By Uthman-Baba Naseer,Minna
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Alhaji Mohammed Ndarani, has urged Nupe women in the film and music industry to consciously and deliberately use their talents to promote culture and traditions.

The legal luminary enjoined the artists to deploy their skills as tools for cultural preservation, moral re-orientation and positive societal transformation.

Ndarani who is also the Hukunchi Nupe and Hausaland gave the task on Sunday in Bida while delivering a keynote address as Guest Speaker at the “Women in Nupe Film and Music Sensitisation Programme”, organised by the National Nupe Films and Musical Makers Association (NUPEWOOD).

He described film and music as powerful instruments for education, orientation and identity projection, noting that when properly harnessed, they shape values, influence attitudes and promote the cultural image of a people beyond their immediate environment.

The Senior Legal Practitioner commended NUPEWOOD for its sustained efforts at promoting the Nupe language, culture, film and music, describing the initiative as timely, noble and deserving of support from all stakeholders.

According to him, the focus on women is particularly significant, as women remained the backbone of society, serving as first teachers, nurturers of values and custodians of culture.

Ndarani stressed that women must not only be participants but leaders and role models in the Nupe creative industry, urging them to use film and music to promote education, peace, unity, cultural pride and moral discipline, while avoiding content that undermines societal values and religious principles.

He said the sensitisation programme provided a platform to reposition Nupe women as cultural ambassadors, agents of positive change and contributors to economic growth within their communities.

The senior lawyer reaffirmed his commitment to education, youth empowerment and cultural preservation, warning that societies that neglect their culture and sideline women risk losing their identity and future.

He called on NUPEWOOD, government agencies, traditional institutions and other stakeholders to support the industry through training, funding, mentorship and enabling policies to enhance its competitiveness nationally and internationally.

Ndarani also urged the practitioners to remain disciplined, united, creative and law-abiding, while calling on Nupe musicians to uphold the rule of law and comply with Nigeria’s copyright regulations.

To further encourage the industry, Ndarani announced a donation of N1 million to the Nupe film sector, describing the gesture as part of his support for professionalism, value-driven creativity and the overall growth of the industry.

He cautioned that content produced through film and music reflects not only on individuals but on the image of the entire Nupe nation.

While appreciating the organisers and participants, Ndarani prayed for the success of the programme, the strengthening of NUPEWOOD and continued growth of Nupe culture in the country and at the global stage.

By George Mgbeleke

The Health Reform Initiative Nigeria (He-RIN), a civil society organisation advocating health sector reform through increased funding, accountability and local capacity building, has rejected the SNG Health Agreement signed with the Federal Ministry of Health, describing it as self-serving, deceptive and a deliberate attempt to cripple existing local mosquito net manufacturers.

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday by its Executive Director, Sunday Tobi, and Secretary, Abdul Musa, He-RIN condemned the agreement that led to a partnership between Vestergaard and Harvestfield, culminating in the formation of SNG Health for the supply of mosquito nets in Nigeria.

According to the organisation, the arrangement is merely a continuation of the activities of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which it said previously dominated the sector under questionable circumstances.

“From available evidence widely reported in the media weeks ago, the so-called SNG Health was incubated by UNOPS at the instance of the Federal Ministry of Health through a Swiss company, in collaboration with the World Bank Nigeria, which operates as a sister organisation to UNOPS,” the statement said.

He-RIN accused the Ministry of Health of deliberately undermining local manufacturers of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, tracing Nigeria’s persistent malaria burden and failure to significantly reduce malaria-related deaths to what it described as the ministry’s collusion with UNOPS years before the Bola Tinubu administration assumed office in 2023.

The group noted that Nigeria continues to bear the heaviest malaria burden globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) World Malaria Report, Nigeria accounts for approximately 27 per cent of global malaria cases and 31 per cent of malaria-related deaths, with an estimated 184,000 deaths annually, mostly among children under five and pregnant women.

He-RIN further stated that this grim outcome persists despite substantial public spending on health. Data from the Budget Office of the Federation show that Nigeria’s health sector has consistently received only 4–6 per cent of the annual national budget, far below the 15 per cent Abuja Declaration benchmark.

In the 2024 Federal Budget, the health sector received approximately N1.3 trillion, representing just over five per cent of total government expenditure.

On malaria-specific investments, the organisation disclosed that Nigeria has received and deployed over N1.5 billion for malaria control interventions between 2015 and 2023, according to figures from the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and partner funding disclosures.

These funds, largely provided by the Global Fund, World Bank, USAID and UN agencies, were primarily spent on the procurement and distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying, diagnostics and antimalarial medicines.

“Despite this scale of investment, Nigeria continues to struggle with malaria control due to policy inconsistency, excessive reliance on imported mosquito nets, weak local manufacturing capacity and opaque procurement practices,” He-RIN said.

The organisation recalled that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements for the local manufacturing of mosquito nets following a competitive bidding process completed in 2022, but alleged that the process was abruptly halted at the instance of UNOPS shortly after the current administration assumed office.

“Since then, the sector has witnessed no meaningful investment. Mosquitoes continue to ravage communities, while Nigeria retains the unenviable position of the world’s most malaria-burdened country,” the statement added.

He-RIN argued that these developments directly contradict President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the health sector, which prioritises a Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) to Universal Health Coverage (UHC), increased funding, strengthened Primary Health Care through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), reforms under the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), health workforce development, and the promotion of local production as a pillar of a resilient health system.

The group stressed that if local manufacturers had not been blocked from accessing a proposed $100 million contract for the local production of insecticide-treated nets, millions of direct and indirect jobs could have been created, foreign exchange conserved, and malaria-related deaths significantly reduced.

He-RIN maintained that SNG Health does not serve Nigeria’s best interests, describing it as a re-emergence of vested interests within the Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNOPS, following the failure of what it alleged was an attempt to divert the $100 million initiative.

The organisation stressed that the President must urgently investigate the matter to understand why the Ministry of Health is, in its view, prioritising profit-driven arrangements over the health and lives of Nigerians, while malaria continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives annually.

The organisation expressed deep concern that the Honourable Minister of Health has never publicly acknowledged the existence of local LLIN mosquito net manufacturers in Nigeria, despite their verifiable presence, prior international certifications, and documented supply history to agencies such as the Global Fund and the World Bank.

He-RIN alleged that the Minister assumed office with a clear conflict of interest, having previously worked in alignment with Vestergaard, and has since promoted policies that favour his personal and commercial interests while systematically disadvantaging Nigerian-owned manufacturers.

It revealed that the same Vestergaard company behind the partnership of SNG was the company responsible for closing down over 20 manufacturers of net in Nigeria including the bed net clusters in Lagos, Aba, kano and Onitshia when it came up with its standard Llin that was distributed free to Nigerians therefore killing the commercial market

According to the organisation, the Minister deliberately encouraged UNOPS to exclude and effectively ban local manufacturers who had invested substantial personal and borrowed capital to establish LLIN factories, creating a vacuum that enabled the emergence of SNG Health as the preferred supplier.

He-RIN further alleged that the Minister refused to commence tenders or malaria intervention campaigns in World Bank-supported states until the SNG Health agreement was finalised and procurement contracts could be directly channelled to the SNG arrangement.

The group stated that the Minister unilaterally pushed for the award of over 25 million Global Fund-supported LLINs to a narrow group of favoured companies without the backing of any publicly disclosed or Nigeria-specific epidemiological study, despite existing national data showing that multiple LLIN types remain effective across different regions of the country.

He-RIN emphasised that Nigeria’s epidemiological evidence supports the deployment of different LLIN technologies tailored to regional mosquito species and resistance patterns, noting that mosquitoes in Lagos differ significantly from those in Ebonyi and Sokoto States, making a single-net approach scientifically unjustifiable.

The organisation asserted that corruption, rather than public health outcomes, appears to underpin policies that ignore existing local manufacturers who had previously spent millions of dollars to establish LLIN factories and had successfully produced nets for international donors, including the Global Fund and the World Bank.

He-RIN recalled that the Ministry of Health is still indebted to local manufacturers for supplies delivered over a decade ago, even as those same manufacturers once placed Nigeria on the global stage by producing the world’s largest mosquito net, recognised by the Guinness World Records and displayed at Eagle Square, Abuja, during the African Leaders’ Summit on Roll Back Malaria.

