269 Nigerians arrive Abuja, Lagos from India

NiDCOM has announced the arrival of 269 Nigerians who were stranded in India. They arrived at both the Abuja and Lagos airports of Nigeria.

The commission, who took to their Twitter handle to disclose this news said that the 269 Nigerians arrived Nigeria at 2:00 a.m.

NiDCOM said that evacuees were received from India at the Lagos and Abuja airports.

”103 in Lagos and 166 in Abuja passages arrived today, Saturday, June 13, at about 2:00 a.m, after a few hours of delay.

All evacuees are now on compulsory 14 days Self Isolation according to the new Protocol,” it said.

It was gathered that 103 evacuees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while 166 others landed at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

"Nigerians will no longer suffer for passports" - Aregbesola

Nigeria’s Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, has promised a new era of passport registration, retrieval and renewal for citizens.

The minister made the promise during the ‘Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola Colloquium 2020,’ which held on Saturday, May 30.

The virtual conference which was live on Youtube, Facebook, Zoom and Twitter, had as its theme: ‘Government Unusual-Innovative economic solutions to unlock mass prosperity.’

Some of the seven panelists drawn from the public and private sectors were Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Kebbi Governor Abubakar Bagudu and Bismarck Rewane who is a member of President Buhari’s economic advisory council.

“A new era will arrive in passport delivery in Nigeria,” Aregbesola vowed as he re-echoed a promise he made to one of the panelists, development economist and Country Director of DAI, Dr Joe Abah, who did a nice job of reminding him at the commencement of the session. 

“Just take away the coronavirus months,” he said in between laughs.

Nigeria’s passport processes can be cumbersome, tardy, frustrating; and could take months from registration to retrieval.

The minister also spoke about how he focused on the majority at the expense of the minority rich as governor of the southwest state.

“I reversed that model completely. Instead of focusing on the top of the pyramid so that wealth trickles to the base of the pyramid, I did the opposite. Let it also be on record that during my time as governor of Osun, we did not incur debts to fund our social programs.

I also believe that an empowered, mobilised people cannot be a debt burden. What we did in Osun was focus on human capital development because when you do that, you reap in the nearest future,” Aregbesola said.

268 Nigerians arrive Abuja from China

We confirmed that at least 268 Nigerians who were evacuated from China have arrived Abuja.

The flight that conveyed the evacuees landed at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport this afternoon.

Disclosing this in a tweet, the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said that the returnees would be proceeding on compulsory 14 days quarantine as stipulated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

Some of the nationals had faced serial racial discriminations in Guangzhou, China, from provincial officials.

They were reportedly evicted from their apartments and hotels following their alleged refusal to go for the mandatory quarantine imposed by the Guangdong Provincial authorities sequel to the outbreak of coronavirus in Guangzhou.

Some Nigerians sent a video of a woman with two children who were staying on the streets.

In the footage, the unidentified woman was feeding her infant daughter as the older second child slept in a baby walker; She was allegedly evicted from her apartment.

But the Chinese authorities said they subsequently provided free hotel accommodations for 207 Nigerians.

The government said the beneficiaries included Nigerians who were evicted from their hotels and apartments by officials in the wake of the compulsory quarantine and testing of foreigners for coronavirus by the Guangzhou Municipal Authorities.