Friday, July 29, 2022
Video - Nigerian airlines see demand as the recovery gathers momentum
Africa has recorded a spike in air travel demand as governments gradually relax COVID-19 travel protocols. The International Air Transport Association says the continent accounted for almost 2 percent of the total world passenger air travel market in May 2022. Kelechi Emekalam takes a look at how Nigeria's air travel industry, one of the hardest hit by pandemic restrictions, is faring.
Video - Nigeria's medical council bans certificates issued from Ukrainian universities
Nigeria's Medical and Dental Council says it will no longer accept certificates issued by medical schools in Ukraine. CGTN's Kelechi Emekelan explains why.
Nigerian leader faces impeachment threats amid insecurity
Opposition lawmakers in Nigeria have threatened to impeach the country’s president Muhammadu Buhari over accusations he has failed to implement recommendations to end rising violence in the West African nation.
The lawmakers in the Nigerian House of Representatives said Thursday that they would join forces with their counterparts in the Senate who issued a six-month notice for Buhari’s impeachment on Wednesday just as the nation’s National Security Council announced plans for a new “strategy” to end the violence.
Impeachment of presidents in Nigeria is rare but such threats from lawmakers are not. Not much is expected of the latest impeachment threat which is coming just seven months to the end of Buhari’s second and final tenure as president. He has survived at least two past impeachment attempts since he became president in 2015 but none has seen the light of the day because they are usually partisan and initiated by the opposition.
The Nigerian presidency dismissed the latest impeachment threat as “ridiculous” and said it would welcome the collaboration of federal lawmakers in solving Nigeria’s problems.
“No one is asking them to waste their time attempting to impeach a democratically elected President at the end of his second term – certainly not their constituents,” a presidential spokesman said in a statement.
As the opposition in Nigeria’s lower legislative chamber briefed reporters about plans to impeach Buhari, the president met with Nigeria’s security chiefs during which they considered a new security strategy, according to Babagana Monguno, the country’s National Security Adviser.
“I know people are weary, people are tired, people are beginning to gravitate to other places for self-help,” Monguno told reporters, promising that “there will be a change in momentum” in the fight against crime. He did not share further details, but urged the media to be careful in what it reports.
The top security aide declined to speak on violent attacks in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, a worrying sign.
“We are in a very difficult situation,“ Monguno said. “Mr. President, understands people’s concerns about the growing insecurity but I can assure you that there is no straight cut and dried method of dealing with this thing unless all of us embrace each other.”
By Chinedu Asadu
Related stories: Nigeria shuts schools in Abuja over fears of attack
Nigeria shuts schools in Abuja over fears of attack
All schools have been told to shut and send children home amid security fears in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and in nearby Nasarawa state.
Intelligence reports suggest armed groups are planning attacks in several states, including on the capital.
Schools, mainly in northern Nigeria, have become a target of kidnapping gangs in recent years - with hundreds of students held for ransom.
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently meeting with security chiefs.
Most private schools were in the middle of exams when they had to close on Wednesday afternoon.
An official at the association of private school owners in Abuja told the BBC that the directive to shut down had come from local authorities in the capital.
Those schools with adequate security arrangements would be allowed to hold a one-day prize giving ceremony at the end of next week, he said.
But the news has caused concern for parents in a city populated by many civil servants, who often send their children to private schools.
While some schools in Abuja had already closed for the term, the majority were not scheduled to close until next week.
He added that those with adequate security arrangements have been allowed to hold a one-day prize giving day many had been preparing for.
Abuja residents have been feeling uneasy since armed men broke into a prison in the city and released hundreds of criminals a few weeks ago.
On Sunday, at least three soldiers from an elite unit of presidential guards were killed in the Bwari district of the city.
They had been responding to threats of an imminent attack on the Nigerian Law School located in the area. Nearby Veritas University has since shut down and sent students home.
The next day, the government shut down one of its secondary schools in the Kwali suburb of Abuja after a security incident close by.
This level of insecurity in the city is unprecedented since President Buhari took office in 2015.
Security agencies have recently beefed up their security presence at strategic locations within the city centre.
But this seems to be doing little to allay fears, even amongst politicians.
This week, an MP told colleagues who were away from the city not to return for their own safety, highlighting the failures of Mr Buhari's government in dealing with widespread insecurity across the country.
On Wednesday, opposition senators gave the president a six-week ultimatum to find a solution to the security crisis or face impeachment, though they lack the numbers to do so.
Last year, there were attacks and mass abductions in at least 10 schools in Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger states.
By Nduka Orjinmo
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Video - High cost of diesel threatens manufacturing in Nigeria
The soaring cost of diesel is now threatening Nigeria's manufacturing sector as more and more companies shut down their operations. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam with the details from Abuja.
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