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Tag: Jigawa

  • 54 teachers posted to Hadejia zone – Director

    No fewer than 54 teachers recently employed by the Jigawa Government have been posted to the Hadejia Zonal Education Office of the state.

    The Zonal Director of Education, Alhaji Muhammad Ado, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Hadejia on Tuesday.

    According to Ado, the posting will address the current shortage of teachers in the zone.

    He said the state had also established five additional senior day secondary schools to add to the existing 23 in the eight local government areas of the zone.

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    He also noted that the move would enhance greater access to education and create conductive atmosphere for learning.

    The director, however, cautioned principals and headmasters in the zone against soliciting for school fees from students.

    ” I want to use this medium to remind heads of schools that the free education policy of this administration is still in operation; therefore, soliciting for money from students in whatever guise is a serious

    ” Any head of school found receiving levy from students will face disciplinary action,” he warned.

  • What FG must do to address dearth of healthcare professionals

    Prof. Usman Ahmed, Provost, College of Health Sciences, Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa, says Nigeria must establish Federal University of Health Sciences in six geo-political zones to address inter-disciplinary rivalry and dearth of healthcare professionals.

    Ahmed, who is also a Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Salford, Manchester, Britain, make this known on Friday in Abuja.

    He noted that basic sciences were the same, saying: “You can train up to 10 different healthcare professions in the same class.

    “Right from the word go in their training, they will begin to realize everybody’s importance and begin to work as a team even as students.

    “You can have an inter-disciplinary team and a discipline related team working together. That way, you will forever have harmony in the health sector.’’

    According to him, the suggested universities of health sciences should be under a National University of Health Sciences University Commission, and not the National Universities Commission (NUC).

    “Because NUC is currently training healthcare professionals particularly doctors without any reference to what the country needs.

    “There is no conversation between ministries of health and education in the training of healthcare professionals and that is why we are where we are today,’’ he said.

    To further address the shortage of health professionals and enhance equitable distribution of health workers, the don suggested the establishment of National Health Workforce Commission.

    Ahmed said the proposed National Health Workforce Commission should be a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Health.

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    He added the proposed commission would monitor the training of health workers and ensure equitable distribution of healthcare professionals in the country.

    Ahmed lamented that National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as it was currently composed was not the way Nigeria should be marching towards realizing Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

    He said there was a need to change the narrative at NHIS as well as the way Federal Ministry of Health was going about achieving UHC.

    In this regard, Ahmed also suggested the establishment of National Health Service through modification of the NHIS Act, adding the proposed agency will provide mandatory and compulsory public funded health services.

    He added that the proposed National Health Service should be funded through public fund and certain percentage of government revenue, adding that every worker from either public or private sector should contribute to the service.

    “Government should use at least two per cent of the annual tax every year to cover older people, who are 60 years and above, and those who are not working and cannot afford to contribute.

    “It should start by covering essential services which are easily define in the details of the SDGs particularly goals number three (health and well being) the commonest conditions that affect all Nigerians,’’ he said.

    He added that on top of the basic healthcare coverage, there should be a private insurance coverage for those who want more additional coverage.

    Ahmed said the private health insurance providers should be the current HMOs.

    He said that the HMOs should be given licence to operate as private health insurance providers licensed by the proposed national health insurance service.

    Ahmed said NHIS as it was currently composed could not be the proposed National Health Service but the NHIS could be transformed into that.

    “Part of the transformation means modifications and amendment to the NHIS Act and the National Health Act 2014,’’ Ahmed said.

  • 900 PDP members defect to APC in Jigawa

    No fewer than 900 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaugama Local Government Area of Jigawa on Monday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Receiving the defectors in Kaugama, the State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan, urged them to work for the party’s victory in the 2019 general elections.

    “Your defection to APC shows that this party is becoming stronger and stronger as we approach the general elections,” he said.

    The council’s APC Chairman, Alhaji Yusuf Ubali, commended the defectors for their decision, saying that the party’s doors were still open for more defectors.

    Read Also: Suspect held for attacking APC defectors

    “We will do justice to anyone who has joined the APC or interested in joining the party,” he said.

    Ubali thereafter appealed to the APC members who lost in the recent party primaries to be patient, assuring that the party leaders would reward them for their loyalty.

    Responding on behalf of the defectors, Alhaji Sale Marke and Alhaji Baffa Yusuf, thanked the party leaders for their hospitality and pledged to be law abiding members.

    Marke and Yusuf were close allies of the PDP’s Jigawa Northeast Senatorial candidate, Sen. Ubali Shitu.

  • Police arrests robbery gang leader, members in Jigawa

    The Jigawa state police command smashed a gang of armed robbers, arrested the gang leader and three other members whom were terrorizing of Gwaram local government in Jigawa state and some parts of Bauchi state.

