PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, May 3 in Abuja, inaugurated a long-term National Development Plan, the Nigeria Agenda 2050 (NA 2050).

The Plan aims to ensure that Nigeria attains a Per Capita GDP of $33,328 per annum, placing it among the top middle-income economies in the world by 2050.

Performing the ceremony shortly before the beginning of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Council Chamber, Buhari said the Plan had the vision of a dynamic, industrialised and knowledge-based economy that generates inclusive and sustainable development for the country.

He added that given the measures already in place for continuous plan implementation, successive administrations would find the document useful in the delivery of electoral promises.

He stated: “You will recall that in March 2020, I approved the development of successor Plans to both Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), 2017-2020. The Plans lapsed in December 2020.

“To give effect to this approval, I inaugurated the National Steering Committee in September 2020, under the leadership of the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and a distinguished private sector operator, Mr. Atedo Peterside.

“The Steering Committee is to superintend the preparation of the Nigeria Agenda 2050 and the National Development Plan (NDP), 2021-2025 to succeed the Nigeria Vision 20: 2020 and Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), 2017-2020, respectively.

“At the inauguration, I charged the Steering Committee to prepare inclusive Plans that would cover all shades of opinion and ensure even and balanced development, as well as put in place necessary legislations for continuous implementation of Plans even after the expiration of the tenure of successive administrations.

“This was achieved with the preparation of the Volume III of the NDP that deals with Legislative Imperatives for identified binding constraints to Plan implementation in Nigeria.”

MANY travellers were stranded in Lagos on Wednesday, May 3 when members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) picketed Air Peace offices at the domestic terminal of the Lagos Airport, thereby grounding operations over the airline’s continued defiance of the embargo on Imo Airport.

The two unions were escalating action against the Imo State Government over its alleged disruption of the May Day celebrations in Owerri, the capital city last Monday.

The two labour unions have accused Governor Hope Uzodimma’s administration of collaborating to forge a factionalisation of the labour movement in the state.

During the May Day celebrations, they vowed to bring pressure on the Imo State Government to reverse its actions by squeezing the state with the first target of cutting it off by air.

The activists, who entered the Lagos airport and disrupted the activities of the Air Peace counters at the airport, pledged to deny the airline supply of aviation fuel in the escalating face off.

They have also petitioned the International Labour Organisation (ILO) against the Imo State Government.

THE first batch of 376 Nigerian students trapped in war-torn Sudan arrived in Abuja late on Wednesday, May 2, 2023.

The students, were evacuated from Aswan border of Egypt, touched down at the Pilgrims Terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 11:25pm via the Air Peace aircraft and the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) jet, with the number NAF C-130.

They were received by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq; Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA); Chairperson /CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.

Speaking shortly after their arrival, the minister, who announced the donation of a N100,000 stipend to each of the returnees, courtesy of Dangote Foundation, while MTN Foundation doled out recharge cards worth N25,000 to each of the returnees, said the stipend was for them to use as fare to their various destinations, while MTN also donated 25GB of data to each of the evacuees.

Also speaking, the Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohammad Yusuf, said the situation in his country would soon be under control, expressing happiness that Nigeria was able to evacuate its citizens safely.

He described Sudan as the second country to many Nigerians, saying normalcy would be restored in the war-ravaged country soon.

The Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed, said four more flights conveying Nigerians from Sudan were expected in the country on Thursday, adding: “The situation in Sudan is real and terrible, but we pray peace returns to that country. I am happy our people have started coming back.

“We are expecting about four flights tomorrow, three from Port Sudan and one from Aswan. So, it is a process that has started and the tempo will keep on increasing.

“This is something that nobody expected and so we had to swing into action immediately. To get out of Sudan, we had to pay to take our people to any other part, but we thank God that we are able to bring them back.”

Ahmed assured the returnees that the remaining evacuees waiting to be transported back home would soon arrive.

Some of the evacuees expressed mixed feelings over the situation in Sudan. Ibrahim Musa, a student who lived on the outskirts of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, said he was devastated when he first heard the sound of gunshots and grenade explosion.

“The first thing that came to my mind was to escape and I thank God this is where I am now, home,” he said.

