By Lizzy Okoji

 Prof. Jonathan Aremu, a don, said on Wednesday that the use of multiple currencies by ECOWAS member could hamper economic integration in the sub-region. 

Aremu, a professor of International Economic Relations at Covenant University, Nigeria, expressed the thought on Wednesday, while delivering a paper titled, “Conceptual Issues in ECOWAS Integration” at the First 2023 Parliamentary Seminar of the ECOWAS Parliament in Bissau, Guinea Bissau.

The university teacher, who is also a Consultant on ECOWAS Common Investment Market, said that the implementation of the ECO was a key vision on the ECOWAS integration agenda.

The seminar with the theme “ECOWAS Common Currency and the Inter-bank Payment System as Promoters of Regional Trade” was organised to provide a forum for discussions on ways to actualise the implementation of the region’s single currency, the “ECO”.

Aremu said the use of a common currency by ECOWAS countries would pave way towards achieving the Economic/Monetary Union.

“Economic/Monetary Union is the last step in an economic integration process; where in addition to a common market, it also requires integration of economic policies in both monetary and fiscal including common currency,” he said.

Aremu said that to harmonising the monetary policies of each member state is also key to actualizing the ECOWAS economic integration to break trade barriers and the implementation of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS).

 He explained that the ETLS was successfully implemented will make ECOWAS economically stronger and more attractive.

“As ETLS makes West Africa a more integrated market, that is attractive to investors both within and outside the region, the initiative indirectly creates a platform that increases Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises visibility. 

“And, bargaining power when negotiating further agreements like on trade and investment across the continent into the global trading arrangements under the World Trade Organisation.

“Effective implementation of ETLS will not only enhance trade between ECOWAS member states but create a web of positive interactions and interdependency that would build trust and reduce the risk of conflict between them,” Aremu added.

Aremu urged the bloc to learn from the experiences of other regions that have successfully integrated their regional economies.

The 15 members of ECOWAS are, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

===========

(Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

Eight school children in Ghana’s Bono East Region were killed after the boat taking them to school capsized on the Volta Lake, officials confirmed.

National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) told newsmen that the eight, five boys and three girls aged five to 12, were among 20 pupils who were on their way to school in Wayokope, a community across the lake.

Ibrahim Wudonyim, the coordinator of NADMO, said the Marine Police Unit of Ghana Police Service, assisted by some locals, have recovered the bodies of the deceased.

Investigations are underway to find out the cause of the accident. (Xinhua/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

==============
Edited by Ummul Idris/Maharazu Ahmed

President Muhammadu Buhari and his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa

More Nigerians in South Africa on Tuesday continued to express outrage over the reported invasion of the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg and the disconnection of electricity supply to the premises.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Johannesburg City Power officials in company with personnel of the Metro Police Department had stormed the consulate to effect the disconnection of power supply over alleged unpaid bills.

But the Nigerian Citizen Association South Africa (NICASA) condemned the action of the South African officials, describing it as ” very retrogressive, xenophobic and avoidable. ”

The association said this in a statement signed by its Secretary General, Kazeem Tunde, and made available to NAN in Abuja on Tuesday.

” We condemn the unwarranted action by City Power and their police cohort on the property of the consulate of Nigeria.

” It is clear that City Power was out to embarass and humiliate Nigeria and Nigerian citizens in the republic.

” There cannot be any plausible excuse to warrant the invasion of the Nigerian Consulate.

” The action is very retrogressive, xenophobic and avoidable.

” If City Power can invade the consulate of any country without consequence, then the police can as well go into any consulate to make an arrest without respecting the Vienna Convention on consular relations,” the statement said in part.

It expressed the hope that both countries will take a strong action against those responsible for the ” reprehensible action ” to prevent recurrence.

The statement urged Nigerians in that country to remain calm, saying the matter was being handled by the Consul General through diplomatic channels and would be resolved satisfactorily.

Similarly, the National Association of Nigerian Students South Africa has expressed displeasure over the incident.

The students’ body made its position known in a statement made available to NAN.

The statement was signed by Abdulrazak Abubakar and Olusegun Ajayi, President and Secretary General respectively.

The group said it was unhappy with what it called the embarrassing treatment of the Nigerian Consulate.

” For the record, the new Consul General, who got into the office in August 2022, has been doing his best to clear the said outstanding electricity bill in a mutual agreement process with City Power and he has never failed in honouring that agreement.

” It became very baffling how the payment agreement process was thrown to the winds and the men of City Power would have to go and invade the Nigerian Consulate without appropriate notice.

” This is a clear deviation from the diplomatic respect that is due the Nigerian Consulate and absolute attempt to humiliate the consulate.

