• As IEA warns of another World shocker from oil price bust

Reasons behind recent Government ordering of Plant Quarantine teams to the nation’s ports may have begun to unfold with last Wednesday sensitization workshop in Abuja,  at the prompting of the Netherlands as to why exportation of the Nigerian grown dry beans to European countries was banned.

The participants at the workshop which held in Abuja’s Chelsea Hotels learnt that  the 12 months ban which took off in June 2015, was necessitated because of the high levels of pesticides used in processing the beans before export; an issue discovered to be harmful to humans /consumers, who are mainly Nigerians in the Diaspora.

One thing was not in doubt : Government wants the ban lifted; while the EU would lift the ban, only if the Nigerian authorities meet the required standards in tandem with global best practices.

The reality of the situation immediately threw up some issues,  especially regarding enlightening Nigerian farmers on how to raise standards.

The view specifically touched on the need to educate the large illiterate practitioners in local languages, so as to ensuring that inputs into agricultural and extension services really gets to those who matter and not the “Abuja Farmers”.

The participants made a fervent request to the European Union to help in training and building the capacity of farmers and extension workers, such that it is cascaded to others along the chain and that information about defaults in the processes, should be made available to the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine services in time, to enable inspection and enforcement of requisite statutes.

Mrs Olarenwaju Nwankwo however denounced the ban, and called for its lifting by the EU,  noting that most of the pesticides blamed for the degrading of the beans were imported from the EU Countries, and wondering why the ban on Nigerian export of beans should be, when the same processing is used for the beans consumed in Nigeria.

A cross section of the attendees insisted that the growers were actually living up to expectations and opined that the ban was political, rather than scientific.

More so,  as there have not been any reported cases of consumers dying from the consumption of Nigerian beans locally or abroad.

The participants which included the representatives of the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS), NAFDAC and some other relevant ministries, Agencies and departments in Nigeria, thoroughly brainstormed on papers on Integrated pest management, storage, awareness and quality assurance by Dr. Ms. Louise Abayomi of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) of Greenwich University, UK; Integrated pest management, storage, good practice, by Mr. Klaas Van Rozen, who is a plant researcher; Infrastructure pilot bean production chain by Mr. Charles Malata of UNIDO- Nigeria; and Strategic relevance of NAFDAC in the control of pesticide control by Dr. Abimbola Adegboye of NAFDAC Central laboratory.

Other papers also presented included the Maximum Residue levels of pesticides: standard setting and monitoring in the EU; and Value Chain Management: COLEACP experience in the fruit and vegetable sector by Mrs, Benedicte Werner of ColeACP; amongst others.

An intervention by the National President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agency (ANLCA)- Prince Olayiwola Shittu actually brought a new understanding to participants as he stressed the need towards ensuring the enforcement of the relevant trade conventions. In addition to ensuring that future workshops take place in areas nearer the farmers or to the grassroots, rather than in Abuja, or cities that are expensive and inaccessible to the real farmers.

Mrs Olarenwaju Nwankwo at the workshop denouncing the ban, and calling for its lifting by the EU
It was noted that most of the pesticides blamed for the degrading of the beans are imported from the EU Countries, wondering therefore, why the ban on Nigerian export of beans should be, when the same processing is used for the beans consumed in Nigeria. In view of the fact that majority of beans growers and processors have observed international best practices, it was the opinion of most participants that the ban was political, rather than scientific. Therefore, the European Union was urged to lift the ban, while concerted efforts are intensified, to improve on the application of pesticides and other chemicals to ensure that International best practices are sustained. This view was supported by the fact that there have not been any reported cases of consumers dying from the consumption of Nigerian beans locally or abroad.

Since the ban was placed in June 2015, it is expected that, arising from the consensus at the workshop, the ban which is for an initial period of 12 months will be lifted before mid 2016.

Guests at the workshop included the Kogi State Security, Mrs Shade Ayoade who delivered an opening remarks; Halima Njobdi, Alhaji ABDULSALAM, the ANLCA Ag. Secretary – Nnamdi Azikiwe Intl Airport chapter, Abuja ; the part Coordinated in part by Dr. Vincent Isegbe, of the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (Fed. Ministry of Agriculture and rural development).

In the meantime, an oil shock may be lurking around the corner as the price bust has hammered investment in future supply, according to the Paris-based, International Energy Agency, IEA. The IEA in its latest report identified the risk of supply outages such as those in Nigeria and Iraq as “episodic” events due to political instability, something that may also affect other countries around the world as a result of low oil prices.

“Historic” investment cuts taking place now increase the possibility of oil-security surprises in the “not-too-distant” future, Neil Atkinson, head of the IEA’s Oil Industry and Markets Division, said.

He explained that about $300 billion is needed to sustain the current level of production, and nations including the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Mexico are facing difficulty in keeping up investments. “We need a lot of investments just to stand still,” Atkinson said at the launch event of SIEW 2016. “There’s danger as we are reaching a point where we are barely investing upstream. If investment doesn’t resume in 2017 and 2018, we can see a spike in oil prices as oil supply can’t meet demand.”

Companies such as ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp. and BP Plc were said to have canceled more than $100 billion in investments, laid off tens of thousands of workers, slashed dividends and sold assets as oil sank below $30 a barrel to a 12-year low. With crude rebounding since mid-February to near $41, Atkinson said the worst may be over for prices as they have a floor “for the time being.”

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and other producers including Russia plan to meet in Doha next month to discuss limiting output to reduce a global oversupply. “The meeting may or may not take place,” said Atkinson.

“It’s seen as a gesture to show that there is stability and the impact it will have on actual supply structure will be “none whatsoever,” said Atkinson, who expects oil prices to average $35 to $40 a barrel this year. “You need to invest large sums of money just to maintain existing production and if you want to grow production to meet the demand growth that we’re expecting, that money has to come from somewhere and we’re seeing big cuts,” he added.

“There will be “barely any supply to meet demand” if investments don’t resume in the next one or two years. Apart from Saudi Arabia and one or two other Gulf state nations, there is little spare capacity around the world. Further ahead, Venezuela’s economic problems may lead to social and political unrest and the potential for supply disruptions in Libya remains a risk,” he argued.

Additional report from Vanguard