Another evacuee, Faith Stephen, a pregnant woman, said she would go back to Sudan once the situation in that country stabilised, noting that she and her husband were engaged in a thriving joint business and had invested so much in Sudan.

PRESIDENT of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isiguzo, has lamented that democratic processes in Nigeria were in danger of being undermined by unscrupulous politicians, as well as the prevalence of false, hateful and divisive information that create fear, ignorance and uncertainty within the public at large.

According to a statement signed by the National Secretary of NUJ, Shuaibu Usman Leman, to commemorate WPFD, titled, ‘That Freedom Of Expression May Thrive,’ speaking at the NUJ National Secretariat Abuja while observing the WPFD 2023, Isiguzo noted that while the constitutional right of freedom of speech and association remains inviolable, political actors should tone down their utterances in whatever form by making comments that are issues-based and within the limits of the rules of the game.   

Governance, he argued, is about people and thus the guiding principle should be self- preservation, as politics is for the living and not for the dead.

“He charged journalists, as the watchdog of society and Fourth Estate of the Realm to strive more to stem the trend, encourage freedom of speech, as guaranteed by the constitution and uphold the fundamental objectives contained in Chapter II of the constitution.

 He charged journalists to always strive to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people, even as he lamented that the global information crisis in which journalism is being overwhelmed by the narrow self-interests of political and corporate centres of power is being felt strongly in Nigeria, where hate-speech, fake news and abusive exploitation of information technology are endangering pluralism and democracy.

He stated that this crisis of propaganda requires a practical and comprehensive response that puts ethics, self-regulation and good governance at the heart of journalism in the Country.

While condemning all forms of violence against journalists in the country and attempts to bribe and corrupt the process of journalism and to manipulate the media for propaganda, the NUJ president added: “We once again call on all journalists, in spite of these threats, to redouble their efforts and live up to the values and standards of the profession.

“We also appeal to all journalists and media owners to build professional solidarity and to work together to promote ethics and good governance to confront the looming dangers.”

There’s Unfettered Freedom Under My Govt, Says Buhari

THE Nigerian National Committee of the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) has tasked the incoming government to commit to creating a better operating environment for journalists and media organisations.

In its message on Wednesday, may 3, 2023 to commemorate this year’s World Freedom day, IPI noted that Nigerian journalists were in perpetual danger, as cases of media and journalists’ harassment, including arrests, physical attacks, denial of access, threats, equipment damage, equipment seizure, lawsuits and high-handedness and arbitrariness by some agencies of government, have become rampant in recent years.

According to IPI: “We are urging the incoming government to embrace a new attitude by deliberately improving the operational environment of journalists and the media.

“While state actors, especially state governors, must end intimidation and harassment of journalists, Nigerian politicians and political parties should also desist from the use of online trolls to attack journalists and media organisations.”

It said there were still a number of oppressive and media-unfriendly laws, such as those on criminal defamation and cybercrime, that needed to be amended and advised government to carry out widespread sensitisation of security operatives to make them understand that journalists and the media are key elements of democracy.

“IPI Nigeria demands that the incoming government commits to the total implementation of the FOI Act, because the free flow of information is essential to the survival and growth of democracy.

“Misinformation and disinformation thrive more robustly when authorities withhold information that ordinarily should be made available to the public.”

On its part Similarly, the National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) decried the continued assault on press freedom in Nigeria, despite the crucial role the media in propagating human rights.

The NAS Capoon, Abiola Owoaje, expressed sadness that “with all the technological advances that have been recorded with regard to information dissemination and advocacy for human rights, the world is still grappling with a worrisome scale of international disregard for press freedom, freedom of expression and safety of journalists”.

But President Muhammadu Buhari insisted that journalists and media organisations had “unfettered freedom” under his administration.

“We have kept the faith. We have ensured that Nigerian journalists have had unfettered freedom to practice their art, and on this occasion of World Press Freedom Day, we recommit to that resolution, even as we wind down in office,” the Presidency said in a statement.

In his speech to mark the 30^th commemoration of Press Freedom, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, noted that the landmark celebration was a tribute to media professionals who risk their lives to keep society informed and educated.

“Freedom of the press is the foundation of democracy and justice. It gives all of us the facts we need to shape opinions and speak truth to power. But in every corner of the world, freedom of the press is under attack,” Guterres lamented.