As part of its efforts to create employment opportunities for youths in the Northeast, the Northeast Development Commission (NEDC) has commenced one-week training for 30 artisans.

The trainees are drawn from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe states.

They were trained in the fabrication of efficient stoves and briquette production from agricultural and domestic waste in line with the climate change and climatic conditions of the environment.

The training, in collaboration with a team of consultants-African Xpediant Global Vision Limited and Clean-Climate Limited, was held in Bauchi, the state capital yesterday.

According to the Head, Environment and Natural Resources of the NEDC, Adamu M. Lawan, since there are no more white-collar jobs available anymore in the country, the commission is thinking outside the box on what it can do to reduce the high rate of employment among the youth.

“This training is a waste-to-wealth programme. We are trying to teach them how to fabricate energy-efficient stoves which are environmentally friendly and are accepted the world over said:

“Most of the stoves we are using emit carbon monoxide which is dangerous to health. This kind of stove has been tested; the briquettes they are going to use will be sourced from solid and agricultural wastes. So, they are going to be treated to become the charcoal that will be used. This is environmentally friendly. That is why I said it is not going to be negatively impacted on the environment.”

Former Nasarawa State Governor and member representing Nasarawa South Senatorial District, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura has distributed 3,000 bags of fertiliser to farmers in the Southern Senatorial zone.

Yesterday in Lafia at his constituency office, Senator Al-Makura said each of the councils would get 600 bags, in addition to 150 cartons of herbicide and pesticides to assist the farmers.

He said: “Each council would get 30 cartons of herbicide and pesticides, a truckload of fertiliser and other inputs and it would be transported to the headquarters of councils for onward distribution to the beneficiaries.”

He added that the gesture was to complement the efforts of the Federal and Nasarawa State governments to diversify the economy.

The former governor promised to touch the lives of the people of the zone positively.

Inaugurating the distribution of the farm inputs, the State’s Deputy Governor Dr Emmanuel Akabe expressed his gratitude to the Senator for complementing the efforts of the government.

He called on other representatives and public-spirited individuals to support the developmental efforts for the overall progress of the state and the country.

He appealed to the beneficiaries not to sell the items but to utilise them on their farms to better their conditions.

The Spotlight for Transparency and Accountability (STA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), yesterday launched a massive campaign against renal failure in Yobe State.

The campaign tagged ActOnKidneyNowRescueGashua, will use a multi-dimensional approach to engage the government at all levels and the people to act fast against the escalation of the problem in the state, particularly in Gashua.

Addressing reporters in Damaturu, the Executive Director of the Organisation Mauzu Alhaji Modu said the rate of kidney failure in Gashua has become a health emergency due to the frightening position it has assumed.

On the prevalence of the disease in the areas, Mauzu said: “The prevalence of kidney failure in Gashua is not a new story; it has been in the media for over a decade. Considering the magnitude of the disease, it is an emergency situation that requires quick and drastic measures from the government at levels.

“This emergency has further become frightening and alarming with the recent reports that about 120 to 150 people die in Gashu’a annually of chronic kidney disease and about 20 to 30 people are diagnosed with kidney disease every month and sometimes it could reach up to 50 people depending on the number of people that go to the hospital in a given month. Looking at these numbers, we understand that it has become endemic and alarming.

“In January 2019, about 85 per cent of the patients with cases of kidney disease at the Yobe State Teaching Hospital Damaturu were from Gashu’a and again 80 per cent of patients in the Federal Medical Centre Nguru were also from Gashu’a.”

He added that the group will monitor and report all the interventions that have already been carried out in respect of the kidney problem in the area, including the “N3.51billion for the water projects of Federal Ministry of Water Resources and N850 million budgeted for the kidney centre by the Yobe State Government at the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital.”

He called on the state and the Federal Governments to focus more on prevention of the disease than it cure.

The Federal Government, under the auspices of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has launched a two-day economic empowerment training programme for older people in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq represented by the Director of Humanitarian Affairs, Alhaji Grema Ali said Benue State has been chosen as one of the states in the Northcentral geopolitical zone to host the programme.

The minister listed the objectives of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Buhari-led administration through the ministry to include mainstreaming older people into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), impacting necessary skills to older people to enable them to be self-reliant among others.

The minister called on state governments, development partners; non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the private sector to support older people as active agents of societal development. She also urged the participants to take the training seriously, even as she announced a take-off grant of N20, 000 after the training.

Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has advised commercial institutions to show more commitment to the fight against insecurity as part of their contributions to a safe and secure society.

The governor made this call while receiving the Committee of Bankers in Kogi State at the Government House in Lokoja.

The governor said that with the situation of rising insecurity in the country, there was a need for collaboration and synergy to fight the menace, adding that although Kogi State has experienced peace, his administration would remain vigilant.

He said that insecurity had, in recent times, taken a new dimension in the country; hence they must take a step ahead of the criminals and stamp out the menace.

Governor Bello urged them and other commercial centres in the state to fix high-tech Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras around their branches which would not just cover the banking premises but also the neighbourhood as much as possible. He also urged that the CCTV should be manned during working hours.

The spokesperson of the forum, Mr Asanato Sunday, an Assistant Director at the Central Bank commended the governor over his commitment to fighting insecurity in the state. He noted that the commercial institutions in the state would work to contribute to the fight against insecurity in the state.

Before now, Kogi State, including Lokoja, the capital, witnessed incessant bank robberies which nearly submerged the operations of financial institutions in the state as nearly 15 bank robberies were recorded in a space of months between 2014 and 2015.

The administration, however, made efforts to rid the state of such occurrences which in the past six years had yielded great results.

The $500 million World Bank Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project targeted at girls of school age will soon commence in the seven beneficiary states.

The AGILE Project is a five-year initiative of the Federal Government with support of $500 million from the World Bank to improve secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls in the implementing states as well as to empower them to earn their living.

The government said the project would be implemented in Borno, Ekiti, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau states.

As part of preparations for the take-off of the project, the National Project Coordinating Unit (NPCU) has started visitations to the beneficiary states to ascertain their levels of implementation and progress.

In a statement on Sunday, the Project Communication Officer, Linda Irabor said the NPCU visited Ekiti and Katsina states recently.

She added that in Ekiti State, the NPCU led by the National Project Coordinator Mrs Amina Haruna said the team was in the state to find ways it could be of assistance to ensure effective project implementation for optimum results.

Haruna emphasised the need for synergy among team members, and with the state government so as to achieve the goals of the AGILE Project in the state.

The State’s Project Coordinator, Mrs Oluwayemisi Alokan took the NPCU to the project’s construction sites to inspect and assess the standard of work being done, especially in the utilisation of the School Improvement Grants (SIG), for the renovation of existing infrastructure in schools.

Mrs Alokan said there were challenges faced by the State Project Implementing Unit (SPIU), even as there were efforts made to address them.

The visiting team also met with the State Commissioner for Education, and Permanent Secretary, Science and Technology, Ekiti State Ministry of Education, Dr Kofoworola Aderiye and Dr Folakemi Olomojobi respectively.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Nigeria Red Cross have disbursed N175 million to 5,000 households in three local government areas of Kaduna State as part of measures to mitigate the effect of flooding during the 2022 rainy season.

The 5,000 households that have been affected by floods along the Kaduna River area in the past 10 years, were given the sum of N35,000 each to help them to prepare for anticipated floods as the water level of River Kaduna increases.

Beneficiaries of the cash transfer, under the Shock Responsive Social Protection (SRSP) project in Kaduna State, were selected from six flood-prone communities of Narayi, Romi, Nasarawa, Kigo, Bashama and Kabala West in Chikun, Kaduna North and Kaduna South councils respectively, who either have had their properties destroyed or their farms washed off by floods.

The breakdown for each community is as follows Abubakar Kigo Road 1,000, Kabala West 796, Bashama Road 807, Nassarawa 792, Romi 794 and Narayi 811.

The SRSP is a pilot programme of the UNICEF Country Office in Nigeria, the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC), and the Nigerian Red Cross with European Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) funding, in cooperation with the Red Cross-affiliated Climate Centre based in The Hague.

Between May and June this year, the Nigerian Red Cross pre-identified the 5,000 households that had met the climate vulnerability criteria according to a community targeting approach based on five selection criteria, namely expectant mothers and breastfeeding women; (women-headed households), children aged 0-5, (child-headed households), people with disabilities (sight, hearing, walking, intellectual impediment, e.g. amnesia, among others) and the elderly (from 60 years of age) multi-dimensional poverty (based on income and assets).

The purpose of the cash is to enable vulnerable communities to have adequate financial resources to mitigate and respond to the effects of floods, thereby minimising losses and reducing protection risks.

Studies have shown that assistance provided prior to the climate-related shock event lasts longer.

The early action and cash transfer prior to floods will enable affected households to mitigate the impact of predicted floods in terms of maintaining and increasing food consumption; securing shelters; protecting assets; ensuring access to jerry cans, as well as to clean water, and water purification solutions to avoid waterborne disease, and access to health-related provisions (medicines, transport for health facilities).

The objective is to avoid negative coping mechanisms, such as borrowing, exchanging sex for food or/and other necessities.

Addressing the beneficiaries at the various payment locations, the Kaduna State Coordinator of Red Cross Sunday Awulu, cautioned them not to use the funds for anything other than they are meant for.

“This money is not meant for wedding ceremonies or buying expensive clothes or for organising parties. It should not be shared with anyone, but strictly for you to mitigate the impact of the anticipated floods before it happens.

“Use it to establish small businesses, settle issues concerning your houses, erosion, and clear your drainage. Use this money to help yourselves to address some of these areas so that when subsequent floods come, it will go a long way in helping you to cope. Let us begin to intervene in advance so that when it happens, the impact will be minimal,” he added.

UNICEF Emergency Programme Specialist, Lucia Jofrice urged the beneficiaries to prepare themselves adequately before and after the floods which are anticipated before the end of August, by gathering all their important documents in a leather bag and keeping them handy.

She advised the farmers to harvest their crops, store food and move to higher ground when they hear or notice that the water level is rising. Remember to carry children, the sick, the old and people with disabilities as they move to safety. They should move to a safe place when they hear or notice an impending flood and they should not walk on roads and bridges covered with water.

Lucia also cautioned them to be very careful when returning to their houses after a flood as it may still not be safe but should ensure they verified information on floods from local authorities.

The beneficiaries thanked UNICEF and the Red Cross for the humanitarian gesture, saying their hopes have been rekindled. They promised they will use the funds judiciously.

Worried by the rate of unemployment in the state, Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has approved N17.4 million as financial assistance to Kebbi State candidates undergoing military and para-military training.

The approval was contained in a statement by the Kebbi State Acting Head of Service Alhaji Safiyanu Garba Bena which was made available to reporters in Birnin-Kebbi yesterday.

According to the statement, a total of 369 candidates of Kebbi State origin are going for training in the Nigerian Police Force as constables and Direct Short Service Combatant Commission of the Nigerian Army, as well as for the conduct of the 2022 recruitment exercise into the Nigerian Air Force.

The statement further stated that the gesture by Governor Bagudu was aimed at reducing unemployment among the teeming youth.