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Strike At Odessa Port’s Military Sites To Have No Impact On Grain Shipments, Kremlin Says

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ABN Editor 2
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

Dmitry Peskov noted that the strike had nothing to do with the infrastructure involved in fulfilling the accords and grain shipments

The Russian army’s strike at the Odessa port’s military infrastructure cannot have any impact on the start of grain shipments under the Istanbul accords, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

“This [the strike] is related solely to the military infrastructure. This has nothing to do with the infrastructure involved in fulfilling the accords and grain shipments. That is why, this cannot and will not affect the start of the shipment process,” the Russian presidential spokesman said.

Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov earlier reported that Russian forces had delivered a strike by precision weapons against the premises of the ship repair plant in Odessa, destroying a warship in the dock and a depot of US-supplied Harpoon missiles. The strike incapacitated the enterprise’s production capacities for the repair and upgrade of the Ukrainian Navy’s ships, the general added.

A package of documents was signed in Istanbul on July 22 to facilitate the export of food and mineral fertilizer to world markets. The Russia-UN memorandum stipulates that the United Nations will join the efforts to lift anti-Russian restrictions for the exportation of agricultural output and mineral fertilizer to global markets.

The other document prescribes a mechanism for exporting grain from Kiev-controlled Black Sea ports. The agreement between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN stipulates creating a four-party coordination center whose representatives will inspect grain-exporting vessels to prevent weapons smuggling and rule out provocations.

Russia Lunched Attack At Port Of Odesa, Just Hours After Signing Grain Deal With Ukraine

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ABN Editor 2
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Odesa City Port
Odesa City Port

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres looked simultaneously relieved and apprehensive as the grain export deal he brokered was signed in front of him in Istanbul on Friday.

Immediately following the signatures by Russia, Ukraine, and intermediary Turkey, the UN secretary general said the deal offered a “beacon of hope,” heralding food relief for the developing world.
Sadly for Guterres and all those counting on the much-needed food, his months of diplomatic slog — including visits to Moscow and Kyiv to nail the deal — ultimately illuminated the limitations of trusting Russia.
There is no explicit ceasefire in the deal, but Russia’s obligations were clearly spelled out: “The Russian Federation has committed to facilitate the unimpeded export of food, sunflower oil and fertilizers,” a statement from Guterres’ office said.
Less than 24 hours after its signing, the post-deal calm in Odesa — the principle port named in the accord — was shattered as two sea-launched Russian Kalibr cruise missiles slammed into the harbor.
Windows were blown out in buildings almost a mile away. Firemen rushed to the port to put out flames on several burning boats. According to officials, one harbor worker was injured.
The damage could have been much worse; two more of the $6 million precision missiles had been shot down by Ukraine’s air defense. Beachgoers in Odesa, who last year jostled for spots on the sand with Russian holidaymakers, cheered as the intercept detonated high above their heads.
Russia’s apparent coda to the grain agreement it had signed has been deplored by Ukraine and its allies — and widely held as proof of its duplicity.
Speaking to CNN within hours of the attack, Ukrainian member of parliament Oleksiy Goncharenko said Russia was “showing they want to continue to threaten the world’s food security.”
“The attack cast serious doubt on the credibility of Russia’s commitment,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, adding that it “undermines the work of the UN, Turkey, and Ukraine to get critical food to world markets.”
“It shows not a word [Russian President Vladimir Putin] says can be trusted,” said Liz Truss, the UK’s foreign minister — and potential next prime minister.
Remarkably, Russia’s initial response to reports of the attack was denial.
According to Turkey — co-signatory to the deal and an arbiter overseeing its safe and fair implementation — the Kremlin told Ankara “in no uncertain terms” that it had “nothing to do with this attack.”
Yet just 12 hours later, Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reversed the initial lie. She said they were Russian strikes after all and claimed the attack had taken out Ukrainian “military infrastructure” in the harbor.
Ukraine has said the strikes hit a pumping station at the Odesa port.
Such obfuscation is run-of-the-mill fare for Russian officials — and that’s the point here. The grain deal has changed nothing in Moscow’s calculus for fighting the war, despite all Guterres’ hard work and diplomatic uplift.
And the damage done here is not just reminding the world of Moscow’s ambiguous relationship with the truth — Russia has also burned the good faith of their intermediary in the deal, Turkey.
Under the terms of the agreement, Turkey is establishing a Joint Command Centre (JCC) with UN help to monitor compliance. But Russia has already torpedoed all trust, in keeping with its cynical approach to the whole war on Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of one of the world’s breadbaskets has caused global food insecurity, yet Moscow got concessions through the deal in order to allow Ukraine’s grain to flow. That’s usually called extortion.
To get Russia to release the grain by ending blockades on Ukrainian ports, Guterres had to strike a parallel deal on the side with Russia, effectively easing some sanctions on food and fertilizer. UN officials explained the diplomacy as “based on the principle that measures imposed on the Russian Federation do not apply to these products.”
Clearing those sanctions will bring money into Moscow’s coffers — which is perhaps the enduring takeaway of Guterres’ deal: Putin will make limited compromises for cash.
But in doing so, Putin has perhaps revealed, like Tolkien’s Smaug, a potentially fatal vulnerability in his defenses. The mythical dragon’s weakness was a missing scale, and Putin’s appears to be the economic bite of international sanctions. Whatever his other reasons for agreeing to the deal, the need to pay for the war likely weighs heaviest.
Speaking in Istanbul after Saturday’s missile strike, the Ukrainian deputy infrastructure minister Yurii Vaskov said technical meetings to implement the deal were ongoing.
“Ukraine is determined to start grain export as soon as possible,” he said.
Russia’s “attack is also on the agenda,” Vaskov added.
Guterres was right to be hopeful; the future effectiveness of the UN Security Council rides on his ability to keep Russia from escalating its war of choice. But if he was apprehensive at the signing table on Friday, nothing he has seen so far will assuage his fears. Not least Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday embellishing the deal, claiming Russian vessels would help escort the cargo ships. A statement, like the missile strike, willfully aimed at goading Ukraine.

Lagos-Ibadan Road, Second Niger Bridge To Be Ready By December – FG

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Munachi
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FG: Lagos-Ibadan Road, Second Niger Bridge To Be Ready By December

FG: Lagos-Ibadan Road, Second Niger Bridge To Be Ready By December

The Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Second Niger Bridge, according to Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola, will be finished by December 2022.

In an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, Fashola made this statement.

The Lagos-Ibadan expressway’s completion date was subject to difficulties that have delayed construction, he added, noting that the roads will be tolled.

“The expected completion date now will be in the last month of this year. We are hoping that we will be done before Christmas and that is subject to a lot of variables,” Fashola said.

“As we speak now, somewhere between Ojo, the Oyo state government is constructing a drilling facility. So, that has slowed our work considerably, in spite of the fact that the contractor is now working at night. So, just two days ago, Governor Makinde and I were talking because I called him a week ago that look, we need to make a choice, which do you prioritize the drainage or that road? And he said the road is what affects, but we can’t dismiss the need for the drainage. So, he called me back to say look, he has a solution now. He’s worked with the contractor, talked to them and we’ll discuss it in this new way.

“So, these are some of the challenges.”

Fashola, who hinted at the situation of the road prior to the current administration, said the Lagos-Ibadan expressway was in terrible condition.

According to him, part of the reason the project had taken this long was because of a lack of funding from past governments.

“Let me also say that over the years, at the time, we took $2 billion to go and pay creditors in 2005 this road was bad. People used to sleep on it. So let us dimension that completion. The road is built in sections. That road has no less than 40,000 vehicles every day that’s the traffic road count that we did, so you can’t close it down. So, what we do is to close sections of one side, and divert traffic to the other side. Complete about 10/20 kilometers and then reopen it and move traffic back,” he said.

