News
Nine genocides around the world
The UN-backed court set up to try Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge leaders over the country’s genocidal 1970s regime issued its last verdict on Thursday, when it upheld the genocide conviction of the regime’s last leader.
Here is a summary of other genocides recognised by the international community and courts or individual states:
Namibia: first genocide
Germany in 2021 acknowledged it had committed genocide in colonial-era Namibia in southwest Africa.
German settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people between 1904 and 1908, a massacre historians called the 20th century’s first genocide.
Armenia
Armenia says Ottoman Turk forces killed up to 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917, during World War I.
It has long sought international recognition of this as genocide, backed by around 30 countries.
The charge is vehemently rejected by Turkey, which admits nonetheless that up to 500,000 Armenians were killed in fighting, massacres or by starvation during mass deportations from eastern Anatolia.
Cambodia
During a four-year reign of terror by the Maoist Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979, some two million people died from starvation, mass executions and overwork.
In 2018, a UN-sponsored tribunal in Cambodia convicted the two top surviving leaders of the regime, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, of genocide.
Nuon Chea has since died and 91-year-old Samphan appealed but on Thursday the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) upheld his conviction.
The ruling will be the last given by the tribunal, winding up a 16-year-process dogged by criticisms for costliness, slowness, and bringing limited solace to survivors.
Rwanda
The Rwandan genocide began in early April 1994, shortly after the ethnic Hutu president was killed when his plane was shot down in an attack blamed by the government on Tutsi rebels.
At least 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis and some moderate Hutus, were slaughtered over the following 100 days, according to the United Nations.
The UN set up the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the Tanzanian city of Arusha. It issued the world’s first genocide conviction in 1998.
Since then, courts in the United States, Canada and several European countries have also convicted Rwandan fugitives over their role in the bloodshed.
Srebrenica
The 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia, of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces was recognised as a genocide by the International Court of Justice, the UN’s top legal body, in 2007.
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and military chief Ratko Mladic were handed life sentences for genocide by a special UN court.
Sudan
In 2021, Sudan said it planned to hand over to the International Criminal Court ex-president Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for genocide over fighting that erupted in the western Darfur region in 2003.
The UN estimates that the Darfur conflict left 300,000 people dead.
Yazidis in Iraq
Islamic State jihadists in 2014 carried out a massacre of Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking community in northwestern Iraq.
In 2021, a German court convicted an Iraqi jihadist of “genocide”.
The parliaments of several Western states have also termed the crimes “genocide”.
Rohingya in Myanmar
Around one million members of Myanmar’s mostly Muslim Rohingya community fled the Buddhist-majority country for Bangladesh since August 2017, amid reports of rape, murder and arson.
Myanmar has been accused of “genocide” by The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The International Criminal Court has also opened a probe, and in March the US declared the violence against the Rohingya constituted genocide.
Uyghurs in China
Lawmakers in several western countries have denounced a “genocide” by China of the Uyghur minority in western Xinjiang province.
Rights groups say at least one million people from mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated in “re-education camps” in Xinjiang.
A UN report earlier this month said the abuses could constitute “crimes against humanity” but avoided the term genocide.
China has denied any wrondoing, saying it is running vocational training centres to counter extremism.
… Assures Prompt Salary Payment
The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Ibok-Ete Ibas, has announced the release of withheld local government allocations, assuring that necessary steps would be taken to ensure the prompt payment of workers’ salaries.
Ibas disclosed this on Thursday during a meeting with Heads of Local Government Administrators in Port Harcourt, describing the engagement as a crucial step towards restoring stability and progress in the state.
He lamented the economic hardship in the Niger Delta, noting that despite the region’s wealth of natural resources, many of its people continued to suffer.
“This is unacceptable,” he said, stressing the need for transformation and financial accountability.
The administrator expressed concern over the delay in salary payments across local government areas, acknowledging the struggles of affected workers.
“I feel the pain of the workers,” he stated, assuring them that the withheld allocations had been released and that his administration would ensure prompt payment of salaries.
However, he warned that financial discipline would be strictly enforced, directing all local government areas to submit their wage bills with supporting documents through the office of the Head of Service.
Ibas, a retired Vice Admiral and former Chief of Naval Staff, vowed to scrutinise public funds and take decisive action against mismanagement.
“Good governance is not just a slogan; it is a commitment to changing the negative narrative within the next six months,” he added.
He also emphasised the need for collaboration with traditional rulers and security agencies to enhance grassroots security.
“You must take the lead in ensuring security within your domains,” he charged local government administrators.
Reacting, the President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and Administrator of Port Harcourt Local Government Area, Clifford Paul, commended the Federal Government for appointing Ibas, attributing the decision to his leadership competence.
He urged the administrator to prioritise workers’ welfare, stating that local government workers were currently owed two months’ salaries.
“With the release of the withheld allocations, we are hopeful that workers will receive their entitlements soon,” he said.
Paul further called on stakeholders to seize the opportunity to rebuild trust and foster unity in the state.
President Bola Tinubu has sworn in Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd.) as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, following a brief meeting at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday afternoon.
Ibas’ appointment comes a day after Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The President cited Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution as the legal basis for his action, stating that he could no longer stand by as the political crisis in the state escalated.
However, the suspension of Fubara and other elected officials has sparked widespread condemnation. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, senior lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and several civil society groups have rejected the move, describing it as unconstitutional and undemocratic.
In contrast, the pro-Nyesom Wike faction of the Rivers State Assembly, led by Martins Amaewhule, has praised Tinubu’s decision, accusing Fubara of disregarding a Supreme Court ruling related to the state’s political crisis.
Vice Admiral Ibas, a retired naval officer, previously served as Chief of Naval Staff from 2015 to 2021 under President Muhammadu Buhari. Born in Cross River State, he attended the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1979 and went on to have a distinguished military career, rising to the highest ranks in the Navy.
He is a member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and the Nigerian Institute of Management. In 2022, Buhari conferred upon him the national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in recognition of his service.
Ibas now assumes leadership of Rivers State amid a deeply divided political landscape, with tensions running high over the legality and implications of the emergency rule.
The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements to the federal, state, and local governments surged by 43 per cent in 2024, reflecting a major boost in government revenue inflows.
According to the latest FAAC Quarterly Review released in Abuja on Tuesday, the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) disclosed that a total of N15.26 trillion was allocated to the three tiers of government within the year under review.
NEITI’s Acting Director, Communication & Stakeholders Management, Obiageli Onuorah, described the disbursements as a historic high, noting that the allocations surpassed previous years by a remarkable margin.
Key Drivers of Revenue Growth
The report attributed the surge in FAAC disbursements to sustained fiscal reforms by the Federal Government, particularly the removal of fuel subsidies and foreign exchange rate adjustments. These policies have significantly boosted oil revenue remittances and overall government earnings.
Speaking at the official release of the report in Abuja, NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, highlighted the impact of these reforms on national and subnational finances. He noted that the withdrawal of fuel subsidies in mid-2023 reshaped revenue distribution and affected debt repayment deductions from state allocations.
Dr Orji stated that the objective of the report was to assess the sustainability of government borrowing, the fiscal implications of resource dependence, and the economic realities confronting states benefitting from the 13% derivation revenue from oil, gas, and solid minerals.
“The analysis focused on crude oil revenue derivation states, as solid minerals continue to underperform despite their significant potential,” he added.
Breakdown of FAAC Allocations
According to the NEITI report, FAAC disbursements in 2024 were as follows:
Federal Government: N4.95 trillion
State Governments: N5.81 trillion
Local Governments: N3.77 trillion
Total FAAC Disbursement (Including Derivation Revenue): N15.26 trillion
State governments recorded the highest percentage increase in allocations, jumping by 62% from N3.58 trillion in 2023 to N5.81 trillion in 2024. Local government councils saw a 47% increase, while the federal government’s share rose by 24% from N3.99 trillion in 2023.
The report highlighted that FAAC allocations grew by 66.2% over three years, rising from N9.18 trillion in 2022 to N10.9 trillion in 2023 and N15.26 trillion in 2024, with the most significant leap occurring between 2023 and 2024.
Economic Risks and Challenges
Despite the revenue boost, NEITI cautioned that economic risks associated with fiscal reforms must be managed effectively. Key risks identified include:
Inflationary pressures
Possible rise in debt servicing costs
Fiscal uncertainty for oil-dependent states
The agency urged governments at all levels to adopt innovative measures to cushion the impact of these economic challenges.
State-by-State Allocation Analysis
Lagos received the highest FAAC allocation in 2024, with N531.1 billion, followed by:
Delta State: N450.4 billion
Rivers State: N349.9 billion
Conversely, the least allocations went to:
Nasarawa State: N108.3 billion
Ebonyi State: N110 billion
Ekiti State: N111.9 billion
The report also showed that six states—Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Delta, and Kano—each received over N200 billion, collectively accounting for 33% of total state allocations. Meanwhile, the six lowest-receiving states—Yobe, Gombe, Kwara, Ekiti, Ebonyi, and Nasarawa—received only 11.5% of total allocations.
Debt Deductions Raise Fiscal Concerns
A total of N800 billion was deducted from states’ allocations for foreign debt servicing and contractual obligations, representing 12.3% of total state allocations.
Lagos State had the highest debt deduction, with N164.7 billion, followed by:
Kaduna State: N51.2 billion
Rivers State: N38.6 billion
Bauchi State: N37.2 billion
NEITI warned that many states with high debt burdens were among the lower FAAC recipients, raising concerns about debt sustainability and overall fiscal health.
With the federal and state governments increasingly reliant on oil revenue, the report emphasized the need for economic diversification, stronger financial management, and sustainable debt practices to ensure long-term fiscal stability.
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