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(People’s Daily Online)

“The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is for the good of humankind,” said Mahmoud H. Elamin, head of the Mission of the League of Arab States in Beijing, during a recent interview with People’s Daily Online.

China and the Arab world have forged deep and historic relations for centuries since the ancient Silk Road was first explored. In 2014, this relationship reached new heights as President Xi Jinping put forward the idea to jointly advance the BRI with Arab countries during the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF). So far, 18 Arab nations have inked cooperation deals on BRI with China.

Under the framework of BRI, Arab states and China have witnessed extensive cooperation in such fields as infrastructure, energy, investment and trade guided by the principles of extensive consultations, joint contribution and shared benefits, said Elamin, noting that the volume of trade between China and the Arab world now totals $200 billion a year.

Several projects have already been carried out, such as the Hassyan Clean Coal Power Plant in Dubai, Attarat Oil Shale Power Plant in Jordan, and China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, he added.
The BRI, Elamin explained, accords with the development strategies of many Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and Jordan’s 2025 Vision, laying a solid foundation for stronger synergy of BRI cooperation between China and Arab countries.

“This initiative will go in line with the aspirations of many countries in the world, especially when we are talking about sustainable development and the vision of the UN’s 2030 Agenda. This initiative will also provide necessary resources to achieve the sustainable development of all projects, especially in the developing world,” said Elamin.

This year, the cooperation was lifted to a higher level as the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) was successfully held in Beijing in April, attracting wide attention from Arab states as well as sending a positive message of strengthening international economic cooperation and building an open global economy.
“I remember one very important phrase said by [China’s] Foreign Minister. He said that the BRI is not a solo; it’s a symphony that is being played by all countries,” said Elamin.
The Arab official also highly praised the achievements China has made in the past few decades, especially since the reform and opening-up 40 years ago.

“Nobody imagined that China could achieve all this development within such a limited time. This development is not only limited to one aspect; it is in every aspect of life, such as poverty alleviation, the general economic situation, high-tech and openness with other parts of the world,” he said, expressing his belief that China will make greater contributions to global development and prosperity.
“The BRI might have begun in China, but its opportunities and outcomes belong to the world. I believe that this initiative is going to have far-reaching positive consequences for the whole world,” he said.

(People’s Daily)

The opening ceremony of the Fourth China-Arab States Expo kicked off in Yinchuan, the capital city of northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Sept. 5, 2019.

Under the theme of “New opportunity, new future,” the expo will focus on infrastructure, Internet-plus Healthcare, high technology, modern agriculture, logistics, tourism, digital economy and industrial cooperation via trade fairs and forums.

According to official data, this year’s event welcomes over 12,600 guests from 89 countries and over 2,900 regional organizations, chambers of commerce, associations and enterprises.

Co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the People’s Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the expo will last from Sept. 5-8.

Friday Omakpo

Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Fallen, has said Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children all over the world.

Mrs. Tallen made this disclosure at her maiden press conference held in Abuja, to mark the beginning of the academic school year for children, where she stated that the number of out of school children in the country has become alarming, but gave assurance that the government is doing its possible best to restore normalcy to reverse the situation.

“Nigeria’s out-of-school population is the largest in the world. However a lot of efforts are put in place by this administration to degrade the insurgency and restore normalcy in the region and encourage school enrolment, retention and completion.”

Speaking further on the efforts by government, Mrs. Tallen disclosed that there was a launch of a program ‘17 5065’ which is set to address gender inequality, encourage the education of more girls and empower more women.
“It is worthwhile to note that the launch of the 17 5065 where goals 4 and 5 provides a tremendous opportunity for ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all and the achievement of gender equality and empower all women and girls.

“It is very important that all stakeholders appreciate the fact that children are individuals with rights and that all duty bearers understand that indeed they have a responsibility to discharge their duties to children from the point of view of rights. For this reason, this government has funded numerous advocacy and sensitization programmes to create awareness and facilitate the promotion of children’s rights.

However, the Minister advised the member of the public not to leave the quest to provide quality education children to the government alone adding that ‘a child with a stimulating home environment does better in all aspects of early childhood development.’
She thus urged parents not to relent in their efforts in providing enabling environment for their children, so as to achieve their potentials.

“We have no future without children and we must do whatever is necessary to ensure their survival, development and protection so that they become responsible and useful members of the society,” said Tallen.
Speaking on gender equality, she gave an assurance of the provision of enabling environment for maximum and holistic development of the Nigerian Women and Children through the implementation of international and regional laws, as well as attend to policies, programmes and projects aimed at enhancing the quality of life of the groups to enable them contribute national development and nation-building.

