Category: Northern Reports

The mother of the founder of Leadership Newspapers, Mrs Eunice Ndanusa-Isaiah, is dead.

According to a statement from the family signed by Mr. Joseph Nda-Isaiah, Mrs. Nda-Isaiah died in Abuja at 2.30am on Friday. Born in 1942 in the old Kabba Province of Northern Nigeria, Mrs. Ndanusa-Isaiah was 80-year-old when she died.

She grew up and lived in Kano, Kaduna, and Niger States and got married in 1961 to Mr. Clement Ndanusa-Isaiah, an outstanding senior editor in New Nigerian and Triumph newspapers.

She was fondly called “Mama Sam”, improvised from the name of her first son and founder of Leadership newspaper, Late Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah.

“We will miss Mama dearly for her sacrificial love and devotion to her family,” the family statement said. “We’re comforted that she was a woman of faith and has gone to be with the Lord, who loves her more.”

Burial arraignments would be announced later by the family.

Following a recent attack in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State which claimed five lives, on Thursday at Laake, in Kwall district, suspected gunmen, believed to be of Fulani extraction have reportedly killed two persons and set ablaze twenty houses in a night attack.

The local government, in recent times, have been a target of attacks by gunmen, who engage in massive destruction of farmlands and crops put at N500million.

However, the state chapter of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) has also accused the natives of poisoning their cattle, which they claimed led to the death of 90 cows.

The National President, Irigwe Development Association (IDA), Prince Robert Ashi, on Friday disclosed that two people were gunned down by killer herdsmen and twenty houses burnt in a midnight raid by the gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

According to him, the gunmen in their large number invaded Laake village at about 9:00 pm on Thursday and went on a burning spree, leading to the death of two people, five injured and twenty houses burnt.

His words: “The people of the village had retired to bed when the gunmen attacked the village at about 9:45 pm. They killed two people, burnt down twenty houses and injured five persons.   It is unfortunate that this kind of attack can take place when security men are trying to halt the orgy of killings in Irigwe land.

“Those who carried out this attack are still lurking around, many of them are on top of the hills around us but I don’t know why it is difficult for the security agencies to dislodge them.”

He therefore appealed to both the government and security agencies to come to the aid of Irigwe community.

Millions of women and youths from across the nineteen Northern states on Friday marched on the Presidential Villa to demand the adoption of All Progressives Congress national leader, Bola Tinubu, as the consensus candidate of the party in the 2023 Presidential Election.

They said Tinubu is the only person fit and capable among all aspirants who have so far declared their intention to turn around the economy of the country.

The group said after extensive deliberations and consultations, the APC Youth and Women in the 19 Northern states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have elected to adopt the former Lagos State governor as the consensus presidential candidate of the APC in the 2023 general elections.

Led by Patriot Yakubu Dauda, they said the APC Youth and Women in the 19 Northern States of the federation have been actively involved in the activities of the party through several ways that have positioned the party firmly in the hearts of the people.

He said: “We wish to inform Mr President that we have also been actively mobilising support for the party at the grassroots levels across the 19 northern states in preparation for the 2023 general elections.

“The response of the people has been encouraging. We wish to use this medium to inform Mr President that the APC as a party, has continued to have a stronghold amongst the people who have been beneficial to the various social security initiatives implemented across the country in critical sectors, such as agriculture, education and health.

“Mr President, in the course of our daily engagements across the northern states, we have been inundated with an astronomical level of support for the presidential aspiration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. His acceptance level amongst the grassroots is phenomenal. One might be tempted to think he has his origin from the North.

“As a group with a vast network amongst youths and women in the 19 northern states in the county, including the Federal Capital Territory, we can say without fear or favour that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is widely accepted as the prime candidate for our great party in the coming 2023 general elections.”

The group said this is based on the fact that he has been able to build bridges across the country in service to the country and humanity through ways too numerous to mention.

Nasarawa State government yesterday in Lafia held a town hall meeting with stakeholders of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to discuss improved business environment in the state.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), Barr Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the Governor Abdullahi Sule administration has introduced some reforms initiative that would help reduce bureaucratic bottleneck and improve ease of doing business in the state.

He said such reforms are aimed at strengthening Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs), adding that the meeting was to serve as an avenue to communicate the reforms that are being implemented by the state government.

He further said that the town hall meeting was to create a platform for the Nasarawa State government to interact with small business owners to enable the government understand their challenges and proffer possible solutions to them.

He said, “This townhall meeting is mainly to understand the challenges confronting MSMEs in the state, to enable us provide solutions. The meeting is to communicate the reforms that are being implemented by the government and to hear directly from them because we realised that a number of reforms have not been properly understood by the businesses.

“The townhall would be a sustained engagement and this would also mean that businesses, ministries, department and agencies with the government would take up the responsibly of ensuring that there is adequate feedback.”

In his opening remarks, Governor Abdullahi Sule said his administration, having recognised the importance of small businesses in the growth of the economy of the state, on assumption of office, initiated several policies and laws geared towards creating a favourable business environment in the state.

He said the essence of government is to help towards facilitating the development of its people and society, stressing that the only way to actually develop any community or society is to ensure that people are economically independent of government.

He expressed satisfaction that over 300 small business owners, including youths, were participating in the townhall meeting.

Chief Executive Officer of Sandaji Group of Companies, Abubakar Sandaji, who spoke on behalf of the stakeholders, lamented the issue of multiple taxation on MSMEs in the state and appealed to the government to look into the issue in order to encourage small businesses to grow.

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Taraba State have given quit notice to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, stating that the APC is poised to capture the reins of power in the forthcoming 2023 general elections in the state.

The APC leaders led by the immediate past Deputy Senate Minority Leader, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, disclosed this to newsmen on Friday in Abuja after a courtesy visit from the APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

Bwacha said party leaders and members in the State are united to ensure that the new government in Taraba State is formed by the APC.

He appealed to all and sundry to join them in working to achieve the objective, saying that was the highlight of their interface with the National Chairman whom they know his capacity and ability to carry everyone along.

“We are privileged to be the first State to pay a solidarity visit to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress. This visit is propelled by the fact that we are a family and we need to show the way that indeed we are one united by a common purpose.

“In Taraba State is a PDP government for now but when people are dissatisfied with one thing they are naturally bound to change.”

Another leader on the team, Senator Yusuf, said APC stands a high chance of winning the 2023 election in the North-Eastern state; stressing that; “Taraba is APC and APC in Taraba.

Also speaking, the Federal Commissioner said with two out of three Senators, four out of six House of Representatives members, five members of the State House of Assembly and federal appointees, APC was strong enough to capture power in Taraba State by 2023.”