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Pinnick thanks Dalung, Super Eagles improve in rankings

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Pinnick thanks Dalung, Super Eagles improve in rankings

Executives of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), led by the president, Amaju Pinnick, have paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, thanking him and Nigerians in general for their support in the last CAF elections.

Amanju Pinnick
NFF President, Amaju Pinnick

Pinnick won a place on the CAF Executive Committee during the elections.

Pinnick said his victory would not have been possible without the backing of the minister and the good people of Nigeria.

“Our visit is to say ‘Thank you’ for the support you gave us, when we embarked on the journey. You encouraged us to go and conquer and make sure we get ourselves into the continental body, as Nigeria is too big not to be part of such body,” Pinnick stated.

In his response, Dalung, on behalf of the federal government, urged Pinnick to use his new position in CAF to better the lot of Nigerian football.

“You must put to  bare not only your wealth of influence, but you must exert the corporate integrity of Nigeria, anywhere you find yourself taking decision that affects the country,” Dalung said, calling on the NFF authority to, as a matter of urgency, attend to decadence of football facilities in the country.

Meanwhile, the latest football rankings released by FIFA on Thursday, April 6, 2107 came as good news to Nigeria following the Super Eagles’ rise to 40th position in the world and 5th in Africa.
Nigeria picked up points from the 1-1 draw against Senegal in London to move one spot in the latest rankings and also behind Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso in Africa’s top five.

Cameroon, who is the next opponent of the Super Eagles, is still ranked higher than the German Gernot Rohr-tutored team, but the Eagles are ranked higher than fellow World Cup qualifier group rivals Algeria and Zambia, who are ranked 54th and 97th respectively.

South Africa, Libya and Seychelles who are group rivals to Nigeria in the race to 2019 AFCON are ranked 64th, 91st and 196th respectively.

The 2019 AFCON qualifiers start in June.

In a related development, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) has suspended the referee who officiated the match between Gombe United and Rivers United on Saturday, April 2, until the end of the season. Referee Salafa Agboola had disallowed the goal scored by Rivers United by Asamoah Godbless in the 84th minute decided at the Pantani Stadium, Gombe.

Secretary to the Referee’s Committee of the NFF, Sanni Zebai, on Wednesday reached a decision that Agboola of Osun State Referees Council be suspended till the end of the season.

Zebai added that the decision to suspend Agboola was as a result of poor handling and sheer display of incompetence which affected the outcome of the match.
He added that video clips and report of Referee Assessors found the referee wanting in the discharge of his duties, which also revealed gross abuse of the Law of the Game in the said match.

The sanctioned referee has been recommended to the Disciplinary Committee for further action.

By Felix Simire 

Quimbo dam: Colombian environmental activists make headway in legal battle

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Quimbo dam: Colombian environmental activists make headway in legal battle

One of the two charges being brought against Colombian environmental defenders, Elsa Ardila and Prof. Miller Dussan of the Association of those Affected by the Quimbo Megadam Project (ASOQUIMBO), has been dropped. This was the outcome of court proceedings on Thursday, March 30, 2017 in Garzon, Huila, Colombia.

quimbo-protest
Quimbo dam protest

Both defenders have been facing legal proceedings initiated by Emgesa, the Colombian subsidiary of Italian energy transnational Enel, in relation to their community organising work to resist the Quimbo mega hydroelectric project.

As such, the leaders have spent the past five years living with criminal charges hanging over them. In the first case, Ardila and Dussan stand accused of “obstructing public roads and affecting public order”, following a protest in relation to damages made by the company to local infrastructure. Miller Dussan also faces a second, heavier charge of eight years imprisonment for “instigating the occupation of land” owned by the corporation. Taken together, these charges carry a combined maximum sentence of 16 years for the two leaders.

In October 2016 ASOQUIMBO’s lawyer, German Romero, requested for the first of these charges to be dropped, arguing that those involved in the incident were exercising their constitutional rights to peaceful protest. The Public Prosecutor also later supported this request during proceedings on February 22, 2017.

