These are the top Nigerian stories that drove conversation today.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said he is dedicated to the rescue of the remaining Dapchi schoolgirl in Boko Haram captivity.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Thursday.
The statement read, “President Buhari is fully conscious of his duty under the constitution to protect all Nigerians, irrespective of faith, ethnic background or geopolitical location and will not shirk in this responsibility.
“The President is equally mindful of the fact that true followers of Islam all over the world respect the injunction that there is no compulsion in religion.”
The Lagos State High Court on Thursday dismissed applications by Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, seeking to dismiss two separate charges of kidnapping filed against him by the Lagos State Government.
Justice Adedayo Akintoye, in her ruling, held that the applications lacked merit and therefore dismissed them.
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday said the Coalition for Nigeria Movement has recorded over three million membership ahead of the 2019 general elections.
He disclosed this at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, at the 14th annual lecture of the Women in Management, Business, and Public Service.
He said, “The Coalition for Nigeria Movement is penetrating to the grassroots. And presently there are over three million members who had registered.”
Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose has said the Federal Government is fooling itself over the release of abducted Dapchi girls.
In a statement on Thursday, the governor said the whole process was shrouded in secrecy.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari has failed Nigerians in the area of security.
“One wonders the basis for the party to applaud President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim of bringing back home those innocent Dapchi girls that ought not to have been abducted in the first place if not for the government’s laxity,” he said.
Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, says the execution process of the economic and recovery growth plan (ERGP) does not reflect the needs of Nigerians.
The ERGP is a medium-term document launched by President Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2017 to restore the nation’s economic status after it was hit by its worst recession in 29 years.
Gates made this statement while speaking at the expanded national economic council presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday.
“Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth with the fourth worst maternal mortality rate in the world ahead of only Sierra Leone, Central African Republic and Chad. One in three Nigerian children is chronically malnourished.”
And now, stories from around the world…
The US plans to impose tariffs on about $50bn in Chinese goods and limit the country’s investment activity in the US as payback for what it alleges is years of intellectual property theft.
The White House said the actions are a necessary step to counter unfair competition from China’s state-led economy.
It said years of talks about the issue failed to produce change.
China said it was ready to retaliate with “necessary measures”.
US President Donald Trump’s lead lawyer for the special counsel investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 election has resigned, US media report.
John Dowd, 77, is reported to have concluded that Mr Trump was increasingly ignoring his advice.
Other reports say Mr Trump had lost confidence in Mr Dowd’s ability to handle special counsel Robert Mueller.
In an email to news outlets, Mr Dowd wrote: “I love the president and wish him well.”
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy says allegations he received campaign funding from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are making his life “hell”.
“I am accused without any physical evidence,” Mr Sarkozy told magistrates, Le Figaro newspaper reports.
He has been placed under formal investigation for illicit election campaign financing in 2007, misappropriation of Libyan public funds and passive corruption.
Mr Sarkozy, 63, denies any wrongdoing.
President Donald Trump is striking back at former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential 2020 election rival, for suggesting he would “beat the hell out of” Trump if they were in high school.
“Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy. Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning.
“He doesn’t know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don’t threaten people Joe!” Trump warned.
French President Emmanuel Macron was facing a major test of his sweeping reform agenda with a series of strikes across the transport and public sectors on Thursday.
Air-traffic controllers, train conductors and teachers walked off the job furious at the government’s planned labor overhauls, causing widespread disruption for commuters and travelers.
Only 40% of high-speed TGV trains and around a third of commuter trains were operating, CNN’s Jim Bitterman reported from Paris’ Gare Saint-Lazare railway station. Additionally, around 30% of flights from Paris airports have been canceled, mostly on short-haul routes.
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