FG, IFAD present rice, cassava equipment to farmers

http://ift.tt/2kjo2Eb

To boost rice and cassava production, the Federal Government in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has presented equipment worth millions of naira to farmers in Anambra State.

Presenting the items in Awka, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Afam Mbanefo, said the equipment came at the right time and would record much success towards mechanisation of food production and food security in the country.

Some of the equipment distributed under the IFAD-assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) include; seed planter, high performance ATAT thresher, parboiling tank, dryer, and parboiler power tiller.

Others are mechanical peeler/sieving machine/stainless grater and manual uprooter, small thresher, stainless manual fryer, manual press and 32ton jack, among others.

Mbanefo, represented by Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs. Ngozi Onu, said the equipment would minimise labour, as well as, encourage others who were yet to embrace farming.

The State Programme Coordinator of VCDP, Mr Emmanuel Aguncha, explained that each farmer group paid 30 per cent of the actual amount for the equipment, while FG/IFAD and government contributed the remaining 70 per cent.

He appealed to the Federal Government to allow the exercise to be continuous for other farmers who are highly productive, but incapacitated to benefit.

One of the beneficiaries from Rainbow Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Omor, Mr Peter Emeka, commended government and VCDP for the presentation, assuring that the equipment would be put to good use.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2m9IjQN

Important lessons from the story of Prophet Jonah

http://ift.tt/2kLp8c3

Prophet S K Abiara

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, up! Go to Nineveh, that great town, and let your voice come to it; for their evil-doing has come up before me.  And Jonah got up to go in flight to Tarshish, away from the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and saw there a ship going to Tarshish: so he gave them the price of the journey and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.  And the Lord sent out a great wind on to the sea and there was a violent storm in the sea, so that the ship seemed in danger of being broken. Jonah 1:1-4

Jonah served as a prophet to Israel and Assyria from 793-753 B.C. and his contemporary prophets were Joel (853-796?) and Amos (760-750). God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. Nineveh was the most important city in Assyria. Nineveh was a powerful and wicked city. Jonah had grown up hating the Assyrians and fearing their atrocities. In fact, many of Jonah’s countrymen had experienced the violence of these fierce people.

Jonah, who hated the powerful and wicked Assyrians, was called by God to warn the Assyrians that they would receive judgment, if they did not repent. Although Jonah knew that God had a specific job for him, but he didn’t want to do it. His hatred was so strong that he didn’t want them to receive God’s mercy. Jonah was also afraid the people would repent (Jnh 4:2, 3). Jonah’s attitude is representative of Israel’s and some believers’ reluctance to share God’s love and mercy with others, even though this was their God-given mission. They, like Jonah, did not want non-Jews (Gentiles) to obtain God’s favour.

Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh, so he tried to run from God. The last place he wanted to go on a missionary trip was to Nineveh! So, he went in the opposite direction. He boarded a ship in Joppa that was headed for Tarshish. Jonah decided to go as far west as he could. When God gives us directions through His Word, sometimes we run in fear or in stubbornness, thinking that God is asking too much. It may have been fear, or anger at the vastness of God’s mercy, that made Jonah run. But running got him into worse trouble.

We have a great responsibility to obey God’s Word because our sin and disobedience can hurt others around us. While the storm raged, Jonah was sound asleep below deck. Even as he ran from God, Jonah’s actions apparently didn’t bother his conscience. Jonah’s disobedience to God endangered the lives of the ship’s crew. We have a great responsibility to obey God’s Word because our sin and disobedience can hurt others around us. While the storm raged, Jonah was sound asleep below deck. Even as he ran from God, Jonah’s actions apparently didn’t bother his conscience.

In the end, Jonah understood that it is best to do what God asked in the first place. But by then, he had paid a costly price for running. It is far better to obey from the start because Jonah could not run from God. You cannot hide or run from God. You cannot seek God’s love and run from Him at the same time. • Prophet (Dr.) Abiara is General Evangelist, CAC Worldwide
skabiaraofciem@yahoo.co.uk

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2n0TB7P

The way we are

http://ift.tt/2m6ZEbF

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2m9HSWZ

How ‘A Taste of Theatre’ can help Nigerian theatre practice…Read full details

http://ift.tt/2mEXnaI

Participants at A Taste Of Theatre at the weeklong British Council Lagos Theatre Festival 2017 that ends today at Freedom Park… in Lagos

An American and founder of A Taste of Theatre, Mr. Victor Gulley, had an interesting workshop session at the Lagos Theatre Festival 2017, organised by British Council Lagos. It was his first visit to Nigeria and he met with theatre producers at Freedom Park last Wednesday. The highly interactive session gave producers opportunity to share some of the challenges of theatre production in the country. Also, Gulley, who moderated the session, shared what obtains in America, especially at his Chicago, Illinois’ company, where he runs A Taste of Theatre, founded in 2012.

Among producers that attended the session were, Ifeoma Fafunwa, Wole Oguntokun, Joke Silva, Ojoma Ochai, Kenneth Uphopho, among others

Gulley explained that the A Taste of Theatre is a website App used for accessing theatre shows and more. “Using the App, you can find actors and venue to have your play, remind the cast of rehearsals, schedule auditions and market your play to the general public,” he added.

Aside these features, he said actors could also upload their headshot and bio, maintain their schedule and have a list of plays they have performed in it.

Gulley was impressed by the fact that Nollywood is number two in the world in movie production, and thought there could be more from where the movies were coming from.

According to him, “I wanted to make sure that we were capturing all the plays that were coming out of Nigeria because I just feel like there are so many great stories that need to be told. I wanted to come talk to the producers, get their stories recorded and share them with the rest of the world.”

The theatre producers identified lack of funds, generating income, cost of producing and running a show, and lack of good and big performance venues as some of the challenges facing Nigerian theatre. With these problems, the producers said they have resorted to collaboration to make things work. And in some cases, they said, goodwill has worked in their favour, especially when they get big sponsorships. Some said the way out was to produce low-cost productions to survive.

Thankfully, despite these challenges, the producers said they were happy about recent developments, where theatre performances were not necessarily done in theatres but anywhere, such as churches, restaurants, hotels and so on. These venues they said, cost almost nothing.

Contrary to Gulley’s App that does almost everything for the producers, the Nigerian producers have to work 10 times as much to stage a play, they explained, adding that they spend a lot of time on auditions and workshops to fish out the actors before the main rehearsals.

British Council Lagos Theatre Festival Director, Mr. Kenneth Uphopho noted, “Due to high cost of rehearsal venue, we have resorted to using homes and schools.”

On how the producers market the play to the public, they said they rely on social media, billboards and sometimes print, but rarely television because of lack of funds. “We sell tickets on line and at selected venues,” Uphopho added.

Gulley further said more content was being generated from Africa to America, which he said was inspiring people.

“I think the best way to help the Nigerian theatre is to let the whole world know that it exists, and for them to experience it,” he stressed.

Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2n0Y4Y1

How ‘A Taste of Theatre’ can help Nigerian theatre practice

http://ift.tt/2mEXnaI

Participants at A Taste Of Theatre at the weeklong British Council Lagos Theatre Festival 2017 that ends today at Freedom Park… in Lagos

An American and founder of A Taste of Theatre, Mr. Victor Gulley, had an interesting workshop session at the Lagos Theatre Festival 2017, organised by British Council Lagos. It was his first visit to Nigeria and he met with theatre producers at Freedom Park last Wednesday. The highly interactive session gave producers opportunity to share some of the challenges of theatre production in the country. Also, Gulley, who moderated the session, shared what obtains in America, especially at his Chicago, Illinois’ company, where he runs A Taste of Theatre, founded in 2012.

Among producers that attended the session were, Ifeoma Fafunwa, Wole Oguntokun, Joke Silva, Ojoma Ochai, Kenneth Uphopho, among others

Gulley explained that the A Taste of Theatre is a website App used for accessing theatre shows and more. “Using the App, you can find actors and venue to have your play, remind the cast of rehearsals, schedule auditions and market your play to the general public,” he added.

Aside these features, he said actors could also upload their headshot and bio, maintain their schedule and have a list of plays they have performed in it.

Gulley was impressed by the fact that Nollywood is number two in the world in movie production, and thought there could be more from where the movies were coming from.

According to him, “I wanted to make sure that we were capturing all the plays that were coming out of Nigeria because I just feel like there are so many great stories that need to be told. I wanted to come talk to the producers, get their stories recorded and share them with the rest of the world.”

