₦airaland Forum

SIRRITE:
I use to see and believe the ibos are smart and intelligent, until when Kanu say bahari is dead that jubrin of Sudan is the one in aso rock, and the ibos believed it and Carrie's that PROPAGANDA on their heard like M-U-M-U, since then i see them as wise M-U-M-U I never take them serious again

You're being naive, playing the same game as those that gave the impression that they truly believed in Jubril or you don't understand Nigerians and thire sometimes tongue-in-cheek dark humour.

I for one totally loved the Jubrim drama...

ugabamuzu:
Only if Africa can wake up to realize the Plans China has for her.

Even as we speak Nigeria is already sold out to china without we knowing..

How did you then know ?

Hakeem3:
Disease wey them bring come the world na Africa them wan they form strict measures on top.
How the whites have become a god!

Typical Nigerian, always concerned for the well being of Africa as a whole when Africans from these other countries seem to alway wish you Nigerians ill.

If a Covid variant had ever started in Nigeria first, eh, Haay them for don finish wuna with cussing. From morning to night to morning them go dey dance skellewu for Jo'burg, Accra and Kigali. You'll not stop hearing Shit hole until the far side of next century.

ifiokjohn:
They want to train your useless policemen and you're rejecting it. Our leaders are really stupid set of people

Or you're the stupid one.

aremuforlife:
He was arrested
How is that a failed nation?
You guys will allows look for means of negative comments on your country, you guys are worst than the terrorists

Who told you Nigeria is his or her country?

Nigerians just don't understand the horrible mentality of the Africans Nigerians share the continent with.

The day majority of Nigerians understand that much of your insecurity causes has a lager external than internal footprint, the quicker Nigeria will start resolving them.

Nigeria need to better control her borders and tighten the immigration Industry.

aremuforlife:
He was arrested
How is that a failed nation?
You guys will allows look for means of negative comments on your country, you guys are worst than the terrorists

Who told you Nigeria is his country?

The day majority of Nigerians understand that much of your insecurity causes has a lager external than internal footprint, the quicker Nigeria will start resolving them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Av4G0ZaCZs

‘Battery arms race’: how China has monopolised the electric vehicle industry
Chinese companies dominate mining, battery and manufacturing sectors, and amid human rights concerns, Europe and the US are struggling to keep pace

Think of an electric car and the first name that comes to mind will probably be Tesla. The California company makes the world’s bestselling electric car and was recently valued at $1tn. But behind this US success story is a tale of China’s manufacturing might.

Tesla’s factory in Shanghai now produces more cars than its plant in California. Some of the batteries that drive them are Chinese-made and the minerals that power the batteries are largely refined and mined by Chinese companies.

As the world transitions to electric vehicles (EVs), companies are racing to secure and strengthen their positions in the battery supply chain, from mineral extraction and processing to battery and EV manufacturing.

The sector has seen a move towards vertical integration – where one company controls a number of steps along the supply chain – to guarantee supply and, in some cases, to improve transparency.

And in what has been dubbed, the “battery arms race”, China is in pole position.

China is the world’s biggest market for EVs with total sales of 1.3m vehicles last year, more than 40% of sales worldwide. Chinese battery-maker CATL controls about 30% of the world’s EV battery market. And cobalt specialist suppliers Darton Commodities estimate that Chinese refineries supplied 85% of the world’s battery-ready cobalt last year; a mineral that helps to improve the stability of lithium-ion batteries.

Most of that cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where almost 70% of the mining sector is dominated by Chinese companies.

Drive through DRC’s southern copper and cobalt mining belt, and signs in Chinese are everywhere: at the entrance to casinos and hotels and on trucks and business premises.

The Chinese treat Congolese very badly. They like to insult us. Even for a small fault, you’re punished
In August, China Molybdenum Company (CMOC), a giant Chinese mining firm, announced an investment of $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to double copper and cobalt production at its Tenke Fungurume Mine, already one of the largest in DRC. That followed its purchase of a 95% stake in nearby Kisanfu copper and cobalt mine for $550m.
Fellow Chinese corporate giant, Huayou Cobalt owns or has a stake in at least three copper-cobalt mines in DRC and is a key player at every step of the cobalt supply chain, from mines to refineries to battery precursor and cathode production.

But China’s dominance of DRC’s copper-cobalt mines comes at a price, according to claims by Congolese workers employed at them.

