Low sperm count, goat meats to rescue

NaijaAgroNet: 

A Nigerian professor of Applied Zoology, Stephen Oluwagbemiga, has revealed that low sperm count could be boosted by consumption of goat meats, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at the annual lecture of the National Association of Zoology Students (NAZS), University of Ilorin in Kwara State, last Friday, Prof. Oluwagbemiga said that people with low sperm count should consume more goat meats and foods that contain different nutrients to boost their fertility.

Oluwagbemiga who is a lecturer at the Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, and dwelt on “Relevance of Zoology in Contemporary Nigeria” at the lecture, also warned Nigerians against feeding too much on junk foods, pointing out that the advice on low sperm count booster, became necessary because of the increase in the number of infertility in the country and people with deficiency in calcium.

He stressed that insufficient calcium in the body could adversely affect how peoples’ hearts and other parts of the body function, highlighting the need for people to increase their calcium in-take by eating crayfish, snails and biscuit bones.

Oluwagbemiga further said zoologists had been proffering solutions to some of the nation’s health challenges, including guinea worm infection, sleeping sickness and mosquito bites.

Equally speaking, the Kwara State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Alhaji Mahmud Ajeigbe, commended the students for organising the lecture and urged them to face their studies, and reading widely.

Isaac Oyimah with additional report from TheEagleOnline/GEE

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Good bye to oil subsidy regime, but …

Feature@NaijaAgroNet:

With the hike in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as fuel in this part of the world, Nigerians may be saying good bye to oil subsidy regime, but the next path is beclouded, writes REMMY NWEKE.

From the gallery:

Historically in 1978 fuel pump price was 15kobo per litre and increased to 60k in 1990. Two years later in 1992, it added 10k to become 70k and barely a year it subsequently jumped to N3.25k per litre and later same year added N6.75k to become N11 per litre which remained for a while.

Since Nigeria was then under military it was mass anticipation that once there is democracy, it could scale down, but alas, it became the first casualty in the list of democracy dividend as in year 2000 pump price moved up to N20 and before December 2000 added N2k to become N22 per litre.

Also in 2001, the federal government under President Olusegun Obasanjo increased pump price to N26 and three years later in 2004 scaled it up to N40 with the rhetoric political promise that the subsidy removed hitherto would be ploughed into bettering the lots of Nigerians. Incidentally the supposed pump prices have never been used to sale fuel in the south east and some parts of Nigerian cities, except Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

Prediction come true:

Major fears among Nigerians on this subject is that the cost of pump price may go up to about N150 per litre, but as proponents of removal like former governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, now Emir Mohammed Sanusi II and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the erstwhile Finance Minister; it would curb corruption in the oil sector, especially within Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and enable economic planning for all as Nigeria today does not fix oil prices.

“For instance, the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) as storehouse for all subsidy funds by then Head of State, General Sani Abachi was to enable government intervene promptly. Therefore to nail vices in oil sector, President Muhammadu Buhari must exhibit the political will to remove oil subsidy as the best gift APC-led government can give Nigerians at this time.”

The above was an extract of a piece conducted towards the end of 2015 and almost five months later and equally one year after the assumption of office by President Buhari, it came to pass that his administration through the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu penultimate Wednesday, May 11, 2016, adjusted the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol from N86.50 to N145, with immediate effect.

Oil sector analysts, told NaijaAgroNet that with this development, marketers are now free to bring in cargoes and sell, subject to meeting standard quality control, stressing that a benchmark of N145 per litre, is a recommended pump price, at which any trader, irrespective of the source of foreign exchange used to import cargo is guaranteed adequate profit.

Fuel Price debate according to Osinbajo:

But barely 24 hours after, the chairman of the Economic Committee and Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, conversely debunked the news making a round that the FG has removed oil subsidy from the Nigerian oil and gas system. According to Osinbajo, what the government did was to withdraw the monopoly hitherto enjoyed by NNPC to allow free market sales, insisting that “at $40 a barrel, there isn’t much of a subsidy to remove.”

A presidential press statement entitled “The Fuel Pricing Debate: Our story” and personally endorsed by the Vice President, said the decision to adopt a new measure was essentially informed by the non-availability of foreign exchange for the independent marketers to import fuel.

Part of which read: “Fellow citizens, I have read the various observations about the fuel pricing regime and the attendant issues generated. All certainly have strong points. The most important issue of course is how to shield the poor from the worst effects of the policy.  I will hopefully address that in another note.

“Permit me an explanation of the policy. First, the real issue is not a removal of subsidy. At $40 a barrel there isn’t much of a subsidy to remove. In any event, the President is probably one of the most convinced pro-subsidy advocates. What happened is as follows: our local consumption of fuel is almost entirely imported. The NNPC exchanges crude from its joint venture share to provide about 50 per cent of local fuel consumption. The remaining 50 per cent is imported by major and independent marketers.

Nigeria needs $225m to import fuel:

“These marketers up until three months ago sourced their foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the official rate. However, since late last year, independent marketers have brought in little or no fuel because they have been unable to get foreign exchange from the CBN. The CBN simply did not have enough. (In April, oil earnings dipped to $550 million. The amount required for fuel importation alone is about $225million!).

“Meanwhile, NNPC tried to cover the 50 per cent shortfall by dedicating more export crude for domestic consumption. Besides the short term depletion of the Federation Account, which is where the FG and States are paid from, and further cash-call debts pilling up, NNPC also lacked the capacity to distribute 100 per cent of local consumption around the country. Previously, they were responsible for only about 50 per cent, which was partly the reason for the lingering scarcity according to experts. 

Labour rejects hike in pump price, says N145 is cruel, insensitive:

However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) soon after, described the hike in petrol pump price by the Federal Government from N86.50 to N145 as cruel, insisting they will resist the Wednesday proclamation, and summoned emergency NEC meeting for Friday, May 13.

In reaction, the General-Secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, described the hike as “unilateral increase in prices of petroleum products Wednesday by government represents the height of insensitivity and impunity that must be resisted,” asserting Labour would resist the hike alongside all the well-meaning civil society groups, decrying the imposition on the citizenry of criminal and unjustifiable electricity tariff and resultant darkness and other economic challenges brought on by the devaluation of the Naira and spiraling inflation, “the least one had expected at this point in time was another policy measure that would further make life more miserable for the ordinary Nigerian.”

As said by NLC, the latest increase is the most audacious and cruel in the history of product price increase as It represents not only about 80 per cent increase but it is tied to the black market exchange rate. Maintaining that the process through which government arrived at this is both illogical and illegal as the board of the PPPRA is not duly constituted.

“In our previous statements and communiques, we had stressed the need for reconstituting the boards of NNPC and PPPRA and prevent both away from the overbearing influence of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources who has assumed the role of a sole administrator,” the Labour posited.

NLC strike imminent:

NLC further said, the allusion to the fact that this increase was arrived at after due consultation with stakeholders is not only ridiculous and fallacious, because it goes to show that the brief meeting held penultimate Wednesday, during which government was advised to shelve the idea until at least it meets with the appropriate organs of the Congress was in bad faith.

Accordingly, NLC said, they urged the government to revert the prices to what they were. “We would want to put everybody on notice that we shall resist this criminal increase with every means legitimate.” Just as an emergency NEC meeting was promptly scheduled for Friday, May 13, 2016 to decide on the next line of action. Meanwhile, NLC affiliates, state councils and civil society allies are requested to commence mobilization immediately.

The following day, being Thursday, May 12, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) issued a four-working day ultimatum to the Federal Government to reverse itself or face industry action nationwide at the expiration of the ultimatum on Tuesday midnight; undoubtedly putting Nigerians into panic buying and stockpiling of food stuffs and daily needs.

NLC and its affiliates in a letter addressed to all the state presidents, secretaries of labour unions, directed members to sensitise all their colleagues towards embarking on indefinite strike cum mass protest action slated to commence on Wednesday 18, May 2016 across the country till further notice.

Therefore, NLC, advised member unions including the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, to liaise with the leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress in their states for further arrangements concerning the protest and give this directive a widest publicity it deserves.

FG ‘Nicodemusly’ turning against Nigerians:

Reacting to the imminent strike by NLC, a social crusader and human rights activist, Emeka Ononamadu, said the Federal Government is coming through the back door like Biblical Nicodemus; to impoverish Nigerians, in what he described as “… Nicodemusly turning against the people.’ His position was however, premised on the electioneering campaigns of the president, Muhammadu Buhari during 2015 elections.

He posited that the people, who posed as supporters of fuel price increase in 2012, did not deny that it will have a genocidal effect on poor Nigerians. Alleging this government and their cohorts, may have instigated the recent fuel scarcity as an alibi to force the price up and the standard of living lower. This attitude that whatever this government does is correct should be jettisoned by the accomplices parading themselves as human right advocates or civil society jobbers.

Ononamadu insisted that people who are on well-paid jobs to protect defenseless citizens “should not ‘nicodemously’ turn back to haunt those they are supposed to protect,” stressing that he looks forward to actions and measures NLC would pilot to tell this government that power is still with the people.

This, he alleged, is the same government that is harbouring thieving former PDP members who looted this country and thier respective states. Just as he hope those who support this fuel price increase will not in the future deny thier positions like many who voted in this regime have all denied ever supporting President Buhar, when there were other alternatives after APC and PDP. Some CSOs, have forgotten also work for any government in power, but was consoled that time will tell.

On way forward:

Ononamadu’s submission proffered some solutions including “if 5 licenses are given to people to set up modular refineries in each zone of the country, fuel will become available at less than N50 by the current exchange rate of about N300 per Dollar. Stressing that again, government, like this regime initially promised to make direct purchases without middlemen or women at zero profit. Thus, he advised Nigeria to use letters of credit from reputable financial firms without worrying about immediate sourcing of dollars, until modular refineries become operational.

Government, he said, could even use the crude swap measures with high level transparency and monitoring to overcome the problems associated with it, arguing there are too many options available but the government must decide on the best path to protect citizens than a furnace of adversity in the name of undefined deregulation.

Industry observers also find it disturbing that FG invariably may not have a clue to what its policy on oil and gas at this time is or should be, thereby giving rise to lots of condemnation of the supposed removal of subsidy or partial deregulation, given that nowadays, fixing price for product which is not in her pool, let alone availability is inimical.

At the time of this report, Nigerians are largely confused and even every individual becoming ‘pocket economists’ while asking why it took NLC this long after over two months of fuel scarcity without any pronouncement, but all of sudden find its footing because it felt shortchanged in the scheme as its rank has been divided with a faction emerging.

Also, industry analysts are asking some salient questions including “Why must we be in more danger than the period the country’s leadership was seen as very corrupt? Why is the pump price increase not called deregulation, end of subsidy, if it ever existed, or any name? They attributed these to the era of free oil money which may have beclouded the knowledge of all Nigerian leaders in recent past from ideas that could make Nigeria great.

Like earlier enunciated, to nail vices in oil sector, President Buhari must demonstrate the political will to remove oil subsidy holistically as the best gift APC-led government can give Nigerians at this time and allow the market forces to determine the path to stability of petroleum products in this country, as was done in telecommunications sector and also pave the way to stablising the economy rather than the confusion therein.

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Feud over dog meat festival

NaijaAgroNet:

For the city of Yulin in China reputed for its dog meat festival, some dogs are stolen from their owners and beaten or bled to death, reports NaijaAgroNet.

It was also gathered that these dogs are hung upside down from hooks, a slit cut from their anus and skin ripped off their bodies, and sold to be eaten. 
NaijaAgroNet reports that the suffering must be unbearable following a new research which shows that in terms of emotion, dogs' brains are much like ours, something dog owners and lovers understand well.

A petition to the Chinese government by Rewan Al-Haddad made available to NaijaAgroNet at Avaaz, the petitioners said that when “we see dogs for what they are living beings with thoughts and feelings the torture they endure at this ‘festival' becomes inexcusable.”

Already thousands of Chinese citizens have spoken out against the festival, but authorities won’t act until they see how badly it’s hurting China’s global image, which they’ve been working hard to improve.

“That’s where we come in. Let’s show the Chinese government that the world cares about this puppy slaughter and wants them to stop it immediately!” part of the petition read.

According to Avaaz, “When our numbers are great enough, we will take out ads, work with influential celebrities, run the first independent national poll on dog-eating in China, and put this issue on front pages everywhere until Chinese authorities act.”

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e-Waste in mind @ Earth Day 2016

The 2016 World Earth Day has come and gone, REMMY NWEKE examines concerns for electronic waste as Nigeria's use of electronics, including mobile devices keep rising. 

What is World Earth Day:
The month of April has become known with the popular April-Fool phenomena, but the fourth-month of year holds a lot more for humanity than a global prank season, especially as the world holds the Earth Day every 22^nd of this month with the theme “Trees for the Earth.”

This year’s commemoration of the World Earth Day, 2016 marks the 46th year of a movement that continues to inspire, challenge ideas, ignite passion, and motivate people to action. Recalling that in 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, the movement gave voice to an emerging consciousness, channeling human energy toward environmental issues.

Forty-six years later, the campaign has continued with groundbreaking ideas and by the power of examples by concerned citizens of the world.  For some of the advocates, Earth Day goes beyond just a single day known as April 22, 2016, hence, it’s bigger than attending a rally.

