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Sudan Crisis: 1,519 Nigerian Students Leave Khartoum For Port Sudan – FG

Published

1 year ago

May 1, 2023

Editor

The Federal Government said about 1,519 stranded Nigerians in Sudan are expected to leave the capital Khartoum via hired buses to Port Sudan and other designated border points for their onward evacuation to Nigeria.

This development followed the extension of another 72 hours ceasefire agreement reached between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Para-military Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.

The Port Sudan is a port on the Red Sea in Eastern part of Sudan and the Capital of the State of Red Sea.

The Permanent Secretary with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Sani Gwarzo, confirmed this while briefing newsmen on the situation with Nigerian students in Sudan on Sunday in Abuja.

Gwarzo, who is the chairperson of the federal government situation room, on the evacuation exercise, explained that the stranded students are expected to leave on April. 30.

He said government had already secured 31 buses in addition to the reserve buses kept in case of unforeseen circumstances.

“We have given the bus company our word that under no circumstances shall they leave anybody on ground; even if it is one more person that is remaining let them activate our reserve list and bring out the new buses.

“And I spoke to the student leader and the Embassy in this regard, so we are expecting each bus will carry 49 persons and if you calculate this number times 31 buses it will give you the number of persons to be evacuated today,” he said.

The federal government also clarified the controversy over the 1.2 million dollars used to hire buses for the evacuation of stranded Nigerians from Khartoum to the designated border point.

“Do you know how much it takes to hire a bus from Khartoum to the border?, is 30,000 dollars per bus and you times it by 40 buses, that is where 1.2 million dollars comes into.

“ So, we transfer the first tranche of the money approved by federal government, which is 400,000 dollars, to them as deposit if you take our 400,000 dollars what does it come to you is 1/3 of the total sum.

“ So, they gave us 13 buses times 30,000 dollars it will give us 390,000 dollars believing that will continue with the evacuation, but they stopped giving us buses that our money has expired.

”But, they kept the remaining 10,000 dollars and told us that our money has finished untill we complete the remaining balance because we are meant to understand in Sudan there is nothing like you deposit money until assignment is done before you complete the remaining balance.

“We started transferring the remaining balance in tranches and believe me you don’t transfer money to Sudan directly, you have to get somebody who knows the company who will transfer and give them cash then go into agreement.

“And the transport company threatened that they will not move on with the evacuation process and whoever thinks that 1.2 million dollars will be enough to move people from Khartoum to the border and airlift them to Nigeria is being economical with the truth,” he said.

Gwarzo further explained that the federal government had to enter into agreement with the transport company to ensure due process were followed in the transfer of the funds.

“We signed an MoU with them and at every stage we report this to DSS and NFIU so that they can monitor the movement of the money.

”And the company too should know that in Nigeria if you transfer money from government account, it does not go direct because it has a dashboard that it can be seen.

“We had to alert the DSS and NFIU before we send this money, though in the process the money got delayed by the Central Bank System and this is what they call swift electronic cash transfer system, it got delayed,” he said.

According to him, that is the hitches they experienced in the first phase of the evacuation exercise.

He therefore emphasised that the federal government is more interested in the safety and successful evacuation of the trapped students.

Gwarzo said while government is doing its best to evacuate them, he also urged the media to report subjectively as the health and safety of the evacuees and the emotional feelings of their parents are at stake.
(NAN)

News

50-year-old Man Dies While Watching Football Match In Lagos Bar

Published

22 mins ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

A yet-to-be-identified man has died allegedly watching football in an open bar along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Lagos.

It was discovered that the deceased, a man in his fifties, was a frequent patron of the open bar prior to the incident and had visited on May 15, 2024, to watch a football game.

But problems arose when it was later found that he was sleeping and that attempts to wake him up were unsuccessful.

The Lagos State Police Spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident by saying that on May 15, 2024, at approximately 7:00 PM, the owner of the open bar came to Elere Division to report that the same day, one of his male customers—whose name and address are unknown—died while watching a football game.

In an additional explanation, Hundeyin stated that when detectives from the division visited the scene, they saw the deceased lying lifeless on the chair without any signs of violence.

“His body has been taken to the mainland general hospital in Rusty Yaa for an autopsy,” he continued, “We are still trying to find his family.”

News

JUST IN: Tinubu Appoints Governing Board Members For 111 Tertiary Institutions

Published

9 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointments of at least 555 persons to serve as Pro-chancellors/Chairmen and members of Governing Boards of 111 federal universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education.

