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Following the approval of the Federal Executive Council of the Memorandum on signing and ratification of Air Service Agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Seychelles, the two countries have formerly ratified the Agreement.

Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika using the platform of the ongoing International Civil Aviation Negotiation (ICAN) event holding in Abuja, led officials of the Ministry to sign Bilateral Air Services Agreement ( BASA) while the Republic of Seychelles Minister of Transport, Mr. Anthony Derjacques, signed on behalf of his country.

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika signing the BASA with Seychelles

During the ceremony, the two Ministers underscored the importance of the BASA as it will promote air services and connectivity between both countries, enhance business, and promote tourism.

Seychelles Minister of Transport, Mr. Anthony Derjacques endorsing the BASA with Nigeria

According to a statement by the Special Assistant to the Minister of Aviation on Public Affairs, James Odaudu, the two Ministers agreed that the signing would further promote the African Union Agenda 2063 and called on citizens of both countries to latch on the opportunities of the BASA for their mutual benefits.

Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Aviation has either signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and initial Air Services Agreement (ASA) with Senegal, Benin Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Finland, Cameroon, Morocco, Suriname, India, Sudan and Uganda.

The Ministry has also had discussions on how to further implement the open skies Agreement, signed 30 years ago, with the United States of America.

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from Russian detention in a prisoner swap for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to a source familiar
Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death” is a former Soviet military officer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States on charges of conspiring to kill Americans, acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles, and provide material support to a terrorist organization.

Moscow had slammed his sentencing in 2012 as “baseless and biased” and Bout has maintained he is innocent.
Griner — who had for years played in the off-season for a Russian women’s basketball team, had been detained since February, when she was arrested on drug smuggling charges at an airport in the Moscow region. Despite her testimony that she had inadvertently packed the cannabis oil found in her luggage, she was sentenced to nine years in prison in early August and was moved to a penal colony in Mordovia in mid-November after losing her appeal.

The swap did not include another American that the State Department has declared wrongfully detailed, Paul Whelan.

He is a US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen — was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges he has vehemently denied. Whelan had been carrying out his sentence at a labor camp in Mordovia, an eight-hour drive from Moscow, where he told CNN in June 2021 he spent his days working in a clothing factory that he called a “sweatshop.”

US basketball star Brittney Griner’s freedom ultimately hinged on the release of a convicted Russian arms dealer, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death” by his accusers, whose life story inspired a Hollywood film.

Viktor Bout, a former Soviet military officer, is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States on charges of conspiring to kill Americans, acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles, and provide material support to a terrorist organization. Bout has maintained he is innocent.
The Kremlin has long called for his release, slamming his sentencing in 2012 as “baseless and biased.”

The Russian businessman who speaks six languages eluded international arrest warrants and asset freezes for years. He was arrested in a sting operation in 2008 led by US drug enforcement agents in Thailand posing as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the acronym FARC. He was eventually extradited to the US in 2010 after a protracted court proceeding.

“Viktor Bout has been international arms trafficking enemy number one for many years, arming some of the most violent conflicts around the globe,” said Preet Bharara, the US attorney in Manhattan when Bout was sentenced in New York in 2012.

“He was finally brought to justice in an American court for agreeing to provide a staggering number of military-grade weapons to an avowed terrorist organization committed to killing Americans.”
The trial honed in on Bout’s role in supplying weapons to FARC, a guerrilla group that waged an insurgency in Colombia until 2016. The US said the weapons were intended to kill US citizens.

But Bout’s history in the arms trade extended much further afield. He has been accused of assembling a fleet of cargo planes to traffic military-grade weapons to conflict zones around the world since the 1990s, fueling bloody conflicts from Liberia to Sierra Leone and Afghanistan. Allegations of trafficking activities in Liberia prompted US authorities to freeze his American assets in 2004 and blocked any US transactions.

Bout has repeatedly maintained that he operated legitimate businesses and acted as a mere logistics provider. He is believed to be in his 50s, with his age in dispute because of different passports and documents.
Source: CNN

By James Odaudu

University Don, Dr Abdul Hamidu Abdullahi has been appointed to the governing board of the International Association for Community Development (IACD).

The appointment was was conveyed through a statement by Association’s headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland.

The International Association for Community Development is the only global network for Professional community development practitioners. It supports community development agencies and practitioners to build the capacities of communities to realise greater social and economic equality, environmental protection and political democracy.

IACD is registered in Scotland and is an accredited organisation to the United Nations. Thus it submit a brief annual report on its work and what it has been doing to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals Agenda 2030.

IACD currently has four representatives who attend events and consultation meetings at the UN in New York or Geneva. These include one Regional Director for Europe and former Vice President who is also the immediate past chair of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; one Regional Director for Sub-Sahara Africa who also works for UN Women; one Regional Director for North Africa and the Middle East and one active IACD North America member.

Reacting to his appointment, the university don said “It’s a rare opportunity and I’m glad for scaling through the competitive and rigorous processes and procedures. It is really a big feat for me and Nigeria”.

According Dr Abdullahi, the organisation’s objectives include advancing public education through the promotion of community development, community capacity building, and other charitable purposes on behalf of the community.

Other objectives he said, include emphasising to international bodies, government, business and non-governmental organisations, the importance of community development.

The organisation, he further reiterated, conducts research, publishes and disseminates information relating to community development, as well as organising international meetings, conferences, training and exchanges in the field of community development.

On the potential benefits of him appointment to Nigeria, Dr Abdul Hamidu Abdullahi listed them to include; gaining exposure to international best practice of community development, deriving innovative methods used in other countries to tackle community issues, ability to showcase the age-long community development methods such as ESUSU, AGE GRADES etc in our various communities.

Other benefits according to him, include; drawing attention for collaboration and networking for the good of our communities and harnessing exchange programs and other educational activities for various advantages.

“As the most populace black nation, we are model for others thus we must companion and lead in all developmental activities” he said.

Dr Abdul Hamidu Abdullahi has B.sc Sociology, MPA Public Administration, and PhD in Local Government Studies all from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.

Presently, his teaching and research work is on Community Development, Public Policy, Local Governance, Research Methodology and Gender studies.

He has several publications in scholarly journals and contributed many chapters in Books and Monographs. And a Visiting Scholar with the Department of Public Administration, Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

His involvement in community development project include been an Assistant Research Fellow at Center for Democratic Development Research and Training, (CEDDERT) and a producer of the radio program.

His volunteerism include active membership of the following: Community Development Charter (CDC) and the Ward Integrity Companion (WIC) of his Ward; Network for Society against Child Trafficking Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) and the West African Research and Innovation Management Association (WARIMA).

He is also a Producer and Presenter of a radio programme –‘’Town and Gown’’ in Hausa language called Jamia da Jama’a at DITV/ALHERI Radio 97.7FM Zaria, Nigeria.

He is also a board member of Funtua Community College of Health Sciences and Technology; Team Lead of Initiative for Orphans and Vulnerable Persons, Zaria.