Featured
Empowering The IDPs Out Of Poverty
Internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border. There are a lot of IDPs in different parts of Nigeria. These groups of persons are entitled to all the rights and guarantees as citizens and other habitual residents of their country. As such, national authorities have the primary responsibility to prevent forced displacement and to protect IDPs.
However, IDPs, due to their forced displacement, are inherently vulnerable to deprivation, further displacement and other protection risks, such as lack of access to basic services, family separation, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, discrimination and harassment. There is, therefore, the need to empower the IDPs and help them face their challenges with every sense of responsibility. This was the case with The National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) which in its four-year programme empowered 300 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and their households with agricultural inputs in Kuje and Durumi camps, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, which helped to improve their livelihoods and stepped them out of the poverty line.
The IDPs stated this when the Spanish Cooperation Agency in Madrid, led by its Director, Mr Anton Leis visited the NANTS office in Abuja where NANTS and ECOWAS shared their success story. Added to this, a delegation of the Spanish Government led by its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares visited Nigeria and signed a Development Cooperation and Financial Agreement with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission to continue on this path of development and regional economic integration. It will be recalled that in 2019, NANTS in collaboration with ECOWAS under the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) and the Spanish International Development Agency (AECID) embarked on an empowerment programme aimed at providing succor to the IDPs spread around Abuja.
Through this project, the association selected 300 households among the worst hit and poorest IDPs (who were originally farmers) in their various localities in the North East from where they were displaced.
Agricultural inputs ranging from hoes, improved seeds, particularly maize and groundnuts, fertilizers, chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides, spraying machines, and some back up cash were thereafter given to the beneficiaries to enable them to get engaged in farming. This ultimately got them back to a means of livelihood and moved them out of the streets where they were begging and depending on arms.
NANTS also provided technical backstopping by engaging experts on agronomy who trained and followed up the beneficiaries through the setting up of demonstration farms from where they were learning daily for improved agricultural practices. The association further intervened and negotiated with community leaders in Kuje and Kosso communities who provided farm lands for the selected IPDs. Recounting their experiences and benefits from the project, some of the representatives of the beneficiaries testified that the project had built their capacity for improved productivity in selected crops such as maize and groundnut.
According to them, about 1,800 tons of maize was produced as an aggregate harvest at 6 tons per hectare per beneficiary using best practices adopted by NANTS. Similarly, about 1,000 tons of groundnuts were produced as an aggregate harvest by the end of the season at 3 ton per hectare per beneficiary. In the end, about 74 (project) beneficiaries exited the IDPs camp for better accommodation, with 13 currently living in their own houses while 18 of them acquired land to start the process of building their own houses. Added to this is the fact that over 100 youths in the IDP camps and in the community got attracted and were absorbed into farming, while 43 beneficiaries whose children were out of school sent them back to school after several years of drop out owing to poverty.
Also, 31 of the beneficiaries acquired and renewed their mobile phones, with 61 identifiable thriving farming businesses contributing incomes to the beneficiaries. Ironically, over 66 per cent of the beneficiaries are women. In all, the IDP project significantly contributed to increased food production and reduction in the incidences of hunger and malnutrition among the IDPs. Indeed, the NANTS project contributed to the protection and rehabilitation of the vulnerable population displaced from their homes and means of livelihood; strengthened their social security system; created agro markets and enhanced food security and sufficiency. Mr. Chiroma Isaiah, the Chairman of the IDP Camp in Kuje said that the IDPs were traditional farmers who were displaced from their communities. He disclosed that the project rekindled their hopes and improved their livelihoods by fostering access to agricultural tools.
Hear him: “By the time I came to Abuja I had nothing and I was begging all around, but this programme has facilitated the return of my eight children to school. Currently, three of them have finished secondary school while one has graduated from the college of education.
”Now I have built my house and I have bought another piece of land. Through this project many of us have motorcycles that they use for commercial purposes.’’ On his part, Malam Umar Gola from Durumi IDP Camp, commended NANTS, ECOWAS-RAAF and the AECID for the support.Gola who lost his wife and two children to insurgency said that the project improved his capacity beyond what he originally knew about farming by providing training on improved technology that resulted in improved productivity. “Now I have gone beyond maize and groundnut production and have about two tonnes of beans produced and stored to be sold when the price increases. I have procured two plots of land in Karshi to build my own house.
