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Tag: Auchi

  • 150 farmers in Auchi to get CBN loan

    150 farmers in Auchi to get CBN loan

    A total of 150 cassava farmers in Auchi, Estako West Local Government Area are set to receive loan support under the Central Bank of Nigeria Anchors Borrowers Scheme.

    Also, some Auchi youths who were recently deported from Libya have indicated interests to be registered in the schemel.

    Otaru of Auchi, HRH Alhaji Aliru Momoh, Ikelebe III donated 500 hectares of land to the cassava farmers for the success of the scheme.

    Addressing the farmers at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the farmers, CBN officials and other supporting institutions, Governor Godwin Obaseki said he has many programmes to uplift the living condition of farmers in the state.

    Governor Obaseki who was represented by his Special Adviser on Agriculture, Prince Joe Okojie, assured the farmers that tractors would soon be made available to prepare the land for the farmers.

    Obaseki noted that the decision to engage the farmers in clusters was to teach them new ways of farming in his quest seek alternative to oil.

    He said the new ways is for the farmers to see farming as a business and make good profit.

    Read Also: FG to train 100 rice farmers in Kebbi – Ogbeh

    According to him, “We have decided to teach people better ways of farming. If we are not self-sufficient in food production we are in trouble.

    “We don’t want to send you to farms without giving you the necessary tools. We can’t send people to farms without access to funding, market and high yielding species.

    “We will buy the farm products at the existing market prices. The loan is a single digit interest rate. How well you look after your farm will determine your profit.”

    Coordinator of All Farmers Association of Nigeria in the locality, Abdullahi Mohammed, said they were convinced success of the programmer as it would enable them farm without tears.

  • Auchi polytechnic students seek Buhari’s intervention over rectorship crisis

    Auchi polytechnic students seek Buhari’s intervention over rectorship crisis

    The Students of Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately intervene in solving the rectorship crisis in the institution.

    Their appeal was conveyed at a briefing in Abuja at the weekend by a former President of the Student Union Government of the institution, Samson Okoduwa.

    The students had last year staged a peaceful protest at the Federal Ministry of Education over allegations of high-handedness, mismanagement and corruption against the acting Rector, Mr. Sanusi Jimah.

    The students also urged Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu to make public the outcome of the interview conducted for the position of rector in 2016.

    They alleged that the acting Rector was running the institution as a personal office by giving appointments to his friends and cronies.

    A development a source at the institution confirmed, noting that 95 per cent of appointments made by Mr. Jimah favored people from his Auchi region.

    Okoduwa also alleged that students of the institution were not issued identity card in the 2016/2017 session despite management collecting N1,500 naira from them.

    He also alleged that the acting rector failed to conduct an election into the SUG because he wanted to impose a stooge on the students.

    According to him, Mr. Jimah deliberately fixed the SUG election immediately after the second semester examination when all students would have finished their examinations and technically seize to be students.

    Okoduwa noted that a substantive rector would save the already sinking polytechnic.

    He said: “We are again restating/re emphasizing our demand to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Hi Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency, intervene in Auchi Polytechnic rectorship issue.

    “The President should direct the Honourable Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu to as a matter of urgency release the report of the already conducted interview in 2016 at Abuja and appoint a substantive rector for the institution.

    “The delay in the release of the result/report and subsequent appointment of a substantive rector for Auchi Polytechnic is the millennium corruption.

    “The aberration in the appointment of Dr. Sanusi Momodu Jimah as acting Rector by the National Board for Technical Education ( NBTE ) should be withdrawn as the National Universities Commission ( NUC ) has never appointed a Vice Chancellor for any university.

    “This already sinking institution should be salvaged  as it requires an emergency.”

    However, the Chief Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr. Mustapha Oshiobugie, said elections into the SUG was deferred because of security reasons.

    He also said the students were issued identity cards to enable them write their second semester examinations.

    Mr. Oshiobugie said: “Election into the executive offices of the students union was deferred because of security reasons.  Departmental and school elections which preceed the union election had been successfully held in five schools.

    “There was violence in the sixth school (School of Engineering).  The reverberations could not be contained before the scheduled sessional examinations which was two weeks away.

    “To the best of my knowledge, students gain admission into examination halls on presentation of their identity cards showing that they are bona fide students of the polytechnic.  The Second Semester examination was conducted using this procedure.  And there was no incidence throughout the examination.”

  • Monarch blames Nigeria’s problem on injustice

    Monarch blames Nigeria’s problem on injustice

    The traditional ruler of Auchi, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Aliru H. Momoh, Ikelebe III, Otaru of Auchi, has said that the problems confronting Nigeria were due to injustice.

    He said leaders at all level must ensure justice to both rich and poor members of the public.

    The Otaru who charged traditional rulers across the country to administer justice in their domains to foster peace, progress and economic development said the problem militating against the country today was because injustice has been allowed to thrive.

    He spoke at the 21 Auchi Day Annual Celebration of Allah held at the Palace grounds in Edo North.

    HRH Momoh noted that traditional rulers are next to God based on their roles adding that peace would always elude any society where injustice is allowed to reign.

    According to him, “Traditional rulers are next to Almighty God because he has given us the earth to take care of and what we need to do is to ensure that justice prevails in whatever we do because justice has no boundary. Justice does not have father, brother or sister.

    “In Nigeria today, I believe justice is not applied in anything we do and that is why we are having problems. When there is injustice you will observe restlessness and that is a big problem. The nation must give justice to both the rich and the poor.

    “So, whatever we do, we must ensure that justice prevails. The problems we are facing today is because of injustice. So as traditional, we have it as our own responsibility to ensure justice is served to everyone without minding who is involved”

    Governor Godwin Obaseki urged the people to promote the culture of peace for rapid economic development of the people.

    Obaseki who was represented by the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Hon. Mariam Abubakar said the government has bent on driving the economic of the state through agriculture and that the people of the community should make effort to key into its programme.

    “We want to drive our economy through agriculture and that is why we are making lands available to farmers and giving out empowerments for people to set up their farms.

    “I thank the Otaru of Auchi for ensuring that peace reigns in Auchi Kingdom and we will continue to support Auchi Kingdom and other communities in the state in terms of development and empowerment of our women and youths”.

  • Agency to build dam in Auchi

    The Benin Owena River Basin Authority (BORBA) plans to build a dam in Auchi, Edo State, to boost irrigation, Managing Director Dr. Saliu Ahmed said yesterday.

    Ahmed, who spoke during a visit to the Otaru of Auchi, Aliru Momoh, promised to address scarcity of water.

    He said the dam waould encourage year-round farming in line with the Federal Government’s efforts of diversifying the economy through agriculture.

    Ahmed added that it is also to ensure food security.

    He said the authority was targeting 10,000 hectares for irrigation, adding that the farm mode will involve cropping, aquaculture, animal husbandry, agricultural processing and marketing.

    The managing director pledged that the authority will intervene in water scarcity in Auchi by rehabilitating facilities within the municipal water infrastructure.

    He said: “God willing, beginning from this year, the Benin Owena River Basin will intervene in water problem in Auchi.

    “Potable water scarcity in this kingdom will be reduced through the expansion of head works and extension of reticulation lines,” Ahmed noted.

    He said the authority’s mandate was to build dams and irrigation systems, provide potable water, manage surface and underground water and provide rural infrastructure.

    “The medium term strategy of Benin Owena River Basin Development Authority is to increase arable land with irrigation facilities for an all year cropping, thus creating jobs for people who will directly and indirectly be involved in farming.”

    The BORBA boss stressed that river basins should provide facilities to make people embrace agriculture.

    The Otaru thanked the managing director and his team for the visit and promised the support of his subjects.

  • Auchi Polytechnic joins ASUP nationwide strike

    Auchi Polytechnic joins ASUP nationwide strike

    Members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic ( ASUP ) in Federal Polytechnic, Auchi in Edo State on Monday paralysed academic activities in the institution by joining in the nationwide strike called by the national leadership of the body.

    Lecture halls and offices were under lock and key when our reporter visited the campus.

    Some graduating students that were on campus for project supervision were seen leaving the campus.

    The leadership of ASUP commenced the nationwide strike to protest the non-implementation of its CONTISS 15 migration arrears, non-commencement of renegotiation of ASUP/Government agreement of 2010 and the delay in the review of the Federal Polytechnics Act, amongst other issues.

    Chairman of the Auchi Polytechnic Branch of ASUP, Mr. Justin Momodu, said his members complied with the national directive to proceed on the strike action

    Momodu said, “The Auchi branch of ASUP have complied with strike because the Federal Government has refused to meet our demands.

    “Government has not demonstrated that it is prepared to honour its agreement with ASUP.

    “We have demonstrated enough patience and if government fails to meet our demands we will remain on total trike,” he said.

    The Chairman Strike Implementation Monitoring Committee, Mr George Okosun said the committee was set up to enforce the strike.

    “This committee is set up to ensure that no lecturers or academic activities is taking place at the polytechnic.

    “Our aim to shut down lecture halls and office are closed down for any academic activities,” he said.

    Okosun said that the committee would continue to go round the institution to ensure lecturers complied with the strike directive.

  • Ex-union leader, rector clash over SUG election

    The immediate past president of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi (AUCHI POLY) in Edo State, Samson Okoduwa, has called on the institution’s management to allow students hold elections into the union.

    He said there were plans by management to impose a caretaker committee on students when there was no crisis in the union.

    Activities of the union were suspended last month over alleged threat to the second semester examination.

    The institution’s spokesman, Mustapha Oshiobugie, said the proscription of SUG activities followed threat by the Okoduwa-led executive to disrupt the examination to protest management’s postponement of union elections till after the examination.

    Okoduwa said the union’s proscription was uncalled for, accusing the management of a plot to impose its preferred candidates against students’ wish.

    The former SUG leader urged the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to prevail on the school to stop what he called militarisation of the campus with local hunters, vigilante groups, police and military men from the 195 Battalion of the Nigerian Army.

    The Monday protest at the school, he said, is to remind the management of the pending SUG election.

    Okoduwa said: “There has been no problem in the union. The students protested on Monday because we told them the dangers of writing examinations without a new elected SUG leadership in place. The students came out, but the Acting Rector used police, hunters and local vigilante to suppress the protest. Many students were injured in the protest. As we speak, there is no identity card for the students, even after each student paid N1,500 for the card.”

    The Acting Rector, Dr Sanusi Jimah, said plans were on to gear to start the issuance of ID cards to students. He denied the school wanted to impose caretaker committee on the students, saying Okoduwa refused to submit names for the constitution of electoral committee members, because he was on the run for embezzling the union fund.

    Jimah said: “Other departmental and faculty elections have been held successfully, except for the School of Engineering. We have brought up schedule for examination when we saw a letter that there would be no examination without election. Okoduwa brought armed boys to the school on Sunday. On Monday morning, he went to the hall to stop examination. He insulted me and I didn’t care when I tried to call him to order.

    “The disruption happened only at the ICT. Others were writing examinations. The police arrested him and left him to write examination. We suspended SUG activities for the now until after examination.”

     

  • Be patient with Buhari – Obaseki 

    Be patient with Buhari – Obaseki 

    Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has urged Nigerians to be patient with the federal government of Nigeria as President Mohammadu Buhari tries to salvage the country destroyed by the past leadership of the country.

     

    Governor Obaseki spoke at the 24th convocation ceremony of Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State where a total of 18,010 graduands for the award of Post Higher Diploma, Higher National Diploma.

     

    Represented by his Deputy, Comrade Philip Shaibu, Governor Obaseki said his administration understands the importance of technical education as the bed rock of any developed countries.

     

    This, he noted, was the reason the present administration is investing more in revamping moribund technical colleges across the state.

     

    Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, urged tertiary institutions in the country to focus more on technical and  entrepreneurial courses in their institutions for job creation.

     

    Mallam Adamu who was represented by Mr. Ekpenyong Ekpenyong, Director, Physical Planning and Development, National Board for Technical Education, said youths in né country must be encouraged to key into entrepreneurial study rather than seeking for the scarce white collar jobs.

     

    Adamu admonished the various institutions of learnings to embark on more research that will turn the fortune of the country around.

     

    State Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Emmanuel Kachukwu, said it was difficult for the present administration to meet job demands in the county because past administration plunged the country into hardship as result of poor management and embezzlement of public funds making it.

     

    He said, “I have seen a lot of money taken away by the past administration and because of this, the present administration is trying to revive the economy.

     

    “There is no money to establish industries to absorb them. Our youths are now roaming the streets. And when they do, we are not safe. We must engage the youth and for we to overcome all these challenges, our institution of learnings must incorporate entrepreneurial and technical courses in their curriculum”, he said.

     

    On the part of the former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh, while blaming the past administration for failing to save for the future, charged the graduands to cultivate the culture of saving for the future to avoid the mistakes of the past governments.

     

    “The youth in Nigeria today, they lack understanding, for instance, when the last administration was there, we have to save money for the rainy day but we failed to do so. We ate the future in the present. Now you know, the present is today but yesterday, was the present. So yesterday, looking at today, we are looking at the future. All of you here, all your entitlements, you sat down and ate it. 

     

    “All of you who were growing up, what we should have done to empower you, we did not do. Today, you are deprived. Obasanjo left money, Yar’ Adua left money and Jonathan inherited the money but unfortunately by the time he left, we have eaten the money and not Jonathan that ate the money but people ate the money”, he said.

     

    The event climaxed with the conferment of Auchi Polytechnic Fellowship Awards on the Hon. Minister of Petroleum (State), Dr. Ibe Emmanuel Kachukwu and the Hon Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amenchi.

  • Killer teenager begs for life

    Killer teenager begs for life

    A 19-year boy, Lawrence Uyimwen, who confessed to have killed some of his rival cultists, has said he needed a second chance at life.

    Lawrence who was paraded at the Edo State Police Command said he joined Junior Eiye fraternity at the age of 17 at Auchi, Estako West local government.

    He said he killed his victim like chicken because they first attacked members of his cult group.

    Lawrence who spoke boldly about his exploits as a cultists said he carried out the killings because he was ordered by the number one man in the gang.

    His words, “My name in the cult world is K-fisher. I was ordered to kill people by our leader called Slice. I was thought how to shoot by one boy called Biggie.

    “The other cult group attacked us and we retaliated. Biggie gave me the guns I used on my victims.

    “I have killed two persons. I killed them at Ekiadolor and Isihor. They were boys and cultists. It is our number one man, Slice, that gave the order to kill. My name in the cult world is Kfisher. I was given the name the day I was initiated. My parents did not know I am a cultist. My mother felt bad I joined cult group.

    “I will be happy if I am given a second chance to repent of my sins.”

     

  • Aberration in FedPoly, Auchi

    SIR: I call on the authorities to intervene in the on-going recommendation of an unqualified acting Rector of the Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi to the position of a substantive Rector by the newly constituted Governing Council of the institution.

    In November 2015, an advert was placed in a national daily declaring the position of Rector, Auchi Polytechnic vacant. On the expiration of the tenure of immediate past Rector, Dr. P. Idogho in February, 2016, Engr. J. Buraimah (Deputy Rector Academic and indigene of Auchi) was appointed to act pending when a new Rector would be appointed.

    Then applicants were invited after which qualified persons were shortlisted. After a lot of petitions based on the shortlisting process, an interview was finally conducted for all the applicants (shortlisted and not shortlisted) on the July 14, 2016.

    To the disappointment of the polytechnic community and contrary to all known procedures, Dr. Sanusi Momodu Jimah, an indigene of Auchi, was appointed as acting Rector not by the minister of education as the usual practice but by the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Dr. M Kazaure to take over from Engr. Buraimah (who had acted for a year) after the committee set up by the ministry of education to appoint a new rector conducted its job and made the three recommended persons known to the Presidency.

    It is of interest to note that the said Dr. Jimah who has now been imposed on Auchi Polytechnic, is not even qualified for the office of the acting Rector since the Deputy Rector, (Administration) and Deputy Rector, (Academics) are on ground. The irony of it all is that Dr. Jimah  who was rated 14th out of  a total 26 lecturers that were interviewed by the panel in 2016 has been recommended by the new Governing Council of the polytechnic for the substantive post in their inaugural meeting held on June 19.

    It is shameful and makes mockery of laid down rules and procedures in academics that an unqualified person be appointed in acting capacity to pave the way for substantive appointment soon after. This substitution of merit with ethnicity is fraudulent by any standard and this arrangement may result in the polytechnic losing her accreditation anytime soon.

    Let the confirmation of the substantive rector be based on the recommendation of the report of the interview conducted by the Ministry of Education without any further delay to pave the way for the appointment of a qualified and merited person just as it done in the case of Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State and others. A stitch in time saves nine. The timely action of the presidency on this matter will save us an unimaginable damages it might cause the educational system.

     

    • Paul Lucky Irabor,

    Auchi, Edo State.

  • Auchi monarch tasks community on agriculture

    Auchi monarch tasks community on agriculture

    The Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji Aliru H. Momoh, has advised people in his domain to embrace agriculture for economic self reliance and boost food production in the country.

    The monarch gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo.

    Momoh said that no fewer than 200 women farmers in the Kingdom have been encouraged to key into the Federal Government agricultural revolution policy towards achieving national food security. The Otaru said the zeal by the women from an agrarian community was to boost food production and ensure food security within the locality.

    He said the traditional council had enjoined all the 25 village heads in the kingdom to encourage their wards towards going back to agriculture.

    “We are asking everybody to start planting groundnut; Auchi has a product which is groundnut, and we are now saying everybody should go and grow groundnut.

    “Even my wife has her own farm, by virtue of that policy, we encourage the women to farm and trade,” he said.

    The Otaru assured that the traditional council had created the enabling environment conducive for investment in agriculture in the communities.

    He further disclosed that the traditional council had donated 5,000 hectares of land as part of the community’s effort to support the federal government agricultural revolution.

    He said the hectares of land were meant for crops such as groundnut, maize, cassava and other economic crops.

    “We have allocated some hectares of land to the Federal Government for the planting of cashew, cassava, maize and groundnut, and we are expecting them to come and inspect the land,’’ said Momoh.

    Besides, the monarch disclosed that the community had disbursed N5 million to some women farmers to engage in petty trade due to attacks on them by herdsmen.

    “Because of the Fulani herdsmen issue, we gave out some money to farmers to ease them off from the threat of Fulani herdsmen who threaten them in the farm,” he said.

    The traditional ruler assured residents that the traditional council was already working with security agencies, including the local vigilance group and hunters, to arrest the situation and make the farms safe for cultivation.