National News
USAID Celebrates 60 years of Establishment
USAID Celebrates 60 years of Establishment
By: Michael Mike, Abuja
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is marking it’s 60 years of establishment.
A statement from the organisation on Monday said: “During the month of November, the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) is commemorating a major milestone, marking 60 years since its founding by President John F. Kennedy.
“Nigeria was among the first countries in the world to receive development assistance under the Agency in 1961.”
The statement said: “For six decades, USAID has built its reputation as the world’s premier international development organisation by partnering with more than 100 countries to strengthen communities and improve lives.
The Mission Director in Nigeria, Anne Patterson was quoted in the release to have said: “On this anniversary of President Kennedy’s vision of the United States as the world’s leader in providing a helping hand to countries struggling to develop, I am proud to represent USAID in Nigeria, a country with tremendous potential to be leader in West Africa if it can overcome its many challenges.”
In Nigeria and around the world, USAID partners with some of the world’s top development agencies, the United Nations, local nongovernmental and civil society organizations, and host country governments to help save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen governance, and improve health, education, and economic prosperity.
In 2021, USAID is spending $787 million in development and humanitarian assistance in Nigeria.
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According to the statement, perhaps USAID’s biggest ongoing success in Nigeria has been its response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic that has wrought the country since the 1980s. Through funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Walter Reed Army Research Institute, culminating in a 2019-2020 “surge” that greatly reduced a rising trend in vulnerable areas, especially in combination with the ongoing tuberculosis and new COVID-19 pandemics. Today USAID supports testing for 2.4 million Nigerians a year, and provides free life-saving antiretroviral therapy for 89 percent of the nearly 400,000 individuals who have tested positive.
The statement revealed that another 62 million Nigerian mothers and children benefited from USAID health programmes last year through training of public health workers, increasing access to quality medicines, and improving leadership in the health sector with a focus on primary health care.
USAID support has protected 68 million Nigerians from malaria by donations of mosquito nets through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), which has contributed to a drop in child deaths by 16 percent over 10 years and helped reduce malaria prevalence from 42 percent to 23 percent.
The statement said since 2015, USAID interventions in Education have helped millions of children and youth improve their lives through better early grade reading skills, and focus especially on more than 340,000 children whose education was suspended through conflict.
Through Feed the Future, 2.3 million smallholder farmers benefited from improved products, improved techniques, and access to markets and financing through USAID agriculture programs last year. Power Africa reforms will improve an enabling environment and increase private investment in the energy sector, and strengthen management of water systems to increase access to reliable water and sanitation.
USAID Democracy and Governance programmes support free and fair elections, 230 civil society organizations working for more responsive governance and local solutions to ongoing economic and ethno-religious tensions between farmers and herders.
The statement said that USAID is the biggest bilateral donor of Humanitarian Assistance to Nigeria, donating about $343 million in commodities and logistical support to ensure the displaced have enough to eat and access to basic health and human rights.
USAID Celebrates 60 years of Establishment
National News
VP Shettima Departs Abuja For Dakar To Represent President Tinubu At Senegal’s 65th Independence Anniversary
VP Shettima Departs Abuja For Dakar To Represent President Tinubu At Senegal’s 65th Independence Anniversary
By: Our Reporter
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has departed Abuja for Dakar, Senegal, to represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the country’s 65th Independence Day Anniversary celebrations.
Senegal celebrates its Independence Day on April 4 each year, commemorating its freedom from French colonial rule in 1960. The day is marked by national pride, with ceremonies, parades and cultural events.
The Vice President’s attendance at the annual event is in honour of an invitation extended to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the Senegalese President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, following the strong mutual relationship between Nigeria and Senegal.
The independence Day celebrations will be held at the Place de la Nation in Dakar, with President Faye playing host to Vice President Shettima and other distinguished guests from across Africa and beyond.
The Vice President is expected to return to Nigeria tomorrow after the one-day event.
VP Shettima Departs Abuja For Dakar To Represent President Tinubu At Senegal’s 65th Independence Anniversary
President Tinubu Laying Foundation For A Better Nigeria, Says Hajiya Nana Shettima
- Tasks Nigerians on constructive criticism of government actions, policies
By: Our Reporter
Wife of Nigeria’s Vice President, Hajiya Nana Shettima, has scored the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu very high, saying the President is building a better Nigeria for Nigerians through his laudable economic policies, various empowerment initiatives and investments in key sectors of the economy.
And to help the President secure a better future for all Nigerians, the VP’s wife also encouraged the citizens not to relent in giving very useful advice to the government, urging them to be more constructive in their criticism of the administration instead of just attacking for political reasons.
Hajiya Nana Shettima spoke on Wednesday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, during the annual Ramadan feast, which had in attendance women groups and students
Emphasizing the determination of the Tinubu administration to leave a lasting legacy for generations to come, she said, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is baking a new cake for us that are alive today, and for the Nigerian children and grandchildren that are coming behind us. It is who he is ably supported by our lovely First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.”
Hajiya Nana Shettima noted that the President means well for the people of Borno State as well as Nigerians in all parts of the country, even as she urged the citizens to always pray for President Tinubu and members of his cabinet.
“I can tell you that he (the President) means well, not only for Borno people but for the entire nation. We should not forget him and his subordinates in our prayers,” she added.
She further commended the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for her contributions towards actualizing the agenda of the administration, especially through the Renewed Hope Initiative which she said has impacted many lives, including women, children and people with disabilities.
Also speaking at the event, the Director General of Maryam Babangida Centre for Women Development, Abuja, Dr Asabe Bashir, admonished women and the people of Borno State to imbibe the teachings of the just concluded Ramadan.
She also sought the people’s support and prayers for President Tinubu, thanking the President for picking his deputy from Borno State.
She said, “I always reiterate the importance of prayer because without prayers we can do nothing in life. We have just come out of Ramadan; let us imbibe that culture and lessons we received during the 29-day fast. We need to continue with the spiritual reflection.
“We should thank God and President Bola Tinubu for remembering the people of Borno State again by bringing the seat of the Vice President, not just to the North-East region but to Borno State after Ambassador Babagana Kingibe was elected along with the late Chief MKO Abiola so many years ago.
“We must continue to pray for the administration of President Bola Tinubu because if it succeeds, we succeed,” Dr Bashir added.
On his part, the Speaker, Youth Assembly of Nigeria, Tijjani Abubakar, thanked President Tinubu for his support to Nigerian youths through various youth empowerment initiatives.
Also, Dr Martins Ekunke, who spoke on behalf the South-South, Yoruba and Igbo communities residing in Borno State, commended the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for galvanizing support for people living with HIV/AIDS through her pet project, the Renewed Hope Initiative.
Among those that attended the annual Sallah feast hosted by Hajiya Shettima, were the wife of the Speaker of Borno State House of Assembly, Hajiya Maryam Lawan; wife of the Deputy Speaker of Borno State House of Assembly, Hajiya Laure Musa-Askira; female Commissioners and political appointees.
Also in attendance were women groups, members of the Borno State chapter of the Nationals Association of Nigerian Students, as well as the leaders of South-South, Igbo and Yoruba communities residing in Borno State, among others.
President Tinubu Laying Foundation For A Better Nigeria, Says Hajiya Nana Shettima
UNILORIN Alumni Commences Tinubu on Appointment of Nandap, Omotowa, Aribisala
By: Michael Mike
The National Headquarters of University of Ilorin Alumni Association has lauded President Bola Tinubu for appointing three of its members into various leadership positions in the country.
Those appointed were Comptroller General of Immigration, Mrs Kemi Nandap,, whose tenure was elongated till December 2026, Non Executive Director of NNPC, representing North Central, Mr Babs Omotowa- and the Pioneer Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti, Prof. James A. Aribisala.
In a congratulatory message to the trio, the National President, Prof. AbdulRasaq Kilani, and the National Secretary, Dr Barakat Raji, said the Association received the news of the appointments with excitement.
The Alumni, who commended President Tinubu for selecting the best for their various positions, assured him that the three alumni would not disappoint him in attaining the goals set for them to achieve.
While felicitating with the appointed members on their well-deserved appointment, the Association charged them to always show the excellence in them in surpassing the targets set for them by Mr President.
The Association who extolled the pedigrees of the appointed members in their various fields, implored them to live up to the expectations of the slogan of the institutions “better by far” in all ramifications.
The Alumni then prayed for their successful tenure and tasked them not to hesitate to reach out to them whenever their services are needed in any capacity towards national development.
UNILORIN Alumni Commences Tinubu on Appointment of Nandap, Omotowa, Aribisala
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