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Tag: Katsina

  • ‘Katsina Assembly can’t be rubber stamp’

    ‘Katsina Assembly can’t be rubber stamp’

     Katsina State House of Assembly Speaker Yau Gwajo-Gwajo spoke with reporters in Lagos on the  Shema Administration and the pattern of executive/legislature relationship in the state. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE reports the excerpts:   

    How has it been in the last six years you have been the Speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly?

    It has been challenging but God has made it easy for me. This is my second term as the speaker. For me, the credit goes to the Almighty Allah and my wonderful colleagues. I must say that I have enjoyed a wonderful working relationship with my colleagues. They made my job easy.

    I have been in politics since 1991 during the two-party system of the Ibrahim Babangida military regime when I was elected as councillor. Then, I was a teacher. So, I can say, with all humility, that I have gotten some experience, too.

    What is the relationship between the executive and the legislature in the state?

    It has been very cordial. It has been excellent. The reason for this peaceful relationship is simple. Our governor has only one vision, and that is how he can contribute his own quota to the development of the state. Of course, he has been doing this even before he became the governor. And since we are also here for the development of the state, it makes our job easier. You see, there is need to have a focused and prudent leadership. Whether at or at the federal level. Once the leadership is focused, it makes transformation of the state an easy job.

    How would you rate administration?

    It is focussed. And so, the state is not doing badly. We have a leader who knows what governance is all about; that it is not a tea-party. He knows that it is about the destiny of the people; about the common wealth of the people. If you are not prudent and focused, you cannot have the kind of development we are witnessing in the state presently.

    Do you know that education from primary to tertiary education is free in the state? Do you know that health care, too, is free, particularly, for infants and people above 60? Do you know that accident victims are treated free, even to the point of surgery? There are over 200 new schools built and more are still being built. Do you know that more than 400 students are outside the shores of this country on scholarship reading all kinds of courses? It is only in this state that we don’t differentiate which tribe you belong to. As far as we are concerned, we are all Nigerians. Also, we are one of the few states whose legislative arm enjoys full financial autonomy just like the judiciary. And when you have financial autonomy, it makes you more independent. And that is why we don’t need to inform the executive when we are going on any over sight functions.

    Critics say your oversight functions are mere rubber-stamp functions. How would you react to this?

    Let me say this. Our own oversight functions are real. We make resolutions, which are sent to the executive. I want to thank the governor at this point because there is really no resolutions that we have sent to him that he hasn’t acted on. When it comes to the budget, most of our resolutions are designed within the budget, and 75 per cent of the budget goes to capital projects and this is within the resolutions of the House. So, when he is preparing the next budget, we are always represented. Also, we go for our oversight functions every quarter, item by item, subhead by subhead, according to their releases so that we can cross check what is in the paper with what is on the ground. Beyond that, each and every one of us in the house also return to the house to give account of what the executive has executed in our constituencies, these are various ways by which we carry out our oversight functions.

    There are two major parties in the House. How have you been able to lead your colleagues, such that there has been no tension in the House and with the executive?

    I said earlier, if your mission is about the good of the people, then, it won’t be that difficult to lead your colleagues. The moment we all enter the chambers, we forget partisanship because we are all representing our people. Our goal is to serve our people, not parties. We don’t play politics in the House. Of course, outside the chambers, you can have majority leader or minority leader discussing with their members, but once we are inside, there is no difference.

    So, you insist the House is not rubber stamp of the executive?

    Having explained all that I have said so far, will it be fair, even to you, to now challenge the executive for no just cause? This is not a popularity contest, mind you. What would be the essence of confrontation with the executive? I just told you that most of our resolutions in the House are carried out by the executive. The budget is also a manifestation of our resolutions. Now tell me, on what ground are we going to confront them? I know that some states legislature are not in good terms with their executive but that does not mean every other state legislature should be in disagreement with the executive, not when the executive is performing. We have our full financial autonomy. As we speak now, some of my members are not in the country and the executive is not aware of it. The governor is not aware of this now. Is that not part of the independence we are talking about? So, how can we now be a rubber stamp? Is it only when we are confrontational and heat up the polity that we are not rubber stamp? I beg to disagree.

    Do you support the creation of more states?

    For me, it has more of advantages than its negative. Unfortunately, we don’t have leaders who are accommodating. If we do, there won’t be need looking for or agitating for more states. Everybody needs to be represented, however, small the group may be. Some of our leaders, who are privileged to lead us, when they get the opportunity to do so, they only concentrate development within a particular tribe or section. Of course, such a thing can only divide the people, and that is why this state is different. Be rest assured that if the governor gets three cars for example, it is given that it is the three senatorial districts that would get it. One for Funtua, one for Daura and one for Katsina. There is no preferential treatment here. I think states creation agitation is essentially because of injustice of unequal development or no development at all. If the leaders are justifying the resources available to them, I am sure there wont be this kind of agitation for states creation. Even if there would be, it won’t be this high.

