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Tag: EU

  • Cashless system helps in tracking election financing – Osinbajo

    Cashless system helps in tracking election financing – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says a cashless policy, when effectively operated in Nigeria, can help stem the surge of illicit election financing by making it possible to track funds.

    Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the vice president received a delegation of the EU Election Observation Mission led by Mr Barry Andrews.

    The EU Chief Observer is also a member of the European Parliament.

    “I think that what we should be looking at is to provide more infrastructures.

    “ The cashless thing has been really advantageous and helps with tracking.

    “That sort of infrastructure is useful for more financial inclusion and the more financial inclusion you have, the easier it is to track.

    “So much money can be spent without it being tracked under the current election financing practices in the country.’’

    Osinbajo acknowledged the serious difficulty in controlling election financing because of cash transactions.

    According to him, there are still infrastructure issues required to be in place to ensure an efficient cashless system in the country.

    “With cash transactions, it is still difficult to seriously control election financing.’’

    On electoral offences, the vice president said the Electoral Offences Commission Bill was at the National Assembly.

    He said he hoped that it would begin a new regime of dealing with electoral offences which would be helpful.

    “By and large, one shouldn’t expect INEC to be the investigator of electoral offences.

    “I think that law enforcement agencies should be responsible for arresting and prosecuting offenders, state by state.

    “Electoral offences are always seen through a political prism; people will always feel that they are being prosecuted because they belong to a certain party.

    “What is more important is that we have to find a system where the police could have a special unit for offences during the course of elections.

    “The Federal High Courts could also have a special jurisdiction to deal with offences and not extend beyond the Federal High Courts.”

    On the role of the judicial system, Osinbajo said that more attention should be paid to the monitoring of tribunals and their outcomes, calling for more scrutiny from the National Judicial Council.

    He disclosed that discussions had been had in the past concerning malfeasance on the part of some judges and those found guilty should be brought to the fore.

    “There should be sanctions and that way, we would be able to clean up and correct some of the problems,’’ he said.

    In his remarks, Andrews said that the mission would be monitoring the elections coming up next month and hope for a peaceful and fair electoral process.

    According to him, it is the 7th time the INEC is inviting the EU Mission to monitor the elections, adding that the team had been in the country since Jan 11 and will be around until the end of March, 2023.

    Other members of the delegation include Ms Samuela Isopi, Ambassador, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS and Mr Thomas Boserup, Deputy Chief Observer, EU Election Observation Mission.

  • In the dark alleys of human trafficking – By Owei Lakemfa

    In the dark alleys of human trafficking – By Owei Lakemfa

    OVER the course of 400 years, 15 million men, women, and children were transported across the Atlantic as slaves, but the statistics for human trafficking, particularly the sex trade, are far worse.

    Conservatively, 800,000 people are trafficked annually, with 80 per cent being women and half of these being minors. The global sex trade itself is worth $32 billion annually. The issue of what can be done to end human trafficking, in which 25 million people are trapped, was the theme of an international meeting on January 17, 2023 in Abuja.

    Argentine Ambassador Alejandro Herrero, who set the tone, said human trafficking is one of the most horrible violations of human rights and has to be combated. The United States, according to US Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard, is a global scourge, a brutal and inhuman trade that violates human rights and robs people of their dignity.

    The US says it is facing serious human trafficking challenges. Its Office of Justice Programmes, OJP in 2021, budgeted almost $87 million to combat it, provide support services to victims, and conduct research into the nature and causes of labour and sex trafficking. Ambassador Leonard said victims of trafficking must be assisted. She added that awareness of the signs of trafficking can help detect and prevent the act.

    She pointed out that there are laws against trafficking, but the problem is their implementation. “The United States is committed to fighting it because trafficking destabilises societies, undermines economies, harms workers, enriches those who exploit them, undercuts legitimate business and most fundamentally, because it is so profoundly wrong,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the presentation of the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report in Washington, DC.

    Spanish Ambassador Juan Sell said fighting against human trafficking entails sending a message of hope to its victims and one of determination to bring the perpetuators to justice. He advised people to beware of offers that seem irresistible, adding that human trafficking and sex enslavement are real. His country, he said, is on the receiving end of the trafficking.

    On November 29, 2022, Spain’s Council of Ministers approved a draft “Anti-Trafficking” law against ‘sexual exploitation, forced and arranged marriages, slavery, forced labour, organ and tissue removal, and situations where vulnerable people are forced to engage in criminal activity’. Its Justice Minister, Pilar Llop, said that the law will protect “people who suffer a lot in our country and also in other countries around the world” and “break the business chain that is generated using human beings as commodities”. Under this law, customers of forced sexual workers face fines and prison sentences of six months to four years.

    The French Embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission, Olivier Chatelais, regretted that, annually, hundreds of Nigerian women are trafficked directly to France. He added that a way out is to organise a worldwide solidarity alliance to fight international crime. France, is a  party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography. In  November 2021, it announced a budget of $15.87 million to fight trafficking. It says it fights against human trafficking through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC.

    European Union Representative, Reuben Alba Aguilera, noted that Nigeria is richly endowed with human and natural resources, so there is a need to help the authorities check migration flows. Part of the EU’s announced strategy is to disrupt the online and offline businesses of traffickers by working with tech firms to reduce access to platforms. It also engages in protecting and empowering victims.

    Sweden was represented by its Ambassador, Annikka Hahn-Englund. The country will spend $1.44 million to combat human trafficking in 2021. Beneficiaries include the National Support Programme, a civil society platform representing 20 non-governmental organisations. Its 2002 anti-trafficking law prescribes two to three years of imprisonment for those involved in sexual exploitation and forced labour.

    Others on the platform of the meeting included Jarai Sabally of The Sisterhood is Global Institute, Taina Bien-Aime of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Jonathan Machler of the Coalition for the Abolition of Prostitution, Esohe Aghatise of Iroko and Mickey Meji of the Survivor Empowerment and Support Programme.

    The survivor, originally known as  Nomonde Mihlali Meji, is a South African who campaigns for the rights of trafficked and prostituted women. Her engaging story began when she got pregnant at 16, dropped out of school, got into prostitution, crawled out, and became a fighter to get as many women as possible out of prostitution and rehabilitate them.

    She had been assisted out of prostitution by an organisation called Sex Workers Education Advocacy Task Force, or SWEAT, and decided that one of the main things to do is to get the term “sex work” abolished and get the sex industry recognised as exploitative and oppressive. When the ruling African National Congress, ANC, at its 54th Congress in 2017 passed a resolution to fully decriminalise prostitution and recognise it as “work”,  Meji fired a protest letter saying prostitution was not employment: “Women in prostitution do not wake up one day and “choose” to be prostitutes.

    Prostitution is chosen for them by our colonial past and apartheid, persistent inequalities, poverty, past sexual and physical abuse, the pimps who take advantage of our vulnerabilities, and the men who buy us as prostitutes. Most women are drawn into prostitution at a young age, some as young as 13 years old. Women and girls in prostitution have almost no resources to help them exit the sex trade.

    Some of the panellists at the Abuja meeting argued that the basis of sexual exploitation is a culture that sees women as commodities, disposable objects that can be bought and sold. They argued that prostitution is not a female problem but mainly that of the buyer who pays for the human body.

    They pointed out that almost all the victims of prostitution and sex trafficking are from marginalised communities. The solution they posited, is to provide the victims with shelter, support and an exit programme while the perpetrators, pimps and customers are penalised.

    They argued that unless there was a focus on cutting off demand, humanity would be bogged down with the problem for another thousand years because once there is demand, there will be supply. They pointed out that sex trafficking is not necessarily from one country to another, but that it can be from one room to another. On how to meet the cost of fighting the scourge, they suggested that money can be taken from the traffickers, pimps and sex buyers.

    The highlight of the meeting was the screening of the 2019 film ‘Oloture’ which is based on sex trafficking.

  • A world of deceit without end – By Owei Lakemfa

    A world of deceit without end – By Owei Lakemfa

    THE European Union, EU, and the Group of Seven, G7, comprising Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United States, US, the United Kingdom and Australia made a deceitful announcement to the world on Friday, December 2, 2022. They claimed that in solidarity with Ukraine, they have decided to cap the price of Russian oil at $60 per barrel in order to reduce the funds available to the latter to prosecute the war in Ukraine.

    US officials claimed the cap demonstrated the resolve of the coalition opposing Russia’s war on Ukraine. However, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, was to give two  reasons for the cap: “The EU agreement on an oil price cap, coordinated with the G7 and others, will reduce Russia’s revenues significantly. It will help us stabilise global energy prices, benefiting emerging economies around the world.”

