•Moscow grants 110 scholarships to Nigerians in 2017
Russian has reassured Nigeria of its support to end the activities of Boko Haram.
Its Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov gave the reassurance yesterday in Moscow, Russia at an official meeting with his counterpart from Nigeria, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama.
He said his country would continue to support Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram.
The Russian minister told reporters at a joint briefing with his Nigerian counterpart after their meeting that Moscow was prepared to improve military cooperation with Nigeria and support steps put in place by Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.
Lavrov said: “We will continue to support steps taken by Nigerian government in the fight against Boko Haram.”
The minister revealed that Russian government is consistently promoting solutions to African problems. According to him, Russia would want instability eliminated in the Africa.
He stressed that the problems in Africa and other troubled region can only be fully resolved through inclusive dialogue.
“We have exchanged opinions on issues not only in Nigeria but also Syria, Libya and Middle East. Solutions to the problems in these areas can only be achieved through inclusive dialogue.”
He hailed the role Nigeria is playing to ensure peace and stability in the continent and the world.
On other areas of agreement reached at the meeting, Lavrov said Russia will be working with Nigeria to speed up economic and political agreement between both nations.
“We have agreed that we should speed up processes on political and economic agreement,” he said.
On global politics, the minister said his country and Nigeria will be working together on issues concerning both nations.
“We discussed regional and global agenda. We have agreed to coordinate our efforts within the United Nations on mutually beneficial issues,” he said.
Onyeama noted that activities of the Boko Haram or other terrorist organisations are no longer Nigeria’s challenge but a global scourge.
He, however, told his guest that the military has degraded the capacity of the terrorist group.
Russia, he said, had provided military hardware and training in the efforts to end the activities of the terrorist group.
On piracy, Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has done a lot to end the scourge.
He, however, called for the support of government of Russia, especially in the Gulf of Guinea.
On the issue of UN reform, Onyeama said both countries agreed that there was a lot still to be done.
Besides, Onyeama said both countries will be meeting at a later date this year in Moscow to further the discussions on economic and political cooperation.
France and Germany will agree to a U.S. plan for NATO to take a bigger role in the fight against Islamic militants at a meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday, but insist the move is purely symbolic, four senior European diplomats said.
The decision to allow the NATO to join the coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq follows weeks of pressure on the two allies, who are wary of NATO confronting Russia in Syria and of alienating Arab countries who see NATO as pushing a pro-Western agenda.
“NATO as an institution will join the coalition,” said one senior diplomat involved in the discussions.
“The question is whether this just a symbolic gesture to the United States. France and Germany believe it is.”
Flying to the NATO meeting in Brussels with Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday it would be an important step for the Organization to join the U.S.-led, 68-nation coalition.
“I think they’re going to support NATO joining and becoming a formal member,” he said, referring to “a couple of countries that are still thinking it over” but not giving details.
A senior French diplomat said Paris was ready to accept NATO joining, but that its role would be limited to training and intelligence, things allies were already involved in.
“We want to ensure that momentum (in the U.S.-led coalition) is not disturbed,” the diplomat said.
U.S. and other European officials want to show Trump, who called NATO “obsolete” because he said it was not doing enough against terrorism, that the alliance is responding.
While Islamic State is on the verge of defeat in its Iraqi stronghold of Mosul and bracing for an assault against its de facto capital in Raqqa, Syria, U.S. officials are concerned fleeing militants could leave a vacuum that could prompt Arab tribal fighters to turn on each other to gain control.
All 28 NATO allies are members of the coalition, but the alliance as a formal member could become more involved, contributing equipment, training and the expertise it gained leading nations against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has also made the case for a non-combat role for the alliance in Syria and Iraq.
“NATO joining the coalition will also provide a better platform for coordinating the activities of NATO allies in the fight against terrorism,” Stoltenberg said.
“It sends a strong and clear message of unity in the fight against terrorism and especially in light of the terrorist attacks in Manchester,” he said.
A suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, in an attack on a crowded concert hall in the English city on Monday.
Some allies including Britain were keen for NATO to do even more, for example using its AWACS surveillance planes over Syria and running command-and-control operations.
German and French opposition means that for the moment, only one plane will watch over Syria from NATO-ally Turkey’s airspace to provide air traffic information to improve safety for planes.
French government spokesman Christophe Castaner told reporters that President Emmanuel Macron would speak to Trump at their lunch in Brussels on Thursday and that he understood Trump’s call for a greater NATO role in Syria and Iraq.
“The president will say that he is attentive to this (Trump’s call), but to make clear that it is not about transforming NATO into the sole strike force against Islamic State,” Castaner said.
