Swimming World Cup Cancels Transgender Opens Races As No One Shows Up

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November 9, 2023

A year after banning transgender women from competing in elite female swimming events, the World Aquatics, has had to cancel its first open races for transgenders after no one registered for the event.

The World Cup meeting was scheduled to take place in Berlin but the organisers were forced to scrap the event after receiving no entries.

The swimming governing body had promised to stage the “pioneering pilot project” to promote commitment to inclusivity, welcoming swimmers of all sex and gender identities”.

However, its intention to hold an “open” category, with 50m and 100m races across all strokes alongside its men’s and women’s competition, has been put on hold as all those who fit into this category did not register.

World Aquatics’ decision to bar transgender women from elite female competitions if they had undergone male puberty came following research showing that trans women retained a significant advantage over female swimmers even after reducing their testosterone levels through medication.

Another factor in its vote in June 2022 was the success of American Lia Thomas, who had been a moderate college swimmer as a male competitor but was able to win an NCAA national college title in the women’s category after transitioning.

Over the past 12 months several other sports bodies, including athletics and cycling, have gone down a similar path.

Make-Up Artist Hawker, Stirs Controversy Amidst Identity Crises

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faith Jegede

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November 9, 2023

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Disability in the beauty artistry world is not a new thing, illusion and transformation are often the name of the makeup game.

But rarely have both combined in the way that it did this week.

Following a video posted by a social media influencer and comedian about a disabled make-up artist hawking in the streets to raise funds, attention has been drawn to cross-dressing make-up artist Eniola after being called out for impersonation and intent to deceive.

The video posted on social media was supposed to be inspirational, drawing attention to the virtues of hard work, despite disabilities until an organization that had rendered help to the con artists called him out for trying to obtain under false pretence.

Eniola who appeared like a woman at the time the video was made, where she solicited funds for and advertised her business, turned out to be a man, who had been helped similarly in the past.

Foreign Airlines Claim Over $700m Remains in Nigeria

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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November 8, 2023

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Foreign airlines have disclosed that about 90 per cent of their $783m trapped funds have not been paid.

The airlines stated this during a stakeholders’ forum convened by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in Lagos recently.

According to data from the International Air Transport Association, as of August 2023, Nigeria accounted for a substantial $783m of airlines’ blocked funds.

Despite recent efforts to alleviate the situation, the airlines said a significant portion of those funds remained inaccessible to them.

The Chairman of International Airline Operators, Chima Kingsley, emphasised that while international banks had received some funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria that only accounted for a fraction, less than 10 per cent of the trapped funds.

Aviation Industry: Foreign Airlines Threaten Withdrawal As Stuck Funds Hit N328 Billion

“The bulk of the blocked funds are with Nigerian commercial banks. The bulk of the money has not been paid,” he said.

President Bola Tinubu two weeks ago had promised to clear the estimated $7bn outstanding foreign exchange obligations of the Federal Government on forex forwards contracts owed to commercial banks.

The CBN had started clearing the forex backlog to commercial banks to ease pressure on the foreign exchange.

The CBN had initiated steps to clear the forex backlog to ease pressure on foreign exchange, but challenges persisted in disbursing the funds effectively.

Domestic carriers, represented by the Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Obiora Okonkwo, highlighted their struggles, with trapped funds and limited access to forex impacting their operations.

He cited examples, including aircraft maintenance fees accumulating due to the inability to source forex for payments.

The Area Manager of West and Central Africa for IATA, Dr Samson Fatokun, underscored the need to reduce operating costs in the Nigerian aviation sector, advocating for sector-specific support.

Keyamo assured stakeholders that efforts were underway to address the forex challenge.

While the minister did not disclose the exact disbursement figures, he reiterated the government’s commitment to resolving the issue in the coming weeks, offering a glimmer of hope for the airlines grappling with financial constraints.

NPA Plans $1bn Port Rehabilitation

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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November 8, 2023

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Determined to fortify Nigeria’s trade competitiveness, the Nigeria Port Authority has said it is launching a whopping $1.1bn for the rehabilitation plan of all the ports in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2024.

The Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, said this on Tuesday in Lagos, during a panel session at the 43rd Annual Council Meeting of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa.

He said almost all the ports in Nigeria need rehabilitation and NPA is initiating a substantial overhaul, starting with the Tincan Island and Apapa Ports in Lagos.

