The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kaduna

  • Kaduna 2019: Options before the opposition

    In six short months, the seven million citizens of Kaduna State will be electing a new chief executive as Governor Nasir El-Rufai ends his tenure at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House. The ‘Accidental Public Servant’ has since his assumption of office on May 29, 2015 made the job of the opposition in the 2019 general elections as easy as it could ever get. Voters could also be hardly more sophisticated than those in Kaduna State who now wait to be wowed with the best alternative to the incumbent.

    Disdain for democracy by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is clearly writ with the number (or lack) of its governorship aspirants. All those capable of challenging the governor have been muscled out of the party and many are joining or rejoining the opposition parties. Thus, while armed robbers, bandits, cattle-rustlers, kidnappers and terrorists ravage the state, security apparatus seem devoted to hounding and demolishing properties of perceived opponents including those within the same party.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is displaying a dazzling array of alternatives. These candidates who recently came together as the Group of Eight (G8) comprise Dr. Muhammad Sani Bello (Mainan Zazzau), Alhaji Ja’afaru Sa’ad (Galadiman Ruwan Zazzau), Malam Bello Kagarko, Alhaji Isa Ashiru, Alhaji Sani Sidi, Alhaji Ramalan Yero (Dallatun Zazzau), Alhaji Shuaibu Idris (Mikati) and Mr. Jonathan Kish. Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi who just defected to the PDP is also expected to join the race. At a meeting in Kaduna recently, the G8 unanimously adopted the party’s strategy to come up with a consensus candidate from amongst themselves for the 2019 gubernatorial elections in Kaduna State.

    According to one of these aspirants, “We are all qualified and capable, but as members of the same family we do not have room for internal crisis usually associated with primary elections. To me this is unity of purpose. All we want is victory not only for our party but primarily for the people of Kaduna State whom we hope to represent and serve.’’ The wisdom behind this is clear. A united front will enable the party to harness and channel all its energy, expertise and resources into winning the elections against a sitting governor with state resources.

    As the exercise to extract one from eight goes underway, a few salient observations could make the procedure easier. Producing consensus candidates has been a tradition introduced and consolidated by the PDP since its registration in 1998. Presenting the single most formidable candidate that will be a leader of all and stand the best chance should not be such a difficult duty at this point. Experience fuelled by empathy for the people groaning under the poorest governance ever in Kaduna State will ensure a speedy resolution of this issue.

    Zoning of party and political offices for effective inclusion in governance as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution has worked wonderfully to unite the country and its states and local government units. It has also ensured representative democracy among its diverse people. Upsetting this time-tested apple-cart can only generate rancour and dissent that will weaken the bright chances that the opposition has at present.

    In the case of Kaduna State, the office of governor ought to rotate among the three senatorial zones. The incumbent being from Zone Two, means the next governor in 2019 should come from either Zone One or Three. For the Kaduna State PDP, its chairman, Mr. Hasssan Hyet is from Zone Three which leaves Zones One and Two for consideration for office of governor. The party would be unfair to field a candidate from the same zone as the present governor which leaves the choice to Zone One.

    Interestingly, Zone One parades the highest number of candidates for consideration. These include Dr. Bello, Alhaji  Sa’ad, Alhaji Isa Ashiru and the immediate past governor Alhaji Yero. Malam Bello Kagarko and Alhaji Sani Sidi, who are both from Zone Three may face crisis of identity as they seek to stand elections from Zone Two on account of residence. Mr. Jonathan Kish from Zone Three and Alhaji Shuaibu Idris (Mikati) from Zone 2 are disqualified based on the zoning formula.

    Three of the four aspirants from Zone One are all highly experienced and relatively well-known to the people of Kaduna State. Bello and Yero especially have been active politicians for more than a decade and were at various times members of the Kaduna State Executive Council as Commissioners. Ashiru was a two-time member of the State House of Assembly and a member of the House of Representatives and like the other two, a grassroots politician. Records of their performance or lack thereof are still fresh in the minds of the people.

    However, the 2019 election promises to be a keen contest between the ruling party and the once powerful party it ousted in the previous polls. The PDP must field the best and most acceptable candidate to have a good chance at regaining power that it lost after sixteen years. Its choice should also avoid acrimony and shun all those with too much negative baggage. A long and tedious race is won by the lightest and most unencumbered.

    If education, experience and exposure are some of the criteria for selecting the best, then Dr. Bello tops the list. His spectacular career in several banks and his stint in the academia complemented with robust roles in politics at the state, national and international levels give him an easy edge over the rest. This was demonstrated in his selection by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to serve a four-year tenure as its Financial Controller between 2014 and 2018. Instead of seeking a fresh term or looking for lush jobs in other national or international institutions, he returned to the classrooms at the Kaduna State University where he was previously a senior lecturer and dean of faculty. In the next dispensation, the people of Kaduna State deserve no less than a governor with these achievements, antecedents, attitude, predisposition, merits and qualifications.

    The greatest leaders in ancient and modern history were almost always teachers. This is because teachers learn more than the average people and knowledge is their stock-in-trade. Kaduna State is not tagged the ‘Centre of Learning’ for nothing. It is on account of its abundance of learned professionals in all walks of life and also the many institutions of learning that produced leaders for Nigeria and the world. Giving Bello the ticket for the 2019 gubernatorial election is the best decision delegates of the PDP would take at the party primary elections scheduled for September 2018.

    • Kwasau writes from Kachia LGA of Kaduna State.

     

  • Many killed in robbery attack on Kaduna-Abuja highway

    …victim, ex Katsina Commissioner buried in Kaduna

     

    Many persons were killed and several others abducted on Sunday evening by armed men suspected to be robbers and kidnappers along Kaduna-Abuja highway.

    The Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Austin Iwar, confirmed the attack.

    The CP gave assurance that the force is on the trail of the bandits.

    Meanwhile, one of the victims of the attack, a former Commissioner of Education in Katsina State, Professor Halima Idris has been buried in Kaduna on Monday afternoon according to Islamic rites.

    Deputy of Katsina State, Engr. Manir Yakubu led the delegation of about 23 Commissioners from the state, while former Governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, Umar Farouk Ahmed and other dignitaries attended the burial.

    The travelers, The Nation learnt were attacked around 6:00 pm near Gidan Busa village, located between Jere and Kateri communities, along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway.

    According to an eyewitness, passengers were returning from Kaduna to Abuja in different vehicles, when they stumbled on the bandits who mounted a road block, stopped motorists and started shooting sporadically.

    He said, the attackers numbering about 10 also killed an Army Officer and a policeman in the attack and several others were abducted.

    According to him, “There is an army officer travelling with his orderly and daughter. The orderly escaped with gunshot but they killed the army officer and his daughter on the spot”.

    He also alleged that, security officers could not engage the kidnappers for reasons best known to them.

    Police on Monday in a statement through its Public Relations Officer, DSP Aliyu Mukhtar said four persons were killed in the attack, while five others were injured.

    “The Kaduna State Police Command wishes to inform the public that on 22/07/2018 at about 06:30pm, a distress call was received that a group of unidentified Armed Men blocked Kaduna–Abuja express road by Gidan Busa Village and opened fire indiscriminately at any vehicle on sight.

    “In swift response, teams of Police Men stormed the scene where the bandits were dislodged but sadly they had already killed four (4) commuters and injured five (5) others in their dastardly act Normalcy has been restored on the road with commuters moving safely without molestation.

    “The Police Command uses this medium to reassure the public that we are committed even than before to protect life and property of Nigerians, irrespective of time, venue and circumstance.

    “In this regard, we call on the general Public to volunteer information to security agencies to assist us in ridding our communities of such violent miscreants who have constitute threat to our peaceful coexistence.”

  • Three-month-old rescued in Kaduna

    A three-month-old baby, whose mother, Aisha Yau, kept under a trailer, was yesterday rescued by the Kaduna State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba Muhammed.

    Aisha, who stays under Kawo bridge in Kaduna North council, was said to have purposely kept the baby under a trailer and hoping the baby will be crushed when the trailer moves.

    She prevented people from carrying the baby, and persuaded the driver to start the engine.

    Aisha, however, seems to be mentally unstable.

    Unfortunately for her, a passer-by drew the attention of the commissioner to the scene.

    Hajiya Muhammed rushed to the scene with other top government functionaries and rescued the baby, about 11 am.

    Aisha could not explain how she found herself in Kaduna. According to her, the crisis in her home state of Taraba scattered her family over a year ago.

    She said: “My name is Aisha Yau and I am 20 years old. I am from Taraba State but can’t find any of my family after the crisis that happened in our community sometime ago.

    “I don’t know how I got to Kaduna. But when I came, one of my suitors, who own a shop at Kasuwan Baici, impregnated me, and denied the pregnancy. So, I want to kill the baby to save myself from shame.”

    Hajiya Muhammed said she had directed the Social Department to take Aisha to hospital for checks and treatment before repatriating mother and child to Taraba State.

    She said: “I was at a meeting when I got a distress call that a young woman was about to kill her child. Fortunately for me, I have some people with me, and that was how we rushed to Kawo.

    “But on getting there, she was still waiting for the driver of the truck to move so he can crush the baby. We had to tactically move her away why we rescued the baby.

    “We have both of them with us. We shall take her to hospital tomorrow for possible rehabilitation because she’s not that bad in her sense of reasoning. By the time she is stabilised, we will communicate the Ministry of Women Affairs in Taraba State to see the possibility of reuniting her with her family.

    “She wanted the child dead because the man she claimed to be responsible is not ready to claim paternity.”

  • Baby found under trailer in Kaduna

    A three-month-old baby boy whose mother, Aisha Yau attempted to kill has been rescued from her by Kaduna state government.

    Kaduna State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba Muhammed rescued rescued the baby in Kaduna on Thursday from Aisha who appeared not to be in her right frame of mind.

    Aisha, who stays under the popular Kawo bridge in Kaduna North LGA was said to have purposely kept the baby under a trailer’ wheel with expectation that, when the trailer moves, it will crush the baby.

    To ensure that was done, she stood aloof and prevented people from carrying the baby while persuading the driver of the truck to start the engine.

    But unfortunately for her and fortunately for the infant, a passerby quickly drew the attention of the commissioner to the scene who in company of other top government functionaries rushed over to rescue the child at about 11:00hours of Thursday.

    But the lady, Aisha said, she could not explain how she found herself in Kaduna. She hinted that, it was the crisis in her state, Taraba that scattered her family members without a trace of any of them more than a year ago.

    “My name is Aisha Yau and I am 20 years old. I am from Taraba State but can’t find any of my family after the crisis that occurred in our community sometimes ago.

    “I did not know how I got myself here in Kaduna. But when I came, one of my suitors though I don’t know his name but I know his shop in Kasuwan Baici here in Kaduna. He got me pregnant but he denied the pregnancy and refused to take care of me and the baby. So, I want to kill the baby to save myself from shame”, she said.

    Speaking with newsmen shortly after taken the custody of the mother and child, the commissioner said, she has directed social department in her ministry to take the young woman to the hospital for medical examination and treatment before repatriating her and her child back to Taraba State.

    “I was at a meeting when I got a distress call that a young woman was about to kill her own child. Fortunately for me, I have some people with me and that was how we rushed to Kawo.

    “But on getting there, she was still waiting for the driver of the truck to move so he can crushed the baby. We have to tactically move her away why we rescued the baby.

    “We have both of them with us. We shall take her to hospital tomorrow for possible rehabilitation because she’s not that bad in her sense of reasoning. By the time she is stabilised, we will communicate the Ministry of Women Affairs in Taraba State to see her possibility of reuniting her with her family.

    “She wanted the child dead because the man she claimed to be responsible for the baby boy was not ready to take the paternity of the child, hence her plan to kill it and move on with her live which is quite unfortunate”, she added.

  • Civil servant docked over criminal intimidation

    A 44-year-old civil servant, Tijjani Mansur, was on Wednesday arraigned in a Kaduna Chief Magistrates’ Court over criminal intimidation.

    The defendant, a resident of Birnin Yero, Kaduna, is standing trial on a three-count charge of criminal intimidation, defamation of character and intentional insult.

    The prosecutor, Insp Sunday Baba, told the court that one Alhaji Muntan Bala of Alkali Road in Kaduna reported the matter at the Area Command Police Station on June 21.

    Baba told the court that the defendant had threatened the complainant and his family members for refusing to attend his daughter’s wedding.

    The prosecutor also alleged that the defendant had on several occasions insulted the complainant through text messages and threatened to deal with him whenever they meet.

    Baba said the offences contravened Sections 377, 371 and 379 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Laws, 2017.

    The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The Magistrate, Mrs Zainab Mohammed, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

    Mohammed ordered that one of the sureties must be a district head who would attest to knowing the defendant while the other must be a civil servant on grade level 12.

    She adjourned the matter till Aug. 2 for hearing.

  • NTI trains teachers on digital literacy, academic leadership

    The National Teachers Institute, Kaduna, is organizing training program for teachers on digital literacy and academic leadership.

    218 participants will be trained by the institute.

    Director General, NTI, Dr. Garba Azare, disclosed this during the flag-off ceremony of the maiden edition of academic leadership workshop organised for head teachers and school principals on Tuesday in Abuja.

    He said the workshop will hold in states of the six  geo-political zones from the 17th – 19th of this month.

    The centers are in Abuja, Akure, Bauchi, Benin City, Enugu, and Kano.

    He said: “In my address during the flag-Off ceremony of the 2017 edition of the SDGs workshops, I informed those in attendance that the Institute proposed to expand the scope of the retraining programs to cover other critical areas of teaching profession.

    “The new areas we are exploring include digital literacy and academic leadership.

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    “The training is aimed at equipping head teachers and school administrators with effective classroom process techniques (classroom observation and feedback, benchmarking, note keeping, etc).

    “It will also help in developing head teachers and school administrators’ management skills on how to promote school and community relationship (stakeholders) to achieve improved students’ performance; equipping head teachers and school administrators With management process (Planning, Organizing, Directing, Controlling and Delegating); and acquainting head teachers and school administrators with the roles and responsibilities of school managers and administrator with emphasis on team building, effective communication, mentoring, coaching and counseling.”

    He explained that the academic leadership training programme is a special component under the NTI Kaduna and funded by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Primary and Junior secondary school teacher across the six (6) geo-political zones of the federation.

    “The need to strengthen Educators and equip them with the requisite knowledge to deliver in their roles as academic leaders cannot be over emphasized and it is against this backdrop that the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs and NTI decided to include the special component in the SDGs capacity building for teachers,” he added.

  • Again, Senator wants Buhari to declare State of Emergency in Zamfara

    Says all is set to impeach Governor over killings

    In order to end killings, the Senator representing Zamfara Central Constituency, Sen. Saidu Dansadau, for the second time appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to declare state of emergency in Zamfara state.

    The Senator, speaking during a media briefing on Thursday in Abuja described the request as long-overdue considering the increasingly helpless situation of the people.

    Dansadau, who called for the impeachment of the Zamfara State Governor, Yari AbdulAzeez accused the state administrator of abandoning his sole responsibility of protecting the state.

    The lawmaker in 2016 had petitioned the President asking him to declare state of emergency in the state.

    According to him, Yari’s public resignation as the Chief Security Officer of the state made the declaration of state of emergency in the state inevitable.

    He said Yari has shifted focus from his primary duty to his political ambition, adding that he was willing to retain power at all cost.

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    His words: “I appeal to Mr. President to invoke his powers under section 305 (3) & (5) of the Constitution and declare a State of Emergency in Zamfara State and appoint a competent administrator for the state until such a time when the President, through the administrator is satisfied that normalcy has been restored, anything short of this will turn the thick forest between the southern border of Zamfara state with Katsina, Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi States into a national park of criminals and killers, worse than the nation has seen in Sambisa Forest”

    “The Zamfara State Governor’s recent pronouncement that he has resigned as the chief security officer of the state makes the declaration of State of emergency in the State inevitable. I make bold to say that we have finished all necessary preparation to impeach Abdulazeez Yari Abubakar, if inspite of this unprecedented breakdown of law and order and colossal loss of lives we do not persuade.

    “Mr. President, while it is acknowledged that similar tension exists in other states like Katsina, Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi states which shares common border with Zamfara, the approach of the governors of these states in managing the problem has substantially brought the situation under control…” he added.

  • FG to take delivery of N10.7bn rice mill Dec 2019

    The Federal Government has said the N10.7 billion integrated rice milling machines procured by the Federal Government will be delivered in December, 2019.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, disclosed this Monday at the pact signing with MV Agro Engineers, suppliers of the farm equipment, in Abuja.

    Ogbeh explained that the benefiting states would indicate interest as off-takers, make 10 percent down payment and express technical capacity to own and operate a mill.

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) in April approved N10.7bn for the establishment of 10 new rice mills in the six geopolitical zones.

    The 10 participating states include Kaduna, Anambra, Kogi, Benue, Bayelsa, Niger, and Bauchi. Others are Kebbi, Ogun, Zamfara while the mills are expected to produce 100 tons of rice per day.

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    The Bank of Agriculture (BoA) is expected to take over the loan repayment in the next 10 years.

    “As these people arrive, they will install these mills and the BoA will take over the loans repayment over a period of 10 years,” Ogbeh said.

    Asked if the 18 months deadline could be reviewed upward, the minister noted that, “building machines is not cheap. It’s a scientific thing. These people say they may do it faster but we give them 18 months, so there won’t be issues for delays.”

    According to him, there are about 16 existing large rice mills from the already procured 100 mills.

    The minister added that 16 large machines would mill 100 tons of rice paddy daily while others could mill about 300 tons daily.

    “Dangote just brought in 10 milling machines which will produce 1 million tons of rice per annum but there are smaller ones we gave out, about 200 mills of 10 tons and 20 tons per annum operating in villages and small corners equipped with the stoners.

    “We are buying smaller mills and giving them out because the smaller mills produce more rice than the big mills added up but they are scattered all over the country. Virtually every state has small rice mills somewhere, Niger, Bayelsa, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Katsina and Jigawa,” he stated.

    He commended the contractors advising them to supply adequate quality spare parts.

    In his remarks, the Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture, Kabir Mohammed restated commitment to ensure the project is successful while meeting the delivery targets.

    He said the project financing would not be a challenge.

    The Managing Director, Jamu Babba Dan’agundi, leader of the delegation commended the federal government for the gesture.

    He promised to deliver the machines as scheduled.

  • NiMet predicts rains, thunderstorms for Monday

    The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudy skies over the central states of the country on Monday morning with prospects of rains over Abuja, Bauchi, Gombe, Jos, Jalingo, Niger, Yola and Kaduna cities.

    NiMet’s Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Sunday also predicted day and night temperatures in the range of 27 to 33 and 17 to 24 degrees Celsius respectively.

    It added that localised thunderstorms were probable over the region in the afternoon and evening period.

    The agency predicted southern states would experience cloudy conditions over inland cities with intermittent rains over the coastal cities in the morning hours.

    It also predicted prospects of thunderstorm and rains over the region in the afternoon and evening hours with day and night temperatures in the range of 28 to 32 and 20 to 23 degrees Celsius respectively.

    According to NiMet, Northern States will experience thunderstorms with cloudy morning over Maiduguri, Nguru and Potiskum, with day and night temperatures of 30 to 36 and 20 to 25 degrees Celsius respectively.

    “Later in the day, thunderstorms are expected over Maiduguri, Nguru, and Potiskum axis, while the entire region is likely to be cloudy.

    “There are indications of increased cloudiness with prospects of intermittent rains and thunderstorms over the country within the next 24 hours,” NiMet predicted.

  • Bureau of Statistics begins census of health facilities in Kaduna State

    The Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics has commenced enumeration of all health facilities in the state to determine the number and needs for effective planning, the State’s Statistician General, Alhaji Bashari Bature-Ibrahim, has said.

    Bature-Ibrahim, who was in Giwa and Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Shika to monitor the exercise, said in Zaria on Thursday that the census is being conducted in all the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.

    “The exercise is aimed at identifying the locations and characteristics of all the health facilities in Kaduna state and it covers primary, secondary, tertiary and even private facilities.

    “So that government will have the picture of how the aspect of health is moving in the state in order to plan for the improvement and betterment of its people.

    “This is because, if you don’t know how your facilities are, you cannot plan on how to improve them,” he said.

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    According to him, the exercise will provide update on existing health facilities in the state and generate a framework toward getting a comprehensive and total list of the facilities.

    He said that the bureau had engaged students of Kaduna State University and Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic for the survey.

    “You know, socio-economic researches is one of the areas for both the statisticians and economists, so, by recruiting them to be part of our exercises, we are giving them skills that they could not get in their respective institutions,” he said.

    The state statistician-general appealed to communities across the state to give the enumerators total support for the success of the exercise.

    At Giwa Local Government Secretariat, the Director of Personnel Management, Hajiya Ummakaltum Sambo said enumerators were being assisted to conduct the exercise.

    “My appeal is that if they find out that the facilities are not up to standard, they should kindly report, so that the state government can further improve or standardise them.

    “This standardisation can be achieved through the provision of equipment and posting of required technical staff to man the facilities,” she said.

    NAN