IFAD, championing indigenous peoples, congragates over 100 @forum - NaijaAgroNet

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The 6th Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) congregated over 100 Indigenous Peoples’ representatives and observers from all over the world.

The Forum is a platform for meaningful dialogue in which Indigenous Peoples’ representatives convey their concerns, requests and recommendations to improve the partnership with IFAD towards sustainable rural transformation. The outcome of the Forum will be presented by representatives of the Indigenous Peoples to the IFAD Governing Council, the following week.

Civil Societies petition Buhari over OPL 245, asks FG to resist $15bn calls - NaijaAgroNet

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Some three civil societies, namely, Recommon, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) and Corner House have petitioned President, Major General Muhammed Buhari, retired, over the recent developments with regards to the various court proceedings relating to the corrupt award in 2011 of the OPL 245 Oil field to Eni and Shell, calling on the government to fight the corruption.

In a letter dated 4th of November 2022 addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, titled Recent Developments on OPL 245, highlighted some positive developments and also set priorities for the federal government in demanding justice from the OPL245 deal.

COVID-19: Nigerian doctors may withdraw services over invitation to Chinese doctors - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) may be spoiling for war over the invitation of the Federal Government to some 18-man Chinese medical doctors, threatening to withdraw services nationwide especially on ChineseVirus-19 also known as Coronavirus or Covid-19, reports NaijaAgroNet.

NMA president, Dr. Francis A. Faduyile, gave this indication weekend, saying they fail to see how the 18-man team from Chinese would impact the current efforts in any significant way, and threatened to withdraw services if FG insisted on the 18-man Chinese invitation.

He described with great dismay and utter disappointment, the invitation to Chinese doctors and is embarrassment to member of medical practitioners who are giving their best in the fight against Chinese Virus-19 also known as Coronavirus (COVID-19).

They noted that lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), saying its grossly inadequate test kits and test centres across the country as well as absolute lack of any form of insurance for the workforce are primordial issues begging for attention at this time.

NMA maintained in its rejection of the invitation to the Chinese doctors, urging the Federal Government to review and approve better welfare incentives to the frontline medical personnel instead.

The provision of adequate personal protective equipment, opening and properly equipping more isolation centres and health facilities across the country is an excellent first step. Deploying more resources to facilitate testing as Nigerians are beginning to witness community transmission of COVID-19 is equally a better application of scarce resources.

The Government should declare a state of emergency in the health sector and use the opportunity to fix our health institutions as a matter of urgency 'in a bid to stem the rot.’

“It is a great disservice to the morale of the long-suffering frontline health workforce if the Government goes ahead to invite these Chinese doctors. The invitation demeans their sacrifices so far in this pandemic. We fail to see how the 18-man team would impact the current efforts in any significant way.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Dangote vs BUA: Atta family derides Mines Ministry over false claims

NaijaAgroNet:

… Drags Fayemi, Dangote to court over contempt

The last may not have been heard over the mess created by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development as the ruling Atta Omadivi Family of Okene in Kogi State has described the recent ministry’s publication bequeathing the contentious Mining Lease ML 2541 to Dangote Group as desperate move, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The family, NaijaAgroNet gathered, also said that it depicts a ‘reflection of desperate, reckless, irresponsible and partisan conduct of the ministry’ which has continued to flout all court injunctions related to the contentious lease.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the Executive Chairman/CEO of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu had petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari on December 4, 2017 in a letter titled “A Cry for Help: Wanton Abuse of Power by a Serving Minister Geared at Sabotaging Operations of BUA Cement,” affirming that the Ministry was taking sides with Dangote Group to claim ownership of the mining site ML2541 in Okpella, Edo State. The Ministry had replied in a statement signed by its Permanent Secretary, Mohammed Abass stating that Mining Lease ML 2541 in Okene, Kogi State belongs to Dangote Industries Limited and that BUA has been illegally mining the site.

But in a press statement signed by Prince Mahmoud Atta on behalf of the Atta Family expressed disdain over the Ministry’s hasten conclusion in their publication stating that suit FHC/LK/CS/25/2017 between Alhaji Mohammed Otaru Adeika & Ors. Versus AICO Ado Ibrahim and Company Limited, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, The Mining Cadestre Office and Dangote Industries Plc pending in Federal High Court in Lokoja will determine who owns the contentious site.

Prince Atta wonders why the Ministry has special interest in Dangote to openly and illegally bequeath them ML2541 under contention in competent Court, describing the act as tantamount to contempt of the court.

Stressing that the court had ordered that no one can claim ownership of ML2541, Atta said neither Aico nor Dangote owns ML2541 as wrongly declared by the Ministry adding that the Mining Lease remains nontransferable until the suit is determined.

According to Atta, “The frequency of the publication is reflective of desperate, reckless, irresponsible and partisan conduct of the Ministry in clear violation, disregard and suppression of a subsisting court order dated June 15, 2017 in respect to the transfer, operations and ownership of the purported Mining Lease ML 2541.

“We hereby inform the general public that the existence, validity and ownership of ML2541 is a subject matter in suit No. FHC/LK/CS/25/2017 between Alhaji Mohammed Otaru Adeika & Ors. V. AICO Ado Ibrahim and Company Limited, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, The Mining Cadestre Office and Dangote Industries as defendants before Honourable Justice M. Sani of the Federal High Court, Lokoja Kogi State.

“We wish to state that the Honourable Minister of Mines and Steel Development the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry and Dangote Industries Plc are acting in violation of a subsisting order of injunction of the Federal High Court Lokoja, Kogi State restraining them by themselves servants agents assignees transferees or other third parties from parading themselves as the holders of ML2541 pending the determination of the substantive suit.

“For the purpose of clarity, we wish to restate again that the court was explicit in its order that no one can parade themselves as the holders of ML2541 pending the determination of the suit. As such, neither AICO nor Dangote can’t lay claim to the ownership of ML2541 as the ministry said in its offending publication. Neither is the Mining Lease transferable until the determination of the suit brought against them by our family.

“It is unfortunate this action and conduct is being perpetrated in a democratic dispensation that touts the rule of law. We have continued to insist that the purported transfer of ML2541 to Dangote Industries by Messrs AICO Ibrahim is in clear contravention of Nigerian Mining Act 2007 which the Ministry claims to be upholding in its publication.

“The publications by the Ministry seek to overreach the matter before the court and consequently we have instructed our solicitors to protect not only our interests but the sanctity of the court and the judicial process, which include bit not limited to commencing contempt proceedings against the parties in violation of the orders of the court” he said.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Over 14m adults malnourished, on the rise

NaijaAgroNet:

Over 14.3 million women and men in the countries of Europe and Central Asia region are still malnourished according to the Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO) latest study, reports NaijaAgroNet.

FAO said, the State of Food Security and Nutrition in Europeand Central Asia 2017, analyzes a range of food security and nutrition indicators to assess the countries’ progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) by 2030. It appraises dietary energy supply, nutrition indicators such as stunting and wasting, anaemia, overweight and obesity, as well changing diets and their impact on different population groups.

After tremendous progress in recent years, the situation in the region now appears to be stagnant. The prevalence of undernourishment remained almost unchanged in the Caucasus and Central Asia according to the report which was presented at a Regional Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets.

“Poverty remains the single, most important obstacle to food security,” said Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia. “But there is a clear path forward. The Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, provide a powerful framework for tackling the challenges faced by the countries of Europe and Central Asia.”

To better appraise the drivers and features of food insecurity in the region, FAO’s report includes the new Food InsecurityExperience Scale (FIES), which serves to complement the analysis of progress against Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) indicators on food security and nutrition. Providing more timely and comprehensive analysis, the new methodology shows that 14.3 million adults in the region suffered from severe food insecurity during the period 2014-16.

Yet, to fully assess the situation the nutrition data collected by the World Health Organization (WHO) is key, the report noted. Malnutrition in one or more of its three main forms – undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies – is present to varying degrees in all countries of the region, the report states.

“Often all three coexist, in what is called the ’triple burden’ of malnutrition,” said FAO senior policy officer Ariella Glinni, principal author of the report. “It is not unusual for countries to experience high rates of both child undernutrition and obesity. Micronutrient deficiencies and overnutrition in children, women and men have become two major food security and nutrition concerns across the region.”

