Business
Oxfam, VSO Celebrate Small-Scale Farmers
Six small-scale farmers received Awards of Excellence at the “Making Food Markets GROW” awards ceremony jointly organised by Oxfam and Volunteer Service Organisation (VSO), two international NGOs, on Tuesday in Abuja.
Our correspondent reports that the farmers were selected from a list of 65 nominees.
Mrs Susanna Godwin, emerged the winner in the “Female Food Hero Award” category while Mrs Briskila Jerome and Mrs Talatu Rohana, were placed second and third respectively.
In addition plaques, three women are to receive support services worth N150,000, N100,000 and N50,000 respectively, to ensure the sustainability and growth of businesses.
In the `Individual’ category of the award, Malam Baba Kaita, a fish farmer from Kaduna, emerged the winner with Shettima Sani and Seth Dakyen as runners up. They also received the same prizes as the women.
Hajia Zainab Maina, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, in her speech, commended Oxfam and VSO for celebrating the farmers, stressing that such gesture would inspire the winners and encourage other farmers to work harder.
She specifically appeciated the initiative to encourage women in agriculture, describing it as “laudable”.
Maina, who was represented by Mrs Elizabeth Emuren, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, stressed the need for more infrastructural investment in the rural areas to encourage and create opportunities for young people to engage in agriculture.
She said that the decision of the government to boost investment in agriculture was predicated on the fact that the sector remained the mainstay of the nation’s economy.
Maina also commended the various interventions by the CBN to ensure farmers’ access to agricultural financing and encourage farming in a sustainable manner.
Responding after receiving the award, Kaita said it was the outcome of an intensive training on fish farming and marketing he received from Oxfam, which had enabled him to achieve increased production and diversification.
“Mine is a success story because through the returns I make on my fish farm, I have invested in another business that is yielding high income and my family is progressing, Kaita said.
He expressed delight that the award came through food production.
“Without food can we have a market; a house without food is not a house; a local government without food is not a local government,” Kaita said.
He challenged all stakeholders in the agricultural sector to emulate the two organisations by working together to achieve a common goal on food and national security and for Nigeria to be food secure.
Also speaking, Godwin expressed gratitude Oxfam and VSO for the honour and recognition accorded them.
She described the award as a “challenge to work hard, harder and hardest”, noting that it was gratifying that their efforts were being observed and appreciated.
She also said that the ceremony should be a challenge to all Nigerians, adding: “if NGOs can do this what are the rest of Nigerians doing?”
Earlier, in an address of welcome, Mrs Kenna Owoh, the VSO Country Director, said the recognition became imperative because the awardees had shown exemplary and entrepreneurial skills and had contributed to food security programme of the government.
Owoh said that VSO believed that for women to contribute to and benefit from rural development, their economic empowerment must be considered alongside their political empowerment.
Mrs Kenna Owoh, the country director of an international NGO Volunteer Services Organisation (VSO) has stressed the need for rural women in developing countries to be economically empowered to attain political power.
She said that increased voice and influence for rural women would ensure that their needs and interests were reflected in policy formulation, service delivery and resource allocation.
“VSO believes that for women to contribute and benefit from rural development, their economic empowerment must be considered hand-in-hand with their political empowerment.
“In turn, increased income, earnings and access control over resources strengthens women’s means and authority to engage in decision making process.”
Owoh described gender inequality as a key driver of poverty in rural areas, adding that the inequalities were exacerbated by the current economic downturn, climate change and associated challenges of food and fuel insecurity, among others.
The director stressed the need for the authorities to reverse the trend by taking immediate action to ensure that rural women were given stronger voice in the design and delivery of rural policy and services.
In his remarks, Mr Tunde Ojei, the Oxfam Country Director, noted that small-scale farmers produced more than 75 per cent of food consumed in Nigeria and that women farmers constituted 60 per cent of the farmers.
Ojei observed that despite the importance of women in food production, rural women were “systematically” denied the resources and freedom of action to meet their basic needs.
He expressed confidence that hunger and poverty would end when women were fully empowered to build their capacity as the key change agent in the development of agriculture.
“Supporting women is fundamental to ending poverty and achieving peace in a sustainable manner,” Ojei said.
The winners will compete with other West African counterparts at the regional competition scheduled to hold in Abuja in June with a handsome 2,500-dollar prize at stake.
As part of efforts to curb mishaps in the aviation industry, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Aviation and Aerospace University (AAAU) to deepen training on preventing and reducing accidents in Nigeria’s air transport.
Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of NBIS, Mrs Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji, in a statement, said NSIB granted AAAU access to its facilities to facilitate an efficient exchange of resources and expertise.
According to the statement, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh, who spoke at the ceremony held at the NSIB Training School, noted that the MoU sets the stage for facility sharing, capacity building, and collaboration between the Bureau and AAAU.
“I am confident that this MoU will enhance the effectiveness of our collaboration and commitment to promoting safer skies and operational excellence in the aviation industry in Nigeria and beyond”, Badeh said.
Registrar of AAAU, represented by the Director of Physical Planning and Works, Engineer Masud Aliyu Yerima, was also quoted in the statement, saying, “The journey of AAAU’s establishment and progress would have faced considerable challenges without NSIB’s generous support”.
He commended Badeh for his exemplary leadership and steadfast dedication in propelling NSIB to greater heights, and affirmed AAAU’s readiness to engage in mutually beneficial endeavours with NSIB.
“This partnership marks a significant milestone in fostering a culture of safety and excellence within Nigeria’s aviation sector, and both NSIB and AAAU are poised to leverage this synergy for the benefit of the industry and the nation at large.
