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HOMEF Applauds NASS On Decision To Investigate GMOs In Nigeria

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says Nigeria needs to prioritise public health

Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and the GMO-Free Nigeria
Alliance have commended the House of Representatives on the resolution to comprehensively investigate the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into Nigeria and for a halt on approval of new products
pending the completion of that investigation.

This is as the House of Representatives also urged the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to ensure labelling of GM crops already in the country.

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The House resolution to investigate the introduction of GMOs into Nigeria followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Muktar Shagaya at a plenary session held on Thursday 16th May 2024.

In a statement made available to INFO DAILY Kome Odhomor, Media/Communication Lead, HOMEF, the Executive Director of the organisation, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, said ass the lawmaker rightly explained, the introduction of GMOs in Nigeria raises serious concerns about safety, regulatory oversight, and their potential impacts on the country’s biosafety.

READ ALSO: Judicial Misconduct: NJC Sets Up Panel To Probe 35 Petitions Against

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He noted that the investigation which has been long “overdue is vital to save the country from the dangerous path to food colonialism, contamination of our genetic resources, loss of
biodiversity/nutritional diversity, soil degradation, and overall
disruption of our agriculture and food systems.”

Bassey continued: “This investigation must be unbiased and thorough. To ensure this, the National Assembly should engage independent researchers to avoid contamination of the process by GMO promoters.

“This investigation should consider Nigeria’s agricultural landscape and investigate the underlying
causes of hunger/food insecurity and as well establish definite measures to address those issues. This is the time to rescue Nigerians from being used for risky experimentations.”

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The Executive Director also stressed the need for critical examination of the National Biosafety Management Agency Act for its fitness for purpose.

READ ALSO: GMOs: HOMEF Trains Gelegele Farmers, Urges Them To Embrace Agroecology

He further added: “That law needs to be completely reworked to close existing loopholes including the composition of its governing/decision making board by excluding GMO promoters such as the National Biotechnology Development Agency; the lack of provision on strict liability, inadequate public consultation measures, absolute decision-making powers of the agency, minimal reference to the precautionary principal and many others.

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This was the submission of Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, Food Sovereignty Activist and Deputy Executive Director at Friends of the Earth Nigeria.”

Also reacting to the Green Chamber’s call on NAFDAC to label GMO crops in the country, HOMEF’s Director of Programmes and lead on Hunger Politics, Joyce Brown, noted that the agency will need to devise strategies to have foods sold in local markets in basins, by the road sides, and in processed forms like Ogi and Akara labelled to ensure informed decision-making by the majority of people who purchase food from these sources.

This exercise will prove that GMOs do not fit our socio-economic context. Over the years, market shelf surveys conducted by HOMEF has revealed over 50 different processed/packaged foods labelled as produced using genetically modified ingredients,” she added.

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READ ALSO: HOMEF Trains Women On Climate Change Adaptation

Brown advised that permits for commercialisation of GMO products such as Bt Cowpea, Tela Maize, Bt Corn and all others be suspended pending the result of the investigation by the House Committee on Agriculture and others.

The statement reaffirmed the submission by Rep. Shagaya that there’s need to prioritise public health, biodiversity, increased support of small holder farmers in terms of extension service, provision of infrastructure (to curtail waste), access to credits, access to land and the growth of our local economy.

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Nigeria should adopt agroecological farming which aligns well with our socio economic and socio cultural
context. Agroecology delivers increased productivity and economic resilience, revises/nourishes ecosystems, strengthens local economies, mitigates climate change and promotes food sovereignty,” the statement concluded.

 

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Nigerian Guild Of Editors Suspends Editor Over Breach Of Confidentiality

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The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has suspended veteran journalist and editor, Mr. Steve Osuji, from the professional body for a period of one year over what it described as a serious breach of journalistic ethics.

According to a letter dated July 4, 2025, and signed by the Guild’s President, Eze Anaba, and General Secretary, Onuoha Ukeh, the suspension takes immediate effect and stems from Osuji’s violation of an off-the-record agreement during the Guild’s 25th Biennial National Convention held in Enugu on June 27.

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The Guild stated that Osuji disclosed confidential information from a presentation made by the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi—information which had been shared with Guild members under a strict non-disclosure understanding.

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Citing Article 4 of the Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists concerning privilege and non-disclosure, the Guild emphasized that its members are bound to uphold confidentiality agreements and protect sources who offer information off the record or in the background.

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During the investigation into your actions, you were given an opportunity to defend yourself. However, instead of acknowledging your mistake, you threatened the Guild with further publications,” the letter read.

While noting that Osuji reserves the right to appeal the decision, the Guild reiterated its commitment to upholding ethical standards in journalism and warned that it would not tolerate any breach of its code.

The disciplinary action was approved by the Standing Committee of the Guild, whose membership includes leading editors from across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.

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Google Empowers Nigerian Newsrooms With Tools To Maximise Ad Revenue, Digital Innovation

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Google has concluded two major events in Lagos geared towards equipping Nigerian media professionals with advanced digital tools to drive advertising revenue and newsroom efficiency.

The Google Ad Manager Academy 3.0, held on Friday at the Google office in Ikoyi, Lagos, brought together media practitioners across Sub-Saharan Africa in a hybrid format—both in-person and virtual.

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The event focused on helping publishers fully unlock the potential of Google Ad Manager, understand new consumer insights, leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning, and implement yield optimization techniques to boost earnings across mobile and web platforms.

On Tuesday, the company also held Publisher Day NG 2025, featuring a hands-on workshop that introduced participants to Google’s suite of newsroom tools, such as News Consumer Insights 3.0, Gemini for News, NotebookLM, and Pinpoint.

READ ALSO:Google Drops Pledge Not To Use AI For Weapons

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The sessions were designed to demonstrate how these innovations can enhance content research, audience engagement, and ad performance.

Attendees included editors, ad operations specialists, marketing managers, and journalists from leading media houses such as Vanguard, Channels TV, Silverbird TV, The Nation, BusinessDay, Pulse, Dochase among a host of others.

Speaking after the event, Onyinyechi “Nini” Eze, Strategic Partner Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa at Google, reflected on the growing interest among Nigerian news organisations in programmatic advertising.

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I think the Google Ad Monetization journey has been interesting for me. I’ve been in Google for three years and we had the Google Ad Manager Academy 3.0, so this would be our third edition. What I found really interesting is the amount of news companies and news agencies that are now coming on board with Ad Monetization, programmatic Ad Monetization,” she said.

READ ALSO:Google To Link Africa, Australia With Landmark Umoja Cable

Primarily, you know that the newsroom really adopt more of traditional advertising, but then now, you’ve seen from statistics that 80% is going programmatic. So this is where I find a lot of joy: to see that a lot of news organisations are actually now adopting programmatic advertising, which will potentially increase their yield.”

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Asked about how the initiative aligns with Google’s broader vision for Nigeria, Eze said, “If you think about Google’s mission, it’s always about making our content more accessible. So if you think about the news, right? And you think about Google’s mission, it always tally because the news agencies are trying to ensure that they give out credible news, trustworthy news, and then making it accessible to everyone, so that everybody understands what’s going on.”

She emphasised Google’s commitment to supporting both large and small content creators with free tools.

SquirrelPR simplifies press distribution across Africa with launch of content marketplace

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READ ALSO:Google Shares Slide On Spending Plans Despite Sales Jump

It could be you’re a blog, it could be you’re a small news outfit, but then we want a situation where we can showcase a lot of tools—these tools are free—so you can upskill yourself and then also sustain the news industry, the media industry as well.”

On the tools that stood out to participants, Eze mentioned, “From the Ad Monetization side, we have the Google Ad Manager platform, which is free. We also have AdSense, it’s also a free tool. We have AdMob. Starting your Ad Monetization journey is actually quite easy now. It’s really more about understanding what the tool can do and how it can monetize your platforms.”

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She also highlighted tools from Publisher Day, such as News Consumer Insights 3.0, Google Ad Analytics 4, Gemini, and NotebookLM, saying “all these tools can help those news agencies: both small and large to actually sustain themselves and grow.”

Looking ahead to future editions and ongoing support, Eze said, “Google mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. This tally’s with the general news industry goals to drive credible, trustworthy news, making accessible to everyone. Google aims to support the media industry through its technologies and innovation to achieve their goals.”

 

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70-year-old Man Kills Sister Over Family Land

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A tragic case of culpable homicide has rocked the Galadanchi village in Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa State, leaving a family in shock and grief.

According to a statement made available to journalists in Dutse, the State capital, on Friday, by the Police Public Relations Officer, Jigawa State Command, SP Shi’isu Adam, the incident occurred on July 1, 2025, around 1530hrs.

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“The Jigawa State Police Command is currently investigating a tragic case of culpable homicide that occurred on July 1, 2025, around 1530hrs in Galadanchi village, Dutse LGA,” SP Adam stated.

“The suspect, 70-year-old Adamu Yakubu, allegedly killed his 45-year-old sister, Hannatu Hashimu, over a land dispute stemming from family inheritance.

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“The suspect allegedly stabbed his sister with a stick during a heated argument over the sharing of family inheritance land,” SP Adam revealed.

The altercation began as a verbal disagreement but escalated into physical violence, resulting in the tragic death of Hannatu Hashimu.

The deceased exited the house bitterly and fainted upon entering the matrimonial house, prompting relatives to rush her to Dutse General Hospital.

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Unfortunately, she was pronounced dead by the medical doctor on duty, leaving the family in mourning.

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The Police statement highlighted that “the suspect was arrested and is currently in police custody, assisting with the ongoing investigation.”

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However, SP Adam disclosed that the assault stick was recovered and kept as an exhibit, and the suspect will be arraigned in court upon completion of the investigation.

The Jigawa State Police Command has strongly condemned the incident and urged members of the public to seek peaceful and legal ways to resolve family and land-related disputes.

The Command also expresses its condolences to the family of the deceased and assures the public that justice will be served.

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