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Over the past week, the coronavirus has proliferated over the globe with new cases in almost all continents, with Antarctica being the only exception. Sub-Saharan Africa has recorded its first case in Nigeria, which happens to be the third confirmed case in Africa. The other two coronavirus cases are in Algeria and Egypt. The coronavirus case in Nigeria is an Italian citizen who flew into the commercial city of Lagos from Milan (a city badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak) on February 24, 2020. He was aboard a Turkish Airlines flight. The Italian citizen works in Nigeria. Nigerian authorities report that the Italian stayed in a hotel near the airport on the evening of February 24, 2020 and continued to his place of work in Ogun state. He was first attended to on February 26 at his company's medical facility before being transferred on February 27 to a containment facility in Yaba, Lagos. In a statement, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said: "We have already st...

Nigeria has begun repatriating its citizens from South Africa following the xenophobic attacks perpetrated by some South Africans on foreigners, Aljazeera reports. About 1,000 foreign-owned businesses were targeted, including Nigerians, Ethiopians, Congolese, Zambians and Zimbabweans.  Air Peace, a private Nigerian airline, volunteered to fly Nigerian citizens to Nigeria's commercial capital - Lagos - for free, on Wednesday. The first batch of 189 Nigerians arrived Lagos late Wednesday. A second flight is set to depart today Thursday or Friday. 640 Nigerians in total are expected to leave South Africa. Many foreigners (more than 700) including Zimbabweans and Malawians, left their homes with just a few bags when violence broke out, and sought refuge in community centers.  Amidst the xenophobic violence in South Africa, "fake" videos have been circulating on social media showing Nigerians being killed in South Africa, but Nigeria's Foreign Ministry has sta...

South Africa's Foreign ministry has announced the closing of its diplomatic missions in the Nigerian cities of Abuja and Lagos in Nigeria following reprisal attacks by Nigerians stirred up by xenophobic violence in South Africa. "After receiving reports and threats from some of the Nigerians we decided to temporarily close while we are assessing the situation," foreign ministry spokesman Lunga Ngqengelele said, adding the missions were closed on Wednesday. "So we will be monitoring the situation and when see it necessary to open, we will re-open," he added. He revealed they decided to suspend diplomatic operations in Nigeria after "a group of people... came and tried force themselves in" at the Lagos consulate. "It was on those basis that we felt we need to protect the employees and shut it down". Deadly attacks on foreign-owned stores in South Africa's commercial hub Johannesburg, between Sunday and Wednesday prompted re...

A  wave of destruction hit the Gauteng province of South Africa last week, followed by the looting and burning of several shops in Pretoria. According to reports, an alleged Nigerian drug dealer shot and killed a taxi driver, and South African taxi drivers and locals immediately retaliated, taking the law into their hands. Since then, a series of destructive events ensued, with Gauteng province coming into a state of despair. Foreign nationals were asked to leave the country, while their shops were looted and burnt. The violence spread to Johannesburg’s Central Business District on Monday and has since seen the destruction of more than 50 mainly foreign-owned shops and business premises, and torching of cars and buildings. At least 70 people have been arrested in relation to the "xenophobic attacks" since Monday.  South Africans unleashed xenophobic attacks on other nationals in 2008 as well. Violence has since then further spread to two eastern suburbs and to...

Nigeria dubbed the "giant of Africa", and formally known as the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a West African country bordered by Niger and the Republic of Chad to the North, the Republic of Benin to the West, the Republic of Cameroon to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Nigeria's 2014 population estimate stands at 175 million people, with a density of 189 persons/square kilometer. There are over 250 ethnics groups in Nigeria, with Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo being the most popular. English is the official language spoken in the country. The country's capital is Abuja, and the official currency is the Naira. Nigeria's president and vice-president are Muhammadu Buhari and Oluyemi Osinbajo respectively. 1. Nigeria is the second greatest consumer of Guinness products in the world. Nigeria is home to one of Guinness' five breweries in Africa. 2. Nigeria's film industry - Nollywood - is the second largest in terms of output, and the third ...