The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • Gofidna residents seek infrastructures

    The Chief of Gofidna village in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Ismaila Tukura, has appealed to the Chairman, Hon. Micah Jiba to provide the community with basic infrastructures.

    Tukura, who made the appeal also seek provision of water boreholes, to arrest the problem of potable drinking water in the community, which the people have been experiencing.

    Amongst other infrastructures the community is lacking, he also appealed for the construction of a standard health centre to prevent the people from traveling long distance to other places, for medical attention.

    The chief also urged the government of the FCT to expedite action to repair the dilapidated road linking Zuba-Suleja express road, in the interest of commuters plying the road.

    Tukura further advised residents AMAC to continue to support the government for the development of the area, saying that there is need for continuous peace to reign in the community, in order to encourage the development efforts of Hon. Micah Jiba.

    Similarly, the community’s youth leader, Mr. Rabiu Tukura, urged the FCT Administration to build a Junior Secondary School in the area, to save the children the hardships of attending schools in the neighbouring towns.

    According to him, the AMAC boss is a God fearing leader that has the intention to work for the benefit of the people and to provide them with basic infrastructures, appealing that the AMAC chairman should provide fertilizers to farmers on time during the cropping season, to enable them have a bumper harvest in the council.

  • Rooting out pension thieves

    They toiled for the country. They gave their best for Nigeria’s growth and development. Unfortunately, they are living in abject poverty. Some have lost their lives while waiting for their entitlements as a result of some of the stringent procedures introduced into the processes of collecting their pension arrears.

    This is the sad story of many pensioners in Nigeria, no thanks to pension thieves who manipulate and beat the system to divert pension funds to their private bank accounts.

    Large sums of money running into billions of Naira have been stolen by many top officials who are saddled with the responsibility of managing and ensuring payment of pension arrears. They transmuted from petty thieves to racketeering syndicate.

    Initially, they modus operandi was lodging the funds meant for paying the pensioners into their private accounts and deliberately allow the funds to be in their accounts for months before eventually paying the poor pensioners their entitlements. This was with a view to earning fat bank interests. But now, total diversion of the funds is made with no payment made at all to some of the pensioners on flimsy excuses.

    Even as some of the thieves from Police Pension Funds and other government agencies have been exposed, taken to court, convicted and released on bail, it appears there are no strict laws in place aimed at discouraging those at the helm of affairs from tampering with the funds for their selfish gains.

    Two months ago, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) arrested 13 senior civil servants in connection with a fresh fraud in the pension unit of the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation.

    On the fresh fraud, the Media Consultant of PRTT, Mr. Olajide Fashikun told journalists that some saboteurs were bent on destroying the future of retirees in the country by falsifying documents to defraud government to the tune of N35 billion.

    Alhaji Kazeem Musa, who worked for several years and retired from the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Sokoto, has not received any pension arrears since 2007. There are many other worst cases which have resulted in the untimely death of some of the affected retirees.

    Apart from other measures already taken to sanitise the system, President Goodluck Jonathan, before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting last Wednesday, inaugurated a new board for the National Pensions Commission (PenCom).

    He urged the new team to bring to a halt bad reports associated with pension payments in the country by ensuring that pensioners receive their retirement benefits as at when due.

    Jonathan said: “Government is also mindful of the fate of retirees who have served this great nation. It is therefore of paramount importance to this administration that pensioners receive their retirement benefits as at when due. PenCom is statutorily charged with the responsibilities of regulating and supervising all pension matters in Nigeria.

    “The enormity and sensitivity of the mandate of the Board of PenCom can therefore not be over-emphasised. The negative reports associated with the administrations of pension under the old scheme in the public sector in recent past have become an issue of grave national concern.”

    Stressing that several radical measures have recently been taken to restructure the scheme, he said: “This included the setting up, as provided by law, the Pension Constitutional Arrangement Department. It is our expectation that the Board of PenCom will work in synergy with this agency to engender a more robust pension system.

