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KACRAN Commends FG for Organizing Regional Herders-Farmers Conference
KACRAN Commends FG for Organizing Regional Herders-Farmers Conference
By: Michael Mike
Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria (KACRAN) has commended the federal government for organizing regional Herders-Farmers conference.
The association in a statement on Tuesday by it’s National President, Hon Khalil Bello said “KACRAN highly appreciates the Hon Minister of Agriculture for organizing the recently concluded regional Herders-Farmers conference.”
The statement further read: “KACRAN as one of the most peace loving Herders Association in the country, which always appreciate any positive moves that will end the incessant conflicts between Farmers and Herders, wish to highly appreciate and extremely commend the Hon Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Muhammad Mahmud Abubakar; the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Ernest A Umakhihe; and the Director Animal Husbandry Services, Dr Winnie Lai-Solarin; the entire well experienced and highly committed staff of the Ministry for successfully organizing and hosting a Regional Summit on Human and Climate Security challenges and Farmer-Herder conflict resolution in Abuja, the Federal Capital in December this year.
“The Summit was well attended by pastoralists and farmers associations in Nigeria and other neighboring countries such as Niger Republic, Chad, Cameroon and Benin.”
Bello, in the statement, added that: “Truly the initiation, organization and successful hosting of the aforementioned summit by the Hon. minister is a clear testimony of his result oriented vision, determination and purposeful leadership, which he has brought to bear on the ministry, since he assumed leadership of this all important ministry. The Hon. minister and all his well experienced and committed staff, have shown capacity and determination to immediately end all the challenges facing our agricultural sector.
“In addition, the most striking thing about this historic summit under reference, being the first of its kind in over fifty years of the history of the Ministry is that, the honourable minister in his wisdom and foresight agreed, that the livestock and fisheries sectors, which have been totally marginalized and neglected over the years will receive due attention henceforth.”
He said: “In view of this, (KACRAN) feels that making that well thought and highly articulated statement by somebody of high repute like the Hon Minister of Agriculture in the presence of esteemed Nigerians and invited delegates from the neighbouring countries is worth mentioning and deserve sincere commendation not only by KACRAN but by all Nigerians who sincerely want justice and equity for the development of our fatherland.
“In this regard, we of KACRAN deem it necessary to once more, thank the minister for the new stand of the ministry, and state that, we the members of KACRAN are happy that we are now on the same righteous page with members of the Senate, judging from the recent statement of the Senate President, Dr Ahmed Lawan, when the Hon minister led a delegation of Veterinary Doctors to him on a courtesy call in his office.The Senate President was quoted as saying that ‘the livestock sector has been totally neglected in past, and that though he does not have any Fulani blood in his vein, he would ensure that justice and fairness are equitably gotten by all in the country, and that he is ready to lead the fight on behalf for the nation’s pastoralists’ rights and liberty.’
Bello said: “At this juncture let us once again say, capital kudos to our Senate President Dr Ahmed Lawan, Hon. Minister and the entire staff of the ministry under reference who put head together to make sure that justice and fairness is fully exercise in the allocation and implementation of the Ministry’s policies and programmes.
“And Here we abundantly wish to state it in unmistakable terms that the entire members of KACRAN are so much happy and excited with the above anticipated positive developments in the livestock sector. For this reason we want to state that since the registration of KACRAN to date in our regular statements in the prints, electronics and social media, we are always crying and complaining bitterly that the nation’s pastoralists and fishermen are neglected and left behind, because much of the money meant for developing agricultural sector is painfully tilted towards developing arable farming to the detriment of the other two very important animal husbandry sectors.
“In the same vein, we want to call on Federal Government under the able leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari and our National Assemblies under the good leadership of Senate President Dr Ahmed Lawan and Rt Hon Speaker Mr Bajabiamilla to as a matter of utmost importance and clemency to create a Special Ministry of Animal Husbandry Services that will be solidly responsible for the aggressive development of livestock and fisheries sectors. This is so because of the immense contribution of these sectors in providing healthy nourishment to Nigerians and the development of the nation in general.”
NBMA Debunks Allegations of Negligence, Compromise Against It
By: Michael Mike
The Director General and Chief Executive Officer (DG/CEO) of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Yemisi Asagbra debunked some allegations level against the agency by some non governmental organisations (NGOs) concerning negligence and compromise.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, Asagbra said: “The negative statements circulating are misleading and lack credible scientific backing. The agency asks these organisations to present verifiable scientific evidence for their claims and we relies on sound scientific research and internationally recognized protocols to make informed decisions. It is part of the Cartagena Protocol with over 180 parties, our mandate is to protect the health of Nigerians and the environment. It will not compromise on this as it is an agency of integrity.
She added that: “The agency is transparent and accountable in its operations. It invites review of its processes and rigorous evaluations of GMO products. We are confident in our procedures that it’s meet global standards and it is a leader in effective regulation in Africa”.
On the source of the allegations, she said “over the years they have been advocating to have their presence in the board where all these products coming will be thoroughly Investigated, but it hasn’t been given. Most times we rely on the information given by Nigeria Custom Service to furnish them with needed information, which most time is not always easy if they have other things doing.
The Head planning, research and statistics National Biosafety Management Agency Mrs. Bello Scholastica said the agency is concerned with safety to our health and safety to our environment.
She further reiterated that what NBMA stands for is to establish first regulation from identification of the gene of interest, “of what you are interested in, from then till commercialization, and even after commercialization, they still follow suit to make sure that the approvals they gave hasn’t caused any harm, or those that were given approval to that they stay put to what they were asked to do”.
She further explained that the agency has put in effort to promote environmental conservation and biosafety in Nigeria.
NBMA Debunks Allegations of Negligence, Compromise Against It
House of Reps Assures on Passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill
By: Michael Mike
The House of Representatives has revealed that it is interested in the passage of the Human Rights Defenders Bill into law, saying that the bill has already passed the first reading and will soon be subjected to second reading.
The House also promised to take the necessary steps to ensure an improvement in the 2025 budget of the NHRC, pointing out that the N5 billion approved for it in the 2024 budget is inadequate considering the myriad of human rights violations in the country.
The Chairman House Committee on Human Rights, Hon. Abiola Makinde made this disclosure during the oversight visit of Committee to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The Chairman, who was represented at the occasion by his Deputy, Hon. Mudashiru Lukeman assured the NHRC that the Committee would continue to advance the course of human rights in Nigeria by ensuring that the House of Representatives passes critical bills on human rights issues as well as makes adequate budgetary provisions to ease the work of the Commission.
Makinde also stated that in a bid to improve some aspects of Civil and Political Rights, the House of Representatives had ensured the establishment of human rights desks in all police formations and Headquarters across the 36 States of the Federation.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr. Tony Ojukwu who received the lawmakers with his management staff told the Human Rights Committee that the Commission relies heavily on them for the enactment of human rights friendly laws and enhanced budgetary provisions to discharge it broad mandate of promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights in the country.
He used the opportunity to commend the legislators for their role in the amendment of the NHRC Act 2010 as well as the support of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in the payment of compensation to victims of human rights violations by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
He equally informed the legislators who were on oversight visit about the recent report released by the Commission following the findings of the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency Operations in the North East Nigeria , which he noted has saved the country from possible invitation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He noted that the aforementioned wide spread allegations of human rights infractions against some government institutions could result in the ICC extending invitations to some of the leaders to respond to the allegations, but the Commission has done the needful in compliance with the international principles of omplementarity.
He thanked the Committee for promising to improve the budgetary allocation of the Commission in the 2025 fiscal year.
House of Reps Assures on Passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill
FG Confirms Arrest of Simon Ekpa
By: Michael Mike
The arrest of Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa in Finland has been confirmed by the federal government.
A statement on Friday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Nigerian-Finnish citizen and prominent leader of the proscribed Indigenous People
of Biafra (IPOB), was arrested by Finnish authorities on Thursday.
According to the statement, Ekpa was
charged with inciting terrorism and promoting violence.
The Finnish District Court of
Päijät-Häme ruled to detain him on probable cause for publicly inciting crimes with terrorist intent.
The Finnish authorities alleged that Mr. Ekpa used social media platforms to spread
separatist propaganda, incite violence and encourage illegal actions, which had caused
significant disruptions in the South-East of Nigeria. Finnish investigators had also linked
him to incidents of violence in Nigeria, which were believed to had been fueled by his
online activities.
The statement said “the arrest of Mr. Simon Njoku Ekpa follows sustained diplomatic
pressure by the Nigerian government on Finland, to take action against his activities,
which were linked to violence and instability in the South-East of Nigeria. The request
for action featured during high level engagements between countries.”
The Ministry stated that the arrest of Ekpa, is a significant development in addressing the activities of IPOB, and also neutralizing the influence of transnational actors and “their impact on our national security.”
The Ministry promised to continue to monitor the legal proceedings and provide further updates as the case progresses.
FG Confirms Arrest of Simon Ekpa
NBMA Debunks Allegations of Negligence, Compromise Against It
Nigerian lawyers Ask to Collaborate with Chinese Colleagues in Law Relating to Investment and Dispute Resolution
House of Reps Assures on Passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill
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