The South African government has been urged to cater for street children in the country, many of whom are taking to crime to survive. A woman activist, Kolera Rombela, made the call in Cape Town during a visit by delegates of the congress of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC). - “The kids in Gugulethu many of whom are orphans have no place to live and no jobs and have taken to all forms of criminal acts. Crime is now very high. They go about attacking people snatching people’s bags and phones. The situation is really very bad and only God can help us” said Rombela who caters for eight of the street children. Rombela lamented the high rate of employm…

- South Africa urged to address street kids problem The South African government has been urged to cater for street kids in the country, many of whom are taking to crime to survive. A woman activist, Kolera Rombela made the call on Wednesday at the Gugulethu Presbyterian Church, on the outskirt of Cape Town during a visit by delegates of the congress of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) a global group of Christian communicators. “The kids in Gugulethu many of whom are orphans have no place to live and no jobs and have taken to all forms of criminal acts. “Crime is now very high. They go about attacking people snatching people’s bags and phones.…

Archbishop Tutu of South Africa has apologised for recent cases of xenophobic attacks on Africans in that country. "What we did was due to lack of gratitude and ignorance, we should be grateful for the roles the various African countries played by sharing their resource to earn us our freedom," he said. - Tutu apologised in Cape Town on Monday at the opening ceremony of the world congress of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC). “We are free today because you supported us. You all helped us” the retired Anglican Bishop told delegates from across the various continents attending the five day conference. Recalling the proceedings of the Truth and Re…

- Tutu apologises for xenophobic attacks Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has apologised for recent cases of xenophobic attacks on African citizens in the country. Tutu apologised in Cape Town on Monday at the opening ceremony of the world congress of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC). “What we did was due to lack of gratitude and ignorance” Tutu stated adding that rather than being attacked “we should be grateful for the roles the various African countries played by sharing their resource to earn us our freedom”. “We are free today because you supported us. You all helped us” the retired Anglican Bishop told delegates…

The growing number of Nigerians being sentenced to death abroad for various offences is worrying to the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria. It has asked the government to adopt measures to check it. 10 Nigerians are on death roll in Indonesia for alleged drug-related offences. - 11 others have been sentenced to flogging and various jail terms in connection with a murder case in Saudi Arabia. The NHRC’s Chief Public Affairs Officer, Lambert Oparah, said the trend was a disgrace. “This situation should be a source of worry to the government and people of Nigeria whose image in the international community is further tarnished by these criminal activities, the situation i…

- Lekan Otufodunrin Worried by the growing number of Nigerians being sentenced to death abroad for various offences, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called on the federal government to adopt comprehensive measures to check the trend. Ten Nigerians were recently sentenced to death by the Indonesian government for alleged involvement in drug-related offences. Eleven others have been sentenced to flogging and various jail terms in connection with a murder case in Saudi Arabia. In a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja the nation’s capital city, which was signed by NHRC’s Chief Public Affairs Officer, Lambert Oparah, the commission said the trend was a disgrace…

The operating license of Nigeria's news television station, Channels Television, has been suspended by Nigerian Broadcasting Commission. This is due to its broadcast of alleged plan by President Yar'Adua to resign on health grounds. It was in accordance with the provisions of the NBC Act and code. - The acting Director General of NBC, Yomi Bolarinwa, in a statement said that the suspension is without prejudice to any further action that may be taken by the commission as investigation is ongoing. According to the NBC Act, "a broadcasting license may be revoked by the commission in the following cases that is: - where in the opinion of the Commission, the station has been use…

- Secretary to Nigeria’s federal government, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe was on Monday sacked by President Umaru Yar’adua who replaced him with incumbent Defence Minister, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed. Kingibe’s sack was announced in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President (Communications), Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi. No reason was given for Kingibe’s removal which came as a surprise considering that the former AU Special Envoy to Sudan and subsequently Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and head of the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) was regarded as a close confidant of the President. Kingibe, a former Foreign Affairs Minist…

- Development Communications (DEVCOMS) Network, a Nigeria media-development non-governmental organization has emerged the first winner of ONE Africa Award 2008 Devcoms Network according to a statement by organizers of the award at the on-going CSO Parallel Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana was awarded the prize of $100,000 for their work with the media in Nigeria, training and sensitizing journalists and editors to public health care issues, especially for women and children The award is the first annual ONE Africa Award, created to honour outstanding contributions by Africans towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. “Devcoms was selected because they are…

- African governments have been urged to urgently address the problem of urbanization which is assuming a complex dimension in the continent. The call was made by the Kenyan Minister for Housing, Hon Soita Shitanda in Lagos during the 1st Bureau of African Ministerial Conference of Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD) which ended in Abuja, Nigeria's federal capital on Wednesday. He said poverty eradication may be a mirage unless the urbanization problems are effectively tackled through concerted efforts. The Minister urged all African countries to by fully involved in the programmes of AMCHUD which according to him provides the opportunity of generating ideas on how to manage the…

- It was Late Afrobeat Music king Fela Anikulapo Kuti who derided the kind of democracy practiced in Nigeria in one of his hit songs. Instead of Democracy, he sang that what we had in Nigeria in the second republic was Dem-All-Cracy or Demonstration of Craze. It is difficult to fault him considering what politicians in Nigeria do all in the name of practicing democracy. Just last Saturday when the nation was waiting to witness the national convention of the rulling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which prides itself as the largest political party in Africa! during which new national officers were supposed to be elected, it was annouced that a consensus has been reached and there would be n…

- In the last two weeks, it’s been celebration galore by states and the federal government in Nigeria about their first 100 days in office. Not many believe that 100 days is enough to assess a government but for whatever it is worth, it is an American political culture which we have imbibed along with the presidential system of government in the country. Expectedly government officials gave themselves more than pass mark for whatever accomplishments they claim to have recorded. I have no problem with whatever claims they all made but like a proverb in my Yoruba tribe it is not what is done at the beginning that matters but the what is eventually accomplished. There is a lot that…