In less than four weeks, more than 45,000 individuals have fled the northern district of Muidumbe in Mozambique due to multiple attacks in several locations. Some people were newly displaced, while others are already displaced and again forced to flee. Continued displacement of civilian populations in northern Mozambique due to insecurity in Cabo Delgado province is causing serious concern to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). IOM Mozambique Chief of Mission, Laura Tomm-Bonde, says “displacement is on the rise in northern Cabo Delgado as attacks on civilian populations continue. “We are extremely concerned about this situation and are providing humanitarian…
Author: Akanimo Sampson
By the turn of this 2020, the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria is expected to hit over 26 million. Slum2School, a volunteer-driven development organisation that is transforming the society by empowering underserved children in slums and remote communities with quality education says in 2019, the number of out-of-school children in the country stood at over 16 million. ‘’In 2020 more than 10 million children will be added to that number due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Those most hit by the consequences of the pandemic are those from low-income families, exposing the grievous education divide in Nigeria’’, the group…
Forty year-old Abubakar Ahmed Rufai is a smallholder farmer and community-based advisor from Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. He cultivates soybean, maize and rice on his farm. Like many other farmers in Giwa, Abubakar, does what his forefathers did for years. He usually buys seeds from an open market and saves some of his seeds for planting the next season. But he realised he has been farming the wrong way all along after he participated in one of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) training under the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation (PIATA) activities on Good…
Value Seeds has created value kits, a small pack that has all the ingredients a farmer requires to cultivate a quarter of land. The value kit for rice is called the R-Kit, while the other is called the Maize Value Kit “These two technologies brought together all the inputs that the farmer needs – the seeds, the fertilizer, and the crop protection products (CPP), agrochemicals, pesticides in order to prevent yield loss. The box has everything”, says Managing Director of Value Seeds, George Zangir. With a vision to meet the production needs of farmers, Zangir founded Value Seeds in 2009…
From November 16 through 19, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) hosted a series of modules to train 20 returnees in a community-based approach to psychosocial reintegration in Benin City, the Edo State capital. It is part of the response to address the challenge thrown up COVID-19. The pandemic continues to put a strain on public health systems, as well as on the livelihoods and purchasing power of people around the world. But as the pandemic shows no signs of abating, the impact on the mental health of the most vulnerable –including migrants returned to their communities– becomes more visible.…
Since 2012 Slum2School says it has enrolled over 1660 children into schools and supported over 32,000 others through its various programmes since 2012. Slum2School is, however, a volunteer-driven development organisation transforming the society by empowering underserved children in slums and remote communities with quality education, entrepreneurial skills, and psychosocial support to enable them to realise their full potential and become social reformers. Founded in 2012, it recognises that there are severe shortcomings in the educational sector in Africa and in this area it is committed to transforming the lives of Africa’s most precious resource – her children. ‘’We provide educational…
Lack of access to quality seeds is affecting crop productivity in Nigeria, thereby making it difficult to guarantee production, and for families to adequately meet their basic needs. In Nigeria, crop production is an old tradition, many families in the country solely depends on it for the provision of their basic needs. Over the years, smallholder farmers have lost millions of naira due to fake, seeds. Those who know better say more than 50% of crop seeds sold in the country are sub-standard and sometimes fake. Farmers have complained about the exposure to illegal seed practices, including counterfeit seeds, fake…
For several decades, Giwa community in Kaduna State cultivated rice and milled it at the Giwa Iganchi Commercial Maize F.C.S Rice Mill Enterprise. Sadly, throughout these years, they were completely depended on traditional farming, planting local varieties of the crop and ancient milling techniques a practice, which often resulted in low yields and profits. During their rice parboiling process, the women soaked their paddies in water for several hours to soften the kernel, re-wash it again and steam it before sun drying. After this, the rice is milled with old machines that are unable to adequately remove stones and polish…
Some shocking data that challenged the conscience of the world erupted at a Special Seminar on Food and Nutrition, organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Wednesday in Rome. The special seminar that was titled, Urgent call for agri-food systems transformation to achieve healthy diets for all, has sparked growing concerns on the need for affordable healthy food for all human beings. This is coming as FAO, a UN agency ruptured the relative peace of global leaders with the statistics that more than 1.5 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet that meets the required levels of essential nutrients,…
The Buhari administration is currently at loggerheads with the House of Representatives over the move by the Green Chamber of the bicameral Legislature to regulate the country’s Ecological Fund. Already, the House Committee on Ecological Fund is holding a public hearing on A Bill for an Act to Establish the Regulation of Ecological Funds to Address Nigeria’s Ecological Challenges, Particularly Erosion, Landslide, Desertification, Floods, Oil Spillage, Drought, Etc., and for Related Matters. In a memorandum to the committee, the Buhari administration through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, is seriously kicking against the bill, claiming that the…
