Category: Northern Report

The Accountant General of Taraba State, Aminu Ayuba has been relieved of his duties.

A statement by Head of Service, Ms Suzy J Nathan, said: “Governor Kefas Agbu has approved the redeployment of the Accountant General of the state from the post with immediate effect. He is to hand over to the most senior or next officer in command and report to the office of the Head of service.”

Ayuba has been the Accountant General for the past six years and contested as governorship aspirant under the PDP in the 2023 elections.

Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda has vowed to plug all avenues to the leakage of public funds and entrench accountability.

 Radda, who spoke at the Retreat of the Katsina State Development Fund popularly called ‘Gidauniyar Jihar Katsina’, pledged his administration’s desire to work with the fund to accelerate the development in the state

The event, held at the Banquet Hall of the Katsina State Government House, had in attendance former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was the pioneer Chairman of the Development Fund.

Radda lauded the annual retreat of the Gidauniya for promoting intellectual discussions on how to accelerate the development.

 He said: “Part of the commitment made by my administration is the blocking of all sources of revenue leakages, as well as making the government transparent and accountable to the people. The State Government has developed strategic policies to confront challenges facing the state in the area of security, agriculture and youth restiveness, among others.

“This retreat has always been in the forefront of canvassing better ideas for various Katsina State governments, in order to make life better for our people.”

Former President Buhari, maintained the importance of the Gidauniya in Katsina State which cannot be overemphasized, saying it played a vital role in enhancing security and promoting social coalition across the state.

 He said: “the Gidauniya has contributed immensely to the wellbeing of Katsina people and the state’s development.”

Chairman of the Gidauniya, Dr. Umar Mutallab, called for the injection of youths into the association for its sustainability.

The Managing director of National Hydroelectric power producing Areas development Commission (N-HYPPADEC), Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa, has said the ongoing construction of N300 million Mobile Barracks in Gashish community in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State was in response to the demand of the community to have a security outfit closer to them.

Yelwa also said the need assessment carried out by the commission showed that communities are clearly vulnerable to agents of insurgency and the demand of the communities was genuine and necessary.

He told reporters during an inspection tour of the project in Gashish yesterday.

Yelwa said: “We are here to supervise the ongoing N300 million mobile barrack brought here to address security challenges in these areas.

“HYPPADEC felt that whatever we may be doing in terms of economic development for people of this community, if there is no peace and security, it will be a waste of time and resources.

 “People of this community and environs have witnessed invasion of their communities by gunmen in recent times. And the people, through their state government placed the demand for the federal government to have government security closer to them to protect them from external aggressions.

“I have toured the site and I have seen that the construction has gone 70 per cent completion. It is hoped that on completion, security personnel will be deployed here and those security challenges will be a thing of the past.”

 “The mobile barrack has the capacity to accommodate at least 150 security personnel. And from what I saw, the construction is going according to specifications and I’m convinced the engineers on sight are doing very well.

 “My management is more interested in quality delivery of the job, because the objective for the project itself must be met after all.

 “We want this project to be completed by December 31 because any delay is dangerous; this project is about safety of lives and properties, so we will not entertain any delay. We want to complete the project and hand it over to the state government as soon as possible.”

• Teachers, council workers to receive salaries

Benue State Governor,   Hyacinth Alia yesterday said 2,500 ghost workers have been uncovered in the first phase of staff verification and payroll audit for teachers and Local Government workers in the state.

A statement by Alia’s Chief Press Secretary (CPS) Tersoo Kula in Makurdi, said:  “In the first phase of staff verification and payroll audit for primary and secondary school teachers as well as local governments’ workers,  2,500 ghost workers  were uncovered. The payroll has since been cleaned and names of the ghost workers have been removed. The government also uncovered phantom schools, double dipping, unlawful employment, salary padding, payment to dead or retired individuals and unlawful replacements.”

He expressed regrets over the delay in payment of salaries of teachers in primary and secondary schools, as well as the council workers.

The governor said the decision for the delay in the payment of salaries was taken after the government discovered mindless padding of the wage bill and other fraudulent manipulations on their payroll.

He assured workers who have been screened that they will receive their salaries before the end of the week.

 ”We are not only getting rid of ghost workers and removing the padding associated with payroll fraud. We are putting in measures to ensure the system is protected going forward,” he said.   

