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WED: Declare State of Emergency On Environment, HOMEF Urges FG

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As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celebrate 2024 World Environment Day (WED), an environmental activist and Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr Nnimmo Bassey, has called on the Federal Government to urgently declare a state of emergency on the environment.

Bassey made the call in a statement issued to commemorate the 2024 World Environment Day with the theme: ‘Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience.’

The Environmental Activist who noted that the 2024 World Environment Day is dedicated to communities whose lands and livelihoods have been lost to extractivism and pollution, added that “this year’s celebration urges us to reflect on our stewardship duty towards the Nature, environment and all living beings rather than continuing with a predatory and destructive relationships that negate our well-being.”

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Bassey, while noting that as Nigeria celebrate the WED, steps must be taken to halt deforestation, biodiversity erosion and land degradation, added that without serious climate action humanity will remain on a downward spiral to multiple crises that are already plaguing the world today.

According to the Executive Director of the Non-Governmental Organisation, the environment day is a good time for reflection and a change of direction, noting that the 2024 WED offers Nigeria a template for socioeconomic and environmental reexamination and action.

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Bassey lamented that parts of Africa are ravaged by environmental degradation, water stress and drought, adding that Nigeria is particularly affected by desertification and other ecological harms.

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“As we celebrate World Environment Day, we remind ourselves that our environment has been plagued with destructive activities especially through resource extraction and poor land-use changes.

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“Nigeria needs an emergency environmental restoration plan across board as the only way to build resilience and ensure a safe future.

“This is our duty to ourselves and to future generations and immediate steps should be taken by the Nigerian government to ensure the proper clean-up of polluted lands, restoration of same and payment of compensation for damage suffered,” Bassey stated.

He warned that: “We must wake up from the futile dream that the earth can be recklessly exploited without dire consequences. We need to understand that the generous gifts of Nature must be handled with gratitude and care.

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“We are living witnesses to the crimes committed in mining communities, oil fields and conflict zones. We must protect our biodiversity, reject species-eroding genetic modifications of all sorts, and support harmonious relationships with Nature.”

The Executive Director further noted that the World Environment Day is an important day for governments to resolve to ensure that communities are fully informed, consulted and their consent received before projects that impact of the environment are designed or implemented.

He maintained that it must never be forgotten that these communities continuously tackle the impacts of the multidimensional ecological crisis in their unsupported and vulnerable state and deserve to be protected.

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We should transformatively change our policies and choices to live sustainably in harmony with nature, with the complete understanding that the planet is our only home and that her resources are finite,” he stated.

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Back To School: Lions Club Distributes Educational Materials In Edo Schools

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The Benin Etete Unique and Edo Heritage Lions of the International Association of Lions Club on Friday jointly distributed educational materials to two schools in Benin City as part of the association corporate services to humanity.

The two clubs in District 404-A4 Lions Nigeria, jointly carried out the distribution of notebooks, maths sets, school bags and sandals, pens and other writing materials to excited pupils in Ivbioba Primary School and Oghede-Ivioba Primary School, Ugbighoko, Egor Local Government Area, and Evbiyenava Primary School, in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.

Themed, Back to School Project, pupils were also engaged in Reading Action Program (RAP) and Spelling Bee Competition, after which winners were presented with special prizes.

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In their remarks, Lions Darlington Uyi and Franca Nikoro, presidents of Benin Etete Unique and Edo Heritage Lions Clubs stated that the vision of the Lions International is to serve humanity.

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They, therefore, tasked pupils on commitment to their studies in order to attain their fullest potentials in life.

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Emulate Lions in your visions for tomorrow. We have various professionals as members, and if you are committed to your studies, obedient to your parents and teachers, you will attain great heights,” Lion Uyi Darlinton Stated.

Our vision is to serve, and we are here like we do every period to ensure Literacy is inculcated in pupils to enable them to attain their full potential. It is our earnest desire that you grow into well rounded personalities. Literacy is important in order to actualize that aspiration,” Franca Nikoro stated.

Earlier, in his address, Lion Sir Dede Henry Idemudia, Zone 6A Chairperson, tasked the pupils on good conduct, honour to parents and guardians and obedience to instructions of school authority.