The theatre producers identified lack of funds, generating income, cost of producing and running a show, and lack of good and big performance venues as some of the challenges facing Nigerian theatre. With these problems, the producers said they have resorted to collaboration to make things work. And in some cases, they said, goodwill has worked in their favour, especially when they get big sponsorships. Some said the way out was to produce low-cost productions to survive.

Thankfully, despite these challenges, the producers said they were happy about recent developments, where theatre performances were not necessarily done in theatres but anywhere, such as churches, restaurants, hotels and so on. These venues they said, cost almost nothing.

Contrary to Gulley’s App that does almost everything for the producers, the Nigerian producers have to work 10 times as much to stage a play, they explained, adding that they spend a lot of time on auditions and workshops to fish out the actors before the main rehearsals.

British Council Lagos Theatre Festival Director, Mr. Kenneth Uphopho noted, “Due to high cost of rehearsal venue, we have resorted to using homes and schools.”

On how the producers market the play to the public, they said they rely on social media, billboards and sometimes print, but rarely television because of lack of funds. “We sell tickets on line and at selected venues,” Uphopho added.

Gulley further said more content was being generated from Africa to America, which he said was inspiring people.

“I think the best way to help the Nigerian theatre is to let the whole world know that it exists, and for them to experience it,” he stressed.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2n14iHl

Researchers develop pod-borer resistant cowpea

http://ift.tt/2n0QWe8

beans

Cowpea farmers, who have been enduring inevitable yield losses, due to the effect of pest-Maruca Vitrata, which perennially damages farms, may soon have cause to smile, as researchers are developing a Pod-borer resistant cowpea project to help eight million African farmers.

Considered as the most important food grain legume in the dry savannas of tropical Africa, where it is grown on more than 12.5 million hectares, Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp), popularly called Beans in Nigeria, is rich in quality protein and its energy content almost equal to that of cereal grains. The legume is a good source of quality fodder for livestock and provides cash income. Nearly 200 million people in Africa consume the crop.

However, many biotic and abiotic factors greatly reduce its productivity in the traditional African farming systems. Among these constraints is the pod borer, which damages cowpea pods in the fields.

The Maruca vitrata is a major Lepidopteran pest that inflicts severe damage to the cowpea plant. In severe infestations, yield losses of between 70 to 80 per cent have been reported. Control through spraying with insecticide has not been widely adopted by farmers due its prohibitive costs. On the other hand, farmers who have adopted control through spraying have been exposed to serious health hazards.

With the development, farmers will have access to improved cowpea varieties that will lead to increase in yield. These varieties are expected to reduce grain yield losses caused by the Pod borer, as well as, reduce the need for insecticidal sprays. The expected yield improvement will impact household, national and global food security and the country’s economic status.

The goal of the Pod-borer Resistant Cowpea Project is to develop and disseminate farmer-preferred and locally adapted Maruca-resistant cowpea varieties in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Pod-borer Resistant Cowpea Project is a public private partnership coordinated by African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), with the funding support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote technological interventions that will optimise cowpea productivity and utilisation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The partnership entails developing and testing cowpea varieties with a genetic trait that would make the plant resistant to the borer and provide farmers with an alternative to costly and hazardous insecticide spraying.

The project entails transferring the Bt gene, which confers resistance to the pod, into improved cowpea varieties.

The Executive Director, AATF, Dr. Dennis Kyetere, who disclosed this recently, during the annual review and work planning meeting at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, said the deployment of a cowpea product that is capable of protecting itself from attack by Maruca will make it easier and cheaper for farmers to produce cowpeas in areas where this pest is a problem.

“I am particularly excited about the prospects that the project holds given the excellent results from the trial fields across the four countries involved in this research, countries like Nigeria will stop importing cowpeas in the coming years, as it is expected to be cowpea sufficient with the advent of this variety with the development of Maruca Resistant Cowpeas.”

The project is being implemented in four countries in Sub-Saharan Africa-Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Malawi. So far, several Confined Field Trials, (CFT) have been conducted annually in Nigeria, since 2009; Burkina Faso since 2011; and Ghana since 2013. Efficacy and agronomic potential of the genes have been successfully evaluated.

The Pod borer resistant trait has been introgressed into some farmer preferred cowpea varieties through conventional breeding and the efficacy of the trait has been evaluated in multi-location CFTs in Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Ghana. In line with regulatory requirements, farmers in Nigeria across three locations were involved in the evaluation of the cowpea seeds. In addition, various environmental and food/feed safety assessments have been conducted and the product is speedily advancing towards de-regulation and commercial release to millions of resource-poor farmers in Africa.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2n0LtnL

Lagos na wa… Just like awkward rhythm of the city

http://ift.tt/2lFT224

A scene from the drama

Growing up in the extremely rural village of Ayetoro, Hakeem encounters many challenges of life. Life is not kind to him at all. The arrival of his childhood friend from Lagos, looking all clean cut and trim, successful leads to Hakeem ‘s resolve to also go to Lagos to seek his fortune, and ‘make it big’ in life. However, even more intriguing challenges awaits him in the city with its own culture and rhythm.

Hakeem’s exploits in Lagos is the core story of Lagos Na Wa, a workshop production originally created for the Guinness World Record attempt. It was one of the first performances to feature at the 2017 Lagos Theatre Festival, staged on March 1, 2017 at the MUSON Centre. It was designed to reflect the everyday hustle, bustle and struggle for survival in the city of Lagos. The system is rife with mischief, intrigues, treachery, and a mix of other oddities – all in a bid to survive at all cost.

In the village, Hakeem leads a careless and irresponsible life: he has impregnated five girls, owes debts even on petty needs such as recharge cards and noodles! His victims and creditors try to stop him from escaping thus leaving them to their fates, but he cunningly manipulates his way out.On reaching Lagos, he meets a higher level of treachery where his naivety is exploited and he is robbed of all his belongings, down to his pants! Obviously this was not the Lagos of Hakeem’s dreams. It is these experiences that lead to the birth of the ‘new Hakeem’, a survivalist, an exploiter of innocence, a syndicated swindler and scandalous fellow and thief. Here, too, his game catches up with him and he runs for dear life.

Performed by a largely amateurish cast, many of which had little or no professional theatre background, the play is a realistic portrayal of lighted Lagos life. Lagos Na Wa, by the way, is an expression of surprise, exasperation, resignation and submission, all of which reflect the overwhelming nature of stress in Lagos. The play argues that the difficulty in getting the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing is a combination of failure of governmental policies and lack of individual self-discipline. It specifically mentions that the Buhari administration’s policies launched Nigeria into recession; and highlights systemic failures in key sectors like power, environment, etc. In another tone, it highlights the erosion of human values and dignity of labour as they become sacrificed on the altar of selfishness.

The production style is largely eclectic, employing popular hit songs to deepen the message of the play. This helps the audience connect with the story since these songs are quite familiar to the general public. The players, too, created some songs and chants, using metaphors that reflect contents of the popular songs. Generally, the directing and artistic vision of the production is good and to a large extent delivers the message of the play.

However, there are areas of the performance that could have benefitted from quality directorial touch, thus contributing to making it a success. First is the language. The language of a play must convey message and at the same time set the mood and tone. The choice of words and delivery of same should enhance the performance, especially help in understanding of the message. The language of “Lagos Na Wa” is not standard English, but ‘Nigerian English’, laced profusely with pidgin and vernacular (Yoruba). This means that the play is for a specific audience, the Yoruba audience particularly since non-speakers of Yoruba would not understand the ‘vernacular’ bits. Simple standard English would have effectively serve the purpose of communicating the message clearly.

Again, for most of the actors, perhaps as amateurs, delivery was not as powerful as should be for a performance created to set a world record. Modulation, articulation and enunciation are key to effective delivery. Here, the problem seems largely to be the casual approach given this aspect by the actors; all players must hold onto their concentration ability and stay focused till the end of the play.

Costuming in the play, too, could have been better. The players came out in everyday regular cloths in a bid to showcase the ordinary status of the characters. However, for professional theatre, costumes must be deliberately designed for a particular performance to enhance the story and message. It could be a simple uniform apparel for every player, but it must by all means be deliberately designed. For “Lagos Na Wa” specifically, grey colour top over simple jeans trousers, or the same thing but using traditional Nigerian fabric could suffice. The choice of grey colour is such as portraying the rustic and rugged life, or if you like, decayed life of the Lagos survivalist.

The adoption of music as an integral part of the style of the production is commendable. However, where music is not successful, it subtracts from the overall performance. The songs adopted were not completely successful in execution. The singers had good voices individually but the ensemble suffered tonal blend, wrong keys and lack of proper ‘attack.’ A powerful song rendition holds the audience’s’ attention and deepens the message; anything other than this becomes a distraction and an unnecessary addition. The instrumentation as well was casual. There should be more thorough rehearsal in this regard to achieve a terrific gestalt.

In conclusion, the play Lagos Na Wa can be said to be a successful performance on the strength of its story and message. Individual brilliance of actors should be spotlighted, and technical details in some aspects of the production must be given adequate attention for the production to attain its maximum potential.

Ukuma is a participant in the ongoing Young Critics workshop organised by the International Association of Theatre Critics and British Council Nigeria in partnership with The Guardian as part of 2017 Lagos Theatre Festival

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mnVjn1

We ‘ll make FA Cup final memorable for fans — Mabutho

http://ift.tt/2lG66Et

Mabutho

• Lists Benefits Of DStv Involvement In NPFL

Nigerian soccer fans have been assured of a memorable English FA Cup final come May 27. The 136th edition of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world, is two months away, but the General Manager, Marketing and Sales of Multichoice, Martin Mabutho told The Guardian yesterday in Lagos that concrete steps have been taken to make the final a must-watch for Nigerian fans.

Premier League side, Manchester United, who are the defending champions, will face table toppers, Chelsea in the quarterfinal pairing on March 11, while Lincoln City face Arsenal. Tottenham will host Millwall, just as Middlesbrough take on Manchester City.

Mabutho revealed that his organization had already embarked on what he described as ‘strategic sensitising’ of football loving Nigerians towards the final, adding that DStv had also taken some steps to reward the fans.

“Lately, we extended some of our channels, particularly the DStv sports channels to the lower bouquets to pave the way for more soccer fans to follow the Emirates FA Cup. We have more plans ahead of the final on May 27,” he said.

Mabutho, a die-hard Manchester United fan, said he was looking forward to seeing the Jose Mourinho-led side play against Tottenham in the final of this year’s FA Cup.

“A Man United versus Tottenham final will be a great match,” Mabutho said. “We have seen a United versus Arsenal final many times, and we want to see something different. Tottenham is playing good football, and a final match with Man United will be a delight to watch. But if Man United fail to make it to the final, I want to see a Chelsea versus Spurs in the final.”

Mabutho, a football analyst also stated that the involvement of DStv in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) had brought out the best in the league, adding that the organization had bigger plans to transform the NPFL and leagues in other African countries.

He further assured the fans that DStv would continue with its broadcast of the English Premier League matches in the coming season as against speculations in some quarters that the body will end its broadcast right with the EPL this season.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mWM6hR

Reminisce at the street concert introduces Galaxy Grand Prime…Read full details

http://ift.tt/2mlpryS

Hip-hop artiste and Samsung brand ambassador, Remilekun Abdulkalid Safaru, popularly known as Reminisce, last Saturday, held the maiden edition of his brainchild, ‘The Street Concert.’

The concert, which held at the Ikeja City Mall was appreciation to the ‘Alaga Ibile’s’ teeming fans, who have stood by him since he caught the attention of Nigerian music lovers in 2008, when he featured on 9ice’s ‘Bachelor’s Life’. The concert featured friends and close collaborators of Reminisce, which include Olamide, Ckay, Mz Kiss, BaseOne, Wale Turner, Falz, ReakadoBanks, Mayorkun, Ycee, HarrySong, Dremo, Niniola, Orezi and a host of others.

Reminisce at the concert, along with the Director and Business Leader, Information Mobile and Technology, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Emmanouil Revmatas, and some executives of the company unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime+, Limited Edition Pack. The device features a sturdy case design with a non-slip rear grip pattern, giving the smartphone a firm grip at all times. It also comes in a selection of stylish colours to suit customers various tastes.

Speaking at the event and on the new product offering, the Superu singer said the new device comes with really cool and exciting features that perfectly combine practicality and style. “It takes super bright selfies even in the dark, thanks to the 5MP front camera and the front LED flash. With the smart switch feature, people can easily transfer from existing devices to the Galaxy Grand Prime+. The smartphone is definitely packed with awesome features making it a must have for the Grand Life,” Reminisce said.

The new Samsung device runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the OS refined to make it more user friendly, allowing users set app permissions, adjust settings, and more with ease. It also uses the latest version of TouchWiz, Samsung’s touchscreen interface.

Featuring a 5-inch 540 x 960 quad high definition resolution display, the 8 mega-pixel on the back captures clear and sharp shots, in addition to the 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

Videos are captured at 720p and played back smoothly, with focus adjusting as the scene changes. Users can easily trigger the front-facing camera with their palm or voice command. With the Multiple modes feature, consumers can also set up a wide selfie for a larger group, or create an animated GIF.

According to Revmatas, Samsung stands for quality, innovation, change, self-expression and excellence in performance. “These same qualities are epitomised by Reminisce, whose depth of work as an artiste has made him much loved and respected among his fans and peers. It is no surprise that Samsung decided to introduce the Grand Prime+ at his concert. We are indeed very pleased to have him as the face of the smartphone,” he said. 

With an upgraded RAM support and enhanced chipset performance and 4G/LTE, users can enjoy seamless webpage load times for a more responsive multimedia and gaming experience. Its optimal 5.0 display is just the right size to view what is on screen for maximum enjoyment.

Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2m4whXy

Inspired by Glory, Bubez Centre partner to empower women at my 2017 goals summit

http://ift.tt/2lWS7eK

Glory Edozien (second right) and Ijeoma Ndukwe-Egwuronu (centre front-row) with participants at the workshop

The notion that women do not support or empower women is now a thing of the past. On February 4, 2017, Inspired by Glory- a personal development and lifestyle platform for career women and female entrepreneurs and Bubez Centre for Women Empowerment, a platform committed to reducing poverty levels among Nigerian women through enhancing productivity and collaboration, partnered to provide a premier goals setting seminar which aimed to help participants create actionable goals and roadmaps for building fulfilled lives.

The seminar had in attendance female entrepreneurs and professional career women who learnt techniques on how to position their businesses and professional lives. During the workshop participants also learnt how to set Specific, Measurable, Attainable and Time based i.e. SMART Goals and where equipped with the know-how on how to remain focused, audacious and inspired towards success throughout the year.

The Goals Summit is a yearly event put together by Inspired by Glory Founder, Glory Edozien, who says, “more women need to be empowered with the tools to succeed. Setting yearly goals and giving women the tools to create actionable steps is the starting point of our empowerment efforts. This is why it was important for us to collaborate with the Bubez Centre for Women Empowerment which has since had a long standing reputation of empowering women.”

The Bubez Centre for Women Empowerment was founded by MD and CEO of Bubez Foods, Ijeoma Ndukwe-Egwuronu. A dynamic and highly-sought- after business strategist who, after just a few years of starting her business in her kitchen, now records a 343 per cent increase in sales of their flagship product Bubez Pap, since the factory opening in June 2015.

Attendees of the workshop also expressed that the aims and objectives of the workshop had been met. One participant noted that the workshop was filled with relevant content and another remarked that she was glad she made the required investment to attend the workshop, as it was a great decision.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lWOohD

Rivers House minority leader alleges arrest plot

http://ift.tt/2kM3TaZ

Rivers House. PHOTO: Wikipedia

The embattled Minority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Benibo Anabraba, has alleged plot by security officials to arrest him.

He claimed that the operatives invaded his office within the Assembly Complex in Port Harcourt yesterday with the intention to whisk him away.

The lawmaker wondered why a team of plain-clothes armed security men would suddenly lay siege to his office without any form of notice.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) legislator and representative of Akuku-Toru Constituency II condemned what he described as a “sting operation by unknown security operatives to unlawfully arrest me over trumped-up charges.”

Anabraba emerged a principal officer in a spectacular way a couple of weeks ago when the majority Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the legislature nominated and elected him against his party’s anointed candidate.

He was subsequently expelled by the APC. A decision he had challenged in court. His words: “I was called by my aides and colleagues that some unknown faces have clustered my office. And, on further investigation, it was discovered that they were security agents and said they were looking for me.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lN4YU6

FIIRO scientists develop technology to beat metal contamination of food products

http://ift.tt/2kM04T7

Director General of the Federal Institute for Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) Lagos, Dr. Gloria Elemo (left) making a presentation of the workings of the novel pepper grinding machine to the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (right) at the institute during the launching of the grinder by the minister last week

Worried by the rise in heavy metal contamination of food products and its attendant health consequences, Nigerian scientists at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) Lagos have designed and fabricated stainless steel pepper grinding machine to address the issue.

