The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced that it will more than double the level of climate financing it will mobilise for its Pacific developing member countries to over $500 million between 2017 and 2020.
Prime Minister of Fiji and Incoming COP President, Frank Bainimarama (left), with officials of ADB and GCF at the ministerial meeting
The announcement was made during a ministerial meeting in Fiji to prepare for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23) billed to hold in Bonn, Germany from November 6 to 17, 2017. Fiji has the Presidency of the Bonn meeting.
In addition, the ADB signed two concrete agreements: first with the Government of Fiji for a $42 million loan to improve water and sanitation services to over 300,000 people in the greater Suva area, while ensuring that critical infrastructures are climate resilient. Second is with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for a $31 million grant to the country through ADB.
“ADB has been supporting Fiji to improve water and sanitation for more than 20 years,” said the bank’s Vice-President, Stephen Groff. “With this new investment, we expect to assist Fiji expand water supply by 40,000 cubic meters per day, ensure 98% of households in Suva have access to clean water, and expand the sanitation network for additional 4,500 households to access reticulated sewerage by 2023.”
The Fiji Urban Water Supply and Wastewater Management Investment Programme was among the first group of projects approved by the board of the Green Climate Fund Board at its meeting in Zambia in 2015. The investment will also be co-financed by the European Investment Bank.
Prime Minister and Incoming COP President, Bainimarama, said: “As the incoming President of COP23, one of my top objectives is to create better access to finance for projects like this, not only for Fiji, but for other vulnerable countries in the region and around the world. I would not only like to thank the ADB and the GCF for their technical and financial support, but also for their leadership and forward thinking on climate finance more broadly. I encourage more lending institutions to follow their example and to join us in our grand coalition to build a more resilient, carbon-neutral world.”
The Government of Nigeria has launched a campaign to immunise some 873,837 people against yellow fever in the states of Kwara and Kogi.
Dr. Wondimagegnehu Alemu, the WHO Country Representative to Nigeria
The 10-day campaign began on Friday, October 13, 2017, and mobilises more than 200 health workers and volunteers. It targets residents aged nine months to 45 years old.
“This campaign aims to ensure that people living in high-risk areas are protected from yellow fever, and to prevent the disease from spreading to other parts of the country,” said Dr. Wondimagegnehu Alemu, World Health Organisation (WHO) Nigeria Representative.
The WHO has been working with health authorities on its implementation in nine local government areas in Kwara State and two in Kogi State.
Nigeria has requested support from the International Coordination Group (ICG) on vaccine provision for yellow fever. A global stockpile of six million doses of the yellow fever vaccine is available for countries to access, with the support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
WHO and health partners have been supporting the Government’s response to the outbreak since the first case of yellow fever was confirmed in Oke Owa Community, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara state on September 12.
WHO has deployed experts to Nigeria to support surveillance and investigation, lab testing, public health measures, and engagement with at-risk communities. An Emergency Operations Centre has been activated in the area to coordinate the response.
The last yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria was reported in 2002, with 20 cases and 11 deaths.
The Bill and Melinda Gates funded Synergos for the State Partnership for Agriculture (SPA) programme in Benue State has advocated for food security and nutrition sensitive agriculture in the state.
Stakeholders at the World Food Day dialogue in Makurdi
Making this known on Monday, October 16, 2017 at a “Multi Stakeholder Level Dialogue on Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture: Marking the World Food Day in Benue” organised by Synergos in Makurdi, Mr Michael Agon, while advocating for an all inclusive agriculture practice that will support nutrition, stated that all hands must be on deck to enhance food security and encourage nutrition.
According to Agon, the problem of food insecurity and malnutrition should not be apportioned to leadership or government alone but as individuals, all should be change agents and educate the communities on the benefits of maintaining food security and nutrition in the practice of agriculture.
He stressed that Synergos is determined to encourage the Benue community to practice agriculture that would embrace food security and nutrition which will ultimately facilitate growth and development of the populace.
