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By Ajong Mbapndah L

It is all about giving back and making a difference says Prof Edewor

Rollison Edewor has embarked on a lofty mission to transform lives in his local community in Nigeria. The Founder of the Edewor Foundation shares insight his work ,projects, and way forward in an interview with PAV.

Prof Rollison Edewor is Founder of the Edewor Foundation, can you introduce the Foundation and its mission?

The essence of life and true self is to help and love one another. And to better achieve this, one must go where it is most needed and appreciated. Together with my family, we set up this foundation to give back to the society where poverty and lack of funds to further education are at its peak. In general, we want to help reduce hunger, poverty and illiteracy among fellow Africans or those that relatively falls into this category.

The Foundation has been engaged in a number of Peace, Security & Investment initiatives, can you shed some light on this?

Delta state (Nigeria) is plagued with ethnic and violent unrest, as well as insecurity. Resulting to underdevelopment which is one reason why investors and citizens in diaspora refused to relocate or invest. But reality is now setting in as the world begins to advance towards technology, the aging of violence begins to give way to peace. Which is where we had to come in to unite them. For ethnic communities to come together to promote growth is something unheard of in decades. My goal was to bring all the ethnic groups together but my connection to all is limited. So, I started with where I grew up, SAPELE kingdom. The unity will warrant them to sign a peace and security agreement. This agreement is tendered to prospective investors for assurance.

At one of its recent meetings, representatives of over 30 communities of Okpe Kingdom indicated their willingness to give peace a chance by working out modalities of ensuring peace and security reign in their communities , where is the Okpe Kingdom , what has been going on there and why the need for peace?

The area is underdeveloped. Educational awareness is very low, and the youths are restless resulting to crime and unruly conducts. Thus, we created a literacy center in one of the villages. Where we currently have 5 standing and qualified teachers. We plan to open more. The purpose is to train their mind and prepare them for this peaceful atmosphere. They loved it and thus, the many villages coming out.

The meeting saw the presentation of the Edewor Peace, Security & Investment Agreement papers to all the communities, what is the content of these papers?

The content of the document is nothing but a promise and obligation to protect and maintain peaceful atmosphere with Investors, Investments and other citizens in diaspora. NOTE: Many Nigerians in diaspora are afraid to go back home for fear of harassment and insecurity.

The people of the Kingdom are enthused with prospects of investment, what are some of the opportunities that could be of interest to investors in that part of Nigeria?

The investment comes from fellow Nigerian citizens and any foreigner who wants to invest. Since most of us are afraid of investing at home due to embezzlement and scam. Seeing the action of the youth and community towards advocating for peace will motivate and compel others to relate about investing at home.

Looking broadly at Nigeria, we see to see either conflicts or potential for conflict everywhere, between different ethnic communities, between political parties, between Christians and Muslims, Fulani etc, what is your take on the situation in the country ?

To be honest, I do believe if jobs are created, these problems will either seize or decrease. All play without work makes Jack a dull boy. They must have something doing. Just take for example the literacy school we opened, hundreds of youths now attending. Imagine when you create jobs.

With the experience you have garnered, how recommendations do you have in mind for a more harmonious country, and does the Edewor Foundation plan to tackle state and nationwide issues or remain limited to your local community of Okpe?

This experience shows that people actually want peace and development. The quest to learn is proof to that. The Edewor Foundation is still in its infancy stage. Thus, our presence or activities are still limited. Sapele is my hometown, easier for us to relate, so I started with them first. If this is successful, we will extend to others.

On politics, President Buhari is into his second and last term, what are some of the priority areas that you think he must tackle?

Am not a politician and don’t do politics. So this question is not for me.

Your reaction  to the recent arrest of Nigerians in the USA for diverse cybercrimes, how does Nigeria handle the stigma that comes with crimes of a few been labeled on the entire polity?

Kid you not. This issue affected my moral. Just imagine after building trust and support, such thing happened. Your spirit is dampened. Mind you, not just Nigerians only, but those who for years had trust in us. But am glad to hear that the Nigerian government partook in the operation to crack them down.

What else will the Edewor Foundation be working on for the rest of the year and beyond?

For now, we are working on opening more literacy and skill acquisition stations in interior villages.

By Bakary Ceesay

 The Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service, Mr. Muhammed Jallow Wednesday afternoon presided over the signing ceremony of a $2million project between the government of The Gambia and the United Nations Development (UNDP) Programme Country Office in Banjul.

The UN Environmental Facility funded project intends to support The Gambia with the necessary technical and financial assistance to reduce the risks posed by a group of oily liquids and solid man-made chemicals called PCBs (Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls) and unintended Persistent Organic Pollutants (U-POPS) to the human health and the environment.

Secretary General Jallow said no one can underestimate the importance of the environment to the development of The Gambia. A great majority of the country relies on the river and marine resources for their livelihoods. Hence contamination of the waters will have serious impact on the population from both the cities to the rural areas.

Secretary General Jallow noted that the African Union has identified The Gambia’s First Lady, Mrs. Fatou Bah-Barrow as a Champion of environment conservation and protection. Hence the government’s dedication will be greatly enhanced by this laudable collaboration with the UNDP.

The Executive Director of the National Environment Agency (NEA), Mr. Dodou Trawally explained that the project will include the identification and disposal of 75 tons of PCB-contaminated equipment and waste and the reduction of U-POPS through the improved waste management practices and reduction of open burning of waste.

These materials and substances stay very long in the environment before they biodegrade, especially the mercury, which is contaminative to fish. Fish is one of the heavy dependents of The Gambia for food consumption.

The UNDP Resident Representative, Dr Aissata De said environment is one of the key priorities and areas of intervention in terms of closeness to the population for the UNDP. She said they are committed to supporting government efforts and all stakeholders on the path for the achievement of the goals of the NDP, the SDGs, the Agenda 2020 and Agenda 2063.

“We all know the impact and the importance of the environment on our daily lives and on development in general. This project is one more action because we have longstanding partnership between the National Environment Agency, the Ministry of Environment and the government,” she said, thanking all other collaborators that UNDP has been working with for the environment and the people for the ownership of those projects.

The NEA is the implementing partner for the government, while the UNDP country office is the Global Environment Fund (GEF) implementing agency for this project. Other stakeholders include the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the Gambia Ports Authority, the KMC NAWEC, among others. It is geared towards supporting the implementation of the National Development Plan 2018-22021 in The Gambia.

The report uses data from the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) to further governance analysis in Africa

Mo Ibrahim

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of the first comprehensive African Governance Report. The report will be published online at mo.ibrahim.foundation on 15 October 2019.

Based on IIAG data, the report will focus on: Governance and Africa’s implementation of the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will highlight the importance of using data to analyse the growing governance challenges and opportunities that must be addressed to drive sustainable development in Africa.

In this report, the Foundation will highlight gaps in the availability of sound data to track and measure progress. It will issue a call for national and international players to work together to urgently address these gaps, which will be critical to encouraging and directing development progress across the continent.

The African Governance Report will:

1)  Examine the governance environments needed to achieve progress towards Agenda 2063 and the SDGs and the links between these, highlighting common areas and major challenges

2)  Identify progress in these areas and data gaps, both in terms of national statistical offices but also vital statistics and civil registration

A new report in response to new challenges

Africa is at a critical turning point. While governance across the continent has continued to improve, new challenges and needs from stakeholders and citizens have changed this landscape.

The scope of public governance has expanded to include new challenges for existing topics, and new needs, such as access to quality healthcare and environmental sustainability. Meanwhile, transformative frameworks, such as the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), now pave the way for Africa’s development agenda, and contribute to defining policy priorities towards political, social, environmental and economic progress.

In response to these developments, the Foundation will publish the African Governance Report with unique insights around these frameworks, challenges and opportunities.

