Nigeria’s Nuclear Power Plant Option, By Tony Ogunlowo

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05/12/2016

Just like with most things in Nigeria, today, energy requirements far exceeds the current production levels – and will do so for many years to come. Existing power generating plants are old, underutilized, with most falling into disrepair and unable to cope with the present demands.

Looking to fill the gaps in energy production the government is firmly looking towards nuclear energy as a long term solution. Recently a memorandum of understanding was signed with Russia to design, construct and run four nuclear power plants by 2035. There is even hope the first generator, generating 1,200 MW of electricity, will be up and running by 2025.

The President pushed for Nigeria’s nuclear energy development for her energy needs at the recently concluded Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC and the Minister for Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has said that ‘if all things go well, by the quarter four of next year (2017) – that is the schedule that I have met – we should have started construction’.

Currently the only country in Africa using nuclear energy for electricity production is South Africa. The Koeberg nuclear power station has two plants producing 1,830 MW – more than all of Nigeria’s hydroelectric plants put together.

A nuclear power plant is not cheap. The cheapest that would meet Nigeria’s energy requirements would cost anything in the region of 10 to 15 billion dollars and would take up to 8 years to build. This is to say that if one government commissions it subsequent governments must agree to continue with it instead of letting it rot like many other capital projects.

Nuclear science is the Holy Grail of engineering – a very pampered science. In erecting a nuclear power plant no corners can be cut and no expense can be spared.(-so no kickbacks from using inferior materials!) Failure to maintain, to very high standards, the maintenance of a nuclear plant can result in catastrophic disasters as we’ve seen in the American Three Mile Island, Fukushima in Japan and Russian Chernobyl disasters. Radiation from a damaged nuclear reactor can linger on for very many years killing thousands of people over a large scale area.

To run a nuclear power station you need an elite team of nuclear engineers, highly educated with years of experience, of which Nigeria currently has none. The current number of Nigerian nuclear engineers stands at less than five hundred with most of them in academic positions.

Under the auspices of the Ahmadu Bello University a Chinese-made nuclear reactor has been operating since 2004 giving Nigerian scientists a glimpse into the workings of nuclear energy production. A number of Nigerian universities offer courses in nuclear physics but there is still not enough qualified man power – even though the government has awarded scholarships for the course to be studied abroad. You need professionals with years of experience to run a nuclear power station not just some kid who has had just a few years of study in a university.

There will be pros and cons for using nuclear energy to generate electricity.

Nuclear energy is clean and cheap. One nuclear power station can produce more power than all of Nigeria’s current twenty-four hydroelectric plants. But at the same time it comes with its own inherent dangers – radiation leakage can kill thousands. Also there can be the problem of decommissioning after the plants’ useful working life with all the radioactive and hazardous materials involved.

Fossil fuel and hydro-electric plants have their limitations.

Gas or fuel power plants aren’t good for the environment and contribute largely to carbon dioxide build up in the atmosphere, leading to further global warming. They are also not cost-effective.

Hydro- powered plants, which has been Nigeria’s primary power production source for over 50 years has its limitations – it’s dependent on nature – you need it to rain to fill the rivers, to fill the dams. In periods of adverse weather conditions, such as droughts, this can be detrimental to energy production.

Exotic renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy are still too expensive to roll out on a national scale.

So if the future of energy production in Nigeria is to be nuclear all the necessary stringent procedures need to be put in place – adequate funding and commitment, the necessary infrastructure, a high level of maintenance and security – you can’t have a bunch of militants tampering or blowing up installations- and firm government commitment.

Follow me on Twitter: @Archangel641 or visit http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk

Nigeria: People With Disability Decry Exclusion In Election And Health Services

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Africaprimenews

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05/12/2016

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By Iyakale Yakubu
Jos (Nigeria) — The over 25 million People With Disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria, have decried absence of concrete measures put in place to ease challenges faced by them to exercise electoral rights, especially voting during elections.

Patricia Pam, an official of ‘Inclusive Friends Association’, an NGO, said despite the large population, people with disability lack electoral materials that is easy to use at polling units.

“We are excluded from electoral processes because polling units are not accessible to us, the electoral materials are not produced in Braille so the visually impaired cannot access information to make informed decision to enable them cast them votes,” she said.

Mrs. Pam who was speaking on the occasion of the 2016 International Day of Persons with Disabilities said the focus was to draw attention of the populace to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, especially in relation to inclusiveness for PWDs in every sector of the society including governance.

“We are an association with five thematic areas which are peace building, democracy and peace governance, income and livelihood, inclusive education, community health.” She said

According to her, an accessibility audit study conducted by the NGO on polling units in Edo elections and the recently concluded Ondo gubernatorial elections showed that PWDs did not have access to polling units and other electoral materials.

Mr. Pam also expressed worry that women with disabilities were discriminated especially during ante natal visits in health facilities, because of the stigma surrounding disability.

She explained that the association has embarked on advocacy visits to health personnel’s so that the PWDs were treated with human sympathy.

FGM Could Results To Infertility, Infections, Painful Sexual Intercourse, Others – Medical Expert

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Africaprimenews

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02/12/2016

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By Longtong Ibrahim

Kaduna (Nigeria) – Painful sexual intercourse, Infertility, Urinary/reproductive tract infection, Pelvic inflammatory diseases, increased risk to HIV/AIDS, Painful menstruation, chronic urinary tract obstruction/bladder stones, obstructed labor, bleeding and infection during childbirth, Tumors, excessive growth of scar tissue, Hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases have been identified as health consequences of Female Genital Mutilation.

Dr. Attahir Abubakar, a medical expert with the European Union made this known while making a presentation during a sensitization workshop for some Kaduna-based Journalist on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), organized by EndFGM with support from Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF) and WRAPA in Kaduna, North-west Nigeria.

According to Abubakar other severe cases of FGM could possibly lead to Vesico – Vaginal Fistula (VVF) and Recto –Vaginal Fistula (RVF).

He said, FGM otherwise known as female genital circumcision, comprises all surgical procedures involving partial or total removal of the external genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons.

According to him, a fact sheet of the World Health Organization (2000) revealed that Nigeria accounts for one quarter of the estimated 115-140 million circumcised women in the world living with the consequences of FGM, with about three million girls annually from Africa.

He further explained that, in the north-western region of Nigeria, Kano has the highest FGM prevalence rate followed by Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto recording the lowest.

He said there is no any justification and benefit for FGM but only subject the woman to lots of risks.

img_20161130_115315 — Group picture of Journalists after the FGM sensitization program in Kaduna

While calling on Nigerians to change their attitudes and beliefs on FGM, the medical expert urged government to show more commitment to ending the menace by enforcing laws that prohibits its practice in the country and embark on sensitization program involving community, religious and traditional leaders.

He also charged the media to continue to enlighten the public on dangers of FGM.

In her remarks, representative of EndFGM in Kaduna, Elizabetheth Anche, said, there are needs to bring FGM practice to the end. She said: “even though it is rooted in our cultures, there is need for more advocacy and public education on its dangers.

“In 2015, the law banning FGM was enacted but because it is deep rooted in our culture; many do not even know that it is there in the law. Until we inform the people, then, they can make an inform decision about it.”

Earlier in her opening remark, AMDF Cordinator, Sekyen Dadik, said the essence of the program was to enlighten Journalists on the practice of FGM in the country so that they can educate the public on its dangers through their various media.

How South Africa’s Women Are Eradicating HIV At The Front Line Of The Aids Epidemic – Intl Business Times

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Africaprimenews

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01/12/2016

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Local women are the key to stopping immunodeficiency virus being transmitted from mother to child.

Sanelisiwe Nkomo is 22 and has three children. She is from Kwazulu-Natal, a province which stretches along South Africa’s eastern coast, which is the epicentre of the country’s HIV epidemic. She tested positive for HIV last year.

“Me and boyfriend at the time had unprotected sex and unfortunately both of us didn’t know our HIV status and we hadn’t been tested,” Nkomo says. “So last year when I got pregnant, I went in for antenatal care classes and they asked me to do a HIV test. Then when the result came back positive.”

South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world, with an estimated seven million people living with the virus in 2015. Young women are the face of the epidemic, with around 7,500 women aged 15 to 24 infected with HIV every week last year. More than 90% of the adolescents infected in sub-Saharan Africa are girls.

