Meet our #Pacesetter, Damilola Awe, A quantity surveyor turned Farmer as we discuss on tackling Food Crisis in our world today!
Damilola is a Dynamic, Young & a Female Farmer, Breaking the Bias In a Predominately Male Vocation Especially In this Part of the World, Providing Quality Farm Produces and Live Stocks…
Watch & Be Inspired!
Girl child advocate, and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafza, has expressed her admiration for the popular Nigerian delicacy Puff-Puff.
Malala revealed this while speaking in an interview, while also saying she loves the Nigerian culture.
In her words, she said, “I travelled so much around the world that every place seems like home. For me, I feel like I am a global citizen.
She continued by encouraging people to celebrate each other’s culture and traditions, Malala said, “We should celebrate each other’s cultures and traditions and enjoy the food. I mean, I love jollof rice, plantain, and the food here” while referring to the delicacies she was given while on her visit to Nigeria.
Read More: Switzerland: Artist Uses Mountain Slopes As His Canvas
Malala also spoke about how sweet “Puff-Puff” is she said “I also tried puff puff, it was amazing. Just before my speech at the UN, I was so hungry and I had like five minutes. And then I ate one puff puff and that was amazing. It was the best thing I took before the speech,” she said.
Recall the Pakistani girl who was shot in the head while in her struggles for girl child education, which earned her the peace prize award in 2014.
On mountain slopes in the Swiss village of Villars-sur-Ollon, an artist has used chalk and charcoal to paint two giant frescos of children sketching how they see the vast world around them.
The frescos, which are painted directly on the grass and can last days depending on weather conditions, show a young boy and girl tracing squiggly lines on sketch pads to depict mountains, trees, stars and the moon.
Read More: Hollywood’s Striking Actors, Writers to Walk Picket Lines Friday
Swiss-French artist SAYPE said his frescos — which at around 3,000 square meters (3,590 square yards) can be seen from the mountaintop and nearby pastures — symbolize the need to reject uniformity and embrace different perspectives. “The children are on different altitudes, so they are drawing different things,” SAYPE said. “Even if they are at different altitudes, the two worlds they are drawing complement each other. “SAYPE is mostly known for his “Beyond Walls” series in which he has spray painted giant hands clasping each other on the ground in different cities around the world, including Berlin, Paris, Istanbul and Cape Town.
Striking Hollywood actors are expected to join film and television writers on picket lines on Friday, the first day of a dual work stoppage that has forced U.S. productions to shutter as workers battle over pay in the streaming TV era.
The twin strikes will add to the economic damage from the writers walkout that started May 2, delivering another blow to the multi-billion-dollar industry struggling with changes to its business. Hollywood has not faced two simultaneous strikes since 1960.
Both SAG-AFTRA – Hollywood’s largest union, representing 160,000 film and television actors – and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are demanding increases in base pay and residuals from streaming television, plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).
Read More: SAG Strike: Hollywood Actors Walk Out Over Pay, AI Worries
The actors’ union said on Thursday that its board had unanimously agreed to a strike after failing to reach a deal with studios including Walt Disney Co and Netflix Inc. Officials said actors would join picket lines in New York and Los Angeles starting on Friday.
The WGA’s work stoppage has rippled throughout California and beyond, hitting caterers, prop suppliers and others who rely on Hollywood productions for business. The economic damage is expected to spread after actors join the picket lines.
Fran Drescher, former star of “The Nanny” TV show and the president of SAG-AFTRA, called the studios’ responses to actors’ concerns “insulting and disrespectful.”
“We are the victims here,” Drescher said at a press conference on Thursday. “We are being victimized by a very greedy entity.”
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group that negotiates on behalf of studios, said it had offered significant gains to union members. They included the highest percentage increase in minimum pay levels in 35 years and “groundbreaking” protections around the use of actors’ images by generative AI, the organization said.
“Rather than continuing to negotiate, SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods,” the AMPTP said.
The strike by roughly 11,500 writers has sent late-night television talk shows into endless reruns, disrupted most production for the fall TV season and halted work on big-budget movies.
