$5.8 billion hydropower deal announced in Nigeria

The government of Nigeria has announced the award of a $5.8 billion contract to build what will be the largest power plant in the country.

The 3,050-megawatt Mambila hydroelectric power project in the state of Taraba will be delivered by a consortium of Chinese state-owned construction firms.

The megaproject will feature four dams between 50 and 150 meters tall, and take six years to complete, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, told reporters in Abuja.

The Chinese Export-Import Bank will finance 85% of the development, with the Nigerian government contributing 15%.

Minister Fashola claimed the project will deliver far-reaching benefits.
"(Mambila) will have a transformational effect on all of Nigeria's socio-economic development," he said through a government spokesman, "It will have considerable positive impact on electricity supply nationwide, productivity, employment, tourism, technology transfer, rural development, irrigation, agriculture and food production."

False starts

The Mambila hydropower plant has been in development for over 30 years, but previous administrations have made little progress.

In 2007, the Nigerian government awarded a $1.4 billion contract to two Chinese construction firms for a 2,600-megawatt plant, but the agreement broke down soon after.

Attempts were made to revive the deal without success. But the deadlock was broken by conversations between the presidents of China and Nigeria in 2016, according to the spokesman of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

"The major breakthrough in the execution of this project was achieved when President Muhammadu Buhari initiated discussions at the level of the President of the Peoples Republic of China in the course of his State Visit (in 2016)," wrote government official Garba Shehu.

The meeting resulted in the creation of a consortium of Chinese companies to deliver the project, according to Shehu, and an agreement that the Chinese government would commit finance to it.

Power shortage

Despite being one of the largest economies in Africa, over 40% of Nigerians live without access to electricity, according to World Bank figures.

Hydropower, one of the cleanest and cheapest forms of power, is a key target for development as Nigeria is currently exploiting just a fraction of its potential resources.
The country is also seeking to shift away from oil dependency, after plummeting oil prices triggered a recession.

The clear need for the Mambila project could make it more likely to succeed, some analysts believe.

"The prospects of project implementation starting are perhaps stronger than in previous decades," says Elizabeth Donnelly, deputy head of the Africa Programme at UK think tank Chatham House. "Nigeria continues, albeit slowly, with its complex power sector reform and badly needs to generate - and more importantly distribute - more power for its 180 million people."

"Hydroelectricity is an important part of this mix, particularly for rural electrification."

Risk factors

The location of the development could lead to complications.

"There is strong competition for land in Taraba state, which regularly sees outbreaks of ethno-religious violence," says Donnelly. "Such a project, with its need to resettle people, could considerably worsen the conflict dynamics and humanitarian situation in the state."

Environmental groups have also raised concerns about the potential impact.

"If the Mambila dam project does continue, it could mean disastrous environmental and social impacts for those already living in poverty along the banks of the Benue River," warned NGO International Rivers,

The Nigerian government says that 100,000 people will be displaced by the development, and has pledged to resettle and compensate them.

Taraba state Governor, Darius Dickson Ishaku, has welcomed the project for its potential to boost tourism and agriculture.

Chinese interests

The power plant is one of several major Chinese investments in Nigeria, including multiple railway projects.

In January, Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi announced plans to invest a further $40 billion in Nigeria.

"Nigeria is seen as an important power that China wants good relations with," says Yun Sun, a scholar of Chinese foreign policy at US think tank, The Stimson Center.

Sun adds that the primary motivation is financial. Investments such as the Mambila power plant make good business sense.

"Nigeria is using Chinese banks to hire Chinese companies for the project, which will create profits and jobs," she says. "China also wants to identify large projects that make it look good and (Mambila) falls into this category."

But while China is likely to gain from the deal, Sun sees higher risk on the Nigerian side.
"I am less optimistic about the financial impact on the Nigerian economy as the project is very large and there is a question about how Nigeria will repay the 85% finance from the Export-Import Bank," she says. "There could be implications for the national debt."

CNN

Millions of Nigerians at risk of famine

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock is to address the UN General Assembly in New York next week urging world leaders to maintain their financial and political support for the Lake Chad Basin crisis so that millions of people facing starvation in north-east Nigeria are saved.

“At next week's General Assembly in New York, I will urge world leaders to maintain their financial and political support for the Lake Chad Basin crisis,” said Lowcock, who is also the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, in a UN press release.

Lowcock explained that there had been a significant improvement in the situation, with the international system rapidly scaled up, thereby saving millions of lives, reaching two million people with food assistance every month, as well as providing life-saving nutritional support to hundreds of thousands of children.

However, he warned that millions of people still faced famine in the north-east and that their lives would be at risk should the international community cease providing support in conjunction and coordination with the Nigerian authorities.

The UN humanitarian official also explained that the security situation in the vicinity remained precarious due to the ongoing conflict with the militant Boko Haram group.

Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 20 000 people have been killed, thousands of women and children abducted, many forced into displacement, and subjected to violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

In north-east Nigeria, at least 8.5 million people are dependent on humanitarian assistance.

Lowcock said that though many towns in the region are relatively safe, more needed to be done to bring safety to the rural areas.

Lowcock travelled to Niger and Nigeria from September 9 to 12, shortly after beginning his roles as the top UN relief official on September 1.

While in the two countries, he also held meetings with senior government officials, UN humanitarian agencies, international non-governmental organisations and the diplomatic community.

Meanwhile, ahead of its planned nationwide strike expected to commence on Friday, the United Labour Congress of Nigeria (ULC) has urged Nigerians to stockpile foodstuff and other basic necessities that could last them during the duration of the strike as critical sectors of the economy will be affected by the action.

The reasons for the industrial action is to create a nation that is better governed for the benefits of Nigerian workers and the country's masses.

IOL

Firms in Canada part of arms deal to Nigeria

When the Nigerian air force killed at least 112 people and injured another 150 in an attack on a refugee camp this year, it reinforced the human-rights concerns that have halted many arms exports to the Nigerian military in recent years.

But now, under the administration of President Donald Trump, a major U.S. weapons export is going ahead – with Canadian components in the deal.

Human-rights groups and U.S. politicians are questioning the sale of warplanes and ammunition, worried that the Nigerian military is continuing to kill and abuse civilians in its operations against the radical Islamist militia known as Boko Haram.

The U.S. deal is the second substantial military sale to Nigeria that includes hardware from Canadian sources this year, but neither will be subject to a review by the Canadian government or Parliament because of loopholes in federal regulations. The other deal involves the sale of 177 armoured vehicles to the Nigerian armed forces from a Canadian-owned company.

The Nigeria deals were revealed at a time when Canada is under growing scrutiny for its decision to authorize the sale of weaponized armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, which has a record of human-rights abuses. The Globe and Mail reported in July that the Saudi military appears to be using Canadian-made combat vehicles against Saudi citizens.

The federal government promised last year that it would sign the Arms Trade Treaty, a global agreement to regulate arms exports. At a conference on the arms treaty in Geneva this week, a federal official insisted that Canada already conforms to the "spirit" of the treaty, despite the Saudi deals, according to an observer from Project Ploughshares, a Canadian disarmament group, who is at the conference.

The U.S. sale of $593-million (U.S.) in warplanes and ammunition to Nigeria was finalized last month. It includes a dozen A-29 Super Tucano warplanes, equipped with engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Canada, which is based in Longueuil, Que. The export also includes thousands of bombs and rockets, plus 20,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition.

As part of the deal, the United States promises "special training" of the Nigerian military to "minimize civilian harm" – an implicit acknowledgment of the human-rights concerns.

The other export deal was announced in June by Streit Group, owned by Canadian businessman Guerman Goutorov. It began with a shipment of 25 armoured personnel carriers, the first batch in an agreed sale of 177 armoured vehicles to the Nigerian military, the company says.

Neither deal required a Canadian government approval because the products are not being exported directly from Canada to Nigeria, analysts say. The Pratt & Whitney engines are supplied to a Colorado-based company, Sierra Nevada Corp., which is the prime contractor for the Super Tucano sale to Nigeria. The Streit armoured personnel carriers for Nigeria are manufactured at a Streit-owned production facility in the United Arab Emirates, according to Nigerian media reports.

Neither company was willing to comment on the Nigeria sales. Streit's policy is "non-engagement with the media," according to a communications firm that has worked for Streit in the past.

On its website, Streit said its export to Nigeria includes Spartan armoured vehicles, which have applications "ranging from a battlefield ambulance up to a fully armed direct-fire vehicle." It also includes Typhoon mine-resistant vehicles, which are used primarily as a mounted infantry troop carrier.

Marc Duchesne, a spokesman for Pratt & Whitney Canada, declined to comment on the Nigeria deal. "We will not comment on this story; the U.S. government cleared the Tucano sale to Nigeria," he said.

Ken Epps, a policy adviser at Project Ploughshares, said his group is concerned about the loopholes that allow Canadian equipment to be sold in U.S. arms exports without federal authorization.

"We are concerned that the transfer of aircraft powered by Canadian-built engines will proceed without any required review or reporting by the Canadian government," he said.

