Metro

Nigeria’s Presidency predicts economic breakthrough in 2024

Published

12 months ago

December 31, 2023

The Nigerian Presidency has predicted that with the “bold and deliberate” reforms and policies undertaken by President Bola Tinubu since coming into office on May 29, citizens will witness economic prosperity and breakthrough in the year 2024.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Public Affairs, Temitope Ajayi, who made the prediction on Saturday, stated that President Tinubu was committed to fulfilling his “Renewed Hope Agenda” for Nigeria and Nigerians in the new year across major sectors of the economy.

The presidential aide, who spoke during a get-together party organized for him by his colleagues in Annunciation School Old Boys Association (ASOBA) in Ekiti State, South-West Nigeria, said though the present economic challenges confronting the citizens had brought untold hardships, there was hope for a turnaround as the president and his team were doing everything possible to change the narrative in the new year for the people to feel the impact of government.

Ajayi pleaded with the citizens to have faith and trust in the federal government under the leadership of President Tinubu, and expressed optimism that he (Tinubu) had the magic wand to “engineer the needed economic, social and infrastructural transformation for the country to be placed on the pedestal of growth and development.”

“Nigerians should look forward to a great year in 2024. The President is going to speak to Nigerians on January 1st in a national broadcast where he is to once again highlight some of the reforms he has taken and what he is doing to make sure Nigerians feel the impact of his government.

“Of course, things are a bit tight but the President is working round the clock to make sure that Nigerians feel a new sense of life starting next year; it is going to be a year of prosperity, a year of abundance, a year for economic breakthrough.

“The year 2024 will witness a lot of social engineering, where Nigerians will see high impact economic projects that will transform our lives, that will give us a good quality of life in roads and other critical infrastructures that this economy needs to take off and boom.

“Those are things the President is focusing on and he will remain focused on them in 2024 and throughout his tenure,” the SSA reiterated.

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Metro

Zambia: FOX report highlights persistent media harassment, calls for reforms

Published

14 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A new Freedom of Expression (FOX) report by the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia, has raised concerns over what it describes as the continued harassment of media professionals in the country despite collective efforts to safeguard freedom of expression.

The FOX Report serves as a call to action for all stakeholders to create a safer and more enabling environment for the media to operate without fear or intimidation.

Chairperson of the MISA-Zambia Board, Lorraine Mwanza, who raised the concerns while launching the report on Tuesday at the Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka, highlighted that journalists and media practitioners in the country still faced intimidation, censorship, and violence for fulfilling their role of informing the public.

“The harassment of media professionals is a stark reminder of the threats posed to democratic values and the fundamental rights to seek, receive, and impart information without fear or hindrance,” Mwanza said.

She expressed solidarity with those who are targets of attack, and reaffirmed MISA’s commitment to defending journalists’ rights and protecting the integrity of the profession.

Mwanza further called on the government to address barriers preventing journalists from accessing public officials, emphasizing that public officials were custodians of critical information necessary for informed decision-making.

“When citizens have access to government data, they can better understand policies, monitor public spending, and advocate for change in their communities,” Mwanza noted.

She also appealed for the review and repeal of laws that undermine democracy, stressing the importance of enacting legislation that guarantees media freedom, freedom of expression, and digital rights, and commended the government for responding to calls from civil society organizations to withdraw the controversial Cyber Bills from Parliament.

Ministry of Information and Media Permanent Secretary, Thabo Kawana, in a speech read by Ministry Director Mordern Mayembe, reaffirmed government’s commitment to upholding media freedom and freedom of expression in Zambia.

Metro

Nigeria: 614,937 killed, 2.2m abducted in 1 year— Report

Published

23 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A new report released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that over 614,937 Nigerians were killed and 2,235,954 others kidnapped across the country in one year between May 2023 and April 2024.

The NBS report, titled, “The Crime Experienced and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024”, says based on the surveys conducted between May 2023 and April 2024, the 2.2 million Nigerians who were kidnapped across the country paid a whopping N2.2 trillion as ransom, with an average amount of N2.7 million per incident.

The report also disclosed that murder rate was highest in rural areas with 335,827 incidents and 279,110 in urban areas.

A zone-by-zone analysis of the report showed that the North-West had the highest murder cases of 206,030, followed by the North-East which stood at 188,992, while the least was recorded in the South-West at 15,693.

The report also revealed about seven in 10 households reported murder cases to the police nationwide with 33 per cent of households responding that the killer was an unknown person, and 23.4 per cent confirmed that the murderer was a member of the household; while 1.0 per cent reported that the murderer was either a spouse or a lover.

The report said 1,668,104 persons were kidnapped in rural areas and 567,850 in urban areas with the North-West having the highest cases of kidnapping with 1,420,307 abducted, followed by the North-Central with 317,837 and the South-East at 110,432.

“Of the estimated amount of N2.2 trillion payments to free victims, the North-West reported the highest ransom paid with N1.2 trillion; while the South-East was the least with N85.4 billion.

“Disaggregated by zones, the North-Central reported the highest proportion of payment of ransom at 83.4 per cent, followed by North-East at 78.6 per cent.

“Households in urban areas paid an average of N3.7 million compared to N2.3 million in rural areas,” the report stated.

It added that about 91 per cent of kidnapping incidents were done for ransom in the form of money, goods or other benefits.

“While 2.4 per cent of cases were attributed to political, criminal, or terrorist objectives; 2.1 per cent were linked to personal or family disputes. Custody disputes accounted for 0.5 per cent of cases,” the report said.