    “In addition, it is expected that the board will work to secure increased compliance with the Pension Reform Act, expand the coverage of the contributory pension scheme to include the informal sector, explore means of utilising the pool of funds towards Nigeria’s economic development in line with global best practices and maintain the existing culture of transparency and accountability in the management and custody of the contributory pension fund.

    “We know that other countries that have similar funds are even coming to invest in Nigeria, there is no reason for PenCom not to invest within and outside this country to even improve on the funds,” he added.

    Former Bauchi State governor, Adamu Muazu newly inaugurated as the Chairman of PenCom said: “Mr. President, your inaugural speech is very instructive. I have heard and I assure you under my supervision, PenCom will comply with your instruction and with the law.

    “I also assure you that we will ensure that compliance is made by the various states that have not complied, that the various Federal Government’s agencies and, indeed public sector and all informal sectors, will be made to comply as soon as possible.

    “In addition to that, Mr. President, we will take due diligence and we will consult with various government agencies, private sector organisations, the PFS and indeed, if need be, with other very successful pension commissions abroad to find ways and means of unveiling these monies that are made available for providing infrastructure and housing to the public.

    “In so doing, I want to assure you that these monies that are in the confines of the PenCom are owned by individuals. We will make sure, with the best of our ability, that whatever investment we make, is capital guaranteed.”

    Promising that pensioners will not only get their entitlements as at when due, but will also get good returns on their funds, he said: “We will make sure that the returns on the investment must beat inflation and possibly make very good returns for the pensioners.

    “By the grace of God, we will do whatever it takes. We will make you proud of our work in Pension Commission.”

    The provisions of the law should be reviewed to stipulate stiffer penalties for offenders in order to act as deterrent to others.

    Offenders also ought not to enjoy options of fines and bail grants when convicted since their actions, even though not through violence or gunshots are silently sending thousands of Nigerians to their early graves.

  • Community hails council chief on performance

    Natives of Kpaduma II community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have commended the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Hon. Micah Jiba for the rural electrification project taking place in the community after being in darkness since the beginning of existence.

    The Secretary of Kpaduma communities Simon Baba, who spoke on behalf of the natives in Abuja, thanked the council boss for reaching out to them in 2013, adding that the rural electrification taking place in the community has given the natives a sense of belonging which they have been denied from the beginning of the community.

    According to him, the people of Kpaduma II have spent years without electricity, and the AMAC chairman is doing all he can to ensure that there is developing in every community in his area council.

    “We were informed that the job would have been completed in December 2013, but it is yet to be completed. The council boss has assured us that the project will be completed in January this year and we believe him, because he always stands by his words.

    “Like Oliver Twist, although we are aware that everything has to go gradual, we hope that in his administration he will help us a get health centre in our community, because, the only hospital we make use of is Asokoro general hospital, which is about 5kms from our community,” he said.

    He therefore appealed to the council to also provide the community with a primary school, and health care centre which they know is one of the priorities of the council boss as a leader who has passion for his people.

    “The council boss has almost touched the lives of everybody in rural communities, by providing water boreholes, electricity transformers, access roads and we believe that he will do more to make life easy for those at the grassroots.

    “I strongly believe that 2014 is going to be better than 2013, base on the steps the council boss is taking to reach out to natives at the grassroots and we will continue to support his administration,” he said.

  • Dutse traders wary of demolition

    Following the proposed demolition of Dutse Alhaji market by the leadership of Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) before the end of January, after completing the construction of the ultra model market, traders are worried over the possibility of affording the shops when completed, before the demolition exercise commences.

    Some traders who spoke with Abuja Review commended the council for upgrading the market to a modern standard, but lamented that the time given for the proposed demolition is too close for them to afford the money for the shops.

    According to one of the traders, Mrs Dorcas Kanayo, the new market is commendable, but considering the amount which ranges from between N1.5m to N2.5m for the acquisition of the shops, the time is too close for them to get the money, if the council stick to their plan to demolish the old market for people to move to the new shops.

    “I am happy that Dutse Alhaji is going to have a befitting standard market, where traders and buyers would feel comfortable to operate. But our concern is that the council should also consider the traders who would move to the new shops, by giving us enough time to look for the money, before they start to demolish our old shops.

    “For me, I do not have enough money now to acquire one of the new shops when completed, but if we are given up to March after completion, I believe that most of us that truly desire to trade in the market, will be able to come out with the required amount,” she said.

    Another trader, Emmanuel Augustine whose shop was amongst those demolished in November 2013, said that since the demolition of his shop, he has been selling outside the market so that he could make enough money to acquire the new shop when completed, pleading that the leadership of the council should give the traders more time before completely destroying the old market.

    “Since my shop was demolished in November, I have been doing my best to make enough money that could afford me the new shop in the market that is under construction, but the truth is that it has been very difficult, I want to appeal to the leadership of the council to consider us, by making the process of getting a shop less cumbersome.

    “Because, we know that any moment from now they will come and start demolishing the remaining parts of the old market, but, they should not forget that to get the millions to acquire the shops, is not an easy thing. They should assist us by making the processes easy for all of us. So that at the end, everybody will be happy and encouraged to support the government  of the council led by Mr Peter Yohanna,” he said.

     

  • Association demands development commission

    Indigenous people of Abuja have urged the Federal Government to create a development commission to take care of the needs of communities displaced as a result of development.

    The association noted that the commission should be fashioned after the likes of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) or the Hydro-Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC).

    The President of OIDA, Pastor Danladi Jeji made the call during the second FCT Heritage Day celebration which held in Gwagwalada.

    He said displaced communities in Abuja have not been compensated for their confiscated lands, even as he said they are finding it difficult to make a living due to loss of their communities, houses and farmlands to government and private developers.

    He said: “The proposed Abuja Original Inhabitants Development Commission (AOIDC) should be statutory and should derive its funding from the 30 per cent of all sales accruing from all lands allocated within the FCT. When established, AOIDC would deal with the lingering issues of relocation, resettlement and compensation for all projects, affected communities and persons.”

    Continuing, he disclosed the association’s plan to sue the Federal Government if it continuous to confiscate their lands without regard for their rights.

    Presenting a paper entitled “Annihilation of Abuja Original Inhabitants and Imperatives of Democratisation of the Federal Capital Territory,” the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences Nasarawa State University and Guest Speaker at the occasion, Prof. Andrew Zamani urged the Federal Government to appreciate the need for an all-inclusive policy to tackle the problems of the indigenous people of the FCT.

    Prof. Zamani said: “There are no special privileges for the inhabitants in this regard as is the case for the people of Niger Delta through the Niger Delta Development Commission. Original inhabitants of Abuja need structures for self-governance. The second-tier will provide the basis for a local government system that is people-oriented. More senatorial seats and federal constituencies should be created to increase representation in the National Assembly.

     

  • PDP Chairman: Jonathan, governors agree on Mu’azu

    PDP Chairman: Jonathan, governors agree on Mu’azu

    Former Bauchi State governor, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu has been adopted as the new Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The decision was reached at the meeting by President Goodluck Jonathan, party leaders  and  state governors in Abuja which ended early Monday morning.

    It was learnt that the meeting agreed to zone the post to a PDP controlled state in the North East contrary to earlier decision that the Chairman could be from a state not governed by the party.

    Mu’azu’s election as new chairman of the party will be confirmed at the party’s National Executive Council meeting scheduled to hold today ( Monday ) , in Abuja.

    Details later

     

     

  • Turning Jos rocks into bread

    Turning Jos rocks into bread

    What will Jos, Plateau State capital, be without its rocks? Perhaps little more than a table land filled with people of different ethnic groups.

    Rocks are everywhere. They surround the city. In many cases, they separate one house from another, just as several homes are built on them. Some call the capital, city of rocks. Its home beer is called Rock Lager. Its football team used to be known as Rock Strikers. Indeed, what captures the image of the city better than rocks?

    But beyond the mere fact of their abundance, and perhaps that other under-utilised tourism potential, what have the people been making of the rocks? What use have the Jos rocks been? Haven’t people always perceived them as hard, impenetrable objects which often impede movement and even building?

    Well, not anymore. Some residents are learning to turn them into bread. Even the old have since discovered that if they cracked some of the rocks, they could make some money selling them to builders.

    In the southern Plateau, however, there is not much rock. Except for some parts of Langtang North, all the six local governments in the southern zone are devoid of the kind of rocks you find in the two other zones. This helps to explain why the physical and geographical settings of Plateau south is different from the other two: Plateau south is one part of the state that has hot temperature compare to Plateau North and Plateau Central that has cold temperature.

    The availability of these two extreme weather stood Plateau state out as a unique state in the country. If you feel too cold in Plateau North, which is JOS, you can shift base to Langtang, Shendam, Wase or Quan-Pan to feel the warm weather, yet, you are still in the same state, that is Plateau for you.

    But beyond the physical and geo

  • Beggars back in nation’s capital

    Beggars back in nation’s capital

    The effort of the FCT Administration to make Abuja a world-class city has remained futile with the presence of beggars in the city. It is not a new thing to see beggars on major streets in Abuja. What is new, or what runs through the minds of many, is why some of the people beg.

    The battle to get them off major centres of Abuja metropolis is getting tough by the day. In 2011, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, read the riot act to all heads of agencies and departments following the poor environmental condition of the city. He gave them one directive: to get beggars off the streets of the capital.

    Consequent to that charge, over 170 beggars were repatriated to states such as Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Kogi, Kwara, and Gombe. Others were taken to Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Plateau and Abia states. The exercise was seen as an effort to clean up the capital by the Mohammed administration.

    But two years after the instruction to rid Abuja of beggars, the activities of beggars are becoming visible again in the capital city.

    Beggars, who were dislodged by the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) around Wuse, Berger, and Area One, are suddenly returning to the streets in the city centres.

    In satellite towns like Karu, Nyanya, Mararaba, Gwagwalada and Kubwa, beggars have found solace in the pedestrian bridges at night where they beg for arms from residents.

    The beggars are of the excuse that Abuja is not meant for the high class alone, hence the need for them to stay. Besides the suburbs of the city, you can also find them in strategic locations like the entrance of banks, mosques, churches, major bus stops; motor parks and major road junctions where they feel those with good hearts will see them and give them alms.

     

    Beyond gender

    Gender is not a barrier in the business of begging as both male and female are into it. Some live with one form of deformity or the other while some decided to embrace begging as a profession and a way to make ends meet.

    One would expect that only those who have reasons to beg should beg but a second thought on the idea of begging would remind one of the axiom: “there is ability in disability”. This indicates that disability should not be an excuse for one to engage in begging.

    There are different kinds of beggars. We have the habitual beggars, who are always dressed in shabby clothes. They carry umbrellas, plates and bags to keep what they are given by the kind-hearted ones. To attract more pity especially from women, some carry babies who always look mal-nourished with unkempt hair and outfit. Some even hold plastic plates in case a philanthropist gives them any kind of meal.

    There is yet another category of beggars who actually live with one form of disability or the other. The blind, among these categories, are seen with their sticks and sometimes accompanied by a relative who helps in directing them.

    To get the attention of good-hearted people, they sing songs, blessing before and after they receive some gifts.

    The deaf and dumb among the beggars go about with identification cards, envelopes and sometimes a carton around their necks with the inscription; “I am deaf and dumb, please assist me”.

    Also, some people under the guise of running a non-governmental organisation that caters for the disabled go from one organisation to the other seeking fund to assist people living with disabilities.

    At the major junctions at Kubwa, our correspondents encountered some dwarfs moving in company of their likes seeking alms. “Why should dwarfs also beg, what is their excuse for begging?” were the questions in their minds.

    When one of them who simply identified himself as Zakari Tanimu was asked why he was begging, he said: “I did not go to school when I was young and I am too old to go now. I have tried to work in different places but I have been turned down severally. I concluded that if those who have normal heights are still there looking for jobs, when will I get a job?

    “My height is a disadvantage to me. If they are even considering anybody for a job; I know I will be the last. So, instead of just waiting endlessly, I have decided to beg.”

    Kudirat Salisu, mother of three who sits at one corner of the newly constructed pedestrian bridge at NICON Junction said: “If I don’t beg, how will I take care of my children and myself. I used to help people do their domestic chores, like washing clothes and keeping their houses clean but they started complaining that I should not be coming with my children. Where will I keep them while I go to work?

    “That was why I stopped and I don’t have enough money to start up any business. So, that is why I am begging.”

    Isah Djibril is another beggar who said he discovered that one of the means through which one could sustain oneself in the capital city is through begging for alms.

    The 42-year-old Adamawa State-born and father of four kids begs for alms at night at the popular Gwarimpa-Kubwa Express Bridge. He rubs the floor of the bridge with his buttocks as he strives to make ends meet.

    Isah Djibril, who spoke in Hausa through an interpreter, said he had been in the begging business for a long time. He explained that through begging, he has been able to provide for his family.

    According to Hauwa Amina, another beggar along the Wuse Bridge, the economic situation made her go into street begging. Asked if she is not scared of arrest by officials of AEPB, Hauwa, who spoke in Pidgin English, explained that government officials are the ones disturbing them by coming here to drive them away.

     

    A new trend

    The tales of Hauwa Amina or Kudirat Salisu are not different from hundreds of others, including a few literate ‘corporate’ beggars who throng the bus stops and other areas in the FCT at closing hours to seek financial assistance. The differences lie in their appearances.

    This paradigm in begging in the nation’s capital has become treacherous.

    This set of beggars often called corporate beggars is smart and unassuming to passersby. Their mode of dressing reflects confidence from distance; attractive and neat. But on a close contact, they represent treachery and deceit.

    This set of beggars or individuals give the impression of being stranded to get money from people. Abuja residents are now used to these tricks played by this set of beggars. Like a lie told many times, it becomes ineffective.

    Is there any help for them? With the rise of beggars in the nation’s capital, is there a way the government can get them off the streets?

    The Mandate Secretary of the FCT Social Development Secretariat, Mrs. Blessing Onuh in a recent publication said the FCT Administration recently rehabilitated some of these beggars in the capital city.

    “The secretariat recently concluded the training of about 90 women beggars at the Karinmaji Settlement,” she said.

    She further said: “The women were registered in co-operative groups and given monetary assistance by the secretariat.”

    Also, in a recent interview, the Principal, Bwari Rehabilitation Centre, Comrade Bala Tsoho expressed dismay at the unwillingness of most of the beggars to embrace the FCTA’s initiative to rehabilitate them at the centre.

    According to him, those who are into begging have lost their sense of dignity and pride.

  •  Living off the fast lane

     Living off the fast lane

    They work hard, often too hard, just to make a living. They run fast with their articles of trade in their arms or on their shoulders. Their location is the highway of the nation’s capital. They must survive in a difficult economy.

    Abuja is filled to the brim with these set of hustlers who display their wares, be it toys, boxes of tissue paper, snacks or phone accessories. They meander their way through the Abuja traffic and they know how to get the attention they deserve.

    These hustlers are less in the city centre which has less traffic and more task force personnel chasing them about; they are more predominant in the satellite towns and metropolitan parts of Abuja. The most interesting part of is that some of them have got more creative and actually brought their shops literally to the highways.

    They are also seen along Nyanya, Mararaba and the Kubwa expressway where they caught our correspondent’s interest.

    Most of the traffic on the expressway begins from Galadima Junction but gets thicker around Phase Two. And that is just what they want, finding their way into the traffic and getting their business off the ground.

    As one leaves Dede, driving towards Zuba, on the Dantata Expressway, towards a military checkpoint for incoming vehicles into Abuja is a location buzzing with these hustlers. Here, they do not simply sell like others who stand by the road with soft drinks in polythene bags or containers with water dripping from it but they brought broken and abandoned refrigerators to the middle of the road to keep their drinks cold.

    They load the refrigerators with drinks, drop large chunks of ice to keep it cold while they only take few drinks to sell on the road while the rest stays cold. One of the traders Mohammed Lawal, a father of two who stays in Zuba, said they sell more in the morning and evening, mostly during rush hours when cars are forced to stop for the usual stop and search.

