Month: April 2023

Prof. Olalekan Akinbo of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA –NEPAD), has called for the deployment of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to identify public health needs and cost effective packages of healthcare.

Akinbo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja that in most cases, ill-health could be attributed to poverty.

He said that building capacity in STI would help improve the health of citizens.

The Supervisor at Centre of Excellence in STI disclosed that over the past century, science and technology provided the basis for the largest ever aggregate improvements in human health.

Akinbo said advances in scientific knowledge and its application, helped to slow the trend of high fertility and high mortality.

He said that this would also lead to increasing better health for many people all over the world.

The supervisor said that nonetheless, vector and water borne diseases, aids inadequate pre-natal and maternal and child created tremendous burden in developing countries.

He said disease like smallpox and others like childbirth and routine infectious diseases had declined sharply.

Akinbo said that indoor air pollution, dysentery, water-borne disease such as cholera and vector-borne disease like malaria, dengue and AIDS account for millions of deaths annually.

He said these diseases were hitting hardest the countries that are least prepared and could not afford to deal with them.

“Some of these issues can be addressed using current knowledge, like dysentery while others require scientific breakthroughs in science and technology,“ he said.

In the area of agriculture, the expert said advances in STI had facilitated higher yields, greater efficiency and nutritional content in the world food supply.

He said genome editing; an emerging technology being initiated by the AU, was a typical example of an innovative technology that could be applied in agriculture for improved crop yield.

“Food production, however, must double in the coming decades to meet rising demand and meet the challenges entailed in inter alia improving resistance to drought, pests, salinity and temperature extremes.’’

Akinbo said the challenges associated with raising the nutritional content and reducing post-harvest loss, all in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.

He said that at the same time, the regulatory challenges of assuring safety in food production and consumption would increase exponentially.

“Although, the necessary technology for increasing the agricultural output is available in many developing countries including Nigeria but certain requisites must be met’’, he said.

He said these include the will to advance economically, opportunity and organisation to use the technology, elimination of political, social and economic disasters to development.

Akinbo said it also involved the ability to first incorporate the technology into overall development and then to continue using it.

He said in the domain of food security, advances in science and technology provided the foundation for green revolution.

“Improved knowledge of plant biology and breeding techniques led to better seeds and cultivation practices that drastically increase yields,“he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Civil Society Organization for Peace and Unity of Nigeria (CCSOPUN) have advocated for a Senate President from the South-East to promote fairness, equity, Justice and balance for peace and unity of Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the call was made on Thursday during a meeting on “10th National Assembly Leadership” issues and prospects in Abuja.

According to Dr Onwubuya Breakforth, Chairman of the Coalition, the South East -geo-political zones are being treated unfairly and unjustly in the political equation of our country.

“From 1999 till date, the South East has been denied Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the South West has done Presidency from 1999-2007, North-West 2007 to 2011, South-South from 2011 to 2015, North-West again 2015 to 2023.

“For the Vice President, North East has done from 1999 to 2007, South –South has 2007 to 2011 and North-East 2011 to 2015 and South-West 2015 to 2023.

“Now 2023 should have been the turn of the South-East to produce the President of Nigeria but the ongoing events now showed that South-West again has the President and North-East for Vice President.

“The question is, where is the South-East in all this political equation? Where is fairness? Where is equity? Where is brotherhood? Where is justice? Where is one Nation?

“To this end, we sincerely plead with all National Leaders, Political Fathers and elites, the Leadership of APC, PDP, LP, APGA, SDP, YPP and all elected Senators to for once stand for truth, justice, equity and cohesion.

“To support the candidates for South-East to emerge as Senate President that will in a long way heal our divisions, agitations, and discourage any act of National insubordination.”Breakforth said.

He also added that the South-East Presidency will help discourage continuous agitations like IPOB, and others in the South-East.

“We have reputable senators from the South-East such as Senator Osita Izunaso and others that have the capacity to Chairman the National Assembly and bring the balancing and dividend of democracy as Nigerians are clamoring especially from the South-East.

