The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • From the Villa: Jonathan’s decent houses for Nigerians

    From the Villa: Jonathan’s decent houses for Nigerians

    There is no doubt that rats, cockroaches and other household insects are very destructive and carriers of some deadly diseases.

    These must have informed the support of President Goodluck Jonathan in wiping them out from all human habitation in Nigeria through committed efforts to give Nigerians decent homes to live in.

    It is, however, not too clear if the dislodging rats from houses in Nigeria will really go down well with the ethnic groups in Nigeria that enjoy rats as delicacy. If they are gotten rid of from homes, they may face total extinction or continue to flourish in the bushes.

    While inaugurating 270 flats built by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria at the Aviation Village and the National Housing Fund electronic card in Abuja this month, the President declared that all Nigerians deserve to live in decent houses as he vowed to do everything to improve the living standard of Nigerians.

    To adequately tackle the housing deficits in the country, he said his government is facilitating access to affordable houses through long-term financing and creating enabling environment through appropriate policies.

    He stressed the need for estate developers in the country to concentrate more on delivering high quality houses rather than flooding everywhere with sub-standard, rats and cockroaches-infested mass housing estates.

    President Jonathan said: “I will always advise real estate developers not to begin to think about money for 10,000 or 20,000 units, but small estates that you can manage so that when people go there, they will know that they are in a place where human beings will live and not where human beings will compete for space with rats and cockroaches.”

    Reacting to the remark by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Adulwaheed Omar concerning his friends’ fears that the 270 flats were too small for a President to inaugurate, President Jonathan said: “When my comrade President mentioned that his friend was worried that Mr. President was coming to inaugurate an estate of only 270 housing units, in fact, as he was saying it, I laughed because a number of people don’t know that what makes changes is not the big things we do but the little things we do and do very well.

    “What will transform this country are policies that are workable and sustainable. So, it is not going to be one mega city and the inauguration of a housing estate of thousands of units that will transform a country, but your ability to recreate and replicate these small units across the country.”

    While it is not bad to make sure that rats and cockroaches have no place in new houses being built for Nigerians, it is worth mentioning here that another killer insect in many Nigerian homes which requires the urgent attention of Mr. President, are mosquitoes.

    Even though so much money has been spent on malaria drugs and on insecticide-treated mosquito nets under different programmes, many Nigerian children are still dying from the disease while many production hours are still lost when workers are down with malaria.

    Many countries, including Malaysia, have been able to eliminate malaria from their societies. One hopes that real attention will also be paid towards eliminating the disease in Nigeria.

  • Monarch sues for peace

    Monarch sues for peace

    The Ona of Abaji and Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa, has advised the newly installed traditional ruler of Rimba community in the council, Alhaji Abubakar Jiya, to ensure that peace reigns among farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the area.

    Yunusa, who gave the advice while turbaning Abubakar Jiya at his palace as the new Etsu of Rimba community, said he would not hesitate to summon the traditional ruler to his palace any time there is clash or misunderstanding between farmers and Fulani herdsmen at the community.

    He advised the monarch to ensure that his subjects, especially youths, acquire both western and Islamic education so that they would compete with others in the society, adding that it is necessary for the monarch to abide by any rules and regulations that guide the traditional institution of the palace and that of the government.

    He also advised the traditional ruler to intensify efforts in ensuring that he provides job opportunities for youths of the community and hands/skills acquisition as well as trading in order to divert their attention from social vices that may dent the image of the community.

    The monarch, however, urged the traditional ruler to always ensure he operates an open door policy so that his people would have a free mind to present any useful advice that will always enhance peace, progress and development of the community.

    “I want to inform you that this palace will not take no notice of any person conferred with any chieftaincy title that slaps or assaults his people even his wife. You should never molestanybody. Any time we receive report that you molested or slapped any of your subjects, we will not hesitate to remove your turban,” he warned.

    Also speaking, the Secretary of Local Education Authority (LEA) of the council, Alhaji Hassan Suleiman who attended the turbaning ceremony, commended the kingmakers of the community for unanimously selecting one of their sons as their village head.