Strengthening the use of our data

As the largest source of data on African governance, the IIAG is a key tool for African countries to measure the environment around achieving transformative frameworks, such as the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the SDGs.

Good governance remains at the core of Africa’s development and the report. The Foundation holds the most comprehensive assessment and collection of data on African governance ever undertaken using 90 indicators and 150,000 data points across 54 countries to assess performance.

With a view of continually improving the IIAG, expanding its scope to include new challenges and data, and making use of its wealth of information and growing dataset, the Foundation will release new data with updated scores, ranks and trends every two years, with the next iteration in 2020.

Between the biennial updates of the IIAG dataset, the Foundation will publish additional data-driven research publications and tools to support Africa’s stakeholders with resources for evidence-based decision making and policy debates, alongside the comprehensive African Governance Report, based on the IIAG.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation was established in 2006 with a focus on the critical importance of leadership and governance in Africa, by providing tools to assess and support progress in leadership and governance.

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) provides an annual assessment of the quality of governance in African countries and is the most comprehensive collection of data on African governance.

With over ten years of data to draw from, the IIAG is uniquely positioned to measure trends in governance, providing in-depth analysis on how the quality of governance has changed, and what has or could be key to Africa’s transformation.

In every iteration, MIF – assisted by the IIAG’s Advisory Council – looks at improving the structure, components and methodology of the IIAG. Due to this revision, MIF recalculates all scores in the Index for each iteration.

Previous iterations of the IIAG covered data from 2000 onwards. The 2018 IIAG, for the first time, provided comparable governance data for the last decade only, to strengthen the robustness of the findings.

In 2018, an assessment of youth inclusion was also made part of the IIAG. Through the indicator Promotion of Socio-economic Integration of Youth (provided by Global Integrity), the Index assessed whether there is a government policy/strategy to increase the socioeconomic integration if youth.

The IIAG contains analysis across 102 indicators from 35 independent African and global data institutions to cover all 54 African counties in the areas of Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.

The IIAG Data Portal is a user-friendly interface that offers a bespoke analysis of governance ranks, scores and trends for each country. Users can create printable charts and graphics from the data.

Access the IIAG Data Portal directly: http://iiag.online/

By Scott Morgan*

Russian President Putin with President of Central African Republic Faustin Archange Touadera.

When it comes to special operations in Central Africa initiated by the Russians most thoughts and conversations focus on the operations conducted within the Central African Republic over the last two years as either a point of contention or outright fear in some Capitals. But once again history is again repeating itself in Africa.

There have been allegations that after the 2016 Presidential Elections in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) that the incumbent President Soussou-Nguesso reportedly hired a Russian Private Military Company to put down the unrest in the vital town of Pointe Noir that occurred after the controversial polls. There was virtually no coverage of the influence in this election. It should be noted that when President Soussou-Nguesso was President for the first time Brazzaville was considered to be an ally of what was then the Soviet Union.

Also when it comes to Russian Operations in Central Africa even though it is not considered being part of Central Africa, the role of Sudan cannot be ignored. Khartoum has been used as a transit and logistics hub for its Operations in CAR. The Change of leadership that recently took place within Sudan will have an impact on Russian Operations in Central Africa. Russia was one of the countries that was coaching the Military in how to react during the final days of the Bashir regime. It would be wonderful if this dynamic was looked into. For the near future it should be taken as a fait accompli that whatever projects are launched in the region by the Kremlin it will have some form of presence in Sudan.

Another aspect that has been proving to be interesting regarding Russian Activities in the region is the media coverage regarding them or the efforts by the Putin Government and their allies to manipulate their coverage of the activities. One needs to recall the incident where four journalists for a Russian Opposition news site were ambushed and killed in the Central African Republic. That only occurs when a party wants an activity to be shielded from public view and scrutiny.

Another action taken by the Russians to spin events into their worldview has to be the deals to provide content to some African Media Outlets by either Sputnik or RT (Russia Today). A perfect example happens to be the deals reached with RTNC (National Radio and Television Corporation) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. RT was the first entity to reach a deal with the Congolese in November 2018, Sputnik has reached a similar deal in May of 2019. This effort in the DRC has been a success for Moscow. When Russia celebrated the fifth anniversary of the annexation of the Crimea , one of the largest events was actually held in Kinshasa.

Another tactic that Russia is using ties between the Duma and local legislatures on the ground. Once again the topic focuses on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is already a Russia-DRC Friendship Group already in the Parliament of the DRC. This is a simple and easy way for Russia to not only to promote its agenda in Africa it can be done in such a way that most other powers that have interests in the region such as the former colonial powers of France and Belgium and even the United States could find themselves be left on the outside without realizing what they allowed to Happen has indeed taken place without their ability to properly address the situation.

*The author is President of Red Eagle Enterprises and the views expressed are his.

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

Officials from the SWR meeting ahead of the National Dialogue at the end of September

Barely a week after the Head of State address the nation in an unprecedented “State of the Nation Address”, authorities in the South West Region have begun a pre-consultative dialogue process ahead of the National Dialogue convened by President Paul Biya.

At the Buea Council chambers last Wednesday September 18, 2019, traditional rulers from the six Divisions of the SWR, Religious leaders, administrative personnel, civil society organizations, teachers, met to make proposals to ending the present crisis in the English speaking Regions, ahead of the National Dialogue scheduled from September 30 to October 4, 2019 at Palais des Congrès  de Yaounde.

During the pre-consultative dialogue process, some traditional advanced the 10 state decentralized federal system as a means to resolving the present Anglophone crisis. They equally cautioned organizers to be honest to themselves so as to bring peace back to the Region.

The Fako Chiefs conference and the South West Chiefs conference have a standpoint which is fixed and has not changed. “We still stand for 10 federal regions and elected officials. Whether it is called decentralization or what, we do not have a problem with the name but what matter is the content we are looking for”, said Chief Ndika, President of the Fako Chiefs Conference

He added that “the Head of State made it clear that it is an affair concerning the NW and SWRs but when we say national dialogue, we are just afraid that when we put nationally we can drag other sects of people who are not feeling the impact they Anglophone are feeling in the distress regions.” “We are telling those who are running the issue that they should be careful because if the dialogue does not go well, things will be more difficult than we are facing today. If it is handled with care, everybody will be satisfied with the outcome.”

Another traditional ruler stated, “I expect all those who will be at the dialogue table, to be honest, knowing that they are working for the good of the entire North West and South West and not for their personal gains. We have always stood for a decentralized federal system of government and that will go a long way in solving the crisis.” “We equally expect that all those imprisoned will be released so they too can adequately participate in the dialogue process. We expect a genuine dialogue which will enable us t be together in a peaceful atmosphere.”

Hon. Njume Peter from Ndian said the dialogue is at a very crucial moment. “It is moment we have to be very honest to ourselves, a moment to be very frank, a moment for us to be able to put on the table what we think will be good for everybody”, he said while reiterated the fact that everything should be done to revive PAMOL which is basically on its knees”. If we have a problem today is because many of our youths do not have jobs. Let our youths be given the opportunity to have jobs so that they could be able to put a square meal on their table.”

To Andrew Nkea, Bishop of Mamfe, the big cry of the people of Manyu division is that it is difficult to have this dialogue when their children are behind the bars. “We are still hoping and I was very happy when the Head of state left opened the possibility of clemency”. “…In that way, we are praying for those conditions so that the Manyu population can stand up united to work again because without that it will be difficult.”

The dialogue is expected to continue at the various Divisions making up the South West Region. Here, individuals are expected to make proposals which will be assembled at the regional level before being submitted during the national dialogue chaired by Cameroon’s Prime Minister, Chief Dr Dion Ngute Joseph. It is the wish of the traditional rulers that the recommendations to forwarded to the appropriate quarters so the crisis in the English speaking regions of Cameroon for the past three years be resolved.

Barrow

By Adama Makasuba

Gambian government has announced that it will table the anti corruption bill before the National Assembly in December 2019, which seeks to fight against corruption and penalizes corrupt doers in the country.

President Adama Barrow made the announcement while delivering his State of the Nation’s address at the National Assembly in Banjul on Thursday.

“National Assembly members, I promised that government will table an anti-corruption bill. We expect to table the bill here in December 2019,” he said.

According to him, the bill was ready for submission but that it was subjected to further review and fresh recommendations were raised for considerations.

However, he said “judiciary is now working to ensure a speedy trials and disposal of cases and to decongest the overcrowded remand prisons. Infrastructural works are in progress to facilitate and expand the court sittings at all levels –the Cardi, magistrate and high court and in various areas of the country.”

He said his government recognizes “in maintaining an independent and efficiency judiciary that delivers ruling justice without undue delay on rule of law and justice” adding “the judiciary enjoys all rights and independence it is provided for in the country’s status book.”

He said the judiciary can now recruit all categories of staff without recourse to the public service commission and the personal management office which he said was practiced in the past,

“There annual estimates of expenditure are presented to the National Assembly without any amendment and all their 2019 budget proposal for personnel were approved by the National Assembly,” he said.

He said the membership of the high court judges has been increased by bringing on board three Gambian judges including the chief justice, adding that “as opposed to holding a regular sitting before, the supreme court now holds regular session in every quota of the year.”

He said all the seven judges including the president of the Supreme Court are Gambians, adding that the high court has recruited four additional Gambian judges which brought the total to five Gambians.

He said plans are at an advanced stage to construct a court complex at mile 7 Bakau to accommodate a commercial and land disputes court.

Dr Lamin J Sise

The Truth Reconciliation and Reparation Commission has said more than one hundred and forty (140) statements on the witch hunts and other violations are in waiting for the Commission’s public hearings

Speaking during the opening of eight session on Monday, Dr Lamin J Sise, chair  of the Commission said: “Between July 6 and 14, 2019 teams from the Research and Investigations Unit visited Brikama, Sintet, Gunjur, Jambur and Busumbala in the West Coast Region to engage communities and obtain statements from victims of the 2009 witch hunts and other violations. They collected over 140 statements that are being processed in readiness for the Commission’s hearings on the witch hunts and other violations in the near future.”

Dr Sise said four hundred and four witnesses appeared during its seventh session and that Twenty-one of these 104 witnesses were perpetrators and alleged perpetrators, adding that the rest were mostly victims, including 16 women.

“The seventh session started off with the completion of testimony by the first batch of Junglers to appear before the Commission, and continued with a focus on the April 10 and 11, 2000 student demonstrations in which at least 14 students and one Red Cross volunteer were killed by security forces,” he said.

He added: “The atrocities the Junglers testified to shock the conscience of the nation and indeed the world. While these atrocities were painful to hear, the truth of the brutalities under the twenty-two years of dictatorship needs to be told and recorded with a view to avoiding their recurrence.”

He said that the eighth session would be dominated by hearing testimony on events surrounding the April 2000 student demonstrations, adding “these witnesses include both direct and indirect victims, security officers, civil servants, and politicians who were in one way or the other involved in the tragic events. It is anticipated that testimonies on April 10 and 11, 2000 will dominate the public hearings of the Commission during this eighth session. Advance work in preparation for hearings on other themes is also ongoing. “

He said the two teams of TRRC Commissioners and Secretariat staff went on Diaspora engagement tours in the United States and Europe. These engagements are in line with the Commission’s mandate as stipulated in Sections 14 and 15 of the TRRC Act, which was funded by the UNDP.

“We are happy to say that both legs of the Diaspora engagements in the U.S. and Europe proved very successful. We are very grateful to everyone who contributed to our Victim Support Fund during the engagements,” he told the gathering.

He continued: “The TRRC has submitted the names of the first nine victims to have been seen by the Medical Board for consideration for possible treatment in Turkey. The board has also submitted reports on more than a dozen other victims and the TRRC will do what it can to facilitate their access to the care they need. Meanwhile, the TRRC is facilitating funding and scholarships for young victims to continue their formal education.”

Dr Sise reassured the commitment of the Commission to its mandate without fear or favor, affection or ill will.

“We wish to reassure the general public that the TRRC remains totally committed to the pursuit of its mandate without fear or favor, affection or ill will. This Commission is an embodiment of both state and society in this country and exists for the service of all Gambians regardless of political, ethnic, gender, regional or religious affiliation. As we seek to create a true historical record of what happened in this country during twenty-two years of dictatorship, we also seek to help create a society reconciled and at peace with itself, a tolerant society, and a society of empowered citizens who will refuse to allow political impunity and gross human rights violations to happen in this country again. In this daunting but fulfilling task, and as we start this new session of public hearings, allow me to say that we need and we crave the understanding, support and prayers of the Gambian public and the international community,” he said.

By Adama Makasuba

President Adama Barrow

President Adama Barrow has described 2019 as a turning year of success for his government saying that the economy of the country has registered a significance improvement.

President Barrow was speaking during his third time of addressing the state of nation at the National Assembly in Banjul on Thursday where he spoke about quiet verities of issues regarding the development of the country.

“I am proud to report that the country economic growth has general strengthened while inflation has now moderated. For the past two years the economy grows by 4.8 per cent and improved to 6.5 per cent in 2018,” he said.

According to him, estimates indicates that the current account deficit narrowed to 1.5 per cent of GDP in the first half of 2019 compare to a deficit of 1.7 per cent of GDP of the correspondent quota of 2018 in the balance of payments.

He added: “the improvement in the current account balance is attributed to the increase of foreign inflows related to the support of diaspora remittances and tourism.”

He said the exchange rate of the country’s dalasi (money) remains broadly stable which he said is supported by “market confidence in an increase

He said the total expenditure and net lending has declined from 11.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product last year to 10 per cent of the GDP in early part of 2019, adding “government physical operation for the first six months of 2019 indicated that total revenue and grants stood at 9.8 percent of GDP compare 8.6.of GDP in the same period last year.”

Despite the government announcement of economic growth, many Gambians complaint that they are not feeling the growth of the economic and that living is increasingly getting harder and unbearable in the country.

Juan Samuel Delgado Cedillo, President of the World Organization for Peace (OMPP/WOFP), presented the special prize La Paloma de La Paz, to Professor Faustin Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic and Head of State, for the results obtained during the pacification process in some regions of Africa.

The Dove of Peace is the most important symbol that the OMPP grants as a special prize to those who with their actions have sought, fought or contributed to global pacification and to the resolution of conflicts in any region of the world, without distinguishing beliefs religious, political preferences or skin color.

In an event held at the official facilities of the Presidency in the city of Bangui, capital of that country, attended by the highest officials of the government and Central African politics, as well as Ambassadors and Ministers of some countries in the region, Samuel Delgado said that peace is a universal right for those who inhabit this planet, and our existence depends on our actions and how we interact with others. Working for peace is not only  about words and good intentions, peace comes with the actions we carry out  every day, he said. Inner peace is where everything begins and is transmitted with our behavior as a species. We all need to carry out peace actions, said Delgado.

Speaking at the event, President Faustin Archange Touadera, who has become a well-known and respected interlocutor in the African continent for deactivating, through dialogue, clashes between rebel groups and authorities in Africa, highlighted the support he received from the civil society to reach the results obtained during the process of pacification of the region, an achievement that until then had been denied for many years to the inhabitants of the countries involved, although there is still much to do.

The World Peace Organization will continue to support those peace projects aimed at the population that needs it most, always in conjunction with the authorities, civil society and those public and private sectors in all countries of the world that want to carry out peace and well-being, always in favor of people.