The Director-General of the Kano State Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, Yahaya GarinAli has said the Kano State Government, in collaboration with the World Bank and French Development Agency, will construct 6,300kms of rural roads across the state.

Yahaya GarinAli stated this during a five-day training for 152 enumerators in Data Collection, Strategies and Recording of RAAMP road features in the state.

He urged the participants to consider the assignment as their contribution to the development of the state.

“This requires dedication and commitment to commensurate with the efforts of the state government on improving the lives of the citizens,” he said.

The State Project Coordinator, Sunusi Suleiman said the training was in fulfilment of one of the requirements by the World Bank to operationalise the use of Nigeria Rural Transport Infrastructure Management System software designed to help in monitoring the progress of work during construction.

The Teenage Network, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has called for strategic involvement of men to end gender-based violence.

The organisation noted that harmful socio-cultural norms and practices are one of the factors reinforcing violence against women and girls.

The Executive Director of Teenage Network, Olanike Timipa-Uge, stated this at the unveiling of the male peer education resource toolkit in Abuja.

According to her, the male peer education resource toolkit was developed as a guide for every male champion who desired to eliminate violence against women and girls within their homes and communities.

She said: “We are already making significant progress in working with men through this resource toolkit.

“We have had a community man share with his peers how truly he found out that his children resent him whenever he hits his .”And telling them violence really doesn’t mean we are commanding respect, indeed men can be loved and highly respected without being violent.

“Another participant, after attending the session on chores distribution within the home, gave feedback on how participating in house chores has helped increase his family income because the wife was more productive at work.”

The National Senior Citizen Centre (NSCC) has appealed to state governments to evolve state policy on the elderly.

The centre’s Director-General, Dr Emem Omokaro made the plea during a visit to the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Sama’ila Muhammadu-Mera in his palace in Argungu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

NSCC is a statutory agency established by the National Senior Citizens Act of the National Assembly to cater for the needs of the ageing and old people in Nigeria. The Act was signed into law recently by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The visit was part of familiarisation tours to traditional institutions to acquaint them with the activities of the centre and seek their support, cooperation and blessings.

The D-G appealed to the Emir to use his royal position to influence the Kebbi State Government to domesticate the National Senior Citizens Centre Act through the State Assembly.

“We hope that the emirate under your leadership will help us influence the government to domesticate the National Senior Citizens Centre Act, by giving it to the State Assembly. I am sure they will be able to bring in the entire cultural context to make it Kebbi State-owned and also evolve a state policy on ageing,” she said.

She observed that the sustainability of the programme depended on policy, plan and strategy as well as the political will to properly integrate the older people into the scheme.

Omokaro said they came to the palace to seek royal blessings and convey good news, “that for the first time in the history of Nigeria, we have a caring President,  Muhammadu Buhari, who signed National Senior Citizens Act into law and established the National Senior Citizens Centre.

“NSCC is a focal agency for ageing and issues of older people. There is also the National Policy on Ageing, which was approved by the National Executive Council. So, for the first time in this country, we have a policy framework, a legal framework and a focal agency to take care of the challenges of older people.

The National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) has impacted 500, 000 direct and indirect beneficiaries in Taraba State.

Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku stated this yesterday in Jalingo, the state capital, during the flag-off of digitised payment for conditional cash transfer, flag-off of payment of a one-off grant to selected Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and distribution of starter packs to N-Skills beneficiaries.

Represented by Secretary to the State Government Anthony Jellason, Ishaku also said the four components of NSIP have been fully implemented in Taraba State and have impacted positively on the lives of the people.

“More than 30,000 youths have been engaged in the N-Power scheme in Taraba State (Batch A, B, C and C2) and are in the process of deployment to various places of their primary assignment.

“More than 35,000 farmers, artisans and market women/traders have benefitted from the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP/BOI) loan in Taraba State since 2016,” Ishaku said.

Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has distributed 42 utility vehicles to security agencies, traditional rulers, ministries, departments and agencies in the state to facilitate their activities.

The recent donation by the governor brought the total number of operational vehicles distributed to security agencies and traditional rulers to 129.

While distributing the 42 vehicles to the beneficiaries yesterday at the Government House, the governor said the donation of the vehicles was aimed at assisting the security agencies in flushing out criminal elements in the state.

He noted that the idea was to enable the security agencies in the state to carry out their routine operations.

Sule said: “Recently, the state was informed about a possible attack by some criminal elements. But the government acted on the information and shut down public schools across the state as part of plans to curtail the possible attack on public schools.

Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya yesterday said despite the paucity of funds, his administration will continue to accord priority attention to issues affecting the education sector at all levels. The governor stated this when he visited the College of Education and Legal Studies, Nafada to assess the level of infrastructural challenges confronting the institution.

While inspecting the female hostel which has been under construction since 2018, Yahaya assured the people that his administration will soon award a contract for the completion of the project, pending the construction of a permanent site for the school.

“The facility inspection visit we embarked upon will help us to be able to assess what is on the ground and the rot in our schools with a view to taking measures against compromising standards while developing a permanent site,” he said.

Sule noted that he is  disposed to having the college relocated from its current site to a more suitable one.

He said his administration will identify suitable land for use as the permanent site for the college.

Yahaya encouraged the management of the institution not to relent in its determination to make the school a centre of academic excellence and a springboard of professionalism.

He praised the management of the college for their steadfastness toward the change of the school’s nomenclature and approvals by the National Commission for the Colleges of Education (NCCE) as well as the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund).

The Commissioner for Higher Education, Mr Meshack Audu Lauco had expressed confidence that the visit by Governor Yahaya will herald the much-needed infrastructural development in the institution.

An author, Uduak-Abasi Akpabio has called for the inclusion of peace education and conflict management in Nigeria’s school curriculum.

On the need to inculcate conflict resolution skills in pupils/students as well as other young Nigerians, Akpabio said the teaching of peace initiatives in school remains a potent force to address the problem of insecurity and other crises in the country.

She spoke in Abuja at a launch and public presentation of her three books.

The books are Everyone Should Know Peace and Conflict, Every Child Should Know Peace and Conflict; and Building Capacity for Peace, all aimed at ensuring harmonious co-existence in the country.

The books were unveiled by the representative of Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Chioma Tamuno who is the Country Representative of the Non-Aligned Movement Organisation.

Akpabio said: “I realised that it is important in the context of Nigeria to address conflicts. It is important to build capacity among children, among youths, among citizens for peaceful engagement and to be able to address conflict in a way that facilitates peaceful co-existence…

“Conflict management and building capacity for peace in the area of serious conflict is very necessary, if not, in the next 20 years we will still be in the same scenario.”

While saying the new books would go a long way in boosting peace education in the formal and informal settings, Akpabio urged Nigerians to play an active role in ensuring harmonious co-existence in society.

“This book stresses that peace is not just a euphoric state. We all have a responsibility in our little spaces to take action. I hope this book will provide the resource and the tool we need for the children, the youth and the everyday man to address conflicts.

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“Peace education is very important; it should be included in the school curriculum. The children’s book has an illustration and it is good to have in the school curriculum-primary and secondary school and even the university,” Akpabio said.

Soyinka called on Nigerians to encourage any efforts aimed at ensuring peaceful co-existence and stability in the country.

He, therefore, commended Akpabio for her resolute interest in enthroning peace in the country through her work, centred on peace and conflict management in Nigeria.

Soyinka described the books as a welcome development and urged Nigerians to encourage any effort that would usher in peace in the country.

“These are dire times for the nation, and every right-minded citizen is surely preoccupied with possible solutions for an unprecedented level and multiplicity of zones of conflict.

“We should welcome all efforts to set down reflections on what is no less than a crisis of humanity. Attention to the place of children in conflict resolution is especially encouraging – “Catch them young” is a sound principle of nation-building.

“This contribution by Ms Uduak-Abasi Akpabio speaks to our collective responsibility for guiding the minds of the future,” Soyinka said.

The Chairman of the event, Ambassador Chijioke Wigwe expressed delight that the books would help in preventing violent crises and sow the seed of peace among the young ones.

“There is no better time to reflect on the subject of peace and conflict resolution than now when every part of West Africa and our dear country Nigeria is inflicted with the twin scourge of conflict and insecurity.

“Frantic efforts by governments and regional and international organisations to settle conflicts and plant peace in the world have failed largely because of a narrow definition of the terms peace and conflict and the goal of peacemaking.

“All too often focus is on the peripheral aspects of conflict thus when these are mitigated, conflict persists. Every conflict has a life and character of its own and it is the responsibility of those tasked with finding a solution to go beyond the surface in order to identify the root causes of such conflict.

“Success in this regard requires training which must begin early in the life of a child. That is why the author has taken the trouble to write this book in language and format that is most appropriate to the different age groups,” he said.