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Parliamentary Diplomacy Critical To World Peace, Conflict Resolution – Akpabio

Published

8 months ago

March 24, 2024

President of the Senate and chairman, National Assembly of Nigeria, Godswill Akpabio, has made a strong case for increased efforts in parliamentary diplomacy.

Akpabio, who spoke at the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Related Meetings, held in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday, maintained that parliamentary diplomacy is quite critical to achieving peace in the world and resolving conflicts.

He called for more progress in parliamentary diplomacy, noting that though the Nigerian Parliament has explored the concept and achieved a myriad of successes, more can still be done.

According to him, the Parliament in Nigeria has played a crucial role in curbing polarisation and ensuring peace through legislation”.

Apart from the legislative function, Akpabio said the Parliament also “employs mediation to address conflicts between non-governmental organisations and the government, as well as disputes involving labour unions.”

Senator Akpabio, who shared the progress and initiatives of the 10th National Assembly under his leadership, said it has become imperative for the world to recognise the power of the collective voice in shaping a better future for all, as it is in a critical juncture in history.

He said: “We stand at a pivotal moment in history, an intersection where the choices we make and the words that we speak, have the potential to positively shape the future of a world in constant crisis.

“Therefore, we lend the voice of our country to the patriotic call for collective action to address the challenges facing our wonderful world.

“Nigeria has stunning kaleidoscopic diversity and a vibrant cultural heritage. The obverse side of this diversity is that Nigeria often faces the tragedy of commons where individuals and groups act in their self-interests, leading to the decline of shared resources.”

He noted that, “the government, with the support of the Parliament, has embarked on efforts to strengthen peace, collaboration, and unity. However, we are aware that the specter of polarization along political, ethnic, gender, religious, or racial lines is a global menace that requires the concerted efforts of all governments and non-governmental organizations to overcome.

“In Nigeria, our Parliament plays a crucial role in curbing polarization and ensuring peace and progress through legislation. One notable legislative milestone in Nigeria was the passage of the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill in 2018, which aimed to widen the horizon for youth and women to actively participate in governance.

“Nigeria has also actively contributed, with the support of Parliament, to international peace and security by deploying troops for peacekeeping missions across Africa and beyond.

“Nigeria’s bicameral parliament plays a significant role in conflict prevention and resolution through regional parliamentary forums, fact-finding missions to conflict areas, and addressing cross-border issues related to refugees, arms smuggling, and war-related criminal activities.”

According to him, Parliamentary friendship groups strengthen ties between parliaments of different countries and promote gender mainstreaming, democracy, and good governance.

“Preventive diplomacy is a powerful instrument for conflict prevention and peaceful mediation.

“Therefore, we engage in dialogue with foreign states to integrate peace-building into treaties and the constitution. The establishment of the National Center for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons demonstrates Nigeria’s commitment to combating insecurity by curbing the circulation of illicit arms in West Africa.”

The Senate President also highlighted other areas where the “Nigerian Parliament has made and continues to make great achievements, including evaluation of political appointees based on merit and in strict adherence to the constitution rather than bias, based on political party affiliation, gender, religion, race, or ethnicity and holding government agencies accountable through investigative and public hearings, among measures.”

Akpabio stated further that “the achievements of the Nigerian Parliament in upholding international commitments, promoting peace-building, and holding the government accountable, are laudable”.

He, however, called for “more progress in parliamentary diplomacy and increase in peace-building capacity, not only in Nigeria but across all sovereign states, saying: “let us advert our minds to Martin Luther King, Jr’s admonition that all mankind is tied together; all life is interrelated, and we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of identity. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

“We must walk together, hand-in-hand even if we do not see eye-to-eye, in our march to reshape our world. We must remember that we are the eyes, the ears, the hands and the minds of our people and we embody their hope for a brighter, more equitable future for this blessed world of ours.

“This, very distinguished ladies and gentlemen, is the legacy we owe the world.”

News

Nigerian government secures €300m development finance deal with France

Published

2 hours ago

November 30, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Nigerian government has announced that it has secured a €300 million worth of development financing partnership with the French government.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance disclosed in a statement on Friday through its official X account.

According to the statement, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, led the Nigerian government to the partnership with the French government.

The ministry noted that the partnership will strengthen key sectors of Nigeria’s economy and drive sustainable development, including healthcare, transportation, agricultural value chains, and renewable energy.

“The Letter of Intent [was] co-signed by Mr. Edun and France’s Minister of Economy, Finance, and Industry, Mr. Antoine Armand.”

In Edun’s remarks, he said: “This partnership goes beyond financial support. It is about building robust, sustainable systems that foster development and empower Nigerians. It reflects the confidence of international partners in the progress of Nigeria’s economic reforms.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife, Remi, are in France for an official state visit.

News

P’Harcourt refinery halts operations, loading bay empty

Published

2 hours ago

November 30, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The fanfare that greeted the resumption of activities at the Port Harcourt Refining Company on Tuesday may have melted away leaving the hope and expectations of many Nigerians hanging.

A visit by Saturday PUNCH to the refinery on Friday revealed that there was no activity on site, as some workers met by our correspondent claimed that the refinery was undergoing calibration which might last till next week.

The Port Harcourt Refinery has faced numerous delays and missed deadlines to resume operations.

However, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Melee Kyari, inaugurated the new plant at the Area 5 terminal of the refinery on Tuesday. It was claimed that 200 petrol trucks were loading daily from the plant.

However, the announcement was met with skepticism as reports circulated that the trucks were loaded with old products in the storage tanks.

Upon visiting the Port Harcourt Refinery Area 5, our correspondent observed no signs of activity.

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the loaded trucks contained “dead stock”.

He said, “Before the refinery was shut down between 2015/2016, we had dead stock left in the tank, including some Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) DPK (kerosene), and Automated Gas Oil (diesel).

“So, these products were in large quantities in stores in those tanks. During the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Old Area 5, those products were evacuated from the tanks for storage.”

However, he noted that the large quantity of refined petrol was “off-spec,” requiring separation from water to obtain the main product in preferred colours.

“But for DPK, it is in large quantity but they have not pushed it from the tank where it was kept after refined ready for commercial purposes.

“So, the product that was loaded was dead stock, that is the old product that was in the system. So, after these dead stocks, they will have to clean the tank, remove all the debris before pumping the new project into that tank, and redye it,” the source said.

The worker highlighted that refineries worldwide should operate electronically, not manually.

“But what they are trying to do at the Port Harcourt Refinery is manual, which cannot match the new digital pumps. Most of the pumps used for the event were refurbished,” he added.

He explained that during Kyari’s visit on Tuesday, seven trucks were prepared for loading, but only five were filled with petrol.

The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Taken Ikpaki, while speaking to journalists during the inauguration of the facility on Tuesday, had expressed optimism.

He stated that more trucks were expected to come into the facility to load products in the coming days.

But rather than more trucks coming into the refinery, the number of trucks has dwindled.

Around 1.30pm when our correspondent visited, he observed that most workers and drivers appeared idle as no machinery was operational.

Nine trucks were seen parked, but the loading bay, numbered from one to 18, was empty and deserted, with some workers lying down.

When asked about the lack of loading activity, a worker in overalls said, “They are de-watering, removing the water under the PMS. Maybe there will be loading after that, but we don’t know what time today.”

Another worker at the loading bay mentioned that ongoing calibration was the reason for the delay.

“They are calibrating the meters,” he said tersely.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that the PMS left in the storage might not be enough to fill five trucks.

A source indicated that calibration would continue until Monday, with the loading of DPK (kerosene) and AGO (diesel) expected to start by then.

Speaking to our correspondent, a resident of Alode in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, who simply identified himself as Osaro, said, “After that ceremony with Mele Kyari where they said the refinery had started operation and loading was taking place, what happened afterwards? They continued loading on air, that is on the pages of newspapers and social media.”

When contacted for his reaction on the lack of activities on Friday, the National Public Relations Officer of the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Dr Joseph Obelle, said it was as a result of ongoing calibration.

Obelle, the PETROAN spokesman, said, “They are calibrating the loading pumps. They will be done today.”

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the Senate Committee on Petroleum visited the refinery on Thursday on a facility tour. The outcome of the visit had yet to be made public.

Calls and text messages to the spokesperson for the NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, were not replied as of the time of filing this report.

But the NNPC had in a statement denied claims by an Alesa community leader, Timothy Mgbere, that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing fuel.

Soneye accused Mgbere of crass ignorance of how a refinery runs.

He said, “The old and new Port Harcourt refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for product load-out. They share common utilities like power and storage tanks. This means that storage tanks and loading gantry which he claimed belongs to the new Port-Harcourt Refinery can also receive products from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery.”

He called on the public to disregard claims borne out of “sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance.”

Credit: PUNCH