Although in the year 2009, the United Nations instituted the International Mother Earth Day via the General Assembly under Resolution A/RES/63/278. The Resolution was introduced by The Plurinational State of Bolivia and endorsed by over 50 member states, recognizing that "the Earth and its ecosystems are our home" and that "it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and the Earth."

The term Mother Earth, NaijaAgroNet gathered, is used because it "reflects the interdependence that exists among human beings, other living species and the planet we all inhabit" hence April 22 was designated as International Mother Earth Day.

In Nigeria … e-waste reaches 75% of ‘Tokunbo’ electronics:
As the world marks the 2016 Earth Day, NaijaAgroNet reports exclusively that 75 per cent of used electronics devices also known in local parlance as ‘second hand’ or ‘Tokunbo’ electronics imported into Nigeria are unserviceable thus unusable, therefore constitute electronic waste ever before sailing into the country.

The assistant Secretary-General of the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN), Mr. John Oboro affirmed that 75 per cent of these Tokunbo items are not usually functional and cannot even be fixed. Declaring, “I will tell you that we have greater percentage of those (second hand electronics) that cannot be used, than can be used. Honestly speaking, I can tell you that about 75 per cent of these items are not usable.”

Equally speaking, the Director, Basel Convention, Regional Centre, Prof. Oladele Osibanjo decried that the burning of used electronic devices generally are very hazardous, and those working on this could be prone to cancer, especially in Nigeria.

This, he said, is because those set of workers could take-in components that are dangerous, so it cannot be distanced from the incidence of high cancer rates which is on the rise now in Nigeria. Maintaining that most of these electronic items are not usable and warned on the impact of continuous exportation of unusable electronics to developing countries, which he said negates the global village theory of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Where’s the global village in e-waste?
“We claim one global village, its important to ensure that countries from where these used electronics are being shipped from are cleaned up and the same goes to those importing nations, to ensure that eventually all sides are safe at the end of the day,” Prof. Osibanjo counseled.

However, NaijaAgroNet reports that exporters of these electronics argued that Tokunbo devices extends the life span of these electronics when refurbished and help in bridging the digital divide in the developing economies.

But another school of thought confirmed to NaijaAgroNet that large number of computers and electronics devices imported into Nigeria via Lagos, every month, are largely non-functional and non-repairable, hence these end up being stacked in private warehouses across the country, especially in the South-Western Nigeria.

Equally, NaijaAgroNet reports that very often these items are dumped in the residential areas at uncompleted buildings and invariably burnt, thereby releasing highly content pollutant into the atmosphere, air and water.

NaijaAgroNet further reports that over one billion people in 192 countries took part in actions to protect shared environment; all across the globe, in big cities to small villages and everything in-between, people are organizing, demanding climate action, cleaning up their local communities, meeting with their elected officials, planting trees, and teaching their children to protect their planet.

2016 World Earth Day in Nigeria:
In Nigeria, the African Environmental Action Network (AEAN) in collaboration with Hubert H Humphrey Alumni partnered with the Federal Ministry of Environment and support of the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy in hosting an event tagged "Rebranding Personalised Legacy Tree Planting and Nurturing for Sustainable Empowerment, Climate Safety and National Development" in addition to a subtheme on "Every Nigerian a Tree Every Year."

According to the coordinator, AEAN, Dr. Victor Fodeke, tree planting and nurturing will become a natural lifestyle when "we grow money on trees" and celebrate events with legacy tree planting and nurturing lifestyle. He expressed hope that the work to adopt and brand support for muti-purpose tree nurseries for seedlings, community woodlots for food, fodder, fuel-wood, finance, fence, pharmacy, beautification, among other, calling on all hands to be on deck to save the planet because "Earth Day is every day for everybody, every day is earth day for everybody.”

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement, thus leading to the passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. 

World leaders sign Paris climate agreement:

Precisely on Earth Day, April 22nd, 2016, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon invited every world leader to the United Nations to officially sign the Paris Climate Agreement reached this past December.

President, Earth Day Network (EDN), Kathleen Rogers said Earth Day is the largest, most recognizable face of the environmental movement as “Millions of people in dozens of different countries will become lifelong environmentalists this and every Earth Day. Hundreds of thousands will be children – our planet’s future. They will join the more than 1 billion people who already use Earth Day to focus on the urgent need to stabilize and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, fight climate change, act locally, become climate voters, and protect their children’s futures.”