By Danzumi Ishaku.

The Intelligence Response Teams (IRT) of the Force Headquarters have arrested one Fuski Angulu, suspected to be another kidnap kingpin from Takum LGA of Taraba State.

Police source disclosed to newsman in confidence that Fuski Angulu who was alleged to be behind most of the cases of kidnapping and armed robbery in Takum, Donga and Wukari in Southern Taraba axis was arrested in Takum and taken to Abuja following a tipoff.

The police source further hinted that upon interrogation, Fuski mentioned one Idi Shaidan, a member of his gang, based in Jalingo who also mentioned the names of a former Special Adviser to the Government of Taraba on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Alhaji Salejo Damburan and a serving councillor in Jalingo LGA Shagari Umar as accomplices.

According to the police source, Damburam, Shagari and Sunday Kona were subsequently arrested and interrogated by the IRT police team and their houses searched.

It was further revealed that Alhaji Salejo Damburam and Alhaji Shagari Umar were released on bail while Idi Shaidan, Sunday Kona and other members of ldi Shaitan gang were taken to Force Headquarters in Abuja.

The police source further revealed that a Toyota Hilux and 406 Peugeot belonging to Damburam and Shagari including a Hummer Bus alleged to be the operational vehicle of Fuski Angulu were conveyed to the Force Headquarters Abuja by members of the IRT team.

Speaking to journalists in Jalingo on Friday, the former Special Adviser on MDGs Salejo Damburan denied allegations of involvement in any criminal activities.

He confirmed his arrest by the members of IRT but said he was released two hours later after giving a written statement.

According to Danburam he knew Idi Shaidan as one of the boys who have been terrorising his house and his water company in Jalingo.

He disclosed that he had reported Idi Shaidan to the Directorate of State Service (DSS) and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Jalingo severally adding that Idi had vowed to implicate him.

By Samuel Itsede

Efforts to further enhance Nigerian Air Force (NAF) special operations capabilities have received a boost with the graduation of another batch of 20 Military Working Dogs (MWDs) and Canine (K-9) handlers, 5 of which have been trained in a range of special operations skills including rappelling from helicopters as well as tracking of adversary movements and positions in an area of operation.

In a statement by Airforce spokesman air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, the graduation ceremony, which took place Friday, at the NAF Base Kaduna, would further improve measures for the protection of NAF assets and facilities as well as critical national infrastructure, like Airports, especially in times of emergencies.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who was the Guest of Honour, noted that upon assumption of Office, part of the outcome of a gap analysis conducted to ascertain the NAF’s requirement for the protection of its assets revealed the need for a holistic capacity development among the specialist directorates charged with security, law enforcement and base defence. He disclosed that the Air Provost (AP), as one of these specialist directorates, has received and will continue to receive attention in this regard, with the development of K-9 capabilies being one of the areas of focus. The CAS recalled how the NAF had inducted the first batch of 20 MWDs with narcotics and explosive detection capabilities. He noted that the import of inducting Special Operations Dogs in the second batch of training, was to provide the AP with the capacity to conduct specialized policing functions in support of the roles of the newly established Special Operations Command.

Air Marshal Abubakar went further to highlight some of the additional steps taken to enhance the capacity of the NAF AP personnel, including the establishment of a new K-9 Wing in Bauchi, equipped with modern facilities for K-9 development and administration, to support the Counter Insurgency (COIN) Operations in the Northeast. He said a full-fledged AP Training Centre had also been established at Kerang, Plateau State, to increase the scope and depth of AP training in the NAF. The CAS noted that another major feat recorded in the capacity building efforts of the AP specialty was the resuscitation of the Provost Forensic Laboratory in 2018, after it had been disused and abandoned for over 20 years. In addition, he revealed that capacity had equally been developed in the area of Crime Scene Investigation (CSI), where 16 AP Personnel each had been trained in Stages 1 and 2 CSI Courses, as well as Train-the-Trainer and Forensic Awareness Courses. Moreover, he said another 300 AP personnel had benefited from the Force Protection in Complex Air Ground Environment (FPCAGE) training conducted by the British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT).

