Flowerbud News

Author: Lara Olaniyi

  • Key EU interior ministers seek to resolve Mediterranean rescue crisis

    Interior ministers from major European countries are to meet in the Maltese town of Vittoriosa on Monday to seek a solution to an ongoing stand-off over migrants rescued in the Mediterranean.

    The ministers are from Germany, France, Italy, Malta, Finland, and the European Commission.

    Expectations are high, with hopes that ministers can agree on the outline of a “coalition of the willing” for how rescued migrants can be distributed among EU countries, Petra Bendel, head of a council of experts from German migration foundations, told dpa.

    Italy and Malta have been at the front lines and repeatedly sought to restrict port entry for charity rescue ships that arrive at their shores carrying migrants found stranded in the waters between the North African coast and Europe.

    At the moment, migrants are often forced to remain on rescue ships for weeks at a time as EU countries haggle over who should take a share of the rescued.

    Germany and France have pushed for a more comprehensive solution.

    German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said that the EU currently has an opportunity to reach a deal, with a new Italian government that forced former hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini into opposition.

    According to the EU border agency Frontex, nearly 6,600 people sought to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe between the start of 2019 and the end of August.

    Seehofer has said Germany is willing to take around one quarter of migrants rescued as part of a “flexible solidarity” deal that would not necessarily include all 27 members of the EU (excluding Britain).

    France is expected to offer a similar amount.

    Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU commissioner for migration and home affairs, will also take part in the Malta meeting and on Sunday tweeted he was “hopeful” that progress could be made.

    Finland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, will also attend.

    The key question is likely to be which harbours rescue ships should be required to dock at going forward.

    Italy is pushing for a rotation system that would include France, but Paris has rejected that approach.

    Other sticking points include how long any deal will be valid for and exactly what kinds of migrants should be distributed.

    Should the outlines of a deal be agreed, the plan is to present the agreement to all EU interior ministers at a meeting at the start of October.

    EU countries have long failed to agree on a distribution mechanism for migrants coming to Europe.

    Incoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to solicit ideas for a long-term deal.

  • OML 65: NNPC seals $875.75m financing deal with CPDC

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it has signed a 875.75 million dollar funding and technical services agreement and alternative financing deal for the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company(NPDC) operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 65.

    The Corporation in a statement by its spokesman Mr Ndu Ughamadu in Abuja said it signed the deal with CMES-OMS Petroleum Development Company (CPDC).

    The Chief Financial Officer of the NNPC, Mr Umar Ajiya,who signed for corporation explained that the package entailed comprehensive financing solution that addresses the complex issues involved in growing NPDC’s production.
    He added it would help minimise its cost of capital, and maximize its value preservation.

    On CPDC’s right to provide technical services, he listed the field of consideration in this regard to include: drilling and completion services; building capacity and technology transfer; generating employment opportunities for youths.
    This, he added that it would have an attendant positive multiplier effect on the nation’s economy, among other considerations.
    He noted that the deal would also struck a balance between risk and reward which gave investors a rate of return that was commensurate with funding a brownfield project which had significant exploration risk.

    Ajiya noted that the expectation was that the collaboration between the NPDC and CPDC would translate in real terms to the efficient execution of the scope of activities for the optimal development of the OML 65 asset within cost and schedule, whilst maximizing value to all the stakeholders.

    He said it was projected that the collaboration would enhance operational and financial performance strictly guided by the pre-agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which remains critical for determining incentive payment due to CPDC.
    Ajiya further disclosed that the project, which scope cuts across exploration, development, production and provision of facilities with incremental first oil targeted for fourth quarter 2020, was estimated to have potential reserves of 800 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

    “It will also help an ultimate recoverable reserve of 244 mmboe and cumulative production of 44mmboe from the Abura Main and Abura SE fields,” he said.
    He explained that over the project’s life, it was expected to generate over 6.35 billion dollars in taxes and royalties to the Federation to support government’s medium to long term economic development agenda.

    He described the contractor financing model as an innovative approach by NPDC to funding its operations in response to the challenging economic environment, saying the approach would fast-track the development of NPDCs under-developed assets.

    He informed that the project was expected to ramp up production at OML 65 from 900 barrels per day to 60, 000 barrels per day with average production over field life at 40,000 barrels per day.

  • Buhari dissolves Obono-Obla’s SPI

    President Muhammadu Buhari has formally dissolved the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) as currently constituted with Mr. Okoi Obono-Obla as Chairman.

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been directed to immediately take over all outstanding investigations and other activities of the SPIP.

