First Independent Mena Newspaper
Nigeria will apply for membership of the BRICS in the next two years and it intends to join the group with or without pressure from the West, the country’s foreign minister Yusuf Tuggar has said. During a recent three-day working visit to Russia, where he held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Tuggar re-iterated […]
As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins on Monday or Tuesday (11-12 March), depending on the sighting of the new moon, Muslims in parts of Africa are bracing themselves for more subdued celebrations amid soaring food prices and continuing violence in Sudan, Gaza and elsewhere in the continent. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the […]
The abduction of more than 100 Nigerian school students reportedly occurred in the town of Kuriga in the north-western region. Witnesses stated that armed individuals on motorcycles entered the school’s assembly area around 08:30, taking away students aged between eight and 15, along with a teacher. This incident marks a resurgence in mass abductions of […]
Former Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria are threatening they may pick up arms again and join the insurgency out of frustration that they have been neglected by the government since they surrendered in the last two years. The Nigerian authorities promised Boko Haram fighters who surrendered that they would receive training and skills as an […]
An unknown number of people, mainly girls and women, have been abducted by the Boko Haram insurgents on Feb 6 in the Nigerian north eastern province of Gamborou Ngala. The near 200 victims are internally displaced living in a camp, said the UN as it condemned the kidnapping and urged the immediate release of the […]
Nigeria has introduced a compulsory yearly levy for companies hiring foreign workers, charging $15,000 for directors and $10,000 for other employees. The aim is to prompt foreign companies to hire more Nigerians. Diplomatic mission staff and government officials are exempt. President Bola Tinubu has cautioned against misusing the levy to deter investors. He stressed the […]
African nations should unite against any form of uprising from jihadists in the Sahel region and other parts of West Africa following the withdrawal of the coup-hit Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS, Nigeria’s military chief, General Christopher Musa has said. The withdrawal of the three member states from the regional bloc, coupled with […]
“They taught us a lesson, but they will also learn,” Burkina Faso’s junta leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, has warned the regional bloc ECOWAS of a possible armed conflict amid escalating tensions, stressing that the united armies of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) are prepared to take on the ECOWAS forces that had been touted […]
Senegal joins other African countries like Nigeria or Namibia that have struggled to manage their oil and gas resources discovered in recent years for the real benefit of the people, including by improving the energy situation at home. The oil and gas finds in Africa have rarely lived up to their promise, often doing more […]
EU Commission chief has pledged more than €210 million to support Mauritania manage migrant flows and clamp down on human traffickers, which comes amid growing concerns in Brussels that the recent decision by Niger’s junta to repel an anti-migrant law could lead to an increase in migratory flows to Europe. Speaking during a recent visit […]