International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) says a silent revolution is happening in Nigeria’s yam production systems as pebble-sized seed tubers, known as minitubers by researchers and “chin-chin” yam by farmers affiliated with the Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA II), could change how yam is produced in the country. This follows the experiences of some farmers and seed entrepreneurs like Mohammed Isa Galadima from Paiko Local Government Area of Niger State. Galadima attested to the productivity of the minitubers, noting that he harvested tubers ranging from 0.75 g to 2.2 kg during an Open…
Author: Akanimo Sampson
Secretary General of Zimbabwe has joined the Association of Exporters of Fresh Fruits of the Southern Hemisphere (SHAFFE) just as more than 40 smallholder herb and spice growers in Kenya are now exporting their produce. SHAFFE’s Secretary-General, Nelli Hajdu, who made the development public said, “we are very happy to announce the addition of Zimbabwe to SHAFFE, represented through the Zimbabwe Horticultural Development Council.” The incorporation took place during Fruit Logistica, an event that had its first face-to-face version again, taking place from early this April. SHAFFE and its associated members were present at the 2022 version of Fruit Logistica.…
Some stranger than fiction tales are springing up all over Nigeria these days at a rate hitherto unknown since the colonialists hammered out the country. They are all happening under the nose of President Muhammadu Buhari. Some of the tales are like scenes from movies. Take for instance, the family of the 39-year-old businessman, Yahaya Hassan Musa that has been thrown into mourning. His body was found in a forest hours after his abductors received a N6 million ransom. The incident reportedly started on Thursday, when the victim, who is married with two kids, was coming back from Cotonou, Benin…
By Akanimo Sampson Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) says as a result of the war in Ukraine, poorer countries are finding it increasingly tough to deal with surging food prices. FAO is therefore, calling for a global Food Import Financing Facility (FIFF) to help poorer countries deal with surging prices. The FIFF, which is also aimed at increasing global agricultural production and productivity in a sustainable way, is one of six policy proposals put together by FAO in response to the crisis. Russia and Ukraine are important players in the global food market, with almost 50 countries dependant on them…
By Akanimo Sampson Worrisome activities of roadside trading around markets in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, are still ongoing despite the ban by the Udom administration. Some of the concerned individuals in the metropolis say the sellers, the buyers and other road users are being exposed to risk. Street trading is also thriving around the city centre, popularly known as Ibom Plaza, where traders have literally taken over the walkways meant for pedestrians thereby forcing pedestrians to use the main roads. The Udom administration in February, 2021 banned street trading and went ahead to set up a task force…
By Akanimo Sampson The world’s largest humanitarian organisation, World Food Programme (WFP), an agency of the United Nations, has warned that 20 million people in the Horn of Africa are currently at the risk of being sent to the grave by hunger. The alarming situation is being made worse as the desperately needed rains across the affected region have so far failed to come almost a month into the current rainy season. WFP is arguing that if these conditions continue, along with stagnant and even decreasing humanitarian aid, the number of hungry people due to drought could spiral from the…
By Akanimo Sampson Wednesday’s official approval by a British judge of the US government’s request to extradite WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who is facing espionage charges for publishing classified material that exposed war crimes by American forces has sparked off an outrage. The judge’s new and widely expected procedural order, the culmination of a drawn-out legal battle, places the final decision on Assange’s extradition in the hands of UK. Home Secretary Priti Patel, leaving the WikiLeaks publisher with dwindling options to fight his removal to the US—where he could be hit with a 175-year prison sentence. Reuters, an international news agency report…
By Akanimo Sampson United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, says youth activism has been “pushing the world forward.” She was speaking at Day 1 of the Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) annual Youth Forum. According to her, “from the streets of every corner of the world to the online arena, we have seen powerful demonstrations of youth commitment to equality, climate action and human rights’’, adding that they are demanding a seat at the table and holding Governments and businesses to account for their inaction. UN experts joined youth leaders, activists and government officials from around the globe…
By Akanimo Sampson A Bayelsa based non-governmental organisation, I See You, is currently seeking a review of the single term zoning for Bayelsa East Senate seat. The group explained that a two term for senators will bring effective development to the people of the area. The group made its position known in a statement signed by the Director-General of the group, Pastor Mercy Dan and Deputy Director-General, Mr Kenechukwu Jonathan, made available to newsmen in Yenagoa on Friday. The group noted that with the current democratic realities, the single tenure rotation system for the Bayelsa East Senatorial District is no…
By Akanimo Sampson Akwa Ibom State’s domestic debt of N214.61 billion which accounts for 4.8% of the total states’ domestic debt obligations is currently a major source of worry for some concerned 2023 governorship aspirants. Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) says the state’s debt stock as of December 2021 stood at that huge figure. The aspirants who participated in an on-line debate organized by the Diaspora community in the United States all agreed that the state’s rising debt profile despite its huge oil revenue is an issue that deserves another critical look. One of the governorship aspirants even described the…