“Now what you might not know and it is important to share this the construction material likely comes from Ogun State. So, whether you’re constructing the Lagos section or the Oyo section, you have to go and move laterite cross tools, and all of that, they move in the same traffic. So, thousands of daily truck trips. And that road is being excavated to about a meter or deeper, so, we’re essentially first removing bad material from unsuitable material, filling up, and then constructing the road. So, I don’t think it is slow. What has happened is that over the years the government has not funded it sufficiently.

“So, we factored it this year subject to some of these challenges that I’ve told you. Governor Makinde and I will resolve that pretty soon.

Fashola, while admitting that the road will be tolled, said it will eventually be “handed over to the concessionaires who NSA is talking to bring in more financing.”

According to him, the road will “two to three” tolling plazas.

“One on the Lagos end, one in the Ogun end. And I think the other one, in Ibadan which is what we used to have there before traditionally,” he added.

Meanwhile, speaking on the completion date for the Second Niger Bridge, the minister assured Nigerians that the road would be opened for use by December 20222.

“We’re planning also before Christmas to open that (Second Niger Bridge) to the public for use because that’s when there’s a large movement. Hopefully, by Christmas, it should also be open. That was the last meeting I had with the contractor I think about three weeks ago. There are challenges of course, as you might know, but the main bridge deck is finished,” Fashola said.

“The toll plazas have been built.”

Ozisa FM Only Temporarily Suspended Not Shutdown — Management

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ABN TV EDITOR
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Ozisa FM Only Temporarily Suspended Not Shutdown — Management

Ozisa FM Only Temporarily Suspended Not Shutdown — Management

The management of Ozisa 96.1fm Owerri, Imo state has denied speculations that the community radio FM has been shut down, saying it was only temporarily suspended.

The management in a statement made available to ABN TVon Monday assured listeners and other stakeholders that the issue for which it was suspended is being addressed.

The radio station also expressed appreciation to the National Broadcasting Commission NBC for its understanding.

It further clarified, “That Ozisa Radio Station is not owned by the Catholic Church but rather by Ozisa Foundation for Peace and Social Development and that it is in the church premises on a leased property.

“We would want to discourage all speculations and inciting statements.

“Ozisa Radio will continue to offer a platform for the community to contribute and foster civic responsibility and integration.”

367,499 Applied For 43,717 Medicine Slots – JAMB Reveals

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Munachi
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367,499 Applied For 43,717 Medicine Slots - JAMB Reveals

No fewer than 367,499 candidates applied for the 43,717 slots available in Medicine Departments in Nigerian universities for the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

According to data obtained from JAMB, the highest percentage of candidates for the examination chose Medicine as their first choice for the course of study in universities.

JAMB is a Nigerian entrance examination board for tertiary-level institutions. The board conducts entrance UTME for prospective undergraduates into Nigerian universities.

No fewer than 1.8 million candidates sat for the 2022 UTME/Direct Entry examinations conducted by the admission body.

According to the 2022 statistics recently released by the board, 367,499 candidates applied for medicine while only 43,717 slots exist.

It was also revealed that 231,907 applied for social science courses despite that only 93,277 slots are available while 204,734 applied for science-related courses despite 132,796 vacancies.

The further breakdown also revealed that 81,653 applied for Law-related courses despite 8,529 vacancies; 103,891 students applied for technology-related courses with 60,199 vacancies; 72,014 applied for courses under Arts and Humanities despite 48,744 vacancies.

However, JAMB noted that fewer candidates applied for Agriculture and Education-related courses despite the huge vacancies existing in the faculties.

For instance, despite 111,601 vacancies existing for Education courses in all Nigerian universities, only 53,612 candidates applied.

The board also noted that 21,568 applied for Agriculture despite the country’s universities having 31,217 vacancies.

Our correspondent learned that the board’s Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, raised the issue when he met with the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu; and heads of agencies as part of the board’s policy meeting in Abuja last Thursday.

“Look at Medicine, for instance, we had 367,499 for the vacancy of 43,717 which means we only have a vacancy of 11.90 percent for those that applied.

“Same thing with Social Science, but when you come to Education, you have 53,000 applicants for positions of over 100,000 which means that even if you admit all those who applied for Education even if they don’t have the qualifications, we still have vacancies. That is why for such persons, if only they have their O’level results, they get admitted.

“The UTME is a factor of inadequacy in the syntax of number. If we have enough vacancies, we will probably not have UTME. The same thing with agriculture, Agric is even worse than education,” Oloyede reportedly said at the meeting.

Commenting on the development, the Programme Director, Reform Education Nigeria, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, stressed the need for proper sensitization of students at the secondary school level.

Oluwatoyin said, “We live in an age when it doesn’t matter your course of study. What matters are the required skills? There used to be a time when people used to think that if you are not a doctor or a nurse, you won’t be successful. This is not right, these days we have people venturing into tech jobs among others.

“Another factor is the unequal distribution of jobs across sectors. These days, people believe that once you study Education, you will end up as a teacher in one private school, or if you study Agriculture, you won’t get a proper job.

“The government itself needs to set the pace to ensure that there is an investment in every sector. When you invest in Agriculture, Education and there are good jobs, you will see that applicants will continue to apply and it will reduce this imbalance we are looking at.”

US Needs To Advance Peace In Ukraine, Not Label Russia As Terrorist State, Says China

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ABN Editor 2
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Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian

The Chinese diplomat specified that Beijing sees a peace deal as the only effective way to de-escalate in Ukraine

Washington should assist in promoting a Russian-Ukrainian dialogue for peace instead of working towards including Russia in its list of state sponsors of terrorism, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

“The US should create favorable conditions to advance Russian-Ukrainian peace talks. Washington should take steps to facilitate a political settlement to the crisis in Ukraine,” he said at a briefing replying to a question by TASS as to how officials in Beijing view the US government’s intention of labeling Russia as a sponsor of terrorism.

The Chinese diplomat specified that Beijing sees a peace deal as the only effective way to de-escalate in Ukraine. “Washington should take more steps which will positively impact a political settlement,” he emphasized.

Earlier, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California) during a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asserted that if the Department of State did not declare Russia a sponsor of terrorism over the situation in Ukraine, the legislative branch would do so. According to the Politico newspaper, the two politicians deliberated over this issue last week. In his turn, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin frowned upon these plans. “However, on the other hand, it is very difficult to do something that can make relations between Russia and the US even worse,” he insisted.

India’s President Elect Draupadi Murmu Takes Oath Of Office As She Becomes India’s 15th President

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ABN Editor 2
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India's President Elect, Draupadi Murmu
India’s President Elect, Draupadi Murmu

The presidential election was held on July 18, and Draupadi Murmu received more than 64% of the votes

Draupadi Murmu took the oath of office on Monday and officially became India’s 15th president. The ceremony, which was broadcast live on Indian TV channels, took place in the central hall of the country’s parliament in New Delhi.

“I am fortunate to take up this post in the year of the 75th independence anniversary. We will have to intensify our efforts to live up to the hopes that our freedom fighters had for the citizens of independent India,” Murmu said in her first speech as president after being sworn in.

Murmu, born June 20, 1958, is the former governor of the state of Jharkhand. She comes from the Santal tribe (the largest Munda tribe) in the eastern state of Odisha. Murmu became the second woman president of India (the first was Pratibha Patil, who was in office in 2007-2012) and the first president from the so-called scheduled tribes (historically belonging to low castes). She was also the first president of India to be born in a ‘free country’, that is, after that nation gained independence from the British in 1947.

“The strength of our democracy is that the daughter of a poor family, born in a remote tribal area, can reach the highest constitutional office in India. It is a great joy for me that those who have been deprived of the benefits of development for centuries, the poor, the Dalits (the official name of the lowest, ‘untouchable’ castes – TASS), the tribes see their reflection in me,” Murmu said in her speech.

The presidential election was held on July 18. The members of the upper (Rajya Sabha) and lower (Lok Sabha) houses of parliament took part in it, along with the members of legislative assemblies (regional parliaments) of 28 states and two union territories (in India only two of 8 union territories have legislative assemblies – Delhi and Puducherry), in total about 4,800 electors. On July 21, the votes were counted and Murmu, representing the National Democratic Alliance led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian People’s Party), received more than 64% of the votes, far outstripping the representative of the united opposition, Yashwant Sinha.

