The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that 25 million Nigerians risk severe hunger in 2023 if action is not taken. “Nearly 25 million Nigerians are at risk of facing hunger between June and August 2023 (lean season) if urgent action is not taken, according to the October 2022 Cadre Harmonisé, a Government led and UN-supported food and nutrition analysis carried out twice a year,” the UN agency said in a statement late Monday.   According to the agency, this is a rise from the 17m persons earlier projected to face food insecurity in the country.   Conflicts, climate change, inflation, and rising food prices are the key drivers, it said.   “Children are the most vulnerable to food insecurity. Approximately 6 of the 17 million food-insecure Nigerians today are children under 5 living in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Sokoto, Katsina, and Zamfara states,” the statement further read.   ADVERTISEMENT   “There is a serious risk of mortality among children attributed to acute malnutrition. In the BAY states alone, the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition is expected to increase from 1.74 million in 2022 to 2 million in 2023.”   ‘Deeply Concerning’ While commenting on the development, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria Mr. Matthias Schmale, said it is “deeply concerning”. “The food security and nutrition situation across Nigeria is deeply concerning,” UNICEF quoted him as saying. “I have visited nutrition stabilization centres filled with children who are fighting to stay alive. We must act now to ensure they and others get the lifesaving support they need.” It, therefore, called on the Nigerian governor, donor agencies, and other key stakeholders to take urgent steps to mitigate the situation. “The United Nations is calling on the Government of Nigeria, the donor community, and public and private stakeholders to urgently commit resources and implement mitigation measures to save lives and prevent a potentially catastrophic food security and nutrition situation. Support for vulnerable families across the country is needed today, not tomorrow,” the agency said.

  The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it is satisfied with the preparations done so far ahead of the 2023 elections.   The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, made the assertion Tuesday while speaking at the Chatham House, London.   “We have promised Nigerians and friends of Nigerians that the 2023 general election will be free, free and credible and we have left no stone unturned in preparing for it.   “But like with all elections, especially those requiring the extensive national deployment like we do in Nigeria, it will naturally come with challenges.   “We have worked closely with stakeholders and development partners to confront these challenges and we are satisfied with our preparations so far.”   Lamenting the continuous attacks on its facilities nationwide, the INEC Chairman said despite the attacks, elections would hold.     He said, “In four years, 50 facilities attacked in various parts of the country. The implication of the attacks is that we have to rebuild facilities and replace materials. The commission and security agencies have increased their presence in some of these locations. The last attack happened on Sunday last week but because of the cooperation between the military and the electoral commission, we were able to respond and the damage was limited to just a section of the building in a local government office.   “The commission has repeatedly called for concerted efforts to control and check these attacks and in December last year, the National Assembly held a public hearing on these attacks and we hope that authorities have these attacks under control and the response by the security agencies is more coordinated.   “But inspite of these attacks, we will rebuild facilities and replace damaged and lost items, the elections will hold.”

  The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council has described the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu as a rejected figure in the South-West, a geopolitical zone believed by many as his stronghold.   The PDP campaign council stated this in reaction to calls for the arrest and interrogation of Atiku Abubakar by the APC campaign council, over claims by a whistleblower, Michael Achimugu, that the ex-Vice President helped himself to public funds while in office from 1999-2007.   This is even as the campaign council chided the Tinubu Media team for attacking the duo of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku in a bid to promote Tinubu’s aspiration.   A statement signed by the spokesman for the PDP Campaign Council, Dino Melaye, urged Tinubu’s handlers to remember that Lagos where the APC flag bearer holds sway was only a part of the larger Nigerian nation, that he was seeking the support of millions of citizens to preside over.   The statement entitled, ‘Tinubu’s Media Gang and the Pity of Electoral Hallucination’, partly read, “The struggling marketers of Tinubu, rather than face the rejection that Tinubu is facing everywhere, are gloating on an empty prospect.   “With all the false claims of Tinubu that he holds the aces in the South West, it is now obvious that critical social structures like Afenifere, major stakeholders like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and faith cum political voices like Pastor Tunde Bakare, have all rejected him.   “A man who does not enjoy charity at home is now seeking that the hands of other well grounded and rounded candidates are tied to pave way for him. The game has just started!     “It is not surprising that Obasanjo and Atiku are now being set up for attack. The combined activities of the duo constitute the effective terminator of the misguided aspiration of Tinubu to inherit an office that has no ancestral link to Iragbiji. Obasanjo’s assertion that ’emi lokan’ is an immoral and misleading claim and Atiku’s pole position in the build-up to the February 25 election has made them objects of mudslinging and rabid attacks.   “Having been suffocated in the campaign space, and looking for a shortcut to a far-fetched and improbable electoral success, the media gang of Ahmed Bola Tinubu in pitiable agony, struggled to clutch to a straw by placing their hope in an empty vessel, who is capitalising on the desperation of the Tinubu and his dreamers to sell fairy tales for a fortune.   “The Tinubu media jesters have often equated Nigeria with Lagos, where Baba so’pe ( Baba said ) is all that needs to be bellowed for all kinds of untoward actions to be taken. They forget that Nigeria is a country of due process, where allegations don’t amount to conviction, and where any urchin can wake up on the side of a bed to throw tantrums without any reprehension.   “The failure of the Tinubu gang is evident in their failed blackmail and insinuation against the very vibrant Nigerian media.”

  The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has said that the 2023 general election is an election for the young people in Nigeria. Giving a breakdown of voter registration and collection of Permanent Voter Cards in Nigeria at his address at Chatham House, London, Tuesday afternoon, Yakubu said records on the ground showed that the election would be dominated by the Nigerian youth. More to follow…

  The Atiku Campaign Organisation has cautioned Nigerians to be wary of the antics of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, and not submit to his overlordship as he is currently doing in Lagos. Spokesman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Charles Aniagwu, gave the advice at a news conference on Tuesday in Asaba and warned that Nigerians would be subjecting themselves to internal slavery if they allowed Tinubu to become Nigerian president. He said that Tinubu who already captured Lagos was looking for avenue to extend his control on the other 35 states and FCT and urged Nigerians to avoid repeating the mistake Lagosians made by allowing him control everything that happens in the entire state. According to him, “as a campaign council we are urging Nigerians not to make the mistake of submitting themselves to internal slavery by the APC whose Presidential candidate had since captured Lagos and what he is looking for is to expand his territorial control beyond Lagos to control the entire country in form of slavery. “For those of you who may not know, a number of the major projects and programmes in Lagos are controlled by this same individual. “When you get to Lagos and ask them about BRT you will discover that it is handled by this man’s family. The signages in Lagos which is a very big business is handled by his son, the collection of taxes in Lagos which is the biggest in terms of tax collection is handled by a company that is said to belong to this same man. “Needn’t I mention other sources of revenue that Lagos should have benefited from and you also know how he handpicks those who will govern Lagos to the extent that Ambode, a man that was doing well was taken out because he disagreed with them on how to share the funds of the people of Lagos.” He said for such a person to aspire to govern our country, it will be very detrimental to all of us. “If we don’t want to submit ourselves to slavery, Nigerians must stop Tinubu from crossing Lagos into the other 35 states and the FCT because that will amount to internal slavery for all of us where he alone will determine the next President, and who gets what and not forces of democratic governance. “As part of that unbridled quest to expand his grip and capture the states, they have cooked up stories because they have seen that Nigerians are convinced that Atiku Abubakar is a man that has what it takes to recover this country and place it on the path of growth and development. “They have gone to wake up a blackmailer and they call him a whistle blower. Am sure that as journalists you know who a whistle blower is and who a blackmailer is. “Michael Achimugu was not a staff of Atiku Abubakar, he was a staff of one of the support groups with the daughter, he was not employed to work for Atiku Abubakar. “If all he does is to record his boss and his friend and you call that whistle blowing, all of you know that is not whistle blowing but blackmail and anybody who is a blackmailer cannot be taken seriously and we are not perturbed because it was not done with the intention to help our country. Aniagwu, who is Commissioner for Information in Delta, said the campaign council was concerned about the challenges bedevilling the nation and how to solve them and not engage in mundane issues. “As a campaign council we know what the issues are that our youths are loosing their jobs and more than 133million Nigerians are now suffering from what they call multi-dimensional poverty, our economy is not in the best of shape while our unity is terribly challenged. “There also the need for our children to have the best of education to curb the ‘Jappa’ syndrome and of course to progress the country from a consumption atmosphere to a much more productive environment. “Any attempt to raise issues that doesn’t add up so that they can have their way to enslave the rest of us, we are asking Nigerians to be weary of him and ask Lagosians what they are going through in his hands. “Our forefathers fought the slave masters and colonial masters and chased them away to where they came from so we cannot afford to enthrone internal slave masters who will decide how the country would be governed. “Our desire is to get our economy working again, unite Nigerians against divisive tendencies, fix infrastructure, address insecurity which has stiffled productivity and weakened our fabrics as a nation. “In doing so we will amend the constitution give way for state police and other matters. The APC has not given the country any hope in the past let alone renewing it so we cannot afford to allow them enslave the rest of the country,” he said.

