Christian Eriksens penalty on his 100th appearance for Denmark earned his side a 1-0 win over England in their Nations League clash at Wembley on Wednesday.

This was as the hosts played more than half the game with 10 men.

Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Eriksen powered his spot kick past Jordan Pickford in the 35th minute, a couple of minutes after England centre back Harry Maguire had received a red card for a second booking.

The closest an unfamiliar-looking England side came to an equaliser after the break was when Mason Mounts close-range header was superbly clawed away Kasper Schmeichel.

Harry Kane also had a late chance as the hosts pressed for an equaliser.

But defeat for Gareth Southgates England, who beat top-ranked Belgium at Wembley on Sunday, ended a nine-match streak of home wins spanning two years.

England slipped to third place in Group A2 which is now headed by Belgium with Denmark above England on goal difference. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

By Chijioke Okoronkwo

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the proposed Omnibus business reform bill is to institutionalise all the reforms for easy implementation and sustenance of business climate transformation efforts.

Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said that steady progress had been made in the transformation of Nigerias business climate over the years.

According to her, PEBEC will, in the coming weeks, boost the process of consolidating the gains recorded through the enactment of a new law that encompasses all the reforms into a single legislation.

After implementing several policies that helped in deepening reforms at both the national and sub-national levels, Nigerias rating on the global scale of ease of doing business improved in 2018 and 2019.

The successes were driven by the implementation of over 140 reforms by PEBEC between 2016 and 2019.

She said the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES), an arm of the presidency driving the reforms, in 2017, sought and got the approval of PEBEC to adopt an Omnibus Bill as a legislative reform tool for business climate reform.

Oduwole said that the EBES team had engaged with stakeholders across the legal and business community for their input.

She said EDES had interacted with the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA SBL), the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER).

Oduwole said EDES has also engaged other organised private sector stakeholders and members of the public at large.

The special adviser said the new bill, will among other things, amend some provisions of the present legislative framework that had been identied by stakeholders as bottlenecks for the business climate reforms.

She said that the new bill would introduce new provisions to accentuate business climate reforms; for instance, components of the Executive orders like One Government principle, Default Approval among others.

In Q4 2017, over 40 law rms from across the country supported an SBL Steering Committee pro bono to review and categorise the submissions received, which were then distilled into a document that formed the basis of the work of the drafting team from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that resulted in the earlier version of the draft bill prepared in 2018.

The bill is now being reopened for review and further input because a number of the provisions earlier included in the draft have been addressed by the Financial Act 2019 and Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020.

Just like a standard bill, Omnibus bills are formal proposals to change laws that are voted on by lawmakers and transmitted to the executive arm for nal approval.

The deference with Omnibus Bills is that they contain numerous smaller Bills, ostensibly on the same broad topic. For instance, an Omnibus Tax Bill may include changes on everything from income, corporate, and sales taxes, but all of those issues can t under the large umbrella of taxes, she said.

According to her, the Omnibus Bill aims to consolidate legislative provisions and has been used in several countries across the globe.

Oduwole said that the Eastern European country, Georgia, undertook such omnibus business climate legislation in 2005 when the country amended at least 30 parliamentary legislations all at once.

The presidential aide said that there was need to avoid a repeat of the controversies that greeted the CAMA Act 2020.

She said there was need for Nigerians across diverse fields especially business operators, lawyers and accountants, to leverage the ongoing process of drafting the new law.

Oduwole said that the deadline for the submission of inputs and suggestions had been fixed for Oct. 23. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

President Muhammadu Buhari

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Adamu, on his 50th birthday, praying for longer life, wisdom and strength as he reigns on the throne.

The president, in a statement by his Spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Wednesday, joined the people and government of Bauchi State, particularly the Emirate Council, in celebrating the golden age.

Buhari appreciated the Emir for always promoting civic responsibility in his domain, and supporting the government in sensitization of the populace on important issues, like the COVID-19 pandemic.

