The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • I chased Shekau, Qaqa out of Niget, says ex-Gov Aliyu

    I chased Shekau, Qaqa out of Niget, says ex-Gov Aliyu

    Former Niger State Governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has explained how he chased the dreaded Boko Haram leaders, Abubakar Shekau and Abu Qaqa out of Niger State during his first term as Governor, saying that, the state would have been the foundation of Boko Haram.

    He said part of the solution to the security challenges bedeviling Nigeria, like terrorism and banditry is proper planning and budgeting that will eradicate the negative statistics of 20million out of school children and change the story of Nigeria from being rated as the global poverty capital.

    Aliyu stated this in Kaduna as the weekend while addressing at the 2023 annual public lecture, awards and election of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Kaduna Branch.

    The former governor said: “The primary purpose of government is the security of lives and property of the citizens. As Chief Security officer of your state, you cannot claim inability to secure your citizens. Yes, the officers of the security agencies might not have come from your state, they are federal officers posted to assist you in your state.

    Read Also: FG budget N200 billion for military operation, poverty reduction

    “Being proactive as leader and followers also help so much. When I arrived Niger state, I found a security challenge in the form nine people who went to a village in Mokwa local government, who had multiplied in 2007 to 7,000 people and were involved in armed robbery and abducting women in the area. They constituted themselves into a republic.

    “I also discovered that many governors have tried to do something but were probably frustrated by Abuja. Infact, two immigration officers sent to investigate the activities in the group became members. When I took census, I discovered that more than 60 per cent of the members were not Nigerians. The original Shekau and Abu Qaga were the leaders. I got the support of the Late President Musa Yar’adua to disperse them after compensating them and provided them transport to their destination in Nigeria and the foreigners were taken to their boarders.

    “That action probably saved Niger State from being the foundation of Boko Haram as we come to know, they were regularly visiting the River Niger bridge. That the federal Government would support any governor who has done his homework,” he said.

  • Fed Govt urged to include alternative medicine in health sector

    Fed Govt urged to include alternative medicine in health sector

    The Association of Integrative Medicine Practitioners Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to include alternative and complementary medicine in the health sector.

    The group argued that integrating traditional healing practices into mainstream healthcare will lead to better health outcomes and improved access to affordable treatments.

    The group made the call during its 3rd Annual National Conference on Integrative Medicine, on Friday, in Abuja.

    President of the association, Johnson Elechi, highlighted the significant role complementary medicine plays in the treatment and prevention of diseases.

    Elechi said the call became necessary to further strengthen the nation’s healthcare sector and assist some less privileged people who could not have access to the conventional healthcare delivery.

    Read Also: Igboho to security agencies: step up efforts against killer herders

    He noted that a substantial portion of the population relied on these practices, and by embracing them, the government can address health disparities and meet the diverse healthcare needs of Nigerians.

    He said: “I call on the Ministry of Health to create a board of traditional, complementary and Alternative medicine, if the current programme to provide better health care delivery system to Nigerians is to succeed during this period of pandemic all over the world.

    “Under this plan, the board would be expected to compile statistics on how many patients who attend complementary and Alternative health institutions and also by this plan promote and formulate the teaching of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in institutions throughout the country. our health.

    “I am proud to inform you that there are many Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in the practice of complementary and Alternative Medicine.”

  • COP28: Govt should create awareness on front line solutions

    COP28: Govt should create awareness on front line solutions

    As the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference 2023 holds in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Federal Government has been urged to create awareness on the front line solutions to the climate crisis.

    The call which was made by the Connected Development (CODE) is to ensure improvement in the publics awareness and understanding.

    Programs and Projects manager CODE, Hyeladzira Mshelia, said this in Abuja at CODE’s

    documentary screening with stakeholders, shedding light on the livelihoods, challenges, and advancements within frontline communities.

    The documentary illustrates the detrimental impacts of the climate crisis on frontline communities, as well as the progress made by CODE through the CMC-CJ project over a year.

    Mshelia said: “CODE with support from Oxfam have been implementing a campaign called the Community media collaboration for climate justice project, we have been doing it in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states and the idea is to improve the publics awareness and understanding of front line solutions to climate crisis.

    “We know that Climate change is affecting everybody, last year Nigerians experienced one of the worst cases of flood where lives and properties were lost.

    Read Also: FG budget N200 billion for military operation, poverty reduction

    “With the project, we formed a coalition of community based organisations, empowering them and building their capacity on how to track climate resilient funds using the follow the money model and ensure they engage with their Ministeries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) to find out the measures that the government took to ensure that what happened last year does not repeat itself again.

    “So the call to action particularly now that people are in the UAE for the 2023 Climate change conference, we call on the government to do everything within their capacity, to educate people about the dangers of climate change because people can’t take action if they don’t understand what it is.”

    Spouse of the Deputy Head of Mission of Embassy of Switzerland and member Green Liberal Party of Switzerland, Raya Schifferle, said Nigerians need to understand that the climate crisis is affecting every part of the world, including Nigeria.

    She said where a country like Switzerland is being affected by the melting of glaciers and rise in sea levels, Nigeria experiences flooding, desertification and a lot more.

  • Deputy Senate President: ICT can help tackle banditry in Katsina

    Deputy Senate President: ICT can help tackle banditry in Katsina

    The Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, has identified the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) as a veritable tool to tackle the scourge of banditry and several other security challenges bedevilling Katsina State and Nigeria.

    He said “Solution to the nation’s challenges caused by banditry and other forms of insecurity lies in science and technology and the use of satellite technology to monitor activities of criminals.”

    The Deputy Senate President made the above disclosure in a pre-convocation lecture at the Federal University, Dutsinma (FUDMA), Katsina State.

    Jibrin, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Policy and Monitoring, Prof. Bashir Mohammed Fagge, also noted the role of ICT in tackling crime, which cannot be overemphasized; adding that it had yielded several positive results through modern tactics deployed in many parts of the world.

    Read Also: Police neutralise three suspected banditry kingpins in Katsina

    He also advocated integrating themes of tolerance, empathy, corporate dialogue, human rights and citizenship duties in the nation’s educational curricula, as panacea for security threats

    The topic of the lecture was, “Harnessing the power of education, technology and innovation in tackling insecurity.”

    Jibrin further told the gathering that appropriate value reorientation, improved access to opportunities and specialised training and skills acquisition through a re-engineered approach were imperative.

    FUDMA Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Hamisu Bichi, lauded Federal Government’s efforts towards addressing insecurity challenges in the country and called on support from all stakeholders towards evolving a more secure nation.

  • NDLEA destroys three acres of cannabis farm in Sokoto

    NDLEA destroys three acres of cannabis farm in Sokoto

    The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Sokoto State has destroyed three acres of cannabis farm in Sayinna town.

    Adamu Iro, the NDLEA Commandant in Sokoto, made the disclosure at the command headquarters while briefing journalists, yesterday.

    He said the officers of the command swooped into action; having been tipped off, to uproot the illegal crop planted in a maize farm, and arrested the suspect.

    Read Also: NDLEA arrests suspect, destroys cannabis farm in Sokoto

    The 32-year-old suspect, Anas Sani Sayinna, while responding to a question from journalists, said he brought the seeds from Lagos six months ago.

    “I call on my colleagues and those yet to engage in the cultivation of the drug-related crop to desist and engage in legal and meaningful ventures that will make them self reliant and successful,” he pleaded.

  • Jigawa SUBEB chair escapes lynch in gas angry teachers hold Namadi hostage

    Jigawa SUBEB chair escapes lynch in gas angry teachers hold Namadi hostage

    • Gov condemns protest, insists on aptitude test
    • From: Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse

    The chairman, Jigawa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Professor Haruna Musa, Friday, escaped lynching from aggrieved teachers popularly known as J-Teach staff at the Federal University Dutse (FUD), venue of a planned aptitude test.

    The teachers also blocked the entrance of the Government House, preventing Governor Umar Namadi from going out to attend the national conference holding at the nearby Manpower Development Institute.

    The teachers attacked the chairman in protest against what they alleged was an attempt to replace some of them with politicians and sons and daughters of privileged people after long years of suffering and sacrifice.

    Speaking to The Nation at the Federal University Dutse premises, the secretary of the J-Teach Association, Comrade Abbas Muazu Aujara said: “We are the teachers who were recruited under the J-Teach programme initiated by the former governor of the state, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar in the last two years.”

    Aujara explained that Governor Namadi, having recognised their efforts and sacrifice, offered them permanent and pensionable appointment.

