The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • Commission decries increasing piracy

    Commission decries increasing piracy

    The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has decried the increasing rate of piracy despite every effort towards curbing it.

    At this year’s World Book Day celebration, stakeholders identified piracy and the advent of new technology as major issues hampering creative works from blooming, even as they described piracy as a crime worse than robbery.

    The commission, saddled with the responsibility of protecting the rights of authors and other creative artists also noted that piracy is among the factors that destroy creative abilities of authors and artistes as well as a country’s economy.

    According to the NCC, the presence of new technology makes it difficult for authors to have control over their works.

    It, however, promised to review the Copyright Act with a view to bringing it up to international standard.

    Speaking in Abuja during the celebration, the Director-General of NCC, Mr. Afam Ezekude who was represented by a Director in the Commission, Mr. Jacob Fagbemi urged those involved in the act to desist from it.

    The Commission urged authors to extend their licensing right to digital platform so as to disseminate their work to more readers as well as to discourage people from purchasing pirated materials.

    “We are asking people to desist from indulging in piracy because it destroys the country’s economy and the creative ability of any author.

    “People who have laboured to use their brains to put something down should not be robbed by some fraudulent individuals that just go and reproduce the works of other authors without authorisation. Piracy is worse than robbery,” he said.

    On the trend of piracy in the country, he said: “The realisation of the basic aim of the statutory protection of authors has become more challenging given the influence of new technologies.

    “Prior to now, literary authors were confronted with the pervasive syndrome of piracy as well as wanton reproduction of materials through photocopying. “Currently, there are more intense challenges. The evolution of digital technology and electronic networks like the internet has made possible instantaneous transmission of creative content globally with limited control by the author.”

    The Commission, however, revealed that it has initiated a comprehensive review of the Copyright Act to address some of the issues.

    Mr. Ezekude said: “The review will, among other things, bring the Act in line with international standard of copyright protection in various international treaties to which Nigeria is signatory and ensure that challenges of contemporary technologies are well taken care of.

    “We encourage right owners to explore new business models that can ensure easy access to legitimate creative content. Authors and publishers of literary works should explore the possibility of extending their licensing activities to the new digital platform of accessing creative content in order to encourage wider dissemination of their works and as a means of discouraging the reading public from patronising pirated materials.

    “Our dwindling reading culture can be revitalised if teachers, parents and stakeholders make books look interesting and attractive.”

    Some of the schools represented at the event held at the International Community School, Abuja are Nurul Bayan School, Premier Academy Lugbe, Greater Heights Academy, Cherryfield Academy, Adeola International School and Kingsville Academy.

  • Youth jobs scheme for Gombe

    Youth jobs scheme for Gombe

    The Gombe State government has launched a youth employment plan. The state governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo has also announced that his administration was “working in collaboration with international development agencies towards fashioning out a social protection policy for our citizens, especially the youth.”

    Governor Dankwambo stated this during the passing out ceremony of 1,554 youths from the Phase II of the Talba Youth Re-orientation and Rehabilitation Programme at Malam-Sidi, headquarters of Kwami Local Government Area of Gombe State.

    Some of such groups, according to him, included the World Bank Supported Youth Empowerment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) to provide employment opportunities, skills, training and conditional cash transfer for youths in the state; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Board for Technology Incubation.

    He explained that his administration, in order to eradicate poverty among the youth, had already keyed into YESSO programme and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UNDP in the area of skills training, adding that government had also collaborated with Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in the area of skills training through Nigeria Industrial Development Plan of the Federal Government while plans to establish a factory for the assembly of tricycle (keke NAPEP) had been concluded.

    He further disclosed that the state government had taken steps to register unemployed graduates in the state into the Graduate Internship Programme in order to engage them in various walks of life through the provision of temporary employment.

    He said his administration had constituted a committee that would facilitate the establishment of a micro-finance bank in the state so as to make micro-credits available to small and medium-scale enterprises in the state and provide employment for the youth.

    He further said all these were policies and programmes deliberately put in place by his administration to aid the teeming youths to improve their lives and provide opportunity for them to contribute their quota in the development the state and country at large.

    “I wish to reassure our youths that government will continue to conduct programmes that will enable you realise your potential and contribute positively to the socio-economic development of the state,” said Governor Dankwambo while expressing government’s commitment to sustain efforts at rolling out youth empowerment packages.

    Specifically, he assured the graduating members of the Talba Youth Re-orientation and Rehabilitation Programme that “government, on its part, will continue to support the programme” in order to uplift their living standards.

    The programme, as the name implies, is meant to reshape the ideology of the infamous political thugs popularly known as Yan Kalare with a view to taking them off the streets and making them better and more useful citizens who can equally contribute positively to the growth of the state and country.

    Other than the hooligans, some well-behaved unemployed youths found the programme as another vista of opportunities and enlisted into it. This is no surprise because the first set of 1,197 agents under the programme were already performing creditably well, thereby making Gombe State safe from the insecurity perpetrated the yan kalare group between 2003 and 2011.

    This notorious group of youths who took orders and sourced immunity from those at the corridors of power then committed a lot of atrocities that were inimical to well-meaning residents of the state and got away with it.

    Alhaji Bakura Mohammed Bajoga aptly summed it up when he said: “Any achievement without security is half-baked. But with his (Dankwambo) coming, the terrifying yan kalare group are no more. He came with a very good idea of training those restive youths into productive members of the society. Before, they could be given a token amount to kill and they would do so.”

    Little wonder the indescribable excitement when the Governor announced that government could train up 10,000 youths under the programme as that would naturally lessen the army of youths through thugs are recruited from.

    “Some unscrupulous enemies of progress are not happy and always attempt to cause confusion whenever the training is on course to derail and discredit the novel initiative.

    “It is pathetic that those selfish individuals prefer to see the lives of these youths destroyed for their own selfish interests,” Dankwambo observed.

    Giving credence to this position is the fact that during the first phase, unknown gunmen went on shooting spree at the camp; even as the action was preceded by rumours that they had been assembled for the slaughter.

    This time round, a pernicious rumour spread like whirl wind made the round that the military instructors had killed a trainee agent and in the commotion that followed, five more trainees were dead.

    Consequently, the trainees scampered out of the camp. Again, the rumour that they had been gathered to be killed was already spreading at the camp. But swift reactions from the authorities restored normalcy even before fleeing trainees got to their homes.

    The most gratifying point about the programme is that it has been signed into law, just as the appointments of chairman, board members and other principal officers of the Agency for Social Services (the supervisory body of the programme) have been made.

    This, of course, underscores the deployment of so many resources into the revitalisation of the education sector. The huge investment in this sector is justified by the massive development of school infrastructure, engagement of qualified academic personnel, and procurement of teaching and learning aids.

    This is borne out of the need to take the youth off the streets, engage their minds positively and then broaden and brighten their horizon, stimulate the maximisation of their potential, polish or reshape their philosophy and psyche while reducing their tendency to become hooligans.

    Since everyone is not cut out for western education, Governor Dankwambo has equally pioneered other initiatives aimed at empowering the Gombe youths. Among such initiatives is the training of 320 youths on six different trades in four skills acquisition centres across the state and resettling them with a starter pack of N250, 000 and tools for their trades to facilitate easy and smooth take off.

  • Haemophilia: Tackling a blood disease

    Haemophilia: Tackling a blood disease

    Mrs. Megan Buky Adediran, founder and executive director of the Haemophilia Foundation of Nigeria, is a mother with a heavy heart. Two of her children are suffering from haemophilia, a blood disorder that hinders the body’s ability to control clotting or coagulation.

    She has spent several millions treating the children but one sore point is that the government has not provided facilities for their treatment. Even though those suffering from the ailment in the country are not many, the high cost of treatment has made it virtually impossible for many suffering to even get diagnosis.

    Experts say that haemophiliacs do not have enough clotting factor, a protein in blood that controls bleeding. According to Dr. Tahira Zafar of the Pakistan Haemophilia Patients Welfare Society (PHPWS), “the severity of a person’s haemophilia depends on the amount of the clotting factor that is missing.

    The main danger is uncontrolled internal bleeding that starts spontaneously or results from an injury. Bleeding into joints and muscles can cause stiffness, pain, severe joint damage, disability and sometimes death. Repeated joint bleeding and inadequate treatment lead to joint disabilities. It is important to create awareness about early detection and treatment of the disorder so that complications like joint disability can be prevented and these children can contribute to the development of the country rather than being a burden on the family and the society,”

    Even though there are Nigerians suffering from the ailment, there has not been any form of assistance from the Nigerian government in the treatment of these people. Speaking with The Nation as part of the 2014 World Haemophilia Day, Adediran said that the Nigerian government has told them in clear term that the percentage of those suffering from the ailment in the country was too negligible to attract government attention. She said “since 2006, we have been in and out of the Federal Ministry of Health and up to 2014, we are yet to get anything from them. In 2012, I took a delegation from the World Federation of Haemophilia and the National Haemophilia, USA to the Federal Ministry of Health. We met with the Permanent Secretary and a promise was made that they are going to set up a committee to look into what government can do. After series of calls, we were told that it was a population that was so small to attract government attention”.

    According to her, “It is believed that about 400,000 people are living with haemophilia world-wide with a prevalent rate of 1 in every 10,000. With a 160 million population in Nigeria, we should have between 12,000 and 14,000 people living with haemophilia, but as at today, less than 200 are recorded in our hospitals across the nation.  As an organisation, since 2005, we have set out to see how we will alleviate sufferings of families of children with haemophilia. As of today, haemophilia does not have any cure and so, the patients are managed for the rest of their lives. We have patients that have been diagonised with different types of conditions because of the low level of awareness. We are in a society where people ascribe almost everything to witchcraft. So, families who see their sons bleeding continuously, the first thing that comes to mind is one witch in the village or one woman in the family who does not like them. We want to stop that and make people know that haemophilia is a bleeding condition and can be managed. This year, the World Haemophilia Day has come with a theme that says Speak Out and Create Change, and for this, we saw the need to include members of the press as you are the most people that can speak out for us to every Nigerian about this condition. We need to make people know that haemophilia is with Nigeria”.

    The foundation, according to her is worried about the low level of awareness about the ailment and the believe that it does not affect black people, saying “we want to let you know that it affect Nigerians and the first person to be diagonised in Nigeria is still alive and was diagonised on December 13, 1969. The haematologist that diagonised him is still alive. So, haemophilia is with us and affecting our population and the help of every one is needed. We need you to be on board and help people with haemophilia in Nigeria”. She noted that even though there are many symptoms for haemophilia, due to the low level of awareness in Nigeria, people can hardly think towards haemophilia. She said “in Nigeria, most of the patients are always suspected or diagonised after circumcision.  For us, circumcision is a must and a boy with haemophilia, after circumcision will not stop bleeding and so, most of them presented to hospital with post circumcision bleeding, bleeding from tooth when the child start changing his teeth after six years or from a cut that has been bleeding for days. There is also the misconception that women must bleed. While this is so, women also have bleeding disorder. We have had women who bleed to death after birth for no just course or bleed for days from prolonged menstrual period and nobody is asking questions. I such women have need for surgical operation, they will not stop bleeding and so, we need to sensitise the public about these signs and watch out for the people and help them when the need arises. That is why the foundation is there to help people with the available drugs. It has no cure, but it can be managed for the victim to have a normal life and the management is not any family can afford because the drugs are very expensive”.

    But are there efforts at preventing the ailment? Mrs. Adediran said, “We don’t want to say it is preventable because we don’t want to create stigma. It is a condition that is inherited.  It is transmitted from mother to son and from a son who has haemophilia, when he starts having children, he will pass it on to his daughters. We call daughters of haemophilia as obligate carriers because they are compulsory carriers. When you say you want to prevent, you are saying don’t marry women that are carriers. If you don’t marry these women who are carriers, one out every three happen where there is no family history. If you stigmatise the carriers, what about the spontaneous cases? So, haemophilia will always surface in every generation. We try to reach out to every group in the society. We go to churches and mosques to talk about haemophilia. We also go to town meetings to talk about haemophilia and try as much as possible to reach out to everybody. We are trying to reach the last level that we can. We are trying to reach everybody and every social class that we can reach because it doesn’t choose tribe, race, culture or religion. It affects everyone and the help of all is needed”.

