Television Nigerian

Mr. Edward Kallon, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, has strongly denounced the ongoing attacks on schools and kidnappings that have impacted hundreds of children across the country.

In a statement commemorating the 2021 International Day to Protect Education from Attack, Kallon stated that school attacks are a direct attack on the future generation, adding that it is traumatic for the children, undermines their individual dignity, and sometimes leads affected families to withdraw their children from school entirely.

He condemned the attacks and called on the federal and state governments to do more to protect schools and guarantee that teaching and learning are safe and conducive in all Nigerian institutions.

When teaching and learning are disturbed, the impact on human capital development is huge, according to the Resident Coordinator, because the recovery phase is always tortuous and longer than the duration of the initial disruption.

Nigeria, he believes, cannot afford to allow the ongoing attacks on schools to continue unabated. “Children have been traumatized; parents have been terrified; teachers and school administrators have been terrified; and school attacks are increasingly extending to locations where insurgencies are unknown. Nigeria’s collective future is jeopardized because of attacks on education. This has to come to an end right now.”

He urged the government to assess progress in implementing the declaration’s safe school provisions and to fully implement commitments made in 2019 by taking decisive measures to protect education and allow “our wonderful nation’s youth the chance to achieve their promise.”

Kallon explained that the right to education was frequently violated, particularly in conflict-affected places where entire populations may be denied access to education.

“With over 10 million children already out of school, violence has exacerbated the situation and had a significant impact on education and the future of many young people, particularly the most vulnerable,” he continued. In Nigeria, it is believed that 1.3 million children were affected by school attacks or abductions during the previous academic year.”

According to the statement, over 600,000 children are still out of school in the north-east region, with 1.1 million need educational assistance to stay in school. All of this has been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic’s setbacks.

Read Also:  President Muhammmadu Buhari, Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

“UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, has been working hard to expand the availability of classrooms and teachers in Nigeria’s most conflict-affected regions,” according to the statement. In addition, the Agency has been assisting the Nigerian government in implementing the Safe Schools Declaration, which was ratified in 2019. According to UNESCO, there have been 13,400 instances of assaults on educational facilities globally in the last five years, with more than 22,000 students and instructors injured or killed.

“The International Day to Protect Education from Attack aims to raise awareness of the plight of children growing up without access to education in conflict-affected countries. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes education as a fundamental human right. It is a critical factor in promoting peace, building just societies, and encouraging long-term development.”

On Wednesday, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, praised Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for signing the state’s anti-open grazing bill into law.

Governor Ugwuanyi signed the bill into law on Tuesday at Government House in Enugu, according to reports.

The Enugu State House of Assembly recently passed a bill prohibiting open grazing, regulating cattle ranching, and for other related purposes.

The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, OYC, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, described Gov. Ugwuanyi as a shining example in a statement made available to journalists.

“We have always said that governance is not about making noise, but it is a lot about action,” Okwu said. Governor Ugwuanyi is a man who does a lot for the people but says little in the media.

“While governors are squabbling over open grazing, he has once again demonstrated that he is a man of the people. He has engraved his name in gold, and history will remember him for it.

“When it mattered most, he put politics aside and stood up in defense of Enugu people’s lives and property. In Igboland, he is now a mirror, a shining light.

“We, the millions of Igbo youths, salute his extraordinary bravery and pledge our unwavering support. He must remain unwavering in his commitment to the safety of our people. He has proven to be a man we can put our trust in when it comes to power at any level.”
Read also: As gunmen kidnap a woman and her children in Zaria, a soldier and a bandit are killed

The OYC, on the other hand, was dissatisfied with other states in the zone, accusing them of only paying lip service to the open-grazing ban.

Since the Southern Governors announced a total ban on open cattle rearing, no other state in the South-East has passed the anti-open grazing bill into law, with the exception of Enugu.

“This is unacceptable, and we have previously stated that if anything bad happens to any Igbo community, the governors will be held responsible. They cannot put our people’s lives on the altar of politics,” Okwu warned.

He urged the Southern Governors, who will meet in Enugu on Thursday, to persuade all of their members to support the ban.

He went on to say, “We heartily welcome them to Enugu, a very peaceful State, and urge them to ensure that the resolutions they make during these meetings are implemented by all member states.”

The continued suspension of the microblogging site Twitter in Nigeria has cost the country about $360 million in economic revenue in the first 100 days of its suspension, according to a group of social enterprises.

Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE), Paradigm Initiative (PIN), Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Socio-Economic Rights And Accountability Project (SERAP), and other organizations are part of the coalition that made the announcement.

It also claimed that the government’s claim to promote innovation while simultaneously cracking down on tech companies was incompatible with its economic development strategy.

The Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, Gbenga Sesan, told journalists in Lagos on the 100th day since the government announced the suspension of Twitter that the ban remains illegal in their opinion because rule of law must prevail in a democratic dispensation.

Read Also:  Bandits: Some Nigerians dissatisfied with the success of security forces – Kukasheka

According to Sesan, the blockade costs the Nigerian economy $250,600 per hour in the last 2,400 hours since the federal government banned the platform in the country, according to NetBlocks’ cost of shutdown tool.

“Suspending Twitter in Nigeria is illegal,” he said emphatically, “and we are saying it categorically because we expect the court to back us up because the order to suspend the telecommunications companies was not made with a court warrant.”

“Perhaps they can now produce a backdated court warrant, but the court was on strike at the time, so there was no way they could have obtained it.”

However, the group, which advocates for digital rights and freedom of speech, claims that the government is fabricating reasons for the suspension’s continuation.

Read Also:  Unemployment: BCS allocates N46.9 million to youth empowerment in ten states

“Please remember that they said the reason for the ban was to free the space from terrorist activities at first, and then they claimed it was now safe,” Sesan added. Why is the suspension still in place if it is now safe?” I wonder.

The coalition also revealed that it has taken steps to urge the government to lift the suspension of Twitter, claiming that the action taken by the federal government in declaring the platform suspended jeopardizes Nigeria’s corporate existence.

According to Ayode Longe, Program Director, Media Right Agenda (MDA), Enough is Enough (EIE) Nigeria has filed a N5 billion claim in the federal High Court in Lagos on behalf of the companies’ subscribers, including PIN and MRA, over the blocking of access to Twitter.

Read Also:  Oluyin, the Ekiti monarch, celebrates his first coronation anniversary

“We are taking this action because we believe that telecommunications companies do not have the legal authority to block our access to Twitter. Following its announcement calling on all social media platforms operating or seeking to operate in Nigeria to register with the commission and obtain a licence, MRA filed a separate suit against the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), challenging its powers to license social media platforms,” Longe said.

They also claimed that Nigeria has not been the same since June 4, 2021, because the Twitter ban has affected all aspects of social and economic development.

They revealed that “Nigeria has lost at least $360 million in the last 100 days since the Twitter ban.”

Similarly, Yemi Adamolekun, Executive Director of Enough is Enough (EIE), said NCDC was one of the government agencies that made excellent use of the platform to disseminate information to the public during the COVID-19 lockdown.

“By shutting down Twitter, you have effectively shut down that effective channel of communication, and we can see the difference because of the post-Delta variant, in which Nigerians are not as engaged as they were during the pandemic’s peak.

Read Also:  Covid-19 protocol: Nigeria accuses the UAE of applying double standard

“This is also not about the platform, but about the Nigerian government’s fundamental structure of governance. The government is afraid of the platform because it has been discovered to support young people in speaking out and advocating for new ways to raise funds,” he explained.