Ukraine

Hamas did not start this war, Israel did

By Ismail Obansa Nimah

Theodor Herzl must be restless in his tomb for what is happening in Palestine. He must have forgotten to remember that even though he succeeded in creating Zionism to champion his vision for a Jewish state in the heart of Palestine, the territory he uprooted people from and where he currently rests was never really his. In it were millions of good-hearted people, living a beautiful life in their homes, farms, families, freedom, peace and prosperity. Until all they had was brutally taken away by the entity Herzl created, the state of Israel.

The Jewish homeland chanted by Herzl since the first worldwide Jewish conference in 1897 and seen by thousands of Jews as their God-given right and as “a land with no people for a people without land”, is for the first time since its creation up in an unprecedented amount of flames.

The West championed the Balfour Declaration after the First World War. It gave the territory of Palestine to a foreign occupation to establish the apartheid state of Israel in total injustice and disregard for the basic human rights of the indigenous people of Palestine.

After the Balfour Declaration,  the Zionist movement gained momentum and confidence. Jews worldwide, particularly in Europe, began to migrate and seek refuge in Palestine. The Palestinians welcomed and gave refuge to the Jews escaping persecution, particularly during the second world war and the Holocaust by Nazi Germany. But to the Palestinian’s dismay, their kind gestures were met with a very painful backstabbing.

 Following the Second World War, the Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, was proclaimed on 14 May 1948. That declaration triggered resistance from the Palestinian and neighbouring Arab states. It questioned how people’s lands and homes could be stolen from them that easily.

The resistance led to the first armed confrontation between Palestinians and the newly founded state of Israel, together with their allies, resulting in the 1948 Nakbah, which not only saw  78% of Mandatory Palestine become illegally occupied by Israel but also saw the expulsion and flight of 700,000 Palestinians, the subsequent depopulation and destruction of over 500 Palestinian village and geographic erasure, the denial of the Palestinian right of return, the creation of permanent Palestinian refugees in their lands, and the “tyrannical destruction of the Palestinian society, all of which has continued till date.

The events of 1948 uncovered fierce resistance across occupied Palestinian territories and other Muslim nations—one that gave birth to the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian resistance fighters.

Since 1948, Israel has continued expanding its occupation and settlements in the Palestinian Territories. It thrashed the two-state solution and violated almost every international law in its systemic oppression, tyranny and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. It has carried out numerous indiscriminate attacks and killings of innocent Palestinians. The apartheid regime in Israel has illegally demolished thousands of Palestinian homes, destroyed heritages, desecrated religious sanctuaries, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque, murdered countless unarmed civilians, including numerous children, women and the elderly and denied Palestinians basic human rights, including their freedom.

At the heart of the Palestinian resistance is the Gaza Strip (the headquarters of Hamas), which has endured decades of Israeli terror, bombardments and siege. The Gaza Strip is a densely populated area with a land, sea and air blockade by Israel since 2007. It is basically a prison.  Israel has carried out countless inhumane, unprovoked attacks across the strip, with the most deadly being in 2014 and the most recent occurring just five months ago. On average this year, 2 Palestinians have been killed daily by Israel across its occupied territories.

The hypocrisy of the Western powers fuelling the Israeli regime for decades has allowed successive generations of Palestinians to take bold and brave initiatives, like what is currently unfolding, to defend and resist the Israeli apartheid occupation. And it appears that the more fight they put to resist, the better they get at it. One may ask, what makes the Palestinians so different from the Ukrainians?

 With the seeming cowardice stance of the Arab Nations in their pursuit of a normalisation agenda at the expense of the Palestinians, it became increasingly clear that if the Palestinians would achieve anything at all, then they would either have to fight bravely and indeed as they currently are or die trying but retaining their honour and dignity with them.

This recent attack has sent a clear message to the world that if peace and stability must be achieved, then attention must be paid to the oppressed and not the oppressor. A man who has already lost so much would not mind throwing all that is left to defend his honour and dignity. The Palestinians have been stretched too thin, and they, more than anyone, have all the right to defend themselves in this war that the creation of Israel started.

