Category: Opinion

I was in Cape Verde this week checking out the torture and police mistreatment that has been denounced to the world since the kidnapping of ambassador Alex Saab, Venezuela’s special envoy, 400 days ago.

Upon arrival at the airport, unlike other tourist countries, I was asked exaggeratedly what I was coming to the island for having a Mexican passport. After almost an hour of interrogation they let me in.

I started to walk the streets of Praia and then I moved to the island of Sal, the island in theory more touristy of the archipelago and where Ambassador Alex Saab is kidnapped.

I was able to observe the absolute poverty in which the country finds itself, the country has nothing left of green, only an arid and funereal desert.

The houses are 90% unfinished. There is almost nothing in the stores and there are no international fast-food chains.

The entrance to the sea is completely full of stones which makes it almost impossible to enter to bathe. The water that is drunk is distilled from sea water which in the long run causes pain in the knees.

Everywhere on the island, when one asks about Ambassador Alex Saab, the first thing one hears is how the authorities could have committed such an act of atrocious kidnapping and aggression against another country.

No one explains the reasons why, just as no one agrees with the detention. We could not find a single inhabitant in favor.

Everyone claims that this was a friendly island and that it was waiting for the tourist with great joy. Today there is only fear.

People ask for the release of the ambassador , but the government , according to what we are told , does not listen , they say it is because of an economic commitment with the United States that a week ago offered them shamelessly through its ambassador in Praia a bribe of usd 100 million dollars for the extraction of Ambassador Alex Saab ( here is the link to the news ).

In other words, after more than 100 years, Cape Verde re-established the sale of slaves.

They have just celebrated 46 years of independence, although it seems more like total dependence on the United States that even the PM spent there the day of independence of his country making the flag of Cape Verde next to the United States even mentioning that it

was exciting, while he was booed by citizens of Boston of Cape Verdean origin who demanded the freedom of Ambassador Alex Saab.

The island that used to show beautiful beaches on its postcards is now considered one of the most unsafe places to spend a peaceful vacation. The police have become aggressive and they live in a state of alert according to its inhabitants.

Nobody understands why Cape Verde got into such trouble , detaining a diplomat who had immunity as Special Envoy since April 2018 and who was notified by Venezuela , Russia and Iran two hours after being illegally detained and beaten off his plane which was only on a technical stop placing gasoline in humanitarian mission from Venezuela to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Although Ambassador Alex Saab was carrying documents accrediting him as a diplomat, they were not taken into account by the police, who obviously had already planned his kidnapping.

Unofficially we learned that that same night they tried to locate President Fonseca and Prime Minister Correia in different countries to solve this impasse but with or without intention they did not get on the phone and allowed this to be brought before a court during that weekend.

Since then, they have always replied that the decision will be taken by a court of law, while all their people are waiting for the immediate release order to be taken by their rulers, in an act of sovereignty, which is the only one that could clean up the cowardly and insecure image they have left before the world.

It is in these moments when a leader is needed to put an end to the outrages committed. That is what leadership really demonstrates. There is not the slightest doubt of all the illegalities that have been committed in this case since his arrest until today.

I arrived by commercial flight after a long journey because there are not many direct flights to the capital of Praia. The people are good, friendly, eager to receive tourists after a pandemic that hit them very hard economically.

They became independent from Portugal only 46 years after thousands of their inhabitants died of starvation without the help of this European country.

But in the years 1600 to 1800 it was not like that. At that time Cape Verde collected the most taxes for Portugal, all based on the slave trade. Yes, incredibly this was the point or the station where all the slaves that went to America to different parts of the world stopped. Its sand was covered with the blood and mistreatment of millions of African slaves.

When slavery was banned, it ceased to be important for Portugal, since it did not produce the expected revenues but rather cost them to maintain it.

With courageous leaders they fought for the independence of the country until they achieved it.

But it seems that so much suffering failed to sensitize the government. Today it is ruled by a prime minister who makes absolutely all the decisions in the country. At the same time, it has a president who only acts in protocol acts. The feeling I felt is that people see him as a more approachable and reasonable person, but he cannot make decisions.

Prime Minister Ulises Correa Da Silva is considered almost a dictator and the director responsible for the arrest of the ambassador. Besides being a country of only 500,000 inhabitants, it has 27 ministers and 72 deputies. I leave that conclusion to you.

However, people who have more knowledge say that everything was done behind his back by the ministers Landim , Paulo Rocha the man they fear the most on the island with several investigations of murders and that everyone says he works for the United States . Everyone fears him. Including they say the prime minister. Paulo Rocha controls the police and Carlos Reiss, head of national security, who they call a murderer.

There are many courts as well but the only one that still has some prestige so far is the constitutional court , which at this moment is deciding on the extradition or not of ambassador Alex Saab .

However, this court has also expired and they have not decided yet but they continue to keep him under police surveillance which is totally illegal according to the constitution of his own country.

The defense lawyers have presented more than five habeas corpus asking for his release and the supreme court answers that he is already free when we all know what happened from prison to a house surrounded by police of which he does not even control the keys.

He remains locked up 24 hours a day and is only opened when food is brought to him.

Despite being a cancer survivor and with many health problems, he spent the first almost eight months lying on a concrete floor in total darkness and not allowed to go out to the yard more than half an hour a week in total isolation, with prohibition to speak or be spoken to by other inmates, he was physically tortured on more than four occasions demanding him to sign his voluntary extradition and statements against his government that obviously did not succeed since we have only seen statements defending his country and his government from a blockade that the UN itself recognized as inhumane. Nor was he allowed access to doctors he trusted.

The director who was at that time in the prison never intervened to stop this massacre as we were told by relatives of some prisoners that we were able to contact.

After a visit of a local Human Rights Commission, 8 months after the kidnapping, this director was changed suddenly and without explanation, who happened to be Correia, the same as the first Minister Ulises Correria and the kidnapper Natalino Correia.

On March 15, the highest court in this part of Africa called Cedeao / Ecowas, after months of reviewing the case, declared the arrest illegal and arbitrary and condemned the island of

Cape Verde to release him immediately and pay him compensation. Cape Verde did not comply with the order and appealed. He asked the court to answer basically two points:

1. Whether they had jurisdiction over them.
   If they could review the release order .
2. The court ruled on June 21 ratifying both points. Even so, the ambassador is still in prison.
3. On July 1st the deadline for the constitutional court to make a decision on the future of the ambassador expired, however it did not do so.
4. Immediately his international lawyers, who were never allowed access to the island and were deported from the airport on several occasions, requested his release by expiration of terms, which the court has not answered.
5. In other words, Cape Verde has become a true dictatorship, violating due process and with all the constitutional violations you can imagine.
6. Who dares to invest in Cape Verde today? I don’t think so.
7. Tourists who know the history will not be encouraged to take the risk of going to a country where the police and the government is totally authoritarian.
8. Just yesterday they were expropriating a private Boeing plane for no reason.
9. The country went from being a group of islands with tourist potential by investing some resources, to a hell caused by its rulers, not by the people.

It is a pity. We hope that their rulers or the court will rectify and release soon the ambassador Alex Saab because every day that passes, the country is more discredited and is very bad seen before the whole world.

TWO concessions are necessary before I make my points. One, while advocacy for self-determination is not criminal and is protected by international laws to which Nigeria is a signatory, calls for violence, instigation of violence against security officers, or machinating a plot to violently dissolve sovereign polities are criminal and have no legal protection anywhere in the world. It’s worse if the calls transcend the rhetorical realm and are materialised in actual acts of violence.

Second, no modern country in the world brooks challenges to its sovereignty with listless acquiescence. It’s always the case that countries deploy the instruments of violence to contain or eliminate threats to their territorial, political, and symbolic dominion—and their monopoly of legitimate violence.

