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Troops record more successes, neutralize terrorists in Borno state

Bilkisu Halilu Pai
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The troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), in North Eastern Nigeria have neutralized several terrorists of  Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP)  and Boko Haram around Yuwe village, in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno state.

This was during a successful ambush operation in the early hours of Saturday 28 January 2023, where the troops also recovered several weapons and motorcycles.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya has commended troops for their professionalism, tenacious commitment and fighting spirit in prosecuting the war against terrorism and insurgency in North Eastern Nigeria.

Read Also:Troops Neutralise Terrorists In Borno

Nigerian Government urged to create enabling environment for design Engineers 

Bilkisu Halilu Pai
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Nigerian Government has been urged to create an enabling environment for creative design engineers to come up with new products, new concepts and innovative ideas that can contribute to Nigeria’s industrialization goal.

 

The national chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Mrs. Funmilade Akingbagbohu, made the call during the closing ceremony of a one-week CAD training and development of design concept for Kwara state youths.

 

The training was organized by the institute and sponsored by the state Commissioner for Works and Transportation, Engineer Sulaiman Rotimi in Ilorin at the weekend.

 

Mrs. Akingbagbohu noted that design engineers identify complex design problems, conduct root-cause failure analysis and anticipate production issues, saying that they also develop innovative design solutions, evaluate options, conduct tests and implement solutions to meet timing, product cost and reliability targets.

 

According to her, engineering is a practical course as the demand for engineers come with demand for their ability to showcase their potentials adding that design engineers have a lot to do with safety and cost effective products.

 

She observed that many young engineers have graduated but do not have the skill or experience to compete in a system where experience is becoming the reason for their inability to break through.

 

The chairman of the institute implored the Kwara State Government and agencies to begin to give more young engineers opportunity to have internship at the specialist Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and partnering private sectors.

 

“Such internship can open a window of opportunities for many young engineers of Kwara origin to acquire experience. The best performers among them can be retained to motivate the future participants. The economic impact of such approach to youth development is immeasurable” she recommended.

She charged elders at Nigerian Society of Engineers and Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers and other divisions to put a process in motion to make this workable.

 

“Let us revive the pupillage. Even if you will not employ them after their internship, the experience acquired will be a gateway for many of them to find job opportunities in other industries”, she said.

 

Mrs. Akingbagbohu, who urged participants to key to what they had been taught, said that, “the world is now on your palm, go and practice and become a master in the art. Do more with what you have been taught, expand your horizon and keep learning to stay abreast of the industry trend”, she charged the participants.

 

She recommended that they develop additional skills outside of technical knowledge, nurture and develop their creativity in solving problems and as well expand their analytical thinking capability.

 

“My dear young engineers, no matter what your current position, look out for opportunity and be prepared to grab it with two hands when it shows up at your door”, she added

 

The sponsor, Engineer Sulaiman Rotimi Iliasu, who noted that the world of work is evolving with different skill sets in demand by organizations noted that the NIMechE as a professional association, has the mandate to bridge the gap between academy and industry as well equip members, young and old with skills needed for them to elevate their status as professionals.

 

He also said that the government would continue to champion the course of engineers in the state, urging the participants to make good use of what they had been taught and be good ambassadors to their various institutions and the state in general.

 

Some of the participants also expressed gratitude for the skills they had acquired to their profession and pledged to make good use of them.

Lassa Fever: Ondo Records 106 Cases, 8 Deaths

Temitope Obatoke
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Ondo State government has recorded 106 cases of Lassa Fever and 8 deaths in the state this year.

Prof. Francis Faduyile, Special Adviser to the governor on Health, made the disclosure in an interview with news men on Sunday in Akure. He said the confirmed cases were in six local government areas, which are Owo, Akure North, Akure South, Ose, Akoko South-West and Idanre.

According to him, Owo has the highest cases of 68, Akure North 13, Akure South 11, Ose 9, Akoko South-West 5 and Idanre 1.

“Between January 1 and January 23, we have had 268 suspected cases of Lassa Fever, 106 confirmed cases and unfortunately eight deaths.”

He explained that the prevalent period of the disease was during the dry season and part of the rainy season when farmers were cultivating lands for farming.

“The farmers during this period will do a lot of bush burning and when they burn the bush, the rats will move from their natural habitat to a safer place and a lot of them tend to come towards homes in that surrounding. The first way to prevent Lassa fever is to stop bush burning and we have sensitised against this.”

Faduyile advised people not put their foods where rats can have access.

“We have observed that some of our cultural activities like spreading cassava on the road to dry are harmful because rats can come around eat out of the cassava and drop faeces or urine on it. Besides, we have observed that our level of hygiene, if it is not well improved can attract rats, because rats are scavengers and when there are uneaten food, that are not covered, they tend to come.”

Faduyile noted that the government has embarked on advocacy through the local governments and traditional rulers as well as other preventive means to stem the disease.

“Every year there is deratification that is to kill all the rats, and we have started it this year which has been largely successful. Also, there have been a lot of advocacy for medical personnel to have high index of suspicion for any fever.”

Faduyile said the government has improved the state Infectious Disease Hospital, Akure, to a standard that can take care of Lassa fever.

 

 

 

NAN

US treasury secretary concludes South Africa trip

Hauwa Mustapha
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US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen concluded her tour of South Africa with a visit to Emalahleni, the coal-mining town which produces most of the coal South Africa relies on to fire its power stations.

Emalahleni, which means “a place of coal”, is home to 12 coal-fired power stations and is among the areas earmarked for the just energy transition project which will see many of the power stations phased out over time.

Addressing the press shortly after the tour of the workshop where women and young people are being trained in solar and wind technologies, Yellen sought to allay fears that towns like Emalahleni would suffer from the transition as their economies are mostly reliant on coal-mining.

“What we are doing is trying to support a set of plans that South Africa has devised itself, that involve a gradual transition and recognition that we need to support communities that are affected by that transition. The jobs are important,” she said.

She said the U.S. was committed to ensuring that existing workers were re-skilled in order to find work opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

According to Yellen, centres like the Nkangala Top of the World Training Center were important for developing the skills needed to implement the transition and that she had discussed potential job losses from the transition with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and the national minister of minerals and energy, Gwede Mantashe.

“Facilitating a transition that leaves no one behind requires job retraining and re-skilling like we saw today. It also requires the redevelopment of former fossil fuel and power sites, and investment in infrastruature to support the development of new industries and opportunities,” she said.

Yellen was expected to meet various philanthropists in Johannesburg to attract funding for climate change projects and to visit the Apartheid Museum, which documents the brutality of the segregation system implemented by the white-minority government before the 1994 transition to democracy.

South Africa was the last leg of her 10-day Africa tour, which included visits to Senegal and Zambia.

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Djokovic Wins Australian Open, Ties Nadal’s Grand Slam Record

Chidi Uduma Nwoke
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Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic made history on Sunday as he won a record-extending 10th Australian Open title, thrashing Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in the final, while also equalling Rafael Nadal’s all-time record for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles with 22.

Djokovic started the game at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne brilliantly, winning the first set in 36 minutes as he blew past Tsitsipas, who was appearing in his first final in Melbourne.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action during 2023 Australian Open final against Stefanos Tsitsipas

The Greek needed to get a foothold in the match and he did so at the start of the second set. Tsitsipas showed some signs of improvement as Djokovic was no longer so relaxed in his service games.

However, Tsitsipas was unable to take his opportunity as Djokovic powered away a forehand at the end of a long rally and forced a tie-break.

Djokovic then took a 4-1 lead only for Tsitsipas to fight back to 4-4 in the second set tie-break. But more errors from Tsitsipas gave Djokovic the advantage as he won the tie-break 7-4 to take the second set.

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in action during match against Novak Djokovic.

Frustration continued for Tsitsipas at the start of the third set. The Greek couldn’t find a way past Djokovic’s resilient defence as pressure mounted on him. Tsitsipas withstood pressure from his opponent to force another tie-break, but Djokovic got off to the perfect start, opening up a 5-0 lead.

The Greek then played some of his best tennis of the match to fight back to 6-5. However,  Djokovic served out for victory as he claimed the third set tie-break 7-5 to win his 10th Australian Open title.

Djokovic also reclaimed the world No 1 ranking from Carlos Alcaraz, as his triumph in Melbourne also became a redemption story.

In 2022, Djokovic was deported from Australia on the eve of the Grand Slam due to refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Angolan President inaugurates first satellite control centre

Hauwa Mustapha
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Angolan President João Lourenço has inaugurated the country’s first satellite control centre.

Its main task is to monitor the activity of the satellite “ANGOSAT 2”.

The southern African country had in October launched the main satellite with the help of Russia

The inauguration took place at Funda area within Luanda, the capital city of Angola and fully equipped with technical and technological means.

“With the launch of this satellite and its commissioning, Angola will win in all services, so we will improve our telecommunications and our social communication and will also benefit from this important project,” said President João.

“Therefore, further investments to ensure that our telecommunications contribute to the development of the country and the services of our economy, not just of Angolan society, will continue to be made, and it has been said here that in terms of fibre optics and therefore cable transmission and investment that we are making today to connect Angola to the neighbouring country, specifically the DRC,” said President João.

According to what was revealed, the Satellite Mission and Control Center is an intelligent infrastructure with multiple engineering advantages, capable of guaranteeing the tracking, monitoring and operation of satellites, in this case the ANGOSAT-2.

In December 2017, Angola launched its trial satellite Angosat-1 alongside the Russian rocket, but Moscow announced it had lost control of it as soon as it entered orbit.

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Ghana, capital market operators agree on domestic debt exchange

Hauwa Mustapha
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Ghana’s government and the Ghana Securities Industry Association (GSIA) have reached an understanding on the terms of participation by capital market operators in the country’s domestic debt exchange (DDE) programme, they said.

Crisis-hit Ghana has to restructure its mountain of debt in order to access a relief package from the International Monetary Fund but a deadline for bondholders to sign up to the DDE programme has already been pushed back several times.

Under the new agreement, capital market operators will participate in the exchange programme on the same “improved terms” agreed with banks earlier this week.

“GSIA believes this agreement is necessary to restore market normalcy and confidence in the economy,” the statement said.

Ghana needs around 80% of bondholders to sign up for the DDE program.

Registration has already been extended three times, with a current deadline of 31st January, in an attempt to convince hesitant bondholders who are concerned about lack of clarity surrounding the terms of the deal.

Reuters

Libya rescue 237 migrants off coast – MSF

Hauwa Mustapha
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French medical charity Doctors Without Borders or MSF, shared footage of the rescue of 237 migrants off the Libyan coast.

The NGO’s chartered rescue vessel was sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, north of the country’s capital Tripoli, when it received a distress call.

The Geo Barents ship later encountered other overcrowded rubber dinghies with migrants attempting to reach Europe and took them on board.

MSF rescues 237 migrants off Libyan coasts

Following instructions by the maritime rescue coordination centre, the ship then sailed towards the northern Italian port of La Spezia.

MSF and other NGOs operating rescue vessels off Africa’s northern coast accused the Italian government of deliberately assigning far away ports to discourage their operations. Which Italy’s Interior denied.

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Nichols Death: Memphis dissolves Police Unit ‘Scorpion’

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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Memphis in the United States has dissolved a police unit called ‘scorpion’ that included five officers charged with the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist.

