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Tag: Katsina State

  • Masari wants 60 per cent empowerment schemes for women

    Masari wants 60 per cent empowerment schemes for women

    June 11, 2017 (NAN) Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State has called on elected officials, agencies and other initiators of empowerment support schemes to allocate not less than 60 per cent to women.

    Masari made the call in Bakori on Sunday while launching  distribution of 30 cars, 100 motorcycles, 70 sewing machines and 20 generating sets as empowerment items donated by the representative of Bakori/Danja Federal Constituency, Rep. Amiru Tukur.

    The governor explained that women faced enormous challenges, especially in the rural areas, where they were mostly bread winners, sponsoring children’s  education and other burdens.

    He said women always ensured that their earnings went to family upkeep more than men.

    Masari commended Tukur for the gesture and urged other lawmakers to emulate him to empower the people in accordance with the All Progressives Party (APC) manifesto and election promises.

    He advised party officials to ensure fairness and level playing ground for both old and new party members  in the spirit  of democracy.

    “People are willing to defect to APC from various platforms  at national and local levels,  such movements should be welcomed.

    “There is no basis for sideling members on account of period stay in the party as individual members have  different contribution to make to the party’s progress,’’ Masari said.

    Earlier, Tukur said the beneficiaries were from the 22 political wards in the constituency and added that the empowerment scheme was a continuous exercise through which others had benefitted in the past.

    The Katsina State APC Chairman, Alhaji Shitu Shitu, commended Tukur for the gesture and urged other lawmakers to emulate him.

    He said that empowerment schemes were desirable in the  communities.

    Some of the beneficiaries, Sahabu Bade, Haruna Garba, Garba Tandama and Hauwa Iro, expressed gratitude for the gesture and added that Tukur had lived up to the expectations of his constituents.

  • Katsina LG establishes 37 nursery schools

    Katsina LG establishes 37 nursery schools

    Mai’adua Local Government Council in Katsina State has established 37 nursery schools in line with the national  policy which encourages establishment of Child Care Development Centres.

    Alhaji Usman Mai’adua, the local Education Secretary said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Mai’adua on Friday.

    He said the nursery centres, established in some selected public primary schools, have been fully furnished and equipped with relevant teaching and learning materials.

    The official said the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) would train additional 17 primary school teachers selected to serve as caregivers under the ECCD programme in the area.

    “They would be exposed to the methods of handling the programme,” the education secretary said.

    In a related development, Mai’adua has expressed delight with the rise in the enrolment figure into primary schools in the area this year.

    He attributed the feat to the support of School Based Management Committees, traditional rulers and the local government committee on enrollment.

    The education secretary put the total enrolment at 54,794 pupils in 75 primary schools.

    He disclosed that the renovation of 12 primary schools by SUBEB had also helped to create additional spaces to accommodate enrolment of more pupils.

    The scribe said that the local council was doing its best to cater for the welfare of teachers, adding that efforts were on to promote deserving teachers after the last promotion was done in 2014.

    Mai’adua local government area is located in the northern part of Katsina State and shares border with Niger Republic.

  • Katsina to renovate dilapidated schools

    Katsina to renovate dilapidated schools

    Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina state has restated the state’s government resolve to renovate dilapidated public schools in the state.

    Masari made the pledge on Monday when he inspected renovation work of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara.

    He said that his administration inherited so many dilapidated boarding secondary schools from the immediate past administration of Gov. Ibrahim Shema.

    “The schools have been neglected and are unfit for students to be sleeping and learning in them.

    “The schools before the beginning of the rehabilitation work were in bad shape and the students were forced to learn under bad situation,“he said.

    Masari said that the state government would not fold its arms and allow students to continue to study under deplorable conditions.

    “It is our duty to provide conducive atmosphere for learning in both boarding and day secondary schools in the state,” he said.

    The governor appealed to parents to be patient as the government was working hard to complete all schools’ renovation.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that education was given a lion share in the 2017 state budget in line with the administration’s resolve to repostion the sector.

  • Katsina awards N1.5 bn contract for rehabilitation of Malumfashi water works

    Katsina awards N1.5 bn contract for rehabilitation of Malumfashi water works

    The Katsina State Government says it has awarded contract for the expansion of Malumfashi dam and waterworks at cost of N1.5 billion to improve water supply in the area.

    “The malumfashi dam has not been supplying enough water to the people of the area for the past 10 years as its needs repairs,” Alhaji Sani Umar, the Permanent Secretary, state Ministry for Water Resources said.

    Umar who conducted Gov. Aminu Masari round the dam site on Monday, said that the rehabilitation of the dam would be completed by the end of July.

    According to him, the dam was built in 1983 to provide six million cubic litres of water to Malumfashi and Kankara local government areas.

    He revealed that the project when completed, would provide 12 million cubic litres of water daily to the two council areas and surrounding villages.

    The permanent secretary explained that the project also include the construction of a 10 kilometre access road to the dam and rehabilitation of the dam spillway.

