Pope In Madagascar Insists: 'Poverty Is Not Inevitable'

Pope Francis arrives with the popemobile to celebrate a mass in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. Francis is in Madagascar for the second leg of his weeklong trip to Africa. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

BY NICOLE WINFIELD, TRISHA THOMAS

ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR (AP) — Pope Francis insisted Sunday that poverty isn’t inevitable and that the poor deserve the dignity of work as he visited a rock quarry in Madagascar where hundreds of people toil rather than scavenge in the capital’s biggest dump.

Francis appealed for new development strategies to fight global poverty as he visited the Akamasoa project, or “City of Friendship,” which soars on a hillside above the dump in Antananarivo. The project is the brainchild of an Argentine priest who was so overwhelmed by the abject poverty of Madagascar that he set about creating ways for the poor to earn a living.


Over 30 years, the Akamasoa quarry has produced the stones that built the homes, roads, schools and health clinics that now dot the pine-covered hillside.

Villagers, students and quarry workers lined the neat streets and pastel-painted doorways to greet the pope as he arrived, and thousands of children sang their hearts out for him in the village auditorium. The pope was clearly overwhelmed by their enthusiasm, particularly when a girl named Fanny told him in French that his visit would encourage the students to work and pray harder.

Speaking off the cuff in French, Francis told them that Akamasoa’s founder, the Rev. Pedro Opeka, had been a student of his in 1967-1968 at a Buenos Aires seminary, but that he remembered that Opeka didn’t much care for studying.

“He had a love for work,” Francis said to giggles.

Returning to his prepared remarks and with Madagascar’s president listening behind him, Francis told the villagers that the existence of Akamasoa meant that God had “heard the cry of the poor.”

“Your plea for help - which arose from being homeless, from seeing your children grow up malnourished, from being without work and often regarded with indifference if not disdain - has turned into a song of hope for you and for all those who see you,” Francis told them. “Every corner of these neighborhoods, every school or dispensary, is a song of hope that refutes and silences any suggestion that some things are ‘inevitable.’”

“Let us say it forcefully: Poverty is not inevitable!”

Francis, the first pope from the global south, has long preached about the dignity of work, and the need for all able-bodied adults to be able to earn enough to provide for their families. He has frequently met with workers and the unemployed and used his moral authority to demand political leaders provide job opportunities, especially for young people.

Opeka, a charismatic, bearded figure who is beloved by many in this city, was working as a Lazarist missionary in Madagascar when he was inspired to create Akamasoa after witnessing the degrading life led by the parents and children who lived off the dump.

The Akamasoa project, which is funded by donors around the world and recognized by the Madagascar government, says it has built some 4,000 homes in more than 20 villages serving some 25,000 people since its foundation in 1989. About 700 people work in the rock quarry, using simple mallets to chop chunks of granite into cobblestones or pebbles, while others work as carpenters or attend training classes. It says 14,000 children have passed through its schools.

Opeka said the low salaries he can pay the quarry workers are an injustice. But he said they are at least better than what scavengers earn in the dump, and are enough to enable parents to send their children to school.

“Akamasoa is a revolt against poverty, it is a revolt against inevitability,” Opeka told The Associated Press ahead of the pope’s visit. “When we started here it was an inferno, people who were excluded from the society.”

Despite Madagascar’s vast and unique natural resources, it is one of the poorest countries in the world. The World Bank says 75% of its 24 million people live on less than $2 a day; only 13% of the population has access to electricity.

In his greeting to the pope, Opeka said much of Madagascar’s poverty is due to indifference, by society at large and its leaders.

“In Akamasoa, we have shown that poverty isn’t inevitable, but was created by the absence of a social sensibility on the part of political leaders who abandoned and turned their back on the people who elected them,” Opeka said. “This place of exclusion today has become a place of communion of brothers and sisters of the whole world.”

Francis said Akamasoa, built up the hill from the dump, was a concrete example of a faith capable of “moving mountains.” He said that faith “made it possible to see opportunity in place of insecurity; to see hope in place of inevitability; to see life in a place that spoke only of death and destruction.”

“Let us pray that throughout Madagascar and everywhere in the world this ray of light will spread, so that we can enact models of development that support the fight against poverty and social exclusion, on the basis of trust, education, hard work and commitment,” Francis said before heading to the rock quarry itself to deliver a prayer for workers.

Susane Razanamahasoa, 65, has worked in the quarry for 20 years, 9.5 hours a day, to provide for her six children. She said the pope’s visit recalled the dedication to the poor of St. Francis of Assisi, his namesake.

“He is an extraordinary man and the fact that he has taken the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi means he is thirsty to live like St. Francis,” she said during a break in her work. “I am so full of joy that he is coming.”

Ravo Razafindrabe, a midwife who volunteered at Akamasoa during her medical training, said the project was a model for Madagascar since it fights inequality by empowering the poor themselves.

“Father Pedro takes people from the streets and gives them work to have a house,” she said of Opeka as she waited for Francis to arrive along the main road in Akamasoa. “It’s important because it’s an example for the president of doing something: giving things to people to help improve their lives. It means people in the streets today can have a house tomorrow.”

“It shows Christ’s love in a perfect way,” she said.

Marijuana Use By US College Students Up, Highest In 35 Years

This Aug. 15, 2019 file photo shows a marijuana plant in an indoor cannabis farm in Gardena, Calif. A survey released on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019 says U.S. college students are using marijuana at the highest rates in 35 years. Marijuana use continues to be higher in college-age adults than any other age group. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

BY NMIKE STOBBE

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. college students are using marijuana at the highest rates in 35 years, according to a report released Thursday.

About 43% of full-time college students said they used some form of pot at least once in the past year, up from 38%, a University of Michigan survey found. About 25% said they did so in the previous month, up from 21%.

The latest figures are the highest levels seen in the annual survey since 1983.

About 6% of college students said they used marijuana 20 or more times in the past month. For adults the same age who weren’t enrolled in college, the figure was 11%.


“It’s the frequent use we’re most worried about” because it’s linked to poor academic performance and can be detrimental to mental health, said John Schulenberg, one of the Michigan researchers.

College-age adults are the biggest users of marijuana than any other age group. Use among high school students has been flat for a few years.

The 2018 findings are based on responses from about 1,400 adults age 19 to 22, including 900 who were full-time college students and about 500 who were not.

The survey only has comparable data on college kids going back to 1980. So it doesn’t say how common marijuana use was in the 1960′s and 1970′s — a time when marijuana use on college campuses was considered widespread.

Marijuana use has been rising in college-age kids for more than a decade. Schulenberg said it seems to be tied to views about risk — in the early 1990s, about three-quarters of young adults said pot was risky. But last year it was down to 22%.

The survey also found about 11% of college students said they vaped marijuana in the previous month — more than double the figure in the 2017 survey.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

83 Protesters Arraigned, S’Africa Blames Drug Dealers For Xenophobic Attacks

Policemen with one of the suspects at Novare in Sangotedo, Lekki, Lagos ...on Wednesday. Photo: Olukayode Jaiyeola. Image via Punch


By Niyi Odebode, Olalekan Adetayo, John Ameh, Sunday Aborisade, Kamarudeen Ogundele, Adelani Adepegba, Friday Olokor, Ife Ogunfuwa, Oladimeji Ramon, Abiodun Nejo, Ademola Babalola, Peter Dada, Ogbonnaya Ikokwu and Chidiebube Okeoma.

The Lagos State Police Command on Thursday arraigned 83 persons who allegedly participated in the attack and looting of South African-owned mall, Shoprite, in protest against continued xenophobic attacks and killings of Nigerians in South Africa.

