The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has concluded plans to embark on a five-day warning strike action, from 8am on Wednesday May 17 to 23.
Nigerian Anchor reports that this would be the first time in 2023 that NARD would be embarking on strike, but the fourth time it would be happening since the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The President, NARD, Orji Emeka Innocent, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja that after the National Executive Council (NEC) of NARD meeting on May 15, 2023, another meeting was convened to review the progress made and action taken by the Federal Government to address the issues raised in the two-week ultimatum issued to the Government on April 29, which expired on Saturday, May 13, 2023.
The President informed that the Association observed rather unfortunately, that till the expiration of the two-week ultimatum, the Government has neither reached out to the Association nor made any significant moves at resolving the issues raised – a situation they considered as embarrassing for a nation touted as the ‘Giant of Africa’.
The Association frowned at this development, and wondered how the Government could claim to have the interest of the Nigerian citizens at heart and still neglect such a well-publicised ultimatum.
It would be recalled that the Association has earlier issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government to demand the immediate massive recruitment of clinical staff in the hospitals and the abolishment of the bureaucratic limitations to the immediate replacement of doctors and nurses who leave the system.
They also demanded immediate infrastructural development in the hospitals with subsequent allocation of at least 15 per cent of the budgetary provisions to health in line with the Abuja declaration of 2001, immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) in line with the agreements reached at the stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Health at the conference room of the Honourable Minister of State for Health on February 15, 2023, increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) to the tune of 200 per cent of the gross salary of doctors, in addition to the allowances included in the letter written by NARD to the Honourable Minister of Health on July 7, 2022 for the review of CONMESS among other demands.
‘Rain, rain, go away’, a short nursery rhyme, suggests how unwelcomed the rainy season is to everybody, especially children.
Also known as the wet season, the rainy season is the time of year where the majority of a country’s or region’s annual precipitation occurs. In Nigeria, rainfall is experienced throughout the year, with most significant rainfall occurring from April to October, and with minimal rainfall occurring from November to March. It is, however, briefly interrupted in August in the southern part of the country.
Rainy season in Nigeria is a blessing and curse. This is because like other works of nature, there are many advantages and disadvantages of rain. On one hand, the people get a break from the scorching sun, temperatures drop, and the crops get enough water. Then, on the other hand, plans get ruined, traffic intensifies, and one gets wet and cold.
The weather in Nigeria is very easy to understand. Just like everyone learned in the elementary school, Nigeria, like the rest of West Africa and other tropical lands, has only two seasons – the dry and rainy seasons.
Rainy season in Nigeria is experienced in two different ways. In Southern Nigeria, therainy season features heavy and abundant rain. The annual rainfall received in this region of the world is usually high. The rainy season in Nigeria differs by region. Rainy season is different in northern and southern Nigeria.
In southern Nigeria, light rainfall begins in March, with the peak of the rainy season being June and July. In June and July, it rains cats and dogs. A brief break is experienced in August, to begin again in September, and the season does not end until late October.
In northern Nigeria, rainy season does not come until June. Rainy season in Nigeria is the planting season, and with the dry season comes the harvest. After the rainy season comes the dry season, which is accompanied by a dust-laden air mass from the Sahara Desert, locally known as the harmattan season in Nigeria.
Residents of the country would describe the weather conditions in Nigeria as violent and apologetic. This is because the weather is never on ones’s side.
Last year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) disclosed that more than 2.5 million people in Nigeria were in need of humanitarian assistance following severe flooding that ravaged the country. The agency also stated that 60 per cent of those affected were children.
It further revealed that about 1.5 million children were at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to the flood.
UNICEF further explained that the floods which had affected 34 out of the 36 states in the country, had also displaced 1.3 million people, while over 600 people have lost their lives and over 200,000 houses have either been partially or fully damaged.
