By Tosin Kolade

The London Borough of Southwark Mayor, Mr Michael Situ, has confirmed his desire to host members of Nigeria’s diaspora community in the UK, in a bid to tackle Nigeria’s out-of-school children’s crisis.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that Situ offered to host Nigerians in the Diaspora, to show his support and solidarity to the activities of the British charity which has been active in Nigeria, known as Ibironke Adeagbo (IA)-Foundation.

Speaking in a telephone interview with a NAN correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, Adeagbo, the Chief Executive Officer of the charity said that Mayor Situ would be hosting captains of industry, politicians, philanthropists, delegates and friends of IA-Foundation, to open a new page on the out-of-school issue.

She described the event as the latest initiative of the charity, to bring the crisis in Nigeria’s education to global attention.

Adeagbo said that the event, which would be held early next year would be staged at the Southwark Civic Townhall at the London Bridge, overlooking the River Thames.

According to her, the purpose of the event is to showcase the work, impact and key findings of the foundation over the years and to attract the attention of the Nigerian diaspora community in the UK to make the difference back home.

Adeagbo said that the interaction would be geared toward mobilizing the international community toward building a shared vision and harnessing resources to combat the menace of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

She affirmed that members of the UK Parliament, UK councillors, politicians, philanthropists, delegates from corporate organisations and other notable individuals would also attend the event.

“The endeavour is to ensure that the international community plays a critical role in the development of a solid and functional educational system in Nigeria,’’ she said.

IA-Foundation which was established in 2019 by Adeagbo, a Nigerian born in England, has demonstrated an uncommon passion to tackle the out-of-school crisis in Nigeria.

In 2022, the UN agency, UNESCO reported that Africa’s most populous nation is having an army of out-of-school children, estimated at about 20.2 million – the highest in the continent.

However, Adeagbo, who is a chartered accountant has been pushing relentlessly, using the foundation to draw international attention to the out-of-school crisis in Nigeria.

Last month, the foundation hosted a summit in Lagos that attracted prominent Nigerians and activists to discuss the out-of-school problem. 

Also, the foundation is billed to host a fund-raising event in Lagos next March to enable the body to take more children out of the streets and return them to classrooms.

President Bola Tinubu has however, assured Nigerians that his administration would pull Nigeria out of the woods and re-position the country on glory path in the education sector. (NAN) www.nannews.ng

Edited by Silas Nwoha

L-R: Mrs Adanma Odefa-Wachuku, Alumni of HHHFAA; Ms Amanda Brown, Acting Public Affairs Officer, U.S Consulate Lagos; Mrs Abosede Oyeleye, President, HHHFAA Nigeria; and Mr Clemson Ayegbusi, Established Opinion Leaders Specialist, U.S. Consulate Lagos, at the 45th Anniversary news conference of HHHFAA Nigeria, in Lagos.

By Oluwafunke Ishola

Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Alumni Association (HHHFAA), Nigeria, says enhancing leadership quality of present and future leaders will reposition Nigeria as a global attraction.

Mrs Abosede Oyeleye, President, HHHFAA Nigeria, said this during a news conference ahead of the 45th Anniversary of the fellowship on Friday in Lagos.

Oyeleye noted that the country has brilliant minds, energy, hard-working citizens and natural resources endowment to unlock its growth potential.

According to her, the time for transformational leaders in Nigeria is now.

In celebrating the anniversary, Oyeleye said that alumni of the fellowship would converge to advance solutions to shared challenges and celebrate impact of the programme to global society.

She noted that a national seminar on leadership would hold on Dec. 8 in Lagos, with immediate relatives of Hubert Humphrey joining virtually from Washington and Minnesota.

Other speakers include U.S Consul General Will Stevens; former Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro; Eghobamien-Msheila, Vice-Chairperson, United Nations Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (UN-CEDAW), among others.

Also, Ms Amanda Brown, Acting Public Affairs Officer, U.S Consulate Lagos, acknowledged the significance of cultural exchange programmes to both countries.

Brown said that the spirit of Hubert Humphrey lives on through the work of the alumni who impact lives and communities through their passionate commitment to public service.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Programme was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The fellowship is a specialised, non-degree exchange programme for accomplished mid-career professionals.

