Category: Special Report

Over a month after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifted the ban on campaigns for next year’s general election, only candidates representing four political parties have dominated the scene. They are Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP). Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU and Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI examine the highlights of their manifestos

he manifestos of the four presidential candidates underscore their contrasting levels of knowledge, preparedness and appreciation of the enormity of challenges awaiting the next president in the post-Buhari era. The manifestos reflect their level of depth, their experience and exposure and totality of what they represent; their previous contributions as governors and vice president and their vision for a greater tomorrow.

Tinubu:

The manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is titled ‘Renewed Hope 2023: Action Plan For A Better Nigeria’. The 80-page programme of Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, encompasses logical and convincing solutions to complaints in critical sectors.

As he did in Lagos, talent will be harvested by Tinubu to fuel the fire of development and discipline will be enforced. Debates will be promoted and the superior argument will always be upheld.

Tinubu is not out to castigate the Buhari administration, which he and other compatriots midwifed. But, building on the administration’s accomplishment, his new agenda seeks to achieve 10 objectives. These are job creation and decent wages for youths as a baseline for creating a better life,  manufacturing and invention of goods and services, thereby transforming Nigeria from a country of mere consumers to creators, less importation and more exportation to strengthen the naira, an agricultural policy that promotes productivity and guarantees a decent income for farmers,  modernisation and expansion of public infrastructure,  harnessing the energy of youths in the digital economy,  entertainment, culture and tourism, and the abolition of poverty.

Others include the generation, transmission and distribution of sufficient, affordable electricity, accessible and affordable healthcare, education and housing; and “an adaptive national security architecture and action to obliterate terror, kidnapping, banditry and other forms of violent extremism.”

Power:

Tinubu accords power much priority in the manifesto. He recognises that the problem of unemployment, under-unemployment and moribund industries are a reflection of the state of the country’s power sector.

Tinubu has acknowledged that electricity is key to industrialisation, particularly the revival of the manufacturing sector. More employment opportunities will be generated if industries that have closed due to the unconducive atmosphere are revived.

Power has been a problematic sector for over three decades. As governor of Lagos, Tinubu came up with the Eron Project, which was frustrated by the Federal Government. Currently, the nation has approximately 12,000MW of installed capacity, generates only 8.000MW and is only able to distribute a maximum of 4,500MW to consumers. Tinubu lamented that the economy is, accordingly, constrained by our inability to generate, transmit, and distribute power efficiently.

The nation’s power problems, Tinubu admitted, cannot be solved overnight. What can be done, and what he has promised to do is to build on the foundation laid by President Buhari’s Presidential Power Initiative. Increased generation, transmission and distribution is Tinubu’s cardinal goal. Apart from encouraging off-grid and renewable power generation options and solutions undertaken by willing private sector participants, he also promised to work with the private sector and interested state governments to provide access to low-cost finance for power projects.

He also promised to eliminate estimated billing, an unpopular and harmful practice that has upset consumers and ensure that all electricity bills are meter-based.

Of importance is the plan to boost the domestic manufacturing of electricity meters, the Renewable Energy Plan, based on Nigeria’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2060, and the push for rural development.

Security:

The greatest challenge facing the country is security. The Buhari administration has not been sleeping on guard. But, terror, banditry, kidnapping and violent agitations are overwhelming. It is not due to a lack of effort. Criminal elements hoisting strange flags and undermining sovereignty have been curtailed. Seized territories have been recovered and internally displaced people have returned home. In the last two months, the Federal Government has reinvigorated the anti-terror war. However, more still needs to be accomplished.

The Tinubu/Shettima ticket believes that the fundamental responsibility of government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens.

Thus, it has promised to mobilise the totality of national security, military and law enforcement assets to protect all Nigerians from danger and the fear of danger.

Reality has dawned on Nigeria that there must be a change of tactics. The watchword, according to Tinubu, is technology. It should be backed by the enhanced recruitment of personnel.

What is happening now is reminiscent of the grave security situation in Lagos when Tinubu assumed the reins as governor. The wisdom that permitted him to resolve the crisis has not deserted the genius.

The presidential candidate is now promising to bring the same determined, problem-solving spirit to solving insecurity at the national level. This, he said, will be done through a proactive and intelligence-driven security approach.

The first step is to bolster the security forces through recruitment, training and procurement of equipment.

The second is the redefinition of military doctrine and practice. Tinubu is proposing “Anti-Terrorist Battalions,” highly trained and disciplined with special forces units. Their objective, Tinubu said, is to seize the strategic and tactical initiative, giving terrorists, kidnappers and bandits no respite

Also, there is the need to upgrade tactical communications and transportation: Military units will be better equipped with tactical communications to give the military greater communications and mobility advantage over criminals, bandits and terrorists.

If the weapons systems are to be upgraded, the recruitment of people who possess the technical skills required for today’s military is also essential. But, it is also important that Nigeria, in Tinubu’s view, should reduce its dependence on imported foreign military equipment. The way to go is ramping up domestic production of basic and essential military hardware and equipment, including small arms and ammunition. The result is gradual military self-sufficiency.

Those defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria deserve improved salaries and welfare packages. Tinubu emphasised that since these soldiers are always absent from home, their families also deserve family allowances.

How can youths be discouraged from enlisting in terror groups? Tinubu thinks that disaffected youths should be assisted to overcome despair and alienation, which poverty can bring. This is the economic dimension of the anti-terror war. To stem attacks on critical national infrastructure, a Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Plan has been proposed.

Integral to this effort, Tinubu said, is the deployment of modern technologies, tools and equipment to end crude oil theft, prevent vandalization of national assets, and reduce, to the barest minimum, environmental pollution of the Niger Delta. He said: “We shall combine increased aerial surveillance over land and sea with other cutting-edge technology that will provide instant notification of intrusions or disruptions of all pipelines and related installations. Such technology will also be deployed to monitor power stations, transmission and distribution networks sea and airports, rail transportation, telecommunications and other vital infrastructure.”

Nigerian borders are porous. Many foreigners enter and leave without let or hindrance. The solution is to strengthen the ability of Customs and Immigration Services to patrol and monitor the borders. Tinubu believes that the use of aerial and ground-based technology mechanisms and more mobile patrol units will checkmate the menace of illegal immigrants.

Besides, to prevent violent groups from using the forests and other public lands as hideouts, Ranger or Forest Guard force will be revitalised, giving it the core mandate to monitor, identify, and track the use of forests by any violent or criminal groups. International collaboration needs to be sustained in the course of fighting terror. Tinubu assured that the Multinational Joint Task Force should be sustained.

The focus of police reform, if elected, will be the setting up of a community policing structure and maintaining law and order through crime fighting and prevention. The role of police in intelligence gathering cannot be ignored. More policemen and high-tech equipment are required. But, the APC candidate is also now proposing a reformed police where personnel will be freed from extraneous duties such as VIP security and guard duties. But, VIP Security and provision of security for government buildings, installations and other critical assets will be transferred to The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Economy:

There is a need for a paradigm shift from the exportation of raw materials and the importation of increasingly expensive finished products. This is the point Tinubu is making in his action plan.

Besides, diversification has not been smooth. Nigeria remains a mono-product economy, with crude oil still providing foreign exchange and is the primary source of the Federal Government’s revenues.

What happens if the sector is assailed by an unbearable crisis? Agriculture is a veritable option. But, it has been neglected. A country that can feed itself resolves a major hurdle. Government should come up with incentives or impetus for farmers. Food security is as important as a successful anti-terror battle.

In Nigeria, many stakeholders have agitated for devolution. In their opinion, the Federal Government should shed its weight. The distant central government is not as close to the grassroots as the state governments. The states are in a vantage position to fully understand the problems confronting the localities. How can states grapple with these local concerns? To Tinubu, the allocation of revenue between the federal and state governments should be adjusted to give states greater flexibility to foster grassroots economic development.

He also seems to know the route to industrialisation. Under his leadership, he said Nigeria will savour an economy that produces more of the everyday items, both agricultural and manufactured goods, that define an individual’s and a nation’s standard of living.

Fiscal policy:

Dependence on oil is essentially limiting. So is the unrealistically artificial limit on government spending, particularly during this protracted moment of global economic turmoil exacerbated by domestic challenges in security. Money should be spent on infrastructural renewal. Roads should be built. Water should available, both for dam reticulation and agricultural purposes.

Tinubu’s promise to build small-scale Irrigation and water catchment systems in rural areas will boost agricultural production and employment while mitigating dangerous cycles of flood and drought in many areas. If investments are to thrive, a conducive atmosphere is non-negotiable. To encourage the use of Public-Private Partnerships, Tinubu said if given the mandate, he will work with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Finance and other relevant federal agencies to expand the availability and scope of credit guarantees to attract more private sector investment in needed infrastructure projects.

Tax reform:

Tinubu, an accomplished accountant, is conscious of the undesirability of increasing taxation, which can discourage the private sector. He has thus, proposed a progressive tax regime, characterised by the removal of harmful loopholes and efficient collection. Government must also fight corruption, inefficiency and wastage of resources. The reform of the civil service is the key. This is necessary to fight corruption, reduce bureaucracy, streamline agencies and decrease inefficiency and waste.

Tinubu has indicated a determination to ensure value engineering. It is a creative method and strategy geared towards cost reduction. He has promised to streamline the amount that government spends on itself. A cap will be placed on fiscal expenditures for the construction of government buildings and the salaries and related compensation packages of elected officials and senior personnel in the executive branch of the Federal Government. Such expenditures will have a low priority in our administration.

Also, while hardworking civil servants will receive commendation, Tinubu sounded a note of warning to impostors in the civil service to flee, saying: “We will continue the process of weeding out ghost workers, as well as ghost projects and expenditures from the system.”

Optimisation of govt. revenue:

Tinubu is an expert in internally generated revenue. In Lagos, he jerked up the revenue from N600million monthly to N14 billion. But, this time around, apart from expanding the revenue base of the Federal Government, he will block the leakages in the financial system.

Monetary policy:

Monetary policy, Tinubu said, must complement fiscal goals. He added: “Monetary policy must focus on the exchange rate, interest rate and price levels. This trio must serve the objective of fiscal policy, which is broadly shared prosperity.

“In essence, money lends nominal economic value to anyone who owns it or anything to which a monetary price is attached. Idle people and resources are said to have scant economic purpose or value. They are wrongfully derided as “useless.” When money becomes attached to them either through a living wage or capital investment, what was once idle becomes valued and productive.

“Our fiscal strategy is to spend public money in a way that maximises employment of people and resources, especially those financial institutions. By itself, good and previously idle.”

Exchange rate management:

It is acknowledged that the recent dip in the country’s exchange rate is primarily due to global supply and production shortfalls caused by global factors well beyond control. The diminished levels of oil production and the modest capacity of the manufacturing sector to expand production both serve to compound the pressure on the naira.

Further compounding our difficulty is the fact that we are tied to an ineffective regime of multiple, somewhat arbitrary exchange rates. This situation gives rise to financial dislocation, currency speculation and arbitrage. These practices divert much-needed funds away from productive endeavours that could employ hundreds of thousands of people and create products that improve average living conditions.

To ensure that exchange rate policy harmonises with our goals of optimal growth and job creation driven by industrial, agricultural and infrastructural expansion, Tinubu plans to work with the Central Bank and the financial sector to carefully review and better optimise the exchange rate regime.

He stressed: “Our economic policies shall be guided by our desire for a stronger, more stable naira founded upon a vibrant and productive real economy.”

Industrial policy:

Nigeria needs a National Industrial Plan that will, in Tinubu’s words, make it grow an industrial base to provide jobs to an expanding urban population. Granting tax holidays and low tariffs, reduction of interest rates on loans, and extending credits to industrialists are meaningful incentives.

In appreciation of the relative strength and advantages which the geo-political regions can exploit, Tinubu proposed that “in the Northwest and Northeast, new industrial hubs will focus on textiles. In the Southeast and South-south, a new hub and dry port will focus investment on labour-intensive manufacturing.

“In the Southwest, fine quality sand will be turned into the highest-quality glass items.

“In areas with deposits of clay, household items such as dishes and pottery will be manufactured In the North-Central, emphasis will be placed on solid mineral exploration and exploitation. In the Northwest and Northcentral, clandestine, environmentally harmful unlicensed gold mining activities will be ended. Regulated mining will be instituted such that environmental protection is maintained and local artisans and craftsmen can earn income turning raw gold into finished jewellery.”

The implication is that no region will be idle. There will be room for healthy competition. They can industrially grow according to their own pace. Unemployment will reduce and rural-urban drift will be minimised.

Housing:

There is a housing deficit in Nigeria. Urban dwellers are worse hit. The solutions canvassed by the APC ticket include Mortgage and Consumer Credit Reform, home ownership, which is a source of prosperity, social stability and individual pride; the review of the Land Use Act, credits and incentives to developers of housing projects to set aside a significant portion of their projects to affordable housing.

Agriculture:

Before the advent of oil, which some commentators have described as a blessing and a curse, agriculture was the mainstay of the economy.

However, only 35 per cent of arable land in Nigeria is presently cultivated. Tinubu/Shettima’s target is to increase the number to 65 per cent in four years. Global uncertainties of recent years such as COVID-19 and the Russo-Ukrainian conflict further underscore the need to ensure substantial food security for our nation. Therefore, the priority is to grow more than what Nigeria needs so that it can export the excess and alter its balance of trade.

A Tinubu government will build on the foundation laid by the current administration. We vow to help the former and his community in new and significant ways that usher in a true and complete rebirth of Nigerian agriculture. To achieve the goals of agricultural development, Tinubu hopes to pursue the following initiatives: setting up commodity boards to establish minimum prices for strategic crops such as cashew, cocoa, sesame, soya, cassava yam, rubber, okra, palm kernels, groundnut and okra; grain reserves and food storage, rural Infrastructural development, irrigation and water catchment, farm cooperatives where feasible, access to finance or low-cost loans, large-scale land clearing and setting up of a Farm Nigeria Project, with a special focus on the river basins throughout the country.

Atiku:

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has unfolded a five-point developmental agenda. The agenda encompasses qualitative education, restructuring to foster federalism and stability; a dynamic economy for prosperity, safety and security of life and property, and unity in diversity.

Atiku described the proposal as a social contract characterised by short, medium and long-term strategies.

He said he would provide three million new jobs and lift 10 million Nigerians from poverty annually.

The candidate promised to provide 25,000 megawatts of power and ensure a refining capacity of two million barrels of crude.

In the plan titled: “My Covenant with Nigerians,’ the former vice president described himself as an experienced, courageous and result-focused leader capable of taking the country through a rough situation and making a positive difference.

The 74-page document re-echoed his 2019 manifestos, with a minor adjustment to reflect proposed solutions to post-2019 challenges.

‘The Atiku Plan’ is expected to provide a distinct economic, political and social development road map “and get Nigeria working again”. In his view, at no other time has the poverty in the quality of leadership and governance been worse than it has been since 2015.

Atiku added: “I am offering myself again to provide the desired leadership. I have a history of Economic reform and political transformation. As a private businessman of many years, I have a deep understanding of our economy and its challenges.

“As a vice president, our administration demonstrated a willingness to reform and to implement a formal development agenda, the NEEDS and SEEDS.

“As Head of the economic management team, I was instrumental in the design of a private sector revival strategy and advocated for the opening up of the economy for private sector investment in the IT sector. Today, it is undeniably the fastest growing services sector in the Nigerian economy.”

Atiku said the agenda would be guided by three basic principles, which are greater private sector participation, discontinuation of government monopoly in infrastructure, including refineries, rail transportation and power transmission,  and greater market leverage in price determination and elimination of persistent price distortion due to interventionist exchange rate management policy.

The PDP flagbearer promised to increase the Gross Domestic Product per capita from USS2,000 to USS 5 00 by 2030, achieve economic diversification, expand the export base in manufacturing, oil and gas; build a knowledge-based economy and promote inclusion through job creation and liberation of the poor from poverty. Emphasising that power sector reform will be a critical policy priority, Atiku said: “By 2030, Nigeria shall make a giant stride in diversifying its sources of power and delivering up to 25,000 megawatts.”

Atiku also promised one million housing units through private sector-led effort, 5,000 kilometres of modern railway lines and 70,000 kilometres of paved road network.

The former vice president said there would be more transparency and efficiency in the management of institutions in the oil and gas sector.

He also said all government-owned refineries would be sold and new licences issued for greenfield investment in crude oil refining.

Atiku said he would reposition education by promoting research in science and technology, a robust healthcare system, vocational education and support for people with special needs.

He said: “I truly believe that an educated population forms the backbone for a progressive and prosperous society. Education is the key to unlocking opportunity, prosperity and progress. Education can and should be this key.”

Atiku has promised an all-inclusive governance structure to harness national diversity and a just environment where the rights of citizens would be protected.

On corruption, he said if elected, his government would strengthen policies and measures for detecting corruption through a strong technology infrastructure that supports the end-to-end operations of governmental businesses for transparency, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness.

He also promised to enhance whistle-blowing and witness protection policies.

Obi:

The Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Gregory Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed have released a seven-point manifesto on what they would do to salvage the country if elected. It is tagged, ‘Our Pact with Nigeria’. The 48-page policy document contains the Obi-Datti’s strategies for purposeful and participatory leadership for national rebirth based on seven governance priorities.

Obi said: “As your president, I Peter Gregory Onwubuasi Obi, my Vice President, Yusuf Datti Baba Ahmed and our team pledge to:

“Secure and unite our dear nation, to manage our diversity such that no one is left behind in Nigeria; move Nigeria from consumption to production; embark on comprehensive legal and institutional reforms and practicable restructuring measures, to fight corruption, enthrone rule of law, and an all-inclusive and effective government; and prioritise Human Capital Development through robust investments in STEM education, health, and infrastructural development, with emphasis on wealth creation, distribution and sustainable development.”

He also promises to: “engineer the transition of Nigeria from fossil fuel dependency to climate and eco-friendly energy use; pursue holistic poverty eradication with emphasis on agricultural revolution through effective utilisation of our vast arable lands, particularly in Northern Nigeria, and erase Nigeria’s categorisation as the poverty capital of the world.

“Improve access to finance, Particularly to MSMEs, youths and women, to significantly reduce unemployment and insecurity.

“Ensure that in policy and practice, governance will be made more inclusive, cost-effective, transformative, and less transactional (No more sharing of the national wealth by a few)

“Ensure that our diversity will be leveraged to give women and youths, the aged and persons with disabilities, an unfettered voice in governance, and a renewed sense of patriotism and faith in Nigeria; and ensure that Nigeria is progressively better governed through legislative, executive, and judicial reforms so that the Constitutional separation of powers among the three arms of government is properly followed and the three tiers of government allowed to function independently and jointly for a more inclusive and sustainable Nigeria.”

Security:

Top on the list is Obi’s plan to secure Nigeria, end banditry and insurgency; unite the country and manage “our diversity”. The LP candidate also promised production-centred growth for food security and export, moving Nigeria from consumption to production.

Restructuring:

He also listed restructuring the polity through effective legal and institutional reforms, to fight corruption and enthrone rule of law and an inclusive and effective government.

Economy:

Obi, a former Anambra State governor, also promised to move Nigeria from an oil-dependent economy to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) with massive investment in new technologies.

Also, he plans to expand physical infrastructure with a focus on critical sectors like power, multi-modal transportation, and gas pipeline, through efficient public-private partnership (PPP) reforms.

He also promised youth engagement and human capital development that improves the quality of life of workers and families, and productivity-enhancing education that empowers labour competitiveness.

Foreign policy:

Finally, Obi has also promised a robust foreign policy that restores Nigeria’s strategic relevance.

 Kwankwaso:

The New Nigeria People’s Party’s (NNPP) presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has unveiled a 60-page blueprint for the governance of the country if elected as president next year. Kwankwaso, at the unveiling ceremony of the document titled “My Pledges To You”, promised to listen more and allow Nigerians to dictate the tune of his administration.

The NNPP flag bearer is the third among the four leading contenders for the seat to officially present a blueprint on plans for governance if given a chance to direct the affairs of the country.

The major highlights of Kwankwaso’s manifesto are as follows:

  Leadership, justice:

The former Kano governor said if elected, his administration will provide patriotic and competent leadership that is guided by the seven time-tested principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership by example.

“We will be fair and just to all, and we shall ensure fairness and justice at all levels of governance,” he said.

Tackling insecurity:

Kwankwao said insecurity has contributed to heightened, and increasing despair and hopelessness in Nigeria. He said if elected, his administration will tackle the menace using a “special approach”.

“In our arrangement, we shall use the military and the police optimally to ensure that terrorism, banditry, kidnapping-for-ransom, militancy, insurgency, oil theft and bunkering, communal clashes, and all other forms of security breaches that are making our country unsafe are tackled head-on and brought to a permanent stop,” the manifesto reads.

“The size of the Nigerian Armed Forces will be built to about one million active service men and women. This entails recruiting an additional of about 750 thousand more personnel into the armed forces.

“The size of the Nigerian Police will also be built to about one million active service men and women. This will bring the police-to-citizen ratio to 1:220 (much better than the UN-recommended minimum of 1:450).

Economy:

He said his administration will run an emergency rescue plan to salvage the economy, protect the citizens’ savings, restore fiscal discipline, and improve crude oil and gas production.

Kwankwaso said he would also improve non-oil revenue, target inflation, save the naira from the current “uncontrolled devaluation”, and limit capital flight from the country.

“We shall expand the tax base and the tax net by ensuring that businesses that are actively avoiding and/or evading tax are brought into the tax system. We shall create the enabling environment where trade, investments and businesses will blossom and manufacturing (re-industrialization) will be the pivot upon which the Nigerian economy will stand,” the document reads.

