The Voice magazine by The Voice magazine

ISSN:2588-8807

ISSN:1571-3466

Motto: Actuated towards Africa’s advancement

Volume 21. NO. 205 May 2021

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First complete African magazine published in The Netherlands since August 1999

Akon to build a new city in Uganda Family seek justice:

Nigeria woman left paralyzed after giving birth in Belgium

Sister-in-law suffers cervix damage

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The Voice magazine

THE VOICE MAGAZINE TEAM

The Voice magazine is editorially independent although we enjoys the support of our readers, subscribers, advertisers, non-governmental organizations and in dividuals of like minds; however the magazine publishers are in no way affiliated to any of these bodies or to any other publishing institution or political interest or group. The Voice magazine strives to foster awareness among the African audience and bridge the widening gap between Africans and the rest of the world in news gathering and dissemination. The Voice is published digitally online except on demand, we print hard copy.. If you want to receive a copy, send us your email address. On the Editorial board are Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh, Jonathan Mgbejume, Sandra Iruh-Monsels, and Henry Oduenyi READ THE VOICE ON LINE AT www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com Our Affiliate partner: www.thenigerianvoice.com Registration NO: (Kvk. Nr. 34.110.928) TAX (BTW) NO: NL806215809B01 ISSN: 1571-3466 (For Print edition) ISSN: 2588-8807 (For Digital edition)

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Editor-in-Chief Pastor Amb. Elvis Ndubuisi Iruh elvisiruh@thevoicenewsmagazine.com Founding/Contributing Editor Edward Idahosa Ogbee apexbest2000@yahoo.co.uk Managing Editor Henry D. Oduenyi (Nigeria Office) henry@thenigerianvoice.com Project Coordinator Ifeyinwa Ezeagabu i.ezeagabu@thevoicenewsmagazine. com BUREAU CHIEFS Femi Ikutiyinu (London) afpaprint2000@yahoo.com Middle East Vice- President Amb. Laila EL Aftani Rahhall CORRESPONDENTS ABROAD Barrister Eze Eluchie (Nigeria) paddingr@yahoo.com Kehinde Aig-Imoru (Nigeria) aigimoru@yahoo.com Contributors Rev. Tammy Abusi (Nigeria) tamabusi@gmail.com Elizabeth Kameo (France) Eva Nakato (Uganda) Jimmie Nicks (Kenya) Eubaldus Enahoro (Nigeria) enabadus2000@yahoo.com

Titus Seruga serugatitus@gmail.com Principal Photo Editors: Handy Tims Azeez Badris fatim_26@hotmail.com PA to Publisher Lilian Akintokun (Mrs) raven_lilian@yahoo.com Magazine Designer David Banjoko davosban@gmail.com MEDIA CONSULTANT Jonathan Mgbejume Abeka Salmin Abdallah Mildred Kleinbussink Pastor Duncan Spier Engr. Barry Igbeare You can as well contact our Office Address: Stichting Paddi Europa Inz The Voice Jeroen Boschplantsoen 82 1318 HH Almere, The Netherlands Land Line: +3136-8801341 Tel.: +31 (0)6-48519292 Mobile: +31 (0)6-84999548 E-mail: info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com Websites: www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com www.thevoiceachieversaward.com www.elvisiruh.com (For the Publisher book)

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The Voice magazine is published in the Netherlands by Stichting Paddi Europa and it is p ublished online since 2016 around the world. It is registered at the Chamber of Commerce Amsterdam. The Voice aim to serve as a vital link among African readers in the Diaspora and we provide objective information and organizes opinion exchange among African people both in the continent and abroad. Thus it strives to foster and enhance complete understanding of developing c ountries problems and bring information to help address those issues. You can support this project now with as much as one euro a month to help keep publishing our digital copy for you. TV MANAGEMENT

Volume 21 www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

NO 205 May 2021

Contents Get fast results by advertising with us. Others are doing, join us today. Call us on +31684999548 or +31648519292 E-mail: info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com Page 6- Editorial: Chadians impoverished amid oil wealth Pages 8 & 9 - Chad President Idriss Deby dies visiting front-line troops: Army Page 10 - Book Review: The Other Side of Fear Pages 14 & 15 – Book review & Page for your letters (Feedback) Pages 16 & 17- ‘We cannot drink oil’: campaigners condemn East African pipeline project * Tanzania has completed payment for three new planes, says Prime Minister Page 18 - This one’s for you, “My little elegant Italian lady” by Elizabeth Kameo Page 19- A story to learn from - Ability & not certificate! Pages 20 & 21 - Kenya becomes the second African country to roll out 5G • Malawi to destroy thousands of expired Covid vaccines – Minister Pages 22 & 23 - Malawi President Fires Cabinet Minister Over COVID Funds & 19 officials arrested. Page 24 - Kasimawo Laloko: A Football voyage. Page 25 - Column: The digital detox by Eva Nakato Page 32 – The African promise -Tiny Little Particles Page 33 - Remembering the Duke of Edinburgh’s award in South Africa Pages 34-39 - A Belgian hospital cut off Ajima Ogbole’s Cervix. Then they paralyzed her Sister-in-law, Susan Pages 40-41 - Akon City 2: Akon Unveils Plan to Build Second Futuristic Cryptocurrency City in Africa * Akon receives a good reception in Uganda over his dream city for Uganda Page 45 - Tanzanian President lifts ban on media Pages 46-48 - Historical Knowledge to Defeat the Pandemic Pages 50 & 51 - Tanzania’s new leader acknowledged the pandemic and promised more civil rights. Pages 52 - 55- In Empty Amsterdam, Reconsidering Tourism Page 59- Republic of Benin court approves Talon’s election victory Page 60 - Ajax condemns Super League plan, club says it is ‘very disappointed’ Pages 62 & 63 – Sports: What Francis Ngannou’s UFC triumph means for Cameroonians Page 64 - Kylian Mbappe has reached a decision over his future, according to reports. Page 65 - Dutch-born duo Luckassen brothers opt to play for Ghana • Semenya wins 5,000m, falls short of Olympic qualifying time Pages 67 & 68 - AJ vs Fury – 200 million pounds fight to hold before end of August 2021 Pages 69 &70 - Claressa Shields becomes Boxing’s 1st Ever TwoDivision, Undisputed World Champ (And That Includes Men, Too)

The Voice Magazine Volume 21. No 205 May 2021 Edition

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Editorial

Chadians impoverished amid oil wealth

he continued story of Africa tragedy is playing out again in Chad and the rest of stand by and watches particularly France and United States of America. Reports has it that the America’s government under President Biden has asked his Embassy to pull out his staff and essential services because of advances of rebels towards the capital and the killing of the President, Idriss Deby. It is claimed that he died on the battlefield after winning a re-election, a story too true to belief knowing the type of person he was and how greedy for power he was. To have risked his life going to encourage the soldiers in the frontline of a raging war with rebels was unexpected of him but it has happened. History playing out itself again, Idriss Deby took power in a coup decades ago and died fighting against rebels trying to oust him. Over 30 years, Deby has been a maverick figure in the Sahel region, with friends in the West but enemies close to home. Deby was confirmed president-elect after securing nearly 80% of the April 11 vote. Instead of celebrating he chooses to go to the battlefield! It would be recalled that late Deby joined the rebel army under former leader-turnedpresident Hissene Habre in 1982, and took command of the army in 1983. He participated in the Toyota War, the last phase of the Chadian-Libyan conflict, where Chadian forces successfully repelled incursions from Muammar Gaddafi’s better equipped army using armed Toyota pickup trucks, assisted by French air support. Support from France would become integral to Deby’s future as kingmaker in Chad and that trend would probably continue as his son is declare interim President against the country’s constitution which would have seen the speaker of the parliament act as President until a fresh elections. Meanwhile, Deby’s son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, has taken over as interim leader of a transitional military council, the military said. A legacy of military take overs has resumed again with his son, who is just 38 years old, already a General in the Army backed by the military taking charge and suspending all constitutional means left for the country and France is encouraging it on. Chad’s wealth in natural resources such as oil was supposed to pull the country out of poverty. But Deby’s regime has been accused of using oil revenues to enrich itself and use it to finance

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its fight against rebellions. Yet Deby was seen by Western powers as a stable, predictable figure in an increasing war against jihadist fighters in the Sahel region. He also became a key figure in mediating conflict in neighboring Central African Republic and in the Boko Haram insurgency. Late President Deby allowed France to station troops in Chad, Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh Editor-in-Chief which served his purposes in defending his regime, and allowed France a base from which it could carry out its counter-terrorism operations. Most notable of these was the French-led Operation Barkhane. In 2014, along with Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, Chad became part of the G5 Sahel joint force to battle jihadist organizations on military and governmental fronts. On the home front, though, Deby faced pressure against his increasingly authoritarian regime. Though he won the 2016 election, reports of voter intimidation further tarnished his image. Chad amended its constitution yet again in 2018, expanding the president’s powers and increasing presidential terms from five to six years. Mismanagement and falling oil prices exacerbated poverty and raised discontent in the landlocked country. Chad is one of the world’s poorest nations, with two thirds of country’s 15.8 million people living in abject poverty. As much as Deby was successful in defending himself and his regime, his enemies were never far off. The 2021 election saw violence, with a rebel group calling itself FACT (the Front for Change and Concord in Chad) launching attacks, and last month they pushed for the capital, N’Djamena. While his supporter say he strove for peace and was a panAfricanist, Deby left power in the same way he took it over 30 years ago: in the heat of battle, with a rebel group fighting a corrupt leadership system. What would the West do now? The world awaits their reaction. Whatever way you try to access the situation, another military takeover with his son in charge is another repeat of history and he would transform himself into a civilian ruler and follow the partner of his late father. We pray history will proof us wrong.

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Chad President Idriss Deby dies visiting front-line troops: Army

ecently re-elected president of Chad has been reported to die of wounds he suffered on front line as country’s soldiers battle rebels, according to the army chief before announcing a change in leadership of the country. Chad’s longtime President Idriss Deby, 68, “has just breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield”, army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna said in a statement read out on state television last month, a day after Deby was declared the winner of a presidential election held on 11th April 2021. The exact circumstances of Deby’s death were not immediately clear and as at press time, it was still not disclosed to the press or the nation except that he died from injuries sustained in the warfront. The army said the president had been commanding his army at the weekend as it battled rebels who had launched a major incursion into the north of the country on election day on April 11. Agouna also said a military council led by the late president’s 38-year-old son, four-star General Mahamat Idriss Deby, would replace him on interim basis. A curfew has been imposed and the country’s borders have been shut in the wake of the president’s death. Experts say that under Chadian law, the speaker of parliament should have taken power after Deby’s death and not his son. “What the constitution says is that in the absence of the president or in case he dies, then the speaker of the parliament takes charge of the country for 40 days and so a transition is put in place until elections are held”. “[But] the military announced that the legislative assembly has been dissolved and that the constitution also has been dissolved, so what they are doing is that they replaced the 8

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constitution with their own set of rules.” Meanwhile, authorities were planning a state funeral for the falling President at press time. Heads of state and government of “friendly countries” would be invited to attend the burial ceremony in N’Djamena, before Deby is laid to rest in his home region in the country’s far east. President Deby, who came to power in a rebellion in 1990, won a sixth term after constitutional amendments to

enable him contest and stay longer in power. Provisional results released earlier showed Deby had won by 79.3 percent of the vote. The president postponed his victory speech to supporters and instead went to visit Chadian soldiers battling rebels, according to his campaign manager where he met his untimely death. The rebel group Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), which is based across the northern frontier with Libya, attacked a border post in the provinces of Tibesti and Kanem on election day and then advanced hundreds of kilometres south. Agouna had told the media that army troops killed more than 300 fighters and captured 150 in Kanem province, about 300km (185 miles) from N’Djamena. Five government soldiers were killed and 36 were wounded, he said. It is believed that the President got wounded in this attack and he did not recover from his injuries. Although the military claimed they had “liberated” the Kanem region. Such claims in remote desert combat zones are difficult to verify. Deby’s latest election victory had never been in doubt, with a divided opposition, boycott calls and a campaign in which demonstrations were banned or dispersed. The president had campaigned on a promise of bringing peace and security to the region, but his pledges were undermined by the rebel incursion. There had been panic in some areas of N’Djamena last month after tanks were deployed along the city’s main roads, an AFP journalist reported. The tanks were later withdrawn apart from a perimeter around the president’s office, which is under heavy security presence during normal times.

“The establishment of a security deployment in certain areas of the capital seems to have been misunderstood,” government spokesman Cherif Mahamat Zene had said on Twitter. “There is no particular threat to fear.” However, the US embassy in N’Djamena had ordered non-essential personnel to leave the country, warning of possible violence in the capital. Britain also urged its nationals to leave. France’s embassy said in an advisory to its nationals in Chad that the deployment was a precaution and there was no specific threat to the capital. The Tibesti Mountains near the Libyan frontier frequently see fighting between rebels and the army, as well as in the northeast bordering Sudan. France carried out air raids in February 2019 to stop an incursion there. In February 2008, a rebel assault reached the gates of the presidential palace before being pushed back with French backing. Political leaders expressed their condolences following the announcement of Deby’s death. “France lost a brave friend,” French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement. “It expresses its strong attachment to Chad’s stability and territorial integrity,” it continued, adding it had taken note of the creation of the interim military body and urging a quick return to civilian rule and a peaceful transition. For its part, the White House offered “sincere condolences” to Chadians. “We condemn recent violence and loss of life in Chad,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We support a peaceful transition of power in accordance with the Chadian constitution.”

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BOOK REVIEW

The Other Side of Fear Uncertainty, anxiety and fear: only fictitious superheroes are exempted from this all-too human sequence. The trouble is that fear is paralyzing because it feeds our minds with negative thoughts. In a second, fear can turn the idea of courage into one of recklessness, and then it’s all downhill to a point where determination is put aside in favour of ‘playing it safe.’ Sadly, fear can stop you from doing anything slightly risky. It’ll keep you locked up in the prison of the comfortable and predictable where you’re more likely to die of boredom than might from any of the dangers you fear. So, what’s to be done? The simple answer is that risk-taking and adaptability are as much part of our human heritage as uncertainty-inspired fear. It’s finding a balance that matters most. Fear is a useful tool for making better life-directing decisions, but fear must never be allowed to control the direction of your life. That way you lose the opportunity of reaching your true potential. I hope this book will inspire you to transcend your fears and achieve all of your dreams. The greatest prison you can live in is the prison of your own fears. Nothing of value can be achieved when we allow fear to control our life. Grab a copy of “The other side of fear” be inspired to live above your fears. You can purchase E-book & paperback on amazon. First and foremost, I want to thank God for guiding my every step towards completing this project and to every other

person who contributed to this. I’ve learned that if we can find the courage to begin something, God will empower & enable us to complete the task. There’s nothing we cannot accomplish if we are determined enough. I was inspired to write this book because fear has kept a lot of people locked up in the prison of comfort. Too many people are living in a self-made prison of their own fears, they are stuck, unable to move forward and achieve their meaningful dreams. Fear has the power to limit your greatness, and blind you from seeing the opportunities that lies ahead of you. Everything you desire is on the other side of your fear, don’t stay trapped behind the walls of your fear for the rest of your life. It’s time to move towards your fears instead for trying to avoid them. I can confidently tell you that this book will inspire and challenge you to transcend your fears. And also provide principles to help you on the journey. Grab a copy of this book to bless yourself, a friend or a loved one. You can read online, download, & order hard copies of this book online click on the link. www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Fear-M-K-Slim-ebook/dp/ B088RKSDW7/ref=sr_1_8? Thank you By M.K. Slim

About M.K. Slim For much of my life, I’ve been fully committed to my music career, but I’m also an entrepreneur and a budding writer. I’m very motivated and mentally resilient: a genuinely optimistic person who believes that anything can be achieved if I’m determined enough. I strive to create a positive impact in the lives of those around me and I believe the highest of human acts is to inspire others to reach their potential. I strive to inspire as many people as I can. I’d like others to say of me, “Because you didn’t give up, I can do the same.” That’s the legacy I hope to leave behind when I die.