The CAS expressed the expectation that the handlers, along with their dogs, having undergone intensive advanced K-9 training for 13 weeks (10 weeks of which were conducted overseas and 3 in-country), must endeavour to add value wherever they are deployed. He emphasised that the Service intends to increase its K-9 holding with the addition of 20 more Special Operations Dogs that would enhance the potential to detect, track and provide early warning of adversary positions while also exploiting the psychological effects of dogs on adversaries. “Thus, K-9 development is projected to be a force multiplier to the operational exploits of the NAF’s aircrew and ground personnel that would enhance the security of Nigeria and Nigerians”, he stated. He added that some of the dogs would soon be deployed alongside NAF Regiment Specialty to conduct training exercises on some troubled roads like the Kaduna-Abuja and Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Highways as well as locations in the Southwest of the Country. Air Marshal Abubakar also expressed the appreciation and continued loyalty of the Service to the Commander-in-Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari, for providing the enabling environment for the NAF to keep discharging its responsibilities despite other contending imperatives.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Chief of Administration (COA) Headquarters NAF, Air Vice Marshal Kingsley Lar, who was represented by the NAF Air Provost Marshal (APM), thanked the CAS for his vision and foresight in establishing the NAF K-9 Unit in February 2016. He said these had  significantly improved security and law enforcement in NAF bases as well as in various operational theatres. The COA remarked that the tactical and special operations training undertaken by the graduands entailed rappelling from helicopters; tracking and navigation as well as first aid and searches in built-up areas, amongst many others.

Among the 20 dogs and handlers who graduated, 10 were trained in explosive detection and 5 in narcotics detection, while 5 dogs were trained for special operations; the first of its kind in Nigeria. The ceremony featured practical demonstration of the capabilities of the Military Working Dogs and their handlers which included explosive ordinance and narcotics detection, tracking and arrest of suspects in simulated built-up areas as well as rappelling of a dog and handler from a helicopter, which was executed by one of the female graduating dog handlers, Lance Corporal Naomi Danjuma. Awards were also presented to graduating dogs and handlers who had distinguished themselves during the course.

By .Dauda R Pam

Managing Director North East Development Commission,(NEDC), Alhaji Mohammed Alkali Kukawa, has re-assured the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of the commission’s determination to swing into action soon,to execute humanitarian programmes to cushion the effects of hardship occasioned by bokoharam in BORNO state.

He lamented the devastatiom and hardship of IDPs in the state and the North East region in general for the past 10 years of insurgency,and hinted that, even as an indigene of Kukawa ,it has been difficult for him to reach his home town and people of his community.

Alhaji Alkali stated this while addressing some IDPs taking refuge at the Customs House Permanent IDP Camps where he later led his team in company of SEMA Executive Chairman, Hajiya Yabawa Kolo,who conducted the NEDC team round Muna Farm and Stadium Camps hosting displaced people from Marte, Abadam, Kukawa, Guzamala and Konduga LGAs among many others.

According to him,he was in Maiduguri on assessment tour of some IDPs camps across the north east to acquaint himself with the situations on ground with a view to go back to the drawing board and sit down with his management team to proffer solutions to them.

Adding that,the visit will further provide the team with primary data on major issues at stake.

Haven inspected some major vulnerable Camps in Maiduguri city, he proceeded to Monguno and Bama Camps to also assess situations on ground.

On her part the Executive Chairman, SEMA, Hajiya Yabawa Kolo, briefed him on the major challenges at the IDPs camp which she noted was main the provision of adequate food.

Also commenting, the Chairman of the IDPs Camps, Alhaji Bulama Abatcha Mohammed, Customs House Camp, complained of lack of food, but was quick to commend security agents for their efforts including vigilante groups and CJTF as well as the support and assistance from the SEMA, NEMA and other donor agencies.

He used the occasion to pray for quick return of peace to enable them return home to pick the pieces of their livelihoods in their ancestral homes.
End

A DIVISIONAL Police Officer (DPO) in Edo State has explained why effective community policing is difficult.

The DPO, who did not want to be quoted in the media, said he and his colleagues got N66,000 yearly imprest to run police divisions.

He said the amount is grossly inadequate.
Speaking at the annual leadership summit of the Leading Rights Ambassador Initiative (LRAI) in Benin, the Edo State capital, the police officer stressed that the budget of the Ministry of Interior would not be enough to fund police operations across the country.
He said: “How much is N66,000 for DPOs to spend annually? How do I run a full police division with N66,000?
“How do I buy fuel to pursue criminals? They don’t supply us uniforms. There is no money for case files. Why will such a system work until we change our attitude?

“We are still doing analogue policing. We manage to make do with what we have to fight criminals.”
LRAI President Donald Ojemeh Okogbe said the summit was meant to create an avenue for Nigerians to articulate issues affecting the country.
“We bring members together to analyse an issue about Nigeria as it affects leadership.
We project into the future and look at what we can do to make things better,” he said.

