The Nigerian Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Tallen has vowed that her ministry, working in conjunction with others, will work hard to put a stop to practices that jeopardize the health of female children and impugn on the dignity of female gender in the country.
She complained that despite advancement in technology and extant laws, Nigeria still remain one of the few countries in the world with high rate of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) cases.
She said that such harmful practice persists in spite of a number of reforms and laws to curb the trend.
The Minister, who spoke on the sidelines of various activities to commemorate the 2021 International Day of the girls child in Abuja, Nigeria, further decried the general, increasing cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) against women and girls in spite of the domestication of extant laws in the country.
Paulline Tallen said: “although government has undertaken a number of health reforms, including laws against harmful traditional practices, many cultural and religious practices still put the health of women in doldrums.
“I wish to state that the ministry is committed to abolishing all traditional practices that endanger the health and dignity of girls and womanhood in Nigeria and in this regard, will work more with the Ministry of Health.”
She said that violence and harmful practices endanger the lives of women and girls, hence the need for all states of the federation to domesticate laws and implement them to serve as deterrent and eliminate it in totality.
According to her, in spite of government and partners’ positive interventions, high and community level advocacy, capacity building of circumcisers, including provision of alternate income for circumcisers, the practice of FGM still persists.
She, therefore, urged stakeholders to support girls and women and ensure the implementation of all enacted policies/laws on ending SGBV and harmful practices.
In an interview too, the Founder of Hope for Second Chance Foundation (HOSEC), an NGO, Mrs. Ibukunoluwa Otesile said that the culture of silence by survivors and their families impedes success in eliminating SGBV and harmful practices in the country.
“The culture of silence is one of the things that has continued to endanger violence against women and children in Nigeria. The culture makes it difficult for the tools that the government has put in place to actually work. If people refuse to speak out against it when it happens, there is nothing government can do about it.
“It goes beyond just having the instruments and the laws; we as a people must criminalise every form of violence against women, girls and children, particularly sexual violence so that we don’t have situations where they will say we will go and settle in the family.
“It is not something that should be settled, it is a crime against the state and it should be attended to as such.”
On her part, Amarachi Chukwu, the Assistant Programme Officer, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), said the establishment of special courts to handle GBV cases would help to expedite prosecution of cases and ensure survivors got justice, which would serve as deterrent to others.
She added that “the more such cases are delayed, the more traumatised the survivor becomes. But as soon as the survivor gets justice, they get better.” Source: NAN.
The UN General Assembly, in its resolution 62/16 of December 18, 2007, designated October 15 as International Day of Rural Women to recognise and celebrate the achievements and struggles of the female gender toward improving their lives, their families’ and communities.
The day is annually celebrated around the globe to bring to the fore, the critical roles and contributions of rural women, including indigenous women, and has “Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All” as its theme for 2021.
The invaluable contributions of rural women to development in many countries of the world cannot be over-emphasised.
The contributions are seen in the crucial roles they play in sustaining rural households, accounting for a substantial proportion of the agriculture labour force, including informal work, and perform the bulk of unpaid care and domestic work.
In most African countries including Nigeria, even when rural women farmers are productive and enterprising as their male counterparts, they are less able to access land, credit, agricultural inputs, markets, and high-value agrifood chains and obtain lower prices for their crops.
Structural barriers and discriminatory social norms have also continued to constrain women’s decision-making power and political participation in rural households and communities, hence, women and girls in rural areas lack equal access to resources and assets.
The female gender also lack equal access to public services, such as education and healthcare, including water and sanitation, while much of their labour remains invisible and unpaid, even as their workloads become increasingly heavy due to the out-migration of men.
Globally, with few exceptions, every gender and development indicator for which data are available reveals that rural women fare worse than rural men and urban women, and that they disproportionately experience poverty, exclusion and the effects of climate change.
On what rural African women and girls can gain from the commemoration of the international rural women day, the African Union Commission (AUC) Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy (DARBE), organised a virtual meeting on Oct. 15 to celebrate women, where participants agreed that rural women constitute one-fourth of the world’s population.
The African Union also agreed that rural women play critical roles in national economies of most African countries as they engage in crop production, livestock care, fetch fuel and water for families, predominantly labour providers in agri-businesses and agro-industries, and as such, they should be recognised and be included in decision-making processes at all levels of governance and in rural settings.
The union says economic empowerment of rural women is key, and that if given equal access to productive resources, agriculture yields will rise and will substantially reduce hunger in Africa.
Some of the objectives of the virtual meeting are: to share lessons and experiences for enhancing land rights that can promote women’s contribution to building sustainable food systems, increase awareness on the need to enhance agricultural mechanisation for women “so as to retire the hoe to museum”, as well as recommend practical and operable solutions to challenges facing rural women in food systems and agricultural trade.
On its part, UN Women highlighted the roles played by rural women and girls in sustaining communities, societies and nations.
The body noted that the International Day of Rural Women offers renewed opportunity to commit to different ways of organising the world to the recent UN Food System Summit so that rural women benefit equally from their productivity, with good food enjoyed by all.
In Nigeria, late Maryam Babangida, wife of former President Ibrahim Babangida, deepened the quest for improved living conditions for rural women and girls through the launch of the Better Life Programme for the (African) Rural Woman in 1987.
Prior to the launch, Babangida held consultations with stakeholders such as the Directorate for Food and Rural Infrastructure and women organisations about economic and social constraints affecting rural women after visiting Igbologun and Ilado-Odo villages in Lagos in 1986, where she found out that the villages had no clean water and power distribution infrastructure and decided that actions should be directed toward rural development.
In 1987, a workshop on the role of rural women in development was held in Abuja, which led to the establishment of the Better Life for Rural Women programme, conceived to have direct impact on the lives of rural women, described as the most sidelined, poorest and therefore the most vulnerable in African nations.
