A widow, Amina Isah, alongside her children and grandchildren numbering six was reported to have fallen sick and rushed to the hospital after taking a pap at Egba in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State on Sunday.

The children are identified as Benjamin, Piko, Esther, Hassan Emmanuel and one other

A source from the community who identified himself as Adaji told our correspondent on Sunday that the widow and her six family members were vomiting after taking a pap and were rushed to a private clinic in the community.

Adaji said the elderly widow and three of the children were unconscious at the time they were taken to the hospital.

Speaking to our correspondent on the telephone, the doctor who doubles as proprietor of the clinic, known as ‘Dr Gana Clinic’, Dr Oyaje Sule aka Dr Gana, confirmed the seven patients in his clinic.

According to him, three of the patients including the widow were brought in unconscious, adding that the family were reported to have used the remnants of guinea corn already mixed with chemical for planting to make a pap.

Sule said, “It is true they brought a woman who I have known in the community, alongside her children and grandchildren numbering seven to my clinic this morning. 

“The woman is a widow with her three children and three grandchildren, their ages range from three to 30 years aside from their grandmother who is elderly.

“As of the time they were brought, the woman and two others were unconscious but thank God they have been revived.

“What I was told is that the family had mixed chemicals with guinea corn they were to plant. After planting the guinea corn, the remaining was brought home and they washed it and went and ground it to make pap.

“It was after they took the pap this morning that they started vomiting and some of them were unconscious before they were rushed to my clinic.

A former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, who served under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, faulted President Bola Tinubu’s national broadcast, seeking an end to the ongoing nationwide hunger protest.

Dalung, who led the anti-government protest in Jos, Plateau State last Thursday, was again at an open-air Sunday church service held by the protesters in Jos.

Speaking to journalists at the Sunday service held at the Old Airport Roundabout, with a large crowd of protesters, including Christian and Muslim leaders, Dalung described Tinubu’s broadcast as empty, insisting that the protest was far from finished.

The ex-minister said,  “The President did not say anything in his speech. He did not appeal to the protesters to stop the protest. He only threatened them and told the security agencies to continue with the clampdown, shooting and killing. He did not even address Nigerians. He was just talking to himself and members of his cabinet. All these things he said only go to strengthen our resolve to continue with this protest.”

The protesters, brandishing the Nigerian flag, blocked the Old Airport Roundabout, compelling motorists to seek alternative routes within the metropolis.

Some of them, who spoke with our correspondent, said the church service was significant because they believed that God still had the capacity to intervene in the affairs of Nigeria and turn things around for good for the suffering citizens.

A protester, Philip Madaki, who said he arrived at the Old Airport Junction for the Sunday Service around 7:30 am, said, “I have been participating in the protest since it began on Thursday and today being Sunday, we are continuing with the protest with a church service. As the protest is ongoing, we believe that God Almighty has not abandoned the country and its citizens and we know He has the power to turn the hearts of kings in whichever direction he wants. And we want Him to visit our leaders in the country, especially those in governance positions and touch their hearts so that they will know that the citizens are really suffering because of bad governance and their harsh economic policies in the country and be able to do something to change the situation. That’s why we are adding the church service to the ongoing protests.”

...disowns post endorsing military rule

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida has dissociated himself from a post associating him to have endorsed the virtues of military rule over democratic governance. 

In a statement from his media office signed by Mahmud Abdullahi in Minna, General Babangida reiterated his commitment to democratic rule rather than military and therefore called on all Nigerians to, not only to embrace it, but to see to its success.

The statement reads:”Our attention has been drawn to a post on a parody account on X, formerly known as twitter, which carries the handle, @General_Ibbro, in which former President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, GCFR, was supposed to have endorsed the virtues of military rule over democratic governance.

“This dubious account carries our principal’s picture and name and the coat of arms of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for added effect but it does not belong to him nor does the former President sanction any post appearing there.