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NAFDAC Gives Nigerian Food Companies 18 Months To Cut Trans Fats

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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has set an 18-month grace period, effectively giving food companies until early 2026 before facing full enforcement of regulations to eliminate industrially produced Trans-Fatty Acids (TFA).

The initiative, launched as a comprehensive strategy and roadmap for TFA regulation, moves Nigeria from simply having the policy to enforcing its world-class standard: a regulatory limit of no more than two grams of industrially produced trans fat per 100 grams of total fat or oil.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, emphasised that the roadmap moves the country beyond policy creation to aggressive enforcement and implementation.

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This was contained in the NAFDAC DG’s keynote speech posted on the agency’s official X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

Adeyeye stressed the moral imperative of the Agency’s mission.

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The removal of industrially produced trans fats from the food chain is not only a technical achievement, but a moral imperative.

“Eliminating industrially produced trans fats is possible, achievable, necessary, and urgent,” Adeyeye stated, calling for national collaboration.

The moratorium period is designed to allow manufacturers to exhaust existing stock with outdated labels and reformulate their products to comply with the legal limit.

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NAFDAC’s action targets a dangerous dietary risk factor strongly linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, and premature death globally.

Adeyeye emphasised the significance of the move beyond technical compliance, noting, “The removal of industrially produced trans fats from the food chain is not only a technical achievement, but a moral imperative.”

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This aggressive step builds upon Nigeria’s existing reputation; the country was recognised by the World Health Organisation in 2023 for adopting best-practice TFA elimination policies.

The new roadmap is key to securing WHO validation of Nigeria’s full TFA elimination programme, establishing the nation as a regional leader in public health interventions.

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Mohbad’s Father Urges Lagos AG To Prosecute Wife, Nurse, Others

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Joseph Aloba, the father of late singer Mohbad, has urged the Lagos State government to initiate criminal proceedings against individuals named in the coroner’s inquest into his son’s death.

Mohbad passed away on September 12, 2023, following an injection administered by auxiliary nurse Feyisayo Ogedengbe.

Despite being buried the next day, public outcry and ongoing investigations led to the exhumation of his body on September 21, 2023, for an autopsy.

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In a letter dated October 3 and addressed to the attorney general of Lagos State through his lawyers, Aloba demanded that criminal charges be filed against those indicted within 14 days.

READ ALSO:Mohbad: Naira Marley Speaks In New Video

Specifically, we refer to persons indicted by the coroner’s verdict hereunder: Miss Ogedengbe Fisayo, indicted for unlawful medical practice and gross medical negligence; and Mrs. Omowunmi Aloba, indicted for negligence,” the letter reads.

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“This includes Ibrahim Owodunni, a.k.a. Prime Boy, and others who either facilitated the invitation of the auxiliary nurse or refused to take him promptly to a recognised medical facility for treatment.”

Mohbad’s father said he was concerned that despite the coroner’s clear verdict, no prosecutorial steps had been taken against those indicted nearly three months after the judgment.

He asked the attorney general to exercise prosecutorial powers within the 14 days, or, in the alternative, grant him and his legal team a fiat to prosecute the matter on behalf of the state.

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“Our Client, as a bereaved father desirous of ensuring that justice is done and seen to be done, is deeply concerned that notwithstanding the clear indictments contained in the Coroner’s Verdict, no prosecutorial steps have been taken against the aforementioned persons since the delivery of the Verdict on 11th July, 2025,” the letter reads.

The judicial observations amount to clear indictments warranting the prosecution of the said individuals in order to give full effect to the Coroner’s findings and recommendations, and to ensure that justice is manifestly and adequately served in this matter.

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“We request that you exercise your prosecutorial power on the above subject matter within 14 Days Next, in view of the high sensitivity of this matter and the public attention and outrage it has generated.”

In October 2023, Naira Marley and Sam Larry were arrested over allegations linking them to Mohbad’s death, but were released on bail after five weeks in detention.

By February 2025, a magistrate court cleared them of any involvement in the singer’s demise.

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