    It also include the repair of water pipeline, fencing of the treatment plant, rehabilitation of overhead tanks and fifteen staff houses.

    Masari expressed satisfaction with the quality of work executed so far and said the expansion work on the dam was to address water scarcity in the area.

    The governor urged the contractor to ensure standard and complete the job on time.

  • Masari vows to recover missing N50.5bn

    Masari vows to recover missing N50.5bn

    Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, has vowed to use all legal means to recover the N50.5 billion allegedly looted by  ex-Governor Ibrahim Shema’s administration.

    Masari stated this on Saturday while receiving the report of the commission of inquiry set up by the state government to investigate the whereabouts of funds and property under Shema’s administration.

    The governor said, “Now that the commission of inquiry has established that over N50.5 billion is looted, we shall use all legal means to recover the money.

    “The looted funds belong to the people of Katsina state and we are ready to follow due process in the courts to retrieve the money from the officials of the past administration.

    “The people of Katsina state need the money back so that it can be used to provide social amnesties to them.

    “We are determined to retrieve the funds from those that looted same and no amount of legal huddles will prevent us from collecting the state money.

    “The commission of inquiry has used legal procedures to unearth the financial scandals from the documents that were presented before it.

    “The State Government will use the facts that were presented before the commission of inquiry to prosecute those that committed the offence.

    “The Katsina state government has no intention to leave the money. All those involved will have to return the money.”

    The governor said those involved had tried to stop the commission from sitting and caused the disqualification of Justice Mohammed Surajo, the former Chairman of the commission by an appeal court in Kaduna.

    Masari said the state government was determined to continue with the sitting of the commission “and the results had emerged and we are ready to continue with the procedure of recovering the money.’’

    Chairman of the Commission, Ado Mohammed, said it received 12 memoranda.

    Mohammed added that three of the memoranda were abandoned by the writers while two were disqualified for lack of relevance to the investigation.

    The chairman said eight of the memoranda were useful to the commission as they had revealed how state funds were diverted by the officials of the past administration.

    “During the six months of the commission’s sitting, it discovered that N50.5 billion belonging to the Katsina Government had been diverted by ex-Gov. Shema and his cohorts.

    “The commission discovered concrete evidences that indicated that the funds had been diverted as they were not in the state government accounts as the records of the handing over notes had indicated.

    “The commission went through the handing over notes where the monies were allegedly available but we could not trace them”. he said.

    Mohammed commended the Katsina state government for giving them the opportunity to serve

    NAN reports that the Katsina state government set up the panel to investigate the alleged missing funds within the last nine months of former Gov. Shema’s administration.

     

  • Group commends Army over coup alert, establishment of fort Buhari

    Group commends Army over coup alert, establishment of fort Buhari

    The National Committee of Yoruba Youth has commended the Nigerian Army for the implementation of the approved Order of Battle 2016, with the establishment of Fort Muhammadu Buhari Forward Operation Base, an Army Unit in Daura, Katsina State.

    The group in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by its President, Comrade Odeyemi Oladimeji, said the establishment of the Army unit, will further enhance security in the country, particularly in the Northern part, where there have been growing security concerns, owning to the activities of armed gangs, Cattle rustlers and some remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents, who might desperately be working their ways, back into the society.

    The group also applauded what it described as the unequaled patriotism of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, over his recent revelations, that some politically exposed Nigerians are planning to infiltrate the Army, in order to truncate the nation’s democracy.

    “We salute the sense of patriotism of the Chief of Army Staff and the entire Army leadership, for their sense of patriotism and commitment to the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria. Their recent revelation has strengthened our beliefs, as Nigerians, that Nigeria is safe hands and the military should no longer be seen as a threat to our democracy.”

    The group also admonish Nigerians, to disregard the mischief that some persons have tried to attach to the clarion alert by General Buratai, stating that Nigerians must collectively arise to sustain the gains, that Nigeria has made under democracy, particularly the untiring commitments of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, towards restoring Nigeria back to the path of greatness.

  • Foundation donates furniture to Katsina schools

    Bala Usman Foundation has donated 2,400 pieces of primary school furniture to two primary schools in Katsina State.

    The Foundation’s desk officer in Musawa, Alhaji Lawal Baro, said that the furniture was donated to Lawal Baro, Primary School Musawa and Matazu Model Primary School.

    Baro told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Musawa on Monday that the gesture was to encourage enrolment in schools.

    The official also said the foundation had offered free eye treatment to 1, 500 people and another 6,000 patients treated of various ailments under its community healthcare outreach programme.

    The News Agency of Nigeria [NAN] reports that the foundation is in memory of versatile historian late Dr Yusuf Bala-Usman of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

    He said since the establishment of the foundation, it had supported communities in Musawa and Matazu Local Government Areas of the state through empowerment grants and tools.

    Baro commended the Managing Director, Nigeria Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala-Usman, who is also a Director of the foundation for her immeasurable support.

