the unbearable notice is; that you've to make up your mind to be the difference and not the other way round else people will misjudge you even though you're not that person.
I've gone through the lists of prominent names of my people who fought in the Ekumeku war and none of the names are Igala, Bini, Yorùbá or Hausa.
They’re all Igbo.
The reason I’m saying this, is because a lot of us do not understand history and how its distortion affects us today.
Today the descendants of these brave men who resisted the British soldiers for 31 years are claiming that they’re no longer Igbo instead they’re Bini.
“I have come across comments accusing me of being sponsored by certain elements to push the Igbo unification agenda“
HRH Omu Onyebuchie Okonkwo Omu of Obio!
I wish such were true because I’d really appreciate the money.
I have seen how ignorance has caused us to reason from our nose and our culture has been ridiculed by our very own people.
Why would a Nwabuokei from Ọnịcha Olona open his mouth to say he's Bini and not Igbo?
I watch his videos and I’m appalled to say the least, at how a sensible person would set up his camera and go on to deny his very identity.
The other day it was the man from Idumuje Unor who was doing the same thing online.
Odiakose is an Igbo word.
Ose/Olise/Osebuwa are Igbo names for the Almighty Creator.
Odi na aka Olise is purely Igbo.💯
I’m happy his king has come out to reaffirm their Igbo identity.
Such elders should be ignored as they do not speak for us.
I am an Igbo woman and I speak the Enuani dialect of the Igbo language.
Someone dropped a video comment of my King saying he’s from Bini and that Obio is from Bini.
I laugh at such people because I have no business with such claims.
If some people say they’re Bini, yet they don’t understand an iota of Bini language, they speak fluent Igbo, they use the Ọfọ, they use the four Igbo native market days and they celebrate iwaji festival, then they are only living in denial and should be ignored.
“It doesn’t matter whether they have a crown on their head or not...”
Read that again, please!
Even if my mother wakes from the grave today and claims Bini, I’m purely Igbo.
I have gone beyond petty blackmail and gaslighting and I know my roots.
“My ancestors were Igbo and if there’s any Bini or Igala blood here, then it is through marriage, assimilation and servitude“
HRH Omu Onyebuchie Okonkwo Omu of Obio!
The Bini people who joined us from Bini after our migration, they have their own quarter here in Obio and we have always been told that they are visitors so how are we now Bini when we acknowledge these people as visitors?
Obio market is on Eke day.
Eke is Bini, abi? I don’t know how most of these Bini apologists think.
You bear Igbo names, speak Igbo and you observe the Igbo calendar, yet you are Bini.
I’ll keep talking and I don’t mind being dragged by unruly elements who lack consciousness and history.
The task ahead is daunting and can only be achieved through consistent teachings and reorientation and hopefully, we would be able to salvage most of our people.
Daalụ nu Umunne m.
All Rights Reserved: HRH Omu Onyebuchie Okonkwo (Omu of ObioKingdom)
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Climate change will cost $1.3 trillion per year by 2035.
Here’s how we can pay for it.
For decades, climate change has been one of the world’s most urgent, existential shared challenges a crisis mandating the world’s 193 countries band together to reign in carbon emissions and, to put it frankly, save the planet.
But there’s one big, glaring problem: Paying for the climate crisis is expensive, and no one wants to cover the bill.
Climate change is accelerating, and so are its costs.
If we don’t fix international accounting fast, we risk both financial and climatic devastation.
Last November, the UN climate change conference COP29 ended with wealthy nations pledging to mobilize at least $300 billion a year to support Global South countries with climate change and support a clean energy transition, with the ultimate goal of reaching at least $1.3 trillion annually by 2035.
Getting there won’t be easy.
And that’s exactly why we need a plan of action.
Enter Global Citizen’s vision for a fair climate finance roadmap.
Submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the “Baku to Belém Roadmap” is a bold, practical guide to finance that lays out exactly how countries can shape policies and budgets to free up that $1.3 trillion and ensure the money reaches those who need it most.
So how does it work? Let’s break it down.
A Broken System Today, traditional sources of funding (like foreign aid and concessional loans) aren’t cutting it.
Global South countries, especially those most vulnerable to climate change, simply don’t have the means to invest in social welfare and climate resiliency all at once.
Why? The global financial system is outdated.
Built over 80 years ago, it wasn’t designed to address today’s challenges.
To find $1.3 trillion, we need a clear timeline, strong accountability measures, new sources of funding, and ambitious NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions, or plans each country creates to reduce emissions and prioritize strengthening climate resilience).
Because it’s not just about increasing the total pot of money it’s about figuring out where that money should go to have the most impact.
Who Pays the Price;
Climate finance has historically been very unfairly distributed.
Paradoxically, the countries and communities that suffer the most from climate disasters receive the least support.
Here’s how money gets tangled up in the current system:
It’s Too Complicated: Many report that the process is overly complex and technical.
Countries in the Global South face miles of red tape just to access essential climate funding from global institutions.
Getting money from major lenders like the Green Climate Fund can take years, delaying lifesaving projects as approval pipelines slowly chug along.
It’s Too Risk-Averse: Investors tend to chase safe bets.
That leaves vital but low-return adaptation projects, like early disaster warning systems or climate proof infrastructure, underfunded by the private sector.
It’s Too Unfair: Loans dominate climate finance.
Yet countries hit hardest by climate change often have poor credit ratings, meaning they pay the highest interest rates which exacerbate vicious debt cycles.
Worse, global crises like COVID-19 and humanitarian disasters have left many countries drowning in debt, making it harder than ever to invest in climate-proofing a safer future.
The Fix: A New Vision for Global Finance So what’s the solution?
We don’t just need more money we need a plan for better systems.
To truly address climate and development challenges, we need to expand and diversify funding sources, introduce regular monitoring benchmarks, and create greater transparency.
If we do all that, hitting $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 is possible.
To that end, we at Global Citizen believe the world must:
1. Fix the Global Lending System. Approval processes must be faster, simpler, and support climate-impacted nations first and foremost.
Specifically, multilateral development banks (MDBs) like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) need to:
Lend more and faster, especially in times of crisis.
They can scale up “direct access modalities” (where local financial institutions receive money directly from lenders rather than a middle man).
Major funders like the Adaptation Fund and the Green Climate Fund have made some strides, but we need to see more progress.
Get creative with their money. Business as usual isn’t enough.
We’ll need to embrace innovative financing models, such as blended finance (mixing public and private money) and insurance to attract investment where it’s needed most.
Focus on grants and low-interest loans, especially for climate adaptation efforts.
Expand debt-relief tools like climate debt swaps, where loans are forgiven in exchange for investing in local adaptation projects.
2. Shift the Power Imbalance and Enforce Accountability.
Climate finance is controlled by the wealthiest nations. It’s time to change that.
Empower vulnerable nations by giving them a greater voice in decision-making.
Create stronger oversight.
An independent body (such as the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance) could play a referee role, track whether commitments are being met, and prevent misreporting.
3. Champion Community and Indigenous Leadership.
Local actors know local environments best, including how to adapt them to changing climates.
But they’re rarely the focus of climate finance.
Prioritize local action and adaptation projects by channeling money directly to on-the-ground community organizations, and making sure they’re at the heart of both steering and implementing climate action.
Protect vital ecosystems, such as the Amazon.
Indigenous-led conservation is known to help protect biodiversity and fight climate change.
Governments need to back them up with robust policy and financial support.
4. Power a Just Energy Transition.
We need widespread renewable energy access that benefits everyone, including local workers and communities.
Phase out fossil fuels. Retire outdated coal plants and redirect fossil fuel subsidies (which cost the world $7 trillion annually) to climate finance instead.
Scale up Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs).
These renewable infrastructure programs have been successfully piloted in South Africa and Indonesia.
More countries should follow suit.
Join international treaties, such as the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which provide clear roadmaps for countries to pursue just energy transitions.
5. Roll Out New Solidarity Financing Tools.
We can put solidarity into practice by introducing taxes that benefit everyone, which we predict could generate more than $100 billion a year alone.
These might include:
Tax high-emissions, luxury goods, such as international airline tickets or maritime shipping fuel.
Make polluters pay by taxing high-polluting industries, such as fossil fuel company profits, and channel that money towards climate funds like the Loss & Damage Fund.
6. Expand Targeted Climate Finance Initiatives.
We need to turbocharge new models in climate finance instead of relying on traditional, outdated ones.
Back proven initiatives that protect the planet. Luckily, there’s a number with established track records of success, such as REDD+, the Amazon Fund, and the Brazilian Podáali Fund.
Reform the MDBs. Initiatives like the G20 Dialogues and Bridgetown Initiative are encouraging MDBs to ramp up their climate lending.
They can also build up their financial toolkit by expanding the use of SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) and debt-pause clauses, offering indebted countries lifelines during crises.
Why We Can’t Wait Global finance can feel technical and distant.
But it impacts all of us and with just five years left to meet the SDGs, the clock is ticking.
The $1.3 trillion goal should be considered the floor of global ambition, not the ceiling.
Countries need to be ambitious and look for extra money to boost climate spending everywhere and anywhere they can.
The concrete steps outlined in this financial roadmap offer both governments and the private sector ways to scale up financing fast, while also knocking down existing barriers for emerging economies.
We have the tools, and we know what to do. Now we just need the political will to get it done.
Because if we can change how money flows, we can change everything.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivers remarks alongside Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner (L) and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe during a Declaration of Principles signing ceremony at the State Department in Washington on April 25. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Of the three Gulf states that U.S. President Donald Trump visited last week, the United Arab Emirates struck some of the most spectacular deals.
Pledges between the two countries amounted to more than $200 billion, and following restrictions under former President Joe Biden the UAE will enjoy expanded access to advanced U.S. artificial intelligence chips.
Lifting these controls is a dangerous error, Alasdair Phillips Robins and Sam Winter Levy warn: Without them, the United States is
“placing the most important technology of the 21st century at the whims of autocratic regimes with sophisticated surveillance systems [and] expanding ties to China.”
InsiderNotes
The nexus between China and the UAE is especially apparent in Africa, where Emirati businesses are making green energy investments using Chinese technology and minerals.
The United States, meanwhile, looks set to retreat from the continent, with cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and Trump’s tariffs pushing African nations to form new alliances.
Through the transactional lens that Trump is fond of,
Curtis Bell and Christopher Faulkner, of the U.S. Naval War College, write.
But the authors argue that U.S. Africa policy can still prioritize tangible returns through investments that build enduring partnerships, not through quick exits or one-sided gains.
Trump will have the chance to follow that advice as he meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Washington on May 21.
South Africa is the United States’ largest trading partner in a region that is an important strategic gateway into Africa, yet Ramaphosa and Trump have not gotten off to a good start.
In fact, the diplomaticrelationship between the United States and South Africa has reached its lowest point since the latter’s transition to democracy in 1994, Imraan Buccus, a senior research associate at South Africa’s Auwal Socio Economic Research Institute, writes.
Much of the blame can be attributed to a Feb. 7 executive order awarding refugee status to Afrikaners that South Africa’s foreign ministry described as based on a “campaign of misinformation and propaganda.”
Ramaphosa has said that his country would not be “bullied” by Trump, but as he looks to reset relations and strike a much needed trade deal, the stakes for his meeting at the White House this week are high.
A mother crying out for help Israel’s genocide against Palestinians must stop and the siege on Gaza must end. Ceasefire Now!
I am a mother from Beit Lahia, and being a mother during genocide is to fight, every minute, every second to maintain your family when nothing is available.
InsiderNotes
Everything here is a struggle: “Getting clean water is a battle; securing food is a battle; getting fresh vegetables or fruits is a dream, but I am a lucky mother because my children are still alive.”
I look at my children and feel guilty because they have been denied their childhood, they were forced into the cruel world of adulthood, of war: no schools, no playgrounds, no daily walks by the sea. I hear bombs and wish I could wrap them with my own body, wish that my love, larger than the universe could protect them, shelter them.
Let’s stand with this mother, and all the mothers in #Gaza, by showing our support for their right to protect their children and demanding Israel to stop the genocide and lift its total siege.
I don’t know if we will survive this round of bombardment, I do not know if the world will remember that one day people lived in a small place called Gaza, which had the most beautiful coastline in the world.
Here lived people who wanted to live, they had so many dreams, they wanted to raise their children under normal circumstances but never got the chance to do so.
All I know is that if we do not make it;
“we will leave knowing that we did everything in our power and beyond to protect our children“
Beit Lahia is the capital of strawberries and flowers; it is now a city of rubble, smoke, and stench of death.
But please remember us by our strawberries and poppies and remember the names and faces of our martyred children
A host of ceremonies and events both local and international, has been on going since the elected Governor’s Wife Chioma Uzodimma has fundalized the necessity and importance for women to be involved in the politics of the nation.
This weekend inside Imo government house we’ve variety of occasions that you might like to bibe with as you seek relaxation and family time, (for what is family without distribution of information?), so we’ve got you covered.
Share with them as we’ve got avalanche of ceremonies and events to spice up your weekend!
First let’s start with the most recent;
Following the successful seminar Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) High-Level Cancer Awareness Program, Her Excellency Senator Oluremi Tinubu CON, the First Lady of Nigeria, graciously hosted a special dinner at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, in honour of visiting First Ladies and other dignitaries.
During the event, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Hon. Dr. Tunji Alausa, delivered a welcoming address.
Guests were treated to captivating live band performances during the event, adding to the festive atmosphere of the evening.
In their remarks, the visiting First Ladies commended the First Lady, HE Sen. Oluremi Tinubu for her nurturing persona and role as a mentor to them, expressing their admiration and gratitude towards her.
It was an enriching experience to have esteemed guests such as the wife of the Vice President of Nigeria HE Hajiya Nana Shettima, First Ladies of Turkey, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Uganda, members of the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses Forum, wives of government functionaries as well as top Government officials in attendance.
It was an absolute delight to join First Ladies from across Africa in Abuja on May 16, 2024 for the crucial Regional Seminar on Cancer Awareness, hosted by HE Senator Oluremi Tinubu CON, the First Lady of Nigeria.
The seminar, themed “Innovative Approaches to Cancer Prevention and Early Detection,” aimed to address the devastating impact of cancer, particularly breast and cervical cancer among women.
In her opening address, The First Lady emphasized the critical need for early detection and treatment, citing alarming statistics that highlight the urgent necessity for action.
With 127,763 new cancer cases and 79,542 deaths reported in a single year, the imperative for collective action has never been clearer.
The seminar provided a platform for First Ladies to share insights and experiences in cancer management.
Notable speakers, including the First Lady of Turkey, Emine Erdogan, advocated for holistic approaches such as dietary improvements and leveraging medicinal resources.
A significant highlight of the event was the unveiling of the Abuja Declaration, where attending First Ladies committed to prioritizing cancer prevention and treatment efforts.
Key resolutions included improved funding, intensified advocacy, and enhanced collaboration among member states.
The Declaration, signed by HE Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, CON and her counterparts, marks a crucial step forward in Africa’s fight against cancer.
Together, we can create a cancer-aware and supportive community for all, promoting a future where cancer is no longer a life-threatening disease.
#ChiomaUzodimma Chief Barr. (Mrs.) Chioma Uzodimma First Lady of Imo State, Founder of GoodHope Flourish Foundation, and Secretary of Renewed Hope Initiative
Music Star and Canadian Rapper, DAX has expressed his feeling for his parents after they decided to immigrate to Canada over 36yrs ago.
The coupled attested to move on with their family over to Canada because of their high taste for excellence and what crave they would’ve wished for their children to grow in, both parent are from the Eastern part of Nigeria a place known for high prioritized culture and Morales.
They’ve now been together for 38 years.
This was the proudest moment of my life.
The day they saw me GRADUATE COLLEGE after going to 3 different universities in 4 and a half years.
DAX
They were both born in NIGERIA…🇳🇬
“My mother was born in Aba and is IGBO and my Father was born in Lagos and is also IGBO but speaks YORUBA as well.
They immigrated to St, Johhn’s, Newfoundland, Canada 🇨🇦 36 Years ago and the rest is history.”
Anyone who has Nigerian parents or just African parents, or just immigrant parents in general knows the expectation they have for their children is very high especially educational wise and occupational wise.
My parents were never excited with my initial decisions to play basketball and then make music but left me alone once they saw how focused I was and that I wasn’t going to quit.
In African culture it’s the child’s responsibility to repay their parents for bringing you into this world. We come in, they take care of us, and as they get older we take care of them.
“NO QUESTIONS ASKED“
That’s always been one of my BIGGEST motivations everyday I wake up and I plan to continue to voice that as a priority for the youth coming up in this generation.
It’s the circle of life.
What they gave me wasn’t a dollar amount and I’m happy and appreciate the struggle and tough times we went through growing up.
“They set an example of how to work hard and expect nothing from anyone”
DAX
Tough times create strong people.
“I went to 3 schools in 4 years and got my degree in 4 and 1/2. I led the league in scoring my senior year and turned down overseas contracts after I found my passion for poetry and motivational speaking.
