Day: July 2, 2023

Saturday marks the start of the sea lion hunting season in Namibia.

An estimated 86,000 fur seals will be slaughtered, despite declining demand for their fur and growing opposition from conservationists.

Demand from European clients has fallen dramatically since an EU ban on sea lion fur was introduced in 2009.

China is currently the main market.

Animal protection associations in Namibia have denounced the hunting as a cruel practice.

Authorities claim that the hunting is necessary as the sea lions represent a threat to fishing resources.

Other countries, such as Canada, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Greenland, also authorise sea lion hunting

Source: Nam News Network

President João Lourenço is travelling Monday to the centre-west Benguela Province for a two-day working visit, with a view to checking issues relating to services of rail and logistical support to the Lobito Corridor.

The information was disclosed Sunday, in Luanda, by the secretary for Communication and Press Affairs of the President of the Republic, Luís Fernando.

ANGOP has learnt that the heads of State of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, and of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Féliz Tshisekedi, will also be present in Lobito Municipality of Benguela on Monday morning.

Luís Fernando also said that on Tuesday a vast programme was planned to mark the launch of the Lobito Corridor strategic service, with information to be provided about its operation.

It includes information about which companies have joined the consortium, for the expansion and progress of that important route for the flow of goods and movement of people.

The three statesmen will return to their respective capitals late Tuesday afternoon.

The Lobito Corridor extends from the port of Lobito, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and crosses Angola from west to east, passing through the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico.

It includes the mining camps in Katanga Province in the DRC and the town of Copperbelt in Zambia.

The Lobito Corridor represents the shortest route to a port from the rich mining fields of DRC and Zambia.

However, for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) the corridor is seen as an important means of development for the region, with benefits for Angola and its neighbouring countries.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

Malam Shehu Ahmed, the Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) says the FCT Administration would demolish all structures on waterways across the nation’s capital.

Ahmed made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

He said some structures were preventing water from flowing freely through its natural course which was responsible for flooding recorded in some parts of the city.

” People are clamoring that we act quickly and take tough decisions to save lives. And this is what we must do. We cannot act as though we don’t see this man-made problem caused by those who violate the Abuja Master Plan.”

” Buildings in Trademore Estate had been severally marked for demolition. Warnings have been given year after year but the occupants of the estate keep risking their lives and those of others.

” By declaring Trademore a disaster zone, we have told the residents there to evacuate. The area is on a low line zone which is not safe. Flooding can come at anytime. They know this and have been experiencing it over the years”.

The executive secretary, who is the chairman, Special Ministerial Task Team on Flood Mitigation, revealed that a Police station in Trademore would be demolished and other buildings.

” We have The Police station in Trademore would be demolished. It will go alongside other buildings. We have engaged the FCT Police command and have provided a suitable place for them to operate from and fight crime.”

The executive secretary pointed out that Trademore Estate did not have FCDA Approved building plan and the continuous flooded areas can best be left as Green areas and not residential.

He explained that the estate was just one of the areas in focus as other areas where structures were built on floodplains would experience removal of illegal structures.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The pioneer Editor-In-Chief of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Prof. Victor Adefela, has advised parents to allow their children to follow their passion in choosing career paths, to help them succeed in life.

The 85-year-old professor gave the advice on Friday while presenting his new book titled “Notes Along The Way” at NAN Media Centre in Iganmu, Lagos.

Adefela, who was accompanied by his wife, Oluyemisi, also spoke on how the COVID-19 lockdown and the attendant boredom of staying indoors, in the U.S., eventually resulted in him putting pen to paper to author the book.

He said passion for journalism drew him into the profession and it had been a wonderful experience since becoming one, with him visiting no fewer than 40 countries across the globe.

According to him, life is interesting and meaningful when people do what they actually like, as against professions imposed by parents for various reasons.

“Whatever your children want to do, let it be and give them the support.

“Let people be what they want to be, that is the only way they can find fulfilment,” he said.

Speaking about his book, he said it was a collective story of his life journey.

He said he spent one tenth of his life in NAN and so devoted one tenth of the over 200-page book to the agency, which impacted his life positively.

“This is not the story of NAN, this is the story of Victor Adefela,” he said.

Adefela, Editor-in-Chief of NAN from 1977 to 1985, said coming to work in the agency was the highpoint and most fulfilling aspect of his career life.

“In all my working years, I think the years in NAN were definitely the most productive and the most satisfying,” he said.

The professor said change is constant and everything, people and institutions evolve and are not static, but only passion endures and remains.

“In whatever you do, it is self fulfilment that matters,” he said.

Adefela said he and his pioneer colleagues were excited working hard to achieve something new and useful for growth of the nation.

He expressed hope that the current staff members in NAN were going to uphold the high standard they met.

Earlier, while introducing the author, the Managing Director of NAN, Mr Buki Ponle, said the book presentation was about “giving honour to whom honour is due”.

He led the staff to sing the popular Christian song, “Count your Blessings”.

He described Adefela as a father, mentor, and an icon, who contributed to what he had become.

Ponle said that Adefela was highly disciplined, and in spite of his rich knowledge, very humble.

He recalled Adefela’s stay in NAN when he (Adefela) stood for excellence and tolerated nothing less from members of staff.

“He meant well for us, he has always been our mentor,” he said.

The managing director thanked him for donating 50 books to his fellow retirees.

He said that the book, written by an 85-year-old man, had challenged him to also write a book.

The book reviewer, Mr Segun Adeyemi, was represented by a retired staff, Dr Kingsley Kubeyinje, who joined NAN in 1984.

Adeyemi is a former New York Correspondent, NAN, and former Special Adviser to the immediate-past Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

He said the book captured the reality of the life of the reputable journalist and academician.

He said that 22 of the pages were dedicated to his times in NAN, adding that, it also captured his early adventurous childhood which had many turns and twists.

He said it captured the “life story of a boy who was born in Lagos, grew up partly in Igbara-Oke and Ile-Ife, went to school in both, as well as in Ibadan and the United States, and then became a world citizen, a renowned Journalist, a global Consultant and a University Teacher who has visited 40 countries in three continents!

“What many readers, especially from the NAN family, will look forward to in the memoir is his notes on the time he spent in the agency, especially because he was the very first journalist to be employed in NAN, and the agency’s pioneer Editor-in-Chief who largely charted its editorial pathway.

“Only 22 of the 274 pages in the book were dedicated to the eight years he spent in NAN, but so much was packed into those pages that I do not think he left much untouched.

“Find out why the story of NAN will be incomplete without this man,” he said.

Also, a former editor-in-chief, Mr Isaac Ighure and others took turns to relish exciting moments.

Ighure said he met “an organised and sweet NAN to work in” because Adefela laid the right foundation.

“We were breaking the news and the others were following us,” Ighure said.

He recommended the book for those seeking growth and better understanding.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

A legal practitioner, Mr Tunde Afe-Babalola, SAN, says his father’s disciplinary approach contributed tremendously to his success in his endeavour.

Tunde, son of the legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, made this known on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja

The lawyer, who recalled that his father would be celebrating his 60th anniversary of his call to Bar on July 9, said the legal giant’s attributes had helped him to grow in the profession.

“My father’s attributes include hard work, dedication, generosity, sacrifice, resilience, trust, fear of God, love for mankind, etc.

“These same attributes which he has, are the same things that have helped me over the years.

“Really, the way he disciplined us contributed tremendously to my success today.

“Victor Devlin said, ‘Listen, there is no way any true man is going to let children live around him in his home and not discipline and teach, fight and mould them until they know all he knows. His goal is to make them better than he is. Being their friend is a distant second to this.”

“Barack Obama said, ‘Someone once said that every man is trying to live up to his father’s expectations or make up for their father’s mistakes….’

“In his case, I emulate his great attributes and wonderful achievements,” he said.

He described his father as a simple man despite all the international awards and achievements.

“He is a loving, generous and supportive father,” he added.

Afe-Babalola said his father’s genuine love for the people and the desire to positively impact the society kept him going in the legal profession.

“Absolutely, he is my mentor and I am what I am today because of the Grace of God and my father. I cannot pray for a better father,” he said.

He congratulated his father on his 60 years of law practice.

“Dad, you are a winner, a goal getter and a worthy example to all of us. Indeed, we are so proud of having you among us over these 60 years in the legal profession.

“Your dedication to work is beyond admiration. Having produced innumerable SANs, several judges up to the appellate levels, several Attorney Generals at the federal and state levels, leaders of industry, etc.

