Number of global executions hits 53%– Amnesty Int’l

The total number of known executions carried out around the world in 2022 rose by 53 percent on the figure recorded for 2021, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. The human rights organisation, in a report on the worldwide use of the death penalty, documented at least 883 executions in 20 countries for 2022, the highest figure in five years. The number was likely higher, it noted, as thousands of executions in China “are being kept under wraps.” State secrecy in North Korea and Vietnam, along with limited access to information in several other countries, continued to hinder a fuller assessment of the use of the death penalty, the report said. Amnesty said 90 per cent of the world’s known executions in 2022 were carried out by just three countries, namely: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. The number of recorded executions in Iran rose from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022, it said. In Saudi Arabia, the number tripled from 65 in 2021 to 196 last year – the highest figure recorded by Amnesty for the country in 30 years. Six countries abolished the death penalty completely or partially last year, according to the report. However, executions resumed in five countries during 2022 – Afghanistan, Kuwait, Myanmar, the State of Palestine, and Singapore, the report said. More than a third of the world’s recorded executions in 2022 were for drugs offences, a clear breach of international law, Amnesty said.

US to impose travel ban on people undermining Nigeria’s democracy

The United States has moved to impose visa restrictions on several individuals for allegedly undermining the democratic process in Nigeria, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. “Today, I am announcing that we have taken steps to impose visa restrictions on specific individuals in Nigeria for undermining the democratic process during Nigeria’s 2023 elections cycle,” Blinken said in a statement. “These actions are specific to certain individuals and are not directed at the Nigerian people or the government of Nigeria as a whole,” he added. Blinken did not identify the individuals who were sanctioned but emphasised that they would be barred from entering the United States under a policy covering those believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy. “These individuals have been involved in the intimidation of voters through threats and physical violence, the manipulation of vote results, and other activity that undermines Nigeria’s democratic process,” he said. Washington took steps to impose these visa restrictions in order to show its commitment to democracy in Nigeria, he added.

Over 40,000 people die annually in road crashes – FRSC

Over 40,000 people die annually as a result of Road Traffic Crashes in Nigeria, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Corps Marshall, Dauda Biu has said. According to Biu, who said this in Abuja during activities marking the 7th United Nations Global Road Safety Week, these facts were the unholy statistics of Road Traffic Crashes and injuries which were a leading cause of death and disability. He also said that 1.3 million people were killed and as many as 50 million people get injured each year globally. According to him, there is no greater threat to people, aged 5-29 years than Road Traffic Crashes, as one in every four deaths occurs among pedestrians and cyclists. “In Nigeria, over 40,000 persons die annually as a result of this avoidable scourge,“ he said. The FRSC boss said that the United Nations had developed global plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. He said that it reflected an ambitious target to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries, which would be by 50 percent by 2030. Biu said that the 2023 edition of the event with theme; ‘’Sustainable Transport‘’ is slated for Monday to Sunday. He said: “FRSC is partnering with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Federal Ministry of Health (FMH) and United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety and Injury Prevention (UNDARSIP) to mark the event with various activities. According to him, the need to take action to ensure safe roads, vehicles and behaviours as well as to improve emergency care is paramount. “The 7th UN Global Road Safety Week is focusing on sustainable transport with the slogan #RethinkMobility, which necessitates the urgent need to shift to walking, cycling and using public transport. “The key messages of this year’s event centers on the need for governments and their partners to rethink mobility. “Ensuring safety must be at the core of efforts to re-imagine mobility and thus road networks must be designed with the most-at-risk in mind, “he said. The Corps Marshal, however, called on government at all levels and partners to rethink mobility with a mindset to providing access to safe and affordable mobility systems for all. Biu stressed the need for government to make available accessible, resilient, low and sustainable mobility systems to create livable cities that would fulfil the mobility needs of all. This, he said was to ensure safety at all cost, adding that the road network must be designed in consideration of the vulnerable road users who were the most at risk in mind. He noted that this would ensure that they feel safe walking and cycling, adding that this would further promote good health, sustainable cities and equitable society. Meanwhile, the Focal Person/Country representative, UN decade of Action for Road safety, Prof. Sydney Ibeanusi, said that government would continue to put the issue of road safety on the front burner. Ibeanusi said that Nigeria had a better system, saying “what we want to show the world was that the system actually exists. “Nigeria has been chosen as a country to improve cycling, and Abuja has been chosen as one of the five states globally. ”This is for a project implementation to encourage cycling and we will not relent in our efforts,“ he said.

CBN unveils ‘SabiMONI’ platform to promote financial literacy, inclusion

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled an e-learning platform, SabiMONI to promote financial literacy and to deepen financial inclusion. Speaking at the ceremony, the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele said that the platform was a fully digital national e-learning platform that provided a knowledge base for financial literacy. According to him, SabiMONI is aimed at providing individuals with the opportunity to be trained and to become Certified Financial Literacy Trainers (CFLT) through self-service. “The platform is aimed at supporting our efforts toward ramping up the number of experts that can be used to drive financial education in the country and perhaps beyond. “One of the key drivers of financial inclusion today, is no doubt financial literacy. “It is a prerequisite for greater financial inclusion, which would lead to the stability of the financial system and ultimately economic growth and development,” he said. Emefiele said that the absence of or low levels of financial literacy constituted an impediment to financial inclusion. “In other words, the pace of financial inclusion is directly related to the level of financial literacy and financialcapability.’’ He said that to address the financial inclusion gaps, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2022, identified increasing adoption andusage of financial services in priority demographics. He said that such demographics comprised of the most vulnerable segments such as women, youth, MSMEs and rural dwellers. “And especially, the Northern part of the country as well as expansion of digital financial services and platforms amongst its strategic priority areas. “To enable us to achieve these, we must take deliberate steps to upscale financial capability through financial education programmes. “The shortage of skilled and experienced persons to drive financial education remains a major hindrance. “Interestingly, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2022 places high priority on financial and digital learning. “This will serve as a strategy that would enable the creation of a conducive environment for serving or ensuring the inclusion of the most excluded groups,” he said.

Budget deficits, low revenue responsible for rising debt – DMO

The Debt Management Office (DMO) says decades of operating budget deficits by successive governments is responsible for Nigeria’s high debt profile. The Director-General of the DMO, Patience Oniha, said this on Sunday in Abuja. According to Oniha, a review of Nigeria’s fiscal data shows that not only has the government operated budget deficits which have been growing, but most of the deficits have been funded through local and external borrowing. “The records show that deficits in the annual budgets, including supplementary budgets rose to N10.78 trillion in 2023 from N1.62 trillion in 2015. “Between 82 per cent and 99 per cent of these were funded by new borrowing which ranged from N1.46 trillion in 2015 to N8.80 trillion in 2023. “These facts confirm that these budget deficits, funded by new borrowings, have been responsible for the rapid growth in the debt stock and the resultant increases in debt service,” she said. According to Oniha, this trend could have been avoided or at least moderated if revenues had been higher or expenditures lower. She tasked the incoming government of Sen. Bola Tinubu to take cognisance of the situation and prioritise increased revenue generation. “The budget deficits would have been much smaller, or Nigeria would have operated on a balanced budget. “It is therefore imperative that the incoming government takes into account the perennial budget deficits in the preparation of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (2024 – 2026) and the 2024 budget. “The government should also accelerate the growth in revenues to ensure debt sustainability,” she said.