 

The first case: Dropped

During Thursday’s one hour hearing, the Judge, in turn, also accepted these arguments and duly upheld Ardila and Dussan’s right to social protest. The case for “obstructing public roads and affecting public order” has now been closed.

Romero made the following remarks after the hearing: “This result proves two things. One, that EMGESA’s attempt to attack ASOQUIMBO’s environmental leaders with judicial harassment tactics has failed and, secondly, that the ASOQUIMBO protest was perfectly legitimate and in accordance with Colombian constiutional norms.”

Local communities in Huila joined together to form ASOQUIMBO back in 2009 to resist the construction of Enel-Emgesa’s Quimbo megadam on the Magdalena River. Through a series of conferences, direct actions and art installations – amongst other interventions – ASOQUIMBO succeeded in shining a light on the gravity of the environmental and human impacts associated with the hydroelectric project. Going beyond local concerns, ASOQUIMBO continues to question the broader mining-energy politics in Colombia and beyond. The movement’s demands are, amongst others, for the construction of localised, sovereign and autonomous politics that respond to the real needs of local communities and that is based upon clean energy alternatives. They also demand an end to the judicial (and of other forms of) persecution being brought against its members.

This decision is said to mark a win for hundreds and thousands of environmental defenders across Colombia and Latin America who are facing forced evictions, brutality and criminal charges for their resistance to the relentless advance of extractivist projects into their communities.

Professor Dussán said: “This shows that international solidarity is effective at blocking these attempts to undermine social protest by means of judicial harassment, and this is an example to follow in other resistente struggles. We have to mobilise locally and connect our efforts to these acts of international solidarity this is how we can make real progress, as the dropping of charges against ASOQUIMBO clearly demonstrates.”

 

The second case: Ongoing

Although there is cause to celebrate, there also remains work ahead in ensuring that ASOQUIMBO’s leaders are free from persecution. Professor Miller Dussan still faces a second legal charge for “instigating the occupation of lands” as a result of allegations made by Enel-Emgesa. This charge could see the 67-year-old academic locked up for up to eight years.

In response to civil society pressure on the multinational to drop all charges, Emgesa-Enel released a statement on February 21, affirming its intention to “waive any further pending claim” against the leaders of ASOQUIMBO. The corporation also stated that it “has has no interest in a fight with Asoquimbo”.

Although this is said to represent progress for the international campaign and Enel-Emgesa’s words on the judicial persecution of local leaders represent an encouraging next step, they now need to be translated into action.

The El Quimbo Dam is a concrete faced rock-fill dam and hydroelectric power project under development in the Huila Department of southwestern-central Colombia, approximately 69 kilometres south of the city of Neiva, on the Magdalena River. It is valued at $837 million.

Nearly 450 families were evicted from their lands and resettled on less fertile plots of land to allow the filling of the dam’s reservoir. The evicted farmers and their families have reportedly found few employment opportunities in their new homes, and they are said to be finding it difficult to renew their previous occupations of fishing and agriculture.

Emgesa has been accused of failing to conduct a study on the environmental viability of the project. The dam was also allegedly built in a seismic zone, and from the beginning downstream communities have feared that earthquakes could cause dam breakage.

Women activists reject EU’s interference in Africa energy scheme

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Women activists reject EU’s interference in Africa energy scheme

African women civil society operatives have rejected the European Union’s “unnecessary meddling” in the Africa’s Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI).

Titilope-Akosa
Titilope Akosa of the Centre for 21st Century Issues

In a statement made available to EnviroNews on Saturday, April 8 2017, the activists expressed concern at “the manner in which some European countries, France in particular, influenced some African leaders to hastily approve projects without having a transparent process with social, environmental and gender criteria in place.”

At a board meeting in March 2017 in Conakry, the European Commission and France are alleged to have colluded with some African countries to repackage existing European Union projects for Africa, but which did not originate from Africa, as first batch of projects to be approved by AREI.