In a remark, Secretary, Benue State Core Delivery Team (CDT), Mr Lucky Izobo, stated that there is need by stakeholders to create awareness on the need to provide food for every person and drive away hunger.
He opined that it is very important and critical to take advantage of the World Food Day celebration to re-awaken selves to the need to drive away hunger as food security is ideal in preserving food and preventing waste.
Stressing further, he stated that agriculture should be sensitive to the needs of the people, adding that stakeholders can contribute to the nutritional needs of the State even individually.
In their separate remarks, some stakeholders who include Mrs Maureen Kajo of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Mr Saondo Anom of Paradiso Farms Nig. Ltd., noted that there is enough information available on how communities can improve on food security and nutrition, once utilised.
They added that even graduates need not depend sorely on white collar jobs but, rather, resort to small farms, home organic gardens amongst others to earn a living and prevent hunger.
The World Food Day, a day for action dedicated to tackling global hunger, is held annually on October 16; and this year’s theme focuses on Sustainable Development Goal Two (2) – Zero Hunger.
Ahead of a Ministerial meeting in Fiji to finalise preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference in November in Bonn (COP23) scheduled to hold from November 6 to 17, 2017, a Partnership Days was held to further foster efforts to build a grand coalition for climate action.
The Partnerships Day builds on the the outcomes of the Climate Action Pacific Partnership (CAPP) Conference held in Suva July 2017 and the UNFCCC Climate Action Agenda. The day focused on best practice climate actions, as well as needed innovation to boost action. Some of the themes explored included looking at how the private sector, cities, regions and other non-Party stakeholders can contribute to the implementation of countries’ climate action plans under the Paris Agreement (Nationally Determined Contributions), climate finance and risk management.
The Partnerships Day was opened by Prime Minister of Fiji and incoming COP 23 President, Frank Bainimarama. In an address at the opening, UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, says that the Paris Agreement is not a chain that can be broken by a weak link, but a web of ever deepening and widening influence in terms of realising a better, safer and more secure future for every one on Earth.
Amina J. Mohammed
The Paris Agreement represents a turning point in international cooperation to combat climate change.
It is a hallmark of the Agreement that so many leaders from cities, states, regions, territories, the private sector, the investment community and civil society came in with pledges and initiatives to take climate action.
The enthusiastic support for the Paris Agreement as a key pillar of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development continues.
In the run-up to and during Climate Week in New York in September, on the margins of the Un General Assembly, many more companies and local authorities committed to action.
RE100, an initiative in which companies commit to 100 per cent renewable energy, welcomed new partners including Estee Lauder, Kellogg’s and DBS Bank.
EV100, launched this year, is bringing together companies committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles and making electric transport the new normal by 2030.
The Under2Coalition, whose members are committed to reducing emissions by up to 95 per cent by 2050, welcomed new signatories, including major cities and the Marshall Islands, which became the 17th nation to endorse the Coalition.
The Under2 Coalition now includes 187 jurisdictions on six continents that collectively represent more than 1.2 billion people and $28.8 trillion dollars of GDP – equivalent to more than 16 per cent of the global population and 39 percent of the global economy.
We could spend all day trying to capture the breadth and scale of this momentum.
We are moving – taking important steps, but of course it is not enough.
Paris is a global agreement of nations – but it needs the global support of all sectors of society from all across the planet to minimise risks and provide security and opportunity for all.
In the words of Frank Bainimarama, Fiji’s Prime Minister and the incoming President of the next UN climate change conference, we need a Grand Coalition.
While support for the Paris Agreement from sub-national governments is gathering momentum in developed and developing countries alike, support from business and investors is still predominantly from Europe and the United States.
This must change.
So, I welcome the establishment of the Climate Action Pacific Partnership as an important new piece in the Grand Coalition jigsaw puzzle and a new catalyst for the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action.
The bringing together of business, investors, funders and governments from within and outside the region to accelerate implementation of national climate action plans is a significant new development.
