Nigeria says none of its citizen was recently killed in Ghana. Reacting to a report of five Nigerians killed in attacks on Nigerians in Accra, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday in a statement said though the attacks left some people injured, none of its citizens was killed.
Read the Statement below
The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been drawn to the media reports on the killings of five Nigerians in Sowutoun Area of Ga Municipality of Greater Accra Region, Ghana on August 18, 2017.
The Nigerians were allegedly targeted following the death of a Ghanaian who was murdered by a Nigerian national in self defence.
According to reports from our High Commission in Accra Ghana, the Nigerian lodged a complaint at the police station about the deceased Ghanaian, regarding a theft at his residence. While the investigations were ongoing, the deceased Ghanaian had crept into his apartment and attacked the Nigerian for reporting the case to the police, but the deceased Ghanaian was overpowered by the Nigerian who in self defence stabbed him on the head.
This led to the death of the Ghanaian and subsequent placing in protective custody of the Nigerian by the Ghanaian police.
The news filtered into the streets of Accra that a Ghanaian had been killed by a Nigerian, and this led to a riot and mobilisation of Ghanaians against Nigerians resulting in destruction of properties including vehicles belonging to Nigerians.
However, our High Commission in Ghana ascertained the circumstances of the alleged attack and the latest reports from our mission indicates that the Accra Regional Police intervened promptly and took control of the situation, although some Nigerians sustained injuries and properties were damaged.
It was also found that the Ghanaian authorities acted in accordance with their domestic laws regarding the protective custody of the Nigerian.
There was no death recorded of any Nigerian national as the result of the alleged incident. The Nigerian is still in protective custody of the police in Ghana.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to assure the general public that no Nigerian was killed as alleged by media reports.
Nigerians are therefore encouraged to be law abiding and should desist from actions that would tarnish the image of the country and continue to cooperate with the Ghanaian authorities.
China’s fleet of high-speed trains is set once again to become the world’s fastest.
The top speed of the Fuxing or “rejuvenation” bullet trains was capped at 300km/h (186mph) in 2011 following two crashes that killed 40 people.
From next week, some of the trains will once again be allowed to run at a higher speed of about 350 km/h.
The higher maximum speed should cut about an hour off the journey time between Beijing and Shanghai.
By 21 September, seven of China’s bullet trains will be permitted to travel at the increased maximum speed.
To mark the return of the higher-speed service, the trains have been named “Fuxing” – Chinese for rejuvenation – in line with a national government slogan and development plan.
All the trains have been fitted with an improved monitoring system that will slow and stop the trains automatically in the event of an emergency.
The nation’s rail operator is believed to be looking into ways to upgrade track to let the engines run even faster – perhaps at speeds approaching 400km/h. China is believed to have about 19,960km (12,400 miles) of high-speed rail tracks.
The 2011 crashes of the high-speed trains led to a state investigation into the railways ministry which uncovered widespread corruption.
The probe meant many officials were charged with corruption and abuse of power. Two senior officials were given suspended death sentences.
Four men have appeared in a South African court facing charges of cannibalism after one allegedly walked into a police station declaring he was “tired” of eating human flesh.
When questioned further, the man produced part of a human leg and hand.
Police then accompanied the man back to a house in KwaZulu-Natal where more body parts were found.
Four men, two of them traditional healers, were arrested and charged with murder and conspiracy to murder.
They appeared in Estcourt Magistrate’s Court, about 175km (110 miles) north-west of Durban, on Monday.
A police spokesperson told the BBC that it is possible that the four young men, aged between 22 and 32 years old, are part of a bigger syndicate.
The investigation is still under way, with police urging people whose relatives have disappeared in the vicinity of Estcourt to come forward.
A team of forensic experts has been called in to identify the remains, as it is not clear whether the body parts belong to one or several victims.
A month ago, in Durban, the biggest city in the region, a man was arrested in possession of a human head, concealed in a backpack. It is believed he was trying to sell it to a traditional healer.
Subject:Speech By The Hon. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, At BON’s 3rd International Summit on Digital Broadcasting in Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday, 22nd August 2017
PROTOCOL
Permit me to congratulate the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) for holding this summit, the 3rd in the series, on digital broadcasting in Nigeria. The theme of the summit: The Future of Nigeria’s Digital Broadcasting Ecosystem: Technology, Content, Platforms and Devices, is particularly apt, as we rev up the process of our transition from analogue to digital broadcasting.
