9.5m Nigerians use *894# USSD says FirstBank - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), *894# powered by the First Bank Nigeria, for quick banking service has hit over 9.5 million customers mark, reports ITREALMS.

This, the bank also disclosed to ITREALMS is in clear demonstration of its acknowledged leadership in electronic Banking. 

ITREALMS gathered that the bank’s USSD offering was launched in January 2015, and has been largely an easy to use, convenient, fast, user-friendly mobile banking channel through which various banking activities are carried out on a mobile phone, across the four major GSM network operators in the country – without the use of the internet.

Customers are able to enjoy a wide range of banking services using the Bank’s *894# USSD banking. These services include; Data and Airtime top-up for self and third-party individuals, Quick Balance Enquiry, Fund Transfers, BVN Enquiry, BVN Linkage, Mini-statement, Account Number Enquiry, Account Opening, Merchant Payment and FirstAdvance loan service. The FirstAdvance loan service enables salary earners to take a loan up to 50% of their monthly salary.

In the words of Chuma Ezirim, FirstBank’s Group Executive, e-Business & Retail Products, 

“At FirstBank, we are excited about the impact our innovative solutions are making in the Nigerian payment landscape. Our *894# USSD banking has been a viable platform through which we take our banking services to the doorstep of our customers, right on the palm of their hands, without the limitation of an internet connection. We remain committed to creating various avenues to enable Nigerians carry-out various financial activities conveniently, safely and securely anytime, anywhere in Nigeria,” he said.

Chuks Egbune/DoP

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COVID-19: Lagos Assembly applauds Sanwo-Olu, issues clarification - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Lagos State House of Assembly has applauded Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his team in the fight against the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, describing it as worthwhile, reports ITREALMS.

The House, which commended the Executive Arm for its cooperation and unity of purpose, said at this this period of a major health crisis, it can only take a passionate person like the Governor, with the needed support of the state's lawmakers, to keep things running.

This support, the House said, had necessitated the introduction of the Coronavirus Pandemic Emergency Law, 2020, by the Lagos Assembly with the aim of giving the Governor the power to carry out some functions in this case.

The House, however, discredited the report in some sections of the media which gave the impression that it had asked Governor Sanwo-Olu to account for the COVID-19 funds donated to the state by kind individuals and organisations.

It said it had not concluded on the report of its Committee on Health concerning the observations raised by the Executive in relation to the bill but only debated some of the issues raised.

"There were no conclusions or decisions reached by the lawmakers at the sitting on Thursday, May 7, 2020," the statement said.

Hon. Tunde Braimoh, Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Security and Strategy, said in a statement on Saturday that the House never particularly asked the Governor to start accounting for the donations as reported, especially at a time when the challenge is still being tackled.

The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, had, during the sitting, explained that the Governor cannot be invited by a Committee in the event of the need for clarifications post-COVID-19 pandemic.

He thus opined that to avoid a sort of friction between the Legislature and the Executive, the position of a co-chairman should be introduced in the bill.

"Looking at the situation at hand where it might be difficult to follow every letter of the constitution, there is the need for us to set aside a fund for the governor to expend in this situation," Speaker Obasa had said.

It is noteworthy that the bill grants the Governor some powers which eases his access to funds for the emergency situation.

It also gives him power to make proclamations where necessary.

Ayo Midele/Editor

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Amotekun Corps’ in Ekiti to collaborate with security agencies - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has assured that the state branch of the Amotekun Corps would collaborate with all the security agencies, reports ITREALMS.

This, he said, would offer residents adequate security during and beyond the pandemic.

Dr Fayemi who stated this during the inaugural meeting of the governing board of the newly established Ekiti State Security Network (Amotekun Corps) in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday said his administration would continue to collaborate with the police and other security agencies to ensure adequate training of Ekiti indigenes to police the various communities.

The Governor said he was dissatisfied with the way hoodlums are taking over the forests and communities, urging the security network to go all out at ensuring that every part of the state was safe for all residents.

He asserted that the state would continue to collaborate with other states in the southwest region to share intelligence and ideas to ensure that bandits are not allowed to infiltrate the state borders noting that crimes don’t recognize boundaries.

Governor Fayemi said: “And as governors in the southwest, this was what led to our decision to set up the security network agency on a state by state basis but coordinating and collaborating with one another because crimes don’t recognize boundaries and because of that, we need to share intelligence, ideas and work together in order to ensure that whatever we do at the state level is effective and efficient and its collaborative with other stakeholders.”

“We know and we all are very concerned with the security situation in our country, the primary responsibility of any government is the security and welfare of its citizens.

“The idea of course is that security is about people and it should be driven by people, the citizens themselves are the best providers of security because they have information about what is going on in their environment and if they are alive and attentive to it, they would be able to respond effectively to whatever challenges that may arise.”

Dr Fayemi, who noted that the board consists of people who had wide experience in the security architecture representing critical stakeholders alongside the traditional security outfits like the police, State Security Service, NCDC and others.

The Governor explained that the meeting was not a formal inauguration, but a meeting called to rub minds together with the stakeholders pending the time the structure would be formalized with the endorsement and clearance of the state House of Assembly.

“It is important for those that have been appointed and those that have been asked to serve on the board to at least get to know one another and familiarize themselves with our mainstream members and leaders of the security agencies who are also going to be critical stakeholders in this process.

“At the time we were doing this, the Nigeria Police also commenced what we considered to be a critical compliment of this exercise with the launch of the community policing arrangement of the Nigerian police, and the first batch of officers that have been trained who are from our state have now come back and would be deployed to their various local government working alongside those that are eventually going to be recruited and deployed to the local government areas by the security network agency that is being created, that way some of the things that we have had to deal with would be effectively curbed.

The governor stated that the independent complaints agency that the state also put in place alongside the board was to address a legitimate concern of the populace that security apparatus might be hijacked by the political party in office to foment trouble or used to settle political issues.

“The uniqueness of this agency is the independent complaints board, because one of the legitimate concern that people are already expressing about the security network agency is that it may either be an extension of the political party in office or it may be used illegally against those who are perceived not to be in the good books of the government of the day.

Earlier, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Wale Fapohunda said the board was set up in accordance with Section 4 of the Ekiti State Security Network Agency Law of 2020 that there shall be established for the agency a governing board which shall comprise of a chairman who shall be a person of proven integrity with cognate experience in security matters.

The board, according to the Attorney General shall also comprise of the Commissioner of Police, Director of the State Security Services, Commandant of NSCDC, the executive secretary, Ekiti State Security Trust Fund, one representative from the business community, chairman, Ekiti state council of traditional rulers among others.

Members of the governing board led by its chairman, Mr Akin Aregbesola pledged their unflinching support to the efforts of Governor Fayemi at ensuring security of lives and properties of the residents of the state and assured the government that they would all bring their experiences to bear at ensuring a crime free Ekiti State.

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Tinubu commiserates with Buhari, Mamman Daura over nephew’s death - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

All Progressives Congress National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has commiserated with President Muhammadu Buhari over the death of his nephew, Alhaji Mutari Dauda, who is also Mallam Mamman Daura’s younger brother, reports ITREALMS.

The APC leader also condoled with Mamman Daura, the extended family and the entire Daura Community in Katsina State over the passing.

In a condolence message issued on Friday by his Media Office and signed by Mr. Tunde Rahman, Asiwaju Tinubu said: “I would like to commiserate with President Muhammadu Buhari over the passing yesterday of his nephew, Alhaji Mutari Dauda, who is also Mallam Mamman Daura’s younger brother.

“May Allah SWT forgive Alhaji Dauda his sins, show mercy on him and grant him Aljanna Firdaus. May Almighty Allah also comfort the family that he left behind.

“My condolences also to Mallam Mamman Daura, the extended family, the entire Daura Community and indeed the government and people of Katsina State over this loss. I beseech Allah to stand by all of them at this moment (Amin).”

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COVID-19 Coverage: Journalists safety needs attention says survey - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Journalists covering the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria have said they lack sufficient personal protection equipment and are not adequately catered for, reports ITREALMS.

A survey conducted by a group of media and civil society groups and made available to ITREALMS, between April 27 and May 1 this year “to assess the support available to journalists for their safety in covering the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria”.

ITREALMS gathered that the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), Enough-is-Enough (EiENigeria), International Press Centre (IPC), the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), commissioned the survey following perceptions that journalists were being exposed to danger in the course of covering the pandemic.

A total of 463 male and female journalists participated in the survey. They included correspondents, reporters, editors, freelancers and presenters from 73 print, broadcast and online media across 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Of the 463 respondents, 65 per cent said their employers had not provided them with any support during assignment while only 35 per cent said they had been provided with some form of support.

The survey revealed that the topmost needs of journalists covering the Covid-19 pandemic are:

• Additional allowance separate from salary and payment of outstanding salaries by owing employers;
• Special Covid-19 coverage insurance package
• Specialized training on COVID-19 reporting;
• Provision of face masks; and
• Provision of specialized personal protective equipment to enable social distancing while on the field.

The Executive Director, IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, who spoke on behalf of the conveners, noted that they were concerned about the poor attention to the safety and welfare of journalists covering the pandemic as revealed by the survey, hence they called on media owners and managers to:

· Widen the scope of their support to ensure that reporters on the field are adequately insured and financially empowered while those owing salaries should have them paid;

· Establish workplace policy and follow the same to equip their journalists with specialized and personal protective equipment including for observation of social distancing while on the field;

· Provide training to journalists on how to crowd source information for their stories without having to necessarily go to the field; and

· Explore technological options for interviews while in-house infrastructure should be put in place to ensure the safety of employees and guests (particularly for broadcast media) in line with the safety advisory of the government and health authorities.

They also enjoined freelance journalists to take advantage of reporting grants and other opportunities to procure personal protective equipment while covering the pandemic.

The six organizations also charged media development, civil society groups and other stakeholders to lead campaigns and advocacies for the safety of and support for journalists covering the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ayo Midele/Editor

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Confirmed: NUJ President, Customs DC for JIFORM virtual session - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chief Chris Isiguzo and the National Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Customs Service, Deputy Comptroller, Joseph Attah have been confirmed to feature on the virtual session of the Journalists International Forum For Migration, JIFORM on Saturday May 9, 2020, reports ITREALMS.

The activity is part of international media engagement of the body aimed at furthering synergy, boosting of media capacity and understanding of the global economy.

The media virtual parley, according to the President/ Executive Director of JIFORM, Ajibola Abayomi, is billed for Saturday, May 9 2020 by 11:30am on the group's WhatsApp platform with over 150 journalists across the continents focusing on migration reporting.

The NUJ President is to deliver a keynote address on Management of National Security: The Role of Media while DC Attah will make a presentation on Border Management and Trade Facilitation.

The online programme is a continuation of JIFORM's engagement with the leading agencies across the globe on migration related issues.

In April, the media foundation had online summits with participation from the International Organistion for Migration, (IOM) arms of Gambia and Nigeria, Zimbabwe Editors Forum, Malawi Police Authority, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP). 

Ayo Midele/Editor
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Universal Acceptance to ensure all domains, email addresses are equal says Akanho - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Beninese Universal Acceptance Ambassador, Mr. Yazid Akanho has declared that the principle of Universal Acceptance (UA) is to ensure that all domain names and electronic mail (email) addresses are treated fairly, reports ITREALMS.

Akanho who spoke recently to the Internationalised Domain Names (IDN) in its World Report, noted that this core value will avail all equipment, systems and applications to accept, validate, register, process and display them correctly and consistently.

He also said that the overall awareness of Universal Acceptance, especially among the technical community is low, noting that sometimes, one sees how frustrated and surprised people are when they discover the issues for the first time.

“That is why the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG) was set up to fill this gap,” he said.

He urged stakeholders to get involved, declaring “… Each one has a role in successfully making the Internet and our information systems UA ready: governments, software designers and publishers, developers, system administrators, and managers among others.”

In addition, he lamented that some of the Internet’s technical giants are not UA ready, whereas billions of people are using their services every day, stressing that there are many people who have their email addresses reject simply because they were not well processed.

He emphasized that each of the stakeholders has specific role to play, and its not always easy to maintain a level of commitment to meet this challenge.

“Fortunately, there are encouraging signs, with local initiatives starting to show good results,” he said.

Remmy Nweke/DoP
 

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Asoko, UK DIT extend digital DealRoom platform after pilot - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The United Kingdom (UK) government's Department for International Trade (DIT) Africa, and Asoko Insight have extended the DealRoom platform for the next six months, reports ITREALMS.

This, ITREALMS gathered will enable UK investors and businesses to match fund-seeking African corporates for the latest duration.

The extension of the DealRoom underscores its initial success and the commitment of the UK government to continue to advance its objective of mobilising new and substantial investment on the continent.

Since its launch in January, the DealRoom has published over 40 opportunities from high-growth African firms and facilitated 34 matches with UK-based investors for further discussion. Asoko’s rigorous qualification process enables investors to skip the initial and often time-consuming pre-screening stages of deal making, moving more swiftly to inking deals that support their bottom lines and bring much needed capital to high-potential companies.

With COVID-19 disrupting business as usual, the DealRoom’s digital approach to deal facilitation has become a crucial innovation, enabling connections in a self-isolating world and adding speed to deal origination when we have no time to lose. As we take the platform forward, critical sectors like healthcare, agriculture and logistics will be prioritised, helping investors to locate opportunities and ensuring that Africa’s private sector can effectively support the economic response to the pandemic.

Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner for Africa at the DIT, Emma Wade-Smith OBE, said:

“The volume of interest and qualified deals which have materialised over the past three months is a testament to the utility of the platform in connecting investment demand and supply at distance. With enormous challenges ahead for our economies, it is more important than ever that we can enable and support these online business connections, to ensure that UK investors can continue to support business growth in Africa. It makes good business sense to extend the availability of the DealRoom platform by an additional six months to maximise the opportunities to link bankable projects in Africa to the UK investment sector which would not otherwise have the opportunity to connect with each other.”

Rob Withagen, Co-founder and CEO of Asoko Insight, said “In these challenging times, we’re proud to facilitate easier connections between fundseekers and investors. We’re confident that the savings generated by centralising outreach and due diligence in initial deal origination stages will help get capital to where it is needed and maintain the UK’s ambition to be a strong and supportive partner to Africa.”

The DIT DealRoom is open to investors with a UK presence or UK-based financial backers. Asoko’s digital concierge service will be presenting a range of opportunities over the coming months to connect worldwide investors, corporates and governments with Africa’s private sector.

Chuks Egbune/DoP

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African leaders applauds AfDB over $26m commitment to disease control - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

African heads of governments have lauded the visionary leaderships of the African Development Bank in efforts to curb COVID-19 crisis, especially with commitment of $26m for the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), reports ITREALMS.

The South Africa’s President and African Union chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa and the Nobel peace laureate and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have commended Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), for his visionary leadership and bold initiatives to accelerate Africa’s development and to support the continent through the COVID-19 crisis.

President Ramaphosa expressed appreciation for the Bank’s commitment of $26 million for the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, its support in the procurement of critical medical supplies in Africa, and the financial instruments the Bank has provided to assist member countries through the pandemic.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently launched a $3 billion “Fight COVID-19” social bond, with bids exceeding $4.6 billion. It is the largest dollar-denominated social bond ever launched in international capital markets and the largest US dollar benchmark ever issued by the Bank. The Bank also launched a $10 billion Crisis Response Facility to support Africa and to address the pandemic.

Through these initiatives, the Bank is poised to deploy funds to provide African governments and the private sector with access to financing to reduce the economic and social impacts of COVID-19.

“I commend the AfDB for taking these bold initiatives and for the role played by the AfDB under your leadership during this challenging period,” President Ramaphosa, also the current chair of the African Union, said in a written message of support to Dr. Adesina.

Echoing President Ramaphosa’s statement, President Sirleaf said: “The leaders of Africa, and I dare say the world, have recognized the important changes that you have made in the Bank – reorganization of management and restructuring of Bank operations around the High 5s that represent a response to Africa’s more critical development needs.”

Acknowledging the Bank’s highest ever capital replenishment last year, President Sirleaf added: “Take heart, dear President, knowing that Africa respects your intellect and commitment and is pleased that through your leadership our premier institution has received worldwide acknowledgement and recognition for high-quality performance and impacting results.”

Under Adesina’s leadership, the African Development Bank has centered its mission around its “High 5” development priorities: Light Up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.

The Bank’s shareholders in 2019 approved a landmark general capital increase of $115 billion, the largest in the Bank’s history, increasing its capital base to $208 billion.


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MRA tasks FG on release of kidnapped radio presenter - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) today condemned Monday’s abduction of Ms Chinenye Iwuoha, a presenter with the Pacesetter FM station of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) in Umuahia, Abia State, by gunmen and called on the Federal Government and its law enforcement agencies to take urgent action to ensure the safety of the journalist and secure her release.

