Japan to test mass telecommute for 2020 Olympics

Japanese commuters will be encouraged to work from home for one day in a nationwide exercise for the 2020 Olympics that authorities hope will ease congestion on roads and public transport.

Japanese commuters will be encouraged to work from home for one day in a nationwide exercise for the 2020 Olympics that authorities hope will ease congestion on roads and public transport.

Tokyo has declared Jul 24 - exactly three years before the opening ceremony of the summer games - as "Telework Day" and wants firms and government departments to let employees work remotely.

London introduced a similar measure during the 2012 Olympics with 80 per cent of businesses in the city participating, according to Japan's Internal Affairs Ministry, which announced the plan on Tuesday.

Greater Tokyo, with a population of more than 30 million people - about a quarter of Japan's total - is notorious for its packed trains and subways during peak morning rush hours.

The plan is part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to rethink Japan's workaholic tradition, where men routinely spend long hours in the office and little time with their families.

'Islamic' kindergartens in Austria raise eyebrows

A young generation of kindergarteners in Vienna, Austria, may be learning radical Islamic viewpoints, unbeknownst to their parents and guardians, a research study suggests.

"Some 10,000 children aged two to six attend around 150 Muslim preschools, [which teach] the Koran much like Christian ones do with Bible studies," according to religion education professor Ednan Aslan of the University of Vienna and as noted by the global news agency Agence France-Presse. The news agency also reported, "Vienna has 842 registered kindergartens, 100 of them Catholic-run and 13 Protestant, but the number of Muslim ones is not known."

The most important prerequisite for religious education -- and for education in general -- is that the children need to learn to think," he argued, as reported by The Local, an English language publication in Austria. "Islam, as it is now, is not sustainable," he also said recently.

The Islamic kindergarten issue has stirred up controversy in Vienna. Some see Aslan's study as flawed, while others are concerned with the subject matter.

"[Parents] are unaware that they are shutting [children] off from a multicultural society" when sending them to an Islamic school, Aslan told Agence France-Presse.

Could kindergarten teachers, possibly inadvertently, indoctrinate children into radical thinking or a parallel society? In Indonesia, a group "discovered textbooks aimed at kindergarteners containing 'dangerous radical Islamic teachings,'" Todayonline.com reported in January 2016.

"This could endanger the children's future," said Benny Ramdani of the Ansor Youth Movement, a group associated with Indonesia's largest Muslim community, Nahdlatul Ulama (a traditionalist Sunni movement).

"In its report Ansor noted certain sentences in the book: 'Sahid di medan jihad'[die as a jihadist], 'Rela mati bela agama' [willingly die for religion], 'Hati-hati zona bahaya' [warning, dangerous zone] and 'Bahaya sabotase' [danger of sabotage]," The Jakarta Post noted last year.

While the Ansor Youth Movement found concerns in the kindergarten textbook material, others deny any intention to radicalize the youth through the texts.

The terror group ISIS has through its indoctrination techniques.

"The recruitment of children takes place in several phases, beginning with harmless socialization," German news magazine Der Spiegel says. "Islamic State hosts events in which children are given sweets and little boys are allowed to hold an IS flag."

Der Spiegel continued in a July 2016 article: "Then [the children] are shown videos filled with violence. Later, in the free schools IS uses to promote the movement, they learn Islamic knowledge and practice counting and arithmetic with books that use depictions of tanks. They practice beheading with blond dolls dressed in orange jumpsuits. With a new app developed by IS, they learn to sing songs that call upon people to engage in jihad."

Why Beijing should lead on the North Korean crisis

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results."

The quotation is attributed to Albert Einstein but after a torrid few days on the Korean peninsula, it's one for Chinese leaders to ponder.

China is simply in the wrong place on North Korea. It is allowing Kim Jong-un's nuclear ambitions to undermine Chinese national interest.

There are complex reasons for this including history, habit and political culture. But among Chinese foreign policy experts and even on social media, unease is beginning to spread.

North Korea's nuclear programme has already driven South Korea to agree to the deployment of an American anti-missile system, locking Seoul deeper into a defensive triangle with Japan and the United States.

• What can the outside world do about N Korea?
• Have North Korea's missile tests paid off?

Relations between Beijing and Seoul are at their worst in a quarter of a century and many South Koreans have been alienated by unofficial Chinese sanctions against the whole spectrum of South Korean interests from supermarkets to boy bands.

This is good for North Korea but for no-one else. It is nonsensical for China to punish South Korea for trying to defend itself against a nuclear threat which even Beijing describes as real and urgent.

And if North Korea continues its drive for nuclear weapons, there may be a worse arms race to come. A nuclear-armed Japan would hardly be in China's national interest.

But despite this catalogue of warning signals and failures, China seems trapped in an unfinished history marked by binary choice: a nuclear-armed North Korea or a reunified Korea with American troops on China's border. Between these choices, it finds a nuclear-armed North Korea preferable. But if it thinks hard enough, perhaps there is an alternative.

Nigeria to boost growth with non-oil revenues, anti-corruption war – Adeosun

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has said the nation plans to get out of recession by boosting government non-oil revenues and cracking down on corruption.

Reuters reports that Mrs. Adeosun made the remarks while fielding questions from reporters at the World Bank conference in Washington on Thursday.

Analysts said the Nigerian government’s anti-corruption war received a boost recently when the government suspended the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, David Lawal, and ordered an investigation into the allegations of violations of law and due process made against him in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East, PINE.

Similarly, the government also ordered a full scale investigation into the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, over which the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has made a claim. The Director General of the NIA, Ayo Oke, was also suspended.

There are insinuations that these and other funds recovered from similar anti-graft operations would be ploughed back into the economy.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Adeosun said the government will also issue more international debt to pay for infrastructural projects.

Buhari: we’ll unlock oceans, seas potential

President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigeria will reposition the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to facilitate economic prosperity.

This, he said, will be done by unlocking the huge potential in this country’s ocean and seas.

Buhari spoke yesterday at a three-day conference of the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) in Abuja.

AAMA is an umbrella body of five African Maritime Stakeholders’ groups, such as Association of Maritime Administrations of Africa, Africa’s Ship Registry Forum, African Ship Owners Association as well as Africa Shippers’ Council and Seafarers’ Forum.

The President urged other African leaders to tap into the huge resources in their oceans to boost the continent’s economic development and provide jobs for their people.

Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said the opportunities in the vast oceans surrounding the continent needed to be harnessed to diversify its economy.

The theme of the event is: “Sustainable use of Africa’s oceans and seas”. It was hosted by NIMASA.

Buhari added that there was the need for other African countries to develop regulatory and legal frameworks that will properly manage maritime resources and address the challenges facing the sector.

Leaders of the AAMA, Buhari said, must evolve synergies to reap the benefits of the oceans to ensure socio-economic emancipation of the continent.

The president said:  ”Here in Nigeria, we have taken steps to tackle some of the issues peculiar to us while still calling for regional and sub-regional collaborations. We have set up engagement to resolve and address the misunderstanding and contentious issues in Niger Delta which, off course, is part of Gulf Guinea.

“We recently approved a new maritime security architecture and infrastructure to be jointly coordinated by NIMASA, NSA and FMOT. We have given required support to the Navy so that they can work with others within our sub-region to effectively police our waters to facilitate trade.

“This arrangement will also contribute to resolving and eliminating piracy and sea robbery in our maritime domain on our waters. The results are encouraging and piracy has dropped dramatically, especially in the last six months.“We are making substantive investment to improve human capacity by taking advantage of international trade in the shipping and our maritime industry.

“The measure we are putting in place is to increase efficiency of our port and to enable quick turnaround time of vessels. Technology is also being introduced to make our port operation effective to support economic growth. NIMASA as regulator agency is being reformed to play effective role as a facilitator of economic prosperity.”

Senate President Bukola Saraki, who was represented by Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, said NIMASA’s efforts “have led to an upward swing in the level of local participation of Nigerians in the maritime industry and the use of Nigerian waters and seas for lawful economic activities”.

House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara called for collaboration among African countries to cultivate and reap the benefits of its oceans.

Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi said the African maritime transport charter inspired the formation of AAMA and encouraged information sharing, inter agency collaboration, sub-regional cooperation and approach to planning, implementation and maritime regulation on the principle of inclusiveness and collaboration.

The government, Amaechi said, has stepped up efforts to make Nigeria a deserved maritime hub in the West and Central Africa by embarking on comprehensive port reforms and upgrading port infrastructure as well as linking the ports to the rail network to boost efficiency and quick cargo clearance.

NIMASA’s Director-General Dakuku Peterside called for concerted efforts at tackling Africa’s maritime administration challenges.

Dr Peterside, in  opening remarks at the conference, said: “We are particularly delighted that this conference, the third in the series after the first in Mombasa, Kenya and the second in Sandton, South Africa, is holding on our shores. Nigeria’s place in the maritime world is not only deserved, it is common knowledge.”

“It (Nigeria) is special in the maritime community in Africa for a number of reasons,’’ the director-general said.

He said Nigeria accounted for over 60 per cent of the total sea-borne traffic in volume and value in West and Central Africa.

Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Kitack Lim said AAMA should not relent in its determination to increase Africa’s share of global investments in the maritime sector.

Lim, who was represented by an official of the IMO, Mr William Azu, said the maritime sector provided raw materials, food items, employment and transportation of 80 per cent of global trade.

Buhari insists Nigeria is coming out of recession

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria is coming out of recession and urged Nigerians to be patient with his administration.

‎Buhari stated this while making remarks at the inauguration of the North-West zone of the National Committee of Buhari Support Group in Kano on Thursday. He was represented by the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan.

“We need to re-strategise, but the planning period is always very difficult in any organisation or nation.

“Already, as you can see, the country is coming out of economic recession, soon the prices of commodities will go down, and generally things will take a good shape.

‎”We call on Nigerians to be patient and not to lose hope.

“I urge us to be prayerful and by God’s grace we shall get better and stronger as a nation,” he said

Some of the world’s biggest countries have managed to reduce extreme poverty—except Nigeria

Despite its vast oil riches and impressive economic growth, Nigeria has struggled to lift its people out of poverty over the past three decades.

That fact stands out in the World Bank’s 2017 Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals, which shows that 35 million more Nigerians were living in extreme poverty in 2013 than in 1990. The Atlas tracks the progress countries are making to meet 17 development goals set out by the United Nations, such as reducing economic inequality, the use of clean energy, and literacy rates. 

Among the 10 most populous countries for which data is available, only Nigeria recorded an increase in the number of citizens who live in extreme poverty over the period of the study. The Atlas defines “extreme poverty” as living on less than $1.90 a day.

While the ballooning number can be linked to a population surge in Nigeria (the country grew from 96 to 174 million people between 1990 and 2013), this doesn’t fully account for the persistence of extreme poverty in the country. All 10 of the biggest countries in the World Bank’s report also registered population increases over that period, barring Russia. Nigeria’s 81% population increase was dwarfed by Ethiopia, which saw a 96% increase over the same period.

Nigeria’s progress has been significantly impeded by its inability to distribute the country’s immense oil wealth to citizens. This is corroborated by a recent report from the Legatum Institute, a London-based think tank, which measured “prosperity delivery” to citizens in comparison to a country’s actual wealth. Of the 38 countries covered by the research, Nigeria ranked 26th, with the report saying it was “under-delivering” prosperity to its citizens.

Corruption and incompetence are to blame, and last week served up another reminder of how much malfeasance costs the country. Emails leaked by anti-corruption charities Global Witness and Finance Uncovered suggested that a $1.3 billion payment by oil giants Shell and Eni in 2011 for a lucrative but undeveloped Nigerian oilfield never went to the public trust for which it was intended. Instead, almost all of the money (nearly half of that year’s national education budget) was divvied up as kickbacks between high-ranking government officials.

Dana Air plane aborts trip after mid-air collision with bird

A Dana Air aircraft en-route Port Harcourt on Friday morning, made an ‘air return’, some minutes after take-off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport II, Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the aircraft, with registration number 5N-SRI returned after colliding with a bird mid-air.

Mr Kingsley Ezenwa, Communications Manager of the airline, confirmed the incident in a statement.

Ezenwa said the captain took a professional decision by returning to the Lagos airport.

“A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft that is airborne and as per standard safety procedure which is the hallmark of our operation, our pilot returned to base.

“Our guests have however been put on another aircraft to ensure that their itinerary is not entirely disrupted.

“The aircraft is currently being evaluated by our engineers to determine the effect of the bird strike on its affected engine,’’ he said.

The manager also assured Dana Air’s customers that the airline would continue to give priority to their safety and comfort.

The General Manager, Public Relations, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr Sam Adurogboye, told NAN that the air return was a precautionary measure to prevent any untoward occurrence.

Adurogboye said the pilot acted according to Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs), as such the incidences should not be sensationalised.

“The pilot did the right thing by returning to base.

“The aircraft had already lost one engine as a result of the bird strike and the standard practice is that the pilot should land at the nearest airport.

“Once such incident occurs, it is mandatory for the airline to make a report to the NCAA,’’ he told NAN.

Adurogboye also restated NCAA’s commitment to the safety and security of Nigeria’s aviation sector.

NAN reports that this is the third incident recorded by the Nigerian aviation sector in the last 72 hours.

An Aero Contractors flight NG316 en-route Lagos, from Port Harcourt, was on Tuesday engulfed in smoke about 20 minutes after take-off, causing panic among the passengers.

Similarly, two aircraft belonging to Air Peace were on Thursday involved in a ground collision at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos.

EFCC probe: Discovered N6b belongs to Niger State – Governor Bello

Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State has claimed that the N6 billion discovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) belongs to the state government.


The governor made this known to newsmen after joining President Muhammadu Buhari and hundreds of other Muslim faithful to perform the Juma’at prayer, at the Aso Rock Mosque, Abuja.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had invited a former governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Niger State, Kantigi Liman for interrogation over the discovery of N6 billion traced to his account.

According to Bello, the funds are believed to have been siphoned by the suspects through inflated Hajj subsidies offered by the state government to Pilgrims within the periods he (suspect) served as the Chairman of the Niger State Pilgrims’ Agency.

He also acknowledged the efforts of the EFCC towards the recovery of the misappropriated ecological funds by the previous administration in the state.

“I’m aware that the EFCC is investigating the ecological funds. At the inception of this administration we realised that the ecological funds disappeared.

“I did not have any evidence that it was utilised to address any ecological issues and we are faced with major ecological problems especially in Mokwa, Agaie, Bida, part of Minna, Rafin Gora and Mariga.

“We are doing our best to address the ecological problems. We need funds and unfortunately the N2 billion that was given to the state was not judiciously used to address the ecological challenges.

“If it had been used properly maybe our burden might have been reduced by now, but we are having sleepless nights over ecological issues and we are still approaching the Federal Government to assist us,’’ he added.

Access and Quaint sign InfraCo financing for Nigerian solar

Access Infra Africa and Quaint Global Energy have signed for $1.25 million in financing from InfraCo Africa for the 50MW Abiba solar plant in Nigeria

Buhari nominates Prof. Momoh as NERC Chairman

President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Prof. James Momoh as Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The President’s nominee is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and Director of Energy Services and Controls at Howard University, United States.

A statement issued by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said Prof. Momoh, a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers, has over three decades of teaching and research experience in power system, smart grid, optimisation and power communications.

The 1987 recipient of the National Science Foundation-US White House Presidential Young Investigator Award is a widely published scholar and has held several leadership positions in the academia.

Prof. Momoh has a Doctorate degree in electrical engineering from Howard University; Master’s degrees in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania; and electrical engineering from Carnegie University.

He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1975 from Howard University.

President Buhari believed that Prof. Momoh has the technical knowledge, capacity and integrity to lead the Commission’s effort to bring about the much needed change in Nigeria’s power sector.

SA still open for business

South African government has assured international investors that the renewed drive for accelerated radical economic transformation will not serve as a deterrent to foreign direct investment.

This comes as the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamin Bin Al-Thani, concludes his two-day state visit to South Africa.

The Emir is on a mission to strengthen bilateral trade and investment between Doha and Pretoria.

Qatar is South Africa's seventh largest trade partner in the Middle East region.

Bilateral trade between South Africa and Qatar is valued at just above R7 billion.

Petro-chemical giant Sasol is the only South African company which has entrenched its investment presence in the Qatari energy market.

President Jacob Zuma and Sheikh Tamin Bin Al-Thani reviewed progress on the implementation of short-term trade and investment projects in the fields agriculture, tourism, defence and the oceans economy. 

The plunge in the oil prices has forced the oil-rich Gulf State to diversify its economy.

The South African government is positioning itself as the preferred African investment destination for Qatar's multi-billion rand trade deals.

Addressing the Qatar-South Africa business forum, Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, moved to calm fears over concerns that the planned radical economic transformation will erode investor confidence.

“May I take this opportunity to say that when we talk about Radical Economic Transformation others think what's the meaning of it. This should not scare our investors, your investments will be safe.  We will make sure that your investments are protected.”

Qatari Economic Development Minister Sheik Ahmed Bin Jassim Al-Thari has urged South African companies to use the Gulf State's strategic location as a gateway to the Middle Eastern, Asian and European markets.

“Qatar can be a gateway for South African products in the free trade zone.  Qatar investors can invest more in South Africa's competitive sectors like tourism, agriculture and other sectors.”

President of the Black Business Council, Dr. Danisa Baloyi, has welcomed growing trade and investment ties between South Africa and Qatar.

“We have resources that could turn this country around.  If we begin to interact with countries like them we will learn how possible to succeed because we have resources.”

About 6 000 South Africans expatriates work in various sectors in Qatar.

Fwayo eyes 2018 Chan qualification

Zambia striker Fwayo Tembo says he is desperate to finally play in an Afcon or Chan tournament.

Strangely, the 27-year-old Power Dynamos player, who enjoyed seven-year stint overseas, that took him to Tunisia, Switzerland and Romania, has only graced the Caf U20 Cup and Fifa U20 World Cup in 2007.

Fwayo said he is eager to firstly help Zambia qualify, to next year’s Chan tournament in Kenya.

“I have never won anything at the national team, now the Chan is near so I hope I can win something with the national team,” Fwayo said.

“It is not going to be an easy year with the Chan, Africa Cup and World Cup qualifiers but we will do our best.”

Fwayo is one of the 27 players called-up by Zambia coach Wedson Nyirenda for the preliminary phase of the 2018 Chan qualifiers preparations that began this week with a three-day camp in Lusaka.

Swaziland will host Zambia in the Chan first leg qualifiers during the weekend of July 16 while the return leg will be played on July 22.

The winner will advance to the final qualifying stage in August to play either South Africa or Botswana for a place in next January’s finals in Nairobi.