Nigeria and Brazil are to partner on the supply and distribution of 10,000 tractors to farmers across the country. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar made this known at the opening of Africa’s Agricultural Machines and Equipment Technology Expo in Abuja. Abubakar said the partnership aimed to fast track the mechanisation of the Agricultural sector, improve production, boost economy, enhance food self-sufficiency and create job opportunity for Nigerian youths. He said that the purpose of the expo was also to expose African Farmers to cost- effective farm machines, new farming technologies, to increase foreign direct investments,…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The WHO says Nigeria is one of the countries that have reported cases of monkeypox. It says more than 3,200 cases have been confirmed in 48 countries and in five of its regions globally. “In Nigeria, the proportion of women affected is much higher than elsewhere. “It is critical to better understand how the disease is spreading there,” WHO’s Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, has said. He made the declarations at the first meeting of the WHO’s Emergency Committee on monkeypox outbreak on Thursday. Ghebreyesus said the outbreak in newly-affected countries continued to be primarily among gay men and men who reported…
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Great Britain on the margins of the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda, during which he once again reiterated his resolve to respect the maximum term limit in the Nigerian Constitution. The PM, obviously not quite familiar with the maximum two terms limit, had asked if President Buhari would run for office again. To which the latter responded: “Another term for me? No! The first person who tried it didn’t end very well.” (General laughter). On the leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said it would rollout the Fifth Generation (5G) technology by August. The Executive Vice Chairman (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, said this at the 90th Edition of Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) held on Thursday in Lagos. Danbatta said that NCC, through the support of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, would ensure the deployment of spectrum to further accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s broadband services. “The final letters of award have been issued to MTN and Mafab Communications, which emerged winners of the 3.5GHz Spectrum auction conducted on December 13, 2021. ”In line with the…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has appointed Reuben Muoka, an innovative journalist and consummate public relations practitioner, as its new Director of Public Affairs (DPA). Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer disclosed this in a statement. Reuben Muoka takes over from Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, who has assumed duties as the Director of Special Duties Department of the Commission. The new NCC’s spokesman was recently promoted a substantive director, alongside Ismail Adedigba, now Director of Research and Development (R&D); and Gwa-Tobi Mohammed, who has also assumed duties as Director/Secretary to the Board of the Commission. Muoka was in 2021,…
Dr Rose Gidado, Country Coordinator of Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), said the new rice variety on field trial as genetically modified crop would boost food security in Nigeria. She named the variety as the Nitrogen-use Efficient, Water-use Efficient and Salt Tolerant (NEWEST) rice project in Nigeria. Gidado said this in an interview in Abuja on Wednesday. According to her, NEWEST rice and virus resistant cassava with elevated levels of iron and zinc are among the four genetically modified crops undergoing field trials in the country. She also said the genetically modified TELA maize was already on farmers’ fields…
South Korea has reported its first two suspected cases of monkey pox, public health officials said on Wednesday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) two probable cases were found earlier on Tuesday and diagnostic tests were being conducted. Meanwhile, their identities were withheld. However, one of the individuals was admitted at the Incheon Medical Centre in Incheon, west of Seoul, at 9:40 p.m. on Tuesday, hospital officials said. The person reportedly showed potential symptoms of the infectious disease while entering the country via Incheon International Airport. The hospital has two beds designated for monkey pox cases.…
The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) says a trial phase for the new TELA Maize is ongoing in some states to understudy the variety among farmers. Dr Rose Gidado, a Deputy Director at NABDA, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday. Gidado said that farmers would start planting the crop this year’s planting season. Tela Maize is a Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) crop variety designed to resist insect pests like fall armyworm and stem-borers and to tolerate moderate drought. Nigerian government through the NABDA in 2021 granted environmental approval for evaluation and open cultivation of new…
In 2020, the Kwara State Government, launched the Kwara Health Insurance Scheme (KHIS) to make access to basic healthcare by Kwara indigents seamless. The program however hasn’t been entirely flawless. In this report, Omolola Afolabi unravels some of the inadequacies bedeviling the scheme in the state. For Sanni Amuda, a 46-year-old artisan in Awodi Gambari, Ilorin, the past few years have been akin to sprinting through the fog. His income has been irregular whilst also struggling with meeting his family’s needs. He recalls a watershed moment when the government announced the commencement of the Kwara State Health Insurance Scheme (KHIS).…
New limits for persistent organic pollutants in waste are to be introduced in the European Union after representatives of the European Parliament and EU countries clinched a deal on Monday night. The agreement was an important step toward a circular economy, cleaner and respectful of human health and the environment. This is according to the French representatives, who chaired the negotiations, on Twitter. Persistent organic pollutants (POP) are chemicals that are particularly long-lived. They can enter the food chain by accumulating in organisms and harm the health of humans and animals. According to the European Commission, POPs are no longer…