Okogbe stated that the outcome of such discussion is sent to government to help policy formulation.

SPEECH BY THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, RT. HON. FEMI GBAJABIAMILA AT THE EMERGENCY PLENARY OF THE HOUSE IN RESPONSE TO THE XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS AGAINST NIGERIANS IN THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

PROTOCOLS

We do not intend to speak many words here today. The time for speaking has long passed, and the time for action has arrived upon us with a fierce urgency demanding nothing less than our total commitment to revoking the old arrangements that have made such abominations against our people possible.

Nigerians have long travelled far and wide in search of knowledge, of experience and prosperity. As we have travelled, we have opened also our borders to those who will seek their greener pastures here. In Africa, we have demonstrated our commitment to the brotherhood of nations, sacrificing life, labour and wealth to achieve peace and restore freedom from Sierra Leone to Liberia, Sao Tome to South Africa. We have sought nothing in return, we have made no claims to the land and resources of our brothers. Our commitment has always has been to the advancement of Africa, to freedom in all our lands and prosperity for all our peoples.

Yet today and too many a time, we are called to stand as pallbearers, bringing home to burial the bodies of our brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, our children, savaged and decimated. What is their offence? That they dared to dream of glory and profit beyond our borders, and having dreamt, they endeavoured to make real the visions of their heart. We did not provoke, nor do we deserve the violence that has been visited on our people in South Africa. We reject entirely the obvious attempt to change the true narrative of events by casting the recently organised acts of violence as merely internecine conflict between gangs fighting for turf. Unless it is the position of South African government that all Nigerians living in South Africa are gangsters and criminals, we demand that they reject these claims without equivocation. The vile images of violent devastation and death randomly visited on innocent people seeking their way in the world, strikes at our heart, causing pain that words alone cannot express. Let no one add insult to our grief.

To every citizen of Nigeria in every city and every state who has watched recent events with rising anger and pain, we in the House of Representatives, are with you. To those who are sorely tempted to respond to these latest incidents with violence on our streets and destruction in our communities, I call on you to resist all such temptation. Your anger is justified, your pain is rightly felt but we cannot honour the memory of our fallen citizens by setting our streets aflame and our houses asunder. We will achieve nothing by destroying businesses that employ our people and provide a living for our families. We will honour the lives of our fallen brothers by making sure that never again will our citizens’ inalienable right to life and liberty be so wantonly denied here at home or anywhere else in the world. We will honour the sacrifice of the fallen by devoting ourselves once more to a covenant of service to one another, certain in the knowledge that our greatest protection against such harms, is peace, progress and prosperity in the homeland.

The Leadership of the House commends the actions thus far taken by the President, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR through the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs in communicating the government’s extreme displeasure at what has occurred and taking action to see to the return of those of our citizens who are willing to come home at this time. We will further ask that the President direct the Ministry of Health to assist the families of the bereaved in expediting the return of loved ones who have lost their lives in these unfortunate events.

The leadership of the House of Representatives will also shortly invite the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, the Chairman of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission and other stakeholders to jointly consider the causes of these latest incidents of organised mass violence and murder of our people. We intend not only to determine the causes of these latest events but also to assess and account for the losses in life and property that have occurred. This will allow the government to more accurately demand reparations to compensate our citizens who suffered in this recent orgy of violence. The House of Representatives is ready to authorise legal funding for those citizens who wish to take legal action against identified perpetrators of the violence as well as those who sponsored them or permitted their actions to occur and to continue.

We recognise that there are many places in the world right now where internal crises and conflicts have made the terrain unsafe for our citizens there. The House of Representatives will work with all the stakeholders within and outside government to evolve and implement a plan to evacuate our people from these places and as much as possible keep them out of harm’s way. We must accept that there are at this moment in time several forces converging in different parts of the world, creating seismic events over which we have limited control yet may not entirely escape the worst consequences of. We ought no longer to wait until our people are caught in the foulest manifestations of these events before we take necessary action to protect them.

There have been reports that state actors may have participated in the worst acts of violence; sometimes actively, at other times by standing and doing nothing whilst murder and mayhem was unleashed. We expect that the Government of the Republic of South Africa will conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations and make public their findings whatever they may be. Where any of these claims are determined to be true, we expect also that the individuals responsible will be held accountable to the highest degree allowed by law.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my fellow Nigerians, it is unusual for the full compliment of the house leadership to come out and stand together for a joint conference, however this moment calls for unusual things. We stand before you as one body, across party lines, representatives of the entire house in our joint task towards nation building.

