Africa Business Radio

A threat by the United States to impose an arms embargo on Nigeria has been faulted. Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya, told officers and men of the Nigerian armed forces and other security agencies engaged in the battle against insurgents to deal decisively with them in order to restore peace to the troubled areas. A recent research paper prepared for the European Peace Facility stated that terrorist groups, Boko Haram and the Islamic State for West African Province had launched 500 attacks on military bases and formations of the Multi-national Joint Task Force between 2015 and 2020 The US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, had threatened that his country could apply the Leahy Laws against Nigeria if the allegations of rights violations were found to be credible.

The Centre for Democracy and Development has backed the report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for the Victims of #EndSARS protest. Director of the CDD, Idayat Hassan, demanded full implementation of the report led by Justice Doris Okuwobi, warning against attempts to discredit the document. The CDD says the necessity for a White Paper Report should not override the objective of addressing key social justice issues that the report sought to address, stating that the Lagos State Governor should know that this is a defining moment for his leadership.

The Lagos State Government has gifted N1 million and a furnished two-bedroom apartment to the family of late Jumoke Oyeleke killed during the Yoruba Nation rally in Lagos on July 3. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu says the government has been following the matter and that the first in the line of intervention was to relocate the family from its former abode to a decent apartment. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in ameliorating their suffering as much as possible felt if it is not possible to bring back the dead but can at least ameliorate the suffering of the family of the deceased.

A chieftain of the People's Democratic Party, Senator Shehu Sani says Nigerian politicians fear western sanctions more than the local laws. He says the Nigerian political class fear foreign sanctions more than the laws of the land because they believe that as long as they belong to the circle of power, they can do anything and get away with it. He added that they have had cases of people engaging in all sorts of violence during elections and they go scout free.

Canada is sending the military to help evacuate and support communities hit by catastrophic flooding, with the death toll expected to rise after record rainfall on the Pacific coast triggering a state of emergency. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the heavy rains caused historical and terrible flooding that has disrupted the lives and taken the lives of people across BC. British Columbia Premier John Horgan declared a state of emergency and imposed a travel ban, telling reporters catastrophic rains, winds and flooding have devastated entire communities of our province.

A bipartisan coalition of United States state attorneys general says it has opened a probe into Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms, for promoting its subsidiary Instagram to children despite potential harms. The attorneys general are investigating whether the company violated consumer protection laws and put young people at risk. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey says Meta, has failed to protect young people on its platforms and instead chose to ignore or, in some cases, double down on known manipulations that pose a real threat to physical and mental health – exploiting children in the interest of profit.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he has decided to repeal three controversial farm laws against which farmers have protested for more than a year. Modi says In the Parliament session starting later in the month, they will complete the constitutional process to repeal these three agricultural laws.” Small farmers say the changes make them vulnerable to competition from big business, and that they could eventually lose price support for staples such as wheat and rice. The government says reform of the sector, which accounts for about 15 per cent of the $2.7 trillion economies, means new opportunities and better prices for farmers.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law a new refugee bill that allows asylum seekers easier access to education, and opportunities to integrate and earn a living. The authorities say the camps have been used as breeding grounds for terrorists blamed for some of the worst attacks on Kenyan soil. Kenya has been in a protracted struggle with the UN refugee agency over plans to shut down the Kakuma and Daadab refugee camps that for decades, have been home to half a million refugees mainly from Somalia and South Sudan.

The government of Djibouti says the year-long war in neighbouring Ethiopia has had a drastic impact on its economy. Djibouti’s Finance Minister, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, told the BBC that due to the conflict trade had reduced to about 20% of what it was. He says the country had lost $1.7bn because over 90% of Ethiopia's goods pass through the port of Djibouti and both nations have invested billions of dollars to build a trade corridor including a rail link.

The US has ended sanctions imposed against Burundi six years ago, citing reforms in the country. A statement by the US Department of State noted that President Joe Biden had revoked an executive order that authorised the sanctions. It acknowledged last year’s elections that brought in President Évariste Ndayishimiye and the reforms he has pursued across many sectors. The US Treasury’s deputy secretary, Wally Adeyemo, says  that the US would continue to press Burundi to improve the human rights situation in the country and hold accountable those responsible for violations and abuses.