    Unfortunately however, very few hospitals in the country in involved in the treatment of haemophilia. Only about ten of the federal and state owned university teaching hospitals in the country offer some form of treatment for the patients. She said “presently we have about 10 hospitals and we are trying to create more hospitals to be aware of the condition. We have the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, UNTH in Enugu, UBTH in Benin, LUTH in Lagos, UCH in Ibadan and the University Teaching hospitals in Akwa Ibom and Calabar. The Yusuf Dantsoho hospital in Kaduna is also part of it and the Muslim Hospital in Tudun Wada just joined. We are trying to see  as many hospital as possible join the foundation because last year, we had several training in the six geopolitical zones for medical practitioners and we found out that even among the Doctors, we had to do some retraining. We will continue to do retraining for doctors to raise their suspicion level of haemophilia so as to get a hospital as close to a family because you don’t expect a family with a children bleeding into the brain to travel for three hours to get to a hospital; you don’t expect a family with joint bleed to carry him on a one hour flight to a hospital. So, we are trying to get hospitals close to these families as possible. This is what we are trying do. it is not easy and we know that our country is a very large country and it is not easy to do this type of thing when you are a lone ranger. This foundation is an organisation of parents coming out to create a voice for their children. I have two sons with haemophilia and that is what led to the foundation. We are parents trying to advocate for their sons. It is like HIV campaign which started years back and today, they have a voice. We want to get a level for a patients”.

    Unlike the dreaded HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases, haemophilia is not contagious, but is transferable from parents to children. While it is said to be transferred from mother to children, some carrier does not require any form of test to know that they are carriers of the disease. Mrs. Adrdiran told The Nation that “If you are a female child and your father is a carrier, you don’t need a test. You are an automatic carrier because the clothing factor is on the X chromosome.  A woman has two X chromosomes while the man has an X and a Y.  So, a woman who is a carrier has one of her X chromosome with low level of factor concentrate. We have 13 clothing factors and for you to have haemophilia, you actually need to lack eight or nine in a certain quantity. So, when a man who is a known haemophilia has a daughter, it means he has given his X chromosome and his daughter does not need a test. For a woman who is a carrier, it is a 50/50 chance that your sons or daughter could have haemophilia. However, diagnosis of haemophilia or bleeding disorger is a major challenge in this country. Far back in 2004, it cost me about N140,000 to send my son’s blood sample to Oxford to determine the type of haemophilia he had. As at last year, parents were paying as much as N60,000 for diagnosis. So, it is something that is difficult for some families to diagnose. Today, we are trying to bring diagnosis to most of our teaching hospitals to be able to diagnose people with haemophilia. So, if a woman is a carrier, a test can be carried out on her to determine the type of haemophilia she is having. You can actually live a normal life if you don’t bleed”.

    However, the haemophilia patients can be managed to live a normal life. Even though it is quite expensive to manage them, Adediran said “the only way to manage somebody with haemophilia is to raise the factor level to normal. There are two types of management. There is what we call on demand therapy and prophylaxis therapy. On demand therapy means when the person has a cut, you give him an injection at that time to stop the bleeding. Prophylaxis is every three days, you give him that same injection which last for 36 hours to make sure that the factor level is normal. But no Nigerian can afford that. 250 international unit of clothing factors concentrate cost N75,000 and that can only manage a four to five year old child. For a full grown adult, you are talking of between 2,000 to 3000 IU which cost about 3600 dollars and you are saying that a family should take and spend that every three days even the on demand that we treat our patients from is from the foundation. There is none of our hospitals that has factor concentrates. What they do to manage our pateients in all our teaching hospitals is either to transfuse them with fresh whole blood or in some hospitals with the equipment to give what we call cryoprecipitate which is also made from blood. For you to treat a four year old with cryo, you need about 15 donors. It is not anything that a family can afford. The foundation try as much as possible to give to the families of identified patients these drugs free of charge and in the past nine years, we have given out drugs worth over N1 billion”.

  • Car snatcher nabbed in Kebbi

    The police in Kebbi State have paraded two persons described as car snatchers.

    The names of the two suspects were given as Abdulwahab Yusuf, 35, and Esther Ejembi, 26. One other person is said to be at large. Yusuf, Ejembi and the absconded one were said to have snatched a Sport Utility Vehicle at gunpoint along Area 11, Garki Abuja.

    Parading the suspects, the police Public Relations Officer, Kabiru Bawa Rawayau explained that immediately the incident happened, the police were informed and surveillance was placed on them.

    He pointed out that despite several checkpoints, the suspects had managed to beat every road block. But they ran out of luck as they were overpowered at a place called Maraba-Yauri, in Kebbi State.

    The gang leader whose name was not given, is said to have bolted into the bush on citing the team of policemen at a checkpoint.

    The police spokesman added that the Honda Jeep with registration number, Lagos, KJA 665 BD, was in custody as further investigation continued.

  • Jonathan, governors and Boko Haram

    Jonathan, governors and Boko Haram

    With the deployment of more bomber jets, equipment and troops to the stronghold of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states mid last year, it was expected that the deadly attackers would have been eradicated by now.

