This only days after frustrated US hospitals said they could not find ventilators to buy anywhere.

Donald Trump hasn’t tweeted it, but according to Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed it’s official.

In a telephone conversation the US President told his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari that he stood in solidarity with the Nigerian people at this time of COVID 19..

He promised send ventilators to Nigeria to help COVID 19 patients breathe.

His willingness to do this will have to be gauged by officials.

America’s ability to keep the promise becomes a matter for the hard-pressed medical professionals — and the fact checkers.

The post Donald Trump promises to send ventilators to Nigeria appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

The dead include a pregnant woman and a baby.

The militants, believed to be from Boko Haram, arrived in trucks and  set fire to the cars filled with travelers.

Borno state governor Babagana Umara Zulum  was shocked at the sight of the charred corpses in the 18 burned-out vehicles that included a truck full of food.

An undisclosed  number of women and children were abducted.

The incident gives the lie to President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim to have defeated Boko Haram whose 11 year insurgency in northeast Nigeria has left more than 35 000 people dead and two million homeless. 

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By contrast, President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria’s dropping visa restrictions to build its talent pool by attract innovation, specialist skills and knowledge from abroad.

Speaking after talks in Washington with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama says the immigration ban on his compatriots was announced as he was preparing for talks on expanding  bilateral co-operation.

He says US officials assured him the ban would be lifted.

He’s working to ease US security concerns which largely led to the  immigrant ban by sharing information about immigrants’ criminal behaviour, stolen passports and suspected links with terrorism 

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President Cyril Ramaphosa says attacks against foreigners are totally unacceptable.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has  sent a special envoy to his  to South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa to express concern about the xenophobic attacks.

South African businesses in Lagos have been attacked by youths in retaliation for attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

Zambia’s called off a friendly football match against Bafana Bafana and urged Zambian truck drivers to avoid travelling on South African roads white foreign lorry drivers are being attacked.

Ethiopia has advised its nations in South Africa to close their  businesses during the violence and avoid wearing expensive jewellery.

AU Commission head Moussa Faki has condemned violence against foreigners in South Africa.

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The leaves Eritrea as the only African country outside the market of more than 1,2 billion that will be worth nearly $3,5 trillion.

Signing the Free Trade Agreement as he met with his peers in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari says without Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest economy, the trade pact is lacking.

Trading will start a year from now, to give the 54 signatory countries time to grow accustomed to the new order.

The agreement will boost intra-African trade by 60% and will cover the largest free trade area on the planet.

First step will be cutting tariffs from within the block but no exact timeframe has been given for this.  

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He’s commended the patience of the Nigerian people indexing with the week-long delay in the election.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is basking in the congratulation of friends having beaten Atiku Abubaker and won a second term as President.

Buhari’s advised  his followers not to gloat about their victory.

In his message to Abuja, President Cyril Ramaphosa notes the findings the African Union observer mission that the election was peaceful and conformed with Nigeria’s legal framework.

He says he looks forward to working with Buhari to build on the close ties between the countries – they have no fewer than 34 bilateral agreements in place – especially in the economic fields.

The post Ramaphosa congratulates Buhari on election victory appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Both candidates are claiming victory after a at  least 35 deaths on polling day.

Nigeria’s electoral commission insists it is the only authority empowered to officially announcing results of the parliamentary and presidential elections.

This are not expected before mid-week.

Both leading candidates are posting confident tweets.

Voting was allowed on Sunday at centre affected by malfunctioning ballot machine or a delay in the arrival of voting materials.

The election has been a bloody affair with more than 250 deaths up until voting day, which was delayed by a week, and another 35 deaths during polling.

The post Confident tweets by both top candidates after Nigerian election appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Voting had to be extended last night in areas where polls opened late or voting was disrupted by ballot machine malfunctioning.

President Muhammadu Buhari, seeking a second term, says he’s confident of victory in Africa’s largest election to date.

Equally buoyant  is former vice president Atiku Abubaker in a contest that’s too close to call.

The election, which was a week late because of organizational problems, was marred by violence in the north east and south of the country.

Authorities, who initially denied it, admit that Islamist terror group Boko Haram fired artillery shells into Maiduguri in an unsuccessful bid to seize the Borno state capital. 

One soldier was killed 

The post Counting underway in Nigeria appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

There’s a fear that this postponement will lead to a lower turnout of the 84-million registered voters in Africa’s most populous country.

Incumbent Muhammadu Buhari and former vice president Atiku Abubaker are the two main candidates to today’s presidential poll .

Buhari’s criticized for failing to adequately to deal with corruption, unemployment and insecurity.

Abubaker has a chequered record on corruption.

It is important the result is accepted by the losing side to avoid the ethnic violence that will inevitably follow a disputed outcome.

Putting Buhari in power in mid 2015 was the first democratic change of government in Nigeria post the end of military rule in 1999.

The post Nigerians go to the polls today appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

There were shots fired in the north east and south of the continent’s most populous country where the result is too close to call.

Both Muhammadu Buhari, vying for a second term as Nigeria’s president, and Atiku Abubaker his main opponent for the position, cast their ballots early today.

The polls stayed open for just six hours.

Security force said the shots heard in Maiduguri, where terrorist group Boko Haram has threatened would-be voters, were simply a drill.

There was no explanation for why the gunfire rang through the southern city of Port Harcourt.

Voting was delayed for several hours in a number of centers.

The election had been posponed for a week because of organizational problems.

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