Nigeria has achieved a record global rating in aviation with the country receiving a significant boost, jumping from 49 to 70.5.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo disclosed this in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Tunde Moshood on Wednesday night.

“In a swift response to Nigeria’s bold attempt to fully comply with the Cape Town Convention on dry-leasing of aircrafts by preparing and signing the Practice Direction, the Aviation Working Group (Co-chaired by BOEING AND AIRBUS) has today swiftly adjusted the global score/rating of Nigeria on our compliance status from 49 to 70.5,” Moshood said.

“This is the largest score Nigeria has attained till date to give comfort to financiers and the leasing world.

“There is also potential for further increase in the next few weeks as the Minister has directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to immediately adjust its administrative rules called IDERA.”

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Moshood said this would help to also fully align with the convention to further boost the confidence of financiers and lessors across the world.

In an email received by Keyamo on Wednesday, the Aviation Working Group in London and New York commended the Aviation Minister and his team for the ‘time, effort and skill’ they put in the last few months into making this a reality.

They also said they are poised to further increase the score once Nigeria adjusts its administrative rules in the next few weeks and the courts actually begin to apply the practice direction.

The U.S. State Department has launched an online passport renewal system that allows Americans to bypass the traditional mail-in paper process that often leads to delays.

The State Department announced on Wednesday that the digital system is now fully operational after several pilot tests.

It said the digital system is available to adult passport holders whose passports have expired in the last five years or will expire within the next year.

It is not available for the renewal of children’s passports, for first-time passport applicants for renewal applicants who live outside the United States or for expedited applications, the State Department added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that “by offering this online alternative to the traditional paper application process, the Department is embracing digital transformation to offer the most efficient and convenient passport renewal experience possible.”

The department disclosed that it has estimates that around 5 million Americans annually will benefit from the new service, noting that in 2023 it processed 24 million passports, 40% of which were renewals.

The introduction of the online platform comes as the State Department continues to recover from pandemic-related staffing shortages that severely delayed passport processing times.

The new online system enables applicants to skip the current process, which requires them to print out and send paper applications, photos and a check by mail, and submit their documents, photos, and payment through a secure website, www.Travel.State.Gov/renewonline.

The existing passport processing fees, which are currently $130 for a regular renewal, will remain unchanged.

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter, whose bureau oversees passport processing, said the department hopes to expand the programme by including children’s renewals, second passports, and services for Americans living overseas.

“This is not going to be the last thing that we do,” Bitter told reporters. “We want to see how this goes and then we’ll start looking at ways to continue to make this service available to more American citizens in the coming months and years.”

The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has announced that the earth tremors experienced in the Federal Capital Territory are not a cause for alarm.

NGSA’s Director-General, Olusegun Ige, disclosed in a statement that it has monitored the tremors and found them to be low and did not pose any threat to the environment.

NGSA’s statement comes after reports of earth tremors in Abuja, which had caused concern among residents of Maitama, Katampe, Mpape, and surrounding areas.

Earth tremors, a minor or brief movement of the Earth’s surface, triggered by the same forces responsible for earthquakes, had been previously reported in the capital in September 2018, which was said to occur at magnitude 3.2 around Mpape.

But NGSA said it has monitored the tremors and found them to be low and not a threat to the environment, adding that it team visited the affected areas for on-the-spot assessments.

NGSA reported that the tremors were a result of accumulated stress along identified faults and released seismic energy.

“The Monitoring Station (NGSA-5) at Katampe has been capturing several significant ground motions with high moment magnitudes (Mw) in the past five days, beginning September 13, 2024, and continuing to date,” NGSA said.

“Only one mild event was recorded on September 13th. Six of these events were captured on the 14th of September, while over 21 events were captured on the 15th with higher intensities. More than twenty events were recorded on the 16th of September. The intensity and frequency of the tremor appear to increase from the 13th to the 16th September. There are a few weak events recorded today, 17th September.

“Preliminary analysis of the waveforms showed that the sources of the ground motions are less than 5 km away from the monitoring station.”

According to the accounts of residents of the affected areas, observations by the NGSA team, and findings from previous interpretations of airborne geophysical data over the area and adjoining areas, the following conclusions were reached:

• The tremors are a result of accumulated stress along the identified faults and released seismic energy, which may have travelled through associated fractures to areas where the tremors were felt around the FCT.
• There are multiple epicentres associated with the recent tremor. Most of the epicentres are located northeast of the NGSA-5 Seismic Station around Mpape axis, while a few are located southwest of the Station around Katampe axis.
• The intensities of the tremors are weak to light, ranging from III-IV on the Modified Mercalli Scale, and pose a very low-level threat, and
• The residents of Mpape, Katampe, Maitama, and other areas where the tremors were felt are advised not to panic as the tremors can be generally described as low. The Agency is keeping a close monitoring of the situation and will provide updates as may become necessary.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, said that President Bola Tinubu has assented to the bill for the establishment of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

Ribadu made this known at the Workshop on Gender Mainstreaming in Preventing the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Nigeria and the West African Sub-region on Tuesday in Abuja.

The workshop was organised by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW).

He was represented by the Director of External Affairs, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Amb. Ibrahim Babani.

The NSA said that the president’s assent to the bill was a major milestone in the government’s commitment to curbing the proliferation of illegal arms.

According to him, this legislative backing strengthens the centre’s mandate and paves the way for more coordinated and decisive action.

Ribadu also stressed the need for gender mainstreaming in preventing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country.

He said that the workshop was anchored in key international frameworks, including United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.

According to him, the resolution stresses the critical need to protect women from the impacts of conflict while also ensuring their full participation in peacebuilding and security initiatives.

“Moreover, the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons underscores the collective responsibility of our region in curbing the spread of these dangerous weapons, which disproportionately affect women and children in conflict zones.

“The importance of gender mainstreaming in preventing the proliferation of SALW cannot be overstated, as it strengthens our strategies and ensures that our approach to security is inclusive and sustainable,” he said.

Ribadu commended the centre for its efforts towards addressing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria.

In his opening remarks, the National Coordinator of NCCSALW, retired DIG Johnson Kokumo, said the centre has, in recent times, made some significant achievements in the fight against the illegal proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

Kokumo said the centre had on July 1 retrieved a substantial cache of illegal arms from the Nigeria Customs Service and subsequently arrested 10 suspects involved in the illicit importation.

He said the suspects were currently being prosecuted by the NCCSALW for the illegal importation into Nigeria of prohibited 544 firearms and 112,500 rounds of cartridges, contrary to Section 3 (6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M17 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, among other offences.

This, according to him, underscores the centre’s commitment to not only intercepting arms but also ensuring that those responsible for these acts face the full weight of the law.

“In addition to the above, the National Centre has retrieved a total of 3,383 decommissioned, unserviceable, obsolete, and illicit small arms and light weapons, and 26,749 various calibres of ammunition from the arms-bearing agencies of government.

“Later in this quarter, NCCSALW will be conducting an Arms Destruction Exercise, which is a critical step in ensuring that recovered arms are permanently removed from circulation,” he said.

Kokumo said the control of small arms and light weapons proliferation was not only a national concern but also a matter of international importance.

He said that the illegal flow of small arms and light weapons had devastating consequences, fuelling violence, instability, and insecurity in various parts of the world.

He said that gender mainstreaming in SALW control was not only a moral imperative but also a strategic move, considering the grave impact of armed conflict on women and children.

This, he said, highlighted the need for a gender-sensitive approach to disarmament and security policies.

“This workshop is a significant step in ensuring that gender perspectives are integrated into national and regional strategies for Small Arms and Light Weapons control,” he said.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has announced her intention to seek a second four-year term as Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

This was revealed on Monday, September 16, 2024, by WTO spokesperson Ismaila Dieng.

“We can confirm that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has officially announced her intention to seek a second term as Director-General of the WTO,” Dieng said in a statement.

Okonjo-Iweala, who is the first woman and first African to head the WTO, will seek a second four-year term when her mandate expires in August 2025.

Her decision to seek another term was officially communicated to WTO Chair and Norwegian Ambassador Petter Olberg on Monday.

According to Dieng, Okonjo-Iweala had taken into account the overwhelming and broad-based support expressed by members.

The WTO’s African Group formally requested that she make herself available for a second term at that same meeting and proposed that the process to re-nominate her should begin as soon as possible.

It is gathered that so far no other candidates have come forward.

Okonjo-Iweala, who took over in March 2021 as WTO DG, was the first Nigerian woman to serve two terms as Finance Minister of Nigeria—initially under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 2003 to 2006, and secondly under President Goodluck Jonathan from 2011 to 2015.

From June to August 2006, she served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria.

In 2005, Euromoney named her Global Finance Minister of the Year.

The Chairman of the Africa Peace Organisation (APO), Hon. Justice Suleiman Galadima (rtd) has decried the plight of no fewer than 429 million people living in extreme poverty in Africa.

Galadima, in a statement in Abuja, blamed the situation for the spate of insecurity and conflict in the continent.

He explained that the international Africa Energy Oil and Gas (IAEOG) summit billed to be held in Namibia, with participants drawn from the continent is aimed at addressing the challenge.

He particularly stated that the IAEOG Summit held between the 22nd to 30th of October will promote business cooperation, stimulate investment, and create jobs among African countries.

He added that the summit is a follow-up to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) with the ultimate goal of unifying approximately 1.3 billion people across Africa, with a collective GDP of nearing US$ 3.4 trillion.

He disclosed that the summit which over 2,500 will bring together high-level top executives, CEOs, managers, investors, the business community, government agencies, exporters and importers from oil and gas sectors from across Africa and the world will be deliberating on the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition and the future of oil and gas in Africa.

He disclosed that the summit, themed “A Symphony of Progress – Harnessing Africa’s Natural Resource Development,” would be held at Hilton Windhoek, Rev. Michael Scott St. Windhoek Namibia.

The event will feature panel discussions, presentations, exhibitions, dinners, charity golf tournaments, award presentations, tours, and a host of others.

“This event, a proactive endeavor supporting the AfCTA’s mission to forge regional value chains in Africa, aims at stimulating investment and job creation across the continent,” he added.

The 2nd edition of the IAEOG Summit took place in Angola between the 30th of November 2023 and the 3rd of December, 2023.