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NDDC On Life Support Over IOCs’ $5.6b Debt, Akpabio Alleges

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The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, Thursday, raised the alarm that the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, is currently on life support because of huge debt owed the commission by International Oil Companies, IOCs, operating in the region.

Akpabio disclosed this while chatting with journalists in Abuja, shortly after he received the Nigerian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Tijani Muhammad-Bande in his office, said the Commission can barely pay salaries of Staff from what it is getting monthly as result of the debt.

He put the sum total of the debt owed the NDDC by the exploration companies at a whooping $5.6 billion and N649 billion.

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The minister however disclosed that the Federal Government had already set up a committee headed by the Minister of Finance to recover those monies.

According to him, “As I speak now, the federal government has set up a committee headed by the Minister of Finance to recover monies that were owed to the NDDC, and at the last count, about $5.6 billion and about N649 billion are monies owed to the NDDC by oil companies.

READ ALSO: NDDC Contractors Cry To Buhari Over Outstanding Debts

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“So the NDDC itself is on life support because what they get on a monthly basis is just enough to pay their salaries and maintain their offices but people are not aware”.

Receiving Muhammad-Bande, Senator Akpabio said President Muhammadu Buhari would be commissioning a 1050 bed hostel in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State by December 30th this year.

He also said that the President is also expected to commission another 132kv substation in Ondo state, which will supply power to about 5 local governments that have been in darkness for 14 years.

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“On the 30th of this month, the President will commission one out of numerous hostels that we are building through the NDDC and donated to the Nigerian students, one of them is a 1050 bed hostel out of which 50 units will be for students living with disabilities.

“That has been completed with 24,000 gallons of water per day, two standby 1200kva generating sets, and 5000 vehicular space for parking and amazing for both boys and girls that has been completed.

“So, on 30th of this month we will be at the University of Uyo for the commissioning of the project by Mr President.

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“Immediately after that, by January, we should be going to Ondo to commission a 132kva substation that will supply power to about 5 local governments in the state, and unfortunately, that 5 local governments have been in darkness for 14 years”, he said.

The Minister further stated that many projects have been completed in the Niger Delta region while many are still on-going, such as the East West Road that is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

“We have completed many projects also, the East-West road is on-going with about 41 bridges and we have moved it from 76 per cent complete that we met on ground to over 82 per cent as I speak now, and I believe that sections 1-4 which is a distance of 338km will be commissioned by Mr President by the End of Next year.

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“So, a lot of changes are taking place in the region outside human capital development, we are also involved in skills acquisition, we have built skills acquisition centres in all the 9 states of the Niger Delta, and many of them have been completed”, he said.

Speaking earlier, Senator Akpabio sought collaboration with the United Nations on the areas of youth development, environment sustainability and many others.

The minister made a passionate appeal to the United Nations (UN) to consider giving the necessary support in the production of Malaria Vaccine to save millions of people that are dying from malaria related diseases every year in the Sub-Sahara region of Africa.

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Sen. Akpabio who explained that the Sub-Sahara region of the continent has long been tagged as the ‘white man’s grave yard’ due to the devastating effect of malaria disease has been neglected for the last fifty years of medical advancement while Covid-19 have attracted so much attention.

According to the former minority leader, “healthcare delivery system is a major issue within the region and in Africa, Malaria kills millions of people every year more than Covid-19, adding that the Ministry would be very glad to partner the UN in the area of Climate change, Environmental issues, Social inclusion, Empowerment programmes and education to reduce the effect of underdevelopment occasioned by continuous oil exploration and degradation in the region”.

READ ALSO: Rivers: Women Protest Delay In Constitution Of NDDC Board

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Sen. Akpabio further stated that Federal Government is carrying out the Ogoni clean-up with the support of the IOC’s and international community, he, therefore, appealed to the UN for intervention in other areas of the region affected by oil exploration which has experienced oil spillage.

In his response, the Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande,, stated that Nigeria is a great country and what happens in the Niger Delta region is a reflection of what happens in Nigeria as a whole. He noted that issues relating to the region are crucial and that the region should be provided with adequate health facilities, schools, empowerment programmes for youths and equally tackle environmental pollution as result of oil exploration.

He reiterated that empowering the youths is planning for the future as it gives them hope and reduced insecurity.

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12 Feared Dead In Kenya Light Aircraft Crash

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A small plane travelling from Kenya’s coast crashed on Tuesday, according to the country’s aviation authority, with the 12 people on board feared dead.

The small plane was en route to Kichwa Tembo — a private airstrip located in the Maasai Mara National Park — from the tourist hotspot of Diani when it came down at around 5:30am local time (0230 GMT).

“The aircraft had 12 persons on board,” a statement from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said.

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It gave no further details, but said that government agencies were already on site to establish the cause of the accident.

READ ALSO:Putin Admits Russia Caused Azerbaijani Plane Crash

The Guardian reports that plane crashes are fairly common in Kenya in the last 18 months. On March 5, 2024, a mid-air collision between a Safarilink Aviation commercial flight and a 99 Flying School training aircraft occurred over the Nairobi National Park, resulting in two fatalities.

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The incident took place shortly after both aircraft had departed Wilson Airport. The collision involved Safarilink Aviation Flight 053, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 carrying 39 passengers and five crew members, and a 99 Flying School Cessna 172M.

AMREF Aircraft Crash

In August, a light aircraft belonging to the AMREF Flying Doctors crashed into a residential area in Mwihoko, Ruiru, Kiambu County, killing six people and injuring at least two others.

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The aircraft, a Cessna Citation XLS (registration 5Y-FDM), had taken off from Wilson Airport and was en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, when it went down under unclear circumstances.

READ ALSO:Fire On Board Forces Lagos-Atlanta-bound Aircraft Diversion To Ghana

AMREF Flying Doctors CEO Stephen Gitau issued a statement confirming the incident. Mr Gitau noted that the aircraft departed Wilson Airport at 2.17 PM before crashing in Mwihoko. He stated that the organisation is “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation.”

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Foreign Couple Killed in Kenyan Plane Crash, Earlier in January, a light aircraft crash killed a foreign couple aboard. The accident involved a Cessna 185 aircraft that departed from Nairobi and was en route to Mbaruk in Nakuru County. It went down in the lakeside town of Naivasha at approximately 5:14 p.m. local time (1414 GMT).

At the time, Naivasha Police Deputy Chief Charles Mwai suggested that poor visibility due to fog in the area might have been a contributing factor. Aviation experts have been called to the scene to conduct an investigation.

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UK Police Arrest Asylum Seeker Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed

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The UK police on Sunday arrested an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose crimes had sparked anti-immigration protests, after he was accidentally released from prison in an embarrassing blunder by British authorities.

London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Hadush Kebatu in the north of the capital on Sunday morning, nearly 48 hours after he was mistakenly freed around 30 miles (48 kilometres) away.

Kebatu, 38, had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service error occurred on Friday.

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His high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.

READ ALSO:UK Police Hunt Asylum Seeker Mistakenly Freed For Sex Offence

Commander James Conway, who oversaw the manhunt for him, said “information from the public” led officers to the Finsbury Park neighbourhood of London, where he was found.

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He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service,” he added.

Kebatu is now expected to be deported.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was “appalled” by the “totally unacceptable” mistake that saw him freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.

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The Telegraph newspaper said he was wrongly categorised for release on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.

READ ALSO:Alleged Misappropriation: MFM Accuses UK Agency Of Discrimination

Police had appealed Saturday for Kebatu to turn himself in, after reports emerged that he had appeared confused and reluctant to leave the prison in Chelmsford, eastern England.

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A delivery driver described seeing Kebatu return several times in a “very confused” state, only to be turned away by staff and directed to the railway station.

The driver told Sky News he saw Kebatu outside the jail, asking, “Where am I going? What am I doing?”

He was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed,” the driver said.

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READ ALSO:UK Is A Home, Not Hotel, Kemi Badenoch Tells Immigrants, Starmer’s Govt

The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told the broadcaster that “the justice system has let us down.”

Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.

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He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.

He was staying at the time at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.

AFP

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Madagascar Revokes Ousted President’s Nationality

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Madagascar’s new government has stripped ousted president Andry Rajoelina of his Malagasy nationality in a decree published Friday, 10 days after he was removed in a military takeover.

According to AFP, the decree means that Rajoelina, who was impeached on October 14 after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests, would not be able to contest future election.

The decree published in the official gazette said Rajoelina’s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online.

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READ ALSO:Madagascar’s President Denounces ‘Coup Attempt’ As Gen Z Protests Escalate

French broadcaster RFI said it had confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.

The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.

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Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted.

READ ALSO:Madagascar Passes Bill To Castrate Child R*pists

It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.

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The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on October 11 his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.

Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.

Randrianirina was sworn in as president on October 14, pledging elections within two years.

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