Flowerbud News

Author: Lara Olaniyi

  • Buhari, other African leaders seek repatriation of stolen funds

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday evening joined his Zambian and Ethiopian counterparts in calling for unity among African countries to demand unconditional repatriation of assets stolen from the continent.

    The call came at a high-level event on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) held on the sidelines of the ongoing 74th United Nations General Assembly in New York.                

    The theme of the event was “Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Assets Recovery and Return to Foster Sustainable Development”.

    According to some estimates, illicit financial flows from Africa is as much as 50 billion dollars annually.

    In his address, Buhari stated that Nigeria alone lost about 157.5 billion dollars to IFFs between 2003 and 2012.

    He said although his administration had recovered “millions of dollars stolen from our country” in the last five years, a lot more was still stuck in foreign bank accounts.

    According to him, a combination of “international laws, different jurisdictions and justice systems”,  make it deliberately difficult for repatriation

    Buhari noted that any lasting solution to the challenges would require international cooperation and coordination.

    “Therefore, here lies a role for the African Union.  The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) must be supported to play a critical role in securing the cooperation of African countries and their international counterparts”, he said.

    The president of Ethiopia, Sahlework Zewede, described IFFs and the recovery and repatriation of stolen assets as complex subjects.

    Zewede said “innovative solutions require sustained discussion among countries and various stakeholders in the spirit of partnership and shared responsibility”.

    For his part, the President of Zambia, Edger Lungu, highlighted some challenges faced by African governments in effectively tackling  IFFs.

    Lungu listed them to include lack of harmonisation in the legal and institutional frameworks and ineffective coordination between different jurisdictions.

    These, in addition to “ineffective border control and in some cases conflicts between national and regional interests are indeed notable challenges”.

    He, therefore, called for a harmonisation of legal and institutional frameworks to effectively tackle the monster.

    President of the UN General Assembly, Amb. Tijani Muhammad-Bande, pledged the support of the organ to member state’s and organisations that seek return of stolen money hidden abroad. 

  • Saudi Arabia to offer first-ever international tourist visas

    Saudi Arabia will open its doors to international tourists for the first time under a new visa regime to be announced Friday evening, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage said.

    The move is part of the kingdom’s efforts to boost tourism.

    Riyadh aims to increase international and domestic visits to 100 million a year by 2030.

    “Opening Saudi Arabia to international tourists is a historic moment for our country,” Ahmad Al-Khateeb, Chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, said in a media release on Friday.

    Saudi Arabia has long been one of the hardest countries for tourists to enter, with visas only granted for short-term business trips, religious pilgrimage, or for travellers with family in the country.

    Details about the new visa scheme and wider tourism plans will be announced at a gala event on Friday evening (local time) at Ad-Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Riyadh.

    The ultra-conservative kingdom is on a push to attract holidaymakers as it seeks to diversify the country’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil.

    The tourism announcement comes less than two weeks after drone attacks targeted two facilities operated by Saudi state oil giant Aramco in the eastern province of Buqyaq, forcing the kingdom to halt about half its oil supplies afterwards.

  • 6.5 magnitude earthquake hits eastern Indonesia

    At least one person has died and another is missing after a strong earthquake struck Indonesia’s remote Maluku islands Thursday, destroying homes and triggering landslides.

    Terrified people ran into the streets as buildings fell in around them after the 6.5-magnitude quake hit at around 8:45 local time (0045 GMT).

    An official from the local search and rescue agency said one man died after falling off his motorbike while trying to flee to higher ground, while another person was missing after being buried in a landslide.

    People in Ambon, a city of about 400,000 people, were seen helping injured residents with blood-stained clothes, while images showed wrecked homes with collapsed walls and rubble strewn on the ground, but the extent of the damage was not immediately

    “The impact was felt across Ambon city and surrounding areas,” said Rahmat Triyono, head of the earthquake and tsunami division at Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

    “Many people were woken up by the shaking…it felt like a truck was passing by.”

    The US Geological Survey said the quake struck about 37 kilometres (23 miles) northeast of Ambon in Maluku province at a depth of 29 kilometres.

    The area was hit by at least two dozen aftershocks including one that measured 5. 6 magnitude, Triyono said.

    “I was asleep with my family when suddenly the house started to shake,” said an AFP reporter in Ambon.

    “The quake was really strong. We ran from our house and saw the neighbours fleeing too. Everybody was panicking.”

    – ‘No need to panic’ –

    Initial reports said the quake struck offshore, but later analysis found it hit onshore, raising the potential for damage, according to Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency.

    Local BMKG head Oral Sem Wilar called for calm.

    “People were panicking and started to evacuate in some places, but we are trying to tell them there’s no need to panic because there’s no tsunami threat,” he told AFP.

