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Six Universities Become Centres of Excellence in Procurement

Rhoda Onuzulike
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Six Universities Become Centres of Excellence in Procurement


The federal government is set to implement the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) Project to produce experts in procurement, environmental and social standards in the country.

Six federal universities have been selected to host the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Centres of Excellence (SPESSCEs) for the implementation.


They are the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi; Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (FUAM); the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO); University of Benin (UNIBEN) and University of Lagos (UNILAG).

Project coordinator, SPESSE Project Implementation Unit at the National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr. Joshua Atah said This is the first time this will be happening in higher education in Nigeria.

SPESSE is a multi-sectoral project with support from the World Bank. It will address training, professionalisation and research in procurement, environmental and social standards.

It will be implemented by the National Universities Commission (NUC), Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Federal Ministry of Environment and Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

While addressing a stakeholders’ meeting, recently, Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, said he was excited at the potential of SPESSE and the possibilities that it offered both the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy. He stated that the six centres were selected through a very objective, competitive and rigorous selection process, while the project was designed with the full participation of the private sector, including the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, which represented the Industry in the design of the curricula by NUC.

By developing curricula aligned with international standards, setting up the centres of excellence and supplying qualified professionals, SPESSE will improve, significantly, Nigeria’s capacity for procurement, environmental and social standards.

Rasheed commended the vice-chancellors of the selected universities for the key roles they played in developing the winning proposals and urged them to continue to support the centres for the benefit of their universities, the Nigerian University System (NUS) and the country in general.

The project task team leader at the World Bank, Chief Bayo Awosemusi, disclosed that SPESSE, being the first of its kind for both the World Bank and Nigeria, will be the hub for Africa.

He commended Rasheed for his unprecedented commitment to the success of the project.

NYSC Advises Corps Members To Shun All Forms of Social Vices

Rhoda Onuzulike
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NYSC Advises Corps Members To Shun All Forms of Social Vices

The Gombe State chapter of the National Youth Service Corps has admonished corps members to shun all forms of social vices.

The Camp Director, Ndako Bida, stated this during the Friday morning meditation with the corps members in the camp.

This was made known in a statement by the chapter, where the Camp Director also addressed the corps members to be of good conduct.

Ndako advised them on the need to be their brothers’ and sisters’ keeper by looking out for one another, calling on them to shun any form of social vices and be of good conduct throughout the service year,” the statement partly reads

During the meeting, Bida also read out some of the suggestions dropped by corps members and tacked the issues raised.

The Camp director, reminded the corps members that the Camp is a temporary facility provided for the purpose of the Orientation Course and the Management through the help of the State Government would keep renovating and improving on the facilities to provide the camp participants with a conducive atmosphere.

Aisha Buhari Vows to Strengthen Advocacy To Advance Women, Girl-child Education

Rhoda Onuzulike
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Aisha Buhari Vows to Strengthen Advocacy To Advance Women, Girl-child Education


The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has expressed readiness to strengthen collaboration with other development partners to provide the needed support for the advancement of women and girl-child education.

Buhari said, when she received members of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists (NAPPSA) from the U.S., who paid her a visit in Abuja.

She said her foundation, through the collaborative effort of development partners, provided support to women, youths and other less privileged families, especially through medical outreaches, building maternity clinics and improved girl-child education.

The first lady also told the visitors that the Aisha Buhari Foundation built a college in Maiduguri with the aim of supporting the educational pursuit of the girl-child, especially children whose parents died as a result of Boko Haram insurgency.

“The establishment of the Future Assured College in Maiduguri, Borno State recently is to provide for the education of young girls affected by insurgency.

“This intervention provides a lead way of what we can do together to support these young brains to attain brighter future because of the challenges facing girl-child education.

“Prospect of promoting quality health and education of girl-child both at school and at home are seriously challenged,” she said.

She therefore urged stakeholders not to lose focus on the desire to ensure conducive atmosphere for women and girl-child to achieve their aspirations in future.

“I am optimistic that our common interest in promoting girl-child education can expand beyond its present scope,” she said.

The first lady used the visit to remind the gathering that much was expected in the task of improving the living standard of women and children.

In her response, the President of Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists, Teresa Pounds, commended the effort of the first lady in championing the course of women, youths and children.

Pounds said they were at the State House to express their commitment in supporting the first lady’s effort in providing support to Nigerian women and children, especially to address domestic violence, women empowerment and drug abuse among women and girls.

