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Bassey First Nigerian To Be Honoured With Wallenberg Medal, HOMEF Celebrates

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The Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has been honoured with the prestigious 2024 Wallenberg Medal.

The award which took place on 10 September 2024, at the Ross School of Business Robertson Auditorium, at the University of Michigan, was in recognition of Bassey’s long list of accomplishments.

Bassey is the first Nigerian and the fifth African to have received the award.

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The Wallenberg Medal is a tribute to outstanding humanitarians who have gone above and beyond to protect the vulnerable and oppressed, much like
Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during World War II, whom the award was named after.

Earlier, the Swedish Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador
Urban Ahlin, extolled the virtues of Raoul Wallenberg and enjoined the
audience to dedicate their lives to the cause of humanity so that they
may be remembered just as Wallenberg was being recognized.

READ ALSO: NNPCL-Dangote Refineries Rift: HOMEF Demands Transparency, Investigation

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In his acceptance speech and lecture title We Are Relatives, Dr Nnimmo Bassey stressed “love, humility, dignity, and respect” as core to his vision of a livable future for all beings.”

He stated that “as an
environmental justice advocate whose work has been based on
understanding the polycrisis confronting us, we have a duty to always seek to uncover the roots of the crises rather than treating the
symptoms.”

He continued, “Seeking out those roots helps us avoid superficial
responses and pursue real solutions, some of which may be unattainable in our lifetimes. One of our key struggles has been understanding the mindset that permits inequalities in our societies. The mindset that elevates might over care and love. The mindset that promotes the
individual rather than the community. The mindset that refuses to understand that we are relatives. The mindset that grabs, trashes, and feeds on the misery of others. The mindset that permits environmental racism.

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READ ALSO: HOMEF Applauds NASS On Decision To Investigate GMOs In Nigeria

“Understanding the roots of polycrisis helps us to see the phenomenon of expanding sacrifice zones in our world today. It also

placed on us the duty of standing with the oppressed to halt the
expansion of sacrifice zones in Nigeria, in Africa, and elsewhere by
seeking to overcome the energy and other hegemonic transitions that sacrifice nature and are driven by colonial extractivism built on
embedded geopolitical power imbalances”.

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Bassey further stated, “Climate action and inaction provide pictures
that help us see the difficulties we face in trying to build a consensus
that the climate crisis is a global crisis and not a national crisis. It
also shows that the world is not yet ready to make the hard decisions by accepting that the pursuit of infinite growth on a finite planet is a
false dream.”

Celebrating the Bassey on behalf of other staff members, Director of Programmes, HOMEF, Joyce
Brown, applauded the executive director for his outstanding performance, stating that Bassey’s exceptional work and contributions have led to undeniable global recognition.

“It was also a veritable opportunity to showcase the work that HOMEF does and show the key place that cultural tools like poetry play in healing a hurting world, ‘ she stated.

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Besides being an environmental activist, Bassey’s work includes
significant environmental books like To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and The Climate Crisis in Africa (2012), and Oil Politics: Echoes of Ecological War. His poetry, including We Thought It Was Oil But It Was Blood (1998), I Will Not Dance to Your Beat (2010), and the
latest I See the Invisible (2024), continue to inspire the spirit of
resistance and hope in all who read or listen to him.

 

 

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‘My Father Discovered Banana Island’ – Ex-BBNaija Star Claims

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Former Big Brother Naija reality star, Kiddwaya has claimed that his dad, Terry Waya, discovered the famous Banana Island in Lagos.

He made the claim in a recent of the Off The Record podcast.

The host asked: “I heard that your dad discovered Banana Island. Is that correct?”

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READ ALSO:Moment Adekunle Gold Light Up BBNaija S10 Finale With ‘Party No Dey Stop’

Kiddwaya replied: “Yeah, I didn’t even know until I heard it during one of my trips.”

Kiddwaya’s dad, Terry Waya is a self-acclaimed billionaire with investments in the real estate, agriculture and hospitality industry.

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His public profile was further boosted during and after his son Kiddwaya’s appearance on the Big Brother Naija reality show in 2020.

Watch video here.

 

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EFCC Releases Malami After Interrogation, Gives Fresh Appointment For More Questioning

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Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, says his engagement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, following an invitation by the agency has been “successful.”

