The Nation Newspaper

Category: Abuja Review

  • NGO trains FCT women on ICT

    A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) High Tech Centre for Women and Youths in partnership with Nigeria Technological Development Agency (NITDA) has trained selected women in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Information Communication Technology (ICT).

    The training which was co-sponsored by CITEX And National Library of Nigeria (NLN) was organised for women leaders in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as opinion makers in the local councils, who are capable of influencing changes in their environments.

    The women were enlightened on coding techniques application development, business and enterprise developments in Information communication technology, empowerment,  skills and maintenance computer system among others.

    Speaking during the workshop, President of the NGO, Dr. Wunmi Hassan explained roles of women in national development.

    She said it was important to train women on ICT and empowerment, which according to her was capable of developing the society.

    Hassan encouraged the participants to think and act like entrepreneurs. She urged them to take advantage of little business opportunities and transform their livelihood.

    The NGO is engaged in training, capacity building and empowerment.

    “We are looking at change makers and people that can influence decisions. We want women who through their position can influence other women and their environment through empowerment.

    “We want to ensure that the library is well utilised by women ýto drive a change and do much more than reading.”

    “We say Nigerian need a change but the change will start with women. It is the women that will contribute more to moulding thýe society,” she added.

    In her remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Alhaji Mallam Jato described the workshop as timely.

    The CEO urged the present administration to focus more on education, adding that if government could get a grip of the sector, it will hasten national growth.

    Jato, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Virtual Library Services Department, NLN, Mrs. Oluchi Kalu complained over situation where majority in the country cannot read or write which, according to her has slowed down development of the nation.

    She said: “When you talk of digital divide that is what Nigeria is actually going through. ICT is in vogue and Nigeria is behind. A situation where many people are not computer literate, they cannot even read or write and this is what one third of our population is suffering from.”

    However, she expressed optimism the training would positively influence the participants.

     

  • Indigenes advise lawmakers on good representation

    Indigenes of Abuja have called on their representatives at the National Assembly to work towards impacting positively on the lives of the people who voted them into the political offices they are presently occupying.

    A community leader in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Daniel Yepwi lamented that indigenes have been left behind in terms of education, employment and job opportunities, which indigenes of other states are benefiting from their states.

    According to Yepwi, it is time members in the House of Representatives and the Senate use their political offices to attract empowerment and proper development to the six area councils in the territory.

    He said that lucrative vacancies and opportunities made to indigenous people of the FCT are being harnessed by other Nigerians from other states at the detriment of the natives.

    “People of the Niger Delta are enjoying today, because their leaders stood firm without compromising. It is time other area council chairmen start emulating AMAC chairman, Mr. Micah Jiba for scholarships he has given to our children to study postgraduate degrees abroad, with the promise to do more.

    “The incoming FCT Minister should avoid demolition of our ancestral houses because no nation thrives without a history. Nigerians and government met Gbagyi people here in the FCT and I wondered why every government will come and start demolishing our homes? While in countries like USA, Maryland there are still ancestral homes and buildings owned by the red Indians who still live there till today,” he said.

    The indigenes who congratulated the President elect Muhammadu Buhari further advised him to maintain his principles and integrity by making sure he appoints an indigene as a minister, appealing to the incoming government to carry the indigenes along and avoid any thing that will plunge the youths into crisis like the Niger Delta youths.

    “We want the incoming administration to dwell more on projects and programmes that will benefit us, not like the Bala Mohammed-led administration that uses the military to demolish and humiliate us in our land,” he said.

  • Skills for IDPs

    Skills for IDPs

    A lone woman is helping to put the cheer on the faces of internally displaced persons (IDPs), not by giving them money but teaching them skills, writes GRACE OBIKE

    It sure feels like blows coming from all sides. So many of them worked so hard to provide for themselves and their families. Some managed to raise properties. Then, suddenly, everything came crumbling down and they had nothing to call their own.

    They now beg for food.

    That has been the fate of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Northeast, who have lost all they worked so hard to acquire. They are now homeless.

    Apart from witnessing the death and disappearance of their loved ones and neighbours, they also saw the assault by Boko Haram insurgents. One wonders if they will be able to recover from all this. While some are lucky enough to stay with relatives in other parts of the country, others are forced to settle in camps in inhuman conditions.

    But with the rescue of about 1000 persons who were kidnapped by the Boko Haram insurgents by Nigerian military, most of these people are eager to return home and start life afresh.

    •Amina Muhammed with her two-week-old baby
    •Amina Muhammed with her two-week-old baby

    A mother of three, Amina Muhammed, in an interview with Abuja Review said: “When peace returns to Gwoza, I will like to return. I don’t like it here because as a person, you feel free in your own house rather than having to squat in such conditions. Some of us were landlords back home. Most of our men had good jobs and businesses but now it is all gone. We are suffering here; staying in Abuja is not fun at all.”

    Although some individuals have taken it upon themselves to provide food and clothes for the IDPs in different parts of the country, another individual has taken it upon herself to empower the women. They call her Mama IDP at the Area 1 Camp and a lot of them have nice things to say about the woman who prefers to remain anonymous. She said at first, she, like other well-meaning Nigerians, had began with providing them with food and clothing items weekly but she went further to provide them with skill acquisition programme where the women are taught bleach making, liquid soap making, making of dusting powder and vaseline.

    “They have lost everything and need support in starting life afresh when they return home. The idea is for them to make a little money and learn few necessary skills before they return back to their states, where, hopefully, they can use it to start life afresh.

    “Five months ago when we visited here, we began bringing food on weekly basis and realised that there was no learning centre and the children were not going to school; they were always running around dirty and their parents could hardly control them.

    “So, with the help of friends, we were able to open a learning centre in the uncompleted building where 13 families lived for the past nine months but the woman that owns the building needs to continue with her building so she has asked them to vacate.

    “Five weeks ago, we began a training programme that will empower these women so that when they go back home, they will be able to have some kind of skills to help them generate income so that they can help their families because they have lost everything back home.

    “We need volunteer teachers for the learning centres. We have children that are of secondary school age but because we don’t have the facilities for them, they cannot come to the school. We have almost 20 children that should be in the JSS category. We still need funds to buy sewing machines and teach them how to make pastries like akara and other things so that they can raise funds for themselves.

    “This camp needs things as little as sanitary pads for their monthly periods and pants. Most of the children do not have pants to wear. We need pairs of slippers, clothes and we need things that people may not want as they are valuable here. We also need old toys.

    “We need counselling for these people. We need prayers and support. They have lost everything; they saw their children being slaughtered in front of them. For me, my emphasis is on women because they run the home, my emphasis is to develop the skills of the women because most of them have no skills and they just wait on their men to bring money for food.

    “My emphasis is also on the men; they need a source of livelihood, they need their pride and dignity restored. If they can go out and source for a job and bring food on the table that will be a thing of pride for them. Most of them do not have it now so they can resort to any kind of menace.

    “These women are very hard working. In two days, they have mastered how to produce the soap, dusting powder and Vaseline among others. They are not only hard working, they are intelligent. We have been training them for the past five weeks, we intend to harvest the best hands here and take them to another IDP camp to train those ones as well, so that when they return home, they have some skills to do. It’s not about anybody taking the glory but about man helping man.”

    Amina Muhammed added: “I have stayed in this camp for seven months. From Gwoza, we trekked to Madaghalli and I was pregnant at the time. From Madaghalli, someone gave us a lift to Maiduguri and we got another free transportation to Abuja.

    “While in Abuja, a woman, Aunty Habiba came here and took us the pregnant women to the police hospital for antenatal and when it was time for me to be delivered of my baby, she took me to the hospital and I had my baby through caesarean. She took care of the bills. When peace returns to Gwoza, I will like to return. I don’t like it here because as a person, you feel free in your own house than having to squat in such conditions. Some of us were landlords back home; most of our men had good jobs and businesses but now all are gone. We are suffering here; staying in Abuja is not fun at all.

    •Their unsanitary living space
    •Their unsanitary living space

    “The owner of the building has asked us to vacate because she has actually helped us with her place but she needs to complete her building. Some people are unable to provide the money to pay for their shacks but I gave them money for mine to be built and for the others that cannot afford to pay for theirs, mama IDP is assisting them with it.”

    Woman leader of the camp told Abuja Review that although they appreciate residents of Abuja that provided them with food item often, they have better appreciation of the programme because they can earn a living on their own someday without having to live off other people or continue to beg.