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Victory Outreach Church Almere is a Pentecostal Church, a Bible based believing people in the trinity of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. What would you like to know? Our vision? Which activities we organize? Or would you like to hear testimonies about how we follow God? One thing is certain, we would like to get to know you and therefore you are more than welcome to visit one of our services in this new year 2020. You can visit us every day of the week as there is a Resident Pastor available to your demand. You may have been a believer for many years already. Or you might still be searching for the meaning of life and asking yourself whether or not there is God. Within Victory Outreach Almere we would like to help you find the answer. We will gladly teach you through the help of the Holy Spirit the exact meaning of “a living faith”. With us you will truly see

and experience the supernatural power of the living God. You can always count on love and comfort when you need it. You will discover that we have a wonderful diversity of people with lots of different backgrounds, characters and personalities. But there is one thing we have in common. We all follow the same God, Jesus Christ. In that diversity and love for God, we are a family where you are more than welcome. We personally hope to meet you during one of our services. God bless you as you come in Jesus Christ name. Amen Signed: Pastor Roel & Ida van Rooij Senior Pastors Victory Outreach Almere. Barbeelstraat 12, 1317 PZ Almere The Netherlands. Telephone: +31646890203; Telephone: 036-7505571 E-mail: info@voalmere.nl Website: www.voalmere.nl

Join our church service every SUNDAY in church and also online service via FACEBOOK or YOUTUBE

Victory Outreach Almere

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New book: Amílcar Cabral: The Life of a Reluctant Nationalist is out

n 20 January 1973, the BissauGuinean revolutionary Amílcar Cabral was killed by militants from his own party. Not many people outside his country know what really happened and the whole story has been documented for us to know the life of this quite revolutionary leader in his own right. Despite Cabral’s assassination, Portuguese Guinea became the independent Republic of Guinea-Bissau. The guerrilla war that Cabral had started and led precipitated a chain of events that would lead to the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, toppling the fortyyear-old authoritarian regime. This paved the way for the rest of Portugal’s African colonies to achieve independence. The book is written by a native of Angola, Antonio Tomas, “Amílcar Cabral: The Life of a Reluctant Nationalist” narrates Cabral’s revolutionary trajectory, from his early life in Portuguese Guinea to his death at the hands of his own men. Using recently opened state security police archives, the book details his quest for national sovereignty, beleaguered by the ethnic-based identity conflicts the national liberation movement struggled to overcome. Through the life of Cabral, António Tomás critically reflects on existing ways of thinking and writing about the independence of Lusophone Africa. António Tomás is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Johannesburg. He holds a PhD in Anthropology from Columbia University, in New York. He has worked as a journalist in Angola and Portugal and has written extensively on issues

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related to Lusophone Africa. For more details on how to get this book, kindly send an email to: raminta@hurstpub.co.uk Pages: 272pp Price: £30 ISBN: 9781787381445 By Raminta Uselyte Publicity Assistant

Feedback (Page for your letters)

AS FRENCH DOMINOES FALL – IDRISS DEBY

it makes a lot of sense. Idriss Deby presided over a very unstable country. The last couple of years his own cousin was being financed from the Gulf states to rebel against him.

Dear Editor, Last year, Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno named himself Field Marshall. Unlike the one in Lebialem, he did not seek publicity for his new rank. After all he had been Commander of the Chadian army under Hisene Abri before the coup d’etat of 1990 that brought him to power. He was to remain in power for 30 years. A couple of days ago it was announced that he had won the last presidential elections by 79% of the votes. He could only take part in this election by implementing the political curse of almost all African presidents especially in French-speaking Africa - a constitutional amendment of the term limits which will permit him to run for office until 2033. To add insult to injury, his son Mahamat Kaka has been appointed by a transitional council to be interim president. Chadian constitution states clearly that the President of the Parliament should take over as interim President. This, therefore, makes it a coup d’etat. Of course, if the president of Chad’s parliament is a doddering senile old man who increasingly finds it difficult just to read simple French text prepared for him like we have been blessed with Cayaye or who cannot even get out of his own car without help like our own Njipenji of the senate,

The opposition boycotted the elections and the president and his family are accused of mismanaging the country’s oil wealth. As hundreds of thousands of Chadians now hurry to cross the bridge as refugees into Cameroon, we might all want to pause and reflect on all this. By Jude Mortimer Kelha Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Dr. Hajo Sani leaves for UNESCO

By Aliyu Abdullahi Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity) Office of the First Lady of Nigeria

The Office of the First Lady of Nigeria has received with joy the news of the appointment of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Women Affairs and Administration, Dr. Hajo Sani as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nigeria to UNESCO. Dr. Hajo Sani has in the last six years served as the head of Administration to the office of the First Lady of Nigeria, bringing her experience in government and development circles as a humanitarian, gender, health, and education advocate, as well as a teacher, administrator, and politician to bear in the smooth operation of the Office. The Office of the First Lady, despite the loss of her valuable services, congratulates Dr. Hajo Sani on this notable appointment and commends the Federal government, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari for identifying her competence and the invaluable contributions she will make to Nigeria and the world during her tour of duty.

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‘We cannot drink oil’: campaigners condemn East African pipeline project

ctivists say the ‘heart of Africa’ line shipping crude from Uganda to Tanzania is unnecessary and poses a huge environmental risk. These Activists have accused French and Chinese oil firms of ignoring huge environmental risks after the signing of accords on the controversial construction of a £2.5bn oil pipeline by the President of both countries of Uganda and Tanzania.

Uganda, Tanzania and the oil companies Total and CNOOC signed three key agreements last month that pave the way for construction to start on the planned east African crude oil pipeline (EACOP). But late last month, a letter signed by 38 society organizations across both east African countries said the parties had failed to address environmental concerns over the pipeline and had steamrollered over court and parliamentary processes. Work is expected to begin this year on what would be the world’s longest electrically heated pipeline, which will move crude oil from fields near Lake Albert in western Uganda 900 miles to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean seaport of Tanga. Uganda’s crude oil is highly viscous, so it must be heated to be kept liquid enough to flow. Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, and his Tanzanian counterpart, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, witnessed the signing of agreements between shareholders, host governments, and on tariff and transport between EACOP and the Lake Albert oil shippers. Uganda discovered reserves of crude near Lake Albert on its border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 16

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in 2006, and the landlocked country wants a pipeline to transport oil to international markets. “These agreements open the way for the commencement of the Lake Albert development project,” Total said in a statement. “The main engineering, procurement and construction contracts will be awarded shortly, and construction will start. First oil export is planned in early 2025.” The oil will come from two projects – the Tilenga project, operated by Total, and the Kingfisher project, operated by CNOOC, which together are expected to produce up to 230,000 barrels a day. Government geologists estimate total reserves at 6bn barrels. However, Diana Nabiruma, of the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), told the press: “It is concerning that major agreements are being signed and the companies are being given the go-ahead to award contracts and start developing the Lake Albert oil project. “The oil projects pose major environmental risks. Resources, some shared with countries such as the DRC, Tanzania and Kenya, including Lake Albert as well as Lake Victoria and rivers, are at risk of oil pollution,” she said. “The resources support the fisheries, tourism and other economic activities. They are also important for food and water security. They therefore must be conserved.” The #StopEACOP alliance campaign condemned the decision to build the pipeline, which it says will displace 12,000 families and would be a huge environmental risk at a time of climate emergency, when the world needs to move away from fossil fuels. Vanessa Nakate, founder of the Rise Up climate movement in Uganda, said: “There is no reason for Total to engage in oil exploration and the construction of the east Africa crude oil pipeline because this means fuelling the destruction of the planet and worsening the already existing climate disasters in the most affected areas. “There is no future in the fossil fuel industry and we cannot drink oil. We demand Total to rise up for the people and the planet,” she said. Lucie Pinson, of Reclaim Finance, which works to decarbonise the financial system, added: “We call on banks

to publicly commit to stay clear of the project and investors to vote against Total’s climate strategy and the renewal of the mandate of its CEO Patrick Pouyanné at the group’s AGM in May.” Last month, more than 260 African and international organisations sent an open letter to 25 commercial banks urging them not to finance the construction of the EACOP. David Pred, of Inclusive Development International, which supports communities to defend their rights against harmful corporate projects, said: “The oil companies are trying to dress up the investment decision signing ceremony, but fortunately this climate-destroying project is far from a done deal. “Total and CNOOC still need to secure insurance and raise $2.5bn in debt financing for the EACOP to move forward and they are going to struggle mightily to find enough banks and insurance providers willing to associate themselves with such a project,” he claimed. Total said it had undertaken “rigorous” environmental and social risk assessment and mitigation strategies in relation to the projects. In its statement, it said: “All the partners are committed to implement these projects in an exemplary manner and taking into highest consideration the biodiversity and environmental stakes as well as the local communities’ rights and within the stringent environmental and social performance standards of the International Finance Corporation.”

Pouyanné said: “The Tilenga development and EACOP pipeline project are major projects for Total and are consistent with our strategy to focus on low break-even oil projects while lowering the average carbon intensity of the group’s upstream portfolio. These projects will create significant in-country value for both Uganda and Tanzania. “Total is also taking into the highest consideration the sensitive environmental context and social stakes of these onshore projects. Our commitment is to implement these projects in an exemplary and fully transparent manner.” CNOOC has been approached for comment. But Nabiruma accused the two east African governments of racing to sign deals before their citizens had been told how any risks would be “avoided, minimised or mitigated”. Robert Kasande, permanent secretary at Uganda’s ministry of energy and mineral development, said: “We are very mindful of the environment that we work in. It’s a very sensitive ecosystem. So we have put everything that we need to do in place.” He said the project was being conducted in accordance with the Equator principles – a risk-management framework adopted by financial institutions for assessing and managing environmental and social risk in projects. “This is a big project for us as a country,” Kasande said. “These resources that are going to be coming into the country are going to be a huge boost to this economy.”

Tanzania has completed payment for three new planes, says Prime Minister

The statement comes a few days after a report by the Auditor General and Controller of Public Accounts in Tanzania, Charles Kichere, outlined the challenges facing the airline. According to the CAG said ATCL has incurred a cumulative loss of about Sh150 billion over the past five years. According to the CAG, for the past one year, ATCL has incurred a loss of Sh60 billion. The planes are expected to be leased to Air Tanzania just like the other previous nine planes with arrangement of gradual payment of the lease agreement.

The government of Tanzania last month has revealed that has completed payments for the purchase of three new planes to add to already nine acquired for the former and late President John Magufuli. This information was disclosed by the Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa while addressing the Parliament on the estimates and expenditure of the Office of the Prime Minister and its institutions for the financial year 2021/2022. Majaliwa said the aero planes are expected to arrive in the 2021/22 financial year therefore bringing the number of government owned fleet to 12. Prime Minister Majaliwa also commended national carrier Air Tanzania for launching foreign trips to Guangzhou China, saying the trips are a catalyst for boosting trade, tourism and employment.

This one’s for you, “My little elegant Italian lady”

s soon as she was done eating, she got up, put her serviette aside and slowly started walking away from the table. Noemi never stayed still, she was always on the move, I always wondered how many kilometres she managed a day inside the Alzheimer’s ward. She also ate fast, after all her meals are always mashed or mixed, and she has no teeth left either (smile). Noémie never said much. She could not. She is not only in her 80s but I reckon the disease robbed her of her ability to speak too. The reason I noticed her as soon as I started work at the hospital was her elegancy. Noémie may have memory loss, she probably does not remember her name, but she did not suffer from style loss. I later on found out she was of Italian origin, thereby my nickname for her, “My little elegant Italian lady”. Her trademark, has always a chic foulard (scarf) around her neck every day, it always matched her little classy ballerinas. Her colours were always perfectly matched, a little grey here, some yellow, a little light grey and some black. My very own Miss Prime and Proper. This particular day, a few days into the confinement, with my gloves and mask, covered to the nines, I noticed her leave her table, she was on the move again, but she had not cleaned her mouth. “Attendez Noémie, je vais vous nettoyer la bouche. Voilà, vous pourriez aller, vous êtes belle comme un cœur (Noémie wait, let me wipe your mouth clean. Voila, you are a pretty as a heart), I told her. She looked at me, smiled and said “Merci”. My heart flipped. Since January I have seen Noémie, I once fed her when she could not eat, and not once had she smiled or even said a word to me. That was the, a few days into the confinement. Today I worked the Alzheimer’s ward, and when it came to Noémie’s room, they had placed a warning sign on her door, no one was allowed in without the permission of the nurse. She was not to be fed, she could not eat. I stole a look in her room, I was fully protected mask, gloves and all, the order of the day now, Noémie was in bed, a machine her, another there, oxygen; a shadow of her old self, she did not move, she was so pale, jaws hallow, Noémie is has good as moved on into the other realm.

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By Elizabeth Kameo She will be the second resident on the Alzheimer’s ward to succumb to Corona virus. I cried, the Carer who was with me looked at me, she probably did not understand why I was crying for a woman I hardly knew, a woman I had only met at the hospital. But to me, Noémie and a few other patients on this ward have found a special corner in my heart. I have come to care for and love them, because after all they are just like you and me, only they are older and cannot remember what day it is, who they are or where they are. I call them Bisousnours (the French version of Care Bears) they are in their own world, some day it is filled with colours, and others, it is dark, grey and troubled. Noémie is the second, who will be the third, another of my favourites? A man? A woman? Will I cry again? Will there be any residents left at the hospital once this is all over? Will this be over? When? How? Shall we shake hand again; kiss again, hug again, live again? Will life get back to normal? When? But in the meantime, this one is for my little elegant Italian lady, NOEMIE!