    Also the news last year that the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau sustained fatal gunshot injuries during gun battle with the Nigerian troops and later died gave Nigerians a false hope that Boko Haram and other terrorists’ acts will soon be a thing of the past.

    Even after changing the Service Chiefs early this year, President Goodluck Jonathan had insistently promised that the tempo against terror will change and the menace would be brought to an end.

    When Air Marshal Alex Badeh took over from Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim in January as the new Chief of Defence Staff, he initially declared that the issue of Boko Haram and other acts of terrorism will come to an end before April this year. He later denied the statement.

    But now, we are more than half way into the month of April and it seems as if the insurgency is on the rise.

    Boko Haram and other terrorist groups that appeared to have been restricted to the Northeast of the country for several months, struck Monday last week at a bus park in Nyanya in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    While official deaths from the attack alone have been put at 75, many eye-witnesses and early arrivals at the scene of the bomb blast maintained that over 300 persons must have died from the attack.

    Just as Nigerians and the international community were still mourning over the latest bomb attack in Abuja, news filtered on the same day in the night that over 100 secondary school girls have been abducted by the insurgents in Borno State.

    With the latest attacks, some Nigerians have observed that the insurgency is on the rise because the government is not adopting the right approaches to the issues and that past recommendations, including those of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, headed by Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Kabiru Turaki, were not implemented.

    Other observers have also faulted the government for its inability to unmask the sponsors and financiers of the insurgency over the years despite making arrests of key members of Boko Haram and other groups.

    Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, who has majorly been at the receiving end of the attacks, had recently declared that the insurgents are better equipped and well-motivated to carry out the evil attacks than the Nigerian troops. But the Federal Government refuted his claims.

    A more worrisome development was the initial statement last week by the Defence Headquarters that only eight out of the 129 reportedly abducted school girls have not been rescued. The statement was later countered by the same Defence Headquarters.

    The school community in Borno State had, at the weekend, claimed that only about 14 of the school girls escaped from their abductors and those others are still missing.

    This calls to question the quality of information being passed to the President by the security agencies.

    Another grave allegation with a tendency to work against Nigeria’s success over the insurgents is the claim that some key military men in the Nigerian troop are working hand-in-hand with the insurgents.

    Worried by the upsurge of the insurgency, not only was the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting last week mainly devoted to the attacks last week, President Jonathan also summoned state governors and the National Security Council for a meeting in Abuja over the security challenges.

    The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, at the end of FEC meeting last week, maintained that Nigeria is currently faced with one of the worst forms of terrorism across the globe.

    Also speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the security meeting between Jonathan, governors and service chiefs, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum and Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio said: “Mr. President graciously listened to us and he said since it is a national issue, we must have all the 36 governors in attendance.

    “So, I believe strongly notice will be going out and all governors will be meeting with Mr. President and service chiefs Wednesday next week so we can sit and discuss and proffer solutions to the current insecurity in the country. I believe it will come to an end.

    “We must face the situation and it is not something we can politicise, you don’t politicise security. All hands must be on deck. The entire country, every single Nigerian must contribute his or her quota towards bringing the current situation to an end.

    “I believe that if you are not a soldier, you can also be an informant. And, of course, you know that this thing is becoming like an HIV. If you are not infected, you are affected. Your children are also involved, your grand children and relations. If people are now attacking schools to disrupt the lives of children, how will you not be concerned? A market woman is affected when motor parks are being bombed. So, there is no way any governor in Nigeria will not be concerned and will not show interest.

    “In bringing this situation to an end, all Nigerians must know that we must be our brother’s keepers as far as security is concern,” he said.

    With Jonathan’s next security meeting with state governors fixed for tomorrow and other new strategies to be adopted, it is hoped that the ongoing killings will be stopped and total peace and harmony restored to the country.

  • ‘Old generation hampers confab’

    Again, the membership of the National Conference has been called to question. A member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Rafiu A. Ibrahim has said the exercise may end up fruitless because there are too many people there who belong to the same generation of people who have determined the fate of the country for years.

    Dr Ibrahim, who represents Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun Federal Constituency, also expressed reservation on the selection of delegates with old people taking the large chunk of the membership.

    He therefore, urged the federal government to correct the anomaly in order tackle the multifaceted problems plaguing the nation.

    The legislator was speaking to reporters in Offa, headquarters of Offa Local Government Area, shortly after his inauguration as honorary President of Mess Committee of the Nigeria Navy School of Health Sciences, Offa.

    He said, “My major reservation is that the confab is skewed towards the old age. They are too many. Spent forces cannot decide on how our tomorrow will be. That’s the only problem. I’m not against the confab, I’m not against the intention. That one will be judged by the outcome. I’m not against about anybody’s opinion there because we are all Nigerians.

    “But if we must talk about tomorrow, somebody that has no take in tomorrow, somebody that has taken a fixation or position on issues, most of them are there. They had already taken position. If you see me and my brother whereby we have thought an idea, by the time he talks to me I change. The same thing for him. If he’s thinking of something and I enlighten him on it, he changes, because we have take in the future.

    “Now, we have so many old people at the confab. So, we hope that they’ll allow the young ones there to be able to have something concrete.

    The intention of the president is good. The people that are there are prominent citizens. But the only thing is that it is skewed towards old age.”

    He pointed that inadequate representation and leadership inequality has been partly responsible for under-development being experienced in all spheres.

    The lawmaker, who is a member of the House Committee on Navy and Appropriation, said he was determined to initiate programmes that would better the lot of the people and called for more support from the people to be able to achieve the lofty dreams.

  • ‘Cab operators lost 15 members to kidnappers’

    Airports Car Hire Association of Nigeria (ACHAN) has said it operates in an insecure environment in the country. In the last two years, the group said, it lost over 15 persons to kidnappers and others miscreants across the country.

    National President of the association, Chief Stanley Dike told reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, shortly after he was sworn in.

    He added that “in Port Harcourt many of our members have been kidnapped. We are still in search of one of our members. In the last two months we are yet to know his whereabouts and even the cab too. In Abuja, Kaduna and Kano the same thing happens to our members.

    “A major challenge is our ability to differentiate between genuine or otherwise passengers. Before you know it some of these miscreants will come in pretending to be genuine passengers. They can sometimes offer higher amounts to attract unsuspecting cab owners. In the process our cars and drivers some of the time are taken away.

    “Kidnapping in this country is something even the government itself tried as much it could to eradicate. At a time government even engaged the services of military personnel, but it later discovered that it was not helping matters.”

    Other challenges according to him include competition and unauthorised admission of all sorts of car higher operators by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    He said, “sometimes, admits all sorts of car hire operators and reducing the number of times either in a day or a week we are supposedly going to work carrying passengers and we have families that we take care of; we have cars that we need to maintain.

    “The kind of business we are doing is very competitive that one needs to secure it. But in most cases there are lots of external interested persons that come in to begin to compete with us. Many of them are not legally recognized by our members and even authorities of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria.”

  • Displaced persons in Benue told to forgive their attackers

    Displaced persons in Benue told to forgive their attackers

    A Catholic priest in charge of St Francis Catholic Mission, Daudu, Benue State, Rev. Father Solomom Ukeyima has urged victims of Fulani attacks to forgive those who sacked them from their ancestral homes.

    Father Ukeyima admonished internally displaced persons to see their travails as a necessary cross they must bear, as Jesus Himself did.

    In his Easter sermon at St Mary Primary School, North Bank, Makurdi, where over 200 victims of Fulani attacks are taking refuge, the Catholic priest said they must learn to forgive their attackers even though they have been sacked, their relations killed, and driven away from their home.

    He said Easter is the feast of love and they must love and forgive one another.

    Father Ukeyima, who is also displaced from his mission in Daudu, due to the attacks, told the displaced that better things are coming after their temporary setback.

    Also speaking after the mass, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), representing Makurdi North in the House of Assembly, Hon. Avine Agbom appealed to Governor Gabriel Suswam to work towards the return of the displaced to their homes before the rains set in.

    Hon. Agbom said there are secret killings going on as farmers who attempt to get back to their farms are killed by Fulani militia.

    He called on soldiers deployed to Benue to protect the helpless farmers.

    Chairman Benue Network of Civil Societies, Mr Justine Gbagir urged the Benue State government to set up camps and care for the multitude of displaced persons affected by Fulani attacks.

    Gbagir, a lawyer, stated that the essence of governance is welfare and citizens have killed, their houses set ablaze and some have no place to sleep, yet government is doing nothing.

    He said asking the farmers to go back to their destroyed homes without giving them the necessary logistics to start life afresh is inhuman.

    The priest, in the spirit of Easter shared food for the displaced person who danced and sang.

