Day: July 2, 2024

WINDHOEK: The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security has issued an alert to the public regarding a syndicate involved in producing and selling counterfeit Namibian birth certificates and IDs.

In a media statement on Tuesday, the ministry’s executive director, Etienne Maritz stated that this illicit behaviour threatens the integrity of national records and national security.

He said the public is once again reminded that services such as first registration of birth and application for identification documents are provided free of charge by the ministry.

‘We, therefore, urge the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity related to the production or distribution of fake national documents to the nearest law enforcement authorities or the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security,’ he said.

He added that the public can be rest assured that the ministry has the ability to verify the authenticity of its national documents, and that anyone involved in the p
roduction or use of counterfeit documents is committing an offence and will face appropriate prosecution.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Chief Samuel Onuigbo, a former member of House of Representatives, says in spite of challenges Nigeria has turned the curve in pursuit of good governance through a democratic government.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that the country was fine-tuning its `democratic skills` and learning from past mistakes.

He spoke against the backdrop of 25 years of interrupted democracy and the annulled watershed June 12 1993 presidential election which birthed the present democratic dispensation.

Onuigbo is a member of the Board of the North East Development Commission representing the South East.

‘For instance, the judiciary was dormant during the military rule, same as the legislature, which is the first victim of military intervention.

‘Also, there has been an improvement in the running of a unified local government system. Yes, there are challenges in the areas of autonomy, elections and fiscal allocation.

‘Hopefully, we will have a local government system that functions and serves th
e wishes and aspirations of people at the grassroots.

‘After a quarter of a century of unbroken democracy, agitations such as resource control and true federalism persist among Nigerians’ he said.

Onuigbo, who sponsored the Climate Change Act, said recent agitations for restructuring were part of the democratic process.

He said such agitations will not go away because they reflect inconsistencies in sub-national governments which compel the citizens to demand what they considered fairness and equity.

‘What I can tell you is that democracy is a work in progress. The aim is to achieve and attain good governance for everybody.

‘During military rule, politicians are forced to leave. So, the task of protecting our democratic process is for everybody.

‘Those who are looking up to our leaders should also support the system and help us to continue to build,’ he said.

On whether the legislative arm of government sometimes acts as an appendage of the executive, Onuigbo said the independence of the legislature wa
s guaranteed.

However, he said collaboration and partnership with the executive was important for dividends of democracy to be delivered to the people.

He also told NAN that there were misconceptions about the budgetary allocation to the legislature.

He attributed it to prolonged military rule during which the legislature was a major casualty.

He said, for years during military rule before the return to democracy in 1999, there was no proper development for the law-making arm of the government.

‘There was no structure, no legislative institutions; no commission, no library, no institute for legislative studies, and so on.

‘Remember that the National Assembly is an arm of government, not a department of the executive.

‘If you compare the budget of NASS to that of only one ministry, which is not an arm of the government, people won’t be scrutinizing the budget of NASS as they are doing now.

‘It is up to the media to educate the people on this misunderstanding, because this is what we need to explain,’ h
e said.

He said the legislature, as an arm of government, was still growing after disruptions during the military.

On the calls in some quarters to the adoption of unicameral legislature as against the current practice of bicameral legislature, as a cost-saving measure, Onuigbo said the main issue was the type of legislature in use.

He said the most important thing was to ensure that the best hands were elected to represent the people and that the legislatures should deliver on their responsibilities.

‘If their people deem them fit to represent them, then it should be an honour to serve on a part-time basis.

‘When someone is called upon to serve, it is expected that such a person goes there with ideas, policies and ways to help his or her people,’ he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammed Pate, has inaugurated some medical structures in the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) for affordability of health care services.

Pate, at the inauguration on Monday in Gwagwalada, said that the infrastructures reflected President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and unwavering determination to bridge the gap in the health sector.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the structures inaugurated were the mental health building, Cardiovascular Research Centre and Sen, Joshua Dariye medical Out Patient Clinic Block.

According to him, the structures will provide integrated care services and acute care for both inpatient and outpatient, in line with international best practices in the health sector.

‘The health infrastructures in our teaching hospitals and the medical equipment provide services to Nigerians to expand the affordability of medical services in anticipation of the increasing burden of non-communicabl
e diseases.

‘We are unveiling the Cardiovascular Research Centre, mental health building and the Medical Outpatient Block as we have increasing cases of hypertension, diabetes and cancer in Nigeria and the health sector has to deal with it.

‘I am very pleased with the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital Gwagwalada for expanding the infrastructure, mobilising human resources and global partnership to build research centre.

‘We are making progress, we are expanding the Primary Healthcare, expanding higher level services through our hospitals, rebuilding our human resources, retraining about 120,000 frontline health workers all over Nigeria,’ he said.

Pate said that the President signed an executive order to unlock the healthcare value chain, which would allow us to produce some of the things needed, to enable Nigerians get treated in the country.

‘We are very optimistic that the President’s mission on expanding health insurance coverage in the next few years will add to the momentum that we have built in
the country,’ he said.

Pata said the present administration was committed to improve the health sector by expanding primary health care services in the country.

This, he said would expand access to higher levels of services through hospitals and rebuilding human resources.

On the issue of cholera outbreak in the country, Pate called on all Nigerians to maintain basic hygiene to help prevent water and food diseases.

