Politics

Nigeria: Proscribed separatist group, IPOB takes stand against sit-at-home protest

Published

1 year ago

August 13, 2023

In Nigeria, members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Saturday warned against the continued sit-at-home protest in the Eastern part of the country.

According to reports, IPOB also distributed notices to the public on the cancellation of the exercise which usually takes place on Monday.

In a statement titled “Monday weekly sit-at-home: An unpleasant phase of a bygone history that must never be replicated as echoed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” IPOB’s spokesman, Mr. Emma Powerful, reiterated IPOB’s position to discontinue the practice.

The group said: “Any person or persons talking about a non-existent sit-at-home in the southeast is an enemy of the people and shall be dealt with accordingly.

“The exercise also aims to inform the people that sit-at-home is not only “dead” but will also never again be invoked or deployed as a tool of civil disobedience in the group’s quest for self-determination,” he added.

The self-acclaimed leader of the controversial separatist group, Nnamdi Kanu, who is currently in the custody of Nigeria’s secret police, had last month written a letter to Finland-based agitator, Simon Ekpa, ordering him to end the sit-at-home in the South-East region of the country

The sit-at-home protest every Monday has not only disrupted commercial activities but has led to violence, killings and destruction of properties in the five states that make up the geopolitical zone.

The statement reads in part: “It is to be stated for the umpteenth time, for those who may feign ignorance of the laws governing the conduct expected of IPOB family worldwide, that our supreme leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has ordered the permanent end to Monday sit-at-home in the south-east.

“Those purporting to be running a Biafra Government in Exile, from somewhere in Finland, also known as Autopilot are not IPOB members and their activities do not represent the views of Kanu, rank and file IPOB membership nor ESN operatives”.

Nigeria has had a number of separatist groups spring up since her political independence in 1960. The cry for self-determination amongst various ethnic groups represents the recent wave intensified since 2015 when President Muhamadu Buhari came into power.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

14 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.