The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • One stool, two feuding families

    One stool, two feuding families

    Budan, a riverside kingdom in the Upper River Niger area of Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State, is grappling with two problems. One, it has no king. Two, claimants to the throne are at loggerheads.

    This is unsettling.

    Budan, the ancestral home of the Kakanda people, was once peaceful. Not anymore; it is going through one of its most difficult periods in its history. Two of three families are battling over who should produce the next paramount ruler of the community founded about 1699 by Ajinzheya and his younger brother Idoko.

    It is said that both brothers migrated from Wukari (now in Taraba State) as a result of instability of the Jukun Empire at the time. The paramount ruler of the community is referred to as Agankyu and available records have shown that 21 Agankyus have presided over the community since its inception. However, following the demise of the last Agankyu, Etsu Idatsu Ibrahim Abdullahi, there has been controversy over which family should produce the next ruler.

    The Etsu Saba Family have conceded the seat to Etsu Isa Family, but not the same with Etsu Nmadu Family who are insisting on producing the king ahead of their brother. The three families who have taken turns to rule the community are all from the Danki Ruling House.

    However, the order of succession which was laid down is allegedly being set aside by some descendants, especially the Etsu Nmadu descendants, a situation that is generating controversy in the community.

    The development is being resisted by descendants of Etsu Isa who insisted that the last time anybody from their kindred mounted the saddle was about 120 years ago. They argued that it will be out of place for the Nmadu kindred to insist on producing the next paramount ruler of the community.

    Speaking on the controversy, Mallam Sule Malik from Etsu Isa kindred described as ýridiculous the interest of members of the Nmadu kindred to emerge the paramount ruler once again. He said since the baton has been moved to Danki Ruling House, it is obvious that the next in line for the crown should come from Estu Isa kindred without any contest.

    He said: “But I am surprise that  they (Nmadus) are indicating interest again, haba! Where is the fear of God? Or are they thinking wiping-off our existence from the Danki dynasty? Let them go back and cross-check again. I want to be quoted that Etsu Isah’s compound was the only recognised ruling house in Danki dynasty, because after him, Etsu Umaru from the same compound ascended the throne. But in the spirit of brotherhood and togetherness,  the Isahs were magnanimous enough to create another ruling houses with Danki, these are Etsu Nmadu and Etsu Saba. I am ready to be challenged if what I said is not true”.

    Worried by the turn of events, the head of the Kingmakers and the Nakorji of Budan, Alhaji Aliyu Ahmadu Autanyaya, was said to have asked the waring parties to go back home and resolve their differences, since it is in-house matter. A meeting was said to have been summoned twice with a view to resolving the issue and laying to rest, the controversy that has delayed the emergence of. New paramount ruler for the community. Interestingly, only the Etsu Isa people attended the two meetings while their brothers from the Nmadu family refused to attend.

    Ustaz Muhammad Bello claimed that the Nmadus were well knowledgeable of the meetings but refused to attend.

    He said, “On two different occasions, we have gone to Budan top try and resolve the issue. But they failed to attend and did not even bother to inform us while they failed to attend the all-important meeting. We are not lobbying for the stool. We are only asking for what is ours. Our fathers have remained in slumber for too long and allow our right to pass to be trampled upon. But now, we have woken up from that slumber and are demanding what is rightfully ours.”

    The Nation was informed that the Nakoji, who is presiding over the community pending the emergence of a new traditional ruler is disturbed about the development and has even threatened to single handed leg appoint a paramount ruler if the warring parties failed to resolve their differences and come up with a single candidate. It was gathered that he summoned a meeting of the contending parties and directed them to go back and resolve the issue and present a candidate before the Eid-el-Kabir celebration or be forced to impose a successor on the throne. But the decision did not go down well with many people in the community who argued that the Nakorji does not have the mandate to impose anyone, adding that it has never happened in the history of the community for the Narkoji to pick a successor.

    Based on the directive of the Nakorji, the Dankis were said to have summouned a meeting of both kindreds.

     

     

  • A crackdown on overhead bridge hawkers

    A crackdown on overhead bridge hawkers

    The Federal Capital Territory has taken steps to ensure that hawkers steer clear of overhead bridges, GRACE OBIKE reports

    The daily tragic drama on the roads is coming to end. Pedestrians often shun the overhead bridges and enact a sprint across the busy expressways at a huge cost to themselves. Many have been hit and injured or killed by fast-moving vehicles.