The other challenge is to bring all sectors of society and the economy into alignment with the Paris Agreement’s pathways, timetables and goals — including finance, so that funding flows into the low carbon, sustainable economy that must be the future.
We must also engage and enroll the higher emitting sectors of the economy.
As some of you may recall, during the high-level segment of the General Assembly last month, the Secretary-General outlined six high impact areas where our collective efforts can bring a structural change in the global and national economies:
Investing in clean technology;
Putting a price on carbon;
Making the energy transition;
Mitigating risk;
Augmenting the contribution of sub-national actors and business; and,
Mobilising finance.
Our shared challenge is to connect reality on ground with collective action in these areas.
By the 2019 Climate Summit, we must be able to show that climate action works and that transformation is well under way.
I am very encouraged that a number of leaders have come forward.
The Prime Minister of Sweden announced his intention to create a zero-emission steel industry through the full electrification of furnaces using hydrogen rather than coal as fuel.
The Prime Minister of Denmark voiced his intention to establish a “Clean Energy Investment Coalition” to accelerate a shift from fossil fuels.
The international Solar Alliance led by India and France intends to mobilize $1 trillion by 2030 and bring together rich countries to deliver solar energy in some of the poorest countries of the world.
Let us also recognise the key role of non-state actors in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The Secretary-General and I encourage all involved to uphold these pledges and commitments.
This is just the kind of innovation that the Paris Agreement, supported by the private sector and partnerships, can catalyse and take to scale worldwide.
I look forward to your outcomes here as a contribution to the success of the UN climate conference in Bonn.
This is the next staging post for accelerating action and ambition.
Urgency and speed must be our bywords.
This Pre-COP and COP-23 come against a backdrop of a distressing period of extreme weather events that have brought misery and economic damage to so many people from Asia to the Caribbean and central America and the United States.
The Secretary-General is concerned that international governance and the global development system are not fit for purpose to address these challenges well in advance of their impacts. Besides removing barriers to accessing financing, innovative financing mechanisms are needed to meet the needs to middle income countries that face such external shocks.
Such events are virtually certain to become not only more frequent but more intense. It is time to rethink our approaches.
I am pleased to note that these two Partnership Days are being spent on the crucial issue of better managing climate risk and building resilience.
We know there is a lot more that can be done to assist and buffer small island developing states and vulnerable regions from such events.
And there is a lot more that richer governments, working with the private sector – including the insurance and re-insurance industries – can do to support countries and people to re-build.
I am pleased to see the German government here, which I understand will announce plans at COP23 to take forward the InsuResilience initiative, aimed at helping 400 million of the world’s poorest people, with direct and indirect affordable insurance.
COP23 in Bonn can also take forward the Clearing House on Risk Transfer, also requested at the 2015 Paris climate change meeting.
We live in a world of rising risks from climate change – including risks to the very life support systems upon which so many depend.
These include our seas and our oceans – so I welcome your discussions today on how to breathe life into the Oceans Pathway Partnership with a view to bringing action on healthier oceans into the UN climate change process by 2020.
But, while the risks rise, so too does the momentum for change.
Cities and regions, businesses and investors are playing a critical role, providing crucial support and new levels of creativity to help governments as they fast-forward their climate action plans and the wider sustainable development agenda.
So, I congratulate the government of Fiji and everyone taking part in these Partnership Days here at the pre-COP.
It underlines that the UN climate process is strengthening its foundations and potential.
It shows that the Paris Agreement is not a chain that can be broken by a weak link, but a web of ever deepening and widening influence in terms of realising a better, safer and more secure future for every one on Earth.
The Federal High Court, Lagos has ordered the interim attachment of funds allegedly belonging to an oil company, Ontario Oil and Gas, over alleged fraudulent sale of refined petroleum.
The Federal High Court in Lagos
The trial judge, Hadiza Shagari, made the order, following an ex parte application filled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking attachment of the funds.
The commission, in the application marked FHC/L/CS/1464/17, joined as first and second respondents respectively, Ontario Oil and Gas Limited and Mrs. Ada Ugo-Ngadi (Managing Director of Ontario).
