Nigeria’s elections ended weeks ago however the results have left Nigerians wondering if they are truly part of a democratic country.
Over half of the newly elected members of parliament lack any previous legislative experience making Nigerians question their performance ability.
Meanwhile, abuse of power in the society seems to be prevelant at all levels of authority.
Good evening twitter, my cousin's husband (Mr Babatunde, a staff of Ekiti State University) beat me up in Ado-Ekiti at about 7pm today.
The reason for this assault was "I didn't greet him properly".
– Viral video of a jamb lesson teacher, seen assaulting a student, in surulere, Lagos.
Nigeria has overtaken Egypt as the highest producer of rice in Africa!
Nigeria is now producing 8 million tonnes of Africa’s average of 14.6 million tonnes of rice annually.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba should be back in Gabon!
The President was scheduled to return to Gabon on Saturday; March 23. President Ali Bongo has been recuperating in Morocco, recovering from a stroke he had suffered 5 months ago.
As we reported previously; President Bongo, 60, was hospitalized on October 24 -last year- in Saudi Arabia, while in attendance for a summit. Initial reports said the President was admitted due to “exhaustion”. However, it came out President Bongo had suffered a stroke.
Due to his prolonged absence from Gabon there was concern about a vacuum of power which sparked a failed coup attempt on January 7.
In late February President Ali Bongo led a closed cabinet meeting during which he dismissed several of his close aides & announced a number of appointments.
The President has been home twice since his illness. Each time he spent less than 48 hours in Gabon.
The Gabonese government insists the President is in good shape.
Agnes Taylor, the former first lady of infamous Liberian President; Charles Taylor, is expected in UK court for torture charges.
The ex-wife of the former President has maintained her innocence & denied all the charges.
Agnes Taylor is accused of a string of torture offences & human rights violations dating back to Liberia’s civil war almost 20 years ago.
Her ex-husband Charles Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison by The Hague for aiding rebels who committed atrocities in Sierra Leone.
Minister Saqar Ibrahim Abdalla was killed on the ground floor of his office by armed Al-Shabab gunmen.
A showdown occurred in the country’s capital of Mogadishu.
Abdalla was the deputy labour minister.
The gunmen stormed the Somali ministries of labour & works after detonating a car bomb at the gates of the building.
15 other people were left dead in the ordeal.
According to Abdikadir Abdirahman, the director of Amin Ambulance Service, 11 people were injured.
Al-Shabab, which is trying to topple Somalia’s Western-backed central government, was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 & has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.
Cyclone Idai continues to wreak havoc eight days after it tore through Zimbabwe, Mozambique & Malawi.
The Mozambique government recorded a death toll if 417 people & an unidentified number missing. 256 was recorded in neighbouring Zimbabwe & 56 in Malawi.
Henrietta Fore, the chief of United Nations’ children’s agency (UNICEF), told AFP news agency in Beira that stagnant water & decomposing bodies, as well as lack of hygiene & sanitation concerns, have created a high risk for outbreaks of malaria and cholera.
4 cases of typhoid were reported in the small provincial district of Dombe, some 280km west of Beira on Saturday. Further fueling fears that the disease could spread across the flood-prone area.
The 4 are already receiving treatment.
UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) declared the flood crisis a level-three emergency, putting it on a par with Yemen, Syria & South Sudan.
Aid workers report that children have been separated from their parents or orphaned in the chaos. More than 65,000 people are already in shelters in central Mozambique & other sites are being opened.
The government says it needs support for months to come & everyone would depend on it to survive.
Our thoughts & prayers are truly with all the lives lost & families displaced due to this natural tragedy.
State Minister of Information and Communications Technology in Uganda narrowly escaped an assassination attempt today. Sunday; 2:40pm (GMT/UTC +3H).
Initial reports said Minister Ida Nantaba was shot at in her car by the alleged assassins who were riding on a motorbike.
However, upon further information it was confirmed that the Minister had contacted the police earlier, when she observed people trailing her on their motorbike, on her journey from Kayunga to Kampala; the country’s capital.
The police immediately responded to the alarm she raised by deploying about 999 patrols to the all routes surrounding the Minister.
The shots fired around 2:40pm -near Naggalama- were between the police & the alleged assassins. An eye-witness told SoftPower.Ug the suspects opened fire at a Police Patrol car when they tried to initially retreat which prompted the officers to follow them.
The police shot back in defense, killing one gunman, while the other dashed off on foot, abandoning the motorbike.
Security is heavily deployed in Naggalama currently making extra effort to locate the second gunman’s whereabouts.
Suzuki Registration Number : UDL 822 A & a National Identity Card with the name Ssebulime Ronald was recovered on the dead suspect.
Weeks after advising Rwandese people from crossing over to Uganda, Rwanda adds Burundi to the list.
Rwanda has restricted its citizens from travelling to Burundi. Rwanda recently closed its boarders with Uganda stranding over 100 Ugandan cargo trucks at the Katuna border.
A number of Rwandese people have been deported from Uganda for allegedly engaging in espionage operations. Rene Rutagungira is to face the General Court Martial in Uganda for kidnapping & illegally repatriating back to Rwanda Lt. Mutabazi. Lt. Mutabazi was the former bodyguard of President Kagame who had sought refugee in Uganda. Rene is also suspected to have partaken in the murder of Uganda prosecutor; Joan Kagezi.
On March 20th, Wednesday, Senior military officer -& commander of the Rwandan Eastern Part- General Mubalaka Muganga; ordered residents of areas bordering Burundi not to cross the border into the neighbouring country. Burundi neighbours Rwanda on the South.
General Mubalaka Muganga announced on Wednesday that Burundi has become hostile towards Rwanda therefore, moving there would be putting their lives at risk.
General Muganga also warned Rwandans to stay away from the natural forest of Gako which extends to Burundi.
This rhetoric is harsh & could probably be the seed to many more relational problems between the two neighbouring countries.
However, to be fair, Burundi did openly declare Rwanda as an enemy state. This was after the Bujumbura administration accused Kigali of a 2015 failed coup attempt against Burundi’s President, Pierre Nkurunziza.
Rwanda has also accused Burundi of cross-boarder attacks in Nyabitama.
3 Burundi schoolgirls face actual jail time for drawing on President Pierre Nkurunziza’s photo.
Although it sounds like it, we aren’t speaking on North Korea.
The 3 schoolgirls spent the weekend in jail & were charged Monday -March 18th- for “insulting the head of state” according to Human Rights Watch Group.
The girls could spend up to 5 years in prison.
School children in Burundi have been previously jailed for similar offenses.
According to Human Rights Watch in 2016, agents of the National Intelligence Service of Burundi arrested eight secondary school students for allegedly insulting Nkurunziza by writing phrases like “Get out” or “No to the 3rd term” on a picture of the President in a textbook.
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