This is just as the South Africa’s Minister of International Relation and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor, blamed drug dealers for xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and pleaded with the Federal Government of Nigeria to assist her country by preventing Nigerians dealing in narcotics from coming to South Africa.

Pandor, who spoke with an interview with an online news platform, enca.com, on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum on Africa on Thursday, said there was a widely held belief that many Nigerians in South Africa dealt in drugs, adding that the Federal Government should help to address this issue.

While she was speaking in South Africa, the 83 suspected looters were being arraigned before the Lagos State Magistrates’ Court at Yaba on six counts bordering on conspiracy, riotous assembly, arson, stealing, malicious damage, unlawful destruction of property and conduct likely to cause the breach of peace.

The police told the court that the defendants attacked the Shoprite Malls at Surulere and Sangotedo-Ajah areas of Lagos and allegedly stole and damaged property estimated at N500m.

The prosecution said they committed the offences on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 in contravention of sections 50, 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 and were liable to be punished under sections 339 (1) (2), 168 (d) and 411 of the same Act.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty.

The magistrate, Mr P.A. Ojo, admitted each of the 83 defendants to bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The magistrate said the sureties must be the defendants’ parents or a paternal family member.

The case was adjourned till October 9, 2019.

Stop drug dealers from coming to our country, SA minister tells FG

Pandor in the interview with enca.com said the South Africa authorities were aware that the attacks against foreigners were driven by what she called “Afrophobia.”

The minister said, ”I would appreciate them (Nigerian government) in helping us as well to address the belief our people have, the reality that there are many persons from Nigeria who are dealing in drugs in our country, who are harming our young people by making drugs easily available to them.


“I believe Nigerian nationals are involved in human trafficking and other abusive practices. This kind of assistance of ensuring such persons don’t come to our country would be of great assistance to our nation.”

The minister cast doubts on the proposal suggesting that Nigerian police officers should be embedded with the South Africa Police Service to assist them in preventing xenophobic attacks against Nigerians.

Pandor said she was not aware of any South African law that permitted the implementation of the idea.

She added, “I had an interview and one of the interviewers, a journalist from Nigeria; he was repeating some of the statements that Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister (Geoffrey Onyeama) had made.

“Part of it being that their security forces should come to South Africa to somewhat work alongside with our police and I indicated that I don’t know any provision in the constitution or our law which would allow that.”

The minister described the attacks as a complex phenomenon “whose root causes were not easy to define.”

Nationalise Shoprite, MTN, others, APC urges FG

But Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, called on the Federal Government to ensure a complete takeover of Shoprite, the MTN and other South African businesses in the country by Nigerians.

The party also called for the revocation of licences of banks owned by the South Africans in Nigeria including Stanbic IBTC and Standard Chartered banks.

The party made the calls after an emergency meeting of the National Working Committee in Abuja on Thursday presided over by the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Oshiomhole said the attitude of the ruling African National Congress and that of the South African government indicated approval of the unwarranted attacks on black immigrants and wanton destruction of their property.

He said, “Having listened to all the explanations from the authorities in South Africa, these people are neither being accused of being irregular migrants nor were they involved in any illegal activities. Those who have business permit to set up businesses, whether they are pretty traders or small manufacturers, are operating within the letters of the law of the South African nation.

“Over the past one year and virtually every other week, Nigerians are being wasted in one part of South Africa or the other. We know that the Federal Government has had conversations with the South African authorities drawing their attention to these abuses but the escalation of the attacks on foreigners – many of who are Nigerians – has reached a level that is no longer tolerable.

“At some point, people wonder whether these attacks had the backing of the South African government. What has been clear over the period is that the South African authorities have not demonstrated sufficient commitment to bring these attacks to an end. For example, in spite of the fact that many peoples’ lives have been wasted, not one South African is known to have been convicted and sentenced to prison.

“South African companies are making billions of dollars from the Nigerian economy year in year out and repatriate same out of Nigeria. The MTN was recently in the stock market and some Nigerians bought shares in the MTN but in a moment like this and in order to send a very strong message to the South African authorities and the South African people, Nigeria government must take steps to take over the remaining shares of the MTN that are owned by South African so that the MTN become fully Nigeria owned.”

The former Edo State governor said South Africans had not reciprocated the kind gestures extended them by Nigerians in the past.

He asked them to look inward for the cause of their problems instead of attacking Africans who accounted for only two per cent of their gross domestic product.

Oshiomhole urged Nigerians to protest against the killing of their brothers and sisters and other nationals by boycotting South African businesses and goods.

“I think right away, Nigerians in our individual capacities, this is the moment to show our commitment by boycotting South African good and beginning with Nigerians refusing from today to use MTN services. If Nigeria decides at least for the next 30 days to stop using the MTN, they would have sent a clear message.

“We should reflect on why we should continue to allow the DSTV to repatriate millions of dollars to South Africa arising from their activities in Nigeria. We have reviewed all of those things that give South Africans monopoly such that they make money with very little value addition.

“To show that we mean business and in a practical step, the South African Airways, landing right in Nigeria should be stopped until these issues are sorted out.

“Many Nigerians believed that Shoprite is owned by South Africans. They are repatriating money purely from franchise, but the capital with which these shopping malls were built were Nigeria’s. The shop owners are Nigerians. This poses an obligation on the government to review any agreement that gives South Africans power to develop monopoly in our commercial lives.

“We have a duty to encourage the government to do what we believe is right. Happily, the government has already taken the initiative. This resolution we have reached will be communicated to Mr President and to the Federal Government. And, it will be up to the government to decide how to respond to them.

“But, we need the government to recognise that Nigerians wants a more firm action because the MTN cannot be carting away money, the DSTV carting away so much money; Shoprite making so much money from their franchise and Stanbic dealing with corporate Nigerians patronising the oil companies making fabulous billions of dollars and South Africans are wasting away our young men and women people – who are struggling to manage small businesses.

“This is meant to give the government the support base it needs to proceed with further direct measures. And, I think on this issue, Nigerians are united across all the divides. We must protect Nigeria’s image and protect its citizens and businesses wherever they are. And, any country that attacks our businesses, an injury to one is an injury many. That must be the philosophy. Nigeria first.

“We also know that Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic Bank, are South African banks, Nigerians may have more shares there, if any. It is time to ask them to wind up so that Nigerian banks will take advantage of their departure and expand their operation. We have enough to save by transferring these businesses to Nigerians.”

Xenophobia, threat to economic cooperation in Africa –ECOWAS

Also, the Economic Community of West African States has condemned the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and others in South Africa, saying that this had no place in its cooperation agenda vision for the continent.

The ECOWAS President, Jean Kasi-Brou, while condemning the attacks, said cooperation and integration went beyond national and regional levels.

Responding to questions from journalists in Abuja on Thursday, Kasi-Brou said the violence against foreign nationals was a threat to economic cooperation on the continent.

The ECOWAS President said, ‘’Any issue can be resolved through dialogue, cooperation, discussions as long as it is positive and constructive which is important in the situation because African nations are not only working on the regional but also the continental level under the African Union umbrella for the full integration of the regions of the continent.”

FG alerts Nigerians to fake videos on killings

Meanwhile, the Federal Government on Thursday alerted the public to fake videos in circulation purportedly showing how Nigerians were being killed during the xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa.

The government warned the persons circulating the videos to immediately desist from such as they were inflaming passion and complicating efforts at calming frayed nerves at home.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, stated this during a press conference in Abuja.

