The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Niger Command has confirmed the death of 12 persons and multiple injuries in an accident on the Agaie-Lapai Highway.

The state FRSC Sector Commander, Kumar Tsukwam, confirmed this to newsmen in Minna on Saturday.

He said personnel of the corps were still at the scene to collect accurate details of the accident as at press time.

He assured that the FRSC would conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident and provide updates as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses reported that the accident occurred when a bus traveling from Minna to Katcha Local Government Area of Niger collided head-on with a trailer at Jippo Village, near Mashina Community.

According to the witnesses, three of the deceased women were from the same family.

Three other passengers, including two women and the driver, sustained varying degrees of injuries and were currently receiving treatment at Lapai General Hospital.

Speaking from his hospital bed, the driver of the passenger bus, Mohammed Baba, explained that the accident happened when the trailer driver attempted to overtake another vehicle, resulting in the head-on collision.(NAN)

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says its ongoing enforcement operations aim to protect Nigerians, not to disrupt trade.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who briefed journalists on Saturday in Lagos, urged against politicising the agency’s operations.

NAFDAC launched a nationwide enforcement operation on Feb.

“What we are doing in Lagos, Aba, and Onitsha should not be politicised. We are protecting lives, not destroying trade,” Adeyeye said.

“We cannot prioritise trade over human lives. These operations will continue to ensure public safety,” she added.

She stressed that NAFDAC supports trade and has a dedicated trade and international relations office, but not at the expense of Nigerian lives.

Drugs such as Tafrodol, Tramadol, and Anagin, which are banned and unregistered in Nigeria, were discovered in sealed warehouses and shops.

She revealed that antiretroviral drugs donated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for HIV patients were found at Idumota market, alongside expired condoms.

“Vaccines were stored in unventilated buildings instead of refrigerators, and expired Amlodipine for blood pressure was being revalidated for sale.

“Vaccines not meant for storage outside refrigerators were found. Controlled substances and condoms due for destruction since 2022 were also discovered,” she said.

She added that Anagin, banned before her tenure as Director-General, along with many fake and substandard drugs, was seized.

“Two trucks brought by dealers to evacuate medicines from Idumota market at midnight were also confiscated,” she said.

Adeyeye noted that NAFDAC is understaffed and urged the government to employ more qualified personnel to enhance its operations.

She emphasised the need for more staff at Nigeria’s entry points to strengthen surveillance and prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the country. (NAN)

The Chinese Consulate General  in Lagos, Nigeria, Yan Yuqing, says  African nations should leverage their resources and market advantages to engage more in international cooperation while maintaining sovereignty and economic independence.

According to Yuqing,  the global trade system is undergoing restructuring, and countries need to strengthen cooperation and dialogue to jointly address challenges and promote inclusive growth.

Yuqing made this known in an interview in Lagos.

She said that recently, the intensification of competition between China and the U.S. has had a profound impact on global trade and international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The envoy noted that her country adhered to multilateralism and supported the reform of the WTO to address  challenges of unilateralism and protectionism.

“The Sino-American rivalry may lead to further fragmentation of the global economic landscape, prompting more nations to seek new models of economic cooperation, such as  expansion of the BRICS mechanism.

BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It’s an acronym for a group of emerging market economies that work together to promote cooperation, development, and security. 

It is an intergovernmental organisation consisting of 10  countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

BRICS is considered to be a counterpart and alternative to the [G7]bloc of the world’s largest economies,

According to the envoy, amidst competition between China,  U.S., and emerging powers, African countries are actively adopting diversified diplomatic strategies, strengthening regional cooperation, and participating in multilateral mechanisms to balance the interests of all parties and ensure their own development space.

Speaking on Nigeria’s partnership with BRICS, she said the country is expected to gain more opportunities for investments, technology transfer, and market access, thereby promoting its economic development.

On China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)  Yuqing noted that since its proposal in 2013, it had evolved into a highly acclaimed international public good and a broadly participatory platform for international cooperation in today’s world. 

“Landmark BRI projects  undertaken by Chinese enterprises in Nigeria, include the Lagos-Ibadan Railway and the Lekki Deep Sea Port.”

Yuqing said the development of the BRI had also made a positive contribution to promoting the healthy progress of economic globalisation, solving global development challenges, and improving the global governance system, carving out a new pathway for humanity to achieve modernisation together.

According to her, the advancement of the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Africa is conducive to fostering economic and social development in Africa and leading the countries of the Global South toward modernisation collectively.

She, however, said China firmly opposed certain western countries smear and sabotage of the BRI,  through the means of pressuring and coercion.

“We appreciate Nigeria for its support and active participation in the three major global initiatives of development, security, and civilisation.

“China is willing to synergise the joint construction of the BRI and the 10 partnership actions of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit with the priority areas of Nigeria’s Renewed Hope policy.”

She said the strength of the Global South,  characterised by unity and cooperation of developing countries is increasingly converging.

This, Yuqing said,  is against the backdrop of geopolitics becoming more visible, global governance facing a deficit, major power relations becoming confrontational, and the international situation growing turbulent.

“On her part, the Global South is gradually emerging as a positive, stabilising, and constructive force in international affairs, breaking the long-standing pattern of western dominance in global governance.”

According to her, the collective rise of the Global South is a distinctive feature of the profound changes in the world.

This, she said, remained  an inevitable outcome of the growing importance of developing countries in international affairs and reflected  profound shifts in the balance of international power.

“This trend aligns with the tide of the times in development of international relations and meets common aspirations of people across the world.

“I believe that mutually beneficial cooperation should be the basic principle of all countries’ policy in handling international relations and China will always adhere to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

“We are willing to work together with all parties in unity and cooperation, like passengers in the same boat, seeking win-win outcomes and avoiding multiple losses, to inject more certainty into the world and promote the global governance system toward a more equitable and reasonable direction.”

Highlighting the tariff wars between the U.S. and other economies, she said the general consensus of the international community is that there are no winners in trade wars.

She further said China had always adhered to the diplomatic concepts of mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation.

Yuqing said China remained willing to work together with all countries, including the U.S., to promote the building of a new type of international relations and make positive contributions to world peace and development.

“At the same time, China opposes any form of hegemony and power politics, and advocates resolving differences through dialogue and cooperation on an equal footing to achieve common prosperity.

“We welcome positive changes from the U.S., building mutual respect with other countries and working together for a better tomorrow for the world,” Yuqing said. (NAN)