The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) on Friday sought partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to harness opportunities to boost food security.

Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, made the disclosure when the NSE President, Mrs Margaret Oguntala, led a delegation to visit the Minister, in Abuja.

Kyari said that the Ministry was elated to partner NSE as the country’s frontline professional body on initiatives to boost food security in Nigeria.

“NSE is a blue-chip society with huge knowledge resources and the ministry will leverage on their capacity to deliver on government set goals on food security.

“The effort at developing sustainable solutions for Nigeria’s food systems is a priority area for the President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“Nigeria has faced challenges in food production for far too long due to the difficulty that families are facing,” he said.

Kyari emphasised that some occurrences like the pandemic, perennial flooding, insecurity and the currency redesign which stiffened money circulation, forced food production to nose dive.

“A new strategy is required to reverse this trend. That is why on assumption of office, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food security,“he said

The Minister, however, said that a partnership with NSE would help in exploring the initiatives presented to him by NSE to boost food production.

According to the NSE President, Mrs Margaret Oguntala, food security is essential for growth, poverty reduction, and human well-being.

Oguntala stated that the entire idea required pragmatic and proactive measures, hence the need for both NSE and the ministry to work together to address the challenges.

She reiterated her organisation’s commitment to supporting food security initiatives in the country and the ministry to deliver on its mandate to increase food production.

“NSE has thrown its weight behind the ministry for the quick realisation of the initiative in the interest of all citizens.

“NSE is also determined to join forces with both the ministry and other private organisations on the effort in developing sustainable solutions for Nigeria’s food systems.”

Oguntala informed the Minister of the society’s upcoming 2024 International Engineering Conference, Exhibition and Annual General Meeting holding on Nov.18 with the theme, “Sustainable Engineering Solutions to Food Security and Climate Change”.

She said the theme was carefully chosen to align with the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu and the determination of his administration to ensure food security in the country.

Oguntala added that NSE would like to partner the ministry on some of its programmes like the Agriculture Entrepreneurial Development.

She listed other strategic agenda to include: Entrepreneurship Development designed to enhance the agricultural sector’s productivity and innovation.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has asked the Nigerian Federal Government, as well as the state governments, to drop criminal charges against activists, journalists, rights defenders and others who are on trial “solely for peacefully exercising their human and democratic rights”.

SERAP equally asked the government to “immediately release anyone still being arbitrarily detained solely for peacefully exercising their human and democratic rights”.

The demand was among the recommendations in a report titled, ‘Broken Promises’: Systematic Crackdown on Civic Space, Democratic Rights And Media Freedom In Nigeria’, released by SERAP on July 3, 2024, in Abuja.

The report assessed citizens’ participation in the democratic process and the protection of dissent in Nigeria.

In other recommendations to the government, SERAP demanded an “end to the systematic crackdown on civic space, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association, media freedom and the right to political participation and other democratic rights and the erosion of the rule of law” in Nigeria.

The civil society organization equally asked the government to “end the use of the unlawful Cybercrime Act to target and arbitrarily arrest and subject critics, journalists, activists and human rights defenders to unfair trials solely for peacefully exercising their human and democratic rights”.

The Nigerian government was also asked to “promptly reform the Electoral Act ahead of the next general elections so that it is entirely consistent with constitutional and international human rights standards in particular, to ensure the effective realization of Nigerians’ right to political participation and other democratic rights”.

SERAP, in the report, also asked the government to ensure the genuine independence, from political influence, of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, and other regulatory bodies with mandates over the civic space, political participation, human and democratic rights as well as media freedom.

The Nigerian government was equally asked to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the right to vote, by ensuring that elections are conducted fairly, impartially and in accordance with established laws, constitutional provisions and international standards.

The CSO urged the government to allow national and international electoral observers, human rights monitors and journalists seeking to observe, monitor or report on elections to access all parts of the country.

It also told the government to “take all necessary steps to ensure that the Nigeria Police and other security agencies act in a neutral and non-partisan fashion in relation to electoral campaigns, elections and all political party activities”.

SERAP, in the same vein, advised the government to “ensure prompt, thorough, impartial, independent, effective and transparent investigations of human right violations in the country, and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice in fair trials, and that victims are provided with access to justice and remedies.

The Nigerian government was also asked to obey and implement court orders that promote the right of citizens to participate in governance, including the judgement of a Federal High Court ordering the government of Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari to account for the spending of $460 million Chinese loan to fund the failed Abuja Closed-Circuit Television, CCTV, project.

The government was equally asked to ensure access to public information, and timely responses from the ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs.

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), have sealed 46 facilities in 10 states of the federation for various forms of environmental violations.

The Assistant Director (Press) NESREA, Mrs Amaka Ejiofor, stated this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

According to her, the enforcement exercise was carried out in Borno, Gombe, Ogun, Enugu, Edo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba States.

Ejiofor explained that the facilities were shut down for refusing to comply with the provisions of the National Environmental Regulations.

” Their offences include violation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, lack of Environmental Audit Report, and failure to develop and implement an Environmental Management Plan.

” Some facilities were also sanctioned for not installing an Effluent Treatment Plant, non-availability of the necessary permits relevant to their operations, and poor housekeeping, among others,” she said.

Ejiofor revealed in the statement that the Director General of NESREA, Dr Innocent Barikor, expressed displeasure over the non-compliance status of many facilities, warning that the trend was unhealthy for the health of the citizens and the environment.

“It is disheartening these errant facilities carried on their operations in a manner that endangered the environment despite Notices of Compliance Concerns served on them as required by law.

” The Agency would continue to enforce the provisions of the 35 National Environmental Regulations and would not fail at any time to impose appropriate penalties on violators.

“Laws are made for the smooth running of the society and compliance with the laws enhances wholesome development.

” I encourage Nigerians to be true environmental vanguards by obeying the laws and reporting any environmental violations,” Barikor said.