Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Saturday said that Africa is confident of the future because of energy and talented youth population in the continent.
According to him, Africa is undeterred by the failures it experienced in the past
Osinbajo spoke at the G7 Summit special outreach forum on Africa with selected African nations and leaders including Nigeria, Guinea, Tunisia, Niger, Ethiopia and Kenya.
In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on media and publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said “Africa is confident of the future because we have learnt,…we are investing more in education, insisting on good governance and holding ourselves to account.”
“But the greatest reason for our optimism is in the incredible energy, talent and creativity of our young people, male and female who are completely undeterred by the failures of the past and are daily taking advantage of innovation and technology bringing about the Africa of our dreams,” the Acting President stated.
Assuring the G7 countries of Africa’s increasing collaboration as never before in trade, counter terrorism and strengthening democracy, Osinbajo commended the seven most industrialized nations of the world for their support in the fight against Boko Haram terrorism, especially the US, France and the United Kingdom as effective partners in the Lake Chad basin.
He attributed recent successes to the joint intelligent unit which has provided useful and timely intelligence in the war against terrorism.
On the progress made so far in the country, Prof Osinbajo said that there is massive increase in rice yield over the past two years, distribution of fertilizer subsidies to farmers, who have also benefited from an e-wallet system which guaranteed that the subsidies actually gets to the farmers.
He said that the N-Power programme which has started engaging some of the up to five hundred thousand young previously unemployed graduates instalmentally as teachers, agricultural extension workers and public health professionals “is a breakthrough in mass post-tertiary education.”
He said the participants were recruited online in all states in the nation mostly using mobile phones, adding that participants will soon to receive their electronic tablet devices and can access an N-Power portal that contain required training materials for acquisition of more skills to carry out their duties.
Other world leaders at the summit, besides leaders of the G7 countries included the Chairman of the African Union, United Nations, OECD, IMF, AfDB and World Bank.
On the entourage,of the Acting President were Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyema, Special Adviser to the on Economic Matters, Dr. Yemi Dipeolu, the Nigeria Charge d’ Affairs in Italy, Mrs Bisi Meshioye.
“The Acting President has since returned to Nigeria.” the statement stated
Tag: Africa
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Osinbajo at G7 Summit: Africa is sure of the future
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Areximbank named African Banker of the Year
Dr Benedict Oramah, the President of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has been named African Banker of the Year at the African Banker Awards 2017 ceremony in India.
A statement by Afreximbank in Lagos on Wednesday said that the award was presented on Tuesday at a ceremony on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of African Development Bank.
The bank said that the award was given to a banker who, through leadership and vision, had overseen strong financial performance within his or her organisation.
“Such a banker would also have successfully guided that institution to new heights in the industry”.
In his acceptance speech, Oramah, a Nigerian, said that he was able to win the award as a result of the dedicated work of the staff of Afreximbank.
He said the staff had put in sustained efforts and made sacrifices to enable the bank continue performing in order to meet the challenges confronting Africa in the area of trade.
Other nominees for the award included Segun Agbaje of GTB in Nigeria, Jeremy Awori of Barclays Bank in Kenya, Dr Charles Kimei of CRDB Bank in Tanzania, James Mwangi of Equity Bank in Kenya and Joshua Nyamweya Olgara of KCB in Kenya.
Also at the ceremony, Guaranty Trust Bank of Nigeria was named African Bank of the Year, Rameswurlall Basant Roi, Governor of Central Bank of Mauritius, was named Central Bank Governor of the Year, while Rand Merchant Bank in South Africa was named Investment Bank of the Year.
Other winners included Equity Bank of Kenya as the Best Retail Bank, MasterCard and Ecobank were named for Innovation in Banking.
Waheed Olagunju of Bank of Industry in Nigeria was named African Banker Icon, while Amadou Ba, Minister of Finance of Senegal was named the Finance Minister of the Year.