The objectives of the programme were to reduce maternal and child mortality by increasing basic healthcare facilities for women, provide income generating opportunities in agriculture and cottage industries, to integrate rural women into national development plans and develop education training for women.
However, the programme did not go far and had to stop due to change in government in the country.
Maryam Babangida also established the National Commission for Women in Nigeria and the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development in Abuja.
She left indelible footprints on the sands of time and a legacy of inestimable value.
Meanwhile, on the occasion of the 2021 International Day of Rural Women, the Federal Government poured encomiums on Maryam Babangida, Founder of the Better Life for Rural Women programme at the launch of “Her Majesty”, a 15-minute film designed to chronicle and amplify the struggles, challenges and contributions of the Nigerian rural woman.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, who eulogised the late Babangida for her efforts toward assisting rural women to get better lives, noted that the 15-minute film was to honour women who played significant roles in economic development through food production, building agriculture and rural development.
As women from all walks of life converged on Abuja on Oct. 15 to mark the rural women day and launch of the film, Tallen also commended Hajiya Aisha Babangida, the daughter to Maryam Babangida and Chairperson, Better Life Programme for the African Rural Women, for putting together the initiative aimed at promoting the welfare and rights of rural women.
She lamented that the problems of rural women were compounded by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that “it is no gainsaying, that rural women are the key agents for development. They play catalytic roles toward achieving transformational economic, environmental and social changes required for sustainable development.
“Rural women and girls ensure food production and form a large proportion in agricultural workforce, yet they face persistent cultural and structural constraints that prevent them from enjoying their human rights and hamper efforts to improve their lives as well as others around them.”
She said that the ministry had in the last one year collaborated with relevant organisations to provide relief assistance including food and hygiene materials (washable face mask, detergent, bathing soap, sanitizer etc.) to about 3,060 households/vulnerable women and girls worst affected by the COVID-19 in the six-geo-political zones and the FCT.
The ministry is also implementing the second phase of Presidential National Cooking Gas Project Cylinders distribution and Economic tree planting project in additional 15 states to reduce deforestation, drudgery and health hazards among rural women, she added.
She assured the readiness of the ministry to continue to give necessary push and support policies and programmes that would uplift the status of rural women.
Tallen also called on public-spirited individuals and organisations to support digital technology, improved and better amenities for rural women with a view to reducing poverty and enhance their status.
She urged affluent women to assist fellow women, especially those in rural areas, to have better lives.
On her part, Aisha Babangida called for synergy among humanitarian Non-Governmental Organisations to harmonise operations to make the desired impacts on the lives of the underprivileged rural women.
The goal, she said, was to create awareness of the crucial roles women play in the society in ensuring food and nutrition security, eradicating poverty and most especially improving the well-being of rural women and girls.
In a remark, the Director-General, National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Asabe Vilita-Bashir, lamented the increase in hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity mostly affecting women.
According to her, climate change and insecurity, banditry, farmer/herdsmen clashes, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic has further worsen the situation of food security in Nigeria and rural women are the ones most affected.
She said “the NCWD has continued to uphold the tenets of its initiator to advance issues and concerns of rural women and ensure food security for women. The centre promotes the livelihood and wellbeing of rural women through its Women Development Centres Activation Project at the 774 local government areas of the federation.”
In conclusion, there are many things government can do to help rural women and girls to enjoy better lives, as other citizens and NGOs also offer assistance to uplift their status.
Countries can support rural households, especially women and girls, to cope with high food prices by putting in place or expanding food assistance and social safety net programmes that take into consideration men and women’s different roles and responsibilities within households and the different behaviours they adopt in times of crisis.
Through food assistance schemes, governments can provide households with food rations to compensate for lacking food supplies. This includes giving households food stamps or vouchers that people can exchange for food, implementing school feeding programmes where meals are given to children in school, and food-for-work programmes where people are given food rations in exchange for work on public projects like building roads.
Social safety net programmes also work, except that they provide households with cash to buy food and other necessities instead of food rations. These programmes include cash transfers where governments give periodic payments to households, and public work programmes, similar to food-for-work programmes, except that they compensate people in cash.
Food assistance programmes are advantageous for rural women who are traditionally responsible for obtaining food and ensuring good nutrition for the family. These programmes may reduce women’s need to take on additional work to earn more income to buy food and, in some cases, increase their decision-making power in the household.
School feeding schemes are also helpful because they motivate parents to keep children in school in times of crises, ensuring that they receive the nutrients they need and maintaining their chances at better opportunities later in life. These schemes are particularly important for girls, who tend to be pulled out of school before boys.
Cash transfers are also instrumental in supporting women, especially when the transfer is directed to them, and public work programmes that are designed to include them have many beneficial effects, including improving access to credit since their participation in the programme is often viewed as a guarantee of repayment.
By building programmes that take into consideration rural women and men’s differentiated needs and resources, governments can better strengthen rural communities’ resilience and ability to cope with high food prices and food price sparks in the long run, reducing the burden on rural women and girls, which at the end, will help them to do other things toward achieving their desires in life. International Day of Rural Women and its benefits to Nigerian rural women and girls. (NANFeature)
Afghanistan is no stranger to invasion and occupation as it’s not so recent history has clearly shown. Paradoxically it is also no stranger to purging out invaders as shown in its not-too-distant history. Perhaps this explains why it has been dubbed the graveyard of the ‘West’. For a country and people that have witnessed the rise and exit of global empires, from British colonialism through to the era of Soviet or Russian Invasion and climaxed by the farce on war on terror by the United States, little wander at the scenes of sweet-bitter episodes on the streets of Afghanistan at the exit and withdrawal of the self-acclaimed world policeman.
The multiplicity of views from our highly opinionated society from where we are being inundated with perspectives on who the victim is in the scheme of things in Afghanistan, has thrown up more answers than there are questions. This merry-go-round has created a worldview whereby those who are being decimated and subjugated are now tagged oppressors while the real culprits are on the loose.
