News

The Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday passed a resolution to increase the number of participating teams in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) from 16 to 24. The change will take effect from 2019 when Cameroon hosts it. The, tournament which has traditionally been held in January and February, will also be staged in …

Radio France International’s Hausa service journalist Ahmed Abba, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison this year by a Cameroon military tribunal, has been named the 2017 International Press Freedom Award recipient. The annual prize is awarded by media rights body Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to honour journalists who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, …

Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong, Assistant Professor of Strategy at the University of Bath, UK, explains why Africans have little confidence in their political leadership and he suggests how the democratic system can be reformed to work for the people and end the looting of public funds in the continent. A few months ago, a video in which a street boy blamed …

The Italy Chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE) has elected a new executive council. At the end of a hotly-contested vote in Rome on Saturday (15 July), Dr Akuwudike Lawrence Ibekwe emerged Chairman and Mr Godwin Obaseki, Vice Chairman. Other officials elected at the annual general meeting of NIDO Italy are Mr Fidel O’Neil Wilson (General Secretary), …

Almost one third of the respondents in Bavaria, one of the country’s 16 federal states, say they want independence from Germany, according to a new poll published on Sunday (16 July). Thirty-two per cent of Bavarians agreed with the statement that their “state should be independent from Germany,” a survey conducted by the YouGov market research company for the popular …

According to a new report of the Daily Mail, a London newspaper, German tennis legend Boris Becker became bankrupt due to a failed investment he made in a Nigerian oil company. Becker, who was declared bankrupt last month, is reported to have made the investment, which has now ‘plunged in value’, in 2013. The three-time Wimbledon winner lost a huge …

A team representing Nigerians living in the Bavarian city of Würzburg has emerged winners of the second edition of the Nigerian Ambassador’s Cup Germany. The football tournament, which took place on Saturday (14 July) in Berlin, was contested by the chapters of the Nigerian Community Germany (NCG) e.V. – the umbrella organisation of Nigerian associations in the country. This year …

A member of the Parliament of Ghana, Ras Mubarak, has described the launch of the country’s first satellite into space on 7 July as a challenge to change things in the country. In a speech he delivered in parliament on Wednesday (12 July), Mubarak complained that the news of the milestone was first carried by the BBC which he described …

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Muhammad Babandede, has said that plans are underway for the local production of the Nigerian e-passport. Mr Babandede disclosed this on Thursday (13 July) in Abuja when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Interior came on an oversight visit. He said that the NIS was working round the clock with …

The Governing Council of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Worldwide (NIDOWW) has assured that the Nigerian Diaspora Day 2017 will take place as scheduled on 25-26 July in Abuja. The body issued a press statement yesterday where it confirmed that it’s taking up the full responsibility for staging the annual event this year following the difficulties encountered by Nigerian National …

Germany-based scholar and author Fekadu Bekele, PhD, offers an original African perspective on the G20 Africa Partnership initiative as he argues that the measures envisaged under the plan do not address the root causes of the social and economic crises in the continent. Dr Bekele posits that the priority of the West and its economic institutions is to keep Africa firmly …

In a remarkable, if coincidental, series of events across Kenya last weekend, nine people were beheaded by suspected al-Shabab militants, the internal security minister suddenly died, the main opposition leader was hospitalised with food poisoning, and the president appeared to accuse the judiciary of trying to delay general elections scheduled to take place in less than a month. The events …

People of African descent are reacting angrily to French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial remarks about Africa during a press conference at the G20 summit in Hamburg on 8 July. Macron was asked by Philippe Kouhoun, an Ivorian journalist for Afrikipresse, how much the world’s leading economies were ready to spend to help Africa under Germany’s “Marshall Plan for Africa” The …

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld Belgium’s ban on the Islamic full-face veil, rejecting a legal challenge by two Muslim women wearing the niqab. The court sitting in Strasbourg, France, ruled on Tuesday (11 July) that the 2011 Belgian law banning clothing that partly or totally covers the face was not discriminatory and did not violate the …

A shocking video of a Black woman falling headfirst down a narrow flight of stairs in Amsterdam is making the rounds on social media. A Dutchman had pushed an Airbnb renter, a Germany-based South African student, down a staircase in Amsterdam during an argument over check-out time on Sunday (9 July). Sibahle Nkumbi was travelling with two other women and …

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has hailed the team that successfully launched Ghana’s first satellite into space on Friday ( 7 July). “Congratulations to the team from All Nations Uni., Koforidua, for the successful launch of Ghana’s 1st satellite, GhanaSat-1, into orbit,” the elated president twittert. The West African country celebrated the technological feat thanks to the efforts of a …

Germany jumped over Brazil and Argentina to move back to the top of the FIFA rankings released Wednesday (6 July), thanks to the team winning the Confederations Cup last week. The world champions beat Chile 1-0 in the Russian city of St Petersburg, a year to the 2018 World Cup, to ensure a first return to the top of the …

Acting President Yemi Osibanjo’s signing of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission Establishment Bill 2017 into law has been praised for giving teeth to the government’s self-professed desire to partner its citizens abroad. The Diaspora Commission Act establishes the commission under the supervisory jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  “It has the responsibility to coordinate and organise Nigerians in and …

German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Bernhard Schlagheck, has revealed that 13,000 Nigerians are currently seeking asylum in Germany. The reasons they gave for their applications, according to the ambassador, range from insecurity arising from Boko Haram insurgency to political persecution in Nigeria. Ambassador Schlagheck however hinted that his country was not convinced that there is political persecution in Nigeria at …

Nigerians from across the globe will converge on their country’s capital Abuja on 25-26 July for this year’s Nigerian Diaspora Day. The annual event brings together Nigerians resident abroad and representatives of the federal government and its agencies to discuss areas of partnership in national development. According to a communiqué issued after a recent meeting of the Diaspora Day 2017 …