GOVERNORS RALLY SUPPORT FOR DEVASTATED BORNO FLOOD VICTIMS.
Governors are standing united in their support for victims of the devastating flooding in Maiduguri and Jere in Borno State.
They pledged food support and hailed the Federal Government and Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum for immediately rising to the occasion, thereby mitigating the losses.
The flood has shown no signs of receding, leaving entire communities submerged under water, according to a report by The United Nations World Food Programme in Nigeria (WFP Nigeria).
A series of images shared on X shows streets, schools, and government facilities still flooded.
Representatives of the governors inspected many of the areas affected by the disaster for firsthand knowledge of the situation, which led to the displacement of more than half a million people and affected over a million.
Not less than 40 per cent of the farmland was washed away and crops destroyed, raising fears of food insecurity.
The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) described the situation as “a huge humanitarian crisis” after the visit.
The flooding, caused by the collapse of the Alau Dam water channels, submerged residential quarters, offices, roads and bridges.
NGF chairman and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said in a statement on X: “ I led my colleagues at the NGF to Maiduguri, Borno State, where we assessed the impact of the recent flooding that has displaced thousands of residents.
“It is a huge humanitarian crisis, which requires that we all rally around the victims at this time.
“The NGF stands in solidarity with the government and residents of the affected areas.
“We commend the swift efforts of the Federal Government and the state’s authorities to bring immediate succour to the victims.”
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a separate message on X on the visit, said the governors of Ondo, Adamawa, and Kwara were in Borno “to extend our support to Governor Zulum in light of the tragic flooding in Maiduguri”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families affected by this disaster,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu emphasised the importance of a united response to the crisis, urging the nation to rally behind Borno.
“The extent of the flooding in Maiduguri is truly devastating.
“As a nation, it is important that we come together to provide relief, assist in rescue operations, and ensure that those affected receive the necessary aid.
“We stand in solidarity with the people of Maiduguri and commend the ongoing rescue efforts.
“The community’s resilience is truly inspiring, and Lagos remains dedicated to offering our support in every possible way,” Sanwo-Olu added.
First Lady Oluremi Tinubu expressed her heartfelt condolences to the people of Borno.
In a personal statement, Tinubu commiserated with the affected community.
She acknowledged the immense burden of the tragic loss of lives, homes, and livelihoods, emphasizing that no community should have to bear such a burden.
The First Lady prayed for the resilience and strength of the people of Borno, expressing hope that they would rise above the tragedy and emerge stronger.
She also offered her prayers for the departed souls, seeking Almighty Allah’s grant of Aljanah Firdaus.
Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, Prince Dapo Abiodun, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, hopes the interventions so far will ameliorate the situation and bring immediate relief to the people.
“The government and the people of Ogun State are with the Borno people during this period of agony, and we shall continue to pray for them,” he said.
Former Senator President Ahmad Lawan and the Northern Senators’ Forum decried the devastation caused by flooding in Borno and Bauchi states.
“The Borno State government, in collaboration with relevant agencies, should embark on a comprehensive flood control programme to mitigate future disasters,” he said.
Chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’adua, in a statement, condoled with the people.
The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) warned of likely food insecurity following the impact on over 40 per cent of farmlands in Borno.
The Commission has also promised to send food and non-food items to victims to assuage their sufferings.
It also said it would support the Borno State Government in providing access to the Commission’s recovery shelter at Amarwa Resettlement City.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said 1,048,312 people have been affected by flooding, with 625,239 displaced and 259 lives lost across the country.
The agency said the current trend of flooding shows that 29 states and 172 LGAs have been impacted.
It added that 94, 491 houses and 125,805 farmlands have also been affected.
The agency said the data shows those who have been affected between April and September.

To manage the likely impact of the flooding and other disasters, NEMA revealed that Internally Displaced Persons camps have been activated in some states.

UNITED NATIONS SAYS AID DELIVERIES IN WAR-TORN SUDAN HAMPERED BY HEAVY RAINS, FLOODING.
The United Nations has warned that heavy rains and flooding have transporting aid in Sudan, Chad, and South Sudan extremely difficult.
It comes as the humanitarian situation in war-torn Sudan grows increasingly dire, with more than half of the country’s population experiencing crisis levels of hunger.
WFP Sudan spokesperson Leni Kinzli said although aid trucks are making it through to Darfur, transport is being hampered by flooded and muddy roads.
Kinzli said they need maintained and expanded access so they can ramp up their assistance, save lives and prevent famine from spreading.
The downpours have worsened the displacement crisis due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which broke out between the Sudanese army and paramilitary rapid support forces in April last year.
Of the more than 317,000 people affected by the heavy rains and flooding, 118,000 have been displaced.
The country is also grappling with a cholera outbreak triggered by the flooding and contaminated water.

Thousands of people have been killed and almost eight million have been displaced since the fighting broke out.

SENEGAL TO HOLD SNAP ELECTIONS ON 17TH NOVEMBER AFTER PRESIDENT FAYE DISSOLVE PARLIAMENT.
Six months after he was elected as Senegal’s President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye has announced that snap elections will be held on 17th November, after he dissolved the country’s parliament.
According to analysts, Faye, whose party does not currently hold a majority in parliament, stands a high chance of securing one.
The move has been denounced by the opposition platform, Benno Bokk Yaakar, led by former President Macky Sall; they accused Faye of perjury.
Senegal’s youngest leader, Faye, 44, came out on top in the vote in April, just days after being released from prison along with Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.
He pledged a series of sweeping reforms to improve living standards in the country, which has one of the highest inflation rates in West Africa.
He also pledged to stamp out corruption and to secure a higher share of Senegal’s natural resources for the population.
But these promises have yet to come to fruition. Faye and Sonko say the fact that their party does not hold a majority in parliament has prevented them from carrying out the changes.

Every year, thousands of people leave Senegal to Europe, in search of better economic opportunities.

VENEZUELA DENIES PLANE LOADED WITH DRUGS SEIZED IN GUINEA-BISSAU.
The Venezuelan Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello has denied that a plane seized in Guinea-Bissau with 2.6 tons of cocaine on board came from Venezuela.
Cabello told an audience attending a government event that the plane never touched Venezuelan soil.
The Bissau-Guinean judicial police said that the cocaine seizure on Saturday (Sep. 07) was carried out in close cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre–Narcotics, a European organization.
The crew of five, which included two Mexican nationals as well as citizens of Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil, were arrested, including the pilot.
Early media reports cited a security source saying the plane was from Mexico.
Venezuela’s interior minister said his country “does not produce drugs” and that the world’s biggest drugs consumer was the North American empire, most probably referencing the US.
Guinea-Bissau in particular is known as a preferred route for international drug cartels. In March, the son of the country’s former president, Malam Bacai Sanha, was sentenced to more than six years in prison by a U.S. court for leading an international heroin trafficking ring.
Two years ago, Guinea-Bissau leader accused a convicted drug baron of being behind a failed coup against him.

West Africa has become a hub for drugs from Latin America and Southwest Asia destined for Europe.

FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN FINANCE MINISTER DIES FROM CANCER.
Former South African minister Pravin Gordhan, a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle, has died from cancer aged 75.
Gordhan retired from politics after May’s elections, where the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994.
The ex-minister passed away in hospital early Friday, surrounded by family and close friends.
President Cyril Ramaphosa praised Gordhan as “an outstanding leader” with “depth of intellect, integrity and energy”.
Beginning his activism as a teenager, Gordhan joined the ANC’s underground movement in the 1980s.
He played a key role in South Africa’s transition to democracy, serving as an MP since Nelson Mandela’s historic 1994 election victory.
Gordhan’s government career included stints as finance minister and head of the revenue service.

Known for his anti-corruption stance, he openly criticised former president Jacob Zuma while serving in his cabinet.

UNITED STATES BACKS TWO PERMANENT SEATS FOR AFRICA ON UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL.
The United States has thrown its weight behind creating two permanent seats for African states on the United Nations Security Council, and one rotating seat for small island developing states.
Years of talks about reforming the council have led nowhere, and many doubt whether US backing will be enough to spur real action.
US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, announced that Washington supports the move.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, she said the US wants to “move this agenda forward in a way that we can achieve Security Council reform at some point in the future”.
However, she could not say how long it would take to secure a General Assembly vote on the resolution.
Despite years of discussions, little progress has been made on reforming the council, and it’s unclear if US support will be enough to trigger real action.
The US plan is supported by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said the Security Council “has a problem of legitimacy” and “a problem of effectiveness” that requires reform.
Guterres previously called for Africa to have a permanent seat in August, arguing that the move would correct “historical injustices”.
The world has changed since 1945, Guterres said, but “the composition of the council, despite a few changes, has not kept pace”.

Paul Simon Handy, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, told RFI the reform could change the council’s dynamics, but added that Africa needs to secure support from two-thirds of the General Assembly.

PRIME MINISTER SET FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN TALKS OVER PUTIN MISSILE THREAT.
Sir Keir Starmer is visiting the White House to meet United States President Joe Biden to discuss conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
The prime minister and Biden are expected to consider Kyiv’s request to be able to use Western Storm Shadow long-range missiles in Russian territory.
But President Putin said such a move would mean that Russia would be “at war with Nato”.
Speaking to reporters during a flight to Washington DC, Sir Keir said Russia started the conflict in Ukraine and it can end the war “straight away”.
During the trip, he admitted there had been no impact assessment of how the decision to cut winter fuel payments will affect millions of pensioners.
However, the new measures have cost him points in favourability ratings as a new Ipsos poll found 46 per cent of people see him unfavourabl, an increase by eight points in three months.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has also been pressured over the upcoming October Budget, has also seen her favourability fall by four points to 23 per cent.

TYPHOON YAGI HITS MYANMAR, VIETNAM, THAILAND.
Typhoon Yagi has hit Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, but the true scale of the impact is still unclear.
According to official figures, at least 19 people have died in flash floods and landslides in the country.
Eyewitnesses, however, say many people are missing and the number of victims could be much higher.
Many areas of the South-East Asian nation, which is ruled by a military junta, were cut off due to the flooding.
“The village and townships near Naypyitaw have been terrible … but some villages could not be accessed by the rescue teams,” local resident Kyaw Kyaw, who is helping with the rescue operations, told dpa.
In addition to Naypyitaw, the Bago region north of the largest city Yangon and two regions bordering Thailand were particularly badly affected.
“We don’t know how many were killed,” Kyaw Kyaw said.

Yagi killed about 200 people in Vietnam, according to official figures.

HAMAS CHIEF THANKS HEZBOLLAH IN LETTER TO NASRALLAH.
Hamas chief, Yehya Sinwar thanked the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for his group’s support in the conflict with Israel.
This becomes is the first reported message since Sinwar became Hamas leader in August.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah has been waging attacks on Israel for nearly a year in a conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border that has been taking place parallel to the Gaza war.
Hezbollah says its attacks aim to support the Palestinians.
“Your blessed actions have expressed your solidarity on the fronts of the Axis of Resistance, supporting and engaging in the battle,” Sinwar told Nasrallah, according to Hezbollah’s al-Manar broadcaster.
Sinwar has not appeared in public since the Oct. 7 attacks, and is widely thought to be running the war from tunnels beneath Gaza.
It was the second time this week he is reported to have sent a letter.
Hamas said on Tuesday he had sent one congratulating Algerian President Abdulmadjid Tebboune on his reelection.

Hezbollah is the most powerful faction in an alliance of Iran-backed groups known as the Axis of Resistance, which have also entered the fray with attacks from Yemen and Iraq in support of Hamas during the Gaza war.

IRAN SUMMONS EUROPEAN ENVOYS OVER ALLEGED ARMS SUPPLY TO RUSSIA.
Iran summoned the heads of the diplomatic missions of Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Germany to protest their governments’ statements about Tehran’s alleged involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, director for Western European nations at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, met separately with the envoys, condemning what he called a “propaganda campaign” and “destructive actions” against Iran.
The diplomatic move follows a joint statement by British, French, and German foreign ministers on Tuesday, which accused Iran of exporting missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine.
The statement also announced plans to cancel bilateral air services agreements and impose sanctions on Iran’s national carrier, Iran Air.
Ahmadabadi denied the allegations, calling claims of Iranian ballistic missile sales to Russia “baseless and false.”
He criticised Western nations for arms sales to other countries, including Israel, saying they should be held accountable for their policies.
The United States also imposed new sanctions on Tuesday targeting individuals and entities in Iran and Russia, including Iran Air, over alleged drone and missile sales to Moscow.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Akbar Ahmadian met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Thursday.
Ahmadian affirmed that Tehran would continue to expand its relations with Moscow under its new administration.
For his part, Putin expressed Russia’s commitment to expanding bilateral relations, noting that trade between the two countries increased by nearly 10 per cent in the first half of 2024.
Iran has consistently denied providing Russia with weapons for use against Ukraine, inspite Western accusations.
The country maintains it supports a diplomatic solution to the conflict.