Members of the organised private sector have urged the federal government to rise to the occasion and arrest the worsening insecurity in the country in order to salvage the nation’s economy from a total collapse.They say the economy could slide back into another recession if the government fails to combat insecurity.They also warned that insecurity could hurt manufacturing, severely undermine microeconomic stability, scare away investments and constrain multinationals to shut down businesses and vacate the country.they added that the worsening insecurity could impair Nigeria’s hope of benefiting from the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.

The lawmaker representing Kogi West senatorial district, Senator Smart Adeyemi, has decried the rate of insecurity in the land.The lawmaker says the president cannot pretend that they are not capable of confronting the situation at hand.He acknowledged that he remained a supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, as a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress but insisted that the President must be told the truth.

Members of the House of Representatives have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately declare a state of emergency on security.Considering the present situation, they believe this will ensure the fast track of all measures towards restoring peace in the country.The call formed part of the resolutions reached at the closed-door session to discuss pressing national issues, which lasted about four hours on Tuesday at the lower chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja.The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, noted that the House Security Committees were mandated to immediately commence a comprehensive audit of all military and paramilitary assets and arms and revert back within four weeks.

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked United States to reconsider relocating US Africa Command from Stuttgart, Germany, to Africa, so it can support Nigeria in tackling the insecurity challenges facing the country.President Buhari says AFRICOM, which partners with countries to counter transnational threats, should be relocated to Africa to strengthen ongoing efforts to check the security situation, with likely effect on other nations.He says the security challenges in Nigeria remain of great concern and impacted more negatively, by existing complex negative pressures in the Sahel, Central, and West Africa, as well as the Lake Chad Region.President Buhari says Nigeria will enhance collaborations in all forms, with friends and strategic partners, to work together for greater security for all, which remain the most significant condition for overcoming the existential challenges.

The White House says the US will share up to 60 million doses of its AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries as they become available.The doses will be able to be exported in the coming months after a federal safety review.The US has a stockpile of the vaccine even though its regulators have not yet authorised it for public use.Critics have accused the government of hoarding the vaccine, while other countries are in desperate need.Last month President Joe Biden pledged to share about four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with Mexico and Canada - both of which have approved the jab.The White House says it expected that about 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine could be released when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finishes its review in the coming weeks.White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said FDA officials would carry out quality checks on doses before they were exported.

A top White House economist says President Joe Biden will propose a tax hike on investment gains of the wealthiest individuals to help pay for his massive infrastructure and jobs package.Biden is expected to lay out his plan this week for $2 trillion in investments to create millions of jobs and has said higher taxes on the rich and corporations will offset the hefty price tag.Head of the White House National Economic Council, Brian Deese says the increased tax on profits earned from sales of stocks and other assets will only impact those earning $1 million a year, a narrow sliver of American taxpayers — about 500,000.He says the change will only apply to three-tenths of a per cent of taxpayers, which is not the top 1 per cent, it’s not even the top one half of 1 per cent.He did not provide any details of the new higher tax, but media reports last week cited officials saying Biden will increase the capital gains tax rate to 39.6 per cent from 20 per cent.

AstraZeneca says EU legal action taken against AstraZeneca over shortfalls in its delivery of Covid vaccines is without merit.The company in a statement says they believe any litigation is without merit and we welcome this opportunity to resolve this dispute as soon as possible.AstraZeneca says it had fully complied with the Advance Purchase Agreement with the European Commission.It added that in line with AstraZeneca’s forecast, the company is set to deliver almost 50 million doses to European nations by the end of April.The EU executive and AstraZeneca have been at loggerheads as the British-Swedish company’s alleged shortfall of deliveries to the bloc hobbled the early efforts to roll out jabs.Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman says he was unaware of the specifics around the legal action.

Giant telecom operators from the UK, South Africa, Kenya and Japan are bidding to enter Ethiopia’s untapped telecom market.The country's finance ministry announced that it received two bids - from South Africa's MTN Group and a consortium that includes Kenya's Safaricom - as it works to open the telecom market to international operators.The consortium also includes Vodafone and CDC companies from the UK, South Africa's Vodacom and Japanese firm Sumitomo.Financial and technical assessments of the bids will be done by a national evaluation committee.

The UN has warned that the slow implementation of the peace accord in South Sudan is putting the country at risk of a return to large-scale conflict.A new report has recommended that the arms embargo be extended and for new sanctions against those who hinder the implementation of the peace deal.The country has experienced many incidents of violence between supporters of President Salva Kiir, and his rival, Riek Machar, who under the terms of the agreement was reappointed vice-president.The report says the conflict has prevented the delivery of humanitarian aid putting the people of South Sudan in urgent need of assistance.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Ethiopia to address what he described as an impending humanitarian disaster in the northern region of Tigray.He says troops from neighbouring Eritrea should be withdrawn immediately, in full and in a verifiable manner.He expressed concerns about ethnic tensions elsewhere in the country.The State Department Spokesperson Ned Price says that during the conversation with Mr Abiy, the secretary of state had stressed his support for Ethiopia, but also expressed concerns about human rights abuses in Tigray.He says although the Eritrean government had said that it would withdraw its troops it hadn't actually done so.