How Young Voters Can Shake Up Nigeria’s Next Election
Saturday’s election in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has sparked unprecedented interest among young people tired of being ruled by an old guard who’ve done little to improve their living standards or chances of getting a job. That has given a fringe-party candidate, running against two long-familiar politicians in their 70s, a real shot at the presidency for the first time. All three have promised to right the ship, but it won’t be easy. President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years in powe
washingtonpost.comHow Nigeria’s Crackdown on Gray Economy Led to Chaos
Nigeria’s government stands accused of causing economic chaos with a botched plan to tackle the country’s vast informal economy. The idea was to bring cash circulating under the radar into the regular banking system by compelling citizens to swap their old money for newly designed naira bills. But banks ran out of the new notes before all the old ones had been handed in, frustrating citizens and disrupting businesses just as Africa’s most populous nation was gearing up for a presidential electio
washingtonpost.comHow Young Voters Can Shake Up Nigeria’s Next Election
Nigerians are gearing up to choose a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, whose eight years in power have been blighted by economic decay, soaring unemployment, heightened insecurity and an exodus of the educated elite. The Feb. 25 vote in Africa’s most populous nation pits long-familiar politicians in their 70s against a challenger from a fringe opposition party who held a hefty lead in early polls. The election has sparked unprecedented interest among young Nigerians tired of being ruled b
washingtonpost.comWhy Nigeria Is Clamping Down on Its Vast Cash Economy
Nigerians have until the end of January to exchange their highest-value banknotes for freshly-issued bills. The aim is to bring an estimated 2.7 trillion naira ($6 billion) that circulates in informal channels into the regular banking system. But cash is the lifeblood of Africa’s biggest economy and there’s concern that the switchover could trigger the kind of chaos that broke out when India tried something similar in 2016.
washingtonpost.comNigeria's Buhari proposes record $47.3B budget for 2023
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is making a big bet to revive the West African nation’s economy and end its security woes with a record 20.5 trillion naira ($47.3 billion) proposed expenditure plan presented lawmakers in the capital city of Abuja on Friday
washingtonpost.comNigeria's Buhari proposes record $47.3B budget for 2023
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is making a big bet to revive the West African nation’s economy and end its security woes with a record 20.5 trillion naira ($47.3 billion) proposed expenditure plan presented lawmakers in the capital city of Abuja on Friday.
Deadly church attack rattles a peaceful corner of Nigeria
Dozens of people were feared killed and scores injured in the attack in southwestern Ondo State, where religious violence is rare. Most violence in Nigeria has taken place in the northeast, where Boko Haram has waged an Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, regularly attacking churches and kidnapping schoolchildren. Security was visibly tighter across Ondo State on Monday, witnesses told The Washington Post. While he doubted Boko Haram was responsible, he said it was worrying that other groups may be trying to use the same tactics to terrorize the country’s Christian community. “In saying this is not Boko Haram, we can’t say this does not have a religious connotation.”Wroughton reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
washingtonpost.comNigeria's Senate passes bill to bar kidnap ransom payments
Nigerian lawmakers have passed legislation to bar the payment of kidnap ransoms at a time when the West African nation is struggling to stem the rise of armed violence and kidnaps for ransom in its troubled northwest and central regions
washingtonpost.comNigeria's ex-vice president says he will run for president
Nigeria’s former Vice President Atiku Abubakar announced he will run for president in the 2023 election, promising to “rescue” Africa’s most populous country which he said has been “left behind” by the continent and the world
washingtonpost.comUkraine: Nigerian Volunteer Fighters Required To Pay $1,000 For A Visa And Ticket
Some 115 young men pledged to join Ukraine in its struggle against Russia, at a time when Nigerians in Ukraine are trying to return home. But they were not pleased when Bohdan Soltys, the second secretary at the Ukrainian Embassy in Nigeria, told local media at a press conference the Nigerian volunteers would need the $1,000 to get there. “I was dismissed from the Nigerian Army for leaving my duty post to visit my pregnant wife without permission,” he lamented. The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) criticized Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for its response in helping Nigerians evacuate Ukraine. A Ukrainian volunteer helps Nigerian nationals who fled the conflict in Ukraine find a taxi, in the North Railway Station, on March 3, 2022, in Bucharest, Romania.
