President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, November 6, 2017 in Abuja said that the Federal Government would establish six crop processing zones in the country to enhance food security and economic development.
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria
Buhari made this known when he presented the 2018 budget proposal before the National Assembly in Abuja.
According to the President, the initiative will help to develop infrastructure for the production, processing and storage of strategic commodities.
He said the project would focus on backward integration for grains, horticulture, livestock, fisheries and sugar as well as exportable commodities such as cocoa, cassava and oil palms.
“The agricultural sector plays crucial role in Nigeria’s exit from recession.
“Today, it remains the largest employer of labour and holds significant potential in realising our vision to reposition Nigeria as a food secured nation.
“We will consolidate on existing policies and develop new ones to ensure the numerous value chain challenges in the agricultural sector are addressed,’’ Buhari said.
He said that there had been increased investment in the agro-inputs manufacturing sector such as fertilisers, adding that his administration was determined to protect those investments and encourage new ones.
Buhari added that several investors had deployed significant capital in the production and processing of rice, sugar, maize, soya beans, cassava, yam, tomato, oil palm, rubber, and poultry among others.
“We are determined to protect these investments and encourage more. Food security is an important aspect of this Administration’s National Security agenda.
“Any person involved in smuggling of food items is a threat to our national security and will therefore be dealt with accordingly,’’ he said.
The president further stated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was working with development partners and the private sector to initiate numerous capacity building projects.
He added that the administration would continue to intensify its interventions through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative to ensure that the drive was sustained.
“We have also made provisions in the 2018 Budget to complete ongoing Irrigation Projects in Ada, Enugu State; Lower Anambra, in Anambra State; and Gari, in Jigawa State,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the sum of N118.98 billion was allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the budget proposal.
The death toll following flash floods in Central Vietnam has risen to 106, authorities said on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 with 25 people still missing and 197 others receiving treatment for their injuries.
A flooded community in Vietnam
Khanh Hoa province, home to the popular beach resort city of Nha Trang, reported 39 dead, followed by Quang Nam province with 24 dead, Vietnam’s National Committee for Search and Rescue said in a report to the government.
Authorities are sending more than 18,000 soldiers to take part in search-and-rescue operations and to deal with the aftermath of the flood, the Committee added.
Typhoon Damrey made landfall on Saturday with winds of up to 135 kilometres per hour.
Regional rainfall of up to 1,800 millimetres has been recorded for the past eight days, according to the committee.
Rain is expected to ease off from Thursday.
The storm damaged 121,000 houses, killed nearly 10,000 pigs and cows, knocked down power lines and uprooted countless trees.
Ten cargo ships and nearly 1,300 fishing boats have sunk.
Typhoon Damrey arrived days before a global foreign leaders’ summit for next week’s APEC conference in Da Nang, where weather authorities said there was a risk of flooding and landslides.
U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive on Friday for the leaders’ summit, which Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin is also expected to attend.
Registered town planning practitioners in Lagos have expressed concerns over what they describe as the “occasional mis-governance” in the strategic planning, implementation and sustainability of a robust physical planning and urban development policy for the comfort of human habitation in the state.
National Vice President, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) and former Commissioner, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Toyin Ayinde (2nd left); Chairman, Lagos Chapter, NITP, Mr. Kunle Salami (2nd right); his deputy, Mr Ayo Adejumo (right); and the chapter’s Secretary on the left, during the briefing
By this admonitions, the professionals are metaphorically referring to the pains and economic hardship that have been inflicted on the poor masses because of the ways and manners in which the governments, both in the past and present, have dealt with the challenge of waste management, flooding, infrastructures, slum residency, demolition of structures, land reclamation and location and relocation of market places.
The experts, who gathered under the auspices of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), were making the assertions while responding to questions from newsmen at a press conference on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 to commemorate the 2017 World Town Planning Day.
In the context of the theme of the celebration, tagged “Inclusive Cities and Communities,” the experts offered substantial ideas on how best to tackle the growing challenges of co-habiting a comfortable human being in a strategically developing megacity state like Lagos.
On attendance were the current National Vice President of NITP and former Commissioner of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Lagos State, Mr. Toyin Ayinde; President, Town Planning Regulatory Council of Nigeria (TOPREG), Mr. Moses Ogunleye; President, NITP, Lagos Chapter, Mr. Kunle Salami; and Chairman, Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigerian, Lagos Chapter, Mr. Omotayo Awomosu, among others.
Speaking at the event, on the question of planned banning of Yellow Buses on the roads among others, Ayinde, said that in the most advanced countries of the world “where you have moving population en-masse, you don’t move them in mini buses. It won’t get us anywhere. In fact, it’s the reason for gridlock. And if we do not change our attitude, one day we would want to get out from our house, and vehicular traffic would hold us back.”
Reacting to the aggressive land reclamation project on the Lagos Island and its environmental implications, Ayinde noted that most of the known water-logged communities today, especially around Oworonsoki, Ahmadu Bello Way and Adeniji Adele area of the state, were formerly dried land, eroded because of the construction of the Third Mainland Bridge and other urbanisation projects in the state.
Insisting that the only significant difference is the resolve to erect structures on the reclaimed land space, Ayinde also touched on the challenge of brutal eviction of people living in the slum by the government.
His words: “Whoever entertains fear over the ongoing reclamation in the state and or blaming the government are doing so either because they dont have sufficient research or information on the history of the areas.
“We are a nation that has passed through history. And that is why some people are saying we should reintroduce history as a subject back to the school curriculum. The reason is because there is a generation of people now who don’t know Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Moshood Kasimawo Olawale Abiola and who don’t know that we passed through a civil war.
“Therefore, there may also be a generation now that doesn’t know that when the first Urban Renewal was conducted in 1951-52 in Broadstreet, Nnamdi Azikwue, Marina, Lagos, the exercise was done peacefully. And that is exactly what gave birth to where you call Surulere today.
“You may not know also that, throughout the four years I was in government, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development didn’t carry out any eviction. Did we relocate people? Yes, we did. How did we do it? We brought down some blocks at Adeniji Adele Housing Scheme. But we followed the due process. We met with the residents. We showed them what government wanted to do. We gave them an offer of what was available, which is either for them to be moved into relocation settlement or to be given Rent Advance. And they made their options. And government did what was supposed to be done. And the people moved without anybody hearing any noise about it.
“This is not about us being violent. It’s just about following the due process. So, the stand of NITP is that there is a process to everything. And we will always advice that anyone undertaking any project should follow due process, including the government.
“Therefore in all of these questions of removal and replacement of the Yellow Buses on the road, the truth is in anywhere in the world.
In a brief submission, Ogunleye, who is also the Managing Director of Beachland Resources Limited, said the end-product of an efficient planning is a satisfactory result, insisting that arriving at such a feat “requires a wider consultation and harmonisation of professional ideas.
“The city belongs to us all. Those in government should not see themselves as the kings of philosophy. They should consult wider and reach out to all the relevant professionals and stakeholders on the most efficient ways to management an inclusive yet megacity state like Lagos.”
In an address, the Chairman, Lagos Chapter of NITP, Mr. Kunle Salami, said that, given the staggering growth rate in the migration of people from rural to urban areas, there must be serious commitment to managing the aftermaths.
According to Salami, these highlighted challenges are infrastructural decay, high rate of slum growth, urban crime and insecurity, climate change (flooding), waste disposal and other associated environmental problem.
His words: “Lagos is undoubtedly a rapidly growing megacity located in South West Nigeria and one of the most populated cities sub-Sahara Africa. According to the World Bank report, Lagos has both the highest annual urban growth rate (of 4.58%) and the highest slum growth rate of (4.53%) in the world.
“From the foregoing scenario, Lagos is so populated and confronted with severe pressures from overcrowding, prevalence of incidences of slum development, ecological and climate change impairment, industrial pollution, overdevelopment and as well as poor allocation of resources to physical planning programmes,” he added.
The certified town planner however admonished the government to do much more than what its currently doing, saying it would also be helpful to engage all the professionals and other stakeholders in the sector for better result.
He said, “Though we must acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the past and present administrations in ensuring that sustainable physical planning and urban development is accorded its due regards.
“However, much still need to be done, especially in areas of democratisation of the planning process, sustainable megacity development, adequate allocation of resources for planning and city management, prioritisation and coordinated interventions especially on infrastructure improvements, safety and crime reduction and as well as robust policy initiations to facilitate socio-economic development and creation of a sustainable and resilient Lagos Megacity,” he adds.
Corroborating the earlier speakers, Awomosu said it’s unfortunate “that Nigeria is not a shining example in the area of tow planning efficient, attributing the retrogression to inconsistency of government policy, lack of political will to implement existing planning and public empathy to embrace and assist in the implantation of the existing physical planning policies.
“Yes, in the world today, Nigeria is not a shining example in the area of town planning. And the fault rests on the shoulders of all of us – the professionals, regulators, government and the people.
“Otherwise, who is responsible for building houses without obtaining the necessary approval documents, thereby subjecting lives to risk accruable from possible demolition or collapse of such building? It’s we the people! Also, who are those blocking the drainage with refusing at night? Is it ghost? Definitely no, but we the people.
“Therefore, until we embrace governance as a collective duty, the effort to plan and implement a habitable settlement for all of us maybe a mirage,” he added.
Syria has indicated its interest to join the Paris Agreement, effectively leaving the United State of America all alone in the cold conclave of climate deniers.
Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria
“I would like to affirm the Syrian Arab Republic’s commitment to the Paris climate change accord,” Syrian Deputy Environment Minister Wadah Katmawi told delegates of the 196 nations at the ongoing climate talks in Bonn, Germany.
Katmawi said the accord would be signed “as soon as possible”, adding that Syria would seek foreign aid to help it meet its commitments under the deal.
UNFCCC spokesman, Nick Nuttall, confirmed the move, saying that Syria would first have to submit ratification documents at the UN headquarters in New York.
Some 196 countries excluding Syria and Nicaragua in December 2015 agreed to keep global temperatures well below the 2c level above pre-industrial times and endeavour to limit them even more to 1.5c.
Contained in what later became known as the Paris Agreement, countries further agreed to limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity, and enable rich countries to help the poorer nations by providing climate finance to adapt to climate chance and switch to renewable energy.
With its pariah status and the bloody civil war going on then, Syria was in no position to attend the discussions in Paris. Nicaragua on the other hand, withheld its signature from the agreement until last October when stronger measures were put in place.
The United States began a three-year process of withdrawal from the agreement in June 2017. President Donald Trump while announcing the withdrawal invoked his “solemn duty to protect America” and promised to seek a new deal that would not disadvantage US businesses.
He claimed that the accord would cost the US 6.5 million jobs and $3 trillion (£2.2 trillion) in lost GDP – while rival economies like China and India were treated more favourably. He also said that he could revisit the decision if the United States could renegotiate terms he sees as unfair.
With the Syrian declaration today and Nicaragua’s signature in October, US now treads on the lonely path to seeking a seeking the renegotiation of a landmark climate deal aimed at protecting the planet and the people of the earth.
The Minister of State for Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Jibril, has urged Nigerians to construct toilets in homes and public places so as to prevent the outbreak of diseases.
Ibrahim Usman Jibril, Minister of State for Environment
The minister made the call in Abuja on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at a news conference organised to commemorate the 2017 World Toilet Day.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the United Nations General Assembly has set aside Nov. 19 every year as the World Toilet Day because of the relevance of toilets to environmental sanitation.
Jibril, who underscored the need for environmental sanitation in efforts to promote preventive health care, said if people built and used clean toilets, it would improve their well-being.
He said that the purpose of celebrating the World Toilet Day was to reawaken societal consciousness on the importance of having and using safe toilets in every household.
He said that the celebration was also aimed at improving hygiene and tackling the menace of open defecation in the society.
“For this year’s event here in Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with other stakeholders, has put together series of activities to commemorate the day, with a particular emphasis on institutional sanitation.
“We have noted with dismay the sad fact that public conveniences in many institutions such as government offices, markets, petrol stations, private and public schools are in a deplorable state,’’ he said.
The minister urged all stakeholders, including the media, to sensitise Nigerians to the importance of environmental sanitation and the need to make their toilets clean and accessible to the members of the public.
He said that the National Council on Environment had recently approved the deployment of Sanitation Desk Officers to all the 774 local government areas of the country.
Jibril, who also called for the construction of good sewage systems across the country, urged relevant stakeholders to take a cue from the activities of a human waste management company in Israel.
He said that in the course of treating human waste, the company produced bio-gas to power its plant, turned the waste into organic fertiliser for farmers and treated the water recovered from the waste for irrigation and other farming purposes.
Mrs Nnenna Didigu, the National Coordinator, Initiative for the Prevention of Malaria, an NGO, said that there was no improvement in environmental sanitation across the country.
Didigu noted that many people believed that the issue of sanitation was the primary responsibility of the government, adding that the misconception had hindered efforts to have clean surroundings.
She stressed that environmental sanitation was a collective responsibility, saying that a clean environment would also engender a healthy, disease-free society.
All junior schools in New Delhi, India were closed on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 and health warnings were issued for the sick and elderly as pollution remained at hazardously high levels for the second day.
New Delhi is ranked as among the most polluted cities in the world
The air quality index that measures the concentration of poisonous particulate matter in the air was at a “severe” level of 471, where the maximum reading is 500.
Any air quality index above 400 is considered unhealthy by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Thick brown smog hung over the city with residents reporting smarting in the eyes and irritation in the nose and throat.
Following Delhi government orders, primary schools were closed and no outdoor activities including morning assemblies were permitted for older pupils.
As the Indian Medical Association declared a public health emergency, authorities issued an advisory for “high-risk” groups like the elderly, heart and asthma patients to take care and avoid morning or evening walks.
Domestic media reported the level of pollution was 25 times the international safe limits, in certain areas; equal to smoking 50 cigarettes a day.
Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, said the hazardous air pollution was due to crop stubble burning by farmers in neighbouring states and he had contacted authorities to address the situation.
Experts expect the next few days to be as bad since calm wind conditions and high humidity were leading to an accumulation of pollutants.
Delhi has been ranked among the top polluted cities in the world in recent years, but efforts to check the worsening air quality have not worked so far.
President of Nigerian Meteorological Society (NMetS), Prof. Clement Akosile, on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 said the intense heat being experienced after rainfall was caused by sun ray reaching the ground.
Above-danger heat stress: A man cools off amid searing heat wave
Akosile said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He gave the explanation following intense heat being experienced after downpour in Lagos.
He said “dust is already coming from the North and beyond and is still travelling South until it gets to the coast.
“It is still raining in the South because the South is by the ocean, unlike in the Middle Belt and the far North.
“When water is polarising, it comes more from the Ocean.
“The heat after rain is because air washes off the dust, allowing sun ray to reach ground.
“It then becomes intense after the rain has cooled the ground.
“For now, it is still raining in the South but far North is dry because of the ocean but very soon, the rain will stop in the South too.”
The NMetS president said the weather variations would have adverse effects on plants in the Middle Belt and far North of the country.
He added that while plants in the Middle Belt would be stressed, other plants with long roots and were able to tap water underground would survive in the far North.
He explained that plants in the South would still have water as the rate of evaporation was not high yet.
He said that the heavy rainfall causing flooding depended on whether the water was absorbed rapidly and if the water passages were blocked.
Akosile said the amount of rain that fell per unit time determine whether there would be flood or not.
He also said that water-borne diseases could increase because dirt that littered the streets solidify
and block the drains.
“And very soon, bush burning would increase in the Middle Belt which would further dry up the ground, while heat-related illnesses would be prevalent in the North,” he added.
An Energy and Environmental expert, Prof. Adeola Adenikiju, on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 lauded the Federal Government’s commitment to cleaning up Ogoni land.
Fishermen sort out their fishing net at the bank of a polluted river in Bidere community in Ogoni land in the Niger Delta region. Photo credit: REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye
Adenikiju, a former President of the Nigeria Association of Energy Economics, gave the thumbs up in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
“I commend the effort of the government to clean up the area.
“The Ogoni’s cleanup will give more credence to the government both locally and internationally,’’ he said.
Ogoni is reported to have almost 3,000 oil spills during a 15-year period from 1976 to 1991, bringing untold hardships on the people of the area.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday reaffirmed government commitment to the clean-up in an N8.612 trillion appropriation presented to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The president said the government had engaged eight international and local companies, proposing different technologies for the mandate.
To enable it chose the best technology for the remediation work, the companies were asked to perform demonstration clean up in four local government areas of Ogoni.
Buhari said although the cleanup would be funded by International Oil Companies, provision was made in the 2018 budget for costs of oversight and governance to ensure effective implementation.
Tagged Budget of Consolidation, the budget has an increase of 16 per cent compared to that of 2017 which was 7.298 trillion.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N5.567 billion for the 3rd Quarter Soil Erosion Control Accelerated Intervention in six states.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, disclosed this when he briefed State House correspondents on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 in Abuja.
Adesina conducted briefing alongside Minister of Agriculture, Mr Audu Ogbeh, as well as the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika.
He gave the names of the benefiting states as Kano, Bayelsa, Sokoto, Ondo, Osun and Enugu state.
Ogbeh revealed that the Council approved N165 million for the production of improved 30,000 tonnes of foundation seeds for maize by the Institute of Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Ogbeh also disclosed the council discussed the menace of food smuggling along unauthorised and illegal routes in the country, saying that five billion dollars was being lost to smugglers by the country, annually.
Sirika told the correspondents that the Council also approved the Bilateral Air Service Agreement between Nigeria and Canada.
In an effort to raise awareness of the importance of planning in their communities, settlement development practitioners on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 are engaging in numerous activities on the occasion of the World Town Planning Day.
Luka Achi, President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP)
Also known as World Urbanism Day, the World Town Planning Day is characterised by planning associations and academic institutions organising special educational sessions on topics relevant to planning in a local and global context.
According to David Olawale, Public Relations Secretary of the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Lagos NITP will join the rest of the world in celebrating the event.
He disclosed that, on Wednesday, November 8, State Chapter Chairman, Kunle Salami, would address a press conference at the Lagos NITP Secretariat at Alausa, and that, on Saturday, November 11, members of the State Chapter and students of urban and regional planning in Lagos State within the Ikeja area would embark on a City Walk.
“The purpose of the City Walk is to meet with the public to publicise and project the town planning profession through the distribution of colourful fliers on services of a registered and qualified town planner,” Olawale said.
In Osun State, Abiodun Olajide of Osun NITP stated that, on Wednesday, all NITP members and other stakeholders would converge on the Old Garage / Freedom Park in Osogbo for a City Walk that will traverse Olaiya, Abeere, Governors’ Office and the NITP Secretariat.
On the same day, the Commissioner for Lands and Physical Planning in the company of members of Osun NITP will be on a live TV show at OSBC, Oke-Baale, Osogbo.
As part of the World Town Planning Day 2017, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) in the United Kingdom has launched a competition for school children, while the American Planning Association (APA) in the US will feature online multimedia resources focusing on this year’s theme.
The lectures and discussions will address the application of the SDGs and NUA across different geographic levels, sectors, and contexts, including planning for livable communities for all ages, environmental planning at the regional and territorial level, and cultural heritage planning for resilience.
The World Town Planning Day was initiated in 1949 by the late Professor Carlos Maria della Paolera of the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina to advance public and professional interest in planning, both locally and abroad. The event is celebrated in 30 countries on four continents each November 8.
It is considered a special day to give special recognition to the ideals of community planning which bring professional planners and the general public together. The World Town Planning Day, it was gathered, presents an opportunity to look at planning from a global perspective.