A story to learn from ……….. Ability & not certificate While I was in a meeting with Uche on Saturday, she received a message from a mother whose son got admission into Stanford University, USA. This boy - still in his SS 3, and he’s yet to sit for his WAEC (this May 2021) - attended a 6-week program on coding in Onitsha. According to his mother, the boy, after learning how to code under Uche, continued developing himself and became indispensable to his school. What caught my attention was the school that offered him admission - Stanford University. Stanford University produced Larry Page (Google) and Chelsea (the only child of President Bill and Hillary Clinton). Such a school did not ask the boy for his O-level mathematics result or his grade in the English Language. They didn’t ask for 5 credits. They offered him admission based on his coding ability. Ironically, here in Nigeria, with A1 in Mathematics, Physics, Further Maths, and Technical Drawing, Universities will still reject you because you got a Pass in English. Our biggest challenge in this country may not be Boko Haram but the quality of people that will represent us in the future. People that are victims of the obsolete and epileptic educational system of this country. Victims of the system that are not comparing notes with the rest of the world and yet feels they are the best in the world. Secondary schools in Onitsha just recently stopped the teaching of Shorthand and still have a curriculum where

students learn the keyboard by drawing it on a plain sheet. Secondary Schools in this city still offer Business Studies with examination questions of ‘Who is a receptionist?’ I saw a JS 2 examination where students were asked to draw a CPU, a monitor, and a mouse. If it were a Fine

Art examination, it would not be a problem but it was a Computer Study examination. Last month, I met Qudus Onikeku, an international African dancer. He shared his story of how he failed JAMB 4 times and later got admission in France to learn dancing. Dancing! He was admitted based on his displayed skills. Today, he’s touring over 15 cities on 3 continents with his dance documentary. In his words, he said that what we refer to as ‘Extra curriculum’ is what the world focuses on. But here in Nigeria, Emmanuella must pass English and

Maths before a poorly funded institution will admit her into Theater Arts. WizKid must have credit in Economics to learn Music. The world has changed but as Nigeria was in the beginning, we are still now. Two people cannot be mad at the same time. As the nation still enjoys the past, we should think beyond what the system can offer us. As you send your kids to Nigerian Schools, be observant to know what he is good and interested in. The world has left theories behind. Ability is now the new certificate. P.S Since I witnessed the Stanford testimony, I have been in a high spirit. I am excited that a simple office in Onitsha can bring out the best in a little boy. I hope Uchenna Onwuamaegbu Ugwu will share her side of the story with the world. This, to me, is not a mean feat but something to share with others. By Amaka Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Kenya becomes the second African country to roll out 5G Credit to Associated Press

obile network operator Safaricom has launched a 5G network in Kenya, making it the second country in Africa to roll out the technology. The company has started the rollout in four towns, and expects to expand it to nine over the next year. Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa described the launch last month as “a major milestone for the country.” The telco is implementing the project using technology from the Finnish company Nokia and the Chinese company Huawei.

tech innovation, many observers will be on the lookout for potential new use cases that Safaricom could develop for Africa’s unique challenges and customer needs. 5G’s faster speeds bring fiber optic-like connectivity to homes- a broadband connection that can reach speeds of up to 940 megabits per second. This would be a game changer for African businesses and schools that do not have access to fiber-optic internet, especially in

MTN and Vodacom launched 5G in South Africa last year. Telecommunications companies in five other African countries- Gabon, Lesotho, Nigeria, Uganda, Egypt and Morocco are conducting internal trials for 5G, meaning it’s not yet available for public use. While the new development makes Kenyans early adopters of 5G in Africa, questions remain over investor and market readiness for mass use of the technology across the continent. As a result, widespread adoption of 5G in the region, while a promising prospect, may be far-off. 5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. It offers data speeds up to 100 times faster than 4G and lower latency (the delay an instruction for a data transfer and its actual transfer). It can also support up to 1 million connected devices per square kilometer, compared to up to 100,000 for 4G. Safaricom’s introduction of the technology in Kenya is “an important step in Africa’s 5G journey,” says Kenechi Okeleke, the lead author of a 2019 report on 5G in subSaharan Africa by GSMA, an organization representing mobile network operators worldwide. “This move will draw a lot of attention to the potential of 5G in the region and the benefits it can bring to society,” he tells Quartz. The initial focus will be on how 5G will enhance broadband connectivity for Safaricom, says Okeleke, director at GSMA’s research arm, GSMA Intelligence. However, he adds, given the company’s track record in

a post-Covid-19 world where activities including work, learning, and entertainment are increasingly happening online, Okeleke says. The technology could enable new and existing technologies such as artificial intelligence and the internet of things—the interconnection via the internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects— to have a transformative impact on business processes, helping drive productivity and efficiency, Okeleke says. This has the potential to spark innovative solutions, particularly in extractive sectors such as mining and oil and gas, he adds, and help financial services and logistics sectors in the continent. Currently, only 3% of the world’s mobile phone connections are on 5G (Asia is in the lead, with 5% of mobile connections on 5G). But GSMA Intelligence estimates that by 2025, 5G will likely to cover a third of

the world’s population. It will take some time for Africa to catch up. Currently, around 51% of Africa’s mobile phone connections are on 3G, and GSMA Intelligence believes that it will remain dominant, with 5G connections making up only 3% of total mobile connections in Africa by 2025. South Africa’s 5G connections account for less than 1% currently. Despite the expected growth and excitement over the potential of 5G in Africa, there are concerns about investor and market readiness for the technology. The investment outlay for 5G is very high for mobile phone networks, Okeleke says. Phones that can connect to 5G are also very expensive for consumers; the average selling price for 5G phones in the US last year was $730.

Uptake of 5G may also be slow, since 4G is enough to meet people’s data needs for day-to-day use. AI and VR, the strongest use cases for 5G because of the speed and lower latency it offer, aren’t yet common on the continent. Still, Okeleke expects the need for 5G will grow quickly. “As these things become more commonplace in the region, then we are likely to see that stronger demand for 5G services in a way that saw that strong demand for 2G services in the early 2000s,” Okeleke says. “And it is that demand for 5G services that will improve the economics of investments into 5G networks.” axi driver for as long as possible.

“We love what we are doing and it’s really fun,” said founder Kobusingye, an occasional driver herself. “I can’t wait to partner with every woman out there that’s willing to be part of Diva Taxi.”

Malawi to destroy thousands of expired Covid vaccines - Minister

ore than 16,000 doses of vaccine have reached their expiration date and will be destroyed in Malawi, after arriving in the southern African country three weeks later than expected according to the health minister. Of the 102,000 doses sent by the African Union (AU), some 16,400 were not used and expired according to Mr. Charles Mwansambo as he addressed the press. Of the total 530,000 doses received in the country via the Covax program, the Indian government, and the AU, all of which are AstraZeneca vaccine, 46% have been used so far, he said. “We have used most of the vaccines sent by the AU. When they expired, there were only 16,400 left that had not been used, which will now be destroyed and thrown away, to avoid any medical complications” he told the press. Since the first vaccinations in March, Malawi has only vaccinated 300,000 people out of the 11 million targeted, a target of some 60% of the population “to be sufficiently protected”, according to the minister. Chipiliro Chilinjala, 30 years old, met in a restaurant of the capital, drags his feet: “I take my time, many strange stories are circulating. I want to see the reactions of the first vaccinated people before I go”, he confided to the press. Sociologist Innocent Komwa confirms that the apathy to get vaccinated is likely due to the strength of conspiracy theories and misinformation: “In Malawi, we have a lot of adults who are stuck in the contemplative phase, who could use a little

push to make up their minds,” he says. “Unfortunately, the government and health officials have not done much to counter the fake news, the rumors, especially

around AstraZeneca in Europe,” he laments to the press. The immunologist Gama Bandawe fears the impact of these delays when the pandemic will regain strength, probably in the middle of the year, he believes. “We’re expecting peaks in the next six to eight weeks. We’re going to be in a situation where we really could have used these vaccines.”

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Tough Action:

Malawi President fires Cabinet Minister over COVID Funds & 19 officials arrested

alawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has fired his labor minister and arrested 19 officials for fraudulent use of funds meant to fight the coronavirus in his country.  The arrests came after an audit revealed Malawi officials used millions of dollars in funds

for their own expenses.  Political analysts say the firing was a heavy punishment to deter other fraud within the system. Malawi’s Labor Minister Ken Kandodo is the highest level official that President Lazarus Chakwera fired for misusing coronavirus funds in a swift reaction to the report and his action is causing a chain of reactions in the country. According to a government audit, Kandodo used less than $800 from the COVID fund for allowances during an October trip to South Africa with President Chakwera. The President did not defend the action as he did not personally authorize such spending. In a televised national address to the nation on a Sunday evening last month, the president said the firing, and arrest of 19 other officials, was to show that no corruption would be tolerated in is government and he is ready to deal with any other person no matter how placed you are in government. 22

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“Even though the minister has since returned the money, his usage of the funds means that the money was unavailable for its intended purpose when it was needed most. And I cannot have in my Cabinet any individuals who either spend money budgeted for one thing on something else or do not ask tough questions to ensure that the money they are spending on something was budgeted for that purpose,” he said. Visibly angry, President Chakwera warned that anyone connected to fraudulent use of the $8 million fund would face serious consequences. “So, I want all the thieves hiding in the civil service to mark my words: If the finger of evidence points to you as one of the thieves who stole COVID money for saving lives while hundreds of our people were dying of COVID, you are going to prison,” President Chakwera said. A Malawi police statement released on that same Sunday night said those arrested would face charges, including “theft by a public servant,” and could be

Sacked Labour Minister, Ken Kandodo

punished with hard labor if found guilty. Despite the small amount of money the Minister took and Kandodo’s refunding it, critics of corruption say his firing sends the right message. Blantyre International University political science lecturer, Sheriff Kaisi says it should help to deter official fraud which has been rampant in Malawi for a long time. “What has happened is commendable job that the president has begun. But to me it’s an indication of the huge task that befalls the president to accomplish what he has just started as far as this fight against corruption and malpractice on government resources is concerned,” he said. In February, Malawi’s president fired 28 heads of district councils for abuse of the $8 million COVID fund. According to reports, more investigation are ongoing and more people may be sacked or bring before the court of law for justice to be served in corrupt practices. In a satirical reaction to the President of Malawi’s video address which has gone viral on the social media, One Abdul Jimoh

Uganda, Tanzania sign oil pipeline project agreement 1,440 km crude oil pipeline will be constructed from Uganda’s Albertine region to Tanzanian seaport of Tanga after Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and his Tanzanian counterpart, President Samia Hassan Suluhu last month signed the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project agreement. “The EACOP Tripartite Project Agreement has been signed by all parties with commitment for realization of the Equal project; for the benefit of all people of Uganda and Tanzania in the spirit of East Africa,” said Sam Kuteesa, Uganda’s foreign minister. The agreement, signed in the Ugandan capital Kampala, paves the way for the construction of a 1,440 km crude oil pipeline from Uganda’s Albertine region to Tanzanian seaport of Tanga. Extraction will take place at two oil fields: the Kingfisher field,

wrote on Facebook, Can Malawi borrow Nigeria is President for two years. In reaction another reader, Armstrong Okobia opined that two years is too short a time for the damaged done to Nigeria already but he should be lease to Nigeria for two decades. It is hoped that Nigeria President Buhari is watching his counterpart in Malawi on how best to wage war against corruption and indiscipline in government.

which is operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd, and the Tilenga field, operated by Total S.A. Uganda last month suspended the signing of the agreement to mourn the death of then Tanzanian president John Pombe Magufuli. The $3.55 billion pipeline could be the longest electrically heated crude oil pipeline in the world. Once completed, more than 10,000 job opportunities will be created during execution, according to Suluhu. Environmental activists say the project poses risks to protected environments, water sources and wetlands in both the countries due to C02 emissions from the burning of oil through the pipeline.

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Tribute: Kasimawo LalokoA Football Voyage

his was the title of the book I co-author with my dear friend, Charles Nwagbara and also published by a company of my dear friend, Lanre Rufai of Logicdata Publisher limited, Lagos, Nigeria. This book was done in the early years of our journalism training and it stands for me as a reflection of who truly Laloko was in his life time. A man that came much longer ahead of his generation- he was Mr. Football. He loved the game with a crazy passion and he did all he could to promote youth football. He believed in the young talents and catching them young as the best approach to grooming a winning and success football. He was well known for his coaching skills at secondary school level, his strict disciplinarian approach made him not so successful at coaching club level teams. His life was a voyage with ups and downs, full of controversies but made a good contribution to Nigeria and Africa football. No surprise after my book, this began to accelerate for him, his dream project – a football academy picked up superbly with the sponsorship of Pepsi. He established the Pepsi Football Academy in Lagos November 1992 which produced talented footballers who went on to represent Nigeria. Although he did struggled with the change of name from Kasimawo Laloko football Academy to Pepsi Football Academy; for the interest of the sports and his lads, he had to let go his name and adapted the new name. Coach Laloko was not the shy type of person at all, so whenever I needed news item for my publication, he was readily available to grant you an exclusive interview that would make headlines, he loved to talk to the press. Our relationship grew further into a family affair as he engaged my dad, Samuel Iruh as a technical staff because of his coaching experience with youth at the training center in Agege Stadium; this employment helped my dad greatly to overcome his early retirement from his career and he would worked further more into his 70s. They became good friends, exchanging home visits even after I left for Europe. Later on, he also gave my younger brother, Victor Iruh an employment as a physical trainer with the Academy before he immigrated to United Kingdom. Laloko was family to us and many people didn’t understand how we got on well with him. His life got busier when he was appointed Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Director and he had to move base to Abuja. He did a lot traveling between Abuja and Lagos. He continued to ensure that the Academy gets its attention and that the young footballers also got attention. Many of them got good

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football contract after going through the academy, some made it into other professional leagues in Africa and the Diaspora. Laloko was truly a legend in his own right. Just two years ago, I ran into him in Abeokuta, his home town and we did discuss a follow up on the first book as his CV is completely full now and we could make a movie, documentary of international standard and allow his legacy to live on. It was a common dream we shared but unfortunately, Covid-19 short down every plan until the sad news to me that Kashimawo Laloko has died. I immediately reached out to his first son, Adewale Laloko who did confirm his father’s passing away. Physically Laloko left us but the voyage continues and we have not heard the last of him yet. My prayers and thoughts are with the children, the extended family, and the students of the Pepsi football Academy and to Nigerian Football in general. Many have crossed his path and they all have different memories of him. Adewale revealed that his 76-year-old passed away after a brief illness, not related to COVID-19. I knew that because he had other medical challenges but he never allowed it to slow him down. He has since been buried at his Gbonagun residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State. Among those discovered by the Academy are Mikel Obi, Osaze Odemwingie, Soga Sambo, Elderson Echejile, Joseph Akpala, Yinka Adedeji and many others who enjoyed football scholarship to go to the United Kingdom of studies and training. The late Laloko was a national and international football coach, a teacher of Latin and all round sports personality, mentor and trainer. He was a great disciplinarian, a philanthropist and a dedicated Egba notable High Chief who until his death was the Parakoyi of Egbaland. He was a coach of the Gambia national team. (I will share that experience on a later date where we met again) The late Laloko was also a distinguished old boy of the famous Abeokuta Grammar School, Abeokuta, Ogun State. I salute you, Coach Kasimawo Abdul-Hafis Pius Laloko

COLUMN

Column:

THE DIGITAL DETOX By Eva Nakato

In this age and era, the internet has become part and parcel of our day to day lives. From how we do our office work to how we connect with our family and friends, one surely can’t miss out on the various platforms within it. Social media, also known as the ‘darling’ of the net, has reinvented how we interact with our family and friends, some of whom we met virtually. Social media has also drawn celebrities closer to their fans more than ever before. Conversely, social media has also birthed to numerous celebrities who would never have been known had it not existed. It is also through social media that most people now get insights on current affairs. It is also the greatest source of ‘fake’ news. Overtime, while people seem to be so connected on the internet, the reality on the ground is that most of these people are very lonely in the physical world. They seem to be more attached to the gadgets and devices that link them to the internet than real people. This is the point of addiction. Social media can get destructive if not used wisely. And, where there is addiction, destruction is bound to happen. What then do you need to do in such a scenario? When confronted with an alcohol addition, for example, your therapist will advise you to stay way from alcohol. You could in addition be advised to drink lots of water so that your body can easily flush the toxins out of your body. The above approach can as well be used in a scenario where one is spending lots of unproductive time on the internet. For now, let’s use the phrase ‘digital detox’. Digital detox refers to a period of time when a person refrains

from using tech devices such as smart phones, computers, tablets, and social media sites. By practising this, one could focus on real-life social interactions without distractions. Research has further suggested that people who have decided to limit their use of social media tend to be happier than the

others. Several people have found relief in practicing the digital detox and quitting social media. There are plenty of other reasons to give yourself the much-deserved break from Social media in addition to the ones we highlighted above. You might be underperforming at your day job simply because you spend more time running in between your numerous social media accounts/handles. Do not wait for a warning letter from your boss. Take a break from social media. We see you posting photos of yourself while at work, home or even during a vacation. This is perfectly. However, sharing too much information about your private life gravely endangers your privacy and security. Do the needful! The bullies and the trolls are always waiting to make those mean comments towards you. These are the equivalent of vampires always waiting to suck your blood at the slightest opportunity. How long will you keep fighting them? Now that your private life is all over and the cyber world is aware of how ‘rich’ you are, some of the ‘sharp’ guys can’t wait to have a share of your hard-earned money. They will present to you some really ‘juicy’ deal that you won’t have to think twice before making a financial transfer to their account. Anyway, you will have to thank God if you ever get to recover your money. Worse still, many young people have been victims of sexual assault due their presence on social media. In an unfortunate incident, a young woman was lured through her Facebook account, taken advantage of and infected with HIV! I could go on and list several other dangers of over relying on the internet. In whatever stage of our adult life, we need to take charge of our surrounding and not vice versa. We should strive to use the internet cautiously and not let it ruin our lives. One way you could smartly use the internet is by frequently practising digital detox to enable you assess and re-evaluate the relevance of internet to your life. So, have you ever attempted to take a break from the internet/ social media? How would you describe the experience? Or, would you consider taking a leave from the internet/social media for a while? Why? My mail box is open! Eva Nakato is a Ugandan based writer and she wants to read from you so write her through

info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com

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YOUR COPY NOW.... Getting to know you written by Pastor Elvis Iruh Pastor Felix Asare wrote the foreword

BOOK REVIEW Pastor Elvis Iruh’s new book is out…… Title: “Getting to know you” - A book on marital steps with information about marriage Author: Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh About the book Whether you’re preparing for marriage or want to enjoy a deeper union with your spouse, this guide will help you enjoy a relationship built on solid Christian values. Pastor Elvis Iruh is a licensed minister with Victory Outreach International. His book highlights simple principles that are often taken for granted. Learn how to: • get to really know a love interest before deciding to marry; • avoid mistakes that lead to divorce; • appreciate the sanctity of marriage;

partners can carry out with each other as well as guidance for pastors and church leaders who may need help in advising couples. This guide will help couples enjoy marriage that is built to last. ***** About the Author ELVIS IRUH is a native of Delta State, Nigeria. He attended numerous schools in Nigeria, including the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Lagos, Nigeria, before continuing his studies in Europe and earning a degree in theology from Victory Education & Training Institute. He worked for several media organizations in Nigeria as well and has been the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Voice news magazine since August 1999. He is serving as an associate pastor at Victory Outreach Almere, The Netherlands. The book can be used for educational purposes as well as educating your children on the subject of marriage. He is also available to speak on related topics covered in the book at any organized event or church activities. He is open for collaborative efforts to strengthen marriage institutions worldwide. It is a mission he has dedicated himself to helping the younger generation to talk and address the challenges they face in building good and solid relationships which could end up in marriage. You can purchase the book in Holland via his website: www.elvisiruh.com or through his publishers’: www.authorhouse.com/ Elvis Iruh or on www.amazon.co.uk via this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/ aw/d/1665580844/ref=ox_sc_act_

• forgive your partner when they make mistakes. Before you think of getting married, you should take the necessary steps to really get to know your partner. Your past should not contain any surprises - and your values must be aligned. This revealing book is filled with practical exercises that

image_1?smid=AHRB2OK2Q2YCL&psc=1 You can contact him directly through any of his social media handle for your questions or comments, he would look into it and respond would be sent to you accordingly. Email: info@elvisiruh.com or elvisiruh@gmail.com

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Column: THE AFRICAN PROMISE -Tiny Little Particles By Nicholas Jimmy (Jimmie Nicks) In my March and April articles on “MY SPACE” and “HER VOICE SHALL BE HEARD” I touched a few aspect of thing hindering the desired Africa majority of the people would wish to have today. In this aspect I did mention the need for corrupt free environment in government especially o n billions of dollars borrowed from IMF and World Bank- a debate which Kenyans took online creating a discussion across social media, local and international Radios and Televisions. It’s this discussion and efforts of Kenyans to safe their country from monster politicians that takes me/ us to our next discussion on the little contributions each can do to not only voice out but contribute to the economy - Tiny Little Particles. Africa for a long time has kept her faith and hope in political leaders. Often than not their faith has been endless from lost hope from exiting governments to renewed hope on incoming governments - with exception of a few, nothing has changed. This endless need to see, to have and to taste the “THE AFRICAN PROMISE” is the only thing that has kept electorates casting their votes after every few years not to mention paying taxes and supporting community projects and institutions in hope for a better Africa. Failure to adequately support small micro enterprise has been the biggest failure of the political class in my own opinion. While small businesses which are the true source of revenue are heftily taxed, most government officials are exempted on such taxations and instead rewarded with high allowances in addition to great salaries which strain governments on

keeping up with the salaries of regular workers. Regardless of these setbacks, the African spirit is strong, her people continue to relentlessly work on small businesses, saving, educating and raising their families. It is this little effort by individuals from grass root micro enterprises which would build Africa. Africa will be built brick by brick, step by step, the world may not see it coming now but it is coming very soon. The once illiterate society is slowly becoming more literate and taking in growth and development at small but noticeable paces. Looking into Mobile Banking as an initiative originally birthed in Africa and many more initiatives one can only accept not to under estimate her potentials. Africa will not be built by one man speaking from top of white house/state house or capital, Africa will be built by individual people and cooperates operating from grassroots together. Talk of that farmer, that artist, that teacher (the tiny little particles). The hope of Africa is not in WORLD BANK or INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, these are global institutions in business with our governments and I tent to believe that they are in business of making profits at the detriment of the common people. The African governments should now turn their focus to where their revenues come from – the local businesses and people. The individuals contributing taxes each day to keep such governments operational. They might be small invisible particles but - these tiny little particles (small small individual efforts) are what will build Africa.

“Nicholas Jimmy (Jimmie Nicks) is a graduate with B. A degree in Integrated Community Development, since his college days, he has continued to champion community programs on capacity building and eventually founding United Global Volunteers International, with twelve years of experience as an expert in Community Development, he is also the Founder of Kollywood Horizons - media Business, he also organizes World Volunteer Day (WVD) every 5th of December in Kenya, creating awareness on the need to grow volunteer culture and helps community institutions to get free experts & volunteers to assist solve community problems while experts get opportunity to re-learn and get exposure through various programs across targeting Grassroot capacity building. Jimmy has been awarded by Kenyan government (2010) receiving Good Samaritan honorary award presided by the then speaker of national assembly, Hon. Kenneth Marende. He has also been awarded by Daystar University as the youngest servant leader impacting communities” 32

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Remembering the Duke of Edinburgh’s award in South Africa

rince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral took place on Saturday 17th April 2021 at Windsor Castle. Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband of 73 years, at the age of 99, just few months shy of his 100th birthday. Philip is remembered for his work with some 780 charities and organisations, particularly his Duke of Edinburgh Award, which seeks to build confidence and resilience in young people. In South Africa, the award was re-launched as The President’s Award in 1994. And it’s still benefiting young people to this day. For the many young people in Orange Farm, a township 45 kilometres from Johannesburg, there’s not much to do after school. But for members of the Jabulile Arts and Culture Society, the all-female marimba class continues to run. Normally, these music lessons would take place at the nearby Jabulile Secondary School, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, they’re taking place outside a local home. The society, which has been operating for the past 11 years, is part of The President’s Award, an initiative empowering young people between the ages of 14 and 24. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation oversees the award programme in over 130 countries and territories globally, with 18 countries in Africa. The award was re-launched as The President’s Award for Youth Empowerment in 1994 with former President Nelson Mandela as its Founding Patron-In-Chief. Over the past decade, more than 60,000 young people in South Africa have developed themselves through the programme. “It’s an amazing, life-changing, non-formal education programme that empowers young people with various universal skills, such as leadership, teamwork, confidence, being able to adapt to new environments,” says Palesa Matuludi, head of development for the organisation. “All those soft skills that are required that are not necessarily attained in a classroom.” After the marimba, the young girls change into their traditional Zulu dance outfits. They sing, chant, and dance, much to the delight of curious young onlookers.

Sinehlanhla Mthethwa has been dancing here for the past six years and has dreams of starting her own group in the future. “I want to take my dance far from here, I want to open my own group and give people the knowledge that I have from dancing,” she says. “It has helped me gain more skills and it saved me from being involved in things such as substance abuse, drug abuse, and alcohol abuse.” Thiert-four-year-old Karen Melaphi is a choreographer, who also teaches the marimba. He’s an alumni and began his involvement with the programme 16 years ago. “I have a passion for transferring skills to young people to develop young kids so that they cannot do wrong things around the street because nowadays, most people are smoking drugs in terms of youth, they are getting pregnant, so I teach them arts and culture, discipline and respect through arts and culture,” he says. Nkateko Mabaso from Alexandra Township is another alumni. She’s been involved with the programme for ten years. She says it has changed her life. “It assisted me with confidence, it has assisted me with gaining strength, physical strength, because I had to do the physical journey, just like everybody else, and it didn’t limit me,” she says. “I always thought positively, and that’s why I’m still involved because I can see that it wasn’t just about getting the certificate and badge, but it was about the life skills and being equipped to be the person that I am today.” “As an organization, we are quite saddened by the loss of his Royal Highness, but we also, celebrate the life and the hope that he gives to millions of young people across the globe and in South Africa through the support of the International Award Foundation that oversees the work of the award in over 130 countries around the world,” says Matuludi. As the sun sets, there’s a small crowd gathering outside the home where the marimba and dance classes have just finished. Young men, dressed in orange and white outfits, are ready to showcase their latest Pantsula dance moves. Traffic is brought to a standstill for an impromptu concert. They hope it might inspire other young people to join in the fun.

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A Belgian hospital cut off Ajima Ogbole’s Cervix. Then they paralyzed her Sister-in-law, Susan

Susan (Left) during the pregancy with her sister-in-law

hen a surgery went wrong at Belgian hospital AZ Sint-Jan, Ajima Ogbole’s desire to birth a child was thwarted, prompting her sister-in-law to act as a surrogate. But Susan Ogbole, the surrogate, became crippled after giving birth at the same hospital. With one unable to ever carry a pregnancy and the other potentially unable to ever walk again, the Nigerians are tossed around in Belgium, the hospital unwilling to take responsibility for the traumatic, lifedefining alterations to their lives. This story seem from a movie script but it is a true life experience and ordeal two families are going through right now in Belgium and they are appealing for worldwide concern and attention to their plight. Hours after the surgery to remove fibroid from Ajima Ogbole’s uterus was completed at the Obstetrics and Gynecology unit of AZ Sint-Jan Hospital in Bruges, Belgium, she woke up believing that the obstacle she was told could prevent her from having a child had been surmounted. But she was wrong; her cervix was amputated during the surgery. Problem compounded.

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Susan Ogbole hale & healthy during the pregancy on her feet

In early 2017, she had been diagnosed with uterine fibroid by doctors in Belgium. According to Ajima’s medical report, translated from Dutch, a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan confirmed the presence of multiple subserosal fibroids – grows around the uterus. It is “without signs of complications”, the report stated. Before Dr. Van de Vijver performed the surgery to extract the fibroid in November 2017, Ajima was prescribed medications to reduce the size of the fibroids. The surgery was successful; about 13 fibroids were removed. THE TRAUMATIC POST-RECOVERY JOURNEY During a post-surgery checkup in January 2018, an MRI scan was done, but the cervix, a tiny passageway linking the uterus to the vagina, was not found. “I checked and I think it is blocked. We’ll need to put an Intrauterine Device (IUD) to keep the hole open,” Ajima said, recalling what the Belgian doctor told her. But when she returned to the hospital few weeks later, expecting to have an IUD insertion, Dr. Van de Vijver, without prior notification, performed laparoscopy, a diagnostic medical procedure to

A cry for Justice from Belgium Authorities the surgery, Ajima said. About five weeks later, she had her period in severe pain and blood did not flow out of her vagina — it flowed backward. The professor told her that the retrograde menstruation puts her at risk of endometriosis (which causes pelvic pain) and slim chances of cancer if her body continues to absorb the ‘bad blood’. She was given two options: continue taking medications to hold off her period or remove her uterus. The professor then examined her reproductive system with a medical device hoping to find a bubble, which would mean that there was a connection between the vagina and the uterus. But he did not find it. The complexity of the situation became clear when Ajima and her Belgian husband talked to the professor. “What the doctor asked me to do can never be done,” she recalled in tears. “A cervix has never been successfully recreated medically.” Even if one was re-created, there were risks: when pregnancy becomes heavy, there could be a tear. Or there could be other complications, including infections. He warned her to not allow anyone cut her open; as such efforts would be “trial and error”. ‘YOU CAN’T GET PREGNANT AGAIN’ “In fact, he said I couldn’t get pregnant naturally or artificially This is Susan before she was delivered, everything because the connection between my cervix and my vagina seem okay with her was gone and that my best option was surrogacy,” she said. examine internal organs such as the uterus and the cervix. Ajima returned home that day, switched off her phones for She was deceived; her right as a patient to not receive treatment she did not give informed consent to was breached! “They put me under anesthesia and when I woke up, I had four holes on my tummy, which was a laparoscopy and I didn’t know at the time,” she told the press. “I remember asking my husband if IUDs were usually sewn on the skin and from inside of the uterus. For me, it was strange.” THE FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR HER CERVIX She did not know the complexity of her situation when the doctor informed her that her cervix could not be found. Medical report described her cervix as “sharply altered”. Ajima was subsequently referred to a professor After delivery, the baby is okay except for the mother of Gynaecology at UZ Leuven, an academic with pains and yet they did nothing to assist her hospital, who could re-create her cervix. At UZ Leuven, before agreeing to help her, the professor said three weeks and wept. “I never believed that this was what he would take her off the medication Dr. Van de Vijver had my life had turned into. I knew I wanted kids more than I placed her on to cease menstruation. The professor thought it wanted to get married. The possibility of becoming a mother was strange that the doctor kept her on the medication after had been taken away from me,” she lamented.

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Together with her husband, she travelled to Nigeria to be with her family. While in the country, she sought opinions from two experts in Abuja and Plateau State. Both told her to forget about getting pregnant. MENSTRUAL HAPPINESS After six months of waiting, another professor of Gynaecology who specialises in reconstructive surgery at the University of Ghent performed a laparotomy used to diagnose or treat abdominal health conditions on her. But it was unsuccessful. Ajima had been told the chance of success was slim however she still tried. “By chance of success, he (professor) didn’t mean to get pregnant, he meant to successfully re-create the hole that connects to the vagina first so that I can at least have my period and then try to see if they can help me get pregnant. So, when I was told that it was not successful, I could not cry; Susan being helped out of her bed because she could no longer use her legs, not able to stand on her feet again for over a year now I was just numb.” Two weeks later, she decided to take up the professor’s offer to try Although commercial surrogacy is not illegal, it is in a another reconstructive surgery. After the procedure, she legal grey zone area; there is no law that protects parties had her period. “I never knew I would be so happy to see involved if issues such as filiation and nationality occur. my period again,” she said. Also, hospitals regulate themselves, consequently Her period flowed for three months and then it gradually possessing the freedom to arbitrarily decide whom to take stopped and began spotting (A period is spotting when on as surrogacy candidates. The best option for Ajima there is hormonal fluctuation and bleeding is lighter than and her husband was the United States, but it was too a normal flow). expensive for them after all the spending on medications FOUR SURGERIES IN TWO YEARS and medical bills. The four surgeries she had within two years still cause a A glint of hope came when Susan, the wife of Ajima’s lot of discomfort to her entire being. She said: “At a point, younger brother and a mother of two children aged three I recovered physically but internally, I still feel pains. and five who was moving to Belgium to study at the Free I am not in a good place mentally, psychological and University of Brussels, agreed to be a surrogate for the emotionally. I can’t fully perform my matrimonial duties couple. Susan’s husband consented. as I am always pained, bruised or with blood.” But their perfect plan was set back when hospitals in Ajima’s career as an architect, fashion designer and Belgium, including the one where the cervix error was entrepreneur has also suffered greatly. Her plan was to made, would not accept Susan as a surrogate. Ajima said shuttle between Belgium and Nigeria because of her that they were worried for the safety of the child whose business, but surgeries and constant visits to hospitals nationality at birth would also be Nigerian. have made that impossible. They had to travel to Nigeria for the IVF treatment, In Belgium, having a child through a surrogate is not easy. including embryo creation and implanting in Susan. It was 36