” Note that the Nigerian Consulate has among many other things doubled its efforts to make sure that Nigerians in South Africa are promoting peace, legality and productivity and the City Power should not be a distraction at this critical time,” it said.

According to the body, the consulate is committed to quality representation of Nigeria in South Africa and would not do anything to jeopardise any indigenous or foreign organisation and business in South Africa and will so request that in return.

It urged the South African authorities to respect the Nigerian Consulate and notify it on matters the public, organisations and individuals would want the Nigerian Consulate to act upon.(NAN)

Edited by Ismail AbdulAziz

By Lizzy Okoji

The Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Ms Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, has called for the support of more women in political positions, saying women are critical decision makers and peace building advocates.

Hassan-Nahoum made the appeal while fielding  questions from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jerusalem on women participation in Nigeria’s upcoming general elections.

This is also as she harped on the need for women to support each other, be good mentors to younger girls, the change of certain cultures and legislations to encourage more women vie for political offices.

“We should be a sisterhood, we can achieve a lot if we work together, we can change the dynamics, for everyone.

“I believe that we do not have a balanced world because women are not 50 per cent of decision makers and the problems that keep perpetuating themselves are because of that.

“Decisions are better when women are sitting on the table, not just for women but for everyone.

“What we have to make sure is that people should understand that it makes zero sense for half the population to be women and we do not have half the decision-making tables as women,” she said.

“And until women realise that and create solidarity groups, we are not going to move out of it.

“I myself have co-founded a number of women initiatives because I believe that if women are allowed to take the reigns in peace building in the middle east, we would have already had peace by now.

“So, I created two years ago with a woman friend who is very supportive, and we co-founded this women forum and we have a hundred and fifty women from around the world.

“From countries like Saudi Arabia who have not even made peace with Israel yet but this women have understood the importance of building bridges with other women leaders,” Hassan-Nahoum said.

The deputy mayor also urged men to support women, lauding the Mayor of Jerusalem who had been very supportive by giving her the opportunity to deputise him. (NAN) (www.nanews.ng)

======================

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

By Razak Owolabi

British firm, TEXEM UK is availing leaders from Nigeria and other parts of the world organisational survival tactics in the present volatile global economy during its executive leadership programmes in 2023.

According to a press statement on TEXEM’s website, the virtual programmes are titled, Self-awareness for better management of change in uncertain times; and Strategic leadership for enduring impact during volatile periods.

The statement signed by TEXEM’s Director of Special Projects, Caroline Lucas announced that while the first programme is from Feb. 8 to March 4, the second one is from April 15 to May 6.

It says optimising self-awareness and impact, managing office politics for success, communicating effectively and managing difficult conversations, are tools business leaders need during uncertain times.

The statement highlighted that, getting the best out of the team, coaching for success, introduction to strategies, implementing and translating strategies, and developing an innovative culture in a team are also important topics to be discussed.

“More than ever, deliberate efforts to be better aware of the latest trends to ensure successful business management is now vital for all organisations.

“Contrary to the popular opinion that innovation is only essential for growth, it is also a vaccine against losses that come with pandemics.

“At this time and even beyond, retooling your business to sail through the turbulent times through creative ideas could be a defining approach to outperforming your rivals, achieving profitable growth and succeeding,” it asserted.

The statement disclosed that the programme “Self – awareness for better management of change in uncertain times” is an interactive learning experience that is tailored for mid-career managers.

“Leveraging TEXEM’s tested and proven methodology, participants will learn practical skills and actionable insights from the faculties and gain valuable insights from their professional exchange with critical partners and colleagues.

“This programme aims to help develop leadership agility for innovation and sustainable success.

“Its focus is to help the participants develop a clearer understanding of how to successfully drive innovation for sustainable success,” it explained.

Renowned TEXEM faculties expected to deliver the programmes include; Prof. Paul Griffith, John Peters, Ambassador Charles Crawford, and Ambassador Rachel Aron.

On the Strategic Leadership for Enduring Impact During Volatile Periods programme, faculties to deliver are Prof. Roger Delves, Prof. Paul Griffith, Prof. Randall Peterson and Ambassador Charles Crawford.

The topics to be discussed include, Strategic Leadership: Overcoming Hurdles, Managing Politics, Engaging and Inspiring Change among individuals, teams, and organisations in times of very scarce resources.

Others are, Leading during high-stakes strategic change, Change and decision-making for strategic outcomes, Leading the politics of change: engaging internal and external stakeholders; and Understanding and harnessing the levers and inhibitors of growth for value creation.

“As a leader, attending this programme will make you versatile and strong in volatile periods so that taking the best decisions for your team and organisational survival will come easy for you.

“Among the benefits derivable are, ability to take tough decisions in tough times, increasing your ability and that of your organisation to survive against all odds, and ability to become a dependable risk taker when others are baulking during emergency periods.

