The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Al-Makura

  • Al-Makura sets up panel to investigate security agents’ killings

    Al-Makura sets up panel to investigate security agents’ killings

    Governor of Nasarawa State, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, on Monday said the state government would within two weeks constitute a Judicial Commission of Enquiry to investigate the massacre of 56 security personnel in Lakyo village.

    Members of the Ombatse cult had allegedly ambushed and killed 46 police officers and 10 State Security Service (SSS) agents said to have been drafted to ensure security in the village recently.

     

    Al-Makura disclosed this when the Nasarawa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Concerned Forum visited him in Lafia.

    Former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, led the PDP delegation, drawn from the three Senatorial Zones of the state.

    Adamu insisted that the state government knows the perpetrators of the crime.

    He urged the government to ensure that they were apprehended and punished to serve as a deterrent to others.

    Almakura said the unfortunate incident was both ironic and painful.

    He said: “The killing of the security officers was an irony because they were posted to the village to protect the people but they were killed.

    “It was painful because those who perpetrated the act have up till today not shown any sign of remorse.”

    He lamented that the Ombatse militia group has continued to kill and maim innocent citizens in the state since November last year.

    He added: “One would have wished that the perpetrators of this abominable act would feel sorry and show remorse.

    “But I want to assure you that the perpetrators of this criminal act would be brought to justice.

    “We will set up a Judicial Commission of Enquiry in the next two weeks to probe the unfortunate incident and anybody indicted would be prosecuted and punished according to law.”

  • Nasarawa governor seeks Canada’s assistance on education

    Nasarawa governor seeks Canada’s assistance on education

     

    Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State has solicited the assistance of the Canadian government in the development of education in the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Al-Makura made the request on Wednesday in Lafia when he met with the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Chris Cooter.

    The governor identified capacity building of teachers as an area requiring the Canadian government’s assistance as it would go a long way towards complementing his administration’s efforts at revamping the education sector.

    He said that vocational education was a priority of his administration as it would curb youth restiveness and help to create jobs.

    According to him, the state is willing to key into vocational training programmes available in Canada.

    The governor also called on Canadian investors to partner with the state government in waste management, especially at the Karu axis of the state.

    He pointed out that solid waste emanating from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was beyond the state government’s ability to manage.

    He said that waste management was a big business, calling on Canadian investors to take advantage of it in addition to other viable investments that abound in the state.

    The high commissioner condoled with the government over the recent killing of security agents, expressing hope that the culprit would be brought to justice.

     

     

  • Nasarawa Varsity to remain shut – Governor

    Nasarawa Varsity to remain shut – Governor

    Governor  Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State on Tuesday ordered that the Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), remained closed, pending the implementation of the investigative report on the students’ unrest in February.

    Al-makura made the statement in Lafia when he a received the report of the unrest that led to the death of two students.

    The state governor, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Mr Dameshi Luka, said that the university authorities did not consult with the visitor to the university before recalling the students.

    He, therefore, announced an indefinite suspension of the resumption date, pending full consideration of the report of the commission of inquiry.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the school’s senate in a statement by the registrar, Mr Dalhatu Mamman, had announced April 28 as the date for the re-opening of the institution.

    Earlier, while presenting the report, the Chairman, Dr Amin Zaigi, expressed displeasure over the re-opening of the institution, saying that investigations were still going on.

    He said, “we find it necessary to note our reservation over the re-opening of the university when we are still carrying out our work’’

  • Al-Makura explains upgrade of traditional institutions

    Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura yesterday said he upgraded some chiefdoms in good faith.

    A statement by his Special Senior Assistant on Media, Mr. Sani Mairiga, said: “Traditional institutions are the custodians of the people’s customs and traditions and must be treated with deference. The administration will continue to accord traditional rulers due recognition, honour and respect.”

    The governor said he would provide an enabling environment for monarchs to help them discharge their duties.

    He urged the traditional rulers to use their offices to promote peace and the rapid socio-economic development of their domains.

    Al-Makura advised the newly upgraded chiefdoms to view their elevation as a challenge to provide excellent services to the people.

    The governor advised them to support the government to take democratic dividends to the door steps of the people.

    Al-Makura, on December 17, approved the creation and affirmation of 10 more chiefdoms as well as the upgrade of seven more district heads.

    The approval was in pursuant to the powers under the Nasarawa State Local Government Law 2009 (as amended), the Chiefs Appointment and Deposition Law of Northern Nigeria (as applicable in Nasarawa State) and other extant conventions.

     

     

     

  • ‘Al-Makura has no reason to complain’

    An Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) stalwart in Nasarawa State, Nurudeen Omar, yesterday urged Governor Tanko Al-Makura to work for the people instead of complaining.

    Omar, who spoke with The Nation in Abuja, noted that it was unbecoming of Al-Makura to openly complain about a lack of excitement.

    He said it is wrong for the governor to hide under “enormous pressure” for his alleged non-performance.

    Being a governor, Omar said, is a privilege entrusted to him by the people of the state.

    Omar said: “How can a governor in Nigeria come out publicly to tell Nigerians that he is not excited being a governor and that there is too much pressure on him? If that is true, he should pack his load and go. He has no reason to continue to be governor of Nasarawa State. My understanding of the statement is that he is abusing the privilege of those who gave him their votes.

    “Such a statement is not supposed to come from a sitting governor. To me, the governor is simply abusing the intelligence of the average voter in Nasarawa State. Being a governor is a privilege to him and he should be proud that the electorate gave him their mandate to superintend over them.”

    The ACN chieftain urged the governor not to hide under the guise that the past administration left N29billion debt, which hampers his performance.

    He said: “Let us assume it is true that the former governor left a debt of N29billion. But has the governor told the people of the state what he has done with the money he collected from May 29, 2011 up to date? Has he told us what he collected and what he did with it? Transparency demands that he should tell the people how much he collected from Abuja and what he did with it. We don’t know what he collected. We don’t know what he did with what he collected.”

    The politician said he was pained that no development is happening in Nasarawa State.

    Omar said the governor should also tell the people what he did with the N400million the Federal Government gave the state’s flood victims.

     

  • Akwe-Doma queries Al-Makura on N4b UBEC fund

    Akwe-Doma queries Al-Makura on N4b UBEC fund

    Former Nasarawa Governor Aliyu Akwe-Doma yesterday demanded an explanation from the Tanko Al-Makura administration for an alleged disappearance of N4 billion from the state’s Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

    The funds were said to have been set aside for the construction and rehabilitation of UBE projects.

    A former Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Suleiman Ubam, who queried the whereabouts of the funds, alleged, in a statement yesterday in Lafia, the state capital, that the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) administration might have misappropriated the funds.

    He said the state government was yet to renovate a school 18 months after assuming leadership in the state, despite inheriting N4 billion from the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration.

    The statement said: “It is pertinent for me to also put on record the incontrovertible fact that the education reform programme of the Aliyu Doma administration did not only positively impact on the development and quality of education at all levels throughout the state, but also left N4 billion in NASUBEB’s coffers.”

    The Commissioner for Education Alhaji Abubakar Hussani said the SUBEB was an organisation on its own.

    The commissioner said the question should be directed to the board chairman, Alhaji Abdulkarim Mohammed.

    But Mohammed said there was nothing else for him to comment on since the governor had cleared the air on the matter, when he said he inherited an empty treasury.