The Buhari administration in collaboration with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and other partner organisations, have carried out a National Food Consumption and Micro-nutrient Survey (NFCMS). It aimed at assessing the micro-nutrient status and dietary intake of women within the reproductive age of 15–49 years, including pregnant and lactating women, and children aged 6–59 months. Experts have been saying that malnutrition in young children and pregnant women is known to have adverse consequences on their survival and long-term well-being. It also has far-reaching effects on human capital, economic productivity, and national development; changes in diet can help improve mental…
Author: Akanimo Sampson
Recently, the Forum of Southern Governors in one voice, announced a ban on open grazing in all the 17 southern states. That jolted some sections of Nigeria a bit. The governors resolved that the Buhari administration should support willing states to develop alternative and modern livestock management systems. They also resolved on other issues including the festering insecurity in the country. Of the 17 southern states, 13 governors were in attendance at the meeting: Governor Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos). Others are Douye…
Central African Republic (CAR) is currently immersed in a worsening humanitarian crisis. Already, a top United Nations official has briefed Security Council of the dire situation. According to him, security forces from nearby countries and other security personnel have been fighting an “asymmetric war” against armed groups, sparking an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis.” Mankeur Ndiaye, CAR Special Representative and Head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission (MINUSCA) voiced his concern over a military counter-offensive against the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) – an alliance of armed groups that launched attacks against forces loyal to the government ahead of the presidential vote in December, which returned incumbent Faustin-Archange Touadéra to power on January 4. “The result has been an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with new waves of displacement and 57 per cent of the population…
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State says his administration is not in a hurry to lift the curfew in the state. The Wike administration imposed the curfew in the wake of dastardly attacks on security formations in the big oil and gas state will remain in place despite sponsored criticism against it. The governor, who reiterated he is not unmindful of the traffic difficulty experienced by residence of the state, particularly in Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor councils while trying to beat the 8:30pm curfew time, argued it is better to suffer inconveniences and be alive. Wike defended the efficacy of…
Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are taking steps to ensure unfettered inter-movements between the two countries. To this end, Uganda’s President, Yoweni Museveni, and his DRC’s counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, have laid the foundation stone to mark the start of the construction works of 223 kilometres roads linking them. The groundbreaking ceremony took place at Mpondwe / Kasindi border post. This comes barely after the governments of both countries signed two agreements, the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), and Project Development Agreement (PDA), to facilitate the implementation of the said project the cost of which $334.5 million. The project includes…
From this coming July, Illuminarium Experiences is set to begin operations in Atlanta, Beltline, offering a safari experience in virtual reality of Africa and its exotic animals in their natural habitats. The company is a worldwide leader in cinematic and interactive content, theatrical and architectural design, and venue operations. They received $100 million in initial funding for the construction of its venue that includes an 8,000-square-foot room, a massive canvas, 350 feet in length over 20 feet in height, with state-of-the-art laser projection, rich spatial beam-forming audio, in-floor haptics, scent, and lidar-based interactive technologies. The space will transport visitors to Africa…
Construction work of a 91-kilometer Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi highway project by the Buhari administration is currently in progress. Contract for the road project was approved last November by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and awarded to China Geo-engineering Company (CGC) Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of CGCOC Group Company Ltd, in December the same year. The project mainly involves the rehabilitation and conversion of the entire route, linking Kano and Katsina States, to a dual carriageway. According to the Director Highways (North -West) in the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the Kano State Government has already dualised approximately 7.2 kilometers of the road from…
In spite of being highly uncertain, a number of aspirants in Libya, are positioning themselves for a potential campaign. In its Libya Politics and Security, a weekly intelligence report, Menas Associates highly uncertain says it is highly uncertain whether the planned presidential election will be direct or indirect — or will happen at all on December 24, 2021. According to the political risk consultancy, slowly but surely election fever is picking up as individuals and groups hold preparatory meetings and events and launch online campaigns. They include the former Libyan ambassador to the UAE, Aref al-Nayed, who remains close to and…
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says it currently requires at least $12 million to provide the life-saving support for victims of sexual violence. Out of the amount needed, less than 40 per cent has been funded. At the moment, UNFPA is scaling up its support to safe houses, which not only provide clinical management of rape and psycho-social counselling, but also connect women to other sexual and reproductive health services. The UN agency is also expanding the availability of one-stop centres – which provide a wide range of care – and women’s and girls’ safe spaces across the conflict-affected regions. It…