EFCC’s affidavit of urgency endorsed by an investigating officer, Mr Abdukarim Acheneje, in support of the ex parte motion, said: “That the EFCC received a petition from one Barrister Joan Ganadanu against the second respondent, complaining of fraud, diversion and conversion of proceeds of sale of refined petroleum products valued at N1.96 billion.
“That the petition alleged that the first respondent is a customer to Union Bank Plc, of Stallion Plaza Branch, Marina Lagos.
“That Union Bank granted a loan facility to the first respondent in the tune of $70 million to import and/or purchase locally refined petroleum products PMS, DPK and AGO.
“That the loan was to be repaid from sale of the products and the second respondent guaranteed repayment of the said loan personally.”
Acheneje also swore that further investigations revealed that the respondents have lifted the product on the order financed by the bank for 10,000 metric tons of AGO, since July 2016, adding that the respondents have sold same, but have refused to lodge the proceeds in the company’s account and pay back the facility to Union Bank.
His words: “That the respondent have refused to authorise Union Bank to repossess the unloaded order of PMS from the Petroleum Products Marketing Company; that the respondents have breached the terms of transactions between them and Union Bank.
“That investigations reveals that the respondents instead, diverted the funds to the account of Renoir Logistics Limited and intelligence further reveals that Ontario oil and Gas has an outstanding 15,000 metric tons of DPK and 5,000 metric tons of PMS.
“That intelligence report gathered shows that the respondents are at the verge of dispensing with the said properties and that the order of the court is urgently needed to attach the property mentioned in paragraph nine.
“That unless the application is urgently heard and determined, the respondent will tamper with the property sought to be attached.”
Consequently, Justice Shagari held: “Upon reading the affidavit in support of the ex parte originating summons, and after hearing Nkereuwem Anana, counsel for the applicant moved in terms of the application. It is hereby ordered as follows: “That the property mentioned in paragraph nine of the affidavit viz, Renoir Logistics Limited currently under investigation be interim attached/forfeited pending the determination of the investigation and possible prosecution of the case.
“That the said property attached/forfeited, ad-interim be managed and controlled by the EFCC.”
The National Industrial Court (NIC) in Lagos has awarded the sum of N10.3 million against Lagos Travel Inn over a disabling injury suffered by one of its employees, Mr Emmanuel Abah, in the course of his duties.
The National Industrial Court
Justice J. D Peters held that the NIC was a court of law and also of equity, which is governed by the rule of law.
The court noted that, with the damage done to the leg of the claimant, there was no market where he could purchase a new leg.
The court accordingly awarded the sum of N10.3 million against the defendant, as damages for the injury suffers by claimant.
The judge also awarded interest of 20 percent on the judgment sum from date of judgment until the said sum is fully liquidated.
The court ordered that the judgment should be complied with within 30 days.
Counsel to Abah, Mr. Daniel Onwe, had commenced the suit marked NICN/LA/548/14, in November 2014, on behalf of the claimant.
Abah is seeking declarative reliefs, that the termination of his appointment due to his condition is wrongful and unfair.
In an affidavit in support of his suit, Abah avers that he was offered appointment in the defendant’s security department on March 3, 2012.
He said that he was absorbed into the defendant’s housekeeping department with effect from May 1, 2012.
The claimant avers that the lift at the defendant had been dilapidated, malfunctioning, noisy and on several occasions had trapped its occupant.
He contends that the management of the defendant had, at all material time, been aware of the state of the said lift, but had urged it’s staffs to use same to avoid notice from visitors.
He asserts that, on November 13, 2013, he was discharging his duties and accordingly was to use the said lift from the ground floor to clean the rooms upstairs.
He said that as he stepped his left foot onto the floor of the lift while lifting his cleaning materials, the lift swiftly took off in the upward direction with the doors trapping his left leg, pulling and dangling him headlong.
He said that his ankle-bone was crushed against the over-head concrete lintel causing a disabling injury, while he was rushed to the hospital.