“We pray that God will give you many more years of sound health and further impactful contribution to the legal profession worldwide,” he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), on Sunday decried the invasion of Mina and Arafat by fake pilgrims which resulted in inadequate tents.

The Chairman of NAHCON, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, stated this during a working visit to Mutawif for Pilgrims from African non-Arab countries, in Makkah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“First, I will like to react to the fact that there was an invasion of this year’s Hajj by illegal pilgrims and it was embarrassing.

“I don’t know the percentage but we saw people who had no business in Mina and few days later they turned Mina into a market place and a carnival.

“However, we were not in a position to checkmate them. We do not have the security control because there was no way we can handle the issue, an embarrassment to us.

“There was no way we can check them. Only the appropriate authorities can do that.”

Hassan said that the same tent space used for the 2022 Hajj of about 43,000 pilgrims, was the same tent Nigeria used for 95,000 pilgrims for this year’s hajj.

“In view of the inadequate tent space, many pilgrims who looked towards an enjoyable Hajj had to find themselves under the sun for days.

“And they had nowhere to go but remain under the sun. Many didn’t know that the best we can do as a Hajj mission is only to complain. We had no power or control over the issue.

“We were just helpless and this is not a good one for the pilgrims who have looked towards an enjoyable Hajj.”

He said like the issue of tent, the issue of food was poorly served by the company, adding that meals had no Nigerian touch.

According to him, this year, very many food served to pilgrims were not eaten and even they came, they were very late.

“NAHCON was helpless on the issues of the tent space and feeding. We had no control and management but we take the blame because the pilgrims know us they don’t know you.

“They believed we were responsible, yet we are helpless. We also went through the pain. Some of our places were turned like a refuse dump and at times some of our toilets lacked water.”

The NAHCON boss, therefore, demanded that going forward, the commission should be allowed to handle feeding of pilgrims at Mina and Arafat to ensure that Nigerian pilgrims get value for their money.

“As far as feeding is concerned, I think it should just return to the commission because if you return feeding to us we will be able to manage our problems among ourselves.

“We will be able to screen the caterers and ensure that they have the Nigerian touch. The food we had this year doesn’t have the Nigerian touch at all.

“And, therefore, we will write a letter of request for refund.”

Speaking on behalf of the Executive Secretaries of the 36 States and the FCT Chairmen of Pilgrims Boards, Alhaji Salihu Abubakar of Adamawa, said the contacted company was taking a risk by insisting on feeding pilgrims in Mina and Arafat.

He said every state board complained about the lack of food, adding that the contracted company will fast loose its image and the confidence of the pilgrims.

“He cited the Adamawa State pilgrims tents, where there was no lunch and dinner on June 26 and there was no breakfast on June 27 and there was very few plates of lunch given on June 27.

“It was when we were on our way to Muzzalifah that food packs that do not contain water and juice, were given to us and I, as the Executive Secretary and my entire tent, didn’t have a single bottle of water and there was nowhere we could get water.

“On reaching Muzdalifah, some of us trekked up to Jamrat and we came back to our tents in Mina on 28 June and there was no food, no breakfast and no lunch.”

Responding, Mr Bador Bafakeeh, the Chief Executive of the contracted company, said the company observed the huge number of illegal pilgrims in the Nigerian tents in Mina and Arafat which made most of the tents very crowded.

According to him, the company checked all the number of pilgrims which increased to maybe 30 to 40 per cent than the agreed number.

“The tents were customized with the number of pilgrims agreed on and we tried to maintain it with the food and all utility services we agreed on.

“Most of our video records shows that there was many illegal pilgrims in different tents when we were sharing food. A lot of official report had been written regarding all of these cases from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and some government entities.”

He assured that the company would look into all the issues raised by NAHCON and subsequently convey another meeting with the commission and all stakeholders to find a common ground.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Stakeholders in the Hajj Industry have commended the performance of the Aero Contractors on the outbound movement of pilgrims from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia.

They made the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Makkah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Executive Secretary, Nasarawa State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Idris Al-Makura, said the airline performed very well to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

According to him, this is the first time an indigenous airline has come out to showcase its capacity.

“To be honest, at the beginning I was very skeptical about the issue because out of the blues we just heard about Aero Contractors which has not engaged in the transportation of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia before.

“So I was very scared that maybe the airline might not be able to make it and we might have a disappointment at the end of the day, but as God will have it, I met with the Aero Contractor team including its Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Maifata.