But then again, do I know as much as I think I do? Am I also culpable of my libel of an opinionated world? Are there really more answers than there are questions in the scheme of things in Afghanistan? Is there really a winner in the Afghan war?
There are multiple of variables with which to address the above posers and one of them is from an age long quote in journalism that “he who follows the money always uncovers the path it leads. Following the money, whether in the stock or capital market, government dealings or even in a war” has proven time and time again to be revealing. So, to give flavour to our discussion, let’s take an economy or perhaps business class trip into Afghanistan.
Following the money into Afghanistan has shown that about 2.26 trillion dollars is what the US was alleged to have spent in Afghanistan, this is about 300 million dollars a day. While successive US administrations keep paying lip service to transparency in its dealings with tax payers’ monies, it is yet to be known, where the money went! It is an obvious fact the ordinary Afghans have little or zero knowledge as to the skirmishes and sophistry of how these monies exchange hands. Clearly so, as an average Afghan survives on less than 2 dollars a day, while his life and livelihood is being plunged, plundered and devastated while the money turns around back into the US economy. How? one might ask! Through the schisms of defence companies and contracts of course! The reality of the matter is that the US basically outsourced the Afghan war, while they, quote and unquote funded it, the work on the ground was being orchestrated by crony private companies, companies that dealt with the entire military circle from supply of vehicles, ammunition, and everything from the bandages to the bullets. Remember the indictment on Hilary Clinton on monies spent in defence and other contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, under her Vice Chairperson-ship at the Council for Foreign Relations? Talk about a revolving door!
The ordeal being recounted by John Perkins in his memoire; The confessions of an Economic Hitman come to mind here, while the United States was funding the war in Afghanistan, the money never really left the US, it was used to pay US companies in US to plunder Afghanistan. The beauty with keeping records is; when the time comes the culprits will be faced with the receipt of their actions and inactions, because where men will not speak records will.
Let’s then present numbers to support the above claims. The top 5 military contractors in the Afghan war are; Lockheed Martins, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, a very quick google search will do the trick. The numbers are also quite astonishing as these companies got over 2 trillion approved by the US congress from 2001 until the US withdrawal. These were monies spent in propaganda and show of US military might in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen – through the back door, backdoor name withheld – and other needless war campaigns that ended in futility, leaving some to conclude that the US soldiers lost the Afghan War, but most to conclude that the US businessmen and elites, not so much. Because right after 9/11military stocks in the US saw an unprecedented surge of almost over 1000 percent. Could this support the claims that the war lingered on and seemed almost frozen, because a forever war equals a forever profit? Again, we are just asking questions and seeking answers!
While the US elites and its Pentagon cronies keep telling the world they flooded Afghanistan with US armies, the reality is that they actually flooded the Afghan space with US mercenaries, US technology and US killing machines. Let’s present another receipt; remember when Julian Assange made the statement that ‘the goal isn’t to subjugate Afghanistan, but rather to use Afghanistan to clean American taxpayers’ money clearly being laundered by the American elite structure and back into their hands’? Well, that never evaded the memory of some of us.
SIGAR, the body setup by the US to ‘reconstruct’ Afghanistan in 2018 published a report that over 50 billion US dollars had gone missing, how? I guess we will have to follow the money to find out. But one thing is for sure, billions of dollars, flouted around without scrutiny, without oversight and without recourse to the Afghan people, because they gained nothing from it. However, the withdrawal of the US and the return of the Taliban as the legitimate government in Afghanistan signals the dawn of a new era, one that regardless of all criticism has come to stay and must be reckoned with. What seem apparent in the debate and rancour of whether a Taliban rule is ideal for a 21st century Afghanistan is that an independent sovereign entity is now be governed by its own people, good or bad. The outrage on the so-called infringement on women right by the so called woke community is the text book definition of hypocrisy, particularly coming from the same people who looted, robbed and rapped the Afghan people and their economy and bleed it dry.
First it was the British colonizers and when they left, the Afghan people and the world applauded and screamed freedom! Then it was the Russians – under the guise of a monster they created that left 61.8 percent of Afghanistan’s hooked on opium. A matter to be discussed on another date – Again when they withdrew the Afghans screamed freedom! Now that it is the turn of the US why does the world expect a reverse? This smoke screen isn’t going to hold for too long. If it is one thing I am certain about and further proven by this long and almost frozen invasion, it is that history has and will always be on the side of the oppressed. But then again who is the oppressed in this case? And who really did win the Afghan war?
Nigerians from the South-West zone have decried the rising cost of food items and cooking gas, calling on the Federal Government to swiftly intervene and address the situation.
Speaking in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kwara, Osun, Oyo and Ogun, they complained that the cost of food items and cooking gas had soared beyond the reach of the masses.
In their contributions, they, however, offered the likely solutions to the situation, which they described as disturbing.
Dr. Olufemi Oladunni, the Executive Director, Agriculture and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), urged Nigerians to embark on farming as a way of checkmating the high cost of food items.
Oladunni advised the government to encourage more Nigerians to go into farming by subsidising agricultural inputs and ensure that only qualitative and standard inputs were available in the markets for farmers to buy.
He said that ARMTI had been engaging in the training of youths in various areas of agribusiness to make them, not only self-employed, but employers of labour.
According to him, beneficiaries also enjoyed starter packs, valued at N200,000, to enable them to start their own businesses.
Oladunni, calling for improved security situation, said that many farmers had been displaced and unable to go to their farms due to the challenge of insecurity in the country.
Also, Prof. Olubunmi Omotesho of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, urged government to put in place machinery to ensure that small scale farmers have access to agricultural resources, markets, land, finance, infrastructure and technologies.
Explaining that approach to economic development must be modern, focussed and in tune with global trends, he called for social security schemes for farmers and agricultural product protection policies.
