General
Farmers Warn Nigerians to Prepare For Serious Food Crisis in 2025
By Adedapo Adesanya
Farmers under the aegis of the All Farmer Association of Nigeria (AFAN) have warned of a looming food crisis in 2025, urging citizens to prepare for tough times ahead.
The association based the warning on the macroeconomic instability arising from the triple whammy of Naira volatility, insecurity, and climate change.
AFAN made the call via its National President, Mr Kabir Ibrahim, in a new year message.
Mr Ibrahim warned that Nigeria is on the cusp of experiencing a major catastrophe of food insecurity, adding, “If extreme care is not taken judging from the macroeconomic instability arising from currency volatility, insecurity, climate change and inequity.”
However, Mr Ibrahim emphasised the urgent need for the country to prioritise food sufficiency, particularly during the crucial first quarter of the year.
The AFAN President urged that stakeholders like the government and farmers must work together to get Nigeria out of the stranglehold of hunger and extreme poverty.
“While not trying to sound despondent, I hasten to say that the attainment of food sufficiency for Nigerians in the first quarter of 2025 may be the elixir for the continued existence of Nigeria as a working unit.
“I say this with all sense of responsibility having been involved in agricultural advocacy for the better part of my 66 years on earth.
“In 2024 we saw various efforts at stabilising Nigeria’s food system through various windows of support to the SHFs, the MSMEs, the SSPs and the vulnerable people but food inflation is still at an all-time high at 39.93 per cent which portends extreme hunger to a very good number of Nigerians.
“In 2025 we must coalesce as stakeholders/farmers with the government to get Nigeria out of the stranglehold of hunger and extreme poverty. We can only do this if we work as a unified body with common interests and operating from common ground.”
He noted that there is a possibility of tackling the crisis, only if the proper measures are put in place.
“It may appear ambitious but evidently doable through a collective resolve to extricate our country from looming existential challenges,” he added.
Business Post reports that President Bola Tinubu promised to tackle the food crisis, and reiterated it during his New Year’s message.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has amplified the call made by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to account for an alleged missing N825 billion and $2.5 billion oil money.
Over the weekend, SERAP called on the government-owned commercial company to give an account of the funds believed to be missing.
This demand for accountability has been re-echoed by the umbrella body of all registered political parties and political associations in Nigeria.
The group had “consistently called for the probe of the NNPC and its officials, citing widespread corruption, mismanagement, and lack of transparency in the oil industry.”
In a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr James Ezema, the CNPP said, “Sometime in 1999, the CNPP first raised concerns about the opaque nature of NNPC’s operations, calling for a comprehensive audit of the corporation’s finances.
“Our demands were met with resistance from the government, but we persisted, knowing that transparency and accountability are essential for good governance and the survival of our democracy.”
“Over the years, the CNPP has continued to push for reforms in the oil industry, calling for the sack of successive NNPC management teams, including the current Mele Kyari-led team. We have also demanded the prosecution of NNPC officials implicated in corruption scandals, but our calls have fallen on deaf ears.
“Despite the incorporation of NNPC as a commercial company under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, the CNPP has maintained that this move was merely a smokescreen to perpetuate corruption. We insisted that the same management team remained in place and that the incorporation was an incorporation of corruption.
“The CNPP’s demands for accountability and transparency in NNPC Limited are therefore not new. We have been consistent in our calls for an independent forensic audit of NNPC Limited since 1999. We believe that it is in the best interests of the Nigerian people for NNPC Limited to open its accounts for a thorough audit, and all unremitted revenues traced, recovered and remitted to the Federation accounts.
“For us, the recent demand by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) for NNPC Limited to account for the alleged missing N825 billion and $2.5 billion is a welcome development. The CNPP wholeheartedly supports SERAP’s demand and calls on NNPC Limited to meet the demands without delay.
“We urge the Federal Government to take immediate action to address the allegations of corruption and mismanagement in NNPC Limited. The time for transparency and accountability is now, and we will continue to push for reforms in the oil industry until Nigerians can reap the benefits of their country’s rich natural resources.
“The CNPP warns that Nigerians will continue to suffer hardships until NNPC Limited begins to operate transparently and remit all revenues to the Federation accounts, thereby ending the yearly borrowings to finance Nigerian budgets, which have worsened since 2015.
“We call on all Nigerians to join other civil society bodies and concerned groups in demanding accountability and transparency in NNPC Limited. Together, we can push for reforms and ensure that our country’s natural resources are used for the benefit of all, not just a privileged few,” the statement said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, has been urged to extend the deadline for the payment of Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) by property owners in Abuja.
This plea for an extension was asked by the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) through a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr James Ezema.
The group said the initial two-week grace period given to the affected allottees, which expired on Friday, January 3, 2025, was insufficient, considering the current economic challenges facing the country.
Recall that after public outcries, Mr Wike, who is the immediate past governor of Rivers State, granted an extension to the owners of the 762 revoked plots of land in Maitama, Abuja.
“We are appealing to the Minister and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to tamper justice with mercy and issue an extension in the spirit of the yuletide and in view of the economic challenges in the country,” the association stated.
It stressed that the extension would give the affected individuals and groups ample time to comply with the directive, thereby avoiding any undue hardship or loss.
“We pray that the Minister and the FCTA will grant the allottees an extension to comply with the directive, giving all the affected individuals and groups enough time to have themselves to blame at the end of the final extension,” the statement added.
The CNPP’s appeal comes on the heels of its recent expression of concern over the escalating hunger and suffering faced by millions of Nigerians due to the economic realities in the country.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has dissociated itself from an unofficial viral statement by one of it members, regarding posters indicating activities of the organisation.
The group dissociated itself from the member in a statement signed by its National President and the National Secretary, Mr Kabiru Ibrahim, and Mr Yunusa Halidu, respectively.
“This post is made by an authorized member, Ado A Ado Kano.
“The opinions and views expressed here are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the group, its administrators, or other members.
“For official statements, please refer to AFAN official contact or platform,” parts of the statement made available to Business Post stated.
According to AFAN, the unofficial posters flying around doesn’t represent the association, noting that Mr Kano is not authorized by AFAN or its officials but those of the author.
AFAN is the umbrella organisation for all farmers’ commodity associations in Nigeria.
Its vision and mission are to assemble all Nigerian producers into one organization, providing a single interlocutor for the government to address agricultural issues with the farming community.
AFAN was formed by the merger of the All-Farmers Association of Nigeria (ALFA) and the National Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (NAFAN). The merger was recommended by former Nigerian president, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo.
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