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Tag: Gombe State

  • Gombe governorship aspirant promises to revive agriculture

    Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya, the governorship aspirant under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe State, has promised to revive agriculture and human capital development, if voted into office in 2019.

    Yahaya, who made this promise in an interview with newsmen in Gombe, on Sunday, said agriculture would  boost the economy and reduce dependence on the federation allocation.

    “We have to focus on human capital development and Agriculture, being an agrarian state in order to take the state to the higher level.

    “Agriculture is the backbone of the economy, where 85 per cent of our people are farmers, hence the need to focus on farmers.

    “We also have to focus on agricultural production to enhance productivity, so that it can generate industrial development.

    “Subsequently, we can begin other business activities that can make the people to invest in the private sector rather than depending on government totally,” he said.

    According to him, he is committed to the development of the state, with emphasis on women and youth empowerment, health and education.

    Yahaya said that the APC was ready to take over the state from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and urged other aspirants to support the party executive for the success of the party at all levels.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the aspirant on Saturday, presented 15 vehicles to party chairmen, including zonal chairmen across the 11 Local Government Areas.

    He also gave motorcycles to 11 Secretaries and 114 ward  chairmen during the inauguration of the APC Square named after General Muhammadu Buhari.

  • Indian Hemp cultivation: Gombe NDLEA to monitor farmlands

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA ), Gombe State Command, says it will strictly monitor farmlands in the state this farming season to ensure that no farmer cultivates Indian Hemp.

    Mr Aliyu Adole, Commander of the agency in Gombe, stated this in an interview with the newsmen in Gombe on Thursday.

    He said the measure was necessary because last year, 14 persons were caught engaging in the practice and were presently serving various terms in prison.

    Adole said that eight of those arrested came from Kulani village of Balanga while the remaining six were from Shongom Local Government Area of the state.

    Read Also: Dankwambo decries rising cases of rape in Gombe

    He advised farmers in the state to resist any temptation that would make them cultivate Cannabis Sativa ( Indian hemp ) during the 2018 faming season.

    “Anybody caught engaging in the act will face the wrath of the law; my advice to people, especially those in the rural areas who are engaged in the act, is that they should stop.

    “They should desist from planting weeds, and instead, cultivate what will benefit the entire society,” he warned.

    NAN

  • Gombe YESSO identifies 41,871 poor, vulnerable persons in 3 LGAs

    Gombe State office of Nigeria Youth Empowerment and Social Support Operation ( YESSO ) has identified 41,871 poor and vulnerable persons from three local government areas of the state to be assisted.

    Mr Melton Sundu, the Monitoring and Evaluation officer of YESSO Gombe disclosed this to the News men in Gombe on Tuesday.

    Sundu said the figure was derived from 15,342 households in Balanga Nafada and Yamaltu-Deba local government areas.

    He said out of the number identified, 12, 559 were already uploaded on its website, adding that the organisation was currently working on the remaining figures.

    He said the aim of the exercise was to obtain a single register of the poor and vulnerable persons in the state to effectively assist them.

    According to him, the programme is designed by the Federal Government in collaboration with the World Bank to address the rate of poverty among individuals and to empower the youths.

    “The register will make things easier whenever the need arises to assist them,’’ he said.

    Read Also: Dankwambo…Architect of transformed Gombe at 56

    Sundu said the organisation would soon capture the remaining eight local government areas in Gombe, to ascertain number of poor and vulnerable in the state.

    He said the organisation had also gotten number of Internally Displaced Persons ( IDPs ) in the state from the National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA ) and State Emergency Management Agency ( SEMA ).

    The monitoring and evaluation officer said the exercise was to verify and authenticate the number of IDPs in the state that would benefit from the Federal Government’s packages for those who want to go back to their homes.

    He said packages such as relocation, settlement and feeding were available to the IDPs by the state in collaboration with the Federal Government.

    “But those who do not want to go back to their respective states they are only entitled to feeding.’’

    NAN

  • Gombe residents spend N5billion annually to buy water – APC governorship aspirant

    All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Gombe state, Alhaji Jibrin Barde, has accused Governor Hassan Dankwambo of running a deceptive government in the state, saying residents of the state spends not less than N5billion annually to buy water as a result of the failure of the government to live up to expectations.

    Jibrin said as a result of the failure of the PDP government in the state, Gombe state was now a time bomb waiting to explode.

