Yearly Archives: 2016

Merkel will seek fourth term in office to defend democratic values

Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced she will stand in next year’s elections for a fourth term. She made the announcement in Berlin on Sunday evening. Addressing the media from a platform with the word “The Center” (Die Mitte) written on it in Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party colours, Merkel said on 20 November that her decision to stand was not a trivial …

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Nigerians in Europe elect new leader

Kenneth Gbandi has been elected the new chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE). The election took place at the weekend in Athens, Greece, during the annual general meeting of the body. The event was graced by, among others, Hon. Rita Odichimma Orji, Chairperson of the Federal House of Representatives’ Committee on Diaspora …

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Why the Trump presidency may be bad for Africa

The American election has ended with an outcome unexpected and undesired in most parts of the world. Since almost all opinion polls did not reckon with a Trump’s victory, almost no efforts were made to analyse the likely impact of a Trump presidency on African relations. This is why journalists across Africa and its Diaspora are just getting started scrutinizing …

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Nations gather in Marrakech for the UN Climate Change Conference

Climate change is once again the focus of global diplomacy as the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP22,’ is underway in Marrakech, Morocco. The convention is being held just four days after the Paris Climate Agreement entered into force and aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the temperature rise this …

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Nollywood Queens to be crowned in Ludwigshafen, Germany

The crème de la crème of the Nigerian film industry, popularly called Nollywood, will gather in the southwestern German city of Ludwigshafen on Saturday, 3 December. The reason for the gathering is the “Queen of Nollywood” Awards ceremony, which is being held outside of Nigeria for the first time this year. Among those to be honoured at the event are …

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German ministry wants migrants stopped at sea and returned to Africa

Germany’s interior ministry reportedly wants people seeking international protection stopped at sea and returned to north Africa to then apply for asylum in the EU. A spokesperson for the ministry told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday (6 November) that the plan would save lives and undermine a lucrative smuggling trade. “The goal must be to remove the basis …

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Deutsche Welle takes social radio to Africa

Deutsche Welle (DW) has unveiled the new format for its AfricaLink radio program. The show is being relaunched as “social radio”. The content of the new format brings together conventional radio programming and social media.0-minute radio show will bring listeners’ broadcast content Monday through Friday at 16:00 UTC, featuring currents affairs from Africa, Germany and the rest of the world. The African editorial …

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“The Diaspora has a great role to play in taking Nigeria to where we all desire it to be,” says Kenneth Gbandi, president of NIDO Germany

The Hamburg-based communal politician, journalist, business consultant and media entrepreneur spoke in an exclusive interview with Femi Awoniyi in Berlin on the challenges facing NIDO, how Nigeria can attract more German investment and how best President Muhammadu Buhari should handle Biafra agitation and the Niger-Delta militants. He also talked about his aspiration to the chair of NIDO Europe and what he plans to do to bring about a more active Diaspora involvement in national development.

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EU supports fresh start for returnees in Ethiopia

With restrictions on migration tightening in Europe, many would-be asylum seekers from Ethiopia are choosing to return home. An organization funded by the European Union is helping them to return to their country. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in the last couple of months thousands of illegal Ethiopian migrants have been forced to return home from countries …

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Mandela Foundation calls for leadership change in South Africa

The foundation set up to guard the legacy of the late Nelson Mandela on Tuesday blamed South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma for the “wheels coming off” Africa’s most industrialised nation and urged a change in political leadership. Since coming to power in 2009, Zuma has survived a string of corruption scandals almost unscathed. But South Africa has had to bear …

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Lagos woos German investors as Charles Huber visits Nigeria

The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, has said that the state, Nigeria’s most populous and its economic heartbeat, remains a prime destination for foreign investors, considering its improved infrastructure and secured environment. Obasa made the assertion when a delegation of German parliamentarians paid a courtesy call on him in his office at Ikeja on Monday, 31 …

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Global wildlife populations drop by more than half in forty years

Global wildlife populations have fallen a staggering 58 percent between 1970 and 2012, according to a report by the WWF and the Zoological Society. It says human activities are overwhelming the environment and if this continues, the numbers will fall by two-thirds by 2020. The Living Planet Index looked at 3,700 different species of birds, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. …

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