A hotel project by the Nigerian Navy in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, has sparked a seeming bitter land dispute between the state government and the navy. The land which previously served as the Navy Officers’ Mess is being converted to a hotel by the navy. But, Governor Ben Ayade, has ordered the navy to withdraw from the site, claiming that the land belongs to the state government. In a swift response, the navy deployed its heavily armed personnel to the disputed site in a bid to deter intruders, including state government officials. The state Information Commissioner, Asu Okang,…
Author: Akanimo Sampson
Nigeria is currently considering Finnish high-tech to address its worrisome economic and security challenges. Mobile technology and advanced software in areas such as process and network automation have been an integral part of the Finnish high-tech landscape for many years. HighTech Finland says there is a growing number of small Finnish companies are making inroads into other fields, such as data and software security. HighTech Finland profiles a broad cross-section of the exciting work being done by Finnish companies and researchers – in areas ranging from mobile communications and sustainable energy to environmental technologies, new types of health care, advanced industrial processes…
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has fired back at Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, denied the allegation that he masterminded the protest at the residence of a Supreme Court Judge, Justice Mary Odili in Abuja. Oshiomhole who labelled the governor’s allegation as disgusting noted that the unsubstantiated allegation by the Rivers State Government was an insult on his person and an indecent thing for a state government to do in such circumstance. In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Simon Ebegbulem, the APC chairman said he read with utter disgust the statement by…
Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Martin Chungong, has become the Chair of the Global Board of the International Gender Champions (IGC), a leadership network that works to break down gender barriers in international organizations, governments, civil society, and the private sector. Chungong has been a Gender Champion since its inception in 2015 and on the Board since 2018. He was elected recently to succeed Ms. Arancha González following her appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain in January 2020. International Gender Champions is a rapidly expanding network, comprising over 400 leaders. The Secretary-General has also invited Speakers of…
About seven million people in South Sudan, more than half of the population, are currently at the risk of being wiped off the earth as a result of acute food insecurity. Three United Nations agencies gave the warning in a joint statement on Thursday, saying that it will be happening at the height of this hunger season (May-July). According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released by the government of South Sudan, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), the situation is particularly worrying in the areas hardest hit by…
The Nigeria Police have picked up a suspected killer of the Assistant Director of Administration in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of presidential power, Ms. Laetitia Dagan. Dagan, 47, who hailed from Plateau State in North Central Nigeria, worked in her office on Monday till 8 pm, but by 11 pm she was ‘’gruesomely murdered’’ in her apartment by unknown persons. The police have announced the arrest of a suspect in the murder of a State House official who was murdered on Monday. Dagan’s death sent immediate ripples through the country, intensifying fears about the country’s worsening insecurity. However, the Police…
The off-grid solar industry has grown into a $1.75 billion annual market, providing lighting and other energy services to 420 million users and remains on a solid growth curve, a new World Bank Group and GOGLA report shows.The 2020 Off-Grid Solar Market Trends report finds that the industry has made tremendous strides in the past decade. Since 2017, revenues from the off-grid solar industry continue to rapidly grow, increasing by 30 percent annually. To date, more than 180 million off-grid solar units have been sold worldwide and the sector saw $1.5 billion in investments since 2012. With 840 million people still lacking access…
Sales of Fairtrade certified cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire in the last quarter of 2019 boosted farmers’ earnings by some $15.1 million (€13.8 million) compared to non-Fairtrade cocoa, according to preliminary figures released by Fairtrade International. The higher earnings are due to the difference between the guaranteed Fairtrade Minimum Price and the current Ivorian government-set cocoa price. Fairtrade increased its Minimum Price for cocoa by 20 percent to $2,400 per tonne at FOB (point of export), effective October 1, 2019. This means that Fairtrade certified cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire are currently receiving almost $236 more per tonne on top of the…
An Assistant Director of Administration in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of presidential power, Ms. Laetitia Dagan, has been assassinated by unknown gunmen. The Permanent Secretary in charge of the State House, Abuja, Jalal Arabi, who made this known said Dagan worked in her office on Monday till 8 pm, but by 11 pm she was ‘’gruesomely murdered’’ in her apartment by unknown persons. The assistant director who was aged 47, hailed from Plateau State in North Central Nigeria. Arabi has, however, described the killing of Ms. Dagan as “a painful loss, not only to her immediate family but also the…
Nigeria suffered a major oil revenue loss of about N270 billion which approximate to $750 million to oil theft and pipeline vandals in 2019, going by the disclosure of the country’s national oil corporation. The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, in a statement by the Acting Spokesman for the national oil corporation, Samson Makoji, in Abuja on Tuesday claimed that the country lost about $750 million to oil theft. Kyari however, brought this to public knowledge when members of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 13 of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS)…
