Flowerbud News

Month: October 2023

  • AfCFTA can bridge infrastructural deficit—–B2B Convener

    AfCFTA can bridge infrastructural deficit—–B2B Convener

    African Continental Free Trade areas Agreement (AfCFTA) is capable of reducing the nation’s huge infrastructural deficit and other challenges says, Dr. Mustapha Popoola, Convener of a Business Hub in Abuja.

    Popoola made this known at the 56th monthly Session of Greener Human Development and Business Academy, a Business to Business (B2B) Hub, in Abuja.

    The session had the theme ‘Competition analytics: Tools and Solutions’ had on ground Legborsi Nwiabu, Convener ‘ Nigerian Forum on AfCFTA ‘ to sensitise participants on the agreement.

    It may be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari signed AfCFTA Agreement on behalf of Nigeria at the 12th African Union Summit in Niamey, Republic of Niger.

    According to B2B Convener,  current infrastructural deficit in the country may be worrisome but commencement of AfCFTA policy will highly reduce its shortfall.

    “Infrastructural Deficit is a threat but AfCFTA will compel Nigerian system to put some infrastructures in place in order to maximize its benefits and compete favourably.

    “The demand for infrastructure driven products will also help investors to consider infrastructure as major business which will be better for the nation and those who want to do business within the country,” he said.

    The Convener, Popoola also a researcher at Mississippi State University, U.S.A, urged Nigerian entrepreneurs to look at the continental policy with positivity ,calling for increased sensitisation of Micro ,Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on AfCFTA.

    Sensitise MSMEs on AfCFTA so that benefits can trickle down to them and to know how to position themselves for it.

    “For Nigeria’s MSMEs not to be on the defensive because other Africans are coming to compete in their fields, engagements and sensitisation on AfCFTA should not be limited to national level or big time entrepreneurs alone.

    “Greeners B2B thought it wise to engage its participants who constitute micro, small medium and big business categories on the great benefits and likely challenges that come with Such agreements as AfCFTA,” he said.

    Similarly, Nwiabu told participants at the session that commencement of AfCFTA Africa is open for any innovative African to excel.

    “-Don’t complaint of products dumping by other Africans, go and dump yours (products) in other countries where they will be much appreciated.

    “Nigeria is not the limit of your business, research where your goods and services are needed, then do your business, ” he said.

    Nwiabu however warned against sharp practices, urging each entrepreneur to consider self as ambassador of their nation.

    “-Let our integrity service be high in our business relationship within and outside our country because more nations will be serviced, we must ensure we give good account of ourselves.

    “Collaborate with one another to improve on your skills so that your business can compete effectively in a global business environment,” he said.

    AfCFTA Agreement will become effective by July, 2020 within about 54 African countries, including Nigeria and South Africa that have endorsed it, so that economic growth can further be achieved in the continent.

  • DANGOTE ADVOCATES BETTER ROLE FOR WOMEN IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

     L-R, Group Executive director Dangote industries limited, Halima Dangote, Gbenga Oyebode, chairman Technical committee of conference planning, 2019 Nigerian Bar Association Annual general Conference, Managing director Aliko Dangote foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, who represent President/ CE Dangote industries limited,  at the Dangote industries limited Sponsor,  Nigerian Bar Association Annual general conference 2019, on Wednesday 28th August 2019

    L-R: Wife of Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; Group Executive Director Dangote Industries Limited, Halima Dangote; Executive Director, Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre, Dr. Abiola Akiyode Afolabi and Victor Etuokwu, Executive Director Access Bank Plc, at the 59th Nigerian Bar Association 2019 Annual General Conference, which was sponsored by Dangote Industries Limited, Wednesday 28th August 2019

  • Top challenger of Afghan president says ready to quit elections for peace

    Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s main challenger in September’s election has said he is ready to abandon his bid for power for the sake of peace.

    This had rising more questions about prospects for an election the Taliban have vowed to block.

    The twice-delayed presidential election comes as the U.S. and the Taliban are trying to seal an agreement under which U.S. forces will withdraw in exchange for a Taliban security guarantee and a promise of power-sharing talks with Ghani’s government.

    The Taliban have denounced the election as a sham and vowed to attack rallies. Ghani is insisting an election he looks set to win should go ahead.

    Ghani’s main challenger, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, told a campaign rally on Wednesday he would drop out of the race if that could help secure peace.

    “My team is ready to quit elections for the sake of peace,” Abdullah said, according to his office.

    The Taliban want the election canceled as a condition for so-called intra-Afghan dialogue – talks after the agreement with the U.S. is struck on how power can be shared and the country organised – and a ceasefire.