It takes beneficiaries from designated countries, including Nigeria to the United States for one-year long graduate level study that focuses on leadership development and professional collaboration with U.S. counterparts at select U.S. universities.

Nearly 5,000 men and women from 157 countries have been honoured as Humphrey Fellows since the Programme was established in 1978.

Some Nigerian Alumni of the fellowship include former Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode; former Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Opeyemi Oke; Dr Reuben Abati, Senior Special Adviser to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, among others. (NAN)

Edited by Olawunmi Ashafa

By Taiye Agbaje

A company, Qamaris Enteprises, has distributed writing materials to the less privileged students of at least three schools in Katsina State.
One of the company’s Directors, Mr Abubakar Umar, in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, said the gesture was part of efforts at giving back to the community.
Umar, also a legal practitioner, said the schools included Lami Abba Korau Community Girls Secondary School, Katsina; Sir Usman Nagogo Primary School and Ray Field Academy, katsina.
“As part of its commitments towards contributing its quota in ensuring quality and access to education for the less privilege, Qamaris Enteprises has carried out distribution of writing materials to the students of the schools in Katsina State of Nigeria.
“This is all part of the company’s effort of giving back to the community while exploring avenues of creating more opportunities within the agricultural landscape in Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, Qamaris distributed at least 10,000 exercise books to the students and will do more in assisting less privileged students in different parts of the country.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Jacinta Nwachukwu

The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) in collaboration with International Organisation on Migration (IOM), is seeking stakeholders to review migration policy to fit current realities.

The Federal Commissioner NCFRMI, Alhaji Tijani Ahmed, disclosed this at the fourth quarterly meeting of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on Migration and Development in Abuja.

Ahmed said the major aim of the meeting was to seek the stakeholders’ ideas and views toward reviewing the current migration policies for effective workable solutions to migration challenges in the country.

The meeting is aimed at discussing ways to reviewing the current policy on migration so as to meet the global standards of operation in the sector.

“We are here to participate in the quarterly meeting of the migration policy and today, all the migration development partners in the space of migration are here to look into some of the issues.

“Also to review the migration policy as presented by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.

“The meeting will also look into issues as presented by the commission in respect of the national Migration Dialogue which is coming up on Dec. 7,” the Commissioner said.

Ahmed said that precisely, the meeting is to look into two major issues namely; to review migration policy and also to prepare them for the National Migration Dialogue.

He thanked the development partners in the space of migration for protecting Nigerian migrants within and in diaspora and for ensuring that they have a place to live.

Ahmed said that at the end of the meeting, ideas would emerge on managing issues of migration within the country and Nigerians in diaspora.

The Programme Officer, IOM Nigeria office, Mrs Ukamaka Anyanechi, while contributing said migration was a natural phenomenon that happened not only in Nigeria but across the world hence the need for proper handling of migrants.

“Human mobility is something that we intend to continuously see as far as there are human beings on earth,’’ Anyanechi said

She said IOM had been working with the government of Nigeria in different areas to promote efficiency in migration management.

“With regards to today’s meeting which is the technical working group on migration, if you are familiar with 2015 national migration policy, it has a migration governance framework that has different levels of coordination.

“The TWG is the level of coordination that brings together all the stakeholders who are working at operational level to look at the issues on ground, proffer solutions and also move these solutions to the Federal Government for consideration,” Anyanechi said.

According to her, the body having seen the need to come together to contribute ideas, considered some challenges affecting the sector and sought solutions to overcome those challenges by reviewing the policy to fit global standards.

The meeting brought together other international agencies such as German Agency for International Cooperation under the Centres for Migration and Development Project, stakeholders from MDAs, Civil Society Organisations.

Others were; National Population Commission, Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, Stakeholders Forum on Border Management, Nigerian Immigration Service, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, among others. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Abiemwense Moru/Razak Owolabi

By Isaac Aregbesola

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has called on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) across the country to engage in a robust anti-corruption campaigns at the grassroots.

EFCC Spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, that Olukoyede made the call at an engagement between the EFCC and CSOs in Akwa-Ibom,  Abia and Cross River.

According to Olukoyede, the task of fighting corruption requires the buy-in of every stakeholder in the country, including people at the grassroots.