    The administration of the territory had long warned of the dangers of not using the bridges but many residents would not. Now, the administration is enforcing the order, by clearing the bridges of hawkers and the destitute.

    The FCT administration on its part has attempted on several occasions to implement laws that will force residents to use such bridges, in some cases, fences have been built in places like Nicon and some strategic locations in Abuja to prevent residents from crossing the road but such fences are in most cases pulled down.

    To prove the administration’s readiness to curb street hawkers and enforce the use of the overhead bridges, Minister of the FCT Malam Muhammad Bello visited the pedestrian bridge in Ludge, a village along the Airport Road.

    There, he reiterated that such bridges were constructed for easy movement and passage of residents crossing the highways but not meant for hawking, begging or for other nuisances and therefore a stop must be put to it forthwith.

    He directed the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and the FCT Task Team on Environment to as a matter of urgency stop hawkers using pedestrian bridges for their activities in the Federal Capital Territory.

    Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary FCT, Muhammad Sule made the revelation in a press statement where he credited the minister with warning warned that hawking and other activities are not acceptable on the Pedestrian bridges across the Territory and called for strict enforcement.

    He quoted the minister saying, “The Administration is not prepared to take excuses anymore; saying that they must carry out their statutory duty.

    “Malam Bello also instructed that the AEPB and the Task Team must also get rid of herdsmen still grazing in the Federal Capital City; noting, “you must find a way in dealing with that bizarre situation”.

    “He seized that opportunity to talk to the crowd gathered around the pedestrian bridge on why people should not use such places as shopping malls.

    “He told them that pedestrian bridges were also not constructed for miscreants and further warned that all activities must be very far away from the expressway ways.

    “These expressways are the gateway into the Federal Capital City and the seat of power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and therefore everything must be done to keep Abuja clean from all environmental nuisances in line with the vision of its founding fathers,” Malam Bello stressed.

    The Director of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olanipekun and the Chairman of the FCT Task Team on Environment, Squadron Leader Abdullahi Adamu Monjel, accompanied the Minister on the unscheduled visit and promised to implement the law.

  • Rot in grazing community

    Rot in grazing community

    A sensitisation tour of a grazing reserve in Gombe State exposes decay in a rural community, VINCENT OHONBAMU reports

    It was an accidental discovery. The team was in Wawazange community in Gombe State to appeal to the residents to forge peaceful cohabitation with cattle breeders as the federal government kicked off the nationwide rehabilitation of the 414 grazing reserves in the country. But it turned out that the dilapidation of the community was too glaring to be overlooked.

    •Some Fulani girls during a mobilisation tour of Wawazange grazing reserve in Gombe State
    •Some Fulani girls during a mobilisation tour of Wawazange grazing reserve in Gombe State

    Members of the Advocacy, Sensitisation and Mobilisation Team on Rehabilitation and Development of Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes had a few shock finds in Wawazange Grazing Reserve in Dukku Local Government Area of the state. On a tour of the community, they found a primary school of about six classrooms, complete with a headmaster’s office. But the school had just one teacher who turned out to be the headmaster, who taught from primary one to six, a population of 63 pupils, mainly boys.

    Dr. Ibrahim Abdullahi, the Assistant National Secretary General of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria who visited the reserve, as part of the team, also found out that the school’s staff quarters was dilapidated and uninhabitable. This means that even if teachers were available, they would have no place to lay their heads.

    The third observation uncovered by the visit was that there was no single public health facility in the area for humans and none for animals.

    “And looking at the trend today where the whole world is looking at Nigeria in its campaign against polio; looking at the population of this grazing reserve and also considering the fact that Gombe State and all other states of the northeast region are very high risk states in terms of polio campaign, I think that is not ideal,” said Dr. Abdullahi.

    He added, saying, “We have just clocked about two years without having one single wild polio virus (WPV) case. But unfortunately for us, WPV [has just been] isolated in Borno State and you cannot rule out the possibility of people from that area coming to this area and then getting our children here infected. So I think this is a matter of urgent importance that the government has to look at.”

    As a way out of the quagmire, the Assistant Secretary General of Miyyetti Allah Cattle Breeders suggests thus: “We need to educate them. We have to provide teachers. And then we have to mobilise these people to enrol their children in schools, especially the girl-child.

