Day: April 11, 2024

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), has bombed three terrorists camps in Zamfara on Wednesday, eliminating several of them and their structures.

The operation was conducted by the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji, NAF Spokesman, AVM Edward Gabkwet, said in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Gabkwet said the camps destroyed belong to terrorist kingpins, Abdullahi Nasanda in Zurmi, Malam Tukur in Gusau, and another in MaradunLocal Government Areas of Zamfara.

He said that Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions were conducted on Nasanda’s Camp where terrorists’ activities were sighted and their hidden motorcycles.

‘Having established that their activities were consistent with terrorists’ modes of operation, the location was struck by multiple aircraft passes, thereby neutralizing several terrorists.

‘Similar ISR missions were conducted at Malam Tukur camp, where terrorists’ activities were also observed.

‘Air strikes conducted on the camp neutralised several terrorists and showed seve
ral structures set ablaze and destroyed.

‘Air strikes were also extended to Kanikawa in Maradun town, under Maradun LGA of Zamfara, where terrorists, their enclaves and equipment were attacked and destroyed,’ he added. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Prof. Olufemi Peters, Vice-Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has urged graduands of African Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL) to utilise their digital expertise to drive development in their respective countries.

Peters gave the commendation on Thursday while speaking ahead of the institution’s 13th convocation ceremony slated for April 13, at the University’s premises in Abuja.

He lauded the graduands for the feat.

‘I expect these graduates from Nigeria and other African nations, now equipped with digital expertise, to spearhead developmental initiatives, especially in the realm of technology for education.’

Peters announced that the institution was set to graduate six PhD students, with ACETEL making a significant contribution of four to the cohort.

He commended the centre’s remarkable growth within its five-year existence, citing it as a testament to its resilience and unwavering dedication.

‘I commend the centre for producing such a notable number of
PhD scholars within a short span of five years; additionally, we have eleven MSc students graduating.

‘These scholars are specialising in high-demand courses such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Management Information Systems.’

He added that the programmes were on the rise; thereby attracting a considerable number of students.

‘We anticipate further growth as we demonstrate our commitment to providing quality education remotely.’

Peters underscored the pivotal role of ACETEL’s digital infrastructure in supporting the university’s Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system.

‘The digital infrastructure facilitated by the Centre is integral to our ODL delivery.

‘It plays a crucial role in providing accessible and high quality education to our diverse student body,’ he added.

The vice-chancellor, who assured continued support beyond World Bank funding, acknowledged ACETEL’s role in garnering international recognition for the university.

He expressed pride in the partnerships and collaborations
established with national and international institutions, emphasising their significance for future endeavours.

Peters congratulated the graduating students on their achievements and urged them to remain good ambassadors of the university.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Mr Ayo Omotosho, organiser of the Africa Youth Tourism Festival, on Wednesday said that about 10 countries would be participating in the maiden edition of the festival.

Omotosho, in a statement said that the countries include Rwanda, Kenya, Botswana, Togo, Ghana, Benin Republic and Zambia.

He explained that the festival, which would hold from April 16 to April 20, was designed to harness the potential in African youths and engage them in tourism activities for self reliance and financial liberation.

According to him, the theme of the festival is ‘Uniting African Youth for Sustainable Tourism Agenda’.

‘We have delegates from over 10 countries who have indicated interest in participating in the Africa Youth Tourism Festival that will hold at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

‘The five-day event will feature conference, exhibitions, musicals and cultural display.

‘Others are? 100 talking drummers, African food carnival, hospitality fiesta, city tour of Lagos, beach tourism party, talent discovery, fashion s
how and more,’ he said.

Omotosho said that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos would be honoured alongside the Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John, for their laudable contributions towards the growth of tourism in the region.

He said that Sanwo-Olu’s remarkable tourism sustainability efforts had spurred the management of the festival to choose him as a beacon of excellence in advancing sustainable initiatives in the sector.

‘Gov. Sanwo-Olu would be receiving a prestigious award for his significant contributions to tourism sustainability in the region.

‘Lagos State, known as the economic heartbeat of Nigeria, is also a cultural and tourism hub that attracts millions of visitors annually.

‘Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration has placed a strong emphasis on leveraging the state’s rich cultural heritage and natural resources to drive sustainable tourism development.