    He described the newly installed Etsu Rimba as a humble and hard working person that has worked under him for over 10 years. He expressed his optimism that the new monarch will, no doubt, withstand the challenges of leadership to achieve peace in the community.

  • Royal father pleads for early provision of fertiliser

    The Hakimi of Dutse in Bwari Area Council, Alhaji Abubakar Bako, has called on the government to make early provision of fertilisers and seedlings to farmers a top priority.

    Bako, who spoke in an interview with our correspondent, stated that early distribution of fertilisers will make farmers achieve bumper harvest next year.

    ‘’The present government wants to motivate the farmers. The issue of fertiliser and seeds are very important. As farmers, they are always sources of challenge. If government will give us fertilisers before February or March, that will assist farmers a lot,” he said.

    He stated that fertilisers were mostly needed by FCT farmers who, according to him, were finding it hard to practise shifting cultivation due to the land use system.

    ‘’With the growing number of inhabitants and government taking over lands for residential and commercial purposes, there is no land for shifting cultivation again.

    ‘’They talk about getting our manures from refuse dumps but that involves money. What if you don’t have money to evacuate the refuse to the farm because of lack of fund? The only solution is to provide us with fertilisers early enough so that it will boost our farm products,’’ he said.

  • ‘We’re repositioning KEDC for efficiency’

    ‘We’re repositioning KEDC for efficiency’

    The Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC), which was sold to private investors by the Federal Government, is yet to be handed over to its owners. In this interview with TONY AKOWE, its Managing Director, Mallam Mohammed Idris Mohammed, speaks on the firm’s prospects.

    What are the challenges you face in the course of doing business in the states covered by the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company that you think should be addressed before it is handed over to its owners?

    We are fully prepared for the take-over of the company by the new owners. However, let me announce to our customers what we intend to do for their benefit before the new owners take over.

    First, last year, the KEDC had the best financial report. By December last year, our cash collection was N1.070 billion which is the highest in the history of revenue generation of the company. Also, as cash collection recorded the highest peak, power generation also reached its peak.

    By December 2013, power generation reached 114 MWs. The effect was that there was corresponding increase in cash collection because of the availability of power. We would not have achieved that without the support of the media. We had a lot of challenges during the year and we had to prepare strategies to overcome those challenges.

    Some of the greatest challenges we had were those of public enlightenment, especially on the status of power supply, on the need to prevent vandalisation of our equipment, the need for our customers to appreciate the services that we are providing by making them pay their electricity bills as and when due, and also appealing to our customers to ensure they do not bypass our electricity meters.

    However, through the commitment of members of the press, we were able to overcome those challenges and they contributed to our attaining the highest performance in December.

    Nonetheless, for us in KEDC, there is hope that we will realise our dream. We are hoping that before the handover of the company to the new investors, we should be able to meet our settlement invoice, to pay our market requirement by the end of the month. Meeting our settlement invoice means that our bills would have been successfully collected, the running cost for the month successfully settled and be able to pay salaries without recourse to help from anywhere.

    We are hoping to collect N1.5 billion before the new owners take over its operation. That would mean that we will be able to pay for the cost of electricity, pay our salaries and post some profits.

    By the time we succeed in doing these, KEDC will be the first investors’ delight and also be like Ikeja and Eko Distribution Companies that are doing very well.

    How prepared are you for its eventual take over by the new owners?

    From the strategies we have lined up for this year, we will realise our target. One of our strategies is to bring our services closer to our customers wherever they are and to do that, we have created five additional business units. They include Zaria City, Birnin Gwari, Jaji, Zuru and Kachia business units.

    The creation of these units was borne out of necessity to improve the quality of service for our customers. While the quality of service is improving in Kaduna, drastic efforts must be made by management to ensure that the same quality of service is enjoyed in all nook and cranny of the states under our control.

    With the additional units, our services will now be closer to the people and our customers will have direct access to members of management at our response and complaint centres. It will be like responding to any form of fault within 24 hours.

