Christian and Islamic religion leaders in Kaduna, northern Nigeria have asked parents to space the birth of their children, for the wellbeing of the mother, saying non-spacing has contributed to death of some mothers in the country.
Reverend Shekwolo Ayuba and Imam Tanimu Musa were speaking in Kaduna, at a Town Hall meeting on Maternal Health organized by the Family Health Advocates in Nigeria Initiative (FHANI) with the support from Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI).
The two represent a team of inter-faith clerics, who advocate for better and safe motherhood in Kaduna state.
The clerics said, contrary to widely speculated myths and misconceptions, Christianity and Islam have recognised the importance of healthy living, including health of the mother and the baby.
They listed a number of benefits derivable from child spacing to include prevention of maternal and child deaths, as well as improving the quality of family life, socially and economically.
Speaking, Rev. Shekwolo said child spacing helps prevent high risk pregnancies from occurring, owing to the fact that medical advised have been sought by the couples, and careful considerations have been made before the decision.
”Apart from the meetings like this, we also at our various places of worship, tell husbands and wives the need to space their child bearing to attain a healthy family. It is shameful and uncalled for, to see a nursing mother pregnant while breast feeding, a situation that should be discouraged”, Rev Shekwolo said.
On his part, Imam Musa told participants that women could be much healthier if couples planned their child bearing.
“Child spacing is advised, to prevent the mother from becoming pregnant immediately after delivery before weaning. This helps to avoid the possibility of developing complications that affect the mother and even the sibling,” Imam Tanimu emphasized.
He stressed the need for the people to disabuse their minds that the subject matter was a ploy or conspiracy by the western world against developing countries.
The Director Primary Health Care, Abdulmutalib Adamu who represented the Local Government Chairman, thanked the organizers of the programme and the participants, saying the enthusiasm shown, was a clear indication that couples in the area would embrace child spacing.
“On our part, the local government will create the enabling environment with every necessary support to this advocacy group for the success of family planning in this local government area. The council chairman has the political will,” the Director assured.
Also speaking, Village Head of Makera in Tudun Wada, Alhaji Rilwan Bello thanked organisers of the Town Hall meeting and described the enlightenment exercise as ”laudable as it deals with the health of women”.
“As you can see, my people are favourably disposed to this programme. That’s why you see market women and men also, abandoning their wares to attend this meeting,” We will continue to lend our support to achieve the desired goals just as we did to polio,” the village head said.
Some of the participants who spoke to newsmen after the meeting, described it as an “eye opener” and that they have learnt a lot from the panellists taking into consideration the prevailing economic situation in Nigeria.
The new Permanent Representative of Mali to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mamadou Henri Konate, has today presented his credentials to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Michael Møller,
Before his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Konate was Special Adviser to the President of Mali, a position he held since 2011.
He served as the Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidency of Mali from 2004 until 2011. Between July and December 2003, he worked as the President of the National Committee for the organization of the visit of President Jacques Chirac to Mali, while from March until June 2003, he worked at the General Secretariat of the Presidency of Mali.
Mr. Konate also worked at the National Directorate of the Central Bank of West African States in Mali from 1997 until 2003, and as the Director General of Mali’s Meat Trading Association from 1992 until 1996.
Mr. Konate has a diploma in international public administration from the National School of Administration in Paris, France (1990), and a diploma of superior studies in international relations from the Institute of Studies in International Relations in Paris, France (1988).
He studied at the Faculty of Law in Dijon, France from 1983 to 1985. He was born on 5 March 1963 in Bamako, Mali, and is married with three children.
Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna State in northern Nigeria has announced that all tertiary institutions owned by the State government will henceforth operate a multi-campus structure – a decision that will assign at least one tertiary institution to every local government area.
He said the new policy has been approved by the State Executive Council as a means to further expand access to higher education, make accreditation of courses more cost-effective and respond concretely to the desire by several communities to host tertiary institutions.
According to him, the multi-campus structure would help to make the state’s tertiary institutions more inclusive and expand the range of courses that students can study by making most courses available in all campuses.
The governor announced that due to the marked improvement in the security situation, the government has decided to reopen all tertiary institutions in southern Kaduna.
A statement by the governor’s spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, said the governor on Tuesday received stakeholders from Southern Kaduna, added, “This multi-campus policy will be implemented in a way that assigns at least one tertiary institution to each of the 23 local government areas. The laws of some of our institutions are already been amended to reflect this.”
