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Kukah, Global Peace Task Religious Leaders On Nation Building

Published

2 years ago

June 24, 2023

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah and a group, Global Peace Foundation have decried the situation where Nigerians lived with mental challenges and called on government to provide support systems that would bring succour in such cases.

Speaking at the Catholic Resource Centre, Durumi Abuja, during a one-day conference on ‘Trauma Care, Social Cohesion and the Role of Religious Leaders as Agents of Nation Building,’ Kukah who was the Special Guest of Honour at the event noted that virtually all Nigerians are traumatized considering that they live in a traumatized environment.

He said that Nigerians were challenged with mental health at various stages and emphasized the need for support systems from both the government, CSOs, and anyone who can provide it.

According to him, “the sense of community has been suspended; fundamental issues like trust have become scarce commodities largely because of what the society has become.”

He called for the aggregate of interest of values for the state to resolve all contradictions, stressing that banditry is one of the most terrible things that has happened to the nation with priests and cleric across religions being targeted by kidnappers in the country as the church is now in solidarity with the nation in its battle with insurgency.

He called on all victims to retain their state of sanity and put bitterness behind them.

The Country Director, of Global Peace Foundation Nigeria (GPFN), Rev. John Joseph Hayab, called for the collaboration of religious leaders with CSOs and other stakeholders towards enhancing the sustenance of peace in Nigeria.

He noted that the religious leaders have a role to play in nation-building, urging them to rise to the occasion and use their God-given platforms to provide care, preach social cohesion, and contribute to peaceful coexistence in the country.

The Country Director also spoke at the Catholic Resource Centre, Durumi Abuja, during a one-day conference on “Trauma Care, Social Cohesion and the Role of Religious Leaders as Agents of Nation Building”.

The program was organized by Nigerian KAICIID Fellows in collaboration with Global Peace Foundation Nigeria, Cardinal Onaiyekan Foundation for Peace, the Interfaith Mediation Centre, and O-Trauma Victims Initiative.

Hayab felicitated and identified with all victims of the numerous traumatic experiences in the country particularly at the hands of bandits, kidnappers, and terrorists.

He lamented that people have lost touch with their common humanity and that it is only by embracing their common humanity that true and lasting peace could be found, stressing that it was the reason why Global Peace Foundation Nigeria started preaching that human beings are members of one family under God, irrespective of any difference.

Rev. Hayab stressed the need for interfaith collaboration in the quest for social cohesion and nation-building, calling on religious leaders to collectively confront and address the challenges being faced by society by providing shelter for the traumatized people to lean on.

“Trauma and other security challenges faced by people in our societies are human experiences that require religious collaborations to tackle them. Unfortunately, religion, ethnicity, and other lines of the divide have encroached into our humanity with detrimental effects, faithful of all religions should collaborate to ensure sanity in society,” he said.

He called on religious leaders and CSOs to continue in their efforts of collaboration and building a network of peacebuilders to salvage the nation and urged that peacebuilding engagements should go beyond town hall meetings to the grassroots and local communities to promote love, peace and tolerance, respect and civic responsibilities among rural dwellers.

News

Back To School: Lions Club Distributes Educational Materials In Edo Schools

Published

10 hours ago

October 4, 2025

Editor

The Benin Etete Unique and Edo Heritage Lions of the International Association of Lions Club on Friday jointly distributed educational materials to two schools in Benin City as part of the association corporate services to humanity.

The two clubs in District 404-A4 Lions Nigeria, jointly carried out the distribution of notebooks, maths sets, school bags and sandals, pens and other writing materials to excited pupils in Ivbioba Primary School and Oghede-Ivioba Primary School, Ugbighoko, Egor Local Government Area, and Evbiyenava Primary School, in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.

Themed, Back to School Project, pupils were also engaged in Reading Action Program (RAP) and Spelling Bee Competition, after which winners were presented with special prizes.

In their remarks, Lions Darlington Uyi and Franca Nikoro, presidents of Benin Etete Unique and Edo Heritage Lions Clubs stated that the vision of the Lions International is to serve humanity.

They, therefore, tasked pupils on commitment to their studies in order to attain their fullest potentials in life.

“Emulate Lions in your visions for tomorrow. We have various professionals as members, and if you are committed to your studies, obedient to your parents and teachers, you will attain great heights,” Lion Uyi Darlinton Stated.

