World Tour: New leader in Nigeria

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Nigeria inauguration — Today’s World Tour takes off here in Nigeria, where a new leader has taken over.

AUDIO: [Oath of office]

Bola Ahmed Tinubu took his oath of office on Monday in the capital city of Abuja.

The 71-year-old and his vice president, Kashim Shettima, emerged as the winners of a February vote that’s still contested by opposition candidates.

Leaders from South Africa and other African nations attended the ceremony. A U.S. delegation and officials from China also traveled for the event.

BOLA AHMED TINUBU: We shall defend the nation from terror and all forms of criminality that threaten the peace and stability of our country.

Tinubu takes over the reins from Muhammadu Buhari who completed two terms.

He now has to confront the country’s ongoing economic and security challenges.

On Sunday, Rev. Keoleh Saleh, who leads the Baptist conference in north central Plateau state, told a Nigerian news organization that a Baptist pastor and 49 church members have died in recent attacks across the state. At least 500 more members are displaced.

Turkey election — We head next to Turkey for another political story.

AUDIO: [Traffic celebration]

Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan honked and cheered in the streets after Erdogan won a runoff vote on Sunday.

Erdogan defeated his contender Kemal Kilicdaroglu by about four percentage points, clinching five more years in office.

Kilicdaroglu campaigned against Erdogan’s two-decade rule and vowed to restore democratic norms. Erdogan has cracked down on free speech and changed the country from a parliamentary to a presidential system.

KEMAL KILICDAROGLU: [Speaking Turkish]

He conceded defeat, but called the electoral process unjust, saying Erdogan had the support of state resources.

ERDOGAN: [Speaking Turkish]

Speaking to supporters in Ankara, Erdogan says here that no one lost and all of Turkey won.

He now faces the cost-of-living crisis and the aftermath of the February earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people.

Nicaragua church — We head over to Nicaragua.

SOUND: [Church singing]

Authorities have frozen the accounts of several Roman Catholic Church dioceses over money laundering investigations.

A police statement said authorities confirmed unlawful withdrawals from bank accounts linked to religious figures facing charges of treason and other crimes. The police said the religious figures also received the money illegally from outside the country.

Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, who heads the archdiocese of Managua, confirmed the frozen accounts.

CARDINAL BRENES: [Speaking Spanish]

He says here that authorities also detained two priests from the city of Esteli in the ongoing investigation.

Tensions between President Daniel Ortega’s government and the Catholic Church have grown since 2018 when authorities clamped down on anti-government protests.

Authorities have expelled priests and nuns, sentenced other priests on treason and cybercrime charges, and shut down operations of the order founded by Mother Teresa.

In March, Ortega cut ties with the Vatican after Pope Francis likened his administration to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi dictatorship.

China airplane — We end today in China.

SOUND: [Plane landing]

The country’s first locally-made passenger airplane received a water salute as it touched down from its first commercial flight on Sunday.

The C-919 aircraft built by the Commercial Aviation Corporation of China departed Shanghai with over 130 passengers on board and landed in Beijing about two hours later.

AUDIO: [Singing during flight]

China began developing the airplane in 2007, hoping to eventually break into the jet market and compete with Boeing and Airbus. The C919 has a maximum range of about 3,500 miles.

The company says it plans to build 150 of the C919 planes each year for the next five years.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.