Category: General

The Nigerian Society for Animal Production (NSAP) has called for deliberate measures and policies to address the negative impacts of climate change on livestock production in the country.

NSAP President, Prof. Francis Abeke, made this call on Tuesday at the 12th Joint Annual Meeting of the Animal Science Association of Nigeria (ASAN) and the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) in Abuja.

He said it was necessary if Nigeria would achieve its vision and mission of providing animal protein food for Nigerians at affordable prices.

Abeke said the negative influence of climate change on animal agriculture could not be over emphasised and called for more science, smart science, and cutting edge technology to reposition the sector.

According to him, the society is committed to meeting the yearning needs and aspirations of Nigerians for adequate animal protein in their diets.

He said collective will and rugged determination was evident among all stakeholders in the livestock industry as it was important to synergise and strategise to achieve a robust livestock industry in Nigeria.

“I want to call on all tiers of government to redouble their efforts in providing suitable production environment through policies, as well as improving the funding of this important sector of the economy.

“The current low scale and almost subsistent production system cannot meet the animal protein need of the vast and growing population of Nigerians and for export.

“I strongly believe that as we put on our thinking caps and brainstorm on the various challenges facing the livestock industry during this conference; we will come out with a workable solution,’’ he said.

On his part, Prof. Baba Yusuf, President, Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, said food and nutrition security was very critical and central to the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government.

He said NIAS as a regulatory body in the livestock sub-sector, would continue to strive to be very innovative, strategic and transformational.

Yusuf pledged the Institute’s commitment to work with all stakeholders from Government, Academia and, particularly, the industry, in order to be more impactful.

“As animal scientists, we must make extra efforts towards building bridges of hope, tolerance, cooperation and unity across our profession.

“This is the only way for Animal Agriculture to fully unleash its potential and relevance towards the economic growth of our country,’’ he said.

Dr Sabi Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, while commending the associations, said the theme, ‘Pathways to Addressing the Challenges of Climate Change in Animal Agriculture,’ was apt.

He said climate change effects in agriculture had ravaged the world with severe impact on lives and livelihood of crop and livestock farmers.

The minister said all stakeholders must collaborate not only to mitigate the impact, but raise preparedness level by putting in place policies and strategies that support climate-smart agriculture.

“With the huge potentials in livestock resources alongside low intake of animal sourced protein, the present administration has set its focus on ensuring that all Nigerians have access to balanced and wholesome diet.

“This can be realised only by making the livestock sub-sector of the economy viable enough not only to provide affordable source of protein but create employment and earn foreign exchange for Nigeria.

“This is the essence of State of Emergency on Food Security as declared by President Bola Tinubu on July 13,’’ he said.

He said his ministry, in recognition of the significance and strategic importance of the livestock sub-sector in Nigeria’s quest for sustainable economic development, had begun implementing the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).

The plan, he said was to create a robust, vibrant and competitive livestock sector capable of meeting the national demand for animal protein and place Nigeria among top players in the global livestock economy.

Earlier, former Governor of Kano State, Dr Umar Ganduje, said livestock played major roles in the entire food system; as manure was a critical source of natural fertiliser and also used as draft animals to boost productivity in low mechanisation regions.

According to him, livestock are important assets for vulnerable communities.

He said that globally, no fewer than 500 million pastoralists relied on livestock herding for food, income, and as a store of wealth.

“Locally, livestock production systems have the potential to contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and to carbon sequestration in soils and biomass.

“Livestock farming is one of the most profitable businesses in the agricultural industry.

“As long as meat, leather products, milk, etc. are in demand, livestock production will always remain a profitable business,’’ he said.

Ganduje, however, called for more attention and commitment to research and innovation as twin tools for the development of livestock.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Mr Emmanuel Igbaukum, the State Programme Coordinator (SPC) of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) in Benue, says insecurity is hampering rice production in the state.

Igbaukum spoke at an advocacy visit to the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Michael Oglegba, on Tuesday in Makurdi.

He lamented that insecurity had prevented Benue from taking its pride of place as the number one producer of rice in the country.

The coordinator reiterated that Benue would have been the number one producer of rice in the country if not for insecurity.

“If insecurity the state is tackled, Benue will take the lead in the production of rice in the country.

“Most rice farmers in the state are living in crisis prone areas.

“Persistent insecurity is hampering good farming practices thereby affecting food security,” Igbaukum said.

He pointed out that through IFAD-VCDP, farmers in the state were experiencing high yield, adding that the organisation adequately trained farmers on Good Agronomic Practices (GAP) which translated into high yield.

Igbaukum said that knowledge on GAP helped in proper application of fertiliser to their crops.

He also stated that the organisation had created several opportunities to encourage the youth to accept and embrace agriculture for the overall good of the society.

Responding, Oglegba assured IFAD-VCDP of a sustained and robust partnership.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Rep. Princess Ugwu (LP-Enugu South) has advocated for increased financial empowerment of women to increase their participation in politics and governance processes.

Ugwu, representing Enugu South Rural Constituency in the Enugu State House of Assembly made the call during a virtual meeting with Gender Strategy Advancement International (GSAI).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting, via zoom, was part of efforts to realise the United Nations 1995 Affirmative Action on women gender policy.

She stressed the need to strengthen the implementation of the affirmative action which advocated for 35 per cent inclusion of women in public service and governance to ensure gender equality.

She, however, observed that the affirmative action may not be feasible if women do not have the financial muscle to compete favourable with their men counterparts in the political space.

She blamed the poor representation of women in governance on lack of financial resources, cultural, social, economic barriers, and mindsets among others.

She noted that contesting for political positions in the Nigeria’s political space requires huge financial resources which most women do not have.

“In spite of the financial waivers given to women aspirants by some political parties, most Nigerian women who seek these positions cannot afford the financial obligations.

“With this financial deficit, the women could do little or nothing to outweigh their male counterparts.

“It is very important, therefore, to empower women to be financially buoyant to enable them to sponsor their election campaigns and other political obligations,” she said.

The lawmaker said that the women could be financially empowered through skill acquisition, trade, career development among others.

She pledged to ensure a gender responsive budget in the state’s 2024 budget to implement more women empowerment programmes.

“I also want to use my office to sponsor women during the 2027 general elections and ensure that they win.” she said.

Ugwu further called for massive advocacy to strengthen women participation in politics and impact the governance process.

She stressed the need to create awareness against gender stereotypes, gender roles biases and educate the public on the importance of women’s participation in politics for inclusive governance.

She added that the awareness campaigns and advocacies should also address the negative attitude towards persons with disabilities.

In her remarks, Ms Grace Ubeh, Communications Officer, GSAI, commended Ugwu for advocating for women empowerment.

Ubeh said that GSAI was carrying out a three-month project tagged, “Gender Advocacy and Inclusion in Nigeria (GAIN) among other projects to ensure women participation in governance.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Abuja Market Management Limited (AMML), says the alleged contempt proceedings against the Minister of the FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike at the National Industrial Court does not exist.

AMML Secretary and Legal Adviser, Mr Onya Ojiji, made the clarification in a statement in Abuja on Monday.

“Our attention has been drawn to stories making the rounds in the media that the National Industrial Court has commenced contempt proceedings against the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike and others.

“The contempt is over alleged disobedience of a court order in respect of a matter surrounding the headship of Abuja Markets Management Limited.

“We have been duly informed by our legal counsel and we would like to state categorically that there is no such contempt proceeding against the FCT Minister or any staff of the Abuja Investments Company Ltd (AICL) and AMML at the National Industrial Court,” he said.

Ojiji explained that the suit referred to in the publication has been reassigned to another judge and would commence afresh.

“This means that there is no order being disobeyed and nobody is in contempt to warrant contempt proceedings,” he added.

He, therefore, urged the public to disregard the information, stressing that the said disobedience to court orders does not exist since the suit would commence afresh.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Wike had on Sept. 27, relieved heads of 21 parastatals, agencies, and government companies of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) of their appointments.

The contempt charge was filed by Alhaji Faruk Abubakar, who was affirmed by the court as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of AMML.

The contempt proceeding was against the allegation that the minister and others are acting in disobedience to the orders of the industrial court made on July 20.

The orders restrained them from giving effect to the purported letter of termination of the employment of Abubakar as the AMML’s MD.

The suit also joined FCTA, AMML and AICL as 2nd to 4th defendants respectively, including the former acting MD of AMML, Mr Yakubu Abbas.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura, a Professor of Participatory and Development Communication, Nasarawa State University has called for attitudinal change and change in narrative to promote national unity and development.

Dandaura made the call while delivering a paper titled, ‘To Change Narratives, Change Behaviour’ at the 5th Edition of OurNigeria News Award 2023 on Sunday night in Abuja.

The 2023 edition of the award has the theme “Providing a Podium for the Unsong Hero”.

The don recalled one of the conversations between Sir Ahmadu Bello and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe on the issue of Nigeria’s unity where both leaders ended up with two different theses in terms of how to forge the unity in Nigeria.

According to him, while Azikiwe said they needed to forget their differences, whether religious or cultural, the Sardauna disagreed and emphasised the need to recognise and respect their differences so that in negotiating those differences they could build a united Nigeria.

He said that they were both correct, adding that it was important since everybody had different environment, different capabilities and different limitations.

“So what is important is how do we forge this unity and meet all these differences.

“As I prepared this lecture, I decided to take a simple survey randomly of 380 young people in my training database across Nigeria.

“I asked three simple questions which border on knowing the extent to which they are satisfied with the state of unity in Nigeria.

“96 per cent of them were not satisfied with the state of unity and their reasons range from nepotism in the higher places, corruption, insecurity, unemployment and leadership failure, and of course their exclusion in politics as they saw it.

“They were, however, very generous with respect to how we can change the situation but I noticed that out of the total, 98 per cent gave recommendations that were targeted at changes that they wish to see in their political leaders, government officials, religious leaders, and other actors.

“Only two per cent included on their list few things that they thought they should change themselves for us to have a united and progressive Nigeria.

According to Dandaura, when we talk about nation building, most times we expect the next person to take the lead while we forget our role in the process of building unity and forging integration.

Nigeria, he said, is a beautiful country by all standards with abundant human and natural resources that any country could boast of as well as can do spirit.

The don said that needed a reorientation to change the narratives that even some Nigerians do not believe that anything good could happen in their country.

According to him, one of the major problems has been leadership failure and the truth is that majority of Nigerians believe that our leaders are not able to satisfy our aspirations and what we expect of them.

Also speaking, the Publisher of OurNigeria News Magazine, Dr Muhammed Abubakar said that leadership crisis was one of the challenges that had hindered progress and unity in the country.

Abubakar said it was that understanding that informed the decision of the media outfit to use platforms like awards to unveil and showcase men of timber and caliber that could be seen and given more responsibilities in their assignments.

He said that some of the people that were conferred with the awards in previous editions were also conferred with the National Honour by former President Muhammadu Buhari, an indication that the awards were well deserved.

According to him, the whole thing is all about value addition, adding that excellence would not be found on the streets but through diligence and hard work.

“So whenever you see excellence, treasure it, celebrate it and honor it and that is the whole idea behind this very award.

“It is all about identifying excellence, identifying people who are adding value, then you celebrate them, and encourage them so that they will do more,” he said.

The Chairman of Awards Organising Committee, Dr AK Peters, said it was a platform to honor those who had performed at the superlative level, adding that the awards were not for sale nor for the highest bidder.

Peters said the awards were a prestigiously conferred honor on carefully selected and highly inspirational heroes whose uncommon achievements had evoked admiration and emulation.

“Our awards are only for those who scaled through the clear cut parameters, criteria, scrutiny and competency appraisal of our eagle eyed conservative old school crack team of assessors.

This way, our unsong heroes, indeed the real heroes of our Nigerian society can be known, sing song, celebrated and rewarded for raising the bar in leadership and the quest for a better Nigeria.

“It is not worthy to state that majority of those who have received these awards in the past were elevated in their various fields of endeavour,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that no fewer than 25 Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in their various field including traditional rulers, religious leaders and politicians, as well as security, business and entertainment were conferred with the awards.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) in the Oshana Region are requesting the public’s assistance in tracing a suspect, Immanuel Ndaoya known as Cabana, who escaped from the Onandjokwe Hospital at Ondangwa, in the early hours of Sunday.

NamPol Community Affairs Inspector Thomas Aiyambo on Sunday said Ndaoya is wanted in an alleged housebreaking case at Ondangwa with CR97.

The suspect was seriously injured by corrugated iron sheets during the housebreaking incident at Omwandi on Saturday, where they cut the roof to gain entry into the shop, he said.

‘He was then arrested at Onandjokwe where he went for medical treatment and was admitted. However, he escaped in the early hours of Sunday from the hospital.’

Aiyambo indicated that the suspect is a habitual criminal in housebreakings and is suspected to be in the areas of Onesheko, Oniipa, Onambambi, Onethindi, Okaku village and Ondangwa town.

He said the public should avoid capturing the suspect, as he might be dangerous and instead contact the Ondangwa police
station.

Meanwhile, a 29-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly robbed a 43-year-old man of two cellphones valued at N.dollars 9000, at Oshakati on Friday.

Aiyambo said the suspect reportedly fled the scene and drove to Okahao Hospital to be treated for a stab wound inflicted on him by a co-suspect while trying to rob the items from the victim.

‘The suspect allegedly sustained a stab wound on the right arm and was taken to Okahao Hospital by his co-criminals who thereafter went hiding so that the police could not connect him to the robbery case,’ he said.

He is currently under police guard pending his discharge from the hospital.

Police investigations in both matters continue.