Nigeria court discharge IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu
The Court of Appeal Abuja Thursday struck out the charges filed against Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). This followed an earlier ruling of the trial judge, Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja, in April dismissing eight of the 15 amended counts filed against him by the federal government. The Court of Appeal panel in a Judgement Thursday led by Jummai Sankey struck out all remaining charges against Kanu, ruling that the lower court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the suit. The court held that Kanu’s extradition from Kenya in June 2021 to Nigeria without following the extradition rules was a flagrant violation of Nigeria’s extradition treaty and a breach of the IPOB leader’s fundamental human rights. Meanwhile, Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation, in a statement signed by Umar Jibril Gwandu, spokesman for the Attorney General’s office, said the appeal court only discharged Kanu and did not acquit him. “The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has received the news of the decision of the Court of Appeal concerning the trial of Nnamdi Kanu,” the statement said. “For the avoidance of doubt and by the verdict of the Court, Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted.
ASUU suspends strike conditionally after 8 months
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has suspended its eight-month-old strike conditionally. The union took this decision after its National Executive Committee (NEC) marathon meeting which started from Thursday night to the early hours of Friday. ASUU’s NEC comprises the chairmen of the state chapters and members of the national executive. Members of the Committee, while confirming the suspension said the committee will determine its next line of action, especially on the Court of Appeal ruling last week. The Appellate Court had ruled that the union can only appeal the judgement of the National Industrial Court ordering it to suspend its strike if it first calls off its strike. An official statement from the union is yet to be released.
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12 Nigerian Universities move up in global ranking
About 12 Nigerian universities have shown notable improvement in the world ranking and were recognised at the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit which ended in New York on October 12. Peter Okebukola, chairman of the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee (NURAC), made this known to reporters in Abuja on return from the New York Summit. He said that “Nigeria was singled out and publicly announced at the summit by the management of Times Higher Education World University Rankings as having made one of the most significant improvements in ranking within a year. From five universities in the top band in 2022 to 12 Universities within a year is a remarkable feat.” Okikiola listed the University of Ibadan and University of Lagos as the top two Nigerian universities in the 401 to 500 band. Covenant University is next in the 601 to 800 band. Bayero University Kano and Federal University Akure are in the 1001 to 1200 band. In the 1201 to 1500 band are University of Ilorin, University of Nigeria Nsukka and Obafemi Awolowo University. The three universities in the 1500+ category are Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and Nnamdi Azikiwe University.
Nigerian Airports among highest revenue losers in Africa
Despite Nigeria’s population and travel rate, none of the country’s airports is rated among the top 10 highest revenue air routes in Africa. Nick Fudagba, chief executive officer of African Aviation Services Limited, stated this at the Airline Economics Conference on-going in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Six airlines earned a total of $2.138.8 billion from 10 African cities in 2021 with Emirates taking the highest revenue on the continent. The top 10 routes in Africa according to Fadugba are Johannesburg-Dubai, Johannesburg-London, Cairo-Jeddah, Luanda-Lisbon, and Cape Town –Johannesburg. Others are Cairo-Dubai, Cape Town – Dubai, Abidjan-Paris, Cape Town-London, and Mauritius-Dubai. According to him, the leading airlines operating in Africa with the highest earnings are Emirates, South African Airways, British Airways, Saudi Arabian, TAAG-Angola Airlines, and Air France, adding that cities with the highest revenues in Africa are Johannesburg – Dubai ($315.6 million); Johannesburg – London ($295 million); Cairo-Jeddah ($242 million); Luanda –Lisbon ($231.6 million) and Cape Town-Johannesburg with $185 million.
Shell to resume crude oil export from Forcados Terminal end of October
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has said the Forcados Oil Terminal will resume export operations by the end of October after repairs are completed. Abimbola Essien-Nelson, SPDC’s media relations manager, in a statement said that, in addition to the repairs, the company is also working to remove and clamp theft points on the onshore pipelines to ensure full crude oil receipt at the terminal. According to Essien-Nelson, the active illegal connections to SPDC joint venture’s production lines and facilities in the western Niger Delta as well as the inactive illegal connection to the onshore section of the 48” Forcados Export Line are in the company’s ongoing programme to remove illegal connections on the pipelines that feed the terminal. She said, “SPDC gives priority to the removal of active illegal connections and to illegal connection points that have leaks. This scheduled programme is continuous as new illegal connections are identified during the surveillance of the pipelines.”