“In the past and more famously during the presidential elections last year, it posted a blatant falsehood that the former President had endorsed a particular presidential candidate and his party, thereby causing public confusion and some embarrassment to the Elder Statesman.

“We have just learnt that it has posted a similarly fake statement where the former President was supposed to have said that Nigeria has the best years under military, democracy made things worst.

“We want to state unequivocally that neither the twitter or X account which is essentially a parody or pretend account, nor the statement made therein ever belonged to the retired General.

“For the avoidance of doubt, General Babangida (rtd) believes that Nigeria’s democracy is resilient and has come to stay and that we must do everything we can to safeguard the process.

“As a nation, we are currently facing a number of challenges but the former president has always expressed the view that we will eventually overcome these challenges and come out a stronger, more progressive nation. The solution to our problems as he had said previously, is ‘more’ democracy, not less.

“General Babangida truly believes that the era of military intervention in Nigeria’s politics is long gone and he has said how proud he is that the Nigerian military has stood firmly behind multiple democratic governments in this country since 1999, thus giving us the longest run of civilian administration since independence.

“The user of this unfortunate parody account which we gather was traditionally supposed to be an account that imitates or at least mirror the sentiments of the original twitter or X account that it copies, has serially chosen to use the account to undermine democracy and spread stories capable of causing animosity.

“Sadly, there seems very little we can do to make the overseers of X or twitter to remove or sanction this tiresome account, so we are again obliged to advise the general public to ignore any post from this account that purportedly claims to represent my opinion,” General Babangida declared.

The statement advised media practitioners and social media users to be more discerning in future and make the necessary efforts to get confirmation before sharing messages attributed to former President Babangida on X on any social media platform.

…Use mushroom as substitute for meat

lTraders blame crisis on insecurity 

lFG reiterates commitment to food security

The astronomical surge in food prices has forced many Nigerian households to adopt various coping mechanisms to survive, a survey by Financial Vanguard has revealed. 

The latest inflation report of the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, indicated that the prices of tomatoes, beans, garri and some other food items have increased by more than 200 percent within a year.

This increase has kept many individuals and households in untold hardship and hunger, as the majority can no longer afford a decent meal a day.

Investigations revealed that many households have been adopting different alternatives to regular food items for survival.

For instance, with fresh tomatoes becoming increasingly unaffordable, many families now rely on tomato paste and palm fruits to prepare meals.

Households adopt alternatives

Speaking to Financial Vanguard in Lagos, Mrs. Kehinde salami, a retired civil servant, said: “The increasing rise in the price of goods and services is terrible.

“Everyday the prices of food items we produce keeps rising. 

“Look at beans, yam, tomato, only few people are buying them, especially beans that many households consume once in a very long while.

“Early this year, I bought a paint rubber of honey beans at N6,000. Now the price is N11,000.

“What I do now is to buy one or  two derica beans which goes for N4,400.

“Also, for tomatoes, I use the sachet tomatoes and add dry habanero pepper instead of buying N500 fresh pepper that is not up to a handful.

“Now that there is another species of tomato, they now have the portion of N200 and also pepper but it is very small in quantity when compared to how it was portioned early this year.

“I also go for palm oil  (Banga), vegetable soups which can be served alongside rice and other delicacies.

“Now, people have embraced many alternatives for survival.”

Also speaking, Mrs. Dorin Fehintola, a PoS agent, said: “It is not funny anymore. Parents now put on thinking caps to be able to feed their families.

“Before, in my family we ate beans  twice a week in porridge form and cake. Now we single it to cake form once a week to reduce consumption and save cost.

“I replaced tomato sauce with vegetable leaf sauce, carrot sauce, garden egg sauce  and  palm fruit (Banga) sauce.I use sachet tomatoes when preparing jollof rice.

“I stopped cooking yam and buying bread. Instead I cook cocoyam or spaghetti.”  

Another respondent in Lagos, Mrs. Kemi Bamidele, a food vendor and baker said the inflation has made life unbearable.

