Category: Northern Reports

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello has said that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) would soon get a new orientation camp in the FCT.

The minister announced that his administration has approved the construction of a new permanent orientation camp in the Kwali Area Council of the city.

Bello said this yesterday during a meeting of the NYSC National Governing Board and Chairmen of State NYSC Governing Boards in Abuja.

The minister, who was represented by the FCT NYSC Governing Board Chairman, Hadiza Kabir, also issued a directive against the rejection of corps members within the FCT in a move to reduce the prevalent challenge of corps rejection.

Lamenting the declining support of some stakeholders for the effective performance of the scheme, the minister stated that the scheme remained the responsibility of governments at all levels and must not be left in the care of anyone.

“My administration has approved the construction of a new permanent orientation camp in Kwali, while a new secretariat complex is also underway in pursuance of this administration’s determination to ease the operations of the scheme in the FCT,” he said.

Chairman of the NYSC Governing Board, Ambassador Fatima Abubakar said the NYSC has witnessed negligence and lack of commitment by some stakeholders in the provision of permanent orientation camps, upgrade of facilities in the camps, the establishment of NYSC state governing boards and local government committees, payment of state allowances to corps members among others.

She added that the meeting was organised to stimulate greater synergy among the national governing board of the NYSC and the state counterparts for the advancement of the scheme’s operations and to clarify the statutory roles of every segment as specified in the NYSC Act.

The NYSC Director-General, Brig. Gen. Muhammad Fadah urged the chairmen of governing board to liaise with their governors to ensure that they play their roles in the advancement of the scheme across the states.

The Federal Government has commenced the distribution of N20, 000 cash grants to 9,925 vulnerable people in Kano State under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq said this at the launch of the programme yesterday in Kano.

The minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Nasiru Sani-Gwarzo.

“Today, we are here to kick-start the Grant for Vulnerable Groups programme (GVG) in Kano State.

“It is consistent with his deliberate national agenda of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

“The GVG was designed to provide a one-off grant, a cash grant of N20, 000 to some of the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians in rural and semi-urban areas across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory,” she said.

The minister also said the President has directed that, at least 15 per cent of the total number of beneficiaries must specifically be allocated to citizens with special needs.

They include Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and Senior Citizens in the state.

“It is expected that the beneficiaries will use the grants to improve their productivity, create wealth, generate employment and improve their living standard,” she said.

The minister also launched digitised payment of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and Sensitisation of Community Stakeholders of the National Home-grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in the state.

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, commended the Federal Government for the programme.

He said it would be recorded by history that the administration of Buhari did well in improving the living condition of the vulnerable groups.

Ganduje urged the Federal Government to give special consideration to the state for its high population.

Miss Tindim Kwaghgba, 10, was born in November 2012, to the family of Mr and Mrs Dennis Kwaghgba, a native of Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State.

She was a bundle of joy to the family at birth. However, their joy was short-lived when one of the nurses in the hospital where she was given birth broke the news that the newborn was deformed from birth.

The father said: “While I was rejoicing over the birth, a nurse drew my attention to the deformity and I ran cold. In 2013, I took her to NKST Rehabilitation Hospital Mkar in Gboko Local Government Area, where she was treated, but help did not come four years after.”

When our correspondent visited the home of Miss Tindim at No. 9, Regina Agbese Street, High Level, Makurdi, she said she was sent out of school from Saint Michael Archangel Academy Aliade in Gwer East.

“I was pursued from school because I didn’t have a ‘gate pass’ over non-payment of tuition.

“First, I want to stand up and walk like other humans; study to become a medical doctor. Only Governor Samuel Ortom can make it possible because my father is a retiree,” she said.

Her father, Mr Kwaghgba said he retired from the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi a couple of years ago.

He said one Samuel Adzege and his friends offered to assist and took her to an orthopaedic hospital in Gboko, where she was operated upon, but it looked like a worse case, after the treatment.

Mr Kwaghgba said that since 2021 he retired, his condition became critical such that he could not live up to family obligations, including feeding.

According to him, the family has not received assistance from the government or private organisations; pointing out that one time, the NKST Church High-level women group came and assessed her condition for possible assistance, but later said, such is not the condition they could intervene and left.

“I’m, therefore, appealing to Governor Samuel Ortom to come to the aid of this child by offering medical assistance,” he said

Members of the Borno State branch of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) began a three-day warning strike yesterday. The warning strike was to protest the non-payment of members’ outstanding haulage claims.

IPMAN’s spokesman in the state, Alhaji Abdulkadir Musa said the warning strike complied with a resolution reached by IPMAN branches in nine states in the North.

Members in the affected states were being owed more than N70 billion since 2019, he said.

He added that members would meet tomorrow at the expiration of the warning strike to decide on the next line of action.

“We members of IPMAN have decided to embark on a three-day withdrawal of services at depots as warning action.

“For years, we have been following and lobbying the management of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) regarding our unsettled haulage claims to no avail.

“Note that since our agitation began, only less than five per cent of our claims have been settled. No payment has been made about claims submitted between 2019 and 2021,” Musa said.

He added that payment for haulage of petroleum products must, henceforth, be made within one month.