OPEC and non-OPEC ministers would meet on Wednesday for informal consultations in Vienna in a last-ditch bid to agree the duration of oil output cuts.
The ministers would also seek to clear a global stocks overhang that has pulled down the price of crude.
Top OPEC oil producer, Saudi Arabia, favours extending the output curbs by nine months rather than the initially planned six months, to speed up market rebalancing and prevent crude prices from sliding back below 50 dollars per barrel.
OPEC members Iraq and Algeria as well as top non-OPEC producer Russia also supported a nine-month extension but some Gulf OPEC members, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have pointed to a need for further analysis.
OPEC would meet formally in Vienna on Thursday to consider whether to prolong the deal reached in December in which OPEC and 11 non-members agreeded to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017.
A ministerial monitoring committee consisting of OPEC members Kuwait, Venezuela, Algeria and non-OPEC Russia and Oman meets in the Austrian capital to discuss the progress of cuts and their impact on global oil supply.
Saudi Arabia, which holds the current OPEC presidency, will also attend.
Several OPEC delegates said they expected the meetings on Wednesday and Thursday to be relatively painless, resulting in an output cut extension by nine months.
“I think the meeting will go smoothly,” an OPEC delegate said, referring to signs of consensus in the group, including Iran, which has fought Saudi Arabia in many recent OPEC meetings.
However, several delegates and ministers said they did not believe cuts could be extended to a full year.
Possible surprises could include a deepening of the cuts, but this would likely be minor because the non-OPEC producers that are expected to join the accord for the first time on Thursday, such as Turkmenistan and Egypt, are fairly small.
OPEC’s cuts have helped push oil back above 50 dollars a barrel, giving a fiscal boost to producers.
By 0750 GMT on Wednesday, Brent crude was up 0.5 per cent at around 54.50 dollars a barrel.
However, the price rise has spurred growth in the U.S. shale industry, which is not participating in the output deal, thus slowing the market’s rebalancing with global stocks still near record highs.
“This is a bit tricky as production cuts cause higher prices which will incentivise more production for the U.S. shale oil and reduce the impact of the production cuts.
“So it’s a bit cyclical,’’ Sushant Gupta, research director for consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said.
Ex-Green Eagles Winger, Adokiye Amiesimaka, says recent young player award bestowed on Wilfred Ndidi by English Premiership Club, Leicester, is a big plus for Nigerian football.
Ndidi, 20, a Super Eagles midfielder and former Nigerian youth international, joined the EPL side from Genk FC of Belgium.
Amiesimaka told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Port Harcourt on Wednesday that the award by the former league champions showed that Ndidi was a top quality player.
“For him to be given such an award by Leicester who won the Premier League only last season is obviously a plus.
“It means he is a top quality player and its impact on us here is good, by virtue of the fact that he is a member of the national team,’’ he said.
Amiesimaka, former Chairman, Sharks FC of Port Harcourt, said the award was also an indication that Nigerian football had a quality player in one of the best organised leagues in the world.
“Even more importantly is what we’ll do with that plus, how do we make the most of that in the national team and how will it benefit us?’’ he said.
He said that the derivation of the award should be translated to his optimal use in the national team to achieve good results in major national and international matches.
Amiesimaka said that the welfare of Ndidi and other members of the national team should be a priority to excel in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying matches.
NAN reports that Ndidi started his career playing for the Lagos-based Nath Boys Academy in the Lagos Junior League (J-League) and won numerous accolades.
He then played as a central defender for Nigeria’s youth team, the Golden Eaglets in 2013 for the African U-17 Championship.
He later played for the Manu Garba U-20 youth team of Nigeria that played in the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
Ndidi was called up to the Senior Nigeria team, the Super Eagles, on Oct. 8, 2015, making his debut in the friendly game against DR Congo.
He also played again a few days later in the 3-0 win against Cameroon, when he replaced Mikel Obi in the 63rd minutes.
He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
President Hashim Thaci said on Friday that Kosovo will hold early parliamentary elections on June 11, two days after Prime Minister Isa Mustafa’s cabinet fell.
The cabinet was voted out with 78 out of the 120 votes in the parliament.
That marked an end to the coalition of Mustafa’s Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and Thaci’s ca year ahead of the regular election date.
The no-confidence motion was launched by the opposition, but supported by the PDK.
The coalition had been at an impasse for months, unable to pass crucial regulation on matters such as a border agreement with Montenegro, minority rights and the armed forces.
The border agreement was a condition the European Union laid out to Kosovo in order to lift entry visa requirements for its citizens.
