₦airaland Forum

How are you making personal preparations for stocking up on food to protect your family. The earlier the better.

The 2013 budget read yesterday had no provision for fuel subsidy and thus put paid the optimism of the continuation of the fuel subsidy.

The president had already made that known during his speech at the UN in New York that he does not favour subsidies on Hydrocarbons as it only benefits the Rich.

Add this to the looming food crises and you have an explosive national cocktail!!

PDP is trying to do the I told you so before the political upheaval of food riots hit Nigeria.

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/512817


THE HAGUE: Four Nigerian farmers take on Shell in a Dutch court, accusing the oil giant of destroying their livelihoods in a case that could set a precedent for global environmental responsibility.

The civil suit, backed by lobby group Friends of the Earth, alleges that oil spills dating back to 2005 by the Anglo-Dutch company made fishing and farming in the plaintiffs' Niger Delta villages impossible.

The case was initially filed in 2008, demanding that Royal Dutch Shell clean up the mess, repair and maintain defective pipelines to prevent further damage and pay out compensation.

In a landmark ruling, the Dutch judiciary in 2009 declared itself competent to try the case despite protests from Shell that its Nigerian subsidiary was solely legally responsible for any damage.

"I inherited the fishponds from my late father. I lost my income due to the oil spill. Now we are struggling to make ends meet," plaintiff Fidelis Oguru, the head of Oruma village, was quoted as saying by Friends of the Earth.

Oil pollution has ravaged swathes of the Niger Delta in the world's eighth largest oil producer, which exports more than two million barrels a day.

Shell is the biggest producer in the west African country, where it has been drilling for over 50 years.

Environmental groups accuse Shell of double standards and treating spills in Nigeria differently from pollution in Europe or North America.

"The scale of the pollution is enormous: twice as much oil has been spilled in Nigeria than was in the Gulf of Mexico. Only there (Nigeria) it's never been cleaned up," Friends of the Earth Netherlands spokesman Geert Ritsema told AFP.

The 2010 explosion and sinking of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig led to around five million barrels of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico in the biggest ever marine spill.

Shell says that spills in Nigeria are well below five million barrels and that the company cleans up whenever there is a leak, many of which it says are caused by sabotage.

Environmentalists want the Netherlands, and other Western nations, to pass laws forcing companies to enforce the same environmental responsibility standards abroad as at home.

If the Nigerians' suit succeeds, it could lead to a flood of similar cases being brought before Dutch courts.

Shell operates in over 90 countries, according to its website.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/1230726/1/.html

http://m.news24.com/nigeria/National/News/Flooding-likely-to-cause-food-shortage-20121010

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt, Mmom, of the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, said:‘’ When there is flooding like it is now, the entire farmland is submerged.

``So, whatever the crops, the animals there, are badly damaged and affected in the process.

‘’The import of that is that there will be food shortage because some of these crops are not up to maturity stage before the flood came.

‘’ And even though they have matured, you will find out that you will be harvesting the crops that you are supposed to have harvested over a month later at an instance.’’

Mmom, who is also the Chairman, Nigerian Society of Environment, Rivers State chapter, said that matured crops such as cassava, yam and cocoa yam, could get rotten when the flood receded.

He said that a major challenge to agriculture in the country was storage of produce, noting that some of the affected crops were not up to maturity stage before the flood came.

‘’ Nigerians should brace up for food shortage and hunger early next year. The option is for the country to import food next year in the interim.

‘’ Also, as soon as the flood recedes,  cropping should begin immediately so that the crops will be ready for harvesting before the next rainy season.''

So far, over 140 people have been reportedly killed, while about 10,000 people have been rendered homeless. Altogether, an estimated 130,000 people across the federation have been affected, according to the Nigerian Red Cross Society.  In addition to the N17.6 billion promised by the Federal Government, state governments and individual donors are responding to this life-changing disaster.

Yet, the Federal Ministry of Environment has predicted that 16 more states will suffer more torrential flooding, warning people living in such vulnerable states to evacuate their homes before they are taken unawares. Aside from the number of people confirmed dead, it has been difficult to quantify the extent of destruction to property. Household goods now float freely on top of water. What used to be roads have suddenly turned waterways that can only be navigated by canoes. In fact, the main link road between the Federal Capital Territory and Lokoja, in Kogi State, was cut off for days.

The Minister of Environment, Hadiza Mailafia, said over 5,000 farmland had been washed away. People are now being threatened by snakes, crocodiles and hippopotami, animals that have been dislodged from their natural habitat by the raging flood. Also likely to come with the floods are water-borne diseases, especially cholera, with its high mortality rate.

http://www.punchng.com/editorial/flooding-and-food-security-threat/


With flooding coming into account, the food situation can only get worse, pushing more people into poverty traps. In Adamawa, one of the states seriously affected by the flooding, almost half of the farmland is said to have been submerged by water. It is said that between 30,000 and 50,000 tonnes of maize, rice and other food crops are likely to be lost to the floods in the 2012 farming season. This may increase our food import bill, put at an average of N2.3 trillion annually between 2007 and 2010.

The Federal Government’s warning about an impending food shortage is not enough. The farmers whose livelihood may have been washed away by the flood need to be supported, by granting them soft loans, seedlings and fertiliser. There should also be an effort to move away from subsistence farming to mechanised farming. No matter how many people go into farming, as long as the dependence on crude, local implements continues, it will be impossible for the country to achieve self-sufficiency in food production.

It is common knowledge that most of the food produced in the country is wasted because of acute lack of storage and processing facilities. These are areas the government should look into in trying to ameliorate the food crisis. Besides, given the rapidly changing weather, it has become imperative to make available weather and climate information emanating from NIMET for application in agricultural activities.

http://www.nigerianobservernews.com/08102012/news/news1.html


Auchi - Farmers in Edo state have called on the Federal Government to take urgent measures to avert imminent food crisis as a result of flooding in parts of the country.

Alhaji Abdulahi Mohammed, Coordinator, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), in Edo North Senatorial district, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Auchi.

Mohammed observed that the floods had destroyed hundreds of hectares of farms in the state, adding that “even, the few farms that may have been spared, will have poor harvest’’.

According to him, in Edo North alone, the flood destroyed all farmlands in Etsako Central, Etsako East and Esan South-East Local Government Areas.

He explained that rice, yam and cassava farmers were mostly affected by the flood.

“Without rice from Udaba, Udochi and Anegbette in Etsako Central, yam and cassava from Etsako East and Esan South East, there will be no food in the state.

“It is, therefore, urgently imperative on government to find a lasting solution to the problem to avoid serious food and health crisis as well as social problems”.

http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/37017/2012/10/09/jonathan_tasks_council_postflood_impact_food_production.html




President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday directed the Agricultural Transformation Implementation Council (ATIC) to come up with programmes to address the impending food shortages following the flooding of farmlands.

Jonathan gave the directive in his opening remarks at the inaugural meeting of the council, which he presided over at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Council, comprising of members from both the public and private sector, was set up as the apex platform to chart the way forward for the attainment of the transformation agenda in the agricultural sector.

Jonathan drew the attention of the council to the severe impact of flooding across the country ``which has continued to wash away farmlands’’.

``It is noteworthy that this inaugural meeting is coming up at a time when many parts of our country, including farmlands are being ravaged by unprecedented flooding.

``There is no doubt that this unfortunate situation will have adverse effects on agricultural production in the affected communities.

``I charge members of this council to make planning for the post-impact implication of the ongoing flooding on agricultural production,’’ he said.

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100962:effects-of-the-river-niger-flooding-&catid=37:editorial&Itemid=612


THE unprecedented flooding experienced in several states across the country has certainly presented horrendous situation of human carnage and property destruction that calls for more attention than presently being given. Even more alarming is the overwhelming damage resulting in food shortage and other humanitarian crises that the flood may throw up. These forebodings are easily gleaned by the horrific reports of the devastation occasioned by the incidents on several communities along the River Niger in the past two weeks. Millions of people have been sacked from their homes in what has turned out to be Nigeria’s worst natural disaster in history, in a country which hardly records devastating natural calamities.

The cost of the damage caused by the disaster is yet unknown, partly because casualty figures is still rising. Hectares of farmlands, homes, silos and animals worth billions of naira are being daily washed away in areas that constitute the food basket of the nation. It is logical to expect possible food shortage, epidemic outbreak and environmental destruction. The government should prepare for these with a view to minimising their unpleasant effects.

Aerial view of the flooding shows submerged homes with only the roofs visible across the states bordering the river from Niger to Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Anambra, Edo and Delta. Farmlands, roads, bridges and other properties have been washed away. Some residents are reported trapped on treetops in Lokoja and in need of help. Women, children and the elderly were the worst hit. This development has worsened the existing poverty in the communities.

http://www.proshareng.com/news/18408

With floods occurring around the harvest season, recent improvements storage capabilities may provide little protection for food prices in H2 2012. 50% of MoM declines in CPI have occurred in the Oct-November window. An acceleration of food—and headline CPI during this period significantly reduces the chances of achieving the single digit figures we had anticipated in January 2013 once the base effects of the 3.3% MoM rise in January 2012 elapse. With this in view, our relief at the passage of the June-August window without significant food price pressures may be short-lived as flooding has now shifted our expectations anchor into the October-November window, which will now likely determine future inflation trajectory. Overall our estimates for the H2 2012 average headline inflation has increased 40bps to 11% but the key question is if Q4-12 CPI readings will be strong enough to upend secular decline in headline CPI on which much of our policy and economic outlook depends.

http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/37179/2012/10/11/flood_nema_expresses_fear_over_likely_epidemic.html



Both the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have raised the alarm over the possibility of epidemics in flood ravaged communities in many states of the federation, calling for urgent intervention to prevent the outbreak of diseases.

PREPARE FOR FOOD RIOTS, INFLATION AND GOVERNMENT INSTABILITY IN THE COMING MONTHS.

THE ARAB SPRING ACTUALLY STARTED AS A REVOLT AGAINST HIGH FOOD PRICES, HUNGRY MEN ARE VERY HUNGRY MEN.

PLEASE STOCK UP FOR WHAT IS ABOUT TO BE UNLEASHED ON NIGERIA!!!

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/08/20128218556871733.html


The world is on the brink of a food "catastrophe" caused by the worst US drought in 50 years, and misguided government biofuel policy will exacerbate the perilous situation, scientists and activists warn.

When food prices spike and people go hungry, violence soon follows, they say. Riots caused by food shortages - similar to those of 2007-08 in countries like Bangladesh, Haiti, the Philippines and Burkina Faso among others - may be on the horizon, threatening social stability in impoverished nations that rely on US corn imports.

This summer's devastating drought has scorched much of the mid-western United States - the world's bread basket.

Crops such as corn, wheat, and soy have been decimated by high temperatures and little rain. Grain prices have skyrocketed and concerns abound the resulting higher food prices will hit the world's poor the hardest - sparking violent demonstrations.

Early dryness in Russia's wheat growing season, light monsoon rains in India, and drought in Africa's Sahel region, combined with America's lost crop, mean a perfect storm is on the horizon.

Surging food prices could kick off food riots similar to those in 2008 and 2010, Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam, president of the New England Complex Systems Institute, told Al Jazeera.

"Recent droughts in the mid-western United States threaten to cause global catastrophe," said Bar-Yam, whose institute uses computer models to identify global trends.

Hopes were high in May of a bumper corn crop this year, but sizzling temperatures in June and July scuttled those predictions. US corn yields are now expected to be the lowest in 17 years.

The United States accounted for 39 per cent of global trade in corn in 2011-12. Stockpiles are now down 48 per cent, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Corn prices have shot up 60 per cent since June 15.

Corn is a primary staple in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in much of Central and South America. In South Africa, the cost of maize has increased about 40 per cent in the last year, even before the US drought struck. 

Bar-Yam highlighted the food riots of 2007-08 and 2010-11 that were fuelled by sudden and dramatic spikes in food prices. He said his institute recently entered data from the US drought into its computer model, which predicted the outbreak of food-related unrest "in a short period of time".

"When people are unable to feed themselves and their families, widespread social disruption occurs," Bar-Yam said. "We are on the verge of another crisis, the third in five years, and likely to be the worst yet, capable of causing new food riots and turmoil on a par with the Arab Spring."

Fighting for food

While Americans and other Westerners will largely escape the financial pain spawned by the drought, impoverished people around the globe won't be so fortunate.

People in wealthy industrialised countries spend between 10 to 20 per cent of their income on food. Those in the developing world pay up to 80 per cent. According to Oxfam, a one per cent jump in the price of food results in 16 million more people crashing into poverty. 

More than 60 food riots occurred worldwide between 2007 and 2009, when rapidly rising commodity prices wreaked havoc on family budgets.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-10/food-inflation-surge-goldman-warns


We have been very active in our discussions of the impact of the pending rise in food prices around the world (from central bank largesse to weather-related chaos). As Goldman notes, food inflation has been one of the most significant sources of headline inflation variation in emerging markets (EM) over the past few years. Since June, international prices for agricultural commodities have risen almost 30%, increasing the risk of fresh, food-related increases to EM headline inflation.

We, like Goldman, expect EM headline inflation to start to reflect the relevant pressures more broadly in the October prints at the latest. While the effects, for now, are expected to be less extreme than the 2010-2011 episode, the timing as the US enters its fiscal-cliff-prone malaise, could mean a further round of easing will reignite this critical inflationary concern.

http://www.punchng.com/news/nigerians-should-prepare-for-food-shortage-pdp/

The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday asked Nigerians to be prepared for imminent food shortage.

