Nigeria Emphasizes On Team Work To Get Out Of Recession

By Lontong Ibrahim

Nigeria’s Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, has called for team work among critical stakeholders to ensure speedy recovery and growth of the Nigerian economy.

According to him, the recovery task calls for maximum cooperation and understanding between Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and sustained synergy between the public and private sectors.

A statement by the Ministry’s Acting Director of Information, Ben Bem Goong, noted that the Minister made the call in his office in Abuja when he received the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, NIPC, Mrs. Yewande Sadiku, who was in the Ministry for a one-day working visit.

While explaining that one of the key elements of the recovery plan was hinged on the speedy development of critical infrastructure such as roads, rail and energy.

The Minister charged the NIPC to urgently mobilize the private sector to invest heavily in these areas, noting that with a population of over 170 million people and vast natural resources, the Nigerian economy was a gold mine with promising returns on investment practically all sectors of the country’s economy.

While expressing optimism that the country would exit recession sooner than expected, Udoma pointed out that the over-subscription of the country’s bond, the marginal drop in inflation rate and minimal stability being witnessed in the forex market in recent times as well as the raising profile of the foreign reserves were clear indicators of the journey out of recession.

He described NIPC as an important partner in the recovery plan, noting that their leadership qualities would provide the necessary impetus to the recovery drive.

The Minister further appealed to Nigerians to have faith in their country, economy and leadership.

Speaking earlier, NIPC Executive Secretary, Ms Yewande Sadiku, told the Minister that the Commission was working assiduously to promote the required synergy between investors and critical stakeholders in various sectors of the Nigerian economy.

She maintained that the Commission was mindful of the need for greater cooperation and coordination among stakeholders.

She also promised the Minister that her Commission would do its best to promote the ease of doing business within the area of its jurisdiction as part of its contribution to the recovery efforts.

Canada Responses To UN Plead To Fight Starvation In Nigeria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan

By Winifred Bulus

Canada has pledged $119.25 million in humanitarian backing.

The Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, who spoke through the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed D. Hussen, said it was in response to the needs of 20 million people starving in Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen and South Sudan.

He said women and children in the crisis affected countries were to benefit from the aid to be provided, adding that there would be provision of food and nutrition, health care services, clean water and sanitation facilities, as well as livelihoods support.

According to Marie-Claude Bibeau, “It is a human tragedy that the situation has deteriorated to the extent where we have over 20 million people facing starvation. 

“This assistance will be disbursed immediately to the most affected areas. We urge all actors in the affected countries to facilitate humanitarian access so that assistance can reach those most in need.”

Canada also made a plea to the affected countries to allow humanitarian workers access into the countries.

South Sudan which has been at war since 2013 has blocked humanitarian aid from coming into its territory to help victims.

United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Chief, Stephen O’Brien, recently made an appeal to the world to help fight hunger and starvation which has affected 20 million people in In Nigeria, Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan.

The Humanitarian Chief said, “The situation for people in each country is dire and without a major international response, the situation will get worse.” 

Averting Pervasive Insurgency

By Abubakar Jimoh

With the complexity of global security threats and the intensity of intra-state conflicts in the West African region, it has become imperative for the regional governments to devise holistic approach to security management.

While violent conflicts are reportedly declining in the sub-region, a recent report by International Journal of Security & Development disclosed that the recent insurgencies in the Sahel region affecting the West African countries of Mali, Niger and Mauritania and low intensity conflicts surging within notably stable countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal sends alarming signals of the possible re-surfacing of internal and regional violent conflicts.

In recent times, the global manifestation of terrorism and insurgency have become evident in Nigeria, where the absolute responsibility of the Nigerian government to grant security to the citizens has been challenged by such threats to security as international terrorism, state failure, and corruption, calling for holistic and dynamic measures to address the situations.

As recommends in the United Nations Resolution on Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, countries must take appropriate measures to refrain from organizing, instigating, facilitating, participating in, financing, encouraging or tolerating terrorist activities and to take practical measures to ensure their respective territories are not used for terrorist installations or training camps, or for the preparation or organization of terrorist acts intended to be committed against other States or their citizens.

Given the intensity of recurring attacks, relevant authorities in the country must continue to arrange for initiatives and programmes to promote dialogue, tolerance and understanding among civilizations, cultures, peoples and religions, and to promote mutual respect for and prevent the defamation of religions, religious values, beliefs and cultures. Of such dialogues and initiatives is the on-going constructive interface between Nigerian security agencies and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) under the aegis of Peace and Security Forum. The Forum has hitherto paved way for regular meetings on issues bothering the nation’s security. It has further stepped down its approach to advocacy through regular peace and security meetings with traditional rulers, community and religious leaders to promote peaceful coexistence, sustainable peace and security at all levels.

Appreciable effort must be made to promote a culture of peace, justice and human development, ethnic, national and religious tolerance, and respect for all religions, religious values, beliefs or cultures by establishing and encouraging, as appropriate, education and public awareness programmes involving all sectors of society. In this case, the security agents must shun all manners of extra-judicial killings, human rights abuses, and apparent disproportionate response to socio-religious gatherings as experienced in recent times.  This must be promptly addressed to avert unwary sensation that can warrant further outbreaks of insurgency.

The country must adopt peace, justice with strong institutions as enshrined under Goal 16 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development. Governments at all levels must provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive systems to address ethno-religious attacks by bringing perpetrators to justice.  This will re-install citizens’ confidence in governance and judicial system.

It is no more news that Nigerians have continued to suffer from widespread poverty, low economic output in both private and public sector attributable to corruption, inefficiency, erratic power supply, unrealistic policies, and infrastructure decay. These among other factors informed the recent report by the International Monetary Fund, (IMF), warning that unless Nigeria’s government takes urgent steps to curtail the on-going economic decline, there could be a worsening of unemployment and widespread poverty in the country.

Meanwhile, the alarming rate of youth unemployment has become a dire socio-economic issue for a developing nation like Nigeria.  It would be recalled that in May 2016, a report by Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had revealed unfavourable statistics, stating that 1.5 million Nigerians became unemployed in the first quarter of the year. Another report by the Bureau showed that as at the second quarter of the 2016, a total of 4.58 million Nigerians were unemployed. As crime in varying degrees affects policies and development of the country, it becomes imperative for the nation to strive towards development by reducing the frequency of crime to the barest minimum through sustainable effort by both executive and legislative arms to eradicate poverty and promote sustained economic growth and development.

All levels of government must pursue and reinforce development and social inclusion agendas at every level as goals in themselves, as these are paramount to reduce youth unemployment, marginalization and the subsequent sense of victimization that fuels extremism and the recruitment of terrorists. A report by the Guardian Newspapers, United Kingdom, has attributed the root insurgencies in the country to the increasing sense of marginalisation on the part of some communities.

Similarly, collective rehabilitation and reintegration efforts must be taken by the governments to put in place, national systems of assistance that would promote the needs of victims of terrorism and their families and facilitate the normalization of their lives. The on-going initiative by the Nigerian Government to rehabilitate and reintegrate victims of violence attacks in North East through exhaustive consultation with Civil Society and relevant stakeholders is indeed a commendable development.

 Abubakar Jimoh is the Head of Communications at Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) Abuja, Email: abujimoh01@gmail.com

Nigeria: CSOs, Kaduna State Government Strategized On Social And Community Development

By Amos Tauna

Kaduna State government, Northern part of Nigeria, has set out machineries to enhance community participation in government programmes meant to ensure rural development.

A meeting organized by the state government through the office of the Special Adviser to governor Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai on Social Development and Civil Society Organizations discussed extensively on various areas that could lead to total overhaul of the present situation among the youths and rural dwellers in the state with a better framework towards enhancing their standards of living.

Declaring the meeting open, the Special Adviser to governor El-Rufai on Social Development, Hajia Rabi M. G. Abdulsalam, said the door of her office was widely open to receive constructive ideas that could lead to team work among the youths and rural dwellers.

She explained that emphasis should be focused on rape and other social vices with a view to reducing them to the bearest minimum in the state, while urging the Civil Society Organizations to rise to the task of ensuring they contribute possitively towards eradicating the ills in the society.

The Special Adviser noted that the Civil Society Organizations were close to the people especially the youths, urged them to play vital roles towards realising the government set objectives on Social and Community Development. “We cannot fail in our assignment to make the youths realise that they are leaders of tomorrow and therefore they should be trained on leadership instead of indulging themselves in the use of substance abuse that could be detrimental to their future.

The discussion which centered on social and community development, stressed that there was the need for the youths to work together in achieving meaningful development order than taking substances that affect their progress and future leaders in the country.

