Farmers and other residents of Damboa in Borno State have started paying Zakat (taxes) to the dreaded members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), Daily Trust has reliably gathered.

Zakat is an Islamic finance term referring to the obligation that an individual has to donate a certain proportion of wealth each year to charitable causes. Zakat is a mandatory process for Muslims and is regarded as a form of worship.

A top state government official told our correspondent that many farmers are living under the control of ISWAP fighters in the Damboa axis.

“The terrorists allow the locals to farm and they collect what they called zakat (an annual alms tax or poor rate) from every farmer after they harvest their produce,” he said.

The source claimed that the farmers were not averse to the arrangement.

“When Boko Haram under Shekau infested these areas, they didn’t even allow people to go to their farms; so, when ISWAP somehow took over, they said people could go to their farms but must pay tax and also pay zakat,” he said.

A farmer, who gave his name as Musa Mrusha, told our correspondent that many of the locals said they don’t want authorities to know.

“In the past, many Boko Haram fighters killed many farmers during harvest time like this. But have you heard of such this year?

“Early last month they came and told me while I was at the farm that when it is time to harvest, they have their portions which I agreed and fulfilled the promised,” Musa said.

According to reports, ISWAP fighters, who hitherto had a firm root in northern Borno, have recently up their game in the southern part of the state.

They have in the last few months been collecting “tolls” from drivers and “taxes” from farmers.

Another passenger, Ismail, said the terrorists do send drivers plying the road on errands to buy some commodities for them from Biu while coming back.

“They have a checkpoint at Sabon Gari, Yemantan area, Ruga and smaller ones along the road. They are in strategic places where they can see vehicles from far away.

“They dress like soldiers and whenever the drivers see them, they would stop,” he said.

Daily Trust

The proposed introduction of excise duty collection on non-alcoholic drinks would see producers of the items lose up to N1.9 trillion in revenue between 2022 and 2025.

Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) revealed this at MMS Plus Business Discourse on, ‘X-raying the Proposed Excise Duty Regime for Carbonated Beverages in a Recovering Economy.’ 

Chairman of Fruit Juice Producers branch of MAN, Fred Chiazor, stated that the losses indicate a 39.5 per cent loss due to imposition of the new taxes with concomitant impact on jobs and supply chain businesses.

The group called for a suspension of the fiscal policy, even as it noted that the proposed excise duty collection would shrink the sector’s contribution to the GDP, which currently represents 35 per cent of manufacturing.

“Government could lose up to N197 billion in Value Added Tax (VAT), EIT fund and Collective Investment Trust (CIT) revenues occasioned by the drop in industry performance,” the MAN representative said.

He argued that the tough economic situation in the nation presently should see the government introduce fiscal palliatives and tax rebate instead of introducing excise duty collection.

Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Hammed Ali stated that with the wide production and consumption of carbonated non-alcoholic drinks locally, there is strong indication that it will trigger a significant revenue rise from excise duty when brought under excise control.

Ali, who was represented by the Controller, Lagos Industrial Command, Comptroller Monica Shaahu, noted that the policy would cushion the effects of the overdependence on oil import duty revenue.

“Given the lesson learnt from the impact of Covid-19 and its effects; many nations of the world have re-strategized their economical system in a more diversified way to achieve a robust, stable and prosperous economy with a long term benefit. Hence bringing carbonated drinks under Excise control this time will raise government revenue, reduce health hazards and align Nigeria with harmonisation of the ECOWAS member–states. For instance, Coca Cola, the largest conglomerate that produces carbonated drinks, pay Excise Duty in other host countries apart from Nigeria. This is unhealthy economic advantage for their products coming from other nearby countries.”

President of Water Producers Association of Nigeria (WAPAN), Mackson Odiri Egberi, argued that the move to collect excise duty on water would make the product go beyond the reach of ordinary citizens.

Mackson argued that the chemicals used by water producers as well as the sachets are imported and subjected to import duty payments, lamenting that excise duty collection would be an additional burden on producers that would force them to shut down or compromise on standards.

A member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Ikenna Nwosu advised that the initiative be shelved for a minimum of one year to allow for robust discourse with industry stakeholders on the possible gains and shortcomings of the policy.

The Guardian

Southeast council of traditional rulers and representatives of Igbo archbishops and bishops have called on the federal government to affirm the rights of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and that of his lawyers.

