Month: August 2024

Concerns are rising over the influence of Russia in the ongoing demonstrations in Nigeria.

Some protesters have been seen wielding Russian flags as they demonstrate in various states in Nigeria.

Authorities in the country have termed the act treasonous to the country’s sovereignty.

The Russian embassy in Nigeria has distanced itself from allegations that it is influencing the demos.

Protests against economic hardship have persisted in several Nigerian states despite the president calling for an end to the demonstrations that have faced a crackdown from security forces.

At least 13 people have been reported dead in the protests which began on Thursday against the West African nation’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation and against the corruption and alleged bad governance that have stifled its development.

Nigerian security forces have been accused of using excessive force in the protests.

On Monday, President Bola Tinubu met with security chiefs in Abuja’s capital. A curfew was declared in northern Kaduna state — the sixth state to take such a measure since the protests began — after reports of looting.

The cost-of-living crisis is fueled by surging inflation, at a 28-year high, and government economic policies that have pushed the local currency to record lows against the dollar.

Tinubu on Sunday said his government was committed to addressing citizens’ concerns. But he provided no plan, according to the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence research firm.

A few protesters were seen waving Russian flags over the weekend and again on Monday in northern Nigeria, whose population is among the worst affected. The Russian embassy in Nigeria denied any responsibility, saying in a statement that the flags are personal choices of the protesters and “do not reflect any official position or policy of the Russian Government.”

The Russian flags being waved constitute treason and would be treated as such, Nigeria’s military chief Christopher Musa said after meeting with Tinubu.

Pro-Russian sentiments have been growing in parts of West Africa, where Moscow is increasingly welcomed by militaries that have staged coups and severed ties with the West. One is in Nigeria’s northern neighbor, Niger, where French and American troops have been asked to leave and Russia has been chosen as a new security partner.

On Sunday, Tinubu warned protesters not to let “the enemies of democracy use you to promote an unconstitutional agenda” in Nigeria, which currently holds the rotational chairmanship position of West Africa’s regional bloc.

Nigeria’s secret service said it had apprehended some tailors in northern Kano state it said were responsible for making Russian flags being distributed in the area. It said an investigation was ongoing.

The US will hand over its last military base in Niger Monday, ahead of the September 15 deadline for US forces to leave the country under an agreement with Nigerien authorities.

Airbase 201 in the city of Agadez is one of two hubs the U.S. has used for counterterrorism operations in Niger. Last month, US troops withdrew from Airbase 101, a small drone base in Niger’s capital, Niamey.

German troops are also set to leave this month. The withdrawals are part of a larger trend of Western troops leaving the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara desert where groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate.

Niger’s 2023 military takeover followed coups in Mali in 2020 and in Burkina Faso in 2022, and the three countries soon joined forces in expelling foreign troops and taking a hard stance against France and its allies.

Aneliese Bernard is the director of Strategic Stabilization Advisors, a risk consulting group based in Washington D.C. with field teams based across the Sahel and coastal West Africa.

She said that while counterterrorism operations by Western powers in the region have been problematic, the absence of French, European and American forces in Niger will leave a huge security vacuum, affecting everything from doing business in the Sahel to humanitarian aid.

“Anything extractive is going to be outside of a major city, you’re lacking security at this point,” she said. “Unless you have your own private security situation set up in a place as far away as outside of Agadez where a lot of the uranium is, you’re operating blindly out there.”

Bernard said it’s not completely clear at this point how the junta will handle partnerships going forward, particularly with regard to accessing natural resources.

The Nigerien government recently pulled the permit for French fuel producer Orano to operate in one of the country’s largest uranium mines.

“There still are quite a few assumptions made that the CNSP is taking a very strategic move with regards to ‘we’re going to pull back all of our, you know, things that we can trade with and prioritize partners that can sell us security in return for getting monopoly shares of said industries,’” Bernard said, giving the example of Turkey providing military equipment and private military contractors in exchange for access to Niger’s oil.

She added that these assumptions have been challenged recently as there are rumors of American and Canadian companies speaking to SOPAMIN, the Nigerien company in charge of the uranium mines, about working in Niger.

Bernard warned that those most likely to be harmed by the security vacuum are the most vulnerable citizens of a country that is already one of the poorest in the world.

She said humanitarian workers are now required to have military escorts when working outside of major cities, which can lead to them being targeted by armed groups in conflict with the military.

This will lead to many NGOs choosing not to work outside of major cities or working in the field less often, she added, “so people who are in the periphery, who are the ones who are in the most vulnerable groups… are going to have the least access to humanitarian aid

Ezinna Kalu scored 21 points as Nigeria made Olympic history by becoming the first African team, male or female, to reach the Olympic quarterfinals in basketball when it beat Canada 79-70 on Sunday.

The Nigerians (2-1) now wait to learn their opponent. They already have doubled the number of wins in pool play for a country that came to France looking for its first Olympic victory since the 2004 Athens Games.

They went to midcourt to start celebrating, with an assistant coach using her phone to record the moment. The Nigerians stopped to high-five the Canadians, then returned to celebrating with a midcourt huddle.

An assistant coach grabbed a flag from a fan for photos on the court, and the Nigerians took their time hugging and posing for more photos as they savored the moment.

