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Tag: Sudan

  • JAMB set to absorb Sudan returnees into Nigerian universities

    JAMB set to absorb Sudan returnees into Nigerian universities

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB)has rolled out modalities for the absorption of returnee students from war-torn countries into Nigerian universities.

    This is disclosed in a statement by the board’s Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.

    Benjamin said the modalities were follow-ups to the high level meeting between the Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Health, JAMB, Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), National Universities Commission(NUC) and other critical stakeholders.

    He said the meeting was on the integration of returnee Nigerian students from war-torn countries into the nation’s tertiary education system.

    He quoted the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, while presenting the modalities as saying that it was imperative to hold talks with the Vice Chancellors following the peculiarities of each university and the variation in the responses received from them on the matter.

    Oloyede pointed out that the emergency meeting was, therefore, convened to fashion out uniform standards and minimum acceptable benchmarks for the proposed absorption in line with global best practices.

    He also stated that the Senate of each university had the right to decide on university transfers and needed not wait for JAMB to initiate such adding that the parley with the stakeholders was to present the modalities for critique as well as receive inputs.

    He reminded the Vice Chancellors to key into  the earlier Advisory sent to universities on the procedures for processing applications for foreign and domestic inter-university transfers.

    He said that the  current Advisory on the returnees does not override the earlier one but  rather served to reinforce it by strengthening the procedures for transfers.

    ”According to the latest Advisory on procedures for emergency transfers  of returning students, each of them is mandated to do a retroactive registration with the education ministry.

    ”They are to visit the returnee application page on IBASS as accessible from the JAMB website, where the returnee students would upload their registration slips, complete the transfer of personal data.

    ”The personal data would include their name, NIN, telephone number, active e-mail account, current university, country, city of study and programme, year and current level of study, JAMB said.

    ‘According to the new procedures, the returnee students would select their preferred university of choice, programme and upload the scanned copies of their current university admission letter, transcript, data page of their international passport and a sworn affidavit confirming the genuineness of uploaded documents.

    ”The returnee students are directed to click SUBMIT for onward movement to their university of choice, which would receives a notification as well as an IBASS  mail on the application for  evaluation of the returnee’s credentials. If the returnee is found worthy of admission, a notification is sent to him/her on the status of the admission.

    ”Consequently, successful returnees students would be directed via email and SMS to approach any JAMB Office in person to complete the inter- university transfer application,” he said.

    The registrar charged the Vice Chancellors  to be vigilant and thoroughly scrutinise the certificates submitted to their institutions to avoid any pitfall that could impugn their hard-earned reputation.

    Stakeholders from the FME, NUC, NiDCOM and Vice Chancellors, who aligned themselves with the position of JAMB, promised to support the initiative.

  • Sudanese civil war: When riders end up in the belly of their tigers – By Dennis Onakinor

    Sudanese civil war: When riders end up in the belly of their tigers – By Dennis Onakinor

    Since the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on July 1, 2002, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan holds the unenviable record of the only serving head of state to have been indicted by The Hague-based court. And, not once, but twice: in 2009 and 2010. On both occasions, President Al-Bashir was accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in Darfur, where his government forces militarily backed the nomadic light-skinned Arab Janjaweed militia in its murderous campaign against the black-skinned sedentary farmers of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups in the region.

    At the time, a majority of Third World leaders, especially those of Africa, refused to cooperate with the ICC in its bid to execute the Warrants of Arrest issued against the sit-tight al-Bashir, who would end up tyrannizing his country for a period of 30 years before being overthrown in a mass-uprising in 2019. Baselessly, many of the leaders alleged that the ICC indictments stemmed from a Western-orchestrated conspiracy against the tyrant, while some Arab leaders specifically maintained that the indictments were an affront to Islam. Others went further to allege racial bias in the ICC’s treatment of Africans in general. Amidst these and other unfounded allegations, the ICC’s indictments remain unexecuted till this day. 

