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Belarus Seeks More Collaboration with Nigeria

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has stated his country’s readiness to partner with Nigeria in key economic areas.

He remarked when he received the First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu in his office in Belarus.

President Lukashenko highlighted some of the areas in which his country, Belarus is cooperating with Nigeria to include Agriculture, Food processing, Industry, and Education.

The President, who spoke through an interpreter pointed out that Mrs. Tinubu’s visit has further strengthened his administration’s resolve to enhance bilateral relations with Nigeria.

He noted that one key area they would be hoping to collaborate is on specialist training.

“We know your needs and we know the possibilities that you have. Let me underline that these possibilities are important and significant for us.

“We can render significant assistant to you and you can reciprocate for us.

Belarus Seeks Partnership With Nigeria On Agriculture

“We are willing to explore deeper collaboration in the area of education with your country. Please ask President Bola Tinubu for the visit of our Minister of Foreign Affairs to your country so we can develop these areas of collaboration further,” he appealed.

Responding, the Nigerian First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu thanked the President for granting full scholarship to 20 Nigerian Students through the Renewed Hope Initiative.

She explained to President Lukashenko that the Renewed Hope Initiative is currently involved in empowering women, especially through the Women in Agriculture programme which is a way to improve food security and production in Nigeria.

She assured that Nigeria would also be reaching out further to the Republic of Belarus to see how the desired collaboration between the two nations would be pursued.

Earlier, the First Lady had met with the Belarusian Minister of Education, Andrey Ivanets who pointed out that currently, the Nigerian student population in Belarus is about 600.

Ivanets said the students who are studying in various fields are doing very well academically and that his Ministry looks forward to formalizing a bilateral agreement with Nigeria.

He also said the Belarusian government hopes to establish Specialists Training Centers in Nigeria.

Mrs. Tinubu, during the meeting, pointed out that the Work Experience programme of the Republic of Belarus is very commendable and would be explored by Nigeria.

During the First Lady’s visit, she also met with the Speaker of Belarus parliament Ms. Natalya Kochanova, and members of the Women’s Union of Belarus, including professionals from various sectors.

Israel Tells Everyone In Gaza City To Leave

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The Israeli military has told all residents of Gaza City to evacuate south to the central Gaza Strip, amid intensified operations in the north.

Leaflets dropped by aircraft instruct “everyone in Gaza City” to leave what is described as a “dangerous combat zone” via designated safe routes – marked as two roads that lead to shelters in Deir al-Balah and al-Zawaida.

The United Nations has said it is deeply concerned about evacuation orders being given. It is the second time since the war began that Gaza City as a whole has been asked to evacuate.

Israel-Hamas War: Stakeholders call for peace

Over the past two weeks, Israeli forces have re-entered several districts where the military believes Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters have regrouped since the start of the year.

Hamas has said Israel’s renewed activity in the city is threatening to derail negotiations over a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal, which resumed on Wednesday in Qatar.

The talks are being attended by the intelligence chiefs of Egypt, the US and Israel, as well as the prime minister of Qatar.

Top Hamas official Hossam Badran said that Israel “is trying to pressure negotiations by intensifying bombing operations, displacement, and committing massacres.” Reports said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasised Israel’s commitment to a deal as long as its “red lines are preserved.”

There are estimated to be more than a quarter-of-a-million people still living in Gaza City.

Some were observed evacuating to the south after the Israeli military dropped leaflets there urging them to leave, which an Israel official later said it was a recommendation rather than an instruction.

Others, though, were not willing to leave.

Supreme Court Grants Full Autonomy To LGAs

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The Supreme Court of Nigeria has endorsed autonomy for the 774 local governments in the country.

The ruling puts an end to the abuse of their affairs by State Governors.

The apex court directed that Local Government allocations from the Federation Account should be paid directly to them henceforth and barred state governors from receiving, tampering, or withholding funds meant for the local government.

In his lead judgment read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court observed that the refusal of the state government on financial autonomy for local governments has gone on for over two decades.

FG, States, LGS Share N715B, Allocation Drops – FAAC

He said local governments have since stopped receiving the money meant for them from the state governors who act in their stead.

Justice Agim noted that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.

He dismissed the preliminary objections of the defendants (state governors), saying that the Accountant General of the Federation has the right to institute the suit and protect the constitution.

The governors were also barred from dissolving democratically elected officials of local governments and doing so would amount to a breach of the 1999 Constitution.

Sudanese Refugees Hiding in Ethiopian Forest

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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Thousands of Sudanese refugees are dwelling in a forest near Ethiopia’s border with Sudan after surviving attacks by local militias on United Nations-run refugee camps.

The refugees fled In May after gunmen and bandits repeatedly stormed the camps to steal supplies, rape women, kidnap people for ransom and terrify civilians.

Al Jazeera reports that at least 7,000 people left the camps and some 3,000 are still in the forest where they live alongside “wild animals” like hyenas, scorpions and snakes. this according to a statement by some refugees.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said about 1,000 people left the camps.

Sudanese Open Arms As Grim Conditions Await Ethiopian Refugees

“We want to get out of the borderlands of Ethiopia and we want to leave Ethiopia altogether,” said Montasser*, a community leader among the Sudanese refugees in the forest.

“We refuse to be put in any other camp here in Ethiopia.”

Sudan is the world’s largest displacement crisis – more than 10 million people have fled since a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into war in April 2023.

More than 53,000 people came to Ethiopia, and about 8,500 of them were settled in UN-administered camps at Awlala and Kumer in the Amhara region.

Ethiopian government forces are fighting the Fano armed group in Amhara, with the refugee camps in the heart of the conflict and the refugees saying the camps are attacked often by “bandits and militias”.

Rwanda Govt.  Seeks Not to Refund £270M Paid BY UK

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The Rwandan government has hinted that it won’t reimburse more than $300 million it has received from the United Kingdom since 2022 for a deal to deport asylum seekers deemed to have arrived illegally in the UK to the East African nation.

A Rwandan government spokesperson on Tuesday, said that its migrant deal with the UK did not include any “clause regarding reimbursement” after the newly-elected British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer said that he would scrap the controversial agreement.

“Within the agreement there was no clause regarding reimbursement… it never stated that the money would be refunded,” spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda said in a video posted by state-owned Rwanda Broadcasting Agency.

Asylum-Seekers: Rwanda Respond to UK’s Decision to End Scheme

“We had an agreement. Both parties signed, it became an international agreement, we start implementing it, then after that you want out … best of luck,” Mukuralinda said.

The UK has given Rwanda £240 million (around $307 million) so far as part of the deal, according to a fact sheet published by the British government in April this year.

Speaking at his first press conference as prime minister on Saturday, Starmer said he was “not prepared to continue” with the controversial deal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, calling the scheme a “gimmick” and denying that the bill acted as a deterrent.

The controversial plan was first announced in April 2022 by the Conservative government at the time under Prime Minister Boris Johnson but faced a series of political and legal challenges as lawmakers and activists sought to scupper the legislation on human rights grounds.

After the bill was passed in April this year, former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed the plan was introduced “to deter vulnerable migrants from making perilous crossings and break the business model of the criminal gangs who exploit them.”

The bill was condemned at the time by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi who said the arrangement sought to “shift responsibility for refugee protection, undermining international cooperation and setting a worrying global precedent.”

Amnesty International UK also called the plan “a stain on this country’s moral reputation” that “takes a hatchet to international legal protections for some of the most vulnerable people in the world.”

Asylum-Seekers: Rwanda Respond to UK’s Decision to End Scheme

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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Rwanda’s government says it is aware of the United Kingdom’s intention to terminate its plan to deport asylum-seekers to the East African country.

In a statement late Monday, the office of the Rwandan government spokesman said the deal had been initiated by the UK “to address the crisis of irregular migration affecting the UK — a problem of the UK, not Rwanda.”

This is the first time Rwandan authorities are officially commenting on plans by the UK’s new Labour Party government to cancel the scheme, which drew criticism from human rights watchdogs and others as cruel and inhumane.

UK Allows Govt. To Start Sending Asylum Seekers To Rwanda

It was not clear if Rwandan authorities were reacting to press reports or had been given official notification of plans to terminate the agreement.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in his first news conference Saturday that the Rwanda deportation plan “was dead and buried before it started.”

Starmer denounced it as a “gimmick,” though it’s unclear what he will do differently as a record number of people have come ashore in the first six months of the year.

The Rwanda deportation plan once was billed as a solution that would deter migrants from risking their lives on a journey that could end with their deportation to East Africa. So far, it has cost the UK government hundreds of millions of dollars without taking flight.

The Rwandan statement said the government “has fully upheld its side of the agreement, including with regard to finances.”

FX Market: Nigerian Naira Loses N22 in Two Days

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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0

The naira continued its depreciation streak against the dollar in the foreign exchange market, despite a surge in FX transaction turnover.

FMDQ data showed the naira weakened to N1532.58 against the dollar on Tuesday from N1523.85 traded the previous day.

This represents N8.73 depreciation against the dollar compared to the N1523.85 traded on Monday.

The development comes despite the increase in foreign currency transaction turnover to $188.19 million on Tuesday from $133.46 million the previous day.

Similarly, at the parallel foreign exchange market, the naira depreciated to N1540 on Tuesday from N1530.

Further analysis showed that from last Friday to Tuesday, the naira lost N22.91 and N15 at both the official and parallel foreign exchange markets, respectively, despite the rise in Nigeria’s external reserves to $34.66 billion as of June 4, 2024.

Law Makers Seek Suspension of Samoa Agreement

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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Amid the controversy trailing the Samoa Agreement, 88 members of the House of Representatives have moved a motion urging the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the contentious accord until all the clauses are addressed and spelt out.

The Samoa Agreement which earlier signed by the Federal Government with the European Union, received heavy backlash with many frowning upon what they thought was the recognition of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender, LGBT, rights.

In moving the motion on Tuesday, a member of the House, Aliyu Madaki, drew attention to the clause which highlights “gender equality” and described it as a Trojan horse which could violate the morals of the country.

CSO Raises Alarm Over LGBTQ Agreement

The House also mandated its relevant committees to investigate controversial provisions of the agreement.

However, at a press conference on Saturday, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, alongside his counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Mohammed Idris, said Nigeria won’t enter into an agreement that was antithetical to the Constitution as well as the religious and cultural sensibilities of the heterogeneous people of the country.

Bagudu added that Nigeria signed the agreement to boost food security and inclusive economic development, amongst other objectives.

Pres. Tinubu Announces New Ministry of Livestock Development

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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0

President Bola Tinubu has announced the creation of a Federal Ministry of Livestock Development.

This is coming amid the lingering crisis between farmers and herders across the country.

The president earlier in September 2023, announced plans to secure land for ranches and livestock production.

Stakeholders Seek Review Of National Livestock Plan

Stating that the measure was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to resolve the longstanding farmer-herder crisis.

Details later…

National Digital Economy Bill Scales First Reading

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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0

The National Digital Economy and e-Governance bill has scaled through its first reading at the House of Representatives.

The bill, which was sponsored by the Chairman of the House Committee on Digital and Information Technology, Adedeji Dhikrullahi Olajide, aims to provide a legal framework for the development and regulation of the digital economy.

Olajide, representing Ibadan North-West/Ibadan South-West Federal Constituency of Oyo State at the National Assembly expressed his excitement at the milestone achieved with the first reading of the bill.

According to him, the passage of the bill will have far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s economic growth and development.

“This bill is a crucial step towards harnessing the potential of our digital economy and positioning Nigeria as a key player in the global digital landscape,” Olajide said.

Tinubu Accelerates Digital Sector Investment Permits

He disclosed that the committee would go on a nationwide consultation process, engaging with stakeholders, industry experts, and the general public to gather input and feedback on the bill.

“This consultation process will ensure that the bill reflects the needs and aspirations of all Nigerians and that we create a digital economy that works for everyone,” Olajide added.

The National Digital Economy and e-Governance Bill seeks to establish a regulatory framework for the digital economy, promote digital literacy and skills development, enhance cybersecurity, and encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.

The lawmaker, who noted that with the first reading, the bill would still go through scrutiny and debate before its passage into law, urged industry stakeholders to support the initiative, describing it as a significant step towards unlocking Nigeria’s digital potential.

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