“The economy will be actively diversified. Aggressive efforts will be made to strengthen the non-oil sectors, hone the potentialities, harness the opportunities and harvest the yields for the good of all Nigerians.”

According to the document, fiscal discipline will be restored by reducing the size of the Federal Government’s recurrent expenditure to bring down the level of deficit.

Kwankwaso said given the level of the deficit, the capital budgets will be overhauled to improve value for money by prioritising only key infrastructure projects that will have a positive impact on production and competitiveness.

Restructuring:

On restructuring, he said his “government will listen to Nigerians. We are not going to be rigid on restructuring. Whatever Nigerians want will be given to them. These documents will be transmitted into the local languages so that people who don’t read or understand English will read.”

Fuel subsidy:

Though silent on whether his administration would end the controversial petrol subsidy gulping trillions of naira annually, Kwankwaso said Nigeria had lost billions to subsidy, hence, if elected his administration would assess past subsidy regimes in the overall interest of Nigeria.

Petroleum subsidies were first introduced in Nigeria in the 1970s as a response to the oil price shock of 1973. The situation of shock led to a global rise in oil prices and if the international rates were to be used would have made Nigerians pay more, thereby forcing the government to regulate local prices for energy products.

Job creation:

He said jobs will be created at multiple levels through the economic revamping strategy as well as through constructive engagement with the youth by honing their skill sets and providing them with the necessary support.

“More and more jobs will be created through targeted investments, special accelerated projects and programmes,” the document reads.

Fight against corruption:

The Kwankwaso administration aims to prevent corruption by running a transparent and open government, using the “latest advanced technologies to capture, analyse, and share data to prevent, detect, and deter corrupt behaviour; expose corrupt activities and risks that may otherwise remain hidden”.

Another agenda in the manifesto is to keep the public sector honest, transparent and accountable, as well as ensure that public sector employees act in the public interest.

Education:

Kwankwaso said his administration will treat education as an investment, not an expenditure. He said his administration will mop up the 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria in the next four years, and review provisions of the Universal Basic Education Act with emphasis on gender equity in primary and secondary school enrolment.

“For our administration, no Nigerian child shall be denied the opportunity to write WAEC, NECO, JAMB, etc., because of their inability to pay exorbitant registration/examination fees. These examinations shall be free and all application forms for admission into tertiary education institutions (TEIs) shall also be free,” the document said.

Health:

The Kwankwaso administration aims to reform the health sector to ensure professional accountability, quality of service, and professionalism.

He said access to medical education will be expanded while more professional personnel will be trained to serve communities.

He also said in conjunction with states and local government councils, free natal and maternity healthcare services will be provided for families.

“In conjunction with other levels of care provisioning, our administration shall coordinate the provision of mobile clinics to access under-served communities across the country,” he said.

Food security:

The Kwankwaso administration also pledged to revolutionise farming practices by investing in technology, training, and extension work “with the objective of attaining national food security as well as capturing a substantial market share of food in the African continent”.

He added: “We pledge to ensure the deployment of global best practices in establishment and management of forestry, plantation, animal husbandry, livestock, poultry, and fisheries as well as guarantee an agriculture value chain that protects the farmers, the livestock owners as well as the consumers.”

As global leaders and environmental activists gathered in Egypt for this year’s climate summit, there are calls for more commitment to tackling climate change problems to save the world from the highway to climate hell. However, many still fear that the summit may not achieve much because of knotty questions over who will offset compensations for loss and damage that the most vulnerable countries are seeking from the world’s biggest polluters; while several key world leaders from China, Russia and India may not grace the important event due to deep-seated political divisions. Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF writes with agency reports

The ongoing International Convention Centre during the COP27 climate summit, which began on Sunday, has gifted the world-famous resort of Sharm el Sheikh, an Egyptian resort town between the desert of the Sinai Peninsula and the Red Sea, another moment in the spotlight. Perhaps because of its unique sheltered sandy beaches, clear waters and coral reefs, Sharm El Sheikh is best known outside Egypt as a beach haven for tourists – Germans, British and, lately, Ukrainians and Russians – who love to get sunburned along the calm waters and rich coral reefs of the Red Sea.

However, at least for the next two weeks, the all-inclusive resorts is instead housing tens of thousands of world leaders, climate negotiators, environmental activists and other attendees of COP27, the annual United Nations climate summit. To give conferees an experience to remember for a long time, trees have been planted and plastic bags banned in an effort to “green” the city that has earned the moniker “City of Peace, Mangroves and Sustainability.”

At the international climate summit (COP27) gets underway amid compounding crises of war and economic instability, it is an open secret that world leaders will have some stormy sessions over how to address a key and fundamental question: whether or not rich and industrialised nations will pay for climate-related losses and damage. That has often been a sore point in previous meetings.

‘We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,’ UN Secretary-General

As presidents, prime ministers and activists from around the globe gathered yesterday to exchange ideas and tell the world what they have done and are still doing to tackle climate change, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, delivered a characteristically dire message about the rapidly-warming planet. “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,” he warned.

While setting the tone for the annual United Nations-led international climate talks, Guterres talked about the accumulating threats of war, warming and economic crisis taking a debilitating toll on every continent, hitting the world’s most vulnerable people the hardest. “We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing,” Mr. Guterres said in his opening remarks at the summit where dozens of world leaders are scheduled to deliver brief addresses.

The talks opened under the shadow of grim new data, as the World Meteorological Organisation said on Sunday that the planet had likely witnessed its warmest eight years on record, including every year since countries came together in 2015 to create the landmark Paris agreement. That was aimed at pivoting the global economy away from fossil fuels and slowing down warming.

However, the biggest fault line of this year’s talks is the question of what rich, industrialised countries — who account for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions — owe to those bearing the brunt of climate hazards. On that issue alone, some are optimistic that there was a small breakthrough on Sunday on the contentious issue of who will pay for the irreversible damage that climate change is wreaking on the world’s most vulnerable.

The event is the 27th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations convention, which is why it’s known as COP27. As at the last count, organisers said over 44,000 people have registered to attend, including representatives of governments, businesses, and civil society groups. The talks come at the end of a year that has seen extraordinary heat waves across the northern hemisphere, catastrophic flooding in Pakistan and Nigeria, and a punishing drought in China. According to a list posted by the United Nations, 110 heads of state and government are expected to address the conference, a larger number than at many previous climate conferences. Of those, just seven are women.

Activists call for a ‘fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty’ to end oil, gas and coal use

Environmental activists at COP27 are calling for a “fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.” This, in essence, is asking governments to promise an end to all new oil, gas and coal projects. In reality, this is a tall request for governments that are consumed with a global energy crisis induced by the Russia/Ukraine war. But activists argued on Monday that the solution lies in promoting the development of wind, solar and other renewable power rather than relying on gas and oil.

Many also said they are worried that the world leaders scheduled to speak are really at the gathering to pay lip service to climate change; while sealing deals on the side-lines for more fossil-fuel-driven energy. “So-called leaders are flying in to show that they care, but all they care about is drinking champagne with C.E.O.s,” said Dominika Lasota, a Polish activist with the group Fridays for Future, the international movement that grew out a solo school strike by Greta Thunberg, the climate activist from Sweden, in 2018.

Other activists expressed concern that the gathering was already shaping up to be a disappointment, and they accused world leaders of not providing clear direction on urgent climate issues. “Unfortunately, the only way I can actually sum up the COP27 summit so far is using two words: poor start,” Mohamed Adow, the director of Power Shift Africa, a group that aims to mobilize climate action across the continent, said at a news conference. “We cannot have COP27 become a sham.”

Mr. Adow said he was dismayed that there appeared to be no defined outcome on the issue of whether richer countries that have contributed the most to climate change should pay compensation to poorer countries that have been most affected. That issue, known as funding for “loss and damage,” is included on the conference’s formal agenda for the first time, but activists said the conversations were not focused enough on how such a policy would be carried out. Tasneem Essop, the executive director of Climate Action Network International, a network of more than 1,300 environmental groups, said at the same news conference that richer countries had an obligation to support poorer ones. “A COP in Africa has to deliver for the most vulnerable in Africa and across the world,” she said.

Compensation for ‘loss and damage’ may be stalemated

A treaty to end coal, oil and gas use is not on the agenda at the conference; in fact, it has never been a direct topic of discussion at these climate summits. Harjeet Singh, the head of global political strategy for Climate Action Network, an international coalition of environmental groups, said that nations needed “a global framework to talk about fossil fuels.” Last year, at a summit in Glasgow, Scotland, nations agreed for the first time to put the phrase “fossil fuels” into a U.N. climate declaration. There was also a dispute at that summit about whether nations would agree to phase fossil fuels “out” or merely “down.” In the end, “down” won.

The most vulnerable countries are seeking ‘loss and damage’ compensation from the biggest polluters. Year after year, calls have steadily grown louder for industrialised nations responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions already heating up the planet to own up to the problem — and pay for the damage.

Known by the term “loss and damage” — sterile code words crafted to avoid blame — such funding would be separate from money to help poor countries adapt to a changing climate, its proponents have argued. Loss and damage, they insist, is not charity — it’s what’s due. At this year’s COP27 summit, for the first time, “funding arrangements” for loss and damage are included on the formal agenda, overcoming longstanding objections from the United States and the European Union. “We are pleased that the parties were able to agree on an agenda item related to loss and damage,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson was quoted to have said on Sunday.

“Damage,” which refers to the destruction of physical things like roads, homes and bridges, is relatively easy to quantify. “Loss” refers to economic impacts: lost work hours because of extreme heat, for instance, or lost agricultural revenues because rising sea levels flood paddy fields with salt water, or lost tourism revenues because of a hurricane. That is harder to quantify. Estimates of the amount of money required vary widely, from $290 billion to $580 billion a year by 2030, rising to $1.7 trillion by 2050, according to one study.

Loss and damage was first championed by countries in the Pacific Ocean, and then embraced by a widening group of developing world countries. All the while, the real losses and damages kept piling up. Storms washed away crops. Droughts turned farmland to desert. Scientists got better at pinpointing the role of the warming planet in extreme weather. As negotiators met at the climate summit in 2013 in Warsaw, Super Typhoon Haiyan wiped away homes and farms and killed more than 6,000 people in Southeast Asia.

In 2015, loss and damage was acknowledged in the Paris accord, the agreement among nations to jointly work to limit global warming, but not before the United States — historically the largest emitter of greenhouse gases — included specific language ruling out the prospect of liability and compensation. A breakthrough came at the Madrid climate summit in 2019: an agreement to set up a technical assistance program. So far that consists of a website but no staff or funding. At last year’s COP26 summit in Scotland, the United States signed a statement agreeing to “increase resources” for loss and damage, without committing to anything more specific. Then came record flooding in Pakistan last month, leaving what the World Bank estimated to be $30 billion in economic losses.

The issue represents the biggest fight at this year’s gathering, and even though it is finally on the formal agenda, the issue is far from settled: There’s no agreement on whether to set up a pot of money — and certainly no money yet. “Space has been created for discussion,” said Simon Stiell, the head of the United Nations climate change agency, which is leading these talks.

Can Washington, Beijing and others work together to stop the world from ‘highway to climate hell’?

As world leaders gathered in Egypt to confront climate change, this is taking place at a moment of colliding crises: a war in Europe that has upended energy markets, rising global inflation, deep political divisions in many countries and tension between the world’s two greatest polluters, China and the United States. Many believe the prevailing conditions don’t bode well for a mission that demands cooperation among nations to bring down the pollution from burning oil, gas and coal that is warming the planet. The United States, which for the first time is attending United Nations negotiations with a climate plan that is backed by the force of law, will try to reassert itself as a leader in the fight to keep temperatures from rising to catastrophic levels. But while the legislation may mend America’s tattered reputation after former President Donald Trump halted climate action for years, more is needed to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris agreement to constrain global warming. And the law barely squeaked through a bitterly divided Congress.

In addition, much of climate progress hinges on China, which now pumps the most greenhouse gases of any country into the atmosphere — an output that is not expected to peak for several more years. John Kerry, President Biden’s special envoy for climate change, emerged from last year’s summit with his Chinese counterpart to announce the two countries would work together to cut fossil fuel pollution this decade. But a year later, there is distance between the two as relations between the United States and China have sunk to their lowest point in decades amid economic competition, tensions over Taiwan and differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Anyway, the United Nations scribe has called on China and the United States — the world’s two biggest polluters — to cooperate in addressing climate change, saying that the nations had “a particular responsibility to join efforts.” “We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,” Guterres said. He acknowledged other steep challenges that the world faces, including the war between Russia and Ukraine, but said that climate change was of another order. “It is unacceptable, outrageous and self-defeating to put it on the back burner,” he said.

Mr. Guterres also had a message for India and China, although he did not name them. Days before leaders of the Group of 20 major economies meet, with India chairing the gathering, he said: “All G20 countries must accelerate their transition now — in this decade.” “Developed countries must take the lead,” he added, signalling that historic polluters have a different responsibility. “But emerging economies are also critical to bending the global emissions curve.”

In his own opening remarks, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, which is hosting the conference, called on leaders to act with urgency to meet their commitments. “There is no time to slip back. There is no space for hesitation,” he said. “For the sake of future generations, here and now we are facing a unique historical moment, a last chance to meet our responsibilities.”

Why some influential world leaders may boycott COP27?

The leaders of some of history’s largest polluters are slated to speak, including the president of the European Union, Ursula Von der Leyen, and Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak. Both have ambitious targets to reduce emissions of planet-warming gases. Mohamed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, is also scheduled to make an address, though his kingdom has no plans to slow down the exploitation of fossil fuels.

President Biden is due to arrive late this week, after the midterm elections in the United States. Several key world leaders will not be in attendance at a convention centre on the shores of the Red Sea: Xi Jinping of China, the world’s largest emitter, nor Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, whose emissions are expected to grow sharply alongside its economy. Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, whose war on Ukraine is financed by the country’s fossil fuel riches, is not coming either. But Russia’s military aggression and the global energy and food crisis it has unleashed loom large. Without naming any countries, Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, urged that the nations of the world not let “political tensions” get in the way of addressing climate crisis. “We need to prove the contrary,” he told delegates at the opening ceremony on Sunday. “Climate change and its impacts are existential,” he added.

COP27 and its lofty aims

For two weeks, as nations struggle to cut greenhouse gas emissions amid a global energy crisis, war in Europe and rising inflation, there are high hopes, especially on the side of the most vulnerable parts of the world. What does COP stand for? COP stands for Conference of the Parties, with “parties” referring to the 197 nations that agreed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. The 197 parties, including the United States, ratified the treaty to address “dangerous human interference with the climate system” and stabilise levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. The U.N. climate body convenes those governments once a year to discuss how to jointly address climate change. This is the 27th time countries have gathered under the convention — hence, COP27.

At last year’s summit in Scotland, countries agreed they must immediately do more to prevent a dangerous rise in global temperatures. But fast action has not materialised and the consequences of climate change, including deadly floods in Pakistan and Nigeria, drought in the United States, famine in Africa and heat waves across Europe, are issues requiring sincerity of purpose – a rare commodity among world’s leaders – to address.

World leaders converge on Sharma El-Sheikh, Egypt for this year’s Conference of Parties 27 (COP27) to appraise the successes or failures of last year’s commitment to tackling climate change. Poor countries hope to benefit from the promises and actions of the developed nations as fallout of the meeting in Africa for the second time. CHINAKA OKORO reports with agency reports

Issues on Climate Change and how they affect humankind in different parts of the world and how to mitigate them would be the major preoccupation of world leaders who have converged on the ancient city.

The United Nations Conference of Parties 27 (COP27) meeting continues today in Sharma El-Sheikh, Egypt. It began yesterday and will end on November 18.

President Muhammadu Buhari will be represented at the meeting by the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi.

There, he will deliver Nigeria’s National Statement at plenary and attend bilateral and side meetings on Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan, among other engagements.

Probably, part of his presentations would be the country’s experience in this year’s flooding that has killed many people and destroyed property worth billions of Naira.

Yesterday, a civil society organization, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), urged African countries to focus on finance adaption for the continent ahead of the official opening of the Conference of Parties 27 (COP27).

Its Executive Director, Dr Mithika Mwenda gave the advice yesterday.

The CSOs stressed the need to focus on issues of financing adaptation, loss and damage and honour climate finance pledges to Africa.

He stated that loss and damage refer to permanent loss or repairable damage caused by the manifestations of climate change, including severe weather events, sea level rise and desertification.

Mwenda also emphasised the need for the Africa Group of Negotiators to advance the African agenda, which includes the continued demand by the continent for the G20 countries to deliver on the US$ 100 billion a year pledge that has yet to be honoured.

Why was the Conference of Parties established?

In the face of horrible climate change devastating the world, the United Nations established the Framework Convention on Climate Change which is an international environmental treaty to combat “dangerous human interference with the climate system.” The first meeting was in March 1995, in Germany. Part of its function is to “negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.”

At the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015, parties to the UNFCCC reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low-carbon future.

The Paris Agreement is built upon the Convention and brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.

Majorly, the Paris Agreement’s central aim was to “strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this century well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”

On Earth Day, 22 April 2016, 175 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement at United Nations Headquarters in New York. This was by far the largest number of countries ever to sign an international agreement on a single day. There are now 191 countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement.

Read Also: What is COP27 and why is it important?

In continuation of its efforts to tackle this menace, world leaders have continued to strive for a better environment.

For instance, last year, world leaders converged on Glasgow, the United Kingdom for the COP26 where countries made bold collective commitments to curb methane emissions, to halt and reverse forest loss, align the finance sector with net zero by 2050, ditch the internal combustion engine, accelerate the phase-out of coal, and end international financing for fossil fuel.

The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow made some significant progress in a number of areas, which though experts say “were not enough; as the world still remains off-track to beat back the climate crisis.”

In recognition of the urgency of the challenge, ministers from all over the world agreed that countries should come back this year to submit stronger 2030 emissions reduction targets with the aim of closing the gap to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F). Ministers also agreed that developed countries should urgently deliver more resources to help climate-vulnerable countries adapt to the dangerous and costly consequences of climate change that they are feeling already—from dwindling crop yields to devastating storms.

According to environmental experts, despite significant headway on several fronts, national climate and financing commitments still fell far short of what is needed to come to grips with the climate challenge.

It’s time for climate action

To build on the successes of COP26, world leaders are in Egypt for the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties. The leaders would appraise the successes of the Glasgow meeting and, if need be, “put promises into practice now to achieve a zero-carbon future for all.”

This year’s conference “will bring together leaders in government, civil society, industry, and finance from around the world to raise ambition and accelerate action to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.”

Expectations at the COP27

This year’s conference comes at a critical moment in the fight against climate change. It is expected that the world’s most influential leaders would understand the plight of developing countries and approach issues in a bid to save them from ravaging natural disasters.

They should, as a matter of urgency commit to and take steps to develop the next generation of innovative clean energy and climate solutions; centre the development needs of the Global South and support those on the front lines of climate change; move from ambition to action, accountability, and implementation and reduce carbon emissions and methane emissions simultaneously.

What are its aims?

The overall objective of COP27 is to halve global greenhouse emissions by 2030 and reach “net zero” by 2050 to keep warming below 1.5°C as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

COP26 in Scotland’s port city of Glasgow saw a flurry of pledges that ultimately still left the world on track to hit 2.4°C (4.3°F), according to the Climate Action Tracker.

“Government officials at this year’s meeting will tackle some of the weightiest issues currently keeping the world on track to disastrous heating.

“Developing countries experiencing the worst effects of climate change will aim to obtain financial help from industrialised nations responsible for the biggest share of emissions, which have yet to deliver on promises of regular finance for both adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Egyptian Foreign Minister tasks participants

Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry has been elected as the President of the Conference of Parties (COP) 27 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

He urged countries to show faith in multilateralism over the next two weeks as they negotiate to deliver on the goals of the Climate Convention and the Paris Agreement.

Shoukry said: “It comes as no surprise to anyone that the COP is being held this year in a world which is witnessing political turmoil that cast a long shadow on all our nations and has resulted in energy and food crises.

“These challenges should be no reason for delaying our collective effort to fight climate change.

“It is inherent in us all in Sharm El-Sheikh to demonstrate our recognition of the magnitude of the challenges we face and our steadfast resolve to overcome it.”

He addressed climate envoys and delegates at what is considered to be one of the largest COPs ever in terms of attendance.

The Egyptian minister asserted that the host country made sure that COP27 would provide the optimum setting to align and converge on multiple views, as well as facilitate transparent, inclusive and fruitful discussion, to ensure the most positive outcome achievable.

He acknowledged the challenging economic and geopolitical factors but noted that external circumstances should not be allowed to negatively affect the negotiating process.

The president added that as a COP hosted in Africa, it must consider the needs of the developing countries and ensure climate justice by availing the appropriate finance and other means of implementation.

This, he said, is necessary as African countries are the most affected by climate change.

The conference of the parties adopted its agenda, and for the first time since the adoption of the UN climate convention, “parties agreed to introduce loss and damage funding as an agenda item at the climate conference. Loss and damage refer to the destructive impacts of climate change that cannot be avoided either by mitigation or adaptation.”

With an estimated population of 200 million, Nigeria has a considerable consumption rate of bread and other bakery products. Foods with wheat components are being considered a critical alternative to conventional additions such as flour. Currently, meeting the demand for bread is becoming a challenge as a result of the soaring wheat prices. Stakeholders are searching for cheaper alternatives because of the international disruption of the wheat market and rising inflation. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

In the yesteryear, an average Nigerian family could afford tea and bread as their preferred breakfast menu. That was when bread, a major component of each breakfast was cheap.

Also then, ingredients with which bread was baked, such as flour, sugar and butter, among others, were somewhat inexpensive.

