The newly-elected President of Sierra Leone, Mr Julius Bio, on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 issued a directive ordering the suspension of timber export. According to the presidential directive issued by State House, the suspension is part of the government’s strategy to fight deforestation in the country. Former President Ernest Koroma suspended the export of timber in 2013, but lifted it in early 2017 in the build-up to the 2018 elections. Although timber logging has created many jobs for Sierra Leonean youths, environmental activists have welcomed the suspension and called on the government to make the suspension a permanent ban. The…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
In an ambitious United Nations (UN) campaign to eliminate epidemics of the deadly disease on the African continent, nearly one billion people would be vaccinated against yellow fever by 2026. The mosquito-borne viral disease is a major killer in the continent, where it could spread fast in highly populated areas with devastating consequences. Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said this at the programme’s launch in Nigeria, which is a priority-target country. “With one injection we can protect a person for life against this dangerous-pathogen. This unprecedented commitment by countries will ensure that by 2026 Africa is…
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh has said that Federal Government would establish 14 additional rice mills in the country to meet increasing demand for local rice and achieve self sufficiency. Speaking at the AgroNigeria High Level Rice Conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Ogbeh who was represented by the ministry’s Director of Agribusiness and Marketing, Alhaji Muyiwa Azeez said the mills would be sited in different states. “Different brands of home grown international grade rice can now be found in the market. This has been a great stride. A total of 14 number mills will soon come…
AlphaGalileo, the independent source of breaking research news for the media, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to partner ‘Levers in Heels’ the African initiative giving a voice to African women in science, technology, engineering and technology. AlphaGalileo and Levers in Heels will exchange content to help raise the profile of African female research excellence. For AlphaGalileo this is part of its ‘Africa Initiative’ to generate better awareness of African research carried out by Africans. http://leversinheels.com
The Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st (GCP21) century will on 17 April 2018 hold a world press conference to announce the fourth International Cassava Conference billed to take place in Cotonou, Benin in 11-15 June 2018. Part of the press conference will be exhibition of cassava products including cassava bread, cassava ethanol, cassava snacks, cassava flour, cassava starch, which is used for pharmaceutical products; and traditional products such as cassava fufu, yellow gari among others. The world press conference and exhibition are part of activities earmarked to raise awareness on the potential of the root crop which many term as ‘Africa’s white gold’.…
Seven buildings at the University of lbadan were badly damaged as a result of a heavy rainfall Friday night. Addressing newsmen while assessing the extent of damage on Saturday, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Emilolorun Aiyelari described the incident as unfortunate, adding that the institution was yet to determine the cost of damage. Some of the affected buildings include the Students Union Government building, two halls of residence and the Chemistry Laboratory of the institution’s International School. Others were the Tedder and Bello Halls, some structures in the Faculty of Agriculture as well as the electric transformer at the SUG building.…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is collaborating with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to address the sale of substandard drugs in Nigeria. Its Nigeria Country Representative, Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu said on Saturday while commemorating the World Health Day 2018 in Abuja on Saturday that addressing the sale of substandard drugs in the country was very important WHO was to achieve its target of supporting member states in reaching Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. He said it was only when Nigeria ensured sale and consumption of genuine medicines to citizens that it would…
By Suleiman Okoth The Kenyan government is banking on the production of genetically modified cotton, expected to start in 2018, to generate more than Sh 50 billion in apparel export earnings and create more than 50,000 jobs as part of its economic revival plan. As part of the country’s big four agenda, Kenya aims to increase the manufacturing sector’s share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 15 per cent by 2022, enhance food security, provide universal healthcare to all citizens and provide affordable and decent housing — by constructing at least 500,000 affordable new houses by 2022. Mr Rajeev Arora,…
A farmer, Mr Adolphus Ogbonna has warned that food security may be threatened in Nigeria in the near future because of persistent herdsmen attacks and climate change. Speaking in Lagos on Friday, Ogbonna said the future of agriculture was not looking good, due to recurring attacks on farmers in many parts of the country. Observing that Nigerian farmers were currently contending with an onslaught of bloody attacks by herdsmen, forcing many farmers to avoid going to their farms to stay alive, he added that the problems of farmers had also been compounded by issues relating to climate change, stressing that…
Some ecologists have expressed worry over the dire consequences of car pollutants on the environment, explaining that the profusion of exhaust fumes from vehicles in the environment was responsible for the prevalence of some diseases such as cancer in the country. Speaking on Friday in Lagos, Mr Temitope Ogunweide, an ecologist and founder of CleanEdge Company said that carbon monoxide produced by exhaust fumes from vehicles was the largest contributor to greenhouse gases in the environment. The greenhouse gases trap heat in the lower part of the earth by blocking infrared heat from passing out and studies say the long-term effect of…