Nigeria

Rights To Land: A way to empower rural women in agriculture

Rural households depend on a wide range of natural resource assets for their livelihoods—land, water, trees, and other resources. Among these, land is clearly the most valuable asset in most rural households' portfolios, and is the foundation for agricultural production. A large literature exists on the relationship between land tenure security, livelihoods, and poverty. In southeast part of Nigeria women are denied right to inheritance while only the males are beneficiaries of every family property. Outside that, when women are married and lose their spouses, family members in most cases dispossess them of their husband’s houses. In some cases, women have been asked to go remarry because they would want to take over their husband’s property, lands most of the time.

Publish Date: Monday, November 26th 2018 | Read Comments

UN calls for solidarity with survivors of violence and advocate of women’s rights defenders

UN Women logo

In a joint statement, the Heads of UN agencies, UNDP, UNICEF, UN Agencies Women and UNFPA, to commemorate this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign is calling upon us to stand in solidarity with survivors and survivor advocates and women’s human rights defenders who are working to prevent and end violence against women and girls. The statement says "Our duty is not only to stand in solidarity with them but also to intensify our efforts to find solutions and measures to stop this preventable global scourge with a detrimental impact on women’s and girls’ lives and health".

Publish Date: Monday, November 26th 2018 | Read Comments

Nigeria: National Assembly grants autonomy to local governments

The National Assembly

The National Assembly today granted full financial and administrative autonomy to all the 774 local council authorities across Nigeria by amending section 124 of the nation’s constitution.  The section provides a consequential provision for the making of the local councils, a full third tier government without undue interference from the state governments.  The amendment was one of the 22 others approved by the House of Representatives last week and ratified by the Senate on Tuesday.

Publish Date: Sunday, November 11th 2018 | Read Comments

Nigeria declares state of emergency on water and sanitation

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has declared a state of emergency on the nation’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene sector. The President stated this while inaugurating the National Action Plan for Revitalisation of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, the nation's capital. He explained that the declaration became necessary to reduce the high-prevalence of water-borne diseases in parts of the country, which has caused preventable deaths. The President therefore directed all tiers of government to redouble efforts and work towards meeting the nation’s water supply and sanitation needs.

Publish Date: Sunday, November 11th 2018 | Read Comments

Nigeria: Mercy Girls’ High unveils plans to commemorate it’s golden jubilee, solicits support

The School Assembly Hall Gutted by fire

Mercy Girls' High School situated in Umuezeala Oweri in Ehime Mbano Southeast, Nigeria was founded in 1966 by the Late Catholic Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, the late Bishop Anthony Nwedo. At inception, the school was a Preliminary Training College Ehime, (PTC) and was later converted to a secondary school in 1966 with the name Mercy Secondary School, Ehime by the then Bishop of Umuahia, the late Bishop Anthony Nwedo of blessed Memory. According to reports, the school was taken over by the then South-eastern Government of Nigeria for about forty years (40) and was given back to its rightful owner, the Catholic Diocese of Okigwe in May, 2010 and was subsequently renamed Mercy Girls' High School, Umuezeala Owerre as against Girls' High School Umuezeala Owerre, the name for which it was known while it was under the management of the state government.

Publish Date: Monday, October 29th 2018 | Read Comments