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Global Emission: ActionAid Calls for Cancellation of Nigeria, Other Developing Countries Debt

Global Emission: ActionAid Calls for Cancellation of Nigeria, Other Developing Countries Debt
By: Michael Mike
ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) has called for the cancellation of Nigeria’s foreign debt as well as that of other African countries to appease for the damage done by global emission.
The Country Director of AAN, Mr Andrew Mamedu made the call at the weekend in Abuja, while noting that in reality African countries as well as other developing countries across the globe are not owing any debt but rather they are owed by developed countries and the Global North.
Mamedu, while calling for conversation around compensation for global emission, expressed concern about the disparity in the interest rate charges on loans between the low income earners and developed countries.
He said the amount agreed to be paid by developed countries for global emission should be redistributed to disadvantaged countries.
He stressed that the Global North is indebted to the developing countries and should be made to pay.
Mamedu argued that climate change is real and we should be pushing for climate justice, which means that the countries responsible for depletion of the ozone layer and subsequent climate change
should be made to pay for their damage.
He said: “So with the global emission conversation, there’s an agreement that for global emission, there’s a specific . that each country should pay, and this amount that is being paid should be redistributed to countries that are disadvantaged. “And surprise you to note that the Global North contributes over 97% of global emission. So with that calculation, with what, for instance, I’ll pick a country like the United States.
“What the United States is currently doing in terms of global emission, the United States has up to 80 trillion dollars that it owes for global emission. But if you project it between now and 2050, so between 1960 to 2050, the United States alone has about 80 trillion dollars. And with that projection, countries like Nigeria, if Nigeria is projected to what Nigeria would get, Nigeria would get 9.9 trillion dollars as payback.
“So look at the calculation, Nigeria is owing about 50 billion dollars, right? But for our climate emission, Nigeria is supposed to then get paid 9.9 trillion dollars between 1960 and now. So the question is, who is owing who? I think we need to sit down on the roundtable and renegotiate this.
“It is unacceptable that, particularly the Global North, the high-income countries, they also are indebted because of the level of risk.”
On the disparity issue of interest rate charged between the developed and developing countries, Mamedu said: “So a country like Germany pays an interest rate of 0.8 percent. Why is a country like Nigeria charged 2 to 3 percent? “You see the difference for their own same loan that we have taken. And what that means is, it is affecting the money’s amount available for our social sector, from education to health, to water, and housing.
“So the social sector is affected. Women, agriculture, young persons are affected. We are not able to have adequate resources to run this.
“So we need to come back to the negotiation table and look at these loans that Nigeria and African countries, not just Nigeria, particularly African countries, how do we come to a point where those loans are cancelled? Or secondly, the issue of the rates that are paid in servicing those loans. Are they fair to the countries? And thirdly, the issue of global emission, the amount that is owed by these countries, the developed countries, the countries that are emitting more, like the United States is top on that list.”
He said that: “By the time you see the full reports, there’s a whole report, huge analysis around this, that shows that we are not the ones in debt. Actually, it’s those countries that are indebted to us and we are happy to sit on the table to start discussing this. Enough of this whole neocolonialism mentality, enough of this new agenda.
“So climate change is real. Climate justice for us is what we are pushing for. And part of climate justice is that the global emission that people are responsible for should be paid for.
“And if they are being paid for, those countries that are suffering from it, which are those in the global South, like us, we should be benefiting. And we can then categorically say that they owe us, 9.9 trillion dollars. And we should start thinking of how they will pay that amount between now and 2050. “
Global Emission: ActionAid Calls for Cancellation of Nigeria, Other Developing Countries Debt
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Gombe N22bn Industrial Park will transform economic landscape of North East- Industrialists

Gombe N22bn Industrial Park will transform economic landscape of North East- Industrialists
Some industrialists in Gombe State have commended the state governor Inuwa Yahaya for his foresight in establishing the N22 billion Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park, saying that the park would transform the economic activities of the North east region.
Addressing journalists during their tour of the facility in Dadin Kowa community in Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, Alhaji Abdullahi Baba-Isa, who led the delegation described the park as the best investment destination for investors.
Baba-Isa said that the park would transform economic activities in the Northeast and help reduce youth unemployment in the state and region.
He said that the park would impact positively on major sectors of the state and would boost industrial production, attract investment, and promote regional development.
Malam Sani Yau, Chairman of Groundnut Oil Millers Association, Gombe State said that with the park now functional, a lot of investments would be attracted into the state.
Yau said that the project would contribute to wealth creation in the state and help improve living standards of residents of the state and Northeast.
“As we can see some companies have started operating in the park while massive construction of companies is ongoing; this is good for youth employment.
“This move will transform economy of the state and region and reduce the price of goods especially the ones that would be produced here.
“What Gov Yahaya has done is a milestone that will propel industrialisation and massive economic growth for not only Gombe but North east.
“Our association is pleased with the infrastructure provided at the park and we will support the state government’s move to turn the state to an industrial hub in the North east,” he said.
Yau urged the state government to allocate special zone for groundnut and rice millers in the state to enable them expand their businesses and contribute to the food security effort of the government.
For Alhaji Lawan Yusuf, chairman of Rice Processors Association in the state, the park would help mop up youths from streets and ensure that Gombe State remain safe for more investment.
Yusuf said that the groundnut and rice millers were willing to make investments at the park that would result in the creation of over 100, 000 jobs.
He urged investors from within and outside the country to support the initiative of the state government by harnessing the infrastructure at the park to contribute to the economic prosperity of the state and country.
Gombe N22bn Industrial Park will transform economic landscape of North East- Industrialists
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UN80: Our Achievements Should Give Us Hope for a Better Future By Philemon Yang

UN80: Our Achievements Should Give Us Hope for a Better Future By Philemon Yang
By: Michael Mike
Eighty years ago this month, the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco, turning the page on decades of war and offering hope for a better future. For 80 years the United Nations has stood as the highest expression of our hopes for international cooperation, and as the fullest embodiment of our aspiration to end the “scourge of war.” Even in a world steeped in cynicism, this is a milestone worth acknowledging.
The United Nations remains the only organisation of its kind, and the only one to have endured for so long. That longevity is remarkable when we consider the context of its founding: assembled from the rubble of not one, but two global cataclysms. Its predecessor, the League of Nations, had collapsed in disgrace.
No organisation is flawless. But to paraphrase the second Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld: the United Nations was created not to take humanity to heaven but to save us from hell. In that mission, it has not failed.
We continue to witness heart-wrenching scenes of war—in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere. The recent escalation between Iran and Israel is a stark reminder of the fragility of peace particularly in the tension-prone Middle East region.
Yet amid the violence, we have managed to avert a third global war. In a nuclear age, that is an achievement we can never take for granted. It is one we must preserve with the full force of our efforts.
Over the past eight decades, much of human development also bears the direct imprint of the United Nations. Consider the success of the Millennium Development Goals, adopted in 2000 by 189 Member States and more than 20 international organisations, which gave the world a shared roadmap for action.
By 2015, compared to 1990, extreme poverty was more than halved. Child mortality had fallen by nearly 50 percent. And millions of children — especially girls who had long been denied the right — had entered school for the first time.
Now, as we strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we must build on that legacy of progress. We must continue efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, achieve universal health coverage and produce and consume sustainably.
There is another story of progress, often overlooked: the dismantling of empire. Eighty years ago, colonialism cast its shadow over much of the world. Today, more than 80 former colonies across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific have gained independence and joined the United Nations. That transition, supported and legitimised by this Organisation, reshaped the global order. It was a triumph of self-determination, a profound affirmation of the Charter’s most fundamental principle: the sovereign equality of all States.
Evolving for the future
The world has changed dramatically since 1945. Today, the Organisation faces a deepening liquidity crisis. Despite the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, progress has been uneven. Gender equality continues to elude us. Our pledge to limit global temperature rise and protect our planet is slipping beyond reach.
These setbacks do not warrant diminished ambition but greater resolve. The United Nations has always shown its worth in times of crisis. Its founders had witnessed humanity at its most destructive and responded not with despair, but with boldness. We must draw on these achievements.
The spirit of San Francisco was not utopian. It was grounded in a sober understanding of what was at stake. It held that, even amid deep division, nations could still choose cooperation over conflict and action over apathy.
We saw that spirit last September, when world leaders gathered in New York for the Summit of the Future. After difficult negotiations, they adopted the Pact for the Future and its annexes—the Declaration on Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact—by consensus. In doing so, they pledged to renew multilateralism for a world more complex, connected, and fragile than the one imagined in 1945.
That spirit endures today. It lives in the resolve of 193 Member States, in the integrity of international civil servants, and in the quiet determination of those who believe firmly in the promise of the Charter. It is carried forward by the Secretary-General’s UN80 initiative, which calls on us to deliver better for humanity; and to look to the future with adaptability and hope.
As we mark this anniversary, we must rekindle the call for unity and solidarity that rang out from San Francisco 80 years ago.
We built a world order once, in the ruins of war. We did so with vision and urgency. Now, again, we find ourselves at a moment of consequence. The risks are high. So too is our capacity to act.
H.E. Mr. Philemon Yang, is the President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly
UN80: Our Achievements Should Give Us Hope for a Better Future By Philemon Yang
News
US Trains Nigeria, Others on Effective Drug Enforcement

US Trains Nigeria, Others on Effective Drug Enforcement
By: Michael Mike
Special Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will host an advanced-level course for 35 law enforcement, prosecutors, magistrates, and training personnel from Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Togo.
According to a statement by the U.S. Embassy, the training addresses the growing threat of transnational drug trafficking across West and Southern Africa, where criminal networks are increasingly using the region as a transit and distribution hub for illicit narcotics.
The statement added that the course strengthens participants’ capacity to lead complex investigations, with a focus on international controlled deliveries, conspiracy cases, inter-agency coordination, and operational planning—reinforced through scenario-based exercises.
It added that all programmes at the International Law Enforcement Academy – Gaborone are intended to bring partner countries together to promote cross-border cooperation and enhance regional efforts to disrupt organized drug crime.
Established in 2000, the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) Gaborone is Africa’s premier institution for law enforcement training and regional security cooperation.
It is a joint initiative between the United States and the Government of Botswana, ILEA Gaborone has trained over 18,000 law enforcement and justice officials from more than 38 African nations.
Backed by Botswana’s annual in-kind support and staffed by instructors from 16 U.S. agencies, ILEA delivers cutting-edge instruction on transnational crime, fostering lasting U.S.-Africa partnerships.
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US Trains Nigeria, Others on Effective Drug Enforcement
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