News

President Muhammadu Buhari has fired Senator Basheer Mohammed, Director-General of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), and appointed Dr Fatima Waziri-Azi to replace him. Mohammed had been appointed on 27 May 2021 to replace Imaan Suleiman Ibrahim. Ms Ibrahim herself had only been on the job for less than six months before her removal, having been …

The number of deportations from Germany has increased again after an initially significant decline in the Corona pandemic. In the first six months of this year, 5,688 people were deported from Germany, compared to 4,616 in the first half of 2020, according to information of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The ministry provided the information in response to a …

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended the membership of Guinea in the regional bloc. The leaders of the body, who met via a video conference on Wednesday, was reacting to the recent coup d’état in the country. ECOWAS, in a communiqué issued after the 1-day meeting, announced the suspension of Guinea from the body and called …

Former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré died in a Senegalese prison on 24 August. He was serving a life sentence for the widespread human rights abuses and atrocities committed by his regime during its reign of terror in the country from 1982 to 1990. Prof David Monda writes on the lessons of Habré’s conviction, the first by an African court, for …

International criticism of the alleged military takeover of power in the West African country of Guinea is growing louder. After UN Secretary General António Guterres condemned the coup, the European Union, the African Union, ECOWAS, France and Britain have also publicly expressed their criticism. The exact background and circumstances of the turbulent events of Sunday in the country’s capital city …

Experts and international organisations generally summarise migration from Nigeria in three main waves. The first wave being the period 1914–1960s, capturing the era when the country was under colonial rule, followed by the second wave, 1960s – 1980s, encapsulating the first two decades after independence. Then, the third wave, 1980s until today. A new project, by the Society of Young …

A big housing project for Nigerians living outside of their home country is to be built in Abuja. When completed, the Diaspora Mega City Housing Project, which is expected to consist of over 17,000 housing units of different models, will give Nigerians in the Diaspora an opportunity to have a roof over their heads in the nation’s capital city. Senator …

Many African heads of state saw off German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Compact with Africa summit in Berlin. Merkel once more underlined Africa’s potential — and what needs to be done to use it. DW’s Silja Fröhlich, Bob Barry, Saleh Mwanamilongo and Wendy Bashi report ————– It was a moment of goodbye: At the conclusion of the Compact with …

Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Member of the European Parliament representing Germany on the platform of the Green Party, writes on the Taliban takeover of power in Afghanistan and the moral debt of the free world to the people of the country —– We are all in shock, stunned, following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. We are faced with a state of …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, August 26, 2021 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- African university students with ambitions for a career in the fast-paced world of technology are receiving welcome support in the form of the SAP Dual Study Program, a skills development initiative aimed at closing the digital skills gap among graduates. According to Johann Pretorius, Director of Training at the SAP Training …

The population in Germany is stagnating and the number of workers is decreasing. To avoid a labour shortage in the future, Germany needs about 400,000 immigrants per year, according to Detlef Scheele, head of the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit). Due to demographic developments, the number of potential workers of typical working age is already decreasing by almost 150,000 …

New study shows huge opportunity in digital health with 41% of internet users in Africa regularly using their mobile phones to search for health information. It tells the story of a continent on the cusp of digital health transformation. ——JOHANNESBURG, South Africa,, August 24, 2021 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- There has been an exponential rise in the number of people engaging …

Osaze Osemwingie-Ero, a former Edo State Commissioner for Arts, Culture, Tourism and Diaspora Affairs, has cried out over the plight of over 300 Nigerian youths, whom he says, are ‘illegally’ detained in Italian prisons for contrived charges on mafia-related offences. At a meeting with officials of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) on Wednesday, Mr Osemwingie-Ero, disclosed that he learned …

Collins Nweke is a Councillor in the Belgian town of Ostend. The Nigerian-born communal politician narrates his experience of fighting poverty in his community and he reveals the institutional practice that has deliberately kept many families from accessing state support due to them ———– By Hon. Collins Nweke* We had our first son shortly after moving to Belgium. By the …

Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has defeated incumbent Edgar Lungu in Zambia’s presidential election in a stunning landslide victory, the electoral commission announced on Monday. Hichilema got 2,810,777 votes against Lungu’s 1,814,201 – a difference of about one million votes. This means the president-elect won 57.9 per cent of the votes and Lungu, 37.3 per cent. There were seven million registered …

The Belgium Luxembourg Nigeria Chamber of Commerce (BLNCC) will hold a reception for Nigeria’s new Ambassador to Belgium, HE Obinna Chiedu Onowu, on Friday, 3 September. “Envisioned as a semi-formal, yet convivial event the Ambassador Meet & Greet is a forum for the new Ambassador to meet business leaders in the first instance but also other relevant stakeholders and interest …

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Implements Workforce Development Program in Kenya with Oracle NAIROBI, Kenya, August 12, 2021 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- Oracle today announced that the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, in Kenya has finalised a workforce development program for young refugees in Kenya, in collaboration with Oracle University. The UNHCR delivers professional learning courses on Oracle Cloud technologies …

ANNOUNCEMENT Nigerians In Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) Germany has kicked off its familiarization tour of Nigerian businesses, social enterprises and cultural organisations in Germany. Accompanied by our Project Officer, Mazi Obiora Nweke, the President, Mr Femi Awoniyi, on Monday called on Bruder Hilfe Social Development Initiative e.V., whose founder and director is a long-time member of NIDO Germany and a current …

The Nigerian High Commission in London has been closed for 10 days after two officials tested positive for COVID-19. The High Commission stated this in a statement on Thursday night. “This afternoon, the Head of Immigration Section and two other officials went for a meeting at the Home Office,” it said in the statement. “At the entrance, COVID test was …

Zambians will on Thursday vote at their country’s presidential and parliamentary elections. Our contributing editor, African political analyst and university don, Prof David Monda*, looks at the polls and poses critical questions about the democratic credentials of Zambia in view of recent developments and he explains why the victory of incumbent President Edgar Lungu could cast a shadow over the …