Unpacking the main takeaways from President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, starts with the gain from a side event, not the 15th Conference Of Parties to the United Nations Conference on Combating Desertification, UNCCF, which was the main event, considering the significance of what the President set out to achieve.
For the records, this was the first official event hosted by President Buhari following his election in December last year, as the President of the Conference of Heads of States and Government of the member states of the Pan African Great Green Wall Agency, PAGGW.
The background was that in February 2021, the French President Emmanuel Macron, Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, and President of the World Bank Group David Malpass, organized the fourth ‘One Planet Summit’ which will focus on biodiversity to mobilize commitments to protect ecosystems and links to human health.
The summit brought together Heads of State and Governments, leaders of international organizations, financial institutions, companies and NGOs, at the end of they demonstrated strong commitments that will lead to actions to preserve and restore biodiversity, and systemic transformations of economies.
President Buhari got elected to and found on the table of the One Planet Summit Initiative pledges amounting to $19 Billion to support the activities of the PAGGW.
The necessity of this meeting was the need on the part of the 11-member bloc, made up of Nigeria, Senegal, Niger, Sudan, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Mali, Eritrea, Djibouti, Burkina Faso and Chad, facing dire and present danger due to the devastating effect of desertification and drought, impacting negatively on the security of their communities and the livelihood their people to confront these challenges associated with desert encroachment and drought.
The major objective of the President’s meeting was to draw attention to the USD 19 billion pledge and to trigger the process for accessing the funds in order to immediately embark upon land restoration and tree planting, investment in small and medium sized farms/support to small holder farmers, development of climate resilience infrastructure, institutional framework to enhance security, stability and governance and capacity building.
The President, in his capacity as the President of the member-states of PAGGW called on the World Bank, African Development Bank and the One Planet Summit Initiative to support this drive by setting up a ‘Task Team’ to work with PAGGW, and further requested the UNCCD and One Planet Summit to advise on a suitable Financial Consultant for the PAGGW that can coordinate the process under the auspices of the UNCCD and PAGGW in a transparent manner.
If these steps follow as expected, access should immediately be ensured to these huge funds in the of opening “a new era for the GGW.”
As emphasized by the President as well as Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General representing the United Nations, what is needed at this time is action “with scale and urgency,” to set in motion the re-greening of the Sahel and changing the fortunes of the 1.3 billion people inhabiting the entire region.
President Buhari, who over the years had taken the advocacy for Congo River Inter-Basin Water Transfer, a project that would redistribute water from the Ubangui River into Lake Chad saw an opportunity in the pledges and charged the GGW agency, the funders and the consultant to-be to give a serious consideration to the issue.
He also highlighted the several environmental challenges including creeping land degradation, desertification and drought in the Northern region, to wanton deforestation, land encroachment, invasion of coastal line, biodiversity loss, flooding and coastal erosion in the Southern region of the country.
According to him, this reality is what reinforces Nigeria’s commitment to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification 2018-2030 Strategic Framework, geared towards mitigating the effects of desertification, land degradation and drought. In line with this, he urged the Parties to seize the momentum created by the conference to accelerate their commitments to achieving land degradation neutrality in order to restore the productivity of vast expanses of degraded land, improve the livelihood of more than 1.3 billion people and reduce the impact of drought in the affected regions.
President Buhari saw in the theme “Land, Life, Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity” as a clarion call to action for global leaders to halt and reverse the three “Ds” planetary land crises of desertification, degradation and drought, as envisioned by the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; and to restore our lands, in order to fulfill our food, water and energy needs. He charged the international community to demonstrate enough political will and commitment towards the realization of the pledge to restore one billion hectares of land by 2030, which should hopefully save humanity from starvation and preserve the planet for future generations.
President Buhari welcomed the UNCCD’s goal of land degradation neutrality and went on to highlight Nigeria’s commitment to its National Action Plan which is being implemented through National Policies, Institutional and Legislative Framework, Sectoral Programmes and Partnership Building that have been put in place to address the problem of drought and desertification.
For example, he reported establishment of an early drought warning system that involves local people in designing, implementing and managing of natural resources conservation programmes for combating desertification and ameliorating the effects of drought. Furthermore, Nigeria has been collaborating with development partners in areas of training, research, development and transfer of affordable and acceptable environmentally friendly technologies to mitigate drought and desertification.
