The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Aliyu

  • UNESCO, Aliyu, Onu, others pay tributes to Achebe

    UNESCO, Aliyu, Onu, others pay tributes to Achebe

    THE late Prof. Chinua Achebe was the toast yesterday as speakers eulogised the master storyteller at a symposium in Abuja.

    He was hailed for his contributions to the development of African literature and nation building.

    It was at a symposium in his honour organised by the Chinua Achebe Transistional Committee at the International Conference Centre, Abuja with the theme: The Life, Time and Works of Chinua Achebe: Lessons for Nigeria.

    Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) President Prof. Remi Raji said the Federal Government should retrieve the original manuscript of Things Fall Apart.

    He said: “Since 2008, the original script of Things Fall Apart was said to be whisked away to Cameroon by a core scholar who found his way into Achebe’s place and was given this manuscript. Perhaps he died in transit or didn’t return the script deliberately it is not known yet. Nigerian government should make efforts to retrieve and properly situate it in Nigeria’s archival context to immortalise the great man.”

    While describing the late Achebe as a “sturdy voice in a problematic state”, Raji urged Igbo scholars to translate Things Fall Apart into Igbo language.

    United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Representative in Nigeria Mrs. Hazzana Aliduo said as part of its contribution to immortalise the literary legend, the body would work with ANA to translate the books of the sage into several other languages, including Igbo.

    Mrs. Aliduo said: “We believe in UNESCO that works of our giants like that of Prof. Chinua Achebe should be documented and translated into languages which can be easily accessible by others from other cultures.”

    Niger State Governor Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu, represented by his Commissioner for Information, Prof. Mohammed Yahaya Kuta, praised the late Achebe’s unwavering commitment to nation-building and the common man, especially his kinsmen – the Igbo people. While describing Achebe’s death as a monumental loss, he urged leaders to borrow a leaf from the exemplary life of the author.

    Kuta said: “While alive, Chinua Achebe fought, albeit subtly, for the enthronement of normative values and ethical conduct in the national polity. Achebe was to spend the rest of his time fighting the forces, which are too often given to enlightened self-interest and sentiments than the common good and ethical conduct. Nothing is more characteristic of Chinua Achebe’s life than the measured and self-righteous way he approached Nigeria’s national issues.”

    Kuta urged writers to follow in the late Achebe’s footsteps by standing for truth and justice.

    “Note that it is not yet Uhuru. Writers should pick up some of our development challenges,” he said.

    Former Abia State Governor Ogbonnaya Onu said the late Achebe was a politician-activist who reeled in pain over the state of the nation, adding that the author believed Nigeria’s potential was under-explored.

    Award-winning poet Tanure Ojaide said Achebe did not need a foreign body, such as the Swedish Academy of Nobel Prize for Literature, to affirm his excellence in Africa.

    He said: “Things Fall Apart was written to chastise the imperialists, so they may not have been happy with him.”

     

  • 2015 : I can’t be neutralised, says Aliyu

    2015 : I can’t be neutralised, says Aliyu

    NIGER State Governor Babangida Aliyu was in his usual element yesterday. He promised to remain outspoken no matter what the powers-that-be do, to silence him.

    “As for me, no one can neutralise me by the grace of God who created me,” the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF), said yesterday.

    He was apparently referring to moves by some top political office holders to gag their perceived political enemies as the 2015 general elections draw near.

    Addressing some youths yesterday in Minna, the state capital, Aliyu said nobody can stop or frustrate him for as long as he is doing the right thing.

    The NSGF has been unsparing in his comments on national issues, some of which brought him on collision course with the Presidency and his ruling party, said no amount of moves could neutralise him.

    “People will abuse you, people will call you names no matter what you do; and even if they don’t know how to get at you, they will wait when there is a competition (election) to get you down if they can’t get you to their side

    Aliyu cautioned his colleagues (state governors) and other political office holders to keep their books and records right to avoid the use of such documents against them by their political opponents.

    His counsel: “Try to do the right thing, keep your records right so that when they come, you can show them the books then no one will be able to hold you.”

  • Aliyu decries food importation

    Aliyu decries food importation

    Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu yesterday decried the nation’s dependence on food importation to feed its teeming population, despite the abundant human and natural resources across the land.

    He said it is abnormal for a nation with 70 per cent of its population being farmers to still import foodstuffs.

    Speaking at the beginning of the training of 300 youths and women in modern livestock and fish farming in Minna, the state capital, Aliyu stressed the need to improve the agricultural sector across the country.

    He noted that Nigeria can only produce a million metric tonnes of rice instead of the 7 million metric tonnes needed for the nation’s consumption.

    Aliyu said: “In America, less than two per cent of the population is made up of farmers. Yet, they are exporting food. But in Nigeria, 70 per cent of our population is made up farmers. Yet, we are still importing food.

    “Nigeria needs 7million metric tonnes of rice but we can only produce 1 million metric tonnes; 98 per cent of the milk we consume in this country is imported. Whatever we are doing is a disappointment. We have the cows but our way of raising them does not allow us to have good milk and meat.”

    The governor explained that rice-producing states, especially Niger, have the capacity to produce the needed metric tonnes for the country, if things are properly done and adequate facilities are provided.

    He maintained that the nation’s dreams cannot be actualised until Nigerians learn to protect what they have.

    “Let’s try to build Nigeria so that we will all be proud to be called Nigerians and be described as Nigerians,” Aliyu said.

  • Aliyu dissociates self from Lamido/Amaechi posters

    Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu yesterday dissociated himself from the presidential campaign posters of two governors: Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa).

    The governors’ posters have been flooding parts of Minna, the state capital, since Sunday.

    The posters show Lamido as a presidential candidate and Amaechi his running mate. The posters were seen on Sunday on some public buildings in the state capital.

    Aliyu has denied any link with the posters.

    In a statement in Minna by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, the government said neither Aliyu nor the state government was serving as the campaign agent for the governors.

    Describing the posters as the handiwork of political jobbers, the government urged the public not to link the posters to it or any government official.

    The statement reads: “Those who pasted the posters are neither agents of the state government nor that of the governor; they also do not have the sympathy of government or any of its officials.”

    The statement added that the state government would always respect the decision of the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has banned all forms of campaign ahead of the 2015 general elections.

     

  • … Aliyu asks north to get involved

    … Aliyu asks north to get involved

    THE Chairman, Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), Dr. Babangida Aliyu, said yesterday that the north should get actively involved in finding a solution to the Boko Haram insurgency.

    This, according to him, can be done if the states affected by the insurgency initiate contacts with the sect as soon as possible to prepare the ground for the smooth take-off of the federal government’s planned amnesty for the sect members.

    The Niger State governor spoke in Minna while declaring open the 24th Conference of Northern States Speakers Forum.

    He argued that the planned amnesty is no automatic solution to the security challenge in the country but only an opportunity to open discussion with the sect.

    He said the reported rejection of the amnesty offer by Boko Haram should not discourage government in any way.

    He said the development has only widened the scope for discussion.

    ‘’I think when people hear amnesty, they think it is something that is the solution to the security challenges. No, it is just a process. It is like say come and let us discuss. All what you have done, I am not going to look at that. But people think by amnesty the problem is solved, no,’’ he said.

    ‘’Because somebody says they are rejecting amnesty we are discouraged. No. It is part of the negotiation, it is raising the ante so that discussion will take place.’’

    He commended the Borno State government for setting up a committee on amnesty for members of the sect.

    He added: “We must not keep waiting for the Abuja people to come to our aid. Every state government facing security challenges should brace up and tackle the challenges.”

    He lamented that insecurity has further worsened the economy of the region and if nothing is done immediately the economy will crumble completely.

    Aliyu advised lawmakers to take advantage of their position as the most powerful arm of government to be up and doing in making law for the peace and stability of the country.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Niger: Aliyu appoints Hassan Nuhu as SURE-P Director-General

    Niger: Aliyu appoints Hassan Nuhu as SURE-P Director-General

    Gov Babangida Aliyu of Niger has appointed Malam Hassan Nuhu as Director-General of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) Agency in the state.

    A statement signed by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, said the Director-General would ensure effective and timely implementation of projects to be executed with SURE-P funds.

    It said the agency would pursue people-oriented programmes to improve the quality of life of the people in line with the state’s vision of becoming one of the top three economies in the country by the year 2020.

    The governor had on Tuesday announced that part of the monies in the SURE-P account would be used to facilitate job creation for unemployed youths.

    According to the statement, Nuhu’s appointment takes immediate effect.

  • Aliyu praises APC governors for visit to Borno

    Aliyu praises APC governors for visit to Borno

    FOR daring to converge on Maiduguri, Borno State headquarters of the deadly Boko Haram sect, the governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday got a pat on their back.

    Governors of the five Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)-controlled states, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) were hosted in Maiduguri last week by their Borno counterpart.

    It was the second of such parley after the maiden edition was hosted in Lagos by Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    Chairman of Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu, said the governors displayed rare courage by meeting in the sect’s stronghold.

    According to Aliyu, the governors’ action has not only demystified the myth surrounding the fundamental group but proved that the situation in the Borno State capital was not as bad as being portrayed.

    The NSGF chair said the planned visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the state today will permanently open the state to other people and correct all misgivings about the state.

    Aliyu gave the commendation while hosting Maj-Gen Baba Gana Mohammed Monguno, the new Commander of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) of the Nigerian Army at the Government House, Minna.

    According to Aliyu, the governor’s visit to Maiduguri was a sign that the battle against terriorism would soon be over, noting that the APC governors braved all odds by visiting the Borno State capital.

    Describing the visit as a watershed, Aliyu said the visit afforded the governors’ an opportunity to have a better understanding of the situation in the Northeast state.

    He said: “I commend some colleague governors who visited Maiduguri some few days ago. Their visit and movement around the city made people to understand that things are not as bad as they are portrayed.

    “We at the Northern States Governors’ Forum have set up committees to look at the situation in Maiduguri and we are making progress with the report.

    ‘’I heard that President Goodluck Jonathan is going to visit Maiduguri on Thursday. It is a very good decision because with the President’s visit, Maiduguri will be opened to people who have been afraid to visit the place.”

    Aliyu suggested that more attention should be paid to intelligence gathering.

    He said: “We need to understand the society so that once we have intelligence report, we will be able to move and preempt those that want to destroy the society.”

    Acknowledging the high level of discipline and intellectualism in the military, the governor called for a strenghtened civil/military relations in order to infuse discipline into the society, stating that the nation needs the discipline of the military and its method of fighting corruption.

    “The military structure is based on discipline which is almost missing in the society. We need this discipline so that it can be transferred to the civil society,” he said.

    He urged the Nigerian Army high command to pay attention to TRADOC as it is the intelligence of the army, adding that he wants a situation where the research and findings of TRADOC are quoted everywhere to attract more relevance.

    He pledged his administration cooperation with the TRADOC chief to ensure that the peace and security of the state is maintained.

    Maj-Gen Mougudu assured the governor that the Command will engage in the sustenance of the peace and security of the state

     

  • 2015: Presidency can’t gag me, says Aliyu

    2015: Presidency can’t gag me, says Aliyu

    Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) Chairman Babangida Aliyu yesterday alleged that agents of the Presidency were attempting to gag him.

    He spoke while hosting the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), led by its leader, Comrade Ibrahim Aliyu in Minna.

    The Niger State governor said: ‘’One cannot make a statement on national issue without people reading meaning to it. They blackmail and accuse you that such statements were made because of one’s presidential ambition.’’

    Aliyu had, in a radio interview, said President Goodluck Jonathan signed an agreement with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) goevrnors that he would serve one term in office and lacked the moral right to vie for the seat in 2015.

    Aliyu said the move to gag him was too late, adding that politics “is about talking”.

    He added: ‘’In politics, you must keep talking, especially when you have ideas on how to improve the lots of the people. It is only those who lack ideas that will not not.’’

    Aliyu advised all elected leaders to be open to constructive and meaningful criticism.

    The governor said: “Anybody who subjected himself or herself to election process must be willing to listen to the complain of his people. Nobody is so autonomus that he or she will not have dealings with others.’’

    The NULGE National President blamed the insecurity and increased social vices in the country on the crippling of local government administration by some state governors.

    The NULGE leader said: ‘’All the crises and insecurity being experienced in the country today are results of bad goverance by some state governors who have hijacked the local government administration, rendering it ineffective and incapacitated to discharge its satutory responsibility, which led to breakdown of law and order in some states in particular and the country in general.’’

    He vowed that the union would save the local government system from the “hands of corrupt and inept leaders”, adding that the local governments were handicapped by some governors.

     

  • Aliyu appoints SSG, HOS

    Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, has announced the appointment of a new Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Head of Service (HOS) and Chief of Staff (COS).

    The appointment is in line with the reshuffling of Aliyu’s exco.

    A statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, said the governor has appointed a former Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Idris Saidu Ndako, as the new SSG. The Permanent Secretary of the Niger State Law Reform Commission, Abbas Bello, a lawyer, has been appointed as the new HOS.

    The new COS, Government House, Mr. Joshua Bawa, was the Director-General in charge of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Office. A former member of the Niger State House of Assembly, Mohammed Saba Usman, has been appointed as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Governor’s Office.

    According to the statement, the changes are made to strengthen and reposition the Governor Aliyu administration for enhanced service delivery and attainment of Vision 20: 2020.

  • Our grouse with Bill, by Governor Aliyu

    Our grouse with Bill, by Governor Aliyu

    CHAIRMAN of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) Babangida Aliyu on August 24, 2012, hinted of plans by governors in the North to reject the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    According to him, the Bill is intended to take care of the Niger Delta alone.

    He said the Forum raised a Committee, chaired by Ahmed Mosur to study the proposed bill and its implications for the people in the North.

    The committee was given a mandate to submit its report within 90 days.

    Aliyu, who doubles as the governor of Niger State, said the Forum have identified many provisions in the draft bill that are detrimental to the people of the region.

    Speaking on August 24, last year, when he hosted royal fathers in the state who paid him a Sallah visit at his residence, Aliyu said the people of the zone would need to study the bill before taking a position on it, noting that they had noticed “many things” that will affect them negatively and that those things needed to be discussed.

    He had said: “We need to understand how to approach our members in the national and state assemblies. When issues like that come up, we need to discuss it so that the interest of our people who elected us will be protected.”

    One of the sore points for Northerners is the granting of more powers to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, which is recommended in the proposed bill.

    If passed as it is, the minister will also become the chairman of the boards of plum parastatals in the ministry, as well as the boards of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), the National Petroleum Assets Management Corporation and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF).

    Furthermore, under the terms of the bill, the drafting of which was supervised by the Petroleum Resources Minister Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke with President Goodluck Jonathan, the minister will directly supervise the Petroleum Technical Bureau and the Upstream Petroleum Inspectorate, and recommend its officials for appointment.

    Besides, the North is angry at a provision for the setting up of a Petroleum Host Community Fund (PHCF) to which all oil companies will pay 10 per cent of their profit from upstream activities.

    An unidentified politician from the North was quoted as saying: “This section will make several billions of Naira available for the development of the Niger Delta, in addition to the funds provided to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ministry of Niger Delta.

    “You can see that the country is finished. That bill is meant to take care of the people of Niger Delta alone. We won’t support it.”