Flowerbud News

Blog

  • Aisha Buhari foundation builds 70-bed health clinic

    Aisha Buhari Foundation has embarked on the building of a 70-bed antenatal and maternity clinic within the premises of the Federal Medical Centre, Yola.

    The Clinic is being built to complement the existing 17 bed Maternity ward at the Centre.

    Aisha Buhari’s personal physician, Dr. Mohammed Kamal, while inspecting the project said, the clinic when completed will cater for the health need of the people of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Taraba as well as the neighbouring Cameroon Republic.

    Kamal, said the clinic was built as part of Aisha Buhari’s commitment to improve the healthcare of women and children in Nigeria.

    The inspection was conducted to ascertain the level of work so far done.

    Kamal, conveying Aisha’s optimism, said the project would be completed and handed over before the end of the year.

    The facility, which is being built through private partnership comprises of emergency operation ward, consultation rooms, ultra sound room, Antenatal and Gynaecology ward, pharmacy, laboratory as well as family planning units.

    The facility, when completed, will have the capacity of attending to 200 patients.

    The Chief Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre, Yola, Prof. Auwal Abubakar, said, the new Antenatal complex will assist the Centre to adequately cater for the health needs of women and children.

    Abubakar said that the existing maternal centre was over stretched due to the influx of patients within and outside the state.

    He said that the new complex will go a long way in reducing the challenges faced by patients during emergencies.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the wife of the President also donated a similar Maternity Clinic in Daura, Katsina State as part of her efforts to contribute to the well-being of women and children in Nigeria.

  • Stakeholders commit to Africa’s free education

    Stakeholders commit to Africa’s free education

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs and the African Export Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) have committed to launch the Education Fund for Africa to ensure free education for children on the continent.

    They made the pledge at the second Babacar Ndiaye Lecture in Bali, Indonesia.

    The lecture was organised by AFREXIMBANK as a side event at the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) Annual Meetings which began on Monday.

    Obasanjo and Sachs delivered lectures on “Global Power Disequilibrium, Trade Wars and Implications for Africa”, in honour of Ndiaye, former President, African Development Bank, who died on July 31, 2017.

    Obasanjo said that investing in education by Africans for Africans was important for the continent’s development.

    He added that Africa has to develop itself as no one else would do it for her.

    According to him, the absence of education is the main cause of insurgency in Nigeria.

    “When you talk to some of our people they will say it is the fault of governors and leaders in the community, but it is the fault of all of us Nigerians.

    “We have to make sure we get it right and where a particular community is not moving right we have to appeal, cajole, enforce and make sure that every child in that community has education up to secondary school level.

    “I believe that education is the starting point for development in Africa. There is no earthly reason why any African child should not have education up to secondary school free.

    “We are the architects of our own fortune or misfortune and so we cannot blame anyone. Education is very basic to everything- life expectancy, maternal mortality, infant mortality, employment generation and all.”

    Obasanjo said that once the issue of education was solved, the people would live better lives and make contributions to their own communities, states and indeed the world.

    On the issue of the existing trade war between the U.S. and China, he said Africa should ensure it got up to 50 per cent intra-African trade to serve as a buffer.

    Sachs, a development economist, said that Africa should take advantage of the trade wars to make bold breakthroughs, adding that it was the time to make bold initiatives for 2030.

    He said that Africa, India and China were similar in population and should take advantage of the present global issues to develop themselves to become future world economic hubs.

    “There is a very dramatic technological revolution on the way and that is to the benefit of Africa.

    “Information revolution is the basis for Africa to make revolutionary advances in healthcare, education and the private sector economy.

    “You need infrastructure and training for the people on the new technology, so you need to build digital capacity and ensure the universities are creating engineers to handle these new technologies.”

    On the issue of education for all, Sachs said that if Africa would pledge to fund the vision, he and many others would work to fulfil the pledge.

    “You provide the funds and we make it happen,” he said.

    Prof. Benedict Oramah, the President, AFREXIMBANK, said that although education was not part of the bank’s mandate, the bank would do everything possible to ensure that the fund emerges.

    “You ask about where the money will come from but the money is in Africa and we have to start raising the money from within and when we do, others will follow.