Cerelyn ‘CJ’ Davis, the Memphis police chief, who announced the move in a statement, said it was imperative that the police take proactive steps in the healing process and that it was in the best interest of all to deactivate the Scorpion unit permanently.

She said she decided after speaking with members of Nichols’s family, community leaders, and other officers. Her announcement came a day after harrowing videos emerged of the police beating Nichols. It showed the 29-year-old Black man repeatedly screaming “Mom!” as officers kicked, punched, and struck him with a baton in his mother’s neighbourhood after a January 7 traffic stop. He was hospitalised and died of his injuries three days later.

Five Black officers involved in the beating were charged on Thursday with murder, assault, kidnapping, and other charges. All have been dismissed from the department.

READ ALSO: Ex-Memphis Police officers charged with murder 

Protesters marching through downtown Memphis cheered when they heard the unit had been dissolved. One protester said over a bullhorn that the unit that killed Tyre had been permanently dissolved. The unit comprises three teams of about 30 officers aiming to target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime.

It had been inactive since Nichols’s January 7 arrest and subsequent beating. Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, lawyers for the Nichols family, said the deactivation was a decent and just decision. “We must keep in mind that this is just the next step on this journey for justice and accountability, as clearly, this misconduct is not restricted to these specialty units. It extends so much further,” they said.

Nichols’s death is the latest high-profile instance of police using excessive force against Black people and other minorities. The 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, galvanized worldwide protests over racial injustice.

Rallies calling for justice for Nichols took place in cities across the US on Saturday. Several dozen demonstrators in Memphis blocked the Interstate 55 bridge that carries traffic over the Mississippi River toward Arkansas. At the same time, crowds also marched in New York City, Los Angeles, California, and Portland, Oregon.

Human rights activists said the video of Nichols’s beating left many unanswered questions about the traffic stop. Brenda Goss Andrews, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, said she was struck by the immediate aggression from officers as soon as they got out of the car.

“It just went to 100. … This was never a matter of de-escalation. The young man never had a chance from the moment that he was stopped,” she said. Goss Andrews added that the video also raised questions about the other law enforcement officers who stood by as Nichols lay motionless on the pavement. “Nobody tried to stop anything. They have a duty to intervene, a duty to render care,” she added.

Davis, the Memphis police chief, told The Associated Press news agency that the department could not substantiate the reason for the stop. “We don’t know what happened,” she said, adding, “All we know is the amount of force that was applied in this situation was over the top.”

Davis has said other officers are under investigation, and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said two deputies were relieved of duty without pay while their conduct is investigated. Rodney Wells, Nichols’s stepfather, said the family would continue to seek justice, and those who failed to render aid are just as guilty as the officers who threw the blows.

A Memphis police spokeswoman declined to comment on the other officers’ conduct. Reverend  Al Sharpton, a prominent human rights activist, said on Saturday that the beating was particularly egregious because the officers were also Black. “Your Blackness will not stop us from fighting you. These five cops not only disgraced their names, they humiliated our race,” he added.

 

Al Jazeera/S.O

Sudan in agreement with Ethiopia over Nile dam

Hauwa Mustapha
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Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said that Khartoum and Addis Ababa are “aligned and in agreement” on a controversial Ethiopian dam on the Blue Nile which Egypt views as a threat.

Burhan’s remarks came during a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who was on a one-day visit to Khartoum, his first since Burhan led a 2021 military coup.

“Burhan emphasised… that Sudan and Ethiopia are aligned and in agreement on all issues regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD),” according to a statement by the sovereign council, which he chairs.

The dam has been the source of tensions between Ethiopia and downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, ever since work began in 2011.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed “confirmed that the Renaissance Dam will not cause any harm to Sudan but will have benefits for it in terms of electricity,” the statement said.

Multiple rounds of talks between the three governments have failed to produce an agreement over the filling and operation of the reservoir.

Egypt is dependent on the Nile for irrigation and drinking water and the Blue Nile accounts for more than 80 percent of its flow.

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