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Tag: Nigeria News

  • Nigerian Pastor, Imam win intercultural innovation award at UN

    Nigerian Pastor, Imam win intercultural innovation award at UN

    Two distinguished Nigerian clerics, Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad Ashafa, have won the 2017 Intercultural Innovation Award, an international award held at the United Nations ( UN ) headquarters.

    The two Nigerian clerics were among the 10 recipients of the award, out of which five awardees were from Africa, namely Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda.

    The others were from Argentina, Ecuador, Israel, Northern Ireland and Pakistan.

    Wuye and Ashafa are Co-Executive Directors of Interfaith Mediation Centre, Kaduna, an organisation that engages in interfaith dialogue and relations in Northern Nigeria.

    The Intercultural Innovation Award is a partnership between the United Nations Alliance of Civilization ( UNAOC ) and BMW Group that selects and supports innovative intercultural grassroots projects.

    It is ‘a celebration of the most innovative grassroots projects that encourage intercultural dialogue around the world’.

    The Pastor’s and Imam’s project that was nominated for the award is ‘Transforming pastoralist-farmer conflict in Nigeria’.

    According to the Award, “A combination of resource-based and ethno-religious conflict is causing many hundreds of fatalities each year in Nigeria and displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes and farms.

    “Imam Ashafa and Pastor Wuye’s project builds on their successful mediation of some of these conflicts, and adds the dimension of livelihood collaboration in order to restore the land – thereby creating a ‘win-win-win’ for the conflicting parties and the environment.

    “It puts into practical action some of the pioneering insights of the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS) in Switzerland, which Pastor Wuye, Imam Ashafa and their team from the Interfaith Mediation Centre in Nigeria regularly attend.

    “In preparing for the event, UNAOC/BMW asked Pastor Wuye and Imam Ashafa, ‘How can we, the audience, join you in making a difference?

    “They replied: ‘Share with everyone that tackling farmer-pastoralist conflict will restore the social fabric of the Sahel region, while healing the land will restore the environmental fabric…

    “Support inter-dependence, celebrate the gifts of diversity and collaborate to care for the planet wherever you are – and we will make a difference to our world’.”

    The keynote statement at the award was delivered by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Amina Mohammed.

    The two Nigerian awardees had earlier paid a courtesy call on the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.

    NAN

  • EU calls for ‘equal rights’ for all in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine

    EU calls for ‘equal rights’ for all in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine

    Myanmar must guarantee “equal rights” for everyone in troubled Rakhine state as talks on repatriation of more than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh gather steam, new EU ambassador to the country said on Thursday.

    Kristian Schmidt, who took over the European Union mission in Yangon some two months ago, also called on the administration of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to “break down barriers” between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine.

    He said the return of refugees should be voluntary and the involvement of the UN agencies in the repatriation process would be “extremely useful”.

    The initial deal struck by Bangladesh and Myanmar mentions the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, but does not specify its role.

    Schmidt said Myanmar must address the “root causes” of the Rakhine crisis, such as decades-long discrimination against the Rohingya population that included restrictions on movement and lack of access to proper education.

    “The primary priority, which is for the local authorities and the union government to establish rule of law, non-discriminatory civilian administration … and equal rights for everyone,” Schmidt told Reuters in an interview in Yangon.

    “There are root causes that must be addressed in Rakhine state so when the refugees return they do not return to the situation ex ante – this is not sustainable,” he said.

    The exodus of Rohingya was triggered by an army crackdown in response to Rohingya militant attacks on security forces on Aug. 25, attacks Schmidt referred to as “terrorism” and the EU has condemned.

    Schmidt said confining the Rohingya to villages reduced education opportunities and could have radicalized some.

    “You should not be surprised later that some of the elements of that population radicalises. Becomes increasingly desperate,” he said.

    Amid the army crackdown, scores of Rohingya villages were burnt and refugees have told reporters o f killings and rapes.

    The UN and the U.S. have both accused Myanmar of “ethnic cleansing”, a charge the country denies.

    In response to the army operation, Brussels suspended invitations to Myanmar army chief Min Aung Hlaing and senior army officers.

    “We are ready to review that decision at any time in light of positive or not-so-positive news.

    “We still of course understand the importance the military of Myanmar plays in Myanmar’s economic and democratic transition so dialogue is open,” said Schmidt.