“We held a meeting to discuss the modalities of the operation and we left everything in the hands of God and as God will have it, I’m very happy, not only myself but also all colleagues in Oyo, Adamawa, Taraba states and even the FCT and Kaduna state that were rescued by the airline. They are very happy.”

He said that initially, the National Hajj commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) allocated about 7,000 pilgrims to Aero Contractors but after being impressed with its performance, the commission increased the allocation to 11,600.

“By next year, if we are still in the system, we will recommend that 40 per cent of the total Nigerian pilgrims should be lifted by Aero contractors.”

Also, Alhaji Salihu Abubakar, the Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, applauded the airline for the professional and effective way it handled the transportation of Nigerian pilgrims.

“It is great working with the Aero Contractors team, which handled the transportation of our pilgrims with a professional and mature touch.

“We appreciate the Chairman and if we are given hundreds of choices, we shall choose Aero contractors again and again and again! We are proud of the Aero Contractors team.”

Responding, the Coordinating Officer of Aero Contractors for the 2023 hajj, Alhaji Liman Usman, said from the beginning, all the state pilgrims board allocated to the airline were not comfortable with the ability of the airline to discharge its duties effectively.

“We are first timers in the transportation of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. Lots of people were not sure if we can deliver, people speculated that we will not make it at all but by the grace of God, were able to deliver successfully.”

According to him, initially, the airline was given about 7,200 pilgrims from Oyo, Nasarawa, Adamawa and Taraba States but at the end of the day, we were able to transport additional 9,00 pilgrims from the FCT and another 9,000 pilgrims from Kaduna state.

“These are extra four flights from Kaduna and the FCT. FCT pilgrims were allocated to Air Peace and due to some reasons we were asked to come in and rescue its pilgrims.

“Azman airline was assigned to transport Kaduna state pilgrims but at the end of the day, we also recused some of the state pilgrims and at the same time, we added one flight from the National Assembly.

“For the last flight, we came with few travel agents and all our staff so in total, we transported 11,876 piwlgrims.”

He assured that the company would surpass its performance in the inbound movement of pilgrims back to Nigeria

“We have started making preparations toward that and by God’s grace we will achieve success.”

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has withdrawn the result of one Mmesoma Ejikeme, a candidate of the just-released Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result over alleged manipulation of her scores.

This is contained in a statement by the Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.

Recall that Ejikeme, who claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME, was recently awarded a N3 million scholarship by Innocent Chukwuma, Chairman of Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing Company.

Benjamin said that some of the 2023 UTME candidates were parading fake scores in order to get undue advantage.

He said JAMB, which also listed the case of one Atung Gerald in Kaduna that allegedly claimed to have scored 380, advised the public not to fall victim to the antics of the candidates.

“The attention of JAMB has been drawn to several publications in both print and online media celebrating certain candidates for scoring high in the 2023 UTME.

”The board is constrained to set the records straight and wishes to state unequivocally that many of the results which many of these candidates are parading are fake.

”In many instances, some of these candidates had actually obtained far lower scores than they are claiming and had used some funny software packages to manipulate their results to deceive unsuspecting members of the public.

”The most pathetic of them all is the case of Miss Ejikeme, who claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME and was awarded a N3 million scholarship by Chukwuma,” he said.

He said that the candidate was set to be honoured by the Anambra State Government when one of its top officials put a call through to JAMB to confirm her claim, only for the board to reveal that she had actually scored 249 and not 362.

”She had manipulated her UTME result to deceive the public and fraudulently obtained scholarship and other recognitions.

”The board would like to state that the likes of Mmesoma are still out there, deceiving those who are always in a hurry to bestow honour on candidates without confirming from the Board,” he added.

He advised the public to always cross check claims by candidates with the Board before rushing to honour them with undeserving awards.

He said this was because certain software had been created to produce fake results and put same out in the public space for fun which was what the sponsors of these candidates were using to defraud good-spirited Nigerians.

”It is to be noted that the candidate had sent a message to the Board’s platform to request her UTME result after which she manually inflated her scores and pasted same on the 2022 UTME result sheet.

”Unknown to her, the Board had changed the design of the 2023 UTME result sheet. Her original result remains 249 as nothing can change that,” he explained.

He, therefore, said that the candidate would be prosecuted as the Board would investigate all candidates laying claims to higher scores than they actually obtained.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria