This additional funding comes in response to the ongoing diphtheria outbreak, making Nigeria currently the world’s second-largest outbreak, with 10,322 confirmed and 16,616 suspected cases since the beginning of the year.

Kano State in the Northwest is identified as the epicenter of the outbreak, reporting 8,447 confirmed cases and 589 deaths.

The most affected states include Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Borno, Bauchi, and Kaduna, collectively accounting for 96 percent of all suspected cases. Despite control efforts since late 2022, the disease has spread to other states in the Northwest and Northeast.

Children aged 1 to 14 years represent 72 percent of all confirmed cases, with over 60 percent of all suspected cases not being vaccinated.

The EU’s new funding will support UNICEF and the medical NGO ALIMA in enhancing surveillance, case detection, treatment, community awareness, and vaccine procurement.

This funding is part of the EU’s Epidemics tool, created to provide rapid funding in case of disease outbreaks. Diphtheria, a highly contagious bacterial infection transmitted between humans, poses a significant risk, particularly to children and those not fully vaccinated against the disease.

The EU’s financial support aims to bolster the response efforts and mitigate the impact of the diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria.

George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, made this appeal during a meeting with a delegation from the European Union Election Observation Mission, led by Chief Observer Barry Andrews.

According to a statement from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Akume expressed gratitude to the EU Observation Mission for its participation in the 2023 General Election throughout the country.

He highlighted the significance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, which played a transformative role during the election.

Akume acknowledged the progress made in the recent general elections and urged the EU to continue supporting these advancements in order to promote democratic principles in Nigeria.

Barry Andrews, the Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission, explained that their visit aimed to present the final report on the 2023 General Election, which they monitored since their deployment to Nigeria.

The report includes six priority recommendations relating to constitutional, legislative, and administrative matters. Additionally, Andrews mentioned that the EU EOM plans to conduct a follow-up mission in two years to engage with Nigerian authorities regarding the implementation of their recommendations.

Samuela Isopi, the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States, also expressed the EU’s support for Nigeria’s return to democracy.

Isopi highlighted the ongoing collaboration between the EU, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and other key stakeholders to strengthen democracy.

Furthermore, he affirmed the EU’s commitment to sustaining its support for Nigeria’s electoral processes and investing in other vital sectors of the nation’s economy.

The organisation, in a statement, said violence in the region, where the civilian population is increasingly the victim of targeted attacks, is resulting in large-scale displacement, disruption of livelihoods, and lack of access to basic services.

The pledge was made on the occasion of the High-Level Conference on the Lake Chad Region, held in Niamey on January 23rd to 24th.

The total amount for 2023, it added, will be distributed as follows: Nigeria (€34 million), Niger (€25 million), Chad (€26.5 million) and Cameroon (€17 million).

The funding is part of the total €181.5 million allocated this year for the Lake Chad Basin, the Central African Republic and the Sahel, according to the EU.

“Over 24 million people in these four countries are estimated to need humanitarian assistance, an increase of 9.5 percent from last year.

“This funding will provide much needed support to vulnerable communities impacted by conflict, displacement and increasing food insecurity.

“As the region faces an unprecedented food crisis, we will continue to monitor the situation and to react with additional funding if necessary,” the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič said on Monday.

The EU’s humanitarian aid in the Lake Chad region is targeted at providing life-saving assistance to people displaced by conflict and hosting communities; and responding to the most acute food needs of households and communities affected by conflict and treating severe acute undernutrition in children under.

It also aims to give access to healthcare to populations that are newly displaced or outside the reach of health authorities, and improving the access to safe water and sanitation.

Other objectives include supporting emergency education for displaced children and those in hard-to-reach areas; and strengthening disaster preparedness (such as early warning systems and climate resilience actions).

The association explained that the security situation in the country might not allow the general election to be credible, free, and fair, if the voters were not allowed to go out to exercise their inalienable rights, because of fear of being harmed or kidnapped, or killed.

CAN President, Revd. Samson Ayokunle, said this on Tuesday night when a delegation of the European Union led by the EU Chief Election Observer, Ms. Maria Arena, met with the leadership of the apex Christian body in Abuja.

The EU team sought to know CAN’s position concerning the preparation of all the stakeholders – the Independent National Electoral Commission, the security agencies, and the political parties – towards the forthcoming elections next year.

According to Ayokunle, CAN was disturbed by the negative development whereby the security of lives and properties could no longer be guaranteed across the country.

“We call on the Federal Government and the security agencies to wake up to the security challenges in the country where the terrorists, bandits and kidnappers are operating with impunity and nowhere is safe and secure again. If the trend continues, many voters may not participate and the outcome of the election may not be credible. We have been struggling with this situation now for the past thirteen years, yet, we are still where we are,” the CAN President said.

“Although Nigeria is practising democracy because of our peculiarities which include multicultural, multi-tribal, and multi-religious nature, ours should be a ‘homegrown democracy’ where every divide should be given a sense of belonging.

“Even if the constitution is silent on the six geopolitical zones rotational representation, the political parties should be wise enough to make use of it in sharing the leadership positions.

“We have warned all political parties against fielding either Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian Presidential candidates. Since President Muhammadu Buhari is a Muslim from the North, in the interest of equity, fairness, social justice and cohesion, the next President should be a Christian from the South.”

In a statement published late Tuesday, October 13, acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told Western diplomats at talks in Doha that “weakening the Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone because its negative effects will directly affect the world in (the) security sector and economic migration from the country.”

The Taliban overthrew Afghanistan’s former US-backed government in August after a two-decade-long conflict. But efforts to stabilise the country, still facing attacks from the rival extremist groups the Islamic State-Khorasan, have been undermined by international sanctions: banks are running out of cash and civil servants are going unpaid.

According to the statement from his spokesman, Muttaqi told the Doha meeting: “We urge world countries to end existing sanctions and let banks operate normally so that charity groups, organisations and the government can pay salaries to their staff with their own reserves and international financial assistance.”

European countries are concerned that if the Afghan economy collapses, large numbers of migrants will set off for the continent, piling pressure on neighbouring states such as Pakistan and Iran and eventually on EU borders.

Washington and the EU have said they are ready to back humanitarian initiatives in Afghanistan, but are wary of providing direct support to the Taliban without guarantees it will respect human rights, in particular women’s rights.

On Friday, June 4, two days after Twitter deleted a tweet from the president of Nigeria for violating its rules, the Ministry of Information and Culture announced that the Nigerian government has “indefinitely suspended” Twitter.

The Nigerian government also proposed registration requirements for other social media.

Canada, UK, USA, Ireland,  and the European Union expressed disappointment in a joint statement that reads: “The diplomatic missions of Canada, the European Union (Delegation to Nigeria), the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America convey our disappointment over Nigeria’s announcement suspending #Twitter and proposing registration requirements for other social media.  We strongly support the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline. Banning systems of expression is not the answer. These measures inhibit access to information and commerce at precisely the moment when Nigeria needs to foster inclusive dialogue and expression of opinions, as well as share vital information in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The path to a more secure Nigeria lies in more, not less, communication to accompany the concerted efforts of Nigeria’s citizens in fulsome dialogue toward unity, peace and prosperity. As Nigeria’s partners, we stand ready to assist in achieving these goals”

The four-year project, ‘EU for health security in Africa: ECDC for Africa CDC’, funded by the European Union, will also facilitate harmonised surveillance and disease intelligence, and support the implementation of the public health workforce strategy of Africa CDC.

In a statement released today by the EU, the Commission Vice-President, Margaritis Schinas, said, “The coronavirus pandemic has shown more clearly than ever that health security – a longstanding objective in the cooperation between the African Union and the European Union – must remain a global priority.

“The new partnership between the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control and the Africa CDC is a crucial step to achieve this common goal. We are acting now, together, to end this crisis and be prepared for future outbreaks. Our AU-EU Commission-to-Commission meeting in February was instrumental in reinforcing the prospects of our cooperation that is now bearing fruit.”

Also, Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union Commission, Amira Mohammed, said, “As a continent, we recognise the socioeconomic impact that disease outbreaks have had on our people. We know that fighting COVID-19 in Africa is not only about saving lives today, but about the future of the continent, it is about strengthening our health systems to better support preparedness and response to health emergencies in the future.

“This funding by the EU comes at a very good time and will go a long way in supporting capacity building of our public health institutions and experts.”

The statement further stated that through the partnership, Africa CDC and ECDC will be able to exchange experiences and lessons learnt from working with African and European Member States on the continental harmonised surveillance of infectious diseases, data sharing, and early detection of threats, as well as on preparedness, risk assessment, rapid response, and emergency operations, and on how to adapt these to their needs.

“Funded under the European Development Fund, the project includes a contribution agreement with ECDC of €9 million and a complementary grant to Africa CDC of €1 million to cover staffing costs. This agreement will come into effect on 1 January 2021,” the statement added.

According to the government, what this means is that only airlines from countries that allow flights from Nigeria will be allowed to fly into and out of Nigeria.

It specifically stated that airlines from the European Union would not be allowed into Nigeria as the EU had recently banned flights and visitors from Nigeria.

Recall that on July 2, 2020, the Council of the European Union had opened its borders to 15 countries, excluding Nigeria.

According to information obtained from the EU website at the time, Nigeria was still not a part of the countries from where visitors were allowed into Europe.

Speaking at Thursday’s briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said Nigeria’s position was informed by the ban placed by some countries on flights from Nigeria.

The minister, who was represented by the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Musa Nuhu, argued that the decision was taken in the interest of Nigerians.

He said, “On the list of countries (that are banned), we are working on the comprehensive list, but the main one that came up is when the EU opened their borders effective 1st July, Nigeria was among the list of 54 countries that were not allowed to enter the EU.

“To my understanding, as the situation changes, they are going to look at the list and change it. But so far, we don’t have any contrary information to that first one that Nigeria is banned from going to the EU.

“So, as we open our airspace, we are going to apply the issue of reciprocity to those (EU) countries.”

Sirika also stated that airlines would be informed on arrangements that had been put in place to ensure that the resumption of flights were hitch-free.

He stated that for now, only a few flights per day would be permitted, adding that they would operate as test runs of the protocols put in place to ensure the safe return to international operations.

The protocols, according to him, would be made public in due course.

Sirika also stated that inbound international passengers would be limited to 1,280.

He said only this number would be allowed to fly into the Lagos and Abuja airports once international flights resume on August 29, 2020.

A constitutional court in Karlsruhe ruled in favour of the unnamed man, who was sentenced to life in prison and later released in 2002.

The man, a crew member aboard the yacht Apollonia, fatally shot two people and severely injured a third. He has since fought to distance his family’s name from reports about the case, the BBC reported Wednesday.

His name still appears in online searches as part of an archived article in the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, according to reports.

The publication uploaded three reports about the case in 1999 with the man’s full name, the BBC said. He became aware of the articles in 2009 and asked that they are removed from the Internet, claiming they inhibited his “ability to develop his personality,” a court statement said, per the BBC.

The case was initially thrown out in 2012 by a federal court, which ruled that the man’s privacy did not outweigh the public interest or freedom of the press, Agence France-Presse (AFP) had reported.

The ruling could force publications to restrict access to online archives, reports said.

The concept of the “right to be forgotten” has gained traction in recent years, with tech companies being taken to court over online search results.

In 2014, a European Union court ruled that search engine companies have to comply with requests to remove results.

Google and other search engines have fought with the EU over its privacy rules. The continent’s top court ruled in September that the tech giant will not have to apply Europe’s “right to be forgotten” law globally.