Fairtrade International, a civic group that is concerned with changing the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fairer deal for farmers and workers in developing countries are currently locked in a battle with the European Union (EU) over new organic regulations. Their fear is that the new EU organic regulations, due to come into force in 2021, will limit the size of organizations, forcing small-scale farmers to restructure their cooperatives, and creating high costs when they are already struggling to make ends meet. At Biofach, the world’s largest organic fair, Fairtrade urgently called on the…
Nigeria is currently being targeted by the United States government for fresh sanctions over alleged schemes that foisted Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the rightful governor of Imo State in Eastern Nigeria. The only way out for Nigeria at the moment is for the Supreme Court Judges and other top government officials allegedly linked to the controversial January 14, 2020 judgment that saw the declaration of Uzodinma as the rightful governor, take appropriate steps to defend judicial independence in the country. Failing to do so, they risked sanctions by the United States government.Associate Deputy Attorney General…
Djibouti has exceeded the global average of 28 percent on the infusion of young members of parliament into the National Assembly. 2018 elections in the country brought an infusion of young legislators into the National Assembly with 32 percent of the new House under 45 years of age. To help the young parliamentarians, as well as encourage more young people to enter politics, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) last January organized a two-day workshop in partnership with the National Assembly. The workshop was designed to develop the leadership and communications skills of the young national lawmakers in Djibouti as well as…
Some aggrieved players of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari’s party, have started firing at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, pressing for the removal of Adams Oshiomhole, as their national chairman. Oshiomhole, a former Governor of Edo State and an ex-labour leader does not seem to be finding politics easy as the APC big boss. Protesters on Monday stormed the party secretariat, demanding his sack in a bid to save the party from continued failure. They said his continued stay in office will bring misfortune to the party, adding that his…
The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) in partnership with Action Aid, are empowering Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in Akwa Ibom State, one of the big oil states in Nigeria, to join the fight against corruption. At least 200 PWDs in the state have been sensitized on ways of using the Freedom of Information Act in fighting corruption in the country.The sensitization programme which was organized by CCD in partnership with Action Aid drew participants from the National Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities (NAPPD), National Association of the Deaf, National Association of the Blind, Spinal Cord Injuries Association of…
Sub-zero temperatures and increased snowfall are currently exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in northwest Syria where more than 250,000 people have been displaced in the past few days and forcing over 80,000 to sleep under trees. According to the United Nations, over 830,000 people have been displaced in the region in the last two months and more than 1.2 million since April 2019. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is extremely concerned about this rapid and ongoing rise in displacement which continues to rise in the tens of thousands every day, particularly as conflict spreads northward to highly populated urban areas. IOM’s Global Shelter Coordinator,…
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians has released new evidence of rights breaches against 509 opposition parliamentarians from 39 countries. This is a significant increase compared with the 468 cases that were recorded in October 2019. Most of the cases involve governments putting pressure on lawmakers from opposition parties. In its latest decisions, the Committee considered new information concerning an assassination attempt against prominent Tanzanian opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, in 2017, as well as a surge of new cases of violations against members of parliament in Venezuela. At its latest session in January, the Committee examined…
Going by data from the Advisory Power Team (APT) in the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, the country’s epileptic power sector lost around N19.15billion in just 10 days, due to constraints from the insufficient gas supply, distribution, and transmission infrastructure. The obviously huge losses were recorded in the 10 days to this February 14. On Friday, Valentine’s Day (February 14) the sector lost an estimated N1.96 billion; it lost N2.01billion on February 13; N2.00 billion on February 12; N1.95billion on February 11; N2.15billion on February 10, and N1.95billion on February 9. The lost trend continued with N1.89billion on February 8;…
The Start Them Early Programme (STEP) of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is currently taking roots in some secondary schools in Africa. The programme which began last year is working towards advancing agribusiness development in secondary schools in the continent. The aim is to redirect the aspirations of Africans towards careers in modern agriculture by exposing them to viable opportunities in agribusiness at an early age. To achieve this, an initial operation programme is being carried out in three African countries—Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, and Nigeria. The two-year project, which is funded by the International Development Research…
In the spirit of this year’s Valentine’s Day which was celebrated globally on Friday, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is calling on the world to prioritise ending child marriage. Around the world, Valentine’s Day is celebrated as a time of joy and romance. Yet for millions, fairy tales of love and marriage are just that – fiction. Hundreds of millions of women and girls alive today were married off while still children. Many were exposed to violence, forced from school and pushed into premature parenthood. Child marriage is a tragedy for the individuals it ensnares – often the most vulnerable,…
Cameroonian refugees have begun moving to border communities in Cross River and the Taraba States of Nigeria as destitute and are eking out a living in low-wage jobs. According to a previous statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), they are crossing the border into the two states, thus bringing the number of refugees to around 100,000. In the last two weeks, some 8,000 people have fled into Nigeria from Cameroon to escape clashes between the armed security forces and armed separatists in the latter country, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday. While fighting so far…
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has revealed that conflict and changes in environmental conditions largely due to the rampaging climate change have more than double the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in West and Central Africa. According to the UN agency, the displacement crisis in the two African regions was driven by climate and environmental change, fast-paced urbanisation, population growth and conflict in the past three years. In sub-Saharan Africa, a combination of conflict, floods, droughts and other natural hazards resulted in a doubling in the total number of new internal displacements over…
Bayelsa State, the home state of former President Goodluck Jonathan, has erupted in an orgy of violence against the new Governor of the state, Douye Diri, and the out-gone governor, Seriake Dickson. Violent protests erupted on Thursday evening, shortly after the ruling of the apex court that aborted the governorship dream of David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Though Jonathan has congratulated Diri as the new governor, protests against the judgment continued until Friday, thus forcing the Nigeria Police, Bayelsa State Command to impose a dust-to-dawn curfew in the highly explosive Ijaw state. Jonathan however, urged the governor…
Through its programmes, TAAT Cassava Compact (funded by African Development Bank [AfDB]) and CBSD Control Project (funded by International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD]), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) conducted a five-day training on how to add value to cassava and diversify its utilization and market in Rwanda, especially by processing cassava flour for baking. IITA partnered with the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), Rwanda Youth in Agriculture Forum (RYAF), and Ministry of Trade and Industry in Rwanda to deliver the training. According to the 2018 data published by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, cassava is the second…
The worrisome locust scourge ravaging East Africa is currently posing a dilemma to the public-spirited global community. The world has two options to choose from. It is either the global community urgently supports the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) with the $76 million required to tackle the menace or brace up to cough out $1.14 billion in a humanitarian emergency. But, the Executive Director of World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, has already said that it will be vastly more cost-effective to support the FAO to tackle locusts in East Africa now than to help people in the region after…
The apex court in Nigeria, the Supreme Court, has sacked the All Progressives Congress (APC) governor-elect of Bayelsa State, David Lyon and his deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo. The court, in a unanimous decision by a five-man panel of Justices led by Justice Mary Odili, on Thursday held that Degi-Eremieoyo presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The verdict has temporarily arrested a dangerous political war that was brewing in the state. Ahead of the Lyon inauguration, dark political clouds were gathering in Bayelsa, the home state of former President Goodluck Jonathan in Southern Nigeria as the Minister…
Seven years after entering into force, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that the Green Chamber of Nigeria’s bicameral Legislature will now follow the ‘’necessary steps’’ to domesticate the Kampala Convention on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), which will go a long way in addressing their plight in the country. The Convention which was formerly, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of IDPs in Africa, is a treaty of the African Union that addresses internal displacement caused by armed conflict, natural disasters and large-scale development projects in Africa. The Convention was adopted in October 2009. As of 2016 it has been signed by 40 and ratified…
Governors of Eastern Nigeria have risen in support of the new community policing model of the Nigeria Police Force for effective security in that axis of Nigeria. They expressed their support at a regional Security Summit, initiated by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu Abubakar. In a communiqué read by the Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and Chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum, they pointed out that the contents of the new community policing strategies of the Police were not different from their security measures already in place in the zone. This development came as some gunmen…
President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) administration is planning to stop fish importation in Nigeria in the next two years in a bid to abort the country’s continued capital flight in the sector. Nigeria spends around N360 billion annually on fish importation, going by the claim of the Director of Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research Lagos, Dr Adekunle Oresegun. He had disclosed that the country spends about $1.00 billion yearly on the importation of fish. The director who spoke at a vocational training and empowerment programme on agriculture in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, noted that…
The World Hunger Fighters Foundation (WHFF), a public-spirited organization that is working to ensure that youths move into the agricultural sector and become the next global billionaires through agribusiness ventures, has scaled-up its partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in a bid to achieve its goals. IITA is, however, a non-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, the institute improves livelihoods, enhances food and nutrition security, increases employment, and preserves natural resource integrity. WHFF’s Chief Operating Officer, Ada Osakwe, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IITA at its Ibadan campus in Oyo…
