Residents of Utako village had a harrowing experience on Wednesday, fighting scavengers to rescue their wares as demolition bulldozers plowed through hundreds of illegal shanties.
Scavengers were seen removing numerous Materials from their lawful owners, who were evidently overwhelmed by the demolition’s pain, despite the presence of security agents at the demolition site.
The clean-up exercise, according to Muktar Galadima, Director of the Department of Development Control, was not just a routine operation, but a special operation to remove any illegal buildings and allow the original allottees to return their land.
Galadima claimed that the squatters had been served with a quit notice a long time ago.
Comrade Ikharo Attah the Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister said the operation was also targeted at addressing perennial traffic and criminal activities in the area.
Attah who also doused the tension generated over speculation that the homes of the indigenous people within the village would be demolished , assured that only illegal structures on the land allocated to the FCT Police Command was earmarked for demolition.
He hinted that the clean up exercise would help to restore the environmental sanitation and aesthetic of the Utako District.
His words,” We are only removing the illegal shanties to reclaim the land for the original allottees. We are not demolishing the houses of indigenous people.
” The clean up will also help to address the disturbing traffic gridlock and also criminal activities of miscreants in the place”.
Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), removed Alhaji Wadata Bodinga, the Director of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), and appointed a substantive Director.
Dr Abdulateef Bello, the Acting Director of the Department of Security Services, has been named the new substantive Director of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services by the minister (DRTS).
According to the minister, the Directorate’s activities will be strengthened as a result of this.
Women Agro Processors, Agric Gen and Exporters Initiative (WAPA-GEIN) has advocated for a proper legal framework to oversee agricultural businesses.
Multiple taxation is not only the scourge of advancement in the agroprocessing business, but it is also a cause of dissatisfaction for small-scale processors, according to the report.
Mrs Esther Adebayo, President of WAPA-GEIN, stated that Nigerian women have expressed a strong desire to contribute meaningfully to the economy, but that legislation is required to protect their interests.
She said that women processors have taken steps to join in the country’s agricultural export market, but only if appropriate government institutions provide the necessary support.
Adebayo further stated that a constitutional amendment is required to compel each state of the Federation to construct operational agro processing factories.
She went on to say that the difficulties confronting the sector in the country, particularly food insecurity, necessitate more than lip service, and that actual action is required to address them.
According to her, “The women Agro processors have initiated moves towards establishing agro export processing centre across the country.
“Our goal is to facilitate, improve and promote agricultural productivity, marketing of exportable products and sustainably move women and youths out of chronic vulnerabilities and poverty via expanded opportunities”, she said.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development Arc Olamilekan Adegbite has underlined the Federal Government’s commitment to aiding artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM) in having access to credit that will help them expand their operations.
He stated this during a weekend trip of the Gemstones Market in Ojoo, Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State.
In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja by the Director of Press, Mrs Etore Thomas, Adegbite urged miners to join cooperative groups in order to obtain access to funding set aside to help them with their operations.
According to him, miners can get loans ranging from N2 million to N100 million, with a 15-year repayment period and a 5% annual interest rate.
He said that a loan of less than N2 million, would just require a guarantor, whilst a miner requesting a loan of more than N2 million would require a cosigner.
According to him , “I realized that a lot of people could not access the money because of collateral and I advised that it be reduced so that those who need small loan of not more than N2million can access without a collateral but a guarantor of level 14 and above in the civil service.”
Speaking on the construction of the gemstones market, the Minister said gemstone market in Ojoo is where the gemstone would be identified and graded, cut, polished and ready to be made into jewelry.
He said the people being trained in gemstones design in Abuja would populate Ibadan gemstones market as well as the Gold Souk in Kano since they would be working on jewelries and gemstones.
He, however, noted that the gemstones mining is not limited to Oyo State as he pointed out other States where gemstones could be found to include Taraba, Plateau and Abuja among others.
The Minister re-emphasized that what the government is doing with the six (6) regional projects are demonstration of possibilities for investors as he encouraged them to take advantage of it and invest not only in mining but in processing as well.
On the operationalization of the regional projects, he said the government would not be involved in the running of the projects.
He added that, “by the time these projects are completed, we are looking at the system of PPP, where we have facility management and plant management systems in place who will run this projects and of course there will be recourse to government as appropriate but we don’t want to get government involved in the running of the six clusters”, he added.
