Author: Leadership Newspapers

Nigerian-born Collins Nweke, was on Friday in London sworn in as Councillor of West- Flanders Constituency in Belgium, reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Nweke, a member of the Belgian Green Party, was re-elected last year having made history in 2006 when he became the first non-Belgian born politician to win an elective position in West-Flanders.

With his re-election, Nweke's mandate includes issues bordering on the economy, social policy, international development and minority priority. ``The last several years were a learning curve where some important results were equally achieved.

`` I will continue to have my eyes on the ball as far as social policy is concerned, but with an expanded portfolio that includes the economy and international development.

``Small and medium enterprises are the engine of the local economy and a business-friendly environment will not only keep existing businesses in good shape but will attract new investments and create jobs. A number of good initiatives are ongoing and obviously these would be continued and enhanced. It will also make sense to re-evaluate some economic activities that are liabilities to the local economy,” He told NAN's Western Europe Correspondent.

Nweke, who spoke on international development, said the challenges of global meltdown were insurmountable. ``I think that the relationship between the western economies and the emerging ones has for too long being based on the wrong premise.

He said that partnership, rather than charity, should be the bedspring on which the larger part of the relationship rests. ``The economies of the west are showing signs of saturation, while there are huge developmental potential in the emerging economies. So let’s build a relationship of mutual benefits.”

Nweke, 46, years, migrated to Belgium in 1993; he is currently the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora (NIDO) Europe. (NAN)

The Government of Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday announced an upward review of the prices of petrol and cooking gas.

By the announcement made in Abidjan, the pump price of petrol which was 774 CFA Francs (1.50 dollars) has risen to 792 CFA francs (1.80 dollars ). For cooking gas, the old price for 6kg was 1,800 CFA francs (3.80 dollars) but now it is 2,000 CFA francs (four dollars), while 12kg of gas, formerly 4,000 CFA (eight dollars) is now 5,200 CFA Francs (10.50 dollars). Also, 28kg e of gas formerly sold at 9, 000 CFA francs (18 dollars) increased to 18,525 CFA (37 dollars).

Meanwhile, transporters immediately reacted to the price increases and raised fares. The Director of Energy in Cote d'Ivoire, Diaby Ibrahim, however, appealed to transporters not to raise fares since the increase was minimal. Ibrahim called for understanding, saying the government could no longer sustain the subsidy on petrol and gas.

A taxi driver, Moussa Kamakaro, said the fares would go up as the passengers had always insisted on "arrangements" before the increase. "We hardly use the meters on our taxis because customers always insist on reduced arrangements so we hardly make any money. "Now the gap has been closed and we have to reflect it in order to survive," he said.

Kamakaro said he was lucky that he filled his car tank a day before the review. Another taxi driver, Issa Coulibaly, said the increase would affect food prices. "It is a policy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We know they made the recommendations since October last year," Coulibaly said. The French West Africa country was thrown into mourning on New Year Day following the death of 62 people in a stampede at a stadium.

The government thereafter declared a three-day mourning period from Wednesday.

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The NPA said in Lagos on Friday that 83 ships would berth at the Lagos Ports between Jan. 4 and Jan. 28. It said in its daily publication, “The Shipping Position” that the ships would sail into the ports with cargoes like bulk wheat, steel ...

Talk therapy may be a helpful supplemental treatment for people with depression who have not responded to medication, a new study from the United Kingdom suggests. Researchers found that people with depression who had not improved despite taking antide...

Our stomachs are surely one of the most troublesome parts of our bodies - at any point, an estimated nine million Britons are suffering from tummy ache, bloating, wind and cramps. Meanwhile, between 12 to 15 per cent of the population is constipated, a...

The ability to use words as a toddler may affect the way a child manages anger later in life, a new study suggests. Children with good language skills at age 2 expressed less anger during frustrating situations at age 4 than did those 4-year-olds with ...

Men have a better chance of having children if they have semen teeming with strong-swimmers. Now fertility experts say they have found a good indicator of what makes sperm good movers in the first place.A study from Brown University in Rhode Island, fo...

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), an NGO, on Thursday urged the Federal Government to protect the social and economic rights of Nigerians.

The Director of the Centre, Mr Eze Onyekpere, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

``The greatest human rights violation in Nigeria, since the return of democracy, is the inability of the government to tackle corruption which affects social and economic rights of Nigerians.''

He emphasised the need for government at all levels, to fight corruption in all ramifications with stronger political will, to record a resounding success.

 The director, who said that the war against corruption must start from the top and percolate down to the bottom, urged the media to step up the support for the fight against corruption.

 He said that such collaborative effort became imperative because the economy of the country “has consistently maintained a rapid growth, while poverty level remained high''.

 Onyekpere urged Nigerians to be more vigilant to hold government accountable, and to stimulate the politicians to deliver their electioneering promises to the people.

``We should avoid politics of tribalism or religion and hold our leaders accountable to ensure justice and fair play,'' he further advised.

 The director also called on the National Assembly to give more time to the constitution review, and said that the exercise required careful deliberations to ensure a people-oriented constitution.

 `The process of constitution review should not be rushed, to enable the citizens understand the process and take active participation.''

He added that the review could be considered in the first and second quarter of 2013.

 ``This will enable the 7th National Assembly to give Nigerians a clean and people-oriented constitution that will set a new agenda for national development,'' Onyekpere said.