Monday, 13th September, 2021

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DAILY ANALYST Monday, 13th September, 2021
Global News
ECOWAS holds virtual meeting
...to assess needs of women in development
The ECOWAS Commission
through the Directorate
of Free Movement
of the Department of
Trade, Customs and Free
Movement organized a one (1) day
virtual Needs Assessment meeting
for Women in Development.
The meeting was convened
to identify areas of intervention,
Gaps, Challenges and Needs of
women in development (WID)
networks for Regional support
under the Framework of the
ECOWAS Regional Cross Border
Cooperation Support Programme
(ECBCSP) 2021-2025 and the ECOW-
AS Cross-Border Cooperation and
Free Movement and Migration
(CBC-FMM) Fund recently adopted
by ECOWAS Ministers in Charge
of Cross-Border Cooperation and
endorsed by ECOWAS Council of
Ministers at its meeting of January
2021. ECBCSP is a multi-sectoral
development Programme which
aims to Strengthen Cooperation
amongst Populations, States and
Markets to accelerate and deepen
Regional Integration from below.
It works with local communities
in border regions to ensure
social cohesion, regional construction
and sustainable development.
It supports Joint Socio-economic
development Initiatives and mainstreams
Gender in its actions. The
Regional meeting had in attendance
over 73 participants drawn
from across the ECOWAS Member
States and representatives of the
ECOWAS Commission.
In his opening speech, Mr Tei
Konzi, the ECOWAS Commissioner
for Trade, Customs and Free Movement
extended warm welcome
to all participants at the all-important
meeting and commended
all Actors for efforts to advance
the regional integration agenda
of ECOWAS. He reminded all that
part of the objectives of ECBCSP
include strengthening cross-border
cooperation and consolidation
of peace, stability and development
and supporting implementation
of economic-driven local community
projects. He stated that this
assessment meeting was organized
to identify and document needs of
women in Cross-Border Regions
in order to inform support in the
implementation of Gender development
projects across Borders.
Madame Bolanle Adetoun,
Director, ECOWAS Gender Development
Centre, in her remark,
expressed her pleasure at the
huge turn out and participation
of National and Local Actors at
the virtual meeting aimed at
strengthening support to Women
in development. She said it is no
gain-saying that support is needed
for women in development actions
especially in the area of Trade
and Free Movement for sustainable
development and mentions
that in the area of cross-border
trade in the region, about 70% of
the volume are done by women
making them a critical factor in
development discourse and action.
She opined that the cross-border
trading done by women provides
livelihood for a lot of families in
border communities and strong
efforts should be made to support
such Cross-Border Cooperation development
initiatives to promote
regional integration especially
through the African Continental
Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Initiative.
She noted that addressing
challenges and constraints faced
by women traders in border communities
will also go a long way in
promoting economic stability and
development in ECOWAS.
The meeting elicited interesting
exchanges on local interventions
and needs of women in
development across Borders and
ended with joint decisions and recommendations
that will serve as a
basis for identifying and providing
Support to Women development
Projects in ECOWAS Cross-border
Zones.
FBI classifieds
documents on
Saudis and 9/11
The FBI has released
a newly declassified
document that looks into
connections between
Saudi citizens in the US
and two of the 9/11 attackers.
Relatives of victims have
long urged the release of the files,
arguing Saudi officials had advance
knowledge but did not try to stop
the attacks.
But the document provides no
evidence that the Saudi government
was linked to the 9/11 plot.
Fifteen of the 19 plane hijackers
were Saudi nationals.
Ahead of the declassification,
the Saudi embassy in Washington
welcomed the release and once
again denied any link between
the kingdom and the hijackers,
describing such claims as "false
and malicious".
The document was declassified
on the 20th anniversary of the
deadliest terror attacks on US soil
- almost 3,000 people were killed
after four planes were hijacked -
and is the first of several expected
to be released.
Some families of the victims
had put pressure on President Joe
Biden to declassify the documents,
saying he should not attend Saturday's
commemoration ceremonies
in New York if he was not prepared
to release them.
The FBI document also says
there were links between the two
hijackers and Fahad al-Thumairy, a
conservative imam at the King Fahad
Mosque in Los Angeles. He was
described by sources as "having
extremist beliefs".