In light of these concessions, Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest and repatriation from Addis Ababa on June 29 is neither unusual nor indefensible because there is irrefutable material evidentiary proof of his habitual incitement of mass murder. He instructed hordes of headless, cretinous automatons who worship him and interpret his demented pronouncements as inviolably divine commandments to commit acts of violence.

As far as I know, though, Sunday Igboho has not launched offensive violence against the government, does not instruct his followers, who are comparatively few, to murder civilians who disagree with his methods, like Kanu did before his arrest, and seems concerned only with defending his people against attacks by herders and advocating the emergence of a Yoruba nation out of Nigeria.

Nonetheless, the speed with which the regime has tackled Kanu and Igboho has brought up at least two salient issues in bold relief.

First, the intricate bilateral maneuvers and sleuthing that preceded the arrest of Kanu in Ethiopia is proof that honchoes of the Nigerian state have the resources and capacity to end terrorism and banditry in the North—and elsewhere in Nigeria—if they want to. They acted on Kanu—and later Sunday Igboho—only because Buhari’s emotions are involved.

In other words, it would take for Buhari to be personally affected by terrorism and banditry for him to act. If one of his children were to get kidnapped by bandits, for example, banditry and kidnapping would be history in Nigeria. The security forces exist almost entirely to satiate the impulses of people in power. That’s what happens when a country has no apolitical institutional structures and when power is personalized.

Someone noted in a comment on my Facebook status update on Kanu’s arrest that if bandits in the North were to transition from being murderous leeches terrorizing poor, rural folks to being “freedom fighters” asking for a change of government and upstaging Buhari from power, they would be all burned to clinkers.

So, whenever the government sets up a “committee” over any issue, more often than not, it’s an indication that they have no desire to do anything about it. There was no committee and no press release before Kanu was arrested. There was no committee or press release before Sunday Igboho’s home was invaded.

The second lesson is that this regime has shown time and again that it will never transcend ethno-religious favoritism in its response to common threats. Boko Haram wants to violently dissolve the Nigerian state and replace it with a regressive, seventh-century Talibanic theocracy, starting from the northeast. That’s actually worse than IPOB’s quest to secede from Nigeria, which started out peacefully before it devolved into its current spectacles of violence as a direct consequence of the government’s mismanagement of peaceful dissent.

There is no country on earth where there are no fissiparous groups wanting to break away from a union. Even the United States, seen by many as the archetype of a cohesive nation, which also fought a Civil War nearly 200 years ago to keep it together, still contends with pockets of separatist agitations from New England and the South. They’re allowed to exist so long as they aren’t violent.

Now, although Boko Haram is infinitely more lethal than IPOB— and actually controls vast swathes of Borno and Yobe states—the regime has not shown the same zeal to annihilate them as they have shown to comparatively benign separatists from the South.

On many occasions, according to reports by the Daily Trust and the BBC, the Nigerian military came close to arresting Boko Haram’s Abubakar Shekau but “orders from above” always told them to back off. Shekau ended up being killed by a rival Boko Haram faction, and not by the government. Not to mention that the government has a program to so-called rehabilitate and reintegrate “repentant” terrorists who often go back to their old ways and cause the death of hundreds of Nigerian soldiers thereafter.

The mollycoddling of Boko Haram terrorists, fully realized in Maj. Gen Abdulmalik Biu’s July 22, 2019 statement that “repentant” Boko Haram terrorists can “become the President of this country and take up any position in this country”—makes it difficult to justify the state-sanctioned assaults on Kanu and Igboho.

Kanu became a priority only because Buhari has a personal emotional investment in getting him. Igboho is targeted because his rage is directed at the Fulani with whom Buhari identifies to the exclusion of others. Recall that the only time Buhari ever visited Zamfara in connection with the horrendously bloodstained security situation there was to protect what he perceives to be the interests of Fulani herders whose cattle were reportedly being stolen by bandits. He even donned military fatigues for this expedition. He shows no care for victims of rural banditry, apparently because they aren’t people he self-identifies with.

That tells us that if Buhari had a real personal, emotional investment in ending Boko Haram terrorism and banditry, they would have been eliminated or least weakened to the fringes by now. There’s no question about that.

Who Owns Daily Trust?

In the aftermath of my May 8, 2021 column titled “Celebration of Kabiru Yusuf’s Election as NPAN President” where I paid tribute to Daily Trust’s chairman and described him as the paper’s “majority shareholder” with at least 40 percent of the company’s shares, I encountered a book by the Kogi-born Alhaji Isiaq Ajibola, a co-founder and retired Managing Director/Chief Operating Officer of Daily Trust, titled Journalism and Business: My Newspaper Odyssey.

The book carefully chronicles the history, growth, struggles, and triumphs of Media Trust, the parent company that published the Daily Trust and its weekend editions, from the experiential lenses of the author. It shows, for instance, that contrary to what I had supposed, Malam Kabiru Yusuf doesn’t own up to 40 percent of the shares of the newspaper, and isn’t the “majority shareholder” even though, with 24 percent of the shares, he owns the highest percentage of shares.

The paper is the brainchild of Malam Kabiru Yusuf and Isiaq Ajibola who had worked together in the Lagos office of the defunct Citizen magazine, northern Nigeria’s star-studded, well-edited newsmagazine that had such renowned journalists as Mohammed Haruna and Adamu Adamu (current education minister who wrote the foreword to Ajibola’s book)as editors. In his foreword, Adamu recalled Ajibola as the man who “always accompanied Kabiru Yusuf, the head of our Lagos office whenever he came for management or boar meetings in the headquarters.”

Yusuf later left Citizen to work for the BBC in South Africa, and his relationship with Ajibola grew into an enduring friendship. Upon his return to Nigeria, they decided to found Media Trust with only 20,000 naira. When they decided to start a weekly newspaper at Ajibola’s prompting, they decided to try something new: invite young northern Nigerian journalists with a little cash to invest in the paper to make it a collective undertaking.

Ajibola points out that the company started with five shareholders: Kabiru Yusuf, Isiaq Ajibo, Mannir Dan-Ali (who worked with the BBC in London), Umar Abdullahi, Rabiu Garba, and Mohammed Jibrilla “who did not eventually take up his allotted shares” (p. 21).

The shareholders later expanded, but the shareholding was deliberately designed so that no one person can have the majority share. Kabiru Yusuf has 24%. Others, who are 19 in number, have 12%, 10+%, 10+%, 7+%, 5+%, with some having less than 0.5%. This is unlike the typical media ownership in Nigeria.

The book also talks of the strategies they adopted to break the jinx of media publishing in northern Nigeria, such as putting more attention to the “business side” of publishing than has ever been done. I recommend the book to anyone who wants to understand the intricacies of publishing and the story of the Daily Trust.

The micro-state of Cape Verde, which has for years tuned up its nose at both ECOWAS and the African Union and claimed to be “not African” which for decades has grabbed with both hands all that ECOWAS had to offer but never given back, is now lobbying to be installed as the ECOWAS Presidency in October.

What is absolutely galling about Cape Verde’s lobbying for the ECOWAS Presidency is the fact that it believes the position is it’s as a right.

Truly a mouse that wants to be heard! But what sound will be herd? The squeak of Cape Verde or will the sound the emanates be that of the mighty bald-headed eagle? Or will it be the voice of Portugal?

It is rumoured that more than half of the Cape Verde cabinet hold Portuguese passports. Cape Verde has spent most of the past year attacking the legitimacy of ECOWAS’s most respected institution, namely the ECOWAS Court of Justice.

The ECOWAS Revised Treaty, a treaty which Cape Verde has signed, is very clear that the both the jurisdiction and decisions of the Court are binding on all Member States.Cape Verde has twice in the past year openly disobeyed rulings handed down by the Court.

There again there is the issue of arrears. For most the past few decades Cape Verde has not met its financial obligations to ECOWAS.It is only in the last couple of years that it has begun to make paltry contributions and that, too, only in the hope of justifying its assumption of the ECOWAS Presidency.

ECOWAS has spent considerable amount of time carving out its own unique West African identity and the region is on the cusp of significant economic and political integration.

Cape Verde cannot be permitted to assume any form of regional leadership position until it is clear that in assuming any such role it would be truly representing the aspirations and needs of the people of West Africa and not perpetrators of past and present hegemony.

It’s World Environment Day! Just take a look at the world around you, should we not do better in protecting it? From the first world environment day celebrated in 1974 with the slogan; ‘Only One Earth’; we are here in 2021 celebrating with ‘Reimagine, Recreate, Restore’. What’s more? This year’s world environment day is ushering in the United Nations (UN) Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, which runs from year 2021 to 2030. World Environment Day offers us the opportunity to consider local and global environmental challenges, and also serve as call to action for governments, organizations and individuals. 

What is Ecosystem Restoration? 

It refers to the renewing, recovery and restoring of our ecosystems and habitats which have been damaged by the actions or involvement of humans. It is the recovery of ecosystems of all kinds: forests, wetlands, creeks and other habitats. Almost every ecosystem on earth has been changed by the activities of humans. Thus, ecosystem restoration will help habitats’ biological functions and their capacity to meet our present and future needs. It will also help to mould the environmental strength of our ecosystems. 

How can our ecosystems be restored?

Reforestation: The World Bank states that 3.9 million square miles of forests have been cut since the beginning of the 20th century. It has been reported that one and a half acres of forests are cut down every seconds. If we don’t do anything, it is estimated that in the next 100 years, there will be no forests. Just as deforestation is a leading cause of global warming, deforestation can mitigate global warming and contribute to ecosystem restoration. Trees have the ability to reduce our global footprints, absorb harmful gases in the atmosphere, aid wildlife, including soil and water conservation.  

Removal of Invasive Species: Invasive species are organisms (plants, animals and other microorganisms) introduced into new environments where they are not native. They cause ecological and economic harm and negatively alter the ecological chain and food web of the new environment. While some might argue that invasive or alien species have their advantages, their disadvantages far outweigh the advantages they may offer, especially in the long run. Invasive species are leading cause of biodiversity loss. Restoration initiatives to remove invasive species can benefit native species, giving them the chance to thrive without intrusion or competition, including improving biodiversity and conservation gains. 

Recycle: This includes the collection and use of materials that would have been wastes and turning them into new products. Examples of recyclable materials include papers, metals, batteries, cans and glass. Apart from reducing the amount of wastes in the environment, recycle processes help conserve resources that will be used for making new raw materials, prevent pollution, saves energy and money, lead to economic security and the protection of our ecosystem.

Upcycle: Also known as ‘Repurpose’; is the innovative reuse or the alteration and revamp of unwanted waste materials into new products, which are of ample quality, artistic significance, and of course, environmental value. It is simply the process of giving new lives to old products. Examples of upcycle projects include newspapers repurposed into flower pots, eye glasses into photo frames, plastic jars for keeping spices, and bottles for pendant lights. When we upcycle products, we can contribute to ecosystem restoration by reducing wastes in the environment, and adding some creativity to our space.

Green Technologies: This is the use of technology to create products that are environmentally friendly and efficient. The ultimate goal of these technologies is to conserve resources, protect and restore the environment. Solar flowers, plant walls, plastic roads, hydroelectric dams, water purification machines, green roofs and sustainable phones are examples of green technologies. These technologies reduce green house gases, reduce wastes, manage and save money. Though it is still an emerging aspect of environmental protection, it is an exciting one with long lasting benefits. 

The benefits of ecosystem restoration cannot be overemphasized enough! The economic benefits of restoration yield much more compared to its cost. Thus, investing in our ecosystem is investing in the future. 

Undoubtedly, if we want improve biodiversity, enlarge our accessibility to environmental goods and services, prevent species extinction, regulate diseases, educe threat of disasters, advance our growth and well being, and improve ecological processes, we need to take ecosystem restoration seriously. Restoring is important as a strategy against pandemics, especially Covid 19. In fact, according to the United Nations, ecosystem restoration can help to achieve all the sustainable development goals. Isn’t this amazing? 