    We are also going to inaugurate some products for the benefits of our customers. Just like the telecom companies where you buy recharge cards to recharge your phones, our customers can now buy recharge cards with which, from the comfort of their homes and offices, recharge their electricity meter and light becomes available. With this special card, our customers will be satisfied because sometimes when the customers come here, there are long queues. Sometimes as a result of network problem and breakdown in communication, the customers are unable to recharge their meters.

    With the introduction of the electricity cards, one can buy the cards and keep in one’s home, in one’s wallet and whenever one runs out of electricity at home, one would recharge one’s meter anywhere there is network service on one’s phone.

    The second product we have is also interesting. If one has airtime in one’s handset and one wants to recharge one’s meter with the airtime in one’s phone, one can do that. It is the most interesting product that our customers will enjoy this year. As long as there is power supply, you will not have disruption. In addition to that, we are also introducing web-based recharge system. You can go to our website and log on to the site where you want to recharge your meter and with your ATM card, you can recharge your meter.

    This you can do anywhere you have internet service.

    We are going to extend our services to ATM in all the banks so that our customers can go to any bank with their ATM cards and recharge their meters. When these products are made available to our customers, quality of service will improve, even as customer’s will derive maximum satisfaction. This, invariably, will improve the revenue base of the company which will help us to realise our targets.

    We have a world-class customer service office. It is comparable to any customer care unit anywhere in the world. We hope that before the end of the year or before the hand-over, we would have a banking service here in the office which will serve as a one-stop centre. When that is in place, the customer care unit will take care of customers’ needs till the handover.

    These are some of the activities we will embark on this year before the handover to the new owners who we know are waiting. We are ready for them and we believe that they will be happy with the company they have invested in.

    You spoke about improved revenue collection, but no mention was made about the debt being owed the company by consumers. Does that mean your customers are up-to-date in their payment?

    What we should be more concerned with is the level of improvement in our performance. By January last year when we came in, the response rate to our bills was about 35 per cent. But as at today, we have increased that to 52 per cent which shows that we are making progress.

    The debt profile as at today stands at about N40 billion, but it would have been more than this if we had not been able to put things in place to ensure that we get more response from our customers.

    Majority of the defaulters are the residential customers who, by consumption, take away about three quarters of our energy. With the new facilities being introduced to help customers pay their bills, we are optimistic that it will be much easier for them to respond to our bills.

    With the metering programme currently available, we are confident that prepaid meters are well accepted by customers. We are expecting about 40,000 meters from the World Bank which will be installed in Kaduna. The places to benefit from these meters have been earmarked and the installation of these meters will help us tackle the debt profile of the company.

    Recently, you said that the company would need about N5. 7 billion to procure prepaid meters. How far have you gone on this?

    The National Electricity Regulatory Commission has come up with a mid-solution. Since the government cannot provide that fund, NERC has said if anyone has money to procure meter on his own account without waiting for free meters from government, the person can pay to certain vendors accredited by NERC and within five weeks, the person will have a new meter.

    Currently, that scheme is in place and some customers have gotten their meters in less than four weeks.

    So, the issue of metering is left for the customer to decide. That scheme is working and the meters are available because investors have invested in it.

    The Kaduna State Water Board has blamed your company for the erratic water supply in the state. How true is this?

    Between Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company and Kaduna State Water Board, it is a matter of your word against mine. We know that they have heavy equipment that require constant and regular power supply to power them in order to provide water for customers in every part of the metropolis. Sometimes, due to system fluctuation, we are not able to give them the required energy that can power their machines to provide that service.

    We also advised them that if they want to have adequate power supply, they need to run special dedicated high voltage line that will power their equipment. When they were going to buy those equipment, we expected that we will work together so that the angle of power supply for those equipment will be addressed.

    During the visit of the Minister of Power to the company last year, you complained that one of the contractors handling the NIPP plants in the zone was not performing. What is the situation now?

    I did say that about eight of the projects are suffering from abandonment.

    Interestingly, out of those eight projects, the contractors handling three of them are back to site. One of those projects here in Kaduna will be inaugurated soon. That project was one of the eight that I mentioned and once it is inaugurated, it will take care of a large chunk of areas that experience low voltage, load shedding and all kinds of low quality service. This will improve the power supply situation.