He believed that the Emirs dedication to charity and promotion of the values of tolerance, patience and civility would always be remembered.

The president maintained that Adamus efforts to inspire more youths to embrace knowledge and entrepreneurship deserve commendation.

He also greeted the family, friends and associates of Adamu on the auspicious occasion.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

AfCFTA

By Harrison Arubu

No fewer than 25 Trade and Economic Officers from 14 African countries have received a masterclass to boost their capacities in trade and investment facilitation.

Nazaru LLC, a U.S.-based services company, delivered the free online training ahead of the planned takeoff of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in January 2021.

An African Union Policy Officer was among the participants from Uganda, Egypt, Lesotho, Mauritania, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Togo, Mauritius, African Union, Namibia, Somalia, Mozambique, Algeria and Eswatini.

The recipients were drawn from institutions and organisations charged with facilitating adoption and implementation of the AfCFTA.

Topics covered included Market Access Development Strategies, Supply Chain Development and Sector Specific Export Strategy Development, Trade Monitoring and Trade Information, and Sector Specific Investment Promotion Framework.

The masterclass, according to the resource person and Chief Executive Officer of Nazaru, Ms Toyin Umesiri, is aimed at enhancing the participants capacities to effectively drive the AfCFTA.

Speaking at an AfCFTA roundtable she hosted days earlier, Umesiri, a Nigerian, said that there was a skill gap among stakeholders as regards the strategic vision of the trade pact.

A lot has been said about the AfCFTA, including its benefits and technicalities but one thing I have observed is a skill gap on how to personalise the agreement.

For everybody listening to me, the big question is now what does the agreement mean to you? What does that mean to your role and responsibility as a stakeholder?

For several years now, we have been bringing global stakeholders together and we are finding that that is not enough.

What we are seeing is that there is a skills gap of taking the strategic vision and implementing it.

That skill is what we need to maximise the AfCFTA for the industrialisation and development of Africa of the future, she said.

She noted that the trade pact would end as a pipe dream without the required human capital to effectively manage investment in the initiative.

Umesiri, who drives increased U.S. commercial interest in Africa, cited the somewhat failed African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

AGOA is a preferential trade policy enacted by the U.S. government since 2000 to open the countrys market to eligible Sub-Saharan African countries.

However, many African countries have not been able to take advantage of the opportunity due largely to their inability to navigate the non-tariff barriers, according to experts.

Umesiri said: We all know that eliminating tariff is one step, we also have non-tariff barriers, which is where the real work lies.

Coming together, partnering, improving our skills and collaborating are part of the things that will move us forward.

Along that line, we at Nazaru have made a commitment over the next one year to train our policy makers and business executives in terms of trade and investment facilitation.

We are now armed with information, we are armed with resources to know that the AfCTA is a game changer for the continent of Africa.

My challenge to everybody listening is what are you going to do? What role are you going to play in advancing the continent of Africa?, she asked.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

Economist urges speedy passage of proposed N13 trillion 2021 budget

By Simon Akoje

An Economist, Mr Moses Igbrude, has urged the National Assembly (NASS) to expedite the passage of the proposed N13.08 trillion 2021 budget, in order to revamp the downturn in the economy caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

Igbrude, the CEO of Ogu Investment, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday.

He spoke against the backdrop of President Muhammadu Buhari presenting the 2021 budget estimate to a joint session of the National Assembly (NASS) on Thursday Oct. 8, 2020.

The proposed expenditure is put at N13.08 trillion with a crude oil benchmark price of per barrel and daily oil production estimate of 1.86 million barrels (inclusive of condensates of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day).

According to Igbrude, the NASS must intensify the screening of the proposed budget in order to change the economic downturn worsened by the health pandemic.

He added that the 2021 proposed budget seemed promising but that the bane could be in its implementation.

Raising revenue to implement the 2021 proposed budget is one of the tough challenges that the government has to deal with.

Particularly now that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the decline of the price of crude oil in the international market, he told NAN.