“It will empower you to become a better manager during difficult situations, enable you to carry along employees easily due to their confidence in your decisions, and arm you with the qualities of an all-round leader,” the statement affirmed. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

Japanese weekly news magazine Shukan Asahi will end its over 100-year publication history in May, its publisher said on Thursday.

Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. said it made the decision because the market for weekly magazines is shrinking and that revenues from advertisements had decreased, adding that it will focus its resources more on digital media content and book publishing.

The magazine, Shukan Asahi was launched in 1922, known for its focus on a wide range of issues, including politics, economics and culture, and is said to be Japan’s oldest weekly.

The publisher said that circulation of the weekly Shukan Asahi surpassed one million in the 1950s, but it only sold 74,125 copies of the magazine last December.(Xinhua/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

=====
Edited by Halima Sheji/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

Prof. Roger Delves

By Razak Owolabi.

Prof. Roger Delves, an Oxford alumnus, is among faculties expected at TEXEM UK’s four-week virtual interaction programme in April, a statement from TEXEM’s website has announced.

Delves became a board leader at age 30 and have helped hundreds of organisations to optimise their leadership quotient.

In the statement signed by TEXEM’s Director of Special Projects, Caroline Lucas, the theme of the executive leadership development programme is, Strategic leadership for enduring impact during volatile periods.

The programme aims to equip leaders with skills for dealing with the uncertainty that tomorrow brings, especially now that economic experts have predicted a global recession.

“As a leader, you hope each year brings great good fortunes for your organisation. However, there is a lot that we do not know about tomorrow.

“So, as you wish for the best, you also need to prepare for an uncertain future. The Strategic Leadership for Enduring Impact During Volatile Periods programme, is an interactive learning experience,” Lucas affirmed.

She announced that the programme was tailored for senior executives and organisations to optimise their individual, team and organisational performance.

Participants will learn practical skills and actionable insights from the eminent TEXEM faculty and gain valuable insights from their professional exchange with critical partners and colleagues.

“This programme aims to help develop leadership strategies to drive optimum performance for success in an era of uncertainty.

“Its focus is to help the participants develop a clearer understanding of how to manage and deploy the available resources more efficiently for optimal impact in an era of uncertainty,” Lucas added.

The programme, which is from April 15 to May 6, also has Prof. Paul Griffith, Prof. Randall Peterson of London Business School and Ambassador Charles Crawford as faculties.

Speaking of the programme’s impact, Lucas indicated that at the end of the programme, participants were expected to develop leadership skills that would assist them in making good decisions.

They would also possess survival skills that would enable them to bail out their organisations in times of crisis.

“As a leader, attending this programme will make you versatile and strong in volatile periods so that taking the best decisions for your team and organisational survival will come easy for you.

“Among the benefits derivable are the ability to take tough decisions in tough times, increase your ability and that of your organisation to survive against all odds.

“It makes you a dependable risk taker when others are baulking during emergencies and empowers you to become a better manager during difficult situations.

“The programme enables you to carry along employees easily due to their confidence in your decisions, and it arms you with the qualities of an all-around leader,” Lucas added. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

 By Lizzy Okoji

Israel says it is ready to support Nigeria in the areas of Intelligence sharing, modern combat equipment and extraction of relevant information to effectively win the ongoing war against terrorism.

Retired Lt.-Col. Jonathan Konricus, who served in the Israel Defence Force (IDF) said this in Jerusalem, while answering questions from some Nigerian journalists who are in Israel on a media tour.

Responding to questions from Journalists, on how Israel is willing to support Nigeria in fighting terrorism and insecurity in Nigeria, Kornicous said “what Israel has is a lot of experience.

 “Therefore, sharing knowledge, strategies and tactics on how to deal with terror organisation is one.

“Second is training, how to train forces better, the second thing is how to train forces in order to deal with counter terrorism or counter Gorilla operations.

“Another thing is equipment, equipment is very important, intelligence, and combat equipment, how to collect intelligence on your enemies and how to have the fire power and necessary tools to strike the enemy.

“Those are three elements that Israel can and is involved in few of the cases.

“Intelligence is key and Israel spends a quarter of its defence budget on generating intelligence, sensors, analysis, manpower, and that is what really gives us the upper hand against our enemies.

“However, it is very key especially in fighting terror organisations that are using civilians of making it impossible to distinguish between civilians are combatants.

“For any nation to effectively combat terror organisations, you need equipment, you need manpower, you need the manpower to be trained adequately in other to deal effectively with counter terror operations,” Kornicous said. 

Kornicous said that Israel knowing how prone it is from attacks have invested in interception which had a 92 per cent success rate of interception when Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired 4,400rockets at Israel in 11 days in May 2021.

