Chairman Of Herbal Expo Insists Nigeria Can Survive On Earnings From Herbal Medicines

September 18, 2015

Chairman of the Organizing Committee of Herbal, Health Food and Natural Expo (HERBFEST) 2015, Professor Maurice Iwu has made it clear that Nigeria can comfortably survive with income made from the herbal medicines, especially now that income on oil is dwindling.

Professor Iwu, who is also the Chairman, Bioreources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP), told newsmen at a news briefing: “Nigeria is so endowed that we should be able to compete with other countries in adding to our income stream things that come out from herbal products.

The Expo, with the theme: “Food as a Medicine: Utilization and Sustainable Exploitation of African Medicinal Plants and Natural Products,”, will hold in Abuja from October 6 to 8.

Professor Iwu stressed:“now, with the lowered income from petroleum and the need to diversify our economy, we need an Expo like this to showcase the abundance of resources deposited in Nigeria but remained untapped.

“Herbal medicine is an area where many countries are looking at, yet we have not looked into this area to any significant level.

“We know what happens in China, a lot of people in this country buy products from them and also India where people buy a lot of food supplements,’’ Iwu said.

He said that with the abundance of research centres, institutions like Federal Institute for Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), 40 universities working day and night and good agricultural policies, Nigeria could diversify.

“What we need is a ribbon to tie all these institutions together, which is the major purpose of HERBFEST.

“This event will help indigenous manufacturers to interface with foreign businessmen and see how they can do their businesses together.

“As we speak, there are over 48 commercial plants from Nigeria and 30 of these plants are food plants.

“We are hoping that one day, herbal medicine practitioners will be able to look at the global trend and key into scientific traditional trend.

“We are convinced that traditional medicine is the key into the future of Nigerian health system,’’ Iwu said.

On the viability and commercial gains in herbal medicine, he said it was a gold mine in other countries and Nigeria needed to tap into it.

“Last month, the U.S. reported that the growth in herbal dietary supplement, herbal medicine and functional food is 200 million dollars with growth rate of 8 per cent.

“We have a lot of these functional foods like cashew nuts, even cocoa is an antioxidant proven to fight cardiovascular diseases, we also have dogonyaro.

“What we lack mainly in Nigeria is awareness of the abundance of these herbs; even today, many don’t know the efficacy of bitter leaf which is good for fighting diabetes, while some know.

“We depend too much on consumption of foreign products, especially herbal foods in spite of the fact that government has well laid out policy encouraging herbal practise and production.

“It is dangerous to eat food that is not processed in Nigeria because there is no way they can bring it in even from closest neighbouring state without putting chemicals into it.’’

He noted that eating imported chicken was suicidal because it was preserved with dangerous chemicals harmful to the body.

“Most of these foods imported to Nigeria are preserved with chemicals which increases the risk of cancer. When you mix chemicals together to form a product for consumption, it leads to ill health.

“We should stop these abuses of package foods,’’ Iwu warned.

Contributing, Dr Gloria Elemo, Director-General of FIIRO, said that commercialisation of herbal products had been simplified by the institute through researches it embarked upon.

“FIRRO prides itself as home of indigenous technologies in that we have successfully worked on most of the agro-commodities available in Nigeria.

“Our role as an institution has been to use our expertise in research and development to add value to these practices and to transfer technology to impact on the economy.

Also, the Director-General, Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency, Mr Etatuvie Oghene, said Nigeria was advancing in the study of herbal research.

“Nigeria is now advancing in herbal medicine research; presently the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, now has traditional medicine in its curriculum. What we need is awareness.” [myad]

Boko Haram Insurgency Displaces 1.4 Million Children In Nigeria, Others – UNICEF

Greenbarge Reporters

September 18, 2015

The number of attacks by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring countries has risen, and half a million children have had to flee to safety in the past five months, bringing the total number of displaced children in the region to 1.4 million.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)): “each of these children running for their lives, is a childhood cut short.”

UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Manuel Fontaine, in a statement today, added: “it’s truly alarming to see that children and women continue to be killed, abducted and used to carry bombs.”

UNICEF, together with governments and partners in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, is increasing its operations to assist thousands of children and their families in the region with access to safe water, education, counselling and psychosocial support, as well as vaccinations and treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

The agency’s work in the region is almost 70 per cent underfunded, having received only 32 per cent of the $50.3 million needed for humanitarian efforts in 2015. Because of this, over 124,000 children in the conflict-torn area have not received measles vaccinations, more than 83,000 lack access to safe water, and over 208,000 are not in school.

“With more refugees and not enough resources, our ability to deliver lifesaving assistance on the ground is now seriously compromised,” said Mr. Fontaine.

“Without additional support, hundreds of thousands of children in need will lack access to basic health care, safe drinking water and education.” [myad]

Ex Senator Aruwa Asks PDP Members To Wake Up To Challenge Of Rebuilding It For 2019

Greenbarge Reporters

September 18, 2015

A defeated Senator on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna in the last election, Ahmed Aruwa. has called on the party members nationwide to work closely to facilitate the party’s rejuvenation in order to reclaim power at all levels in 2019.

Aruwa asked Nigerians not to write-off PDP yet, adding that the party still has the muscle to retake power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.

“That APC defeated our party in the 2015 elections in the state and federal levels is not enough grounds to write-off the party.“

The former Senator, who spoke to newsmen after a meeting of the party’s stakaholders in Kaduna State, said that PDP would continue to remain relevant and organised in spite of the defeat.

“Our members are also working assidiously to achieve the established goal of a formidable opposition party.”

According to him, PDP still has hybrid leaders with requisite experience to provide Nigerians with a more focused leadership, adding that the party was strengthening its structures to maintain its large number of supporters and attract more, ahead of the 2019 elections. [myad]

Court Orders Arrest Of Senate President, Bukola Saraki

Greenbarge Reporters

September 18, 2015

The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), sitting in Abuja, has ordered the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr. Solomon Arase and other relevant security agencies in ‎the country to arrest the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

In a ruling this afternoon, the tribunal headed by Justice Danladi Umar issued a bench warrant against Saraki following his refusal to appear in court to face a 13-count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The Federal Government had, through a deputy director in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. M.S. Hassan, asked the tribunal to order Saraki’s arrest.

‎Saraki who was billed for arraignment this morning, sent his team of lawyers to serve the tribunal with a copy of the ruling of Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yesterday, which summoned the Ministry of Justice to appear on Monday to show cause why the trial should be allowed to proceed.

Equally summoned by the court were the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar and that of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, Mr. Sam Saba, as well as Mr. Hassan who signed the charge against Saraki.

Meanwhile, irked by Saraki’s absence at the tribunal for the commencement of his prosecution over alleged false declaration of assets, the Ministry of Justice prayed the Justice Umar-led panel to order for his arrest, saying “he cannot sit in the comfort of his chamber and object to his trial in absentia”.

The prosecution further maintained that Justice Mohammed lacked the powers to summon ‎the CCT and CCB chairmen, even as it accused Saraki of engaging in “forum shopping” in a desperate bid to scuttle his trial.

Meanwhile, Saraki has through his lawyer, begged the tribunal to consider his position as the Senate President and stay the execution of the arrest warrant, saying he would be available for trial on Monday.

His plea was refused by Justice Umar who maintained that the accused person, having sworn to protect the constitution, ought to have shown respect to the tribunal by appearing before it today. [myad]

Nigeria Beats September 28 Pilgrims’ Airlift Deadline, 66,000 In Holy Land

Greenbarge Reporters

September 18, 2015

Nigeria has been able to beat the September 28 deadline for the closure of airport to traffic by the Saudi Arabian authorities for this year’s pilgrimage.

The National Hajj commission said today that 66,000 Nigerians have been successfully airlifted and are now in the Holy land for the hajj performance which begins on September 21 when the pilgrims would move to Minah.

According to the Chairman of the Commission, Abdullahi Mukhtar, the airlift was carried out in 160 air trips from across the Nigerian states with the last two airlift from Port Harcourt and Abuja. [myad]

Saraki Must Be A ‘Witch’ That Has Produced ‘Hunter,’ Transition Monitoring Group Says

Greenbarge Reporters

September 17, 2015

The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has described the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki as a ‘witch’ that has produced ‘hunter’ who, he has accused of witch-hunting him in the allegations leveled against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau.

In a state of the nation address by its chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Zikirullahi in Abuja today, TMG described Bukola Saraki as a notorious thief stealing from Kwara State and banks, adding that it was unfortunate that instead of defending himself, the former Governor of Kwara State has resorted to making allegations that he was being hunted.

“The case involving Saraki is part of the fight against corrupt practices. We are seeing for the first time that an untouchable is being touched. When it happens to a big man, they say it is a witch-hunt. But people forget that if there is no witch there would be no hunter. So they go together.

