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World Bank Says Nigeria Diaspora remittances declined by 27.7% to $16.8bn

By
Roland Edet
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World Bank has said that remittances by Nigerians in the Diaspora declined by 27.7 per cent in 2020.

A report by the World Bank titled ‘Defying predictions, remittance flows remain strong during COVID-19 crisis’ said Nigeria contributed 40 per cent of the remittances into Sub-Saharan Africa.

It put remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa at $42bn. Forty per cent contribution of Nigeria to this means that remittances to Nigeria was $16.8bn in 2020.

A decline of 27.7 per cent also put remittances into the country in 2019 at $21.45bn.

The report said remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa declined by an estimated 12.5 per cent due to a decline in the remittances to Nigeria that contributes the largest amount in the region.

Nigeria has been having foreign exchange crisis resulting from decline in earnings from crude oil sale.

Diaspora remittances is the second major source of foreign exchange for the country. Drying forex remittances recently pushed the Central Bank of Nigeria to offer an incentive of N5 for every dollar remitted through official channels.

Differing exchange rates often push Nigerians in the diaspora to explore alternative ways of remitting money into the country so that they can enjoy higher value.

The report stated that the decline in flows to Sub-Saharan Africa was almost entirely due to a 27.7 per cent decline in remittance flows to Nigeria.

Excluding flows to Nigeria, it stated, remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa increased by 2.3 per cent, demonstrating resilience.

Part of the report stated that , “Remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa declined by an estimated 12.5 per cent in 2020 to $42bn.

“The decline was almost entirely due to a 27.7 per cent decline in remittance flows to Nigeria, which alone accounted for over 40 per cent of remittance flows to the region.

“Excluding Nigeria, remittance flows to Sub-Saharan African increased by 2.3 per cent.

“Remittance growth was reported in Zambia (37 per cent), Mozambique (16 per cent), Kenya (nine per cent) and Ghana (five per cent).”

The report said in 2021, remittance flows to the region were projected to rise by 2.6 per cent, supported by improving prospects for growth in high-income countries.

Data on remittance flows to Sub-Saharan Africa were sparse and of uneven quality, with some countries still using the outdated fourth IMF balance of payments manual, rather than the sixth, while several other countries did not report data at all, it stated.

The World Bank said that high-frequency phone surveys in some countries reported decreases in remittances for a large percentage of households even while recorded remittances reported by official sources report increased in flows.

The shift from informal to formal channels due to the closure of borders explained in part the increase in the volume of remittances recorded by central banks, it stated.

On the remittance costs for Sub-Saharan Africa, the report said it remained the most expensive region to send money to, where sending $200 costs an average of 8.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020.

“Within the region, which experiences high intra-regional migration, it is expensive to send money from South Africa to Botswana (19.6 per cent), Zimbabwe (14 per cent), and to Malawi (16 per cent),” it stated.

The report said the relatively strong performance of remittance flows during the COVID-19 crisis had also highlighted the importance of timely availability of data.

Given its growing significance as a source of external financing for low and middle-income countries, there was a need for better collection of data on remittances in terms of frequency, timely reporting, and granularity by corridor and channel.

It stated that the lead author of the report on migration and remittances and head of KNOMAD, Dilip Ratha, said, “The resilience of remittance flows is remarkable. Remittances are helping to meet families’ increased need for livelihood support.

“They can no longer be treated as small change. The World Bank has been monitoring migration and remittance flows for nearly two decades, and we are working with governments and partners to produce timely data and make remittance flows even more productive.”

Despite COVID-19, remittance flows remained resilient in 2020, registering a smaller decline than previously projected.

Officially, recorded remittance flows to low and middle-income countries reached $540bn in 2020, just 1.6 per cent below the 2019 total of $548bn, according to the latest migration and development brief, the World Bank stated.

Health Experts Lobby For Increase In Domestic Funding For TB To Reduce Burden In Nigeria

By
Toyin Adebayo
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…Says Funding Gap Of TB In Nigeria Stands At 70 Per cent

Health experts are lobbying for an advocated for an increase in domestic funding
for Tuberculosis (TB) in Nigeria in order to reduce its burden in the country.

