AS part of efforts to promote a cleaner environment and healthy lifestyle, the Federal Ministry of Transportation has encouraged Nigerians to consider bicycles as alternative means of commuting.

The Director, Road Transport and Mass Transit Administration, Musa Ibrahim, who stated this at the one-day stakeholders sensitisation meeting held in Abuja, said the idea is to enhance and heighten the importance of cycling in Nigeria as it will obviously lead to a drop in road crash incidences.

Ibrahim noted that the stakeholders sensitisation meeting is in consonance with the World Bicycle Day that is marked annually on June 3 through a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution.

According to the Director, the World Bicycle Day recognises “The uniqueness, longevity and versatility of the bicycle as a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transport, fostering environmental stewardship and health” hence the United Nations 2023 World Bicycle Day theme: ‘Riding Together for a Sustainable Future’.

Speaking further, the Director noted that proponents have equally encouraged the use of bicycles as a means of eradicating poverty, furthering sustainable development, strengthening education, including physical education, for children and young people; promoting health, preventing disease, and facilitating social inclusion.

Furthermore, on the importance of cycling in Nigeria, a proponent for Non-Motorised Transportation, NMT, the Chief Executive Officer, Ochenuell Mobility, Emmanuel John, in his presentation titled ‘Power of Cycling’, argued that cycling initiative extends beyond efforts to address climate change through cut down of carbon footprints.

In addition, John brought to fore that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, countries in a study, among others, outlined that most Africans countries throw away 3% of their Gross Domestic Product, GDP, to traffic congestion annually.

He proposed that developing an NMT travel culture in the country through the adoption of Green Corridors is a panacea to some of the identified drawbacks.

He pointed out that most of the challenges encountered with increased usage of motorised transportation will be reduced to a large extent if the Federal Government supports and adopts National Stakeholders Forum on Bicycle Transportation.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded the name of Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate to the Senate to be confirmed as a Ministers.

Pate, whose appointment was announced today as the Minister of Health.

Pate, a former Minister of State for Health under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, is a renowned public health expert and politician.

See profile of Pate below:

In February, 2023, Pate was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, which works to provide vaccines in low-income countries.

GAVI was set up as a Global Health Partnership in 2000 with the goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries.

He was to take up the top global position on August 3, 2023.

However, on Monday, June 26, 2023, GAVI announced Pate’s decision to decline his appointment as its next CEO.

Dr Muhammad Ali Pate, who was selected following a yearlong recruitment process personally overseen by the Chair of the Gavi Board, Professor José Manuel Barroso, is a medical doctor trained in both internal medicine and infectious diseases, with an MBA from Duke University in the United States, Dr Pate served as Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health between 2011 and 2013. In this role, he led a flagship initiative to revive routine vaccinations and primary health care, chaired a presidential taskforce to eradicate polio and introduced new vaccines into the country.

While serving as Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population of the World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility at the World Bank between 2019 and 2021, he led the Bank’s US$ 18 billion COVID-19 global health response and represented the Bank on various boards, including those of Gavi, the Global Fund, CEPI and UNAIDS. He was the Julio Frenk Professor of Public Health Leadership at Harvard Chan School of Public Health and has served on several health-focused boards and expert panels in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors during his career.

Muhammad Ali Pate is a physician and former politician, and Julio Frenk Professor of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to this he was the the Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank Group and Director of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents. After graduating from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) medical school in Kaduna State, Nigeria. he moved to Gambia, where he worked in rural hospitals for a time. Thereafter, he completed his residency at the University of Rochester in the USA. Dr Pate is certified by the American Board as a MD in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and also has an MBA in Health Sector Concentration from Duke University in the USA. Previously, he also studied at University College London and has a Masters Degree in Health System Management from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

In 2008 he was appointed Head of the National Primary Health Care Agency (NPHCDA), a post he held until 2011. At that time there was a polio epidemic in Nigeria and, during his time in office, he instigated a policy whereby respected leaders in relevant areas helped encourage immunisation; cases of wild poliomyelitis decreased from 803 at the end of 2008, to just 11 in 2010.

When the NPHCDA merged with the National Programme on Immunisation (NPI), Muhammad Ali Pate was instrumental in setting out the transformation agenda to manage outstanding issues. He also implemented pioneering policies, such as training middle management for primary health care and the collaboration between public and private sectors through partnership. Further, he also developed the Midwives’ Service Scheme (MSS), to address the national high maternal and child morbidity and mortality rate in Nigeria, in order that those in rural and outlying areas receive the help they need.

In 2011 he was appointed as Minister of Health in Nigeria, following his success as Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Abuja. In July 2013 he resigned from his ministerial post to become Professor at Duke University Global Health Institute in the USA.

In 2012 he was awarded Harvard Health Leader by the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program.

