Values
UN official highlights values of water in fighting coronavirus pandemic
Water has many values that are just not priced, Sasha Koo-Oshima, the Deputy Director, Land and Water Division, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), told Xinhua ahead of the World Water Day on March 29. The official highlighted that with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a large part of the world population still lacks access to handwashing facilities at home. “This is the first line of defence against this virus and the value of water is very evident in this progression. “The first thing we realised is handwashing. Many countries just don’t have clean water to even just wash hands,” she said. The UN on Monday warned that more than two billion people do not have direct access to water, the “blue gold” which is essential in defeating the pandemic. In its World Water Development Re...
Umahi urges women to maintain priorities as mothers
File Photo The wife of the governor of Ebonyi State, Rachael Umahi, has urged women faithful to maintain their priorities as mothers and stick to God’s word for a better family. Mrs Umahi made the call on Sunday at the 2021 Mother’s Day celebration at the Christ Embassy Church, Abakaliki. The governor’s wife encouraged the women to also remain committed in the faces of challenges and continue to dwell in the word of God for a better life as well. “We must be excellent women in action, pillars of blessings and develop ourselves with God’s word for development. “We must also learn to tell our husbands bitter truth base on the words of God for the well-being of family and society. “Live out dreams in you every day, train your children to love and share,” Umahi said. Speaking, the Pastor in ch...
Senator Dickson: Why I am staying off Bayelsa government events
File Photo A former Governor of Bayelsa, Seriake Dickson, says he has no rift with his predecessor, Douye Diri, who took over from him on February 14, 2020. Dickson said his noticeable absence from government functions was deliberate and in consonance with his values and principles of non interference. In a statement issued on Thursday, Dickson, who is now a senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District of the state, said he remained supportive of Diri’s administration. He said he had no hand in the media attacks against Diri’s administration by some of his former aides. Dickson’s explanation came on the heels of claims by John Idumange, a former general manager of the Bayelsa Broadcasting Corporation, alleging diversion of N3 billion agricultural loan obtained by Dickson’s adminis...
DHS: U.S. to start reopening southern border to asylum seekers
The United States will next week begin reopening the southern border to asylum-seekers who the Trump administration forced to remain in Mexico while awaiting immigration court hearings. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said this in a statement on Friday. “Beginning on Feb. 19, the Department of Homeland Security will begin phase one of a programme to restore safe and orderly processing at the southwest border. “DHS will begin processing people who had been forced to ‘remain in Mexico’ under the Migrant Protection Protocols,” the statement said. The move marks a first step toward overturning the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the ‘remain in Mexico’ policy, which since being implemented in January 2019 has forced migrants to wait in Mexico while t...
VP Osinbajo: We must resist all attempts to tear Nigeria apart
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called on Nigerians to resist any attempt to divide the nation saying Nigeria is better as one indivisible entity. He also called for the strengthening of community policing structures which he said will result in improved security situation across the country. Osinbajo who made this known on Tuesday while revalidating his membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ikenne ward one in Ogun state declared “we must resist any attempt to destroy the unity of this country, our people have lived and worked together for decades, even centuries.” He added: “While we must attend to the cries of communities, and the cries of our people for justice, equity and fairness, we can do so within this same union. Ultimately we are stronger together than apar...
ICC ruling brings hope for Palestinians, dismay for Israelis
Many Palestinians see a ruling by the International Criminal Court that it has jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories as a belated chance of justice for victims of Israeli attacks. But for many Israelis, Friday’s ruling is worrying because they say they are the “good guys” defending themselves against Palestinian violence. The ruling, delivered by a pre-trial chamber of three ICC judges, could lead to criminal investigations of Israel and Palestinian militant groups including Hamas. No probe was expected in the near future, however. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she would now examine the decision and pointed to the 2014 Gaza war between Israel and militant groups in Hamas-controlled Gaza, the 2018 Gaza border protests and Israeli settlements in occupied territory. In Khan Youni...
Rivers governor commiserates Akwa Ibom over death of PDP, PANDEF chairmen
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has commiserated with the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel over the recent loss of prominent indigenes of the state. Wike described the death of the State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Udo Ekpenyong and the Director-General of Governor Emmanuel’s two terms Divine Mandate organization and Chairman of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga rtd., as a grave loss not just to Akwa Ibom State but the entire South-South region and the party which, he said, is Nigeria’s hope. The Rivers State Governor who was on a condolence visit to Governor Emmanuel at Hilltop Mansion, Government House Uyo, on Thursday said what touches Akwa Ibom touches Rivers state. Hear him, “what I came here is that the Governor Udom ...
Egypt court acquits TikTok stars jailed over ‘debauchery’
An Egyptian appeals court has acquitted two young women imprisoned for “attacking society’s values” over videos they published on TikTok. The women had been sentenced to two years in prison last July for “breaching public morals”. “The court of appeal accepted the appeal filed by Haneen Hossam and Mawada al-Adham against their imprisonment … on charges of incitement to debauchery and attacking society’s values,” a court official said on Tuesday, asking not to be named. Hossam, 20, was acquitted after being jailed for encouraging women among her 1.3 million subscribers to broadcast videos in exchange for money, while al-Adham’s two-year sentence for publishing indecent photos and videos was cancelled. Hossam’s lawyer Hussein El Bakar told Thomson Reuters Foundation that her client, a studen...
UNIBEN to resume 2019/2020, 2020/2021 sessions
The University of Benin (UNIBEN) will resume for the 2019/2020 academic session on January 30 and the 2020/2021 session in April, it has been learnt. Spokesperson Dr. Benedicta Ehanire, in a statement yesterday, said: “At the end of the University’s Senate meeting yesterday, it was resolved that old students should come into residence on January 30 for the continuation of first semester lectures. The semester is expected to run until the April 1, while second semester is billed to start on April 5. “For the 2020/2021 amended calendar, new students are to undergo online clearance from April 5 to April 30, and start orientation on May 3. “All returning students (old and new) are required to fill an online questionnaire and submit the printout to the Dean of Students before resumption. Adhere...
U.S. records 247,403 new coronavirus infections, 3,656 deaths
The daily number of new coronavirus (COVID-19) infections and deaths has hit new highs in the U.S. On Wednesday, December 16, there were 247,403 new infections and 3,656 deaths with confirmed COVID-19 infection registered within the past 24 hours, a data released on Thursday, December 17 by the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore said. The highest values before those 233,133 new cases and 3,306 deaths were recorded on December 11, 2020. In total, around 16.9 million people have been proven to be infected with the COVID-19 in the country with around 330 million inhabitants. Since the beginning of the pandemic, no fewer than 307,500 people have died from the COVID-19 pandemic. In absolute terms, that is more than in any other country in the world. The Johns Hopkins University website...
Why coronavirus will not be last pandemic – UN report
United Nations The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the latest crisis facing the world, will not be the last until humans release their grip on nature, says a new UN report published on Tuesday. According to the report titled “The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene,” world leaders need to take bold steps to reduce the immense pressure that is being exerted on the environment and the natural world, or humanity’s progress will stall. “Humans wield more power over the planet than ever before. Redefining issues of our time “In the wake of COVID-19, record-breaking temperatures and spiraling inequality, it is time to use that power to redefine what we mean by progress, where our carbon and consumption footprints are no longer hidden,” said Achim Steiner, the Administrator of ...
PGF chief: Femi Fani-Kayode’s botched defection an attempt to manipulate APC leadership
Director-General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum PGF, Salihu Moh. Lukman has said the recent attempt to accept Chief Femi Fani-Kayode into the fold of the All Progressives Congress APC was a clear attempt by some partisans to manipulate the leadership of the ruling party into doing the wrong thing. There were reports earlier in the week that Fani-Kayode, a chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party PDP was set to join the APC following a meeting with the Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC, Gov. Mai Mala Buni, and Kogi state Governor, Yahaya Bello who chairs the Mobilization Committee of the party. In a statement titled, “APC and the Question of Values”, Lukman praised the insistence by many APC members and leaders that Mr. Fani-Kayode ...