“The Chinese treat Congolese very badly. They like to insult us. They like to raise their voices. Even for a small fault, you’re punished. The Chinese are there as the boss to control Congolese,” says a worker employed at Sicomines, a mine majority-owned by a Chinese consortium, which includes Huayou Cobalt.

Workers at Sicomines claim they are paid less than Chinese workers who do the same jobs, and are subjected to degrading treatment by Chinese supervisors.

“It’s the same as during the colonial times but now we’re under the Chinese,” says another worker.

Chinese mining companies point to the contributions they make to DRC’s revenues and local communities, while working in a challenging environment.

One Chinese manager says, “It’s very frustrating to work with the Congolese government. It’s the most corrupt country.”

Analyst Christian-Geraud Neema Byamungu, says labour laws are not always respected and corruption is widespread in the country as a whole, which potentially could create an environment in which companies are not inclined to follow the rules.

Some car and battery manufacturers are beginning to reduce the amount of cobalt in their batteries, partly as a way to avoid the legal and reputational risks associated with cobalt from DRC. Nickel-rich batteries are seen as one way forward, but the same Chinese companies that dominate cobalt mining in DRC – Huayou Cobalt and CMOC – are also increasing investment in nickel extraction and processing in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest nickel reserves at 72m tonnes. This means China is now the largest global market producer of nickel, beating off competition from Europe and the US.

“China will be the major player because they connected with the market in the country – but also export the nickel material at a lower price compared to Europe, as Chinese companies are known for cheap labour,” says Paul Ginting, executive director of Action for Ecology and People’s Emancipation (AEER), an Indonesian environmental NGO.

Recently there have been efforts to push back against China’s dominance, starting in DRC.

On a visit to Kolwezi in May, a city in the heart of DRC’s copper-cobalt belt, the country’s president, Félix Tshisekedi, said: “People come to Congo empty handed and when they leave they are billionaires, but we remain poor.”

DRC recently announced a review of some of its biggest mining contracts, including the $6.2bn deal which gave the Chinese consortium majority control over Sicomines in 2007.

In Europe too, companies are beginning to gain on China’s lead. By the end of the decade, the continent is expected to have 28 factories producing lithium-ion cells, with production capacity due to increase by 1440% from 2020 levels, according to Darton Commodities. That growth is being driven by companies such as Britishvolt in Northumberland and Sweden’s Northvolt, as well as Asian firms expanding production into Europe.

However, European investment in mining and the production of battery precursor and cathode materials is not keeping pace, says Andries Gerbens at Darton. “China will eventually become less dominant. Nonetheless, it will remain a big player,” he says.

The US, however, lags behind, despite a $174bn investment “to win the EV market”, announced as part of President Joe Biden’s $2tn infrastructure package in April, although this has since been slimmed down.

Simon Moores, CEO of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence told a US Senate committee in June that China is building the equivalent of one battery megafactory a week compared with one every four months in the US.

He warned: “A new global lithium-ion economy is being created, yet any ambitions for the United States to be a leader … continue to only creep forward and be outstripped by China and Europe.”

A spokesperson for CMOC in DRC says, “We are devoted to providing a safe, healthy, and decent work environment to all employees and attach great importance to protecting the rights of employees.” The spokesperson says the company is committed to observing international labour conventions and local labour laws, adding that all DRC national employees are members of trade unions.

Sicomines itself did not respond to multiple requests for comment. However, in a statement Huayou Cobalt says, “Sicomines, as a responsible company, strictly abides by DRC laws and regulations and respects human rights and fulfils best labour practice.”

dragon2:
Danish frigate kills four pirates in Gulf of Guinea
Written by Reuters -25th Nov 2021341

A Danish frigate has killed four pirates in waters south of Nigeria in an operation to protect shipping in the Gulf of Guinea, the Danish military said on Thursday.

The Esbern Snare, deployed last month to the Gulf of Guinea amid heightened security risks from pirates, on Wednesday spotted a fast-moving vessel carrying eight suspected pirates near a number of commercial ships, the Danish military said.

The incident took place in international waters, 25 to 30 nautical miles south of Nigeria’s territorial boundary, a spokesman said.

The motorboat, spotted by a helicopter deployed by the frigate, was carrying equipment associated with piracy, including ladders.

After the frigate fired warning shots, the pirates opened fire on Danish navy special forces, who in turn shot and killed four pirates and wounded one, the Danish military said in a statement.

The remaining four pirates were taken on board the frigate, and no Danish personnel were hurt in the incident, the military said.

It was the first time the frigate had opened fire during its current mission to the Gulf of Guinea, the spokesman said.

The Gulf of Guinea has been a piracy hot spot for years, but incidents have decreased since national authorities stepped up security efforts aided by foreign naval ships.

American, British, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese navies have also sent assistance, ships or training forces over the past year to tackle piracy after a record 130 sailors were taken from vessels in the region in 2020.

Piracy and armed robbery incidents dropped to 28 in the first nine months of 2021, compared with 46 in the same period in 2020, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Separately, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and opposition lawmaker Jakob Elleman had both planned to visit the frigate during a visit to Ghana on Wednesday and Thursday.

They were not on board during the incident, which Frederiksen said was likely to have averted attacks on commercial ships in the gulf.

The frigate will operate in the region until April next year.

Shouldn't Buhari invite the Danish High Commissioner in Nigeria for discussions?

Whether incident took place on international waters, if it was within sniffing distance of Nigeria's territorial water, we need to raise concerns; we don't want to be taken for granted. Inconsequential or not, as far as in international standings, we need to make Western nations tell us we’re inconsequential by kicking up a fuss. Let us be inconsequential disgracefully not politely….

I guess his death couldn't be due to Supporting one type of person against the sentiments of others since Igbos are naturally democratic.

thebosstrevor1:
Not suprised.

There are hundreds of people willing to kill buhari supporters on this forum if given the chance.

If you have different opinions from the mob, your life is always at risk.

African democracy loading:
Yesterday When Johnathan was in power it was ochastreted cuss the country, lie and wish destruction on the nation by the opposition. Buhari inherited some of this in retaliation by his opposition.

Today it has become kill Buhari supporters.

Tomorrow if Johnathan (Again) or Chukwu becomes president, the opposition will be encouraging retaliatory type behaviour by demanding death to Johnathan or Chukwu's supporters.

It's like at the Monkey Tea Party, the primates discussed aping the quaint custom of Democracy practiced by the Humans ( humans made democracy seem quite civilized and charming) but the Monkeys only ended up throwing custard pies at each other, got quite dirty and amused the watching humans greatly.

The B.1.1.529 variant was first spotted in Botswana and six cases have been found in South Africa

Coronavirus – latest updates
See all our coronavirus coverage

Scientists have said a new Covid variant that carries an “extremely high number” of mutations may drive further waves of disease by evading the body’s defences.

Only 10 cases in three countries have been confirmed by genomic sequencing, but the variant has sparked serious concern among some researchers because a number of the mutations may help the virus evade immunity.

The B.1.1.529 variant has 32 mutations in the spike protein, the part of the virus that most vaccines use to prime the immune system against Covid. Mutations in the spike protein can affect the virus’s ability to infect cells and spread, but also make it harder for immune cells to attack the pathogen.

The variant was first spotted in Botswana, where three cases have now been sequenced. Six more have been confirmed in South Africa, and one in Hong Kong in a traveller returning from South Africa.

Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, posted details of the new variant on a genome-sharing website, noting that the “incredibly high amount of spike mutations suggest this could be of real concern”.

In a series of tweets, Peacock said it “very, very much should be monitored due to that horrific spike profile”, but added that it may turn out to be an “odd cluster” that is not very transmissible. “I hope that’s the case,” he wrote.

Dr Meera Chand, the Covid-19 incident director at the UK Health Security Agency, said that in partnership with scientific bodies around the globe, the agency was constantly monitoring the status of Sars-CoV-2 variants as they emerge and develop worldwide.

As it is in the nature of viruses to mutate often and at random, it is not unusual for small numbers of cases to arise featuring new sets of mutations. Any variants showing evidence of spread are rapidly assessed,” she said.

The first cases of the variant were collected in Botswana on 11 November, and the earliest in South Africa was recorded three days later. The case found in Hong Kong was a 36-year-old man who had a negative PCR test before flying from Hong Kong to South Africa, where he stayed from 22 October to 11 November. He tested negative on his return to Hong Kong, but tested positive on 13 November while in quarantine.

England no longer has a red list to impose restrictions on travellers arriving from abroad. People who are not fully vaccinated must test negative before flying and arrange two PCR tests on arrival. Those who are fully vaccinated need to have a Covid test within two days of landing.

