Bulker crew stranded in Nigeria without pay for three months

The crew of the 2008-built bulker Eleen Armonia has been stranded in Nigeria for more than three months without receiving salaries.

According to an email sent to Splash from a crew representative, many crew contracts have already expired, but the owner of the Liberian-flagged vessel has refused to arrange repatriation or crew change. He also noted that the crew’s mental health is at a critical level.

Despite repeated complaints filed with the Liberian Registry, the Nigerian Maritime Union, and the vessel’s P&I insurer, no action has been taken.

“The crew remains onboard in increasingly difficult conditions, without income and with uncertainty about when they will be paid or allowed to return home,” the email said.

The Equasis database states that the 55,522 dwt Eleen Armonia is owned and managed by Bulgaria-based Eleen Marine.

“We have been abandoned without wages since June 2025. Our families are suffering, and we have no clear information about when this situation will end. We urgently call on the Liberian flag, the Nigerian authorities, and international organisations to intervene,” the crew representative said.

The crew requests urgent international attention and calls on the Liberian Registry, ITF, and the Nigerian Port State Control to ensure payment of outstanding wages and safe repatriation.

The email stated that this situation may constitute a violation of the Maritime Labour Convention, which guarantees the timely payment of wages and repatriation of seafarers.

By Bojan Lepic, Splash247

Nigerian women protest for reserved seats in parliament

Several African countries, from Senegal to Rwanda, have increased the number of women legislators by using quota systems.

Nigeria, which has no such system, only counts four women senators out of 109 and 16 women in the 360-member House of Representatives, according to the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), a local NGO.

Dubbed the "Special Seats Bill", the legislation would add one woman-only seat for both the House and the Senate in each of Nigeria's 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory, though implementing the changes would require a constitutional amendment.

"We want the legislature to work for women," said Dorothy Njemanze, one of the organisers, who said she had counted more than 1,000 demonstrators in attendance.

Women's groups from across the country converged in Abuja, organising a caravan of buses, vans and a truck blasting up-tempo Afrobeats music that snaked through the wide boulevards of the planned city.

Advocates say that reserved seats would serve as a corrective to the financial barriers, entrenched gender roles and a domination of politics by male power brokers that keep women out of power in Africa's most populous nation.

The caravan ended with the delivery of signatures in support of the legislation to a House committee holding a hearing on constitutional reform.

President Bola Tinubu's minister for women's affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has signalled support for the legislation.

However, the PLAC, in its legislative analysis, warned that constitutional amendments are "no walk in the park", with two-thirds of the National Assembly and 24 state legislatures required to approve any changes.

Several similar attempts at creating reserved seats for women have failed in recent years.

"I want that seat, because tomorrow, I may be the one contesting" for it, Onu Ihunania, a 50-year-old civil servant and member of the caravan, told AFP.

A National Assembly with more women might better focus on women's health and economic inclusion, said Nyiyam Ikyereve, 40, who travelled several hours from Benue state to join the protest.

The lack of women's representation came to a head earlier this year when Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended from the chamber after she complained about sexual harassment.

The Senate president maintained that Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for a separate incident related to an argument that erupted in the chamber over her seating arrangement.

AFP

Video - Nigerian beekeepers seek government support to boost earnings

Beekeeping in Nigeria offers significant economic and environmental benefits but faces numerous challenges, including limited commercialization, weak marketing, and inadequate processing infrastructure. While traditional methods remain prevalent, experts emphasize the urgent need for modern training and support to boost production and increase incomes for beekeepers.

CGTN Africa

Nigeria adds Chinese language courses to high school curriculum

Nigeria has officially added Mandarin, the standard Chinese language, to its senior secondary school curriculum in a nationwide policy decision, aiming to strengthen bilateral educational and cultural exchanges and prepare its youth for a globalized future, a local official said.

The decision by Nigerian educational authorities to teach Mandarin was a direct outcome of a recent curriculum review, Mandate Secretary for Education in Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Danlami Hayyo said on Wednesday at the commissioning of a new "Chinese Corner" at the Government Secondary School in Nyanya, one of the two "Chinese Corners" introduced this week in the local secondary schools.

"In the recent review of our curriculum, the Chinese language was selected as one of the international languages to be taught in our senior secondary schools," Hayyo said, adding that this demonstrates the FCT's foresight in introducing the subject.

Mandarin will join Arabic and French as an optional foreign language course in Nigerian public senior secondary schools.

According to Mohammed Sani Ladan, director of the FCT Secondary Education Board, the 15 "Chinese Corners" established since 2013 in Nigerian schools have been far more than just physical spaces. "They are symbols of friendship and cooperation," he said, noting that they also provide opportunities for students and teachers to learn Mandarin, access scholarships, and prepare for global engagement.

In separate interviews with Xinhua, school officials and students expressed appreciation for the initiative, emphasizing the immense opportunities the "Chinese Corners" would unlock, from teacher training to international scholarships.

Mojisola Akerele, principal of the Government Secondary School in Tudun Wada, told Xinhua that the new learning centers would enable students to acquaint themselves with the Chinese language through donated books and resources.

Speaking at the commissioning events, Yang Jianxing, cultural counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, described the "Chinese Corners" as a "bridge narrowing the hearts of young people from the two countries." He said that learning the Chinese language offers possibilities for Nigerian youth, from participating in economic and trade exchanges to furthering studies in Chinese universities.

Xinhua

Nigeria considers giving oil contract control to regulator

Nigeria is considering appointing the state regulator to take control of the country's existing oil contracts, rather than the state oil company, according to a draft legislative amendment seen by Reuters.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT This could reshape how Africa’s top oil producer governs its petroleum sector, making the regulator both an umpire and a player, blurring the lines between regulation and participation and raising concern over potential conflicts of interest.

It also raises corporate governance concerns because it removes the power of state company NNPC's board to approve its budget and formulate strategy.

CONTEXT The law that would be amended is the 2021 Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which empowered NNPC to represent Nigeria's interests in a variety of commercial oil contracts. The amendment would transfer that role to the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

A letter from the Attorney General to the minister in charge of gas, seen by Reuters, said the amendment was necessary because "some provisions of the PIA have created structural and legal channels through which substantial revenues of the Federation are being diverted away from the Federation account".

KEY QUOTE

"The observed decline in net oil revenue inflows is largely attributable to statutory leakages and opaque deductions under the current PIA architecture," said Lateef Fagbemi, Nigeria's attorney general and minister of justice.

By Isaac Anyaogu, Reuters