He averred that on his resumption to work on July 1, 2014, he was reluctantly admitted and redeployed to the laundry section.
He said that he subsequently applied to the defendant for a loan of N40,000 to enable him defray the sum outstanding treatment expenses, but his application was ignored.
The claimant contends that on July 12, 2014 (almost two weeks after resumption), he received a letter from the defendant, terminating his appointment, without any reason.
Mr Emeka Arinze, a suspected accomplice of alleged Kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike also known as Evans, on Monday, October 16, 2017 sued the Police before a Federal High Court, Lagos seeking his immediate release from detention.
Evans
Arinze, in the suit, filed on his behalf by Mr. Ogedi Ogu is claiming the sum of N100 million and a public apology from the police, jointly and severally, for infringement on his fundamental rights.
Joined as respondents in the suit are the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police in the Lagos State Police Command and one Inspector Christian who is IPO SARS.
Ogu is seeking a declaration that the arrest and detention of the applicant without any order validly made in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended), is unlawful and illegal.
He is seeking an order of the honourable Court, directing and mandating the respondents to produce the applicant before the court.
In an affidavit of urgency sworn to by one Mrs Nkem Nwaka (younger sister of the applicant), she averred that the applicant was arrested on June 27, at Festac Town in Lagos, by the third respondent and taken to the office of the second respondent.
She said that he has, since then, been so detained in custody.
She averred that, since his arrest, the applicant has been kept in solitary confinement, and has been denied access to his medications, family and lawyers.
The deponent averred that since the applicant was taken into custody, he is yet to be informed of his offence till date, and the respondent have refused to give reasons for the continued detention of the applicant.
She averred that the applicant has been in the custody of the respondents for over three months now, without any formal charge.
According to her, the applicant’s fundamental rights as guaranteed under Sections 35 (4) and 36 (4) (5) of the 1999 Constitution have been violated.
She further swore that the applicant is a hypertensive and second-degree diabetic patient, whose health is now in serious jeopardy.
The applicant’s counsel is, accordingly, seeking an order of the court, releasing the applicant forthwith.
He also seeks an order, directing the respondents to pay, jointly and severally, the sum of N100 million to the applicant, being damages for the breach of his fundamental rights as protected under sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Ogu also seeks an order, mandating the respondents to render a public apology to the applicant for violently violating the provisions of Section 35 (4) (a) of the 1999 Constitution which provisions constitute an integral part of the applicant’s fundamental rights.
No date has been fixed for hearing of the new suit.
Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos has dismissed the “no case” submission filed by the embattled former director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi, and others.
The Federal High Court in Lagos
The court instead held that they should go and defend themselves in the alleged N2.6 billion fraud leveled against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Akpobolokemi and five other co-defendants, Ezekiel Agaba, Ekene Nwakuche, Governor Juan and two firms, Blockz and Stonz Ltd and Al-Kenzo Logistic Ltd., are facing charges bordered on the allegations.
The judge ordered them to enter their defence on October 30.
Justice Buba said the arguments on the no-case submission by defence counsel, Dr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN), was without merit and upheld the argument of the EFCC through its counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, who maintained that a prima facie case had been established against the defendants.
Justice Buba held: “From the evidence of the first prosecution witness, it is well established that all the defendants have a case to answer.
“The exhibits tendered and testimonies of other witnesses have established that there is a prima facie case against the defendants. I see no merit in this application. This application lacks merit, so, it is overruled. The defendants should open their defence to prove their innocence.”
On December 4, 2015 the EFCC arraigned the defendants on a 22-count charge of diverting N2.6 billion from NIMASA coffers between December 2013 and May 2015.
The anti-graft agency claimed that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan approved the release of the funds for the implementation of a security project.
The alleged offences contravene Section 8 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
The defendants pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution closed its case after calling 12 witnesses.
But the defendants, rather than open their defence, filed no-case submissions, claiming that the EFCC failed to link their clients with the alleged funds diversion.
“Now that we have a law in place, drought and diseases will become history as we will be able to apply modern technology backed by research for better yields,” this is the kind of excitement Joseph Katushabe, a farmer in Ibanda district in western Uganda, expressed upon hearing that Parliament passed the National Biotechnology and Biosafety (NBB) Bill, 2012.
Farmer Joseph Katushabe attending to his tomato garden in Ibanda district in Western Uganda. Photo credit: Hope Mafaranga
The controversial Bill, which was passed at the beginning of October 2017, has been on and off the shelves since 2012, leaving both politicians and scientists divided.
Among the clauses that were controversial included transporting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for export or import without the approval of a competent authority will become criminal in Uganda.
Defaulters risked paying a fine of 2.4 million Uganda shillings or be jailed for five years.
Katushabe, other farmers and scientists will be able to use technology in farming, after the Bill that is now awaiting the President Yoweri Museveni’s signature to become law without any legal fear.
Ugandan Parliament where Members of Parliament (MPs) sat and passed the Bill
If the president signs it into law, it will consolidate all regulatory frameworks that facilitate the safe development and application of biotechnology by establishing a competent authority, designating a national focal point, a national biosafety committee, institutional biosafety committees and also providing mechanisms to regulate research and the general release of GMOs.
Biotechnology is a technique that uses living organisms or substances from living organisms to have or modify a product, improve plants, animal breeds or micro-organisms for specific purposes. Biosafety means safe development, transfer, application and utilisation of biotechnology and its products.
While presenting the report of science and technology committee that studied the bill, the chairperson, Kafeero Ssekitoleko, said Uganda has no specific law regulating the development and use of modern biotechnology, it had, on the other hand, ratified a number of international treaties, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1993 and the Cartagena Protocol Biosafety of 2001.
“Our scientists are working for Uganda to own its patents and technology so that we are not obliged to foreigners,” Sekitoleko said.
The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, whom the country is waiting for to sign the Bill into Law
The Bill gave a green light to the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNSCT) as the competent authority for biotechnology and biosafety that will approve the development, testing and use of GMOs.
Dr. Peter Ndemere, also Executive Secretary of UNCST, said biotechnology is very critical with many exciting products being developed especially in agriculture in trying to address food security, climate change and nutritional needs.
Dr. Ndemere also said GMOs have been used in Uganda for many years by several industries to process wine and beer, cheese and yoghurt, bread, extraction of cobalt and welcome it a positive thing to enhance food security and fight crop diseases and pests.
“With law in place, our food insecurity worries and climate change challenges are solved. We are proud that the policy that started in 2008 transformed into a Bill in 2012 is finally becoming a law,” he said.
The UNSCT will work alongside the Ministry for Water and Environment which will act as the national focal point for the purposes of the Cartagena Protocol, the registrar of biotechnology and biosafety and institutional biosafety committees.
The advocates of the Bill note that GMOs have the potential to boost food, fuel and fiber production, which will accelerate economic growth and foreign exchange earnings, like in South Africa and Burkina Faso.
Dr. Barbara Zawedde Mugwanga, the co-coordinator of the Uganda Biosciences Information Centre said the passing of the Bill means that the country can regulate what is coming in.
“We can now also choose what we want to use in modern biotechnology in agriculture, medicine, environment management and medicine,” she said.
Dr. Godfrey Asea, the director of National Crops Resources Research Institute, Namulonge in Wakiso district, congratulated Parliament for passing the Bill.
“I am happy that we have a legal framework to conduct research outside the institutes,” he said.
The Bill was passed a few after the Agri-Biotechnology and Biosafety Communications (ABBC) (2017 Africa Symposium) held in Uganda recently.
Dr. Margaret Karembu, director, ISAAA
The symposium that was organised by a consortium of partners led by the Africa Biosafety Network of Expertise in partnership with UNCST, Uganda Biosciences Information Center (UBIC), and the International Service for the acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and the Programme for Biosafety Systems (PBS) had called upon parliament to pass it to give a better working environment to scientists.
Dr. Margaret Karembu, the director ISAAA, said agriculture continues to remain the backbone of many African economies which is facing several constraints including climate change, pests and diseases.
“Adoption of new technologies like genetically engineered crops will offer an opportunity for advancement an addressing these challenges,” she said
Dr. ELlioda Tumwesigye, minister of science, technology and innovation, said Uganda boasts of having the best research scientists on the continent especially in the areas of agriculture in general and biotechnology in particular.
He further noted that the Government of Uganda is aware of this fact hence continues to create enabling environment for scientist and innovators to excel in order to have a vibrant technology and science driven society.
Prof. Yaye Gassama, the former Minister and Vice-chair Senegal Academy of Science, said biotech has set deep roots in lives of people, causing new paradigms.
“We need to capture this favorable momentum to communicate the benefits of biotech,” she noted.
Christopher Kibazanga, the state minister of agriculture, said the sector plays a central role in in economic growth, development and poverty alleviation in Uganda which is key to why ‘Vision 2040’ and the National Development Plan.
Kibazanga stated that the majority of the Ugandan population depends directly or indirectly on agriculture which has a huge potential to transform Uganda’s economy.
Describing the country’s biotech research capacity, the minister said institutions like National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and Makerere University among others are producing important novel technologies to improve farm productivity.
He said such technologies should be promoted adding that ignoring such research and innovations would mean nullifying the efforts of the country’s scientists.
Citing some of the ag-biotech research on-going in the country especially on key food security crops such as cassava, banana and maize, Kibazanga said there was evidence from research conducted by NARO showing that modern biotechnology can be used to address some of the most difficult constraints in crop and animal agriculture.
The Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) has donated an ultra-modern ICT Centre and science laboratories to African Church Community Secondary School in Ewupe, a community hosting the company’s facilities in Ota area of Ogun State.
L-R: Operations Manager, Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG), Mr. Niyi Salami; Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs. Modupe Mujota; and SNG Managing Director, Mr. Ed Ubong, at the formal handover of science laboratories and ICT centre to African Church Community Secondary School in Ewupe Ota by SNG… last Tuesday.
The donation was the second phase of SNG’s intervention in the school to bring it to a competitive standard. The company had in 2016 donated a block of five classrooms, a 12-room stand-alone toilet facility, school water system, upgraded football field, and a rehabilitated five blocks of 19 classrooms for shared use by the school and the co-located Ebenezer African Church Primary School in the first phase of the intervention.
“Our goal is to support government and other relevant agencies to close the gap of educational inequality between pupils of public schools and their counterparts in private schools,” Managing Director of SNG, ED Ubong, said at a ceremony marking the completion and handover of the projects to Ogun State government.
“We recognise education as the topmost need of the people of our neighboring communities and what we have done is a progression of our longstanding support to the school and to the communities,” Ubong added.
Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs. Modupe Mujota, who received the facilities on behalf of the state, commended SNG’s investment in public schools in the community and charged the students to take full advantage of the facilities to “upscale their academic performance and competitive exploits”.
“This singular act of Shell Nigeria Gas depicts the company’s fulfillment of its social responsibility for the development of its host communities and is worthy of emulation by others,” she said.
In his remarks, the school principal, Mr. Gbolahan Adekunjo, acknowledged the improved academic standard and the growing number of enrolment in the school following the series of upgrade by SNG. “The interventions have resulted in an enabling environment for teaching and learning and the impact is felt by the students, staff, parents and catchment communities.”
The Chairman Community Development Association Ewupe, Alhaji Monsuru Akande, thanked SNG on behalf of the community and appealed to the state government to continue to create the enabling environment for SNG and other companies to support education in the state.
Shell Nigeria Gas Limited is a fully owned Shell company for the downstream distribution of gas to industries in Nigeria. SNG currently operates a gas transmission and distribution network of approximately 115km and serves industrial customers in Ota, Ogun State and Aba in Abia State.