    The Southeast Asian archipelago is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth. It experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.

    In August, five people died and several were injured after a powerful undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia’s heavily populated Java island.

    Last year, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

    The force of the impact saw entire neighbourhoods levelled by liquefaction — a process where the ground starts behaving like a liquid and swallows up the earth like quicksand.

    Nearly 60,000 people are still living in makeshift accommodation nearly a year after the double disaster, the Red Cross said this week.

    On Boxing Day 2004, a devastating 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia.

  • NAF destroy insurgents’ logistics base, training camp in Borno

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has destroyed a major Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) Logistics Base and Training Camp at Kusuma on the fringes of Lake Chad in Borno.

    NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

    Daramola said the operation was executed on Wednesday by the Air Task Force of Operation LAFIYA DOLE.

    ” The air strike was executed after credible intelligence reports had established that a section of the settlement was serving as a training camp for the terrorists.

    ” While,  some buildings within the camp were being used to store their fuel, arms and ammunition as well as other logistics supplies.

    ” The pre-attack surveillance showed scores of fighters attempting to flee the location upon hearing the sound of the attack aircraft.

    ” They were engaged by the attack aircraft in successive passes, neutralising many of them.

    ” The terrorists’ logistics supply store, which was also hit, was seen engulfed in flames due to the raid,” he said.

    The spokesman said the NAF, operating in concert with surface forces, would sustain its efforts to completely destroy all remnants of the terrorists in the North East.

  • Investigative journalism: Panelists identify impediments

    Panelists at the 2019 Global investigative Journalism Conference (GIJC19) in Hamburg, Germany, have identified four major challenges as impediments to robust media practice in the world.

    They listed poor funding, weak skills, insecurity and inadequate work tools as the factors affecting journalism practice and pragmatic contribution of journalists to societal development.

    The panelists spoke on the “Challenges Ahead” at the 11th edition of the GIJC.

    They said the challenges of the media and journalists on investigative journalism in Africa and other parts of the world were a major impediment to contents development and trust by the society.

    A media activist and award wining Kenyan journalist, Ms Catherine Gicheru, advocated for proactive measures to safeguard media practitioners involved in investigative journalism.

    Another panelist, Mr Zaffar Abbas, called for synergy and building of network to enhance factual information to audiences.

    According to them, only a global network collaboration among journalists and clear understanding of issues could resolve the challenges.

    The conference is designed to train journalists on the science and art of investigative journalism.

    It attracted an unprecedented 1,800 delegates from across the world, including Africa, with Nigeria leading a large contingent.

  • Peter Obi’s Media Aide Weigh In, Condemn Attacks On Chimamanda Adichie

    Media Aide to former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, Val Obienyem, who is also an author and barrister, has condemned recent attacks on author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

    Obienyem wrote in an opinion piece published in a national daily, in response to attacks on Adichie for writing an article about the dispute in the Guardian newspaper entitled, ‘My Hometown Under Siege’. The primary focus of her article was ongoing sponsored harassment and intimidation of Abba community residents.

    Prior to publishing Adichie’s piece, the Guardian had carried out an investigation of the dispute and the facts that Adichie laid out in her article, even despite Adichie’s local and international stature and credibility- to ensure that there was sufficient basis to publish her piece, in line with journalistic best practices.

    The paper published the resulting 3- Page investigative report alongside Adichie’s article, with the combined 4-Page write up being entitled “Special Report”.

    In Obienyem’s piece he stated: “I read what our pen export and one of the best in the world, Chimamanda Adichie, wrote about the land dispute between her town, Abba and Ukpo – both in Anambra State, Nigeria. It was the lamentation of a deeply-troubled soul over the impunity of men.

    Her timely piece is a necessary buffer against environing principalities eager to control or appropriate Abba.”

    “Going by her stature and comfort zone, Chimamanda could have decided to remain aloof to the unjust plight of her people. But, with what she did, especially more from the urge to fight injustice than anything else, my respect for her has many times been magnified.”

    He continued by writing: “I have met Chimamanda severally and on each occasion, was thrilled by her charming modesty and sense of propriety.

    Typical of her, she made her point clearly, and without denigrating anybody: Is justice up for sale to the highest bidder? Do we no longer have rule of law in this country? What are the actual duties of the Police — serving the nation or individuals? What wrong did she commit? All I saw was the disillusioned tenderness of a writer mourning the disorder in her country.”

    Indeed, the main point of Adichie’s piece -which Obienyem highlighted- the aforementioned harassment, intimidation and disruption of family and business affairs of Abba residents, has not been denied by any of the parties concerned. To the contrary, there have been credible reports of same occurring, including video recordings and well documented statements to the authorities.

    Some objective and informed observers of unfolding events have noted that personal attacks on Adichie, sometimes combined with recitation of the legal history of the land dispute, appear to be the means by which those behind the attacks on Adichie have sought to distract attention from the main issue which she raised about the harassment campaign, and to throw dust in the air to hide the facts.

    Obienyem carried on: “From her piece, it was obvious she did her home-work and was availed of all the facts. At a stage in one’s life there are risks one would not venture into. For a person of her standing to go through books, talk to people and come up with the synthesis of views on the matter, one is convinced that she has done the right thing.”

    “On the contrary, it was with great embarrassment and indeed, shame that I read the reactions of those that called themselves “Igbo Youths” to what Chimamanda wrote.
     I was even more upset that the reactions were brazenly published as advertisements in newspapers. Do they expect Chimamanda to condescend so low as to engage in “tru bum tru bum” with them? No way!”

    “The so-called youths being used are ordinarily those that should be enjoying the calming hypnosis of a well-written piece — Chimamanda’s Lamentations and Other Works. Alas, there they were, abusing and pouring obloquies on her.”

    Obienyem stated: “Clearly, the practice of exchanging people’s conscience with money has not ceased as those so-called youths have proved.”

    Adichie is renowned for being extremely familiar with and knowledgeable about Igbo culture and history despite her relative youth: including of her hometown, local government area and Anambra State.

     Indeed, the late literary icon Chinua Achebe said of Adichie early in her career, ‘We do not usually associate wisdom with beginners, but here is a new writer endowed with the gift of ancient storytellers…Adichie came almost fully made’.

    She has received various awards and commendations from successive Anambra State governments over the years, including most recently in 2016, being honoured with the Anambra State Award for Excellence by the current incumbent, His Excellency Governor Willie Obiano. She had previously been the keynote speaker at Governor Obiano’s 100-Days in Office event.

    Former Anambra State Governor, and current Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige had previously honoured her by gracing an event celebrating Adichie in her hometown, Abba, at the beginning of the decade.

    Indeed, at the national level, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had previously distinguished her with the Global Ambassador Achievement Award in 2011.

    Adichie has received numerous international awards, including 14 Honorary Doctorate Degrees from leading universities, including one of her alma maters, Yale University.

    Obienyem in his article, discussed other issues which he considered salient, including his view of the distorting effects of misuse of wealth on the Igbo culture today, and indeed on many other cultures in the country, and how it has led directly and indirectly to this situation of serious and accomplished individuals being attacked by sponsored groups. He rounded out by saying “There must be limit to madness in this clime”.

  • CAF Confederation Cup: Rangers thump Pelicans 3-1 to seal pre-group stage playoffs spot

    Rangers International Football Club of Enugu have sealed a place in the the pre-group stage playoffs of this year’s CAF Confederation Cup competition.

    This was after they thrashed AS Pelicans of Gabon 3-1 in the return leg match of the second preliminary round on Sunday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu.

    The Flying Antelopes went through 4-3 on aggregate, having lost 1-2 in the first leg match about two weeks earlier.

    The hosts came out fighting immediately after the kick-off and fired a warning shot to the Gabonese side after two minutes.

    This was when defender Semiu Liadi directed his headed effort into the side netting from a Chidera Eze free-kick at the edge of the Pelicans penalty box.

    But three minutes later, Liadi went into the referee’s book when he tripped goalbound Cruz Ndong Enteghe on the edge of Rangers penalty box.

    Dertin Amores wasted no effort and planted a left foot kick into the top corner to give Pelicans a shock lead in the fifth minute.

    Having gone behind so early in the game, the Flying Antelopes poured out in numbers, piling series of attacks into their opponents’ vital area in search of goals.

    The chances came in trickles but poor decisions in the final third cost them time and again.

    Their efforts were, however, rewarded in the 19th minute when Ifeanyi George took advantage of a moment of indecision between Pelicans’ defenders and the goalkeeper to head in the equaliser.

    Rangers grew in confidence, dominant in their play and had an appeal for a penalty kick waved away by the referee when Tope Olusesi went to the ground inside the box under a slight challenge.

    But the ball came back gloriously to George who fired inches over the crossbar when he should have scored.

    Both sides went into the half-time break on equal terms with the visitors holding a 3-2 aggregate advantage.

    Rangers came back in the second period more dominant as highlighted by two quick goals.

    Nnamdi Egbujuo headed in from a corner kick five minutes after the restart to give the hosts a 2-1 lead and 3-3 on aggregate.

    Five minutes later, Oluwatoyin Olawoyin made it 3-1 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate for Rangers when he scrambled in the ball during a goalmouth tussle.

    Coach Benedict Ugwu refreshed his team’s attack early in the second half, leading to the rush of goals, with the introduction of Chinonso Ezekwe for Chidera Eze.

    He later substituted veteran Bartholomew Ibenegbu for Kenechukwu Agu as the home side pressed for more goals.

    With 12 minutes left on the clock, Pelicans forward Odile Ombio forced a fantastic save from Rangers goalkeeper Japhet Opubo, following a cross from the right flank.

    With the 3-1 advantage on the night, Rangers resorted to game management and defended in numbers to contain the now adventurous Pelicans strikers to run away victors at the end of a pulsating encounter.

  • IGP tasks Petroleum, Illegal Bunkering Taskforce on firmness

    The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Adamu has called on the Special Task Force on Petroleum and Illegal Bunkering to be firm in the discharge of their duties.

    Adamu made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at his maiden meeting with sector, intelligence and unit commanders of the task force.

    He said the meeting was convened to engage the commanders on new approaches to the security of critical assets in the oil sector.

    Adamu said the task force was established with mandate to work with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other security agencies to protect oil pipelines and prevent illegal bunkering.

    “Your core duties in this regard include and not limited to the protection of NNPC pipelines/infrastructure throughout the federation, identify and destroy all illegal refineries and depots.

    “Surveillance and generation of intelligence that could be utilised to prevent any act of sabotage in the oil sector, arrest and prosecution of pipeline vandals and those engaged in illegal bunkering,” he said.

    According to him, in the performance of your duties, you are to be guided by the fact that oil pipelines are not ordinary assets and their security is of strategic importance to the country.

    He called on the commanders to imbibe the virtues of inter-agency collaboration, partnership with the host communities, NNPC and other stakeholders in the discharge of their duties.

    “You must constantly demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and eschew all forms of corruption.

    “You must be firm in your enforcement operations, ensure diligent investigation and speedy prosecution of arrested vandals, oil thieves and those involved in illegal bunkering.

    “You will be held liable for any action or inaction that engenders any security breach within your operational jurisdiction as regards pipeline security,” he added.

    He said plans were ongoing to engage community policing practice, intelligence-led operations and technology driven strategies to support the task force in the discharge of its duties.

    According to him, this will involve the deployment of our newly acquired long-range monitoring, vehicle-mounted CCTV system to support your pipeline surveillance operations.

  • FMBN disburses N226.3bn through National Housing Fund

    The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has disbursed N226. 6 billion as loan through the National Housing Fund (NHF) in an effort to address the housing deficit in the country, the Managing Director, Mr Ahmed Dangiwa, says.

    Dangiwa spoke in Abuja  at the ongoing  National HouseFair 3.0 with theme, “New Economy: Amplifying the Impacts and Possibilities of Real Estate Utilising Technology’’.

    He said that the bank had registered 4,927,407 contributors and 23,387 organisations on NHF.

    “Construction of 27,584 housing units financed to date, 20,591 NHF mortgage loans granted to NHF contributors while 27,247 housing micro-loans of N28.9 billion disbursed.

    “More than N31.1 billion was refunded to 273,485 retirees,’’ Dangiwa said.

    He said that the bank was targeting affordable homeownership for Low and Medium Income (LMI) market segment.

    According to him, LMI segment accounts for about 90 per cent of the Nigerian population.

    Dangiwa said that mortgage finance accessibility and affordability formed a major focus of the bank.

    He said that “government-assist fund’’ was critical for improving affordability for the middle income market.

    “The future growth and development of the Nigerian housing sector, especially the mortgage sub-sector, is predicated on expanding housing access and affability for the middle class,’’ Dangiwa said.

    He said that as demonstrated in economies like the U.S., Singapore and others, empowering the middle class through homeownership was the surest avenue for economic development drive by production and construction consumption.

    According to him, empowering the middle class creates a wealthy society.

    Dangiwa said that the adoption of a multi-dimensional approach to housing finance in Nigeria must be encouraged and strengthening government institutions delivering assist- funding and collaboration among relevant stakeholders.

    Mrs Becky Damilola-Oke,` Managing Director, Bstan Mortgage and Cooperation and the convener of the fair, said that inadequate housing could affect the security, physical health and privacy of man.

    Damilola-Oke said that housing policy was a tool that was used in town planning for solving housing problems and consequently for the achievement of sustainable housing.

    She said that town planning focuses on spatial arrangement of urban and rural land use for the purpose of creating orderly, economical and functional efficient.

    Damilola-Oke said that policy instrument was one of the ways of tracking housing problems.

    She said that the new economy could be used to embrace housing-technology innovation