    Had the ICC been successful in its bid to arrest Omar al-Bashir back in 2009 and 2010, there is a high probability that most of his accomplices would equally have been indicted in course of his trial and be brought to justice. Certainly, two of such accomplices would have been General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemedti, who led the notorious Janjaweed militia’s scotched earth campaign in Darfur, and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who commanded the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) that militarily backed the Janjaweed’s violent activities.     

    Arguably, had al-Bashir, al-Burhan, and Hemedti been brought to justice by the ICC, there is every likelihood that the ongoing Sudanese civil war may never have occurred, as they would certainly be languishing in jail by now, like the Liberian warlord-turned-President Charles Taylor, who is presently serving a 50-year jail term for his ignominious role in the Sierra Leonean civil war of 1991 and 2002. Alas, both Generals al-Burhan and Hemedti rose to become the respective leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in course of al-Bashir’s rule. And, in the aftermath of his overthrow in 2019, both men went on to stage a military coup against the country’s transitional civilian-military diarchy headed by Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, and then became the leader and deputy leader of the ruling junta in October 2021.

    A time-worn metaphor has it that “He who rides on the back of a tiger will soon end up in the belly of the tiger.” Apparently, the significance of this metaphorical truism was lost on the Sudanese people as both al-Burhan and Hemedti, with their blood-stained hands, assumed the reins of power in their country. Hence, it is ironical that the ongoing bloodletting was triggered by disagreements over the modalities for absorbing Hemedti’s RSF into the SAF led by al-Burhan. While that innocuous disagreement may have been the immediate cause of the bloody conflict, the remote cause is, unquestionably, the struggle for supremacy between the two former allies in Darfur, who had also collaborated to scuttle their country’s democratic yearnings following the people-power uprising that saw the ouster of the tyrannical Omar al-Bashir.

    A most-unfortunate development in the ensuing bloody showdown between Generals al-Burhan and Hemedti is their shared disdain for the sanctity of human life. Both SAF and RSF fighters have seemingly borrowed a leaf from Russia’s war template in Ukraine as they have refused to discriminate between military and civilian targets since the outbreak of hostilities on April 15, 2023. Residential buildings, hospitals, schools, places of worship, water and electrical installations, civilian airport facilities, etc., are being subjected to indiscriminate heavy bombardment, with the belligerents leaving death, destruction, and misery in their wake. Casualties are mounting in their thousands, especially in the capital of Khartoum, Omdurman, Geneina, Nyala, El-Obeid, and Darfur – the RSF’s support-base. And, with each side flouting ceasefire agreements at will, while vowing to bring the other to its knees militarily, a protracted conflict threatens to tear apart Africa’s third largest country and spill over into its neigbouring ones.   

    Until 2011, when South Sudan gained Independence following a decades-long secession struggle, the Republic of Sudan was Africa’s undisputed largest country. It shares borders with seven others, including Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Eritrea, and South Sudan, all of which are bedeviled by various forms of crisis. Ethiopia has just emerged from a bruising two-year civil war, while Libya and South Sudan are in the throes of internecine violent conflicts. The situation in Chad and CAR is not any better. Egypt and Eritrea, which seem to be enjoying some semblance of stability, are under the grips of vicious dictatorships. Consequently, the international community must ensure that the ongoing Sudanese conflagration does not spill over into any of these crisis-prone neighboring countries.      

    Meanwhile, all indications point to the fact that General Hemedti is a highly controversial character. Even the exact date of his birth is unknown, although he is said to have been born between 1973 – 1975. Unlike his rival, General al-Burhan, who was born in 1960 and went on to acquire formal education and military training in various institutions, Hemedti is a primary school dropout who was involved in camel trading prior to his militant activities that commenced with the Janjaweed militia at the outbreak of the Darfur Crisis in 2003. He was said to have acquired the name “Hemedti” due to his baby-faced looks (Hemedti means “Little Mohammed” in Arab motherhood parlance, just as Janjaweed means “Devils on Horseback” in Arabic). 

