Nigeria’s Nobel Prize laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has vowed to tear off  his green card if Donald Trump emerges as winner of the US presidential election. The green card is a permanent residence permit for the US – prized by many African immigrants to the US.

His comments emerged in the video of a conversation with students at Oxford University in the UK.

The famous author appears to be taking a swipe at Trump over his radical stance on immigration.

American voters go to the polls next Tuesday and latest polls show the two candidates are neck and neck.

Trump is famous for his promise to build a wall to keep Mexican immigrants out of the US if he makes it to the White House.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Donald Trump: Not a fan of illegal immigrants

Under his hard-line proposals, every illegal immigrant currently in the US would be subject to deportation if he wins the election.

He says there will be no pathway to citizenship or even legal status for them unless they leave the country and get in line with everyone else who wants to enter the US, subject to the normal immigration procedures.

Soyinka said he feared the Republic candidate would ask all green-card holders to reapply to come back into the US.

“Well, I’m not waiting for that,” the Nigerian author told his student audience.

“The moment they announce his (Trump’s) victory, I will cut my green card myself and start packing up,” he added. [myad]

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that poverty reduction and inclusive development are the pillars of his government and “very close to my heart.”
The President today, Thursday, spoke at a Presidential parley with the senior executive No. 38 (2016) Of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, at the Presidential.
Buhari said that in the last one and half years of his government, the economy has experienced some tough times, particularly with the decline in oil revenues, which has some harsh impacts on Nigerians at the grassroots.
He argued that the economic recession is not the making of his government, “but rather a consequence of bad management of the economy in the past couple of decades. Nor is recession limited to Nigeria – there are far, far worse cases than Nigeria.
“Whatever the scale of the problem. the important thing is how one tackles it. Accordingly, this administration is committed to finding lasting solutions to our economic structural imbalance. Let us have faith in our great nation that we will come out of this recession vibrant and strong. I am glad that the report presented today has given us reason to keep faith in our ability to overcome our challenges.
“There is no doubt that poverty for decades has been a major challenge to us as a nation despite the country’s enormous wealth. Several policies and programmes that have been implemented over the years, as rightly observed by the Report, have not broken the cycle of poverty in Nigeria. From the findings of the research by the Participants, it is evident that strengthening our institutions is key to reducing poverty and engendering inclusive development.”
President Buhari said that it is impossible for the government to ignore the poor who made great sacrifice to bring us to government, saying that more than any other government in the history of Nigeria, he government is a people’s government.
“We therefore must and we will keep faith with the people.
“It is in this light that I wish to declare the commitment of this administration to the “Sustainable Development Goals, most especially to ending extreme poverty in Nigeria.  It is not going to be easy, but we are committed to dealing with the challenges in a decisive manner. Fortunately, the Report of the Participants has prescribed some concrete measures on how to reduce poverty in the country.”
The President commended the efforts of the National Institute for keeping faith and moving the nation towards a better society.
Buhari recalled that a year ago, during the Presidential Parley with the Participants of the Senior Executive Course 37 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, he saddled the Management of the National Institute with the responsibility of looking at Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms for Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Development in the 2016 Course.
“I am glad that the Participants of the Senior Course 38 took up the challenge and today presented the Report of the Study.
“I have carefully noted the report, most especially its findings and policy recommendations. I recall with pleasure that when I was giving this task, six months after this administration came into office, the selection of the theme was not only apt but also timely.
I am very pleased that the Participants, through the able leadership of the National Institute of Management and the faculty members, have taken the task seriously, as is evident in the report presented. I congratulate you for painstakingly committing your time and energy to produce such a valuable policy-oriented report that will guide this administration.
I have looked forward to receiving this report because it touches on one of the fundamental problems confronting our nation. The Report comes at a time when our economy is experiencing a downturn and all efforts are being made by this administration to get our country moving again.
On behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria, let me congratulate you on your patriotic efforts.”
The President said that even with the limited resources, the Institute was able to come up with such a policy-oriented research findings, assuring it that the Federal Executive Council will carefully study the Report and implement all the practical recommendations. [myad]

