Nigerian Policewoman wins UN award for peacekeeping exploits

 

Jesus Christ apparently did not have the police in mind when he said that a prophet has no honour among his own people. Yet that seems the lot of the members of the Nigeria Police Force with regard to how much respect they command abroad while they are largely despised by their own compatriots.

As a matter of fact, the attacks on police stations and the killing and maiming of policemen in the recent #EndSARS protests is widely seen as evidence of how much disdain the people have for them. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, reckoned that no fewer than 22 policemen were killed during the protests while about 205 police stations were destroyed.

But in a fit of irony, a Nigerian policewoman on foreign mission in far away Mali was being honoured by the United Nations in recognition of her selfless service simultaneously as her compatriots were being persecuted at home. Chief Superintendent Catherine Ekwutosi Ugorji, a Nigerian police woman serving with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), was selected by the United Nations as one of two runners-up for the prestigious UN Woman Police Officer of the Year award for 2020.

“Through both her words and actions, United Nations Police Officer Ugorji exemplifies the best of United Nations policing,” said Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. Only 21 of the 1,300 UN policewomen deployed in UN peacekeeping operations were said to have been nominated for the award with Ugorji emerging among the top three.

The year’s winner, Chief Inspector Doreen Malambo of Zambia, who serves with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), is billed to receive the award during a virtual ceremony presided over by Mr. Lacroix on November 3. Superintendent Rebecca Nnanga of Cameroon, serving with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), is the other runner-up.

Congratulating Ugorji for being chosen as a runner-up, UN Police Advisor Luis Carrilho, said: “MINUSMA United Nations Police Officer Ugorji’s leadership of three Formed Police Units in Gao has been remarkable, and Catherine (Ugorji) has introduced tactical operations that have been instrumental in reducing crime in the area, in support of the Malian security forces and the host population.

“In addition to this very demanding role, Chief Superintendent Ugorji has worked diligently to improve living conditions for women police officers so they can serve safely and with dignity.”

Deployed to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in 2018, Ugorji was said to have demonstrated exemplary conduct throughout her deployment in Mali where she serves as a Formed Police Unit (FPU) Coordinator in Gao.

She has been liaising and coordinating with local authorities and civil society to finalise United Nations Police operations to reassure the population in the conduct of normal activities in an area of insecurity due to the incursion of terrorist and armed groups.

WAEC will release 2020 SSCE results Monday

 

The West African Examination Council, WAEC, has said the results for Senior Secondary School Examination, SSCE, will be released on Monday, November 2.

  WAEC made the announcement via its Twitter handle, on Sunday.

  It wrote: “This is to inform candidates that sat West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, 2020, that the results of that exam will be released by @waecnigeria tomorrow, Monday, November 2, 2020 by 10:30am.”

EndSARS: Buhari’s touching, poignant meeting with former heads of State

The meeting between Buhari and former heads of state on Friday, October 23, has been described as “very touching, poignant”. Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina in an article titled ‘#EndSARS: Inside PMB’s parley with former heads of state, said they discussed issues surrounding the #EndSARS protests and the state of the nation.

Among the former leaders present were Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Chief Ernest Shonekan, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Goodluck Jonathan.

Adesina narrated that Gowon gave the opening remarks by lamenting that what had started peacefully was taken over by “organised miscreants in Lagos and other parts of the country. Peace and genuine protests by youths have been hijacked.”

Drawing from experiences in 1967, before the Nigerian Civil War, Gowon was said to have also given some recipes for the government to consider.

The presidential aide said Obasanjo spoke next amidst fears that he might antagonise the Buhari regime.

Obasanjo was quoted as saying, “Let me commend your speech of last night, which the nation had been waiting for. You made points that I believe need to be commended.

“You said peaceful protests were part of democratic practice. You also indicated that the demands of the genuine protesters had been accepted, and you were working on implementation.”

The former President said the activities of hoodlums who hijacked the protests should be condemned, “as they took away the protests from those who initially planned them.”

On the job and economic situation in the country, he said, “We need heavy local and international investments to make the impact we need to make. Our Foreign Direct Investment is inadequate. And we need to get better results in security so that the investments can come.”

When it was the turn of Ibrahim Babangida, he expressed concern about the quality of intelligence available to the security agencies.

Abubakar also talked about the need for synergy among the security agencies, whom he said should avoid “multiple mandates.”

“With adequate intelligence, some of these things can be nipped in the bud. “I commend the government for the efforts so far, to end the protests. Funding of security agencies should also be looked into, while the media should be adequately engaged,” he was quoted as saying.

Shonekan cautioned that “preventive actions should be considered for the future, rather than curative”.

“Please, call us for more of these meetings. We need to frequently discuss very important national issues,” he added.

Jonathan was said to have commended the broadcast of the previous night, and asked questions: “what led to the crisis? How do we stop such in the future, even after the Buhari administration?”

He said, “the root cause of the crisis had been with us far before the advent of the current administration”, and that “it may last into future governments, except some immediate steps were taken.”.

 

WTO: FG moves to counter US position on Okonjo-Iweala

 

As the world awaits the outcome of the final consensus decision on the next World Trade Organisation, WTO, there are indications that Nigerian government may have started diplomatic actions to head-off opposition from the United States of America, USA, against the emergence of Nigeria’s Okonjo-Iweala for the job.

 

 A source at the Ministry of Trade and Investment hinted that the government was taking steps to prevent USA’s opposition from snowballing into adverse swing in the support base for Nigeria’s nominee.

 

Earlier, Okonjo-Iweala had received endorsement from the majority of the voting members of the WTO giving her a clear lead over the contending candidate, South Korea’s trade minister, Mrs Yoo Myung-hee.

 

But sources close to the WTO as well as western media outlets have indicated yesterday that the USA was drumming support in favour of Myung-hee, while advancing reasons why Okonjo-Iweala should not get the job.