“This project has positively impacted so much on us; it provided us with seedlings and funds that helped us to diversify apart from farming,’’ Gola said. He, however, expressed concern that they were still faced with the challenge of herders’ attack on their farms. Similarly, Mrs Rufkatu Peter, said that the project promoted her gradual exit from IDP status. She described the NANTS project as a landmark approach towards ensuring that food security was taken to the next level in terms of sustainability. In her words, “I ran away from Goza pregnant and delivered twins in Abuja when the project started. I zealously joined the project with my children to make ends meet, and was later joined by my husband.
“Today, from this project, we are living in our own house and all our five children are in school and well taken care of.” Earlier, the National President of NANTS, Dr Ken Ukaoha said that research showed that over 90 per cent of people in IDP camps were traditionally farmers before they were displaced from their communities. He observed that the project had enhanced food and nutrition security mechanisms for IDPs and brought peace among households in the host communities through regular interface, negotiation strategies as well as agronomic training and agriculture extension services. “We provided farm inputs, procured and developed demonstration farms and training manuals, took them there where we trained them in crop agronomy and 300 households regained their livelihoods. They were originally farmers before they were displaced, so we needed to buy everything they needed to start life so as to move them from the roads where they were begging,” he stated.
Ukaoha, however, solicited continued support for the project to capture more IDPs. He said that records indicated that there are about 6, 348 IDP households in Abuja and the project only captured 300.He commended ECOWAS and the AECID for remaining profoundly resilient in assisting the poor IDPs. The Director, Spanish Cooperation Agency, Mr Anton Leis said that Spain would continue to strengthen its cooperation with Nigeria and ECOWAS. This, according to him, will enable them to finance and support more similar projects. “This is one of the best and most important projects implemented with our support. We thank everyone involved in making a difference in the project as we have seen and the opportunity to hear from the beneficiaries,’’ Leis said.
While recalling some challenges faced by the world in the last four years, Leis urged the beneficiaries not to lose hope. “Nigeria is a country of hope. Your personal experience expresses some hope and it is not just in Nigeria or this part of the world that we have internally displaced people, we have a hundred million people all over the world that are refugees or IDPs. “Your stories depicted hardships and difficult times, but with some help from us, ECOWAS and NANTS you are able to pull through. Your kids are in schools, you have built your houses, you can make a living and that calls for congratulations for everybody supporting this work,’’ he said.
By: Calista Ezeaku
Letters
Ban On Christians Fellowship In Universities
If the story making the rounds on two Nigerian universities being sued for allegation of their ban on Christian fellowship in the campus is anything to go by, then Nigeria is in for another trouble.
According to the story, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Katsina State branch, in conjunction with an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International), has instituted an action against two universities in Katsina State for indefinitely banning Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campuses.
The suit was said to have been filed against the two universities for violating the right to religious freedom by “indefinitely prohibiting” Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campus.
The Christian legal advocacy group further alleged that one of the universities enforced the ban by locking all worship and fellowship centre on university grounds, preventing Christian students and groups from accessing the facilities and banning them from meeting for worship and fellowship elsewhere on campus while their Muslim counterparts at both universities have been permitted to hold worship and fellowship meetings in university-constructed worship and meeting spaces.
Recall that in 2017, there was a news report on the outlaw of any other religious or tribal association on campus besides the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria by the authorities of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina, Katsina State. A circular credited to the institution’s acting Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Sulaiman Kankara, which was later disowned by the university, contained the directive.
The last time I checked, Nigeria is a democratic, circular state where every individual is free to practise any religion of her choice. Section 38 of the Nigerian constitution provides: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
It is therefore wrong for a public university to indulge in this discriminatory act. A university is supposed to be an intellectual environment where people should be allowed some level of freedom. There must be robust fellowship and inter-faith relationship. People must be able to relate with each other without any discrimination or stigmatisation.
Knowing how delicate issues on religion are in Nigeria, one hopes that the authorities of the institutions concerned should swiftly look into the report and retrace their steps. The court should be objective in deciding the case and give students of other religions some leverage of freedom. It must be stated that the judgment on this case should not be delayed to avoid any retaliation in other parts of the country.
