There are important issues of accountability and probity, all linked to transparency. The absence of transparency can be disastrous to good governance and economic growth in Nigeria. Whether they are loans from China or from anywhere else, opaque loan contracts and under-stated loans (hidden by the lack of transparency) are not good for Nigeria. Could COVID-19 liberate Nigerians from the Chinese Debt Empire? That is the question on the minds of some members of Nigeria’s...
A woman community leader in Anambra, Mrs Ngozi Mbachi, on Tuesday urged members of the public not to stigmatise persons suffering from Coronavirus sickness. She made the appeal in Enugwu-Ukwu, Njikoka Local Government Area, Anambra, during the distribution of palliatives to the women of Aboatulu kindred in the community. According to Mbachi, COVID -19 is not a death sentence and stigmatisation will make sufferers not to disclose their condition thus placing other community members at risk....
This will be the absolute last time I will be drawn to the travails of the Nigerian polity. Oh well, that is not exactly true: I am talking as a father to a wayward daughter whose exertions on life are deplorable. He would swear he was done and would come back for the GA-zillionth time to render one more treatise on the virtue of ethics and morality. (I may have to revisit this issue sooner...
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Preston’s new face mask is emblazoned with the stars and stripes of the U.S. flag. While protecting him from the coronavirus, it would normally also put him in danger in Manenberg, one of a number of violent and poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of Cape Town known as the Cape Flats. The mask’s colors identify Preston as a member of the Americans, a criminal gang usually unwelcome on the turf...
UNITED NATIONS — The top U.N. official in Libya warned Tuesday that the war in the North African country will “intensify, broaden and deepen” because of increasing foreign intervention and the influx of weapons, military equipment and mercenaries to both sides. Acting U.N. special envoy Stephanie Williams said the escalation will have “devastating consequences for the Libyan people” who are “getting lost in the mix, their voices crowded out.” She urged the U.N. Security Council...
They are words the Rev. John Witvliet, an expert on Christian worship, never thought he would hear himself say. “Based on the science that we are learning about this week, we are urging and I am personally urging extreme caution,” said Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in a Wednesday (May 13) interview. “Singing together in congregations is a practice that we dearly love and are eager to...
GENEVA (AP) — Facing the most disruptive pandemic in generations, the technocratic halls of the World Health Organization are now the scene of pitched battles in an increasingly bitter proxy war between the China and the United States. At the U.N. health agency’s annual assembly this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping joined by video conference to offer more money and support. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump railed against the WHO in a letter accusing it...
The Nigerian Navy (NN) has said it rescued 18 crew members on board a Chinese vessel, MV HAILUFANG II, from pirates’ attack. This is contained in a statement signed by Commodore Ibrahim Shettima, the Commander Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT on Monday. Shettima said that the crew members were rescued on Thursday (May 15). He said that the rescued crew members, comprising Chinese, Ghanaians and Ivorians, were attacked by pirates off the coast of Cote...
An earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3, struck Japan’s Gifu Prefecture on Tuesday, the weather agency here said. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which occurred at 1.13 p.m. local time, was centred inland, with its epicentre at a latitude of 36.3 degrees north and a longitude of 137.6 degrees east and at depth of 10 kilometres. The weather agency has not issued a tsunami warning or advisory as a result...
The World Health Organisation (WHO), says the majority of the world’s population remain susceptible to coronavirus (COVID-19) as the risk remained high. WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, said this at the ongoing World Health Assembly held in Geneva. This is the first time the assembly which is WHO’s main governing body, will convene virtually. Ghebreyesus, in a speech posted on WHO website, said more than four-and-a-half million cases of COVID-19 had been reported to WHO,...