“The government should have put some palliative measures on ground before removing the subsidy. They should do the needful as the masses are very hungry,” she said.

On her part, Mrs. Nkem Chukwujekwu, who is a business woman said “the high cost of goods and commodities has really affected us because most food items have become unaffordable.

“Most of us have alternatively chose to replace stew with the local stew we make with palm fruit known as banger stew even with that, but a paint bucket of banger has gone up from N1800 to N4700.

“So the inflation of food has really affected us greatly to a point where most people could barely afford two square meal a day.”

Also reacting, Mrs. Ngozi Egwuagha, a business woman and a grandma, stated: “Life in Nigeria has become a nightmare. What used to be our common stable foodstuffs have turned into luxury items.

Beans, rice, garri, yam and all food items are now beyond the reach of common  folks. Beans that have been the comfort of average Nigerians where meat and fishes are no longer affordable has gone beyond reach. A derica of honey beans has gone above N2000.

“Almost nothing is within reach. Tomatoes, onions, plantain and garri all are beyond affordable. Life is now a nightmare. An average Nigerian household cannot boast of one square meal a day. 

“Everything is like squeezing water out of stone to buy the next meal. No family talks of eating bread, eggs, butter, milk, teas and their likes as all those are now high luxuries. It’s been a very difficult and agonizing time for many families.”

In his reaction, Mr. Benjamin Nzekwe, a sales executive at DHL, said: “It is painful to even imagine the state of the country right now. To eat two square meals a day is now a problem, talk less of three.

“The cost of food is nothing to write home about and we cannot even afford to buy some food. These days, we eat food without meat or fish because the cost is not affordable. I wish the government could do something fast to alleviate hunger in the country.”

In Enugu, some buyers at a market told Financial Vanguard that they have not made stew for their families in a long time. Those who still make stew said they opt for the cheaper, lower-quality ‘awarawa’ tomatoes, which are often rotten and fungal-infested.

Madam Bridget shared her struggles, saying, “We’ve stopped eating meat with our meals, and making stew is a rarity. We now buy tomato paste with pepper and onions to make jollof rice, which costs N150, compared to N500 for five pieces of fresh tomatoes, that wouldn’t even be enough.” 

She added that they’ve had to mix beans with rice due to the high cost and even stopped eating beans altogether after a cup cost them N400.

Madam Gladys, a farmer, also sharing her experience, said: “We now make vegetable sauce to eat with white rice and use locally sourced mushrooms as a substitute for meat. Even finding affordable rice is challenging.”

Sellers also lament

At Abakpa Market, sellers complained of poor sales despite having large quantities of tomatoes. One seller attributed the low demand to high transportation costs and fuel prices.

Another market seller narrated her ordeal saying, “You know we have different species of tomatoes. The one I am selling is from Nsukka. Half a paint is N3000, while a full paint is N6000. People buy this type better than the rest, which are of a higher rate. Even so, it’s 5 pm and I haven’t sold half of what I have in my shade. The high cost of transportation and fuel prices are the causes of all these challenges. 

Yet another seller said:, “When things were cheaper, I could sell two big baskets, but now I struggle to sell just one basket. What we do among the sellers is buy and share one basket to sell for the day because we’ve noticed that not many people buy tomatoes like they used to.”

Recall that NBS reported that in June, the prices of tomatoes, beans, potatoes rise above 200 percent in the last one year.

In its Selected Food Price Watch for June 2024, NBS listed the ten most expensive staple foods in Nigeria in June 2024 as: Tomato, Yam tuber, Irish Potato, Brown beans, White black-eyed beans, Unripe Plantain, Onion Bulb, Ripe Plantain, Sweet Potato, and Broken Rice (Ofada).

Traders blame crisis on insecurity

Chairman of Mile 12 International Perishable Market in Lagos, Alh. Shehu Usman, said: “The reason for rising costs of food items is because most farmers in the North have been chased away from the farms by bandits, and many of them are now in IDP camps.