The government reiterated a commitment to transform Kaduna State University (KASU) into a world-class university in the long-term, stressing that part of the transition to a multi-campus structure entails moving the main campus of KASU itself to a be purpose-built main facility behind the NTI in Rigachikun.
He thanked the delegation, which included Air Commodore E.K. Jekada and Bishop George Dodo, Catholic Bishop of Zaria, for helping to stabilize and restore peace in the affected local government areas. Malam El-Rufai said he was delighted to personally thank the stakeholders for their role in promoting peace.
The governor gratefully acknowledged that several persons invested their time, connection and resources in the cause of peace. “I salute you for helping to uphold a common humanity, for keeping the voice of reason alive. It is voices like yours that are helping to anchor peace, upsetting the designs of people who think that a relentless focus on ethnicity and religion is the best way to advance their personal agenda. We are determined not to allow anyone to profit from strife. Thank you for your contributions to the steady advance of peace. “Memo presented to the State Executive Council indicates that the government hopes that the various campuses spread across the state can over time evolve into fully-fledged universities in their own right. That is how the campuses of the University of California system and those of the University of London have evolved.
“This multi-campus policy will be implemented in a way that assigns at least one tertiary institution to each of the 23 local government areas. The laws of some of our institutions are already been amended to reflect this.”
Members of the delegation applauded the governor for reopening schools and for adopting the multi-campus structure.
Bishop Dodo said that it is clear that the government has good intentions, and is doing a lot, but he urged more efforts at communicating what is being done.
Air Commodore Jekada expressed appreciation to security agencies and the state government for working restore order and make a return to normalcy possible.
He pledged that they will continue to support and cooperate with the government for peace and development in southern Kaduna.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed says, the weekly executive council meting will not hold this week.
He attributed that to inadequate time to prepare documents for the meeting.
In a statement issued in Kano on Tuesday, the Minister said the two-day public holidays declared for the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations left little or no time to prepare for the weekly meeting.
PRESS RELEASE
No FEC Meeting This Week – Minister
This week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting will not hold due to inadequate time to prepare the documents for the meeting, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has announced.
In a statement issued in Kano on Tuesday, the Minister said the two-day public holidays declared for the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations left little or no time to prepare for the weekly meeting.
Segun Adeyemi SA To Hon Minister of Information and Culture Kano 5th Sept 2017
Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, northeast Nigeria
By Auwal Ahmad
Gombe (Nigeria) – Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe state, northeast of the Country has called on residents of his state to continue praying for ailing President Muhammadu Buhari, his administration, and the Country at large.
Dankwambo who made the called when he received the Emir of Gombe Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III on Sallah Homage to him at the Government House, Gombe, urged the residents to continue to live in peace with one another.
Dankwambo commended the Emir for support and contributions to his administration and residents of the State, especially the less privileged and urged him to continue with the good and selfless service for his reward is in the hereafter.
Governor Dankwambo thanked people of the State for their support to his administration saying, “I thank the good people of Gombe State for their support and encouragement to my administration,” he said.
Speaking earlier, the Emir of Gombe, Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III, expressed gratitude to Governor Dankwambo for his support to Gombe Emirate, describing the Governor as a true leader.
He thanked him for the respect and Honour to him and Gombe Emirate in general, saying, “Gombe Emirate is always proud of you”.
The Emir said, his commitment to help the less privileged is in line with Dankwambo’s Good policy and he is doing all to support the Policy, adding that Government cannot achieve all without the support of its citizens.
Elon Musk spent part of his Labor Day weekend tweeting about World War III.
Tesla(TSLA) and SpaceX’s CEO wasn’t making doomsday predictions because North Korea is testing nuclear weapons. What’s got Musk much more worried about world war is artificial intelligence.
North Korea “should be low on our list of concerns for civilizational existential risk,” Musk said in one of a series of posts on Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) early Monday.
“Competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3 imo,” Musk said in another tweet, using the Internet short-hand for “in my opinion.”
The dire prediction was in response to a recent comment from Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Artificial intelligence is the future not only of Russia but of all of mankind,” Putin said. “Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”
At the moment, the United States, China and India are the three countries leading the AI race, according to one top tech industry executive.
But Musk believes others will try to catch up by any means possible. “Govts don’t need to follow normal laws,” he said in one tweet. “They will obtain AI developed by companies at gunpoint, if necessary.”
In another reply on Twitter, Musk speculated that an AI system could choose to start a war “if it decides that a prepemptive [sic] strike is most probable path to victory.”
Musk has repeatedly issued warnings about the perils of AI, calling for new regulation to keep the public safe.
In the process, Musk has clashed with at least one fellow tech billionaire: Facebook (FB, Tech30) CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg called Musk’s AI doomsday rhetoric “pretty irresponsible.” Musk responded by calling Zuckerberg’s understanding of the issue “limited.”
Musk has tried to address his AI anxieties through two new ventures: OpenAI, a non-profit AI research company, and Neuralink, a startup building devices to connect the human brain with computers.
“I was trying to really sound the alarm on the AI front for quite a while, but it was clearly having no impact,” he said in one interview around the launch of Neuralink. “So I was like, ‘Oh fine, okay, then we’ll have to try to help develop it in a way that’s good.’ ”
CNNMoney (New York) First published September 4, 2017: 11:36 AM ET
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from CNN syndicated feed and has not been edited by Africa Prime News staff.
Special Adviser to Nigeria’s President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, September 4,2017. During the programme, he spoke with Seun Okinbaloye about strikes in the country, minimum wage and the government’s concerns about hate speech and divisive comments on the social media.
There has been a gale of strikes. First, it was university lecturers that went on strike and now resident doctors have followed suit. What is the President doing to stop this?
Yes, the President is the captain of the team but, then, he has so many other people working with him, who we can say will be the first line of defence when it comes to things like this. For the doctors, it is the Minister of Health first, and that will be done in conjunction with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, who fortunately also is a medical doctor. Of course, for ASUU, you know there is a Minister of Education and that is being done along with the Minister of Labour. So that is the first line of engagement. I think the President is the very last line of engagement. But knowing that the President is the captain of the ship, his interest will be that there is peace and tranquillity in every sector of the economy. So, the needful will be done.
We are going into a work day tomorrow. What would you say to workers who have downed tools and, perhaps, to douse the tension about the strikes we are seeing?
Naturally, the President will be concerned because he is here to ensure that every sector of the polity, every Nigerian, gets the best from the polity. Naturally, he should be concerned if there are gales of strikes all around and he will do the best through his aides, through the ministers and those that have been appointed to be the first point of contact on these things. The best will be done.
The issue of minimum wage has been a major one on the lips of many workers across the country. What can you tell us that the government is doing, especially when you look back at the promises of government during the campaign period in 2015 about the number of people that will be employed? What exactly is the APC government doing in this regard?
You will recall that a committee has been empanelled to work that out. It is like a rainbow committee drawn from different parts; the public sector, the private sector, all stakeholders… As soon as the committee completes its work, I am sure the next steps will be taken.
Okay, let’s go to the major story of the day. In February of this year, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, said the nation is under siege of disinformation and fake news that can bring the country to her knees if not checked. Also, he did say, again earlier this year, that the Federal Government will not relent until it has exposed those behind the fake news phenomenon in the country and bring them to justice. Has the Buhari government been able to unravel why people will want to deliberately spread false news or information about the government?
There are many reasons. I can’t speak for those who are behind this development but I can hazard guesses why they do it. One will be pure mischief – to just cause disenchantment in the country; for instance, when they came yesterday (Sunday – September 3) with the fake news that the President was travelling to the United States of America today. If you see the last line of that story, they said that the trip may not be unconnected to the President’s health. Can you just imagine that? I took time to read some of the reactions that followed that fake news and you could see people say all sorts of rubbish. That was their intention; so that they can expose the President to odium if possible. So, one reason is mischief – to cause odium, to cause disenchantment. Another reason could also be to de-market somebody. You want to de-market somebody and play up another person. Then, of course, another one is they want traffic to their website – to their blogs and all that. They want traffic because traffic often determines advertising. So, they want traffic and they will stop at no extent to drive that traffic which I think is very unscrupulous.
Is government under any sort of pressure, politically of course, with this trend of fake news that has pervaded the social media?
Well, if you know the President, who I earlier described as the captain of the team, the President rarely gets under pressure. He has learnt to take things in his strides. Don’t forget that he has been head of state before. Now he is a democratically elected President, he has seen a lot. So, he has known how to take things in his strides. The trend (of fake news) may be unwholesome, it may be unsavoury, but in terms of ‘is it worrying to the President and the government?’ Not exactly.
How far will the government go in stopping this fake news trend?
Very far. As far as necessary. Government has a responsibility to ensure peace, to ensure amity, to ensure tranquillity in the country. The Constitution states that protection of life and property is the sole responsibility of government. And we know that fake news can erode peace in the country. Fake news can lead to anarchy; we have seen what it did in Rwanda – it can lead to genocide. So, it is the responsibility of government to do all that needs to be done to ensure that the country is not thrown into a tailspin by those who purvey fake news. Fake news and hate news have a thin line dividing them. You will find that people who purvey fake news are actually hateful people who people filled with bile who want to throw society into chaos. So, government will do all that it should do to stop it.
We heard the military come out to say that they are monitoring the trends and the conversation online. They did also say that they cannot make arrest though but, if you look at the reactions of countries like China, countries like the United States, is the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria going to make a major move on some of these (online) platforms in the coming days?
I don’t think we necessarily need to make that major statement because, already, within our laws, we have enough to tackle this trend. I think it was Barrister Femi Falana who made a pronouncement a week or two ago that already in our statutes, we have provisions that can deal with fake news and with hate news. So, it is just a matter of implementing what we have – using the laws that we have and anybody that is caught being behind fake news or hate news should just answer for it.
Is the Federal Government or Presidency restrategising on the manner in which it disseminates information in the wake of this trend of fake news?
Yes. Of course, you know that nothing is static in life and you must always use all the media of mass communication available to you. We are there; we are on traditional media, we are on digital media, we are on social media – we all use all these media of mass communication. But then, one thing we will not allow is for purveyors of fake news to dictate the pace to us. No, we won’t start running helter-skelter when they come with their antics. Once we know that this is their intention and this is why they want to draw us out, we will not let them lead us by the nose. We will do what is right and proper at all times.
This interview piece was curled from the Facebook page of Mr. Femi Adesina
The Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, have described the alleged circulated report of condemnations by some organs of the United Nations, UN, as very disappointing, inconsistent and biased.
“CNG is disappointed by the reported UN utterances which tend to blame the northern Nigerian people solely for the set of conflicts brought about by the IPOB’s brand of agitation for Biafra,” Abdul Azeez Suleiman, spokesperson of CNG , said in a statement.
The statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Tuesday said, “Up till this moment, the UN has not disowned the remarks which are credited to certain organs of the global body thereby creating the impression that iit has endorsed them.
“That the UN observation was released months after the Kaduna Declaration and days after the relocation clause in the Declaration was publicly vacated amounts to malice afterthought and makes it curious.
“More curious is that the UN overlooked the subsisting quit order to the Hausa/Fulani and the Yoruba by the Niger Delta militants opting to single out the north for condemnation.
“It is worrying that the UN deliberately refused to consider and act on the earlier CNG petition to it on the unfolding developments in Nigeria.
“A similar communication was also addressed to the major foreign diplomatic missions represented in Nigeria, in which we drew attention to the emerging trends in the country that are pregnant with complications and unforeseen consequences.
“In all those representation, we raised vital issues aimed to forestall the drift toward anarchy and bloodshed in Nigeria, and also to alert the international community as to where responsibility would ultimately lie if such momentous and terrible events ever came to pass.”
The groups noted that with the apparent biased attitude of the UN in favour of the Biafran Igbo against the North shows of decent patriotism and love for our country and fellow citizens, adding, “Unless retracted, will leave us no option than to draw inevitable conclusions that the resurgence of separatist agitations especially by the IPOB and its ilk in the South-East represent a much wider conspiracy to divide Nigeria and bring the North down on its knees by incapacitation and balkanization.
“That the current agitations and disturbances that have been ongoing ceaselessly since the coming to power of the Mumammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo administration in 2015, have a foreign backing aimed at rendering the country practically ungovernable, and ushering in of anarchy and instability thereby occasioning a change of government by whatever means and tactics.
“That the general and pervasive insecurity that is being experienced across the country which are symptoms of the disquiet in the country that has been exacerbated by political opportunism and corruption also enjoy some level of foreign incitement.
“That all these have the potential of forcing the north and the upcoming generations of Nigerians to lose confidence and trust in the disposition of the UN to ensure and oversee a safe and balanced global future.”
Christian and Islamic religion leaders in Kaduna, northern Nigeria have asked parents to space the birth of their children, for the wellbeing of the mother, saying non-spacing has contributed to death of some mothers in the country.
