The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kaduna

  • Kaduna farmers to benefit from N1b loan

    Kaduna farmers to benefit from N1b loan

    A total of 500 farmers in Kaduna State would benefit from N1 billion loan facility being provided by the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) in partnership with the state government.

    Of the amount, N500 million was provided by the state government while BoA provided the balance.

    Kaduna State Governor,  Mukhtar Yero  inaugurated the committee that would disburse the loan in Kaduna.

    According to him, the loan facility will go a long way to finance massive agricultural produce and agro allied businesses in the state.  The governor said it was also a conscious effort by the government to generate revenue from agriculture in view of dwindling earnings from oil.

    Yero said the loan had an interest of five per cent, adding that it would be made available to qualified beneficiaries without delay.

    He pledged that the government would increase its investment in necessary technology to drive the agricultural sector to greater heights

    According to him, 10 cooperative groups from each of the 23 local government areas would benefit from the loan.

    He also said 92 small scale farmers, 69 medium scale and 46 large scale farmers had also been screened and cleared to benefit from the facility.

    Yero warned that the loan was not largesse to political cronies but an intervention to genuine farmers, adding that the farmers must repay the loan.

    He told the beneficiaries that the Bank and the state Ministry for Agriculture would monitor the utilisation of the loan and ensure the recoveries at the appropriate time.

    The Managing Director of the bank, Mr Babatunde Sadiku, said the collaboration with the state government started six months ago.

    He said it was meant to harness the huge agricultural potential in the state and create jobs and wealth for the people.

    Sadiku said the facility was expected to support the production of rice, maize, wheat, ginger, tomato, onion and livestock.

  • N3m car for Kaduna trader

    N3m car for Kaduna trader

    I never dreamt of owning a ‘Tokunbo’ (used) car, not even in three years to come,” said Mrs Bola Johnson, a petty trader in Kabala West, Kaduna.

    Now, she has a brand new vehicle worth over N3m. It did not come from the proceeds of her small shop. The trader took part in a raffle draw organised by Nestle Foods and her ticket number hit the top prize: a 2014 Hyundai Accent.

    Mrs Johnson said she could not afford sitting it out with the raffle crowd at the premises of ‘S&S’ Shopping Plaza in the Barnawa area of the city, believing “the game” was not really worth the trouble.

    Even when her ticket won the prize and she was called on the phone, she still did not believe it. The organisers had decided that anybody not present would be contacted twice on the phone, thereafter the winning ticket would be discarded and another draw made.

    She told The Nation that she could not answer the first call placed to her, but was lucky to pick the second call and the caller informed her that she has won a brand new car. Although she felt it was 419, she decided to take the next available, but quickest means of transport to the place. Since Okada does not operate in the city anymore, she decided to hire a tricycle from Kabala West to Barnawa, a distance of almost 10km.

    Even when she got to the venue and was shown her car, she still could not believe it until those present started congratulating her. Apparently reading her mind, one of the people present told her “Madam, you are not dreaming, it is real”.

    That was when she immediately called her husband, shouting in Yoruba, “otito ni o, won ti ko kokoro moto funmi o” meaning “yes, it is real o, I have been given the car keys”.

    She told The Nation that: “I was totally amazed when I received a call that I have won a car. In fact, I didn’t believe it because this is Nigeria and it is very easy to fall ‘mugu’. But, since I was asked to come to a popular plaza, I felt there was no harm in trying. I was actually informed by Charles, the sales representative who usually supply me Nestlé products that, there will be ýa draw today, but I never believed I could win anything from here. So, I decided that I cannot close my shop where I get little daily income and go and sit down at one draw. I am a petty trader, I run a small provision store in Kabala. So, Charles come to supply me Nestlé products. When they started the promo, he will tell me, Aunty, buy more products from me, so that you can ýget more raffle tickets to participate in the forthcoming draw. He would tell me, you can win anything including a car. I will just tell him, Charles go and sit down, that kind of promo is always fraudulent, the companies have their way of giving prizes to their family members and even staff. So, I was just patronising him, because at least I sell the products”

    Mrs Johnson who is in her late 30s, said further: ”I only see things like this on television with people winning cars and other big prizes, but I never believed it could be real until today. I believe it is not what I sell that earns me this; it is just God in His powers that said this will happen to me.

    “If someone had told me that, I will own a ‘Tokunbo’ car I won’t believe it, not even in three years to come, but here I am with a brand new car. This is a big favour from God Almighty and I return all the glory to Him. God has favoured me, He has surprised me on this day, 4th February, 2015. “This is a sign that, 2015 is my year.”

  • Skills transform Kaduna youths

    Skills transform Kaduna youths

    Before she enrolled into the Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Programme (YESAP) sponsored by the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) 20-year-old Marry Adams had lost the hope of furthering her education. Why? Her parents could not afford it. Mother Luck smiled on her. She was selected for a six-month skill acquisition programme run by YESAP in Kaduna. She was among the 150 unemployed youths who graduated from the exercise.

    Mary told The Nation that while on the training, she was getting contracts, even employing two of her neighbours as casual staff. She was among the 20 who participated in the Catering and Event Management. Beaming with smiles, she said that with the training, her hope of going to the university has come alive again.

    She said:  “I am a secondary school leaver and I must say that, even though, we are just graduating today, I have benefited a lot from this YESAP programme. Initially, I lost the hope of going to the university because my parents are not financially buoyant; today, my hope has been renewed. While, we were still undergoing training, I had already started making cakes for my friends and family members at cheaper rates. When somebody has a birthday celebration, I use my already acquired knowledge to organise the event, plan for them and do little decoration. Before I knew it, other people started consulting me in my neighborhood for occasions.

    “So, as it is presently, I have two of my friends from the neighbourhood who beg to follow me whenever I have one event to manage or the other. In fact, they go telling people that, Mary is good in decoration and all that, because for each contract I get, they help me and they get their own percentage.”

    She commended the management of KRPC for the programme and urged the company to involve more youths, particularly young widows and orphans, adding that her first target after settling down is to sponsor herself to the university, since she now has a means of making money.

    Another beneficiary of the training, Manassehý Markus, who trained in auto-mechatronics, said he was lucky to be trained to detect faults in vehicles using a gas box.

    “I am happy that I have this knowledge today, and there is an already-made market,” he said. “The course has to do with using gas box to diagnose fault in cars, to know what is wrong with the car before taking it to the appropriate expert like rewire. This has become a lucrative business in Nigeria today, because all the cars sold in the market today are computerised”.

    Markus, who holds a National Diploma in Computer Science said, he intends to transform the knowledge he has gotten into economic fortune and improve on his life and that of his family. He also expressed appreciation to the management of KRPC, saying; “My message to KRPC is to appreciate them for this opportunity given to us, the youth. It is one way to take the youth off the street and drug. This is because when you have something doing that is putting food on your table, you will not bother to look for government’s jobs or mingling with bad friends. So, I want to encourage them to do more in this direction to reduce unemployment.ý”

    On her part, Ruth Amana said: “I have been under intensive training by consultants hired by KRPC and it has been worthwhile experience for me. I’m going to use what I have been taught to establish myself. I will start my own catering outfit. I want to thank the KRPC management so much. They have really turned my life and situation around because this is an opportunity that is very hard for many to get. I was chosen out of many people who were equally qualified. All I want to say is thank you KRPC,” she simply said.

    Addressing beneficiaries of the training at a elaborate ceremony at Umaru Musa Yar’adua Hall of Murtala Muhammed Square, Kaduna, the KRPC Managing Director, Engr Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, said the YESAP VI, was part of the company’s social responsibility to its immediate host communities. He disclosed that the company had in six years trained 675 unemployed youths and equipped them to manage their lives and support their family members. Mohammed said it has been the goal of the YESAP programme launched by KRPC in 2008, adding that, “the company has been working with reputable consultants to ensure that young people in Kaduna State and through Northern Nigeria have the skills and economic opportunity to build productive lives and contribute to nation building. Similarly, arrangements are being concluded for KRPC to partner with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to assist graduands in business set up, monitoring and performance tracking and to assist those that are progressing in their respective trades to access credit facilities and other form of assistance”.

    He however called on the communities to help protect the NNPC property in their locality in order to both enjoy the good relationship that exist between them. The 15 vocational courses include auto-welding and fabrication, Plaster of Paris, carpentry and woodwork, auto-mechatronic, auto-mechanic, auto-spray painting, fashion and textile design, screen printing, poultry and fishing among others.

    The Nation also gathered that, all the 150 beneficiaries were given starter packs and cash of N100,000 as capital to start the business. However, joy were written all over the faces of the graduates, ýas special guests and parents present at the occasion commended the presentations made by the youths during the exhibition of their work and products.

  • NMC lauds Kaduna over WASSCE result

    The National Mathematical Centre (NMC), Abuja has commended the Kaduna State governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, for the general improvement in performance of candidates in the Senior School Certificate Examination conducted by the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) last year.

    In a congratulatory letter to the governor signed by the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, Prof. Adewale Solarin, the centre praised the state for coming third behind Lagos and Edo States in West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

    A total of 36,614 candidates sat for the SSCE in Kaduna State. Lagos state had 67,219 candidates, while Edo had 37,042.

    Kaduna state had the best result in the North, while Kano State was second in the region and 10th overall in the country.

    Prof Solarin praised Yero for investing in education and urged him to do more.

    The letter stated: “It is obvious that one of your deep concern in governance is in human capital development, and we are glad to collaborate with you. We are confident that your tenure will see to the emergence of new programmes especially in the area of improving the performance of Mathematical Sciences in the education sector.

    “Our prayer is for the Almighty God to continue to grant you His divine wisdom, strength, long life and courage to contribute your invaluable quota in making the Ministry of Education and the entire Kaduna state greater as well as to wish you a successful first tenure in office and beyond,” he said.

    The Centre noted that in the last two years, the state has improved access to education by constructing and rehabilitating 187 schools as well as improving manpower quantity and quality.

     

  • Case for security in Sanga L.G. Kaduna State

    SIR: Insecurity has risen to a level of profound concern in the country and the resultant death toll is comparable only to the civil war. The North, needless to say, is worst affected by the horrendous state of insecurity especially due to the seemingly intractable Boko Haram insurgency. However, the states of Plateau, Nassarrawa, Benue and Taraba have been scorched by a no-less deadly attacks resulting into massive grisly killings and destruction perpetrated by armed marauders suspected of being Fulani nomads. Equally, not a few communities in the Southern Senatorial area of Kaduna State have suffered similar callous attacks with devastating consequences. The attacks are always methodically accomplished. To all intents and purposes, the communities in these areas are under siege.

    Various attacks have been successfully executed in the past. However, the massacre of September 2014 rudely awakened the world to the threat against the very existence of the people of Sanga L.G.A in Kaduna State. In the wake of the massacre in Fadan Karshi, Ungwan Ganye and Karshi Daji, the military was deployed to hunt down the perpetrators and as well provide security. The semblance of calm and normalcy that prevailed due to the presence of security ensured the gradual return of residents but there was a perceptible diminution of the security operatives as the number of returnees grew. A peace building initiative was launched with the different ethnic groups as well as the Fulani community in attendance. It did restore some measure of confidence in the area. However, the shocking release of suspects not least some persons many victims accused of being accomplices no doubt still rankles. The people of Sanga L.G.A enjoyed an uncomfortable peace until few days to the 2015 when mystery gun men attacked the Tattaura community resulting in the gruesome death of 10 persons. Just before the dust of the killings could settle, another harvest of deaths were recorded in Ungwan Dauda. It was a revolting scene of massive human blood and lifeless bodies. An outcry that resulted almost snowballed into a sectarian crisis which was swiftly quashed by the small number of military officers. The tragedies did prove the peace was clearly the calm before the storm.

    There is no telling the communities on the hit list of the armed marauders as the New Year begins. Already, life is somewhat tricky for residents especially with their source of livelihood in ruination. Going to their farms is to all intents and purposes like walking on a thin ice. Many of their produce are laying waste due to fear of venturing to the farms. They are apparently helpless in the face of the new heights that the insecurity has reached in the area. The atmosphere in Sanga L.G.A is patently clouded with gloom and despondency. The communities in the area are obviously sitting ducks on the strength of the absence of the wherewithal to defend itself against the well armed marauders. Their hope of security and protection is pinned on government which holds the statutory responsibility. It behoves the government to station a rapid response team to attend to the exigencies of insecurity in the area. The issue of justice is paramount. The people are forced to feel that the perpetrators are well protected by their promoters ensconced in government.