I jumped in head first. I had no ties or connections to anyone in entertainment so I then built my platform from scratch by myself.”
Thank you Mom and Dad for your sacrifices.
“I love you”❤
And shoutout to all the parents in the world you are doing amazing job tryna raise us up to the standard of top classical despite the surrounded difficult challenges.
The YOUTH are the FUTURE and it’s going to be harder than ever in this social media generation to lead them in the right direction.
As for me,
“I will do my part by continuing to create thought provoking music”
A Global Citizen from Nigeria, Jeremiah, reminisced on how the $Twitter crackdown impacted the community:
“The sudden ban of Twitter, now referred to as X, several years ago sent shockwaves through communities, significantly affecting not only individuals’ ability to connect and share but also disrupting businesses and revenue streams dependent on the platform.”
He added: “It highlighted the interconnectedness of individuals and businesses in the digital realm, where disruptions to online platforms can have far-reaching consequences on livelihoods.”
In 2024 Senegal is experiencing Nigeria’s history, as civil society organizations are taking the Senegalese government to the ECOWAS court regarding internet shutdowns that took place in June, July, and August 2023 as presidential elections were meant to be en route and popular opposition leader (and fierce critic of President Macky Sall) Ousmane Sonk was criminally charged and held in custody.
The blackouts not only limited the right to access information and the freedom of expression of everyday citizens, but it also limited the work of journalists on the ground.
Speaking to Global Citizen on the internet blackout in Senegal, the African head of the International Federation of Journalists, Louis Thomasi said: “Political interference is really putting a dent in qualitative journalism.
If you look at what’s happening in Africa all over, it is now a norm that during election periods, the internet will be cut off.
Even yesterday again [13 Feb. 2024] in Dakar, in Senegal, the internet was cut off.”
“It’s a deliberate attempt to suppress freedom of expression and media freedom in general,”
Louis Thomasi/African head of the International Federation of Journalists
Internet shutdowns and crimes against humanity
We’ve already mentioned that there’s an ongoing war in Sudan and the country has had its internet cut off several times in the face of the civil war.
Sudanese Global Citizen, Mazen, explains what having online access means to them: “Nowadays, the Internet means life.
It makes you aware and connected with the world.”
Internet blackouts in the country have heavily impacted people’s lives, but their impacts are a lot worse than you can imagine.
The loss of the internet has also meant that conflict-related atrocities can continue without being reported.
Advocacy organization, Access Now, has consistently kept tabs on the violent impacts of shutdowns in Sudan.
The organization noted that in 2021, the day before a pro-democracy protest was to take place, the internet was cut off along with phone and SMS services.
The protest continued regardless.
With citizens having no ability to transmit information inside or outside of Sudan, authorities took the opportunity to crack down physically on protesters.
At least 17 people were killed, and 250 people were injured as a result.
“The internet blackouts are doing their job and providing cover for the military’s violent takeover and hijacking of a possible democratic future for Sudan,”
“I have experienced natural disasters such as earthquakes, social unrest causing violent protests, terrorist attacks, all sorts of events that caused or forced involuntary internet shutdowns,”
“The one thing I missed the most in any of those instances was critical services and the ability to connect with my loved ones. This is what the internet means to me.”
Rwandan Global Citizen Gabriel
It’s futile to deny the importance of online access to people across the continent.
However, for as long as the internet exists, there will be ways to exploit it for the use of harm towards everyday citizens in African countries, and around the world.
Since 2011, the United Nations has called for universal internet access as a human right, however, this has not been implemented across countries despite the growing call for it
Right now what Global Citizens can do is remain informed about internet shutdowns and their impacts on communities, and spread the word about them so that their impacts do not go unnoticed and underreported.
As Sudan experiences a civil war where one of the most severe hunger crises of 2023 (and 2024 so far) is ongoing, access to humanitarian aid is both dire and scarce, and innocent lives are being scraped off the planet every day authorities added insult to injury by shutting the internet down when citizens needed it most.
It was mid-February 2024, almost a year into the ongoing violence, when Sudan’s internet would be disrupted for around 10 days.
While the current civil war has been ongoing for over a year, violence and conflict have clung to Sudan’s back on and off for years, and throughout, internet shutdowns have been the norm.
“Because of the internet shutdown, we are unable to communicate with our volunteers, we are unable to buy food, medicine and deliver these services to those in need.
Most of our soup kitchens in the greater Khartoum are cut off and therefore not working.”
A civilian expressed: “Due to war, using online banking apps for transactions has gained popularity given the lack of liquidity.
Now, however, we are almost starving because of this shutdown, as we can’t even buy food and medicine.
All my interactions, including business and online courses, have come to a stop too.”
Whether or not access to the internet should be considered a human right is no longer up for debate: it should be.
The internet has become a vital part of the engine that propels the world forward, and to block someone’s access to it is to block someone’s access to their already existing human rights.
Access to education, food, employment, health, and humanitarian aid, are all within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and because the internet has overwhelmingly become the means by which we access these rights, it should suffice that access to the internet itself should be a human right.
So when an entire region or nation has been denied the right to access the internet due to political agendas that are not always in the best interest of the people, we should be worried as a global society.
Internet shutdowns across the African continent are not only frustrating, but they are increasingly harmful.
Here’s what more you should know:
What are internet shutdowns?
We’re not talking about an outage here.
An outage is when an error or accident occurs and the internet goes off as a result, for instance in times of extreme weather where infrastructure is destroyed, or in the case of maintenance repairs.
A shutdown, on the other hand, is the deliberate turning off of the internet to control a population or the information flow surrounding a situation, and is often orchestrated by some form of authority.
Egypt’s authorities at the time caught on to the fact that demonstrators were using the internet to mobilize and multiply the protest movement, and so they shut off the internet directly impacting access to an open civic space for the right to protest and speak freely.
While it wasn’t the first internet shutdown in history, because of the magnitude of the Arab Spring protests, the world opened its eyes to how internet shutdowns can be weaponized.
A similar thing happened in the last African monarchy-state, eSwatini, in 2021, when pro-democracy and anti-police brutality protests erupted, the state shut down the internet citing “security reasons”, depriving children of their education, businesses of their income, and citizens alike of their free speech.
If it’s still not clear why these shutdowns are a bad thing, a Global Citizen from Ghana, who wished to stay anonymous, broke it down for us: “The internet means Information, which means power in the hands of the people.
The reason governments like to impose restrictions is so the information flow can be stagnant, robbing people of their power to be seen and heard.”
They can either rely on what’s called a routing disruption, which is to stop the transmission of information altogether, meaning people using the internet can’t connect to it, and information being sent will not find its destination.
This is largely what we’ve seen across the continent, particularly in the case of Sudan and eSwatini.
Global Citizen
The second is called packet filtering, where parts of the internet or specific sites are shut down, or specific content is targeted, for instance, Nigeria blocking access to Twitter in 2021.
In retaliation (or what the government referred to as protecting the state from “undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”) the government banned Twitter for the entire country.
At the time, Human Rights Watch and other organizations raised alarm about the impact of freedom of expression and an open civic space, however, these calls were ignored by Buhari’s government.
What’s more is that any use of Twitter, including by journalists and media houses, was deemed “unpatriotic”, and could result in persecution.
We’ll continue the rest of the discussion in our next blog, subscribe to be the first to be notified when it drops.
Exactly six months ago, a new wave of devastation and profound suffering began.
Israeli civilians were targeted and at least 1,139 were killed by Hamas and Palestinian armed groups with hostages being taken and 132 remaining in captivity today.
Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories came under retaliatory attack and continue to face daily horrors more than 32,000 civilians have been killed in Gaza, and over 2.3 million remain at risk of genocide and famine.
Families are waking up every morning without their loved ones, and with uncertainty for their own lives.
I remain heartbroken — and determined to help.
I know you share my sense of moral responsibility.
While the U.S. government and the international community have failed to put an end to the staggering scale of death and devastation, Amnesty International has been responding since day one:
Our call for a permanent ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza, and the release of remaining civilian hostages has mobilized more than 1 million signatures from 167 countries1;
Our investigations have exposed numerous human rights violations and war crimes by all parties — including unlawful attacks by Israeli forces in which U.S.-made weapons were identified2;
Our experts are meeting with U.S. leaders and lawmakers, who are referencing and uplifting our research on the national stage3;
For over six decades4, we have been documenting how Israeli forces have committed grave human rights violations against Palestinians with impunity.
Amnesty is on the ground ensuring violations do not go unchecked all thanks to dedicated people like you and we need your help to continue our lifesaving work.
Tristan: this crisis is devastating but we must not give into despair or assume someone else will come to the rescue.
Behind the stories you read about Israeli and Palestinian civilians being killed in ruthless attacks, we are there, collecting evidence and interviewing survivors so we can seek justice.
Behind the historic number of Palestinians being displaced, we are there, documenting their plight so we can show people in power why a permanent ceasefire is so urgently needed.
And behind Amnesty, there’s YOU. With your help, we can ramp up efforts to protect human rights and demand accountability for the human rights crimes being committed around the world.
Your support will mean more investigations to uncover war crimes, more pressure for a ceasefire, humanitarian access, and hostage release, and more action to shine a light on injustice.
We have no intention of slowing any of this work. Help us maintain the resources needed to continue responding.
Thank you for powering our movement,
Paul O’Brien Executive Director Amnesty International USA
P.S. Not ready to make a donation? Use our simple tool to send a message to your members of Congress calling for an immediate ceasefire, which would help put an end to unlawful attacks, allow for lifesaving humanitarian aid, and negotiate the release of hostages.
A new way to launch apps and certain iOS features is hidden right behind your screen.
Quickly: Try to turn on your iPhone’s flashlight. If it took you longer than two seconds, you’re probably missing out on one of the iPhone’s best hidden features.
Though the iPhone’s Settings menus harbor many hidden gems, including one that can protect it from thieves, they’re so numerous and buried you’d be forgiven for mostly ignoring them.
Still, those who wish to turn their phone into the fastest flasher in the West needn’t look too hard.
Open Settings, scroll down to “Accessibility,” find “Touch,”
Scroll all the way down and tap “Back Tap.”
You’ll see two options: “Double Tap” and “Triple Tap.”
Each lets you tell your phone to do something when you tap its back twice or three times.
I use the trick for my flashlight, so I can quickly find things in the dark closet under my stairs, but you can customize the taps to do tasks like launch the camera, take a screenshot or mute your ringer.
If you have found uses for Siri beyond reeling off the population of Belgium, you can tap for the voice assistant too.
INSIDERNOTES
You can do even more powerful things with the help of Apple’s “Shortcuts” app.
It lets you create custom automations that you can trigger with the taps.
Open the app, tap the plus arrow to create a new shortcut, then add as many steps as you want.
When you return to your “Back Tap” settings, you’ll see all your saved automations as options.
“My favorite customization allows me to use Shazam, the app that helps identify any song you encounter while walking around, by just triple tapping the back of my phone”
a trick that lets you turn the back of your phone into an app launchpad
I’ve also made one that just starts playing the most recent episode of my favorite podcast and one that tells me the next event I have scheduled in my calendar.
Really, the possibilities are endless.
One small limit: Since you can only tap two ways, you can only use this feature to do two things.
And whatever you build, make sure you practice getting the tap to work before trying it in the wild.
Ensuring it consistently triggers requires finesse.
If you don’t have a case on your phone (you animal!) you can likely get it to work with just a gentle touch.
Those with thick cases might need to tap harder I’ve found it helps to use your fingernail.
