The Voice News Magazine by The Voice magazine

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ISSN:1571-3466

Motto: Actuated towards Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advancement

Volume 21. NO. 199 November 2020

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First complete African magazine published in The Netherlands since August 1999

Will President Buhari lead Nigeria into Anarchy? www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

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NEW BOOK PROMO.... ‘Getting to Know You’ written by Pastor Elvis Iruh Pastor Felix Asare wrote the foreword

Avaliable now online stores.... Title: Getting to know you Author: Elvis Iruh

About the book Whether you’re preparing for marriage or want to enjoy a deeper union with your partner, this guide will help you enjoy a relationship built on solid Christian values. Elvis Iruh, a licensed minister with Victory Outreach International, highlights simple principles that too many take 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; • Forgive your partner when they make mistakes. Before you even think about 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. Filled with practical exercises partners can carry out with each other as well as guidance for pastors and church leaders who need help advising couples, this guide will help couples enjoy marriages built to last. By studying God’s word, you can prepare for marriage, choose the right partner, and enjoy a great life with your spouse and children. This is my contribution to add value to the institution

of marriage as a Godly foundation to build a family and prosperous family union. AuthorHouse Publisher in United Kingdom is publishing the book. It will be available worldwide. ***** About the Author ELVIS IRUH, a native of Delta State, Nigeria, 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 and has been the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Voice news magazine since August 1999. He is a licensed minister with Victory Outreach International, serving as an associate pastor at Victory Outreach Almere, The Netherlands. Book Sales on: www.amazon.com www. authorhouse.com

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Pastor Elvis Iruh

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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@thevoicenewsmagazine.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 Project Editor (Nigeria) Rev. Tammy Abusi (Port-Harcourt) t.abusi@thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Principal Photo Editors: Handy Tims Azeez Badris fatim_26@hotmail.com PA to Publisher Lilian Akintokun (Mrs) raven_lilian@yahoo.com Magazine/Wed Designer David Banjoko 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

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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 199

November 2020

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: Muhammadu Buhari is simply evil! Page 8 - BOOK REVIEW: The Other Side of Fear Pages 12-15 – FEEDBACKS: It’s time to END NIGERIA so that people who want development can go ahead. Pages 16 & 17 – OPINIONS “Nigerian Independence from colonial rule (19600) Pages 18- 20 – Bobbi Wine accuses Ugandan President of ‘trumped up’ claims to block election bid Page 21 - Zimbabwe leader wants region to bar foreign poll observers Pages 22 & 23 – Latter Rain moves to next level Pages 24 & 25 – Ordinary people, extraordinary impact! Page 26 – Advertorial: Imperial exile in bath-The inside story of Emperor Haile Selassie’s four year stay in the city. Page 27- Column – by Eva Nakato - Urban farming: Hope for the urban poor Pages 28 & 29 – Why EndSars protest in Nigeria got world attention Pages 34-36 – I enjoy promoting Africa to the rest of the world says Albena Jones Page 38 - Unions discussing general strike if Trump refuses to accept Biden victory Page 39 - Buhari not moved by restructuring agitation – Presidency Page 41 - CMA condemns the assault and murder of defenseless civilian protesters in Nigeria Page 42 - Isabel dos Santos’s husband, Sindika Dokolo, dies at 48 Page 43 - Congratulations to Madam Yai Fatou Secka at 50 Pages 44 & 45 – Uganda’s ‘taxi divas’ rise from COVID-19’s economic gloom Pages 46 & 47 - Nigeria at 60: Twist and turns of the consciousness of Africa´s sleeping giant Pages 48 & 49 – Does protest really work in cozy democracies? Pages 50- 53 - Dutch news in focus Pages 54 & 55 – Nigeria Youth Protests – Don’t destroy yourself Pages 56 & 57 – Quayson K Successful book launch in Amsterdam Pages 58 & 59 – Meet 22-year-old Christine Mutesi, Rwanda’s most outstanding teacher Pages 60 & 61 – The World Has Lost Patience With Zimbabwe’s ‘Crocodile’ Pages 62 & 63 – Food, Farming and COVID-19 Pages 64 - 68 – The demands of Nigerian Youth from their government Page 69 - Sports: The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany to put in joint bid for Women’s World Cup 2027

The Voice Magazine Volume 21. No 199 November 2020 Edition

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E D I TORIAL:

Muhammadu Buhari is simply Evil!

early one month after the youths took to the streets to protest against police brutality and high level of injustice by disbanded SARS, after much pressure the President of the most populous black nation in the world, Nigeria addressed the nation. Despite calls from the majority of Nigerians including his former colleagues, members of the Parliament to persuade him to speak to the nation. When he did spoke, his speech although prerecorded did not bring any solace to the expectation of the people rather more anger and frustration . What type of a leader does this to his people? Except a man that is naturally born evil and yet chooses to contest to be President of his country. No one has an answer to his attitude towards this crisis and how he views the outcry from around the world. Does he despise his people? Or he is still displaying his military undertone that these are ‘just bloody civilians’. When in the 90s, few Nigerian journalists challenged former military rulers, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha head on with new media publications like Tell magazine, The News, Tempo and Razor magazine to mention a few. We started what was then known as Guerrilla journalism in Nigeria. We fought the military until we were forced to abandon our offices and turned our cars and hide outs to our mobile offices to be able to write, coordinate and publish our stories; we slept at printing press and moving from one to another location to avoid been caught and locked up, we circulate our publications at the dark of the night. I was in my mid-twenties then, we put everything on line to expose the atrocities of the then military leaders so we educate the public on the evil we were dealing with in persons of Babangida and Abacha. During that same era, Babangida had the effrontery to describe himself as “Evil Genius”. It was a cover story on Tell magazine. We just wonder what type of man will be bold enough to describe himself with such words? Not surprised at what is happening at the moment with an exmilitary dictator as President of Nigeria. That he has disguised himself from his military uniform to civilian dress does not change the man in the dress. He is still the same military dictator, his evil intentions for Nigeria is well documented with his one sided administration employments, playing the tribal card. I dare to ask for one month now that the youths took to the street, where is Boko Haram? Why is the President not addressing the concerns of his people? The protests should be a matter of national interest, unity and peace as he said during his 60th Diamond celebration speech to the nation. One pattern we have noticed is that he mostly use his spokespersons to speak his mind to the nation. Are they speaking his words or it is just his deaf attitude Pastor Elvis Iruh to the plights of Nigerians? We Editor-in-Chief need an answer please! 6

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One thing for sure is that he is still using the military tactics of propaganda and blackmail as a weapon of fighting back in the face of reaction/protests of the citizenry. Since he failed to seize the opportunity presented to him to address the demands of the youths; they now sponsor pockets of thugs, military personnel to force the youths to abandon the protest and blame the mayhem on the youths. It is a script we know well, it is no surprise that the new engagement is to sponsor these elements to destroy institutions of national interest in the South-West part of the country and blame it on others who are agitating for change. It is their weapon of fight back and tactics to change the narratives. Therefore we call on the youths to be extra vigilant, any person that suggests destruction of properties or killing of military personnel or private individuals are enemies of the country. The struggle is not about revenge despite all the ills done to certain sections of the country. Buhari cannot and would not be allowed or accept the new norms of using his ‘press boys’ called spokesperson(s) to make reckless and unguided statements like that of Mr. Femi Adesina. He called the protesters ACTIONS as child’s play. “It is an action of few people trying to be funny and it is nothing to be worried about” we quote him. (We have a message for Adesina in another article. Read more on page ). He said further, ‘I stand by my statement that this protest they call a revolution march is just a child’s play’. What is not a child’s play is using military tanks to shoot at defenseless youths and killing them at the dark of the night. We could imagine he is speaking for President Buhari. No comment from the Presidency since Adesina made those assertions to withdraw or apology for that statement made on national television. During the Babangida era he was forced to abandon his military might to hand over to an interim government, and this was under a military regime despite their all form of intimidations in their armoury then. For instance they started producing their own Razor magazine using our masthead and logo to publish their fake news and tried to fool the population but it did not work. Famous was their fake publication on Razor masthead that M.K.O. Abiola has abandoned his June 12 mandate and called for an end for the struggle/protest. The public were not fooled and now the public would not be fooled by their antics. The same tactics they would use to discredit the protesters. Watch out for more propaganda and blackmail as their weapon of fighting back. Don’t be fooled, they would not succeed. Stay peaceful in your expression of your demands without violence and let us see how the centre would hold. God bless and protect peace loving people of Nigeria. Some few old oligarchies will not destroy Nigeria. Pastor Amb. N. Elvis Iruh Publisher, The Voice News magazine “We stand with the peaceful protesters in Nigeria and elsewhere around the world”.

ONE EURO A MONTH SUPPORT TO THE VOICE MAGAZINE ..... Since you’re here... Support the Voice magazine so we stay publishing for your reading pleasure….. Happy New month to you our readers and our followers. We have a small favour to ask. More people, like you, are reading and supporting the Voice magazine since we stopped the hard print copy in 2016. We have continued to serve you the magazine in the same format with all production cost covered like editing, page designs, photography and digital distribution via online channels where we have to pay. The Voice magazine has been an independent organization, we do not receive any form of subsidy except the support of our readers and friends. We made the choice to keep our reporting open for all, regardless of where you live or what you can afford to pay. Our advertising drive continue to grow. You can support us through that medium as well, promote your businesses and services with us as your way of support. Our editorial independence means we set our own agenda and voice our own opinions. You are free and welcome to contribute both commercial and political independent articles for our reading audience without bias. We want to continue to give a voice to those less heard, explore where others turn away, and rigorously challenge those in power. We hope you will consider supporting us today. We need your support to keep delivering quality journalism that’s open and independent. Every reader contribution, however big or small, is so valuable. Support The Voice magazine as little as one EURO and it only takes a minute through your bank account.

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BOOK REVIEW

The Other Side of Fear

ncertainty, 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 â&#x20AC;&#x153;a living faithâ&#x20AC;?. 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: 036-8417007; 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/YOUTUBE

Victory Outreach Almere

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Feedback

YOUR LETTERS ARE WELCOME Write to the Editor - Email: info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com Kindly follow our policy on letter to the Editor for your letter to stand the chance of being published in our magazine. Your letter must include the writer’s name, address, email and contact number. Also keep your letter short, concise and precise to the point. We are also allowed to edit where necessary. All details will be kept confidential. The views written in the Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the views of our magazine therefore we do not take any responsibility for the views stated by those who write to the Editor. The Voice magazine also reserves the right not to publish letters that we find offensive to others please. Thank you for your usual cooperation. TV Management.

Dear Editor,

United States suspends issuing visa to Sierra Leoneans In as much as both parties seem to be using the Poor people of Sierra Leone as “pawns”, I want to say that Sierra Leone and Lebanon have long been partners from the time some of us were little girls going to school in Sierra Leone, and long before I ever finished college and migrated to the US and becoming a US Citizen. I want to believe that the President of Sierra Leone will not be reckless or careless enough to engage with any one that disturbs the peace in the World let alone any group that is deem to do that. That said, I do not think the US can CONTROL who the Sierra Leone government chooses

to have political or financial transactions with, as they are a self governing republic. 12

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One thing I can caution President Bio of though, is that America is always a strong partner, and should not allow anyone to undermine that collegiality and partnership. The current political atmosphere in the US should be one that President Bio should devoid himself from, and stay neutral especially when it comes to Brooks. This man has divided families, communities, and has helped to divide this great country, and it looks as if that is what he is doing in the rest of the world. América is strong enough to survive it, Sierra Leone is still a growing economy which will not be strong

enough to withstand the evils of this man’s intentions. Sending criminals from other parts of the world to Sierra Leone will not only be bad for the government but will be bad for the people. It is not something that is good. I personally do not believe in sending people of high crimes back to their countries especially VIOLENT CRIMINALS. It is NOT good for the receiving country. I think deportees of immigration are fair game. I pray and hope that the people of Sierra Leone will not be a scape goat in this spate. WE ALL NEED ONE ANOTHER. YOU MIGHT THINK YOU ARE STRONG AND DO NOT NEED ME, BUT MY PRAYERS HELPED YOU. Mariama Jabbie

It’s time to END NIGERIA so that people who want development can go ahead. After our prayers, God, being a wise God decided to reward us according to our labour. Since those that went into industrialization, technology, infrastructural development, ICT, education etc had been rewarded accordingly. It’s only wise God rewards us with our efforts in prayers.

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah

I have never been as unsure of Nigeria future as I am now……… BISHOP MATTHEW HASSAN KUKAH After independence, in order to build a great nation, each country went to work. But in Nigeria, after independence, our people went to pray and fast. So, while we were praying, Malaysia came here and took our palm seedlings and build a great factory of it. While we were praying, Singapore went into investment in technology. While we were praying, India went into ICT. While we were praying, China went to massive industrialization. While we were shouting Allah Alakuba! UAE went into massive infrastructural development. While we were binding and casting Lucifer, Japan went into technological development. While we were speaking in tongues, Denmark went into education of her citizens. While we were mounting big speakers in our places of worship, USA was mounting man on the moon.

That’s why today, Nigerian pastors are competing in building the biggest churches. That’s why there are more prayer houses and worship places than hospitals and schools. That’s why people rush to prayer houses for medical and business solutions instead of hospitals. That’s why we don’t do business proposals before jumping into business since we are going to back it up with prayers. And when such collapse, we blame devil. That’s why it’s a sin to say anything negative about pastors and imams. That’s why our pastors don’t consider the opinion of engineers while building and blame devil when the building collapsed. That’s why faith in God replaces building pillars and when it collapsed we blame it on Lucifer. That’s why our pastors are making sure they plant church branches instead of schools in every street in Nigeria. That’s why we always wait for God to do that which ability to accomplish He has already handed over to us. That’s why we want our teachers to labour on earth and come to heaven for their rewards. Nigeria is a prayer loving, God fearing nation. Religion has taken the place of technology, infrastructure, education and all. When we are traveling, we ignore all the necessary road requirements, servicing of our vehicles and pray. And, once we pray, we can put a half fit vehicle on the road and blame our step mother or mother in law if anything goes wrong. That’s why there are more people dying on our roads than wild life animals in the wilderness. Because, we pray and fast and leave everything to God when God has given us all we need to survive and build a nation…….God help us.

FEEDBACK Dear Editor, Do protests really bring change? In the past one month, I have watched my country, Nigeria witnessed a new wave of protests across the country and it is not the first time I have witnessed protests in my life time particularly during the June 12 saga in 1993. I thought we were so close to victory until thugs and political settlement hijacked the protest and the rest is history yet people lost their lives and got displayed for life. I am a victim; I fled the country and ever since I cannot return back to my homeland because things have just got worst. I would expect your reader to respond to this question if protest really brings change? Thank you for giving me the space. By Adeola Akano Lagos, Nigeria Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Note Mr. Adeola, I agreed with you that protest in itself does not bring change but it brings awareness in the consciousness of the people and change would come with time. The best weapon for change under democracy is electoral power to vote to change power. Unfortunately in Nigeria, people are still ignorant of the power they have with their voting rights. Use your voting power to retire these greedy and wicked political leaders who has not shown any concern for the people. Time is short and very soon, they would start asking for your votes with all the lies, what would you do then? Editor.

Dear Editor, Let Nigerian government give us light for one month only! 60 years anniversary! No electricity, no good road, no free education not even free pencil! Security is zero. People are dying of hunger, no good health service. We should at least celebrate One month of stable electricity for our 60th anniversary! I this too much to ask of our Nigerian government, I rest my case By AB Aremu Luxemburg

Dear Editor, Congratulations for your sustained strides of keeping this magazine afloat despite all the challenges. I am most appreciative of your feature of our business and events in your magazine. I pray God to continually prosper you and your platform. God bless you richly you all Osahon

Tessy Ojo (CBE) responses to her Queen recongition Thank you for your love! I am truly humbled and so grateful . I often talk about the village mentality, because it takes an entire village to raise a child. Well, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also taken an entire village of supporters to achieve this milestone. My The Diana Award team, trustees, supporters and most importantly, our young people, who actually instigated this nomination. My friends and family, who are my biggest cheerleaders and encouragers. Always showing up, ringing up and cheering me on. You know yourselves #ABF My husband, Stephen Adebiyi Ojo....my absolute rock who always makes room for me to do whatever and go wherever the mission leads! My children, who keep me grounded and remind me that the letters that matters most to them are M.U.M. This honour to me offers a platform to do more, to push harder and further because the challenges facing children and young people, are widening especially in this current climate. So to my young people, I hear your call and I will continue to champion and advocate for you! #QueensBirthdayHonours #CBE #CommanderOfBritishEmpire

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Grandma Haynes dies at 103

Carolyn James, grandchildren Kathryn, Tracy, and William Durnell, Laila McCray, and Maria Miriti, and great-grandchildren Daniel and Tomas Miriti Pacheco. She was well loved by a host of other friends and relatives. Viewing hours was held on Friday October 23rd from 5 - 9pm at Caballero Rivero Southern, 15011 W. Dixie Hwy, N. Miami, FL 33181. Due to COVID-19 there was no public funeral but her sweet memories would remain to us. Her daughter, Monica Durnell is spiritual mom to our publisher, Pastor Elvis Iruh who has sent personal condolence to the family in United States of America.

Mrs. Evelyn Rosetta Haynes, 103, died on October 14th, 2020. Mrs. Haynes was born in Barbados, West Indies and immigrated to the United States in 1952. She and her late husband John Milton Haynes moved to the Miami area and built a home in what became Miami Gardens. Mrs. Haynes worked as a tax preparer and notary public, and enjoyed performing at wedding ceremonies. For many years their home was a waystation for visiting friends and family. Mrs. Haynes was an avid reader and a faithful member of St. Peter’s African Orthodox Cathedral for over fifty years. She loved to travel, and was an accomplished bowler. After the death of her husband in 2002 she lived in their home until her passing. She is survived by daughters Monica Durnell and

Dear Editor,

Nigeria at 60: What is the way forward? Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any change in Nigeria within the past years and until today. The youth are still ignored by the government. They are still not provided with adequate level of education, which has led to the increase of crime and violence such as arm robbery and cyber crimes across the country. The government still has a lot to do to uplift the country to a great nation that Nigeria is supposed to be. For example let there be a decrease on the level of unemployment, all taxes that are being paid by entrepreneurs and all donations that are being made should be given back to the job seekers and the poorest of the population, free access to education for the children until the age of 18, free access to medical care and vaccination for children, 24h/7 electricity in all area of Nigeria amongst others basic rights that a common Nigerian Citizen should have then we can be celebrating. Chief Remi Ojutalayo The Netherlands

I stand with Nigerian Youths I stand with the Nigerian youths, it’s time for a real change to happen. The real change Nigeria needs will not manifest until we instigate it. And change requires sacrifice, without change there will be no progress. What we allow is what will continue, if nothing is done now this will continue. This protest isn’t just about for them to end SARS but we are also protesting for an effective change and reformation of the Nigerian government. The rest of Africa is looking up to Nigeria, if Nigerian doesn’t rise and bring about a real change the rest of the world will continue to trifle on africa. The Nigerian people has suffered for far too long in the hands of crooked, inconsiderable, unscrupulous leaders and government, leaders with no conscience. It’s a shame, but enough is enough. If they need to tear the whole country down to rebuild then so be it. True change must happen, let’s all stand together, there is strength and power in numbers. #EndSars #EndPoliceBrutality #EndBadGovt K. Slim writes from South Africa

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NIGERIAN INDEPENDENCE FROM COLONIAL RULE (1960)

n 1 October of every year, Nigeria celebrates Independence Day from the British colonial rule. Its commemoration is supposed to signify the day Nigeria became independent, to govern and rule without having to seek approval from Britain. I am a product of that era, but did not know nor experience its significance, because I was just seven months into my existence. I am sure there were ceremonial pomp and pageantry to mark the occasion, as the British flag was finally lowered to be replaced by the “Green, White, Green “that I grew to know as the Nigerian flag. Fast forward to the present day Nigeria, and I can’t help wonder why a country should gain independence from another in the first place. What made the British to lay claim to Nigeria as its territory?

To be governed from afar and determine and impose their authority on a country that was already in existence. Nigeria in the years 1960; 1970; and for a small part of early 1980, was a relaxed and peaceful place to grow up in. My generation never thought about migrating to other countries as it is prevailed now. This piece is not about what might have been, rather a celebration of how far we have come as an independent nation, with all the challenges that the country have faced along the way. The explosions of negativity that accompany the Independence Day celebrations has not abated, rather it has galvanized into a national pastime to bash Nigeria at every given opportunity. I will not subscribe to that fact that we have not underachieved, but it is by no means all glum and doom. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, high in terms of GDP, abundant mineral resources, above average in terms of literacy per population compared to other African countries. Nobel laureate in literature, who will forget Chinua Achebe’s novel “ Things fall apart “ translated to over 100 foreign languages. Wole Soyinka’s novel “The kings men” have been shown on broadway, joined recently by Fela Anikulapo - kuti on same famous stage.

Why it is that Nigeria despite all of the above modest achievements is still seen by so many as a failed state. Comparisons are made with Western countries, whose stories are never same as Nigeria. I wonder how many European countries celebrate Independence Day? Europeans were the oppressors of other nation, even went to war to preserve their independence because they know the consequences of been colonized. The brain drain of Nigerians in search of a better life is just an illusion that is pursued, but never attained, and much worse it does not reflect our standings in the countries we reside in. I am just as guilty as any, l left to study banking in London, on qualifying, I decided to stay because my country no longer measure to the standards of where I obtained my later education; I have remained here ever since. The loudest criticism comes from Nigerians living abroad, but has not witnessed the suffering of those left behind. I see things different now, we have made progress since independence, Lagos rivals any capital city in the world in terms of Art, Music, infrastructure, and governance. The only time Nigeria has experienced war, was in 1967-1970, although dissatisfaction about the spread of wealth is a serious issue, which every country of the world faces with varying levels. I am not saying that all is well with Nigeria, but simply remind us about the giant little steps that we have made and will continue to make as a nation since independence. Let us as people continue to support, and lend our expertise, knowledge, and experiences to our nation, if Nigeria is that bad, how is it possible for all airlines to fly into the country every day of the week? Time and space will not permit me to list all of Nigeria’s achievement after independence, maybe we should hold a forum to say how we could help fix the country instead of the barrage of criticism from our comfort zone in various Western countries. By Alex Jebose.

PRESS RELEASE

I Support Nigerian Youths With Their Demand To Reform Nigeria Move From Sars To Dissolving The National Assembly! Silence right now is not a solution and it is not golden. We need to join forces and lock arms with the Nigerian youth for finally speaking out and demanding for a change in Nigeria. I know for sure that parents are not happy with the situation of their youths. In whatever capacity, if you still have children from 18 years of age and above, waking up each day to see them knowing how frustrated, disappointed and confused that their future is compromised. As bad as the situations are, you now have all forms of injustice against the common people of Nigeria. The youth make a majority of the population. A nation that ignores its youth has no future and bound to fail soonest. Nigeria is at that cross road. I call on the Nigerian youths to remain peaceful in their conducts and remain resolute in their demands. I will join forces with those of like minds outside the country to push for a national reform in Nigeria. I have been getting phone calls to do something and help to facilitate the cries of the youths of Nigeria. Definitely, I will do that in my own little way. In my youth at 25, I joined in the demand for our democratic rights to be respected after the annulment of June 12 1993. I was harassed, chased around in Lagos, finally arrested, detained and dragged to court for treason, an offence punishable by death if found guilty. Many did not join the struggle because they thought we were crazy to make such demands. In 2020, the youths have realized that nothing would change if they do not take matters in their own hands. The protest will gradually dissolve into a revolution if you do not give up to

blackmail, intimidation and fear of arrest or death. Aim at occupying the National Assembly and the government will collapse. Buhari cannot do anything when there is no parliament to back him up. The first thing he did after his re-election was to install his cabals in the National Assembly. A national call for the dissolution of the National Assemble is the way forward. The Police, Army, Navy, Air force are relying on their youthful forces to terrorize Nigerians but very soon they will join the side of the common people. Majority of them are not better-off with their service condition and living condition. Let the struggle continue, we did in our time but we could not gather the support. Now the support is naturally coming to them because what is developing is a mass movement, you cannot crush it with force except to listen to them. Nigerian youths, I support you AND I stand with you. No gain without pain. God bless the Nigerian youth and protect them from the hands of the evil ones in Nigeria. Signed: Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh Publisher, The Voice News Magazine The Netherlands. NOTE This article was widely published in Nigerian newspapers and online publication at the commencement of the Nigerian youths protest before the shooting and killings in Lagos, Nigeria. I still do not see violence or destruction of public and private properties as the best tool to express our anger and frustrations. The problem is not against the public and properties but a wrong political system rooted in evil wickedness and careless attitude. Let us continue to demand accountability from those we have elected to govern us. Election is our best tool to deal with corrupt and incompetent leaders. Use it from now on but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t destroy the same institutions that would guarantee you the change you expect. God bless Nigeria and bless us all. www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Bobi Wine accuses Ugandan President of ‘trumped up’ claims to block election bid

pposition leader says Yoweri Museveni behind campaign of intimidation to stop him standing at next year’s Presidential elections in Uganda. The process is heating up. Bobi Wine, the popular reggae star and prominent opposition leader in Uganda, has accused the country’s president, Yoweri Museveni, of seeking to block his candidature at

next year’s elections through a series of “trumped up” legal challenges and a campaign of intimidation. Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, said he was calling on people all over the world to “keep their eyes” on Uganda because international attention was the only way to “stop human rights abuses and impunity in Uganda today”. “We have masses and masses of people with us. We have a whole sidelined, excluded generation. If we are defeated in Uganda, that is a defeat for justice, democracy and constitutionalism everywhere. If we win in Uganda, it is a win for freedom,” Wine said in an interview. Since he became a legislator in 2017, Wine has rattled the Ugandan authorities. The 38-year-old has been assaulted and arrested or detained many times, including over a treason charge that he denies. He is one of a new generation of politicians 18

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across Africa who are challenging long-time leaders, hoping to harness deep dissatisfaction among younger, more educated and often urban voters. He came to political prominence nationally in 2017 when, as an independent candidate, he won election as a lawmaker representing a constituency near Kampala. However, analysts say incumbent leaders such as Museveni benefit from powerful patronage networks, long-established political machines, control of the media and links to big business, as well as support from the military or other security forces. Museveni has accused Wine of trying to incite rioting – a charge he also denies. The legal challenge to Wine’s leadership of the National Unity Platform (NUP) has been launched by two members who allege electoral law was not followed when the former singer was appointed earlier this year. If judges decide that rules were broken, Wine may not be able to stand in the elections. Last month, local media reported scuffles at the court in Kampala where the case is being heard. Wine has previously faced challenges to his candidature based on alleged failures to correctly declare his age and educational qualifications.

“I fear for my life every day but I try as much as possible not to think about what could happen to me if I stand firm. I worry about what will happen to coming generations if I do not stand up,” he said. Both social media and protests have been targeted by repressive legislation in recent years. Eric Mwine-Mugaju, a Ugandan writer and blogger, said Museveni, 76, was going to win the polls but had been panicked by Wine’s popularity among the burgeoning urban youth. “It is the rural areas – the rural population makes up more than 70% of the country – that remain a bastion of Museveni’s support. [But] even if Museveni wins the next election comfortably, he still needs to reckon with seething resentment in the country’s major cities,” Mwine-Mugaju wrote in the Mail and Guardian, a South African newspaper. Political campaigning in Uganda has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with rallies banned. The east African country took drastic measures to restrict movements in March when it had

Ethiopia & Eritrea hold talks Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki arrived in Ethiopia for a three day official visit last month to further their bridge building relationship with Ethiopia. Ethiopia, Eritrea resume relations in 2018 after 2 decades of hostilities soon after secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was at Jimma Airport to welcome his Eritrean counterpart as the latter landed in Jimma – a city filled with history and is rich in natural resources including coffee and honey. The president is accompanied by Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and Presidential Advisor Yemane Ghebreab, local broadcaster FANA quoted Yemene Gebremeskel, Eritrea’s information minister as saying. The leaders of the two countries held extensive consultations on further enhancement of bilateral ties as well as the consolidation of regional cooperation, Gebremeskel added. In 2018, the two countries managed to end a two-decade long hostilities following the olive branch extended by Abiy. That successful gesture, together with other efforts to bring about regional peace and cooperation, earned the Ethiopian premier the

only a handful of coronavirus cases, imposing one of the earliest lockdowns and border closures on the continent. The country gradually eased some lockdown measures, despite a rising number of new infections, and reopened to international visitors bearing a negative Covid test certificate in September.

2019 Nobel Prize for Peace. The two countries in 2019 signed a comprehensive cooperation pact in which they agreed to cooperate in numerous fields but little came out in terms of the implementation of the agreements that included the clause that allows Ethiopia to use the ports of Assab and Massawa. Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia in 1993 following a three-decade long war for independence. The two countries fought a deadly war between 1998 and 2000 in which an estimated 70,000 people died on both sides.

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Uganda Presidential election:

Ugandan forces seize cash and red berets from opposition leader Bobi Wine’s office

ecurity forces in Uganda have raided the offices of Bobi Wine, the reggae star and prominent opposition leader, as tensions rise in the east African country months ahead of presidential elections in January. Soldiers and police officers invaded the headquarters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) in Kamwokya, a suburb of Kampala, the capital, in the late morning on Wednesday. They seized cash, posters, banners and quantities of red berets – Wine’s signature headgear and a “symbol of resistance” which the government says is illegal. Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has accused the country’s president, Yoweri Museveni, of seeking to block his candidacy for next year’s elections through a series of “trumped up” legal challenges and a campaign of intimidation.

However, analysts say incumbent leaders such as Museveni, 76, benefit from powerful patronage networks, long-established political machines, control of the media and links to big business, as well as support from the military or other security forces. Museveni has accused Wine of trying to incite rioting – a charge he also denies. Fred Enanga, Uganda’s police spokesperson, said the operation at Wine’s offices was aimed at seizing red berets. A law was introduced last year to ban wearing or possession of any clothing which resembles the army uniform, with a potential penalty of imprisonment for life. “We are targeting all locations illegally manufacturing, supplying, distributing, selling and using uniforms and accoutrements whose ownership and patented designs was gazetted and an exclusive preserve of the armed forces,” Enanga said.