For stating that the CNN reporting of the massacre that took place in Nigeria during the EndSARS hurricane is fake news, Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, has been accused of undemocratic conduct by a British lawmaker. During plenary, the MP for Edmonton, Kate Osamor, described as undemocratic, the claim by Mohammed, that the killings at the Lekki toll plaza was fake news. The UK government has already responded to the grave situation in Nigeria. The MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, Wendy Morton, who is also the Minister at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, says the reports of intimidation of EndSARS protesters were…
The full implementation of the controversial CAMA 2020 which some circles are promoting as a major game-changer in the corporate regulatory landscape will commence from January 1, 2021. The National Assembly passed an amendment in 2018, and President Muhammadu Buhari declined assent to it and accordingly requested federal lawmakers reconsider the Bill. The newly enacted CAMA Act introduces measures to ensure efficiency in the registration and regulation of corporate vehicles, reduce the compliance burden of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), enhance transparency, and stakeholders’ engagement in corporate vehicles. Overall, it promotes a more friendly business climate. The overhaul of the…
Chad’s Lac Province is reeling from the impact of a double security and environmental crisis which has forcibly displaced more than half of the province’s population. The recent flooding of displacement sites and host communities in Lac Province risks worsening an already complex humanitarian situation, as some key areas where critical assistance is needed might become inaccessible. This week, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is appealing for $2.00 million to ensure continued access and delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people and their host communities through, among other things, emergency and preparedness support, and strengthening disaster risk reduction programming. Earlier…
The African Union Commission has slated its Specialised Technical Committees (STC) meeting on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration for this coming December 1-3 to discuss the planned launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Following the growing global concerns on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, jointly, the Commission and the Republic of Ghana, agreed to postpone, until further notice, the 4th STC on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration, scheduled to be held from March 9-14, 2020, in Accra, Ghana. The Ministerial STC and its related high-level side events will be coming up this…
Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria’s secret police, is blaming the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) for the EndSARS mayhem and bloodletting in Rivers State, the capital of oil and gas in Nigeria. At a presidential parley with leaders of the South-South geopolitical zone in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, DSS Director-General, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, who lauded Governor Nyesom Wike, for his stance against IPOB, said the Biafra group hijacked the EndSARS protest and killed 10 security operatives, torched stations and court buildings in Oyigbo Local Government Area of the state. This is coming as Chief of Staff…
The World Food Programme (WFP) is receiving $119 million from the US Department of Agriculture to provide school meals in five countries in Asia and Africa. But, Nigeria is excluded from the lifeline. Some N679 million is currently being spent on the school feeding programme in Nigeria daily, yet many under-five children in the country are still malnourished, with COVID-19 pandemic compounding the problem. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had, in 2018, said the Home Grown School Feeding Programme was aimed at increasing school enrollment and tackling malnutrition in children. “At current numbers, the Federal Government spends more than $1.8 million…
CEO of Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), Dr Seth Berkley, says 14 million children every year are still missing out on basic vaccines “despite enormous progress over the past two decades ensuring children everywhere have access to lifesaving vaccines.” Continuing, the Gavi big boss said, “we know a disproportionate amount of these unprotected children come from migrant, refugee and displaced populations, who are too often overlooked when it comes to basic health care. ‘’This obviously becomes all the more important as we plan to rollout COVID-19 vaccines worldwide; we cannot allow these populations to miss out on what could be one of…
Nigeria is still vulnerable to increases in food prices as well as shortages that are likely to occur in the long run. This is largely because the country still depends on food imports to address gaps. In its COVID-19 policy response for Nigeria, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) says the use of modern inputs is limited in the country, where less than 60 percent of farmers use fertilizer and improved seeds in their farming practices. AGRA that is concerned with fulfilling the vision that Africa can feed itself and the world, transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle…
In Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s Kaduna State, an agric programme that has been running since December 2017 is pressing to further uplift smallholder farmers’ livelihoods through market driven up-scaling of the maize, rice and soybean value chains. The Kaduna Consortium has been working with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to support smallholder farmers in the state to overcome a host of challenges, including limited access to extension services and high-quality inputs, inadequate storage and weak market linkages. The Consortium is working through women farmer organisations to build the capacity of women to act as producers, trainers, agro-dealers,…
Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch appears to be cycling back to the June 12 era under the Sani Abacha military dictatorship. This might not be quite surprising. Buhari has been a very strong supporter and defender of Abacha. On June 8, 2008, Buhari loudly declared that the late dictator did not loot the national treasury contrary to the general impression of the country. Buhari who earlier ruled Nigeria between 1983 and 1985, gave Abacha the clean bill in Kano after the remembrance prayers marking 10 years of the death of Abacha, who ruled between 1993 and 1998 then. At…
