Foreign News
Nigeria to Reopen San Francisco Mission in US

Nigeria will soon reopen its Consulate-General in San Francisco to provide consular services for the huge population of Nigerians residing on the West Coast of the US.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb.
Gabriel Aduda, said this in New York on Monday that the plan to re-open the mission had reached “an advanced stage“.The Federal Government shut down the San Francisco, California, Consulate in 1989.
The five-room, 4,250-square foot property is owned by Nigeria.Aduda said: “We think rather than having Nigerians residing in California travelling to the East Coast or to the North Coast, they don’t have to travel that far.
“The mission (San Francisco) is very important and in the next few months, before the end of the year, the mission will be running,’’ he said.
The permanent secretary said that the ministry and members of the National Assembly committees on Foreign Affairs had visited all the Nigerian missions in the US in June for on-the-spot assessment.
“We visited the Embassy in Washington, DC, the New York Mission, the Atlanta Mission and we took a trip to San Francisco where we hope to re-open another mission that will service the West Coast,’’ he said.
On the state of facilities in the Nigerian missions, Aduda said there was the need for the facilities to be maintained as some of them had been in existence for so long.
“There is the need for upgrading, there is the need for routine maintenance and on the whole, service-wise, I think we were quite satisfied with what we saw at the missions.
“You will see that there are changes in all the missions in the US, especially Atlanta and New York, when it comes to the services that are being rendered to Nigerians.
“This is because, during the visit, it gave us the opportunity to discuss with the staff of the missions the new direction that the Federal Government is aiming,“ the said.
The permanent secretary said most of the challenges presented by the staff were immigration-related and they were already being addressed.
Aduda said Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) was totally responsible for producing passports and that the shortage of passport booklets was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 slowed down a lot of things and we got a lot of backlog, so the inability to meet up is what created the problem in offering passport service to Nigerians abroad.’’
The permanent secretary assured Nigerians living in the US of improved services on passport issuance.
He said with the level of support the ministry was getting from NIS, the missions would not be talking about shortage of passport booklet by the end of the year.
The permanent secretary said the Nigeria High Commission in London had a backlog of about 19,000 passports but had been cleared in three months.
He said another batch of passport booklets had been received at the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Atlanta adding, a lot is being done and we are hoping that before the end of this year, we will be on a clean slate.
Aduda commended the Consulate-General in New York for providing improved passport services to Nigerians within its jurisdiction and for organising a cultural show to promote Nigeria’s rich heritage.
The permanent secretary said the consulate had adopted cultural diplomacy through the show to sell the good image of Nigeria to the world.
The consulate had on Saturday organised a cultural show, with the theme “Nigeria: Our Community, Cultures and Unity’’, to showcase Nigeria’s festivals, dances, and fashions, among others.
Aduda, who was at the event, said the consulate had promoted Nigeria’s culture in a way that people would able be to buy-in.
He said people would get to know the opportunities, the advantages and rich resources in the country, adding, “we are going to do more of the shows.
“We only showcased two festivals – the Osun-Osogbo and the Argungu Fishing Festivals – out of the diverse cultural festivals. We hope it will actually draw people to exploit the tourism potential of the country.
“If you look at Osun-Osogbo festival, you will notice so many foreigners; if you look at Argungu, you will see many foreigners, if you look at Calabar carnivals at the end of the year, it is the same.
“In fact, there was a time we had about 20 different countries in attendance at the Calabar carnival, so apart from the economic benefit, you would have raised ambassadors that will go back with good image of the country,’’ (NAN)
Foreign News
Zelensky Announces New Draft Law on Anti-corruption Bodies after Protests

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has approved the text of a draft law guaranteeing the freedom of two anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine – days after nationwide protests broke out over changes curbing their independence.
Kyiv’s Western partners had also expressed serious concerns over the legislation.
On Thursday, Zelensky seemed to backtrack, saying the new bill was intended to safeguard the independence of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sap), and to protect them from Russian influence.
He said the text of the bill was “balanced”, but did not provide any details.
The law passed earlier this week brought Nabu and Sap under the control of the prosecutor general, who is appointed by the president.
At the time Zelensky justified his decision to curtail the bodies’ powers by citing Russian influence. The day before, Ukraine’s security services had carried out searches and arrests targeting alleged Russian spies at the agency.
The passing of the legislation instantly sparked the largest protests since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 in several cities across Ukraine, with many worrying the law would severely undermine the Nabu and Sap’s authority and effectiveness.
Thousands of people gathered in streets and squares across Ukraine, holding placards calling for the legislation to be vetoed.
Several commentators accused Zelensky of democratic backsliding. Their concerns were further exacerbated when Ukraine’s Western partners signalled their displeasure with the bill.
Ukraine has official EU candidate status and a spokesman for European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen previously warned Kyiv that the rule of law and the fight against corruption were “core elements” of membership to the bloc.
On Thursday, the Commission said it “welcomed” the Ukrainian government’s decision to take action against the bill.
“We are working [with the Ukrainian government] to make sure that our concerns… are indeed taken into account,” the spokesman said.
Nabu and Sap were created in 2014-15 as one of the requirements set by the European Commission and International Monetary Fund to move towards a relaxation of visa restrictions between Ukraine and the EU.
Writing on Facebook, opposition MP Oleksiy Goncharenko noted Zelensky said that “the independence of anti-corruption institutions must be guaranteed.”
“First we take it away, and then we say that it must be guaranteed. So why was all this necessary?”
In his message on social media on Thursday, Zelensky did not acknowledge the protests or the backlash but said it was “important that we respect the position of all Ukrainians and are grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine.”
Foreign News
US Senators Exempt HIV/Aids Funding from Planned Spending Cuts

Republicans in the US Senate have said they will spare the US-backed HIV/Aids programme Pepfar from cuts, amid a larger effort to reduce government spending.
Senators said they would end a plan to cut $400m (£300m) from the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief programme, leaving total proposed cuts at $9bn.
The proposition was made in a Senate amendment to a rescissions package – meaning a bill that allows lawmakers to cancel previous funding approved by Congress.
The planned cancellations also include funds for international aid and public broadcasting.If the Pepfar amendment is approved, the bill will go back to the House of Representatives for another vote ahead of a Friday deadline.
Multiple senators from both parties had expressed concern with cuts to Pepfar, which was launched under President George W Bush and has been credited with saving tens of millions of lives around the world.
The Republican-controlled Senate can only afford a few defectors, assuming all Democrats vote in opposition. John Thune, the Republican Senate majority leader, said there had been a “lot of interest” in keeping the Pepfar funding intact.
Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, told reporters after a White House lunch on Tuesday that she was “very pleased” that the cuts would be removed.
Prior to the amendment, Collins had been vocal against the bill. She has not said whether the changes are enough to secure her support.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought told reporters that the White House was on board with the Senate amendment, meaning that in its current form President Donald Trump would be willing to sign it.
In his second presidency, Trump has turbo-charged an effort to reduce government spending. Most of the cuts in the rescission bill are aimed at clawing back money that was previously earmarked for the American government’s main humanitarian assistance body, USAID, which recently announced its formal closure under Trump.
Trump’s moves have led to drastic reductions in HIV/Aids clinics in South Africa and other countries, precipitating a shortage of life-saving medicine and care.
Other cuts in the rescission bill are aimed at the funding for public broadcasters NPR and PBS.
Foreign News
WHO Commends Senegal for Eliminating Trachoma

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Senegal’s elimination of trachoma as a public health problem, making it the ninth country in WHO’s African Region to have achieved the feat.
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, in a statement, lauded the country for freeing its population of the disease.
“This milestone is yet another sign of the remarkable progress being made against neglected tropical diseases globally, and offers hope to other countries still working to eliminate trachoma.
”Trachoma has been known in Senegal since the early 1900s and was confirmed as a major cause of blindness through surveys in the 1980s and 1990s.
Senegal joined the WHO Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma in 1998, conducted its first national survey in 2000, and completed full disease mapping by 2017 with support from the Global Trachoma Mapping Project and Tropical Data.
Trachoma control was consistently integrated into national eye health programmes – first under the National Programme for Blindness Prevention (PNLC) and later through the National Programme for the Promotion of Eye Health (PNPSO).
The country’s consistent integration of trachoma control into its national eye health programmes positioned it to significantly maintain its commitment to the elimination of the disease.
“Today we celebrate our victory against trachoma, 21 years after the one against dracunculiasis”, Dr Ibrahima Sy, Senegal’s Minister of Health and Social Action, said.
“This new milestone reminds us that our overarching goal remains a Senegal free from neglected tropical diseases.
“We are fully committed to this, and we are making good progress, notably against human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) and onchocerciasis”.
Senegal implemented the WHO-recommended SAFE strategy to eliminate trachoma with the support of partners, reaching 2.8 million people who needed them across 24 districts.
These activities included the provision of surgery to treat the late blinding stage of the disease and conducting antibiotic mass drug administration of azithromycin donated by Pfizer through the International Trachoma Initiative.
Similarly, public awareness campaigns were carried out to promote facial cleanliness and improvement in access to water supply and sanitation.
Trachoma is the second neglected tropical disease to be eliminated in Senegal. In 2004, the country was certified free of dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease) transmission.
Senegal now joins 24 other countries that have been validated by WHO for eliminating trachoma.
The 24 countries are Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Gambia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Ghana, India, Iraq, Malawi, and Mali.
The others are Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Togo, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
These countries are part of a wider group of 57 countries that have eliminated one or more neglected tropical diseases.
WHO is supporting Senegal’s health authorities to closely monitor communities in which trachoma was previously endemic, to ensure there is no resurgence of the disease.
“Trachoma has cast a shadow over communities in Senegal for more than a century.
“This long-awaited validation is not only a milestone for public health but a powerful tribute to the tireless dedication of frontline health workers, communities, government leaders, and partners who never gave up,” Dr. Jean-Marie Vianny Yameogo, WHO Representative in Senegal, said.
“Today, we close a chapter that began over a hundred years ago, united with pride, gratitude and resolve. WHO remains committed to supporting Senegal as the country continues to lead in sustaining this hard-earned achievement.”
Trachoma remains a public health problem in 32 countries, with an estimated 103 million people living in areas requiring interventions against the disease.
Trachoma is found mainly in the poorest and most rural areas of Africa, Central and South America, Asia, the Western Pacific and the Middle East.
WHO’s African Region is disproportionately affected by trachoma, with 93 million people living in at-risk areas in April 2024, representing 90% of the global trachoma burden.
Significant progress has been made in the fight against trachoma over the past few years, and the number of people requiring antibiotic treatment for trachoma in the African Region fell by 96 million from 189 million in 2014 to 93 million as of April 2024, representing a 51 percent reduction.
There are currently 20 countries in WHO’s African Region that are known to require intervention for trachoma elimination.
They are Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Guinea.
The others are Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
A further 3 countries in the Region (Botswana, Guinea-Bissau and Namibia) claim to have achieved the prevalence targets for elimination.