The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ethiopia

  • Osinbajo leaves Abuja for AU Summit in Ethiopia

    Osinbajo leaves Abuja for AU Summit in Ethiopia

    The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday morning, left Nigeria for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to participate in the 29th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU).

    Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity (Office of the Vice-President) confirmed this development on his twitter handle on Monday in Abuja.

    According to Akande, the acting president is expected back in Abuja later today .

    The presidential aide posted on the twitter handle as saying: “Acting President will be attending summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He leaves Abuja this morning and expected back later today.’’

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the acting president and other Heads of State and Government of the AU Member states will be attending the opening ceremony of the session at the African Union Headquarters, Nelson Mandela Plenary Conference Hall, at 11:00 am.

    The theme of the summit is: “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth’’ while presentation on and moderation of the Theme will be handled by Mr Idriss Deby, President of the Republic of Chad.

    Other events expected at the 2017 AU summit include the inauguration of the Road Show for Dot Africa and the Annual AU Gender Score Card.

  • Nigeria, Ethiopia rekindle bilateral ties

    Nigeria, Ethiopia rekindle bilateral ties

    Nigeria and Ethiopia have rekindled their bilateral ties and resolved to work towards ensuring mutual progress and prosperity for both countries.

    Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this to journalists at the end of a bilateral meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart, Dr. Workneh Gebe.

    He spoke on the sidelines of the 31st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the 29th AU Summit in Addis Ababa.

    The minister said there was need for the two countries to continue to support each other and share experience on managing ethnic diversity.

    Onyeama said areas of discourse between the two countries included cooperation in defence, politics, economy as well as consular and multilateral matters.

    The minister solicited the support and cooperation of Ethiopia as Nigeria assumed the position of the Chairman of the African Union Peace and Security Council on Saturday.

    Nigeria and Ethiopia have long-standing relations even before Nigeria became independent in October 1960.

    Ethiopia opened its embassy in Lagos in 1961 and both countries have common interests in the consolidation of their bilateral relations.

    The two most populous countries in Africa with a combined population of well over 200 million are multi-ethnic and multi-religious.

    Nigeria and Ethiopia signed an agreement in June 2000 to provide teachers for various universities and high schools in Ethiopia.

    NAN

     

  • ECOWAS to set up solidarity fund to rebuild North East

    ECOWAS to set up solidarity fund to rebuild North East

     

    Mr. Edward Singhatey, the Vice President, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission says that plans are on-going to establish a solidarity Fund for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the North-East.

    Singhatey made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during the celebration of the 2017 World Refugee Day with the theme “We stand together with refugees and IDPs”.

    He said the Solidarity Fund was in compliance with the decision of the Mediation and Security Council to support the Federal Government’s Plan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of North-East Nigeria.

    He said that the humanitarian crises in the insurgency affected states of the North-East was enormous, adding that it was constantly being assessed by the ECOWAS Commission.

    Singhatey said that the dire situation in the North-East deserved special attention, adding that it had necessitated the international community and ECOWAS Commission to engage in several interventions.

    He said that the ECOWAS Commission, working with partners had donated one million dollars’ worth of food items to support the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and 300,000 dollars for Nigerian refugees in Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

    The ECOWAS Commission vice president said that it also donated 400,000 dollars for the support of affected communities in the North-East.

    According to him, a recent statistics by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates over 65 million out of the eight billion worldwide population are refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs.

    Singhatey said that the African region represents about 30 per cent of the total number of refugees worldwide with a record of 180 million refugees as at 2016.

    He said that in West Africa, displacement and sufferings were caused by conflicts and other natural and human made causes.

    Singhatey said that failing to address the situation of refugees and other persons of concern amount to inviting adverse consequences for the environment.

    He said that the Commission’s Department of Social Affairs and Gender leads the humanitarian works with the goal of a borderless, prosperous and cohesive region with the capacity to effectively prevent and mitigate conflicts.

    He said the goal was also to limit the impact of conflicts and disasters on citizens and residents with a view to achieving human centered development.