According to Afreximbank, the African Banker Awards were introduced to recognise reforms, rapid modernisation and expansion of banking and finance in Africa.
“The awards reward the outstanding achievements of companies and individuals that have changed the perception of Africa’s potentials in domestic and international markets”.
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Nigeria’s, Morocco’s ‘Wonder of Africa’ pacts on gas, fertiliser
Moroccan National Board of Hydrocarbons and Mines Director-General Mrs Amina Benkhadra (right) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Director-General Maikanti Kacalla Baru last Monday signed documents of cooperation agreement of the Nigerian-Moroccan gas pipeline project that will connect the two nations as well as some other African countries to Europe at the King Palace in Rabat. ASSOCIATE EDITOR OLUKOREDE YISHAU examines the importance of these deals
Rabat, the heart of Morocco, was upbeat last Monday. Reason: the palace of King Mohammed VI was hosting a delegation from Nigeria, which was led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbe, his counterpart in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Jigawa State Governor Presidential Committee on Fertiliser Chairman Abubakar Badaru, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Director-General Maikanti Kacalla Baru and Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FESPAN) President Thomas Etuh were also at the palace to witness history: the signing of two bilateral agreements.
One of the Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed is on the Joint Initiative on the Morocco –Nigeria Gas Regional Pipeline. This deal christened “The Wonder of Africa” will have direct impact on 300 million people.
The MoU signed by the NNPC and the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), covers a feasibility study and a Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study on a gas pipeline from Nigeria to Morocco and ultimately Europe.
The MoU shows that both countries have equal stakes in management and financing of the studies, which are expected to be completed in two years.
The second agreement is on the second phase of the Fertiliser Initiative started after last December official visit of the King of Morocco to President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja. The first phase has seen the supply of a cargo of phosphate from Morocco to Nigeria. Through this, 11 blending plants have been resuscitated and about 1.3 million tonnes of fertiliser have been produced. 50,000 direct jobs and 150,000 indirect jobs have been created and fertiliser’s price has crashed to N5,500.
The new fertiliser deal will see to the maximisation of local fertiliser production through the creation of platform for basic chemical products and reinforcement of distribution channels.
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said President Buhari and King Mohammed VI have a shared vision for a sustainable, active and solidarity-based joint development for Africa.
Onyeama thanked King Mohammed VI for his partnership with Nigeria and his belief in President Buhari.
The minister said: “During His Royal Majesty’s State visit to Nigeria on December 3, 2016, our two countries entered into commitment to work in mutually beneficial ways to strengthen our bilateral co-operation in various areas, including agriculture, infrastructure and gas development. Who would have imagined that eight weeks after that commitment was signed, phosphates produced here in Morocco was already being blended into fertlisers for agriculture 2000 miles away in Nigeria under the programme known as the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative. The programme has revived several moribund fertiliser blending plants in Nigeria. It has so far created thousands of direct and indirect jobs, ensure that our farmers have access to good quality fertiliser at an affordable price and all these before the planting season. The remarkable success of this programme thus far can only be attributed to the strength of the personal relationship as well as the commitment, vision and leadership shown by both your royal majesty, King Mohammed 6 and Hs Excellency President Buhari.
“These achievements are also testaments to the commitment of our chief executives and institutions that have worked tirelessly to implement what the two heads of states have directed. Without the focus and the drive of the government of the Kingdom of Morocco, the federal and state governments of Nigeria, OCP, the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Fertilisers Producers and Suppliers Associations of Nigeria, this idea could have remained just that, a good idea.”
Onyeama went on: “This strong bilateral relationship is not limited to the fertiliser industry alone, the vision your royal majesty shared with His Excellency President Buhari to enhance our natural resources for economic growth has crystalised into extensive discussions on the decision taken in Abuja to start the proposed regional gas pipeline to connect Nigeria’s gas resources, those of other West African countries and Morocco. This initiative would also promote regional economic integration as well as accelerate electrification and industrialisation in mining, petrochemical, light manufacturing, agro-processing and fertiliser sectors.”
