Day: March 28, 2023

Stakeholders, on Tuesday, converged on Abuja to brainstorm on ways of tackling the menace of moral decadence in children and to enhance development and progress of the country.

The stakeholders, at a Moral Regeneration and Re-orientation meeting, organised by Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in Abuja on Tuesday, advocated relevant programmes in schools for effective moral education.

Prof. Soji Oni, of Department of Sociology, University of Lagos, stressed the need to find solutions to the falling standard of education, occasioned by absence of moral values.

According to him, moral regeneration must also be taught, not only in schools but at home, worship places, cultural gatherings and the likes, in order to bring back the moral qualities in the educational sector.

“There is the need for periodic evaluation of the education system so as to keep the system on track.

“Government, parents, teachers, political, religious and community leaders must provide moral leadership in order for children to learn.

“There is the need for appropriate action on what the children are watching on the internet.

“The Federal Ministry of Education, UBEC and SUBEB should draw programmes on relevant moral education that are different from social studies to provide conscious efforts at transmitting the values to our learners.

“This should mean that every school curriculum must contain values and morals that should be taught, as this will lead to reduction in incidences of corruption and other vices in our society,” he said.

Dr Hamid Bobboyi, Executive Secretary, UBEC, said before now, the commission had conducted an explorative survey to gather information on the level of moral degeneration, its causes and effects on teaching and learning in schools.

Bobboyi said with the re-orientation and regeneration of morals of learners at the basic education level, there would be appropriate character and value judgment that would make the society peaceful.

He further stated that there should be a place where children growing into adulthood would be made to behave appropriately.

“Over the years, there has been great concern over the degeneration of moral and overturn of values in our society.

“This is demonstrated in the many vices and negative behaviours, such as stealing, drunkenness, financial crimes, known as yahoo-yahoo, truancy, violence and many others.

“The disheartening aspect is that many of these vices are now prevalent in our schools, especially the basic education schools.

“The mantra: “education for all is the responsibility of all’ should be our guiding principle in whatever contributions that would be made here today.

“This will also go a long way in building a society where people innately demonstrate appropriate behaviours, obey laws, behave responsibly and have sense of patriotism,” he said.

Similarly, the Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, said moral education was key to reduction of corruption in the society.

Owasanoye, represented by Director, Public Enlightenment and Education, ICPC, Mr Mohammed Baba, said that the commission had introduced several moral regeneration programmes, in line with ICPC’s mandate of reducing corruption in the country.

He said that other moral regeneration programmes had been introduced in tertiary institutions, with emphasis on the national value curriculum developed in conjunction with Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).

The ICPC chairman added that the curriculum was infused into English Language, Mathematics, Civic Education and religious education from primary to tertiary levels.

He further stated that in a bid to transfer knowledge from the curriculum, the commission, in 2018, trained no fewer than 200 teachers on the implementation of the curriculum.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event brought together education stakeholders, including teachers, parents, religious leaders and other stakeholders drawn from EFCC, National Council for Women Society and NAPTIP. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Federal Government, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), on Tuesday evacuated 151 stranded Nigerians from Benghazi, Libya as the government resumed its voluntary evacuation in Libya.

Amb. Kabiru Musa, Charge D’affiares en titre of the Nigerian Mission in Libya, made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to Musa, the evacuees who included 71 females, 54 males, 14 children and 13 infants are expected to arrive at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos at 8 p.m.

Musa said that in 2022, the IOM, Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Nigerian Mission in Libya, successfully repatriated almost 4,000 Nigerians who were irregular migrants in the country.

He said that the March 28 voluntary evacuation was the first in the year with several other exercises to follow in the coming days and weeks.

“Under the IOM’s voluntary repatriation exercise, we successfully evacuated 151 stranded Nigerians from the city of Benghazi to Lagos, Nigeria at 16:00 hours local time aboard chartered flight no. UZ189.

“The flight is expected to arrive the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos at 20:00 hours Nigerian time the same day.

“There are several Nigerians living illegally in this country who have been subjected to very inhumane treatment, and the Federal Government, through the Mission here, has continued to intervene with local authorities to stop this.

“The voluntary repatriation offers an opportunity for those who want to return to Nigeria to do so safely and reunite with their families.

“There are always officials of relevant government agencies on ground to receive them and ensure their resettlement and reintegration back to society,” Musa said.

Musa said that more Nigerians would be evacuated from Tripoli on Wednesday, with another exercise to be carried out on April 3 from Misrata, Libya. (NAN)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in collaboration with the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) has called for strong action against the menace.

The collaboration is aimed at addressing human trafficking said to be posing serious security challenge.

The call was made on Tuesday at a two-day public awareness and anti-human trafficking campaign programme organised for community leaders, law enforcement agents/officers at the border posts and other stakeholders held in Saki, Oyo State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that FIIAPP is a Spanish Government Foundation in Nigeria implementing European Union funded project through the Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Project (A-TIPSOM).

A-TIPSOM project is tackling human trafficking and smuggling of migrants in Nigeria through 5Ps, which include Prevention, Protection, Policy, Partnership and Prosecution.

Cross section of stakeholders at the programme.

NAN reports that the stakeholders’ forum is to increase the level of awareness about human trafficking and its dangers in border communities.

In his remarks, the Zonal Commander, NAPTIP Lagos, Mrs Comfort Agboko, said that the public awareness programme was aimed at enlighten Saki residents on the dangers and scourge of human trafficking.

Agboko said that human trafficking remains the violation of people’s right, crime against mankind and sin against God.

She said that Saki Town was strategically chosen for the sensitisation programme because of its location as a border town with a lot of foreigners engaging in cross-border trade between Nigeria and the neighbouring countries.

“We discovered that our young ones are being trafficking to other West African countries and rest of the world as soon as they are successfully taken out of Nigeria through border communities like Saki here.

“We believe that if we succeed in raising the counsciousness of our people living in border communities across the country, the human trafficking will be reduced to the bearest minimum,” she said.

Agboko said that the NAPTIP Act has provisions for severe punishment for any human trafficker found guilty after thorough investigation under the law.

“When a suspect is found guilty of child labour after the court process, the minimum punishment is six months imprisonment and maximum of three years imprisonment.

“When a case of trafficking in persons is being suspected, people can reach us on our toll free line 627 to report the case.

“We urge parents not to release their wards to people who promised fake jobs for them somewhere,” Agboko said.

Also, the Head of NAPTIP in Oyo State, Mr Augustine Akanya, said that the community-based programme would simplify and teach Saki residents on the signs, how to know who is being trafficking and how to rescue such people.

“The circumstances of trafficking determines the signs to look for; the person who has been trafficked for labour such as housemaids will be seen look distress, crying or at times with different marks on their bodies.

“Some of them are being deprived of having education and international trafficking victims will be seen naive, always withdrawn and unable to give clear answers to questions about their destination.

“We want people to always alert NAPTIP whenever they noticed these signs and other strange signs on a child in their neighbourhood,” Akanya said.

Commenting, Mr Joseph Sanwo, the Senior Project Officer and Technical Adviser, Prevention in FIIAPP, said that human trafficking posed serious security challenge to a nation.

According to Sanwo, human trafficking poses serious security challenge to a nation as it can easily diversify to other forms of crimes such as drug trafficking, arms smuggling and money laundering.

“The community leaders have a lot of roles to play in supporting government and other partners in stemming the tides of this heinous crimes being perpetuated in their domain.

“The project aims to provide mass awareness in the community and within its environs.

“It shares with community new ideas on how to identify and escape the antiques of human traffickers; and create working synergy between the community leaders and the law enforcement agencies,” he said.

Sanwo noted that lots of traffickers and their agents always take advantage of parents that relied on relations, religion associates and friends to take care of their children by pretending to assist them in the upbringing of those children.

The technical adviser reiterated the continuous support of FIIAPP in the fight against human trafficking to the Federal Government through NAPTIP, security agencies, the Network of CSOs Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) and other critical stakeholders.