Sudanese authorities have restored the internet nearly a month since it was suspended after the military deposed the civilian-led transitional government. All telecommunications companies had their internet services restored on Thursday. Internet freedom monitor, Netblocks, has also confirmed the restoration of the internet. Deadly anti-coup protests have been taking place in the capital Khartoum and other parts of Sudan since Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power on 25 October. More than 30 people have reportedly been killed in the demonstrations. Activists and opposition groups have managed to draw attention to the protests on social media despite the restrictions.

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law two important bills passed by the National Assembly thereby making them become part of the Laws of the Federation. The Climate Change Act owes its origin to a bill sponsored by a member of the House of Representatives, Sam Onuigbo, and provides for, among other things, the mainstreaming of climate change actions and the establishment of a National Council on Climate Change. It also paves the way for environmental and economic accounting and a push for a net-zero emission deadline plan in the country. It provides for the extension of the tenor of the Resolution Cost Fund and grants access to the Special Tribunal established by the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act 2020.

Legal practitioner, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa has raised an alarm over what he described as vicious attacks on members of the Lagos Judicial Panel of Enquiry on Police Brutality following the group’s submission of its report.  He says members of the Panel have become the subject of vicious attacks by those suspected to be agents of the government. He restated that members of the panel were appointed on merit, debunking reports that they lobbied to get into the position. Adegboruwa described a report credited to an unnamed counsel to the Lagos State Government that members of the panel took bribes as unfair, ungodly, and least expected of the government and its lawyers.

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies to study a report on how best to ensure effective policy design and implementation with a view to implementing some of its recommendations. The Special Adviser to the President on media, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday. The President assured the course participants that it would be treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves. The President noted it was always a delight to receive their input on important issues that are of very great concern to the government and the nation. He says no nation will progress without paying close attention to the ways policies are made and implemented, as it is often unclear how best to ensure effective policy design and implementation.

President Muhammadu Buhari says the Federal Government will allow the system to exhaust itself, and will, therefore, wait for pronouncements from state governments that set up panels to probe police brutality in the country. The president says so many state governments are involved and have given different terms of reference to the probe panels. He says they have to wait for the steps taken by the states, and allow the system to work without imposing ideas on them. Buhari expressed the country’s appreciation, noting that there was freedom of worship in Nigeria, and no one is discriminated against on the basis of his or her faith.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a fresh N656.112 billion Bridge Financing Facility to the 36 States. The vice president’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement says each state would receive N18.225 billion with a 30-year tenor, and a 2-year moratorium at an interest rate of 9%. The presidency says this step was taken in a bid to help state governments meet financial obligations, especially the previous budget support facility due for repayment. The Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, informed the Council that the Bridge Facility is now being processed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The finance minister had informed the Council that the deductions from State Governments would commence soon as repayment for the previous bailout from the CBN.

Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, says the 36 governors in Nigeria are helpless when it comes to tackling insecurity. Ishaku says that the country’s security structure does not leave enough room for governors to deal decisively with criminality in their states because the powers have been vested in the Federal Government. His comments were in response to a recent attack in Taraba by some suspected Ambazonian soldiers from the Republic of Cameroon. Ishaku says he has complained severally to the Nigerian military, seeking help to secure the border. The governor further stated that his pleas have gone unheard for quite a while, leaving the community prone to attacks such as was recently experienced.

The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives says it has reviewed the Lagos EndSARS report and observed that the Federal Government has questions to answer. The lawmakers in a statement said the report has confirmed that there was indeed a massacre at Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020, despite the earlier denial of killings. The Minority caucus also flayed the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed for rushing to the media, ahead of the judicial panel, to insist that there were no killings at Lekki Tollgate, even in the face of testimonies of witnesses at the sad event. They described it as a shocking attempt to cover up details of the October 20 event demanding that justice be served.

The United States imposed an entry ban on Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, his vice-president wife and his government, after elections that were internationally dismissed as illegitimate. President Joe Biden says the repressive and abusive acts of the Ortega government and those who support it compel the United States to act. He says the Ortega government’s undemocratic, authoritarian actions have crippled the electoral process and stripped away the right of Nicaraguan citizens to choose their leaders in free and fair elections.

The Libyan general, Khalifa Haftar has announced that he intends to run in the presidential election due next month. Gen Haftar says elections were the only way out of Libya's severe crisis. The military prosecutor, Mohamed Gharouda, had already asked the electoral authorities to reject Gen Haftar's possible candidacy, because of the offensive he launched against the capital, Tripoli, in 2019.