Category: General

The removal of blue checks on Twitter for accounts not yet signed up to the “Twitter Blue” verification service, began on Thursday, April 20. Cameroonian celebrities and public figures were not left out.

Samuel Eto’o, Francis Ngannou, Stanley Enow, and Jovi, are some of the personalities who have had their blue checks taken off.

Most of them have not yet reacted to the change, however, Stanley Enow tweeted in the early hours of Friday, reacting to the disappearance of his verification tick. “Chief Elon Musk why remove my blue tick? Thought we were cool” the rapper wrote.

Many have raised concerns over the risk of impersonation of high-profile users on the platform, adding that there will be increased confusion over the veracity of information.

Journalists and media organizations all saw their verification marks removed. This is the same case with widely followed personalities like Beyonce, Bill Gates, Pope Francis, and even Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

While announcing the new measure last year, the platform’s current owner Elon Musk said it will help eradicate automated bot accounts and generate an alternative source of income to advertising, which accounts for most of Twitter’s income.

Elon’s verification fee stands at a minimum of $8 per month, approximately 4,000 FCFA in Cameroon.

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Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), says that energy security will rightly be achieved by the realisation of Nigeria’s Decade of Gas Initiatives inaugurated in 2021 by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Malam Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited, said this on Wednesday in Abuja at the opening of Decade of Gas/International Gas Day, with the theme “Ensuring the Realisation of Nigeria’s Decade of Gas”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigeria Gas Association (NGA) held the 13th International conference of Decade of Gas Day on the sidelines of the Nigeria International Energy Summit 2023 (NIES).

The Federal Government inaugurated 2021 to 2030 as Nigeria’s Decade of Gas, a period the government aspired to accelerate domestic and export gas production and utilisation.

Kyari, represented by Mr Seyi Omotowa, Managing Director, Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company Limited, said gas had been given prominence as an enabler for energy security and economic development.

This, he said, set the tone for Nigeria’s drive to harness the nation’s natural gas reserves, increase domestic gas utilisation for power and industries as well as gas exports to regional and international markets.

“This will facilitate a shift to a gas-based economy to foster economic growth and industrialisation driven by gas and also support Nigeria to meet its commitment to achieving net zero emission target by 2060.

“NNPC plays an active role in realising the intended benefits of the Decade of Gas Initiatives and we are collaborating with the Federal Government on sub initiatives such as the National Gas Expansion Programme.

“This will promote domestic gas utilisation in various sectors such as power, industries, transport and for virtual gas supply to off pipeline grid gas Customers,” he said.

The GCEO said the opportunities to be unlocked from the Decade of Gas were numerous with significant benefits for Nigeria.

He said with over 200 trillion standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas reserves and a potential of growing to 600 trillion scf, there would be enough resources for numerous gas utilisation projects being developed by NNPC Limited and Partners.

He said the NNPC Ltd. was taking advantage of the huge reserves to support growth in the power and industrial sectors, address energy poverty, reduce carbon-footprint and create more employment opportunities.

He therefore called on investors in addition to the industry players, to seize this opportunity to create wealth and value for the country.

In an address, Mr ED Ubong, NGA President and Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Gas, expressed dissatisfaction that Nigeria had significant gas reserves but the demand outstreams supply continuously.

Ubong, however, said without establishing the right capacity, there would be no sustainable gas supply and utilisation.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development has started a pilot deployment of an Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) on industrial trawlers as part of measures to sustain Ghana’s fisheries.

Madam Hawa Koomson, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, who launched the exercise, said the six-month pilot project would be carried out on three vessels volunteered by the Ghana Industrial Trawlers Association (GITA).

Madam Koomson said the pilot project was funded and technically supported, respectively, by the USAID-sponsored Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity (GERA) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) at a cost of USD$250,000.

Madam Koomson said the EMS would be fully installed on all the licensed industrial trawlers and Tuna vessels in Ghana by December 2025.

She said that even though a total of 74 trawlers have been registered by the Ministry, currently only 30 have had their licenses renewed.

She said during the pilot project, other activities would include the establishment of the monitoring and control centre, training of Fisheries Commission officers in handling, deployment of EMS equipment, and analysis of EMS data.

She said the deployment of the EMS on the industrial trawlers would help to monitor the activities of pirates and check Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, transshipment at sea between trawlers and artisanal canoes, and the use of illegally modified gears to catch small pelagic fish and juvenile fish as bycatch and the dumping of fish at sea by the trawlers.

The EMS, she said, used onboard video cameras, the Global Positioning System (GPS), and sensors to automatically track and verify fishing activities on board fishing vessels, adding that the data and information collected from the EMS could be used to monitor and enhance compliance with available regulations.

The Fisheries Minister expressed the expectation that the EMS would complement existing measures being implemented by the Ministry, such as the Ministerial Directive on Trawl Gear, the application of VMS and AIS, port inspections, and the Observer programme.

She added that it would also improve transparency and provide better oversight for Ghana to discharge its flag-state responsibility.

Mr. Steve Adzokatse, the President of the Ghana Industrial Trawlers Association, expressed their support for the programme to help fight IUU as well as sustain the country’s dwindling fisheries.

Mr. Adzokatse however called on the Ministry to collaborate with them and share needed information with them to ensure the success of the monitoring programme.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Fans of Blu Nations singer, Tzy Panchak, are split over his new song ‘Self-made’. These criticisms come as a result of the featuring of a masquerade being kissed by a girl whom they said was poorly dressed.

The song also features artists like Vivid, Cleo Grea, J Kree, Vancy and Phido has been in the spotlight also given that the masquerade is seen in the video clip of the song displaying a bottle of alcoholic wine.

According to some fans, it is taboo and disrespectful to the African tradition and culture of the people of the North West Region in particular.

“It is a disgrace and traditionally it’s not right. For a masquerade to even drink water and talkless of alcohol, is something else. A masquerade kissing or being kissed by a lady half naked, that’s totally bad and not portraying perhaps what he meant” Fur Gilfort, expressed frustration in a comment.

“If that’s something from Nso then it is not the Nso I am from. A masquerade is something sacred, it is something ladies are not even allowed to come close to talk less of kissing, it’s a taboo, an abomination. If she does that and stays alive then it’s a miracle” Another fan, Mbiydzenyuy Unique, added.

Going by CY Mukolah, Tzy Panchak has through his new song shown total disrespect, “it’s quite a good song but a wrong video direction not just the acts of displaying the almighty “Kama Kam” in an afro song video if it’s cultural music, maybe but this is wrong. In which African country do you see people kissing their masquerades, who does that? It’s totally wrong, let’s learn to respect our culture” he noted.

“This is not funny at all, we all are Africans and as true Africans especially from Cameroon, Northwest Region for that matter we know how these things work, Women don’t even go closer to such not to talk hugging and kissing who does that ?” He continued.

On the other hand, some other fans see nothing wrong with the song and are attributing the criticisms to envy and jealousy.

“You all should leave Tzy Pancack alone, all the juju that drink and get drunk on daily bases, is he the one that gives them these drinks? The guy is a big boy and nothing will bring him down. Those talking rubbish are not real fans and followers but just noise makers” a fan said.

Recently, US rapper Rick Ross on his Instagram live session promised a collaboration with Tzy Pancack and has put in $10,000 for the ‘Self-made’ challenge.

CNA reached out to the Blu Nations management on this issue, they said “We have decided as a team not to say or make any formal or informal statement pertaining to the issue at hand. Thanks in anticipation for your comprehension”.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Mrs. Patience Ami Mamattah, Ashaiman Municipal Director of Health, has disclosed that the directorate in 2022 initiated and sustained various interventions and strategies that helped improve health service access and delivery in the municipality.

Mrs. Mamattah revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Ashaiman after the Municipal Health Directorate was adjudged the second-best performing health district in the Greater Accra Region out of 29.

She said setting clear targets for staff and ensuring management provided enablement to facilitate performance were key to its strategies during the year under review.

She also stated that frank talks with staff were also held periodically, in addition to giving required feedback on issues at stake, adding that another key strategy was the continuous flow of information among staff coupled with intermittent data review and validation among others.

According to her, she and the team celebrated the small gains and successes with the staff openly to encourage the positive behaviour they desired.

The Ashaiman Municipal Director also indicated that good documentation practices were also a priority of the directorate, adding that leadership and teamwork were key and essential to achieving their targets.

“Our staff has a strong sense of responsibility and takes ownership of their work by constantly seeking tailor-made creative solutions to address the everyday challenges that we face in the course of our work to meet our client’s needs and satisfy them, including the communities we serve,” she stressed.

Touching on their challenges, Mrs. Mamattah said even though they were enormous, she and her team kept pressing on.

She however appealed to the public and organizations to support the staff with basic medical equipment like BP apparatuses and other needed equipment to undertake home visits to help reduce hypertension among residents, which she stated was a major problem in the municipality.

She expressed appreciation to all for their support while calling on others to join in augmenting their committed efforts to provide quality health care in the municipality.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Mariam Katagum has commended the immense contributions of the World Intellectual Property Organisation(WIPO) towards nation building.

Katagum gave the commendation when a team from WIPO, led by its Assistant Director-General , Dr Edward Kwakwa visited her on Wednesday in Abuja.

The minister appreciated the organisation’s collaboration with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in boosting trade in the country.

While acknowledging WIPO’s contribution in boosting the capacities of the ministry’s Trade Mark Registry and Patents and Designs Registry, Katagum called for more collaboration between the duo to achieve more strides.

“I want to commend the organisation for validating the National Intellectual Property Policy for the growth of Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSMEs)

“The present administration has provided supports for the MSMEs to the tune of N75 billion in order to cushion the effects of COVID-19 in the country.

“ I therefore wish to appeal to WIPO to consider the size of Nigeria’s growing population and subsequently increase the support they are rendering to the country.

Earlier in his remarks, the assistant director-general of WIPO, expressed his appreciation to the Minister and the Ministry for the excellent working relationship they have enjoyed over the years.

Kwakwa commended the two Registrars of the Trade Registry and Patents and Designs in the ministry, for ensuring adequate collaborating with the officials of WIPO to drive the programme.

according to him, the collaboration between the two parties ( ministry and WIPO) has put Nigeria on the Map of Intellectual Property on the Continent.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria