Category: Northern Reports

The Kano State Executive Council (SEC) has given approval for a 50 per cent upward review of the state scholarship allowances for students indigenous to the state who are studying in Nigerian institutions.

SEC approved the release of more than N865.4 million to the state scholarship board as outstanding allowances and logistics for the payment of the students across the 44 local government areas of the five emirates in the state.

The State Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, who briefed reporters on the outcome of the weekly SEC meeting held at the Council Chamber, Government House, Kano, said a total of 40,494 indigenous students would benefit from the scholarships.

He stated that the total outstanding scholarship for the 40,494 internal students from Karaye, Bichi, Rano, Kaya and Kano in the 44 local government areas of the state is N836.2 million, while logistics for the payment is more than N29.2 million.

Malam Garba said Karaye Emirate has eight local government areas with 3,094 students who will have N61.5 million outstanding allowances and more than N4 million as logistics.

“Bichi Emirate, with nine local government areas and 3,494 students, will receive above N71.2 million as outstanding allowances and a little above N4 million for logistics.

The commissioner also listed the allowances and logistics for the 4,015 students from Rano Emirate with 10 local government areas put at N78.4 million and N4 million respectively, while Gaya Emirate, which has nine local government areas with 4,260 students will receive more than N86.2 million as outstanding allowances and N4 million for logistics.

He said the Kano Emirate, with eight local government areas, has outstanding scholarship allowances for 26,086 students and will receive about N539 million and logistics in respect of the payment amounting to N13.1 million.

Also, the state government has declared Monday, August 1 2022, as work-free day to mark the beginning of 1445 Islamic (Hijrah) New Year.

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje made the announcement in a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba yesterday.

The statement said the first lunar month of the New Islamic Year, Muharram, commences tomorrow.

The governor congratulated all Muslims in Kano State on the spiritual significance of the occasion, which he said: “calls for self-assessment.”

He urged Muslims to avail themselves of the opportunity offered by the holiday to seek Allah’s forgiveness, and pray for His intervention to salvage the country from the lingering security challenges and improvement in the general well-being and progress of the state and the country.

Ganduje assured residents of his administration’s readiness to assiduously continue to deliver on its promise to improving their living standards through the execution of people-oriented programmes and projects.

The statement also urged those that are yet to obtain their voter’s cards to do so in order to be able to exercise their franchise in next year’s general election.

The Nasarawa State Commissioner for Health Ahmed Yahaya has said that no fewer than 18,429 people have tested positive for Hepatitis “B” and “C” in the state.

He stated this yesterday in Lafia during a press briefing in commemoration of the 2022 World Hepatitis Day tagged “Bringing Hepatitis Care Closer to you.”

He said a total of 181,946 residents were screened but 18,429 tested positive for the disease, adding that some of the infected people were currently receiving treatments in the government hospitals across the 13 local government areas of the state.

He said: “The World Hepatitis Day is a day set aside by the World Health Organisation to recognise viral Hepatitis as a global public health challenge.

“It is commemorated every July 28 in order to increase the visibility of this disease and attract more resources for the battle against it.

“In Africa, it is estimated that about 15-60 per cent of the normal population are living with either HBV or HCV, while the national burden for HBV and HCV stands at 8.1 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively (NATIS. 2018). The Nasarawa State burden stood at about 16 per cent and 13.2 per cent seroprevalence for HBV and HCV respectively.

The commissioner further narrated that in order to tackle the virus, the state government created testing centres across the 13 councils for mass community screening, even as he called on the residents to avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the screening,” Yahaya added.

The Director-General of Tinubu Support Organisation (TSO) Aminu Suleiman has dismissed insinuations by his political opponents that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a religious bigot.

Suleiman, who stated this to reporters after the inauguration of the Executive of Tinubu Support Organisation Plateau State chapter in Jos, said the presidential candidate is a detribalised Nigerian who abhors injustice or discrimination under any guise.

According to him, voting for Tinubu in 2023 will promote harmony, peace, religious tolerance and development, adding that his family is a good reference point when it comes to tolerance.

His words: “We are confident that the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu will win next year’s election across the board as a result of his pedigrees and acceptance. The youth are solidly behind him.”

Suleiman further stated that the TSO was designed to mobilise the electorate for Tinubu, adding that the Plateau State chapter’s efforts have taken the message of the organisation house-to-house across the Plateau.

He urged them to take the inauguration ceremony as a formal way of spurring them to do more for Tinubu in 2023 election.

The Plateau State Coordinator Tinubu Support Organisation Danjuma Nengak Istifanus said Tinubu being the founding father of APC has what it takes to lead the country to a prosperous future.

According to him, the Tinubu /Shetima joint ticket is the ticket to beat, given the track records and antecedents of the personalities involved who creditably served, as governors, in their respective states.

Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai has sworn to sack any lecturer of the Kaduna State University (KASU) who participates in the ongoing strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and fails to resume as directed by the management of the university.

The governor, who stated this in a live media chat with Hausa Radio Station on Wednesday night, said he was only waiting for report from the Acting Vice-Chancellor and will not hesitate to sack any indicted lecturer.

He argued that “ASUU had a problem with the Federal Government, not the state government. I see no reason why lecturers of Kaduna State University will be on strike since we are paying them appropriately. If this continues, we have no option but to sack all of them.

The Niger State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has said there is no scarcity of passport booklets in the state.

The NIS Comptroller of Niger State Command, Samuel Nongo, who told reporters in Minna on Wednesday, said the Command has issued over 5,000 passport booklets from March 2022 to date.

According to him, 3,000 passport booklets were produced for those going for the Hajj operations, adding that there are only 500 pending passport applications as of the time of the briefing.

Nongo stated that now that the rush for Hajj is over, the command has commenced work on the pending passports and the applicants would receive them within the stipulated time of six weeks for fresh passports and three weeks for passport renewal.

The comptroller stated that the Nigeria Immigration Service has reduced interactions among officers and applicants in a bid to stop passport racketeering adding that what is acceptable now is that the applicant applies and pays online, fixes an appointment day for capturing and vetting and waits for the stipulated time for the collection.

On the security of the state, Nongo stated that the borders of the state are safe as the Command has increased surveillance and collaboration with sister security agencies.

“We have border patrol units at Mokwa, Kontagora, Tegina, Wawa, Loma and Sabon Pegi to check the movement of migrants and the patrol has been very effective as we have succeeded in reducing the inflow of illegal migrants into the state and country,” he said.

Nongo further stated that contrary to rumours going across the state about illegal Chinese nationals, there are no illegal Chinese nationals in the state saying, “we have visited most of these organisations that have Chinese working for them. We have records of those who are in the state, they are all accounted for.”

Disturbed by the gale of the defection of critical members in Kaduna State, stakeholders and chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has set up a high-powered committee to reconcile aggrieved party members.

This came on the heels of the recent defection of 15 chieftains of the party in Kaduna State, who complained of a lack of internal democracy.

The reconciliation team comprises the State Working Committee, chairmen of various local government areas, elected representatives, elders and members of the State Executive Council.

In the wake of the defections, the National Vice-Chairman (Northwest) of the party Dr Salihu Lukman promised to reconcile all aggrieved members of the party in the zone ahead of next year’s general election.

The APC Vice-Chairman stated that the committee “will be saddled with the responsibility of reaching out to co-contestants of all the elective positions that did not win their primaries for the 2023 general election and other aggrieved party members in the state.”

The statement reads: “The National Vice-Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Northwest, Malam Salihu Lukman, has urged participants to be sincere in their contributions because the worst thing people can do in a time like this is to tell lies to themselves.”

The Police Command in Bauchi State has confirmed the release of three family members of former Bauchi State Governor Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu after spending 14 days in the kidnappers’ den.

 The Nation had reported that suspected kidnappers stormed Muazu’s village, Boto in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of the state on July 13 where a 25-year-old nephew to the ex-governor was killed while three other family members were abducted.

The freed victims are Hajiya Asma’u Alhaji Adamu, the younger sister to the former governor, Malama Halima Abdullahi, and one Nura.

Confirming their release on Tuesday, the spokesman of the state command, Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, a Superintendent of Police (SP) told reporters that the victims have been taken to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital for urgent medical attention.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) alongside other stakeholders in the health sector has called for the digitalisation of the health sector. They also noted that leveraging technology will greatly improve citizens’ access to quality health care.

They further said many grave errors in patient information, drug prescription, and others, can be averted in hospitals and many health care facilities if automated information systems are integrated.

The President of the NMA, Dr Uche Ojinmah made this known yesterday in Abuja during the Digital Health Summit organised by Cranium Integrated Solutions Limited in partnership with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

Represented by Dr Daniel Meshak, the NMA President said: “The health system is really weak and it is not meeting the needs of the population. It is not just enough to talk about what the problems are but about the solution. We must think of public-private partnerships to improve the health care sector because it is unrealistic to think that the government alone will be able to address the health care needs of its population.

“Also, in the area of medical records, many countries are using technology, while we are still using paper bills. You find out that when people visit the hospital, they are sometimes told that they can’t find their folders. There is, therefore, a huge potential for technology to improve the healthcare sector in Nigeria.”

The Co-founder of Cranium Integrated Solutions Limited, Kunle Adesida said: “Automated information on decision support systems is very effective in reducing many types of errors. Better information systems improve the dissemination of knowledge about drugs and make drug and patient information readily accessible at the time that it is being needed in real-time.

“Cranium complete health information management system is software that is very robust and secure with respect to patient confidentiality. It has been designed from the scratch with inputs from clinicians and other medical professionals from all over the world and from all specialities.”

An order to prevent any security breach in the state, the Nasarawa State Government has ordered the immediate closure of public and private schools. This, it said, is a proactive step to safeguard the lives of students.

This results from security threats across the country, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where the government is already in possession of reports suggesting likely security threats in communities within the states bordering the FCT such as Gitata and Umaisha.

The decision to close schools across the state was part of the resolutions arrived at during an expanded state executive council meeting, which took place at the Government House Lafia, yesterday.

Briefing reporters shortly after the council meeting, the Commissioner for Education Hajiya Fatu Jimaita Sabo, said having considered and reviewed the current situation in the country, especially regarding the security threats in the FCT, the state government decided to close public and private schools in the state with immediate effect.

Hajiya Sabo said this became necessary considering the proximity of the state to the FCT, as well as the resolve of the government to ensure that schools operate within a safe environment.

She said the directives exclude the exit classes that are already writing their final examinations, especially in secondary schools.