    Abdullah, a former foreign minister, was Ghani’s main challenger in the last election, in 2014.
    That vote was marred by extensive fraud and Ghani became president after U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, brokered a deal creating the post of chief executive for Abdullah.

    Ghani has rejected a suggestion put forward by Western allies to postpone the election and form an interim government, perhaps with Taliban representative, after the militants strike their deal with the U.S.

    Ghani has said the people must be allowed to choose their leader and peace can only be secured under a democratic system.

    But the departure of his main challenger could undermine the legitimacy of the election.

    This month, another main contender, Hanif Atmar, a former interior minister, who also served as Ghani’s national security adviser, suspended his campaign, citing the level of violence in the country.

    The campaign opened in July with an insurgent attack on the Kabul office of Ghani’s running mate, Amrullah Saleh. At least 20 people were killed and 50 wounded.

    “With Atmar out of the race and Abdullah now giving preference to the peace deal instead of elections, it is quite clear that Ghani will have to realign his stance,” said a Western diplomat in Kabul.

    Opposition party sources said many of the 17 candidates in the race were considering a boycott because they believed Ghani was using state apparatus to help him win.

    With both the Taliban and U.S. negotiators reporting progress in their talks in recent weeks, and raising the prospect of an end to the 18-year war, the election has yet to capture much attention from the public.

    The U.S. special representative for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been leading the talks with the Taliban since 2018, is scheduled to travel from Doha to Kabul this week for a meeting with Ghani.

    Two sources with knowledge of the talks, said the U.S. will press Ghani to agree to postpone the election.

  • U.S. researchers develop new skin patch for cancer treatment

    U.S. researchers have developed a fast-acting skin patch that could deliver medications to fight cancer, according to a study released recently.

    The study showed that the new skin patch could efficiently deliver medication in one minute to attack cells of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.

    Using chicken ovalbumin as a model antigen, the researchers vaccinated mice with their pain-free microneedle patches, and compared the results with intramuscular and subcutaneous injections.

    The microneedle treatment produced nine times the antibody level compared to intramuscular injections and 160 times the antibody level compared to subcutaneous injections, the study said.

    The researchers also saw efficient immune activation in surgical samples of human skin, it said.

    The device is an advance toward developing a vaccine to treat melanoma and has widespread applications for other vaccines, it said.

    The study was presented at the American Chemical Society Fall 2019 National Meeting and Exposition by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

    “Our patch has a unique chemical coating and mode of action that allows it to be applied and removed from the skin in just a minute while still delivering a therapeutic dose of drugs,’’ Yanpu He, an MIT PhD student, who helped develop the device, said.

    “Our patches elicit a robust antibody response in living mice and show promise in eliciting a strong immune response in human skin,” he said.

    “Our patch technology could be used to deliver vaccines to combat different infectious diseases,” Paula Hammond, head of MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering and leader of the research team, said.

    “We are excited by the possibility that the patch is another tool in the oncologists’ arsenal against cancer, specifically melanoma,” she said.

    Hammond said the technology will be tested on mice and primates before going to clinic trails. The device is expected to be approved and get on the market in three to five years

  • Court dismissed case of alleged defamation

    By Sani Abdulrahman

    A Sharia Court ll, sitting in Magajin Gari, Kaduna State, on Wednesday dismissed a of defamation filed against an engineer, Sulaiman Kabala, who allegedly called his neighbour a witch,

    The Judge, Murtala Nasir, dismissed the case, after the complainant, Salamatu Sani,70, wrote to the court on Aug. 22, sent informing it of her request to withdraw the suit.

    The Judge said that under  Section 156 (2) of the Kaduna State Sharia Penal Code 2002,the court  has the authority to dismiss such cases as requested by the complainant.

    Earlier, the defendant, Sulaiman Kabala, an engineer, through his Counsel, Denis Usman told the court that his client has obliged to the complainant’s request.

    NAN reports that Kabala, 37, who lives at Kabala Coustin, Kaduna, was charged with two counts of defamation and threat to life which contravened sections 137 and 232 of Kaduna State Penal Code, 2002.

    Sani, told the court that on Aug. 6, Kabala threatened to kill her with a knife.

    She claimed that Kabala, accused her of making his daughter ill.

    ”He called me a witch. I have witnesses and I am ready to present them”, Sani said.

    NAN

  • Court refuses to grant Sowore’s application challenging detention

    By Taiye Agbaje

    The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, refused to grant the motion filed by Mr Omoyele Sowore, Convener, #RevolutionNow protests, challenging his detention for 45 days by the Department of State Security (DSS).

    Justice Nkeonye Maya, who declined all applications by Counsel to Sowore,, Mr Femi Falana , SAN, sent the case back to Justice Taiwo Taiwo for further hearing.