With N500, a family could buy bread, liquid milk (peak or carnation milk, peak condensed milk, sugar and any other item necessary for each breakfast. That was at that time.

Then and there, it appeared outlandish to see a family that eats garri and soup in the morning; as it will be regarded as being poor.

However, the breakfast culture continues.

Every family, in a bid to remain counted as part of those who take tea and bread as a morning food, will manage to buy Agege Buredi (a low-quality, chaff-like bread), Lipton tea, N50 tie-tie sugar and sachet milk and they have taken a sumptuous breakfast.

Bread, the main component of morning food is getting beyond the reach of the common man. People find alternatives in wheat to flour since consumers use baked foods for breakfast to support the city’s lifestyles of always being on the go.

From workers to retirees, people find it convenient to flock to eateries for snacks. Wheat is recognised as a quality ingredient for the production of a wide variety of bread, noodle and other snacks.

This has engendered the trend of consuming wheat-related products that are fast proliferating in the food businesses.

Bread is a major product from wheat. Its consumption has been very high for Nigeria; with producers grappling with the challenges to source supply for the production of other derivatives such as biscuits, cupcakes, pastries and brownies.

Demand for bread has made Nigeria the largest market for wheat imports. Global wheat prices shot higher following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nigeria is a wheat importer; buying more than 70 per cent of its wheat from abroad. Traders source for supply from the United States, Canada and Ukraine.

They are now scrambling to source supplies from elsewhere as the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia continue.

Analysts say Nigerians’ demand for wheat is pushing for increased importation with a supply gap of nearly five million metric tons, which cannot be provided through local supply.

Demand is growing at an unprecedented rate. This is because of population growth and a preference for wheat products.

A study by KPMG attributed the growth in wheat demand to manufacturers’ use of wheat-based foods such as flour, pasta, semolina, noodles and wheat meal.

According to the study, the size of the Nigerian biscuit segment has been estimated at N121 billion, having grown at an annual growth rate of 16 per cent in the past five years.

Data by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the 420,000 metric tons of wheat produced in Nigeria last year was grossly inadequate to meet the increase in demand.

Data sources accessed by The Nation have shown growing imports in the past six years.

For instance, Knoema, an international research firm, stated that the country’s wheat import quantity increased from 350,000 tons in 1971 to 650,000 tons in 2020; growing at an average yearly rate of 10.21 per cent.

In its report, Knoema noted that Nigeria imported 6.5 million tons of wheat last year. In 2020, the report said Nigeria was among the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar-value worth of wheat.

In Africa, Egypt and Nigeria imported the largest amount of wheat. Egypt imported $2.7 billion (5.7 per cent of total imported wheat), and Nigeria‘s value of imported wheat stood at $2.06 billion (4.3 per cent) of the global total.

Since 2019, Nigeria’s imports were up by 62.3 per cent, while Morocco increased by 48.2 per cent.

Only one per cent of the 4.7 million tons of annual wheat Nigeria needs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is produced locally.

Last year, bread prices surged by as much as three times. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), bread prices rose by about 35 per cent between May 2021 and May 2022 due to rising food inflation.

Since July, the prices of bread have risen tremendously. Pint-sized bread sold for N200 about two months ago now goes for N250. The medium-sized bread which sold for N500 now goes for N600.

High prices have raised worries as producers are not able to secure enough supplies from the international market. As wheat prices soar, food producers look for cheaper alternatives.

In search of alternatives, bakers have resorted to using orange-fleshed potato (OFP) puree to supplement wheat flour when making snacks and bread. Generally, OFP is rich in bio-carotene, a vitamin “A” substance that helps in fighting diabetes.

As wheat prices have been driven upward by the war in Ukraine, bakers in Ivory Coast are beginning to use locally-produced cassava flour to bake bread.

A report said the baguette, the stick of bread, is commonly seen as a benchmark of the cost of living. Ivory Coast does not produce wheat domestically. It imports up to a million tons of grain per year, mainly from France.

Surging wheat prices, a report said, have stoked concern about the impact in a country of 25 million where the average wage is less than 250,000 CFA francs ($400) per month, and which was shaken by a wave of violence less than two years ago.

Bakers, with the government’s support, are also beginning to substitute a small portion of wheat flour with flour from cassava. A report indicates that cassava, also called manioc, is Ivory Coast’s second-largest crop after yam, with 6.4 million tons produced each year.

As it ticks the boxes for economy and sustainability, people are beginning to accept bread made with local cassava flour and the national consumers’ confederation has reportedly thrown its support behind the cassava substitute.

As in Nigeria, consumers are grappling with the image and taste. Similar to Nigerians, Ivoirians associate bread made with cassava with poor quality.

The other issue was a 2014 study in Nigeria that a high proportion of cassava flour lowers the mineral and protein contents in bread, compared with traditional wheat.

This notwithstanding, the National Council for the Fight against the High Cost of Living (CNLCV) is canvassing for increased use of local alternatives to reduce dependence on wheat imports.

Concerns in West Africa about dependence on imported wheat are not confined to Ivory Coast. It is being felt across the sub-region. Wheat-based products have seen a steady price increase in Senegal, Ghana and the rest of the countries that make up the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

In Nigeria, the recent increase of about 20 per cent in the price of bread, has led to a high cost of living. Premium Bread-Makers’ Association of Nigeria (PBAN) threatened to halt bread production over what the association claimed as an almost impossible situation to operate a bakery. The President of the association, Emmanuel Onuorah lamented that bakers were contending with the Federal Government’s 15 per cent wheat development levy on wheat import, the inability of bakers to access soft loans from the CBN to Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and multi-agencies regulations of the bread-making industry, among others.

According to him, many bakers had been forced to shut down operations due to the increase in the cost of doing business.

Onuorah also urged the Federal Government to open up a forex window for industry players, particularly the flour millers. This, he said, would considerably address the indiscriminate increase in the prices of flour in the market.

Currently, flour is about N32, 000 a bag. A bag of flour, sold between N8, 000 and N10, 300 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Industry players say the record spike in the price of wheat is a major problem facing the baking industry.

Currently, flour millers are grappling with the increasing production cost and low wheat cultivation. It is the rising costs that have been passed down to the bakers, who are battling to stay afloat.

The Director and Head of the Department of Food Technology, Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), Oshodi Dr Oluwatoyin Bolanle Oluwole is one of the scientists working to ensure that the ripple effects of the Russia-Ukraine war on wheat flour prices are reduced through the resurrection of the cassava bread initiative.

The initiative targeted a 40 per cent inclusion of composite cassava flour in bread production to reduce Nigeria’s import bill on wheat and also help grow the cassava value chain.

She said there was a high potential gain in incorporating high-quality cassava flour into wheat flour for the production of bread and confectionery products. She added that bakers would make more profits from the inclusion.

She said: “A 50kg bag of wheat costs about N34, 000 depending on the brand while a bag of cassava costs N20, 000. What we did was majorly recipe manipulation. You are not going to change your equipment used for 100 per cent wheat flour. There will be more job opportunities for those that venture into cassava processing.”

Stakeholders such as the Managing Director of Spectra Industries Limited Lagos, Mr Durodola Omolewa Kuteyi have called for the reintroduction of HQCF in bread production to help the country to save foreign exchange.

ICSAN and FIIRO have trained 100 master bakers and private confectioners in cassava flour inclusion for bread production. The usage of 10 per cent high-quality cassava flour and 90 per cent wheat flour were displayed to the participants at the workshop.

The President of ICSAN, Mr Segun Ladele said the inclusion of 10 per cent of high-quality cassava flour in bread production would save the country about two billion dollars on wheat importation.

He urged the Federal Government to promote the initiative, stressing that the process would reduce the price of bread.

He raised concerns over their inability to access loans. He noted that even though the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), commercial banks and microfinance banks have funding programmes, they are usually burdened by administrative and process challenges that make access difficult.

According to him, financing is available with CBN and other financial institutions; there are barriers to getting access, high-interest rates, short tenure, and often strident conditions.

He said: “The CBN Governor said over 20 billion dollars is spent on wheat importation every year. So, if 10 per cent is spent on cassava, we will be saving lot of funds. About two billion dollars will be saved on the importation of wheat.

“The flour millers are also lamenting that the price of wheat flour is very high and we can see the result from the bread we eat these days. Bread is very expensive now because of our failure to include cassava in wheat for bread production.

“We need help and support from the CBN to increase capacity. The market is there already; all we need to do is increase production and we need the support of the CBN to achieve that feat.”

Ladele called on stakeholders in the sector to embrace the inclusion of cassava in bread production, adding that there should be synergy between the bakers and the cassava processors.

According to him, Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world and produces about 60 million tons of cassava yearly. The potential is still untapped.

He said if the inclusion of cassava in bread-making is embraced, it would lead to a 15 to 20 per cent reduction in the price of bread.

“The war between Russia and Ukraine affects everybody and it is going to put pressure on the current situation if you are looking at 10 per cent of cassava flour inclusion for bread-making.”

The Director-General of FIIRO, Dr Jummai Adamu said cassava remains the major solution to food security and industrial development of Nigeria.

Adamu, who was represented by the Director of Extension and Linkage, Dr Dele Oyeku said FIIRO researchers have not only confirmed that HQCF inclusion in wheat flour even up to 30 per cent, was safe but also its benefits were also outstanding.

She listed the benefits to include economic, foreign exchange savings, wealth creation, job creation and growth of the non-oil sector.

“I pray that the legislation of cassava flour inclusion in wheat flour for bread and confectioneries baking is realised to justify the inputs of all stakeholders.  We hope that the current efforts in the legislation of wheat cassava composite bread will sail through the National Assembly and be signed into law,” she said.

The Secretary-General of the Industrial Cassava Stakeholders’ Association of Nigeria (ICSAN), Dr Tope Aroge said members of the association have been working to improve the increased use of high-quality cassava flour in bread.

He said the association was taking advantage of the abundant supply of cassava to produce HQCF that flour millers and master bakers can utilise instead of involving in wheat importation which will impact negatively the country’s scarce foreign exchange.

He reiterated that there was enough scienti?c evidence for the effectiveness of using cassava ?our in bread. The potential bene?ts of using cassava ?our in bread-making, according to him, include a reduction of dependence on wheat imports, foreign exchange savings, an increase in farmers’ incomes, a reduction of food insecurity and a boost of rural development by promoting cassava production.

Since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele announced a planned redesign of the naira, there have been divergent views on the appropriateness or otherwise of the policy at a time the economy facing storms. From those in support to those vehemently opposed to it, the CBN has stirred up a debate with the fate of the economy at the centre of it all. Assistant Editor NDUKA CHIEJINA reports

When the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) effects the change to the naira by January 31 next year, it will be the 16th time the national currency has been redesigned or changed since 1959. The proposed change will cover both the notes and the coins. It is claimed that global best practice permits central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new local legal tender every five to eight years. The last time the naira had a makeover was 20 years ago.

