Over 3million Mosquito Nets To Be Distributed In Delta State

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June 4, 2022

Over 3 million insecticide treated nets (ITN), would be distributed to residents from July 2 to June 13, 2022, the Delta state government has said. The exercise would be carried out in collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), with funding support from the Global Fund Malaria Project.

The distribution would be done from door to door after the official flag-off of the exercise. The Insecticide treated net (ITN), was last distributed in Delta State in 2019 and nets according to experts, expire after three years.

Addressing media stakeholders at a one-day orientation programme for the ITN campaign in Asaba, the state capital, demand creation officer of MSH, Farooq Muhammed Awwal, said the ITN mass campaign is to ensure that, for every two persons in the state, there is one bed net to sleep inside.

Awwal said, the nets would be distributed from door to door, unlike in previous exercises when there were central collection points for residents.

According to him, MSH was providing the technical partner, explaining that the nets must be aired under a shade for 24 hours before hanging and sleeping inside. He urged beneficiaries of the free nets to bring down the old one before hanging the new one.

Perpetual Ezediunor of NMEP, under the Federal Ministry of Health, urged media professionals to pass the right message across to residents on the ITN campaign.

Ezediunor stated that, over 200 million ITNs have so far been distributed in Nigeria in a bid to eradicate malaria from the country.

The programme manager and Delta State malaria elimination programme officer, Dr. (Mrs.) Julie Aniah, urged residents not to misuse the nets, deploying them to farms and fishing expedition.

Foundation donates menstrual pads to 50 girls in Kaduna

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Olasunbo Okoromi

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June 4, 2022

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A Kaduna-based Non-Governmental Organisation, Lizzy Anche Foundation, has donated menstrual pads to 50 vulnerable secondary school girls in the state.

Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Elizabeth Anche, who made the donation at Government Secondary School ungwa Sauri, said the gesture was to commemorate the 2022 Menstrual Hygiene Day.

She added that the gesture was in collaboration with the State Contributory Health Management Authority Scheme.

According to her, the distribution is also to create awareness on menstrual hygiene and improve their healthcare.

She added that a growing body of evidence shows that girls’ inability to manage their menstrual hygiene in schools, results in school absenteeism, which in turn has severe economic costs on their lives and on the country.

In many cultures, menstruating women are considered impure and are systematically excluded from participating in every-day activities, such as education, employment, and cultural and religious practices.

In his remarks, the Director-General of Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority, Abubakar Hassan, urged the students to help sensitize their parents on the contributory health scheme to actualise universal health coverage in the state.

He described the contributory health scheme is a way of contributing funds for the payment of healthcare services by all residents of the state.

The Principal of the school, Ladi Musa, thanked the foundation and government for the gesture extended to the girls .

She said, “We are grateful because we have never experienced such gesture in this community.

” Most of the girls here are vulnerable as their parents cannot afford kits for them.

” Seeing this gesture today shows that the government has not forgotten us and we will forever be grateful.

700 Communities In Ilaje Enjoys Free Service from NNPC/Chevron Medical Outreach

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Olasunbo Okoromi

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June 4, 2022

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No fewer than 700 residents of riverine communities in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Saturday benefited from the NNPC/Chevron joint venture free medical treatments with drugs worth over N7.5 million.

Newsmen gathered that residents of Odofado, Gbagura and Akinsolu communities benefited from the free medical outreach organised and facilitated by Ilaje Rural Development Advocacy Committee (IRDC).

Mrs Edna Eyiwunmi, coordinator of the medical team, told reports that various medical experts including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and other medical attendants were deployed for the free outreach.

She said that the beneficiaries including children, women and the aged were diagnosed of various ailments, especially malaria, typhoid, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, skin diseases, headache and body pains among others.

Mr Elo Akpoveri, the Project Review Committee, Modern Smart Development Commission, an arm of NNPC/Chevron, said that the free medical outreach was aimed at giving back to the riverine communities, who lack access to proper medical care.

Mr Omokulere Ayesemitan, IRDC Vice-Chairman, thanked NNPC/Chevron for the laudable programme, and commended the quality of medical experts and drugs given to the beneficiaries, which he said cost not less than N7.5 million.

He also thanked the riverine communities who trooped out for the free medical outreach, which he said offered them the opportunity to be diagnosed and given quality drugs.

Chief Banjo Akinruntan, traditional head of Gbagura Community, who spoke on behalf of all the riverine residents, said the outreach had been of immense medical benefit for the riverine communities.

