It’s only February? 😮💨
Hi!
PSA:
If you’re planning on using your UBA card to buy anything more than lipgloss on amazon, don’t bother. The international spending limit on UBA cards is now $20.
Nigerian airlines are now charging at least N50,000.
In this week’s edition:
Russia has invaded Ukraine
ASUU is still on strike
Good news on COVID-19
Why is Russia attacking Ukraine? What we know so far
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation in Ukraine on Wednesday. Al Jazeera reports that Ukrainians heard explosions across the country and Ukraine’s foreign minister warned that a “full-scale invasion” was underway.
In 2020, Ukraine joined North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, an intergovernmental military alliance between 28 European countries and 2 North American countries. It was their way of seeking protection against Russia’s heavily armed military. Putin didn’t like this.
Satellite imagery from November 2021 shows a new build-up of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, with tanks and other military hardware.
In December 2021, Russia asked NATO to cease all military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine and demanded that the alliance never accept Ukraine or other former Soviet nations as members. For security reasons.
No one was having it, but the authorities from the NATO countries, including America, were pretty certain that their unwillingness to corporate will lead to war.
So NATO put forces on standby in Eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets. Some Western nations also started evacuating non-essential embassy staff from Ukraine. (Nigeria could never).
In January of this year, American President Biden warned that Russia would most likely attack Ukraine in February. China officially announced that they are supporting Russia here because “Moscow’s legitimate security concerns should be taken seriously”.
Then Putin assures the US that Russia's military is just prepping for what they believe to be security threats and they’re open to keep discussing it. Ukraine’s president also tells the US to stop creating panic. But Biden is like “Nope. Russia, there’s obvs a war you’re not telling us”.
January 31st The US and Russia argue over the Ukraine crisis at a special closed session of the UN Security Council. Russia’s UN reps are like “The discussions about a threat of war is provocative in and of itself. You are almost calling for this. You want it to happen”.
Putin, again, scolds the US for telling everyone they intend to attack. He says, “It is already clear that fundamental Russian concerns [are] being ignored”. No one can agree.
At some point, French President Emmanuel Macron tried to deescalate the situation with Russia, but no luck there either.
On Feb 21, Putin deployed soldiers to two independent regions in Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, which he recognised as “independent”— belonging to neither Ukraine nor Russia— and then orders Russian troops to “maintain peace” there.
February 22: The US and some other Western countries begin to attack Russia and the Russian elite’s financial assets.
Feb 23: Ukraine’s President declares a state of emergency
Feb 24: Russia attacks Ukraine.
What is Nigeria doing to support citizens in the conflict zones?
While the Indian foreign affairs office sent air forces to Ukraine to pick up their citizens, Nigeria’s office was crafting a long, useless letter about how citizens can protect themselves. Help includes
Call us if you need to talk to someone about your mental health,
if you can think of a safer place to go that is within the rules of your current situation, go there.
Conflict consequences
On Thursday, prices of crude oil surged above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014. The ING Group suspects that Russia’s military attack on Ukraine is the cause.
Governance & Power
After almost a year of debates, the electoral amendment bill has finally been passed into law (Punch)
Some petrol stations have been exploiting the scarcity situation to sell petrol at inflated prices, but the Bayelsa government isn’t letting that happen (sort of). The government directed no station to sell fuel above N230 per litre. Pre scarcity, fuel was N160-N170 per litre.
ASUU Strike update
Nigeria’s minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, has declared the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as illegal, saying by law, the union was supposed to issue the government at least a 14-day notice.
As with 2020’s (how many?) week doctors strike, ASUU is promising to keep the strike on until all their needs are met.
Nigerian airstrike kills children in Niger
A Nigerian airstrike targeted at terrorists killed 12 people and left five children wounded in the Republic of Niger.
Chaibou Aboubacar, Governor of the Maradi region where the incident occurred says he believes it was a mistake as the strikes were supposed to hit armed terrorists, not the village where the children lived.
The Governor and rescue staff of Doctors without Borders said it was a Nigerian airforce attack, but the Nigerian military isn’t as convinced.
Major General Jimmy Akpor, Nigeria’s director of defence information, said the Nigerian Air Force does not make any incursions into areas outside Nigeria’s territorial boundaries, “as a matter of policy”. They are investigating the incident and will share findings soon.
COVID-19 is still a thing
WHO have now approved Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Serbia, and Vietnam to begin producing vaccines.
European drugmakers, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK), have created a vaccine that they say is 100% effective against severe cases for all strains, including Omicron.
Other news
Two police officers and five civilians died on Thursday when armed robbers attacked four banks in Uromi, Esan north-east LGA of Edo state (The Cable)
Troops destroy 38 more illegal refining sites in Niger Delta (Guardian NG)
UK says they won’t include Nigeria in its MESC list because there is no public evidence that the majority of Nigerians speak English. Policy Shapers disagree (Premium Times)
The management of Delta State Polytechnic won’t let female students in if they don’t wear bras and underwear (Guardian NG)
UK says they won’t include Nigeria in its MESC list because there is no public evidence that the majority of Nigerians speak English. Policy Shapers disagree (Premium Times)
The management of Delta State Polytechnic won’t let female students in if they don’t wear bras and underwear (Guardian NG)
NDLEA burn 255 hectares of hemp farms in five councils of Ondo State (The Nation)
The three white American men convicted of chasing down and murdering a young Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, as he was out jogging in their suburban Georgia community, were found guilty on Tuesday of committing federal hate crimes (Arise).