Monday, 13 March 2017
Friday, 10 March 2017
Putin, Erdogan hail mended ties
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands after a joint news conference following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 10, 2017. The talks focused on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched a joint mediation effort and coordinated their military action against the Islamic State group. PHOTO: Sergei Ilnitsky / POOL / AFP
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday announced the “normalisation” of ties between their nations, damaged by Ankara downing one of Moscow’s warplanes in 2015.
“We can state with confidence that our countries have returned to the path of a true multi-tiered cooperation between partners,” Putin told a press conference after the two strongmen met at the Kremlin.
Relations between Moscow and Ankara hit rock bottom after Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian warplane over the Syrian border in November 2015, which Putin then labelled a “stab in the back”.
The two have reconciled since, notably cooperating on Syria and backing a ceasefire in December which significantly reduced violence in the war-wracked country.
“In the last few months, the steps we have taken together have meant we have closed the gap in normalising bilateral relations,” said Erdogan.
“I believe the normalisation process has ended. We don’t want to utter this phrase any longer,” he said, adding he expected Russia to “completely lift the sanctions” imposed after the plane’s downing.
The two leaders also signed a new economic cooperation plan and agreed to create an investment fund worth up to $1 billion (935 million euros), said Putin.
The Russian leader hailed the joint efforts on Syria, crediting the coordinated actions of Russia, Turkey and Iran for “considerably lowering the level of violence.”
He said Russia and Turkey will “continue cooperation in the fight against terrorist groups, especially ISIL”, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State (IS) group.
“Be it in Syria or in Iraq, in both countries our main objective is territorial integrity,” said Erdogan.
Earlier this week, top generals of Turkish, Russian and US militaries met in a bid to step up coordination in Syria and avoid clashes.
Turkey initially had threatened to strike former IS bastion Manbij unless the US-backed Kurdish militia pulled back from the city, but later retracted the claim.
Erdogan said Friday that Ankara wants to cooperate with US-backed coalition and Russian forces there.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lLLAqQ
Wednesday, 8 March 2017
FEC approves N1.47bn for water expansion project in FCT
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Wednesday approved a N1.47 billion (470 million US Dollars) contract for the expansion of water supply programme in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The FCT Minister, Mr Mohammed Bello, who announced this to State House correspondents, said that another N186 million was approved for the purchase of 1,000 tons of Alum by the FCT Water Board.
According to Bello, FEC also approved a memo from the FCT for the extension by 24 months of the maintenance contract for the Wupa water treatment plant including training of workers.
Cue in audio
“The first one is the approval for the award of contract for the construction of the Greater Abuja Water Supply Project at a total cost of 470 million dollars.
“This is a very important project for the residents of the city because it aims to provide portable water supply to a greater part of the city and it tends to leverage on the existing facilities that we have in the city.
“That is the Lower Usman Dam as well as the water treatment plant for the city which is reputed to be one of the largest in the African continent.
“As you know, water supply to the city based on the master plan has not been able to extend to other phases of the city.
“And the intention of this project, which is being funded by the China Export Import (EXIM) Bank, is to provide water to what we call loops 1, 2, 5 and 6.
“The overall master plan for the city has 10 loops, already loops 3 and 4 are currently operational providing water to Garki, Wuse, Maitama, Asokoro and the Central Business District.’’
Mohammed said that the alum contract was given to an indigenous manufacturer to support local content.
The minister said that the Wupa plant programme was to prepare for an exit plan to enable Nigerian professionals to take over the maintenance of the project from foreign contractors.
Also the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, said he informed FEC of the recently released country’s economic performance report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Udoma said the report that covered the fourth quarter of 2016 and also the entire 2016 showed improvement in economic recovery.
He said that he also briefed FEC on the release of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. According to him, the result of the NBC report is better than what many people, including the IMF, projected.
“We are not yet out of the woods but our plan is to get out of recession by the end of this year,’’ he said.
The minister said that the administration was expecting the quick passage of the 2017 budget to fast track economic recovery.
He said government is funding `agriculture, solid minerals and infrastructure development to return growth, invest in the people and build competitiveness of the economy.
“We are determined by the end of the (economic) plan to move from the negative growth that we experienced in 2016 to a growth rate of seven per cent by 2020,’’ Udoma said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that FEC members also marked Osinbajo’s 60th birthday with Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbeh describing the celebrant as a hardworking and transparent leader.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mZynel
Saturday, 25 February 2017
British FM Johnson, Egypt’s Sisi finalise loan deal
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (L) meets with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on February 25, 2017, in the capital Cairo.<br />STRINGER / AFP
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday finalised a $150 million loan guarantee agreement tied to crucial IMF financing for Egypt.
In Johnson’s first visit as foreign secretary to Egypt, he also discussed boosting trade, with UK company investments having reached $30 billion in 2016, according to Britain’s Foreign Office.
Johnson and Sisi “finalised a joint declaration agreement on a $150 million loan guarantee to Egypt,” the British embassy said in a statement.
The British loan guarantee was part of up to $6 billion pledged in bilateral funding Egypt needed to secure to qualify for a $12 billion IMF loan linked with tough economic reforms.
The visit came as Egypt pushes for a resumption of British flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, which were suspended following a jihadist bombing that killed 224 holidaymakers on board a Russian airliner departing the resort.
“The two sides emphasised they would continue working on resuming flights from British airports to Sharm el-Sheikh,” the presidency said in a statement.
Russia had suspended all flights to Egypt after the October 2015 bombing claimed by the Islamic State group.
In the meeting Johnson said his country “looked forward to boosting economic and trade cooperation with Egypt,” the statement said.
Earlier in February, the UK prime minister’s trade envoy Sir Jeffrey Donaldson visited Egypt with an economic delegation.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lHepmP
Sunday, 19 February 2017
#BBNaija: Gifty has been evicted from Big Brother Naija
Gifty has just been evicted from the on-going Big Brother Naija game. Gifty, who has had a pretty controversial time in the house with her string of kisses, multinational accent and comments about not knowing celebs, leaves the house empty handed.
She was nominated by the housemates for eviction alongside Marvis and ThinTallTony. Marvis secured the highest votes from viewers and was automatically safe.
Gifty now joins other evicted housemates like Soma, Miyonse and Coco-Ice.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2m1i6SG
Saturday, 18 February 2017
Wildlife hunting attracts 10 years imprisonment, says NCF
Wildlife
The Nigerian Conservation Federation (NCF) has warned that anyone found guilty of exploitation and commercial hunting of wild animals risked 10-year imprisonment with an option of N1million fine or both.
Director-General of the federation, Mr Adeniyi Karunwi, gave the warning in Ibadan on Saturday at a workshop organised by the Pangolins Conservation Working Group, Nigeria.
The workshop organized in collaboration with National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), South West Zone and entitled “Speak Up for Pangolins” was in commemoration of 2017 World Pangolins Day.
“Our environment is in danger; a lot of wild animals like pangolins are at the risk of going into extinction and there is over-exploitation of these animals.
“People need to know that exploitation and commercialisation of wildlife identified under Schedule 1 of the Endangered Species Amendment Act is a criminal offence that attracts a 10-year jail term,” Karunwi said.
According to him, conservation of wildlife is important in order to promote ecological tourism to the country.
On her part, Dr Olajumoke Morenikeji, Coordinator, Pangolin Conservation Working Group, said that pangolins risked going into extinction, because they were the most illegally hunted and traded mammals.
Morenikeji, who is an Environmental Biologist, said that pangolins were illegally traded for their scales, meat and body parts which were in high demand in Asia, especially in China and Vietnam.
“Pangolins’ meat is considered a delicacy, while their scales are used in traditional medicine and folk remedies to treat a range of ailments.
“There is insatiable demand for pangolin scales, especially in China where they are used for traditional medicines.
“There is a belief that the scales has curative properties like keratin and can be used to treat skin diseases.
“There is also the claim that its liver, throat and toes can successfully treat asthma, goitre, elephantiasis and impotence,” she said.
She, however, said that the claims of the traditional medicine practitioners were yet to be scientifically evaluated.
“If pangolins go into extinction before research can be done, the human race would have lost a lot of benefits.
“The issue of pangolin is a shame to the country for a recently seized shipment in China contained kilograms of pangolin scales, which totaled 7, 200 pangolins, got from Nigeria.
“We are appealing to hunters to stop the exploitation and trafficking of these animals.
“Pangolins, like all animals going to extinction, serve as buffer for human beings. If we remove all the buffers in the ecosystem, one day, the human race will also go into extinction.
“We need a grassroots approach to education and awareness on the importance of pangolin conservation to the ecosystem; humanity should be the guardian of pangolins, not the predator,” Morenikeji said.
In his view, Mr Adeleke Ajani, South-West Zonal Director, NESREA, said that pangolins were important in the maintenance of ecological balance.
“Pangolins need to be sustained because they are very important in the ecosystem; they also serve as biological pest control.
“They are very voracious ant eaters; one pangolin can eat 70 million insects, including pests in a year. This means if you remove all of them you are calling for trouble,” he said.
Describing their sustainability as crucial, Ajani said that pangolins were peculiar animals, which mated only once in a year and gave birth to just a single young one.
“Pangolins are very vulnerable creatures which cannot breed in captivity; they only breed well in their natural environment.
“We need to go into research as well as get the actual inventory of these animals in the wild and see possible means of domesticating them,” he said.
According to Ajani, NESREA, as a regulatory body, is scaling up efforts to prohibit and prosecute the illegal trafficking and international trade of pangolins and their scales.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kJWqZk
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
Senate screens 23 ambassadorial nominees
Members of the Nigerian Senate at a plenary
The Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday completed screening of 23 non-career ambassadorial nominees out of 46.
Those screened were Goni Modu Zanna Bura (Yobe), Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi), Ahmed Ibeto (Niger), Kabiru Umar (Sokoto) and Baba Madugu (Bauchi).
Others were Baba Ahmad Jidda (Borno), Justice George Adesola Oguntade (Lagos), Garba Gajam (Zamfara), Bala Mohammed Mairiga (Zamfara), Christopher Okere (Anambra), Etuborn Asuquo (Cross River) and Nurudeen Mohammed (Kwara).
Also screened were Amin Muhammad Dalhatu (Jigawa), Ahmed Nuhu Bamali (Kaduna), Prof. Dandatti Abdulkadir (Kano), Justice Isa Dodo (Katsina), Prof. Mohammed Yisa (Kwara), Mrs Modupe Irele (Lagos) and Suzanne Folarin (Ogun).
Gen. Ashimiyu Olaniyi (Oyo), Oriji Ngofa (Rivers), Jonah Odo (Ebonyi) and Eniola Ajayi (Ekiti) also made the list.
The Chairperson of the committee, Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu, commended members for a job well done.
She said though the screening started late, the committee was able to screen 23 as against 14 nominees it intended to.
The chairperson said “the committee would screen the remaining nominees on Wednesday.”
President Muhammadu Buhari resubmitted a list of 46 non-career ambassadorial nominees to the senate on Jan. 12 for confirmation.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kJOJ9C
Monday, 30 January 2017
Trump offers Trudeau support after Quebec mosque shooting…Read full details
A Canadian police officer talks to a woman after a shooting in a mosque at the Québec City Islamic cultural center on Sainte-Foy Street in Quebec city on January 29, 2017. Two arrests have been made after five people were reportedly shot dead in an attack on a mosque in Québec City, Canada.<br />Alice Chiche / AFP
US President Donald Trump telephoned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday to offer condolences after Sunday’s shooting in a Quebec city mosque that left six people dead and several injured, Trudeau’s office said.
“President Trump expressed his condolences to the prime minister and people of Canada following the tragic shooting at the Centre culturel islamique de Quebec,” said a statement.
Trump also “offered to provide any assistance as needed.”
One suspect was in custody over Sunday’s shooting at the Islamic Cultural Center in Quebec while another was being questioned as a witness.
Both police and witnesses initially described two masked men open fire inside the mosque, where about 50 worshippers were gathered for evening prayer, killing six people and wounding eight.
It was unclear whether police still believed two assailants were involved.
One detainee was arrested near the mosque, while a second surrendered himself to police and confessed to taking part in the killing, said Quebec police inspector Denis Turcotte.
Trudeau called the shooting a “terrorist attack.”
“It is heart-wrenching to see such senseless violence,” he said in a statement. “Diversity is our strength, and religious tolerance is a value that we, as Canadians, hold dear.”
His office said he would travel to Quebec City in the afternoon, for a vigil.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2kLcIWb
Trump offers Trudeau support after Quebec mosque shooting
A Canadian police officer talks to a woman after a shooting in a mosque at the Québec City Islamic cultural center on Sainte-Foy Street in Quebec city on January 29, 2017. Two arrests have been made after five people were reportedly shot dead in an attack on a mosque in Québec City, Canada.<br />Alice Chiche / AFP
US President Donald Trump telephoned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday to offer condolences after Sunday’s shooting in a Quebec city mosque that left six people dead and several injured, Trudeau’s office said.
“President Trump expressed his condolences to the prime minister and people of Canada following the tragic shooting at the Centre culturel islamique de Quebec,” said a statement.
Trump also “offered to provide any assistance as needed.”
One suspect was in custody over Sunday’s shooting at the Islamic Cultural Center in Quebec while another was being questioned as a witness.
Both police and witnesses initially described two masked men open fire inside the mosque, where about 50 worshippers were gathered for evening prayer, killing six people and wounding eight.
It was unclear whether police still believed two assailants were involved.
One detainee was arrested near the mosque, while a second surrendered himself to police and confessed to taking part in the killing, said Quebec police inspector Denis Turcotte.
Trudeau called the shooting a “terrorist attack.”
“It is heart-wrenching to see such senseless violence,” he said in a statement. “Diversity is our strength, and religious tolerance is a value that we, as Canadians, hold dear.”
His office said he would travel to Quebec City in the afternoon, for a vigil.
Vía The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2k9FfBE