They also reduced that the funding gap of TB in Nigeria currently stands at 70 per cent and Nigeria remains one out of the 30 countries globally with the highest burden of TB.

Experts gave this revelation in Abuja at a virtual advocacy workshop on Drug-Resistance TB (DR-TB) organised by the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), in collaboration with the Stop TB Partnership Nigeria and the Treatment Action Group (TAG) New York.

The National Coordinator, NTBLCP, Chukwuma Anyaike, stated that the funding gap of TB in Nigeria currently stands at 70 per cent.

While adding that, the country can only boast of 30 per cent funding out of which 23 per cent is from international donors and other partners.

He also stressed that ; “We need support, especially financial support to be able to breach this gap and eradicate the disease.”

According to him;”Tuberculosis is a contagious disease that is caused by a bacterium (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that often affects the lungs.

“Nigeria remains one of the 30 countries globally with the highest burden of TB. She ranks first in Africa with the number of undetected cases.

“Although TB is one of the vaccine-preventable diseases which is also curable, statistics from the WHO show that every year, around 245,000 Nigerians die from TB, and about 590,000 new cases occur (of these, around 140,000 are also HIV-positive)”, he said.

Anyaike further stated that; “Data released by ‘Stop TB Partnership’ in March shows that global treatment and diagnosis of TB cases witnessed a drastic decline in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has infected millions of people worldwide.

“The report also indicates that disruptions in services caused by the pandemic have led to further setbacks in progress already made against the disease.

“Nigeria has only treated 11 per cent of people with drug resistant TB, leaving a gap of 89 per cent.

“He said data show that one case of TB that is left untreated can infect 10 to 15 people in a year depending on the environmental position of such a person.

“We have 440,000 new cases of TB in Nigeria and the highest number of cases we notified was in 2020. If compared with our estimation, you will find out we have above 300,000 cases still missing,” he explained.

He further stated that between 2010 and 2020, 13,407 DR-TB cases have been notified while 9,337 have been placed on treatment.

Anyaike said awareness of TB is still very low as only 27 per cent of Nigerians know about the disease.

While adding that, worthy of note is the gap between diagnosis and enrollment of DR-TB cases which has been largely due to a myriad of factors.

“One of which is the lack of demand for the diagnostic services due to lack of awareness of Tuberculosis amongst the population, stigma, and ignorance of the people in the community about the disease,” he stated.

He,however, noted that the NTBLCP through the support and collaboration of partners and donor agencies has taken laudable steps in reducing the prevalence of the disease through ensuring Universal Health Coverage for DR-TB patients.

“Nigeria adopted the Gene Xpert technology in 2013 for rapid diagnosis of DR-TB with the capacity to diagnose a case within 100 minutes.

He said, “Currently, 403 of these Gene Xpert machines have been procured and deployed across the country to ensure accessibility to rapid molecular diagnosis of presumptive DR-TB”.

Earlier in his remarks , the Executive Secretary of StopTB Partnership, Mayowa Joel, said there are ongoing efforts to eradicate drug-resistant TB which is still high in the country.

He said the dialogue aims to get new recommendations to improve TB case finding and treatments for drug.

NDLEA Nabs Former Lagos East Council Vice-Chair For ‘Drug Trafficking’

By
Uche Kingsley
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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested former Lagos East Council Vice Chairman, Asekun Kehinde Sakiru, for drug trafficking.

This was contained in a statement on Wednesday by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi and available to newsmen in Abuja, saying, Sakiru has been on the agency’s wanted list since December 2020 “in connection to a case involving one Azeez Adeniyi Ibrahim who was arrested with 6.45kg of cocaine”.

Sakiru, was said to have been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, at about 9:40pm on May 7.

He was said to have trying to board a Virgin Atlantic airline flight to London, United Kingdom.

The statement reads as follows; “At the point of his arrest, Asekun was caught with a kilogramme of cocaine concealed in five pairs of palm slippers packed inside his suitcase,” the statement read.

“During preliminary investigation, it was gathered that the London-based baron is a seasoned politician.

“He was at different times between 2004 and 2014 the vice chairman of Lagos Island East LCDA. He had also contested and lost elections for house of representatives in 2007 and Lagos state house of assembly in 2015.

“Although he claims to be an international businessman who deals in automobiles, investigation is yet to confirm that to be the source of his acquired wealth.