    “Africa has to get it right for it to get to where it should be,” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that guests at the lecture included leaders of African and global banks, development finance institutions, the business community and political leaders attending the IMF/WBG meetings. (NAN)

  • Fake news hampers Nigeria’s peace, unity

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has appealed to all Nigerians to join efforts with government to combat the menace of fake news.

    The minister made the appeal while speaking at the inaugural lecture of the Guild of Professional Bloggers of Nigeria (GPBN) in Lagos.

    The News Agency of the Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the lecture was “Combating Fake News in the Cyberspace”.

    Mohammed said the collective efforts of all Nigerians were needed in view of the threats fake news posed to peace and unity of the country.

    He explained that most of the security issues confronting the country, such as herders/farmers were caused by the misrepresentation of facts in both the mainstream and social media.

    The minister said the spread of fake news had also promoted ethnic and religious suspicions among Nigerians.

    He said the media, especially, had a huge responsibility to check the problem in view of their strength and reach, calling on professionals to always verify their facts before sending out information.

    “The media have a responsibility to verify the facts before they share, because once they share, it is always very difficult to retract.

    “You see most of the issues we have about herders/farmers clashes, killings are being fuelled by fake news.

    “Look at the farmers/herders’ clashes, the truth is that they are being caused largely by population explosion, climate change and pure criminality.

    “So, it has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity.

    ”Nigeria at Independence only had 45 million people but today, we are 190 million people.

    “You can imagine the same water, same air and same arable land available for 45 million people at Independence are now being shared by 190 million people.

    “It is like a room that can take 45 people, you now bring 190 people, you can imagine what will happen.

    ”So, that is the honest truth about population explosion.

    “Then, the other is climate change. We read about earthquakes and flooding in different parts of the world.

    ”These are manifestations of climate change.

    “So, how does it affect Nigeria?

    ”The Lake Chad that used to cover a surface area of 25,000sq km and 35 million people from six nations, including Nigeria, Cameroun and Chad depend on the water for fishing, agriculture, irrigation and so on.

    ‘The same water has shrunk to 2000 sq km.

    ”So, these 35 million people have to look for water elsewhere.

    ”That is why we have all these clashes.

    “Of course, I must state the issue of criminality too, but we must stop presenting the issues as if it is Muslims against Christians or Hausas against Ibos. That’s not true.

    “So, we should stop this narrative of Christians/Muslims or North/South.

    ”We are dealing with pure criminality, population explosion and climate change and that is the way we should look at it.

    “If we continue to post fake news attributing different reasons to the real causes of these issues, a stage will come when Muslims will be suspicious of Christians, Christians become suspicious of Muslim for no reason.

    ”And that is not good for our unity,” he said.

    The minister said the government was partnering different media organisations to check the problem of fake news.

    He listed some of them as the News Agency of Nigeria, Nigeria Television Authority, Vanguard Newspapers and Television Continental (TVC)

    Mohammed said the government was also collaborating with local and international social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp to tackle the problem of fake news.

    He described bloggers as critical stakeholders in the media industry in view of their number and capacity to influence others.

    While stating the readiness of government to collaborate with them on the threats of fake news, the minister urged them to uphold the ethics of the profession to ensure they disseminate only credible information.

    He commended GPBN for the lecture, saying the initiative would go a long way to deepen professionalism among its members.

    In her lecture, Prof. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, Head, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos said the media was powerful because of their capacity to influence others and bring about change.

    She said it was, therefore, expected of stakeholders in the industry to always uphold the ethics and report the facts.

    “The fourth Estate of the Realm must never relent in its quest of being the watchdog of the society.

    ”This duty of the media is one that cannot be underestimated .

    “In this era of social media, it behoves of the media to ensure that their platforms are not compromised, no matter the cost involved,” Ogwezzy-Ndisika added.

    The don, who was the Chairman at the lecture, described fake news as a threat to the society and development.

    She urged media professionals to pursue conscious efforts to ensure that the threats of fake news were checked.

    As the 2019 approaches, Ogwezzy-Ndisika urged the media to always verify whatever they were putting out in order not to cause unnecessary tension before, during and after the election.

    She said most of the “fakes” were disseminated through social media and online platforms.

    The don advised bloggers to work at the credibility problems in the online media by ensuring whatever they were publishing had all the elements of credibility.

    Earlier, Mr Chris Nwandu, President, GPBN, said media platforms could pass integrity test only if they were credible.

    He said it was important for bloggers to ensure they publish truthful information always because that was the right thing to do.

    Nwandu said he knew the legal consequences of sharing fake news having been arrested by police and remanded in Ikoyi Prison in 2015 for sharing a Facebook post.

    He said though the charge of spreading fake news was later withdrawn from court after 18 days in prison, the episode opened his eyes to the laws against fake news and the need to verify information before sharing.

    Nwandu said the association was formed to set standards for members and make sure they comply with the ethics of the profession.

    “The basic idea behind GPBN is to set up a body that will set standards for the practice of blogging just like every other profession in the world,” he said. (NAN)

  • Kogi ranks low in contraceptive use- USAID

    Kogi ranks low in contraceptive use- USAID

    The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) says Kogi is currently ranked lowest in terms of contraceptive usage and adoption of family planning in the middle belt.

    Dr Gabriel Alobo, USAID Team Leader, Maternal and Child Survival Programme (MCSP) in Kogi, disclosed this in Lokoja at the inauguration of “Kogi State 2018-2021 Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan and Green Dot Logo”.

    According to Alobo, Kogi has the lowest contraceptive usage within the Middle Belt region with about 11 per cent for all methods and 8.5 for modern methods.

    This, he compared with the national average of 15 per cent for all methods and 10 per cent for modern methods.

    He said that the Costed Implementation Planning was developed to determine what it would cost Kogi to move from its current low level family planning usage of 11 to about 20 per cent.

    According to him, the estimated cost of the materials and logistics needed is put at about N500 million.

    “We felt that we need to create demands by radio jingles and good advertisements to ensure that people come for family planning.

    “We need to have more people participating in family planning; we need commodities in the facilities.

    “The effect of this low level family planning is that more women and children are dying because more women are getting pregnant,” Alobo said.

    The Country Director of MCSP, Dr Adetiloye Oniyire, represented by Mrs Ugo Okoli, a Deputy Director of MCSP, said MCSP has helped to reduce maternal and child mortality rate in Kogi.

    Oniyire added that the agency had also donated several medical equipment to health facilities, contributed in training of tutors and instructors, supported with teaching materials and data collation and validation,

    The Wife of Kogi Governor, Mrs Rashida Bello, who launched the programme, said, “Family planning remains a strong pillar of ‘Save Motherhood’, and allows people to have children by choice and not by chance.

    “Contraceptive usage reduces maternal rate and the burden of maternal and child death in Nigeria.”

    She restated the commitment of the Yahaya Bello-led government to the wellbeing of women and children, given the various interventions it has so far embarked upon across the state.

    The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Saka Audu, said Kogi currently had 247 family planning clinics, adding government was determined to establish more clinics to reach more communities.

    “We have also recorded appreciable reduction in unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions all and around Kogi state,” Audu added. (NAN)

  • Eggs vital for brain devt., says CPC

    Eggs vital for brain devt., says CPC

    The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) says egg is very vital to the development of the human brain, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    CPC Director-General, Babatunde Irukere, made the disclosure in Lagos at an event organised to celebrate the World Egg Day and the official inauguration of the Egg Sellers and Distributors Association of Nigeria.

    Irukere, represented by Carmellus Anyanwu, the council’s Head of Surveillance and Disbursement, also said that egg was a key component of national economy.

    He said that the inauguration of the association was a call to duty, urging its members to collaborate with poultry farmers and other stakeholders, as egg was a delicate and perishable product.

    He expressed the commitment of the council to encourage trade associations in Nigeria, enjoining members to work in line with global best practices.

    Mrs Olaide Grahams, National President of the newly inaugurated association, told NAN that the association would continue to coordinate, motivate and pursue participation of all involved in the trade.

    This, she said, would be to increase egg output as well as its circulation, with the mind to making it contribute to the development of the nation.

    Grahams said as parts of activities marking the global campaign of egg consumption, the association had held seminars, road shows among others, in line with its aims and objectives.

    She also said the association would seek to eradicate problems associated with egg glut, pricing, create awareness on its importance and design stress-free distribution network for the product.

    Mrs Bisi Olufuwa, Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, said the day was to raise awareness on the benefits of eggs and its nutritional value to human beings.

    She said that the state government had assisted business owners to grow their businesses, especially in the area of food security.

    “This enterprise is part of agriculture and food production,” she said.

    She then advised the egg sellers to collaborate with the Lagos State Farmers Association and form a cooperative society. (NAN)

  • FG bans 50 persons on watch-list from foreign trips

    FG bans 50 persons on watch-list from foreign trips

    The Federal Government has placed no fewer than 50 high profile persons directly affected by Executive Order 6 (EO6) on watch-list and restricted them from leaving the country pending the determination of their cases.

    Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this development in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.

    The presidential aide said this development followed the instant judicial affirmation of the constitutionality and legality of the EO6.

    He said already President Muhammadu Buhari had mandated the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to implement the Order in full force.

    “To this end, a number of enforcement procedures are currently in place by which the Nigeria Immigration Service and other security agencies have placed no fewer than 50 high profile persons directly affected by EO6 on watch-list and restricted them from leaving the county pending the determination of their cases.

    “Also, the financial transactions of these persons of interest are being monitored by the relevant agencies to ensure that the assets are not dissipated and such persons do not interfere with, nor howsoever corrupt the investigation and litigation processes.

    “It is instructive to note that EO6 was specifically directed to relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that all assets within a minimum value of N50 million or equivalent, subject to investigation or litigation are protected from dissipation by employing all available lawful means, pending the final determination of any corruption-related matter,’’ he added.

    Shehu said the Buhari administration had reassured all well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians of its commitment to the fight against corruption, in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the general principles of the Rule of Law.

    He, therefore, maintained that the administration would uphold the rule of law in all its actions as well as protect the right of citizens as guaranteed by the Constitution.

    “We, therefore, enjoin all Nigerians to cooperate with the law enforcement authorities towards ensuring a successful implementation of the Executive Order 6 which is a paradigm-changing policy of the Federal Government in the fight against corruption,’’ he said. (NAN)

  • Nigeria cautions nuclear weapons states on catastrophic consequences of their use

    Nigeria cautions nuclear weapons states on catastrophic consequences of their use

    Nigeria has cautioned the nuclear weapons states on the catastrophic consequences of the weapons’ use on humans and the environment, restating its call to the countries to dismantle these weapons of mass destruction.

    The Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Amb. Tijjani Bande, stated this at the ‘Disarmament and International Security Committee of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

    Bande said nuclear weapons still remained the ultimate agents of mass destruction and their total elimination should be the final objective of all disarmament processes within the broad spectrum of goals being pursued by the UN.

    The Nigerian envoy, therefore, recalled the adoption of the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which opened for signature in September 2017.

    Bande said: “The Delegation of Nigeria remains proud to have participated in the processes leading to its adoption (Treaty), as well as being one of the first States to sign the treaty.

    “We are also mindful of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that could result from the deliberate or accidental use of nuclear weapons.

    “To this end, my Delegation calls on all states, particularly nuclear weapons states, to take into consideration the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the use of these weapons on human health, the environment and vital economic resources among others, and to take necessary measures aimed at the dismantling and renunciation of these weapons.

    “Nuclear test explosions not only send a tense signal to the global political environment, they also have devastating effects on our environment with the spread of radioactive materials to the atmosphere.

    “We all owe a duty to protect the environment by respecting the moratorium against nuclear testing as we work assiduously to achieve the entry into force of the CTBT – Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty”.

    He, therefore, called on those countries that have not signed or ratified the CTBT, particularly the eight nuclear weapons States, to do so without further delay.

    The States are: China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, and the United States of America, which have signed but yet to ratify the Treaty, and North Korea, India, and Pakistan, which have not signed.

    The Nigerian envoy highlighted the daunting challenges confronting the world but expressed sadness that little had so far changed to provide confidence and reduce the enormous challenges to global peace and security.

    According to him, this reality makes it more urgent that we re-double our efforts and stridently work for global peace and security.

    “In the context of threats to international peace and security, my Delegation continues to highlight the astronomical proportion of global defence budgets, including the enormous resources devoted to the maintenance and upgrading of nuclear arsenals by nuclear weapons states, as well as unfettered access to a wide-ranging collection of conventional weapons by unauthorised non-state actors.

    “Today, the dangers and effects of uncontrolled access to conventional weapons, including small arms and light weapons, are witnessed all around us.

    “From Africa to the Middle East, across Europe to the Americas and Asia, the carnage has become phenomenal and unprecedented, particularly the immense bloodshed foisted on innocent populations by terrorists and other criminal elements.

    “We have witnessed cities and communities destroyed, including heavy losses of precious lives, property, toll on livelihoods and forced migration,” he said.

    Bande, however, pointed out that in many cases, these atrocities were largely enabled by illicitly procured or transferred arms by non-state entities.

    He noted the overwhelming support and adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty resolution in 2014, to present a common front to robustly respond to the threat posed to international peace and security by the non-regulation of conventional weapons.

    The Nigerian envoy stressed that the world must do the needful by standing with States Parties and other Signatories to the Treaty, while calling on the nuclear weapons states to support and adopt the treaty. (NAN)

  • Impeachment: National interest is overriding —Senate Leader

    Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan says the National Assembly is more focused on upholding national interests than pursuing personal or partisan agenda of impeachment of a member.

    Lawan, who spoke on Friday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the legislators were concerned about approving outstanding requests from President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Speaking on the impeachment threat against Senate President Bukola  Saraki, Lawan said that the National Assembly would continue to remain focused on issues and leave out partisan interests.

    The impeachment threat has been dangling on Saraki since his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

    “We must be nationalistic; we must put national interest above individual, parochial or partisan interests.

    “We definitely have to bury our hatchets for us to work for Nigeria and Nigerians and perhaps that might have informed the disappointment of many people that thought there will be crisis in the National Assembly.

    “Let me also say that disagreements are usual; in fact, they are very practical components of any parliament; so, it is traditional and usual for us to disagree; for now our focus is on national interest.

    “The National Assembly is a Nigerian parliament; therefore, the best thing to do is to ensure that Nigeria gets a very good deal and for now the good deal is to ensure that outstanding requests by Mr President are approved by the National Assembly.

    “I think the national interest for now overrides all other interests,’’ he said.

    The Senate Leader said that upon resumption from recess on Oct. 9, the lawmakers concentrated on the request of the President for the funding of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of 2019 general elections.

    Lawan said that the president’s request of N189 billion for INEC activities of 2019 was approved.

    He said that the committee on appropriation also invited the heads of security agencies to come and defend the request the President made on their behalf for funding of their operations during the conduct of elections of 2019.

    “We also had the referral of the request of Mr president for approval for the foreign loan component of the 2018 appropriation; that is about 2.78 billion dollars Euro bond.

    “So, we have gone full blast consciously and purposefully to ensure that Mr President gets what he requested. We have lost time already.

    “Some of the issues were requested before we went on recess; we passed the confirmations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor and the ICPC Governing Board yesterday.

    “We are determined to continue to do this throughout this period.

    “Our intention is to ensure that Mr President does not lack due to the inactivity of the National Assembly.

    “That whatever he requests, the fundamental aspects especially must be attended to; this is our determination both as APC Senate caucus and as a National Assembly,’’ he said. (NAN)

  • Provides proper funding for INEC to ensure election credibility

    Provides proper funding for INEC to ensure election credibility

    Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has called for proper funding of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enable it to carry out its responsibility of organising credible elections devoid of interference.

    Okowa made the call on Friday in Asaba in his presentation during the executive session of the ongoing 14th All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) holding in Asaba.

    According to him, the electoral body cannot carry out is constitutional duties of conducting free, fair and credible election if it is not financially independent.

    “We cannot have a credible election if the electoral umpire is incapacitated to carry out its functions of ensuring credible elections.

    “As a nation, we have an obligation to make INEC truly independent by ensuring the commission is fully and adequately funded.

    “In a situation where the electoral body go hand-in-cap begging for funds from the executive, it makes it difficult to guarantee credibility of electoral processes,” he said.

    Okowa said that when an electoral body was constrained to carry out its functions, it exposed it to the control of the executive and the tendency to compromise its integrity.

    He said: “If INEC should be answerable to anybody, it should be the legislature and not the executive.

    “If we must have an independent electoral body, we must give it all necessary assistance it desires.”

    The governor also noted that credibility of elections in Nigeria would remain a mirage, as long as the majority of the citizens lived in abject poverty.

    He said that poverty in had contributed to corrupt practices among the electoral officials and voters alike, thereby undermining the process.

    Okowa said that many cases of vote buying and other forms of cash inducement in the country’s electoral process were as a result of poverty.

    He appealed to the media to join in the fight against acts that tend to compromise the country’s electoral process by exposing them. (NAN)