“The only solution to this problem is for people to return to the farms. If you are not farming and you are not importing food, so, how do you get the food?

The people who are struggling to farm cannot farm because bandits are disturbing them.

“The problem is enormous. The federal government should just make sure it provides enough security for people to continue farming. That is the only solution. The government must find a way of taking farmers away from IDP camps back to their farms.

“As long as farmers are not able to go to the farms, food items will remain expensive.”

In his comment, Chairman of Ile Epo Market, Oke Odo, Alh. Taofik Olorunkemi, said that insecurity is the major issue of the hike in food items because the farmers are not able to go to the farms due to the menace of kidnapping.

“Another reason for the food inflation is the increase in the price of petrol as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy, which has led to an increase in the cost of transportation.

“Also, many of the villagers who normally bring food items to the market no longer come around, because of civilisation. So, we sometimes have to go to the villages ourselves to source for the items,” he stated.

FG committed to food security 

Meanwhile, the federal government has taken steps to crash the prices of some staple foods with the suspension of import duties and taxes on essential food items.

This is in addition to the government’s avowed commitment to ensure food security through the use of new farming techniques in Nigeria.

Speaking at a recent event, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, stated: “We are putting all efforts in place to ensure the availability of food across the country.”

He said the government was exploring various indices to ensure food security, working to ramp up food production by returning Nigeria to a sustainable food production system where the country would be engaged in all-year-round farming.

“We are fully aware of the current food challenge in Nigeria. and we are already planning for the next dry season. 

“Having learned our lesson in the last one, we want to make a huge success of the next dry season farming. 

“We in the Ministry of Agricultural Food Security are doing all we can, all that is necessary, all that is sufficient to reverse the current trend, ramp up our production, guarantee that with massive production, affordability can be guaranteed.”

…Rescue kidnap victims in Sokoto

Troops of the Nigerian Army have arrested a notorious gun-runner on transit to deliver high calibre weapons to terrorists and intercepted a truck conveying illegally refined Automated Gas Oil, AGO.

The troops also rescued kidnapped victims while on transit in Kaduna State.

The Army said vigilant troops, in collaboration with other security agencies, intercepted the notorious gun-runner, Mallam Hashimu Ahmad at Saminaka in Lere Local Government Area of the state.
It said: “The suspect, who has been on the wanted list of the security agencies for supplying arms and ammunition to terrorists was captured while on transit to deliver sophisticated weapons.

“The weapons include one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) Launcher, one RPG Bomb, 1,069 rounds of 7. 62mm (special) ammunition and one belt of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition.

“The cache of arms and ammunition, as well as the vehicle used in conveying them, have been fully recovered.”

In the same vein, the Army said: “In Sokoto State, troops on patrol in the general area of Matalawa village of Isa Local Government Area of the state have rescued kidnap hostages, who were abducted and taken into the forest while on transit.

“Responding to a distress call, the troops moved swiftly to the location, where they engaged the kidnappers in a gun duel, leading to the extrication of the hostages.

“The rescued hostages have been reunited with their families.

“In Delta State, troops acting on credible intelligence have intercepted a tanker truck laden with 15,000 litres of substance suspected to be illegally refined AGO at Ozoro, in Isoko North Local Government Area of the state.

“The troops have also taken the two suspects conveying the illegal product into custody for preliminary investigation, preparatory to handing over to appropriate prosecuting agency.

“Troops of the NA have continued to intensify ongoing operations against terrorism, insurgency, banditry, and sundry crimes, clamping down on various criminal syndicates across the country.
The Nigerian Army remains committed to protecting the nation and dismantling all criminal networks, inducing insecurity in the country.”

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s recent national broadcast for not addressing the violent crackdown by security forces on #EndBadGovernance protesters.

In a statement issued on Sunday after Tinubu’s address, Soyinka expressed concern over the president’s omission of this critical issue.