The actors’ walkout will shut down the studios’ remaining U.S.-based productions of film and scripted television and hamper many overseas shoots.
Many streaming services have yet to turn a profit after companies spent billions of dollars on programming to try and attract customers.
Major films in production including Avatar and Gladiator sequels are looking likely to be affected by Hollywood actors taking strike action.
Promotional events such as red-carpet premieres will also be affected.
Events including the Emmys and Comic-Con may be rescheduled or scaled back.
In the industry’s biggest shutdown for over 60 years, some 160,000 performers stopped work at midnight in LA.
The announcement followed similar strike action from the Writers Guild of America (WGA), and brought most US film and TV productions to a halt.
As a result, stars Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt left the premiere of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in London on Thursday night as the strike was declared.
The film’s director, Christopher Nolan, told the cinema audience that they were “off to write their picket signs”, adding that he supported them in their struggle.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) wants streaming giants to agree to a fairer split of profits and better working conditions.
It also wants to protect actors from being usurped by digital replicas.
The union is seeking guarantees that artificial intelligence (AI) and computer-generated faces and voices will not be used to replace actors.
While the strike lasts, actors cannot appear in films or even promote movies that they have already made.
For films in production, the strike means a large portion of work will become impossible. Even in cases in which filming has already been completed, actors will be unavailable for re-shoots and other essential elements of the filmmaking process.
TV shows that are still being filmed will also largely have to stop, although in some cases side deals could be struck between performers and producers to allow work to continue.
Several actors took to Instagram to voice their support for the strike, including Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk, Cynthia Nixon and Hollywood veteran Jamie Lee Curtis.
Picketing will begin on Friday morning outside the California headquarters of Netflix, before moving on to Paramount, Warner Bros and Disney.
To address concerns about the use of AI, the big studios have offered what they call a “ground-breaking proposal” that would protect the digital likeness of actors and require their consent when digital replicas are used in performances, or alterations are made.
Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District, Ifeanyi Ubah, has explained the motive behind his initiative to support the state government in the fight against sit-at-home and insecurity in the South-East region. Ubah, in an interview on National TV said his initiative was intended to augment the existing mechanisms of the Ananmbra state government to curb the insecurity crisis in the state and the South-East region at large.
The senator said, “For me, in Anambra State, my coming on board is to add to what the governor or the government of Anambra is doing. We’re working in partnership with the governor; he’s the chief security officer. “I felt that there are some missing links; he has the state apparatus and security network in the state. I wanted to complement it by giving a little support to already existing vigilante groups in my constituency.
“We’re working with a vigilante group from just one local government, so that we can test the pilot scheme, which the governor kindly approved, and he came to uphold the launch of it. “We’re using it as a template that if it works well, we can now move to other local governments with the permission of the governor,” he said.
Ubah further stated, “Looking at the top-to-bottom approach, the digital edge, and native intelligence, you will be able to understand what every particular area needs. I believe that we need top-edge technology, which is the walkie-talkie. Everywhere in the world, you have people using walkie-talkies to combat crime.
“In a community or Local Government where 1000 people are involved in security, different kinds of security—individuals, communities, hospitals, hotels, put them in a network where every security man can have this walkie-talkie. You will also give them an orientation so they will not miss using the walkie-talkie.
“Once there’s an issue, everyone can run around, and also give them the necessity for mobility so that they can always come to the scene of the incident and then tackle issues. This is exactly what we’ve been able to do, and we’ve been able to network our community,” he said.
Ubah commended the state Governor Chukwuma Soludo on security, saying, “The governor has been doing quite a lot in my state, but it’s not enough, and you can never have enough security. “Even in America, today, they still have random shootings in schools in America and in all parts of the world. You can never have enough security anywhere in the world, you can only add to what is in place,” he added.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, has described provision of stomach infrastructure as the surest way to tackle insecurity in Nigeria. Obi stated this in a statement via his verified Twitter handle on Thursday. The Labour Party candidate stated, “The various governments at all levels to take deliberate steps to address the issue of poverty and youth unemployment because the provision of stomach infrastructure is the surer way to tackle insecurity.