Adegbite said sustainability is key in running of the projects as he explained that the government would give them to those who would run them profitably and generate revenue for government. “It’s going to be a win-win business, whoever runs any of the projects will make money from it, will make money for government and also enhance the value of what is produced in that particular neighborhood”, he emphasized.
Earlier in his remarks, the General Secretary of Miners Association of Nigeria(MAN), Mr Dele Ayanleke commended the Federal Government for the establishment of the six (6) regional projects.
Ayanleke said the project would improve ASM productivity, boost their confidence and discourage export of raw ore.
He , therefore, called on Miners to take advantage of the 5% interest rate loan made available by the Federal Government to procure necessary equipment that would make them perform optimally.
Since Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine began on February 24, WHO has worked around the clock to ensure a steady flow of health supplies so that neighboring countries have the infrastructure and expertise to meet the immediate health needs of refugees, as well as to support Ukraine’s health system to meet the immediate health needs of people within Ukraine’s borders.
In addition, she coordinates humanitarian health aid for those in need.
The number of persons affected in Ukraine is currently projected to be 18 million, including 6.7 million internally displaced.
Nearly 3 million people have fled the country. Supply chains have been severely disrupted. Many distributors are not operational, some stockpiles are inaccessible due to military operations, medicine supplies are running low, and hospitals are struggling to provide care to the sick and wounded.
WHO is coordinating with partners the provision of humanitarian health assistance, both within Ukraine and on its borders, and providing technical support and surge staff. WHO is providing support across Ukraine through the Country Office, the Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, as well as from its headquarters in Geneva.
Delivering life-saving medical supplies
As the Health Cluster Lead Agency, WHO is working with partners to alleviate shortages of life-saving equipment and medication, such as oxygen and insulin, surgical supplies, anaesthetics, and transfusion kits to collect, test and safely transfuse blood. Oxygen generators, generators to maintain electrical supply in affected health facilities, defibrillators, monitors, anaesthesia drugs, rehydration salts, gauze and bandages are among the medical supplies WHO and partners are shipping into Ukraine to save lives and maintain health services.
On 5 March approximately 600 doses of anti-tetanus toxoid reached Kyiv, and 36 tonnes of vital medical supplies reached Lviv, from where they are being distributed to health facilities across the country.
Similarly, on 8 March WHO delivered 10 tonnes of trauma and emergency surgery kits to Kyiv, to be distributed to warehouses in 7 regions: Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Zaporizhia, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy.
More so, on 9–11 March 9 shipments of 10 tonnes each were dispatched to Kharkiv via Poltava; to Sumy via Poltava; to Dnipro; to Kherson via Dnipro; to Mariupol via Dnipro; to Mykolaiv; to Zhytomyr; to Zaporizhia; and to Cherkasy. Each shipment serves 150 trauma patients and 15 000 primary health care patients for 3 months.
In addition, on 12 March 2 ventilators were delivered to hospitals in Kyiv and 14 tonnes or 52 cubic metres of trauma kits and essential medicines for primary health care reached Lviv.
WHO is in constant dialogue with Ukrainian authorities. All supplies are distributed in close coordination with the Ministry of Health, based on WHO critical needs assessments, public health risk, service assessments and logistic capacity. The coming days and weeks will see a constant flow of medical supplies, as part of an effort to ensure people’s access to essential drugs and medical care.
Scaling up surveillance of hazards and diseases
To support operations in and into Ukraine, a WHO support hub is being established in Poland. WHO has also scaled up surveillance and health information dissemination to detect and respond to outbreaks early and better understand needs, threats and health service availability.
WHO and partners have updated the Public Health Situation Analysis for Ukraine, covering health needs and threats to the population. WHO and the Health Cluster also launched the mapping tool 3W, showing who does what and where. Event-based surveillance activities for various potential hazards are also ongoing, including through Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS).
Reporting and condemning attacks on health care
WHO’s mandate for the surveillance of attacks on health care is based on the World Health Assembly Resolution 65.20 adopted in 2012, which requested WHO to provide leadership at global level in collecting and reporting information on attacks on health care. WHO created the Attacks on Health Care initiative to systematically collect evidence on attacks, to advocate for the end of such attacks, and to promote best practices for safeguarding health care from attacks. We report through the Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care.
As of 12 March WHO had verified a total of 31 attacks on health care between 24 February and 11 March 2022, resulting in 12 deaths and 34 injuries, of which 8 of the injured and 2 of those killed were health workers. More attacks are being verified.
WHO strongly condemns acts of violence against health care. Every single attack deprives people of life-saving services. Attacks on health care are violations of international humanitarian law and human rights.
More than half of parents and pregnant women (51%) believe they have been targeted with marketing by formula milk firms, much of which is in violation of international rules on infant feeding practices, according to a new WHO/UNICEF report.
The report, How Formula Milk Marketing Influences Our Infant Feeding Decisions, is based on interviews with parents, pregnant women, and health professionals in eight countries: Bangladesh, China, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
It reveals the formula milk industry’s systematic and unscrupulous marketing methods for influencing parents’ newborn feeding decisions.
According to the research, industry marketing strategies include uncontrolled and intrusive web targeting, sponsored assistance networks and helplines, promotions and free gifts, and promotions and free gifts; and practices to influence training and recommendations among health workers.
The messages that parents and health workers receive are often misleading, scientifically unsubstantiated, and violate the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes – a landmark public health agreement passed by the World Health Assembly in 1981 to protect mothers from aggressive marketing practices by the baby food industry.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said, “This report shows very clearly that formula milk marketing remains unacceptably pervasive, misleading and aggressive.”
“Regulations on exploitative marketing must be urgently adopted and enforced to protect children’s health.”
One mother interviewed in Lagos said, “Advertisements will make me buy infant formula – I see a beautiful and chubby baby on TV, well fed and smiling and there is a container of milk there with all the nutritional facts on it, detailed.”
The effects of marketing in Nigeria are seen in recommendations from health professionals and on digital platforms, with companies using data-driven algorithms to target digital advertising to women whose online behavior suggests they may be pregnant.
Digital influencers make regular posts about formula milk – including celebrities, pediatricians, so-called experts and ‘mom influencers.’
Meanwhile, the UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said , “False and misleading messages about formula feeding are a substantial barrier to breastfeeding, which we know is best for babies and mothers”.
“We need robust policies, legislation and investments in breastfeeding to ensure that women are protected from unethical marketing practices — and have access to the information and support they need to raise their families.”
In Nigeria, 73 per cent of women expressed a strong desire to breastfeed exclusively. Yet the report details how a sustained flow of misleading marketing messages across countries is reinforcing myths about breastfeeding and breast milk, and undermining women’s confidence in their ability to breastfeed successfully. These myths include the necessity of formula in the first days after birth, the inadequacy of breast milk for infant nutrition, that specific infant formula ingredients are proven to improve child development or immunity, the perception that formula keeps infants fuller for longer, and that the quality of breast milk declines with time.
Breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, followed by exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond, offers a powerful line of defense against all forms of child malnutrition, including wasting and obesity. Breastfeeding also acts as babies’ first vaccine, protecting them against many common childhood illnesses. It also reduces women’s future risk of diabetes, obesity and some forms of cancer. Yet, in Nigeria, only 29 per cent of babies are exclusively breastfed, according to the 2018 National Demographic and Health Survey. The Nigerian Government aims to increase the exclusive breastfeeding rate to 65 percent by 2025.
Alarmingly, health professional recommendations to use formula milk were common across the surveyed countries, particularly post-partum. In Nigeria, 45 per cent of post-partum women had received a recommendation from a health professional to feed formula product – the second highest of the countries surveyed, after Bangladesh (57 per cent).
Health professionals in Nigeria reported that contact with formula milk companies was extremely common in public and private health care settings.
In Nigeria, where women ranked health professionals as their most important source of feeding advice, over one third of surveyed pregnant women said they received a recommendation to formula feed by a health professional.
To address these challenges, WHO, UNICEF and partners are calling on governments, health workers, and the baby food industry to end exploitative formula milk marketing and fully implement and abide by the Code requirements. This includes: Passing, monitoring and enforcing laws to prevent the promotion of formula milk, in line with the International Code, including prohibiting nutrition and health claims made by the formula milk industry; Investing in policies and programmes to support breastfeeding, including adequate paid parental leave in line with international standards, and ensuring high quality breastfeeding support; Requesting industry to publicly commit to full compliance with the Code and subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions globally; and Banning health workers from accepting sponsorship from companies that market foods for infants and young children for scholarships, awards, grants, meetings, or events.
The Minister of Transportation Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed that commercial activities will commence at the Lekki Deep seaport, September this year. Amaechi made this known after an inspection tour of the project, at Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), Ibeju Lekii area of Lagos.
According to the Minister, the project is capable of contributing about $360 billion to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on annual basis, stressing that Nigeria needs more money from the Port, which he described as the first Sea Port, as Tin Can and Apapa were mere River Ports.
Lekki Port, which is expected to be the deepest port in Sub-saharan Africa, according to the Minister is a privately funded project, being promotes by Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited with federal government playing the role of landlord.
“By September 2022 that we agreed they should commence commercial activities.
“We are talking with Lagos State government let us see how to relocate them because the need for extension will be under stated if we ignore it. Now that they are 5000 persons, we need to have discussion with the community, with the Lagos State government and make provision for their relocation.
“This is privately funded project. But, over time they will collect their revenue from commercial activities before they hand over to the federal government through Nigerian Ports Authority NPA. But obviously, taxes will be collected here.
“I am not sure there is any tax exemption. And we must say too that the confidence in giving them the project is because of the taxes that we will collect here that will help in construction of other projects.
“I imagine quite a lot of things and I wish I could implement them. I imagine that the Lagos – Calabar rail should start from here. That is my imagination. But Lagos – Calabar rail project is $11.1 billion and we don’t know where that money is going to come from, so as Minister of Transport, I will start from Benin to Port Harcourt, then to Calabar. It is only when we finish that we are going to think about how to come from Benin to Lagos, because there is already a rail from Lagos to Kano. So for me, what makes economic sense is that there is another sea Port in Warri, Calabar, and Port Harcourt that need to be faired with train too, just like we faired Tin Can, and Apapa. Another advice I could give is that if they want to invest, they could invest in rail. And then, the government should either do tax deduction or something to help pay them back. But for now, government does not have money” he stated.
In what appears to be a quick shift of tactics, officials from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) carried out a midnight clean-up operation, dismantling two main markets and three crucial roadside selling stations along the busy expressway’s arteries.
The crew, which was largely made up of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) officers and security personnel connected to their Area 3 Enforcement department, cleared all wooden tables, benches, and other things previously used by sellers.
The exercise, which lasted from 11 p.m. Wednesday to 4.25 a.m. Thursday along the airport road, was led by Comrade Ikharo Attah, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection, and Enforcement.
He said the operation was in line with a directive of the FCT Minister that the cleaning of the Airport Road is a continuous exercise, and as such they can’t stop at nothing, but to recover the gateway to the city.
Attah added that prior to their visit, the affected traders had removed their goods and taken them to somewhere else for safe-keeping, it was only the wooden benches, tables and umbrellas left behind that were cleared.
His words: “We commenced the operation from about 12 am till about 4:30 am, and we have been able to freely removed all the wooden benches, tables, umbrellas and everything there. We cleared them all, and because they are so massive, we can’t pack them, and we had to set all of them ablaze, as part our plan to clean up the Airport Road corridor.
“If we try to do this during the daytime, we observed that people would gather in their thousands watching; and passers-by will slow down and be watching us , but today we didn’t see such, because of the time when we stormed the place.
” I believe that we are getting the result, and so far we were able to remove two main markets and three strategic roadside selling points. It was so disturbing and painting our city in bad light, that’s why the FCT Minister gave us the mandate to check the menace, and we have been doing that.
“We had come here today, to demystify and actually sack most of the night markets and roadside trading. so long as we continue working I don’t think that they can come back, as on a daily basis, we have our pin-down there, and from time to time, a joint cleaning team will make sure that these activities will not continue.
“And going forward, even after the greening exercise, the Airport Road will be constantly be kept clean as it is the gateway to our city.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of AEPB, Kaka Bello, noted that it’s just part of our routine exercise, as part of our effort at cleaning the Airport Road, and ensuring that all environmental nuisance are removed.
Kaka reiterated that some traders using makeshift structures and lot of shanties, which hitherto defaced the place were removed. “As you are aware, the Airport Road is the gateway into and out of nation’s capital city.”
The Federal Capital Territory Agricultural And Rural Development Secretariat (FCT-ARDS) have been trained about 600 youths on practical skills in Green-house farming technology on Wednesday in Abuja.
This is targeted at propelling them to gainfully venture into agriculture sector.
The Youths which were drawn from the FCT Agriculture based youth groups across the six Area Councils were comprehensively engaged in a two-day capacity building on Green-house management practices, organised by the Secretariat in Gwagwalada.
The ARDS Secretary, Mallam Abubakar Ibrahim while flagging off the training said the programme is in line with one of the policy thrust of the FCT Administration, predicated on unearthing the abundant potentials of the agriculture sector in Territory as well as to positively engage the teeming population of youth in productive ventures across the various agricultural value chains.
He said that ARDS veered into the Greenhouse crop production in 2020 as a pilot project mainly for demonstration purposes for FCT youth, which has now metamorphosed into a venture with huge commercial benefits.
His words, “This is part of Mr. President’s call for us the agencies and ministries to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty. So we are introducing a new technology (Green House farming in the FCT, it is an all-year round programme to encourage our youth and women to venture into agriculture sector.
“Because, as we all know, everyday the population of Abuja is increasing as people from all walks of life come to look for jobs, and we don’t have the jobs. This is why we are introducing this new technology.
“At the end of the training, we are going to encourage them with some starter-packs that would help them to advance their skills and knowledge.
“Already, we have gotten approval from the Hon Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu to establish additional two new greenhouses in Bwari and Kwali Area Councils respectively; so, my hope is before I leave office, is to replicate this in the six Area Councils of the FCT”, he hinted.
Earlier, the Director, Agric Services at the ARDS, Mrs Ihekandu Francisca, explained that greenhouse technology is a new method of rapid multiplication of crop commodities , under controlled climate and environmental factors for increase in crop yield.
She said that the training will empower farmers, ensure self-sufficiency in sustainable agriculture, reduce youth restiveness, rural-urban youth drift, create jobs and alleviate poverty in the Territory.
In his goodwill message, the Station Head, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Kubwa, Professor Lateef Sanni, stated that, recently the organisation signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) of partnership with the FCTA, said one of the first case study is the issue of the use of Greenhouse technology, which is the practical demonstration of green innovation. It is also a hand-aide tool for the youth, as it is more or less an urban farming system, with available market for the produce.
According to him, “On behalf of IITA, I want to compliment the initiative with a solar house technology for the processing and preservation of the post harvest, which we have done in other countries.
“I want to openly commend the FCT Minister of State and the amiable and productive Mandate Secretary for ARDS and the Directors for taken this initiative. And if we all work together, definitely, we are going to create more jobs for the youth and enhance our economic development as a nation”.
Karu Market traders and other stakeholders on Wednesday begged the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to suspend the planned shut down of the entire market for further clean up.
This is coming as the FCT Administration on Tuesday demolished shanties and illegal structures around the market.
The traders who had an interactive meeting with officials of the Committee, pleaded that their means of livelihoods were at stake, and may get worse, should the market be shut down.
One of the representatives of the Market developers, Chika Obiora while commending the demolition exercise which he said had restored sanity in the market, also pledged to work in synergy with other stakeholders to sustain the environmental sanitation and also end all activities that encourage traffic gridlock.
FCT Ministerial Committee on City Sanitation, hinted that the discovery made on growing illegalities within the market was alarming, and the need to temporarily shut down the entire market for a total clean up and restore the Masterplan.
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, Comrade Ikharo Attah who led the squad, said the rate of illegalities perpetrated in the market, do not only constitute environmental and security threats, but not befitting for a model City like Abuja.
Attah , however, reiterated that FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello remains unhappy that traders in Karu Market had left spaces in the market to take over the roadside, making it difficult for a free flow of traffic.
He noted that if the illegalities were not abated, FCTA may not give further notice before shutting down the entire market.
Saying, both Kubwa and Dutse markets have been shut down in time past, due to overwhelming illegalities and activities that disturb other residents’ rights.
Similarly, the Deputy Director, Enforcement at Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) Kaka Bello, said returning to the market for further clean up, was inevitable as reports showed that some of the market managers were conspiring to perpetuate the illegalities.
He noted that traders with the support of some unscrupulous officials of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, were also converting approved land uses illegally to suit their selfish desires.
Earlier in his remarks, the Head of Department, Survey and Planning, Abuja Municipal Area Council, ( AMAC) Ngbede Micheal said the Council was in support of the ongoing sanitation in the Market.
He also noted that the Council would ensure that all violators of rules and extant orders in the market, were handled in accordance with the laws.