Nigeria has also revised its National Forest Policy in 2020 which he said is a remarkable improvement on the previous one which had been in use since 2006. The country has also launched the National Strategy on Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime in 2022. The new policies are anchored on the need for continuous socio-economic development that will provide optimal benefits to the people and government of Nigeria in a sustainably managed environment.
There are also Forestry Programmes implemented by Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria to tackle the problems of desertification through the establishment of woodlots, shelterbelts and windbreaks. Through these programmes, the government is able to establish a Green Wall or Shelterbelt across the frontline States over hundred kilometers in width, stretching from the Northwest to the Northeast of the country.
Nigeria, reported the President, has also established a National Forestry Trust Fund aimed at improving afforestation programmes in the country, ensuring sustainable financing from non-government sources for the restoration of Nigeria’s forest estates and reserves and production of landscapes in order to achieve significant increase in our forest cover.
Through the nation’s National Afforestation Programme under the green bond project, Nigeria has successfully forested over Six Million, One Hundred And Ninety-One Thousand, Three Hundred And Sixty-Three Hectares of land through the green bond project. The target is to increase the nation’s forest cover to Twenty-Five percent in line with global best practices and also in fulfilment of the pledge he made at the 74th Session of the United Nations General assembly in September, 2019, of planting Twenty-Five Million trees towards achieving restoration of degraded forest reserves and other landscapes nationwide.
Nigeria has also expanded protected areas by creating ten additional National Parks, including two (2) Marine Protected Areas, cutting across the various ecological zones of the country, and accelerated the implementation of the ongoing Ogoni Clean-up for restoration of polluted land as well as implementation of the Great Green Wall programme hinged on ecological restoration and rehabilitation of degraded land in the Southern part of the country.
The National Agency of the Great Green Wall in Nigeria has made progress in land restoration of over Three Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-two hectares of land.
Furthermore, the Federal Government of Nigeria, in partnership with the World Bank, expended enormous resources to establish Agricultural Development Programmes in all the Thirty-Six States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. The ADPs operate the Training and Visit system of unified extension system covering the areas of Crop Production and Protection, Livestock Production and Animal Health, Fisheries, Agro-forestry and Gender related issues in Agriculture popularly referred to as Women-In-Agriculture.
He gave assurances that Nigeria is dedicated to fulfill the pledge to the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative that seeks to restore 100 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes by 2030 in response to the Bonn challenge. To date, the initiative has 128 million hectares in pledges from 32 African countries. In 2017, Nigeria committed to restore 4 million hectares of degraded forest landscapes under the AFR100 initiative. So far, over Five Hundred and Fifty-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Eight Hectares of land restoration have been recorded, including the planting of Fifteen Million tree seedlings covering over Twelve Thousand, Five Hundred Hectares of deforested lands.
On finance, domestically, the President said that the country has made efforts for funding a pipeline of projects in our path to a greener economy and that Nigeria has issued its first and second Sovereign Green Bonds. So far, two rounds of the green bond have successfully been executed. The first round of the green bond amounted to $27.3 million, the second amounted to more than $41 million. We are currently on the verge of launching the third green bond to the tune of $68.7 million. Through the instrumentality of the green bond programme, innovative funding streams are being unlocked in order to finance environmentally and climate friendly projects with focus on both adaptation and mitigation.
In reiterating Nigeria’s commitment to the goals of the conference, the President highlighted the major obstacle, which is finance, and used the platform to appeal for the redemption of the pledges made by International Technical and Financial Partners to provide the $19 billion dollars as assistance to the Green Wall Member Countries to enable them meet their commitments.
Although the meeting was focused on the problems of desertification and drought, the President observed that without a peaceful world, there can be no development. In the light of this, he called for a ceasefire and cessation of conflicts where they exist and especially the Russian – Ukraine war. “We call on all the parties to return to the negotiation table with a view to putting an end to this needless conflict,” said the President.
As a leader, President Buhari over the years has shown the world that he is at the forefront of world leaders determined working to save the planet from the ill-effects of climate change.
In this role as the President of the Conference of Presidents and Heads of Government of the Great Green Wall countries, he has found a perfect chance to do for Sub-Saharan Africa, what he is doing at home in Nigeria. This, he is determined to do.
Garba Shehu is the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity.
President Muhammadu Buhari has described Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon as his ‘true friend’ and wished him the best as he ends his seven-year term as the Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion worldwide.
The President, who received the clergyman at the Presidential villa, Abuja, today, May 12, appreciated Archbishop Idowu-Fearon for his many endeavours at home in Nigeria, promoting coexistence between followers of the major faiths, Islam and Christianity.