The U.S. Super Tucano warplanes will support Nigerian counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations against Boko Haram and will also counter illicit trafficking, according to the U.S. Defence Security Co-operation Agency, which gave details of the deal.

It said the export deal will include "special training on the law of armed conflict and human rights, and air-to-ground integration to minimize civilian harm in air operations."

Even before the refugee-camp bombing in January, the Obama administration had frozen arms sales to the Nigerian military for the past several years because of frequent reports of military abuses.

But less than a month after the refugee-camp bombing, Mr. Trump spoke by telephone to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and promised to "cut a new deal" on weapons sales, a Nigerian government statement said.

Several human-rights groups, including Amnesty International, have expressed alarm at the aircraft sale. "Without strong human rights structures in place, the transfer of the Tucano attack aircraft armed with heavy machine guns could exacerbate the conflict, or fuel new ones," the groups said in a letter to U.S. Congressional committees in May.

Two U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Rand Paul, have also protested against the aircraft sale, accusing the Nigerian military of "flouting the laws of war" and massacring hundreds of Nigerians.

Globe and Mail

Video - Nigerian president Buhari to push for UN reforms at UNGA

Nigerian foreign minister has confirmed President Muhammadu Buhari will lead the Nigerian delegation at the UN General Assembly. Buhari will reportedly renew its call for international support for the release of the Chibok girls. The Nigerian president will also reportedly be pushing for comprehensive UN reform, specifically with regard to the Security Council. The foreign ministry say Buhari will be engaging robustly with the international community. The Nigerian president has spent months away from the country recently due to an undisclosed illness. He's cancelled two cabinet meetings with no reason given.

Nigerian military denies siege of Biafra separatists home

A group campaigning for the secession of a part of southeastern Nigeria, formerly known as Biafra, on Tuesday accused the army of laying siege to their leader’s home, a charge the armed forces denied.

Rising tensions prompted the governor of Abia state, where the leader’s residence is located, to impose a curfew.

Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group said soldiers had surrounded the home of leader Nnamdi Kanu. Groups have stepped up calls for secession since Kanu was released on bail in April after being detained for nearly two years on charges of criminal conspiracy and belonging to an illegal society.

“There was no surrounding of Nnamdi Kanu’s residence. It is not true,” said army spokesman Sani Usman.

Secessionist sentiment has simmered in the region since the Biafra separatist rebellion tipped Africa’s most populous country into a civil war in 1967-70 that killed an estimated one million people.

The military presence in southeastern Nigeria has increased in the last few weeks to crack down on crime.

The IPOB also said that soldiers stormed Kanu’s family compound on Sunday, which the army also denied.

Politicians waded into the dispute on Tuesday.

Abia state governor Okezie Ikpeazu said in a statement that people were advised to observe a curfew from 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) to 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) from Sept. 12 to Sept. 14.

A caucus of southeastern lawmakers in the Senate, the upper chamber of parliament, said in a statement through its chairman Enyinnaya Abaribe that the military had sent a “strong signal that the region is under siege, which should not be so in a democracy”.

Renewed calls for Biafran secession prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to use his first speech after returning from three months of medical leave in Britain, in August, to say Nigeria’s unity was “not negotiable”.

Amnesty International in 2016 accused Nigeria’s security forces of killing at least 150 Biafra separatists at peaceful rallies. The military and police denied the allegations.

Reuters

Video - Dangote Cement among bidders for S. Africa's largest cement firm PPC

Investors are lining up for South Africa's largest cement maker - PPC. The company has fallen on hard times over the last decade after being unbundled from diversified industrial and logistics group Barloworld. Merger talks with local rival Afrisam are said to have hit a brick wall, reportedly sparking a flurry of interest from other bidders. Sumitra Nydoo with the story.

Video - Security boosted in Plateau State Nigeria following Friday's clashes

Authorities are investigating Friday's deadly reprisal killings in the central Plateau State. At least 19 people are dead when Fulani herdsmen launched the attack. Security has been boosted in the region.

Video - Nigeria community leaders try to quell farmer-herder conflict

Leaders of rival communities in Nigeria are trying to stop the war between Christian farmers and Muslim cattle herders. Their disputes over grazing land have killed at least 200 people in the past year in Kaduna State.

Video - Nigerian army denies militant killings have risen sharply since April

Nigeria's military is disputing the latest Amnesty International report that claims a sharp rise in Boko Haram killings over the past five months. The report released this week claims close to 4-hundred civilians have been killed in Nigeria and Cameroon since since April.

Sanction on Nigerian players for attacking referees

Nine players and two officials have been handed 12-match and 19-match bans respectively for attacking match officials in a Nigerian league game.

The club in question, FC Ifeanyi Ubah, became an official partner of West Ham last year.

During August's game three players attacked referee Nakura Auwal after winger King Osanga was sent off.

Six more joined in the ensuing melee, while officials Chidi Nwogu and Adrika Obiefuna also assaulted the referees.

Two of the players punished by the Nigerian Premier League, Stephen Eze and Adeleye Olamilekan, have played for Nigeria in the African Nations Championship team for locally-based stars.

The club was also fined $4,900 for the incident and ordered to pay $700 to each of the officials involved and any certified medical bills.

The move by the LMC is the latest attempt to try and crack down on referee's assault and crowd trouble in the country's premier division.

Back in December 2012, the LMC inherited a league system punctuated by crowd violence, lack of funds, poor player welfare and the challenge of creating a well-organised league that will bring back the fans to deserted stands.

BBC

Video - Young Nigerians step up, start shoemaking business

In Nigeria, a group of unemployed young people has joined forces to start a shoemaking business in the northern city of Yola. The entrepreneurs say they're inspired by the government's drive to promote locally made goods as a way of growing the economy. Leslie Mirungu has more.

Food prices drop in Nigeria

The harvest of food crops in the South-west has made appreciable positive impact on the prices of foodstuff, a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria has revealed. Some farmers and stakeholders, who spoke with NAN correspondents across some states in the zone on Wednesday, attributed the positive development to the sustained focus on agricultural development by the federal government.

They expressed optimism that the effort at revamping the country’s ailing economy would materialise, if the renewed focus on agriculture persisted. They also cited government’s efforts at strengthening the naira by encouraging locally produced goods. These actions, they concluded, had boosted food production, resulting to good harvest that had led to a drop in the price of foodstuff. 

In Oyo State, a maize seller, Azeez Zubair, told NAN in Ibadan that a measure (mudu) of maize, which cost N420 before the current harvest period, now goes for N200 while a bag of maize, which was sold for N18,000 previously now cost N10,000. He said that the price could have been further reduced if more youth had ventured into agriculture and therefore, advised youngsters to go back to farming in order to permanently tackle food insecurity in the country. 

Also speaking, Romoke Fashola, a yam seller, said that six tubers of yam that previously cost 3,000, now sells for N1, 200 while the price of 60 tubers of yam had dropped to N18,000 from N30,000. Mrs. Fashola said that the price of yam would still drop as the harvest period lasted. She, however, observed that exportation of yams, would limit the drop in the price of yam this harvest season. In his own contribution, Alao Adetayo, a farmer, identified one of the factors inducing price spikes as the high cost of farm inputs and transportation occasioned by bad roads. 

He urged the federal government to rehabilitate rural roads to ease farmers’ stress in the transportation of farm produce to urban centres. Reacting to the development, Oyewole Oyewumi, the Oyo Commissioner for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Development, said the state government had embarked on various measures to boost food production. Oyewumi said that the government had begun to recruit many unemployed youth into agriculture through the inauguration of the Oyo State Agricultural Initiatives (OYSAI) tagged ‘OYO AGRIC’. 

He said that this effort had contributed to increased food production and the resultant affordable prices of farm produce this harvest period. The commissioner added that the government had also embarked on the repair and expansion of rural roads to ease the transportation of farm produce from rural communities to urban areas. In Osun, a similar trend was observed in different parts of the state, especially at major markets in Osogbo and Ile-Ife. A yam seller at Itakogun market, Ile-Ife, Christiana Alani, said that five big tubers of yam, previously sold for N4,000 now cost N2,500. Mrs. Alani added that five small tubers which cost N1,200 before harvest, now sell for N800. 

She observed that a small bag and a measure of maize, which sold for N24,000 and N350, now cost N21,000 and N300 respectively. Similarly, in Alekuwodo market in Osogbo, five big tubers of yam now cost N,3000 as against N4,500 before the harvest while a bag of maize sells for N22,000 against N24,000 previously. 

Tawa Ahmed, a food seller at the market, attributed the fall in the prices of foodstuffs to the ongoing harvest of farm produce. “Usually, prices of foodstuffs come down at this period of harvest but by the end of October, there may be slight changes in the prices when harvest of crops draw to a close,” Mrs. Ahmed said. On the contrary, however, Taye Babatunde, a foodstuff distributor at Oja Tuntun, noted that the price of beans had remained high in the last few months as a bag of white beans sells for N40,000 while a plastic measure costs N650. 