    “Also, we have no alternative today than to imbibe all government policies and programmes, especially as they relate to health. Therefore, I want to strongly appeal to them, not only to accept polio, but also to accept weekly routine immunization (RI).”

    The United Nations Fund, UNICEF has at different advocacy meetings and sensitisation workshops in Gombe made case for routine immunization and that of polio with the aim of sustaining awareness on RI and consolidating on the polio- free status of Gombe state where the last case was about five years ago.

    Notable of such meetings was the Gombe State Mid-Year Review meeting where it was revealed that UNICEF among other things campaigned vigorously and strengthened the immunization against polio at Funakaye and Nafada local government areas.

    UNICEF has also been very loud on the need for the education of the children, especially the girl-child. It was further revealed at the mid-year review that 2,935 school aged internally displaced persons (IDP) learners were enrolled in different schools in Akko, Gombe, Funakaye and Yamaltu-Deba local government areas under the Safe School Initiative (SSI) Emergency Programme, using the UNICEF structure.

    Experts say the Northeast is the most educationally backward in the country; it also has the highest number of out of schoolchildren and it is equally the most poverty ravaged. This is a keg of gunpowder waiting to explode.

    The Northeast has been ravaged by insurgent Boko Haram fighters over the last five years. They sustained their fighting even to this day by taking advantage of the large pool of poor and uneducated youths.

    The state Commissioner for Animal Husbandry and Nomadic Affairs Sammy Barka, a pharmacist, was present at the occasion and he said based on the observation about the education of the teeming Fulani populace who are settlers in this grazing reserve, the Ministry would liaise with the appropriate authorities, particularly the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) with a view to establish a school in the Reserve or repair the already established one and send more teachers to take of the pupils in the school.

    Like Ibrahim Abdullahi said: “the world is looking” to see how realistic and how soon this promise would materialise.

     

     

  • Youths to monitor Northeast rehab

    As the Federal Government rehabilitates the Northeast wrecked by the now weakened Boko Haram sect, youths in the zone have undertaken to closely monitor the rebuilding efforts. In about five years of the insurgency, the zone lost much of its infrastructure and its life. Youths were killed and maimed, some forced to flee, other captured and recruited into the invaders’ army. Now some of the survivors who have coalesced into non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups have pledged to join the efforts to prevent a repeat of what the region suffered at the hands of the terrorists.

    The youths articulated their position at a conference, noting that the high level of poverty in the zone makes it easy for insurgents and other agents of destruction to recruit youths into their fold.  Closely related to this is the role of the youths as catalysts for any future the zone may have and therefore the need for them to take up leadership role and not resign to fate.

    The conference further observed that youths are central in the process of post-conflict trauma management and that their participation in the effort to reconstruct the infrastructuresdestroyed by the insurgents and the resettlement of returnee internally displaced persons (IDPs) is of paramount importance.

    They also took cognisance of the untiring efforts by the government and the military in crushing and annihilating the insurgency in its entire ramification, following which they recommended that:

    • Youths should henceforth act as the agents of development rather than be cannon fodders to unscrupulous politicians and agents of destruction.
    • Youths should take particular interest on how the government plans to implement its reconstruction, resettlement and rehabilitation programme in the northeast.
    • Northeast governors must show more interest in the plight of our Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).  They feel abandoned and at the mercy of the vagaries of uncaring governments agencies
    • The National Assembly shall hasten the passage of the Bill seeking the establishment of the North East Development Commission.
    • Proper documentation should be carried out for the entire insurgency affected areas in the North East.
    • The rehabilitation and re-integration of the IDPs and those Boko Haram fighetrs who surrendered to the authorities should be treated with all the deserved seriousness.
    • The stakeholders of the Northeast sub-region are urged to contribute their quota in the reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of the North East.

    CSOs (Civil Society Organisations) should intensify their commitments and devise ways of getting information on empowerment initiatives by the government and make such information available and accessible to the general public.

    Mallam Babayola Muhammadu Toungo, who represented the Chairman, Arewa Research and Development Programme, Dr. Usman Bugaje said the meeting was to prepare the youths towards being agents of development and peace in a post-conflict northeast.

    He said the belief that lack of implimentaion of budgets over time by the various governments in addition to aforementioned factors were responsible for fueling the disturbance in the northeast.

    Even now: “We don’t have any guarantee that the N500bn social safety the Federal Government is talking about may not go down that way again. So we want our youths in a position whereby they can track the disbursement and usage, and be agents of development and peace.

    “The whole idea is to make youths see other forms of opportunities; particularly in agrarian areas which is very enormous. We are trying to re-engineer or re-synergise their thinking to make them understand the need to take their destiny in their hands – chart your vision, chart your course. Nobody is willing do that for you. He said education was another scheme they were working on, considering that 90% of the 12million children the UN said were out of school in

    Nigeria were in the north.

    “This is part of what we are campaigning for now. Government should sit down and look at our basic education with a view to taking those kids off the street because that is a very big time bomb we are sitting on.

    Our teachers today are reluctant teachers in the sense that most people that went to colleges of education in my opinion went there because they couldn’t get admissions into universities or

    polytechnics. But finding yourself in a teachers’ college, you are trained to be a teacher from day one,” said Babayola while making case for the reintroduction of teachers’ training schools

    Ibrahim Yusuf, Chairman, Civil Society Coalition in Gombe state and also the Mobilizer of the Civil Society Meeting in the Northeast said the objective of the meeting was to build the capacity of young people’s organsation on how to track and monitor the programme of the Federal Government in the three Rs Programme – reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of the people affected by the insurgency so that the organisation will be empowered in order to

    engage the process so it will not be diverted by politicians and also the contractors at the community level.

    He explained that ten participants representing ten organisations were drawn from the six states of the sub-region to stream down lessons from the meeting to their home states and also mobilize stakeholders in the process in order to make sure that everybody is on board.

    Mohammed Anur, a participant from Yobe State Civil Society Organisation said he had learnt the need for youths to be proactive by telling government what they need, since they are closer to the communities and know the problems.

    He said the meeting had opened their eyes on collaborating with donor agencies to engage youths on skills acquisition training. “So we want to teach them on how to stand on their own because unemployment contributed a lot to this Boko Haram thing,” he said while urging

    Youths to be less angry about unemployment.

    Ismaila Mohammed, the Coordinator for ISMI (International Strategic Management Institute), Adamawa state said the meeting brought them together to see how they can contribute to the development of the Northeast region of the country by learning from each other as constant exchange of ideas is a veritable way of helping individuals develop their potentials.

    He said: “Unemployment is the inability of the individual to have creative thinking because there is no job anywhere, but creative thinking can enable an individual make something out of his life

    because everyone has potentials in them and the only way to bring them out is by thinking – looking inward.

    How to improve the lives of the IDPs, fast tracking their rehabilitation and how things will be done to take care of them was uppermost in the mind of Garba Rebecca, a participant from Borno state.

    “The condition of the IDPs is improving, but there is room for more improvement. I will organise the IDPs and educate them; let them not feel neglected or as if government is not taking their issues seriously. We will also reach out the non-IDP youths as well.

    Educating them will make them understand that government is trying and be supportive,” Rebecca explained.

    Comrade Aminu Saleh from Bauchi state of Northern Youth Assembly which partners with Arewa research Development Project ARDP said the meeting afforded them the opportunity to rub minds with colleagues across the northeast in order to look at the problems that have been facing in the zone and the entire country, Nigeria.

    “In the northeast, we have the problem of Boko Haram and if you look at it critically, you will realise that the problem is as a result of some negligence. Greed and corruption is directly proportional to what cause this problem

    “Also, our elders sometimes initiate policies that can directly go in contrast with helping the youth and indeed the country. For instance, ATBU Bauchi said they cannot employ Third Class graduate and about 60 to 70% of their students are Third Class – if you don’t want a child, you don’t need to have one.

     

    “So, in this meeting, we are going to rub minds, look at some of the policies our leaders are introducing without bringing the youths closer to them so that we can advise on the basis of reality or so that they can revisit some and do something reasonable to assist the

    youths,” said Saleh

     

  • Council chief hires vigilance groups

    Council chief hires vigilance groups

    The Chairman of Kuje Area Council, Alhaji Abdullahi Galadima, has disclosed plans to recruit vigilante members that would collaborate with the security agents to checkmate any form of crime in the entire council.

    Galadima while addressing journalists in Kuje after a closed door security meeting with traditional rulers and security agencies, therefore, urged the youth in the area to continue to remain law abiding to all constituted authorities.

    He however, called for the continued support to the council and noted that plans were underway to recruit vigilante members that would also collaborate with the security agents to checkmate any form of crime in the entire council. while urging residents to remain law abiding to all constituted authorities.

    Galadima said the issue of security was a collective responsibility of everybody, hence it had become necessary to rid the council of any form of crime and criminality.

    He advise residents to always partner with all security agencies by giving them any useful information whenever the need arose.

     

  • Minister inaugurates school as council marks 100 days

    Minister inaugurates school as council marks 100 days

    The FCT Administration would continue to support and encourage any Area Council in its domain which initiates people-oriented projects.

    FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello gave this assurance while commissioning a primary school in Iddo-Ma’aji, a village located along Airport Road.

    The new school was constructed by the Abuja Municipal Area Council chaired by Abdullahi Candido in his 100 days in office.a

    Bello said that what the people in the rural areas need is thae basic necessities of life and insisted that the Area Councils that are closer to the grassroots must strive to achieve more of such laudable projects.

    According to a statement issued by the Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Sule, the Minister emphasized that his Administration will continue to provide the enabling environment for all the Area Councils to perform optimally.

    He reminded the council officials that the people were anxiously watching how they would fulfil the campaign promises they made.

    The Minister, who lauded the AMAC chief for bringing education to the doorsteps of the people that genuinely desire it, also urged other Area Council chairmen not to betray the confidence reposed in them by the voters.

    Bello remarked that education remains the bedrock for any meaningful development; adding that the choice of the project embarked upon by the AMAC Chairman will go a long way in liberating their minds.

    The Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Abdullahi Adamu Candido appreciated the kind gesture of the Minister who took time out of his busy schedule to personally commission the school.

    “This shows that Malam Muhammad Musa Bello is truly with the people despite his exalted position in the society,” he added.

    Several APC leaders in the Federal Capital Territory like Hajiya Ireti Kingigbe, Hon. Tanko Abari and a host of others also attended the ceremony.

     

     

  • Good values first

    Nigerians expecting instant transformation of their fortunes may have to wait for some time. They had been yearning for better life and improved social services, among other demands, long before the present administration came on board. But their predicaments, caused by problems of massive corruption, infrastructural decay, amongst others bedeviling the nation, were worsened by the economic recession that ushered in the new administration.

    The prices of oil, the mainstay of the economy, crashed in the international market from above $100 per barrel to about $30 at the inception of this administration.

    The renewed militancy in the Niger Delta has also not helped matters as vandalism of pipelines and other installations was said to have resulted in Nigeria losing one million barrels of oil per day in the last six months.

    These definitely disrupted government’s projections, planning and may also hamper significant implementation of the 2016 Budget.

    Presently, the hardship in the land, directly due to high inflation, is getting to an alarming level that has made it very difficult for many Nigerian households to feed properly let alone meet other personal needs.

    They have been told that no magic wand will be deployed to solve the problems and that they may have to wait longer as the change they want won’t come easily unless they play their own roles.

    To ensure that Nigerians are re-orientated to play their part in the society, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture headed by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, launched the new national campaign slogan “Change Begins With Me” at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja last Thursday.

    The main target of the campaign is to engender a holistic attitudunal change in Nigerians and make them imbibe the lost core values their forefathers were known for.

    It intends to replace lawlessness, dishonesty, indolence, unbridled corruption and widespread impunity with the virtues of honesty, hard work, Godliness. integrity, punctuality, good-neighbourliness, abhorrence of corruption and patriotism.

    Speaking at the occasion, President Muhammadu Buhari said: “This campaign is part of the determination of our party to seek to carry all Nigerians along on the journey to a better and greater society that we all can be proud of.

    “Every one of us must have a change from our old ways of doing things, we cannot fold our arms and allow things to continue the old way.

    “We must resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness and immaturity that have poisoned our country for so long. Let us summon a new spirit of responsibility, spirit of service, of patriotism and sacrifice, Let us all resolve to pitch in and work hard and look after, not only ourselves but one another.

    “We are under no illusion that the changes we seek will happen overnight, but we have no doubt that the campaign will help restore our value system and rekindle our nationalistic fervor.

    “I am therefore appealing to all Nigerians to be part of this campaign. Our citizens must realize that the change they want to see begins with them, and that personal and social reforms are not theoretic exercise.

    “If you have not seen the change in you, you cannot see it in others or even the larger society. In other words, before you ask ‘where is the change they promised us’, you must first ask how far have I changed my ways ‘what have I done to be part of the change for the greater good of society’. he stated

    Even though Buhari’s attempt to change the way of lives of Nigerians between 1983 and 1985 through ‘the War Against Indiscipline’ (WAI) campaign was truncated, it is hoped that the new national reorientation campaign will help restore those good core values among Nigerians.

