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Use Money Saved From Subsidy Removal To Fund Education, UK Govt Tells Tinubu

Published

2 years ago

August 11, 2023

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO, of the UK government has asked President Bola Tinubu to use money saved from fuel subsidy removal to fund education in the country.

FCDO’s representatives, Ian Attfield, who made the call at the end of the Inclusive Education project In Nigeria, (Supporting Mainstreaming Inclusion so all can Learn Equally, SMILE), in Abuja Wednesday, said: “For the next five years or so, I’m certain we won’t be having discussions about how we can mainstream some of the inclusive education elements.

“There are many major economic changes taking place, such as the changes in fuel subsidy. It should start being deployed to support the human development of Nigeria to build education and services, among other things, that young people need.”

Also speaking at the event, Country Director of Sightsavers Nigeria, a nonprofit making organisation, Dr. Sunday Isiyaku, maintained that inclusivity in education remained the bedrock to national development.

According to him, government at all levels and communities need to ensure children with disabilities are included in the scheme of things as far as their education and future are concerned.

He explained how imperative inclusive education was to develop human capital, adding that the positive impact it had on the lives of children with disabilities and their families could not be overemphasized.

He said inclusive education was not only a basic human right, but also a powerful tool for achieving sustainable development.

In his remarks, the Technical Director, Inclusive Education, Sightsavers Global Team, Liesbeth Roolvink, said: “We have trained many people, we have so many champions now that could take this process forward in different places in Nigeria and that is our dream and our hope.”

One of the panelists at the closeout discussion, the Chief Executive Officer and Founder, TAF Africa and Convener, Disability Inclusion Nigeria, Amb Jake Epelle, pointed out that there was lack of trained teachers on inclusive education.

Epelle also spoke on the need for awareness creation, funding and holistic education policy that disabused the mindset on having special schools for persons with disability but one school premises that would impact them positively and make it easy for them to integrate into the society.

He said: “When it comes to inclusive education, there is the need to increase the awareness because it is not many people that know about it. Many parents, especially parents of persons with disability, are hiding their children at home.

”How do we go to them to ensure that they are aware that these children they are hiding in their homes need education?”

However, he pointed out that special schools do not real make the desired impact on the education of children with disabilities because they find it difficult to be integrated into the society.

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Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

2 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.

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Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

Published

2 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Criminal Court ‘D’ in Monrovia is set to deliver judgment this week in Liberia’s first piracy trial, involving two Nigerian nationals accused of hijacking a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to court records, the defendants were arrested earlier this year after a Liberia-flagged ship was seized by armed men while transporting goods through international waters. The crew sent a distress signal, prompting international maritime forces to intervene.

The suspects were subsequently transferred to Liberian authorities under global maritime cooperation protocols.

According to Liberia’s news platform, Front Page Africa, the case has attracted attention because Liberia maintains one of the world’s largest open ship registries, yet prosecutions for piracy within its domestic courts have not previously occurred. Under international law, Liberia holds jurisdiction over crimes involving ships registered under its flag.

On Monday, proceedings took a new turn when defense lawyer, Cllr. Bestman Juah, informed the court that the defendants had admitted responsibility for the hijacking and were requesting a plea-bargain arrangement. State prosecutors did not oppose the request, leaving open the possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for full cooperation.

Resident Judge Mameita Jabateh-Sirleaf, who presides over Criminal Court ‘D’, will rule on whether to accept the plea deal and determine the sentencing framework. The ruling could also address deportation measures following imprisonment.

Criminal Court ‘D’ handles cases involving armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking, and other serious crimes, and the piracy trial represents a growing trend of transnational offenses being prosecuted within Liberia’s judicial system.
As of press time, the court has not announced the date for sentencing.

Headline

Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

Published

2 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

The Spanish government has cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.

The move comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that his government would “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The contract, awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies, involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.

First reported by local media and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation was formalised on Spain’s official public contracts platform on September 9.

The following day, Sanchez unveiled measures aimed at stopping what his leftist government called “the genocide in Gaza”.

It includes the approval of a decree imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attacks in October 2023.

Spain applied the ban as Israel stepped up its military onslaught.

Spain has also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at 287 million euros, had been first reported by the press in June.

According to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, the government is undertaking a broader review to phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Sanchez has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for months.

Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since Madrid recognized the state of Palestine in 2024.

Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel after heated exchanges over Sánchez’s new measures.

The Barcelona-based Delas Centre, a security research institute, estimated in April that since the start of the Gaza war, Spain had awarded 46 contracts worth $1.044 billion to Israeli companies, based on public tender data.