    She said: “Yes, all our women took part in the skills acquisition programme provided by Mama IDP. When we go home, we will have things to do that will help us a lot compared to how people simply provide us with food. But this is something that even if we return home, we will have something to do instead of staying idle. We will be able to purchase the chemicals ourselves and make the products for sale.

    “Honestly, staying in Abuja is only for people who are accustomed to it because if not for people that have been assisting us in this city, how would we have survived? To eat is a problem. We have to buy. Who will want to live his home where things are much simpler? Staying in the village is so much easier than this Abuja life.

    “We are not safe even from security officials who harass us all the time. They came in the middle of the night the other day and packed all our men away for no reason although all of them have been released now. When we asked questions, they said it is a simple routine patrol but what kind of patrol will make them take people away in the presence of his children for no reason. Why then will we want to stay in a place like this with all the troubles?

    “Unfortunately we enjoyed learning this work and hope to continue on our own, we do not have the startup capital to purchase all the chemicals required. So, we are pleading with well-meaning Nigerians not to be tired of us. They should continue to help us as they have been doing. They should provide us with the startup capital and direct us to where to buy all the chemicals needed to produce all these things.

    •Kegs of liquid soap made by Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at an Abuja camp
    •Kegs of liquid soap made by Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at an Abuja camp

    “Although when we make all the items, we will not sell them as expensive as they are selling them here; we will make and sell them cheap so that it will be affordable to the poor and we can exhaust our products and make new ones.”the products IDP’s learnt during the programme

     

  • Don’t stigmatise freed inmates

    The Public Relations Officer of Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), Mr. Frances Enobore has praised The Nation Newspapers for effectively informing the public.

    Enobore, who is a Deputy Controller of Prisons (DCP), gave the commendation when his team visited the Abuja Bureau of The Nation Newspaper and were received by the Deputy Editor Nation’s Capital, Mr. Yomi Odunuga.

    He also seeks further collaboration in the area of educating the society not to stigmatise already freed inmates who had served out their jail terms.

    The sad development, he said, is not helping the inmates who have passed through reformation and had learnt several vocations while in prison before gaining freedom.

    He advised the society to accept them so as to help them to move ahead with their lives.

    His words: “We appreciate The Nation Newspapers for the good job the management is doing for the country through information and for also showcasing the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS). The NPS cannot do it alone without the support of the media.

    “We seek further collaboration so that you help the service to inform the public not to stigmatise freed inmates. Doing so will demoralise them in the society and it may not help them showcase what they have learnt in the prisons.

    “They learn a lot that is good for the society and I think we should encourage them. The stigmatisation is not helping the reformation we are giving to them in the prison. The sentence is enough punishment for them and the Controller-General of Prisons is strongly not in support of stigmatization of freed inmates. He always tells members of the public to accept freed inmates back to the society.”

    Responding, Mr. Odunuga urged the NPS to do more in controlling the excesses of the violent ones among the prisoners.

    Odunuga promised to continue to help the service where necessary.

  • Indigenes seek genuine development

    Indigenes of Abuja have called on their representatives at the National Assembly to work towards impacting positively on the lives of the people who voted them into power.

    A community leader in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Daniel Yepwi lamented that indigenes have been left behind in terms of education and job opportunities, which indigenes of other states are benefiting from.

    According to Yepwi, it is time members in the House of Representatives and the Senate used their political offices to attract genuine development to the six area councils in the territory.

    He said lucrative job opportunities promised to indigenous people of the FCT are being enjoyed by people from other states at the detriment of the natives.

    “People of the Niger Delta are enjoying today, because their leaders stood firm without compromising. It is time chairmen of other area councils started emulating chairman of AMAC, Mr. Micah Jiba for scholarships he has given to our children to study post-graduate programmes abroad, with the promise to do more.

    “The incoming minister of the FCT should avoid demolition of our ancestral houses because no nation thrives without a history. Nigerians and government met Gbagyi people here in the FCT and I wondered why every government will come and start demolishing our homes?  In countries such as the United States of America (USA), there are still ancestral homes and buildings owned by the red Indians who still live there till today,” he said.

    The indigenes, who congratulated the President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, further advised him to maintain his principles and integrity by making sure he appoints an indigene as a minister of the FCT. They appealed to the incoming government to carry the indigenes along and avoid any thing that will plunge the youth into crisis such as the Niger Delta youths.

    “We want the incoming administration to dwell more on projects and programmes that will benefit us, not like the Bala Mohammed-led administration that used the military to demolish and humiliate us on our land,” he said.

  • Jonathan, Villa worshippers and 2015 polls

    Even though the March 28 Presidential election has come and gone with President Goodluck Jonathan conceding defeat to the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, reactions to the outcome of the polls is yet to be over.

    Some worshipers at the Aso Villa Chapel inside the State House,  believe that not enough effort was made to ensure Jonathan’s re-election.

    They felt that Jonathan’s administration failed to exploit the opportunities available to it to garner more votes through worshipers at the Chapel which they believed could have changed the fortunes of Mr. President during the election.

    Claiming that they had a high number of influential members in various fields, who would have influenced co-workers, friends, neighbours, families and relatives to vote for Jonathan, some of the worshipers said they were not mobilised for the election.

    They specifically complained of not been ‘carried along’ in the scheme of things leading to the presidential election.

    The worshipers bared their minds during the Sunday School class, which was attended by President Jonathan, at the Chapel last week Sunday.

    One of the worshipers while making contribution to the Sunday School class said: “Before the elections, nobody saw us, nobody carried us along. Now we have lost the election and losing is painful. I don’t like losing. So when we study these things, let’s put it into practice.”

    On the issue, Chaplain of the Chapel, Ven. Obioma Onwuzurumba said: “The church before felt it was dirty to play politics. And I think that is why Church has been losing. Yes, we need to carry everybody along as much as possible.”

    “I say as much as possible because people who have studied leadership have come up with the conclusion that only 20 percent of a group given a job will always do 80 percent of what is required. And that has been proven.”

    “No matter how you try to carry everybody along, you don’t find everybody always cooperating. In as much as everybody will feel left out, there are some people who always grumble that they are not carried along.”

    “And some people just grumble, waiting until they are begged, cajoled, pushed, until they are enticed with something of value before they move. Such people will always grumble. They will never see that they have opportunities where they could have showcased themselves without been noticed,” he added.

    But President Jonathan, who was dressed in a cream-coloured traditional attire, did not make any remark on the complains. He read the first lesson from Daniel 11: 32 during the service proper.

    It is not only the Aso Villa Chapel worshipers that felt that they were not carried along towards the election by the Jonathan’s administration.

    Many staff and other groups in the Presidential Villa, who witnessed the visits of various groups to Mr. President on the re-election bid, also felt that they were not properly engaged by the power-that-be to campaign for Jonathan in their localities.

    Unlike the worshipers, they have, however, not been outspoken about their complaints.

    In order not to appear to be ‘crying more than the bereaved’, it’s high time the various groups put the election behind them as President Jonathan has already done that and looking ahead to what the future holds for him.

     

    Prayers for Buhari, incoming government

     

    Despite the head of the incoming government, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari being aMuslim, the Christian community at the State House, Abuja have started to give the incoming administration the necessary spiritual backing.

    The Aso Villa Chapel, which is located a stone throw from the official residence of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has supported the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan and other former Presidents with prayers in their tenures.

    Even as the Chapel is praying for President Jonathan to successfullycomplete his assignment as Nigeria’s president on May 29, several prayer points have been outlined for the incoming government.

    Apart from prayer points raised for the incoming government at the Chapel during the first Sunday service of May, the Prayer Guide for Nigeria for the month of May 2015 circulated to members of the Chapel had about twenty-one prayer points for the incoming government, spread throughout the month.

    One of the prayer point for Sunday May 10th asked the worshipers to “Pray that the incoming administration shall hit the ground running as they resume so as to fulfill both short and long term goals while retaining and complete all the developmental projects of the out-going government in the interest of the nation. Kings 18:6.”

    Another prayer point for the incoming government for Friday May 15th reads: “Nigerians have complained of corruption, insecurity and of low economy; pray that the new helmsman, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) in the new administration at the Federal level shall address these issues frontally as desired 2nd Peter 1: 4.”