    A member of the cattle-herding Mahariya clan of Northern Darfur, Hemedti’s brutal and barbaric tactics of rape, torture, arson, looting, death, and destruction were said to have endeared him to President Omar al-Bashir, who conferred on him the army rank of “Brigadier General,” much to the chagrin of regular army officers who had risen through the ranks by dint of hard work and training. In 2013, al-Bashir reconstituted the Janjaweed militia into a paramilitary force that became known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and provided it with heavy weapons and appropriate training facilities so that it could serve as a counterweight to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Al-Bashir also stylishly nicknamed Hemedti as “Himayti” (My Protector), and as he rose in power and influence, so did his stupendous wealth, obtained largely from illegal gold mining activities in the Jabel Amir hills of North Darfur. 

    Like most African countries blessed with vast deposits of valuable natural resources, the discovery of gold in Jabel Amir in 2012 has turned out to be a curse rather than a blessing to the Sudanese people. Suffice to say that the struggle for control of the gold resources by both domestic and external predatory opportunists, like the Russian Wagner Group (a mercenary group led by the unscrupulous businessman, Yevgeny Prigozhin), is one of the untold stories of the ongoing civil war. Another untold story is the attempt by the nationalistic and irredentist Vladimir Putin to establish a Russian naval base capable of handling nuclear-powered vessels in Port Sudan – a move vehemently opposed by the US and its Western allies. 

    From all indications, the solution to the ongoing war in Sudan lies in a total overhaul and ultimate eradication of the status quo, which is symbolized by the country’s corrupt military leaders and armed militiamen, who are represented by the duo of Generals al-Burhan and Hemedti. Also, the immediate enthronement of a democratically elected civilian government is imperative. The country was moving progressively in that direction following the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir’s tyrannical rule in a people-power revolution spearheaded by the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) under the leadership of Abdallah Hamdok. Alas, the gains of that revolution were reversed in 2021 by the combined forces of Generals al-Burhan and Hemedti, who are now locked in a do-or-die struggle for dominance. 

    Perhaps, it’s time for the international community to make it abundantly clear to the Sudanese armed forces and their rival paramilitary forces, as well as those of other African states, that military usurpation of state power under any guise is an aberration that must be shunned at all costs. For, to say the least, the African masses have had more than enough of armed usurpers of political power who masquerade as revolutionaries, liberationists, salvationists, redemptioners, emancipators, etc., while plundering and pillaging their countries to the point of underdevelopment. It’s time for popular democracy to reign supreme in every African state as dictatorship, especially the military variety, tends to corrupt the polity in absolute terms.

     

    • Dennis Onakinor, a global affairs analyst, writes from Lagos – Nigeria. He can be reached via e-mail at dennisonakinor@yahoo.com
  • War: Over one Million Sudanese are displaced – UN

    War: Over one Million Sudanese are displaced – UN

    About one million Sudanese have been displaced due to the fighting between rival military factions in the country,  UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) says.

    The number of people displaced inside Sudan as at  Wednesday rose to more than one million.

    IOM said another 319,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries.

    Egypt, Sudan’s northern neighbour, took in the largest share of the refugees, with more than 132,000 people, while Chad took in some 80,000 refugees and South Sudan about 69,000.

    A long-simmering power struggle between the two warring generals in the country  escalated violently on April 15.

    The army under the command of the de facto president, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is fighting the paramilitary units of his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

    The two generals jointly seized power in 2021.

    Even before the current crisis, Sudan was known for being one of the poorest and most politically unstable countries in the world, with 3.7 million internally displaced people due to previous crises.

    Now, IOM warns of a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country, which has a total population of around 46 million.

    The fighting is making access to basic goods and fuel increasingly difficult.

    However, the United Nations keep making provisions for displaced Sudanese in Chad and other neighbouring countries.

  • Sudan fighters ransack Qatari embassy in Khartoum

    Sudan fighters ransack Qatari embassy in Khartoum

    The Qatari embassy in Khartoum the Sudanese capital was on Saturday ransacked by fighters as Air strikes and artillery exchanges shook the parts of the North African country.

    Sudan’s warring generals are still keeping up the struggle for control of the country’s government.

    Residents of Khartoum told AFP that they still hear sounds of gunshots amid heavy fighting despite calls or a humanitarian truce.

    The area around the state television building in Khartoum’s sister city Omdurman was one of the sites bombarded, witnesses said.

    The power struggle between regular army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), erupted into fighting on April 15.

    The conflict has killed hundreds of people, most of them civilians, and displaced more than one million.

    The United Nations has warned of a fast-deteriorating humanitarian situation in Africa’s third-largest country, where one in three people already relied on aid before the war.

    On Friday, Burhan sacked Daglo, giving his title of vice president of the ruling Sovereign Council to former rebel leader Malik Agar, and appointed three allies to top jobs in the military.

    A former rebel leader who signed a peace deal with Khartoum authorities in 2020, Agar said in a statement Saturday he was determined to try to “end the war” and press for negotiations.

    He also addressed Daglo directly saying “Sudan’s stability can only be re-established by a professional and unified army”.

    Integration of the RSF into the regular armed forces has been the main bone of contention between Daglo and Burhan.

    The force, which traces its origins to the notorious Janjaweed militia recruited in the early 2000s to crush a rebellion by ethnic minority groups in Darfur, is highly mobile but has a reputation for being ill-disciplined.

    Its fighters have been accused of widespread break-ins and looting, including at diplomatic missions and aid group offices.

    – ‘Maximum restraint’ –
    On Saturday, Qatar’s embassy was the latest diplomatic mission to be attacked, drawing condemnation from Doha.

    “The State of Qatar condemned in the strongest terms the irregular armed forces’ storming and vandalising its embassy building in Khartoum,” the foreign ministry said.

    “The embassy staff had previously been evacuated and… none of the diplomats or embassy staff were subjected to any harm,” the ministry said.

    It renewed calls for “an immediate halt to the fighting in Sudan, exercising maximum restraint… and sparing civilians the consequences of the fighting”.

    Qatar did not specifically identify Daglo’s RSF as responsible but a statement from the pro-Burhan authorities put the blame squarely on the paramilitaries.

    The embassies of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have also come under assault in recent weeks.

    Saturday’s attack came a day after Arab leaders meeting at a summit in Saudi Arabia urged Sudan’s feuding generals to halt the fighting.

    There have been multiple failed truce efforts since the fighting started, and representatives of both sides have been holding talks in Saudi Arabia.

    Asked about those discussions, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Friday that the focus was “on reaching a truce that allows Sudanese civilians to take a breather”.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a statement on Saturday through his spokesman, “urged flexibility and leadership” from Burhan and emphasized that a ceasefire would facilitate “humanitarian assistance and essential services that are desperately needed by the Sudanese people.”

    Although the main fighting is being played out in Khartoum, the violence has also spread to the war-ravaged western region of Darfur, where the RSF has its roots.

    In South Darfur capital Nyala, fighting since Thursday has killed 22 people forcing civilians to flee for safer areas as shells crash on their homes, the bar association in Darfur has said.

    On Friday, UN aid chief Martin Griffith said he was allocating $22 million in emergency funds to help Sudanese fleeing the violence.

    The funds will help relief efforts in Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt and South Sudan where Sudanese have sought refuge, he said.

    The United States promised $103 million for Sudan and neighbouring countries to support displaced people.

     

  • UN seeks $2.6bn for humanitarian needs in Sudan

    UN seeks $2.6bn for humanitarian needs in Sudan

    The United Nations humanitarian response plan is seeking nearly 2.56 billion dollars to help people affected by the crisis in Sudan, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency is also seeking more funding to assist those forced to flee.

    “Today, 25 million people, more than half the population of Sudan, need humanitarian aid and protection.

    This is the highest number we have ever seen in the country,” said Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva and director of the Coordination Division

    “The funding requirements of nearly 2.6 billion dollars are also the highest for any humanitarian appeal for Sudan.’’

    The plan, a revised version of the annual humanitarian plan for 2023, is designed to target 18 million people in need.

    The conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has caused a humanitarian crisis that threatens to destabilise the region, displacing more than 700,000 people inside Sudan and forcing about 200,000 to flee into neighbouring countries.

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),is making a joint appeal with the aid agency on Wednesday, said it was seeking 472 million dollars to assist more than 1 million people over the next six months.

    “Sadly, we once again need to call on countries and individuals with the means to step up for innocent people who have lost everything through no fault of their own,’’ said Raouf Mazou, Assistant High Commissioner for Operations at UNHCR.

  • Sudan crisis: FG closes situation room on Evacuation Exercise

    Sudan crisis: FG closes situation room on Evacuation Exercise

    The Federal Government has announced the closure of its situation room on the evacuation of stranded Nigerian students in the war-torned Sudan.

    It, however, said that attention would now shift to repatrating other Nigerians resident in Sudan.

    Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Chairman of the Situation Room, disclosed this on Monday while briefing newsmen in Abuja.

    Gwarzo said that government has set up committee for a rescue operations to assist in repatriating other Nigerians residence in Sudan that wish to return home.

    ”We recognise the presence of other Nigerians in Sudan, such as recent travellers and long-established families who desire to return home.

    ”The ministry has established a dedicated committee to facilitate their repatriation, replicating the successful efforts made for the students.

    ”As the evacuation operation concludes, the Situation Room responsible for its oversight is officially close today.

    ”Although a standby team will remain prepared for any future emergencies,” he said.

    The Permanent Secretary encouraged students to report any of their colleagues who may have been missed during the evacuation.

    ”An inspiring example of the operation’s effectiveness lies in the story of a young girl with chronic asthma, unintentionally left behind due to hospitalisation.

    ”Through diligent efforts, she was located and successfully brought back to Nigeria in one of the final evacuation flights, underscoring the operation’s efficacy.

    ”Majority of Nigerians in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia have already been repatriated from Sudan with only 13 individuals remaining, and prompt efforts are underway to bring them home.

    ”In N’djamena, Chad and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, all Nigerians have returned, except for Nine and seven individuals respectively, who will soon reunite with their families.

    ”Notably, all 800 travelers who transited through Egypt have successfully returned home,” he said.

    Gwarzo said that the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan has actively profiled these individuals and has established a committee dedicated to facilitating their safe passage to Nigeria.

    ”While the exact number of those awaiting repatriation remains undisclosed, the committee has already begun assessing logistics and examining necessary paperwork.

    ”To streamline the process, Port Sudan has been designated as the official collection center, and we advise all evacuees to relocate there,” he said.

    He said that the successful evacuation exercise of 2,518 stranded Nigerians from Sudan was a testament to the government’s commitment to the welfare and well-being of Nigerian citizens abroad.

  • FG airlifts 2,371 stranded Nigerians from war-torn Sudan

    FG airlifts 2,371 stranded Nigerians from war-torn Sudan

    The Federal Government has so far evacuated 2,371 Nigerians stranded in war-torn Sudan.

    Dr Onimode Bandele, Director of Special Duties, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) gave the figure in Abuja on Saturday when 125 stranded Nigerians arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

    The batch was the 15th set of Nigerians the Federal Government airlifted back to the country.

    They were airlifted from Port Sudan.

    Bandele, who welcomed the returnees on behalf of the Federal Government, said there were no more stranded Nigerian women and children in Sudan.

    He said arrangements were already made to airlift the remaining Nigerians stranded in Sudan who are mainly male, adding that another batch of evacuees would arrive later on Saturday.

    Representatives of the Ministries of Humanitarian Affairs, Foreign Affairs, NEMA, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, among others were on ground to receive the returnees.

  • Sudan: Talks to resume amid heavy fighting

    Sudan: Talks to resume amid heavy fighting

    Sudan’s warring army and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary on Saturday said that they will resume talks on Sunday, even as air strikes and heavy fighting raged overnight around Khartoum in spite of an agreement to protect civilians.

    Saudi Arabia, which has been hosting the talks aimed at securing a ceasefire deal, has also invited army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to Friday’s Arab League summit in Jeddah, a senior Saudi diplomat said.

    The conflict that broke out suddenly a month ago has killed hundreds, sent more than 200,000 people into neighbouring states, displaced another 700,000 inside the country and risks drawing in outside powers and destabilising the region.

    In spite of Burhan’s invitation to the Jeddah summit, he is not expected to leave Sudan for security reasons, two other diplomats in the Gulf said.

    Burhan was invited because he is head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council that was meant to be overseeing a planned transition to civilian rule before the conflict erupted, the Saudi diplomat said. His rival RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, is deputy head of the council.

    “We haven’t yet received the names of the delegation, but we are expecting Sudan to be represented in the summit,’’ the Saudi diplomat said.

    The two sides had earlier agreed on Thursday to a “declaration of principles’’ to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access, but there has been no let up in the fighting, with clashes and strikes ringing around Khartoum and neighboring areas.

    In the resumed talks in Jeddah, the sides will start by discussing mechanisms to implement Thursday’s agreement, including plans for aid delivery, safe corridors and the removal of forces from civilian areas.

    The Saudi diplomat said talks would then move onto ways to end the conflict, eventually paving the way for a civilian government. “The nature of the conflict affects the dialogue. Yet I found a very good spirit from both sides’’.

    In public, neither side has shown any sign it is willing to compromise and they battled through previous truces.

    Although the RSF has promised to uphold Thursday’s agreement, the army has not yet commented on it.

    Neither side seems able to secure a quick victory, with the RSF dug into residential districts throughout the capital and the army able to call on air power.

  • 2,246 Nigerians evacuated from Sudan – NiDCOM

    2,246 Nigerians evacuated from Sudan – NiDCOM

    Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) says a total of 2,246 Nigerians have so far been evacuated from Sudan.

    Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit of NiDCOM, Mr Abdur-Rahman Balogun, stated this on Friday in Abuja, while giving updates on the Federal Government’s evacuation efforts since May 3.

    He said on May 3, 94 evacuees, comprising 78 males and 16 females, boarded NAF C130 plane, while 274 boarded Air Peace plane from Aswan Airport, Egypt.

    Balogun said on May 5, 130 Nigerians also boarded Tarco Airline, while on May 6, 131 evacuees boarded the same airline from Port Sudan, with 102 boarding the same airline from Port Sudan on Sunday.

    He further said 410 Nigerians boarded Max Air and 322 Azman Air, both flights from Aswan Airport on Sunday.

    Balogun said two flights from Tarco Airline evacuated 133 passengers, with seven children and nine infants, and 126 passengers, also with 12 children and 41 infants, from Port Sudan on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

    He further stated that 123 Nigerians boarded Tarco Airline on Wednesday from Port Sudan, while 136 boarded the same airline on Thursday.

    He, however, said that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was expected to give the details of the 264 passengers aboard Tarco Airline as well as the 128 and 136 evacuees in separate flights.

    Meanwhile, the NiDCOM Chairman, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, received the Vice-Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, in her office in Abuja.

    Ikechukwu expressed his university’s willingness to absorb some of the students recently evacuated from Sudan and give them concessions in the area of tuition.