Canada, ranked fifth in the world, leaves winless in three games, eliminated on the final day of group play for women’s basketball by a team ranked 12th.

Five countries came in already having clinched berths, led by the U.S. trying to win an unprecedented eighth straight Olympic gold. The others are Spain, Serbia, France and Germany. The draw setting the quarterfinals follows the final game between Australia and host nation France.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and went winless in Tokyo. This women’s team was denied access to Nigeria’s boat for the opening ceremony on July 26, and now it will play Wednesday in Bercy Arena on the banks of the Seine River.

Nigeria scored the first six points of the game. Captain Amy Okonkwo hurt her right shoulder early in the second quarter, colliding with Canada forward Aaliyah Edwards diving for a loose ball, and Canada took a 41-37 lead into halftime.

Okonkwo returned for the third quarter, when Nigeria opened with a 13-1 run. The Nigerians outscored Canada 23-5 in the third and took a 60-46 lead into the fourth.

Elizabeth Balogun added 14 points for Nigeria, and Promise Amukamara had 12.

Shay Colley led Canada with 17 points, Bridget Carleton had 13 and Kayla Alexander 12.

Belgium 85, Japan 58

Emma Meesseman scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Belgium routed Japan to clinch the first of three remaining quarterfinal berths. The Cats came together, hugging and dancing at midcourt, with some wiping tears from their eyes in celebration after the final buzzer.

Japan (0-3) was eliminated after winning silver three years ago at the Tokyo Games. The Japanese wiped away tears as they left the court.

This is the second straight Olympics that the silver medalist failed to medal in the next Olympics. Spain won silver in 2016 at the Rio de Janeiro Games, then lost to France in the quarterfinals in Tokyo.

Belgium (1-2) needed to beat Japan by 27 points to finish with a better point differential than China to keep playing. The Cats had a packed house trying to help, with Belgium a mere 20 miles (32 kilometers) away and China (1-2) watching the scoreboard through the final three games to learn its fate.

Japan led 4-2 in the opening minutes on a jumper by Rui Machada.

Antonia Delaere’s 3-pointed put the Cats ahead to stay, and they led 19-7 at the end of the first with the final margin the biggest concern. Japan didn’t make it easy as Belgium had a 20-16 edge in the second for a 39-23 lead at halftime.

The Cats outscored Japan 22-16 in the third for a 61-39 lead. Fans roared for each Belgium bucket, knowing the need to not only win but by the point margin. Elise Ramette’s 3 with 4:52 pushed the lead to the 27 points needed at 71-44, and Becky Massey hugged her to start a Japan timeout.

Ramette finished with 16 points, and Delaeare and Maxuella Mbaka Lisowa each had 12.

Saki Hayashi led Japan with 13, and Evelyn Mawuli added 12.

Hundreds of Somalis gathered in the capital, Mogadishu, on Friday to express their outrage at the assassination of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh.

He was killed in an airstrike in Tehran on Wednesday, hours after attending the inauguration of the new Iranian president.

Protesters said they were “deeply sorry” about the killing of the Palestinian group’s leader.

“I am unable to express my emotions today because as Muslims, our feelings are very tense,” said one protester, Mohamed Abdullah.

While Hamas and its allies have blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s death, Israel has not confirmed or denied its involvement in his death.

It had pledged to kill him and other Hamas leaders over the group’s 7 October attack on Israel last year, in which some 1,200 Israelis died and more than 250 were taken hostage.

The rally’s organiser, Sheikh Mohamed Budul, urged Muslims around the world to hold demonstrations to show unity.

“We gathered here to express our support for our Palestinian brothers and sisters and specifically for Hamas and Gaza.”

Demonstrators denounced Israel, carrying Palestinian flags and banners with images of the slain Hamas leader.

Palestinian health authorities say that Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,000 people, mostly civilians.

Since October, about 1.9 million Palestinian – 90 per cent of the population – have been forcibly displaced from their homes.

Inflation in Kenya has fallen to 4.3 per cent year-on-year in July from 4.6 per cent a month earlier, according to new data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

The four-year low was helped by a strong shilling and marginal price reductions in key household costs such as electricity and fuel.

This has led to a reduction in transport costs which saw a rise of just 4 per cent in July compared to 7.7 per cent the previous month.

The price of many foods decreased by half a per cent between June and July, but the reprieve did not extend to all categories, with some experiencing sharp increases.

Kenya targets an inflation rate of between 2.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent in the medium-term.

But while overall inflation remains under control, increases in other household costs like cooking oil and cooking gas means consumers still need to tighten their budgets.

In June, Kenyans took to the streets in a wave of deadly protests over tax hikes and the cost of living.

President William Ruto was forced to scrap a proposed finance bill containing the increases in response to the demonstrations.

Ruto, who was sworn in in September 2022, inherited a battered economy grappling with soaring inflation, a high debt burden, unemployment, and post-Covid 19 stagnation.

He has been caught between the demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund to cut deficits, and a hard-pressed population reeling from rising costs.

The easing of inflation this month could influence the Central Bank’s decision on interest rates, with a potential rate cut expected when the Monetary Policy Committee convenes on 6 August.