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Two African Social Media Influencers Living with HIV to Address UNGA
Two African Social Media Influencers Living with HIV to Address UNGA
By: Michael Mike
Two young social media influencers living with HIV with the support of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) are on their way to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the Summit of the Future in New York to urge world leaders to partner with them in the response to HIV.
The two, Ibanomonde Ngema from South Africa and Jerop Lima from Kenya, according to a statement on Thursday by UNAIDS, will call on leaders to invest in youth-friendly health systems, provide holistic services for young people living with HIV, and to partner with young people and communities, allowing them to lead in the response to HIV.
Executive Director of UNAIDS. Winnie Byanyima said: “Young people’s powerful and vibrant activism has driven so much of the progress made in the HIV response,” adding that: “They know what works for them. It is essential for leaders to listen to them to understand the specific challenges that young people face and how those challenges can be overcome. Leaders can only successfully plan how to end AIDS and sustain the advances made by partnering with young people living with HIV.”
The young Kenyan HIV activist. Jerop Limo, said: “I am representing not only the voices of 1.5 million Kenyans living with HIV but all people living with HIV,” adding that: “I want leaders to leave New York knowing that we are not beneficiaries, we are equal rights holders. We have a voice, we have skills and expertise and we need an equal playing field where our data is valued, where our input is valued and where our voices are heard. We want meaningful and ethical engagement of adolescents and young people in all spaces of the AIDS response.”
According to the statement, young people, especially adolescent girls and young women, are disproportionately affected by HIV. Globally, 44% of all new HIV infections were among women and girls (all ages) in 2023 and every week 4000 young women and girls around the world are infected with HIV—3100 are in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2023, some 3.1 million adolescents and young people (15-24 yrs) were living with HIV—1.9 million were adolescent girls and young women.
Ibanomonde Ngema, a young South African AIDS activist, said: “Governments meeting here in New York cannot end AIDS alone. They need to involve us to find solutions. We have lived experiences of HIV, from treatment to mental health, because we navigate life with HIV every day. We need to be included in policymaking so that we can take full ownership of ending end AIDS as a public threat,”
He noted that: “The world can only benefit when young people are included in the global HIV response. No conversation about HIV should take place without us, from policy to practice in communities.”
The safety decried that too often young people report facing stigma and discrimination, including from doctors and healthcare workers, when they access sexual and reproductive health and HIV services. This discourages them from seeking support and crucial information about their health, putting them at risk of HIV infection or of defaulting on treatment for those who are living with HIV.
The statement added that young people living with HIV play a critical role in the fight against AIDS in communities. They offer support and share important information about HIV that schools or parents might not talk about. They also challenge stigma and discrimination through social media, helping to save lives and encourage young people to stay on treatment.
It also added that they drive innovation in communities, for example, a self-funded project by the Youth Empowerment Group uses e-bikes to deliver antiretroviral medicines, food and adherence support to young people who often cannot attend clinics because their schooling hours conflict with clinic opening times in Namibia.
However, their transformational work is being held back because it is not being sufficiently supported. Youth-led HIV responses often operate with little or no financial and political support. At the UNGA the two young people will call on world leaders to fully support and fund their work. They will also urge leaders to uphold the human rights of young people as key to ending AIDS as a public health threat—they will call on them to protect young people’s right to healthcare, education, freedom of speech, and to provide social support to young people living with HIV.
Jerop Lima said: “Providing treatment is not enough, young people living with HIV need an education and they need a job to survive,” adding that: “We need to be seen as equal contributors and partners, and we need investment to allow us drive change. We are the leaders of the future and we need to be included now to help shape a better future for us all.”
Two African Social Media Influencers Living with HIV to Address UNGA
Seme Border Generates N847 million into Government Coffers in April, 2025
By: Michael Mike
Over N847 million has been generated into the federal government coffers at the Seme (the Nigeria-Benin) border by the Nigeria Customs Service in April, 2025 alone
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the Comptroller of Customs,
Seme Area Command, Dr. Ben Oramalugo said: “Seme Area Command, through commitment and professionalism, generated a total revenue of Eight Hundred and Forty-Seven Million, Fifty-Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and Seventy-Nine Naira, Thirty Kobo (₦847,058,879.30k) for the month of April 2025 alone. This achievement reflects our sustained efforts at ensuring that all revenue leakages are blocked, and every legitimate kobo due to the Federal Government is collected without compromise.”
He added that: “In line with the Federal Government’s agenda on economic diversification through non-oil exports, the Command facilitated the movement of Two Thousand and Twenty Nine (2,029) trucks, equivalent to over Eight Eight metric tonnes (88,036.15) of made-in-Nigeria goods. These exports had a Free On Board (FOB) value of Sixteen Billion, Nine Hundred Million, Nine Hundred and Eighty Seven Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty One Naira and Ten Kobo (₦16,900,987,331.10k) only. While the National Export Supervision Scheme (NESS) fees stood at Eighty Four Million, Five Hundred and Four Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety Six Naira and Sixty Six Kobo (₦84,504,936.66k) only.”
He noted that: “This underscores our role as a critical trade enabler and contributor to national economic growth through efficient border management and support to local manufacturers.
He warned the general public on the activities of fraudsters who impersonate officers of the Seme Area Command, claiming to auction or sell vehicles. He said: “These scammers often operate via social media and other informal platforms. The Command dissociates itself from any such illegal activity.”
He added that: “Please note that the Nigeria Customs Service does not sell or auction seized items via WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages, or any unverified platforms. Only follow verified social media handles bearing the official blue tick or any communication directly from the Nigeria Customs Service.”
He said: “We remain fully committed to our mandate of revenue generation, trade facilitation, and suppression of smuggling. We shall not be deterred by mischief-makers or their propaganda. The Command will continue to work diligently in the interest of national economic development and security.
“Additionally, we appeal to parents and guardians residing in border communities to counsel their wards and youths to refrain from engaging in smuggling activities and to avoid being used as instruments to obstruct law enforcement officers in the discharge of their legitimate duties.”
Seme Border Generates N847 million into Government Coffers in April, 2025
VP Shettima: President Tinubu Making Courageous Decisions To Fix Nigeria’s Economy
*Says president engineering a nation that will work for generations to come
By: Our Reporter
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has said the difficult but very crucial decisions taken by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are targeted at engineering an economy that works for the Nigerian people.
According to him, like Engineers who must rely on the power of numbers with consumate exactitude, efficiency, and alignment, the administration is taking accurate measurement of revenues, deficits and prospects to move the nation forward.
The Vice President who spoke on Wednesday during the 15th Mechanical Engineering Distinguished Lecture (MEDL) at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, likened the art of governance to the dexterity of engineers who work with machines and structures to transform theories into measurable outcomes.
“His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is himself a man of numbers. An accountant extraordinaire, a thinker grounded in the discipline of evidence, and a leader governed by the clarity of facts.
“He understands the peril of building policies on the sands of assumption. He knows, as you do, that the nation cannot move forward without accurate measurement of its revenues, its deficits, and its prospects,” the VP stated.
Reflecting on the theme of the Lecture, “The Imperative of Engineering Strategies for the Planning of National Budget,” Senator Shettima said it aligns with the thinking being institutionalised by the Tinubu administration, which he said is not just budgeting for survival but also for transformation and reality.
“We are budgeting for transformation. We are building systems that speak to productivity, to sustainability, and to prosperity,” he added.
For President Tinubu, the Vice President said, it is the “fidelity to facts that has guided his difficult but necessary decisions to fix the Nigerian economy”.
He continued: “From confronting the longstanding subsidy regime that had become an enduring shackle around the nation’s ambitions, to facing the grim realities of a debt-to-revenue ratio that threatened the very foundation of our fiscal stability.
“These are not decisions of convenience. They are decisions of courage. They are born of a commitment to engineer a nation that works for its people,” he maintained.
Delivering the 15th Mechanical Engineering Distinguished Lecture, Senator Iyiola Omisore, spoke about current efforts and opportunities across diverse areas of the Nigerian economy, particularly, energy and power generation; oil and gas; automotive, aerospace and aviation; construction and infrastructure development, as well as healthcare and security.
He noted the tremendous potential for socio-economic development in the country and the need for government, in collaboration with other stakeholders like the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, to address challenges and seize existing opportunities to achieve sustainable development and inclusive growth.
On his part, Chairman of the occasion, Chief Bisi Akande, emphasized the impact of engineering on national development, urging leaders to sustain current efforts to maintain integrity and professionalism in the industry.
Akande noted trends in the profession, just as he highlighted the impact of digital technology on engineering practice and urged practitioners to embrace the paradigm shift in order to remain relevant in the industry.
On her part, the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Margaret Oguntala, who was represented by a former president of NSE, Engr. Kashim Abdul Ali, said the theme of the 15th Mechanical Engineering Distinguished Lecture, aligned with the reality in the polity.
He noted that an era of complex challenges amidst declining resources require a meticulous re-examination of national priorities and optimal utilization of scarce resources, deploying engineering expertise.
He commended the commitment and contributions of the leadership of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE), urging the body to make its impact felt across the entire engineering sector in the country.
In his remarks, the National Chairman NIMechE, Engr. Alhassan Mohammed, said the event provides a platform for interaction among professionals on a topic that resonates with the realities in the polity, specifically the practice of mechanical engineering in Nigeria.
He urged participants at the event to reflect deeply on engineering practice in Nigeria, particularly how engineering can be embedded in the country’s national development plans and targets.
Also present at the event were the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola; Minister of State, Finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite; Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, and the former governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, among others.
VP Shettima: President Tinubu Making Courageous Decisions To Fix Nigeria’s Economy
Taraba communities agree to ceasefire as police deploy personnel in Karim Lamido
By: Zagazola Makama
Communities involved in a recent farmers-herders conflict in Karim Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State have agreed to a ceasefire and resolved to embrace peace following a high-level intervention by security agencies.
Zagazola Makama report that security delegation deployed for an on-the-spot assessment to the area on Monday, held a peace meeting with key stakeholders in the affected communities.
The meeting, which was held in Karim Lamido town, ended successfully without incident, as leaders of both the farming and herding communities pledged to maintain peace and work together to prevent further clashes.
To ensure sustained calm and protection of lives and property, security personnel were immediately deployed to flashpoints across the local government area.
The deployments include 40 Police Mobile Force (PMF) personnel, conventional police officers, Nigerian Army troops, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) operatives, as well as local vigilantes and hunters stationed in Munga Doso.
In Bandawa, an Anti-Kidnapping Squad has also been mobilised, and adequate security arrangements are in place to deter criminal activity.
Taraba communities agree to ceasefire as police deploy personnel in Karim Lamido
NESREA Seals 21 Facilities in FCT for Non-Compliance with Environmental Laws
Seme Border Generates N847 million into Government Coffers in April, 2025
VP Shettima: President Tinubu Making Courageous Decisions To Fix Nigeria’s Economy
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