FOOD FOR THE PEOPLE: Organic Fertilizer Company in Ghana Cries For Help

Kofi Humado, Minister of Agric

An organic fertilizer company in Ghana located at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region has continued to suffer low patronage since it began operations in 2009.

Speaking to ghanabusinessnews.com during a tour of the company, the Chief Executive Officer of Farmers Hope Company Limited, Mr. Akwasi Osei Bobie Ansah lamented the inability of the Ministry of Agriculture to get involved in the project of producing organic fertilizer to help Ghanaian farmers and consumers.

“If government asks us to supply to SADA, it will help our work, so we appeal to government to give us a try. Our fertilizer is very smooth, with little water it gets into the soil,” he said.

According to Ansah, since 2009, it is only this year that interest in organic fertilizer is rising. And this is because government’s subsidized chemical fertilizer is more expensive, so farmers are looking for alternatives.

Dr. Kofi Buah, a former Seniour Research Scientist of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), who is the Soil Research consultant at Notill Demonstration Farm has said on a recorded video documentary that, “unlike the chemical fertilizer, this fertilizer is very rich and good because it is applied to all crops and any soil just once.  After that you wait for the crop to mature and you can harvest. It doesn’t also need much water to help the crop to grow well.”

Describing how the fertilizer is produced, the Production Manager of the company, Michael Aboagye Darko said they mix right and treated proportions of cocoa, potash, bio-char, processed manure, neem cake, leguminous husks among others to produce the fertilizer.

“We are really helping to preserve the environment because we use organic materials. We will create employment, help agriculture and protect the environment if we are given the needed support,” Ansah said. The company can produce between 1000 to 2000 bags of fertilizer a day, he adds.

Some studies show that organic foods have more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants, than their conventionally grown counterparts. In addition, people with allergies to foods, chemicals, or preservatives often find their symptoms lessen or go away when they eat only organic foods.

Organic farming is good for the environment in that, it reduces pollution (air, water, soil), conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy.

Editorial

THE LAW AND PEACE

 Pleading for peace has no doubt become one of the biggest industries in Ghana in the run up to the Supreme Court decision on the election petition.

 Everybody is calling for peace and many organizations are organizing lavish events to promote peace.

 All of these cannot be bad in themselves and The Insight believes that in times such as these those who promote or even pretend to be promoting peace should not be condemned.

However, we know that if citizens and institutions will be law abiding there will be no threat to peace.

For us, the key to securing peace is not the sermonizing which has engulfed the whole country.

The answer to the problem is strict law enforcement.

The state ought to be in a position to enforce the law without fear or favour.

This is the only way to guarantee peace.

The 6th Africa Agricultural Week Is Not About Science

Isaac Kweku Dadzie, Secretary of FSG

The 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week was held in Accra last week, July 15-20. Many of the people attending Science Week are good people with very good intentions. They want to develop African agriculture and make sure no one goes hungry. Many of the sessions listed in the agenda appear very relevant. For example, there are sessions to discuss ways to have a more gender sensitive approach to agriculture, improving access to micro-finance for small holder farmers, exploration of how ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) can assist in promoting more sustainable and productive food production. 

Despite this, we have a deep concern that our efforts in sub-Saharan Africa to use “science” for the benefit for a more climate smart, resilient and productive agriculture, that improves food nutrition of small scale farmers in particular, is being heavily distorted and influenced by well-funded information campaigns of the big agro-chemical companies, such as Syngenta, Monstanto, Dupont, Bayer, and more. Many agricultural organizations in Africa, such as AGRA, FARA in Ghana, and their partners, are generously funded by these giant corporations, by the governments that host and sponsor them, and by the foundations such as Gates and Rockefeller that invest in them.

These agribusiness, and their allies are doing all they can to increase their profits by selling chemicals and inputs. A key objective is to introduce patented Genetically Engineered seed into Ghana and Africa. They call this science and claim it is to help feed more people. However, Genetic Engineering is not about science, it is about money.