#EndBadGovernance protests continued for the fourth day, with citizens expressing dissatisfaction with worsening economic conditions and ineffective governance.

Soyinka stated, “I set my alarm clock for this morning to ensure that I did not miss President Bola Tinubu’s impatiently awaited address to the nation on the current unrest across the nation.

“His outline of government’s remedial action since inception, aimed at warding off just such an outbreak, will undoubtedly receive expert and sustained attention both for effectiveness and in content analysis. My primary concern, quite predictably, is the continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management, an area in which the presidential address fell conspicuously short.”

He argued that the government’s approach only encourages impunity among security forces and perpetuates a cycle of resentment and reprisals.

Soyinka highlighted the use of live ammunition as a response to peaceful protests as a critical issue, noting that even tear gas is often misused in such situations.

He remarked that hunger marches are a universal plea for help, signaling a breaking point that demands government attention.

The violent response to these protests, he warned, represents a regression even more severe than the deadly aftermath of the ENDSARS protests.

“Such short-changing of civic deserving, regrettably, goes to arm the security forces in the exercise of impunity and condemns the nation to a seemingly unbreakable cycle of resentment and reprisals.

“Live bullets as state response to civic protest – that becomes the core issue. Even tear gas remains questionable in most circumstances, certainly an abuse in situations of clearly peaceful protest. Hunger marches constitute a universal S.O.S, not peculiar to the Nigerian nation. They belong indeed in a class of their own, never mind the collateral claims emblazoned on posters.

“They serve as summons to governance that a breaking point has been reached and thus, a testing ground for governance awareness of public desperation. The tragic response to the ongoing hunger marches in parts of the nation, and for which notice was served, constitutes a retrogression that takes the nation even further back than the deadly culmination of the watershed ENDSARS protests.

“It evokes pre-independence – that is, colonial – acts of disdain, a passage that induced the late stage pioneer Hubert Ogunde’s folk opera BREAD AND BULLETS, earning that nationalist serial persecution and proscription by the colonial government.”

Soyinka noted that the “nation’s security agencies cannot pretend unawareness of alternative models for emulation, civilized advances in security intervention.”

He said, “Need we recall the nationwide 2022/23 editions of what is generally known as the YELLOW VEST movement in France? Perhaps it is time to make such scenarios compulsory viewing in policing curriculum. In all of the coverage that I watched, I did not catch one single instance of a gun leveled at protesters, much less fired at them even during direct physical confrontations.

“The serving of bullets where bread is pleaded is ominous retrogression, and we know what that eventually proves – a prelude to far more desperate upheavals, not excluding revolutions.

“The time is long overdue, surely, to abandon, permanently, the anachronistic resort to lethal means by the security agencies of governance. No nation is so under-developed, materially impoverished, or simply internally insecure as to lack the will to set an example. All it takes is to recall its own history, then exercise the will to commence a lasting transformation, inserting a break in the chain of lethal responses against civic society.

“Today’s marchers may wish to consider adopting the key songs of Hubert Ogunde’s BREAD AND BULLETS, if only to inculcate a sense of shame in the continuing failure to transcend the lure of colonial inheritance where we all were at the receiving end. One way or the other, this vicious cycle must be broken.”

A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Dele Momodu has reacted to President Bola Tinubu’s speech on the EndBadGovernance protest.

Momodu stated that Tinubu failed to address the demands of the helpless Nigerians.

Speaking via his social media account, the Ovation publisher said he was stupefied by the broadcast.

He opined that it would be difficult for Tinubu to change his ways, considering that he has held Lagos with an iron grip in the last 25 years.

Momodu lamented that he has little hope that the president would grant concessions to the aggrieved Nigerians.

He insisted that most of Tinubu advisers are fanatical cronies who have failed to challenge his method of governance.

Momodu wrote, “Fellow Nigerians, good morning. After the long awaited speech of PRESIDENT BOLA TINUBU eventually came this morning, I’m sure most of you would be as stupefied as me. I must confess that I had little hope of Tinubu granting some concessions to the aggrieved Nigerians. As a man who has held iron grip on Lagos State in the last 25 years, it would be difficult for him to change a winning formula that has worked for him ever since. Also, what did we expect his advisers to be telling him when most of them have been his most fanatical cronies from Lagos who have learnt never to challenge the Master.

“So it was mere wishful thinking on the part of incurable optimists like me to think he was going to have mercy on hapless and seemingly helpless Nigerians. Just for academic purposes, let’s reel out what a sensitive leader, who craves the rightful position in posterity, would have done and said:

“1. In view of the unprecedented suffering being experienced by Nigerians, we have decided to cut the cost of governance drastically… Some Ministries will be scrapped and some Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and all redundant personnel would be eased out…No official cars would be procured anytime soon.

“2. The number of aircrafts on our Presidential fleet will be reduced to maximum two. I offer sincere apologies that we went ahead to invest in luxury items at this bad times. We shall place immediate embargo on subsequent purchases.

“3. Subsidy of petroleum products will be reviewed thoroughly to ascertain the genuine costs and true billing of the controversial payments. While we hope to achieve this in maximum of three months, we shall revert to old prices within this period in order to reduce the heavy burden on our people. We shall also escalate work on our existing refineries without which we shall be throwing away loads of resources. Nothing has stalled our refineries other than reckless corruption. This we are blocking immediately.

“4. Instead of tasking civil servants and politicians to handle students loans and vocational grants, we shall engage reputable accounting firms and banks to set up modalities for credits and activate the disbursements…- CHIEF DELE MOMODU”

A small group of #EndBadGovernance protesters assembled at Gani Fawehinmi Park on Sunday morning, singing solidarity songs shortly after President Bola Tinubu addressed the nation.

The demonstrators expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the President failed to address the core issues they raised, even though he mentioned efforts being made by his administration.

Police and other security personnel remained present at the park.

The police prevented the protesters from marching beyond the designated area at Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota.

The protesters complied peacefully and returned to the designated location.

As of this report, there were more police officers than protesters in the Ojota area of Lagos.

In a broadcast earlier on Sunday, Tinubu urged the youths to halt the #EndBadGovernance protests and engage in dialogue.

He reassured them that his administration is committed to good governance despite the socio-economic challenges facing Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.

Tinubu stated that removing the fuel subsidy was a painful yet necessary decision for economic reforms.

Reinstating the petrol subsidy is one of the key demands of the young Nigerians who have been protesting since Thursday against the country’s economic hardships.

Among the protesters’ demands are the restoration of the fuel subsidy and changes to the foreign exchange regime. They also call for the government to address food shortages, unemployment, and excessive spending by those in power.

Other demands include reducing the President’s cabinet and overall government expenses, and immediate reforms of the electoral commission (INEC) and anti-corruption agency (EFCC), with renewed efforts to combat corrupt politicians.

Nigeria’s D’Tigress have made history by reaching the quarterfinals of the women’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

D’Tigress secured a decisive 79-70 win over Canada in their final group match at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France.

This victory marks Nigeria’s first appearance in the quarterfinal stage of the Olympic basketball competition.

Nigeria advanced through the group stage with five classification points, placing them at the top of the standings. France is set to play against Australia later in the day.

Led by coach Rena Wakama, the Nigerian team rebounded from a loss to France in their second game after securing a victory against Australia in their opening match.

The first quarter saw both Nigeria and Canada neck and neck, ending in an 18-18 tie.

Canada managed to pull ahead slightly in the second quarter, leading 41-37 by halftime.

However, the third quarter shifted in Nigeria’s favor, as they restricted Canada to only five points, taking control of the game.

D’Tigress sealed their historic win with a strong performance in the final quarter, achieving a remarkable 9-point victory over Canada.