Vice-President Kashim Shettima has said the Federal Government had obtained $163 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support wheat production in the country.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Shettima stated this at the palace of the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Sumaila Mera, when he paid a condolence visit to the Emirate and family of late Sheikh Abubakar Giro.

He re-affirmed the determination of the Tinubu administration to fulfill all its promises to Nigerians, particularly in the agricultural sector.

The vice-president also assured that food security would receive serious attention from the government.

“We have obtained $163 million loan from the African Development Bank to support wheat production. The scheme would be launched soon.

“We need 10,000 hectares of land in Kebbi State. But the scheme would be well executed in Jigawa State with a cultivation of 50,000 hectares of land to boost wheat production,” he said.

In his remarks, the Emir of Argungu, Mera, who prayed for the unity and progress of Nigeria, thanked President Tinubu and Vice-President Shettima for their support.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has declared Indomie noodles manufactured in Nigeria is safe for human consumption.

The agency said the noodles do not contain ethylene oxide, a colourless and odourless gas that is used to sterilise medical equipment and plastics. It is said to be a cancer-causing chemical

Health officials in Malaysia and Taiwan said they had detected ethylene oxide in Indomie’s special chicken flavour noodles.

Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC director-general, said the agency would begin random sample tests of the noodles from May 2.

Speaking with journalists on Thursday, the director-general said during the probe, samples of chicken flavoured instant noodles of various brands and the seasonings were drawn from the production facilities across the country.

She said the exercise was to ensure that the investigation was robust and cover other instant noodles brands manufactured in Nigeria, besides Indomie.

She said the agency also visited markets and retail outlets in the major cities of Lagos, Abuja, and Kano and drew samples of instant noodles for laboratory analysis.

“The market visits served as surveillance for the presence of the Taiwan and Malaysian special chicken noodles in the Nigerian market,” she said.

“The samples drawn from production facilities and trade were properly packaged and delivered in good condition to our central laboratory, Oshodi, Lagos, where analytical activities commenced immediately in accordance with international standards and methods of analysis.

“The technique using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detector was deployed.

“A total of 114 samples of instant noodles and the seasonings were received.

“We did not only analyze for ethylene oxide and its derivative 2-chloroethanol in the noodles and seasonings; we also analysed for other contaminants such as mycotoxins and heavy metals in the samples.

“Ethylene oxide or its derivative was not found in any of the instant noodles produced in Nigeria and their seasonings.

“The level of mycotoxin and the heavy metals were within the internationally acceptable limit. Therefore, the noodles made in Nigeria are very safe to eat.”

.. . VC says he is proud of Chef as cooking hits 108 hours, breaking Hilda Bacis’ s record

By Wole Balogun
S.A Media to VC

The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, has visited Chef Damilola Adeparusi, a student of the institution who has just broken Hilda Baci’s record by cooking for 108 hours in a community in Oye Local Government area of Ekiti State.

The VC visited the student chef with members of the University Governing Council and the Management team to further encourage her on her resilient spirit to achieve greatness with her skills.

The VC and his entourage arrived at the venue of the chef’s exercise at about 12:30 pm on Tuesday amidst cheers by a crowd of excited students who received him.

The students present were elated on seeing the VC and hailed him endlessly for identifying with Chef Damilola.

Stating the purpose of his visit, Prof. Fasina said: “ We are very glad with your resilient spirit in achieving greatness by showcasing your skills and talents as a chef. You have made us really proud globally by showing to the world that we have students who have been well-tutored and inspired to take up the gauntlet and achieve greatness with their God-given talents and skills.

In FUOYE, we motivate you to innovate. We encourage our students to pursue their dreams with sound and functional education which we painstakingly impact on our students and you are a shining example and testimony of the hard work of our dynamic lecturers.

We are indeed very happy for you and we encourage you and others to continue to make us proud by bringing into practice the functional education and positive values you are receiving in FUOYE.

I am particularly delighted and moved by your clarification that you are not competing with Hilda Baci. That you merely wanted to showcase your talents to the world. And this is very inspiring, “ he said.
The VC thereafter personally handed over a cash gift of N200,000 to the student chef.
Responding, a highly elated Adeparusi appreciated the VC, saying she was overwhelmed with the show of love and encouragement coming from the members of the Governing Council, the management team and the VC. She promised to continue to make the institution proud wherever she gets to in life.
In another development, Baci, who has just been crowned by Guinness for cooking for 100 hours has donated to Adeparusi as a show of endorsement and encouragement.