“Hundreds of police and Bobi Wine is pushing on despite all the challenges Uganda’s military soldiers came and broke into spokeswoman, Brig Flavia our offices. They said they were looking for berets but that was just a pretext,” Wine, 38, told the Byekwaso, said the “joint operation” was aimed at stopping the “illegal use of military and police stores and other military/ Guardian. police patented designs”. “I’m telling our supporters in Uganda and all over the world that this is the sign of a crumbling dictatorship. All dictators behave “All in possession of such items are encouraged to voluntarily like this before they fall. We are strong. We are not giving up. We return them,” Byekwaso said in a tweet. know that history is on our side.” Joel Ssenyonyi, a spokesperson for the NUP, said 20 party Since he won election as a lawmaker representing a constituency near Kampala in 2017, Wine has been assaulted and arrested or detained many times, including over a treason charge that he denies. He is one of a new generation of politicians across Africa who are challenging long-time leaders, hoping to harness deep dissatisfaction among younger, more educated and often urban voters. 20

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workers had been arrested and forms carrying hundreds of signatures necessary to support Wine’s presidential nomination seized. Earlier this week Wine told the Guardian he was calling on people all over the world to “keep their eyes” on Uganda because international attention was the only way to “stop human rights abuses and impunity in Uganda today”.

Zimbabwe leader wants region to bar foreign poll observers

imbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa wants southern African countries to start holding their elections without international observers. President Mnangagwa was speaking at a state dinner he hosted for visiting Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera, who had a two day state visit to the country as part of his bridge building with other countries around that region of Africa. The Zimbabwean leader, who won a controversial election two years ago, said foreign observers were biased. President Mnangagwa said that by successfully holding a presidential election re-run early this year without foreign observers, Malawi had showed the region that it can go it alone. The

southern African country held polls in June without the United Nations, Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and foreign civil society organisations, “but they were successful, peaceful elections conducted by Malawi on its own,” he said. “This makes us think whether it’s still necessary in future for Sadc countries to look for supervision from across oceans,” President Mnangagwa said. Zimbabwe will hold its next General Election in 2023 and the 77-year-old ruler is accused of trying to create a one party state by clamping down on the mainstream opposition. The Zimbabwean leader accuses Western countries such as the United States of plotting to topple him. His government this week accused the opposition of conniving with an unnamed Western superpower to

smuggle guns to cause chaos in Zimbabwe. President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was under attack from Western countries that were opposed to its land reform programme and had imposed sanctions on the country. “These sanctions were a direct response by Britain and her allies to Zimbabwe’s land reform programme in 1999/2000,” he said. “We make no apologies for taking back our land and we are happy that the people have been reunited with their land.” President Mnangagwa claims the sanctions were meant to weaken the ruling Zanu PF party so that it can be replaced by a pliant opposition. “It has become very evident that these sanctions are designed to effect regime change,” he charged, before sending a chilling message to his local opponents. “Those who prefer confrontation, anarchy, delinquency, civil disobedience and peddling falsehoods in a bid to unseat democratically elected governments have no place in the country and indeed in the Sadc region,” President Mnangagwa said. Zimbabwe has been clamping down on opposition and civil society activists that tried to rollout protests against corruption on July 31. The protests were ruthlessly stopped by security forces and several activists, including prominent journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, were arrested for allegedly inciting violence.

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LATTER RAIN MOVES TO NEXT LEVEL â&#x20AC;&#x153;... After 30 years of raising quality human capital (over 10,000 people trained and counting), The Latter Rain Assembly pastored by Pastor Tunde Bakare, maximized discontinuity by rebranding as The Citadel Global Community Church- CGCC. It is no coincidence that initial facility of the church stands on

- Event Halls. After 30 years in the same facility with a membership in their thousands, the church took an inspired decision to create a Platform for the youthful and rapidly growing membership to put to practice the core purpose of the Ministry- in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. The Citadel as described by Pastor Bakare is a Vertical City with horizontal proportions, a new phenomenon in church architecture with the following distinct but synchronous ecologies; - A state of the art 5,200-seater auditorium, a much bigger capacity than current location of the CGCC.

a renovated factory building, previously owned by one among the many manufacturers who had to close shop in late 80â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as a result of the hostile operating environment of that period. Pastor Bakare can relate with this time, having closed his legal chambers and businesses to dedicate his life to the service of God and all the families of the earth as a true descendant of Abraham. The CGCC formerly known as The Latter Rain Assembly developed its acquired property into a relatively modern facility that housed the following facilities; - A main auditorium, offices, - Health Clinic, - Bookshop, - Sunday School and 22

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- 24-hour prayer centre & telephone counselling ministry as well as family life centre open to all for pre & post marital counselling.

The Citadel offers an ecosystem that seeks to empower everyday people to attain their full potentials by facilitating the integration of work, play and learning. It seeks to empower the next generation of leaders who will go into the mountains of culture to solve problems in politics, economy, media and entertainment, education, religion and social development. It is the only Branch of the CGCC, a Ministry which has overtime supported its members to set-up other ministries across the world with no franchising agreement to remit tithes and offerings but rather as sons who have matured to the point of marriage and need space to lead their families - Health care open to members and the public for free - 40 class rooms for the use of the creche, nursery and primary schools - Ample facilities for the school of government; business & leadership academy; school of parenting; finishing school; skills acquisition centre, free public e-library and bookshop open to members of the public who register - Event centres serviced by an industrial kitchen and restaurant, commercial outlets for retail, offices and banks, media studio with advanced editing suites and sound stages 3-level 600+ Car park, - Waste Management and Clean Energy Amenities To ensure the sustainability of The Citadel, the governance but who can visit home anytime for fellowship, supports and encouragements. It is for this vision of an innovative and viable platform for societal transformation that Pastor Bakare along with community leaders and members have committed themselves to work, seeking by magnificent but righteous exertions in the marketplace and at personal inconvenience to finance its development...â&#x20AC;?

architecture is like the river that parts into four major heads; 1) The Church: CGCC, 2) The corporation: the commercial arm for wealth creation, 3) The schools: the human capital development arm &, 4) The foundation: for corporate social responsibility- social intervention.

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ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT! LURINE CATO, MARCIA DIXON, JOHN FISHER, KAREN GIBSON, TESSY OJO, SHIRLEY MCGREAL, MUYIWA OLAREWAJU

hese people should earn our respects as they are recognized by the British’s Queen for their contribution to developing the United Kingdom. On the list are our own including Lurine Cato, Marcia Dixon, John Fisher, Karen Gibson, Tessy Ojo, Shirley McGreal, and Muyiwa Olarewaju for being awarded the BEM, MBE’s, an OBE and CBE, in the 2020 Queens honours list. We know from first hand experience how much work each of these individuals has invested into making what they do work in United Kingdom. Too often, it is only the visible and high profile stuff they do that is seen. I’ve personally experienced the kindness of each out of the limelight. Making themselves available for interviews, giving me thousands of ponds worth of products for The Ministers Appreciation Ball without charge, free performances, free promotion, free speaking engagements and services, giving up already pressured time to talk about life, and so much more. They are ALWAYS happy to say yes (I’ve never heard the word no to a request) when asked and never a mention of fees (and no liberties are taken either the relationships are reciprocal!). They are g e n e r o u s people! Each of their respective contributions to

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British Society is absolutely indisputable and there is no doubt they are worthy recipients of their awards. I wish you all even more success and happiness as you continue to serve others. I hope you all get to celebrate and make the most of the day - don’t let the circumstances rob you of your day. Muy (Muyiwa) you’ve come a long way from back in the day. Those that know you would say it is well deserved. You’ve kept it real and kept your head high and feet to the ground! As Buju said, ‘it’s not an easy road, dem see de glamma and de glitter and dem feel a bed rose; but who feels it knows.’ Your Mother and Father would have been overwhelmed with pride had they seen this day. May their names be remembered as a blessings to the world. Individual write ups coming soon! This news should boost our health and wellbeing on Mental Health Day. Lurine Cato, Marcia Dixon, John Fisher, Karen Gibson, Tessy Ojo, Shirley McGreal, Ojo, and Muyiwa Olarewaju, I salute you on being recognised for what you have achieved. You stand on the shoulders of giants and others will stand on your shoulders and believe the impossible is possible because of your example. Wishing you a happy Black History Month. Love and respect to you all! Blessings.

Tessy Ojo Receives Special Honour From Queen Elizabeth II

ueen Elizabeth II’s list of honours for 2020 has been revealed, and it includes some notable names! Head of the Diana Award charity Tessy Ojo and The Great British Bake Off’s Mary Berry both received special titles from the queen, and so did those working to provide aid during the pandemic. Find out more about this year’s recipients here! Tessy Ojo has been recognized for her work as head of the Diana Award charity in a very special way! As People shares, Ojo was included on Queen Elizabeth II’s list of honours this year— a list that recognizes those who have made important contributions for the public— and she opened up about what this new title means for her! Ojo says honour makes her feel she has a “bigger mandate” Ojo was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by the queen during the special awards ceremony, which was

originally scheduled to take place in June. “I am overwhelmed. It feels like a mandate for me to go and do more,” Ojo said to People of receiving the royal designation. “This tells me that young people have put their trust in me and I cannot afford to give up. I now look wide and far and look beyond the U.K.,” she continued. “I now have a bigger mandate and that’s what the honor feels like for me.” It’s no surprise that Ojo is expanding her horizons even further, because as People shares, she has helped to put the Diana Award on the map globally! CBE stands for Commander of the Order of the British Empire This is awarded for having a prominent role at national/regional level of impacting lives of people in the communities in the United Kingdom. Congratulations to Dame Tessy Ojo. (CBE )

Dame Tessy Ojo with Prince Williams on line of her duty as Director of Princess Diana Funds www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Advertorial:

IMPERIAL EXILE IN BATH - THE INSIDE STORY OF EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE’S FOUR-YEAR STAY IN THE CITY.

any are familiar with Bath’s associations with King Alfred and King Edgar but were you aware the city once hosted another rather famous king? An unusually humble one who has a seat named after him at the local cinema where he liked to watch newsreels, and who used to take a dip at a destination no more unlikely than the Tropicana Lido at neighbouring Weston-Super-Mare, where he stood in line chatting with other swimmers who were quite oblivious to the full extent of his regalness. This king was none other than Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, thought by many to descend directly from the line of David, and who rather surprisingly ended up living in the city as a high-profile refugee between 1936 and 1940. On 27th October 2020 at 7.30pm (GMT) join Keith Bowers, author of Imperial Exile: 1936-40, in a live virtual talk celebrating and exploring not only Selassie’s unlikely enjoyment of his temporary home, Fairfield House, but the political and

at large but losing several close family members as a result of the Italian invasion. Bath was not where the Emperor wanted

emotional turmoil he was bound to experience whilst living in it. Turmoil coming as a consequence of the Fascist invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini in 1936, after Selassie’s unsuccessful speech to the League of Nations imploring them to intervene. ‘Is there another in history who has deserved more of fortune and has received less? A leading newspaper asked at the time and they may well have been right. While in Bath, Selassie contended with political and personal realities that were almost unimaginable to those surrounding him; fearing not only for the Ethiopian people

to be, certainly, but Bathonians liked and respected his dignity in the face of such sorrow and they in turn earned a special place in his remembrance. Following repatriation to his homeland in 1941, the Emperor subsequently named one of his summer residences Fairfield and kept up with Somerset friends long after his departure from British shores. He even generously donated his Fairfield home in Bath to become a home for the elderly, which it remains to this day. Haile Selassie’s residence in Bath and experience of exile is a story begging to be told. Speaker Keith Bowers now lives in Bath but taught for several years at Addis Ababa University, in the grounds of Haile Selassie’s former palace, and this unique insight into both worlds promises to make this a fascinating talk. Join BRLSI for this online talk and be sure to bring your own insights and questions with you for our live Q&A afterwards, transmitted from the City that once played host to a rather unlikely but very welcome visitor!

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COLUMN

URBAN FARMING: HOPE FOR THE URBAN POOR

t the advent of the Coivid-19 pandemic in Uganda, one of the stringent measures put in place by the government of Uganda to minimize the spread of the disease was the institution of a nationwide lockdown. Public means of transport were restricted and majority of workplaces were temporarily blocked following this. As a result, By Eva Nakato sources of livelihood for many came to a standstill. For the urban poor and slum dwellers, the lockdown even bit them harder since majority of them were employed in the informal sector. Meanwhile, food prices escalated drastically. “Hunger will kill us before corona virus does,” lamented one of the slum dwellers. Consequently, these affected people had to think outside the box in order to survive. Personally, after losing my day job I was hopeless for a number of days. My rent was due and I had lots of other needs to take care of. My background as a design artist enabled me to tap easily into the mask making business. This was to be my source of livelihood for the following months. Carol Ntabadde, an artist and a social worker’s love for nature drove her into supporting the ‘Let’s Go Green’ ghetto project. The project aimed at uplifting the ghetto community to go green through practicing urban farming by supplying seedlings, designing small flexible urban farms and also recycling all possible waste materials for use. Crops such as beans, tomatoes, spinach, eggplants, passion fruits, bananas, onions were grown under the project. Since reliable food supply for the participants was now guaranteed, this project was arguably a miracle of sorts to residents of Colombia Base in Kamwokya, one of the largest slums in the Kampala Metropolitan Area. Carol narrates how urban farming has been of great importance to the urban poor and the slum dwellers living in confined spaces. She intimates that the ghetto community has acquired skills which they have passed onto other community members, they have been able to reduce on the

food expenditure on a daily basis since urban farming is less costly and affordable. She has supported them by building connections to different farming personalities to help enhance their skills. At the same time, the project has created employment for some of them since it’s a center for learning and training. Carol has also applied for small grants, sourced for donations of seedlings and equipment from well-wishers and involved community leaders to help in encouraging the urban poor practice urban farming. Despite the many benefits, the project has experienced some really tough challenges as well. Unstable market to sell their products, financial instability, pests and diseases destroying the crops, inadequate water supply, minimum skills, climate change and fertile soil failing to favor certain crops have been one of the notable challenges the farmers under the project face. However, some measures need to be employed to rectify on some of these challenges faced by the urban poor farmers. Carol suggests that urban farming stakeholders should lobby for urban farming to be taken up as a government initiative, the involvement of media houses for a wide range of communication and recycling and upcycling practices for global climate change. With the spirit of unity and team work among these young ghetto members, development is just one step closer for their determination and togetherness in making this project a success, was priceless. Also, constant food supply is now guaranteed to these low income earners. I believe if other urban dwellers and low income earners adopted the above practice of urban farming, they stand to benefit a lot. Urban farming is something I would like to try hands at as well. Since I love my chai (tea) and food well spiced, I could start by planting some of those herbs in my backyard. After gaining enough skills, my next step would be to increase on the plant population so as to make more commercial sense for my endeavor. Next thing would be to add value to my harvest especially by selling them in ground form and packaging them properly. This will increase longevity as well as attracting a higher market price for my produce. As I’m very eager to start, you too should try it out. Eva Nakato is a Ugandan based writer and she wants to read from you so write her through info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

WHY END SARS PROTEST IN NIGERIA GOT WORLD ATTENTION.