Buhari described the clergyman as a highly respected academic and a professor, saying that he will continue to take advice from the recognized proponent of Christian-Muslim dialogue.
The President said that he is pleased to hear that the Most Reverend Idowu-Fearon , upon his retirement, plans to return to Nigeria and continue with his work of promoting Christian-Muslim Understanding at the Centre he established in Kaduna.
“The nation will continue to cherish Idowu-Fearon’s efforts to heal the society especially at the height of the Boko Haram attacks, which he followed up even while abroad, treating victims of terror as if they were his family members.”
Archbishop Idowu-Fearon recalled his close relationship with the President and thanked him for the enormous amount of sacrifices he has been making to make Nigeria a better country.
President Muhammadu Buhari has gned into law, three bills aimed at tackling more directly, the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing/proliferation financing framework in Nigeria.
The bills, known as Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022, the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022, and the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Bill, 2022, are in tandem with his commitment to fight corruption and illicit financing activities, as well as critical to the governance agenda and the development of Nigeria.
The President said that the new laws provide enough punitive measures and containment strategies against abuses and compromises, adding that the inadequacy of all the repealed Acts had impacted legal actions against offender.
“We will not rest until we rid the nation of the menace of money laundering, terrorism, and other financial crimes.”
President Buhari commended the National Assembly for their tenacity, courage and commitment in ensuring that Nigeria has put in place effective measures to address the menace of money laundering, terrorism, and terrorism financing.
The President said that the 9th National Assembly has proven to be patriotic, responsive, resourceful and industrious in its legislative assignments, recalling that on 14th January, 2022, he had sought expeditious passage of the said Bills.
He lauded the Assembly under Senate President Ahmed Lawan and the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila and their colleagues for responding to his request, saying they “have certainly carved out a worthy legacy for themselves.”
On the importance of the legislations, the President said: “the signing of these Bills into law today not only strengthens the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework in the Country, but addresses the deficiencies identified in Nigeria’s 2nd round of Mutual Evaluation as assessed by Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa on compliance with the Financial Action Task Force global standards.
“Accordingly, the repeal of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and enactment of Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 provides comprehensive legal and Institutional Framework for the prevention and prohibition of money laundering in Nigeria and confers on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the legal status of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering.
“The repeal of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 as amended in 2013, and enactment of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 provides for the effective implementation of international instruments on the prevention and combating of terrorism and suppression of the financing of terrorism.
“The enactment of the Proceeds of Crime (recovery and Management) Act, 2022 makes comprehensive provisions for the seizure, confiscation, forfeiture and management of properties derived from unlawful activity.”
President Buhari said at the ceremony attended by the Senate President and other Senators, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, Heads of anti-corruption agencies, including ICPC and EFCC, that the executive arm of government “carefully avoided creating another asset recovery and management agency with its cost implications in deference to government’s sensitivity to the rising cost of governance.”
He explained that the new law mandates the creation of dedicated accounts for the proceeds of crime and other confiscated assets in order to enhance the accountability of the process:
“I have therefore taken time to note the emphasis placed on collaboration, synergy and unification of strategies and measures to combat the scourge of Money Laundering and terrorism financing and proliferation financing in the Act.
“The primary objectives of these measures are to ensure effective, unified and comprehensive legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the implementation of the Acts.
“This is profound and calls for coordinated responses to the challenges posed by the menace. I therefore charge all relevant agencies to ensure effective implementation of these new laws.
“The robust frameworks diligently enshrined in the Acts can only serve useful purposes when every bit of them is enforced.”
The President stressed that the fight against corruption requires an all of Government, All of Nation approach, adding that every Nigerian had a role to play to rid the country of corrupt practices.
He commended the members of the National Action Task Force comprising several Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government, noting that the bills are a clear demonstration of government functioning at its best with coordination, collaboration, and execution all towards a common goal.
The President assured Nigerians that his administration will continue to do its best to secure the nation, adding that the bills signed into law represent not just legislative instruments but very significant governmental actions projecting courage, determination, and sincerity in tackling the menace of Money laundering, terrorism and other financial crimes.
“Let them have a heart attack. It’s good to have a heart attack ((referring to those who have been hasting him up to resign). I am having a lot of fun.”
These were the words of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, shortly after a private audience with President Muhammadu Buhari today, May 12, at the Presidential villa, Abuja.
The CBN governor’s visit to the President might not be unconnected with the presidential directive for appointees with political ambitions in 2023 to resign on or before Monday, May 16.
Emefiele has, a couple of days now, being enmeshed in the controversy over whether he had bought forms to contest the All Progressives Congress (APC), presidential primary, and whether or not he would have to resign in pursuit of such political ambition.
He told anxious newsmen around the presidency after the visit: “there is no news now, but there will be news. You heard me, I said there is no news but there will be news.”
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Fatima Waziri-Azi has expressed worry over the new method of trafficking in human organs because of their high cost in international circle.
Fatima Waziri-Azi said that because of its newness, the growing trend in organ trafficking would required a lot of enlightenment to disabuse the minds of individuals engaging in them.
Speaking to newsmen today, May 12, at the special briefings coordinated by the Presidential Media Team on Thursday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the NAPTIP boss said: “there is a report that was released by one of these UN agencies in the black market (that) a kidney goes for over 250,000 US dollars. So it is a thriving business. And there is an entire value chain that has to do with organ trafficking.
“This is basically because there is a global shortage of human organs to be used for methical transplants. We’re talking about demand and supply. And that is what has driven that whole underground enterprise when it comes to organ trafficking.
“So you have recruiters and you have brokers. Recruiters are the ones that target vulnerable communities. So you go to probably a rural area, and you target four people, then you have brokers, then you have medical personnel, you have medical institutions. So it’s an entire value chain. So that’s one part of it.
“Then, the other part of it are people who get fished out to donate organs. People targeted for organ trafficking are mostly adults, because of course, your organs are fully formed. So children don’t, children are not being targeted. Then you have cases of people willingly agreeing to donate a kidney or donate a liver or donate part of your lung for a fee. And it thrives because of misinformation and disinformation.
“So you have traffickers who come up to you and tell you, ‘why are you suffering, you know, come and donate your kidney. After all, as an adult, you only need one kidney to survive.’ And it’s not true.
They don’t tell you that if you have pre-existing conditions, there is a possibility that if you donate one kidney the other kidney will not even last.
“And they also tell you that there’s a possibility that your kidney will regenerate and that it would grow back; there is no scientific backing to that.
“So there’s a lot of misinformation and disinformation driving organ trafficking. So we need to keep churning out information about it because if an adult really wants to go donate his kidney, we can’t stop that person.
“But we can only give that person the kind of information that if that person has it, definitely he won’t board a plane to go donate their organs. So this is an area that we’re still researching.”
Fatima Waziri-Azi also said that over 20,000 Nigerian women and girls are currently stranded in Mali, with majority of them being exploited sexually and made to live under unimaginable conditions.
She said that out of the 20,000 women and girls, only 16 have been successfully repatriated back to Nigeria, adding that unscrupulous persons engaging in human trafficking have made it a cartel, such that it has assumed a multi-billion dollar dimension.
According to her, globally about 40.3 million persons are victims of trafficking, majority of them stranded and facing excruciating conditions of living and having no means of escaping their traffickers because of stringent conditions.
She said that globally, an estimated 17,272 victims have been rescued over the years, with 4,000 being males and over 13,000 females.
The NAPTIP boss said that there is a surge in internal trafficking more than the external one, but that external trafficking are being highlighted mostly.
“But I know, the data we had in NAPTIP say the percentage was 75% across the states where human trafficking is going on. Then 23% within the states, then 2% across the borders, but of course, these are moving data each year, you get something new.
“The truth is, when you talk about migration, it is part of Africa. And because of the economic situation, people tend to move. So there are socio economic situations that NAPTIP does not have control over. And that has to do with issues of poverty, lack of educational opportunities, job opportunities, and also greed. You know, people saying, oh, I want to go look for greener pastures, forgetting that the grass is only as green as you water it.
“So these are factors that we don’t have control over. And these are root causes of trafficking in persons as well as smuggling of migrants.”
A female student named Deborah Samuel in a level two, has been killed by her school mates at the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad. Deborah was alleged to have made a social media post that blasphemed the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW).
In a statement today, May 12, the Police Public Relations Officer, Sokoto State Command, ASP Sanusi Abubakar said that the students forcefully removed the victim from the security room where she was hidden by the school authorities, killed her and burnt the building.
The statement said that the students, joined ny miscreants, barricaded the Sokoto/Jega road.
According to the statement, a Deputy Commissioner in the Operations department, on receiving the the report, led a team of policemen and all other operational commanders in the state to the school where the road was cleared and the situation was brought under control.
“Two students were arrested in connection with the crime committed,”the statement said, adding that the school has been closed down by the school authority, even as policemen have been deployed to give tight security coverage.
The statement quoted the State Commissioner of Police, Kamaldeen kola Okunlola as having called on members of the public to go about their lawful activities and that they should not panic as the situation is under control.
“Meanwhile, the suspects in the viral video on Twitter were spotted and will be nailed soon.”
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have taken their collaboration beyond rhetoric, with the setting up of a Joint Committee of senior and management staff of the two agencies towards the implementation of inter-agency strategies to enhance revenues in the telecommunications sector. The NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu, inaugurated the 17-member committee on behalf of the Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Professor Umar Danbatta, and the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Muhammad Nami, at the NCC’s Board Room in Abuja on Tuesday, May 10, 2022. The inauguration of the committee, comprising six officials of NCC and eleven officials of FIRS, was carried out with senior officials of NCC and those of the tax agency led by its Coordinating Director for Compliance Support Group, Dr. Dick Irri, who represented the FIRS’ Executive Chairman, Muhammad Nami at the event. While inaugurating the Committee on behalf of the heads of the two agencies, Adewolu stated that the terms of reference (ToR) of the Committee include: review the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the NCC and the FIRS on June 9, 2020; and carry out inter-agency interaction on the implementation of the NCC’s Revenue Assurance System (RAS), to ensure that it incorporates the needs of FIRS to the extent that RAS can remain the sole interface with telecom service providers’ networks vis-à-vis the Tax Authority’s information needs from the telecoms sector. Given the Committee’s composition and with the extensive experience and commitment of its members – which had informed their selection by the agencies – Adewolu stated that the managements of NCC and the FIRS expected no less than an excellent output from the Committee, tasking them to work together harmoniously and in the overall national interest. In his comments, Dr. Dick Irri, who led the FIRS delegation to the inauguration, advised the Committee to take the assignments very seriously. “I would like to task you to take this assignment as a national matter as we expect the two agencies to work in harmony, collaborate effectively and have a warm handshake that will make this synergy between the two agencies a great example of collaboration between Federal Government agencies towards enhancing fiscal governance in Nigeria,” he said. The decision to set up the Committee was one of the major outcomes of the meeting between the FIRS and the NCC on March 8, 2022 organised at the instance of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, to discuss the request by the FIRS for data and documents from the telecoms industry for enhancing national revenues from the sector. The inauguration is a significant achievement, as it deepens the strategic collaboration between the two government agencies in the pursuit of their statutory objectives. It also vindicates the emphasis placed on achieving mutually-sustainable relationships with relevant stakeholders as detailed in both the NCC’s Strategic Management Plan (SMP), 2020-2024 and the Strategic Vision (Implementation) Plan (SVP 2020-2025) as well as FIRS’ strategic framework. The activities of the NCC and the FIRS are acknowledged as pivotal to the achievement of sustainable revenue and growth projections of the Federal Government. In this regard, the telecoms sector has sustained a relatively high contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the years – ending fourth quarter of 2021 at 12.6 per cent. Besides, the FIRS recently acknowledged that some telecom licensees contribute significantly high percentage of total national tax revenue. It is expected that the Joint Committee will enable both organisations to further optimise revenues for the Federal Government from the telecoms, digital economy and adjacent sectors of the economy.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 4.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2021.
According to the report, in the third quarter of 2021, Nigeria’s real GDP at basic prices grew by 4.03 per cent on a year-on-year basis showing a steady improvement from the economic downturn in 2020.
The NBS said that growth improved further in the fourth quarter of 2021 with a positive GDP growth rate of 3.98 per cent.
The report said: “in the third quarter of 2021, Nigeria real GDP at basic prices grew by 4.03% on a year-on-year basis showing a steady improvement from the economic downturn in 2020. Growth however, improved further in fourth quarter 2021 with positive GDP growth rate of 3.98%. The negative quarterly growths in Q2 and Q3 2020 resulted in a recession, which led to a negative annual growth rate of -1.92% for 2020, compared to 2.27% in 2019 on a year-on-year basis.
Annual growth of 2021 stood at 3.40%, an improvement of 2020. Compared to the third and fourth quarters of 2020, the performance in 2021 indicated an increase of 7.65% points and 3.87% points higher, respectively.