Kosovo has yet to regulate the status of minority Serb communities in the mostly Albanian Kosovo, part of a normalisation agreement the EU brokered between Pristina and Belgrade.
Serbia’s former province declared independence in 2008; nine years after NATO intervened against Serbia in order to stop a heavy-handed crackdown on ethnic Albanian rebels.
It has been recognised by more than 110 countries in the meantime, but has not gained a seat at thec, owing toc which has backed Serbia’s opposition to the move.
Syria on Monday said that a deal brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran does not include deploying UN peacekeeping forces in the so-called “safe zones”.
“The Russian side stressed that military police will be deployed and not peacekeepers under the supervision of the UN,” to oversee the implementation of the deal, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told a news conference in Damascus.
The deal signed in the Kazakh capital Astana on Thursday indicate that the de-escalation zones shall include checkpoints to ensure easy movement of unarmed civilians and the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Al-Moallem reiterated his country’s backing of the deal, but vowed to retaliate “harshly’’ any violation by the rebels.
The Syrian official said it was too early to tell if this deal will succeed but hoped that the brokers will ensure that militant groups such as the al-Qaeda linked Fatah al-Sham Front will not enter the safe zones.
The agreement envisions safe areas in northwestern, northern, central and southern Syria.
The Astana agreement says that creating “de-escalation and security” areas is a temporary measure that could be in place for six months.
Russia and Turkey have supported opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, which began with peaceful demonstrations in March 2011 against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.
Moscow and Istanbul have nevertheless stepped up efforts to seek a resolution to the conflict amid a rapprochement in their bilateral ties.
South Africa’s plan to expand its nuclear programme in cooperation with Russia suffered a setback on Wednesday when a court ruled that it was illegal.
The Western Cape High Court in a ruling held that the government’s way of handling the preliminary agreement was “unconstitutional and unlawful and it is reviewed and set aside,”
The court also set aside cooperation agreements in the field of nuclear energy concluded with South Korea and the United States.
Two environmental organizations launched the case in October 2015, arguing that the agreements had not been debated by parliament.
The court said the necessary procurement processes and procedures were not completely followed.
The deal foresaw a strategic partnership with Russian state nuclear company Rosatom, through which Russia would help construct a nuclear power plant and a research reactor, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Calls to Rosatom’s press service in Moscow went unanswered on Wednesday.
The deal would have allowed South Africa to acquire 9.6 gigawatts of additional nuclear power by 2030 in an attempt to diversify its energy sources from ageing coal-fired plants.
The regional superpower currently has the continent’s only nuclear power plant, but it gets more than 90 per cent of its energy from coal.
The nuclear expansion is opposed by groups advocating renewable energies, while others say South Africa cannot afford its cost, estimated at 1 trillion rand (76 billion dollars).
President Jacob Zuma recently fired finance minister Pravin Gordhan, who had warned about the cost of new nuclear plants.
The sacking of the respected minister, which prompted two ratings agencies to downgrade South Africa, fueled concern over possible corruption in the Russian deal
Nigerian students on the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scheme in Russia and other European countries are helpless as infants. HANNAH OJO, who traced the plight of some of the students, reports that students of Rivers State origin under the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency scholarship scheme are also not spared in the hardship of unpaid allowances.
Many times I had to go to the lab on empty stomach and my supervisor will tease me about eating the wheat samples marked for experiments. We trek to campuses in the winter because we can’t afford public buses. We owe hostel fees. We borrow from other students to survive while the ladies face unspeakable options.
These were the words of Nigeria’s wonder boy, Ifesinachi Nelson Ezeh, who made history when he completed his master’s degree in Agronomy at Saint Petersburg State Agrarian University in Russia, graduating with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.0, the highest the country has ever recorded.
Nelson, who arrived in Russia for an undergraduate degree in 2008 with 40 other Nigerians who passed the federal scholarship exams, were beneficiaries of a Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) between Nigeria and Russia. Under the said scheme, Russia pays the tuition, while Nigeria takes care of the living costs of the students of the students with a monthly stipend of $500 dollars.
The scholarship is awarded to Nigerians under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) between Nigeria and a number of countries, including Russia, Cuba, Turkey, Egypt and others. At present, there are over 350 Nigerian BEA scholars in Russia from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory undergoing their undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate studies. Under the agreement, the Russian Federation takes care of the students’ tuition fees. The Russian government fulfils their side of the bargain as long as the student maintains a very good academic record.
Findings made by The Nation revealed that the stipends, which the Nigerian government is supposed to pay the students quarterly, have, however, not been consistent in the past seven years. The last two years have been particularly gruesome as payments were not made for 12 straight months between 2015 and 2016.
The cost of unpaid allowances is devastating to the scholars. The psychological impact is also immeasurable as the students live in fear of what could happen next.
“The financial insecurity adds to the academic cross. The school authorities are either on your neck or fellow students are asking for their money back. You can’t hide because the Russian law provides that you stay where you were registered,” added Ezeh, who likened trekking in cold spring morning to walking in a freezer.
We are asked to work as janitors to offset hostel costs
Their faces looked thinned with hunger and they appear grumpy in their winter jackets and backpacks. Many of them travelled long distances spending between 10 to 20 hours to get to Moscow, the Russia capital where a peaceful protest was staged to demand the payment of their 12 months long allowance.
“Is it fair? Pays us; Pay hostel allowance for medical students,” were some of the inscriptions on the placards the student displayed during their protest in October 2016.
Speaking on their grievances, the scholars alleged that the non-payment of their allowance was not occasioned by economic recession but incompetence and malpractices on the part of the scholarship board. The students recalled that as far back as 2014 when Nigeria had the largest GDP growth in Africa, they were owned allowances. In the protest video released online, one of the students said they are sometimes asked to work as janitors to offset their hotel bills.
“Many of us are high achievers. We represent our schools in various competitions. We are doing our own part and all the government does is to treat us anyhow. We have tried all diplomatic means but there was no response. It has gotten to the extent that a church had to set up a fundraiser for Nigerian students,” the leader of the protest said in a video obtained by The Nation.
In a recent chat, Faith Olapade, President, Association of Nigerian Scholarship Students in Russia told The Nation that after the protest in Moscow, the government reacted by paying a token which barely added up to two of the 13 months owed.
“What the government paid is not even enough to pay back what the students had borrowed to survive the 13 months of non-payment. We were also told that the token is part of our 2016 stipend. We really don’t understand why it is so since we are still being owed some months in 2015.
“The situation surrounding the Bilateral Education Agreement, the Federal Scholarship Board funding and students’ stipend is very complicated. We will appreciate if someone from the Federal Scholarship Board explains to us and the rest of Nigeria why the scheme pays in bits and we are subjected to suffering,” asked Olapade, a Computer Science student at Tver State Technical University, Russia.
Among other countries participating in the BEA with Russia, Nigeria is known for lateness and delays. For the instance, the new BEA scholarship students from Nigeria arrived in Moscow on November 9, two months after the 2016/2017 academic year started. This is aside from the fact that Nigerian students are also known for paying their hostel and insurance bills late.
“The non-payment of allowances has literally turned Nigerian scholars to beggars. Most of us can’t afford to eat even once a day and others can’t make it to classes due to the lack of transport fare. Some have even been evicted from their hostels because they could not pay the fee, while others are hanging on with a weekly threat of eviction.
“It’s really difficult for us right now as Russia is also going through an economic crisis and prices of commodities are inflated. Also, surviving the cold weather is difficult without warm clothing. To make matters worse, we all have student visas and this makes it legally impossible for us to earn on our own. The current economic crisis in Nigeria, unrealistic bank rates, strict laws of outbound transfer and recent limits put on ATM cards make it really difficult for our parents to assist us in these trying times.
“We are pleading with the government to remember us by coming through with the remainder of our 2015 stipends and full 2016 payment. We didn’t sign up to be scholars to suffer this way,” Olapade further stated.
A source who pleaded anonymity in the office of Bilateral Scholarship Board, Abuja confirmed to The Nation that the allowance for scholars in the BEA scheme is usually included in the annual budget of the ministry of Education.
Also, the BEA department is not known for honouring requests for information on some of its activities, even in some cases where an FOI request would have been made.
For the federal government scholars in Russia, calls made to the Nigerian Scholarship Board to inquire about their allowances are usually met with the response that the budget has not been implemented or they are waiting for the Central Bank.
A postgraduate student in Russia, who pleaded anonymity for fear of victimisation, told our correspondent that the hardship they face by non-payment of the allowance is made worse by the fact finding a job in Russia as an African is like finding a needle in a haystack.
“The image of Nigeria is at stake. Russia has bilateral education agreement with a host of countries but the Russians, from the workers at the Russian Ministry of Education to the staff of respective universities, will let you know that Nigeria will always bring their students late.
“Nigerian students will always be the last to pay for their hostel accommodation and they always ask for a grace period before they purchase the compulsory medical insurance. The list goes on.
“A number of churches where some of our scholars worship now organise fund-raising services to help out those of us who can’t pay for hostel accommodation so we don’t end up sleeping on the streets in the cold weather,” the student said.
Israel Ojonugwa Ibrahim, another Nigerian student in Russia, also decried the situation they are faced asking the government to help redeem their dignity as human beings.
