BY OWEI LAKEMFA THE UNITED Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is the global platform for all countries. So, no country can bar another speaking from its podium. But the United States (US) at the ongoing UNGA decided that the voice of the Palestinian State will not be heard. Only that of the State of Israel would be permitted. It therefore denied Palestinian Authority (PA) President, Mahmoud Abbas, an entry visa into the US, effectively barring a Head of State from attending UNGA. In contrast to the treatment meted out to President Abass, US welcomed Prime Minister Netanyahu. But UNGA did not…
Author: National Record
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The Arbiter LAST week, while writing on this topic, I stopped at the point where I said, “The man I will vote for must also promise me one thing about the cost of petroleum products and the role of subsidies.” Fundamentally, the cost of petroleum products affects our pockets and limits our purchasing power, while subsidies can moderate their cost. My take is that I will not vote for a candidate simply because he promises to bring back subsidies. After all, under past subsidy-heavy regimes, we saw many of the problems outlined above. At the same time, it is not…
Correction: UA.News is the fourth European country through which the Model has been carried, not the second. By Max Amuchie IN BRIEF: A report, since carried by several news platforms, described UA.News, which reported on the Sundiata Post Model on September 13 and September 20, 2026, as the second European entry of the Model. That was inaccurate. Ukraine is the fourth European country, after the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany. Across those four countries the Model has been carried through five European routes. It has also been deposited on SSRN in the United States. Several news platforms carried the earlier…
NIGERIA’s progress on security, justice and governance should ultimately be judged by what citizens experience rather than policies and international commitments alone, says the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) said this while presenting a paper at Nigeria’s 9th SDG 16 Shadow Report at the 81st UN General Assembly in New York. Auwal Ibrahim Musa, popularly known as Rafsanjani, CISLAC’s Executive Director who made the presentation and Head of Transparency International Nigeria, who made the presentation, said independent evidence was essential to credible assessment of national progress. “The true measure of SDG 16 is not how many policies Nigeria adopts…
NIGERIA has called on multilateral institutions, development partners, philanthropies, researchers and the private sector to align efforts toward tackle Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) globally. Dr Iziaq Salako, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, made the call at the inauguration of OneSCD, on the sidelines of the ongoing 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York. OneSCD is a global partnership to advance equity and transform SCD care. Salako urged stakeholders to invest in country-owned systems and help move proven SCD interventions from pilot programmes to national scale. He said that the call was important because the global…
NIGERIA has used the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81) to press for a broader restructuring of the international system, combining its demand for greater African representation in global decision-making with calls for relief from the debt pressures confronting developing countries, stronger cooperation against transnational security threats and greater access to technology and climate finance. Delivering President Bola Tinubu’s national statement at the General Debate in New York, Vice-President Kashim Shettima argued that the institutions responsible for addressing global peace, security and development must better reflect the realities of the 21st century. He linked Nigeria’s position on United Nations reform…
THIS WEEK, I am in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, attending a conference organised by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation on the peace and security landscape in West Africa. The region has been in political turmoil for the past decade, signalling a deterioration of the growing crisis that has affected the zone for decades due to structural problems related to widespread poverty, food insecurity, the climate crisis and insurgency generated by violent extremist jihadi groups. The current phase of the crisis is linked mainly to the rapid collapse of the democratic model that has evolved in the post 1990 era on the impulsion…
THE SUPREME Court on Thursday, upheld the appeal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against a Court of Appeal judgment that voided parts of the Electoral Act 2026 on political party primaries and membership registers. A seven-member panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro set aside the Court of Appeal’s decision, which had favoured the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and upheld the judgment of the trial court. The court held that Sections 77(5) and 84 of the Electoral Act do not conflict with the 1999 Constitution. It also awarded N2 million in costs against the ZLP. Also, the court in…
THE PRIME Minister of Ethiopia, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, and the President of the Republic of Djibouti, H.E. Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, have hailed the Dangote Group’s $660 million Damarjog-Dewele Oil Terminal and Pipeline Project as a transformative investment that will strengthen regional integration, improve energy security, create jobs, and accelerate economic growth across the Horn of Africa. The two leaders spoke at the ground-breaking ceremony of the landmark project held at the Damerjog Industrial Development Free Trade Zone in Djibouti, where they praised the vision and commitment of African industrialist and President/Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, for championing…
A FEDERAL judge ordered US President Donald Trump on Thursday to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying his ban on the three media outlets was likely unconstitutional. In a major setback for Trump in one of his biggest battles with the media, US District Judge Tim Kelly issued his order in a lawsuit that the news organizations filed contesting the ban that the Republican president announced on September 18. The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international misinformation narratives, with a “Real or Fake?” quiz in every edition. Sign up here. Kelly ordered the…