    Singhatey said that the commission would continue to support the efforts of the Nigerian Government in assisting refugees, IDPs and other persons of concern.

    Also speaking, Mr. Jose-Antonio Canhandula, UNHCR Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS tasked Nigeria to join the new approach, which he said was the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework.

    He said that the framework was already being piloted by other African countries, including development actors and private sector in Chad, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda.

    Canhandula, however, said that UNHCR was working with various partners to foster the protection of refugees and IDPs, to collectively seek ways to increase support to the government in assisting people.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the occasion was attended by Acting President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was represented by Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning.

    Others present were Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, the Federal Commissioner, NCFRMI, humanitarian actors and the refugees and IDPs who displayed the wares they made from various skills acquisition programmes.

  • WHO gets African DG

    WHO gets African DG

    The Member States of the World Health Organisation (WHO) have elected Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as the new Director-General.
    Dr Ghebreyesus was nominated by the Government of Ethiopia, and will begin his five-year term on 1 July 2017.
    Prior to his election as WHO’s next Director-General, Ghebreyesus served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia from 2012-2016 and as Minister of Health, Ethiopia from 2005-2012.
    He has also served as chair of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; as chair of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership Board, and as co-chair of the Board of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
    As Minister of Health, Ethiopia, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus led a comprehensive reform effort of the country’s health system, including the expansion of the country’s health infrastructure, creating 3500 health centres and 16 000 health posts; expanded the health workforce by 38 000 health extension workers; and initiated financing mechanisms to expand health insurance coverage. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he led the effort to negotiate the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, in which 193 countries committed to the financing necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
    When he was  Chair of the Global Fund and of RBM, Ghebreyesus secured record funding for the two organisations and created the Global Malaria Action Plan, which expanded RBM’s reach beyond Africa to Asia and Latin America.
    The new DG will succeed Dr Margaret Chan, who has been WHO’s Director-General since 1 January 2007.
  • Ethiopian journalist 2017 ‘World Press Freedom Hero’

    Ethiopian journalist 2017 ‘World Press Freedom Hero’

    Jailed Ethiopian journalist and blogger, Eskinder Nega, has been named the winner of a top press freedom award despite being in jail since 2011.

    The International Press Institute (IPI) on Tuesday (April 25) named him as the winner of the ‘World Press Freedom Hero for this year.

    Nega was reportedly imprisoned after criticising his country’s abuse of anti-terror laws to silence the press. He becomes the IPI’s 69th World Press Freedom Hero.

    Nega has spent over 2,000 days behind bars since his arrest on September 14, 2011, when Ethiopian authorities accused him of “leading a plan to throw the country into serious political chaos through a series of terrorist acts” and linked him to a banned opposition group.

    ‘‘His jailing came shortly after Nega, a persistent critic of Ethiopia’s former long-time ruler and then-Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, published a column questioning the government’s abuse of anti-terror laws to punish journalistic scrutiny,’‘ the IPI said in a press statement.

    Photo from AfricaNews

    Following his arrest in 2011, a court subsequently convicted him in June 2012 on charges of “participation in a terrorist organisation” and “planning, preparation, conspiracy, incitement and attempt of (a) terrorist act”.

    IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi said the award was in recognition of Nega’s “unflinching dedication to the free exchange of ideas and information and his determination – at the expense of his freedom and separation from his family – not to remain silent in the face of the Ethiopian government’s cynical attempt to use the fight against terrorism to crush legitimate dissent.”

    The journalist and his wife are not new to arrest and charges. He was arrested in 2005 along with his wife, journalist Serkalem Fasil, they were charged with treason over their coverage of government crackdown after legislative polls in the country.

    This is not the first international award he has received. In 2014, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) honoured Nega with its Golden Pen of Freedom Award. In 2012, he also received the PEN American Center/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.

  • China gives conditions for Nigeria to receive more assistance

    China gives conditions for Nigeria to receive more assistance

    Prof. Zhang Yong-Peng, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), in Beijing, China on Tuesday said that for more Chinese development assistance to be extended to Nigeria, both countries should become active partners.

    Yong-Peng told a Delegation of visiting Nigerian Journalists in Beijing, while making clarification on “The Belt and Silk Road: Creating New Development in Africa,’’ that it was imperative for Nigeria to become more active with China.

    “China knows Nigeria as a major power in Africa and would continue to create more opportunities to access her development assistance and funds. Let me say that Nigeria can benefit a lot more from the Chinese government.

    “The Chinese Government’s Belt and Road Initiative currently covers 100 countries, including Ethiopia, South Africa and Egypt.

    “Nigeria should give us good development plans, because China is ready to provide more support to Nigeria. Therefore, Nigeria needs to be more active with the Chinese government.

    “China is today rising as a political power and needs to extend her political and economic power. And China also needs protection where her political and economic interest is,’’ he said.

    The Professor of International Politics at the Institute of West, Asian and African Studies at CASS said that many other African countries had been benefiting from the agreements reached on the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

    Yong-Peng said that the Silk Road Economic Belt was proposed in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa, along the ancient trade routes.

    According to him, more than 100 countries, including European countries, have already signed the Silk Road Economic Belt with the Chinese government, with many roads already built by Chinese companies in the European countries.

    He said that the initiative was meant to promote peaceful co-existence, mutual respect for other countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression and mutual non-interference in others’ internal affairs between countries.

     

  • Ethiopia declares three -day mourning for victims of landslide

    Ethiopia declares three -day mourning for victims of landslide

    The Ethiopian parliament on Tuesday declared a three-day national mourning for 72 citizens who lost their lives after a massive garbage dump landslide on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.

    Head of Addis Ababa City Administration Communication Affairs Office, Dagmawit Moges, said during the three-day national mourning period, from Wednesday to Friday, the country’s flags will fly at half mast.

    Moges said the hope of finding missing residents alive is almost unlikely, many more bodies could still be found as the search continues “day and night” at the site where the landslide occurred.

    According to him, in an effort to avoid the impact of similar other tragic incidents, has already evacuated 320 inhabitants from the area.

    A committee particularly designated to properly respond to the crisis has been also established by the municipality.

    He said that as the death toll increased from the initial 15 to 72, the city administration has organised a public funeral and memorial service for victims of the tragic accident.

    Hundreds of emergency personnel comprised from the Addis Ababa city Fire and Emergency Prevention and Rescue Agency and Addis Ababa Police Commission are also undertaking humanitarian activities at the site where the landslide occurred.

    Moges, however, noted that since almost all residents in the area were informal settlers, the number of people missing has not been yet confirmed.

    The condition at the 50-year old landfill is said to be a bigger challenge for emergency personnel who are working “day and night” to save the lives of those residents who are missing.

    The massive landslide that occurred at 8p.m. on Saturday has buried and damaged several buildings in the area, while many of the residents were inside their houses during the landslide.

    The 36 hectare municipal landfill, called “Koshe”, is home to a number of Addis Ababa dwellers who were apparently victim of a number of landslides over the years including the latest one on Saturday.

     

  • World Bank to raise $1.6b to combat hunger in Nigeria, others

    World Bank Group President Jim Yong-Kim on Thursday said the bank was working toward raising 1.6 billion dollars to build social protection systems to end food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen.

    In a statement made available to newsmen by the Head of Communications, World Bank Nigeria in Abuja, Mrs Olufunke Olufon, Yong-Kim said about 20 million people in Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen were on the “tipping point” of famine.

    “We at the World Bank Group stand in solidarity with the people now threatened by famine.

    “We are mobilizing an immediate response for Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen. Our first priority is to work with partners to make sure that families have access to food and water.

    “We are working toward a financial package of more than 1.6 billion dollars to build social protection systems, strengthen community resilience, and maintain service delivery to the most vulnerable.’’

    Yong-Kim said he was also working with the bank’s board of directors to secure the approval of new operations amounting to 770 million dollars, funded substantially through the International Development Association (IDA) Crisis Response Window.

    “The World Bank Group will help respond to the immediate needs of the current famine, but we must recognize that famine will have lasting impacts on people’s health, ability to learn, and earn a living.