“Household Consumption Expenditure, in Q3 and Q4 2021 grew by 19.36% and 7.30% in real terms, year on year. For 2021, the annual growth rate in real household consumption expenditure stood at 25.65% compared to -1.69% in 2020. Government Consumption Expenditure recorded growth rates of -39.51% and -16.76% in Q3 and Q4 2021 respectively, year on year, while annual growth rate stood at -34.03% in 2021 compared to 61.58% in 2020.
Net Exports recorded positive growth rates in the first two quarters of 2020 and shifted to negative growth rates in third and fourth quarters of 2020 as well as the first three quarters of 2021, a departure from the trend in 2019.
Net exports grew in real terms in Q3 and Q4 2021 by -38.27% and 1.35% respectively. On an annual basis, net exports grew by -55.77% in 2021 compared to -13.17% recorded in 2020.
“National Disposable Income grew by -1.48% in the third quarter of 2021 and 2.84% in the fourth quarter 2021, but recorded growth of 0.32% and -1.28% in Q3 and Q4 of 2020 on a year-on-year basis in real terms, giving a slower growth rate of -2.52% for annual figure in 2021 compared to a positive growth rate in end 2020 (1.07%).
Compensation of Employees, during the third and fourth quarters of 2021 grew by 14.54%, and 11.79% respectively in real terms on year-on-year basis. For 2021, growth rate stood at 13.68% compared to 0.96% in 2020.
“The observed trend in 2020 indicates that real household consumption expenditure declined in Q1 and Q2 accounting for negative growth rates informed by the COVID 19 pandemic. However, positive growth rates were recorded in Q3 and Q4 of 2020 as well as the four quarters of 2021.’’
Household consumption expenditure consists of expenditure, including imputed expenditure, incurred by resident households on individual consumption goods and services.
It said that Government Consumption Expenditure recorded growth rates of -39.51 per cent and -16.76 per cent in Q3 and Q4 of 2021 respectively, year-on-year.
The Bureau said the annual growth rate according to the report stood at -34.03 per cent in 2021, compared to 61.58 per cent in 2020.
The report said Net Exports recorded positive growth rates in the first two quarters of 2020 and shifted to negative growth rates in the third and fourth quarters of 2020.
Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has openly promised to deliver all the State delegates of the All Progresssives Congress (APC) to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to clinch the party’s Presidential ticket during the forthcoming primary.
The Governor, who received Tinubu in audience in the State capital, asked the aspirant to consider Gombe as his second home, saying: “Asiwaju is a prominent politician, a politician par excellence, a leader of men and a talent hunter.”
He said that Tinubu is a leader with the uncommon talent to identify talents that can aid the development of the country.
Asiwaju, who also interacted with the state APC Chairman, Nitte Amangal, spoke on his policy agenda for the nation.
He said that one of the key areas he will focus on is the agricultural sector and the status of farmers, even as he commended farmers for their hard toil and labour under challenging conditions.
Tinubu promised to build on the current administration’s progress made in the sector if elected president. One of the innovative policies he mentioned was the establishment of commodity boards to set minimum prices for strategically-important crops.
He said that by such means farmer will be guaranteed an income that will provide a decent livelihood for all the work they do and for the vital contribution they make to the nation.
The APC leader thanked the governor and the delegates for their support.
He promised to form an inclusive government that would formulate the best policies and brings progressive good governance to the people.
At a courtesy call on the Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Abubakar Shehu Abubakar, Asiwaju Tinubu said that the royal father is an institution of great history and heritage.
“My courtesy call on you is a call of respect and tradition. I have come to seek your prayers and blessing for my presidential aspiration.”
The royal father prayed for Tinubu, describing him as a household name in Nigeria’s politics with an impressive track record as a private sector businessman, governor of Lagos, and a proven democrat.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has made it clear that he is not in a hurry to resign as directed by President Muhamadu Buhari at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting today, May 11.
Senator Ngige, who spoke to newsmen shortly after the presidential order to all the ministers with political ambition to contest elections in the ongoing processes, said that he would have to consult with the President himself, as well as his constituency before making any decision.
He explained that Buhari had given some time for those that need clarifications on his pronouncement to meet him, saying: “I have no reaction for now because the President said if anyone wants clarifications, the person should meet him.
“So I have to consult him and consult my constituency, Anambra state, because I am holding the office for the government and my constituents.”
Meanwhile, following President Buhari’s order, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio has resigned to pursue his presidential bid.
Also resigned from the Federal Cabinet is the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Ogbonnaya Onu.
The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba was the first minister to relinquish office among eight cabinet members seeking elective offices in the 2023 general elections.