    Falana, who had asked the court to set aside the exparte order granted by Justice Taiwo, also applied for oral bail when Justice Maha rejected the earlier application.

    Sowore. who is presently in detention had, on Aug 9, approached the court, seeking an order to vacate the ex parte order that gave the DSS the legal backing to detain him for 45 days.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Taiwo Taiwo had, in a ruling on Aug. 8 in an exparte application, ordered Sowore’s detention for the said period to enable the DSS carry out and conclude its investigation on allegations levied against him.

    The DSS had also, on Aug. 20, challenged the court order, allowing it to detain Sowore for 45 days against its request of 90 days pending investigation.

    NAN

  • NBA conference condemns sexual harassment of female lawyers by senior colleagues

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mrs Mia Essien, on Tuesday decried sexual harassment of female lawyers by their senior colleagues, urging that lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) should condemn sexual assault and bullying.

    Essien, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice (NBA-LP), made the call at the Showcase Session of the 59th NBA Annual General Conference (AGC) at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos.

    The session had the topic: “Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Community”.

    “There are situations where senior lawyers travel with junior female colleagues and make no hotel reservations for such females,” she said.

    She said that such females ended up in the rooms of their principals, who deliberately did so to sexually exploit them.

    According to Essien, while the RPC talks about ethical conduct for legal practitioners, it says nothing about sexual harassment or bullying of lawyers.

    “I urge the NBA to ensure an amendment of the RPC to reflect these issues,” she said.

    Essien said that lawyers were expected to know that sexual harassment and bullying were condemnable and thus, should conduct themselves in the most ethical manner.

    The senior advocate said that there was a difference between bullying and correction of a junior colleague, which she described as a key element of legal practice.

    “It is important to be courteous as a lawyer; courtesy demands that you offer your seat to a senior colleague who is standing up in court, and also to speak with respect to seniors.

    Another panelist in the session, Mr Ogaga Emoghwaren, described sexual harassment as an unsolicited, unwelcomed and unexpected sexual advance to elicit unwanted sexual relationship.

    He described bullying as the act of intimidating a weaker person to make him to do something against his will.

    Ogaga said that although sexual harassment of lawyers by their seniors in courtrooms was not common, there existed sexual harassment in law firms.

    “I encountered a situation where a young female lawyer ran out of her principal’s office crying; when I interrogated her, she described her principal as a beast who just raped her,” he said.

    According to Ogaga, unwillingness of victims to open up, made sexual harassment and abuse to be increasing.

    He noted the young female lawyer who was allegedly raped, refused to formally complaint for fear of sack.

    Ogaga also blamed the situation on poor enforcement of laws against sexual abuse.

    “Although there is a law criminalising the offence of rape; more proactive measures must be put in place to tackle the menace,” he said.

    Another panelist in the session, Mrs Awulika Osuigwe, said that sexual molestation in workplaces had been going on unnoticed due to poor reportage.

    She advised that females should report acts such as slapping of their buttocks by men.

    On bullying at workplace, she claimed that it was mostly done against females, most of whom were not afforded opportunities like their male counterparts.

    She described it as gender discrimination.

    “Sometimes, a principal will prefer to take a trip with a male colleague, and the excuse is that the female may not be intellectually capable.

    “In some places, married women are given specific periods for pregnancy, if they must keep their jobs,” she said.

    Osuigwe described the acts as gender bias, calling for a change of attitude by employees and superiors.

    Chief Assam Assam, also a panelist in the session, said that bullying also thrived in courtrooms and among judges.

    “I encountered a scenario where two members of the bench sitting on appeal, engaged in a face-off and rained abuses on each other before a full courtroom,” he said.

    According to him, some judges bully lawyers appearing before them.

    “For a person to be appointed a judge, he must be psychologically checked,” he said.

    In his remarks, the NBA President, Mr Paul Usoro, gave the assurance that in the next one year, his administration would take steps to adequate address the issues.

    He advised lawyers to make complaints about sexual harassment for measures to be taken.

    NAN reports that the International Bar Association Report was launched during the session by its President, Mr Horatio Neto of Brazil.

    The 59th NBA-AGC had the theme: “Facing the Future”.

    About 10,000 people are participating at the six-day conference to end on Thursday.

    NAN

  • Johnson, Abia killer soldier, to be arraigned before Friday – C P

    By Ijendu Iheaka

    Aba (Abia) Aug. 27, 2019 (NAN) The Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ene Okon, has said that the alleged killer soldier, Private Ajayi Johnson, would be arraigned before Friday.

    The police boss made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Aba on Tuesday.

    Okon said the police may have him arraigned in court before concluding investigations or after the conclusion of investigations into the matter.