However, none of the changes has attracted as much interest and debate as the awaited 2023 redesign of the naira. On 26th October, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced that some denominations of the naira will wear new looks. These are the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes. Emefiele said the apex bank was worried over the management of current series of banknotes and currency in circulation, particularly those outside the banking system in Nigeria.

A major source of concern to the CBN is the escalation in scale and sophistication unscrupulous people have abused the naira, from hoarding to counterfeiting the notes. Emefiele said members of the public were hoarding banknotes “with statistics showing that over 85 per cent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of our commercial banks. To be more specific, as at the end of September 2022, available data at the CBN indicated that N2.73 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation was outside the vault of commercial banks across the country and supposedly held by members of the public.”

What many Nigerians do not know is that the shabby looks of the various naira notes have resulted in the negative perception of the CBN, which in turn has increased risks to financial stability. The credibility of the naira and the ability of the CBN to effectively manage the currency were further put at risk by “increasing ease and risk of counterfeiting evidenced by several security reports.” According to Emefiele, “recent development in photographic technology and advancements in printing devices have made counterfeiting relatively easier. In recent years, the CBN has recorded significantly higher rates of counterfeiting, especially at the higher denominations of N500 and N1,000 banknotes.”

Aside from the attacks on the naira, the CBN said it was compelled to redesign the naira because of the prevailing level of security situation in the country, especially cases of terrorism and kidnapping with perpetrators holding on to what Emefiele described as “large volume of money outside the banking system used as source of funds for ransom.”

By giving the naira a makeover within the timeframe stipulated by the CBN and given the existing laws around depositing of cash in banks, unscrupulous individuals keeping naira notes will be forced to deposit these notes in the banks or forfeit their ill-gotten wealth.

Fall-out of the CBN decision

The apex bank has admitted that the decision to redesign the naira will impact the value of the naira. Almost immediately announcing the proposed naira redesign, the naira plummeted like a wounded bird and it is now hovering around N800/$ in the parallel market. Another consequence of the naira change is the expected rush of bank customers and other members of the public to convert their old currencies to the new within the stipulated time.

With the expected rush to dump their old cash for the new in the banks, the CBN will by extension mop up currency in circulation, thereby applying the breaks on an inflation that looks unstoppable albeit temporarily. To address these fallouts, all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) currently holding the existing denominations of the currency N200, N500 and N1,000 have been ordered to return these notes to the CBN immediately pending when “the newly designed currency will be released to the banks. Bank customers have also been urged to start paying into their bank accounts the existing currency to enable them withdraw the new banknotes once circulation begins in mid-December 2022.

“All banks are expected to keep open their currency processing centres from Monday to Saturday so as to accommodate all cash that will be returned by their customers.” Bank customers who want to pay-in cash over the N150,000 limit can do so if they agree to pay the charges. For people in the rural areas and those who do not have bank account, the eNaira will be introducing a number of tokens where people in the rural areas who do not have bank account can access bank services without bank account. However, for those carrying cash, they have been advised to “go to the nearest bank branch. They will take your cash and open an account for you for the purpose of returning the naira right into the bank’s vault and then collecting the new naira when we begin to release them.”

Zainab kicks, Buhari and Moghalu respond

The Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, appearing before the Senate Committee on Finance two days after it was announced that the naira will be changed, told the world that she was not informed of the impending change to the naira prior to the announcement. She also warned that the decision was likely to give rise to unpleasant consequences especially for the Naira. According to her, “as a Nigerian privileged to be at the top of Nigeria’s fiscal management, the policy as rolled out at this time, portends serious consequences on value of naira to other foreign currencies.”

Zainab Ahmed then cried out: “Distinguished senators, we were not consulted at the Ministry of Finance by CBN on the planned naira redesigning and cannot comment on it as regards merits or otherwise.”

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However, former Deputy Governor of the CBN Prof Kingsley Moghalu says the CBN does not owe the Finance Minister that kind of information. “The CBN only needs the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari for this particular exercise,” he said. According to him, “there are only three issues on which, in the CBN Act of 2007, the CBN should obtain external authorisation, and only from the President of Nigeria, for its operations: any alterations to the legal tender (the naira); any investment of the Bank’s funds outside Nigeria; and the Bank’s annual report.”

Outside of these, the only approving authorities for CBN operations, he said, “are its Committee of Governors consisting of the Governor and the four Deputy Governors, and the Board of Directors of the CBN, which includes the Governor, the four Deputy Governors, and 7 external members which include the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Accountant-General of the Federation.”

Moghalu criticised Emefiele for politicizing “the central bank by routinely subjecting its operations to the whims and caprices of the Presidency far beyond what is the appropriate relationship, and compromised the independence of the CBN as a result. That is why the Finance Minister erroneously feels entitled to be informed or consulted.”

He called on the CBN to “focus hard on the implementation of this policy. It will impose huge pressures on the banking system. How can the woman frying akara in the rural area, who keeps most of her cash under her pillow, be aided to come into the banking system under this new policy? There are others as well whose money is outside the banking system for reasons that are not negative.”

On Sunday evening, President Muhammadu Buhari confirmed that he authorised the CBN to carry out the redesign of the naira stressing that “the nation will gain a lot by doing so.”

Speaking in a Hausa radio interview with Halilu Ahmed Getso, and Kamaluddeen Sani Shawai President Buhari said reasons given to him by the CBN convinced him that “the economy stood to benefit from reduction in inflation, currency counterfeiting and the excess cash in circulation.” He said he did not consider the period of three months for the change to the new notes as being short. ”People with illicit money buried under the soil will have a challenge with this. But workers, businesses with legitimate incomes will face no difficulties at all.”

Commenting further, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu said “those with the notes must surrender to get new ones or else it becomes illegal tender after January 31 2023. This is also a way to withdraw currency from circulation, an unorthodox way of tightening the money supply since the country is battling high inflation. The flip side is that people who are holding huge amounts of cash outside the banking system for nefarious reasons will go to the parallel forex market to buy hard currency, putting further downward pressure on the value of the naira as too much naira will be chasing too few dollars.”

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He doubts the redesigning of the naira “will solve inflation because there are also other major reasons for inflation such as the forex crisis, which this new move could exacerbate, as well as the impact of the security crisis on food price inflation.” Overall, he thinks “it is a necessary step. I just think the time window for its implementation is rather short. This will put a lot of operational pressure on commercial banks and the financial system in general. A 90 day window would have been better, but one can understand the need to avoid interfering with the elections.”

What experts, others are saying?

In his reaction, the Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, described the planned move by the apex bank as embarking on a profligate exercise and a distraction. His words: “It is difficult to see any compelling value proposition of this currency redesign idea. The cost of such an action would be outrageous and disproportionate compared to the expected benefits advanced by CBN. At a time when the government is grappling with high fiscal deficit, debt crisis, severe revenue crisis and underfunding of many government projects and programmes, it is most inappropriate to embark on such a profligate exercise.

“Currency as a percentage of money supply is less than seven per cent. The exercise, therefore, has no monetary policy significance. Besides, it will come with huge logistics costs and avoidable dislocations to small businesses, most of who are in the informal sector. This is one intervention we can do without. There are more urgent issues demanding the attention of CBN. We have issues with liquidity in the foreign exchange market, the depreciating currency, the recent Moody’s downgrade of Nigeria, soaring inflation and many more. The CBN should save the citizens and the economy the trauma of this currency redesign. It is a distraction we can do without.”

Prof Uche Uwaleke of Nasarawa State University argued that “the decision to replace some naira denominations with new ones will be positive for the economy in the medium to long term. Although the measure does not amount to demonetisation of big currency notes often carried out by central banks to curb black money and corruption, it will go a long way in ensuring that a lot of naira notes circulating outside the banks are crowded in.

“If it leads to large deposits in banks, it means the banks will have more money to lend which may reduce interest rates. I also think it may have the effect of reducing speculative attacks on the naira in the parallel market. I expect that the Financial Intelligence Unit will be on the watch out for huge deposits as a way of monitoring illegitimate transactions. Despite the huge cost involved in changing currency notes, I think it’s time to sanitise the system especially now that electioneering activities have kicked off. However, I think the deadline of Jan 31 2023 is short in view of the number of naira denominations involved, from 100 to 1000. The CBN may consider extending it with time.”

On his part, Mr Gbolade Idakolo, Managing Director/CEO SD&D Capital Management Limited, believes that “the reasons given for redesigning the naira notes regarding efforts to trace ransom payments or curb counterfeiting may be germane but it’s attendant cost could further increase inflationary pressures on the economy. This decision will not positively lift the economy.”

The Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over its decision to redesign the country’s denominations of the naira notes N200, N500, and N1,000 bank notes ahead of the 2023 general elections, saying that only vote buyers will criticise the plan. The CNPP, in a statement by its Secretary General, Willy Ezugwu, explained that only politicians who intended to buy votes and financially induce electoral officials, and those who are ignorant of the import of the policy or beneficiaries of proceeds of crimes, including drug barons and kidnappers, will kick against the move by the CBN.

A group, the Concerned Northern Forum, kicked against the proposed redesign of the naira notes by the CBN. The group, through its spokesman, Abdulsalam Kazeem, expressed concern that “the redesigning of the naira notes will not add value to the standard of living of Nigerians and as such the exercise is unacceptable.”

“The redesigning of the currency will only cost our nation huge sums of money at the expense of tax payers. This is coming at a period when we are borrowing to fund significant parts of our annual budget and another significant part of the borrowing goes to debt servicing and yet the only solution the apex bank could offer is to redesign our currency.”

Kazeem and his group added that “the decision to redesign the naira is obviously to empower some certain individuals, consultant or contractors who are desperate to make something before the end of the current administration. This idea should be rejected by all and sundry at any rate, since it is not in the interest of the nation and it will add no value to the current multiple economic challenges the nation is facing due to bad economic policies of the current central bank governor.”

In the final analysis, many agree that the CBN’s decision to issue new banknotes will reduce counterfeits, bring in the unbanked into the system, and address inflation and money supply. However, if not properly handled, the fate of the naira and the Nigerian economy will be better imagined, especially for participants in the informal sector. There can be crisis of cash shortage, and money supply. The CBN must listen and distil the concerns of many stakeholders particularly on issues of timing, the Bank’s credibility, and an effective alternative channels for unbanked Nigerians to seamlessly transit from using the old notes to the new ones.

Efforts to resolve the grievances, which forced members of the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN) to embark on a strike in Lagos State have proved abortive. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO reports that all the parties may return to the negotiation table to iron out all issues

As the strike embarked upon by the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN) enters the third day in Lagos State, commuters said the impact was largely not felt across Lagos metropolis. This is due to the fact that only a handful of commercial bus drivers complied with the directive.

At a briefing last Friday at Rights House, 43, Adeniyi Jones Street, Ikeja, JDWAN vowed to go ahead with its planned seven-day strike and boycott of services over multiple and excessive extortion by the management of parks and garages in the state. Its leaders – Akintade Abiodun, National Leader; Opeyemi Sulaiman, Chairman; Ajimatanarareje Feyisayo, General Secretary and  Taofik Hassan, Assistant Secretary, said JDWAN is a broad association of commercial bus drivers that earn their living through “our profession of driving.”