    The President also said he is awaiting the final Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) report on Obono-Obla.

    The panel was established in August 2017 by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while acting as president, to investigate specifically mandated cases of corruption, abuse of office and similar offences by public officers.

    President Buhari thanked all members of the dissolved panel for their services, said the President’s media adviser, Femi Adesina.

    Buhari in August suspended Okoi Obono-Obla, from office.

    The suspension letter, signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who also directed him to answer questions from the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission.

    According to Mustapha, Obono-Obla was to hand over to Dayo Apata, the Solicitor-General of the Federation, who was holding forte in the Justice Ministry at the time.

    Among other things, he is being investigated over allegations of certificate forgery and other corruption-related charges. He was also accused of acting outside the mandate setting up the panel

  • Chemical weapons: FG warns producers, marketers

    The Federal Government has cautioned producers and marketers of chemical weapons against allowing it into the hands of non-state actors.

    Mr Gabriel Aduda, the Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, gave the warning at a sensitisation workshop in Kano on Tuesday.

    The workshop was organised by the federal government to educate major stakeholders in the North west on sound management of chemicals as part of measures to prevent its getting into wrong hands.

    Aduda said the workshop was also aimed at promoting awareness and safety, by strengthening the understanding of stakeholders on proper handling of chemical and biological weapons.

    Aduda said chemical producers, marketers, transporters and users, as well  as regulatory authorities involved in implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) participated in the workshop.?

    ?”The objective among others, is to raise awareness among relevant national stakeholders and representatives of the chemical industries in the North -West zone on the CWC and its national implementation in relation to the chemical industry.

    “Ensure that chemical weapons imported into the country are used for the purposes for which they are meant and government also makes sure that these chemicals do not get into the hands of non-state actors; it ?will? have great repercussions,” he explained.?

    The permanent secretary said similar workshops were held in Lagos and Port harcourt.   ?

    Some of the participants commended the federal government for organising the event, which they said had enhance their knowledge on how best to handle chemical weapons.?
    ?
    They urged the government to evolve a National Action Plan to guide and regulate the use and threat of chemical weapons in Nigeria.

  • UNICEF, EU-MNCHN improves immunisation to 84 % in Kebbi –ES

    Dr Abubakar Kaoje, Executive Secretary, Kebbi State Primary Health Care Development Agency says immunization coverage in the state has improved from 18 per cent in May/June 2018 to 84 per cent in 2019.

    Kaoje said in Birnin Kebbi on Wednesday that the achievement was recorded under UNICEF and European Union–Maternal, Newborn, Child Health and Nutrition (EU-MNCHN) project.

    He explained that the EU-MNCHN was a four-year project that began in 2016 with the main goal of improving access to quality primary healthcare services by women and children in the state.

    He described Kebbi as one of the states with disturbing primary healthcare indices in the country, stressing that routine immunisation coverage was barely 18 per cent in 2018.

    The executive secretary added that skilled-birth attendants were 17 per cent in 2017, along with very disturbing nutrition indices among children under five years.

    According to him, thanks to UNICEF and EU-MNCHN project, the state is beginning to record some very impressive improvement in maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition.

    “Just last year we were the last in immunisation coverage in the country but today, with 84 per cent coverage, we are among the best five states.

    “Also, through the project, we have been able to reach out to 1,050 out of the over 2,000 hard-to-reach communities, who are five kilometres away from the nearest health centre.

    “We are reaching them through an outreach programme that delivers integrated healthcare services, including child protection, nutrition and immunisation to their doorstep.

    “Similarly, we have introduced Emergency Healthcare Scheme in collaboration with the National Union of Road Transport Workers to transport pregnant women and children in need of emergency health services to the hospitals.

    “There is equally the Integrated Community Case Management initiative where community-based volunteers provide treatment for malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea and other child killer disease to children under five years.”

    Kaoje also said that capacity building training, including clinical mentorship are being carried out under the project to build the capacity of healthcare workers to deliver quality primary healthcare services.

    He further said that the project equally supported the recruitment of 106 nurses and Community Health Extension Workers to bridge manpower gap.

    He added that the health workers were deployed to the four most populous local government areas of the state with highest burden of negative health indices, namely Argungu, Fakai, Jega and Birnin Kebbi.

    “These among other initiatives have improved antenatal care attendance, access to quality nutrition and other healthcare services.

    “This remarkable improvement will in no distant time reverse the negative health indices in the state,” he added.