Both Mr Bayoumi and Mr Thumairy
left the US weeks before the
9/11 attacks, according to the AP
news agency.
The agency also quoted Jim
Kreindler, a lawyer for the relatives
of 9/11 victims, as saying that the
released document did "validate
the arguments we have made in
the litigation regarding the Saudi
government's responsibility for the
9/11 attacks".
Last month, a lawsuit launched
by relatives saw several top former
Saudi officials questioned under
oath.
The administrations of George
W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald
Trump all declined to declassify
the documents, citing national
security concerns.
But Joe Biden last week ordered
a review of investigative documents,
telling officials to release
what they could over the next six
months.
There has long been speculation
of official Saudi links to the
plot, given the number of Saudi
nationals involved and al-Qaeda
leaders Osama Bin Laden's Saudi
background.
However, the 9/11 commission
report found no evidence to
implicate the Saudi government or
senior officials.
The US and Saudi Arabia have
long been allies, although the
relationship has at times been
difficult.
Donald Trump strengthened
ties but Joe Biden called Saudi
Arabia "a pariah" for its part in the
gruesome murder of Saudi journalist
Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.
The BBC's Frank Gardner says
Mr Biden has since softened his
stance towards most powerful
man in Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, reflecting
the hard reality of the importance
of the alliance.—BBC
For the last few years life in
rural areas of north-western
Zamfara state has been
agonisingly brutish.
Gun-toting motorbike
gangs have made the state
of approximately 15,352 sq miles
(39,761 sq km) - an area bigger than
countries like Burundi, Lesotho
and Rwanda - a haven for wanton
killing, rape and kidnapping for
ransom.
The gang members are devious
and well organised, often wearing
military fatigues to confuse villagers
as they come under attack.
This problem, which has festered
for years, has now spread to at
least five neighbouring states.
Various initiatives have been
tried in Zamfara to end their reign
of terror, including:
• An amnesty for repentant
gang members
• A no-fly zone - imposed
amid allegations that helicopters
were delivering arms to the bandits
• And a ban on mining after
it was suspected gold was being
used to fund the kidnappers.
But these measure have not
made much difference, so the Zamfara
authorities have now banned
the movement and sale of animals,
along with the weekly markets
where farmers and business people
go to trade. Stealing animals is
one of the gangs' main streams of
income.
The more drastic measure has
been switching off all of Zamfara's
240 mobile phone towers.
The aim is to deny the criminals
the means of communication with
their informants and of negotiating
ransoms with the families of those
abducted.
A sustained air and ground operation
has also been launched.
The phone blackout - which
also affects communities on Zamfara's
borders with other states -
comes at a huge cost to families and
businesses.
Simple things that could be
done with just a call now need a
whole day's trip to achieve.
Some are resorting to writing
Nigeria's kidnap crisis:
Letters replace phones
letters. Without a functioning
postal system, these are being
delivered via commercial buses
that still travel between towns in
the state and to other parts of the
country.
A Zamfara-born resident of the
capital, Abuja, told me that it has
been unbearable not knowing if
his family was safe.
It was only when a relation
arrived in Abuja a few days ago
that he received an update on their
wellbeing.
Another told me that he was so
worried, he will be travelling back
to Zamfara soon to check up on his
family.
One native of the state based in
the capital said it was far better to
endure a short period of pain rather
than the daily mayhem that has
turned Zamfara into one big jungle
where armed men rule.
For now there is a near information
blackout from Zamfara on
how operations against the criminals
are going.
Even journalists have no
means of ascertaining the true
state of affairs.
One reporter told me that she
has been trying to convince the
authorities to allow her to embed
with troops.
Anecdotal reports suggest
some degree of success in dislodging
the gangs from their hideouts
in forested areas.
However, more worryingly, this
has been said to have driven them
to neighbouring areas like Katsina,
where I was born.
There has been a spike in
abductions there in the last week,
including that of the children of a
local notable and that of a retired
federal civil servant alongside his
15-year-old daughter.
I personally chose to move
my mother away from her home
recently - and just a few days ago,
three university students were abducted
less than a kilometre from
her house.
Many security analysts argue
that the current push, with all
its pains, should have been a
simultaneous operation in all
the six states affected, so that the
criminals would have no room for
escape.
Most agree that only a joinedup
approach will end the nightmare.—BBC