President Bola Tinubu has directed the opening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with the Republic of Niger and the lifting of other sanctions against the country with immediate effect. This is coming seven months after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed sanctions on Niger Republic after its presidential guards toppled President Mohamed Bazoum and announced Abdrahmane …

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), has said the ban on flights between Nigeria and Niger Republic subsists, saying only the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, could lift it. NAMA stated that if authorised, over-flight aircraft passing through Niger airspace, aircraft in a state of emergency and special flights were exempted from the flight ban. A …

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republics – all under military rule – have announced their immediate withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The leaders of the three West African nations on Sunday issued a statement saying it was a “sovereign decision” to leave the ECOWAS “without delay”. There are 15 member-states in ECOWAS. Struggling with jihadist …

Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have set up a committee to engage the military junta in Niger Republic with a view to establishing its plan for the restoration of democratic rule and how soon. ECOWAS also resolved to urgently review efforts to activate a standby force for counterterrorism operations in areas infested by terrorist groups. …

The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has denied a report that the Republic of Niger has pulled out of the task force. The MNJTF was established to create a safe and secure environment in areas affected by the activities of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups. Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin Republic are countries in the task force. A …

It’s been over three weeks since the military junta led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani sacked the administration of democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger Republic – our next door neighbor – on 26th July. During the period, leaders and heads of governments in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have held two extra-ordinary summits in Abuja to …

There is no doubt that the Northern region, especially the people of Fulani ethnic stock share filial, cultural and religious affiliations with the Republic of Niger. The attempt by some religious and political leaders from the North to make the current political impasse in Republic of Niger a President Tinubu and Nigeria vs Niger affair is a very wrong narrative. …

Nearly two weeks after the military took over power in Niger Republic, the coup plotters have announced former Economy Minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as the Prime Minister. A spokesman for the military junta made the announcement on television late on Monday night. Zeine was Minister of Economy and Finance for several years in the cabinet of then-president Mamadou Tandja, …

It was the immortal Winston Churchill who once described democracy as the worst form of government except all other governments that have been tried and discarded in the past. The truism is obvious. It accentuates the Lincolnian classical definition of democracy. Despite its flaws , democracy offers the best hope of man in a conflicted world. It gives room for free expression, …

A “wind of change” is blowing across Africa but this time around, it is not the same wind of change that erstwhile British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, spoke about – the positive wind of change blowing away colonial rule and ushering in Independence to the African colonies of Britain. Macmillan made his famous speech to the parliament of apartheid South …