Special Report: After #ENDSARS Protests: The Pragmatic Way Forward

(Being the text of news briefing by Police, NIPOST Security Initiative Advocacy Group (PONSIAG) on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.)

Protocols

 

It is my singular honour and pleasure to welcome you members of the Press to this briefing.

 

Our hearts go out to the families of Nigerian youths and policemen who lost their precious lives during and after the #EndSARS protests across the country. To Nigerian youths who protested peacefully, for an end to Police brutality and extra-judicial killings, your struggle was not in vain! Your voices have been heard loud and clear by Federal government. To this end, calculated steps are being taken by government towards reforming the Nigeria Police. Government promise to implement the Five (5) point demand from Nigerian youths is a huge victory. We also commend the genuine effort of State governments in ensuring justice for the families of those who died, and those who suffered in the hand of now disbanded SARS, with the setting up of judicial panels. We hope that in the end, justice will be served.

News Release: "Killing Of 110 Borno Famers & IDPs Is A War Crime"-Intersociety

Killing by Boko Haram Terror Jihadists of UN estimated 110 civilians (Zabamari Massacre), comprising rice farmers and IDPs in Zarbamari and environs, located in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State is not only strongly condemned but also a clear case of War Crime demanding ICC intervention and int’l justice accountability. In the massacre, too, which took place on Sat, 28th Nov 2020, scores, particularly women, were reported to have been seriously injured and others went missing. The Nigerian Government must also sit up and contain the ferocious insurgency attacks on defenseless and vulnerable civilians in the country.

Article: The Water Resources Bill: A Distortion Of Nigeria's Federalism

By Anthony George-Ikoli, SAN

When I was invited to provide a Keynote Address to this eminent gathering on a subject that has in recent times become very topical and in some ways, seems to be trudging along under its own steam of a multiplicity of opinion ranging from the rational to the absurd; I wondered to myself what more in terms of valuable intervention could be added to deepen and enrich the current discourse.

Subsequently, it dawned on me that engagements that elicit such widespread contributions as these have been a missing ingredient in the lawmaking, albeit the rebuilding process of a country that has seemingly lost its way. If this is what it will take for a national rebirth, then I pray we have many more attempts at distortions to our system of Federalism.

Taking a critical look into the much-heralded National Water Resources Bill, 2020, that is currently making its way across our national legislature and national consciousness, I am at once compelled to align myself with more eminent speakers who in recent times have come to the difficult conclusion that such a bill can only be the product of a yet undisclosed, I fear ultimately deleterious agenda.

News Release: "Slap Serial Liars With Forensic Statistics Of Lekky Massacre"-Intersociety

( …names at least five dead victims of the Lekki Tollgate Army massacre that have been buried by their families).

Although lies told by the present Government of Nigeria and the country’s serving and former security chiefs since mid 2015 have damagingly ruined the country’s local and international image and reputation and will take decades to redeem, but the best way to handle serial liars in the country’s corridors of power is to consistently slap them with forensic statistics. ‘Forensic statistics’ are the researched or investigated and documented statistics gathered through natural and scientific methods following state actor or non state actor, or state backed non state actor grisly or ‘industrial scale’ human rights abuses and violations perpetrated in Nigeria or any part thereof. 

U-Report: "Ingressive For Good" Upskills 5000+ African Youth In Technology In Partnership With "Coursera"

Report by Blessing Abeng 

"Ingressive for Good" has partnered with "Coursera" to offer scholarships to 5000+ African youth in tech as part of its commitment to upskill and increase the earning power of youth in tech. The partnership is part of Coursera’s global roll-out of the Workforce Recovery Initiative, where any state and country can provide citizens with free access to online learning. 

This builds solidly on I4G’s goal to train 1 million African youth in tech for free and bridge the tech skills and opportunities gap in Africa. In line with this, Ingressive For Good teamed up with Coursera,  the world’s leading online learning platform. The program aims to develop high-demand skills in areas like personal development, technology, and career development. It includes access to highly sought after professional certificates like the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, designed to train people with no tech background for IT jobs.