    “So, we will also continue to work with communities to reclaim their livelihoods and build resilience to future shocks. We are coordinating closely with the UN and other partners in all areas of our response.

    “We know that resolution to this acute crisis will not be possible without all humanitarian and development actors working together.

    “We call on the international community to respond robustly and quickly to the UN global appeal for resources for the famine.’’

    Famine was officially declared on Feb. 20 in South Sudan, impacting approximately 100,000 people.

    There is a credible risk of famines in Yemen, Northeast Nigeria, and other countries, says United Nations (UN).

    Ongoing conflicts and civil insecurity are further intensifying the food insecurity of millions of people across the region, and there is already widespread displacement and other cross-border spill over.

    For instance, food insecurity in Somalia and famine in South Sudan are accelerating the flow of refugees into Ethiopia and Uganda.

    The UN estimates that about 20 million people in Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen are affected.

     

  • Ethiopians dominate Dubai marathon as Bekele retires

    Ethiopians dominate Dubai marathon as Bekele retires

    Tamirat Tola led Ethiopia’s clean sweep at the Dubai Marathon on Friday after men’s pre-race favourite Kenenisa Bekele retired injured.

    Tola won the men’s race in 2:04:11secs, setting a new course record and personal best, ahead of fellow Ethiopian’s Mule Wasihun and Sisay Lemma in second and third place respectively.

    Tola said through an interpreter after the race he was a “little upset’’ he did not run under 2:04:00 and that he would now switch attention to winning gold in the 10,000 metres at the World Championships in London in August.

    Tola had won Bronze in the 10,000 metres at the Rio Olympics last year.

    Triple Olympic champion Bekele withdrew during the race after injuring himself in a fall shortly after the start.

    Manager Jos Hermens, who directed blame towards the organisers, said Bekele fell because of a surge from behind and that there should have been a gap between elite athletes and other runners.

    Race officials said the fall was due to “unintentional contact’’.

    Ethiopian Bekele, the second-fastest marathon runner in history, was making an attempt on the world record after winning Berlin last September just six seconds outside Dennis Kimetto’s world record of 2:02:57.

    Bekele, widely regarded as the greatest distance runner of all time and world record holder over 10,000 and 5,000 metres, has also said he is eyeing the world record at April’s London Marathon.

    On the women’s side, Worknesh Degefa won her first competitive full marathon in the shadows of Dubai’s sail-like, luxury Burj al-Arab hotel in 2:22:36.

    Compatriots Shure Demise and Yebrgual Melese had finished second and third respectively in the 17th running of the Dubai Marathon.

    It was the first time since 2014 that the Ethiopians swept all top three men’s and women’s places in Dubai.

    Dubai upped the stakes in the lead up to the race, offering a bonus 250,000 dollars on the winner’s 200,000 dollars price money if the men’s world record was broken and a further 50,000 dollars for any runner who ran under 2:04:00 in the men’s race.

  • African Union: FG intensifies Nigeria’s campaign

    African Union: FG intensifies Nigeria’s campaign

    The Federal Government says it is intensifying campaign for Ms Fatima Mohammed, the Nigeria/ECOWAS’ candidate for African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security.

    Amb. Enikanolaye, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated this in a statement made available to Newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

    Enikanolaye said that Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, the special envoy appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari was leading Nigeria’s delegation in the campaign to African countries.

    He said that the delegation, which was in Ethiopia on Monday, was received by the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Dr Workneh Gebeyehu.

    Gebeyehu, he said, promised to convey President Buhari’s request to his Prime Minister and was optimistic of a favourable response.

    He said the delegation was also received by the President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza in Bujumbura on Wednesday.

    Nkurunziza, according to him, indicated that Burundi also has a candidate for the same position, but expressed his readiness to support Nigeria’s candidate if the election goes into the second round.

    The president also expressed his admiration for Nigeria and President Buhari’s constructive role in peace, security and development of the African continent.

    Enikanolaye said Onyeama was currently on his way to Angola where he is scheduled to meet with the Angolan President on the issue.