The Chief Medical Director, UATH, Prof. Bissallah Ekele, said the hospital was in need of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine and more medical structures in the hospital.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Habu Gumel, President, Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), addressing weightlifting coaches during the Olympic Solidarity sponsored Level 2 coaching course in Abuja. Seated behind him is Abdul Ibrahim, President, Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF) and International Weightlifting Instructor, Pierce Kyle.

By Emmanuel Afonne

The President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Habu Gumel, has tasked the Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF) to nurture talents that would take over from the current weightlifters.

Gumel gave the charge when he declared open the 2024 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Level 2 Coaching Course for weightlifting coaches, at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that weightlifting coaches from the 36 states of the federation are participating in the coaching course organised by the NWF in collaboration with the NOC.

Gumel said the weightlifting federation needed to do everything possible to replace its aging athletes to
ensure that the country continued its dominance in Africa.

He said the Olympic Solidarity and the International Olympic Committee approved the course because of the performance of Nigerian weightlifters at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2024 African Games in Ghana.

‘It is important for us to get the support of the International Olympic Solidarity for this coaching course.

‘We have been moving around the country organising women commission seminars, administrative seminars in the six geopolitical zones and this one is another one but for weightlifting.

‘It is for weightlifting coaches all over the country and we are lucky that the Olympics Solidarity through the International Federation of Weightlifting deemed it fit to get us an international instructor to come and train our coaches.

‘They must listen and learn so that they can impact the knowledge when they go back to their states to teach other people.

‘Weightlifting is very important and the athletes are doing well; we know their record
s during the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the African Games in Ghana and we believe that they will excel at the Paris Olympics.

‘There is going to be another coaching course for shooting, swimming and others, to train their coaches, referees and administrators,’ Gumel said.

The President of NWF, Abdul Ibrahim, said the course would be administered in two parts – theory and practical, on the best practices to adopt in developing the game.

‘There is so much happening in sports that the weightlifting coaches needed to know which would be made known to them by a U.S. Weightlifting Instructor, Pierce Kyle.

‘This programme is for six days and it is important to develop our coaches for it to cascade down to the athletes to achieve a positive result.

‘If we don’t get good results from the states, then we have failed but if we get it right, we will develop our game.

‘So, the task before us is to be able to develop new athletes that will take over from the old ones in the next one year, after this program
me; we also want to see a general improvement as a result of this course,’ Ibrahim added.

Emeka Ajei, Chairman, Weightlifting Coaches Association, said the course would improve their knowledge ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

‘Weightlifting did so well in the last African Games and I believe that this course will improve our capability, tactical and technical performance because there is no knowledge that is lost.’

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Grace Thomas Foundation in collaboration with Christopher Oghogho Foundation, have called on families especially parents to be at the forefront in the fight against drug abuse to build a better society.

The Non-Governmental Organisations made the call at a Women and Family Drug Education Programme (WOFADEP) with the theme ‘The Role of Family in Drug Abuse Prevention” in Abuja.

The Chief Executive Officer, Grace Thomas Foundation, Mrs Rejoice Henry-Wesley, said the move to address drug abuse from the family level was imperative.

Henry-Wesley said that the drug use was a universal problem that transcends boundaries and could affect any family.

According to her, when drug user is discovered within a family, it often leads to considerable stress, conflicts, and a pervasive sense of helplessness.

‘The associated shame can cause both the family and the individual using drugs to deny the problem, further complicating the path to recovery and support.

‘The Grace Thomas foundation was birthed out of my pers
onal experience of losing a beloved sister to substance abuse.

‘It was very tragic and because of that experience, we are inspired to enlighten and educate people so that they don’t go through the same struggles that my family suffered when my sister was abusing drugs,” she said.

Henry-Wesley said that education could reduce substance abuse by 50 per cent adding that educating the family would help in reducing drug abuse.

She advised women to stay close to their children, look out for the signs and be their children’s friends so as to be able to stop them from making wrong friends.

According to her, mothers should to also enlighten their children and let them know the dangers of abuse of drugs.

She said the event was organised with the aim to tackle the problem of drug abuse from a family perspective, emphasising the crucial role that families could play in preventing the menace.

Mrs Celina Onogwu, Member of Christopher Oghogho Foundation for Women, Girls and Youth, said there was need to sensitise Nig
erians on the use of drug, particularly with the families especially with women.

Onogwu said that drug abuse was gradually taking over the society, adding that more women were involved in it which had affected families negatively.

She said the foundations had brought stakeholders to share information and experiences to enable families and people involved in drug abuse to know the effects.

‘It is to also help family members to know what to do. So it is very important that this is happening right now.

‘We the Christopher Oghogho Foundation, since we are focused on making sure that we contribute to society positively, we are joining them to make this possible, to give them our full support,” she added.

A representative of NDLEA, Precious Oyutu, an Assistant Commander of Narcotics, said that it was necessary to start the fight against drug abuse from the family level since all abuser came from families.

Oyutu said that educating the families on coping strategies and the way they should talk to their childr
en was imperative in tackling the menace of substance abuse.

According to her, the pivotal role of family in preventing drug abuse cannot be overstated.

‘By fostering and nurturing family environments, establishing supportive networks, and advocating for comprehensive preventive measures, society can create a resilient foundation that mitigates the risks and impacts of substance abuse,” she said.

A member of Women of Worth, Edith Bagorma, said that the issue of drugs abuse was becoming worrisome and it was apt for organisations to collaborate to address the menace.

Bagorma urged women to drive the fight against drug abuse being the closest to their children, urging stakeholders to leverage their collective effort to tackle drug abuse.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria