Gov. Sanwo-Olu launches 5 yrs. Agric and food security roadmap

The Lagos State Governor, Sanwo-Olu has launched a 5 years Agricultural and Food Security Roadmap.

Speaking at the ceremony the governor noted that at the inception of his administration in May 2019, he identified food security as a major policy thrust of his Government and a key component of T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, and confirm that the 5-year Agricultural Roadmap has been designed in line with Agenda, to reform, transform, and maximize the potential of Lagos State’s Agricultural Sector.

Lagos State according to him with a population of 22 million people is Nigeria’s commercial capital but it has the smallest landmass among the 36 States of the Federation. 

But as well rely on massive food importation from neighbouring states to sustain the food requirements of the teeming population, through collaboration with other states, to ensure food sustenance in the state.

 An approach that resonates with global best practices and enables optimal levels of planning, advocacy, funding, and collaboration for agricultural development.

The governor emphasize that now is the right time to unlock  the immeasurable agricultural potential through the implementation of the 5-year roadmap that will lead to wealth generation, value creation, food security, the industrialization of agricultural sector and the entrenchment of inclusive socio-economic development.

Governor Sanwo-Olu however lamented that as a visionary government, committed to optimally developing potential in food production. The adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic on food security have necessitated immediate action on ensuring food security for all Lagosians.

Stressing  that with the human and capital resources at our disposal, "we should be able to feed ourselves (and even possibly the Nation) by becoming self-sufficient in food production and supply, and engender sustainable growth through the development of the agricultural sector."

The step towards achieving this according to the governor is the preparation of a Five-year Agricultural and Food Security Roadmap, focus of the 5-Year Agricultural and Food Security Road Map, the development of agricultural value chains where Lagos State has competitive and comparative advantages to enhance the State’s self-sufficiency in food production from 18% to 40% over the next five years, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Lagos state andtake a cue from other economies that have achieved self-sufficiency in food production. We will also aim to put the private sector at the heart of our vision for food security in Lagos State, with government as enabler and catalyst.

We are cognizant of the fact that we must formulate policies that can encourage private sector investment in agriculture and must provide robust market information systems for Agricultural Value Chain actors, for adequate planning and the circumvention of risks and uncertainties.

Our strategies for sustainable Agricultural Dqevelopment shall focus on growing the upstream sector through interventions by leveraging technologies that are capable of lowering the cost of production of value chains (Fisheries, Poultry, Piggery, Rice, Vegetables and Coconut) with support from donor agencies.

Growing the midstream and downstream sectors (value addition involving: processing, handling, storage, cold chain, packaging, utilization and commercialization) of all important agricultural value chains by leveraging on the huge market with support from donor agencies.

And Improving private sector participation by developing and initiating policies that will encourage more private investment in agriculture. This will include linking the private sector with business-friendly credits. He concluded.

The projection is that the total investment in the Agricultural Sector from the government, private sector, donor agencies and development partners will run into over $10Billion in the next five years. While we expect most of the investment to be private sector-driven, government will continue to provide the needed infrastructure while the private sector will be encouraged to lead the key projects.

Presidency Reacts as Super Eagles Captain Ahmed Musa Officially Joins Kano Pillars

Bashir Ahmad, a personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, has applauded Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa for joining Kano Pillars until the end of the season.

Nigeria Professional Football League club Pillars announced they have signed the former Leicester city forward on a short-term deal, with Bashir Ahmad describing it as ‘smart move’.

Musa will play with the Kano based team until the end of the 2020/2021 season where he scored 18 goals having had a stint there in 2009.

The Nigerian international has been without a club after leaving Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia last year’s October.

Reacting to Musa’s move.

 Bashir Ahmad via his twitter handle on Wednesday, welcomed the former CSKA and Leicester City forward back to the NPFL.

He wrote:

“Kano Pillars FC have agreed to sign its former player and Super Eagles captain,

 Ahmed Musa, for the rest of the 2020/2021 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season. Smart move by the ‘Sai Masu Gida’. Welcome home Ahmed Musa718.”

Musa however disclosed that he moved to the local club instead of being idle in Europe. 

Ahmed Musa earlier hinted that he would definitely return home to play for a club to help raise the standards of the Nigeria Professional Football League.

In an exclusive chat during his time at Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia, Musa who has shown a lot of patriotism for Nigeria also urged current and ex-national team stars to endeavour to, at least, play for a season in Nigeria.

Musa left Riyadh based club Al –Nassr in 2020 with two years remaining of the four-year contract he signed when he joined from Leicester City.

Several clubs in England including West Brom are reportedly interested in the 29-year-old who remain Nigeria’s record scorer at the World Cup with four goals.

Photo: Ulrik Pedersen

Musa said:

“It’s better than hanging and idling in Europe. There will always be a place for you at home.

“Anything that improves the image of Nigerian football is something that I strive to embark on and Kano Pillars holds a special place in my heart.

“It’s the team that helped me become the professional footballer I am today, so this is more than just football but a very strong bond.”

IGP disbands police monitoring units in Lagos, Port Harcourt

 

The acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has ordered the immediate disbandment of the IGP monitoring satellite offices in Lagos and Port Harcourt.

The police boss gave the order after Nigerians complained that the officers in the units were harassing them and operating beyond their briefs.

IGP says he will improve from where his predecessor has left. Photo: @PoliceNG

He made the disclosure on Thursday, April 15, at his maiden meeting with command police commissioners and zonal Assistant Inspector-General (AIG)'s in Abuja.

Baba said the disbanded units will be re-organised.

The IGP took the action 24 hours after he met with Musiliu Smith, chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), to discuss ways of increasing the efficiency of the police force.

Meanwhile, the IGP Baba has disclosed that the security situation in the southeast and south-south geopolitical zones in Nigeria is critical to his tenure. 

Baba disclosed this on Friday, April 9, in Abuja at the opening of a meeting with police strategic commanders in the zones.

He said the meeting was aimed at discussing security issues affecting the two regions of the country. Baba noted that after the meeting, the commanders would go back to their zones to implement the outcome of the meeting.

In another report, some unknown gunmen have killed three police operatives in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.

According to the report, the operatives were shot while on duty at about 7:30 pm on Wednesday, April 14 along Nwezenyi road in the state capital.

The officers who sustained bullet wounds during the attack were later confirmed dead by doctors at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki. Commissioner for internal security and border peace, Stanley Okoroemegha, confirmed the incident.

Royal Dutch Shell Lowest Payout to Nigerian Government in Three Years

 

Royal Dutch Shell subsidiaries' payment to the Nigerian government declined last year as the company paid less when compared to the previous fee disbursed. In 2020, the company paid $3.24 billion.

The reduction in Shell's payment was also recorded in other countries where the company operates. However, the payment made to Nigeria is the highest payout from the oil and gas company to 24 nations last year.

But when compared to the preceding years, the combined payment of the subsidiaries to Nigeria dropped from $6.39 billion in 2018, to $5.63 billion in 2019 and $3.24 billion.

Shell tanker. Photo: Yegor AleyevTASS

The last time Shell paid lower than $4 billion to the Nigerian government was in 2016 and 2014, when the company disbursed $3.64 billion and $3.02 billion respectively.

According to the company's report on Payments to Governments Report for the Year 2020, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation received $2.28 billion last year, against the $3.77 billion in 2019.

Federal Inland Revenue Service got $440.39m as taxes from the company in 2020, lower than the $1.28 billion of 2019. These are some of the payouts from the company which suffered a loss of $21.68 billion last year, in contrast with the $15.84 billion profit Shell recorded.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has received a court order from the Federal High Court to freeze the accounts of companies and persons.

The affected are eleven in number. The CBN had made the request last month in order to restrict the financial activities of the companies. It was stated on Wednesday, April 7, 2021, that the order had been given.

According to a statement from the financial regulator, the request to freeze the accounts was due to suspicious activities which the CBN intends to investigate.

Economy : Nigeria records highest inflation rate in four years

 

Nigeria’s inflation rate increased by 18.17 % (year-on-year) in March 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a blow to the Nigerian economy. Photo: @sgyemikale/Twitter, Femi Adesina/Facebook

This is 0.82 % points higher than the rate recorded in February (17.33 percent), which makes it the highest reported in four years since April 2017.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported the new figure in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) March 2021 report released on Thursday, April 15.

According to the NBS report, increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.56 % in March 2021.

This is 0.02 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in February 2021 (1.54 %).

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending March 2021, over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 14.55%, representing a 0.50% point increase over 14.05 % recorded in February 2021.

The urban inflation rate increased by 18.76 % (year-on-year) in March 2021 from 17.92% recorded in February 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased by 17.60 % in March 2021 from 16.77 % in February 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.60 % in March 2021, up by 0.02 compared to the rate recorded in February 2021, while the rural index also rose by 1.52 % in March 2021, up by 0.02 compared to the rate that was recorded in February 2021 (1.50 %).

This is higher than 14.66 % reported in February 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in March 2021 is 13.99 % compared to 13.48 % recorded in February 2021.The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 15.15% in March 2021.

Meanwhile, the claim that Nigeria printed N50-N60 billion last month to cushion its financial trouble has been denied by the federal ministry of finance, budget, and national planning as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

P.M News reports that Osita Nwanisobi, the spokesperson of CBN, on Sunday, April 11, said he was not aware of any money printed by the government. He disclosed this while speaking to journalists.

Aisha Buhari an unusual First Lady and agent of unity - Osinbajo, Tinubu

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described the First Lady, Hajia Aisha Buhari, as an unusual person whose spontaneity has redefined the role of the office.

The Vice President spoke on Thursday during the presentation of the book titled “Aisha Buhari: Being different” by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration and Women Affairs, Office of the First Lady, Dr Hajo Sani, at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.

Osinbajo noted she had taken steps outside the box of what used to be the personage and traditional roles in Nigeria’s presidential history, adding that her unusual approaches had endeared her to the public.

According to him, Mrs. Buhari has regaled the Nigerian public with many firsts, including opening up her office through social media outlets and connecting with the public in real-time.

“It’s unlikely that any First Lady in Nigeria’s history has, in such a few short years, captured the imagination of Nigerians as profoundly as Aisha Buhari.

“She’s, of course, the first First Lady to be on Twitter, on Instagram, and other social media platforms, getting her unfiltered views across to the Nigerian people and she’s probably the first to receive, in real time, the opinions of Nigerians on her views.

“With her views, forthright, crisp, truthful and once in a while controversial, she has established an ongoing conversation with the Nigerian people.

“The issues that concern them most, the issues that concern us the most; good governance, security, putting food on the table, the education of our children, prompt payment of pensions to army veterans, drug abuse, the violation and victimisation of women and every once in a while she airs her own personal struggles, her annoyance, in a manner, probably unprecedented in the role of the First Lady anywhere.

“There is no question that Aisha Buhari is different. Her difference has been empowering for the Nigerian people and there is never any question that her comments come from a good place, a place of genuine love and respect for the Nigerian people and our several concerns.

“But it’s unlikely that Aisha Buhari would ever be forgotten and even if there was a chance of this happening, this well written attempt to document her life and times and her contributions as First Lady to national life, through the causes that she has promoted, removes that possibility,” the Vice President

Earlier in his address the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has heaped praises on First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who he described as an agent of unity and development.

He hailed her for dignifying the office of the First Lady, which he said used to be a subject of controversy.

Tinubu, who chaired the presentation, said: “Given the First Lady’s achievement, no one can reasonably question the role of a First Lady any longer. Remember that there were those who argued that the constitution does not assign any official role to the First Lady. With Dr Aisha Buhari, their concerns have been forever laid to rest.

“First lady has played an uplifting, unifying role both in symbol and substance. She has been a voice of conscience calling us to be of our better self for the good of the nation and for the vulnerable among us.”

Buhari, who is in London for routine medical check-up, is being represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, his wife, Dolapo as well as Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege; and Mrs Folorunsho Alakija who is the Special Guest of Honour, are some of the dignitaries at the event.

Nigerian Air Force Airstrikes Eliminate ISWAP Leaders Amir Abu-Rabi, Mohamer Likita

 The Nigerian Air Force has eliminated top leaders of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and scores of their fighters in Borno state.

According to the report, the brutal and precision-guided airstrikes were conducted by the Air Task Force Operation Lafiya Dole.

The report further revealed that the airstrikes targeted three major ISWAP hideouts at Kusuma, Sigir in Ngala, and Arijallamari in Abadam local government areas of Borno state.

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Accordingly, the strikes neutralized the two terrorist leaders Amir Abu-Rabi and Mohamer Likita, and dozens of their bodyguards and fighters.

While Abu-Rabi coordinated tax collection on behalf of the ISWAP in Lake Chad, Likita is among commanders coordinating attacks on military formations.

A military intelligence officer quoted in the report said:

“The attacked locations, especially Kusuma and Sigir were notorious havens used by ISWAP for coordinating and training fighters on preemptive attacks on military positions and civilian areas.

“Some of the recent attacks at Damasak, Malam Fatori, Munguno, Dikwa, and Marte axis were coordinated from the areas.

“The airstrikes and artillery bombardments on the ISWAP camps have pushed the surviving and wounded terrorists to Jibularam and Sabon Tumbu riverbank areas.”

The breakthrough by the Air Force comes almost a week after its aircraft on a routine mission in Borno state was declared missing.

NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet in a tweet seen by Legit.ng late Wednesday, March 31 said the Alpha Jet was no lost radar contact.

A day after, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Oladayo Amao arrived in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital to coordinate search and rescue efforts.

On arrival, Air Marshal Amao was briefed on ongoing search and rescue efforts by those on ground.

Meanwhile, after NAF has dismissed claims by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, that its fighters brought down the jet.

The Air Force said the aircraft crashed due to an accident while accusing the insurgents of deliberately doctoring a video to give a false impression that the aircraft was shot down.

Professor expelled from his new country years after renouncing Nigerian citizenship

 

Edwin Ijeoma, a professor of public sector economics at the University of Fort Hare, has been left stateless after his South African citizenship was revoked, Times Live reported.

Professor Ijeoma who used to be a Nigerian had reportedly renounced his Nigerian citizenship after arriving in South Africa in 1998 to study.

The academic's South African citizenship was revoked by the country’s ministry of home affairs after he was founding guilty of fraudulently relying on a bigamous marriage to a South African woman to obtain citizenship by naturalization.

 Ijeoma, however, divorced his South African wife in 2007.

Professor Edwin Ijeoma's. Photo credits: Twitter/@cbngov_akin1, Times Live

The professor's alleged citizenship fraud was exposed when he was joined in South Africa by a Nigerian woman named Anne Tomo.

The woman inadvertently exposed Ijeoma by attaching a copy of her 1993 marriage to the professor in Nigeria in her application for permanent residence in South Africa.  

Bigamy committed

Following the development, the ministry of home affairs accused Professor Ijeoma of marrying the South African woman solely to acquire citizenship.

The ministry further stated that Ijeoma had lied on two previous occasions to South African immigration authorities.

The academic had reportedly listed Anne Ijeoma as his sister, not wife when asked to indicate his immediate family member who is still living in Nigeria.

Court finds Professor Ijeoma guilty

In protest, Ijeoma filed a suit against the home affairs ministry before the Bhisho high court.

The court, however, restated the ministry position as it found Ijeoma guilty of falsifying his marital status, thereby making his South African citizenship null and void.

The academic had claimed that as an African man, he believed he was entitled to marry more than one wife.The court noted that Professor Ijeoma had presented conflicting reasons for his bigamous marriage.

He also argued that he presented himself as single because he was not aware that South Africa recognised customary marriages.

According to the court, Ijeoma concealed his marriage in Nigeria from officials on three occasions: when he applied for permanent residence, when he got married to the South African woman and when he applied for citizenship.

Defending himself again, Professor Ijeoma claimed that he obtained a permanent residence permit because of his “good and sound character”, not through his marriage to the South African woman.

The court, however, countered his argument, saying it was stated clearly that he got the permanent residence permit because of the marriage.