    Barde told newsmen in Abuja on Friday that the Dankwambo led PDP government in the state has mismanaged the resources accruing to the state in the seven years, while residents of the state capital spends over N5 billion annually to buy water because the state government failed to maintain the dam constructed in the state.

    According to him, the deception of the government has led to the total collapse of infrastructures, assuring that when elected, he will dedicate himself to the development of the state, adding that at the moment, every development indices you can think of have collapsed.

    He said: “I have reached the pinnacle of my carrier as a banker and it is time to give back to the society and the only way I can do that is to take the position of leadership. We have a clear vision of empowering the youths.

    “I want to ensure that governance can be done with a high corporate responsibility. The [PDP] administration is full of deception. It is a time bomb that is waiting to explode. When you have young energetic youth who are actually jobless. It is a fertile  ground for a lot of things. We need to harness these resources and that is why I have decided to join the race.

    “Our people have no access to potable drinking water, it doesn’t take the state government [anything] to maintain the dam that was constructed. The Gombe metropolis spends N5 billion annually just to buy water.

    “Our education system has completely collapsed. Some of the children do not have classes they study under the trees. The hygiene is below human standard. Our hospitals are just mere mortuaries. This totally unacceptable given the huge amount of funds the state government has received. The state has debt to the excess of N100 billion.

    “I was challenged by my 11-year-old daughter who I was taking her to school. She said now that your generation has failed and I look at her and I said ‘what do you mean?’ She said you are going to make my generation fail. It got me thinking.”

    He said further that “Leadership is about service I decided to look at that opportunity. I am seeking the flag of our party (APC) in Gombe state. Why I have decided to this is because we don’t have to sit on the fence any longer. My state consists of about 11 local governments in the north-eastern part of the country and in the last seven years, the resources that came our way has been mismanaged. All the development indices you can think of have collapsed.”

    On the ongoing reconciliation going on in the party across the country, he said “I don’t see any crisis in the party, to be honest with you. Reconciliation does not mean that there is crisis. The party is intact as far as I know. There is no division in the party. Disagreement is allowed. So it is a natural process and it healthy for a democratic process.”

  • Gombe: Tal community seek intervention on abandoned school project

    Gombe: Tal community seek intervention on abandoned school project

    The people of Tal village in Gombe state have expressed displeasure over the current state of an abandoned school project in their community.  Tal community is located in the southern part of Billiri Local Government Area of Gombe state. Majority of the residents depend on agriculture as their source of livelihood while others engage in weaving and hunting.

    The Tal school project initiated by Senator Joshua Lidani in 2016 attracted the sum of N15 million budgeted for the construction of an exam hall with furnishing at Government Day Secondary School, Tal. During a visit to the school, the principal, Mr. Maxwell Lasere mentioned that when he contacted the contractor working on the project, he was informed that funds released for the work has been exhausted and the construction would be placed on hold pending  another disbursement.

    BudgIT Tracking officers held an advocacy programme in the community and wrote a letter to the Senator which brought about a prompt response as furniture for the exam hall was delivered to the school in April 2016. However, the construction of the exam hall has not seen the light of the day since July 2016.

    Tracka is a BudgIT initiative which enables citizens to collaborate and give feedback on public projects in communities across the nation. Recently, BudgIT tracking officers revisited the project site and were shocked to find the project in its abandoned state.

    The Government Day Secondary School in Tal which has over 1000 students lack an exam hall which could ensure  proper conducts of external examinations such as WEAC and NECO.  Oftentimes,  most students are deprived of the use of their classrooms in other to make room for those sitting for examinations.  Despite continued efforts in engaging Senator Lidani on the completion of the project, nothing has been done. The community desires that the construction is completed so that students can have a conducive exam hall during examination in order to reduce the rate of exam malpractice and improve the standard of education in the area.

    It was also observed during the advocacy visit that the security level of the school is at an abysmal low as there is no perimeter fence around the school compound, making it easy for students to sneak in and out of surroundings at will.

    Apart from the absence of amenities suffered by the school, residents of Tal community are also faced with the problem of inadequate water supply. The village head, Mallam Abdullahi explained that the entire community depends on a single solar borehole for water supply. He also added that another neighboring village, Tanglang also depends on the solar borehole even as the pumping machine has become weak, working for just an hour in a day as a result of pressure. Abdullahi further noted that fights often break out  when  villages struggle to get water from the single pipe serving both communities.