Mrs. Babatunde said that a bag of sweet beans, which was formerly sold for N25,000 and a plastic measure for N700, now costs N30,000 and N750 respectively. At Igbonna market in Osogbo, a bag of brown beans attracts N33,000, as against the initial price of N29,000 while a plastic measure, which formerly cost N600 now costs N700. Meanwhile, Moses Oladipupo, the Vice President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Osun, said that the newly-harvested crops had triggered 50 per cent drop in the prices of foodstuff generally in markets in the state. Mr. Oladipupo noted that most of the food crops being harvested were planted between March and June. 

He expressed optimism that the prices of foodstuff would further drop in the course of the harvest period. Also commenting, Ganiyu Awojobi, the AFAN Chairman in Ife East Local Government, concurred that the prices of foodstuff would further decline as the harvest progressed. He, however, argued that it was normal that when certain food crops were being harvested and made available in the market, their prices would drop in line with the law of demand and supply. 

In Ekiti, respondents said they were excited over the evident fall in the prices of foodstuff and their availability in the market. A farmer, Jide Ogunyemi, in Ikere Ekiti, said that farmers were actually relieved of the hardship associated with the ailing economy, saying that they would not relent in their efforts to sustain the trend. Mr. Ogunyemi, however, said that the state government needed to do more in the area of providing the enabling environment as well as incentives for farmers to further encourage them. 

He told NAN that many farmers in the state still lacked access to agricultural inputs and cash support to enable them to expand and maintain their farms. The peasant farmer noted that most of them would want to be equipped with agricultural skills, equipment and facilities, including storage, marketing and distribution of farm produce. In Kwara, the newly harvested crops also made some positive impact on the prices of foodstuff, as revealed in the NAN survey. 

For instance, in Baruten Local Government Area of the state, a measure of maize, which sold for N6,000 before, now costs N4,000 while six big tubers of yam now cost N2,000 as against N5 000 before the harvest period. However, the price of Guinea corn remained high as the crop was not yet due for harvest hence, one basin of Guinea corn sells for N6,000 as against N5,000 in May. A pepper seller who identified herself as ‘Iya Ramota Alata’, said that pepper had also witnessed price reduction as a bag of long pepper sells for between N6,500 and N7,000 as against N8,000 sold in May. 

She also said that the price of onion had also dropped with the arrival of the newly harvested commodity. According to her, a bag of white onion now sells for between N18,000 and N20,000 while the red onion sells for N15,000 to N18,000. Kayode Ehindero, the Chairman, Agriculture and Allied Employees Union (AAEU) in Kwara, attributed the drop in commodity prices to good harvest.

Vanguard

President Buhari says he's not running for re-election in 2019

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari told members of his party before he was first elected that he would only seek one term, implying he did not intend at that time to run in 2019, the minister of women’s affairs told Reuters on Wednesday.

The comments by Aisha Alhassan could heighten uncertainty over whether Buhari plans to contest the next election. Buhari took power in 2015 but has been absent for much of this year due to illness. He is yet to say if he will seek a second term.

“In 2014/2015 he said he was going to run for only one time to clean up the mess that the (previous) PDP government did in Nigeria. And I took him for his word that he is not contesting in 2019,” Minister of Women Affairs Alhassan said. 

Alhassan said in the interview she would resign if Buhari seeks re-election and would support former vice president Atiku Abubakar if he decides to run. Alhassan’s portfolio ranks relatively low down in Nigeria’s cabinet.

Abubakar was vice president from 1999 to 2007 as part of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), Buhari’s party, in 2014. She said Buhari made the comments in 2015 to APC members but gave no further details.

The president’s two spokesmen declined to comment on the minister’s remarks.

Buhari, 74, returned on Aug. 19 from three months of medical leave in Britain for an unspecified ailment. It was his second stint of sick leave this year following a break between January and March.

Many people say they doubt whether Buhari is well enough to serve another term in Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous country and has the continent’s biggest economy.

“If today Mr. President says he is running in 2019 I will go to him respectfully and thank him for giving me an opportunity to serve and then tell him that I have to resign because my political father may be running,” said Alhassan.

Reuters

Nigeria out of recession

Amid government celebration of Tuesday’s announcement by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, that Nigeria’s economy had officially exited recession, a civil society group has called for restraint and efforts geared towards a more sustainable growth.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, said on Wednesday that the NBS’ report on the recovery of the country’s economy from recession was an indication that government’s various economic policies under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP, to reflate the economy was yielding fruits.

The latest NBS’ National Gross Domestic Product, GDP, Report for the Second Quarter of 2017 released on Tuesday showed the GDP grew by 0.55 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms, an indication the country’s economy was gradually pulling out of recession after five consecutive quarters of contraction since the first quarter of 2016.

The statistics agency said the GDP growth was about 2.04 per cent higher than the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2016 (–1.49 per cent) and higher by 1.46 per cent from the rate in the preceding quarter (revised to –0.91 per cent from –0.52 per cent).

On a quarterly basis, the NBS said real GDP grew by 3.23 per cent, with aggregate GDP for the period at N26.99 trillion in nominal terms, compared to N23.55 trillion in the second quarter of 2016, resulting in a Nominal GDP growth of 14.6 per cent.

“That Nigeria has exited recession is a testimony to the fact that government is moving in the right direction economically. This is a confirmation that confidence is returning to the country’s economy,” Mr. Udoma said.

Regardless, the Centre for Social Justice, CENSOJ, said there was nothing celebrate, as the reported growth was not significant enough to justify any celebration.

“In view of the less than one percent GDP growth, stating that Nigeria has come out of recession is more or less like holding onto any available straw of hope,” the group said in a review by its lead director, Eze Onyekpere.

With a population growth rate of 2.7 per cent per annum, Mr. Onyekpere said, the reported GDP growth was not significant, particularly since the country’s economy had been growing consistently by about six percent in the years before the recession.

Rather than roll out the drums for celebration, the group said the report called for a “rolling up of our sleeves for more work.”

CENSOJ said the government should focus more attention on providing increased incentives for improved production and service delivery in all sectors of the economy, while fast-tracking the ease of doing business initiatives and interventions, to boost more investment in critical sectors of the economy.

According to the group, other areas the government must pay attention include mainstreaming the local content policy at all tiers of government; rejigging the Executive Council of the Federation, FEC; and getting more experts and practical men and women to run key sectors of the economy.

Also, the group said the government should take steps to stop the ongoing industrial actions in the education and health sectors of the economy as well as ensure that the 2018 federal budget is structured to grow the economy and develop human capacity and approved as soon as possible.

In his reaction, a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, said Nigeria cannot be said to be out of recession until all Nigerians can have three square meals a day.

In a series of tweets, through his Twitter handle @atiku, Mr. Abubakar said, “As a Nigerian, investor and employer of labour, the news of Nigeria’s official emergence from the recession is most welcome.

“The news is surely a boost for Nigeria – it tells investors, local and foreign, that our economy is worth investing in. While we rejoice, it is also important to recognize that economic weakness at the bottom of the pyramid remains. Inflation is still high. We must continue working hard to expand economic opportunity for all Nigerians. When all Nigerians can eat three square meals, that’s when the real recession ends. We have work to do,” he said.

A former Minister of Education and lead of the ‘Bring Back our Girls Movement’, Oby Ezekwesili, in her reaction to the news expressed excitement at the report, but urged the managers of the economy to ensure the growth rate was returned to the level it fell from a few years ago.

“It is critical that our economy is officially out of recession,” Mrs. Ezekwesili said in one her tweets through her Twitter handle, @obyezeks. “Great! Next is to get growth back up to above population growth rate of 3.3%. Waste no time in trending growth rate back up to where it fell from, 5-6 per cent per annum.”

In his reaction, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ahmed Makarfi, also dismissed the celebration by the government on the NBS report.

He described the exit “as a mere statistic that does not reflect the reality as it affects ordinary Nigerians.”

“For any economic recovery to be meaningful, it must positively impact on the lives of the people at the lower level,” he said.

The Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose, through his media aide, Lere Olayinka had also toed the line yesterday when he said that the exit would only be meaningful when Nigerians can afford to eat comfortably especially when the prices of food items drop significantly.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Yemi Kale, has said that the effect of Nigeria coming out of recession will not be immediately felt by the people.

Mr. Kale, the Statistician-General of the Federation, made the statement in Abuja on Wednesday at a news conference.

“There is a different stage Nigeria must go through before the masses will feel the effects of going out of recession.

“Out of recession is the first step which is very important then the country can talk of economic recovery which is going back to where Nigeria was before the recession,” he said.

The Bureau on September 5 announced that Nigeria was out of economic recession.

An economy is said to be in recession after contracting for two consecutive quarters.

The economy slipped into recession in the second quarter of 2016.

Premium Times

Death toll of Boko Haram attacks since April at 400

A surge in attacks by Boko Haram fighters has claimed nearly 400 lives since April in Nigeria and Cameroon, double the figure of the previous five months, according to a rights group.

