The Nation Newspaper

Tag: France

  • Nigeria, France trade volume hits $7b

    Trade between Nigeria and France stands at $7 billion, Nigeria’s Ambassador to France, Ambassador Akin Fayomi, has said.

    Fayomi told reporters that the figure represented the volume of trade last year.

    “As at 2012, the volume of trade was about $7 billion which translates to about 4.5 billion euro. It is a lot of money considering the economic recession, though given the potentials of Nigeria, we feel it is not enough.

    “We are France’s second largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, and the trade is in favour of Nigeria as oil is our main export,” he said.

    The envoy, however, said French investors were keen on exploring other areas of investment.

    “Already, there is a lot of involvement in other sectors like construction, manufacturing and others. The oil sector is saturated; Total has been operating in the country for many years.

    “Also in Pharmaceuticals, there are some companies that manufacture drugs in partnership with some Nigerian companies,’’ Fayomi said.

    He added: “Similarly, in waste management and maintenance culture, some state governments are in partnership with French companies.”

    Fayomi further said the embassy was liaising with some French institutions for exchange programmes for Nigerian students and teachers in order to encourage the study of French as a language.

  • France leads Mali, Morocco, Togo to honour Keshi

    France leads Mali, Morocco, Togo to honour Keshi

    The red carpets were again rolled out on Tuesday for Super Eagles boss Stephen Okechukwu Keshi by Francophone countries led by France in Abuja to tell him that he still has much more to give to football in Africa and indeed the world.

    The event which was held at the French Embassy in Abuja, was the initiative of the France Ambassador to Nigeria, Jacques Champagne De Labriolle and had the Mali Ambassador Mary Berth Leonard in attendance, there was also Morocco Ambassador Mustapha Bouch and Togo Ambassador to Nigeria Mathew Sunday Adole.

    Keshi has previously been national team handler of Mali and Togo and it was not surprising that the two countries joined in appreciating his contribution to their football growth. There was also the Belgium Ambassador to Nigeria and that of Ivory Coast.

    Among Nigerian official present at the occasion were Assistant Coach, Houadonou Valere, Super Eagles team Secretary, Dayo Enebi Achor and Emmanuel Ayanbunmi of the NFF Protocol Department.

    At the occasion, the French Ambassador presented Keshi with a special Medal from France and urged the Nigerian coach to keep his head high and achieve more glory for Nigeria and the Super Eagles.

  • Air France plane landing delayed

    Air France plane landing delayed

    An Air France flight into the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos hovered for about two hours before landing last night.

    A passenger on board told our correspondent that the delayed landing was as a result of poor lighting on the runway.

    Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) officials were last night battling with the generating set serving the E-wing of the airport.

    This roof of the generator house was blown off by the wind that accompanied last night’s rainfall in Lagos.

    “They are cleaning the generating set after water entered it. Everything will be okay”, said FAAN spokesman Yakubu Datti last night.

    Datti said he was not aware that the Air France plane did not land on schedule.

     

  • France won’t negotiate with Boko Haram

    France won’t negotiate with Boko Haram

    France will not negotiate with Boko Haram gunmen who have taken a French family of seven hostage, the country’s Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said yesterday.

    The three adults and four children were kidnapped in Cameroon’s far north, near the Nigerian border in Borno State, last week. In a video posted online on Monday, the gunmen threatened to kill them, unless authorities in Nigeria and Cameroon released militants held there.

    “We do not negotiate on that kind of basis, with this kind of groups,” Le Drian told RTL radio. “We will use all [other] possible means to ensure that these and other [French] hostages are freed.

    “We do not play this bidding game because that’s terrorism,” he said, deploring the fact that children were involved.

    The video, posted to YouTube and mentioned on a jihadist website, shows one of two French men reading a statement, with a woman in between them. Four children sit on the ground near them, flanked by two masked militants wearing camouflage uniforms and holding rifles.

    A masked militant in front says in the video that Boko Haram kidnapped the French hostages, a family of three adults and four children who were taken from outside a national park in Cameroon’s Far North Region on February 19. A black banner in the background, bearing the images of the Quran flanked by two Kalashnikov assault rifles, also resembles a symbol previously used by Boko Haram.

    The man says the kidnappings came due to the French military intervention in northern Mali, where its troops have fought with Malian soldiers against Islamic extremists who took over the north in the months following a coup last year. The man also threatens the Nigerian and Cameroonian governments, calling on them to release their imprisoned members.

    “Let the French president know that he has launched war against Islam and we are fighting him everywhere,” the man says in Arabic. “Let him know that we are spread everywhere to save our brothers.”

    The man threatens to kill the French hostages if the group’s demands are not met.

    The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the video’s authenticity on Monday, though it shares similarities with some Boko Haram propaganda videos published in the past.

    However, in this video, the man speaks entirely in Arabic, while other Boko Haram videos have its leader Abu Bakr Shekau also speaking Hausa. Boko Haram has not published a video featuring hostages before. The video appears to have been filmed outside, as prayer mats hung in the background sway in a breeze.

     

  • ECOWAS parliament hails France

    ECOWAS parliament hails France

    The Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has commended the leadership of the ECOWAS and France for the success recorded in the war against terror in Mali.

    He said Mali and Guinea Bissau were test cases for the survival of peace, democracy and integration in the sub-region.

    Ekweremadu, who is also the Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, stressed that the Community Parliament would take legitimate steps to reinforce the quest for lasting peace, security, democracy, and good governance in the sub-region.

    He spoke at the opening of the First 2013 Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament on the Political Crisis in Mali and Guinea Bissau in Abuja yesterday.

    The Speaker said: “Terrorism anywhere is terrorism everywhere and a threat to peace anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere.

    “I, therefore, wish to commend the government of France and the ECOWAS institution for doing the needful and for showing leadership and courage when it mattered most.

    “The Community Parliament will not spare any legitimate steps to reinforce the quest for lasting peace, security, democracy, and good governance in Mali and Guinea Bissau.

    ”We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that no part of this sub-region is surrendered to nefarious and anti-democracy interests in whatever guise they may come.”

    The plenary also witnessed the swearing in of the maiden delegation of the Cote d’Ivoire to the Parliament. The Speaker expressed happiness that the vacuum created by the absence of Cote d’Ivoire in the sub-regional Parliament over the years due to political crisis in the country had been successfully filled. Ekweremadu, therefore, enjoined members of the Ivorian delegation to immediately go to work and contribute their quota to the integration, democratisation, and development process in the sub-region.

    Meanwhile, the ECOWAS Parliament has elected two new Deputy Speakers. Hon. Kaboure Alexis of Burkina Faso replaced Hon. Sere Sereme Saran of the same country as Second Deputy Speaker, while Hon. Simon Osei Mensah of Ghana replaced his compatriot, Hon. Michael Nyaumu as the Fourth Deputy Speaker.

    The First 2013 Extraordinary Session will consider and adopt the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Political Crisis in Mali and Guinea Bissau

     

  • Mali’s operation reaches ‘final phase’

    Mali’s operation reaches ‘final phase’

    French President Francois Hollande has said his country’s forces are engaged in the “final phase” of the fight against militants in northern Mali.

    He said there had been heavy fighting in the Ifoghas mountains, where members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) were thought to be hiding.

    Mr. Hollande also praised Chadian troops for their efforts in the same area, BBC says.

    13 Chadian soldiers and some 65 militants were killed in clashes on Friday, according to the Chadian army.

    Chad’s government has promised to deploy 2,000 troops as part of the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma).

    Speaking in Paris on Saturday, President Hollande said “heavy fighting” was taking place in the far north of Mali, near the Algerian border.

    “This is the final phase of the process since it is in that massif [the Ifoghas mountains] that AQIM forces have probably regrouped,” he said.

    “Our Chadian friends launched an attack yesterday which was very harsh with significant loss of life,” Mr. Hollande added. “I want to praise what the Chadians are doing.”

    The latest fighting was between Islamists militants and ethnic Tuareg in the In-Khalil area, near the border town of Tessalit.

     

  • US, France agree on UN force

    IN Paris, France and at a meeting with President Francois Hollande, United States (U.S.) Vice President, Joe Biden yesterday hailed the French intervention in Mali.

    Biden said: “We applaud your decisiveness and, I might add, the capability of France’s military forces. Your decisive action was not only in the interest of France but of the United States and everyone.

    “We agreed on the need to, quickly as possible, establish an African-led mission to Mali and as quickly as prudent transition that mission to the UN.”

    Biden’s was the first visit by a top U.S. official since President Barack Obama’s inauguration last month. He also joined Hollande in vowing to keep up the pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.

    “We agreed on the need to as quickly as reasonably possible, establish the African-led International Mission in Mali (AFRISMA) and as quickly as is prudent transition that mission to the United Nations.” Biden said after a lunch parley with Hollande.

    Biden noted that France’s lightning advance since January 11 drove Islamist rebels from key cities they had seized and occupied since last year.

    Biden said: “Your decisive action was not only in the interest of France but quite frankly the United States and everyone.”

  • France set to evacuate nationals

    THROUGH its Embassy in Bamako, the French Government has directed the immediate evacuation of its citizens Segou, a battle field in Mali.

    The order, which has been confirmed by an anonymous French national, resident in Segou,was given through an e-mail message.

    The French citizen said the order came after the fall yesterday of the garrison town of Diabaly to the al-Qaida-linked rebels occupying Northern Mali.

    Diabaly was seized by the extremists despite heavy bombardment by French special forces, bringing the militants to within 80 kilometres (about 49 miles) of the Southern Mali town of Segou and within 400 kilometres (about 248 miles) of the capital, Bamako.

    French President Francois Hollande authorised the air strikes last week after the Islamists began their Southward push.

  • Fed Govt to get $77.73m loan from France

    Fed Govt to get $77.73m loan from France

    THE Federal Government is to receive a $77.73 million loan from the French Development Agency (AFD) to co-finance the second National Urban Water Sector Reform Project (NUWSRP2) in Cross River and Lagos states.

    According to a council memo, the Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, will present the matter for deliberation to the Federal Executive Council today.

    Also at the FEC’s meeting, the government is expected to award a N600 million contract for the purchase of Direct Data Capture Machine to boost the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT).

    The contract will first be revised at the meeting before the award is granted to the successful contractor that will supply the machines.

    According to the memo seen by The Nation, the first item on the day’s agenda is “the revision of the contract sum for the procurement of Direct Data Capture Machines to enable the payment of VAT amounting to $3,750,760 on the importation of the Direct Data Capture Machines.”

    Also, the Federal Government will increase the contract price of food stuff to be supplied to prisons across the country. A memo earlier circulated by the Minister of Interior on September 21, will urge members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to consider increasing the “contract prices for supply of food stuff and cooking gas for prisoners.”

    The Nation also gathered that contracts will be awarded for the rehabilitation of the ECOWAS secretariat in Abuja, going by another memo expected from the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, as well as the “contract for the augmentation of per/post contract consultancy services for the improvement of power supply to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The memo will be presented by the Minister of Aviation.

    Approval is also expected for the award of contract for the construction of the Sagbemi-Kirigbo-Gada-Igbekibo road in Ondo State, as well as the ratification of the President’s anticipatory approval for the ward of contract in respect of 28 infrastructure development projects for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The last two items on the agenda for today’s FEC meeting are those presented by the Minister of Works for the augmentation of contract NO 1793 for the dualisation of the Ibadan-Ilorin road section 1 Ibadan-Oyo road in Oyo state and addendum No 2 for the extension of the service lanes from KM0+000 (River Niger Bridge Head, Onitsha) to KM1 +000 and rehabilitation of slip roads at Upper Iweka interchange in Onitsha Anambra state under contract number 6134.

  • I felt like killing myself when we lost to France – Goal-keeper

    Flamingoes’ goal-keeper Gift Andy said she felt like killing herself after her side lost 3-5 to France in Thursday’s quarter-final match of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan.

    Nigeria’s Flamingoes lost through penalty kicks following a goalless regulation time.

    During the spot-kick, she was unable to save any of the five shots from France’s players leading to the Flamingoes’ elimination from the World Cup.

    The goal-keeper told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on the team’s return from Azerbaijan on Friday night, that she almost saved one of the spot-kicks.

    “During the penalty kicks, I thought that I had the ball in my hands, but it slipped into the net.

    “When that happened, I felt like killing myself and have been crying ever since.

    “I feel sad because I should have saved some of the shots but I couldn’t.’’

    She said she was further saddened because the team missed the opportunity to win FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan.

    “It is most painful to me because I am 17 years old, which means I cannot play in the next U-17 World Cup.

    “I have to graduate to U-20, So, I just feel very bad about missing the World Cup,’’ she said.

    The goal-keeper told NAN that she felt bad for falling short of the expectations of Nigerians.

    “Nigerians only want good results and, knowing this, I was determined to excel but luck was not on our side,’’ she said.

    It would be recalled that while the goal-keeper failed to save the spot-kicks, a Flamingoes’ striker missed her shot.

    In her reaction, Sarah Nnodim, the striker who lost her penalty kick, told NAN that she was haunted by the guilt that she gave the victory to France.

    “Taking the penalty kick on Thursday, I was confident that I had selected the right angle, but I do not know what happened and the ball went wide.

    “Because of losing my penalty kick, I felt from that moment as if I had given our opponents the victory,’’ she explained.

    The striker, who scored four goals in her team’s victory over Colombia and host Azerbaijan at the group stage of the Women’s World Cup, said she felt her team had already lost to France the moment she missed her spot-kick.

    “The truth is that, it is very difficult for any goal-keeper to catch a penalty.

    “So, the moment a player misses the spot-kick, it will be difficult for the team to recover.’’