DONALD TRUMP IN HOT SEAT AS WORLD LEADERS GATHERS AT UN

Donald Trump takes center stage at the United Nations next week when world leaders gather in New York, anxious to hear the US president outline how he is reshaping Washington’s role in global affairs.

 TRUMP The nuclear crisis with North Korea, the future of the Iran nuclear deal and Myanmar’s military crackdown against Rohingya Muslims are expected to top the agenda at the world’s biggest diplomatic gathering. Trump will deliver his first address to the annual General Assembly high-level debate, which kicks off Tuesday with 129 heads of state and government set to attend. French President Emmanuel Macron will also make his debut, as will UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, now nine months in the job. But all eyes will be on Trump, whose election last year was described as a political earthquake by UN diplomats now struggling with unclear US policies on global crises, from Syria to South Sudan. Washington’s friends and foes have been grappling with the implications of Trump’s “America-First” policy and his address will be closely-watched for signs of what’s in store. While Trump is expected to play to a domestic audience by reasserting the themes that have made him popular at home, diplomats are not ruling out some signs of a shift, on climate change, for instance. The United States sparked global outrage when it announced in June that it was pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, but that process will take three years, allowing time for a re-think.

“Expectations are low, but that may play to Trump’s advantage” said Richard Gowan, a UN expert from the European Council of Foreign Relations. “If he makes any friendly gestures, like hinting that the US could actually stay in the Paris climate change agreement with a few tweaks, he will be acclaimed as a statesman.” “Globally, public opinions of the president are pretty low,” said Martin Edwards, a UN expert at Seton Hall University. “I expect the tone to be off-putting rather than engaging.”

 – Trump vs Macron ? – On Tuesday, the French president will take the podium just a few speakers after Trump and deliver an address that will champion multilateralism and renew his call of action on climate change. Macron “can roll out an inspiring vision of global cooperation to eclipse the US president,” said Gowan. “If Trump crashes and burns with a really nasty speech, Macron will look particularly good.” During the myriad of bilateral meetings, North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests will be in the spotlight after Russia and China agreed to back a US push for tougher UN sanctions against Pyongyang. The North Korean crisis has pushed the war in Syria off the top of the global agenda, but there is no agreement among big powers on the diplomatic steps needed to avoid war. North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho is set to defend his country’s nuclear drive during his address on Friday. Ri is expected to meet with Guterres, who has offered to act as mediator. On Syria, allies will press Trump to come up with a broader strategy beyond leading the coalition that is fighting the Islamic State (IS) group. There will be also be calls from Washington’s partners who signed the Iran nuclear deal to salvage the agreement. The plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims fleeing a military campaign in Rakhine state will also be discussed, with the UN Security Council weighing a tougher response after calling for an end to the violence.

 – Reforming the UN – On Monday, Trump will host a meeting of about 100 world leaders on reforming the United Nations at an event attended by his influential UN ambassador Nikki Haley and Guterres. The UN’s number one financial backer, the United States has threatened deep cuts to UN funding and Haley was a driving force behind a $600-million-dollar cut to the UN peacekeeping budget this year. At a news conference this week, the UN chief said he was hoping for a “constructive” message from Trump about the United Nations, the global body the US president once disparaged as a “club” for “people to have a good time.” “I hope that if that is the message that will be conveyed, that that message will be well received,”

No to NGO regulation bill

WE are worried at strenuous efforts being made to shackle activities of civil society groups, otherwise known as Non-Governmental Organisations,
 NGOs. If allowed to pass, our democratic and civil liberties will suffer a terrible blow, rather than expand, after 19 years of unbroken civil rule.
 The Bill, which was sponsored by the Deputy Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Umar Buba Jibril, is calling for the setting up of yet another Federal agency to be known as the NGO Regulatory Commission, which will have an Executive Secretary and a 17-member Governing Board to be appointed by the President for a five-year tenure. Its job will be to issue licences to all NGOs, which will require renewing such licences every two years. If the Commission’s board declines to renew any group’s licence, the NGO will cease to operate. The board will also poke-nose into how funds received from donors are spent, and if any NGO spends without the Commission’s permission it would amount to a crime which attracts a jail term of up to 18 months. As expected, the Nigerian Network of NGOs earlier this week gathered in Lagos and unanimously kicked against this rather dubious effort to subject civil rights advocacy in Nigeria to military-style straitjackets.
 We are also opposed to the idea of creating yet another Federal agency which will draw on our lean resources only for the purpose of restricting free speech and shutting down avenues through which the civil rights of citizens are promoted and ventilated. Civil society groups are very important components in the vanguard for the expansion of the democratic space and citizen rights. They play a big role in enlightening the people and promoting their access to issues like justice, liberty and the abolition of certain harmful socio-cultural practices that hamper human rights and personal dignity. In an atmosphere of rapidly dwindling support of governments for their own organs of public enlightenment and social reorientation (such as the National and State Orientation Agencies), the NGOs, with the support of foreign and local support funding, are able to fill much of the void. They greatly complement efforts of the media in holding government to account and calling attention to ways by which the people can be better served. We admit that, as any other human endeavour, NGOs can engage in excesses, such as corrupt practices and the promotion of strange foreign traditions such as same-sex marriage or behaviour which are against our laws and lore. However, we believe that enough laws and regulations already exist to bring errant NGOs and their promoters to book. We do not need any additional effort in this pursuit, so the NGO Regulation Bill should be rested.

Adamawa govt assures Igbo residents of safety

Governor Mohammed Jibrilla of Adamawa State, yesterday, assured the Igbo community in the state of their safety. He gave the assurance against the backdrop of clashes between security operatives and members of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in Abia and Rivers states. Gov. Mohammed Bindow Jibrilla Governor Jibrilla, who spoke when he received the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, who paid him a courtesy call in his office, said: “We will like to assure Igbo residents in the state of their safety, despite the growing tension in parts of the South-East states.’’

The Attorney General was in Adamawa State for the Attorney-General and State Commissioners of Justice summit holding in Yola, the state capital. Minister of Justice, Mohammed Malami, had called on the state governors to join efforts with the Federal Government to eradicate hate speech. Elated, Governor Jibrila thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the restoration of peace in the North-East. He said if there was no peace in the North East, the Attorney Generals’ summit will not be holding in Yola.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Ahmed Sajoh, told journalists, moment after the meeting, that security will be beefed up based on alleged planned attacks by some miscreants. In his remarks, Malami observed that the existence of the nation was under threat, noting that without the collaboration of the governments at all levels, the nation was sitting on a time bomb. He commended Governor Jibrilla’s administration for the physical transformation of the state, in line with the All Progressives Congress, APC, manifesto. The Justice Minister urged the party’s leadership in the state to give Governor Jibrila a choice of first refusal ahead of 2019 general election.