  • Kaduna youths prepare for self-employment

    Kaduna youths prepare for self-employment

    Their journey to self-employment started on November 26, 2013 when they had their first shot at skills training across various centres in the state. No fewer than 7600 women and youths from the 255 political wards in Kaduna State were trained in vocations and trades using the state’s share of the 2012 Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) funds.

    Many applaud the jobs scheme.

    Beneficiaries are in three different groups: women, youths and agriculture. In the agriculture category, beneficiaries are trained in such areas as production of maize, rice, cassava, sugar cane, ginger; fishery, cattle rearing, bee keeping, sheep and goat rearing, piggery and poultry.

    The youths on the other hand are trained in aluminum works, block making, bricklaying and masonry, fish processing, GSM repair, honey processing, animal husbandry, leather works, photography, plumbing works, and printing.

    The women are benefiting from training in such areas as Beauty and Cosmetology; hairdressing; tie and dye; Catering and Event management; Fish processing; Rice milling; Vegetable processing.

    The government, according to Governor Yero, spent about N139 million on the training.

    With the training concluded, it was time for the government to make good its promise of setting them up. For Yero, it does not make sense for the government to stop at giving them the required skill without giving them the matching grant to set themselves up and move on in life. But he was not unaware of the fact that some of the beneficiaries may not be too disposed to setting up a business. So, rather than give them money, the government decided to purchase items needed by each one of them and present same to them with an additional N10,000 as take-off grant. He however warned them not to sell the items as government was putting in place mechanism to monitor and ensure that the money invested was not wasted.

    Governor Yero, who supervised the distribution of the items, said that the government supports the trainee graduates in meeting the critical requirement of seed capital for starting viable businesses that will contribute to the rapid economic development of the state and reduce unemployment.

    He noted that “the trainings conducted under the various trades were rigorous and in-depth.  At the outset we were unequivocal in emphasising, that only training institutions and firms with demonstrable competences in the business will be engaged in the youth trainings. Our insistence was to ensure effective transfer of technology to trainees for maximum benefits. Based on the briefings, I have received on the Youth Empowerment Training, it is heart-warming to note that participants exhibited high sense of discipline and commitment throughout the period of the training. With the level of enthusiasm our youth have displayed thus far, I am confident that the programme will achieve its set objectives. I therefore urge all the trainees to continue to behave responsibly in all your future endeavours”. The governor announced that each of the trainees would receive Starter Packs relevant to his/her trade in addition to take off grant of the sum of N10,000.

    The governor noted that his administration was determined to continue to “accord priority attention to skills acquisition, as well as training and retraining of our youths for the economic benefit of our dear state. The objectives of this approach are to stimulate the economy of our state through creation of massive employment opportunities for our people and reduce poverty. In this regards, we have concluded plans to engage 2,550 youths using our 2013 SURE-P funds. These youth would be drawn from the 255 wards across the State with 40% of them to be women. They would provide Community Development services within their respective wards in the areas of sanitisation of major roads and public institutions, provision of security, control of human and vehicular traffic especially during occasion and public functions, sensitization/enlightenment, advocacy on peace etc. They would be paid an allowance of N10, 000 monthly with effect from April, 2014. In the same vein, the state will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Finance to enable 2000 unemployed graduates of our State to participate in the Federal Government SURE-P Community Services, Women and Youth Programme scheme on Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS). Under this programme, each participating graduate will receive an allowance of N30,000 from the Federal Government and a stipend of N10, 000 from the state totalling N40, 000.00 monthly. It may also interest you to note that the State and the Bank of Agriculture have jointly set aside the sum of N500 million each (amounting to N1 billion) to disburse as loans to small scale farmers. In addition to this, a similar funding arrangement with the Bank of Industry provides another N1 billion to be disbursed to Small Scale Businesses/ Entrepreneurs in the State”.

    The governor noted that “we are doing all these to assist our people with the requisite seed capital to kick start their businesses to stimulate the much needed productive economic activities to raise the standards of living and ultimately increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of our dear State. As pioneers of a novel initiative of this administration, I urge you to use the skills you have acquired during this training programme for the benefit of not only yourself and immediate family but to the good of the entire people of our state. You must not sell the starter packs given to you as doing so will defeat the essence of this programme. The State Government will put in place a monitoring and supervisory mechanism for regular and sustained visits to all the places of your business to ensure that you are effectively utilising the resources placed at your disposal. The success of this programme lies on your shoulders. If you succeed, it would be a source of encouragement to us as we firmly believe that programmes of this sort will go a long way in taking youths off the streets thereby enhancing the security and wellbeing of our people”.

