WHAT’S NEWS? October 20, 2023
By Ezinwanne Onwuka
After Years of Rural Massacres, Hunger in Nigeria: Report
Nigeria has topped the list of countries with the highest concern for food insecurity. With a score of 28.3 on the 2023 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria has a level of hunger that is “serious”. Africa’s most populous nation sits comfortably at the 109th position out of the 125 countries ranked.
Earlier in May, a joint report by the World Food Programme [WFP] and the Food and Agricultural Organisation [FAO] listed Nigeria as one of the 18 hunger hotspots in the world. Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics [NBS] on October 16 reported that food inflation rose to 30.64% in September, the highest in 18 years, from 29.34% in August.
A relentless wave of attacks against farmers in Nigeria by armed non-state actors is hindering critical food supplies and pushing the country deeper into a catastrophic hunger crisis, a humanitarian organization for children Save the Children International said. Armed groups killed more than 128 farmers and kidnapped 37 others across Nigeria between January and June 2023, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [UNOCHA].
Read more: https://tribuneonlineng.com/nigeria-listed-among-countries-to-see-worsening-hunger-report/
Nigeria’s Supreme Court to hear oppositions’ petition against Tinubu’s election Monday
The Supreme Court in Nigeria will on Monday [Oct. 23] hear the petitions against President Bola Tinubu’s election in February. The Court served hearing notices to Peoples Democratic Party’s [PDP], Atiku Abubakar; Labour Party’s [LP], Peter Obi and the Allied Peoples Movement [APM] candidate Chichi Ojei on Thursday.
The three rival candidates are challenging the result of the last presidential election that favoured Tinubu and the verdict of Nigeria’s presidential election tribunal that quashed their case and upheld Tinubu’s election.
Atiku and Obi came second and third respectively in the election. In addition to his claims that the February 25 presidential election was fraught with irregularities, Atiku also claims that Tinubu submitted a forged certificate from the Chicago State University to the electoral commission ahead of the election.
Nigerian President revokes appointment of 24-year-old as top government official
President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria has made a U-turn in his earlier appointment of Imam Ibrahim Kashim Imam as the chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA. Presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale announced that Imam’s appointment had been rescinded late Thursday.
24-year-old Imam was on October 13 appointed to head the FERMA board “for a renewable term of four years, in accordance with Section 2[3] of the FERMA Amendment Act, 2007”. Yesterday’s withdrawal followed harsh criticism from several Nigerians who rejected Imam’s appointment. They argued that Imam, though a first-class graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Brighton University in the UK, lacked the requisite experience for the job. Imam’s replacement has yet to be announced.
Nigeria to reciprocate strict visa regimes
The Nigerian government has said that countries with strict travel policies for Nigerian nationals will henceforth face the same measures in Nigeria. “You charge me $100 for a visa, I will charge you $100 for a Nigerian visa,” Nigeria’s Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said on Thursday.
“If you give me a visa on arrival, I’ll give it to you. If you say the condition for me to enter your country today is that I must have an American visa, Schengen visa, UK visa etc, you will have the same conditions to enter my country. It is not a fight, it is about the issue of mutual respect,” he added.
Last year, Nigeria was excluded from Turkey’s e-visa application and Ethiopia scrapped the visa-on-arrival option for Nigerians. Also Seychelles, in July, banned Nigerian passport holders from holiday visits. Minister Tunji-Ojo said that the era when Nigeria condones stringent travel policies was over. He said it was in the interest of Nigerians though foreigners might not welcome the development.
Nigerian youths mark 3rd anniversary of #EndSARS protest
Three years on, Nigerian youths reflect on the brutality they suffered and witnessed on October 20, 2020, during the historic #EndSARS protest.
On this day three years ago, thousands of young Nigerians who gathered at the Lekki Tollgate in Nigeria’s largest city Lagos to protest against police abuses, particularly among the now-disbanded brutal special anti-robbery squad [SARS] police unit, were dispersed by security forces with gunshots. Several protesters lost their lives.
Nigerians returned to the scene of the massacre in remembrance of those killed and to demand justice for the deceased and protesters who have been arbitrarily detained till now, without trial. Amnesty International [AI] puts the number of detained persons at 15. “The Nigerian authorities have filed trumped-up charges including theft, arson, possession of unlawful firearms, and murder against many of the protesters,” according to Amnesty International.
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Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