  Following anxiety over the state of health of governor of Ondo state, Rotimi Akeredolu, the state government, has declared that there was no cause for alarm. There has been growing anxiety over the governors health across the state. But the governors Chief Press Secretary , Richard Olatunde, in a statement issued in Akure, thr state capital, assured the people of the staye and Nigerians, that the governor was in good condition. The statement reads ” We have observed the growing anxiety about the State of Health of the Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. “The good people of the State and, by extension, other friends and well-wishers continued to express concern over the wellness of the Governor, especially since yesterday. “We are constrained to respond to these concerns and assure our people that by the grace of God, there is no cause for alarm on the Governor’s state of health. “Governor Akeredolu, just like every other mere mortals has had some health challenge for which he has since received treatment and recuperating speedily. ” Since the Governor is not a super human and the immunity his office enjoys does not extend to physical wellness or otherwise, the health issue is therefore not an unusual one. “However, contrary to speculations and insinuations making the round, the Governor though frail, is discharging his official functions. “Mr. Governor is not faced with any life-threatening illness that would have encouraged any alleged conspiracy in his administration. “He, in fact, held Executive Council meeting with the Exco members till 4pm on Wednesday, 11th January, 2023 after the Security Council meeting where far reaching decisions were taken on the escalated clashes in Ikare-Akoko. “On January 7, 2023 Governor Akeredolu led his brother Governors in the Southwest and other party bigwigs to receive the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akure for the State Presidential Campaign Rally. “On January 8, 2023, he was at The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Jesus House Cathedral, Region 22 Headquarters, Oke-Ijebu, Akure for the Holy Service commemorating the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration. “For emphasis, the Governor, who participated in rigorous campaign activities on the 7th of January, couldn’t have been bedridden as widely speculated. “Moreso, last Friday, Governor Akeredolu still inaugurated a new Refrigerated Van for the use of Meat Dealers in the State. He also received the Melvin Jones Award of the Lions Club International same day. “While we appreciate the growing concerns about his wellbeing and indeed, appreciate the outpour of prayers even beyond partisan lines, we urge all persons of goodwill to ignore unfounded insinuations capable of creating any false sense of needless anxiety. The statement added that “The Governor will continue to discharge his official duties to the good people of Ondo State in line with the REDEEMED Agenda of his administration while he finds quality time to rest for renewed vigour and strength just like any man in his situation.

  The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians against two substandard cough syrups identified in Uzbekistan. In a statement on Monday, NAFDAC identified the products as Ambronol syrup and DOK-1 Max syrup. The agency said the syrups were manufactured by Marion Biotech, India, adding that the manufacturer has not provided guarantees to the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the safety and quality of the products. It said laboratory analysis of samples of both products carried out by Uzbekistan’s ministry of health, found the syrups contained unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol. “Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal. Toxic effects can include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury which may lead to death,” the statement reads. “These substandard products are therefore unsafe and their use, especially in children, may result in serious injury or death. “NAFDAC implores manufacturers of liquid dosage forms, especially syrups that contain excipients including propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, sorbitol, and/or glycerin /glycerol, to test for the presence of contaminants such as ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol before use in medicines. “Although the products are not in the NAFDAC database, importers, distributors, retailers, and consumers are advised to exercise caution and vigilance within the supply chain to avoid the importation, distribution, sale, and use of the substandard (contaminated) syrups. All medical products must be obtained from authorised/licensed suppliers. The products’ authenticity and physical condition should be carefully checked. “Members of the public in possession of the above-listed products are advised to discontinue sale or use and submit stock to the nearest NAFDAC office.”