Every one of us can take part in ecosystem restoration initiatives. We need to prevent, halt and reverse the damage we have done to the environment and restore it. 

Ananwureyi Ohine Joy is a Bachelor of Laws graduate from Obafemi Awolowo University. She is a lover of the environment and loves celebrating International days. She can be reached through ananwureyijoy01@gmail.com.

In using the micro-state of Cape Verde as a front in its ideological war against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the United States has taken its politically motivated judicial overreach to a new level.

The entire playbook from the start has all the hallmarks of moves to which the world has become accustomed in the post-9/11 era.

Let us be frank, Cape Verde, the smallest country in the African continent, has neither the know how nor political stomach to undertake the acts of both psychological and physical torture inflicted upon Alex Nain Saab Moran, the Venezuelan diplomat who was illegally arrested and then detained since
12 June 2020.

The dangling of a financial carrot with the explicit threat of the use of a political stick in the event of non-compliance, is a scenario which Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia has swallowed.

In poker parlance, Ulisses Correia is “all in” with no Plan B But who can blame Ulisses? His country has no natural resources to speak of, its main “official” export
is its people (there are more Cape Verdeans living in the United States, for example, than those livingon the ten main islands of this micro-state) and whilst its elite try desperately to present themselves as “not African”, the rest of Africa is happy to treat the archipelago as an expulsion from the body ofAfrica given that it lies well into the Atlantic Ocean and is the closest “African” land mass to South
America.

There again, being so close to South America presents an opportunity and yes, the Cape Verdean elite has grasped it with both hands. Highly respected publications from the United Kingdom, such as “The Spectator” and “The Daily Telegraph” have reported in recent years on Cape Verde’s role as the newest stop on the “cocaine superhighway” that links South America to Europe. But don’t mention
this in close proximity to the ears of the Cape Verdean political elite. They don’t like it. It spoils that “mutton dressed as lamb” look which can be so chic until you get up close and are hit by the stench of narco-corruption.But we are digressing.

The truth is that on 12 June 2020, Alex Saab, in his capacity as Special Envoy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was undertaking a humanitarian Special Mission when his plane made a refuelling stop.

Alex Saab had neither reason nor desire to get off his aircraft during the 45 minutes or so that it was
going to take to taxi, refuel, pay, taxi and take off. This was nothing more than a technical transit untilUlisses – like the boy in the playground with no friends, desperate to show that he too can be cool – decided to show Washington that he was worthy of its attention and affection by kidnapping Alex
Saab.

Like Golum in “Lord of the Rings”, Ulisses now had his “precious” and he wasn’t going to let go!
So let us be clear about one thing. Alex Saab is not detained; he is the victim of State sponsored kidnapping. There is no other way to describe his situation.

We now know from evidence presented at the ECIOWAS Court of Justice that when the officer who arrested him, Natalino Correia, told Alex Saab that he had a Red Notice for his arrest, he lied. He flat
out lied.

The fact that there was no Red Notice until much later was acknowledged by his subordinates who wrote the arrest report in the police records. Not surprisingly Natalino Correia (apparently no relative of the Kidnapper-in-Chief Ulisses) has kept a low profile since the ECOWAS Court ruling of 15 March. Not only has he failed to admit that when he boarded the plane, Alex Saab informed him that he was a diplomat and had the necessary documents to prove it, but he also knows that he showed.

Alex Saab neither a properly authorised Cape Verdean arrest warrant nor the Red Notice as he pushed him off the aircraft. Once Alex Saab, a lawfully appointed diplomat of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, was taken off the plane, it appears Correia and his subordinates were confused as to what to do next so, they made Saab purchase a visa so that he could enter Cape Verde!.