The increasing use of suicide bombers - often young women and girls forced to carry and detonate explosives in crowded areas - has killed at least 381 civilians in the two countries, Amnesty International group said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Boko Haram is once again committing war crimes on a huge scale, exemplified by the depravity of forcing young girls to carry explosives with the sole intention of killing as many people as they possibly can," said Alioune Tine, Amnesty International's director for West and Central Africa.

"This wave of shocking Boko Haram violence, propelled by a sharp rise in suicide bombings, highlights the urgent need for protection and assistance for millions of civilians ... Governments in Nigeria, Cameroon and beyond must take swift action to protect them from this campaign of terror."

Amnesty said at least 223 civilians died in Nigeria since April, underscoring that the real toll could be far higher.

"Between May and August, seven times more civilians were killed than in the preceding four months, while 100 civilians were killed in August alone," it said.

In neighbouring Cameroon, Amnesty said since April at least 158 civilians died in Boko Haram attacks, a figure four times higher than the preceding five months.

"The recent spike in casualties has been driven by increased suicide attacks, with 30 - more than one per week - carried out since the beginning of April," it said.

The deadliest attack took place in the town of Waza on July 12 when 16 civilians were killed and at least 34 injured after a young girl was forced to carry and detonate a bomb in a crowded video game centre.

The group initially claimed to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in the north, but a range of demands by different people have since been issued.

At least 20,000 people have been killed in violence since 2009 and more than 2.6 million people have been left homeless.

More than five million people are starving as the fighting has devastated farmland, leaving farmers unable to sow or cultivate crops for several years.

In its statement last month, UNICEF said that because of the attacks, children who escape or are released by Boko Haram come to be viewed with suspicion and rejected by their communities.

The violence and security situation in the region has also forced thousands of parents not to send their children to schools.

Al Jazeera

Video - Former NBA player Oyedeji helping to groom new talent in Nigeria

One of Nigeria's basketball greats and long time former captain of the country's national basketball team, Olumide Oyedeji has just concluded his annual basketball camp for young and aspiring basketball players. Over 150 young boys and girls, as well as several coaches took part in the training camp.

Vigilantes fighting Boko Haram in Nigeria

They helped tackle Boko Haram but could vigilantes turn into Nigeria's next security threat?

With his homemade rifle resting on the sandbags of the checkpoint, Mustapha Musa scans the red-mud road and the lush green fields surrounding his small village of Molai Kiliyari on the outskirts of the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.

For now, the only sound is bird-song. But Mr Musa, 24, and three other vigilantes on duty are tense - they know danger is just down the road.

This is a place where strangers are treated with suspicion for good reason.

A few weeks ago, in the dead of night, several suicide bombers blew up their explosives bringing carnage to the village. Eight vigilantes were killed.

"We don't know when they'll come and whether they'll come with guns or bombs," says Mr Musa, his trigger-finger resting on the wooden barrel of his rifle.

"But I'm not scared of anything. There are soldiers nearby if we needed reinforcements.

The only problem we face is that the enemy is well-armed - and my gun only fires one round."

The young men are among the estimated 26,000 members of vigilante groups defending their communities from attacks by militants from the Boko Haram Islamist group.

The eight-year insurgency has devastated north-eastern Nigeria and spilled over into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

The vigilantes first came to prominence in Maiduguri in 2013. With the Nigerian army in disarray, there were fears that the city would fall.

"Initially, the youth in Maiduguri were caught up between the brutality of Boko Haram and the harsh reprisals of the Nigerian military," says Nnamdi Obasi, one of the authors of a recent International Crisis Group report on vigilante groups in the region.

"They formed vigilante groups so they could isolate and eliminate Boko Haram members and also demonstrate they were not complicit in the group's attacks and atrocities."

The overstretched Nigerian military quickly realised the value of extra manpower and the local knowledge the vigilantes possessed.

It joined up with them in order to flush out the insurgents.

Unofficially, the vigilantes are now called the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), working alongside and liaising with the military.

More than 650 have been killed in the violence.

'Like hunting'

Most are volunteers - petty traders, civil servants, and unemployed youth - and are not paid for their work. But around 2,000 vigilantes received some military training and are now on the government's payroll.

Often they man checkpoints, spotting potential suicide bombers. But they also operate alongside the army in the bush where Boko Haram militants take shelter.

"It's like rich people that go hunting," one vigilante told me. "When the army says there's an operation we all want to go."

The vigilantes are normally armed only with wooden clubs, machetes and homemade weapons.

The authorities are cautious given that heavy-duty weapons could fall into the wrong hands or be turned against them.

While many Nigerians view the vigilantes as heroes in the fight against Boko Haram, they have been accused of human rights abuses from rape to extortion - and extra-judicial killings of suspected militants.

Now, after years of fighting, there is a growing concern that battle-hardened vigilantes could turn into a militia that the authorities are not able to control.

"There is a strong sense of entitlement among the vigilantes," says Mr Obasi.

"They believe they not only saved Maiduguri but have fought an insurgency on behalf of the Nigerian government.

He says that most wish to be formally absorbed into the military and security forces or at least be recognised, and paid, by the government, while others expect scholarships, skills training or grants to set up small businesses.

"The fear is that unless these expectations are addressed, the authorities could have a big problem on their hands."

At an abandoned office building used by the vigilantes as a make-shift headquarters, scrawled on the wall in chalk is the message: "Forgiving a terrorist is left to god. But fixing their appointment with god is our responsibility."

No jobs, no peace

It is here that I meet Lawan Jaafar, 39, the chairman of the Civilian JTF.

He still works as a leather merchant and cattle trader when not leading the organisation.

He's a man of quiet intensity and purpose - he commands the respect of the thousands of vigilantes he heads.

Earlier this year, he was detained by the Nigerian security forces on suspicion of selling cattle to Boko Haram militants. He was later released without being charged.

But it shows how Mr Jaafar is now a powerful player in this part of the country - and some other actors want to clip his wings.

He carefully weighs his words: "I'm appealing to the government to provide jobs to the vigilantes and to take care of the poor families of those who lost their lives for the cause."

He has this warning if nothing happens:

"We're going to have problems with armed robbery and kidnapping - because if a man has no job, he will do anything to survive."

No-one in north-east Nigeria doubts the bravery of the vigilantes. They have helped immensely in putting Boko Haram on the back foot.

But unless their sacrifices are recognised, they could end up presenting a new security threat.

BBC

Video - One woman's mission to deradicalise Nigeria

One woman in Nigeria has made it her mission to de-radicalise former Boko Haram members. Dr Fatima Akilu travels around rural areas of north-eastern Nigeria, providing counselling to communities. Thuli Tshabalala has her story.

Video - Britain halves aid to Nigeria, urges more efforts against militancy

The British government has halved the amount given to Nigeria for the fight against Boko Haram. This comes in the wake of a joint visit to the country by Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, and the International Development Secretary, Priti Patel. The two were in Nigeria where they witnessed how the British military has been training their Nigerian counterparts in the battle against Boko Haram. On Wednesday, the British government announced a $257 million aid to Nigeria for a four year period- which would run from 2018 to 2022. This amounts to a $64million per year drop from last grant. At the same time, Patel as called for more efforts from NIgeria, in the battle against jihadists.

More than 100,000 displaced by floods in Nigeria

More than 100,000 people have fled their homes because of major flooding in the southeastern state of Benue in Nigeria, according to President Muhammadu Buhari.

"I have received with great concern reports of the flooding in Benue state, displacing, from early estimates, more than 100,000 people," Buhari wrote on Twitter late on Thursday.

He said his government "will make available all assistance" to those affected.

"We will surmount this disaster, and, working with the State Govt, bring succour and relief to all affected persons and communities."

Helen Teghtegh, head of local NGO Community Links and Human Empowerment Initiative, said the region had been battered by heavy rains over the past two weeks with the level of the Benue river steadily rising.

Many residents in the state capital Makurdi have fled their homes since Wednesday, she added, launching an appeal for donations.

"We are still trying to get accurate data, we don't know the number of casualties, but we are having a meeting tomorrow with local groups and emergency services, so we should know better," said Teghtegh.

Photographs of inundated Makurdi began spreading on social media on Thursday, showing cars and thousands of homes completely submerged. Others showed men and women carrying mattresses, bags, and other belongings as they fled on foot.

Buhari and his government have faced criticism in the media and online over what many called the inaction of authorities to tackle the flooding.

On Thursday, Buhari said he called for the National Emergency Management Agency to step in.

Two camps have been set up in Makurdi to accommodate those made homeless, but they will not open before the weekend.

Benue state, which is heavily reliant on its agricultural sector, has suffered repeated floods in recent years, caused by heavy rains and the opening of dams in neighbouring Cameroon.

In 2012, Nigeria suffered disastrous floods across 30 of its 36 states. Hundreds of people died, and some two million people were left homeless.

Al Jazeera

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Video - Stiff competition in Nigeria leads to lower data costs

Internet penetration is growing rapidly in Nigeria. The telecoms regulator estimates that there are around 91.6 million users . Part of what is driving growth is the cost of data.