The statement, endorsed by Priscilla Achakpa (Women Environment Programme), Collette Benoudji (Association Lead Tchad) and Titilope Akosa (Centre for 21st Century Issues), reads: “The way and manner these projects were introduced and approved – by bypassing AREI’s process being developed for social and environmental criteria – is a very negative sign, setting the entire process off on a negative footing, refusing African people’s transparent decision making, and entirely against the principles by which AREI was created.

“African women insist that European Union cannot dictate for Africans over any issue, especially the one concerning universal access to clean, appropriate and affordable energy for all.

“Women are particularly concerned about the unnecessary interference by European Union and France particularly as it can jeopardise the noble objective of AREI in providing people-centered and gender-responsive clean energy solutions capable of addressing the chronic energy poverty which affects women in Africa disproportionately.

“African women join their voices with other civil society organisations in Africa to condemn the undue interference of European Union in AREI. African women stand for a strong and independent AREI, with full and meaningful participation of women’s organisations in all levels of the decision-making processes.”

GMOs: Is Nigeria ready to kill another environmentalist?

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GMOs: Is Nigeria ready to kill another environmentalist?

In this article, the context of the Government of Nigeria (GON) and its agencies killing a truth-seeking environmentalist is (a) physical as in murder, execution, assassination or driving one to suicide. Or (b) psychological as in breaking one’s spirit, discrediting one’s name, ruining one’s career; being a victim of government-sponsored attack dogs. Ken Saro-Wiwa a major Nigerian environmentalist suffered such a fate.

Nnimmo-Bassey
Nnimmo Bassey

It would not be paranoia or scaremongering to be concerned that the GON are after yet another environmentalist, Rev Nnimmo Bassey. The question is to what extent, considering the beginnings of similar trends and actions in the past. “Discredit him then kill him” is an old tactic. It should be taken seriously.

When I read an article purposefully written and published to smear Nnimmo Bassey as being guilty of “misleading” the public and “unpatriotic” activism just for pecuniary sake, I was shocked at the evolution of blamocracy happening within the current GON (https://www.environewsnigeria.com/biotech-agencies-nirec-report-unpatriotic-activism/).

Yes, Nigeria is now replete with Blamocrats, within and without government, that purposefully attack any critic of government regardless of the degree of necessity of the critique or the failure of the GON to adequately live up to its duties and commitments. Nnimmo Bassey wrote a befitting rebuttal to the attacking article (http://nigeriancurrent.com/2017/03/20/biotechnology-scientists-experts-government-agencies-and-patriotism-by-nnimmo-bassey/) but much concern for his safety and future had already been triggered in many people. The easily evoked chill of his buddy, Saro-Wiwa’s execution has not thawed in the minds of millions around the globe.

A smear is an attempt to damage a person with falsehoods; a criticism is an expression of disapproval about an entity or person based on real or imagined failures or mistakes. They are not the same thing. The basis for the smear levelled against Bassey was that he was the main architect of the National Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) Report and that he was critical of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) and the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA). What is quite interesting is that the scientific contents of the NIREC Report were not discussed by the author who chose to adopt a non-scientific non-rational discourse instead.

Reason: anyone who reads the NIREC Report would see the committee is constituted of noted high calibre thinkers, the issues raised were fact-driven and relevant to Nigeria’s interest, the methodology adopted was evidence-based, and the report was impeccably reference.

The NIREC Report is an evidence-based investigation into claims and counterclaims concerning the implications of the introduction of GMOs into Nigeria using appropriate scientific methodology. The scientific findings were then tested for compatibility with religious beliefs and the national interest. The theme of the Report can be reasonably narrowed down to 10 important crucial questions and rational recommendations for them. The questions are:

  • Do GM crops increase crop yield?
  • Do GM crops reduce pesticide use?
  • What are the effects of GM crops on human health?
  • What are the benefits of GM bio-fortification for our otherwise natural crops?
  • What are the long-term effects of GM crops on the environment; and the way forward?
  • What deficiencies were identified in the current Biosafety Act 2015?
  • What deficiencies were identified in the National Health Act 2014?
  • Are there concerns with the distribution of GM crops to IDPs by NGOs?
  • Which are the GM crops currently sold or cultivated in Nigeria?
  • What are the religious, socio-cultural and national interest implications of use of GM crops?