“This coalition will resist and protest against any attempt by APC to zone the Senate Presidency to any other zone other than South-East.

“Further support for disunity, inequality and unfairness is not acceptable as it will continue to worsen National disunity,” he said.

In his remarks, Alhaji Salisu Abdullahi, Pan African Youth, noted that the most important thing for all Nigerians was the unity of this nation.

“The beginning of the crisis in Sudan started because of injustice so we believe that in order for Nigeria to avoid that crisis, there must be Justice for the Southeast,” he said.

Also, Comrade Bello Osaretin, DG, Progressive Leaders Association of Nigeria PLAN-Nigeria commended the Collation for putting up this initiative on the importance of equity.

“It is very important that everyone is put forth in order to have a balanced and more peaceful country,” Osaretin said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Youth Rise International (YoRI), a youth-driven grassroots and advocacy development organization, has called on African governments to initiate and invest massively in a long-term Youth in Agriculture Programme (YAP) to make agriculture attractive to young people.

They must harness the combined power of the huge youthful population and abundant uncultivated arable lands by rolling out national level YAP.

Such programmes must focus on re-directing the time and energies of the unemployed youth into commercial agriculture using modern irrigation systems.

This will create jobs, improve food security, reduce extreme poverty and vulnerability that leads to cross-border trafficking, YoRI said in a release, as it joined the global community to commemorate the World Earth Day on Saturday, April 22.

The Day is annually celebrated to honour the achievements of the environmental movement and raises awareness of the need to protect the Earth.

Among others, YoRI is a survivor-led organisation that focuses on mobilizing young people and local communities to fight extreme poverty, inequality, and marginalization through promotion of social protection, education, decent work, climate justice, maternal and child health and advocacy/policy influencing.

YoRI said it had observed in recent times with deep worry some youth uprisings and demonstrations across major cities of Africa largely whirled on high food prices, high cost of living and rising youth unemployment.

It said the concerns of the youth corroborates World Bank estimates that 40 percent of people who joined rebel movements were motivated by lack of economic opportunity, ‘something we totally condemn in no uncertain terms.’

‘This phenomenon has become urgent because, while the world and the continent of Africa continues to grapple with the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and conflict, climate and environmental changes are worsening the current volatile economic situation.

‘There is deepening extreme poverty for the marginalized and socially excluded whose major source of livelihoods depends on rain-fed agriculture systems,’ the statement said.

YoRI said: the current food system feeds the great majority of the world population and supports the livelihoods of over one billion people, but it pressured from non-climate stressors, particularly population and income growth and climate change.

‘Sadly, climate change negatively affects all four pillars of food security; availability, access, utilization, and stability.’

YoRI reaffirmed a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) observation which estimated that there was the need to produce about 50 per cent more food by 2050 to feed the increasing world population.

FAO noted that almost 60 per cent of Africa’s population was under the age of 25, making Africa the continent with the youngest population in the world, but it must adopt efficient irrigation systems and environmental practices that protect and preserve the climate among others.

‘Again, Africa is blessed with many natural advantages and rising market opportunities that could be leveraged for agriculture transformation.

‘Undeniably, our planet needs us now more than ever. There is no gainsaying that the upcoming years will be crucial to averting the worst effects of the climate emergency, and every one of us has a part to play,’ the statement said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The General Agricultural Workers’ Union (GAWU) says it will continue engaging government to ensure that good agricultural policies were achieved.

The Union believed that the Planting for Food and Jobs should be audited and overhauled to enable it to become relevant and sustainable to achieve its objectives.

Mr Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary of GAWU speaking to the Ghana News Agency ahead of the 2023 May Day Celebrations said the Union had worked over the years towards upholding the tenets of the Decent Work agenda while combating all forms of Modern Slavery within the agricultural value chain.

This year’s National Celebrations will be held in the Upper East Regional Capital, Bolgatanga on the theme:’ Protecting incomes and pensions in an era of economic crisis: Out responsibility.’

He said Ghana was not an Island and current global developments were negatively affecting all and called on governments to ameliorate the effects by making investments in the strategic sectors of the economy.

‘We use this opportunity to commend all farmers, business leaders and workers and wish them a happy workers day and call on the Government to protect and promote the rights of workers within the Agricultural sector against any form of slavery,’ he said.

The General Secretary said the future of the country depended on the workforce of today whether formal or informal and it was pertinent that, government developed every aspect of human endeavour.

He said for several decades, the observation of May Day had been a good time to remind workers and especially the government that, guaranteeing decent employment within the agricultural sector should not be politicized.

He said they needed to work at combating all indicators and actions that promote modern slavery, human trafficking, child labour, forced labour, unfair farm practices and violence and harassment by restoring hope to the vulnerable in the society specifically children.

He urged the government to protect and promote the rights of workers within the Agricultural sector against any form of slavery.

Mr Kareweh said to attain sustainable development and equitable economic growth, the government could not be oblivious of the fact that Agriculture played a critical role in providing employment and sustaining the Ghanaian economy.

He said while about 88 per cent of the workforce were employed in the informal sector, where many earn less, a huge chunk of this percentage, which was likewise sited in the rural areas, fall under agriculture.

‘This sector of the economy is beseeched with lots of precarity leading to most of its agents being trapped in abject poverty,’ he said.

He said the sector was characterized by significant decent work deficits, which include the prevalence of informality and weak labour market institutions, unfair farm contract practices, barriers to the exercise of freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Others are ineffective law enforcement and inadequate labour inspection; limited awareness of rights and mechanisms to access them; and an inadequate environment for enterprise development.

It is estimated that over 215 million child labourers are engaged in several economic activities in the world today and that some 60 per cent of them work in the agricultural sector.

‘If the country, by and large, fails to pay critical attention to the bad signals, majority of our children would be wiped out due to the precarious nature of agriculture,’ he said.

He said this, therefore, was a national issue that demands immediate and drastic interventions and joint effort from the government, Organized Labour, the various CSO, Agribusinesses, security agencies and the entire Global Community to achieve goal 8.7 – to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking, and child labour, which form a key pillar of Goal 8 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

It was for this and many reasons that GAWU had partnered with ActionAid Ghana with funding from the Norwegian embassy to implement the Combating Modern Slavery Project which sought to complement stakeholder efforts at reducing occurrences.

Source: Ghana News Agency

It was an uncertain atmosphere on Thursday, April 27, 2023, exactly one month after the decision was taken to relocate the Babadjou part of the market. Many came not for the excitement of having a new market, but to see if it will actually take place. This is because prior to this day, tension had been mounting between the two communities. I was told that the atmosphere was tense that morning but with meditation from traditional rulers, the two parties exercised restraint. But a day before the relocation, there were clashes between Babadjou Council agents and inhabitants of Bamessingue.

When I arrived at the scene, I immediately spotted the presence of a military vehicle.

Toumaka is a Square in the Bamboutos Division, Cameroon’s Western Region, situated at the boundary between Babadjou and Bamessingue communities. These communities are also close to Santa subdivision in the North West region. The Toumaka market before now operated for a long time as a periodic market where the population from the two municipalities met weekly for their activities.

But things were about to change when on March 27, 2023, when the Mayor of Babadjou, Tsangue Gisèle in a release, announced the relocation of the Babadjou part of the Toumaka market, to a site in Babadjou subdivision. The order from the municipal authority gave April 27, as the deadline for the relocation process. She explained that the aim was to decongest the Square which used to be overcrowded on market days leading to the illegal occupation of spaces on the national road, number 6, connecting to the North West.

After making a trip to the two sites on Thursday, April 27, I noticed that the traders responded in their respective ways to the order.

The Babadjou part of Toumaka was completely empty on Thursday morning, facilitating the circulation of vehicles; signs that traders selling on that site relocated to the new venue which was also operational to the satisfaction of municipal and traditional authorities who supervised the process.

” We have no problem with our Bamessingue brothers. Our main aim is to develop our municipality and Toumaka was too tight for that. Our parcel of land in Toumaka was small and you all know very well. Many of us used to be on the roadside and this exposed our mothers and children to risks of having accidents along the newly rehabilitated national number 6 road,” the Mayor of Babadjou who ordered the relocation, Tsangue Gisèle, said.

Traders commend initiative

Many traders especially from Babadjou, who relocated to the new site, expressed satisfaction.

“Now Bamendousso will host two markets a week. It’s a good thing. On Toumaka market days, I used to be squeezed up. Now I see things are good here,” declared a trader.

“As a gardener, I will have to export crops now at Bamendousso twice a week, is that not a good thing Mr. Journalist? ” questioned an excited farmer.

It was just day one of the relocation procedure. What have municipal authorities in Babadjou taken as measures to make sure the market remains active on a weekly basis, or attract more traders on this market day?

The 1st Deputy to the Mayor of Babadjou in response said all traders will be exempted from communal taxes on each market day for a while, but she did not specify for how long.

Bamessingue maintains site, says relocation is a manipulation

No one expected this relocation to go down without raising dust. At least, someone who has been monitoring the situation would even expect more than what happened. The people from the Bamessingue village responded by maintaining the market on their section of the Toumaka market square. They saw the relocation process as manipulation by their Babadjou neighbors, with whom they have shared a lot in their contemporary lives and historical perspectives. They however decided to remain on their parcel of land at Toumaka, failing to respond to multiple responses to the Babadjou Mayor’s relocation call. At some point, one can understand that they didn’t want to move into another person’s land to trade when they have their own territory.

“This is our land and we are not obliged to go to Babadjou. So we decided to remain here and extend the space. In the days ahead, tractors will do extensive work. We are really satisfied with the turnout this day.” A municipal agent of Mbouda revealed.

” Although the space looks small, authorities promised that they will do something in the days ahead. It’s just the first day” a trader said.

A notable from the Bamessingue palace who was present revealed that the Bamessingue had no problem with the relocation of the Toumaka periodic market to Bamendousso.

“The Fon of Bamessingue sent us here to make sure our people carry on their activities here in peace. Here is the boundary between Babadjou and Bamessingue as you can see (pointing to the direction). There is nobody on the Babadjou part, meaning we have not crossed the line. We had problems with Council agents from Babadjou because they came into Bamessingue land and started carrying counters and destroying them but I thank the bravery of our boys who resisted. Now things are ok. We all are Bafung people. ” the Bamessingue Notable told me.

Historical Background

Babadjou and Bamessingue populations form the Bafung community. The Bafung people originate from the Tikar-based Bamileke community that was once chased away from the Upper Plateau of the Adamawa by Muslim warriors, Babadjou.net reveals.

From there, they migrated to Foumbot in the Noun, Bamekombo and Bagam in the Bamboutos, and then to Baligham and Bamendankwe in the North West, to Bagamgou and finally settled at the foot of Mount Bamboutos, the present-day Babadjou, and Bamessingue.

The Bafung community became divided in the 16th century after the death of Tchuitsemtih who left two sons Lacmago and Longla who were twins. The two decided to conserve their royalties, thereby creating the present-day Babadjou under Fon Lacmago and Bamessingue under Fon Longla. The two villages decided to maintain their cultural and linguistic identities even after the administrative repartition some decades ago that sent Bamessingue into the Mbouda subdivision and made Babadjou a subdivision on its own.

Multiple sources write that Toumaka remained a historic site because the twins before parting ways, had a convention at Dackoung, a shrine at the limits between the two at Toumaka. Toumaka also served as a camping ground for warriors of both villages during periods of war.

Being a subdivision and municipality on its own, Babadjou had in the past tried in vain to relocate the Toumaka market. The process faced tough resistance from the Bamessinguebrothers in the past till now.

Source: Cameroon News Agency