Day: April 15, 2023

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BNA warns of illegal exercise of “Investimento.ao” entity

The National Reserve Bank of Angola (BNA) warned on Friday, in Luanda, that the entity “Investimento.ao” is not allowed to carry out any financial activity in Angola, such as monetary application.

The BNA warns the commercial banks and the population in general to abstain from any business relationship with the aforementioned entity, because it is performing activities illegally.

“The entity Investimento.ao is not allowed to exercise any financial activity subject to supervision in Angola, namely, the provision of financial services, deposits and monetary applications”, said the note published by the BNA.

According to the BNA, such activities are exclusively reserved to authorized banking financial institutions, whose list can be found on the web page of the Central Bank, at www.bna.ao.

Thus, the Central Bank of Angola also warns the promoters of this entity to refrain from any act that may be qualified as a very serious offence, provided and punishable under current legislation.

The National Reserve Bank of Angola, within the scope of its duties as supervisor of the Angolan financial system, is responsible for authorizing and supervising the activity of financial institutions.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

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Group sensitises civil society, humanitarian workers on mental health, good deeds

Good Deeds, a global movement of people dedicated to doing good, on Thursday, sensitised civil society organisations and humanitarian workers on mental health and self-care while providing humanitarian services.

The Focal Person of the group in Kaduna State, Mrs Itama Okhuelegbe, said at the event in Kaduna, that the exercise was to also appreciate civil society and humanitarian workers for their selfless service to humanity.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised in collaboration with Thinkers Children Foundation, as part of activities to mark the 2023 Good Deeds Day.

Okhuelegbe explained that the Good Deeds Day sought to promote people giving back to their community, thereby promoting harmonious relationships among people.

She said that since 2007, Good Deeds Day had been uniting people from around the world with the aim of spuring them to help others and do good for their communities.

“The act of charity and good deeds towards people in need, or communities in despair, is never forgotten by their recipients.

“Today, we are celebrating civil society organisations, individuals and groups rendering humanitarian services as first responders to people in need, putting smiles on people’s faces and keeping families together.

“We want to thank groups and individuals that have been rendering selfless help to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, marginalised, neglected, and exploited groups.

“We want more people to become ambassadors of doing good things to those in need in whatever way they can – feeding the hungry, providing shelter to the homeless, and clothing the poor, among other good deeds,” she said.

While acknowledging the good deeds of humanitarian service providers, Okhuelegbe, however, stressed the need for humanitarian and development workers to also care for themselves to avoid mental breakdown.

On his part, Mr Peter Ebeh, Senior Psychologist with Neem Foundation, Kaduna Office, described mental health as emotional, psychological and social wellbeing of people.

According to him, mental health affects how people think, feel, and behave.

“It particularly determines how people handle stress, anxiety, depression, and insecurity; how they relate to others and the kind of choices they make,” he said.

He pointed out that with too much demand on the humanitarian workers, they could encounter stress, which in the long run, would affect their mental health.

“People need to know that in the attempt to do good and extend a helping hand without taking care of themselves, they may end up in a dysfunctional mental state.

“There is, therefore, the need for people to balance their work with self-care, to be able to function normally and maintain stable mental health,” he said.

One of the participants, Mr Sunday Awulu, Secretary, Kaduna State Branch, Nigerian Red Cross, acknowledged the absence of a balance between humanitarian work in the field and the workers’ self-care.

Awulu identified psychological stress due to pressure to meet set targets as one of the major causes of mental breakdown among humanitarian workers.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

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Mob Killings: Security Expert wants urgent attention to curb trend

A security expert, Mr Dickson Osajie, on Friday called on the government and law enforcement agencies to urgently check the growing trend of mob killings in the country.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, Osajie, owner of DBreeze Protection and Security Service Ltd, said public extrajudicial killings had become the order of the day across the country.

He said that the menace needed to be addressed urgently as the killing of a person for a crime without recourse to law enforcement officers was not acceptable in any given society.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Osajie, a former Army personnel, spoke on the backdrop of recent mob killings in the country within the month of April.

Osajie recalled the cases of a 40-year-old man who was reportedly killed over alleged theft of N2,000 watermelon in Bauchi and that of a 22-year-old man, who was set ablaze in Calabar on April 9 for stealing an Android phone.

He also recalled the cases of a driver, who was stoned to death for crushing two persons to death in Ondo on April 10, and the lynching of a final-year student of the Obafemi Awolowo University for alleged phone theft on April 11.

“It is a disturbing situation that Nigerians are resorting to jungle justice, killing people because of simple or minor crimes.

“Those who engage in lynching are not innocent, some of them are also criminals; If you lynch a person for stealing a bike, your crime is even worse because you have committed murder.

“There have been killings all over the country, and the perpetrators are difficult to track.

“In more modern societies where the police have sophisticated equipment, the perpetrators of such crime will be trailed and arrested.

“We need to place priority on human life; it is sad that Nigerians are dying everyday, people are being killed like chickens, it is totally unacceptable,” he said.

The security expert said that jungle justice was caused by emotions that were not well directed.

“A lot of Nigerians are angry, especially the jobless ones. They feel that in any situation they can vent their anger on their fellow citizens.

According to him, mob killing is putting the country in negative light, adding that it also makes people to think that Nigeria is a lawless nation.

Osajie said that the police and judiciary needed to do more to tackle the growing menace, such as putting in place an effective punishment system to ensure that those who engaged in such crimes are made to face the wrath of the law.

“One beautiful thing punishment does is that it serve as a deterrent. If you don’t punish people, you will not flourish.

“If we have a criminal justice system where the perpetrators are taken to court, tried, and jailed, possibly given life sentence or execution as the case maybe, then the deadly act will be mitigated,” he said.

Osajie also urged the police to desist from extra-judicial killings as that could also send wrong signals to Nigerians.

He called on the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other agencies to embark on sensitisation that would inform the public about the consequences of their actions.

The security expert appealed to government at all levels to look into the issue of employment, so as to take jobless youths off the streets and to implement the criminal justice system.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

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Agriculture: IFAD launches COSOP S-East zonal consultation

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has launched a South-East regional consultation to promote agriculture and food systems transformation at the states and regional levels.

The programme tagged ‘Country Strategic Opportunities Programme” (COSOP) 2024-2029,’ held on Thursday in Umuahia, the Abia capital.

It had major participants drawn from various stakeholders in different value chains in agricultural development in four states including Imo, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia as the host.

The workshop was facilitated by the Abia State Project Coordinating Office of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises for Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), for IFAD.

In a remark, the Abia LIFE-ND Project Coordinator, Dr Uchenna Onyeizu, said that COSOP was a roadmap for the implementation of IFAD’s mandate for inclusive and sustainable rural transformation.

“ COSOP is a framework for making strategic choices about IFAD operations in a country, identifying opportunities for IFAD financing as well as facilitating management for results.”

Onyeizu said that IFAD had penultimate week, launched the COSOP in Abuja, and decided that there should be zonal consultations in the six geopolitical zones.

He said the Thursday’s consultation in Abia was the beginning of the process of developing a new COSOP that would start from 2024-2029.

According to Onyeizu, a new COSOP is being designed because the one that is being used in the country, will expire by Dec. 2023.

Also, Dr Chinwe Onyegbula, the Liaison Officer with the IFAD Country Programme Advisory Team for LIFE-ND project, said that the launch was a preparation in the design for another COSOP that would run for 2024-2029.

Onyegbula said that the COSOP document reviews the specific rural poverty situation in order to determine geographic sites and thematic areas for IFAD operations.

She said that the event was being conducted in the six geopolitical zones simultaneously, with all the stakeholders involved expected to make valuable inputs.

Onyegbula said that the reports from all the zones would be gathered and released into a policy document, which would be shared between Nigeria and IFAD.

She said that the programme which focused on small holders, is designed in close cooperation with the government and other stakeholders to ensure national ownership.

In a brief remark, Chief Israel Amanze, the Programme Manager of Abia State Agricultural Development Programme, lauded IFAD for the initiative.

“It is a well thought out programme that will impact positively on the lives of our people,” he said.

Also, Mr Ambrose Duru, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Imo thanked IFAD for the massive and encouraging support given to the programme.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants were able to come up with some of the innovative ideas that can help agricultural development in the region.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

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NSE President advises members to emulate stewardship service of late Funmilola Ojelade

Mr Tasiu Gidari-Wudil, President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), has advised members of the society to emulate the stewardship service of late Mrs Funmilola Ojelade, who was a member of the society.

The president gave the advice on Friday in Abuja at the funeral service organised in honour of the deceased by the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), a division of the NSE.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ojelade, a staff of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPM), died on March 22 after a brief sickness.

Gidari-Wudil described Ojelade who was the 16th President of APWEN, as a woman who dedicated many parts of her live while on earth to the service of NSE.

He said that the deceased was a very strong woman, innovative in her leadership role with APWEN, and by extension NSE.

“We cannot say we wont have a replacement of her but it will be difficult to have somebody like her, very innovative, her leadership was seen in running the APWEN, and by extension NSE, I will appeal to those of us who are still alive to emulate her.

“Ojelade was a detribalized Nigerian, a devoted Christian because I always received her Friday prayers every Friday, this tells you how nationalistic she was, how patriotic she was.

“I will urge everyone of us to emulate her and pray for her to be on the right side of the throne of God. I pray for the family because it is a sudden shock to us when we learnt of her demise.

“We pray to God to give the immediate family the fortitude to bear the loss,” the President stressed.

Mrs Elizabeth Eterigho, the current President of APWEN (17th), described the deceased as a humorous person whom everyone would like to be with, because she express her mind on issues straight.

She also described Ojelade as a woman who provided answers immediately to challenging issues, adding that many members of APWEN have drawn from her wealth of knowledge.

According to Eterigho, the deceased was a very close person to her because why she was the president of APWEN, herself was the vice-president, and by this they are always close together where she learnt a lot from her.

“During COVID-19 when everything was silent with most associations, Funmilola never allowed our association to be silent, she was up and doing in the association’s activities, her death was a huge lost to us,” Eterigho stressed.

Mrs Valerie Agberagba, the Ninth President of APWEN who disclosed that she had known the deceased for almost 25 years, described her as her IT tutor whom she would miss a lot.

She also described Funmilola as a fellow of the NSE who mentored young Engineers, by impacting knowledge into them, and prayed to God to continue to be with the young peers of the society who will miss her most.

According to Agberagba, the deceased had always advised young engineers to be strong and to be ethical in the profession of whatever they are doing.

Mrs Comfort Emenyonu, a fellow of NSE and member of APWEN who gave the first Christian sermon, advised members to live a life that they would be remembered for.

Emenyonu who titled her sermon as “What will you be remembered for”, taking from the book of Ecclesiastes 9:5 and Hebrew 9:27, stated that everyone must die, but they should be remembered for something.

According to her, Funmilola played her role before she left this sinful world, and prayed to God for everyone to be able to walk in the way that will bring impact to people’s life.

“You must live an indelible mark on this earth before you go, let’s learn how to forgive one another, let’s care for each other, concentrate on God’s works.”

Also, Pastor Dan Ogu of Redeem Christian Church of God (RCCG), Jesus Embassy Parish, Province 18, admonished Christians to prepare to meet God after death.

The pastor who titled his sermon as “Truth be told”, said all Christians need to know about death, adding that death is a constant and frequent occurrence which happens everyday.

He said that the holy book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 2 had testified that there are time to be born and there are time to die, saying that every living must taste death hen the time reaches.

He therefore encouraged everyone to prepare for death and prepare to meet their creator, and that after death, judgement follows.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria