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About 47 million May Face Food Crisis in the Next Three Months in West Africa, ECOWAS Raises the Alarm

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About 47 million May Face Food Crisis in the Next Three Months in West Africa, ECOWAS Raises the Alarm

By: Michael Mike

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has raised alerted of the danger of about 47 million people in the region facing food crisis between June and August 2025, if actions are not taken to check the current food security situation.

ECOWAS disclosed that at present 34.7 million people require immediate food and nutrition assistance in the region.

Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture of ECOWAS, Mrs. Massandjé Toure-Litse made the disclosure at the opening of the third meeting of the Management Committee of the Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Toure-Litse, who was represented by the Acting Executive Director, Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food, ECOWAS, Mr. Mohammed Zongo, said it is imperative that the region strengthens its immediate response mechanisms while consolidating the foundations of sustainable resilience.

She noted that the food and nutrition security situation in West Africa and the Sahel has deteriorated considerably in recent years.

The commissioner while explaining that the nutritional crisis persists in several areas of the region, with global acute malnutrition rates ranging between 10 and 14%, said that: “Analyses carried out in December 2024, based on the Harmonized Framework, revealed that nearly 34.7 million people require immediate food and nutrition assistance. If appropriate measures are not taken, this figure could reach 47 million by the lean season from June to August 2025.

“Furthermore, the nutritional crisis persists in several areas of our region, with global acute malnutrition rates ranging between 10 and 14%.

“Faced with this worrying situation, aggravated by multiple challenges: geopolitical reconfiguration of the region, persistent conflicts, economic crises, climate change and chronic food insecurity, it is imperative that our region strengthens its immediate response mechanisms while consolidating the foundations of sustainable resilience.

“Food security stocks appear to be key social protection tools, used at different scales -local, national, regional to respond effectively to food crises.”

Speaking on the meeting, Toure-Litse said it “will allow us to take stock of the operations carried out by the Regional Reserve since March 2023 based on the guidelines of the Executive Board, particularly with regard to purchases, interventions, stock replenishment, technical rotations and the identification of new storage spaces. It will also allow us to plan the operations planned for 2025, ensuring that we support Member States in caring for the populations most affected by food, nutritional and pastoral crisis.

“Our discussions and decisions will thus ensure transparency, efficiency and fairness in the management of the Reserve, while adapting it to present and future challenges.

“As you know, for almost 10 years, our actions have been part of the regional storage strategy. We have learned many lessons by comparing the theory of the regional storage strategy with the practice of its implementation on the ground. We are also facing new challenges related to the changing socio-political context in our region and at the global level. This is why we must adjust this strategy and the operating rules of the Regional Reserve in the aim of strengthening the coordination and effectiveness of our collective action.”

In his remarks, Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari said the food challenge is a reminder of the urgent need to strengthen strategies and response instruments to effectively deal with the food and nutrition crisis affecting the region.

Kyari, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Marcus Ogunbiyi insisted that the food reserve has become an essential pillar of the region’s collective strategy for responding to food and nutrition crisis.

He said: “This meeting is taking place at a particularly worrying moment for our region it is a common knowledge globally especially in West Africa and Sahel; that food security situation has worsened in the recent years due to conflicts, economic instability and devastating impact of climate change. A situation compounded by a decline in funding, geopolitical concerns in the region and general lack of access to food. This, according to the recent cadre Harmonize report (December 2024), has made nearly 34 7 million people in dire need of immediate food and nutritional assistance.

“These major challenges remind us of the urgent need to strengthen our strategies and response instruments to effectively deal with food and nutrition crisis affecting our region. “They also alert us on the growing need for sovereign financing of our agriculture in general and our response mechanisms to food crises in particular. This therefore calls forna delibrate concerted effort to address food production, strategic food storage, markets and price volatility as well as re-strategizibf of the regional body especially in the administration and management of the regional food security reserve.”

The Regional Food Security Reserve, established in 2013 by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, supports the region’s member states, Chad, and Mauritania, in managing food crises. Its objectives are to: Complement the efforts of Member States by providing rapid, diversified and adapted food assistance to populations in crisis situations; Express regional solidarity with Member States and populations through transparent mechanisms; Strengthening food sovereignty and regional integration.
Since its creation, the Reserve has made significant progress. It currently has a projected capital of more than 74,000 tons of food, stored in several areas of our region, which can be deployed quickly if needed.

About 47 million May Face Food Crisis in the Next Three Months in West Africa, ECOWAS Raises the Alarm

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Eid-el-Kabir: IPCR Calls on Nigerians to Peace, Harmony

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Eid-el-Kabir: IPCR Calls on Nigerians to Peace, Harmony

By: Michael Mike

Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) has called on Nigerians to promote peace and harmony in their communities, recognizing that peace is essential to national development and progress.

The advice was given by the Director General of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), Dr. Joseph Ochogwu, in his message on Eid-el-Kabir.

The Institute, while extending warm greetings to Nigerians, wished them a joyous and peaceful celebration, marked by love, compassion, and unity.

The Institute while noting that Sallah is a significant occasion in the Islamic calendar, symbolizing the values of sacrifice, gratitude, and community, emphasized that the spirit of Sallah should guide Nigerians in their interactions with one another, fostering a culture of peace, tolerance, and understanding.

The IPCR urged Nigerians to promote peace and harmony in their communities, recognizing that peace is essential to national development and progress, while
encouraging individuals to embrace the values of Sallah, including forgiveness, empathy, and kindness, in their daily lives.

According to IPCR, peace is critical to promoting national stability and cohesion.