    Part of prayer points for Sunday May 17th reads: “Commit the fifth month of the year, May 2015 into God’s hand, pray for a peaceful and smooth transition across Nigeria and a new dawn in our socio-political development. Proverb 16:3″

    Similar prayer points for the success of the transition was also scheduled for Thursday May 21st, Saturday May 23rd and Friday May 29th.

    Monday May 18th prayer points include “Pray for the inclusion of individuals who would add value to the incoming government in the cabinet and very important appointive positions. Mark 3: 13-14.”

    Another prayer point for Wednesday May 20th reads: “And thank Him for the President-elect, Gen. Buhari (rtd) who has promised to carry everybody along in his government.”

    Prayer points in the prayer guide for Sunday May 24th include “Ask God to use the President-elect to reconcile the northern and the southern part of Nigeria for a true united nation under the living God as Sovereign Lord and ruler. 2nd Kings 3:7.”

    Part of prayer points for Monday May 25th reads: “Commit to God the victors from March 28, 2015 Presidential, National Assembly (Senatorial and House of Representatives) election, that they will carry-on with genuine heart, passion for the people and the nation at large. Nehemiah 1: 4-6.”

     

    Meal ticket beyond May 29

     

    All Ministers in the present cabinet of President Jonathan are expected to be out of government from May 29th, while only one of them as at today is certain to remain in government beyond that day.

    The lucky one is the Minister of State for Agriculture, Asabe Asmau Ahmed, who was named last Tuesday as the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF).

    The new PEF Executive Secretary, who hails from Niger State and holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, respectively, is expected to put her wealth of experience in public service to use in the new assignment.

    But how long she will stay on the new job beyond May 29th will depend on whether the incoming government will reverse the last minute appointments or not.

  • Involve women in fight against insurgency

    Delta State women in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the auspices of Niger Delta Women Development Initiatives (NDWDI) have advised the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to involve women in the fight against insurgency.

    The National Coordinator of NDWDI, Hon. Patience Oyowhose who gave this advice during a press conference at the unveiling of NDWDI in Abuja, said as mothers, they want the incoming administration to work with women, because the insurgents are not ghosts; they have parents.

    According to Oyowhose, mothers know where their children are. If Gen. Buhari works with women, they will be able to reach their children at any given time, in order to continue to advise them against being influenced by selfish and wicked Nigerians, who cash in on the disadvantages of the poor to perpetrate evil.

    “Mothers are responsible for their children. If the women are carried along in the fight against insurgence, I believe that there will be peace. This is because the women can reach out to the youth.

    “The Niger Delta women in the FCT and outside Abuja have not been effectively utilised by previous governments. A lot of things are happening in Niger Delta and the women are the ones farming and fishing, and there is too much pollution. The government just reports that they are doing something on papers, but nothing has been done.

    “So, this time around, we are saying that the women must have a voice and that whatever is being done; the women must be carried along. We must know what is happening to our women. How many women are being empowered and employed? How many Niger Delta women are in position to reach out to the women at the grassroots? That is why we are out to speak for our women,” she said.

    She also said they envisioned a continent in which women take their rightful place as home and nation builders, with opportunity and access in all areas of development in Niger Delta and the FCT, saying that they want to bring together female executives, professionals and leaders to further advance the leadership status of women in the Niger Delta.

    “The Niger Delta Women Development Initiative in the FCT and outside Abuja seeks to advance the status of women in leadership by creating an empowering platform and harnessing the synergies of alliance, by fostering an alliance among Niger Delta women in leadership position among others,” she added.

  • Indigenes appeal for equity

    Indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have appealed to the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to involve them in his administration, in order to benefit from the change which they have prayed for, even as they said they had been marginalised by past and present administrations.

    The leader of Dagbalo community, Rev. Danjuma Tanko, who made the appeal on behalf of the indigenes in a press briefing on the future of Abuja natives, said the people of Abuja have suffered endless marginalisation.

    According to Rev. Tanko, since the existence of Nigeria, the people of Abuja have never been given the chance to participate in the affairs of governance, saying that the North Western State era was the beginning of marginalisation for the people of Abuja.

    “This situation continued during the days of the military rules, when we expected participation during the Second Republic. The incoming administration should give hope to the people so that they will feel and participate actively in the change that we have being praying for.

    “No political appointment has been offered to the indigenes. The people of Abuja have a lot of graduates today, but there are no jobs for them. Our means of survival has been ceased from us and converted into buildings and road constructions.