    The state deputy governor who doubles as the chairman of the SURE-P implementation committee, Ambassador Nuhu Audu Bajoga said that the programme is significant as it seeks to provide youths and other vulnerable groups in the state with gainful self-employable skills to raise the quality of their lives through employment generation and wealth creation. He said further that the SURE-P Implementation Committee has ensured that in line with directives from the governor, beneficiaries of the Agriculture, Youth and Women Empowerment Schemes were selected devoid of partisan or parochial considerations. He said: “I can dare say without fear of contradiction that the Kaduna State Government has been the most forthcoming in effectively and efficiently utilizing its SURE-P funds, by investing in critical areas of infrastructural development as well as welfare of citizens of the State. Let me seize this opportunity to call on the beneficiaries of the various empowerment schemes to pay attention to the training that will be offered, by being prompt and attentive at the training centres for effective learning. The training consultants selected are also knowledgeable and competent to execute the task. The Consultants are therefore enjoined to ensure that they live up to expectations for the overall success of the programme”.

    Some of the beneficiaries who spoke with The Nation thanked the government for the opportunity given to them to learn a trade. Ruth Daniel who was trained in hair dressing was elated that the government was giving her what she needs to start her trade. She said “I am very happy that the government has decided to give us these facilities to start. I am going to get a shop and start business and I am sure that what I will be making from there will be enough to sustain me and help my family. I have always wanted to start something of my own, but I didn’t have the money to pay for my training. Now, the government paid for it and even gave us all that we need to start. I am very grateful to the government for this opportunity”.

    Like 182 other women and girls, Ruth got a starter pack worth N85,575. Items in the starter packs are: one standing dryer, one hand dryer, a set of roller packs, a set of relaxer, a plastic washing basin, 30 litres water container, a wall dressing mirror, an electric kettle, one dressing comb, one full pack og threads and needles, round trolley and N10,000 take-off grant.

    On his part, Gabriel Peter who was trained along side 190 others and received a starter pack worth N293, 500 said he was elated to be in business, pointing out that before the items were given to them, he has already secured a shop where he will be operating from. He received items such as Exposure Machine for making plates, Light table used for laying films, washing tray and Generator set from the government.

  • Residents to benefit from club’s gesture

    The Guardian of the Citizens Club, a socio-cultural organisation, has disclosed that over 70 residents of Abuja will benefit from an empowerment scheme and loan facilities to start their own businesses.

    An official of the club, Mr. Akachukwu Nwankpo said that the empowerment programme will enable Nigerian citizens to contribute to the growth and development of the country, even as he said it would prevent them from indulging in evil deeds.

    He blamed the current situation in the country on the inability of citizens to independently create wealth, said the growth expected can only be achieved if natural and human resources are properly harnessed.

    The Guardian of the Citizens Club further explained that until Nigerians start thinking of what they can do for themselves and the country, progress won’t be achieved.

    It also disclosed that the common good of the country can be achieved if citizens learn from founding fathers and football teams.

    Mr. Akachukwu Nwankpo noted that the best in Nigeria can be achieved if the natural gifts of its citizens are appropriately harnessed.

    Speaking on the empowerment scheme in Abuja at the induction of over 70 residents, Mr. Nwankpo said: “We are ready to give them fair access to funding, employment and enterprise alongside conditions that stimulate their enthusiasm.

    “We offer enterprise opportunities, give loans and also train them on the values of the club. We empower them so that they can help themselves and, in turn, help the country.

    Some of the partners of the club are First Bank Nigeria Plc and Eta Zuma Group. Residents were lectured on how to become entrepreneurs while some were taught how to make coal stove.

    Nwankpo, however, noted that what stands as obstacle between Nigeria and its progress is self-inflicted.

    “Some of the obstacles” he said, “are tribalism, indiscipline, corruption, selfishness and political jobbers. They blind us from the great promise of Nigeria and promote divisiveness that mess up our effort at making this rich land a successful country.

    “It is time we learnt from our founding fathers and our football teams in order to harness the potential of every citizen and together pursue the prosperity of Nigeria for the happiness of all.

    “The successes of our founding fathers and that of our football teams have demonstrated that we can achieve Nigeria’s greatness if we develop and mobilise the natural gifts of over 160 million Nigerians.