The group stated that the objective of producing the world’s largest mosquito net was to demonstrate Nigeria’s manufacturing capacity, encourage sustained local production of LLINs, and justify continued government and donor patronage for manufacturers who had borrowed heavily to establish factories.

He-RIN questioned why SNG Health was prioritised when Nigerian manufacturers could have been supported through sovereign-backed loan guarantees of up to $40 million, coupled with assured market access, achieving the same outcomes without displacing existing players.

The organisation warned that the Minister’s current policy framework is directly harmful to existing manufacturers, as SNG Health competes within the same limited market while enjoying preferential treatment that distorts competition and undermines local industry survival.

He-RIN further alleged that the Minister deliberately stalled the issuance of tenders for World Bank-borrowed funds for over two years—despite rising malaria deaths among children—until the SNG Health plan was fully positioned, and cautioned that similar strategies are now being deployed under the guise of promoting “dual” LLIN technology, even though SNG Health is not the sole global producer of such nets and dual LLINs should not be imposed as the exclusive option for Nigeria.

“We therefore call on President Bola Tinubu to act in the national interest by halting the SNG Health arrangement and directing the Ministry of Health to publicly account for what happened to the $100 million initiative intended for local mosquito net manufacturing,” the statement said.

By David Owei, Bayelsa

Bayelsa State Government, on Monday night, held its annual Christmas Carol of Nine Lessons without the usual glamour.

The activities were downplayed due to the sober mood in the state, following the passing of the deputy governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, on December 11.

Speaking at the event at the DSP Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall in Yenagoa, Governor Douye Diri said he alongside his Bayelsa Holds Solemn Christmas Carol
the programme but later okayed it as a way to honour God and the memory of his late deputy.

He said: “I appreciate my religious team and fathers in the faith for putting this together, even at these trying times in our state. We initially thought if it was still necessary to have this event this year.

“Having reasoned together, we decided to go ahead as the Bible says that in all things, we should give thanks to God.”

Governor Diri explained that, however, the usual tradition of making the carol event colourful with the special rendition competition among the three arms of government and the civil service was stood down.

“Yes, our hearts are heavy because we lost our deputy governor, who would have been here to read one of the lessons. However, the truth is that each and every one of us will answer this call.

“So, while we sorrow, we are also comforted by Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to bind the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to comfort all that do mourn.”

The Bayelsa helmsman, who read the Ninth Lesson from Matthew 2:1-6, appreciated Bayelsans for their support and solidarity since the unfortunate demise of the deputy governor.

Earlier in a sermon, the South South Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Archbishop Emmah Isong, said the disobedience of man in the Garden of Eden brought the search for man’s salvation.
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The respected cleric further stated that the atonement of the sins of man could not be achieved until God gave His son, who came in the fashion of God and man, to complete the ultimate sacrifice for the redemption of mankind.

He said this was the reason for commemorating the birth of Jesus during this season.

Isong urged Christians not to allow obstacles define their situation as God is able to turn around any stumbling block.

Highpoint of the event were the rendition of classical songs and special numbers by the Garden City Choir, King of Glory Chapel Choir, the Heavenly Voices, Evangelist Joy and the Bayelsa State 500 Mass Choir.

Dignitaries present included the wife of the governor, Dr. Gloria Diri, Senator Konbowei Benson (Bayelsa Central), his Bayelsa East counterpart, Benson Agadaga as well as House of Representatives members from the state – Dr. Fred Agbedi (Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency), Dr. Mitema Obodor (Ogbia), Oforji Oboku, (Yenagoa/Kolokuma/Opokuma), Mrs. Marie Ebikake (Nembe/Brass) and Rodney Ambaiowei (Southern Ijaw).

Others were the Chief Judge, Justice Matilda Ayemieye, Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Michael Ogbere, Secretary to the State Government Prof. Nimibofa Ayawei, the Head of Service, Dr. Ebiye Sawyer, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Dr. Peter Akpe, as well as Chairman, Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council, King Bubaraye Dakolo, and other government functionaries.

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