Ismail Obansa Nimah wrote via nimah013@gmail.com.

Vladimir Putin blames West over death of Russian journalist in Ukraine

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has blamed the Western powers over the death of Russian journalist in Ukraine.

Putin described the death of the journalist as “a heinous, premeditated crime” committed by Western powers and Kyiv.The Russia’s foreign ministry on Saturday vowed a decisive “response” against the perpetrators.

The Daily Reality reports that Russian military announced that Rostislav Zhuravlev, a war correspondent working for the state RIA Novosti news agency, had been killed. He died as a result of a Ukrainian strike in the southern Zaporizhzhia region on Saturday.

“As a result of a strike by the Ukrainian army using cluster munitions, four journalists were wounded in various levels of severity,” the Russian army said in a statement.

“During an evacuation, the RIA Novosti journalist Rostislav Zhuravlev died from his wounds that resulted from the cluster munitions exploding.

“Everything indicates that the attack on the group of journalists was not carried out by chance,” the Russian foreign ministry said.

“The competent international organisations prefer, as before in such cases, to turn a blind eye to this heinous crime”, it added.

According to the ministry, “the journalists were gathering material for a report on the bombing by the Kyiv regime militants of settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region using cluster munitions banned in many countries around the world.”

Nigeria’s economy in chain since the start of Ukraine war – Minister

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Federal Government has said that the adverse effects of the war in Ukraine and the ongoing security challenge in Nigeria have contributed to the aggravation of the fragile economic situation in the country.

At the start of the war, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned that the world economy would pay a “hefty price” for the war in Ukraine, encompassing weaker growth, stronger inflation and potentially long-lasting damage to supply chains.

In Nigeria, inflation is already hitting living standards and reducing consumer spending as business owners become less optimistic about production.

The Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikande Agba, disclosed this Tuesday at the 63rd National Conference of Nigerian Economic Society. 

The 3-day conference, which started Tuesday at the Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, Kano, was themed “Fiscal Sustainability and Policy Response for Economic Recovery in Nigeria”.

The Minister, represented by the Director Macro Economic, Mr Felix Okonkwo, said fiscal discipline is what Nigeria needs to build a stable and inclusive economy.

Agba stated that the Federal Government is focused on addressing the revenue issues, which it considers essential to the economic and financial health of the country.

He added that insufficient revenue was why Nigeria could not contain its fiscal deficit after the recession, meaning that the country’s capacity to continue to support and raise capital expenditure has not been improved.

He said, “The adverse effect of the War in Ukraine, insecurity, global food crisis, oil theft in the Niger Delta, rising energy prices, massive depreciation of the naira exchange rate, high fuel subsidy and increasing inflation as well as insufficient fiscal buffer aggravated the fragile economic situation in the country.”

The chairman of the occasion, Shamsuddeen Usman, said the conference aimed at providing possible ways to restore the country’s economic stability through enhancing fiscal policies.

The President of the Nigerian Economic Society, Prof. Umma Jalingo, who organized the event, said the association was founded three years before Nigeria’s independence and was aimed at enhancing the country’s economy.

Ambassador Joanna Tarnawska: A change of narrative  

By Ahmadu Shehu, PhD

For the first time in history, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Poland, H.E. Andrzej Duda, visited Nigeria on 6th September 2022. Apart from being a landmark in history, this visit has renewed the longstanding alliance and friendship between these great nations and has substantially reduced miscommunications and misperceptions among the citizens and officials of both countries.

The visit has yielded bilateral agreements of enormous importance to both nations, especially on agriculture and technology transfer. Moreover, judging by its history and relationship with Nigeria, nay Africa, Nigeria and its sister nations stand to gain more level playing ground in bilateral negotiations with Poland than many other more advanced western countries. This, however, is a topic for another day.

The resilience of the Polish – Nigeria relationship was tested in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the Russian army steadily and mercilessly advanced toward major Ukrainian cities, foreign residents scampered for safety across all Ukrainian borders in search of safety. Thousands of Nigerians, mostly students, found themselves at the Polish border, which was already overwhelmed by destitute refugees struggling to cross into Poland. The scenes and images of the border control points shall never be missed!   

While a lot of misinformation and deliberate spinning of Poland as a racist, intolerant country was being cooked and distributed, the Polish diplomatic mission in Nigeria busied itself with solutions and helping Nigerians trapped in this conflict. A few days later, news surfaced that Polish officials were actually particularly kind to all citizens, especially Nigerians who were given special treatment by various missions based in Poland.  

Back at home, Polish companies and financiers have landed significant business deals to ramp up Nigeria’s solid minerals sector to ameliorate the foreseen global energy crises occasioned by the war. In addition, the Polish agro sector looked at Nigeria as the next solution to the food crises, raising the hope that the Nigerian agricultural value chain would become a global competitor.

Tracing the roots of Poland’s contribution to the growth of Nigeria’s tertiary education in the ‘60s, ‘70s and even ‘80s, several Nigerian universities have found valuable opportunities to collaborate with major Polish universities in various academic fields.

The Nasarawa State University, for instance, had a significant project that translated the works of a Polish scientist whose contributions to the Nigerian academic community cannot be quantified. Several first-class Nigerian universities, such as Bayero University, Kano, have maintained a functional MoU with the University of Warsaw for many years.

In line with its cultural heritage and educational development support, the Polish mission in Nigeria built a specialized school to support Almajiri and out-of-school children in Kaduna State. Although many foreign non-governmental organizations do these kinds of projects, Poland is the only country to start this foresighted initiative as part of its foreign mission activities.

The Polish mission established and sustains a vibrant Polish Alumni forum, which is meant to foster and strengthen the understanding between the citizens of the two countries. Nigerians who studied, trained or visited Poland in a working capacity discuss relevant issues of interest to Nigerians in Poland and the bilateral relations and areas of cooperation between the two countries. This initiative has led to mutually beneficial opportunities for Nigerians and Polish people willing to study, live or do business in either country.    

Polish – Nigeria relations is a sixty-year-old business that stood the test of time. However, to whom do we owe this enthusiastic revival of the friendship between these crucial countries? The bulk stops at the table of Her Excellency Joannah Tarnawska, the Poland ambassador to Nigeria.

Tarnawska is an African-born and bred Polish lady with a degree in African studies from the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the University of Warsaw. Mrs Tarnawska is currently doing a PhD in economics, with a research interest in economic issues in Africa.

Her cultural ties, deep understanding and love for Africa are unmatched. Thus, the amount of success she will record as a diplomat in Africa is promising. Her resilience and understanding of the murky waters of the Nigerian political landscape give her an edge to thrive. The balanced, respectful and dignified way in which the Polish mission now treats Africans will undoubtedly bring back the glory of the Republic of Poland as a true, non-colonial ally of this continent.         

Africa is the future! Therefore, this shall be a win-win for Poland and Nigeria!

Ahmadu Shehu is an Associate Professor at Kaduna State University. You can reach him at ahmadsheehu@gmail.com.

Ukraine President involved in car crash

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was involved in a car mishap early Thursday morning in Kyiv. 

In a brief statement by his spokesperson, Sergii Nykyforof, it was disclosed that the president did not suffer serious injuries

“The president was examined by a doctor, no serious injuries were found,” Nikiforov said.

Explaining how the accident happened, Nikiforov said another car collided with the president’s vehicle in Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv

He also disclosed that the driver in the car was treated by the president’s medics and driven to an ambulance.

Russia-Ukraine War: British PM honours Ukraine’s President

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has honoured Ukraine’s President, Volodymr Zelnesky, with the Winston Churchill Leadership Award.

This was disclosed in the UK Prime Minister’s verified Facebook page on Tuesday, July 26, 2022.

“Today Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented President Zelenskyy with the Winston Churchill Leadership Award for incredible courage, defiance and dignity in the face of Putin’s barbaric invasion. ” The post reads.

The Prime Minister also said the UK would always stand with Ukraine.

On February 24, the world woke up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has thrown the two countries into war.

Man commends FG for daughter’s safe return from Ukraine

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A parent simply identified as Amstel20111 on Twitter has commended the effort of the Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN, for the safe evacuation of his daughter from war-torn Ukraine.

He twitted a picture of himself backing his grown-up daughter on Saturday, March 19, 2022, while commending the Nigerian government.

“When my daughter got back home from Ukraine, I am grateful to God and the FGN, through all the agencies of government used for this reunion. None of you will mourn or sorrow over any of your children in Jesus name. Thank you. I am grateful, ” he twitted.

The post, initially made on Twitter, has been screenshot and shared on different social media platforms and has generated several pleasant reactions. Many people said amen and thanked God for his daughter’s safe return.

Racism: Poland at it again

By Usama Abdullahi

I didn’t want to talk about this. But my mind is sick of it and wants me to spell it out. My piece centres on racism today. It’s something that most of us are barely familiar with. Yes, most of us, who haven’t travelled to the white world, know next to nothing about it. Some of us might not know that this ill-treatment against black people exists. While others, like me, do hear and read about it either on television or in newspapers. 

As a kid, I knew nothing about racism. Neither did I ever acknowledge its existence. It is because I was too young to understand what that meant. I used to think that the whites were superior humans that accord us, the blacks, some respect. But, contrary to my little kiddish thoughts about the whites, a vile or an irresponsible white man loathes this glowing dark skin. This blessed skin that wrestles all sorts of skin threats or irritation, someone from the other part of the world has aversions for it. 

This skin that withstands the sun’s heat, someone who’s driven by hatred for the faultless black men, considers it hell. I came across the word Ku Klux Klan at 12. At the time, I had Longman Dictionary with me. I would carry it wherever I go. So when I first took a glimpse at the then unfamiliar word, I paused for a while. Afterwards, I proceeded to read its meaning till the end. I couldn’t believe it at first. 

True. I couldn’t believe that there used to be a secret society during the 20th century which supported white supremacy in the Americas. This outlawed secret society fights the blacks and drives them out of the United States despite being legal citizens. I’m glad that this fraternal group is now defunct. But the problem is that racism is feathering again. It is fast dominating the white world. Some of them, the racists who have no respect for individual differences, honour its stay. They see nothing wrong when a black person gets badly treated because of his skin.

Sadly, we are entangled in a world that supports baseless animosities toward the people we share different views, faith or race with. The world we dwell in is a respecter of evil. We live to dine at the expense of our oppressed brothers from other parts of the universe. We see skin colour as a barrier to our unity and coexistence. Hence we look at each other with intense disgust. Unknowingly, this racism kills our hope to live a meaningful life.

Last year, we were hit by the tragic news of an African-American man who had his fate crushed in the hands of a cruel white policeman. The news filled up the media until it captured public attention. Concerned black folks, particularly the deceased’s bereaved family, went through hell as a result. As a result, many people took their outrages to the streets, protesting against racism with the hashtag, “Black lives matter”. And they were assured of drastic measures to prevent such by the American government.

Considering America’s quick intervention on the matter, we thought the issue of racism was laid to eternal rest, but it, like Lazarus, has been resurrected. We saw the uproar and slighting comments which trailed the media over the failure of Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho to score during the penalty kick of the Euro 2020 final. We also saw the unusual treatment against Zouma over a minor offence on his cat, costing him millions of dollars. And, unfortunately, Poland is at it again.

It’s sad to watch how the blacks were denied entry into the train conveying people from the war-ravaged Ukraine to Poland. Despite the threats they face, the racial prejudice in these racist morons prevails and has got to the point of favouring the Ukrainians over Africans or blacks – as if they aren’t all humans in need of urgent aid. Racism is a disease that bites deep into our hearts. It is also a barricade that holds back our progress as humans. So, It’s high time we stopped promoting racial discrimination.

Usama Abdullahi wrote from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be reached via usamagayyi@gmail.com.

Russia’s invasion: Ukraine is not the target

By Sulaiman Badamasi (Mahir)

Russia of today is not the same as Russia yesterday. Russia used to be the Soviet Union, a superpower that sometimes acted with the West. The war of 1973, when the Zionists wanted both sides of the conflict taken to a draw and in 1954when Russia (Soviet Union) transferred the Crimean Oblast to Ukraine have said it all. Now, it is a post-Soviet Union Russia who toiled when the Soviet Union sagged, but within the breath-span of twenty-something years has grown now to a grandeur position.

The Western world has been ruling over humankind for the past 300 years or more, changing regimes worldwide, especially in the south and central America, which the famous Monroe Doctrine described as “America’s Backyard”. The West has been changing regimes after regimes all over the region. But have we ever asked why they have never changed the regime in Venezuela? America has done everything it could to change the Venezuelan government but to no avail because this can only be achieved through military intervention, and any move of such would mean facing Russia. They do not want to confront Russia. NOBODY WANT TO FACE RUSSIA because Russia is not Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Palestine, and of course, not Iraq.

What seemed to have convinced the world further to accept Russia’s predatory position was the tremendously dangerous step it took to intervene in Syria. This could have led to a nuclear war. Russia also took the world by surprise in 2014 when it took over or took back(?) Crimea in just two weeks. It seems like Russia is defeating the West in silence and stylishly repositioning itself back to the Soviet Union’s throne.

For the West to reduce the margin, it swiftly paid back with a regime change in Ukraine in 2014 in what was termed as “The Revolution of Dignity”, which saw the impeachment/replacement of the then Ukrainian (of course Russian loyalist) elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, and Petro Poroshenko (pro-West) became the president, who immediately began with leading the Russo-Ukrainian war in February 2014.

After three months, he forbade any cooperation with Russia in the military sphere and later signed the “Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement in June 2014.” Five months later, in president Poroshenko’s speech to the new parliament in November 2014, Poroshenko stated, “we’ve decided to return to the course of NATO integration” because “the nonalignment status of Ukraine proclaimed in 2010 couldn’t guarantee our security and territorial integrity”. Russia perceived all these, coupled with the ouster of Viktor Yanukovych, as a series of threats right at its closest border.  

Why does Russia detest/is against/is afraid of Ukraine’s alignment with NATO?

If Ukraine becomes a NATO member state, then Russia would have NATO on its very border, which means it will have its military bases a few distances away from Russian borders, where missiles could hit Moscow in minutes. Hence Russia does not seem to accept this security option. It could be said that Russia does not want to invade Ukraine because a full invasion MIGHT provoke a military response from the West (only time could tell, though). But certainly, all parties involved (Russia, Ukraine, and the West) hope the chaos ends through diplomatic means rather than war. Maybe Russia has a military strike as the only option for now?

Territorial control and elimination of perceived possible dangers around borders have become a norm or a widely practised approach by states nations. Let us digest in the following to shade more light:

Cuban Missile Crisis/Missile Scare: when the Soviet Union started installing nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1961 after reaching an agreement with Fidel Castro of Cuba, the Kennedy administration decided that this was too big a security threat to be contained. They put a “quarantine” (a station where weaponry logistics were searched) so that no nuclear missile could be shipped and demanded that all missiles in Cuba be taken back to the Soviet Union.

Syria and Israel: with Russia and Iran as Syrian friends and Israel sitting just 569.17 kilometres away from the Syrian border, it is not a surprise if Israel and her friends (America, Saudi, and Turkey) feel threatened or expect that the worst happens from Israel’s neighbourhood. The military campaign that aimed at toppling the Russia and Iran backed Assad’s government by the Saudi, Turkish and American backed rebel group, which began in March 2011 as an anti-government protest and later escalated to a full-scale war, could be understood as an effort to eliminate an enemy’s friend whose territory can be used to attack an immediate neighbour. Could America and Saudi afford to lose Israel?

Muslim Brotherhood and Israel: when Mohammed Morsi (may Allah have mercy on him) was sworn in as the first democratically elected president of Egypt on 30th June 2012, he expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s 1979 policy which declared that it stands as a mediator between Israel and Palestine and determined to reset his country’s orientation to one of active support, not for a ‘self-governing authority and ‘autonomy’ in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but the attainment of an independent sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of the Palestinian refugees to return.

In Morsi’s one year in office before his removal through a coup d’etat, he ordered the Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah Crossing, the only gateway that connects Palestinians to the outside world. This means Palestinians can travel any time without really passing through strict measures imposed on them by the Israeli government, and different kinds of support could reach them without obstacles. Trade began to flourish between Palestine and Egypt. The Israeli siege on the Palestinian land was eased. He became the first Egyptian president to declare rejection of Israel’s assault on Palestine since 1979. Israel and her friends felt threatened by the closest neighbour, and the result was his forceful ouster, imprisonment, the unjust killing of his supporters. The coup that ended Morsi’s regime has not been justified yet. Why was it done then? To eliminate a nearby perceived enemy.

Saudi and Houthi: the Houthi rebel group, which champions Yemen’s Zaidi Shia followers, took over Sana’a in 2014 and forced the then Yemeni president, Abdurrabbu Mansur Hadi, in March 2015, to flee the country. To many people, “a rebel group has taken over Yemen,” yet to Saudi and her allies, “Iran has succeeded in extending its proxy-war/proxy influence to the Saudi border.” There is no need to emphasise that implication on Saudi, thanks to the firing of ballistic missiles to Saudi Arabia and UAE. Swiftly came a fierce joint reaction from Saudi-led coalition of eight(?) countries with logistics and intelligence support from America and France with Iran backing the Houthi rebels leading to the ongoing multilateral civil war.

Turkey and ISIS in Iraq: another interesting episode in the quest to defy near-border threats is having Turkey, a NATO member-state, fighting ISIS in Syria while ignoring the danger that the same ISIS poses in Iraq. Turkey has so far chosen to sit out the war to allow ISIS to fight the Kurdish militia group in Iraq. Turkey considers the Kurdish militia who craves a breakup to carve out its own country, Kurdistan, a more harmful enemy. Kurdistan encompasses southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan), and northern Syria (Western Kurdistan). Some definitions also include parts of southern Transcaucasia. Certain Kurdish nationalist organisations seek to create an independent nation-state consisting of some or all of these areas with a Kurdish majority, while others campaign for greater autonomy within the existing national boundaries. Do you see? The same struggle to protect territorial integrity is seen at its peak here.

Iraq invasion and Iran: this is the same reason that encouraged Iran’s interest in Iraq after the US and its allies removed and killed Saddam Hussein. Despite having a not-so-friendly relationship with the West, Iran was in total support of the strike against Iraq (Saddam) in March 2003 when the US, under Gorge W. Bush, led a coalition of the UK, Poland, and Australia to invade Iraq.

This has remained part of history for centuries and means that Russia is not necessarily fighting Ukraine as Ukraine but trying to send a clear signal to whoever wants to near her border in any form of disguise.

Will the war be taken further? I do not think Russia could be smart enough to launch a full-scale war yet. However, if it continues, there is a slim chance of having NATO respond militarily, which could further lead to an unimaginable end. It is to the world’s knowledge that if external forces intervene to support Ukraine, it could mean facing Russia, China, North Korea, Serbia, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Belarus, etc.

Are we about to witness another World War? We pray for the best.

Sulaiman Badamasi (Mahir) sent this article via sulaimanmahir@gmail.com.

Nigeria sets to evacuate citizens from Ukraine

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved $8.5m dollars for the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Ukraine.

This was disclosed by the Minister of State for Foreign affairs, Zubairu Dada on Wednesday, March 2 shortly after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting, he said the president approved $8.5 million for the evacuation exercise.

” The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs wrote a memo to the president seeking funding to enable us conduct this exercise. The memo was to the tune of $8.5 million which Mr President has graciously approved. That Provision entails an arrangement to evacuate no less than 5,000 Nigerians” he said.

According to him, the pickup flights would be headed to four countries, which are : Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.