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ECOWAS Reaffirms Commitment to Support Vulnerable Communities in Member States

ECOWAS Reaffirms Commitment to Support Vulnerable Communities in Member States
By: Michael Mike
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Commission) has reaffirmed its commitment to providing humanitarian support to vulnerable communities in Member States affected by disasters.
The Director of Humanitarian and Social Affairs, Dr. Sintiki Tarfa-Ugbe, gave the
assurance on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission and the Commissioner for Social Affairs and Human Development during the conclusion of a five-day technical mission by the ECOWAS delegation to Cabo Verde to monitor the implementation of the Commission’s aid package to support vulnerable communities affected by the 2023 floods.
Tarfa-Ugbe assured that ECOWAS Commission would remain steadfast in its
support to the vulnerable population in disaster-affected communities in Member States, noting that the Commission’s humanitarian response goes beyond providing immediate relief package .
She said: “Our goal is not only to respond to crises but to ensure that communities are equipped with the tools and resources necessary to recover and thrive. The allocation of $770,143 reflects ECOWAS’ dedication to sustainable solutions that uplift vulnerable populations affected by
disasters in ECOWAS Member States.”
She emphasized the need for improved stakeholders collaboration in delivering effective humanitarian assistance, adding that partnership with relevant national and local stakeholders was critical to ensuring implementation of impactful humanitarian
interventions by the Commission.
Speaking during the closing session of the technical monitoring mission, the Secretary of State for Social Inclusion, the Republic of Cabo Verde, Mrs. Lídia Lima, underscored the significance of ECOWAS’ humanitarian and financial support to the country describing it as a vital complement to Cabo Verde’s national poverty eradication efforts.
In his remarks, the ECOWAS Interim Permanent Representative to Cabo Verde, Mr Jean Francis Sempore, highlighted ECOWAS’ diplomatic engagements in Cabo Verde, the Commission’s long-standing commitment to the country’s humanitarian needs, as well Praia, Cabo Verde,
ongoing efforts towards ensuring that ECOWAS’ support aligns with regional and national development policies and priorities .
According to a statement on Tuesday, as part of its humanitarian assistance programme, the ECOWAS Commission deployed a technical mission to Cabo Verde to monitor the implementation of a $770,143 aid package allocated to support communities affected by the 2023 floods.
Led by Dr. Sintiki Tarfa-Ugbe, ECOWAS Director of Humanitarian and Social Affairs, on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission and the Commissioner for Social Affairs and Human Development, the
mission was carried out in collaboration with Cabo Verde’s Ministry of Family, Inclusion, and Social Development, as well as the local implementing partners.
The objective of the mission was assessing the progress of humanitarian assistance provided to over 200 families, including housing support for 80 families and livelihood assistance for 200 others. Over the course of five days, from January 27 to January 31, 2025, the ECOWAS
team worked closely with the Government of Cabo Verde, implementing partners, and local stakeholders to assess the impact of the Commission’s $770,143 humanitarian assistance package to the country. This funding was allocated to help 560 families affected by the devastating 2023 floods.
ECOWAS Reaffirms Commitment to Support Vulnerable Communities in Member States
News
Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised
By: Zagazola Makama
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), under the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), conducted a successful Air Interdiction (AI) mission at a terrorists’ hideout in the Southern Tumbuns general area in the Lake Chad of Borno, killing scores of the terrorists.
Intelligent sources told Zagazola Makama that the precision air strike, which took place at about 2100 hours on 5 May 2025, targeted a major terrorists’ concentration camp located in the Tumbuma Baba axis of Lake Chad.
The sources said that the offensive was in continuation of a decisive Operation KALACHEN WUTA II, aimed at denying terrorists the freedom to execute large-scale attacks during the Eid el-Kabir period.
The sources said that Intelligence and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) reports confirmed that several terrorists were neutralised during the strike, and key logistics under heavy foliage were destroyed.
The sources said that the strikes followed credible intelligence on planned coordinated attacks by the insurgents before, during, and after the Eid festivities. The mission was meticulously planned and executed to forestall such threats and sustain pressure on terrorist elements operating in the Lake Chad fringes.
