The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) have agreed to collaborate to promote lending to the agricultural sub-sector and its value chain. The Managing Director of DBN, Mr Tony Okpanachi said this after signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday in Abuja that under the partnership, NIRSAL would provide risk mitigating credit guarantees. According to him, the bank would provide funds for onward lending to Micro, Small and Medium Entreprises (MSMEs) in the agricultural sub-sector and its value chain. “The MSMEs if well managed have the potential to achieve…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
WHO on Wednesday warned Nigeria and 15 other African countries of a listeriosis outbreak that started in South Africa in 2017, confirming its support for their preparedness and response to the disease. The other African countries are Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Listeriosis is a bacterial infection most commonly caused by Listeria monocytogenes. It can cause severe illness, including severe sepsis, meningitis, or encephalitis, sometimes resulting in lifelong harm and even death. Listeria is ubiquitous and is primarily transmitted via the oral route after ingestion…
The National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) says it will soon set up a modern seed market to check the poor quality of seeds in the country. The Council’s Director General, Dr Philip Ojo made this known in an interview in Abuja on Monday when he disclosed that some unscrupulous seed entrepreneurs were defrauding farmers by selling fake seeds that had resulted to poor yields in the country. He explained that it was illegal for anyone to sell seed in open containers without clearance by the seed council, adding that the Seed Act N0 72 of 1992 mandates only the Council…
The Joint UN Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) has appointed Wife of Nigerian President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari as UNAIDS Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Promotion of Treatment for Children living with HIV in Nigeria. The Communications and Global Outreach Officer of UNAIDS Nigeria, Mr Charles-Martin Jjuuk made this known in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja. The Executive Director and Under Secretary General of the United Nations, Michel Sidibé, who will issue the official appointment letter to Aisha Buhari on Monday, March 19 in Abuja said that the appointment was in recognition…
The world marks the 2018 World Glaucoma Week with a Consultant Ophthalmologist, Dr Charles Omale chiding the poor attitude of Nigerians to eye care. Omale, the Managing Director, Fortress Eye Hospital in Abuja said on Saturday that due to this attitude, most health interventions were forced on citizens. He confirms that many do not observe routine eye and general health check-ups “even with the continuous awareness creation, sensitisation and campaign by NGOs, public health and religious organisations.” According to Omale, although the awareness about glaucoma had improved over the years, it was still below expectation because of the general attitude…
Muftau Oladunmoye, a professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology with the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) has said that natural products derived from plant and animal sources have the potential to prevent and treat challenging health issues such as cancer, diabetes, liver cirrhosis, heart related diseases and a number of ailments threatening the well-being of people globally. Speaking at the 96th Inaugural lecture of FUTA on the topic: Natural Products Derived Antimicrobials: The Myth and Reality, Oladunmoye cited various examples of scientifically proven efficacy of extracts from herbs and plants in the treatment of ailments. Explaining that extracts from mistletoe growing on cocoa…
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has selected 10 local government areas in Kano state for the implementation of its programme in 2018. The UNICEF Chief of Katsina Field Office, Mrs Padmauathi Yedla disclosed during a meeting with the Kano State Government officials in Kano on Friday that the Fund would implement its programme in the areas of addressing malnutrition in children, provision of safe drinking water, health, education as well as improving access to girl-child education. “We are going execute our education programme in six local government areas while the other programmes will be carried out in all the…
A Nigerian don, Dr Hemant Nitturkar has said that scientists and other experts in the agriculture sector were currently partnering to develop a sustainable cassava seed system in order to solve the problem of low productivity of the crop. Speaking on Friday at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan during the annual meeting of the project tagged: “Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System (BASICS), Nitturkar, who is the Project Coordinator noted that the initiative was to set up a sustainable cassava seed system where improved seeds would be provided for farmers. According to him, the system would benefit the…
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has advised farmers in the North to plant early maturing and drought-resistant varieties of seeds so as to avoid yield loss in 2018. NiMet gave the advice in its 2018 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) in Abuja on Friday, in which the agency said farmers in Sokoto, Katsina, Yobe, Zamfara, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kano and Borno states were likely to experience severe dry spell in June. It explained that the dry spell might continue for 10 to 18 days after its onset and a moderate dry spell, which might last seven to 16 days, was expected in…
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the constitution of the Council’s membership, few days after he announced the intention of the Federal Government to establish a National Food Security Council. A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), Garba Shehu said that the Council, which would “be chaired by the President, will be inaugurated on Monday. It will have as members, the Governors of Kebbi, Taraba, Plateau, Lagos, Ebonyi and Delta States. “Other Members are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; the Chief of Staff to the President; the National Security Adviser and seven (7) cabinet…