Category: General News

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE OPENING SESSION OF   THE 16THCONFERENCE OF THE COMMITTEE OF INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY SERVICES OF AFRICA (CISSA) ON 18TH JULY 2019, ABUJA)

 PROTOCOL;

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to Abuja, for the 16th Conference of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa.

2.      When this committee was founded here in Abuja on 26th August, 2004, there was great optimism that it would help to bring down walls of suspicion and mistrust, and galvanize cooperation among Africa’s Security and Intelligence Services, consistent with the African Union’s vision for an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful continent.

3.      This meeting today, 15 years since the founding of CISSA, is a measure of the organisation’s continuing relevance and an affirmation that the vision and hopes of its founding fathers are alive and well.

4.      The theme of this year’s Conference, ‘Illicit Financial Outflows from Africa and its impact on National Security and Development,’ is a burning issue that this committee should focus on.

5.      Illicit financial outflows are funds that have been obtained illegally, typically through fraud and corrupt means, and moved across international borders.

6.      Criminals and their collaborators cheat the system through various practices, including trade mis-pricing, trade mis-invoicing, tax abuse and evasion, as well as money laundering. Several unfair commercial agreements and illegal resource extraction by multinational companies, in cahoots with their local collaborators, also create routes for illicit financial outflows.

7.      Frankly, we may never know the true extent of the damage. Estimates, however, suggest that African countries lose over 60 billion US dollars annually due to illicit financial outflows, a staggering amount for a continent in dire need of development finance.

8.      Corroborating this figure, a United Nations Report on “Illicit Financial Flows and the Problem of Net Resource Transfers from Africa: 1980-2009,” observed that during the period 1980 to 2009 between $1.2 trillion and $1.4 trillion was taken out of Africa. This figure is half of the current Gross Domestic Products of all the countries of Africa.

9.      As partners in the fight against crime and insecurity, you know that terrorist networks, organized criminal syndicates of drugs, arms and human traffickers and sundry hostile non-state actors are actively undermining the security and stability of our countries.

10.    These criminal groups not only fund their operations from the proceeds of crime, but are implicated in much of the illicit financial outflows from Africa.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

11.     Firm and unwavering action is required to bring this threat under control. Any evasion of rules and regulations in ways that aid corruption in its various manifestations, including illicit financial outflows, must be vigorously fought and defeated.

12.    My role as African Union’s Anti-Corruption Champion brought me closer to appreciating more the devastating impact of corruption and illicit financial outflows on our continent. I am, therefore, pleased that this conference will boost the sense of urgency that we collectively have about this devastation and raise our response capacity at operational levels.

13.    In Nigeria, we have risen to the challenge. The fight against corruption remains at the core of our efforts to accelerate national development. We have recorded successes even though the perpetrators are not giving up and are trying to fight back.

14.    I would like to remind you that while the task you have set for yourselves at this Conference is laudable and essential to the future prosperity and stability of Africa, it is not an easy one. Success will require robust efforts and resolute commitment by individual services in order to lay the solid base for the collaborative efforts that are required to address this daunting challenge.

15.    Recently in Abuja, I underscored this point at the launch of the new Transnational Security Report “Cooperating Across Borders: Tackling Illicit Flows”, put together by Munich Security Conference, where I stressed the necessity of collective, well-resourced approaches to counter illicit flows as “no government can do it alone.” Also recently in Abuja, the Fifty-Fifth Ordinary Session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government underlined “the need to strengthen direct exchange of information and intelligence among Member States”.

16.    I therefore, urge you to:

a.    develop a template of risk factors and actionable strategies to stem the flow of illicit funds from our continent;

b.   give priority to examining the links between crime and instability on our continent; and

c.    propose measures to ensure that terrorists and criminals are denied access to our financial systems.

17.    Finally, I would like to charge this committee, to remain steadfast as a model platform of cooperation, in words and deeds.

18.    I wish you a very fruitful conference. It is now my special honour to formally declare open the 16th CISSA Conference.

Thank you.

Foremost multinational financial services provider, Zenith Bank Plc has launched “Style by Zenith 2.0’’, the second edition of its flagship lifestyle fair dedicated to intentionally celebrating the “small’’ things that make “big’’ differences in people’s lives.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that first launched in 2018, the “Style by Zenith’’ initiative was created with the objective of supporting and creating value for customers by focusing on various aspects of their lifestyle.

The bank said on Friday that this year, “Style by Zenith 2.0’’ following the success of the maiden edition, would take things up a notch with the theme, “Style the Life You Desire’’, aimed at encouraging Nigerians to live their best lives and be extraordinary.

The platform seeks to inspire people to be authentic, while showing them that with ordinary talent and extraordinary effort, they could thrive and make real change in this world.

On the rationale behind “Style by Zenith 2.0’’, the Executive Director of Zenith Bank Plc., Dr Temitope Fasoranti, said: “Banking, for Zenith Bank means going that extra mile to be present in the lives of our customers.

“Driven by a culture of excellence and providing cutting edge solutions, the bank is championing this cause to enable individuals and businesses to grow wealth.’’

He added that: “Beyond providing financial solutions, Zenith Bank Plc seeks to be a reliable partner to her customers, ensuring that they excel on every front.

“With Style by Zenith 2.0, the bank continues in her commitment to empowering individuals and entrepreneurs by celebrating real talents.

“We will be helping people do what they know how to do best and repositioning them for greater levels of success in their various endeavours.’’

This year’s programme includes an interesting line up of activities all culminating in the three-day Lifestyle Fair taking place at the end of 2019.

“Kicking off the array of activities is the Style by Zenith 2.0 Fitness Walks being held in conjunction with Mass Medical Missions, a non-profit organisation, and Venus Medicare Ltd, a leading Health Management Organisation in the country.

“The Fitness Walk will serve as a platform to promote Mission Pink Cruise – a project of Mass Medical Missions supported by Zenith Bank.

`It is aimed at taking holistic cancer prevention and health promotion to various communities across the country using Mobile Cancer Centres (MCC) nicknamed Pink Cruises, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria,’’ the bank said.

Scheduled to hold in August, these Fitness Walks and Cancer Screening exercises will hold in five cities across Nigeria – Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Onitsha.

Interested individuals are invited to register their participation by visiting the Zenith Bank website at www.zenithbank.com/style.

Aside the fitness walks across the country, there are a lot of activities such as conferences, online engagements, and a special event for models that builds on the masterclass held last year, not forgetting the special play arcade and activities designed for children at the fair.

The variety of events and activities lined up also come with free medical check-ups like free eye, dental and cancer tests, among other special promotions both online and at the events leading to the final crescendo which is the three-Day Lifestyle Fair.

With initiatives such as these and many more to come, Style by Zenith 2.0 promises to offer an all-encompassing experience touching on key aspects of the lifestyle of Zenith customers and the public.

The Style by Zenith 2.0 platform is also a testament to the priority given to Small and medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the retail segment of the market by the bank.

Together with her various partners, Zenith Bank will be laying the foundation for a future where individuals and SMEs can live up to their full potential.

NAN also reports that another of the bank’s partners in the project, Fashion One, the leading global fashion and lifestyle channel will once again be working with Zenith Bank on the initiative.

Established in 1990, Zenith Bank Plc is a leading multinational bank providing corporate, business, retail and personal banking services through its network of over 500 branches and business offices, serving millions of customers.

The brand is verifiably a leader in the deployment of various channels of banking technology and has become synonymous with the deployment of state-of-the-art technologies in banking. (NAN)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday officially declared the current Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

WHO chief, Tedros Ghebreyesus, who announced the declaration in Geneva, called on countries to “take notice and redouble our efforts”.

The announcement followed the fourth meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee assessing the outbreak, according to a statement by the UN.

This is coming ahead of the first anniversary of the complex outbreak in the volatile Eastern part of the country in August adjudged the second worst outbreak of the disease.

Ghebreyesus said that it was time to “work together in solidarity with the DRC to end this outbreak and build a better health system”, for its people.

So far, there have been more than 2,500 cases of infection, and nearly 1,670 have died in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu.

Multiple armed groups and lack of local trust have hampered efforts to get the outbreak under control in the area.

“Extraordinary work has been done for almost a year under the most difficult circumstances.

“We all owe it to these responders – coming from not just WHO but also Government, partners and communities – to shoulder more of the burden,” the WHO said.

A Public Health Emergency of International Concern, according to the WHO’s International Health Regulations, is an “extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response.

The International Health Regulations constitute a binding legal agreement involving 196 countries across the globe.

The definition means a situation that is serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected, that may require immediate international action.

It also applies to a situation that carries implications for public health beyond the affected State’s national border, the UN said.

The WHO committee cited recent developments in the outbreak in making its recommendation.

These include the first confirmed case in Goma, a city of almost two million people on the border with Rwanda, and the gateway to the rest of DRC and the world.

The committee also issued specific conclusions and advice to affected countries, their neighbours, and for all states, in terms of how the outbreak needs to be dealt with moving forward.

It expressed disappointment in recent delays in securing more international funds to fight the disease, which has constrained the response.

Members also reinforced the need to protect livelihoods of the people most affected by the outbreak by keeping transport routes and borders open.

The experts said it was “essential to avoid the punitive economic consequences of travel and trade restrictions, on affected communities.”