This year Earth Day Network, she said, focused on the urgent need to plant new trees and forests worldwide, underscoring the fact that EDN sponsors and takes part in tree plantings across the US and worldwide, but this year raised the stakes with the beginning of the four year count down to Earth Day’s 50th anniversary in 2020, “Earth Day Network is pledging to plant 7.8 billion trees worldwide – one for every person on Earth! That’s incredibly ambitious, but we believe this down-payment must be made in order to combat climate change and keep our most vulnerable eco-systems from facing extinction.”

EDN, she also said, have no higher priority this year than to make sure the United States, China, India, the EU, and all the largest CO2 emitters sign the Paris Agreement. EDN has launched a petition calling on world leaders including President Obama to show leadership.

“We need to prove that what happened in Paris last December was not all talk. We need to take action.  Signing the Paris Agreement this Earth Day at the United Nations is just the beginning. That, coupled with our global activities, will make this the largest, most significant Earth Day in years. And it’s the perfect start in our countdown to Earth Day 2020, our 50th!” Rogers said.

Conclusion:
As we expect to plant an estimated 7.8 billion trees globally in the next four years for the Earth to become even better place for habitation and by taking a stand via divesting from fossil fuels and making cities 100 per cent renewable, its very important that electronic waste take a front row, considering that more and more electronics are coming into the continent of Africa, and mostly in Nigeria with the increased use of mobile devices on the prowl.

It is therefore advisable that organisations begin to look at how these electronics are disposed eventually to avoid setting up yet another Improvised Explosive Device (IED) by ourselves’ unknown to man.

In Nigeria, there seems to be silent over how to gather these used electronic devices and even the ones we now generate ourselves which may have become obsolete as technologies change almost within monthly basis.

Its through that over 40 certified eWaste in the world as at the time of filing this report, none is in Africa let alone in Nigeria. Uncracked nuts for those who may foresee the underlining businesses and help this society align itself with the global village, given that Nigeria now has over 90 million connected to the Internet for instance, most of whom are on mobile. Where do they discard those devices in the event of damage or at the point of unusability?

These much, must be explained to millions of schoolchildren and their teachers who participate in 2016 Earth Day in education, civic, and outdoor programmes so as to teach them about the importance of clean air, water and adequate disposal of electronic devices as well as how to begin a lifelong practice of civic participation, and experience the wonders of nature. 

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Pix: Courtesy: al jazera

WHO, FAO unveil roadmap to deal with highly hazardous pesticides

NaijaAgroNet:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have unveiled new guidelines aimed at reducing the damage done by pesticides that pose especially high toxic risks to human health and the environment, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Sources from both organization, informed NaijaAgroNet that products with high acute toxicity account for high numbers of immediate poisoning cases, particularly in developing countries, while products with chronic toxicity effects may cause cancer or developmental disorders among growing children. 

NaijaAgroNet reports that in industrialized countries, such so-called "highly hazardous pesticides" may be no longer permitted or subject to strict use limitations, yet they often remain widely available in developing countries. 

“Even hazardous products are still permitted in industrialised countries can cause severe problems in the developing world, where use circumstances can be very different,” FAO source said.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that small-scale farmers in developing countries in particular often do not have, or use, the necessary protective gear and mostly use back-pack sprayers that pose high risk of exposure.

Therefore, both WHO and FAO pointed out that restriction on the use of such highly hazardous products often prove hard to enforce, leading to widespread use by untrained persons, warning that high numbers of poisoning cases, contaminated food and environmental damage could be the result.

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Investments in agriculture will unlock prosperity in Africa – IFAD President

NaijaAgroNet:

The President of the United Nations (UN's) International Fund For Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, has told African leaders that investments in agriculture have the capacity to unlock prosperity of the continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Nwanze in a message to African leaders participating in the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Kigali that he is optimistic that such investment which must be a collaborative one between government and businesses will grow Africa tremendously.

"Investments in agriculture can generate great riches for the continent and lift millions out of poverty and hunger," said Nwanze en route to Rwanda. "There are high returns to those countries that take agriculture seriously."

Since 2009, he said, Africa has been seen as the next great investment frontier yet, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), economic growth on the continent is now predicted to be slower than the rest of the world for the first time in sixteen years.

He emphasised that with many countries in southern and eastern Africa suffering from the worst drought in decades, coupled with fiscal deficits widening and conflicts increasing, some experts are questioning whether Africa is still on the rise.

Despite these dire predictions, Nwanze said Africa is still a continent of unprecedented opportunity, and supporting small-scale farmers and investing in rural areas are some of the best ways for countries to meet their broader development objectives, including poverty reduction.

“With the right investments, Africa could double its agricultural productivity in the next five years,” he said, stressing that half of the world's uncultivated land which is suited for growing food crops is in Africa.

