Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State is pressing the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for a modular refinery as one of the major oil producers in the country. He has been lamenting the absence of petrochemical projects in Akwa Ibom and has accordingly made a request to for a licence. It is, however, not certain what is the matter with PT Intim Perkasa Nigeria Ltd (PTIPN), a subsidiary of PT Intim Perkasa that has been planning to build an oil refinery in the state. As of July 2017, planning activities for the project which involves the…
Author: Akanimo Sampson
Sustainable Trade Initiative, IDH, and Fairtrade have signed a partnership to accelerate joint work towards enabling living wages and income in food supply chains. Based on the belief that people should be at the heart of trade, it is clear their economic models need to be reconstructed to achieve decent livelihoods for those workers and farmers. However, when it comes to achieving transformation in trade systems, it is often easier to find failings than to recognize solutions. In recent years both IDH and Fairtrade have been advocating on the need for a living income and a living wage. Both organisations have…
Globally, the number of air passengers dropped 60 per cent in 2020 to 1.8 billion, down from 4.5 billion in 2019. But, at the same time, internal displacement due to disaster, conflict and violence rose to 40.5 million, up from 31.5 million in 2019. These facts are contained in International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) flagship World Migration Report 2022. The report, the eleventh in IOM’s World Migration Report series, draws upon the latest data from around the world to explain key migration trends as well as issues that are emerging on the migration policy horizon. The IOM report reveals a…
While marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Friday, United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, said those with a disability were among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. International days and weeks are, however, occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilise political will and resources to address global problems and to celebrate and reinforce the achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. Disturbingly, there are one billion persons in the world with disabilities. Out of…
Despite the fact that the number of people going online shot up to 4.9 billion this 2021, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is growing goose pimples that around three billion people have not even attempted going online. ITU is worried because their inability to connect remains profoundly unequal. This is even in spite of the fact that the striking coronavirus is boosting internet connectivity around the world, yet a worrisome United Nations report says 96 per cent of 2.9 billion people who have never used the internet live in developing countries. According to ITU, the estimated number of people who have gone…
Parliamentarians across the globe rose in unison at the 143rd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Madrid, Spain, for vaccine equity in the fight against the rampaging COVID-19. They rallied around an emergency resolution to support equitable access to vaccines, particularly in the developing world. Against the backdrop of the emergence of the omicron variant and renewed border closures, IPU member Parliaments unanimously backed the IPU African Group’s proposal: Harnessing global parliamentary support for vaccine equity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The resolution calls on the international community to ensure “timely, equitable and universal access to safe, affordable, quality and…
Fairtrade Netherlands’ Policy Officer, Karen Bouwsma, has taken an insider’s look at what is preventing faster progress towards a living wage, and finds that the behavioural patterns of toddlers and their parents may help provide some answers. For those in Europe, they are familiar with Black Friday, the day of the year when everything is about the lowest price. Nice for the consumer, of course, but how does this focus on low prices relate to promises made by companies to work towards living wages in their supply chains? Most of the people who produce our food or clothing still do…
Forty-four countries, including Nigeria and 32 others in Africa, nine in Asia and two in Latin America and the Caribbean, are in need of external assistance for food as the barometer of food commodity prices in international markets skyrocketed for the fourth consecutive month in November. The price hike was led by strong demand for wheat and dairy products, according to a report released by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Thursday. The 44 countries in need of external assistance for food are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic…
Donor agencies cum public-spirited individuals and organisations will be under intense pressure next year as a result of broadening humanitarian needs. Already, extreme poverty is sweeping through the world like the raging COVID-19 pandemic. United Nations humanitarians say a total of 274 million people worldwide will need emergency aid and protection in 2022. This is said to be a 17 per cent increase compared to last year. At the launch of the 2022 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) in Geneva, UN Humanitarian Affairs chief, Martin Griffiths, said the amount is equivalent to “the world’s fourth most populous country.” The document, published annually by…
A dark cloud is currently hanging over the 2023 presidential ambition of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the second-term bid of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State. Furthermore, the unwavering prediction of the Leader Of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has given credence to the intelligence report of Menas Associates, a political risk consultancy on the two All Progressive Congress (APC) leaders. According to Ayodele, the Lagos state wing of APC will be immersed in crisis that will ignite the defection of some of its key players. Going by the damning intelligence report, the leaked EndSARS report will have…