A summary of the evidence-based answers was that GMO did not increase crop yield, GMOs did not reduce pesticide use, pests were not necessarily eradicated but mere swapped by introducing GMOs, GMOs carried serious potential health risks, the future of the environment in the long-term was uncertain in the presence of GMOs, the Biosafety Act of 2015 and the Health Act 2014 required significant revision to eliminate deficiencies in them and areas where GMOs are bought and sold should be identified. All these recommendations where developed with adherence the provisions and expectations of a clearly defined religious (Christian and Islamic) and broad-based national interest concerns. Finally, more research into GMOs was required before the claims of the advantages of GMOs could be taken seriously.

What is so unpatriotic, venal or self-serving about the NIREC Report and its alleged architect Nnimmo Bassey, considering these the salience of the questions and recommendations as presented? If the contents of the NIREC Report are scientifically or morally unsound, would a rebuttal(s) based on cogent scientific evidence to the contrary not be the rational professional response?

The concerns about biosafety and GMOs are global. More and more nations are resisting or banning GMOs but Nigeria is once again shaping as the willing “toilet of the world”. Before any indignation is expressed, do not forget Nigeria is Number 1 in oil pollution, gas flaring, desktop computer dumping and the growth rate in tobacco smoking in the world with growing generous help from foreign large corporations.

Furthermore, members of NIREC complained that members of NABDA and NBMA appeared to be uninterested in the focus of biosafety in Nigeria or lacked the capacity to be so, categorically saying they have not live up to expectation as development agencies for biosafety in Nigeria. It also cited the agencies’ conflicts of interest regarding GMO companies. Many can understand that suggesting that scientists are corrupt is something they do not take lightly even if it is proven.

We can speculate that this smear attack on Nnimmo Bassey might have been the “Revenge of the Scientists”. Others have seen it as something far more serious and dreading an unsafe and uncertain future for Nnimmo Bassey in Nigeria.

The great thing is that Nnimmo Bassey is no stranger to threats resulting from his stoic and fearless approach to fighting environmental issues in Nigeria and all around the world very effectively. He would certainly not be perturbed personally but so many are concerned for him.

The GON and its agencies must know millions are watching.

By Grimot Nane (UK-based political economist and editor of Grimot Nane Zine)

Meningitis deaths report false – Lagos

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Meningitis deaths report false – Lagos

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, has said that the alleged death of two persons from Cerebro Spinal Meningitis in the state is untrue.

Jide-Idris
Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris

The Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) had on Friday, April 7, 2017 released statistics which claimed that meningitis killed two people in the state.

The statistics also indicated that three cases were recorded in the state so far.

A statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Adeola Salako, on Sunday, April 9, 2017 quoted the commissioner as saying that the report was false and capable of causing undue panic.

Idris was quoted as saying: “The report carried by some newspapers and online platforms is untrue and does not represent the reality of the situation in Lagos State as at today.

“For the avoidance of doubt, there are two main types of meningitis.

“The epidemic prone meningitis, which is referred to as Cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM), is caused by a bacteria called Neisseria Meningitides.

“Its occurrence is seasonal or cyclical, depending on the level of herd immunity and climatic conditions.

“The second type of meningitis is Non-Epidemic Meningitis, which is usually caused by a virus or other bacteria, but not by Neisseria Meningitides.

“The Non-epidemic meningitis occurs without any seasonal pattern or periodicity.”

