Headlines
Osinbajo Decries Breakup, Says ‘We’d Need Visa to visit Kano’
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says those calling for Nigeria’s disintegration don’t understand the implications of their actions.
Speaking while delivering his speech virtually at the 12th Bola Tinubu colloquium held in Kano on Monday, Osinbajo said with Nigeria’s breakup, visiting states will require visas.
He praised Tinubu for his leadership style, which he described as “unusual”, adding that “the colloquium has become an institution in honour of an institution”.
Osinbajo maintained that he believes in the country’s unity, noting that Nigeria has the potential to excel, with the cooperation of citizens.
“The default mode of some at times like this is to stoke tendencies, viewpoints, and opinions that threaten the federation and our unity. But the colloquium, as usual, bets on Nigeria and its creative and resilient people,” he said.
“This is the first time the colloquium is being hosted outside Lagos or Abuja, and it is befitting that Kano should be that place. This is the city of radical and progressive ideas and ideologies.
“For the purveyors of breaking up into small components, into small countries, perhaps they should be reminded that we would not have been able to accept Governor Ganduje’s offer to come to Kano at short notice, since we would all have needed visas to come to Kano.”
Osinbajo’s comment comes amid various calls for the division of Nigeria into smaller countries.
TheCable had reported how Asari Dokubo, leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Force, declared the formation of Biafra Customary Government (BCG).
Dokubo had also appointed new leaders of the government, adding that they would set up provincial structures for the new government.
One week after, Sunday Adeyemo, a youth leader better known as Sunday Igboho, declared that the Yoruba are no longer part of Nigeria.
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