“There should also be provision of credit facilities to small scale farmers and incentives for agricultural financial institutions among others,” Omotesho said.
Commenting, Mrs Bolanle Bamidele, decried the rising cost of foodstuffs and cooking gas, saying that it had kept reducing their profit margin.
Bamidele, who sells beans and noodles, told NAN that a cooking gas of 3kg, formerly sold at N1,000, is now N1,950 at 650 per kg.
According to her, both beans and noodles, in addition to the ingredients used in preparing them, have become too expensive.
”Since I was born, I have never bought beans at the price we are buying now. The prices of noodles, groundnut oil and pepper are nothing to write home about, either.
”I just pray that everything gets better, because we are just selling now to keep body and soul together, not that it is profitable again,” Bamidele said.
Another food seller, who simply identified herself as Mummy Semilanu, said that her customers had reduced greatly.
“They have been complaining of not getting enough food served with their hard-earned money,” she said.
Also, an Ilorin-based legal practitioner, Mr Abdul Gegele, advised the three tiers of government to check the inflation by venturing more into agricultural produce.
According to him, insecurity is an hindrance to the national economic development, which had contributed to high prices of foodstuffs.
A house wife, Hajia Khadijat Jimoh, said she learnt that increment in Value Added Tax (VAT) and government tariffs had contributed to the increase in prices of foodstuffs, gas, building materials and other items.
Jimoh also identified ritual killings, banditry, kidnapping and clashes between farmers and herders as other factors that contributed to the high cost of food items.
“Farmers no longer go to farm; they are scared of being killed,” she said.
In his reactions, Alhaji Sulaimon Araokanmi, the Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Osun, blamed the high cost of food prices to disrupted farming brought about by inadequate rainfall in 2020.
According to him, the little planting done by farmers in 2020 is what is providing the little foodstuffs in the market, except for crops planted early this year.
Araokanmi said that the 2020 draught, with the disruption of farming in the Northern region of the country, caused by insurgency and banditry, resulted in food shortage, as currently being experienced.
He said that naturally, food insufficiency always resulted in food scarcity, which would affect the prices of foodstuffs in the market.
Araokanmi, however, said that with constant rainfall being experienced in 2021, there should be food sufficiency and surplus next year, with the hope of reduction in price.
The chairman of the association implored the government to provide farmers with grants, funds, modified planting seeds, seedlings and chemicals to boost the nation’s food production.
Also, Mrs Muyibat Egbedele, a housewife, decried the outrageous prices of food items, saying that most of the food items had increased by 100 per cent.
Egbedele added that the annoying aspect was that the locally produced food items were also following the trend.
“It is even difficult to quote the prices of food items when going for shopping, as prices keep increasing everyday.
“Most increment in prices are artificial, because most food sellers keep attributing the increment to foreign exchange, even, when their commodity is locally produced,” she said.
Muyibat, then called on the Federal Government to address the rising prices of food items for the sake of the masses.
Similarly, consumers of cooking gas in Osogbo decried the increasing cost of the commodity in the state and the country at large.
One of the retailers,
Mr Oladayo Oluwasegun, blamed the gas depots for the high cost of the commodity.
Oluwasegun said, “A 6kg cooking gas is now between N3,600 and N3,800, while 12kg sells for N7,600.”
A housewife, Mrs Iyabo Korede, said she had resorted to the use of charcoal due to the high price of cooking gas.
“It is out of the reach of my family to buy a 12kg gas, which was being sold for N3,800 before but now cost N7,500,” Korede said.
In Ibadan, Mr Akeem Emiola, a leader at Bodija Market, identified insecurity and bad road network as major reasons behind the continuous increase in prices of foodstuffs.
Emiola said that insecurity, with the fear of what would befall farmers in their farms, like kidnapping, banditry and herders/farmers clash, stopped many farmers from going to their farmlands.
“Government should first tackle the issue of security across the country, as this will enable farmers to intensify on the production of food and smooth movement of farm produce and foodstuffs from the rural areas to urban centres.
“Road maintenance and rehabilitation should follow. This is because heavy duty vehicles are used in transporting foodstuffs.
“Most roads are not in good condition, as articulated vehicles were spending days on the roads; some even broke down and get repaired on the road before foodstuffs can reach their destinations.
“These and more are parts of the reasons foodstuffs are too expensive,” Emiola said.
Confirming that a bag of yam flour has jumped from N100,000 to N140,000, Mrs Mojoyin Akinade, a yam flour trader, attributed this to the shortage of yam due to low harvest as part of the climate change and insecurity on farms.
Akinade said, “Farmers, after sowing seeds, left their farms, leaving herders with their cows to destroy everything on the farms.”
A gas retailer, Mrs Nkem Joseph, urged the Federal Government to regulate the price of cooking gas or subsidise it to alleviate the sufferings of the masses.
Joseph said the price hike was becoming unbearable for the masses, as sales had dropped with low profit margin.
“Almost every home in the urban areas use gas for both home and industrial purposes. With the hike, the money to refill a 6kg cylinder is now N3,500 instead of N2,000.
“By this, the consumer is left to fill his or her cylinder halfway,” Joseph said.
Commenting, a housewife, Mrs Juliana Adewale, said that government should intervene in the matter.
“This is how those in charge of Kerosene pushed the masses to the wall, before we eventually embraced the use of gas.
“If gas is now untouchable like Kerosene, we will be left to use charcoal and firewood, which has negative effects on the climate, occasioned by indiscriminate trees felling,” Adewale said.
Meanwhile, some housewives in Ibadan have expressed their grouse over the sudden change of their husbands’ attitude toward them as a result of the rising cost of foodstuffs in the market.
NAN reports that prices of foodstuffs in the markets have skyrocketed in the last few months in Oyo State and Nigeria in general.
For instance, a bag of foreign rice now cost between N27,000 and N28,000, while that of local rice cost N23,000.