Institute of Security Studies’ Lake Chad Basin Programme Senior Researcher, Akinola Olojo, says violence in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria is still persisting. This, according to him, is in spite of the fact that development, peace-building and humanitarian projects have increased since the crisis started more than a decade ago. In his analysis of the situation in ISS Today, Olojo insists that responses to violent extremism in the Lake Chad Basin are growing in both number and nature. To what extent is the plethora of civil, military and humanitarian responses a factor in prolonging the search for sustainable solutions? Could results…
In Tanzania, girls and women at-risk are reaching out to helplines in their thousands on a daily basis. It was 3 o’clock on a Friday afternoon when Grace, a counsellor at the National Child Helpline in the country, received a call from a concerned teacher in Msalala, Shinyanga Region. One of the teacher’s brightest students, 13-year-old Eliza, had not turned up for school that day, and she had heard worrying rumours that Eliza’s parents intended to marry her off. The parents had purportedly accepted a dowry payment from the family of the groom – who was a 35-year-old man. ”I…
Countries are currently bracing for war against attacks by the Executive branch and aggrieved persons on their lawmakers. Three of the countries are in Africa. Member Parliaments of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) have committed to taking action to address alleged human rights violations suffered by legislators in a number of countries, including Egypt, Libya, Myanmar, Philippines, Turkey, Yemen and Zimbabwe. Many of the cases concern actual physical violence against parliamentarians, including against women and young legislators. During the 142nd IPU Assembly last week, IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians presented the cases of 170 lawmakers it had examined at its…
Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President since May 29, 2015 is still his old pre-Babangida coup self. Before the IBB coup, Buhari ousted the Shehu Shagari administration on the eve of 1984, and by implications, aborted the country’s Second Republic. Buhari was dictatorial in his approach to governance. In the process, he jailed many politicians for ridiculous number of years. Afro-beat king, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who sought to be Nigeria’s President on the platform of Movement of the People (MOP), the party he founded, was jailed by the unrepentant military dictator for five years. As Fela said, I no do nothing. When the…
The well-being of 3.2 billion people is being undermined by land degradation from climate change and the expansion of agriculture, cities and infrastructure. In his message for World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said ”humanity is waging a relentless, self-destructive war on nature.” ”Biodiversity is declining, greenhouse gas concentrations are rising, and our pollution can be found from the remotest islands to the highest peaks”, the UN chief said, adding, ”we must make peace with nature”. The top UN official said that while “land can be our greatest ally”, currently it’s “suffering”. Land degradation…
The World Bank has said that it will not relent in providing support for renewable energy integration in West Africa. The Bank says it has so far provided a total sum of $465 million to expand energy access, and renewable energy integration in the region. With its support, countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are expanding access to grid electricity to over one million people. The support is also enhancing power system stability for another 3.5 million people, and increasing renewable energy integration in the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP). Already, the World Bank Group has…
Democratic future in Mali, a landlocked West African country is seriously at risk. This is a matter of concern to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Already, Head of MINUSMA, El-Ghassim Wane, has briefed the Security Council, pointing out that immediate action is required to initiate critical reforms and lay the groundwork for credible elections in the country, where the security situation is as worrying as ever. El-Ghassim Wane, briefed the 15-member Security Council via video-conference in the wake of a coup d’état in the country on May 24 – the second in nine months – that cast…
By 2023, one of the landmark legacies of the Buhari administration is likely to be a huge debt stock. The debt keeps racing upwards and the administration is not even keen at applying the breaks. At the moment, Nigeria’s debt stock under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch is skyrocketing to N38 trillion. This is due to the administration’s borrowing plan to finance the budget deficit. Within this 2021, there are worries that the subtle devaluation of the weak Naira, increase Eurobond and domestic borrowing rates are impacting the country’s debt cost. The Federal Executive Council approved N895 billion supplementary budget for…
In line with the dream of the Buhari administration, indigenous oil and gas companies are busy growing Nigeria’s proven gas deposits. In recent times, the Buhari administration has been pushing for a shift in focus in the oil and gas sector, to tap from the country’s huge gas deposits and reduce the dependence on crude oil. Last year, the Federal Government put the country’s total gas reserves at 203.16 trillion cubic feet (TCF), representing a marginal increase of 1.16tcf or 0.57 per cent from the 202tcf recorded in 2019. Going by the contribution of the indigenous companies in the gas…
Efforts by the government of Niger to generate 30 per cent of its power through sustainable sources by 2035 have drawn the blessing of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The government is aiming to develop up to 50 megawatts of grid-connected solar power, equivalent to roughly 20 percent of the country’s current installed capacity. IFC is in partnership with the government under the World Bank Group’s Scaling Solar programme which will help power thousands of homes, schools, businesses, and hospitals in Niger, where most lack access to electricity. Under the partnership deal, IFC, together with its sister organisations, the World Bank and…
Lebanon is currently hit by one of its worst financial and economic crises ever with 1.5 million of its citizens, and 400,000 migrant workers living there in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Over the next eight months, the United Nations estimates that $300 million is needed to provide vital aid to the 1.9 million people. ”The explosion at the Beirut port has accelerated a lot of things, that’s for sure”, says Deputy Special Coordinator, Najat Rochdi, who is also UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, referring to the deadly blast last August that killed around 200 and devastated the city. She…
Reopening of hotels, cafes, restaurants and good weather in many European countries are significantly boosting the demand for limes. The supply is currently predominantly coming to Europe from Brazil and Mexico, although the latter arrived later, as there were higher prices to be made on the North American market, where prices have been surprisingly high despite a good supply from both Mexico and overseas. Although the South African market has good prices for limes at the moment, wet weather in the cultivation areas led to a lower quality than usual due to fungal growth. Netherlands The Europe-wide opening of the…
Going by the latest findings of the United Nations, millions of children around the world are seriously at risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is coming as the number of children being put to work has risen to 160 million globally for the first time in two decades. This represents an increase of 8.4 million over four years. These facts are contained in a report, Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward, published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). According to UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, the report is urging governments…
Haiti, a Caribbean country is fast becoming a major humanitarian crisis as an intense gang war is displacing tens of thousands of citizens and residents. Independent sources at the weekend claimed that the number of displaced persons including women and children is exceeding 20,000. Already, Haiti is a matter of concern to the United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA. Before now, preliminary estimates from OCHA indicated that an upsurge in deadly clashes between gangs in the capital city, Port-au-Prince, displaced more than 5,000 people since the beginning of the month. The upsurge of violence in the troubled country is worrisome because against…
Africa is currently racing in a reverse gear to meet this coming September target for the rampaging COVID-19 vaccination. At the moment, 90 per cent of the continent’s countries will be be missing the target. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO0, nine in 10 African countries look set to miss the September target of vaccinating 10 per cent of their populations against COVID-19. At 32 million doses, Africa accounts for less than one per cent of the more than 2.1 billion doses administered globally. Just two per cent of the continent’s nearly 1.3 billion people have received one dose,…
Nigeria’s political elite do not appear to be interested in learning from history. More than 14 years after the collapse of the third term plot under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, some inner circle functionaries of the Buhari administration are returning to the infamous path. They are exploiting the current worsening insecurity in Nigeria to perfect their plan. Those behind it are not comfortable with the idea of power returning to the South. At the moment, the interim national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami, are busy perfecting plans to subvert the…
Political risk consultancy, Menas Associates, says it has now received photographic evidence and confirmation from a reliable source that France is preparing an army base at Hombori in Mali — 247 kms southwest of Gao — for the Algerians. Last May 11 in its Algeria Politics & Security, Menas reported that plans for the deployment of Algerian forces to Mali were well under way. According to its latest report, the base is more or less on the front line of the Sahel’s Three Borders area where Islamist extremists are gaining the upper hand over the French, allied and G5S forces.…
Chris Okotie, a pop music wizard-turned pastor of the Household of God Church International Ministries, raised a foggy dust in his seeming infantile jubilation following last Saturday’s departure of Prophet T. B. Joshua. The Okotie unkind comment clearly mirrors the depth of decadence among some of the Nigerian Christian leaders and their congregants. According to Okotie who once claimed that God assured him of becoming Nigeria’s President in an election he clearly disgraced God, “the Wizard who assumed the title of Emmanuel had been consumed by divine indignation”. Apparently piqued, Prophet Samuel, the General Overseer of Shiloh Word Chapel in…
Over 350 000 people are currently facing catastrophic conditions in Tigray region. This is the highest number of people a report has classified ”catastrophe” in a single country in the last decade. Over 60 percent of the population, more than 5.5 million people are equally grappling with high levels of acute food insecurity, and the neighbouring zones of Amhara and Afar. Of these, two million people are in Emergency level of acute food insecurity and without urgent action, could quickly slide into starvation. The severity of acute food insecurity is expected to increase through September, particularly in Tigray, with over 400 000 people…
This year’s edition of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Development and Globalisation: Facts and Figures report being released this June 10, highlights the numerous strengths and challenges facing some economically vulnerable countries. Worse hit are Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Going by the report, SIDS are facing an uphill battle as they strive to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis amid vulnerabilities worsened by the pandemic. The report is however, published ahead of UNCTAD’s 15th quadrennial ministerial conference to be held online from October 3 through 7, hosted by Barbados, one of the SIDS. The contributions and vulnerabilities of…
It appears JoyFous is the next generation of waterproof rolling shower screen for bathtubs that maximises shower. JoyFous has taken the existing shower curtain and gives it a much-needed design upgrade. Made for 3-walled bathtubs (where the 4th wall is usually occupied by a curtain), JoyFous is a nifty, slim, retractable screen that’s easy to pull out and retract before and after your bath. It is a much more convenient alternative to the shower curtain that’s clumsy and doesn’t stop water from leaking out onto the bathroom floor… and it’s a whole lot cheaper than those frosted glass partitions, and it isn’t breakable…