In 2015 he began a term of three years as Chief Executive Officer of Big Win Philanthropy, an independent foundation investing in children and young people in developing countries, helping them improve their lives and maximise opportunities of long term, economic growth in their particular regions.

In 2016 he also gave a course, ‘Leadership Development in Global Health: Building Community Trust Networks’ in his additional role as a Richard L. and Ronay A. Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

In 2019, he was appointed Julio Frenk Professor of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

He has served on various national and international panels, including the First WHO Health Systems Research Forum, 2009, in Montreux, Switzerland; Mckinsey’s Geneva Health Forum 2009, in Switzerland; Ernst Strungman Forum, 2010, in Frankfurt, Germany; China-Africa Roundtable for Health, 2010; Pacific Summit, 2011, in Seattle, WA, USA. Since 2017 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the American International Health Alliance, Additionally he is member of the following: Board for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the Steering Committee on Assessment of Impact of Polio Eradication on Routine Immunisation, for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Advisory Board of Merck for Mothers; the Steering Committee for Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI); Board of the Private Health Sector Alliance of Nigeria.

The ousted President of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum, as well as the country’s Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Hassoumi Massoudou, has called for “safeguard” of democracy and defeat of soldiers who overthrew his government.

A coup d’Etat in Niger Republic began on Wednesday morning at the presidential palace, leading to Bazoum’s detention by a unit of soldiers known as the Presidential Guard (PG).

The PG claimed to be disgruntled with the political leadership of the country.

The ECOWAS Commission, which is West Africa’s Regional Bloc, had urged the coup plotters to free the president without any condition.

The call by the ECOWAS Commission and other international partners apparently fell on deaf ears as top soldiers converged at the country’s national television station on Wednesday to announce the overthrow of the democratic government of Mohamed Bazoum.

Having seized power, the soldiers whose statement was read by Colonel Amadou Abdramane, closed the country’s borders and announced a nationwide curfew while warning against foreign intervention in favour of the ousted leader.

He said they took the step to “put an end to the regime that you know due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance.”

Afterwards, the ousted government’s foreign minister, Massoudou, in a tweet, appealed “to all democrats, to all patriots, to defeat this adventure which carries all the dangers for our country. Long live democracy, long live Niger.”

The ousted President also put out a tweet calling for the safeguard of democracy.

“The hard won achievements will be safeguarded. All Nigerians who love democracy and freedom will see to it,” he stated.

Former lawmaker, Shehu Sani, has reacted to the ministerial list of President Bola Tinubu, submitted to the senate today, Thursday 27, July 2022.

Naija News earlier reported that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, ended speculations on Thursday afternoon as he presented the president’s ministerial nominee list before the Senate.

Gbajabiamila, the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, presented the list to Senate President, Godswill Akpabio at exactly 01:19 pm.

Akpabio thereafter read the ministerial list with 28 nominees.

Below is the full list of Tinubu’s ministerial nominees:

Abubakar Momoh
Yusuf Maitama Tukur
Ahmad Dangiwa
Hannatu Musawa
Uche Nnaji
Betta Edu
Dr. Diris Anite Uzoka
David Umahi
Ezenwo Nyesom Wike
Muhammed Badaru Abubakar
Nasir El Rufai
Ekerikpe Ekpo
Nkiru Onyejiocha
Olubunmi Tunji Ojo
Stella Okotete
Uju Kenedy Ohaneye
Bello Muhammad Goronyo
Dele Alake
Lateef Fagbemi
Mohammad Idris
Olawale Edun
Waheed Adebayo Adelabu
Emman Suleman Ibrahim
Prof Ali Pate
Prof Joseph Usev
Abubakar Kyari
John Enoh
Sani Abubakar Danladi

Reacting to the development, Shehu Sani, in a post via Twitter, averred that Tinubu embraced some serpents with a known history of treachery and vultures for playing the betrayal game.

He tweeted: “The Ministerial list;The President embraced some Serpents with a known history of treachery and rewarded some vultures for playing the Judas. Appeasing a snake in a palace doesn’t spare the King.”

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has unveiled the 28-man ministerial list submitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

See below the ministerial nominees and their state of origin:

