PRESS RELEASE

Hallmark University, Ijebu-Itele, Ogun State will be holding its maiden convocation ceremony on the 29th of February, 2024 at the University main auditorium.

According to the University Registrar, Afolabi Ajayi, "the former Vice-Chancellor of Olabisi Onabajo University, Ago-Iwoye, Professor Wale Olaitan, will be the special guest at the occasion." The Convocation Lecture holds 11am on Wednesday February 28, 2024.

He stated further that: "Graduating students, their parents and guests must be seated by 9.30am at the University Auditorium and must remain seated until the end of the ceremony."

Parts of the programmes marking the occasion include lectures, exhibitions, musical concerts, symposium and cultural display.

All graduating students are expected to collect their Convocation items and Guests Cards from their respective departments.

Hallmark University Ijebu Itele was established in 2015 by the Vivian Fowler Trust Foundation, and it was approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Signed:

Ufot Sunday Imoh

For the PRO

A deal between Israel and Hamas appears to be taking shape. What would it look like?

Israel and Hamas are inching toward a new deal that would free some of the roughly 130 hostages held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a weekslong pause in the war, now in its fifth month.

U.S. President Joe Biden says a deal could go into effect as early as Monday, ahead of what is seen as an unofficial deadline — the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, around March 10.

A deal would bring some respite to desperate people in Gaza, who have borne a staggering toll, as well as to the anguished families of Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war.

Here is a look at the emerging agreement.

OUTLINE OF THE DEAL

According to a senior official from Egypt, a six-week cease-fire would go into effect, and Hamas would agree to free up to 40 hostages — mostly civilian women, at least two children, and older and sick captives. Israel would release at least 300 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the official said.

Israel would also allow displaced Palestinians to return to certain areas in northern Gaza, which was the first target of Israel’s ground offensive and suffered widespread destruction, according to the official from Egpyt, which is mediating the deal along with the U.S. and Qatar.

The Egyptian official said aid deliveries would be ramped up during the cease-fire, with 300 to 500 trucks entering the beleaguered territory per day, far more than the daily average number of trucks entering since the start of the war.

The deliveries to areas across Gaza would be facilitated by Israel, whose forces would refrain from attacks on them and on police escorting the aid convoys, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the talks with journalists.

STICKING POINTS

Despite Biden’s optimism, both sides continue to posture ahead of any final agreement even as talks continue in Qatar. Both Israeli and Hamas officials downplayed any sense of progress.

Israel and Hamas have been far apart on their terms for a deal in the past, dragging out negotiations that appeared to have momentum.

Israel wants all female soldiers included in the first phase of hostage releases, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing talks. Hamas views all soldiers as more significant bargaining chips and is likely to press back on this demand. The Egyptian official said the female soldiers were at this point being held off until after the first release.

The Egyptian official said the sides also are discussing how many Palestinians would be allowed to return to northern Gaza and whether to limit their return to women and men over 50.

Talks are also pinning down which areas of Gaza that Israel would withdraw troops from, the Egyptian official said, adding that Israel wants Hamas to refrain from using those it left as staging grounds for attacks. It also wants Hamas to stop firing rockets at southern Israel. Hamas has so far rejected both demands, the official said.

The emerging deal leaves a door open for Israel to operate in the southern border town of Rafah once it expires. More than half of Gaza’s population has fled to the southern city on the Egyptian border. Israel wants to destroy what it says are the few Hamas battalions left standing there.

WHAT REMAINS TO BE NEGOTIATED?

During the temporary cease-fire, both sides would negotiate toward an extension of the deal that the Egyptian official said would include the release of all the female soldiers in exchange for a higher number of imprisoned Palestinians, including those serving long sentences for deadly attacks.

After the female soldiers, Israel will seek to free male soldiers for whom Hamas will likely demand a high price. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to agree to a deal at any cost. But the families of the hostages, whose plight has deeply shaken Israelis, are likely to ramp up pressure if others are freed.

The U.S. hopes the new deal will be a launching pad for implementing its vision for a postwar Gaza that would eventually lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. It wants Gaza to be governed by a revamped Palestinian Authority, which administers part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. On Monday, it took a first step that could usher in U.S.-backed reforms by disbanding the self-rule government.

 

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

NATO allies reject Emmanuel Macron idea of troops to Ukraine

Several Nato countries, including the US, Germany and the UK, have ruled out deploying ground troops to Ukraine, after French President Emmanuel Macron said "nothing should be excluded".

Mr Macron said there was "no consensus" on sending Western soldiers to Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has warned of direct conflict if Nato troops deploy there.

Russian forces have recently made gains in Ukraine and Kyiv has urgently appealed for more weapons.

Macron told a news conference on Monday evening: "We should not exclude that there might be a need for security that then justifies some elements of deployment.

"But I've told you very clearly what France maintains as its position, which is a strategic ambiguity that I stand by."

The French leader was speaking in Paris, which is hosting a crisis meeting in support of Ukraine, attended by heads of European states, as well as the US and Canada.

A full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin is now in its third year, with no signs that the biggest war in Europe since World War Two could end soon.

Mr Macron's comments prompted responses from other European and Nato member countries.

US President Joe Biden believes the "path to victory" is providing military aid "so Ukrainian troops have the weapons and ammunition they need to defend themselves", a White House statement said.

"President Biden has been clear that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine," it added.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said there had been no change to the agreed position that no European country or Nato member state would send troops to Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said the country had no plans for a large-scale military deployment to Ukraine, beyond the small number of personnel already training Ukrainian forces.

The office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy's "support does not include the presence of troops from European or Nato states on Ukrainian territory".

Peskov, on behalf of the Kremlin, called Macron's suggestion "a very important new element" adding it was absolutely not in the interests of Nato members.

"In that case, we would need to talk not about the probability, but about the inevitability [of direct conflict]," he said.

Earlier, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg denied considering whether troops would be sent to Ukraine, although he insisted the alliance would continue to support Ukraine, which is not a Nato member.

That position has been echoed by a number of Nato member states including Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russia has an abundance of artillery and is a far bigger military force than Ukraine, whose troops are critically dependent on modern weapons being provided by Western allies, particularly the US.

But the approval of a much needed $95bn (£75bn; €69bn) US aid package - including $60bn for Ukraine - has been facing an uphill battle in the US House of Representatives.

The US is by far the largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine and had committed €42.2bn (£36bn; $45bn) as of 15 January, Kiel Institute data showed.

Germany ranks second with commitments of €17.7bn in the same time period, followed by the UK which provided €9.1bn of military aid.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who took part in Monday's meeting in Paris by video link, said that "everything we do together to defend against Russian aggression adds real security to our nations for decades to come".

** Ukraine withdraws from two villages near Avdiivka

Ukraine's military said on Tuesday it had withdrawn from two more villages near the eastern town of Avdiivka which was captured earlier this month by Russian forces, losing more territory as support from its Western allies runs short.

A senior commander said troops had consolidated new defensive positions west of Avdiivka, whose capture was the biggest Russian battlefield gain in nine months.

Ukrainian military spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy said troops had pulled back from Sieverne and Stepove, a day after Kyiv announced it had abandoned the village of Lastochkyne.

"Our forces withdrew from the small villages of Sievierne and Stepove... Heavy battles for Sievierne went on yesterday in the evening and night," Lykhoviy said, adding that Russia had taken significant losses in that fight.

Ukraine was pulling back to positions level with the rest of the eastern front line, to terrain more suitable for defence, Lykhoviy said.

Sieverne and Stepove had a total population of fewer than 100 people before the invasion.

Russia's Defence Ministry said it had captured Sieverne, two years and three days since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in what the Kremlin calls a "special military operation".

The ministry said its troops had "occupied more advantageous lines and positions" and struck Ukrainian manpower and equipment near three other settlements.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield claims of either side.

Avdiivka had withstood unrelenting Russian barrages since mid-October. The capture of the town, where virtually no buildings remained intact, was the biggest Russian gain since it took the equally devastated town of Bakhmut further northeast last May.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Avdiivka's capture as an "absolute success" and pledged to press on with the drive to secure control over all of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, which he claimed to have annexed in October 2022.

One Ukrainian commander, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, said on Telegram: "In the Avdiivka sector, the line of defence in the areas of Tonenke, Orlivka and Berdychi has been stabilised."

Russian forces had failed in their attempts to advance in two areas further south, including the hotly contested Ukrainian-held village of Robotyne, the senior general added.

Ukraine's effort to hold Avdiivka, which lies only about 10 km (6 miles) from the key Russian-held city of Donetsk, forced it to defend an awkward salient that protruded into Russian-occupied areas.

Its loss comes as Ukraine faces shortages of artillery rounds and other supplies as promised Western support has not arrived and a U.S. aid package is held up by Republicans in Congress.

U.S. President Joe Biden and top Democrats met with senior Republicans in Congress on Tuesday to press again for the release of some $60 billion in aid for Ukraine.

A White House statement issued after a meeting said Biden "discussed how Ukraine has lost ground on the battlefield in recent weeks and is being forced to ration ammunition and supplies due to congressional inaction."

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Kremlin reacts to Macron’s remarks on NATO troops in Ukraine

A direct conflict between Russia and NATO will likely become inevitable if member states of the US-led military bloc send troops to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. He was speaking after French President Emmanuel Macron, whose government hosted a high-profile meeting of Ukraine backers on Monday, said EU members “will do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning” – including deploying forces on the ground to support Kiev.

Several governments have since ruled out sending troops to the front line.

Opponents of the proposal have arrived at a “sober assessment of the potential risks” of deploying NATO forces in Ukraine, Peskov told the media on Tuesday. That would be “absolutely against the interests of those nations” and their people, he warned.

Asked about the probability of a direct conflict with NATO if Western troops are sent to Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesman said, “in this case, we have to talk not about the probability, but rather the inevitability.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken out against the idea. Participants of the meeting in Paris came to an agreement against it, he told a news conference on Tuesday.

At a joint press conference in Prague on Tuesday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, ruled out sending their citizens to fight in Ukraine. Senior officials in Hungary and Slovakia issued similar statements.

Macron said Western leaders could end up changing their minds in the future, similarly to how they did with military assistance – which in some cases initially involved items such as helmets to eventually donating lethal weaponry including tanks and fighter jets.

While there was no consensus over the proposal, the participants agreed to create a coalition to supply medium and long-range missiles to Kiev, the French president said.

Moscow considers the Ukraine conflict to be a US-orchestrated proxy war against Russia, and has repeatedly warned that by supplying increasingly sophisticated weapons to Kiev, NATO members are drawing closer to a direct confrontation.

** Moscow updates estimate of Kiev’s military losses

Kiev has lost over 444,000 troops in two years of hostilities against Moscow, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu estimated on Tuesday.

His remarks come days after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky claimed that his country's forces recorded some 31,000 fatalities in the two years of fighting. Western media have pointed out that the latest figure from Kiev is even significantly lower than a US estimate released in the summer of last year.

Shoigu said the high attrition rate on the Ukrainian side was evidence “that the US strategy to contain Russia at the cost of Ukrainian lives and passive economic and military support of the Kiev regime has no way forward.”Speaking at a ministerial meeting, Shoigu said the average daily cost of the conflict for the Ukrainian army was more than 800 troops and 120 pieces of weaponry. He did not break down casualties into killed and wounded soldiers.

While making his claim on Sunday, Zelensky contrasted his 31,000 figure with Russian estimates, which he branded as lies. He declined to say how many Ukrainian soldiers were injured, explaining that revealing that information would benefit Moscow’s military planning.

The New York Times noted that Zelensky's claim “differed sharply” from estimates by US officials last August. At the time sources said some 70,000 Ukrainians had been killed and 100,000 to 120,000 had been wounded in action.

A number resembling that cited by Zelensky was mentioned last week in a statement by the office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, which marked the second anniversary of the hostilities. The mission in Ukraine claimed to have verified 30,457 civilian casualties since the conflict escalated in February 2022.

”Every Ukrainian citizen, and every military service member in particular, realizes that Zelensky is lying,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said of the claim on social media.

She suggested that the president may have downplayed the loss of Ukrainian lives in order to secure more foreign funding. Ukrainians “are not humans for Zelensky, but units, on which he can get more Western money,” she claimed.

 

BBC/Reuters/RT

Prepare your company to absorb shocks and turn them into opportunities during 2024’s predicted mix of rapid disruption and cautious optimism.

As 2024 unfolds, we all know that the only constant is change. Yet, time and again, we see companies that are unable to manage change fail in the marketplace. According to a recent report, “more organizations are failing when it comes to business outcomes during times of change” than ever before.

Adding to this challenge is the continuous and rapid acceleration of change in our world. In 2023, we saw major shifts that will affect businesses for decades to come. Companies continue to reconcile and reimagine remote and hybrid working models, deal with ongoing economic uncertainty, and face the fallout from a never-ending string of catchy, but disruptive workplace phenomena, from the Great Resignation to quiet quitting to the Great Rethink. And then there’s generative AI—a deeply disruptive change agent whose full impact we’re just beginning to conceptualize.

To survive in this environment, every organization in business today needs to do more than prepare for the possibility of change. They need to create structures and mindsets that can continuously absorb shocks and turn them into opportunities. These companies will not only manage through change, but be the standout examples that can thrive and grow in 2024’s predicted mix of rapid disruption and cautious optimism.

It’s not enough to have an organization aligned around what is, but to develop a culture that imagines what could be. To do so, start by asking these two fundamental questions.

Is your business model designed for the age of change?

Old business models were not structured to operate at the speed of the digital age. Even systems that were in place to manage change were built around a single, rare, one-off event. We haven’t evolved our organizational models to meet the speed, scope and number of changes that companies now face on a daily basis.

The speed and reach of customer feedback is a good example of this. Gone are the days of customer feedback slowly traveling up the command chain. Today, customer feedback is instant and impactful. Customers now have the power and tools to immediately report about their experience and broadcast it to the world, whether that experience was good or bad. The onus is now on businesses to have the appropriate communications structures and cultures in place to empower frontline employees to make brand-aligned decisions, rather than wait for headquarters to react.

Is your growth plan too rigid for rapid response?

More and more, companies are faced with the opportunity (or necessity) to make quick decisions based on fluctuating circumstances. These decisions can have significant impact on business strategy as well as performance, and more risk-averse leaders may chafe against too much change, too quickly. But while sticking to a core strategy is obviously important, neglecting opportunities for growth could be lethal. To make room for change, company structures must be flexible enough to support both a stable core business and the real-time opportunities that arise.

To turn the tides of rapid change in your favor, build resilience and values-driven agility into your business structure so your team can thrive in any environment. Here are three design principles to help you make the strategic shift:

1) Follow an 80/20 rule to maintain stability and flexibility. Plan 80% of your operations around your core business to focus resources on maintaining your bread-and-butter offerings. Save 20% of your operations’ resources for exploring new opportunities and responding to the unexpected.

2) Maintain a diverse talent mix. The profile of teams suited to optimize the core business may be different from the profile of the team that assesses and tests new opportunities. Always maintain a mix of talent to create a well-rounded team that covers both.

3) Stay true to your values. Companies that lead with and live by their values can create a consistent environment during times of change. Your values become the bedrock that allows employees to make decisions and take risks without the weight of heavier oversight. The greater capacity your organization has for employees to participate in problem-solving, the greater your organization’s resilience to micro and macro change.

The rate of change is so fast today that it may feel impossible to keep up. But there are a few key factors that can spell the difference between success and failure. Building values, flexibility, and resilience into your company culture and operations and engaging diverse teams can help you not only weather the storms of change, but begin to thrive in new and unexpected ways.

Elaine Mak is chief people and performance officer at Valimail.

 

Fast Company

Standard Chartered Plc had a wild 2023 with Nigeria’s volatile currency as the African nation struggled with foreign-exchange rules to attract investment from overseas and boost the supply of dollars.

The London-based lender, in its corporate filings last week, said it made almost $120 million in a single day on June 1, in anticipation of new policies including an impending naira devaluation.

By November, its position whipsawed as it made around $40 million only to lose more than $20 million later after the government announced a crackdown on the black market, where the US dollar at one point commanded a premium of as much as 60% over the official rate.

The gap, which has now narrowed, resulted from too little capital inflows and a severe dollar scarcity that’s plagued the continent’s most-populous country despite currency reforms and a sharp devaluation. As of Monday, the dollar fetched 1,540.40 naira, compared with roughly 1,590 on the street, where most residents source their forex needs.

The naira slumped 49% last year against the dollar, making it the third-worst performer among 150 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The wide spread between the rates have also discouraged investments from abroad.

Standard Chartered’s one-day currency gains on June 1 came after Nigeria’s newly elected President Bola Tinubu took office in late May and immediately proposed to unify the exchange rates and let the naira trade more freely.

“After announcement of planned potential economic reforms in Nigeria, there were sharp movements in the offshore naira FX market in anticipation of Naira devaluation,” StanChart said.

But those gains were put at risk in November when Nigeria announced that it would be introducing new foreign-exchange rules, including a crackdown on the black market in a bid to narrow the spread. The plan was for the currency to reach a “fair price” by the end of 2023.

After the government’s announcement on Oct. 30 that it planned to target an exchange rate of 750 naira per dollar, “the onshore spot market became more volatile on low volumes,” StanChart said.

In a matter of days, the bank recorded a profit of about $40 million followed immediately by a loss in excess of $20 million, according to the corporate filings that accompanied the lender’s full-year earnings on Feb. 23.

The gains and losses came after the Nigerian authorities took steps to clear a backlog of matured foreign-currency forward contracts with some banks that they said had hampered dollar inflows. The announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria on Nov. 2 that it cleared the matured foreign-currency contracts for some lenders had prompted some speculators to offer their dollars for sale.

“Standard Chartered operates in over 50 markets that are periodically subject to currency movements that breach value at risk thresholds in line with the pillar 3 disclosure,” a representative for the bank said.

Despite the currency volatility in Nigeria, StanChart’s Africa and Middle East region last year posted its highest annual pretax profit since 2015, with earnings climbing 66% to $1.3 billion, as higher income and a net release in credit provisions offset an increase in expenses.

 

Bloomberg

Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Monday, gave its nod for the implementation of aspects of the 2012 Stephen Oromsaye Panel Report.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this after the council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said the go-ahead was given to reduce the cost of governance.”

The minister further said the implementation of the report means that some agencies, commissions and departments of government have been scrapped, merged, subsumed and others moved under new ministries.

He explained: “President Bola Tinubu has taken a decision to implement the so called Orosanye Report.

“Now, what that means is that a number of agencies, commissions, and some departments have actually been scrapped, some have been merged, while others have been subsumed. Others, of course, have also been moved from some ministries to others where government feels they will operate better.

“Like I said, this is a very far-reaching decision. It is aimed, one, to fine-tune or to restructure government operations as a whole. Secondly, it’s in line also with decision of Tinubu to reduce the cost of governance.”

Idris assured that the implementation does not mean that staffers in the affected establishments will lose their jobs.

Special adviser to the president on policy coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, gave details of the agencies involved saying, “For agencies that are required to be merged, I’ll take it; National Agency for Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA) to be merged with the Centre for Disease Control in the Federal Ministry of Health.

“National Emergency Management Agency to be merged with the National Commission for Refugee Migration and Internally Displaced Persons; the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa to be merged with Directorate of Technical Aid and to function as a department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission to be merged with the Bureau for Public Enterprises; Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission to be merged with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council; National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure to be merged with National Centre for Agriculture Mechanization and Project Development Institute.

“National Biotechnology Development Agency to be merged with the National Centre for Genetic Resource and Biotechnology; National Institute for Leather Science Technology to be merged with the National Institute for Chemical Technology; the Nomadic Education Commission to the merge with the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult Education and Non-formal Education.

“Federal Radio Corporation to be merged with the Voice of Nigeria; the National Commission for Museum and Monuments to be merged with the National Gallery of Arts; the National Theatre to be merged with the National Troupe of Nigeria; National Metrological Development Centre to be merged with the National Metrological Training Institute.

“The Nigerian Army University, Biu, to be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy, to function as a faculty within the Nigerian Defence Academy; Air Force Institute of Technology also to be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy, to function as a faculty of Nigerian Defence Academy.

“We now move to the agencies to be subsumed.

“The Service Compact with Nigeria (SERVICOM) to be subsumed to function as a department under the Bureau for Public Service Reform; the Border Communities Development Agency to be subsumed to function as a department under the National Boundary Commission. The National Salaries Income and Wages Commission to be subsumed into the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission.

“The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution to be subsumed under the Institute for International Affairs; the Public Complaints Commission to be subsumed under the National Human Rights Commission, the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis to be subsumed into the Institute for Veterinary Research; the National Medicine Development Agency to be subsumed under the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development. The National Intelligence Agency Pension Commission to be subsumed under the Nigerian Pension Commission.

“For agencies to be relocated, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company to be relocated to the Ministry of Power; the National Agricultural Land Development Agency to be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security; the National Blood Service Commission to be converted into an agency and relocated to the Federal Ministry of Health; the Nigerian Diaspora Commission to be converted into an agency and to be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Finance.”

Usman revealed that Tinubu has constituted a committee that will work within a 12-week period to ensure that the necessary restructuring and legislative amendments that are needed to ensure that full actualization of these approvals granted.

She said that Tinubu tasked the committee with an immediate terms of reference to proceed and ensure all of these are done within a period of 12 weeks.

The committee membership comprises of the Secretary to the Government of Federation who will chair it while members are the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reform, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination; the two Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly and the Cabinet Affairs Office will serve as secretariat.

Usman added: “The committee will look at the administrative restructuring and also the legislative amendments required to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations.

“There are other aspects of recommendations that have also been passed to the committee to look at.

“It’s important for us to appreciate the bold approval granted by Mr. President at the Federal Executive Council.

“This has been a recommendation that has been, I think, in the Nigerian discourse from 2012 and we’re here in 2024 and it’s so been approved and the aspects that are applicable to mergers, as I said, subsuming, scrapping and relocation of agencies are those that have been so considered, arising from the totality of the panel report.”

Also speaking, the minister of finance and coordinating minister for economy, Wale Edun, disclosed that the president had directed the design of a Social Security unemployment program where unemployed Nigerian youths will be paid.

He said: “At this period of heightened food prices, Mr. President has committed to doing all that can be done to assist in giving purchasing power to the poorest and in that line, he has committed and instructed that the Social Security unemployment program be devised, particularly to cater for the youth, for the unemployed graduates, as well as the society as a whole.

“So, we have coming, in the nearest future, an unemployment benefit for the young unemployed, in particular.”

Similarly, Edun said there will be a consumer credit scheme to alleviate the pains of economic adjustment.

“Finally, all in the same line, to emphasize that there is empathy. And there is feeling for those who are less well off, or feeling particularly the pains of this adjustment, there is coming a social consumer credit programme.

“So, by making consumer credit available, of course, goods become more affordable, the economy even gets a chance to revive faster, because people have purchasing power that allows them to order goods, products,” he stated.

Edun also spoke on the review carried out by the Special Presidential panel on the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which has submitted a preliminary report to the president.

He informed that president gave the highlights to the Council meeting noting that what was done was “a review of the existing mechanisms, a review of the existing programmes, and where there have been successes, such as the 400,000 beneficiaries of the Geep programme, and so on and so forth.”

 

The Guardian

The federal government has been unable to convince the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to halt its planned nationwide protest.

A government delegation led by George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation, met with the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other labour leaders on Monday night.

After the sit-down, Ajaero said the union would embark on a peaceful rally to express their grievances over the deteriorating economic crisis and high cost of living in the country.

Speaking with journalists, Ajaero said it is the responsibility of both parties to ensure the protest is peaceful.

He asked the federal government to provide security to members of the union as part of the fundamental rights of citizens as enshrined in the constitution.

He said members of the union will march to the national and state assemblies across the country to submit the demands to the lawmakers and government officials.

“The rally goes on but it’s part of their (government) constitutional responsibility to make sure that the rally is peaceful while we are going to try on our own side to make sure it is peaceful. That’s all,” Ajaero said.

“We have demands we must present, so maybe by tomorrow when we present those demands, a copy of it will get to the press.”

Before the NLC announced its nationwide protest, residents of Kano, Niger, Oyo, Edo, Lagos, Kano, Sokoto, Borno and Osun, among other states, had taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest economic hardship.

The leadership of the NLC said the union’s two-day nationwide protest will take place on February 27 and 28.

 

The Cable

Nigeria Customs Service, on Monday, announced the suspension of the sale of foodstuffs following a stampede that reportedly killed seven persons at the NCS Old Zonal Headquarters in the Yaba area of Lagos State on Friday.

Chief Superintendent of Customs and National Public Relations Officer for Comptroller General of Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, disclosed the suspension of the exercise in a statement on Monday.

Nigeria Customs had said it was selling seized food items at N10,000 per 25kg to alleviate the people’s suffering as a result of the current high cost of living and other economic hardships.

On Friday, a pregnant woman and six others reportedly died in a stampede after some suspected hoodlums attempted to force their way into the Yaba Customs office compound.

Some Lagos residents who thronged the NCS office in Yaba expressed disappointment on Monday following the suspension of the initiative.

When our correspondent visited the Customs office at Yaba on Monday, a mass of people, including the elderly, queued up in front of the gate to buy the rice.

The PUNCH also observed that despite spirited efforts by officers to assure the people that the service was out of stock, the crowd continued to grow.

Speaking with our correspondent at the scene, one of the intending buyers, identified as Toyin Oke-Owo, urged President Bola Tinubu to find a lasting solution to the economic hardship in the country.

She said, “I have been here since 8 am. They said there would be no rice again. I have not eaten anything since this morning. Help us to tell the President that we are hungry.

“They said they wouldn’t sell it because some people died here. They have been chasing us away with a cane. I am hungry. This morning, I soaked cassava flour for my child to drink as breakfast.”

Another woman, who identified herself as Adesola Odefunso, said, “Please, help us to beg them that they should distribute what they have to those of us who have been here since morning.

“We are not as many as the people who came here on Friday. Help us to beg them to give us rice. We have been here since 5 am. We didn’t sleep throughout the night because of this rice.”

Meanwhile, in a statement on Monday evening, the NCS said the suspension became necessary considering “the recent unfortunate event.”

“We regrettably announce the suspension of this exercise until we establish what transpired on Friday, February 23, 2024,” the NCS spokesman said.

He explained that: “The disposal of the food items got off to a smooth start at about 0800hrs. We enjoyed the cooperation of the large crowd that obliged us, giving preferences to the elderly, people living with disabilities, pregnant women, and other vulnerable Nigerians who showed up for the exercise.

“This was the case up until about 1700hrs, as attested to by the over 5,000 beneficiaries and members of the press. However, unforeseen challenges arose when we ran out of stock and announced the continuation of the exercise the following day, leading to a regrettable outcome.

“The crowd became desperate and charged through our barricades in search of rice bags inside emptied containers. In the stampede that ensued, some fatalities and injuries were regrettably recorded.”

The Customs extended its “heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives during the unfortunate incident.”

The service said it was working with health authorities to establish contact and engage directly with the victims’ families on their next steps.

 

Punch

Israel destroys 10km Hamas tunnel in northern Gaza

The IDF claimed that the extensive underground network linked a cancer hospital and a university

Israel’s military say they have destroyed an extensive underground tunnel that was used by Hamas, with openings leading to a cancer hospital and a university in the northern Gaza Strip.

The tunnel, said to be 10km (6 miles) long, ran between the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital and Israa University, located south of Gaza City, up to the northern neighbourhood of Zeitoun. The army unit in charge of locating and destroying tunnel networks said its discovery was part of a wider effort over the past month to find the subterranean network that connects the north and south of the Gaza Strip.

“During our raids, we discovered an 18-metre-deep tunnel under the hospital with two exists both in the southern and northern parts of the hospital,” said a combatant identified only as Major Ron, the chief operations officer of the Nahal Brigade combat team.

The area around the tunnel’s most northern exit in the Zeitoun district of Gaza City has seen heavy fighting over the past week as Israel struggles to maintain hold of the neighbourhood first occupied in the early days of the war in October. On Monday, Israeli forces killed more than 30 Palestinian gunmen there as Hamas fighters waged a renewed battle to take back the city.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) say the latest tunnel they had discovered was used by the group’s Zeitoun battalion and other brigades to move around the Gaza Strip.

They added that it contained subterranean rooms including toilets, storage areas, and the bodies of Palestinian operatives who fell during raids by Israeli troops.

“Throughout the entire war, we’ve witnessed Hamas using civilian infrastructure, ie, hospitals, kindergartens, schools and more, to dig tunnels and dispose of weapons, which we also found inside the Turkish hospital,” Major Ron said in a video statement released by the Israeli army.

The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital has not been functioning since late November after running out of fuel. It was the only hospital in the enclave that offered cancer treatment, and has been unable to resume treatment after being cordoned off by Israeli forces.

Subhi Skeik, the hospital’s director, said the hospital had nothing to do with any such Hamas activity.

“While being at the hospital, I didn’t see anything directly or indirectly in my knowledge about the compound of the hospital. Nothing is there,” he told The Times.

A video released by the IDF pans from the Turkish hospital, built in 2017, across the sand dunes dotted with Israeli tanks and down into pit which shows a small, vertical tunnel shaft. On the other side, the video circles a hole in the ground closer to the hospital building and cuts to a deep hole in the ground, marked by an orange plastic chair.

The tunnel was destroyed, according to the IDF, which released a video showing two large explosions emanating from the dunes.

Israel said on Monday that its army had readied a plan to evacuate Gazans before a feared invasion of Rafah in the south, which Antonio Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, warned would “put the final nail in the coffin” of aid operations. Nearly 30,000 people have died in Gaza since October 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

After speaking with the families of abducted soldiers, Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, said: “The full return of civilians to the northern Gaza Strip will only take place after the return of all the abductees. Even if we have to lay down fire temporarily, we will fight again until the last of the abductees is returned.”

Many of the major Gaza City hospitals including al-Shifa, al-Quds and the Turkish Friendship hospital, have been forced to close under fire. Skeik said they were looking to resume their work as soon as a ceasefire, currently being brokered through indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, came into effect.

“Let us give the people of Gaza the right to health. Let us give them the right to live like other people, especially these cancer patients.”

On Monday Mohammad Shtayyeh, the Palestinian prime minister in the occupied West Bank, handed in his resignation to President Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority. He cited “the new reality in the Gaza Strip” and “the escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem”, where there has also been daily violence since the war in Gaza began.

 

The Times

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

NATO troops in Ukraine can’t be ruled out – Macron

French President Emmanual Macron has argued that deployments of troops to Ukraine by NATO members and other allies cannot be ruled out because Western powers must stop at nothing to ensure that Russia does not defeat Kiev’s forces.

“There’s no consensus today to send, in an official manner, troops on the ground,” Macron told reporters after hosting a meeting of European leaders on Monday in Paris. “But in terms of dynamics, we cannot exclude anything. We will do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning this war.”

France hosted Monday’s summit of Ukraine backers to demonstrate steadfast support and European unity amid concerns that US aid to Kiev may stop, especially if Donald Trump wins this year’s presidential election. Macron said that while Ukraine’s European allies want to avoid escalating the conflict into a direct war with Russia, they agree that they must do more to ensure that Moscow doesn’t win.

“We have to take stock of the situation and realize our collective security is at stake,” the French leader said. “We have to ratchet up. Russia must not win, not only for Ukraine, but secondly, we are, by doing so, ensuring our collective security for today and for the future.”

Macron noted that the allies who say “never, ever” today about direct troop deployments to Ukraine are the same ones that previously ruled out escalations of military aid that were later granted, including long-range missiles and fighter jets. “Two years ago, a lot around this table said that we will offer helmets and sleeping bags, and now they’re saying we need to do more to get missiles and tanks to Ukraine. We have to be humble and realize that we’ve always been six to eight months late, so we’ll do what is needed to achieve our aim.”

There is broad consensus among the nations represented at Monday’s meeting that the allies must provide more aid to Ukraine and step up more quickly, Macron claimed. “We are not at war with the Russian people, but we cannot let them win in Ukraine,” he said, adding, “We are determined to do everything necessary for as long as necessary. That is the key takeaway from this evening.”

Washington ran out of money for Ukraine last month, after burning through $113 billion in congressionally approved aid packages. US President Joe Biden is seeking an additional $60 billion in Ukraine funding as part of an emergency spending bill that also includes aid for Israel and Taiwan. Conservative Republican lawmakers have balked at approving more aid for Ukraine, saying Biden is merely prolonging the conflict without changing its outcome. Trump has claimed he will end the crisis within 24 hours by forcing Ukrainian and Russian leaders to the negotiating table.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine's Zelenskiy urges 'fight' for Crimea after 10 years of occupation

Ukraine and its international partners must continue fighting to restore Ukrainian control over Crimea, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday as Kyiv marked a decade of Russian occupation of the Black Sea peninsula.

Moscow's troops seized control of Crimea in 2014 through a covert invasion, and then used it to help launch its full-scale assault on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

"This cruel war now being waged against Ukraine was spawned by Russian revanchism precisely when it felt that the world could turn a blind eye to such crimes," Zelenskiy said in a video address.

Ukraine was on Monday marking the 10th anniversary of a rally in the Crimean capital of Simferopol against a Russian-backed movement that paved the way for the annexation, which the international community condemned as illegal.

Russia marks the annexation on March 18, the day President Vladimir Putin formalised it with a treaty in Moscow.

Kyiv has said it will fight on until it restores its 1991 borders, which include Crimea, and is leading a diplomatic push to devise a peace plan that envisions a full Russian troop withdrawal.

Moscow says the idea of peace talks without Russia taking part is absurd and that any settlement of the war would have to recognise the "new realities on the ground".

Ukraine's military is struggling to hold back Russian attacks along the sprawling front line as Russia's invasion enters its third year.

Zelenskiy, in his address, urged Ukraine's partners to "fight for the full renewal of international law".

"We can end this war on our Ukrainian terms. We can return our land and people from the occupation," he said. "We can bring Russia to justice for what it has done. But for this to happen, we must fight."

 

RT/Reuters