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US Hit By Record Number Of Billion-dollar Disasters So Far This Year

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Between January and August, the United States was struck by a record-breaking 23 weather and climate disasters where losses exceeded $1 billion in each case, official data showed Monday.

The tally for 2023 has already exceeded the previous record of 22 such events in 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said, and four months still remain in the year.

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These disasters included fires in Hawaii in August, flooding in California in the spring, and Hurricane Idalia that made landfall in Florida on August 30.

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Together, they “caused 253 direct and indirect fatalities and produced more than $57.6 billion in damages,” NOAA said. Two more potential billion-dollar events — Tropical Storm Hilary on the West Coast, and the drought affecting the South and Midwest — remain under investigation.

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Rachel Cleetus, policy director with the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said, “These record-breaking numbers, during a year that is on track to be one of the hottest ever, are sobering and the latest confirmation of a worsening trend in costly disasters, many of which bear the undeniable fingerprints of climate change.”

Since 1980, the year NOAA began tracking these events, the United States has sustained 371 billion-dollar events, adjusted for inflation.

Between 2018-2022, the annual average has been 18.0 events, compared to 8.1 events between 1980-2022.

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READ ALSO: Race To Find Survivors As Morocco Quake Deaths Top 1,300

2023 is likely to be the hottest year in human history, and global temperatures during the Northern Hemisphere summer were the warmest on record, the European Union climate monitor said last week.

The United States meanwhile saw its ninth-warmest August on record, according to NOAA.

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Though 2023 has had the highest number of billion-dollar disasters, it’s still behind other years in terms of total economic damages

Hurricane Ian, which struck Florida in September 2022, caused 152 deaths and losses worth $112.9 billion.

The costliest year was 2017, with $383.7 billion damages adjusted for inflation. The bulk of that damage came from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, which struck in quick succession.

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PHOTOS: Esama Of Benin Commissions BRC Ultramodern Lounge, Promises A Phase Lift

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The Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, has promised to give a phase lift to the Benin Recreation Club (BRC) in the next 12 months.

Chief Igbinedion made the promise in Benin on Saturday when he officially visited the BRC to commission a newly remodeled ultramodern ‘Chief Go.O. Igbinedion Bustop Lounge.’

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The Esama, who expressed dissatisfaction on how he met the ancient recreation club, said: “This place needs a drastic improvement. I would, therefore, like the committee to see me, and I promise 12 months from now, this place will wear a new look.”

READ ALSO: BRC President Commended For Transformational Initiatives, As Legacy Projects Are Commissioned

Chief Igbinedion, however, thanked current and past executives of the club for a job well done, and for sustaining the BRC, saying “many organisations or associations as this have gone into extinction but you have put in your best to keep this going.”

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The octogenarian, who thanked the leadership and the board of trustees for the honour done on him through the naming of a lounge, also vowed not to neglect the leadership especially knowing well that he has been a founding member of the BRC.

In his remarks, Special Guest of Honour and Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Daniel Okungbowa, while describing the BRC as the best place to relax after a stressful day, urged members of the public who are yet to join the BRC to do so.

READ ALSO: Benin Recreation Club President Commends Club For Performance At Inter-club Tournament

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Earlier in his welcome speech, president of the BRC, Courage Osamuyi said the lounge was named after Chief Igbinedion in recognition of his great support for the club and his contribution to humanity.

Justice Daniel Okungbowa, Chief Judge of Edo State

The BRC president, who declared that the presence of the Esama in the BRC signifies a new dawn, said “what we are having today is just the beginning. As he has stepped into this place, greater things will start to happen.”

Osamuyi, while noting that the Esama “has been a founding member of the club over the years,” thanked Chief Igbinedion for his good work and for honouring them with his presence.

Osamuyi Courage, President of The BRC

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Peter Obi Condemns Tinubu’s Saint Lucia Trip

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Labour Party leader and former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s planned trip to Saint Lucia, describing it as poorly timed and lacking in sensitivity, especially amid Nigeria’s deepening economic and security challenges.

Tinubu is expected to leave Nigeria on Saturday for Saint Lucia and is also scheduled to attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Brazil.

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In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Obi expressed dismay over the president’s travel, questioning the state of governance in the country.

Obi argued that Tinubu’s trip highlights a pattern of misplaced priorities by the administration, particularly at a time when citizens are grappling with widespread hunger and insecurity.

