Metro
Five Key Social Reforms Under Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince
The decision by Saudi Arabia to allow alcohol sales to non-Muslim diplomats, according to two sources, is the latest in a series of reforms aimed at projecting a more open, moderate image.
Here are five other headline-grabbing changes implemented in recent years under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose reputation was dealt a major blow by the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Cinemas reopened
In April 2018, “Black Panther” was the first film to be shown in Saudi Arabia in 35 years when the country lifted a ban imposed on cinemas by its clerics in the 1970s.
Riyadh said it planned to open up over 300 cinemas by 2030.
Like TV programmes, films are however subject to rigorous selection and censorship to avoid portrayals of sex, religion or politics.
Women at the wheel
In June 2018, Saudi Arabia lifted a decades-long ban on women driving — the only one of its kind in the world which left women dependent on men for mobility.
Since 2018, thousands of women have slipped behind the wheel, with some going on to become mechanics and taxi drivers.
The euphoria created by the move was dented however by a major crackdown on many of the women activists who had previously campaigned to lift the ban.
Travel without male ‘guardian’
In 2019, Saudi women aged 21 or more were allowed to apply for a passport and travel abroad without first obtaining the consent of a male “guardian” — husband, father or other male relative.
The move marked a significant loosening of the controversial guardianship system, under which men exercise near-total authority over women.
Tourists welcome
In a bid to reduce its reliance on oil revenues and diversify the economy, Saudi Arabia in September 2019 began opening up to tourism — its so-called “white oil” — for the first time.
Until then Saudi Arabia had only issued visas to Muslim pilgrims, expatriate workers, or, from 2018, people attending sporting and cultural events.
Prince Mohammed a year earlier had announced a massive tourism project to turn 50 islands and a string of sites on the Red Sea into luxury resorts.
Tourists who flout the country’s rules on modest attire risk heavy fines however.
Gender mixing
Long forbidden, men and women have in recent years been allowed to mingle in public.
Women were allowed enter a football stadium to watch a match for the first time in 2018 and can now also attend concerts alongside men.
They also no longer need fear the stick-wielding guardians of public morality in order to bathe together at some beaches, and rules on the wearing of abaya robes have been relaxed.
Women, who had previously been restricted to a handful of careers, mainly in health and education, now also rub shoulders with men in the workplace.
Millions of women have entered the job market since 2016, becoming bankers, shoe sellers, business owners and border officers, among other professions.
A tragic incident occurred on Saturday morning in the Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos State, as a building housing a popular local restaurant on Oremeta Street collapsed, leaving many feared dead.
The building was said to have given way at about 8:00 am, causing panic among residents and passers-by. Eyewitnesses reported a loud rumble before the structure came crashing down, trapping several individuals inside.
Emergency responders, including residents and rescue officials, have since commenced search and rescue operations at the site. As of the time of filing this report, the exact number of casualties remains unconfirmed, but several persons are believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.
Authorities are yet to issue an official statement regarding the cause of the collapse or the number of victims. However, efforts are ongoing to clear the debris and reach those who may still be alive underneath.
More details to follow.
Grief hung heavily in the air as the Zike community in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State laid to rest 51 of its residents brutally murdered in a pre-dawn attack that has once again cast a dark shadow over the troubled region.
The victims, mostly women and children, were gunned down in the early hours of Monday when yet-to-be-identified assailants stormed the sleepy village, firing indiscriminately. The massacre is the latest in a string of violent assaults that have plagued Plateau State in recent times.
At the mass burial held in the community, emotions ran high as families, friends, and sympathizers wept uncontrollably. Traditional mourners draped in black wailed as the victims’ coffins were lowered into the earth — a harrowing scene that has become all too familiar in the region.
Speaking at the funeral, a visibly distraught community leader, Davidson Malison, described the attack as “disheartening” and lamented the scale of the devastation.
“I can tell you the situation is very disheartening,” Malison said. “We are still searching for more corpses. Something needs to be done to put an end to this.”
The Irigwe women leader, Mary Dikwa, echoed similar concerns, calling on the government to step up its responsibility in securing lives and property.
“They have been killing us in this our community,” Dikwa said in tears. “Several times they will come and attack us. This situation has gone out of hand.”
Monday’s carnage came barely two weeks after another deadly assault left over 50 people dead and several others severely injured, despite repeated reassurances by the government to restore peace to the North-Central state.
Reacting to the renewed wave of violence, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered security agencies to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
“I have instructed security agencies to thoroughly investigate this crisis and identify those responsible for orchestrating these violent acts,” the President said in a statement released by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga. “We cannot allow this devastation and the tit-for-tat attacks to continue. Enough is enough.”
As the Zike community mourns yet another loss, residents are left clinging to hope — that someday soon, peace will return to their land and they can finally bury their dead without fearing for the lives of the living.
At least forty people have been confirmed dead following a brutal attack by unidentified assailants on Zike community in Kimakpa, located within the Kwall district of Bassa Local Government Area in Plateau State.
According to local sources, the assault took place in the early hours of Monday, with the attackers storming the village and opening fire indiscriminately. Residents, startled by the sound of gunfire, fled in panic, but many were caught in the hail of bullets.
A community leader in Kwall, Wakili Tongwe, revealed that he and a group of vigilantes, along with some security personnel, were on patrol in a nearby community when the assault occurred.
“We were on routine patrol in a different area when the attackers struck. By the time we arrived, they had already done significant damage,” Tongwe said.
He added that while the joint team of vigilantes and security operatives engaged the assailants and eventually repelled them, the casualties were already high. Thirty-six people were confirmed dead at the scene, with four others succumbing to their injuries later in hospital.
Several other villagers sustained gunshot wounds and are currently receiving treatment in medical facilities nearby.
As of the time of filing this report, security agencies in Plateau State are yet to issue any official statement regarding the incident.
This latest massacre comes barely two weeks after a similar attack in the Bokkos Local Government Area of the state, where over fifty people lost their lives in coordinated assaults on several communities.
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