Ms. Iwuoha was reportedly kidnapped by gunmen at about 7pm on May 4 on her way home from work. She was reported to have been traveling in a vehicle with the station’s general manager and the other employees when they were attacked by the gunmen who then abducted Ms Iwuoha. The gunmen are reported to have later made a ransom demand to the station for the payment of N20 million for the release of the presenter.

In a statement in Lagos, Mr Ayode Longe, MRA’s Director of Programmes, reminded the Federal Government that although it had a duty to ensure the security of all citizens, where media practitioners are concerned, it has a heightened responsibility to protect them as they are performing an essential function in the interest of the society as mandated by the Constitution.

Besides, Mr. Longe said, the Government also has an obligation under international instruments which it has voluntary acceded to, to provide a safe and conducive environment for journalists and other media workers to carry out their work as well as to ensure their safety.

He noted that there has been a recent upsurge in attacks against journalists and other media workers in Nigeria by public office holders, law enforcement and security agents as well as non-state actors, saying that any failure on the part of the Government to act decisively in the case of Ms Iwuoha would likely embolden other groups and individuals who would thereby be tempted to think that they can get away with such attacks.

Mr. Longe the Government to ensure that perpetrators of the attack on Ms Iwouha are apprehended and brought to justice in order to send a strong message to criminal elements in the society as well as other actors who seek to harm journalists as a means of silencing them that there will be no impunity for such acts.

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IRENA, ESCAP in joint forces on crisis response - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has joined forces with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to improve access to sustainable energy, bolstering the Asia-Pacific region’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports ITREALMS.

The two organisations, ITREALMS gathered will offer recommendations to governments in the region positioning the energy transition as an integral part of the immediate response to the crisis and medium to long-term recovery efforts.

Asia-Pacific, home to half of the world’s population, is largely dependent on fossil fuels. Diesel, for instance, fuels the majority of the region’s off-grid electricity needs. 

According to ESCAP, 200 million people in the Asia Pacific region live without electricity and 1.2 billion people without access to clean cooking fuel. Joint efforts will focus on developing sustainable energy policies that are closely integrated with health and industrial development policies to bolster recovery efforts and rebuild economies.

“The pandemic is an opportunity for us to rethink our economic growth path that has come at a heavy cost to the people and planet,” said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP. 

“To bring about a fundamental shift for the energy transition, we need to adopt the motto of ‘no more business as usual’ for all stakeholders. Policymakers should not lose sight of the looming climate crisis, but rather design economic stimulus packages with social inclusion and environmental sustainability built into every decision in particular sustainable energy development.”

“We are living in truly unprecedented times, calling for decisive and cooperative action among the international community to save lives and support livelihoods all over the world,” said IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera. 

“The Asia-Pacific region faces unique energy challenges that undermine the ability of governments to respond to this crisis and build economic resilience. Renewables can underpin these efforts and therefore can play an instrumental role in both the response and the recovery.”

With national budgets strained by immediate COVID-19 needs, short to medium-term energy access investment may represent less of a priority for governments. However, underinvestment in this area could severely impact the capacity of rural health centres to support front-line health workers and provide essential services to COVID-19 patients. When a vaccine does become available, the provision of cold storage and refrigerated transport across large areas will be critical. Decentralized renewable energy technologies such as solar will be key for large-scale immunization efforts in developing countries.

Furthermore, slow progress in mainstreaming clean cooking solutions may expose millions of people to the dangerous combination of particulates and COVID-19. Scientists are already investigating links between air pollution and higher levels of coronavirus mortality, with preliminary results showing a probable correlation between the two.

Renewables can be deployed rapidly and are therefore well-placed to support immediate crisis response efforts including electrification of public health value chains. In the medium to long-term, renewables-based energy systems can also be an engine of sustainable growth. Renewable energy costs in many parts of the world now outcompete traditional energy sources, presenting cost saving opportunities for governments and consumers while boosting energy security, building energy independence and supporting climate-related nationally determined contributions.

According to IRENA’s recently launched Global Renewables Outlook report, renewables can supply more than half of all power needs in Southeast Asia alone by 2030, boosting the regional economy by more than 4.4 per cent and growing jobs by close to 50 per cent in the process. 

In a recent COVID-19 policy report for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP identified renewable energy as one of the main sectors to include in stimulus packages.

During the 10th IRENA Assembly last January, ESCAP and IRENA signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to increase the uptake of renewable energy in the Asia-Pacific region, support the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and contribute to the achievement of SDG7 by 2030.

Nenye Dom/Editor

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Boko Haram: Nigeria's female combat pilots go to war - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS:

Flight Lieutenant Kafayat Sanni and her peers of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), are living their dreams as Nigeria's first female fighter pilots; even as she readies to go and kick asses of some Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) terrorists in the North East.

The essence of this epochal assignment should not be lost on us; because this mission is a policy milestone that took years of sacrifice, especially on the part of their predecessors, whose unfulfilled professional goals were galvanised to break the hitherto ironclad gender barrier against female officers in the Nigerian military. She and her pioneering colleagues will forever be remembered with nostalgia that once upon a time in the nation's history, Nigerian military female Pilots delivered a payloads of hellfire missiles against the insurgents who have degraded women as a sex object to be kidnapped and held in captivity. But with these female pilots joining the battlefield, is it not time to turn the tables on the insurgents?


Why do we think and expect so?
It is often written that whatever a man can do, a woman can even do better. Nevertheless, this axiom remained elusive in the combat history of the Nigerian Armed Forces until President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 authorised for the training of female officers on combat missions through admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). Expectedly, this helped to produce a set of 20 female cadets nicknamed 'Jonathan Queens' who were admitted into Nigeria's premier military training institution.