We support science, the most important science for farmers and food production, agroecological science, that supports a multi-functional and a farming systems-approach to agriculture, is being grossly neglected. There are numerous studies that show the productive potential of agroecological principles, including agroforestry, green manures, inter-cropping, mulching, crop rotations, bio-pesticides, livestock integration to not only increase overall productivity of small scale farmers, but also reduce risks of climate change, improve nutrition, regenerate soils and making farming more sustainable. The main thrust of investment in science, however, is on industrial approaches to farming, including genetics and use of vast quantities of herbicides and pesticides.

Recent research shows GE seeds are less productive than conventional seeds. Where they have been productive they require more water, and they require expensive chemicals that are toxic to humans and animals. Far more factors go into plant productivity than just genetics. Once a country or a region is growing GE crops, farmers lose the choice of whether to use GE seed or not. Where GE crops grow the pollen contaminates the surrounding natural crops. An entire region or country can very quickly become contaminated. The spread cannot be controlled or recalled. Farmers and consumers then have no choice, there are no natural or organic crops left, all have been contaminated.

The farmers' only option is to buy the expensive GE seed from the foreign corporations that own the patents to those seeds. Those seeds can have terminator technology, meaning seeds from the GE crops are barren. Even when they are not barren, the patents prevent farmers from legally saving and replanting the seed. In the US and Canada, Monsanto has been vigorously suing farmers even if they grow crops from their own seeds. If the farmers' natural seeds are contaminated, Monsanto claims it owns the rights to the crop and the farmers must pay Monsanto.

Genetic Engineering has accomplished only two things: Genetic Engineering creates crops that are resistant to herbicides, primarily the herbicide glyphosate and Gentetic Enigineering creates crops that contain insecticides, primarily the insecticide Bt, bacillus thuringiensis. This is not sustainable agriculture. This is not the way to overcome hunger and malnutrition. This is not the pathway for Africa to adapt to climate change, and conserve our soils. Genetic Engineering has long promised that as a scientific approach, it can solve hunger. Most GMO crops in the world, however, are used as feed for animals in industrial systems. There is very little record of successes in developing countries for small scale farmers. There is little evidence that GMOs have enabled small scale farmers to improve productivity and adapt to climate change.

Another major concern is that GE seed is far more expensive for farmers than saving seed for the next planting. This forces farmers into a downward spiral of debt. Obviously, it is more expensive for farmers to be forced to buy new seed every year than when they can save seed for the next planting. This is not sustainable agriculture. Farmers cannot save seeds from GE patented crops. They have to buy new seed, new and stronger chemical fertilizers, and new and stronger pesticides each year. And the price of the seed keeps going up.

If GE seeds lived up to claims, if science might support these claims, the multinational corporations who own the patents would be glad to allow independent testing and encourage labeling. Instead they try to shut down testing and labeling altogether. The only testing they permit is sponsored and reviewed by them.

Ghana is on the verge of starting to test GE seeds. This is part of the investment in “agricultural science”. Genetic Engineering will poison Ghana's and Africa's food supply and co-opt and contaminate its land and water. But in Ghana and Africa more generally, GE science is failing to improve the entire farming system. There is very little investment in ecological science to improve the agricultural productivity, sustainability and resilience to climate change.

The 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week is not about true sustainability. Genetic Engineering’s most lasting effect is that it allows stateless money to decide who plants what and who eats what around the world. Ghana has good seeds, well adapted to its climate, even as the climate changes. What small scale Ghanaian farmers need is research and extension in support of agroecological farming. And if “hunger” is the key problem to solve, beyond agroecology, what small scale farmers need is access to markets, infrastructure, good roads and transportation, and protection from land grabs. Above all, what Ghananian farmers and consumers want is healthy, chemical free, patent free food.

For Life, the Environment, and Social Justice,

………………………………………..

Ali-Masmadi Jehu-Appiah,

Chairperson, FSG

ANC and Jesus  

Julius Malema Commander-In-Chief of EFF

The ANC needs Jesus to return to earth, because the party has become arrogant and lost touch with the struggles of the oppressed people of South African and the objective principles of the ANC, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has said.

“The ruling party has become arrogant. They said they were going to rule until Jesus comes back. What kind of statement is that?” Malema asked residents at an EFF rally Saturday July 13 in Sebokeng, south of Johannesburg.