    So which is the real reason? Solidarity with Ukraine or a half clever way to reduce and control the price of global oil? I think it is the latter because the powerful countries included a mechanism to keep the oil price cap at any time at least five per cent below the market rate. This is, of course, an attempt to force down oil prices. So, is it really to reduce the money available to Russia to fund its war machine, or, as Kadri Simson, the European Commissioner for Energy, cries: “It is unfair to pay excess revenues to Russia.”

    This simply means that the Europeans think that the oil prices they are paying are too high, so they want a way outside the so-called market forces, to force down oil and gas prices globally. The Europeans, who are the main forces behind this price cap, might think that the rest of the world is so dumb that we have forgotten that in August and September, they tried to impose this price cap for purely economic reasons and not out of any solidarity with Ukraine.

    The EU Energy Ministers met on Friday, September 30, 2022, to find ways of reducing soaring energy prices in their continent and impose a price cap on a globally-traded commodity over which they have no control. Internally, they had suggested a revenue cap on energy generators, and a special windfall tax imposed on oil companies. Some of their discussions focused on reducing gas consumption, gas storage for the winter and diversifying supply.

    Europe has invested heavily in the Ukrainian War, including large sums for arms supplies, humanitarian aid, and disrupting its oil and gas supplies from Russia, which was providing 40 per cent of its needs. However, with soaring energy prices, including electricity, social rumblings about the cost of living, and the impending arrival of winter, Europe has been in panic mode for months.

    Most of the countries in the continent have had to provide liquidity guarantees for energy companies to keep them afloat. France had gone so far as to nationalise the multinational electricity company, the Elecricite de France. Germany had also seized the “Unique” and “Performance” gas company, the Uniper SE.

    The effects of sustaining the war and providing palliative measures have resulted in straining public finances; a major way the EU is trying to withstand this is by capping the prices of oil and gas. Many had risen up against the EU for trying to impose price caps on oil and gas rather than allow ‘market forces’ to determine prices. When the ‘price cap’ strategy was not bought by the rest of the world, the Europeans came up with  other nomenclatures such  a “price corridor” and  ”circuit breaker”. Forced to come out into the open, they now claim the price cap is in solidarity with Ukraine and to reduce Russian financial ability to oil its war machine.

    It is not the EU alone that is trying to fool the rest of the world, war-torn Ukraine and its allies are  also involved in another game of deceit. The country, with a pre-war population of 43 million, is mainly destroyed, with 7.9 million refugees and eight million internally displaced.

    The 35 million Ukrainians left in the country live in uncertain conditions, with 17.7 million of them in need  of urgent assistance and 9.3 million Ukranians in need of food aid. Obviously, the state of Ukraine deserves pity and people around the world ought to contribute to assist its starving populace. So eyebrows are bound to be raised when the government of that same country announced on November 24, 2022, that it is sending 125 thousand tons of grains to Nigeria, Sudan, Kenya and Yemen as ‘humanitarian’ aid.

    A check of the four countries show that only Yemen is in dire straits as far as food is concerned. Nigeria is not in need of food aid like Ukraine, neither is Kenya.

    Except it is some monkey business, a country with a starving populace and problems of shipping its grains to shore up its ruined economy, cannot claim to be giving out food. In Nigeria, we say the snake has invisible hands, which means, you should beware of deception. This whole Ukrainian “humanitarian” mission is suspicious and stupid. President Volodymyr Zelensky is like a man with a starving family giving out food packs to passers-by who do not appear to be hungry. What point is being made or what game is being played by the clown in Kiev?

    In another contribution to the games in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden last Friday, said he would hold talks with President Vladimir Putin ”if in fact there is an interest in him deciding that he’s looking for a way to end the war”. This, of course, is an unserious way of initiating dialogue or negotiations. Surprisingly, I believe the maverick, Elon Musk, is a much more serious person in attempting to broker peace in Ukraine.

    On October 3, he put forward four proposals to form the basis of negotiating peace in Ukraine. These include formally recognising Crimea as a Russian territory, Ukraine agreeing not to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, military alliance, and all sides agreeing to a United Nations-supervised referendum in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to allow the people to decide their future.

    The Musk suggestions are of course unpopular in a world focused on continuous war. In fact, some viewed them  as provocative. But Musk has at least ideas to share on how the war can be brought to an end. What do we say of President Biden that has no proposals? Too many games are being played with the war  in Ukraine and so much is being done under the cover of supporting it  to ‘fight until victory is assured.’ It is a world of deception without end.

  • EU warns Musk to avoid violating new rules that attract ban in the 27-nation bloc

    EU warns Musk to avoid violating new rules that attract ban in the 27-nation bloc

    The CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk, has been warned by a top European Union official to beef up measures to protect users from hate speech, misinformation and other harmful content, to avoid violating new rules that threaten tech giants with big fines or even a ban in the 27-nation bloc.

    Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for digital policy, told the billionaire (Tesla CEO) that the social media platform will have to significantly increase efforts to comply with the new rules, known as the Digital Services Act, set to take effect next year.

    The two held a video call to discuss Twitter’s preparedness for the law, which will require tech companies to better police their platforms for material that, for instance, promotes terrorism, child sexual abuse, hate speech and commercial scams.

    It’s part of a new digital rulebook that has made Europe the global leader in the push to rein in the power of social media companies, potentially setting up a clash with Musk’s vision for a more unfettered Twitter. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said Wednesday that an investigation into Musk’s $44 billion purchase was not off the table.

    Breton said he was pleased to hear that Musk considers the EU rules “a sensible approach to implement on a worldwide basis.”

    “But let’s also be clear that there is still huge work ahead,” Musk said, according to a readout of the call released by Breton’s office.
    “Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve, and limit targeted advertising.”

    After Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” bought Twitter a month ago, groups that monitor the platform for racist, antisemitic and other toxic speech, such the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, say it’s been on the rise on the world’s de facto digital public square.

    Musk has signaled an interest in rolling back many of Twitter’s previous rules meant to combat misinformation, most recently by abandoning enforcement of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. He already reinstated some high-profile accounts that had violated Twitter’s content rules and had promised a “general amnesty” restoring most suspended accounts starting this week.

    Twitter didn’t respond to an email request for comment. In a separate blog post oWednesday, the company said “human safety” is its top priority and that its trust and safety team “continues its diligent work to keep the platform safe from hateful conduct, abusive behavior, and any violation of Twitter’s rules.”

    Musk, however, has laid off half the company’s 7,500-person workforce, along with an untold number of contractors responsible for content moderation. Many others have resigned, including the company’s head of trust and safety.

    In the call Wednesday, Musk agreed to let the EU’s executive Commission carry out a “stress test” at Twitter’s headquarters early next year to help the platform comply with the new rules ahead of schedule, the readout said.

    That will also help the company prepare for an “extensive independent audit” as required by the new law, which is aimed at protecting internet users from illegal content and reducing the spread of harmful but legal material.

    Violations could result in huge fines of up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue or even a ban on operating in the European Union’s single market.

    Along with European regulators, Musk risks running afoul of Apple and Google, which power most of the world’s smartphones. Both have stringent policies against misinformation, hate speech and other misconduct, previously enforced to boot apps like the social media platform Parler from their devices. Apps must also meet certain data security, privacy and performance standards.

  • European Union should let Africa be – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    European Union should let Africa be – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    This week is crucial for the socio-economic and political development of Africa and her advancement of her strategic interests in the comity of nations. The African parliamentarians, Ambassadors, diplomats and Ministers of government (inclusive of Nigerian parliamentarians, Ambassadors, diplomats and Ministers) are meeting this week with their European counterparts in Maputo, Mozambique, to, inter alia, deliberate on how to get the 48 African Countries (Nigeria inclusive), 16 Caribbean, and 15 Pacific Countries to sign the controversial and devious agreement between the European Union and Africa-Caribbean and Pacific countries (EU-ACP Agreement, for short). The EU-ACP Agreement is intended to replace the controversial Cotonou Agreement of 2000. Therefore any African country that signs the EU-ACP Agreement has signed its death warrant. Why? Because the country has consented to legalization of lesbianism, homosexualism, transgenderism, queer behaviorism LGTBQ1+ socialization, gay marriage, population and human capital reduction on its soil. Sadly enough, the EU-ACP Agreement specifically targets African children for corruption and destruction. Therefore any African country that signs this Agreement is indirectly consenting that its children should be taught how to practice “safe”-sex, “safe”-abortion; how to do masturbation, kissing, hugging, penis touching, vagina touching and how to avoid getting pregnant through sterilization and so forth, all in the name of sex education or Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE).