We already have a lot of issues to deal with in the country. Adding a religious crisis to it could be disastrous. Any university established and funded by either the federal, state or local government, should have freedom of religion. Let there be no more trouble in the country, please.
Waheed Abiodun,
Victoria Street,
Port Harcourt Township.
The NIMC, NCC Partnership
Reports have it that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed that they have partnered to enhance seamless linkage of National Identification Number-SIM across the federation.
Both Commissions said that in recognising the significance of this initiative in enhancing security and improving service delivery, they were committed to improving processes and enhancing efficiency.
This is a welcome development. It has been worrisome why Nigerians should be made to go through the rigorous process of linking their National Identification Number (NIN) with their phone numbers every now and then. Some people who engage in online transactions have recorded some losses over the past few weeks as some internet providers barred their lines due to their inability to successfully do the linkage.
Two weeks ago, I went to a High Court for an official engagement and was shocked to see the number of people seeking to get court affidavits for the linkage of the NIN with the phone numbers so that their line will be unbarred.
It is therefore hoped that the NIMC, NCC partnership will remove all the bottlenecks surrounding the Nin, SIM linkage and make the process very seamless. It is also hoped that this will be the beginning of the process of proper identity management in the country and gradual collapse of all the various forms of identification – Drivers Licence, Voters Card, NIMC card. Bank cards etc into one identity card so that one would not have to be moving around with loads of identity cards.
Ebele Ubani,
Jabi, Abuja.
The Unwanted Strike
Just when the students of Nigeria public universities are rejoicing that there had been a no interruption in the universities’ academic calendar for sometiime, the news about the warning strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), broke.
The Joint Action Committee of the two organisations had directed members to commence a seven day warning strike last week, following the federal government’s inability to pay their four months’ withheld salary.
I do not even understand why the government should allow labour unions to down tools before acting on their demands. Did President Bola Tinubu not direct that university workers that were on prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries stopped by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after the invocation of “No Work, No Pay” policy, should be paid four months of the withheld salaries?
Have members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) not been paid in line with the president’s directive? Why were SSANU, NASU and unions concerned not paid? These bodies issued an ultimatum to the federal government. Why was there no effort to address their grievances within the window period?
It is said that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So, the government, having paid ASUU, should also endeavour to settle SSANU and NASU so that there shall be no interruption in our academic calendar. We did no wrong by choosing public universities. Government, ASUU, SSANU, NASU and what have you should let us learn in peace and graduate at the record time like our colleagues in private universities, please.
IB Michael,
University of Port Harcourt,
Port Harcourt.
Letters
Obi Should Do More, Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage, Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
Obi Should Do More
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has continued to voice out his opinion on the happenings in the country. On the budget padding scandal currently rocking the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he has told the Senate to provide Nigerians with some explanations on the matter.
He said the claims and counter-claims over the alleged N3 Trillion which was alleged by Senator Abdul Ningi to have been padded into the 2024 budget, requires proper explanation as to what Nigerians must need to know regarding management of the nation’s, insisting that the suspension of Senator Ningi for three months does not address the issue.
The Labour party chieftain had also expressed his concern over the hunger in the country a few days ago. He raised the alarm that Nigerians were spending all their money on food.
It is commendable of Obi to have stood with the masses at this critical time in the nation’s history and be critical of negative happenings in the country and bad government policies. However, Obi should do more than just criticising. It is said that “a tree cannot make a forest”. Therefore, Obi should galvanise all the law makers both on the national and state levels to tow the same line with him, which should be seen as the position of the Labour Party.
In 2023, there was a revolution in the country. People of all walks of life, of various religions and tribes trouped out in support of the labour party because they believed in Mr Peter Obi. People saw the Labour Party as a needed alternative to the two most populous political parties, PDP and APC. Based on Obi’s personality and popularity, some people who ordinarily would not have won councillorship positions in their communities were elected into state and national assemblies. Many of them won the elections for free, spending no shi shi.
Painfully, after assuming the exalted positions, many of them, especially those in the national assembly seem to have forgotten the masses. It is now business as usual. Among the seven senators and 36 House of Representative members of the Labour Party in the National Assembly, which one of them has moved a strong motion about the hardship currently being faced by the masses and how to address it? How many of them stood by Senator Ningi on the budget padding revelation? What out the exotic cars distributed to them, how many of them advised that they should go for less expensive cars and the excess money channelled into developmental projects? It has become a case of one not talking while on the dining table, right?