IRDC is a community-based organisation established in 2005 under GMoU, to bring succour to the oil communities through initiation of various programme and projects sponsored by Chevron Nigeria Ltd

Cambodians Get New Opposition Choice In Local Elections

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Zoe Maven

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June 4, 2022

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Cambodians vote Sunday in local elections that are their first chance to go to the polls since the ruling party of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen swept a 2018 general election that was widely criticized as unfair.

Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party is certain to sail to easy victory again following what the U.N. Human Rights Office charged Thursday was a pattern of “threats, intimidation and obstruction targeting opposition candidates.”

The agency said Candidates have faced numerous restrictions and reprisals that have hindered their activities, with imprisonment of a number of candidates that appears designed to curb political campaigning.

It added that at least six opposition candidates and activists were in detention four days before the polls, awaiting trial, while others summonsed on politically motivated charges had gone into hiding.

Cambodia’s delegation at the U.N. Geneva offices said in a statement that the criticism was “erroneous, politicized and selective.” It said “all political parties, including opposition ones, have fully exercised their rights in line with the laws and registered schedules without any threats and obstruction.”

Hun Sen, an authoritarian ruler in a nominally democratic state, has held power for 37 years. He has said he intends to stay in office until 2028 and has endorsed one of his sons to succeed him.

His party is the only one to field candidates nationwide in all 1,652 communes. Its only serious rival, the Candlelight Party, has candidates in 1,632 communes, and the royalist FUNCINPEC Party has challengers in 688 communes.

There are a total of 82,786 candidates from 17 political parties with 9.2 million registered voters.

The local elections are held a year ahead of the general election, and are regarded as a test of the parties’ strength.

Egypt in talks with India over wheat-for-goods swap

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Zoe Maven

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June 4, 2022

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Egypt’s Supply Minister Aly el-Moselhy says Cairo is in talks to import wheat from India in exchange for products such as fertilizers in return, according to Bloomberg.

El-Moselhy said that he met with India’s ambassador to Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the agreement that would see Egypt import 500,000 tonnes of wheat from India.

The global supply of wheat has been hit hard by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both countries are among the world’s top suppliers of wheat, and the war has meant that states dependent on their wheat exports have had to look elsewhere to make up the shortfall.

This has led to a rise in prices of food, along with gas, oil, and other essential commodities, that could plunge thousands around the world into poverty.

Wheat is a staple in Egypt, and, as one of the world’s biggest importers of wheat in the world, is especially vulnerable to disruptions in its supply.

In May, New Delhi banned the export of wheat from India to bolster its own food security, which could make it more difficult for Cairo to secure any shipments.

Senegal Leader Says Putin Ready To Free Up Grain Exports

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Zoe Maven

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June 4, 2022

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Senegal’s President Macky Sall said Russia’s Vladimir Putin had told him on Friday he was ready to enable the export of Ukrainian grain to ease a global food crisis that is hitting Africa especially hard.

Sall was tweeting on social media after meeting Putin in his role as chairman of the African Union, saying President Putin has expressed his willingness to facilitate the export of Ukrainian cereals.

Russia was also ready to ensure the export of its own wheat and fertilizer, Sall said after the talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on day 100 of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sall did not say if Putin had attached any conditions to his offer. Russia has previously said it is ready to allow vessels carrying food to leave Ukraine in return for the lifting of some Western sanctions against it, a proposal that Ukraine has described as “blackmail.”

Africa is heavily dependent on grain supplies from Russia and Ukraine that have been badly disrupted by the war.

Russia’s army has seized much of Ukraine’s southern coastline and its warships control access to the country’s Black Sea ports. Yet it continues to blame Ukraine and the West for the resulting halt in Ukrainian grain exports.

Putin told Russian state TV in an interview broadcast on Friday evening that Ukraine could export grain from ports including Odesa if it cleared them of mines.

Putin said the easiest way to ship out Ukrainian grain would be via neighboring Belarus, but that would require the West to lift sanctions on Belarus.

High-Speed Train Derailment In China Kills 1, Injures 8

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Zoe Maven

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June 4, 2022

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The driver of a high-speed train in southern China was killed and eight people were injured when two cars derailed early Saturday after hitting a mudslide.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that the accident occurred midmorning as the train was entering a tunnel in the inland southern province of Guizhou, while traveling on a regular route to the coastal business center of Guangzhou.

CCTV said that those injured were in stable condition and the other 136 people aboard the train were evacuated safely,.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. Landslides have become common in the region from a combination of heavy precipitation and the development of infrastructure in mountainous areas.

China has the world’s most extensive high-speed rail network, with 40,000 kilometers of tracks nationwide and trains running at more than 300 kilometers per hour.

Hundreds of millions of passengers are carried annually, although that figure has been severely reduced under pandemic-related travel restrictions.

