Members of Guild Of Corporate Online Publishers At the Event
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has challenged Online Publishers to create space in their platforms for issues concerning children. Rising from a two-day dialogue with members of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Enugu today, UNICEF emphasised that issues affecting children across Nigeria and the world are so crucial that they could not be kept in the dark for long. Describing children as the vulnerable part of the society, the UNICEF’s Communication Specialist, Geoffrey Njoku who coordinated the dialogue, regretted that voices of children have been shut out from media because they are seen as not important. He said that the shutting out of the voices of the children has been one of the discrimination which the UN General Assembly’s Convention on the Right of the Child is out to correct. Njoku was however happy that with the dialogue, things would change in favour of the children, even as the Online Publishers requested the UNICEF to participate by supplying relevant news materials on children for them. The dialogue was addressed by among other academics, the Head of Department of Mass Communications of the University of Lagos, Associate Professor Abigail Ogwezzy Ndisika. She made it clear that the future development of any society is determined and shaped by the kind of children such society breed. GOCOP was led to the dialogue by its President, Mr. Malachy Agbo who publishes The Citizen Online.
The Government of Japan has granted the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) the sum of US $3.4 Million (N750 million) for Integrated Provision of Life-Saving Emergency Interventions for Vulnerable Populations in the north east of Nigeria. The grant, according to UNICEF in a statement today, will be used for interventions focused on the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and conflict affected populations in the north east of Nigeria in the sectors of Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Health, Nutrition, Child Protection and Education. The conflict in the north east of Nigeria, especially in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa has caused large scale human suffering for the populations in the areas especially children and women. The conflict has triggered major population movements and the number of IDPs in the north east has almost doubled in less than a year, from an estimated 647,000 in May 2014 to what International Office of Migration reports is now around 1.2 million. Children make up about 56 per cent of those who have been internally displaced, with over half of them being five-years or younger. The Officer in charge UNICEF in Nigeria, Mr. Samuel Momanyi said: “this grant is timely and will further boost the work UNICEF is doing in the northeast. It will make a significant lifesaving contribution to alleviate the suffering of the affected populations in the northeast especially children and women.” Since 2000, the Government of Japan has been a major donor to UNICEF supporting interventions in child survival, prevention of infectious diseases in children and emergency interventions in Nigeria, through the UNICEF/Federal Government of Nigeria Programme of Cooperation.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has come out with startling revelation that there are 2.5 billion people worldwide that still do not have adequate toilets and that among them one billion defecate in the open. It said that about 70 million people are without access to safe water while over 110 million people are without access to improved sanitation. In a statement from UNICEF, announced also that 2.3 billion people have gained access to improved sources of drinking water since 1990, adding that Nigeria is currently not on-track with regard to its attainment of Water and Sanitation targets. “As a result, the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the percentage of the global population without access was met in 2010. In the case of Sanitation, nearly “The poor bear the greatest brunt of this lack of access to water and sanitation. For women and girls, collecting water cuts into time they can spend caring for families and studying. In insecure areas, it also puts them at risk of violence and attack. UNICEF estimates that in Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking to collect water. For children, lack of access to safe water can be tragic. On average, nearly 1,000 of them die globally every day from diarrhoeal diseases linked to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, or poor hygiene.” UNICEF said that this year’s theme on World Water Day, which falls on 22nd March, is “Water and Sustainable Development,” saying that the theme aptly encapsulates the overarching role of water in peoples lives, be it for human consumption, food production, for health, for power generation, for industry and for the sustenance of nature as a whole, without which life would not exist. “This year’s theme highlights the importance of water to our existence and emphasizes the need to look at the holistic development of the water sector, reduce water wastage and prevent contamination of this increasingly scarce resources. “Everyone, be it the government, the civil society, international development partners and the citizens including children have a critical role to play in ensuring that water is sustainably used and is available for generations to come” said Kannan Nadar, Chief, Water and Sanitation, UNICEF. “UNICEF has been working with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources as well as the state governments to promote use of sustainable approaches and technologies for water abstraction and use. “In the last two years nearly 2.5 million people gained access to safe water in rural areas through UNICEF support that also included funding from EU and UKAid. UNICEF- supported ‘WASH in Schools’ programming has also brought safe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to thousands of school children in Nigeria.”
File Photo: Benjamin Netanyahu and Goodluck Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan has congratulated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his electoral victory in Tuesday’s general elections in Israel. In a statement by his special adviser on media and publicity today, President Jonathan Reminded Netanyahu that strife and crisis in the Middle East remained matters of great concern to the international community, and called on him and his team as well as other countries in the Middle-East to rededicate themselves to achieving lasting peace in the region through peaceful negotiations. The President assured Netanyahu that he will continue to count on the cooperation and support of the Israeli government under Netanyahu’s leadership as Nigeria strives to overcome the challenges of terrorism, violent extremism and sustainable development. He said that he looked forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Netanyahu to further strengthen the existing cordial and mutually-beneficial relations between Nigeria and Israel. Jonathan wished Netanyahu a very successful new term in office and prayed to God to grant him the wisdom, courage and strength he requires to lead the people of Israel into greater peace, security and prosperity.