    He appealed to UNICEF and EU to extend the project for another four years, saying, “I do not know what we will do if this project wind you.

    “Our health problems are enormous, and as a state, we cannot do it alone. We need all the support we can get.”

  • Johnson says #Brexit deal emerging

    Britain’s Boris Johnson said that a Brexit deal was beginning to emerge, but the EU said he offered nothing to break the impasse during a visit to Luxembourg where he was harangued loudly by protesters and rebuked for trying to shift the blame,

    Don’t make the EU the bad guy,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said after a meeting with Johnson, describing the uncertainty over the timing and conditions of Britain’s exit from the European Union as a “nightmare”.

    The British prime minister joined European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for lunch at the Bouquet Garni restaurant, an 18th-century building of bare stone walls and low ceilings in the medieval heart of Luxembourg.

  • Inequality, biggest hindrance to ending poverty- Gates Foundation

    Widening inequality in developing countries threatens to slow or even reverse progress in making life better for people, says Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    This is according to the third Goalkeepers Data Report co-authored by Bill and Melinda Gates and released on Tuesday in partnership with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

    The report tracks progress being made on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in addition to the impact of geographical, gender, income and wealth inequality between countries, states and local government areas.

    The News of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 2017 produces the Goalkeepers Data Report every year, timing it to the annual gathering of world leaders in New York City for the U.N. General Assembly.

    The report is designed to track progress in achieving the Global Goals, highlight examples of success, and inspire leaders around the world to accelerate their efforts.

    “Even in the worst-off parts of low and low-middle income countries, more than 99 per cent of communities have seen an improvement in child mortality and schooling.

    “Despite this progress, persistent gaps in opportunity mean that nearly half a billion people, that is about one in 15 people still do not have access to basic health and education.

    “Gaps between countries, and local governments, boys and girls prove that the world’s investments in development aren’t reaching everyone.

    “Where you’re born is still the biggest predictor of your future, and no matter where you’re born, life is harder if you’re a girl,’’ the report showed.

    The report showed that in Nigeria, -5 Child Mortality Rate, reduced from 109 per 1,000 birth in 2017 to 104 per 1,000 live birth in 2018 and Child Stunting reduced from 38.14 per cent in 2017 to 36.74 per cent in 2018.

    Similarly, malaria death reduced from about 166 per 1,000 population in 2017 to 160.72 per 1,000 population and cases of tuberculosis reduced from 351.8 per 100,000 population to 344.2 in 2018.

    Also, the cases of Neglected Tropical Diseases went down from 52,566 per 100,000 population in 2017 to 50,584 in 2018.

    It, however, indicated that number of people living in poverty in Nigeria increased from 66.83 million in 2017 to 67.48 million in 2018.

    On vaccinations in Nigeria, the report showed that Measles-Containing-Vaccine second dose (MCV2) was low at 39.27 per cent, Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) immunization coverage was 36.39 per cent.

    The report also showed that the vaccine coverage for Pneumoccocal conjugate vaccines (PCV3) was at 35.67 per cent.

    Meanwhile Bill Gates in a telephone interview with journalists, said that universal healthcare was strategic in achieving the SDGs.

    He said that governments should prioritise primary health care to deliver a health system that works for the poorest.

    Gates also suggested use of digital governance to ensure that governments are responsive to their least-empowered citizens

    “If I had one wish for Nigeria, it would be that the quality and funding of the primary health care system would achieve the level that some lower income countries have attained.

    “One challenge that Nigeria has is that the amount of money that the government raises domestically is quite small compared to other countries.

    “A lot of countries at that level will be raising closer to 15 per cent of GDP and Nigeria is one of the lowest in the world down at about 6 per cent.

    “It’s a huge challenge. If you want to fund infrastructure, health, and education, over time tax collection must go up. Domestic resources are going to have to go up quite a bit,’’ he said.

    As in past years, Bill and Melinda Gates plans to host the third annual Goalkeepers events during the U.N. General Assembly, to celebrate progress and highlight the importance of closing the global inequality gap

  • Hong Kong Reopens After Weekend Of Clashes, Protests

    Hong Kong’s businesses and metro stations reopened as usual on Monday after a chaotic Sunday when police fired water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, who blocked roads and threw petrol bombs outside government headquarters.

    On Sunday what began as a mostly peaceful protest earlier in the day spiraled into violence in some of the Chinese territory’s busiest shopping and tourist districts.

    Thousands of anti-government protesters, many clad in black masks, caps and shades to obscure their identity, raced through the streets, engaging in cat-and-mouse tactics with police.

    Also setting street fires and blocking roads in the heart of Hong Kong where many key business districts are located.

    The demonstrations are the latest in nearly four months of sometimes violent protests.

    Protesters are furious over what they see as creeping interference by Beijing in Hong Kong’s affairs in spite promises by Beijing to grant the city wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms denied in mainland China.

    Dozens of university students rallied peacefully on Monday afternoon urging authorities to listen to public demands.

    Dressed in black, some of them donning face masks, students sang “Glory to Hong Kong” a song that has become a rallying cry for more democratic freedoms in the semi-autonomous Chinese hub.

    At Baptist University hundreds of students also marched to demand the university’s management offer support to a student reporter arrested on Sunday.

    The initial trigger for the protests was a contentious extradition bill, now withdrawn, that would have allowed people to be sent from Hong Kong to mainland China for trial.

    The protests have since broadened into other demands including universal suffrage and an independent inquiry into allegations of excessive force by the police.

    Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that guarantees freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland – including a much-cherished independent legal system.

    Kung Lui, a third-year university student majoring in sociology, said the protests would continue until all five demands were met.

    “The protests have revealed lots of social problems and proved that democracy and freedom are the core values of Hong Kong people.’’

    Police on Monday said 89 people were arrested over the weekend after “radical protesters” attacked two police officers on Sunday evening, hurling petrol bombs, bricks, and threatening the safety of the officers.

    Nearly 1,500 people have been arrested since the protests started in June.

    At least 18 people were injured, three of them seriously, during Sunday’s violence, according to the Hospital Authority.

    The protests have weighed on the city’s economy as it faces its first recession in a decade, with tourist arrivals plunging 40 per cent in August amid some disruptions at the city’s international airport.

    Democratic lawmaker Ted Hui was arrested for allegedly obstructing police, according to his Democratic Party’s Facebook page, as he tried to mediate on the streets in North Point

  • Afghanistan prepares for presidential election slated for Sept. 28 amid challenges

    War-torn Afghanistan is preparing for the upcoming presidential election slated for Sept. 28 amid Taliban threats and persisting challenges.

    Afghan Interior Ministry officials held a meeting on Monday to discuss election security as Taliban militants fighting the government has vowed to disrupt the process.

    “This morning, I chaired our weekly planning and coordination meeting on elections’ security.

    “We are entering into an important phase.

    “So far, we have accomplished all planned security goals and we are ready and looking forward to Sept. 28,’’ Abdul-Moqim Abdulrahimzai, Director-General of Operations and Plans of the ministry, wrote on Twitter.

    “Our particular focus is on our citizens’ protection.

    “Thanks to all our partners for their tireless support,’’ he tweeted.

    The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) have beefed up security operations against Taliban fighters recently as the militants launched massive attacks on cities and districts across the country.

    The security forces have recaptured six districts from Taliban militants in northern Faryab, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces since Friday, in a bid to ensure security for the polls, Rohullah Ahmadzai, spokesman of the Defence Ministry, said.

    The poll will be the fourth presidential election in Afghanistan since 2001 when U.S. troops invaded the country to oust the Taliban regime.

    Taliban militants, who have vowed to derail the election termed the voting process as a “ploy of foreign invaders to continue their occupation of Afghanistan’’, calling upon people to boycott the poll.

    The ANDSF will provide security for 4,942 out of 5,373 polling centres and the remaining 431 centres located in remote districts will not open on the Election Day due to militants’ presence, according to election officials.

    Nearly all election materials have been shifted to 34 provincial capitals and transporting of materials are continuing from provincial centres to districts.

    Meanwhile, the Afghan Election Commission (IEC) has taken measures to ensure transparency during the poll as the past Afghan elections were allegedly marred with widespread irregularities and fraud.

    Election officials and workers will use biometric devices on Election Day to avoid multiple votes and identify people involved in fraud, according to an IEC statement.

    “The IEC will implement anti-fraud measures during voting and tally operations, inspection and invalidation of votes, each polling station will have one biometric device with the related voter list.

    “One additional device is available in the polling centre,’’ the statement said.

    It added that “a QR code will be printed and stacked on the ballot papers.

    “Without the code, the ballot paper will be considered invalid during counting process’’.

    All polling staff will also be registered with biometric information, the statement noted.

    A total of 18 contesters registered to run for the presidency with a five-year term and among the candidates are sitting President, Ashraf Ghani, and government Chief Executive. Abdullah Abdullah.

    More than nine million eligible voters are expected to cast their ballots during the election period.