“The African Aviation and Aerospace University, AAAU, is the first Pan-African university dedicated to aviation, aerospace, and environmental science.
“Addressing two critical needs within the continent’s industry, AAAU tackles the research and development gap in Africa’s aviation and aerospace sector while simultaneously cultivating a skilled workforce to propel it forward”, the statement added.
By: Corlins Walter
he commencement of flights operations on the London route by an indegenous Carrier, Air Peace Airline, and the recovery of the local currency have sparked fresh competition on international routes.
Air Peace, Nigeria’s outstanding indigenous airline, may face a prolonged market battle with many foreign airlines with decades of experience in the industry following its entrance on the Nigeria-London route.
Some of the industry’s experts say the airline required support from the government and a strategic approach to stay competitive.
Analysts have also stated that the strategic move has garnered high praise from stakeholders in the aviation sector, considering that Nigerians were paying exorbitant prices to travel from Nigeria to London, but that sustaining this momentum will require more than just offering low prices.
On March 31, 2024, the 11-year-old airline made a bold statement with its inaugural flight, using a Boeing 777 aircraft, offering a capacity of 274 seats and carrying 260 passengers from Lagos to London.
It sold its tickets for N1.2m, a price way lower than the rates offered by most foreign airline operators plying the same route.
Just two weeks after entering the market, Air Peace’s Chief Executive Officer, Allen Onyema, complained on Arise TV that foreign airlines were undercutting prices in an attempt to push Air Peace out of the market.
Onyema said, “We are aware that there are devilish conspiracies. All of a sudden, airlines are pricing below the cost. One airline is advertising $100 and the other $350. If you peel up your entire aircraft and carry people on the wings, it is not even enough to buy fuel.
“Why are they doing that? Their government is supporting them because Nigeria has been a cash cow for everybody. The idea is to take Air Peace out, and the moment they succeed in taking Air Peace out, Nigerians will pay 20 times over. It would happen, God forbid, if they were able to take Air Peace out”.
It was gathered that an economy ticket for a flight scheduled for April 29, 2024, from Lagos to London costs about N679,375 on Ethiopian Airlines, an operator with 75 years of experience.
Air Peace priced the same ticket at N1,090,750. The difference is that on Air Peace, it will be a 6-hour non-stop flight, while on Ethiopian Airlines, it will take 16 hours with one stopover.
Last Friday, Ethiopian Airlines reduced the price of its London ticket by 0.77 per cent to N1,628,660 from N1,641,249 two weeks ago.
In the same period, Air France’s price dropped to N1,687,824, nearly halving from last month’s N2,482,138.
On March 4, 2024, Lufthansa offered the Lagos-London route for N1,966,165. Qatar Airways provided the same ticket for N2,016,824, and KLM priced it at N2,448,740.
This continuous decline in air ticket prices was also driven by the strengthening of the naira against the US dollar and the payments of airlines’ trapped funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had confirmed that the Federal Government, through the CBN, had cleared all the trapped funds (foreign exchange backlogs) to the tune of about $160m.
Beyond the ongoing price war, the Air Peace Chairman had also lamented the challenges with ground handling and space allocation at the London Gatwick Airport, adding that no airline has faced such obstacles before.
He noted, “On the inaugural flight out of London, 24 hours before departure, the management of Gatwick Airport moved us to another checking area instead of the designated one.
“The area they provided had a malfunctioning carousel, forcing us to manually transport luggage 50 meters away, causing delays”.
Users and business operators at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, have decried the downward trend in flight operations at the airport.
Some of the users and operators told The Tide that flight operations at the airport, rather than go upward, have steadily been irregular, and diminishing steadily.
A regular air passenger of the airport, Simeon Echeonwu, in a chat with The Tide, said many airlines, both domestic and international operators, that usually operate at the Port Harcourt airport, have stopped operations, whereas others that are still operating are no longer very stable as before.
Echeonwu noted that airlines such as Aero Contractors, United Nigeria, and Green Africa airlines, now operate about one flight, twice a week, unlike before that they flew every day on Lagos and Abuja to Port Harcourt.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the FAAN Accredited Car Hires Association, Clifford Wahunoro, lamented that the down turn in Operations has affected the business of car hires.
“If you have noticed, I have not been regular at the airport for some time now, because business is no longer flowing at the airport as before. I will not fold my hands and be sitting down doing nothing, so I have to look for other things, so I come when I think there will be something.
“You can see that between 12noon and 1pm, after that segment of flights, when you have few flights arrival, many people will close for the day, and when you wait till evening, flight like Dana may come very late at night, and sometimes, it will not arrive, and by that time, many people will not like to book for commercial vehicle”, he said.
Meanwhile, a travel agent, who wished to be anoyimous, decried the rate at which the airport is going down in terms of flights operations, noting that Port Harcourt airport ought to be competing with the other major airports like Lagos and Abuja.
He queried if such was a calculated attempt to bring the airport to its kneel in terms of flight operations, while other major airports have steady flow of flight operations both for domestic and international.
TheTide observed a continuous distortions in flight movement at the airport. Some of the airlines, like Max air, which many passengers patronize, have completely stopped operations, and no new airline has been added.
Apart from the Air Peace Airline that has maintained some level of stability in operations, other few operators have been involved in either steady rescheduling of flights, cancellation and regular delay, resulting in poor and unpredictable flight movement, which affects or determine other businesses in the airport.
By: Corlins Walter
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