Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attends his last campaign event ahead of Ethiopia's parliamentary and regional elections scheduled for June 21, in Jimma, Ethiopia, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo
The Ethiopian army on Friday called on former personnel to rejoin the military to fight the advance of Tigrayan forces, state media said, as nine anti-government factions formed a new alliance to push out Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
Called the United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces, the alliance includes the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been fighting Abiy’s government for a year in a war that has killed thousands of people and forced more than two million more from their homes.
Faced with a spreading conflict and threats by Tigrayan and allied forces to march on the capital Addis Ababa, the federal armed forces appealed to retired soldiers and veterans to rejoin the military, setting a Nov. 24 deadline to register.
African and Western nations have called for an immediate ceasefire in Ethiopia after Tigrayan forces from the north said they had moved closer to Addis Ababa this week.
The new anti-government alliance includes political, military and diplomatic cooperation and expands an existing agreement between the TPLF and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), one of the organisers, the TPLF’s Yohanees Abraha, said.
Gombe State Deputy Governor, Dr. Manassah Jatau, has lamented over increasing cases of child marriage in Konfulata community within Kwami Local Government Area of the state.
Jatau noted with dismay the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy, which he said had become rampant in the community.
He spoke while playing host to leaders of the Gadam community who came to solicit for access road as well as on a thank you visit following the closing of UNICEF, Chinese government support to 10 primary healthcare facilities in the area.
According to him, UNICEF and the Chinese government have pledged to consider continuing with the project having recorded great achievements and positive responses and support from the people of the affected areas.
The deputy governor used the opportunity to register his concern on early marriage and teenage pregnancy.
He said, “Early marriage and pregnancy were noticed during the visit to Konfulata recently.
“While we try to provide healthcare, we should be careful not to allow what will endanger the lives of the people.”
Jatau informed them that most of their requests were already part of their plans and were already tabled before the governor. He assured them of positive responses.
He commended the skills acquisition programme of the Gadam Community Development Association for their youths and women, pointing out that it would go a long way in complementing government efforts towards youth empowerment.
More than 500 civil rights groups have called for a United Nations Security Council meeting to stop the escalating violence in Myanmar’s western Chin state, which has become a forefront of resistance against military rule.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement on behalf of 521 international and domestic organisations calling on the Security Council to adopt a resolution and act before the offensive expands in the embattled border region.
“It must convene an urgent meeting on the escalating attacks in Chin State and the overall deepening political, human rights and humanitarian crisis as a result of the Myanmar military leaders’ search for power and greed that has caused immense suffering,” the statement said.
The Myanmar military last week began shelling the town of Thantlang, in Chin State. Witnesses, aid groups and local media said the shelling set as many as 200 houses on fire. HRW said soldiers deliberately torched houses at random. Save the Children, one of the signatories of the statement, said its office was destroyed.
Approximately 10,000 residents had already fled Thantlang as the military allegedly shot into homes and set off fires by shelling in September.
The organisations maintain such indiscriminate attacks against civilians and humanitarian organisations are violations of international law and constitute war crimes.
Namibian government Treasury has raked in about N$408 million, following a governmental objective quota auction held in June this year. Finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi on Tuesday said the outcome of the latest auction was an indication that government could realise huge profits if the process is done correctly.
Government in June this year made 15 948 metric tons of hake, 87 500 MT of horse mackerel and 392 MT of monk available on auction to the highest local and international bidders.
The remainder of the horse mackerel quota, 27 000 MT, was offered to the Democratic Republic of Congo, which paid N$85 million for the quota.
Briefing the National Assembly on the proceeds of the sale, Shiimi said the hake quota generated N$189 million, horse mackerel N$214 million and monk N$4.3 million.
Shiimi said the latest outcome has convinced government that auctioning remains the appropriate method of exploiting the quota allocated for governmental objectives.
“As you would recall, government decided to sell the fish quota through a competitive auction to the highest bidder.
The aim was to determine the correct value of Namibia’s fishery resources with the view to ensure that the country fully benefits from her natural resources,” Shiimi said.
