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Lagos Lawmakers Seek Collaboration To End Food Insecurity

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– as council chairman wants subsidy on agric products

Lawmakers of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Friday held simultaneous stakeholders’ meetings with their constituents with renewed commitments to boost food security and sufficiency in the state.

They also called for collaboration by the stakeholders to end food insecurity.

Speaking in his Agege Constituency 1, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, identified food insecurity as a multi-faceted challenge requiring the efforts of the government and the people to resolve.

This year’s stakeholders’ meeting is the ninth in the series and has the theme: ‘Ensuring Food Security for Sustainable Future: Youth Participation and Home-Grown Farming’.

Dr. Obasa said the Lagos Assembly was committed to ensuring food security in line with the United Nation’s sustainable
development goals of eradication of poverty.

“We at the Lagos State House of Assembly are committed to making Lagos an producing state and not just a consuming state in the agriculture value chain to tackle the present-day reality of food insufficiency.

“Our commitment is exemplified through transformational laws and policy supervision in the agricultural sector,” he said noting that with the collaboration of the Assembly, the government of the state has made giant strides in the agriculture sector.

He listed some of the agricultural initiatives to include the setting up of the 34-hectare Ikorodu Fish Farm Estate which has the capacity to produce and process 10,000 tons of fish per year partnering with 400 fish farmers in the State.

He mentioned the AGRIC-YES
programme and “the Oke-Aro and Gberigbe Pig Farm Estates that currently partners with 1,200 farmers and have the capacity of housing and processing 88,000 mature pigs per annum.

“It is important to reiterate that, on our part as lawmakers, we have also created an enabling environment for farming activities to thrive in the state,
particularly through the passage of anti-open grazing of livestock Law in September, 2021.”

He said to achieve food sufficiency, farming capacity needs to be widened while residents should consider animal husbandry.

In his opening remarks, the chairman of Agege Local Government Area, Ganiyu Egunjobi, identified insecurity and non-availability of low interest loan for the youth population as responsible for the food crisis.

This meeting cannot come at a better time. The problem responsible for the food shortage are many among which are insecurity that has prevented many farmers from accessing their farms. Farming in Nigeria is no longer attractive to the teeming youths.

“I want to suggest to the government at all levels to subsidise farming and also give loans at very low interest to farmers. The government should also improve on existing physical infrastructures in farming communities that would discourage urban migration and encourage youths to embrace farming. Farming and youth unemployment are recurring issues which require multidimensional interventions to tackle,” he said.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Akinyemi Olusegun of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, urged the youths and residents in the state to engage in urban farming.

“In Lagos, we are more than 22 million and as a result we have a huge need for food. People want to eat and engage in food business,” he said urging youths to focus on home-grown farming.

 

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Delta NMA Declares Blessing CEO’s Cancer Report Fraudulent

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The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Delta State branch, has officially debunked the cancer claims made by relationship influencer Blessing Okoro, popularly known as Blessing CEO.

In a statement on Tuesday, the association revealed that the document is an altered version of an original medical report belonging to a different patient diagnosed with breast cancer.

The statement, jointly signed by NMA Delta State Chairman, Dr. Israel Adaigho, and Secretary, Dr. Usamah Hannah, was sighted by The Nation on Tuesday.

According to the NMA, the viral report was purportedly issued by Xinus Medical Diagnostics and signed by consultant pathologist Dr. O.A. Odigwe.

However, Dr. Odigwe, who is the proprietor of the diagnostic centre, clarified that his facility never issued any report to Blessing Okoro.

The association explained that Xinus Medical Diagnostics is located in Asaba, Delta State not Enugu State as claimed in the circulating document.

The centre was contacted in May 2025 by a doctor from a private hospital in Asaba to conduct a confirmatory histology test for a patient identified as Mbara Deborah, who had a suspected case of breast cancer.

The test confirmed breast cancer, and the original result was issued to the referring doctor on May 9, 2025.

The NMA stated that the document currently being paraded online by the law firm Allen Juris Law is the original report bearing the name Mbara Deborah.

The version linked to Blessing CEO appears to be a doctored copy of this same report.

The statement read in part: “Our attention has been drawn to an online histology report purportedly issued to one Blessing Okoro, aka Blessing CEO, by Xinus Medical Diagnostics allegedly located in Enugu State. The said histology report was also alleged to have been signed by Dr. O.A. Odigwe, a consultant pathologist.

“The proprietor of Xinus Medical Diagnostics, Dr. O.A. Odigwe, who is also a member of the Nigerian Medical Association, Delta State chapter, has reached us and offered the following clarification: that Xinus Medical Diagnostics is located in Asaba, Delta State and did not at any time issue any report to Blessing Okoro.

“The centre was contacted in May 2025 by a doctor from a private hospital in Asaba to do a confirmatory test on a possible case of breast cancer for a patient, Mbara Deborah. The test was done and the result issued to the referring doctor as a case of breast cancer on May 9, 2025.

“A copy of that result is the one currently being circulated online by the law firm, Allen Juris Law, with the name Mbara Deborah as the patient. That result from the law firm is the original version issued to the patient through her hospital.”

The NMA said the clarification became necessary because of the way the altered report was allegedly being used to solicit public sympathy and financial assistance.

It urged the public to be cautious and warned against actions that could tarnish the integrity of medical professionals.

The association also called on relevant security agencies to take appropriate steps to protect unsuspecting members of the public.

“The integrity of our association and its members is very paramount and should not therefore be taken for granted.

“We call on the authorities responsible for maintaining law and order to do the needful and save unsuspecting members of the public from being unduly taken advantage of,” it added.

Recall that Blessing CEO recently solicited financial help from the public for the treatment of what she claimed was stage four cancer.

Following widespread backlash and allegations that her medical report had been edited, she made a U-turn, stating in an interview: “I don’t have stage 4 cancer. That was a miscommunication.”

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Abuja Court Jails Boko Haram Food Supplier, Hamatu Modu For 40 Years

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Justice Binta Fatima Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced Hamatu Modu, a major food supplier for Boko Haram terrorists, to 40 years imprisonment for his involvement in terrorism activities.

Modu, who confessed in the open court to supplying food items and information to terrorists, was put on trial by the federal government through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

He was slammed with 4- count charges and instantly pleaded guilty to them.

The Director of the Public Prosecution of the Federation, DPPF, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, led the prosecution.

In his judgment, Justice Nyako sentenced him to 10 years on each of the count but due to the plea of the defense counsel, the judge ordered that the 40 years imprisonment should run concurrently, giving the convict opportunity to spend only 10 years.

In another development, Isah Ali, another food supplier also in Borno, was jailed 10 years by Justice Nyako.

His jail term will, however, start three years ago when he was arrested and clamped into detention.

The convict confessed to committing the offence as charged.

Justice Nyako ordered that the convicts be made to undergo rehabilitation and radicalization at the end of their service of the jail terms.

The Federal Ministry of Interior was ordered to determine where the two men will serve their jail terms.

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Just In: Kebbi Assembly Speaker Muhammad Ankwai Passes Away

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The Speaker of the Kebbi State House of Assembly, Muhammad Usman Ankwai has passed away in the late hours of Monday, 6 April 2026.

Ankwai, who represented Zuru Constituency under the All Progressives Congress (APC), was elected Speaker at the inauguration of the 10th Assembly on June 8, 2023.

Details surrounding the circumstances of his death were not immediately disclosed at the time of filing this report.

His death has, however, triggered an outpouring of condolences from fellow lawmakers, political associates, and residents across Kebbi State, many of whom have described him as a dedicated public servant who contributed to legislative development in the state.

Further announcements regarding burial arrangements are expected to be made by his family soon.

 

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