Solskjaer Vows To Keep Fighting As Pressure Grows At Man Utd

Zoe Maven
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Solskjaer Vows To Keep Fighting As Pressure Grows At Man Utd

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has vowed to “fight back” after his side’s humiliating 5-0 drubbing by Liverpool left him in a perilous position at Old Trafford.

The Norwegian boss has been under intense scrutiny since last week’s home defeat, which left United seventh in the Premier League table after taking one point from a possible 12.

At his press conference ahead of United’s trip to Tottenham, Solskjaer was asked if he had spoken to former manager Alex Ferguson since the Liverpool loss, and whether he believed he could emerge from the current predicament and be successful as his old boss.

Solskjaer also described a report that Paul Pogba, who was sent off in the Liverpool match after coming off the bench at half-time, did not speak to him afterwards and had put contract talks on hold as “blatant lies”.

Pogba earlier this week tweeted an image of the report’s headline with the words “fake news” over the top of it, and the message “big lies to make big headlines”.

Solskjaer admitted the days since the Liverpool defeat had been difficult but said his players had had a “good week” on the training ground ahead of the match at Tottenham on Saturday.

Myanmar Junta Gives Suu Kyi’s Close Aide 20-Year Jail Term

Zoe Maven
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Myanmar Junta Gives Suu Kyi’s Close Aide 20-Year Jail Term

Myanmar’s military has sentenced a close aide of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 20 years in prison, the first high-ranking member of her party to be jailed by a junta court.

Former member of parliament and NLD speaker Win Htein was handed 20 years in jail for treason by a special court in the capital Naypyidaw, according to a lawyer Myint Thwin.

He added that he would appeal the sentence, and that his client was in good health.

Win Htein, aged 80, is the first high-ranking NLD member to be sentenced by the junta after a trial.The former soldier is a longtime political prisoner who has spent long stretches of time in detention for campaigning against military rule.

Considered Suu Kyi’s right-hand man, he was long been sought out by international and domestic media for insights into what Myanmar’s former de facto leader is thinking.

The wheelchair-bound politician requires oxygen to help him breathe, according to local media, and suffers from hypertension, diabetes, and heart and thyroid diseases.

Ahead of his arrest three days after the coup, he told local media the military putsch was not wise, and that its leaders have taken the country in the wrong direction.

The country has been in turmoil since a February 1 coup ousted Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) government, accusing it of fraud in 2020 polls it won in a landslide.

Greece Says It Wants To Discuss Maritime Zones With Turkey

Zoe Maven
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Greece Says It Wants To Discuss Maritime Zones With Turkey

Greece said it would be willing to agree with Turkey on delimiting their respective economic zones at sea, urging its neighbour to tone down what it said were tensions harming Ankara’s ties with the EU.

The two neighbours, allies in NATO, are at odds over a number of issues from commercial rights in the Aegean to territorial waters and the ethnically-split island of Cyprus.

Turkey’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ankara has said it is open to discussing maritime delimitation with all countries as long as its rights are respected.

Greece and Turkey almost clashed last year when each sent out warships to sea regions they considered their own. Although those scenes have not been repeated, the two countries regularly snipe over Cyprus, against which Turkey has mounted a consistent challenge to stop the east Mediterranean island exploring offshore for oil and gas.

Cyprus’s internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot government have issued licences for offshore oil and gas exploration, a move that Turkey says disregards the rights of the island’s Turkish Cypriot community.

Offshore exclusive economic zones are maritime areas agreed between neighbouring states, defining where a country has commercial rights such as the right to explore for hydrocarbons. Those zones can extend to up to 200 nautical miles from a shoreline, or, if sharing the sea area with another state, the equidistance between the two.

Taiwan Foreign Minister Calls For Collaboration In Facing China

Zoe Maven
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Taiwan Foreign Minister Calls For Collaboration In Facing China

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu is urging freedom-loving countries to work together against China, during a rare trip to Europe that is taking place amid heightened tensions between Taipei and Beijing.

Self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own and has not ruled out taking by force, does not have formal diplomatic relations with any European countries apart from Vatican City. But it is keen to deepen ties with European Union democracies.

Wu’s European trip has angered Beijing, which last week warned Slovakia and the Czech Republic against undermining their bilateral relations with China by allowing a visit to those countries.

In his remarks broadcast online, Wu said Taiwan is on the frontline of an ideological battle against authoritarianism and that the world would feel the impact if China attacks the island.

Taiwan’s defence minister said this month that military tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years.

Fearing retaliation from Beijing, many countries are unwilling to host senior Taiwanese ministers.

Earlier this week, Wu gave a speech at a conference in Slovakia and then travelled to Prague to meet the city’s Mayor Zdenek Hrib and Czech Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil, both of whom visited Taiwan last year in a move that angered China.

Wu’s visit overlapped with a Taiwan trade delegation’s visit to Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania, which have all donated COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan.

Lithuania and Taiwan announced earlier this year that they would open de facto embassies in each other’s capitals, drawing China’s ire.

UK, French Leaders To Meet Amid In Post-Brexit Fishing Row

Zoe Maven
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UK, French Leaders To Meet Amid In Post-Brexit Fishing Row

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron this weekend amid a row over post-Brexit fishing rights in which France has seized a British boat and London has threatened to board French trawlers.

The flare-up is part of a wider dispute over post-Brexit trade arrangements between Britain and the European Union that could severely disrupt cross-Channel trade and further undermine British-French relations if it spins out of control.

Johnson’s spokesperson said the prime minister and Macron were expected to meet on the margins of the G20 summit of the world’s 20 biggest economies on Rome on Saturday and Sunday.

France said this week it would impose sanctions on Britain if London does not allow more French trawlers to fish in UK waters, and it detained a British scallop dredger.

Meanwhile, French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie said earlier on Friday there had been no progress in talks on granting more licenses for French vessels to fish in UK waters, and said it was right for France to prepare sanctions against Britain.

Facing the threat of extra customs checks on British goods and potentially higher energy tariffs from France if talks fail, British Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “Two can play at that game.”

Britain’s departure from the EU last year deepened strains in its relations with France, and negotiations on fishing rights proved long and difficult even before it left the bloc.

France says Britain has refused to grant its fishermen the full number of licenses to operate in British waters that France says is warranted. Britain says it is issuing licenses to vessels that meet its criteria.

Sudan Coup Leader Says Technocrat Will Lead New Government

Zoe Maven
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Sudan Coup Leader Says Technocrat Will Lead New Government

Sudan’s military coup leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan says a technocratic prime minister could be announced in a week, and left the door open for the man he ousted to return and form the new government.

Western countries have cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in desperately needed aid to Sudan since al-Burhan dissolved Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s cabinet.

Opponents of the coup have called for mass protests on Saturday under the slogan “Leave!”. At least 11 protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces so far this week, and residents say they fear a full-blown crackdown.

The coup has derailed a transition meant to steer Sudan to democracy, with elections in 2023, after long-serving ruler Omar al-Bashir was toppled two years ago.

While there has been no evidence of concrete progress towards restoring civilian rule, several mediation efforts have been announced. An Egyptian source said Egyptian officials had spoken to Burhan in a bid to foster a new government.

In Khartoum, a committee of national figures has been formed to mediate and has met with both the army and civilians, a member told Reuters. A U.N. special representative has also offered to facilitate an agreement.

In a speech on Thursday night, Burhan said Hamdok had been offered a chance to return as prime minister.

US Ambassador To UN Urges Mali To Hold February Elections

Zoe Maven
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US Ambassador To UN Urges Mali To Hold February Elections

The United States representative to the United Nations is stressing the importance of Mali’s return to civilian rule through democratic elections in February.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke to reporters online from Libreville, Gabon, after visiting Mali and Niger as part of a U.N. Security Council mission.

Speaking of her meetings with Mali’s transitional government and civil society groups, she reiterated the United States continues to stand firmly with the people of Mali in their aspirations for democracy, peace, development and respect for human rights.

Thomas-Greenfield stressed that the African country needed to put in place immediately plans to move forward on the election, adding that the February date was actually set by the transitional government themselves.

She expressed hope that Goita and other transitional officials listened to the 15-member Security Council mission and will put in place a timeline to the February elections.

However, after the meetings with the U.N. Security Council mission, Malian authorities said they want to organize days of consultations in December amongst Malian groups to determine a path toward elections.

Some fear this may delay the elections.

A Military coup in August 2020, led by Col. Assimi Goita, overthrew Mali’s democratically elected president and assumed the position of president of the transitional government.

He has pledged to keep the country on track to return to civilian rule with an election in February 2022.

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