  • Council boosts fish, onion farming

    Council boosts fish, onion farming

    Fish and onion farmers in Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi State have been assured of government’s assistance in order to improve their capacity for large-scale production.

    The Chairman of the council Alhaji Bala Usman Mohammed stated this in an interactive session with journalists who visited the local government.

    He stated that considering that fish farming is one of the most important farming activities in the area, his council had ensured that Yauri fish farmers formed co-operative groups and societies in order to benefit from the incentives from the local government as well as loan facility from Bank of Agriculture.

    “The first thing we did was to make sure that fish farmers in Yauri formed co-operative groups or societies and select their leaders. We then provided them with incentives to boost their production. We are also aware that Bank of Agriculture, through the forms we distributed to the farmers, will release N84, 000 to each farmer as loan facility. All the farmers have been instructed to open account with the bank,” he said.

    The council chief further said onion farming in Yauri was flourishing. In the circumstances, he said, the local government has given each onion farmer two bags of fertiliser and irrigation machine with the view to sustaining continuous onion farming to achieve large-scale production.

  • Council chief donates buses to schools

    Council chief donates buses to schools

    The Chairman of Kwali Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hon. Daniel Ibrahim has donated 17 buses to junior secondary schools in the area council.

    The buses, which were inaugurated in Kwali by the Minister of State for the FCT and supervising Minister of Police Affairs Olajumoke Akinjide, were presented to Principals of the 17 junior secondary schools. The buses were not only meant to promote administrative convenience in the schools but will also augment the transportation arrangements for students on excursion, among other purposes.

    While inaugurating the buses, Akinjide said: “The need for school buses, in the running of academic institutions, cannot be over-emphasised. Transport facilities are needed to attend inter-school debates, symposium, sports competition and other outside engagements. School buses also promote the brand of a school.”

    “I urge other area councils to emulate this exemplary initiative by contributing towards the creation of enabling learning environment for school pupils in their various area councils.

    “These children are not only the leaders of tomorrow but also the entire future of our society. Whatever values we cultivate in them today is what they will grow up with.”

    She commended the Chairman for his thoughtfulness, even as she urged the school authorities to devote the buses to the purpose for which they have been procured and to ensure their effective maintenance.

    In his speech, Hon. Ibrahim explained that the 17 buses were for the schools while one extra bus was for the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Kwali branch.

    Continuing, he said: “Similarly, scholarship of about N10.5 million was paid to Mr. Daniel Gamu a pilot student of International Pilot School, Ilorin.

    “I still have the desire to procure more buses for the senior secondary schools in no distant time so that the problem of lack of buses for schools will be laid to rest.

  • ‘Kilankwa market ‘ll open up Kwali’

    The Chairman of Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Ibrahim Daniel has said that the proposed Kilankwa International Market will open up the council to economic development when completed.

    Daniel, who was speaking in an interview recently, also stated that the market will boost internally-generated revenue for the council.

    “When the market comes on board, it will help in the issue of internal revenue and waiting on the federal allocation will be a thing of the past. It is close to Gwagwalada and also along the highway.  It will be of great help for all the traders that are coming along Onitsha and Lagos as the market will serve as a warehouse where they can keep their goods and go to town to sell,’’ he said.

    He stated that the council had already advertised for private public partnership (PPP) arrangement for the market, adding that it has started discussing with investors for the  market project to commence.

    ‘’We are already discussing with investors. So many people submitted their bid for development of the market. However, we have to study them critically so that the private sector does not take advantage of government in making it lose revenue accruable to it.

    “We are already moving ahead of other area councils in terms of modern market. We did advertise for PPP arrangement about Kilankwa International Market. That is a gateway to Kwali Area Council and that is the reason the council is rehabilitating some roads. If you want to engage people on the market and the communities around it are not having motorable roads, it won’t be a success,’’ he said.

    On making the market in Kwali town a daily one, Daniel stated that before this can be realised, the market may have to undergo reconstruction and redesigning where such structures like conveniences will be built to aid cleanliness

  • 180 vehicles for SURE-P taxi scheme

    180 vehicles for SURE-P taxi scheme

    The Eagle Square in Abuja, is popular venue for local and international events.

    It recently hosted the launch of the 180 new vehicles for the second batch of the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s Subsidy Re-Investment Programme Taxi Scheme. Senate President, David Mark performed the launch.

    The FCTA had banned rickety buses from the roads in a bid to sanitise the transportation sector of the FCT.

    Announcing the ban, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed said his administration would float decent transportation scheme befitting of Abuja as a federal capital city.

    He subsequently inaugurated the first batch of the scheme, the recent inauguration of the 180 taxi cabs has brought the number of taxis plying Abuja roads to 340.

    At the launch of the 180 vehicles, Senator Mark, who was represented by the Senate Deputy Leader and Chairman of Senate Committee on SURE-P, Senator Abdul Ningi hailed the FCTA for making good its pledge to alleviate the pains associated with the ban on rickety buses that ply roads in the FCT.

    His words: “Yours is indeed, an administration that identifies with the plight of the people. I commend you for listening to the citizens. The foundation of every successful democracy is dialogue and giving ear to the voice of the people.”

    The Senate President also assured that the Senate would expedite action on the Bills for the establishment of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Board of Internal Revenue and the FCT Property Tax.

    He reiterated that quick consideration of the bills would enable the FCT to leverage its revenue base with a view to funding its key infrastructure and public service programmes.

    Speaking at the launch, Senator Mohammed said: “Today’s launch of 180 taxis is the second phase of the scheme to prove a point that the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan is, indeed, working in the FCT.

    He revealed that it was yet another important milestone in the fulfilment of the pledge made to the people; adding that “with this, we have succeeded in introducing 340 taxis into the system.”

    The minister further said the ban on the operation of mini-buses on roads of Abuja was necessitated by the need to sanitise the public transportation system with a view to bringing it at par with global best practices.

    He said: “We have recorded significant reduction in crimes, road accidents, pollution and other socio-economic consequences that had hitherto hindered the development of the city.”

    Senator Mohammed emphasised that the FCT transportation sector has received significant investments under the SURE-P intervention programme.

    “My administration has so far released N1 billion to the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company Limited for the rehabilitation of its buses as well as the purchase of new ones,” he said.

    He further disclosed that the sum of N1 billion was also released to the Abuja Investment Company Limited to enable it to float the FCT SURE-P Taxi Scheme, in addition to the injection of 300 high capacity buses by the Federal Government in 2012.

    The minister also said discussion between the FCT Administration and some banks had reached advanced stage for the funding of additional 500–700 taxis to ply all the nook and cranny of the Federal Capital Territory.

    He commended the Group Managing Director of Abuja Investment Company and his crop of professionals for playing effective role in anchoring private sector participation in the transformation of the FCT.

    He said: “We have engaged nearly 4,000 participants, mainly women and youths, into various departments and agencies. These include the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Directorate of Road Traffic Services, Parks and Recreation as well as the six area councils of the FCT.”

    Also speaking, the Group Managing Director, Abuja Investment Company Limited, Dr. Musa Ahmed Musa said the implementation of the FCT SURE-P/AICL Taxi Scheme, on behalf of the FCT Administration commenced in May last year with the release of N500 million by the FCT SURE-P.

    Dr Musa revealed that the first batch of the scheme comprising 160 vehicles were procured at a unit cost of N2. 7 million covering the cost of vehicle; one year comprehensive insurance; GPS tracking system; registration/number plate as well as painting and branding.

    According to him, each of the vehicles was given out to the beneficiaries based on three-year lease period with 10 per cent subsidy on the total cost of the vehicle.

  • Kwali gets committee on health insurance scheme

    Kwali gets committee on health insurance scheme

    A Board of Trustees and Management Committee have been set up by the Kwali Area Council to manage and co-ordinate the affairs of the Community-Based Health Insurance Scheme. This will enable residents have access to the scheme.

    Membership of the boards, which consisted of the chairman, secretary and public relations officer, were selected from the 50 communities in the area after each community sent two representatives. The meeting was organised by the Coordinator of CBHIS in the FCT,  in Kwali Area Council.

