Headline

Japa: Stay Back To Salvage Nigeria, FG Urges Doctors

Published

1 year ago

June 12, 2024

Vice President Kashim Shettima has appealed to Nigerian doctors to remain in Nigeria and collaborate with President Bola Tinubu’s administration in its efforts to salvage the nation.

Shettima also urged the doctors to resist the temptation of absconding from the country to offer their services outside the country in a phenomenon colloquially called the “japa syndrome”, adding that Tinubu empathised with the medical professionals who chose to remain in the country.

The VP stated this on Tuesday when the National Executive Council of the Nigerian Medical Association, led by its newly elected President, Prof. Bala Audu, paid him a courtesy visit at the Presidential Villa.

In a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communication (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima commended the doctors for their contributions to repositioning the health delivery system in Nigeria.

He urged them to encourage young doctors to specialise in key disciplines of the medical practice and to also check the activities of quacks in the profession.

“President Bola Tinubu has Nigerian doctors at heart. He has a lot of empathy for our medical doctors who have opted to stay put at home, not for lack of offers. Let us stay back and salvage this nation together, this is our country the greatest black nation on earth, and a promising nation that we need to invest in.

“The NMA is one of the most prestigious, preeminent associations in this country. We must commend you for the sacrifices you are making and for staying put in this nation. All hope is not lost because Nigerian doctors are making giant strides, recording milestones in the profession and, most importantly, making tremendous sacrifices to serve this nation.”

On his part, the NMA President, Prof Audu said the executive members were at the Villa to show solidarity for the Tinubu administration, especially on account of its laudable policies in the health sector.

He also assured the Vice President that the NMA remained patriotic to the nation and would support the health policies of the government to improve healthcare delivery and access to health services for all Nigerians.

“The Nigerian Medical Association has come here today as a partner to your government and a patriotic group of Nigerians dedicated to the success of the Renewed Hope Agenda of this government and to ensure that this government delivers quality healthcare to all Nigerians.

“(The NMA) remains patriotic to this nation and will fully support the health policies of your government to drive improvement in quality healthcare delivery and universal access to services to all Nigerians. This committee will work closely with this government, in delivering and implementing the policies of the administration in the healthcare sector. The NMA wants to assure and reassure you that it will play a key role in ensuring stability in the health sector and by extension, stability for this government to deliver on its promises to Nigerians as it has already started doing,” he added.

Audu also applauded the health policies of the Tinubu administration, noting that when fully implemented, the programmes and projects will “increase the training spaces for specialists in the country known as the residency training programme as well as the quality of the postgraduate medical training”.

“We are sure that this government will address the infrastructural needs to be able to sustain the quality of this training as well as the remuneration that will improve the wellbeing of Nigerian doctors to remain and serve in this country,” he stated.

Headline

Peru Anti-government Protesters Clash With Police

Published

3 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

Hundreds of anti-government protesters clashed with police in the Peruvian capital Lima on Saturday, throwing stones and sticks as officers fired tear gas on the demonstrators, AFP journalists reported.

The protest, organized by a youth collective called “Generation Z”, is part of growing social unrest in Peru against organized crime, corruption in public office, and a recent pension reform.

“Today, there is less democracy than before. It’s getting worse… because of fear, because of extortion,” said 54-year-old protester Gladys, who declined to give her last name.

Around 500 people gathered in the city center, under heavy police presence.

“Congress has no credibility, it doesn’t even have the approval of the people… It is wreaking havoc in this country,” said protester Celene Amasifuen.

The clashes broke out as demonstrators tried to approach executive and congressional buildings in Lima.

The radio station Exitosa said that its reporter and a cameraman were hit by pellets, commonly fired by law enforcement.

Police said at least three officers were wounded.

Approval ratings for President Dina Boluarte, whose term ends next year, have plummeted amid rising extortion and organized crime cases.

Several opinion polls show the government and conservative-majority Congress are seen by many as corrupt institutions.

This week, the legislature passed a law requiring young adults to join a private pension fund, despite many facing a precarious working environment.

AFP

Headline

Fresh World Trouble Looms As Netanyahu Tells Western Leaders ‘There Will Be No Palestinian State’

Published

3 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said there would be no Palestinian state, in a message addressed to the leaders of Britain, Australia and Canada after they recognised Palestinian statehood.

“I have a clear message for those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre on October 7: you are granting a huge reward to terror,” he said.

“And I have another message for you: it will not happen. No Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River.”

Britain, Australia and Canada on Sunday became the first tripartite Western nations to recognise a Palestinian state.

Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France and other nations expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly, which opens Monday in New York.

“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a message on X.

“Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on X.

This comes after decades of requests for sovereignty from the Palestinian side.

Portugal was also to recognise Palestinian statehood later Sunday, as Israel came under huge international pressure over the war in Gaza triggered almost two years ago by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Headline

Badenoch Slams UK’s Palestine Recognition Decision As ‘Absolutely Disastrous’

Published

4 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch condemned the Prime Minister Keir Starmer-led United Kingdom’s decision to formally recognise the State of Palestine.

PUNCH Online reports that Britain, alongside Australia and Canada, on Sunday recognised a Palestinian state in a seismic shift in decades of Western foreign policy.

Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France and other nations expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly, which opens Monday in New York.

However, the decision triggered swift Israeli anger and condemnation from the opposition.

Reacting in a statement on her X on Sunday, Badenoch described the move as “absolutely disastrous.”

She argued the move rewards terrorism with no conditions, and the decision would be widely regretted.

She said, “Absolutely disastrous. We will all rue the day this decision was made. Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas.

“It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war.”

The Winchester opposition leader accused Labour of pandering to its “hard left” rather than fixing Britain’s pressing domestic problems.

“It is because Labour cannot fix the big problems in our society that they focus on discredited student union campaigns to appease the hard left.”

Listing examples of Labour’s failings, she said, “They cannot fix the NHS, so they push assisted suicide. – They cannot create jobs for young people, so they give them votes at 16.

“They cannot sort out immigration, but they will recognise Palestine instead. And so on. This is the same man who paid £35bn of reparations to Mauritius along with the surrender of the Chagos islands.”

Badenoch also criticised what she described as the prime minister’s lack of judgment.

“Everything we are seeing is a consequence of a Prime Minister who has no plan for the country and no judgment.

“He will spend the next four years delivering the hobbyhorses of the Labour left to stay in power and leave a HUGE mess for us to clean up.”

Earlier, Starmer announced the recognition of Palestine in a post on X, saying the move was intended to provide a two-state solution.

He said, “Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine.”