The House of Representatives is united and determined in its resolve to meet our people at the point of their grievance and to channel grievance into constructive action. Let no one be left in any doubt, we will seek, and we will obtain by whatever means available, due restoration and recompense for all that has been lost in this latest conflagration and all the ones that have come before. We are committed to a sustained and special effort to see that the ends of justice are met for all our people who have suffered. We have heard the cries of our citizens, and we have witnessed their devastation. We will mourn for the dead, and cry for the lost, but we will not stop there.

God bless you all, and God bless the people and government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

By Mary Blaise

A Coalition of Civil Society groups have kicked against the payment of 9.6billion USD judgement by a United Kingdom-based arbitration tribunal against the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The CSOs at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, addressed by Convener of the Guardians of Democracy and Development, Transparency and Accountability, Mr Solomon Adodo described the judgement as a subterranean plot to blackmail the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the federation, Mr Abubakar Malami over the controversial $9.6 billion P&ID judgement.

Mr Adodo who spoke on behalf of the group claimed that it was in possession of credible information on attempt by hired unpatriotic civil society groups to blackmail the person of Malami just in a bid to pass the buck and pave way for the hasty implementation of the $9.6 billion Judgement premised on a sham lawsuit filed at a Court in the United Kingdom.

The group argued that Malami did not play any role in the said contract when the said contract between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Processes and Industrial Development Ltd was entered into in January, 2010 by Mr. Michael Quinn of P & ID and Mr. Rilwanu Lukman the then Minister of Petroleum Resources who signed the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) on behalf of P&ID and the Nigerian government respectively.

The group vowed to resist any group or individual who sets out to frustrate on going efforts by the government to stall the implementation of the judgment delivered by a court in the United Kingdom (UK)

The group noted: ” It is therefore mischievous to accuse Mr. Malami of sabotaging the Federal Government’s effort whereas he was not there from the commencement of the deal and/or the legal brickbats that ensued. Our findings reveal that the intentions of these civil society groups is to distract the Honorable Attorney General of the Federation while frustrating the efforts of the Federal Government to amicably arrive at a more plausible solution which will create a soft landing for Nigeria.

” P & ID has therefore engaged these mischievous civil society groups to serve as smokescreen in fighting the Attorney General of the Federation. Available records show that the trump card of P&ID has been to consistently dig up mud and smear the image of any individual occupying the Office of Attorney General of the Federation.

“We therefore use this medium to discountenance these civil society groups before they embark on their binge of mischief against the Nigerian State. We herein sound the alarm that they are not just intent on coming for the head of Malami but are determined to grab Nigeria by the jugular so long as this case and the fairy Judgement of $9.6 billion is concerned.”

By Abel Leonard Nzwan/ Lafia

Flooding in Nasarawa has Killed three people and destroyed many homes, public utilities farm lands and others after hours of torrential rainfall in Lafia, the state capital and its environs in over night flooding.

Saidu Iliya of Filin Kura, Makama Primary School told Daybreak, “The rain started around 3 in the night and it submerged my house by 7 in the morning. The River Amba has never overflowed its bank like this. This is caused by the small passage in the big river.”

He said, the flood overflowed the Amba Bridge connecting Workers Village, 500 Housing Unit and the road to Doma. It caused workers and passengers traveling on both sides to be stranded for over hours, till when the water level went down before they managed to cross the bridge.

Umar Mai-Unguwa of Tudun Makama said in his 20 years, he had never seen the river overflow its bank.
Chairman of lafia Local Government, Muazu Maifata, has gone round to undertake on the spot assessment and that they would assist the victims with relief soon.

However, Governor Abdullahi Sule has also visited the scene and ward warned against building and dumping refuse on waterways.

The governor said that building and dumping of refuse on waterways had become a worrisome phenomenon to the government and should be avoided. He said when the waterways are blocked, there would definitely be flooding because the water would find another direction.

Similarly, in Sabon Gari area of Doma town, the headquarters of Doma local government area, over seven houses were affected by the flooding and property destroyed but no life was lost.
In Daddere town of Obi local government area of the state, over 30 houses were overflowed with property worth thousands of naira washed away, but no life was lost.

In Ankani village, also in Obi local government, five persons drowned, two were rescued, while three are nowhere to be found.

There are also pockets of reports of flooding in some communities, with houses, farms and property worth millions of naira, washed away.
On why the presence of Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency, NASEMA, was not noticed at the scene, the Executive Secretary, Allu Maga said he is in his office.