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Insurgency: Omo-Agege Advocates Trauma-informed Education For Children

Published

4 years ago

November 16, 2021

Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, has said trauma-informed education will help children recover from the menace of insurgency, banditry, brigandage and other social vices bedeviling the country.

He spoke at the International Conference of the Association of Professional Counsellors in Nigeria (APROCON) in Abuja on Tuesday.

He described the theme of the event, ‘Trauma informed Education in Nigeria’ as apt, as it is coming at a time the country is faced with challenges of insecurity.

Represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Ms Lara Owoeye-Wise, Senator Omo-Agege said: “In recent times, trauma-informed education has become recognised in many nations that are forward looking and moving with the times.

“This has been made even more relevant, given the ever increasing tension spots in the world. Countries, especially in Africa; particularly sub-Saharan and the Sahel region have become hot spots of terror and all the trauma that go with it.

“Little wonder Trauma-Informed Counseling Interventions for IDPs is part of your sub-theme this year. This is no doubt in recognition of the fact that a lot of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are driven by events that create these IDPs.

As we know, in the past 12 years, Nigeria has been battling in many fronts against insurgency, banditry, brigandage and other sundry violent maladies that have impacted negatively on many children, further driving the need for us to take this form of special education more seriously.

“But beyond that, we as a people, have also been confronted by other growing events that underline social disorders in the system. For instance, not long ago the newspapers were awash with the growing concern that more marriages were tending towards failing than succeeding when they reported the alarming numbers of divorce cases in Lagos and Abuja courts.

“No doubt, such a scenario where families are dislocated, has an adverse effect on the children, particularly the young ones, of such homes. What we have ultimately would be subtle trauma, especially psychological that manifest in many ways. These may include withdrawal syndrome on the part of such children, peer ridicule, stigmatisation and even victimization, bullying sometimes and even rejection. At the end we find that such children would begin to tend towards falling into the “special needs” category, and needing special education techniques, methodology and methods.

“Another factor that causes subtle trauma is the generally growing gap between the rich and the poor; a situation that is fast becoming a serious issue in these sub-Saharan African countries referred to earlier. This is why Nigeria has taken the initiative to put programmes in place to lift 100 million people out of poverty in the next ten years. Studies have shown that when a child feels threatened by extreme social or economic conditions such as poverty, there is a range of traumatic events he or she is highly susceptible to”.

He threw his weight behind the group’s bid for a legislative framework to professionalise Counselling in Nigeria.

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Nnamdi Kanu’s Case Proof Of Religious Persecution In Nigeria – US lawmaker, John James

Published

3 hours ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

Former chairman of the Africa Subcommittee and now a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative, John James, has claimed that the case of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is proof of religious persecution in Nigeria.

James stated this when the United States House Subcommittee on Africa on Thursday, held a public hearing to review President Donald Trump’s recent redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

The hearing in Washington, DC included senior US State Department officials and Nigerian religious leaders.

James claimed that in the case of Nnamdi Kanu, Nigeria’s Court of Appeal had struck down the charges against him and ordered his release in 2022.

He said: “Religious persecution is tied to political repression and weakening institutions in Nigeria. The detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a clear example.

“In 2022, Nigeria’s Court of Appeals struck down the charges against him and ordered his release.

“The UN Working Group for Arbitrary Detention has also called for his unconditional release, yet he remains in solitary confinement in deteriorating health and recently had to represent himself in court.

“Nigeria has signaled that the law is optional and targeting Christians is fair game. Just hours ago this morning, despite the pleas and cries of Nigerian people and many Nigerian lawmakers, Kanu was convicted on all charges.”

Nnamdi Kanu was on Thursday, sentenced to life imprisonment over terrorism charges.

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Nigerians Don’t Trust Their Govt – US Congressman Riley Moore

Published

3 hours ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

US Congressman Riley Moore has said that Nigerian people do not trust their government.

Moore stated this on Thursday at US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa, which is investigating Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, CPC.

“The Nigerian people don’t trust their government. ‘How can you trust a government that doesn’t show up when you ask them to?

“The Nigerian government must work with the US in cooperation to address these insecurity issues.

“A case that just happened recently in Plateau state. We had a pastor there who warned the Nigerian government that they were under attack. There’s imminent attack forces here in the next 24 hours. Please come and help us.

“The Nigerian government did not only ignore it but put up a press release that it is fake news,” he said.

Moore would be meeting with a delegation of senior members of the Nigerian government, over the devastating insecurity in Nigeria and the US designation of the country as CPC, DAILY POST reports.

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US Makes U-turn, To Attend G20 Summit In South Africa

Published

3 hours ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

In an 11th-hour about-turn, the United States has told South Africa it wants to take part in this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday.

President Donald Trump’s administration had said it would not take part in the November 22-23 meeting and that no final statement by G20 leaders could be issued without its presence.

It has clashed with South Africa over various international and domestic policies this year, extending its objections to Pretoria’s G20 priorities for the meeting of leading economies being held for the first time in Africa.

“We have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa told reporters.

“This comes at the late hour before the summit begins. And so therefore, we do need to engage in those types of discussions to see how practical it is and what it finally really means,” he said.

There was no immediate confirmation from US officials.

Ramaphosa said: “We still need to engage with them to understand fully what their participation at the 11th hour means and how it will manifest itself.”

In a note to the government on Saturday, the US embassy repeated that it would not attend the summit, saying South Africa’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency”.

Ramaphosa said earlier Thursday that South Africa would not be bullied.

“It cannot be that a country’s geographical location or income or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to,” he told delegates at a G20 curtain-raiser event.

There “should be no bullying of one nation by another”, he said.

– ‘Positive sign’ –
Ramaphosa said the apparent change of heart was “a positive sign”.

“All countries are here, and the United States, the biggest economy in the world, needs to be here,” he said.

South Africa chose “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability” as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union.

Its agenda focuses on strengthening disaster resilience, improving debt sustainability for low-income countries, financing a “just energy transition” and harnessing “critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development”.

After early objections from Washington, it vowed to press on with its programme and its aim to find consensus on a leaders’ statement on the outcome of the discussions.

“We will not be told by anyone who is absent that we cannot adopt a declaration or make any decisions at the summit,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Thursday.

Trump has singled out South Africa for harsh treatment on a number of issues since he returned to the White House in January, notably making debunked claims of white Afrikaners being systematically “killed and slaughtered” in the country.

He expelled South Africa’s ambassador in March and has imposed 30 percent trade tariffs, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

US businesses were well represented at a separate Business 20 (B20) event that wound up in Johannesburg Thursday.

The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, thanked South Africa for fostering “real collaboration between G20 nations during a time of rapid change” during its rotating presidency, which transfers to the United States for 2026.

“The US Chamber of Commerce will use our B20 leadership to foster international collaboration,” Clark said.

The United States has significant business interests in South Africa with more than 600 US companies operating in the country, according to the South African embassy in Washington.

G20 members account for 85 percent of global GDP and around two-thirds of the world’s population.