General
Osun NUJ Disowns Vice President
The Nigeria Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) Osun State Council on Thursday passed vote of no confidence on the National Vice President B Zone, Mr Cosmos Oni and called on the National President Mr Waheed Odusile not to delegate him on any assignment in Osun.
The union at the Congress attended by all Chapel Chairmen and Secretary held at the Olu-Osungboun Hall, NUJ Press Centre Osogbo on Thursday, alleged that the Cosmos Oni is “supervising criminality and fuelling unassay crisis in the state council of the union.
NUJ congress presided over by the Acting Chairman; Mr Kehinde Ayantunji condemned in its totality the violent posture of some individuals who are claiming to be caretaker members of the union and urged the members of the public to disregard them saying that they are still on indefinite suspension since May.
In a communiqués issued after the congress, the union accused the vice president of double standard, dishonesty, deliberate degrading of the union and supervision of criminal activities.
According to the communiqué, “The conduct of the NUJ Vice President has become a source of concern to the right thinking individuals in Osun and we challenged him to explain his interest in Osun, and why he want to destabilise our union, during Ramadam, the same man came to press centre, and asked the thugs to break offices of our union carted away valuable documents that are nowhere to be found.
“No Trade or Professional union in Osun was known for this criminality in the past not to talk of the prestigious NUJ, until the recent involvement of Cosmos Oni who introduced the idea of burglary, as at the period of this congress, the 22 seater NUJ Bus is nowhere to be found and further investigation revealed that some car theft syndicate and the purported caretaker committee with the support of Cosmos Oni, forcefully broke the ignition of the bus valued at N8 Million donated by the state government and charted it away.”
The union said it is very sure that the National Secretariat of NUJ never delegated Cosmos to be perpetrating criminal activities with intent to drag the name of the union into the mud and we have to inform the people of the state that he is at no period representing the interest of NUJ rather his own selfish interest.”
The congress also said the vice president should be blamed for the crisis in Osun NUJ after the February 11 election.
“To understand the inconsistency of the Mr Comos, he was the one who signed all the delegate lists for the last election, he supervised the election and administered oath of office to elected Chairman and Secretary, Mr Abiodun Olalere and Bola Bamigbola respectively and he was the same person that wrote a report that the election he conducted was flown, then where is Mr Cosmos integrity.”
“ He also singlehandedly scuttled the rescheduled election, the Deputy National Sectary had pasted the list of delegate for the second elections until the arrival of Mr Cosmos who insisted to smuggled some names into the list which eventually led to the rescheduled election.”
The union however urged its members to be law abiding and resist all provocations that will further drag the image of the union into the mud
By Emmanuel Udom
The president of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN), Mr Olalekan Onabulo, has explained how the various justice systems could work to stop the recycling of criminals and ex-convicts in the country.
Speaking in his welcome address at the CRAN Public Lecture/Award ceremony held at Sheba Event Centre in Ikeja, Lagos, Mr Onabulo said that there is no denying the fact that the pursuit of justice and security is a shared responsibility that demands collective efforts and collaborations.
He further explained that since recidivism, which is the recycling of criminals and ex-convicts is a hydra-headed monster, which has become a significant source of concern for security agents in the country.
Security operatives are in most cases ambushed, killed or maimed by criminals earlier arrested, investigated and prosecuted who returned to a life of criminalities after their convictions.
According to the CRAN leader, these criminals are emboldened and unrepentant and may want to take their pounds of flesh from security operatives to carry out their professional duties.
Speaking on Justice System Administration and Security in Nigeria: Challenges, Opportunities, and Solutions, Mr Onabulo said all hands must be on deck to address the issue as the whole process seems to have failed and must be redeemed by all and sundry.
”The security operatives, the judiciary and indeed all Nigerians must collaborate and work together to create a safer, just, and equitable society for all,” he stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has commenced moves to collaborate with coastal states across the country to increase the safety of Nigerians using the waterways to commute.
According to the waterways regulator, this is part of bids to enhance safety on the nation’s waterways.
This was disclosed by Mr Bola Oyebamiji, the Managing Director of NIWA while speaking at a one-day consultative forum on safety and insecurities on inland waterways, organiwed by the Nigeria Transportation Commissioners’ Forum in Ilorin, Kwara State on Thursday.
He emphasised the critical role that safety and security play in fostering a thriving water transportation system.
The conference, themed Prevalent Safety, Security Hazards and Practices in Inland Waterways: Passenger Transport Safety in Ilorin, Kwara State, sought to address the pressing issues facing the inland waterways sector.
Mr Oyebamiji acknowledged the ongoing efforts by NIWA to improve safety, such as the recent unveiling of the transportation code for public use, and the inauguration of several operational assets including survey boats, gunboats, water ambulances, and a passenger ferry.
He also noted that safety campaigns have been launched across all operational bases, targeting local communities in their native languages.
The NIWA boss highlighted the support from the National Assembly, including the ongoing discussions on establishing coastal guards and the attention safety and security on inland waterways have received from the House Committee on Inland Waterways.
He appealed to the Commissioners for Transportation across relevant states to collaborate with NIWA in areas such as training, safety campaigns, infrastructure development, and financial empowerment.
He also stressed that while the challenges are significant, they are surmountable through collective action, adding that the efforts must be complemented.
The NIWA MD expressed optimism for actionable and implementable outcomes from the forum, which he believes will contribute significantly to ensuring safer and more secure inland waterways in the country.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Seedstars Africa Ventures I, a venture capital fund making early-stage investments in highly scalable start-ups in Africa, has achieved a first close of $42 million
The raise was led by the African Development Bank and EIB Global with the support of the European Union, under the ACP Trust Fund – EU Compartment and Boost Africa among other global investors.
The fund, with offices in Nairobi, Dakar and Paris, has further secured $50 million in commitments towards an $80 million fundraising target.
The milestone was announced at the 2024 Africa Investment Forum Market Days currently underway in Rabat, Morocco.
The fund has already deployed over $10 million to five pioneering African startups in the climate, food systems, energy access, internet connectivity, financial inclusion, and payments infrastructure sectors.
These are Beacon Power Services (Nigeria), Poa! Internet (Kenya), Xeno (Uganda), Bizao (Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, and France): and Shamba Pride (Kenya).
According to a statement, it was disclosed that these businesses serve over 60 million people, including by connecting 60,000 households to the internet, supporting 50,000 farmers, and empowering 30,000 individuals with financial inclusion services across eight African countries.
“The portfolio is also fully 2X compliant, empowering women in startups and ecosystems,” the statement added.
Both the African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank are founding partners of the Africa Investment Forum, a platform that advances transformative African projects toward financial close.
Seedstars Africa Ventures I is addressing gaps in early-stage financing across Africa through investments of up to $2 million in seed and series A rounds, with significant follow-on capacity of up to $5 million, thereby bridging available pools of capital.
By leading successive investment rounds, the fund will catalyse co-investment while offering operational support to start-ups.
The Fund was founded by Ms Maxime Bouan, Mr Tamim El Zein and Mr Bruce Nsereko Lule who have over 45 years of experience investing and working across the continent.
Seedstars Africa Ventures is a member of LBO France Group, which played a pivotal role in seeding this initiative as part of their multi-asset class African strategy, alongside other initiatives.
Speaking on this, Mr Robert Daussun, and Ms Stéphanie Casciola, Chairman and CEO respectively of LBO France said “We are delighted by Seedstars Africa Ventures’ latest milestone, and proud to have been the initial supporter of the team. The portfolio the team has built with our support is innovative and transformative, already providing significant impact and value to the continent. LBO France appreciates the opportunity SAV provides for us and our partners to be part of Africa’s growth story.”
“The African Development Bank views Seedstars Africa Ventures as a strategic opportunity to provide innovative support to Africa’s venture capital industry. It serves as a conduit to improve access to finance for youth and women while also enhancing the availability of risk capital in Francophone Africa.
“This is an area that has traditionally faced limited access to risk capital,” said Mr Ahmed Attout, African Development Bank Group Director for Financial Sector Development.
“We welcome the investment of the African Development Bank, our Boost Africa partners, in the Seedstars Africa Ventures fund,” said EIB Vice-President, Mr Ambroise Fayolle. “Accelerating digitalisation is a priority for the EIB, and we are committed to supporting African businesses as they drive innovation and prosperity on the continent.”
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