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Somalia invites state leaders to crucial election talks

Somalia’s prime minister on Sunday invited regional leaders to a fresh round of negotiations in the hope of resolving a protracted feud over elections that sparked violence in the capital. The troubled Horn of Africa country is experiencing its worst political crisis in years, with fighting erupting in Mogadishu last week after the president extended his mandate by two years without going to elections. Opposition fighters remain in the capital even after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed backed away from the mandate extension at the weekend and agreed to hold a fresh vote. The president, better known by his nickname Farmajo, tasked his prime minister with reaching out to rivals and overseeing the negotiations, a key opposition demand. A government spokesman said Prime Minister Mohamed Hu...

Nigerian students threaten government over lecturers strike

File Photo The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has given the Federal Government till January 5, 2021, to resolve its impasse with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Describing the ongoing strike action by ASUU as the longest so far, NANS said in Katsina at the weekend that it would mobilise its members to block all Federal highways indefinitely at the end of the ultimatum until the issue is resolved. The President of NANS Comrade Sunday Asefon, who addressed a press conference after a visit to the rescued Kankara school boys said that, “it is ridiculous that government and ASUU have not found a common ground yet and this is leaving us with no other alternative than to do everything within our power to bring an end to this strike. “If by January 5, 2022, there...

U.S. warns Pacific islands about Chinese bid for undersea cable project

The United States has warned Pacific island nations about security threats posed by a Chinese company’s cut-price bid to build an undersea internet cable, two sources told Reuters, part of an international development project in the region. Huawei Marine, which was recently divested from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and is now majority-owned by another Chinese firm, submitted bids along with French-headquartered Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), part of Finland’s Nokia, and Japan’s NEC, for the $72.6 million project backed by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), the sources with direct knowledge of the project details said. The project is designed to improve communications to the island nations of Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Kiribati. Washington sent a diploma...

NUC mandates UI to appoint acting vice-chancellor

Following the crisis that trailed the selection of a new Vice-Chancellor for the University of Ibadan, UI, that led to the process becoming inconclusive. the National Universities Commission, NUC, has directed the Governing Council of the university to appoint an Acting Vice-Chancellor to take over from the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Professor Idowu Olayinka, on Monday, November 30. The directive became expedient, following the deadlock in the appointment of a new VC to replace Olayinka, whose term expires on Monday. The Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, in a letter dated 27th November 2020 and addressed to the Pro-Chancellor of the University, said the appointment of an acting vice-chancellor was to avoid a vacuum in the administration of the university. The letter, s...