thewestsidegazette.comNigerian Gov’t Staff Forced to Take Secrecy Oath After Daily Beast Reveals President’s Twitter Meltdown
GettyABUJA, Nigeria— Dozens of employees working in the State House, where the offices of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo are located, were gathered in a room and forced to take an Oath of Secrecy earlier this week because the president’s top aides were “embarrassed” by The Daily Beast report revealing the reasons behind his demand for a nationwide Twitter ban, according to two officials.The government was open about the mass-oath-taking, billing it as a sta
news.yahoo.com28 abducted Baptist school students freed in Nigeria
Armed kidnappers in Nigeria have released 28 of the more than 120 students who were abducted at the beginning of July from the Bethel Baptist High School in the northern town of Damishi. The gunmen have reportedly demanded 500,000 Naira (about $1,200) for each student. Two other students escaped on July 20 when they were ordered to fetch firewood from a nearby forest.
news.yahoo.comBiden calls Sen. John Warner 'a man of conscience, character and honor' at funeral
Speaking at the funeral of Sen. John Warner, President Biden called the five-term senator, who died at the age of 94, "a man of conscience, character and honor." Biden praised Warner for working across the political aisle "to see each other as fellow Americans, even when we disagree. From John's perspective, especially when we disagree."
news.yahoo.comNigerian families await news of 300 kidnapped schoolgirls
Families in Nigeria waited anxiously on Sunday for news of their abducted daughters, the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of school students in the West African nation. (AP Photo/Ibrahim Mansur)JANGEBE – Families in Nigeria waited anxiously for news of their abducted daughters after more than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped by gunmen from a government school in the country's north last week, the latest in a series of mass school kidnappings in the West African nation. Police and the military have begun joint operations to rescue the girls, said Mohammed Shehu, a police spokesman in Zamfara state. In December, more than 300 schoolboys from a secondary school in Kankara, in northwestern Nigeria, were taken and later released. The government says large groups of armed men in Zamfara state are known to kidnap for money and to press for the release of their members held in jail.
Students abducted from Nigerian school 2 weeks ago freed
(AP Photo)LAGOS – Students, teachers and relatives abducted two weeks ago from a school in northern Nigeria have been freed. The students, teachers and family members were abducted Feb. 17 by gunmen from the Government Science College Kagara. Their release was announced a day after police said gunmen had abducted 317 girls from a boarding school elsewhere in northern Nigeria, in Zamfara state. “We will not succumb to blackmail by bandits and criminals who target innocent school students in the expectation of huge ransom payments,” he said. In December, 344 students were abducted from the Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina State.
Hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls taken in mass abduction
One of the students who was not kidnapped from a Government Girls Junior Secondary School following an attack by gunmen in Jangebe, Nigeria, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. Gunmen abducted 317 girls from a boarding school in northern Nigeria on Friday, police said, the latest in a series of mass kidnappings of students in the West African nation. “We will not succumb to blackmail by bandits and criminals who target innocent school students in the expectation of huge ransom payments,” he said. AdFriday’s attack came less than two weeks after gunmen abducted 42 people, including 27 students, from the Government Science College Kagara in Niger State. In December, 344 students were abducted from the Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina State.
Medical oxygen scarce in Africa, Latin America amid virus
It takes about 12 weeks to install a hospital oxygen plant and even less time to convert industrial oxygen manufacturing systems into a medical-grade network. AdIn Brazil’s Amazonas state, a pair of swindlers were caught reselling fire extinguishers painted to look like medical oxygen tanks. Only then did President Muhammadu Buhari release $17 million to set up 38 more oxygen plants and another $670,000 to repair plants at five hospitals. AdLeith Greenslade of the Every Breath Counts Coalition, which advocates for wider access to medical oxygen, said the looming shortages were apparent last spring. The main provider of medical oxygen to Brazil’s Amazonas state, White Martins, operated at half capacity before the pandemic.
Kidnappings in north Nigeria highlight deepening insecurity
Usman Garuba, one of the freed boys, described the horror of their six days walking through the forest and being beaten. Boko Haram, Nigeria's jihadist rebels, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, but the government later said the abduction was carried out by bandit groups rampant in the northwest. Nigeria’s military and police forces, with the backing of local self-defense groups, are outgunned, outnumbered, underfunded and underpaid, he said. More than 800 security forces were killed in 2019, one of the deadliest years since Boko Haram’s establishment more than 10 years ago. It is really disturbing.”___AP journalists Lekan Oyekanmi in Katsina, Nigeria, and Sam Olukoya in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed.