‘Under his leadership, Lagos has witnessed significant improvements in infrastructure, security, and promotion of cultural events and festivals, al
l aimed at enhancing tourism experience, while preserving the environment and local communities,’ he said.

Omotosho noted that one of the key initiatives spearheaded by Sanwo-Olu is the revitalisation of historical sites and monuments across the state.

‘By preserving and showcasing these cultural assets, the administration aims to not only attract tourists but also instill a sense of pride and identity among the local population,’ he said.

According to him, the tourism minister’s contributions to the sector stands as a beacon of inspiration and progress.

He said the minister had also championed initiatives aimed at empowering African youths to actively participate in and shape the future of the tourism sector.

‘Recognising the demographic dividend that Africa’s youthful population presents, the minister has worked tirelessly to create opportunities for young people to engage in tourism entrepreneurship, skill development, and leadership roles.

‘The Lagos state Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture,
Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka and a host of others will also be honoured,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Civitas Auxillium Foundation (CAF), a non-governmental organisation has partnered with First Bank of Nigeria Plc to promote financial inclusion initiatives for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Mrs Elizabeth Duile, Chief Operations Officer and Founder of CAF, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

Duile said through the partnership, the foundation successfully established savings accounts for 80 women residing in the IDP camp located in Wassa District of the FCT.

She highlighted the challenges faced by these women, many of whom had lost crucial documents such as identity cards and National Identification Numbers (NIN).

This she said, hindered their ability to access banking services, obtain loans, and achieve financial inclusion.

According to her, the initiative, known as the CAF-Women Empowerment Programme (CAF-WEP), seeks to combat poverty and empower displaced women through skill-building, financial access, and interest-free loans.

‘These effort
s are geared towards ensuring that they are economically empowered and can grow their small businesses to skills under our CAF-WEP programme.

‘CAF has made strides in empowering women through the CAFWEP interest-free loan program.

‘The loans have helped them to start or expand small businesses such as buying and selling of foodstuff, catering, mini marts and farming,’ she said.

She said that the challenge of having to pay the women in cash or third party bank accounts necessitated the initiative.

‘This affects accountability and tracking of disbursed funds.

‘It also excluded some women who could not present bank accounts to their customers when asked, especially on their weekly market days.

‘So we took a genuine step towards financial inclusion.

‘By forging a partnership with FBN, over 80 women were empowered; these are women that never had the experience and security of a bank account or bank verification numbers (BVN),’ she said.

She reiterated the commitment of the foundation to tackling poverty, g
ender inequality affecting women, especially those who are victims of violent conflicts and acts of terrorism.

‘One can only imagine the reality of owning a business in modern times without certain financial tools such as bank accounts.

‘This has deprived some customers from making purchases from these women.

‘A good number of persons go to the market to make purchases and the only tool they go with is an ATM card, this automatically excludes a category of traders.

‘Through these businesses, they make a living and support their families, ensure their children receive education, and contribute to the economy, ‘she said.

Duile said that the foundation was also involved in providing support for less privileged children, especially those in the IDPs camps to access quality education.

According to her, this will enable them to explore their potentials and achieve their dreams for the benefit of the nation.

‘We need to support these vulnerable children who have been victims of violent conflicts across Nigeri
a, and most of them reside in the IDP camps.

The ‘CAF-Kit a child School Outreach Programme” provided desk-chairs, books and writing materials to some schools around IDP camps, ‘ she said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, the Northern Regional Minister, has called on Muslims to continue practising the lessons learnt from Ramadan to ensure peace and togetherness during this year’s election and thereafter.

‘This is important for the country’s prosperity, well-being, advancement and development,’ he said.

Alhaji Saibu made the call on Wednesday while addressing a gathering of Muslims in Tamale to mark this year’s Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations.

He encouraged them to practise self-discipline, and self-control, offer sacrifice, and have empathy for the less privileged.

‘It should, therefore, be evident that we have been granted the benefit of increased bodily and spiritual proximity to the Almighty Allah after going through such a serene period of sacrifice,’ he said.

‘We must strive to enhance the collaboration with the security agencies as this is crucial to the overall creation of a conducive environment for investors to come to the region.’

The Minister urged religious leaders to continue to educate
the citizenry, especially the youth, on the need to maintain peace in the region and the nation in general.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A witness has told an Accra High Court that Manasseh Azure Awuni, an investigative journalist, and four others have no evidence to support their publications against Lighthouse Chapel International (LCI) and its founder.

