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NARC SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOWS AND SUBJECT EXPERTS MAKE PRESENTATIONS

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NARC SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOWS AND SUBJECT EXPERTS MAKE PRESENTATIONS

By: Our Reporter

The Wednesday, 13 November 2024, edition of the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) Weekly Subject Experts’ Presentation was held in the Board Room, TY Buratai Block, Abuja. The only presentation for the day was made by the Subject Experts on Southern Africa.

The only presentation for the day was made by Col OR Akerele (rtd), a subject expert on Southern Africa; he focused his presentation on how Botswana Battles for Food Security. The Voice Newspaper of Botswana, on 8 Nov 24, reported that Botswana is struggling to produce enough food to feed its people. Drought and food storage has, in the last two years, plagued countries in East Africa and most countries within the SADC, Botswana being the latest. Consequently, the government of Botswana continues to evolve new initiatives and programmes aimed at solving the food shortages.

In his analysis and lessons for Nigeria, Col OR Akerele (Rtd) noted that Nigeria has been dealing with food insecurity for decades, and the situation has been worsening in recent years. In the first quarter of 2024, over 100 million faced acute hunger. In January 2024, food inflation in Nigeria reached 35.41% (Aljazeera 2024). The conflict in the Northeast and Northwest regions has displaced most farmers and dwindled food productivity, thus increasing food insecurity in Nigeria. Moreover, floods and droughts have increased in frequency and severity, damaging agricultural output with a negative impact on food security. Rising poverty and unemployment have also made it harder for Nigerians to access food.

The WFP reported that 33 million Nigerians may face food insecurity by 2025. Nigeria’s dependence on imported food items has, therefore, increased over the past decade. Even though the government has set up various programmes and initiatives to boost food availability in Nigeria, monitoring efforts will, however, need to be made to ensure the objective of these efforts is achieved. Strengthening local production by cushioning the effects of climate change, environmental degradation and deforestation, improving the security of farmers on farmlands and setting up feasible initiatives to minimise poverty will also help in improving food security in Nigeria. (Banghart’s, John 2021).

He recommended that the Federal Government of Nigeria should set up an inter-agency committee of agriculture and food supply chain stakeholders to monitor the implementation and progress of all its programmes and initiatives to improve food security in Nigeria and also evolve policies and initiatives to cushion the effects of climate change, deforestation, floods, drought and other natural disasters.

NARC SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOWS AND SUBJECT EXPERTS MAKE PRESENTATIONS

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Centre lauds Kaduna Govt over life skills, gender education policies approval

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Centre lauds Kaduna Govt over life skills, gender education policies approval

By Aisha Gambo

The Centre for Girls’ Education (CGE) has commended the Kaduna State Executive Council for approving the Kaduna State Life Skills Policy and the State Policy on Gender in Education (SPGE 2026–2030).

The Executive Director of the organisation, Habiba Mohammed, made this known in a statement issued on Wednesday in Kaduna.

She said the approval marked a transition from donor-supported, time-bound interventions to a sustainable, government-led framework for delivering life skills education and promoting gender equity in schools.

According to her, the Life Skills Policy will equip young people with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values required to succeed in education, employment and life, while the Gender in Education Policy providzbves a framework to promote equity, inclusion, participation, retention, completion and improved learning outcomes.

“The approval moves life skills and gender equity from the margins of the classroom into the core of Kaduna State’s education system,” she said.

Mohammed said CGE contributed to the development and validation of the policies through its system-strengthening project supported by Co-Impact, OASIS Initiative and the Malala Fund, in collaboration with the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) and the Kaduna State Ministry of Education.

She said the policies built on more than 18 years of the organisation’s Safe Space model, which independent evaluations showed had helped reduce child marriage, increase school enrolment and delay early marriage.

According to her, the AGILE programme in Kaduna has reached more than 127,319 girls and 6,250 boys between the ages of 14 and 18, while over 1,400 female and male teachers have been trained as mentors.

She added that institutionalising the model through public policy would ensure that life skills education became a permanent component of the state’s education system.

Mohammed said the policies would address barriers to school access, retention and completion, particularly for girls and other vulnerable learners.

She added that they would also institutionalise life skills as a co-curricular programme, strengthen evidence-based decision-making across the state’s 23 local government areas and guarantee continuity beyond donor-funded programmes.

The executive director commended Gov. Uba Sani for providing the leadership that made the policy approval possible.

She also appreciated the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abubakar Sani Sambo, the Kaduna State Ministry of Education, the AGILE State Project Implementation Unit, the World Bank and other stakeholders for their contributions to the process.

Mohammed reaffirmed CGE’s commitment to supporting the Kaduna State Government with technical assistance during the implementation phase, including teacher training, gender-responsive education sector budgeting and monitoring.

She said the ultimate goal was to ensure that every girl and boy in Kaduna State had the opportunity to learn, develop and thrive.

Centre lauds Kaduna Govt over life skills, gender education policies approval

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Troops Kill Six ISWAP Fighters, Wound Seven in Failed Attack on Borno Military Base

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Troops Kill Six ISWAP Fighters, Wound Seven in Failed Attack on Borno Military Base

By: Zagazola Makama

Six fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) were reportedly killed and seven others seriously wounded during a failed attack on a Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Logomani in Borno State, credible intelligence sources have disclosed.

The sources told Zagazola Makama that the terrorists launched the attack on the military position in the early hours of July 7 but suffered significant casualties after troops mounted a fierce resistance.

According to the intelligence assessment, the attackers had assembled at Garal before advancing on the military base.

Following the failed assault, surviving insurgents were reportedly seen regrouping at Chukun Gudu, where they buried six of their fighters killed during the encounter.

Among those reportedly buried was a senior fighter identified as Munzir, also known as Ba Alayi, who was said to be an indigene of Wulgo.

The development comes as troops of Operation HADIN KAI continue sustained clearance operations aimed at dismantling terrorist enclaves and disrupting insurgents’ logistics and mobility across the Lake Chad region.

Troops Kill Six ISWAP Fighters, Wound Seven in Failed Attack on Borno Military Base

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Cholera Outbreak Kills Nine ISWAP Terrorists in Timbuktu Triangle

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Cholera Outbreak Kills Nine ISWAP Terrorists in Timbuktu Triangle

By: Zagazola Makama

A cholera outbreak has reportedly claimed the lives of nine fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Timbuktu Triangle, a known terrorist stronghold in Borno State, intelligence sources have disclosed.

The sources told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the outbreak had spread through the group’s enclaves, highlighting deteriorating sanitary conditions and limited access to medical care within the insurgents’ camps.

According to the intelligence, two additional ISWAP fighters infected with the disease were allegedly executed by fellow terrorists after attempts to manage their condition at Kimba village proved unsuccessful.

The sources said the development pointed to the worsening health conditions within the terrorist hideouts, where sustained military pressure has disrupted logistics, including access to medicines and treatment facilities.

The sources added that commanders had also been urged to intensify efforts to intercept medical supplies and pharmaceuticals intended for terrorist camps in order to further degrade ISWAP’s treatment capability and operational resilience.

The reported outbreak comes amid sustained offensives by troops of Operation HADIN KAI, who continue to target terrorist enclaves and logistics networks across the Lake Chad region in a bid to degrade the insurgents’ fighting capacity.

Cholera Outbreak Kills Nine ISWAP Terrorists in Timbuktu Triangle

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