Narrating her experience, Mrs Alimat Abdulkadir, said her husband, nowadays, quarrelled at home anytime she demanded money for foodstuffs.
Abdulkadir, who said her husband had been adequately performing his responsibilities before now, said that high cost of foodstuffs in the markets was responsible for his change of attitude.
“He would shout and quarrel with me anytime I ask for money for foodstuffs.
“He always complain of spending all his earnings in buying foodstuffs and because of that, he is not always happy whenever I request for money for foodstuffs,” she said.
Abdulkadir, therefore, called on the government to address the situation in order to save her marriage.
Another housewife, Mrs Janet Odeyale, said her husband now skip morning or night meal so that the little food in the house could be enough for the children.
“As a result of the hike in price, he has warned me to always cook little food in the house. If I go contrary to this, he will quarrel with me,” Odeyale said.
Complaining that her husband’s salary was no longer sufficient for them, she called on the government to urgently find a lasting solution to increase in prices of foodstuffs in Nigeria.
“Every kobo now goes into buying foodstuffs,” she said.
An Economist, Dr John Filani, also the Managing Director, Jalis Associates, said the rising cost of foodstuffs and cooking gas, if not addressed, would eventually compound the economic hardship facing many Nigerians.
Filani said some youths that ventured into gas businesses had started parking up due to the rising cost of cooking gas.
The economist said it would be disastrous, if such huge number of youths returned to the unemployment market.
Also, Mr Seyi Olakanmi, the Chairman, Gas Retailers Vendors Association in Egbeda Local Government area of Oyo State, decried the indiscriminate hike in the price of cooking gas.
Olakanmi said that with the situation daily becoming unbearable for most Nigerians, his members were currently experiencing low patronage.
Meanwhile, Mrs Abibat Lasisi, the Chairperson of Foodstuffs Association, Adegbayi Market, expressed sadness over what she described as a pathetic situation.
Lasisi called on both the State and Federal Governments to urgently address the food crises, saying that some of her members had closed shops due to low sales.
Cross section of housewives in Ibadan said they had opted for charcoal as another means of cooking due to hike in the price of cooking gas.
Mrs Olayemi Adeoye said she could no longer afford cooking beans with gas.
“I have opted for charcoal and firewood as alternatives to gas, because it is presently cheaper than using gas, though, health wise, it is not the best,” she said.
Another housewife, Mrs Oladunni Stephen, said that due to the rising cost of foodstuffs and cooking gas, the standard of living of many had dropped.
Stephen, therefore, implored the government to subsidise the price of gas just as petroleum.
In his reactions, a crop farmer, Mr Tayo Ojekemi, said that government needed to identify and direct their assistance packages to the real farmers and not those he called, office farmers.
“The government prefers to give loans and grants to biro or office farmers.
“Most times, the funds meant for farming are diverted to other things that are irrelevant to farming.
“When farmers are not adequately supported financially to produce enough food, there is no way the price of the little ones produced will not increase, because of the high cost of production.
“We will continue to experience more increase unless the government intervenes by giving loan/grant to real farmers and providing large land for farmers to increase food production,” he said.
Another farmer, Mr David Ogundele, said COVID-19 outbreak that caused total lockdown in 2020, thereby, leading to limited food production by farmers, contributed to the high cost.
“Other causes include lack of funds or inadequate financial assistance from the government, land topography, especially in the Southern part where we have thick forest, which does not give room for farm expansion because of the monetary involvement.
“Inadequate supply of farm inputs such as fertilsers, improved seeds and farm equipment affected us.
“Also, some farm products get wasted on the farm during harvesting and even after, since there’s no where to keep them because of lack of storage facilities.
“Also, lack of social amenities, roads, electricity, drinkable water and bad network, all contributed,” he said.
According to him, the effect of the increase can cause hunger, sickness, deaths, folding of some companies, which will in turn increase the level of unemployment and poverty in the society.
“The causes can be addressed, if everyone does his own part perfectly and adequately; let the government play its part while farmers do theirs,” he said.
Similarly, a tomato farmer, Mr Adetunji Ajani, said disturbances caused by Boko Haram, COVID-19 and banditry negatively affected farming, farmers and food production.
A consumer, Mr Isaac Olusola, said the cost of every commodity in Nigeria was on the rise.
“The inflation rate is beyond 100 per cent. Imagine how the cost of rice, beans garri, gas, electricity and bread had risen, this calls for concerns.
“The government should take drastic and impactful measures to arrest this situation. 12kg cooking gas that we used to buy around N3, 500 is now sold for N6, 200,” he said.
Also, Alhaji Ibilola Kushimo, Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Ogun Chapter, attributed the situation to the challenge of insecurity in the country.
Kushimo said that many farmers had abandoned their farms as a result of the herders/farmers’ clashes in some parts of the country, thereby, bringing productivity to a low level.
“The few farmers that are trying to farm cannot produce enough for the nation, that is why the little they produced are becoming very expensive,” he said.
Kushimo also tied the development to the increased transportation cost, a cost farmers often factor into their cost of production.
Commenting, Alhaja Riskatu Subir, a market leader at Lafenwa market in Abeokuta, complained that the price increase was becoming frustrating for traders and customers.
“Almost all the prices of food commodities have increased. Traders cannot stock their shops anymore, because these items are increasing on a daily basis and they are not financially capable to buy and stock anymore.”
Subir, who noted that the situation started in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, said it had persisted without redress.
Mr Akeem Bello, a civil servant, complained that his salary could no longer feed him and his family, because of the rising cost of food items.
Bello added that the situation had continued to force many families into hunger, noting, “an average Nigerian, who could afford to feed three times in a day, is now struggling to feed twice or less because of the rising cost of food items.”
A consumer of the Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, Adenike Adeoti, said: “I want government to help us the masses.
“We are used to cooking with gas, but with the soaring price of the commodity, it is better we return to stove. We can not spend all our income on purchasing gas.”
The Secretary, Liquified Petroleum Gas Retailers, Mr Samuel Obasanjo, ascribed the increasing price of cooking gas to the cost of transportation, its high demand and the unstable exchange rate.
Obasanjo appealed to the government to consider a review of the policy on LPG.
“People are now getting used to gas, because it is easy and quick to cook with.
“So, it is the duty of the government to do the needful in ensuring that it is made available in large quantity to force the price down,” he said.
The Lagos State Government has announced the acquisition of 750 hectares of farmland at Igbodu in the Epe area of the state for feedlots
The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, at the official inauguration of the perimeter fencing of farm settlements/estates and agricultural land in the state today, October 22, also announced the deployment of coconut trees for perimeter fencing in all farms settlements and estates across the state.
The pilot programme is located at the Lagos State Integrated Red Meat Development Programme, Lagos Type one Feedlot, Iyafin Production Hub, Badagry.
The commissioner, who was represented on the occasion by Dr Rasheed Macaulay, Director, Veterinary Services in the ministry, said that the state government is deploying multiple strategies along the up, mid and down streams of the coconut value chain to promote its production, processing, utilisation and commercialisation, for both local and export markets.
She said that the feedlots is under construction and would soon begin operations, adding that the coconut tree fencing technology is sustainable, environment friendly; serves for security purposes as well as a source of income to the farming business with little or no maintenance cost.
Olusanya said that with a proven technology such as the use of coconut trees for perimeter fencing farm settlements should key into the programme.
She noted that the technology of using coconut trees as perimeter fencing of farms and agricultural lands stemmed from the fact that the resources to fence large expanse of land are highly expensive.
According to the commissioner, the technology involves planting of coconut trees along the perimeter and then stringing barbed wires from one trunk to the other by the third year after planting.
“I am highly delighted to be part of history on this day for the official inauguration of using coconut trees for the perimeter fencing of farm estates, farm settlements and agricultural lands in Lagos State.
“The importance that Lagos State attaches to this crop is evident in the fact that her crest or official emblem is anchored by two coconut trees, thus describing coconut as the tree of Lagos.
“The theme of this year’s World Food Day celebration is “Our Actions Are Our Future: Better Productivity, Better Nutrition and Better Environment for a Better Life”, she said.
She said that this speaks more to the coconut value chain sub-sector of agriculture than any other one.
“By nature, it is a crop of the future. Even with the technology available, the minimum gestation period is between three and five years with the ability to continue fruiting for more than 80 years after planting.
“In addition, mixing coconut value chain with any other farming activities like livestock, fisheries or other crops or planting is solely ornamental.
“The purpose is generally considered as one of the ways to create wealth and generate employment thus making room for optimal utilisation of resources,” she said.
Olusanya said that for the coconut value chain to fully unleash its potential the state is collaborating with the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) through a Unilateral Trust Fund (UTF) arrangement.
According to her, the collaboration is for the value chain to contribute to the sustainable development of the state in terms of wealth creation, health benefits and mitigation of climate change.
She noted that the implementation of the inception or value chain analysis would commence by the first week of November 2021.
She added that the outcome was expected to give birth to directional, specific and coordinated interventions in coconut value chain by FAO, UNIDO and other international development agencies that have shown interest in the sector.
She urged operators of farm estates, settlements and agricultural lands across the state to employ this technology and take the opportunity of subsidised coconut seedlings for this purpose.
“Just as we are well aware of the nutritional importance of coconut, it is also important to note that coconut trees play a big role in mitigating the impacts of climate change and global warming.
“Coconut trees are natural wind breakers and to reduce erosion.
“Thus, coconut speaks well to productivity, nutrition and environment for a better life than other agricultural value chains,’’ she said.
Olusanya said that this occasion, therefore, served as a timely wakeup call and an opportunity to plant coconut trees as much as space permits so as to achieve the objective of 10 million active coconut trees from now till 2026.
“There is no better place to start this campaign than within existing farm settlements and estates and agricultural lands in the state with a proven technology such as the use of coconut trees for perimeter fencing.
“In order to encourage the operators of farm settlements/estates and agricultural lands to embrace this technology, the Lagos State Coconut Development Authority (LASCODA) has been directed to make the seedlings available at subsidised rates,” she said.
Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has challenged media and media owners in Nigeria to take the front seat in setting agenda for the progress of the country.
According to him it is the media, editors and media owners that should set agenda for politicians in the country not the other way round.
“If you allow the politicians to continue to set the agenda for this country, especially in the area of selecting leaders, from top-down or bottom-up, then, I don’t think we are ready to get the country on the right track.
” This is because, whether we like it or not, Nigeria will always be who or what we want it to be when journalists and media owners set the correct agenda for the politicians, and Nigerians and drive it through.
“If you don’t, only God knows what will happen after 2023. However, it is worthy to ask what agenda are we setting, is it ethic, religious, or class agenda,” Yahaya Bello asked.
The governor, who spoke today, October 22 at the 17th All Nigeria Editors’ Conference 2021 (ANEC) organised by Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) said that media practitioner should not be doing the old thing in the current trend and expect different result.
He noted that media agencies have reporters all over the country, and “it is high time they tell themselves the truth and set the agenda,” adding that God would not send an angel to become the president of Nigeria.
“It is Nigerians that will have to choose their leaders to fix the various challenges facing the country.”
“By the time you allow the politicians to continue to drive the agenda, whatever you see, you should take it. This is democracy and numbers matter.
” Also, communication to the masses are usually through the media. How you set the agenda and messages to the people matter. If you do not communicate the right message to the people, we will continue to have who we do not desire.
“It takes decisive, courageous, fair-minded and balanced leader to be able to fix this country and to be able to fix our challenges as a nation.
“However, it requires the collaboration, understanding, and painstaking agenda setting of the media, to educate, sensitive and teach our people on the various steps of how to select the next leader or leadership.”
File photo: Suspected IPOB members set ablaze Imo State police headquaters recently | Credit BarristerNG
A committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate Nnamdi Kanu, who is standing trial for terrorist, treason, felony and others has come out with a report indicting the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Kanu, who is the leader of the group, of responsible for the killing of 175 security personnel in the Southeast.
The 24-member committee, which comprised members of the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Information, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, the National Intelligence Agency and the Defence Intelligence Agency also fingered Kano and his IPOB group in the murder of Chike Akunyili, the widower of the late Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Dora Akunyili and former Presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak, as well as over 184 others.
The committee, which was headed by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said that consequent upon the instigating directives of Kanu, members of IPOB and the Eastern Security Network, carried out massive attacks on democratic institutions especially facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission with a view to hampering democratic process in Nigeria.
It said that the attacks that were carried out between October 2020 and June 2021 led to the killing of 175 security operatives.
The report read in part: “Acting on the instigating directives of Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB members and #EndSARS protesters attacked and killed many security agents, destroyed several public and private properties, including police stations, public transport buses and other facilities across the country.
“That on October 21, 2020, Nnamdi Kanu through an online call-in radio programme(Radio Biafra), further instigated IPOB members to burn down all police stations and kill government security forces, which was carried out, and security personnel (especially police officers) were killed and public and private properties destroyed.
“That 175 security personnel were killed by IPOB/ESN, comprising 128 policemen, 37 military personnel and 10 other security operatives. Killing of prominent Nigerians: Recently there were gruesome killings of traditional leaders: Obi 1 of Okwudor autonomous community, Eze E. AnayochukwuDurueburuo and Eze Sampson Osunwa of Ihebineowerre autonomous community as well as the killings of Dr. Chike Akunyili and eight others as well as the killing of Alhaji Ahmed Gulak on May 30, 2021.”
The committee found that as a consequence of Nnamdi Kanu’s broadcasts, there were 19 attacks on INEC facilities that resulted in the destruction of offices as well as burning of 18 INEC logistical vehicles, several election materials, equipment and ICT gadgets in Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo states.
The Presidential committee said that 164 police stations and formations, including police Headquarters, Owerri, Imo State were attacked by IPOB/ESN leading to the death of 128 policemen while 144 were injured and 628 vehicles were destroyed.
It said 396 firearms and 17,738 ammunition were carted away during the IPOB/ESN attacks.
“That there were three IPOB/ESN attacks on Nigerian Correctional Service, including the Headquarters of NCoS, Owerri, Imo State where 1,841 inmates escaped. That the Headquarters of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Umuahia, Abia State was also attacked by IPOB/ESN leading to the death of one officer,” the report read.
Presidency Photo: Ahmed Bala, Zack Orji, Ben Kure, Saheed Balogun, Gentle Jack, Mr Ibu, Chiege Alisigwe, Benedict Johnson, Andy Chukwu, and Sani Denja.
Popular Nollywood Actors, led by Zak Orji have kicked against insecurity and agents of the division of Nigeria. The group operates under the auspices of Ambassadors of Voice for Change.
The group, which also comprised
National Council for Women Society (NCWS) and representatives of National Associations of Nigerian Students (NANS), as well as other stakeholders, visited the Presidential villa, Abuja today, October 22, where they were received by the special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina.
Zack Orji expressed the readiness of the group to collaborate with the security agencies and Nigerians to ensure that there is peace and unity in the country.
“There is no way government is going to work alone without the cooperation of the people. This movement will cover the 36 States of the Federation.
“Our aim is to engage road shows, town hall meetings, rallies and all kinds of meetings to sensitize people so they can be on the same band wagons as ourselves.”
The group commended the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari on its effort to restore peace and unity in the country and assured him of their continued support.
Responding, Femi Adesina said that the desire of President Buhari is to see that peace and unity reign in all parts of the country.
“Mr. President is actuated by nothing else than peace and unity of the country, many times he has said that those of them that fought for the unity of Nigeria will not sit down with their eyes open and see the country dismembered in their presence.
“What Mr. President wants is peace, unity and whatever it takes for Nigeria to have peace, she will have it. I remembered I did a piece recently where I said for Nigeria, it is ‘Peace Dole’ (Peace by Force).”
“The idea of this movement, Ambassadors of Voice for Change, is very good. I am sure it is God that inspired it.
“We know that there are lots of forces attempting to pull the country apart but if the country will stay together (and it will stay together), we need initiatives like this, we need voices like this, we need ambassadors like this.”
The Special Adviser said that it is in our collective interest that Nigeria survives. “Our collective interest is that our unity in diversity is maintained, so that we remain together in peace and unity, and there is strength in unity.”
He thanked the Voice for Change Ambassadors executives for the timely initiative, and assured them that because this is an initiative for peace and unity, his office will lend itself to project it.
The Ambassadors of Voice for Change is an organization made up of actors, musicians, comedians, producers, directors, and film makers, with representations from National Council for Women Society, National Associations of Nigerian Students, and market women across the country.
The representatives that were the State House included Zack Orji, Ahmed Bala, John Okafor (Mr. Ibu), Sani Denja, Saheed Balogun and Ben Kure.
Others are Gentle Jack, Benedict Johnson, Andy Chukwu and Chiege Alisigwe.
The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd, Mallam Mele Kyari has advocated for the consideration of what he calls “energy justice” in the implementation of energy transition.
“Talking about energy transition, it is my very well-considered view that there must be energy justice, which means that countries should develop at their own pace while taking into consideration the realities that they face.”
In a paper titled: “Insecurity as it Affects the Oil and Gas Sector,” which he delivered at the 17th All Nigerian Editors’ Conference in Abuja today, October 22, ahead of the commencement of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland next week, Mele Kyari argued that wholesale execution of energy transition without regard to the peculiar socio-economic conditions of various countries would cause dislocations that could exacerbate security challenges in developing nations.