He added that government after the first unsuccessful first auction last year, went back to the drawing board to fine-tune the process. “The finance and fisheries ministries conducted the auctions. The fisheries ministry consulted with the industry while the embassies were also used to invite interested international bidders to partake in the fishing.
The Dutch Supreme Court has cancelled a $50bn arbitration award Russia was ordered to pay former shareholders of bankrupted Russian oil giant Yukos, throwing the case back for appeal and likely years more litigation.
Yukos collapsed in 2006 after oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky fell out with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the government began demanding billions of dollars in alleged back taxes that ultimately resulted in it being seized by the state. Critics said the move was an attempt to silence Khodorkovsky, a vocal opponent of Putin.
Friday’s ruling came after seven years of legal wrangling in Dutch courts following an arbitration tribunal ruling in 2014 that found Moscow had violated its international obligations by taking actions designed to bankrupt Yukos, formerly Russia’s largest oil company.
The Supreme Court’s decision marks the second time that Dutch judges have set aside the arbitration award after The Hague District Court dismissed it in 2016, only to see it reimposed on appeal.
Some residents of Awka in Anambra and environ have said that they were ready to exercise their franchise in the Saturday Governorship election in the state.
The electorate in the state told newsmen in Awka on Friday that they were in high spirit to vote for their preferred candidate on the Nov. 6 election.
They attributed it to the adequate security provided by the Federal Government.
Moses Nnake, a transporter, said that he would do the needful by voting for his choice candidate.
“Now that the Federal Government has done the needful by deploying security men to the state, I will gladly go out and perform my duty.
”All hands must be on deck in helping the state to elect a credible leader,” he said.
Margaret Ikejiofor, a woman leader, called on Anambra citizens to come out enmass and vote for the candidate of their choice.
“I am calling on residents of the state to come out enmass and vote for their prefared candidate.
“With the high level of security in place nothing will happen to disrupt this election,I am calling on all women in particular to come out and vote,” she said.
A youth, Bernard Nwofor, said that with the calling off of the Sit at Home by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), people were now free to come out and vote.
”I am happy that IPOB has finally cancelled the ten-day sit at home imposed in the south East zone because it would have affected the election drastically,” Nwofor said.
A bi-annual analysis of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team from January to June 2021 revealed that at least 60 per cent of survivors of domestic violence sought assistance at community pharmacies.
The analysis also showed that out of this percentage, 50 per cent of the survivors declined to visit the police stations or the hospital for medical attention.
The statistics, according to the Executive Secretary of the DSVRT, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi told reporters was obtained from the survivors who reported to the Response Team.
Vivour-Adeniyi added that some survivors disclosed that they were not aware of the designated police stations or the health facilities where they could access help.
“They were also more comfortable accessing support at their community pharmacies,” she noted.
She, however, said to ensure survivors have easy access to services, the DSVRT entered into a partnership with the Lagos state branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria to introduce and implement the Speak to INU (I Need U) code scheme to assist victims of domestic and sexual violence.
“The Speak to INU code-word scheme is to enable victims of domestic abuse to access immediate help from the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, the police, the health facilities or other support services, from the safety of their local pharmacy.
“We believe that the pharmacy environment lends itself well to this scheme. Indeed, the pharmacy can be a safe space for survivors of domestic violence. To this end, survivors of domestic and sexual violence would be able to make use of the code in accessing help and other relevant support. This would be provided for by the pharmacist, and where necessary and desired, onward referrals would be made to DSVRT,” she said.
Also, speaking at the training organised by the DSVRT for the licensed community pharmacists on reporting cases of sexual and gender-based violence, the Chairman of the PSN, Lagos state branch, Gbolagade Iyiola, said community pharmacy is the first point of call for most survivors of domestic and sexual violence, especially during COVID-19.
“All over the world, it’s been found out that community pharmacy is the first point of call for people needing health services.
“We’re looking at developing tools for the community pharmacists to use for people who report at their pharmacies and refer them to government facilities and from there, the DSVRT will follow up for necessary action,” he said.
A Director at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi also noted that pharmacists need to know what the law says about domestic and sexual violence and the punishments for each offence.