Bourita traced the deals to six months ago when King Mohammed VI was on official visit to Abuja.
“Six months ago, your majesty and your brother, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, announced the initiative of the gas pipeline, which connects Morocco to Nigeria and beyond to Europe. Today, a significant step of this initiative is reached, the signing of the cooperation agreement on the technical and financial feasibility study of this very important project,” he said.
He added: “The Morocco/Nigeria gas pipeline project has a major historical significance that underpins the royal vision of an African continent that is master its own destiny. This project is a convergence of the vision of your majesty and President Buhari for the development of the continent, a vision founded on afro-optimism.”
On the gas project’s feasibility, he said: “This project is feasible in many ways. First, the project arises from strong will. It is designed by Africans and for Africans aiming for a sustainable development and truthful and solidarity-based south-south co-operation as well as enhance regional co-operation. Second, the vision has the capability, the high expertise and know how, relevant qualifications, adequate engineering and the right men and women to meet the challenge. The vision also has a number of previous success stories. Nigeria has a strong economy with the highest African GDP and enjoys the confidence of investors. Morocco, under your majesty’s leadership, has implemented world-class challenging projects. The project is also viable because it meets concrete needs relying on the potential of African gas resources on the one hand and the crucial role that energy can play to foster African development on the other hand. West Africa has a significant energy potential with 31 per cent of global reserves of natural gas resources. However, 200 million people don’t have access to electricity in West Africa, nearly two-third of the population. Only 45 per cent of energy needs are met. There are huge disparity in terms of energy among West African countries and for industries energy in West Africa is still very costly.”
Bourita said the project would help integrate countries which the pipelines would pass through and create jobs and opportunities for their people.
The Moroccan foreign minister said: “The viability of the project relies also on its integration effect. Gas pipeline will be an opportunity for all the countries that it will pass through, from the gas’s origin to the final destination and even for the midstream countries. ECOWAS producers as well as consumers can plug into the project to supply or be supplied. The project will have a real impact on the population of West African countries by directly benefitting 300 million people. It will enable West African countries to access a more reliable source of energy, which is considered among the cleanest and least expensive for power generation. Several sectors will derive considerable benefits from the pipeline in terms of employment as well as industrial development. The sectors concerned include agriculture, power generation, health, tourism and others. This Atlantic pipeline offers unprecedented opportunity for the region, for the transfer of technology, industrial and energy platforms that will accompany this project will enable the population of the region and more particularly the youths to benefit from its economic impact in terms of employment and investment. The Atlantic pipeline will have also stabilising effect. History has demonstrated that regional integration is synonymous with peace.
“In the long run, the project will create an economically viable West African space connected to Europe. This project will simply change the face of West Africa. The project is also profitable. All these preliminary elements show the prospects for a profitable project, especially with its positioning as the gateway to Europe.”
Speaking on the fertiliser pact, Etuh emphasised the importance of food in development and enumerated the challenges faced in the first phase of the initiative and what are being done to tackle them.
His words: “It was not an accident that you and your senior brother, President Muhammadu Buhari, decided to start this initiative with fertiliser. Why? Today we are talking about gas pipeline from Nigeria to Morocco to terminate in Europe. Can you do that project on empty stomach? No. And that is why the two brothers, His Majesty the King of Morocco and President Muhammadu Buhari, decided to start with an input so that we can feed ourselves, we can have the energy to think to do this ambitious project that we have started. In Nigeria, we have a potential one 8 million tonnes of fertiliser and we just started with a million tonnes this year and we are going to double it next year. We have a development programme to take this initiative to 6 million tonnes by 2020.
