By Francesca Hangeior

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping praised their deepening cooperation in a video call on Tuesday, hours after Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president.

The Republican has promised to take a hard line on Washington’s adversaries, threatening heavy tariffs on Beijing and warning Moscow of “big trouble” if it does not settle the Ukraine conflict.

Putin, addressing Xi as his “dear friend”, said Russia and China were building ties “on the basis of friendship, mutual trust and support”, despite external pressure.

“Russia and China’s joint work plays an important stabilising role in international affairs,” Putin said in the call.

Xi said he hoped to work with Putin to take ties with Moscow to “new heights” this year, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

“Both sides should continue to deepen strategic coordination, resolutely support each other, and safeguard the legitimate interests of both countries,” CCTV reported Xi as saying.

The two countries should also “expand bilateral relations, driving practical cooperation to deeper levels”, he added.

Moscow and Beijing have strengthened military and trade ties since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, alarming the United States, which views both as malign actors on the world stage.

China has sought to depict itself as a neutral party amid the nearly three-year conflict.

But it remains a close political and economic partner of Moscow and has never condemned Russia’s actions, leading some NATO members to brand Beijing an “enabler” of the conflict.

Both sides have made much of Xi and Putin’s supposedly strong personal bond, with Xi calling the Russian leader his “best friend” and Putin lauding his “reliable partner”.

By Francesca Hangeior

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has met with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to present plans for the development and implementation of Project Exit: Upgrade of NFIU Data Management System and Compliance Platform.

This collaboration is part of a critical step toward addressing Nigeria’s financial challenges and advancing its digital transformation agenda.

The initiative stems from the findings of the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) of Nigeria, which highlighted significant deficiencies in data availability and statistical analysis.

These gaps hinder a comprehensive understanding of the nation’s Money Laundering (ML) and Terrorism Financing (TF) risks and the effectiveness of its Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework. As a result, Nigeria was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List—a designation with far-reaching implications for the country’s global reputation, economic stability, and access to international financial markets.

In response, the NFIU sought and received President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approval for NITDA to spearhead the enhancement of the existing AML/CFT/CPF Data Management Framework.

The project is designed to achieve the following objectives:

1. Achieve FATF compliance, enabling Nigeria’s removal from the Grey List and restoring international confidence.

2. Enhance NFIU’s operational capacity *in AML/CFT/CPF Data Management* through automation, intelligence integration, and scalability.

3. Establish a robust and sustainable framework to ensure long-term operation of the data management platform that will support subsequent FATF mutual evaluation and other international assessments.*

4. Position Nigeria as a global leader in financial intelligence and AML/CFT practices, setting benchmarks for other nations.

To bridge the gaps identified in the MER, the collaboration is set to leverage advanced technology to strengthen Nigeria’s financial intelligence infrastructure and also improve its standing in global financial systems.

In attendance were Chairman House Committee on Information and Communications Technology and Cybersecurity, Hon. Adedeji Olajide, Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi; Chief Executive Officer, NFIU, Barrister Hafsat Abubakar Bakari; top management staff of both organisations.

By Francesca Hangeior

United States President Donald Trump has been sued by immigration advocates following his move to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily in the country.

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order at the White House aimed at ending the longstanding policy of birthright citizenship.

The order, which is set to take effect in 30 days, challenges more than a century of US policy and court interpretations of the Constitution.

According to a Bloomberg report, immigration advocates swiftly filed a lawsuit in New Hampshire on Monday evening, shortly after the order was signed.

During a briefing on Monday, Trump reiterated his commitment to the controversial policy change.

“The federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States. We are also going to enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens,” he said.

Ending birthright citizenship has been a cornerstone of Trump’s Agenda47 policy platform, with the campaign promising to clarify the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

The campaign emphasised that citizenship should apply “only to those both born in AND ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States.”

To defend the policy, the Justice Department will need to convince courts to adopt a narrower interpretation of the Constitution, which some conservative legal scholars advocate.

The legal challenge could potentially reshape the understanding of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 to grant citizenship to formerly enslaved people. Its Section 1 states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

While the clause “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” typically excludes children of foreign diplomats, the Supreme Court has consistently affirmed birthright citizenship for children born on US soil, despite numerous challenges over the years, according to the American Immigration Council.

Among the executive orders President Donald Trump signed just hours after taking office as the 47th President of the United States of America, USA, was the one directing government agencies to stop issuing citizenship documentation for babies born in the US to parents without legal status.

Immigration advocacy groups have already gone to court. It is expected that more lawsuits will follow, given the controversial nature of the orders.

Meanwhile, there is need to understand the workings of the American citizenship by birth, and then what Trump’s executive order means.

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866, and ratified July 9, 1868, the 14th Amendment extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.

A major provision of the 14th Amendment was to grant citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States,” thereby granting citizenship to formerly enslaved people.

Note that it was adopted in 1868 after the Civil War to clarify the status of formerly enslaved people.

However, it has long been read as giving citizenship to nearly all babies born on US soil.

This has seen many Nigerians, who have the means, preferring to give birth to babies in the US, as it makes them citizens with full rights as Americans.

With Trump’s executive order, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” taking effect from February 20, there is need to understand it workings.