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Aug
21
2020
By The African Mirror
Nigeria considers using private firms for coronavirus tests after foreign flights resume

Nigeria considers using private firms for coronavirus tests after foreign flights resume

COVID-19
ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM NIGERIA is considering partnerships between state governments and private firms to ramp up testing and tracing of coronavirus cases after international flights resume this month, the head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said. Nigeria will reopen its airports for international flights from August 29. They have been closed since March 23 to all but essential overseas flights to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa's most populous country. State governments are responsible for testing and tracing but the influx of travellers will increase the pressure on already stretched authorities in Nigeria, which has had 50,488…
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Aug
21
2020
By The African Mirror
Nigeria’s wet markets thrive despite coronavirus pandemic

Nigeria’s wet markets thrive despite coronavirus pandemic

COVID-19
ANGELA UKOMADU and LIBBY GEORGE JUST a few months after Epe Fish Market was under lockdown to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, vendors at the site in the southern Nigerian state of Lagos are back buying, selling and trading animals. A vendor descales an endangered pangolin with a machete. Nearby, grasscutter rodents are skinned. Most of the sellers wear masks. Experts say COVID-19, which has killed around 1,000 people in Nigeria, jumped from animals to humans, possibly at a wet market in China. But few in Epe were worried. "We are not afraid of it because the coronavirus…
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Aug
20
2020
By The African Mirror
We analysed media reports on rape cases in Nigeria. What we found

We analysed media reports on rape cases in Nigeria. What we found

MEDIA FREEDOM
OLUDAYO TADE, Researcher in criminology, victimology, electronic frauds and cybercrime, University of Ibadan IN Nigeria, the media continues to play a key role in tracking rape cases where reporting of rape to the authorities remains low. In a recent study, we examined the coverage of rape incidents in the country. To do the study, we selected two national newspapers with dedicated crime reporting pages. We analysed 331 cases of rape reported by The Punch and The Sun. Our goal was to sift through the rape coverage to identify the characterisation of victims and rapists. To do this, we analysed data…
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Aug
18
2020
By The African Mirror
EXCLUSIVE-Nigeria’s $1.5 bln World Bank loan delayed over reforms -sources

EXCLUSIVE-Nigeria’s $1.5 bln World Bank loan delayed over reforms -sources

BUSINESS
CHIJIOKE OHUOCHA and LIBBY GEORGE THE World Bank is unlikely to approve a much-needed $1.5 billion for Nigeria in August as planned due to concerns over desired reforms, three sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. A delay in financing from multilateral lenders could leave Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer, battered by low crude prices, unable to fully finance a record 10.8 trillion naira ($28.35 billion) budget. The central bank has said Nigeria's balance of payments gap this year will be $14 billion. The World Bank, which has said Nigeria could be heading toward its greatest fiscal crisis…
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Aug
15
2020
By The African Mirror
Ireland to return 5.5 mln euros in Abacha loot to Nigeria

Ireland to return 5.5 mln euros in Abacha loot to Nigeria

NEWS
IRELAND has reached a deal to give back to Nigeria 5.5 million Euros ($6.5 million) looted by former military dictator Sani Abacha, Nigeria's justice minister said in a statement. The money is the latest Abacha-linked cash reclaimed by Nigeria. Corruption watchdog Transparency International estimates that Abacha, who ruled Africa's biggest oil producer from 1993 until his death in 1998, stole as much as $5 billion of public money during that time. He was never charged with corruption in his lifetime. "The return of these assets will be the first time that Ireland has taken such action and will be a…
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Aug
14
2020
By The African Mirror
Nigerian lawyers fight back against police brutality, graft

Nigerian lawyers fight back against police brutality, graft

NEWS
NNEKA CHILE WHEN Divine Umukoro refused to pay police a bribe after breaking Lagos state's night-time curfew, she says they slapped her, slashed her car tyres and threatened violence. A video of the incident went viral on Nigerian blogging sites, and Citizens' Gavel, a non-profit organisation that fights against police misconduct, stepped in, helping her to recover her seized car within three days. The police have declined to comment on the incident. "When the whole thing started with the hitting, with the slapping of my face, pushing my friend - I felt so angry," Umukoro, 25, said of the July…
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Aug
08
2020
By The African Mirror
World Bank approves $114 mln for Nigeria’s COVID-19 response

World Bank approves $114 mln for Nigeria’s COVID-19 response

BUSINESS
THE World Bank has approved $114 million to help Nigeria tackle its coronavirus pandemic, the global lender has announced. The money comes in the form of a $100 million loan and a $14 million grant to be split between Nigeria's 36 states and federal-level procurement of medical equipment, tests and medicine. Africa's most populous country has recorded more than 45,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 930 deaths, but low levels of testing have left a muddy picture of the outbreak's severity. "Nigeria has ramped up its efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, but more needs to done at the state level,…
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Aug
05
2020
By The African Mirror
Tanzanian who survived 16 bullets runs for president

Tanzanian who survived 16 bullets runs for president

NEWS
A politician who survived being shot 16 times in an apparent assassination attempt will challenge Tanzania's president in October elections, his party said as rights groups voiced concern about increasing repression ahead of the polls. Tundu Lissu, who clinched the nomination for the leading opposition Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) party, is a fierce critic of President John Magufuli. Lissu survived the attempt on his life in 2017 and left to seek medical treatment abroad, returning from exile last week. His attackers have never been found. Magufuli condemned the attack. Lissu's endorsement by all delegates present after prevailing over…
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Aug
02
2020
By The African Mirror
Nigeria’s Lagos to allow places of worship to reopen – governor

Nigeria’s Lagos to allow places of worship to reopen – governor

NEWS
NIGERIA's commercial capital Lagos will allow churches and mosques to resume in-person services from August 7, the state's governor has announced. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also said restaurants, social clubs and recreational centres will be allowed to reopen with limited capacity from August 14 as the state, the epicentre of Nigeria's coronavirus outbreak, eases restrictions despite a continued rise in infections. Lagos state, home to the megacity of the same name with 20 million people, has more than 15,000 confirmed cases and 192 deaths, by far the largest share of Nigeria's 43,151 cases. It ordered widespread closures and a lockdown in…
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Jul
30
2020
By The African Mirror
Starved of dollars, Nigerian businesses struggle for survival

Starved of dollars, Nigerian businesses struggle for survival

BUSINESS
ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM and CHIJIOKE OHUOCHA AS women in hairnets and anti-coronavirus masks sort through folded nappies coming off a conveyor belt, the head of the Nigerian firm they work for wonders how much longer he can afford to keep them in employment. Around 80% of the materials that go into Lagos-based diaper and sanitary towel manufacturer Wemy's products are imported. To buy them, Paul Odunaiya needs dollars, which he can no longer find. "We're pleading with our suppliers to wait a bit longer so that we can source dollars and pay them," Odunaiya told Reuters. With the price of oil,…
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