Russia’s top opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who died Friday in an Arctic prison according to Russia’s penitentiary service, survived a poisoning attack in 2020 only to be sentenced to 19 years in a penal colony.

Here are 10 key dates in his campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin:

– 2007: anti-corruption campaigner –

Navalny begins buying shares in state-owned oil giants to access company reports and scour them for evidence of corruption, which he documents on his blog.

The same year he is excluded from the liberal opposition party Yabloko for taking part in “nationalist activities”.

– December 2011: leads election protests –

Navalny sets up the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which gains a huge following with exposes about the vast riches amassed by Kremlin elites.

In the winter of 2011-2012, he leads huge protests after parliamentary elections won by Putin’s United Russia party, a vote marred by allegations of fraud.

– July 2013: embezzlement conviction –

He is convicted of defrauding the government in the Kirov region of 16 million rubles ($500,000) in a timber deal while acting as an advisor to the governor.

He denies the charges, claiming they are an attempt to silence him.

– September 2013: Moscow mayoral bid –

Navalny finishes a strong second behind Kremlin-backed incumbent Sergei Sobyanin in the race for mayor of Moscow.

His calls for a recount are dismissed.

– March 2017: Medvedev ‘duck’ expose –

Navalny’s video about the lavish lifestyle of then prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, which includes a claim that one of his estates has a duck house in the middle of a pond, sparks rallies.

– December 2018: barred from presidential election –

He is blocked from running for president against Putin because of his embezzlement conviction.

He urges Russians to boycott the vote, which nonetheless sees Putin secure a fourth term.

– August 2020: poisoning –

Navalny is hospitalised on August 20, 2020, in Siberia and placed in a medically induced coma after losing consciousness during a flight.

He is transferred to a hospital in Berlin, where tests show he was poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.

He accuses Putin of being behind his poisoning, which the Kremlin denies.

– January-February 2021: arrested and jailed –

He returns to Moscow, where he is detained shortly after landing at the airport.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrate across Russia for his release.

In February, he is handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence for breaching the conditions of a suspended sentence while recuperating in Germany, and sent to a penal colony.

– August 2023: 19 years –

Navalny’s sentence is increased to nine years after a conviction on new charges of embezzlement and contempt of court.

A gaunt Navalny, who has experienced major weight loss in prison, is then sentenced to an additional 19 years at a harsher “special regime” facility on charges of “extremism”.

He goes missing for over two weeks in December 2023, before being located in a remote penal colony north of the Arctic Circle.

– February 16, 2024: dies in prison –

Navalny dies at the Arctic prison colony, Russia’s federal penitentiary service says in a statement.

It says Navalny lost consciousness after going for a walk and could not be revived by medics.

“The causes of death are being established,” it said.

[Vanguard]

THE American World Bank and the Europe an International Monetary Fund, IMF, have in the past few weeks circled round Nigeria like vultures waiting for the prey to die.

The twin organisations have become more active and quite audacious since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came to power on May 29, 2023. They are like predators, ready for the kill.

While Nigerians are hungry and their anger is beginning to boil over to street protests due to the stifling economic policies of the Tinubu administration, these organisations are praising Tinubu to the high heavens and telling him to tighten the noose round the necks of the people.

Inflation is at 32 per cent. Fuel price increased from N238 per litre on Inauguration Day to N617-N700, and the Naira has dipped from a depth of about N700 to the dollar last year, to over N1,500. While these have resulted in devastating consequences, both institutions tell Tinubu he has not gone far enough.

In its Friday, February 9, 2024, statement, the IMF praised Tinubu for making “a strong start”. It further encouraged him to heavily tax hapless Nigerians as part of a so-called “ambitious domestic revenue mobilisation agenda”.

In the statement signed by its Spokesperson, Julie Ziegler, the IMF, like a school master to an errant pupil, told Tinubu: “Fuel and electricity subsidies are costly, do not reach those that most need government support and should be phased out completely.” In other words, it is instructing him and his team to further increase the current prices of fuel and electricity.

The IMF also encouraged Tinubu to take more foreign loans because in its view: “Nigeria’s capacity to repay the Fund is adequate under the baseline.” As an incentive, it offered trade-offs “… between urgent humanitarian needs and debt service, including to the Fund”.

These IMF assessments and instructions tally with those of the World Bank. The latter’s Lead Economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert, had on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, told Tinubu: “We think the price of petrol should be around N750 per litre more than the N650 per litre currently paid by Nigerians.”

So, why are the IMF and World Bank so callous and inhuman? It is simply because that is why they were set up in the first place; to exploit poor countries, degrade and destroy their production capacity, control their resources and destroy their education system so they will be incapable of thinking. For instance, while the twin agencies are insistent on increasing the price of fuel, they do not encourage the local refining of fuel by an oil producing country like Nigeria. That will go against the belief they have instilled in the African people; that our role in the world is to produce raw materials while their God-given role is to manufacture.

This is why apart from raising what Franz Fanon called ‘Black Skin, White Masks’ as elites, they also go for the jugular by destroying our education system and convincing generations of Nigerian governments that we do not need to know about our past. That was why until 2022, they banned the teaching of history in all Nigerian schools.

Surely, it is dangerous to allow slaves to be educated. But where it becomes inevitable, the bosses of the IMF and World Bank, try to ensure that the education the former slave colonies receive, are uncritical, subservient, if not useless.

Let me tell you a verifiable story. The World Bank told African countries in the 1980s that they do not need universities; what they need is technical education to run a basic economy. So, it discouraged African countries from developing education by seeking to destroy the existing university education.

It got a listening ear in the Babangida military regime that thought learning is a danger to its dictatorship. The regime which had accused academics in tertiary institutions of “teaching what they are not paid to teach”, agreed with the World Bank to stop funding university education.

So, both sides in 1987 signed an agreement for the World Bank to carry out a “restructuring exercise” of all federal universities in Nigeria using a loan facility of $120-150 million.

Under the “Eligibility Criteria for Federal Universities” the government accepted the conditionalities of the World Bank which included the freezing of recruitment of all categories of staff, mandatory staff retrenchment, increase in tuition fees for remedial and non-degree students, cancelling remedial courses in the Arts and phasing out sub-degree programmes that are being offered in other tertiary institutions.

Other World Bank conditionalities accepted by the Nigerian government, include eliminating post-graduate programmes in any department that had not yet graduated undergraduate students, phasing out any department that has been “in existence for more than ten years, but has less than 40 full time equivalent undergraduate students” and phasing out any department that has been “in existence for more than ten years, and has less than two thirds of the normally required academic staff.”

The World Bank also demanded the commercialisation of facilities which may include classrooms and lecture theatres, and that the procurement of 60 per cent equipment by the universities “shall be in accordance with standard specifications and approved manufacturers“ of the bank. To cap these, the bank demanded that it must scrutinise all the curricular of the universities and that there must be the mandatory importation of expatriate staff whose salaries are to be heavily topped.

The bank and the conniving Babangida regime agreed that Nigerian universities must meet all the conditionalities between June 1990 and June 1994. All these were published by the World Bank under its “Progress Report on the World Bank-Federal Universities Adjustment Operation.”

The country was saved the implementation of this destructive agreement due to mass protests by the media, professional associations, academics and students. In its desperate attempt to implement this World Bank gambit, the Babangida regime shut down many campuses and shot four students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.

This slavish project was buried when in the bloody April 22, 1990 aborted coup speech, Major Gideon Orkar gave one of the reasons for the coup as: “The cowing of the university teaching and non-teaching staff by an intended massive purge, using the 150 million dollar loan as the necessitating factor.”

The twin institutions, which exercise power without responsibility, are predatory birds, and as the 1969 title of James Hardley Chase novel asserts: “The Vulture is a Patient Bird.”

 The World Bank and IMF remind me of ‘The Vultures’ a poem by David Diop in which he wrote: “In those days, When civilization kicked us in the face, When holy water slapped our cringing brows, The vultures built in the shadow of their talons, The blood-stained monument of tutelage.”

…Says LASG is intentional, unrelenting in addressing traffic issues

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday, said the much-anticipated Red Line rail will be commissioned on Thursday, February 29 by President Bola Tinubu.

Governor Sanwo-Olu made the announcement at the Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) Stakeholders Forum themed: “Parking in Lagos, the journey so far – Assessing the social and economic impact of the industry” held at GRA, Ikeja.

He said the Red Line rail, which runs from Agbado in Ogun State and terminates at the Oyingbo area of Lagos, is one of the integrated mass transit corridors in the state in line with his administration’s THEMES+ Developmental Agenda.

Governor Sanwo-Olu said his administration, which is intentional and unrelenting in its efforts to address all traffic issues in the state, has identified indiscriminate parking as one of the major challenges of the free flow of traffic.

He said the Lagos State Parking Policy, which came into being with the establishment of the Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) was to regulate all forms of parking by adopting innovative, adaptable, and sustainable operational systems and technologies.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, while reiterating his administration’s zero-tolerance policy for the flouting of rules and regulations guiding the Lagos transport sector, urged all stakeholders in the sector to comply with the Lagos State Parking Policy in the renewed and intentional effort to curb indiscriminate parking in the State.

He said: “We have adopted a model that ensures a win-win situation between the State and Local Governments. Lagos has already shown that this kind of state-LGA partnership can work, through the establishment of LASAA, and the Land Use Charge, and we are now set to showcase the same with the Lagos State Parking Authority.

“Therefore, the Local Governments in Lagos State, under the Conference 57 umbrella, and Mr. Kolade Alabi, the National President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), are our strategic partners in this renewed effort to regulate parking across the State.

“Just recently, we approved the On-Street parking scheme, to regulate the existing roadside parking and checkmate haphazard parking in line with global best practices. We are utilising existing major roads suitable to accommodate On-Street parking, and to create additional parking spaces, especially in areas with high parking traffic. 

“The On-Street parking scheme, as with most of our projects, is being done in partnership with the private sector, and we will continue to explore the Public Private Partnership model to benefit from its effectiveness in delivering high-quality service to meet the needs of our increasing population.”

 Speaking earlier, the LASPA General Manager, Mrs. Adebisi Adelabu, said parking management was on the centre stage towards meeting the target of traffic management of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration.

Adelabu urged all stakeholders to work with LASPA in its effort to rid Lagos of parking-induced gridlocks, through the effective implementation of the Lagos State Parking Policy.

She said: “As you are all aware Traffic management and Transportation is the first pillar of the THEMES+ agenda of the Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu-led administration. It might interest you to know that Parking management takes centre stage in the actualisation of this objective, as it is practically impossible to venture into traffic management without putting into consideration the issue of parking management.

“Our mandate is clear and we are resolute in pursuit of excellence in its actualisation in line with global best practices. We are fully empowered and also intentional about operating a more efficient and sustainable parking management system in line with the administration’s THEMES+ agenda to move Lagos State towards a 21st-century economy.

“We have a vision and are not unaware of the challenges to achieving it, but we are resolute in the pursuit of our goals and objectives towards the actualisation of this vision. This vision aims to achieve excellence in how Lagos State parking policies are envisioned and developed in line with the best global practices for a modern, efficient and sustainably managed parking system towards reducing congestion, disruption, improved road safety and changing travel behaviour.

SIGNED

GBOYEGA AKOSILE

CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY

14 FEBRUARY 2024

Suddenly the walls collapsed! Wow! The barriers were completely removed. All these obstacles you are seeing on your way will melt away. Yes, they will. They must! It will happen suddenly, totally, swiftly. You will look for them after reading this message and you will see them no more. Nothing can block your blessings again. God has blessed you and it cannot be reversed. Yes, this is our season. Are you not seeing it? No wall, no barrier, no obstacle, no power, no conspiracy can stop us. God gave the Israelites the city of Jericho, but the walls were impregnable. It was high, broad and well-fortified. The gates were tightly shut and roundly guarded. It was simply humanly impossible to go in and conquer it. You know this story very well. God had to push down the walls himself. Look at that incredible account again, “When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it.” Joshua 6:20. Every wall standing against you will fall today! Yes, those angels that push down the walls of Jericho are still around.

   Maybe, we will go back a bit to get the background of this display of this rare phenomenal divine power. God miraculously took the Israelites across the muddy River Jordan. The records had it that immediately the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepped into the river, it parted. Yes, the God that divided the Red Sea will also divide the Jordan. He is always ready to repeat what he has done for us in the past. God of yesterday is also the God of today and tomorrow. He does not change. He will do everything necessary to confirm his words and keep his promises. He had already given Israel the Promised Land by oath and the detailed boundaries hundreds of years ago and will not allow any obstacle to stand on their way. Listen, no barrier can stop the plan and promises of God for your life. He said that forever his word is settled in heaven (and on earth). God’s program for your life is settled forever. It cannot be changed, hindered or truncated by any circumstance, man or devil. But you must also play your role very well and on time. What did Israel do to attract the divine fulfillment and possession? Listen very carefully.

The Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Hon. Bolu Owotomo has said that the promotion of sustainable agriculture and food security is crucial for the well-being and survival of the nation at large.

Owotomo stated this during a retreat organized for the management of the Ministry of Agriculture, with the theme; "Achieving Agriculture and Food Security in Ogun State: The Place of Public Servants",  held  at Grand Inn & Suites, GRA, Ijebu 0de, Ogun State.

He said that the state government in line with federal government objectives has been encouraging dry season farming to ensure all year round planting, adding that the state has been able to reach out to 500 farmers within one week with input and other materials needed for dry season planting with  support from the Federal Government, Development Partners and other stakeholders.

He also assured the residents of the state government readiness to produce more agricultural inputs to the markets, saying that efforts are on top of gear to encourage more youth engagement in agriculture through improvement on mechanized farming.

Owotomo said that the importance of agriculture cannot be overemphasized appealing to all stakeholders to contribute their quota towards achieving food security in the state, as he emphasized that the retreat would give more insight into the activities of the ministry and allow for cross fertilization of ideas.

Speaking on the theme, the resource person, Prof. Kolawole Adebayo advocated the need for inter-ministerial collaboration, especially between the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), for the food system to be sustainable.

He said leaders must demonstrate the prowess and tenacity to evolve thought that would drive economic sustainability and food security.

Prof. Adebayo highlighted factors undermining the attainment of economic, environmental and food security to include continuous strive for global domination by superpowers, multinationals, political instability and inconsistency in policy among others.

Delivering his keynote address at the retreat, the state Head of Service, Mr. Kolawole Fagbohun described the retreat as strategic, as it would afford every stakeholders the opportunity to evaluate the mode of operation and re-strategize for better performance in all critical areas, admonishing them to always think out of the box.

He maintained that  the management staff have the responsibility of working directly with the public, to provide solutions to challenges facing the farming community. 

In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Samuel Adeogun noted that agriculture was key in the 'ISEYA' mantra of the present administration, disclosed that there was a need to critically look at responsibilities of each departments and what they intend to put in place to ensure delivery of the mandate.

Adeogun stressed the need for team work among the various departments and units within the ministry, to achieve a common goal in the task to deliver the set target in the sector.

On his part, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr. Olaolu Olabimitan, represented by the Chief Estimate Officer, Mr. Musibau Elemide advised that whatever decision taken must be in tandem with the overall vision of the state agricultural policy, saying that all target set must be realistic and achievable.

Olabimitan added that knowledge gained by participants should be cascaded to operational officers in the Ministry, so as to obtain their input in setting targets.

Speaking on behalf of other participants, Mrs. Kehinde Jokotoye and Mr. Ibrahim Busi appreciated the leadership of the ministry for putting up such a programme, assuring that the outcome of the retreat would greatly make an impact and helps in achieving the state agricultural agenda.

Highlights of the retreat included presentation by various departments, Aerobic, health talk, medical check up among others.

The United States of America has signed an agreement with the Nigerian government to preserve Sukur’s cultural heritage in Adamawa state.

Speaking at the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing event in Abuja on Thursday, the Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Nigeria, David Greene, announced that the grant had been awarded to the International Council on Monuments and Sites in Nigeria, ICOMOS-Nigeria.

According to Greene, the grant is intended to document, conserve, and improve the cultural heritage of the Sukur UNESCO World Heritage Site in Adamawa State.

He said the “latest grant will support ICOMOS-Nigeria and its local partners to help preserve Sukur cultural heritage through infrastructure enhancements, the revival of threatened traditional crafts, and documentation and preservation of the Sakun language.”

Speaking at the event, Nigeria’s Minister of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy Hannatu Musawa, said the Sukur Cultural Landscape is under imminent threat of insurgency and immediate danger imposed by global climate change.

She said: “The project aims at undertaking a 2-year conservation and preservation work in the Sukur Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is regarded as a place of Outstanding Universal Values.

“The work also involves the conservation of the tangible and intangible heritage of Sukur Cultural Landscape, enhancing community capacity, strengthening local, national and international links and networks for conserving the site’s Outstanding Universal Values and buttressing the resilience of the Sukur community in the face of insurgency and climate change.”

The Borno State government has said 160,000 repentant Boko Haram terrorists swore by the Quran not to return to their old ways.

The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Zuwaira Gambo, made this known on Thursday at an event in Maiduguri, the state capital.

She said over 70,000 Boko Haram fighters have been reintegrated back into their communities and have vowed not to return to the killings of innocent citizens.

Gambo noted that it was untrue that the repentant Boko Haram fighters were reneging on their promise and picking up arms.

She added that the repentant fighters would not dare go back on the oath they swore because of the consequences attached.

She said,“It is completely untrue that the repentant Boko Haram fighters are reneging on their repentance and returning to the bush to continue fighting.

“Out of the over 160,000 who repented, we have already reintegrated over 70,000 in their home communities, and I can assure you that no one will be missing should we decide to gather all of them for anyone to confirm. We operate a transparent process of their repentance.

“We subject each of them to proper oath-taking with the Holy Quran that he or she will never return to the bush to fight, and he or she swears with the Holy Quran in the presence of a committee comprising traditional rulers, religious leaders and government officials.

“No repentant Boko Haram dare renege on the oath because he or she knows what it means to swear with the Holy Quran and renege. And he or she knows that he or she dare not return to the bush because he or she knows that death awaits him on arrival, their commanders in the bush will kill him because they would not trust him.”

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday sacked the Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ifedayo M. O Adetifa, and appointed Dr. Olajide Idris, a former commissioner for health under his administration as Lagos governor as his replacement.

The sack of Adetifa, the second boss of the NCDC was contained in a series of appointments and reappointments of the Board Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers in the health and social welfare sector approved by Tinubu on Thursday as contained in a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.

The President added that the changes were due to painstaking consideration of the wealth of experience of each qualified and aforementioned Nigerian, who will be tasked with driving his Renewed Hope Agenda in the sector.

The President also appointed Dr. Saleh Yaguda as the new Chief Executive Officers of National Blood Service Commission (NBSC) while new board chairpersons were appointed for some of the agencies where the CEOs were retained.

The affected changes are the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC): Board Chairperson, Dr Mansur Kabir; Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Moji Adeyeye.

The board of the National Blood Service Commission (NBSC) are Board Chairperson, Prof. Abba Zubairu and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Saleh Yuguda.

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has the Board Chairperson as Prof. Afolabi Lesi and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Fatima Kyari.

For the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN): The Board Chairperson is Wasilat Giwa and Chief Executive Officer, Ibrahim Ahmed.

The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) has the Board Chairperson as Dr Babajide Salako and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Tosan Erhabor.

The Moddibo Adama University Teaching Hospital, Yola (MAUTH), has Chief Medical Director/CEO as Prof. Adamu G. Bakari

The Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH), has Chief Medical Director/CEO as Prof. Reuben Eifediyi.

Tinubu said that this is in furtherance of his determination to bring world class standards to Nigerian public health administration.

He said it was also to manifest his commitment to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks commensurate with international best practice.

The new NCDC Director-General/CEO, Dr Olajide Idris, received his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos College of Medicine, after which he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health from the Ivy League’s Yale University in Connecticut, United States of America.

He also served as the Commissioner for Health in Lagos State from 2007 to 2019, after serving as the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Health from 1999 to 2007.

The new NBSC Chairperson, Prof. Abba Zubairu, PhD, has served as the Medical Director of the world-leading Mayo Clinic in the United States of America.

This followed a long career in which he served as a Resident Doctor at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Hospital as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and undertook a Clinical Fellowship at the Harvard Medical School’s Transfusion Medicine Programme during which he obtained a Master’s degree in Clinical Science at the same institution.

The new MDCN CEO, Dr Fatima Kyari, PhD, is a renowned ophthalmologist and Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Medicine (FNAMed).

She obtained an MBBS degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, as well as a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before she obtained a Doctorate degree in Public Health from the same institution.

The President expected that the new leadership across this critical human development sector would raise the standards of healthcare service delivery for the exclusive benefit of all strata of the Nigerian population.

He said his administration was committed to implementing a whole-of-government approach to transforming the sector to enhance aggregate national quality of life and productivity.

The President also anticipated the immediate and effective implementation of new policy frameworks to reposition the sector under the able leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Muhammad Ali Pate.

(NAN)

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has said no tertiary institution operating in Nigeria is allowed to charge tuition fees in dollars.

The Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki, stated this at a media parley with education reporters in Abuja on Thursday.

He was reacting to a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) inviting proprietors of some private universities and institutions of higher learning in Nigeria who were allegedly charging fees in dollars.

He said: “On the dollarisation of tuition fees in this said university, we have investigated it and the university is not charging fees in dollars. They only charge dollars to foreign students. So, I want the media to join hands with us to tell the public that no Nigerian university is allowed to charge fees in dollars.”

The executive secretary also said the commission would continue to approve more universities as long as they meet standards and have the capacity for sustainability.

He announced that the commission would issue licenses to two universities by next week to add to the existing 270 in the country.

According to him, it would give room for access to tertiary education and stem the tide of Nigerians going outside the country to study.

“Due to the huge gap in demand and supply of university education, the National Universities Commission will continue to give approval for the establishment of more universities,” he said.

He added that the commission would continue to process applications for Distance Learning Centres across the country to give room for education access.

He said the agency has reconstituted Committee on Degree Mills to mitigate against the upsurge in the proliferation of unapproved degree-awarding institutions.

“To mitigate against the upsurge in the proliferation of unapproved degree-awarding institutions, the reconstituted Committee on Degree Mills had been working against their proliferations, with hope to fight and win the growing incidence that had continued to give an unsavoury image to the system, among others,” he added.