Newscast - Africa

The Founding Pastor and Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, launched Nigeria for Nigerians (N4N) movement.
Pastor Bakare says the movement became imperative because it is time for Nigerians to take the reins and direct their nation’s destiny.
Bakare says the time has come for the true progressives to arise, say enough is enough to political hypnosis; it is time to take our country back.

The police in Lagos State warned against planned protests in commemoration of last year’s #EndSARS protests.
The #EndSARS protests were held across the country last year as a campaign against police brutality but came to a halting end after Nigerian security officials allegedly shot at unarmed protesters at the Lekki toll gate on October 20.
A statement signed by police spokesperson, Adekunle Ajisebutu, says the planned protests may lead to a breakdown of law and order.
The police statement added that credible intelligence at the disposal of the Command has revealed clandestine plans by some youths, individuals or groups to embark on protest today in commemoration of one year anniversary of ENDSARS.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana, has asked the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, to recover a $62 billion debt owed by six international oil companies.
Falana says the Supreme Court in 2018 had ordered the Federal Government to immediately recover the debt.
Falana says however based on the posture of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Timipre Sylva, the Federal Government wasn’t committed to the recovery process.

Pastor Tunde Bakare has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to do away with the 1999 constitution, saying it is a great inhibitor of the nation’s progress.
He says President Muhammadu Buhari should stop passing the buck to the National Assembly. Tear down this inhibiting concoction of a constitution; tear it down so they can build a truly great nation”.
Bakare further argued that if President Buhari does thrash the 1999 constitution, then, present and unborn generations of Nigerians will remember him for it and write his name in gold when the history of the period is written.

President Muhammadu Buhari officially unveiled a digital Performance Management System that would help track government projects across the country in real-time.
The president says the dashboard will keep an eye on projects using live data.
President Buhari says the PMS has been in effect since January 2021 and has helped him to monitor the performance of ministries and by extension, monitor the progress of his administration.
The president disclosed that it was in the continued drive to ensure accountability that his government incorporated a performance management framework into the functions of the Central Delivery Coordination Unit.

The United Arab Emirates’ economy ministry says the Gulf state and Syria agreed on future plans to enhance economic cooperation and explore new sectors.
The move underscores shifting regional dynamics after 10 years of war in Syria.
The UAE supported the Syrian opposition during the early years of the conflict, The UAE and other Arab countries made openings towards President Bashar al-Assad’s government as the Syrian army recaptured most of the territory from the opposition
The ministry wrote on Twitter the value of non-oil trade between the two countries in the first half of 2021 was one billion dirhams.

China has denounced Taiwan’s national day speech, during which President Tsai Ing-wen says her government will not bow down to pressure from Beijing and will continue to bolster the island’s defences in order to protect its democratic way of life.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office says that Tsai’s speech incited confrontation and distorted facts, adding that seeking Taiwan independence closes the door to dialogue.
Chinese President Xi Jinping says no one should underestimate the Chinese people’s strong determination, will and capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Tsai says Taiwan will keep bolstering its defences to ensure nobody can force the island to accept the path China has laid down, offering neither freedom nor democracy, and repeated a call for talks with Beijing.

Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel says Israel’s security will remain a top priority for every German government during a farewell visit to the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called her a true friend of Israel.
The German leader had earlier voiced confidence that whoever followed her as chancellor will feel equally committed to Israel’s security.
She says Israel’s security will always be of central importance and a central topic for every German government.
Bennett credited Merkel with fostering an unprecedented bond between the countries and described her as Europe’s moral compass due to her support for Israel.

A U.N. official says a funding shortage means humanitarian aid will have to be cut for many of the nearly 10 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo facing multiple crises because of lack of money.
The U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in the DRC, David McLachlan-Karr, says millions of people in the eastern provinces are victims of long-simmering inter-ethnic conflicts and conflicts over natural resources.
He says the situation is particularly concerning in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces, as well as territories in northern Tanganyika. These protracted conflicts, he says, have left millions of people destitute and in urgent need of assistance.
He says it will be difficult to provide that aid because only 27% of the U.N.'s nearly $2 billion appeals for this year has been funded.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune demanded France’s total respect following a diplomatic row over visas and critical comments from Paris about the North African country.
Algeria accused its former colonial ruler France of genocide and recalled its ambassador from Paris on October 2 in anger over what it said were inadmissible comments attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Algerian government also banned French military planes from its airspace a day later.
Tebboune says the return of the Algerian ambassador to France is conditional on the total respect for the Algerian state.