NEWS

Africans must move beyond aid, not be ‘beggars of the world’ says Akufo-Addo

Published

6 years ago

November 22, 2017

Africa should move beyond aid handouts that have failed to bring growth and prosperity and move to an era of mutual respect with Western countries, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana said.Akufo-Addo made this known in a speech to the Royal African Society.He said aid to his nation from donor countries was unsustainable and harmful to both sides.

“We do not want to remain the beggars of the world, we do not want to be dependent on charity,” he said in a speech in London, setting out a vision for Africa’s future.

“We can and we should be able to build a Ghana with use of her own resources and their proper management as a way to engineer social and economic growth in our country,” he said.

Resource-rich Ghana is an exporter of gold and oil and the world’s second largest cocoa producer.

Akufo-Addo has vowed to clean up corruption in the West African nation’s cocoa sector and restore output to one million tonnes by 2020.

Akufo-Addo, who took office in January, called for closer trade ties with neighbouring Ivory Coast and across Africa, home to 1.2 billion people and a burgeoning middle class.

Ghana was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to win independence from colonial rule 60 years ago, a milestone that paved the way for independence for nations across the continent.

“We are painfully aware we are nowhere near where we should be.

“After 60 years it is obvious that the aid bus will not take Africa where it has to be,” he said.

British-Ghanaian musician “Fuse ODG” agreed that Africa must create its own narrative and hoped his music would offer the world a new perspective of a continent free from dependency.

“We have to stop the aid, it messes up our economy, it messes up our markets,” added Herman Chinery-Hesse, a Ghanaian software entrepreneur often dubbed the Bill Gates of Ghana.

Akufo-Addo said mindsets of dependency and donations must be discarded for equality in global relationships.

“We do not want to be pitied,” he said. “We do not want to be pawns or victims.”

Guardian

NEWS

Bobrisky Appeals Against Sentence; Wants Court To Replace Each Count With ₦50k

Published

43 mins ago

April 23, 2024

Reporter

Bobrisky Wants Court To Replace Each Count With ₦50k | Fab.ng

Idris Okuneye, better known as Bobrisky, took legal action on Monday by filing a notice of appeal challenging the six-month maximum sentence given to him by a Federal High Court in Lagos. The sentence was in response to charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the abuse of the naira. Before Justice A.O. Awogboro of the Federal High Court, Lagos, Bobrisky pleaded guilty to the charges.

On April 12, Justice Awogboro sentenced Okuneye to six months in prison without the option of a fine. He emphasised the need for the judgment to deter others from similar acts of naira abuse.

In response, Okuneye’s counsel, Bimbo Kusanu, submitted a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn the maximum sentence. Kusanu argues for the replacement of the sentence with a ₦50,000 fine per count. He highlighted Okuneye’s lack of prior criminal convictions and the possibility of a lesser sentence under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

Kusanu contends that the trial court’s decision was punitive and did not consider Okuneye’s cooperation during the legal proceedings. This includes promptly pleading guilty and honouring invitations from the authorities.

Furthermore, Kusanu asserts that the trial court failed to exercise discretion appropriately, resulting in a miscarriage of justice against Okuneye. This appeal represents an effort to challenge the severity of the sentence imposed by the trial court and to seek a more lenient resolution for the appellant.

NEWS

Nigeria Ranks 5th In Global Cybercrime Index

Published

3 days ago

April 20, 2024

Adaeze Okechi

Cybercrime Hotspots: Nigeria Ranks 5th | Fab.ng

Researchers from two universities—Oxford and UNSW Canberra—decided to find out where cybercrime hotspots are. To do this, they asked about 100 cybercrime experts around the world for their opinions.

The experts were asked to consider five main types of cybercrime:

Creating tools used for cybercrime, like malware.
Launching cyberattacks and demanding money to stop them.
Stealing data or identities through hacking or phishing scams.
Tricking people out of money online through scams like fake emails or online auctions.
Making money from stolen information, like laundering money or using stolen credit cards.

Based on the experts’ input, the researchers will create a list of countries considered to be the biggest sources of cybercrime.

Top 5 countries listed as global cybercrime hotspots

The study ranked countries based on how much cybercrime comes from them. This ranking is called the World Cybercrime Index, or WCI for short.

The study found that Russia is seen as the number one source of cybercrime in the world, followed by Ukraine, China, the United States, and Nigeria.

1. Russia

The study ranked Russia as the number one source of cybercrime in the world. Russia had the highest score (58.39) on the World Cybercrime Index (WCI), and researchers traced 81.34 cyberattacks back to Russia. The survey also showed that Russian cybercriminals are highly skilled (scoring 8.73 out of 10 on technical skills) and very professional, causing significant harm with their crimes.

2. Ukraine

Following Russia, the study ranked Ukraine as the second-largest source of cybercrime. Ukraine’s overall cybercrime score on the World Cybercrime Index (WCI) was 36.44. Researchers also linked 50.76 cyberattacks to Ukraine. Just like Russia, Ukrainian cybercriminals were rated as very skilled with a technical skill score of 8.24 on a scale of 1 to 10.

3. China

China was ranked third in the study as a source of cybercrime. Their overall score on the World Cybercrime Index (WCI) was 27.86. Researchers linked 24.24 cyberattacks to China. Chinese hackers were rated as skilled with a technical skill score of 7.81 on a scale of 1 to 10.

4. United States

The United States came in fourth place on the list of cybercrime hotspots. The World Cybercrime Index (WCI) score for the US was 25.01. Researchers connected 17.68 cyberattacks to the US. American hackers were rated as skilled with a technical skill score of 7.21 on a scale of 1 to 10.

5. Nigeria

While the study found Russia to be the overall leader in cybercrime, Nigeria was singled out for a different reason – scams. Here’s a breakdown:

Overall cybercrime: Nigeria ranked fifth on the World Cybercrime Index (WCI) with a score of 21.28. Researchers linked 8.41 cyberattacks to Nigeria, and Nigerian hackers were rated as somewhat skilled with a technical ability score of 5.80 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Scams: Interestingly, Nigeria topped the list for scam-related cybercrime. The country received a much higher WCI score of 52.17 for scams, with a whopping 70 nominations for this type of cybercrime. The closest competitor, the US, only had 27 nominations and a WCI score of 22.72 for scams. This shows that while Nigerian cybercriminals may be less technically skilled overall, they are much more active in scams compared to other countries on the list.

For more articles, check here.

ENTERTAINMENT

Guinness World Record: Tunde Onakoya Is Yet To Be Defeated After 44 Hours Of Chess Marathon

Published

4 days ago

April 19, 2024

Reporter

Tunde Onakoya To Break 58 Hours Of Chess Marathon | fab.ng

Nigerian chess champion Tunde Onakoya is trying to break the world record for the longest chess marathon! The record he is set to break is 58 hours.

Tunde Onakoya has already been playing in the chess marathon for approximately 44 hours straight. This is at the time of this writing. Starting on April 17th and going until April 19th, the event is happening in the famous Times Square in New York City.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tunde Onakoya (@tunde_onakoya)

So far, Onakoya has beaten everyone he’s played, including a really good chess player from New York named Shawn Martinez.

Tunde Onakoya beats a very worthy opponent and one of New York’s finest, National Chess Master Shawn Martinez!

6 hours down, 52 hours to go!#TundeChessMarathon pic.twitter.com/oXBjfakdBm

— Tunde Onakoya (@Tunde_OD) April 17, 2024

Onakoya’s manager, Taiwo, says the official rules allow for 5-minute breaks every hour. But Onakoya only took a total of 30 minutes of rest after playing 12 people in a row for 15 hours! That’s intense! He said he’s playing two sets of games at the same time, and he can’t lose any of them to win the record.

He wrote,

“The opponent on the first set is Shawn Martinez, a US National Chess Master, and he will play with Tunde throughout the attempt.

“Opponents in the second set are random players. He can’t lose any game on either set.

“Only Tunde’s match against Shawn Martinez is considered valid for the record. He is not competing in his simultaneous play against random opponents in the second set. NYC, come out and play regardless.”

For more news updates, check here.