Amid freed Nigeria schoolboys' joyful reunions, fear lingers
Usman Mohammad Rabiu, a 13 year old student of Government Science Secondary School Kankara, his mother Asmau Hassan, and his siblings at their family house in Ketare, Nigeria, speaks to the Associated Press, Saturday Dec. 19, 2020. Nigeria's freed schoolboys have reunited with their joyful parents after being held captive for nearly a week by gunmen allied with jihadist rebels in the country's northwest. Relieved parents hugged their sons tightly on Saturday in Kankara, where more than 340 boys were abducted from the Government Science Secondary school on the night of Dec. 11. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)KANKARA – Nigeria's freed schoolboys have reunited with their joyful parents after being held captive for nearly a week by gunmen allied with jihadist rebels in the country’s northwest. “Fear gripped me when they said if they ever see us in school again, that they will kill us,” said freed Kankara student, Usman Mohammad Rabiu.
Nigerian boy tells of abduction by extremists and his escape
The school boy who escaped says the students were kidnapped by young, armed men in military uniform. The attack, claimed by Boko Haram, Nigeria's jihadist rebels, has prompted an outcry in the West African nation against the government for not doing enough to stop attacks on schools in the north. Boko Haram kidnapped the schoolboys because it believes Western education is un-Islamic, the rebels’ leader Abubakar Shekau said in a video claiming responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group. For more than 10 years, Boko Haram has engaged in a bloody campaign to introduce strict Islamic rule in Nigeria's north. In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls from a government boarding school in Chibok in northeastern Borno State.
Nigerians anxious after 330 boys kidnapped by extremists
Anxiety has overwhelmed many parents in Nigeria’s northern Kankara village who await word on their sons who are among the more than 330 kidnapped by extremists from a government boys’ school last week. Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist rebels have claimed responsibility for the abduction of the students from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara. Across Nigeria, people are closely following the fate of the kidnapped boys and many criticize the government for the continuing extremist violence. For more than 10 years, Boko Haram has engaged in a bloody campaign to introduce strict Islamic rule. In February 2014, 59 boys were killed when Boko Haram attacked the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi in Yobe State.
Over 300 students still missing after Nigeria school attack
People gather inside the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Nigeria, Saturday Dec. 12, 2020. Nigerian police say that hundreds of students are missing after gunmen attacked the secondary school in the countrys northwestern Katsina state. (AP Photo/Abdullatif Yusuf)LAGOS – Anxiety is growing among the parents of hundreds of students who remain missing three days after gunmen attacked their school in Katsina State in northern Nigeria. More than 300 students are missing after the attack on the Government Science Secondary School, a boys' school in Kankara, on Friday night, Katsina governor Aminu Masari said. The most serious school attack took place in April 2014, when more than 270 schoolgirls were abducted from their dormitory at the Government Secondary School in Chibok in northeastern Borno State.
Suspected extremists kill at least 40 farmers in Nigeria
People attend a funeral for those killed by suspected Boko Haram militants in Zaabarmar, Nigeria, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020. Nigerian officials say suspected members of the Islamic militant group Boko Haram have killed at least 40 rice farmers and fishermen while they were harvesting crops in northern Borno State. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola)MAIDGURI – Suspected members of the Islamic militant group Boko Haram killed at least 40 rice farmers and fishermen in Nigeria as they were harvesting crops in the country's northern state of Borno, officials said. “I condemn the killing of our hardworking farmers by terrorists in Borno State. Boko Haram and a breakaway faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province, are both active in the region.
Nigeria's army admits its soldiers were at Lagos shootings
Nigeria's army has on Tuesday, Oct. 27 admitted its soldiers were deployed at the Lekki Toll Plaza in Lagos where live rounds were fired last week, killing several peaceful protesters prompting global outrage. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, file)LAGOS – Nigeria's army has admitted its soldiers were deployed at the Lekki Toll Plaza in Lagos where live rounds were fired last week, killing several peaceful protesters prompting global outrage. Many Nigerians question why the soldiers were deployed at the peaceful protest, in which thousands had gathered at the Lekki plaza. “Nigerian authorities still have many questions to answer: Who ordered the use of lethal force on peaceful protesters? On Oct. 20 the government imposed a curfew, ordering everyone to stay at home and that evening the shootings occurred at Lekki plaza.
Nigeria's police order massive mobilization after unrest
Nigeria's president says 51 civilians have been killed in unrest following days of peaceful protests over police abuses, and he blames "hooliganism" for the violence while asserting that security forces have used "extreme restraint. The police order could further heighten tensions in Africa’s most populous country after its worst turmoil in years. Adamu, ordered colleagues to “dominate the public space” while announcing that enough is enough, a statement said. By not taking action against security forces, some Nigerians have warned, the president could inspire further abuses. We are part of the system, we are part of this governance.”___Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.