1 Killed, Many Missing As Boat Capsizes In Niger

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Munachi
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1 Killed, Many Missing As Boat Capsizes In Niger

A boat carrying 50 traders from the Shiroro hinterland to Kwata Market in Zumba, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, reportedly capsized in the middle of the Zumba River on Saturday afternoon, killing one person and injuring another.

Only seven people have reportedly been seen so far, with one of those being a confirmed death.

Ibrahim Inga, the director general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the incident but claimed he was still waiting for details regarding the casualties.

On Sunday morning, it was heard that the hunt for the remaining victims was still on.

The Sarkin Ruwa, Kwata-Zumba, Umar Isah told newsmen on the telephone that the engine of the boat conveying the traders including women and children, 4 cattle, dozens of goats, baskets of fish, and farm products including bags of rice to the Kwata-Zumba Saturday Market went off in the middle of the river and the canoe eventually sunk.

He said one of the passengers lost his life while 6 others were rescued alive, adding that 3 cattle, goats, and other contents of the canoe were lost.

“We could not immediately embark on rescuing the victims because we were afraid of bandits. Around 10 pm on Saturday, we were still searching for the victims. We later rescued seven, but one person lost his life while six others who were rescued unconscious were treated locally and later regained their consciousness.

It was gathered that the bandits’ hideout is just a distance away from where the canoe capsized, the reason the local divers could not go to rescue the victims immediately was for fear of attack.

Gunmen Invade Police Station, Kill Officer In Ondo

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Munachi
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Gunmen Invade Police Station, Kill Officer In Ondo

A police officer has been killed in Ondo State following the invasion of Okuta Elerinla Police Division by gunmen.

It was learned that the gunmen stormed the station and caught the officers on duty unaware in the wee hours of Monday.

The mission of the gunmen is yet to be ascertained.

During the heavy gunfire, a policeman identified as Boluwaji Temenu, with registration number AP. 207538 died in the attack.

Confirming the attack, the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, SP Funmilayo Odunlami disclosed that officers at the station were able to repel the attack.

Odunlami added that the Commissioner of Police, Oyeyemi Oyediran had ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, to immediately take over the case.

 

Nigeria Is Not Broke – Babatunde Fashola

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Munachi
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Nigeria Is Not Broke – Babatunde Fashola
Babatunde Fashola

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, yesterday said that Nigeria was not broke.

The former governor of Lagos State disclosed this on a programme on Channels television.

While fielding questions from Seun, programme anchor, the eloquent minister argued that being indebted and being able to service your debt in conventional finance is not being broke.

Recall that the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, last week warned that urgent action is needed to address the nation’s revenue challenge and expenditure efficiency at both the national and sub-national levels.

A report sighted by Journalists showed that gross oil and gas federation revenue for the first four months of the year was projected at N3.12 trillion but as of April 30, only N1.23 trillion was realized, representing a mere 39% performance.

However, reacting to the indebtedness of Nigeria, the Honorable Minister opined: “To the best of my knowledge, Nigeria is not broke. Being indebted and being able to service your debt in conventional finance is not being broken.

“In any event, you have to understand that the business of lending itself is a profitable business. So if nobody contracted debts where will all the banks and other financial institutions be? Where will they throw all the people they employ?

“So this is a matter of credit rating and credit reputation. It is this home economics mentality that I cannot take debts that led us to take 12 billion dollars cash to go and pay off a debt we could have rescheduled, or renegotiated when our infrastructure was dying. That mentality must leave our table.

“All the big nations we want to compete with are contracting debts to build their infrastructure and stand in the competition. As long as you can service your debts, you are good.

“I can conveniently tell you that I am not Nigeria’s minister of Finance; my job is to spend the money not to earn it.

“I am concerned and every responsible Nigerian should have his eyes on the debts and should be concerned.”

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