    Aside transgenderism and LGBT1+, the revised EU-ACP Agreement, which in actual fact is in form of a treaty, includes new obligations on abortion rights and teen safe-sexual rights. The Agreement is deceptively aimed at advancing the European Union’s abortion, sex education and LGBT agenda for Africa. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the Agreement is that it overrides the Constitutions and sovereignties of African countries. For example, in contrast to Monroe doctrine, Nigeria operates the Dualist doctrine. By virtue of section 12 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution a signed treaty does not have the force of law in Nigeria without ratification and domestication by the National Assembly. But the EU-ACP treaty trade Agreement has been craftily worded in such a way that it purportedly automatically binds a country which has signed it. Therefore the EU-ACP Agreement threatens to undermine national sovereignty of countries that are parties to the Agreement. It is targeted at overriding the domestic laws and constitutions of African countries. To that effect, there is a major decision-making body created by the EU-ACP treaty which is empowered to ensure that the Agreement is binding on the African countries that had signed it. The Agreement is deceptively designed to increase the EU’s power to impact the laws and policies of African countries.

    The transgender movement is the effort to distort the basic anthropological assumptions about the human person. Transgenderism denies the biological basis of manhood and womanhood. Transgenderism is anti-God as much as it is anti-nature. It is anti-human. Transgenderism originated in the radical feminist work which started after World War II. The founding mother of radical feminism is French thinker called Simone de Beauvoir. She is the author of the book entitled: The Second Sex. The book was published in 1953. This strange woman started her book with this query: ‘What is a woman?’ Her answer to this query led to the formulation of the contemporary feminist thought. For example, she scribbled in her book that it is society, not God, that determines who is a man or a woman. In other words, gender is purely a social construct not a biological construct. That is, despite one’s biological sex, the society has a final say in defining who is a man or who is a woman. Gender is in constant flux. You can decide to be a man today and tomorrow decide to be a woman. Scientifically speaking, the concept of changing one’s biological sex through transgenderism is arrant nonsense. One’s sex is determined by inalterable chromosomes. So whereas an individual cam change his hormone levels and undergo surgery to a better physical imitation of the opposite sex, the individual cannot change his male or female chromosomes. A person born a male remains a male from the day of his conception till the moment of death. Conversely, a person born a female will remain a female from her conception till the moment of death. So, persons suffering from gender dysphonia or intersex disorders are sick. Besides having pity on them, we should take them to the psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychotherapists and psychologists for treatment.

    Therefore the African Parliamentarians, Ambassadors and Ministers (and their Nigerian counterparts) attending the Maputo Assembly this week are respectfully urged to reject in toto the devious and deceptively-crafted EU-ACP Agreement. International law binds upon consensus of nations. The so-called teen “sexual rights”, transgender rights, abortion rights and LGBT1+ provisions in the EU-ACP treaty Agreement which the EU is trying to force down the throats of the 48 African countries (Nigeria inclusive) in Maputo has never been agreed upon by nations in any international human rights instrument or other consensus document. In other words, there is no consensus among nations accepting it as a binding international law. More importantly, the EU-ACP Agreement has no regard for the cultural, religious and philosophical convictions of the African people.

    The consensus reached at the various United Nations Conferences, is that the law passed in every developing county including Nigeria must reflect the diverse social, economic and environmental conditions of that country, with full respect for their religious, cultural backgrounds and philosophical convictions. LGTBQ1+ contained in the Agreement is illegal in Nigeria. In fact, the very notion of same-sex cohabitation or “marriage” is abhorrent to Nigerian sensibilities. Above all, it is a complete break with African civilization. We must stick to our own values and traditions. It is suicidal to import practices and lifestyles which are alien to Nigeria and seek to impose them as laws all in the name of observing international obligations. It is obvious that the EU has no respect for the religious and philosophical convictions of the African people and Nigerian people. Therefore it lacks the locus standi to seek to impose on African countries aberrations that are alien to the lifestyle of the African people. Laws are made in consonance with the values of a people. Every country is interested in protecting what it holds dear or its cherished values. LGTB1+ is not our value. Transgenderism is not our tradition.

    The EU should let Africa be Africa again. Down with cultural imperialism!. A time has come for African leaders to assert their independence. A time has come for them to call bluff all these unnecessary neo-colonialist external interferences in Africa’s domestic affairs. Independent African States have a right to govern themselves. Nigeria has a right to govern herself as an independent sovereign State. She is not bound to accept the interpretation of international law adopted by other States especially when it doesn’t accord with her aspirations and objectives. In behaving like this, Nigeria is not violating her international obligation; instead, she is merely exercising her right as an independent sovereign: it is the right of the people of every country to make laws for themselves in accordance with their respective Constitutions. In fact, many countries no longer treat international law as a rigid and imperative code of conduct. The binding nature of international law is a matter of consent of sovereign States. In other words, international law only binds upon consent of sovereign nations, not upon pressure or intimidation from the EU.

    What we are witnessing today is the collapse of western civilization. It is true that despite gaining political independence or what some dub flag independence, some independent African States are still helplessly living under the strong economic, political and cultural influence of their former colonial masters. But that shouldn’t give room for any Afro-pessimism. Despite the seemingly irreversible cataclysm that trails Africa it will rise again to occupy its rightful position in the world. Eurocentrism shall give way to Afrocentrism.

  • NOA partners EU Initiative to improve Gender Violence advocacy

    NOA partners EU Initiative to improve Gender Violence advocacy

    The National Orientation Agency (NOA) in partnership with the European (EU)-United Nations (UN) Spotlight Initiative, said it was committed to ending violence against women, girls and children in Ebonyi.

    Dr Desmond Onwo, NOA’s Director in the state, said this at the closing of a two-week Advocacy Dialogue with the traditional, religious leaders, youths and community stakeholders on Violence Against Women and Girls in Onicha, Ebonyi.

    Onwo, represented by Mr Victor Okike, Assistant Director, Head of NOA, Onicha Local Government Area, said such acts were worrisome.

    He said the programme was to seek support to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in the area, Ebonyi and Nigeria in general.

    Onwo noted that the targeted issues included sexual assault, rape, girl-child labour, Female Genetial Mutilations (FGM), beating of women, denying of women and girl-child of her husband and father’s inheritance and denying children right to school.

    According to him, the programme in partnership with EU-UN Spotlight Initiative and UNICEF, is pertinent to end all forms of sexual and gender-based violence.

    “We are here for the closing ceremony of the two weeks advocacy dialogue with various stakeholders in Onicha, soliciting and mobilising support to eliminate violence against women, girls and children.

    “The programme is organised by NOA with the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative.

    “We have met with the traditional rulers, religious leaders, women groups, surveillance groups and the youth for the elimination of those harmful social norms around GBV, Child Marriage and FGM in Ebonyi State,” he said.

    Mr Godwin Igwe, who spoke on behalf of the Spotlight Initiative, also added that the programme was apt to engage all the stakeholders in the state.

    Igwe, Director, Child Development Department, Ebonyi Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, said the ministry had been an implementing partner of EU-UN Spotlight in the state.

    He said there was need to abolish those harmful norms against women and children in the communities, noting that protecting their rights was paramount to the growth of mankind.

    “Child labour and marriage destroy the potential of a girl-child. Give her education. Say no to sexual violence,” Igwe said.

    Mrs Ijeoma Mike-Ajanwachukwu, the representative of Ebonyi Ministry of Justice, also called for the need to protect the rights of women.

    Mike-Ajanwachukwu decried the situation, saying that Women’s life ended in the kitchen and urged the stakeholders to support the campaign against such attitude, to protect women.

    “Stop the beating of women, rape and all forms of violence, FGM, sexual assault, and denying of inheritance or property. We have roles to play to end every form of violence against women,” she said.

    A traditional ruler, Chief Okike Onu, said the people were ready to support the campaign to ensure that women, girls and children were protected in the area.

    Onu expressed worry on the spate of violence against women, not only in the area, but society in general and urged all hands to be on deck to check it.

    On FGM, the traditional ruler said it was no more in practice in the area.

    He said that they would still take the enlightenment campaign to the grassroots.

    “The FGM was in practice here but it has been reduced.

    “In fact, it is no more in practice. Yes, we have law againtst it and if violated, a fine will be collected from the offender,” Onu said.

  • Oil theft: EU, NNPC officials, JTF visit illegal refining sites

    Oil theft: EU, NNPC officials, JTF visit illegal refining sites

    The European Union, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC) and the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Delta Safe, on Friday visited an illegal refining site in Rivers, to inspect the impacts on the environment.

    The refinery, already destroyed by the JTF is located in  Ahoada  West Local Government Area of the state.

    The visit is for the EU, partners to assess things for themselves and how crude oil thieves set up illegal refineries and the adverse impact on the communities.

    Newsmen reports that the EU delegation comprises Ms Samuela Isopi, Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Ms Cecile Leeman Team Leader, Southern partnerships EU Commission.

    Others are Mr Richard Young, Head of Division West Africa; Mr Thomas Kieler, Political Adviser, EU delegation to Nigeria; Mr Jerome Riviere, Programme Manager EU delegation to Nigeria; Mr Juan Sell, Ambassador of Spain to Nigeria.

    Mr Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC, commended the JTF for their good work in the Niger Delta area, in safeguarding the nation’s oil and gas assets.

    He said Nigeria would soon curtail the breaches, and that they came with the development partners to see how much work was going on and how they could help to bring sanity, and restore oil production and security for everyone.

    “It cannot happen unless we are able to work together with all the reports; we are also ready for our partners to see things for themselves and the efforts that are being made to curtail the situation.

    “I commend the troops on the ground, working to ensure that the nation’s oil and gas sector is secured.

    “We believe by August we will be able to bring down the menace to a minimal level. It is not good for the community, it has a huge negative impact on the environment.

    “Today the livelihood of the people here are impacted, people doing the business are not from the community, they are actually from other places.

    “We are working with the community to take this out so that they can go back to their normal way of life.

    “We are happy we are here today to see things for ourselves and our partners,” he said.

    On his part, Rear Adm. Aminu Hassan, the JTF Commander, said within the period of three months, the taskforce destroyed more than 2,000 illegal refineries in the area.

    He said: “In one site here you can get between 50 to 100 composite units where everyone is operating; just like a market, everybody is doing his illicit business in one market. So, that is how they operate.

    “Within a refining site, you can get hundreds of units, everyone doing his own, within a week or thereabout you can succeed in destroying thousands.

    “Mechanically we are destroying their machines which they are very fast in constructing.

    “If you really want to suppress them, you must be faster than them, work ahead of them, that is why we introduced this equipment, you will be on top of the situation to be ahead of them,” he said.

    He said that the community was of great support to the task force.

    “So, to a great extent we are getting support from the community, we are urging them to also avail us with more information,” he said.

    He urged those indulging in such illegality to desist from such and find legitimate business, to better their lives.

    Also, Mr Mathew Baldwin, Deputy Director General, European Union Commission, said they were on fact finding mission, adding that oil theft and illegal refining remained a big problem.

    He commended the JTF and the NNPC, for the great work done to salvage and restore the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

    “We are here to find and understand the problem, if the production is used for the local market and if most of the production is going into the international market.

  • EU to replace gas from Russia with Nigeria

    EU to replace gas from Russia with Nigeria

    The European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS said on Friday that, it would replace the gas from Russia with Nigeria Gas due to the invasion in Ukraine.

    The Deputy Director-General Department for (Energy), European Commission in Brussels, Mr Matthew Baldwin, said this at a news conference on Friday in Abuja.

    Baldwin will be meeting with Nigerian top government officials and private sector players, including key stakeholders in the country’s Energy Sector.

    The EU’s executive body had urged member states to slash their gas consumption by 15 per cent as it warned that a complete shutdown of Russian supplies was “likely”.

    The EU has been scrambling to wean itself off Russian gas since the invasion of Ukraine, but is alarmed about a potential energy crisis this winter.

    “In summary, I am on a mission from Europe to try to deliver Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) today in the context of NLG partnership tomorrow with Nigeria.

    “Europe is in a tight spot in relations to gas, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the instability in our gas market and the threat of cutting off supply altogether.

    “So, we have launched the energy platform task force and the primary goal is to reach out to our reliable partners such as Nigeria to replace the gas from Russia with gas from reliable partners,” he said.

    According to him, you would have seen perhaps early this week, we launched a gas demand reduction plan and we are looking to reduce demand of gas by 15 per cent to manage the demand aspect of the equation.

    “To be clear, we need to manage the supply side and that’s why we want to expand what is currently at 14 per cent shares of our total LNG import from Nigeria and we want it to go up.

    “Our gas percentage was 60 per cent but now we want to go,’’ he said.

    He added that Nigerian products had an extraordinary potentials and that was why EU wanted to expand the short term delivery.

    Also, he said that by the end of August this year EU hopefully to kick start the partnership, adding that, it would create a long term partnership with Nigeria.

    Speaking also, Ms Samuela Isopi, the EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said that the bloc was doing its part in contributing to the energy sector through different collaborations with Nigerian Government.

    She said that currently, EU’s contribution stands at 400 million euros “ The EU as a bloc remains Nigeria’s biggest trading partner accounting for more than 20 per cent of Nigerian trade with the world.

    In 2021 the volume of EU-Nigeria trade stood at 28.7 billion euros (an increase of more than 25 per cent over 2020) with a trade balance of 6.4 billion euros in favour of Nigeria.

  • FG, EU present report on maize value chain in Nigeria

    FG, EU present report on maize value chain in Nigeria

    The Federal Government and the European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, on Friday presented a report on the value chain analysis study on maize.