Teneo Intelligence an international rating agency has again predicted that the Presidential candidate of opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari will win the March 28 election, but that the election result will be contested no matter what. Teneo Intelligence in a note out today by Analyst Manji Cheto, who thinks the former military leader and challenger has “an edge,” said that “a last-minute upset by the incumbent president remains a possibility.” Cheto adds: “President Goodluck Jonathan is banking on recent reports of the ‘successful’ counterinsurgency offensive against Boko Haram to help turn the tide on his battered reputation. However, the momentum of Jonathan’s rival Muhammadu Buhari of the main opposition All Progressive Congress continues to grow. Despite the absence of reliable polling data in Nigeria, the most important signal that he could unseat the president is the change in the voting trend this time round. Buhari’s support in the north (his home region) appears to be unwavering – he has consistently defeated his rivals there in the past three election cycles. This support is only likely to increase thanks to a growing anti-Jonathan sentiment in the region … Buhari’s strong momentum represents a serious threat to many powerful business and political interests that have benefitted from the incumbent People’s Democratic Party’s 16-year political dominance. Consequently, entrenched interests will not easily concede a Buhari victory.” Eurasia Group last week cited polls and trends that indicate Buhari could have a 60% chance of winning, depending on how a considerable tranche of uncommitted voters leans. But the Barron’s Emerging Markets Daily readers has reacted saying: “Nigeria’s Buhari Could Win, Disrupting Oil.” Boko Haram is a force to reckon with no matter who wins: African nations headed by Chad are seeking United Nations approval for a joint force to combat the Islamic terrorist group in Nigeria. Boko Haram recently declared allegiance to ISIS, the Middle East terror group. Nigeria relies on oil revenue, and the severe decline in oil prices over the past year – the international Brent oil price is down another 2.9% today to $54.28 per barrel — has combined with civil unrest to push investor sentiment lower. The Global X MSCI Nigeria ETF (NGE) is down 2% today, down 21% year to date, and off by nearly 39% over the past 12 months. The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) has turned in a flat performance so far this year, the Market Vectors Africa Index ETF (AFK) is down 6%.
President Goodluck Jonathan has made it categorical that he will “surely” win the 2015 presidential election which will hold on March 28. Speaking in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), President Jonathan said categorically: “I’ll surely win.” The election is generally expected to be very tough, with many analysts concluding that Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), would win. The postponement of the election from the original February 14 date was attributed to the fear of losing by Jonathan, but the president told the BBC he is confident of winning the election. He also spoke on the Boko Haram insurgents, admitting for the first time that they were initially underrated by the government. But now he said, they are getting weaker and all territories under their control would be retaken within a month. “They are getting weaker and weaker by the day. I’m very hopeful that it will not take us more than a month to recover the old territories that hitherto have been in their (Boko Haram’s) hands.” While admitting that the authorities had “under-estimated” the militants, he also reiterated that the military lacked the resources to fight them until now. President Jonathan said that newly acquired military equipment, as well as co-operation with neighbouring countries, had helped push the insurgents out. On the Chibok girls, he said he was hopeful they are still alive and some of them may be at the Sambisa forest. This is even as the nation’s Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah had said earlier in the week that there were no traces of the girls yet in all the towns and villages retaken from Boko Haram.
The Campaign Coordinator of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the governorship candidate in Kuta area of Niger State, Alhaji Akilu Ishaku Kuta has dropped his party and joined All Progressives Party (APC), along with thousands of his supporters.
Ishaku who was former Vice Chairman of Shiroro Local Government Area in the state, formerly defected at a rally in Kuta town claiming that there has beenan under development of his area since the inception of the present PDP administration in the state.
He compared the present administration to the immediate past administration and concluded that all the local government councils in the state had witnessed setback in terms of development. [myad]
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II has said that the government of President Goodluck Jonathan has been living in denial, even as he insisted that $20 Billion was missing, a situation that led him to clash with government at the tail end of his tenure as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Emir Sanusi who spoke in an interview with Christine Amanpour on CNN agreed with the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) General Muhammadu Buhari that the level of corruption in the country is massive and needed to be addressed sufficiently.
“Yes, General Buhari is right on the level of corruption in the country and we need to address this sufficiently. We have not helped the situation by living in denial (that the situation does not exist). I don’t want to dwell on this because of the time that we are and we are close to an election.”
The Kano emir insisted that about $20bn was missing from the account of the NNPC, which was not remitted to the federation account.
“This has not been addressed adequately and from the account of the corporation, about $20bn was not remitted to the federation account. We need to address this,.”
He called on leaders at all levels in the country to speak against the activities of Boko Haram, stressing that he is not afraid to die as a result of his opposition to the sect.
“I have achieved everything that I could achieve; so, what is there to be afraid of?” he said. [myad]
Hajiya Aishat Buhari, wife of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari has made it clear that it is only those who want to continue to loot the nation’s treasury that are afraid of her husband becoming President, even as he asked Dame Patience, wife President Goodluck Jonathan, not to fear about her husband going to prison after May 29.
Dame Patience Jonathan had earlier said that General Buhari will jail his political opponentsm including Dr. Jonathan if elected President in the March 28 election, saying that she would not be able to carry food to him {Jonathan) in prison.
Speaking at a mega rally today during which time she interacted with Women in Edo State, Hajiya Aishat Buhari said: “For those that are campaigning, saying that he is coming to jail Nigerians, I don’t know what their fear is. But they shouldn’t be afraid, because we are all yearning for change.
She cautioned Nigerians to be aware of politicians that are still talking about the fact that General Buhari is a religious bigot are nothing but liars, adding that such politicians are out only “to loot the treasury and the little resources you ought to enjoy. So say no politics merging it with religion to deceive the people.
She emphasized that PDP’s attempt to paint her husband black with the tar of religion is a desperate attempt to hoodwink the people, saying only those who want to loot the treasury campaign with religion which is at variance with politics.
“The insecurity in the country, the very poor healthcare system, lack of education and other basic necessities that people are lacking I believe Nigerians need somebody like General Muhammadu Buhari now.
“Already, they have painted him black, using religion. I’m happy today that Nigerians realize that they use religion as a cover to loot Nigeria.
“I’m here today to let Edo women know that when my husband is elected into office as President, all these will be history. The insecurity, the girl-child trafficking, suffering of the widows in the South East will come to an end.
There must be a cultural design that can accommodate the widow. A design that would make the girl-child comfortable wherever she is in this country. She doesn’t have to leave her country to go and prostitute elsewhere, it’s not her portion.
Her portion is to have a highly standard and moral society for her to live in. Get married, have children, train them and also mold them to become the future leaders.
“We are here today to also let you know that the collection of your PVCs is important and don’t ever sell it. It’s like selling your future. If you sell it for N5,000, you won’t see N5,000 again until after four years which will be bad.
Get your PVC, vote for APC, vote for freedom, vote for a new Nigeria with good security, good education, good healthcare, good roads and all the basic necessities.”
In his address to the women, Governor Adams Oshiomhole urged them to vote for the APC since the PDP has failed in 16 years to deliver on electricity and other basic infrastructure.
According to him, the PDP government fleeces even the poor through kerosene sale.
“In sixteen years, PDP did not provide light, we provide the transformers to the communities but the PDP Federal Government cannot power the lights. They collect fixed charges from the people when there is no fixed light.
“They say there’s power reforms, however instead of reform, they deform. They advertised to employ people into the Nigeria Immigration Service and use private company to charge the applicant N1, 000 each.
The private company collected over N800 million from poor youths and took them to the stadium to conduct an interview, at the end people died. Instead of the Minister in charge to be reprimanded, he was given national honors.
“You need to understand the issues. Our call for Change and for people to vote for the APC and vote out the PDP is because the PDP has completely failed and deceived the people for 16 years. So they must go home.”
The people must vote for APC to return Nigeria from darkness to light, from unemployment to employment and from insecurity to security.”
He flayed some religious leaders who want to polarize the country along religious lines, saying the problems facing the country affect both Christians and Moslems so Nigerians should ignore the attempt to hoodwink them and preach hatred using the religion card.
In an address of welcome, wife of the state Deputy Governor, Deaconess Endurance Odubu said Nigerians have made up their minds to vote massively for the All Progressives Congress.
She noted the achievements of Governor Adams Oshiomhole in Edo State and said when voted into power; General Muhammadu Buhari will replicate it at the national level.
She assured Hajiya Buhari that Edo women would vote massively for the APC. [myad]
The United States of America has assured that it will stand with the Nigerian people in support of credible and peaceful elections scheduled for March 28 and April 11.
The US Vice President, Mr. Joe Biden who made this known in a statement today in Abuja emphasized: “the United States stands with the Nigerian people in support of credible and peaceful elections, and will continue to stand with the Nigerian people whatever the outcome.”
The Vice President who had earlier had phone conversations with the Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the APC Presidential candidate in the forthcoming election, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari expressed concern over the violence during some recent election-related events and reiterated the need for both candidates to make clear that such violence has no place in democratic elections.
In a statement issued today by the US Embassy in Nigeria, Biden was quoted as expressing his country’s support to Nigeria in making the rescheduled 2015 general election credible and peaceful.
Part of the statement reads, “U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke yesterday with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the Nigerian presidential election, which is scheduled for March 28.
“The Vice President commended President Jonathan and General Buhari for signing the Abuja Accord in mid-January as a show of their commitment to non-violence throughout the election process.
“The Vice President further expressed the United States’ support for the Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission and its work to deliver free, fair, and credible elections, in part through its essential efforts to distribute Permanent Voter Cards and help ensure that electronic voter card readers are in place and fully operational.” [myad]
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