United Nations | African News Today

25 Nigerien Migrants Dumped in the Desert by Smugglers

6Apr

By Guest ContributorNo Comments

Human Rights, News, Niger, Safety, Security, United Nations, Youths

25 Nigerien Migrants Dumped in the Desert by Smugglers

At least twenty-five Niger migrants consisting of women and children have been rescued in the northern Niger desert after they were dumped by their driver. This was disclosed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a statement issued on Tuesday. The migrants were rescued "last weekend in the Sahara desert by (teams of) IOM and the Directorate of Civil Protection of Niger," said the UN agency in a Facebook post. Nigerien Migrants Left in the Desert The survivors, whose destination was not specified, "remained without food and water for three days" before being found, said the IOM. Rescue operations for migrants are frequent in the hostile Nigerien desert, mainly in areas close to Libya. Many West African migrants try to cross through Libya to reach the Me...

Blacks in Ukraine Being Prevented from Fleeing the Country

27Feb

By adminNo Comments

Africa, African Development, Human Rights, Justice, News, Safety, Security, United Nations, Videos, Youths

Blacks in Ukraine Being Prevented from Fleeing the Country

Blacks Trying to Leave Ukraine Blacks in Ukraine are calling out for help, alleging that they are being prevented from fleeing the country. It's no longer news that Russia has invaded parts of Ukraine and that people are fleeing the now threatened country. What may however be news to some is that blacks may be the victims of marginalization and even ill-treatment as people try to flee. It's on record that blacks, especially Africans, make up about 20% of the Ukrainian International students' populations. With the conflict now erupting, they like many others are trying to leave the country. With many African countries not showing much by way of commitment to its citizens in the now waring country, these international students are forced to fend for themselves. See Also: Fede...

Boko Haram, ISWAP Still ‘Very Dangerous,’ North-East Needs $1bn Aid – UN

22Jan

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Boko Haram, News, Nigeria, Security, Terrorism, United Nations

Boko Haram, ISWAP Still ‘Very Dangerous,’ North-East Needs $1bn Aid – UN

The Head, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria, Martin Griffiths, has urged the world not to take attention away from the insurgency-ravaged North-East Nigeria, noting that the region needs not less than $1bn in aid this year. According to him, the funds are needed to provide food and health care for the millions of people displaced and to those who remain in their homes but are vulnerable to attacks. Griffiths, who spoke in an interview with The Associated Press in Abuja, said terrorist group, Boko Haram, and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province, are still “very, very dangerous (and) very threatening.” He noted that victims of the decade-long insurgency in the North-East were in serious need of humanitarian support, urging ...

North-East Requires Fresh $1billion to Tackle Boko Haram Crisis – UN

17Mar

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Boko Haram, Covid-19, Infrastructure, News, Nigeria, Safety, Security, Terrorism, United Nations

North-East Requires Fresh $1billion to Tackle Boko Haram Crisis – UN

The North-Easter part of Nigeria needs fresh $1 billion to tackle the Boko Haram-induced humanitarian crisis affecting more than six million people in 2021, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said. It disclosed this on Wednesday noting that a combination of escalating conflict, displacement, and disruption has impacted livelihoods worsened by COVID-19 restrictions resulting in hunger for at least 5.1 million people. The UN Agency remarked that the figure of displaced persons is the worst outlook in four years. It said, “Ongoing conflict continues to be the main driver of humanitarian needs in northeast Nigeria, where millions of people have been displaced. Longstanding insecurity and violence, compounded by climate change, and the impact of ...

Students’ Abduction: Schools must remain safe spaces to learn without fear

13Mar

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Crime, Education, News, Nigeria, Safety, Security, United Nations, Youths

Students’ Abduction: Schools must remain safe spaces to learn without fear

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has expressed sadness over the recent mass abduction of students in different parts of Nigeria. Gunmen had abducted over 300 people including students and staff of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Friday. The incident marked the fourth mass abduction of school children in the North in the space of four months. In his reaction, Guterres in a post on Twitter urged authorities to ensure the safe release of the students and the prosecution of the abductors. He said, “I’m deeply saddened to learn of yet another mass abduction of students from a school in Nigeria. “Schools must remain safe spaces to learn without fear of violence. The students must be ...