2. I can tell this gathering that the Digital Switch Over (DSO) of our television from analogue to digital is now well underway. Since the launch of the pilot scheme of the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in Jos in April 2016, we have rolled out in the Federal Capital Territory. We are now ready to take the DSO to all the country’s six geo-political zones. We are anxious to keep the momentum, and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and all its partners have their hands on deck to cover the country at the soonest possible time.
3. Today, I want to speak on an issue that will make our DSO sustainable for Signal Distributors, Channel owners, TV Content Producers and Advertisers. This is the issue of Audience Measurement. Without it, we will not see the much-needed growth in our television and or the value creation in the Creative Industry. We need an objective and scientific Audience Measurement System that articulates the value of the content to Consumers, as well as the value of the Audience to Advertisers, particularly in the Television sector.
4. The lack of a scientific Audience Measurement System has resulted in under-investment in the sector, which is necessary to foster the growth of the industry, as the Advertising community continues to rely on subjective factors when making decisions on the Content they want, as opposed to how many viewers the Content truly attracts.
5. This factor also contributes to the less-than-optimal investment by all key stakeholders in the Television broadcasting value-chain, that is; the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) members, the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) and the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), as well as the problem of delayed payments for media placements across the value-chain.
6. As a consequence, Television platforms are subjected to renting out space on their Channels to sustain their businesses and Content Producers have become increasingly over-reliant on sponsorship which, unfortunately, skews the authenticity of their creative output in favor of a few decision makers and not the millions of TV viewers.
7. The existing model will never enable the Nigeria’s Creative and Entertainment Industry to reach its full potential. It stunts the quality of the Content that can be created and it also limits the capacity of Television platforms to invest in dynamic offerings that Consumers will be attracted to.
8. Further, the value of Nigeria’s Broadcasting Advertising Market is not proportionate with its population when compared to the Top 3 Markets in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Despite having a population three times more than South Africa, Nigeria’s Television Advertising Revenue in 2016, at US$309m, was 76% behind that of South Africa, at US$1,301m.
9. By 2020, the gap between South Africa and Nigeria is projected to marginally decline to 72%. Similarly, in the Radio sector, the value of Nigeria’s 2016 Advertising Revenue of US$81m was 75% behind its peers, South Africa and Kenya, both at US$343m. Kenya is projected to overtake South Africa in 2017 as the leading Radio Advertising market.
10. In both territories, the value and growth rate of the Broadcasting Advertising Revenue is largely influenced by the availability of a scientific Audience Measurement System that provides confidence to Advertisers in measuring their Return-On-Investment.
11. It is imperative that we urgently put in place an Industry Framework that will ensure that Content Producers receive their just due for the value of the Content they create, as well as provide objective guarantees to the Advertising community on their Return-On-Investment on media placements. This will then have the overall effect of guaranteeing greater spending by the Advertisers, who are all seeking to grow their market share.
12. This Industry Framework can only happen if the Ministry of Information and Culture, which fortunately supervises both the Broadcasting and Advertising industries, serves as a catalyst for putting in place a robust Audience Measurement System that is in line with global standards and supports the realization of the immense potential that the Nigerian Creative and Entertainment industry holds.
13. The Federal Government has already taken a critical long-term decision to support the Nigeria Creative and Entertainment Industry by ensuring and funding the inclusion of a middle-ware that is capable of scientific Audience Measurement on FREETV DTT Set-Top Boxes.
14. The current Diary Audience Measurement system, whilst it has served the industry well for over a decade, is not ideal for the critical transitional phase before full DTT Migration for the following reasons:
– Recall is not the most scientific method of measuring Viewership
– The One-Month lag in reporting is not ideal for Programming and Advertising planning
– Panel is not easily adaptable to the ever-changing population demographics
15. Currently, government is also subsidizing the Signal Distribution because the Channels cannot pay for the carriage of their channels by the licensed signal distributors who have invested in equipment and transmission. Things cannot continue like this and the economics of the Channel owners has to change.
16. During this transitional period, the Broadcasting Industry needs an Audience Measurement system that will encourage investment in the Broadcasting Industry, mainly through increased Advertising spending driven by confidence in the Audience Ratings data, and one that the incremental Advertising Revenue will encourage incumbent and prospective Channel owners to create additional Television Channels necessary to drive DTT uptake by the over 24 million TV households. Since we cannot subsidize all the homes, the content on FreeTV must be so compelling that people will be willing to buy the boxes in order to get access to the rich in content and free offerings.
17. Therefore, a medium-term solution is imperative to spur the industry to make investment in Content and New TV Channels that are necessary to drive the uptake of DTT. Considering the above, the Ministry of Information and Culture is ready to take the important first step by organizing an Audience Measurement Conference in Lagos on Tuesday, Oct. 3rd 2017, so that stakeholders can contribute to efforts to come up with a scientific Audience Measurement System.
18. Bringing Nigerian TV advertisement market into line with benchmarks that is 2 to 3 times the current size could result in additional $200-$400m of revenue to the industry, based on current comparisons with other African countries. This is our next task and we invite all well meaning practitioners of this industry to join hands with us to achieve this.
19. It is now my pleasure to declare open the 3rd International Summit on Digital Broadcasting in Nigeria. I wish you all fruitful deliberations and I thank you for your kind attention.
The China and Nigeria have agreed to put in place measures to tackle importation of substandard products into the country.
President of China and Nigeria Chamber of Commerce (CCCN), Mr Ye Shuijin, made the disclosure Tuesday, while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.
He also insisted that most of the imported fake products were not made in China.
He said that the chamber and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) had some agreements to check influx of substandard products into the country.
“Most of the substandard products that came to Nigeria are not from China because Chinese Government has well structure standards in place for its products.
“China products are of high quality nonetheless Chinese government is already cooperating with the Nigerian government to promote importation of quality products to Nigeria,” he said.
The quality of imported products like iron rods, bulbs, sockets, cables and fittings have always a source of worries in the country.
SON raised an alarm in 2016 that 40 per cent of electrical and electronic appliances imported into Nigeria “are substandard and have caused disasters with destruction to lives and property.”
It is also observed that all manner of uncertified food items are dumped in the country.
The National Bureau of Statistics also said Nigeria spent N212.73 billion to import agricultural products in Q4 2016.
The CCCG boss therefor stressed the need to guide the importers to do the right things and not to import substandards products to Nigeria.
Shuijin urged the importers and the consumers to be vigilant and reject any noticed substandard products for the development of the economy.
The president said that the chamber and the Chinese government always encourage investors from China to invest in the manufacturing sector to help in the development of Nigerian economy.
He said that Nigeria because of its population had the market which he said was an added advantage to attract investors into the country.
Shuijin gave the assurance that more Chinese investors would be willing to invest in Nigeria.
The news that President Muhammadu Buhari returned over the weekend gladdened my heart. Even though I do not like Buhari’s governance style and do not believe that he has good leadership skills, it is my wish that Buhari should remain healthy and strong to complete his first term and even win a second term in office. Why do I want Buhari to remain strong and in power in spite of his leadership deficiency?
Since Nigeria’s independence, Buhari has been the most divisive president Nigeria has ever had. Unlike other Nigerian military or civilian leaders who tried to cloak their ethno-religious preferences, Buhari does not hide his. He does not even try to be politically correct. He just speaks and acts the way he feels in his heart. All you need to hear his unclothed thoughts is pray that he would travel abroad and respond to questions at a news conference or town hall meeting. That is probably the reason he rarely grants interviews in Nigeria.
Almost anytime Buhari speaks or acts, he divides Nigerians into North and South, Muslims and Christians, the All Progressives Congress and the People’s Democratic Party, those who gave him 97 per cent votes and those who gave him five per cent votes, and so on. Consequently, he gets passionate support from those who are in his “camp” and gets passionate opposition from those outside his “camp”.
In addition, Buhari ignites in many Nigerians that spirit to agitate for how to solve the structural problems of Nigeria. A conciliatory President would have made many Nigerians relax and hope that just by good governance Nigeria would become better one day. It happened during the months Prof. Yemi Osinbajo was the Acting President, especially the first time Buhari was away for about two months. Because of Osinbajo’s conciliatory stance, the line between supporters and opponents of the administration seemed covered. Osinbajo visited erstwhile opponents, made nice speeches, and took actions that seemed to calm frayed nerves
It was obvious that Osinbajo wanted to be the leader of all Nigerians instead of the leader of those Nigerians who liked him. For example, when Buhari was away in February and there were street protests (initially scheduled to be led by musician Tu Baba) concerning the harsh economic times facing Nigeria, the police did not molest the protesters. Rather, Acting President Osinbajo sent out a message to them saying: “We heard you loud and clear.” That is the type of thing Buhari can never do as President. The way he would have reacted to those protests was to ensure that they were dealt with for allegedly breaching public peace and posing a threat to national security. If he were in a sweet mood, he would simply ignore the protesters without uttering a word to acknowledge their concerns.
However, it seemed that something happened to Osinbajo when Buhari returned in March. For when Buhari left this last time and was absent for over three months, Osinbajo seemed less conciliatory as before. The way the police manhandled those who protested against Buhari’s long absence and some other actions taken under Osinbajo seemed to suggest that he was briefed to act differently before his principal left on May 7 for his last medical care in London.
Buhari’s speech on Monday, August 21, 2017, after his return, showed that old habits, indeed, die hard. It was anti-climatic, given that the nation was informed two days earlier about the speech. For a President who had been away for 104 days on medical leave, one would have thought he would make a conciliatory speech thanking Nigerians for their steadfastness while he was away and assuring them that he was alright and stronger and ready to lead them into to become the nation of their dream. But he made no mention of his absence or health. Rather, he gave the nation a speech in which he called his compatriots “My dear citizens” rather than “Fellow citizens” and regaled the nation with words about “irresponsible elements” and the non-negotiability of Nigeria’s unity, while “charging the security agencies” not to relax.
Even though he tried to add a few other things, it was obvious that the focus of the President’s speech was a warning to those agitating for secession followed by those agitating for the restructuring of the nation. Also note that even though Fulani herdsmen have killed more Nigerians in the last year than Boko Haram or any other group, Buhari called it “farmers versus herdsmen clashes”. This means that in the eyes of Buhari, the issue of the killings and burning of villages by herdsmen is a minor matter of misunderstanding between two groups. And by mentioning the farmers first before the herdsmen, the implication is that the farmers are the aggressors while the herdsmen are the poor victims that merely try to defend themselves.
Therefore, the essence of the speech was to “warn” those threatening Nigeria with secession and restructuring that the lion king was back and would not tolerate any rubbish from any quarter. In plain text, the speech was not an address to the citizens of Nigeria. It was a speech directed at those viewed as “irresponsible elements” and what was in store for them.
There was no war scheduled to start in Nigeria in a day or two after the return of Buhari. So, there was no hurry to warn those planning to start a war or trouble. There was no confirmation that he had even transmitted a letter to the National Assembly about his return, so as to assume his office as President. Therefore, he was not yet the President of Nigeria by the time he was addressing the nation. And after transmitting that letter to the National Assembly, any speech from the President to the nation should have been more of a speech that would thank them, assure them and inspire them to be hopeful of a better tomorrow. Later, the President could then react to the so-called “irresponsible elements” by telling us what plans he had for them and the issues raised by them.
Buhari has a mentality that is required to jolt Nigerians out of their lethargy and docility. That mentality is: “You can make all the noise you want, but it can’t change a thing; for this is the way we have been doing things in this country. You either take it or leave it. But if you think you can start any trouble, we will give you double trouble and crush you.”
What this attitude does is that it angers those who think that they do not have a listening President. Rather than hope for a better tomorrow, many people feel that Nigeria is not headed in the right direction and ask for a better deal from Nigeria. That is why the calls for restructuring and secession have been strongest under the leadership of Buhari, even though he has only spent two years in office. The more he opposes them with his hard stance, the more they gather momentum.
Therefore, by the time he has spent eight years as the President of Nigeria, he would have jolted a sizeable number of Nigerians to wake up and find a lasting solution to the structural defects that have held Nigeria down for over 50 years. That is the greatest service Buhari would do for Nigeria, though inadvertently.
So, I wish President Muhammadu Buhari long life, good health and more years in office!
Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, and the organized labour, have described President Muhammadu Buhari’s national broadcast on Monday as timely and reassuring on the unity and indissolubility of Nigeria as a federation.
The two bodies in their separate statements issued in Kaduna, northern Nigeria on Monday supported the President’s stand against hate speeches, and called on Nigerians to heed to the call for restrain and resort to peaceful means of ventilating their grievances.
ACF National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, in a statement said, “Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, once more welcomes President Muhammadu Buhari from his medical vacation and again wishes him good health, Allah’s guidance and protection in the discharge of his responsibility.
“His Presidential broadcast of today was commendable and all encompassing, especially on the unity and indivisibility of the country.
“ACF supports the position of government on the issues of restructuring and the channels of addressing genuine grievances through the appropriate democratic institutions such as the legislature and judiciary.
“On the issue of hate speeches and inflammatory remarks, now that government has taken a decisive action to arrest the situation, ACF appeals to all Nigerians to henceforth heed to the call for restrain and resort to peaceful means of ventilating their grievances.
“ACF calls on governments at all levels to step up peace and confidence building in order to douse the current socio political tensions.”
Similarly, the organised labour in its statement issued by a member of NLC NEC and General Secretary of the National Union of Textile and Garment Workers of Nigeria, NUTGWN, Issa Aremu, called on all compatriots, state or non-state alike to rise and defend the constitution of the country in the face of what it described as ‘forces of disunity, revisionism and sheer disintegration’.
He said, President Muhammadu had exhibited remarkable statesmanship by devoting his first appreciation speech to the vexed issue of Nigerian unity in reminding all Nigerians of the obvious truism that the motto of Nigeria as enshrined in the constitution is ‘Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress’.
Labour urged other statesmen and women to emulate the President by talking the right talk and working the talk on Nigerian renaissance rather than organizing what he called ‘wasteful thanks giving/solidarity visits of dubious value’.
“All Nigerians should not only decry hate speeches and hate conducts of forces of disunity but should also talk the language of unity and love as President Buhari had done,” he said.
He observed, “Hate speeches come from the constituencies, states and local governments not necessarily in Abuja, and wondered why the governors, legislators and councils chairmen in the hate domains could not call the misguided few in their domains to order as Buhari has done.”
He urged Nigerians to be ambitious in leading Africans from underdevelopment to prosperity which he explained could only be possible with a strong, united and indissoluble Nigeria as contained in the 1999 constitution.
The labour leader said Nigerians should compliment the President by making sure that every African has claim to free movement in Nigeria as much as every Nigerian has the legitimate right to be anywhere in Africa.
According to him, it was madness for anybody to think of breaking Nigeria into ethnic enclaves at a time Africa Union, AU, was working out a common passport for all Africans and almost 50 years Europeans have built a strong Union.
Unified Nigerian Youth Forum, UNYF, has expressed concern that two years into the administration of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria, it has failed to fulfil her campaign promises on the country’s health sector.
It noted that the President’s foreign medical trip was an indictment on his administration, adding that the budget of the whole health sector for 2017 is less than 4 per cent.
A statement issued and made available to newsmen in Kaduna, northern Nigeria by UNYF President, Abdulsalam Muhammad Kazeem, said the Aso Rock should declare a state of emergency in the health sector, which the then ruling party People Democratic Party (PDP) failed to address for wasteful 16 years of their leadership.
“The president should immediately stop all his cabinet members and team of followers from seeking medical attention outside Nigeria if done! The hope of common man will be restored on this administration.
“Mr. President’s foreign medical trip is an indictment on his administration and this has clearly shown the inability of the ruling party (APC) to fulfil her campaign promises on our health sector as the whole budget to the health sector for 2017 is less than 4%,” the statement explained.
Speaking on the issue of restructuring, it observed that the APC-led administration should as a matter of urgency look into the issue of continuous agitation for restructuring for the purpose of peace, unity and tranquillity.
“As we equally advice the All Progressive Congress, APC, as a party to replace the Executive Governor of Kaduna State as her chairman on restructuring because of his double standard position on the issue that is, when he is not in office and when in office.
“We condemn in totality the unproductive acts of the Executive Governor of Kogi State declaring a public holiday for the celebration of the return of Mr. President.
“We advise him rather that the better ways to celebrate the return of the President is for him to pay all outstanding debt of civil servants, re-open all state owns institutions with immediate effect, resolve his problem with all unions within and outside the state and to find a lasting solution to the problem rocking the state house of assembly.
“It is a thing of great joy to have Mr. President finally back to the country and we wish him sound and good health as he resumes office to continue to steer the ship of the state.
“We salute the doggedness of the president, who dim it fit to address the nation in less than 24 hours of his return.
“Mr. President foreign medical trip is an indictment on his administration and this has clearly show the inability of the ruling party (APC) to fulfil her campaign promises on our health sector as the whole budget to the health sector for 2017 is less than 4%.
“We support and affirm with the federal government position that henceforth all forms of hate speeches be termed as an acts of terror and be dealt with accordingly,” it explained.
The forum agreed with the federal government that the silence of some prominent Nigerians, Business Mongul, Traditional leaders and some community leaders in the face of incitive provocation by their son’s and daughters was responsible for the continuous escalation of the current threats to our national unity.
China’s fleet of high-speed trains is set once again to become the world’s fastest.
