President Muhammadu Buhari commenced the week under review with a call on Nigerians to get more interested in working with security agencies to tackle myriad challenges facing the country.

In an address at the Alumni Association of the National Defence College (AANDEC) opening ceremony in Abuja on March 1, the president extolled the courage and bravery displayed by security agencies and service chiefs in promoting peace and order.

He, however, noted that more could be achieved in bringing law and order to various parts of the country with the full cooperation of citizens.

The president also approved $8.5 million for the immediate evacuation of about 5,000 Nigerians caught in the Russia-Ukraine war during the week.

The majority of the fleeing Nigerians are taking refuge in Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Zubairu Dada, alongside humanitarian minister Sadiya Umar Farouk, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The meeting was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.

According to the president, his administration will continue to defend the interest of Nigerians wherever they may be as the nation begins the evacuation of citizens stranded following the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Nigerian leader made this assertion on Thursday in Nairobi, Kenya, at a town hall meeting with a group of Nigerians resident in the country.

The president, who was in Kenya to participate in the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP@50), said, “On our part as a government, we shall continue to defend the interests of all Nigerians wherever they may be.”

He added, ”We have demonstrated this over time, as we have had cause to evacuate our citizens in harm’s way abroad. We did it in Libya, South Africa, and we have just commenced doing the same in Ukraine, where thousands of our citizens, especially students, are trapped by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.”

On Saturday, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) confirmed that 1,112 Nigerians had so far been evacuated by the federal government following the ongoing war in Ukraine.

NiDCOM also stated that the returnees were excited to be home after the uncertainty of fleeing from the war. They applauded the government’s speedy response to their plight, NiDCOM added.

Many Nigerians and other nationals had fled Ukraine to nearby countries since Russia launched a full-scale war on its neighbour on February 24.

Mr Buhari, on March 1, met with APC governors. The governors, led by the Progressive Governors’ Forum chairman, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, commended the president for signing the Electoral Bill Amendment Act 2022 into law.

According to Mr Bagudu, all the 22 APC governors are strongly united and ready for the party’s national convention slated for March 26. He dismissed the assertion that the governors had yet to resolve their differences over the forthcoming March 26 convention.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, also updated the president on the progress report over the ongoing negotiation between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

ASUU embarked on a one-month warning strike on February 14 to press home their demand for N1.2 trillion. The union also want the government to adopt the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) payment platform.

Mr Ngige, who spoke to journalists at the end of the meeting with Mr Buhari on March 1, said the government had so far paid over N92 billion as earned allowances and revitalisation fee to federal government-owned universities.

He added that this was part of implementing the 2020 December agreement reached with the ASUU.

Mr Buhari, who returned to Abuja on Friday after participating in the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP@50) in Nairobi, Kenya, joined the Muslim faithful to observe the Friday Jumma’at prayer at Aso Villa Mosque.

While in Kenya, Mr Buhari met with Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Nairobi. During the meeting, the Nigerian president directed collaboration between the Ministries of Environment, Water Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development and Power to combat desertification.

(NAN)