In a statement jointly signed by Anthony Obinna, Nnaemeka Achebe, and Chibuzo Opoko, the group commended IPOB for listening to its appeal and calling off the sit-at-home order ahead of the Anambra governorship election.

The monarchs and religious leaders said the cancellation of the sit-at-home has offered some relief to “the already distressed social and economic life of our people”.

They, however, expressed concern about the difficulties encountered by Kanu’s lawyers during his trial.

It would be recalled that Kanu’s lawyers walked out of the court last Wednesday in protest over refusal of the DSS to allow some other lawyers in the team to gain access to the courtroom.

Consequently, the trial of the IPOB leader was adjourned till January 19.

“The Joint Body is relieved that the Anambra State Gubernatorial Election was conducted without any major incidents or breach of the peace,” the statement reads.

“It also commends the people of Anambra State, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Security Forces, National Peace Committee, and all the other actors who contributed to the successful conduct of the election.

“The Joint Body is highly disturbed by the persistent complaints by the IPOB legal team about the difficulties it encounters in dealing with the Department of State Services (DSS) and, especially, the sad events which occurred during Nnamdi Kanu’s appearance in court last Wednesday, November 10.

“This Body urges the court to affirm the fundamental rights of Kanu, his lawyers, and other stakeholders. Failure to do so would lend weight to the suspicion in some quarters of a planned secret trial, as well as neutralise all the efforts being made to establish peace in the Southeast.

“The Joint Body acknowledges the statement by the Attorney-General & Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in which he affirmed that the Federal Government was open to a political solution to Kanu’s case.

“This statement is in line with the proposal earlier made by this Joint Body and by other well-meaning persons and groups in Nigeria. This Body therefore eagerly awaits the concrete steps that would be taken in this regard.”

The body called on southeasterners to sustain the current effort on sustaining peace “until true peace, based on justice and equity is achieved in our land”.

The Cable

Sani Dangote, vice president of  the Dangote Group and younger brother to Aliko Dangote, is dead.

Dangote died in the United States Sunday after a protracted illness.

Relatively less popular than his billionaire brother, Dangote had investments in manufacturing, agriculture, banking and oil services.

He sat on the boards of several companies including Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, Dangote Agro Sacks, Dangote Refinery, Petrochemical and Fertiliser company.

He was better known for his role as the chairman of Dansa Holdings, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group that produces beverages.

He also owned Dansa Foods Limited, Dansa Energy, Sagas Energy Limited, Bulk Pack Services Limited, Dansa Agro Allied Limited, and Dangote Farms Limited.

He was a member of several Chambers of Commerce, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Shipping of Nigeria.

PT

The Cross River state Police Command has confirmed the kidnap of a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Sunday Adeniran  and a female  teacher whose is yet to be identified.

It was gathered that the duo were abducted from their residence at 8 miles ,Ikot Eneobong Community,hilltop estate ,outskirt of Calabar metropolis which has brought fear and trepidation amongst residents of the area.

Findings showed that the unidentified gunmen  abducted the duo in the wee hours of Saturday at about 1:30 a.m.

According to neighbours,the kidnappers gained access  into his apartment through the roof of the building and whisked the Pastor and teacher away and nothing has been heard from their abductors as at the time of filing this report.

The State Police Public Relations Officer ,DSP Irene Ugbo confirmed the incident which she described as sad .

She said the police was on top of the matter adding that the anti kidnapping and Cultism Squad AKCS were on the trail of the criminal while assuring residents of the area to remain calm.

“We are aware of the incident ,and the Anti Kidnapping and Cultism Squad, AKCS ,has already swung into action and on the trail of the kidnappers.

“We want to assure the residents of the area to remain calm ,we will smoke them out no matter what it takes , there is no space for criminality in any part of the state ,” Ugbo said.

A Nigerian army general and three soldiers were killed on Saturday during an attack by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) militants in the northeast of the country, the army and sources said.

ISWAP split from Boko Haram five years ago and pledged allegiance to Islamic State and has been fighting against the Nigerian armed forces.

Army spokesman Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu said troops had encountered ISWAP fighters in Borno state's Askira Uba local government area, where a fierce battle took place and several militants were killed.

"Sadly, a gallant senior officer Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkusu and three soldiers paid the supreme sacrifice ... as they provided reinforcement in a counter offensive against the terrorists," Nwachukwu said in a statement.

Borno state is at the centre of the Islamist insurgency, which has spilled into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon and has left about 300,000 people dead and millions dependent on aid, the United Nations says.

Military sources and residents said ISWAP fighters attacked Askira on Saturday morning with at least 12 gun trucks, burning houses, shops and a school and forcing some residents to flee.

The army had brought in reinforcements but the battle was still ongoing as evening approached, the sources said.

Askira is about 150 kilometres south of Borno state capital Maiduguri and lies along the fringes of Sambisa Forest, the operational base of both Boko Haram and ISWAP.

Security sources said ISWAP fighters had also separately attacked troops near Maiduguri town, but there were no immediate details on casualties.

Nigeria's army said last month it had killed the new ISWAP leader in a military operation, weeks after announcing the death of the group's former head Abu Musab al-Barnawi.

Reuters

No fewer than four mourners were early Saturday reportedly gunned down by suspected armed herdsmen who stormed a Christian wake at Mbayatyo, Mbater Council Ward of Logo Local Government Area of Benue state.

The attackers also left five others with serious injuries at the said wake that was held in honour of one Mama Achin Adingi.

According to a source in the area, the attackers probably staged a reprisal one week after they had a dispute with the locals who chased them from the community after stopping them from polluting a water source in the area with their cattle.

“As a result of the dispute, the people chased the herdsmen away from the area which is known for its lush green grass not knowing that the herders would come back from the neighbouring community where they ran to, to attack the village.

“Very early this morning they stormed the compound where a Christian wake was going on and opened fire on the mourners leaving four dead and several others injured,” he said.

Contacted, Chairman of Logo LGA, Terser Agber who said he had visited the scene of the attack, explained that “the information I have is that it happened at about 2. am today Saturday. The victims were in the wake of an elderly woman who died at Agidi.

“Initially, they (mourners) never knew what was happening they now saw armed Fulani herdsmen who came in their numbers, over 10 of them. They were said to have shot sporadically in the air which created a stampede and several persons were hit by stray bullets. Four died and five others who were critically wounded are at the General Hospital, Ugba receiving treatment.

“The Police were informed and as I said earlier I have personally visited the place though very far away but I went there to have first-hand information before meeting the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Logo LGA. I have also informed the Governor and Security Adviser about the incident.”

Asked if the attackers were not a gang of local militia, the Chairman said “the attackers were not local militias. The villagers claimed that they had squabbled with the Fulani herdsmen at their settlement area, the place is waterlogged, the grass there is green so when the people had a squabble with them they drove herdsmen away. This happened more than a week ago which may have triggered the reprisal.”

Vanguard

Dayo da-Silva, Ogun

Government at all tiers have been enjoined to build more health centres equipped with modern facilities in every communities of the Country and work on training more medical personnel to combat the menace of diabetes in Nigeria. 

A senior registrar endocrinology, Dr Gbenga Ikuseedun who stated this while speaking with Nigerian Newstrack on this year's world diabetes day, with the theme, “access to diabetes care” said many Nigerians living with the illness are still not diagnosed . 

Diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose or blood sugar, which leads over time to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. 

What then is diabetes to an average Nigerian and how regularly do people check their blood sugar ?

(Video on sound )

While some do not know what diabetes is, many respondents who spoke to Nigerian Newstrack tend to be more concerned with what they would eat to their health. 

A senior registrar endocrinology, Dr Gbenga Ikuseedun says there is the Type 1 diabetes which is lack of insulin and type 2 diabetes brought about by ineffective use of insulin. 

(Video on sound) 

Dr Ikuseedun said many still do not have access to diabetes care even when they are diagnosed . 

(Video on Sound)

Dr Ikuseedun who confirmed that having diabetes is not a death sentence, said it can be managed effectively thus the need for government to come up with a sincere health insurance scheme and improve on the welfare and training of health personnel. 

(Video on sound)

He advised on having regular medical check up, balanced diet, exercise, sound sleep and quiting bad habits that could pose health challenges.

According to the world health organization, about 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, particularly in low-and middle-income countries, while 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year.

It is possible that the first contact was made in 1601 between the French and the peoples of “Guinee” – the name for the lands we know today as Nigeria. Only a few years before, the then Protestant King of France Henry had devised a plan for adventurer Francois Pyrard de Laval to navigate the “Ethiopian Sea”, then onwards around the Cape of Good Hope in search of new markets and trade.