According to him, despite alerting Nigerians to the danger posed by fake news and disinformation when the government inaugurated its national campaign against fake news on July 11 2019, bad elements were misinforming the public and fanning embers of violence.

He said, “I also want to use this press conference to alert Nigerians to the video clips being circulated on the social media, purportedly showing how Nigerians are being killed in South Africa. Three of such videos come to mind.

“One video shows a man who has been set ablaze trying to escape, and those circulating the video identified the man as a Nigerian. This is not true. The video shows Mozambican Ernesto Alfabeto Nhamuave, a victim of xenophobic violence in South Africa in 2008, and it is not that of a Nigerian being attacked in 2019.

“Another video shows those said to be Nigerians jumping down from a multi-storey building that was purportedly set on fire by xenophobic attackers in South Africa. This is fake news as the video is that of a Suraj Coaching Centre in Gujarat State, India, that was gutted by fire on May 24, 2019, leaving about 18 people dead.

“The third video, purportedly showing the bodies of Nigerians who were burnt in xenophobic attacks, is the raw footage of those who were killed in a Tanzanian fuel tanker explosion in Morogoro that left at least 60 dead on August 10 2019.

The minister also warned celebrities and opinion leaders to be circumspect by guarding their utterances on the xenophobic attacks and the reactions from Nigerians.

He said the Federal Government was ready to evacuate Nigerians willing to return home from South Africa, in addition to other measures being considered to decisively tackle this cankerworm of xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.

…warns against reprisals on foreigners

Mohammed appealed to Nigerians who were angered by the xenophobic attacks on their compatriots in South Africa not to engage in reprisals, because such attacks hurt Nigerians more.

The minister appealed to Nigerians, who were justifiably angered by the attacks on their compatriots in South Africa, not to resort to self-help by carrying out reprisal attacks against South African businesses in Nigeria.

He said, “Reports of these attacks, which have dominated the social and traditional media in the past two days, are quite disturbing and depressing. Obviously, hoodlums have hijacked the peaceful protests by some Nigerians to loot shops at Shoprite and other malls in some locations across the country.

“A Nigerian lady whose shop was looted at the Novare Mall in Lagos said she lost millions of naira to the hoodlums who looted her shop. The offices of the MTN nationwide have either been attacked or threatened. Other South African firms have either shut their doors or are open under heavy security. As we said in our intervention on Tuesday, Nigerians own and run the shops in the various Shoprite malls across the country.

“Nigerians work there also. The MTN is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the investors in this company are Nigerians. The workers are mostly Nigerians. Same applies to other South African businesses in the country. By attacking them, we are hurting our own people. That is the blunt truth.”

Buhari against escalation of tension between Nigeria, S’Africa, says Presidency

Also, the Presidency made a further clarification on Thursday on whether Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Ambassador Kabiru Bala, had been recalled, saying that a final decision on it had not been taken.

It said a recall was one among the options before the Federal Government as a response to the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa, but noted that President Muhammadu Buhari was not interested in the escalation of tension between the two countries.

A Presidency source, who made the clarification in Abuja, stated that the point made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, was that Bala would be “invited” home to brief government on developments in South Africa, which did not amount to a recall.

The source said, “When the Minister of Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, spoke yesterday (Wednesday), he made it clear that government might, if necessary, be inviting the Nigerian High Commissioner to brief the administration.

“It was not a recall. A recall at this time, even if not ruled out, will be a short-sighted move. Not having diplomatic contact is not a good development for now. Our envoy will remain at his post.

The source added that the minister had so far carried out the directive of Buhari, which was to convey Nigeria’s reservations on the attacks to his South African counterpart.

The source added, “What President Muhammadu Buhari did was to request the foreign minister to speak to his counterpart in South Africa to convey the seriousness of the concerns of the government and people of Nigeria.

This, he said, had been done.

“The meaning of recall of ambassador is an indication of extreme displeasure and disagreement.

It is the penultimate step before the breaking of diplomatic relationship.

“Nigeria does not seek escalation of the ongoing situation. We will work with South Africa to find solutions to their problems which have become our own problems. We will work as brothers.

“That is the mission by the President’s Special Envoy to South Africa.”

Violence in S’Africa, Nigeria unacceptable – MTN chairman

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Board of Directors, MTN Nigeria, Ernest Ndukwe, has condemned the violence against Nigerians and other nationalities in South Africa.

Ndukwe in a statement on Thursday also described the violent response in Nigeria as unacceptable.

While expressing sympathy to people who lost their lives and valuables to the violence, he urged the South African and Nigerian governments to work collectively to address the issues.

S’Africa shuts Nigeria’s consulate, says our diplomats, citizens not threatened in Nigeria-

Meanwhile, Pandor on Thursday said that there were no direct threats to South African diplomats and citizens in Nigeria.

She, however, explained that the South African High Commission in Nigeria and Consulate were closed due to threats against the mission staff as well as property of South Africa.

She said although there was no direct physical threat to the diplomats and citizens, Pretoria took their safety as a priority and had thus taken the precautionary measure of closing the mission as the situation remained unpredictable.

Pandor in a statement on Thursday, said, “Both offices were closed on Tuesday, following concerns reported by officials at both missions. This followed the receipt of threats against the mission staff as well as the property of South Africa.

“After extensive consultations with relevant stakeholders as well as a security assessment of threats, the Mission and the IRC Department took the decision to close the offices.”

The minister, however, noted that “At this point, there has been no direct physical threat to any of our diplomats and citizens, however, we view their safety as a priority and have thus taken the precautionary measure of closing, while the situation remains somewhat unpredictable.”

She said the department had received reports of marches by demonstrators to South African companies as well as attempts to attack them, noting that the South African authorities were communicating with businesses that had branches in Nigeria and had requested their senior managers to remain in close contact with the department and the ministry.

The minister said, “It is established tradition in foreign policy that diplomatic missions should enjoy protection from the host country and while we remain perturbed at the threats directed at our missions, we are grateful to note that the security forces and the government of Nigeria are upholding this long-established practice of foreign policy.”

The minister confirmed that her directive to the mission that links should be encouraged between youths of South Africa and Nigeria had been acted upon, noting that the Nigerian students’ association should be invited to visit South Africa.

She said, “Meetings have been held at the mission with the student organisation and a committee was established to continue the dialogue and work on the details of the proposed visit.

“The department and the ministry will remain in constant contact with our representatives and will continue to assess the situation on the ground and provide feedback as new information becomes available.”

She disclosed her plans to meet with the African Heads of Mission to South Africa next week.

Nigerians pulling S’Africans out of vehicles beating them-Envoy

However, the South Africa High Commission on Thursday alleged that its citizens were being pulled out of vehicles in Nigeria and attacked.

The acting South African High Commissioner in Nigeria, Ambassador Bobby Moroe, who disclosed this in an interview one of our correspondents in Abuja, also said the commission had shut its offices and consulate in Nigeria for fear of attacks by youths in the country.

He explained that the reported attacks on South Africans in parts of the country informed the decision to close down the mission.

Moroe stated, “I directed that the mission should be closed until the situation improves. We heard that South Africans were being pulled out of vehicles and attacked. We feel unsafe and that is why I directed that the mission should close down until further notice.”

When told that the police had beefed up security to prevent retaliatory attacks, the envoy said the mission would remain closed because he did not want to take chances.

We are not aware of attacks on S’Africans in Nigeria—Police

But the spokesman for the Nigeria Police, Force Frank Mba, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the force was not aware that South Africans were being pulled out of vehicles and assaulted, noting that the police had beefed up security to protect South African businesses and interests in the country.

He stated, “I am not aware such a report was made to the police. Our position is clear; the IGP does not believe that two wrongs can ever make a right and that’s why he has taken very decisive decision in ensuring that businesses and foreign missions in the country are adequately protected.

“A public statement has been made in that regard and we are walking our talk. You should have seen the kind of deployments we have done around businesses belonging to South Africa. So, it would be uncharitable for anybody to make such a comment.”

Why El-Rafai, others are still in Town for summit -FG

Meanwhile, the Federal Government said that some state governors attending the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, did not necessarily act in disobedience to Nigeria’s decision to withdraw from the summit.

It said the governors and other prominent Nigerians had already arrived in Cape Town days before the government’s decision was announced on Wednesday in Abuja.

Nigeria had pulled out of the forum on Wednesday in protest against the ongoing xenophobic attacks on its citizens in South Africa.

The President had initially delegated Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to attend the summit, but the trip was later called off in protest against the xenophobic attacks.

The governors in South Africa include the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State. The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Muhammad II, is also said to be in Cape Town.

Other Nigerians participating include a former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, and Mr Jim Ovia.

On Thursday, Onyeama tried to defend the governors, saying that they were already in South Africa before Nigeria announced its decision to pull out of the summit.

‘Fayemi not in South Africa for WEF’

But the Ekiti State governor denied reports that he was at the WEF in South Africa.

His Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, said the governor was in South Africa to honour an invitation by a long time friend and one of Nigeria’s most celebrated journalists, Mr Dele Olojode, for a programme.

Oyebode said in a statement in Ado Ekiti that the governor was in South Africa for “Africa in the World Festival of Ideas” which held in Stellensbosch far away from Cape Town.

Ovia withdraws from WEF

However, one of those in South Africa and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr Jim Ovia, on Thursday, withdrew from further activities at the World Economic Forum Africa in Cape Town.

Zenith Bank, in a statement on Thursday, said before his exit, Ovia stressed the need for youth empowerment and better government policies to curb continual attacks on persons living within and outside Africa.



Don’t pay for evacuation flight from S/Africa, Air Peace tells Nigerians

Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, warned scammers who were allegedly collecting money from Nigerians in South Africa for their evacuation back to the country.

The Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, told newsmen in Lagos on Thursday that the airline was offering free flights for Nigerians fleeing from xenophobic attacks in South Africa

He said the gesture was part of the airline supports to the government.

Onyema said the airline decided to set the record straight following an email from a Nigerian in South Africa that unauthorised persons were illegally collecting $1,000 from each Nigerian that wanted to take advantage of that flight.

Nnamani cautions Nigerians against reprisals

Like Buhari, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa/NEPAD, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, cautioned Nigerians against carrying out reprisal attacks against South Africans and their investments in Nigeria.

But a member of the National Assembly representing Anambra South Senatorial District, Ifeanyi Ubah, said his constituents, constituted majority of Nigerians suffering xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

Ubah, in a statement in Abuja alleged that the South African government was complicit in the attacks by failing to decisively deal with the situation over the years.

He said, “My attention has been unavoidably drawn to the recent spate of mindless xenophobic attacks on Nigerians, the majority of which are my constituents from Anambra South Senatorial District.

“These baseless and senseless attacks which destroy the very fabric of our unity as Africans are highly deplorable and condemnable, to say the least. South Africa seems to have forgot so soon, memories of their not too distant past.

Lagos lawmakers flays xenophobic attacks on Nigerians

Also, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly condemned in strong terms the xenophobic attacks by South Africans on Nigerians living in their country.

The condemnation followed a motion moved by Tunde Braimoh under matters of urgent public importance.

Braimoh had drawn the attention of other lawmakers to recent brutal attacks on Nigerians and their businesses in South Africa, where many lives were lost and several Nigerians brutally assaulted and killed.

Contributing, Gbolahan Yishawu stated that the attacks also extended to professionals such as doctors and lawyers who faced discrimination in their places of work, adding that Nigerians must not stoop to their barbaric level of attacks while the Federal Government of Nigeria must display a force of strength in safeguarding Nigerians.

The Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, berated the South African government’s action, which he claimed, consequently encouraged the attacks of Nigerian citizens in South Africa. He, however, implored the Federal Government of Nigeria to act more for the aid of Nigerians.

Buhari’s special envoy arrives South Africa

Meanwhile, the special envoy President Buhari sent to South Africa following the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in that country has arrived Johannesburg, South Africa.

The special envoy, who is also the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Abubakar, was said to have arrived the OR Tambo Airport on Thursday evening.

He was said to have been received by top officials of Nigeria’s High Commission led by the High Commissioner.

He is scheduled to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria on Friday (today) and deliver Buhari’s message.

Abubakar is expected to express Nigeria’s displeasure at the treatment meted out to Nigerians to the host President during the meeting.

On his arrival back to the country after the meeting, he will brief Buhari of the outcome following which the high commissioner will return to Nigeria “for consultation.”

SOURCE: PUNCH

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In Defense Of Country: The $9.6b Judgment

Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker House of Representatives

BY FEMI GBAJABIAMILA

Nigerians recently received with shock the news that a foreign court had granted an enforcement order for over $9Bn (Nine Billion US Dollars) as compensatory damages in the matter of Process and Industrial Development Ltd v Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), as a consequence of the determination by an arbitration panel that the Government of Nigeria failed to live up to its contractual obligations.

This case raises certain fundamental public policy issues which must be addressed, lest the best interests of our nation are wittingly or unwittingly mortgaged. We must also be mindful of the fact that the award represents about 25% of our annual national budget, and the enforcement of this order will have very real consequences on our national development ambitions. My position on this subject should not be taken as an endorsement of Nigeria’s sometimes unpardonable ways of not respecting the sanctity of contracts, but as a consideration of this case as a standalone matter, distinguished both by the nature of the contract, the subtext of its wider implication and the possible unintended consequences 0f enforcing this final award.

Let us consider first whether or not the Commercial Court of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales has jurisdiction over the enforcement of the arbitral award, and following from that, whether there is a difference between the Seat of Arbitration and the Venue of Arbitration. The Agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the claimant clearly stated that the agreement shall be construed in accordance with the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This unambiguously implies that any interpretation of the contract, issues or dispute arising out of the contract shall be resolved in accordance with the Laws of Nigeria. In other words, as far as any issue arises from the entire contract, whether as to the manner or style of performance of the contract, non-performance, recourse to arbitration and enforcement of any award, the laws of the FRN will apply. Parties went further to agree that the Nigeria Arbitration and Conciliation Act CAP A18 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and its ancillary Rule shall be applied in the resolution of any dispute.

There is as a matter of statute and precedence, a world of difference between the venue/place of arbitration and seat of arbitration (Lex Arbitiri). While the “place” or venue can be a choice of convenience to the parties, the “seat” is a legal construct which determines the court that has supervisory powers over the conduct of the arbitration. In the extant case, apart from stating that the contract between the parties shall be governed by Nigerian law, the contract equally provided that any arbitration shall be governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, which invariably means that the seat of Arbitration shall be Nigeria. This is because the Nigerian Arbitration and Conciliation Act envisages the supervision of any arbitration under the Act by Nigerian Courts and not English Courts. For the avoidance of doubt, Section 57 of the Act defines court found in the Act to mean the “High Court of a State, the High Court of a Federal Capital Territory, Abuja or the Federal High Court”. The choice of London as the venue of the arbitration is, therefore, a matter of convenience and cannot be construed to mean the seat of arbitration as determined by the Arbitral Tribunal and the judgment of Justice Butcher.

In the extant case, the contract provides that the venue will be London but the law governing the conduct of the arbitration (seat of arbitration) is the law of Nigeria. This to my mind is a concerted effort by the parties to clearly determine their terms to the letter. To hold anything to the contrary will amount to a butchering of the Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA). It is my opinion that the High Court of England has neither the supervisory nor enforcement jurisdiction over the arbitral proceedings as the letters of the GSPA is very clear on that issue. The court with the jurisdiction is the Federal High Court of Nigeria. This position is supported by the ruling of the English courts in Tonicstar v. American Home Assurance Company (2004) EWHC 1234 wherein the Court held that where a contract was made in London, signed in London, to be executed in London, made in accordance with the laws of England, it is to be inferred that the parties intended these provisions to be determined by the English court, but even when there is no implied choice of law, there is a presumption under the Rome Convention that the applicable law is that of the place of business of the party whose performance is characteristic of the contract.

As to the question of whether under the international law, the High Court England and Wales has jurisdiction to attach the property of another sovereign nation, I submit that where a sovereign state submits to arbitration, the award emanating from the arbitration proceedings cannot be denied on the ground of immunity. However, a waiver of immunity on adjudication is different from the immunity from attachment or execution. Assuming without conceding that the FRN impliedly waived its immunity from adjudication, it did not waive its immunity from attachment or execution. Section 13(2)(b) of the State Immunity Act of England 1978 provides that a sovereign state’s property can only be attached with the state’s consent or where the property is shown to be expressly used for commercial purpose. To this extent, should the judgement eventually stand, the issue of attachment of state property will still have to be addressed. At which point a distinction would be drawn between state assets for state purposes which are beyond the reach of any enforcement judgment and state assets for commercial purposes which may be attached as per the order of a competent court.

Every contractual dealing contains an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing presuming that the parties will act fairly to each other. As at the time of filing their claim, there was no evidence the claimant had fulfilled their part of the contract. It is the claimant’s position that the construction of a pipeline by the federal government comes in advance of their own obligation to build the gas plant, and it is as a consequence of the federal government’s failure to build that pipeline that the claimant now seeks to walk away with an award of Nine Billion US Dollars. This is a flawed position that should have been defeated at the earliest stages of the litigation in this matter. Filing a claim against a contractual partner where you yourself are arguably in breach of the same contract is an unacceptable denunciation of the good faith and fair dealing principles that are at the heart of contract law. That both the Arbitration Panel and the British court allowed this position to stand is further reason why we must treat the outcomes of both processes with deserving scepticism.

The Arbitration Panel determined the damages due to the claimant by calculating the claimant’s projected earnings over twenty (20) years, less capital and operating expenditure, assuming perfect market conditions. The Panel assumed that the yet to be built plant would have been delivered on time and would operate at 93% uptime for the twenty-year duration whilst the average global oil price remained above $100 (One Hundred US Dollars) for the same duration. Everything we know about the volatility of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria leads one to believe that the former assumption is based on nothing if not ephemeral hope. Already, the latter assumption has been rubbished by the real price of crude oil in the global markets since the determination of the final award. Yet, the award calculated using these fundamentally flawed indices still stands. This is neither fair nor just and we ought not to accept it without objection

We must all at this time avert our minds to the best options for resolution of this matter in a manner that protects the genuine commercial interests of the claimants without causing any more injury to the Nigerian state and the Nigerian people. Already, there are multiple appeals against both the arbitration award and the enforcement order by the British courts. As it is to the National Assembly, that the constitution of Nigeria grants the power of the purse, it is my opinion that the Assembly ought to be party to all ongoing litigation whether by means of joinder or by initiating fresh action. Whilst we await the final determination of these matters in the court of law, simultaneous diplomatic back-channel discussions must be ongoing. We must approach these talks with all options on the table, recognising the urgency of the situation and dire consequences of failure.

I am heartened by the fact that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the contract between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Process & Industrial Development Ltd. I hope that this investigation will be conducted expeditiously and with due care so that where anyone is found liable for negligence, recklessness or less than professional conduct such a person will be made to face the full wrath of the law as a deterrent to others. Those who are elected and appointed to represent the interests of the people of Nigeria must recognise that they are rightly held to higher expectations, and they must live up to those expectations.

Beyond the present matter, there is a need for the National Assembly to begin a comprehensive review of all protocols, treaties, and agreements signed by the country over the years whether or not ratified as it may be time to opt-out of those that may no longer serve our country’s interest. Time sometimes may change the dynamics and make such agreements less favourable to us as a country. Treaties are not in perpetuity and a country cannot be held in bondage by virtue of having signed one. The United States of America has a long history of conducting such reviews and acting in the best interests of the nation. Most recently, by withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action known commonly as the Iran nuclear deal and withdrawing also from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with the latter now being renegotiated in view of present realities. This is the same approach we must adopt in the best interests of the Nigerian people.

SOURCE: THE NATION

81% Of Nigerians Do Not Pay Taxes – NESG

BY JONATHAN NDA-ISAIAH

ABUJA (LEADERSHIP) -- More than 81 % of taxable adults and businesses in Nigeria do not pay their income taxes due to low tax moral in the country, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has learnt.

According to a statement by the media office of the NGF, this was disclosed in a presentation made by the research director of the Fiscal Policy Roundtable of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, NESG, Mr. Tayo Oyedele, yesterday at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum Secretariat in Abuja.

Oyedele, who was in the company of the chairman of the Fiscal Policy Roundtable, FPR, Dr Sarah Alade, had paid a courtesy call on the director-general of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Mr. Asishana Bayo Okauru, to solicit an opportunity to expose this sour narrative to the nation’s governors and seek their involvement to correct the ills that are denying the country of its collectible revenues.

The director of Research who condemned the seeming national apathy of Nigerians on payment of taxes said that figures available to him reveal that there are 20 million registered taxpayers in the country, scoffing at the figure which seems paltry compared to the presumed nation’s population of nearly 200 million people.

While explaining the concept and reasons adduced to the nation’s low tax moral, the NESG buff disclosed however, that nearly 85% of those who deem it unnecessary to pay taxes to the government willingly pay same to “non-government actors.”

This ironic twist, the NESG attributed to the distrust that pervades the environment when it comes to paying taxes, dues and levies to a government that does not command the public’ trust.

Of the tiers of government on whose shoulders tax collection is reposed, the research showed that Local Governments and their officials are among the most untrustworthy, followed by state governments and then the tax officials themselves.

“Many believe that it is unwise to pay taxes to entities that do not translate taxes to services or to officials who diverted same to personal use,” Oyedele said, while insisting that there were nonetheless 17% of the population who see the payment of taxes as a civic duty which all must perform.

Maintaining that there were 354 taxes in Nigeria, which create duplicity of taxes and favoritism on where to audit and where not to audit, not minding the unprofessional conduct of tax collectors, who sometimes threaten the public, NESG also regretted that the penalties for non-payment of taxes in Nigeria were not only unhurtful and not punitive enough, but that the processes of penalizing reluctant taxpayers were selective.

The NESG therefore recommended that it would have been better if the country minimised the tax regimes of the country from 354 to only 10, abrogating such meaningless taxes as the ozone layer tax which the population can hardly fathom.

According to the research as narrated by the NESG, personal income taxpayers would have been happier to pay their taxes if education, health and infrastructural provision were raised to global standards, while corporate taxpayers would love to see electricity, roads and security improved.

The director-general of the NGF said the situation is a looming calamity which must be addressed forthwith, while thanking the NESG group for bringing this horrendous narrative to the knowledge of the forum.

SOURCE: LEADERSHIP

Nigeria Prize for Literature: 3 Writers Battle For $100,000

BY DAMIETE BRAIDE

LAGOS (DAILY SUN) - As the race for the eventual winner of the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature gets hotter, three authors have been shortlisted for the event scheduled to take place in Abuja on October 11.

Chairman of the Advisory Board of The Nigeria Prize for Literature, Prof Ayo Banjo, and the panel of judges announced Jude Idada’s Boom Boom, Dunni Olatunde’s Mystery at Ebenezer Lodge and O.T. Begho’s The Great Walls of Benin as the hot contenders

The chairman disclosed that the journey of the 2019 edition of the Nigeria Prize for Literature started in March 2019 when the call for entries in the category of Children’s Literature, the genre in focus, was announced.

Last month, 11 books for the first shortlist was announced, and, one of the books, based on the verdict of the judges, and the advice of an international consultant, Professor Kelvin Nyong Toh, a professor of English at University of Bamenda, Cameroun, will become the winning entry for the 2019 edition of the prize in October.

According to the judges, the book, Boom Boom, is narrated through the eyes of an innocent child as he struggles with the bond of relationships, love, affection, friendship, loyalty and trust in times of crisis. It also gives Sickle Cell Anaemia immense clarity in an absorbing and engulfing narrative.

The main proposition of the novel, said the judges, is that nature inflicts pain, but has also made provision for its succour and cure. This solution is however hidden in a complex web of natural and social circumstances that human beings must unravel. The novel is an experiment in pursuit of this objective.

In Mystery at Ebenezer Lodge, the judges see links or inter-textual relations between the work and that of “The Famous Five,” a popular children’s thriller and adventure series by the renowned English author, Enid Blyton. However, the book cleverly domesticates the plot and temperament of Blyton’s series, taking existing and dominant stories out of their familiar western terrains, resetting and localising them.

Continuing, the judges said, the book is suitable for children as the actions can easily be adapted by children to suit any situation. The storyline can help children to create a sense of right or wrong.

The Great Walls of Benin, said the judges, promotes indigenous knowledge by focusing children’s attention on myths of origin. The book upholds the role of oral literature as an effective tool for disseminating knowledge to children. Using origin myth as tool, the author creates an imagery setting which carries one into a world of fantasy that can be understood and appreciated by children. It, among other things, preaches unity, trust, togetherness and understanding.

The judges describe these books as highly didactic, yet coated in an absorbing and engaging narrative. The style of writing exhibited in these books is suitable for children and gives clarity to the vicissitudes of life, spurs healthy curiosity, builds problem-solving skills as well as promotes the role of oral literature as an effective tool for disseminating knowledge to children.

The winning entry will be announced at an award ceremony on the October 11, 2019.

In the same vein, Manager, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Sophia Horsfall adds that The Nigeria Prize for Literature rotates yearly among four literary genres: prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature and next year’s competition will focus on prose fiction.

Nigeria LNG Limited remains committed to responsible corporate citizenship, and The Nigeria Prize for Literature is one of its numerous contributions towards building a better Nigeria.

The judges for this year’s prize include Professor Obodimma Oha, a professor of Cultural Semiotics and Stylistics in the Department of English, University of Ibadan; Professor Asabe Usman Kabir, professor of Oral and African Literatures at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto and Dr. Patrick Oloko, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Lagos, who specialises in African Post-colonial Literature, Gender and Cultural Studies.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature has since 2004, rewarded eminent writers such as Gabriel Okara (co-winner, 2004, poetry), Professor Ezenwa Ohaeto (co-winner, 2004, poetry) for The Dreamer, His Vision; Ahmed Yerima (2005, drama) for his classic, Hard Ground; Mabel Segun (co-winner, 2007, children’s literature) for her collection of short plays, Reader’s Theatre and Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo (co-winner, 2007, children’s literature) with her book, My Cousin Sammy.

Others are Kaine Agary (2008, prose); Esiaba Irobi (2010, drama) who clinched the prize posthumously with his book, Cemetery Road; Adeleke Adeyemi (2011, children’s literature) with his book, The Missing Clock; Chika Unigwe (2012, prose), with her novel, On Black Sister’s Street; Tade Ipadeola (2013, poetry) with his collection of poems, The Sahara Testaments; Professor Sam Ukala (2014, drama) with his play, Iredi War; Abubakar Adam Ibrahim with his novel, Season of Crimson Blossoms (2016, prose); Ikeogu Oke with his collection of poetry, The Heresiad; (2017, poetry) and Soji Cole with his play, Embers (2018, drama).

SOURCE: SUN NEWS ONLINE

S.African Protests Spread To Cape Town Over Murders Of Women

World Economic Forum protesters demand to see Ramaphosa. Image via The South African

BY RENEE BONORCHIS,

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (BLOOMBERG) -- Hundreds of demonstrators protesting South Africa's high rate of violence against women blocked the entrance to the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town as the event got under way on Wednesday.

The protest was triggered by the murder last week of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana, 19 -- one of the regular incidents of femicide in a nation notorious for its grim crime statistics. A woman is murdered every three hours in South Africa, according to police data.

The killing of Mrwetyana, who was raped and bludgeoned to death at a post office in an upmarket suburb of Cape Town, followed the murder of champion boxer Leighandre Jegels, 25, who was allegedly shot by an ex-boyfriend who had a restraining order against him. Before that, there was Meghan Cremer, an avid horse rider who was allegedly killed by three men as she left her farm outside of Cape Town.

More than a thousand people were involved in the protest, bearing placards including one that simply said, "Stop Killing Us." On Twitter and Facebook, women called for action and suggested ideas including carrying pepper spray and taking self-defense classes, to imposing a curfew on men.

With the country also suffering a spate of deadly xenophobic attacks in its economic hub, Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa took to Twitter on Tuesday night and, in more than a dozen Tweets, implored citizens to help battle the scourge of violence and femicide.

The word "womxn" has been used in recent years by gender activists to denote transgender women, women of color and as a rejection of the word "women" being derived from, or lesser than, "men."

With the protesters having gathered twice during the day, security teams moved to put up fencing around the conference center's entrances and shut down all but one access point. This meant rerouting WEF delegates and discouraging them from gathering at windows to look at the action in the street.

"We're here to support the women who are victims of sexual violence," Erin Connolly, one of the protesters gathered outside, said as the crowd chanted "how many more."

With assistance from Antony Sguazzin and Prinesha Naidoo.

Climate, Post-Conflict Peace On Pope's Africa Agenda

A nun browses in a store with Pope paraphernalia in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. Pope Francis heads this week to the southern African nations of Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius, visiting some of the world's poorest countries that have been hard-hit by some of his biggest concerns: conflict, corruption and climate change. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe)


BY NICOLE WINFIELD, ANDREW MELDRUM

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis heads this week to the southern African nations of Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius, visiting some of the world’s poorest countries in a region hard hit by some of his biggest concerns: conflict, corruption and climate change.

The Sept. 4-10 trip is Francis’ second pilgrimage to sub-Saharan Africa, which the Catholic Church is looking to as its future given that Africa is one of the few places on Earth where Catholic communities and priestly vocations are growing.

Francis will encourage that growth, especially as he honors Catholics who were instrumental in spreading the faith in Africa before him. Among them is Jacques-Desire Laval, a 19th century French missionary who dedicated his life to preaching to the black slaves of Mauritius. Francis will pray at his tomb during a daylong stop on the Indian Ocean island.

On the first leg of the trip, Francis is expected to encourage Mozambique’s peace process, which took a major step forward in August when the ruling Frelimo Party and the armed opposition Renamo signed a new peace agreement.

In 1992, the Rome-based Catholic charity Sant’Egidio Community helped broker the first peace deal to end Mozambique’s 15-year civil war, which had killed an estimated 1 million people and devastated the former Portuguese colony. The permanent cease-fire signed Aug. 1 was the culmination of years of negotiations to end fighting that has flared sporadically in the 27 years since.

Angelo Romano, a Sant’Egidio official who represented the European Union during international mediation efforts that helped lead to the Aug. 1 accord, said Francis’ visit would help solidify the deal and help the whole country look forward.

“I think it’s a very happy coincidence that Pope Francis is coming right after the signing,” Romano said. “Clearly it’s a peace that has to be applied, respected and made to grow. But there’s no doubt that the pope in some way can put his seal on it.”

Tom Bowker, editor of Mozambique’s Zitamar news service, said the pope’s visit wasn’t seen necessarily as an endorsement of the ruling Frelimo government of President Filipe Nyusi ahead of October elections. Rather, he said, it was an endorsement of the peace accord itself.

“The peace deal looks a bit fragile, with some hard-liners in Renamo rejecting it. And it is not known how the elections will go,” he said. “So the pope could encourage cooperation between Frelimo and Renamo.”

In a videotaped message released on the eve of the trip, Francis recalled that when St. John Paul II visited Mozambique in 1988, he emphatically called for peace to end the war that was still raging. Francis said he wanted his own visit to consolidate Mozambique’s process of reconciliation.

“I’ll have the joy to share directly with you these convictions and also verify how the seeds planted by my predecessor John Paul II are growing,” he said.

Francis will also reach out to Mozambicans affected by back-to-back cyclones that ripped into the country earlier this year, leaving more than 650 people dead and destroying vast swaths of crops on the eve of harvest.

More than 1.3 million people are said to require food aid in one of the world’s least developed countries, where even before the cyclones hit, 40 percent of children were stunted from malnutrition.

The unprecedented storms laid bare the impact of climate change on countries like Mozambique, which with its 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) coastline is one of the world’s most vulnerable to the rising sea levels, warming waters and unpredictable storms blamed on global warming.

More so than any pope before him, Francis has made environmental concerns a pillar of his papacy, linking global warming to the persistent exploitation of the world’s poor by the wealthy. He has issued an entire encyclical on the need to care for God’s creation and next month will preside over a meeting of bishops from the Amazon, where an outbreak of rainforest fires have once again focused international attention on the need to preserve what he calls the “lungs of the planet.”

Environmental concerns are also expected to be on Francis’ agenda when he travels to the Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar, home to ecosystems and wildlife that exist nowhere else on Earth. Deforestation is threatening vital habitats, with farmers slashing and burning forest land to find fertile soil in a country beset by cycles of cyclone and drought.

“The major issues here are increased cyclones and floods which we’re seeing which seem to be more frequent and more intense,” said James Hazen, Madagascar representative for Catholic Relief Services, the humanitarian arm of the U.S. bishops conference, which has been on the island for five decades working with the poor and on environmental concerns.

In addition, Francis is likely to call for more responsible, transparent government in both Mozambique and Madagascar. Both countries rank among the world’s poorest and Transparency International lists them among the most corrupt. On Madagascar alone, 75 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.

Francis, who has stressed his desire for a “poor church for the poor,” wrote a book on corruption when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, and has never shied from using his foreign trips to demand political, business and civic leaders put the good of their people before personal interests.

While in Madagascar, Francis will visit a humanitarian organization, Akamasoa, launched by an Argentine priest in 1989 to tend to the poor in the peripheries of the country — much as the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio did in Buenos Aires where he is known as the “slum pope.”

The Rev. Pedro Opeka founded Akamasoa near the capital Antananarivo’s largest dump, and the organization now has built villages serving some 25,000 people with schools, housing and other services.

“I hope to touch his hand to receive his blessing,” said Marie Laurette Ralalanirina, 48, as she sewed flags that will be used as decoration when the pope visits Akamasoa. “I also would like the leaders of the country to use his visit to see us, the poor, because they have forgotten us until now.”

Opeka, who has been in Madagascar for a half-century, said Francis’ visit to Akamosoa would send an important message, given that when he first began his project, Madagascar’s poor had been completely abandoned.

“It was hell: there were jealousies, hatred, fighting and theft, all things because extreme poverty kills your soul,” he said. “Thirty years later, the pope is going to walk on this land where we have suffered. It’s a great comfort for us.”

___

Andrew Meldrum reported from Maputo, Mozambique. AP writer Laetitia Bezain contributed from Antanarivo, Madagascar.

'Pure Criminality': 5 Killed In Attacks On Foreigners In S Africa

Pedestrians pass burnt-out cars on the side of a street on the outskirts of Johannesburg on Monday, September 2, 2019 [The Associated Press]

Police fire rubber bullets and arrest 189 people in Alexandra amid rallies linked to anti-foreigner sentiment.
Five people have been killed in xenophobic attacks in South Africa, police said, as President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed to clamp down on what he described as "acts of wanton violence" and the African Union and Nigeria sounded the alarm.

Police fired rubber bullets and arrested 189 people in the township of Alexandra on Tuesday, a day after clashing with looters who local media said targeted foreign-owned businesses in several parts of the city.

Most of the deceased were South Africans, police said.

"I'm convening the ministers in the security cluster today to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them," he said in a post on Twitter.

"There can be no justification for any South African to attack people from other countries."

Rocks, bricks and rubber bullets strewed the empty streets of Alexandra on Tuesday, and Al Jazeera reporters at the scene saw police firing rubber bullets at a crowd of 50 people who were hurling rocks.

About two dozen shops, owned by both foreigners and locals, were vandalised or looted.

"They burnt everything," Bangladeshi shopowner Kamrul Hasan told AFP news agency in Alexandra, adding that his shop gets attacked every three to six months.

"All my money is gone. If the [South African] government pays for my plane ticket, I will go back to Bangladesh," the 27-year-old said.

Lungelo Dlamini, a spokesman for police, said the motive behind Tuesday's riots was not clear.

"They are just criminals who are looting and taking advantage of the situation," he told Al Jazeera.

Police arrested more than 91 people on Monday after protesters torched cars and looted dozens of shops.

News24, a South African news agency, said Monday's riots came after hundreds of people marched in Johannesburg's Central Business District (CBD) demanding foreigners leave. They targeted "shops they believed to be owned by foreign nationals", it reported.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama reacted strongly to the scenes of violence on Monday.

"Received sickening and depressing news of continued burning and looting of Nigerian shops and premises in #SouthAfrica by mindless criminals with ineffective police protection," he said on Twitter. "Enough is enough. We will take definitive measures."

In 2015, Nigeria had recalled its ambassador to South Africa following a spate of attacks against immigrants.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama reacted strongly to the scenes of violence on Monday.

"Received sickening and depressing news of continued burning and looting of Nigerian shops and premises in #SouthAfrica by mindless criminals with ineffective police protection," he said on Twitter. "Enough is enough. We will take definitive measures."

In 2015, Nigeria had recalled its ambassador to South Africa following a spate of attacks against immigrants.

But South African Police Minister Bheki Cele dismissed reports the ongoing attacks were xenophobic.

"Xenophobia is just an excuse that is being used by people to commit criminal acts," he told reporters on Monday afternoon. "It is not xenophobia, but pure criminality."

In a statement on Monday, the South African Human Rights Commission said it was "deeply concerned by violence, looting, arson and vandalism plaguing much of Johannesburg".

South Africa is a major destination for economic migrants from other parts of the continent, including the Southern Africa region, with many moving from neighbouring Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in search of work.

The unrest started on Sunday when an old building in the CBD caught fire and collapsed, killing at least three people. It then spread to two eastern suburbs and to the executive capital, Pretoria, where local media reported shops burning in Marabastad - a central business area largely populated by economic migrants.

Last week, hundreds of protesters in Pretoria set fire to buildings, looted mostly foreign-owned businesses and clashed with police, who fired rubber bullets at the crowds. The chaos broke out after local taxi drivers clashed with alleged drug dealers in the area, according to the Sowetan newspaper.

On Monday, a pamphlet circulating on social media, seen by The Associated Press news agency, encouraged South Africans to chase foreigners out of their communities.

The pamphlet, attributed to a group called the Sisonke Peoples Forum, accused foreigners living in South Africa of selling drugs and stealing jobs, both common refrains during the regular flare-ups of violence against foreigners in the greater Johannesburg area in recent years.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance party said: "These incidents are due to a failing economy in which more than 10 million South Africans cannot find work."

Both the ruling African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance have been accused of stoking xenophobia.

The violence comes amid a wave of protests in the transport industry linked to anti-foreigner sentiment.

Zambia's government on Monday called on Zambian truck drivers to avoid travelling to South Africa and those already in the country to park their vehicles "until the security situation improves".

Truck drivers in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) started a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest against the employment of foreign drivers. KZN police said 11 trucks blocked the road to Richards Bay Harbour, one of the deepest natural harbours in Africa.

They told AFP news agency that at least four vehicles had been torched.

At least 20 people had been arrested "in connection with incidents related to protests within the trucking industry", KZN police said.

Lieutenant-General Khombinkosi Jula, chief of police for KZN province, said they had intensified patrols along major routes.

Sipho Zungu, chairman of the All Truck Drivers Foundation, told AFP his group had had "nothing to do with the strike", but stressed that it was fighting for the employment of South African drivers.

"People of South Africa are hungry, they are sitting at home.. while companies in South Africa are employing foreigners ... [because] its cheap labour. We are hungry and angry," Zungu told AFP.

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), which has over 200,000 members, also distanced itself from the violence.

South Africa's Road Freight Association told local media in June that more than 200 people have been killed in attacks on foreign truck drivers since March 2018.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

Rochas Okorocha's Address To Imo State Congress Of America Town Hall Meeting

FROM THE ARCHIVES

AUGUST 4, 2013

Rochas Okorocha, Governor of Imo State Speech to the Imo State Congress of America Town Hall Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, August 4, 2013. Image: Abiodun Oluwarotimi/The Leader News



"What is happening in Imo state now has never been recorded in the past twenty years and that was the result of my decision not to allow corruption in my government. I want you all to know that it was not my desire to be governor in Imo state but I had to come on a rescue mission when I saw failure instead of success.

"The level and the condition I met the state was very embarrassing to the extents that my colleagues did not want to spend nights anytime they visited me. I almost fainted the day Ohakim was handing over to me because everywhere looked very bad.

"The level of crimes and prostitution among our girls and boys had reduced since we made them enjoy free education at all levels. In fact, we do pay some stipends to all our students just for them to be very comfortable

"Education is worth appreciating in the state. You must appreciate something that you want to get the best out of. You can never get the best out of something you do not appreciate, and something you do not appreciate will surely depreciate

"PDP has no plan for the South East because it cannot guarantee an Ibo man becoming the president in 2015. APGA also cannot guarantee an Ibo man becoming the president of the nation because it is not a national party but it is only the APC that can make this happen so I implore all the people from the South East to come and join us

"Why should you, upon all your qualifications, come to America, pick up dirty jobs and still be insulted when there are better opportunities for you to team up with my administration if you know you have the potentials to help develop the state" 

Should Investors Buy Marijuana Stocks?

Taking a whiff of the marijuana flower. Image: Richard Vogel via The Conversation.

BY SANDRA WOIEN

Illinois recently became the 11th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use. As more states follow suit, legal cannabis spending is expected to grow over 200% from about US$9 billion in 2017 to $31 billion in 2022.

With these unparalleled increases in spending, marijuana stocks, including marijuana exchange-traded funds, with catchy tickers such as YOLO, an acronym for “you only live once,” are becoming more common.

So should people add these stocks to their portfolios?

The rise of socially responsible investing
As a business ethicist, I know that socially responsible investing has become more popular, especially with millennials. Socially responsible investments experienced a 38% increasebetween 2016 and 2018. At the beginning of 2018 alone, $11.6 trillion was invested in socially responsible funds. This translates into $1 out of $4 of all U.S. invested funds.

Investors committed to being socially conscious have more choices than ever and can expect similar returns to traditional investors.

Moral basis for investing

While there is no set definition on what socially responsible investing entails, it goes beyond the fundamental view of Milton Friedman, an iconic economist, who claimed “the business of business is business” – in other words, making money or “profit.”

In addition to profit, socially responsible investing focuses on what is known as the “triple bottom line.” This means that companies also consider “people” and “planet,” as part of responsible business practices.

Scholar David Vogel defines socially responsible investing as “practices that improve the workplace and benefit society in ways that go above and beyond what companies are legally required to do.”

Socially responsible investors typically buy stocks in companies that have policies to mitigate climate change or support fair trade, but may avoid companies engaged in fossil fuels, tobacco, alcohol and arms production.

Most people would agree that such companies ultimately cause more social and environmental harm than good.

For instance, fossil fuels, while meeting the demands for a relatively cheap and consistent energy source, unequivocally contribute to air pollution and negatively impact human and environmental health.

The case of tobacco is similar. It is highly addictive and may seriously compromise a healthy and long life.

The case of marijuana

Taking a view on marijuana is more complex. The substance is used both medically and recreationally.

Marijuana use can cause harm, especially when used at a young age. The National Institutes of Health acknowledges that 30% of users develop dependence and withdrawal symptomswith the long-term use of marijuana. It can also lead to long-term and adverse changes to the brain.

However, marijuana also has some health benefits.

Even though marijuana is not recognized by the Federal Drug Administration as a medicine, the National Institutes of Health recognizes chemicals derived from the plant can help increase appetite, decrease pain, inflammation and nausea. The NIH also acknowledges that such derivatives may be useful in treating certain mental illnesses and addictions and some studies have shown it may be a weapon against opioid dependence.

Clinical trials hold the promise of finding more therapeutic benefits and possible treatments.

Medical marijuana stocks

So does owning marijuana stocks raise the same ethical issues as owning stocks in an alcohol or tobacco firm – or are they more like pharmaceutical stocks?

There are gray areas in socially responsible investing. Not all socially conscious investors have the same values, and not all companies create equal amounts of good.

I do think any socially responsible investor should stay away from recreational marijuana stocks due to the potential for addiction coupled with other health risks.

Medical marijuana stocks, on the other hand, appear to have more benefits than harms. When used for medical reasons, the therapeutic benefits seem to outweigh the health risks. In my view, socially responsible investors should feel free to include a medical marijuana stock in their portfolios if it aligns with their values.

SOURCE: THE COMVERSATION