NEWS
Ogun Traditional Leader Tasks CAN on Peaceful Coexistence
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The traditional leader of Ota in Ogun, Olota of Ota, Oba Adeyemi AbdulKabir Obalanlege, has tasked the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on tolerance, fairness and peaceful coexistence.
The traditional leader said this during the inauguration of the new CAN executive, Ota Chapter, on Tuesday.
The royal father said the association needed to imbibe the spirit of oneness among the denominations and the larger society.
“As you are inaugurating new executive, we want you to imbibe the spirit of oneness, fairness to all and encourage peaceful coexistence among the people in the community,” he said.
“The security of life and property is paramount, we should be conscious of our environment and be sensitive to any occurrence likely to bring breach of peace,” he said.
In his remarks, Dr Emmanuel Adekunle, Ogun CAN Chairman, urged the new executive to carry everybody along with their decisions to ensure unity.
“This is way of just carrying everybody along and being on the same page as CAN and as a body christ is concerned.
“So, we thank God for those who have been elected, selected, appointed to serve.
“And we believe that they will be loyal to the things of God.
“There have been people who have been doing it earlier than now, so, the new people that are coming must let people know that these are the new sets of officers for this local government.
“We should acquaint ourselves with the people at the grassroots and be good ambassadors of God,” he said.
Adekunle noted that the association had been impactful to the society in many ways in terms of capacity building and empowerment.
“This association has been impactful because we have a lot of things that we received in the past that will benefit the people, not just the church, but the larger people.
“We preach sermon, talk about the word of God, talk about the security of the state, and the health of the members.
“So, it’s part of the benefit of coming to the people, though we are at the state level, the voice will also pass to the people at the grassroots.
“We are doing this not only for the Christians but for the community at large.
“So, all our programmes are part of reaching out to the grassroots as the role of the church not just bring money, but we are now disseminating information about their welfare and their well-being ,” Adekunle said.
Rev. Michael Akinboro, the newly inaugurated CAN Chairman, Ota Branch, in his opening remarks thanked God Almighty for the grace and the opportunity to serve.
Akinboro said the association would experience a new dawn under his dispensation.
“I believe everybody can see that truly a new dawn has begun in Otta Local Government.
“By the grace of God, we are going to experience greater change in this new dispensation.
“It is very, very important for us that it’s not about preaching the word alone but it’s about living the word.
“Because our society today has soiled the name of Christ because of what they are gaining,” he said.
Akinboro also appealed to members to ensure unity by avoiding denominational syndrome.
“There’s no denomination that is greater than one.
“We are all one and we should see ourselves as one because Christ Himself has prayed for us that we might be one, so we should pursue it.
“As I said earlier, our dispensation by the sacrifice of God is not just for Christians alone, it’s for every living being in Ota.
“We want to make sure that people see the impact of Christ and the oneness within us.
“And we have diverse programmes for widows, for the less privileged, we also have for students,” he said.
Mr Wale Muyiwa, a member of CAN from Mountain of Fire Ministry, Sango, Ota Mega Region, said described the inauguration of the new executives as a welcome development.
Muyiwa said that every particular year there was this change that comes up for development and growth of the church in Ota community.
“We are glad to witness this occasion. We trust God that is going to bring something good for Ota land.
“I want to encourage them to be focused and up and about.
“They should also have at the back of their minds that they are not contesting with flesh and blood, but against principality and power and so they have to rise up to the challenge of the hour.
“And the Lord will help them in Jesus’ name,” Muyiwa prayed.(NAN)
NEWS
FRSC Confirms 12 Dead in Road Accident in Niger
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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)
NEWS
NAFDAC Cracks Down on Fake Drugs Nationwide
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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.
10, targeting Lagos, Aba, and Onitsha open drug markets to eliminate fake and substandard pharmaceutical products.“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)
NEWS
Why Africa Should Leverage Resources, Market Advantages— Chinese Envoy
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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)