UK to give Nigeria £200m to help fight Boko Haram

The UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and international development secretary Priti Patel have travelled to the heart of the Boko Haram uprising in Nigeria to show solidarity with the fight to bring the jihadists under control.

In their first joint visit, the two ministers travelled to Maiduguri, the capital of the north-east state of Borno, which suffered the worst killings by the Islamist terrorist group, including attacks at the university campus.

Overall Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people, displaced 1.7 million and left 8.5 million in desperate need of urgent support, in some cases on the brink of famine. Borno itself has seen more than 27,000 killings by the terrorist group and others.

Boko Haram is trying to create an Islamic state in the Lake Chad region, which spans parts of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad. It gained notoriety by abducting more than 200 girls from the north-east Nigerian town of Chibok in April 2014. Aid groups say it has kidnapped thousands more adults and children.

The UK has so far trained 28,000 Nigerian soldiers and over 40 UK military personnel have been deployed to Nigeria on a long term basis.

On Wednesday, Patel announced an extended five-year package of help, costing an extra £200m, to prevent 1.5 million people lapsing into famine and help keep a 100,000 boys and girls in education. The development secretary’s package also includes the restoration of key infrastructure and services in the north-east of the country.

Johnson said: “Boko Haram has generated suffering, instability and poverty on a huge scale, with profound knock-on effects far from Nigeria’s borders.”

He met survivors of Boko Haram violence, including bomb and gunshot victims, and saw for himself the displacement of people created by the conflict.

Johnson, under criticism at home for his performance as foreign secretary, said he was proud of the help the UK was providing: “This is about helping a Commonwealth partner in its time of need as well as addressing the root causes of international challenges such as migration.”

Patel said: “It is catastrophic that at least 20,000 people have been murdered by Boko Haram’s terrorist regime, and over 5 million people have been left hungry and many homeless. Babies’ bodies are shutting down and mothers who have lost everything are fighting to keep their children alive.”

Boko Haram has responded to its loss of territory by resorting to guerrilla tactics on soft targets such as markets, often using children as suicide bombers. Unicef claims the number of child suicide bombers in 2017 has reached 83 this year; more than four times the figure in 2016.

Nigerian ministers have previously prematurely claimed the terrorist group had been suppressed.

At the weekend it was confirmed that the US was selling Nigeria surveillance aircraft that will make the fight against terrorism much more effective. The weapons sale, consisting of $593m worth of equipment including 12 Super Tucano A-29 surveillance and attack planes, was initially signed off under former US president Barack Obama. However, it was delayed over concerns about alleged human rights violations by Nigerian troops.

Those concerns stemmed from report by rights group Amnesty International in March 2015, which claimed that Nigeria’s military arbitrarily detained and killed civilians in the north-east.

The visit by the UK ministers coincided with the first cabinet meeting overseen by Nigerian prime minister Muhammadu Buhari since his much-criticised 104 days spent in the UK for health treatment.

The country, rich in oil reserves, remains wracked by corruption, with more than $20m recently seized by authorities from the bank account of the former oil minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. It is alledged that she has gone into hiding after travelling to London.

The Guardian

Video - Nigerians divided on ruling on instant divorce for Muslims

In India, a court ruling banning instant divorce among Muslim couples continues to generate debate. The court maintains the practice is un-Islamic and unconstitutional. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam takes a look at how that decision is being perceived in Nigeria -- where the population of 180 million people is divided almost equally between Christians and Muslims.

Iceland set to deport family from Nigeria seeking asylum

The Immigration and Asylum appeals board in Iceland has denied the appeal of Nigerian couple Sunday Iserian and Joy Lucky, and their eight year old daughter to stay in Iceland.

Mbl.Is reports that the family received the news on Monday that they were to be deported to Nigeria after living in Iceland for a year and a half.

Iserian had appealed for political asylum due to threats he received from the current government and Joy Lucky was a victim of sexual slavery while pregnant with their daughter Mary.

However, the news of the the rejection of their application met with some furore in Iceland and an online petition was set up for them to be able to stay in the country.

The Ombudsman for Children in Iceland had made a statement to say that they are concerned about the welfare of children seeking in asylum in Iceland.

In an earlier report, Joy described how she was approached by a vicar at her local church back in Nigeria who promised to get her a job as a nanny in Europe. Once she accepted the offer, which she had good faith in, she was taken to a building where her hair, and her pubic hair, was cut off and her body washed according to black magic rituals to scare her into compliance.

She was transported to Libya where she met Sunday and fell in love. Once they fled across the Mediterranean to Italy the couple lost track of each other and Joy discovered that she was pregnant. She only found Sunday again three years later.

Sunday, on the other hand said he fled the country for political reasons and that he was afraid for his life.

Punch

5 pilgrims from Nigeria die in Saudi Arabia

Five Nigerian pilgrims to this year’s hajj in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, have died.

The Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, Abdullahi Mohammed, announced the passage of four of the pilgrims on Tuesday in Makkah, Islam’s holiest city.

Mr. Mohammed, who spoke at the 2017 pre-Arafat meeting with Hajj stakeholders, however, declined to disclose the identities of the late pilgrims as well as the circumstances that led to their death.

He said such information could only be disclosed after their families had been appropriately informed.

The NAHCON chair pleaded with the media to withhold the details so as not to further devastate the families of the affected pilgrims.

Shortly after the chairman spoke, an official on the medical team of NAHCON announced the passage of another pilgrim from Kwara.

A total 81,200 Nigerian pilgrims are performing this year’s hajj, all of whom have converged on Makkah after some of them visited and prayed at the Prophet Mohammed’s mosque in Madinah.

A few other pilgrims came directly to Makkah after flying into Saudi Arabia through the nearby city of Jeddah.

All the pilgrims have performed the rites of Umrah, the lesser hajj, at al-Masjid al-Haram in which is situated the Kabah.

On Wednesday, the pilgrims, like their counterparts from other parts of the world, will move to the city of Mina to spend the eve of the 9th of Dhul-Hijah.

The pilgrims will then proceed to Arafat on Thursday praising Allah and reciting the Qur’an.

Premium Times

US sells half a billion dollars worth of military equipment to Nigeria

In its fight against Boko Haram, Nigeria’s military has consistently appeared less equipped than its adversaries. But that may soon change.

The Pentagon notified US Congress yesterday (Aug. 28) of the sale of $593 million worth of military equipment to Nigeria. The equipment consists of 12 Super Tucano A-29 surveillance and attack planes, among other weapons.

The sale comes as Nigeria looks to step up its fight against the terrorist group. Despite losing former strongholds, Boko Haram has remained active, killing 200 civilians in several attacks throughout the first half of 2017. The most prominent recent attack was the bombing of the largest university in Nigeria’s northeast region, the University of Maiduguri, which was once regarded as a safe haven. The attacks have undermined the military’s claims that the sect has been defeated.

Super Tucano A-29 planes are a boon for counterinsurgency operations, allowing pilots to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance missions, as well as providing close air support to ground troops. But despite their advantages, the sophisticated aircrafts are unlikely to give Nigeria’s army an immediate edge in fighting the insurgency. Boko Haram has become more slippery, adopting guerrilla tactics after losing much of the territory it once held in northeast Nigeria.

The militant sect has increasingly resorted to suicide bombings on soft targets, such as markets, car parks and schools, rather than the coordinated large-scale attacks on towns and villages it used previously. Many of the suicide bombings are carried out by children. According to UNICEF, the number of children suicide bombers deployed by Boko Haram this year is already four times higher than it was in all of 2016.

The weapons sale, while initially agreed to under former US president Barack Obama, was delayed over concerns about human rights violations by Nigerian troops. Those concerns stemmed from a March 2015 report by rights group Amnesty International, which claimed that Nigeria’s military arbitrarily detained and killed civilians in the northeast.

More recently, Nigeria’s air force accidentally bombed a refugee camp, killing more than 200 people. A spokesman for Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari called the bombing a “regrettable operational mistake.”

Quartz

$21 million seized from Nigeria's former oil minister Alison Madueke

A Nigerian court has seized $21m from bank accounts linked to Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former oil minister who faces corruption allegations.

Abdulazeez Anka, federal high court judge, ordered on Monday the immediate forfeiture of the sum allegedly held in local bank accounts by Alison-Madueke, who was once one of Africa's most prominent female politicians.

Nigeria's anti-graft Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which accuses Alison-Madueke of corruption, argued in the Lagos court that she had illicitly laundered the funds with the help of top oil officials.

Since leaving office in 2015, Alison-Madueke has been implicated in bribery, fraud, misuse of public funds and money laundering cases in Nigeria, Britain, Italy and the United States.

Alison-Madueke - the former president of the global oil cartel OPEC, and the first woman to hold the post - has always denied the allegations which involve billions of dollars syphoned from oil deals and state accounts.

Monday's ruling followed two applications by the EFCC which earlier this month successfully seized properties worth $44m that Alison-Madueke allegedly purchased with the proceeds of corruption.

The court had also ordered an interim forfeiture of 56 houses linked to the former minister valued at $9m.

Nigeria is reeling from a series of corruption scandals by top officials.

Earlier in April, the EFCC uncovered $43m worth of cash during an apartment raid in Lagos.

After the discovery, Nigeria's National Intelligence Agency (NIA) claimed the money belonged to the organisation, prompting President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend its head, Ayodele Oke

Also suspended and under investigation is Lawal Babachir, Buhari's secretary and longtime ally, following his indictment by the legislature for an alleged 200 million naira ($635,000) scam.

Al Jazeera

Video - Nigeria up for tough contest against Indomitable Lions

The Nigerian Super Eagles will take on the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in a double header for a place in next's world cup in Russia. The first leg comes up Friday, September 1 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, south of Nigeria while the return leg takes place three days later in Yaounde, Cameroon. A win for Nigeria will all but secure the country's place in the world cup.

Alex Iwobi ruled of World Cup qualifier due to injury

Nigeria have suffered a blow ahead of their 2018 World Cup qualifier against Cameroon in Uyo on Friday, after Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi withdrew from the squad with a thigh muscle strain.

The 21-year-old will also miss the away leg against African champions Cameroon in Yaounde on 4 September, according to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Iwobi was due to join the Super Eagles training camp on Monday after Arsenal's Premier League game at Liverpool on Sunday.

Iwobi, the nephew of legendary Nigeria star Jay-Jay Okocha, had played in Nigeria's first two World Cup qualifiers against Zambia and Algeria, scoring in a 2-1 win in Zambia in October last year.

He has been replaced in Nigeria's squad by CSKA Moscow striker Aaron Samuel, who was placed on standby last week.

Samuel made the last of seven international appearances two years ago.

BBC

Video - Boko haram torch newly renovated hospital, houses in Nigeria

Militant group Boko Haram has burnt down a newly renovated hospital and several houses in Adamawa State in north-eastern Nigeria. That's according to the local government. are no reports of casualties, as residents reportedly fled when they saw the attackers approaching. It's the latest in a string of recent attacks in north-eastern Nigeria. And suggests that despite the army's confidence it has driven Boko Haram out of Nigeria, this is not the case. During its insurgency, the group has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions from their homes. It's also come at a massive economic cost for Nigeria. Some estimates place the damage Boko Haram has caused to property at more than $5.2 B in eight years.

Video - Nigerian president cancels first Cabinet meeting

President Muhammadu Buhari has cancelled his first Cabinet meeting. No reason's been given. Buhari is currently working from home in Abuja. He'll be doing so for the next three months. Presidential spokesperson Malam Garba Shehu says Buhari's office has a rodent problem. The president returned home over the weekend after spending three months in London, being treated for an undisclosed illness. On Monday, Buhari gave his first address to the country, but made no reference to his health.

Star of HBO show Insecure Yvonne Orji celebrates virginity at 33

Yvonne Orji, the sex-drunk character Molly in HBO series Insecure, is proud to be a 33-year-old virgin, even though she is currently playing the sexy role.

The Port Harcourt-born star said she is keeping herself for her husband.

“She is keeping it locked. “I wasn’t going to hide it just because I’m on TV,” the Nigerian star told People. “I’m grounded in who I am.” And to show just how much she is dedicated to keeping her virginity, she created a clothing line to promote abstinence.

“I have a clothing company called Rock Your Stance, and we sell shirts that say ‘Keeping it locked till I get that rock’,” she said, adding, “Entertainment chose me. Before any of this happened, I sat down with myself and with God. I said, ‘I know why I’m here. It’s to make you proud.’” Yvonne Orji went further to speak about her career as an actress, adding that her parents, like most Nigerian parents, wanted her to be a doctor. 

“It sounded noble,” she said. “But then I took organic chemistry and I was like, ‘Well, maybe not.’ I ended up getting my master’s degree in public health and then working in war-torn Liberia to stall from crushing my parents’ hopes and dreams.” She continued, “’It would take me eight years to become a doctor, but give me eight years to make it in entertainment,’” she recalled telling her family. “And I’m happy to say, I did it in seven!” 

She did it, and is promoting abstinence until marriage. Her belief has invoked social media comments with spurious comments on twitters. Morqos‏ said: “ Why do people think Yvonne Orji is lying about her virginity? That’s such a stupid thing to lie about.” Morgan‏ said “Yvonn Orji has said she’s a virgin like 100 times and y’all are just now finding out today and making a big deal about it.” “Yvonne Orji is goals mate. 

Not because she’s a virgin but because she’s unashamed to speak about it & link it to her faith in this day & age,” says king woman, in her tweet. 

Orji emigrated to the U.S. from Nigeria at age 6. “It was the traditional immigrant story of my parents wanting the best for us and bringing us here,” she says. But life in Maryland wasn’t always easy. “I was bullied because I have this thick Nigerian accent,” she recalls. “My mom would say, ‘We didn’t come to America for you to be popular.’ 

Which is fair, but as a kid, you’re just like, it would be really nice to have this thing that everyone else has.” Later, after graduating with a master’s degree in public health from George Washington University, Orji says she shocked her family (who had always hoped she’d be a doctor), by announcing she wanted to move to New York to pursue stand-up comedy.

Vanguard

Africa's richest man Alike Dangote to build university in Abuja, Nigeria

The President and founder of Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote, has set aside N200 billion to establish a world-class university in Abuja.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the proposal has since been delivered to the National Universities Commission, NUC.

A former Executive Secretary of the NUC, Julius Okojie, who is the chairman of the technical team for the establishment of the university, said the foundation intends to drive technology and research in stimulating economic growth.

Mr Okojie, who led his team to the current Executive Secretary of the commission, Abubakar Rasheed, said the proposed university is meant to be technology-driven and asked for the cooperation and support of the NUC towards the realisation of the goal.

According to a National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, publication, the team, accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer, CEO of the foundation, Zouera Yousouffou, disclosed that Mr. Dangote’s desire was to float a unique university of technology with all the necessary infrastructure and best faculty members from across the globe.

Mr. Rasheed, who applauded the bold step, promised to offer all the needed assistance for the success of the project.

He, however, advised the team to reconsider its plan of establishing a university of technology to ‘a conventional university running all programmes but with specialty in the area of technology.’

The executive secretary, who underscored the advantages of the conventional university over the special one, said with the countless impacts on society by the business mogul, the project would be a success.

He asked the team to consult widely and look at the universities in Nigeria and abroad with a view to creating a unique university that would be different in terms of quality in all its operations.

In her remarks, Mrs. Yousouffou said the foundation was ready to make the dream a reality with the sum of N200 billion already earmarked for the project.

She said the land was purchased and preliminary measures were in place for the headquarters of the university at the nation’s capital city of Abuja.

Mr. Dangote is a Nigerian mega-entrepreneur cum billionaire, who owns the Dangote Group, which has interests in diverse commodities.

The company with massive business tentacles operates principally in Nigeria but has corporate interests in other African countries.

Premium Times

Former Nigerian minister kidnapped

The police command in Nasarawa State has confirmed the abduction of a former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Hussaini Akwanga.

Mr. Akwanga served during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo but was removed on December 4, 2003, following an alleged $214 million national identity card scam.

The spokesman for the Nasarawa State Police Command, Kennedy Idirisu, who confirmed the abduction in Lafia on Wednesday, said Mr. Akwanga was kidnapped by gunmen at his farm on Wamba Road on Tuesday.

Akwanga town is about 46km north of Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State.

Mr. Idirisu said that on receiving information on the abduction, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Sadiq-Bello, mobilised policemen, led by the deputy commissioner in charge of operations, to search for the abducted former minister.

“As we speak, the commissioner himself has gone to Akwanga to boost the rescue operation to ensure that the victim is released unhurt,” he said.

Mr. Idirisu reiterated the commitment of the command to ridding the state of kidnappers and other criminal elements.

Meanwhile, a family source told NAN that the kidnappers had contacted them, demanding an unspecified amount as ransom.

On May 6, the mother and sister of a member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Kassim Mohammed, were similarly abducted in Akwanga.

Premium Times

Video - IMF urging Nigeria's gov't to do more to address job scarcity

The International Monetary Fund says not enough is being done to provide people of working age in Nigeria with jobs. The country's informal working sector is making a significant contribution to the GDP and the IMF says it's becoming a big problem for the country's tax revenues.

Video - Huge rise in children used as human bombs by Boko Haram in Nigeria

There has been a significant increase in the number of children used as human bombs by Boko Haram militants in north-east Nigeria, the United Nations says.

Unicef reports there have been 83 cases so far this year - four times as many as in the whole of last year.

55 were girls under the age of 15 and in one case the bomb was strapped to a baby being carried by a young girl.

Unicef says this tactic is an atrocity causing fear and suspicion of children released by the militants.

According to the UN children's agency, 127 children have been used as bombers in north-east Nigeria since 2014.

The Islamist militants Boko Haram have regularly used children in its insurgency, abducting hundreds of schoolgirls, and forcibly recruiting boys as child soldiers.

BBC

Video - Tattoos become increasingly popular among young people in Nigeria

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Nigeria bans music from popular Nigerian artists

The National Broadcasting Corporation has banned five Nigerian songs having tagged them as “Not to be Broadcasted.”

The banned songs are Olamide‘s “Wo” and “Wavy Level“; Davido‘s “Fall” and “If (Remix)“; and 9ice’s “Living Things.”

The corporation released the list on Tuesday, saying it has banned the 5 songs from being aired across the Nigerian airwaves.

The Federal Ministry of Health had in a tweet on Friday said that the video to Olamide’s “Wo” violated the Tobacco Control Act 2015.

The 28-year-old rapper, who is signed to his own record label, YBNL, had returned to Ladi Lak in Bariga where he was raised to shoot the video of his latest single.

“This is our position: video contravenes the act. Innocently or otherwise Tobacco Promotion Advertising Sponsorship is banned in all forms.”

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately ascertain why the songs of the two other musicians were banned.

In June this year, the federal government, through the Ministry of Health, had launched a campaign to ban smoking in public places including motor parks, shopping malls and health care centres.

The Health Ministry, in a communiqué, said according to Section 9 of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Act 2015, once convicted, offenders are liable to a fine of at least N50, 000 and/or six months’ imprisonment.

Tweeting the information via its official Twitter page, the Ministry of Health claimed that the video, which features ghetto scenes in which youth are seen smoking, encourages second-hand smoking.

This is not the first time that an Olamide song will be banned by the Nigerian regulatory body.

In 2016, just a few months after the ban of one of his songs ‘Shakiti Bobo’, NBC also banned, ‘Don’t Stop’ which is a track off Olamide’s 5th studio album, Eyan Mayweather, for its vulgar lyrics.

Defending the decision at the time, the NBC said the song was banned from being played on the airwaves for its ‘obscenity, being indecent, vulgar languages, lewd and profane expressions like ‘wa gba ponron’, ‘I just want to hit you now’, ‘je kin wo be…”

Rapper Falz had also in June criticized Nigerian musicians who glamourise fraud with their lyrics, a criticism fans took to be directed at 9ice for “Living Things.”

The actor and rapper stated that the recent trend of hailing Internet fraudsters in music is not helping future generations as the young ones are beginning to see this as a normal way of life.

He recounted the personal experience of challenges faced by Nigerians in other countries as a result of cyber crime.

According to the 2015 Tobacco Control Act, it is prohibited to promote or advertise tobacco or tobacco products except between a manufacturer, retailer and consenting persons above 18 years of age.

“No person shall promote or advertise tobacco or tobacco products in any form.

“No person shall engage or participate in any tobacco advertising, promotion or sponsorship as a media or event organizer, celebrity or other participant,” it read.

According to the 2015 law, anyone who violates the law faces the risk of a fine and jail term of not more than one year.

Persons that produce or publish advertising, promotion or sponsorship content shall attract a fine of not less than N3,000,000 and a term of imprisonment of not more than one year.
If the tenets of the tobacco-control act are followed to the latter, then the rapper is at risk of N3 million fine, one-year jail term over ‘Wo’ video.

Premium Times

Video - Nigerian president addresses the nation for the first time in months

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has addressed the nation for the first time in months. In a televised address he thanked Nigerians for their thoughts and prayers while he was receiving medical treatment in the UK. Buhari arrived back in the country at the weekend. The exact nature of his illness has still not been disclosed. The president has called on Nigeria to remain united, especially when it comes to battling Boko Haram militants in the country.

Video - Food lovers celebrate Nigeria's most spicy meal

If you've ever been to West Africa, you'll know that jollof rice is big business. It's a fundamental part of the region's culture in many respects. And there's been a long-standing dispute over which country's jollof is the best. Well, at a recent jollof festival in Lagos, Nigerians came out in their numbers to show off their skills. Hlonela Lupuwana gives us a taste.

Nigerian drug smuggler exretes 1410.9 grams of cocaine wraps

The High People’s Court of Guangdong Province, China, has finally confirmed a death sentence with two years probation on a Nigerian, Mr. Ikechukwu Peter Obiekezie, who was reportedly found guilty of smuggling 1410.9 grams of cocaine into China.

Details reaching Vanguard disclosed that Obiekezie, with Nigerian standard Passport No. A50296207, was on 2nd October, 2016, arrested at the Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, China, upon arrival from Addis Ababa aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight No. ET 606 on suspicion of smuggled drugs, which he swallowed and brought to China.

He has, since October 3, 2016, joined the growing list of Nigerians who are detained and serving various jail terms in Guangdong Province, China, after he excreted a total of 1410.9 grams of cocaine at the Chinese Aviation hospital. Having been in detention since then, Obiekezie was on August 18, 2017, issued a death sentence, following rejection of an appeal made at the Intermediate Peoples’ court of Guangzhou on April 7, 2017, after he was declared guilty of smuggling the hard drug into China and was given suspended death sentence. 

A follow up report from the Nigerian Consulate General in Guangzhou, China, disclosed that, the death sentence, in the case of Obiekezie, will not be carried out within the period of two years if the convict shows remorse, good behavior and if no new crime is intentionally committed during the two-year probationary period. The Consulate also said that the death sentence will be reduced to life or 10 to 15 years imprisonment if the convict remains of good behaviour. “Capital Punishment is a legal penalty in the People’s Republic of China. 

It is mostly enforced for murder and drug trafficking, and executions are carried out by lethal injection or shooting. “There is widespread public support for capital punishment, especially as a penalty for violent crimes. The People’s Republic of China executes the highest number of people annually. “It is worth noting that after a first trial conducted by an Intermediate People’s Court which concludes with a death sentence, a double appeals process must follow. 

“The first appeal is conducted by a High People’s Court if the condemned appeals to it, and since 2007, another appeal is conducted automatically (even if the condemned does not make the appeal) by the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China (SPC) in Beijing, to prevent the awkward circumstance in which the defendant is proven innocent after the death penalty, an obviously irrevocable punishment has been administered. “Chinese courts often hand down the death sentence with two years probation. 

This unique sentence is used to emphasize the seriousness of the crime and the mercy of the court.” It also stressed that cases of drug smuggling into the People’s Republic of China is giving Nigeria a bad image in China, adding that, “Presently, there are more than 500 Nigerians serving jail terms for drug trafficking and over 200 languishing in jail for illegal residence in China. “The Consular problems arising from this barrage of drug related activities of Nigerians have overwhelmed the staff of the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Guangzhou, China. “On 31st July, 2017, a Nigerian with drugs in his system died aboard the Ethiopian airlines flight to Guangzhou”.

In reaction, Nigeria Consul General to China, Ambassador Wale Oloko informed the need to equip the Mission regulating authorities. He noted that the Nigerian Mission in Guangzhou, China, is the busiest among the four Nigerian Missions in China and should be quipped with necessary tools to address affectively and follow up cases affecting some Nigerian immigrants to China, while pointing out that the Mission should not be facing serious financial predicament, which also include non-payment of Foreign Service Allowances (FSA) and rent on the accommodation of the Home-Based Officers and salaries of locally recruited staff. 

The Mission currently is said to be facing ejection notice from its present location after its inability to pay its rent. And if it goes through, it would be the second time within a period of ten months to witness such embarrassment, having earlier been ejected from its previous location in November, 2016 for non-payment of accumulated rent to give way to the Consulate-General of an African country and now the owners of the property have taken the Mission to court to recover outstanding rent fees.

Vanguard

President Buhari pleas for unity in Nigeria

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has addressed the nation following three months of medical leave in the UK.

In a televised speech, Mr Buhari, 74, said he was "distressed" by calls for the dissolution of Nigeria, urging Nigerians to come together.

But the president failed to disclose his illness. It was his second spell of medical leave this year.

Many Nigerians had called for him to resign during his absence, saying he was unfit to run the country.

Others have called for more transparency over his condition, as speculation grows over whether he will be fit to seek a second term in 2019.

Vice-President's Yemi Osinbajo has been in charge during his leave but Mr Buhari has now officially resumed his duties as president.

Speaking two days after his return, Mr Buhari said that comments around the dissolution of Nigeria had "crossed national red lines".

"Nigeria's unity is settled and not negotiable," he said. "We shall not allow irresponsible elements to start trouble."

The president also made reference to ethnic violence in the country, blaming "political mischief-makers".

Ethnic tensions - with some calling for a separate state in the south-east known as Biafra - surfaced during his leave, while the war against the Islamist militant group Boko Haram continued in parts of the north.

Nigerians were hoping to find out just what's wrong with the president - to get some clarity on the mystery illness that had him absent from his job.

But it seems the presidency intends to keep Mr Buhari's condition a secret.

They may have trouble convincing the public to believe the line they've been touting for months that the president is "hale and hearty". He was visibly thin and frail as he greeted politicians on Saturday.

He has made some sort of recovery - in his last public appearance before he left in May, when he greeted the 82 released Chibok girls, he was barely able to stand.

On Monday, the president was eager to show that he is ready to take the reins again.

But the address will fail to answer the question on many people's minds - does this ailing 74-year old man have the energy to lead?

Back when Mr Buhari first went to London - in June 2016 - his office said it was for a persistent ear infection.

An official statement released in March 2017 - following a longer spell away - said that the president ad been on "vacation, during which he had medical check-ups".

His main opponents in Nigeria's 2015 election had claimed he had prostate cancer - which he denied.

BBC

Video - Nigerian president has been in London for more than 100 days

It's been more than a hundred days since President Muhammadu Buhari left the country for medical treatment in the UK. The Nigerian government maintains all is in order, despite concerns from citizens.

Nigerian hacker sentenced to jail in New York

Obinna Obioha, a Nigerian hacker, has been jailed for 51 months by a New York federal judge for operating a fraud scheme that swindled $6.5 million from businesses in the U.S. and elsewhere.

U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd sentenced Mr. Obioha, 31, for running a scheme in which he instructed hackers to hack into computers and email accounts of individuals around the world using malicious software.

The announcement of Mr. Obioha’s sentence was made by Acting United States Attorney Grant CJaquith and Vadim D. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Obioha, working from Nigeria, was a central figure in a fraud scheme using digital disguises and deceit to bilk businesses out of millions of dollars. We will continue to track down and bring to justice cyber criminals like Obioha no matter where they operate. I thank the FBI for its terrific work in this case identifying and apprehending Obioha,” said Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Vadim D. Thomas said: “These schemes can rob individuals and businesses of their livelihood. Cyber-crime is a serious threat and the FBI is prepared to go to any lengths to apprehend those like Obioha.”

As part of his guilty plea to wire fraud in April 2017, Mr. Obioha admitted that, while in Nigeria, he worked with and instructed others to hack into computers and email accounts used by dozens of victims in the United States and around the world. The organisation infiltrated victims’ computers and email accounts using malicious software (“malware”). After monitoring victims’ information to identify imminent commercial transactions, Mr. Obioha and his associates created knockoff email addresses that appeared similar to – but varied slightly from – victims’ legitimate email addresses.

Mr. Obioha and his associates used those bogus email accounts to send fraudulent invoices to victims, instructing them to wire funds to bank accounts controlled by Mr. Obioha and his associates, under the pretence that the wires were payments for actual deals that had been previously negotiated by the victims. Mr. Obioha admitted that between January and September 2016, he was involved in at least 50 wire transfers, and that about $6.5 million was sent by wire to bank accounts that he and his associates controlled. The accounts received money from fraud victims in New York, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas, among other places.

During Thursday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Donald N. Hurd described Mr. Obioha as “right in the middle of the action” in “very sophisticated criminal activity” designed to achieve “millions of dollars in illegal funds.”

Mr. Obioha was arrested on October 6, 2016, after flying from Lagos, Nigeria, to JFK International Airport. He has been in custody since that time.

This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Myers.

Premium Times

President Trump fires adviser Adebayo Ogunlesi

Nigerian born international CEO, Adebayo Ogunlesi has now ceased to be an adviser to embattled US President Donald Trump. Trump sacked him today along with other distinguished CEOs counselling him via two councils on how to “Make America Great Again”.

Trump sacked Ogunlesi on Twitter, when he announced the dissolution of two business advisory councils, in one fell swoop.

Ogunlesi was a member of Strategic and Policy Forum, one of the two disbanded by the unpredictable president. The other group was the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative Council. Ogunlesi, heads Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm and one of Fortune 500 companies. He was the only African on the panel.

The New York Times reported before Trump’s tweeted dissolution, that members of Ogunlesi’s panel were debating dissolving the body entirely as Trump wallowed deeper into bigotry quagmire. But Trump preempted their move. “Corporate leaders had hoped that President Trump would help businesses by slashing taxes and gutting regulations. 

It is not clear how much he will deliver on that score. On top of that, he is putting many chief executives in the position of answering for a president with an unparalleled track record of outraging people, most recently at a contentious press conference on Tuesday when he drew a false equivalence between the white supremacists who protested in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend and counter-protesters.”, NYT reported. Trump had earned rebuke and isolation from business leaders for supporting racial bigotry, White Supremacists and the KKK, following his remarks that failed to blame the tragic violence in Charlottesville, Virginia on the group. Instead, he blamed all the sides and the group that challenged the racists. 

The leaders of three companies — Kenneth Frazier of Merck, Kevin Plank of Under Armour and Brian Krzanich of Intel — were the first to resign from the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative Council. They resigned on Monday because Mr. Trump was slow to condemn the white supremacists during the weekend and blamed “many sides” for the violence. 

When Trump moderated his tone on Monday by saying “racism is evil” and condemning neo-Nazis, he did not assuage some of the CEOs working with him. Scott Paul, the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an organization backed by the steel industry and the United Steelworkers resigned. he was followed on Tuesday by Richard Trumka and Thea Lee, the president and deputy chief of staff for the union group A.F.L.-C.I.O.. The latter’s resignation followed Trump’s reversed position at a press conference at Trump Tower in New York, in which he said that “not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me,” referring to the white nationalists who were chanting “Jews will not replace us” as they marched with tiki-torches. 

Ogunlesi’s Strategic Forum, composed some of America’s most highly respected and successful business leaders. Members of the body were expected to meet with Trump frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as the president implements his plan to bring back jobs and “Make America Great Again. ”

Apart from being managing partner of Global Infrastructure Partners, Ogunlesi also serves on the boards of Callaway Golf Co. and Kosmos Energy Ltd. At the same time he’s the chairman of Africa Finance Corp. and serves on the boards of various not-for-profits ranging from New York Presbyterian Hospital to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

Vanguard

Video - Nigeria's blogger uses digital media to promote political dialogue

A social entrepreneur in Nigeria is using digital media platforms to promote political dialogue. Last month, Facebook reported there were nearly 16-million active users in Nigeria. And one blog has become popular among those who want to air their views on the political climate. However, critics have warned that the biased information provided on these sites could hinder an expanding media industry.

30 dead in suicide bomb attack in Nigeria

At least 30 people were killed and more than 80 others injured in a triple suicide attack Tuesday in the town of Mandarari, in Nigeria's Borno State, according to civilian vigilantes fighting Boko Haram Islamists in the area.
Three female suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts in a local market and outside a nearby camp for people displaced by Boko Haram violence.
"The first bomber struck outside the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp overlooking the market around 6 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) hitting some people and causing confusion as people tried to flee," civilian vigilante Bukar Kyari said.


While traders were trying to close their shops and evacuate their wares, two female bombers hit the market "almost simultaneously," said another civilian vigilante, Usman Grema.
The attacks happened on a weekly market day when people from the town and nearby villages flood the market to buy and sell food, clothing and livestock.

Twenty-eight people were initially killed at the explosion site, and two others died after being taken to a hospital in the town of Maiduguri, where they died at admission, according to a medic at the state-run hospital. The death toll is expected to rise. 

As of yet, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Konduga district where it took place is a known flashpoint for Boko Haram attacks.

Earlier this month, a study found that the majority of suicide bombers used by Boko Haram to kill innocent victims are women and children.

Researchers at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point and Yale University analyzed the 434 suicide bombings carried out by Nigeria-based militants Boko Haram since 2011, and found that at least 244 of the 338 attacks in which the bomber's gender could be identified were carried out by women.

The ISIS-affiliated insurgent group's use of women as bombers increased after the abduction of 276 female students aged between 16 and 18 from their school dormitories in April 2014. It has sent over 80 women to their deaths in 2017.
The report's authors say there are several reasons why women and children are chosen as bombers, one being that they are far less likely to be searched.
They can hide explosives under their billowing clothing, or inside handbags, and in some cases have even strapped explosives on their backs with infant children.

CNN

Video - Nigerian Petroleum Minister threatens to cancel licences due to high costs

The Nigerian petroleum ministry may be forced cancel production licenses if some companies fail to lower the cost of production. The ministry is engaging in negotiations with oil firms for better costs to improve revenue from crude exports.

Nigerian soldier killed by angry mob

The Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested two persons in connections with a mob action that led to the death of a soldier, Ayuba Ali, on Monday in Akwanga, Nasarawa State.

The command’s spokesperson, Kennedy Idirisu, confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Monday in Lafia.

Mr. Idirisu said that available information revealed the victim, who was on pass from Maiduguri, allegedly hit a street hawker at Agwan Affi area of the town while riding on a motorbike.

According to him, the soldier, who was in mufti, tried to pacify the hawker and an altercation ensued resulting in irate youth beating him to coma.

Mr. Idirisu said the soldier later died at the hospital, while investigation has begun to arrest all the perpetrators of the dastardly act.

Meanwhile, John Abimiku, a witness, told NAN that the area has been deserted for fear of the unknown.

“As I speak with you now, about four military trucks are stationed in the area and soldiers are picking up any youth on sight,” Mr. Abimiku added.

He claimed that the two persons arrested by the police were amongst those who took the soldier to the hospital after the mob action.

Premium Times