igerians have been protesting for years against police brutality, so why did this October’s protests gain international attention and support at a scale never seen before? Over the last month, an outpouring of support for Nigerian protesters has played out on Twitter, with various hashtags, but predominantly #EndSARS. Sars stands for the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. Accusations of Sars officers robbing, attacking and even killing people go back years but a new wave of protest started at the beginning of October. Nigerian technology news site Tech Cabal tracks this wave down to 3 October. A tweet by someone with just 800 followers received more than 10,000 retweets: The Tweeter, who calls himself Chinyelugo, told the press that he normally keeps a low profile on Twitter but that he personally had been harassed by the police previously so when a friend told him about what appeared to be another attack by police he felt the need to tweet it. “If Sars see you as a young person who is successful with a nice car, they will harass you and extort money from you,” he explained. He later tweeted video of what he said was the young man shot by SARS police. The video appeared to be from an Instagram stories post by an account by someone who describes himself or herself as Azakaza Sarah - a brand ambassador. Her posts are normally a mixture of posing in fishnet tights and promoting body scrubs. It’s possible that this video had already passed from the person who filmed it, through many different people, and WhatsApp groups before it reached Azakaza Sarah. But now it was on Twitter. A few people who the Nigerian press described as social media influencers, and later described themselves as “accidental leaders” took up the cause. The real energy was injected on Wednesday 7 October, four days after the tweet about the man being shot, when Rinu Oduala, a woman who describes herself as a media strategist, persuaded other protesters to spend the night 28

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outside government house in Lagos. In the early days of the protests, many gave it a media coverage via their telephones posting pictures of the protest which could explain why the protest got so much more attention than previously. The organisers appeared to be attempting to shame brands and journalists by tagging their twitter handles in tweets and asking them why they weren’t covering the protests. Here’s one directed at broadcaster DSTV. Other tweeters piled in by cutting and pasting the text of the tweet and tweeting it on their own accounts. It was like a “swarm of shame,” our correspondent says. It was very effective - within a day it was trending and more people were talking about it, she says. Then protesters started bombarding celebrities. By Friday 9 October Dípò Awójídé, who describes himself on Twitter as a senior lecturer in strategy, strategically tweeted Nigerian-British boxer Antony Joshua and Star Wars actor John Boyega asking them to tweet about it. In his request, he equated the protests to the Black Lives Matter protests earlier in the year. Again, streams of Twitter accounts bombarded the tweet underneath. A little over an hour later, Boyega obliged. The hugely popular Nigerian musicians Davido and Wizkid had also been bombarded with messages about the

protests and they followed closely after Boyega in tweeting their support for the protesters. By the end of that day the #EndSars hashtag was trending worldwide. Since then more celebrities who had no tie to Nigeria, like German-Turkish Arsenal player Mesut Ă&#x2013;zil, also tweeted their support. Ă&#x2013;zil alone has 25 million followers on Twitter. The discussion on Twitter reached a peak of 661,340 tweets by Sunday 11 October. By the middle of October, the CEO of Twitter himself, Jack Dorsey, tweeted, asking for donations for the protesters. Two days later, he tweeted a new Twitter emoji, showing a raised fist in the colours of the Nigerian flag, designed especially for the protests. As of Friday 16 October, there were nearly 3.3 million tweets with 744,000 retweets of posts containing the #EndSARS hashtag. With the growing pressure on the Nigerian government, the President addressed the nation but his speech has not helped matter as more and more voices are added each day despite Nigerian government spokesperson, Mr. Femi Adesina calling it a funny protest. There is no end in site on the End Sars

protests as the demand has changed to end bad governance in Nigeria. We would be following the development in the next few months. We continue to appeal for peaceful protest and using the power of the media to campaign for support and avoid and expose any form of acts of violence. TV Management.

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This is a one-stop shopping center for all your hair and body products. We have sections for all beauty and body care products for men and women at Jeffangs Beauty Supply & Salon in Rotterdam We offer you the latest hair and skin products with fantastic prices.......

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Looking for a classic place for your Hair do (For a Woman or a Man)? Look no further than PURECARE Salon in Almere Buiten We offer the latest hair and skin products and our services are world class.

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I ENJOY PROMOTING AFRICA TO THE REST OF THE WORLD SAYS ALBENA JONES

lbena Jones is an Africa Entrepreneur and President International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club based in Sofia, Bulgaria. She spoke on her love for Africa and working to promote the continent. She has good works for those wanting to be inspired by what she does. In this special interview, she spoke to our own man, Gbenga Teejay Okunlola, our London-Bureau-Chief. You can reach him on teejayok@gmail.com Enjoy his interview with Albena Jones. Excerpts: TV: How did you become an entrepreneur? Can you tell us a bit about yourself and educational background? ALBENA: I always felt that I was meant to be doing something bigger and better than my 9- 5 job. I graduated in Travel and Tourism, followed by other postgraduate Management and Business Administration qualifications in London. However I did not work in my chosen travel industry field for long, circumstantially I was presented with a unique opportunity of a complete job switch to work at Bloomberg LP, purely because of my varied linguistics range which includes Bulgarian, Russian, and Arabic. Overall was extremely lucky and during my career path, I have worked for some of the top companies in the World, gaining over 20 years of work experience in multicultural and international corporate, financial and NGO organizations. I was achieving and doing a lot and yet I wanted to do more that is when I realized that I have maximized my potential as an employee and I need to become an entrepreneur myself. TV: As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you? ALBENA: All entrepreneurs are risk-takers. So I would say a successful end result, based on a calculated risk is an 34

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excellent motivation for me. TV: What would you consider to be one of the priority areas for cooperation between South Sudan and Bulgaria? ALBENA: Agriculture should be a priority in a future for South Sudan - Bulgaria cooperation. TV: What do you hope to see happen in the near future for small businesses in South Sudan? ALBENA: Formation of Alliances, Cooperatives and Sustainability! TV: What has been the most rewarding part of your role as a promoter of African businesses in Bulgaria? ALBENA: My most rewarding achievement as an Africa promoter in Bulgaria is not a business but a cultural one. Since 2017 I am the organizer of the Africa Day celebrations in the country alongside the African Embassies and Consulates represented in Bulgaria. TV: What was your first reaction when you saw that video of George Floyd’s killing? ALBENA: The same as everyone else’s – shocking.

TV: Have you ever encountered any form of discrimination or racism in Bulgaria? ALBENA: Not directly, but indirectly – though I am a mixed-race individual, I felt very offended by a traditional chocolate cake (like a brownie) called Negro cake. After research, I found that the products are sold

countrywide by 2 manufacturers, one being the top confectionary manufacture in Bulgaria. Besides the main Negro cake product, they offer a variety of packaged sliced brownie cakes, named with the same offensive Negro based word but in translation meaning – Negro child and Negro woman. After my lawyers extended a request to the manufactures to re-brand their product name fell on deaf ears, I filed a case with the CPD - Commission for Protection against Discrimination, which is the national equality body of Bulgaria. At the second hearing the defendants Continued on Page 36 www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Continued from Page 35

brought a Bulgarian linguistic expert, who concluded that the word Negro is not an offensive word in Bulgaria! Case closed, but I would be delighted to reopen it if anyone can think of a way to support my claim? TV: As a former model, what would you advise a young girl that wants to become a model? ALBENA: Modeling is an unpredictable industry. If you are model material, which you will quickly find out after a few auditions, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t put all your hopes and dream into becoming a model. Have it as a backup to supplement your main activity, which is exactly what I did. Very few make it to the catwalks of London, Paris or New York Fashion week, so be serious minded about another guaranteed carrier path and just enjoy the modeling assignments you get. The memories and images will stay with you forever. TV: Covid-19 already has claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders As countries grapple with how best to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and the reverberations it is sending through their societies and economies, understanding of how the virus is behaving, what measures do you think might best combat it? ALBENA: The physical preventive measures we are all familiar with, I want to emphasize on the more serious global challenges that emerged and how to combat that. We all witnessed how the pandemic shook the world and in no time paralyzed businesses globally, so it makes sense to change our established methods and look at everything in a whole new innovative way. The new world challenges have shown us that we must go back to the virtues of the past -compassion, understanding, tolerance and assistance. People must change and realize that if we do not help each other, we will not have a world to live in. TV: Thank you for this interview and wishing you the best. ALBENA: Thank you very much for the interview as well and success with your publication.

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Unions discussing general strike if Trump refuses to accept Biden victory nion federations in Rochester, Seattle and Massachusetts approved resolutions should Trump seek to subvert outcome

US unions have begun discussing the idea of a general strike if President Donald Trump refuses to accept an election result showing a Joe Biden victory. Such a move would be unprecedented in the modern era. There has not been a general strike in the United States since 1946 and that was restricted to Oakland, California. The local labor federation in Rochester, New York, was the first union group to officially support the idea. Union federations in Seattle and in western Massachusetts have followed suit, approving resolutions saying a general strike should be considered if Trump seeks to subvert the election outcome. Dan Maloney, president of the Rochester-Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation, said his 100,000-member group adopted the resolution to get people discussing the idea – from local unions to the AFL-CIO, the nation’s main labor federation which represents more than 12.5 million people. On 8 October, the Rochester federation voted to support preparing for and holding “a general strike of all working people, if necessary, to ensure a constitutionally mandated peaceful transition of power as a result of the 2020 presidential elections.” The union leaders voted to stand “firmly in opposition to any effort to subvert, distort, misrepresent or disregard the final outcome” of the election. The Rochester move spurred discussion and debate of a possible general strike in union after union, even though some labor leaders see it as a drastic, hard-to-pull-off action. “The idea has gotten a lot more legs than I ever thought it would,” Maloney told the Guardian. “Our democracy is in jeopardy of a wannabe dictator. It’s time to be counted and do whatever it takes to remove him from office if he attempts to retain power against the will of the American people.”

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Maloney acknowledged that a general strike would be an extraordinary measure. “In drastic times, you need drastic measures,” he said. The Rochester federation’s resolution states: “The extreme

risk currently posed to the historic institutions of democracy in our nation may require more widespread and vigorous resistance than at any time in recent history.” Maloney said that in a 22 October call with labor leaders, Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO’s president, stressed that until 3 November, unions should overwhelmingly focus on maximizing voter turnout for Biden. After that, Trumka said, unions can focus on what to do if Trump resists a peaceful transition. The AFL-CIO’s executive council, approved a resolution on October 19 saying: “Democracies are not, in the last analysis, protected by judges or lawyers, reporters or publishers. The survival of democracy depends on the determination of working people to defend it. And America’s labor movement is indeed determined to defend our democratic republic.”

Buhari not moved by restructuring agitation – Presidency

he presidency says it will not take any decision out of fear or threats, especially in this period of a health crisis. A presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, says President Muhammadu Buhari is not moved by ‘unpatriotic’ calls for the restructuring of the nation.

a prophet to know that. That is certain – restructure or we break up,” the cleric was quoted by various newspapers. But in reaction to this, the presidency said the latest calls for restructuring are “recurring threats to the corporate existence of the country with factions giving specific

Where is President Buhari ?

Mr Shehu in a statement on Sunday said the president is at the moment concerned with the wellbeing of the nation and its people. The statement was a reaction to the call by some high profile Nigerians including the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Enoch Adeboye, who on Saturday said only an urgent restructuring would save Nigeria from breaking up. Mr Adeboye echoed the calls of others like the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi; former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke; and a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili; at the 60th Independence Day Celebration Symposium organised by RCCG and the Nehemiah Leadership Institute. “Why can’t we have a system of government that will create what I will call the United States of Nigeria? Let me explain. We all know that we must restructure. It is either we restructure or we break up. You don’t have to be

timelines for the President to do one thing or another or else, in their language, ‘the nation will break up.” He warned against such “unpatriotic outbursts,” saying Mr Buhari’s administration “will not succumb to threats and take any decision out of pressure at a time when the nation’s full attention is needed to deal with the security challenges facing it at a time of the COVID-19 health crisis. “This administration will not take any decision against the interests of 200 million Nigerians, who are the President’s first responsibility under the constitution, out of fear or threats especially in this hour of a health crisis. “The President as an elected leader under this constitution will continue to work with patriotic Nigerians, through and in line with the parliamentary processes to finding solutions to structural and other impediments to the growth and wellbeing of the nation and its people”, the statement read.

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Congratulations on our 22nd Marriage anniversary! Thank you darling for making it a worthwhile journey so far

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Happy 22nd Marriage Anniversary to our parents, Pastor Elvis & Sandra Iruh. You both have been our perfect examples through your marriage. You inspire us every day. Wishing you both continued love and happiness for many years to come. Best wishes today and all the days to come in Jesus Christ name. Amen Deborah & Esther Iruh for the rest of our family. 40

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CMA CONDEMNS THE ASSAULT AND MURDER OF DEFENCELESS CIVILIAN PROTESTERS IN NIGERIA. The Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA) expresses grave concern over reports of callous assault and murder of defenseless civilian protesters, on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, at the Lekki Toll Plaza in Lagos State, Nigeria. This unfortunate incidence which took place in the course of a peaceful protest (code-named #ENDSARS) against police brutality and call for reforms of the Nigeria Police Force in various parts of Nigeria, was characterized by the firing of live bullets at the protesting civilians, with several deaths and fatal injuries recorded amongst the protesters. Aside from these despicable acts which led to many casualties, the CMA views as most unfortunate and unacceptable, the prevention of ambulance services and medical care for the injured victims. While the Commonwealth Medical Association is not currently in a position to make a declarative statement on the pre-morbid state and motives of the elements behind this unholy assault and decimation of defenseless civilian protesters, the CMA deeply regrets the loss of lives and strongly condemns this unwarranted murder of civilian protesters and gross assault on their fundamental human and health rights. The CMA condoles the families of those murdered at the Lekki Toll gate and other parts of Nigeria, and prays for the repose of their souls. Noting the enormous human casualties and its implications for health and security, the CMA passionately calls on the Government of Nigeria to urgently calm the situation by arresting further intimidation, assaults and murder of the peaceful protesters, ensuring the arrest of criminals and hoodlums who are attacking peaceful demonstrators, and ensuring strict adherence to existing International treaties on fundamental human rights, and International treaties that govern the treatment of civilians, as enshrined in the Geneva Declaration of 1949. The CMA further urges the Nigerian government to take up the medical care of injured victims, guarantee unfettered access to physicians and healthcare workers to care for injured victims, and to bring all the culprits who perpetrated the shameful act to quick justice, through transparent investigation and prosecution. The CMA appreciates all physicians and healthcare workers who have so far offered to provide medical care to the injured victims, and urges the leadership of

the Nigerian Medical Association to sustain her leadership roles in ensuring full medical and psychological rehabilitation of the injured. Finally, CMA calls on all parties to exercise restraint and embrace peaceful means, constructive and altruistic dialogue, laced with respect for the rule of law, respect for human and health rights, and the dignity of human lives.

Dr. Osahon Enabulele, M.B.B.S, MHPM, FWACP. President, Commonwealth Medical Association; Chief Consultant Family Physician. Email:osahoncmavp@gmail.com.