“It is left to Saraki to prove his innocence in the court. This is also a wakeup call to our political office holders that nobody would be spared if he has skeleton in his cupboard.

“We should not frustrate the change we are seeing now. We all saw how our judiciary became a cash and carry judiciary. We all saw how they were dishing out black market judgments in recent time.”

He said there is a refreshing breath of positive changes in the polity as a result of actions of the President, even as he called on the President to remain steadfast in his determination to fight corruption, adding that the anti-graft agencies should take the fight to all those who have “desecrated the public space through criminal conversion of government resources for private gain. ”

He said that the introduction of the treasury single account would guarantee transparency in the management of the nation’s resources.

“For once in the checkered history of governance in our country, Nigerians can today go to bed without the fear of waking up to news of scandalous disappearance of substantial chunks of the national treasury as a result of the activities of thieving government officials.

“Critical national institutions that had gone to sleep at the height of indolent governance have suddenly woken up. Slowly and steadily, sanity is being restored, at least at the federal level, to nation that had completely lost its moral compass. The framework for accountability and transparency in governance are being erected.”

He said the TMG was in support of the creation of special courts to try those who looted the nation’s treasury over the years, saying that regular courts have become cash and carry judicial settings.

“In the last decades, cases of corruption taken before regular Nigerian courts by anti-graft agencies have largely been thrown out on the grounds off frivolous technicalities.

“It was in this country that a court threw over 100 count charge against a certain James Onanafe Ibori, former Governor of Delta states, only for the cause of justice to be served on him by the British judicial system. Today a man exonerated by the Nigerian judicial system is cooling his heels in a UK prison.
“The Ibori story powerfully illustrates why president Buhari needs to work with the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) to set up the special courts and get fearless, courageous and untainted judges to try looters of our Commonwealth.” [myad]

Stop The Lies About Buhari, Osinbajo, El-Rufai Reeling In Conflict, By Yomi Ewetade

Greenbarge Reporters

September 17, 2015

Publisher on TheTrentOnline
I am still wondering why would a news medium pack its supposed news article with a bunch of lies? Or why will a reporter and the editor, who are meant to disclose truth to the reading public embark on a fictitious journey, misleading the very audience that they are meant to inform. Could there be a hidden agenda that TheTrentOnline is trying to implement?
Writing under the headline “Osinbajo insulted by El-Rufai, Walks Out on President Buhari” TheTrentOnline completely fabricates scenarios that is not known to truth. Not only that, the website makes references to previously baseless claims that have been conclusively rebutted and dismissed, ignoring the very basic ethical commitment to truth of a journalist and a media outlet.
In one of its latests fictions, presented as a news report, with the headline above, the website reported that “A few weeks back, our investigations reveal, the tension between Osinbajo and El-Rufai came to a head when Governor El Rufai insulted Vice President in a meeting in the Presidential Villa in Aso Rock, and Osinbajo reacted by denouncing El-Rufai and walking out of the meeting which had President Buhari presiding”
TheTrentOnline did not disclose the time of the said meeting, the agenda of the meeting or the specific cause of the purported disagreement, yet the only website, went to great length to purvey such aspersions.
A simple investigation in Aso Rock easily as revealed, that there were no such incidents. Besides, it is well known that the relationship between the President and the Vice President has been one of cordiality and mutual respect, equally the relationship between the President, Vice President and the Governor of Kaduna State is also of mutual respect. There are several ongoing government initiatives around which the Vice President and the Kaduna State government have worked on and are still working together, unlike what TheTrentOnline claimed, there was no meeting in the presidency or anywhere where the governor insulted the Vice President nor was there any meeting where the President or Vice President walked out as reported by the news outlet.
This curious “news report” attempts to befuddle the reader and create an impression of confusion. It also tried to belittle without cause, the personalities of the President, the Vice President and the Governor of Kaduna State. Who or what set of individuals will have the motive and the desire to create such impression? I will soon come to address that question. The report claims that the President prefers to have a Northerner as his right hand man, deliberately ignoring the fact that the President has surrounded himself already with several aides and assistants both from the North and from the South, covering all grounds of the nation.
The report also tried to rehash some of the failed campaign talking points deployed before the election, to paint then General Buhari as a religious fanatic. Not only have Nigerians seen through such blatant falsehood, the President has come to be known as a real Pan-Nigerian patriot since his emergence in December 1983 as the Head of States. What is more, in the March 28presidential elections, a vast majority of Nigerians that voted, validated President Buhari’s nationalist credentials. Retelling the old tales that Buhari would never have appointed a Southerner or a Christina, TheTrentOnline conveniently but questionably ignores the fact that BUhari had always picked Southern Christians as running mates.
This news report that is awash with ill feelings and mischief also claimed that governor El-Rufai forced the hands of the President to appoint Amina Bala Zakari as the acting INEC Chairman. The website made all these claims without providing any scintilla of proof. The so called news report also continued the pure falsehood regarding the alleged exclusion or locking out of the Vice President from Security Council meeting when many Nigerians have since found out, that not only is the Vice President a constitutional member on the Security Council, but that the President personally invited the Vice President to the Security Council meetings, But this harbingers of lies continue to lie through their teeth that the Vice President was excluded. Again, short of quoting anonymous sources, the website provided no proof for it’s wild and outrageous claims.
Why is TheTrentOnline so committed to falsehood, ill-will, and these desperate acts of wickedness? Is it because the owner of the website, Aziza Uko Douglas, is a paid crony of former President Goodluck Johnattan, who is an active client of her Ziza Media Group? Or could it be that TheTrentOnline is committed to misleading Nigerians about the President and the Vice President, because it’s owner is a well known ally of Reno Omokri, the infamous Special Assistant to former President Johnattan on New Media?
While we will leave those questions for well meaning Nigerians who can read through the lines, it is important to say that those who intend to be considered as fair participants in the public place ought to do so with a sense of fairness, personal integrity, commitment to accuracy and an absolute desire to publish the truth, and not fictions. He who seeks equity must come with clean hands. If Ms. Aziza Uko Douglas wants to show her gratitude to her paymasters, it is all well and good, however, it is unconscionable for her and her website to resort to denigration of the President of Nigeria, his Vice President and the Governor of Kaduna State. Basic human requirements of decency, imposes upon the publisher of TheTrentOnline to respect the truth. Writing fictions, making outrageous claims, and spewing lies cannot advance the cause of anyone, including individuals who are sponsored to tarnish the respectable image of others, or those of the sponsors themselves. Stop the lies! [myad]

CBN Boss Tells National Economic Council: 18 States Already Benefited From Special Intervention Fund

Greenbarge Reporters

September 17, 2015

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. Godwin Emefiele has said that 18 state governments have so far benefited from the Special Intervention Fund aspect of the presidential relief package which was earlier approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The President’s package is a relief designed to help states pay backlog of salaries as well as to ease their financial challenges that were caused by the drop in federal allocation.
Briefing the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, presided over by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the CBN governor said that a number of other states are currently being processed for the soft loan facility.
This was even as the Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Mr. Abraham Nwankwo also informed the NEC that the second phase of the debt restructuring offered to the states is now operational, adding that 13 states are being considered, with 12 banks involved.
He said thia this is in addition to 11 states whose debts were restructured last month.
Nwankwo who also told the Council 23 states are now involved in the restructuring. Said that a total of over N322 Billion of states loans were restructured last month, even as about N252 Billion have been restructured this month.
It would be recalled that the presidential relief package has three core elements. These are:
*The sharing of about $2.1B in fresh allocation between the states and the federal government. The money was sourced from recent LNG proceeds to the federation account, and its release okayed by the president leading to the sharing of federal allocation twice for month of June.
* A Central Bank-packaged special intervention fund that will offer financing to the states, to the range of about ranging around from N300B. This is a soft loan available to states to access for the purposes of paying backlog of salaries.
*A debt relief program designed by the Debt Management Office, DMO, which is now helping the states restructure their commercial loans put at over N660B, and extend the life span of such loans while reducing their debt-servicing expenditures.
The NEC also received an ongoing report from its Ad-Hoc Committee of five governors, on the management of the Excess Crude Account and related Federation Account issues.
The Committee told the Council that it has observed a lack of transparency and accountability in the operation of the Federation Account, and that there were no checks and balances in the running of the ECA in the recent past.
The five governors on the Ad-Hoc Committee are that of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Gombe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo; Kaduna State, Mallam El Rufai; Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Emmanuel Udom and Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.
The Council also received a report on the issue of refund requested by states who repaired federal roads under the past administration.
A briefing by both the Federal Ministry of Works and the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation showed that 13 states have fully complied with the reimbursement requirements, while eight states have partially complied as 21 states have not shown compliance with federal reimbursement requirements.
The Council which meets monthly was attended by state governors and several top officials from the federal and state governments. [myad]

HUAWEI Management Team Presents ICT FOR CHANGE To Osinbajo

Greenbarge Reporters

September 17, 2015

A team of management of HUAWEI, today, presented the ‘ICT FOR CHANGE’ concept, under the Huawei Empowerment Training Scheme for 2,000 Nigerian Youths at the cost of N1,000,000,000.00, to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

From right is : The Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President, West Africa ( Huawei technologies) & Director Nigeria Representative Office, Engr. Lanre Odekunle and Vice President of Huawei Technologies West Africa, Mr Caoaijun, during the presentation of the ‘ICT FOR CHANGE ‘ Scheme at the State house Abuja.

From Left :Senior Product Manager, Mr. Eason Song, Solution Expert Engr. Yomi Olurishe, Vice President , Mr. Milo Liang Ting, Director Nigeria Representative Office, Engr. Lanre Odekunle, The Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Huawei Technologies West Africa, Mr Caoaijun, Director of Business Enterprise, Li Teng and Senior Product Manager, Li Yafeng, during the presentation of the ‘ICT FOR CHANGE’ Scheme at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. [myad]

Coup: Burkina Faso Names New Leader, As ECOWAS, UN, AU Demand Release Of PM, Others

Greenbarge Reporters

September 17, 2015

Military authorities in Burkina Faso have named Gilbert Diendere, a General who served as top military aide to former dictator, Blaise Compaore for three decades, as the leader of a new junta, called National Council for Democracy, after a coup that sacked the West African nation’s interim government.

This is even as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union and United Nations, which jointly chair the International Follow-up and Support Group for the Transition in Burkina Faso, have condemned the abduction by the presidential guards, of the President of Burkina Faso, Michel Kafando, the Prime Minister, Yacouba Zida, and transitional Ministers.

Under Compaore, the new leader, Diendere, played a central role in negotiating the release of Western hostages seized by Islamist groups in the arid Sahel, reports Reuters.

The military had earlier announced the dissolution of the transitional government, a day after personnel from the country’s elite presidential guard unit arrested the interim president and prime minister.

President Michel Kafando and Prime Minister Yacouba Zida were detained by soldiers who stormed a cabinet meeting, plunging the poor West African country into chaos and uncertainty.

Protesters took to the streets to protest the military takeover amid reports that 10 people had been shot dead by the presidential guards.

The military’s action came days after a government committee recommended dissolving the elite military unit, an arm that helped Mr. Compaore stay in power for so long.

A spokesperson for the coup leaders, Lt. Col. Mamadou Bamba, said on television that the interim president, Mr. Kafando, had been stripped of his functions and the government dissolved.

“We have put in place a national democracy council tasked with organising democratic and inclusive elections,” he said.

Moumina Cheriff Sy, the speaker of the transitional parliament, called the coup “a blow to the republic and its institutions”.

He called on the larger military to halt a coup by elite unit, and said he would assume leadership until the president was released, Reuters reported.
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the coup, and called for the immediate release of the leaders.

The United States also called for the immediate release of the interim president, prime minister.

French President Francois Hollande condemned the coup. He called for the release of the president and prime minister, and the continuation of the electoral process.

The choice of Mr. Diendere as the leader of the military junta is seen by many as the return of Compaore, through the back door.

A communique read by the coup leaders appeared to give boost to that speculation.

The statement said the electoral process was discriminatory and had created “divisions and frustrations amongst the people”, a reference to a policy that barred loyalists of Mr. Compaore and those who backed his tenure elongation bid, from being part of the election.

“The transition has progressively distanced itself from the objectives of refounding our democracy,” the statement said.
The coup leader, Mr. Diendere, however, denied the coup was sponsored by Mr. Compaore. He said he had “no contact” with the former ruler.

“All change of this type can lead to violence. I am conscious of that … everything will be done to avoid violence that could plunge the country into chaos,” Diendere said on France 24 television.

In a joint statement today, ECOWAS, AU and UN strongly condemned what they called the gross violation of the Constitution and the Charter of the Transition and demanded that the defence and security forces submit to the political authorities and in this case, the transition government.

“ECOWAS, African Union and United Nations call for the immediate release of the hostages. They emphatically state that the abductors will answer for their actions and will be held responsible for any physical harm to the President of Burkina Faso, the Prime Minister and other persons being held hostage,” the statement added.

The three organisations reaffirmed their full support to the Transition at this critical time, for the conclusion of its mission with the conduct of elections scheduled to hold on October 11, 2015.

They reiterated their determination, in support of the national authorities, to spare no effort in ensuring the successful completion of the transition process in Burkina Faso. [myad]

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