A former vice presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Peter Obi says Nigerians are getting poorer because the government is borrowing for the wrong reasons.
Mr Obi argued that while it is not a crime to borrow money, the funds must be used solely for productions that enhance the lives of the citizens and enrich the economy.
He says the nation’s Gross Domestic Product cannot be growing while the people are getting poorer.
He believes the growth Nigeria needs is one that pulls people out of poverty by making the people have disposable income and be able to feed themselves.

Japan and Vietnam have agreed to step up cooperation amid worries about China’s growing military influence, signing a new deal that enables the export of Japanese-made defence equipment and technology to Hanoi.
Japan’s Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi says the deal elevates the two countries’ defence partnership to a new level and that Japan and Vietnam plan to deepen defence ties through multinational joint exercises and other means.
The Japanese Defence Ministry in a statement says details about the transfer of specific equipment, including naval vessels, will be worked out in subsequent talks,
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also says China and Vietnam should refrain from any unilateral actions regarding the South China Sea that could complicate the situation and magnify disagreements.

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and Iran’s nuclear chief have reached an agreement that will prevent another crisis looming over the prospect of restoring Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal.
Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi met Mohammad Eslami, the newly appointed head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Both sides called the meeting constructive and agreed they will continue discussions on the sidelines of the agency’s general conference in Vienna later this month.
They also agreed that Grossi would travel to Tehran again soon to replace the agency’s monitoring cameras’ memory cards, which will still be kept in Iran in line with a law passed by the hardline Iranian parliament in December

The Taliban’s new higher education minister says Afghan women will be allowed to attend university as long as they study separately from men.
Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani was unapologetic about bringing an end to mixed-sex classes.
He says they have no problems in ending the mixed-education system adding that the people are Muslims and they will accept it.
The Taliban announced earlier this month that women could still study at university if they wore an abaya robe and niqab covering most of the face, with classes segregated by sex.

China handed over to Cambodia a $150 million stadium in Phnom Penh, with officials saying it is the result of Beijing’s biggest ever infrastructure grant to the country.
The presentation of the arena, intended as the main venue when Cambodia hosts the Southeast Asian Games in 2023, was made by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his visit.
Cambodia’s tourism minister Thong Khon says the $150 million stadia represented China’s largest-ever grant to Cambodia for an infrastructure project.
Official says the Morodok Techo National Stadium resembles a sailing ship, symbolising the two nations long-standing friendship as Chinese people used to travel to Cambodia by boat.

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has indicated plans to change the country’s constitution, seven weeks after he seized power in moves his opponents called a coup.
Saied says he respected the 2014 democratic constitution but that it was not eternal and could be amended.
He says amendments must be made within the framework of the constitution. The president was planning to suspend the constitution and offer an amended version via a referendum, prompting opposition from political parties and the powerful UGTT labour union.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa announced plans to introduce Covid-19 vaccine passports amid widespread scepticism of the jab, ahead of an easing of movement restrictions this week.
Ramaphosa stressed that an immunised adult population was key to fully reopening the economy and avoiding a fourth infection wave.
He says in two weeks, they will be providing further information on an approach to vaccine passports which can be used as evidence of vaccination for various purposes and events”, he said without providing further details.
He added that a sustained decline in infections over the last few weeks would allow for an easing of confinement measures from Monday.

A delegation from the West African regional bloc Ecowas has had an initial meeting with members of the military junta in Guinea's capital, Conakry.
The diplomats, including foreign ministers from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo, flew into the country following Sunday's overthrow of President Alpha Condé.
Ecowas condemned the coup and suspended Guinea from the organisation.
BBC's reports that the Ecowas delegation will be looking for assurances that Mr Condé is in good health, pressing for his release from custody and asking for a timetable for the return of constitutional order.

Former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has advised the National Assembly not to legislate on the collection of the Value Added Tax and Stamp Duties, which are currently subjects of litigation between some states and the federal government.
Ekweremadu says allowing the litigations to run the full course would be a major step towards strengthening the country’s federalism.
Ekweremadu recalled that he had for over a decade warned the country against feeding bottle federalism in which states depended on redistributed resources of other federating units for survival.
He stressed that since past legislative efforts to get things right had failed or had been scuttled, it was natural and imperative to allow the judiciary to play its role in shaping the country’s federalism.

Mastercard has partnered with African Fintech and Start Pathcompany Paycode, to provide both company’s offerings on one biometric smart card that will help increase access to critical services and advance economic inclusion for Africans living in remote communities.
The company says the partnership is expected to address Africa’s challenges, where an estimated 57 per cent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa remains financially excluded while close to 30 per cent remain without a form of identification and 60 per cent of the continent has no internet connectivity.
Sales & Market Development, H&D for Mastercard, Ricardo Pareja, says adding Inclusive ID functionality to Paycode biometric smart cards helps reach those currently excluded from critical government programs.