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October 13, 2025

Zamfara Is Committed To Working With NEMA On Disaster Risk Management — Gov Lawal

Governor Dauda Lawal has reaffirmed the Zamfara State Government’s commitment to continuing its partnership with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The governor attended the 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction and the launch of the related strategy on Monday at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja.

A statement by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, revealed that Vice President Kashim Shettima, led the official launch of NEMA’s strategic plan (2025 – 2029), the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategy (2025 – 2030), and the Action Plan (2025 – 2028).

The statement added that the event with the theme ‘Fund Resilience, Not Disaster’ gathered all stakeholders across Nigeria.

In his goodwill message, Governor Lawal praised NEMA for organising a timely dialogue and for their dedication to enhancing Nigeria’s disaster risk management framework.

READ ALSO: FG Disburses ₦300bn To Over Eight Million Households

He said: “Disasters occur in a vicious cycle where one disaster fuels another. Our experience underscores the saying that no risk is truly isolated; it is interconnected, and managing it requires a strategic approach.

“Therefore, I also commend you on the formal Launch of your 5-year strategic plan, tagged “The National Disaster Risk Strategy 2025 to 2030.

“As we launch the Strategic Plan and deliberate on funding models, I urge all stakeholders to deepen collaboration and ensure that no stakeholder is left behind in our collective effort to build a safer, more resilient Nigeria.

“The theme of today’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, ‘Fund Resilience, Not Disasters,’ must be transformed into concrete plans during this roundtable.

“To ensure sustainability, it is crucial to build resilience in funding, as disaster management is a dynamic and evolving process. Funding mechanisms should be dynamic, flexible, and readily available.”

Governor Lawal further added that Zamfara faces many disasters and emergencies, both natural and man-made, such as insecurity, fires, displacement, mining shaft collapses, floods, and other adverse effects of climate change, among others.

“Through it all, we can always count on NEMA to be there as part of the management, recovery, reconstruction, and mitigation efforts. Therefore, I thank you on behalf of the Government and People of Zamfara State for your efforts and interventions and for always being there in our times of need.

“The Zamfara Emergency Management Agency (ZEMA) has been granted greater powers to enhance its emergency response. We are integrating disaster risk management into governance through early warning systems, community engagement, and institutional reforms, as we believe systemic resilience starts at the sub-national level.

“Before I conclude, I want to express our sincere appreciation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, for his leadership during these challenging times.

October 13, 2025

Conflict sends 300,000 people fleeing from South Sudan in 2025: UN

By 234Radio in News, World News

About 300,000 people have fled South Sudan so far in 2025 as armed conflict between rival leaders threatens civil war, the United Nations warns.

The mass displacement was reported on Monday by the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan. The report cautioned that the conflict between President Salva Kiir and suspended First Vice President Riek Machar risks a return to full-scale war.

The commission’s report called for an urgent regional intervention to prevent the country from sliding towards such a tragic event.

South Sudan has been beset by political instability and ethnic violence since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

The country plunged into civil war in 2013 when Kiir dismissed Machar as vice president. The pair agreed a ceasefire in 2017, but their fragile power-sharing agreement has been unravelling for months and was suspended last month amid outbreaks of violence among forces loyal to each.

Machar was placed under house arrest in March after fighting between the military and an ethnic Nuer militia in the northeastern town of Nasir killed dozens of people and displaced more than 80,000.

He was charged with treason, murder and crimes against humanity in September although his lawyer argued the court lacked jurisdiction. Kiir suspended Machar from his position in early October.

Machar rejects the charges with his spokesman calling them a “political witch-hunt”.

Renewed clashes in South Sudan have driven almost 150,000 people to Sudan, where a civil war has raged for two years, and a similar number into neighbouring Uganda, Ethiopia and as far as Kenya.

More than 2.5 million South Sudanese refugees now live in neighbouring countries while two million remain internally displaced.

The commission linked the current crisis to corruption and lack of accountability among South Sudan’s leaders.

“The ongoing political crisis, increasing fighting and unchecked, systemic corruption are all symptoms of the failure of leadership,” Commissioner Barney Afako said.

“The crisis is the result of deliberate choices made by its leaders to put their interests above those of their people,” Commission Chairwoman Yasmin Sooka said.

A UN report in September detailed significant corruption, alleging that $1.7bn from an oil-for-roads programme remains unaccounted for while three-quarters of the country faces severe food shortages.

Commissioner Barney Afako warned that without immediate regional engagement, South Sudan risks catastrophic consequences.

October 13, 2025

Why Ryder Cup players get free pass to season-ending DP World Tour play-offs

By 234Radio in News, Sports News

Getty Images

Iain Carter

Golf correspondent

2 hours ago

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Rory McIlroy breaks new ground by playing in India this week as he returns to action for the first time since the Ryder Cup.

While the Northern Irishman widens his golfing horizons, the DP World Tour enters the final phase of this year’s Race to Dubai. McIlroy is in pole position to secure the season-long title for the fourth season running and seventh time overall.

There are only three more events following the India Championship; the following week’s Genesis Championship in South Korea – which concludes the ‘Back Nine’ phase of the schedule – and then the final two tournaments in the Middle East.

These big money ‘play-off’ events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are reserved for the top 70 and then top 50 in the standings.

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Comfortably outside the top 70, at first glance it would appear both need high finishes from their trip to the Delhi Golf Club to keep alive their seasons. But, in fact, they are already assured of their places in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

This is due to a little publicised but pragmatic loophole whereby members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team are also considered eligible for next month’s closing tournaments.

Fleetwood, who won the PGA Tour’s play-offs with his stirring victory at August’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, lies 94th in the European tour’s season-long table. Lowry, who sank the putt that retained the Ryder Cup, is 155th.

Other European team-mates who can potentially benefit are Ludvig Aberg (72nd) and Sepp Straka (147th).

This might question the integrity of a play-off system, which by definition is supposed to bring cut-throat competitive jeopardy, but this scenario also illustrates realities faced by the Wentworth-based DP World Tour.

They are reliant on big backers such as DP World, who are also the title sponsors of this week’s event in India. They need the biggest stars at their biggest events to justify the investment, which runs to millions of dollars.

Fleetwood has enjoyed one of his most successful seasons, capped by his first win on American soil at East Lake just under two months ago.

He is one of European golf’s superstars and, frankly, it would be unthinkable to stage the 2025 season finale without him.

Common sense trumps competitive integrity, even though the world number five – a Dubai resident – has reserved his best performances for events that do not count on his home tour.

Fleetwood has so far played only four DP World Tour events and failed to finish in the top 20 at any of them; the Dubai Desert Classic, Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship or Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The majors also count on the Race to Dubai and his share of 16th at the Open was his only top 20 in the big four tournaments. But on the American-based circuit he enjoyed seven top-five finishes.

Fleetwood was also Europe’s top points scorer at Bethpage last month. It would be absurd for him not to be taking his place alongside the tour’s leading stars at the end of the season.

While in the past the PGA and European tours were deadly rivals they are now inextricably linked thanks to the strategic alliance that underpins DP World Tour prize funds.

While Marco Penge, last week’s winner of the Open De Espana, has moved into McIlroy’s wing mirrors as his closest rival at the top of the Race to Dubai, much of the interest for the rest of the season will have an American bias.

The narrative will be driven by the scramble for 10 places on the PGA Tour for those who do not already have playing rights in the US. Penge, with three DPWT wins, is assured of what is widely regarded as ‘promotion’ to the US circuit.

The Clitheroe-based pro, who also guaranteed invites to the Masters and Open with his Spanish success, is not in the India field but will mount a final push to try to overhaul McIlroy at the top of the standings.

And Dan Brown, the man Penge beat in the Madrid play-off, is one of four other Britons in the thick of the battle for a 2026 PGA card.

Yorkshireman John Parry and the Bath duo of Jordan Smith and Laurie Canter also currently occupy spots that would yield a golden ticket for next year.

Some observers see this scenario as evidence that the DP World Tour is now nothing more than a feeder for big brother on the other side of the pond.

But the DP World Tour argue it is a vital mechanism that underpins their schedule, a necessary and enticing element that maximises playing opportunities for its members.