The Presidency has clarified the issue surrounding the proposed monthly N5,000 Conditional Cash Transfer of the Buhari Social Investment programmes for the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians, saying that there are no online applications required.
In a statement today, Thursday, Senior Special Assistant on Media in the Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, described the social media report on the issue as misleading.
The said that media reports are based on a recent debate and resolution on a motion in the Senate, titled: “The Need to Avoid the Mismanagement of the N500B Social Intervention Funds.”
Akande said: “while we understand the need for an ongoing public discussion of this unprecedented budgetary allocation in favor of the Nigerian people especially the poorest and the most vulnerable, it is not correct to claim any form of mismanagement  or marginalization whatsoever.”
“There has not been any disbursement from the allocated fund not to talk of any kind of mismanagement at all. While it is true that funds are being released for the social investment programmes, it is rather preposterous for now to say there is no evidence where the funds have gone to. As an administration noted for its transparency, we intend to fully keep Nigerians posted of all financial expenditure in line with extant laws of the country.”
The Presidential Spokesperson explained that of the series of social investment programmes we have outlined, only the job creation scheme-N-Power requires an online registration from unemployed graduates and non-graduate youths.
He said that the Conditional Cash Transfer, which would pay N5000 monthly to the most vulnerable and the poorest Nigerians-a total of one million in the first year-“no online registration of any kind is required.
Akande justified the requirement for online registration for the hiring of 500,000 unemployed graduates,  adding: “it is important to explain, again, for the benefit of clarity, that the requirement for online application for the N-Power job scheme makes absolute sense considering that all together the Federal Government is planning to hire half a million unemployed Nigerian graduates.
“We are all witnesses to the calamity that occurred in the past when a manual effort was made to hire large number of Nigerian youths. It led to needless deaths and outright chaos.
“Asking university graduates, for instance, to apply online is not such a cumbersome or unattainable requirement considering that JAMB, NECO, WAEC applications have all been done online for a while now in this country.
“What online applications do is to afford us as a government an efficient and effective means to process the applications and select the graduates and non-graduate youths for the N-Power job and training programmes.”
On the claim that Borno State has no online facility and that therefore, the N-Power process discriminates against people in the state for whom the programmes are designed, Akande said: “almost 15,000 Nigerians from Borno State applied in the first application series of N-Power schemes online.
“It is also not tenable to argue that people in Maiduguri for instance which today plays hosts to tonnes of international NGOs cannot apply online or are denied internet access.”
He said that in states like Enugu, there were over 20,000 applications online for N-Power, disclosing that states with the lowest numbers like Zamfara and Bayelsa had over 6,000 and 7,000 applications respectively.
“In any case we are aware that in several parts of the country, there are reported instances where local leaders of goodwill ensured that the people-unemployed graduates and youths – who did not readily have access to the internet were adequately taken care of in different ways including creating online registration points and outlets.”
He said that the selection process for the first batch of 200,000 Nigerians to be engaged in the N-Power process has now been completed and that their official engagement is now awaiting the completion of BVN verification so that they would be paid directly.
On how the selection was done, Akande said; “Presidency officials collaborated actively with the Ministries of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Health and other government agencies all through the process. There were no foreign consultants involved, nor is one needed.” He further explained that to make up the selection of the first 200,000, there were three criteria thus: 40% selected based on the number of applications per state, a special mark-up for the 6 states of the Northeast and a discretionary addition for states with low numbers of applicants.” [myad]

The Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO) of the African Union Commission and the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) based in Vienna, Austria, have planned the second Interfaith Dialogue to promote peace inter-religious peace in Africa.
The Dialogue, scheduled to hold in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from November 10 to 11, is also aimed at enhancing social cohesion on the African continent.

According to a statement by KAICIID, the Forum will, among other things, enhance partnerships between the African Union and religious leaders in AU Member States, enable the creation of a safe space for dialogue, add an interfaith dimension to the joint efforts towards achieving the Africa Agenda 2063 which is an AUC’s flagship initiative and serve as both a working meeting and an opportunity to set up a united front in peace building.
The event, the statement said, will provide an opportunity for participants, drawn from national interreligious councils of AU Member States, including African traditional religions and other affiliations, representatives of interfaith organizations, scholars and women, to repudiate violence committed in the name of religion in all regions of Africa, with a declaration of an unequivocal statement in support of diversity, featuring new and diverse voices in a follow-up declaration to the Abuja Declaration of 2010; and oversee the establishment of a permanent Steering Committee, which will link policy makers with religious leaders and institutions.
It said that in a bid to evolve a structured partnership between the African Union and religious leaders for advancing justice, peace, security and development in Africa, “the African Union in partnership with African religious leaders had launched the 1st AU-Interfaith Dialogue Forum in Abuja, Nigeria, in June 2010 to develop an inclusive, practical and sustainable working relationship between the African Union and faith-based organizations capitalizing on their shared values and mutual interests.” [myad]