Beyond awareness: How community science can defeat Buruli Ulcer by Remmy Nweke - WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet

Awareness alone cannot defeat Buruli ulcer. Across riverine communities where this neglected tropical disease continues to inflict preventable disabilities, sustainable victory depends on translating scientific knowledge into community action. In this concluding part of the Ulee-Okpa trilogy, REMMY NWEKE examines how community science, environmental stewardship and evidence-based public health can transform the fight against Buruli ulcer.

Awareness is only the first step:
For years, health professionals have emphasised the importance of educating communities about Buruli ulcer, locally known in some parts of southeastern Nigeria as Ulee-Okpa. Posters have been printed, radio programmes aired, and awareness campaigns organised to encourage people to seek treatment early.

When myths delay treatment: Tackling misinformation to protect communities against Buruli Ulcer by Remmy Nweke - WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet

Deep within the rural, riverine, and agrarian communities that form the agricultural backbone of West Africa, an unseen, flesh-eating predator moves without a sound. 

It begins innocently; a painless, movable nodule beneath the skin, a small plaque, or a localized swelling that is easily mistaken for a common insect bite, an ordinary boil, or a minor farm injury. Weeks later, without warning, it erupts into an open, necrotizing lesion with jagged, deeply undermined borders that aggressively eats through subcutaneous fat, deep tissue, and eventually, bone.

Beyond GH¢2.00 band-aid: Why Ghana must reimagine school feeding via Central Kitchens, PPPs by Chef Elijah Addo - NaijaAgroNet

The Government of Ghana deserves commendation for increasing the Ghana School Feeding Programme feeding grant from GH¢1.50 to GH¢2.00 per child per day. At a time when food inflation has eroded purchasing power and placed enormous pressure on caterers, this increase, alongside the removal of the tax component, signals the government’s continued commitment to protecting one of Ghana’s most important social protection programmes.

It is a positive decision.

Yet, if we are honest with ourselves, GH¢2.00 remains only a scratch on the surface of what is required to deliver nutritious, safe, and quality meals to over four million Ghanaian school children every school day . The challenge facing Ghana’s school feeding programme is no longer simply about increasing the feeding grant. It is about transforming the entire delivery model.

Experts push early detection, integrated lifestyle to reverse Nigeria’s bitter cancer harvest - NaijaAgroNet

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Despite years of intense awareness campaigns, Nigeria’s cancer burden remains a devastating public health crisis. Late detection continues to drive a high mortality rate across the nation, especially within rural and semi-urban communities where healthcare access is heavily restricted, reports NaijaAgroNet.

At a high-level advocacy event held in Lagos, medical experts and reproductive health advocates made a passionate plea to women across the country to prioritize routine clinical screenings and reject the cultural hesitations that delay medical intervention until the disease advances to irreversible stages 3 and 4.

Data Void: Institutional silencing and FOI audit of rural development pipelines by Remmy Nweke — WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet

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Investigations by REMMY NWEKE - WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet, uncovered how bureaucratic opacity and institutional silencing in rural development funding block progress, utilizing Freedom of Information audits to track stalled infrastructure pipelines that leave agrarian frontiers marooned without essential services.

When a crisis like the Mycobacterium ulcerans (Elu-Ulee) outbreak ravages an agrarian frontier like Awba-Ofemili, public outrage naturally targets immediate, visible failures: the absence of medical supplies or the lack of telecommunications towers. Yet, beneath these surface-level infrastructure deficits lies a deeper, more insidious administrative pathology.

Adult nutrition and development in Nigeria: Strategic overview for agricultural sector by Iruoma Ofortube - Commentary@NaijaAgroNet

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Adult nutrition, defined as the intake and utilization of nutrients necessary for health, disease prevention, and sustained productivity, is a cornerstone of Nigeria’s development agenda. 

A nutritionally balanced adult diet must provide adequate carbohydrates for energy, proteins for tissue repair, healthy fats for hormone production, essential vitamins and minerals, hydration, and dietary fiber for digestive health. 

Silent gridlock: How telecom infrastructure deficits fuel rural health crises by Remmy Nweke — WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet

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REMMY NWEKE’s WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet investigation exposes how telecom infrastructure deficits in rural areas like Awba-Ofemili are a public health vector, fueling crises by causing epidemiological surveillance blind spots and impossible telemedicine access.

When the devastating outbreak of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the flesh-eating bacterium behind Buruli Ulcer, otherwise known as Elu-Ulee or Ulee-Okpa; swept quietly through the agrarian frontiers of Awba-Ofemili, the primary weapon needed to arrest its spread was not an advanced antibiotic. It was an elementary data stream.

Marno de Jong to be succeeded by Aiboni succeeds as EVP@Shell - NaijaAgroNet

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Shell has announced a historic leadership transition, naming Elohor Aiboni as the new Executive Vice President and Country Chair for Nigeria, effective August 1, 2026. Aiboni, who currently serves as Asset Director at Brunei Shell Petroleum, makes history as the first Nigerian to occupy this combined leadership position, marking a significant milestone for local content and indigenous leadership in the multinational energy sector, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Aiboni succeeds Marno de Jong, who is stepping down after a distinguished 34-year tenure with Shell, including over six years of leadership in Nigeria. Since his appointment as Senior Vice President in 2020, de Jong has been a pivotal figure in advancing Nigeria’s energy infrastructure.

Food Security Boost: $600m AFC-Dangote fertilizer Deal Set to Transform Agricultural Productivity in Africa - NaijaAgroNet

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…Dangote Targets $4bn Forex Inflow Through Urea Export Expansion

Poised at reshaping the agricultural landscape across Africa, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has finalized a $600 million loan agreement with the Dangote Group to aggressively expand fertilizer production capacity, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This strategic investment is set to bolster regional food security, increase agricultural productivity, and drastically reduce the continent’s reliance on costly fertilizer imports.

Green transition: IHS Towers cuts emissions by 21.4%, backs Abuja clean air project - NaijaAgroNet

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Infrastructure giant, IHS Holding Limited (IHS Towers) has officially released its 2025 Sustainability Report, demonstrating a massive acceleration in its environmental, social, and climate-change initiatives, with Nigeria serving as the anchor for its primary ecological and community milestones, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Tracking its global corporate footprint from January 1 through December 31, 2025, the telecom infrastructure developer recorded a 21.4% reduction in its Scope 1 and Scope 2 kilowatt-hour emissions intensity compared against its 2021 baseline data, signaling a major victory for regional decarbonization.

Fairaction Nigeria debuts advisory board to scale climate-resilient ‘Smart Water’ for rural communities - NaijaAgroNet

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Fairaction Nigeria has officially inaugurated its National Advisory Board, to bolster rural livelihoods and tackle water scarcity in Nigeria’s agricultural heartlands, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The ceremony, held on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Bodija, Ibadan, signals a strategic pivot from localized interventions to a national rollout of Sustainable Smart Water Infrastructure (SWI)—a move set to revolutionize water access for smallholder farmers and rural agribusinesses.

Price Look-Up: The secret in your fruit basket by Remmy Nweke - WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet

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Are you really eating organic or conventional? The tiny PLU stickers on your fruit hold a health secret, reports REMMY NWEKE in this WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet. So, learn to decode the data on your dinner plate before your next bite.

Picking your apple and oval sticker:
It is a typical Saturday morning in Lagos. You are navigating the organized chaos of a supermarket in Ikeja or perhaps picking through the colorful displays of a roadside fruit vendor in Surulere. You reach for a crisp, shiny green apple; the kind that looks like it stepped out of a glossy magazine. As you bag it, your thumb brushes against a tiny, stubborn oval sticker.

For most of us, that sticker is nothing more than a minor annoyance to be flicked into the bin before we take that first juicy bite. But what if I told you that this tiny piece of plastic is actually a digital passport? What if those four or five digits, the Price Look-Up (PLU) codes; are the only thing standing between you and a mouthful of synthetic pesticides?

Spirulina-enhanced School meals drive 20% enrollment surge in Amanhyia - NaijaAgroNet

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The battle against hidden hunger in West Africa took a high-tech, nutritional turn this week as Food for All Africa commemorated International School Meals Day and the 11th African Day of School Feeding, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The community event in Amanhyia brought together over 900 stakeholders, including students from three Eastern region beneficiary schools, parents, and teachers; to witness the transformative power of "nutritionally fortified" education.

Closing the Policy-to-Plate Gap: Why the Missing Ingredient is PR in Nigeria by Remmy Nweke | MidWeekSalvo@NaijaAgroNet

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For decades, Nigeria’s battle against food insecurity has been fought with billions in subsidies and volumes of high-level white papers. Yet, there remains a stubborn "transmission gap" between the government’s strategic intent and the actual contents of the public plate. 

As the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) gears up for the Nigeria Public Relations Week (NPRW) Croc City 2026 in Kaduna, a new consensus is emerging: the missing ingredient in Nigeria’s food security equation is not just more seeds, it is Strategic Public Relations.

Nigeria: McEnies promotes climate-health resilience through WISER project - NaijaAgroNet

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McEnies Global Communications is supporting efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s climate resilience through the Weather and Climate Information Services for Resilience (WISER) Health Project, an initiative aimed at improving how weather and climate data are used to address climate-sensitive health risks.

The project, led by the UK Met Office in collaboration with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Rockefeller Foundation, seeks to enhance the accessibility and use of climate information across Nigeria’s health and emergency response sectors.

NiMet leads multi-agency push for climate-smart health and food systems - NaijaAgroNet

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The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has rallied key stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, to co-develop a National Early Warning System for Health, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The initiative, launched at the National Early Warning Services for Health (WISER) workshop currently underway at the WMO Regional Training Center in Oshodi, Lagos, aims to operationalize Nigeria’s third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0).

Climate’s crucible, labour’s burden: Navigating Nigeria’s dual crises by Remmy Nweke — WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet

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As Nigeria’s climate turns hostile, the nation’s workforce faces an existential threat. From parched farms to flooded markets, Remmy Nweke explores the urgent need for a climate-resilient labour revolution.

Nigeria stands at a pivotal, yet perilous, crossroads. As the global thermostat rises, the nation is grappling with a convergence of existential threats: a rampant climate crisis and the systematic erosion of its labour force.

Beyond abstract environmental debate, the climate-labour nexus is reshaping the very dignity of work. For a nation where the soil provides for over 70% of the populace, this intersection is a daily battle for survival, transforming once-fertile fields into the frontline of a national emergency.

Nigeria takes global center stage as Agric Minister, Kyari, leads IFAD Governing Council - NaijaAgroNet

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Nigeria has secured a prominent seat at the helm of global agricultural governance as the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, emerged as the Chairperson of the 49th Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This historic appointment, occurring during the Council's session on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, marks the first time in six years that Nigeria has led the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations’ specialized agency.

Borrowing for Asphalt, Begging for Bread: The $21 Billion Paradox by Remmy Nweke - WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet

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WeekendSalvo@NaijaAgroNet | By Remmy Nweke With $21bn in new loans, why is Nigeria still begging for $516m to save 1m starving children? We analyze the "Asphalt vs. Bread" paradox and the politics of malnutrition debt.

Introduction:

While the Federal Government and humanitarian partners are currently knocking on the doors of the international community for a $516 million "urgent appeal" to save 1 million children from malnutrition, the national ledger tells a different story. In the same fiscal cycle, the Nigerian Senate has approved a massive $21.19 billion external borrowing plan for 2025–2026.

The contrast is jarring. On one hand, the government is pleading for donor "mercy" to fund the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP). On the other, it is aggressively securing loans that dwarf the malnutrition appeal by nearly 40 times. 

Silent Hunger: Malnutrition threatens 1m children in North-East as Nigeria seeks $516M aid - NaijaAgroNet

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A looming catastrophe of child malnutrition threatens Nigeria's North-East, with a staggering 1 million children in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) states projected to be at risk in 2026, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This dire forecast comes as the Nigerian government, alongside humanitarian partners, launches an urgent appeal for $516 million to provide critical support to 2.5 million people in the conflict-affected region.

Nigeria witnesses bumper plantain harvest as prices dip, farmers eye processing boom - NaijaAgroNet

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A surge in plantain harvests across Southern Nigeria is reshaping local food markets, as farmers, traders and processors respond to what many describe as the most abundant plantain season in recent years, reports NaijaAgroNet.

From Ondo to Delta, Cross River and parts of the South-East, bunches of ripe and semi-ripe plantain have flooded rural and urban markets, causing a mild price drop at the retail end while opening new prospects for agro-processing.