We’re Committed To Ending Insecurity In Nigeria –CDS
The Chief of Depence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa has restated commitment of the Nigerian Armed Forces to end security challenges in the country. Musa stated this during a condolence visit to the Emir of Zazau, Malam Ahmed Bamalli, at the weekend in Zaria, Kaduna State. He assured that the security challenges facing the country would soon be a thing of past, and sought for prayers for the military to succeed. Musa accompanied by some top military officers commiserated with the over the death of eight worshippers, who died in a mosque collapse. The CDS conveyed the condolence of the Armed Forces and prayed for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in the tragic incident. He said: “I am in Kaduna for the Passing-out parade at Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, but felt I should take time out to pay you this condolence visit. “As a father to me and the entire north, I count on your support and prayers so that we succeed in our various operations. “I was here severally, I was in here in Zaria as the Commandant, Nigerian Army, Depot, and now as a Chief of Defence Staff, to God be the glory”. On August 11, eight worshipers died and 25 others sustained injuries sequel to the collapsed of a section of the 150-year-old Zaria Central Mosque during a congregational prayer session. Responding, Bamalli expressed gratitude for the visit and commended President Bola Tinubu for finding Gen. Musa worthy of the appointment. Bamalli noted that though the appointment was strictly base on merit, Mr President however deserves applaud from the entire people of Kaduna State for choosing a competent military officer from the state to serve in such capacity. He expressed hope that security challenges in parts of the country would be addressed under the present administration. The royal father said the council and the people of the state would continue to pray for the CDS and the government to succeed.
WHO Releases $16m To Tackle Cholera, Says Director-General
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released 16 million dollars from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies to tackle cholera. Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said this during an online news conference. Ghebreyesus said that the organisation was providing essential supplies, coordinating the on the ground response with partners, supporting countries to detect, prevent and treat cholera, and informing people how to protect themselves. “To support this work, we have appealed for 160 million dollars, and we have released more than 16 million dollars from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies. “But the real solution to cholera lies in ensuring everyone has access to safe water and sanitation, which is an internationally recognized human right,” he said. According to him, in the previous week, WHO published new data showing that cases reported in 2022 were more than double those in 2021. He said that the preliminary data for 2023 suggested was likely to be even worse. “So far, 28 countries have reported cases in 2023 compared with 16 during the same period in 2022. “The countries with the most concerning outbreaks right now are Ethiopia, Haiti, Iraq and Sudan. “Significant progress has been made in countries in Southern Africa, including Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, but these countries remain at risk as the rainy season approaches,” Ghebreyesus said. According to him, the worst affected countries and communities are poor, without access to safe drinking water or toilets. He said that they also face shortages of oral cholera vaccine and other supplies, as well as overstretched health workers, who are dealing with multiple disease outbreaks and other health emergencies. On COVID-19, Ghebreyesus said that as the northern hemisphere winter approaches, the organisation continued to see concerning trends. He said that among the relatively few countries that report them, both hospitalisations and ICU admissions have increased in the past 28 days, particularly in the Americas and Europe. WHO boss said that meanwhile, vaccination levels among the most at-risk groups remained worryingly low. “Two-thirds of the world’s population has received a complete primary series, but only one-third has received an additional, or “booster” dose. “COVID-19 may no longer be the acute crisis it was two years ago, but that does not mean we can ignore it,” he said. According to him, countries invested so much in building their systems to respond to COVID-19. He urged countries to sustain those systems, to ensure people can be protected, tested and treated for COVID-19 and other infectious threats. “That means sustaining systems for collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures and coordination,” he said.