The FIIRO multipurpose commercial pepper grinding machine is an all in one food milling machine fitted with accessories capable of both dry and wet milling food processing operations and it comprises of: a cylindrical barrel, a conical hopper, a set of knives/blades, a stepped shaft, a mechanical seal, a seal retainer, a barrel cover, a discharge chute, a bearing frame, a set of pulleys, a set of bearings, a main frame, a prime-mover (electric motor or an internal combustion engine), a hopper cover, an interlocking safety device, a hammer (dry milling accessory), a barrel cover with toothed cutting edge (dry milling accessory), a mesh holder.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury cause neurological and kidney damage.

Also, local studies have shown that foods contamination is on the increase in Nigeria. Common ready to eat and foods prone to metal contamination include fried yam, fried bean cake (akara), roasted plantain (bole), roasted meat (suya), roasted fish, cassava flour (fufu), yam flour (amala), garri (eba), beans and herbal drink (agbo jedi jedi) and of course milled products like pepper, tomato, onion and so on.

Comprehensive assessment of heavy metal contamination in ground tomato, pepper and onions mix milled with locally fabricated pepper grinding machines in Lagos metropolis, in 2013, by FIIRO scientists, showed the presence of both heavy (lead, copper, chromium, nickel, cadmium, manganese and non heavy metals (calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron.

The results of the analyses did not show presence of heavy metals at toxic level as insinuated but the quantity of iron found in the samples was higher than required threshold. Iron toxicity has been associated with depression, rapid and shallow respiration, coma, convulsion, respiratory failure, cardiac arrest and cancer. The toxicity of iron on cells could lead to iron mediated tissue damage involving cellular oxidizing and reducing mechanisms and their toxicity towards intracellular organelles such as mitochondria and lysosomes.

A reduction in the maximum permissible limits of metals especially heavy metals in food, therefore, becomes imperative.

FIIRO with core mandate to conduct research in food and agro-allied processing technologies; pulp and paper technologies; product design and packaging and equipment prototype design and fabrication rose to the challenge and deployed its cross cutting mandate to address the issue.

Director General of FIIRO, Dr. Gloria Elemo, told The Guardian that the newly designed and fabricated pepper grinding machine has been fully characterized and tested to examine whether the machine is able to meet the objective of the project which was mainly to eliminate metal contamination and improve the aesthetic of the machine.

To test the presence of metals in the milled products from the new machine, pepper mix comprising of pepper, tomatoes, and onions were selected and purchased from 50 different markets in and around Lagos. The pepper mix were washed thoroughly with clean water, drained and shared into three different portions of about 500g. Each portion of the pepper mix was milled with three different types of milling machines, namely: FIIRO multipurpose commercial pepper grinding machine; stainless steel blender/grinder and local disc mill fabricated pepper grinding machine. Each sample was grinded without adding water to the ground product. Samples of the ground product were collected from each of the machines and were taken to FIIRO Analytical Services Division Laboratory for determination of the following metals: calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, lead, copper, chromium, nickel, cadmium and manganese. The results indicated that milling with FIIRO multipurpose pepper grinding machine is the best in terms of efficiency and quality of the milled products since heavy metals were not detected.

The Institute is currently at the stage of commercializing the newly designed and fabricated commercial stainless steel pepper grinding machine by transferring the technology to indigenous fabricators who can mass-produce based on the Institute’s specifications.

Elemo said the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, the Institute’s supervising Ministry shall be willing to collaborate with other relevant ministries such as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Federal Ministry of Health; Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; the National Assembly; Local and State Governments; Development Institutions both government and non government among others to make this product a national success and truly Nigerian product that will be found in nooks and crannies of this country.

The FIIRO DG said: “We cannot over emphasis the potential benefits of the newly designed and fabricated stainless steel pepper grinder to the national economic development in term of poverty alleviation, job creation, wealth creation and attendant multiplier effect. It would also improve the health and wellbeing of the populace arising from reduction in food contamination as well as conserve foreign exchange through importation of inferior pepper grinder especially from China.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lSJGjW

Appeal Court refuses to sack Ugwuanyi

http://ift.tt/2lSUA9y

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,

Supreme Court to deliver judgment on Abia election May 12
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, yesterday declined to sack Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State over allegation of illegal nomination by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the April 11, 2015, governorship election.

