Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | African countries led by Nigeria and South Africa have ramped up action against the coronavirus after the continent recorded its first fatality. Nigeria said Thursday it would shut schools and limit religious meetings in its economic hub Lagos and capital Abuja, while South Africa, the continent’s …
Read More »Nigeria braces as coronavirus hits megacity Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Residents of Nigeria’s economic hub Lagos scrambled for hygiene products Friday, after the chaotic megacity of 20 million announced the first confirmed case of new coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa. Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said in a statement overnight that the infected person was an Italian citizen …
Read More »Nigeria confirms COVID-19 case, first in sub-Saharan Africa
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria on Friday announced the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa. The case is an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan earlier this week, Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said in a statement on Twitter. “The patient …
Read More »Matches on and off the field
Nigerian wives pick a side | OLUDAYO TADE | There are about 100 million active soccer fans in Nigeria and the majority actively follow Europe’s UEFA Champions League and the UK’s Premier League, according to the Nigeria Football Market Report 2019. It says Nigeria; the most populous country in Africa …
Read More »US, Nigeria hope to resolve visa row soon
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States and Nigeria voiced hope Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration would soon lift onerous visa restrictions slapped on Africa’s most populous country, which said it was “blindsided” by its ally. On a previously scheduled visit to Washington, Nigerian Foreign Minister …
Read More »NEWS ANALYSIS: Black China
Caption: A crowd of people walking down a street: Nigeria, if it gets its socioeconomic act together, is positioning itself to become Africa’s first superpower. How can this be?© James Marshall/Getty Nigeria Africa’s first superpower is coming sooner than you think | SAM HILL | It’s midnight in a medieval …
Read More »MTN announces $1.6bn Nigeria investment
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | South African mobile giant MTN has said it will make investments worth $1.6 billion (1.45 billion euros) in Nigeria as it seeks to put a series of legal wrangles to bed. The telecommunications firm said late Wednesday that its top executives made the announcement during …
Read More »Nigerians turn to traditional brew as economy staggers
Benue, Nigeria | AFP | Government worker Iorliam Shija sits in one of the ramshackle bars along the banks of the Benue river in central Nigeria sipping from a gourd filled with frothy burukutu. The vinegary alcoholic beverage has been made here for generations from the fermented grains of sorghum and …
Read More »Lagos waterfront evictions highlight Nigeria oil and land squabbles
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | The lagoon waters at the port entrance to Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, are usually teeming with small fishing boats. But the bustling waterfront slums of Lagos are now quiet after the navy evicted tens of thousands of residents from their homes in recent weeks. The evictions …
Read More »Nigeria remands former Justice Minister in custody over oil scandal
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A Nigerian court on Thursday remanded a former justice minister accused of corruption in custody pending a bail hearing. Mohammed Adoke who appeared in the high court in the nation’s capital Abuja has been charged over a $1.3 billion dollar oil scandal involving international majors …
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