In Kwazulu-Natal, HIV prevalence is around 40% – compared to 18% in the Northern Cape and Western Cape.

Nkomo was terrified when she received her diagnosis, not just for her own health, but for her children’s. More than 400 babies are infected with HIV globally every day – of which around 75% live in sub-Saharan Africa. The majority acquire HIV from their mothers during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

Although medical interventions can keep both mothers and babies healthy, understaffed hospitals and stigma often prevents women from seeking life-saving, antiretroviral therapy. Without medical support, up to 40% of children born to HIV-positive mothers will contract the virus. With medical intervention, the figure is reduced to 2%.

But at the antenatal clinic, Nkomo was introduced to mothers2mothers, an Africa-based NGO which trains and employs local mothers living with HIV – which provides education and support to other women, to protect their children from infection. Nkomo met Jean, a mothers2mothers “mentor mother”.

“When I found out I was HIV positive I was really devastated, I was shocked, but luckily for me I had a mentor mother called Jean – she was amazing in supporting me, because I was really worried how I would break the news to my family and to my partner,” Nkomo says.

“The information she gave me really put my mind at ease because I was worried about how on earth a HIV positive mother could give birth to a HIV negative child.”

Mothers2mothers also employs local women to help promote safe sex and tackle stigma – something Nkomo experienced as first-hand when she found out she was HIV positive.

“With my family, I really had a lot of support from them – knowing that my sister was also HIV positive,” she says. “But in terms of the community, and my friends at the time, it was really difficult, because when some of heard I was HIV positive it was like they couldn’t relate to me anymore, they wouldn’t really be comfortable being around me.”

Young women are at particular risk of contracting HIV – in part, because of their low status in a strongly patriarchal society. In poorer areas, women are vulnerable to older men who lure them with gifts and money in exchange for sex.

Emma France, the European director for mothers2mothers, says there are a variety of reasons why young women are vulnerable to contracting HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. “Reasons of lack of knowledge, lack of knowledge about HIV, lack of knowledge about how it is contracted, gender inequality, girls essentially not being in relationships in which they have equal power to insist that contraception is used, lack of access to education.”

“Often the girls are child brides, they are married early, we are even seeing girls presenting with HIV, who are pregnant at 12 or 13.”

Thanks to mothers2mothers, Nkomo received support and medical intervention to ensure her and her children will lead long and healthy lives. And earlier this year, she joined the charity as a peer mentor, to educate, inform and relate to other young mothers. She now works in the township of Umlazi, doing housecalls, running youth groups and support groups in hospitals and clinics.

Nkomo reaches out to women and young people to help them understand HIV and infection prevention and to make sure those who are HIV positive receive the right support. In doing so, she is helping tackle stigma. Nkomo also has a career and earns an income, so she can support her family.

“I teach them if you have started being sexually active, use protection, so you won’t be faced with an early pregnancy or be infected with HIV. That’s what I tell them first. Then I teach them to know their worth as a woman. I tell them if you don’t know your worth, you let other people define it for you.

“The information about HIV positive women being able to give birth to HIV negative children is still information that I find people don’t know about – but mothers2mothers they give out that information to people and it is information that people really need to know.”

So far, mothers2mothers has reached 1.5 million HIV positive women across seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa, achieving virtual elimination of HIV transmitted from mother-to-child in the women they have provided care to.

“The power of the model has very much been recognizing that local women have the power, they are the solution to this great pandemic,” France says. “We train, empower and employ – so we pay local women to support other local women and meet their needs, provide them with life-saving support and information around HIV, around their sexual and reproductive health.”

World Aids Day is marked on 1^st December.

Culled from International Business Times

Ghana Elections: Penplusbytes Calls For Effective Use Of Social Media

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Africaprimenews

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30/11/2016

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Penplusbytes (a non-profit organization) has called on Ghanaians to make good use of the social media on Ghana’s Election Day (December 7^th) by reporting election related incidents on the social media platforms, which would go a long way to make the elections transparent, free and fair.

A statement by Penplusbytes’ Program Manager, new media innovations, Precious Ankomah, noted that, Penplusbytes will deploy a 72-hour nonstop social media monitoring centre dubbed the Social Media Tracking Centre (SMTC), with the “Aggie” software, that will be monitoring and responding in real-time to reports emanating from social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook from December 6^th to 8^th.

According to the statement, “Aggie is able to present trends grouped around voting logistics, violence, political parties, etc. Verified incidents generated from the SMTC would be passed on to the National Elections Security Taskforce with regards to violence and those of relating electoral logistics will be sent to the Electoral Commission (EC).

“Through rapid citizen feedback, gathered through social media, problems that may trigger security incidents will be quickly resolved, contributing to a peaceful election.

“Social media can be a great way to stay in touch with friends and family and even to network professionally. Today there are a wide variety of social media platforms available – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram are just a few of the options. While social media can be a useful tool, it is important to keep several pointers in mind to keep social media use as safe and responsible as possible.

“The growth of social media not only poses challenges to traditional media policy- and regulation-making, which are based on the type of medium and on national borders, it also triggers new legal issues of both a criminal and civil nature around the world.

“Particularly during elections, where this new means of communications is either used for public good or exploited, there is the need to be careful and circumspect in whatever information you intend to spread using social media.

Despite its excesses, social media has contributed to entrenching democracy, especially in most African countries, monitoring of elections as well as serving as a major source of diverse information.

The 2013 Kenya national election has been described as the most hi-tech in the history of Kenya elections and by extension African elections. Kenyan youth were recovering from the violence in 2007-08 and did not want any post elections violence. Instead of doing nothing and letting their frustration build up, they actively used social media, blogging and expressed their opinions about a wide range of issues.

Then also, it was estimated that politicians in the just ended US elections allocated over 9 percent of their media budget towards digital and social media — this comes to an estimated $1 billion. This goes to tell how much eminence is given to the reach and influence of social media in elections.

Social media is playing an increasingly large role in the way candidates communicate and engage with voters.

In February 2016, however, the Ugandan government decided to shut down social media on elections day in a bid to control its use in spreading false information.

The ban lasted up to 72 hours. What is interesting to note was how Ugandans became digital security experts in such a short while.

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) became the talk of town. Even though such talks are not the kind commonly heard, everyone was talking about VPNs.

Statistics showed that up to 1.5 million VPN downloads were made by people in Uganda. That essentially makes up Uganda’s active Social Media population.

A total ban of social media on Election Day would definitely increase suspicions and create an information gap that can easily be filled with more misinformation and rumours. That notwithstanding, there are means to circumvent as Ugandans did should there be a ban on December 7 during Ghana’s elections,” the statement noted.

Wole Soyinka Centre ‘Art Of The Cartoon’ Project Launch Moves To New Venue

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Africaprimenews

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30/11/2016

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By Iliya Kure

Kaduna (Nigeria) — Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has announced a change of venue for the launch of its ‘Arts of the Cartoon’ project which will hold on Friday, at 10am.

A notice to invited participants by the Centre Coordinator, Motunrayo Alaka, says the new venue is Lagos Business Club Ikeja, 50 Hakeem Balogun Street, Central Business District Alausa, Ikeja (Beside NECA House, Opposite Afrikan Shrine).

In a detailed explanation on its website the Organisation says it intends to train and mentor practitioners through the project.

“The Art of the Cartoon project is intended to contribute to raising discussion on the status of cartooning in Nigeria’s news media. The Centre plans to use the initiative to develop the capacity of reporters in the genre, by stimulating the culture of satirical, investigative and humorous cartoons through training and mentoring.

“At the launch, Professor Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate, will present the keynote address. Other speakers drawn from media houses and organisations interested in the subject matter will join him to speak to the theme of using cartoons to document and communicate social realities across the world in general and in Nigeria in particular.

“The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism has nurtured the idea of championing a programme for cartoonists in addition to its award category in editorial cartoon as it observed that it is one of the most neglected genres of the Nigerian news media. The art of the cartoon project, which commenced with the monitoring of cartoons in seven national newspapers in April 2016, will finally provide the desired opportunity.

“The initiative will be supported with social media campaign, especially on Twitter, through the organisation’s handle, @WSoyinkaCentre using the hashtag; #ArtoftheCartoon.” the statement says.

ECWA Tasks Government On Alleviating Plights Of IDPs In Nigerian Communities

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Africaprimenews

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30/11/2016

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Kaduna (Nigeria) – The Evangelical Church Wining All (ECWA) has called on both governments at the federal and state level to act fast in alleviating the sufferings of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in southern part of Kaduna state, saying, most of them are still taking refuge in public primary schools.

Secretary of the 19 ECWA District Church Councils (DCC) in Kaduna, Reverend James Moore, made the call during an interview with Africa Prime News.

According to him, there is need for government to intensify the security level in trouble areas and come to the aid of the IDPs in the region.

He said, ECWA as a denomination had done their part by donating relief materials to the IDPs, and will continue to pray for the peace of the state and country at large, as well as sensitize it members on the need to leave in peace with one another.

Moore also called on the Kaduna state government to arrest and prosecutes anyone involved in the attacks and killings so as to bring an end to the incessant attacks in the area.

Drug-Abuse Made Me A Victim Of Circumstance – Rehabilitee

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Africaprimenews

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30/11/2016

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By Longtong Ibrahim

img-20161130-wa0000 — Ibrahim Ladan Kontagora

Kaduna (Nigeria) – “It all started at a tender age in secondary school. It was something I thought I could control but it became part of me, making me an addict – an attitude which resulted into me been expelled from different higher institutions and made me a victim of circumstance.

“It began as a result of keeping bad company and youthful exuberance back then in school. Though I was lucky to complete my secondary school and had diploma in Law but couldn’t further and my dreams were ruined because I was into taking drugs.

“I had so many opportunities but they are all gone now. It was a rough experience for me and sometimes when I remembered, I do regret and cry.”

That was a recounted experience of Ibrahim Ladan Kontagora, the Secretary of the Niggas Rehabilitation Old Students Association (NIROSA), a group of rehabilitees of drug abuse who had passed through the Niggas Rehabilitation and Skill Acquisition Training Centre, Kaduna, in North-western Nigeria.

According to Kantagora, his experiences and that of others under NIROSA was a lesson they needed to share with the young ones since they have recuperated and gotten their sanity; as such, initiated an idea of visiting secondary schools where most of the students are young, with high probability of indulging into drugs due to peer pressure to sensitize them against drug abuse. He said, they wouldn’t want to see youths like them going through the same situation they had gone through which is why they took it upon themselves to sensitize some secondary school students in Kaduna.

img-20161129-wa0003 — Cross section of students during the sensitization campaign at Rimi College Kaduna.

Speaking during the campaign exercise in one of the schools visited, Rimi College Kaduna, Kontagora, urged the students to strive towards achieving their dreams, saying, indulging into drugs and engaging in other social vices can shatter their beautiful dreams away.

He said, “Drug abuse destroys life and easily kills. It can make someone indulge into social vices like arm robbery, rape, violence and even cause mental disorder, becoming a nuisance to the society.

He however charged them to be good ambassadors of the school and concentrate in their academics to be good leaders of tomorrow; noting that, Rimi College has produced Ministers and Governors.

In his remarks, Principal of the school, Ahmed Sani Zailani represented by the Vice Principal (Academics), Nura Hassan Yero commended the group for bringing the awareness campaign to the schools, saying the school has a challenge to that respect.

According to Yero, “There is a notorious place the students called jungle where the students and even outsiders come to take drugs. Sometimes security operatives (Operation yaki) come to chase them away. I believed with this kind of awareness, it will go a long way in curtailing the menace.”

Also speaking, the Director of Transparency and Intergritty Foundation from the Kaduna state Ministry Education, Umar Musa, lauded NIROSA for taking this campaign to schools, positing that, such awareness exercises are lacking in schools. “It will go a long way to catch the students young,” he added.

Representative of the Nigeria Customs Service, Zone B, Dikko Magaji in a remarks reiterated Custom’s commitment to checkmating importation of goods especially illicit drugs that comes through the country’s borders.

The campaign exercise was also carried out in Government Secondary School, Rigasa in Igabi Local Government area of the State among other schools.

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