News
Global Patriot Newspapers’ Dialogue on the Media of the Future holds Friday, September 20, 2024
…..Dabiri-Erewa, Khalfani, Adaba, Anderson, Kolawole, Umesiri, Akande, Coker, others feature
Top media practitioners, political and business leaders, diplomats, scholars, activists and other stakeholders will, on Friday, September 20, 2024, converge, for a virtual Dialogue on “The Media of the Future,” a side event of the Black Futures Summit taking place on the sidelines of the 2024 United Nations Summit of the Future in New York, United States of America (USA).
The UN Summit of the Future is taking place during the 2024 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which will feature High Level Debates by leaders from different countries of the world who will congregate in New York.
Friday’s Dialogue, with the theme “The Media of the Future: Bridging the Gap Between the West and People of African Descent,” is being put together by Global Patriot Newspapers (GPNews), and will feature as Panelists, such well grounded personalities as Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, CEO, NiDCOM, Professor Akil Khalfani, Director, Africana Institute, Essex County College, New Jersey, USA, Oyiza Adaba, CEO AfricaRelated, Yul Anderson, President, African America Future Society, Simon Kolawole, CEO, The Cable Newspaper, Toyin Umesiri, CEO, Nazarau, Laolu Akande, Editor-in-Chief, Empowered Newswire and Nicky S. Coker Esq., Spokesperson, Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the UN.
The Dialogue, according to a statement by Simon Ibe, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Global Patriot Newspapers, will attempt a review of the current state of the media of People of African Descent in comparison with that of the West, make projections concerning what the ideal should be, and recommend what must be done for the existing gulf to be bridged, and for the media of People of African Descent to attain the desirable heights, in the interest of all.
The log in details for the program, which starts at 3:00PM (EST), 8:00PM (WAT) are:
Meeting ID – 874 3571 2414
Passcode – guest
The Panelists
Hon. Dabiri-Erewa was a celebrated broadcast journalist who went on to become a multiple-term member of the Nigerian House of Representatives, before being appointed the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM). She was also named Diaspora Champion for her efforts to mobilize other African countries to set up Diaspora Commissions in their countries to cater to needs of their nationals living outside their countries.
Akil Khalfani, the Director, Africana Institute of Essex County College, Newark, New Jersey, is an acclaimed pan Africanist and a Professor of Sociology. A committed community leader, he ran for election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District in 2022, and is back in the current race. He is also media personality.
Oyiza Adaba, daughter of Professor Tom Adaba, the pioneer Director General of Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is the CEO of New York-based multi-media organization, AfricaRelated, and the award-winning Producer of a widely acclaimed documentary on the internationally celebrated Ghana-born Sculptor, Professor El Anatsui.
Yul Anderson, the brain behind the Black Futures Summit and Afro4UN, is a Future Analyst and the President of the African American Future Society (TAAFS) Inc, while Akande, the Host of a popular Television show, Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, who served as Spokesperson for Vice President of Nigeria (2015-2023, and before then, the North American Bureau Chief for The Guardian in New York, is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Empowered Newswire, an integrated news agency that he founded in New York.
Simon Kolawole, Founder/CEO of frontline pan African online media platform, The Cable Newspaper, was a Chevening scholar (2006), won a grant from the Centre for the Future State, University of Sussex for a Masters dissertation (2006), was nominated among Africa’s Next Generation of Leaders by The Banker Magazine, published by Financial Times of London (2009), was a Fellow of the Mo Ibrahim Governance for Development in Africa Initiative (2010) and was named Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum (2012).
Toyin Umesiri, the creator and host of the TV Show, Quantum Leap which airs in Aurora, Illinois, USA; was appointed by the U.S Secretary of Commerce to serve on the Illinois District Export Council (ILDEC) in 2022, served previously as Ambassador for Intra-African Trade by appointment of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Union (AU) and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Westrock Coffee Company, a leading integrated coffee, tea, and extract service provider in the US.
A global influencer, Umesiri is an Author, world-class Business Educator, Supply Chain Strategist, Founder and CEO of Nazaru, Convener of the acclaimed Trade with Africa Business Summit and provides Entrepreneurship and International Trade Support, Training and Education in her Business School, and Community and Advisory and Consulting Services to Government Agencies and Multilateral Institutions.
Madam Coker Esq., is a trailblazer in her own right. The Spokesperson for the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations in New York for Sierra Leone’s two-year term on the Security Council (2024-2025), Madam Coker is an Activist Lawyer who was appointed to her present office from PURPOSEFUL (an African-rooted global hub for girls’ activism and resourcing young feminists.
A Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Sierra Leone, she was the Senior Litigation Adviser and Head of Advocacy and Movement Building at PURPOSEFUL. Previously a State Counsel at the Ministry of Justice and Senior Defense Counsel at the Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board, Coker Esq. also served as General Secretary of the General Legal Council (the authority responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in Sierra Leone) from 2017 until her move to New York in 2024.
Named one of the 100 Most Inspiring Sierra Leoneans and 50 Most Influential Sierra Leonean Women 2019 and 2020, Nicky, a former presenter of the weekly Saturday Breakfast Show on Capital Radio SL, in 2007, navigated seamlessly through moderating for the Vice-Presidential Candidates’ Debate during Sierra Leone’s General Elections and served as the Legal Analyst for the Eminent Women’s Situation Room during Sierra Leone’s 2018 and 2023 Elections.
Professor MO Ene, one of the two Moderators of the program, is popularly known as “Chairman Moe.” A doctorate degree holder in automotive engineering from the University of Southampton, England, Dr. MO, who has taught various university courses at four universities on three continents is multilingual, has authored and published many consequential books and seminal documents in academics, culture, fiction, and current affairs.
A widely travelled campus citizen, he is multilingual and an ardent across-the-curriculum scholar who set up, in the 1997, one of the first Afrocentric magazines on the Internet: www.kwenu.com. Before the advent of AI, he pioneered Cyberology: the study of cyberspace – history, evolution, sociocultural trends, and the changing human society.
News
BREAKING: El-Rufai Tests Positive for Drug-Resistant Bacteria, Shows Signs of Possible Severe Infection—Report
…doctors recommend admission in hospital
A medical report on former Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai has revealed that a blood culture test detected Enterococcus faecium, a bacterium resistant to the antibiotic vancomycin, while his doctors listed possible sepsis among their clinical concerns.The findings are contained in two medical documents dated October 22, 2026, concerning the 66-year-old former governor, who is currently being detained by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) amid his prosecution.A laboratory report issued by Cerba Lancet Nigeria showed that both aerobic and anaerobic blood cultures tested positive for Enterococcus faecium after 24–48 hours of incubation.
The report stated: “Culture positive After 24-48 hours incubation.”
It identified the organism as Enterococcus faecium and explicitly described it as a “Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE).”
The laboratory report listed vancomycin as resistant, while several other antibiotics, including ampicillin/amoxicillin, erythromycin, levofloxacin, minocycline and linezolid, were marked as sensitive.
However, the laboratory document was marked “INTERIM REPORT” and stated: “Final Verified Report to Follow.”
This means the final verified laboratory result was still pending in the document provided.
A separate medical report issued by ASK+ Medical & Diagnostics on October 22 also documented the blood culture finding and detailed El-Rufai’s symptoms, clinical assessment and proposed treatment.
Under its clinical history section, the report stated: “The patient is a 66-year-old man with dyslipidemia, persistent headaches and insomnia. He presented with mild generalized headache and dizziness, without aura or photophobia. There is a reported history of hypotension.”
The report also noted that he appeared mildly dehydrated, with the clinical impression including dehydration in a case documented as resistant malaria and possible sepsis.
Under the clinical history section, the document described the assessment as “dehydration with resistant malaria and possible sepsis, with a suspected Para umbilical focus.”
The report recorded El-Rufai’s blood pressure at 93/70 mmHg and his pulse rate at 68 beats per minute.
His temperature was recorded as 36.2 degrees Celsius, while his oxygen saturation was 98 per cent on room air. The physical examination described him as being in no apparent respiratory or painful distress.
The report also contained an apparent difference in its assessment of his hydration status. While the clinical history described him as mildly dehydrated, the physical examination stated: “No dehydration.”
Under the investigations section, the ASK+ report confirmed the laboratory finding, stating: “Blood Culture: Enterococcus faecium (Gram-positive) isolated.”
It added that the organism was sensitive to several antibiotics, including ampicillin, erythromycin, levofloxacin, minocycline and linezolid, but resistant to vancomycin.
The report also listed gentamicin as sensitive, although the laboratory document presents the gentamicin result differently in its aerobic and anaerobic culture sections. The discrepancy requires clarification from the laboratory.
The ASK+ report stated that results from several other investigations, including a full blood count, malaria test, renal function test, liver function test, fasting lipid profile, random blood glucose, urinalysis and HbA1c, were within normal limits.
Despite those results, the positive blood culture prompted a recommendation for further medical evaluation and treatment guided by the laboratory findings.
Under its treatment plan, the report recommended admission for observation, intravenous fluids and medication for the documented clinical concerns.
It also advised that the blood culture and antibiotic sensitivity results be reviewed in consultation with an infectious disease physician.
The report stated: “Review the blood culture result and sensitivity results and, in consultation with Infectious disease physician, consider appropriate IV antibiotic therapy and admission for at least three days as advised by the clinical pathologist.”
It listed possible intravenous antibiotic options, including Augmentin, Gentalex, L-Flox and linezolid, subject to further clinical assessment and review of the culture results.
The findings come as El-Rufai remains in ICPC custody while facing prosecution. However, the medical documents do not establish any connection between his detention and the bacterial finding.
The Federal Government’s Independent Investigative Committee probing the deaths of 37 persons in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger State has found that the deceased died from asphyxiation.
The committee Chairman and former Deputy Director-General of the Department of State Services, Jonathan Kure, disclosed this on Tuesday while presenting the panel’s report to the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja.
Kure stated that the panel recommended that one point four billion be paid to the families of 33 victims and forty-four survivors.
The committee chairman added that the deaths were avoidable as the victims, inclng 14 minors, were held in inhuman conditions.
The committee also recommended summary dismissal of the state commandant of the Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and all other officers who were directly involved in the detention and eventual death of the miners
The committee equally recommended institutional reforms for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in order to strengthen the leadership of the corps.
The Minister of Interior, who received the report, promised to implement the recommendations of the committee in order to ensure justice for all affected persons.
Tunji-Ojo also directed the commandant of the Corps to immediately suspend all officers who cleaned up the detention centre in order to destroy evidence.
The finding marks a major development in the investigation into the deaths of the suspected illegal miners, who died on September 17, 2026, while in the custody of the NSCDC Niger State Command in Minna.
The victims were among dozens of persons arrested during operations against suspected illegal mining in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of the state. (PUNCH)
…Sen. Nnamani, Nwobodo, Dr. Nnamani, Chime, Ugwuanyi, Prof. Nnaji, Arthur Eze, Frank Nweke, Madueke, others get advisory roles
…Udeh, Nwoye, Utazi, Egumgbe, Ben Collins Ndu, Onyia, others head 51 Directorates
…Council to be inaugurated on Tuesday
The Enugu State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Monday, unveiled the party’s Campaign Council ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Campaign Council, comprising 51 Directorates, is chaired by the Governor of the state, Dr. Peter Mbah, while the Deputy Governor, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai; Deputy National Chairman, APC (South); Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Ugwu; and the Chairman of the party in the state, Dr. Martin Chukwunweike, are Vice Chairmen.
The list signed by Chukwunweike and the Secretary of Enugu APC, Hon. Chukwudi Nnadozie, also has Chief Charlie Mbah as the Director-General of the Campaign Organisation and Dr. Eric Oluedo as the Secretary-General.
Deacon Okey Ogbodo, Dr. Dan Shere, and Hon. S.K.E. Udeh-Okoye are Deputy Campaign DGs for Enugu East Senatorial District, Enugu North Senatorial District, and Enugu West Senatorial District, respectively.
Barr. Steve Oruruo is the Campaign Spokesperson and Director of the Public Communication Committee, with Dr. Austin Okolie as co-spokesperson and Dr. Malachy Agbo as Secretary.
Mazi Uche Anichukwu and Dan Nwomeh, both drawn from the Governor’s media team, head the Directorate of New Media and Strategic Communication and the Directorate of Mainstream Media, respectively. Dr. Collins Ogbu is the Secretary of the former, while Dr. Reuben Onyishi is the Secretary of the latter.
Barr. Victor Udeh leads the Administration Directorate, while Dr. Ben Nwoye and Arc. Uche Nwatu are the Director and Co-Director of the Fundraising Committee, respectively.
Former Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ikechukwu Ogalla (Rtd.), chairs the Security Directorate, while former Inspector General of Police, Ogbono Onovo (Rtd.), is the Secretary.
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology is in charge of the Directorate of Government Appointees Coordination (Federal and State), with Prof. Chidiebere Onyia as Secretary, while former Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Eugene Odoh, heads Inter-Party Affairs.
Senator Osita Ngwu, Senator Ikeje Asogwa, and Senator Kelvin Chukwu are Coordinators of the Campaign Council in Enugu West, Enugu North, and Enugu East, respectively.
Meanwhile, in their co-signed statement, Chukwunweike and Nnadozie said the size of the Campaign Council was a reflection of “the conviction that every community, ward, local government area, professional group, support organisation, youth body, women’s group, elder, party faithful and person of goodwill must be seen, heard and meaningfully engaged.”
“Appointment into the campaign structure is therefore not merely an honour; it is a call to duty, accountability and measurable contribution,” they stated.
The Council will be inaugurated at the International Conference Centre, Enugu on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
All members of the Campaign Council are to be seated before 3pm.
CLICK LINK BELOW TO SEE FULL LIST:
APC ENUGU CAMPAIGN COUNCIL COMPOSITION-1
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