In parliaments across Europe, acts of sexism, abuse and violence against women are widespread, A new study by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) shows. This regional study seeks to take the initial findings of a2016 IPU report further, focusing specifically on the situation in parliaments in Europe. It is the result of close collaboration between IPU and PACE, and is the first in a series of regional studies that the IPU wishes to conduct on the subject. The study also broadens the scope of the research to include harassment and violence against female…
Unarguably, the detained leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has become a socio-political factor in Nigeria largely by the security action of the Buhari administration. Is like, the security chiefs did not learn anything from the frequent arrest and holding of Ralph Uwazuruike of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). By harassing, persecuting, and detaining certain people because of their politico-religious view points, and agitation for self-determination, the government helps in growing them into socio-political factors. By a factor here in the case of the IPOB’s Kanu, we mean, an influence…
The Labour Party of the United Kingdom says it supports criminalising Ecocide. This is coming as a Mexican senator is calling on government to support international crime of ecocide. Speaking from Glasgow during the COP26 climate talks, Senator Raúl Paz Alonzo, asked the Mexican government to recognise ecocide as the fifth Crime against World Peace and Security. A few weeks ago, Senator Paz called on the Mexican Congress to recognise ecocide as a serious crime in the federal penal code. Now, from Glasgow and in the context of COP 26, the senator is urging the Federal Government of Mexico to…
For the Director-General of World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the emergence of the threatening new Omicron variant is showing how important it is for the world to end the current “cycle of panic and neglect” over the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO chief was addressing the start of a special three-day meeting of the organisation’s governing body in Geneva on Monday, amid a global alert over the new strain, arguing that greater international cooperation is essential to preserve “hard-won gains” against the virus. This is coming as the coronavirus pandemic is likely cost the global tourism sector $2 trillion…
To deliver the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, says the world needs more ambition, more action, more scale, greater urgency, and ‘’we certainly need more fuel, more financial resources and more investments.” According to her, securing the funding needed for sustainable development by involving as many actors from different sectors as possible, is more urgent than ever, amid a widening “trust deficit” between the haves and the have-nots. She was urging all those present from government, the private sector, international organisations and civil society, to do more to push ahead with a common investment framework to improve…
European Union (EU) group, European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) has declared an all out war on femicide. Going by official data the group gathered, in 2020, 444 women across 10 EU member states were killed by their intimate partners. EIGE is, however, the EU knowledge centre on gender equality. It supports policymakers and all relevant institutions in their efforts to make equality between women and men a reality. It provides specific expertise and comparable and reliable data on gender equality in Europe. EIGE has released a package to help EU countries gather solid data to prevent such killings it…
President Muhammadu Buhari is under fire for promising to cut Nigeria’s carbon emissions to net-zero by 2060, just 39 years away. At the recently concluded United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, President Buhari vociferously said Nigeria will cut its carbon emissions to net-zero by 2060. But, a Regional Organised Crime Observatory Coordinator with Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Oluwole Ojewale, says to achieve that, the country ‘’must’’ curtail its pervasive gas flaring practice, pointing out that at the moment, ‘’there are few signs that it has the political will to do so.’’ Gas flaring is the burning of unwanted…
Global Citizens’ Assembly has voted that the crime of Ecocide should be enshrined in international and national laws, and that it should be firmly enforced. This is coming as Belgium’s parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee has passed a resolution submitted by Samuel Cogolati (Ecolo, Walloon green party) and Wouter De Vriendt (Groen, Flemish green party): ‘’calling on the Belgian government to include the crime of ecocide in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and in the Belgian Penal Code”. The resolution was passed by majority vote. It is non-binding but gives the federal government a strong mandate to take…
A startling new study by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and African Parliamentary Union (APU) is showing that sexism, harassment and violence against women are ubiquitous in parliaments across Africa. The present regional study, the second in the series, focuses on parliaments in Africa and was carried out in partnership with APU. It is based on confidential interviews conducted with 224 women parliamentarians and members of parliamentary staff from 50 countries and one sub-regional parliamentary assembly. The aim of the study is to enrich the documentation and knowledge available on violence against women in parliaments in Africa, taking into account their voices and…
Ahead of 2023, All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari’s party that has been dominating the affairs of Nigeria since May 2015, appears to be imploding. Implosion here refers to the sudden failure or collapse of the APC system with the emergence of a new national faction. In a seeming desperate bid to pour cold water on the intense heat in the party, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State and a factional Caretaker Committee National Chairman of the cracked APC, has added a comic dimension to the festering crisis rocking the party. A new factional APC National Caretaker Committee…
At the168th Session of its Council, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) unveiled ambitious goals for next year that includes a Better Life for all, and tangible on-the-ground progress towards reducing hunger. FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, told the Council on Monday, in 2022, the Organisation must make “extraordinary” efforts to achieve reducing hunger, making agrifood systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable, and to ultimately achieve the Four Betters – Better Production, Better Nutrition, and a Better Environment. “We need extraordinary thinking, ways of doing business and extraordinary efficiency and effectiveness next year”, Qu said in opening remarks to theCouncil, the…
More than a decade of lingering conflict between some forest communities in Edo State, and a palm oil plantation has come under the searchlight of Mongabay, a US-based non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform. Okomu has been in conflict with some of the communities inside its concession over land ownership and usage rights in the reserve. In early 2020, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified Okomu’s main estate after an audit by the consultancy firm SCS; campaigners say the firm failed to perform adequate due diligence and that Okomu’s certification is an example of the RSPO’s shortcomings. When the Roundtable…
The Climate Change Bill which President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law on Thursday, November 18 generally provides a framework for environmental-economic accountability, so says Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), a civic group. The group says the legislation also provides for the establishment of a National Council on Climate Change to promote and adopt nature-based solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change issues in Nigeria. According to PLAC on its website, the new law also establishes a registry with sub-national nodes for ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation’ (REDD+), a mechanism developed by the United Nations…
At the 90th anniversary lecture of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) Worldwide, Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, and Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborevwori, set a political agenda for the Urhobo people ahead of the 2023 governorship election in Delta. Omo-Agege says Urhobo people have to be more conscious and strategic in their approach to the 2023 governorship tussle in the state. He was speaking during a lecture he delivered at the 90th anniversary of UPU at the Urhobo House in Uvwiamuge-Agbarho community in Ughelli North Local Government Area. Omo-Agege spoke on the topic; The challenges and prospects of…
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State accepted the traditional title of Se Taribo 1st of Okochiri kingdom that means a man who has love for his people, from a former top militant leader, Ateke Tom, who is currently the Amayanabo of the ancient Okochiri kingdom to underscore the importance of peace in the big oil and gas state. Port Harcourt, the state capital, is the commercial centre of the Nigerian oil industry, and the economy of the state is dominated by its booming petroleum industry. Though the rise of the oil industry has led to increased revenue for the state government, mismanagement and corruption over…
Companies that are active in Nigeria’s railway sector will be exposed to high operational risks, Fitch, a member of the global rating agency reports. In its recent report on infrastructure development in Nigeria, Fitch says as high criminal activity and risk of recurrent militant attacks on critical infrastructure, particularly in the Niger Delta, threaten the safety of foreign workers and business operations. Fitch cited that previous railway construction was delayed by the kidnapping of Chinese workers. It added that the wider economic stability is highly exposed to oil price fluctuations due to the economy’s fundamental reliance on oil revenues. It…
Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), a civic group, has taken President Muhammadu Buhari to the cleaners, saying the Federal Government under his watch seems set to continue creating new tertiary institutions for political patronage rather than for any concrete intention to improve the educational system in Nigeria. ‘’On a regular basis, bills are passed in the National Assembly that creates new educational institutions ranging from universities to specialised institutions and polytechnics’’, PLAC said on its website. According to it, the number of tertiary institutions created by government continues to expand, adding, ‘’in recent years, universities have been created for…
The leaked EndSARS report will have major political implications for Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambition to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State’s re-election for a second four-year term, a damning intelligence report has said. In its Nigeria Focus, a monthly intelligence report on Nigeria, Menas Associates, a political risk consultancy says some All Progressives Congress (APC) insiders are already insinuating that Tinubu instigated the Lagos panel report in a bid to blackmail the ruling party into giving him the presidential ticket. Interestingly, the report adds that there is no evidence that Tinubu had anything to…
Amid the hot air between governors and federal legislators on direct primaries, a leading civic group says the electorate is clear in expressing that their larger concern is about how to achieve improved and credible elections in Nigeria, rather than the political intrigues within the political gladiators. The citizenry appears to be rankled by the ping-pong of arguments between the Governors’ Forum and members of the bicameral National Assembly. In the meantime, the National Assembly has already transmitted the Electoral Bill, 2021 to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent. The civic group, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) say the transmission…
The first part of the theme for this year’s World AIDS Day coming up on December 1– “End inequalities. End AIDS. End pandemics” – could address a host of the world’s ills. The world has seen the ways inequality has played out during the COVID-19 pandemic: who contracts the disease, who has access to vaccines and medical care and testing, who can’t work from home or who loses their job because of the pandemic’s effects on the economy, who has an underlying condition that makes them more vulnerable to the coronavirus – the list goes on. It’s no different for…