The paper is backgrounded on the discussions on countries transiting to less carbon-intensive energy sources that have been gaining momentum in the last few years, with global leaders calling for a shift away from fossil fuels as a critical action towards tackling climate crisis.
The NNPC Boss maintained that his concept of energy justice is to allow each country, especially developing nations, to progress at their own pace while leveraging on their hydrocarbon resources for smooth transition to Net Zero by 2050.
According to the NNPC CEO, individual nations should be allowed to transit on the basis of their contributions to the carbon emission to the point that ultimately, there will be justice for all by 2050.
“Energy justice would ensure that as we transit, we are allowed to develop at a pace and in a manner that is just,” Mallam Kyari added.
The NNPC helmsman also urged the media industry and other stakeholders to champion the cause of energy justice in the global quest for cleaner energy, stressing that gas development remained the only option for Nigeria to achieve energy transition.
Speaking on NNPC’s refineries and the role they play in ensuring energy security for the country, he said NNPC management under his leadership was keen on changing the narrative and getting the refineries back on stream by taking advantage of the free-hand given to the management by President Muhammadu Buhari to do the right thing.
“This is the first time in history that NNPC and its subsidiaries are allowed to do things the way things should be done. Now, I can confirm to you that we have taken responsibility and we will fix the refineries. We have started the process, contractors have been mobilized to the Port Harcourt refinery ; while the same process for Warri and Kaduna refineries will conclude by the end of this year,” he declared.
On the menace of crude oil and products theft, the NNPC CEO said much progress has been made through collaboration with security agencies.
He called for support of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and other stakeholders towards reducing insecurity within the oil and gas industry.
Earlier, the President of the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Mr. Mustapha Isah, said the purpose of the conference is to find solution to the various security challenges facing the country.
Isah also called on all stakeholders to rise up to the insecurity challenge by giving their best in defence of the nation.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has alerted millions of Nigerian telecom consumers of the existence of new, high-risk and extremely-damaging, Malware called Flubot.
A malware is a generic word used to describe a virus or software, designed specially to “disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system.”
According to the information today, October 21, from the Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT), Flubot “targets Androids with fake security updates and App installations”.
The ngCERT affirmed that Flubot “impersonates Android mobile banking applications to draw fake web view on targeted applications” and its goal transcends stealing personal data and essentially targets stealing of credit card details or online banking credentials.
FluBot is circulated through Short Message Service (SMS) and can snoop “on incoming notifications, initiate calls, read or write SMSes, and transmit the victim’s contact list to its control centre.”
This malware attacks Android devices by pretending to be “FedEx, DHL, Correos, and Chrome applications” and compels unsuspecting users to alter the accessibility configurations on their devices in order to maintain continuous presence on devices.
The new malware undermines the security of devices by copying fake login screens of prominent banks, and the moment the users enter their login details on the fake pages, their data is harvested and transmitted to the malware operators’ control point from where the data is exploited by intercepting banking-related One Time Passwords (OTPs) and replacing the default SMS app on the targeted Android device.
Consequently, it secures admittance into the device through SMS and proceeds to transmit similar messages to other contacts that may be on the device it has attacked enticing them into downloading the fake app.
It suffices to say that, when Flubot infects a device, it can result in incalculable financial losses. Additionally, the malware creates a backdoor which grants access to the user’s device, thus enabling the invader or attacker to perform other criminal actions, including launching other variants of malware.
In view of this discovery and understanding of the process by which this malware operates, and in order to protect millions of telecom consumers and prevent criminal forces, irrespective of location, from using telecom platforms to perpetrate fraud and irredeemable damages, the NCC hereby wishes to reiterate the advisory of ngCERT as follows:
Do not click on the link if you receive a suspicious text message, and do not install any app or security update the page asks you to install.
Use updated antivirus software that detects and prevents malware infections.
Apply critical patches to the system and application.
Use strong passwords and enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) over logins.
Back-up your data regularly.
If you have been affected by this campaign, you should reset your device to factory mode as soon as possible. This will delete any data on your phone, including personal data.
Do not restore from backups created after installing the app. You may contact ngCERT on incident@cert.gov.ng for technical assistance.
You will also need to change the passwords to all of your online accounts, with urgency, around your online bank accounts.
If you have concerns that your accounts may have been accessed by unauthorised people, contact your bank immediately.
As the Commission intensifies efforts in ensuring increased broadband access, enabling telecoms consumers to carry out their legitimate activities more efficiently and effectively online, it also restates its commitment to empowering consumers through useful information and education to protect them from falling victims of all kinds of cyber-attack while online. This explains the rationale for the launch of telecom sector’s Centre for Computer Security Incident Response by NCC on 30th September, 2021.
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Afghanistan is no stranger to invasion and occupation as it’s not so recent history has clearly shown. Paradoxically it is also no stranger to purging out invaders as shown in its not-too-distant history. Perhaps this explains why it has been dubbed the graveyard of the ‘West’. For a country and people that have witnessed the rise and exit of global empires, from British colonialism through to the era of Soviet or Russian Invasion and climaxed by the farce on war on terror by the United States, little wander at the scenes of sweet-bitter episodes on the streets of Afghanistan at the exit and withdrawal of the self-acclaimed world policeman. 
Nigerians from the South-West zone have decried the rising cost of food items and cooking gas, calling on the Federal Government to swiftly intervene and address the situation.
The Lagos State Government has announced the acquisition of 750 hectares of farmland at Igbodu in the Epe area of the state for feedlots
Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has challenged media and media owners in Nigeria to take the front seat in setting agenda for the progress of the country.
The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd, Mallam Mele Kyari has advocated for the consideration of what he calls “energy justice” in the implementation of energy transition.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has alerted millions of Nigerian telecom consumers of the existence of new, high-risk and extremely-damaging, Malware called Flubot.