“We observed significant secondary explosions, indicating the presence of arms and fuel storage. Multiple terrorists were seen fleeing the area, while several others were eliminated during the strike,” the source said.
The sources said efforts are ongoing to gather further feedback, as well as to assess the operational impact of the interdiction.
He added that preliminary signs suggest a high level of disarray and panic within the terrorists’ ranks, with reports of attempted regrouping under surveillance.
Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised
News
Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani
By: Zagazola Makama
The Nigerian Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have executed a coordinated strike on a major terrorist enclave located at Maisani in the Timbuktu Triangle general area of Borno State, killing several ISWAP terrorists.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the air interdiction mission conducted on May 4, 2025, at approximately 1800 hours, was informed by credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, targeted terrorists’ structures cleverly concealed and camouflaged under thick shrubs in the area.
The sources said that using advanced platforms, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducted a focused Air Interdiction (AI) mission, resulting in the destruction of the identified enemy hideouts and the neutralisation of an unconfirmed number of insurgent fighters.
According to the sources, Post-strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) obtained from our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms confirmed that the airstrike achieved its intended objectives, dealing a significant blow to terrorists.
Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani
News
Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting
By: Michael Mike
As the world marks the 2025 Environment Day, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has appealed to the World Bank for support on capacity building, data and in addressing the challenges poised by Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in the country.
Head of Department, National Accounts Energy and Environment at the NBS, Dr. Baba Madu made the appeal at the 2025 Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) Conference on Thursday in Abuja with support from the World Bank in. collaboration with the NBS and the Federal Ministry of Environment.
Madu while noting that the NCA was a new area Nigeria must exploit to further boost the nation’s economy, said for Nigeria to grow and be at par with other developed nations, there was need to account for her natural resources.
He said: “NCA has been tasked with the crucial role of integrating natural capital into economic measurement. It is impossible to measure the economy accurately without accounting for natural resources. Issues such as environmental degradation, afforestation, desertification, and climate change all directly impact productivity.
“Productivity in turn, influences output—one of the core components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These environmental factors must be reflected across all economic activity sectors to present a more accurate picture of national output.”
While stating that Nigeria currently has data on NCA in Nigeria, the NBS official however raised concerns over the huge data gap from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the environment sector.
He said: “We are not doing badly but we need to improve on what we are doing. In terms of data sources, I can tell you there’s a big gap because these are new areas needed to be exploited.”
Programme Leader on Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Vina Vutukuru, said there was need to jointly
explore the vital role of national accounting in national development plans and to brainstorm on how Nigeria could institutionalize it.
He said: “Establishing the national capital accounting as part of the national account system will allow us to measure the economic value of ecosystem services such as clean air, water and biodiversity which are essential for our well-being and economic prosperity.”
Vutukuru commended Nigeria for having “very bold ambitions” as far as responding to climate change was concerned saying, “That shows the commitment of the policy makers here towards the issue of climate.
“But I think to back up that aspiration and the aggressive goals that Nigeria has set for itself, the foundational thing for those goals to materialize those objectives to come true is a very strong natural account system.”
Head of Media, National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS), Chioma Azie who represented her Director General, Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe at the event, described Nigeria as a very ambitious country, stressing that natural resources was instrumental to achieving all the objective of climate action.
She said: “Technology, policy reforms, behavioral changes has a role to play but natural resources is very key because they’re underpinning the mitigation and adaptation for climate action.
“If you look at Nigeria’s NDC, the NCA is an avenue to provide raw materials that we could use to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.
“If you look at what we have done in terms of this NDC in 2020.which is the second leg of the NDC, we identified a lot of mitigation activities within this mentioned sectors of ours. In agricultural sector we talked about smart agriculture. What is smart agriculture without natural resources?
“We talked about biomass, what is biomass without natural resources? We also spoke about land use changes and that is natural resources, we talk about natural solutions and we talked about also afforestation, reafforestation. Those are mitigation potentials of our NDC. So, we cannot achieve our NDC without SEEA.
“What you cannot be able to account for is recorded as if it is not done so if we know what is existing in terms of the reservoirs we have for natural resources, it can inform the scope of the mitigation activities we’re going to be imputing in the NDC 3.0,” she said.
Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting
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