Nigeria has been described as one of the worst places to grow old, this is according to an index of the quality of later life in 96 countries.
HelpAge International’s Global AgeWatch Index measures the social and economic welfare of those over 60 in its latest report released on Tuesday.
HelpAge International is an organisation committed to helping older people to claim their rights, challenge discrimination and overcome poverty, so they can lead dignified, secure, active and healthy lives.
The report published on the United Nations International Day of Older Persons, ranks Nigeria at 85th position out of 96 countries.
“Nigeria ranks 85 on the overall Global AgeWatch Index. Its highest rank is in the capability domain (47), with a lower than regional average for the employment indicator (70.6%) and a higher than regional average for educational attainment (17.4%).
“Nigeria ranks low in the enabling environment domain (75) and below the regional average for civic freedom (53%) and satisfaction with public transport (42%). Its rank for the health domain is very low (88) and it has a below regional average for the life expectancy at 60 indicator. It ranks lowest on the income security domain (90), with very low pension income coverage (5%) and GDP per capita (US$ 2,254),” the report noted.
The HelpAge listed Ekiti and Osun as the only states in the country providing social pensions to older people. It added that only five per cent of people over 65 currently receive pension in Nigeria.
Commenting on the employment of older people, the organisation noted that 70 per cent of the population aged 55-64 are employed, adding that the indicator measures older people’s access to the labour market and their ability to supplement pension income with wages, and their access to work-related networks.
According to the report, the employment rate is a proxy for the economic empowerment of older people in the country.
Daily Times
Monday, October 6, 2014
Friday, October 3, 2014
97 Nigerian soldiers charged with mutiny
The Nigerian military on Thursday at the Defence Headquarters Garrison inaugurated a nine-man General Court-Martial to try 97 military personnel.The personnel are being charged for different offences ranging from mutiny, assault and misconduct to tampering with military property.
Of the 97 soldiers, 66 have been accused of committing mutiny, a crime punishable under the military law by death sentence.Highly placed military sources told PREMIUM TIMES that among the personnel set to face the General Court Martial include some senior officers: two colonels and some lieutenant colonels.
A list obtained by PREMIUM TIMES which contained names of 60 soldiers, said the soldiers conspired to commit mutiny triable by a General Court Martial.The soldiers attached to the 7 Division, Nigerian Army in Maiduguri include two Corporals, Cpl, nine Lance Corporals, LCpl and 49 Private soldiers, court martialed on a two-count charge of mutiny and conspiracy to commit the offence.
The charge sheet said the soldiers conspired to commit mutiny against the authorities of the 7 Division on August 4, at the Mulai Primary School camp, opposite AIT Maiduguri, Borno State.
It also said the soldiers refused to join 111 Special Forces battalion troops led by E. A. Aladeniyi, a colonel, to the Maimalari Barracks for an operation.
“In that you at the Mulai Primary School Camp opposite AIT Maiduguri on or about 4 August 14, refused to join 111 SF Bn troops led by Col EA Aladeniyi (N/9695) to Maimalari Barracks in connection with an operation,” the charge sheet read.
The charges came two weeks after a military court sentenced 12 soldiers to death for shooting at a vehicle conveying their commander in Maiduguri.The sentences await the approval of the army chief.
Five other soldiers were discharged and acquitted while one was sentenced to 28 years jail term with hard labour.
The soldiers were also accused of insurrection and firing at the utility vehicle of their general officer commanding, GOC of the same 7 Division, Ahmadu Mohammed.Many Nigerians have condemned the death sentences and have demanded they be suspended.A previous statement by the Army spokesperson, Olajide Laleye, said Thursday’s court martial was in line with efforts by the army to clear all cases relating to violation of the Armed Forces Act.
Mr. Laleye, a brigadier general, said the general court martial would try officers over ongoing military operations in the northeast Nigeria.
Premium Times
Related story: 12 Nigerian soldiers sentenced to death for mutiny
Nigerian soldiers attack own army commander
Some Nigerian soldiers refuse to fight Boko Haram until given new weapons
Of the 97 soldiers, 66 have been accused of committing mutiny, a crime punishable under the military law by death sentence.Highly placed military sources told PREMIUM TIMES that among the personnel set to face the General Court Martial include some senior officers: two colonels and some lieutenant colonels.
A list obtained by PREMIUM TIMES which contained names of 60 soldiers, said the soldiers conspired to commit mutiny triable by a General Court Martial.The soldiers attached to the 7 Division, Nigerian Army in Maiduguri include two Corporals, Cpl, nine Lance Corporals, LCpl and 49 Private soldiers, court martialed on a two-count charge of mutiny and conspiracy to commit the offence.
The charge sheet said the soldiers conspired to commit mutiny against the authorities of the 7 Division on August 4, at the Mulai Primary School camp, opposite AIT Maiduguri, Borno State.
It also said the soldiers refused to join 111 Special Forces battalion troops led by E. A. Aladeniyi, a colonel, to the Maimalari Barracks for an operation.
“In that you at the Mulai Primary School Camp opposite AIT Maiduguri on or about 4 August 14, refused to join 111 SF Bn troops led by Col EA Aladeniyi (N/9695) to Maimalari Barracks in connection with an operation,” the charge sheet read.
The charges came two weeks after a military court sentenced 12 soldiers to death for shooting at a vehicle conveying their commander in Maiduguri.The sentences await the approval of the army chief.
Five other soldiers were discharged and acquitted while one was sentenced to 28 years jail term with hard labour.
The soldiers were also accused of insurrection and firing at the utility vehicle of their general officer commanding, GOC of the same 7 Division, Ahmadu Mohammed.Many Nigerians have condemned the death sentences and have demanded they be suspended.A previous statement by the Army spokesperson, Olajide Laleye, said Thursday’s court martial was in line with efforts by the army to clear all cases relating to violation of the Armed Forces Act.
Mr. Laleye, a brigadier general, said the general court martial would try officers over ongoing military operations in the northeast Nigeria.
Premium Times
Related story: 12 Nigerian soldiers sentenced to death for mutiny
Nigerian soldiers attack own army commander
Some Nigerian soldiers refuse to fight Boko Haram until given new weapons
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau apparently alive - releases new video
“Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath,” Shekau said, adding that his group was “running our… Islamic caliphate” and administering strict sharia punishments.
Nigeria’s military said last week that Shekau was dead and that a man who had been posing as the group’s leader in the videos had been killed after fighting with troops in the far northeast.
Security analysts and the United States questioned the credibility of the military’s claim.
The new 36-minute video showed Shekau, in combat fatigues and black rubber boots, standing on the back of a pick-up truck and firing an anti-aircraft gun into the air.
Standing in front of three camouflaged vans and flanked by four heavily armed, masked fighters, he then speaks for 16 minutes in Arabic and the Hausa language widely spoken in northern Nigeria.
There was no indication of where or when the video was shot.
The heavily bearded Shekau, who appeared to be the same as those in previous clips, said the military’s claim that he was dead was propaganda.
“Nothing will kill me until my days are over… I’m still alive. Some people asked you if Shekau has two souls. No, I have one soul, by Allah,” he said, apparently reading from a script.
“It is propaganda that is prevalent. I have one soul. I’m an Islamic student".
“I’m the Islamic student whose seminary you burnt… I’m not dead,” he added, apparently referring to the destruction of the group’s mosque in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, in 2009.
There have been two previous claims by Nigeria’s security forces that Shekau was dead — once in 2009 during unrest in Maiduguri — and again in 2013.
Following each previous claim Boko Haram has issued denials in video messages.
Elsewhere in the new video, the militant leader said the group had implemented strict Islamic law in the towns that it had captured in recent weeks.
“We are running our caliphate, our Islamic caliphate. We follow the Koran… We now practise the injunctions of the Koran in the land of Allah,” he said.
The group also claimed to have shot down a Nigerian air force jet that went missing nearly three weeks ago.
An air force spokesman said the jet was missing. “For any group to claim they shot it down is mere propaganda and rubbish,” Air Commodore Dele Alonge told AFP.
Vanguard
Related stories: Military of Nigeria confirm Boko Haram leader dead
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau possibly dead
Ghana to export electricity to Nigeria
Ghana is planning to export thousands of megawatts of electricity to Nigeria, Ivory Coast and other neighbouring countries that have power deficit, sources say here.
Nigeria's Punch newspaper on Thursday quotes Ghanaian President, Mr. John Mahama, saying at the Africa Global Business and Economic Forum in Dubai, UAE on Wednesday, that his government had made huge investments in power generation that would enable the country to export excess electricity to Nigeria and other countries in the sub-region.
We have given priority to electricity generation in our country. We have prioritised energy in such a way that we want to become the hub for power production in West Africa. We want to generate electricity to the point that excess power can be exported to Nigeria, Ivory Coast and other countries that have power deficit, he said.
To achieve this dream, Mahama said that his country had secured export-import financing from China as well as special funds from Abu Dhabi to commence a series of power generation projects and that a third hydropower dam project was already at an advanced stage.
The Ghanaian leader, who spoke in a panel discussion along with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and President Mulatu Wirtu of Ethiopia, added: Where Africa faces some of its challenges lies its biggest opportunities.
We are leveraging on public-private sector partnership to build infrastructure. Be it roads, electricity, ports or communication systems; if we create the right environment, investors will come.
Creating the right environment that will attract foreign direct investment is the key.
In achieving this, the Ghanaian leader joined Kagame and Wirtu to emphasise the need for African governments to strengthen anti-corruption agencies in their various countries.
“Issues of accountability and transparency are very important. There must be a mechanism to fight corruption. We all have institutions, but the major thing is resourcing them to effectively fight corruption and perform effectively, he noted
APA
Related stories: Nigeria's electricity problem
Video - Aljazeera covers Nigeria's steps to improve its poor electricity supply
Nigeria's Punch newspaper on Thursday quotes Ghanaian President, Mr. John Mahama, saying at the Africa Global Business and Economic Forum in Dubai, UAE on Wednesday, that his government had made huge investments in power generation that would enable the country to export excess electricity to Nigeria and other countries in the sub-region.
We have given priority to electricity generation in our country. We have prioritised energy in such a way that we want to become the hub for power production in West Africa. We want to generate electricity to the point that excess power can be exported to Nigeria, Ivory Coast and other countries that have power deficit, he said.
To achieve this dream, Mahama said that his country had secured export-import financing from China as well as special funds from Abu Dhabi to commence a series of power generation projects and that a third hydropower dam project was already at an advanced stage.
The Ghanaian leader, who spoke in a panel discussion along with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and President Mulatu Wirtu of Ethiopia, added: Where Africa faces some of its challenges lies its biggest opportunities.
We are leveraging on public-private sector partnership to build infrastructure. Be it roads, electricity, ports or communication systems; if we create the right environment, investors will come.
Creating the right environment that will attract foreign direct investment is the key.
In achieving this, the Ghanaian leader joined Kagame and Wirtu to emphasise the need for African governments to strengthen anti-corruption agencies in their various countries.
“Issues of accountability and transparency are very important. There must be a mechanism to fight corruption. We all have institutions, but the major thing is resourcing them to effectively fight corruption and perform effectively, he noted
APA
Related stories: Nigeria's electricity problem
Video - Aljazeera covers Nigeria's steps to improve its poor electricity supply
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Video - President Goodluck Jonathan's full speech to mark Nigeria's 54th Independence Anniversary
President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday addressed the nation, on the occasion of Nigeria’s 54th Independence Day Anniversary.
In his speech, the President recounted Nigeria’s experiences in it’s first 100 years as a sovereign nation, adding that “far reaching advances in building a strong, united and prosperous nation” had been made. However, he noted that the country is still in a sober mood, following the activities of terrorists.
He addressed issues concerning the economy, terrorism, Ebola, while espousing his administration’s achievements.
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