  • Sudan: Where Abati misfires – By Ali M. Ali

    Sudan: Where Abati misfires – By Ali M. Ali

    By Ali M. Ali

    “…But the Nigerian government always disappoints, and that is precisely what they are doing in Sudan…” Reuben Abati May 4, 2023

    Let me state upfront that I am a parent to one of the just evacuated students trapped in war torn, Sudan. His mother and me were hugely relieved when the   Max Airline flight 611 from Azwan in Egypt touched down at the pilgrims wing of the Nmandi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja by 10.45am on Sunday May 7, 2023.

    Reuben   Abati’s   recent and viral treatise titled “Nigeria: Stranded in Sudan” inspired this engagement.It made a compelling read, I hasten to  admit. It was a brilliant exposition on the forces and interests at play in the current internecine carnage in that beleaguered nation.

    Most of   his insights were astounding. He actually hit the bull’s eye.  A lot of it were, however, bull, completely off mark, especially where he dismissed, in unflattering diction, the efforts of the Nigeria

    Government encapsulated in several agencies involved in the evacuation exercise.

    He was spot on, for example, in identifying   Sudan’s strategic location around the Red Sea and its “rich resources in gold and oil reserves as well as gum Arabic” as irresistible allure to these foreign master puppeteers fueling this conflict, causing loss of lives, indescribable destitution and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

    The raison d’etre of the raging hostilities, according to Abati, and he was right, is the continued scramble for Africa by the great powers of the West.

    We are witnessing a full-blown proxy war. Indeed, scholars, historians and even subjective journalists like Abati are agreed that Africa’s vast natural resources and effeminate political leadership, have made the continent vulnerable to predatory nations of the world.

    At this precise moment, literally tens of thousands of people are scampering across that vast arid country crossing borders into South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Egypt and Central Africa Republic, for safety. Some of these listed countries are strife ridden!

    Within seven days of the conflict, over 400 people   reportedly perished in that   country, which has, for long, been battling punishing sanctions, imposed by the West.

    According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, 334,000 have been internally displaced and another 100,000 made to flee the country.

    Abati queried the slow response of the authorities, comparing Nigeria’s sluggish pace with America’s rapid response in the evacuation of her citizens. Comparing Nigeria with the US however, is otiose. Here, I should say that he demonstrated a certain degree of naiveté in international politics and in conflict situations.

    The US, inspite of her mighty military and economic muscles  rescued a “mere” 70 embassy staff in an expensive  helicopter mission by its elite SEAL An estimated 16,000 US private citizens are still left in the lurch!

    The US  government said,  “It was too dangerous” to get its citizens out at the time Nigeria was organizing to evacuate an estimated 3,500 citizens, most of them students and at no charge.

    There is an estimated three to five million Nigerians in Sudan. Nigeria might have being slow a little in starting off  the evacuation but it covered  sufficient grounds in moving the displaced from the main theatre of war in Khartoum.

    The US has a military base in neighboring Djibouti. It is less than 1,200 kilo metres to Khartoum. By air, it is two hours.

    Abati wondered if we had a “functioning Naval Vessel that can provide transportation from Port Sudan to Nigeria..?”

    Clearly this was not a rhetorical question.It is a derision and cynicsm coming from this writer who sees the cup as half empty!

    The nation has a vessel.It  would take almost a month for the Nigerian Navy to berth its recently acquired logistics vessel “ NNS KADA” at Port Sudan to evacuate a mere 500 citizens and spend another 26 days to return.

    NNS KADA is a multi purpose warship. It is equipped with a flight deck, Roro space, cargo deck, supply store and ammunition. She is the biggest war ship in  West Africa and one of the biggest on the continent. Its maiden mission to Guinea  Bissau was a resounding success.

    Abati should know this.The story of this ship was all over the place last year.

    Flight time to Khartoum is almost five hours. It makes greater sense therefore, to fly  rather than to ask the Navy to mobilize from Lagos to Port Sudan in moments of emergencies like the one currently in Sudan.

    I am certain that Abati is aware that in the event of war, evacuation process is often anchored on air freight. That explains why the Americans stormed Khartoum in   three MH-47 Chinook helicopters from Djibouti refueling in Ethiopia and flew for three hours to evacuate 70 embassy officials!

    Again,he wondered   why it was costing the sum of $30k to hire a bus from Khartoum. This is war. It is ugly. It costs money. I am not justifying the cost. I am being realistic.

    In war, lives are wasted needlessly. How much more money? Abati ought to know this. He was in government, after all, as the mouthpiece of the President.

    He should know that war economy is different. A fundamental economic principle   of demand and supply says that   if demand outstrips supply, there will be shortage and prices, will rise. We see that during festivals or fuel shortages. Every festive season, transporters hike fares, commuters and travellers lament. They still go on the voyage. How much more during war?

    How much more in a country suffering suffocating economic sanctions? Sudan is delinked from the global financial circle.

    Besides, navigating   through the arid region of Sudan is a herculean task. The desert is known to literally “swallow’ vehicles in the event of a sandstorm or a blizzard.

    A retired soldier who served in a peacekeeping operation in Sudan educated me on the tough terrain. According to him, a trip that normally lasts a day or two in Nigeria may take weeks in Sudan unless you are accustomed to navigating that landscape.

    Vehicular travel is risky. Apart from hostile natural elements, there  are all manner of criminal elements dotting the landscape.

    The bus evacuating my son from Khartoum to Waidi Halfa got stuck in the sand and they had to dig it out wasting 10 hours in the process. Desert scorpions stung some of the volunteers in the effort to liberate the vehicle.

    It was an indescribable feeling therefore,to have your kid home after days of anxiety as you daily come face-to-face with grisly details of a terrible sojourn and a misguided military action.

    My son was just 7 months shy of bagging an MBBS at the Sudan International University in Khartoum.

    He would turn 22   in October, the month he would have written his final examination. Now, he faces an uncertain educational future.

    I witnessed, first hand, the supreme efforts put up by the federal government of Nigeria through its   various agencies involved in the evacuation process.

    Several WhatsApp platforms united jumpy parents, nervous government officials, edgy students and curious journalists for the common   purpose of sharing information on the debacle rocking Sudan presently.

    One of such platforms   was actually set up by the Nigeria Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) chaired by Mrs Abike Dabiri Erewa.

    Again, I witnessed, first hand, the grit of Dabiri Erewa. She was running from pillar to post answering questions, attending to inquiries, making occasional television appearances explaining and elucidating to largely unimpressed citizens.

    She demonstrated an unusual grace in handling cantankerous parents and fabricators of fake stories. She shrugged off personal insults and waltzed through the thick wall of cynicism with the elegance of a ballerina.

    Mrs Dabiri-Erewa   scored big with most   parents in that group. I am one.

    She constantly assured and reassured us even though some of us made the extra efforts to seek alternative sources of information.

    As a reporter myself, I was in touch with the foreign affairs minister, a calm technocrat, getting across to some officials at Nigerian embassies in Sudan and Cairo that I know personally.

    My son too, being a students leader, was in constant communication with NEMA officials at the border with Egypt and embassy officials in Cairo before they were airlifted in the wee hours of Sunday.

    I share totally Abati’s position on Egypt. I am of the considered opinion that   we should have made it clear to that country what their action represented-hostility!• This experience is an eye opener. It dawned on  me that NIDCOM is a spectator in the current rescue effort.

    Statutorily, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management is the one calling the shots, funding the evacuation efforts and taking care of logistics.

    And of course, the philanthropic gestures of industrial and aviation giants Aliko Dangote, Peace Air, Max and Azman  airlines.

    The airlines offered for free to lift stranded citizens in Sudan. They all walked their talk. Dangote offered the whopping sum of 100k to each returnee.

    Corporate Nigeria demonstrated by these kind gestures  of these good spirited Nigerians that at critical moments, Nigerians would join hands together to compliment government efforts.

    Abati should borrow a leaf.

     

    Ali M.Ali, writes from Gwarinpa, Abuja