Okonjo-Iweala Accepts Apology from Swiss Newspaper over ‘grandmother’ Remarks

1Mar

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Africa, Economy, Trade, United Nations, Women Empowerment

Okonjo-Iweala Accepts Apology from Swiss Newspaper over ‘grandmother’ Remarks

The first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organization on Monday welcomed an apology from a Swiss newspaper that had dismissed the seasoned international professional as a grandmother. “It is important & timely that they’ve apologised,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a tweet. The development economist took over as the new WTO chief on Monday after a long, high-powered career serving as minister of finance and foreign affairs in her native Nigeria and 25 years at the World Bank. But when several Swiss newspapers announced her appointment last month, they decided the most noteworthy thing to mention about the new WTO chief was as a matriarch. “This grandmother will become the boss of the WTO,” read the headline of the article published by the Aargauer Zeitung and...

Ghana to Receive World’s First Doses of Free Covax Vaccines -UNICEF

24Feb

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Covid-19, Ghana, United Nations

Ghana to Receive World’s First Doses of Free Covax Vaccines -UNICEF

Ghana is scheduled to receive Wednesday the first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines from Covax, a World Health Organization-backed effort to procure and distribute inoculations for free to poor countries. “These 600,000 Covax vaccines are part of an initial tranche of deliveries of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine licensed to the Serum Institute of India, which represent part of the first wave of Covid vaccines headed to several low and middle-income countries,” said UNICEF, which organised the shipment from Mumbai, in a joint statement with the WHO. Covax has said it would deliver two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines globally by the end of 2021. AFP

Nigeria: Constitutional Force Majeure Proclaimed Over A Sovereignty Dispute

22Dec

By Ndidi UwechueNo Comments

Human Rights, Justice, Legislature, Nigeria, United Nations

Nigeria: Constitutional Force Majeure Proclaimed Over A Sovereignty Dispute

19th December 2020 On 16th December 2020, history was being made in Nigeria. On that day, there was an official declaration of Constitutional Force Majeure and demand for an orderly process to deal with the unjust and undemocratic situation in Nigeria of using what is referred to as the 1999 Constitution but that is simply Military Decree 24 in some disguise, and not at all a Constitution in the true sense of that word. This was a Joint Proclamation of a Sovereignty Dispute by Accredited Delegates of Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities of the Southern and Middle Belt Territories of Nigeria. This declaration of Constitutional Force Majeure is the pathway for Unionists seeking the Restructuring of Nigeria back to what we had at Independence, or even better than that; plus, it is also the...

Nigeria 1999 Constitution Deceit: Lawyers, Pastors and Priests – Unmute Yourselves!

18Nov

By Ndidi Uwechue1 Comment

Human Rights, Justice, News, Nigeria, United Nations

Nigeria 1999 Constitution Deceit: Lawyers, Pastors and Priests – Unmute Yourselves!

18th November 2020 As the end of 2020 approaches, needless to say Africa, and notably Nigeria will not achieve the African Union (AU) pledge set in 2013, “not to bequeath the burden of conflict to the next generation of Africans and undertake to end all wars by 2020.” Silencing the Guns in Africa is a chief initiative of the AU’s Agenda 2063, but it seems that Nigeria has chosen to go in the opposite direction for conflicts escalate, weapons proliferate, injustice increases. Whether one is a Unionist or a Non-Unionist* it is becoming clear that Nigeria is going to be reconfigured through the Union being reviewed. The reason being found in the defective social contract that Nigeria operates. Its 1999 Constitution was not only imposed upon the people, but is a prove...

Nigeria: Referendum By Ethnic Nationalities Not Restructuring

22Oct

By Ndidi UwechueNo Comments

Human Rights, News, Nigeria, United Nations

Nigeria: Referendum By Ethnic Nationalities Not Restructuring

So here we are. Sixty years after Independence we are the world’s poorest Black nation. Quoting from Borgen Magazine in August 2020, “Nigeria, a third world country in Africa, is known as the poverty capital of the world. The nation just exceeded India with the largest rate of people living in extreme poverty. In Nigeria, about 86.9 million people live in severe poverty, which is about 50% of its entire population….the nation is failing at lowering the rates of poverty. This is partly due to the mismanagement of the oil business and the presence of corruption. Along with this, the nation is going through a “population boom,” which will make managing poverty rates more difficult. One of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals is to end extreme poverty by 2050. However, Nigeria’s poverty ra...