NEWS
Why FG Should Incorporate Space Law into Curriculum – Lawyer
A space lawyer, Mr Mujahid Indabawa, has urged the Federal Government to incorporate space law into schools’ curriculum to increase its awareness and bring the country on the global map of international law practice.
Indabawa, who is also the Assistant Director, Legal and Space Regulation Services, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), said this on Monday in an interview in Abuja.
According to him, space law, as an aspect of international law, is an unconventional area practiced mainly by developed countries and few developing countries.
He said that the country had the legal backing to practice space law because it encompassed the practice of procuring a satellite, launching it into the orbit and its operationalisation with provided guidelines.
The legal practitioner said that Nigeria was a signatory to the Outer Space Treaty, which is the framework for space law, consisting of its grand norms, laws and constitution.
“We derive every space revelation, law or theory from the Outer Space Treaty. It regulates production, procurement, deployment of satellites, and regulates how to operate the satellite.
“This is overseen by a body called the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), under the United Nations, domiciled in Vienna, Austria.
“We also have the Liability Convention; the Moon Treaty, an agreement governing the activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial bodies, Rescue of Astronauts Agreement and the Registration Convention.
“Whenever a country is a signatory to one of these treaties, then you can say it is practicing space law since it is international in nature,’’ he said.
He added that the National space Act also empowered a nation to venture into space law, hence the NASRDA Act of 2010.
Indabawa said that the Nigerian educational curriculum needed to be evolving, adding that there had been lots of emerging areas that were yet to be incorporated into its curriculum.
He, however, said that the emergence of private universities that were incorporating the emerging areas in their curriculum had brought about the competition into new aspects of law.
“Although NASRDA already has existing Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with many tertiary institutions across the country to teach space law at undergraduate level, it is still not sufficient.
“The way forward is introducing space law in our universities; the government needs to do more to encourage this.
“We can bring in space law in modules because it can expose our students, it will bring Nigerians on the international map of international law practice,’’ he said.
With less than 20 space lawyers in Nigeria, Indabawa encouraged the youths to consider building a career in space law, adding that it is in high demand and space economy is lucrative.
He recalled that space economy was projected in 2020 to be a five billion dollars economy, adding that it surpassed the projection and earned over 50 billion dollars.
“This is an emerging sector that commercial companies are venturing into, it is no longer a government affair.
“The sector is now fully dominated by private companies, thus the need for more engineers, scientists, administrators and lawyers, because you cannot have a company without a lawyer.
“It is not just about launching satellite, there are components to be created, there are lots of applications like Google maps, navigation software, which are spin offs people can leverage on,’’Indabawa said. (NAN)
NEWS
Gunmen Attack Police Station, Kill 2 in Anambra
The Police Command in Anambra says gunmen have burnt its station in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area, killing two officers.SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, announced this in a statement issued in Awka on Monday.He said that the gunmen attacked the police facility with improvised explosives, shooting sporadically, which caused a fire to burn part of the station.
He said further that during the attack, two police operatives on duty were killed when they attempted to resist the gunmen. Ikenga stated that the bodies of the deceased policemen had been recovered and taken to the morgue.He also noted that joint security forces, including the police, army and navy, among others, had recovered five unexploded improvised explosives.Ikenga noted that the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, CP Nnaghe Itam, had visited the scene for assessment.He said that Itam called on anyone with information that could assist in the investigation to come forward, assuring then that such information would be treated confidential.(NAN)NEWS
IPPIS Data Base not Compromised, OAGF Assures Employees
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to maintain and operate a secure and efficient personnel and payroll system.In a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa on Monday, the OAGF maintained that the Integrated Personal and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) database has not been compromised, assuring that employees personal data on the IPPIS database is safe and secured.
The OAGF, which manages the IPPIS and other financial management initiatives of the Federal Government, said it is already implementing its ICT Security Policy that aims to ensure that its digital assets are secured in line with global best practices. The Office explained that no data is saved on its website, adding that the IPPIS uses the website to only share information and not for any transaction. “The IPPIS is not using the OAGF website for any transaction. The website is actually the medium to share information. Neither payroll nor payment is made through the website, therefore, no data is contained in the website”, it said. The OAGF stated that the IPPIS validation portal that was recently developed for updates of employees information was deployed for a period and after the exercise was over, the data were pulled out and the site shut down permanently.According to the statement, “the IPPIS Validation Portal was deployed on a secure platform. A secured database and application were purchased from the popular HELIX-FONS.”The Office acknowledged that the IPPIS is of utmost importance to Nigerian workers, thus it became imperative to assuage the fears of any loss or breach of employees personal data in the IPPIS database. The OAGF noted that the IPPIS has put in place necessary mechanism to resolve any problem that may arise in its operations and advised workers that observe anomalies in their salaries to follow the official procedures inorder to get such issues resolved.NEWS
Again, Inflation Drops to 32.15% in August
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Nigeria’s headline inflation dropped to 32.15 percent in August, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report
The report released on Monday said the inflation eased the second time in 2024 after a 19 month increase that peaked at 34.19 percent in June.
“Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation
rate showed a decrease of 1.
It however, said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (25.80%).
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in August 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.
e, August 2023).Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.22%, which was 0.06% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.28%).
” This means that in August 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the
average price level in July 2024.”
The report added that food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.18% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (29.34%).
It said the rise in food inflation
on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of; “Bread, Maize Grains, Guinea Corn, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable, etc (Oil & Fats Class) and
Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class).”
But on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.37 percent, a 0.10% decrease compared to the rate recorded in July 2024 (2.47 percent).
“The fall can be attributed to the decline in the rate of increase in the average prices of Tobacco, Tea, Coco, Coffee, Groundnut Oil, Milk, Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, Palm Oil, Vegetable etc.”
It added that the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 36.99 percent, which was 11.98 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2023 (25.01 percent).