He noted that the Buhari administration should be commended for initiating the proposed budget early to ensure the House of Assembly begins scrutiny on time.

He also suggested that since the proposed budget was in deficit, government should borrow to meet its competing needs.

Government needs to borrow from the local and international sources to execute the budget, thereby incurring more debt.

However, borrowing and being in debt to fix critical infrastructure is almost unavoidable because of the tough economic times, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Turkish customs enforcement teams seized 420 kilogrammes of drugs valued million at Turkeys biggest Istanbul Airport, local media reported on Thursday.

During a series of operations, the units seized a Khat-type drug in six bags which belonged to two travellers.

These bags were detected inside a vehicle at the parking zone of the airport, the Demiroren news agency said.

The Police also found a remarkable amount of Khat inside a package declared as a textile item coming from Nigeria to be sent to the United States via Istanbul.

At a separate operation, the Police caught six kilogrammes of cocaine inside a suitcase of a passenger, who was checked by an x-ray device and narcotic detector dog.

A total of nine suspects have been detained in operations, according to Demiroren.

Source: NAN News

Nine more Indonesian doctors have died of COVID-19, bringing the death toll of doctors from COVID-19 to 136.

The Indonesian Medical Association said on Thursday.

This is a crisis situation in health services.

The number of medical personnel who have died continues to grow and is increasingly worrying, said Ari Kusuma, deputy chairman of the associations mitigation team.

The majority of doctors who died came from East Java (32 doctors), followed by North Sumatra (23), Jakarta (19), and West Java (12). (Xinhua/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Youth rally in support of Police

The FCT Security Committee says due to the dangers posed by COVID-19, all street demonstrations, protests and processions will not be allowed anywhere within the territory.

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello made this known in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Anthony Ogunleye, on Thursday in Abuja.

Bello explained that the ban on all forms of protests was part of the resolution of the routine security meeting held on Tuesday Oct. 13, 2020.

He said the objective of the meeting was to review the security situation in FCT, with a view to address identified challenges.

The minister who chaired the meeting said it was attended by heads of the various security agencies, military formations, senior members of staff of the FCTA, representatives of religious and traditional institutions and Chairmen of Area Councils.

He said that the committee noted with satisfaction the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to disband the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) as well as other reforms aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the Nigerian police.

Bello also said that the meeting noted that in response to the directive of the President and the yearnings of the Nigerian people, the IGP has dissolved the SARS across the 36 State Police Commands and the FCT where they hitherto existed.

The minister, however, said that the committee noted with concern that inspite of the pronouncement by the IGP scrapping the FSARS, the #ENDSARS protests continued in parts of the territory.

According to him, the protesters caused inconveniences to law abiding citizens.

While the committee recognises the rights of citizens as regards freedom of association and movement as enshrined in the constitution.

It has observed that the unruly conduct of the crowd and manner of demonstrations are in complete violation of the COVID-19 safety protocols which were put in place to safeguard the lives of citizens.

These violations endanger the lives of not just the demonstrators, but also other citizens going about their legitimate concerns.

For the avoidance of doubt, the COVID-19 guidelines regulating public gatherings recommend physical distancing, temperature checks, the use of facial coverings, among others.

Clearly all these guidelines were flouted by the protesters.

Consequently, the Committee directs that due to the dangers posed by COVID-19, all street demonstrations, protests and processions will not be allowed anywhere within the FCT, Bello said.

The minister reiterated the commitment of the FCT Administration to ensure that all residents are safe, secure and able to go about their lawful businesses without fear of intimidation or harassment.

Source: NAN News

National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)

By Emmanuel Afonne

A professor of Laweh Open University, Ghana, Goski Alabi, has called on African leaders to invest in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) education with a view to making it centre of learning not only in Africa but the world over.

Alabi made the call in a lecture she delivered entitled: Agenda for Making Africa Take Leadership Position in ODL, at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) virtual training for the academic staff of the institution for improved academic quality for effective service delivery.

It is paramount for the African Open Universities to place greater premium on Relevance and Acceptability.

