December, 2016

• 28 December

  Nigeria’s Sunday Oliseh appointed coach of Dutch club, Fortuna Sittard

  Former Super Eagles of Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh has been appointed as the new head coach of Dutch second division side Fortuna Sittard. The 42-year-old former Nigeria captain signed a two-and-a-half year deal at the club. Oliseh who quit the Nigerian national team job in March is expected to resume duties as coach on 2 January 2017. “It’s a new …

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• 28 December

  Dr Adebisi Laja, who has lived in Germany since 1958, passes on at 84

  

  Dr Adebisi Laja, one of the oldest members of the Nigerian community in Germany, has passed on. According to his associates, the retired medical doctor died peacefully at home in the western German town of Lindenfels on 12 December at the age of 84. Laja arrived in Europe in June 1954 to study in Glasgow. He moved to Germany in …

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• 28 December

  Interview: The story of Dr Adebisi Laja’s life in Europe since arriving in June 1954 in the words of the Germany-based Nigerian-born medical doctor

  

  Adebisi Laja, born in 1932, first arrived in Europe in June 1954, when he disembarked a ship that took him from his native Lagos to Liverpool. In October 1958, he moved to Germany to study medicine. The old, but still very energetic man, talks about life in Europe and Germany then and now; he reveals how he deals with the …

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• 25 December

  Nigeria Army ousts Boko Haram from its last major camp; two major roads in Borno re-opened

  

  The Nigerian Army has driven Boko Haram militants from their last camp in the northeastern Sambisa forest, President Muhammadu Buhari has said in a statement. The military has launched a large-scale offensive against the jihadist group in recent weeks. Buhari said in a statement that the head of the army informed him on Friday, 23 December that the last major Boko Haram …

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• 24 December

  5,000 migrants drown in Mediterranean in 2016

  More than 5,000 migrants are thought to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2016, a record figure described as “a devastating milestone” by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). On Thursday, 23 December alone, some 100 mainly West Africans were feared to have perished making the treacherous crossing to Europe. To save lives, the UNHCR says legal entry for those …

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• 24 December

  Gambia: ECOWAS threatens Jammeh with military action; Senegalese troops ‘on alert’

  President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia stands the risk of being forcefully removed from power should he carry out his threat to sit tight after losing the December 1 election. ECOWAS leaders warned yesterday that they would not hesitate to send troops to Banjul, if Jammeh, who lost the election to opposition candidate, Adama Barrow, fails to step down next month. Senegal,which …

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• 24 December

  Congo’s opposition agrees to deal for Kabila to step down

  Congolese politicians have agreed in principle to a deal under which President Joseph Kabila willl leave office by the end of 2017, opposition leaders said on Friday, 23 December, an unexpected breakthrough after dozens were killed in anti-government protests this week. If the deal does succeed, it would be a major achievement for the Catholic church, which has been mediating …

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• 23 December

  Nigerians abroad remitted $35b so far in 2016

  Remittances from Nigerians living abroad from January to November 2016 have hit $35 billion, Senior Special Assistant to the president on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa has said. She revealed the figures on 20 December in Abuja when she paid a courtesy call on the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Tunde Fowler. She said she was …

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• 23 December

  Cybercriminals target African countries with ransomware

  JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 21 December 2016,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Check Point, the largest global pure-play network cybersecurity vendor, has revealed that five African nations were among the top 10 most-attacked countries in November as cybercriminals made increasing use of ransomware attacks using the Locky and Cryptowall viruses. Botswana was the most-attacked country in Check Point’s list of 117 at-risk nations, …

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• 23 December

  Experimental vaccine for Ebola virus proves effective in Guinea, says WHO

  A prototype vaccine for Ebola has proven effective in Guinea, according to the World Health Organization. It hopes fast-track approval will emerge by 2018. The hemorrhagic virus killed 11,300 people in western Africa. WHO assistant director-general Marie-Paule Kieny wrote in the medical journal “The Lancet” that an “effective vaccine” for Ebola, dubbed rVSV-ZEBOV should be 80 percent effective in a fully-fledged …

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