In a judgment delivered by a three-man panel of justices led by Justice Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson, the court struck out the appeal marked CA/A/157/2015, lodged by Senator Ayogu Eze.

Eze had prayed the appellate court to remove Ugwuanyi on the ground that he was not validly nominated by PDP for the gubernatorial election.

He further told the court that Ugwuanyi emerged from a kangaroo primary election, which according to him, was conducted on December 8 by some leaders of the party.

The appellant, through his lead counsel, Mr. Adebayo Adelodun, (SAN), insisted that Ugwuanyi was merely handpicked by some persons at the National Headquarters of the Party in Abuja, and that the purported primary election was organised with fake list of delegates.

He also argued that the primary election, which produced Ugwuanyi was in breach of section 87(4)(b)(I) of the Electoral Act.

But governor Ugwuanyi through his lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), prayed the appellate court to dismiss the pre-election case which he said, was lacking in merit.

In its judgment, the appellate court held that under section 87 of the Electoral Act, Eze, lacked the locus-standi to challenge Ugwuanyi’s nomination, having admitted that he did not participate in the primary that was conducted by the King Asara Asara-led electoral panel of the PDP.

It also held that the trial high court ought to have dismissed the case for want of jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has reserved judgment on Abia State governorship election matter till May 12.

Dr. Samson Ogah had filed an appeal, challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which set aside the ruling of the Federal High Court and affirmed the election of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.

Ogah is contending that governor Ikpeazu gave false information about his tax clearance certificate with which he contested the primary election, and as the second person in the primary election conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said he is the rightful candidate to have won the 2015 election.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lN4XQ2

Edo State poly ranks second in Nigeria

http://ift.tt/2kM36Xs

Education

In a rare feat, Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, was ranked the second best in Nigeria after Auchi Polytechnic which has remained the first polytechnic in the country since 2011.

With the current ranking of tertiary institutions in the world by webometrics, Edo state Polytechnic emerged 54th best tertiary institution in Nigeria leading several private and public tertiary institutions in the country.

The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, also known as Ranking Web of Universities, is a ranking system for the world’s universities based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of web pages and files as well as the visibility and impact of these web publications according to the number of external site citations they received.

The ranking is published by the Cyber metrics Lab, a research group of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) located in Madrid. The ranking started in 2004 and is updated every January and July.

From the current webometrics ranking, University of Ibadan (UI) emerged number one in the country followed by Covenant University, Otta in Ogun state, University of Benin is 13th, Auchi Polytechnic 38th, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, 44th, Igbinedion University Okada 74th and Benson Idahosa University ranked 81st while Lagos State Polytechnic completed the log as the 100th ranked tertiary institution in the country.

Acting Rector of the institution, Patience Edoimioya attributed the rise in ranking of the school to support for research from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and the creation of an enabling environment for learning by the state government.

She said with the right support, the school could come first in the next ranking.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lSzs31

NDDC begins verification of past contracts (Read full details)

http://ift.tt/2l6jeEi

Ndoma-Egba<br />

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has announced the verification of over 10, 000 contracts awarded since its inception.The Chairman of the board, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who disclosed this yesterday in Calabar, said the contracts were awarded without following the due process.

He said the verification became necessary so that the Niger Delta area could be properly developed.He added that the new board has raised a management committee to determine the viability of the contracts in order to fast-track development in the area.

Ndoma-Egba said: “Until the committee submits its report, we won’t be able to know which contract is viable or not, but we suspect that a number of projects were awarded without passing through the due process. We urge the people to wait for the conclusion of the verification.”

He explained that he received information that the commission’s contracts were traded on the streets the same way that shares and stocks are traded in the stock market.

This, he said, was because many people see the NDDC as a place of buying and selling.He stressed that some people have also been reported to have as many as 17 contracts awarded by the commission under different company names.

The former senate leader stressed that a particular contract for the protection of shoreline was awarded to someone in a community that had no shore to protect.

According to him, “We need to strengthen our systems and processes to avoid allowing multiple contracts. We have engaged experts to assist in overhauling our systems, processes and even our personnel and projects.

“My board is on ground to complete the tenure of Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw. We are going to function for a little above two years, which is long enough to make us move in the right direction.”

Ndoma-Egba explained that developing the Niger Delta region is the solution to the protracted crises, adding that the new master plan would indicate the way forward.

Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2lhEfht