The government started the long-delayed program on Monday. The effort targets medics and those with low immunity. Now fully protected, many health workers say they feel confident they can help curb the spread of the virus.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Video - Health workers relieved as mpox vaccination campaign starts in Nigeria
Video - Entrepreneur introduces reverse vending machines to help curb plastic pollution in Nigeria
The machines collect and sort plastic bottles and other items. In return, people receive money for every bottle they bring in for recycling.
Related stories: Women in Nigeria lead drive to upcycle plastics
Video - Lagos state government bans single-use plastics and Styrofoam
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Stop Sextortion - bereaved parents' appeal to criminals in Nigeria
Murray Dowey, from Dunblane, was only 16 when he ended his life last year.
It is thought he had been tricked by criminals in West Africa into sending intimate pictures of himself and then blackmailed.
Murray’s mother and father also condemned social media companies for not doing enough to protect young people, saying they have "blood on their hands."
Sextortion often involves victims being sent a nude picture or video before being asked to send their own in return.
They then receive threats the material will be shared with family and friends unless they meet the blackmailer's demands - pressure it is believed led Murray to take his own life.
Mark and Ros Dowey have now recorded a video message regarding the "cruel" crime.
They said: “You’re abusing children. You've ended Murray's life.
“How would they feel if it was their child or their little brother or their friend? I mean, it's so cruel, and this is children, and it's abuse”.
“You're terrorising people, children, for some money, and I don't think in any society that is in any way acceptable”.
Sextortion has become big business in Nigeria involving thousands of young men nicknamed “yahoo boys”.
Guides on how to get involved in the crime are openly for sale online, as a BBC News investigation revealed earlier this year.
BBC News Investigations spent months communicating with a man in Nigeria actively involved in sextortion, persuading him to give an insight into this world.
He spoke to our colleagues in Lagos on condition of anonymity.
He told them: “I know that it's bad, but I just call it survival of the fittest.”
He described sextortion as like an “industry” and admitted he treats it like a game.
He added: “It depends on the fish you catch. You might throw the hook in the sea. You might catch small fish or big fish."
However he was then played Ros and Mark’s recorded message and appeared shocked by it.
He said he was "almost crying" and felt "very bad”.
However Murray’s parents don’t only blame the criminals for their son's death.
They hold tech companies responsible too.
Sextorters find their victims by targeting individuals on social media then using their list of friends and followers in their blackmail attempts.
Ros told BBC News: “I think they've got blood on their hands. The technologies are there for them to stop so many of these crimes.”
Mark believes Silicon Valley could do more but that they won't as it would cost them money.
He added: "It will stop them making more billions than they're making”.
'No chance to intervene'
Analysis by the UK’s National Crime Agency found that all age groups and genders are being targeted, but that a large proportion of victims are boys and aged between 14 and 18.
Police believe there is underreporting of the crime because victims are too scared or embarrassed to come forward.
Mark told the BBC his son was "a really lovely kid" and that his parents had no idea anything was wrong.
He said: "He went up to his room, and he was absolutely fine. And you know, we found him dead the next morning”.
His mother Ros added: “We had no chance to intervene, to notice there was something wrong and try and help and fix it”.
The Dowey family were involved in a campaign launch in Edinburgh, which warns young people about the dangers of sextortion.
The Fearless campaign brings together Police Scotland, Crimestoppers and the Scottish government. It highlights the risks of sharing intimate images online and offers advice on what to do and where to go for help if someone is targeted by criminals.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson said it was "difficult but not impossible" to track offenders - and that it was important for people to report crimes to police to help with evidence gathering.
He added the force would target criminals no matter where they are in the world.
Mark and Ros told BBC News they had a message for any young person who finds themselves a victim of sextortion.
The couple stated: “There's nothing that is worth taking your own life for so if something happens to you, put that phone down and go and get somebody you trust and tell them it's happened.”
“We can’t have this happening to more children, what happened to Murray."
By Angus Crawford and Tony Smith, BBC
Related stories: Nigerian brothers get 17 years for sextortion that led to Michigan teen's death
How sextortion scammers in Nigeria targeted my son
Two arrested in Nigeria for sextortion after Australian boy's suicide
Nigeria’s Chidimma Adetshina emerges second at Miss Universe 2024
The final moments of the prestigious event at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico announced early Sunday morning saw an electrifying face-off between Nigeria and Denmark, as the two women stood poised to claim the crown.
The competition, described as one of the most thrilling in recent years, celebrated the talents, intelligence, and elegance of women from around the globe.
In a post via Instagram, the organisers said, “The final two! Nigeria and Denmark, two incredible women, one unforgettable moment.”
Miss Denmark, Victoria Kjaer Theilvig, ultimately won the crown taking over from Miss Universe 2023, Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua.
Meanwhile, Adetshina’s exceptional performance and grace earned her widespread admiration from judges and audiences alike.
Earlier, Adetshina’s official withdrawal from the Miss South Africa 2024 contest, which she had advanced to the final stage of, caused controversy a few months ago.
She made the decision in response to worries expressed by some South Africans who questioned her nationality.
Nevertheless, Adetshina went on to represent Taraba State and win the title of Miss Universe Nigeria.
This is not the first time a Nigerian has achieved this feat.
On November 16, 2001, Nigeria’s Agbani Darego became the first Black African to win the coveted Miss World title at the age of 18.
As a result of her success, “Agbani” became a phrase linked to slender beauty in Nigeria, where many women looked up to her appearance.
As the first Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria winner to win Miss World, Agbani’s triumph rippled throughout Nigeria and was a great moment for the continent.
By Makua Ubanagu,Punch
The world's largest drawing is a love letter to Nigeria
At 1,004.7 square metres — or nearly as big as four tennis courts — Unity of Diversity is a map of Nigeria filled with the country's many different styles of food, dance, music, art, history and more.
It took David six days to draw it in black marker, hunched over in front of a crowd at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, a football stadium in Lagos, in July.
But before he even started drawing, he travelled all over his home country to experience its myriad of cultures first hand.
"It did change me," David, who lives in Lagos, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "It broadened my knowledge on Nigeria. It broadened my knowledge of myself, of what I can achieve if, you know, I set my mind to something."
The artwork, done with permanent marker on canvas, broke the Guinness World Record for largest drawing by an individual, previously held by Indian artist Ravi Soni for his 629.98 square-metre drawing, Tree of Life.
Drawing in front of 'the whole world'
David, an artist and medical doctor whose real name is Adefemi Gbadamosi, is known for his speed painting. He says he first got the idea to go for the Guinness record nine years ago.
"I usually paint in front of a large crowd or audience," he said. "I wanted to see what it would be like to paint in front of the whole world."
Over time, he began to realize this piece could be more than a personal challenge. It could be a love letter to Nigerian culture.
But he says that's no easy feat, as there is no single Nigerian culture. The West African country is home to more than 200 million people, from more than 250 ethnic groups, speaking more than 500 languages.
David secured funding from Tolaram, a Singapore-based company that does business in Nigeria, to spend three months travelling the country during this past spring and summer in preparation for the drawing.
"I spoke to the political leaders. I spoke to cultural leaders to learn about these cultures. And then I spent time eating their food, listening to the music, the dance, the ceremonies they have," he said.
"Nigeria is just so diverse, and I fell in love with so many different parts of the country."
Doubled in size
The final piece was drawn over dozens of canvasses stitched together on the field, which took David and his collaborators two days to set up.
Among the imagery depicted are a Yoruba cooking pot and cultural attire; periwinkle sea snails, a southern Nigerian delicacy; Benin bronze work; an Efik dancer, a mask of Queen Idia, historic leader of the Edo people; and the Ada and Abere, the state swords of Yorubaland.
At first, David says, he planned to fill roughly 800 square metre of canvas. But as he looked at the blank pages laid out on the field, he quickly realized it was too small for what he wanted to do.
"So I told everybody to get every single support they had out and increase the size," he said. "We almost doubled it."
Those pieces, he says, have since been dismantled and put into storage.
"It's very big," he said. "We had to cut it up."
David says he's working with his sponsor to create a permanent viewing centre for the piece. But in the meantime, he's just glad to have reached the culmination of nearly a decade of dreaming.
"The people I met on my journey, the amount of time I'd spent as an artist, made this possible," he said. "I feel very relieved and, you know, enlightened and just generally happy."
By Sheena Goodyear, CBC
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