The association said they will continue to boycott the roads until certain conditions are met. “Our demands are: No to charging drivers’ three passengers’ money after loading in parks or garages. We are demanding it should be one passenger’s money per bus. We demand that only Lagos State government ticket should be the only ticket in Lagos. Others like Lagos State Parks & Garages Management and Lagos State Caretaker Committee (both established by the Lagos State Government in lieu of the suspended National Union of Road Transport, NURTW and Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria, RTEAN,) are not acceptable to all drivers in Lagos State.

“We kick against paying motor park thugs at every bus stop. All illegal money paid after we leave the garages and parks should be abolished immediately. Harassment of law enforcement agencies and intimidation with guns, cutlass, broken bottles by the Lagos State Traffic Maintenance Authority (LASTMA), Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) and Rapid Response Squad (RRS) must end immediately. They collaborate and hire thugs to attack and extort us every day without violating any law.

“We have lesser bus stops for commercial vehicles. Most bus stops in Lagos are strictly assigned officially to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system only and we get arrested for dropping off passengers at existing bus stops, which are known to commuters as official bus stops for decades. We demand that the Lagos State government should provide official bus stops in each community to avoid incessant arrests and stress for commuters who complain of having to trek several kilometres back to their bus stops.”

According to them, failure on the part of government to quickly respond to avert the current anomaly will only attract more protest and total boycott. However, on Sunday, the association General Counsel and Legal Adviser, Ayo Ademiluyi, told The Nation that the protest would not go ahead, but the boycott will as announced.

This may be due to a meeting held with the officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation on Friday and another one scheduled to hold today.

Confirming meeting with state officials, National Leader of JDWAN, Abiodun Akintade, said the meeting yielded no fruitful result. According to him, “The state government has since made no concrete response to JDWAN’s demands; rather, their representatives only asked for another letter to be submitted on Monday, which is regarded as a joke on our part. Having released press statement with concise demands, we also honoured the demand to deliver physical copy of the letters to the Lagos State government, the SSS, the Commissioner of Police and Commissioner for Transport respectively.”

He stated that there is an existing restraining court order granted by Justice P.O. Lifu of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, against the Lagos State Government and all transport agencies, stopping them from ticketing, bus stop levies, motor park levies, dues and any form of extortion from commercial drivers with suit no: FHC/L/CS/224/2022 between applicant; Olukoya Ogungbeje, Transport Union Society of Nigeria (TUSON) and respondents; NURTW, RTEAN, NARTO, Musiliu Akinsanya (MC Oluomo), Mohammed Musa, Lawal Yusuf Othman, Lagos State Government, Attorney-General of Lagos State, Inspector-General of Police, Director General of State Security Service.

Akintade said: “It is sad that the representatives of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu are mocking Lagos drivers’ predicament and are disinterested in stopping the major factor causing high cost of living in Lagos, by asking for another letter and demanding that we call off the boycott without addressing our five demands.” JDWAN’s demands from the state government, he said, include compliance to the court order, which stopped collection of levies by motor park thugs at every bus, stop end to harassment by law enforcement agencies, and building of more bus stops, among others.”

On Monday and yesterday, the strike was effective in some areas, namely Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Ikorodu Road and part of Ikorodu; some sections in Alimosho and Badagry areas. There were long queues in the afore-mentioned areas. The few bus drivers working took advantage of the situation to hike the fare. School children were stranded at bus stops while few trekked to their schools. Some commercial bus drivers told The Nation that they were in support of the strike; while others believed that the association is a strange body.

“It is true that the amount we pay at garages is too much. Many of us do daily delivery. How do we get money to pay the owners of the busses and how much is left for us to take care of ourselves and family members,” Segun Olakunle said.

Olakunle, who plies Ikotun-Cele route, urged government to regulate the transport sector. Suraju Ajibola, who plies between Mile 2 and Oshodi, said he waited at home to see if the strike action would be effective. “When my colleagues started calling and asking if I’m not working, I decided to come out. I’ve lost part of the day already. To me, the strike is not effective,” he said.

Seun Ajagbe queried the audacity of the association to call for a strike action. According to him, many bus drivers don’t know the leadership of the association. “If they are accusing the park management of illegality, is their action too not illegal? We all know that government recognised only two union bodies (NURTW and RTEAN); they are not under any of them. Does that mean any group of people can just come out under any name and start disturbing the peace of the state? I don’t take them serious,” Ajagbe said.

However, Chairman of Lagos State Parks and Garages Management, Musiliu Akinsanya (Aka MC Oluomo), has called on the aggrieved commercial bus drivers to channel their grievances to the appropriate quarters. Akinsanya said the agency has conflict resolution mechanism to address grievances of bus drivers. He said that state secretariat of the agency is always open to address issues among their members.

“As we speak, we have not received any communication from anyone on the issue of extortion or harassment. They ought to have reported the matter to their branch chairmen or bring it to the state secretariat if branch chairmen are not forthcoming,” he said. He cautioned the group against politicising the operations of commercial transportation in the state.

“The purported strike action has a political undertone. If not, how come they are coming under a name unknown to the law? The government recognises two bodies – the suspended National Union of Road Transport Union (NURTW) in Lagos State and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN). The Joint Drivers’ Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN) is not known. Despite that, the state government’s Liaison Officer to the Parks and Garages Management, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, has also waded into the matter and held meeting with them. Instead of adhering to the agreement reached at the meeting, they resulted to blackmailing the respected retired police officer,” he said.

On his part, Secretary of the Parks and Garages Management (Operations), Comrade Olayiwola Lemboye, denied the allegation of attack on members of the aggrieved body. “The Chairman of Lagos State Parks and Garages Management Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya is a peaceful person and will never subscribe to such illegalities. More so, our operations are limited in the Berger area of Badagry where they alleged that some of their people were attacked,” he said.

While enjoining members of the public to go about their lawful duties, he said Akinsanya has been liaising with branch chairmen of how to handle the grievances of the aggrieved transporters in a peaceful manner. The Lagos State Government said it is looking into the demands of the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN), with a view to finding permanent solutions to the issues raised by the Association. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, said the move becomes necessary following the alleged “harassment and extortion by motor parks and garages management.”

According to him, the Ministry of Transportation invited its leadership to a meeting on Friday, despite its non-affiliation to any of the transport unions known by the state government (NURTW and RTEAN). Giwa said most of the union members at the meeting were from the Badagry axis and it was resolved that the meeting be adjourned till today to have a larger house (the unions inclusive) and resolve the matter amicably. The outcome of the meeting, he said, will be made known to the public.

“The state government urges drivers to continue their daily routine without fear of molestation and intimidation as security agencies have been directed to maintain law and order. Those who are taking advantage of the situation to raise fares are warned to desist from doing so or face the consequences of their illegal actions,” Giwa said.

The governorship candidate of Action Alliance in Lagos State, Mr Tope Balogun, has called on Alhaji Akinsanya to quickly address the grievances of some commercial bus drivers. According to him, the strike action embarked upon by the aggrieved drivers is avoidable. Balogun said the issue of uncontrolled extortions speaks volume on how much they care less about the comfort of the residents of the state.

Among Nigeria’s litany of challenges is malnutrition, a preventable crisis ravaging the country in a magnitude so huge that it now constitutes a public health and development risk. In this report, MOSES EMORINKEN uncovers the damaging effects of malnutrition and how all the underlying drivers of the double burden of undernutrition and obesity can be addressed to save the country from losing children to stunting

Treating a severely malnourished child in Nigeria is expensive. Today, not less than N50,000 is required to treat a severely malnourished child under the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM), according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). With at least 2 million children severely malnourished in the country, UNICEF’s data shows that a minimum of N95 billion is required to treat affected children.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients.

 The UNICEF report further revealed that while stunting and wasting of children is high and poses significant public health and development risks, obesity is also a growing concern across the country.

“Stunting, in addition to an increased risk of death, is also linked to poor cognitive development, a lowered performance in education and low productivity in adulthood – all contributing to economic losses estimated to account for as much as 11 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” it added.

 This situation becomes more worrisome, especially because malnutrition is totally preventable if children are fed the right combination of food. If Nigeria focuses on prevention, which is easier and relatively cheap, the billions of naira being spent to manage and treat malnourished children yearly could have been rightly channelled to address other equally pressing aspects of healthcare, especially in reducing the catastrophic cost associated with procuring qualitative healthcare services, particularly for the poor and vulnerable.

 Aside the health challenges directly associated with malnutrition, there is also the loss of quality time and man-hour, either for work or education, as the child-patient will require the attention of family members or close relatives while on admission in a health facility for days, and sometimes weeks. The child, if he or she is of school age, will miss school; while the parent or guardian skips work while providing care for the child. This, in turn, affects his or her productivity, earnings and overall contributions to the economic basket of the country.

 With the damaging effects that malnutrition has on the cognitive and intellectual growth of children, if nothing is done very quickly to address this bulging menace, Nigeria may as well say goodbye to the valuable contributions of a sizable number of  its “leaders of tomorrow,” in terms of their intellectual, social and economic contributions.

Giving credence to the above, the Federal Government has stated that about half of all the cases of malnutrition are the result of ignorance of the right combination of foods, as opposed to the availability of the food items or their cost.

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, in September this year, while addressing the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care (PHC) service delivery, in Abuja, urged traditional leaders to use their strategic positions of influence to encourage mothers on the importance of visiting PHC centers to get proper education on a sundry of health issues, particularly on how to correctly prepare affordable but balanced meals for their children.

He said: “Primary Health Care centers should be facilities where mothers can be educated about nutrition and the right food combination. The biggest disease is ignorance. People need to be taught on measures to prevent disease and promote health. Women need to be educated on nutrition, that is, what is the best food. Researchers have found that almost half of all malnutrition is not due to the lack of the right food. It is just that they (mothers) don’t know which the right one is. They are giving their children the wrong food. When the child eventually gets very sick, they will now start using the ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF). Whereas with proper education, the mothers would know what to give. They have the food but they give the wrong things.”

 What the numbers say about ignorance and malnutrition?

This year’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that on a national scale, only about 32 per cent (3 in every 10) of children between the ages of 6 months to 23 months are fed minimum diet diversity, that is, 5 out of 8 food groups. This implies that 7 out of every 10 children are missing out on the minimum nutritional requirements to guarantee their proper growth and development.

  While poverty, lack of formal education, food crisis, insecurity, and other negative socio-economic indices are direct and indirect factors exacerbating the situation of malnutrition, the MICS, however, showed that the concept of malnutrition is no respecter of social class, mobility, or demography. Among the rich, the report showed that only 54 per cent of their children are fed the minimum nutritional diet. Hence, an astounding 46 per cent (4 in every 10 children of the children of the rich are still at risk of severe acute malnutrition. For the poor, the situation is worse; only 17 per cent receive the minimum nutritional diet. Therefore, 83 per cent (8 in every 10 children) are at risk of severe form of malnutrition.

 Furthermore, among the educated (higher/tertiary education), only 51 per cent of their children are fed the minimum nutritional diet, while for the uneducated, only 17 per cent are fed the minimum nutritional diet. In urban areas, 43 per cent of the children are fed the minimum nutritional diet; while for those in rural settlements, only 24 per cent are fed the minimum nutritional diet. These statistics are worrisome.

 In a chat with The Nation, a nutrition consultant, Dr. Davis Omotola, said: “Feeding a child is not as expensive as most people think. Poverty is not just in terms of money, but also in terms of information. Ignorance is also a reflection of people’s backgrounds. Also, Nigeria is a country I would like to say is undergoing a food transition. Several years ago when people like myself were children, rice was a food we ate occasionally, either during Christmas, birthdays, etc., which do not come too often. But now, rice is an everyday food. Each food has its own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, if you eat one type of food overtime, you are likely going to have some challenges. That is why we advise that people should eat a variety of food to be able to get the different nutrients that each food provides. 

“Another part is that people do not even know how to prepare food for children. Prevention is better than cure. It is cheaper to educate mothers on what causes malnutrition and how to prevent it. The question now is: the food that is available in the community, how do they combine it?”

 Speaking with The Nation, a dietician and nutritionist with the Kwali General Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Damilola Fadipe, said: “In Abuja as a whole, my facility is the centre of severe acute malnutrition. Every other general hospital in Abuja refers malnourished cases to our centre – the Kwali General Hospital. In the clinic now, if you are seeing say 40 patients as a paediatrician, at least 60 per cent of the children will be malnourished. However, nationally, from feedback, I think it is about 60 per cent. It is important to state that when the case of a child is really severe, the number of days a child can spend on admission is not less than two weeks.

 “In the rural parts, the situation is very alarming. Averagely, 70 per cent of every child that comes to the clinic is malnourished. Even after they have been treated and discharged, most parents do not follow the health and nutritional guidelines given to them. You see them bringing back their children the next month or next two months, down with malnutrition again.

 “Eating right and proper nutrition is not about money. I believe ignorance is a major problem. Obviously, poverty plays a lot of roles. We find that there are some tribes where their people rear animals and animal products like fowl, chicken, eggs etc., to sell at the market, but not to give to their children. Some say they don’t want their children to grow up to become thieves. That is where I think ignorance comes into play.”

Teaching parents to combine foods rightly from locally available foods

 Nigeria is blessed with readily available food items that can be combined effectively for children that would make a lot of difference in their health and wellbeing. Most communities across the country have more than one of the following food items: corn, cowpea, guinea corn, potato, cassava, plantain, beans, spinach, jute leave (ewedu), pumpkin leaves (Ugu), pepper, tomato, groundnut, crayfish, red oil, mango, pineapple, orange, etc.

Read Also: Why rich children also suffer malnutrition, obesity – Moppet

 Many Nigerian children are currently suffering from what is referred to as hidden hunger, which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), is simply a lack of vitamins and minerals. Last year, Nestle Nigeria launched a campaign centered on tackling the challenge of “hidden hunger,” particularly of micronutrient deficiency. The “Live Strong With Iron” campaign, done in partnership with the Federal Government, Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Office of the First Lady, among others, addressed iron deficiency, especially among women and children. It also ramped up community advocacy programmes, as well as broadcast and social media campaigns, to drive change in nutrition behaviour, choice and consumption in order to meet daily iron requirements.

 The Managing Director of Nestle Nigeria, Wassim Elhusseini, explained that asides other things, the campaign focused on improving the health of Nigerians. He said: “The campaign aims to support governments’ efforts to address iron deficiency in view of the high incidence in our environment. We want to call attention to the rich resource of iron-dense locally available foods that each family can access to improve the current statistics on iron deficiency.”

 The Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager of Nestle Nigeria Plc., Victoria Uwadoka, added: “Across the globe, you will see that the statistics on iron deficiency are very alarming. In 2019, we decided to do something about it and not just talk about it. Over 80 per cent of our portfolio are fortified, and actually address the issue of micronutrient deficiency. 68 per cent of children under five years are still iron deficient. Over 58 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 years are iron deficient.

 “The prevalence of iron deficiency among those who don’t have access to information is higher than for those who have access to enough information. The challenge here is the low level of information, and we can do something about that. When you are iron deficient, your immunity is compromised, your growth and development is impaired – motor and cognitive skills, weakness and lack of concentration at work or in class, etc.”

 According to Dr. Omotola, “What some normally do is make a paste of a cereal, even with cassava or plantain. This is not totally bad because that is what they have in their area. However, they can mix it with other food items. Most of the places where they have plantain, they also have seafoods like crayfish, but they hardly add it to the child’s meal. Those areas are also very rich in palm oil. There is nothing wrong in adding a small quantity of palm oil to the meal of the child. The advantage of adding a little oil into a thick pap is that it makes it very liquid and increases its viscosity. It makes it more nutrient-dense than the original paste, and all you add is a little oil, rather than adding water.

 “From zero to six months, the child’s nutritional needs are met through breast milk. There’s nothing stopping you from squeezing an orange for a child or mashed mango, banana or pineapple; just in small quality and liquidized vegetables. Don’t give too much. Cowpea is also a good source of nutrients. There is nothing stopping a child from taking moimoi. The only thing is that you don’t add a lot of spices like pepper. There is nothing stopping you from milling crayfish and putting in the food for the child, if you can afford it. Apart from crayfish, other proteins like meat, fish, etc., are everyday foods that you can give. It doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.”

 In his opinion, Dr. Fadipe said: “There are macronutrients and micronutrients. The macronutrients are the big nutrients like carbohydrates, fat, etc. However, the micronutrients which are needed in minute quantities are very vital. They are vitamins, magnesium, iron, phosphorus etc. You may not get it from a proportion of a food, but by combining some food together to get the recommended daily allowance per day. Micronutrients are usually from fruits like oranges, tomatoes, pepper, carrot, vitamins, B12, water soluble and fat soluble. Some parents don’t even give fruits to their children. I think that is what Nestle is doing by adding Iron to some of their products. Micronutrients deficiency is a big problem. There are iron deficiency, protein deficiency.

 “Nigerians need to get the knowledge that it is not until you are rich that you can eat good food. Even some of the rich are not eating the right diet. Most of them eat refined sugar. This can cause cancer and other illnesses. But if you are eating everything fresh, you can be rest assured of a healthy diet. You can have a small garden at the back of your house where you can plant ugwu, spinach, water leaf, pepper, okro, etc. If you can afford to buy eggs, even if you don’t have poultry or a farm, then you are good to go.”

How to prepare Tom Brown meals at home

Tom Brown is a locally made meal that is usually used to wean babies in Nigeria. It is a thick powder obtained from a combination of yellow corn, millet, guinea corn (cereals), groundnut (peanuts), and soybeans (legumes). Given to children from six months upwards, it has a high content of minerals such as calcium and phosphorus, which helps in the strong bone formation.

 However, it is important that a child is exclusively breastfed for at least the first six months, as this will ensure that they get the maximum nutritional diets needed for their optimal growth and development. In preparing Tom Brown at home, Dr. Omotola explained: “In areas where they have guinea corn or millet, it is a mixture of one of that corn or millet or guinea corn and half of groundnut; they are roasted and milled together. It is not the defatted groundnut because you also need the oil. You mix one part of roasted or toasted soya beans, two parts of corn, and one part of protein which is either groundnut or guinea corn, and mill them together, and use to make pap and feed the child. Even adults can take it.”

 Dr. Fadipe also added:

“When I make mine, I use a ratio 2:2:1. Meaning, I use half a mudu of groundnut, one mudu of soya beans, and one mudu of corn. You can add crayfish. However, it is better not to add the crayfish yet until you are ready to make it for the child. This way, it does not get spoiled. It is very good for children from six months upwards.”

  How socio-economic factors like poverty, flooding, insecurity and soaring cost of food items worsen malnutrition

  There is no way to totally extricate the concept of malnutrition from other factors like poverty, insecurity, climate change (flooding), inflation etc. For example, the food crisis in the country, in terms of food availability and soaring costs, is further making an already bad nutrition situation worse. Truth is, with other competing necessities like housing and shelter, healthcare, etc., most Nigerians now sacrifice food quality on the altar of quantity. There is also the crisis of climate change, especially with flooding ravaging lives, property assets and farmlands in recent times. While thousands of lives have been lost this year, many farmers have lost their farm produce and farming lands due to flooding and erosion. This has affected the quantity and price of available foods in the market.

Also, insecurity has worsened the availability of food across the country. Most states, especially in the northern region, are facing the devilish attacks of bandits and insurgents, who not only steal from the people, especially farmers, but also kill them and destroy their farms. Speaking with The Nation, a mechanic and father of seven, Nurudeen (first name), explained that with the increasing cost of food in the market, coupled with the high cost of procuring other necessities like transportation, water, rent, education, electricity etc., his major concern is feeding his family with enough food to get by, not bothering on the quality of the food.

He said: “I cannot kill myself. With the market price of most food items, all I can do is provide for my family the basic food. Sometimes, if God provides, we eat eggs, fish or meat, and if not, we eat food without meat or fish. We are living on hope, not on the quality of the food.

 “Sometimes, we do formula 1-0-1, meaning we only eat breakfast and dinner, while skipping lunch. When it gets worse, we do formula 1-0-0, meaning we only eat breakfast (plenty eba with soup) to carry us throughout the day, and skip lunch and dinner. For dinner, we might take groundnuts and water. The government needs to intervene in the food crisis in the country. Our money doesn’t have value anymore.”

 A visit to the market by The Nation revealed that the cost of most food items have increased by over 100 per cent in the last two years. Findings revealed that the price of vegetable oil has more than doubled in two years. In 2020, vegetable oil price was N19,000 for 20 liters; now it is about N45,500. The small bottle of vegetable oil that used to cost between N450 and N500 is now about N1,200. Also, a small bottle of palm oil, which was N400, is now N1,100. In 2020, a mudu of rice was about N500; now it is between N1,100 to N1,300, depending on the type. A mudu of beans, which used to cost about N300, is now N750. A loaf of bread used to be between N400 to N500; but now, you get it between N800 to N1,000.

In 2020, a kilo of meat was about N1,500; it is now about N2,700. Also, a medium-sized titus fish used to be about N400 to N450; now it is sold for at least N1,000. In 2020, a mudu of corn was N120; now it is N400. Two years ago, a crate of eggs was N750; now it is N2,250. For vegetables like tomato, pepper, onions etc., the prices are relatively stable, depending on the season. Watermelon is between N700 and N1,000. The same goes for pineapple. A bunch of bananas can cost as much as N1,000. Furthermore, the price of gas two years ago was about N3,000 for 12.5 kg, but now it is about N10,000 or more.

The combination of all factors itemised above is perhaps what informed the consensus on the part of experts that is an urgent need for the powers that be to address the food crisis, inflation, insecurity, climate change problems, and all other factors that connive to worsen malnutrition crisis in the country.