Unfortunately, this huge career leap for female officers and personnel was almost ruined in 2017 when President Muhammadu Buhari in a policy reversal reportedly gave a nod to end the admission of female cadets into the combatant course of the NDA. Buhari and Nigerian military authorities, allegedly came under pressure from some vested interests in the Northern part of Nigeria who were opposed to the idea of female combatants, and ratified that in the National Defence Policy 2017 (Revised); Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service Officers 2017. Consequently, the recommendation 19 of that revised policy was to phase out the training of female combatants in the NDA.

Even though some military sources cited the unacceptable danger and casualties of the female combatants, especially the ground forces, may incur at the hands of the insurgents in the Northeast as the reason for halting the programme, it was however, a major career blow.

Fortunately, there were other routes through which this all important mission for gender equality in the military could be achieved as there were various types of commissions in the Armed Forces namely: Regular Combatant Commission, Short Service Combatant Commission, Direct Regular Commission, Direct Short Service and Executive Commission. It was these veritable loopholes that have enabled the NAF to encourage the training and eventual winging of female pilot combatants that have passed with flying colours.

Therefore, as Sanni and other combat female Pilots have embarked on this national assignment against the terrorists in the North East and any other part of the country as the need arises, they have indeed pioneered a patriotic professional revolution for gender parity in the Armed Forces of Nigeria for generations to come. This is all thanks to the former President Jonathan as well as the gender sensitivity of the incumbent Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

Since assumption of office, the Air Chief Abubakar, has made it a point of legacy mission to upgrade the professionalism and career of female officers in the Nigerian Air Force including churning out of well trained, able and capable combat pilots. To this end, his mission is being accomplished as well as commendably remarkable.

In line with this policy trend, Abubakar had on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, winged another female combat pilot as part of his mission to improve the operational capacity of the Air Force, adding that the 12 pilots winged had their flying training both in Nigeria and abroad having completed the nine months comprehensive flying training programme.

“I am happy that we have among the 12 winged was the second ever female helicopter pilot”, he added, before disclosing that another 26 student pilots are currently undergoing or scheduled to begin basic flying training abroad, out of which two are female officers.

“Upon completion of their training, one would become the second ever female fixed-wing fighter pilot in the NAF, while the other would graduate as the first ever female Qualified Flight Instructor (QFI) in the 56 years history of the Service. We have equally increased capacity for in-country flying training. At the moment, there are also 39 student pilots undergoing various stages of training in NAF flying schools”, he stressed.

It will be apt to recall that the NAF on October 15, 2019, made history by decorating Flying Officer Kafayat Sanni, as the first female combat helicopter pilot as well as Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, and others also known as the "NAF Female Pilots of War'. They are among the six outstanding female fighter pilots who are at the moment, proving their worth in the destruction of a strongholds of the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists in the North East part of the country.

According to reports by PRNigeria and Global Sentinel, some of them are actively involved in degrading the enclaves of terrorists and bandits, especially in North-Eastern Nigeria. While flying Officer Genevieve Nwaogwugwu, Flight Lieutenant Chika Ani, and Flying Officer Olubunmi Ijelu are Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) pilots, Flying Officer Sanni and Flying Officer Arotile are fighter pilots currently serving to restore peace in the region ravaged by insurgency. Flight Lieutenant Blessing Liman is a respected Pilot in the Presidential Air Wing.

Commending this feat, the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information (DOPRI), Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, saluted all the women for what he described as their unique resilience, industry, productivity and commitment to humanity.

According to Daramola, the well trained and adequately equipped Women-of-War are proving their combat bravery and professional gallantry in complementing the efforts of troops in counter-insurgency campaigns and other crisis zones in the country.

He also revealed that the newly winged female helicopter pilot, Flying Officer Chinelo Nwokoye, "is expected to join other female pilots who are currently deployed in different theatres of operation in the country to contribute her quota in the defence of her fatherland".

Accordingly, with female fighter pilots swelling their ranks with skills, finesse and new perspectives, it would be safe to say that the Nigerian women in General and NAF female officers in particular, have come of age.
This was also acknowledged by the Chief of Training and Operations (CTOP), Air Vice Marshal James Gwani, who noted that the winging of the 12 pilots including the female combat officers, was another milestone achievement by the current NAF administration.

This, he said, would further boost the aircrew disposition of the Service and contribute to fulfilling the constitutional roles of the NAF especially in the series of ongoing air operations across the country. There is no doubt about this because as the saying goes: "the female can even do better".

*Contributed by Senator Iroegbu, a media practitioner, security and public affairs analyst. He can be reached on senator.iroegbu@yahoo.co.

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AfDB approves €40m grants for bridge linking Cameroon, Chad - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved grants worth €40.94 million for the construction of a bridge to connect Cameroon and Chad across the Logone river, reports ITREALMS.

The grants, comprising a €20.785 million tranche for Cameroon and €19.215 million for Chad, were approved on 30 April 2020. The facility is from the Investment Facility for Africa under a framework agreement between the Bank Group and the European Commission.

The funds will co-finance the costs of construction of the bridge between Yagoua in Cameroon and Bongor in Chad, access roads and feasibility studies, management said in a report to the Board.

The bridge, once completed, is expected to bolster bilateral and sub-regional integration and cross-border trade, safeguard life and property during the river crossing and boost socio-cultural ties between the two countries.

“Specifically, the project aims to promote interstate trade, particularly between Cameroon and Chad, reduce travel time and transportation costs, and improve accessibility of basic services by nearby communities,” the report noted.

In addition to the Logone river bridge, other projects under the Pillar Assessed Grant or Delegation Agreement (PAGODA) include the rehabilitation of the Lome-Cotonou road, road development and transport facilitation on the Bamako-San Pedro corridor between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire and the rehabilitation of the CU2a community road section in Burkina Faso near the border with Niger.

The Bank and the European Commission are committed to co-financing development projects that tackle poverty by investing in critical infrastructure to promote seamless connectivity of transport, energy and ICT.


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COVID-19 testing: Shell boosts Rivers State with PCR machines, ventilators - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Rivers State is now set to start testing for COVID-19 in Port Harcourt with the receipt of the state’s first set of testing equipment from the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) among many other medical hardware and consumables presented to the state governor, Chief Nyesom Wike on Wednesday.

SPDC’s Managing Director and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, who presented two Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machines, the main testing equipment, ventilators and other medical items at the government house in Port Harcourt, said SPDC and its joint venture partners were committed to supporting the state to stop the spread of COVID-19 or any disease outbreak in the state.

Okunbor, who was represented by the Deputy Managing Director of SPDC, Simon Roddy, said, “While we remain committed to supporting the state government to deepen its efforts at managing the pandemic, we recognise inadequate testing capability in the Niger Delta and it is in response to this that we are presenting the state with COVID-19 compatible PCR machines and kits, while further extending medical equipment support to the holding centre at the Eleme General Hospital.”

The SPDC MD said the donation, the third in a series, was aimed at further enhancing the clinical capacities and capabilities at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital.

In its first COVID-19 support to the state in March, SPDC had provided three vehicles, including fueling and maintenance, to aid in contact tracing. The second set of donations was made on April 7 when the company gave an ambulance, generator and medical equipment to enable the operations of the State Holding Centre at the Eleme General Hospital, for any disease outbreak in Rivers and neighbouring states.

Receiving the donations, Governor Wike said, “Thank you Shell and NNPC for your partnership that has resulted in the donation of these PCR machines. Now you have supported the state. The COVID-19 pandemic is a war, more than the conventional warfare, and everybody must work together to win it. The lives of my people are very important to me. I took an oath to protect lives and property and we must do everything that we can to mitigate and reduce the transmission of the disease.”

In his remarks, NNPC Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, who was represented by the corporation’s Zonal Manager, Mr. Adebola Aderibigbe, pledged NNPC’s continued support to the state to ensure minimal impact of the pandemic in the state and the Niger Delta region.

The equipment donated included oxygen concentrators, suction machines, defibrillator, ventilators, wheeled stretchers, swabs, personal protection equipment including googles and N95 masks, ambulance, and a generator; while a Shell-funded off-grid power solutions company, All On, has also completed the solar-powered electrification project, providing the state’s holding centre in Eleme with electricity from a 9.6Kw solar and 30kWh battery storage solution. All On executed the multi-million-naira project through one of the rising innovative firms in the off-grid sector, GVE.

Also at the donation event were the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr. Tamunobaabo Wenike Danagogo; The Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Professor Princewill Anthony Chike; SPDC’s General Manager External Relations, Igo Weli; and the company’s Regional Community Health Manager, Dr. Akin Fajola.

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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Pix: Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, displays one of the coronavirus testing machines donated to the state by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Wednesday. The governor is flanked by SPDC’s Deputy Managing Director, Simon Roddy (left), and the Zonal Manager, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Adebola Aderibigbe.

COVID-19: NLNG hands over Bonny Holding Centre - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has donated a 10-bed Holding Centre, at the Bonny Zonal Hospital as part of its support to the host community towards fight against spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), reports ITREALMS.

This handover was done on Tuesday on the heels of the donation of two vehicles, medical and other materials to the Rivers State Government in Port Harcourt recently. 

The company had earlier revealed that it was committing to N1 billion in various interventions in the State.

Handing over the facility to the Hospital, Tony Attah, NLNG’s Managing Director, represented by Godson Dienye, the company’s Manager, Community Relations, said the sustained resolve to actualise NLNG’s vision of “helping to build a better Nigeria” continues to inspire the company’s passion to establish a healthy society.

He said: “This has been the thrust of all of Nigeria LNG’s socio-economic intervention programmes in the community and I am happy to note that our efforts are well received and are impacting Bonny and our other host communities positively.

While receiving the facility, Rivers State Commissioner of Health, Professor Princewill Chike, represented by The Medical Officer in charge of the Zonal Hospital Bonny, Dr. Babep, said that the Holding Centre will be efficiently managed to promote good health and secure the safety of residents of Bonny Local Government Area, just as the Bonny Community Health Insurance Programme (BCHIP), a partnership between NLNG and the State Government, is already doing.

He stated further that “NLNG has consistently proven to be a reliable development partner through its numerous corporate social responsibility initiatives which have had direct bearing on the well-being of the masses. Only recently, the company demonstrated once again that it is a friend to Rivers State by its donation of medical equipment worth over $500,000 dollars to the State Government to manage the coronavirus pandemic. The Company also pledged an intervention at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital worth $1Million.”

Other items donated by NLNG for use on Bonny Island include one oxygen bank consisting of 5 bull nose cylinders, 10 drip stands, 10,000 one-fit N95 health care particulate respirator and surgical masks, 25,000 surgical masks, 50,000 nitrile gloves, 12,500 hooded coveralls with boots, 70 respirators, 5 suction machines, 3 single air conditioners for consulting rooms, 5 split air conditioners for wards, wall mounted hand sanitizers and 10 patient monitors.

NLNG ‘s other programs to boost the healthy well-being of people on Bonny Island include the Bonny Malaria Eradication Programme instituted in 2019 to cut malaria-related mortality among women and children under-five to zero and make Bonny Island Nigeria’s first malaria-free zone.

NLNG stated that its contribution to the fight against the pandemic is in line with its vision of “…helping to build a better Nigeria”.

Nenye Dom/Editor


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FG gives 2-month palliative to broadcast stations - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The Federal Government of Nigeria has given a two-month license-fee waiver to broadcasting stations, reports ITREALMS.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed that the granting of a two-month licence-fee waiver for terrestrial broadcast stations in the country by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), as part of efforts to ease the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the broadcast industry.

Raising from a meeting between his ministry and BON in Abuja, Wednesday, he also disclosed the setting up of a committee of Creative Industry stakeholders to look into and advise the Federal Government on the best way to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on the industry.

“Before I announce the terms of reference of the committee, let me say that in the interim, I want to announce that I have approved the request by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to grant a two-month licence-fee waiver for terrestrial broadcast stations in Nigeria.

“I make bold to say that while BON members have been hit hard by the current pandemic, they are not alone. In fact, the entire Creative Industry, which also covers the Broadcast Industry, has been affected by the pandemic that has inflicted extensive damage on the economy of nations across the world,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed stressed the need for a collective and
government-supported approach in dealing with the immediate, short and long term palliatives and initiatives for the industry, in order to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on the Industry.

“We have therefore decided that instead of addressing this problem piecemeal, we should do so holistically for a more positive outcome,'' he said, noting that the Creative Industry is a very critical sector of the nation's economy and a major plank of the economic diversification policy of this Administration, in addition to creating the highest number of jobs after Agriculture.

The Minister said the terms of reference of the committee include to assess the expected impact of the pandemic on the industry in general and advise the Government on how to mitigate job and revenue losses in the sector as well as to create succour for the industry small businesses.

The committee is also to suggest the type of taxation and financing that is best for the industry at this time to encourage growth and also advise the Government on any other measure or measures that can be undertaken to support the industry.

The committee has Ali Baba, a renowned Comedian, as Chairman while Anita Eboigbe of the News Agency of Nigeria will serve as Secretary.

Other members of the Committee include Bolanle Austen Peters, Charles Novia, Segun Arinze, Ali Jita, Baba Agba, Kene Okwuosa, Efe Omoregbe, Prince Daniel Aboki, Chioma Ude, Olumade Adesemowo, Dare Art Alade and Hajia Sa'a Ibrahim.

Representatives of the Fashion, Publishing, Photography as well as Hospitality and Travel sectors are also to be included in the committee, which has four weeks to submit its report.

In her remarks, the Chairperson of BON, Hajia Sa’a Ibrahim, who was represented by Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa, called for urgent mitigating measures for broadcast stations in the country which, she said, have all suffered huge revenue losses due to the pandemic.

She disclosed that privately-owned broadcast stations have contributed over N2 billion worth of airtime, free of charge, for public sensitization and awareness campaign for the containment of the disease in Nigeria as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility.

*Uboshe Uboshe/Editor
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Ireland joins AfDB as 81st member - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:


North-western European country, the Republic of Ireland has become the African Development Bank Group’s 81st shareholder, following a declaration issued by the institution’s President, Akinwumi Adesina, on 24 April 2020, reports ITREALMS.

Ireland’s application to join the African Development Bank Group was approved during the Annual meetings of the Board of Governors of the Bank Group held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in June 2019.

In February 2020, the nation deposited the Instrument of Ratification of the Agreement Establishing the African Development Fund with the Secretary-General of the Bank Group during a delegation visit to the Bank’s headquarters, moving one step closer to concluding the membership process.

“Ireland’s joining the African Development Bank is a mark of great confidence in the Bank. I am delighted to welcome Ireland as the 81st member of the African Development Bank. Ireland’s membership and shareholder support will further boost the African Development Bank’s mission to accelerate Africa’s economic development,” African Development Bank’s President Akinwumi Adesina declared.

Commenting on the membership, Irish Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe stated: “The African Development Bank and its sister the African Development Fund play an important role in fostering sustainable and inclusive social and economic growth and prosperity, helping the African continent to realize its potential to be the continent of promise and opportunity. I see our membership of the Bank and Fund as an investment in this potential. Ireland’s partnership with these important regional multilateral institutions will both advance our shared development priorities and will open future opportunities for Irish businesses in the region.”

Ireland’s Strategy for Africa 2025 includes a commitment to collaborate with the critical financial institution on the continent, as well as to explore new partnerships to support policy development and program implementation; and deepen engagement in blended finance mechanisms for job creation.

Simon Coveney, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said there was strong alignment between the priorities of Ireland’s international development policy, A Better World, and the African Development Bank’s overarching High 5s strategy. “This marks an important deepening of Ireland’s long standing partnership with Africa. I know that membership of the Bank will further strengthen the role Ireland plays in sustainable and inclusive development on the continent. Ireland’s membership also comes as the African Development Bank provides crucial support to countries’ COVID-19 response,” he said.

“Ireland’s African Development Bank membership is also an important expression of our commitment to, and investment in, the multilateral system and of our contribution to peace, security and sustainable development in Africa. This partnership will help us reach the furthest behind first,” Coveney added.

Membership of the Bank Group is subject to the signing of the Agreements establishing the Fund and Bank, deposit of the instruments of acceptance/approval of the Fund and the Bank Agreements, and the payment of the initial subscriptions to the Fund and capital stock of the Bank.

Ireland fulfilled those requirements, having made payments for its initial subscriptions and also depositing its instrument of ratification of the Bank Agreement with the United Nations, the statutorily appointed depository and its initial deposit of the instrument of acceptance of the Fund Agreement with the Secretary-General of the Bank Group.

Established in 1964, the African Development Bank Group authorized capital is subscribed by 81 member countries, made up of 54 African countries (regional members) and 27 non-African countries (non-regional members). 