    He added that “the Ministry of Basic Education, through the State Basic Education Board, also re-screened and re-documented all of us. What remains is to receive our permanent and pensionable offers and capture into the state Intergraded Payroll for Public Information System Management (IPPISM).

    “To our greatest disappointment, we were told that we were to hold another aptitude test and screening, despite that just yesterday (Friday) we had completed a round of screening”.

    Read Also: Jigawa SUBEB chair escapes lynching by protesting teachers

    “It appears now some people want sabotage the governor’s effort in revitalizing the state education with provision of adequate and qualified teachers for selfish interest. That is why we blocked this test from taking place.

    “We are calling on the state governor, Malam Umar Namadi, to investigate and take appropriate action before his 12-point agenda drifts into the ocean.”

    Meanwhile, the governor has condemned the protest, stating their action may discourage the government on its good plans on youth and education.

    Gov. Namadi said he is aware of the examination’s aim at justice and fairness to candidates in the selection processes.

    “To ensure justice for all, instead of making random selection, we organised this aptitude test for selecting the 3,000 out of the 4,500, and those who did not scale through now will continue to work as J-Teach before next round of recruitment”.

    He assured the teachers that the state government will not disenfranchised any one of them from getting employment but insisted on the aptitude test.

  • First Lady to empower 6,000 in Benue

    First Lady to empower 6,000 in Benue

    The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu has said that the No Woman, No Nation (NWNN) forum would empower a total of 6,000 women in Benue State.

    Sen. Tinubu stated this during the inauguration of the State and Local Government chapters of NWNN in Makurdi.

    Represented by the National Chairman of the organisation, Amb. Akintola Oluwasayo, Sen. Tinubu said the objectives of the organisation were to empower women and encourage their participation in more public activities in the country.

    She said the programme would instantly lift 6,000 Benue women out of poverty, adding that more were underway.

    “We focus on all-inclusiveness gender balance and a peaceful and better environment for business. However, the No Woman No Nation forum will lift 6000 women out of poverty immediately after the inauguration in Benue State at the first stage.

    “The NWNN Palliatives project will impact positively on the socio-economic development of our state across all Local Governments,” she said.

    Sen. Tinubu added the NWNN was established immediately after the general election to cater to the needs of women across the 774 Local Government Areas in the country.

    Read Also: No Benue youth was attacked in Ebonyi – Rep

    In his remarks, Gov Hyacinth Alia commended the First Lady for her commitment to the empowerment of women in the country.

    Gov Alia said his administration was against any form of practices, programmes and cultural beliefs that are harmful to women.

    He said his administration would continue to cherish the role of women in nation-building and give them the desired recognition.

    The National Director of Welfare and Planning, North Central, No Woman No Nation (NWNN) and State Commissioner for Cooperatives Urban and Rural Development, Mrs. Joy Luga, said the programme would lift thousands of women out of poverty in the State.

    The high point of the event was the inauguration of the state and local government chapters of the organisation by the National Chairman, Amb. Oluwasayo.  

  • Yusuf flags off settlement of death benefits, gratuity of pensioners

    Yusuf flags off settlement of death benefits, gratuity of pensioners

    Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State on Saturday flagged off the first tranche of settlement of death benefits to families of deceased civil servants and gratuity for pensioners.

    The occasion was held at Coronation Hall of Government House, Kano.

    6,000 persons who exited from the civil service and deceased workers between 2016 and 2019 will receive about N6 billion.

    Yusuf said the payment was possible despite meagre resources of the state and competing developmental projects, adding that payment was in fulfilment of part of his campaign promises.

    Read Also: Court voids Yusuf’s order against Doguwa, awards N25m damages

    He said his administration was highly concerned with the plight of pensioners, especially those at the lower level, as they are the end recipients of the economic hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy in the country.

    To ensure continuation of the settlement of the backlog, the governor said 10 billion naira was proposed in the state’s 2024 budget for more inclusion of gratuity and death benefits for bereaved families of deceased civil servants.

    Yusuf urged beneficiaries to make judicious use of the fund and invest wisely in lawful businesses when they collect it.

  • Niger govt signs MoU with TATA to boost agriculture

    Niger govt signs MoU with TATA to boost agriculture

    The Niger State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TATA Group of Companies on emergency intervention in Agriculture.

    The intervention in agriculture agreement signed in Abuja, is aimed at engaging the youths of the State in mechanization service provision.

    According to the MoU, TATA Group will provide assets, training and technology while the State Government is expected to provide support in the areas of asset acquisition, infrastructure, and commodity price stability.

    The pact, which is also expected to bring about an increase in productivity, yield and earnings of the farmers will also lead to food security, and sustainable job creation for the teeming youth in the State among others.

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    The agreement further indicated that young graduates will serve as Managed Service Providers (MSPs) for the provision of plough, harrow, ridge and trailer services under Phase One, while planter, sprayer and harvester will come under Phase Two.

    Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago signed on behalf of the State Government while the Country Director, Agriculture and Construction Equipment Division TATA Africa Services Nigeria, Engr. Chijoke Okoli signed for the company.

    The Governor expressed optimism that the MoU will come to fruition and achieve the desired results.

    The Country Director, Agriculture and Construction Equipment Division, TATA Africa Services Nigeria, Engr. Chijoke Okoli, assured that TATA as an established multinational conglomerate, will ensure it delivers its part of the agreement.

  • Fed Govt to rehabilitate, build roads in Kogi, says Umahi

    Fed Govt to rehabilitate, build roads in Kogi, says Umahi

    • Igala youths greet Bello, Ododo

    The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has has said that the ministry has received express approval from the presidency to commence federal roads construction/rehabilitation in Kogi State.

    He also outlined the modalities being explored to expedite the works without delay.

    Umahi spoke during a visit to him by the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello and Governor-elect, Ahmed Usman Ododo, at his office in Mabushi, Abuja.

    Governor Bello expressed gratitude to Senator Umahi for his support and solidarity, contributing to the victory of the Governor-elect in the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State.

    He said Ododo would continue to bring significant infrastructure development to Kogi State, enhancing the pride of the people and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Senator Umahi congratulated the Governor-elect, emphasizing that his victory reflected the people’s desire for continuity and consolidation.

    He commended Governor Bello’s achievements in road construction, education, health infrastructure, and other critical areas.

    He urged the governor-elect to uphold the trust placed in him by the people and the party, ensuring the fulfillment of his campaign promises.

    The minister said that ongoing projects, such as the Ganaja road rehabilitation, would be concrete-based, aligning with the Federal Government’s policy to ensure durable roads in Nigeria.

    Ododo reiterated his commitment to the trust bestowed upon him by the people.

    He expressed gratitude for the minister’s support and pledged to strengthen the existing relationship between the state and the federal government through the Ministry of Works.

    Ododo assured the minister of his administration’s readiness to actualize the infrastructure master plan for Kogi as laid down by the current administration.

    Read Also: Healthcare delivery: FG seeks private sector help to bridge procurement funding gap

    Meanwhile, the National President and Coordinator of the Igala Youths Consultative Assembly, Benjamin Akoji Daniel, has sent a congratulatory message to Governor Bello, and Ododo, for their victory in the election.

    Akoji during a briefing yesterday at the Igala Unity Square in Anyigba alongside heads of other socio-cultural groups, commended Prince Ishaq Shaibu Okolo, Executive Chairman of Dekina; Alfa Nasiru Muhammed, Kogi East Zonal Chairman of the All Progressives Congress; and other well-meaning Igala sons and daughters who stood and believed in the “Kogi Agenda” rather than any form of ethnic agenda.

    He thanked them for making the Igala kingdom proud by not engaging in any form of bigotry, noting that Igala people are known for their uprightness and peaceful cohabitation with other ethnic groups in the state.

    The group enjoined Ododo to build on the foundation laid by Governor Bello, and ensure he carries all ethnic groups along in the discharge of his duties.

    Other speakers at the meeting praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting an election in the state that is adjudged free, fair, transparent, and credible.

    Secretary of the group, Alhaji Suleiman Makolo, advised Ododo to see all Kogites as one and build on the unity championed by Bello from 2016 to date.

    He urged him to embark on more infrastructural projects in Kogi East to complete what Governor Bello started in 2016, which led to the construction of several projects such as the Anyigba-Umomi-Idah Road, Ankpa Township Roads, Olamaboro Roads, erosion control projects in Ogugu, Anyigba, and other parts of the State