Premiere Academy, Lugbe Abuja has unveiled a new lab to keep pupils abreast with technological education.

The unveiling was witnessed by the Director of Education and Public Engagement at Associated University Incorporated (AUI) in Washington Dc, Timothy Spuck; Founder/CEO of Astronomers Without Borders (AWB), Olayinka Fagbenro (Fellow Techwomen) along with enthusiastic parents.

The school said the opening of the lab aligned perfectly with its dedication to delivering a holistic education that integrated personal development and seamless technology.

The school noted that it believed that the innovative tech programs was to equip the students with the cutting-edge skill to excel in the digital age.

The Principal, John Olugbenro, said Premiere Academy is a high profile boarding school that combines technology with personal development in a serene environment with state–of–the–art facilities and expert teachers to raise all-rounded world leaders.

He said: “Coding and robotics to virtual reality and A1 are all embedded into our curriculum as a fundamental skill every student should learn. Our goal is to equip our students with the digital skills they need to succeed in the 21st century regardless of their career path.”

Olugbenro said that students of Premiere Academy are distinguishing themselves in their academic pursuits all over the world.

The principal cited the performance of a former pupil, Okojie Eghoghomenghale Deborah, who graduated with first-class honours in engineering from Coventry University in the UK, and the outstanding performance of another student, Isa Salmanu in the 2023 JAMB examination.

“Our students are exemplifying Premiere Academy’s ideals and commitment to excellence, some of them, like Unyime Effiong are Ph.D. holders and we shall always celebrate them to continue to soar to greater heights,” he said.

The principal also said that the school recently hosted Miss Chinwe Nkiru Okafor of “Give a Girl a Chance” who gave the female students an inspiring lecture on self-awareness and etiquette which also tallied with the school’s girl-child project of nurturing young girls through self-awareness workshops, etiquette training, personal grooming, leadership, and communication skill development.

“Our educational and teaching methods combine practical knowledge that takes students through real life situations while teaching to achieve authentic learning that supports skills needed now and in the future.

“As a future-thinking school, we apply different strategies and methods aside from academics in teaching, we teach soft and hard skills; such as computer programming, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, technology, and collaboration etc to equip students to become world-class citizens who will be socially responsible, resilient in achieving their goals, and importantly becoming leaders and the Pride of the Nations,” Olugbenro added.

Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda yesterday submitted a list of new commissioners to the Katsina State House of Assembly for screening and confirmation as members of the State Executive Council.

 A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ibrahim Kaula, said the nominees who are 19 hailed, are from various backgrounds and equipped with expertise and experience to contribute to the development and progress of the state.

 Among the nominees is Professor Badamasi Lawal Charanchi, former Education Commissioner.

  Radda expressed confidence in the nominated commissioners, highlighting their dedication to public service and commitment to fostering sustainable development across the state. He urged the Assembly to confirm them, 

The Project Coordinator of Large Scale Food Fortification, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Mr Seun Elere, says Kebbi State will be the first state in the West Africa sub-region to produce fortified rice.

 The expert stated this yesterday in Birnin Kebbi,the state capital during a training of reporters on ‘Promoting Rice Fortification in Nigeria (PRiFN)”.

 Rice fortification, according to experts, is “deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in a food to improve the nutritional quality of food and to provide public health benefit with minimal risk to health”. 

Elele said: “Kebbi State will be the first state, not only in Nigeria but in the whole of West African countries to produce fortified rice.

 “Already, we are working with rice mills like Wacot, Labana, Lolo Rice Mills, and other Modular Rice Mills on how to fortify their rice.”

“We are doing this to strengthen large scale production, and we are creating enabling environment for this processes,” he said

 Elele added that promoting rice fortification is an initiative between GAIN and the United Nations World Food Programme (UN WFP).

 “PRiFN aims to develop, strengthen and sensitise initiatives for monitoring food trends and flow as well as modifying agricultural and food trade policies in favour of rice fortification in Nigeria.

 “It also aims at establishing a nationally coordinated process for implementation of rice fortification in the country based on the national roadmap.

 “Other objectives are to support local production of fortified rice and development of national standards and strengthen the enabling environment for the introduction of fortified rice to the market,” h said.

 Earlier, WFP’s Food Fortification Expert in Nigeria, Mr Ekene Onyeagba, said the WFP, in partnership with national and local governments, UN agencies and private sector and communities will work with the people.

