The Lagos State Government will in June award contract for the construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge, an official said on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.
An impression of the Fourth Mainland Bridge
The state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr Ade Akinsanya, gave the assurance at a ministerial press briefing at Alausa, Ikeja.
He said that the state was collating technical proposals and evaluating costs toward awarding contract.
Akinsanya said that committees had been set up to shop for quality contractors on the project.
“I do hope that before the end of May or June, we will announce the preferred bidder for the project.
“We are working very hard to select the appropriate and responsible contractor or partners that will execute the project.
“Before the end of the year, the project will commence,” he said.
The official said that the ministry was ready to partner with the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to ensure quality project execution in the state.
He also said that the Oshodi-Abule Egba Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane construction on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway was 55 per cent completed.
Akinsanya said that the project would be completed by October.
“The contractor is working day and night even at weekends to achieve this target.
“Bear with us, if there are inconveniences on the way; we are trying to minimise the inconveniences to accelerate the work,’’ he said.
The commissioner said that the state government was committed to quality project delivery and would address concerns of some badly constructed walkways.
“On the issue of the walkway from Cement Bus Stop, I will go and check.
“We will talk to the contractor and we will go there ourselves and verify.
“No shoddy work will be allowed; there is a specification; the contractor is required to adhere to the specification,” he said.
Mr Tobun Abiodun, Chairman, Committee on Works and Infrastructure, Lagos State House of Assembly, said that the ministry had done well in road, bridge and other constructions.
“Lagosians appreciate what the ministry is doing because they have witnessed good governance in the state,” he said.
Delegates from 95 countries comprising energy experts, government leaders, entrepreneurs and civil society have underlined the importance of deploying innovative solutions and technologies to fast-track the global energy transition.
German Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier opens the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue
This came out strongly as the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue kicked off on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 in the German capital. In an opening address at the 4th edition of the dialogue, popularly dubbed Energiewende (energy transition in German), Heiko Maas, German Foreign Minister, reiterated the German determination to achieve the sustainable development goals through continuous and sustained transition to renewable energies which according to him, “are plentiful and almost everywhere.”
“We regard energy policy as a platform for cooperation, dialogue and international exchange. and the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue is an ideal example of this,” he said. “The rigourous implementation of the Energiewende remains a major priority for us.”
Maas however warned that failure to implement the Paris Agreement and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development would leave the world in a very precarious situation with greater threats to stability and peace.
To the German Economic Affairs and Energy minister, Peter Altmaier, the 4th Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue is enough proof that that Energiewende has become a global phenomenon.
Energiewende, Altmaier said, “gives us the opportunity to produce more energy without polluting the environment as wind and solar power are more than ever before, cheaply available.”
According to the energy minister, “many countries in the world are radically transforming their energy supply but to achieve this fully, they have to overcome challenges similar to those being faced in Germany.”
“We therefore look forward to engaging in discussions with our guests and partners on innovative business models and technologically advanced solution which will accelerate the global energy transition and make it more economically and socially attractive for all us,” Altmaier added.
In a similar vein, the EU Vice President in charge of the commission on energy union, Maros Sefcovic, affirmed that Energiewende is no longer a German concept as it has been successfully exported across Europe. Sefcovic said that the fact that the top 10 jobs of today never existed 10 years ago underscores the need for evolving strategies that will create more access to energy, provide jobs and accelerate global energy transition.
Also in an address to the delegates, Lucia Bakulumpagi-Wamala, CEO of the start-up Bakulu Power in Uganda, highlighted the important role women can play in upscaling energy transition.
“If we want more women in the sector, we need to show them the opportunities they can leverage on to fast track the energy transition,” Lucia added.
Hosted by the government of Germany, the two-day Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue is at the core of the Berlin Energy Week holding from 16th to 20th April 2018 and incorporating the Start-Up Energy Transition Initiative Tech Festival, EventHorizon, Global Summit on Blockchain Technology in the energy sector, and the Urban Energy Forum.
This year’s dialogue, with the theme “Towards a global Energiewende,” brings together ministers and high-ranking delegations from 40 countries and around 2,000 delegates from 95 countries.
The delegates are expected to develop strategies for the intelligent transformation of the global energy system, the transport sector and the heating supply.
The Coordinator of African Union’s Semi-Arid Food Grain Research and Development (AU-SAFGRAD) has disclosed that climate change and desertification play a significant role in destabilising the already human development gains, and therefore called for a holistic mobilisation of communicators and media practitioners in curbing the long ailing environmental menace that entangle the continent’s sustainable development potential.
Dr. Ahmed Elmekass
Dr. Ahmed Elmekass was speaking at the official opening ceremony of a two-day consultative regional workshop themed “Strengthening the Role of Communication and Media in Building Resilience of Rural Livelihoods through Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change and Combating Desertification” in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Climate change and desertification, Dr Elmekass noted, play a significant role in human history, contributing to the collapse of several large empires, as well as causing displacement and relocation of local populations. He adduced that it is also the cause of most conflicts arising from natural resources use with loss of lives and properties and large scale emigration. Great social and economic losses have been linked to climate change and desertification, he pointed out.
Adding on, he disclosed that African Union through a number of resolutions and decisions made by the Heads of State and Governments has always put land degradation, desertification and climate change in front of its development agenda, among which is the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), that made of sustainable land management and reliable water control systems as a priority and a component closely linked to eradicate hunger.
The AU-SAFGRAD boss said the Malabo Declaration in Equatorial Guinea was where African Heads of State and Governments committed themselves to enhance resilience of livelihoods and production systems to climate variability and other related risks. The African Union Agenda 2063 and its 10 years Action Plan “Africa we want” indicated aspiration as “a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development”.
He described the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI) as a pan-African programme launched in 2007 by the African Union (AU) with the objective to reverse land degradation and desertification in the Sahel and Sahara, boost food security and support local communities to adapt to climate change.
Participants at the consultative regional workshop
The theme of this year’s dialogue spans beyond just the role of communication in building resilience issues, he stressed, even as he thanked the communicators and media executives for playing an important role in awareness and transferring the political and technical messages from the decision makers and scientists to the local communities at the receiving end. Moreover, he said, the impact of those messages should reach the decision makers through the media, among others. He emphasised that transferred messages built on experience on the field and target group will have appropriate solution in contributing significantly in solving many challenges being faced in Africa.
“Therefore, you the communicators and media, your role is crucial in transforming Africa and achieving our target ‘Africa we want’,” Elmekass said.
He added: “Arable land is vital for Africa, both as a key assets for farmers and, together with vegetation, help store carbon that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Two decades ago, the first ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio, Brazil in 1992 gave birth to three conventions, including the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
“It must be borne in mind that combating desertification is a collective responsibility as the causes are cumulative and often unobserved with loud and devastating effects. Therefore, all hands must be on deck to stop this great scourge that seeks to consume entire population and the continent. Policy and decision makers at all levels, scientists, farmers, development planners, women, youths, religious leaders and children must all be involved.”
The Chairman and board members of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) have assured staff of the preparedness of the board to work with the agency to ensure that it attains its mandate.
Dasuki Nakande, Chairman of the NBMA board
Dasuki Nakande, Chairman of the board, said at the inaugural meeting which held on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 in Abuja, that the board recognised the fact that the agency was established to regulate a very controversial and volatile sector of the economy.
“As soon as my name was announced as the Chairman of the board, I started getting petitions from members of the public. This is to show that the agency is working. If you are not working nobody bothers about you. The fact that people are petitioning the agency alone shows that you are making progress,” he said.
He said that the board was constituted to ensure that the agency functions effectively without hindrance and distraction, acknowledging that since he was sworn in as chairman of the board he has undertaken some measures to address the immediate challenges facing the agency especially the issue of accommodation.
He charged the management and staffs of the agency to be above board in their dealings and ensure that the health and safety of Nigerians remained paramount in the discharge their duties.
Prof. Ben Ubi, a member of the board, also commended the agency for its doggedness in the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the country. “Having gone through the GMO Detection and Analysis Laboratory and seen the kind of work that is being carried out, I feel proud to be associated with the agency,” he said.
The board assured that it would work with relevant organs of government to provide the political support needed by the NBMA to actualise its mandate.
Huge progress on reforming the global financial system over the last four years has started to deliver desperately needed financing for sustainability and set up the next wave of action, according to a new United Nations report released on Tuesday, April 17, 2018.
Head of the UN Environment, Erik Solheim
However, the final report of the UN Environment Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System cautions that current financial flows are still nowhere near enough to deliver the trillions of dollars needed each year to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.
“Over the four years of the Inquiry’s operations, we have seen reform of the global financial system gather pace as banks, investors and regulators realize they must step up – not just to protect people and the planet, but their bottom lines,” said Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment.
“This is hugely encouraging, but we now have to turn widespread acknowledgement of the need for change into a global movement that delivers the finance we require to provide a better future for everyone.”
Evidence of change
The Inquiry, which completed its four-year mandate in March 2018, worked with policymakers, international organisations, financial institutions and civil society to help put sustainable finance at the heart of the development debate.
Its final report, “Making Waves: Aligning the Financial System with Sustainable Development”, finds that sustainability is now becoming part of routine practice within financial institutions and regulatory bodies.
Green bond issuance grew from $11 billion in 2013 to $155 billion in 2017. Key to this growth has been the market-creating role of public authorities, including key development banks. Yet such progress needs to be set against the scale of the global bond market of around $100 trillion.
Divestments in carbon-intensive assets reached an estimated $5 trillion in 2016, set against investments in coal, oil and gas over the same period of around $710 billion.
National action is critical, and there are a growing number of ambitious roadmaps on sustainable finance. Each is important, but some catalyse broader international action. For example, China’s new Guidelines for Establishing a Green Financial System are the world’s most comprehensive set of national commitments, covering priorities across banking, capital markets and insurance.
The number and range of policy measures to advance sustainable finance has increased. At the end of 2013, 139 policy and regulatory measures were in place across 44 jurisdictions. Four years on, the number of measures has risen to 300 in 54 jurisdictions, with a substantial rise in system-level initiatives.
There has been a striking growth in international initiatives, such as the G20 Green Finance Study Group (GFSG), co-chaired by China and the UK, with UN Environment serving as its Secretariat. The GFSG continued under the German G20 Presidency in 2017 and is operating as the Sustainable Finance Study Group under the Argentinian G20 Presidency in 2018.
Getting the financial system we need
Although the report finds that capital is beginning to flow to the new economy, it cautions that far more is continuing to support the old economy.
“Making Waves shows that systemic change is possible, in this case in how global finance aligns to sustainable development,” said Simon Zadek, Co-Director of the Inquiry. “It also reminds us that this is unfinished business – we need more waves of action to deliver the timely scale of changes needed to get the job done.”
However, the engagement of increasingly influential players, the growth of powerful coalitions that support collaborative action, the shifting focus towards areas such as digital finance, the roles of rating agencies, and key policy platforms such as the G20 all point to further action.
“Most of the initiatives that are now underway to accelerate sustainable finance, whether by central banks, pension funds, credit rating agencies or insurance companies, would have been simply unthinkable when the Inquiry started back in 2014,” said Nick Robins, Co-Director of the Inquiry. “This should us give us confidence that we can achieve the alignment of the financial system with sustainable development.”
The next phase in sustainable finance will be about making the shift from acknowledgement to alignment. It will be multidimensional and non-linear. It will involve new, better ways of doing finance. It will require new performance metrics for the financial system, ones that measure the extent to which sustainability is really part of the process of finance as well as its outcomes.
Although the Inquiry’s mandate is fulfilled, its work to catalyse change will continue through UN Environment, Sustainable Finance at the G20, coalitions for actions such as the Network of Financial Centres for Sustainability, the Sustainable Digital Finance Alliance and the Sustainable Insurance Forum.
Similarly, country-specific work will increasingly involve other parts of the United Nations system, partly catalysed by the support provided by the Inquiry to the UN Secretary-General’s leadership in championing sustainable finance.
WaterAid Nigeria has commended the Federal Government for it describes as a “bold step” in declaring a state of emergency in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The organisation said that the action was informed by its calls as well as those from other members of the sector, demanding action to tackle the water and sanitation crisis in the country.
Only 30 percent of the poorest people in Nigeria have access to clean water, compared to 89 percent of the richest. Photo credit: WHO/CE.Onuekwe
WaterAid, an international charity dedicated to changing lives by improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene for the poorest and most marginalised communities, advocated for a state of emergency to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goal of access to water and sanitation for everyone, everywhere by 2030 would be achieved.
Although Nigeria is oil-rich and has sub-Saharan Africa’s largest income, it has nonetheless struggled to deliver clean water and sanitation to its people. The country appears to have remarkable progress in reaching people with water: seven in 10 people now have clean water to drink. But a gap between poor and rich persists, as only 30 percent of the poorest people have access to clean water, compared to 89 percent of the richest, says WaterAid.
It adds that, with fewer than three in 10 people having a decent toilet, the country has a big task ahead to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal targets for water and sanitation access.
On 2018 World Water Day, WaterAid Nigeria urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the water and sanitation sector. WaterAid Nigeria also called on the Federal Government to set up a presidential taskforce empowered to lead, coordinate and deliver on providing water and sanitation for all Nigerians.
In its declaration of the state of emergency in WASH, the Nigerian government states that the WASH sector in Nigeria is in crisis and that urgent action is required for its revitalisation. The government announced the development of a National WASH Action Plan that will set out a 13-year strategy for the WASH sector, including an 18-month emergency phase. It includes the establishment of a National WASH Fund for increased financial investment for WASH.
WaterAid Nigeria Country Director, Dr ChiChi Aniagolu-Okoye, said: “I am utterly delighted that the Federal Government has declared a State of Emergency in WASH, following our campaign demands during World Water Day and beyond. We hope that, with this declaration, more attention will be focused on the sector. This is a significant step towards achieving clean water, sanitation and hygiene for everyone, everywhere by 2030.
“WaterAid urges all governments to take action ahead of the UN’s High Level Political Forum in New York in July, where Goal 6 of clean water, sanitation and hygiene for everyone, everywhere by 2030 will come under review. Without water, decent sanitation and good hygiene, other Sustainable Development Goals, including those on gender equality, education, health, reducing inequalities and nutrition, cannot be achieved.”
While commending the increased prioritisation for WASH that this new declaration indicates, WaterAid Nigeria continues to call for:
Government backing of this declaration with significant investment and raise the financing needed to assure sustainable and affordable WASH services for all.
The Federal Government to ensure that the National Healthcare Act which requires 1% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to be channelled to healthcare is implemented with clear inclusion of WASH in healthcare priorities.
Multi-sectoral coordination and clarity of institutional arrangements, the lack of which is hampering the development of needed policies (such as the national sanitation policy) and hindering robust sector plans and policies with critical inputs of sector actors and sufficient ownership by allied sectors.
A harmonised monitoring and supervision platform for the sector. Those that exist are duplicative, non-inclusive, unreliable and not owned by all key sector actors. Gaps in Nigeria’s monitoring frameworks for the sector sabotages sector planning and make it difficult to measure the impact of WASH interventions and track progress of WASH access.
States and local governments to take advantage of the state of emergency by launching the same in their respective states
The Federal Government has initiated a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) for the clean-up and remediation of impacted oil spill sites in the country, an official has said.
Officials at the flag-off of a Joint Activation and Drill Exercise in Port Harcourt, Rivers State
Mr Peter Idabor, Director General of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), said this at the flag-off of a Joint Activation and Drill Exercise in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018.
He said the exercise, which is in collaboration with the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NOAC), would ensure timely, effective and appropriate response to oil spills in communities.
“The objective is to test the effectiveness of our incident management structure and emergency preparedness of all major stakeholders in oil spill containment and management.
“The exercise will also ensure the effectiveness in inter-agency collaboration as a necessary ingredient in responding to oil spill incidents,’’ Idabor said.
He further said the exercise would open communication between stakeholders, communities and the media as well as ensure clear understanding in the line and chain of command.
“Similarly, it will help assess availability and effectiveness in the deployment of oil spill response equipment and technical personnel.
“The National Oil Spill Contingency Plan will incorporate useful recommendations and updates arising from the exercise,” Idabor added.
He said the agency had succeeded in its bid to become a regional coordinating centre for oil spill preparedness and response in the West, Central and sub-Saharan Africa.
The NOSDRA boss urged stakeholders to take the exercise as call to national duty.
Also speaking, the General Manager, District of NOAC, Mr Rotondi Marco, said his company was delighted to partner with NOSDRA towards the protection of environment from oil spillage.
