By Jacinta Nwachukwu

Africa Youth Growth Foundation (AYGF) says it has concluded plan to organise a training to build and enhance the capacity of border operatives so as to protect migrants rights.

The Executive Director, AYGF, Dr Arome Salifu, disclosed this at a news briefing on Thursday in Abuja.
Salifu said that the training became necessary considering the abuse of right of migrants at the borders by some operatives.

He noted that the aims of project are to:
Enhance knowledge and understanding of border operatives on issues of migrants rights.

Raise consciousness of border operatives on the need to operate within the existing national, regional and international protocol on protection of migrants.

Facilitate operational efficiency and inter-agency cooperation at the borders, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of compliance by border operatives.

Improve migrants protection and human right conditions in Seme, Jibiya and Mfum borders.

He noted that drivers of the migrants right abuses at the borders were ignorance of migrants rights and dignity, poor technical and operational capacity, corruption, inter-agency rivalries and red-tapism.

Others he mentioned were poor technological application, working conditions and incentives, poor oversight and ethical operational deficiencies.

Salifu further said that without adequately addressing the drivers of migrants right abuses at the borders, efforts to engender international best practices in defending, protecting and projecting the rights, would be wasted.

He said that the security and safety of migrants would be relatively or totally futile both on the immediate and long run.

While it is a truism that this project might not solve all the problems highlighted it will, however, surely address some of the drivers of the problems, he said.

According to him, the capacity building project is to build and enhance the capacity of border operatives on identifying, protecting and respecting the rights, privileges and dignity of migrants crossing Nigerian borders.

He said that the Foundation would start with three major borders as pilot projects and the selected borders were Seme (Lagos), Jibiya (Katsina) and Mfum (Cross-River).

It is also targeting enhancing inter-agency cooperation for operational efficiency, zero corruption and right abuses at the borders.

The workshop which starts on March 21 to April 15 will be under strict COVID-19 preventive protocol.

It will involve 50 border operatives and border community stakeholders in each of the borders to be facilitated by experienced and capable border management.

Similarly, Jennifer Aga, Assistant Director, Legal, Vulnerable Department, National Human Right Commission (NHRC), said there was need to ensure that the rights of migrants were protected.

Aga said that was why the Commission was partnering AYGF to enhance the protection of migrants at the borders,so there is need to educate the border personnel on the rights of migrants and how they can be protected.

Mr Chukwuemeka Anene from IOM, however, advised that the intending participants of the training should be committed and ensure better management of the borders through the opportunity.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project is being supported by the European Union (EU) through the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) under the EU-IOM Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in Nigeria.

The Foundation, which was founded in 2003, is deeply into communities, youth, social, economic and political development within the country and around the sub region. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Holders Bayern Munich cruised into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.

This was after beating Lazio 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday to secure a 6-2 aggregate victory.

Leading 4-1 from the first leg in Rome, Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Bayern Munich from the penalty kick spot in the 33rd minute.

It was his 39th goal of the season in all competitions.

The German champions took their foot off the gas before substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, having replaced Lewandowski, added the second goal in the 73rd minute.

Marco Parolo headed a late consolation for Lazio.

Bayern Munich joined fellow German side Borussia Dortmund in the last eight.

Lazios exit means no Italian team will compete in the Champions League quarter-finals, with Juventus and Atalanta having also exited at the last-16 stage.

Alexander Nuebel replaced the ill Manuel Neuer in goal for Bayern Munich.

But, with Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi surprisingly leaving the clubs top goalscorer Ciro Immobile out, the stand-in goalkeeper was rarely tested.

Although Lazio were facing a near-impossible task, Bayern Munich still named a strong starting side.

No side in European Cup history has progressed from a knockout tie after losing the first leg by three or more goals at home.

A clumsy challenge from Vedat Muriqi on Leon Goretzka gifted Bayern Munich the penalty kick which Lewandowski converted, his fifth Champions League goal of the season.

The rest of the match was then a cruise for the Bundesliga leaders.

Lewandowski went within inches of his 40th of the season in the second half before being withdrawn.

Choupo-Moting found the net two minutes after coming on, ensuring Bayern Munich made it 19 games unbeaten in the UEFA Champions League.

Parolo did give Lazio something to take back to Italy in the 82nd minute when he headed home from Andreas Pereiras free kick.

But Bayern Munich never looked in any danger of making a surprise exit.

Source: NAN News

Chelsea beat Atletico Madrid 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2014.

Hakim Ziyech and Emerson Palmieri were on target to give coach Thomas Tuchels rejuvenated team a 3-0 aggregate win.

Substitute Emerson made sure of victory by scoring in the fourth minute of added time for Chelseas second goal.

Atletico Madrid were left to rue referee Daniele Orsatos decision not to give a penalty kick when scores were 0-0.

This was when Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta underhit a back pass and put his arm around Yannick Carrasco who went down in the penalty box.

Ziyech squeezed the ball under Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the 34th minute of the last-16 second leg.

This was after he connected with a cross from Timo Werner who had raced down the left after being fed by fellow German Kai Havertz.

The visitors finished the game with 10 men after Stefan Savic was shown a red card in the 82nd minute for elbowing Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger in the chest during a corner-kick.

Source: NAN News

An Afghan military helicopter crashed in the countrys central Wardak province, killing all nine people on board, officials said on Thursday.

According to a statement of the Afghan Ministry of Defence, the Mi-17 helicopter crash landed in Hesa-e Awal Behsud district, leaving four crew members and five members of the security forces dead.

An investigation was underway, the statement said.

According to local officials, the helicopter was en-route to evacuate a wounded soldier from the highly-contested province when the incident took place.

Meanwhile, four people were killed and nine others wounded in the capital Kabul in an explosion that targeted a minibus, according to Kabul police.

The vehicle belonged to the Ministry of Telecommunication and was carrying employees of other government departments as well, Kabul police chief spokesman, Ferdous Faramarz, said.

The incident has not been claimed by any group so far.

The incidents took place as a high-profile summit with the aim of finding a peaceful solution to the long-running conflict in Afghanistan was set to take place in Moscow on Thursday.

An official delegation from Kabul and the militant Taliban group was also expected to attend the conference in the Russian capital.

Peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government representatives that started in September in Qatar have stalled in recent months, with no tangible progress. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

A strong rebound this year would still leave the world down with an estimated 10 trillion dollars due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Although the global economy could expand by 4.7 per cent in 2021, it would nonetheless wind up short of 10 trillion dollars, about twice Japans gross domestic product (GDP), compared to if the pandemic had never happened.

Last year, the global economy posted its sharpest annual drop in output since statistics on aggregate economic activity were introduced in the early 1940s, UNCTAD said on Thursday.

While wealthy economies have proposed huge damage-limitation fiscal spending, such as the U.S. 1.9-trillion-dollar stimulus package, and while China returned to growth in late 2020, people in smaller and poorer countries are struggling, UNCTAD warned.

Developing countries are bearing the brunt of the downturn due to limited fiscal space, tightening balance of payments constraints and inadequate international support, leading to some of the largest personal income drops relative to GDP.

Even a small downturn in economic activity can be devastating, UNCTAD said, describing fallout from pandemic restrictions as predictably severe in developing economies such as the Philippines and Malaysia.

On Thursday, UNCTAD also upped its earlier prediction of 4.3-per-cent global growth in 2021, citing a possible stronger recovery in the United States.

In January, the World Bank said the global economy could grow by 4 per cent in 2021, while the International Monetary Fund opted for a rosier 5.5 per cent. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Myanmar on Thursday faced growing isolation with increasingly limited internet services and its last private newspaper ceasing publication as the military built its case against ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi was overthrown and detained in a Feb. 1 military coup, triggering mass protests across the country that security forces have struggled to suppress with increasingly violent methods.

The total documented number of people killed in the unrest stood at 217 but the actual toll was probably much higher, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group said.

Western countries have condemned the coup and called for an end to the violence and for the release of Suu Kyi and others. Asian neighbours have offered to help find a solution, but the military has a long record of shunning outside pressure.

Large parts of an economy already reeling from the novel Coronavirus have been paralysed by the protests and a parallel civil disobedience campaign of strikes against military rule, while many foreign investors are reassessing plans.

The UN food agency warned this week that rising prices of food and fuel could undermine the ability of poor families to feed themselves.

Whatever happens in Myanmar over coming months, the economy will collapse, leaving tens of millions in dire straits and needing urgent protection, historian and author Thant Myint-U said on Twitter.

While the security forces have focused on stamping out dissent in Yangon and other cities, small demonstrations have erupted elsewhere day after day.

Several thousand people marched in the small town of Natmauk on Thursday, the Democratic Voice of Burma reported.

The central town is the birthplace of Aung San, the leader of Myanmars drive for independence from colonial power Britain, and Suu Kyis father.

About 1,000 protesters on motorbikes drove around the central town of Taungoo and hundreds marched in the northern jade-mining town of Hpakant, the Irrawaddy news service reported.

There were no reports of violence.

A 24-year-old campaigner against military rule died on Wednesday, three days after he was detained and beaten in the central town of Monywa, the Irrawaddy and Myanmar Now news portal reported.

The UN human rights office in Geneva said this week deeply distressing reports of torture in custody had emerged in Myanmar.

A junta spokesman did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.

Authorities have restricted the internet services protesters use to organise, with access to Wi-Fi in public areas largely shut off by Thursday.

Residents of some towns, including Dawei in the south, reported no internet at all.

The private Tachilek News Agency in the northeast published photographs of workers cutting cables it said were the fibre links with neighbouring Thailand.Reuters could not verify the report.

Information within Myanmar was becoming increasingly difficult to verify. Some 37 journalists have been arrested, including 19 who remain in detention, the UN human rights office said.

While authorities have ordered some newspapers shut, others have apparently been forced to close for reasons of logistics.

State-run media have not been affected.

State television said on Wednesday that Suu Kyi was being investigated for bribery in connection with accepting four payments worth550,000 dollars from a prominent businessman.

Property developer Maung Weik, in comments broadcast in a state television news bulletin, said he had given Suu Kyi four payments, ranging from 50,000 dollars to 250,000 dollars from 2018 to 2020, when she headed the first civilian-led government in decades.

According to the testimony of U Maung Weik, Aung San Suu Kyi is guilty of bribery and the anti-corruption commission is investigating to take action under anti-corruption laws. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Former President Dr Goodluck Jonathan has condoled with the government and people of Tanzania over the death of their President, John Magufuli.

Jonathan in a statement by his Special Adviser on media, Mr Ikechukwu Eze, in Abuja on Thursday described late Magufuli as a true patriot who did his best to advance his country.

He said Today, a bright star has been plucked from the African continent. President Magufuli of Tanzania was a man I knew quite well, due to my frequent visits to Tanzania for the advancement of democracy in Africa.

I found in him a true patriot who loved his country and did his best to steer the ship of state away from the brink and to the bank of the river of peace, progress and prosperity.

Jonathan noted that Tanzania had been blessed in the area of leadership and had enjoyed consistent stability because of men like Julius Nyerere and his worthy successors.

He expressed hope and prayed that the beautiful and determined nation would continue with the tradition.

He condoled with the family of the diseased, especially First Lady Janeth Magufuli, their children, as well as the government and people of Tanzania.

He prayed God to grant late Magufulis soul eternal rest and comfort the grieving nation.

My thoughts go out also to his party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi.

May God grant his soul repose, and may He comfort the grieving nation, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Maureen Ojinaka.

The prices of palm oil have gone down in major markets across Enugu metropolis, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

A market survey conducted by NAN on Thursday shows that the reduction in price is considerable when compared to the situation two months ago.

NAN reports that at Ogbete Main Market, Garki and Mayor markets, a 5-litre keg is now N3,600 against N5,000 two months ago.

A 70 cl bottle is now N500 down from N700 two months ago.

The survey also showed that a 20-litre jerry can of palm oil is sold between N13,500 and N14,500 against the old prices of N21,500 and N23,000 depending on its processing pattern and grade.

Palm oil dealers, who spoke with NAN at the various major markets, attributed the price reduction of the produce to the gradual commencement of the palm fruits season.

This has led to gradual production of the oil thereby, causing reduction in price of the commodity.

Mrs Ekwutosi Oko, a palm oil seller at Garki Market said that as at January, price was between N650 and N700 per 70cl bottle while 25-litre was sold between N26,000 and N28,000.

According to Maria Nwakwo, another seller at Ogbete Main Market, a 25-litre jerry can in major markets in the metropolis is sold between N15, 500 and N17, 000.

Nwakwo added that the price of the produce in the villages where most of the oil was produced stood at N13,500.

Mrs Ify Ochulugha, another palm oil seller at Top Land Market, expressed the hope that the price of the commodity would be further reduced as its abundant harvest season got closer.

I am hopeful that the price of palm oil will go down further, because during its mass harvesting season, many producers will be committed to its production this year, Ochulugha said.

A buyer at Mayor Market, Miss Esther Chibueze, said that the price was becoming affordable when compared to what it was two months ago.

Buying 70cl bottle of palm oil for N500 now, shows that many families can afford it, she added. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Felicia Imohimi

Stakeholders in the veterinary profession have called on the Federal Government to review legislation of veterinary practice to ensure effective animal healthcare delivery in the country.

The stakeholders, who made the call at the on-going Annual Leaders Summit of the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) on Thursday in Abuja, also urged the federal government to curtail rate of quackery.

The summit is themed: The future of the Veterinary Practice in Nigeria.

The stakeholders included the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), NVMA, Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) and Common Wealth Veterinary Medical Association.

The Director General of NAQS, Dr Vincent Isegbe, Chairman of the summit, who said that the profession was under serious attacks from quacks, suggested that some of its laws needed to be fine tune.

He added that fine tuning the laws was necessary in view of the current realities of veterinary profession.

Isegbe further encouraged veterinary professionals to look inward and acquire added value to meet up with current trend of veterinary practices.

I encourage us to look inward and begin to add values to ourselves.

The profession is under serious attacks from quacks, some of the legislation needs to be fine tuned in view of the current realities of veterinary profession.

So that the younger ones coming will find it comfortable to continue with the profession, he noted.

Dr Ibrahim Shehu, the Acting President of NVMA, who identified quackery as the major challenge in the countrys veterinary practice, described menace as posing great dangers in delivering quality animal healthcare services in the country.

Shehu specifically identified them as contributing to insurgence of antimicrobial resistance in the country thereby endangering the life of human.

According to him, they give wrong prescription of drugs thereby contributing to the current rate of antimicrobial resistance in the country.

A licensed veterinarian knows all the rules of prescription of antibiotics when is healthy for an animal to consume such drugs, which quacks are ignorant of, they do things unprofessionally.

He, however, attributed the rate of quacks in the profession to lack of amendment of veterinary laws to meet current realities in the practice.

Shehu listed some of the laws currently at the National Assembly that needed to be upgraded as the Veterinary Surgeons Act and Veterinary Hospitals, among others.

We have veterinary laws which some of them areoutdated but we have been pushing in NASS to get the new laws updated with the current realities in the veterinary practice.

We have the veterinary surgeons Act that has been in the Senate for concurrence, the veterinary hospitals and other different veterinary laws in NASS that needed to be amended to represent current realities in the practice.

If those laws are passed by the government it will further equip us as veterinarians to deliver quality veterinary care that we are all equip to deliver, he said.

On the theme, he said it was selected to educate them on the jobs they can get, where to get those jobs, where they can fit in different cadres of jobs in the country. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Naomi Sharang

The Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Mr Ojo Olatunde, has assured members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) of making their condition of service a priority.

Olatunde gave the assurance on Wednesday in Abuja at the inauguration of the Committee on the Implementation of the Condition of Service in the National Assembly.

Olatunde said that the management would do all within its power to ensure that members of staff of the national assembly get what is due to them.

He said You will agree with me that this historic meeting is actually called to demonstrate our passionate desire to make your Condition of Service (CoS) a continuous priority.

I want to make it clear and loud that we shall never rest in our desire to make all staff of the National Assembly a very important commodity always, because of the high value management p|aces on you.

This proactive dimension we have tailored out informed the Inauguration of the Committee on the Implementation on the Condition of Service which shall continuously be used within the National Assembly under our watch.

The CNA therefore tasked the committee to be committed to its terms of reference which include working out modalities towards further sustainable implementation of the condition of service and other related welfare matters

It also include to cost each of the allowances and present a feasible timetable for a staggered implementation.

Olatunde also advised the committee not to be used to foment unnecessary trouble, saying it will not augur well for the health of the National Assembly.

Chairman PASAN, National Assembly Chapter, Mr Sunday Sabiyi, said that the pending welfare issues of the association included non-payment of 22 months minimum wage arrears.

He called on the management for immediate implementation and payment of the arrears in order to address the plight of his members.

Sabiyi also called for the implementation of rent subsidy at 40% of Consolidated Annual Salary, hazard allowance at 5% of consolidated monthly salary, gratuity for every retiring staff and all pending promotion arrears. (NAN)

Source: NAN News