 He said they would work to build human capital and resilience, innovative solutions for improve value chains and strengthen food systems.

Also, a GAIN Representative in Nigeria, Mr Philip Ortese, said one of the objectives of the training was to introduce the PRiFN project and its planned activities for the pilot project to media personnel in the state.

He said the training would help to secure media buy-in, sensitise media personnel on the benefits of fortified rice, as well solicit their support in promoting the benefits.

Ortese added that the training would guide participants on proper reporting of rice fortification activities generally in the state and across the North-West region.

Chairperson, State Food and Nutrition Committee, Hajiya Aisha Usman expressed optimism that the training would make a great difference to the people of the state.

Usman, who is also the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry for Budget and Economic Planning thanked the organisers and assured them of government’s commitment to supporting the promotion of rice fortification in the state.

 Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule has demanded for deployment of more military troops to improve the security situation in the state.

The governor made the demand yesterday when he visited the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Maj.-Gen. Christopher Musa, at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.

Sule said the demand had become expedient due to the discovery of a lithium deposit in the state.

“There was the need to avoid the Zamfara experience by being proactive on security challenges the discovery will pose,” the governor said.

Sule congratulated the CDS on his appointment, which he described as “well-deserved”. He also expressed appreciation to the military for providing adequate security to the state. The CDS thanked the governor for his support to the military and developmental initiatives for the state.

 Gen. Musa assured the governor of the military’s continuous support to the state, due to its strategic proximity to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Defence Chief said there was the need for the state government to put necessary regulatory control on mining to forestall security breaches.

He assured that the military and other security agencies would be proactive in maintaining continuous peace in the state.

The Adamawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ASPHCDA) has unveiled a free vaccine for cervical cancer

Girls aged between nine and 15 are the targets of the vaccine.

The ASPHCDA explained to reporters yesterday that the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine has been introduced for routine immunisation, to be carried out between September 25 and 29, 2023.

Executive Chairman of the agency, Dr. Suleiman Bashir, said the HPV vaccination will last for five days in September at strategic sites in communities across the state.

“The HPV vaccination, if given to girls between nine and 15 years before exposure to the virus, offers maximum protection,” he explained.

He added, however, that women older than 14 would require screening before they would receive the vaccination.

“Cervical cancer is the commonest cancer in women and common cause of death,” he noted, adding that the cancer has no cure, but can be prevented with measures such as the planned vaccination.

He assured that the vaccine is safe, free and effective, and advised the targeted beneficiaries to visit the nearest public facility for the scheduled vaccination programme when the time comes.

The two factions in the lingering leadership crisis in the Nasarawa State House of Assembly have failed to reach an agreement as to who leads the assembly as the seventh Speaker.

 The meeting between the two factions of Daniel Ogazi and Ibrahim Balarabe, which lasted for more than three hours at the Nasarawa State Government Lodge in Abuja yesterday, ended in a deadlock.

 The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the lawmakers left the venue disappointed even as Governor Abdullahi Sule arrived and waited for their resolution.

 The two factional speakers declined speaking to reporters who waited patiently for the outcome of the meeting.

However, Ogazi sent a text message that the meeting ended in a deadlock and expressed hope that they would meet again while efforts to hear from Balarabe were unfruitful.

 Last week, the governor met with the 24 lawmakers and pleaded with them to resolve the leadership impasse and report back to him in two days.

 NAN reports that on June 8, the leadership crisis rocking the state Assembly took another dimension as the 13 factional members during plenary passed a resolution suspending the 10 other factional members.

 NAN also reports that as a result of having two factional speakers of the state assembly, the inauguration of the Assembly was postponed.

 Thereafter, a leadership crisis erupted where two speakers emerged with Balarabe and Ogazi leading different groups.

 While Balarabe was elected at a sitting in the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state by 11 out of 24 members, Ogazi was elected by 13 at plenary at the State Assembly complex.

 As the crisis escalated, the state All Progressives Congress (APC) led by its Chairman, John Mamman, on June 9 endorsed Balarabe.

 Not relenting, on June 10, Ogazi went to a Federal High Court in Lafia seeking to stop Balarabe and Mr Jacob Kudu from parading themselves as speaker and deputy speaker, among other requests.