Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Video - 10-year-old amazes Nigeria with exceptional saxophone skill



A child prodigy in Nigeria is taking the country by the storm, with her exceptional skills in playing the saxophone. CGTN's Deji Badmus visited her home in Lagos, Nigeria and now brings us the story.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Police in Nigeria on heightened alert after Soleimani's assassination by U.S.A

Nigerian police have been placed on a heightened state of alert after the U.S. killing of a top Iranian military commander in Iraq sparked fears of public disturbances in the West African country, the police said on Sunday.

Qassem Soleimani was killed on Friday in a U.S. drone strike on his convoy at Baghdad airport. The attack has prompted concern of ramping tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Nigeria is split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims, the latter of which are mostly Sunni. The government last year banned the country’s largest Shi’ite Muslim group, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), after violent clashes between its members and police.

IMN was heavily influenced by the Iranian revolution of 1979 which saw Ayatollah Khomeini take power.

“The Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, has placed police commands and formations nationwide on red alert,” the Nigeria Police Force said in a statement on Sunday.

“This proactive measure follows intelligence report that sequel to the recent killing of an Iranian general; some domestic interests are planning to embark on massive public disturbances and sabotage,” it said.

It said senior police officials had been “directed to ensure maximum surveillance and security of lives and property across the nation.”

The statement did not name any specific groups or give further details. A police spokesman did not immediately respond to phone calls requesting comment.

Reuters was unable to independently verify claims that public events were planned.

Nigeria banned IMN and outlawed its demonstrations which its members held to call for the release of their leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been held since 2015 when government forces killed around 350 people in a storming of the group’s compound.

The group last year said more than 30 of its members were killed in police crackdowns on its protests. Police gave no death toll.

Global News

Friday, January 3, 2020

Video - Music group in Nigeria seeks to empower under privileged kids



A dance group known as Dream Catchers is changing the music scene. The group is made up of children from under-privileged backgrounds -- and they hope to empower others like them. CGTN's Deji Badmus has more.

Nigeria had the biggest drop in visitors to the US last year due to Trump visa policies

The travel measures taken against Nigeria by the United States last year are starting to have a clear and, potentially, long-term effect.

Data from the US travel and tourism office shows Nigeria recorded the largest global drop-off in visitors to the US. As of October 2019, 34,000 fewer Nigerians traveled to the US compared to the previous year—a 21% drop. After a sustained period of growth between 2011 and 2015, the number of Nigerian visitors to the US started to plateau in 2016 until the big drop-off last year.

The second largest drop was for visitors from Venezuela (17.7%). The South American country is in the midst of an economic and political crisis which has seen more than four million people flee the country and the US is restricting entry to Venezuelan migrants.

The dip in Nigerian visitors to the US followed a string of visa clampdown measures by the Trump administration targeting Africa’s largest economy.

After indefinitely suspending its visa interview waiver for Nigerian applicants (the waiver allowed frequent travelers renew their visa without going through in-person interviews each time), the Trump administration also raised visa application fees for Nigerians by including additional “reciprocity fees” ranging from $80 to $303 depending on the class of visa. And even though the Nigerian government immediately slashed visa application fees for American applicants in a bid to get the US to reverse its price increase, the reciprocity fees remain in place.

The measures followed reports that the Trump administration was looking to impose visa restrictions on countries whose citizens have a track record of overstaying beyond the validity of their short-term US visas. As it turns out, Nigerians were the highest ranked African country for US visa overstays in 2018.

Even though official data confirms the effects of the measures, there were already warning signs the administration’s policies were having an adverse impact on potential travelers. The policies also spawned fear-fueled rumors among locals as well: mid-last year, the United States embassy in Nigeria was forced to deny a widespread rumor that it had placed a ban on issuing student visas to Nigerians.

The tougher overall visa stance by the Trump administration comes at an inopportune time for middle class Nigerians who are increasingly emigrating amid fears of economic uncertainty back home. Nigeria’s once promising economy remains mired in sluggish growth since a 2016 recession while unemployment continues to climb. With many middle class professionals searching for alternatives, the number of Nigerians seeking legal immigration pathways to the US, UK and, increasingly, Canada, has risen sharply over the past half-decade.

But despite the Trump administration’s policies, the US remains a popular destination for Nigerian students seeking foreign degrees as the economic impact of spending by Nigerian students studying in the United States reached $514 million over the past academic year.

Quartz

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Video - Social media users in Nigeria up in arms over parliament's regulation



For nearly two decades, social media has become increasingly famous among Nigerians. It has served as a platform for interactions for both the Government and citizens. The country's parliament recently moved to regulate social media. The move has not gone down well with the masses. Nigeria's over 30 million users are now up in arms as CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam reports.