National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) is claiming that frequent vandalism of gas pipelines is responsible for the massive drop in power generation and collapse of the national grid. Director-General of NOSDRA, Idris Musa, stated this while reacting to a leak incident reported on the 12 inch Benisede-Brass Creek Delivery Line at Peretuorugbene in Bayelsa State. He has also confirmed an oil leak from a 12 inch Benisede-Brass Creek Delivery Line at Peretuorugbene in Bayelsa. The incident on the pipeline operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) was investigated by NOSDRA. The spill response agency which…
Political associate of the late Aminu Kanu, Sule Lamido, who was one of the front figures of the youth wing of the defunct Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) says All Progressives Congress is incapable of liberating Nigerians from the current sufferings. For the former Governor of Jigawa State, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the only hope and political path out of continued suffering. Speaking during a programme on Channels Television, the former governor said the ongoing arrangements by the party with regards to the 2023 general election are for the interest of the country. He said the consultations by PDP…
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State is still unyielding on his position on the Buhari administration patronizing corruption in Nigeria. In spite of an uncharitable attack from the Presidency, Wike says the presidential pardon for persons prosecuted on corruption charges by Abuja only suggests that there is no need to have anti-corruption agencies in the country. Wike is wondering how to explain the embarrassment that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) are made to suffer by that action because it has made them to be irrelevant. The governor made the statement while…
Former Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University in Ondo State, Professor Femi Mimiko, says it is only a sincere alteration of Nigeria’s Constitution that holds the key to resolving the plural challenges of the troubled country. He is therefore, calling on the Buhari administration to put its acts together for a sincere amendment of the faulty Constitution to help in the proper implementation of true federalism. Mimiko made the advocacy during the 17th Annual Conference of Fulbright Alumni Association in collaboration with the University of Uyo in AKwa Ibom State. Fulbright Alumnus, Mimiko, maintained that constitutional amendment and true federalism would…
It has now become clearer why the kinsmen of President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina State, honoured Transportation Minister, Chibuike Amaechi, with the title of ‘’the trusted one’’. A political risk consultancy, Menas Associates, in its latest Nigeria Politics and Security, a weekly intelligence report on Nigeria says Amaechi and a stalwart of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, were the main financiers of Buhari’s campaign in 2015. According to the intelligence report, Amaechi’s support has now earned him the title of ‘the trusted one’ in Buhari’s Katsina State hometown of Daura. Interestingly, Amaechi has announced his intention to…
Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Godswill Akpabio, who is widely speculated to have a burning presidential ambition, is bracing for a fight to finish with Governor Udom Emmanuel as far as the 2023 governorship battle for Akwa Ibom Srare is concerned. Akpabio picked Udom from one of the leading commercial banks in Nigeria, where he was a top executive, and made him Secretary to the State Government. Though Akpabio dominated the affairs of the state for eight years as its governor, the duo parted ways when the former governor defected to All Progressives Congress (APC). In 2019, after a failed attempt…
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is insisting that there is no sacred cow as far as its recruitment process for the 2023 election is concerned. To this end, the party has directed all of its members holding offices in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration with eyes on 2023 to quit their positions. The party says in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, public functionaries who are desirous of participating in its primaries for the recruitment of the 2023 candidates must resign their positions. The issue of the resignation of political appointees is most likely to dominate discussion…
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State does not appear to be the magic wand the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) desperately needs to dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from Aso Rock, the seat of Nigeria’s presidential power. Despite being vociferous on its feats on infrastructural development in a state that is the capital of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, the Wike administration appears to be carrying large bags of deficit of democracy. This is so because a new research by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) indicates that civic space in Rivers under the watch of Governor Wike, is squeezed…
A seeming worrisome report by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), a civic group operating in the Niger Delta has shown that divestments by oil and gas majors which according to the group, have been ongoing for decades, is rapidly accelerating currently. The report explores the trends, drivers, and implications of international oil companies (IOCs) selling off assets to Nigerian domestic oil companies (DOCs). For the first time since production began 60 years ago, the DOCs are about to surpass IOCs in the proportion of oil blocks where they are operators and own equity, the report says. The changing context is driving…
Former Petroleum Minister and the Amayanabo of Nembe Kingdom, in Bayelsa State, Edmund Daukoru, is accusing oil companies and regulatory bodies in Nigeria of colluding against the interest of oil bearing communities in the Niger Delta. Daukoru made the allegation when the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, paid him a courtesy visit. He described as unfair the collusion of oil firms and regulatory bodies against the interest of host communities in the Niger Delta region. Daukoru insisted that part of the security challenges in host communities were the injustice and unfair treatments by the oil companies aided…