ABUBAKAR MOMOH – EDO STATE

YUSUF MAITAMA – BAUCHI STATE

Architect Umar Dangiwa – KATSINA STATE

Hannatu MUSAWA – KATSINA STATE

UCHE NNAJI – ENUGU STATE

BETA EDU – CROSS RIVER STATE

DORIS ANIETE UZOAKA – IMO STATE

DAVID UMAHI – EBONYI STATE

NYESOM EZENWO WIKE – RIVERS STATE

MOHAMMED BADARU ABUBAKAR – JIGAWA STATE

NASIL EL RUFAI – KADUNA STATE

EKPERIKPE EKPO – AKWA IBOM STATE

NKIRU ONYEJEOCHA – ABIA STATE

OLUBUNMI TUNJI OJO – ONDO STATE

STELLA OKOTETE – DELTA STATE

UJU KENNEDY OHANEYE – ANAMBRA STATE

BELLO MOHAMMED GORONYO – SOKOTO STATE

DELE ALAKE – EKITI STATE

LATEEF FAGBEMI – KWARA STATE

MOHAMMED IDRIS – NIGER STATE

OLAWALE EDUN – OGUN STATE

WAHEED ADEBAYO ADELABU – OYO STATE

IMAAN SULEIMAN IBRAHIM – PLATEAU STATE

PROF ALI PATE – BAUCHI STATE

JOSEPH OTSEN

SEN. ABUBAKAR KYARI – BORNO STATE

SEN JOHN ENO – CROSS RIVER

SEN SANI ABUBAKAR – NIGER STATE

Hours after the ECOWAS chairperson, President Bola Tinubu, warned that the West African bloc will not tolerate illegal removal of the democratically elected government of Niger Republic, the country’s recent coup plotters have warned against any foreign intervention.

A group of soldiers who appeared on the West African nation’s national television late on Wednesday, hours after the President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum was held in the presidential palace says his government has been ousted from power.

Reading from a statement, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, seated and flanked by nine other officers, said defence and security forces had decided: “Put an end to the regime that you know due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance.”

Abdramane said Niger’s borders are closed, a nationwide curfew declared, and all institutions of the republic are suspended.

The soldiers warned against any foreign intervention, adding that they will respect Bazoum’s well-being.

The military takeover, which marks the seventh coup in the West and Central Africa region since 2020, could further complicate Western efforts to help countries in the Sahel region fight a jihadist insurgency that has spread from Mali over the past decade.

Land-locked Niger, a former French colony, has become a pivotal ally for Western powers seeking to help fight the insurgencies, but they are facing growing acrimony from the new juntas in charge in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Niger is also a key ally of the European Union in the fight against irregular migration from sub-Saharan Africa.

France moved troops to Niger from Mali last year after its relations with interim authorities there soured.

It has also withdrawn special forces from Burkina Faso amid similar tensions.

Bazoum’s election was the first democratic transition of power in a state that has witnessed four military coups since independence from France in 1960.

The United States says it has spent around $500 million since 2012 to help Niger boost its security.

Germany announced in April that it would take part in a three-year European military mission aimed at improving the country’s military..

“France, the U.S. and the EU have spent much of their resources in the region to bolster Niger and its security forces,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme for Germany’s Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung think-tank.

He said a coup would create an opportunity for Russia and other actors to spread their influence in Niger.

Early on Wednesday presidential guards, headed by General Omar Tchiani, took over the presidency, prompting regional leaders to organise a swift mediation mission to try to prevent a coup.

Frustrations over state failures to prevent violent attacks on towns and villages have partly spurred two coups in Mali and two in Burkina Faso since 2020.

A junta also snatched power in Guinea in 2021, contributing to instability in a region that had begun to shed its reputation as a “coup belt”.

There was a thwarted coup attempt in Niger in March 2021, when a military unit tried to seize the presidential palace days before the recently elected Bazoum was due to be sworn in.

The African Union and West African regional bloc ECOWAS earlier on Wednesday condemned what they called an attempted coup d’etat.

The president of neighbouring Benin, Patrice Talon, flew into Niger on Wednesday afternoon to assess the situation after meeting with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu who is also the ECOWAS Chairman.

“All means will be used, if necessary, to restore constitutional order in Niger, but the ideal would be for everything to be done in peace and harmony,” Talon told reporters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

The United States called for Bazoum’s release, while the European Union, United Nations, France, and others condemned the uprising and said they were following the events with concern.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke with Bazoum on Wednesday when he was being held in the presidential palace, said the U.S. economic and security partnership with Niger depended on the continuation of democratic governance.

NAN

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have allegedly shot dead two persons including one Gafar Yusuf, in the Idioro area of Mushin, Lagos State.

Our correspondent gathered that the NDLEA operatives stormed the community around 10pm on Wednesday to raid a drug den when they started shooting sporadically in a bid to achieve their aim.

While engaging in the act, it was learnt that stray bullets from the operatives, shooting sporadically to scare hoodlums attempting to scuttle their plan in the community, killed the victims.

A resident, who gave his name simply as Olasunkanmi, while lamenting over the development, questioned the operatives for shooting sporadically in a residential area, adding that the bullets hit Yusuf’s head and the yet-to-be-identified victim’s chest.

He noted that the victims died on the spot, adding that people in the community had been enraged by the development.

Olasunkanmi said, “We are not saying the NDLEA should not do their job, but why will its operatives be shooting anyhow in a residential area? The NDLEA operatives invaded a drug den in the community around 10pm and started seizing illicit drugs which is OK.

“The operatives were about 50 in number and most of them were armed. While some wore the official uniform, others were dressed in casual wear. The people dealing in the drug business were enraged by the raid and started threatening to make trouble.

“But the NDLEA operatives started shooting to have their way and stray bullets hit two young boys in the head and chest. Both of them died on the spot. The name of one of the victims is Gafar Yusuf. After killing them, the NDLEA operatives attempted to take their corpses away but people in the area resisted.”

Another resident, who gave his name simply as Lukmon, said Yusuf’s mother, Olaide, who had been inconsolable since the shocking events that claimed her son’s life, informed him about the incident.

He said, “We are tired of the NDLEA’s issue in our neighbourhood. Why will they be shooting carelessly in a residential neighbourhood? If they want to work, it is expected that they would have a target and they should have a plan for how they will arrest the target instead of shooting carelessly to the point of killing two innocent persons.

“It is uncalled for; they suddenly stormed the area with guns and started shooting. Gafar Yusuf, 22, was killed on Imoru Street. We are already making arrangements to bury his corpse. We heard three people were killed during the raid but what I can confirm to you for now is the death of two persons.

“Yusuf’s mother called me yesterday that a bullet had hit him and that he was running errands when he got struck down by the bullets fired by the NDLEA operatives.”

Video clips in possession of our correspondent showed people running helter-skelter during the raid that created tension in the community.

In one of the video clips, our correspondent observed residents in the area shedding tears as they surrounded the corpses of the victims that lay motionless on the road.

Blood stains gushing out of the corpses were visible on the road as people expressed anger over the tragedy.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, did not take his calls and had yet to reply to a text message sent to his mobile number as of the time this report was filed.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said that the country recorded 40 incidents of crude oil theft between July 15 and July 21, 2023.

The company stated this on Tuesday via its official Twitter account.

According to the NNPCL, the war against crude oil theft is still raging across the Niger Delta region, specifically highlighting Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta states, the company said that 93 illegal connections were found, and disconnections as well as repairs are ongoing.

The company also said that 69 illegal refineries were discovered and destroyed within the highlighted period.

Also, 27 cases of pipeline vandalism were discovered and are being fixed.

The collaboration between the NNPCL and security agencies also made it possible to arrest 30 wooden boats and trucks involved in transporting stolen crude, which were confiscated in the last week.

The report also identified 13 vessel AIS infractions, 5 oil spills, 2 illegal vessels and 1 document validation. 13 of the incidences were recorded in the Deep Blue Water, 41 were recorded in the Western region of the Niger Delta, 169 were recorded in the Central region and 17 occurred in the Eastern part of the oil-producing part of the Niger Delta region.

However, the company did not mention anything about the suspects found to be carrying out illegal activities using vessels, boats and other materials that were either destroyed or confiscated by the security agencies and the NNPCL.

The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates to a 22-year high on Wednesday as it continued its fight against rising inflation.

The decision to increase rates by a quarter-percentage point to a range of 5.25% to 5.5% comes after the Fed paused its rate-rising cycle last month.

US inflation has now declined for 12 straight months and is currently running at an annual rate of 3%, down from over 9% in June last year. The Fed has raised rates from near zero in an attempt to cool the economy and bring prices down.

The US economy has remained robust despite the 11 rate rises the Fed has now implemented – its most aggressive rate-rising cycle in 40 years. Hiring has slowed but remains strong and the unemployment rate is still close to a record low.

Fed chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was closely monitoring the economic data ahead of its next meeting in September. “It is certainly possible that we would raise funds again at the September meeting if the data warranted,” he said. “And I would also say it’s possible that we would choose to hold steady at that meeting. We’re going to be making careful assessments, as I said, meeting by meeting.”

Some Fed officials have expressed fears that recent falls in the pace of price rises may be temporary. This month Fed governor Christopher Waller said the last inflation report “warmed my heart, but … I’ve got to make policy with my head. And I can’t do that on one data point.”

But Waller has also warned that the full effect of the Fed’s rate rises may not yet be apparent in the economy and that the US could face a “‘Wile E Coyote’ moment where nothing happens for a long time and then wham … off the cliff we go as the full force of past policy actions suddenly take effect”.

The rate rises have sent mortgage rates and car loan prices soaring. The average long-term US mortgage rate climbed to just under 7% this week, the highest level since November.

Rising rates are making it more difficult for Americans to obtain credit. According to the New York Fed, in June the rejection rate for credit applicants increased to 21.8%, the highest level since June 2018, with would-be car buyers hit hardest. In June the rejection rate for auto loans increased to a record 14.2% from 9.1% in February.