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successful, so they returned to Belgium. Everything went “When this resident was giving her, the ombudsperson in the smoothly except that during the first trimester, she was ill hospital said that the supervisor told her she was there but was many times. not putting on gloves. She just stood aside. It is like giving a FROM CHILDBIRTH TO PARALYSIS resident a heart surgery to do and you are standing there and After birthing a healthy baby at AZ Sint-Jan Hospital on watching; any little thing can ruin somebody’s life,” she said. the morning of October 15, 2020, Susan lost control of both When her epidural was taken out after she gave birth, legs. The family was traumatised and abandoned by the same Susan could not stand without being supported. “I can’t hospital where Ajima’s cervix was mistakenly amputated. feel my legs,” Ajima remembered Susan crying out. The Susan made two requests during one of her visits to the doctor anaesthesiologists and neurologists found nothing. By the before the baby was born: a caesarean delivery and a general third day, Susan could not feel anything from her waist down. anaesthesia – a medication that would make her unconscious. She had become paralysed. She had always been scared of an epidural. ‘AFRICAN BACTERIA’ — THE ‘CONSPIRACY’ TO The Belgian COVER-UP A MEDICAL doctors agreed to a ERROR caesarean section, Susan’s medical report, seen but advised her by the FIJ, described the to choose an pregnancy as uncomplicated epidural because but medical staff described her they wanted the situation after giving birth as a baby to be awake complication. Family members when she was are accusing the hospital born or she would of covering up the medical be taken to the error that resulted to Susan’s neonatal intensive paralysis. “They claimed care unit. Susan it was an African bacterial agreed reluctantly. infection because they don’t Her medical have that particular bacterium report showed in Europe,” Ajima said. “It that she was didn’t make sense because given a combined Susan had been in Belgium for spinal epidural about a year. To cover what anaesthesia — they did, they pumped her with local anaesthetic antibiotics but she is still unable is injected near a to walk. They could not even spinal cord and provide the name of the African nerve roots to bacteria.” block pain from She said a US-based an entire region of anaesthesiologist told her that the body such as if it was a bacterium, it shows the belly, the hips negligence because it suggests Susan visited by her husband, allowed just one month and the pelvis. that either the equipment or visa by Belgian Embassy in Nigeria Ajima said that her mother, her back, where the epidural went who is a nurse and midwife, through, was not properly sterilised. discouraged Susan from taking epidural, as there could Suspicious of the Belgium hospital, the family sought second be problems if improperly done. One of the problems is opinion from a retired professor of anaesthesiology. temporary or permanent nerve damage, which may be caused “If it was a bacterium infection, Susan would have gone by direct damage to the spinal cord, infection in the area near into coma, would have had high fever and would have been the spinal cord or accidentally injecting the wrong medicine hallucinating,” Ajima recalled the retired professor writing in the epidural catheter. in an email. Susan cried and writhed in pains during the epidural Despite disagreeing with the hospital’s diagnosis that Susan procedure, as Dr. Van Laere Freya, an anaesthesiologist who became paralysed because of a bacterium infection, the was supervised by Dr. Geertrui Delrue, prepared her for professor was silent on the question about whether a nerve surgery. Ajima told FIJ that Susan was given the anaesthesia was hit. In fact, he told the family that he would not grant a by a resident in anaesthesiology. request to give an opinion if the issue goes to the court. Continued on Page 38 www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Continued from Page 37 Susan’s family disagrees with some details in her obstetric Before Susan’s transfer to the hospital at the University report by AZ Sint-Jan Hospital. The claim that Susan had of Ghent, AZ Sint-Jan ran some tests and reported on the postpartum fever was denied. “The doctors used claims of evening of December 18, 2020 that she had Covid-19. She fever as a pretext to pump antibacterial into her system in was moved to the coronavirus floor. Susan’s family felt it order to cover up what they did wrong,” Ajima claimed. was a plot to infect her with the disease because two previous GRAM STAIN TEST REVEALS THERE WAS NO tests done within 10 days came back negative. After pressure BACTERIAL INFECTION from her family, she was transferred to Ghent. The report revealed that she was given two antibacterial PARALYSED, THEN DENIED FAMILY SUPPORT BY medications and one antiviral medication. “But even if it’s a BELGIAN AUTHORITIES bacterium, as she’s been pumped with antibiotics for more Since Susan’s childbirth process went wrong, Ajima, who than two weeks, Susan should be on her feet now, four months still experiences aches from the four surgeries she has had after,” she said. Also, a gram stain test done on the fluid in less than two years, had been left with caring for the baby from her spinal cord, post-birth, showed that no bacterium and providing support for her sister-in-law. Her mother-inwas present. The law would have come anaesthesiologists to help; two children who operated on who had not seen their Susan stopped mother for over a year checking on her would have visited but after the family the Belgian government raised concerns to denied them visas. Ajima the hospital, FIJ was said the reason was told. They claimed concerns that they might that because they not leave Belgium, as had been accused they had applied for of racism and family reunion. causing Susan’s However, Susan’s paralysis, attending husband was issued a to her would be an one-month visa instead admission of guilt, of the one year multipleAjima said. entry visa he applied for Dr. Van de Vijver, to enable him visit his the gynaecologist wife as many times as who made Ajima’s possible. In a mail, the medical error and country’s ministry of operated on Susan, interior told the family later distanced that the one-month visa himself from the issued was a “favour”. A family. Susan’s letter from the hospital family believes that stating that Susan would he was instructed to need support from her stop seeing them. family was brushed “It was the closest aside. hospital to us,” The Kingdom of Ajima said when Belgium’s Foreign asked why they Affairs, through its Mrs. Susan Ogbole is now permanently on a wheel chair needing Advisor, Barbaix returned to the same assistance to do anything and yet no support from the Belgian hospital after what Kristiaan, citing privacy authorities happened to her. “And reasons, did not tell FIJ why we did not believe that a the Ogboles were denied mistake would happen again because the doctor who made visas. The Belgian Embassy in Nigeria gave the same reason the mistake asked to be given another chance.” for not answering questions from FIJ. Ajima said that some staff of AZ Sint-Jan said they were SURGEON ASKS BEDRIDDEN SUSAN TO ‘COME TO sure that the medical team that operated on her sister-in-law MY OFFICE’ made an error and they were doing everything to cover it. The hospital did not give the Ogboles an official explanation 38

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for the fatal results of the treatment of two members of a family. Instead, it directed them to talk to its insurance firm. Ethias, the hospital’s insurer, assigned Dr. Goegebuer, an orthopaedic surgeon, to evaluate Ajima’s gynaecology case and Susan’s suspected anaesthesiology and neurology situation. Dr. Goegebuer asked Ajima whether she had a cervix before the surgery, if she was in the country legally and what she did for a living in Belgium. The initial conclusion that the amputation of her cervix was a complication was later

reviewed to medical error after Ajima contended it. However, negotiation for compensation continues to drag on, as both parties could not agree on a fee. In a letter to Susan, seen by this magazine, Dr. Goegebuer instructed her to come to his office to “hear your story and to determine the physical damage”. But her lawyer, in response, said that the doctor did not review Susan’s file because if he did, he would have known that she was immobile. “Since December, when he said he would go to the hospital to meet her, he has not gone. Our lawyer wrote him three times, but he did not respond,” Ajima said. WHY AN EPIDURAL CAN GO WRONG When FIJ contacted Meysmans Saartje of Ethias, he said the firm does not comment on medical treatments. “This is forbidden in respect to privacy,” he explained. However, a medical expert who did not want to be named told FIJ that the removal of subserosal fibroid is not difficult. “So, for the cervix to be cut during the surgery, that worries me,” he said. “However, it depends on the location of the fibroid. It is possible that it happened while the doctor was removing the fibroids close to the cervix.” He noted that Dr. Van de Vijver went against the ‘universal law’ of the profession when he performed a surgical procedure on Ajima without informing her of details such as what would be done and why. “You are not supposed to cry and complain of pains during an epidural. It means the needle went amiss,” the expert said about Susan’s reaction to the procedure. “The skin is usually anaesthetised so that as the epidural is done, there won’t be pain.” He agreed that something was not right with the epidural

anaesthesia she was given, but noted that the tiny epidural needle, even if it hits a nerve, “will be transiently traumatised and the nerve will recover”. “It is not supposed to paralyse a person for a long time,” he added. The medical expert explained that surgeries, even those that are seemingly not risky, could go wrong at any time and that allegations of negligence would require in-depth investigations. But no investigation will occur with the hospital and its insurer ignoring the family. “In a medical process, you may do harm while trying to do good; it is not intentional. When issues like this happen, we can only hope that people will speak the truth and live up to the scrutiny of their good conscience if they have anything like that,” he concluded. NOT THE FIRST TIME There are many cases of life-altering medical errors in Belgium. Most times, victims do not get justice because medical workers are treated like ‘demigods’ who cannot be questioned. The country’s health system is structured such that medical workers are shielded from being held responsible for errors that occur while performing their jobs. Left unprotected, medical error victims bear the brunt of this system. The system gives medical workers the impression that even when they do tawdry jobs, they will get away with it. And they do get away. FIJ got reports of two other people who are victims of medical errors in Belgium. In one case, a woman who was given an injection became paralysed; she subsequently died. In the other, a woman’s legs were mistakenly amputated at a hospital in Bruges. The woman is currently seeking other victims of medical error to fight alongside her because on her own, she cannot afford the legal costs, with Belgium’s health system positioned to protect medical personnel from being held accountable for on-the-job errors. AJIMA OGBOLE’S DEMANDS Ajima wants Susan, who can’t travel, to be reunited with her family in Belgium because of her condition and medical attention she requires now to live. She also wants the hospital to apologise and take full responsibility for the fatal results of the treatments she and her sister-in-law had. And she wants the Belgian health system to be overhauled to protect other patients. “If it happened to two family members in the same hospital, then we are hundred percent positive that it’s not just us,” she said. “It’s not just about us, but people coming after us as well as the people before us who didn’t get the justice they deserved.” The family needs your support to continue to protest their case and treatment until they get the right justice deserves in this case. Courtesy of Foundation for Investigative Journalism By Adeola Oladipupo To make personal contact with Ajima Ogbole Spittael & Susan Ogbole Tel. No: +32 468 20 75 47 justice4ajima.susan@gmail.com www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Akon City 2: Akon Unveils Plan to Build Second Futuristic Cryptocurrency City in Uganda

nother futuristic cryptocurrency city will be built in Africa, Senegalese-American star Akon has announced. The government of Uganda will make land available to him for the construction of the new crypto city. The akoin cryptocurrency will be used in the city, similar to how it will be in Akon City, the $6 billion “real-life Wakanda” that is currently being constructed in Akon’s home country. SECOND AKON CITY TO LAUNCH IN UGANDA Senegalese-American star and philanthropist Akon, whose real name is Alioune Badara Thiam, announced last week his plan to build a second futuristic cryptocurrency city in Africa. Its home will be in Uganda. His first crypto city, Akon City, which costs $6 billion, is being built in his native country of Senegal. Akon described it as a “real-life Wakanda,” comparing Akon City to the technologically advanced fictional African city in the blockbuster movie Black Panther. Akon’s new cryptocurrency city has the backing of the Ugandan government. Isaac Musumba, Uganda’s Minister of State for Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, said at a press conference last week that the government will find suitable land of one square mile or larger for Akon to build the new crypto city. The minister elaborated: A place suitable in Uganda that has not-less-than one square mile will be made available to him and his team so he can

harness resources and investments, attract investors, manage the project, and have a city. According to local media, the new crypto city will use Akon’s own cryptocurrency, the stellar-based akoin, similar to how it is planned for in Senegal’s Akon City. The Akoin cryptocurrency is already being used in Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) in Kenya as a pilot for Akon City. “We’re going to use exclusively akoin by the end of 2021,” Julius Mwale, the principal investor of MMTC, said in November last year. When Akon was asked about whether Ugandans will be able to afford to live in the futuristic Akon City, the singer replied: “I know if I put it there, they’re going to find a way to afford it because it’s going to motivate them … Ultimately, when you create an opportunity, people grow with that opportunity, people learn with that opportunity, people are motivated with that opportunity.” Akon also shared his bigger vision, emphasizing that “the continent is our goal.” The singer elaborated, “To build the continent, we need to unite as a people to make this thing happen,” adding: My true calling is to develop Africa, whatever it takes. As for the crypto city in Uganda, he noted that “The idea is to utilize all the resources that we built throughout the years and try to rebuild the country.” Specifically, he detailed: “We will be having some professionals that we plan to fly into Uganda that can train the locals and I think one of the things that we miss out in major countries is the access of information and we need to be properly trained not only just in construction but also the management of the property and then the maintenance of the properties.” The construction of the crypto city in Uganda is scheduled to be completed in 2036. Akon concluded: We’re hoping that everything works the way it’s supposed to work but as we move forward with all the support necessary, I think this is a very achievable goal. By Titus Seruga

“My true calling is to develop Africa, whatever it takes.” - Akon

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Akon receives a good reception in Uganda over his dream city for Uganda

resident Museveni has said his government will identify land to enable Senegalese-American musician Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam alias Akon to set up investments in Uganda. Akon and his wife Rozina Negusei who were on a four-day visit to Uganda last month visited the president and the First Lady, Janet Museveni at their country home in Rwakitura. According to a statement from State House, the president had a fruitful meeting with the Senegalese singer, cum investor as they discussed a number of investment opportunities in Uganda. “During the meeting at the president’s countryside home Rwakitura in Kiruhura district, attended by the First Lady Janet Museveni and the Minister of Education and Sports, the president shared with guests many areas of interest and value of the untapped natural resources for investment in the country; many of them with rare natural scenery on the globe,” the statement said. “The president told the investor that to put investment interests in motion in a short period, government would spot land for him preferably in central region districts or Kalangala district islands.” Musician cum entrepreneur, Aliaune Akon Thiam alias Akon completed his two-day excursion in which he interfaced with the Pearl of Africa has to offer in terms

of natural endowment. Having first visited Queen Elizabeth National Park, Akon together with wife, Rozina Negusei completed the excursion with a visit to the Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park, known for gorillas. Donning Uganda Cranes jerseys, Akon and wife enjoyed the tracking but were on several occasions seen panting, courtesy of the jungles they went through. Despite hiking on a muddy day, Akon was amazed by the rare opportunity he got to get an up-close and personal shot with the Gorillas, he excitedly referred to himself as “the papa of Gorillas” after his wife Rozina Negussei wished she could adopt the baby Gorilla she had seen. By Titus Seruga

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Tanzanian President lifts ban on media

President Suluhu Hassan Many media outlets barred from operating in Tanzania mainly for criticizing former government Media houses in Tanzania that had been closed, banned or denied licenses to operate by the former government will now be allowed to reopen, the county’s president announced on Tuesday. In a move hailed as a positive future for press freedom in Tanzania, President Samia Suluhu ordered the Information Ministry to lift the ban on media outlets mainly for criticizing the former government. Speaking at the State House in the capital Dar-es-Salaam, Suluhu said that as long as the media respect law and guidelines, they will be allowed to operate. “I am told you revoked licenses of some media outlets, including some online television stations. You should lift the ban but tell them to follow the law and government guideline,” the president ordered the ministry. The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), the country’s media regulatory body, has in the past tightened the noose on press freedom in the country. According to a report by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Tanzania became “increasingly authoritarian” after John Magufuli became president in 2015. None of the 180 countries ranked in RSF’s World Press

Freedom Index has suffered such a precipitous decline in recent years. COVID-19 task force Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu announced that her country will set up a COVID-19 task force to deal with the disease. “On the issue of COVID-19, I think I should form a committee of experts to look at it professionally and then advise the government. “We cannot isolate ourselves as if we are an Island, but also we cannot accept everything brought to us,” daily The Citizen quoted Suluhu as saying. The late Tanzanian president, John Pombe Magufuli, who died on March 17 at the age of 61 had urged Tanzanians not to observe measures put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, declaring the disease eradicated from his country. He urged Tanzanians not to seek COVID-19

vaccines and just to inhale herbal-infused steam to protect themselves from the disease, including the coronavirus. His administration also refused to share data on COVID-19 infections since May 2020, prompting nations from across the globe to warn their nationals against traveling to Tanzania, citing a high risk of contracting the disease. www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Historical Knowledge to Defeat the Pandemic By Lotte Jensen, Beatrice de Graaf, Rina Knoeff, Catrien Santing, translated by Anna Asbury

hose trying to solve the current coronavirus pandemic cannot do so with a purely biomedical and technical strategy. Four Dutch historians make the case for a multidisciplinary approach, taking into account the social, cultural, economic and psychological dimensions of society. History serves as a toolbox in this aim, as we derive lessons and insights from the past which we can still use today to defeat the pandemic. In the summer of 1849, countless big events all over the

Netherlands were cancelled due to an outbreak of cholera. In a great many cities, the annual funfair was not permitted to go ahead, as the chance of spreading the disease was deemed too great. Amsterdam’s entrepreneurs were not content to leave it at that, and they protested, drawing up a petition in which they noted their main objections: in their view, the measures were in conflict with the law and the result of bad political strategy. Now that they had no turnover, they were threatened with mass bankruptcies. They also believed that the people were suffering, as they needed these kinds of festivals to remain ‘in good humour’. The Amsterdam entrepreneurs’ appeal

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dates back to 1849 but their arguments are all too familiar today. The longer the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictive measures last, the more interest groups make their voices heard. Just take a look at the Dutch website petities.nl, where anyone can start their own petition. From owners of hospitality businesses, gyms and museums to yoga instructors, university students and music schools: many sectors have since started a petition in which they demand a relaxation of the measures. The situation is clear: what began as a medical crisis has now expanded to become a social and political crisis of unprecedented proportions. As we previously argued in NRC Handelsblad, navigating our way out of this crisis requires a broad, multidisciplinary approach. This is what is known as a ‘wicked problem’, one in which the solution becomes part of the problem. In this case, the short-term saving of lives (by applying harsh measures) leads not only to financial malaise for large sectors of society, but also to a disproportionate sacrifice of healthy years in the longer term. The closure of gyms, for instance, leads to inactivity and overweight, while the closure of education results in loneliness and suicidal thoughts among students and young people. Besides the insights of virologists, we therefore

also need knowledge from other disciplines, such as economics, psychology and cultural studies, to emerge from the crisis in a balanced fashion. That is all the more important, as we are dealing with a ‘slow-onset disaster’, a silent killer. It also means that after applying the medical miracle, the vaccine, the crisis will not magically be over, as the social consequences will be perceptible for a long time to come. Without wishing to dismiss any part of the contribution of medical and other specialisms, we argue for better use of historical knowledge in the collective battle against today’s coronavirus crisis. Historians, after all, have deep knowledge of societies and epidemics. The past is effectively an accessible reservoir of knowledge and experience that can be instructive for the future. Of course, every crisis is bound by its culture and its era, but recurring patterns can be discerned, from which we can distil a few valuable insights. We mention four here. Firstly, history shows that epidemic diseases cannot be described from a purely medical perspective, but that they are uniquely social occurrences. The way in which people react to diseases, the political and social interventions, the reporting in the media and the search for moral and social causes for outbreaks are socially, culturally and historically determined. This point is clear from two impressive works offering an overview of the subject: Epidemics. Hate and compassion from the plague of Athens to AIDS (2018) by Samuel Cohn and Epidemics and Society. From the Black Death to the Present by Frank Snowden. Both authors point to the need to place epidemics in a broader social and historical context and not to view them as purely medical problems. New infectious diseases, for example, are systematically coupled with thinking in terms of scapegoats, political unrest and social reform movements. In view of these social dimensions, Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet claims that Covid-19 should not be termed a pandemic but a syndemic, emphasising the fact that a pandemic is not exclusively a medical issue, but that it is also embedded in a broader social and ecological context. Secondly, historical research shows that pandemics

remarkably often follow the same course. In a 1989 article the historian Charles E. Rosenberg compared the course of an epidemic with a play in four acts. At first just a handful of suspicious cases crop up, but as the disease spreads faster, social unrest grows. Besides going in search of medical and social explanations, people also assign scapegoats who are presumed to have causes the crisis. The unrest then culminates in a crisis, which is also political in character. Invariably riots and protests break out, as forms of social discontent or inequality come to the surface. A known example is the cholera riots in Hamburg in 1892. Residents of deprived areas were furious because the city authorities had neglected to better organise the city water supply. Thirdly, an epidemic is extinguished gradually. In Rosenberg’s words, ‘Epidemics ordinarily end with a whimper, not a bang.’ He is referring to the famous poem The Hollow Men (1925) by T.S. Eliot. With his verses, the American-British poet expressed the collective emotions of futility and depression with which many soldiers and civilians struggled after World War I. To sum it up: an epidemic might end from a medical perspective, but the psychological and social disruption leaves deeper marks. Interestingly the Dutch Association of Mayors recently drew up a letter commenting on the question of how mayors can take the lead in dealing with bereavement in this extraordinary time. The Association points out the great importance of collective mourning – particularly now that many people have had to say goodbye to their nearest and dearest differently from normal. For that very reason, it is important throughout the crisis – and that is the third insight – to pay attention to the issue of a sense of purpose and mental resilience. The past reveals countless rituals to give meaning and coping mechanisms, which are also relevant for dealing with the current crisis. We single out one of them here, namely the cultural forms of resilience. Historical research shows that cultural media (stories, songs, sermons, processions, pictures and charity concerts) had many functions. They not only offered an outlet for emotions such as fear and uncertainty but also provided Continued on Page 48 www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

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comfort and meaning because they connected people. In particular, the disaster song genre fulfilled this role: singing and mourning together offered comfort and hope. Authors and artists also encouraged a sense of community: they aimed to increase solidarity among citizens by heightening empathy with victims and organising acts of charity. They focused on the question of how the community could come through it as a whole. During the various cholera epidemics (and other catastrophes) an impressive number of citizens’ actions took place, targeting general recovery. The local newspapers also encouraged people to help one another. A wide variety of actions was organised. For instance, in 1849 a race in the seaside town of Zandvoort raised 300 guilders for those in need there. During a charity concert in Rotterdam, 250 people performed to help the community. It is precisely from this that we can draw an important lesson for the current crisis: culture is indispensable for increasing psychological and social resilience. Stories, poems, music, theatre and other art forms offer a medium in which people can escape, reflect and mobilise. For that very reason it is also important in times of crisis to continue to invest in culture in the broadest sense of the word. A fourth and final historical insight is that humanity will always have to deal with new infectious diseases, that risks can never be 100% offset and that we will have to learn to live with the idea that every human being is mortal. Governments currently like to talk about exitstrategies, as if there were a clear, straight line out of the crisis. They make use of ‘dashboards’ showing at what ‘R number’ or reproduction number cinemas and theatres can reopen. Such infographics seem to appeal to our modern urge for control, but more importantly, they suggest that interventions are determined purely by biomedical data. This mechanism is also expressed in the ‘toolbox’ on which Dutch politicians greedily draw to bring the virus under control. It must first be dealt a blow with a hammer, after which society must learn to dance with it. The ministers derive this imagery from the engineer and publicist Tomas Pueyo, who published the very influential article ‘The Hammer and the Dance’ in March 2020. In it he introduces a series of ‘basic dance steps’ which governments should

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follow to navigate the crisis as efficiently as possible. Among those dance steps he counts matters such as social distancing, contact tracing, hygiene education and banning large events. Pueyo presents a technocratic, top-down approach in which interventions are purely biomedical in character. If we can learn something from the past, then it is that such a top-down, biomedical approach does not sufficiently do justice to the complexity of the current crisis. It would be far better to speak of adaptive strategies. Of course the vaccine will help us, but in order to find the right exit strategy it is also essential that we pay attention to social, economic, psychological and

cultural dimensions of societies. We therefore argue for the development of an alternative choreography, in which social and cultural coping mechanisms also play a role. History can function as a toolbox in that process.

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Tanzania’s new leader acknowledged the pandemic and promised more civil rights.

ith five words we should ensure they — “Let us have follow the rules,” she a stance” — said. Tanzania’s new president in a Those who suffered speech appeared to welcome a under Magufuli’s new era in which the country’s crackdowns on free government acknowledges the speech and opposition pandemic and in which civil politics say Hassan’s rights might be broadened, words won’t mean fueling both hope and much unless backed up skepticism that she will roll by actions. back some of her predecessor’s “We need quick policies. action, especially Samia Suluhu Hassan took when it comes to over last month when John the pandemic,” said Magufuli died of complications James Mbatia, the from heart disease. He was an chairman of NCCRardent pandemic denialist, and Mageuzi, one of many of his critics allege that Tanzania’s opposition he, like thousands in Tanzania, parties. “The three died of the virus even though most important people the government has released in government were no data on its spread since last present at the speech April. this morning, and no Health officials outside of one had a mask on. Tanzania have warned that I still think they are high percentages of recent not serious about this cases among Tanzanian pandemic.” President Samia Suluhu Hassan: Takes a new approach travelers indicate the That kind of symbolic country has been experiencing an uncontrolled outbreak, indication of intent would go a long way, he said. It was only including of the most mutated of all new variants found one of numerous indicators in Hassan’s speech that gave by researchers. The country has not implemented any critics pause. On the issue of media freedoms, for instance, containment measures. Hassan’s caveat that media must “follow the rules” caused Expectations are high for Hassan, who was formerly the some to doubt whether free speech was really in the offing. vice president, to reverse course on Magufuli’s health Those rules are highly restrictive, said Muthoki Mumo, policies, which included the rejection of vaccines and led to a sub-Saharan Africa representative at the Committee to threats of Tanzania’s being isolated from the international Protect Journalists. If media houses can reopen but not report community. Opposition supporters and rights activists also on issues of their choosing, the move would be hollow, she hope Hassan will try to rebuild Tanzania’s democratic said — especially when there are still journalists in jail and underpinnings, which they say Magufuli nearly obliterated others who have been missing for years, including Azory during his five years in power. Magufuli had shut down Gwanda, who reported on a string of police-related killings. newspapers and websites, created financial barriers to “There is a big problem in what she said because the laws starting new publications, and jailed journalists and of the land, many of them are deeply problematic for the dissidents. media,” she said. “When questions such as what happened In Tuesday’s speech, Hassan gave one indication that to Azory Gwanda are still hanging in the air, there is still a she aimed to open up some freedoms by calling for a question mark.” reinstatement of the licenses of media houses that had been Within Hassan and Magufuli’s CCM, or Revolutionary banned. Party, some were more effusive in their welcoming of the “We should not ban the media by force. Reopen them, and change of tone. The CCM has been in power for decades and

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Magufuli, critics alleged, had created a more sycophantic kind of politics, in which dissent from within his party was unheard of. In death, as in life, Tanzania’s Magufuli polarized his country There were exceptions. Hamisi Kigwangalla is an outspoken CCM member of parliament and used his status as a physician to underpin his pleas for greater transparency and action against the coronavirus under Magufuli. On Tuesday, after Hassan’s speech, he said he felt vindicated by her words. “I find the statement by her excellency very much pleasing and forward looking,” he said. “In the first place, we need to change our direction from withholding information and now starting to issue statistics and conduct research on so many facets of the pandemic here in Tanzania and move in the direction of vaccination.” But Hassan did not provide any such details in her speech; she announced plans to create an expert coronavirus task force to advise her government on the pandemic. Two of Magufuli’s fiercest critics, the journalist and activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai, and the opposition leader Tundu Lissu, said they would consider Hassan an extension of Magufuli’s rule until she proves otherwise. “What we really need is systemic change,” said Sarungi, whose Kwanza TV station was shut down twice under Magufuli. “Presidential decrees became laws of the land. As long as that stays the case, we’ll be at the mercy of whoever is in charge.” Deeper democratic reform, which includes the writing of a new constitution, is part of what Lissu is waiting to see

before he returns to Tanzania permanently. He went into self-exile in Belgium after a bruising presidential campaign against Magufuli last year in which he was repeatedly arrested. In 2017, during a previous campaign, he was shot multiple times in what he says was a politically motivated

assassination attempt. “Now that she is the president, she must tell us, she must tell the world who was behind these assassination attempts against myself, who was behind the killings of villagers, of fisherfolks, of peasants and pastoralists around our national parks, who was behind the abduction and disappearance of political opponents and media critics,” he said. “If she does that, I will feel very comfortable and return home.” Bearak reported from New York.

Death how can you be so cruel to take Catherine Barinua from us.

Your death occurred on my birthday, 9th April 2021, few months short of your 42nd birthday on 6th July. Spoke with you in February, assured me that you were doing well not knowing that was our departing chat. You had dreams, big dreams for your children, now you will not physically witness their success in life. You laboured for them but you didn’t stay to eat the fruit of your labour. You left families and friends in shock and just wondering why now? Well to God be the glory for the quality time we spent together at Miss Blossom Beauty Pageant. At Global Alliance doing business. Your smile never depart you. Rest on Catherine, no one can harm you again. You find your rest. R.I.P www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

In Empty Amsterdam, Reconsidering Tourism after pandemic

efore Covid-19, the city was packed with visitors. Now efforts to rein in the expected post-pandemic crowds are ramping up, but not without controversy. When international travel came to a halt last year, Amsterdam like cities everywhere was drained of tourists almost overnight. The effect, according to Sonia Philipse, the owner of the restaurant Lavinia Good Food, was both surreal and serene: Without the crowds, her city was quieter and more beautiful than she had ever seen it. “At this point we’re missing our tourists again,” Ms. Philipse said recently. “But I think there was a moment of really big joy in getting our city back.” It’s a tension that Amsterdam has been trying to navigate for years: how to embrace its status as a vibrant, international hub without making the city unliveable for its residents — and without letting go of its famous, free-spirited roots. Now, with visitor numbers still low, Amsterdam’s leaders are trying to introduce important new restrictions on short-term vacation rentals, sex tourism and cannabis sales to visitors; all in an effort to ensure that old problems stemming from tourism don’t reappear when visitors return. The measures make Amsterdam one of Europe’s frontrunners in taking a hands-on approach to managing tourism. But even as many locals may be enjoying the current quiet in Amsterdam, many also disagree with some of the city’s tactics. The complaints from Amsterdam residents started to crop up in 2013, when tourism had fully bounced back from a downturn following the financial crisis of 2008. Locals said that tourists were being loud and disruptive in the city center; disrespecting prostitutes; occupying short-term vacation rentals that drove up housing prices; and taking over some of the city’s most beautiful, historic areas. Visitor numbers grew steadily every year from then onward — 2020 excepted — and the pressure of all of those tourists continued to escalate. In 2019, a record-breaking 21.7 million people visited Amsterdam, a city with a population 52

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of about 870,000. “You see this tipping point where the visitor economy causes more harm for the locals than it adds value, and then you’re in an unhealthy situation,” said Geerte Udo, the director of Amsterdam&Partners, a nonprofit, government-supported organization that manages tourism in the city. “We need to change everything we have on offer in the city center if we want to bring the balance back to living, working and recreating,” she said. Before the pandemic, city leaders had already put in place

a number of measures to try to mitigate the problems stemming from tourism, including a ban on guided tours of the Red Light District; a ban on new hotels in the city center; an increase in the tourist tax; and a ban on new shops that cater to tourists. As early as 2014, Amsterdam stopped promoting itself as a destination in new markets overseas. Instead, the city’s marketing organization worked to guide and manage all of the visitors who showed up in the city. But even with those measures in place, tourism continued to grow, and the rising numbers attracted attention. By 2019, news articles decrying surging tourist numbers mentioned Amsterdam, alongside Venice and Barcelona, as a prime example of over tourism in Europe. Since the pandemic hit, Amsterdam’s leaders led by the mayor, Femke Halsema have continued the push to regulate tourism, with a strong focus on the Red Light District, an ancient part of Amsterdam’s city center and a huge magnet for tourists. On a typical Saturday night before

the pandemic, the district, known as De Wallen, would have been heaving with young men going from bar to bar perhaps stepping into sex shops or coffee shops or eyeing scantily clad prostitutes posing in their windows. Several Amsterdammers interviewed for this story said that they would never consider visiting the neighborhood at such a time because of the rowdy, crowded scene. “The public space is dominated by facilities that are almost all redolent of sex, drugs and drink,” Ms. Halsema wrote of the historic city center in an official letter to the city council in July 2019. “Constantly increasing numbers of visitors, misconduct, a shrinking retail mix, rising property prices, commercialization of public space and criminal subversion all call for measures to be taken.” n the same letter, Ms. Halsema proposed four scenarios for the future of sex work in the Red Light District. (Prostitution is legal and regulated in the Netherlands.) One of those scenarios - the relocation of sex workers to a “prostitution hotel” elsewhere in the city has recently attracted the support of a majority of city council members. The proposal has not been fully approved, however; further discussions are scheduled this summer, a spokeswoman for the city of Amsterdam said. Another headline-grabbing proposal from the mayor’s

office would make it illegal for visitors to buy cannabis in Amsterdam’s coffee shops, which are concentrated in the Red Light District and which have long been popular with tourists. The potential effects of such a move are currently being studied, the spokeswoman said. And last summer, in response to complaints about the

rise in home sharing, the city imposed a complete ban on all short-term vacation rentals in three neighborhoods in the city center, including the Red Light District. The ban was overturned in court earlier this month, but city officials are now working to find a way to reimpose the measure legally, the spokeswoman said. Amsterdam has also joined more than 20 other European cities to advocate stricter rules on vacationrental platforms at the European Commission and in the European Parliament. The measures are in line with the Dutch hands-on approach to tackling problems, the city’s deputy mayor, Victor Everhardt, said, adding that, while the pandemic had not shifted the city’s course of action, it may have accelerated its pace. Amsterdam residents have high expectations for city life, and politicians aren’t afraid to push through new measures, Mr. Everhardt explained — even if some of those measures may end up being challenged in court. “We’re just moving ahead and dealing with the problem,” he said, adding: “There is no silver bullet.” But some of the proposed measures have proved controversial. The idea of relocating sex workers, for instance, is widely opposed by those who work in prostitution, said Irina, a spokeswoman for PROUD, a union of about 300 prostitutes across the Netherlands. “The problem is not with the prostitutes. We’ve been in the same area for centuries,” said Irina, who declined to share her last name, citing privacy concerns. “The issue is the exploding number of tourists coming to Amsterdam, and they’re coming for a whole bunch of reasons.” Irina noted that the government’s Project 1012; an initiative that closed more than 100 sex-worker windows in the Red Light District over the past decade had done nothing to ease the neighborhood’s overcrowding or reduce disruptive behavior. Instead of focusing on prostitutes, she added, the government should put more police officers on the streets and ramp up the enforcement of existing rules against public urination, public drunkenness and disturbing the peace.

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cream parlors and “Nutella shops,” which serve takeaway waffles and other treats smeared in the hazelnut spread, mainly to tourists. Meanwhile, rising housing prices due, in part, to the rise of Airbnb and other vacation rental platforms have made the city center unaffordable for many locals. This monoculture has been thrown into the spotlight over the past year, Ms. Udo said, adding that she had been struck by how deserted the city center has felt during the pandemic, especially compared to other parts of Amsterdam. “That was a real eye-opener,” she said. “There are not enough people living there and working there to get this liveliness back in the neighborhood when the visitors are gone.” Alongside the restrictions proposed by the mayor’s office, city officials and some residents have also tried softer approaches to tackling the problems associated with tourism, some of which were rolled out with success before the pandemic. One critical strategy has been to try to reach visitors before they even arrive. Amsterdam’s Enjoy and Respect campaign, which launched in 2018, targeted the primary source of the behavior problems. Dutch and British men between the ages of 18 and 34 with messages about the fines they could incur by urinating in the street, littering or getting drunk in public areas. A subsequent survey showed that the messages had reached at least part of that audience, but measuring the campaign’s effectiveness has Mayor of Amsterdam, Femek Halsema wants life back in Amsterdam proved to be a challenge. To ease overcrowding in the center, Amsterdam&Partners has been encouraging visitors Dutch Cannabis Retailers Association, said that the proposed to explore other parts of the city, such as Amsterdam Noord, ban would force visitors to buy their cannabis on the street, where a former industrial shipyard hosts flea markets, music where they are more likely to be taken advantage of; it would festivals and outdoor movie screenings in the summer. In also damage Amsterdam’s reputation as an international city, Nieuw-West, visitors can sample local nightlife or stroll he said. around Sloterplas Lake. But even if such areas are successful “If people have experienced a lot of disturbance from tourists in attracting visitors, it can be difficult to get substantial in the city, then of course you have to look at where that numbers of tourists to move away from the most popular disturbance comes from,” he said. “Usually, it’s guys being spots. loud on the street and being drunk and those aren’t typical “People often arrive with a lot less orientation and coffee shop people.” understanding of where they’re visiting than we imagine, and Support for the prostitutes and coffee shop owners was echoed hence they end up in the same city-center neighborhoods,” in several interviews with Amsterdam residents, including said Peter Jordan, head of insights at Toposophy, an agency Roy Van Kempen, a 31-year-old marketing manager who has that has advised Amsterdam&Partners. “That happens in lived in Amsterdam since 2008. cities everywhere and it happens in Amsterdam.” “Paris has the Eiffel Tower, and we have the Red Light District The Red Light District and other neighborhoods between and this idea that everything is possible in Amsterdam. And I the city’s Central Station and Dam Square tend to attract would like to keep it like this, actually,” he said. the biggest crowds, Mr. Jordan said, as well as the areas But Irina, Mr. Helms, Mr. Van Kempen and half a dozen other immediately around major attractions like the Rijksmuseum Amsterdammers interviewed agreed that the city center has and the Anne Frank House. Of these, he added, the Red Light a major problem: A tourism “monoculture” has taken root, District faces the biggest challenges. and residents are being pushed out. Businesses and services Elena Simons, one of the leaders of Amsterdam’s Reinvent that used to cater to locals — high-quality bakeries, butcher Tourism movement, is working to find new and constructive shops, and the like have been replaced by trinket shops, ice- ways to engage the city’s tourists. Ms. Simons is also one of Sex workers “are being scapegoated, together with the coffee shops, for causing the problems which we are not,” Irina said. The mayor’s recent proposal to forbid Amsterdam’s coffee shops from selling cannabis to non-Dutch residents has similarly attracted opposition. Tourists and locals who frequent the city’s 167 licensed coffee shops come to relax, socialize, maybe play a board game and smoke cannabis, which is decriminalized for personal use in the Netherlands. Alcoholic drinks and hard drugs are not allowed. Joachim Helms, a coffee shop owner and spokesman for the

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the authors of “The Untourist Guide to Amsterdam” and the co-creator of a project that allows tourists to “marry an Amsterdammer for a day.” This alternative tour, which launched in 2019, is a four-hour experience that starts

with a fake wedding (rings, gown and flowers included)

and includes a personalized jaunt around a lesser-known part of the city. The point of such efforts, Ms. Simons said, is to find ways for tourists to make meaningful connections with Amsterdam residents, and even to have a positive impact on the city — whether by weeding at an urban farm or joining a weekly litter cleanup. The organization’s work was cut short by the pandemic, Ms. Simons said, but she is optimistic that interest will pick up quickly when visitors return. However, with Covid cases on the rise again in the Netherlands and many other European countries, it may still be some time before travelers from outside the Continent are able to visit. Mr. Jordan, the tourism analyst, said that other European tourist destinations that are dealing with similar challenges could learn a lot by studying Amsterdam’s experiences. “Something that I admire about Amsterdam is that they’ve been prepared to be honest and show that they recognize what the issues are and very visibly take steps to deal with it,” Mr. Jordan said, “because other cities haven’t necessarily got that far.”

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US lifts Trump administration’s sanctions on top ICC prosecutor

ormer United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo had imposed sanctions after Fatou Bensouda launched investigation into alleged war crimes by US military in Afghanistan. However, the new administration of President Biden has lifted sanctions and a travel ban imposed by Donald Trump’s administration on the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, calling for a more cooperative relationship. The former secretary of state Mike Pompeo last year imposed sanctions and refused visas for the outgoing prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, after she launched an investigation into alleged war crimes by US military personnel in Afghanistan. The court in The Hague further irritated the US by opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories by Israel, a US ally which rejects the authority of the court. Pompeo’s successor, Antony Blinken, said the United States continued to “disagree strongly” with the moves. “We believe, however, that our concerns about these cases would be better addressed through engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process rather than through the imposition of sanctions,” Blinken said in a statement. He said that both the sanctions and visa bans against Bensouda

and her staff were being lifted. “I trust this decision signals the start of a new phase of our common undertaking to fight against impunity” for war crimes, said Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, the head of the Association of States Parties to the ICC, in a statement. 56

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The Gambian-born prosecutor is leaving her job in June and will be replaced by British human rights lawyer Karim Khan, who now can open his work without the burden of looming

sanctions. The US has not joined the ICC, which began operations in 2002 after enough countries ratified the treaty that created it, claiming that the court might be used for politically motivated prosecutions of American troops and officials. But the removal of the sanctions was the latest signal that the Biden administration is intent on returning to the multilateral fold. The Trump administration had unapologetically removed the US from numerous international institutions and agreements and harshly criticized others, including the ICC, deeming them flawed and working against American interests. Since Biden took office, his administration has rejoined the World Health Organization, re-engaged with the UN Human Rights Council, returned to the Paris climate accord and started talks aimed at returning to the Iran nuclear deal. Trump had pulled out of all five. Human Rights groups applauded Biden for throwing out Trump’s sanctions but called for Biden to go further, by supporting the court’s work and making the US a member country. Two sets of sanctions were imposed on Bensouda and the court’s head of jurisdiction, Phakiso Mochochoko, the first being a travel ban on Bensouda in March 2019, and then 18 months later a freeze on any assets she and Mochochoko may have in the US or US jurisdictions. The second round also made giving the pair “material support” a potentially sanctionable offense.

CBK woos Kenyans abroad with investment incentive Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is looking at developing a framework that will offer special incentives to Kenyans abroad who set up businesses back at a home. Governor Patrick Njoroge says the findings of a survey the bank ran on Kenyan diaspora and recipients locally will inform the development of a facilitative policy that encourages increased targeted direct investment flows by citizens living and working abroad. CBK partnered with the Foreign Affairs ministry and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in conducting a poll on the diaspora between January and March 2021. “There are all sorts of ways that the Kenyans out there could be supportive (to economic development), not just making investments in government securities and other assets like equities,” Dr Njoroge said. “They can set up shops here; they can have direct investments … as has happened in other countries like India, not just portfolio investments.” Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) says about three-quarters

of remittances, however, go into family support such as school fees and medical bills. Shem Ochuodho, the KDA global chair, insists this could be reversed in favour of direct investments if the citizens abroad were offered incentives such as tax rebates.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan talks fail to break Nile Dam deadlock

he long-running dispute over Ethiopia’s mega-dam is still going nowhere. But Sudan’s Prime Minister has invited his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts for a closed meeting discussion which we gathered offers a glimpse of hope. It comes after talks hosted by the African Union between Cairo and Adis Ababa failed to reach a binding agreement over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the filling of its vast reservoir. Ever since construction began in 2011, Egypt has regarded the dam as an existential threat to its water supplies, while Sudan fears its own dams would be harmed if Ethiopia fills the reservoir without a deal. “The case of the water issue cannot be solved through this. It will not be solved through war. At war, you don’t know the setting and the final destination. It is harmful,” said Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman

Dina Mufti. “We have to solve this in a modern way, through discussion, and a diplomatic manner, and this is a very thoughtful and useful way of thinking.” The statement said the planned summit will be held by videoconference. “Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok invited his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouli and Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed to a summit within two weeks to evaluate the negotiations regarding GERD,” the premier’s office said in a statement. It said Hamdok expressed concern the dam’s construction had reached an advanced stage, making “reaching a deal before the start of operation an urgent and pressing matter”. Last month, Ethiopia offered to share data with Egypt and Sudan, but the proposal was rejected by Khartoum and Cairo which complained of “fallacies” in the figures and an “unacceptable tendency” by Addis Ababa to take unilateral steps.

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Republic of Benin court approves Talon’s election victory

“T

he Republic of Benin’s constitutional court last month approved the provisional results of the recently held Presidential election giving President Patrice Talon a landslide victory after he faced only two little-known opponents. President Talon won 86.3 percent in the April 11 election that critics said was stacked in his favour, after a crackdown on

opposition leaders left most of them exiled or disqualified from running in the ballot. The court decision came shortly before another Talon opponent, Joel Aivo, one of those barred from running in the ballot, was taken in for questioning by police, one of his close associates said. The constitutional court said it had cleared the preliminary results and any appeals could be made in the next few days, after which it will approve a definitive tally of ballots.

he election on April 11, 2021 was regular, sincere and transparent,” the court’s president Joseph Djogbenou said. He confirmed results showing President Talon had received the absolute majority of votes and was reelected in the first round. President Talon, 62, appears free of major challenges for now, as his major rivals are sidelined in a West African country once praised as a beacon of multi-party democracy. After his election victory, President Talon took a hard line, vowing to crack down on perpetrators of pre-election violence during opposition protests that blocked roads in the centre and north of the country. Opposition leader Aivo was called in for questioning by judicial police last month though the reasons for the summons were not immediately clear but it is arguably to warn against any form of violence in the country. “I don’t know exactly when and why he was summoned, but right now he is at a hearing with the judicial police,” one of Aivo’s associates said. Judicial authorities did not make any immediate statement. Another Benin opposition leader who was barred from contesting the elections was detained last month as well. Reckya Madougou was arrested on accusations she plotted to undermine the election with terrorist actions, a charge her lawyer dismissed as politically motivated. In the lead-up to the election, two people were killed by gunfire. Five more were wounded last month when troops opened fire in the air with live rounds to clear an opposition protest blockading a major highway in the centre of the country. Government officials say security forces responded after they came under fire. Once hailed for its vibrant pluralism, critics say Benin has veered into authoritarian rule under President Talon with a steady campaign against his opponents. Some have fled Benin, while others were disqualified from running via election law reforms, or targeted for investigation by a special court critics say President Talon used against his rivals. Shortly before the election, a judge from the special court said he had fled the country denouncing political pressure to make rulings against President Talon’s rivals, including arresting Madougou. Government officials have dismissed those claims as political manipulation and accused exiled opposition leaders of trying to have the election suspended and bring chaos into a relatively peaceful country. www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Ajax condemns Super League plan, club says it is ‘very disappointed’

msterdam football club Ajax has issued a statement saying it is ‘taken aback and disappointed’ by the decision by 12 European clubs to form a breakaway Super League. Ajax had been mentioned as a possible partner in the project, which so far involves six English, three Spanish and three Italian clubs. ‘We thought we had found the solution with the so-called Swiss model, with more international fixtures for more clubs,’ Ajax chairman Edwin van der Sar, who had been closely involved in those talks, said. ‘We are very disappointed in the sudden and late turnaround that fellow directors of some top international clubs have made this weekend, with the result that a very uncertain period threatens the horizon of European football.’ European football body Uefa, football associations including the KNVB, supporters organisations and even prime ministers have criticised the Super League plans. Uefa president

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Aleksander Ceferin has made his anger at the breakaway clear, describing it as a ‘disgraceful and self-serving proposal from clubs motivated by greed.’ One option on the table is to ban players from taking part in international competition, a move which would see captain Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Mathijs de Ligt out of the Dutch team. However Ceferin has admitted this is unlikely to happen before the 2020 European championships kick off. Stab in the back Former Ajax and Dutch FA chairman Michael van Praag has described the move as a ‘stab in the back‘ given the announcement was made to coincide with the publication of Uefa’s own plans. He was particularly critical of Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, whom he described as a ‘common liar’ for telling Ceferin on Friday that he supported Uefa’s own reforms. Lawyer and competition law expert Ruben Elkerbout told RTL he is sceptical about the Super League plan. ‘It is controversial and has many similarities with cartel forming, given it is a closed competition,’ he said. ‘They have a big pot of money and they want to divide it up between them. It does not have much to do with sport.’ N.B. The whole idea has been proscribed and due punishment would be mended out to all teams who were engaged in the idea. Details next month. TV

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What Francis Ngannou’s UFC triumph means for Cameroonians

ride and joy in Cameroon after Francis Ngannou defeated Stipe Miocic to be crowned the new UFC heavyweight champion.

Christel Youbi would not miss it for anything. Like many others in Cameroon, she was determined to stay up all

Indeed, Ngannou’s victory means he is the first Africanborn UFC heavyweight champion, a title that has been described as belonging to the “baddest man on the planet” – welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and middleweight champ Israel Adesanya left Nigeria when they were children. The trios are all Africans making great wave in the martial art sport. It has been a long journey for the soft-spoken Ngannou who started working in a sand quarry at the age of 12, and then, in his mid-20s, embarked on a long and life-threatening journey from Cameroon to France – a trip he has described as “hell”. Ngannou crossed the Sahara Desert and spent a year in Morocco before entering Spain through the Mediterranean Sea. Upon reaching Spain, he was detained for entering irregularly and spent two months in custody before regaining his freedom and finally making it to France. In Paris, he was homeless until he found a fitness centre to sleep and start training. In 2013, he made his professional debut and two years later he was signed by the UFC.

night and watch her countryman Francis Ngannou takes on American champion Stipe Miocic in Las Vegas for the UFC heavyweight title. The mixed martial arts (MMA) bout was a rematch of a lopsided Miocic decision victory three years ago. But this time, things were different. Ngannou, whose knockout power is seemingly unmatched (he had won the previous four fights in a combined two minutes and 42 seconds), dominated the first round. And 52 seconds into the second, Miocic was flattened on the canvas and Ngannou was on top of the world. In Batie, where Ngannou grew up, dozens of people who packed a compound to watch the fight burst into a paroxysm of euphoria as soon as the 34-year-old landed a ferocious left hook to knock Miocic out. There were similar scenes everywhere Cameroonians were watching. “Great joy,” Youbi, who hails from Batie but lives in the coastal town of Limbe, told the press. “He is like a big brother of the village and I am very happy that he maintains the image of our village and our country at such a high level.”

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“When the journey is longer, the reward is always more appreciated,” Ngannou said after his victory last month. “This is just a symbol of dedication and perseverance,” he said of his championship belt. “Somebody asked me what I wanted to do with the belt. Maybe I will find a public place to put it in Cameroon for kids to look at and realise that anything is possible.” Ngannou’s humble background and charisma have won the

hearts of many in Cameroon. Former renowned footballers Roger Milla, a World Cup legend, and Rigobert Song Bahanak, known for his emblematic leadership in the Africa Cup of Nations, were among the Cameroonian celebrities who congratulated Ngannou on social media. Another big Ngannou supporter at home is Mireille Ngono, the local administrator for Batie. “I am proud of him,” Ngono said. “Nearly everybody knows him here: they saw him when he grew up, as a bike rider, a sand shoveler – [they] knew him in Batie when he had nothing,” he added. “When he comes here, he helps the youth in paving their future. He’s down to earth because he plays football with them, and also helps the administration in community tasks.” For Njie Enow, head of sports for radio at CRTV state media,

Ngannou’s triumph can help inspire children to take up combat sport in a country like football-crazed Cameroon, where basketball has also made inroads recently, thanks to the success of NBA stars such as Pascal Siakam, Joel Embiid and Luc Mbah a Moute. “This is a sport that does not have a federation in the country. A lot of people do not pay attention to it. But I hope that Cameroonian sportsmen and women can be able to tap from the resilience that Francis Ngannou has demonstrated,” Enow said. “It can be an opportunity for the country’s sports stakeholders to look at this sport. In Cameroon, the focus is on football, basketball and volleyball. Combat sports do not get the attention they deserve. “This is a zone where if state officials put some money, the spin-offs will be really immense,” said Enow.

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Kylian Mbappe transfer to England near certain

ylian Mbappe has made decision on Man Utd or Liverpool transfer but the deal is far from simple and there are still possible twist to the interest to sign the most exciting footballer in the game right now. Kylian Mbappe has reached a decision over his future, according to reports but it would be in England and not Spain or Germany where there are also interest in the footballer. Kylian Mbappe has decided he would like to move to the Premier League this summer, and views Liverpool as his ideal next club, according to reports. However, a deal to sign the Paris Saint-Germain superstar will be no easy feat for the Reds who are currently not doing well and not the same winning side two years ago. The future of the coach is also in doubt but it is all rumours for now. Mbappe seems likely to leave PSG this summer, reports suggest. The Frenchman is one of the hottest properties in world football and is expected to be one of the most expensive players ever. His contract at the Parc des Princes runs until 2022, and

reports suggest he wants out this summer. In order to avoid losing him for free on a pre-contract agreement in January, it has been suggested that PSG will look to sell him in the summer so as to recoup some of the £166million they spent on him. And according to Duncan Castles of the Transfer Window Podcast, Mbappe has his heart set on a move to the Premier League. While a move to Manchester United would interest him, he apparently wants to play for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool instead. Castles said: “He, as we have reported, is keen on moving to

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one of two leagues for the next stage of his career, either the Premier League where his preference I am told would be a move to Liverpool. “He likes Manchester United as a club, but his preference would be to work with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. “Or [he wants to move] to Spain; where Barcelona are an option, but obvious financial difficulties and Real Madrid have pursued him since before he went to Paris Saint-Germain.” Liverpool have been heavily linked with Mbappe in the past, with the player himself praising the club in public. But despite Mbappe’s apparent desire to move to Anfield, a move will be less than straightforward for the Reds. Real Madrid are also interested in the Frenchman, and are believed to be ready to go all-out to try and sign him. Los Blancos didn’t make any signings last summer, with reports suggesting they wanted to wait for this year in order to move for either Mbappe or Erling Haaland. And with Liverpool also set to go after a new centre-back, the chances of them being able to win a bidding war with Madrid are slim. Klopp himself has insisted he feels the club will make signings, but dismissed chances of a massive spend. He said: “I don’t think it is time for a massive rebuild like how I understand it. “The squad of this year didn’t have the chance to play together one time really. “I think it would make sense to have a look at that [problem] but on top of that, of course little readjustments will happen.”

Semenya wins 5,000m, falls short of Olympic qualifying time The two-time Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya retained her South African 5000m title last month in Pretoria with her best time over the distance, but still far from the Olympic minimum which means she would not make it to the Olympics. With three months to go before the Tokyo Games (July 23-August 8), the 30-year-old athlete clocked 15:52’28”, more

Dutch-born duo Luckassen brothers opt to play for Ghana Dutch-born brothers Kevin and Derrick Luckassen have opted to represent Ghana at the international level. A revelation made known to the Ghana soccer website and making news around Ghana. Kevin (27) and Derrick Luckassen (25), are brothers with Brian Brobbey, who, unlike his brothers, took his father’s last name. Kevin Luckassen, who is on the roster of Turkish Süper Lig side Kayserispor and Derrick, who is also on loan at Kasımpaşa from PSV Eindhoven have decided to commit their international future to the African giants and help Ghana to win laurels including the African Cup of Nations and probably the World Cup. Ghana coach Charles Akonnor has already approached their younger brother Brian Brobbey over a nationality switch although he remains committed to the Netherlands, play-

than 42 seconds off the mark required (15:10’) to go to Japan. She has until June 29 to qualify. She has to officially improve her time or else there would be no Olympics for her this year. Gold medalist in the 800m at the London and Rio Olympics, the South African will not be able to defend her title in Tokyo. She has a natural excess of male sex hormones and refuses any treatment to lower her testosterone level below the maximum threshold (5 nmol/L of blood) defined by World Athletics to compete with women over distances ranging from 400 meters to the mile (1609 m). Semenya has been fighting with World Athletics (ex-IAAF) for more than ten years but has already lost several appeals. In August, the Swiss Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the name of “sporting fairness”, thus validating the World Athletics regulation that defines a maximum testosterone threshold. On February 19, Semenya decided to take the case to the ECHR in Strasbourg, which did not specify when it would rule. The athlete initially planned to try to qualify for the 200m for the Olympics, but the battle with World Athletics was compounded by sporting considerations that led her to the 5000m. “I’m 30 years old and if I continued to run sprints, it would be a risk to my muscles. On the long distances, you have more time to achieve consistency,” said the three-time 800m world champion.

ing for Ajax Football club of Amsterdam. However, Kevin and Derrick have taken the lead in deciding to represent Ghana at the international level. “If my brothers have a problem with something, I try to help them,” Kevin

Luckassen said. “We are all very ambitious. Brian benefits from that. He has already seen what can come your way. Once he is satisfied, we will say there is still room for improvement. I think he needs that too. He’s the four of us the most shit about everything. “ Brobbey, who will join German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig in July 2021, is yet to make a decision on his international future.

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DONE DEAL: AJ vs Fury – 200 million pounds fight to hold before end of August 2021

nthony Joshua and Tyson Fury agree terms on heavyweight unification fight as Bob Arum claims ‘there are no more issues’ preventing £200million bout. This boxing showdown would be the biggest in boxing history and promise to be a British duel. Bob Arum insists ‘there is no more issues’ preventing Anthony Joshua finally facing Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. The Top Rank supremo, who handles Fury’s business dealings alongside Frank Warren, has worked tirelessly on the deal since Joshua’s knockout of Kubrat Pulev in December. After dispatching the Bulgarian with consummate ease as one of his mandatory title defence, the IBF, WBA and WBO champion outlined his plans to unify the division. Fury, who holds the WBC and Ring Magazine heavyweight belts, has not fought for more than a year since stopping Deontay Wilder in their rematch in February 2020. 66

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However, Arum insists the fight is edging closer to completion and promised fans everything was moving in the right direction. “Yeah as far as I am concerned,” he told the press. “I’ve been working on it; all the points have been agreed to. “That’s what each side has said. Now, we are scrambling around to get the thing signed and everything. “But I can say clearly, based on my

view on everything, that there are no more issues.” Representatives for the heavyweight champions have been deep in negotiations and have made significant progress with AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn promising fans the undisputed showdown will happen next. AJ said on a JD Sports live stream: “August should be the date. “Trust me. For the fans, for the people that have been calling it on for many, many months. “Shutout to Fury and his team as well, hungry go-getters, that’s what we are. “UK stand up. And to the world – we’re bringing it. “I can’t wait. Undisputed.”

This would be AJ biggest fight yet ever after losing one time to Andy Ruiz Jr. and he classically won the rematch to set up this undisputed fight to determine the best in the Heavyweight division in boxing.

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Put Some Respect on Her Name: Claressa Shields becomes Boxing’s 1st Ever Two-Division, Undisputed World Champ (And That Includes Men, Too)

BLACK EXCELLENCE hrough the course of her illustrious boxing career, Claressa Shields has made it a point to call herself “The G.W.O.A.T.”- an abbreviation for The Greatest Woman

of All Time. And after beating the breaks off of Marie-Eve Dicaire, who the hell is brave enough to tell her otherwise? Before T-Rex laid holy hands on her, Dicaire was best known as an undefeated IBF Super Welterweight Champion. But after their bout in which it took Shields all of about 30 seconds to figure out her opponent, Dicaire is now best known for trying her damndest to survive their skirmish than actually attempting to win the damn fight. “She never really wanted to win the fight,” Shields told reporters after the bout. “She just wanted to be able to say she went all 10 rounds, which I don’t have that kind of mentality. To me, that’s weak, and I’d rather go down on my shield any day and give it a good fight.” She continued, “But she wanted to stay away. She wanted to hold. She wanted to elbow and do all that crazy stuff. I felt like I was winning the fight, but I didn’t get to display what I wanted to display.” While Shields sadly didn’t get to separate DiCaire’s head from her shoulders-I know, I wanted to see it, too, she did emerge victorious. Her triumph, which came via unanimous decision, makes her the first boxer in the four-belt era to be an undisputed champ in two divisions. (Yes, that includes men, too.) So not only did she claim Dicaire’s IBF crown and the vacant WBA world title, but she retain her WBO and WBC junior middleweight titles. 68

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And the fight wasn’t even close. All three judges scored the fight 100-90, a clean sweep for the fighter who calls herself the greatest of all time. Shields landed 116 of 409 punches, and Dicaire landed 31 of 263. Shields landed double-digit punches in seven of the 10 rounds. She also leveraged her popularity into headlined an all-women’s pay-per-view card-the first in nearly 20 years in order to draw much-needed attention to gender inequity within the sport. “For a woman to be an athlete, we have to work a bit harder especially to be a top athlete. We have to continue to fight,” she recently told the press. “Women are never gonna just stop doing sports, they can’t make us disappear. As soon as people realize that, they’ll give us our just due and we’ll be able to flourish better and they’ll stop holding women in sports back.” So again, who’s willing to risk life and limb to tell her she isn’t the G.W.O.A.T? Aside from increased awareness, the Flint, Mich., native is a vocal proponent of female athletes receiving more equitable pay. And

“For a woman to be an athlete, we have to work a bit harder especially to be a top athlete”

as The Boxing Scene points out, while the 25-yearold can command more than just about any other female boxer on Earth, she puts numbers on the board, too: For argument’s sake, Shields hit 410,000 viewers while fighting on Showtime for her bout against Hanna Gabiels. Her most recent contest on the network peaked at 288,000, the same number Adrien Broner averaged a few months back on the same channel against Jovanie Santiago. Or, over on Showtime’s boxing competitor ESPN, Mikaela Mayer-Helen Joseph peaked at 380,000, which was a 3% increase from a heavyweight contest the week prior involving Carlos Takam, who had fought for a heavyweight title. As for the money: Shields earned a guarantee of $300,000 against Habazin, while Broner claimed to have made more than a million against Santiago. And even though she’s already dominating her competition, she’s still hell-bent on improving her craft. “I don’t know how to jump up & down about something I already knew would happen. 90-100,” she tweeted after her latest win. “Back to the drawing board though. I gotta figure out how to make my skills work with these 2 minute rounds to get KOs against top opponents! Matter of fact. My next boxing match will be 3 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly: She wants more time on the clock so that she can run up more knockouts. Congrats to T-Rex for continuing to rewrite the history books and creating a more equitable sport along the way.

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Happy birthday to mama Suzie Titi Omoroje at 85. www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com More details coming

The Voice magazine

Articles inside

Dutch-born duo Luckassen brothers opt to play for Ghana

Kylian Mbappe has reached a decision over his future

Ajax condemns Super League plan, club says it is ‘very

Republic of Benin court approves Talon’s election victory

Tanzanian President lifts ban on media

Remembering the Duke of Edinburgh’s award in South

This one’s for you, “My little elegant Italian lady” by

Column: The digital detox by Eva Nakato

Kasimawo Laloko: A Football voyage

The African promise -Tiny Little Particles

Book Review: The Other Side of Fear

Editorial: Chadians impoverished amid oil wealth