    The security of lives and properties should be dealt as an emergency before it begins to take a religious trajectory. It is gradually been accepted that many of these attacks are attempts at deracinating or depopulating the original inhabitants. The states that have contiguous boundaries with the Local Government needs to work closely with the Kaduna State government in tackling the insecurity. It is common knowledge that the killers move in and out of the communities along the boundaries. The restoration of normalcy is what the people of Sanga Local Government Area are craving for. For many of us, the attack on the communities of Tattaura and Ungwan Dauda few days shy of the New Year is a dreadful presage. The government needs to map out effective strategies to check the mindless massacre.

     

    • Abachi Ungbo,

    Barnawa, Kaduna.

     

  • Jobs for 2,550 Kaduna youths

    As part of efforts to reduce unemployment and youth restiveness, the Kaduna State government has employed about 2550 women and youths under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). This is in addition to over 7000 of the women and youths previously engaged by the government.

    Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero expressed relief at the occasion, saying that the employment of a sizeable number of youths help keep many from thuggish behaviour and drug.  Many believe that this development will reduce the volatile nature of the state especially ahead of the 2015 general elections. Analysts believe that since the government has given the youths a life, as it were, by making them vital in nation-building, they will certainly reciprocate the effort.

    They argued that previous governments in the country, particularly Kaduna State, introduced many policies aimed at empowering thousands of unemployed youths which did not yield much result, as unemployed youths still roamed the streets. It was some of these youths who ended up in the hands of unpatrotic politicians who used them as thugs.

    The employed youths were selected from the 23 local government areas of the state comprising six males and four females from each of the 255 wards of the 23 Local Government Areas.

    Clad in SURE-P jackets at Umar Musa Yar’Adua Hall where they were given employment letters, the youths who are to be responsible for sanitation on major roads and public institutions, also act as security watchdogs in the community just as they will  control human and vehicular movement during occasions and public functions. That is not all. They will equally sensitise  and enlighten the public on peace, unity, drug awareness, good governance and civic responsibilities, were happy to be government employees.

    Governor Yero, while speaking during the flag-off of the Youth and Women employment Development programme held at Shehu Yar’Adua Multi-Purpose Hall,  urged the beneficiaries  to take the opportunity offered them seriously. He urged them to add values to their lives and not solely rely on monthly allowances alone. Yero said  government’s efforts was geared towards ensuring that youths were gainfully employed in order to encourage productivity and guide against involving in social vices such as drug abuse among others.

    To achieve this and similar programmes, the governor revealed that the state government has deposited the sum of N2billion with Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and Bank of Industry (BOI). The implementation of the programme rested on Ministry of Youth and Sport and Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

    On the forthcoming general election, Governor Yero urged youths in the state to shun politicians who are bent on causing trouble. He said there are certain group of politicians whose planning day and night is to clinch the seat of power through any means particularly through violence and all sorts of trouble-making. Yero also urged the youth to be law-abiding citizens, shun all social vices and be respectful to elders according to him doing so would guarantee a secure future for them. Speaking further he said “my administration give priority to human capacity building than road construction, if we build roads and failed to build the capacity of people, who then would used the roads,”

    Speaking earlier, the state commissioner for Youth and Sports Dr. Yari Peter Everton said  a total of 2,550 youth and women across the 23 local government areas of the state benefited from the youth and women empowerment programme. He said the programme was conceived to transform and Improve the quality of lives of the youth and to also provide the youth opportunity to contribute their own quota to the development in their various communities.

    “The youth and women would be engaged in the following areas, Sanitation of major roads and public institutions, act as security watchdogs in the community, control of human and vehicular traffic, sensitise on peace, unity and drug awareness, among others”. He urged the beneficiaries to avail themselves the opportunity to serve their community for development socially, politically and economically.

    One of the beneficiaries, Bulus Iliya expressed gratitude to the state government for the kind gesture and promised to carry out their duty diligently to justify the confidence the government have in him. Haruna Usman and Talatu Yakubu also promised to be alive to their responsibility, just as they commended the state government for the gesture.

     

  • Judiciary workers solicit support for strike

    Judiciary workers solicit support for strike

    The Kaduna State Chairman of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Comrade Murtala Aminu, has solicited the support of all Nigerians to the nationwide strike embarked upon by the union.

    Aminu made the appeal when he spoke to newsmen in Kaduna on Monday while on a monitoring mission to enforce the strike.

    He said that the action was meant to enhance access to justice in the country.

    Aminu said the strike was also meant to ensure total independence of the judiciary from its current dependence on the executive.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that all courts in Kaduna metropolis were shut as the workers remained at home in compliance with the directive by the JUSUN national executive council.

    He said that such dependence was contrary to the provisions of the constitution and a subsisting court judgment on the issue.

    Aminu said that an independent judiciary will guarantee access to justice for all Nigerians.

    He said this is because such independence would ensure proper equipping, training of staff and fast track disposal of pending cases.

    Aminu said the strike was “total” across the state, adding that members of the union would not return to work until all their demands were met.

  • 300 shops razed in Zaria market

    No fewer than 300 shops were on Saturday burnt at Sabon Gari Zaria main market in Sabon Gari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

    It was gathered that many property worth millions of naira were destroyed in the incident.

    An eyewitness told our Correspondent that the cause of the fire was not yet known, but it was suspected that might have been caused by an electric spark.

    The eyewitness who identified himself as, Lawal Isa said. started in the early hours of Saturday, when the market was already closed.

    He said, “It was good Samaritans and men of the fire service worked very hard to put off the fire and prevented it from getting to other side of the market.”

  • Gunmen kill traditional ruler in Kaduna

    Unknown gunmen on Friday night attacked and killed the District Head of Zangang in Atakar Chiefdom of Kaura LGA of Kaduna State, Mr Yohanna Daniel Shinkut.

    A resident Emmanuel Samuel said the gunmen ambushed Mr Shinkut on his way back home from Manchock.

    According to him, “The incident happened around 8:00pm Friday when the attackers fired at his car. The car got damaged and they went at close range and shot him on the chest.”

    One of the daughters of the late District head confirmed the killing of her father. “Yes, its true. He was shot dead,” she said.

    A community leader Enock Zangang who also confirmed the incident described it as unfortunate.

    Enock said the District Head was brutally murdered on his way back home adding that his remains has been deposited at the rural community hospital in Manchok.

    “What is happening here since April 2013 is a war and total attempt to wipe out our people. This is worrying. People are being killed, without help. More than 600 people have been killed just from this Chiefdom. Something need to be done quickly,” Enock added.

    The Kaduna State government and the Police authorities are yet to comment on the killing.

  • Gunmen kill 15 in fresh Kaduna attack

    About 15 people have been reported killed in Ambe-Madaki village in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna state in a fresh attack by unknown gunmen.

     The incident which was said to have occurred at about 4:00am on Friday, came barely one week after 10 people were killed in Tattaura village in the same locality allegedly by fulani herdsmen.

     A resident of the area, Mr. Yohanna Adamu who narrated how the incident took place in a telephone call to our correspondent in Kaduna, said the Fulani invaders who were armed with sophisticated guns arrived the village at about 4:00am on Friday and started shooting sporadically and setting houses ablaze.

     Adamu said several other people sustained injuries from gun shots while over 20 houses were set ablaze.

    He said the incident sparked off mass protest by various communities in the area who matched to Gwantu, the headquarters of Sanga Local Government to register their displeasure over the attacks in spite of the peace agreement signed with the Fulanis never to attack anyone.

    According to him, the protest almost turned into a religious crisis, adding that the prompt‎ intervention of the special military task force on security averted the situation.

     “We are surprised that despite the agreement that our communities entered with the Fulanis not to attack each other, they have been attacking us.

    “They came to our village at about 4:00am today (Friday), armed with sophisticated weapons and started shooting and burning houses.

    “We have not compiled the casualty figure yet because some people are still missing, but we have 15 corpses of people who were killed.

    “This is the second time they are attacking us after we signed the agreement to live in peace. Last week, they attacked Tattaura village and killed 10 people.

    “The communities were very angry over these killings so they marched to Gwantu to protest, but the protest almost led to religious crisis. It was the intervention of the security personnel that saved the situation,” Adamu said.

    He stated further that because of the growing uncertainty over their security, the villagers were relocating to other places for safety.

    Adamu called on the authorities concerned to address the security situation in Sanga Local Government Area before the situation got out of hand.

    Although the spokesman of the Kaduna state command, DSP Aminu Lawan could not be reached for comments, a security source in Sanga who pleaded anonymity confirmed the incident.

    He said some people were killed in the attack, adding however, that he was not in a position to confirm the casualty figure.