Nigeria seeks revocation of Dasuki’s bail, wants ex-NSA imprisoned

Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser, Nigeria

The federal government, on Monday, asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to revoke the bail granted the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, on September 1, and also commit him to prison pending his trial.

In a fresh motion on notice, the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mohammed Diri, the federal government sought revocation of the bail granted the ex-NSA in the unlawful possession of firearms and money laundering charges earlier brought against him.

The motion, signed by Mr. Diri,

Nigeria: N18,000 Minimum Wage - Prepare for War, NLC Tells Govs

Lagos — THE Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday warned that attempts by the governors through the Governors' Forum to renege on the N18,000 national minimum wage signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan in March 2011, was an open declaration of war against the Nigerian workers.

Congress equally told President Muhammadu Buhari to prepare to receive the proposal for the review of the minimum wage as contained in the agreement, noting that the proposal was delayed because the NLC wanted to give the government time to settle down before coming up with the demand.

While insisting that the ability to pay even above the wage was not the problem of the economy,

GECF summit opens in Tehran

A landmark summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) has opened in the Iranian capital Tehran with the participation of the heads of nine member states. Presidents of Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Iraq, Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Turkmenistan as well as the Algerian prime minister are the key participants.

GECF countries heads of states at the Tehran summit
(photo by Mehr News Agency)

This is the third summit of GECF countries,

Lake Chad region: “The only certainty is that people will remain uprooted and continue to live in fear”

Interview with Dr Jean-Clément Cabrol, MSF Director of Operations

23 November 2015

The Lake Chad region has become the epicentre of violence with continued attacks by the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) group, also known as Boko Haram. Government military operations in response are also contributing to mass displacement across the region. To date, over 2.5 million people have been made homeless as a result of violence in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is scaling up its medical and humanitarian response in the four countries.

Michael Goldfarb

Dr. Jean-Clement Cabrol examines a patient at the MSF hospital in the Dagahaley Refugee Camp in Dadaab, Kenya, July 25, 2011.

MSF Director of Operations, Dr Jean-Clément Cabrol, recently visited Cameroon and Chad and shares his impressions of the major humanitarian needs in the area.

“In the Lake Chad area, we are seeing a regional crisis with large-scale humanitarian consequences. People continue to flee from violence,

Nigeria's new ministers brainstorm roles after Buhari shake-up

Nov 23 Speaking from a cramped and makeshift office, a top Nigerian civil servant says his minister, Udoma Udo Udoma, has spent much of the fortnight since his appointment in meetings trying to work out his team's remit.

Udoma's new Ministry of Budget and National Planning reduces the power of the finance ministry - previously responsible for allocating spending - and, the civil servant says,

Minimum Wage: NLC accuses governors of declaring war against Nigerian workers

NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba

The Nigeria Labour Congress on Monday said the recent declaration by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum that it would not be able to sustain the payment of the N18,000 National Minimum Wage was a declaration of war against Nigerian workers.

NLC President, Ayuba Wabaa, said he was shocked by the statement by the Chairman of the Forum, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state, that the law enacted in 2011 was no longer sustainable because of the fall in the price of crude oil.

“For the governor to claim that the National Minimum Wage was “imposed”,

End Boko Haram This Year, Cleric Tells Buhari

The Lutheran Church of Nigeria (LCN) has challenged the President Muhammandu Buhari-led federal government to live up to it promises of ending all forms of insurgency in the country before the end of 2015.

The church while expressing grave concern over the increasing spate of secessionist protest by the youth in different parts of the country in recent days, has however appealed to such aggrieved groups like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Movement for the Actualisation of the Survival of Sovereign  State of Biafra (MASSOB) and others to toe the path of peace and employ intellectual dialogue to resolve their grievances for the sake of unity and progress of the nation.

In its official statement delivered by its national president,

Nigeria must halt evictions threatening tens of thousands with homelessness – UN expert

With nowhere to go, many people still remain in Lagos’ Badia East, Nigeria, amidst the ruins of their demolished houses. 

23 November 2015 – A United Nations human rights expert today called on the Nigerian Government to immediately end unlawful large-scale evictions that are threatening tens of thousands of people with homelessness even as the rainy season rages on, voicing alarm at the violence sometimes used by police.

“There is no viable resettlement or alternative accommodation provided by authorities for affected individuals, and many fear further evictions as they lack security of tenure,” UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Leilani Farha, warned in a statement.

She referred specifically to large-scale demolitions and evictions in the Badia neighbourhood of Lagos,

U of M students fear deportation after Nigerian government fails to pay tuition

About $250,000 is owed to the University of Manitoba in tuition fees for students sponsored by a Nigerian government-funded scholarship program, according to the school administration. (Meagan Fiddler/CBC)

Gift Amadi says his education and his future are in doubt because he's been abandoned by the Nigerian government agency that brought him to study at the University of Manitoba. 

The political science student is one of almost 250 Nigerian students studying at 14 Canadian universities on a scholarship from a government-funded agency in Nigeria called the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency.

Gift Amadi is a political science student at the University of Manitoba who says the Nigerian scholarship agency that sent him to Canada is failing to keep its promises. (Facebook)

The agency promised to pay their tuition and provide a $1,100 monthly living allowance.

They haven't received that allowance for 11 months, and much of their tuition fee payment has been delayed too, Amadi said.

The agency and the government that funds the program have left the students to fend for themselves, he said.

"It's not just a delay," said Amadi. "It's more like they don't care. It's not of value to them."

Amadi,

AFN thanks Dalung, Nigerians over Anugweje’s release

The Athletic Federation of Nigeria has expressed profound gratitude to the minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, and other citizens of the country for their concern and support when a member of the board, Ken Anugweje, a professor, was kidnapped.

The AFN’s anti-doping head, who was kidnapped in Port Harcourt last Wednesday, was released in the early hours of Friday.

According to a statement by the federation’s Head of Communication and Media,

Iran Dictator Khamenei: U.S. and Islamic State Are Working Together

Ali Khamenei, the dictator of the Islamic Republic of Iran, claimed in a meeting with the President of Nigeria on Monday that the United States is assisting the Islamic State terror group.

Khamenei, whose Shiite theocracy opposes the Sunni Islamic State, said the “Americans and some reactionary governments in the region are directly helping ISIS in Iraq.”

In his meeting with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari,