No fewer than 10,000 residents of communities in Fufore and Song local government areas have benefited from an empowerment intervention by the member representing them in the National Assembly, Hon. Wakili Boya.
The intervention, labelled mega empowerment, included the distribution of 7,200 bags of 50kg NPK and Urea fertiliser, 1,000 water pumps, and cash incentives of N50,000 each to farmers.
Additionally, 1,000 sewing machines and starter packs, 1,000 spaghetti-making machines, and 20,000kg of flower seedlings were handed to beneficiaries to improve their businesses.
Other items donated included 1,000 grinding machine starter packs for women, 20,000kg of rice seedlings, 1,000 sachets of chemicals for weeds, and 90,000kg of rice for the New Year celebration.
Speaking during the event in Yola, Wakili Boya stated that the gesture was in line with the federal government’s drive to empower households and boost food security.
Extolling the lawmaker, the Adamawa State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Idris Shuaibu, said Boya made the party proud by bringing real dividends of democracy to the doorsteps of the people.
The party’s state organising secretary, Mustapha Ribadu, also praised Boya, saying, “We have watched your purposeful representation with keen interest. You are a true representation of the indomitable spirit of our party. We are happy for your trailblazing exploits.”
Two beneficiaries, Abdullahi Sabo and Martha Jonathan, described Reps Boya as a Messiah and a blessing to the constituency.
“Since his election, it has been one good thing after another,” Abdullahi Sabo remarked, adding that the people of Fufore and Song have never had such attention from their representative.
A renowned philanthropist in Adamawa State, Dr. Emmanuel Musa, has initiated a peace dialogue aimed at fostering harmony between herders and farmers to prevent recurring clashes in the state.
The meeting, held in Kala’a, Hong Local Government Area, brought representatives from both communities together to discuss ways to resolve issues that often lead to disputes between herders and crop farmers.
The peace dialogue coincided with Dr. Musa’s birthday celebration, transforming the event into a dual-purpose gathering at the Kala’a Primary School football field.
Dr. Musa, founder of the Emnamu Foundation, used the occasion to distribute cash gifts, wrappers, and relief items to women, children, and the elderly, continuing his longstanding tradition of humanitarian support.
Highlighting the impact of the Emnamu Foundation, which has reached over 5,000 underprivileged individuals nationwide, Dr. Musa emphasized that his mission is not wealth accumulation but making a meaningful difference in the lives of those in need.
“My hubby is to bring peace and freedom and to generally make people happy,” he said, recalling how he freed some inmates recently.
The Nation recalls how Emmanuel Musa last Friday paid for the freedom of 51 inmates in various correctional centres across Adamawa State with a pledge of scholarship to those among them willing to return to school.
Musa’s Emnamu Foundation has for years been involved in various forms of charity, including donation of instructional materials, construction of classrooms and offices, conduct of free medical outreaches, distribution of medical equipment, payment of medical bills, donation of wheel chairs, distribution of food and nonfood items, among others.
A foremost philanthropist in Adamawa State, Dr Emmanuel Musa, has freed 51 correctional centre inmates by paying their fines.
The philanthropist cleared the fines of the 51 inmates in various correctional centres across the state in celebration of his birthday.
Musa, who does much of his acts of giving under his charity organisation, Emnamu Foundation, charged the freed inmates to return to their various communities as changed people.
He gave each of them N10,000 transport fare and promised scholarship to any of them who may be willing to return to school.
The philanthropist also visited patients on their sick beds at the Yola Specialist Hospital Jimeta and Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital Yola where he presented cash gifts to patients for their trearment.
At one of the hospital wards, he said he is always happy to come home at his birthdays to spend time with people he rarely meets in his routine life.
He was accompanied in his charity tour by the Catholic Bishop of Yola and immediate past chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Stephen Mamaza.
At the Adamawa State Command headquarters of the Nigeria Correctional Service where the release of the 51 inmates was formalised, the Catholic Bishop said he was proud to be associated with Emmanuel Musa who derives joy in giving to the less privileged.
Bishop Mamza said it is exemplary that Emmanuel Musa would have so much passion for giving to the needy despite not being the richest man around.
Adamawa State, which had just one tertiary health centre, a federal medical centre in Yola in 2021, now boasts three: a teaching hospital and two federal medical centres
Two federal medical centres sprang up in Adamawa State in December 2022; three, if you add the Modibbo Adama Teaching Hospital (MAUTH), where the history started.
The teaching hospital was the starting point as the originating institution under the name of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yola.
The two new FMCs, namely FMC Hong, and FMC Mubi, came along as the double replacement for the FMC Yola when it was converted to MAUTH.
How two FMCs replaced one that was upgraded to a teaching hospital is the crux of the matter, with Adamawa as the lucky beneficiary.
The journey had started earlier in 2021, when the federal government enacted a law converting the former Moddibbo Adama University of Technology Yola to a conventional institution under the name, Modibbo Adama University (MAU).
The university, in prompt moves to live true to its new status, started a medical college, thus generating a new need: a teaching hospital.
The decision was soon arrived at to turn the nearest tertiary medical institution, the FMC Yola, into this much required teaching hospital, and MAUTH was born. On July 27, 2022, the Federal governemt upgraded the FMC Yola to the MAUTH that it is today.
While the FMC-MAUTH conversion idea was being perfected, some smart Adamawa citizens were quick to push the further idea that the FMC Yola should not die for MAUTH but to move elsewhere for another life.
Hong, a major town 194 kms north of Yola, was named as the place for the FMC to be located.
A bill was quickly sponsored at the National Assembly to that effect and was signed by president at the time, Muhammadu Buhari, on April 9, 2022
As the law was awaiting implementation, however, speculation broke that it might be revoked. It was rumoured that Senator Aishatu Ahmed Binani who was representing Adamawa Central Zone at the time and who was importantly also seeking to be governor of the state, had chosen to swing the FMC from Hong to Mubi after pledging an FMC for Mubi people during a campaign tour to Mubi.
The rumour was so strong and looked so set to become real that prominent Hong sons, notably the SGF at the time, Boss Mustapha and member who was representing Hong/Gombi federal constituency at the time, Yusuf Yakub, more popularly known as Captain Buba, made moves both hidden and open to keep the FMC in Hong.
The FMC Hong which hitherto existed mainly in name up to that time, was made to hurriedly launch clinical services on December 6, 2022.
This was less than a week after Buhari signed the separate bill establishing the FMC Mubi, on December 1, 2022.
The lavish launching of clinical services at the FMC Hong, it was rumoured, was to announce the irreversible establishment of that centre, to forestall alleged plan to never let it take off just so that the Mubi centre could take roots.
Fortunately for Adamawa State as a family however, the two FMCs are today a reality, existing side by side instead of one giving way for another.
The push for the FMC Hong was powered by Captain Buba who sponsored the bill for it in the National Assembly, and Boss Mustapha who was reported as having done the lobying for the final approval by Buhari.
On the other hand, Binani who sponsored the FMC Mubi bill as a sitting senator at the time, was assisted in lobbying its passage by the likes of the House of Representatives from the Mubi North/Mubi South/Maiha federal constituency, Hon Ja’afaru Magaji.
It was Magaji who returned the matter of the two FMCs to the front line days back when he appreciated President Bola Tinubu for sustaining the tempo of their establishment and functionality.
Hon Ja’afaru, in an interview with journalists, said President Tinubu deserved commendation for ensuring that the process of establishing the two medical centres, commenced before he came to power, does not suffer delay.
He expressed joy especially about a recent signing of a memorandum of understanding officially permitting the federal government to take over the sites of the centres from the Adamawa State Government.
The Reps member said, “I am delighted about the signing of the MoU between the federal government and the Adamawa State Government. In some of these instances, there may be no mutual understanding, more so because of the political differences (between President Tinubu and Governor Ahmadu Fintiri).”
Recalling that it was President Muhammadu Buhari who signed the bills establishing the two medical centres, Hon Magaji said, “We appreciate President Buhari who signed the hills into law and President Tinubu who is ensuring smooth implementation of the laws regarding the two institutions.”
Officials of the federal and Adamawa state governments had on November 29, 2024 signed the MoU for the conversion of Cottage Hospital Hong to the FMC Hong and the General Hospital Mubi into FMC Mubi.
Adamawa State is to have 32 new secondary schools under a fresh education opportunities expansion program.
The new schools will comprise 16 junior secondary schools and 16 senior secondary schools spread across the 21 local government areas.
The programme, being implemented by Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment Additional Financing Project (AGILE-AF), is in joint partnership with the Adamawa State Government, with funding from the World Bank and designed to reduce the number of out-of-school children with particular reference to girls.
The Monitoring and Evaluation officer of the AGILE-AF, Bathon Ati, said at a media roundtable on the program at the weekend that apart from the entirely new schools to be built, AGILE-AF would be renovating 1,055 secondary schools and 14 non-formal education centres and providing necessary facilities, both to make more schools conveniently available and to enhance quality.