“When we started there was a lot of logistics challenge which we never envisaged. Today it has been called the Wonder of Africa. The fertiliser is affordable and it is delivered to the farmer. How do we make it more affordable to the farmer? Today we have reached an agreement with OCP on how to solve the logistics problem. Both countries will be investing in the logistics. Storage facilities in those plants were also challenging. We have designed clusters. We are going to create inland logistics storage in the port and in the factory zone. This storage facility is not only for distributing fertiliser and for distributing the raw materials, but it is also going to be a one-stop shop where the farmer can also bring its produce and sell. We are guaranteeing the farmers cost plus profit.”
Instructively, on March 14, when Etuh paid the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fertiliser Initiative a courtesy visit during the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative tour in Dutse, Abubakar said both deals were independent of each other.
He said: “The Sahara gas pipeline is a project we are planning to transport gas from here down to Morocco, then passing through so many countries and opening up use of gas in those countries across sub-Sahara. The supply of phosphate for fertiliser blending is a different agreement and the trans-Sahara pipeline is another project. We will do whatever agreement expected of us according to the Nigerian law? and the government of Morocco will do theirs. The countries that our pipelines will pass across, we will also use our gas and agree with us according to their rule.”
The initiatives are no doubt laudable. But, being long term deals, it is hoped that the enthusiasm, with which the drivers have started, will be sustained till the end.
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Macron’s victory and lessons for Africa
SIR: Emmanuel Macron is the man of the moment. The man is making rounds on the social media not just because he is the president of one of the most popular countries in the world, but also because at 39, he is the youngest to be so.
However, he is popular not just because of the dynamics of his position and age. His personal life is intriguing. Macron is married to 63-year-old Brigitte (24-year-older) whose second child was Macron’s mate in high school. What is even more intriguing is that his sweetheart was his French and drama teacher in school and at 15, he professed his love for her and promised to marry her when he gets older. Macron’s parents frowned at this with a condition – that he reaches 18 first. Of course, the young man was not one to break his promises. He whisked his sweetheart off to marriage in 2007.
If the emergence of this “mysterious” man to the highest office in France is jaw-dropping to the world, it would leave the jaws of Africans hanging lower. We Africans are acutely dogmatic. We revere tradition, uphold it with all sacredness. We fear to even think about change. The unfamiliar path, we let it be as though we are always sure of disasters along those untoured paths. In Africa, individualism and liberalism are flipped down to the exposure of collectivism and traditionalism. Indeed this is our culture and we have to respect it. But if culture is made by humans and for humans, it is apt to deliberate alternatives.
Collectivism propagates the suppression of self-expression. If there is just one reason why the world is not filled up with clones; there is a good reason why self-expression such be maximally permitted. The society is made of a group of people. But this group of people are made up of individuals – you and I – each with his/her own uniqueness and abilities. The society is a microcosm of the human body – a perfectly made system in which every part has its functions and yet all contribute to the functionality of the whole. As the human system is, so also is the society, made up of individuals with different talents, careers, occupations, etc all relying on one another for continuity and progress. So by the moment we suppress individual expression, we are suppressing the functionality of the whole system. Thus, as long as it doesn’t go as far as causing harm, individuals should be allowed self-expression.
Liberalism and individual self-expression are lessons Africa has to learn from France’s presidential elections. France penetrated the lenses of their new president’s marital decisions to allow for sight of the quality of his personality. They were tolerant enough to accommodate his “weird” marital decisions. By electing him in spite of this and his age, France has not just given Africa lessons on individualism but on priorities also.
- Clifford Msughter Ortese,
cliffortese@gmail.com
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Africa loses UNWTO top job
Africa yesterday lost the opportunity to become the next United Nations World Secretary General. Africa’s candidate and former tourism minister of Zimbabwe, Dr. Walter Mzembi was defeated by Georgian Zurab Pololikashvili. He will take over from the outgoing secretary general, Talib Rifai. Mzembi was endorsed by the African Union (AU), as Africa’s candidate. Also, the UNWTO Executive Council, attended by some 250 representatives from 59 countries, focused on these priorities as well as on the UNWTO programme of work for 2018-2019 and the agenda of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017.
The 105th session of the UNWTO Executive Council also recommended Zurab Pololikashvili, from Georgia, as the nominee for the post of Secretary-General for the four-year-period starting January 2018. This recommendation will be submitted to the 22nd UNWTO General Assembly for ratification (11-16 September 2017, Chengu, China).
“We predict that 1.8 billion international tourists will travel across borders by 2030. We must ensure that such growth goes hand-in-hand with sustainability. We must embrace the opportunities created by innovation and new technologies. We must continue to make travel safer, but also more seamless and accessible for all. And we must ensure that our sector serves the planet as well as its people” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, opening the meeting.
“UNWTO is a privileged forum where all countries discuss the main challenges facing our sector, share experiences and build common solutions. Tourism is about building bridges” said the Secretary of State of Tourism of Spain, Matilde Asían.
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Again, Wizkid nominated for BET Best International Act: Africa
BET Africa has announced nominations for the 2017 edition of the awards which will broadcast across Africa come Tuesday, June 27 with this year’s edition honouring eight leading African artists.
In the “Best International Act: Africa” category, Nigeria enjoys a strong representation with Wizkid, who is no stranger of the awards, Tekno, Mr Eazi and, Davido making the cut.
Others on the list are Stonebwoy (Ghana), AKA (South Africa), Nasty C (South Africa) and Babes Wodumo (South Africa).
Commenting on the nominations, Monde Twala, Vice President for BET, Youth & Music says; “Africa has a rich cultural heritage and the BET Awards reflect the power of our culture through music. This annual celebration puts the spotlight on African artists and exposes their amazing talent to the world. We wish the nominees well and congratulate them for the hard work and effort over the last year.”
Speaking further, Twala said that this year’s BET broadcast marks 17 years of unexpected performances, trailblazing moments, super dope talent, and entertainment’s most provocative players.
In 2012, Wizkid was named joint winner of the BET award for the Best International Act (Africa) with Ghana’s Sarkodie in a keenly contested category which featured nominations from fellow Nigerian, Ice Prince; Camp Mulla (Kenya); Lira (South Africa); and Mokobe (Mali).
In 2015, he was also nominated for the controversial category, losing to Ghana’s Stonebwoy.
That same year, Wizkid, together with Yemi Alade and Fuse ODG came down hard on the award organisers for presenting the Best International Act (Africa), backstage.
Despite being in Los Angeles when the award took place, the Starboy did not turn up for the pre-shows and interviews which are part of the event.
He was also briefly named winner last year, but the organisers quickly rescinded the decision, giving it instead to South Africa’s Black Coffee.
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JAMB and Africa’s place in global ICT revolution
One of Africa’s most talked-about ICT success stories in the education sector is the adoption of Computer Based Test (CBT) for entrance examination into tertiary schools organized by the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, a body with a core mandate to conduct matriculation examination for entry into all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria.
Globally, there has been an ICT revolution since 2000. The internet economy has grown larger and faster than could have been reasonably expected back then. In future, technology, connectedness, the internet-of-things all promise a more efficient, fast-paced economy set within an accessible global market. But how can Africa really harness all this change to its betterment?
For a long time, ‘creativity’ and ‘innovation’ in technology were only latent concepts in Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular, until the dawn of the digital age. ICT plays an important, valuable and critical role in education development. Its usage has become very common but its full potential is yet to be discovered. Nigeria’s JAMB is now playing a critical role in ensuring that Africa maintains its pride of place in the Global ICT arena with a particular reference to education. It is heartwarming to see that fact that developing countries have now understood the importance of ICT and have started adapting to it as a basic tool for quality education.
The trailblazing credentials of JAMB experienced a surge with the coming on board of Professor Ishaq Oloyede, who has accelerated reforms at the institution and fast-tracked innovation. JAMB is applying ICT to areas that no one would have thought possible.
The ICT mediated examination innovation by JAMB, which replaced the Paper and Pencil Based examination system that was fraught with problems of accuracy and delay in timely results’ declaration is an effective tool for integrating and automating the activities of examination system to bring reliable, efficient, transparent and robust e-examination solutions for Africa.
JAMB, especially under Professor Oleyede, has increased its institutional capacity and credibility since the introduction of the CBT in 2015. Determined to make the Computer Based Test all inclusive to different category of candidates with disabilities, JAMB embarked on nationwide training for visually impaired on the use of Apex Braille-note computer. This is quite commendable.
The Apex Braille-note computer is an electronic devise invented by the board to enable visually impaired to take the Computer Based Test without stress like a normal Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination candidate.
The machine is affixed to a desktop computer and questions are deployed to it electronically with hearing aid. No fewer than 200 visually impaired participants in the training held at designated venues across the nation; namely South West Resource Centre in Abeokuta, Lagos , Kano, Enugu and Port Harcourt.
It is a good thing that the parliament through the House of Representatives committee on education has thrown its weight behind the JAMBs ICT drive with reference to the Computer Based Test (CBT) when it said the electronic test was in tandem with global dictates to sanitized the education system. “The paper Pencil Test (PPT) was cumbersome and characterized with several irregularities and unwholesome activities. The world is flying and we cannot be crawling”. The chairman of the House of Representatives committee on education Hon. Zakari Mohammed was quoted to have said.
Thus, if the board’s major objective is to completely eliminate malpractices through the conduct of CBT, it may as well have achieved it because the CBT has to a large extent eliminated malpractice in the examination process. As with everything good, there are those who will lose because of the elimination of malpractices. These are the people that pick holes in the reform and tend to highlight the few teething issues.
Irrespective of how much such people try to make a mountain out of a molehill, JAMB could compete auspiciously with any examination body in the world considering its innovation in digitizing its examination. The innovation has now restored confidence and integrity in its examination process. With the pace of the current registrar, the body is set to become a global reference point.
From its application to obviously mundane tasks to its use for the noblest of all human endeavors, the place of information and communication technology (ICT) in today’s world cannot be over-emphasized. The fate of individuals, businesses and countries largely depends on how fast they latch on to the ICT revolution and stay ahead in the game. It is the 21st Century equivalent of the scramble for land and territory most races of humankind have been involved in from ages past.
Against the backdrop of the importance of ICT to the present era, the effort by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) which has now phased out the use of the paper and pencil method for its examinations in favour of computer-based tests, is not only a commendable step in the right direction, it is also a pointer to the fact that Africa and indeed Nigeria is playing a very crucial role in global ICT revolution.
A disquieting percentage of graduates in the country today are not computer literate, thus, making them unemployable. This wouldn’t have been the trend if all critical stakeholders in the education string had been proactive in espousing ICT, specifically in testing candidates over the last two decades. The contemporary workplace is ICT-oriented and anyone not trained in this direction is hopelessly unfit to take on many tasks in the corporate world, which can only get more sophisticated, as technology is being daily improved to work more for the human race. Embracing ICT for providing the robust, transparent, accurate and authenticated outputs as we have witnessed with the JAMB innovation brings substantial quality improvement in education and this needs to be extended to other examinations in the country.
Nigeria’s JAMB has taken the lead. There is no gainsaying the fact that ICT will make exam system more efficient and transparent. This will produce competent human resources, which will contribute to the development of the country. The development at JAMB, which fully digitized and modernized most of its operation is the way to go and should be rolled across others facets of the education sector.
A consensus has been built around the fact that today is the era of technology which is resulting in changing the life style of people. Today many African institutions are imparting education in the field of ICT, but its application in the functioning of the system is low. The meaning of computerization is limited to just typing or surfing web; full potential of ICT has not been explored. ICT is a useful tool to have transparency, reliability and efficiency in examination system. There are tremendous facilitations integrating ICT with examination system. JAMB’s ICT innovation from what we have seen will ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the examination system and effectively deal with malpractice and inefficiency thus bringing about the much needed change.