“They need Jesus. So Jesus has come back they must go out. They are not the Alpha and Omega”.

He said the people of the country were the “Alpha and Omega”.

“You must exercise power. We can take over this government,” Malema said. In March 2009 President Jacob Zuma told ANC supporters in Mpumalanga that the party would rule until Jesus returned.

Malema, who previously held the position of ANC Youth League president, was expelled from the party last year.

He launched the EFF protest movement on July 11.

He said the EFF would have progressive economic policies and firm anti-corruption policies. “Our organisation is founded on the principle of anti-corruption,” he said. “No one found guilty of corruption… will wear the beret,” he said, sporting a bright red EFF-branded beret.

Waiting for Tambuwal’s revolution

By Chido Onumah

This piece has nothing to do with what is happening in Egypt. Ultimately, Nigerians, based on their experience and the existing reality, will determine the trajectory of the current impasse. It was spurred by the recent call for revolution by Aminu Tambuwal, a 2015 presidential wannabe.

Last week, the speaker of the House of Representatives joined the growing list of public officials calling for revolution in Nigeria, a call that is not only cynical but downright hypocritical.

Tambuwal was guest speaker at the 2013 Distinguished Management Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered) and he spoke on the theme, ‘The role of the legislature on the economic, infrastructural and ethical revolution in Nigeria”. “Nigeria is due for revolution – Tambuwal”, was how the Punch headlined its report of the speech. 

According to Tambuwal, “The most compelling reasons for revolution throughout the ages were injustice, crushing poverty, marginalisation, rampant corruption, lawlessness, joblessness, and general disaffection with the ruling elite. You will agree with me that these describe conditions in our nation now, to a very large degree”.

It was the same chorus that former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, sang last November in a speech at a West African regional conference on youth employment in Senegal. “Unless the government of Nigeria takes urgent steps to arrest the menace of youth unemployment and poverty, it is a certainty that Nigeria will see a revolution soon”, Obasanjo said. For a man who had eleven years – three years (1976-79) as a military dictator and eight years (1999-07) as an “elected” president – to change the fortune of Nigeria but wasted it, it is understandable that Obasanjo is seeking to make restitution and redeem himself.

For Tambuwal who was represented by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, “That these conditions exist is well known to all persons in authority but the results of these successive efforts have failed to yield the desired results. This therefore is the justification for the radical change from the present approach to a revolutionary one”.

We can see a common thread that is worrying in the extreme in this cacophony of revolutionary battle cry. These voices belong to those who have brought us to this sad end. Both Tambuwal and Obasanjo, examples of the opportunistic and vain-glorious elite that has held this country hostage since independence, are leading figures in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The PDP-led national government has in the last 14 years either created or exacerbated “injustice, crushing poverty, marginalisation, rampant corruption, lawlessness, joblessness, and general disaffection with the ruling elite”.

Considering Tambuwal’s pedigree, it is unlikely that he authored or had any input in drafting that speech that was clearly a publicity stunt. I am inclined to believe that Mr. Bamidele, former radical student activist and ex-president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) who represented the speaker was merely expressing himself while invoking the name of the speaker.

Of course, Nigeria is due for revolution. Nobody who has witnessed the way the country has been run, particularly in the last 14 years will deny that revolution is imminent. A country where the ruling class connives with multinationals to dupe citizens in every sector deserves nothing but a revolution. A country where homelessness is the rule rather than the exception; a country where poverty, unemployment and hopelessness persist in the midst of abundance, is ripe for a revolution. Not just any revolution, but one that will usher a new era of wealth redistribution and reward for genuine hard work as opposed to rewarding the indolence of our ruling elite.  

Tambuwal and his cohorts can’t “dash” us this revolution. Tambuwal’s grandstanding should, therefore, be noted for what it is. As one commentator put it, “When the root of a problem starts recommending the solution to the problem, something is amiss”. I will give it to Tambuwal. He has become a star overnight, doing, saying and using politically correct lingo for whatever it is worth.

