News
Cameroon Restates Commitment To Partner Nigeria On Forestry, Wildlife Conservation
The government of Cameroon has restated its commitment to work closely with Nigeria to ensure effective implementation of policy framework for sustainable management of transboundary ecosystems conservation between both countries.
Mr Jules Ndongo, Cameroon’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, made this known in his keynote address at the official signing ceremony of the cooperation framework agreement between the two countries in Abuja.
The agreement also focused on management of forestry and wildlife resources.
According to Ndongo, the historical and fraternal ties between Cameroon and Nigeria have great deal of strength, therefore, the need to deepen such ties to promote shared prosperity.
He said, “This is most common among our people living at the transboundary regions between the two countries.
“Some of their transaction involves the exportation and marketing of Timber, other forest products and bush meats.
“It should be underscored that we cannot ascertain all these activities are carried out legally. The exportation of forestry resources and Cross-border poaching are serious offenses.
“The context of cooperation and cross-border management of our forestry and wildlife resources through this agreement is aimed at implementing cross-border policies and programmes among other things.
“The government of Cameroon will do anything possible at its level to work closely with Nigeria toward implementing the agreement.”
In another keynote address, the Nigeria Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, assured Ndongo and the Cameroonian delegation of the Federal Government’s determination to achieve targets through the partnership.
Lawal said, “Nigeria and Cameroon do not just share common borders, but also have shared vision on the best approach towards protection of the resources between the two countries.
“This is for the overall wellbeing of our people, irrespective of the social, economic, environmental and cultural development of the two countries.”
He commended supports by the governments of Germany, the U.S., United Nations, European Union and other partners to have contributed towards the success so far recorded in the preservation of forestry and wildlife resources.
In his remark, Danter Renna, Environment, Science, Technology and Health Officer of the U.S., Embassy in Abuja, commended the milestone reached between Nigeria and Cameroon in terms of forestry and wildlife conservation.
According to him, the U.S., will support the agreement between Nigeria and Cameroon in the forestry and wildlife conservation, and preservation, particularly how such ideas promote cooperation among them.
“The U.S., is proud to be a partner between Nigeria and Cameroon, as well as in their work to preserve the natural ecosystem both share at transboundary levels,”he said.
Highpoint of the event was goodwill messages from the Embassy of Germany in Nigeria, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Ndongo and Lawal respectively.
Nigerians may experience an increase in the prices of premium energy products diesel and petrol as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery temporarily halts the sale of petroleum products in Naira.
“This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars,” the company said in a statement yesterday.
The $20billion refinery based in Lagos said the sales of its products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude it has received from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” the company explained.
The refinery said it remained committed to serving the Nigerian market and would resume the sale of its product to the local market in Naira as soon as it received crude cargoes from the NNPCL in Naira.
“As soon as we receive an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in Naira,” it said.
The announcement by the refinery comes amid its price war with the NNPCL.
As part of moves to reduce the strain on the US dollars, and guarantee price stability of petroleum products, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024, directed the NNPCL to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in naira and not in United States’ greenback.
In the beginning of March 2025, the NNPCL said its Naira-denominated crude sales agreement with the Dangote Refinery was structured for six months with March 2025 as the expiration date.
The state company, however, said that talks were on to replace the contract, and that over 48 million barrels of crude oil have been made available to Dangote Refinery since October 2024 under the Naira-denominated arrangement.
The NNPCL also said it had made over 84 million barrels of crude oil available to the private refinery since it commenced operations in 2023.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational for decades until 2024. The country was heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPCL being the major importer of the essential commodities.
Fuel queues are commonplace in the country. Prices of petrol more than quadrupled since the removal of subsidy in May 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, from around ¦ 200/litre to about ¦ 1,000/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.
Last December, the billionaire industrialist commenced operations at the facility situated in Lagos with 350,000 barrels a day. The refinery, which was initially bogged by regulatory battles, hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. The refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.
Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has overtaken Egypt’s Omar Assar to become Africa’s highest-ranked player in the world, now sitting at 18th in the week 12 ranking released on Tuesday.
Aruna moved up from 19th place in week 11 to 18th in the latest ranking, while Assar dropped from 17th to 19th.
Denmark’s Jonathan Groth took over Assar’s 17th place, moving up from 18th.
Despite finishing as runner-up at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup, Aruna’s impressive performances at the WTT tournaments this year have boosted his ranking.
Aruna remains the only African male player to have reached the semi-finals of the WTT Contender Doha, repeating his 2023 feat earlier this year in January.
This achievement has propelled him ahead of Assar, who beat him to become the champion of the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup.
Aruna’s next tournament is the WTT Contender Chennai which serves off in India from March 23 to 20.
In the women’s singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda maintained her top spot in Africa, moving up one place to 26th in the week 12 ITTF ranking. Her compatriot, Dina Meshref, remained static at 33rd, holding her position as the second-best-ranked female player in Africa.
China’s Wang Chuqin retained his position as the second-best player globally, behind his compatriot Lin Shidong, who continues to hold the top spot. Japanese superstar Tomokazu Harimoto dethroned China’s Liang Jingkun as the third-best player in the world after his semifinal finish in Chongqing.
In the women’s ranking, the top five remained unchanged, with China’s Sun Yingsha holding onto her top spot after retaining her WTT Champions Chongqing title.
-
News5 days agoAbalama Reception: A Sinister Plot To Incriminate Us -Asari Dokubo
-
Niger Delta22 hours ago
Diri Restates PDP’s Stance Against Erring Members
-
Nation20 hours ago
Kano Approves Salary Increase For Tertiary Institution Staff
-
City Crime5 days agoAbductors Of Katsina Qur’anic Recitation Winner Demand N30m Ransom
-
News1 day agoFubara’s CoS Denies Lawsuit Against Rivers Sole Administrator
-
Politics21 hours ago
Party Chieftain Highlights LP’s Inadequacies Ahead 2027
-
Rivers5 days agoActivist Underscores Need For More State Constituencies In Rivers
-
News22 hours agoOkiro Urges Unity, Dialogue In Rivers