Kidnapper Correia (let’s be clear that what the ECOWAS Court ruling makes him) would never havedared to act as he did without the direct consent of Attorney General Ladim. Which means that Ladim also lied. He lied. The Minister of Internal Affairs also participated in the kidnapping and lied.

There are even rumours that Cape Verde’s Head of National Security Carlos Reiss, who is a known front man for US interests, played a central role in coordinating Alex Saab’s kidnapping on direct instructions
from the DoJ.

Which brings us back to Ulisses. None of these fine public servants would have taken any decision to kidnap Alex Saab without the approval of the Kidnapper-in-Chief. The truth is that as soon as Venezuela invoked Alex Saab’simmunity in the early hours of 13 June 2020, Ulisses in accordance with international law, should have ordered Saab’s releas

Unfortunately for him, he did not which not only makes Ulisses a kidnapper, but it also makes him a co-conspirator of Rendition by Proxy and potential multimillion Euro lawsuits.

There is now further trouble in store for Ulisses. Today, the Barlavento Court of Appeal rowed back on its own decision of January this year, when it (reluctantly) granted Alex Saab house arrest and ruled members of his immediate family could stay with him. This decision has a direct and devastating impact on Alex Saab’s sister, Katya, who flew from Colombia a week ago to mourn with him the tragic
deaths of their mother and father who passed away on 20 and 29 April, respectively, after contracting
COVID-19.

In what is clearly a coordinated action, the local police on the island of Sal have determined that this decision of the court means that no one other than Alex Saab’s local lawyers can visit him. This is a shameless act of premeditated psychological torture and is part of an agenda that is being set by
Ulisses BFF’s.

So, a man who was kidnapped under orders of the Cape Verdean Prime Minister, who was not able to attend the funerals of both his parents, who has not met with a family member for a year, who is a cancer patient and has repeatedly been denied access to the specialist medical care which is his fundamental human right and who has been repeatedly physically tortured is now being subjected to incredibly cruel psychological pain.

And what was his alleged crime? Supplying basic foodstuffs and medicines to his fellow countrymen at a time of a severe COVID epidemic. Hang your head in shame Ulisses.

There has been an upsurge in the constant release of harmful gases into our environment, mainly from fossil fuels and other human activities. The United Nations (UN) reported that global fossil fuel emissions rose to 62% between 1990 and 2019. These have given rise to climate change (otherwise known as ‘global warming’). Without doubt, climate change is one of the major challenges facing humanity today. It has led to immense modifications of normal weather forms, threatening the survival of earth’s biodiversity, severe droughts, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, warmer planet, dwindling glaciers, flooding and serious threat to economic stability. 

Nevertheless, there are articulate and practical pathways which humans can employ to survive in the world of climate change and mitigate its effects: TREE PLANTING.

The loss of trees and forests is one of the main causes of climate change. Deforestation causes over 10% of worldwide emissions. Let us discuss some benefits of trees to human survival.

Reduction of Harmful Gases in the Atmosphere:

In this era of climate change, the importance of trees cannot be overemphasized enough. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful gases and give out oxygen during the photosynthesis process vital for their growth and survival. When trees stop growing, as a result of cutting down, dying or burning, they don’t have the ability to capture carbon dioxide and other gases anymore. Worse still, they release the gases that have been previously stored in them into the atmosphere. The release of harmful gases from fossil fuels and other equipment that humans use have contributed mainly to climate change; conversely, trees have been rightly named ‘carbon sinks’. 

Medicine:

The medicinal benefits that trees provide cannot be discarded – it plays vital role to human survival. Trees provide medicine from its wood, root, barks, leaves, fruits, flowers and seeds. All parts of trees can be used in the prevention and treatment of diseases. Thus, apart from the provision of food, fuel, timber and fibers, trees meet humans’ medicinal needs, and provide economic benefits in the long run. 

Supports Biodiversity:

There are obvious links between trees, forests and biodiversity; still, forests have been disappearing at unnerving rates. According to World Wildlife Fund, trees, which make up forests, contribute 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. When trees are cut down or lost, the biodiversity and vast collections of plants and animals, some which are even yet to be discovered, are threatened or endangered. These lead to the disruption of our ecosystem and even endanger human life. Trees provide wildlife with resting place and humans with healthier, balanced and clean ecosystem. 

Soil and Water Conservation:

Trees act as water basins as they reduce erosion, flooding, traps and prevent wastes from entering into our water bodies. Furthermore, trees also give shades to cool the soil and improve soil cover, especially from the ultra violet (UV) rays of the sun. It also boasts the soil’s ability to conserve water, managing and maintaining the nutrients in the soil. 

Cool Climate:

Trees provide shades and cool our climate through transpiration processes. They reduce soil and air temperature through their evaporative cooling processes too. Trees essentially serve as ‘natural air filters’ and they have the ability to reduce humans artificial energy consumption in the long run. 

Conclusively, what will happen if all trees on earth disappear? How will humans survive? Undoubtedly, trees have many uses; for our survival and our ecosystem too. 

Do you know the greenness and freshness of trees can also act as stress relief for us and boast our mood? 

We should try our best to plant and preserve trees for the betterment of ourselves and future generations. You don’t need to own a large expanse of land before you start planting. It’s high time we build up one of our best allies in tackling climate change. Planting trees and keeping them standing remain one of the most strategic ways of mitigating climate change. 

A popular Chinese proverb states thus: ‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now’. 

Written by Akinfolahan Oluwasegun Peter, who is a final year student of Forestry and Wood Technology at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. He is a person full of passion for service to God and humanity. A zealous tree planter and Dendrophile, he uses every opportunity to plant trees, encourage people to love and plant trees and also volunteer for International Forestry Student Association IFSA FUTA LC as Treasurer, President and former Regional Representative of IFSA Northern Africa. 🌍

akinfolahanfwt166997@futa.edu.ng.
akinfolahanoluwasegun1@gmail.com

By Samuel Idion

Cape Verde has been refusing to respect the immunity of diplomat Alex Saab who was only passing the country’s island a special mission to Iran before they proceeded to arrest him by carrying out the orders of the former Donald Trump administration, with a view to extradition.

After several court appearances, it has been pronounced that the arrest has no legal basis and has been ongoing since June 12, 2020.

The vice is tightening against the government of Cape Verde. It was already known that the arrest and detention of the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab had been judged totally arbitrary by the ECOWAS Court of Justice, which ordered his immediate release on 15 March 2021.

The government of Cape Verde, however, continued to engage in illegality and to multiply violations of international law and human rights, refusing to execute this binding international judgment. Venezuela protested continuously and the dispute took on unprecedented proportions. The violation of diplomatic immunity by a state is rare and contravenes the most fundamental values of the international community. From now on, an anonymous source close to the chancelleries involved, tells us that the dispute is spreading. Indeed, Iran has reportedly expressed its deep concern to the government of Cape Verde through official channels regarding “the consequences of the violation of the fundamental principles of public international law and those of interference in the bilateral relations between Iran and Venezuela”.

More, Iran “demands that all the necessary measures are taken to put an end to Mr. Saab’s detention and that respecting Mr. Saab’s immunity as a Special Envoy, he is allowed to pursue, without interruption, he journey as a Special Envoy of the Venezuelan government”. Iran demands an end to the extradition process to the United States and strongly protests against these violations of international law by Cape Verde.

Contrary to its basic obligations under international law, which require Cape Verde to engage in dialogue and act in good faith to find peaceful solutions to disputes with other states, the government of Cape Verde has chosen to remain silent, ignoring calls for dialogue from a range of international bodies, including the African Union, ECOWAS, and Venezuela.

The dispute is taking on unprecedented proportions. Iran’s protest is clear and unambiguous: international law is being violated and Saab must be released. Will Cape Verde continue to wallow in a guilty silence? The legal, diplomatic, political, economic, and geopolitical consequences for Cape Verde of this affront to the elementary rules of the international community, which all states respect (even when they are at war), are abysmal.