The Vice President of Oil and Gas, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, disclosed this while playing host to a delegation from the Japanese Business Community in Nigeria, led by Japan’s Ambassador-designate to Nigeria, Suzuki Hideo.

In a statement on Sunday, the company’s spokesman, Anthony Chiejina, quoted Edwin as confirming that products from the refinery meet international standards and are already being exported globally.

“In recent weeks, we’ve exported petrol to Cameroon, Ghana, Angola, and South Africa, among others. Diesel has gone all over the world, and jet fuel is being heavily exported to European markets. Our products are already making their mark internationally,” Edwin said.

Edwin explained that the facility is the vision of a Nigerian investor – Aliko Dangote, designed and built by Nigerians, and intended to serve the global market.

He said it is a point of pride that a Nigerian company not only designed but also built the world’s largest single-train refinery complex.

According to him, Dangote Industries Limited acted as the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction contractor for the refinery, saying cutting-edge technologies from around the world were incorporated to ensure that the facility meets the highest standards.

Edwin assured the ambassador-designate and the delegation that the company is open to collaboration, always striving to maintain the best possible standards.

“Even now, we have a lot of Japanese equipment inside both the refinery and the fertiliser plant. There are significant opportunities for collaboration, as we always seek the latest technology in any business we engage in. For instance, our cement plant laboratory is managed by robots, and we always embrace advanced technology. With Japan’s focus on technological innovation, there is ample scope for cooperation and for supplying various types of technology,” he said.

Edwin also stated that the Dangote Petrochemical project will significantly boost investment in downstream industries, creating substantial value, generating employment, increasing tax revenues, reducing foreign exchange outflows, and contributing to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.

He added that by leveraging Africa’s vast crude oil resources to produce refined products locally, the Dangote Group aims to create a virtuous cycle of industrial development, job creation, and economic prosperity.

He reiterated that the refinery’s petroleum products are in demand worldwide, as it expands its polypropylene section to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imported polypropylene, a crucial material used in packaging, textiles, and the automotive manufacturing industries.

The statement disclosed that the Japanese delegation hailed the refinery and the petrochemicals complex, describing it as an astonishing masterpiece, showcasing Nigeria’s technological advancements on the global stage.

The Japanese delegation, which toured the facilities housing both the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals as well as Dangote Fertilisers, commended the technology, noting that it reinforces Nigeria’s role as the gateway to Africa.

Managing Director of the Japan External Trade Organisation, Takashi Oku, was said to have remarked that while Nigeria remains the gateway to Africa, the refinery stands as a remarkable project that showcases the country’s technological progress.

Oku added that the facility, as the world’s largest single-train refinery, is a point of immense pride for Nigeria.

“We had heard about the excellence of the Dangote Refinery through the media but seeing it in person has left us truly amazed by its vastness and grandeur. It demonstrates that Nigeria’s population is not only growing but also advancing in technology. We are keen to collaborate with Nigerian companies, especially Dangote Refinery,” he said.

Emphasising that the refinery has bolstered Nigeria’s leading position in Africa, he further noted that the facility serves as an ideal introduction to the country for the global community.

The Managing Director of Itochu Nigeria Limited, Masahiro Tsuno, was said to have also praised the sheer size and automation of the Dangote refinery, calling it a miracle and one of the wonders of the world.

“I’ve seen many standalone refineries across the globe, including in Vietnam and the Middle East. However, the size of a refinery built by one single investor is probably a miracle in the world. And I’m just actually witnessing a miracle,” he said.

In a statement by her family, she died after a short illness, BBC reports.

The family also requested privacy to allow members to mourn her passing.

The late Aidoo in her lifetime received several literary honours and awards, among which is the 1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Change.

She commended and illustrated the plight of African women in works like Changes, Our Sister Killjoy, and The Dilemma of a Ghost.

She was Secretary for Education in Ghana from 1982 to 1983 under the Jerry Rawlings’ PNDC administration.

In 2000, Aidoo established the Mbaasem Foundation to promote and support the work of African women writers.

Her plays include – The Dilemma of a Ghost, produced at Legon in 1964, Pittsburgh in 1988, Anowa was published in 1971 and produced at the Gate Theatre in London in 1991.

Atsu, 31, was caught up in a 7.8-magnitude quake that rocked Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing more than 43,000 people in both countries.

There were initial reports the former Chelsea and Newcastle player had been rescued a day after the quake, but these turned out to be false.

His manager in Turkey, Murat Uzunmehmet, told DHA news agency on Saturday that his body had been found under the rubble in the Turkish southern province of Hatay.

We have reached his lifeless body. His belongings are still being removed. His phone was also found,” Uzunmehmet told DHA.

Ghana’s ministry of foreign affairs said it had “received the unfortunate news”.

“The elder brother and twin sister of Christian Atsu and an officer of the (Ghanaian) embassy were present at the site when the body was recovered,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ghana said it was working with the Turkish government to organise the transport of the body back to Atsu’s home country for burial.

Midfielder Atsu spent four seasons at Chelsea before a permanent transfer to Newcastle in 2017.

He signed last September for Turkish Super Lig side Hatayspor.

Chelsea issued a statement declaring, “It is with enormous sadness that Chelsea Football Club receives the news that Christian Atsu is confirmed as one of the many victims of the dreadful earthquake in Turkey and Syria.”

Newcastle also paid hommage to “a talented player and a special person”.

The club added, “He will always be fondly remembered by our players, staff and supporters.

“Initially joining on loan, he played a key role in the Magpies squad that secured the Championship title in 2017 before making a permanent move to help us establish our place back in the Premier League.”

Search and rescue workers found Atsu’s body where he was staying at Ronesans Residence, a block of high-rise luxury flats that toppled over in Antakya city in Hatay.

Turkish police arrested the building’s contractor at Istanbul airport last week as he appeared to be heading to Montenegro, according to state news agency Anadolu.

The FCDA’s Executive Secretary, Shehu Ahmad, acknowledged the development over the weekend while updating the media on the organisation’s efforts to deliver essential national infrastructure.

He asserted that the properties in question, which are located in Abuja’s diplomatic district, were designated for a replacement many years ago to make room for the Ring Road One interchange’s development on the busy Inner Southern Expressway.

Ahmad said replacement plots were offered at some of the new layouts, which the authority was developing at Guzape ll, to assuage the embassies affected by the major infrastructural project.

He noted that the issues had been resolved at the diplomatic level, with the affected missions accepting the offer of replacement plots to pave the way for the construction of an interchange on that section of road.

“We had some challenges with diplomatic plots. At Ring Road One, we were supposed to have an interchange there, but we had challenges there due to diplomatic plots.

“When you have an issue with an embassy, it is like having an issue with the government of that nation. There were a lot of diplomatic moves made to ensure the resolution, but we have replacement plots and they have indicated their readiness to accept this, and we will soon develop our interchange there,” Ahmad said.

The Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations in New York, Amb. Harold Agyeman, said this while briefing correspondents at the UN headquarters on the programme of work and Ghana’s priorities during the month.

The Security Council, which is composed of 15 Member States, is the organ of the UN authorised by the Charter with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Ghana shall preside over the meetings of the Council (adoptions, debates, and consultations) and, under its authority, shall represent the Security Council in its capacity as an organ of the United Nations within this month.

Agyeman said the two major challenges in Africa were violent extremism and terrorism, noting that most of the programmes would focus on the debates on addressing the challenges.

He said the debates would focus on addressing those challenges in line with its priority for leadership of the Security Council, which is enhancing global peace and security for sustainable and inclusive development.

“We will organise two debates on peace and security in Africa. First, we will have a debate on Thursday on“ Peace building and Sustaining Peace: Integrating effective resilience for sustainable peace.’’

“On November 10, we will have another debate on ‘Threats to International Peace and Security: Counter-terrorism in Africa: An imperative for Peace and Development’,’’ he said.

The envoy said the event would be convened under the agenda on Sustainable Peace and it would be chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana, Madam Shirley Botchwey.

“The second event will also take place under the agenda on International Peace and Security, and it will be chaired by the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo.

“This debate would seek to focus attention on how counterterrorism measures in Africa can best be supported by the work of the Security Council and how the council itself can support such a force,’’ he said.

He said the permanent representatives of the council would also be having a breakfast meeting with some elders to discuss how best the council would be supported to address his mandate.

On the programme of event for the month, the Security Council is expected to receive briefing and consultations on Peace and Security in Africa (Piracy Gulf of Guinea), and Peace and Security in Africa (G5 Sahel), among others.

The General Assembly of the UN, in June 2021, elected Ghana to serve a two-year term on the Security Council from January 2022 to December 2023.

The agenda of Ghana is to enhance global peace and security for sustainable and inclusive development, particularly in Africa.

It was the fourth time Ghana was elected to serve on the Security Council and seventh time it would serve as President of the Security Council.

A former Ghanian Emirates pilot, Solomon Quainoo, shared the historic occurence on his Twitter handle on Friday, adding that the British Airways A380 landed at the same international airport as the Emirates A380.

He wrote, “Accra had a pleasant surprise yesterday having a historical 2nd time an A380 operated (by British Airways) into Kotoka International Airport. Almost exactly four years we flew the Emirates A380 into Accra for the first time.”

Quainoo said the historic landing was a sign that Ghana had the capabilities needed to handle such fleet.

The tweet read, “Such a great sign for the impressive capabilities of our home airport to handle the world’s biggest passenger aircraft.”

The Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal received samples from each of the two patients from the southern Ashanti region of Ghana – both deceased and unrelated – who showed symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting.

The laboratory corroborated the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research results, which suggested their illness was due to the Marburg virus.

One case was a 26-year-old male who checked into a hospital on 26 June 2022 and died on 27 June. The second case was a 51 -year-old male who reported to the hospital on 28 June and died on the same day. Both cases sought treatment at the same hospital within days of each other.

The PUNCH had on July 8 reported two suspected cases of the virus in Ghana.

Marburg is a highly infectious viral haemorrhagic fever in the same family as the more well-known Ebola virus disease. It is only the second time the zoonotic disease has been detected in West Africa. Guinea confirmed a single case in an outbreak that was declared over on 16 September 2021, five weeks after the initial case was detected.

The PUNCH reports that previous outbreaks and sporadic cases of Marburg in Africa have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.

Meanwhile, the WHO has reached out to neighbouring high-risk countries and they are on alert.

In a press statement made available to The PUNCH, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said, “Health authorities have responded swiftly, getting a head start preparing for a possible outbreak. This is good because without immediate and decisive action, Marburg can easily get out of hand. WHO is on the ground supporting health authorities and now that the outbreak is declared, we are marshalling more resources for the response.”

The UN body said more than 90 contacts, including health workers and community members, have been identified and are being monitored.

Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. Illness begins abruptly, with a high fever, severe headache, and malaise.

WHO noted, “Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic signs within seven days. Case fatality rates have varied from 24 percent to 88 percent in past outbreaks depending on virus strain and the quality of case management. Although there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus, supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improve survival.

“A range of potential treatments, including blood products, immune therapies, and drug therapies, as well as candidate vaccines with phase 1 data are being evaluated.”

Recall that in Nigeria on Tuesday, July 5, terrorists had attacked the Kuje Medium Custodial Centre and freed 879 inmates including those linked with terrorism, with 443 recaptured so far.

Following this, the Nigerian Correctional Service on On Friday, July 8, released the names and images of 69 fleeing inmates with terrorism cases.

Reacting, the Ghana Immigration Service Comptroller-General, Laud Affrifah, in a leaked memo dated July 8 and signed stated that it was likely the escapees would attempt to enter Ghana through both approved and unapproved routes, The  Punch reports.

The service, however, ordered its personnel to intensify patrols to stop and intercept all escapees at the country’s borders.

It partly read, “It is believed that the Jihadist group Boko Haram are behind the attack which saw the use of high-end explosives and guns, that freed all 64 Boko Haram linked inmates at the prison and are among the escapees who are still on the run.

“Considering current migration trends of Nigerians within the sub-region, it is likely most of the escapees will attempt to enter Ghana through both approved and unapproved routes.

“In view of the above, I am directed to inform you to institute stringent measures at all Points of Entry and intensify patrols to deter and intercept all escapees who will attempt to infiltrate the country.

“Find attached pictures with names of the escaped Boko Haram suspects.
Please treat as urgent.”

The pair, who were born in London but have Ghanaian heritage, have 56 caps for England’s youth teams between them, and have been in talks with the Ghanaian FA for months.

According to Ghana Soccernet, they are two of three players who will get clearance from FIFA as early as next week.

The report adds that the Ghanaian FA are finding it harder to process the proposed nationality switches of Callum Hudson-Odoi, who has made three senior appearances for England, and one-cap Spain international Inaki Williams.

If Nketiah and Lamptey gain eligibility as expected, they will be in line to make their debuts in September and could feature at the World Cup in the winter.

Ghana have stepped up its efforts to convince players to switch allegiance since they qualified for the tournament in Qatar by beating Nigeria in a play-off in March.

The Black stars, who recently appointed Chris Hughton as technical director, will face Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea in the group stages.

Arsenal striker Nketiah is the all-time record goalscorer for England’s under-21s with 16 in 17 appearances but a chance in Gareth Southgate’s senior squad has not arrived.

Meanwhile, Brighton full-back Lamptey appeared for the under-21s as recently as March, but turned down a call-up from Lee Carsley for this month’s European Championship qualifiers.

‘He’s asked to be left out of the squad for a bit of head space,’ Carsley said.

He’s not switched, it’s not cemented or anything like that but he’s had an approach, we respect that

‘We’ve made it clear how important we see him to us. I know the senior team has as well. Tariq is fully aware of how important we see him – I have rung him every day!

‘I probably shouldn’t have, I probably pushed him. You can only make it clear so many times. He knows where we stand with him. We respect he’s got a decision to make.’

Osinbajo will be at the meeting, which is coming as part of the resolutions reached last week’s virtual meeting chaired by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Thursday morning titled ‘President delegates Osinbajo to ECOWAS Extraordinary Summit on political situation in Burkina Faso, Mali & Guinea.’

According to Akande, Thursday’s meeting will “review the report of the ECOWAS delegation dispatched to Ouagadougou to meet with the military junta who recently seized power in Burkina Faso.

“The summit will be attended by regional leaders who will consider imposing additional sanctions after the country was suspended from the regional body last week.”