“Do not leave the fight against corruption to the EFCC alone,  support the work as CSOs to enlighten the public, particularly the ones at the grassroots. It’s all about sacrifice.

“We at the EFCC want to ensure that things are working. We must all put our hands on deck to enable us win this fight,” he said.

The EFCC chairman, represented by the Uyo Zonal Commander of the commission, Mr Bawa Saidu, enjoined the participants, who are closer to the grassroots, to spread the message of anti-corruption.

Olukoyede also urged the CSOs to support the EFCC with relevant intelligence to expose corrupt practices in the society.

According to him, such support is important as the success of the EFCC is the success of every Nigerian.

In his remarks, Head, Public Interface Unit of the Commission, Mr Tony Orilade, outlined several ways of reaching the Commission.

These, he said, include using the Eagle Eye App,  the Commission’s hotline(08093322644), info@efcc.gov.gov, and its website: www.efcc.gov.ng; and @officialefcc, among others.

Orilade said that the commission could be reached by the public at any time.

Speaking on the expected roles of the CSOs in supporting the Commission, ASE II Aisha Mohammed said that the engagement was to get more inputs on how to win the war against corruption.

“ We need you to be our eyes, our ears.  We are here to brainstorm on how we can improve on our preventive mandate, we don’t know it all.

“CSOs are the major stakeholders we have and we will always consult and collaborate in the overall interest of the nation,” she said.

She also outlined some of the commission’s anti-corruption initiatives, which include setting up integrity clubs in Primary Schools and Zero Tolerance Clubs in tertiary institutions.

Representatives of CSOs at the engagement said they would support the EFCC in its crusade against corrupt practices.

Mr Clifford Thomas of Foundation for Civic Education, Human Right and Development Advancement and  Nkechi Udoh of Ukeme Development Initiative spoke on the works of the EFCC and proposed positive ways of strengthening its mandate.

They embraced the idea of grassroots campaign and promised to give the initiative a greater push.(NAN)

Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

By Fortune Abang, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Over the years, China-Nigeria relations has continued to grow, leading to expansion in higher trade figures and cultural exchanges.

According to The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), an online data visualisation and distribution platform, in September 2023, China exported 1.52 billion dollars and imported 258 million dollars from Nigeria, resulting in a positive trade balance of 1.26 billion dollars.

It says between September 2022 and September 2023 the exports of China have decreased by -378 million dollars (-19.9 per cent) from 1.9 billion dollars to 1.52 billion dollars.

Similarly, imports increased by 161 million dollars (165 per cent) from 97.1 million dollars to 258 million dollars within the period.

Nigeria-Sino strategic partnership has been considered as platform capable of advancing economic growth at various national, continental and global levels.

One instrument China has used to bolster its diplomatic network as it seeks to build a global community of shared future is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of President Xi Jinping

Between Oct. 18 and Oct. 19, diplomats, government officials and culture experts from across the world gathered in China’s capital city, Bejing for Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) summit.

With the theme: “High-quality Belt and Road cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity,” the summit also marked the 10^th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

President Bola Tinubu, was invited to the Forum and was represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima.

The vice-president held a bilateral meeting between his delegation and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Reports from the Forum shows that Shettima had witnessed the signing of MoU between the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure and three Chinese partners for new projects valued at $2bn.

There was also letters of intent between the Chinese and Nigerian partners for new projects and investments worth $4bn.

Furthermore, the Federal Ministry of Works also signed MoU with China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. for the construction of the Lekki Blue Seaport contract at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.

The Nigeria extracted assurance from China for the funding of the Kaduna-Kano railway, among other projects.

The meeting was designed for stakeholders to take stock of progress so far made, enhance connectivity, and even, open up vistas to ensure a brighter shared future.

Those who spoke commended Nigeria-China’s diplomatic relations established in 1971 and upgraded in 2005 to strategic partnership.

They also extolled the BRF initiative to assist developing nations emerge from economic difficulties occasioned COVID-19 pandemic even as they echoed the need to deepen strategic partnership and promote meaningful growth globally.

Why this has become important those who spoke on the subject matter described both countries as strategic, in terms of their similarities, position and population sizes at regional, continental and global levels of economy.

China with an estimated population of 1, 425, 671, 352 people ranks number two in the list of countries and dependencies, equivalent to 17. 72 per cent of the world’s population.

