The Senate, yesterday, passed for Second Reading, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 2022 budget of N607, 952,023,580.

The Senate, however, expressed dismay over the late presentation of the FCT Statutory Appropriation Bill, 2022 for consideration. It warned against future occurrence.

Senate Leader, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, in his lead debate, noted that the 2022 FCT Statutory Appropriation Bill seeks to authorise the issue from the Federal Capital Territory Administration Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Capital Territory Administration Account, of N607, 952,023,580.00 only.

According to him, out of the amount, N76, 569,904,857 has been earmarked for personnel costs, N138, 199,851,110 for overhead costs, while the balance of N393, 182,267,614 is for capital projects “for the service of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja for the financial year commencing from January 1, and ending December 31 2022.”

Senator Gobir added that the fundamental thrust of the FCT 2022 Statutory Appropriation Bill was to ensure “an effective and enduring service-oriented administration for the completion of ongoing projects and the provision of effective services for the residents of the FCT.”

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi (APC-Kogi West), supported the bill and pledged his panel’s readiness to give it accelerated consideration, the fact that it was transmitted too late notwithstanding.

Read Also: Senate considers bill seeking to reduce CBN Gov’s powers

Senator James Manager, (PDP-Delta South), decried a situation where the 2022 statutory appropriation of the FCT was being considered for second reading in October 2022-less than two-and-a-half months to the end of the year.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan described the late presentation of the FCT Appropriation Bill for 2022 as “unacceptable.”

He, however, warned that the presentation of future budget proposals of the FCT should not be delayed.

He urged his colleagues to consider and pass the budget in the interest of the residents of the FCT that the budget is meant to serve.

The Senate Leader noted that Abuja was too far behind in terms of achieving the developmental target envisaged.

He added that in recent years, the FCT Administration had been confronted with enormous infrastructure and socio-economic challenges by virtue of being the country’s capital.

He said the FCT population was growing in leaps and bounds, adding: He lamented that service delivery in the FCT had also been adversely affected.

Senators approved that the bill is read for a second time when the request for its passage was put to a voice vote by the Senate President.

Lawan, thereafter, referred the bill to the Senate Committee on the FCT for further legislative work and to report back to plenary in one week.

The Zamfara State Ministry of Education said yesterday in Gusau that it has reopened 45 out of the 75 schools it closed down because of insecurity.

The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Alhaji Kabiru Attahiru stated this when he received members of the state’s Technical Team on Education in Emergencies (EiE) who visited him yesterday in his office.

In September 2021, because of the abduction of students of Government Day Secondary School, Kaya in Maradun Local Government Area, the state government shut the schools.

“While reopening the schools, we categorised them into three groups – green, yellow and red.

“The green category were schools located in areas without security threats, the yellow group is for schools located in areas with minimal insecurity threat, while the red ones were schools in those areas with high-security risks,” Attahiru said.

Read Also: Insecurity will end in December, Fed Govt reassures Nigerians

He said all the 75 schools fell into the red group at the time of their closure as it was dangerous to allow them to remain open.

“I am happy that we reopened 45 out of the 75 schools, while only 30 of the schools remain shut,” he said.

The permanent secretary commended the EiE team for the visit. He assured them of the ministry’s commitment to continue to partner with all stakeholders to promote the education sector.

The Team Leader, Hajiya Sa’adatu Abdu-Gusau, said the visit was to advocate for the establishment of the Education in Emergencies Working Group (EiEWG).

Abdu-Gusau said the visit was also part of activities to commemorate the International Day of the Girl-child.

The team’s Deputy Leader, Dr Ahmad Hashim said the group was formed by the Development Research and Project Centre (DRPC).

He appealed to the ministry for support to ensure that the objectives of the EiEWG were achieved.

This, he said, could be done by implementing the national policy on safety, security and violence-free schools and safe school activities in Zamfara State.

The International Society for Media in Public Health (ISMPH) has called for a concerted effort to end Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) across the country. It noted that with the right nutritional knowledge, mothers can feed their children with the right food combination.

It further stressed that poverty, being a major factor fueling malnutrition, can be tackled by empowering women, especially in rural areas, to be able to earn money, which will in turn afford them the ability to purchase healthy meals for their children.

Read Also: Kemi Jeje: Every chronic illness is borne out of malnutrition

The Executive Director of the ISMPH, Mrs Moji Makanjuola, made this known in Abuja, during the dissemination of the European Union Agents for Citizen-driven Transformation (EU-ACT)-sponsored empowerment programme for mothers of severely acutely malnourished children, especially in the Kwali and Bwari Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

She said: “Nigeria has very highly serious malnutrition issues – underfeeding, overfeeding and wrong feeding—they all have health issues. Of these, underfeeding is our focus in terms of quality and quantity. This is shown because we have well over two million children not just malnourished but also Severely Acutely malnourished.”

A Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Health, Dr Ejike Orji decried the increasing rate of the country’s population. Many Nigerians give birth to children they cannot cater for; adding that the country is fast entering a demographic crisis.

The Jigawa State Hisbah, a local vigilance group said it arrested 31 people, including 25 women, in Kazaure Local Government Area yesterday over alleged “immoral acts.”

The Hisbah commander in the state, Malam Ibrahim Dahiru said the suspects were arrested at about 6:00 a.m. for allegedly engaging in prostitution and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

He told reporters in Dutse yesterday that the suspects were arrested during a raid by Hisbah tagged “Reap what you sow.”

Read Also; Hisbah evacuates 931 street beggars in Kano

The commander said 55 bottles of assorted alcoholic beverages and 50 litres of locally-brewed alcohol, burukutu, were seized during the raid.

He assured that Hisbah would continue to fight immoral acts in all parts of the state.

As part of efforts to address various instances of conflicting roles in land administration, the Federal Government has initiated a high-level forum to provide clear interpretation of the Land Use Act.

The government noted that the forum, which had in attendance representatives of all State Governments, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), will not only provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to come up with modalities for efficient and effective land administration and management but will largely provide interpretation to the misconstrued Land Use Act.

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Bashir Alkali, made this known during the 27th Conference of Directors of Lands in Federal and State Ministries, Departments and Agencies, organised by the ministry in Abuja, with the theme “The Land Use Act and Land Management Responsibilities of the Federating Units.”

Read Also: Farmers’-herders’ conflict: Fed Govt, Yobe build livestock centres

Represented by a Director at the ministry, Chukwuwike Uzo, he said: “We must put the interests and needs of millions of Nigerians in focus and the government in particular on whose behalf you perform your professional duties, knowing that land is central to the overall existence of our country.”

Urging the participants to examine the land administration/management issues under the Land Use Act, he said: “We must come up with solutions aimed at eliminating areas of conflict among the operators in the three-tier federation.”

The Director of Lands and Housing Development Department of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Godwin Ityoachimin said: “It has been extremely challenging relating with the sub-national levels of government on issues of Land Administration, Acquisition and Compensation, and most recently resumption of Federal Government Lands by States and Local Governments, Some States and Local Governments have taken-over Federal Government Lands without due process and near total disregard to the rights of the Federal Government on such lands.

“The combined effect of these actions is a plethora of conflicts, leading to friction in the administration of such lands with the state governments and Local Governments. This also leads to total frustration of federal government projects in the states and local governments.”

PLAN International, a humanitarian group, has called for the participation of more girls and women in the decision-making process of their country.

The Board Chairman of PLAN International, Mrs Gunvor Kronman, said this during the launch of the State of World Girls Report in Abuja yesterday.

Kronman said girls have the task of connecting and supporting themselves in their various fields to join the train in making decisions that would yield to their benefit.

She said the world needed more female political leaders to make decisions that would translate to the education, health and general progress of the girl-child.

He said: “The report is about women’s and girls’ participation in political decision-making. We need more female decision-makers at all levels.

Read Also: NGO targets 15m girls for empowerment

The Country Director of PLAN International, Nigeria, Charles Usie, said the report had been able to identify critical elements of a girl’s life and also checked the issues affecting the girl-child.

Usie said the report, which the organisation embarked on in the past 10 years, was able to look at girls’ access to politics, health care, education, water and sanitation and reproductive health rights and ways to improve in those areas.

He said the report showed that one in 10 girls think that females are not qualified to be political leaders and one in five has personally been discouraged from engaging with or participating in politics.

Usie called for reform to change the statistics to improve the living conditions of girls in Nigeria.

Some of the girls’ champions who spoke on the sideline of the launch called for equal participation of females to project their demands on a larger scale.

Angela Omale, from the Girls Get Equal, Abuja, said many girls in the country faced several challenges which hindered them from getting the right opportunity to thrive.

Omale said her group was however working to mobilise girls and young women to ensure they are equipped to play their part in contributing to the progress of the country.

‘Vote right to keep what’s left’ is a political slogan adopted by British longest serving Prime Minister of 20th century Margaret Thatcher in her first attempt at parliamentary representation in 1950. It was a sound bite that captured her imagination of the 1950s British society and her belief that the country would be better served with the Conservatives.