    This is contained in statement by the bloc and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

    The collaboration was done between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the bloc through an organised stakeholders’ workshop to present the report of a value chain analysis on maize in Nigeria.

    It was undertaken in the framework of the EU-funded “Value chain analysis for development” (VCA4D) project.

    According to the statement, the workshop was held in Kano and Abuja on July 12 and 14 respectively, following the completion of the study.

    “The study was conducted by a team of national and international experts from Agrinatura – the Alliance of European Universities and Research Centres specialising in agricultural research for development.

    “The study was between January 2020 and October 2021, the EU mandated Agrinatura to undertake a detailed overview of the maize value chain from the economic, social and environmental point of view.

    “Nigeria is one of the world’s leading maize producers, especially of non-genetically modified white maize.

    With a demand on the rise both as food and from the processing industry, the country is nonetheless still exposed to risks of supply shortfall.

    “The study generated evidence-based knowledge, largely quantitative, to help policy makers underpin and fine-tune policy actions and interventions in the value chain, to enhance its sustainable and inclusive development.

    The Value Chain Analysis for Development (VCA4D) analysis provides a baseline, useful to appreciate the evolution of the sector over time, also in contexts of investment (like the one promoted by EDFI AgriFi).

    “The two workshops publicised the findings and recommendations of the VCA4D study to promote their use in relevant policy discussions and investment decisions.”

    It said the workshops also contributed to build a platform for continued networking and advocacy on actions to strengthen the maize value chain.

    It further added that a number of stakeholders from institutions, farmers’ organisations and the private sector actively participated in the workshops.

    BCA4D is an EU funded project implemented by Agrinatura, the Alliance of European Universities and Research centres specialised in agricultural research for development with more than 35 members.

    Mobilised at the request of the EU Delegations and their partner countries, VCA4D realises value chains analyses to produce evidence-based and inter-disciplinary knowledge about the growth, inclusiveness, social and environmental sustainability of a value chain.

    Interested persons can check the VCA4D page or contact vca4d@agrinatura-eu.eu to be further informed.

  • Don’t go to Northern Cyprus – NiDCOM advises Nigerians

    Don’t go to Northern Cyprus – NiDCOM advises Nigerians

    The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has advised Nigerians seeking greener pastures against travelling to Northern Cyprus.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, NiDCOM gave the advice in a statement released by Mr Gabriel Odu, Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit of NiDCOM.

    The advice followed a visit by members of the Nigerian Diaspora Youth Ambassador, which raised an alarm over the plight of Nigerian students in Northern Cyprus.

    They said that Nigerian youths are suffering from intense depression as a result of the inhuman treatment meted to them, giving rise to the high rate of suicide amongst them in Northern Cyprus.

    President of the Association, Mr David Alozie, who led a four-man delegation to Dabiri-Erewa in Abuja, said the purpose of the visit to the Commission is to appeal for quick intervention on the plight of Nigerian students in Northern Cyprus.

    He added that Nigerian students are being racially profiled and deported on arrival at the airport for establishing contact with any individual in Southern Cyprus.

    Mr Alozie added that Nigerian students are forced to pay for tuition in Pounds whereas other foreign students pay in Turkish Lira (TL).

    Mr. Alozie and his team expressed willingness to collaborate with NiDCOM and other relevant agencies to create more awareness on the challenges Nigerian youths are facing in Northern Cyprus.

    In his words “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not the best place to study, as the majority of the institutions there are not recognized by the European Union (EU) or any country in the world”.

    In her reaction, Dabiri-Erewa advised that Northern Cyprus is becoming a dangerous transit route for migrants, stressing that the country is not recognized by any country in the world except Turkey.

    She, therefore, stressed the need for further awareness to sensitize Nigerian youths who are leaving their country with the hope of better education.

    The NIDCOM Boss commended the President and his entire team’s efforts so far but explicitly stated that “the team has a bigger job to do in creating awareness for youths in Nigeria as it is better to stay in your country alive than risk your life in going to a country where uncountable and unresolved cases of young Nigerians have been and are still being recorded”.

    Dabiri-Erewa gave assurance that NiDCOM will continue to work with relevant agencies like the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Parent Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the nagging issue of Northern Cyprus.

    “It should be noted that Northern Cyprus is recognized only by the Republic of Turkey, and Nigeria and other countries do not have an Embassy there making it difficult to take Northern Cyprus up with the United Nations or European Union,” she noted.