Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | There were emotional scenes Saturday as 82 kidnapped Chibok girls released by Boko Haram Islamists earlier this month were reunited with their parents. At the reunion held in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja, fathers gripped their daughters in tight hugs, while mothers shrieked with joy, wiping …
Read More »Nigeria: After Buhari…?
With president Buhari on medical leave again, ambitious figures are positioning themselves favourably for what might happen next. Lagos, Nigeria| AFRICAN ARGUMENTS| Secrecy creates suspicion. In the cutthroat arena of Nigerian politics, it can also reveal ambition. The ongoing silence around of the health of Nigeria’s president has done just …
Read More »US court battle gives clues to Nigerian arms scandal
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | The claims read like the plot of a best-selling thriller, with secretive arms dealers and a corruption-riddled government fighting jihadists. The weapons deal collapses in acrimony but instead of a shoot-out, the embittered parties fight it out in court. In this real life saga, Ara …
Read More »MTN Rwanda fined $8.5million over breach of contract
Rwanda’s telecom regulator has slapped a 7 billion francs ($8.5million, Shs30bn) fine on MTN Rwanda, a subsidiary of the South African-based MTN Group, over breach of contract. The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) spokesperson Anthony Kulamba said the telecom firm provided services in contravention of Enforcement Notice and Directives …
Read More »With Buhari away, Nigeria army chief warns troops about ‘politicking’
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian troops have been told not to get involved in politics, the army said Tuesday, in a warning likely to resonate given the country’s history of coups and with the president currently abroad and ailing. Army spokesman Sani Usman said the Chief of Army Staff, …
Read More »Nigeria says vigilant after DR Congo Ebola deaths
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria on Monday said it had stepped up health surveillance and vigilance was high at entry ports after an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least three people. “The minister has directed the director of health services at the ports to …
Read More »Buhari health waning but Nigeria economy recovering
Nigerian economy glimpses dim light at end of tunnel Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Suffering from rampant inflation, stalled investment and mass layoffs, Nigeria is still gripped by one of the worst economic crises in its history. But for the first time in months, the West African economic giant …
Read More »Boko Haram releases video of purported Chibok girl
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Boko Haram late on Friday released a video claiming to show the Chibok schoolgirls who refused to be rescued as part of a recent swap deal with the Nigerian government. In the three-minute video, a woman who claims to be Maida Yakubu, one of the …
Read More »Italian giants Eni to build oil refinery in Nigeria
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Italian oil group Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary Agip is planning a 150,000-barrel per day refinery as part of efforts to reduce imports, junior oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said. Kachikwu met representatives from Eni and said agreement had been reached to build the facility in the …
Read More »RINGTONES: Mobile phones ring changes for Nigeria’s music industry
MTN, which has 60 million subscribers in Nigeria, says it is the largest distributor of music Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Phizbarz is only 23 but hopes to become the next Nigerian Afropop star to be famous across Africa — and to get himself known and earn a living, he’s using …
Read More »