Africa Must Take Common Positions on Global Issues – President Muhammadu Buhari

Africa must put the days where it speaks with discordant and weaker voices on global issues behind it and begin to pursue a common African position, says President Muhammadu Buhari

 

According to him Africa must change the story of cities and settlement from one of chaos and slum to one of positive planning, tranquility and environmental sustainability.

 

More so, he added that by doing so and with real lessons from other parts of the world, Africa must remain conscious of it’s commonality and peculiarities and use them to propel our urban agenda.

 

Speaking today at the opening ceremony of the Africa Regional Meeting on Habitat III,at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, Vice President Prof. YemiOsinbajo, SAN speaking on behalf of President Buhari stated that Nigeria welcomes a common African position on urbanisation because “it takes account of our joint efforts over the last decade”.

 

President Buhari observed that the African Regional Meeting with the theme ‘African Priorities For The New Urban Agenda’ organised by the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) is timely for Africa to pursue a new urban agenda which addresses some of its peculiar challenges.

 

He said the kind of urbanization which Africa should have must accordingly take place in a manner that simultaneously promotes growth and social inclusion, noting “that despite having the fastest rate of urbanization in the world at over 4.5 per cent a year, Africa is yet to be on a sustainable path to achieving these twin objectives of economic growth and social inclusion”.

 

Analyzing the root causes of current urbanization challenges in Africa, the President explained that “Africa is one of the continents with some of the high rates of inequalities in the world, fueled by high population growth, unequal access to healthcare, education, opportunities for income and decent life.” He then submitted that the “increasing number of slums in Africa is a depressing manifestation of these inequalities”

 

“These challenges are related to poor planning, policy gaps and policy inadequacies, budgetary inadequacies. Poor planning of urban areas that can be attributable to limited capacities, insufficient resources and outdated data”, he observed.

 

He explained that the prevailing dehumanizing state of Africa’s urban settlements “has led to migration at a time of resource constraints which has resulted in population explosion and shortage of houses,that has pushed people living in cities to build houses in places which makes them vulnerable to natural disasters; causing significant economic and social risks.”

 

President Buhari noted that forced migration caused by terrorists’ attacks has led to secondary towns especially in the Sahel zone being pressured to accommodate citizens who flee their villages and homesteads and has also caused loss of lives, destruction of properties and even insecurity and poverty.

 

Nigeria faced with its own challenges in this area, he said “is deploying substantial human and material resources to address the situation, while appreciating the support of partners at home and abroad that are collaborating with the Federal Government.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari counseled that despite the constraints of resources, “we should not expect that our core resources to propel our development should come from our development partners, no matter how benign.” He urged other African countries to emulate Nigeria and Ghana that have committed resources to support the Urban Agenda under the UN Habitat Agenda towards accelerating the process of the continent’s urbanization drive.

 

Earlier in his remarks, the Secretary-General, UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, Dr Joan Clos disclosed that the primary objective of the regional meeting isto provide Africa the opportunity to address challenges it’s facing in the urban centers.

 

Also speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing who is also Chairperson of the Africa Regional Meeting, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola praised the renaissance of African delegates’ response to the challenges of urbanization, urging them “to utilize the commonality of purpose to identify the peculiarities of human settlement across the continent.”

The Minister further urged delegates to develop common strategies on how to manage the challenge of urbanization and to explore the opportunities latent in the global challenges”.

 

Other speakers at the opening session include Mr. Mohammed Bello, Minister of Federal Capital Territory; Dr Aisha L. Abdullahi, Commissioner for Political Affairs, African Union Commission; Mr. Mbogo Ngabo Seli, Minister of Lands, Urbanism and Habitat, Chad; and Mr. Diene Farba Sarr, Minister of Urban Renewal Housing and Living Conditions, Senegal.

A church treasurer who pleaded guilty to embezzling $800k jail for five years

A former Ohio church treasurer who admitted he spent over $800,000 in embezzled funds on his secret life of excess received a five-year prison sentence Monday.

Butler County Judge Michael Oster said at the hearing that Garry Meyer, 61, used money stolen from Tri-County Baptist Church on high-end escorts, drugs, pornography, credit cards, cars and vacations, The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reported.

Meyer pleaded guilty last month to aggravated theft for embezzling money from the church in West Chester in the Cincinnati area over a 14-year period starting in 2001.