“Most people don’t know what the law says and most of the offenders don’t know there are punishments attached to the offences committed.
“There is a need to sensitise the pharmacists so that when survivors come to them to get medication, they will know that they have the responsibility to report that case.
“Most of the time when people are violated, they go to the pharmacists for treatment rather than going to the hospital and they don’t report these cases.
“So, the pharmacist must know the background of the case and what the law says and the punishment for each offense or violation,” Mrs. Rotimi said.
Explaining further, Mrs. Vivour-Adeniyi said it is expedient to enter into a partnership with PSN in Lagos to launch the code box INU where the pharmacy presents itself as the safe space in the community.
“This will enable survivors to use the INU code or they tick on the prescription sheet that they will like to speak to a pharmacist and then the whole referral pathway is activated for the survivors. So, asides from receiving medical attention, the survivors can access help.
“During COVID-19, most of our operations were done online so people call to report a case. But in the absence of a police report, medical examination by the doctor, then there’s no evidence to corroborate what the survivors’ said and we know they were going to the pharmacists because we ask them where they go to and most times they say they go to a pharmacy but they tell the pharmacy they hit their head.
“It became very clear that they were presenting at the pharmacy. So we need to leverage on what is existing in the community and make the pharmacy a safe place for a survivor to share and be informed on support services available,” she said.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has rewarded Joy Oyinlola Adesina, who emerged as the Best Graduating Student from the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, with a house, N5 million and a scholarship for further studies.
Abiodun, who announced the rewards at the reception organised in honour of Adesina, said that the medical scholarship would be for her residency at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu.
The governor noted that the awardee by being the best medical graduate to have come out of the OAU is “an accomplishment, a rare feat that most of her peers can only dream of.”
Abiodun tasked the awardee to put her intellectual prowess into research and scholarship, expressed optimism that Adesina might be Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Medicine.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has remitted the sum of N3.51 billion to the national treasury as part of its 2021 operating surplus.
The Head of Media of JAMB, Fabian Benjamin, who disclosed this in Abuja, said the 2021 remittance was in line with the examination body’s Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede’s avowed commitment to prudent management of public resources.
“This commitment to probity coupled with the adoption of international best practices make for cost-effective operational processes and attendant savings to yield those humongous remittances to government coffers,” Benjamin said.
According to him “This has been the norm rather than the exception in the last six years beginning from 2016 when he remitted the whopping sum of N7 billion and repeated same in subsequent years.
“It is pertinent to note that one of the direct benefits of the sustained remittances by the Prof. Oloyede-led management manifested in the reduction of the cost of the application documents (UTME and DE) by candidates from N5000 to N3500 in 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“This singular act has ensured the annual transfer of over N3 billion to the pockets of parents and guardians of candidates as a consequence of the slash in the price of UTME forms
The Board as led by Prof. Oloyede would continue to prune down the cost of governance and release resources for other needy national prioritized areas.
The 26th edition of the Nigerian University Games (NUGA) will be held at the University of Lagos from March 16 to 27, 2022.
The new date was proposed by the University and endorsed by members of the NUGA Council.
In creating a memorable University Games in Nigeria, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, assured executive committee members of the Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA) of a hitch-free cosmopolitan Games that will set a trend of other hosts of university games going forward.
Prof Ogundipe further assured that despite the fact the some of the required facilities were yet to be completed, work is being done at an accelerated pace. “I want to assure you that things will be faster now based on the commitment we have from several places. What we have done is get those who are committed to getting involved with these facilities.”
Prof Ogundipe also stated that the university hopes to put up what he describes as a “Lagos City Games” that would create commerce and engagement across the neighbouring areas of the school’s location in Akoka.
“We are bringing Lagos state in, and we hope to gain adequate support for facilities, logistics and security. I am sure we will get all the required support.”
The NUGA president thanked the Vice-Chancellor for his gracious reception of the committee members and enjoins the university to keep to its promise of putting out NUGA games in 2022.
The University of Lagos got the hosting rights in 2017 during the closing ceremony of the Games at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, and was scheduled for 2019.
After an initial postponement to 2020, the Games were once again halted due to the Pandemic that disrupted sporting activities across the globe.
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