    Parading the suspected criminals on Tuesday at the state’s police headquarter, the police commissioner in the state, Bala Zama Senchi represented by the command’s public relations officer, SP Abdu Jinjiri said “in one of the operations of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) of the command, four notorious armed robbers wee arrested in Gwaram local government area”.

    The commissioner explained that “a team of policemen attached to F-SARS Dutse arrested one Sa’adu Sulaiman of Yafi village in Gwaram local government area who was suspected to be a criminal, in the course of interrogation Sa’adu confessed to be a member of armed robbers who took parts in some armed robbery operations in the area”.

    According to him “Their gang was responsible for the armed robbery attacks at Rambazau village where they collected N975,000, Yadda village where they collected N150,000 and a new Bajaj motorcycle and Sara town where N2 million was collected from an Igbo trader”.

    Read Also: ICRC confirms death of abducted midwife

    Senchi maintained that those arrested includes the gang leader identified as Moh’d Shehu alias Dunkule, Bature Lawan and Isa Babba.

    He added that “while Malam Niga, Ibrahim, Sale Kaduna, Yellow Nafara and Maiunguwa all of various addresses in Jigawa and Bauchi states are still at large”.

    The PPRO stated that two locally made Dane-guns where recovered, as efforts are being intensified to apprehends the fleeing other gang members and recover their two operational AK 47 rifles.

  • Five die in Jigawa auto crash

    No fewer than five persons have died in an auto crash involving three cars along Birninkudu-Kano road in Birninkudu Local Government Area of Jigawa.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident occurred at about 7 p.m. on Sunday at Kwanar Gangare.

    When contacted, SP Abdu Jinjiri, Jigawa Police Command spokesman, confirmed the incident.

    He said that an articulated vehicle and three other cars were involved in the accident.

  • ‘Government unfair to Jigawa flood victims’

    Senator Ubali Shtitu (Jigawa North East) has accused the Federal Government of being unfair to flood victims in the state because of its refusal to release emergency relief materials despite their critical condition.

    Ubali, who addressed reporters yesterday at the Dutse International Airport, said despite massive votes Buhari got from the state in 2015, the Federal Government declared four states as food-prone but exempted Jigawa.

    According to him, over 35 people had died, hundreds of houses submerged, while thousands of farmland was washed away in the flood, but President Buhari kept mute and did not even sending a sympathy message to the people of Hadejia and Jigawa.

    He said: “I told you Buhari is running an incapable and biased government, masses and less privilege people are not his concern, he is rather good in deceiving Nigerians.”

    The senator also accused Governor Muhammad Badaru of not taking appropriate measures to reduce the damages.

    “While at state level, the government is also not serious over the matter as it neglected the victims by giving them Garri, groundnut-cake and one piece of noddles,” Ubali added.

    He sympathised with the victims and urged the people to support their move of toppling the APC-led government by voting the PDP in 2019.

  • Flood: Monarch weeps as town go under water

    The District Head of Auyo in Jigawa, Alhaji Umar Baffa, wept openly on Saturday over the devastation caused by flood in Auyo town and other villages in the district.

    Baffa, who holds the title of Sarkin Auyon Hadejia, said at his palace that the flood, caused by the overflow of Hadeja-Jamaare River, completely submerged the town and neighbouring communities.

    “Three of my people died and properties worth N3.5 billion were lost in the flooding that submerged the town and some villages in my domain.

    “ For two days water was overflowing from the Hadejia-Jama’are River to Auyo, and before we could do anything, the water submerged the town and the neighbouring villages.

    “The villages included Jura, Rafeji, Uza, Gamakwai, Zabaro, Ayama among others.

    “In the process, three people got missing and we immediately put up a search team and their bodies were later found.

    “Many houses, farmlands, animals and other properties were destroyed during the flooding,” the monarch said.

    A businessman, Alhaji Isa Auyo, who lost 10 trailer loads of fertilizer, said it was a devastating experience.

    “You can see the whole town is submerged; all the people have deserted the town and are now taking refuge in various Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) camps across the state.

    “I am really worried about the plight of the people and I appeal to the government, individuals and corporate organisations to rescue us from this catastrophe.

    He said that the state government had already undertaken an assessment of the damage and brought food and medicines.

    The businessman Auyo added: ”This is not the first time we are experiencing this episode in Auyo town, we had similar incident in 2001, but the current one is more devastating.

    “I am appealing to the Federal Government to look into ways of tacking this recurring phenomena.

    “We were told that the water was from River Congo which overflowed through Cameroon to Lake Chad Basin causing havoc in many places in Nigeria.

    “I urge the federal government to do something to control the water so that that it can pass through our rivers with low velocity without causing any harm to us.

    “I also want the Federal Government to include Jigawa among the 11 states where a state of emergency was declared over flooding.”

  • Floods: Death toll rises to 32 in Jigawa

    Eleven more people have been killed by flood in Jigawa State in the last one week.

    This figure brings to 32 the number of deaths  caused by  flooding in the state  over the last few weeks.

    Fourteen  local government areas of the state are affected by the disaster.

    Hundreds of more residents of Lokoja, the Kogi State capital ,have also been rendered homeless by flood.

    The situation is not better in Delta and Anambra States,both of which were visited on Thursday by Vice President Yemi Oshinbajo  to enable him personally assess the havoc done by the flood.

    Jigawa State Works and Transport Commissioner Aminu Usman confirmed the fresh deaths in the state.

    The commissioner who stood in for Governor  Badaru Abubakar  told reporters  after an  inspection visit to Auyo town and Internally Displaced Persons camp said :”11 people died between Tuesday and  Friday. In   Auyo town three people died while others were in Kaugama, Malam Madori and Kafinhausa local government.”

    Thousands of  people have been  displaced from their homes,he said.

    Livestock and other property,including  100 hectares of farmland, estimated at billions of naira were either washed away or submerged.

    The  state government has established 16 camps to accommodate flood victims across the state.

    Usman who doubles as  chairman of the emergency and relief committee said:”We have evacuated the victims and move them temporarily to some schools and other government buildings.

    “We have also provided food items, drinking water and   other relief materials to manage their lives before the next line of action.”

    The commissioner appealed to the federal government ,individuals , corporate organisations and professional bodies to assist the flood victims with foodstuffs and other relief materials.

    More residents of Lokoja, the Kogi State capital and other parts of the confluence state, have been forced out of their homes as rising water levels continue to encroach on residences.

    The situation  could worsen if water from the Lagdo Dam, in Cameron, is released.

    In Adankolo, residents whose homes have been submerged  by the flood, continue to move out in droves, while others yet to be affected, are not taking chances.

    Hundreds of residents of Ganaja village, in Ajaokuta Local Government Area are also facing a  similar ordeal.

    Shops and other commercial buildings are also  affected by the flood.

    The state government has   commenced the distribution of foodstuffs and other relief items to the flood victims in IDPs camps across the state.

    The Kogi State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Sanusi Yahaya, told newsmen at the commencement  of the distribution in Lokoja, that the sharing  of foodstuffs was the first stage.

  • Hijrah: Osun, Kano, Jigawa, Oyo declare today public holiday

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday announced today as public holiday to commemorate the new Islamic year, 1440 After Hijrah (A.H).

    Also, Kano, Jigawa and Oyo states have declared today public holiday.

    A statement yesterday in Osogbo, the Osun State State capital, by the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Mr Adebisi Obawale, urged Muslims and people of different faith to imbibe the lessons of the Hijrah by abstaining from sinful practices and engage in conducts that would add value to the state and the nation.

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    The spokesman for Jigawa State’s Office of the Head of Service (HoS), Alhaji Isma’il Ibrahim, felicitated with Muslims worldwide for witnessing the New Year.

    Kano State Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, quoted Governor Abdullahi Ganduje as urging Muslims to reflect on their deeds and activities in the past year and use the occasion to offer prayers for peace and prosperity of the country.

    The Secretary to Oyo State Government (SSG) Ishmael Olalekan Alli said Governor Abiola Ajimobi enjoined the residents to pray for peace, unity and sustainability of the country.

  • Jigawa to recruit 1,736 teachers

    The Chairman of State Universal Education Board (SUBEB) in Jigawa, Alhaji Salisu Zakar, said on Wednesday that the state government would employ 1,736 teachers, to address the shortage of teachers in its primary and junior secondary schools in the state.

    Zakar told our reporter in Dutse that out of the 1,736, the state government had already recruited 868.

    The SUBEB chief said that the shortfall would be recruited, adding that written test had been conducted for those who applied for the vacant teaching jobs.

    “We have conducted written test and interview for those that have applied the job.

    “Any time from now, the result of those who are successful will be released,” he said.

    Read Also: Girl cuts off boyfriend’s manhood in Jigawa

    Zakar said that the state government was in the forefront of paying the counterpart fund in its arrangements with the board, which has made it easy for the agency to access fund for its projects.

    “It is in view of this that we find it easy in accessing money to execute projects in our schools, to keep them afloat.

    “ In fact, we don’t have shortage of classrooms, instructional materials, vehicles to  go for monitoring and supervision in our schools,” he said.