    He added, however, that there was the need for accountability and reiterated the EU’s support for a UN- mandated fact-finding mission that Suu Kyi’s administration has opposed and blocked from operating in the country.

    He said:“there has to be a credible, independent investigation of the events that led 620,000 people to flee to quite horrible conditions on the other side of the border.

    “We need to know.”

    The Danish diplomat spoke on the sidelines of a conference promoting the EU’s “Erasmus+” programme of exchanges between university students.

    He wants Myanmar students to take part in it to help overhaul institutions as the country emerges from decades of isolation under military dictatorship.

    NAN

  • GSK starts big African study of injectable drug to prevent HIV

    GSK starts big African study of injectable drug to prevent HIV

    ViiV Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK ) Plc’s HIV unit, said on Thursday it started an African study to evaluate long-acting injectable drug for the prevention of its infection in sexually active women.

    ViiV Healthcare said in a statement that the cabotegravir study seeks to enroll 3,200 women aged 18 to 45 years from sub-Saharan African countries,.

    The “HPTN” 084 Phase III study will evaluate injections given every two months, ViiV Healthcare said.

    The company said that the study is being conducted through a public-private funding by ViiV Healthcare, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Viiv Healthcare in 2016 had started a large study on HIV-uninfected men and transgender women who have sex with men to test an experimental long-acting injection for preventing the virus that causes AIDS.

    Reuters/NAN

    Read Also: World AIDS Day: NGO screens 4.5m Nigerians for HIV

  • Ex-Twitter worker claims responsibility for Trump’s account shutdown

    Ex-Twitter worker claims responsibility for Trump’s account shutdown

    A German man has come forward as the former Twitter Inc employee who shut down the account of U.S. President Donald Trump for 11 minutes this month on his last day of work at the social network.

    The technology news website TechCrunch published an interview on Wednesday with Bahtiyar Duysak, whom it called a 20-something with Turkish roots who was born and raised in Germany.

    The website said he was a temporary contract worker in San Francisco for Twitter.

    Duysak, who had not previously been identified as the person behind the takedown, told TechCrunch that he considered Trump’s temporary silencing a “mistake” and never thought the account would get deactivated.

    He said it was not a planned act.

    Rather, he said, the chance to shutter the account fell into his lap near the end of his scheduled final shift, and he decided to take it.

    “There are millions of people who would take actions against him if they had the possibility.

    “In my case, it was just random,” Duysak said in a video of the interview posted online. He wore a gray sweater emblazoned with the American flag.

    Twitter on Wednesday would not confirm whether Duysak was the ex-employee in question or answer other questions. Reuters could not immediately reach Duysak.

    BuzzFeed News, citing two anonymous sources, reported separately that Duysak was the ex-employee responsible.

    Duysak is a former volunteer security guard at a Muslim community center in California, BuzzFeed reported.

    Trump has been critical of Muslims, calling during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States.

    The takedown of Trump’s account on Nov. 2 sparked concerns among Twitter users over how much power employees have over sensitive accounts and whether abuse of their power could lead to international incidents.

    Twitter said in a statement on Wednesday: “We have taken a number of steps to keep an incident like this from happening again.”

    He said Duysak did not shed much light on the incident. Near the end of his last day at the San Francisco-based company, an alert came to him that someone had reported Trump’s account for an unspecified violation.

    Duysak put the wheels in motion to deactivate it, TechCrunch said, although the account did not go offline until hours later.

    Neither Duysak nor TechCrunch explained the delay.

    “I didn’t hack anyone. I didn’t do anything which I wasn’t authorised to do,” he said.

    Reuters/NAN

  • Google introduces Datally, a mobile data-saving app

    Google introduces Datally, a mobile data-saving app

    Google has inaugurated a new product known as  ‘Datally’, a mobile data-saving app that helps one to understand, control and save data  into the emerging market.

    The Google Country Manager, Mrs Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor in a media briefing in Lagos, said that with Datally, one could save and do more with data.

    An emerging market is a country that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not meet standards to be a developed market.

    This includes countries that may become developed markets in the future.

    According to Ehimuan-Chiazor, the app is a technology built to tackle some of the challenges being faced by internet users of the emerging market.

    “Some of the characteristics of the emerging market are their aspirations for better life, appetite to lift family out of poverty, and highly mobile among others.

    “They face some challenges such as; huge percentage of people who use low earned phones, connectivity and localised content which forces them to either use airplane mode, rationing, or tethering to save data.

    “Datally, the new data management app will help them understand how data is being used on the phone and help to control and save it,’’ she said.

    According to her, Datally can also help one to understand where data is going, to save up to 30 per cent of data, and turn-on data saver bubble to see a real-time speedometer of one’s data.

    She said the new app could also help one find great Wi-Fi nearby, and rate Wi-Fi networks among others.

    “Datally shows you how much data you have used on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis and alerts you when apps consume a lot of data.

    “Over time, Datally will learn your usage patterns and offer more recommendations to save data,’’ she said.

    Ehimuan-Chiazor said that apps frequently use data in the background to update content and information and one may not know it happens.

    She added that Datally’s Data Saver feature would turn off background data for these non-essential functions as well as let one manage data usage on an app-by-app basis.

    According to her, Data Saver bubble will be used to block background data and track real-time data usage, whatever app one is using at a particular time, it works like a speedometer for ones data.

    She said that one could also block data with one tap if data usage gets out of control.

    The country manager said finding quality public Wi-Fi could be challenging, adding that within the range of a public network, Datally’s Wi-Fi finder would notify one and help you connect.

    She said that directions were also given for one to be able to locate the Wi-Fi and once one was connected to a network, it was important to rate it in order to help others in the Datally community find great Wi-Fi.

    “Datally app takes about 6MB of space, easy on ones phone’s storage, works on all phones running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) and higher, and it is available globally on the Google Play Store,’’ she said.

    NAN

  • Dokpesi calls for unity among PDP members

    Dokpesi calls for unity among PDP members

    Chief Raymond Dokpesi, on Wednesday called for unity among Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) members in Oyo State, saying they needed to be together to regain power in the state.

    Dokpesi, national chairmanship aspirant of the party, made the call in Ibadan while interacting with executive committee members and stakeholders of the party in the state.

    He said that the party lost power in the state because its members were not united, thus making the party’s votes to be shared among other political parties where members defected to.

    He said that power could be regained in future elections if party members reunited and worked together.

    “If we had added all the votes from everyone, PDP would have won the government in Oyo State.

    “All of us that went to different groups, what did we get? If we had worked together, it would have been something.

    “So, I am going to appeal that I want to work with you; I want one united PDP to be able to win election in Oyo and thereafter, at the federal level. You can do it, so please let us work together. ”

    Let’s stop the quarrel, let us stop the bickering and work together,” Dokpesi said.

    He urged the delegates from the state, who would be at the December 9 convention to give him the needed support to become the party’s national chairman.

    Responding, Leader of the Oyo delegates, Dr Saka Balogun, advised Dokpesi to fight imposition if he emerged victorious at the convention.

    Read also: PDP will work for Nigeria’s unity – Dokpesi

    Balogun said that if not for imposition and impunity, some members of the party would not have left, “and those who defected would have returned and PDP would have won 2015 elections in the state.’’

    In his remarks, Chairman of the party in the state, Alhaji Omokunmi Mustapha, said that Dokpesi had more than 70 per cent of what was required to lead PDP.

    NAN

  • Carzola suffers another injury setback

    Carzola suffers another injury setback

    Arsenal midfielder, Santi Carzola has announced that he would be having another surgery to address some discomfort in his Achilles.

    The 32-year-old Spanish international was set for a comeback this January having been ruled out since he picked up an injury in a Champions League match against Anderlecht last October.

    The new surgery would be the ninth for Carzola in the space of one year but the midfielder believes he’s  all it takes to play football again.

    Carzola said in a statement on Twitter: “Owing to discomfort in the tendon which has been bothering me for the last few days I’ve had to undergo surgery again.

    Read also: Arsenal won’t sell Ozil and Sanchez in January – Wenger

    “I will have to delay the date I am expected to return to action, I am still full of hope and motivated about being able to play football again, which is my great passion.

    Carzola’s injury has been described by his club Manager, Arsene Wenger as the worst he had seen in his entire career.

    In an interview with Marca last month, Carzola revealed that doctors told him there was a risk of losing his legs.

    Reports also had it that the former villareal and Malaga man has lost eight centimetres from the tendon in his right ankle.

     

     

  • How sustainable is the reintroduction of history in secondary schools?

    How sustainable is the reintroduction of history in secondary schools?