The commissioner said a Disease Surveillance Notification Officer in the Lagos Island Local Government had sometime in March reported nine suspected cases of meningitis from Massey Street Children Hospital with two deaths.

He said, however, that none of these was confirmed as due to CSM.

Idris added: “Although, all the nine cases presented with clinical features of meningitis at that hospital, laboratory tests proved that they were either due to Haemophilus influenza or Streptococcus pneumoniae and not Neisseria meningitides.

“The ministry was also notified last week of a three-year-old boy, presenting clinically as meningitis at a registered private facility in Lagos, but the laboratory investigations did not confirm CSM.

“The blood culture yielded no growth but the urine culture yielded Klebsiella and not meningococcus; the patient is already responding to treatment.

“None of these cases, presented with a history of recent travel to any area with an outbreak of meningitis and neither were visits from such areas recorded with the aforementioned cases.”

Idris urged the public to observe a high standard of personal and environmental hygiene as a preventive measure against the outbreak of the disease.

He said such hygiene measures should include washing of hands with soap and water frequently and thoroughly.

He said: “Also, avoid direct contact with the discharges from an infected person and covering of mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.

“It is strongly advised that people should avoid overcrowding in living quarters, provide cross ventilation in sleeping and work-rooms and other places where many people come together.

“People should get vaccinated with CSM vaccine when they travel to areas where meningitis outbreaks have been reported.”

Idris said people should support the government efforts in its resolve to prevent the spread of the epidemic to the state.

Such support, he said, should include reporting suspected cases to the nearest public health facility.

“There is no need to panic; we will continue with our surveillance activities, constantly review our records and brief the public from time to time,” Idris added.

The NCDC also revealed that the death toll nationwide has increased to 438, and that 19 states have been affected.

According to a statistics on the death toll from the NCDC, Zamfara State tops the list of those with highest number of deaths since the disease broke out in Nigeria.

The statistics further revealed that the number of suspected cases three days ago has risen from 2,997 to 3,959.

The agency in a statement by its spokesman, Lawal Bakare, explained that the increase in number of cases was due to intensified case-finding going on in the affected states.

The NCDC said of the three cases recorded in Lagos State, two have died, while the other was still under monitoring.

According to the agency, as at April 5, a total of 3,959 cases with 438 deaths have been reported and 181 laboratory confirmed cases.

The statement by Bakare added: “Meningitis outbreaks are currently reported in 19 States with five States mostly affected (Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto in the North-West zone and Niger in the North-Central zone of Nigeria).”

The NCDC said in order to tackle the scourge, a reactive vaccination campaign has commenced in Zamfara State, with massive turnout in all the targeted communities.

It said a joint team of NCDC, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and partners have stormed Zamfara State to provide medical care for the residents.

Aspirin use can reduce risk of cancer, study finds

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Aspirin use can reduce risk of cancer, study finds

Long-term use of aspirin is associated with lower risk of dying from various types of cancers, including colorectal, lung, breast and prostate cancer, according to a study presented at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting on Monday, April 3, 2017.

Aspirin
Aspirin

The longitudinal study analysed the association of aspirin, with varied doses and duration of use, on overall mortality risks and mortality risks from cancer over a nearly 32-year period. Previous studies have shown that aspirin prevents cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer, particularly colorectal cancer, and seems to reduce the risk of dying from cancer. This large study with long-term follow-up was one of the first to examine the potential benefits of different doses and durations of aspirin use.

“Evidence suggests that aspirin not only reduces the risk of developing cancer, but may also play a strong role in reducing death from cancer,” said Yin Cao, the lead author of the study and an instructor in Medicine, Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Researchers followed 86,206 women in the Nurses’ Health Study from 1980 to 2012 and 43,977 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1986 to 2012. Baseline aspirin use was recorded and then researchers followed up on aspiring use every two years after that.