Malami, who disclosed this in a post on his X handle on Saturday, said he was released after the interaction and given an appointment for further questioning.

In line with my undertaking to keep Nigerians updated on my invitation by EFCC, I give glory to Allah for His divine intervention. The engagement was successful and I am eventually released, while on an appointment for further engagement, as the truth relating to the fabricated allegations against me continues to unfold,” he wrote.

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READ ALSO:JUST IN: EFCC Summons Ex-AGF Malami For Questioning

The EFCC had earlier invited the former minister over allegations linked to his time in office, though the commission has not publicly disclosed details of the issues under investigation.

Malami previously announced that he would honour the invitation, saying it aligned with his commitment to accountability and transparency.

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VIDEO: Jonathan Breaks Silence On Guinea-Bissau’s Military Takeover

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Former President Goodluck Jonathan has broken silence following the recent military takeover in Guinea-Bissau, describing it as a conventional coup, insisting it was “maybe a ceremonial coup” given the strange manner in which it unfolded.

Jonathan, who spoke extensively in an interview with Symfoni posted on YouTube on Friday, said he felt compelled to address the media to thank Nigerians for their concern and to clarify what truly happened while he was in Bissau as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission.

“You know, since I left office, I’ve always been scared of talking to the media,” he said. “But in this particular case, I decided to speak… first and foremost, to thank Nigerians for the show of empathy, the encouragement.”

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Gunfire erupted around key government buildings in Bissau on Wednesday, with soldiers claiming they had “total control” of the country and followed by curfew, border closures and the detention of top government and security officials.

In another development, Tribune Online reports that ousted President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, flew to Senegal after the intervention of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

READ ALSO:Why I Returned To Nigeria On Ivorian Jet — Jonathan

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Reacting to the development, Jonathan however suggested the situation defied all known patterns of a coup.

“I wouldn’t call it a coup. It was not a coup. I would just say, for want of a better word, maybe it was a ceremonial coup,” he said. “For two things: It is the president, President Embaló, who announced the coup. Later, the military men came up to address the world that they were in charge of everywhere.”

He continued, “Then Embaló had already announced the coup, which is strange. Not only announcing the coup, but Embaló, while the coup took place, was using his phone and addressing media organisations across the world that he had been arrested.”

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The former president, drawing from his experience as a Nigerian and a regional mediator, said the events were unlike anything he had seen.

“I’m a Nigerian close to 70, and I know how they keep heads of state when a coup takes place. Recently, I was a mediator in Mali, and within that period, we had a military coup. The military doesn’t take over governments, and the sitting president that they overthrew would be allowed to be addressing press conferences and announcing that he has been arrested. Why does this happen? Who is fooling whom?”

READ ALSO:Guinea-Bissau Military Takeover Is ‘Ceremonial Coup’ – Jonathan

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Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Federal Government had earlier condemned the development as “a serious threat to democracy and regional stability,” and confirmed Jonathan’s safe evacuation by a special flight alongside his delegation.

Jonathan used the interview to call on ECOWAS and the African Union to promptly announce results of the election that was underway in Guinea-Bissau before the military disrupted the process.

“They have the results because AU and ECOWAS officials were in all the regions when the results were collated. They cannot change those results. They should tally all those results and announce them. They cannot force the military out. They must announce and let the world know who won that election.”

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He stressed that the integrity of elections must be upheld in West Africa, recalling his experience overseeing Côte d’Ivoire’s contentious 2010 presidential poll.

A similar thing happened in Côte d’Ivoire when I was the Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS,” he said. He narrated how Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara went into a second round after neither met the 50% +1 requirement.

READ ALSO:Guinea-Bissau Coup: FG Gives Update On Ex-President Jonathan

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“In the second round, Ouattara then got more votes than Gbagbo. And Gbagbo said he was not going, that he won the election,” Jonathan recounted. “But all the observers in the international community said Ouattara won the election. And we in ECOWAS said, well, you are our colleague, but you have to go.”

According to him, his insistence on respecting the will of the people ensured a peaceful transfer of power at the time.

“I stood my ground, and Ouattara was sworn in,” he said.

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Jonathan reiterated that Guinea-Bissau’s situation was “disturbing” to anyone who believes in democracy and insisted that respecting election results remains the only path to stability in the region.

Watch video here

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