Subsidy Removal Has Reduced Nigeria’s Fuel Consumption By 33% –Minister
The Minister of State for Environment, Kunle Salako, has said that the courageous decision by Bola Tinubu’s administration to remove fuel subsidy has reduced the country’s consumption rate by about 33 percent. Salako said on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, that the action has reduced the emission generated by petrol. “The singular action has reduced Nigeria’s consumption of petrol by 33 per cent, reduced the level of emission generated by Nigerians,” he said. “The courageous decision to remove subsidy from petroleum is furthering climate action by Nigeria. “I had highlighted this development in some of the meetings I attended or represented the President and at the meeting of Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change and at the meeting of Commonwealth Ministers of Environment and Climate. “Nigeria participated in the meeting of Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change where I represented President to pass a resolution to adopt the Nairobi Declaration for final vetting by the meeting of AU. “The first meeting of Commonwealth Ministers of Environment and Climate in which the Ministers decided to approach the 28th Conference of Parties in Dubai come late November to early December with common front of pushing for better financing for climate action. “I represented Nigeria at the meeting, and I established that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by taking the courageous decision to remove subsidy from petroleum is furthering climate action by Nigeria. “It has also focused the attention of Nigeria at corporate and individual levels to renewable energy,’’ he said. Earlier in his statement delivered to the “High Level Event for Nature and People: from Ambition to Action”, on behalf of the President, Salako said achieving the world’s ambitious conservation targets, like 30×30, would require that we all do more to prioritise nature finance. 30×30 is a global target to protect 30 per cent of the planet for nature by 2030. “Last year, at COP15, the world agreed to fully close the nature finance gap and set a near term target of delivering at least $20 billion in international finance to the Global South by 2025. “Last month in Addis, African countries came together and issued a declaration that underscored the importance of these nature finance targets. “Nigeria would like to urge all countries to increase their efforts on this issue and to work with us to ensure that the world follow through on these crucial finance commitments. “This is our vision for the future, and we invite everyone to act and envision solutions that will preserve nature for future generations,’’ he said. According to him, as a responsible State Party to several Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Nigeria is doing its utmost to promote transformation actions. The minister said that Nigeria was doing its best to promote transformations actions that are commensurate with the scale of the biodiversity crisis. “We are exerting these efforts within our own country in addition to supporting countries in our Sub-region to increase their capacity in this regard,’’ he said. In addition, Salako said that he attended Blue Leaders High Level Meeting, where in his statement, he said Nigeria was doing its best to promote transformation actions that were commensurate with the scale of the biodiversity crisis. He told the leaders that Nigeria was exerting these efforts within the country in addition to supporting countries in our Sub-region to increase their capacity in this regard. “This is an ambitious goal, a goal shared by the Blue Leaders and by ECOWAS countries, including Nigeria. “The high sea is an essential part of the marine ecosystem which plays critical role in maintaining the health of our planet and people. “Nigeria being the country with the longest coastline in West Africa understands the adverse effect of unregulated high sea and is therefore committed to the agenda of the ‘BBNJ’ Treaty. “Prompt ratification of the newly adopted high seas treaty is an essential means to reach this goal. We must urgently ensure that the treaty is ratified and implemented,’’ he said. He announced that through Nigeria’s rallying efforts, the 55 member States of the African Union have reached a consensus to support ratification of the earliest feasible date, the new international ocean treaty for the high seas, as enshrined in Addis Ababa Declaration. The declaration was adopted at the 19th ordinary session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-19, August 2023). “Let us be bold for Oceans Conservation together and join African region to promptly ratify the new treaty,’’ he said.
Despite Challenges Telcos Meeting KPIs—NCC
The latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that the four mobile network operators, MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile, are meeting their Quality of Service (QoS) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). According to the Nationwide QoS data released by the Commission, the telcos met their KPIs between July 2022 and June 2023. The operators’ performances are measured by the regulator based on parameters such as Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), and Traffic Channel Congestion (TCH CONG). According to NCC, these QoS standards ensure that consumers continue to have access to high-quality telecommunications services by setting basic minimum quality levels for all operators. Based on the latest report, all the mobile operators crossed the threshold of 98 per cent call setup success rate in the 12-month review period. The Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR) is calculated by taking the number of unblocked call attempts divided by the total number of call attempts. In terms of drop call rate (DCR), which is fixed at 1 per cent or less, all the operators performed well as they recorded less than 1 per cent drop calls in the period, according to NCC’s record. A dropped call is a call that is prematurely terminated before being released normally by either the caller or the called party. In terms of Traffic Channel Congestion, (Standalone Dedicated Control Channel Congestion SDCCH), all the operators also met the KPI as they all recorded less than 2 per cent congestion within the period. The regulator’s parameter in this regard is that the congestion rate for the networks should be equal to or less than 2 per cent. The Traffic Control Channel Congestion Rate is the probability of failure to access a traffic channel during call setup. The technical result of operators’ quality of service may, however, be different from the reality based on subscribers’ experience in the period covered by the report and even now. The President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), Mr. Deolu Ogunbajo disagreed with the regulator. According to him, NCC is looking at the quality of service from the technical aspect and not from the subscribers’ angle. “The KPIs are measured technically and are far from the reality of what the subscribers are experiencing. We disagree with NCC on this. There are lots of complaints on Dropped calls, and even the call setup success rate is nothing to write home about. “There are times you want to call and the call is not just connecting, the call setup rate is poor, all is not well in terms of quality of service as the report suggests” he said. Based on the huge number of mobile subscriptions in the country, the minute percentage of errors allowed the operators to cover a large number of subscribers facing the quality of service challenge.