Reductions in overall mortality risks and mortality risk from cancer were observed at dosages of aspirin ranging from half a standard aspirin tablet per week to seven tablets per week. Benefits on cancer mortality were observed for people who took 0.5 to 1.5 standard tablets per week. People who took two to seven tablets per week had an even greater risk reduction in cancer mortality. However, people who took more than seven tablets appear to have substantially fewer benefits. The dose response was not linear, Cao said.

Researchers hypothesised that the reduction in mortality risk from cancer was because of the anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties of aspirin. The anticoagulant property that prevents clots from forming in the body might also prevent cancerous cells that break away from tumors from sticking to other areas in the body and growing into metastatic tumors. The anti-inflammatory property of aspirin might also prevent tumor growth.

During the study period, 22,094 of the women and 14,749 of the men died. Among all those who died, 8,271 women and 4,591 men died of cancer, the study found.

Overall mortality risk rates among men and women who used aspirin compared to those who did not were 11 percent and 7 percent lower, respectively. Mortality risk from cancer was 7 percent lower for women and 15 percent lower for men who used aspirin compared to those who did not, the study found.

The largest reduction in mortality risk was for colorectal cancer, with a 31 percent reduction for women and 30 percent for men who regularly took aspirin. Women who took aspirin were also at an 11 percent lower risk of dying from breast cancer, whereas men who took aspirin had a 23 percent lower risk of dying from prostate cancer, the study found.

“What they have done is a nice next-step approach where they are looking at a much larger number of individuals than we have been able to do so before in terms of aspirin use,” said Margie Clapper, deputy scientific officer at Fox Chase Cancer Centre, who was not part of the study, “but we have to keep in mind when we take this to the public, the risk versus the benefit,”

Although aspirin has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes, daily aspirin use is known to increase the likelihood of gastrointestinal bleeding.

“We have to make sure that individuals understand that chronic use may not be for everyone, that one size does not fit all,” Clapper said.

By Jia Naqvi, The Washington Post

Propertymart aligns with World Bank recommendation on addressing housing crisis

Michael Simire
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Propertymart aligns with World Bank recommendation on addressing housing crisis

With a population of about 173 million people, Nigeria is the largest country in Africa and accounts for 47% of West Africa’s population. It is also the biggest oil exporter in Africa, with the largest natural gas reserves in the continent. The challenging process of implementing reforms was revitalised through a Roadmap developed in 2010, which clearly outlines the government’s strategy and actions for implementing comprehensive power sector reforms to expand supply, open the door to private investment and address some of the chronic sector issues hampering improvement of service delivery – one of which is housing.

jim-yong-kim
World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim

Nigeria’s population is growing and moving into urban areas rapidly. This puts a double strain on existing housing resources. Nigeria, just like many other countries of the world, is unable to keep up with the demand, and the result is burgeoning areas of informal housing, overcrowding, and slums.

Available statistics on Nigeria’s housing deficit paint a grim picture, with data (for 2014) from the World Bank and the National Bureau of Statistics agreeing that Nigeria has an estimated housing deficit of over 17 million units. With a population of almost 180 million, according to data from the United Nations, an annual population growth rate of 2.8 per cent (2015) and an annual urban population growth rate of 4.7 per cent, the nation needs to stop talking and start building.

This is more so as global trends show that the world is experiencing a housing crisis and various countries, especially in the global south, have approached the issue with the urgency it requires. According to UN statistics, about 1.6 billion people live in substandard housing globally, while over 100 million are homeless. Nigeria hosts an uncomfortably large percentage of these two, with over 100 million Nigerians considered to live in substandard housing.

Nigeria’s housing problems are severe; even by continental parameters. For instance, according to former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s size of mortgage finance (as a share of Gross Domestic Product) is 0.5%; compared to 2% for Ghana and same 2% for Botswana. In a paper – ‘Unleashing the Housing Sector in Nigeria and in Africa’, presented last year at the 6th Global Housing Finance Conference in Washington DC, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala also pointed out that these figures contrast sharply with estimated mortgage finance to GDP ratio of 80% for the UK, 77% for the USA and an average of 50% across Europe. Nigeria’s abysmal ranking on the mortgage finance scale show that the several mortgage financing initiatives by successive governments in the country have failed.