A young man by the name AKPA JEREMIAH has disclosed how the economic hardship in his country turned him into Professional Content creator.
Initially, he was into graphics and cinematography, directing sessions of shootings and coverages.
When asked of how he had made the decision on budging from what seemed like a stagnation into a whole new life and to this exquisite experience through a fostering career he said
“No one except God knows what we have sacrificed together for the sake of success in life”
Akpa Jeremiah
Mr. Akpa Jeremiah also stated that all went alright until he felt something like a weight was behind dragging him backward and that made him really felt stagnated despite all his competency.
It’s probably not fair to characterize what happened to him as life handing him a lemon.
“However, the one good thing about being stuck in bed is that you’ve got plenty of time on your hands”
Tristan James Jr.
He went further stressing that;
"It is unfortunate that we have not gotten there even after our sincere services but we still believe in God and the future is bright."
And when asked about his financial status quo as to whether it was part (played a huge role) of his ambitions that made him go scrambling and a pursuer of many odigie on humanitarian efforts turned into a career.
That has been the order of work in today’s world people thriving so hard tryna bring in a good value and endless decisionmaking assistance sprouting to the societal life, and it should’ve been easier that way.
“We decided not to do Ev!| To make money rather we work hard with sincererity” He continues…
JTF
How it all started
I started content creation in the earliest dwindles of 2020 without any help or advice or encouragement either.
Since then, I have struggled and faced many challenges along the line (with few of non lesser successes) and, God has never failed me and I have never given up on anything that patches the tires of mine running wheels.
“I have not made money from my Contents but consistently working hard and believing I will get there soon”
INSIDERNOTES
The digital world today, has generated a common value and leverage to the masses who had nothing to borrow for.
We tried to delve more deeper as to what had birthed this sensational urge to succeed in to a different field.
“What inspired me to start content creation is that I found out it is the easiest way I could express my feelings/rights to the world and equally teach them”
Akpa Jeremiah quoted;
And also exposing how people think, react, behave, and some of the things that could happen in the future or have already happened in the past.
You just had a total of 150K viewers and above now on YouTube being one of the greatest medium for developers especially in this erring age, how does it feel like knowing that you’re on the right path to achieving success?
YouTube Achievements for Akpa Jeremiah
On YouTube after just a short while of beginning this journey.
Well, let me start first by thanking each and everyone of you who is supporting me in one way or the other.
Often the road towards achieving success are filled with many obstacles hindrances and distractions but, one must be ready to overcome those columns of difficulties ignoring their lustful appetites of failures which are seen as distractions and staying focused.
I appreciate your comments, likes, views & shares, it all makes sense and is the reason that am here where I’m today.
I wouldn’t have gotten here if it weren’t for you people, I cannot do this without you, and also, don’t give up on me and please continue to support and share my Contents.
UMB
God bless you all forever amen!
Contact Us via Social Media; Prime:Comedy, Modelling & DOP Youtube:@Akpa Jeremiah Facebook:@Akpa Jeremiah IG:@Akpa_Jeremiah1 WhatsApp:@+2348116765809
The world’s single train refinery, the Dangote Refinery, has made an essential move by issuing tenders to sell its first two fuel cargoes for export in Nigeria.
The development is an essential step for the newly launched refinery, which has generated a buzz in the industry.
A Reuters report quotes three sources saying that the first cargo of 94,000 metric tons of sulphur straight run fuel oil, which Dangote has awarded to Nigeria, is due to load at the end of this week. Before 25th February 2024.
The second tender is for about 70,000 tons of naphtha, which three other sources told Reuters, with the tender started on February 05, 2024.
The development comes after reports emerged that the refinery was preparing to deliver its first fuel cargoes to the domestic market in early weeks today.
“Significant oil marketers in Nigeria had registered with Dangote Refinery to lift and distribute petroleum products from the $20 billion facility”
INSIDERNOTES
The Petroleum Products Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria said that PETROAN has been in talks with the refinery management holding on a conclusion to supply products from the facility as soon as possible.
The report outlined the seven significant marketers, including 11 Plc, Conoil Plc, AA Rano, Ardova Plc, MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, OVH Energy Marketing Limited, Total Nigeria Plc and NNPC Retail.
Adeola Yusuf, Energy Policy expert and Lead of Platforms Africa said the development is good and did say that the move will affect local pricing positive.
In another report the Port Harcourt refinery is set to begin operations after receiving 745,000 barrels of crude oil from #Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited.
The crude oil supply is the first to be made in the past few years due to the poor state of the plant, which called for rehabilitation and testing to ensure readiness for sustainable operations.
Port Harcourt refinery begins production after years of neglect Shell stated that the recommencement of crude oil supply from the BOGT to Port Harcourt Refinery is a significant achievement and a game changer for the industry and Nigeria.
The intensive preparations, partnerships, and dedication of both teams involved were responsible for overcoming challenges and ensuring safe and efficient supply operations.
According to Shell, the move will support the government’s plan of a steady supply of petroleum products to the downstream market and other associated benefits to Nigeria’s economy like the #150naira sale back from October, 7th, 2023.
FG gives oil firms in Nigeria strict orders on Dangote, other refineries as reported that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has ordered oil companies in Nigeria to supply about 934,000 barrels of crude oil daily to local refineries for the next seven months beginning from January, 1st, 2024.
The initiative is part of Nigeria’s efforts to ensure regular supply to local refiners for domestic consumption.
About 12 local refineries are expected to begin production in the coming weeks, including the 960,000 capacity Dangote refinery and Nigeria’s four refineries in Port Harcourt, 2 in Warri, and 3 in Kaduna.
The economic hardship in Nigeria has proven on over time that “while the seething nectar we drink inn harms no one else but ourselves” every institution from every sector is detrimental to this scourgerous failure.
A question for you: have you heard about Zambia’s escalating HIV crisis? No?
Well what about Angola experiencing one of the most intense droughts in its history, have you heard anything about that?
If not, it’s not surprising, because nor have a lot of people.
Despite the world having this wonderful access to information technology where news and stories can be shared globally with just the click of a button, some of the most crucial stories and events are going overlooked.
lobal media attention can be both fickle and fleeting and, often depending on where a crisis is happening or who the people are being impacted, the threat to lives and the urgent action needed can often go unnoticed or underreported.
This in turn, can affect the political and humanitarian attention that each crisis receives.
Humanitarian agency CARE International released a report this month called,
The report dives into the crises that are impacting millions of people yet received the least media coverage of the past year they found that all of them are on the African continent
CARE’s research compares the coverage of these crises to the coverage of major pop culture moments, and the results are… revealing.
In Malawi, for instance, 5.4 million people are facing an acute hunger crisis as a result of tropical storms such as Cyclone Ana with 2,330 articles written about the crisis.
That might sound like quite a lot — until you compare it with the 217,529 articles written about the Chris Rock/Will Smith incident at last year’s Oscars.
That’s almost 93 times more articles than the hunger crisis in Malawi.
According to CARE, the main reason these humanitarian crises don’t get more attention is because they often don’t suit the criteria of being compelling enough news, which, according to experts CARE consulted for the report,
“prioritize dramatic, timely, familiar, unambiguous, and easy to explain stories, which are assumed to resonate with their target audiences.”
InsiderNotes
But now more than ever, as the climate crisis wreaks havoc, the refugee and displacement crisis is the worst it’s been in decades, the global food crisis leaves millions going hungry every day, and conflict is raging across countries and continents we can all play a part in making sure all crises get the attention they need.
And how do we do that? We asked Emily Janoch, Senior Director for Thought Leadership, Knowledge Management, and learning at CARE USA.
“As an individual, diversify your news sources.
Look at what you consume, click on, and share.
If that hasn’t covered one of these crises, start thinking about why, and who might be covering those issues,” she said.
“Also look at who is telling the story,” she added. “Is it someone who is impacted by the crisis?
Does it show the people involved as humans who can act and who deserve better? Or does it only treat them (especially women) as victims?”
This is a result of rising temperatures, with CARE reporting that there’s potential for these droughts to be more frequent due to climate change.
The droughts are causing climate migration, and have impacted food insecurity resulting in 3.8 million people not having enough to eat.
It also doesn’t help that Angola is also one of the countries with the highest food price increases as a result of the war in Ukraine.
2. Malawi: Cyclones, Cholera & Hunger
Health workers treat cholera patients at the Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe central Malawi on Jan. 11, 2023.
Malawi’s cholera outbreak has now claimed more than 1,000 lives by Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2023 according to the country’s health minister, who warned that some cultural beliefs and hostility towards health workers are slowing down response efforts.
We’ve mentioned that 5.4 million people in Malawi are experiencing an acute hunger crisis as a result of damaging cyclones.
We also need to mention that Malawi’s health care system is under strain due to rising HIV cases and intense cholera outbreaks, seen as a result of not enough access to clean drinking water.
3. Central African Republic: Conflict & Climate Change
One in two people in the Central African Republic don’t have enough to eat.
The changing weather conditions have impacted the soil that the country’s food grows from, while storms and floods have destroyed thousands of homes and left 10,000 children without schools to attend.
The country has also experienced unceasing conflict since 2013, which has resulted in a severe refugee crisis with over 740,000 people seeking refuge across the borders and 500,000 people experiencing internal displacement.
4. Zambia: Increased Poverty, HIV & GBV
More than half the Zambian population lives in extreme poverty — meaning living on less than $1.90 a day and the country is experiencing some of the worst malnutrition rates in the world as a result of economic instability and the climate crisis affecting agriculture.
Meanwhile, more than 10% of people have recently been infected with HIV and, in 2021, around 19,000 people died of AIDS in the country.
Gender-based violence is also highly prevalent in the country, particularly following the #COVID19 pandemic and lockdowns that also saw economic hardship increase across the country.
5. Chad: Unrest & Floods
A top view of one of the biggest camp for people displaced by Islamist extremists in Maiduguri, Nigeria on Aug. 28, 2016.
Droughts, flooding and a shrinking Lake Chad caused in part by climate change is fueling conflict and migration in the region and needs to better addressed, a report said Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023.
Armed conflicts and insurgency have remained a major issue in the Sahel region of North Africa for several years, and right now, 6.1 million people in the region are in need of humanitarian aid as a result.
Over 70% of Burundi’s people live below the poverty line, and 1.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance due to the lack of safe drinking water and inadequate access to health care.
Climate migration has also been a major issue, with 85,000 people being forced to leave their homes following extreme flooding.
6. Burundi: Economic Crisis & Natural Disaster
Over 70% of Burundi’s people live below the poverty line, and 1.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance due to the lack of safe drinking water and inadequate access to health care.
Climate migration has also been a major issue, with 85,000 people being forced to leave their homes following extreme flooding.
A vendor counts her money after making a sale in Harare, Thursday ,June, 2, 2022. Rampant inflation is making it increasingly difficult for people in Zimbabwe to make ends meet.
Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, official statistics show that Zimbabwe’s inflation rate has shot up from 66% to more than 130%.
The country’s finance minister says the impact of the Ukraine war is heaping problems on the already fragile economy.
High inflation and economic instability mean more than half the Zimbabwean population is living in extreme poverty.
The climate crisis, including intense drought periods followed by heavy rainfall, have impacted food production and food security, resulting in food shortages and insecurity across the country.
8. Mali: Conflict & Climate Crisis
Ongoing violence and two coups in 2020 and 2021 have led to citizens fleeing the country in large numbers resulting in 2.5 million children dropping out of school, and exposing women and girls to the threat of sexual violence.
The climate crisis has also hit Mali hard, with floods and droughts contributing to crop failure and increasing malnutrition and hunger in the country.
Cameroon has faced crisis after crisis over the last decade, and currently 3.9 million people are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance that’s around 14% of the country.
There has been ongoing conflict and political unrest since 2016, resulting in 3,000 schools closing down, and citizens becoming internally displaced this despite the fact that there is already a large influx of refugees entering Cameroon to escape violence in the neighboring Central African Republic.
Water and sanitation is also a major issue, with 1.8 million people unable to access clean water.
10. Niger: Hunger & Lack of Development
“In general, Niger is a country of records: one of the hottest countries, it has the highest fertility rate, and the highest population growth in the world,”
The Report Highlights.
Yet, despite these records, little to no investment has been made into the country’s development and climate adaptation.
Natural disasters such as droughts, together with ongoing conflict and insurgency, have led to food instability 4.4 million people are acutely food insecure, and half the country’s children under the age of 5 are chronically malnourished.
The COP28 climate summit in Dubai, November 2023. Here’s what you should know.
Many countries had their representatives at the COP28, and still yet are with less or zero knowledge about what really went down well, here’s a brief recap if you fall into this category just a two minute read.
Flooding in India, Cameroon, and Libya. Extreme heat across the US, Europe, and Asia.
A cyclone in Myanmar. A tropical storm hitting Japan, Guam, the Philippines, and Taiwan. The list goes on.
This is not exactly the kind of sentence you’d expect from a qualified climate expert, a group that prefers the more austere language of hard facts.
Yet, these days, “climate scientists are struggling for words,” writes climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe.
Instead, she’s started replying to questions about the latest extreme weather event or report about how dire things are with: “I am running out of original things to say.”
This year’s COP is a significant milestone: the first assessment of how countries are faring against emissions cutting commitments made at Paris in 2015 (known as the Paris agreement).
When the Paris agreement was signed in 2015, it was agreed that every five years countries would return with more ambitious plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and tackle global warming.
The #COVID19 pandemic caused COP to be canceled in 2020, making COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021, one of the “big COPs.”
The “small COPs,” held in the intervening years, tend to focus on laying the groundwork for negotiations.
COPs usually open with a ceremonial opening meeting.
This is then followed by days of world leaders on stage talking about climate change, generally concentrating either on what their countries intend to do about it or on the dire consequences they are experiencing.
The remaining days have themes such as finance and energy and see politicians and business leaders stepping up to announce various new promises, pledges, coalitions, and projects.
But outside the doors, activists usually rage against superficial commitments and rally against political inaction.
This time, there’s been significant outrage after it was leaked to the Guardian that the UAE’s state oil company has been able to read emails to and from the COP28 climate summit office and was consulted on how to respond to a media inquiry.
Remind me, what was agreed at Paris?
Under the landmark Paris agreement at COP21 in 2015, nations committed to holding global heating to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre industrial levels, and preferably limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.
Though the deal is legally binding, the commitments that countries have made to cut their emissions are not, unless they are enshrined into national or regional legislation.
INSIDERNOTES
Who takes part?
The attendees at COP are dignitaries and Heads of State and Government as well as tens of thousands of government delegates and representatives of civil society, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, and the media.
There are 197 parties which are broadly organized in five regional groups: Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and Other States (including Australia, Canada, and the US).
At the cluster of COP side events, climate change leaders, experts, and influencers gather to share their stories and solutions at panel discussions, exhibits, cultural events, and more.
What happened at COP27?
After two weeks of fraught negotiations, a “historic pact” was struck at COP27 in which developed countries, which are historically responsible for the climate emergency, agreed to provide climate finance to help poorer countries experiencing climate-related disasters, known as a loss and damage fund.
Alok Sharma, the UK President of COP26, was more scathing about how the conference fared.
“I said in Glasgow that the pulse of 1.5 degrees was weak. Unfortunately, it remains on life support,” he said.
What do we want to happen at COP28?
An End to Fossil Fuels
That means support for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty from world leaders to ensure a Just Transition away from fossil fuels, an end to fossil fuel subsidies, and robust taxing of remaining fossil fuel production.
Cough Up the Climate Finance
Now isn’t the time for baby steps, it’s time to go big: fund a Just Transition in all countries, help countries adapt to climate change, and fund loss and damage.
Protect Climate Activists and Environmental Defenders
Almost 2,000 environmental activists have been killed over the past decade.
We need a human rights approach to all aspects of climate action.
Zimbabwe | 61-year-old Esther is a married grandmother of two young grandchildren (Rudo and Munashe), and also looks after two nieces (Faith and Nicole). She struggles to feed her family and worries a great deal about where she will find food to feed them all. She has very little food supplies left, and her granddaughter Rudo needs to go out and collect termites for their family to eat. She makes a living supervising other farmers’ livestock, and is usually paid in food. | John Hewat/CARE International
Picture the map of the world. If you’re having trouble remembering the details, we’ll provide a visual aid. Have a look at this map of the world.
Graphic by Darnelle Fortune.
Situated right in the center, and taking up the second-most amount of space is Africa.
It’s a continent that, when you consider it next to the others, is almost impossible to overlook.
You’d have to be trying really hard not to see the continent at all. But that is what happens, isn’t it?
Africa and her issues go unseen by so much of the world and a major reason for this is mainstream media not creating the space to cover Africa and her crises.
At the beginning of every year, the humanitarian organization CARE International releases a report that lists 10 of the world’s most underreported crises from the previous year.
This is not to say that other continents and the countries within them don’t have crises, or that one crisis is more harmful than another, it’s to highlight that there is a great deal of need that is going unnoticed and the longer need goes unnoticed, the longer it takes to resolve.
45'MEDIA 