Travel News

Radisson Hotel Group announced its 10th hotel in Nigeria and the third brand in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria and headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The opening of Radisson Hotel Abuja Gudu will further strengthen the group’s presence in one of its key African markets, bringing its Nigerian portfolio to 10 hotels in operation and under development and placing it firmly on track to reach a 50% portfolio increase by 2025.

The hotel, currently under construction and due to open within the next 18 months, is located in Gudu, an established district which occupies a strategic location just outside Abuja’s city centre and is primarily a residential and premium commercial area.  

Erwan Garnier, Senior Director, Development, Africa, Radisson Hotel Group, said, “We are delighted to introduce the fast-growing, upscale, Radisson brand to Abuja with what is set to be a landmark hotel and key contributor to the countries positive travel and tourism industry. It will perfectly complement our two hotels currently under development in the city, Radisson Collection Abuja ASO Tower, scheduled to open in 2022 and Radisson Blu Abuja City Centre, on track to open its doors in 2024. Beyond Abuja, our expansion strategy in Nigeria focuses on Lagos and Port Harcourt as well as the countries six main state capital cities.”

Commenting on the group’s development plans in Nigeria, Ramsay Rankoussi, Vice President, Development, Africa & Turkey, Radisson Hotel Group, said, “In line with our strategic review across the continent and further supporting our ambitions across Africa to reach over 150 hotels within the next five years, Nigeria represents one of our core focus growth markets. I take this opportunity to thank our partner for this new addition and we certainly look forward to further reinforcing our presence across the country in the coming years. We aim to accelerate our presence across Nigeria, predominantly through conversions and new build hotels but also with a diversified offering from business hotels to serviced apartments and mixed-use developments.

The 100-room hotel will comprise of various standard room types and suites, furnished with contemporary layered styling and a Scandinavian-inspired aesthetic. This design will flow through the hotels four restaurants and bars too, from the lobby bar and café and all-day-dining restaurant to the restaurant and pool terraces and Business Class Lounge. The hotel will also feature a fully equipped gym and an outdoor swimming pool, providing guests with a harmonious business and leisure experience.  

The meetings and events space of 242 sqm will be made up of three meeting rooms, a boardroom and a pre-assembly area.

Prince Ify Godfrey Ejim, Chief Operating Officer, 1st Impression Investment Company Limited, the hotel’s owning company, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Radisson Hotel Group in introducing the Radisson brand to Abuja, the countries powerhouse city. With a combination of endless aesthetic beauty and world-class hospitality, together, I believe we will create the city’s must-visit hotel.”

Ghanaian-owned general cargoship raided by up to seven gunmen on Monday morning

ltancies Ambrey and Dryad Global reported. The ship was 44 nautical miles (81 km) south of Brass in Nigeria.

The vessel is understood to have been boarded by six or seven gunmen. The abducted crew members are Ghanaian.

The pirates are reported to have damaged communications and navigation equipment.

The vessel was said to be drifting with two crew members on board.

Nine attacks in November

The attack is the ninth in November alone, with 115 seafarers kidnapped in the region so far this year.

"This incident occurred closer to shore than the majority of incidents in 2020, which have thus far reflected the developed trend of incidents at the 80-plus nautical miles range," said Dryad.

"It is within a high-traffic area that saw a large cluster of incidents in both 2018 and 2019."

Chinese vessel attacked

Seven vessels had been boarded or approached over the last week, before a gang kidnapped 14 Chinese crew from a heavy-lift vessel on Friday.

The 48,127-dwt Liberian-flagged Zhen Hua 7 (built 1998) was raided northwest of Sao Tome.

Following these unsuccessful attacks, Dryad said it is highly likely that the pirates sought to return to areas of known traffic density and opportunistic targets.

The company added that the incidents emphasise the critical nature of the risk in the Gulf of Guinea after the monsoon season ended.

"As a result of the geographic spread of incidents throughout November it was assessed as a realistic possibility that the incidents were perpetuated by more than one PAG [pirate action group], or indeed two teams operating as part of the same PAG," Dryad said.

The affected staff had been in fear of arrest and deportation as they are living illegally in the country without a work permit.