Other major factors for the country’s housing crisis include: the high cost of construction and an expensive cumbersome process of processing land documents and registering a property. In Nigeria, the high costs of skilled labour and building materials make the country one of the most expensive to build a house in.

According to the World Bank, addressing these challenges requires large-scale investment in housing production. The international organisation adds that governments alone cannot meet this burden, so private sector funds need to be channeled into housing investment. This requires a housing finance system to be functional for home buyers and real estate developers.

This fact was attested to by Acting Managing Director of Propertymart Real Estate Investment Limited, Mr Fasunwon Deji, who agreed with the World Bank notion that one of the key challenges is overcoming the obstacles to creating a functioning housing finance market. These obstacles may include lack of credit risk management tools, difficulties foreclosing on property, difficulties registering title and land, lack of capacity among lenders, affordability when interest rates and inflation are high; and, probably most critical of all, lack of access to long-term finance.

Mr Fasunwon says that another challenge is how to develop affordable housing solutions for lower and informal income groups, which is one of the priority areas of Propertymart, which is typified by the “Jewel Bungalows”, its newest initiative located within the exclusive Cranbel Court Estate in the New Makun City of the Ogun State Property and Investment Corporation (OPIC), along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Indeed, he adds that housing finance for the poor as well as supplying affordable housing will add up to creating systems that address the needs of households at different income levels, yet also building a system that can be sustained, scaled up, and oriented to the private sector.

Dangote’s life is an inspiration to many, says Tinubu

Michael Simire
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Dangote’s life is an inspiration to many, says Tinubu

Former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has congratulated astute businessman and philantrophist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on his 60th birthday, descibing him as an inspiration to many people.

Aliko-Dangote
Alhaji Aliko Dangote

Dangote clocks 60 on Monday, April 10, 2017. In a letter to Dangote personally signed by him, Asiwaju Tinubu commended the business mogul for his boldness and bravery in taking the business risks he took, which he said have now paid off.

The All Progressives National Congress (APC) national stalwart said Dangote has broken all business barriers and is now helping to industrialise Africa, with the operations of his Dangote Group in 17 African countries and beyond.

In the letter dated Sunday, April 9, 2017 and released in a statement by his Media Office, Tinubu said: “Dear Alhaji Dangote, my family and I congratulate you on your 60th birthday.

“Your life has been an inspiration to many. From a lowly background, you rose to the top by dint of hard work and perseverance.

“The boldness and bravery you demonstrated in taking the business risks you took have paid off.  You have shown that with resilience, we can always convert risks and challenges to opportunities.

“Today, you are that African man that has broken all barriers. With operations in over 17 African countries including Nigeria, the awesome Dangote Group you established is helping to industrialise Africa.

“You have made people and made lives a lot better through the employment opportunities you have created and your other humanitarian activities.

“I wish you many more years in life. I pray that Allah grants all you need to continue to impact the lives of many more people.”

Government to demarcate cattle routes nationwide

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Government to demarcate cattle routes nationwide

The Federal Government says that it will demarcate 6,000km cattle routes across the country in 2017.

Fulani-Herdsmen-Nigeria
Herdsmen grazing their cattle

Alhaji Mahmud Bello, the National Coordinator, Grazing Stock Routes, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Mararaba Dajin, Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

Bello said: “We are going to provide 6,000 kilometres of cattle routes across the country; we are going to open the primary routes first, while the state and local governments are expected to launch the secondary routes.

“By the time we identify the primary stock routes, being frequently used, we will develop them.

“All the same, all the states may not have an equal share of the routes; Bauchi may have 200 kilometres and Plateau may have 50 kilometres but we are going to spread it.”

Bello said that the cattle routes were aimed at boosting livestock production, adding that crop farming had benefited a lot from the agricultural policies of the previous administrations.

He said that the ministry would also improve the genetic resources of the indigenous cow, which was currently producing 1.5 litres of milk per day, to enable it to produce 25 litres of milk per day.

According to him, the new plans will prevent people, particularly farmers, from encroaching into stock routes, grazing areas and selling those areas that have been mapped out as graving reserves since 1962.

Bello said that dams, boreholes, grazing reserves, stock routes and other facilities, which the government had earlier provided for the pastoralists, would be handed over to them for optimal utilisation.

He noted that such facilities were hitherto abandoned by herdsmen who decided to migrate to other areas, thereby resulting in their clashes with farmers.

He said: “This time around, the Federal Government will strive to hand over all the facilities to the pastoralists so as to enable them to take care of them.

“Besides, we are going to develop 50 hectares of land as pasture development centres for seed multiplication in all the grazing reserves in the country.

“The centres will serve as seed banks for commercial pasture production, as part of the goals of the proposed youth empowerment programme.”

Bello recalled that the Federal Government had, in 2016, requested state governments to provide 5,000 hectares of land within their grazing reserves for commercial pasture production.

He said that when the pasture development project was executed, it would encourage pastoralists, who were migrating in search of pasture and water for their animals, to settle down in one place.

He said that in 2016, the ministry carried out a public sensitisation campaign on the programme in 10 states, adding that it was currently carrying out the campaign in five other states.

COP12 explores measures to curb consumption of ‘aquatic bushmeat’

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COP12 explores measures to curb consumption of ‘aquatic bushmeat’

Bothered by what it terms unsustainable consumption of the meat of some marine, coastal and estuarine animal species, a Swiss non-profit conservation organisation has called for measures to address the situation and save the animals from extinction.

manatee
Aquatic bushmeat: The West African manatee. Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows.

Some of the endangered animals regularly hunted and consumed as aquatic bushmeat include the manatee, five species of turtle, seven species of dolphin and one species of crocodile.

At a side-event during the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP12) to the Convention for Cooperation in the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Atlantic Coast of the West, Central and Southern Africa Region (or simply “Abidjan Convention”) that held March 27-31, 2017 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, OceanCare wants international mechanisms to wade in and give the issue a strategic focus.

The international mechanisms, according to OceanCare, are:

  • Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS),
  • Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES),
  • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), and
  • Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPSWM), a joint body of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

Ocean Policy Consultant to Oceancare, Joanna Toole, says that while the CMS and its regional agreements for marine turtles, marine mammals and waterbirds should provide the Abidjan Convention region with crucial support to both develop local solutions and to support negotiations with distant water fishing countries, the CITES and UNODC should consider the impact of international trade as a result of aquatic bushmeat.

“Importantly, the CPSWM must also pay attention, as they need to broaden the definition and discussion of bushmeat to formally encompass aquatic species and the impact of distant water industrialised fishing nets, so that the Abidjan Convention and Governments in the region can access resources to help them address this problem,” Ms. Toole stresses.

She adds that, at the regional level, OceanCare would love to see State Parties implementing the African Strategy to Combat Illegal and Unlawful Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora in Africa. “We believe that aquatic bushmeat is an important issue to be prioritised within the implementation of this strategy,” she submits.

Indeed, she wants a strategic partnership comprising concerned organisations, bodies and mechanisms, and led by the Abidjan Convention secretariat.

“An Action Plan developed by such a partnership would be the best way to incorporate all the different strands of work that should happen collaboratively to effectively address this critical conservation development issue of aquatic bushmeat,” she says.

Toole likewise underscores the need to reduce distant water industrialised fishing pressure on already impoverished people, who she says have little choice but turn in greater numbers to harvesting and consuming aquatic bushmeat.

The term “aquatic bushmeat” is derived as the aquatic equivalent of the terrestrial “bushmeat” – the meat of wild animals that has, for generations, been an important part of the diet of numerous indigenous and local communities in equatorial rainforest and savannah regions.

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