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'Africa: Universal Acceptance means digital inclusion' - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The principle of Universal Acceptance (UA) of the Internationalised Domain Names (IDN) has been described as an object for Africans digital inclusion, reports 

ITREALMS.

The Beninese Universal Acceptance Ambassador, Mr. Yazid Akanho made this known recently in a chat with the IDN 2020 World Report.

According to him, African continent has a lot of population who cannot read and write in the official languages using the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) characters.

ASCII is a character encoding standard for electronic communication, which represents text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices.

In Africa, he said, many are literate in languages that ​​use non-Latin scripts or special characters.

UA, Akanho said, empowers these people to use Internet in their own languages ​​and preserve their respective cultural identities.

“The next billion Internet users will come from this category of people,” he said, stressing that at the moment, some 40 per cent of Africa is currently connected to Internet that’s only 10 per cent of the online population.

Also, Akanho said, the greatest potential for new users is to be found in Africa and IDNs are a means of getting them there, stressing it availed domain names and email addresses in Zulu, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa etc.

“So UA and IDNs are opportunities to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, improving digital inclusion for Africans,” Akanho submitted.

Chuks Egbune/DoP

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19m children internally displaced by conflict, violence in 2019 says UNICEF

ITREALMS: 

UNICEF has warned that internally displaced children globally including Nigeria are among the world’s most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports ITREALMS.

The warning came as the organization released a report looking at the risks and challenges facing internally displaced children, and the urgent actions needed to protect them.

In north-east Nigeria, there are currently 1.9 million people displaced from their homes. Sixty percent of them are children, with 1 in 4 under the age of five.

Globally, an estimated 19 million children - more than ever before, according to UNICEF - were living in displacement within their own countries due to conflict and violence in 2019 – some of them for years.

The report, ‘Lost at Home’, looks at the risks and challenges internally displaced children face, and the urgent actions needed to protect them. As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, these children are among the most vulnerable to its direct and indirect impacts.

“Hundreds of thousands of children in north-east Nigeria are living in the shadow of conflict – and now in the increasingly challenging shadow of a global pandemic and it’s potential socio-economic aftermath,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.

“When a new crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic emerges, displaced children are especially vulnerable and the gaps in our ability to keep them safe are even more stark. We must urgently work together – all of us, government and humanitarian partners - to keep them safe, healthy, learning and protected.”

The COVID-19 pandemic is making a critical situation for displaced children and families around the world even worse. They often live in overcrowded camps or informal settlements, where access to basic hygiene and health services is limited, and where physical distancing is not possible. This is true in Nigeria’s north-east, where conditions pose a particular challenge to containing the possible spread of diseases like COVID-19.

Internally displaced children around the world often lack access to basic services and are at risk of exposure to violence, exploitation, abuse and trafficking, according to the UNICEF report. They are also at risk of child labour, child marriage and family separation, which all pose direct threats to their health and safety.

According to the report, there were 12 million new displacements of children in 2019 - 3.8 million of them were caused by conflict and violence, and 8.2 million by disasters linked mostly to weather-related events like flooding and storms.

UNICEF and partners are currently working to protect displaced children in north-east Nigeria through critical health and nutrition services, providing access to life-saving WASH services through accelerated construction of facilities, and adapted solutions to continuing education - including the provision of radios for distance learning while schools are closed.

“What we really need now are strategic investments and a united effort from government, civil society, private sector, humanitarian actors and children themselves to find solutions that can protect children from the affects of displacement – especially as we face the COVID-19 pandemic – and also address and help mitigate the longer term impacts this can have on children’s health and education,” said Peter Hawkins.

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N121.2 trillion: What FG plans to do with Abacha loot - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Federal Government of Nigeria has confirmed the receipt of some $311 million United States Dollars, about N121,252,680,000 on Monday, May 4, 2020, reports ITREALMS.

Confirming this, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said that on Monday, May 4, 2020, some $311 million US Dollars “stolen from the citizens of Nigeria during the Abacha regime - were safely returned to our country from the United States.”

These funds, he said, have already been allocated, and will be used in full, for vital and decades-overdue infrastructure development: The second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways - creating tens of thousands of Nigerian construction jobs and local skills, which can then be useful in future projects.

“Part of the funds will also be invested in the Mambilla Power Project which, when completed, will provide electricity to some three million homes - over ten million citizens - in our country,” he said in a press statement available to ITREALMS.

As said by him, the receipt of these stolen monies and the hundreds of millions more that have already been returned from the United Kingdom and Switzerland are “an opportunity for the development of our nation, made far harder for those decades the country was robbed of these funds.”

He pointed out that indeed, previous monies returned last year from Switzerland worth some $320 million US dollars are already being used for the government’s free school feeding scheme, a stipend for millions of disadvantaged citizens, and grain grants for those in severe food hardship.

Without these funds, he said, the fight against Covid-19 would be even tougher. The latest return is a testament to the growing and deepening relationship between the government of Nigeria and the government of the United States.

FG, he said, receive lots of cooperation both from the UK Government, the US Executive branch and US Congress, without which Shehu emphasized “we would not have achieved the return of these funds at all.

For years many countries deemed successive Nigerian administrations as too corrupt, too venal and too likely to squander and re-steal the stolen monies so they did not return the funds.

“Today, US, UK and other jurisdictions have found the partnership with the nation of Nigeria they can finally trust. The Buhari Administration is committed to - and is enacting - total and zero tolerance to corruption in politics and public administration,” he said.

Insisting that the days when government was seen and used by the political class as their personal ATM to empty are over.

“The time of better governance and clean hands in the affairs of state is here to stay,” he said.
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