    More so, as it has been stated that the good core values will precede the good things Nigerians are clamoring for.

     

    And Jonathan steals the show

     

    Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday was the centre of attraction at the Council Chamber of the State House.

    Jonathan, who handed over the mantle of leadership to President Muhammadu Buhari, was attending the Council of State meeting for the first time under the Buhari administration.

    Apart from being the first Council of State meeting Jonathan was attending, it was also the first time he was entering the Council Chamber for any function since May 29, 2015.

    Prior to that date, Jonathan as a sitting President always had his arrival announced by one of his aides that shouted ‘Mr. President’, any time he was coming to preside over any meeting in the Council Chamber.

    Following his arrival announcement, Jonathan will then enter the Council chamber with his security aides around him to preside over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting or the Council of State meeting or any other meeting.

    But it was a different ball game for Jonathan last Wednesday, as he didn’t have his arrival announced and didn’t enter the chamber with any security aide guiding him.

    He only entered the Chamber as one of the past Presidents of Nigeria alongside Abdulsalami Abubakar and Ernest Shonekan.

    While leading other past leaders to the Council of State meeting or trying to start any other meeting in the Council Chamber, most photographers and videographers always focused on the presiding President, which this time around is President Buhari. But there was a sharp departure from the normal trend last Wednesday.

    Even without the attributes of a sitting President, Jonathan last Wednesday managed to steal the show at the commencement of the Council of State meeting, which was open to journalists.

    Despite not entering the Chamber for the purpose of presiding over the meeting, the attention of journalists shifted to Jonathan as he made his way with others into the chamber.

    As soon as they spotted him, photographers and videographers scrambled for better spaces as they rushed to take their positions in front of the seats marked for past leaders.

    They went into action and took snapshots as soon as Jonathan, Abdulsalami and Shonekan tried to settle into their seats.

    Jonathan was obviously enjoying the drama as he was smiling and acknowledging greetings from journalists.

    President Buhari remained standing while the drama lasted, only bringing it to an end when he called for the rendition of the National Anthem, then Christian and Muslim prayers.

     

  • Foundation gives free surgery

    Foundation gives free surgery

    Succour has come to no fewer than 357 patients in Niger State, thanks to the Sani Bello Foundation. The organisation, in collaboration with the Graceland Healthcare Development Foundation, provided free surgery for the patients suffering various ailments.

    Beneficiaries of the procedures included patients from such neighboring states as Kebbi, Sokoto, Kwara and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The operation took place at Kontagora General Hospital, Kontagora.

    The patients, which included children, were operated for appendicitis, goitre, fibroids, mumps, hernia and hydrocele, among others.

    Addressing the patients before the surgery, the Director-General of the Sani Bello Foundation Mr. Zakari Ikani said the operation was free because the foundation wanted to ease the pains of the masses.

    He stated that the patients, after screening, would be made to undergo a test to diagnose their illness before proper operation begins explaining that the surgical operations and the tests was being funded by the Chairman of the Foundation, Colonel Sani Bello (rtd) and Graceland Healthcare Development Foundation, “nobody will be made to pay any amount before he or she will be operated upon.”

    The Vice Chairman of the Foundation, Alhaji Usman Sani Bello while addressing the patients hinted that the exercise has no political or religious connotation, stressing that it was purely on humanitarian ground.

    He prayed for a successful surgical operation adding that the foundation intends to extend the free surgical operations to other local government areas in the state and other states across the country.

    The Team Leader of Graceland Foundation Dr. Thot and the Project Coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed assured residents to organise more of such project if given the needed cooperation.

     

  • Flood ravages Jigawa

    Flood sweeps through Jigawa State, leaving no fewer than seven persons dead and over 1000 houses destroyed, AHMED RUFAI reports

    The floodwaters washed out thousands of hectares of farmlands and food items. Over 1,000 houses were destroyed, thousands of families displaced. But by the far the worst effect of the flood was the death of no fewer than seven persons. Jigawa State has been grieving since flood swept through it.

    Some local councils were hit harder than others, our reporter found out. Those in a very bad shape include Jahun, Gwaram, Gumel, Guri, Kazaure, Maigatari and Sule Tankarkar.

    When contacted, the executive secretary of the state’s emergency management agency (SEMA), Alhaji Yusif Sani Babura said about 688 houses were destroyed in Jahun Cikin Gari and Gunka town of Jahun Local Government Area.

    Babura explained that a building collapsed, killing three people in Guri Local Government Area, while seven persons were hospitalised at Tsohon Kafi and Jumawa villages of Kazaure and Sule Tankarkar Local Government Areas.

    Alhaji Sani Babura added, saying, “Also, three people died, one drowning in a well while a building collapsed and killed others at Larabawa, Jikas and Garewa of Gwaram and Maigatari local government areas.”

    There were other disasters. Many public buildings, mostly primary and secondary schools, were also flooded in many parts of the state, including Dutse, the capital city. Those affected facilities have been abandoned.

    Residents of Dutse faced other challenges as a result of the flood. For instance, the drainages and water ways have been blocked, making vehicular and even pedestrian movement difficult. The blocked drains have also slowed the evacuation of the floodwaters.

    This has presented other concerns. If the rains continued, more buildings could give way, some feared.

    The flood wreaked havoc in 27 local government councils of the state, destroying guest houses there. Houses were destroyed in Dutse Old GRA, Yalwawa, Godiya Miyetti, Mopol Base, Sabuwan Takur as well as buildings behind federal university.

    The executive secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency said the state government has sent its staff to take inventory and assess the level of loss and damages so that the government could take appropriate action.

    He called on the government and non-governmental organisations and wealthy individuals to immediately assist people who were affected by the flood.

    The former Speaker of House of Representatives also said that he was not unaware of the fact that boosting the economy must ensure serious infrastructural development of the state that will enhance the Internally Generated Revenue through agriculture, power, education and maintaining standard health care facilities.

    In a recent economic summit held in Katsina, Governor Masari, before President Muhammadu Buhari and his economic team, reiterated that Katsina is endowed in both natural and human resources and he called on the captains of industry and other interested investors not to miss the opportunity to invest in Katsina so as to lay a solid foundation for the growth of the state and have value for their money.

     

  • Low WAEC results: Minister reads riot act

    Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Malam Muhammad Bello has challenged school principals in the FCT to ensure that from next academic session, all secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory attain at least 50 per cent success in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO).

    Bello who gave the challenge during a meeting with school principals in the Territory said that the 30 percent success recorded in 2016 WAEC and NECO in FCT schools is no longer acceptable.

    The minister who was represented at the meeting by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye insisted that students must achieve at least 50 per cent or the principal will be penalised.

    According to a statement issued by the Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Sule, the Minister warned that the FCT Administration will no longer accept excuses of poor infrastructure or inadequate teachers; saying that school principals must do everything to ensure that this situation is changed.

    He said it is unthinkable that the FCT with the largest concentration of the elite, which should be setting the pace for other states, is now turning out a measly 30 percent success in very critical examinations as WAEC and NECO.

    “The mandate I will give you that goes with sanction; for this new session, every principal must be determined that for WAEC and NECO in 2017, any principal that does not achieve 50 percent success should just quietly leave that school because the principal is going to be removed. If you don’t achieve 50 percent success in WAEC and NECO 2017, you are no longer fit to be a principal in FCT and I mean it. That is the minimum that we want for every school and you must work towards it,” he stressed.

    The Minister added, “We want the success rate to change. That is very important. We cannot be gathering students and at the end of their final year, all they will have is three credits. I don’t know whether you are proud as a principal that in your school, the success rate is five percent. I want principals that will be determined to say in my school, things must change.

    Infrastructure or no infrastructure, resources or no resources, I want to put myself as a sacrifice and change things.  That is what I want to do before I leave the service. I want to be known to have done something good for Nigeria.”

    Bello also warned principals to desist from charging illegal fees of any sort when provisions have already been made through the FCT Secondary Education Board to run these schools; emphasizing that principals who persist with this ignoble act would also attract heavy sanctions from the FCT Administration.

    His words: “My mission is not to come and make you sad; but the situation is bad and you know it and we are ready to tackle it. But you must be up and doing too and that is why I said I must call all the principals and talk to you to do the right things. That is what this Administration is about. We are ready to put the right things in place. We are ready to work for Nigeria. But we want people that will join us to do this. That is why when you come to FCT today, it is not business as usual and we want to send that message down to our institutions.”