The meeting deliberated on the need for the state government to involve members of the community and Civil Society Organizations for effective implementation of its health programmes in the state, while advising the youths to take training programmes seriously for them to live meaningful lives in futire.

16 Percent Of Kaduna Women Want Family Planning, But Lack Access

By Longtong Ibrahim

About 16% of women in Kaduna state, northwest Nigeria want to space their births, but cannot do so due to absence of commodities and service providers in their localities. This is happening despite ongoing interventions by various partner organizations in the state.

Other factors that continue to hamper uptake of family planning services in the state include unequal distribution of qualified family planning service providers, inadequate supply of consumables, attrition of service providers, and poverty.

At the closure and Dissemination of Family Health Plus (FH+) Project in Kaduna, participants have called on Kaduna state government and other partners to take proactive measure that will ensure the provision of commodities, consumables and service providers, so that many more women would have the opportunity to take up the services.

The FH+ Project is a family planning support programme that trained service providers and supplied some of them with smart phones to tract and report data from their facilities.

The three year project was undertaken by a Consortium Group of three, comprising Marie Topes International Organization Nigeria (MSION); Marie Stopes International, Palladium Group. It was funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Speaking at the occasion, Marie Stopes Regional Director, North-West, Leonard-Angelo Viashima, said, to encourage uptake of FP services, his organization in conjunction with the Kaduna state Family planning coordinator, mapped out 120 facilities, out of which 85 were selected; conducted training of five master trainers who trained services providers, and in turn served 182, 286 women.

He added that Marrie’s Stopes had trained over100 FP service providers and healthcare providers in the state.

While calling on the Kaduna state government to improve the security level in the state, he noted that, fear over security concerns had affected service delivery in such places, adding that advocacy activities to such areas also became difficult.

He noted that, in its three year programme, “nearly 92,000 were served in 2014/2015, while in the last part of 2015/2016, in areas where insecurity had increased, number has dropped down and our concentration was more in the North where there seems to be adequate security.”

He added that, MSION further supported the Kaduna SMoH with some items in order to boost services in its facilities among which include; IUCD insertion and removal kit, Job aids, implants insertion and removal kits, IEC materials were donated.

In his remarks, the Kaduna state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Paul Manya Dogo, who was represented by Dr. Ado Zakari lauded the activities of the organization, saying Kaduna state is opportune to have partners in FP.

He also expressed delight over FP acceptance in the state, adding that, the religious and social-cultural challenge is close to an end, as many have better understanding of child birth spacing.

Nigeria Says No Nigerian Killed in Latest S/Africa’s Xenophobic Attacks

The Nigerian government on Thursday called on the South African Government to put in place necessary measures to forestall attacks on Nigerians in their country.

The Minister of State Foreign Affairs, Khadija Abba-Ibrahim, gave the task in Abuja during a second summon to the High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria, Lulu Aaron-Mnguni, on the issue.

According to her, no Nigerian died during the recent attacks as reported by some media.

She said, “The Federal Government strongly urges the South African government to take all necessary measures to protect the lives and foreigners living and working in South Africa.

“Furthermore, the federal government urges the South African Government to bring perpetrators of these deplorable acts of violence to justice.

“The ministry continues to urge Nigerians in South Africa to remain calm and law abiding, and be vigilant at the same time.’’

“The Federal Government of Nigeria will strenuously work towards the protection of Nigerians everywhere, including in South Africa,” she added.

 

According to her, the reports that mentioned the killing of Nigerians in the xenophobic attacks are unsubstantiated.

“The ministry has not received the report of any death of Nigerian in the latest incidents of attacks against foreigners.

“The Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria is in constant touch with the Nigerian Union in South Africa, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) of South Africa, as well as the South African police.

“All these agencies have confirmed that no Nigerian life was lost in the recent incident,” she said.

The minister said the government was in touch with South African authorities to ensure the safety of Nigerians there.

The minister therefore appealed to the media not to fuel the crisis further with unconfirmed reports.

Responding, the South Africa High Commissioner to Nigeria said his government was on top of the situation.

Mr. Aaron-Mnguni said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South African will hold a briefing with the diplomatic community in his country on Friday to fashion out more ways to solve the problem, Premium Times reported.

Nigerian buildings, properties and places of worship worth millions of dollars were destroyed by South Africans on February 5 and 18.

Infant Mortality: Nigeria Has One of The Highest Rate In Africa – UNICEF

Nigeria is one of the countries in Africa with highest number of newborn deaths, official said.