    It was learnt that water scarcity has been a serious burden on the community.  Efforts at the community level to repair some of the hand pump boreholes has not been successful.

  • UNICEF wants CMAM to cover all LGAs in Gombe

    UNICEF wants CMAM to cover all LGAs in Gombe

    The United Nations Children Fund ( UNICEF ), Bauchi Field Office, on Monday urged the Gombe State Government to expand the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition ( CMAM ) to cover all local government areas.

    Mr Drissa Yeo, Officer-In-Charge, UNICEF Nigeria Bauchi Field Office, made the appeal in Gombe at a two-day states’ engagement plan development meeting for Gombe, Jigawa, Taraba, Plateau and Bauchi states.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that UNICEF defines Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) as a proven approach to manage Severe Acute Malnutrition and Moderate Acute Malnutrition in children under five.

    The approach is presently implemented in more than 70 countries of the World.
    Presently, CMAM is being implemented in only three out of the 11 local government areas in the state; namely Gombe, Dukku and Nafada.

    “I am appealing to the Gombe Government to direct expansion of implementation of the CMAM programme from three to 11 local government areas or to at least three additional LGAs,’’ Yeo said.

    The official also called on the state government to release its counterpart fund of N248 million to support nutrition in the state.

    He said the state government should look at the possibility of releasing N10 million for the 2017/2018 annual school census and maintenance of education management information servers.

    The money, according to Yeo, is also for maintenance of facilities in the state Ministry of Education and the State Universal Basic Education Board ( SUBEB ).

    He said that this was the first joint planning meeting in the state since the Federal Government and UNICEF started a new five-year programme, which is to be implemented from 2018 to 2022.

    Earlier, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr James Pisagih, said the purpose of the meeting was to enable UNICEF and other stakeholders take strategic decisions.

    Pisagih, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, General Duties, Alhaji Usman Shamaki, said their decisions would guide effective implementation of the new country engagement plan.

    “I therefore commend the UNICEF for its commitments in this regard,” he said.

    Pisagih however called on UNICEF, which had withdrawn its support for HIV intervention in the state, to reconsider its stance.

    He said that its support would facilitate total eradication of the scourge in the state.

    NAN

  • Power must shift in Gombe, says Muazu

    Power must shift in Gombe, says Muazu

    Gombe State All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Alhaji Habu Muazu spoke with reporters in Gombe, the state capital, on his chances of picking the party’s governorship ticket and wining the poll. Excerpts:

    You have started meetings and consultations with party leaders and stakeholders since last year. How would you describe their response?

    So far so good, but I want to make it very clear that I started this meetings and consultations, considering the fact that my party, APC is an opposition party in the state, and there was the need to make the party attractive to attract followers and supporters. The party cannot be attractive without being lively. So I felt the only way we can make our party lively to attract followers is by engaging party leaders, stakeholders and our supporters in series of activities,  because where there is lively activities people will always come.  That was why since early last year, apart from the usual meetings and consultations with party leaders at wards, local governments and state levels I have initiated and sponsor series of activities in collaboration with the party to bring our members together as a deliberate strategy to build and sustain APC in Gombe State. You are aware I recently gave out funds to the party to rent offices in all the electoral wards and local governments to support the reelection bid of Mr. President, we have done some rallies in support of Buhari this is all in a bid to add color and value to our party in the state. We are doing this to motivate our supporters and to give them the assurance that APC is in the state, despite not in government in the state. Politics is all about engaging the people and we cannot succeed as an opposition party without engaging the people and building the party and I thank God the people of Gombe have accepted the party and they are fully ready for change come 2019. I do all my activities in collaboration with the party because I respect party leadership and supremacy. Any aspirant that says he is disengaging himself from the party leadership is not a party man and it a dangerous trend because where you have a governor that doesn’t believe in party supremacy, it would be difficult to pull back such governor when errors are being committed. So, I subscribe to party leadership.

    These activities involve money. People are saying you have a lot of money and that’s why you started your campaign very early…

    Is not about having money but is all about sacrifice, like I told you earlier is not all about me but about building a viable party, my aspiration is secondary I cannot achieve my dreams and aspiration without having a strong platform therefore we must first of all be willing to sacrifice in building and uniting our great party in the state before we start talking of our aspiration. If is about money I am sure and you know that there are people that are also eyeing the governorship that are far richer than me. I am doing this not because I am desperate to be a governor or because I am rich, but because I believed in the vision of President Mohammadu Buhari and the APC. That is why during my meetings and consultations with party leaders I always advised them to beware of politicians that will come at the rush hour to woo them with money because if they collect such monies they are mortgaging their future and that of their children. I encourage them to assess the political antecedents of all contestants, considering their contributions to the society, humanity and the development of the party before making the decision on whom to support or vote for.

    Go and ask those that know me. They will testify to the fact that I am not doing this because I want to contest election, I am a true politician and a grassroots mobilizer, I have been accommodative and a giver right from my childhood is something that I inherited and you cannot take that away from me. Is not about having a lot of money, you can have a little and decide to share to touch lives and you can have plenty and decide to keep it to yourself, for me as a politician I value people and I care for their needs, that is why every time you come to my house you see people and I always reach out to them. That is why I do all my activities openly, I don’t wait until in the night then I call some few people and we close ourselves in a room in the name of political meetings. Politics is for the people and not a cult for a selected few. You can testify anywhere I go I engage the people and I invite the press to even cover it live, so that everyone will know what we are doing and they can ask us question.

    We have no fewer than 10 people aspiring to be next governor of Gombe State. What gives you the confidence that you will secure the APC ticket?

    Even if in the APC we have 100 aspirants, there will just be one governor. And why do we have the majo rity of the aspirants are in APC? It is because it is the platform that offers an alternative. For me, there are only two parties that can present candidates in Gombe State and they are the PDP and the APC. The PDP is shut. And why do I say so? It is because whoever will run on the platform of the PDP must have the backing of the present governor, except we are deceiving ourselves. The only platform that is open is the APC. So, you have people coming to it. My duty is to sell myself to the delegates that I have what it takes to win victory for the party.

    What do you consider as your selling points?

    Like I said earlier, I am in the APC not because of any personal gains, but because I believe in the vision and ideology of President Mohammadu Buhari, which I have always subscribed to. As a team player, I will run an all inclusive government by engaging the leadership of the party. We shall run a transparent government geared towards touching the lives of people at all level as an experience politician that has been on ground I know our people and I understand their problems more than any other aspirants. Because of my philanthropic gesture, I have initiated projects and assisted in executing projects in all the 114 electoral wards across the state, and there is no polling unit in the state that you will not meet two or more persons that know me personally. Why? Because I am touching the lives of families by giving out scholarships, buying SSCE, NECO and JAMB forms to students, apart from settling medical bills of persons that I don’t even know. And I have been doing this long before thinking of aspiring for governorship.

    Go out and investigate among all those aspiring. I am the most accessible. I have a cordial relationship with the traditional institution. I respect them and they see me as one of there own. I have a very cordial relationship with religious leaders and groups, both Christian and Muslims, that is why whenever you come to my house you see both Christian and Muslims eating together without any form of discrimination and I always tell my supporters not to antagonise or discriminate each other because of ethnicity or religion, I am working  towards uniting our party supporters not dividing them, we don’t need to bring divisive factors to destroy our party because of political competition. I have done a lot to the society that is enough to sell me to the electorates, but that is not to say that I am completely perfect but if you are to rate me with other contestants I think I can stand tall to say I am the most outstanding.

    Why do you think you can win the primary?

    I am a dogged fighter, very courageous. As a young man, I am not scared of challenges because I believe in myself. That is why I am not afraid of investing in developing the party. I am from a  respected royal family. You ask people who have interacted with me as a politician; they will tell you, I am a straightforward person and I am very honest and caring. I have also gone round the state and I don’t know any aspirant that is not taking Habu Muazu serious. I don’t need to disclose the steps I am taking to get my party ticket the most important thing is that no one can deny the fact that I am on ground and fully ready for the contest, I am not the type of politician that only show face during elections and disappear immediately after election. I am a complete politician not afraid of any form of challenges so I am ready for the contest with God on my side and with the support of the people, we shall surely be victorious. Like I mentioned earlier, my duty is to sale myself to the delegates and convinced them that I have what it takes to win victory for the party.

  • Gombe trains 3,000 health workers for measles vaccination

    Gombe trains 3,000 health workers for measles vaccination

    Gombe State Government has trained no fewer than 3,000 health personnel for measles vaccination scheduled for Nov. 30.

    Alhaji Sallau Malami, the state Health Educator, Primary Healthcare Development Agency, disclosed this in an interview on Tuesday in Gombe.

    He said that arrangements had been put in place for the success of the exercise.

    “We have trained not less than 3,000 personnel who are going to conduct that activity; they were all properly trained and qualified for the exercise,” he said.

    Malami said that campaigns were underway to enlighten people in their respective communities, especially through the use of traditional rulers, on the need to immunise their children.

    According to him, the campaign, which is in two phases, will cover six local government areas of Nafada, Funakaye, Dukku, Balanga, Billiri and Kaltungo in the first phase.

    The official said that the first phase would take place from Nov. 30. to Dec. 5.

    He said that the second phase to take place from Dec. 7 to Dec. 12 will cover the remaining council areas – Shongom, Kwami, Akko, Yamaltu/Deba and Gombe.

    Malami said that the exercise would be conducted in all health facilities, district head palaces and schools across the state.

    He called on parents to take advantage of the opportunity to immunise their children and wards against measles to reduce child mortality.

    “The vaccine is very important for every child to take, from nine months to 59 months; the vaccine is 100 per cent safe; it doesn’t have any problem.”

    NAN

  • Gombe targets 70,000 children for measles vaccination

    Gombe targets 70,000 children for measles vaccination

    Gombe State Government says it is targeting 70,000 children between nine to 59 months for vaccination against measles in the state’s inoculation exercise scheduled for Nov. 30.

    Haruna Ali-Dadinkowa, acting Director, Disease Control and Immunisation, Primary Healthcare Development Agency, made this known on Monday in Gombe that the agency was set for the exercise.

    He, however, said that the vaccination had been divided into two phases for efficacy.

    He explained that the first phase would cover six local governments from Nov. 30 to Dec. 5, while the second phase would hold in five local governments from Dec. 7 to Dec. 12.

    According to him, the exercise will be conducted in 803 vaccine centres with about seven personnel working in each centre across the state.

    He advised parents to bring their children to the centres and be immunised.

    He described measles as one of the leading causes of death, especially in children, hence the need for them to be immunised against it.

    The acting director further said that the agency had sensitised traditional rulers, religious leaders, local government council chairmen and their councillors for the success of the exercise.

    NAN

    Read Also: Gombe Bulls records first continental win

  • Gombe citizens tackle Goje for embarrassing Buhari’s family

    Gombe citizens tackle Goje for embarrassing Buhari’s family

    The Concerned Citizen of Gombe have apologised to the wife of the President and her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari over the embarrassment she encountered during her condolence visit to Gombe state.

    The President’s wife, Aisha Buhari had on Wednesday visited Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje over the demise of his wife Yelwa who passed on in the United States on November 9, 2017.

    Senator Goje at the occasion claimed on the contrary that since he was sworn in as Governor in 2011, Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo has never visited him despite deaths and other calamities that had befallen his family, even though his late wife was instrumental to the governor’s candidature.

    The Concerned Citizens said it was not the first time Goje is embarrassing the president’s family, recalling that while a CPC Presidential candidate in 2006, Goje who was then governing Gombe state on PDP platform prevented Buhari from landing at Gombe Airport by blocking the runway of under the guise of maintenance work.

    “Secondly, he (Goje) ordered the complete sealing of Pantami Stadium and spread the vicinity with latrite to prevent vehicular movements around the stadium on the scheduled day of Buhari’s campaign team arrival.

    “Thirdly, on the day Buhari was to arrive Gombe for his campaign tour, some hired thugs were positioned directly opposite the PDP Presidential campaign office along Bauchi road to stone the office immediately Buhari’s convoy arrived to portray that the office was vandalised by Buhari supporters.

    “This made Buhari believe that the destruction of PDP campaign office was caused by his supporters and he tendered an apology,” the Concerned Citizens recalled through their spokesman, AIG Abdulmumini Abubakar (rtd).

    While speaking of how Goje ended up marrying the wife of his benefactor, late Ibrahim Hassan, the group also recalled how the Senator denied Abubakar Atku the use of Gombe airport during his 2007 presidential campaign tour, despite the former Vice President’s contribution to his becoming the governor of Gombe sate in 2003.

    The Group described the acclaimed late Yelwa Goje’s approval Dankwambo’s candidate during the preparations for 2011 election as distasteful, questioning how and positing that Gombe has some explaining to do.

    The AIG Abdulmumini (rtd) led group commended Governor Dankwambo’s handling of the matter and explained that they found it expedient to react in order not to allow silence give credence to the false claims.