Represented by Uchechukwu Amaechi, NOAC’s Manager of Environment, Marco said that arrangement had been put in place to ensure hitch-free activation of the plan.
“NOAC will continue to collaborate with NOSDRA knowing the exercise is vital in ensuring preparedness when oil spill occur,” Macro said.
In Nigeria, about 50% of the population (estimated to be about 191 million people) are not connected to the national electricity grid and majority are located in the rural areas. Umon Island and Bagana Community, both located in Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State are among the numerous communities in the country that are not connected to the national electricity grid.
Array of solar panels in Umon Island
The two communities are located in extremely difficult terrain that makes them very unattractive for grid extension. They are surrounded by the water of River Cross. Until this time, the community members rely on traditional energy sources such as candles and kerosene lanterns for lighting. Those that can afford it generate electricity from the privately-owned petrol or diesel generators.
The Umon Island Mini-grid Project is a 50 kW solar photovoltaic system that is supplying electricity to two communities – Umon Island and Bagana Community, with a total population estimated to be about 5,000 people. The facility will be serving a total of 253 houses in the two communities which include three schools, two primary health care centres, six churches and local businesses.
The project is expected to boost commercial activities in the two communities and give them ready access to information. The project is being implemented to complement the Federal Government policy of increasing access to electricity especially in rural areas to boost economic activities. The technology is carbon neutral, thus helping to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases
Furthermore, the facility will help to minimise the use of unsustainable energy sources such as the kerosene lamps, candles and fossil fuel bases private generators – estimated 80% of the inhabitants of the two communities use petrol/diesel generators to generate electricity. It is also expected to boost health care services and reduce rural-urban migration. The facility has since commenced operation and the people of Umon Island and Bagana now enjoy electricity without using private generators.
Installation of pre-paid meters in Umon Island
As a way of preparing the communities ahead of the operation of the mini-grid, two workshops were organised at Umon Island by the Community Research and Development Centre, a not-for-profit outfit and the Project Developer, to educate the community on energy efficiency and conservation, safety tips on using electricity and on the productive use of electricity.
Before commencing activities in the communities, the Project Developer signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the leadership of both communities. Furthermore, before connecting the individual households, end-user contract was signed with each customer. A total of 91 households representing about 50% of the total customers have been connected as at the time of this report. Each customer was given a single-phase prepaid meter with IC card to top up when credit is exhausted.
The people of Umon Island and Bagana Communities now enjoy electricity just like those living in big cities. The electricity is not free; the tariff was determined using a financial modelling tool. The preliminary study in the communities revealed that members are willing and able to pay for the electricity. The Project is supported by the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) of the GIZ and the European Union while the Community Research and Development Centre serves as the Project Developer and Operator. The project was executed in collaboration with the Cross River State Government.
Last month’s call by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) that the Federal Government should halt the proposed hike in the excise duty on tobacco products starting from June 4, 2018 is not all together unanticipated. But the fact that it is the umbrella body of manufacturers that spoke on behalf of the tobacco entities is what makes the call suspect.
According to scientists, tobacco smoking is dangerous to health
The suspicion arises from the fact that tobacco transnationals like the British America Tobacco Nigeria (BATN), Philip Morris Nigeria International Limited and other tobacco entities with limitless financial muscle are members of the body and have all it takes to call the shots in MAN.
The alarm about likely job losses (surprisingly computed quickly and put at 20,000 workers) and possible shut down of the tobacco entities operating in Nigeria, hold no logic when viewed in the light of contemporary examples of countries that have hiked tobacco excise duty to safeguard the lives of their citizens.
Within our own Africa, countries like Algeria, South Africa and Gambia have in place 38.14 per cent, 36.52 per cent and 30 per cent excise duty respectively on tobacco products compared with Nigeria’s just-announced cumulative specific excise duty rate for tobacco which is calculated at 23.2 per cent of the price of the most sold brands.
Finance Minister, Dr. Kemi Adeosun, had announced last month that the new policy would be spread over a three-year period from 2018 to 2020 to moderate the impact on the prices of the products. Ironically, the new rates fall far short of the recommendation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Article 6 of its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) that countries implement 70% excise on tobacco products.
According to the WHO, policies to control tobacco use, including tobacco tax and price increases, can generate significant government revenues for health and development work as well as protect people’s health from leading causes of death such as cancers and heart disease.
With a recent report by the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) showing that Nigeria is among 10 key African nations particularly targeted by the tobacco industry for marketing of cigarettes in single sticks, it can be said that the Federal Government’s policy to hike excise duty on tobacco at this time is indeed timely.
A previous survey carried out by the Environmental Rights Action and the Ibadan-based Nigeria Tobacco Control Research Group (NTCRG) also showed deliberate targeting of kids by the tobacco industry through marketing of cigarettes in sticks near schools. This practice was and prevalent in five states – Lagos, Oyo, Enugu, Kaduna and Nassarawa.
The job loss myth that the MAN is championing has been debunked time and again. Tobacco control does not harm economies. The number of jobs dependent on tobacco has been falling in most countries, largely due to technological innovations and privatisation of once state-owned manufacturing. In Nigeria for instance, the job loss argument cannot hold water since BATN – the biggest tobacco manufacturing company in Nigeria – has an automated plant manufacturing billions of sticks of cigarettes in Ibadan.The factory is supposedly world class and requires little human effort aside starting the machines.
Activists have time and again said the company employs less than a thousand Nigerians and demanded that the company make public the number of its employees to justify its constant alarm about job losses whenever tobacco control policies are in the horizon.
Whichever way, it cannot be argued that with the aggressive marketing of tobacco by tobacco entities, if Nigeria does not take very drastic steps an epidemic will follow. The response of the Federal Government to MAN should be to totally discountenance its call. It is unacceptable for the body to cry wolf on the new policy even when the decision to adopt it was taken after an all-inclusive meeting between the Tariff Technical Committee of the Federal Ministry of Finance and key industry stakeholders.
Looking beyond the issue at stake, what Nigerians want the government to do is for it to ensure full implementation of the policy and commencement of enforcement of the nine key provisions of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act announced by the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, on May 31, 2017. The Act prohibits smoking in public places and bans sale of cigarettes in single sticks and to persons below 18 years of age, among others.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Oyo State, has reiterated its commitment to conducting researches that will nourish African agriculture.
Dr Nteranya Sanginga, Director General of the IITA
The Director-General of IITA, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, gave the assurance at the 21st Annual Symposium of IITA and International Association of Research Scholars and Fellows (IARSAF) on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 in Ibadan.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the symposium had “Sustainable Graduate Research for Transformation of Africa’s Agro-food and Industrial Utilisation’’ as its theme.
Sanginga, who was represented by Dr May-Guri Saethre, the IITA Deputy Director-General, Research for Development (R4D), said that without basic research, the institute would have nothing to offer regarding the achievement of its goals. He urged the research fellows to strategise on how their research could intensify agriculture and development in Africa.
“We will continue to do our best and support you to ensure that you develop researches that will transform Africa and its people.
“We are educating young scientists to pick up new ideas so that when the old scientists leave tomorrow, the new ones will continue,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr Kenton Dashiell, the Deputy Director-General of IITA, urged the researchers to strive to build a sustainable career through hard work.
“Do more than just get high marks in your exams, work closely with your supervisors and strive to achieve higher giant strides in your work,” he said.
Earlier, the chairman of the event, Dr Akin Fagbemi, said that the theme of the symposium was of great importance because there were a lot of problems facing Africa’s agriculture, including climate change.
“The future of Africa belongs to researchers, the earlier we start carrying out researches that will improve Africa’s agriculture, the better for us Nigerians,” he said.
The IARSAF President, Mr Taofeek Adegboyega, said that the symposium was designed for research fellows of IITA to provide update on their research activities.
He noted that it also served as a platform to exchange innovative ideas among young professionals.
Adegboyega said that the theme was chosen as a result of the perceived disconnect between research and industries, adding that there was, therefore, the need to seek avenues to bridge gaps and conduct researches on industrial utilisation.
He added that the symposium would aid efforts to mitigate the challenges of food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty.
“We have erudite experienced speakers, we shall have a special session tagged ‘Mentor and Mentee’ with senior scientists, as well as training and technical sessions, among others.
“More importantly also, we shall visit two rural communities in the bid to disseminate IITA’s research solutions and provide technical support to local farmers,” he said.
The highlight of the event was the launch of IARSAF website.