In a defamation suit against Awuni, the Media Foundation for West Africa, its Director, Sulemana Briamah and Edwin Appiah, a co-editor (defendants), a witness of LCI, Mr Marcel Aboagye, testified that the defendants had failed to present any evidence to the court in support of several defamatory allegations made against the LCI in their published articles titled ‘Darkness in a Lighthouse.’

At the General Jurisdiction Court (a division of the High Court) presided over by Justice Joseph Adu Owusu Agyemang, Mr Aboagye stated that the defendants’ articles claimed that LCI owed several former church pastors over 42 years of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributions.

The witness, pointing to the SSNIT Investigative report dated August 20, 2021, stated that SSNIT cleared
LCI of those allegations.

According to the witness, the allegations were false, and the defendants presented no evidence that LCI owed former pastors any SSNIT contributions.

During cross-examination, the witness claimed that the defendants falsely published articles claiming that former pastors Larry Odonkor, Edward Laryea, Seth Duncan, and Faith Fiakojo were exploited by the church to build worship centres and schools in Wa, Kade, Paga, and Fumbisi with their resources. The church then illegally took over the buildings.

The witness referred to a mail from 2008 that announced the policy and indicated that as part of the policy, LCI will continue to buy and build church buildings.

The witness testified that the defendants’ exhibits provided no evidence to substantiate the allegations that the facilities depicted in the publications were built with the personal resources of those pastors.

According to the witness, LCI built those structures with its own resources, and in the case of Wa, the buildings refe
rred to in the articles as having been put up by Larry Odonkor with his finances were constructed by the Church long after he had left the Wa Mission.

The witness went on to say that the publications falsely claimed that one of the former pastors, Seth Duncan, had attempted suicide three times due to maltreatment by the church.

The witness said that LCI never mistreated Seth Duncan.

According to the witness, Seth Duncan’s attempt to commit suicide was unconnected to the church.

The witness told the court that the defendants formed an ‘unholy alliance’ with the former pastors and published those pieces out of malice.

The matter has been adjourned to May 13, 2024.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Goshen Global Vision (GGV), a non-government organisation, says it has engaged cocoa farmers to adopt nature-based to increase yield.

Madam Mary Perpetual Kwakwuyi, Executive Director of the GGV says her outfit was currently working in Ghana’s cocoa belt in the Western Region which holds the country’s richest forest.

Madam Kwakwuyi said illegal mining posed a challenge in the last decade, hence, the need for cocoa Agro-forestry and planting of trees in forest reserves.

She was speaking at a media engagement co-organised with the COCOBOD in Tarkwa to sensitise about 20 selected journalists Western-South Region Western-South Region, who are interested in cocoa-growing and related matters.

She said GGV had planted a total of 429,731 ordinary trees and 130,000 nature trees in more than 213 communities under four Districts namely Alavanyo, Subri Forest Reserves, Senchem and Essikado.

Madam Kwakwuyi said GGV had planted 130,000 nature trees alone since 2020 with 70,000 tree seedlings planted in the Subri fores
t reserves.

The Executive Director said the collaboration with CHED was aimed at capacity building of farmers in rural communities on distribution of nature tree seedlings to cocoa farmers.

Madam Kwakwuyi said GGV also assured monitoring of out-planted trees with community volunteers.

GGV had also rolled out alternative livelihood interventions such as bee-keeping farming.

The organisation had also initiated a Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA) to create self-managed and self-capitalised savings groups for lending purposes among cocoa farmers to better their lot especially during the lean season.

Manager of the Western-South Cocoa Region, Mr Samuel Osei thanked GGV for the partnership.

He said COCOBOD continued to plant trees and plantain suckers on cocoa farms to enhance climatic conditions and boost the livelihoods of farmers.

The Tarkwa-Nsuaem District Chief Cocoa Farmer, Nana Appiah who chaired the function, charged the media to intensify dissemination of information on cocoa production to
the public.

He said cocoa used to be the backbone of Ghana, but lack of motivation was a major cause for the decline in cocoa production.

Nana Appiah asked COCOBOD to open cooperative credit unions for cocoa farmers in the districts.

He appealed to COCOBOD to resolve the challenges with the cocoa farmers pension scheme for it to become operational.

Source: Ghana News Agency