“In the course of tracking him, the sum of N131million was seized from his account, and another N14 million also blocked in the account of one of his traffickers, Azeez Adeniyi Ibrahim, bringing the total sum so far recovered from him to N145 million.”

While commending the officers and men of the MMIA command, Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, said the agency is committed to ridding the country of drug traffickers.

“This arrest is yet another message and red alert to those still in this criminal trade, whether as barons or traffickers, that they will soon enter the dragnet of the Agency, daily being spread across the country, if they fail to back out especially now that we are moving all out for the barons and the big cartels while we continue to rein in the traffickers,” he said.

As of March 2011, Asekun a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at the time was appointed to coordinate security for the LCDA elections in Lagos.

Again, Nationwide Blackout As Power Grid Collapses

By
Saladin Babagana
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0

National Electricity Grid collapsed on Wednesday, dropping power generation to about 260 Megawatts (MW) and causing nationwide outage.

According to real-time power grid records by the Independent System Operations (ISO) section of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), none of the over 20 generation Companies (GenCos) produced energy as of 1pm due to the system collapse while it was not immediately clear what caused the power grid disturbance.

As of Tuesday, the peak power generation was 4,757MW while the lowest generation was 3,976MW. While 101,605 megawatts hour (MWH) energy was generated, consumers through the 11 Distribution Companies (DisCos) utilised 99,955MWH.

However, by Wednesday afternoon, checks indicated that only five of the 11 DisCos had slight energy allocation while the six others had no energy to supply to their customers across the states.

Their energy load expectations also dropped from over 4,000MW previously to 260MW by 1:00pm on Wednesday.

For instance, Abuja DisCo which had anticipated 458.927MW for Wednesday had it cut to 50MW by 1pm as efforts were ongoing to revive the national grid.

Eko DisCo had 70MW, Benin and Ikeja DisCos had 50MW respectively and Ibadan DisCo got 40MW.

Some DisCos also informed their customers about the outage which would be felt especially during the public holiday.

A statement by Kaduna Electric by the Head, Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, hinted the collapse occurred at 11:01 am on Wednesday.

“Dear esteemed customers, we regret to inform you that the power outage currently being experienced across our franchise – Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states – is as a result of the collapse of the national grid.

“The collapse occurred at about 11:01 am this morning. Power supply shall be restored across our franchise as soon as the grid is restored by the TCN team,” it stated.

The TCN team was observed to be working on restoring the grid, according to the ISO online monitor.

Eid Al Fitr: Buhari Advises Nigerian Not To Fall Prey To Forces Of Division

By
Ola Akinola
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0

President Muhammadu Buhari has advised Nigerians that they should be weary of forces of division and avoid their antics by all means.

He gave this advice in his message to Nigerians on the Eid Al Fitr celebrations.

According to him in a statement by his media aide Garba Shehu, which was made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja stated that Nigerians should rather promote virtues that unite us rather than cause division among the two major religious faiths.

The message reads in parts; “On this blessed occasion, I wish that the Eid festival brings with it peace, safety, security, brotherhood and love amongst all.

“Unity and solidarity among all citizens, Muslims and Christians are imperative especially at a time when our country is faced with multiple challenges which are surmountable only when we come together as one.

“It is important that we remember how we share, through our faiths, common bonds that should serve to unite us and not allow ourselves to succumb to those who seek to divide us, using our two great religions, for their own selfish advantages.

“We should jointly pray against the tragic incidents of kidnapping and banditry and the desperate quest for political power expressed through blackmail against the existence of our country as a united entity.

“We must resist the temptation to retreat into our communities. I urge our political and religious leaders as well as traditional rulers to encourage our citizens to turn towards one another in love and compassion.”

President also stated that , it is noteworthy and delightful to see Christians breaking fast and in some instances, extending goodwill and gifts to Muslim faithfuls during the Ramadan. “This model also shone through with Muslim groups joining Christian festivities. These are practices that promote brotherhood and forgiveness,” he says.

Buhari also urges Nigerians to continue to observe all COVID-19 prevention measures and celebrate responsibly during the holidays.

Delta Police Arrests Five Suspected Vandals With 170 Pipes

By
Udehi Alambo
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0

The Delta State Police command have arrested five suspected vandals with 170 pieces of six inches pipes in Warri, Warri South Local Government Area of the state

This was contained in a statement by the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, which was made available to newsmen stated that, the suspected vandals were arrested on Saturday May 8, 2021 at about 1745hrs by the Anti-Crime Patrol of ‘A’ Division, Warri while on routine patrol.

The statement reads in bits; “Men of the Anti-Crime Patrol team intercepted the lorry with Reg. No. BDG 358 YA with five (5) suspects

“On searching, the lorry was loaded with one hundred and seventy (170) pieces of 6inchs already cut to various sizes.

“The suspects are allegedly experts in the act of vandalizing Federal Government Pipeline at Ogulagha town in Burutu Local Government Area of the state.

“The five occupants Lukeman Jimoh ‘m’ 40yrs, Shola Bimigo ‘m’, Yahaya Ikane ‘m’ 55yrs, Ebi Yeregha ‘m’ 41yrs and Lawal Aliyu ‘m’ 35yrs were arrested while the lorry with Reg. No. BDG 358 YA was impounded’, the statement further read.

Sallah: Aliyu Distributes Food Items, Clothings To Persons With Disabilities

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu on Wednesday distributed assorted food items and clothings to persons living with disabilities in the Federal Capital Territory, as part of activities to mark this year’s Sallah.

Aliyu also used the occasion to reaffirm the commitment of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to empower persons living with disabilities, and to ensure that they are not only self reliant but employers of labour.

The Minister stated this at the Old Parade Ground, Garki Abuja, while, revealing that the administration has commenced profiling of persons living with disabilities and training in various skills acquisition programmes in line with one of the core mandates of the Social Development Secretariat.

According to her; “As you can see, we are here with persons living with disabilities in the Federal Capital Territory. In the spirit of Sallah celebration, we are here to reach out to the less privileged in the society.

“We are profiling all of them to ensure that we capture them, and at the same time prepare them for empowerment. They are being trained in the acts of soap making, cream making, detergents, beads, shoes, bags, to ensure that they earn a living by themselves and by extension become employers of labour, not only will they become gainfully employed but they will be self employed.

“When this happens they will be off the streets, we want to take them off the streets systematically by engaging them, by making them appreciate themselves and realizing the value within them. We have discovered graduates among them, some are certificate holders”.

She further assured that upon graduation, the administration would secure a market and the enabling environment to market their goods to the benefiting communities.

Earlier, the Chairperson, Network of Disabled Women, Mrs. Lois Auta-Udokanta, thanked the minister for using the occasion to cushion the effect of post COVID-19 in the lives of persons with disabilities.

She said that , “This is very huge, and we are very proud of FCT Minister of State for this huge contribution in the lives of persons with disabilities. This will go a long way to cushion the effect of post COVID-19 in our lives.

“We are very grateful to her, we are very thankful to her, we are very proud of this gesture and we pray for greater opportunities for our honorable minister”.

Items distributed to 100 persons living with disabilities include 2 bags of 10kg rice each, one cartoon of condiment each, wrappers amongst others.

World Lupus Day: Aliyu Harps On Enlightenment Campaign

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0
Dr Ramatu Tijjani, Minister of State for FCT
Dr Ramatu Tijjani, Minister of State for FCT

 

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has identified enlightenment campaign or knowledge as a powerful tool that could defeat lupus or any existential challenge.  

This is as Nigerians join the rest of the world to celebrate the 2021 World Lupus Day (WLD).

She stated this at event to commemorate the 2021 World Lupus Day held in the Abuja organized by the Arise Monalisa Foundation.  

She specifically noted that in view of the complexities associated with this silent killer disease, public awareness and the impact that it has on the lives of those who are affected, must be scaled-up.  

Aliyu, however, described lupus as a common, but often overlooked disease, also lamented that lupus as a chronic autoimmune disease has affected approximately 5 million people globally.  

The Minister who was represented by the Ag. Executive Secretary of FCT Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Iwot Ndaeyo, stressed that the singular fact that Lupus is one of the most severe comorbidities and could lead to end-stage kidney disease and kidney failure, makes it the more scary.  

“The medical difficulties associated with diagnosing and treating a poorly understood disease have negative impact on those with lupus. This is further compounded by a low level of public awareness and the fact that most symptoms of lupus are not visible to others. Collectively, these can lead to a greater emotional burden for patients,” the minister stressed.  

She used the occasion to caution against stigmatization of patients, noting that those who recognise lupus as a disease mistakenly believed that it is contagious, and that a poor knowledge like this could lead to unnecessary social stigma for patients with lupus.  

Aliyu also pledged the commitment of the Federal Capital Territory Administration to support any organisation or group aimed at bringing to an end the devastating impact of lupus, she, however, called on critical stakeholders to make lupus visible using every available medium to show the world the many faces of lupus and its impact on patients  

FCTA Vows To Arrest Syndicates Bringing Beggars Into Abuja, Apprehends 150 beggars

By
Toyin Adebayo
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0

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Tuesday vowed to arrest and prosecute syndicates that always bring beggars to into Abuja in large number from states across the country to constitute public nuisances.

FCTA through its combined team of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and Social Development Secretariat (SDS) during an enforcement exercise apprehended 150 beggars.

The Chairman, FCT Ministerial Taskforce on City Sanitation, Comrade Ikharo Attah made this revelation while briefing newsmen immediately after the enforcement exercise in Abuja, saying, this is part of the FCTA renewed efforts to rid the Federal Capital City (FCC) of public nuisances and enhance adequate security.

According to him; ” We realized that the syndicates drop beggars at strategic positions in town to make money for them. FCT is going all out to get them and ensure that they are prosecuted.

” In the last two days over 150 beggars have been apprehended across the city and more arrest is still on going.

” But what is very fundamental and cardinal some of this persons are being brought by other persons into the FCT. You will see young people guarding blind aged men, we felt that is not what the city should be.

“We also felt for them that is why the FCTA is investing resources to train them. However, we are targeting very strongly the syndicate that always bring them to into Abuja in large number from states across the country.

He continued; “The FCTA authority observed with dismay the alarming rate of beggars in the city throughout the Ramadan period due to high level of arms giving and charity by individual and corporate organisations.

“Those apprehended were taken to the Bwari Area Council Center for Rehabilitation, adding that FCT have a functional rehabilitation and training centre for such persons.

” Sadly, very few of them stay there and get fully rehabilitated, while many others find their way to run and sometimes they request to be allow to go back to their states”, he added.

Meanwhile, Mr Kaka Bello, Head of Monitoring and Inspection, AEPB, said begging was nuisance related, adding that AEPB was determined to rid the city of all kinds of environmental nuisance.

He also explained that the activities of beggars was a kind of nuisance that was suppose to be abated, assuring that the operation would be sustain.

” We have a matching order by the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello to ensure that the movement of beggars within the city is check and stop.

He further stated that, ” That is why we are working all round both day and night to ensure that no beggar is allow to move in the city”.

Fleeing Residents Return Home After Security Forces Repels Boko Haram Attacks On Maiduguri

By
Ola Akinola
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0

Thousands of residents of Jiddari Polo and other surrounding communities near Federal High Court, Maiduguri have started returning to their respective homes following drastic reduction in the sounds of gunshots and explosions that rocked the area at about 5:30pm on Tuesday.

It would be recalled that some suspected armed members of dreaded Boko Haram sect invaded some parts of Maiduguri metropolis, and caused tension amongst residents, who were about to break their Ramadan fast.

Although some sources said, quite a number of residential houses were set ablaze by the insurgents with unspecified number of casualties, Newsfocusng gathered that the prompt response from the military and team of the Police Anti Robbery Squad succeeded in repelling the attack.

We also gathered that with assistance from the airstrike ad and helicopter which were hovering the entire city as well as support from members of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) greatly helped to quell the situation.

One of the resident who fled into the town with his wife and four children, Ali Yakubu said, “We are currently in our way back home following the restoration of calm in our area.

“We had to fled into the town for safety, as we could no longer bear the sounds of heavy gunshots and explosions near our house which is located at the outskirts of the metropolis “, he said.

As at the time of filing in this report, the helicopter fighting jet which took off from the Nigerian Air Force Base (NAF) in Maiduguri about an hour after the attack is still hovering the entire city, even as no any official statement from the security authorities.

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