In addition to the obnoxious apartheid system practised by the White minority population in South Africa, xenophobic attacks or what many call Afrophobia, have also earned the Rainbow Nation international notoriety. The attacks by largely ill-informed South African Blacks against foreigners, especially citizens from countries that midwifed South Africa’s...
Mali
Forty-nine people died of thirst in an isolated Sahara desert district in Niger after the truck transporting them broke down, authorities said Thursday. The dead were among a group returning from Mali for a Muslim festival when they ran short of water, the Agadez governorate said in a post...
By TOM CHIAHEMEN – Officials of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), are currently participating in the technical Experts’ Meeting taking place in Banjul, Republic of The Gambia, ahead of the Forum of First Ladies of SWEDD+ countries on zero tolerance of gender-based violence. The meeting brings together...
The Defense authorities have confirmed that there was indeed a foiled attempt by elements of the military to oust Mr. Tinubu from power. But the long expected disclosure has not made much impact as news. Our public is preoccupied with more fundamental existential matters to be captivated by stories...
There are troubling skirmishes in Nigeria’s immediate neighbourhood. A coup attempt in next door Benin Republic was a rude poke in the nation’s eye. Nigeria quickly woke up and did the needful. When there is a fire in a neighbour’s hut next door, you need to rally to put...
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has dispelled reports of wrongdoing over the landing of its C-130 aircraft in Burkina Faso, insisting the touchdown was a precautionary measure taken after the crew detected a technical issue mid-flight. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Director of Public Relations and Information, Air...
David Aguele, a Nigerian citizen, and the Centre for Community Law (CfCL), an NGO, have jointly sued the President of the ECOWAS Commission and the Council of Ministers at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (CCJ), challenging the regional organisation’s decision to retain in its employment staff members from Mali, Burkina...
In a sweeping rejection of international oversight, the military-led governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic have announced their joint withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), declaring they no longer recognize its authority. In a strongly worded statement, the three Sahelian nations described the ICC as an...
Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-West Africa) has raised concerns about the growing wave of military rule across West and Central Africa, warning that it jeopardizes democratic progress, stability, and regional unity. Director of CDD-West Africa, Dr. Dauda Garuba, addressed this issue in Abuja on Wednesday during the...
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has secured an understanding with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to collectively confront terrorism and violent extremism in the subregion. According to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Touray, the agreement aims to build confidence and promote regional cooperation....
President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, reassured Gen. Assimi Goita, the Malian leader, of Nigeria’s commitment to supporting Mali’s democratic transition and deepening economic ties between the two nations. The President spoke on Thursday in Abuja while receiving the Letter of Credence from Cheick Oumar Coulibaly, the Ambassador of the...
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Council of Ministers has convened a meeting in Accra, Ghana, to deliberate on the withdrawal of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso from the regional bloc. The Chairman of the Council, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, made this known...
Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Illela Border Command in Sokoto State, has confirmed the repatriation of 62 Republic of Mali nationals through the Illela Control Post. The Controller of the command, Mr Tony Akuneme, who disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, added that they comprised of...
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have announced a new 0.5% levy on imported goods from Nigeria and other Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member-nations. The development comes as they seek to fund a new three-state union after leaving the larger regional economic bloc, they said in a...
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, has said the Armed Forces of Nigeria is committed to working with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in spite of their withdrawal from ECOWAS. Musa gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja, when he received a delegation of the Sahelian...
ECOWAS is struggling to whip its wayward member States into line, but the list of leaders undermining the principles and objectives of the 15-nation West African regional economic bloc is growing. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, which proclaimed themselves the Alliance of Sahel States, AES, are making every effort...
In the aftermath of the announcement on 28 January 2024 by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic denouncing the Revised Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and leaving the regional bloc “without delay”, reactions spanned the spectrum from hubris to hyperbole. From Nigeria, the regional anchor and...
Ahead of the 29 January 2025 deadline for their self-imposed exit from ECOWAS, the junta leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the Alliance of Sahel States, AES, have become jittery, deploying every trick, including disinformation, misinformation and blackmail to deflect blame for the inevitable consequences and uncertainty of their military adventure....
A joint force of 5,000 troops from military-led neighbours Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali will soon deploy in their troubled central Sahel region, Niger’s defence chief said on state television. Juntas in the neighbouring West African countries seized control in a series of coups between 2020 and 2023. Last...