Nigeria Reaches 'Ceasefire Agreement' With Boko Haram

Nigeria's military says it has agreed a truce with Islamist militant group Boko Haram and the schoolgirls it has abducted will be released.

Falling Crude Oil Prices: Winners and Losers

Falling oil prices mean that some oil exporters are bracing themselves for significant revenue shortfalls, while some importing countries could benefit economically as consumers pay less for energy and have more to spend elsewhere.

Abducted Chibok Girls: Nigerian Government Meets With Boko Haram Representatives In Chad

The Principal Private Secretary to the President, Ambassador Hassan Tukur, has met with Chadian Government officials as well as representatives of the Boko Haram sect in N’Djamena, Chad, in an effort to secure the release of the 219 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram.

Hausa Community In South West Nigeria Arrests 1,000 Boko Haram Members

Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos, Alhaji Sani Kabir, on Thursday told the Federal Government that northerners in the South-west have arrested more than 1,000 members of the Boko Haram insurgents in parts of the South West of Nigeria.

Protest Rocks Benin Over Arrest of Edo House of Assembly Speaker, Others

BENIN CITY--POLITICAL tension heightened in Edo State
yesterday, following the arrest of the speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Uyi Igbe, the Majority
Leader of the House, Philip Shaibu, and the Chief Whip, Folly Ogedengbe, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in Abuja.
The trio, who travelled to Abuja last Monday on the invitation of the EFCC, was said to have been detained
for alleged forgery of the signature of one of PDP lawmakers, Rasaq Momoh, during the impeachment of
Deputy Speaker of the House, Festus Ebea.

Their detention elicited protest, led by the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Kabiru Adjoto, in
Benin yesterday.
Adjoto vowed that they would stage a one million man march in Abuja, if the lawmakers were not released by
yesterday, describing as unfortunate the fact that the EFCC would turn itself into a tool for the PDP to use to
witch hunt APC lawmakers in Edo State.
"If they kill our principal officers, we will fight with our blood," Adjoto warned.

He also raised an alarm over alleged plot by the EFCC and the PDP to eliminate the trio but warned that the
EFCC should be ready to kill the entire Edo people if anything went wrong with their principal officers.

Speaker faints

The situation is even more critical as the speaker who is the son of the Iyase of Benin Kingdom (Prime
Minister), is said to have fainted twice at the EFCC cell in Abuja, following the torture he allegedly received.
Adjoto said: "As I speak with you, the EFCC has arrested the speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, the
Majority Leader, Philip Shaibu, Chief whip, Folly Ogedengbe. They were arrested Wednesday and as we
speak they are being kept under very inhuman condition in Abuja.

"You are all aware that last week, there was a very vicious attack on the legislative quarters. Philip Shaibu
sustained serious bullet wounds, the Speaker was wounded and the Chief whip was wounded equally.
"The EFCC arrested them not minding their health conditions. We are reliably informed that the Speaker of
the House collapsed two times this morning. Philip is bleeding profusely and they are being denied medical
attention.
"As we speak, the reasons for their arrest is that the EFCC said they forged the signature of Rasaq Momoh
when the former deputy Speaker Festus Ebea was impeached.

Concern

"Our concern is this, when did the EFCC become an agency to investigate forgery of signature? When has forgery of signature become a financial crime?
Impeachment of either the Speaker or Deputy Speaker is purely the business of the House. EFCC has no business what so ever with it. We are surprised that the EFCC can reduce itself to investigate a crime that has already been spelt out as a criminal matter
according to the constitution.

" The EFCC is not set up to investigate forgery of signature and that they have reduced themselves shows
that they are not just acting.
"As we speak, the leadership of the PDP in Edo State is at the headquarters in Abuja. And the most worrisome is that the President of the country has given directive that these three principal officers of the Edo State House of Assembly be charged to court and be remanded indefinitely.

That is giving us serious concerns. One will expect the police to investigate that matter, what has EFCC got to do with forgery of
signature.?
"Last week these same people came here to kill us. As we speak, innocent people are being picked up on the
streets of Benin, but the real people have that committed crime not been arrested. They went to PDP
secretariat and were celebrating.
"But as a people, we will not fold our hands and allow this injustice to continue. We are giving EFCC till 4pm
today to release these principal officers. If they refuse to release them, as a people we have resolved to
organize a one million man march to Abuja and Abuja will know that we have arrived."

Source:
Vanguard

Police nab ATM fraudster in Cross River

The Cross River Police Command on Thursday announced the arrest of a man who specialized in ATM
fraud in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Titilayo Busari, said the suspect was caught with 60 ATM cards and
N258,000 cash.

Busari said the state command had mapped out measures to prevent criminals from stealing people’s
money and other valuables.
He said the suspect was arrested in Calabar while trying to swap his card with that of another person at
the premises of a new generation bank on Calabar Road.

He said, “He was arrested by the police for allegedly swapping Automated Teller Machine cards of several people with invalid cards.
“He used those cards in withdrawing large sums of money from the accounts of the victims.
“We have worked out modalities to ensure that people across the state enjoy not only the Christmas festival,
but also freedom to carry on with their normal and lawful businesses.

“My men and I are ready to ensure that any criminal who rears his head in the state is nabbed.”
He warned people to be careful of asking for assistance while making withdrawals through ATM.
The suspect was arrested with N258,000 cash in his possession.
The suspect had earlier told newsmen that he came to Calabar from Abuja two weeks ago.

He also confessed that he had succeeded in swapping ATM cards of several people to withdraw from their
accounts.
The suspect said he spent the money lavishly in hotels and night clubs.
He said, “What I do is that I monitor people when they are making withdrawals through ATM.
“I go close to them and pretend to help them. When I notice the person’s pin number, I immediately memorize
it.
“After a while, the person is counting his money, I swap his ATM card with an invalid one and later use it to
make withdrawals from his account.”

He said he had used the method to withdraw several millions of naira from people’s account.

Source:
Nigerian Eye

NHRC Fines Dangote N49m For Extra-judicial Killings By Guards

The National Human Rights Commission has asked Dangote Cement Plc to pay a total sum of N49m to the individuals and families of victims injured and killed extra-judicially by the guards of the company in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State in March, 2014.
Seven persons were said to have been killed and seven others injured by the guards during a crisis which broke
out in Tse-Kucha community in Yandev area of the local government on March 18.

A statement by the Chief Press Officer of the NHRC, Fatimah Mohammed, on Thursday, said Dangote Cement was expected to pay N5m to each of the families of the seven deceased persons and N2m each to the seven injured persons.

According to Mohammed, the company agreed to pay the money after the NHRC investigated the petition of the victims and families of the deceased person.
The statement read in part, “Victims and family members affected by the March 18, 2014 crisis at Tse-kucha in Yandev, Gboko Local Government Council of Benue State, have expressed appreciation to the
National Human Rights Commission for its intervention in their petition on the case of alleged extra-judicial
killing pending before the commission and requested it
to close the matter.

“The commission had, pursuant to the receipt of the complaint undertaken preliminary investigations and conducted hearings after which parties explored mediation and reached an agreement brokered by the Governor of Benue state, Dr. Gabriel Susuam between
representatives of the victims and Dangote Cement Plc.
“This amicable settlement resulted to the acceptance by
the management of Dangote Cement PLC to pay a monetary compensation of five million naira (N5,000,000.00) each to the families of the seven
deceased persons and two million naira (N2,000,000.00) each to the seven injured persons.”

The statement also quoted the Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof Bem Angwe, as promising “that the commission will continue to hold any institution
accountable for human rights violations committed by
them.”

Source:
Punch Newspaper

Insecurity: Nigerian Government Set To Amend ‘Colonial Era’ Firearms Act

THE Federal Government, in line with its overall counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency strategy, has reached advanced stage in the proposed amendment of the 1959 Nigerian Firearm Act and the Firearms Act CAP F28 LFN 2004.

Chairman, Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PRESCOM), Ambassador Emmanuel Imohe, stated this in Abuja, on
Wednesday, at the opening of a two-day experts’ roundtable on the repeal of the Nigerian “Firearms Act.”

According to Imohe, the Act was obsolete and did not reflect the realities and challenges associated with armed violence and Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) proliferation.

He noted that the effectiveness of the
implementation of the ECOWAS Convention on SALW depended largely on the potency of the member states’ national gun laws, the potency of the institutional framework for the
implementation of the convention (notably the National Commission), as well as the conformity or harmonisation of the national gun laws in member states to the provisions of the ECOWAS
Convention.

The former Director General of Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), however, lamented that the “law is not strong enough to constitute a deterrent on the nefarious activities of such criminals” and the “existing Act lacks the bite to hand over commensurate sanctions to culprits or breaches of the Act.”

Speaking further, the former Nigerian
Ambassador to the Unites States (US) said that since President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated PRESCOM last year, they have stressed the problem posed by the proliferation of illicit
weapons to national peace and security, especially the role of illegal arms in strengthening non-state actors and reinforcing criminal networks like Boko Haram terrorist group.

Meanwhile, the proposed amendment was carried out by PRESCOM, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Justice, and technical and expert inputs the security agencies, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), ECOWAS Commission, ICRC, and UNREC amongst others.

Source:
Tribune

United States Offers $45m Bounty For Information On 8 Terrorist Leaders

Washington – The United States has offered a reward of 45 million dollars for information on eight key leaders of
the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorist organisation.

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday in Washington that it’s Rewards for Justice Programme
was also offering rewards 10 million dollars for information leading to the location of Nasir al-Wahishi, AQAP’s top leader, and five million dollars each for the information on seven of the group’s leaders.

It said the Al-Wahishi was responsible for approving AQAP targets, recruiting new members, allocating resources, and directing the group’s operatives to conduct attacks.

It said AQAP had launched numerous high-profile terrorist attacks against the Yemeni government, U.S and other foreign interests.
It said the attack includes a May 2012 suicide bombing in Sanaa, that killed more than 100 people.

The State department said in 2013 more than 20 U.S embassies were temporarily closed in response to a threat associated with AQAP.

AQAP was formed in January 2009 by Yemeni and Saudi terrorists under the leadership of al-Wahishi, who had
headed AQAP’s predecessor group Al-Qaeda in Yemen.

On Jan. 19, 2010, the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist
Organization.

Source:
Vanguard

We Can’t Return Nigeria’s Seized $15Million Arms Money Without Due Process – South Africa

The South African government has indicated that it cannot return the $15 million arms money it seized from Nigerian arms dealers unless “due process” is applied in pushing for a refund.

Speaking on an African Independent Television (AIT) news programme on Tuesday night, the South African High Commissioner, Lulu Mnguni,
reportedly said his country had no intention of keeping the seized funds but would only release it to Nigeria after due process has been followed.

“Well, obviously we also in South Africa don’t want to keep Nigeria’s money, but we want to follow due process to address it. It’s their money and so they would like to have their money back,” he said in response to questions about the controversial transactions that have sparked diplomatic row between the two countries.

The high commissioner did not indicate what that “due process” entails. But Nigeria may need to challenge the ruling of the South African court which gave the South African National Prosecution
Authority the authority to freeze and seize the funds.

He also said South Africa has no reason not to sell arms to Nigeria adding that Nigeria has a long history of buying arms from his country.
“We’ve been selling arms to Nigeria for many years, so we don’t have a problem. Why should we not sell arms to Nigeria? If Nigeria needs arms to protect its citizens and its peoples, so we have to assist them.”

The high commissioner commented on the controversial transaction few hours after PREMIUM TIMES reported that no Nigerian is being detained in South Africa over the deal contrary to
widespread reports that two Nigerians and an Israeli national were arrested and detained after they attempted to smuggle into that country US$9.3
million apparently meant for buying arms for the Nigerian intelligence service.

Paul Ramaloko, the spokesperson of the country’s police service, said no arrest was made after the arms money was intercepted and confiscated.
“No one was arrested on this day,” Mr. Ramaloko, a captain in the South African Police, told this newspaper. “We only seized the money.”

The police spokesperson also refused to reveal the names of the passengers on the plane.
“We can only name people who are criminally charged,” he said. “In this matter, no one has been charged. We are only talking about one person who
checked in the luggage.
“The other people were allowed to go soon as they were cleared.”
On September 5, border authorities seized $9.3 million allegedly meant for the procurement of arms for the Nigerian intelligence services from two Nigerians and an Israeli who arrived the country in a private jet owned by the leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Ayo Oritsejafor, allegedly meant for the procurement of arms for the Nigerian military.

The money stashed in three suitcases was discovered custom officers after the suitcases were put through airport scanners. The money was concealed in two black plastic suitcases, filled with 90 blocks each containing US$100,000 in notes, with combination locks, were seized, as well as two pieces of hand luggage also containing US currency, South African National Prosecuting Authority, NPA, said.

The NPA said it found an invoice for a helicopter and armaments meant for Nigeria with the suspects.
While the furore created by the cash seizure was yet to settle, South African authorities again seized another sum of $5.7 million transferred by Societe
D’Equipments Internationale of Nigeria, to South African arms company, Cerberus Risk Solutions, for the procurement of arms.

South African investigators said as at the time the deal was signed, Cerberus Risk Solutions’ license to deal in arms had expired.

Meanwhile, Femi Falana, a senior lawyer in a statement Tuesday said from the details of the arms deals the Federal Government was not implicated in the seizure of the N15 million.

According to Mr Falana, the office of the National Security Adviser carelessly dragged the government into the embarrassing affair by its amateurish handling of the issue.

Mr. Falana said instead of accepting responsibility for the botched deals, the Federal government should have indicted the its arms contractors and
seek to recoup its money from them for patronising unauthorised arms companies in South Africa.
“Contrary to the mismanagement of information traceable to the office of the NSA the Federal Government did not place any direct order for the
importation of arms from South Africa,” he said.

“The fact that the NSA signed the End User certificate for the arms importation is not a license for the companies involved in the deal to breach the laws of South Africa.

In other words, the Israeli and two Nigerians who were arrested last month for smuggling the sum of $9.3 million and the Nigerian company involved in the transfer of the $5.7 million to South Africa are not public officers.

As independent contractors they were awarded contracts for the supply of arms by the Federal Government and paid accordingly. It is indubitably
clear that the suspects were negligent for failing to conduct due diligence.
“Since the Federal Government cannot be held vicariously liable for the alleged criminal activities of the suspects the office of the NSA ought not to have embarrassed the nation by giving the erroneous impression that Nigeria had breached the law of another country.

“As a sovereign entity the Federal Government can place orders for the purchase of arms either from another government or from independent arms dealers.
“But when the office of the NSA decided to award contracts to private corporate bodies for the supply of arms it could not have clothed them with immunity or license to breach local or foreign laws.
“Instead of exposing Nigeria to further ridicule the Federal Government should stop accepting responsibility for the alleged criminal actions of the suspects indicted in the alleged laundering of the sum of $15 million.”

Mr Falana said by threatening to go after South African investments in the country over the controversial deal, the Federal government threw its moral authority out of the window.

“By asking South Africa to reciprocate the gesture of allowing MTN and DSTV to operate in Nigeria is the Federal Government saying that both South African companies are allowed to breach the law of the land?”

He also chastised the National assembly for its shoddy handling of the issue.
“Regrettably, the National Assembly treated this matter of urgent national importance so cavalierly and in the process left many questions unanswered.

Otherwise how could both chambers have failed to examine the statement of the NPA that the official explanations for the suspicious transactions are riddled with contradictions?”

Mr Falana said the Nigerian government should call the NSA to order and apologise to Nigerians for dragging the country into the embarrassing affair.

Source:
Premium Times

Constitution Amendment: House of Representatives Removes Immunity For President, Governors, Approve "Independent Candidacy"

The final process in the amendment of the constitution started in the House of Representatives yesterday.

The House approved 71 amendments to the Constitution after an executive session.
The mandatory two-thirds required (240 of the 360-member House) for the amendment to pass was met as 252 of the 261 members that voted were in favour of the amendments. Eight voted against and one abstained.

The lawmakers have placed the National Security Agencies, the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Police, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, on a first-line charge from Nigeria’s Consolidated Revenue Account.

The President or Deputy President of Senate and Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives are to receive pension for life as approved by the lawmakers.

The President will mandatorily address a joint meeting of the National Assembly once a year, if the amendments get the Senate’s concurrence and are approved by two thirds of the 36 state Houses of
Assembly.

But the review suffered a setback in the Senate.

Though the consideration of the report of the conference committee on the review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (further amendment) Bill 2014 was listed in the Order Paper, the consideration could not hold due to lack of quorum.

The Senate Committee on Rules and Business listed in the Order Paper: “That the Senate do consider and approve the report of the Conference Committee on the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Further Amendment) Bill, 2014.”

It was listed against the name of the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who is also chairman,
Senate Committee on Review of the 1999 Constitution.
It was gathered that the Senate leadership decided that because the required quorum for the consideration of the report of the conference committee was not formed, the consideration of the report would be taken on another legislative day.

Our correspondents also gathered that the Senate leadership did not want to play into the hands of those who might accuse it of sidelining some senators in the consideration of the report.

It was not clear if the report would be considered today.
While considering the 108-page report, the House approved “independent candidacy” to participate in general elections as well “life pension for President, Vice President, Senate President, Deputy Senate President, as well as Speaker and deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives”.

This is contingent on if the occupant was not impeached from office.
Members also approved Section 7(1a) which prohibits appointment of caretaker committee by governors while 7(1b) provides for four-year term to democratically elected council. Subsection 7(1c) grant financial autonomy to local governments.

They approved the immunity clause, Section 4(7a), which states that “in the course of exercising the foregoing legislative powers, no civil or criminal
proceedings shall be instituted against a member of a legislative House in respect of words spoken or written before the House or a committee thereof.”

These were part of the recommendations of the harmonised report of the Ad-hoc Committee on
Constitution review adopted by the lawmakers at the Committee of the Whole.

Other amendments approved include state creation, indigeneship and citizenship, budgetary process and role for traditional Rulers, among others.
An alteration of Section 241, which inserts a new subsection (2A), bars Nigerian courts or tribunals from
staying any proceeding on account of an interlocutory appeal.

They also voted to include in the concurrent legislative list seven items which include railways, agriculture and pensions.

Federal lawmakers also backed adoption of referendum for state creation.
They, however, rejected the amendment of Section 9 to allow for a referendum in determining the fate of the National Conference recommendations.

An alteration of Section 7, among others, stops revenue allocation from the federation account to local governments that are not democratically elected.

Local government administrations also stand dissolved at the expiration of four years, commencing from the date the members of Council were sworn in.

An alteration of Section 59 allows the National Assembly to bypass the president should he fail to sign
a Bill presented to him within 30 days.
It states: “Within seven days, the President of the Senate shall convene a joint sitting of the National Assembly to reconsider the Bill and if passed by two-thirds majority of members of both houses at such joint sitting, the Bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required,” the alteration reads.

The action is the most far-reaching amendment made to the constitution.
It was learnt that the closed- door session was to allow members agree on the modalities for the voting on the
amendments.

The leadership was said to have impressed it on members that there was need to pass the amendments without bickering due to its importance to democracy and the need to conclude it expeditiously.

The report will be transmitted to the 36 Houses of Assembly for concurrence, after the Senate’s concurrence.

Chairman, Ad-Committee on Constitution Review, Emeka Ihedioha, said exhaustive deliberations with the Senate on the areas of differences was done with due regard to the wishes of the people,
“At this stage, we also urge you to reach out to your respective House of Assembly members whom Section 9
of the Constitution have made critical and distinctive partners, to support the realisation of the recommendations of the Committee here attached, which we believe is another milestone towards
repositioning our fundamental legal framework for public good,” he said.

Source:
The Nation

$1.69m Fraud Charge: Court Frees Fred Ajudua

Reprieve came the way of Lagos socialite, Fred Ajudua, after a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja this morning discharged him of an alleged $1.69m fraud allegation brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Ajudua in the matter is standing trial along with one Charles Orie for allegedly defrauding two Dutch businessmen of 1.69 million dollars.

The EFCC had alleged that the defendants deceived the victims by claiming that the money was for sundry payments to various government officials.
The EFCC further alleged that the defendants claimed that the payments would help them to facilitate a contract worth 18 million dollars on behalf of the complainants.

While the matter lasted, Ajudua who has been who has been critically ill was refused bail by the court.
At today’s proceeding, the EFCC again failed to produce any of the foreign witnesses in the matter. EFCC counsels, Mrs E.A Sanusi told the court that some of the principal witnesses in the matter had vehemently refused to come to Nigerian to give evidence in the matter sighting the recent outbreak of Ebola in the country.

She said that in the circumstance, the EFCC has not other option but to ask for the withdrawal of the charge.

Following the EFCC submission, Justice Kudirat Ajose subsequently ordered that Ajudua be discharged of the charges.

A sister case where Ajudua is accused of allegedly defrauding Former Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi of $8.4 while they were both in custody at Kirikiri Prison in Lagos between November 2004 and June 2005 is still before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye.

Source:
PM News

'Teach Virtues of Religious Respect, Tolerance To Counter Terrorism' - Tony Blair

Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair is calling for an urgent global agreement to teach religious respect as he warns that action against extremist groups will otherwise "count for nothing".

In an essay for the BBC, the former prime minister said the underlying causes of religious conflict must be confronted through educating young people, although he made exceptions for violent organisations such as the Islamic State.

An agreement to improve interfaith relations would address the principal cause of terrorism-related activity as leaders must “uproot the thinking of the extremists, not simply disrupt their actions,” he suggested.

Mr Blair said defeated extremist groups will simply be replaced by new ones which continue to spread extreme ideologies if the root causes are not tackled.
"Unless we begin to confront the underlying causes each time we take on a group like Isis (Islamic State) another will quickly arise to take its place," he said.

Writing in the BBC, he said the rise of extremist groups such as al-Shabaab and Boko Haram are a “perversion of faith that has been growing unchecked”.

Mr Blair said: "We need at the G20, or some other appropriate forum, as soon as we can, to raise this issue as a matter of urgent global importance and work on a common charter to be accepted by all nations, and endorsed by the UN, which makes it a common obligation to ensure that throughout our education systems, we're committed to teaching the virtue of religious respect."

After making his argument for advocating interfaith understanding and tolerance, he stated that he is not opposed to single-faith schools.

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which was established by the former Labour leader in 2008, aims to work against religious prejudice by influencing 12-17 year olds in 30 countries, including Pakistan, the US and Singapore.

Mr Blair has been criticised over sending troops into more wars than any other prime minister in history, with military intervention in Iraq twice, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan within six years.

Source:
The Independent, UK

Scientists Discover Cure For Diabetes

There is good news for diabetic patients. They will no longer need to inject insulin – thanks to a treatment involving the use of insulin-producing cells which Harvard University scientists discovered how to make.

The cure could, therefore, be imminent as the scientists have produced large volumes of laboratory-grown pancreatic cells required for one-off transplantation in patients.

The breakthrough has been hailed and compared to the invention of antibiotics. It involved identifying how to efficiently turn both stem cell types into beta cells.

The cells, millions of which were manufactured, produced insulin, responded to glucose, worked on mice for many months and will soon be used to treat humans.
The discovery is the result of 23 years of research by Harvard Professor Doug Melton, whose study of type 1 diabetes was prompted by his son having the condition as a six-month-old. His daughter received the same diagnoses.

The cells could be used to treat all patients rather than each person needing their own genetically matched treatment.

The cells tested on mice were placed in a porous capsule to protect them from attacks by the body’s immune system, while allowing the insulin to diffuse out.

This means the cells could be produced on an industrial scale and used on patients without possible immune rejection, while the capsule could be replaced if it stopped working.

A report on the work is published in the October 10 edition of the journal Cell . Online reports quoted Prof Melton as saying: “It was gratifying to know that we could do something that we always thought was possible, but many people felt it wouldn’t work. We are now just one pre-clinical step away from the finish line.”

Asked about his children’s reaction he said: “I think like all kids, they always assumed that if I said I’d do this, I’d do it.”

Prof Melton said the stem cell-derived beta cells are presently undergoing trials in animal models, including non-human primates, where they are still producing insulin after several months,.

The team at Harvard used embryonic stem cells to produce human insulin-producing cells equivalent in almost every way to normally functioning cells.

The Telegraph quoted Professor of Regenerative Medicine, University College London Chris Mason as saying the discovery was “potentially a major medical breakthrough”.
“If this scalable technology is proven to work in both the clinic and in the manufacturing facility, the impact on
the treatment of diabetes will be a medical game-changer on a par with antibiotics and bacterial infections,” he said.

Head of Institute of Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool, Prof Anthony Hollander, added: “This is very exciting fundamental research that solves a major roadblock in the development of a stem cell treatment
for diabetes.
“The study provides a very elegant and convincing method for generating functional insulin-producing cells in large numbers.”

Prof Mark Dunne of Manchester University said: “Overall this is an important advance for the field of diabetes and people with Type 1 diabetes.”

Prof Elaine Fuchs of Rockefeller University described the findings as “one of the most important advances to date in the stem cell field”, adding: “For decades, researchers have tried to generate human pancreatic beta cells that could be cultured and passaged long term under conditions where they produce insulin.”

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that causes the pancreas to stop producing insulin – the hormone
that regulates blood glucose levels.
If the amount of glucose in the blood is too high it can seriously damage the body’s organs over time.

While diabetics can keep their glucose levels under general control by injecting insulin, that does not provide the fine tuning necessary to properly control metabolism, which can lead to devastating complications such as blindness or loss of limbs.

Source:
The Nation

Nigerian Government May Include Counter-terrorism In School Curriculum - Sambo Dasuki

As part of the soft approach to countering terrorism, the Federal Government is planning to tinker with
national school curriculum for more productivity.

National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki gave the hint when he addressed the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOG) of the United Nations in New York on Monday.

Already, extensive assessments of schools across Northern Nigeria have been conducted in order to gain a better understanding of the state of
education.

The soft approach was developed to complement the pounding of the terrorists by the military in what
can be described as the “carrot and stick” method which has been recommended by some experts on
counter terrorism across the world.

The Soft CVE programme has four basic aspects which include De-radicalization, Strategic Communication, Counter Radicalisation and Economic Regeneration.

The Council had invited Dasuki to elaborate on the non-military aspect of Nigeria’s Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program also known as the Soft Approach to countering terrorism, which was first unveiled to Nigerians on March 18, 2014.
“We have conducted extensive assessments of schools across Northern Nigeria in order to gain a better understanding of the state of education”.

“We have now begun preliminary consultations with the Ministry of Education with regard to potential
changes to the national curriculum and will be hosting an Education Summit, bringing together key stakeholders and policy-makers”, he said.

Already, some prisons were being configured to achieve the de-radicalization program, which involves training of a new generation of practitioners in the areas of forensic psychology, religious instruction with particular emphasis on extremist narratives, art therapists, social workers and vocational and educational counsellors.

Government is also training a multi-disciplinary prison based treatment team including Imams to manage terror suspects responsible for developing curriculum and training in religious education, cognitive behaviour therapy, anger management, relapse prevention, empathy, risk management and
risk assessment.

Dasuki explained that this stream is expected to “foster greater respect for human rights and rule of law; train relevant prison staff on CVE, to
professionally handle terror suspects and issues of rehabilitation; develop a range of expert psychologists and counsellors to pioneer rehabilitation efforts and; introduce a more holistic
approach to the rehabilitation of prisoners in the country, using in-depth psychological analysis and research to understand the root causes of extremism and other criminal ideologies.

“Through Strategic Communications, we are working to counter extremist ideology and narratives.
Extremists’ views are often based on ignorance, misconceptions, willful misinterpretation and twisted ideology.

In the case of Boko Haram, narratives are founded on a set of core beliefs that are opposed to the state and aspects of western education.
“One of the ways to implement the strategic communication strategy would be by developing a voluntary code of conduct on reporting national security issues that will regulate crisis reporting especially with regard to terrorism for the press.”

He added that in the multi thronged strategy, civil servants and members of the military were being trained to strengthen government’s public diplomacy efforts, while a documentary on Boko Haram and research on the Pathways to Radicalisation had been commissioned to further the understanding of Boko Haram.

The NSA disclosed that implementation of the Counter Radicalisation plank rested mainly on the Society Against Violent Extremism (SAVE) Project based in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and will seek determinedly to counter the drivers of radicalisation by encouraging CVE action in communities, civil society and government institutions; building community engagement and
resilience; using education as a tool for countering violent extremism; and promoting religious tolerance.

Dasuki noted that in order to achieve the stated objectives, key projects have been designed to ensure that education is used as a tool to stem extremism by emphasizing the teaching of critical thinking and logical reasoning as well as sports, music, arts, and drama while also creating psychological support structures for victims of terrorism through the main stream provision of
PTSD.

He further told his audience that “we are beginning to make real progress but are aware that these are but the early stages of what must be an extensive and all-encompassing set of interventions”.
The former aid-de-camp to former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida told his audience that the Economic Regeneration aspect of the Soft Approach to the CVE programme will work with governors of six north eastern states in designing an economic revitalization program targeting states most impacted by terrorism.

Dasuki thanked members of the international community that have supported Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and reminded the gathering that “no nation has the monopoly of knowledge especially when it comes to dealing with terrorism”, as could
be attested by Great Britain, Columbia, Spain and Iraq.

Source:
Daily Post