He added that under a component of the program, families identified as being too poor to provide the basic needs of girls would be empowered.
“We are addressing the challenges, including poverty and cultural beliefs, that make girls drop out of school, so that they can have a second chance to return to school,” Ati said.
Adamawa Commissioner for Education, Dr Umar Garba, said the State Government had long paid the counterpart fund required by the World Bank and that it remains in active partnership with AGILE-AF to empower the girl child with the education that she needs for a meaningful life.
The commissioner said no girl should drop out of school permanently because of poverty, early marriage or unwanted pregnancy without opportunity for a return to school.
At least five people died following a clash between herders and farmers in Adamawa State.
The clash occurred in Waltadi District of Song Local Government Area in the early hours of Sunday, October 27, according to a witness account which puts the number of the dead at no fewer than five people.
Scores of other people were said to have received serious injuries in the clash, which also resulted in the burning many houses anf destruction of other valuable belongings.
Adamawa Police Public Relations Officer, SP Suleiman Nguroje, confirmed the clash Sunday afternoon, assuring that the situation had been brought under control.
Heightened public sensitisation is combining with dwindling personal resources to drive acceptance of family planning in homes across Adamawa State.
Many childbearing families around the state now readily present themselves to clinics offering family planning services and commodities, unlike a couple of years back when the people mostly believed in freewill procreation.
Thanks to family planning education enabled mainly by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and taken to health centres and homes in communities, long held suspicions against family planning have been quelled, leading to notable increase of people helping themselves with ways to space childbirths.
Interactions with women, men and health care workers at clinics across Adamawa State during the week confirmed this.
One of such women, Amina Salisu, said she was practically forced to submit to a family planning procedure by her husband; a sharp contrast to what initially obtained in the state when men strongly opposed the concept.
At the Gurin Health Centre in Fufore LGA, the Facility Manager, Mrs Deborah Papka, told our correspondent, “We have no problem about family planning with
A 37-Year-Old woman, Fatima Abubakar, has been arrested by the police in Adamawa State for allegedly torturing her two young stepchildren.
The children, a two-year old girl and her brother, are her husband’s kids.
Fatima, who hails from Sanda in Makama B Ward of Yola South Local Government Area, was nabbed for beating the kids for allegedly urinating and defecating in the room.
The Police said the woman, who is yet to have her biological children, has confessed to the charge.
Her act got to the police when her neighbours reported it and stressed that the woman was fond of torturing the children and not giving them food.
The neighbours told the police they were tired of the woman’s actions against the kids, especially after she told them that she had had enough of them poking their noses in her affairs.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police Suleiman Nguroje, confirmed that the woman was arrested on Saturday, following a tip-off from the concerned community members.
Nguroje said the accused would be charged to court in accordance with an order by the state Commissioner of Police, Morris Dankombo.
A pro-government street rally advocating for Nigerians to trust in the federal government and remain hopeful about the country took centre stage in Adamawa on Tuesday, October 1.
Meanwhile, the state government had cancelled its planned Independence Day rally due to security concerns.
Our correspondent gathered that by noon Tuesday, no anti-government protests had been observed anywhere in Adamawa state.
The organizers of the pro-government rally in Yola, the state capital, identified as Adamawa Concerned Youths, urged Nigerians to remain patient, acknowledging the current challenges but expressing confidence that President Bola Tinubu is actively working on solutions.
Convener of the Adamawa Concerned Youths, Yakubu Umar Girei, told newsmen: “The fiscal reforms instituted by this administration are manifesting in economic resurgence and social welfare improvements across Nigeria in various sectors.
“While the effect of some of the policies can be felt, other critical successes which cannot be seen or touched are also contributing immensely to Nigeria’s socio-economic rebirth.”
Girei said that in specific terms: “The Tinubu administration’s economic policies have doubled the aggregate government revenues to over N9.1 trillion and led to a substantial reduction in revenue spent on debt service from 97% to 68%.”
Mentioning other programmes of the government already producing results, Girei listed student loan schemes, consumer credit initiatives, and increased minimum wage, among others.
Girei said that in any case, Nigeria has progressed enough since independence to be celebrated.
He explained: “When Nigeria got its independence in 1960, save for the relics left behind by our colonial masters, Nigeria had close to zero infrastructure and social investment. In the last 64 years, Nigeria has built a robust infrastructure and invested heavily in the social service sector culminating in the establishment of educational institutions, health facilities, roads and so on.”
