Appeal Court Judgement: Police Ban Street Celebrations In Bauchi

Bauchi State Police Command has taken a decisive step to forestall potential unrest in anticipation of the impending judgment from the Court of Appeal on the gubernatorial election petition.  The Police Spokesperson, SP Ahmed Wakil, emphasized the ban on street celebrations, roadblocks, and provocative statements by political party supporters. Scheduled for Friday, November 17, 2023, the judgment has led to the prohibition of all rallies or celebratory gatherings linked to the Gubernatorial Election Petition. SP Ahmed Wakil highlighted the directive’s aim to prevent any potential disruptions or tensions between supporters of the ruling party, represented by Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, and the opposition party, with its flag bearer, Air Marshal Sadiq Baba Abubakar (rtd). While recognizing the right to celebrate, Wakil emphasized the importance of supporters abiding by the law.  He emphasized that celebratory activities should not infringe upon the rights of others and urged compliance with legal provisions. He explicitly warned against road blockades, fireworks, inciting remarks, or attempts to intimidate the opposition party. The Police Command made it clear that any individual or group found violating the order or causing a breach of peace would face the consequences without hesitation. “Moreover, the blissful supporters must comport themselves in line with the provisions of the law; blockage of roads, fireworks, and inciting utterances or blackmailing the opposition party would not be condoned,” he said.

World Food Day: HOMEF Calls For Ban On Nigeria’s GMOs

As Nigeria joins the rest of the World to mark the 2023 World Food Day, the Executive Director Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nnimmo Bassey, has called on the Federal Government to remove all Genetically Modified Foods from the country’s shelves. World Food Day is an essential international observance held every year to raise awareness about food security and hunger while promoting action to ensure everyone has access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food. Bassey in a statement on Sunday, said one big challenge the country is faced with protecting its food, including water, from the new wave of colonialism that is systematically taking hold of food systems across the globe. According to him, the transnational corporations leverage the current food crises to advance an atrocious agenda to gain control over the world’s food systems. “GMOs are being pushed into our food system without stringent government regulations. People do not know the implications of growing or eating GM foods because the population is not given information on the risks related to the technology. “In Nigeria, approvals for importing GMOs are granted without adequate public notice and proper and independent health and environmental impact assessments. It is improper for our farmers to be given seeds to grow without telling them what they are planting or what eventually will end up on the consumer’s plate.” HOMEF states that marking World Food Day should encourage people, organizations, and governments to unravel the root of hunger and malnutrition, address food injustice, and abuse of farmers’ rights. The day is a reminder of the avoidable fate of millions worldwide who suffer from hunger despite abundant natural and human resources. Bassey, noted that modern agricultural biotechnology directly undermines our pursuit of food sovereignty, posing a threat to our dignity and our fundamental right to refuse foods laden with uncertain health consequences and an agriculture system that stresses our ecosystems.  He further charged Nigerians to be intentional about what is on their plates. “We must not fail as individuals to ensure that what goes into our stomachs is safe. We must demand accountability from regulatory agencies to ensure that food products approved for import are wholesome, meet the dietary requirements of the people, and support the local economy.” HOMEF’s Director of Programme, Joyce Brown, echoed that agroecology can feed the world, cool the planet, and help local farmers adapt to climate change impacts. “Governments worldwide who want to address food insecurity and take meaningful climate action must invest in agroecology – the foundation for a positive transformation of food systems. Agroecology ensures optimum water and other resources use, revives soils and the ability to hold in carbon, uses renewable energy, and promotes shorter food supply chains while making healthy and nutritionally diverse food available to all”. Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, the Deputy Director of Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria, noted, “Food is a central and integral part of any society, and it creates a connection between our beliefs, ethnicity, and cultural heritage. Food is not just a part of culture; it defines culture.  What we eat and how we eat provides much information about specific cultures. Food, water, and soil are all interconnected and are not commodities. They are a sacred, life-affirming, and central composite of every existing society”. Orovwuje stressed that food and producers must be treated with respect and dignity. She called for policies that celebrate the smallholder farmers who produce over 70% of the food consumed globally. “We need deep-rooted changes in how agriculture is practiced and how the food system is organised and regulated. We need to wean our food system from corporate control and concentration and keep seeds in the hands of small-scale farmers.”

Ban Activities Of Eze-Igbo Group In Abuja, Ohanaeze Urges Wike

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has been called upon to ban the activities of Eze-Igbos in Abuja The President of Ohaneze, FCT Chapter, Barrister Ifeanyichukwu Nweze, said anyone who wants to become Eze-Igbo should return to the South-East.  He said the FCT is not Igboland and therefore, cannot have Eze-Igbo. Barrister Nweze said: “Following the sack of Uche Isaac Egenti, Ibe Nwosu, and others by the General Assembly of Ohanaeze Nd‘Iigbo FCT Abuja Chapter for causing crises in the FCT, and subsequent communication of the same to the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, we wish to say that Uche Isaac Egenti and his cohorts employed one FCK Obike (one of the erstwhile members of the Executive Committee ostracized with them) to author a phantom impeachment against our president.  “The Ohanaeze Nd’Igbo FCT Abuja Chapter’s General Assembly through the Executive Committee reiterates that Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is not Igboland; therefore, there are no Eze-Igbos in the Federal Capital Territory. People seeking to be Eze/Kings should go back to their home states in the South East and follow the guiding laws in respect of Chieftaincy – Nd‘lgbo cannot build kingdoms within the traditional leaderships of their host communities thereby creating confusion, unwarranted rivalry, and crises in the FCT.  “Henry Ugbaja, Hilary Ukpabi, FCK Obike, and Promise thezie, who are unknown to their respective Presidents General of Abia State and Imo State communities in FCT Abuja, and were ostracized with Uche Isaac Egenti; they cannot speak for Ohanaeze.” He called, on the unsuspecting members of the public to beware of their activities and added that Ohanaeze Nd‘Igbo FCT Abuja Chapter is a responsible organization that will not under this regime seek for funds from the general public.  He said those parading themselves as Eze- Igbo gathered Igbo people, especially the unemployed or under-employed for which they approach authorities for patronage; from which they receive monies and other benefits for either their personal use or for use to further enslave the unsuspecting vulnerable people.  “They have leutenants whom they also address as Ezes; some of whom are not employed at all and/or are not even known at all by members of their extended families not to talk of their communities in the South East – they have employed this purporting traditional Leadership of Nd’Igbo for fraud and deceit to the detriment of the FCT society at large.  “Sir, those who want to have kingdoms should go home to the South East and become Ezes/Kings if they can; and should stop causing confusion in the city. The Federal Capital Territory is not Igbo villages; and kingdoms do not exist within other kingdoms,” he said.