    Aganaba said the steps taken by CBHIS to take the health insurance scheme to the grassroots is in line with the presidential mandate, that by 2015, every Nigerian should be carrying an insurance card which will give them access to health, saying that the only way all Nigerians can have access to healthcare is by health insurance.

    “Fifty communities in Kwali are to enjoy this community-based health insurance scheme, and where there is no clinic, the malafia mobile truck is already available, and by March 1, they will start marching into these communities until we give them health centres. So many health centres will be renovated and help is coming from Shell, NHIS, PFIB, USAID and others.

    “But one assurance we want is the co-operation of the communities to get this through. That is why we are selecting few committee people among the communities to take charge of the management of the programme. After getting them, we will call all of them together from all the area councils and train them on what the scheme is all about.

    “The government is so much keen on improving the health standard of people at the grassroots so that they will be healthy. This is so because a healthy community is a developed community and a sickly community cannot achieve anything tangible in terms of development,” she said.

    The chairman of Kwali Area Council Mr. Ibrahim Daniel, praised the management of the CBHIS for the gesture in reaching out to the people at the grassroots to improve their health standard.

  • Herbal mixtures that cure all ailments

    Herbal mixtures that cure all ailments

    Most times, when people gather at a spot in major markets like the Wuse, Kubwa and others, it must not necessarily be scenes of accidents or an accident victim in need of help.

    When one gets closer to know what the matter is, one is disappointed to see someone in the middle of the crowd trying to explain to people the uniqueness and efficacy of his herbal drugs. They may be dark-looking mixtures in bottles or few green leaves that the practitioner claims can cure all ailments.

    A particular herbal marketer sets up a stand by the gate of the Wuse Market. As usual, his display attracts people who gathered to listen to him. The pictures he displays are scary-looking sores and growths.

    One is sure to find pictures of people with breast cancer that might have gotten to stage four and bone and skin cancers. His duty is to convince his listeners that the seemingly incurable illnesses has a solution.

    He chants his over-rehearsed lines to the crowd all the time. You will hear, for instance such statements as these “as a man, you may claim that  you are strong but if you stand up from the bed with a woman and she dresses before you, my brother, it is the weak semen that we are talking about. If your wife touches you at night and you always claim that you are tired, that is what you are suffering from. Women with fibroid, painful menstruation or toilet diseases have come to their last bus stop.”

    The technique of sales is different in most satellite towns. For instance, the self-acclaimed herbal practitioners in Kubwa put up a huge makeshift board with equally gruesome looking pictures beside the market which attracts their northern brothers as they scream into speakers in Hausa about the efficacy of their drugs and how people who refused their medical treatment ended up being like people in such pictures.

    Some drive from one street to the other, advertising their drugs that cure pile, malaria, weakness of the body, itching, toilet diseases and infertility, among others diseases. They assure their Hausa patrons that their drugs are work. They give guarantee that a prospective customer could come back for a refund if the medicine did not work.

    They also scream out the dosage which is usually after every meal or twice daily and is taken with pap or tea. Most of their Hausa customers in each area run after the cars to buy from them. Some of the medications are as cheap as N50.

    A few try to make their drugs more presentable through fine packaging and have marketers standing around a company bus in a traffic or busy area that blares out all the ailments that the single bottle cures.

    Isaiah Dogo, who works in Wuse, said people that gather around those who market their drugs are simply lazy.

    “I believe those people listening to that man close to the Wuse Market are jobless and lazy. If you have a job, I can’t imagine you going to stand their listening to his stories. I just do not see how those abgo or dogoyaro leaves that he always has beside him will cure all those ailments shown in the pictures.

    “I believe that most of those people there are probably aware of it and simply enjoy listening to him talk,” he said.

    Hajiya Binta, a resident of Nyanya said: “I do not doubt the efficacy of herbal medicines because I take them sometimes. But I’m just particular about what I buy and under what condition it is prepared. I don’t believe that one bottle of drug can cure all the diseases that some of these people claim because it just doesn’t make sense.”