Other ministers seeking elective offices who might also be resigning are Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation), Abubakar Malami (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation).
Also, the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, is contesting a senatorial seat in Plateau State, while the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Uche Ogah hopes to become the next governor of Abia State.
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Takeaways From President Buhari’s Brief Visit To Abidjan, By Garba Shehu
Unpacking the main takeaways from President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, starts with the gain from a side event, not the 15th Conference Of Parties to the United Nations Conference on Combating Desertification, UNCCF, which was the main event, considering the significance of what the President set out to achieve.
For the records, this was the first official event hosted by President Buhari following his election in December last year, as the President of the Conference of Heads of States and Government of the member states of the Pan African Great Green Wall Agency, PAGGW.
The background was that in February 2021, the French President Emmanuel Macron, Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, and President of the World Bank Group David Malpass, organized the fourth ‘One Planet Summit’ which will focus on biodiversity to mobilize commitments to protect ecosystems and links to human health.
The summit brought together Heads of State and Governments, leaders of international organizations, financial institutions, companies and NGOs, at the end of they demonstrated strong commitments that will lead to actions to preserve and restore biodiversity, and systemic transformations of economies.
President Buhari got elected to and found on the table of the One Planet Summit Initiative pledges amounting to $19 Billion to support the activities of the PAGGW.
The necessity of this meeting was the need on the part of the 11-member bloc, made up of Nigeria, Senegal, Niger, Sudan, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Mali, Eritrea, Djibouti, Burkina Faso and Chad, facing dire and present danger due to the devastating effect of desertification and drought, impacting negatively on the security of their communities and the livelihood their people to confront these challenges associated with desert encroachment and drought.
The major objective of the President’s meeting was to draw attention to the USD 19 billion pledge and to trigger the process for accessing the funds in order to immediately embark upon land restoration and tree planting, investment in small and medium sized farms/support to small holder farmers, development of climate resilience infrastructure, institutional framework to enhance security, stability and governance and capacity building.
The President, in his capacity as the President of the member-states of PAGGW called on the World Bank, African Development Bank and the One Planet Summit Initiative to support this drive by setting up a ‘Task Team’ to work with PAGGW, and further requested the UNCCD and One Planet Summit to advise on a suitable Financial Consultant for the PAGGW that can coordinate the process under the auspices of the UNCCD and PAGGW in a transparent manner.
If these steps follow as expected, access should immediately be ensured to these huge funds in the of opening “a new era for the GGW.”
As emphasized by the President as well as Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General representing the United Nations, what is needed at this time is action “with scale and urgency,” to set in motion the re-greening of the Sahel and changing the fortunes of the 1.3 billion people inhabiting the entire region.
President Buhari, who over the years had taken the advocacy for Congo River Inter-Basin Water Transfer, a project that would redistribute water from the Ubangui River into Lake Chad saw an opportunity in the pledges and charged the GGW agency, the funders and the consultant to-be to give a serious consideration to the issue.
He also highlighted the several environmental challenges including creeping land degradation, desertification and drought in the Northern region, to wanton deforestation, land encroachment, invasion of coastal line, biodiversity loss, flooding and coastal erosion in the Southern region of the country.
According to him, this reality is what reinforces Nigeria’s commitment to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification 2018-2030 Strategic Framework, geared towards mitigating the effects of desertification, land degradation and drought. In line with this, he urged the Parties to seize the momentum created by the conference to accelerate their commitments to achieving land degradation neutrality in order to restore the productivity of vast expanses of degraded land, improve the livelihood of more than 1.3 billion people and reduce the impact of drought in the affected regions.
President Buhari saw in the theme “Land, Life, Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity” as a clarion call to action for global leaders to halt and reverse the three “Ds” planetary land crises of desertification, degradation and drought, as envisioned by the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; and to restore our lands, in order to fulfill our food, water and energy needs. He charged the international community to demonstrate enough political will and commitment towards the realization of the pledge to restore one billion hectares of land by 2030, which should hopefully save humanity from starvation and preserve the planet for future generations.
President Buhari welcomed the UNCCD’s goal of land degradation neutrality and went on to highlight Nigeria’s commitment to its National Action Plan which is being implemented through National Policies, Institutional and Legislative Framework, Sectoral Programmes and Partnership Building that have been put in place to address the problem of drought and desertification.
