By Lizzy Okoji

Gambian Lawmaker, Hon. Fatmata Njai says the ECOWAS Parliament can achieve 30 per cent representation of women in parliament only if it rejects nominations from countries not meeting the criteria.

Njai expressed this thought while speaking with journalists duringthe Fifth Legislatures Delocalised meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament holding in Monrovia with the theme, Empowerment of Womenin the ECOWAS Region.

Njai said it was pertinent to note that some countries lacked female representation in the Conference of Bureau in the ECOWAS Parliament, a trend whichshesaid was in disregard of the ECOWAS Rules of Procedures.

The Rules of Procedures mentioned that each member country should have a female representation at the Conference of Bureau.

Each country has three members in the Conference of Bureau, so, each country can at least have one female member which will be thirty per cent representation.

I think if we are to preach something, we should be seen acting what we preach.

We can ask countries to send 30 per cent and we must enforce that as well.

But if countries say that they do not have 30 per cent, what is stopping them from having 30 per cent?

It is not that they do not have females in these countries. They have them and they have competent women as well, but why are they not winning elections?

I think that is the question, Njai said.

The Gambian lawmaker urged countries in the sub-region to create a level-playing field for all genders in order to be able to address the question of why women are not winning elections.

When I first joined the ECOWAS Parliament, we were 25 women in number. We have lost some of the women and Ithink now we are 18 in number which is something that should be addressed.

Why are women losing elections, and why are countries not sending the 30 per cent as stipulated and is required from them by ECOWAS.

I think thatif countries send a list that is short of 30 per cent, the ECOWAS should reject that list, Njai added.

She urged women not to just sit down, fold their arms, and wait until they were given the ball to play.

We should actually demand it or grab it ourselves. So, I dont see that as a problem. I see us women being our own enemies because like somebody mentioned, if a woman wants to run for office, it is the same women that would refuse to vote for them, and for us being in the majority why should that happen?

We should vote for our fellow women and be at the table where the men are.

I implore my female counterparts not to give up. It might be difficult but it is not impossible, That is what I always say. the Gambian lawmaker said.

Source: NAN News

By Auwalu Birninkudu

The National Orientation Agency (NOA), says it will hold a Youth Summit in Bauchi State to x-ray issues affecting the youth in the state.

Alhaji Nuru Kobi, NOA Director in the state, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday that the summit will hold on April 20, with over 1,300 youths as participants.

The director explained that 300 youths would be physically present during the summit while the rest will join the discussion through the webner link of the agency.

He explained that the event was part of NOAs community engagement, to identify challenges affecting the youths and expose them to opportunities provided by government to enhance their status.

Kobi said some of the issues to be addressed during the summit include youth marginalisation in governance, poverty, unemployment and corruption as well as youth inclusion in politics.

The NOA director said the participants would be drawn from the 20 local government areas and 323 electoral wards of Bauchi state.

We would educate the youth to know and appreciate government efforts on their plight, he added.

According to him, the participants would be sensitised on government policies like the Social Investment Programmes andexposed to national values and ethics, migration, entrepreneurship, and policy making and governance.

We will strictly abide by the COVID-19 protocols during the summit, he added. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Britains Queen Elizabeth has stepped in to settle a problem over what senior royals should wear to her husbands funeral, because of concerns about whether Prince Harry and Prince Andrew should wear military uniforms.

Prince Philip died at age 99 last week and his funeral will be held at Windsor Castle on Saturday.

Traditionally at such formal occasions, members of the royal family wear military uniforms, often reflecting honourary titles they hold.

However, according to British newspapers, there have been debates behind the scenes over what the queens son Andrew and grandson Harry should wear.

Harry, 36, the Duke of Sussex, quit all his royal duties and lost all his military patronages in January after moving to Los Angeles with wife Meghan and son Archie, but wanted to wear the dress uniform he wore for his wedding day.

Andrew, 61, the Duke of York, stepped away from official engagements because of his ill-judged association with the late disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Papers reported that he wished to attend the funeral in the uniform of admiral, a honourary rank he was awarded to mark his 60th birthday but he deferred until his return to public life.

Compounding the issue was the fact that the two royals were the only ones to have seen active service, Harry in Afghanistan and Andrew in the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict.

Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the reports but according to the Daily Mail, the 94-year-old queen had now decided all royals should wear mourning suits to avoid any embarrassment. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Rotimi Ijikanmi
The Federal Government has blamed the media and some unpatriotic Nigerians for the choice of Ghana over Nigeria for the citing of Twitter continental headquarters.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in an interview on Thursday in Abuja, said the development would serve as a lesson for Nigerians to be patriotic in managing the image of the country

Mohammed said Nigeria with about 25 million twitter users against Ghanas eight million users, it was a natural expectation that Nigeria would have been the choice by Twitter to locate its headquarters for the continent.

The reasons cited by Twitter for citing the headquarters in Accra, Ghana is that Accra is a champion of democracy and there is rule of law in the country, among other reasons

This is what you get when you de-market your country.

The media is more to blame for this which most times exaggerate the challenges in the country.

At no time was this worse than during the EndSARS protest when Nigerian journalists both traditional and new media were trying to outdo themselves in painting Nigeria as a hell where nobody should live.

When they all conspired to vilify not just the government but the people of Nigeria, he said.

The minister said he was pleased with the U.S. report which vindicated the Nigerian government that no single live was lost at the Lekki Toll Gate as opposed to what the majority of the media reported.

We are not saying that you should not criticise the country but be fair and patriotic.

When you destroy your own house, where are you going to live?

You can imagine the kind of job opportunities that citing that headquarters in Nigeria would have generated, the kind of visibility it would have given Nigeria but we destroyed it, he said.

Mohammed said it is what the insiders say about their country that the outsider will use to judge and condemn the country.

He said the development would serve as a lesson for people to be patriotic and manage the image of the country better.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the U.S. -based social media company, Twitter on Monday announced Accra, Ghana as its choice for the location of its headquarters for Africa.

Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey had made the announcement via his twitter handle. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Chiazo Ogbolu

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), on Thursday, disclosed the suspension of ETO (Electronic Call-up for trucks) ticket for cargoes bound for the AP Moller Terminal (APMT) in Apapa.

The is contained in a series of tweets on the official twitter page of the NPA.

Following a dispute with the management of AP Moller Terminals at the Lagos Ports Complex, Apapa, members of the Maritime Workers Union have today, April 15, disrupted operations at the terminal.

While the NPA is working toward resolving the dispute between the two parties, APMT will not be able to receive or exit cargoes for the next 24 hours.

The authority hereby urges stakeholders to please take note, as ETO tickets will not be issued to APMT bound cargoes, the tweets read.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) on April 15 shut down AP Moller Terminal (APMT) in Apapa.

According to the President General of MWUN, Mr Adewale Adeyanju, the grounding of activities at the terminal is due to expiration of the one week plus notice given to the management of the terminal to adhere to the laws of the land. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Lizzy Okoji

A member House of Representative, Dr Haruna Mshelia (Hawul/Askira Uba Federal Constituency), has listed negative culture, religion and illiteracy as the greatest impediments to women empowerment.

Mshelia, who is also a member of the ECOWAS Parliament, stated this in an interview with newsmen on Thursday on the sideline of the ongoing ECOWAS Parliament de-localised meeting in Monrovia, Liberia.

Mshelia said women have the capacity and all it takes to lead but the three factors of negative cultural practices, religion and under education have suppressed them.

The lawmaker however called for the implementation of affirmative actions to put women at a level playing ground with men, thus guaranteeing their empowerment.

Gender issues are things that affect the region generally, every country is affected and like I said, there is no man on earth that does not like women.

Unfortunately because of our cultural and religious practices the womenfolk have found themselves on the short side of the stake.

Because the cultural and religious factors have favoured men, men are dominant in every sector of the society, politically and economically.

If we have to redress it, we need to look at these negative culture and influences of religion that suppresses the women.

We should say it as it is and come up with laws, action plans that will help the women come closer.

As far as intelligent and capacity to lead is concerned, there is no difference between men and women but all I am saying is, let us create a level playing ground.

Again, once women are educated it is synonymous with being empowered because they can go for any job; they can drive and start learning skills, he said.

He said that if women were given a level playing ground over a period of time, all these things will be resolved.

Mshelia also suggested a quota or affirmative action be made justiciable so that if the women do not get their rightful positions, political seats, they can go to court to claim it.

He called for the abolition of some negative practices against women like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), child marriage and lack of right to inheritance and lands.

The lawmaker advised women to support each other, alleging that women are enemies of themselves as they tend to support the male counterparts over their own gender during elections.

Source: NAN News

By Constance Athekame

The Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman, has apologised to Nigerians over the current power outages experienced across many parts of the country.

Mr Aaron Airtimas, Senior Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister of Power, said this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.

Mamman said that he regretted this unfortunate situation and offered his sincere apology to all affected Nigerians on the inconveniences the power shortages were causing them.

He assured Nigerians that the ministry through the appropriate agencies was working assiduously to rectify the technical and gas problems affecting the plants.

Mamman said that the ministry of power was not unaware of the current power outages affecting some parts of the country.

The problem is caused by the breakdown of some of the National Integrated Power Plants supplying electricity to the national grid.

The plants are namely, Sapele, Afam,Olonrunsogo, Omotosho, Ibom, Egbin, Alaoji and Ihovbor.

The Jebba Power Plant was shut down for annual maintenance, he said.

According to him, seven other integrated power plants, namely Geregu, Sepele, Omotosho, Gbarain, Omuku, Paras and Alaoji are experiencing gas constraints, while the Shiroro plant had water management problems.

The minister further promised that the national grid would be restored to its previous distribution peak of about 5,600MW of electricity achieved early this year.

This he said was to relieve Nigerians from the current harsh climatic conditions and restore full economic activities. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Leonard Okachie

The National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme has urged the mass media to assist in sensitising the public on the causes, prevention and treatment of tuberculosis (TB).

The Director of the programme, Mrs Itohowo Uko,made the request on Wednesday in Umuahia during a virtual seminar organised for journalists in Abia and Enugu.

She said that tuberculosis kills more people than Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, adding that the media had a lot of roles to play toward its reduction.

She said more than 18 persons die of tuberculosis per hour in Nigeria, accordingto World Health Organisation (WHO) report.

Quoting the report, she also said that 157,000 persons died of tuberculosis in Nigeria in 2019.

Uko said that the inability of TB patients to access medication during the Coronavirus lockdown worsened the spread of the disease in the country.

She identified symptoms of tuberculosis as fever, loss of weight and protracted cough.
Uko said that tuberculosis is curable contrary to misinformation, urging people with persistent cough that had lasted for two weeks to go for a test.

She said that with early diagnosis, tuberculosis could be cured within six months, adding that its treatment is free at designated hospitals in the country.

She however urged TB patients to endeavour to complete the treatment cycle of six months to avoid its relapse.

According to her, some patients usually discontinued with medicationafter two weeks of treatment, which gave them temporary relief .

She dismissed the notion that TB could be contracted through sharing of plates, cups, cutlery or projected through witchcraft.

The diseases is only airborne, she said.

A resource person at the event, Mr Eze Eze, said it was important for journalists to focus more on human angle stories, while reporting about tuberculosis.

Eze said that the media constiuted a significant force in helping people make informed decisions about their health.

Another resource person, Dr Charles Ugwuanyi, said that the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic worsened the plight of TB patients, as they could not access treatment during the lockdown.

He explained that TB and Coronaviruspandemic share similar symptoms but advised patients to go for early diagnosis so as to establish their particular case.

Ugwuanyi, however, said that while Coronavirus was associated with dry cough, TBs cough produces sputum.

He cautioned against stigmatigation of TB patients, regretting that there is a significant reduction in people with cough seeking treatment for TB for fear of being considered Coronavirus patients.

In a remark, Dr Okorie Onuka, Abia Focal Person for TB, reiterated the importance of media support for the fight against TB, saying that it is curable. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Funmilola Gboteku

The Lagos State Government, in partnership with Mo Abudu Organisation have given awards of recognition to some female personalities in the Nigerian film industry.

The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, said in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday that the awards were given through the Eko Culture Series.

She said that the female gender in the industry had over the years excelled in areas that were initially dominated by their male counterparts.

Akinbile-Yussuf said the female personalities and TV Stars needed recognition for their contributions to the development of the countrys film and creative industry.

The commissioner said the acting, producing and directing capacity of female artistes, among others was commendable.

She said the recognition accorded to them was a lofty idea, adding that the celebration of stakeholders in the creative industry, like other professional bodies, would serve as a source of encouragement.

It is on record that Nigerias media and entertainment industry Nollywood is currently the second-largest film producer in the world in terms of the number of movies.

The feat is not just in terms of number of movies alone but more importantly how the personalities involved in these delectable stories have been able to change our society for the better and also exposed several societal ills, Akinbile-Yussuf said.

She said the state government would ensure the development of the industry through capacity enhancement.

The commissioner explained that this administration was currently in partnership with two renowned creative firms to train young creative stars in different areas of film production toward attaining world-class professionalism.

She said the training would help them compete favourably with their contemporaries across the globe.

The commissioner urged the award recipients to make conscious efforts to impact the lives of younger ones by transferring their knowledge to the upcoming television and TV stars.

The Chief Executive Officer, Ebony Life Place, Mo Abudu said there was so much talent in Nigeria and so much to be celebrated in the creative sector apart from the successes already recorded in film-making and television presentation.

She said the support and ambience provided by the state government had made film making and production a worthwhile experience.

It is a fact that politics and entertainment are the two major things influencing the world now.

The political class has now realised how powerful the entertainment industry is in influencing decisions of the masses, Mo Abudu said.

According to her, the award ceremony, was organised to recognise the hard work and dedication of women in the Film and TV industry.

Mo Abudu, however, noted that the award recipients only represented a fraction of other women that would be recognised in future editions of the Eko Star Film and TV Awards.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 65 Film and TV stars were presented with various awards at the event, including an octogenarian television presenter and actress of repute, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett (OON), who was presented with a special award of A Lifetime Achievement Like No Other.

Also, veteran actress, Mrs Joke Silva was given a special recognition award of inspiring people, among others.

Eko Culture Series, an initiative of MO Abudu and Lagos State Government, is a blend of entertainment and tourism conceived as a platform for showcasing different unique features of Lagos and its rich cultural experiences.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ijeoma Okigbo

Solomon Dalung, the immediate-past Minister of Youth and Sports Development, says Nigeria can host the African Games with the current facilities in Benin.

Dalung, who said this on the sidelines of the 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Benin on Wednesday, said he was proud of Edo state government in providing the facilities.

First of all, I commend Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo for delivering on his promise of a successful festival, while I challenge other states to provide same facilities for their people.

Second, I am very proud of what I see here in Edo. The facilities here can be used to host any international event.

With the way I see this infrastructure, I am tempted to think that we no more have challenges of bidding for any international competition.

We can successfully host the African Games in Nigeria with an infrastructure like this.

I want to challenge other state governments to follow suit and put up good facilities, an infrastructure like these at least in every state capital, he said.

Dalung disclosed that he was in Benin on the personal invitation of Gov. Obaseki to witness the closing ceremony of the festival.

The 20th NSF, which began on April 2, ends on Wednesday.(NAN)

Source: NAN News