NNPCL, NCDMB Sign Cost Reduction, Efficiency Pact With IOCs
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with major oil companies to reduce cost, drive efficiency in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. The agreement, which was signed on Monday, would enable the implementation of the industry framework which was developed by the IJC to achieve an optimal contracting cycle of not more than 180 working days. Key benefits of the framework in the MoU include a reduction of the contracting cycle for open competitive tender, selective tender, and single sourcing tender to 180, 178, and 128 working days respectively compared with the current best effort performance of 327, 333, and 185 working days respectively. The framework is in line with the Nigerian Upstream Cost Optimization Program (NUCOP) and in consonance with President Bola Tinubu’s directive for NNPC Ltd and NCDMB to engage the industry with the objective of improving the performance of the petroleum industry. An optimized contracting cycle is expected to improve the ease of doing business, reduce cost, and drive efficiency which will eventually translate to production growth, increased revenues, and ultimately improved profitability. The MOU is one of the many collaborative solutions between the major industry players that will contribute significantly to the double-digit economic growth rate agenda of the Government and generate tremendous value for all the stakeholders including the investors, the companies, the community, and the country at large. The move is in line with one of the key mandates of NNPC Ltd as the National Energy Company in article 53 (7) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to conduct its affairs on a commercial basis in a profitable and efficient manner. The mandate for efficiency requires that NNPC Ltd is committed to working with its partners in ensuring key processes, procedures, and timelines that drive major business activities such as contracting are structured in a manner that engenders efficiency and drives profitability. NNPC Vice President, Upstream, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, signed on behalf of the National Oil Company while the Executive Secretary NCDMB, Simbi Wabote signed on behalf of the Board.
World Bank Support Girls’ Learning, Empowerment In Nigeria With $700m
The World Bank has approved a fresh $700 million loan for Nigeria to boost adolescent girls’ learning and empowerment. According to a statement published on its website, the lender said the new loan will serve as additional funds for an ongoing project known as the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment. The Bank noted that apart from the girls that would benefit from the financing, others included over 15 million students and beneficiaries, such as teachers, administrators, families, communities, and staff in existing and newly constructed schools. “The World Bank approved additional financing of $700m for Nigeria to scale up the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment programme whose goal is to improve secondary education opportunities among girls in targeted states. “The additional financing will scale up project activities from the current seven states to eleven additional states and increase the targeted beneficiaries to include out-of-school girls, those who are married, and those who have disabilities,” the statement read. The World Bank put Nigeria’s out of school children at over 12 million, with many of them in Northern Nigeria. It was also noted that an estimated one million children were affected by increased insecurity around schools in 2020-2021. The statement added, “In the seven AGILE programme implementing states – Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau – the number of girls in secondary schools has increased from about 900,000 to over 1.6 million. “Under the programme, over 5,000 classrooms have been renovated and over 250,000 eligible girls have received scholarships. “The AGILE programme has supported construction and rehabilitation of WASH facilities in secondary schools and the installation of computers and solar panels which make attending school more convenient and conducive for both girls and boys. Life skills, systems strengthening, and advocacy are other key aspects of the program which address social norms impeding girls’ education.” The World Bank Nigeria Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri, stated that, “Closing the gender gaps in economic empowerment by ensuring girls have access to education and skills is key for Nigeria’s development and economic prosperity. “Nigeria’s working population will soon be one of the youngest and largest around the world, which means that investing in adolescent girls is imperative when addressing overall economic prospects and growth.”
UNGA: Nigeria, Others Commit To Ending TB By 2030
Nigeria, some UN Member States, civil society representatives and other stakeholders have approved a declaration to advance efforts to end Tuberculosis (TB) by 2030. The document lays out ambitious new targets for the next five years that include reaching 90 per cent of people with TB prevention and care services, providing social benefit packages to those who have the disease, and licensing at least one new vaccine. TB is the second leading infectious killer disease worldwide after COVID-19, with some 1.6 million deaths in 2021 alone, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Also, the only available vaccine of TB is more than a century old. All the 193 Member States and stakeholders made the political commitment at a High-level meeting on the fight against Tuberculosis at the ongoing 78th of the UN General Assembly. “Why, after all the progress we have made – from sending man to the moon, to bringing the world to our fingertips – have we been unable to defeat a preventable and curable disease that kills over 4,400 people a day?” the President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, said. TB had afflicted humanity for millennia, going by several names including the white plague and consumption. It is caused by bacteria and mainly affects the lungs, and treatment is with antibiotics. A WHO council established to facilitate the development and equitable use of new vaccines met for the first time this week. Stamping out the TB epidemic is among the health targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the roadmap for a more just and green global future by the end of the decade. Five years ago, countries set the target of delivering TB treatment to 40 million people, reaching 34 million. They also aimed to provide 30 million with preventive treatment but fell short by half. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed called for action to tackle the main drivers of TB – poverty, undernutrition, lack of access to healthcare, the prevalence of HIV infections, diabetes, mental health, and smoking. “Stigma surrounding the disease also needs to be reduced so that people can get help without fear of discrimination,” she added, while urging governments to ensure universal health coverage that includes TB screening, prevention and treatment. Mohammed also shared her own reason for supporting the global fight. “My commitment is my personal story: losing my father to TB at 50, 37 years ago this week. “Today we have the tools to diagnose, treat, and what we need right now is a vaccine. Let’s end TB now. It is possible,” she said. Mongolian author Handaa Rea, who had survived the disease, urged world leaders to “treat TB not only medically but also socially.” She had written about her own experience of TB-related stigma, discrimination that she said is prevalent in many developing countries, resulting in “hundreds of thousands of people” delaying seeking treatment. Rea said: “The consequences of stigma are “more enhanced” for women and girls who are held to higher standards of health, well-being and beauty. “When society says things like ‘she’s too skinny, because she has TB, she’s unworthy of marriage because she has or had TB, or she continues to have TB because she’s irresponsible. “We as a society are bullying TB patients one step closer to death – a death that is fully preventable. And this has to stop.” WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus commended the “amazing” energy in the room, where participants frequently chanted “End TB, yes we can!” He welcomed the political declaration, which was agreed by consensus ahead of the meeting. It will be presented to the General Assembly, the UN’s most representative organ, comprising all 193 Member States. The UN scribe said: “For millennia, our ancestors have suffered and died with tuberculosis, without knowing what it was, what caused it, or how to stop it,” he said. “Today, we have knowledge and tools they could only have dreamed of. We have political commitment. And we have an opportunity that no generation in the history of humanity has had: the opportunity to write the final chapter in the story of TB.”
FG To Encourage Barge Movement Of Containers To Hinterlands
The Federal Government has disclosed plans to encourage barge movement of containers from the Onne port and other Eastern ports to the hinterlands. Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation/ Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, disclosed this recently during an assessment visit to the Onne port in Rivers State, which is currently being managed by the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT). Speaking during the visit, Ajani pointed out the need for the National Inland Waterways Authority and the Nigerian Ports Authority to collaborate with Boat and Barge Operators Association to synchronize and develop a methodology that will result to the movement of containers in barges from its current location to the hinterlands. The Permanent Secretary, who commended the immense efforts of WACT to provide within the port a beautiful work environment that meets international best practice, said “they are doing a great job”. According to her, these efforts is however, being hampered with a basic challenge of goods evacuation from the port as a result of some bad segments of the access road leading from Eleme Junction to Onne Port. She however, assured that government will proffer solutions to the situation in no distance time. On his part, the Managing Director of WACT, Naved Zafar, said: ” We believe in Nigeria. And this believe has helped us set high ambition. It is equally the same believe that has made us to further expand and modernized the terminal”. “The West Africa Container Terminal is equally committed to supporting the Federal Government’s drive to promote non oil export out of the country,” the MD added.