Is Tambuwal really interested in revolution, ethical or otherwise? I doubt it. In his opinion, “The most critical role that the legislature plays is through the annual appropriation bill. As representatives of the people, the legislature ensured that the more critical needs of the people got priority attention, as efforts were made to ensure equitable distribution of projects”. Which critical needs is Tambuwal talking about? The collapse of education, health and social infrastructure across the country?

 Let’s even leave the issue of the scandalous salaries and allowances Tambuwal and his colleagues receive as “representatives of the people” – salaries and allowances that are the highest in the world – and focus on the “more critical needs of the people” that Tambuwal talks about so glibly.

In a country where universities have become glorified secondary schools, where workers are expected to survive on N18,000 ($110) a month; a country with one the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, where over 10 million school children are out of school, Tambuwal’s House of Representatives approved over a N1 billion ($6million) for food in 2012 for the presidency, N1.7 billion ($11.3million) for the vice president on trips and N1.3 billion ($8.6million) on office stationeries in 2012. This amount included N12 million ($80,000) on books, N45 million ($300,000) on newspapers, and N9 million ($60,000) on magazines and periodicals. A breakdown showed that the VP would spend N723 million ($4.8 million) on local travels and N951 million ($6.3 million) on his international travels. That is the kind of profligate house that Mr. Tambuwal superintends.

We have heard from those who say Nigerians are too timid to carry out a revolution. Now, it is the turn of those who want to wage the revolution on behalf of Nigerians on the pages of newspapers. Of course, if we wait for Tambuwal’s revolution, we’ll wait in vain.

When the mass of our people know that when they confront this oppressive system, they have nothing to lose but their oppression, poverty and indignity they will embark on the necessary journey of genuine revolutionary transformation of Nigeria.

An essential part of this revolution is to tinker with the structure of the country which feeds the corruption and impunity of which Tambuwal is a major beneficiary. Tambuwal, by his own words, has invited the rebellion on himself and others in his class. They should be concerned, really concerned!

conumah@hotmail.com

Moscow names street after Chavez

Late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

A street in Moscow was named after famous leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chavez, who died on March 5th, 2013. Hugo Chavez Street appeared in Moscow on Tuesday in the Khoroshovsky district in the north of Moscow.

"Right now I feel that the memory of Chavez is alive. He visited Moscow ten times and never felt like a stranger here. With his infinite love for justice and equality, he crossed the borders of the land where he was born. In the XXI century, he saw the new Russia. Chavez always remembered that Moscow became the line that broke the claims of those who wanted to conquer the world during the 1940s. 

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the city government, numerous Russian guests and members of diplomatic missions. After the hymns of the two countries, Venezuelans, holding carnations in their hands, started chanting "Chavez Forever!" and "Viva Maduro!" 

According to the map, there are no residential buildings on Hugo Chavez Street, so no one will have to change their passports. The street is 170 meters long; it connects Mikoyan Street and Leningrad Avenue. The new street is a small park that leads to a hotel.

The decision to rename ten streets of Moscow, including the one to be named after Hugo Chavez, was taken at a cabinet meeting about a week ago. An official with the Public Relations Committee of the Moscow government said that the decision to name the street after the late Venezuelan leader was initiated by President Vladimir Putin.

Hugo Chavez became president of Venezuela in 1999. He won four consecutive presidential elections, his last victory took place in October 2012, with a mandate to govern the country until 2019. Hugo Chavez died at age 58 in a military hospital in Caracas. He had been struggling with cancer for  nearly two years.

Jonathan’s Half-Time: Club Down, Manager Out

By Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai

May 6th 2013 would make it 3 years since Goodluck Ebele Jonathan became president of Nigeria. As an elected government, the administration would be celebrating its second anniversary next week. It therefore is the right time to look at how well it has fared. Two years is sufficient time to examine what promises have been kept, what projects are on schedule and which have been dumped altogether.

With elections drawing closer, it is imperative that Nigerians know if the campaign promises made to them are being fulfilled, especially as majority of the electorate admitted to casting votes based on sentiments of a president from humble backgrounds who had no shoes. Others voted because they shared Jonathan’s ethnic and religious affiliations. Now is the time to reflect on whether our choices have translated into improved socio-economic conditions for Nigerians.

Assessing the government’s performance will provide valid basis for the electorate to make more informed decisions at the next polls and perhaps set the tone for questions like: does this candidate possess the leadership qualities required to govern a nation? Does he/she have a track record of delivering on promises made? Is he/she an achiever or able to make noteworthy differences in positions of trust?  

Perhaps the process should begin by highlighting the campaign promises made by President Jonathan more than two years ago and subsequently evaluate these promises and the progress made on them. Incidentally, because candidate Jonathan did not have a campaign manifesto with targets and specific timelines, his campaign promises are vague and achievement almost immeasurable. For agriculture, he proposed the following:

On February 17th 2011, the president promised the people of Benue state a five-year plan to revolutionize agriculture and establish industries in the country as well as complete the Otukpo irrigation project; on February 9, in Bauchi and on March 20, in Birnin Kebbi, he assured that the Jada irrigation project and Kafin Zaki dam in Taraba, Adamawa and Bauchi would be pursued to boost agriculture and industrial development; In Lokoja on February 21, he promised to explore the agricultural potential of the state to boost food security; in Ilorin, also on Feb 21, he promised to grant loans to farmers and ensure the agricultural transformation of Kwara State and in Jos on February 17, he promised to build more dams and complete ongoing ones in order to boost irrigation farming in Plateau; he also promised to encourage the establishment of more agricultural research institutes.

Continuing with his campaign in Akure on March 2, Jonathan promised to provide funds for mechanized farming and agro-based industries, quoting him, he promised; “to open up the flank of semi and mechanized farming in the State to engender a paradigm shift from subsistence farming to reliable modern agricultural practices”; in Osogbo, he promised to enhance agricultural irrigation and provide farmers with adequate information; in Kaduna, he promised massive transformation of the agricultural sector through construction of large dams and distribution of fertilizers. At the Presidential Summit on Job Creation in Abuja on April 12, he promised to make Nigeria an exporter of rice.

On infrastructure, the president declared that roads and other basic infrastructure would be developed in four years; he said in Ibadan onFebruary 9 and in Bida, February 22 that road construction would take a new five-year structure, ending yearly budgetary allocations; in Aba he promised to provide facilities that would boost the enterprising spirit of the Igbo; upgrade the Enugu airport to international level; dredge the River Niger; build a dry port; complete the Second Niger Bridge; rehabilitate all the main roads into Abia and tackle the erosion crisis.

While in Uyo, he promised to build coastal roads and rail from Lagos to Calabar, in Awka he promised to construct all major roads which link Anambra with its neighbors and complete the Onitsha Inland Port. He equally promised to provide potable water to Onitsha and Nnewi cities and tackle erosion in the South-East; in Dutse, Jonathan promised to establish airports in all the states without airports, with Jigawa as his starting point; in Abakaliki, he promised the South East zone priority in fixing its dilapidated road network and to dualize the Enugu-Abakaliki road within one year. He also promised to establish a secretariat for ALL Federal government's agencies and parastatals in Ebonyi.

In Lokoja , Jonathan promised to revive the Ajaokuta Steel Complex and the Itakpe Iron Ore Company; ensure the speedy completion of the Lokoja-Abuja road project, and dredge the lower and upper River Niger; in Ilorin he promised the rehabilitation of the nation’s railway system the Ilorin-Mokwa road; in Jos , promised to complete the Vom-Manchok-Jos road to boost economic links between Plateau and Kaduna states and in Abeokuta, he promised to revive the railway system; revive ailing refineries and build new refineries.

Promises were coming in thick and fast: In Osogbo on March 2, he promised to complete the Lagos-Jebba rail project right away and to complete the Ife-Ijesa dam; at the Northern Economic Summit, Kaduna, on March 19, Jonathan promised to spend N350 billion in building small dams across the North in the next four years to stimulate “massive irrigational farms”; in Benue, he promised that the Benue Bridge projects will be worked on in the next four years; also in Kwara State, President Jonathan pledged that the Jebba-Mokwa road and Jebba Bridge would be given adequate attention to ease transportation; in Sokoto, he promised to rehabilitate the abandoned Shagari irrigation project and fight the menace of desertification in the country.

