Category: Northern Reports

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN), on Wednesday expressed its readiness to support any political party with a Christian and Muslim presidential ticket.

In a communique signed by its National President, Belusochukwu Enwere and made available to reporters at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, the youth insisted there was a need for justice, fairness and equity in the country.

According to him, YOWICAN was currently working on updating the existing database of Christian youths nationwide, towards a robust sensitisation of the citizens, especially the youth, with the view to ensuring that all eligible youths procure their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC).

He said: “YOWICAN asserts that rotation of the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will promote unity and concord, as such the emergence of a Christian/Christian ticket or a Muslim/Muslim ticket in 2023 will not be a true expression of equity, fairness and justice for Nigeria and Nigerians.

“YOWICAN commits to take her message to the grassroots and awaken her structures down to the wards/units, for the actualisation of the 2023 divine agenda.

“YOWICAN shall, in addition to engaging her members in ceaseless prayers, proceed with action to support a presidential candidate that will save and deliver this dying country of ours from its present state.”

Bothered about the rising cases of insecurity and domestic abuse in the country, the religious group said its leadership was embarking on a national tour to seek God’s intervention over the bleeding state and anarchy in the country through prayer crusades.

They further urged the government and security agencies to approach “all people who have made statements/assertions claiming to know the bandits, terrorists and criminals and/or their camps or hideouts; to come and assist in fishing out these evil people.

“Despite the efforts so far made in combating crime, YOWICAN observes the urgent need to curb the rising wave of attacks, killings, destruction of lives, properties, farmlands and livelihood of innocent citizens within the Northern states, specifically within Christian communities.

“If this malady is not checked, there is every likelihood that farming and economic activities will be crippled in 2022 farming season, and do so much harm to our country.”

At last, Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong, along with some of his top officials, were in Miango, Bassa Local Government Area yesterday, to meet with the stakeholders over the recurring attacks in the area.

At the meeting attended by the Paramount ruler of Irigwe nation, Bra Ngwe Rigwe Rev. Ronku Aka, community, youth and women representatives as well as political and religious leaders, Governor Lalong said his mission was to condole with the people over the incessant killings and destruction of properties in the area which are a major setback to the progress of the entire state.

He commended the Irigwe people for their resilience, patience and efforts to live in peace with their neighbours despite the losses they have incurred over time from attacks by criminal elements.

The governor praised them for their positive attitude toward peacebuilding which led them to sign a peace pact with the Fulani with whom they have lived together peacefully for a long time until criminal elements came in to fan embers of hate, destruction and crises.

He said the Irigwe made the right decision to work together with the Fulani they know and have dwelt together peacefully over many years in order to isolate criminals who come in and try to exploit fault lines and cause chaos. This he said will assist both sides to identify criminal elements who use ethnicity, religion and other excuses as a cover to perpetrate while leaving many innocent people in pain and agony.

He urged them to resist the incitement and provocation by criminal elements both external and internal who seek to stop the development of the area and the prosperity of the State, assuring them that Government will follow them and ensure that they are dealt with ruthlessly.

The Federal Government yesterday inaugurated the council members of the Surveyors’ Council of Nigeria (SURCON), which replaced the defunct Surveyors Licensing Board of Nigeria.

The Agency of the government, which consists of 59 members, among which are the President, Surveyor-General of the Federation, Surveyor-General of each state, appointees of the President of Nigeria from four universities, will ensure the registration of surveyors, as well as regulate the practice of the profession in the country.

During the inauguration, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) urged the members of the Council to carry out their responsibilities with a sense of nation-building and creating the next generation of skilled manpower for the development of the country.

Noting that the tenure of the Council is three years, beginning from March 28, 2022, when President Muhammadu Buhari approved its establishment, Fashola said: “You are serving as manpower developers. You are to develop Nigeria’s human capital and the next generation of people who would take over from us.

“Your appointment is to determine those who will play in the field of developing and harnessing geospatial data. This is a task of nation-building.  You are appointed to serve and help rebuild Nigeria.

“You are constituted now to solve problems and not to become the problem. .”

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr Bashir Nura Alkali, added:

“The SURCON is a successor to the defunct Surveyors’ Licensing Board of Nigeria, which had the charge of licensing and disciplining surveyors in Nigeria. However, the increase in the duties of the Board necessitated the establishment of an Agency that will undertake the regulation of the surveying profession in Nigeria with an expanded knowledge. This led to the establishment of SURCON as an Agency of the government.”

The Speaker of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Aminu Muhammad Achida, yesterday defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Achida tendered his resignation letter during yesterday’s sitting.

Following his decision, the legislator described Governor Aminu Tambuwal as “a true democrat,” praising the former House of Representatives Speaker’s part in his switch.

It is less than a year to the 2023 general elections. Governor Tambuwal will quit office for a successor. Expectedly, Sokoto, the seat of the Caliphate, has started witnessing the wind of political contest. Posters and billboards of aspirants have taken space across the state with the PDP dominating the show.

The opposition APC is determined to reclaim the mandate it lost in 2019. However, the party is currently struggling to get out of a web of the crisis rocking its structures in the state. In line with the party’s desire to return to power in the state, some of its aspirants are already being promoted on social media.

The Niger State Government is indebted to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to the tune of N295 million in unpaid fees for the 2021 WAEC examinations, The Nation learnt.

This has made students of public secondary schools who wrote the 2021 WAEC to be unable to access their results to enable them to seek admission into universities.

The Nation learnt that WAEC withheld the results of students whose parents paid the fees and those whose fees were said to have been paid by the government.

The Niger State Government has the policy to pay the examination fees of students who passed the mock examinations while students who did not pass would have their fees paid by their parents.

It was learnt that out of N345 million owed to the examination body, the state government only paid N50 million, leaving a balance of N295 million.

The member representing Bida II at the Niger State House of Assembly, Haruna Alhaji Mohammed, who raised the issue at the plenary of the Assembly, noted that the educational future of the students hangs in the balance if the government does not pay the examination fees.

He urged the executive arm of the government to pay the backlog of WAEC examination fees to enable the release of the students’ results to enable them to seek admission to universities of their choice.

He noted that non-payment of the backlog of examination fees will also affect students who will write the examination in 2022.

The Assembly summoned the Commissioner for Education, Hajiya Hanatu Jubril to appear before the House Committee on Education to explain why the government is yet to pay the backlog of debt and what is being done to facilitate the release of the withheld results of the students.

The Taraba State Government yesterday, in Jalingo, distributed the sum of N789 million to women groups under Nigeria for Women project.

Governor Darius Ishaku, who flagged off the distribution, announced that 13,243 women would receive grants of a maximum of N60, 000 each.

The women, who received the funds under the pilot implementation of the programme are from Takum, Bali and Zing local government areas.

Ishaku said the women who received the grants were those who submitted themselves to the tenets of the Nigeria for Women Project and had proven themselves capable of handling growth, having practised the methodology of savings and loans and had also acquired financial, business, gender, and life skills training.

The governor assured the people that the empowerment programme for women which began under Nigeria for Women project would continue until all the beneficiaries with successful business plans had received their grants.

He advised recipients of the grants to keep strictly to the tenets of the agreements they had signed.

Deputy Governor of the State and Chairman of the Steering Committee of the project, Haruna Manu, commended Governor Ishaku for his unflinching support by promptly approving the required counterpart funds of ?200 million for the project.

This, he said, had been largely responsible for the success of the project. He said Nigeria for Women project in Taraba State was targeting a total of 54,000 women in the three implementing local government areas.

The Coordinator of the project, Mrs Ruth Mshelia, described the experiment in Taraba State as successful, even as she commended traditional rulers and other community leaders in the state for their roles in ensuring the successful outcome.

A former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe Central) has begun the distribution of 500 tricycles (Keke Napep) and 1,000 motorcycles to his constituents in Gombe Central Senatorial District.

According to Goje, the gesture was part of his efforts to fight poverty, while empowering the masses to create job opportunities for youths in the area.

The Senator, who was represented by the former Speaker of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Abubakar Sadeeq Kurba, during distribution in Gombe, explained that the donation was borne out of his quest for community empowerment to support youths and women in the constituency.

He said: “The donation of 1,000 units of motorcycles and 500 units of tricycles is one among thousands of gifts that we have been giving to the people of Gombe Central.”

Goje added that over 5,000 members of his constituency have so far benefited from his empowerment programme which included the zero-hunger project and funds distributed for use as capital as well as foodstuffs distributed at the beginning of this Ramadan.

He said: “These items were given out to each of the beneficiaries free. It is not a loan or a facility from anybody and nobody is expected to be settled or compensated by any beneficiary.”

Rose Danjuma, one of the beneficiaries of the tricycles, said she was happy over the gesture. She added that the last time her family was made happy was when Senator Goje was serving as the Governor of Gombe State.

She told reporters that the Keke Napep given to her will help in supporting her family and other relatives.

“Senator Goje is a true hero in the area of poverty alleviation in our community,” he said.

For Muhammad Sarkiwa Umar of Kombani Ward in Akko Local Government Area, the motorcycle given to him will bring succour to him and boost his farming business.

Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has inaugurated an 18-man technical committee to supervise the transition of the Marhai Forest Reserve in Wamba Local Government Area into a national park.

Governor Sule performed the inauguration ceremony yesterday at the Government House, Lafia.

He reiterated the determination of his administration to make the tourism sub-sector not only a priority but to enable it to serve as a revenue earner for the state and also a big employment source for Nasarawa State.

He emphasised that his administration will continue to attract private investors to invest in the state through attractive incentives, to facilitate the full exploitation of the state’s potential for the benefit of the society.

“It is imperative to state that in Nasarawa State; we are highly endowed with tourism resources and other natural endowments in the areas of agriculture and solid minerals sub-sector.

“These resources have placed Nasarawa State at a very strategic advantage as a tourists’ destination, in view of our proximity to the FCT,” he stated.

The governor announced that his administration has commenced the development of the Shabu Recreational Garden in Lafia, as well as the Peperuwa Lake in Lafia East Development Area, which has been acquired and is being demarcated for eventual development as a tourists’ resort.

He appreciated the Federal Government, as well as the Office of the Conservator General for taking over and upgrading the Marhai Forest Reserve into a national park.

Over 200 youths in Jos, the Plateau State capital, held a solidarity rally in support of the presidential bid of the All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

They said he should be the consensus candidate of the party in the 2023 general elections.

The group, under the aegis of Tinubu Middle Belt Vanguard (TMBV), walked through streets in their hundreds and terminated at the state APC secretariat to register their support. They called for the APC in Plateau State to rally their support for the presidential aspiration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

In his address at the party’s secretariat, the convener of the Tinubu Middle Belt Vanguard Solomon Ndam urged the Plateau people to rally their support for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the person to solve the myriads of challenges and take the country to greater heights.

Ndam said: “As critical stakeholders, we are duty-bound to lend our voices to the great movement about to take the whole country by storm. The APC in Plateau State is in tune with the country’s mood about the presidential aspiration of the untiring Asiwaju Tinubu.

He said: “We have seen the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the country’s development. The coming on board of Asiwaju Tinubu is a good omen for our great country because of his numerous contributions to the sustenance of our democracy over the decades.

“The presidential aspiration of Asiwaju Tinubu presents us with great opportunities to turn the fortunes of the country around for good, owing to his leadership style that speaks volumes of an unalloyed commitment to sustainable growth and development. As such, it will be an error of judgment if the APC in Plateau State does not rally support for the presidential aspiration of Asiwaju Tinubu.

“The name Asiwaju Tinubu is a household one in Plateau State because of the tremendous love and respect he has demonstrated for Plateau people over the years.

“It is instructive to note that Asiwaju Tinubu has consistently displayed love and affection to the Plateau people in ways too numerous to mention.”

“We wish to reiterate that Asiwaju Tinubu is a Plateau man. Therefore, our support for him remains unflinching. We can feel your excitement, and we are convinced that Asiwaju Tinubu shall emerge as a consensus candidate of the APC in the 2023 presidential election.

“After many considerations, we have concluded that the APC in Plateau State must unite in adopting Asiwaju Tinubu as the party’s consensus candidate for the 2023 presidential election.”

Ndam noted that “the Plateau State APC support group wishes to sound the trumpet of Asiwaju Tinubu to all the nook and cranny of Plateau State as a consensus candidate of the APC in the 2023 presidential election.

He said they strongly believed that if Asiwaju Tinubu emerged as the consensus candidate of the APC, the party is guaranteed a resounding electoral victory in the presidential election.

The Federal Government has established the Cotton, Textile and Garment Development (CTG) forum as the highest body to represent the entire sector in the country.

This is an aftermath of a one-day seminar on national dialogue on the CTG policy organised by the German Agency for International Cooperation, the European Union and the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment which ended yesterday in Abuja.

The recognition of the CTG sector followed its huge potential to revive the country’s moribund industries and create employment for citizens.

President of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), Anibe Achimugu called on every player in the industry to exhibit a high level of business commitment which he noted was crucial to the development of the CTG sector.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) advised stakeholders in the sector to achieve better collaboration as the only strategy to compete favourably against foreign competitors.

Special Adviser to the CBN Governor on Development Finance, Anthony Ifechukwu, who spoke at the event, emphasised the need for the establishment of a CTG council to move the sector forward.

While commending the initiative of the stakeholders for organising such a national dialogue, the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment said the initiative would be valuable in reviewing the sector.

The national dialogue drew participants from the public and private sectors, including the Nigerian office for trade negotiation, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Bank of Industries, among others.