AFRICA

Chido Onumah, a Nigerian journalist and activist who was arrested on Sunday by the Department of State Service  (DSS), said the agency accused him of wearing a shirt with the inscription: ‘We Are All Biafrans.’   Onumah was arrested at the airport upon his arrival from Europe and released five hours later.   “I was arrested for wearing the T-shirt …

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advised Nigerians evacuated from South Africa following the xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in the Rainbow Nation to get ready to go back. This is because he was confident the meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and his South African counterpart, Cyril  Ramaphosa, scheduled for early October would yield a positive outcome. Obasanjo said Buhari and …

The Department of State Service, which has been detaining the former presidential candidate since August 3, continues to hold him in custody in violation of the court order granting him bail six days ago.

Despite a court order releasing Omoyele Sowore, the Nigerian authorities have refused to free the rights activist and journalist. While his lawyers claim that all the conditions set by the court for Sowore’s freedom had been met, the Department of State Services (DSS), which is holding him, maintains that the process for effecting the court’s order remain incomplete.   Femi …

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied reports that there is a rift between President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. For many weeks now, Nigerians have been inundated with reports that the president and his deputy are at logger heads. These speculations have been fueled by some actions taken within the presidency in recent times. For example, a new …

Even though the next presidential election is four year away, jostling for who will succeed President Muhammadu, when his second and last term in office ends, is already in full swing. The ongoing controversy over corruption allegations against Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is seen by Yoruba activists as an attempt to prevent the professor of law from taking over from …

The news of a foiled coup in Ghana, which is seen as bedrock of democratic stability in West Africa, came like a blitz. How could it be? Alleged plans to topple the democratically-elected president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, following the arrest of three suspected coup plotters, was announced on Monday. The suspects are Ezor Kafui, Dr. Frederick Yao Mac-Palm and …

Nigeria’s vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has sued Timi Frank, a former chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Katch Ononuju, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for libel and “odious falsehood.” The duo had alleged that the vice president illegally collected the sum of N90 billion (about €225 million) from the Federal Inland Revenue …

An association of Nigerians living in South Africa has praised chairman of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema, for the evacuation of over 500 stranded Nigerians following the xenophobic attacks in the country. The group said Onyema had demonstrated great patriotism by airlifting Nigerians out of the Rainbow Country free of charge. Such selflessness, according to the Nigerians, was not only …

The Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Festus Keyamo, has been redeployed to the Ministry of Labour and Employment. He is to swap positions with Minister of State of Labour Tayo Alasoadura who moves to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. This was disclosed in a statement from the Director of Information at the Office of Secretary to the …

Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, and Akinwunmi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, have been appointed by the United Nations. They are among the 27 global leaders appointed by the UN to combat global malnutrition. António Guterres, the secertary-general of the United Nations, made the appointment as part of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement. The statement said …

The judge noted that an application the DSS filed to renew the detention order was struck out. He held that there was nothing before the court to warrant Sowore’s continued stay in detention after the application having been struck out.

Professor Wole Soyinka, first African Nobel laureate in literature, has condemned the charges preferred against Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and convener of the #RevolutionNow protest, by the federal government  of Nigeria. The government preferred a seven counts charges of treasonable felony and money laundering against Sowore on Thursday. The government also accused the human rights activist of causing insult …

Reactions have continued to trail Nigerian government’s decision to formally file charges against Omoyele Sowore, convener of #RevolutionNow protest, especially the one bothering on insulting the president. The  federal government filed seven counts of treasonable felony and money laundering against Sowore on Thursday. The government is also accusing the human rights activist of causing insult to the person of President …

Granted that prior to the experience of Ekweremadu, an Ivorian Minister suffered the same fate, albeit more violently, in Paris and that the then ailing President Muhammadu Buhari was picketed and heckled out of London and, more recently, picketed in Tokyo, the incident at Nuremberg has elicited reactions that have brought such actions to the front burner of national and international discourse on governance and responsible government with special reference to Africa.

The former governor warned that ruling the Igbos out of the presidency in 2023 is capable of causing political unrest in the country.

To mend fences with African countries whose nationals were victims of recent xenophobic attacks targeted at foreign African residents in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa dispatched three special envoys to seven African countries to deliver messages of apology and solidarity on 15 September. Analysts across the continent are interpreting the gesture and its likely impact on the future safety of …

Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, a former president of Tunisia has died in exile, his family said. Ben Ali, 83, fled to Saudi Arabia when he left office and was living there before his death on Thursday. His funeral will take place on Friday in Saudi Arabia, his lawyer told Reuters news agency. Ben Ali’s death is coming days after Tunisia …

West Africa is embracing technology to power the response to infectious disease outbreaks. The 15 member states of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) are leveraging technology that will help them prevent cross-border outbreaks of epidemics including Ebola, cholera, yellow fever, Lassa fever, measles, onchocerciasis and meningitis. As part of the USAID funded Regional Action through Data (RAD) program, WAHO …

Members of the Coalition for Revolution movement and supporters of Omoyele Sowore, a prominent Nigerian journalist, human rights activist and pro-democracy campaigner currently detained by the government, carried out peaceful protests in three countries on Thursday.    The “#FreeSoworeNow Global Action” was carried out in Lagos, London and Rome.   They called for the release of Sowore and other activists …