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Why We Appointed Jonathan ‘Africa Ambassador For Agricultural Technology’ – AATF

Published

3 years ago

May 16, 2023

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation, AATF, weekend, explained why former President Goodluck Jonathan was appointed ‘Africa Ambassador for Agricultural Technology’, which was based on the indelible agricultural initiatives he reeled out to take Nigeria’s agricultural sector to an enviable height with various policies, programmes and projects.

Speaking in an interactive session with agric correspondents in Abuja, the Executive Director, Dr Canisius Kanangire, made this known, and said there is still a lot to do for biotechnology to be embraced in the continent.

Kanangire said Jonathan has all it takes to motivate other African countries to embrace agricultural technologies that would change the narrative.

He said: “His Excellency, Goodluck Jonathan, one of the areas where he brought innovative ideas was agriculture, with his Agricultural Transformation Initiative of Nigeria, and he made success.

“And today when I look at how Dr. Akinwumi Adesina talks and knowing that he was his Minister of Agriculture, I cannot help it but I feel proud of that initiative, and that is why when we are selecting people to help us do something, among the names that I put on the list and started discussing with some of the board members, was the name of Jonathan Goodluck.

“So what we expect of him is that he (Jonathan) brings this voice of ours, we and yours to the highest level where our limit does not allow us to reach he can open the door of his peer, current Presidents of different countries in Africa, and tell them ‘I believe this is the way we can change our nations on the African continent’.

He can talk to our various ministers; “You are doing policies but I tried this and I know if it can work if you don’t do this I don’t know if you will reach the result that you expect’.

“So he will talk as a high level ambassador who will talk as one who has tried his ammunition on transforming one of the biggest countries on the continent. He will talk as one who is also a scientist in this area.

“We believe that his interventions will bring our voice very high and convince many of the changes that we need and it will be an opportunity also to scale up his initiatives on the Nigeria to the whole continent, and contribute to the agricultural transformation initiative of Sub Saharan Africa, in particular, and the whole of Africa in general.”

Meanwhile, the AATF boss said biotechnology is making appreciable progress in Africa as African countries are keying into it.

“Biotechnology is one of the key areas of those technological changes that we need to bring to Africa, and it comes within a number of processes, and we need to identify the needs on the African continent from the farmers’ level and discuss it with the country where we are, which is the government authorities.

“We need to go out and scout the right technologies that we need, negotiate it so that it can be transferred to our governance, and that I would say is the niche of AATF, and we have been doing quite properly.

“Another thing is to have policies that will enable us to bring that biotechnology product to the consumers in the country and the first element has been to work with different countries, including Nigeria to improving and putting in place, the National Biosafety Laws and having the right institutions to really lead the regulatory framework on biosafety that has been done in a number of countries, not only Nigeria, and we are progressing quite well on that.

“I would say quite well, but we would like to have it more expedited, but countries have the sovereign of being first convinced of what they are doing and I am happy with that.

“The second thing now is that we will bring the product to the country and in Nigeria, we have been successful in bringing Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) cowpea, which resists the Maruca vitrata, and it changed quite a lot in terms of productivity, and reduced a lot the number of sprays of insecticides that were applied by the farmers.

“I would say from eight or more sprays to maximum two. I think that is a real game changer economically, environmentally and health wise. With the PBR cowpea productivity is increasing and Nigeria has also released the uptake and utilisation of Tela Maize.

“Tela Maize is also insect resistant maize, which resists stem borer that is also in progress, and from the example that we achieved here, Ghana is progressing, they have already released the PBR cowpea, we are expecting quite soon to have it in the hands of the farmers.

“And we hope that Burkina Faso will come on Tela Maize. Also, biotechnology products are already planted. In South Africa, but soon we will have it in Ethiopia, in Nigeria, in Kenya and in Mozambique.

“So progress is coming up quite well on biotechnology and GMOs, and there are also projects on geno editing which are in the pipeline. So, biotechnology is coming quite well and we are learning and getting encouraged by the successes.”

However, he (Kanangire) pointed out that seed production remains a central component of shielding farmers and the value chain against the insects.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged that Nigeria is leading other African countries in policy advocacy, communication, scientific research and adapting the technology to meet the need, and added that Nigeria has been “a real big brother” on the African continent producing very good things to emulate.

“One of the key areas is the seed production, the putting in place of seed systems, that is very critical because it is good that we the scientists and other technocrats and media people work together to bring the good message to the people and then say we need productivity. We need to be shielded against these insects, and then give us the seed and we don’t have seed that is something which can kill the organism.

“And that is why we need to work very shortly to put in place a very high quality and very effective and efficient seed system. That is what we are working on with all our partners in Nigeria, including all these authorities and the IAR that is spearheading the adoption of this technology”, he stated.

He also pointed out that the mechanisation actually is one area where Africa is not doing well, and added that AATF is keen about it, “So now, We absolutely need to mechanise.

“Mechanisation is critical to achieving food security, and prosperity through agriculture. We are encouraging it in different ways at AATF, a decade ago, and we piloted what was called the Cassava Mechanisation and Agro-processing Project, CAMAP, which was active in Nigeria, Zambia, Uganda, and Tanzania.

“Here in Nigeria, we have continued that same initiative that we started with CAMAP, we have what we call Agridrive, and it is a company which provides mechanisation services to farmers, including the smallholder farmers, who cannot buy their own tractors. And this is also to show that actually we can change the lives of many by having this type of service.”
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Related Topics:Goodluck Jonathan Jonathan

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Edo Targets 2.2 Million Children For Measles, Rubella Vaccination

Published

3 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Editor

The Edo State Government says it is targeting about 2.2 million children aged between 0 and 14 years for measles and rubella vaccination across the state.

The Director of Disease Control and Immunization at the Edo State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Eseigbe Efeomon, who disclosed this during stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting in Benin City, said this would be done in collaboration with development partners.

Efeomon, while noting that the vaccination exercise scheduled to hold simultaneously from January 20 to January 30, 2026, across the 18 local government areas of Edo State at designated health facilities and temporary vaccination posts, said the campaign aims to contribute significantly to the reduction of measles and rubella in Nigeria.

He explained that achieving this target requires increased population immunity through sustained vaccination.

Dr. Efeomon stressed that only qualified and certified health workers would be recruited as vaccinators because the vaccines are injectable.

According to him, the vaccination strategy would involve fixed posts and temporary fixed posts, and vaccination cards would be issued to all vaccinated children as proof, which parents and caregivers are advised to keep for future reference.

He added that vaccination teams would visit schools, churches, mosques, markets, motor parks, internally displaced persons’ camps and other public places, while children who receive the vaccine would be finger-marked to prevent double vaccination.

He reiterated that the overarching goal of the campaign is to drastically reduce rubella incidence nationwide and protect children from preventable diseases through effective immunisation coverage.

Also speaking, the World Health Organization Local Government Facilitator, Mr. Ajaero Paul, described measles and rubella as major causes of death and congenital abnormalities among children globally.

He said both diseases are preventable through the measles-rubella vaccine, which he described as safe and effective,

He added that sustained advocacy is critical to reducing child mortality and lifelong disabilities.

On his part, UNICEF Social and Behavioural Change Health Officer, Yakubu Suleiman, emphasised that the measles-rubella vaccine is safe and effective for all children aged nine months to 14 years.

He stated that the government has fully paid for the vaccines, making them available at no cost to all eligible children in government health facilities across the state.

Suleiman explained that vaccination not only protects individual children but also safeguards communities from deadly vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and rubella.

He added that even children who had previously received the measles vaccine should still be given the measles-rubella vaccine and appealed to schools and other key stakeholders to support the campaign to ensure that no child is left behind.

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Togo, Niger, Benin Owe Nigeria Over $17.8m For Supplied Electricity – NERC

Published

7 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Editor

Nigeria’s electricity regulator has disclosed that three neighbouring countries, Togo, Niger and Benin, are indebted to Nigeria to the tune of $17.8 million, equivalent to more than N25 billion at prevailing exchange rates, for power supplied under bilateral electricity agreements.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, made this known in its Third Quarter 2025 report, which reviewed market performance within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI.

According to the report, the international customers were billed a total of $18.69 million by the Market Operator for electricity supplied during the third quarter of 2025. However, only $7.125 million was paid, leaving an unpaid balance of $11.56 million for the period under review.

NERC also revealed that the same international offtakers had outstanding legacy debts amounting to $14.7 million from previous quarters. Of this amount, $7.84 million was settled, leaving a residual balance of $6.23 million.

When combined with the Q3 2025 shortfall, the total outstanding debt stood at $17.8 million, which translates to about N25.36 billion at an exchange rate of N1,425 to one US dollar.

The regulator identified the international electricity customers as Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo, Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique of Benin Republic, and Société Nigérienne d’Électricité of Niger Republic.

NERC stated that the three utilities collectively paid just $7.125 million against the $18.69 million invoice issued for electricity supplied in the third quarter, resulting in a remittance performance of 38.09 per cent.

This meant that more than half of the billed amount remained unpaid at the close of the quarter.

The commission explained that the electricity exported to the three countries was generated by grid-connected Nigerian generation companies and delivered through cross-border bilateral power supply arrangements.

By contrast, NERC reported a stronger payment performance among domestic bilateral customers. According to the report, local customers paid N3.19 billion out of the N3.64 billion invoiced for the same quarter, representing a remittance rate of 87.61 per cent.

The regulator further noted that some bilateral customers, both international and domestic, made additional payments to offset outstanding invoices from earlier quarters.

Specifically, the Market Operator received $7.84 million from international customers and N1.3 billion from domestic customers in settlement of previous obligations.

Beyond bilateral transactions, NERC disclosed that Nigeria’s 11 electricity distribution companies remitted a total of N381.29 billion to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and the Market Operator in the third quarter of 2025. This was out of a cumulative invoice of N400.48 billion, translating to an overall remittance performance of 95.21 per cent.

The commission said the figures were derived from reconciled market settlement data submitted as of December 18, 2025, as part of its statutory evaluation of the commercial health and performance of the electricity market.

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Expert Identify Foods That Increase Hypertension Medication’s Effectiveness

Published

15 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Editor

Hypertension remains one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide, contributing significantly to heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Despite the availability of effective antihypertensive drugs, long-term control of high blood pressure is often challenging because of drug resistance, side effects, and poor adherence.

This has fueled growing scientific interest in complementary strategies that can enhance drug efficacy while minimising toxicity. One promising approach is the combination of conventional antihypertensive medications with herbs and spices in many kitchens.

Recent evidence suggests that augmenting modern antihypertensive drugs with foods rich in p-coumaric acid, a naturally occurring phenolic acid, may offer a novel and effective strategy for blood pressure control.

Phenolic compounds, commonly found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, are known for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and blood vessel–protective properties.

In a study, researchers investigated the combined effects of lisinopril, a widely used antihypertensive drugs and p-coumaric acid on hypertension.

They reported in the Comparative Clinical Pathology that p-coumaric acid enhance the antihypertensive action of lisinopril, potentially allowing for improved blood pressure control without increasing drug dosage.

The study used an established animal model in which hypertension was induced in rats through oral administration of L-NAME, a compound known to suppress nitric oxide production and raise blood pressure.

Following the induction of hypertension, the animals were treated for 14 days with p-coumaric acid (at two different doses), lisinopril alone, or a combination of both.

Untreated hypertensive rats showed significantly elevated activities of key enzymes linked to high blood pressure such as ACE, arginase, acetylcholinesterase, and phosphodiesterase-5 along with increased lipid peroxidation, an indicator of oxidative stress. At the same time, levels of nitric oxide, a critical molecule for blood vessel relaxation, were markedly reduced.

By contrast, rats treated with a combination of lisinopril and p-coumaric acid experienced notable improvements. Blood pressure was better controlled; harmful enzyme activities were reduced, oxidative stress declined, and nitric oxide levels increased. These improvements were mirrored in the tissues the heart compared with untreated hypertensive animals.

They said that the findings suggest that p-coumaric acid may enhance the antihypertensive action of lisinopril, potentially allowing for improved blood pressure control without increasing drug dosage.

This drug–food interaction model is particularly important in the circumstance of long-term hypertension management. Many patients rely on lifelong medication, and strategies that can improve treatment outcomes while reducing side effects are highly desirable.

The study also reinforces the growing recognition that diet is not merely supportive but can be biologically active in disease control.

The use of medicinal plants and plant-based therapies in the management of hypertension is deeply rooted in traditional medicine across many cultures. While such practices have often existed outside conventional healthcare systems, modern scientific research is now providing evidence-based explanations for their effectiveness.

While these findings are based on animal studies and cannot yet be directly translated into clinical recommendations for humans, they open the door to future research on dietary strategies that can safely complement antihypertensive drugs.

Further clinical studies are needed to determine appropriate dosages, safety profiles, and real-world effectiveness.

In the fight against hypertension, the future may lie not only in new drugs, but also in smarter combinations, where medicine and nutrition work together to deliver better, safer outcomes for patients.

Such nutrition to help maintain healthy blood pressure includes garlic, potatoes, walnuts,tomato and tomato products, legumes and citrus fruits (grapefruits and oranges).
(TRIBUNE)