Four hundred years later, much has changed. (Today there are more Protestants amongst Nigeria’s 200 million population than there are people in France. Maps, and geography, have improved: east Africa’s landlocked Ethiopia no longer has named for it a west African sea). Yet in other ways, much remains the same. What is clear however, is that the exploration of possibilities between our two nations of Nigeria and France has only just begun.

Notwithstanding France’s historic ties with West Africa, the long-held belief has been that some parts of it were off-limits. Hence and until even the most recent decades, there were French spheres of West Africa, and their Anglophone equivalents – jealously guarded from each other and effectively closed to each other for investment, trade, education and influence.

These barriers both real and imagined is being brought down in part, by the passage of time: today’s generation of Africans have no personal experience of anything but independence – including most in government - so there is less automatic favouritism towards one European partner or another.

However, it has also required a change in France and President Macron has been a prime mover in that task. He is right not to allow respect for the France’s African past to confine relations of the future.  This position developed, in part from the fact he chose, in his 20s, to define his African experience through working in Nigeria, rather than in a traditional Francophone nation. His experiences and determination have been vital in moving France and Nigeria closer together to where they are today.

The benefits for both our countries are now emerging as we gather this week in Paris for what is only the second France-Nigeria investment Summit. Only three years ago Macron was the first President of the French Republic to visit Nigeria. Since then, French businesses have signed multi-billion euros contracts in construction, chemicals, and mobile technology; In France, long-established Nigerian financial institutions and disruptive fintechs seek transition from Parisian representative offices to French licences to operate and compete across Europe. The President’s high-level France-Nigeria Business Council, first convened at the Elysee, has helped trade double in between our nations in the last three years.

This expansion only augurs more, given Nigeria’s population is projected to grow by 2050 to the same size as the European Union, and further to become the second largest in the world by the close of the century.

This great market is France’s opportunity. But, of course, some in Europe and in France see it purely as a threat. They fear a coming tide of immigrants from Africa. They view engagement as a partially open door that will only become wider – unless borders become walls, and Europe a fortress.

That is not the case and those who rail against “economic migrants” must realise few people anywhere wish to leave their communities to live in foreign lands. Most would rather stay at home, with the familiar. But the way to help them stay there is not force, or walls, or racism: it is investment and jobs where they live.

Those who come from France seeking opportunities in Nigeria are today welcomed with open arms. A growing and worldly-wise middle class wish to experience the best of European culture and products, with so much of that the produce of France; a young, dynamic, and educated population wish to work, but often what they do not have, through lack of investment, is the opportunity.

And just as we partner in prosperity, so our nations also have a duty to work together to make West Africa more secure. For decades France – the European power in the Sahel, and Nigeria – the African power to its south have not been coordinated. Opportunity to defeat the terrorists have between us too often have been missed. As France draws down its troops, Nigeria’s can – in partnership with our FExploration of possibilities between Nigeria and France has only just begun

Muhammadu Buhari is President of Nigeria.

Originally published in Paris Daily L’Opinion

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says over 12 million Nigerians are experiencing hunger owing to insecurity and the Covid pandemic.

David Tsokar, FAO communications officer, said this in a statement on Friday.

Tsokar said FAO arrived at the conclusion based on an analysis conducted in October in 20 states.

According to him, about 19 percent of affected households are in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states because of the insurgency in the northeast and the lingering economic impact of Covid-19.

“The analysis, known as the Cadre Harmonise, conducted in 20 states and the FCT revealed that approximately 12.1 million people are expected to face food scarcity through December,” the communications officer said.

“The provisional result of the report showed that the number of people in critical or worse phases of food insecurity might increase to about 16.9 million.”

Tsokar said this would be the reality unless measures, including humanitarian aid, are put in place.

In Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, 2.4 million people are said to be currently facing hunger and are in need of urgent assistance.

Tsokar said an estimated 2 million people in the emergence phase, even with humanitarian aid, are facing extreme food deficits, resulting in very high acute malnutrition or excessive mortality.

According to him, this number is projected to increase to 3.5 million at the peak of the 2022 lean season between June and August.

Tsokar said at this time, the number of people anticipated to be in the emergency phase could double to 4.6 million.

“Another 13.6 million people were anticipated to experience catastrophe-like conditions in some of the most inaccessible localities,” he added.

The Cable