“Our church family has continued to pray for everyone involved in this very sad event,” Tri-County Baptist pastor Brian McManus said at the sentencing. He told the court Meyer confessed only after his wife found out his secret.

Meyer’s wife, one of several congregants who attended the hearing, broke down as her husband apologized to the church.

“There is no excuse for my actions,” Meyer said. “I also want to say I am sorry to my family. I have caused unimaginable hurt and suffering.”

He continued, turning to his wife, “I am sorry for betraying your trust. …You have always been the best part of my life.”

Prosecutors raised the total amount of money they said the church lost to $802,000 from $637,000 as they continued probing its finances. Investigators initially believed only $400,000 had gone missing.

Outbreak of lead poisoning in Niger State troubles Saraki

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has decried the outbreak of lead poisoning in Rafin Local Government area of Niger State due to small scale or artisanal mining of gold in the area.

Saraki who stated this when the representatives of Doctors Without Borders led by Dr. Simba Tirima paid him a courtesy call, said it was unfortunate that the incident in Niger State occurred at a time the nation is yet to recover from the ravages of a similar incident in Bagega, Zamfara State where over 400 children were affected in 2013.

He lamented that 28 children had already died as a result of the lead poisoning in Rafin Local Government of Niger State and called on the Ministry of Solid Minerals to be proactive in tackling the incidence so as to safeguard the health of the people living in the area especially, children.

He said the Senate would work with the various stakeholders to ensure that all funds made available are utilized for proper remediation of the affected communities and the treatment of children already affected by lead poisoning.

Saraki said: “I want to assure you that this National Assembly will make this issue a matter of great urgency to ensure that all that was made available for the remediation that needs to be done either through the funds of the ecological agency or through the 2016 budget, is done not only to address the case in Niger State but also we must be proactive and there must be a level of funding available for this.

“This cannot happen in any developed society today. We need to begin to also identify areas in this country where gold mining is resulting to lead poisoning. Like he (Tirima) said, we cannot stop the miners because as a result of poverty, this is their only source of income to survive.

“It is our duty to improve and make mining safer. I think it is important also that the Ministry of Solid Minerals takes quick and proactive actions in addressing the issue of lead poisoning.

“The state government has a role to play as well. We must get the government of Niger State and Rafin Local Government involved. They should play their own role in educating the stakeholders there to understand why they must stop their mining activities.

“Really, we must ensure that this does not repeat itself in this country. It is very unfair to the citizens, most especially the children that are affected. We will take it up from here to ensure that prompt action is taken, so we can quickly address the issue and treat those that were affected,” he said.

Earlier, the representative of the Doctors Without Borders, Dr. Simba Tirima, commended the Senate President for his efforts towards curtailing the lead poisoning incidence in Bagega, Zamfara State in 2013 when he was the Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology in the 7th Senate.

Tirima said: “Without His Excellency really, the funds that were allocated for that project would not have been released. But he personally went to Bagega to visit the people that were affected. I am very happy to report that Bagega is doing very well.
The kids who are on treatment are being discharged because there has been a lot of improvement and the treatment is going on very well through Doctors Without Borders.

“We want to thank you for your support in dealing with such a serious issue of lead poisoning which primarily attacks the very thing that makes us human and that is its impact on our brains especially poor children who are the future of this country. We thank you for your continued support,” he said.

Chibok girls are alive and can be freed - Sani

Senator Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District on Thursday said the abducted Chibok girls are alive and can be freed.



He also says the government should use minimal force and negotiation to seek the release of the abducted girls.

According to him, after three failed attempts by the government to negotiate with the insurgents, what is needed in any new negotiation is a guarantee from the government and the insurgents that they will honour agreements.

He also asked the government to reach out to a few people rather than set up a panel of many people that will not be united in their thoughts.

Humblesmith Shares Life’s Untold Story

Now in the spotlight, a place he has toiled several years to arrive at, Humblesmith, born Ekene Ijemba, shares his untold story of struggling in Ebonyi state, eastern Nigeria, where he started out as a dancer, according to Channel Television.

He also worked as a producer and songwriter but was forced to move to Asaba, where he believed he would be able to establish himself as an artiste.

After several years of moving around in the entertainment industry, taking up different opportunities, no matter how little, Humblesmith wrote and released the song ‘Osinachi’, which shot him into the limelight.