The Institute also urged Nigerians to use this period of Sallah celebration to address conflicts and promote dialogue, which could help to build trust and understanding among Nigerians and also contribute to a more peaceful society.

It recognized that the country’s many ethnic and religious groups can work together to build a more harmonious society, celebrating their differences and promoting a culture of tolerance.
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Community Leader Seeks Tinubu’s Urgent Intervention in Incessant Plateau Killing

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Community Leader Seeks Tinubu’s Urgent Intervention in Incessant Plateau Killing

By: Michael Mike

A community leader and the Waziri Mushere of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, Chief Yohana Margif has expressed dismay over the incessant killing of innocent citizens of the community.

Margif made this known in an interview with journalists on Thursday in Abuja.

He called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene to halt what he described as genocide against the people, which he said was being perpetrated by suspected herdsmen.

Margif also called on Malam Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, and other security chiefs in the country, to rein in the alleged culprits.

He said: “I would like to draw the attention of the topmost leadership in Nigeria to the deteriorating dire security situation in Plateau, particularly in Mushere Chiefdom of Bokkos LGA.

“I urge President Tinubu to take immediate decisive action to halt these endless and senseless killings, protect lives and properties, and secure the future of the Mushere people, and other victims of obvious genocide against the people.

“Herdsmen are killing our innocent people, burning their homes, looting their foodstuff, property, livestock, and taking over their ancestral lands,” he said.

According to the Abuja-based real estate mogul, the attacks and attendant killings have intensified recently since the onset of this year’s farming season.

Margif further said that the people had been displaced from their villages and ancestral homes and were forced to become internally displaced persons in the country.

He emphasised that the situation required immediate intervention by all stakeholders in order to prevent further escalation and inflict an irredeemable harm by wiping out the entire community from the surface of the earth.

He lamented that: “Since President Tinubu’s administration began, Plateau State has witnessed an unprecedented escalation of violence and loss of lives.

“This is the current sad reality. Our people are constantly under the threat of the enemy’s bullets and can’t sleep with two eyes closed due to the perpetual unleashing of violence against them by external forces.

“Something urgent must be done to stem the tide of violence and end this war against the people in order not to
harm this administration’s reputation,” Margif said.

In the past couple of days, suspected herdsmen militia killed no fewer than 35 people in the localities of Hokk, Pangkap, Fokoldep, Kopmur, Margif, Horop, Mbor, Mushere and Kwahas localities in Mushere Chiefdom.

Chairman, Bokkos Community Peace Observers, Kefas Mallai, who confirmed the killings to newsmen, said the victims included a 70-year-old Pastor of COCIN LCC Kwakas-Mushere, Mimang Lekyil, who was attacked and killed in the church.

He said that the pastor’s wife was also shot in the leg and was admitted at the Jos University Teaching Hospital for treatment, he said.

“Bokkos has never been this insecure, with the people being butchered as we are currently witnessing,” Lilian Madaki, from the Mushere community told journalists.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Emmanuel Adesina, also confirmed the incident in a statement saying security forces including police and military personnel, had been deployed in the affected communities.

Community Leader Seeks Tinubu’s Urgent Intervention in Incessant Plateau Killing

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VP Shettima Leads Mourners At Funeral Prayers For Late Prof. Jibril Aminu

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VP Shettima Leads Mourners At Funeral Prayers For Late Prof. Jibril Aminu

** Says Nigeria has lost an intellectual giant

By: Our Reporter

Vice President Kashim Shettima today led other Muslim faithful for the Jana’iza (funeral prayers) of the late elder statesman, renowned medical scholar and former Minister of Education and Petroleum, Prof. Jibril Aminu, at the National Mosque in Abuja.

Prof. Aminu, a one-time President of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (OPEC), passed on in Abuja on Thursday after a prolonged illness.

The Vice President, who arrived at the National Mosque at 1:52 pm, commiserated with the family of the deceased and prayed Allah to comfort them and make Aljanna Firdaus the final abode of the late elder statesman.

Noting that the late Prof Aminu’s demise is a great loss to the nation, VP Shettima described the late surgeon, educationist and administrator as a man who saw it all, just as he said the deceased was an intellectual giant who can hardly be replaced.

“It is a very sad loss. Prof Jubril Aminu was the last of the great titans, an iconic figure who enormously contributed to the development of the nation.

“He was variously the Executive Secretary of NUC, Vice Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri and Honourable Minister of various ministries across the country and left his landmarks on the sands of time.

“He is irreplaceable. May Allah grant him Aljanatul Firdaus and give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. His loss is not just to the good people of Adamawa State but to the nation and Africa at large,” the Vice President prayed.

Born in Song, Adamawa in 1939, Prof. Aminu was a towering figure in Nigerian public life.

The late Consultant Cardiologist served the nation in different capacities, including as Federal Minister of Education and later Federal Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (1989–1992), Ambassador of Nigeria to the United States (1999–2003), and Senator representing Adamawa Central (2003–2011).

He was also President of OPEC in 1991 and President of the OPEC Conference between 1991 and 1992 while he was Petroleum Minister.

Other mourners who joined the Vice President at the National Mosque in Abuja for the Jana’iza included former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Special Adviser to the President on General Duties (Office of the Vice President), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo; former Secretary to the Federal Government, Yayale Ahmed; former Governor of Adamawa State, Admiral Murtala Nyako; former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje; former Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai (rtd); former Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman; former Minister of State for Health, Dr. Aliyu Idi Hong, among many others.

VP Shettima Leads Mourners At Funeral Prayers For Late Prof. Jibril Aminu

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