Earlier, the Okere of Saki, who also was the Royal Father of the Day, Oba Khalid Olabisi, urged parents to always give birth to number of children they know that they could conveniently cater for.

Olabisi said that children from families with lack of basic means of survival always end up becoming victims of human trafficking.

He, then called on the government to step up its various empowerment programmes through Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and resuscitation of farm settlements to boost job opportunities in the country.

NAN reports that the awareness programme featured the inauguration of the Anti-human trafficking neighbourhood

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, received, this Tuesday, a written message from his Zimbabwean counterpart, Emmerson Mnangagwa, within the framework of strengthening bilateral cooperation.

The message was conveyed by Patrick Chinamasa, special envoy of the President of Zimbabwe, who at the end of the audience said that it was the intention of both governments to keep working for the unity and development of Southern Africa.

Patrick Chinamasa, who highlighted the importance of friendship and cooperation ties, recalled that Angola and Zimbabwe maintain deep and fruitful ties from a political, diplomatic and commercial point of view.

Located in Southern Africa, like Angola, the Republic of Zimbabwe is a country placed in the south area of the continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers.

Zimbabwe is bordered to the north by Zambia, to the north and east by Mozambique, to the south by South Africa and to the west by Botswana.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

The government plans to present financing instruments adjustable to the needs of startups, taking into account the different stages they are at, announced Tuesday the national director for Economy and Business Development, Nédio dos Santos.

Speaking at the updating meeting of the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), he stressed that the instruments will be presented at the 2nd edition of the “Angola Startup Summer”, to be held on April 27 to 29, under the motto “Innovation and technology as vectors for the immersion of startups in Angola”.

Nédio dos Santos said that the event aims to foster the emergence of new startups, improve entrepreneurial literacy, mature ideas so that “they have the necessary robustness, so that when they go to the market they can have the normal startup cycle, as well as connect startups so that they can create service exchanges.

According to the official, the intention is to finance two companies via venture capital, in a universe of 200 startups segmented between projects under the umbrella of some universities or institutes, incubators, accelerators and those that today are companies, among others.

“The MEP will challenge the startups in order to find a set of solutions that can improve the parking system in the province of Luanda and the creation of QR code, by which customers can make payments in restaurants without human interaction”, he emphasized.

On his turn, the national director of Socio-economic Studies, Luís Epalanga, made known that the MEP in collaboration with the Economy and Market Magazine will hold the 1st edition of the “Angola Economic Outlook”, under the motto “Economic recovery to sustainable development”.

He also said that the event should constitute a platform for debate on issues focused on the national economy, namely economic growth, employment, inflation, public finances, monetary policy, and the national financial system.

With this event, he continued, the intention is to establish a forum that allows the Government, academia, the private and financial sector, and opinion makers to evaluate recent developments in the national economy and to anticipate the expected behaviour in the short and medium term, taking into account the forecast established for the international and national context on the solution of a set of assumptions.

Luís Epalanga says that this event should serve everyone interested in developing business in Angola (nationals, foreigners, internationally ranked financial institutions).

The 1st edition of the “Angola Economic Outlook” will be held on April 26 and will be attended by members of the Angolan Government, international development cooperation partners, academia, commercial banks and members of civil society.

The director also said that the opening ceremony is to be conducted by the Minister of State and Economic Coordination, Manuel Nunes Júnior, having as main speakers the Minister of Economy and Planning, Mário Caetano João, who will present the performance of the real sector of the economy in the period 2017 – 2022 and the medium term perspectives.

The event will also be attended by the minister of Finance, Vera Daves, who is expected to present the performance of public finances 2017-2022 and the governor of the Angolan Central Bank (BNA), José de Lima Massano, who will present the performance of the country’s external, foreign exchange and monetary sector.

According to Luís Epalanga, with this event, the Executive inaugurates a new way to communicate the performance of the national economy, to allow economic agents access to information, which allows them to anticipate decision making.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)