    Lawal who explained that they purchase as much as N500 worth of block that lasts for at most seven hours every day to enable them sell their drinks, explained that they decided to bring the fridge to the road to enable the coldness of their drinks last longer.

    He said, “The essence of the fridge here is to reduce the stress of going back and forth to get cold drinks; you see, there can never be any form of guarantee in go-slow (meaning traffic), sometimes, their ice melts so fast because of the sun and we are left with hot drinks that no one wants. Which is why we brought the refrigerators here, so that we can quickly sell when there is a go slow and rest under the shade of the trees across the road when the go slow disperses without our drinks getting hot.”

    Lawal complained that the solders for the past few days have not been giving them go slow which can be frustrating because it affects their jobs, he said that it is getting worst because now the soldiers are asking them to fall back a little more which will definitely take them away from their much needed traffic.

    He advised well meaning Nigerians to stop disobeying the laws by trying to avoid checks at the checkpoint which will not be helpful to the security of the Federal Capital, he also said that the solders need to be more vigilant and ensure they check cars properly because Abuja is the capital of the country and people from other places can easily bring in harmful things and in the process of the soldiers doing their work, they the hustlers will also have the avenue to sell their wares.

    Another marketer, Awalu Ibrahim explained when Abuja review asked him if he did not think that the trade was dangerous, “I don’t think it is risky because this first part of the road is three laness; when cars park, there is usually space in between for us, moreover we have gotten used to the road and know how to get between cars without endangering ourselves.

    “We are all young people and we would rather do something profitable with our time, by earning our living than beg or get involved in illegal things.”

    The hat seller amongst them who refused to be named or agree to be recorded, said that they have to always be on the look-out for members of the task force who always try to disrupt their business.

    He said: “Members of the task force are always going around, chasing people like us that are trying to honestly make a living, we left the town for them and came all the way here but sometimes they still come around when they need money but we will not be intimidated because man must survive anyhow.”

  • Redeeming Nupe land

    Redeeming Nupe land

    In Kogi, Kwara and Niger states, the Nupe fancy themselves as perhaps the most enlightened and coordinated.

    Early contact with western education prepared them for the visible role they play in politics, education, agriculture, medicine, engineering and the military. Nupe sons and daughters occupy sensitive positions at the national and state levels.

    Consequently, one would have thought that all these virtues and endowments would make Nupe a dream land. But the physical realities show that virtually nothing is on the ground and where there is, it is a sorry sight. Despite their population, resilience and industry the people and the area have continued to complain of being victims of socio-economic and political manipulations in their respective states.

    This development brought various Community Development Associations in Nupeland across the three states to gather at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida under the aegis of Community Association for Grassroots Transformatiom (CAGRAT) to review the gloomy past and proffer solutions to the misfortunes that have nearly grounded development of the area.

    Tagged “Summit of Stakeholders from Nupeland”, delegates from the seven Emirate Councils of Nupeland made up of the elite, technocrats, industrialists, elders, politicians and prominent sons and daughters of Nupe land from Niger, Kogi and Kwara states, were united in their conviction. They strongly believe that the Nupe have not only been short-changed but also denied qualitative infrastructue to enable their people maximise their vast natural endowments. According to them, if urgent attention is not taken for the development of the area will continue to suffer neglect if not total abandonment.

    Various speakers at the summit blamed the woes of the area on activities and policy manipulations of successive administrations. The group identified population census to boundary delineation, local and states government creation’ social security and infrastructural provision as part of the developmental challenges of Nupeland.

    In the lead paper at the summit, titled, “An overview of development challenges in Nupeland”, the Secretary of CAGRAT, Malam Babawachiko Yahaya lamented what he called, “a seeming deliberate effort to deny Nupeland, especially those in Niger state infrastructure that will enhance the socio-economic development of the people”.

    Nupeland, he said, has many potential entry points of a well-integrated transport system of road, railway and waterway, represented by lower Niger River and Baro port; the Baro-Minna-Kaduna-Kano rail line, Lambatta-Bida-Mokwa, Bida-Nupeko, Enagi – Gusau Roads, Kutiliko Etsugaie and Badegi Road as well as Badegi, Bakeko and Katcha Road and Agaie- Baro Roads are outstanding and capable of socio-economic transformation of the entire land, the region and the nation at large but lamented that all these networks are in shambles.

    He singled out the dilapidated state of Lambatta-Jebba Road which connects Abuja to Lagos. According to him, “the deplorable state of this road has forced motorists going to Lagos from Abuja to prefer the use of Lokoja-Okene route. This development has tremendously affected the socio-economic activities of the entire Nupeland through which the road traverses”.

    Yahaya noted the abandonment and dilapidation of the ancient Baro railway terminal which links Minna to Kano and the water way from Baro through Lokoja to Onitsha; the Baro Port linked by channels from Baro through Jebba to Yelwa Yauri, Kebbi State and another from Baro through Wuya to Kaduna in Kaduna state had wrecked adverse effect on the socio-economic life of the Nupe.

    Bemoaning the decay and dwindling fortunes of the education sector of Nupeland, Yahaya rethoricaly asked, “the secondary and primary school systems are today confronted with dilapidated structures, lack of sitting and teaching materials. This has led to the production of bad quality pupils/students by our primary and secondary schools; the reduction of pupils/students between one stage of our educational system and another especially in the rural areas is a matter of concern. The common question always is- where do these pupils and students go to and what are responsible for this sorry state of education?”

    Yahaya did not speared the politicians, he accused them of establishing public schools based on political loyalty and sentiments without due regards to availability of facilities and manpower requirements. This development he said “has worsen situation as such schools are with students/pupils without adequate or and appropriate teachers and facilities; class rooms without chairs or even roof on them or secondary schools without dinning halls and toilets and worse of all, without reading and writing materials”.

    He then concluded that “the embarrassing situation of public school system is the watershed of the progressive deterioration in the quality of education over the years in Nupeland which is partly responsible for the developmental challenges of the land.

    “It is my contention that, more than before, the rise of Nupeland, in fact, the future of our people will depend on good quality education, credible and capable leadership more than anything else. Resource availability may be an advantage, but lack of good quality education would impact negatively on human resource base and quality of leadership”.

    He posited further that the health sector in the zone is not free of decay. The problem of insufficient equipment and infrastructure decay are more peculiar at the secondary and the primary health care (PHC) levels. At the secondary level, most of the rural hospitals are faced with the problems of inadequate equipment in addition to the problem of decaying infrastructure.

    Yahaya said also that local government administration in Nupeland is occasioned by the unwarranted interference by the state governments. He decried the repeated abuse of administration and financial automnomy of the councils by central government or state government a development that has retarded progress at the grassroots.

    Proffering solution the Chairman of CAGRAT, Dagaci Muhammad Etsuagaie said the only alternative and viable path is to deploy the democratic will of a well organised grassroots social oriented movement to assist in designing a road map towards general transformation of Nupeland and its people, hence the establishment of CAGRAT.

    Stakeholders at the summit recalled that as far back as 1991, the people have sensed danger in the future prospect of the Nupe land and have been agitating for the creation of Ndaduma state but it was stalled. The summit commended the new move for creation of Edu State, a demand which is before the national assembly as a panacea to the developmental challenges of the people.

    In the interim, the summit maintained that to re-position Nupeland and ensure that the people gets the democratic dividends, basic concept of democratic practice of majority having their way should be enforced in governance over the “unconstitutional zoing” policy of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially in Niger state where Nupes are in the majority, but are not calling the shots

    A Chieftain of the summit Engineer Muhammad Kailani, publisher of a Kaduna based newspaper, “Liberator” alleged that the Nupes in Niger State have been sidelined with the emergence of the gentleman agreement of zoning in the state and stressed that all over the world, majority is usually a dominant factor and the Nupes will not be an exception.

    “What we are doing is to ensure that the Nupes are carried along. We will be united and we will ensure that henceforth in Niger state, majority carries the vote. That is what democracy is all about”.

    The summit resolved that the train for mobilising and re-positioning Nupes will be moving to Kwara and Kogi states respectively until the dream is realised.