The party said scarcity of food would be one of the effects of the floods that ravaged some parts of the country recently.

Rising from its National Working Committee in Abuja, the PDP however commended President Goodluck Jonathan for steps taken so far to cushion the effects of the flood on victims.

According to a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP said Nigerians must know that flooding was a global phenomenon.

The statement reads, “PDP has commended the President for the firm and reassuring steps the Federal Government has taken to mitigate the impact of flooding across the states of the federation and forestall further threat to the nation.

“The Party has also called on relevant government agencies and entire Nigerians to brace up for the challenge of food shortages which the impact of the flooding may likely occasion.

“Flood disasters are a global phenomenon but our peculiar challenges of development demand deeper insight and capacity which the President has demonstrated.

“We therefore commend him for the medium and long term measures being put in place to first ameliorate the suffering of the affected Nigerian communities as well as for the steps already being taken to permanently put under check, the incidence of flooding in future.”

The party further appealed to federal, state and local governments as well as farmers to take measures to avert imminent food shortages on account of the flood.

It promised to liaise with all the relevant agencies of government to work out plans to forestall possible food shortages arising from the food.

America and Israel are considering a joint surgical strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, it was claimed today.

Foreign Policy magazine reported a source 'close to the discussions' and said the strike might compose primarily of bombers and drone support.

The suggested attack is expected to last no more than a few days - or even just 'a couple of hours', the magazine said.

Such a strike could be carried out without civilian casualties, and would set back the Iranian nuclear program by back many years.

Benefits of such a strike would be regional, Foreign Policy says.

The source, said to be in favour of the strike, said the Israel-led assault would be 'transformative' and would end up 'saving Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, reanimating the peace process, securing the (Persian) Gulf, sending an unequivocal message to Russia and China, and assuring American ascendancy in the region for a decade to come.'

Lewis joked that when he first met Obama he asked him if he could let him know when the US planned to attack Iran so they could use it in the second series of Homeland.

He said: 'I looked him in the eye and said, "Please let us know if you have any plans to go into Iran because we'd like to be as current as possible in season two."'

Quick as a flash Obama said, 'We'll be sure to let you know.'

Season Two of Homeland begins on Channel 4 in the UK on Sunday, 9pm.

It debuted in America at the end of last month, attracting nearly two million viewers - a 60 per cent rise on the audience for last season's debut episode.

On Saturday, Israel’s electronic warfare systems were fully operational and effective. However, Israel’s leaders were struck dumb and caught unawares by Iran’s audacity in springing on them an overt act of belligerence against their own and American military installations housed in the Negev.

Israel officials have vowed to respond to an obvious act of war.

Our intelligence experts note that before the Israeli Air Force fighters scrambled to shoot it down, the intruder would have had enough time for its surveillance equipment to beam to its Iranian control station, wherever it was, the electronic signatures of US and Israeli military installations within its purview in the South and the Negev. 
This was a major lapse.

The alien aircraft should have been intercepted the moment it flew in from the Mediterranean and entered the skies of the Gaza Strip. By then, it was clearly seen heading toward Beersheba. Had there been weapons aboard, the incident would have ended in a worse disaster, reminding Israel of its worst nightmare: an Iranian plane flying over with a nuclear bomb.

As it is, the sophisticated aerial surveillance vehicle was able to cover the space over the IDF’s southern facilities, the town of Beersheba and the Israeli Air Force base at Nevatim before it was shot down over the Yatir forest south of Mt. Hebron. Its primary missions may have been to record the electronic signatures of the Dimona nuclear reactor’s air defense systems and the American X-band radar station in the Negev, which is linked to the US X-band station in Turkey. Together, they are the “forward eyes” of the joint US-Israeli shield against Iranian ballistic missile attack.

If the intruder came to spot the gaps in that shield, it would have succeeded.

It is therefore important in this context to recall a more recent and explicit threat, this one by Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s ground forces, who said on Sept. 23 that his country was not waiting to be attacked but ready to carry out preemptive operations against the US and Israel.


http://debka.com/article/22416/UAV-intrusion-Iranian-act-of-belligerence-against-US-and-Israeli-military-targets

[i][/http://debka.com/article/22398/More-Al-Qaeda-pre-US-election-attacks-forecast-Americans-quietly-lifted-out

http://debka.com/article/22398/More-Al-Qaeda-pre-US-election-attacks-forecast-Americans-quietly-lifted-out


The list is prioritized according to the level of risk and US security capability for protection.

The highest-risk locations have been quietly evacuated – either to the US or West European countries - leaving only a skeleton staff behind for emergencies. A senior American source told DEBKAfle Tuesday that Tunisia, Libya, Mali, Nigeria and Egypt have been virtually denuded of a US presence. 

Middle East intelligence observers have told DEBKAfile that they don’t recall US diplomatic military and intelligence personnel, businessmen and technical staff with their families being withdrawn from the region on this scale or at comparable speed.

President Obama made American retreat his order of the day after refusing to heed calls for a US military operation against AQIM and its head, Abdelmalek Droukdel. It was Droukdel, according to accumulating intelligence who, acting on behalf of Zuwahiri, orchestrated the Libyan Ansar al-Shariah militia’s murderous attack on the US Benghazi consulate.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday, Oct. 1, that Obama also decided against a punitive attack against al Qaeda’s stronghold in Mali.

Indeed, in view of the several contradictions in the CBN’s posturing and arguments in support of the restructuring exercise, it is difficult to see how further public enlightenment would erase, for example, public perception of the apparent mismatch between the CBN’s Cash-Lite policy and the introduction of N5000 note.  It is also not clear how the CBN can defend the elimination of primary coins (Kobo) from our currency profile and yet maintain that such action would not instigate inflation!  How will the CBN launder its fraudulent argument that higher denomination notes will reduce inflation rate, after the apex bank had predicated its argument on the non-inflationary impact of high denomination notes on the platform that high denominations do not increase money supply and cannot therefore instigate inflation?

This whole exercise may have severely dented the CBN’s credibility amongst Nigerians, and a concerted enlightenment campaign may prove inadequate to restore public confidence in the ability of the current CBN and the Economic Management Team to redeem our economy.

The feudal mindset brought to the table by the CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi, also serves as a clear warning that other control platforms would need to be put in place to save Nigerians from the tyranny of any despotic Central Bank governor in future.

In an earlier article  titled, “N5000 note as red herring”, we had inferred that the introduction of N5000 note was contrived by the CBN to distract public attention from its abysmal failure to achieve its core mandate of price stability.  Incidentally, if the cause of this failure is not identified and tackled, and if core inflation continues to gallop annually at about 15 per cent, Nigerians may actually be on their knees begging for higher denomination notes, or alternatively, for at least a two decimal point redenomination, in less than five years.

This is because, in the next five years, N1000 note for example, which has already lost over 50 per cent from its introduction value in 2005, may indeed lose more of its purchasing power, such that N1000 note may only buy what N100 could buy seven years ago; i.e. N1000 may be less than $1.

http://www.punchng.com/news/food-crisis-imminent-fg/

The Federal Government on Wednesday raised the alarm over an imminent national food crisis as a result of flooding in some parts of the country.

It said that over 5,000 farmlands had been washed away by the ravaging floods across the country and described the situation as a national emergency.

At the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Mailafia, who briefed journalists, also said the government was worried about the health implications of the floods.

“The consequences (of the flood) is that there are huge losses of farmlands, there are likely threats to food security. We are likely going to have challenges that have to do with the health of the people in some areas. In the estimation of the government, over 5,000 farmlands were washed away by the ravaging flood across the country” Mailafia said.

Cecil Chao Sze-tsung, a property magnate, announced the HK$500million bounty this week after reports that his daughter Gigi Chao, 33, a University of Manchester graduate, entered a civil partnership with her long-term girlfriend in France.

“I don’t mind whether he is rich or poor,” Mr Chao said. “The important thing is that he is generous and kind-hearted.”

Mr Chao also told the South China Morning Post that reports of his daughter’s civil ceremony were “false”.

The tycoon said he hoped to help the successful suitor could start a business. The reward was “an inducement to attract someone who has the talent but not the capital to start his own business”.

“Gigi is a very good woman with both talents and looks,” the doting father said. “She is devoted to her parents, is generous and does volunteer work.”

Illegal Immigrant Busted Trying To Sneak Into Spain Disguised As A CAR SEAT

This is the moment an illegal immigrant was busted trying to enter Spain despite his best efforts of pretending to be a car seat.

Vigilant police caught the 20-year-old man from Guinea attempting to sneak into the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco over the Beni-Enzar crossing on Friday.

He was hidden inside a Renault 7's passenger seat, with the co-driver sat on top of him.
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/09/25/article-2208201-15305BDE000005DC-730_634x475.jpg
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2208201/Illegal-immigrant-tries-sneak-Spain-disguised-CAR-SEAT.html

CHEI!! See how hard life is for people. In spite of the crises in Spain with over 50% youth unemployment, blacks still want to get in by all means possible.

The Power plants have been sold. Coupled with the influx of hot money chasing high rates in the Nigerian Bond Market if the government can be sincere on its infrastructure commitments the sky will be our limit as a country.