“Cases of diarrhea and water-borne diseases, respiratory infection, and skin diseases have already been on the rise. In the North-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe alone, a total of 7,485 cases of cholera and 319 associated deaths were reported as of 12 October. As rains are expected to continue for several weeks, humanitarian needs are also expected to rise,” a statement by UNICEF said.
The flooding in Nigeria has also affected the education sector as it left behind trails of destruction in schools. It led to schools being closed down, children dropping out of school and school absenteeism as some school buildings were used as evacuation centres.
For example, in Anambra State, the government had announced the closure of all the primary and secondary schools in the flooded communities and other flood prone areas in the state.
Some towns in Ogbaru Local Government Area were flooded due to the overflow of the River Niger. Also, some communities in Anambra West and other LGAs were affected.
Commissioner for Education in the State, Prof Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, during the period, in a public service announcement released by her aide, Chioma Unachukwu, said that the closure of the schools became necessary to ensure the safety of the schoolchildren.
“I am directed to convey the Honourable Commissioner’s approval for the closure of all schools in riverine and flood prone areas in the state with immediate effect in compliance with the already published 2021/2022 Special Academic Calendar for riverine and flood-prone areas in the state,” it partly read.
Also, the Bayelsa State Government had to direct all public primary, secondary and private schools in the state to suspend all academic activities and embark on a flood break until Friday, November 11, 2022.
The directive became necessary to safeguard the lives of teachers and students as the flood had continued to submerge parts of the state.
Reports have it that flood took over parts of Adagbabiri, Swali, Azikoro, Amassoma, Agudama Epie, Igbogene, Sagbama Communities and Nembe Kingdom in the State.
In Delta State, the Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro, had to be shut down for two weeks by the government as a result of the ravaging flood that has negatively affected most parts of the institution.
The state Commissioner for Higher Education, Dr. Kingsley Ashibuogwu, announced the closure of the university during an emergency visit for on the spot assessment of the impact of the flood on the institution.
The Commissioner noted that with the level of the flooding, it was no longer safe for students to remain on campus.
Faculties mostly affected by the flood included that of Administration and Management, Computer Science, and Environmental Sciences.
Others included the Faculty of Agriculture, Mass Communications, the University Health Centre, the library, generator plant house, Staff Club, as well as the administrative building of the university.
The Commissioner expressed hope that within the two weeks duration, the flood would have receded.
He added that the measure was taken in the best interest and safety of students and workers in the university community and assured students and the school management that lectures and academic activities would resume as soon as the flood receded.
With the reports of this magnitude last year, education experts had worried that the destruction by the flood will increase the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) disclosed to be about 20 million.
“I feel the flood will take us back a lot especially when it pertains to the out-of-school children in the country,” Edwina Obom, an education specialist, said.
She, therefore, urged the Federal Government to ensure that steps are being taken to either prevent the natural disasters or minimise the issues.
This advice is important as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has warned Nigerians to expect severe flooding this year.
The Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed, during an event in Abuja in March, said that there had been seasonal climate predictions and annual flood outlooks by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
He said last year’s flood disaster in the country was an eye-opener for NEMA, and warned that the agency would spread early warning messages and signals to states, local government areas and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“We will not keep quiet. We want them to know that there will be flooding this year,” he said.
At the beginning of the year, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has, in its 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP), disclosed that the rainfall Onset date is predicted to be earlier than the long-term average in most parts of the country.
The NiMet Director-General, Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu, during an unveiling of the 2023 SCP stated this on the issue of this year’s flooding.
“Definitely, we have peak rainfall between July to September and in such times, because of high soil moisture, we expect flash floods around cities and we are also expecting riverine floods in those areas that are flood-prone,” he added.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Ministry of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) says the Federal Government has recorded tremendous achievements in the Justice sector.
According to Malami, the modest gain recorded was worth relishing, adding that it has expounded the legal jurisprudence.
Speaking at the day two conference of the body of Attorneys General, held in Abuja, Malami who praised the AGs from the 36 states of the Federation added: “With dedicated public servants and some of the best legal minds present here in this room. I can say with all sense of responsibility, that we have strived within humanly possible limits to discharged meritoriously the onus and duties of the position of leadership which providence bestowed on us as Attorneys-General.
“We have been able to guide our principals and shape public governance towards advancing the course of justice, rule of law and deepening our democratic practices.
He further noted that over time salient issues which includes payment of pension for judicial officers, sharing of Stamp Duties collections, Value Added Tax, NFIU Guidelines, regulation of the mining and gaming industry and other issues relating to policing and security have been addressed and will continue to get government attention.
Other areas of mutual evaluation and collaboration mentioned are combating and prosecution of terrorism and other violent crimes.
Making a remark, the President Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, described the legal body as the bedrock of the nation’s existence, charging stakeholders to continue to extend their dexterity and sagacity for a better Judiciary sector.
In a short speech, Chairman, Legal Counsel, Mr. Emeka Ngige, SAN observed that the future of legal education has become a topical issue, saying all stakeholder including NBA must come together, raise the standard and salvage the situation.
The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo has debunked reports by some media organizations (not NIGERIAN ANCHOR), that he is involved in a purported maritime contract scandal at the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).
According to a press statement issued Tuesday by the Minister, the allegations are nothing but a smear campaign to tarnish his reputation and downplay his hard work and successes in the Ministry.
“My attention has been drawn to false and baseless publications on some online media platforms regarding my alleged involvement in a purported hijack of a maritime contract at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), a parastatal under my supervision.
“These allegations are nothing but a smear campaign orchestrated to tarnish my reputation and undermine my work as the Minister of Transportation,” Sambo said.
He went on to say that since he assumed office at the Ministry, he has concentrated on meeting the expectations of stakeholders in the industry, through honesty, transparency, integrity and in accordance with the country’s extant laws.
The Minister further berated the media outlets for peddling falsehoods based solely on anonymous sources, fabricated documents, and distorted facts, all of which he says violates the core ethics and principles of journalism.
“Let me be clear: Since I assumed Office as Minister in July 2022, my focus has been to meet the high expectations of stakeholders in the transportation sector. I have always acted with honesty, integrity, and transparency, in accordance with the law and public interest.
“Surprisingly, the news outlets that carried the false report relied on anonymous sources, fabricated documents, and distorted facts to create a narrative that suits their agenda or that of their sponsors. They not only violated the core ethics of journalism and the principles of fair hearing but have shown contempt for the truth, objective journalism and balanced reportage.
“It is even more laughable for anyone to think that just one man will sit back to award contracts of such a humungous amount. The contract awarding process in the Country is quite complex for manipulation. These purveyors of falsehood forget that contract awards under our extant laws and regulations involve rigorous due process, diligence and authorizations by different agencies and levels of government such as the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) among others.
“I am certain some persons are intimidated by our achievements in the Ministry within a short time, thus their desperation to drag us in the mud. They are out to use me to chase clout. It is expected that with the transition to a new government, these persons and/or groups may want to target me as a basis to curry favour or seek relevance. Who is indeed afraid of Mu’azu Jaji Sambo?
“Consequently, the public is urged not to fall for this propaganda. Under my leadership, this Ministry has executed initiatives to improve the Country’s maritime domain as well as the mobility and safety of Nigerians. We have also promoted innovation, sustainability and social inclusion in the transport sector.
“Let me emphasize that I will continue to serve this nation with dedication and commitment till I exit Office. And even out of Office, I will remain a loyal and law-abiding Nigerian. I will not be intimidated or distracted by these false accusations, which only seek to divert attention. I am not involved in any (maritime) contract mess. The public should be guided,” he said.
He added that “I have requested appropriate security and law enforcement agencies to expeditiously investigate the content of the misleading publications so that the peddlers of fake and malicious news will be made to face the law.”
Cyclone Mocha: Deadly storm hits Myanmar and Bangladesh coasts
Officials on Tuesday reported that cyclone Mocha, which hit Myanmar’s Rakhine State, claimed over 400 lives and caused severe damage.
Ramanathan Balakrishnan, the UN relief coordinator in Myanmar, said: “It really is a nightmare scenario.”
Mocha was the strongest cyclone to hit the region in more than a decade and its impact was especially felt in Rakhine, a state on the western coast which is home to Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.
According to Balakrishnan, the cyclone struck the poorest parts of the country, which were already affected by the coronavirus pandemic, domestic conflict and economic problems.
“Now they are also on the front line of the climate crisis,” he said, referring to the increasingly frequent weather extremes observed in the wake of climate change.
Most of those killed were Rohingya, a spokesman for Myanmar’s opposition National Unity Government told dpa.
The National Unity government was formed after Myanmar’s 2021 military coup as an alternative to the ruling junta.
It warned people about the cyclone in advance and has worked to organise international aid for the victims.
The tropical cyclone made landfall in Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh on Sunday with wind speeds of more than 250 kilometres per hour in some places.
The full extent of the damage, however, is only slowly becoming clear due to widespread cuts to communication lines.
The Irrawaddy news website reported hundreds of deaths in Rohingya camps around the city of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State. Many were said to have drowned or were hit by falling trees.
Since the coup, displaced people have been living in makeshift shelters in the region due to ongoing violence associated with the junta.
Many people had barely been able to shelter from the huge gusts of wind and heavy rain.
In both countries, hundreds of thousands of people were taken to temporary shelters as a precaution which saved many lives, the charity Oxfam said.
According to authorities in Bangladesh, no deaths have yet been reported there.
Nevertheless, the damage around the city of Cox’s Bazar in south-eastern Bangladesh is substantial.
In Cox’s Bazar, around one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar live in the world’s largest collection of refugee camps, mostly in dwellings made of bamboo and plastic sheets.
Even before the cyclone, the United Nations estimated six million people were in humanitarian need in the regions affected.
Justuce Nwite had, on March 22, dismissed an application filed by Kyari and others seeking an order dismissing the NDLEA’s charge against them.
Journalists covering the ongoing trial of the suspended DCP Abba Kyari and others were, on Tuesday, restrained from coming into Court 10 of the Federal High Court, Abuja, venue of the proceeding.
Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order following an application to the effect by Mr. Sunday Joseph, counsel for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Joseph, a director of the Legal and Prosecution Department of the NDLEA, had applied for the protection of the next witness listed to give evidence in the trial.
The lawyer prayed the court that other lawyers, litigants, and visitors, including journalists, who were in the court should not be allowed to be in the courtroom while the hearing lasted.
Justice Nwite then stood down the matter to allow non-parties in the anti-narcotic suit against the suspended police officers to move out.
However, when the judge came in for the matter, a lawyer, Emmanuel Oluwabiyi, whose case was number 11 on the cause list, told Nwite that he was in the court for another matter.
Oluwabiyi said he observed that before the judge rose, counsel for the NDLEA made an application.
“I understand that it was directed that everybody in the courtroom should step out because of the instant matter. The bar is also meant to be vacated.
“ The feedback I am getting is that when this matter is going to be made, no lawyer should be in court. I am embarrassed by the application my lord,” he said.
Justice Nwite then pleaded with lawyers who were not in Kyari’s matter to bear with the court in the interim.
He said their matters too would be heard as soon as the hearing was over.
“In the meantime sir, I want to know when to come back my lord,” Oluwabiyi asked.
“You can hang around. We are not going to take the matter throughout the whole day. Please bear with,” the judge responded.
Another lawyer, Mr Ramiah Imhanaede, also aligned with Oluwabiyi’s submission.
However, when the newsmen asked the NDLEA’s lawyer on reason for the application, he said it was to give protection to the witnesses, who are intelligent officers, in the matter.
When asked about his reaction to the opinions of other lawyers in court, Joseph said “there is a doctrine of state privilege in the interest of national security.”
He said it had been observed that members of the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) who were loyal to Mr Kyari, were still coming to court
“And you don’t know who is who; so, it is for the witness’ protection
“We are now going into the nitty-gritty of the matter and there have been allegations that we are just witch-hunting them,” he alleged.
Joseph said though the agency had been calling witnesses, he said the present witnesses cannot be exposed to the public.
The hearing is still ongoing as at the time of filing the report
Justuce Nwite had, on March 22, dismissed an application filed by Kyari and others seeking an order dismissing the NDLEA’s charge against them.
Kyari and three other co-defendants in the suit bordering on drug offence had filed the application.
The applicants are Kyari, ACP Sunday Ubia, Insp Simon Agirigba and Insp John Nuhu.
They had prayed the court to quash the criminal charge against them, in fresh motions on notice filed by their lawyers on the grounds that the suit was incompetent.
They urged the court to stop their trial because they had not been subjected to the internal disciplinary action of the Nigeria Police Council (NPC) and the Police Service Commission (PSC), as provided by the constitution.
They said that the failure of the complainant (NDLEA) to await the disciplinary action against them rendered the charge incompetent and deprived the court of jurisdiction to entertain the charge.
Photo combo of late Saint Obi and his wife and children
His social life was blunted. Perhaps by his reticent disposition. His persona, two dimensional. To a distant public, he was upscale and cool. His manly bearing spoke loud. His onscreen image ironically amplified some idiosyncrasies; heroics, romantic adventures and traits that did not gel with the mortal privacy that eerily define his quiet and lonely life.
Saint Obi, real name, Obinna Nwafor, was shy, almost bordering on timidity and insecurity. He cherished the pleasantly tranquil interactions among a few friends. He would vanish at any outburst that could upset the poise of such small meetings. As he repeatedly told me, he just wanted to live a cool, quiet and fulfilled life. But, has he lived this cool and fulfilled life he envisioned? I have my doubts.
I tell Saint’s story here with painful tears in my eyes; because he was a star, a superstar whose life turned out a gleam of irony. Yet, it was this stardom that fetched him his much-professed financially strong and powerful wife. And their wedding, that solemn ritual of love would drastically alter the cause of his life and tragically yank him off the creative community that threw him up for the wife to capture and indeed conquer.
Their marriage was at best a dramatization of love. It was quick. He barely told us that he found a wife. Then, the marriage happened. It was something of a mystique, only those involved understood the histrionics that played out. None of us who were his closest pals, who walked with him through the crucible to the crest of his career in Nollywood, none of us was invited. The distance between us and the guy I admirably called Saint of the Storm had begun. This gulf would widen with each year. We saw him perhaps once a year after this marriage.
And life actually seemed to have given him a fair shake of the dice. He dressed well, drove big cars and even his skin, in literal lingo, spelled wellness.
The Saint would be blessed with three beautiful children. But not on one occasion were his friends in Nollywood invited for a christening or birthday. We were told that his wife was of the topmost hierarchy in telecom giant, MTN. But even if their celebrations were designed to be a rendezvous of the elites of the technocracies that his wife chiefly belonged, you expected that Saint would reach out to a few of his fellow creatives, for even if they would herald his small beginnings, there could be no tinge of shame to it because we all have our journeys and our stories. And even at that, the actor or cineaste in Nollywood is by no means poor.
But more tragic is the fact that his marriage did not only take away Obinna from his friends, it took him away from Nollywood. Saint stopped acting, and absconded from his career and perhaps his calling.
It would seem prognostic now. Yes, because I recall leaving my house in Lagos Mainland for his massive office in Lekki, Victoria Island, Lagos. It was about six years ago. There, I demanded to know why my friend abandoned our industry. He told me with his usual shy expressions that he wanted to focus on some other businesses and also to work behind the camera. Because his visage was unconvincing to me, I told him in stark terms, that whatever his new vision and pursuits, he must not abandon the trade that made him who he was.
