Nigeria has withdrawn from the 2025 World Relays scheduled to take place in Guangzhou, China, citing delays in the issuance of visas to its athletes.The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) in a statement on Friday blamed China’s visa process for the withdrawal.The federation regretted that despite beginning the application process in February, “the embassy delayed till a last-minute visa issuance” making it impossible for the team to participate in the event.

“With deep regret, we, the AFN, announce our withdrawal from the World Relays following unacceptable visa delays by Chinese authorities. “ Despite our diligent efforts processing documentation since February, our athletes have faced numerous obstacles .“This includes embassy embarrassment to last-minute visa issuance that made competition attendance physically impossible. “The impact has been severe.“It has wasted training preparations, significant financial losses, lost qualification opportunities, and devastating psychological effects on our athletes,” AFN noted.The federation also lamented various documentation requested by the embassy noting that there were “poorly communicated”. “Chinese authorities frustrated our participation by claiming they didn’t have contact with their own Embassy in Washington and Abuja, also providing incorrect invitation letters and changing the application portal twice.“ Their requirement for a special “Verification Letter of Invitation” was poorly communicated and inconsistently applied while they demanded police reports and even bank statements from all participating athletes, coaches and officials. “We stand by our decision to withdraw as it became clear our team wouldn’t receive fair treatment or opportunity to compete,” the federation said.Team Nigeria comprising nine women and eight men, were scheduled to compete in four events: the men’s and women’s 4x100m, mixed 4x100m, and mixed 4x400m relays.The tournament is slated for Saturday and Sunday. (NAN)

The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has received two new allocations from the UN to support Congolese refugees in Uganda and efforts to combat a deadly cholera outbreak in Angola.UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, in a statement, said the funding was released on Friday.

No fewer than 60,000 people have fled violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for neighbouring Uganda since January. The first allocation, for $2. 5 million, will allow the UN and partners to provide life-saving assistance to over 40,000 refugees, including clean drinking water, food, healthcare and nutrition support.The $1.8 million CERF contribution in Angola will support the urgent response to the country’s worst cholera outbreak in two decades.Since the beginning of the year, the outbreak has spread to 17 out of 21 provinces, with more than 18,000 cases and 586 deaths reported as of 7 May.The funding will go towards scaling up the response and helping to prevent further spread of the disease.Similarly, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said funding shortfalls had forced the humanitarian community to re-prioritise its response plan to alleviate the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).Nearly seven million people have already been forcibly displaced by violence since advances by M23 rebels earlier this year.While the 2025 UN humanitarian plan aims to provide life-saving interventions to 11 million people across the DRC at a cost of $2.5 billion, only $233 million has been received so far.In spite escalating needs in the wake of the crisis in the east of the country, “that’s only half the amount we had secured by this time last year,” UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists in New York on Friday.Congolese health authorities are facing shortages of medical supplies as the DRC is now facing a cholera outbreak in six provinces.OCHA is calling for greater protection of civilians in conflict-affected areas, and more support to prevent the collapse of essential services and address the root causes of the crisis. (NAN)

President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria is ready to partner Qatar to explore opportunities in the agricultural sector.The President said this while receiving Dr Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, a special envoy from the Amir of the State of Qatar, at the State House on Friday.Al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, conveyed Amir’s strong interest in expanding bilateral cooperation.

He said that a high-level Qatari business delegation would visit Nigeria in the coming weeks to explore opportunities in agriculture, food security, and other critical sectors. President Tinubu emphasised Nigeria’s readiness to build on the momentum generated by his state visit to Qatar in 2024, pledging to implement all bilateral agreements between the two countries.He directed Sen. Abubakar Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, and Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to work together to ensure the timely execution of these agreements.“To all the members of the delegation, I want to say a big thank you for coming to Nigeria. We are grateful to God for what we have experienced as partners in progress.“I am also glad that the Amir of Qatar greatly remembers the issues discussed during my visit last year.“Let me commend the brotherly relations between Qatar and Nigeria. The Ambassador knows that I take Qatar very seriously. We are willing to go further in our bilateral relations,” he said.The President said the Qatari government had demonstrated maturity and foresight in working for global peace and deserved commendation.“I am proud of your efforts to bring peace and stability to the world. I see your efforts in human development, peace and prosperity. “Like you, we are sandwiched between the challenge of terrorism and helping our neighbours. We are conscious of who is our friend and those helping us to ameliorate the problems,” he said.President Tinubu also noted ongoing reforms to streamline Nigeria’s tax system, making it easier for foreign investors to do business in the country.“We are making efforts to reform our tax system. Going by experiences of the past and the need to depart from old ways, our reforms have been hard.He added that his administration made tough decisions so that the country could grow. “We are gradually seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.The President said Nigeria’s partnership with Qatar could be improved by looking into food sovereignty and economic prosperity.“We are doing well as much as we can as the leader in Africa. We want to continue to promote good relations with you. We are ready to do whatever we can do from here.“We subscribe to peace efforts by your government. There can be no development without peace,” he added.Al-Khulaifi conveyed the Amir’s desire to strengthen the strategic partnership with Nigeria, particularly in peace-building, agriculture, and petrochemicals.He expressed pride in the current level of relations and looked forward to expanding both government-to-government and people-to-people ties.“We are proud of the level of relations we have reached with Nigeria. I am very impressed with our partnership with the country, which is not just government to government but also people to people.“Our Ambassador has been following up with the projects. We have much to do together in agriculture, food, and petrochemicals. We have some companies telling us that we should create a way for them to come into Nigeria,” he said.Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, whose responsibilities include mediating peace in Africa and the Middle East, said some Qatari companies would visit Nigeria to discuss investment opportunities in agriculture.“The message I have from His Highness, Amir of Qatar, is that he wants Nigeria to be a strategic partner in Africa,” he added. (NAN)