By Ezinwanne Onwuka
● Nigeria and China deepen military collaboration
The government of Nigeria has turned to the People’s Republic of China to help its efforts to combat terrorism, banditry, and insurgency by welcoming the Chinese military to train its military and to share technology and intelligence.
The Ambassador Extra-Ordinary of China to Nigeria, Cui Jian Chun met with Nigeria’s defence chief Mohammed Badaru on Wednesday (Nov. 22) and offered to deepen Chinese military cooperation with Nigeria. At the forefront of this proposal is a possible Chinese military equipment plant in Nigeria.
Badaru welcomed the proposal, saying the Sino–Nigerian partnership would greatly bolster Nigeria’s self-reliance in defense preparedness. He said Nigeria is eager to explore avenues of technology transfer, intelligence sharing, and military training to address the pressing insecurity issues the country faces.
The military plant would reinforce other long-term strategic investments of China in Nigeria, including the complete ownership of the largest deep seaport in West Africa in Lagos and the financing and construction of power stations and a north-south railroad passing through the northern city of Kano.
● ‘My achievements deserve to be in the Guinness Book of World Records’: Bola Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu claims that his past and present accomplishments as a top political decision maker in Nigeria has earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Tinubu said his reforms as Governor (1999–2007) that turned Lagos State into the fifth-largest economy in Africa and paved the way for him to lead Africa’s most populous nation is the reason he deserves the recognition.
“Nigerians voted for me for reforms and from day one of my inauguration, I started the reform,” he said at the 10th German–Nigerian Business Forum in Berlin earlier this week. “To me, if you didn’t mention me in the Guinness Book of Records, I’d thrive to find a way to insert myself.” Tinubu’s reforms aimed at revitalizing growth in Nigeria since taking office in May, have instead pushed up the price of gas, food, and cost of transportation.
Read more: https://dailytrust.com/tinubu-i-deserve-recognition-by-guinness-world-records/
● Niger’s junta protests coup-induced sanctions
Niger’s military government has dragged the Nigerian government and the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) to court, seeking the relaxation of the harsh sanctions imposed on the country following the coup in late July.
Younkaila Yaye, one of the junta’s attorneys, at the proceeding in Abuja, accused ECOWAS of punishing Nigeriens over the coup in ways harsher than it has handled coups in other countries, “especially regarding financial transactions.”
After Nigerien soldiers ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, the country faced economic sanctions from West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, as well as other aid-providing nations, including the United States. Abdourahamane Tchiani, the president of Niger’s National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), described the sanctions as “illegal, unjust, and inhumane.”
Yeye asked the court to relax the sanctions pending the final judgement, saying “There is no sector of the Nigerien society that has not been affected by these sanctions.” But ECOWAS protested against their request. The court adjourned until December 7.
● Nigeria to prosecute 1,076 election riggers linked to 2023 elections
At least 1,076 persons who committed varying crimes during the last general election in Nigeria will be prosecuted, Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) assured on Wednesday.
The electoral offenders were arrested across 35 states at the polls on February 25 and March 18. They are standing trial for snatching ballot boxes and destroying electoral materials, possession of weapons, misconduct at polling stations and stealing ballot results.
A spokesperson from INEC told local media that 191 case files have been prepared for the prosecution. A hundred and ninety-one attorneys would work for INEC free of charge to ensure that the suspects are not let off the hook.
Read more: https://punchng.com/electoral-offence-ebonyi-tops-list-inec-enlists-191-prosecutors/
● Nigeria plans to stop petrol importation by 2024
Nigeria’s oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) looks to cease the importation of refined petroleum products by December 2024. The company is also working towards making Nigeria a net exporter of refined petroleum products by the same deadline.
Despite being an oil-producing nation and one of Africa’s largest oil producers, Nigeria cannot refine its oil. The West African nation imports refined petroleum products for its own use from other nations such as India, Belgium, United Arab Emirates, and the Netherlands as four state-run refineries are moribund.
The Dangote oil refinery, considered a “game-changer” in ending the country’s fuel imports, launched in May has yet to take off. Yet the NNPCL chief Mele Kyari believes the ambitious goal is achievable. All refineries, he hopes, will be fully operational before the end of 2024.
“In 2024, many of the initiatives including the rehabilitation of our refineries and also the efforts of small-scale refineries, and the upcoming Dangote refinery, will make Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products in 2024,” he said on Thursday. “We will no longer be talking about fuel importation by the end of 2024. I am very optimistic that this will crystallize.”
Read more: https://punchng.com/nnpcl-ends-fuel-import-dec-2024-projects-n4-5tn-revenue/
● Terrorists on the run as military raid hideouts, rescue 31 hostages
A gang of outlaws terrorizing Tangaza County of Northwest Sokoto state in Nigeria abandoned their captives and fled when Nigerian soldiers came upon them.
The terrorists were hiding in the thick Buani forest in Alya Fulani village. The operation, the Nigerian Army said in a social media post on Wednesday, was carried out on November 21. The soldiers rescued 30 hostages and burnt down the terrorists’ shelters.
Another operation at Goboro village recorded similar success. “The terrorists/bandits fled in disarray due to troops’ firepower superiority,” the Army said. A female hostage was freed.
The operation is a testament to the renewed efforts of the military in Nigeria to combat security threats in the Northwest region of the country.
Read more: https://twitter.com/HQNigerianArmy/status/1727275133797044676?t=xZQimsAUjr5lzlLYDFhmhg&s=19
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Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
