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Use Your Phones To Share Environmental Challenges, Not Jokes, Environmental Activist Tells Nigerians

Published

4 years ago

March 3, 2022

The Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, has urged Nigerians particularly young ones who use their phones to share all sorts of short video jokes on social to divert such skills and time to sharing short videos on our environmental challenges with a view to enlightening the public.

Bassey made the appeal in Benin Wednesday at a day training on ‘use of video documentary as tools for advocacy,’ organised by HOMEF with resource persons drawn from Nigeria and abroad.

The environmental activist said there are a lot of environmental challenges people are not aware of or overlook, hence making short videos about them and sharing them on social media would go a long way in increasing awareness about our environment and having a better protected environment.

The Executive Director added: “So, if we have young people who share what they see and who understand the consequence of what goes around us such as pollution, deforestation and other challenges, then we are going to have environment that is better protected.

Anita and Maria, resource persons at the training.

“We spend a lot of time just making videos for jokes, we can actually make such videos about our environment and pass a serious and strong message that will help protect our environment.”

One of the resource persons at the training, Babayanju Babawale, said the human brain is built for visuals hence short video documentry produced from our phones about the environment can be used to persuade and push for awareness.

Another resource person at the training, Maria Dyrvik from Norway, said “it has been proved that video documentry can actually make a difference especially when it comes to environmental issues.”

She added: “It has been proved that video documentry can actually make a difference especially when it comes to environmental issues. When you put the people at the centre of your message; You look at the person story and how we all have been affected by climate change.” (Sic)

She urged participants at the training to put into use the basic knowledge gotten with a view to making an impact on the environment.

In her part, Anita Veda also from Norway, said short video documentry made from our phones can make great changes.

INFO DAILY reports that the training was organised by HOMEF for selected people to have basic knowledge on how to make short videos with Android phone for advocacy.

Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

13 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

13 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

13 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.