It took another three years for Saint to return to his homies. But when he did, some of the deeply disappointed ones sniggered behind him. This was because the simmering rumors of cracks in his marriage had hit home. And though secretive in his ways, he knew it was time to open up. And he did. “I do not know why my wife’s siblings see me as a gold digger. They confront me, harass and fight me in my own matrimony. And my wife did nothing to stop them. I work hard, I earn my money. I have never depended on my wife “, he lamented, eyes blurred with tears. You could tell he was in deep pain.
Linda Saint-Nwafor, late Saint Obi’s wife
By the next visit, the Saint returned with a deep cut from a knife on his left eye. His wife’s brothers, he said, scaled the wall fence of their house to attack him. They were captured by hidden closed-circuit television, CCTV, installed for surveillance and security, he revealed.
He reported them at the police station and subsequently acquired a gun to defend himself. This effectively marked the beginning of the end of his marriage and perhaps Saint Obi’s long walk to a sad end. He moved out of his marital home to a new house to begin the reconstruction of his destiny, alone without his wife and worse still without his three beautiful children.
Meanwhile, his wife went to the police to defend her siblings using her financial power to manipulate the cause of justice, Saint stated unequivocally. The wife also sued for divorce, not in Lagos, but in Ogun state. As Saint put it, “It was to make the journey difficult for me. But I will not bend neither will I break. I will fight with my last blood to take custody of my children. They love me and they know it will be hard for me to live without them.
Divorce is not an issue. My marriage has long been over”, he said with a mix of courage and a quaky heart that betrayed his distress.
About mid-last year, however, Obinna took ill.
But he told no one. He simply became scarce. He was in and out of the hospital, we would later learn. He sold two of his three big SUVs to take proper care of his health and to acquire six Camry cars he’d use for Uber. But his vanishing health continued unabated. He seemed to have a premonition of his own passing as he wept repeatedly about not seeing his children. He emaciated. Life took a grim picture.
When I saw him by chance in January 2023, the dude called Saint looked 15 years older than his age. His macho cut had shrunk. His fat wallet was gone. What was left was only his fat will. His eyes seemed lost in their socket. This would be the last time I would see him.
Saint snuck out of Lagos to hang in with his sister in Jos. He told no one.
But a month ago, in April precisely, the once delightful actor who brought joy to many a home broke his icy silence. He called our mutual friend in US to give him a devastating message. He was on a deathbed, he said and wanted our friend to pray for him.
“It’s not looking good, pray, pray for me”, he appealed passionately.
His next call came on May 1, 2023. This time to his mentor, the man who made him a star with his productions, Zeb Ejiro, OON. He told him with a wavering voice that he had had three surgeries but was still in hospital in Jos. He averred again that his situation was not looking good, that he is also in a deep pain, distressed that he could not see his children. But still he begged him not to tell anyone about his ailment. Such was the life of this creative hermit, a lonely trouper.
I was the first to hear the news of his death late on Sunday, May 7. Having confirmed it, I called Zeb Ejiro. “
I have very bad news my brother, Zeb “, I began. “What is it, what is it? “, he asked anxiously. “A big star has fallen in Nollywood “. Zeb broke down in tears. I hadn’t said who it was. But sobbing helplessly now, he said, “Don’t tell me it is Saint Obi”.
Sadly, he was right.
May his soul find peace.
* Zik Zulu Okafor, veteran journalist, Nigeria Media Merit Award Winner and multiple award winning filmmaker wrote from Abuja.
Air strikes and artillery fire intensified sharply across Sudan’s capital early on Tuesday, residents said, as the army sought to defend key bases from paramilitary rivals it has been fighting for more than a month.
The air strikes, explosions, and clashes could be heard in the south of Khartoum, and there was heavy shelling across the River Nile in parts of the adjoining cities of Bahri and Omdurman, witnesses said.
The fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has triggered unrest in other areas of Sudan, especially in the western region of Darfur, but is concentrated in Khartoum.
It has caused a humanitarian crisis that threatens to destabilise the region, displacing more than 700,000 people inside Sudan and forcing about 200,000 to flee into neighbouring countries.
“The situation is unbearable. We left our house to go to a neighbour’s house in Khartoum, escaping from the war, but the bombardment follows us wherever we go,” said Ayman Hassan, a 32-year-old resident.
“We don’t know what the citizens did to deserve a war in the middle of the houses.”
Fighting has surged both in Khartoum and in Geneina, capital of West Darfur since the two warring parties began talks in Jeddah brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States more than a week ago.
The talks have produced a statement of principles around providing access to aid supplies and protecting civilians, but mechanisms for setting up humanitarian corridors and agreeing to a ceasefire are still being discussed.
The army has relied mainly on air strikes and shelling, only occasionally engaging in ground fighting, as it tries to push back RSF forces that took up positions in neighbourhoods across Khartoum soon after the fighting erupted on April 15.
The RSF attacked major military bases in northern Omdurman and southern Khartoum on Tuesday in an apparent attempt to prevent the army from deploying heavy weaponry and fighter jets, residents and witnesses said.
The army has been trying to cut off RSF supply lines from outside the capital and to secure strategic sites including the airport in central Khartoum and the major Al-Jaili oil refinery in Bahri.
The war began after disputes over plans for the RSF to join the army and the future chain of command under an internationally backed deal for a political transition towards civilian rule and elections.
Army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, took the top positions on Sudan’s ruling council following the 2019 overthrow of former leader Omar al-Bashir during a popular uprising.
They staged a coup two years later as a deadline to hand power to civilians approached, but both sides began to mobilise their forces as mediators tried to finalise the new transition plan.
Baci surpassed the current world record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual with 100 hours
Dana Airline says it will support Guinness World Record-breaking chef, Hilda Baci with one year free tickets.
This news was announced on Dana Air Twitter handle @DanaAir.
Ememobong Ettete, the Chief Operating Officer of Dana Airline said the proud Nigerian brand would always support the creativity, efforts, and innovation of Nigerian youths.
“We have always blazed the trail in terms of support for the arts and entertainment industry, health care and culture.
“We will be supporting Hilda’s local travels for one year and we are inspired by her.
“We will be supporting her Mum also with three months of local flights for free and we thank her for giving us an amazing daughter,“ it read.
The 27-year -old Hilda Bassey Effiong, known as Hilda Baci started cooking on Thursday May 11, to surpass India’s Lata Tondon who set the record in 2019 with 87 hours 45mins 00 seconds.
Baci started her career as a chef in 2020 with her brand as @Myfoodbyhilda.
She embarked on a journey to break the Guinness World Record for longest cooking marathon on May 11 at Amore Gardens Lekki, Lagos Nigeria and ended it on May 14.
Baci surpassed the current world record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual with 100 hours, to break the Guinness World Record for longest cooking hours.
The show was life streamed on multiple social media channels where she made over 250 recipes.
The total number of known executions carried out around the world in 2022 rose by 53 percent on the figure recorded for 2021, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
The human rights organisation, in a report on the worldwide use of the death penalty, documented at least 883 executions in 20 countries for 2022, the highest figure in five years.
The number was likely higher, it noted, as thousands of executions in China “are being kept under wraps.”
State secrecy in North Korea and Vietnam, along with limited access to information in several other countries, continued to hinder a fuller assessment of the use of the death penalty, the report said.
Amnesty said 90 per cent of the world’s known executions in 2022 were carried out by just three countries, namely: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
The number of recorded executions in Iran rose from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022, it said.
In Saudi Arabia, the number tripled from 65 in 2021 to 196 last year – the highest figure recorded by Amnesty for the country in 30 years.
Six countries abolished the death penalty completely or partially last year, according to the report.
However, executions resumed in five countries during 2022 – Afghanistan, Kuwait, Myanmar, the State of Palestine, and Singapore, the report said.
More than a third of the world’s recorded executions in 2022 were for drugs offences, a clear breach of international law, Amnesty said.