“Our vision is to serve, and we are here like we do every period to ensure Literacy is inculcated in pupils to enable them to attain their full potential. It is our earnest desire that you grow into well rounded personalities. Literacy is important in order to actualize that aspiration,” Franca Nikoro stated.

Earlier, in his address, Lion Sir Dede Henry Idemudia, Zone 6A Chairperson, tasked the pupils on good conduct, honour to parents and guardians and obedience to instructions of school authority.

News

NAFDAC Gives Nigerian Food Companies 18 Months To Cut Trans Fats

Published

11 hours ago

October 3, 2025

Editor

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has set an 18-month grace period, effectively giving food companies until early 2026 before facing full enforcement of regulations to eliminate industrially produced Trans-Fatty Acids (TFA).

The initiative, launched as a comprehensive strategy and roadmap for TFA regulation, moves Nigeria from simply having the policy to enforcing its world-class standard: a regulatory limit of no more than two grams of industrially produced trans fat per 100 grams of total fat or oil.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, emphasised that the roadmap moves the country beyond policy creation to aggressive enforcement and implementation.

This was contained in the NAFDAC DG’s keynote speech posted on the agency’s official X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

Adeyeye stressed the moral imperative of the Agency’s mission.

“The removal of industrially produced trans fats from the food chain is not only a technical achievement, but a moral imperative.

“Eliminating industrially produced trans fats is possible, achievable, necessary, and urgent,” Adeyeye stated, calling for national collaboration.

The moratorium period is designed to allow manufacturers to exhaust existing stock with outdated labels and reformulate their products to comply with the legal limit.

NAFDAC’s action targets a dangerous dietary risk factor strongly linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, and premature death globally.

Adeyeye emphasised the significance of the move beyond technical compliance, noting, “The removal of industrially produced trans fats from the food chain is not only a technical achievement, but a moral imperative.”

This aggressive step builds upon Nigeria’s existing reputation; the country was recognised by the World Health Organisation in 2023 for adopting best-practice TFA elimination policies.

The new roadmap is key to securing WHO validation of Nigeria’s full TFA elimination programme, establishing the nation as a regional leader in public health interventions.

News

Mohbad’s Father Urges Lagos AG To Prosecute Wife, Nurse, Others

Published

12 hours ago

October 3, 2025

Editor

Joseph Aloba, the father of late singer Mohbad, has urged the Lagos State government to initiate criminal proceedings against individuals named in the coroner’s inquest into his son’s death.

Mohbad passed away on September 12, 2023, following an injection administered by auxiliary nurse Feyisayo Ogedengbe.

Despite being buried the next day, public outcry and ongoing investigations led to the exhumation of his body on September 21, 2023, for an autopsy.

In a letter dated October 3 and addressed to the attorney general of Lagos State through his lawyers, Aloba demanded that criminal charges be filed against those indicted within 14 days.

“Specifically, we refer to persons indicted by the coroner’s verdict hereunder: Miss Ogedengbe Fisayo, indicted for unlawful medical practice and gross medical negligence; and Mrs. Omowunmi Aloba, indicted for negligence,” the letter reads.

“This includes Ibrahim Owodunni, a.k.a. Prime Boy, and others who either facilitated the invitation of the auxiliary nurse or refused to take him promptly to a recognised medical facility for treatment.”

Mohbad’s father said he was concerned that despite the coroner’s clear verdict, no prosecutorial steps had been taken against those indicted nearly three months after the judgment.

He asked the attorney general to exercise prosecutorial powers within the 14 days, or, in the alternative, grant him and his legal team a fiat to prosecute the matter on behalf of the state.

“Our Client, as a bereaved father desirous of ensuring that justice is done and seen to be done, is deeply concerned that notwithstanding the clear indictments contained in the Coroner’s Verdict, no prosecutorial steps have been taken against the aforementioned persons since the delivery of the Verdict on 11th July, 2025,” the letter reads.

“The judicial observations amount to clear indictments warranting the prosecution of the said individuals in order to give full effect to the Coroner’s findings and recommendations, and to ensure that justice is manifestly and adequately served in this matter.

“We request that you exercise your prosecutorial power on the above subject matter within 14 Days Next, in view of the high sensitivity of this matter and the public attention and outrage it has generated.”

In October 2023, Naira Marley and Sam Larry were arrested over allegations linking them to Mohbad’s death, but were released on bail after five weeks in detention.

By February 2025, a magistrate court cleared them of any involvement in the singer’s demise.