This followed Tinubu’s assent to a list of nominees selected by the Ministry of Education.

An advertorial by the Education Ministry sighted by The PUNCH showed the appointment of a chairperson and four members for each of the institutions.

It was signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack.

“The inauguration and retreat for the Governing Councils will take place on Thursday, May 30 and Friday, May 31, 2024, at the National Universities Commission, 26 Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja. Both events will commence at 9:00am daily,” said Walson-Jack.

When contacted for confirmation, the Presidency said the list emanated from the Ministry of Education.

“This is from the Federal Ministry of Education…they make the nominations and forward them to the President to sign. But they are at liberty to release it from their end,” the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, told The PUNCH on Sunday.

The appointments come days after the Academic Staff Union of Universities had threatened to embark on another strike, potentially disrupting the academic calendar and causing further setbacks in the country’s higher education sector.

The union, on Tuesday, decried the failure of the Federal Government to appoint Governing Councils for federal universities.

The union also faulted what it described as the nonchalant attitude of the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to matters about academics in federal universities.

The body of academics, during a briefing at the University of Abuja, also faulted the 35 per cent salary increment for professors and the 25 per cent salary increment for other academics in the university system.

News

HOMEF Applauds NASS On Decision To Investigate GMOs In Nigeria

Published

10 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

…says Nigeria needs to prioritise public health

Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and the GMO-Free Nigeria
Alliance have commended the House of Representatives on the resolution to comprehensively investigate the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into Nigeria and for a halt on approval of new products
pending the completion of that investigation.

This is as the House of Representatives also urged the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to ensure labelling of GM crops already in the country.

The House resolution to investigate the introduction of GMOs into Nigeria followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Muktar Shagaya at a plenary session held on Thursday 16th May 2024.

In a statement made available to INFO DAILY Kome Odhomor, Media/Communication Lead, HOMEF, the Executive Director of the organisation, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, said ass the lawmaker rightly explained, the introduction of GMOs in Nigeria raises serious concerns about safety, regulatory oversight, and their potential impacts on the country’s biosafety.

He noted that the investigation which has been long “overdue is vital to save the country from the dangerous path to food colonialism, contamination of our genetic resources, loss of
biodiversity/nutritional diversity, soil degradation, and overall
disruption of our agriculture and food systems.”

Bassey continued: “This investigation must be unbiased and thorough. To ensure this, the National Assembly should engage independent researchers to avoid contamination of the process by GMO promoters.

“This investigation should consider Nigeria’s agricultural landscape and investigate the underlying
causes of hunger/food insecurity and as well establish definite measures to address those issues. This is the time to rescue Nigerians from being used for risky experimentations.”

The Executive Director also stressed the need for critical examination of the National Biosafety Management Agency Act for its fitness for purpose.

He further added: “That law needs to be completely reworked to close existing loopholes including the composition of its governing/decision making board by excluding GMO promoters such as the National Biotechnology Development Agency; the lack of provision on strict liability, inadequate public consultation measures, absolute decision-making powers of the agency, minimal reference to the precautionary principal and many others.

“This was the submission of Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, Food Sovereignty Activist and Deputy Executive Director at Friends of the Earth Nigeria.”

Also reacting to the Green Chamber’s call on NAFDAC to label GMO crops in the country, HOMEF’s Director of Programmes and lead on Hunger Politics, Joyce Brown, noted that the agency will need to devise strategies to have foods sold in local markets in basins, by the road sides, and in processed forms like Ogi and Akara labelled to ensure informed decision-making by the majority of people who purchase food from these sources.

“This exercise will prove that GMOs do not fit our socio-economic context. Over the years, market shelf surveys conducted by HOMEF has revealed over 50 different processed/packaged foods labelled as produced using genetically modified ingredients,” she added.

Brown advised that permits for commercialisation of GMO products such as Bt Cowpea, Tela Maize, Bt Corn and all others be suspended pending the result of the investigation by the House Committee on Agriculture and others.

The statement reaffirmed the submission by Rep. Shagaya that there’s need to prioritise public health, biodiversity, increased support of small holder farmers in terms of extension service, provision of infrastructure (to curtail waste), access to credits, access to land and the growth of our local economy.

“Nigeria should adopt agroecological farming which aligns well with our socio economic and socio cultural
context. Agroecology delivers increased productivity and economic resilience, revises/nourishes ecosystems, strengthens local economies, mitigates climate change and promotes food sovereignty,” the statement concluded.