I found the Thatcher lines very instructive as Kwarans go to poll next year. Having been privy to the report of the forensic audit that detailed how the Kwara treasury was mindlessly pilfered through what was like a large web of official conspiracies as well as irrefutable evidences of outrageous rationing out of public properties, it is only reasonable for the voters to disallow the second coming of persons who perpetrated the crimes ostensibly through their cronies. If these crimes weren’t known to the voters, they sure can tell how everything collapsed: basic education, healthcare, workers’ welfare. They knew how the state became a colony where opportunities were meant only for members of the reigning political establishment.

It is an irony therefore to hear persons implicated in the mess talking of Irapada Kwara. What could have prompted anyone from within the ousted dynasty to talk of Irapada? If Irapada means a positive turnaround of a bad situation, how do persons under whose watch the state ticked all the wrong boxes qualify for a baton to redeem it or drive it to the next level? Like their leaders who continue to say that they were victims of propaganda in 2019, it is now clear that the camp has promoted truthiness to an official campaign policy. I had predicted such behaviour in our riposte to an interview their patron had granted in October 2021. What I never expected was anyone from their camp using Irapada as a rallying cry!

Irapada from what to what? Since facts are sacred and verifiable through history, witnesses to history, and data, let us attempt a comparison of the past and the present — and leave readers to judge whether the state is on a better footing today or not. As far as Kwara is concerned, it is a case of the fowl lacking the bonafide to tell if the wolf is feeling unconsciousness — bi oju akata balewo, enu adiye ko lo ye ka ti gbo. Whether tangible or intangible, the present is a lot better than the past. It can only get better when the present is allowed to build on its own successes and make adjustments where appropriate.

In terms of workers’ welfare which in turn lubricates the local economy, facts of history place this administration above its predecessors. Not only are workers paid as and when due, the minimum wage law was implemented in a way that fair-minded workers say was unprecedented in the quantum of pay rise. Backlogs of promotions were paid, while great efforts are at play to pay pension and offset arrears of gratuities. This has more to do with the Governor’s commitment to the well-being of the people than the size of the allocation. When revenue dropped to an all-time low in early 2021 and again in parts of 2022, the state government prioritised salary payment. Throughout covid lockdowns when many states cut salaries to workers, Kwara proved different. It paid workers 100 percent throughout the period. History: In 2016 when Nigeria slid into a recession and things got so bad for the people, especially in Kwara where workers were not paid despite bailouts, the de facto leader of the state was hell-bent on purchasing luxury cars for himself and his colleagues. It is a matter of priority.

Read Also: SWAGA eyes 15 million votes for Tinubu

Every civilisation is built on solid education. In 2019, this state had lost its bearing in (public) education at all levels. The indices: basic education had collapsed with school infrastructure completely down, teachers totally demotivated as a result of non-payment of salary, and Kwara serving varying degrees of sanctions. Public schools had become the last option.

The last three years have seen positive rebounds in education. Kwara has risen to national prominence — up from official blacklist and bottom ranking in basic education in 2019. School infrastructures still need further upgrade but the widespread orgy of dilapidated structures crying for help has largely disappeared. Quality of teaching has improved while absenteeism is being tackled through technology and improved oversight, thanks to the administration’s KwaraLearn initiative. For the first time, the new administration has introduced a teachers’ recruitment process that prioritises competence and right qualifications over political loyalty or affiliations of any kind.

Consequence: in what many say clearly underlines rising confidence in government’s efforts, enrolment in public schools has risen under this administration, as against a considerable dip in private schools’ enrolment in the past few years. For example, recent public primary schools new intakes were as follows: 220,632 (2018/2019); 230,211 (2019/2020); 230,847 (2020/2021). Junior public schools’ new intakes were as follows: 109,129 (2018/2019); 108,789 (2019/2020); 112,172 (2020/2021). For senior secondary schools (public), the data are as follows: 84,623 (2018/2019); 84,986 (2019/2020); 87,342 (2020/2021).

The tally went down for the private schools in the same years as follows in primary schools schools: 86,725 (2018/2019); 79,700 (2019/2020); 75,530 (2020/2021). In junior secondary schools, it went this way: 23,205 (2018/2019); 21,233 (2019/2020); 19,451 (2020/2021). For senior secondary schools, they stood this way: 18,694 (2018/2019); 15,509 (2019/2020); 13,784 (2020/2021). This data is as kept by the ministry of education. Could there be any other variables responsible for this tilt? The government is probing that.

The economy has grown bigger, and the business climate is far more liberal and competitive today than it ever was in the past. From one constant daily flight to Ilorin in 2019, there are at least three daily flights to Ilorin now. From 21.1% unemployment rate in 2019, Kwara now has 16.5%, according to the most recent data from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics. Similarly, the Kwara Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KWACCIMA) puts the number of active manufacturing companies in the state at 77 today, up from 41 in 2019.

The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Job Creation Bar. Aliyu AlHassan says the administration has created at least 79,437 direct and indirect jobs over the last three years. Of these, 4,998 were in the public sector, while 8,106 are entrepreneurial jobs. Additional 1,667 cooks were employed under the joint home grown school feeding programme, while some 64,666 workers have been engaged to execute 1,637 projects worth over 97 billion naira.

As of August 2022, the administration has supported 61,998 enterprises (mostly small and medium scale businesses) through various non-interest loans or grants, including during the EndSARS crisis of 2020. Today, no less than 48,000 vulnerable persons are either benefiting from free health insurance or the Owo Arugbo scheme. The latter is a structured, lawful and dignifying safety net that replaces the dehumanising practice of the past in which hundreds of vulnerable people were killed year-in-year-out in avoidable stampedes.

The administration has not introduced new taxes in the state since 2019. Instead, it has brought improved technology, more efficiency and transparency to taxation, including widening the tax net. From one (Quickteller) payment platform in 2019, the tax agency now deploys three: Quickteller, Remita, and PayArena. From a little above 200 tax payer certified identities in 2019, the agency now has over 140,000 of it. The state now has 2,403 taxable firms, up from 1,728 in 2019.

In health and water sectors, both eras are light years apart. A run-through of the indices attests to this, as I had written in January this year. A positive update is that the state now has below-national-average malaria prevalence of 20%, down from 27 in 2019. It has recently dropped the unenviable trophy as Nigeria’s headquarters of open defecation. This is thanks to the appreciable investments in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). From zero intensive care unit in 2019, Kwara now has two well-equipped ICU facilities, one of which is touted as the largest in central Nigeria. For the first time in history, Kwara is now accredited to train specialist doctors. And there are a lot more of other enviable firsts under this administration.

By the time Kwarans go to vote next year, politicians on all sides will not need to go to radio stations in Benin Republic to run jingles for inhabitants of Baruten and Kaiama. This is thanks to the new administration building the first radio station, Notia FM, in the entire Kwara North since 1967. Today, many people no longer go to Benin Republic to go get water or access healthcare. For the first time in decades, Kwara TV can now be seen and heard clearly. And Radio Kwara is stronger than ever today. These are huge gains of the Otoge revolution.

The administration inherited an unplanned state, with its capital city and other major towns condemned to arbitrary growths. The result was catastrophic: yearly flooding around Asa River and its tributaries, loss of lives and properties. Today, the Asa River has been dredged and the agony of the flooding around it is gone — safe for flash floods, rising water levels, and other vagaries of climate change that are not limited to any part of the world.

The Otoge administration has not only evolved a 10-year sustainable development plan; it has gone ahead to design a 20-year master plan for the capital city — the second since the first was designed in the 1970s —, while plans are afoot to do same for the Offa-Oyun, Ekiti, Igbomina, Nupe, and Baruba axes of the state. This will guide future growths in the state.

The 2023 ballot, therefore, offers Kwarans a good opportunity to consolidate on the gains of 2019. It is a time to vote right to keep AbdulRazaq in power for another four years, so he can steadily accelerate the pace of socioeconomic development anchored on the dignity of the human person, respect for individual rights and opportunities for all.

A relapse to the pre-2019 hegemonic politics is not an option. Neither are those whose only claim to power flows from envy and what you may call a manifestation of god complex. That is Kwara’s version of ‘we are more rightful to the throne than he is’. Our God, the owner of eternal throne, is there to repeat to them what he did to those who felt they were more entitled to the crown than Talut.

• Rafiu Ajakaye is Chief Press Secretary to Governor of Kwara State

PLAN International Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has said it plans to reach 15 million girls in Nigeria through empowerment.

The Country Director of the NGO in Nigeria, Charles Usie, said this during the Global Strategy Launch 2022-2027 with the theme “Girls Standing Strong to Make Global Change” on Monday in Abuja.

He said the 15 million will be part of the global target of 200 million that the organisation hopes to reach in the next five years.

Read Also: Nigeria’s girls deserve better future, says NGO

Usie said the new strategy would bring a new focus to girls and young people in meaningful ways in building strength to tackle the issues that young people face, particularly young girls.

He said the strategy would help to articulate what would be done for young girls in the area of education, health care, livelihoods, protection, and water sanitation, among others.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PLAN International, Stephen Omollo, said the organisation has voted $1 billion on the global strategy targeted at 200 million girls to solve problems affecting children’s rights.

Omollo said societies thrive when girls learn, noting that a tremendous impact would be seen if attention was given to the girl-child rights in the area of education and health.

He said the essence of the programme was to ensure that girls have access to quality education, sexual reproductive health and rights.