International

UN Says US396 million Needed Urgently to Avert Catastrophic Humanitarian Crisis in Northeast

Published

1 year ago

May 18, 2023

Ochuwa Ibrahim

UN Says US396 million Needed Urgently to Avert Catastrophic Humanitarian Crisis in Northeast

By: Michael Mike

The United Nations has said US$396 million is urgently needed to salvage a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the nation’s Northeast.

The UN decried that should something not urgently be done to address the situation, humanitarian partners will only reach about 300,000 of the 4.3 million at-risk people in need of food assistance in the troubled Northeast region of Nigeria during the lean season.

A statement on Thursday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) after the Launch of the Lean Season Food Security and Nutrition Crisis Multi-sector Plan 2023 said: “To prevent a widespread hunger and malnutrition crisis in north-east Nigeria from turning fully catastrophic US$396 million is urgently needed to scale up humanitarian action in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states.”

The UN decried that: “More than half a million people may face emergency levels of food insecurity, with extremely high rates of acute malnutrition and cases of mortality if there is no rapid and significant scale up of humanitarian assistance.

It estimated two million children under five in the three states are likely to face wasting this year, insisting that: “This is the most immediate and life-threatening form of malnutrition. Some 700,000 children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition – meaning that they are 11 times more likely to die compared to well-nourished children. They need immediate action to survive.”

The UN claimed that: “The deepening food crisis and worrying malnutrition levels are the result of years of protracted conflict and insecurity which continue to prevent more than two million people from returning home. A combination of fuel and food inflation, a naira cash crisis earlier in the year, and climate shocks (such as the record floods in Nigeria in 2022) are among factors that have worsened the crisis.”

The Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mr. Matthias Schmale was quoted to have said: “I have seen firsthand the anguish of mothers fighting for the lives of their malnourished infants in our partner-run stabilization centres. This is a situation no one should have to face,” adding that: “I have spoken with children who described going for days without eating enough. Mothers who said their children go to bed crying from hunger. Families struggling to feed their families as they have gone for months without receiving food assistance.”

He lamented that this may become the unfortunate reality for millions of food-insecure people in the BAY states unless resources and funding are urgently mobilized, adding that if additional funding is not received, humanitarian partners will only reach about 300,000 of the 4.3 million at-risk people in need of food assistance during the peak of the lean season. As more people in urgent need of food aid go unassisted, there will be an increased risk of starvation and death.

With the current limited resources, nearly 3.4 million people will not be reached with agricultural livelihood support, including farming inputs such as fertilizers. This funding gap is critical for agricultural livelihoods sustaining over 80 per cent of the vulnerable people across the BAY states. A critical part of addressing the food crisis is to enable people to grow their own food.

The statement revealed that the World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up its operations to assist 2.1 million people with emergency food and nutrition supplies, noting that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and nutrition partners aim to provide life-saving nutrition services to over one million malnourished children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) planning to reach two million people with seed packages to secure cereal production for the upcoming harvest.

“While we continue to work together to stave off catastrophe, the sheer scale of the food and nutrition crisis means that humanitarian assistance is critical right now,” said the Country Representative and Country Director of WFP in Nigeria, Mr. David Stevenson, was quoted to have said.

The Country Representative of UNICEF in Nigeria, Ms. Cristian Munduate, called for concerted efforts to protect children. She said: “We have the power to make a difference in the lives of these children. With your support, we can prevent more children from suffering from malnutrition and give them a chance at a healthy and happy future.”

The FAO representative to Nigeria, Mr. Fred Kafeero, warned that the upcoming lean season may worsen food insecurity among vulnerable households without access to agricultural livelihood options. He said: “FAO requires funding to reach two million people with urgent food and livelihood assistance in the form of critical production inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and livelihood assets including small ruminants and poultry, and the corresponding skills to save lives, and protect and rebuild livelihoods.”

According to the statement, with the lean season coinciding with the rainy season, humanitarian partners are also concerned about outbreaks of diseases, such as acute watery diarrhoea, cholera and malaria, which will only aggravate the situation of malnourished children. Children suffering from malnutrition are at higher risk of dying from common infections.

The statement said the US$396 million in funding will enable humanitarian organisations to swiftly expand food and nutrition assistance, along with supplementary interventions such as clean water and sanitation, healthcare, protection and logistics in the BAY states.

And to kickstart the response to the food security and nutrition crisis in north-east Nigeria, the UN has released a combined $18 million. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Martin Griffiths, has allocated $9 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and Humanitarian Coordinator Schmale will be disbursing a further $9 million from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF).

“These CERF and NHF funds, however, account for less than five per cent of what humanitarian organizations require to address the most urgent food and nutrition needs. Significant additional and early funding is urgently needed,” said Mr. Schmale. “As we have seen in previous years, early funding can help pull food insecure people back from the brink.”

UN Says US396 million Needed Urgently to Avert Catastrophic Humanitarian Crisis in Northeast

International

UK Appoints New Country Director to Lead UK-Nigeria Trade and Investment Relations

Published

1 week ago

July 18, 2024

Ochuwa Ibrahim

UK Appoints New Country Director to Lead UK-Nigeria Trade and Investment Relations

By: Michael Mike

The United Kingdom has appointed Mr. Mark Smithson the Country Director for the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) in Nigeria. He takes over from Chim Chalemera who recently concluded a three-year posting in that role.

Smithson is an experienced civil servant having undertaken a wide variety of roles both in the UK and overseas. In this new role, he will lead on the UK-Nigeria’s trade and investment relations to deliver an increased high value inward investment and greater exports into the UK and Nigeria as well as support market access and trade policy priorities.

To mark his arrival to Nigeria, Smithson said:“Nigeria is a country of huge importance to the UK and the world. Our historical, cultural, people to people and business ties are deep and ever growing.

“I am delighted to take up this new role as the DBT’s country director and I look forward to forging partnerships with the Nigerian government, the private sector and the UK supply chain and to seize the opportunities this great country and our unique partnership offer to deliver a more prosperous future to both our countries.”

Prior to Smithson’s arrival to Nigeria, he was based in London (2021-2024) where he led the DBT’s Capital Investment agenda first covering European and US large corporates and since September 2022 as His Majesties Government’s global account manager for large institutional investors from Southeast Asia with a focus on Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Smithson headed up the Consular Section at the British Consulate General in Barcelona, Spain, between 2007 and 2013. During his time in Spain, Mark dealt with many high-profile consular cases and sporting events.

In 2013 he transferred to the US to head up of Consular services covering Florida, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico from the British Consulate General in Miami where Mark oversaw an extensive outreach programme with US government agencies and dealt with several crisis including deployments as Rapid Deployment Team leader.

He transferred to Atlanta, USA in 2017, to lead on the UK’s Tech & creative Trade and Investment agenda covering the southeast of the USA before transferring to Bangkok in 2018 where he served till 2021 to lead the team in Thailand to drive forward an increase in exports and investment and lay the ground for the UK-Thailand Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).

Smithson is married to Patima who is Thai, and they have a three-year-old toddler.

UK Appoints New Country Director to Lead UK-Nigeria Trade and Investment Relations

International

Prepare for Rainy Days, Invest in UK Properties, Property Consultant Advises Nigerians

Published

4 weeks ago

June 29, 2024

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Prepare for Rainy Days, Invest in UK Properties, Property Consultant Advises Nigerians

By: Michael Mike

Nigerians have been asked to considering investing in properties in the United Kingdom as another way of preparing for the rainy days.

Director, UK-based Property Consultancy Firm, Daniel Ford International, Yemi Edun said Nigerians owning a property in the UK is a brilliant investment and a perfect pension plan that can match inflation anytime.

Edun who spoke at the sidelines of UK Property Roadshow Holding in Abuja called on Nigerians to embrace the opportunities offered by the Berkeley Groups to own properties in the UK.

Edun said: “We won’t get involved in anything that will be untoward property-wise. So this is encouraging Nigerians to come buy homes in the UK. Yes. As an option.

“As an investment option. As a second home. As a mitigation for their currency that keeps crashing, you know.

“And you ask me who buys? We have people in inheritance money, divorce settlement, up-and-coming technology people, farmers, bankers, you know.

“They buy for a certain amount. In another 10 years that property has doubled or tripled, you know.

“It’s a good pension plan so that when you retire, you have income that can match inflation. Because imagine you buy a property and you are getting a rent of two million Naira. Two million Naira is a lot of money.”

Speaking on why London should be of particular interest, Edun said: “London is special. The age long connection is one of the reasons that people get to London and they don’t suffer a cultural shock.

“Most Nigerians can get to London and you won’t even notice he’s a foreigner. So English language, schools, medical, lifestyle, football, and it’s just six hours away.”

He said the Roadshow helps to remove some of the barriers as prospective buyers have the opportunity to meet with developers like Berkeley Groups.

He added that: “We have come with what I call the buffet of properties that we’ve hand-picked, you know, specially for them, negotiated good deals that they would otherwise not be able to get themselves.”

The Berkeley Groups is one of the leading property firms in the UK and they are quoted on the London Stock Exchange.

Prepare for Rainy Days, Invest in UK Properties, Property Consultant Advises Nigerians

International

France denies secret deployment of troops in Benin against Niger

Published

2 months ago

June 5, 2024

Ochuwa Ibrahim

France denies secret deployment of troops in Benin against Niger

By: Michael Mike

France has denied media reports that it has clandestinely deployed troops in Benin Republic as part of plans to counter the junta government in Niger Republic.

A Nigerian newspaper in an article entitled ‘French Military Transport Plane Drops Off French Soldiers in Benin Republic’, alleged that France took the measures following the expulsion of its troops from Niger Republic.

The report in itself is a follow-up to allegations by the military junta in Niamey that France has set up a military base in Benin to also enforce the continued border closures between the two neighbouring West African countries.

In response, the French Embassy in Nigeria described the report as baseless, unfounded and part of the growing disinformation aimed to sustain the growing anti-French sentiment.

The statement read: “The French Embassy wishes to inform the public that the aircraft mentioned in this article is not a French military aircraft, nor has it connections to France. Furthermore, Beninese and French authorities have denied the existence of French military bases or of plans to establish French military bases in Benin at multiple occasions in the last months, in the context of growing disinformation campaigns on that topic.

“In every country, French security and defense cooperation is based on a partnership of equals and full respect for sovereignty. Any action or programme is carried out with the full agreement of relevant authorities. We remain available to answer questions from journalists and hope Leadership will take these clarifications into consideration.”

Also speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior officer of the French Embassy, noted: “I don’t need to tell you that most of the information in this article is fake. We have no military bases in Benin. Our cooperation with Benin is not hidden but explained in detail on our Embassy website (https://bj.ambafrance.org/-Cooperation-de-defense-), so if we were trying to hide it, we would be doing a terrible job… As all French military cooperation, it is based on request from the partner country and done with the utmost respect for its sovereignty.

“And finally, of course, Niamey authorities have never demonstrated the ineffectiveness of military cooperation with France: cooperation was working very well before the July 2023 coup and giving good results. Accusing us of training terrorists, as the current Nigerien Prime Minister is doing, is so ridiculous. I can’t even understand why the media would report on that without disproving it.”

Earlier, the Beninoise government Spokesperson, Mr. Wilfried Houngbédji, refuted the alleged presence of French military operations which would justify the continued closure of Niger’s border with Benin.

He iinvited the junta leader, General Tiani as well as independent media from Niger to come and see on site the absence of such bases.

He said: “A military base is not a needle in a haystack after all! The Prime Minister can deploy the satellite resources he wants with his current military allies to check if we have a military base.”

Houngbédji also made the distinction between “Fortified Forward Points” and military bases, affirming that Benin has several military camps intended to ensure national security and fight against terrorism.

He stressed that these installations are known to everyone, and that others are planned to be built, particularly in border communities.

“Now, if he talks about our Fortified Forward Points, our small military camps that we have built to secure our country and fight against terrorism, that’s something else. We are making them and today we have around twenty of them and there are others planned to be made. There are some in our border communes in particular and the Head of State spoke about it about two years ago in a message on the state of the Nation; it’s known to everyone ,” clarified Houngbédji.

He noted that the Beninoise Government has invited General Tiani to send the independent media to verify their claims. “They should come and see if there is a base here ,” he challenged.

France denies secret deployment of troops in Benin against Niger