About 100 Nigerians lecturing in Kampala International University, KIU, Uganda have raised the alarm over an alleged poor working condition, ranging from non-payment of salaries, marginalisation, among others

KIU is one of the popular private universities in Uganda, which was founded by a business magnet, Basajja Ballabba Hassan, who doubles as the university’s Managing Director.

Daily Nigerian gathered that the institution had become a destination of choice for Nigerians pursuing university education in the country.

However, some Nigerians, who are mostly academic staff of the university, have claimed that the school founder had subjected them to untold hardship and poor working conditions.

One of the affected workers, Isa Yunusa, in a WhatsApp audio message sent to the Centre for Awareness on Justice and Accountability, CAJA, a Civil Society Organization in Kano State, revealed that the MD had refused to process work permits for all Nigerians working at the university.

In the audio clip, obtained by Daily Nigerian, Mr Yunusa alleged that in sheer violation of terms of the contract, as required by the law of the country, none of the Nigerian workers in the institution, including those that had been employed for over 15 years, had been offered work permits.

He lamented that the affected staff had been in fear of arrest and deportation as they are living illegally in the country without a work permit.

According to Mr Yunusa, the managing-director would promise to process the work permit but end up breaching all the terms and conditions stated in their appointment letters.

“I have sent this audio to let the Nigerian government know about our ordeal at Kampala International University, KIU. We are in a sorry situation after being subjected to poor working conditions.

“We have about 100 staff here. We are about 99% of academic staff but have not been issued a work permit. Some have been working in this university for over 15 years but don’t have a legal working permit.

“In the terms and conditions of the employment contract, there is provision for a work permit, and the managing director of the institution had promised to process the work permit for us, but up till now, it has not been issued to us. This means we are living illegally in Uganda.

“We are enslaved here. We are like victims of human trafficking. We are working for nothing. All the entitlements contained in the contract agreement have not been granted to us. We need help,” he said.

He also revealed that the university’s management had not paid their monthly salary, amounting to $614,040 since April this year.

Yunusa added that they had never been paid their National Social Security Fund, NSSF since joining the institution as staff.

According to him, when one of their colleagues, a female Nigerian, died of breast cancer ten days ago, the university’s management did not even send condolences to the association of Nigerians living in the country, let alone pay her entitlements.

He alleged that she died as a result of “social and financial stress that aggravated her condition, as the MD failed to provide free medical and healthcare as promised during the employment.”

He said they wrote a letter to the management of the university, requesting the payment of the deceased’s entitlement to process the return of her son to Nigeria for the continuation of his study but the authorities had not responded to the request.

Yunusa lamented that only Nigerian staff suffer in the university, as their colleagues from Cuba, Korea and Pakistan are treated well, describing the scenario as a breach of the diplomatic tie with Nigeria, which spends billions of naira to sponsor TAC beneficiaries in the country.

“This is a breach of the bilateral relationship with Nigeria. The Federal Government of Nigeria is spending a huge amount of money on the sponsorship of TAC in Uganda. And this university, KIU is the major beneficiary, but it is oppressing the Nigerian workers.

“What baffles us is that our colleagues from other countries like Pakistan, Cuba, Korea and other countries are treated well. Their salaries and other entitlements are duly paid. They had been issued a work permit, but why us?” he asked rhetorically.

He, therefore, called on the Nigerian government to listen to their plea and save them from maltreatment in the hand of the Managing-Director of the KIU.

Yunusa also lamented that all the letters of complaint written to the management of the university by a diaspora association of Nigerians in the country, Nigerian Community Uganda, NCU, had not been replied to.

In a copy of a letter, obtained by Daily Nigerian, written by the leadership of the NCU on October 27, the association expressed displeasure over the bad working condition of its members at the KIU.

The letter, signed by the association’s chairman, Elias Edu, said they had endorsed the university to the Federal Government of Nigeria and had since benefited a lot from the government, but was dismayed by the alleged maltreatment of Nigerian staff in the institution.

Parts of the letter read thus: “We write to bring to your attention, issues affecting the welfare of our members, who are academic staff of KIU. These issues threaten to seriously undermine the peaceful relationship between the Nigerian government and your institution.

“You will recall that KIU has been the destination of choice for many Nigerians interested in pursuing university education in Uganda.

“As an association, we have had to endorse KIU to our governments at home; national, state and local levels as a credible institution where beneficiaries of government scholarship could be sent,” the letter said.

“We have always supported our government’s action in sending TAC volunteers to KIU. Among the universities in Uganda, KIU has always enjoyed the lion’s share of skilled manpower sent to Uganda by our government under the Technical Aid Corp, TAC programme.

“We, therefore, are concerned that, after a long-established history of the relationship between Nigeria and your institution, the management of KIU has chosen the path of hostility towards not only our nationals but our association and country.

“We are dismayed by several reports from our nationals, complaining about the poor treatment given to them by the KIU.

“These include non-observance of contract terms on payment of salaries, KIU’s refusal to process work permit as required by law, and host of other issues.”

The letter, addressed to the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the KIU, further stated that when the association received the information, it had to prevail on the affected staff to maintain the status quo for an amicable resolution.

The association, however, lamented that all efforts to reach the institution’s management, through the Vice-Chancellor, did not yield fruit as he ignored all correspondences made by the association.

“We, therefore, in the interest of the relationship between our country and your institution, wish to request you to intervene with the management of the KIU to resolve the matter.

“We will like to meet you at your earliest convenience for a conversation on how to resolve the issues,” the letter added.

In the letter, the association warned that it would not further prevent any escalation if another request for a meeting failed to be granted.

The university’s management has yet to reply to our correspondent’s email inquiry sent to them.

By Dulue Mbachu

Nigeria lifted a ban on flights to the West African country by Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and Qatar Airways

Africa’s most populous country of more 200 million people barred a number of airlines as it resumed international flights on Sept. 5 following a prolonged lockdown to curb spread of the coronavirus, saying it was in retaliation for similar restrictions.

The government is also working to open three additional airports in the country to international flights “before the end of the year,” Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said Tuesday on Twitter.

By Yomi Kazeem

In February, data showed that, for the fifth year in a row, more Nigerians emigrated to Canada in 2019 than the year before.

Another marker of that exodus is that the number of Nigerians issued permanent residence (PR) permits by the Canadian government has tripled since 2015. In 2019 alone, 12,595 Nigerians were issued the permits.

But while those figures are based on people who moved to Canada through its skilled workers immigration program, Nigerians are also taking other paths to move to the North American country.

In fact, Nigeria is set to end 2020 with the highest number of finalized asylum claims (i.e claims that were either accepted, rejected, abandoned, or withdrawn) to Canada for the fourth straight year. Nigeria overtook China as the country with the highest claims back in 2016.  Nigeria’s hold on the top spot is despite a major slowdown in asylum claim rates given global travel restrictions in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, Canada has seen a 71% drop in finalized asylum claims so far in 2020.

Canada’s “open doors”

While Canada’s skill-based immigration program offers immediate residency permits and a long-term pathway to citizenship, the country’s perceived openness to immigrants, particularly relative to the US in recent years, means it has also become subject to rising asylum claims as well. Canada recently announced plans to welcome an additional 1.2 million immigrants over the next three years.

Canada’s ongoing immigration drive to boost its labor force has added to the country’s appeal for middle-class Nigerians who are increasingly pursuing exit plans to leave Nigeria given the country’s ongoing economic travails. Indeed, for many Nigerians, moving to Canada is also predicated on opening up increased educational and life opportunities for their children, particularly given Nigeria’s precariously low human capital spending. In 2018, Nigeria overtook India as the country with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty.

With refugee protection claims typically based on allegations of persecution in a person’s home country, a range of factors have seen Nigerians jump to the front of the queue, including persecution based on religion and sexual orientation. With homosexuality still criminalized under Nigerian law, it has become an oft-cited reason for Nigerian asylum seekers in Canada: between 2013 to 2017,  Nigerians made up about 25% of claims based on sexual orientation.

But the high rate of LGBT-related claims from Nigeria (60% of Nigerians seeking asylum in that period claimed to be bisexual compared to an average of 12% for other nationals) has raised questions that some of the claims may be fabricated.

Political persecution is also emerging as a factor driving these claims as well, especially in the wake of high-profile protests against police brutality in Nigeria. As several reports and incidents suggest that the Nigerian government is cracking down on the recent EndSARS protest organizers, there has been a spike in local interest in Canada’s refugee protection programs—enough to force the country’s High Commission to Nigeria to clarify the proper channels for seeking these claims.

LONDON (Reuters) - American Airlines AAL.O, British Airways ICAG.L, and the oneworld alliance will launch a coronavirus testing trial this month aimed at convincing the U.S. and UK governments to introduce testing so that transatlantic travel can restart.

BA was operating 84 flights per week between London Heathrow and New York JFK prior to the pandemic, but last week operated just 21.

BA CEO Sean Doyle said that without a travel testing regime, Britain was being left behind countries such as Germany.

Alongside its partners, BA plans to collect data from at least 500 passengers on flights from three U.S. cities to London Heathrow by asking them to take three free COVID-19 tests as part of their journey: one before departure, one on landing, and one three days after their arrival.

“What we’re trying to evidence here is the effectiveness of testing to replace quarantines,” BA CEO Doyle, who has been in the role for just six weeks, told reporters on a call.

He said that recent positive vaccine news was encouraging but it was unclear when a vaccine would start to have a material effect on travel.

The data collected from the trial, which will start on Nov. 25, will be collated by independent scientists and presented to UK ministers to help convince them to drop a 14-day quarantine rule for arrivals from most countries.

“If we have a testing framework that is there, you know regardless of the development of the pandemic, it gives people certainty from which they can plan,” Doyle said.

In one of his first media appearances since taking up the CEO job at BA, which is owned by IAG ICAG.L, Doyle said the airline needed to be proactive in coming up with solutions to the crisis.

Britain’s transport minister said on Friday he would be making an announcement on changes to the country’s 14-day quarantine rule for arrivals “very soon”.

Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Jason Neely

The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, yesterday, said all the nation’s international airports may resume international flight operations before the end of the year.

According to Sirika, the Ministry of Aviation was working with the Federal Ministry of Health, the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and other relevant bodies to ensure that the three airports meet all the safety and health requirements and protocols. This is coming on the heels of the Federal Government lifting the flight ban on Lufthansa, KLM and Air France, paving the way for them to resume their operations in and out of the country.

It would be recalled that the three airports, namely Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, and the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, were yet to be cleared for international operations since the resumption of flights after the Covid-19 pandemic. The minister further said “all hands are on deck to ensure that all logistic and policy necessities will soon be in place in order to address the difficulties encountered by international travellers, especially with the impending yuletide season”.

He also expressed his appreciation for the understanding and cooperation of aviation stakeholders in ensuring the smooth reopening of the nation’s airspace. Meanwhile, the Federal Government has lifted the ban on Lufthansa, KLM and Air France, paving the way for them to resume their operations in and out of the country. Qatar Airways has also been granted approval to start operations at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

This follows the approval of their respective flight plans and schedules submitted to the ministry. In granting the approvals, Sirika “emphasized the need for airlines operating in the country to employ international best practices in handling Nigerian passengers, as government will not tolerate any form of maltreatment of its citizens by any airline”.

By Swati Pandey

SYDNEY (Reuters) - South Australia announced a six-day lockdown of the state on Wednesday to stamp out a fresh coronavirus outbreak that has now expanded to 22 cases, warning the strain of virus was highly contagious with a 24-hour infection rate.

As of midnight, a series of wide-ranging mobility restrictions will be imposed on homes and businesses for six days to allow “breathing space” for contact tracing, South Australia state Premier Steven Marshall said.

“We need this circuit breaker, this community pause,” Marshall said. “We are going hard and we are going early. Time is of the essence and we must act swiftly and decisively.”

The virus strain in the new cases was “highly contagious with short incubation period and limited symptoms”, he said.

“We have one chance, one chance, and will be throwing all our resources at it because we know the consequences of getting it wrong,” Marshall said.

Epidemiologist were unsure whether this was a genetically mutated virus strain.

“I haven’t seen any official genetic data suggesting it’s a new strain,” said Professor Raina MacIntyre, head of the Biosecurity Program at the Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales.

The short incubation period “doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a new strain,” he said. “Sometimes when you get a very, very high dose of virus you would become sick sooner. It could just be that.”

South Australia state government did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the specific strain.

The lockdown will mean people will be restricted from going outside of their homes, with only one person per household allowed to leave each day, but only for specific purposes.

Masks will be required in all areas outside of the home.

All schools, takeaway food, pubs, cafes and universities will be closed, along with the construction industry, which has been allowed to operate during past lockdowns in Australia.

Aged care and disability residential facilities, some of the most vulnerable to coronavirus, will be locked down.

Weddings and funerals will be banned, along with open real estate auctions and outdoor exercises. Factories other than food and medical products will be closed.

Regional travel is also not approved and FIFO (fly in fly out) resource work will be stopped for six days.

Beach Energy, Santos, BHP and Whyalla Steel are among resource companies with operations in South Australia. Beach Energy said it will not be hit by the lockdown while it was not clear whether others will be impacted.

The latest outbreak is linked to an Australian who arrived in the state capital Adelaide from overseas on Nov. 2 and entered mandatory quarantine in a hotel. Hotel workers are believed to have contracted the virus after touching a contaminated surface.

“This outbreak started at a hotel from an overseas arrival. It will therefore have come from the United States, Europe, India or some other place so this is not a new strain,” said Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist at Canberra Hospital.

“It may be different to what has been prevalent in Australia but it isn’t any more deadly or contagious.”

South Australia had gone without a local transmission since Oct.31. It now has had a total of only 551 cases.

Elsewhere, in Victoria state, which was the epicentre of Australia’s nearly 28,000 cases until last month, clocked its 19th straight day of zero new cases.

New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital city, reported zero local and seven imported cases.

Reporting by Swati Pandey; Additional reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Michael Perry

It does not make economic sense to build new airports

The decision by the federal government to build airports in Anambra, Benue, Ekiti, Nasarawa and Ebonyi States while taking over the ones in Kebbi, Osubi, Dutse and Gombe States raises serious questions. The Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is already managing 26 airports of which only six record above 5,000 aircraft movement in a year. All the others depend on these six to stay afloat. The question therefore is: In a period of lean resources when the same government is borrowing to meet commitments, why does it have to saddle the country with more cost centres?

In 2018, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, recorded a total of 64,898 domestic aircraft and 40, 943 international aircraft movement. Within the same year, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, recorded domestic aircraft movement of 59,904 and 9,896 international flights. Others include Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa which recorded domestic aircraft movement of 15,658 and international aircraft movement of 1,759; Mallam Aminu Kano which recorded domestic aircraft movement of 6,892 and 2,063 international movement and Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu which recorded 5,002 domestic aircraft movement and 350 international aircraft flights. While Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri recorded 6,560 domestic aircraft movement, Ibadan recorded 1,116; Minna, 309 domestic and 12 international flights; Akure, 2,119 aircraft movement; Katsina, 2,252 and Makurdi, 1,252.

What the foregoing figures reveal is that over 90 per cent of FAAN’s revenue comes from just about six airports. To worsen matters, there has not been rapid passenger growth in these existing airports since 2014 when total passenger movement hovered around 15 million, only rising to over 16 million in 2019 before the Coronavirus pandemic. Already, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has predicted that global air passenger traffic could only rise to the 2019 level by 2023. If, as things stand, all the 26 airports being managed by FAAN depend on the revenues generated by six airports for their sustenance, the situation will be dire in a post-Covid world.

Meanwhile, out of all the airports built by states, only the ones in Uyo and Asaba could be said to be viable and that is because government in both Akwa Ibom and Delta States support them financially. Looking at the market projections in the near future, there is not going to be sudden rise in air transport in Nigeria because of low per capita income, even if alternative means of transport like rail and road do not expand. We therefore do not understand the rationale behind building more airports for the states beyond political consideration.

The consequences of building unviable airports are that huge resources, which would have been used to provide other essential infrastructure and other amenities are spent on unprofitable ventures. Most of these airports, especially the ones built by the states, only serve the interest of the governors and other government officials who travel through them with charter services, as scheduled passenger services cannot break even for commercial airlines due to low passenger throughput.

All factors considered, the idea of using already lean resources to build extra airports makes no sense. This is part of the reason why the existing airports still have obsolete facilities because there are not enough funds to upgrade them. Many of these airports do not have critical amenities like airfield lighting; so FAAN manages 26 airports but only six of them have facilities for night landing. What this means is that Nigeria may eventually have 36 airports but less than 10 would be able to provide services.

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The consequences of building unviable airports are that huge resources, which would have been used to provide other essential infrastructure are spent on unprofitable ventures