The plan by Air Peace to evacuate Nigerians in South Africa from September 6 suffered a setback as the majority of those interested in the process have expired passports.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the airline with the support of the Federal Government had scheduled to begin evacuating Nigerians from South Africa from September 6.

This followed the ongoing xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreign nationals living in that country.

Mr Allen Onyema, the Chairman of Air Peace, said in a statement in Lagos on Friday that most of the potential returnees were yet to renew their documents.

Onyema said the airline had already placed its Boeing 777 aircraft on standby and was only awaiting the go-ahead from the government.

“The Air Peace flight to South Africa will take off from the Lagos Airport and also return to Lagos. As earlier stated, the take off could be Sept 9 or Sept 10.

“This is because the Nigerians in South Africa have to obtain travel certificates because many of them do not have travel documents and their passports have expired.

“Air Peace has placed its aircraft, Boeing 777 for the flight since September 3, but the Nigerian High Commission needed time to register the Nigerians billed to travel.

“And, they are already doing that in Johannesburg and Pretoria.”

Onyema described the attacks against Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa as unfortunate, especially with the alleged tacit support being given to the perpetrators by the authorities.

He advised Nigerians without legal documents in South Africa to take advantage of the evacuation flight to return to the country.

NAN reports that the Federal Government has pulled out of World Economic Summit holding in Cape Town and also proposed recall of its High Commission to South Africa, Ambassador Kabiru Bala.

The government had also issued travel advice to Nigerians intending to visit South Africa due to the xenophobic attacks.

A 16-year-old boy, Shahid Lawal, has drowned while bathing in a pond at Bacharawa Ramin Kasa, Fagge Local Government Area in Kano State.

This information was contained in a statement signed on Friday in Kano by the Public Relations Officer of the State Fire Service, Mr Saidu Mohammed.

Mohammed said that the incident happened on Thursday evening when the deceased went to take his bath.

“We received a distress call from Rabiu Nasiru about 6:23 p.m. that Lawal’s body has been found floating in a pond.

“On receiving the information, we quickly sent our rescue team to the scene at about 6:34 p.m.’’

The cause of the incident was still under investigation.

“Lawal was found dead and handed over to the Ward Head of Bachirawa Gabas, Alhaji Rabiu Bala,” he said.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, a parastatal of the Ministry of Health on Friday confirmed the death of seven persons, in an outbreak of yellow fever in Bauchi State, with four victims on treatment.

Among those who died were students of Waka College of Education in Biu Local Government Area, Borno State.

While three of the confirmed cases were said to be residents of Alkaleri Local Government Area, the fourth victim was a tourist who was visiting Kano State and Yankari Games Reserve in the same LGA in Bauchi State.

The Director-General of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, who made the confirmation in a statement in Abuja, said the agency was first notified on August 29, when it received the report of a confirmed case of Yellow Fever in Kano State from a laboratory in the Yellow Fever laboratory network.

He said, “Subsequent investigations led by the Kano State Epidemiology Team established that this confirmed case of yellow fever was from a patient who visited the Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi, in August 2019 with his father. Unfortunately, the father died with similar symptoms before a sample could be collected and tested.

“Subsequently, on September 3 2019, the Borno State Epidemiology Team reported deaths among students of Waka College of Education in Biu LGA Borno State. These students visited the Yankari Game Resort in August 2019.

“Of the 95 students that visited the resort, eight of them developed symptoms and six had died as at the time of the report. The others are in a stable condition. Samples from these cases are being tested.

“Intensification of surveillance activities has led to the identification of three more confirmed cases who are all resident in Alkaleri LGA of Bauchi state.

“Altogether, we can confirm four cases of yellow fever in people that either live or have visited Bauchi in the last one month.

“Since it was notified, the NCDC has collaborated with the State epidemiologists of the affected States and the World Health Organization country office to investigate these events.

“We have also deployed a rapid response team to support Bauchi State to carry out further in-depth investigations, including case finding, risk communications, and support the management of cases.

“Samples of the other suspected cases from Bauchi and Borno states are currently being transported to the NCDC National Reference Laboratory in Abuja for further testing.

“Today (Friday), we activated our Emergency Operations Centre to coordinate the response to this outbreak.”

The NCDC said Yellow Fever virus is spread through bites of an infected mosquito with no human-to-human transmission of the virus.

The organization said, “Yellow fever is a completely vaccine-preventable disease and a single shot of the yellow fever vaccine protects for a lifetime. The yellow fever vaccine is available for free in all primary healthcare centres in Nigeria as part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule. We encourage every family to ensure that children receive all their childhood vaccines.

“In addition to the vaccine, the public is advised to keep their environments clean and free of stagnant water to discourage the breeding of mosquitoes and ensure the consistent use of insecticide treated mosquito nets, screens on windows and doors to prevent access for mosquitoes.

“Especially, hikers, park visitors and people engaged with activities in the wild are encouraged to be vaccinated against yellow fever. It is important to avoid self-medication- visit a health facility immediately if you feel ill.

“A multi-agency Yellow Fever technical working group coordinated by NCDC, has been leading the preparedness and response to yellow fever in Nigeria.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency is leading efforts to provide an additional opportunity of vaccination through preventive vaccination campaigns across the country.

“Healthcare workers and members of the public are reminded that the symptoms of yellow fever include yellowness of the eyes, sudden fever, headache and body pain.

“If you have these symptoms or notice someone in your community displaying them, please contact your nearest primary healthcare centre.

US-born Senegalese rapper, Akon, has revealed how Nigeria music star, David Adeleke, aka Davido, made it big.

Akon discussed his relationship with Davido, noting that the music star started his trade in Atlanta, United States, before relocating to Nigeria.

He also talked about his encounters with P-Square and Wizkid; while alleging that Nigerians don’t honour contracts.

He said this during an interview with The Breakfast Club crew on US radio, Power 105.1, while discussing his new project, Akoin.

Akon, while discussing his time in Senegal said that he had signed Wizkid, Davido and P-Square, alleging that there was nothing like contracts in Africa, just handshakes.

When asked why he let him (Davido) go, he said, “It’s not even a matter of letting him go, because in Africa, contracts really don’t exist. You just shake hands. It’s all words. Especially Nigeria, there is no contract being honoured.

“And me and Davido never had a contract. I was more like a big brother walking him through certain things, learn some things, advice, things like that.”

Akon went on to talk about his time on the African continent. He said, “When I was in Africa, I was building an Afrobeat team.

“When I first went out there in 2008, I signed Wizkid, Davido, PSquare. Davido is like my little brother. Did you know, Davido was originally from Atlanta? And started his music career actually in Atlanta and just decided, you know what, ‘It’s too much of a struggle here, let me go back home.’

“He went back home and just popped off like that” (snaps fingers).

Continuing, he said, “P-Square was actually the biggest act as of that time. It was a group of twin brothers. We had a song, ‘Choplife.’

“It was a huge smash. But at the time, Afrobeat wasn’t that big here.

“What I love about Davido is that he is an independent artiste. He came with the US hustle to Africa. So, he completely gets it.”

When asked if Davido was still signed to his record label, he said, “Nah, nah, He’s doing his own thing now.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has said that the country would not severe diplomatic ties with South Africa following the current xenophobic attacks on Nigerians.

Onyeama,  who stated this on Friday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Disapora, said taking such action would not be in the interest of Nigerians in South Africa.

He said available statistics from the Nigeria High Commission in Pretoria indicated that over 800, 000 Nigerians are legally living in the South African country.

He noted that any attempt by the country to cut diplomatic relationship with the former apartheid nation, would greatly affect Nigerians and their huge investment there.

He said the special envoys dispatched to Johannesburg by President Muhammadu Buhari would return to Nigeria on Saturday (tomorrow).

He explained that their report would guide the Nigerian leader to take a decisive action in the overall interest of the country.

Onyeama, who briefed journalists after a meeting with the Senate panel led by Senator Bashir Ajibola, Nigeria would consider other options apart from diplomatic ties severance,  to resolve the unfortunate development.

He said, “We are not thinking to the stage of diplomatic ties called off. There are various options. We are not by any means at a stage where we are breaking diplomatic relations with South Africa.

“We just met with the senate committee to review the situation with regards to South Africa and we looked at all the possible options we analysed the possible causes and agreed on a road map going forward.

“Part of that road map on the executive side  Mr. President has dispatched a special envoy to South Africa who would be holding discussion with the South African government at the very highest level.

“He (leader of the envoy) should be back tomorrow (Saturday), that will now give the government the basis for further action. In the mean time, if the government is very much on top of the situation.

“We know for a fact that no Nigerian life has been lost so we are extremely concerned now to ensure that there will be adequate compensation for property that have been damaged.

“We know that a Nigerian Airline is putting a plane at the disposal of most Nigerians that wish to take the opportunity to leave South Africa, this is purely voluntary, but we are particularly determined to particularly make sure that this crisis does not re-occur.

It has been happening for far too long, its becoming almost endemic, so with the distinguished senators, are helping with some of the options that we may have to ensure that this will be the last time we will ever be meeting to talking about Nigerians attacked in South Africa and to take definitive measures.

“To start doing that, we want to have all the facts available and then we will take the necessary measures.”

A lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Science at the Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Ondo State, Prof. Gideon Okedayo, has been reportedly kidnapped by some unknown gunmen.

It was gathered that the incident happened around 6.30pm when the victim was travelling to Igara in Kogi State on Thursday. The kidnappers have not contacted the family as of the time of this report.

The Chairman, Joint Action Committee of Staff Unions in OSUSTECH, Mr. Dayo Temola, confirmed the incident on Friday.

The labour leader called on the state police command and the Ondo State government to assist in rescuing the victim.

Temola said, “With utmost shock and disbelief that we received the news of reported kidnapping of Professor Gideon  Okedayo. He is a thoroughbred academics who has been and still contributing to the growth of education in Nigerian and beyond.

“We, therefore, think that in all honesty, he deserves no place in this heinous act of man’s inhumanity to man.

“We hereby call on the government and relevant security agencies to fast- track his unconditional release.

“We further add that the security agencies on our road should be proactive and go beyond routine checks and wrangling of innocent citizens but rather become a terror to these ravaging men of the underworld.”

When contacted the Police public relations officer of the state command, Mr. Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident but said, “it did not happen within our jurisdiction.”

Following are key milestones in the life of Zimbabwe’s former leader Robert Mugabe.

1924 – Mugabe is born on February 21 in what was then British-ruled Southern Rhodesia.

1940s-1950s – He is educated at Catholic schools and attends South Africa’s University of Fort Hare.

He teaches in Zambia and Ghana, where he is influenced by African independence movement leaders.

1960s – Mugabe campaigns for Zimbabwe’s independence and is imprisoned in 1964 for political agitation.

While incarcerated, he earns two law degrees from the University of London External Programme.

1974 – Released from prison, he escapes to Mozambique were Zimbabwe African National Union guerrilla fighters elect him to lead their struggle against white minority rule.

A number of rivals die in suspicious circumstances, rights groups say.

1980 – Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party wins independent Zimbabwe’s first election. He takes office as prime minister on April 18.

1982 – Mugabe deploys North Korean-trained troops to crush an insurgency by former guerrillas loyal to his liberation war rival Joshua Nkomo.

Government forces are accused of involvement in the killing of 20,000 civilians, which Mugabe denies.

1987 – He becomes president with sweeping executive powers after changes to the constitution and signs a unity pact with Nkomo, who becomes one of his two deputies.

1990 – ZANU-PF and Mugabe win parliamentary and presidential elections.

1998 – An economic crisis marked by high interest rates and inflation sparks riots.

2000 – Zimbabweans reject a new constitution in a referendum, Mugabe’s first defeat at the ballot box.

Thousands of independence war veterans and their allies, backed by the government, seize white-owned farms, saying the land was illegally appropriated by white settlers.

2001 – The United States puts a financial freeze on Mugabe’s government in response to land seizures, beginning a wave of Western sanctions.

Mugabe’s relationship with the West, especially the US and Britain, never recovers.

2002 – Mugabe wins a disputed presidential vote, which observers condemn as flawed.

Zimbabwe is suspended from the British Commonwealth over accusations of human rights abuses and economic mismanagement.

Mugabe pulls his country from the grouping the following year.

2008 – Hyperinflation reaches 500 billion per cent, the nadir of an economic implosion that forces millions of people to leave the country, many to neighbouring South Africa.

– Mugabe loses a presidential vote but wins the run-off after opponent Morgan Tsvangirai withdraws citing violence against his supporters by security forces and war veterans.

A power-sharing agreement is signed.

2010 – Media reports say Mugabe is seriously ill with cancer, speculation that continues in following years.

2013 – Mugabe wins another disputed presidential vote.

Western observers site multiple accounts of electoral fraud.

2016 – Protesters led by a pastor stage the biggest show of defiance against Mugabe in a decade, prompting speculation about life after the veteran leader.

2017 – Mugabe is forced to resign in November following an army coup and is replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the man he had fired as his deputy two weeks earlier.

2018 – Mugabe is seen in public for the first time since leaving power.

He berates his former ZANU-PF allies and backs opposition leader Nelson Chamisa on the eve of an election.

2019 – Mugabe travels several times to Singapore to seek medical treatment as pictures of the gaunt, gray-haired former leader circulate on social media.

Philippine authorities have charged an American woman with trying to smuggle a six-day-old infant out of the country in a bag she wore around her waist as she tried to board a flight out of the country.

The woman, the 42-year-old Jennifer Talbot, had no valid custody documents for the child but managed to make it through security and immigration before personnel at the departure gate confronted her at Manila’s international airport on Wednesday.

National Bureau of Investigation officials said she was “carrying an infant baby boy inside a sling bag” as she attempted to depart for a connecting flight on her journey back to the United States.

Prosecutors charged Talbot on Thursday with human trafficking, which if convicted, could send her to prison for decades, officials told reporters at a press conference as Talbot stood by in orange jail clothes.

Investigators believe the baby, who is now in the custody child welfare services, was born to a Filipino mother in the nation’s south and then flown to Manila.

The exact circumstances of how Talbot came to have the baby are still under investigation, but authorities believe they have located the birth mother. Prosecutors have not filed any kidnapping charges.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, on Friday, said that the late former President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe started well in office but ended tragically.

He said this as he was paying tribute to Mugabe, who was one of the longest-serving dictators in Africa.

Via his verified Twitter handle, the Kaduna governor said, “May Robert Mugabe’s soul Rest in Peace. He started very well, stayed too long and ended tragically. An African hero all the same and a leader that honestly meant well. His life is a lesson for all in public leadership roles – groom successors and leave when ovation is still loud!”

The death of Mugabe was announced on Friday by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on his Twitter handle.

He tweeted, “It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President… Robert Mugabe.”

Mugabe became the first prime minister of the newly independent Zimbabwe on April 18 1980 and ruled the country with an iron fist until he was forced out of power in November 2017, after a military coup.

Award-winning Nigerian poet, Mr. Tade Ipadeola, has been selected to participate in the International Writing Program Fall Residency at the University of Iowa, courtesy of the United States Department of State.

This was revealed in a statement by the United States Consulate General, signed by Temitayo Famutimi of its Public Affairs Section

The statement revealed that from September 1 to November 16, 2019, Ipadeola, the 2013 winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature, would join 28 other accomplished writers from across the globe in the world’s oldest and largest multinational writing residency.

Part of the statement read, “Over the course of the 11-week residency, Ipadeola and the other participants will give readings and lectures that share their work and cultures, collaborate with artists from other genres and art forms and travel to interact with audiences and literary communities across the United States.

“In addition, the residency will provide the writers a one-of-a-kind intercultural opportunity to forge productive relationships with colleagues and translators, and take part in the vibrant social and academic life of the University of Iowa as well as the larger American literary scene.”

While congratulating Ipadeola for his acceptance into the residency program,  the United States Consulate Public Affairs Officer, Russell Brooks said the goal of the IWP Fall Residency is to provide outstanding writers with a platform for cultural exchange and collaboration.

“The International Writing Program Fall Residency is a unique experience for rising stars and established writers who have achieved literary distinction and have shown interest in contributing to the creative writing culture in their home countries.

“This program will enable Ipadeola to present his works and Nigeria’s literary culture to a wider audience. He will, in turn, learn more about U.S. society, culture, and the American people,” Brooks said.

Ipadeola has three published works, including The Sahara Testament, a poetry collection, which won the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2013 and has been translated into Dutch, French, Spanish and Xhosa. In 2009, he won the Delphic Laurel in Poetry for his Yoruba poem Songbird at the Delphic Games in Jeju, South Korea. In 2012, he translated Paid on Both Sides, the first dramatic work of renowned Anglo-American poet, W.H. Auden, into Yoruba as Lamilami.

To date, 34 Nigerian literary figures have participated in the IWP Fall Residency. Notable among them are Elechi Amadi (1973), Cyprian Ekwensi (1974), Ola Rotimi (1980), Femi Osofisan (1986), Niyi Osundare (1988), Festus Iyayi (1990), Lola Shoneyin (1999), Obari Gomba (2016).