On education, Jonathan made the following promises: in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, he promised a holistic review of the nation’s education policy; in Bauchi, he promised to establish two universities in the region and construct schools with modern facilities for 9.5 million Almajiris; in Birnin Kebbi, he promised to establish schools for Almajiris and ensure the take-off of the Federal University in Kebbi by 2012. In Lokoja on February 21, he promised to establish a new federal university in the state; In Lafia; in Gusau on March 15, he promised to establish a Federal University of Technology within one year.

Some of the promises made with regards to the economy are: in Ibadan, President Jonathan promised to “create jobs”; in Port Harcourt, he promised to build a petrochemical plant that will create job opportunities for the Niger Delta youths; in Plateau, he pledged to refocus on the solid mineral development and launch “a straight fight” against poverty; to create wealth by improving power and water supply; on February 24, Mr. President pledged to rehabilitate all ailing industries in Aba and make Aba the hub aircraft production in Nigeria; in Asaba, he revealed that “The NNPC is developing a new programme that will absorb about 5,000 youths in the state” and promised to unveil a five-year development plan; in Ondo, he promised the exploitation of the vast bitumen deposits; in Katsina, he promised to enhance the living standard of Nigerians through implementation of people-oriented programmes and in Kano, he pledged to encourage the development of small and medium scale enterprises; during the one-man presidential debate on March 31 in Abuja, he promised to expand and develop the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry to provide about one million jobs.

In Lagos on February 28, Jonathan promised to partner with Lagos State in the interest of its continuous growth and the nation’s economic buoyancy. “We have taken this period to study what we are going to do and by your mandate in May 29, we will hit the ground running,” he said. On Feb 21 in Ilorin, he promised to tackle poverty and revitalize ailing industries; in Abuja on March 21 at a meeting with leaders of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, he promised to build car manufacturing or assembly plants.

Concerning security, the president made the following promises: In Aba and Enugu on February 12, he promised to stamp out kidnapping; in Bauchi, he guaranteed that he would combat rising terrorism in the area; in Ilorin also on Feb 21, Jonathan promised to end discrimination along ethnic and religious lines. On February 7, in Lafia, he said he would clampdown on kidnappers and criminals; pursue law breakers to the ends of the Earth, and ensure there would be no sacred cows. In Ibadan, at the South-West launch of the campaign, he promised to: run a transparent government; treat all citizens equally and respect law and order.

To address the epileptic power supply in the country, President Jonathan promised the following: In Awka on Feb 26, he said the ongoing aero-dynamic survey of gas in the Anambra River basin would be completed, leading to increased power supply and a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry. He vowed that Nigerians would not be talking about generators after his four years in office. In Lafia, he promised to end chronic power shortages; in Minna on Feb 15, he promised to establish three power projects in the state at a cost of $2.1bn (about N315bn).

On Feb 25 in Anambra, he announced plans to build a power station in the state and on March 12, he promised improved power supply before the end of the year through the Integrated Power Project (IPP) initiative in Ogun state; in Bauchi on February 9, he assured that projects such as the Mambilla hydro-electricity would be pursued.

President Jonathan’s promises on oil and gas include: To revive ailing oil refineries and build new ones (Abeokuta March 12); to invest in petrochemicals, mining, research and development (Osogbo, March 2); at the launch of his South-South Campaign, he promised to commence “transformational changes” in the South-South; he said the NNPC had begun investing in the petrochemical industry in the region and that the people in the region would be given a voice in the oil and gas sector.  He promised to make the Niger Delta region the hub of the petrochemical industry in Africa. He also guaranteed the implementation of Local Content Law and Petroleum Industry Bill (Port Harcourt, February 12); that oil revenues would be managed better and a refinery would be constructed (Lafia, February 7).

In Asaba on February 26 he promised to transform the Nigerian oil and gas industry and make it the destination of choice for investors in Africa; convene a stakeholders meeting across the country where communities will be able to determine their priority programmes; he promised to intensify oil and gas exploration in the North-East Zone (Bauchi, February 9); he pledged to build more refineries and encourage downstream activities (March 12, Ogun state).