    The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history – George Orwell

    History was, to the bewilderment of many, scrapped in Nigerian secondary school curriculum back in 2009 by the federal government. What this meant at the time was that the federal government deemed it unimportant that pupils know the history of their country.

    The government in its most sacred thought, said there was a dearth of teachers in the field, and that students had no interest in learning the subject.

    Indeed, many believed the decision was a conspiracy in high places to keep Nigerians ignorant of their past.

    “Whoever came up with that plan to scrap history in our schools didn’t just wake up to take that decision; they thought it out, knew its implication on the future generation. They wanted us done with. They hated us, even before we were born”, says Ukamaka Evelyn Olisakwe.

    After almost a decade, the Muhammadu Buhari led government has revealed plans to reintroduced history back in secondary schools – this will take effect from 2018/2019 session.

    Why is it being reintroduced now? Are there now sufficient man power to handle the subject? Or perhaps, students are now showing interest in the subject.

    According to the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, “Somebody who doesn’t know his history is worse than dead”.

    This statement by the minister is a true testament of the worth of history as seen by the government but antecedents have taught us never to take the government on their words – as the stumbling block to the reinstatement of the subject has not been dealt with.

    As it stands now, the government has only announced the reintroduction of History but fail to tell the structure it wants to use to ensure that the custom of scrapping the subject does not repeat itself. How then does it hope to sustain this policy once it is implemented?

    On this plate, there should be an unravelling of the structure the government has in mind to ensure this sustainability. This will enable experts to scrutinize and critically examine it to ensure its validity and rationality.

    The government should also put in place innovative structures to make the subject entertaining and engaging as this will encourage pupils to always look forward to learning the subject.

    Secondary schools involved should hire experienced teachers of this subject, who will tell the students how important the history of the country is to their curriculum and to them as citizens of the country.

    The two main reasons why governments scrapped History are because there are not enough teachers to take the course and that students are not showing enough interest; for the former, government can partner tertiary institutions offering the course as their graduates could be given the chance to work as teachers in secondary school.

    Partnering tertiary institutions that offer the course to give their graduates opportunities to work in government school can as well solve the problem of indifferent attitudes students show during history classes.

    Another reason secondary school students show indifferent attitudes towards the subject is the belief that the subject is of no use to them, and that even if they went on to tertiary institutions to study history, they will become redundant.

    If the government can put all these recommendations (though not exhaustive) in place, it will ensure that history is not only restored, but seen as an avenue for the preservation of our cultural heritage.

  • Police rescue 3 kidnap victims in Ondo

    Police rescue 3 kidnap victims in Ondo

    The Police in Ondo State have rescued three victims who were recently kidnapped on Benin-Ore expressway.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr Olugbenga Adeyanju, disclosed this to newsmen on Wednesday in Akure.

    Adeyanju gave the names of the victims as: Timilehin Akomolafe, 18, Michael Popoola, 42 and Herry Usifo, 42.

    He said that the victims were rescued alive with the assistance of local hunters at about 6 p.m. on Tuesday in a forest along Ore expressway.

    “On November 24 at about 3:45 p.m., one Mr Akomolafe was traveling from Akure to Lagos to drop his son, Timilehin at the University of Lagos.

    “Unfortunately his jeep was intercepted by kidnappers and in the process, he was killed and his son was kidnapped.

    “The jeep right behind his vehicle was equally shot and the mobile policeman lost his life but the driver was fast enough to escape to safety when policemen came to the scene firing and the kidnappers ran away.

    “They took Timilehin and two other travelers, Popoola and Usifo, who were coming from Port Harcourt to Lagos in a commercial vehicle, and this happened almost simultaneously,” he said.

    Read also: Police arrest kidnappers, rescue victim in Ebonyi

    The commissioner said the kidnappers escaped with gunshot wounds after gun battle with policemen.

    According to him, the three victims were rescued alive, hale and hearty, adding that no ransom was paid.

    He said the rescued victims were giving police vital information to aid the arrest of the kidnappers.

    He disclosed that Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu had given the command five motorcycles to curb crime rate in Ore area.

    “The governor in his magnanimity gave us five motorcycles which we have distributed among the three commands and the result is what we are seeing now.

    “And this was archived with the help of hunters who aided us and told us the inner workings of the forest, the motorcycles and the zeal shown by the hunters in Ore town,” he said.

    NAN