READ ALSO:Strike: NLC To Shutdown FCT After Tinubu’s Project Inaugurations Labour

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“What I have seen and witnessed in the last two years has left me in shock about poor governance delivery and apparent channelling of energy into politics and satisfaction of the elites, while the masses in our midst are languishing in want,” Obi stated.

He lamented the toll of rising insecurity across Nigeria, pointing out the country’s deteriorating safety situation.

In the past two years, Nigeria has lost more people to all sorts of criminality than a country that is officially at war.

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“Without any twilight, Nigeria ranks among the most insecure places in the world. Nigerians are hungrier, and most people do not know where their next meal will come from,” he wrote.

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Obi said he was stunned when he learned of the President’s travel plans, especially following what he described as a recent holiday in Lagos.

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With such a gory picture of one’s country, you can imagine my bewilderment when I saw a news release from the Presidency announcing that President Bola Tinubu is departing Nigeria today for a visit to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean,” he said.

Quoting Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister, Philip J. Pierre, Obi noted that the visit comprises both official and personal segments.

According to the Prime Minister’s announcement, ‘two of these days, June 30 and July 1, will be dedicated to an official visit, with the remainder of the trip set aside as a personal vacation,” he said.

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Obi noted that he initially found the report hard to believe.

READ ALSO:How Atiku, El-Rufai, Amaechi Can Learn From Tinubu’s School Of Politics

I told the person who drew my attention to the Caribbean story that it cannot be true and that the President is just coming back from a holiday in Lagos.

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“I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President… would contemplate a leisure trip at this time,” Obi said.

He condemned Tinubu’s failure to visit disaster-stricken areas like Minna in Niger State, where over 200 people reportedly died and hundreds remain missing due to flooding.

This is a President going for leisure when he couldn’t visit Minna, Niger State where over two hundred lives were lost and over 700 persons still missing in a flood natural disaster,” he said.

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READ ALSO:PHOTOS: President Tinubu Receives Queen Mary Of Denmark At State House

Obi also took issue with Tinubu’s recent trip to Benue State, claiming it was politically motivated rather than compassionate.

The other state in crisis where over two hundred lives were murdered, the President yielded to public pressure and visited Makurdi… for what turned out to be a political jamboree than condolence as public holiday was declared and children made to line up to receive the President who couldn’t even reach the village, the scene of the brutal attack,” he said.

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Drawing comparisons between Nigeria and Saint Lucia, Obi questioned the logic of prioritising a visit to the Caribbean nation over addressing pressing domestic issues.

Makurdi is 937.4 Km², which is over 59% bigger than St Lucia, which is 617 km², and Minna is 6789 square kilometres, which is ten times bigger than St Lucia. St Lucia, with a population of 180,000, is less than half of Makurdi’s 489,839 and Minna, with 532,000 is almost three times the population of St Lucia,” the former Anambra governor said.

READ ALSO:‘Peace Has Returned To Rivers’ — Wike, Fubara Speak After Meeting Tinubu

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He concluded his post by stressing the urgent need for leadership that is grounded in empathy and focused on addressing the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.

He said, “I don’t think the situation in this country today calls for leisure for anybody in a position of authority, more so the President, on whose desk the buck stops.

“This regime has repeatedly shown its insensitivity and lack of passion for the populace…”

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Obi added, “This very obvious indifference of the federal government to the suffering of the Nigerian poor should urgently be reversed.

“One had expected the President to be asking God for extra hours in a day for the challenges, but what we see is a concentration of efforts in the 2027 election and on satisfying the wealthy while the mass poor continues to multiply in number.

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World Bank Lists Nigeria Among 39 Nations Facing Rising Poverty, Hunger

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The World Bank has listed Nigeria among 39 countries where poverty and hunger are deepening as a result of conflict and instability.

In a report released on Friday, the bank said the economies, a mix of low- and middle-income countries, span all global regions. Among them are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.

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The report, which assesses the economic impact of conflict and fragility in the post-COVID-19 era, revealed that 21 of the 39 countries are experiencing active conflict.

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According to the findings, extreme poverty is rising more rapidly in these countries, taking a severe toll on economic development, worsening hunger, and derailing progress toward key development goals.

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Since 2020, the report noted, the average per capita GDP of these economies has declined by 1.8 per cent annually, in contrast to a 2.9 per cent growth rate recorded in other developing countries.

The report partly reads: “This year, 421 million people are struggling on less than $3 a day in economies afflicted by conflict or instability—more than in the rest of the world combined.

“That number is projected to rise to 435 million, or nearly 60% of the world’s extreme poor, by 2030.”

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