Day: June 8, 2024

Nchendzengang Tatah

The National School of Local Administration, NASLA will begin a special training for Municipal Police by July 2024.

Over sixty councils will have their local police trained inline with the norms, and regulations stipulated in their creation and functioning.

The Minister of Decentrilisation and Local Development, Georges Elanga Obam made it known after a strategic meeting at NASLA, June 6 in Buea.

The Director General of NASLA, Tanyitiku E. Bayee explained that the training of the Municipal corps will unfold first with Councils whose deliberations have been approved by the Minister. He noted that the process is going to be sequential.

‘A number of preparatory steps have been taken, the training programmes were prepared and adopted, the trainers have been contacted, the site where we are hoping to lodge the trainees we are in discussion with the relevant authorities. In terms of the material preparation, everything is falling in place,’ the NASLA chair highlighted.

Discussions during t
he board meeting also focused on the examination for those who are coming into the institution. Minister Elanga Obam, was positive at the end of the incamera exchange. ‘I think everything is under control. The work that is done here is good. Bravo!’

The Decentrilisation Minister equally evaluated construction work on the new infrastructure of NASLA which contains office space and standard classrooms. He said he was amazed at the speed of work six months after his last visit.

The broad edifice compromising three floors which is spread over a considerable area of land will serve significantly to advance the drive of the institution, prided as the bedrock of local development in Cameroon.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The government of Cameroon inorder to foster the decentrilisation process and enhance local development plans on beginning a project this 2024 to raise a structure for the South West Regional Assembly.

Over one billion will be mobilized to begin work on the site in Buea. The Minister of Decentrilisation and Local Development disclosed in a June 6 outing.

Minister Georges Elanga Obam said the building plan to unfold on the piece of land was evidence that the decentrilisation process in the South West Region is on course with great results.

‘It means that the Regional Council of the South West is a reality physically. We are appreciative of what they are doing and we hope that very soon we are going to come here for the beginning of the work,’ the Decentrilisation Minister applauded.

According to the President of the South West Regional Assembly, Elango Zacheus Bakoma, the structure which will compare with none other around. ‘Once realised, it will be one of the jewels to have been constructed in the South
West in recent times,’ President Zacheus Bakoma said.

He further disclosed that negotiations with FEICOM were making progress. Though delayed in the process of acquiring a land certificate, he informed that the issue had been sorted out.

‘Today I am proud to say we are in possession of the land certificate. I think no sooner from now, the Minister of Decentrilisation will come back to the South West region to lay the foundation stone for this edifice.’

The site to host the South West Regional Assembly which is one of the two institutions accorded the North West and South West following the Major National Dialogue of 2019 has a total area of over two hectres.

Located around the Buea Central Prison, it is surrounded to the North by an existing road, to the west by state land and existing road, to the east by existing road and south by the main road of the Buea boulevard.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has called on West African police chiefs to collaborate and devise innovative ways to tackle emerging complex security challenges facing the ECOWAS bloc.

Egbetokun made this known at a meeting of the West African Police Chiefs Committee (WAPCCO) technical sub-committee on training and operations in Abuja.

He said that the West African subregion had in recent times been confronted with complex national security challenges, which had been accentuating transnational crimes.

‘The activities of these cybercriminals has imposed on us all the additional burden of developing our national security capacity to dominate cyberspace and deny criminals the liberty to operate in our overriding national and regional security interests.

‘The differences in legal frameworks and legislative systems continue to hinder effective law enforcement operations and criminal justice delivery initiatives among member states.

‘Our security reality continually deepens the need to comm
it to regional collaboration, towards dissecting the pattern and trend of crimes on the one hand, and towards pulling together and supporting each other in bridging our national security gaps,’ he said.

According to him, these challenges have been posing significant threats to the national security order of member states, as well as regional peace and social economic profile.

Egbetokun enumerated such crimes to include traditional crimes of stealing, cross border robberies, human goods, drugs trafficking, small arms and light weapons smuggling, banditry, terrorism, as well as other non-state actors.

He further said that cybercrime and cyber-enabled crimes were now emerging as bigger challenges to the subregion’s security.

The I-G said that a critical hindrance to effective regional law enforcement operations and criminal justice delivery initiatives was the differences in legal frameworks and legislative systems among member states.

‘The situation calls for a collective review of the multivarious legal f
ramework and regulates law enforcement and criminal justice delivery system.

‘It also calls for a stronger operational partnership that will encourage the evolution of workable protocol that will engender stronger operational integration amongst security forces and border management agencies within the sub region,’ Egbetokun said.

Also speaking, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Amb. Abdel-Fatah Musah, said that the fast evolution of information technology had further sophisticated the platforms and tactics used by criminal networks against targets.

Represented by Dr Abdourahmane Dieng, the Permanent Secretary, WAPCCO, Musah said that crime and criminality continued to pose a big threat to lives and property in the subregion, thereby creating an unconditional environment for meaningful development.

The commissioner said that security and law enforcement agents in the region had for so many years focused on territorial, aerial and maritime borders as key points for close survei
llance against crime.

‘However, with the dynamic availability and capacity of cyberspace, which transcends beyond geographical borders, criminality has become more efficient, faster and safer for criminals to execute.

‘Therefore, our mandate is to increase our capacity on the fight against transnational border crime of all forms which include employing training and operational strategies.

‘The illicit traffic and proliferation of small arms and light weapons, human smuggling activities, armed robbery, illicit migration, child trafficking and labor, kidnapping, abduction, maritime piracy are but a few of the main highlights trending in our region,’ Musah said.

He, therefore, urged the participants to share, inform, exchange and discuss issues and activities surrounding training and operations in their respective member states with a view to coming up with joint strategies on security personnel’s training and operations.

The Director, Interpol Regional Bureau, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Paule Ouedrago, said the
transnational dimension of the crimes required collaboration between countries, adding that the Regional Office would support the efforts through international police cooperation.

She called for the strengthening of collaboration between the Permanent Secretariat of the Committee of Police Chiefs and her office in the organisation and implementation of police training and operations.

‘This is how, together, we will succeed in dismantling and disrupting the criminal networks that undermine the tireless development efforts,’Ouedrago added.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Mr Obinna Nwaka, Director-General, Committee of Youth on Mobilisation and Sensitisation (CYMS), has called on Nigerian youth to place their national identity far above their ethnic and religious affiliations.

He also urged them to hold their representatives accountable and unite against opponents of good governance.

He spoke in Abuja on Thursday at the 2024 CYMS National Conference which had the theme: ‘Promotion of Peaceful Co-existence, Ethnic and Religious Cohesion in Our Nation’.

He highlighted CYMS’ role in promoting government policies, good governance and youth inclusion since its establishment in 2018.

Nwaka urged youths to consider the values of self-reliance, youth inclusiveness in governance, local government autonomy and the importance of ethnic and religious tolerance.

The director-general stressed the need for patriotism to curb the destruction of national assets.

He also cautioned against civil unrest and underscored the role of stakeholders in conflict resolution and peaceful coexistence
.

He warned against vote-buying and financial crimes, urging leaders to pay attention to the youth by initiating programmes that would make them assets to the society.

He urged youth to unite against those preaching disunity and disintegration, calling for more engagement with youths at the grassroots.

Nwaka expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for his administration’s achievements and support to the Nigerian youths through some laudable initiatives.

He appealed for constructive criticism of the government and urged Nigerians to put the country above political and personal interests.

He declared the conference an annual event, reaffirming CYMS’s commitment to championing causes that would boost national growth.

Prof. Musa Olaofe, the Chief Imam, Ansar-ud-deen Mosque, Abuja, in a remark, encouraged Nigerian youths to show interest and participate in the country’s politics to protect their interests.

He said that there would not be meaningful development if the youth were left out of governance.

‘
Do not allow yourself to be used as thugs by the politicians.

‘If any politician wants to engage you in war or give you cutlasses to fight, such a person should first of all invite his children to take the lead,’ he said.

On his part, Rev. Duke Akamisoko, the Anglican Bishop of Kubwa Diocese, Abuja, said that religious bodies had a lot to do in order to promote peace in the country.

‘As religious leaders, we are asked to emulate our Master Jesus, and the teachings of the scriptures, with peace as a cardinal principle.

‘I urge the youth to imbibe the teachings of the Holy Books. They should accept the teachings and practice them in their lives,’ he said

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Justice, Development and Peace Caritas Initiative (JDPCI), Abuja, a faith-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has advocated forest preservation to mitigate the effect of climate change.

Mr Josephat Abaagu, the JDPCI Chairman, said this at a news conference in Abuja on Friday to commemorate the 2024 World Environment Day celebrated annually on June 5.

Abaagu expressed dissatisfaction at the rate forests were being destroyed, noting that forest reserves that used to exist in the country in the past are no longer there.

He urged the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, to revive the tree planting project which used to exist in the FCT in the past to beautify and safeguard the environment.

According to him, the 2024 World Environment Day theme: ‘Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience’, offers the initiative an opportunity to call on everyone to rise to the challenge of protecting the environment.

He said that the JDPCI between 2023 and 2024 embarked on a tre
e planting campaign and had planted over 10,000 economic trees.

The chairman said that the tree planting would not only contribute to environmental restoration and biodiversity, but provide economic benefits to local communities.

He said the tree planting campaign would enhance carbon sequestration, combat soil erosion, and foster a healthier ecosystem.

‘If you talk about the Savannah region here and the Sahel area, the far north, and even parts of the south, you won’t see any forest again; the trees have all been cut down.

‘The kind of logging that happens in this country is terrible.

‘By integrating environmental stewardship with economic empowerment, we embody the holistic approach advocated by the Holy Father, Pope Father Francis.

‘Furthermore, I am thrilled to highlight the recent launch of the JDPCI Laudato Si’ Briquette Factory and safe energy cooking stoves in April 2024.

‘This innovative project which was inaugurated by His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Ignatius A. Kaigama, represents a significant ste
p in our efforts to mitigate climate change.

‘The factory produces eco-friendly briquettes from agricultural waste like sawdust and rice husks, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional wood and charcoal.

‘This not only reduces deforestation and carbon emissions but also provides a cleaner and more affordable energy source for households,’ he said.

Mr Chukwuedozie Abazie, an official of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, also reiterated the need for individuals to pay more attention to their immediate environment.

‘The theme of the 2024 World Environment Day is a wake-up call on individuals to pay more attention to how they live their lives within their immediate environment,’ Abazie said.

He said that individuals must take a lot of seriousness on tree planting.

Rev. Fr. Solomon Uko, Executive Director, JDPCI, also urged the FCT Minister to take a clue from the Catholic Diocese of Abuja and resuscitate tree planting in the FCT.

Uko said that there was a need to mitigate the effect of
erosion in the FCT, with lot of buildings springing up in the area.

He also decried the effect of poor waste disposal in the FCT, stressing that could cause air pollution, if not properly managed.

‘We have the rainy season here, and we know what that means, so it is a call for us as human beings to take care of the earth.

‘We have been given that special task by God Himself and the priests always like to reflect in the scripture.

‘In Genesis Chapter 1, Verse 28, the Lord created man and gave us that commission, be fruitful, multiply and take care of the earth.

‘We are not owners, we are stewards. So, we have been given that responsibility of taking care of our earth, so, I urge the government and individuals to promote this task of taking care of our environment,” he said

Source: News Agency of Nigeria