“Failure to do so will lead to indefinite suspension of our services in all depots and filling stations across the Northern parts of the country,” Musa stated.

Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Bagudu has affirmed his commitment to the actualisation of the policy thrust of his administration which is rural transformation with an emphasis on the construction of access roads.

Bagudu stated this at the Palace of the Emir of Zuru, Retired Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Sani Sami on Saturday during his courtesy call on the monarch in the company of the Federal Commissioner National Commission for Refugees, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim in the course of their working visit to the emirate.

The governor, however, expressed concern over the attitude of the contractors who abandoned the Koko-Dabai-Zuru Road, Birnin Yauri–Zuru Road and the Zuru Gadar Zainma Road projects awarded by the Federal Government. He assured the Emir that the state government would take up the matter to ensure that the contractors return to the site.

He told the Emir that Gwazawa Cassava Production in pursuance of the MoU signed with the NNPC would be sustained while soya-beans production would receive priority.

The Federal Commissioner informed the Emir that she was at his palace to pay homage in the course of her visit to Ribah IDPs camp for the provision of support that include food and non-food items as well as free medical outreach to the IDPs.

She said about 500 people would benefit from the outreach, including people with eye defects while educational facilities, economic and agricultural support would be provided.

Hajiya Imaan commended traditional rulers, states and local government officials, elders and security agencies for providing support for IDPs in the area.

The Emir of Zuru retired Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Sani Sami Sami Gomo II welcomed her to his domain and expressed his appreciation to the Federal Commissioner for visiting the affected people in the emirate as well as providing support to cater for their welfare.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Bagudu for providing additional security personnel to the area which helped the IDPs to continue with agricultural production.

The Emir thanked the governor for approving the construction of the Maga-Riba Road to enhance the free movement of people and goods.

The Gombe State University (GSU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday rejected a directive by the University Governing Council asking them to resume academic activities latest by September 9.

Addressing reporters after its congress held yesterday on the campus of the university, GSU ASUU Chairman, Dr Suleiman Salihu Jauro said the congress “resolved to reject the call by the university administration for members of staff to return to work as the indefinite strike action called by the National Executive Council is yet to be vacated.”

He said although the union regretted that the industrial action has lingered for too long due to a lack of seriousness on the part of the Federal Government to honestly engage the national leadership of the union, he pleaded with members of the public to show understanding and maximum cooperation towards prosecuting the strike to its logical conclusion.

“We sympathise with the students and other stakeholders whose activities have been negatively affected by the protracted industrial action,” said Jauro.

According to him, the GSU ASUU wished to correct the notion that state universities have no business participating in the ASUU strike, stressing that ASUU embarked on the strike as the option of last resort for the betterment of public universities.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Gombe State University remains a major beneficiary of several proceeds of ASUU strike in terms of infrastructures and members’ of staff training development.

“By our statistics, out of the existing 77 physical structures in the university, 57 were built by proceeds of ASUU strikes; with only 14 structures constructed by Gombe State Government,” said Jauro.

He said the figure showed that 74 per cent of physical structures such as lecture halls/theatres, office accommodations, laboratories; hostels and others are results of the ASUU strike.

He added that no fewer than 150 members of the academic staff in GSU have been trained for master’s and doctorate degrees through Tertiary Education Fund, TERTFUND and Needs Assessment Fund.

Jauro said the union is not intimidated by the threat of the university management to invoke the no-work-no-pay-doctrine, even as he encouraged the varsity management to focus its attention on how to address outstanding local issues in the university.

The Federal Government yesterday assured Nigerians and all stakeholders in the health sector that the national target to eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) by the year 2030 is still possible.

Eight years before the target date, the government noted that while significant progress has been made over the years, especially since the first Masterplan for NTDs was launched in 2012, more collaborative efforts from well-meaning Nigerians, philanthropists, private sector, development partners, and others, are needed to achieve the target.

The Director of Public Health at the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Morenike Alex-Okoh, who made this known in Abuja during a five-day workshop for the development of the NTDs Masterplan for 2022 to 2026, stated that over 120 million Nigerians are at risk of NTDs.

Represented by the National Coordinator of the NTDs programme of the ministry, Dr Nseobong Akpan, she said: “NTDs are non-communicable diseases largely associated with poverty, and most prevalent in areas that have poor sanitation, unsafe water supply, and sub-standard household conditions. The absence of these basic amenities does hurt the health and socio-economic development of the country.

“To tackle the menace of these NTDs, the review and implementation were extended in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NTD roadmap for 2021 to 2030 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which proposed an ambitious target and innovative approaches toward tackling NTDs, provides a clear blueprint and direction toward eliminating NTDs globally. There is nothing impossible if we put our hands together.

“We need local resources mobilisation from philanthropists, and financial institutions to support NTDs because donor support is going down. We should work more on advocacy and social mobilisation, and use innovative terminologies and practices to improve on elimination and interventions.”

On behalf of the Country Representative of the WHO, Dr Walter Mulombo, the NTD Focal Person, Dr Sulaiman Aliyu, said: “The NTDs masterplan has been in the process for a very long time. The target we set should be objectively verifiable and monitored. It would be fine if the states were the ones to bring up their state-level master plan. But, we understand the cost. However, we should try to include some of the states.”