African press review 27 April 2018

Nigerian Bishops call on President Buhari to step down as killing spree by Fulani herdsmen worsens.

We begin in Nigeria where Catholic Bishops are calling for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari over his alleged inability to end barbarism by suspected Fulani herdsmen whom they claim have turned the country into a massive graveyard.

Punch reports that the angry statement from the Bishop's Conference came after the killing of two Catholic priests and 15 worshippers in Benue State on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper Archbishop Augustine Akubeze who heads the body described the killings as carefully planned adding that the herdsmen who waylaid the Christians in the course of the celebration of the Holy Mass early in the morning were still in the area and had refused to leave.

Punch wraps its coverage up with a quote from the Bishops' communique. "Whether this failure is due to inability to perform or lack of political will, it is time for him to choose the part of honour and consider stepping aside, to save the nation from total collapse".

In related news, Nigeria's Nation says Nigeria's National Economic Council moved a motion on Thursday calling for an immediate end to the nomadic activities of the Fulani herdsmen and the creation of ranches across the country in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Kaduna and Plateau -- the five states mostly affected by the bloodletting sparked by herdsmen-farmers clashes.

The paper recalls that President Buhari has blamed the killing spree on what he called the non-implementation of two ECOWAS protocols on free movement of persons, goods and services.

In Kenya, the Standard's front-page spread is all about a hefty handshake President Kenyatta's government is preparing for civil servants in race to bring sanity to the labour market ahead of Labour Day celebrations on May 1.

The paper reports that MPs had voted pay increases for teachers, lecturers, doctors and the disciplined forces to the tune of Sh45 billion, about 369 million euros in the move that could see university students back to class after a long strike. According ot the Standard the changes are contained in the last review of the Supplementary Budget for the financial year expiring on June 30.

In South Africa, Mail and Guardian leads with good news for Cellphone users in South Africa which is bound to get tongues wagging across Africa. An announcement by country's Independent Communications Authority that they will soon be allowed to carry over unused data.

According to the paper, service providers have one month to comply with the ICASA directive which also bars them from charging consumers out-of-bundle rates when data has run out without their prior consent.