News
Master Bakers May Shut Down In Rivers Soon … Say Production Cost, FG Policies Threatening Industry

Master Bakers in Rivers State may shut operations soon to protest the high cost of bread production in the state.
This is as they have lamented the increasing cost in the importation of wheat, sugar and other raw materials used in the production of bread in the country.
The Rivers State Chairman of Master Bakers and Cafeteria Association of Nigeria, Dr.Chidi Emmanuel Orlu, in an exclusive interview with The Tide, said the rising cost of producing bread threatened the bakery industry in the country.
The Tide’s investigations show that in recent times, the cost of bread has gone up by 70percent as a loaf of bread that hitherto sold for N500 now sells for N700.
Orlu, however, blamed the situation on the Federal Government’s unfavourable policies.
As far as the baking industry is concerned, the government policy is not friendly to us, he said.
He also blamed unhealthy competition and rivalry amongst bakers as some of the problems in the industry.
According to him, since the association does not have a regulatory power, baking business has become an all comers’ affair.
“In 2005, you sell (sold) more than 50percent of your production. You don’t (didn’t) have the challenge that you have today.
“Today, we spend a lot of money on packaging. Numbers of bakery have increased giving rise to unhealthy rivalry and competition.
“People come with impression of so much profit,”he said.
Orlu also blamed the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and other agencies of the government for not being alive to their responsibilities.
He alleged that NAFDAC and other regulatory bodies were more interested in revenue they generate from bakers than their statutory regulatory functions.
“The Association (Master Bakers) does not regulate. Regulation is the responsibility of the government through NAFDAC.
“Today, NAFDAC is interested in the revenue it generates from bakeries and others. The main control has taken a back stage”, he said.
He also decried the duplication of functions among government’s agencies such as the Ministry of Health, Public Health Department, Local Government Health Department, the state and federal fire services, among others, accusing them of sending one demand notices or the other.
“We have Ministry of Health, Public Health Department, we have Local Government Public Health Department, all controlling bakery. They send demand notices and each of them want money”, he said.
Orlu also noted that lack of proper regulation encouraged the entry of quacks into the baking business as many took the advantage to use banned substances to produce bread for public consumption.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to assist bakers with soft loans to enable them remain in business.
On the alleged planned withdrawal of service by master bakers in the state, he said the plan was to ensure that citizens continue to have access to bread.
“We decided to withdraw our services to alert citizens that if something is not done ,we will head to a point where bread will not be for the common man”.
He added that the proposed action was “to show that the problem of the industry is not caused by bakers, but is purely government policies and economic environment that we operate.
“This is just the essence of the withdrawals of services”.
Orlu also hinted of plans to increase the price of the products soon if the government refuses to do something about the cost of importing baking materials.
By: John Bibor
News
CAS Lauds Troops For Exceptional Performance In South-East Operation

Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, has lauded Nigerian Air Force (NAF) troops for exceptional performance in ongoing Joint Task Force in the South-East code-named “Operation Udo Ka II”.
Abubakar said this yesterday in Enugu during his maiden visit and tour of operational and training assets and facilities within NAF Ground Training Command (GTC), Enugu.
He noted that NAF troops had done exceptionally well and recorded series of success in the joint operation meant to keep the South-East safe and secured for all.
The CAS noted that the GTC Command was highly important to NAF as it housed the ground component (non technical component) as well as a unit of air component necessary to ensure the attainment of the mandate of NAF.
He said: “Today, we are in Enugu, which is the host of the GTC Command in our maiden visit and we are here to interact with the NAF personnel, see the facilities and infrastructure on ground.
“We are also here to encourage the personnel to continue to do the good job they had been doing before now.
“The GTC Command and the Air Training Command are key to all of our activities in NAF and the two commands ensure we have the adequate and skilled manpower for all our activities and operations.
“I am also here to strengthen our activities within Operation Udo Ka II, which Enugu is the headquarters, and see how we can achieve greater successes more than what we are having now and ensure that South-East is totally secured.”
He disclosed that 750 personnel were currently undergoing training and would be graduating between December 2023 and January, 2024.
“These training are important to us in terms of our operation; and the current number is very significant amount of manpower to be injected into our operations and other activities in the country,” he said.
On the inspection in the new GTC Command Headquarters, new 553 Base Services Group (BSG) Headquarters and BSG Annex; Abubakar said that he was quite satisfied and impressed with the pace, level and quality of work done already.
“I have taken out time to inspect the projects and asked questions about the projects and I tell you that I am satisfied with what are on ground and all our assets and facilities are well maintained and protected,” he said.
The NAF boss commended NAF officers, airmen and airwomen in GTC Command for “doing a good job and keeping the flag flying high” as well as extolled their sacrifices and commitment to duties as well.
“I am very happy for their performance. We at the NAF headquarters, we are doing all we can to make sure they have all the necessary support and equipment as well as welfare and accommodation to carry out their jobs effectively,” he said.
He assured NAF personnel of doing more by providing all necessary infrastructures to ensure the maximum working of the GTC Command.
The CAS also inaugurated a renovated airmen’s club and new Mrs Rakiya Abubakar Children’s Park as well as inspected the water treatment and reticulation system and the hospital within NAF Base, Abakpa in Enugu.
News
UNIBADAN Lecturer Wins Best Thesis Dollar Prize

The Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS), University of Lagos, has announced Dr Muhammad Ribadu as winner of this year’s Rahamon Bello Best Ph.D thesis in African Studies award.
The Director of the institute, Prof. Muyiwa Falaiye, made the announcement in a statement issued to newsmen yesterday in Lagos.
Ribadu, of the University of Ibadan, will be rewarded with a total of 1000 dollars, a plaque and a certificate.
Falaiye said a total of 18 entries for the 4th edition of competition were received from various universities in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa
He gave the title of the winning thesis as: The Social Context of Gentrification in Lagos State; Ph.D (Jan. 2023) Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan.
“The first runner up for this competition was Oluwaseyi Popogbe, currently a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Crawford University in Ogun.
“The title of his thesis is: Social Exclusion and Poverty in Selected Coastal Slum Areas in Lagos State; Ph.D (Dec. 2022) Department of Economics University of Lagos.
“The second runner up position went to Dr Charles Akwen, currently a lecturer at the Department of English, University of Lagos.
“Akwen’s thesis is titled: Notions of Identity in the Literary Creativity of Odia Ofeimun and Yang Mu; Ph.D (Dec. 2022) English Literature, University of Lagos,” the director stated.
He said that both the first and second runners up would be awarded plaques and certificates in recognition of their contributions and hard work.
Falaiye noted that the competition was in honour of Prof. Rahamon Bello, who was the 10th Vice Chancellor of the university, at the time the institute was inaugurated.
The prize money is usually donated every year for the award by friends of Prof. Bello.
Falaiye said that Dec, 6, had been fixed for the presentation of the awards.
The Tide source reports that the award was first presented in 2020.
News
States, LGs Lack Infrastructure To Manage Ecological Fund, Shun Queries – Perm Sec

The 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government councils have no structure in place to manage Ecological Fund.
The declaration was made in Abuja, yesterday, by the Permanent Secretary, Ecological Project Office, Malam Shehu Ibrahim.
Ibrahim made the declaration at an interactive session with the House Representatives Committee on Ecological Fund.
He said since states and local governments began to share the fund with the Federal Government they had not been able to put structures in place to manage their share.
The Ecological Fund is an intervention fund by the Federal Government to address the multifarious ecological challenges in various communities in the country.
Ibrahim told the house committee that the sharing of the fund among the three tiers of government followed a court decision.
He said governors and local council chairmen never welcomed queries about how they deployed the ecological funds.
“It is a `no-go’ area,’’ he quipped.
“They don’t want to see officials of the Ecological Project Office near them; so we cannot ask them how they spend the money,’’ he added.
Ibrahim said also that all motions by the National Assembly regarding intervention on ecological project matters had been treated.
“The Ecological Project Office acts expeditiously on documents sent to it to solve problems; it looks at some of the gaps within the motion and tries to fill the gaps, and we have had more than five of such motions.
“ The Ecological Project Office does not handle funds; it only appraises projects and makes recommendations to the president,’’ he said.
The permanent secretary explained that it is the Ministry of Finance that manages the fund and the projects.
He stressed that it was a misconception that the Ecological Project Office is in charge of funds and at liberty to decide on where projects would be sited with the money in its coffers.
He said whenever there were interventions; the Ecological Project Office informed affected communities and went with the contractor to hand over the projects to the community.
This is to enable the community to take ownership of the intervention and communicate their observations to the project office.
Responding, Rep. Sani Jaji (APC-Kaura Namoda/ Birnin Magaji), chairman of the committee, said there should always be stakeholders engagement before embarking on ecological fund intervention projects.
He noted that the projects were stakeholders’ projects and failure to include the stakeholders would always lead to security breach.
“So many things happened with UNICEF’s polio vaccine rejection; but when it included stakeholders, people began to accept the vaccine.
“It is critical to involve stakeholders and ensure equity. Security cannot be the reason why you won’t execute projects in certain parts of the country.
“The perception about your office is that there is money out there; so you need to change that perception and let people know that you have limitations about the execution of projects,’’ he said.
Jaji challenged the Ecological Fund Project Office to provide the needed advice to the president to enable him to take the correct steps.
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