The system’s safety record has been generally good, with the exception of a 2011 collision between two trains outside the southern city of Wenzhou that left at least 40 people dead and prompted a public uproar over an apparent effort to cover up the extent of the damage.

China’s aviation sector has also come under scrutiny lately following the still unexplained crash of a China Eastern Airlines passenger jet on March 21 in which all 132 people on board were killed.

And on May 12, a Tibet Airlines flight with 122 people on board was departing from the southwestern city of Chongqing when it veered off the runway and caught fire. No one was killed, but several passengers were hospitalized with minor injuries.

One Killed In First Major Protest Under Guinea Junta

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Zoe Maven

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June 4, 2022

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One person has been killed in Guinea’s capital during protests over fuel price hikes, in the most serious unrest since a military junta took power last year.

Gunfire rang out in Conakry overnight as people barricaded streets and set tyres alight in protest over a 20% increase in the price of gasoline, according to reporters and witnesses said.

One protester was shot dead by security forces, according to the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of politicians and activists that opposed former President Alpha Conde’s efforts to hold onto power.

Meanwhile, Security Minister Bachir Diallo promised an investigation, while energetically condemning the actions that led to the loss of life.

Wednesday’s protests were by far the largest since Colonel Mamady Doumbouya led a coup against Conde last September. Conde had changed the constitution to allow himself to stand for a third term in office in 2020, sparking widespread anger.

Many of Conde’s opponents, including FNDC leaders, cautiously welcomed the coup, but relations with Doumbouya’s junta have since soured.

Last month, the main opposition parties rejected a 36-month transition to democratic elections that was approved by the interim parliament. The protests on Wednesday took place in neighbourhoods known as bastions of opposition support.

In its statement, the FNDC said the security forces’ response “contrasts with Colonel Doumbouya’s rhetoric when he took power, which excoriated killings during protests”.

Following criticism of the 36-month timeline, the junta last month banned all public demonstrations, drawing a rebuke from the United Nations.

Tunisian President Purges Judges After Instituting One-Man Rule

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Zoe Maven

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June 4, 2022

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Tunisia’s president has sacked 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists in a purge of the judiciary that comes as he seeks to remake the political system after consolidating one-man rule.

In a televised address President Kais Saied said he had given opportunity after opportunity and warning after warning to the judiciary to purify itself. Hours later the official gazette published a decree announcing the dismissals.

Among those sacked was Youssef Bouzaker, the former head of the Supreme Judicial Council whose members Saied replaced this year as he moved to take control of the judiciary.

The council had acted as the main guarantor of judicial independence since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution that introduced democracy and Saied’s changes prompted accusations he was interfering in the judicial process.

Another prominent judge on the list of those sacked was Bachir Akremi, whom some political activists accuse of being too close to the Islamist Ennahda party and of stopping cases against it. Ennahda and Akremi both deny that.

Last summer Saied dismissed the government and seized executive power in a move his foes called a coup before setting aside the 2014 constitution to rule by decree and dismissing the elected parliament.

He says his moves were needed to save Tunisia from crisis and his intervention initially appeared to have widespread public support after years of economic stagnation, political paralysis and corruption.

Saied, who has also replaced the independent electoral commission, has also said he will introduce a new constitution this month that he will put to a referendum next month.

However, nearly all Tunisia’s political parties have rejected the move along with the powerful UGTT labour union.

Senegalese Opposition Coalitions Unite For Parliamentary Polls

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Zoe Maven

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June 4, 2022

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Two Senegalese opposition coalitions, which have joined forces in preparation for the legislative elections scheduled for July, say they intend to be the majority in the parliament against President Macky Sall’s ruling party and prevent him from running for a third term.

Mamadou Lamine Diallo, a member of the opposition said, First, to take control of the National Assembly, to repeal all the laws of the current regime, allegedly used by Macky Sall to destroy the Senegalese democracy conquered through several generations of activists and patriots and at the price of heavy sacrifices.

Secondly, to achieve a parliamentary turnaround with a national assembly that is reconciled with the Senegalese people, that is representative and which imposes on Macky Sall a responsible governmental cohabitation.

Third, to block the risky prospect of Macky Sall running for a third illegitimate and unconstitutional term in the 2024 presidential election,.

The Wallu Senegal (Save Senegal in Wolof) coalition led by former President Abdoulaye Wade concluded an alliance with Yewwi Askan Wi (“Let’s free the people”), led by the embattled Ousmane Sonko several weeks ago.

The July 31 elections are meant to renew the 150 seats for members of parliament. The current Assembly is largely dominated by the presidential coalition of parties.

The July legislative elections follow local elections in March, won by the opposition in several major cities such as Dakar, Ziguinchor (south) and Thies (west).