According to him, “The objective of the authority is to enhance the physical infrastructure of these ports to accommodate vessels of all sizes and increase the draft at the quayside. Increasing the draft is intended to achieve draft depths of up to 14 meters and this initiative will render Nigerian ports more competitive on a global scale,’’ he said.

Bello-Koko further stated that the NPA was also strengthening collaborations with the private sector to establish new seaports.

He said the Lekki Deep Seaport had already commenced operations, and the Badagry Deep Seaport recently signed an agreement with a Middle Eastern party, with construction scheduled to commence early next year.

6,000 Seafarers Visit Nigerian Ports Monthly – NPA

The NPA boss noted that these endeavors exemplify the NPA’s determination to create a multimodal transportation system connecting all ports seamlessly.

Speaking on the challenges of cargo evacuation by road, Bello-Koko said the agency was actively working on alternative initiatives like barges and also expanding rail infrastructure.

“The survey for deploying cargo rail and tracks to Onne port has been completed, setting the stage for the project to kick off next year. The authority has automated its collection system and is collaborating with the International Maritime Organization to introduce a state-of-the-art port community system, poised to optimise cargo clearance processes. The authority is working on clarifying the responsibilities of government agencies within the ports with the newly developed port process manual aimed to reduce overlaps and eliminate duplication of duties,’’ he said.

On security challenges on waterways, he said, ‘’the deployment of the deep blue sea project, equipped with air and sea assets, would enhance security in the Gulf of Guinea and contribute to significantly reducing piracy incidents within Nigerian waters.’’

He added that NPA was collaborating closely with the Nigerian Customs Service in reducing bottlenecks and cut the cost of doing business within the ports.

The NPA boss disclosed the development of a 25-year port master plan that would guide the location, sizes, and activities of ports, terminals, and jetties in Nigeria.

The master plan will serve as a national working document, uniting all stakeholders towards marine and logistics development.

Also speaking, the President PMAWCA, Martin Boguikouma, urged African countries to address challenges facing the region to be able to receive the new volume of traffic that would emerge due to AfCFTA.

Boguikouma listed ways to solve the challenge as, a collaboration between customs and port authorities to harmonise customs procedures.

“We need to ensure capacity building of all seaport and customs officials, sensitise them on how to address cross border trade. There is a need to work in reducing transport cost, investing in efficient transport infrastructure, safety maritime safety through enhanced interstate cooperation,’’ he concluded.

Tinubu Signs N2.17Tn Supplementary Budget

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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November 8, 2023

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President Bola Tinubu has signed the 2023 supplementary appropriation bill of N2.17 trillion into law.

Tinubu signed the Supplementary Appropriation Act, 2023 in his office at the State House in the presence of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; and Chairman Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacheaus Adedeji.

The supplementary budget became a subject of controversy days ago due to several line items, especially N5 billion allocation for a “Presidential Yatch.”

Cabinet Okays N2.1Tn Supplementary Budget For 2023

However, addressing State House correspondents on October 16, 2023, Bagudu said the largest chunk of N605bn was earmarked for security, to further enhance the capacity of the armed forces and security agencies to address current and emerging security challenges nationwide.

Other items include N5.5bn for the student loan scheme and over N616bn in wage awards for civil servants to augment the heightened cost of living post-subsidy

Federal Govt. Saves N1.45tn From Subsidy Removal

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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November 8, 2023

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The federal government of has so far saved about N1.45tn from earnings generated from the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol between June and September.

This is according to FAAC allocation documents obtained from the website of Nigeria’s Governors Forum and National Bureau of Statistics.

An analysis showed that the funds remitted monthly to the Non-Oil Revenue (Savings) account of the government received the sum of N696.93bn in June, N389.7bn in July, N71bn in August and N289bn in September.

N1trn Saved Since Subsidy Removal — Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy during his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, saying, “Subsidy is gone.”

Before the removal, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said it spent N1.828tn on subsidy payments between January 2023 to May 2023 — 55 per cent higher than the amount paid in the corresponding period of 2022.

About N1.15tn was spent on subsidy in the first four months of 2023. Breakdown of the figures showed that N274.769bn was expended in January 2023, N477.742bn in February, N415.381bn in March, and N353.130bn in April, respectively.

On August 1, 2023, President Bola Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast, revealed that the Federal Government of Nigeria has saved N1tn in the two months (June and July) since the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Tinubu said these monies that would have been otherwise squandered by those he called “smugglers and fraudsters” will now be channelled into intervention programmes targeting families nationwide.

He stated, “In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters.”

Trade Union Congress president, Festus Osifo had raised an alarm over monies claimed to have been saved by the government. Osifo asked where the money saved since subsidies were removed was.

Speaking on the matter during an interview on AriseTV, Osifo said since the government announced that N1 trillion has been saved, there is no reason to continue borrowing money, adding that FG should simply deploy part of the funds on Nigerians.

Osifo said, “The president and commander-in-chief on his own came and said the country has saved N1 trillion. The federal government went everywhere to announce that if the subsidy is removed, it’s going to save substantial money,”

“And so, we don’t expect them to go everywhere and start borrowing money. They told us they were going to save money. So where is the money that you have saved and how have they deployed this money?”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated that the government has made a lot of savings from the petrol subsidy removal and passed the same to state governments to assist in cushioning the effects of the policy on Nigerians.

He disclosed this at a parley with senior journalists on Monday in Abuja.

The minister who didn’t ascertain the amount saved emphasised that a lot has been passed to state governors, in that regard.

He said, “So much money has been saved since the removal of the subsidy. Some of the money that has been saved has been given to states.

“Mr President believes that state governments are closer to the people than the federal. That is why the administration has been passing funds through the governors to provide palliatives to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal.

“I cannot give the exact figure right now because it is an ongoing exercise.”

El Nino Weather: Australia Records Driest October Since 2002

By

Angel Gimalo

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November 8, 2023

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Australia recorded the driest October in more than 20 years due to an El Nino weather pattern which has seen hot, dry conditions hit crop yields in one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, the national weather bureau said on Wednesday.

In its regular drought report, the Bureau of Meteorology said last month was Australia’s driest October since 2002, with rainfall 65% below the 1961–1990 average.

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It said every part of Australia except the state of Victoria had below-average rainfall and Western Australia state — by far the biggest grain-exporting region — saw its driest October on record.

After three years of plentiful rain, the El Nino weather phenomenon has brought hot and dry weather to Australia, with September the driest since records began in 1900.

Rain in some parts of the country in early October halted a rapid decline in projected crop yields but the country’s wheat harvest is still expected to fall by around 35% this year to some 26 million tons.

Its long range forecast predicts below-median rainfall through to at least January in northern, western and southern Australia.

El Niño Weather

El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

El Niño is the “warm phase” of a larger phenomenon called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

La Niña, the “cool phase” of ENSO, is a pattern that describes the unusual cooling of the region’s surface waters.

El Niño and La Niña are considered the ocean part of ENSO, while the Southern Oscillation is its atmospheric changes.

El Niño has an impact on ocean temperatures, the speed and strength of ocean currents, the health of coastal fisheries, and local weather from Australia to South America and beyond.

El Niño events occur irregularly at two- to seven-year intervals. However, El Niño is not a regular cycle, or predictable in the sense that ocean tides are.

El Niño was recognized by fishers off the coast of Peru as the appearance of unusually warm water.

We have no real record of what indigenous Peruvians called the phenomenon, but Spanish immigrants called it El Niño, meaning “the little boy” in Spanish. When capitalized, El Niño means the Christ Child, and was used because the phenomenon often arrived around Christmas.

El Niño soon came to describe irregular and intense climate changes rather than just the warming of coastal surface waters.

Airport Workers Begin Strike in Imo

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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November 8, 2023

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Travellers and airlines navigating through Imo State might need to explore alternative options, given the aviation unions’ decision to initiate a complete withdrawal of workers at the Sam Mbakwe Airport in Owerri.

This came even as the unions declared the State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, persona non grata at all airports nationwide until further notice.

The unions which include, the National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE, and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, ANAP, actions is coming against the backdrop of brutalisation of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, President Joe Ajaero last week.

Strike: NLC, TUC Summon NEC Meeting

Ajaero was reportedly beaten and brutalised by some unidentified persons who claimed to have gotten the directive from the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma.

The NLC leader was beaten up in the state, while operatives of the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, allegedly watched, a development that has raised concerns nationwide over the state of the nation.

However, in a statement signed by the unions executive, titled, Special Bulletin To All Aviation Workers Notice Of Strike Action, it reads: “Following the escalation of the imbroglio created by the mayhem unleashed on workers by the Imo State Government of Uzodimma and continued insensitivity of the government over the matter; and in compliance with the directive of the joint NEC session of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, the above named unions, being affiliates of NLC and TUC, hereby direct all aviation workers (both public and private) to withdraw all services to all Owerri flights (inwards and outwards) from any airport in Nigeria with effect from today,

“In addition, the person of Uzodimma, the Governor of Imo State is hereby declared persona non grata at all airports in Nigeria until he purges himself of bestial tendencies.

“Our unions will make further efforts through our international affiliations to blacklist Hope Uzodimma worldwide.

“Furthermore, all aviation workers in Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri are hereby directed to stay at home, also with effect from today as directed by NLC and TUC.

“Based on the above, the State Councils and all branches of the unions will meet today at 5pm in Lagos and Abuja to agree on modalities for carrying out the above directive.

“The meeting in Lagos will hold at NUATE Secretariat, while that of Abuja will be at GAT (pilgrims’ terminal).

“By this notice, the airports’ managements, airlines operating into and out of Owerri, intending airport passengers into and out of Owerri, and the general public are hereby advised about this situation so as to be forewarned.”

Ghana Trains 40 Teachers To Identify Children With Special Needs

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Nzubechukwu Anodo

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November 8, 2023

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About 40 teachers in the Accra Metropolis are undergoing a two-day training to identify children with special needs.

The programme is under the newly created Chance for Childhood (CfC) screening application.

The CfC screening application which was designed by a Ghanaian Information Technology firm, ‘Tech Era’, would help teachers to identify seven areas of disability in children such as vision, hearing, communication, learning disability, mobility and self-care.

The programme was organised by CfC, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) with sponsorship from Entain’s Ennovate Innovation Hub.

The teachers were selected from schools such as Nii Kojo Basic School, Mamprobi, John Westley Basic School, Palladium, Alwaleed Islamic Training Basic School, Kanda, Nima I Basic School, Saint Francis Xavier Roman Catholic School and Ayawaso North Municipal Model School both in Maamobi.

The Global Inclusive Safe Garden Lead of CfC, Richard Opoku, said children with disability were the most at risk of exclusion due to the fact that they were vulnerable.

He said children with disability were abused and stigmatised which did not help in their development.

He stressed the need to protect children to be functional for the society adding that the United Nations Convention on right of children is a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities.

Opoku said the CfC application is currently being piloted in Accra and would soon be launched and replicated in other regions.

He said disability could be hereditary or occur during birth.

He encouraged parents to ensure good maternal health and nutrition before, during, after pregnancy, pre-natal care and pregnancy monitoring, child vaccination to prevent disease, good sanitation and hygiene practice to help in the prevention of disability.

Opoku advised the teachers to use the application to help identify children with disability to provide them with better service for them.

He stated that the CfC, an International NGO operates in five African countries including Ghana.

He said CfC started its operations in Ghana in 1999 as a child center organisation to promote inclusive education.

Some of the teachers who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Ghanaian media commended the CfC for the initiative, stating it would go a long way to help the teachers to assist children with special needs.

They called on CfC to collaborate with the Ghana Education Service to organise more of such programmes to help children with disability identify their potentials in the society.

FG Begins 40% Revenue Deduction From Varsities

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Nzubechukwu Anodo

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November 8, 2023

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The Federal Government has commenced the implementation of an automatic 40 per cent deduction of Internally Generated Revenues of Federal Universities and other partially funded institutions across the country.

The auto-deduction policy of gross IGR is in line with the Finance Circular with reference number FMFBNP/OTHERS/IGR/CRF/12/2021 dated December 20, 2021.

The circular limits the annual budgetary expenditure from IGR of the partially funded federal government institutions.

This was contained in a letter dated October 17, 2023, and titled ‘Implementation of 40% automatic deduction from internally generated revenue of partially funded federal government institutions’ by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to the universities and signed by director of Revenue and Investment, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Felix Ore-ofe Ogundairo.

The letter, referred to varsities vice-chancellors, was assented to by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun.

The letter reads, I am directed to inform you that the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy has approved the implementation of a 40% auto deduction from the Gross Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of all Partially Funded Federal Government Institutions in line with the Provision of Section 62 of Finance Act, 2020 with effect from November 2023.

All statutory revenue lines like Tender Fees, Contractor’s Registration Fees, Disposal of Fixed Assets, Rent on Quarters, etc shall be remitted 100 per cent to the Sub-recurrent Account.

Ogundairo said Consequently, all partially funded Agencies/Parastatals must align their budget requirements and ensure total compliance with the provision of Section 62 of Finance Act, 2020 and Finance Circular, 2021.

Earlier, the federal government through the Minster of Education, Tahir Mamman, said it was giving varsities full autonomy to explore sources of financing their activities.