“Also, urgent steps should be taken consciously and intentionally to ameliorate the hardship of the people,” he said. Obi expressed worry over the issue of insecurity in the country, saying it is unacceptable for lives of Nigerians to be wasted over insecurity. The former governor of Anambra urged security agencies to do more in securing the nation, saying Nigerians can not continue to be killed in their hundreds within their own country.
According to Obi, the implications of an insecure environment for development are far-reaching, as investors will not consider venturing into to a nation where their resources will not be safe and secured. He urged critical stakeholders including, traditional, Christian, and Muslim leaders to continue pushing for peace among their people in the way and manner they conduct themselves.
The former governor noted that the more insecurity bewilders Nigeria, the less likely the nation will be able to woo investors over to help develop the country. He stated, “The rising insecurity in the country leading to mindless bloodletting, particularly in the North Central zone of the country, and the continued disruption of business and social activities in the South East are all becoming very worrisome.
“The violent attacks in the North Central states of Benue and Plateau lately took a new twist with high records of kidnapping, arson, and loss of human lives. According to the 1st Quarter Mass Atrocities Casualty Tracking Report, over 1230 Nigerians were killed, 79 of them security operatives, with over 600 abductions in the first quarter of this year alone.
“With what has been happening in the North Central and Zamfara state lately the figure as of today will be mind-boggling even far more than the deaths recorded in Russia/Ukraine ongoing carnage. “It’s unacceptable that hundreds of innocent lives will continue to be wasted in Nigeria needlessly through communal clashes, bandits, and kidnapping activities. The situation in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau states has raised a lot of anxiety because of the number of lives and properties lost with very little resistance from security operatives.
“Also disturbing is the continued disruption of business and social activities in the South East region over the Sit-at-Home directive purported to be coming from the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, when the body has publicly denied issuing such directive. “What is going on in the South East therefore is essentially a criminal activity that must be nipped in the bud, with all hands being on deck, security agencies, and the people alike.
“The South East Governors are to be commended for their renewed efforts at curbing this menace but there is a need to be more strategic and intelligence-driven in our approach to reducing the suffering of innocent people.
“Security agencies should take necessary and quick steps to arrest the ugly incidents because the country cannot just be spilling the blood of innocent citizens. We as a people through our various governments should up our value for human lives in the way and manner we respond to issues that touch lives. “The implications of an insecure environment for development are far-reaching because no investor will consider going to an area where their resources will not be safe and secured,” he said.
The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Ibadan, on Thursday, dismissed the petition filed by Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) against the March 18 victory of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State. The APM had challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaration of Makinde of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner after polling 563,756 votes.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other respondents in the matter are INEC and PDP. The tribunal in its unanimous ruling read by its Chairman, Justice Ejiron Emudainohwo, dismissed the petition and awarded N1 million each as cost in favour of Makinde and PDP against APM.
Emudainohwo described the petition as frivolous. ”It is scandalous for the application for the withdrawal of the petition to be filed 46 days after the party was aware their candidate was not interested in it.” She said cost must be awarded against the petitioner for wasting the time and resources of the respondents in filling their processes and for wasting the tribunal’s time.
Emudainohwo said being forced to settle the cost would serve as a deterrent for the petitioner. Earlier, APM’s counsel, Mr Henry Bello, had informed the tribunal that he had filed an application for a withdrawal of the petition against Makinde. Bello said the party’s candidate, Mr Adeniran Oluwaseyi who was supposed to be the beneficiary of the petition, had lost confidence in the petition and has gone on to congratulate Makinde.
He said the petitioner (the party) has nobody to occupy the position even if their petition had been upheld, and urged the court to strike out the petition. Bello said the reason for filing the petition was because the party’s votes were not recorded in many polling units during the March 18 governorship election in the state.