For example, he reported establishment of an early drought warning system that involves local people in designing, implementing and managing of natural resources conservation programmes for combating desertification and ameliorating the effects of drought. Furthermore, Nigeria has been collaborating with development partners in areas of training, research, development and transfer of affordable and acceptable environmentally friendly technologies to mitigate drought and desertification.
Nigeria has also revised its National Forest Policy in 2020 which he said is a remarkable improvement on the previous one which had been in use since 2006. The country has also launched the National Strategy on Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime in 2022. The new policies are anchored on the need for continuous socio-economic development that will provide optimal benefits to the people and government of Nigeria in a sustainably managed environment.
There are also Forestry Programmes implemented by Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria to tackle the problems of desertification through the establishment of woodlots, shelterbelts and windbreaks. Through these programmes, the government is able to establish a Green Wall or Shelterbelt across the frontline States over hundred kilometers in width, stretching from the Northwest to the Northeast of the country.
Nigeria, reported the President, has also established a National Forestry Trust Fund aimed at improving afforestation programmes in the country, ensuring sustainable financing from non-government sources for the restoration of Nigeria’s forest estates and reserves and production of landscapes in order to achieve significant increase in our forest cover.
Through the nation’s National Afforestation Programme under the green bond project, Nigeria has successfully forested over Six Million, One Hundred And Ninety-One Thousand, Three Hundred And Sixty-Three Hectares of land through the green bond project. The target is to increase the nation’s forest cover to Twenty-Five percent in line with global best practices and also in fulfilment of the pledge he made at the 74th Session of the United Nations General assembly in September, 2019, of planting Twenty-Five Million trees towards achieving restoration of degraded forest reserves and other landscapes nationwide.
Nigeria has also expanded protected areas by creating ten additional National Parks, including two (2) Marine Protected Areas, cutting across the various ecological zones of the country, and accelerated the implementation of the ongoing Ogoni Clean-up for restoration of polluted land as well as implementation of the Great Green Wall programme hinged on ecological restoration and rehabilitation of degraded land in the Southern part of the country.
The National Agency of the Great Green Wall in Nigeria has made progress in land restoration of over Three Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-two hectares of land.
Furthermore, the Federal Government of Nigeria, in partnership with the World Bank, expended enormous resources to establish Agricultural Development Programmes in all the Thirty-Six States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. The ADPs operate the Training and Visit system of unified extension system covering the areas of Crop Production and Protection, Livestock Production and Animal Health, Fisheries, Agro-forestry and Gender related issues in Agriculture popularly referred to as Women-In-Agriculture.
He gave assurances that Nigeria is dedicated to fulfill the pledge to the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative that seeks to restore 100 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes by 2030 in response to the Bonn challenge. To date, the initiative has 128 million hectares in pledges from 32 African countries. In 2017, Nigeria committed to restore 4 million hectares of degraded forest landscapes under the AFR100 initiative. So far, over Five Hundred and Fifty-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Eight Hectares of land restoration have been recorded, including the planting of Fifteen Million tree seedlings covering over Twelve Thousand, Five Hundred Hectares of deforested lands.
On finance, domestically, the President said that the country has made efforts for funding a pipeline of projects in our path to a greener economy and that Nigeria has issued its first and second Sovereign Green Bonds. So far, two rounds of the green bond have successfully been executed. The first round of the green bond amounted to $27.3 million, the second amounted to more than $41 million. We are currently on the verge of launching the third green bond to the tune of $68.7 million. Through the instrumentality of the green bond programme, innovative funding streams are being unlocked in order to finance environmentally and climate friendly projects with focus on both adaptation and mitigation.
In reiterating Nigeria’s commitment to the goals of the conference, the President highlighted the major obstacle, which is finance, and used the platform to appeal for the redemption of the pledges made by International Technical and Financial Partners to provide the $19 billion dollars as assistance to the Green Wall Member Countries to enable them meet their commitments.
Although the meeting was focused on the problems of desertification and drought, the President observed that without a peaceful world, there can be no development. In the light of this, he called for a ceasefire and cessation of conflicts where they exist and especially the Russian – Ukraine war. “We call on all the parties to return to the negotiation table with a view to putting an end to this needless conflict,” said the President.
As a leader, President Buhari over the years has shown the world that he is at the forefront of world leaders determined working to save the planet from the ill-effects of climate change.
In this role as the President of the Conference of Presidents and Heads of Government of the Great Green Wall countries, he has found a perfect chance to do for Sub-Saharan Africa, what he is doing at home in Nigeria. This, he is determined to do.
Garba Shehu is the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity.