Extreme weather caused significant disruptions to education worldwide in 2024, with around 242 million students in 85 countries missing lessons due to heatwaves, storms, floods and droughts, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday, January 23, 2025.
Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF
UNICEF’s analysis highlighted the impact of “extreme climate events” on school closures and operational disruptions, identifying heatwaves as the most severe threat to education.
“Last year, severe weather kept one in seven students out of class, threatening their health and safety, and impacting their long-term education,” said UNICEF executive director, Catherine Russell.
Countries most affected by climate-related school interruptions included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
According to the analysis, 74 per cent of affected students lived in low- and lower-middle-income countries, although no region was spared from the impact of extreme climate events.
South Asia was the hardest-hit region, with 128 million students affected.
In East Asia and the Pacific region, 50 million students faced disruptions, while Africa endured devastating consequences linked to the El Niño climate phenomenon, including floods in East Africa and severe droughts in parts of southern Africa.
In Europe, torrential rains and floods disrupted lessons for over 900,000 students in Italy in September, while October floods affected 13,000 children and teenagers in Spain, according to UNICEF.
“Education is one of the services most frequently disrupted due to climate hazards.
“Yet it is often overlooked in policy discussions, in spite of its role in preparing children for climate adaptation,” Russell said.
“Children’s futures must be at the forefront of all climate-related plans and actions.”
A total of just over $910 million is required to respond to the humanitarian needs of 3.6 million people in need of life-saving assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states in north-east Nigeria in 2025. A total of 7.8 million people is considered to be in need of humanitarian assistance.
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall, opening the launch of the 2025 Humanitarian Needs & Response Plan
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall, stated that the needs are “driven by conflict, climate shocks, and economic instability”, with the compounding effects of flooding, disease outbreaks, food insecurity and malnutrition deepening vulnerabilities.
Mr. Fall was speaking in Abuja at the launch of the 2025 Nigeria Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), where he was joined by the Federal Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, high-level representatives of the diplomatic corps and senior officials from diverse government agencies as well as national and international non-governmental organisations.
Minister Yilwatda highlighted the growing humanitarian needs in north-west and north-central Nigeria. He called for combined humanitarian, development and peacebuilding efforts for that region as well.
“This will enable us to get humanitarian efforts translated into durable solutions that can move people out of poverty and provide livelihoods to reach sustainable development,” he said.
Minister Yilwatda said that the restructured Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction was committed to timely, effective life-saving humanitarian responses and poverty reduction.
“We will continue to coordinate interventions at all levels, ensuring they align with national humanitarian and poverty-reduction priorities,” he said.
In their remarks, the Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Zulum, the Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, and the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, reaffirmed their commitment to sustaining collaboration with the UN and partners to address pressing humanitarian needs and foster sustainable development.
Given declining global funding for humanitarian efforts, the 2025 Nigeria HNRP aims at strengthening efficiency in the delivery of aid. This includes acting before disaster strikes, through anticipatory action to events such as floods and disease outbreaks, to mitigate their impact. It also aims to increase direct funding to local partners on the frontline of the response and scaling up multipurpose cash assistance, as well as reducing transaction costs.
In 2025, 33 million people in Nigeria will face acute food insecurity during the lean season* with alarming levels of malnutrition threatening millions of children. In the BAY states, 5.1 million people will be affected.
Urgent funding and resources are required from donors and the Government to ensure that food and nutrition assistance and other urgent support is provided to people in critical need.
The Bukuma community in Rivers State has decried the alleged refusal of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporations Limited (NNPCL) to implement a 2021 court judgement on cluster issue.
From-L-R-Spokesman of Bukuma community, Chief-Somina-Orlu-Paramount-Ruler-of-the-community-King-Precious-Elekima-and-Steven-Onwukwe-during-an-interview-with-the-NAN-in-Port-Harcout-1536×850
The Paramount Ruler of Bukuma, King Precious Elekima, made this known during an interview in Port Harcourt on Thursday, January 23, 2025.
Bukuma, in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers, is hosting an oil and gas field, housing 10 oil wells.
The oil field was operated by Shell Petroleum and Development Company (SPDC) before Eroton Exploration and Protection Limited took it over but later handed it over to NNPC.
Elekima explained that the cluster arrangement began in 2007 as a resolution mechanism for communal clashes in the area.
“The government and oil companies operating in the area established clusters to address disputes between the warring communities at the time,” he said.
‘’However, Bukuma, the hosting the oil and gas field, was grouped with 16 other communities in the cluster.’’
Elekima alleged that the 16 communities which, he described, as having no valid take in the cluster, bound together to deny Bukuma the benefits it deserved as the host community.
“As a result, the Bukuma people decided to demand their own cluster from Eroton.
“Our community, hosting the oil wellhead and being the most impacted by oil extraction, deserved its own cluster, but Eroton refused,” he stated.
The traditional ruler said that after their request was ignored, the community sought legal redress, and tho court ruled in their favour, mandating the establishment of a cluster for Bukuma.
He said that Eroton did not implement the judgement before NNPC took over and created NNPC Eighteen Operating Limited (NEOL) to oversee the operations of the wells.
“The community met with NNPCL to implement the court order, but the company refused to comply and has remained adamant till this day,” Elekima said.
He urged NNPC not to be engaging with individuals in the community to give the false impression that it had reconciled with Bukuma.
The paramount ruler urged the government to hold NNPC accountable for not allowing the host community to receive its deserved cluster.
“We are being exploited, perhaps because the Bukuma people are a minority group with no influential figures in government or society.
“This neglect has left the community grossly underdeveloped, even though it hosts a major oil field in the Niger Delta that generates significant revenue for the country,” he lamented.
Elekima said that the recent explosion at the wellhead 008, which spilled crude oil into the community, has worsened living conditions in Bukuma.
He reiterated the community’s support of the investigation into the fire incident and expressed confidence that it would identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
“Bukuma people support the investigation because we are peaceful and law-abiding and do not engage in sabotage.
“We do not dispute NNPC’s claim that vandals destroyed its wellhead, and we fully support investigations into the fire incident.
“The community sympathises with NNPCL over the incident and assures that we will never encourage any form of illegal bunkering or vandalism of oil facilities,” he stated.
He underscored the importance of the damaged wellhead, describing it as one of the largest oil wells contributing to Federal Government revenue for national development.
“We have always stood with the Federal Government in its fight against oil theft, illegal bunkering, and vandalism.
“Therefore, we should not be held responsible for the destruction of the facility,” he added.
The paramount ruler welcomed the involvement of Tantita Security Services, an independent security outfit, in the investigation, but he cautioned NNPC to be vigilant during the process.
“NNPC should be cautious in investigation, not to allow any individual to exploit the situation to advance personal interests related to chieftaincy, kingship, or land disputes.
“The company should ensure that such individuals do not take advantage of the situation to frame innocent people,” he cautioned.
A General Physician, Dr Tunji Akintade, says Nigeria faces critical health challenges that demand immediate and sustained action to bridge funding gaps amid global aid shrinking.
Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare
Akintade said this in an interview on Thursday, January 23, 2025, in Lagos, while reacting to the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
He noted that Nigeria’s 2025 health budget projection was made based on global funding support, stressing that its effect would soon be evident in local planning and implementation.
Akintade emphasised that Nigeria should explore domestic funding to shore up finances to improve health outcomes and drive socioeconomic development in the year ahead.
The 2025 budget allocates 5.18 per cent of the total N2.48 trillion to health, falling short of the 15 per cent target set by the Abuja Declaration.
According to Akintade, global aid, chiefly from the WHO, had assisted in bridging the gaps through technical guidance and support for strengthening health systems, detecting, preventing and responding to health emergencies, including disease outbreaks.
Akintade, a former Chairman, Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP), said Africa has remained the largest recipient of funding from WHO, with Nigeria being one of the highest beneficiaries on the continent.
Data showed that WHO contributions to Africa have ranged from $90.2 million to $263.8 million annually between 2016 and 2024.
Akintade said the intended withdrawal of U.S. membership would weaken global health governance, noting that its ripple effect would affect access to healthcare in many low-income and middle-income countries, worsening health indices.
He added that the exit would threaten response to disease outbreaks, reduce productivity, increase healthcare costs and negatively impact trade and commerce across the medical supply chain.
“I hope our leaders will see that there is a challenge ahead, even if the impact isn’t felt this year, it will start grinding in another two to three years,” he said.
Similarly, Dr Obafemi Shode, a Health-Economics Analyst, said the U.S. withdrawal from WHO should serve as a warning that its global health interventions to countries, especially Africa and Nigeria, might dwindle during President Donald Trump’s administration.
Shode said the future of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) programme, mostly beneficial to Africans, was uncertain.
He called for improved investment in the nation’s health system, saying it was critical to the delivery of quality, affordable care and attainment of universal health coverage.
Data from the U.S. Embassy showed that the U.S. invested more than $570 million in Nigeria to help prevent illnesses like HIV, tuberculosis, and COVID-19 in 2023.
The U.S. was a founding member of WHO in 1948 and has participated in shaping and governing WHO’s work ever since, alongside 193 other Member States, including through its active participation in the World Health Assembly and Executive Board.
However, on Jan. 20, 2025, President Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw as a member of WHO and halt funding to the organisation.
He cited alleged mismanagement of global health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and also financial disparities, condemning the “unfairly onerous payments” demanded of the U.S. compared to other nations.
In 2020, during the first Trump administration, the U.S. temporarily suspended funding and initiated a process to end membership, actions that were reversed by the Biden administration in 2021.
Historically, the U.S. has been one of the largest funders of WHO. Its contributions have ranged between $163 million and $816 million annually over the last decade.
Ninety Parties to the Paris Agreement have submitted their first Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs), underscoring the commitment of nations to advancing the goals of the Paris Agreement through the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF). These reports represent a critical effort by governments to establish robust systems for climate data collection and reporting, ensuring transparency in global climate action.
Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary. Phoro credit UN Climate Change / Lucia Vasquez Tumi
Transparent reporting is a vital enabling tool for all governments, providing crucial data to inform decision-making, design stronger climate policies over time and achieve broader development goals.
Special recognition goes to the 57 developing countries that have submitted their BTRs, including 13 Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. This important effort by the nations that are most vulnerable to climate impacts reflects their commitment to ensuring that the response to the climate crisis is guided by robust, evidence-based insights.
BTRs are central to the climate ambition cycle, tracking progress on national climate plans (known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs), fostering trust among Parties, identifying support needs and preparing countries for the next round of NDCs in 2025.
“Transparency is crucial, not only because it highlights progress in climate action but because it spurs more action: enabling data-driven responses that build resilience and protect vulnerable populations by identifying risks and vulnerabilities, and leading to better resource allocation,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, at COP29. “Every submission, every lesson learned, brings us closer to the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
Recognising the critical importance of Biennial Transparency Reports, UN Climate Change urges all Parties that have not yet submitted complete BTRs to do so without delay.
Next steps
BTR submissions undergo independent technical expert reviews, which began last year with reviews of submissions from Andorra and Panama. These reviews involve a thorough assessment of each report, identifying progress towards NDC targets and capacity-building needs, and supporting Parties to improve future reporting.
Following the review of BTRs, the ETF’s multilateral phase – known as Facilitative Multilateral Consideration of Progress (FMCP) – will encourage Parties to share experiences, successes, challenges and insights in implementing the Paris Agreement, driving global cooperation to deliver climate action and support.
Lessons learned from these processes will enhance countries’ long-term capacity to collect and analyse data, inform policy decisions, and implement effective climate action. Additionally, reviews may enable Parties to attract climate finance by assessing market mechanism usage under Article 6 and REDD+ activities.
UN Climate Change plays a crucial role in supporting Parties through extensive training, including of expert reviewers, as well as joint capacity-building initiatives with partner organizations across regions. This enables countries to strengthen their transparency efforts and effectively meet reporting obligations.
Following a nearly century-long effort, Georgia has been certified malaria-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO). With the announcement, made on Thursday, January 23, 2025, Georgia joins the ranks of 45 countries and one territory that have achieved this milestone.
Georgian Minister of Health, Mikheil Sarjveladze
“Today we congratulate the people of Georgia for their decades of targeted and sustained actions to eliminate malaria, one of the world’s leading killers,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Georgia’s commitment and success gives us hope that a malaria-free world is possible.”
“This is a huge milestone worth marking; with Georgia’s achievement, the WHO European Region is another step closer to initiate certification as the first malaria-free region in the world,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “This doesn’t happen in a vacuum, this was made possible thanks to sustained investment, dedication of the health workforce and targeted efforts in prevention, early detection and effective treatment of all malaria cases.”
Certification of malaria elimination is granted by WHO when a country has proven, beyond reasonable doubt, that the chain of indigenous transmission has been interrupted nationwide for at least the previous three consecutive years.
The Minister of Health, Mikheil Sarjveladze, noted that certifying Georgia as malaria-free is a recognition of the sustainability of its healthcare system, “this success means that Georgia can address important health challenges.”
A longstanding challenge
Malaria has plagued Georgia since ancient times. Before the introduction of systematic control efforts in the early 1900s, at least 3 malaria parasite species – P. falciparum, P. malariae and P. vivax – were endemic in the country. In the 1920s, an estimated 30% of the population suffered from malaria caused by the P. vivax malaria species.
By 1940, large-scale mosquito control programmes had helped reduce malaria cases significantly through improved access to diagnostic and treatment facilities. A few years later, however, World War II caused a surge again due to population movement and the strain on health facilities.
In the post-war period, Georgia launched an intensive programme aimed at eliminating malaria, using newer medicines, insecticide spraying and robust entomological surveillance. The campaign successfully interrupted the transmission of P. falciparum by 1953, P. malariae by 1960 and P. vivax by 1970.
Georgia remained malaria-free for 25 years but, by 2002, malaria had reemerged in the country with 474 cases reported.
Renewed commitments to stop the disease
In 2005, together with nine other countries in the WHO European Region, Georgia signed the Tashkent Declaration, reaffirming its pledge to eliminate malaria. The intensified interventions that followed significantly reduced malaria incidence in Georgia, with the last indigenous case recorded in 2009. By 2015, all 53 countries of the WHO European Region, including Georgia, reported zero indigenous cases of malaria.
To prevent further re-establishment of malaria transmission in the region, the original signatories of the Tashkent Declaration issued the Ashgabat Statement in 2017 committing to take all efforts to remain malaria-free. Türkiye is the only country in the WHO European Region remaining to be certified.
In 2024, during the Georgia’s malaria-free certification process, members of the Technical Advisory Group on Malaria Elimination and Certification, an independent WHO advisory body, noted that Georgia has a well-functioning and adequately resourced health system, strong public-private cooperation, and political commitment to maintaining a malaria-free status.
Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki, has expressed dismay over announcement by the U.S. to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki
The U.S. President, Donald Trump, had earlier on Monday, January 20, 2025, announced that U.S. government would withdraw from the global health body, citing WHO’s mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak from Wuhan, China and other health crisis.
Faki, the Chief Executive Officer, legal representative of the AU and the Commission’s Chief Accounting Officer, made this known in a statement by the mission on Thursday, January 23, via its website.
Faki said, “The U.S. as a member of WHO was crucial in shaping global WHO instruments and norms on public health, security and well being over the past seven decades.
“In Africa, the U.S. was an early and strong supporter towards the establishment of Africa CDC, the African Union’s technical agency for public health emergencies.
“The agency works with WHO and the global WHO membership to detect, prepare for, respond to and recover from pandemics.
“Today, now more than ever, the world depends on WHO to carry out its mandate to ensure global public health security as a shared common good.
“It is therefore hoped that the U.S. government will reconsider its decision to withdraw from this key global organisation of which it is a founding member,” Faki said.
The Chairperson of the Commission is often elected by the AU General Assembly for a four-year term, renewable once to oversee the administration and finances; promoting and popularising the AU’s objectives.
Also, to enhance the Commission’s performance, consulting and coordinating with Member States, development partners, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), appointing and managing Commission staff, and act as depository for all AU and OAU treaties and legal instruments.
Magistrate Court 7, in Moore Road Calabar, Cross River State, has granted environmental activist and Director of the Rainforest Resources and Development Centre (RRDC), Odey Oyama, bail.
Odey Oyama
Odey was on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, granted bailed alongside four others allegedly accused and arrested by the Cross River State Police Command of instigating native war in Effi Community.
They were arrested in Ikom on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, detained and charged to court by the Police in Calabar.
In case No MC/ 20C/2025, the presiding judge, Magistrate Okoho Bassey, ruled that the court is enjoined to protect the rule of law and the right of the citizen especially when guilt is not established. She, therefore, granted bail to the defendant; with a bail condition of N5 million and two sureties.
While she ruled that the prosecutor did not act in good faith, the Judge said when a case is brought before a magistrate court for the purpose of remand, it must comply with section 290 sub section 1 and 2 of Cross River State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, that in the instant case, only the charge was brought with no case file and motion.
“I’m careful not to strike out this case even though it is incompetent before me,” she stated.
Earlier while presenting his case, the Defense Counsel, Ntufam Sunny Mgbe, citing section 136 and 160 sub section 1 of Cross River State Administration of Justice Law, argued that a case of such nature should not have been brought to the magistrate court since it does not have the jurisdiction over a case that attracts a capital punishment.
Mgbe pleaded to the court to either strike out the case or grant the defendant bail, citing section 136 and 160 sub section 1 of the state justice law
But the Prosecuting Counsel, O. U. Ubi in his argument pleaded to the court not to strike the case or grant bail to the defendant, stating that the court has the jurisdiction over the case upon citing section 101 sub section 1 and 2 and section 102 of the state criminal justice law.
The court, however, granted bail to the defendant and four others, namely, Alobi Ofuka, Ogbeshi Opene, Samuel Agbor and Konye Eka. The court was adjoined till February 7, 2025.
It will be recalled that some civil society organisations on Tuesday called for the immediate release of Oyama, saying his arrest and detention by the Nigerian Police signifies a rising trend of abuse and repression.
The Executive Director of PADIC, formally known as Development Concerns (DEVCON), Dr, Martins Egot, and Director of PeacePoint Development Foundation (PPDF), Mr. Umo Isuaiko, described his arrest and detention as deliberate to keep him incommunicado.
In a statement by the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Comrade Nnimmo Bassey, Egot of DEVCON, Isuaiko of PPDF, Ken Henshaw of We the People (WTP) and 28 others said it was against the law for Odey to be detained beyond 24 hours without trial and “the action of the Nigeria Police has once again demonstrated flagrant disregard for due process and their role in stifling dissenting voices, especially when vested business interests are at stake”.
They said: “This instance, Odey Oyama a conscientious objector to the destruction of the environment, rather than enjoy the protection of the government, is being systematically persecuted.”
The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has validated its National Biosafety Guidelines on Low-Level Presence (LLP) to ensure that only approved Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are safely imported into the country.
Director-General of NBMA, Dr Agnes Asagbra
Speaking during the presentation and validation of the guidelines on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, in Abuja, the Director-General of NBMA, Dr. Agnes Asagbra, emphasised the agency’s commitment to protecting human health, animals, plants, and the environment.
“I like to assure Nigerians that we are concerned about their safety. We have to conduct rigorous assessments to ensure that GMOs are safe for consumption,” Asagbra stated.
She noted NBMA’s mandate to regulate modern biotechnology, adding that the newly validated guidelines are crucial in ensuring that no unverified seeds or grains enter the country.
“A very important guideline is being validated on LLP for the importation of GMOs.
“Because of our mandate to save human lives, we are determined that not just any seed or grain can come into the country,” she said.
Asagbra further assured that all grains or seeds imported into Nigeria must be analysed and certified safe.
“LLP means the product must have been certified, approved, and gone through basic risk assessment in other countries and certified safe before it is accepted in Nigeria.
“Let me state categorically that LLP is not a safety issue; it is a trade issue,” she clarified.
Similarly, Mrs. Modupe Adeyemo, Senior Programme Officer at AUDA-NEPAD, expressed satisfaction with the guidelines and pledged support for implementing NBMA’s GMO importation policies.
Construction of a giant celestial solar farm is underway in China, with a scale comparable to creating a “Three Gorges Dam project above the Earth”.
International Space Station solar array. Photo credit: NASA via Wikimedia Commons
The solar farm, which would be launched into space using heavy-lift rockets, is expected to stretch one kilometre in width and continuously harvest renewable energy for Earth.
It would be positioned in geostationary orbit, meaning it has an orbital time equivalent to the Earth’s rotational period and always remains at the same point above the Earth’s surface.
When revealing plans for the structure, Chinese aerospace engineer, Long Lehao, referred to it as “another Three Gorges Dam project above the Earth”, South China Morning Post reported.
The 2,335-metre-long Three Gorges Dam, which crosses the Yangtze River in central China, is the largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world.
“We are working on this project now,” said Long.
“It is as significant as moving the Three Gorges Dam to a geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres above the Earth. This is an incredible project to look forward to.”
Solar panels are engineered to harness the sun’s energy to generate electricity by turning light energy into usable power – a process known as the photovoltaic effect.
Unlike terrestrial arrays, space-based photovoltaics can provide continuous power as they are unaffected by seasons or daylight, allowing constant harvesting of energy from the sun.
They are also estimated to be 10 times more efficient at energy collection than photovoltaic panels on Earth.
According to Global Construction Review, work started on the space solar power station in Chongqing in 2019. It is expected that a reusable heavy-lift rocket, named the Long March-9, will be required to launch the solar farm into orbit.
Once in place, this one-kilometre-wide solar array is expected to harvest as much energy in a year as the total quantity of oil that can be extracted from the Earth, reported Sustainability Magazine. The energy is planned to be transmitted to ground using microwaves.