    “Even with the present degree of development in the city, it is highly worrisome if this is an invasion. We are law-abiding people and we pay our taxes directly and indirectly,” he said.

    Tanko further said the federal allocation which the FCT benefited from in theory and not in practical, other Nigerians who are already benefiting from their states also come to the FCT to control the revenue allocation without considering the interests of the indigenes.

    “The end result on how they manage the FCT allocation is a total neglect of indigenous communities and advancement of act of impunity, whereby they cease our lands without alternative means or compensation, developing and providing infrastructure on the ceased farmlands, while the indigenes lack good roads and electricity in their communities.

    “Our traditional status should also be upgraded and given the chance to contribute actively in the affairs of nation-building. It must be noted that these people have sacrificed their kingdoms for the peaceful co-existence of Nigeria. So, they must be carried along in the scheme of things,” he said.

     

  • Community begs for facilities

    One of the reasons for daily influx of people into Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is to enhance their well-being. While a few have seemingly realised their dreams, others are still hoping and praying that one day, all will be well.

    The FCT is made up of six satellite towns which have become the abode for many. Byazhin Across is a community in Kubwa Council Area in the FCT. It is thickly populated suburb.

    Located at the ends of Kubwa, Byazhin Across is a fast-growing community as many people move into it on daily basis. Residents of this community are mainly those who cannot afford the expensive accommodation in other areas of Kubwa.

    Unfortunately, the infrastructural development of the community does not commensurate with its dense population. Byazhin Across community represents squalor and underdevelopment. It is a community that lacks social amenities such as pipe-borne water, regular electricity and tarred roads.

    Every household owns an electricity generating set to avoid living in the dark. The residents also provide water for themselves through sinking of boreholes. Those who could not afford boreholes make use of a local river to serve their water needs. Some residents who spoke to Abuja Review recounted the awful experiences they have been going through in Byazhin Across.

    Mrs. Happiness lives in a self-contain with her husband and three children. She told our correspondent that she pays N80, 000 as rent per year. She complained about lack of power supply and absense of pipe-borne water.

    She said: “We just had electricity few weeks ago. If you look around, you will still see new electric poles, but the problem is we hardly get electricity. It comes like two hours in two days.”

    Mrs. Happiness also stated that the area is prone to security breach as properties get stolen whenever people are not around. She, however, urged the incoming government to come to the community’s aid by providing basic amenities such as electricity and pipe borne water.

    Another resident, Mr. Christopher, who hails from Cross River State expressed displeasure over what he called lack of necessities of life in the community. “I stay in a single room apartment here in Byazhin Across, and one of the major challenges for me is poor road network. From here to the express road costs N150 to and from. Towards the evening, it costs between N200 and N250 most times. The dust from the road affects my health a lot and there is hardly electricity supply to the community to enable us to do our jobs.

    “I have a small generator but when there is fuel scarcity, I abandon my work and jobs until when it’s available,” he said.

    He also said he rely solely on borehole and purchase water from cart pushers popularly called ‘Mai Ruwa’ at N250 per cart. Mr. Christopher calls on the incoming government to effect a gradual change on all the social needs of the community.

    “I believe so much in the ability of the incoming government because I know they have our interest at heart. I would want them to bring the change into this community by gradually meeting our needs and I think constant electricity is a major need,” he said.

    Mr. Turheeb lives in a one bedroom flat and pays N130, 000 per year. He said their major challenges are water and electricity. He stated that electricity is rationed and when it’s his turn, he rarely gets electricity.

    “Light is a major challenge and it is one day on one day off. Sometimes when it is our turn, we do not get it,” he said.

    Another resident, Mrs. Joseph, a petty trader, complained about the road and poor electricity supply. She noted that the road is often unusable during the rainy season.

    “During rainy season, our road is very bad. There is no gutter, even people don’t like coming to this area because of the bad nature of the road when rain falls. We don’t have light and we buy water from borehole operators. A 25 litre gallon is N15 and 20 litre paint bucket is N10. It is expensive and I want government to do something about it; we are really suffering here,” she said.

    Residents of Byazhin Across are hoping that the Federal Government will heed to their call and reduce the hardship they go through by providing the much-needed social amenities that will help in developing their community.

  • Computer skills behind bars

    Computer skills behind bars

    What started as a bitter reality behind the prison bars is ending on joyous note. No fewer than 53 inmates of Kuje Prisons have aquired computer skills to prepare them for post-jail life. GBENGA OMOKHUNU reports

    How everything now looks so different! When they were pronounced guilty and sentenced to various jail terms, glum faces captured their gloom.

    Now, they are smiling and looking forward to a fruitful life after serving their terms.

    That is the story of 53 inmates of  Kuje Prisons, Abuja who have celebrated their graduation from a computer course and were duly presented with their certificates.

    The skills will serve them well in reintegrating into the society following their release.

    The Controller-General of the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), Peter Ependu, at the graduation ceremony organised by Global Skill Acquisition Initiative, in collaboration with the NPS, advised the inmates not to see their stay in prison as the end of the world.

    Ependu urged them to see the situation as a stepping stone.

    The Controller-General, who was represented by the Controller of Prison in charge of Welfare, Akin Ekijere, said: “You all know that before now it was punishment in the prisons. The intention then was that prisoners should be brought and locked up, subjected to all forms of ill-treatment. But the new approach is what we call reformation. And the key purpose is to identify the ability and talent of an individual inmate and then be able to address the ability. We are playing the expected roll that we are supposed to play.

    “The three “Rs” in our slogan is reformation, rehabilitation and re-integration. These are very strategic in this administration. The CGP has had cause to express concern over the welfare of inmates, especially their progress. I emphasised the need for what we call community correction. The police have what we call community policing. On our part, we have community correction. Whatever correction that takes place within the institution without relevant or appropriate collaboration with the community cannot be meaningful. It is sad enough that you and I know that anybody that enters the prison, the society do not want to know if the person was initially guilty or not, but for the fact that you have stepped into the prison, they have a different notion about you.

    “You are rejected by the society as if there is no hope again. They say you are not good again. But honestly, with this concept of community correction, it is important to appreciate the kind of collaboration we are receiving. The after care programme also helps the inmates to do well after serving their jail terms.

    “To the graduating inmates, imprisonment is just a stepping stone. It does not reduce your capability, personality, your intellect is still intact. So, why allow people to make you feel inferior.

    “So, I like the challenge. Whatever situation I find myself I believe that God Almighty knows that I am there. So, I take complete control of the situation. Do not allow imprisonment to run you down. I see your faces as people that are committed to succeed in life. Take this situation as a challenge. We appreciate the National Open University of Nigeria for this platform.”

    Chamberlin Obianigwe, a convict and one of the best graduating students told Abuja Review that he had been in Kuje Prison for seven years and that few months

    from now, he will be gaining his freedom.

    The elated Obianigwe said: “I have been here for about seven years as a convict and I will be leaving in few months’ time. I am so glad and happy. When this unfortunate journey started seven years ago, I though it was the end of my life and that the world had come to an end for me. But when the education programmes came into Kuje Prison, I embraced all trainings academically and otherwise to see that I do not relent while I am here. So, I am so happy.

    “The advise I have for other inmates is that when you are in prison, you should not limit yourself to just the problem that brought you here but to engage themselves in every activity that is going on in the prison, pending when God will grant you freedom.

    “When I leave the prison in few months’ time, I will be very happy to re-unite with my wife, daughter, mother and the rest of members of my family for they have been supporting me all this while and they always visit me.”

    Another inmate who was the class governor of the 53 students, David Dung said the notion that some people outside the four corners of prison walls have is that

    prisoners are finished.

    Dung went further: “But God, in His infinite mercy says no to the thoughts of men.”

    The National Coordinator of Global Skill Acquisition Initiative, Ogbaje Ojogbedua said: “The purpose of the programme was to empower the youth in Nigeria, especially the less privileged ones to be self-reliant and self employed. We brought the programme to the prison to empower the inmates to be self-reliant. They came into the prison and one day they will go back to the society. So, we have to reform and re-integrate them through the collaboration with the NPS to give them the hope and future.

    “They are about 53 that are graduating. The issue of stigmatisation and discrimination should not be there. Government cannot do it all alone; it needs every necessary collaboration with the private organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The Federal Government should also try its best by going into collaboration with private organisations and NGOs.”