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Isabel dos Santos’s husband, Sindika Dokolo, dies at 48

indika Dokolo, Africa’s richest woman’s husband, Isabel Dos Santos has died in Dubai at the age of 48 according to press report from his wife. He was an Art collector, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was said to have died while diving. According to the source, Dokolo was diving when he drowned. This is the press version of cause of death, no details yet however, Angolan sources indicated that the cause of death was an embolism. Dokolo’s death was officially confirmed by Michée Mulumba of the Congolese President’s office, President Felix Tshisekedi informed the press. He was the son of the first black man who set up a bank, Augustin Dokolo, Sindika he was born in the former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, having spent most of his childhood in Europe. In 2002, he married Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, in Luanda. The couple moved to Dubai in early 2020, following the opening of several investigations into Dokolo, along with his wife, for allegedly diverting properties from the Angolan government,

in Europe.

which determined the preventive seizure of shares of Isabel dos Santos and Sindika Dokolo, in companies such as Unitel, BFA, Bic Angola and ZAP. Isabel dos Santos posted a photo with Dokolo and her youngest son on Twitter, but without any caption. There are comments of grief in response to the tweet. The son of the first black man who set up a bank, Augustin Dokolo, Sindika was born in the former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, having spent most of his childhood

In 2002, he married Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, in Luanda. The couple moved to Dubai in early 2020, following the opening of several investigations into Dokolo, along with his wife, for allegedly diverting properties from the Angolan government, which determined the preventive seizure of shares of Isabel dos Santos and Sindika Dokolo, in companies such as Unitel, BFA, Bic Angola and ZAP. Isabel dos Santos posted a photo with Dokolo and her youngest son on Twitter, but without any caption. There are comments of grief in response to the tweet.

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Congratulations to Madam Yai Fatou Secka at 50 5th October 2020, Madam Fatou turned 50. Her husband, children, grand children, families and friends celebrated her across the world. They surprised her with a birthday party in London, United Kingdom. Madam Fatou was for several years The Voice magazine coordinator in The Gambia; she ran our office there with a team before she moved to the United Kingdom. We remember your service to this magazine and we celebrate your life at 50. We pray for good health for you in years to come. Thank you for your service to The Voice magazine TV Management.

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Uganda’s ‘taxi divas’ rise from COVID-19’s economic gloom By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press

ganda’s latest ride-hailing service, called Diva Taxi, is breaking the mold in the socially conservative country by hiring only female drivers

KAMPALA, Uganda - The women grappled with each other inside the vehicle. The driver jerked to ease the grip around her neck, then turned to elbow her attacker in the back seat. She flung the door open to make her escape, ending the simulated attack. “This one is too strong for me,” the attacker said, smiling and shaking her head. Then it was another woman’s turn in the exercise to prepare drivers for Uganda’s new all-female ride-hailing service, Diva Taxi.

Diva Taxi believes countless women are looking for job opportunities at a time of severe economic distress. The International Labor Organization has said women’s employment in developing countries is likely to be hit harder than men’s in the pandemic.

The taxi service, dreamed up by a local woman who lost her logistics job at the start of the coronavirus outbreak, was launched in June and has recruited over 70 drivers.

“I should say I was personally affected by COVID,” Diva Taxi founder Gillian Kobusingye said. A regular traveler, she found herself grounded indefinitely as authorities imposed restrictions on movement to slow the spread of the virus. For several weeks, even taxis were not authorized to operate in Uganda. Still, Kobusingye felt optimistic. “Despite whatever circumstance in the world, there will be need of something to reach somebody ... And how does that happen? Through transport,” she said. She believed that a woman seeking to become a driver was likely to want the opportunity more than any man. And she backed women to be more reliable.

They range from college students to mothers hoping to make good use of their secondhand Toyotas. “It started off as a joke, supported by close friends and family, but eventually the idea picked up,” said company spokeswoman Rebecca Makyeli. “They said, ‘Why not? As ladies, you know we can no longer slay on Instagram on the outside, so why don’t we slay as divas with a cause.’ So we called it Diva Taxi.” It’s uncommon to find women taxi drivers in Uganda, a socially conservative East African country where most women labor on farms or pursue work in the informal sector.

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“Our ladies are extremely hardworking, very motivated, and I like their sense of pride when they do this work,” she said. “They do it with one heart compared to other people, and that’s the difference we have with our competitors.” Some clients, who include men, agree. “The divas are always on time,” said Kampala-based auditor Jemimah Bamwebaze, a regular user. She also feels safer “being driven by a fellow woman.” A prospective driver must have a car in good condition and a smartphone equipped with the mobile app that clients use, along with a valid driver’s license and a certificate of good conduct issued by Interpol. With Diva Taxi, 85% of proceeds from a trip go to the driver, strikingly low in Uganda but part of a plan to size up the market, Makyeli said.

Driver Donna Ochen, a FedEx accountant furloughed in March who looks after three children, said she had been “doing nothing” at home when she saw a Diva Taxi employee on television discussing opportunities for women. With the consent of her skeptical husband, she contacted the company and was recruited. “I decided to take it up because it would be an opportunity for me to serve and earn and support my family,” Ochen said. And “it would empower me to do something for myself rather than sitting.” Another driver, college student Tracy Abola, said her mother, a teacher, had been out of work since schools were shut down in March. Abola had been driving a 1998 Toyota “to keep up appearances with friends” until she learned she could make money with Diva Taxi.

“So I decided to do something so that I can also help a bit at home,” she said.

The Diva Taxi app has been downloaded at least 500 times, and each of the company’s 72 drivers makes an average of 30 rides each week, Makyeli said. The company expects to have 2,000 active users by the end of this year, a modest target in a city of over 3 million people where taxis and passenger motorcycles are the main means of transport for the working class. Despite the security training — each driver also receives a canister of pepper spray — safety remains a concern.

Ochen said she drives only during the day “to avoid being caught up in any tricky situations,” including with drunken groups.

Even as she hopes to return to her job as an accountant, she plans to remain a Diva Taxi 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.”

Stop tossing used face masks on the street, say Dutch environmental groups

nvironmental organizations united in Nederland Schoon teamed up with the Plastic Soup Foundation for a campaign urging Netherlands residents to safely and properly dispose of their face masks. Since the urgent advice to wear face masks in public spaces in the Netherlands, more and more of the disposable variants have ended up as litter on the streets, Helene van Zutphen, director of Nederland Schoon, said to the press. Water management companies previously sounded alarm bells over the increasing amount of masks and gloves being flushed down the toilet, which were likely to cause millions of euros in damage. These face masks are harmful to nature, Van Zutphen stressed. “What many people don’t know is that it often also contains plastic. Sometimes it looks like fabric or paper, but it can still contain plastic, which never decays.” With the associated health risks, passersby are also less likely to pick up a mask they see lying on the street and throw it in a bin. Those who want to pick up this waste are advised to be careful.

“If you want to pick them up, do it with a toothpick or gloves. There’s a small chance you could get infected if you’re not careful,” Van Zutphen said. The environmental organizations worry that this new form of litter will only increase once the face mask advice becomes mandatory.

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Nigeria at 60: Twist and turns of the co

n online search states that “sleep” is “a condition of body and mind which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended.” Any living creature experiences fatigue and exhaustion and then sleep to restore energy. Sleep also helps to keep our mind and body healthy. An average person spends about 33 percent of his or her life sleeping. Sleep helps repair and restore our organs and systems, such as immune systems, muscles, hormones, and vital role memory development. No one can survive without sleep, but when somebody over-sleeps, which is called hypersomnia, it has negative symptoms such as heart disease, diabetes, low energy, memory problems, and increased risk of death. Besides, depression and low economic status are also associated with over-sleeping. The sleeping “giant” of Africa, repeatedly drowsy since the second republic, has struggled to keep up with development and progress tracks. Following a series of corruption, human rights abuses, and impunity, Nigerians who have remained asleep under the guise of self-motivation and deep resilience to succeed with or without government, have suddenly regained consciousness. The last republic constitution was a “cut and paste” arrangement by the ambitious military to sleeping democrats. Oversleeping is just as bad as not sleeping enough, as such persons wake up groggy and sick. However, this sudden consciousness dilemma is farreaching, as Nigerians have woken up to a distasteful reality, which only time can reveal. Nigerians have woken up to a very sick nation. From the clamours from separatist groups and agitators, to the unprecedented level of crime rate and insecurity, the six decades of sleep has birthed a nation on the brink. Virtually all sectors of the economy have remained asleep for far too long. Specifically, with the police originally instituted to protect lives, maintain law and order, now resorting to an instrument of oppression and fear, the Nigerian youths within the past eleven days

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By Adewale T Akande, have woken the sleeping giant. Politically, it is a tragedy for nations with citizens who have fallen into protracted sleep amid the misery, poverty, and gross danger, as in Nigeria today. The effect of overdue sleep has brought pervasive corruption, infrastructural decay, educational decay, and government’s highhandedness, which increases ignorance and poverty in all ramifications. In February this year, I made a research trip to Bangkok, Thailand, on bus drivers´ behaviour management and sustainable transport service. I could not believe my eyes with excellent infrastructures transformation in such a third world nation. Meanwhile, Nigeria keeps on recruiting and “electing” incompetent, selfish, and corrupt leaders and representatives to manage her growing population and enormous resources. The bitter truth is that Nigeria has never gotten either a competent Prime Minister or President with VISION since 1960 up till today. The nation has become a “cash and carry” enterprise for every Jack and Harry. You can check their records of little minds. Some of them are worse than armed robbers. People that cannot give what they do not have except abracadabra! Why are the worst of us ruling the BEST of us while the best is good for us all? Meanwhile, with loud blaring from separatist youth and groups, religious leaders, and well-meaning Nigerians agitating for better governance, October 2020 witnessed the awakening of lazy youths with the hashtag “SOROSOKE”. As stated by Anthony Burgess “laugh and the world laugh with you, snore and you sleep alone”. The most populous nation in Africa has been sleeping alone, with her eyes closed for six decades. The world has seen the rise of new global changers like Singapore, Malaysia, India etc. Nigeria had greater potentials in shaping international relations and resources. Nigeria, a nation projected in 2017 by the UN World Population to overtake America’s population and surpasses the 300 million people mark by 2050 and become the most populous country in the world (CNN-Inside Africa, 2017), has arisen to the consciousness of her manifest potentials. The sleeping nation has just

onsciousness of Africa´s sleeping giant woken up to feel the barbarian conduct of SARS and bad governance in general. As coined by the Nobel Laurel scholar, Nigeria has been the largest sleeping generation in the last two decades in the world. Hence, a potential world market is sleeping. A country blessed with abundant human and material resources has been examined to be sick and in a deep sleep for sixty-years. Moreover, the nation’s marriage of inconvenience (via amalgamation in 1914) is afflicted with sleep and seems not “fully” ready to think of restructuring to retrace her steps and take her role among the league of nations and republics. Nigeria is an epitome of a nation that has been sleeping with wobbly economic and zero national security for so long. A country sleeping when sunrise is beautiful will never get light to see in the night. When a nation sleeps too much, there will be no time to advance development, rather, armedrobbery, scam, ritualists, tribal and religious conflict, and extreme poverty pervades the polity. A people in love with her bed will not encourage her citizens to wake up and go to school as the level of ignorance has become the status quo of every individual and sector of the country. A prosperous nation is not achieved in drowsiness and wishful thinking. It is borne in the extreme consciousness of the realities of hard work, resilience, and creativity, particularly among the youths. It is time to wake up and change the course of time. It is time to end the constructs of corruption and Nepotism in all sectors of Nigeria. It is

time to breathe fresh air. Miscreants who have stolen and looted the nation’s commonwealth should be made to face the full weight of the law. This is a clarion call to remain awake by every Nigerian citizen. When everybody sleeps, who will think and act for the nation? It is time to put an end to hatred and all primordial sentiments. It is time to push for critical and innovative thinking that will drive sustainable development. It is time to restructure the country, create jobs and engage best practises for all citizens´ welfare. For we have had more than enough sleep that will last a lifetime, it is time to be fully awake to outs bad governance for a refreshed and rejigged Nigeria. Written by Adewale T Akande Author, Road Traffic Safety Researcher and Consultant He is based in Barcelona, Spain. Tel: +34632511469 adewale_akande@hotmail.com

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Does protest really work in cozy democracies?

oes protest work? And is it more effective when it takes places in countries ruled by repressive regimes or those with democratically elected governments? Steve Crawshaw writes that if we think nothing will change, as people often do in democracies, that lack of belief becomes self-fulfilling. For much of my life – first as a journalist, and then as a human rights advocate – I have reported on authoritarian regimes and on the often mysterious chemistry of how and when they come and go. I have been fascinated and inspired by change achieved against unthinkable odds – allpowerful rulers overthrown, including through the sometimes startling power of peaceful protest. If so much can be achieved with authoritarian regimes, it would seem that protests in a democratic context should be more effective still. In reality, sometimes the opposite is true. A repressive framework, with nothing but

force to support it, sometimes provides its own kind of instability, hidden in plain sight. Thus, in October 1989, the East German authorities announced a plan to crush peaceful protests in Leipzig, “if need be, with weapons in our hands”. They thought that the pre-announced plans for a massacre meant people would stay at home. But so many

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people came out that night that the authorities retreated. A month later, as a direct result of that retreat, the Berlin Wall was down.

Every unelected dictator suffers, logically enough, from paranoia. You may have all the guns and tanks – but you can still be frightened of what Vaclav Havel, Czech dissident-turned-president, called “the power of the powerless”. In Prague, the repressive apparatus collapsed in barely a week when a quarter of a million went daily on to Wenceslas Square, jangling keys and little bells to tell the rulers: your time is over. In 2011, President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down when millions of Egyptians demonstrated the power of the powerless, with protests which were peaceful on the protesters’ side, and marked by great violence on the part of the authorities. (The situation in Egypt today is unremittingly bleak; but that takes nothing away from the remarkable achievements of that time.) If it is possible for peaceful crowds to force the collapse of the Berlin Wall or to unseat a Mubarak, how easy it should it be for protesters to persuade a democratically elected leader to retreat from “mere” bad policy? In truth, not easy at all. Two million marched in the UK against the Iraq War in 2003 – and it made not a blind bit of difference with Tony

Blair’s determination to proceed with a war that the UN Secretary-General described as illegal. Blair was reelected, two years later. After the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2017, millions took part in the series of Women’s Marches in the United States and around the world. It seemed – it was – a powerful defining moment. And yet, at least in the short-term, those remarkable protests were water off the presidential duck’s back. His response was mockery. In some respects, Trump could afford to mock. A man who has received 63 million votes is in a stronger position than the unelected leader who has to threaten or use violence to stay in power. And yet. One thing that protest in an authoritarian and a democratic context have in common is that the impact of protest – including delayed impact – remains uncertain, both for those who protest and those who are protested against. Vaclav Havel argued that it was worth “living in truth” – speaking truth to power – even without any certainty of outcome. “Those that say individuals are not capable of changing anything are only looking for excuses.” In that context, what is perhaps most unacceptable is to mock those who take risks, and seek change. Lord Charles Powell, former adviser to Margaret Thatcher, for example explained

to the umbrella protesters in Hong Kong in 2013 that they were foolish and naive. They should, he told them, learn to live with the “small black cloud” of anti-democratic pressures from Beijing. The protesters failed to heed Powell’s complacent message. In the words of Joshua Wong, on his way back to jail earlier in 2017: “You can lock up our bodies, but not our minds.” Skepticism and failure are linked, as the Egyptian activist Asmaa Mahfouz made clear in a powerful video, which helped trigger the uprising in 2011. The 26-yearold declared: ‘”Whoever says it is not worth it because there will only be a handful or people, I want to tell him, “You are the reason for this.” Sitting at home and just watching us on the news or Facebook leads to our humiliation.’ The video went viral. Millions went out. The rest was history. Even in a democracy, that same it-can’t-be-done logic sucks us in more often, perhaps, than we realize. Ahead of 2017’s UK elections, I was happy to tell whoever would listen that the support of many young people for Jeremy Corbyn was well-meaning but essentially naïve. Too few would support him nationwide. The scale of the Tory victory would be overwhelming. In short: this was an electoral road to nowhere. My analysis (and the identical analysis of others, with much more authority to speak on British politics than I) proved, of course, as accurate as a Trump tweet. So many were so hungry for change that the country’s political landscape changed overnight. In short: voting did what it was supposed to do, in allowing protest to be heard. In this context, the common thread between a surprise election (almost-) defeat for the government and the defeat of an unwanted, unelected regime was above all about belief. From the United States to Hungary, from Poland to the Philippines, where illiberal leaders seem so secure in their hold on power, Havel’s urging of the need to “live in truth” remains as relevant today as it was in the darkest days of the past. In a totalitarian context, you need to gain belief to find the courage to go out on the street, despite all the obvious risks. In a democracy, the decision should be easier. But Asmaa Mahfouz has been proved right, over and over. If we think nothing will change, then that lack of belief becomes selffulfilling: then, indeed, nothing will change. By Steve Crawshaw is an advocacy adviser at Amnesty International, and author of Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief, foreword by Ai Weiwei.

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Dutch King apology to his subjects over Greece holidays with family

ing Willem-Alexander and queen Maxima have issued a two-minute video in which they speak of their regrets about going on holiday to Greece last month. The king, Maxima and their youngest daughter returned home from their Greek holiday home after less than a day following a public outcry in the Netherlands about the trip. The two older Princesses returned on two days later. ‘It hurts to have betrayed your trust in us,’ the king said. ‘Even though the trip was in line with the regulations, it was very unwise not to take into account the impact of the new restrictions on our society.’ The royals’ holiday home is in a code yellow zone but last month Prime Minister Mark Rutte had urged everyone to minimize travelling, as part of a new package of measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The king did not mention the decision to allow the King Willem-Alexander reads his speech, watched by queen Maxima two older girls to return home several days later. and Prime Minister, Mark Rutte. Photo: Koen van Weel (ANP) According to the state information service RVD, there were no seats left on the plane to bring them back on Saturday with the rest of the family. ‘From the start of the coronavirus crisis, we have done our best… to be there as much as possible for everyone who is looking for support in uncertain times,’ the king said. ‘It is a difficult time for everyone…we have heard the poignant stories in many meetings with you, in person and digitally. We feel connected with you and with all those people who have been directly or indirectly affected.’ The message, recorded at the family home in The Hague, concluded with the king stating: ‘We are part of this. But we are not infallible.’ Prime minister Mark Rutte earlier accepted full responsibility for the trip, saying he had made an error of judgment and apologized too the country but the people still expected the King as Head of State to take personal responsibility which he did with the public apology.

‘We are not infallible,’ king says in video statement about Greek holiday 50

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King, Royal Family arrive in Netherlands after holiday row; Dutch PM takes responsibility Extoll modelling management catching them young for the future

he Dutch Royal Family returned to the Netherlands after cancelling their fall holiday trip to Greece, according to reports from multiple news outlets. They reportedly returned to the Netherlands on a KLM flight which arrived at about 8 p.m. on Saturday. The vacation attempt was heavily criticized for taking place at a time when the Netherlands was placed on partial lockdown to combat months of rising coronavirus infections and Covid-19 hospitalizations. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the trip did not contravene Dutch rules, but was inappropriate. He said he knew about the trip in advance, he should have done a better job evaluating the situation, and he should have advised the King not to depart on holiday. KLM 1576, a scheduled nonstop service which departed Athens twenty minutes late at 5:41 p.m. local time, landed at Schiphol Airport at 8:01 p.m., according to the Dutch airport’s website. It would suggest that the Royal Family spent a total time of approximately 24 hours in Greece, and roughly 6.5 hours in the air including their departure and return flights. Just after 8 p.m., the Dutch flag was seen flying above the Huis ten Bosch palace where the family resides, a symbol which signifies the King is in the Netherlands, reported in the press. Two days after Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge pleaded with the Dutch public to remain home as much as possible and to travel only if necessary, King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, and their three daughters used the government’s Boeing 737 on Friday afternoon to fly to Athens and visit their holiday villa west of the Greek capital. They announced they would cut their trip short hours after De Jonge, serving as the Deputy Prime Minister, and the director of the government communication office RVD said they were completely unaware of the family’s vacation plans. It caused a significant blowback to the family, in particular Willem-Alexander who has spent years using his speeches to promote self-sacrifice and common bonds as core values to the Netherlands community. He was heavily criticized for the vacation by political editors and royalty reporters at news outlets and Members of Parliament alike. In a statement from the King and Queen, the couple said they

were “affected” by the “intense” reactions people had to their vacation. “We do not want to create any uncertainty about it: In order to get the Covid-19 virus under control, it is necessary that the guidelines are followed. The discussion around our holiday does not contribute to that,” Willem-Alexander and Maxima said. Rutte: “I bear full ministerial responsibility” Later, the RVD issued a clarification saying that Rutte did in fact know about the planned trip. At the time WillemAlexander and his family departed, Rutte was attending the European Council summit in Brussels. In a letter to Parliament on Sunday, Rutte affirmed this, saying that he “realized too late” that trip did not match up with the tightened-up rules in the Netherlands. “I realized too late, especially after the press conference on the evening of Tuesday October 13, that the intended holiday, which was in line with the regulations, could no longer be reconciled with the increasing infections and the stricter measures. This should have prompted me to reconsider the intended holiday,” he wrote. “I bear full ministerial responsibility for the aforementioned.” Normally, he said, travel by the Royal Family when they are not performing a function on behalf of the Netherlands is considered private, but by law the public interest must be taken into account, Rutte wrote. The lockdown press conference on Tuesday garnered 7.4 million broadcast television viewers, and was also available on-demand and on live streaming services. Rutte said he assessed the situation poorly, and that he failed to notify De Jonge of the King’s travel plans. The RVD refused further comment, according to Nu.nl, calling the issue a private matter. The organization said the Royal Family did follow all coronavirus measures promoted by the government. On their last trip to Greece the King and Queen were panned for failing to maintain social distancing guidelines when they posed for photos shoulder-to-shoulder with the owner of a restaurant. In another development has released a statement of apology to the country on his action on behalf of his family. www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Why is there a legal issue with face masks and quarantine fines?

lthough the Dutch partial lockdown includes measures such as wearing face masks in public and selfisolation in the case of illness or travel, the use of masks and quarantine in the Netherlands cannot currently be made compulsory. During a press conference last month, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and health minister Hugo de Jonge said they are working on urgent legal change to make face masks obligatory, and another to fine people who do not stick to 10 days quarantine. So the ‘urgent advice’ to wear face masks and which is now presented by the government on its website as a new rule, is actually not grounded in law. But what the legal issue with making masks compulsory at the moment? Jan Brouwer, a professor of law in society at the University of Groningen and director of research institute the Centrum voor Openbare Orde en Veiligheid,

has led criticism of the government’s measures. He told the media that the Dutch constitution guarantees a right to privacy, including what you wear, as well as a right to gather, and these laws cannot be restricted, he said, without an act of parliament. Problem ‘We have a lot of fundamental rights in chapter one of our Dutch constitution, and in a constitutional process in 1983, we decided that there is always a need for an act of parliament in order to restrict fundamental rights,’ he explained. ‘The limitation of fundamental rights is not allowed in emergency municipal 52

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bylaws, and that was the problem in spring.’ Since a Council of State ruling in May found that restrictions could only be applied under emergency laws for a limited period of time, the government has been working on a temporary Covid-19 law. After a huge amount of debate and amendments, this has just passed the lower house and is expected to be voted on in the senate on October 27. Health minister Hugo de Jonge told MPs he will introduce compulsory face masks as soon as the coronavirus legislation has been passed, and that the legislation includes a specific clause allowing ministers to bring in rules about personal protection Until the requirement is anchored in law, the cabinet will continue to ‘urgently advise’ everyone over the age of 12 to wear a mask in public buildings. Brouwer, who had called for parliament to break its recess in August to deal with this issue and gave evidence to MPs himself in September, said that while officials can ask sick people to quarantine for the sake of public health: they just cannot tell healthy people to do this. Healthy ‘As long as we don’t have the temporary Covid law, it isn’t possible to limit fundamental rights except in provisions from the public health law, which allow mayors to put sick people in quarantine or isolation,’ he said. ‘If there was a strong opinion that face masks helped preventing spreading the virus, you could say emergency law on a national scale would create a kind of exception to the rule of an act of parliament being necessary. But the RIVM has always been very ambivalent about the effect of wearing face masks. ‘In order to prescribe the obligatory wearing of face masks, in my opinion there was a need for a new provision: this infringes the right to privacy, described in our constitution for respect for the right of private life,’ he said.

Citizens’ initiative to move colonialist statue in Hoorn scrapped, but included in ‘city talks’ A citizens’ initiative to move the statue of J.P. Coen in Hoorn was scrapped in a city council meeting last month, but the city council agreed to add this initiative to the agenda for previously announced “city talks” about the statue and racism and discrimination in Hoorn. Initiator 23-year-old Gion Raap can live with this, he said to the press. “This way my vision is included, but there is also room for other sounds,” Raap said. “I think it is important that other supporters and opponents can also express their opinion in addition to mine and that is possible with such a city conversation.” In June, the statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen provoked fierce protests against the background of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Demonstrators demanded that the statue be removed, saying that “the butcher of Banda” is wrongly revered as a hero. The Hoorn mayor announced city talks on this topic, promising that they will

Green party wants to give 18-yearolds a ‘starting capital’ of €10,000 One of the plans in GroenLinks’ election program is for the government to give young people a “starting capital” of 10 thousand euros when they turn 18. They can use this money for their own development, for example to pay tuition fees, start their own business, or retrain for a more promising labor market sector, according to Dutch media report. The green party is worried about the inequality in opportunities between people in the Netherlands, and think this starting capital can help in decreasing that inequality. “Where you were born determines your opportunities in life and poverty is passed on from generation to generation,” the party said. According to the party, this plan will cost about 2.2 billion euros per year. GroenLinks wants to pay for it through a “solidarity contribution” by millionaires. People with more than a million euros in wealth will have to annually pay 1 percent of their assets above that amount to the government. Those with two million euros or more have to pay 2 percent on their assets over 2 million euros. Property values will not be considered as part of your wealth. The GroenLinks election program for the 2021 parliamentary elections, which will officially be presented on Saturday,

happen before the end of the year. Arwin Rood, D66 faction leader in Hoorn, stressed that the city talks must lead to measures and policy. “We must not have a conversation without taking measures. Whether that has to do with the statue or in general with the subject of discrimination. We must follow through on this,” Rood said. GroenLinks was also outspoken about the future of the statue. “The statue must be drastically adjusted or replaced by something else. We will continue to use our democratic resources as long as that statue remains unadjusted. Be happy that people are making use of their right to have a say, appreciate that, those are the expressions we want. If the statue remains, then I think the actions and demonstrations will not stop,” the party said. Jan Pieterszoon Coen, 1587 1629, was director-general of the VOC and aimed to strengthen the VOC’s position in the Far East, according to NOS. In 1671 he was appointed governor general. He was best known for his conquest of Jakarta, which was later renamed Batavia. It is now called Jakarta again. Coen was well known for the violence he used. According to NOS, his greatest crime was the punitive expedition to one of the Banda Islands. He had thousands of residents of the island murdered after they delivered nutmeg to the English against agreements with the VOC also replaces the current student loan system with a “new scholarship” in which students receive a maximum of 400 euros per month. All students who took out loans in the past five years must also receive 10 thousand euros in compensation. “This is to ensure that the generation that has been disadvantaged by the loan system gets a bit in return.” The PvdA also believes that the loan system generation should receive compensation, but will only elaborate on that when presenting its election program at the end of the month. The D66 wants to reduce student debt by giving students with study loans retroactive grants. The party wants to spend between 3 billion and 8 billion euros on this project.

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NIGERIAN YOUTH PROTESTS “Don’t destroy yourself”

Global voice to end Sars brutality in Nigeria has gained international recognition and attention and right now many countries around the world are joining Nigerians to protest even on their streets while the event is millions of miles away from them. Just as they mobilize people and resources to support the Black lives Movement, EndSars brutality is gaining momentum however the Nigerian government handling of the protests is not

around, the protest has grower bigger and stronger that the government is weighing its options. To use military force, impose curfew in various states of the country- that would be tantamount to shutting down the economy of the country which is

the best so far. Of course the Nigerian government never expected a more aggressive protest and agitation like this. In the past after 2 or 3 days of intimidation and harassment by the same Police force, the protesters quietly withdraw from the streets and everything dies down but this time

already on its knees. To dialogue with the protesters seem not to be working. Why? No clear leadership of the protest to speak to, those who claim to lead the protest has been discredited. You cannot dialogue with a man or woman who thinks he or she has nothing to lose or gain after all, Nigeria

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youths have been short changed, pushed to the wall, the only option left for them is to fight back even at the cost of their lives. As we write this report, some had already been killed in various circumstances during the protest. We are not talking of hoodlums or thugs trying to take advantage of the situation to steal, rob and destroy private or government properties. To manage a protest of this magnitude and nature which does not have a clear cut leadership structure or control means that hooligans, thugs and other destructive elements would try to hijack the protest and cause more chaos. That is already been witnessed in parts of the country, Edo State, Lagos State, Osun State and Abuja has witnessed this type of activities, in particular Edo State, it has witnessed the prison breaks, burning down of a police station and stealing of fire arms. Now we have official fire arms in the hands of criminal gangs, there would be no sleep for a while for the residents of Edo State and environs. Again there are calls by some to destroy assumed government properties. At the Voice News magazine, we do not support these acts of violence against the same country we want it to be restructured. Those properties do not belong to President Buhari or his party, APC. They are Nigerians property built by our collective money so if you destroy them, you are destroying yourself please. Our appeal is that do not destroy yourself because you may not have a country called your own again. “If we burn down our schools because they were built by the oppressive minority rule of the whites in South Africa then we don’t have any form of education and we would remain in our ignorance, we would have no form of education. Let them teach us their lies and with that knowledge we can demand for our freedom”. These were the words of late Dr. Nelson Mandela as he appealed to the youths with black population majority in South Africa under the Apartheid regime to stop burning down the schools. If they have not listened they would have remained in perpetual ignorance even till today. There is an adage in my language that even when we cry; we see where we are going. We cannot afford to ruin the gains of the protests by emotions not controlled. Those on the government side should as well guide their statements and utterances like the Spokespersons for Mr. President Shehu Garba and Mr. Femi Adesina and of course the Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed. Mr. Adesina while answering questions on the protest on National television called it a pocket of people and he calls it ‘funny’. He repeated it more than twice even asking the interviewer to quote him. Same goes for Shehu Garba and I know the nature of their job description to defend and protect the interest of the President. The same for the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed but in a national crisis like this, they should allow the President to speak to the people himself except they are telling the public, what they are saying is a representation

of what the President would say to the people after all they write his script for him. They shouldn’t forget that they currently live in a glass house protected by public funds and after 8 years if the romance last that long, they would join others as ordinary citizens not protected by the power and authority of the corridor of government. They would live among the same people Mr. Adesina describes as ‘funny people’. No man enjoys the cover of state power forever even the worst dictatorships. They should look at history and those who occupied that position before them. We are not surprised that his words are that of whom he represents. The President sees Nigerian youths are funny. No wonder the President has not been able to address the issues raised by the youths, these people he entrust to write his script are calling Nigerian youths ‘ funny and jokers’. Well using force as they have suggested will not be a solution except they want to kill over 30 million of Nigerian population. Are they capable

of doing that? Yes we guess since they said they would not be blackmail into dialogue to restructure. In fact right now dialogue may also not be possible to accomplish this mission so what is the way forward? The President who spoke at 60th diamond celebration should readdress the nation and this time, he should kindly listen to voices of wisdom before he speaks. One thing that is urgent is to dissolve his present cabinet as a stepping-stone. Secondly he should take concrete actions on the reforms put forward to him by the youths of Nigeria. Thirdly, he should ask his State Governors to dissolve their cabinets as well so they can appoint new ones with departure from the old fashion way of compensating old political friends. Fourthly, revisit the issue of restructuring of Nigeria through constitutional means, efforts where put into trying to give Nigeria a new constitution, 1979 constitution is outdated and too many faults in it. Finally the government should stop using force to quench protest. It does not work rather the anger and frustration increases. Hopefully reason will prevail in the situation of Nigeria.

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EVENT COVERAGE

QUAYSON K Successful book launch in Amsterdam

he much anticipated book launch of Rev. Quayson K took place at the Charity’s House (Bijlmerdreef 1239, 1103 TX Amsterdam last month and the book was well received with massive attendance despite the corona crisis in the country. There’s A Curse In This House: Who Brought It? The book was reviewed by Dr. Mrs. Joan Vondee Awotwi (PhD). The moderator was a lecturer at the university of Amsterdam, Rev. Dr. Nelson Kwaku Boateng Frimpong who happened to be a lecturer to Rev. Kwabena Quayson. He narrated how he took Rev. K as a son and eventually encouraged him to go back to school at his old age. Dr. Harrison Kwabena Frimpong who in the midst of the Apostles and the Pastors, used God sending His Son to the world as a gift to launch the book with lots of humour causing the whole audience into laughter. Quote: “When I ask ‘there is a curse in this house, who brought it?’ I am drawing your attention to that peculiar thing in the house that has become common that everybody goes through or it affects everyone. I am talking about The Family Tree! How does your family tree look like! I mean the person up the family tree who was the cause of a curse that has become generationalthe originator” The much attended program was graced by renowned Ministers of God from Amsterdam and beyond. Apostle Livingstone Kofi Tsagli of Resurrection Power and Living Bread Ministries Int. Rev. Emmanuel Waterburg of Pentecost Revival Church Rev. John Owusu Agyeman of Holy Ghost Revival Chapel Rev. Fred Nyarko Apostle Larry Dorkenoo Apostle Ofori Amanfor Rev. Nana Baiden Pastor John Olsen Pastor Sammy Boafo Pastor Kofi Crentsil Pastor William Boateng Evangelist Jolly Pastor Kusi Boasiako Apostle Tony from Belgium Pastor Solomon Tetteh - Quaye Pastor Kingsley Baafour from Belgium Rev. Seth Bempon of Acts Revival (Den Haag) and many more... Also in attendance were Nana Nsuobeyebouden Owusu Boateng Agyenim, Dr. Adu - Acheampong (PhD) Mr. David Agyekumhene Mr. S.O. Asante of Recogin and a cross section of the entire community. Music was performed by: John Angoh, Minister Dennis de Almeida, Aaron and Betty Baiden. Rev K is using this medium to thank each and every one who participate and continue to patronize his book. He prays that the book becomes a blessing to your lives Signed: Rev. Kwabena Quayson 56

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Meet 22-year-old Christine Mutesi, Rwanda’s most outstanding teacher By Edwin Ashimwe & Gad Nshimiyimana It is a few minutes past 1 pm, as we are cleared to access Groupe Scolaire Nyaruguru, located in Kinazi village in Ruhango District.

“I had never participated in such a competition. But when I heard about the criteria for choosing the best teacher, I felt there was a chance for me,” she said.

In the school compound, we are welcomed by Christine

Teaching in the face of a pandemic When the first Covid-19 case was reported in the country in March, all in-person class sessions were put on a halt in order to curb the spread of the virus. “Seeing that I had been physically disconnected from my students, I had to do something that would help me connect with them again,” said Mutesi, who was cheerful throughout the interview. Particularly, she added, “When schools closed, I could imagine how young students were surviving even when it appeared to be hard for us the teachers”. Based on this, Mutesi established an online platform that would help primary school students learn as well as assess themselves.

Mutesi, the primary four Elementary Science and Technology (E.S.T) teacher, who guides us to the school library for what turned out to be an insightful conversation. Clad in a black skirt and a white top, Mutesi made national news last week on October 5, when she became Rwanda’s youngest teacher to ever win the most outstanding award on the country level. Alongside the certificate of recognition, she was also given a tablet, a brand new motorcycle and a cow. She was awarded on the same day the country joined the rest of the world to celebrate International Teachers Day. An event that was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Every year, best performing teachers are awarded as part of efforts to celebrate and honor their work. To get the winners, teachers compete based on given criteria set by the Rwanda Education Board (REB). In particular, this year’s competition was ‘tougher’ because teachers were required to indicate what they did to facilitate home-schooling for their students as schools remained closed due to Covid-19.

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She knew not all her students were connected, so she opened up the platform to all children in the country. “I created a platform where I would share notes every week on Facebook and WhatsApp. For every notes, I would also send a quiz which would help the student evaluate themselves,” said Mutesi, adding, “The application has an automatic marking feature where the student can see their marks immediately after submitting the test”. Going by the attendance of students, she says that the

platform was a timely initiative, citing that at least 80 students could participate every week. Similarly, in a bid to support students who didn’t have access to digital tools, Mutesi initiated a rabbit-keeping programme among her students.

passion. They should pick interest before joining. And I can testify that once you are passionate, this is one of the best professions.”

“I started with four rabbits and gave them to four students on grounds that if it litters, the owner would share kittens with a neighbour who didn’t have one”. According to Mutesi, her students have been spending more time looking after the rabbits as opposed to wasting that time on unnecessary – and at times harmful - activities especially during the pandemic. “I tell them that they are not supposed to be loitering around, but rather looking after the rabbits so that when schools reopen, the best rabbit keeper will be awarded.” So far, the project had at least led to a chain of 65 rabbits in her village. Edutainment approach People who know Mutesi, told this publication that her work is characterized by an entertaining teaching approach. “There is a special joy to be found in watching her go about her work,” said Jean Bosco Nsanzimana, head teacher of GS Nyarugenge. Nsanzimana who describes Mutesi as a youthful charming and talented teacher, also highlighted that while in class, she shows a high level of connection with her students. “She is very energetic and at the same time disciplined. On top of that, she gives much of her time to students. As a school we are very proud of her,” Nsanzimana reiterated. According to Mutesi, an entertaining approach enables her students to relate easier to the subject regardless of how complex it might seem. “There are many things you can do. Normally when I enter my class, especially on Mondays, my students expect a new joke or play”, and “like I told you, even my age and size makes it easy for me. If it is a new play, I join them and we act together, if it is a song, sing along with them”. Such moments, Mutesi pointed out, make the lesson easier for a young student. “It helps them remember the lesson but also it makes them feel happy. When they see a teacher dancing in front of them they are surprised and happy at the same time”. With passion the sky is the limit According to Mutesi, professional teachers must pick interest in the career before joining in order to excel.

In contrast, Mutesi understands that when a teacher comes looking for money, they start comparing themselves with other professions which later affects their attitude towards work. “It is true that we are among the least paid professionals. Personally, I get paid and sometimes I don’t have what to save”, she added, “This is even more challenging with those teachers who have families to look after.” According to her, there is no salary that is worth a teacher’s service. “I don’t think if we tabled the bill, anyone can be able to pay us. If I wake up at 5:00 am in the morning, walk to school where I spend more than 10 hours every day, I don’t think anyone can ever pay that bill”. In that regard, she highlighted, “My message to teachers especially those who are fresh as well as those who are aspiring to join the field, is to know that they are educating the generation of the future”. “When you are most interested in the service other than the money, it makes your life easier. It makes you fresh every day. You will not see a teacher ageing. You will always feel young because of the environment” Mutesi reiterated. Going forward, Mutesi, who is a second year student at the University of Rwanda’s College of Education, told this publication that she aims at staying in the education sector. “I might not be working as a teacher necessarily but I want to remain in this sector. I think I will apply for a different job but which has something to do with education”

“What I can tell them is to come to this profession with

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OPINION

The World Has Lost Patience With Zimbabwe’s ‘Crocodile’

resident Mnangagwa will only get help if he gets serious about economic and political reforms writes Bobby Ghosh.

Over year ago this month, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa strained credulity when he declared in a Television interview, “We have rejoined the family of nations.” The international community was already losing patience with his inability to deliver economic reforms, and Zimbabweans were complaining of a steady erosion of the political freedoms that had come with the 2017 military-led ouster of the dictator Robert Mugabe. Indeed, in some respects the new president, who revelled in the nom de guerre “the Crocodile,” was proving worse than his former boss. The flickering hopes for a new Zimbabwe have now been extinguished. Mnangagwa, cracking down on dissent at home and waving off criticism from abroad, is practically indistinguishable from Mugabe. And the “family of nations” is letting its dissatisfaction be known. In an unusually blunt joint statement last week, the governments of the U.S., Britain and five other European nations, said Mnangagwa’s administration was using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to restrict citizens’ freedoms. It was neglecting corruption and failing to prosecute those responsible for human-rights violations. “The Zimbabwean people have the right to engage in dialogue to build a better future for their country,” the statement said. “But the necessary discussions have so far been hindered by unhelpful rhetoric and blame assigned to several groups.” The statement came days after the arrests of the investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, ahead of planned anti-corruption protests. They were accused of “incitement to participate in public violence.” The U.S. embassy in Harare tweeted that the government was prosecuting Chin’ono and other activists “instead of the culprits” responsible for the corruption. The Mnangagwa administration has accused U.S. Ambassador Brian Nichols of “casting aspersions on the 60

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Zimbabwe government and dabbling in local politics.” It’s a far cry from last fall when the president asserted on Bloomberg TV that relations were the best they’d been in decades. It isn’t just Western nations that are raising red flags about the deterioration in Zimbabwe. Neighboring South Africa has expressed alarm at reports of human-rights violations. President Cyril Ramaphosa sent special envoys to Harare last month, offering to help Mnangagwa address his challenges. They were told there was nothing to discuss, and that they

had no business interfering in Zimbabwean politics. But even as Mnangagwa tries to keep the world at bay, Zimbabwe’s economy desperately needs an international intervention. Food and fuel scarcities are chronic, and power and water shortages have worsened. Last year’s drought, the worst in a generation, left deep scars. The Zimbabwean dollar, reintroduced last summer after a 10-year hiatus, is in serious trouble. In another echo of the Mugabe era, annual inflation in Zimbabwe accelerated to 837.53% in July. The Crocodile, meanwhile, has talked up $27 billion in planned investments, in everything from platinum mines, steel mills and hydropower dams to abattoirs. The government has proposed to issue a 30-year bond in international markets to raise $3.5 billion to compensate White farmers evicted from their land by Mugabe two decades ago. But these are pipe dreams. Foreign investors and lenders are not buying Mnangagwa’s claim that “Zimbabwe is open for business.” The country has defaulted on its loans since 1991, and currently owes nearly $8 billion to financial institutions, including the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s pleas for debt relief have been rebuffed by multilateral lenders. The Paris Club, which includes several creditor nations and is owed $3.26 billion, said Zimbabwe must first improve its human-rights record and pay outstanding arrears. Without international support, Zimbabwe’s top treasury official has warned, there is little hope of reviving the economy and containing inflation. But Harare is in such a bad spot that Zimbabwe has even been denied a share of the $50 billion pot

that the International Monetary Fund made available to help low-income and emerging economies soften the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic. Ncube has been able to raise just $200 million from donors and governments. But Mnangagwa is unwilling to undertake the political reforms necessary to secure assistance from the international community. He has shown little appetite for taking on those who benefit most from the institutionalized corruption of the Mugabe years — including his political allies and the military leadership that helped him secure the presidency. He remains in fear of being toppled, as his predecessor was, in a military coup. His deputy, Constantino Chiwenga, is the former chief of the armed forces. The Crocodile had been hoping the “family of nations” would fatten the proverbial calf for the returning prodigal. But the family has made its terms clear. Mnangagwa cannot sit at the table before first cleaning his hands. To contact the author of this story: Bobby Ghosh at aghosh73@bloomberg.net

MTN Rwanda moves to curb mobile money fraud By Edwin Ashimwe Telecommunication operator MTN Rwanda will effective Thursday, September 24, roll out a new cash withdrawal process, an initiative that aims at curtailing the growing number of mobile money fraudsters. According to Teta Mpyisi, the Brand and Sponsorship Senior Manager at MTN Rwanda, “All mobile money customers will have to pre-authorize any withdrawal request by dialing *182*7# before an agent can send a withdrawal prompt message”. The value of funds transferred via Mobile Money grew by

450 per cent between January and April this year to reach Rwf 40 billion (over $ $42 million), data from Rwanda Utilities Regulation Authority shows. Besides, the increased uptake and adoption of Mobile Money

across the country, operations by fraudsters to take advantage of unsuspecting clients have been on the rise and point towards customer vulnerability. For instance, latest figures released mid-June this year by Rwanda Investigation Bureau indicate that the body received about 80 cases of people whose money was stolen from mobile phones. In these schemes, close to Rwf12 million was stolen. In an earlier interview, John Rwangombwa, Central Bank Governor told The New Times that in just two months of the lockdown digital payments increased more than five times. “Mobile money transactions have bank accounts that show the float — the amount of electronic money being transacted within the population. Before the Covid-19 outbreak, this float was Rwf28 billion and by mid-May, it had grown to Rwf60 billion.” Following the spike, officials warned that there was urgent action towards raising public awareness on cyber safety and security, especially targeting mobile money wallets which more than half of Rwandans own. In this regard, Mpyisi said that the new process is a security enforcement feature to the ordinary way of withdrawing money. “This is to ensure that the MoMo platform remains safe and secured while protecting our customers from fraudsters who want to take advantage of them”. Additionally, we require customers to be diligent when approving transactions. For reactions: eashimwe@newtimesrwanda.com www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

OPINION

Food, Farming and COVID-19 By HOMEF

here are several pointers to the fact that COVID-19 and similar disease outbreaks are as a result of our encroachment on natural habitats and destruction of genetic diversity occasioned by the industrial system of agriculture and other economic activities. The current pandemic and the lockdown measures to curb its spread have given us an opportunity to analyze our food production systems and to change our course for a healthy and resilient future.

Food Sovereignty in Africa; Tatfeng Mirabeau, professor of Medical Microbiology, Nigeria Delta University; Jackie Ikeotuonye, CEO at Bio-integrity and Natural Foods Awareness Initiative; and Linzi Lewis, a researcher and advocacy officer at the African Center for Biodiversity. The fact that we must first understand the root of problems before we are able to solve them was stressed by Nnimmo Bassey (HOMEF Director) in his opening remarks. “Industrial agriculture (which propels 80 percent of deforestation, promotes land grabs, displaces family farmers and communities) and the pursuit of profit have unrelentingly eaten away at natural habitats, bringing about displacement of both humans and beasts” he explained. According to Million Belay, intensive livestock production and destruction of genetic diversity occasioned by modern biotechnology further increases the risk of emergence and spread of diseases such as the COVID-19, SARS, Ebola, etc. Speaking on the realities of the present pandemic, he stated that it has brought about increased marginalization of already marginalized people. “Women are seriously impacted as they have the responsibility of caring for the sick and also making food available amidst the movement restrictions and market challenges” he added.

The pandemic has brought to fore the importance of local, inclusive and sustain-able food systems because while many businesses are shut down and commercial processes including the distribution of genetically modified seeds to farmers are restricted, small holder farmers have to keep up with the production and marketing of healthy food for the population. This, they do in spite of the challenges they face in terms of restriction of movement; access to markets, credit schemes; lack of storage and processing facilities; and poor road networks etc. On 30 June 2020, HOMEF had a webinar (Dialogue) with students of Agriculture and youths from across Nigeria which focused on the implications of the pandemic on our food systems; the impact of industrial agriculture (GMOs, excessive use of chemicals, monocultures etc.) On food systems as well as its link to pandemics such as the COVID19; and issues of seeds and markets and how they affect small holder farmers. The dialogue which also had journalists and CSOs in attendance highlighted the way forward for healthy and resilient food and farming systems in a post COVID-19 Era. Speakers, drawn from Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa included Million Belay, Coordinator of the Alliance for 62

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Speaking further on the impacts of the pandemic on our food and farming systems, Jackie Ikeotuonye stated that there have been hikes in food prices, poor access to seeds by farmers, poor access to markets, disruptions in collecting and transporting agricultural products to areas of consumption, post-harvest losses occasioned by lack of storage facilities, and a general inability of farmers to meet up with food supply. “This is the time to explore sustainable agricultural systems which provide healthy, enjoyable diets for all while contributing to socioeconomic development and minimizing (and eventually eliminating) environmental impacts and waste. Agroecology and food sovereignty are of key importance in the post COVID 19 era. The right to own and control our agricultural systems and our food from seed to consumption must be upheld” she explained. Speaking on seeds, seed laws and markets, Linzi Lewis stressed on the importance and need to protect farmer managed seed systems which provide 90% of agricultural seeds and which allows for saving, sharing and sale of local, genetically diverse, adaptable and affordable seeds across planting seasons. It was noted that currently, the orientation of our seed laws is specifically towards the private sector which undermine the farmer managed systems that we rely on. We must understand that it is the small holder farmers who feed Africa and so we are faced with the question of who will

feed us since our laws put the small holder farmers at risk and favour the private sector whose major concern is export and profit. Genetic modification of food crops and specifically the approval for commercial release of Bt Cotton and cowpea in Nigeria is of serious concern. “Implication of GMOs, in addition to the loss of farmers’ rights over the modified seeds include increased use of herbicides – destruction of non- target organisms; loss of biodiversity; and health implications such as cancers, immune system disorders, birth defects etc.” Professor Mirabeau

biodiversity. • Post COVID -19, we must wean ourselves from the dependency on imported processed foods and on the industrial agricultural system which not only impact negatively on our health but also weakens our economy. A mindset of autonomy and strong political will is needed to turn the enormous potential of Africa’s food sovereignty into a reality. • The government should put in place a variety of proactive measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on women, small holder farmers and producers. • Young people should be included in dialogues with public health specialists and policymakers and should be given the opportunity to contribute to decision making and problem solving. Including young people will result in a more sustainable and long-term solution to the current and future pandemics. The youth of today can act as custodians of the pandemic response in order to remind future generations of the lessons learnt, pitfalls, and the best way forward. • Our governments need to be proactive in monitoring food availability and pricing. This can be done by setting up foodsecurity or agricultural response units in the face of COVID-19 as centralized strategic and planning hubs. Governments should deploy digital tools and data-gathering approaches to manage food availability, accessibility, and affordability—as well as providing support to value-chain players.

explained. It was stated that landmark outcomes such as the reportAgriculture at a Crossroads issued by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) in 2008 which calls for adoption of the most efficient farming systems, and recommends a fundamental shift toward agroecology as a way to boost food production should be utilized in national policy. In addition to being an efficient and resilient farming system, agroecology, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 2014 is a key element of the food system that the world needs in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As noted by the FAO, Agroecology directly contributes to many of the SDGs including eradication of poverty (1) and hunger (2), ensuring quality education (4), achieving gender equality (5), increasing water-use efficiency (6), promoting decent jobs (8), ensuring sustainable consumption and production (12), building climate resilience (13), securing sustainable use of marine resources (14) and halting the loss of biodiversity (15). From the presentations and discussions, the following action points and recommendations were drawn: • While the immediate concerns of protecting the health of citizens may be taking precedence during the crisis, our governments need to keep their foot on the pedal of agricultural transformation and take this opportunity to strategically rethink our agriculture and food systems. • We should focus on regenerative, restorative agriculture such as Agroecology that nourishes and sustains ecosystems and

Africa is rich in biodiversity and we have the potential to feed ourselves and have excess to share with the global human community. We do not need the external approval of exploitative

entities to build a sustainable food and agricultural system. We must resist the urge to have our food system guided by the warped agenda that promotes mass production driven only by higher profit margins and that see food only for its market value. The pandemic is also forcing nations to recognize the risks of depending on other nations for major food and health supplies. This presents us a pivotal moment to direct the future that we want.

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THE DEMANDS OF NIGERIAN YOUTHS FROM THEIR GOVERNMENT ........

oncerned Nigerians started this petition to Nigerian government and we recognize that this moment is the culmination of decades of dissatisfaction over the decay and corruption of our dear country, Nigeria. We find the unhealthy haste to fashion a unit termed â&#x20AC;&#x153;SWATâ&#x20AC;? to be a misrepresentation of the 5 for 5 demand. It is not enough. This protest is beyond #EndSARS, #EndSWAT, #EndPoliceBrutality. This movement is for the soul of Nigeria. We are demanding a systemic overhaul of governance and institutional reforms as the barest minimum. We are better than what obtains presently; we demand progress. We are not vain agitators. We are clear-eyed youths and professionals in our respective fields who are tired of the way and manner our dear country has been run aground by successive administrations. We cannot idly stand by whilst our future and that of our children are mortgaged. Below is the updated 7-point demand that concerned citizens are asking from the government. 64

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1. INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS (SECURITY) That the 5-point demand to release arrested protesters, compensate families of victims, investigate and prosecute all reports of misconduct, proscribe SARS and review the welfare of police be implemented immediately. However, we believe the systemic rot in the police is widespread across Government institutions. Therefore, we urgently demand an immediate Institutional reform across all federal government institutions, agencies and parastatals, especially focused on national security. Focus will be on improved welfare and terms of service for the police, military and all law enforcement agencies, provide body worn cameras for operation, refurbished housing, health, academic and pre- and post-retirement life insurance policy for the rank-and-file personnel. Also reforms on adherence to the laws guiding discipline and prosecution of erring service men this should be aimed at extinguishing all notions of impunity. 2) COST OF GOVERNANCE We have watched over the years the waste associated with governing Nigeria. We have noted the duplication and

5-14 years are not in school. The impact of this numbers will be felt for generations. · We demand that a state of emergency is declared in the education sector and demand increase in the budgetary allocation to educational sector by 50% and to double again within the next 24 months. This funds will be used to drive the education sector to provide affordable quality education to all citizens. · A certain percentage of this allocation should be devoted to granting scholarship to outstanding Nigerians without recourse to the tribe, religious or sex. · We demand a systemic overhaul in our curriculum and method of teaching to upgrade to a digital experience. unprofessionalism in the civil service and across all strata. We demand an urgent budgetary framework with 50% capital expenditure and 50% recurrent expenditure in all appropriation bill. We demand a drastic reduction in the cost of governance. We also demand that the national assembly, be first by streamlined into a unicameral legislative and be further stripped down to become a part time job. The huge salaries and benefits accorded them by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) should be reduced to the barest minimum. 3) CONSTITUTION REFORMS There had been several constitutional reviews where youths were obviously absent. Whether by omission or commission or both, the time has come for an informed and progressive participation by the youths. The Nigerian constitution as it exists presently does not serve all Nigerians. A more robust and engaged constitution designed and approved by all Nigerians will serve the nation. We demand an urgent referendum within 90 days to begin the line-by-line review, reconstruction and upgrade of the extant constitution to be more functional for a 21st Century nation. The selection process for this referendum will have 50% young people under 60 nominated by their peers in a transparent, judicious and fair process.

· We demand that teachers should be incentivized to attract the best brains and should be standardized and professionalized. · We demand that the parent of any child not in primary school will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. · We demand that there be an Annual independent external Audit of Fund allocation and project execution: from Government approval to disbursement across the ministry, which would further be used to publish at least an abridged Financial statement available digitally to ensure transparency. 5) HEALTH REFORMS · We demand that a state of emergency is declared in the health sector and demand increase in the budgetary allocation to health sector by 50% · We demand mandatory health insurance for the vulnerable population in our society as NHIS is not doing enough to serve all Nigerians. ·

We demand that adequate provision be put in place to

We demand that credence be given to terms of citizenship over indigeneship and state of residence over state of origin. 4) EDUCATION REFORMS · One in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is a Nigerian child. About 13.2 million Nigerian children aged Continued on Page 66 www.thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Continued from Page 65

protect the rights and privileges of physically challenged citizens in Nigeria. · We demand urgent attention to mental health and a fund to set aside to create more professionals. · We demand proper implementation of the National Health Act of 2014, including the Basic Health Care Provision Fund). · We demand that there be an Annual independent external Audit of Fund allocation and project execution: from Government approval to disbursement across the ministry, which would further be used to publish at least an abridged Financial statement available digitally to ensure transparency. 6) YOUTH AFFAIRS REFORM We have noted the giant strides made by Gen Z and Millennials across the globe. Many multi-billion corporations where founded by both generations. In Nigeria, it is extremely difficult for such to occur. The enabling environment viz-a-viz investors and lenders confidence, stable interest rate and manageable inflation are deficit in our dear nation. · We demand that a state of emergency be declared in the ministry of Youths and Sports, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of National Planning. We demand that this should be adequately funded, sports academy should be revamped. · We demand the creation of the Youth development funds dedicated to growing the creative industries and agriculture. · We demand that the Not-Too-Young to run bill should be expanded to include–50% inclusion of youth under 40 in every cabinet in government. ·

We demand that the youth inclusion be monitored by

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the FCC as they currently monitor state inclusion and the NCDMB and other stakeholders partake in this action to protect our future. 7) PUBLIC OFFICE REFORMS · We demand code of conduct reforms for all elected public office holders to have themselves and their children use public schools and public hospitals ONLY. Violation of which is immediate impeachment and recall. · We demand immediate removal of immunity clause from public office holders to make them answerable to investigations at all times when and where necessary. · We demand immediate resignation of every public officer found guilty of any forms of crimes and corruption step aside during investigation also. · Implementation of full digitization of the judicial process, prison decongestion reforms, with reforms drawn from past projects like the Uwais Report, Keyamo’s ministerial screening address, strict time limits to determination of industries litigations, etc. Are these too much to ask from a government elected to take care of the populace? Nothing more or less would satisfy the Nigerian Youths. Enough is Enough.

Nigerian Youths protest EndSARS in The Netherlands A cross section of Nigerian youths living in The Netherlands took to the streets of The Hague where Nigerian Embassy is located to register their protest against police brutality in Nigeria in what has globally become known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;EndSarsâ&#x20AC;?. It was a peaceful protest in front of the Nigerian Embassy where members of staff came out to listen to the protesters. The Embassy was led by one of the senior Ministers, Mr. Kabiru Musa who represented the Ambassador. He carefully listened to each of the protester and after which he spoke to them; he appreciated their orderly manner and conduct and assured the Nigerian youths that their petition would be delivered to the appropriate authority in Nigeria. The event was covered by Africa Webtv and copyrights of photos published are courtesy of Africa Webtv

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Boxing champion, Joshua & Man United’s Odion Ighalo Voices Support for Nigerian Protesters

eavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua voiced support for Nigerian protesters and Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo said he’s “ashamed” of his country’s government after reports that anti-police demonstrators were fired upon in Lagos. The shootings last month caused an unknown number of deaths and injuries, and sparked global outrage. Protesters stayed on the streets breaking the government curfew. “The situation has escalated since then, the violence and killings are horrendous,” Joshua wrote on Twitter. “All because of people saying they want to live in peace?” “Change will happen! It’s time,” he said. There were reports of gunfire across Lagos. Demonstrations and gunfire were also reported in several other Nigerian cities, including the capital city, Abuja. As at the time of our report, the majority of the protest has given way to mass looting and destruction of properties both government and private properties. It is developing into anarchy where there is total breakdown of laws and orders. Victor Osimhen, who plays for Napoli FC in Italy, sent a supportive message via a shirt inscription, displayed after scoring a goal in their last football match. The inscription reads,

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“EndPoliceBrutality in Nigeria.” Striker Ighalo of Manchester United recorded a video message after United’s 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. The 31-year-old former Nigeria international spoke from the field at Parc des Princes in Paris where he declared that he is ashamed of his country’s government allowing the use of excessive force on peaceful protesters. No one is sure if these influential players may call for boycott of the National teams of Nigeria.

SPORTS: The Netherlands, Belgium & Germany to put in joint bid for Women’s World Cup 2027

he football associations for the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany plan to jointly bid to host the Women’s Football World Cup in 2027. The three football associations already expressed their interest to world football association FIFA. Discussions with authorities and potential play- and training locations still have to take place, NOS reports. “Women’s football in our countries is indeed in different phases of development, but we share the aspiration to give the sport a boost nationally and globally with the organization of the world cup,” Dutch football association KNVB said. “We believe that with this piece of teamwork we can really make a difference and increase the chance to organize this tournament.”

Dutch female football fans excited about the news

The German women’s football team has been among the best in the world for decades, becoming world champion twice and winning the European title eight times. The Netherlands won the European title at home in 2017 and came second in the World Cup last year, losing against the United States in the final. Belgium only participated in a final tournament once so far. In addition to the KNVB organizing the European Championship in the Netherlands in 2017, the German football association also has experience in organizing women’s tournaments. Germany hosted the European Championship in 1989 and 2001, and was host country for the World Cup in 2011.

Germany Female Football team.

The Voice News Magazine

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