Responding to questions on how Israeli communities in volatile communities have built resilience, Kornicous said that there is a close connection and collaboration between commuters and security agencies.

”Israel has at least 75 years of experience and in many cases more communities were subjected to attacks by different organisations, It is not a new thing.

“It is a reality, part of the DNA of Israeli communities whereby there is always a close connection between the communities and the security organisations, and mostly the IDF which is responsible for an area.

“We have specific personnel in each and every community, they have their fast response teams in every community, which is equipped by the military and trained by the military.

”What we have learned is that you have to have a quick first response on the ground within minutes to respond to an attack by terrorists.

“The first response made by locals is very important,” Kornicous added.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Israel and Nigeria first established diplomatic, cultural, and economic ties officially in 1960 after Nigerian independence was established.

Israel contributed significantly to the development of Nigeria as well as other Sub-Saharan African countries in the 1960’s and 1970’s by sending Israeli experts and volunteers to modernize Africa’s agriculture and teach African farmers sustainable farming techniques.

========== 

Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Sadiya Hamza

Sharon Bar-Li, Deputy Director-general, African Department, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

By Lizzy Okoji

The State of Israel has reaffirmed its commitment to support Nigeria in driving its technology, innovative sectors, building entrepreneurship among the youths to boost the nation’s economy.

Some Officials of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this known during meetings with a delegation of Nigerian journalist on a tour of Israel on Tuesday in Jerusalem.

They said that Israel is known for its high technology, innovation which it successfully used to transform its nation to a developed one irrespective of its numerous challenges.

Sharon Bar-Li, Deputy Director-general, African Department, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israel’s aim is to transfer knowledge to a society and ensure sustainability of such programmes by training and empowering local partners.

“We have continued working with African countries making the Israeli technology available.

“Here, it is really not about the know-how, transferring knowledge, transferring technology, but the idea of working with Israel is about the do how because we have the experience.

“Just several years ago we were a developing country and therefore we are in a very good position to work together with your countries.

“One of the fields that Israel have decide to master, and if you like to use as a spearhead in its activities in African countries is around a sector of innovation and entrepreneurship.

“Israel is described as the start-up nation, country of innovation. This restlessness that we have is the key engine to innovation.

“Although the traditional sectors of agriculture, water and health are still very relevant when working with African countries, we have realized that many African countries have entrepreneurial elements in which Israel and Israeli can connects with naturally.

“And this is where we identify a good area, a common denominator where we can work together,” Bar Li said.

Bar-Li said that one of Israel’s sustainable development programmes in Africa is the establishment of its Development Agency, MASHAV’s Innovative Hub (Innov-Hub) in Abuja for aspiring researchers.

She said that Israel will be replicating the innovative hub for young entrepreneurs in every capital country of Africa where it has a Mission.

She said that the policy is geared at entrepreneurship and innovation touching different fields in so many different sectors to create cohorts of young entrepreneur, and a network that can contribute to their economy, their communities, with Israeli’s support.

“This is the direction we have been taking in serval years in Africa, the MASHAV laboratory outside Abuja.

“Following the success, we emulated and established one in Accra and now we are looking at putting another one in Dakar Senegal.

“And the vision is to have such centers of excellence and innovations in each of the countries in which we have an Embassy,” Bar-Li said.

Mr Emmanuel Nachshon, Deputy Director-general, Public Diplomacy, Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Israel have specialists going to different part of the world and helping them build a better economy.

He explained that what makes the Israeli phyilisopshy very special as opposed to other countries is that they come to build projects that the people can understand, train them on it to be dependent and not reliant on them.

“What we are looking for is partnerships at which local people are part of the project. That they are not just recipients of the projects because that is the only way to make it work.

“If you are a rich country, the easiest thing to say is that I will buy them fish but it is a big mistake because if you buy them fish, people will not fish themesleves.

“So what you need to do is help them create better sources of nourishment to catch those fish and this is what we try to do.

“What is unique about Israel is that we have no colonialist past, so it means we come with clean hands. These results are successful and they contribute to humanity,” Nachshon said.

Amb. Eynat Shlein, MASHAV’s Deputy-director said that MASAHAV’s activities are visible in Nigeria with more projects and programmes to be facilitated by MASHAV.

“We worked in Nigeria on various projects in recent years. I hope you have heard of the I fair, the innovation workshop that is going on for the third year.

“There were a lot of participants in the training that is going in for the third time and it is a very successful model.

“Israeli government holds hands with the Israeli private sector and of course with Nigerian partners and offer innovative training for young Nigerians. More collaborations on trainings in the coming years,” Shlein said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

======
Edited by Sadiya Hamza