“There are times when you weren’t sure of what to eat the next day. We try to look for jobs but to no avail because we are studying with students’ visa and it is not legal to work,” Ibrahim lamented.
Like FG, like Rivers
Another body that has reneged on its commitment to students on scholarship is the Rivers State Government. In December 2015, Governor Nyesom Wike concluded plans to withdraw Rivers students on scholarship in foreign countries back to Nigeria on the basis that the government can no longer continue to fund the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency’s oversea scholarship scheme.
The state Commissioner for Agric, Ominim Jack, was reportedly quoted to have said in a meeting with parents that the state government could no longer sustain the scholarship scheme as a result of the current economic situation in the country. Thereafter, the state government then initiated the transfer of the students back to Nigeria in order to continue at either the University of Port Harcourt or the Rivers State University of Science and Technology.
The development was greeted with disapproval from parents of the students, who also pleaded with Governor Wike to consider other means of sustaining the scholarship programme since some of the students were midway into their programme.
“The curriculum can never be the same,” one of the parents was quoted to have said.
However, it was learnt that before the governor reached the decision to stop the scheme in 2015, the students’ allowances were not paid for almost a year.
At the time the news of the planned deportation of Rivers state students abroad broke, a Canadian, Benedicte LeMaitre, from Winnipeg, took to GoFundMe a crowdfunding platform to raise $250,000 for some RSSDA students studying at the University of Manitoba in Canada. The fundraising did not turn out successful as only $944 was raised since 13 months ago when the campaign was launched.
Canada was home to nearly 250 Nigerian students who were studying at 14 Canadian universities on the RSSDA scholarship. On the average, international students pay $7,000 to $11, 000 tuitions per term for a full load of classes.
Kennedy Roland, a medical student studying at the University of Pecs Medical School, Hungary, confirmed to The Nation that only about seven of them were left since the government stopped paying stipends to students.
He said: “It’s been so bad that other students had to accommodate some of us. For 27 months and still counting, we have not been paid our upkeep. I’m being helped by a student who is accommodating and helping me with feeding. Sometimes, my family tries to send me money for feeding but it has not been easy since ATM has been stopped abroad.”
Roland, who hopes to graduate in the middle of 2019, has an outstanding $15,300 as fees for his third year. He is presently not able to pay for the current semester.
However, the Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs Chinenye Ihuoma, said government owed the students $500 per person stipend for only one year and two months, not for two years as earlier claimed.
She added that the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, had given approval for the payment of the money.
“The FBS (Federal Scholarship Board) is awaiting the release of money to that effect,” Mrs. Ihuoma said, adding: “The debt is for all the scholars in our BEA (Bilateral Education Agreement) countries and not only Russia.
United States Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is holding talks in Russia with Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, as America urges Moscow to stop supporting Syria.
The visit comes amid tensions over last week’s suspected chemical attack in Syria and U.S strikes on a Syrian base, the BBC reports.
Russia has condemned the American strikes and stands by Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, its long-time ally.
President Donald Trump has said the U.S has no further plans there and is “not going into” that country’s civil war.
On Tuesday his defence secretary made clear the priority remained the defeat of the Islamic State jihadist group.
“Our military policy in Syria has not changed,” Jim Mattis said.
Last week’s air strike has led to confusion over U.S policy in Syria, with some officials suggesting a more aggressive stance against President Assad.
Mr. Tillerson is meeting Mr. Lavrov after warning that Russia risks becoming irrelevant in the Middle East because of its support for Mr. Assad.
He also insisted Syria’s president can play no part in the country’s future.
The Federal Government has expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims, the Governments and people of Egypt and Russia over terrorist attacks in the two countries.
A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Dr Clement Aduku on Monday in Abuja condemned the attacks.
Nigerian government expressed concern on the reports of the terrorist attacks on two Coptic Churches in the towns of Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt, on Sunday April 9, leaving over 44 people dead.
The government according to the statement also expressed shock on the reports of terrorist bombing of a St. Petersburg train on Monday April 3 that killed 14 people while many others were wounded.
According to the statement, Egypt had in the recent times experienced terrorist attacks, and that Nigeria condemned such callous and cowardly acts against innocent people.
“In this regard, the Nigerian people stand in solidarity with our Egyptian brothers and sisters to denounce these terrorists who seek to destroy our common human values and civilization. We therefore share in your grief.
“Nigeria also stands in total solidarity with the Government and people of Russia at this tragic moment and offer our full cooperation..
“The Nigerian government will work closely with the Russian Federation at all international fora to stamp out terrorism globally,” it stated.