    Boro assured that the foundation would continue to render invaluable support to people of the area so as to keep the name of Bala Usman alive.

     

  • Army move to secure nation’s borders

    Army move to secure nation’s borders

    The Nigerian Army, on Friday, inaugurated a Forward Operation Base (FOB) at Daura in Katsina State, as part of the measures to secure the nation’s borders with neighbouring countries.

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, who inaugurated the FOB, said the sighting of the facility in Daura followed the “Order of Battle” approved by the Army Council in 2016.

    “It is part of the re-organisation in the Nigerian Army. In 2016, the Army Council approved the new order of battle.

    “This is part of the order of battle of the Nigerian Army to have an FOB in this place – Daura.

    “So it is the overall review of the deployment and the strategic consideration of the Nigerian army and the military; in taking care of strategic locations by deploying such facility here,” Buratai.

    Asked if there was any threat at the Daura axis, the army chief said: “Well, that is the analysis”.

    “You know, this Boko Haram terrorist group has been moving all over the place, especially along the borders. So, it is part of the consideration, it is part of the threat analysis”.

    According to Buratai, there is the need to take care of the border areas right from the Lake Chad through Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, up to Sokoto.

    He said that the establishment of the FOB was part of the strategic consideration, based on threat analysis, adding that more of such facility would be set up in the North East.

     

  • Agency hands over N25m Veterinary Clinic to Katsina

    The Border Community Development Agency BCDA has handed over a Veterinary Clinic worth N25 million it constructed at Hui community of Baure Local Government Area of Katsina State.

    Mrs Atarhe Akpohwaye-Abu, an official of the agency who handed over the facility to the officials of Katsina State Government on Wednesday, said the project was part of the efforts of the agency to bring development to rural communities.

    Akpohwaye-Abu said the project was strategically located especially considering the fact that the area was predominantly an animal rearing community.

    She said and the clinic would immensely promote livestock production as well as consumption of hygienic meat in the area.

    She said the agency considered Katsina State very important and strategic due to the large international boarder  markets and economic activities in the area.

    She said the agency had in the 2017 budget proposed many projects for the boarder communities  in the state.

    The official said the proposed projects included establishment of a functional skills acquisition center each in Baure and Ingawa local government areas and building schools in Musawa and Zango local government areas.

    According to her,the agency will also provide solar-powered street lights at the border crossings of Yardaje, Babban Mutum, Burdudu and Zango, and a functional skills acquisition center in Zango Local Government Area.

    She urged the benefiting communities to maintain the facilities.

    The Deputy Governor of the state, Alhaji Mannir Yakubu, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Idris Usman,commended the agency for the gesture.

    Mannir said the project was brought to the area by the member representing Baure and Zango Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives,Alhaji Nasiru Zango, as part of his constituency outreach projects.

    He called on other politicians in the state to emulate the legislator,saying, “we would not hesitate to throw our support to such innovative politicians”.

    He said the clinic would soon be equipped with drugs and other relevant items to enable it to commence operation immediately.

    The deputy governor said the State Government would partner with the Baure local government to equip the clinic.

    The Administrator of the Local Government, Alhaji Umar Mai’adua, who was represented by the Director, Agricultural Services of the council, Alhaji Dada Yahaya  lauded the the lawmaker for bringing the project to the community .

    Mai’adua said the facility would benefit the community as well as neighbouring local government areas of Kazaure and Babura in Jigawa, and that the local government would ensure regular maintenance of the facility.

    He said animal diseases bedeviling the area were: Contagious Brovine Pluro Pneumonia (CBPP),Pests Despes Ruminants (PPR),Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD),and other parasitic diseases such as Worms and Tick.

  • Katsina to re-introduce inter-schools, inter-house sports competitions

    The Katsina State Government says it will re-introduce inter-school and inter-house sports competitions to discover talents that would represent the state in national and international championships.

    Gov. Aminu Masari made the assertion while presenting a giant Trophy to the state’s Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) to organise inter-media sports competition in Katsina.

    “The state government is determined to support all sports in both secondary and primary schools in the state.

    “We shall start introducing inter-house sports competitions in all our boarding schools so as to develop the minds of our students.

    “We shall also introduce the inter-house in our day secondary schools across the state this academic session.

    “The government will in the 2017/2018 academic session introduce inter-school games across the state and use its teachers that have qualification in Physical and Health Education to organise the events,” he said.

    Masari said that sports also had the capacity to provide employment and prevent youths from drug addiction and other vices.

    “We are ready to provide financial and moral assistance to sports development, we are aware that football is being played even in villages and towns in the state,” he said.

    Earlier, the state’s SWAN Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Tanko, commended the governor for the donation of the trophy and his support to Katsina United FC.

    Tanko said that all arrangements had been concluded for inter-media sports competition which would begin in May.

    NAN reports that inter-house and inter-schools sports had been moribund in the state.