Boko Haram: US announces additional N14.5bn aid to Nigeria

By Wale Odunsi

The United States has announced an additional $40million (N14 billion) aid to Nigeria as to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency.

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, made the announcement in Washington DC on Tuesday.

Pompeo spoke during a joint media briefing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, after the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission (BNC) meeting hosted by the Department of State.

“The foreign minister (Onyeama) and I also discussed today the massive humanitarian crisis that the conflict with Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa and other religious and ethnic violence.

“We know that these issues are hard. We know that they’re complicated.

“But I strongly encouraged the Nigerian government to do more to protect its civilians, including religious communities and the humanitarian organisations seeking to assist them.

“To aid in this effort, I’m pleased to announce today an additional 40 million dollars in humanitarian assistance to Nigeria, adding to the nearly 350 million dollars that we provided last year,’’ he said.

Pompeo disclosed that the two-day meeting also featured discussions on security cooperation between both countries, especially Nigeria’s “recent purchase’’ of 12 U.S.-made A-29 fighter planes worth 500 million dollars.

Onyeama, in his remarks, said: “Of course, we are faced with other security issues within Nigeria, and we know that some of them cause disquiet amongst our partners and we are addressing a number of those.

“And in addressing those internal challenges, and especially in the security area, we absolutely make it clear and strive to uphold human rights.

“We have the greatest interest in protecting and respecting the human rights of our population and we do that.”

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Uganda expected to move its embassy to Jerusalem - report

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN

The Hebrew website Ynet reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Uganda on Monday, but did not cite a reason for the visit.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni (L) speaks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) during a memorial service to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Operation Entebbe at the Entebbe airport in Uganda, July 4, 2016. (photo credit: REUTERS)

Uganda is reportedly planning to announce that it is moving its embassy to Jerusalem next week, sources close to the Ugandan president and the Ugandan Christian community told The Jerusalem Post.

The Hebrew website Ynet reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Uganda on Monday, but did not cite a reason for the visit.

Sources close to the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus in Uganda told the Post that the move has been in the works for three years. The caucus works to strengthen cooperation between Christian leaders and the State of Israel by building direct lines of communication, cooperation and coordination, between the Knesset and Christian leaders around the world.

Pastor Drake Kanaabo, who ministers at the Redeemed of the Lord Evangelistic Church Makerere in Kampala, Uganda, told the Post that he had been hearing rumors about the move.

"I got a note from sources that Uganda is moving the embassy," he said, though he noted that he was unable to confirm the rumors with senior leaders by press time.

He said it is important that Uganda move the embassy to the holy city "because of our past good relationship with the State of Israel.

"On a spiritual level, Uganda regards Israel as the mother of Christianity," he told the Post. "Ugandan Christians are no longer standing on one leg for Israel, but two - in prayer and action. Israel is the only first-world country that is near to Uganda and Africa."

For years, Evangelical Christians from the United States have been traveling to Uganda, spreading the messages of the Bible and Christianity and influencing policy in the African country.

Uganda’s president, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, is an evangelical Christian. A 2009 report by NPR reported on ties between Museveni and the American fundamentalist Christian organization The Fellowship, which founded the National Prayer Breakfast in the US.

Over time, Uganda has been swayed toward Christianity. Earlier this week, the Post reported that thousands of Christians across Uganda sang, marched and waved Israeli flags while praying for the State of Israel in a series of events sponsored by Christians for Israel and Intercessors for Uganda.

If Uganda moves it embassy, it will be the third embassy to designate Jerusalem as Israel's capital, following American, Guatemala and Paraguay, the latter which has since withdrawn the decision.

Netanyahu’s visit to Uganda will come days after the prime minister traveled to the United States to meet with US President Donald Trump and unveil the “Deal of the Century” peace plan, and to Russia to help obtain the pardoning of Israeli tourist Naama Isaachar.

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