"We need to work together to harness the continent's potential and this means investing in small-scale farmers who are the backbone of African agriculture," Nwanze said.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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FAO, 4 Nobel laureates join forces against hunger, violence

NaijaAgroNet:

Acclaimed four Nobel laureates for their efforts to stop civil war, promote women’s rights, provide microcredit to the poor, and halt interreligious violence are now joining forces with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to tackle the twin problems of hunger and violence, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, NaijaAgroNet gathered  would Wednesday, May 11, 2016 play host to Muhammad Yunus, Oscar Arias Sánchez, Tawakkol Karman and Betty Williams in Rome for the launch of the FAO-Nobel Peace Laureates Alliance for Food Security and Peace, a new initiative  that will advise FAO on how to strengthen the link between peace and food security in countries. 

The event will include addresses by all four laureates and the FAO Director-General, followed by a discussion and the signing of a declaration.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that former President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias Sánchez was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his tireless efforts to end the civil wars that plagued Central America at the time.

Tawakkol Karman is a Yemeni women’s rights activist and advocate for peace. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work in the non-violent struggle for the safety of women.

1976 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Betty Williams is a Northern Irish activist for peace.

Just as the founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunuswas awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his ground-breaking work in the use of microcredit and microfinance in poorer countries.

*Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Commentary: Why are earth’s 4th deadliest terrorists headed South

Commentary@NaijaAgroNet:

Introduction:

Preoccupied with everyday living, unruffled politicking, unrestricted worship, busy days and quiet nights, Southern Nigerians have been paying little or no attention to the fact that two of Earth’s top 4 deadliest terrorist groups are at home and active in Nigeria. Popular Boko Haram have been constrained to the North East but the other are nomadic unchecked. Now, having restricted their operations to regions that separate North from South, they’ve finally announced their planned ubiquity beginning with an audacious assault on South Eastern State of Enugu on Monday 25th April.  They are the Fulani militants.

They’ve ransacked communities that lie on their grazing routes since 2010 (actually for decades), leaving thousands dead, more injured, tens of thousands displaced, with assets worth millions of naira destroyed on their exit. The ascension to power of Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, suspiciously coincides with the stepping up of their degree of deadliness.

But The Igbos Are Not United:

For centuries, the Fulanis have traversed the breadth of West Africa unimpeded, not by pre-modern hostile cultures; and not by modern day immigration. The trend of slaughtering owners of farms is however a 20th craving they developed. While they pounded Middle Belt states again and again, other Southerners wondered why the Federal Government would not as little as release a statement to condemn the attacks; and the indigenes would not stop them. But now, the militants are through with the intervening region and are at the door steps of the interior South. They are going closer to the Atlantic coast and this advancement will surely evoke a different kind of response.

South East Nigeria, occupied by the Igbo ethnic group, is the epicenter of calls for the breakup of the country. And their primary reason can be summarized as hatred from and for the Northerners consisting of the Hausa/Fulani tribes. Having endured and survived pogroms in Northern Nigeria leading to the Nigerian civil war of 1967, and several perceived follow-up acts of persecution – well documented – the Igbos were nearly unanimous in rejecting the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari in the March 2015 elections. As a result, odium between Hausa/Fulani and the Igbos is still very high.

Already, many southern Nigerians on Social media are calling for self-defense, citing the silence of the Buhari administration, his spokesperson’s admittance of “working in silence”, and the well-established inability of the nation’s security forces to contain the daring Fulani marauders – especially as Boko Haram in the extreme north and Niger Delta militant threats have stretched them thin. We must keep in mind that the generations of Igbos who suffered the perils of the Civil War are long past. The present generation of young Igbos neither listen to their elders nor possess deference for chilling history. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for Nigeria, they are not united too.

No Logistic Problem

But the Hausa/Fulani are everywhere inside Nigeria. In every state, they have their community.  In cities further south where there have been little or no inter-ethnic tensions, these communities exist. In Calabar, they call it Bogobiri. In Uyo, Nasarawa; and in Port Harcourt they call it simply Slaughter. In fact, in PH, at Slaughter, they have their own ‘agberos’, their mosques are built there, and if there’s any ethnic clash, they mobilize and protect themselves. Imagine that these brazen Fulani militants decide to advance till they can see the Ocean; these settlements will automatically serve as bases and barracks. What other logistic problem have they?

What a Global Terrorism Index publication of 2015 designates as Fulani militants was responsible, according to the report, for the death of 1229 in 2014r. Hundreds more have been added to that figure in 2015 and 2016. In Nigeria, victims and survivors alike no longer separate Fulani militants from Fulani herdsmen. They’re now one and the same. How else can one explain countless herdsmen armed with assault rifles captured on camera?

According to Secretary to the Government of Benue State – which is a frequent target region of the militants – Barrister Targema Takema, speaking on a national radio interview, natives of the State had cohabited with the nomads for ages until recently when a different set of Fulani began to arrive. The farming communities started complaining of herdsmen leading their cow herds into crop farms and destroying agricultural assets worth millions of naira. As they began to take measures to prevent further occurrence of these widely confirmed incidences, the herdsmen began to arrive closely followed by the dreaded Fulani militants.

They Will Head To The Atlantic If…

It is not unhealthy to imagine these Fulani herdsmen taking their militants all the way through Southern Nigeria, to the ocean coast in the future, for four reasons.

1.            The Sahara desert is expanding. The country is presently losing about 350,000 square meters of its land mass to desertification, which is advancing southward at an estimated rate of 0.6 kilometers a year. This is according to Fade Africa. The website also records that the activities of Fulani herdsmen is greatly responsible for desertification in the north; and they’re heading south.

“In some areas, Nomads moving to less arid areas disrupt the local ecosystem and increase the rate of erosion of the land. Ironically, Nomads try to escape the desert, but with their land use practices, ignorantly set off another process of desertification in their new settlement. They will have to move soon taking with them their land use practices, leaving a trail of desert behind, and the chain goes on.”

The desert is driving them down south. They need more land to graze in.

2.            The return to agriculture. Crash in global oil prices has driven more Nigerians back to farms. In most Southern states, governments and private sector industry heads are not only advocating a return to commercial agriculture, but are investing too. And that means, more people are going back from cities to rural areas to reclaim their farmlands for expansion from subsistent to commercial agriculture. Governments, like in Akwa Ibom and Cross River, are packaging even more robust supports for the re-emerging venture. But don’t Fulani herdsmen have destructive objectives?

3.            Fulani herdsmen are respecters of no man. Nothing is beyond their imagination. Inherently, a Fulani man is forthright, blunt and fearless – even the policies and communication style of the President of Nigeria are proofs of this – to a fault. Their fearlessness frequently transforms into thoughtlessness. This is why they can attack different regions of ‘enemy territory’, on different fronts – thousands of miles apart – simultaneously. They can breach the security of a former Presidential aspirant, surrounded by his own tribesmen, and kidnap the man, demanding for ransom. They can poison the source of drinking water of an entire community, carrying out wanton crimes against humanity without thinking twice. They can attack the convoy of an ex-military chief and former Senate president of the nation without fearing his military escorts. They have achieved all these already and there is no carnage too unthinkable for their conscience.

The Goodluck Jonathan administration, according to a House of Representatives member from Taraba state, and one time BBC correspondent in Jos, Nigeria, Rima Shawulu, did rebuild several dams to enhance irrigation and reduce desertification in the North. Yet the Fulani ignore their green grass, to head south.

4.            According to Max Gbanite, a security consultant, speaking on an AIT programme, Focus Nigeria recently, the Fulanis do not understand that in southern Nigeria, unlike in the North, “every inch of land belongs to an individual, a family or a community.” And you can’t just move into someone’s land and graze. Hence, if they keep encroaching into the south, which they will due to 1, 2 and 3, more land owners will kick against them and, without desiring to sound like a prophet of doom, more Fulani militants will attack more towns and the rest is left for the mind’s eye.

Fulani Herdsmen already have settlements close to the Atlantic shore, I’ve earlier mentioned. Southern Nigerians can expect their militant sons in the near future, unless [emphasized] the leadership of Nigeria come up with a solution for the nomadic culture.

The solution, I believe, that would come closest to preventing the prediction of more Fulani herdsmen attacks is borrowed from Gbanite. And that is a combination of creating cattle ranches across the nation and providing a reorientation to Fulanis aiming to make them embrace cultural changes; in effect, strategically abolishing ‘nomadism’ -“the way of life of a nomad” according to my dictionary. For, creating grazing routes for them will most certainly not be welcomed by those who stand to lose their property and the temptation to graze beyond the created routes will dominate the minds of the nomads.

Obudu Cattle Ranch, For Example:

Besides, the herdsmen themselves would admit that they lose hundreds of livestock subjecting them to those strenuous trips on foot. Next, the animals can hardly be made to birth up to a calf per year, wandering as they do. It also exposes the animals to all manner of diseases that end up in the stomach of human beings. Whereas in a ranch, several scientific rounds of research can be carried out to try to improve the breed of the cattle; the country can now benefit from Cattle farming in monetary terms by managing a more controlled farming system. Obudu cattle ranch was established by late Sir Michael Okpara decades ago to serve as a model for the rest of the country.