Obi should be able to organise his party to form a formidable opposition and a party that does things differently, a party that stands with the people. If the labour party elected political office holders carry on the way they have done since they came into office, they will keep de-marketing their party, forgetting that 2027 is just around the corner.
Ngozi Omeje,
Umuahia, Abia State.
Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage
I have followed the discussion on the proposed new minimum wage with keen interest and I just hope the leadership of the organised labour will be firm enough to represent the workers and refuse to fall prey to the ploy to disunite them.
It is disheartening seeing workers come up with different amounts as the proposed minimum wage. While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, demanded that South-West states should pay N794,000 the Trade Union Congress, TUC, asked for N447,000. Similarly, workers in the Federal Capital Territory demanded N709,000, while their counterparts in the North-West clamoured for N485,000.
This idea of singing in discordant tunes is not good for strong unionism. I recall my days as a civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo state. That was during the time of Adams Oshiomhole as the National President of the NLC. The labour union was a force to be reckoned with and whenever the workers barked, the government caught cold. The increase in workers’ wages was fought for as body. There was nothing like federal workers going to the left and the state workers going to the right. Of course then, in 2000, the TUC did not exist as a separate body. The entire workers spoke in unison.
Yes, the states did reserve the right to say whether they can pay the national minimum wage or not but the national body of the NLC was carried along in the negotiation. Please, the NLC and TUC should come together and present a common front in the new minimum wage quest and ensure that workers in the states also get a fair deal. If not, some of the greedy governors will continue to subject the workers to hardship.
Pa Micheal Adeniran,
Rumuogba Housing Estate, Port Harcourt.
Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
“Today, he’s responding to a remark by the Governor that has nothing to do with him. The opposition is urging the Senate president to be mindful of his utterances. How can he turn the burial of late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son, such a sad moment, to a political attack?. It’s disappointing. That’s political recklessness taken too far. We, the opposition parties, won’t tolerate such utterances anymore if it continues.”
Above was the response of a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, unguarded remark on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s comment during the burial of the late Access Holdings Plc GCEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son last weekend.
It is hoped that Akpabio will heed to the advice and learn how to talk in public. Tracing his character as a public servant and political office holder in various capacities over the years, one would notice that the senate president lacks the act of public speaking and carriage.
Was it not recently that he announced that the clerk of the house had sent money to each of the senators’ personal account for their holiday enjoyment only to be called to other and he changed it to ”In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” What about the “honourable minister off your mic” shameful display.
Whoever wants to die seeking public/political office should go ahead but leave our dear governor alone.
Loveth Opusunju
Minima, Opobo, Rivers State.
Featured
Fubara Promises Rivers Support For Wigwe Varsity …Cautions Political Class On Power Tussle
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised the state government’s commitment to supporting Wigwe University.
Fubara disclosed this on Saturday after the funeral service of the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, in Isiokpo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Wigwe, alongside his wife, Doreen, and son, Chizzy, died in a helicopter crash in California near the Nevada border, United States of America.
Also involved in the crash was the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The governor said, “I want to say our brother has finished his work, though short. We, as a government, will do everything with the Wigwe Foundation to immortalise one thing.
“It is not the bank, the bank might have a new identity, a new boss to run it, other ventures will also have their names; but one thing that has his name is Wigwe University.
“We will do everything within our power to make sure the dream will continue to live just as he has planned it.”
Fubara questioned the mourners as to why they kept chasing worldly desires, stressing the significance of impacting lives rather than struggling for power.
“This one has to do with the political class, what is all these struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury, what is it all about?
“This is a man who was not a politician, he made his money through our investments, he had the world in his palm financially, he controlled even the political classes; but today, with all the power financially couldn’t control life. Is it not enough to ask ourselves why are we struggling? Why are we not making an impact on the lives of our people?” he queried.
Dignitaries present at the funeral service include the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , Sanusi Lamido; Governors Alex Otti (Abia) Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sawwo-Olu (Lagos).
Other dignitaries are former governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Peter Obi (Anambra), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Bukola Saraki (Kwarra), and James Ibori (Delta), among others.
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