Interestingly with the barrage of challenges in the health sector, not many of the promises were focused on health. Here are a few promises he made: In Abakaliki on Feb 25, he promised the South East geo-political zone priority attention in healthcare delivery and that the Federal Medical Centre in Abakaliki would be converted to a teaching hospital;

Next week, we would evaluate the fulfillment of these promises (partial or complete) within the two year period of the President’s tenure. We would also welcome feedback from our readers on specific promises made by the president to assess his performance.

Iraq: Between Drug Dealers and Death Squads

Late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein

By Hussein Al-alak

As a result of nationalised oil, during the 1980’s the Government of Saddam Hussain had run literacy campaigns, which saw illiteracy drop to less than 10% of Iraq’s entire population. UNESCO applauded the fact, that Iraqis were able to access free education and come out with qualifications and employment on the other side.  It was stated in 1998:

“UNESCO said that Iraq was one of the only countries in the world where, even if you were born in absolute poverty, with illiterate parents you could come out of the education system either a brain surgeon, archaeologist or whatever you wished to become.”

What has tragically replaced education, stability and employment is an increasing subservience to alcohol and drugs, with “violence, unemployment and poverty” leading to a dramatic “increase in alcohol abuse,” according Younis Obeidi, a psychiatrist at the Ibn Rushd Hospital.

Kamel Ali, head of the Iraqi Health Ministry’s drug and alcohol-prevention programme, stated in 2007 “the consumption of alcohol in Iraq has surprisingly increased”, with “every day more patients looking for help as their addiction begins to seriously affect their personal lives.”

“Iraq has one of the worst treatment and follow-up regimes for alcohol abusers in the Middle-East,” Ali states, with staff shortages further complicating the situation and denying patients access to consistent after-care.

That same year, the Iraqi Psychologists Association illustrated how an internal study had shown “the number of alcoholics in care had increased by 34 percent compared to the figure for June 2006″ but a lack of funding, had prevented the study from being published.

Drugs have also become an alternative to the squalor of poverty, as the first three years of theUS/UK occupation, saw over 2 million people “living below the poverty line”. In May 2005, the UN announced, that Iraq was about to become a transit station for heroine, “which is manufactured in Afghanistan and is heading towards Europe through neighbouring Iran”.

Having been made homeless due to sectarian violence and left unemployed, Abu Teif turned to the selling of drugs to “support his family – three children and a handicapped wife”, whose disability was caused by militants shooting her “for not wearing a veil”.

“At the beginning it was like a miracle. It was easy work and I had a lot of clients and I didn’t even know the effect of the drugs.I learned what the effects could be only after an addict tried to kill me to get heroin.”

“I started to see food in my home again. My grandchildren also started eating well and my wife was able to get proper treatment for her leg, but those days soon ended”, when drug dealers started to extort more money from him and then threatened to kill his wife and family if he tried to escape the drugs trade”.

“I don’t know how to escape this life” Abu Teif stated, “If I try to run away with my family they will find me”, his words echoing the same fears as those fleeing death squads, “I started to do wrong by selling drugs and now I’m paying the price.”

In a July article for news agency Al-Monitor, journalist Adnan Abu Zeed warned: “the negative effects of illegal drugs in Iraq are becoming more apparent” as Iraq “is being transformed from a country that exports drugs into a consumer of them”.

Zeed described a situation, where throughout Iraqi cities, growing numbers of young people are high on drugs, where this new generation of war’s children, are finding solace in the arms of these substances.

Drugs are also spreading like wildfire in places that use child labour, such as car repair shops, and road junctions where cheap goods are sold. Asaad Yassin is just one example, who at the tender age of 14, is also a drug addict.

Abu Sami, whose eldest son is addicted to drugs declared: “My fear is no longer about an explosive or a car bomb, but about the terrorism of addiction.” Ahmad al-Jubouri, a middle school teacher from Babel is unable to help his heroin-addicted brother, because the city has no drug rehabilitation centre.

At the end of 2012, an Iraqi parliamxentary committee stated, “The security, the judicial and the health services are embarrassed about the spread of drugs”, and police sources claim “Investigating [those boys] is not part of [the police’s] daily duties”.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior’s response has been to issue a statement, which simply states that drugs “cause a person to commit crime.”