Headline

Russia-Ukraine Crisis Wakeup Call For Africa On Food Sufficiency – Osinbajo

Published

2 years ago

March 28, 2023

…Says digitalisation remains Africa’s best opportunity to leap-frog

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday in London, UK, said the lingering crisis between Russia and Ukraine should be a wake-up call for African states to prioritise self-sufficiency in food production.

He also said digitisation remains Africa’s best opportunity to make considerable progress in the global scheme of things.

“The economic fallout of the war for us in Africa should be an introspective moment on the issue of self sufficiency in food production,” Osinbajo told a large audience comprising academics, scholars, researchers, faculty and students of the Africa Leadership Centre, King’s College London.

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Tuesday titled ‘How Africa can prosper in an increasingly complex world, by Osinbajo.’

Speaking specifically on the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Prof. Osinbajo said apart from its consequences for international peace and security, the war has signalled a breakdown of the global order which emerged at the end of the Second World War and is a source of concern to many African countries who now have to steer their way delicately between major powers.

However, the more immediate and consequential fallout of the war is the sharp hikes in the prices of food, especially wheat, sunflower oil, fuel and fertilizer.

He noted many African countries are heavily dependent on one or both of the warring parties for food and oil.

When the conflict began in February 2022, the price of wheat increased by 67 per cent from December 2021. Oil prices similarly went through the roof. The international price of oil averaged $100 per barrel in 2022 as compared to about $70 per barrel in 2021, the VP explained.

He said higher oil prices translated to higher prices for manufactured products as well since some of the key manufacturing countries are oil importers.

“These price shocks and disruption of supply chains of various commodities across Africa led to high inflation at a time when most countries were struggling to overcome the economic and social fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic especially debt and foreign currency crises.

“The situation was relieved somewhat by the deal that was brokered to enable the export of Ukrainian wheat,” he said.

The VP stated that despite Nigeria’s firm objection to the invasion of Ukraine as the African giant has managed to maintain good relationships with both sides.

“We are now in the process of working out a grain supply from Russia coordinated by the World Food Programme, and we recently accepted to provide port space in Port Harcourt, Nigeria for the distribution of grain from Ukraine to other west African countries,” he noted.

The Vice President observed that the Russia-Ukraine war had made some African countries like Zimbabwe look inward, saying that “the economic fall out of the war for us in Africa should be an introspective moment on the issue of self-sufficiency in food production.”

Thereafter, he commended the recent peace proposal by the President of Brazil saying “President Luiz Lula Da Silva of Brazil proposed a peace club probably led by China to seek ways of ending the crisis.

“I think that sort of thinking is the way to go. The world must find parties that can be trusted by both sides to intervene.”

Meanwhile, Osinbajo said Africa can change the course of its fortune for good by leveraging digitalisation.

According to him: “I think there is a strong conviction that digitalisation offers the best opportunity of leap-frogging for Africa. Digital technologies are being deployed across Africa to provide solutions in agriculture, education, Fintech and healthcare delivery.

“It is also being deployed in logistics and transport and has the potential to be used for smart housing solutions and smart power grids.

“The story of mobile telephony which has provided the platform for using digital technologies in daily lives in Africa is one such example. Due to mobile telephony, Africa is ahead of other parts of the world regarding Fintech and payments solutions.”

He observed that Africa accounts for about half of the world’s mobile money accounts.

“Similarly, more and more African countries are using AI-enabled surveillance technologies for facial recognition to monitor and respond to crime.

“Perhaps even better known is using drones to deliver medicines in Rwanda.

“Such is the impact that just since 2016, despite two recessions and even a global pandemic, six technology start-ups in Nigeria achieved the status of unicorns,” said Osinbajo.

In the audience were the College’s Senior Vice President (Academics), Professor Rachel Mills, Vice President (International Engagement & Service), Professor Funmi Olonisakin, who moderated a Question and Answer session after the lecture, and q Professor of African Studies based in the College, Professor Abiodun Alao.

Also accompanying the VP to the public lecture were senior government officials led by Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola.
PUNCH

Headline

92-year-old Convicted For 1967 Killing In UK’s Oldest Cases

Published

3 hours ago

June 30, 2025

Editor

A 92-year-old British man was convicted on Monday for a rape and murder committed nearly 60 years ago, in one of the UK’s longest-running cold cases.

Ryland Headley was found guilty by a UK court for raping and killing 75-year-old Louisa Dunne after breaking into her house in Bristol, southwest England in June 1967, when he was 34 years old.

It is “one of the oldest cold cases to ever be solved in the UK”, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which brings criminal prosecutions, said.

Local police reopened the case in 2023 and matched DNA from the victim’s skirt and other items from the original probe to Headley, who had also served a prison sentence for raping two elderly women in 1977.

He is due to be sentenced by a judge at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday.

During the initial investigation, police had found a left-hand palm print from Dunne’s home, where she was found dead from strangulation.

The palm print was compared to 19,000 men to no avail.

At the time, Headley was a railway worker who lived just outside the area in which men and boys were asked to give prints.

Reaching a dead-end, police sealed away forensic evidence for half a century. Both DNA testing and later Headley’s palm print resulted in matches.

When Headley was arrested at his home last November, he told detectives: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.”

“For 58 years, this appalling crime went unsolved and Ryland Headley, the man we now know is responsible, avoided justice,” said Charlotte Ream of the CPS.

Following the conviction, Dunne’s granddaughter Mary Dainton said her death had a “far-reaching impact throughout my family”.

“I was just 20-years-old when my grandmother died and I’m now almost the same age as she was when she was killed,” Dainton said outside court.

Police said they were now looking into other possible cold cases Headley could be linked to.

“Ryland Headley has now been convicted of three rapes of elderly women within their own addresses, and in the case of Louisa Dunne, her murder as well,” Dave Marchant of Avon and Somerset Police told the PA news agency.

“I think there’s every possibility that there are other offences out there – over the 60s, 70s, however long a time period – which Mr Headley could be culpable for.”

Headline

Hope Dashed As Norwegian Company Apologizes For ‘Mistakenly Telling’ Thousands They Won Big On Lottery

Published

4 hours ago

June 30, 2025

Editor

A Norwegian lottery company on Monday apologised to 47,000 crestfallen gamblers who were mistakenly told they had won huge sums in a lottery, the firm blaming a currency conversion error.

State-owned gambling group Norsk Tipping said they had published incorrect prize amounts after a Eurojackpot draw on Friday because of an error converting from euro cents to Norwegian kroner.

The winnings had been multiplied by 100 instead of being divided by 100, the company said.

Among the disappointed was Ole Fredrik Sveen, who was on holiday in Greece when he received a message from Norsk Tipping that he had won 1.2 million kroner ($119,000).

“I thought: ‘Wow, is it finally my turn? Could it be true?’ I go onto the Norsk Tipping website, and there it says in black and white: ‘Congratulations, you have won!’,” Sveen told public broadcaster NRK on Monday.

In reality, he had won 125 kroner ($12).

On Monday, Sveen and the 47,000 others received apologies by text message from Norsk Tipping for the snafu.

“The apology was a poor consolation. They should have sent it out after the mistake, not today,” he said.

The Lottery Authority said Monday it had launched a review to determine if gambling laws had been broken, and Culture Minister Lubna Jaffery called the error “totally unacceptable”.

The firm’s chief executive Tonje Sagstuen resigned on Saturday after the scandal, leaving acting chief executive Vegar Strand to apologise on Monday.

Strand said his company’s state ownership made the mistake particularly problematic, noting that the firm was “entirely dependent on the trust of the population”.

“We have deeply disappointed our customers and take full responsibility for rectifying the situation. Such errors are serious for a company that is supposed to manage the trust of Norwegians,” Strand said.

“The work to rebuild trust again has the highest priority going forward.”

AFP

Headline

Musk Renews Attack On Trump, Says ‘Big, Beautiful Bill Utterly Insane’

Published

4 hours ago

June 30, 2025

Editor

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has renewed his public criticism of United States President Donald Trump, taking aim at the administration’s controversial “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which recently cleared a critical hurdle in the Senate, TIMES reported.

In a post on X on Saturday, Musk denounced the 940-page legislative package as economically harmful, claiming it would severely damage emerging industries while supporting outdated sectors.

“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,” he wrote to his more than 220 million followers.

He further described the legislation as “utterly insane and destructive.”

The senate narrowly voted 51–49 to advance the bill on Saturday night, following extended negotiations among Republicans. Vice President J.D Vance was present to cast a tie-breaking vote, though it was ultimately not required.

Musk, who once served as head of the Department of Government Efficiency under Trump, left the administration after a high-profile fallout and has since emerged as one of the bill’s fiercest opponents.

He described the measure as “political suicide” for Republicans and warned that it would raise the national debt ceiling by $5 trillion — the largest such increase in US history. “America is in the fast lane to debt slavery,” he added.

Responding in an interview aired Sunday on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures, Trump attempted to defuse the tension. “I haven’t spoken to him much, but I think Elon is a wonderful guy,” he said. Trump also suggested Musk’s frustration stemmed from disagreements over recent changes to electric vehicle mandates.

Musk’s opposition to the bill is not new. Earlier in June, he urged Americans to contact their representatives, calling the legislation a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill.”

Despite the bill’s advancement in the Senate, it faces continued resistance. Senate Democrats have slowed proceedings by demanding the entire bill be read aloud in protest.

“If Senate Republicans won’t tell the American people what’s in this bill, then Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer