Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Monday welcomed the decision of Barcelona FC of Spain to establish its first football academy in Africa in the state.
Mr. Ambode, who spoke at the Lagos House, Alausa, while receiving the senior management staff of the football club, said he was delighted with the development.
He said it was in synchrony with his administration’s philosophy for sports development.
Mr. Ambode also pledged maximum support of the government in ensuring the successful take-off of the project.
He described the development as a historic moment for the state, saying it was indeed a thing of joy coming at a time when the government was still basking in the euphoria of the successful hosting of an international marathon.
Mr. Ambode said the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon was a major pointer to how Lagos could actualise its dream of improving the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state using sports as a major instrument.
“This visit by FC Barcelona is coming at a point where I believe strongly that we have nothing else to say than to say we are committed to this partnership because we know it will give us the first FCBEscola in Africa.
“I was made to understand that this is the first of its kind in Africa and so, Lagos is priding itself as a major receptor of the next academy to be established in Africa,’’ he said.
The governor, who restated the importance of sports to integration and development, said sports were the future of service to create a platform for youth employment and youth engagement in Lagos.
Mr. Ambode also pledged the full support of the government to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in hosting the first ever Beach Soccer African Nations Cup in Lagos between Dec. 10 and 23, 2016.
Earlier, Pau Vilanovai Vila-Abadal, Director of Business and Member of FC Barcelona Management Board, who led the team, thanked Mr. Ambode for the support given to them so far in actualising the project.
He said FC Barcelona decided to establish its Academy in Lagos due to the impressive population of the state, and the opportunity to share the philosophy of the team with the state.
On his part, Oscar Grau, Worldwide Director of Barcelona Academy, said it was indeed a big honour for the club to establish its academy in Lagos as many of the big names in the team started from such academy.
He said players like Messi, Iniesta, Sergio Busquet, Pique, among others, all started from such an academy.
The club has a unique methodology of instilling great virtues in footballers apart from football skills and education.
He added that through the academy the club also aimed to raise excellent players for Nigeria and that the core values of the club included efforts, team work, humility and respect.
Also speaking, NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, congratulated Mr. Ambode over the hosting of the Lagos International Marathon, saying it was one of the most successful tournaments in the world.
He pledged the support of the federation to ensure the success of the academy, especially in terms of facilitating the necessary approvals needed for expeditious take off of the project.
He added that Lagos, under Mr. Ambode and his predecessors, had always been a major destination for sports.
Mr. Pinnick said that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had just approved the hosting of the first ever Beach Soccer African Nations Cup in Lagos in December.
“The tournament is a major qualifier for the World Cup and eight best beach soccer teams in Africa will converge on Lagos for the tournament,’’ Pinnick said.
Premium Times
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Nigeria to train unemployed youths of Niger Delta
Nigeria plans to train as many as 10,000 youths a year for skilled work in the Delta region to try to stop them attacking and stealing oil from pipelines, the minister for the Niger Delta, Usani Uguru Usani, said on Monday.
Attacks on oil and gas facilities have become more frequent since authorities issued an arrest warrant for a popular former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo - Tompolo - who had led gangs of "boys" fighting for a bigger share of oil revenues.
To help address those grievances, the government plans to build nine vocational centers, Usani told Reuters.
"Between 5,000 and 10,000 will be trained yearly," he said.
The first centers would train young people in leather goods manufacturing, mobile phone assembly and e-commerce. Some would also find work at a new processing plant for cassava, part of the government's plan to boost the agricultural sector, he said.
He gave no launch date for the centers.
Buhari was elected in 2015 on an anti-corruption ticket and promised to end Nigeria's dependency on oil by attracting investment for sectors such as farming and infrastructure.
But slumping oil prices have forced him to seek loans from the World Bank, China and international capital markets to meet those promises.
He has also extended a 2009 amnesty, brought in by his predecessor, under which some 30,000 former militants were to be retrained. Widespread corruption saw the funds disappearing or ending up as cash benefits for the "boys", critics say.
Usani said authorities were doing their best to boost security in the Delta but that the task was difficult because the swampy terrain meant that the pipelines were hard to access.
"The terrain on which the (oil) flows are running is challenging and may not always be attack proof," he said. "(But) ... effective action has been taken."
He also told Reuters that the government was planning to build roads and hospitals in the Delta, where previous projects have not made it beyond the drawing board, but he said the scope was unclear due to uncertainty over the budget.
Buhari was forced to withdraw his 2016 draft budget because ministers could not agree on revised public spending plans.
Reuters
Attacks on oil and gas facilities have become more frequent since authorities issued an arrest warrant for a popular former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo - Tompolo - who had led gangs of "boys" fighting for a bigger share of oil revenues.
To help address those grievances, the government plans to build nine vocational centers, Usani told Reuters.
"Between 5,000 and 10,000 will be trained yearly," he said.
The first centers would train young people in leather goods manufacturing, mobile phone assembly and e-commerce. Some would also find work at a new processing plant for cassava, part of the government's plan to boost the agricultural sector, he said.
He gave no launch date for the centers.
Buhari was elected in 2015 on an anti-corruption ticket and promised to end Nigeria's dependency on oil by attracting investment for sectors such as farming and infrastructure.
But slumping oil prices have forced him to seek loans from the World Bank, China and international capital markets to meet those promises.
He has also extended a 2009 amnesty, brought in by his predecessor, under which some 30,000 former militants were to be retrained. Widespread corruption saw the funds disappearing or ending up as cash benefits for the "boys", critics say.
Usani said authorities were doing their best to boost security in the Delta but that the task was difficult because the swampy terrain meant that the pipelines were hard to access.
"The terrain on which the (oil) flows are running is challenging and may not always be attack proof," he said. "(But) ... effective action has been taken."
He also told Reuters that the government was planning to build roads and hospitals in the Delta, where previous projects have not made it beyond the drawing board, but he said the scope was unclear due to uncertainty over the budget.
Buhari was forced to withdraw his 2016 draft budget because ministers could not agree on revised public spending plans.
Reuters
Major shipping lines decide to leave Nigeria due to freight rate crash
Following a crash in freight rates, three major shipping lines have withdrawn their vessels and diverted same to other routes in the past four months.
Due to crashing freight rates, it has become unprofitable for shipping lines to operate along the Asia-West Africa routes.
The shipping firms, Nippon Yusen Kasha popularly known as NYK Lines (operated by Japanese), Taiwan’s Evergreen Line, and Messina Line, were forced to withdraw from the West Africa route due to growing losses as a result of the twin jeopardy of low freight rates and declining volumes.
The top Japanese shipping line had operated the Asia-West Africa service, which it dubbed WAX, alongside Hapag-Lloyd and Gold Star Line (GSL).
The service featured two calls in Nigeria, Lagos-Apapa and Lagos-Tincan. Evergreen Line has also announced the withdrawal of its vessels from the Asia-West Africa route, which had regular calls at the Lagos Port Complex Apapa.
Hull Blyth Nigeria Limited, which acts as shipping agent to Evergreen Line confirmed the withdrawal of the service to the media.
Managing Director, Hull Blyth, Christian Holm, said: “After three years of serving the market, Evergreen decided to discontinue their service due to losses sustained due to widening disparity between rate levels and costs.
“Rate levels, especially from Asia, have fallen over 50 per cent in the period with the cost levels remaining disproportionate.”
Speaking in similar vein, Chairman, Shipping Association of Nigeria, (SAN) Mr. Val Usifo, described the development as a dire situation.
He said: “The withdrawal of shipping services by these firms does not affect Nigeria alone but the entire region.
“It is a serious situation; it is not only that the traffic is down, the freight rates have virtually collapsed. Importers are finding it difficult to pay for their imports because of the restriction in dollar.”
Vanguard
Due to crashing freight rates, it has become unprofitable for shipping lines to operate along the Asia-West Africa routes.
The shipping firms, Nippon Yusen Kasha popularly known as NYK Lines (operated by Japanese), Taiwan’s Evergreen Line, and Messina Line, were forced to withdraw from the West Africa route due to growing losses as a result of the twin jeopardy of low freight rates and declining volumes.
The top Japanese shipping line had operated the Asia-West Africa service, which it dubbed WAX, alongside Hapag-Lloyd and Gold Star Line (GSL).
The service featured two calls in Nigeria, Lagos-Apapa and Lagos-Tincan. Evergreen Line has also announced the withdrawal of its vessels from the Asia-West Africa route, which had regular calls at the Lagos Port Complex Apapa.
Hull Blyth Nigeria Limited, which acts as shipping agent to Evergreen Line confirmed the withdrawal of the service to the media.
Managing Director, Hull Blyth, Christian Holm, said: “After three years of serving the market, Evergreen decided to discontinue their service due to losses sustained due to widening disparity between rate levels and costs.
“Rate levels, especially from Asia, have fallen over 50 per cent in the period with the cost levels remaining disproportionate.”
Speaking in similar vein, Chairman, Shipping Association of Nigeria, (SAN) Mr. Val Usifo, described the development as a dire situation.
He said: “The withdrawal of shipping services by these firms does not affect Nigeria alone but the entire region.
“It is a serious situation; it is not only that the traffic is down, the freight rates have virtually collapsed. Importers are finding it difficult to pay for their imports because of the restriction in dollar.”
Vanguard
Monday, February 22, 2016
Video - Febrile outbreak kills 25 children in Lagos, Nigeria
Experts are baffled over a killer disease - that has yet to be identified. It's killed at least 25 children in Lagos so far. Health authorities have taken samples and are analysing them.
Highest rate of Nigerians defecating in public is in Ekiti State
Ekiti State has the highest number of residents, among Nigerian states, who defecate openly, two agencies have said.
The United Nations Children’s Fund and the European Union state that two in three Ekiti residents engage in open defecation.
This is contained in a report jointly presented by the organizations at a two-day media networking and alliance building workshop on Water Sanitation and Hygiene held at Ijero Ekiti.
The programme, which ended on Saturday, was sponsored by both foreign organisations; and also featured Open Defecation Free, ODF, campaign.
The report stated that of the state’s 2.7million population, 1.8million engage in the unhygienic practice. It said the Ekiti figure represents 60.8% of Nigerians who defecate openly.
The organisations said over 2.5 billion people lacked access to improved sanitation globally, out of which one billion were engaging in open defecation.
The UNICEF/EU delegation, led by Mohsena Islam, a Water Sanitation and Hygiene specialist from UNICEF, had earlier embarked on a field trip with Ekiti Media WASH group to Asasa and Temidire Olojofi farm settlements in Aramoko Ekiti, to assess compliance with the campaign against open defecation.
Mr. Mohsena disclosed that several achievements had been recorded through UNICEF/EU WASH programme in Ekiti, using Gbonyin and Ekiti West as pilot councils in advocacy for open defecation Free and WASH.
“In Ekiti , an estimated number of 180,000 people are gaining access to good source of water through provision of hand pump boreholes,” he said.
” In the same way, 29,582 people in Ekiti have gained access to safe water through rehabilitation of 65 hand pumps in Gbonyin. 965 pupils from four schools now have access to child and gender friendly water supply.
“We have also brought improvement to 250 towns and communities in ODF by providing ten toilets per public. We have also provided technical supports in 313 communities, for them to know various ways to build and take ownership of low cost latrines and how to repair them in case of damage.
“Stakeholders would continue to step up sensitization and advocacy in rural areas on the need to key into the total eradication of open defecation , to forestall breakout of diseases.”
The Coordinator of Community Led Total Sanitation, CLTS, in Gbonyin, Kayode Eleso, said many residents were arrested and prosecuted for engaging in open defecation, particularly in Ado Ekiti metropolis; while efforts, were also on to compel every household to have toilets.
He regretted that low manpower in the sector was responsible for the noticeable inefficiency of his officers , saying records show that no staff had been recruited since Ekiti was created on October 1, 1996.
Lanre Ayeni, a CLTS facilitator and staff of Rural Water Sanitation Agency in Ekiti ,said in her presentation that 748 million of the global population, lack access to hygienic water supply .
She said it was so regrettable that 1.8 billion people still use contaminated sources of water, which she said has caused a lot of damage to their health and body systems.
“Advocacy for open defecation free in Ekiti and good water sanitation is yielding results. Enforcement in the past by CLTS coordinators had failed .
“What we now use is persuasion and people are gradually changing their perception about this concept.”
Premium Times
The United Nations Children’s Fund and the European Union state that two in three Ekiti residents engage in open defecation.
This is contained in a report jointly presented by the organizations at a two-day media networking and alliance building workshop on Water Sanitation and Hygiene held at Ijero Ekiti.
The programme, which ended on Saturday, was sponsored by both foreign organisations; and also featured Open Defecation Free, ODF, campaign.
The report stated that of the state’s 2.7million population, 1.8million engage in the unhygienic practice. It said the Ekiti figure represents 60.8% of Nigerians who defecate openly.
The organisations said over 2.5 billion people lacked access to improved sanitation globally, out of which one billion were engaging in open defecation.
The UNICEF/EU delegation, led by Mohsena Islam, a Water Sanitation and Hygiene specialist from UNICEF, had earlier embarked on a field trip with Ekiti Media WASH group to Asasa and Temidire Olojofi farm settlements in Aramoko Ekiti, to assess compliance with the campaign against open defecation.
Mr. Mohsena disclosed that several achievements had been recorded through UNICEF/EU WASH programme in Ekiti, using Gbonyin and Ekiti West as pilot councils in advocacy for open defecation Free and WASH.
“In Ekiti , an estimated number of 180,000 people are gaining access to good source of water through provision of hand pump boreholes,” he said.
” In the same way, 29,582 people in Ekiti have gained access to safe water through rehabilitation of 65 hand pumps in Gbonyin. 965 pupils from four schools now have access to child and gender friendly water supply.
“We have also brought improvement to 250 towns and communities in ODF by providing ten toilets per public. We have also provided technical supports in 313 communities, for them to know various ways to build and take ownership of low cost latrines and how to repair them in case of damage.
“Stakeholders would continue to step up sensitization and advocacy in rural areas on the need to key into the total eradication of open defecation , to forestall breakout of diseases.”
The Coordinator of Community Led Total Sanitation, CLTS, in Gbonyin, Kayode Eleso, said many residents were arrested and prosecuted for engaging in open defecation, particularly in Ado Ekiti metropolis; while efforts, were also on to compel every household to have toilets.
He regretted that low manpower in the sector was responsible for the noticeable inefficiency of his officers , saying records show that no staff had been recruited since Ekiti was created on October 1, 1996.
Lanre Ayeni, a CLTS facilitator and staff of Rural Water Sanitation Agency in Ekiti ,said in her presentation that 748 million of the global population, lack access to hygienic water supply .
She said it was so regrettable that 1.8 billion people still use contaminated sources of water, which she said has caused a lot of damage to their health and body systems.
“Advocacy for open defecation free in Ekiti and good water sanitation is yielding results. Enforcement in the past by CLTS coordinators had failed .
“What we now use is persuasion and people are gradually changing their perception about this concept.”
Premium Times
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