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Court rejects Nestle’s trademark claims over Kit Kat bar

NaijaAgroNet:

A London court penultimate Wednesday, May 17, 2017 has rejected an attempt by Nestle to trademark the distinctive four-fingered shape of the KitKat chocolate bar in Britain, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to The Washington Times, the four finger KitKat bar, which is characteristic of Nestle’s Kit Kat bar not a trademarkable feature, the Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday, in what the BBC described as “the latest twist in a decade-long UK chocolate wars saga between Nestle and Cadbury.”

NaijaAgroNet recalls that issue at stake has been the sale in the U.K. of the Norweigan candy bar, Kvikk Lunsj, which also has a four-finger shape, although its packaging is distinctive and not readily confused with that of the Kit Kat bar.

The UK court affirmed the evidentiary findings of a lower court, which had rejected Nestle’s claim for trademark protection.

“As the Hearing Officer said here, trade marks are intended to permit consumers to make informed choices between the competing goods of different undertakings in the course of trade,” Lord Justice David Kitchin wrote for the court. “The shape of the KIT KAT bar has not been used to promote or market KIT KATs in recent times. It has nothing, therefore, to do with the informed choices that consumers make between similar products.”

For its part, Nestle suggests the ruling is out of step with legal protections in other country where Kit Kat is sold.

“Nestlé’s four-finger shape has been granted trademark registration in many countries of the world, for instance,” The Washington Times reported.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Over 1.2bn Africans lack access to basic sanitation

NaijaAgroNet:

Over 1.2 billion Africans are surviving without basic sanitation and 395 million people are without clean water, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This is coming as over 130 million Nigerians have been identified as not having access to adequate sanitation out of the total in Africa.

WaterAid made this disclosure as part of the commemoration of the 2017 World Earth Day which theme centred on “Environmental and Climate Literacy” saying the collaborative monitoring platform set up by WaterAid, showed that 57 million people in Nigeria don't have access to safe water.

Also, WaterAid revealed that the over 130 million people living without access to adequate sanitation accounts for the two third of the population and around 45,000 children under five years old die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that with Africa’s population projected to be 2.2 billion by 2030, only 32 per cent of Sub-Saharan Africans will have access to sanitation by 2030.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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House summons agric minister, Ogbeh over GMO food import

NaijaAgroNet:

The lower chambers of the National Assembly, the House of Representatives have summoned the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, over concerns allegedly arising from the importation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) foods into Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), GMOs are organisms including plants, animals or microorganisms in which the genetic material (DNA) have been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and or natural recombination.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that recently over 100 groups representing some 5 million Nigerians, comprising of farmers, faith-based organisations, civil society groups, students and local community groups, passionately opposed Monsanto’s attempts to introduce genetically modified (GM) cotton and maize into Nigeria’s food and farming systems.

In written objections submitted to the biosafety regulators, the groups cited numerous serious health and environmental concerns and the failure of these crops especially GM cotton in Africa, alleging that the former President, Goodluck Jonathan hurriedly signed the bill on National Biosafety Management into law at the exit point.

They rejected the plans for the regulator to licence Monsanto Agricultural Nigeria Limited which applied to the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA) for the environmental release and placing in the market in Zaria and surrounding towns of GM cotton (Bt cotton, event MON 15985). A further application they said was made for the confined field trial (CFT) of two GM maize varieties (NK603 and stacked event MON 89034 x NK603) in multiple locations in Nigeria.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that NBMA, the regulatory body for biotechnology in Nigeria, had since May 1, a public holiday in Nigeria, issued two permits signed by the DG, NBMA, Mr. Rufus Ebegba, to Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited for the commercial release and market placement of these GMO cotton and the confined field trial of GMO maize.

However, the summon monitored on Channels TV, followed a motion raised by a member of the House of Representatives from Imo State, Hon. Austin Ikechukwu, on Thursday at the National Assembly in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which was promptly carried.

Also, the House in agreeing to the summon, asked the Minister to appear before them over the issuance of permits to a company, Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited, to introduce some of the foods into the Nigerian market.

The House Committees on Healthcare Services and Agriculture Products have been mandated to also meet with the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on the impact of GMO.

The committees are to get a list of food supplements and genetically modified foods that have been granted NAFDAC registration numbers and have 12 weeks to report back to the House.

Isaac Oyimah/Channels TV/GEE.

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Pix Audu Ogbeh.