Category: National

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Sunday commended Nigeria for its unprecedented commitment to tripartism, social dialogue and decent work.

The ILO Director General, Mr Gilbert Houngbo, made the commendation when he received the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, at the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Olajide Oshundun, the Director of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Labour and Employment.

The minister was in Geneva to attend his last Governing Body meeting of the ILO.

Ngige however presented to the ILO boss, two instruments comprising conventions 1975 (143) on Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention and Convention 1997 (181) on Private Employment Agencies, which Nigeria ratified.

Houngbo, while receiving the conventions, said he noted the renewed passion and commitment which the Nigerian government had given to tripartism, social dialogue and decent work in the past few years.

According to him, this is making it possible to ratify four conventions in a year.

“I recall that Nigeria’s Minister was here in November 2022, to deposit two ratified instruments – Conventions 2006 C (187) on Promotional framework for occupational safety and Health, and 2019 C (190) on Violence and Harassment.

“Also, in less than five months, the nation has ratified and deposited two additional conventions. That is quite commendable,” Houngbo said.

The ILO boss also noted the contributions of Nigeria’s Minister of Labour to the Governing Body and the Congress since 2016, while describing him as “knowledgeable and industrious”.

“He has been a great voice in the Governing Body and we will appreciate if he keeps in touch with the ILO even after his present tenure as Nigeria’s Minister.”

Earlier, Ngige while depositing the ratified Conventions C143 and C181, said they are critical in widening employment net and decent job in the world of work.

He also noted that the conventions would reinforce Nigeria’s capacity and enhance cooperation with other countries in protecting migrant workers through ethical recruitment.

“These conventions will enhance remittance flow and optimise the benefits of organised labour migration in our country.

“It will go further to reinforce our ability to enter into Bilateral Labour Agreement (BLA) or Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with destination countries who have ratified the same Convention,” Ngige said.

The minister added that the ratification of these conventions were painstakingly put together, passing through the deliberative crucible of stakeholder dialogue as well as workshop.

He said that this was to properly align them with relevant national laws and policies, including the Labour Act CAP LI, National Policy on Labour Migration, National Employment Policy as well as National Migration Policy.

“In due diligence and legislative scrutiny, we ensured that these two ratified conventions are in tune with the International Labour Migration Division and National Electronic Labour Exchange (ILMD/NELEX) to manage organised labour migration in and out of the country.

“They are also in line with our objectives in establishing Job Centres and Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) to promote employment services and safe migration in Nigeria.

“In November 2022, when I deposited two conventions ratified by Nigeria, I did not hint the Director General that we had about four others still in the mills.

“I kept it close to chest that we will soon bring them after ratification. Today, we have two of these ratified instruments, signed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari,” the minister added.

Also at the event, the ILO Regional Director for Africa, Nigeria’s Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, praised Buhari for hosting the Global Youth Employment Forum in Abuja in 2019.

She urged the next administration to take such continental project notches higher in view of the bulge in youth population and unemployment.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Gangandharan Balasubramanian, has called on Nigerians to embrace Yoga practice as a way of improving their physical and mental well-being.

The High Commissioner told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja that Yoga should be seen as another form of exercise that helps condition the body and mind for optimum benefit.

“Yoga is a form of exercise that is very good for physical and mental well-being, it can also help enhance vitality, focus and productivity,” Balasubramanian said.

He said in view of the enormous benefits of Yoga, the High Commission in Abuja had opened free Yoga classes for members of the public, which would also help to deepen relations between both countries.

“I am happy to announce to the Nigerian public that we have opened our free yoga classes at the High Commission of India, Abuja, so our Nigerian friends should avail themselves of this opportunity.

“We have an excellent facilitator (Mr Dipitiranjan Mohanty), who has a PhD in Yoga and has been sent by the government of India to the mission.

“The classes are of course free from 4.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. on week days (after registration) and we believe this will help improve our health; also deepen relations between both countries, ” he said.

The High Commissioner assured that plans were underway to further strengthen the cordial bilateral relations between both countries.

NAN reports that Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originates from India.

The word ‘Yoga’ is derived from Sanskrit, meaning to join or to unite, symbolising the union of body and consciousness.

As part of the growing appeal for Yoga, the United Nations on Dec. 11, 2014, proclaimed June 21, as the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69/131.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Democracy is said to be a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.

Many democracies that transition into the 21st face challenges in their path of successful consolidation including economy, unemployment, inequality in income and wealth and inflation.

Many challenges facing democracies in Africa and Nigeria can be attributed to the lack of proper enlightenment of citizens to the tenets of democracy and rule of law. The winner is supposed to take all while the loser is expected to resist.

In spite of these challenges to democracy, a system is taking shape in Nigeria to strengthen democracy. The National Peace Committee comprising statesmen and elders have taken it on themselves to forestall after election violence and commit candidates to peace before, during and after elections.

The accord was meant to bind political parties, candidates and their supporters to resort to the constitution if they are not satisfied with the outcome of the elections.

Similarly, local and international observers including the West African Elders Forum, Commonwealth Observer Group and others have made significant contribution towards enshrining democratic ethos in Nigeria. These election monitors have been a part of the various election processes in the country since the return of democratic rule in 1999.

After the Feb. 25 presidential and national assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Bola Tinubu as the winner with 8,794,736 of the over 24 million votes cast.

The two opposition parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the Labour Party (LP) have gone to court to challenge the result. This is the most expected decision that various monitors and observers envisaged. For democracies to thrive, the citizens must imbibe this culture exploring the option of the constitution to resolve issues.

On the outcome of the election, an editorial by Premium Times, states that while some logistics challenges, malpractices and violence in some locations undermined the election, it is excessive and inaccurate to describe the exercise as totally flawed or as the worst in Nigeria’s history, as some want the world to believe. If anything, the election demonstrated appreciable progress in the nation’s electoral process, in comparison to past ones.

In a write up in the Vanguard, Magnus Onyibe, a former commissioner in Delta state, wrote stated that the shortcoming of the 2023 election has laid bare that not enough critical thinking went into organizing the event which is supposed to be so epochal and consequential that it should not have been treated with such levity.

‘’For instance, the election is setting our country back by about N355 billion that was appropriated for INEC to conduct the election. That is just the direct cost of tax payers’ money. When the down time of locking down the country on election days twice are factored in, the cost burden on an economy which is tottering on the brinks of collapse would be much higher.

Similarly, the Washington Post editorial ‘’Nigeria points the way toward democracy in a region in which it is scarce’’, while calling on INEC to assess what went wrong in the 2023 elections, noted that the March 28 governorships and state assembly elections seemed to be much better managed in spite of ‘’some scattered report of violence’’.

It stated that a flawed election in Nigeria can set a standard in a part of Africa where staging a coup is more common than canvassing for votes, adding that ‘’an election in Nigeria won’t turn Africa into a democratic utopia, but it can point the way to a different path’’.

On their observation of the Feb. 25 presidential and national assembly election, the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) gave insights on the way forward.

While the forum notes that some political parties and concerned citizens have raised procedural questions and allegations of infractions of the electoral law in the process of collation of results, it called on all aggrieved parties to document and laid their claims to INEC, in accordance with the Electoral Act 2022.

‘’The Mission notes the imperative of retaining the confidence of Nigerians in the on-going electoral process and, therefore, urges the INEC to thoroughly investigate those concerns and comply with the electoral law and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the process of collating the election results.

‘’As former leaders who are committed to peace and stability in our sub-region, we have begun a round of consultations with some of the presidential candidates and other key stakeholders, taking to them our message of hope, understanding and peace.

Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former Nigeria president, also reflected on effective and transparent leadership in the country at a function recently in his home state of Bayelsa.

“As a leader in the country who had the privilege of serving at the state and national level, I can only advise that politics is not about that you must be there. If God wants you to be there, you will be there. If it is not yet your turn to be there, you will not be there.

“So, I advise people who are interested in these offices and their supporters to conduct themselves very well. They want to serve us, not themselves.

“If you want to serve us as people, then you must be humble, and you will not kill us before you serve us. So, people must conduct themselves peacefully, and if God wants them to win their elections, they will win their elections.”

**If used, credit the writer and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

***This article is with support from Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF), a pro-peace and good governance initiative dedicated to preserving and promoting democratic principles as a prerequisite for peace and prosperity in Africa.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Mr Joseph Waya of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), on Tuesday in Makurdi, congratulated the winner of the Benue Governorship election, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and called on all Benue people to support him in the task of governance.

In a statement, Waya alleged widespread irregularities such as ”heavy militarization of the electoral process, suppression, intimidation, vote buying, tampering with electoral materials, but said he was still committed to the Benue project and appealed to other contestants to ”set aside partisan rancour and rally round Fr. Alia for the overall interest of the state”.

He said his desire to lead the state was never borne out of a conviction for personal aggrandizement but for the wellbeing, peace and security of the people.

“I came into the race by the beckoning of my kinsmen and God’s guidance. To be clear, I did not come to seek prominence, political power for its own sake or personal aggrandizement. We ran a campaign based on issues, facts and utterly devoid of insults,” he said.

Waya, who emerged the fourth in a competitive electoral process, said his message to the people would never be easily forgotten within the period of an election circle.

“My ideas remain as feasible and practicable then as they are now,” he explained.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the INEC returning officer for Benue, Prof Adamu Kuta, declared Alia winner, having polled majority of votes of the rescheduled election.

Alia pulled 473,933 to defeat his closest rival and Speaker, Benue House of Assembly, Mr Titus Uba, who had 223,913 votes.

NAN reports that Uba enjoyed massive backing of the incumbent governor, Samuel Ortom, who himself lost to APC in a Senatorial contest.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Huambo – Angolan writer Nituecheni Africano, pseudonym of Eugénio Afonso Gaspar, winner of the 4th edition of the Great Latin American Literary Competition, has been appointed ambassador of literature in five African countries by the Brazilian Word-Book Revier magazine, ANGOP has learnt.

According to a letter of the Brazilian magazine, the countries are Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Uganda, through a solidarity funding, which starts on April 3 this year.

The letter, sent by the Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports office of Huambo province, said the Angolan writer, author of the “The Web immigrant and his nonsense”, which won, last December the novel prize of the 4th edition of the Great Latin American Literary Competition, is expected to help some people of these countries to retrieve civic and moral values, through the teaching of literature in the communities.

“Through a visit made in those African countries, it was realised that the book in question has to be a necessary tool to change the world,” reads the note.

Nituecheni Africano represented the African continent in the Great Latin American Literary Contest held in Sao Paulo (Brazil), based on a vote, which began on November 20 2022 and ended on December, with the participation of 192 writers from several countries, particularly Latin America, who competed in several categories.

The novel presents some warnings to young people about the dangers of social networks: friendships, business and relationships with unknown people, which may not bring good intentions to one of the interested parties.

Born in Huambo province, on September 12, 1990, Eugénio Afonso Gaspar graduated in Information Technology and Business Administration at Technical University of Angola (UTANGA).

He is co-founder of the Association of Social Integration of Former Prisoners (ADISPER) and director-general of the Association of Young Writers of the South.

He published, in 2020, the works “O vendedor de pães as mos” and “Prisioneiro do amor”.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang wrapped up his first international tour to Africa this week, during which he visited five diverse countries — Ethiopia, Gabon, Benin, Angola and Egypt — and stressed that China does not see the continent as an arena for a power struggle between the West and Beijing.

“Africa should be a big stage for the international cooperation, not an arena for major-force rivalry,” Qin, who was previously ambassador to the United States, said at a press conference on his first stop, in Addis Ababa.

“The China-United States relationship should not be about a competitive one or a zero-sum game that enlarges one’s own gain at the expense of the other,” he said. “Otherwise, it will only hurt both sides and even the world.”

For more than three decades it’s been a tradition that the top Chinese diplomat’s first foreign trip is to Africa. President Xi Jinping, who’s entering his second decade in power, has invested heavily in the continent through his Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, which has expanded since its initial inception and includes Chinese investments in projects that build land and sea trade routes to continents around the world.

Some analysts say the U.S. is now playing catch-up with China in Africa, a resource-rich region with a growing population. In December, U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a summit of African leaders in Washington, and the past year has seen a flurry of visits to the continent by top U.S. officials.

“I think America has politically prioritized Africa at a later stage in the contemporary game than what China has. … Is America late to the game? It’s certainly later than China,” said Lauren Johnston, a China-Africa researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

Ethiopia

In Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union, Qin opened the new Chinese-built $80 million African Centers for Disease Control — part of China’s “health silk road” — to great fanfare.

It was originally envisioned as a collaboration between the U.S., China and Africa. But relations between Washington and Beijing soured under the Trump administration, with the U.S. voicing concerns about the risk of China spying and stealing genomic data. Beijing called the allegations “ridiculous.”

The Trump administration also pulled the U.S. out of the World Health Organization. The three-country partnership for the African CDC collapsed and the agreement was recrafted as one between China and the African Union.

Paul Nantulya, research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, told VOA the inauguration of the building was “a very important message that China was sending about China’s commitment to infectious-disease control on the continent — so a big diplomatic win there.”

Ethiopia was also an important stop for the ambassador, Nantulya noted, because the two-year war in Tigray has been detrimental to Chinese business interests and hundreds of Chinese workers had to be evacuated. Beijing had even tried its hand at a peacemaker role, though it was the African Union that eventually secured a cease-fire late last year. During his trip, Qin pledged support for reconstruction efforts now underway in the region.

Ethiopia is highly indebted to China, owing $13.7 billion, and it was reported during the visit that Qin announced a partial forgiveness of the debt. The amount of forgiven debt was undisclosed.

“There was no publication of what was agreed in terms of debt relief. There was just talk of debt relief, and China has a tradition of having only offered debt relief for non-interest-paying loans, which are very small,” Johnston said. “If it’s something much more than just interest-free loans, then it could be much bigger and important.”

The West has frequently accused China of practicing “debt trap diplomacy” by trying to gain leverage over indebted developing countries. Qin rejected that in Addis Ababa, asserting that “China has always been committed to helping Africa ease its debt burden.”

He said China actively participated in the Group of 20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, signed agreements or reached agreements with 19 African countries on debt relief and suspended the most debt service payments among G-20 members.

Increasing engagement

Qin’s visit to Gabon and Benin surprised some China watchers, but Nantulya said it was part of China’s increasing engagement with Francophone West Africa.

He noted that China is currently building — as it did for the African Union in Addis Ababa — the new Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) headquarters.

In Benin, Qin said, “My proposal is that we work together to promote synergy between Benin’s strategic development plan and the Belt and Road Initiative … in order to identify more fields of action and growth rates for our cooperation. I am thinking for example of infrastructure, agriculture, human resources training, manufacturing, and peace and security.”

In Luanda, Qin marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Angola.

“Angola is a critically important security partner of China, but at the same time also highly indebted. About 40% of Angola’s debt is owed to China, so the source of discussions that Ambassador Qin must have had in Ethiopia, he must have had the same discussions with the Angolan government,” surmised Nantulya.

Egypt is strategically important to China because of the Suez Canal and its numerous investments there, including in the new administrative capital being built outside Cairo. Besides meeting with Egyptian government officials, Qin held meetings with the Arab League.

At a press conference afterward, he addressed the Israel-Palestinian conflict, saying Israel should “stop all incitements and provocations, and should refrain from any unilateral action that may lead to the deterioration of the situation.”

Johnston said the hard tone of Qin’s comments was somewhat surprising and may signal that he’ll be a different kind of foreign minister than his predecessors.

“When he was ambassador to the U.S., he was known for being somewhat strident in some of his statements,” said Johnston. “Maybe’s he’s come away from the U.S. with his own perspective from engaging in those policy circles … maybe he has some quite different angles and views on global diplomacy based even on that.”

Source: Voice of America