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says prioritising access to modern and reliable energy services remains an essential requirement for expanding healthcare solutions, modernising agriculture and other parts of the economy, as well as protecting the poorest populations. ‘’The need is even more urgent during a global pandemic’’, says IEA, the establishment committed to shaping a secure and sustainable energy future for all. In Nigeria’s stimulus plan however, the Buhari administration is currently emphasising the role of both decentralised solar PV systems and LPG in providing modern fuel. It aims to maximise the benefits of energy access by considering the needs of health services,…
Technical Lead of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development programme of the International Labour Organisation (ILO-WED), Charleine Mbuyi-Lusamba, says their aim in the WED team is to help women ‘add value’ to businesses they may already own in essential and female-dominated sectors. The WED team is also to encourage women enter more lucrative sectors, often growth-oriented and male-dominated, pointing out, ‘’we have developed a five-point business upgrading model to help make this happen: Identify and assess the best sectors where women can establish and grow their businesses. This includes sectors where women already have a significant presence, and those that are traditionally…
Assistant Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Regional Director for Africa, Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, says the universal ratification of the ILO’s Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour is a positive step for Africa’s children. But sadly, 72.1 million African children are still involved in child labour, including 31.5 million children engaged in hazardous work. According to the ILO’s global estimates on child labour published in 2017, sub-Saharan Africa witnessed a rise in child labour from 2012 to 2016, in contrast to other regions where child labour continued to decline. In order to achieve Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),…
In a new report, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says COVID-19 poses an enormous challenge to global development aspirations. UNCTAD provides a comprehensive assessment of the economic impact of the sanitary crisis, projecting that the global economy will contract by 4.3% in 2020. Inequalities and vulnerabilities will worsen as the effects of the pandemic undermine progress on poverty and other important sustainable development goals. The UN trade agency charts a roadmap for more inclusive trade and economic development, emphasizing the need to reshape global production networks. But while there is growing confidence that an end to…
Hundreds of thousands Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno State, one of the three North-East states of Nigeria worst-hit by the Boko Haram conflict, are currently living in overcrowded camps. Unrelenting violence in that axis of blood has prompted new waves of displacement to congested camps in 2020. The UN migration agency, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has begun rolling out a new decongestion strategy in collaboration with humanitarian partners that aims to reduce overcrowding in over 55 per cent of the camps in Borno where four out of five live in overcrowded sites Overcrowded conditions in camps with makeshift…
This 2020, loss of lives on the West Africa route to the Canary Islands has more than double compared to 2019, when International Organisation for Migration (IOM) recorded 210 deaths. The United Nations migration agency is extremely concerned about the increase in deaths recorded on the West Africa route. So far, IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded more than 500 deaths this year, most of them during the months of October and November. This is even amid increased departures from the coasts of West African countries, including Senegal. The recorded data, however, represent a minimum estimate. The Organisation fears the…
The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, World Food Programme (WFP), an agency of the United Nations is facing a shortfall of $153 million over the next six months for its operation to meet the food needs of the most vulnerable in Sudan. It is, therefore, calling for $24.6 million to meet the immediate needs of Ethiopian refugees seeking safety in Sudan. The conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia that escalated on November 4, has forced more than 30,000 Ethiopians to flee across the border into Sudan. A 25-year-old refugee in Um Rakuba Camp in Gedaref State, Dejen Fantay, says“we were in…
In its Sahara Focus, a monthly intelligence report on the Sahara region, a political risk consultancy, Menas Associates warns that Algeria might trigger a war in the Western Sahara. ‘’Under the current prevailing circumstances in Algeria, the question should not be dismissed quite so lightly’’, Menas Associates insists, pointing out, ‘’several of our Algerian sources believe that the latest incident — which involved the Polisario blockading the strategic ‘West Coast’ road that crosses the Western Sahara buffer zone, or ‘no man’s land’, between Guerguerat and the Mauritanian border — is a deliberate act of provocation by elements within the Algerian regime.…
In a seeming huge victory for children’s rights, Human Rights Watch says the Greek government has agreed to end a long-standing practice of detaining unaccompanied migrant children in jail cells. Executive Director of the global rights group, Kenneth Roth, in a letter to Prime Minister Mitsotakis, pressed for the ending of the practice. The letter however reads: ‘’Dear Prime Minister Mitsotakis, ‘’I am writing to you to express Human Rights Watch’s deep concern at the high number of unaccompanied migrant children detained in “protective custody” in police station cells and pre-removal detention centers across Greece. ‘’Human Rights Watch welcomes the…
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is further tasking the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the worrisome level of impunity in Nigeria. The party is also calling for a national truth commission following an alleged failure of the Buhari administration to come clean on the involvement of the security forces in the Lekki shooting as well as the recruiting of hoodlums to attack peaceful protesters in Abuja and other parts of the country. ICC has since commenced a preliminary examination into the unfortunate shootings which occurred at the Lekki toll gate where EndSARS protesters gathered to protest against police brutality…
