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Nigerians are hungry, losing patience with your Govt — Senate tells President Tinubu

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The Senate has urgently called upon the federal government to tackle the pressing issue of hunger caused by food insecurity, which it has identified as an emergency situation.

In response to rising food insecurity, the Senate has urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to implement effective measures to combat the crisis. It emphasized that with increasing hunger and poverty, people’s patience and tolerance are wearing thin.

Furthermore, the Senate cautioned against an impending crisis, warning that the country cannot afford the unrest that could erupt in its streets. It stressed the need for immediate action by the Executive arm of government to address the grievances of the people and avoid taking their support for granted.

Over recent months, the Senate observed a significant increase in the prices of goods and household essentials across Nigeria. This surge has led to heightened inflation rates, diminished purchasing power, and a deterioration in the living conditions of the majority of Nigerians.

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As an urgent response to the food scarcity problem, the Senate disclosed that the Federal Government has dispatched 60 trucks of fertilizer to each of the 36 states, allocating two trucks per Senator and one per member of the House of Representatives.

These Senate resolutions followed a motion titled “Urgent Need to Address Food Insecurity and Market Exploitation of Consumables in Nigeria,” sponsored by Senator Sunday Karimi of Kogi West, APC, and co-sponsored by Senate Whip Senator Ali Ndume of Borno South, APC.

Senator Karimi highlighted the recent steep rise in the prices of goods and household essentials, which has exacerbated inflation and worsened living conditions for many Nigerians.

According to him, ” the latest data by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics shows that food inflation in the country skyrocketed to 40.66 per cent on a year-on-year basis, a significant increase from the 24.82 per cent recorded in May 2023.”

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He said that the Senate is “Aware the current market price of food items such as beans, maize, rice paddy, yam, tomatoes, and onions which initially rose by about 40% after the removal of petroleum Subsidy has now increased to over 100% to 300% without any attributable reason for the increase in prices;

He added that the Senate is “Further aware that although insecurity in food-producing regions, bad roads, increase in the cost of transportation attributable to the removal of fuel subsidy and depreciation of the value of Naira, are possible factors that have contributed to the increase in the price of Food items, Household Commodities, and Consumables; the percentage of increase in the cost of transportation and some under factors listed above is significantly less than the percentage increase in the current prices of goods all over the country;

“Concerned that the greater percentage of the increase in prices of food items and consumables in the Country is not only due to these factors but to the zest of the merchants, traders, and retailers to make supernormal profits whilst they excuse the hike in price on these factors (depreciation of the Naira against the Dollar, increase in price of Petroleum Products due to Fuel price increase and insecurity in farming Regions), thereby heaping all the blame on the Federal Government;

“Notes that there is a general attitude of “Get Rich Quickly” or “Get Rich By All Means” leading many Nigerians to jettison “being their brother’s keeper” and exploiting one another to make abnormal profits: This attitude has been justified on the basis that many members of the Political Class, Technocrats, and Corporate Elites have helped themselves with Public Funds without any repercussions in Law, Nigerian Traders have thus resorted to Price Gouging to maximize profits;

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“Further notes that there are reports that Farming Communities in the Border Regions with other Countries, prefer to sell their food items abroad (to these neighbouring countries), rather than domestically(to the hinterland), thereby increasing local food insecurity; and Concludes that all efforts made by the current Federal Executive to arrest the consistent increase in food inflation have not yielded the desired results, there is a need to be more pragmatic about addressing food insecurity, curbing herder farmer crises, kidnapping for ransom, and Terrorism, and ensure the development of a viable National Commodity Board to regulate the price of grains and ensure the elimination of artificial contributions to food and commodity inflation in Nigeria.”

In his contribution, Ndume who lamented that this was the first time Nigeria was listed as one of the countries battling food insecurity, said, “In their many publications, they say Nigeria is likely to experience the highest session of food insecurity globally.

“Currently, there are four countries including Sudan and some others that are facing very serious insecurity. Nigeria is added to this list this year by the International Rescue Committee as one of the spots for food insecurity action against hunger. World Food Program also indicated that over 32 million people are expected to face a critical hunger crisis and emerging levels between June and August.

“I don’t know about some other colleagues, but there in the North, we have started seeing it visibly. This is the first time we are experiencing this level of hunger. It’s the first time Nigeria is being listed as one of the countries with food insecurity.”

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On his part, the immediate past President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, APC, Yobe North told his colleagues that the people are really hungry in the country, warning that patience and tolerance are both elastic, but they are not eternally elastic, just as he took a swipe at the Federal Government, saying that the government has nothing in the food Reserve across the Country and that the Silos are empty.

Lawan said, “Let me say here that patience, and tolerance, are both elastic but they are not eternally elastic. Our students are facing real, real anger. I travelled the two states last week, in the north particularly, and I’ve seen first-hand how people, especially those who are not in the civil service, nor in any business, are suffering, fighting, and struggling to have food at least once a day.

“Under normal circumstances, Mr. President, in the rainy season, from maybe June up to September or October, when there will be harvests of new foodstuff, prices escalate prices of foodstuff. Now we don’t even have that the truth. Mr. President in today’s national daily, the Executive arm of government is saying it is considering reducing or removing taxes on imported foodstuff.

” Here’s the catch. This Senate must engage the executive immediately. What are the issues? Which taxes are they talking about? Because we should be seen to be doing the right thing. We have little or nothing in our food reserve across the country. And nobody. If they come and tell us, they will distribute foodstuff from our silos, the silos are empty. So it means we have to import food. And if we have to import, it means we need foreign exchange.

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“We wouldn’t like the kind of thing that we see in our streets and it is time that we take every possible action to get out of the event of the arm of government to ensure that food floods our country, the right food. In portation, the government must be entirely responsible because we cannot, we cannot take people for granted for too long. We have come almost to the end of the patience. And I think the elasticity is now going to snap if we are not careful.”

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Immigration raises alarm over high number of irregular migration in Nigeria

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The Edo State Controller of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Martins Moye, has raised the alarm over the increasing number of irregular migrants entering Nigeria.

Moye raised the alarm at the 2024 Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, enlightenment campaign against irregular migration in Benin, Edo State capital.

He underscored the need for public awareness to curb irregular migration.

A facilitator from NIS headquarters in Abuja, David Amanahu, highlighted Edo State’s historical role in irregular migration.

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According to him, due to recent efforts by the Edo State Command, the state has improved in the national ranking on irregular migration.

“The positive news is that Edo State is no longer ranked number one in irregular migration.

“Credit goes to the dedicated team in Edo who worked tirelessly to improve the situation,” Amanahu stated.

Amanahu, while delivering a message from the Controller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, noted that the NIS is now more focused than ever on border management and migration issues.

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Boundary disputes responsible for insecurity in coastal states – Oborevwori

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Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta has said that boundary disputes were also responsible for the rising spate of insecurity, deaths, violence and retarded progress in the country.

The governor stated this while addressing an audience at a one-day workshop for the creation of a platform for Nigeria’s coastal states and local government areas, held at the Government House, Asaba.

The workshop has the theme, “Towards a Secure, Peaceful and Prosperous Borders,” the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

There are many crises in the country over border issues, with Delta State having its fair share.

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The boundary crisis between the Okuama community in the Ughelli South Local Government Area and the Okoloba community in the Bomadi Local Government Area, which had claimed many lives, is being resolved by the government.

Speaking at the workshop, the governor said so many lives had been lost to boundary disputes as he called on the National Boundary Commission and other stakeholders to work assiduously in resolving such disputes in the country.

He described the theme as apt, adding that boundary dispute was an ancient and modern disease of humanity.

He said right from the colonial days, Nigeria had been plagued by boundary disputes, which had disastrous and destabilising consequences for the people.

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“There is scarcely any state in Nigeria that has not been involved in a boundary dispute with its neighbours, which often results in displacement, death, and destruction.

“Reports indicate that between January 2018 and August 2022; 676 people were killed in various communal and boundary clashes in Nigeria.

“The causes of these disputes are traceable to land ownership, community pride, ancient or colonial boundaries, and socio-cultural factors.

“In Delta State, it is safe to say that at least 80 per cent of boundary disputes revolve around land use, either for farming, mining, and other purposes of economic significance.

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“The resultant clashes often leave in their trail a chunk of internally displaced persons with the implication this has for their safety and wellbeing.

“As we all know, the living conditions in IDP camps are unsanitary and inevitably constitute environmental hazards,” he said.

Oborevwori charged the National Boundary Commission to work harder in resolving boundary disputes across the country.

“As the body responsible for resolving boundary disputes in Nigeria, the National Boundary Commission is critical to the peace, security, and prosperity of our communities.

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“It is incumbent on it to embark on enlightenment and sensitisation programmes to educate the people on the importance of respecting boundaries.

“It must also properly investigate cases of boundary disputes. In discharging this vital responsibility, officials of the Commission must demonstrate the highest levels of objectivity, neutrality, and integrity to instil confidence and elicit the goodwill of the people.

“Conversations break down fast once there is a perception of favouritism or nepotism on the part of those who are supposed to be impartial arbiters,” he said.

He added, “It goes without saying that an effective conflict resolution mechanism is critical for maintaining national security.

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“Hence, there is a need for strong political will on the part of the government to implement recommendations that will resolve disputes amicably, and prevent future border disputes.

“With enhanced peace and security at the core of our MORE agenda, we are committed to partnering with the Commission to discharge its functions effectively for a secure, peaceful, and prosperous Nigeria.”

In his welcome remarks, the Deputy Governor, Monday Onyeme, expressed delight that the African Union Border Governance Strategy would look into good border governance and the attainment of sustainable development.

Onyeme, who doubles as the Chairman of the State Boundary Commission, urged the African Union to sustain the tempo to ensure the harmonisation of all grey areas along the boundary communities.

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He observed that the European colonisers arbitrarily, without due regard to the ethnic homogeneity of many African groups, forced Africans to belong to different nations, while diverse heterogeneous communities were hurriedly bundled into a single nation with distinct boundaries.

On their part, the deputy governors of Bayelsa and Rivers states, Lawrence Egwhrudjakpor and Prof Ngozi Odu, respectively, called on relevant authorities to discuss boundary issues often, to enthrone peace in the country.

Earlier, the Director-General of the National Boundaries Commission, Mr Adamu Adaji, said the workshop was primarily designed to engage Nigeria’s coastal states, local government areas and traditional rulers on effective border governance in Nigeria.

The NAN reports that stakeholders, including some traditional rulers from the South-West and South-South states, attended the event.

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Obaseki embarks on post-tenure medical vacation

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The immediate-past governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has proceeded on vacation.

This is for him to rest and undergo a medical check-up, after a successful two-term as governor of the state.

This was disclosed in a statement by his media adviser, Crusoe Osagie, on Wednesday.

The former governor completed his two-term administration on November 11, 2024, and a new governor, Monday Okpebholo, was sworn in on Tuesday, November 12, 2024.

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Osagie said, “Following the completion of his second term, a former Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has proceeded on vacation to rest and undergo a medical check-up.

“Obaseki, once again, expressed his appreciation to God Almighty, the people of Edo State and Nigeria for the opportunity to serve.

“He urged all Edo people both at home and in the diaspora to continue to be hopeful and pray for the peace, progress and prosperity of our state and Nigeria.”

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