- Clement, a medical practitioner, contributed this piece from Harvard University, USA.
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A call for love across Africa
Title: Voice of Africa
Author: Paul Ugah
Publishers: Chapuga, Makurdi, Benue State
Reviewer: Edozie UdezePoets often use words to convey their inner feelings not just to let the world see those things that they see and perceive, but to also join in appreciating the beauty of life itself. In this collection, Paul Ugah carefully divided his work into three broad perspectives. Part one which has nine poems expresses deep love and faith in what he sees around him. As a poet Ugah feels that love, genuine love, can indeed heal wounds; it can help to anchor for unity in a society where ugliness may have indeed taken over the inner thinking of people.
Voice of Africa is an encompassing title to include love inclinations across the continent. His sense of love includes love itself, Wind of Christmas, Mambilla Plateau, Fire, In Praise of a Damsel and more. There’s this profound sense of reasoning to bring love into the heart of those who may not have encountered genuine love in their lives. “Love, let love reign in your affairs. Plant love in your family like hibiscus flower. Nurture it and carry it wherever you go. To heal the wound of ugliness in the world.” This is like an explicit mandate, well-delivered to help heal the world; for indeed true love overcomes wickedness. Just like the Wind of Christmas that spreads joy, Ugah is reaching out to the world to allow this joy to persist and spread to more new areas of the world. In other words, that inner fire that burns in your heart when you are in love, should be allowed to permeate the facets and surface of the earth.
In part two titled Reflections with fifteen poems, Ugah is concerned about the myriad of issues that bedevil the society. This concern hinges more on disunity or issues that breed disharmony. Politics plays more pivotal role here. As a poet, Ugah is deeply irked; he is truly perturbed the way Nigeria is riddled with corruption and all the tendencies for leaders to continue to lord it over hapless citizens. He says: “to emphasis with people and events around you and beyond you need to reflect on issues. So, savour reflections on contemporary issues.”
In Echoes of June 12, for instance, he reinforces those ugly trends that marked the day out-a symbolic day in the socio-political history of Nigeria. Ugah says: “How is our party doing? How many rallies have the people organized since my departure? Ah! The party has gone, gone away with the whirlwind from the North. The Southern Democratic Party, SDP, is as silent as the graveyard in the memory of our land.” This is a question yawning for answers and seeking for solutions. Has Nigeria been the same since the annulment of June 12 elections in 1993? As more stories and poems emerge on the issue, Ugah is concerned that mandates are often stolen or denied those who have won them. Where is Nigeria headed with this sort of political solution to our myriad of tribal sentiments? There’s also the problem of A Call for Peace, one of the titled poems in this section. The society needs peace, peace that cuts across tribe and tongue. Peace that begets love and then necessitates progress. Religion should stop being used to divide the people.
The climax of this collection comes in part three titled Lamentations. In it, he quotes T. S. Eliot thus – “God gave us always some reason, some hope, but now a new terror has soiled us, which none can avert, none can avoid, flowing under our feet and over the sky…”
“From North to South, from East to West, the ravaging flood drowned our economy. And left a big scar in our land. Yet our officials claimed they were on top of the situations. Oh, the centenarian lamented.” A soul-searching poem on the nation-wide floods that threatened the fabrics of the people years back, Ugah uses it to mirror the level of wickedness in the hearts of leaders. Those were years of lamentations indeed for those elected to salvage the situations but who chose to make money out of the people. In the end, no one was the wiser for it.
With illustrations to depict the poems, Ugah is able to evoke deeper sympathy for the topics he treats in the collection. Even though some of the lines sound more like mere statements, his intentions are well taken care of. May be in the next collection, he has to device more poetic language and expressions to make his conceptions weightier. As a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) he is an enough insider to grasp the deeper concepts of the issues embedded in Nigeria and beyond.
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WHO calls for urgent action to fight hepatitis
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday called for urgent action to expand hepatitis treatment, as only a small fraction of the 325 million people who live with hepatitis “B’’ and ‘’C’’ know they are ill.
The WHO demanded for action to fight the liver disease.
The UN agency said an estimated 1.3 million people died from the virus in 2015, more than from illnesses caused by HIV.
“We see an increasing mortality,” said Gottfried Hirnschall, who heads the agency’s hepatitis programme.
The WHO said better access to vaccines and medicines is needed, as well as policies to reduce infections among people who inject drugs.
The agency presented a report on the regional spread of hepatitis “B” and “C“, two types of the virus that cause nearly all hepatitis deaths around the world.
The East Asia and Oceania region has the highest hepatitis “B’’ rates, followed by Africa.
Only nine per cent who have this virus type know they are infected, and only eight per cent who get a diagnosis receive treatment.
The share of diagnoses and treatments for hepatitis“C’’infections are also very low.
The Middle East has the highest hepatitis“C’’rates, due to lacking hygiene. Europe, where the virus is mainly spread among drug users, comes second.
Hepatitis is spread through blood and other body fluids.
It can cause lethal liver damage and cancer decades after the infection.
Although hepatitis deaths linked to long-term cases have been rising, new infections have fallen over the past decade, as more and more countries immunised children against hepatitis “B”.
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Hope rises as Africa holds infrastructure investment summit
There is fresh hope of more investment in infrastructure on the African continent as a global law firm, Hogan Lovells, leads sponsors list of an investment summit to be hosted by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
The summit, scheduled to hold in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on May 15 and 16, will feature a number of high-level participants from government and the private sector, including having the Presidents of Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda in attendance.
The Head of Hogan Lovells’ Africa Practice, Andrew Skipper, will lead high-level discussions on catalysing investment and leveraging success stories in the African infrastructure space.
The summit is already generating excitement among stakeholders in the industry, who are concerned about the state of infrastructure on the continent. While Africa may be the world’s fastest growing continent, access to basic infrastructure services remains a critical challenge across the continent, with studies showing that poor road, rail and port facilities add 30 to 40 per cent to the cost of goods traded among African countries. An often quoted World Bank report suggest that Africa needs to spend $93billion annually until 2020 to bridge its infrastructure gap.
This explains why AFC Live has been created to provide a platform to develop solutions that will fast track African and international capital towards infrastructure. Although investments in energy and in transport can offer better commercial and social returns than most investments, stakeholders however believe that creating the right structure to make these projects commercially attractive requires skill as well as political will and a conducive regulatory environment.
In this instance, the sponsors of the summit, Hogan Lovells, is believed to have the requisite knowledge and experience to help countries and clients navigate through. This is buoyed by the firm’s several decades spent working across the continent, covering almost 50 countries and a network of local law firms in all but two African countries. This has also helped the firm to develop an intimate knowledge of the continent’s business environments.
“We are thrilled to be the lead legal sponsor for this event because we believe in and want to support business on the continent. Infrastructure plays an incredibly important part in any country’s growth story and in Africa, it is vital,” Skipper said.
On the challenge of project funding, he explained that African-focused direct foreign investments (DFIs), Export Credit Agencies or foreign grant funds, cannot entirely fund the continent’s infrastructure needs.
Skipper further explained that international investors and commercial lenders need to adjust their thinking on a range of issues in order to encourage an appropriate view on acceptable risk allocation and investor returns in these sometimes complex markets.
He contends that by bringing financiers and investors together alongside project developers and fund managers, AFC Live aims to ensure that more capital, both African and international, can be deployed towards addressing the continent’s pressing infrastructure needs. “Hogan Lovells are proud to be a longstanding partner to investors, sponsors, developers and governments on this journey,” Skipper said.