Troops rescue kidnapped victim in Enugu
The troops of 103 Battalion (Rear) of 82 Division, Nigerian Army, presently on Operation UDOKA II had rescued Dr Maxwell Ayim from suspected kidnappers between Four Corner and Amokwe Junction in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State. This is contained in a statement issued in Enugu on Saturday by Lt.-Col. Jonah Unuakhalu, acting Deputy Director Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Nigerian Army. Unuakhalu said that Ayim was rescued unhurt on Thursday. According to him, the rescue operation was conducted when troops deployed at Udi checkpoint received a distress call from the police on the incident. Unuakhalu said that on arrival, the troops came in contact with the kidnappers, adding that due to the troops’ superior fire, members of the criminal gang fled in disarray with gunshot wounds into the nearby bushes. The army spokesman said that the gallant troops during further exploitation of the gang withdrawal route found the victim abandoned by the gang. “Troops proceeded to rescue the victim. He had since been reunited with his family after preliminary medical checks. “Joint Task Force Operation UDOKA II therefore, calls on the law abiding and good citizens of Enugu and the South-East region in general not to relent in providing timely, credible and reliable Information. “This will help in putting an end to the spiral of kidnapping activities and sundry criminality within the region. “Operation UDOKA II will continue combating crime and criminality in accordance with the extant rules and regulations guiding its operations,” he said.
WAEC to introduce CBT for WASSCE -Official
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has disclosed that plans to introduce the Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode in the administration of its examinations are at advanced stage. The Head of National Office (HNO), Mr Patrick Areghan, gave the hint in an interview on Saturday in Lagos. Areghan was speaking against the backdrop of notable achievements and advancements of the council under his watch, as he prepared to bow out of office on October 1. He would be bowing out after completing his three-year tenure. Areghan said that introducing the CBT mode of administrating some of the council’s examination had been part of his vision for the body in the near future. “We have already started something in terms of CBT examination. We have gone far with our planning and all of that, even in the sub region, the registrar to council is also doing something. “But this is not as easy as some people will think. This is because we ask ourselves, how do we conduct CBT for practicals and essay papers? “We can only readily do that in the case of objective questions. But so many people will not see it from that angle. They argue that some others are doing it, why can’t WAEC do same. “Now, no one even talks about energy; how many schools are exposed to computer literacy? How many have computer facilities and how many have electricity to run these things? “Even where you have all these things on ground, how do you handle the issue of theory and practical papers? So, these are the issues, but that is what I want the council to do in the very near future. “We should be able to conduct CBT examinations, even if it means starting with the objective questions,” he said. The outgoing WAEC boss noted that already, the council had concluded on introducing the administration of its examination using the CBT platform under his watch, in no distant time, starting with the objective questions and later theory and practicals. “But you can still be sure that not all schools will be ready. Maybe we can have a segregated market. Those who cannot afford the CBT will go for the pencil and paper mode. “So, I will like to see WAEC in that light,” he said. Areghan said asides the introduction of the CBT, he would also like to see all the operations of the council fully digitalised in the near future. He noted that almost every section of the council had been digitalised under his watch. “I have almost digitalised everywhere now. Talk of certificate, checking of results and verification of results and more. “I will live to see more massive deployment of technology so that the vision of council can change from just being a world class examination body to a technology-driven examination body. “I also want WAEC to be more visible in the international stage. I want to see, through the cooperation of the sub region, how we can take WAEC overseas, that is, how Nigerian children in the diaspora can sit for WASSCE overseas. “That, again, is what I want WAEC to do in the very near future. That is one thing I wanted to do under my watch, but, again like I said, it needs the cooperation of the sub region, not just Nigeria, to take WASSCE overseas. “I also want to see its digital certificate that we have successfully launched in Nigeria replicated in the entire sub region, so that any candidate that has taken WASSCE, can be in any part of the world to access the digital certificate; that is a legacy. “For instance, if your certificate gets missing, soaked, destroyed by fire and so on, with one touch on the bottom, it appears. “For me, this is a great legacy,” the WAEC boss stated. He also stated that the council’s Digital Security Printing Press is another milestone achievement under his watch. According to him, after 71 years of council’s existence the introduction of the digital security printing press is a worthy legacy. This is alongside other internal ones, such as the Staff Bus scheme, meant to cushion the effect of high transportation fare, occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal, he said.