Nigeria has the highest number of unvaccinated children in Africa. Now, a novel AI-driven vaccination programme is showing the way to boosting vaccine uptake by up to 90%. SPECIAL FEATURE | BIRD AGENCY | Mariam Haruna has been struggling to keep up with her six-month-old baby’s vaccination appointments at the …
Read More »Putting pen to Nigeria’s polls
How Africa’s media covered Nigeria recent general elections and why it matters for the next coverage COMMENT | Azubuike Ishiekwene | Between February and March 2023, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new President and parliament. This was the seventh national vote since Nigeria’s transition from military rule in 1999. …
Read More »In this Nigerian school, plastic bottles have replaced school fees
To make his school more accessible – and help clean up his local community – 38-year-old Patrick Mbamarah accepts plastic bottles collected from the street instead of tuition fees Lagos, Nigeria | BIRD AGENCY | When a neighbour recommended Morit International School to Ijeoma Obiora three years ago and told …
Read More »Communities across Africa are developing innovative solutions to prevent further Cholera spread
From Malawi to Nigeria, traditional leaders, midwives, local organisations, and governments are conducting door-to-door and community-wide sensitisations to stop the spread of Cholera across the continent. Blantyre, Malawi | BIRD AGENCY | Residents of Machinjiri stand on their doorsteps, watching, in a mixture of curiosity and awe, as their …
Read More »Nigerian charcoal artist Joshua Osariemen Akugbe
His journey as an artist and his creative process Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Joshua Osariemen Akugbe, also known as JJOSH_ARTZ, is a 23 years old artist based in Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria. “I’ve been drawing since I was little. I found myself drawing on my school books and …
Read More »BUHARI: Significant milestones achieved in tackling Nigerian security challenges
Abuja, Nigeria | Xinhua | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said his administration has achieved significant milestones in national security. Speaking in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, at the inauguration of the new office of the National Security Adviser, and National Counterterrorism Center, two state-of-the-art facilities to optimize efforts at …
Read More »Nigerian president-elect vows to form government of “national competence”
Abuja, Nigeria | Xinhua | Nigeria’s president-elect Bola Tinubu said Thursday that he aims to form a government of “national competence” in accomplishing the enormous tasks that lie ahead of his administration. In a statement, Tinubu, who won the country’s Feb. 25 presidential poll and is expected to take office on May …
Read More »Nigerian and Burundian detained over Uganda passport forgery
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Two foreign nationals and a Ugandan are in trouble for fraudulently acquiring Ugandan passports. Simon Mundeyi, the Internal Affairs Ministry Spokesperson, identifies the suspects as Ishime Gabriel alias Aime, a Burundian national, and Saunders David Joshua alias Damba from Nigeria, and their Ugandan accomplice Gibson Sseruwajji. The …
Read More »The kingmaker is now king
Nigeria’s president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria, has been declared winner of the country’s keenly contested presidential election. The 70-year-old former governor of Lagos State and Nigeria’s political kingmaker will inherit a Nigeria that is …
Read More »Nigerian troops rescue 14 kidnapped civilians in northern state
Lagos, Nigeria | Xinhua | Nigerian troops have rescued 14 people who were being held hostage by bandits in the northern state of Kaduna, an official said on Saturday. The rescue mission was carried out recently by Nigerian troops who embarked on an operation targeted at a hideout of the bandits in …
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