They must learn to invest in ODL, with a view to making it take the leadership not only in Africa but the world over.

Also speaking, the universitys Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof. Abdalla Adamu, said the three-week training, which took place on the Zoom platform, was moderated by the Chairman of the NOUN Governing Council, Prof Peter Okebukola, who served as Facilitator-General of the event.

The training is entitled: Setting Up a Learning Management System and Implementing an Online Course on Moodle Platform was convened following a survey on the needs of academic staff by a sub-committee of the universitys Governing Council.

Adamu said the university had undertaken a series of reforms and complied with the approved standards of ODL teaching across the globe over the last four and a half years of his administration.

While urging policy makers to begin to view education beyond its conventional confines, Adamu congratulated the participants for having gone through the intensive training and passing with great results.

A total of 158 participants that included members of the Governing Council, Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, Deans, H.O.Ds, professors and academic staff from all study centres, participated in the intensive training.

Okebukola said that 73 participants got distinction, 23 secured credits, eight got pass and others ended up with an honourable mention at the end of the virtual training.

The Council and Senate of the university has deemed it pertinent to set up a process that will lead to a significant improvement in the delivery of best ODL education.

Now that COVID-19 is whining down, state governments and universities are looking for teachers in the field of ODL, which the training will equip NOUN staff to be the master trainers in the current demand of experts.

Our VC who delivered a remark at the virtual ceremony, said there had been a paradigm shift in the delivery of ODL education not only in Nigeria but world over, which was necessitated by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the courses delivered during the training included Overview of Learning Management Systems by Distinguished Prof. Okebukola, Overview of ODL and Online Learning by Prof. Abdalla Adamu, and Content Delivery in ODL by Prof. Patrick Eya.

Other topics were: Writing Quality Notes for the Distant Learner by Prof. Mercy Ogunsola Bandele, Learner Support Service in ODL by Prof. Gregory Okagbare, Downloading MOODLE by Dr Adewale Adesina, and Key Elements of Instructional Design by Dr Lukman Bello, among others. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Sen. Stella Odua

By Kingsley Okoye

Sen. Stella Oduah (PDP Anambra North), on Thursday at plenary called for the provision of an intervention fund to prevent the trend of perennial flood and mitigation of climate change in the country.

Oduah, made the call on Thursday, having cited order 43 of the Senate standing rules, which calls for personal explanation.

Oduah in her submission noted that there had been a horrible experience of flooding by citizens in the South East Geo-Political zone and other parts of the country.

She said: My zone has had horrible experience and that experience is flood, this flood came to its worst in 2012.

According to her there is an urgent need to establish an intervention fund for flood prevention and victims relief to mitigate the devastating effect of climate change, rising sea and water level in coastal and flood prone areas of Nigeria .

Oduah said a motion on intervention on flood was brought to the floor of the Senate recently.

She, however, said her current motion was hinged on the need to prevent flood in Nigeria.

In 2012 there was a study conducted by United Nations (UN), the study clearly stated that there is need to have preventive measures, in regard to this, the United UN invested 1.4 million dollars for the study and came out with several measures, if put in place will stop the flood to a reasonable measure, Oduah said.

She said her motion was aimed at addressing the need to have preventive measures, noting that the preventive measures requires intervention fund.

She said the provision of the intervention fund would help take care of the victims and prevent the flood itself.

This motion has a bill that is very encompassing and so the detail, I intend to submit, Oduah said.

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan his remark on the motion, thanked Oduah for presenting the motion.

Lawan said the motion which was not open to debate was design to inform the authority.

Let me at this point say that, I agree with you that we need to have resources to not only try to prevent but to undertake studies because, we even need to have scientific supported approaches rather than just reacting in fire brigade approaches .

We should identify those flood prone areas and, while they get flooded and how we can mitigate the flooding and that requires some fund.

I believe, this is a worthwhile venture and it is something that government should do to ensure that this perennial flooding is minimised or controlled completely, Lawan said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News