    He said the soldier was only handed over to the police on Thursday, urging the media to be patient and await the date of his arraignment.

    “I am sure that within the week, he will be in court; It may be tomorrow or next tomorrow.

    “When he was handed over to the police, we made it known to the media and when he would be arraigned, we would let the media know that we have taken him to court,” said Okon.

    NAN reports that Johnson was alleged to have shot dead Chimaobi Nwoha, a motorcyclist, on Aug. 7, in his home town of Umuokereke Ngwa in Obingwa LGA for failing to give him a N100 bribe.

    After the dastardly act, the soldier was arrested days later, after which the military authorities tried and found him guilty of failing to abide by military rules.

    Brig.-Gen. Solomon Kumapayi, Commander, Nigerian Army 14 Brigade in Ohafia, subsequently announced that Johnson, serving at Ohanze Forward Operation Base (FOB), had been demoted from a Lance Corporal to a Private and dismissed.

    He was later handed over to the police on Thursday for prosecution in a court of competent jurisdiction.

    NAN

  • $9.6 billion judgment debt: no imminent threat to Nigeria’s assets – FG

    The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that there is no imminent threat to Nigeria’s assets in spite the recent award of 9.6 billion dollars judgment debt by a UK court over a botched contract.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed gave the assurance on Tuesday in Abuja at a news conference on the court ruling authorising Process and Industrial Developments Ltd. (P&ID) to seize 9.6 billion dollars in Nigerian assets.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the briefing was jointly addressed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).

    Also at the briefing were the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

    Mohammed noted that contrary to reports in certain quarters, the country is not about to lose any of its assets to P&ID.

    “In the first instance, the enforcement of the award cannot even commence now because the Judge in the UK court ordered that P&ID cannot enforce the judgment against Nigeria until after the court resumes from its current vacation.

    “What this means is that enforcement action cannot begin until further hearing on the matter, which will take place on a date to be determined by the court upon its resumption.

    “The Federal Government, therefore, wishes to use this opportunity to assure Nigerians that there is no immediate threat to Nigeria’s assets as has been wrongly interpreted by a section of the media.

    “Nigerians should be assured that the Federal Government is taking all necessary steps to appeal the decision of the UK Court.

    “The government will seek for a Stay of Execution of the decision, to defend its rights and to protect the assets of the people,’’ he said.

    The minister assured that the Federal Government would avail itself of all defence customarily afforded to sovereign states under the United Kingdom Sovereign Immunity Act to stave off any enforcement of the award.

    He, therefore, appealed to the sense of patriotism of the media in the reportage of the sensitive matter.

    “It is capable of threatening the very existence of the country, especially as some media outfits have clearly thrown overboard objectivity and patriotism in their very biased reporting of this matter,’’ he said.

    Mohammed said experts’ analysis of the damages awarded by the court, showed that “it was clearly unreasonable, unjustifiable and manifestly excessive and exorbitant.

    “The damages over-compensated P&ID on a frankly gargantuan scale and imposed a punitive award on Nigeria.’’

    Narrating the issues that led to the judgment, the minister said it was fallout of the contract purportedly entered into in 2010 between the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and P&ID

    “In a 20-year Gas Supply Processing Agreement (GSPA) purportedly entered into with the P&ID in 2010, the company never performed as agreed.

    “With the contract having suffered a setback, the case went to arbitration. P&ID’s claim in the arbitration proceedings was mainly for the loss of profit for the 20-year term of the GSPA.

    “In an interim award, the Arbitration Tribunal ruled that Nigeria has breached the contract.

    “Though Nigeria successfully applied to have that award set aside by the Federal High Court in Lagos, the Tribunal ignored this decision.

    “Consequently, on January 31, 2017, the Tribunal rendered its final award against the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in the sum of 6.597 billion dollars.

    “This was in addition to pre-award interest at the rate of seven per cent per annum, effective from March, 20 2013 and post-award interest at the same rate from the date of the award.

    “This interest increased the size of the award to 9.6 billion dollars,’’ he said.

    The minister said that after the arbitration award in 2017, Nigeria made several attempts to negotiate the award and resolve the whole issue amicably with P&ID but to no avail.

    He said following an enforcement proceedings instituted simultaneously by the company in the UK and the U.S. the government engaged the services of the U.S. law firm of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP.

    The minister also reiterated government’s position on the underhanded manner in which the contract was negotiated and signed.

    He said indications were that the whole process was carried out by some vested interests in the past administration.
    Mohammed said the saboteurs colluded with their local and international conspirators to inflict grave economic injury on Nigeria and its people.

    He said following President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was conducting investigations into the company and the contract agreement.

    The minister said the investigation was being conducted by EFCC in conjunction with the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

    NAN