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ECOWAS, AFD sign agreement to improve food security

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ECOWAS, AFD sign agreement to improve food security

ECOWAS, AFD sign agreement to improve food security

By: Michael Mike, Abuja

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the French Development Agency (AFD) have signed an agreement of €8 million to support the food security storage system in the West African subregion.

The agreement was signed by President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou and the Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) in Nigeria, Mr. Xavier Muron in the presence of the French Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mrs. Emmanuelle Blatmann, on Tuesday in Abuja.

A statement on Friday by the French Ambassador disclosed that the agreement is for a complementary funding of the Interim Phase of the support to the Food Security Storage System in West Africa.

According to the statement, this new funding follows a pilot phase funded by the European Union for €56 million (of which €31.9 million delegated to AFD) to support the ECOWAS Regional Food Security Storage Strategy, which was adopted in 2012, that combines local stocks, national stocks and a Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR) to ensure regional solidarity in the event of a major food crisis in the region.

The statement said the €8 million and 3-year AFD support to ECOWAS aims to increase the region’s readiness to manage food, nutrition and pastoral crises with a variety of causes, noting that increasing crises management capacity involves consolidating, in the short term, the achievements of the implementation of the first phase of the RFSR and building a multilateral partnership around the regional food security storage system in the mid and long terms.

The President of the ECOWAS Commission was quoted to have said: “ECOWAS welcomes AFD’s new financial support to the regional solidarity instrument, the relevance and effectiveness of which were demonstrated during the first phase. The new funding will notably enable the Regional Food Security Reserve to increase its readiness to fully play its role as the first line of defence in the event of a shock affecting people’s ability to feed themselves. The new phase will also be an opportunity to build a multi-stakeholder funding partnership to ensure the sustainability of our food security storage system,”

Also Read: AWARDS: PROFESSOR YUSUF DANKOFA’S REPLY, A FOOD FOR THOUGHT…

The statement said the ECOWAS Commission, through its Department of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources, is responsible for the implementation of the new project. The project activities will be implemented in all fifteen (15) ECOWAS Member States, as well as in two (2) CILSS Member States (Chad and Mauritania) that were involved in the implementation of the pilot phase.

The Director of AFD Nigeria explained that: “AFD’s partnership with the ECOWAS Commission since 2011 in supporting the implementation of the Regional Agricultural Policy, ECOWAP, is a living model. We have no doubt that this new support will contribute to the sustainability of the food security storage system in West Africa and mobilize other development partners to further strengthen resilience to the various shocks affecting food security in the region.”

While commending the depth of the AFD – ECOWAS partnership, the French Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, added that France wishes to fully pursue its role of a strategic partner in the region by supporting projects that contribute to strengthening peace and security, as well as the fight against the effects of climate change.

The new phase will call for adaptations of the regulatory framework of the RFSR, the design of innovative financial mechanisms, and increased mobilization of the International Community in supporting the region’s food security storage strategy. It will also require adaptation of response instruments to rapid-onset crises and new risk factors like health crises such as Ebola or more global ones such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the statement, ECOWAS’ mission is to promote cooperation and integration with a view to improving the standard of living of its peoples, maintaining and enhancing economic stability, strengthening relations between Member States and contributing to the progress and development of the African continent. In the field of agriculture, ECOWAS works, through its Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), to ensure food security and provide decent incomes for its citizens.

ECOWAS, AFD sign agreement to improve food security

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UNILORIN Alumni Commences Tinubu on Appointment of Nandap, Omotowa, Aribisala

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UNILORIN Alumni Commences Tinubu on Appointment of Nandap, Omotowa, Aribisala

By: Michael Mike

The National Headquarters of University of Ilorin Alumni Association has lauded President Bola Tinubu for appointing three of its members into various leadership positions in the country.

Those appointed were Comptroller General of Immigration, Mrs Kemi Nandap,, whose tenure was elongated till December 2026, Non Executive Director of NNPC, representing North Central, Mr Babs Omotowa- and the Pioneer Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti, Prof. James A. Aribisala.

In a congratulatory message to the trio, the National President, Prof. AbdulRasaq Kilani, and the National Secretary, Dr Barakat Raji, said the Association received the news of the appointments with excitement.

The Alumni, who commended President Tinubu for selecting the best for their various positions, assured him that the three alumni would not disappoint him in attaining the goals set for them to achieve.

While felicitating with the appointed members on their well-deserved appointment, the Association charged them to always show the excellence in them in surpassing the targets set for them by Mr President.

The Association who extolled the pedigrees of the appointed members in their various fields, implored them to live up to the expectations of the slogan of the institutions “better by far” in all ramifications.

The Alumni then prayed for their successful tenure and tasked them not to hesitate to reach out to them whenever their services are needed in any capacity towards national development.

UNILORIN Alumni Commences Tinubu on Appointment of Nandap, Omotowa, Aribisala

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President Tinubu reconstitute NNPC Board, remove Kyari Mele

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President Tinubu reconstitute NNPC Board, remove Kyari Mele

By: Our Reporter

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sweeping reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, removing the chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure and the group chief executive officer, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari.

In a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga,
Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), President Tinubu removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.

The new 11-man board has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.

Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.

Six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country’s geopolitical zones. They are Bello Rabiu, North West, Yusuf Usman, North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas( NLNG), who represents North Central.

President Tinubu appointed Austin Avuru as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige as a Non-executive director from the South West, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the South East.

Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

All the appointments are effective today, April 2.

President Tinubu, invoking the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasised that the board’s restructuring is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification.

President Tinubu also handed out an immediate action plan to the new board: to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.

Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments within the sector. The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.

The Tinubu administration targets raising oil production to two million barrels daily by 2027 and three million daily by 2030. Concurrently, the government wants gas production jacked to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.

Furthermore, President Tinubu expects the new board to elevate NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and reach 500,000 by 2030.

The new board chairman, Ahmadu Musa Kida, is from Borno State. He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received a degree in civil engineering in 1984. He also obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris

He started his career in the oil industry at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later joined Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985.

Musa became Total Nigeria’s Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. Last year, he became an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.

Apart from his oil industry career, Ahmadu Musa Kida is a former basketballer and the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation(NBBF) board.

Ojulari, the new NNPC Limited Group CEO, hails from Kwara State. Until his new appointment, He was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. His Renaissance recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), worth $2.4 billion.

Like Kida, Ojulari is also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He worked for Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer to begin a stellar career in the oil sector. From Elf, he joined Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd in 1991 as an associate production technologist.

Apart from working in Nigeria, he worked in Europe and the Middle East in different capacities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager. In 2015, he became the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).

During his career, he was chairman and member of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

President Tinubu thanked the old board members for their dedicated service to NNPC Limited, particularly their efforts in rehabilitating the old Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which enabled them to resume petroleum product production after prolonged shutdowns. He wished them well in their future endeavours.

President Tinubu reconstitute NNPC Board, remove Kyari Mele

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Uromi Killing: NHRC Demands Protection for All Nigerians

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Uromi Killing: NHRC Demands Protection for All Nigerians

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has condemned the recent gruesome killing of 16 traveling hunters in Edo State, who were mistook for kidnappers.

The Executive Secretary of the Commission Dr. Tony Ojukwu expressed deep concern over the horrific incident, which highlights the dangers of mob justice and the urgent need for effective law enforcement and respect for human rights.

He said: “We commend Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, for his swift and decisive action in suspending the Commander of the Edo State Security Corps, CP Friday Ibadin (Rtd.), and banning all illegal vigilante groups operating in the state, but more need to be done.”

Ojukwu said the Commission wishes to use this opportunity to remind the government and the people of Nigeria that every individual has the right to life, as enshrined in Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution as amended as well as Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

He equally said the Commission emphasized that the freedom of movement, as guaranteed by the Constitution and Article 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has been grossly violated in this dastardly incident.

Ojukwu said: “We at the Commission demand that all the perpetrators be fished out and brought to justice. We call on the government to take concrete steps to prevent such incidents in the future, there is no justification for jungle justice anywhere in the world.”

He emphasized that every Nigerian has the right to life, dignity, and freedom from violence, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or occupation, assuring that the Commission will continue to advocate for the protection of human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria.

Ojukwu said: “We urge the Edo State Government to continue its investigation into the killings and ensure that all perpetrators face the full wrath of the law. On our part, we will continue to monitor the process of investigation to ensure that justice is served. This will serve as a deterrent to others.

“Promotion and protection of human rights is paramount to national development, let’s all imbibe the culture of respect for human rights and fundamental freedom to make Nigeria a better place.”

Uromi Killing: NHRC Demands Protection for All Nigerians

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