Scientists will be watching the new variant for any sign that it is gaining momentum and spreading more widely. Some virologists in South Africa are already concerned, particularly given the recent rise in cases in Gauteng, an urban area containing Pretoria and Johannesburg, where B.1.1.529 cases have been detected.

DAVID NIELD
25 NOVEMBER 2021
Peering deeper below the surface of Earth can tell us a lot about its history and geological make-up, and it's the same for any other planet.

Now the InSight lander on the surface of Mars has provided our first in-depth look at what lies just beneath the red planet's surface.

The seismometer on board InSight – called SEIS or the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure – points to a shallow sedimentary layer sandwiched between hardened rocks resulting from lava flows, going down to a depth of around 200 meters or about 650 feet.
This could tell us a lot about how Mars was originally formed, how it evolved over time, and the sort of geological factors that are still in play today. In particular, the lava flows can be connected to what we know of the planet's volcanic past.

"Seismic studies of the shallow subsurface around the InSight landing site so far have been limited to the uppermost 10-20m using seismic-travel time measurements and ground compliance estimates, leaving structures at few tens to several hundreds of meters depth uncharted," the researchers explain in their paper.

InSight arrived on Mars in November 2018, landing in the wide and flat plain known as Elysium Planitia. Here, the lander's instruments measured the slight ambient vibrations of the ground, caused by the winds flowing over the surface of the planet, in order to figure out what was out of view underneath.

The same technique was developed on Earth to assess subsurface composition and the associated earthquake risk. On Mars, the pattern of waves were consistent with two dense layers of rocks, such as basalt, with a thinner, less dense layer of material in the middle, most likely sedimentary in nature.
From what we know about Mars' history from the craters still visible on the planet today, the researchers suggest the uppermost layer of hardened lava is around 1.7 billion years old, formed during the cold, arid Amazonian period on Mars when there were relatively few meteorite and asteroid impacts

The deeper layer looks to be some 3.6 billion years old, created during the Hesperian period when there was much more volcanic activity on the Red Planet. These ancient periods have molded Mars into the planet that we are seeing and exploring today.
"This helps to tie this to trying to figure out what the timing was between the various different activities," geophysicist Bruce Banerdt, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, told Inverse.

"The fact that you've got this sedimentary layer that is sandwiched between these two volcanic stones tells that there was a pause in the volcanic activity, a fairly long pause because it takes a long time for the sedimentary rocks to form."

The presence of that middle layer, some 30-40 meters (98-131 feet) thick, is something of a surprise for the researchers, and it's not clear exactly what it's made up of or how it was formed. It's possible that there's some mixing with the Amazonian basalts, but the accuracy of the seismic readings decreases at lower depths.

Part of the usefulness of this data lies in working out whether life ever existed on Mars, but it also tells us more about Earth's history and evolution – Earth and Mars are actually pretty similar in terms of geological composition.
Aside from ancient planetary history, there's a more immediate benefit to knowing what's underneath the surface of Mars at different points: It enables scientists to work out the best places to put landers, rovers, and (eventually) space stations in the future.

While the results help to better understand the geological processes in Elysium Planitia, comparison with pre-landing models is also valuable for future landed missions, since it can help to refine predictions," says seismologist Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun from the University of Cologne in Germany.

If community leaders, elders and leading sons in these areas haven't enough nuance and sophistication to fight oil companies in court for their people then they had best leave the Oil companies and Authorities to exploit the land. In the long run, even gaining nothing from the oil will be better than gaining nothing and loosing the land to pollution caused by militants blowing up facilities in order to replace the current formal state arrangement with the free for all of an informal none state one. The pollution might even pale in comparison to the inter Warlord fighting for control of trade and best grounds that will accompany the free for all, see Congo.

The oil companies owe the various relevant communities Billions in compensation for degradation of the mangroves, land and fishing waters not paltry sums such as £36 million conceded by Royal Dutch Shell in the UK a few years back. That disgraceful case in which Shell was dragged kicking and screaming just to relinquish pocket change to communities that it had exploited for decades is called a Landmark Ruling .

It may interest those with common sense in Nigeria to remember that Shell' defense was based on the seductive premise that Nigeria's government mismanagement and militants/oil bunkers in the affected communities were responsible for paucity of amenities in the area and the degradation of environment respectfully. Now if this commonsense is applied to the bolded, it should become evident that the these sophisticated Oil companies/conglomerates, with their vast PR, legal teams and insurance cover, would rather that so-called youths destroy and blow up facilities than fight them in court.

Incidentally, it has been my experience living in the West that whites amazingly seemed to prefer thuggish, ghetto black youths, thieves, criminals, gang-members etc to middle class and well to do blacks. My explanation for this is that the criminal black is a known quantity in the White man's psyche so he is comfortable with this type of black persons. Whites have become so adept at ordering society and classifying things that they are now no longer able to live in a world that they have not categorized - or let's say- not stereotyped. Therefor when Nigerians go blowing up pipelines and go running around with masks and wielding guns, these oil companies are happiest because they are dealing with a known quantity. They have seen it in Congo, Rwanda, Liberia, Siere Leon, Uganda - bunch of blacks killing and maiming themselves alone and affecting no change. Nigerians used to be different, we used to think, used our brains and education and the Whites were uncomfortable with this type of Africans and disliked us for it, which was why, consequently, the world including Africans hated us. Whites control international media, you see.

smartasuen:
I'm just thinking if their statuses will change as they've been returned to dis shit hole of a Nation.

I guess the ones returning have discovered that, for them, Libya is worst than the Shithole. Perhaps Libya was like the swirling and tumultuous river of putrefaction where the shithole bottoms out.

Golan007:
[s][/s]

Rubbish.

Calling it rubbish is being kind, just imagine the monumental l stupidity.

Ademola47:
Gradually, the unknown Gunmen issue is being seen as normal thing...

Yeah, it has gone Culture on our arses and Social Media supporters, cheer-leading all forms of deviant acts in Nigeria excused as expression of citizens rights of dissension under the democratic dispensation, cannot be absolved of a great percentage of responsibility. If a different political party emerges as winner of the next general election, the continuation of these acts would be blamed on the opposition party. In this way deviants get away with perpetrating continuing acts of violence and destruction against the people. Worst, if the leader of the new party is of Igbo extraction since the unintentional or and indirect online support these deviants enjoy would clash harmlessly above their heads. You can just imagine one set of online voices arguing Igbo presidency was being deliberately undermined and another set arguing, see how the new party is doing worst for Nigerians than the former.

We need a return to the old Nigeria spirit, which was aim to Be Better Than and not As Good As!

Bricks and mortar isn't Nuclear fission, quantum computing, traveling to the moon or building atom smashers underground. It doesn't require great intelligence commissioning the construction of streets, buildings, parks and bridges of higher standard than anything currently in Dubai, Hong Kong, or elsewhere. The expertise required is out there waiting.....

hustler2828:
You lack compression. I pity you olodo rabata.

If you're encouraging people in the Delta to blow up oil pipes or and disrupt the little industry remaining in the area, then you come as close as anyone can be to unadulterated evil. Unless of course, you're just an ignorant t.w.a.t residing abroad in which case you need to read widely and research before committing your useless ideas to the gaze of impressionable and unsophisticated people in Africa that have a culture of blaming otherworldly forces for majority of life's problem. People the world over are susceptible to the flaw of blaming others for thire problems in life much less peoples whose entire cultures are nearly entirely founded on this. Don't do it! The area is degraded enough by pollution and economically comatose due to industry flight. I'm not even mentioning the politics of militancy in the area which has barely anything to do with justice, jobs, investment or porverty alleviation of Deltans.

Many oil bunkerers already operating in the creeks and swamps, the types that become Militants, degrade the rivers and streams in Nigeria, then transport that oil to Benin Republic where the end benefactors are people of Benin Republic, Westerners and the smugglers themselves. Deltans don't benefit not even indirectly due to say, the smugglers investing in schools or apprenticeships or spending the money in the local economy.

hustler2828:
No guts no glory. There will always be a sacrifices or price to pay for anything good to come. Nothing is free even in Freetown. Sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone to get what we want.

I bet you look ugly.

What could the people of Nigeria have ever done to you?

Featured Image - From Left to Right: SpaceX Consultant Levin Born; Director Spectrum Administration, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Oluwatoyin Asaju, Executive Commissioner of Technical Services NCC Ubale Maska; SpaceX’s Starlink Market Access Director for Africa Ryan Goodnight, and Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management Adeleke Adewolu. May 2021 / Source: NCC

SpaceX is working to connect rural and remote areas around the globe to the internet. The company is building the Starlink broadband constellation in Low Earth Orbit, it currently operates approximately 1,844 satellites that beam internet service to over 140,000 customers across 20 countries. Among the countries served are: United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Company officials are working with telecommunication regulatory agencies to get Starlink service to more countries, especially in rural territories where people do not have access to multiple internet providers that provide reliable connection.

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SpaceX Looks Forward To Providing Starlink Internet Service In Nigeria
Evelyn Arevaloby Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo November 20, 2021

SpaceX Starlink
SpaceX Looks Forward To Providing Starlink Internet Service In Nigeria

Featured Image - From Left to Right: SpaceX Consultant Levin Born; Director Spectrum Administration, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Oluwatoyin Asaju, Executive Commissioner of Technical Services NCC Ubale Maska; SpaceX’s Starlink Market Access Director for Africa Ryan Goodnight, and Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management Adeleke Adewolu. May 2021 / Source: NCC

SpaceX is working to connect rural and remote areas around the globe to the internet. The company is building the Starlink broadband constellation in Low Earth Orbit, it currently operates approximately 1,844 satellites that beam internet service to over 140,000 customers across 20 countries. Among the countries served are: United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Company officials are working with telecommunication regulatory agencies to get Starlink service to more countries, especially in rural territories where people do not have access to multiple internet providers that provide reliable connection.



SpaceX looks forward to providing Starlink internet service in Nigeria, Africa, in 2022. In May this year, SpaceX’s Starlink Market Access Director for Africa Ryan Goodnight had a meeting with Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) Executive Vice-Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta and NCC Executive Commissioner of Technical Services Ubale Maska. Mr. Goodnight was “supported by the company’s consultant, Levin Born, the company provided an overview of its plans, expectations, licensing requests and deployment phases during the meeting,” NCC shared in a press release earlier this year.

During the meeting they discussed bringing Starlink to the West Africa country. SpaceX’s Starlink will enable the NCC to connect hard-to-reach remote areas where fiber-optic cables and terrestrial infrastructure is not available and/or too expensive for internet providers to build. Maska stated that “the Commission is interested in making necessary regulatory efforts to drive the coverage of rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country through the accomplishments of the lofty targets contained in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025.” He said the government aims for a “70 percent broadband penetration target, covering 90 percent of the population by 2025.”

NCC granted SpaceX a license for “the satellite constellation can beam their signals till November 2026 over Nigerian territory” earlier this year. The company is expected to provide service to rural communities then expand to more areas once they launch more internet-beaming satellites in 2022. SpaceX is accepting service pre-orders, to see if service is available in your area visit SpaceX's official website Starlink.com.

Barbados, an island nation in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, said it will build the first digital embassy in the virtual land trading platform Decentraland. Doing so also makes Barbados the first sovereign country to recognize the metaverse.

Fast facts
According to media reports, the virtual agency will perform as a real-world embassy — “e-consular services” is the core function of the digital embassy — and the agency will issue an “e-visa.” The embassy will open in January.

Barbados reportedly intends to establish more embassies in multiple virtual worlds and to finalize agreements with metaverse platforms Somnium Space and SuperWorld.

Barbados’ ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Gabriel Abed, leads the digital embassy project. Abed founded the CBDC solution company Bitt that created the Barbadian digital dollar and the e-Naira for Nigeria.

Decentraland is an Ethereum-based virtual reality platform that allows users to trade 90,601 pieces of digital land. The virtual world launched in 2015, and has evolved from a pixelated grid to a 3D virtual world. The price of each piece of digital land has appreciated, in some cases dramatically, from the initial US$20; in June a plot sold for US$913,808.

Authorities in some countries have begun to look at the strategic impact of metaverses. South Korea established a Metaverse Alliance in May in which more than 200 companies, including giants such as Samsung, have joined. Japanese authorities issued a report in July on metaverses, recommending that the government consider how legal problems will be resolved in the virtual world and the corresponding impact on the real world, as well as develop and export metaverse-related technical standards. China’s state-backed think tank warns about the metaverse’s threat to national security.

DubaiLandLord1:
This is bullshit

On what basis is she employed? We have a lot of hardworking Nigerians who deserve this position more.

This country sef, no wander most youths in the South don dey do Yahoo.

Her story and then motivations for joining NDLEA is touching and inspiring;however, your mean spirited response is OP's fault for posting only half the original article featured on BBC Africa pigeon English service. I am going to presume OP did this in order to spark negative tribal based debate.

Wow, at last, a Nigerian Celeb who thinks of Nigerians not only about Ghanaians, good on him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IuziTdyolk

Entitlement.

He is emboldened by the thought that whatever he does to National property will be supported by that section of public opinion that is anti Nigeria and very vocal, excused by the morass of partisan politics, our gossiping nature, social media likes, ignorance of world affairs, and so on that we have gotten ourselves into as a Nation.

Enter a mall in Nigeria, kill many, burn shops and loot items and you will be supported by the vocal anti Nigeria brigade online if you claim you did it because you are tired of Nigeria and interspersed this with popular catch-phrases such as, corrupt, elite, nothing works, shit hole and hell hole.

In the UK, where I now live, you can't get work unless you own a bank account. And, usually, your employer, as part of job application, helps you get bank account.

The root cause of most problem in Nigeria is lack of Organisation. For instance, I bet you the way government and institutions pay workers in Nigeria has no solid structure and this leads to leakages, phantom workers, backlogs,ommisions, lateness, bottlenecks, mismanagement, in addition to exploitations associated with corruption. Together this leads to financial wastages and inability to efficiently maximise the benefits of the small gains made; for example, in this instance, the fledgling railway sector.

When all Nigerians employed, in at least the formal sectors, are paid through the banks, we shall begin to get somewhere. But generally, Nigeria should begin by encouraging all Nigerians to own bank accounts.

Lol, Nigeria is surrounded by hostile neighbors, only they go about it sneakily with foreign powers lurking in the background with them. Nigeria's current wild, runaway insecurities issues is due largely to the covet actions of the neighboring nations.

Sahel jihadists: West Africa faces up to policing its terror triangle

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/13022/production/_120385877_gettyimages-1184517945_976549_afp.png

With Chad's withdrawal of troops and the imminent reduction in French troop strength from the vast Sahel region of West Africa - where jihadist groups continue to stage attack after attack, targeting civilians and soldiers without discrimination - new anti-terror tactics are afoot.

Defence ministers from the G5 Sahel countries - Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger - are planning more joint military operations and greater "hearts and minds" engagement.

This will target the farming and livestock herding communities of the "three-border region", where Burkina, Niger and Mali converge and militant activity is at its most intense.

In finalising the new approach at defence talks this week in the Nigérien capital Niamey, the G5 nations are taking the strategic lead.

France is stepping back into a support role, after President Emmanuel Macron recently announced that its counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane was coming to an end with French troop numbers in the Sahel being cut from 5,100 to 2,500-3,000 over the next few months.

More immediately Niger, Mali and Burkina have had to take account of Chad's abrupt decision in August to reduce its force in the three borders region from 1,200 troops to just 600.

The transitional Chadian regime in charge since the death of President Idriss Déby in April decided that it needed to bring half the contingent back home to tackle local security threats.

These include:

Nigeria-based Boko Haram and its off-shoot group Iswap, which continue to raid communities on the shores of Lake Chad
The overspill impacts of conflict between rebels and government in the neighbouring Central African Republic.
And in the desert north of Chad itself, homegrown insurgents who may still threaten - despite government efforts to agree frontier security arrangements with Libya.

But while the N'Djamena junta's choice of priorities is entirely understandable, where does that leave the struggle against the jihadists in the central Sahel?
Motorbikes massacres

Human Rights Watch estimates that 420 civilians have been killed this year in western Niger alone.

Recent attacks have been typical.

On 16 August gunmen on motorbikes burst into the village of Dareye-Daye, which had already been raided in March, and massacred 37 people.

Just two days later 47 civilians and gendarmes died when a military convoy was attacked between Dori and Arbinda in the north of Burkina Faso.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-58438905

Phcmayor:
For all one Nigerian supporters the worst is coming

It will be worst for the other West Africa nations. And America will not be able to save them. Already Nigeria don run go Ivory Coast to discus how to help the other West African nations if France pulls out her forces as France wants to do.

For me, Nigeria is stupid to consider working for the defense of Wes Africa against jihadist. With possible embargo from America, Nigeria should be looking to consolidate what little Nigeria has for the benefit of Nigeria alone. Leave the various Wes African nations to fend for themselves against the coming storm.