This was made known by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in its presentation during a two day workshop on Media Engagement On Dissemination of “Facts For Life” messages, on Wednesday.

In her presentation, UNICEF resource person, Mrs. Tamani Yusuf said, “Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of newborn deaths in Africa, with a neonatal mortality rate of 37 per 1, 000 live births and approximately 250, 000 deaths occurring every year.”

According to her, one in every 15 babies born in Nigeria will die before their first birthday and about one in eight before their fifth birthday”.

She explained that, if Nigeria is desirous of meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), then more attention should be given to newborns; as over 80 percent of the under five deaths are from preventable causes. She further stressed that, expectant and nursing mothers as well as caregivers should be encouraged to embrace correct practices that could guarantee sound health.

Some of the factors responsible for the deterioration of child health as quoted from the “Fact for Life” messages, Tamani said they include; “Malnutrition, a high incidence of diseases, inappropriate household caring practices, poor environmental/living conditions and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.”

Amongst the right practices to be promoted to guarantee health for newborn babies, are exclusive breastfeeding, provision of quality health care and good nutrition, she added.

Nigerian Group Trains Women With Disability On Various Skills

By Iyakale Yakubu
Jos (Nigeria) — A non governmental organisation, aimed at empowering women with disabilities through access to education, quality health care and skill acquisition have conducted a training on catering, tailoring, soap making and beads making among others, to 100 people from its target group.

The NGO, Advocacy for Women with Disabilities Initiative (AWWDI), founded in 2009 is working with six main categories of women with disability namely; women who are deaf, blind, physical disabilities, women affected by leprosy, women with HIV/AIDS and women with Obstetric Fistula (OF).

Coordinator of the NGO, Miss Esther Sunday said the training becomes imperative because, “We are not only vulnerable as women, but double disadvantaged because we are women and also disabled.”

She said the group facilitated the training through self sourcing from its cooperative to reduce the hardship faced by members calling on government, individuals and Non Governmental organisations to assist with start up grants or facilities to help grandaunts start up their businesses and provision of mobility aids.

“These women have been trained on various skills to reduce their hardship but we do not have the resources to provide start up grants and facilities for them to start up their businesses. We solicit with Government, NGOs and individuals to come to our aid.

“We also implore government to make special provision for women with disabilities in its employment opportunities and access to micro credit facilities; this will give us a sense of inclusiveness in the society,’’ she said.

The group started its operation in Plateau in 2010.

Nigeria Super Eagles Steps Up In FIFA Rankings

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have moved four places up in the October world football rankings released by FIFA on Thursday.

The Super Eagles has stepped up from the 64th spot to 60th after the two straight wins against Tanzania in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier and Zambia in the FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Nigeria occupies the 11th position on the African rankings, where Cote’d Ivoire still maintains its number one position. Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Ghana, Egypt, Congo, Congo DR, Mali and Cameroon make up the Africa top ten.

According to a report by Vanguard, the Super Eagles will host Algeria next month in the FIFA World Cup qualifier in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, South-south Nigeria.

In the world rankings, Germany and Brazil moved closer Argentina who remains number one side on FIFA’s latest world rankings as Belgium dropped out of the top three for the first time in 19 months.

Following the latest international action in the qualifying stages for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, further changes to the top 10 saw France leapfrog Euro 2016 winners Portugal into seventh place and Spain replace Wales in 10th spot.

Colombia dropped down to fifth while Chile remains sixth and Uruguay stayed in ninth to complete the top 10.

Niger-Delta: US, Nigeria Seek Peaceful Resolution

The governments of United States of America and Nigeria have exchanged views on the ongoing efforts to engage in dialogue with Niger Delta militants and sought an immediate and peaceful resolution to the conflict.

This effort was part of the highlights of a meeting between the American National Security Adviser, Susan E. Rice and Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno at the House White recently.

The two National Security Advisers met at the White House to discuss opportunities to expand cooperation between the United States and Nigeria.

Ambassador Rice welcomed the progress that Nigeria and its regional partners have made in the fight against Boko Haram, now known as ISIL’s West Africa Province.

She encouraged Nigeria to maintain focus on defeating the group militarily while establishing good governance and providing basic services in liberated areas.

They also discussed the urgent need for international collaboration to support the Government of Nigeria’s response to the humanitarian emergency in northeast Nigeria.