Sudan: Nigerian embassy facilitates students’ transfer to Egyptian varsities

  The Embassy of Nigeria in Cairo, Egypt is to facilitate the transfer of Nigerian students from Sudanese universities to Egyptian universities. The embassy, in a statement on Sunday, said this was in the light of requests by both parents and students caught in the ongoing conflict in Sudan. The embassy said that it was collaborating with the Central Administration for International Students (Wafeden), under the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to achieve this. “In this regard, Nigerian students from Sudanese Universities who are interested in transferring to Egyptian Universities are expected to send their full names, faculties required, academic level/year completed, transcripts of the academic years completed. “(They should also send) passport data pages and contact details (phone number and email) to enable the embassy and the Wafeden start working on them, before the portal for international transfers opens.” The embassy cautioned students that any of them that transfer to Egyptian government universities would not be eligible for an Egyptian Government Scholarship. It also provided a link for the transfer for interested students to fill and attach the required documents between May and June in order to join the 2023/2024 academic session commencing in September. “https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSey- OAIR3UsduSWSIQsMkEn2b2fJ9cn1 Bmq12AdCZSU1x1HEg/viewform?usp=sf_link. “After filling the above form, interested students should also send their below details and documents to this email: nigembegysch@yahoo.com with the following: “a. Full Name:“b. Faculty required:“c. Academic Year/Level Completed:“d. Transcripts of the Academic Years/Level Completed (attachment)“e. Passport Data Page (attachment) f. Contact Details: Phone number(s) and email address.”  

2,371 stranded Nigerians evacuated from Sudan- NEMA

The Federal Government has so far evacuated 2,371 Nigerians stranded in war-torn Sudan. Director of Special Duties, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Dr Onimode Bandele gave the figure in Abuja on Saturday when 125 stranded Nigerians arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. The batch was the 15th set of Nigerians airlifted by the Federal Government back to the country. They were airlifted from Port Sudan. Bandele, who welcomed the returnees on behalf of the Federal Government, said there were no more stranded Nigerian women and children in Sudan. He said arrangements were already made to airlift the remaining Nigerians stranded in Sudan who are mainly male, adding that another batch of evacuees would arrive later on Saturday. Representatives of the Ministries of Humanitarian Affairs, Foreign Affairs, NEMA, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, among others were on ground to receive the returnees.

Abductions/Killings: Engineers give FG 18 days’ ultimatum

The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has given the Federal Government 18 days’ ultimatum to fish out and prosecute killers and abductors of its members across the country. The President of NSE, Mr. Tasiu Gidari-Wudil gave the ultimatum at a news conference in Abuja on the killings and abduction of its members. He said over the years, the society has been inundated with reports of abduction and vicious killings of its members across the country, especially in the South-East. Gidari-Wudil said the most recent of such cases was the report of the killing of Mr Donatus Udeh, who was abducted on April 22. “Three days later, his mutilated, lifeless body and vehicle were found at different locations within 9th Mile Corner, Ngwo, Enugu State on April 25. “The late Engr. Udeh was, until his demise, the Vice Chairman of the Enugu Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers. “In a similar way, five Engineers from NELAN Engineering Consulting Limited were abducted on their way to inspect a project site in Ebonyi on Nov. 3, 2021. He said the victims, Nelson Onyemeh, Earnest Edeani, Ikechukwu Ejiofor, Samuel Aneke and Engr. Stanley Nwazulum were to be on a supervisory visit to the $150 million Abakaliki Ring Road project. The president said that until this moment, the Police have not unraveled the mystery behind the disappearance of the hardworking professionals. He said presently, the life of one of the Executive Committee members of NSE was under threat just because she was supervising a project in Ebonyi. The president said it was a shame to continually witness these cruel killings without any respite from the government. He said that the primary purpose of government was the security and welfare of the people, as provided in section 14(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). Gidari-Wudil said that when all the professionals are killed, who would construct the roads, build bridges and waterways. “The engineer saves lives and improves the quality of living by her innovative ideas and inventions. “The slain engineers were exactly on such patriotic nation-building and economy- stimulating course when they were cut down. “It is an irony that such breed of humans would be targeted for such brutality without a convincing action by the government to bring the perpetrators to book. “Going forward, I hereby make an appeal to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to wade into the matter,” he said.