The Igbos are not as easily forgiving. They are still licking wounds of humiliation – reopened by frequent friction with their Hausa/Fulani countrymen – from the 1967 war that claimed over 1 million of them; and from several ethnic killings suffered by their brothers in northern Nigeria. The agitation for their own country has been heating up lately, with increased debates amongst them on continuing with Nigeria or not. With the Fulani herdsmen invasion of Igboland,and taking into consideration the thoughtlessness of their militants – prospecting that they will surely return; more reasons to remain with Nigeria are getting eliminated. This is yet another implication of the nagging Fulani herdsmen crusades.

If the tiers of Nigeria’s Government keep foot-dragging in containing the Fulani herdsmen, they may prepare for anarchy. Once people are forced to defend themselves; and none of the parties accepts to be the defeated foe, the situation could degenerate so dreadfully that Boko Haram would be child’s-play; Gbanite believes it can lead to a civil war. Senator Godswill Akpabio, too. And there are more who believe same.

*Uduak Umo is a Lagos/Uyo based PR consultant and Public interest researcher. Follow him on Twitter @umo2013

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DMWA targets partnerships across West and Central Africa in oil & gas

NaijaAgroNet:

Oil and gas advisory, E&P and trading firm, has set up DMWA Resources to seek robust partnerships across the West and Central Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

DMWA, NaijaAgroNet gathered, capitalized on the extensive African knowledge and experience of its management and the financial firepower of large institutions to become the partner of choice for Africa’s governmental and private oil & gas institutions.

NaijaAgroNet equally gathered that the company is the brainchild of Sebastian Wagner, who previously worked as Business Developer and Trading Operations Manager for Trafigura and associated firms, managing oil trades across the barrel of African crude and refined products while simultaneously pursuing pre-financing opportunities with West and Central African sovereigns.

Executive Director of the company, Mr. Wagner said, DMWA Resources is a knowledge and relationship-driven oil and gas advisory firm.

“Our African-specific expertise provides a strong platform to showcase our value in the markets where we seek to provide advisory services, acquire prospective acreages and specialize in the resale of crude oil, natural gas and refined products. We assist our private sector partners in the industry’s ongoing consolidation, as well as our governmental clients in their financial and knowledge-based recapitalization,” he said.

DMWA Resources is targeting various regions across Africa, including Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville and Ghana. The company offers a range of petroleum industry and fiscal advisory services and partners with world-class partners with the capacity to undertake E&P ventures in Africa's oil and gas sector. DMWA is built on a flat structure and is financially and structurally independent, which allows the company to partner with the energy industry’s heavyweights.

On June 6-7, 2016, DMWA will sponsor the Africa Oil & Power conference in Cape Town, South Africa, joining industry elites Gunvor Group, Marathon Oil, RoyalGate Energy, DeltaTek Group, General Electric and Centurion Law Group. DMWA will host a reception gathering African energy ministers, IOC’s, NOC’s and financial institutions. Mr. Wagner will moderate a Projects & Prospects Panel that discusses the reasons for success or failure of oil and gas projects in Africa’s competitive marketplace.

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Build farmers capacity, increase efficiency – Lubinda

NaijaAgroNet:

The Zambian Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Given Lubinda, has stressed the importance for building farmers’ capacity on the continent, NaijaAgroNet reports.

He gave this position at an address to the just concluded World Farmers Organisation (WFO) General Assembly in Livingstone, Zambia, saying that building farmers capacity it will increase efficiency in the agriculture sector.

“Africa is home of the small scale ‪farmers poors that create wealth, and feed the world,” Lubinda said.

Farmers, the Minister said, need to develop the right skills and knowledge needed to effectively improve their capacity.

“A secure access to the land, ownership and control over land, access to productive resources and inputs, including modern technology, markets, inputs and financial resources are essential elements to enable farmers to improve agricultural efficiency and productivity,” Lubinda said.

The farmers, minister further said, need to develop their agricultural management and marketing skills to efficiently strengthen their entrepreneurial skills.

“In this respect, agricultural extension and advisory services are increasingly seen as a key means to build farmers’ capacity,” the Minister said.

These services, Lubinda pointed out, help farmers deal with risk and change, by providing options and capabilities to make the right choices at the right time.

“The services assist rural actors to share technology and practices, and support farmers to acquire a better position in value chains and markets,” Lubinda said.

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