He urged the court not to award any cost against the petitioner because they have committed resources in filing and prosecuting the petition. Bello added that the conduct of the petitioner and its candidate was worthy of sympathy and commendation, urging the tribunal not to award any cost against the petitioner.
In his response, the INEC counsel, Mr Kizito Duru, said he was not opposed to the application for withdrawal of petition and would also not be asking for cost. In his reaction, PDP’s counsel, Mr. Isiaka Olagunju, said he was not opposed to the petition’s withdrawal and urged the tribunal to award a cost of N2 million against the petitioner.
Olagunju said his client was entitled to the cost because issues had been joined, pleadings completed, pre-hearing completed and their intention was to commence hearing when they received the withdrawal application. He urged the tribunal to award the cost against the petitioner for wasting the time of both the tribunal and the respondents.
On his part, Makinde’s counsel, Mr. Kunle Kalejaye, said he also got the withdrawal application the day the matter was slated for hearing but he was not opposed to it. Kalejaye said the petition ought not to have been filed by the petitioner who scored 303 votes in the election against his client who polled 563,756 votes. He urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition and award a punitive cost of N10 million against the petitioner to serve as a deterrent to others. (NAN)
President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, declared a state of emergency on food security. Tinubu also approved that all matters pertaining to food and water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.
Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after consultations with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said that the President has directed an immediate release of fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
According to him, “We will immediately release fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal. “There will be an organic synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the use of water resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is available all years round.
“As a country, Mr. President has made it clear that we are no longer comfortable with seasonal farming. We can no longer afford to have farming downtime.” The Presidential spokesman further explained that the Federal Government will partner with states to create ranches in those that are willing to avail lands. He said the ranches will have sections dedicated as grazing reserves.
According to him, “We will establish ranches in collaboration with state government and the federal government will pay for the land.” Alake explained that the government at the centre will activate land banks nationwide, which currently stand at 500,000 hectares mapped “to increase the availability of arable land for farming which will immediately impact food output.”
This is as the Central Bank has advised middlemen withholding grains to release supplies at their disposal as prices are likely to fall when the government begins to distribute grains. Alake was accompanied to the press briefing by the Special to the President on Revenue, Zacch Adedeji, Special Adviser on Industry, Trade and Investment, John Uwajimogu and the acting Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Wale Adeniyi among others.
He explained that the briefing was to update the public on President Bola Tinubu-led administration’s immediate response to the current food inflation in the country. He said, “As a hands-on- leader who follows developments across the country everyday, Mr. President is not unmindful of the rising cost of food and how it affects the citizens. While availability is not a problem, affordability has been a major issue to many Nigerians in all parts of the country. This has led a significant drop in demand thereby undermining the viability of the entire agriculture and food value chain.
“Accordingly, in line with this administration’s position on ensuring that the most vulnerable are supported, Mr. President has declared, with immediate effect the following actions:
“That a state of emergency on food security be announced immediately, and that all matters pertaining to food & water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.
“As a direct and immediate response to this crisis, a number of initiatives will be deployed in the coming weeks to reverse this inflationary trend and guarantee future uninterrupted supplies of affordable foods to ordinary Nigerians.
“As with most emergencies, there are immediate, medium- and long-term interventions and solutions.
“In the immediate term, we intend to deploy some savings from the fuel subsidy removal into the Agricultural sector focusing on revamping the agricultural sector.
“In an earlier meeting with Agriculture Stakeholders (today), we drafted a memorandum of partnership between the government and the individual stakeholder representatives that encompasses the decisions taken and actions proposed from our engagements.
“The immediate intervention strategies are as follows: We will immediately release fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
“There must be an urgent synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is produced all-year round.
“We shall create and support a National Commodity Board that will review and continuously assess food prices as well as maintain a strategic food reserve that will be used as a price stabilisation mechanism for critical grains and other food items.
“Through this board, government will moderate spikes and dips in food prices. To achieve this, we have the following stakeholders on board to support the intervention effort of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu:
“The National Commodity Exchange (NCX), Seed Companies, National Seed Council and Research institutes, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, Food Processing/ Agric Processing associations, private sector holders & Prime Anchors, small holder farmers, crop associations and Fertilizer producers, blenders and suppliers associations to mention a few.
“We will engage our security architecture to protect the farms and the farmers so that farmers can return to the farmlands without fear of attacks. “The Central Bank will continue to play a major role of funding the agricultural value chain.
“Activation of land banks. There is currently 500,000 hectares of already mapped land that will be used to increase availability of arable land for farming which will immediately impact food output.
“Mechanization and land clearing- The government will also collaborate with mechanization companies to clear more forests & make them available for farming.
“River basins- there are currently 11 rivers basins that will ensure planting of crops during the dry season with irrigation schemes that will guarantee continuous farming production all year round, to stem the seasonal glut and scarcity that we usually experience.
“We will deploy concessionary capital/funding to the sector especially towards fertilizer, processing, mechanization, seeds, chemicals, equipment, feed, labour, etc.”
Continuing, he said, “The concessionary funds will ensure food is always available and affordable thereby having a direct impact on Nigeria’s Human Capital Index (HCI). This administration is focused on ensuring the HCI numbers, which currently ranks as the 3rd lowest in the world, are improved for increased productivity.
“Transportation and Storage: The cost of transporting Agricultural products has been a major challenge (due to permits, toll gates, and other associated costs). When the costs of moving farm produce is significantly impacted-
“…it will immediately be passed to the consumers, which will affect the price of food- the government will explore other means of transportation including rail and water transport, to reduce freight costs and in turn impact the food prices.
“As for storage, existing warehouses and tanks will be revamped to cut waste & ensure efficient preservation of food items.
“We will Increase revenue from food and agricultural exports. As we ensure there is sufficient, affordable food for the populace, we will concurrently work on stimulating the export capacity of the agric sector. “Trade Facilitation: Transportation, storage and export will be improved by working with the Nigerian Customs, who have assured us that the bottlenecks experienced in exporting and importing food items as well as intra-city transportation through tolling will be removed.
“These are some of the immediate interventions this government will put in place to tackle this crisis.
Principally, one of the major positive outcomes of these interventions will be a massive boost in employment and job creation.
“Indeed, agriculture already accounts for about 35.21 percent of employment in Nigeria (as at 2021), the target is to double this percentage to about 70% in the long term.”
Alake said that President Tinubu’s mandate to create jobs for the teeming youth population will be achieved with between five to ten million more jobs created within the value chain, working with the current 500,000 hectares of arable land and the several hundreds of thousands more farmlands to be developed in the medium term.
He said, “In closing, this administration understands that food and water are the bedrock of survival and therefore is calling on all Nigerians to partner us in ensuring the success of this strategic intervention. This administration is working assiduously to ensure that Nigerians do not struggle with their essential needs.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wishes to use this medium to continue to assure Nigerians that this administration will not relent in its efforts until all strategic interventions are deployed efficiently and effectively and until every household is positively impacted.
“Our president is the president of all Nigerians and the father of the nation. The renewed hope mandate remains alive and no one, absolutely no one, will be left behind.”
Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra state has vowed that the state and its residents will not obey any illegal sit-at-home orders. Soludo stated this following the state government’s directive that, henceforth, residents should ignore the sit-at-home order by unauthorised individuals or groups in the state.
The directive was contained in a statement issued by the Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Christian Aburime on Thursday. According to the statement, the decision was necessitated by a recent order to sit at home given by Simon Ekpa. The state government described the order as illegal, as it urged residents of the state not to comply with such directives from non-state actors or blame themselves for such compliance.
The statement partly reads, “Such directives should be completely ignored by the citizens of Anambra and, by extension, the entire South East. “As for the imposition of sit-at-home orders by unauthorised individuals or groups, this is a clear violation of the law.
“Anambra State will never observe any sit-at-home order. Our markets, schools, businesses, and other social activities will remain open. “Anambra State will never be a breeding ground for anarchy, fear, or lawlessness.”
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