Scientists in Nigeria have developed new yam varieties that are helping to increase output for the world’s biggest producer of the crop. They say the new, more robust and sustainable yams will also help to cut farmers’ losses, reducing hunger and poverty. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from Ibadan, Nigeria.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Video - New yam varieties developed by scientists in Nigeria to boost harvest
Policeman killed in attack on electoral office in Nigeria
Gunmen bombed the headquarters of the electoral commission in Nigeria's southeastern Imo state on Monday and killed a policeman during a gunfight, police spokesman Michael Abattam said.
Elections have in the past been marred by violence in Nigeria, which holds a presidential vote in February to elect a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, now in his second and final term.
Imo is one of the states in the southeast where gunmen have attacked electoral officials, killed politicians and security agents this year. The government blames the separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra, which has denied the charge.
Abattam said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in the state capital Owerri was attacked at about 3 a.m. (0200 GMT).
"They threw bombs on the roof of the INEC building but unfortunately for them, they were resisted by our men who were guarding the place," Abattam said.
He said the police repelled the attack after receiving reinforcements.
"Fortunately, we neutralised three of them. Others escaped with bullet wound injuries," he said, adding that a policeman was killed and another injured.
Two other gunmen were arrested and police recovered explosives, phones and five rifles.
INEC said in a statement no critical election materials were damaged. It added that this was the third attack on its facilities in Imo state this month.
By Anamesere Igboeroteonwu, Reuters
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Nigeria removes COVID-19 testing for international travellers
Nigeria on Monday removed COVID-19 testing requirements for international travellers and it was no longer mandatory to wear masks on flights and inside airport buildings, the airlines regulator said.
In a notice to airlines, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said travellers to and from Nigeria did not need to undergo COVID-19 irrespective of their vaccination status.
The authority said travellers above 60 years and those with comorbidities were encouraged to use face masks.
Nigeria has recorded 266,381 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic and 3,155 deaths.
By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters
Friday, December 9, 2022
25,000 trafficked women, girls from Nigeria trapped in Malian mines
Virtually all states in Nigeria face high human trafficking and no fewer than 25,000 Nigerian women and girls are trapped in the mining areas of Mali, where they are sexually exploited
This was revealed by experts at a three-day media training workshop on “Countering Trafficking In Persons, (CTIP),” organised by Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Child Labour (NACTAL) in collaboration with USAID for journalists from Cross River and seven other states of the federation and Abuja.
Held in Benin, Edo State, the workshop ended on Wednesday.
National President of NACTAL, Abdulganiyu Abubakar, in his remarks at the workshop, said as result of the situation, some countries discriminate against Nigeria when they travel out.
He charged the media to embark on campaigns to tackle issues of trafficking.
Similarly, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) confirmed the high level trafficking of humans in the country, revealing that it has, till date, rescued 17, 753 victims in the country.
The Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Benin Zonal Command, Mr. Nduka Nwanwanne, stated that out of the figure, 13,626 are female, while 4,727 are males.
He said: “No fewer than 25,000 Nigerian women and girls are trapped living in shanties in the mining areas in Mali, where they are sexually exploited.”
According to her, prostitution is not human trafficking but the exploitation in prostitution is human trafficking. He described Nigeria as transit and destination on human trafficking, saying it is endemic in Edo and Delta states and all parts of the country.
Human trafficking, according to him, is worth 150 billion dollars in global criminal enterprise and it is the second largest in trans national organised crime after drug trafficking.
One of NACTAL’s resource persons, Nasiru Muazu Isa, said trafficking on humans is huge business and is so sophisticated to the extent that they track their victims with electronic gadgets to know where they are and where they go to.
The Project Manager, NACTAL, Mr. Samuel Olayemi, listed the objectives of the workshop to include: increasing knowledge of media practitioners on CTIP, intensifying media campaigns, strengthening capacity of media practitioners and improving knowledge of participants in developing relevant programmes.
By Anietie Akpan, The Guardian
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4,000 Doctors to Leave Nigeria
The National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD’s, recent alarm of a looming mass migration of no less than 4,000 of its members in the nearest future should call for an emergency meeting of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government with the medical service unions to discuss the stoppage of such a haemorrhage.
But, of course, no such a thing may happen because those we elected had for long abandoned the Nigerian healthcare system for treatment abroad. Successive presidential families since 1999 had turned treatment abroad into a fad, unlike the earlier practice where the State House Clinic was properly equipped to take care of them.
The late Mrs Stella Obasanjo received medicare abroad. The late President Umaru Yar’Adua received treatment in Europe and Saudi Arabia till his demise, and the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan also got medicare outside the country. The most celebrated presidential treatment is that of the incumbent president who once spent over three months in a London infirmary and goes there routinely for follow-ups.
The State House Clinic itself which used to receive more budgetary allocation than all the University Teaching Hospitals in the country, has altogether been abandoned because the people who are supposed to use it no longer have use for it.
Because of this neglect, our doctors have steadily been leaving. When the Buhari administration assumed office in 2015, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, reported that Nigeria had 35,000 doctors out of the 237,000 required to serve a population of about 180 million then. Over seven years later, the number of doctors available in our health system dropped to 24,000 while the population rose to an estimated 211 million.
NARD’s announcement that 4,000 its members are leaving is not surprising. Health workers are in hot demand all over the world, particularly in countries with advanced systems. Two of them, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom in recent years, sent personnel to scout for, or opened their doors to employ our willing doctors. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, despite the migration trend, insists Nigeria has enough doctors.
The consequence of this is that the few doctors who are still available, especially in government hospitals, are over-worked, underpaid and under-motivated. This, certainly, is a trigger for more migrations to places where they will get job satisfaction.
Nigerians have already lost hope that the incumbent regime can do anything about our healthcare system. It has only six months to go. Our attention should shift to the need to elect leaders who have the mindset to revive our health system. Adequately equipping our public hospitals and offering competitive welfare packages for our doctors and other health sector workers can stop and reverse the exoduses. This is in addition to squarely facing challenges in the training of more doctors for our teeming population.
Related story: Over 10,000 doctors left Nigeria for UK in last 7 yrs
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