Relatively, Nigeria with an estimated population of 223, 804, 632 people, equivalent to 2.78 per cent of the total world population ranks number six in the list of countries and dependencies.

Nigeria’s ambassador of Nigeria to China, Amb. Baba Jidda, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the Nigeria-China strategic partnership is capable of advancing Nigeria’s economic growth.

He described Nigeria-China current upgrading to comprehensive strategic partnership as a big achievement for the two countries.

The envoy said Nigeria’s participation at the BRF kick-started its strong membership under the BRI and described the initiative as an international body with more opportunities than the forum on China and Africa.

“I feel proud and elated to have accompanied the vice-president who effectively represented President Tinubu during the forum.

“I congratulate the government of Nigeria for being well represented and participating in the Forum,” he said.

Speaking during session at the forum, the vice-president expressed appreciation to China for the partnership extended to Nigeria and commended Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the people of China for the cordial relations between Nigeria and China.

During the Forum, Shettima said Nigeria, being a trading partner to most BRI countries, would continue to support China towards ensuring a sustainable digital economy.

He said BRI reflected China’s commitment to achieving economic development, specifically, for the prosperity of the people in every economy.

According to him, the world is experiencing new approaches and global dimensions to governance through digital economy and technology.

Shettima said this has played a major role towards economic recovery as replacement mechanism through trans-border trade.

“As the world emerges from the economic downturn, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a crucial need for developing economies to employ digital transformation practices.

“Especially, in the aspects of manufacturing, agriculture, retail and human capacity building, as well as medical and health care, to achieve any meaningful and sustainable development.

“Nigeria is no exception in the global shift in digital economy being the largest economy in Africa, and as the most populous country in the continent.

“We intend to remain top of the ladder through formulation and implementation of digital oriented policies,” he said.

He identified strategic pillars of the policy to include digital literacy, skills development, solid infrastructure, sub-infrastructure, service infrastructure, digital society, emerging technologies and indigenous economy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to advance global development through the BRI, saying over the past ten years, the country had stayed committed to its founding commission.

According to him, Belt and Road cooperation is based on the principle of planning together, building together, and benefiting together.

“It transforms differences between civilizations, cultures, social systems, and stages of development, and conducts new paths for exchanges with other countries.

“It establishes a new framework for international cooperation, indeed BRI represents humanity’s joint pursuit of development; through Belt and Road cooperation China is opening its door even wider to the world.

“China will work with parties involved until every stage is birthed into a new stage of high-quality development and make relentless efforts to achieve modernisation for all countries,” Xi said.

Also speaking, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, commended the forum’s contribution to global infrastructural development.

According to him, the third Belt and Road Forum recognised the fact that without infrastructure there cannot be any meaningful economic development.

“Many development support to developing countries will be starved if infrastructural needs are not met; infrastructure is the foundation for the everyday life of people in their countries.

“From drinking water to basic sanitation to electricity, connectivity, and internet access, from public services like schools and hospitals to modern grounds, construction of tunnels and hallways and railways that keep people and roads moving.

“Yet, billions of people in the developing world lack access to these basic systems, which is why this meeting on the Belt and Road is so important,” Guterres said.

Mr Li Xuda, the Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria in an interview with NAN reiterated China’s commitment to work closely with Nigeria to build a shared future for mutual benefit.

Li, also the Director of the Chinese Cultural Centre, described China mid-autumn festival as platform Chinese people celebrate family reunion, friendship and togetherness.

“You can go faster if you go alone, you can go far, if you go together, I think China and Nigeria will really go together.

“To stand hand-by-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder, we will create a better future which belongs to our people and benefit our two countries,” he said.

The stakeholders all agreed that Nigeria-China strategic partnership could become viable platform for sustainable l economic growth, transforming energy systems, and proffering solutions in the 21st century.

They also alluded that such partnership will create more job opportunities for local people, in terms of economic and trade cooperation as well as promote community shared future for mankind.

It is expected that Nigeria will leverage its participation in BRI Forum to mitigate some of the infrastructure challenges face by the country this in turn will have multiplier effects on the economy.  (NANFeatures)

**If used please credit the writer and News Agency of Nigeria.