spokesman for Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. embassy in Nigeria and Nigeria’s embassy in the U.S. also did not respond to requests for comment.
VERDICT
No evidence. There is no evidence that U.S. President Donald Trump banned Nigerian politicians from entering the U.S., nor taken action on Nigerian bank accounts and their holders. The total Nigerian population in the U.S. is estimated to be less than 500,000, thus impossible for 2 million to be deported.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
Friday, February 14, 2025
Shell should take responsibility for oil spills, Nigerian community leader says before UK trial
Shell should take responsibility for environmental damage in Nigeria caused by oil spills, a community leader said on Thursday as a pivotal hearing in lawsuits brought against the British oil major began at London's High Court.
Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of the Ogale community in the Niger Delta, told Reuters that he was appealing to Shell's conscience to remediate the damage, which he said had "destroyed our way of life".
Thousands of members of the Ogale and Bille communities are suing Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary SPDC over oil spills in the Niger Delta, a region blighted by pollution, conflict and corruption related to the oil and gas industry.
Decades of oil spills have caused widespread environmental damage, which has destroyed the livelihood of millions in the local communities and impacted their health.
Shell, however, says the vast majority of spills were caused by illegal third-party interference, such as pipeline sabotage and theft, which is rife in the Niger Delta.
A Shell spokesperson said the litigation "does little to address the real problem in the Niger Delta: oil spills due to theft, illegal refining and sabotage, which cause the most environmental damage".
Shell's lawyers said in court filings that SPDC recognises it is obliged to compensate those harmed by oil spills even if SPDC is not at fault, but not where it has already done so or where spills were caused by "the malicious acts of third parties".
But Okpabi said Shell had made billions of dollars in Nigeria – which he called "blood money" – and had a moral responsibility to prevent and remediate oil spills.
"As we speak, people are dying in Ogale, my community," he said. "It is sad that Shell will now want to take us through this very expensive, very troublesome trial, claiming one technicality or the other."
He was speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London ahead of a four-week hearing to determine issues of Nigerian law and whether SPDC can be held liable for oil spills caused by third-party interference, ahead of a further trial in 2026.
The case, parts of which began nearly a decade ago, has already been to the United Kingdom's Supreme Court, which ruled in 2021 that the case should be heard in the English courts.
The lawsuit is the latest example of multinationals being sued in London for the acts of overseas subsidiaries, following a landmark 2019 ruling in a separate case.
Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of the Ogale community in the Niger Delta, told Reuters that he was appealing to Shell's conscience to remediate the damage, which he said had "destroyed our way of life".
Thousands of members of the Ogale and Bille communities are suing Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary SPDC over oil spills in the Niger Delta, a region blighted by pollution, conflict and corruption related to the oil and gas industry.
Decades of oil spills have caused widespread environmental damage, which has destroyed the livelihood of millions in the local communities and impacted their health.
Shell, however, says the vast majority of spills were caused by illegal third-party interference, such as pipeline sabotage and theft, which is rife in the Niger Delta.
A Shell spokesperson said the litigation "does little to address the real problem in the Niger Delta: oil spills due to theft, illegal refining and sabotage, which cause the most environmental damage".
Shell's lawyers said in court filings that SPDC recognises it is obliged to compensate those harmed by oil spills even if SPDC is not at fault, but not where it has already done so or where spills were caused by "the malicious acts of third parties".
But Okpabi said Shell had made billions of dollars in Nigeria – which he called "blood money" – and had a moral responsibility to prevent and remediate oil spills.
"As we speak, people are dying in Ogale, my community," he said. "It is sad that Shell will now want to take us through this very expensive, very troublesome trial, claiming one technicality or the other."
He was speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London ahead of a four-week hearing to determine issues of Nigerian law and whether SPDC can be held liable for oil spills caused by third-party interference, ahead of a further trial in 2026.
The case, parts of which began nearly a decade ago, has already been to the United Kingdom's Supreme Court, which ruled in 2021 that the case should be heard in the English courts.
The lawsuit is the latest example of multinationals being sued in London for the acts of overseas subsidiaries, following a landmark 2019 ruling in a separate case.
Related story: Shell reports oil spill in Nigeria after saver pit overflows
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Video - Nigeria’s GDP per capita falls to U.S. $835
Nigeria’s GDP per capita has dropped to 835 U.S. dollars, a significant decline from its 2023 range of 1,597–2,460 dollars, according to the International Monetary Fund. The sharp decrease reflects the impact of inflation, a weakening naira, and widening fiscal deficits on the country's economy.
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