Fresh security concern is growing in Nigeria’s oil and gas region. Niger Delta Youth Movement (NDYM) is busy ringing alarm over the proliferation of firearms in the country. This was part of a communique issued at the end of a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the group which was attended by NEC from the nine states of the oil region. NEC calls on all security agencies and indeed the entire citizenry to be very vigilant and proactive against proliferation of firearms in the region as a prelude to the forthcoming 2023 general elections. For the purpose of peace in…
Pests and diseases, synthetic chemicals, and climate variation are seriously threatening the production and productivity of plantain. Plantain (Musa spp.) is however, a staple food crop and a key source of income supporting the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. A recent study titled Subterranean Microbiome Affiliations of Plantain (Musa spp.) under Diverse Agroecologies of West and Central Africa published in Microbial Ecology explored bacterial and fungal diversity, an important aspect in increasing plant performance in plantains. The study revealed significant differences between the High rainfall forests and derived Savanna agroecologies among the most abundant bacterial communities,…
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is currently implementing modern cowpea breeding approaches to develop varieties with increased productivity. Cowpea is one of the Institute‘s mandate crops, produced to reduce hunger and malnutrition in Africa, where it is widely consumed. It is produced in 45 countries of the continent, and five of the top cowpea-producing countries are in West Africa. Cowpea contributes to CGIAR’s impact on five key impact areas—climate adaptation and mitigation; nutrition, health, and food security; poverty reduction, livelihoods, and jobs; gender equality, youth, and social inclusion; and environmental health and biodiversity. In a recent virtual seminar, IITA…
A 2018 survey by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) customers found 40% of those interviewed were not receiving any electricity at all due to grid failure in the area, and half of those who did get electricity had it for less than four hours a day. Reliable power is essential for schooling and local businesses, and to avoid the polluting diesel generators and kerosene lamp alternatives. SDN’s key recommendation from the survey results was for BEDC to work closely with its customers to increase understanding of its services, and the importance of taking stewardship over…
Perhaps, current security situation in Nigeria is beyomd the comprehension of President Muhammadu Buhari, and Commander in—Chief of Africa’s most populous country. In the past few years, Buhari has not been able to show that he is capable of bringing the menace to an end. What the president has been able to show is that, he was not the strong man of the early 1980s. The so called cabals may have succeeded in fooling the Nigerian people with a cloned Buhari used to to entrenched the worrisome looting regime of the moment. Sadly, the anti-graft agencies have lost their spin.…
Rising bread prices in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, is likely to compound the hunger situation in that axis of Eastern Nigeria. Residents of the commercial town are crying out over the sudden increase in the prices of bread by the state wing of the Association of Master Bakers. The Association of Master Bakers in Abia increased the prices of bread last March following a hike in the prices of materials used for baking bread and barely a few weeks after that increase in price, they have done another increase in price. Before the current hike prices…
In Benin, the youth compact of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), known also as ENABLE TAAT, is collaborating with national institutions and development partners to address the lack of suitable varieties, which disrupts maize production. Such partners include the Institut Nationale des Recherches Agronomiques du Bénin (INRAB), the Direction de la Production Végétale (DPV), the Direction Départementale de l’Agriculture, de l’Elevage et de la Pêche (DDAEP) and the Agences Territoriales de Développement Agricole (ATDA). The target of this partnership is to develop the capacity of groups of young people in several localities in Benin on seed production. Many…
In a damning editorial, an online news portal says the suspension and subsequent sack of the Chief Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque, Abuja, Sheikh Nuru Khalid, on April 2 over his sermon of the previous day, will go down in history as another extremely sad narrative of the President Muhammadu Buhari years. A statement sent to BBC Hausa Service, by Chairman of the Mosque Committee, Senator Saidu Muhammed Dansadau, on the suspension said the sermon was “inciting public outrage”, and negated the tenets of Islam. The imam and founder of Islamic Research and Da’awah Foundation criticised the Buhari administration…
The Onne Port Area 11 Command of Nigeria Customs Service in Rivers State says it collected a total of N58,059,198,130:33 for the first quarter of this 2022. The Command made this public in a statement in Port Harcourt, by its Public Relations Officer, Mrs Ifeoma Onuigbo Ojekwu. The collected figure according to her is N19,181,883,844:21 higher than N38,877,314,286:12 collected within the first quarter of 2021 with an increase of 49.3 percent. On anti smuggling, the command made a total of nine seizures worth a duty paid value of N59,490,705 Breakdown of the items seized shows 18,555 pairs of footwear worth…
In Somalia, growing needs are outpacing available resources for humanitarian assistance, according to the latest warning by concerned United Nations agencies. The warning says millions of Somalis are at risk of sliding into famine as the impact of a prolonged drought continues to destroy lives and livelihoods. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) are calling for an immediate injection of funds to enable a scale up of life-saving assistance in Somalia. This follows the release…