  • Polio: Fighting a tough battle

    Polio: Fighting a tough battle

    As preparations begin for the next sub-national Immunisation Plus’ Days (IPDs) using bivalent oral polio vaccine, Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha takes a look at why the vaccine preventable polio is still endemic in Nigeria.

    Nigeria is one of the three countries that is still polio-endemic, it is in this unenviable company with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Of all the three, Nigeria is the reservoir of wild polio virus, it is the only country with ongoing transmission of all three serotypes- wild poliovirus type 1, wild poliovirus type 3 and circulating vaccine- desired polio type 2. The Northern states are the main source of polio infections.

    In 2009, operational improvements in these northern states led to a 90 per cent decline in cases of wild poliovirus type 1 and a 50 per cent decline in overall cases compared with 2008.

    As of last week, Polio Global Eradication Initiative, a monitoring organisation of polio situation in Nigeria, reported that two new cases of wild polio virus 1 have been found in Kano and Taraba states, bringing the total number of wild polio cases for this year to 18. The case from Kano is the most recent case in the country.

    According to medical experts, as long as a single child remains infected, children in all countries are at risk of contracting polio. Failure to eradicate polio from these last remaining strongholds could result in as many as 200, 000 new cases every year within 10 years. Polio has no cure but can be prevented.

    In most countries, the global effort has expanded capacities to tackle other infectious diseases by building effective surveillance and immunization systems.

    A delicate balance

    Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in 200 infections lead to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralysed, five per cent to 10 per cent die when their breathing muscles become immobilised.

    According to WHO, globally, Polio cases have decreased by over 99 per cent since 1988, from an estimated 350, 000 cases to 223 reported cases in 2012. The reduction is the result of the global effort to eradicate the disease.

    Nigeria is fighting to end the endemic. However, there are sundry factors militating against the actualisation of this hope.

    The polio eradication programme continue to miss too many children in key geographic areas and population groups due to a mixture of operational and social factors. In 2012, going by data supplied by Polio Global Eradication Initiative, 61 children were paralyzed by polio in the first half of 2012, as opposed to 24 at the same time in 2011. In 2011, more than 95 per cent of all cases occurred in the eight persistently endemic northern states of Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.

    A formerly strong primary health care system in northern Nigeria has been weakened over many years due to incessant polio outbreaks and resistant of a segment of the populace over the safety of the vaccination. This has led to serious gap in the administration of the vaccine and subsequent disruption of campaigns as well as the killing of vaccinators. Now routine immunisation services are either no longer available or irregular; coupled with limited resources for health services and gaps in vaccine storage and distribution.

    According to a nongovernmental organisation, PATH, Northern Nigeria has one of the lowest rates of immunisation coverage in the world. In many parts of the north, barely 10 percent of children receive all of their routine vaccines. Coverage rates for the vaccine against tetanus among women are equally low.

    Misunderstood scheme

    The north is rife with misperception on the effects of the contents of the vaccine on health, especially reproduction. Campaigns have been on in the north that vaccination leads to reduction of productivity, this has been countered at all levels but the impact is still there.

    But in the face of sundry factors including insecurity, especially of Boko Haram, ridding the country of the polio virus can remain a mirage. Conflicts and insecurity do weaken public health systems.

    For instance, attacks on health workers in Kano State have robbed vulnerable populations of basic life-saving health interventions. In the face of these, Nigeria continues to pose a significant risk to surrounding countries. In 2011, polio viruses originating from Nigeria were detected in five countries on West and Central Africa. Despite dozens of vaccination campaigns over the past years, according to Polio Global Eradication Initiative, no more than 65 percent of children have received four or more Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) doses in Borno, Kano, Sokoto and Yobe states.

    Viruses with genetic evidence of long periods of circulation without detection are still being found, indicating surveillance gaps. Sub national engagement of political leadership remains patchy. Future benefits of polio eradication are immense. Once polio is eradicated, the world can celebrate the delivery of a major global public good that will benefit all, no matter where they live. According to WHO, Economic modelling has found that the eradication of polio would save at least US$ 40 to 50 billion over the next 20 years, mostly in low-income countries. Most importantly, success will mean that no child will ever again suffer the terrible effects of lifelong polio-paralysis.

     

     

  • I am not a spare tyre—Katsina State deputy governor

    I am not a spare tyre—Katsina State deputy governor

    Alhaji Abdulahi Faskari,the Deputy Governor of Katsina State, in this interview with Adetutu Audu, says deputy governors are not spare tyres. He also spoke on other issues. Excerpts

     

    You headed the education ministry for two years, how different was it from the justice ministry which you also headed before becoming deputy governor?

    Part of the challenges we had when I was appointed there was on the issue of recruitment of teachers and of course the governor gave approval for more than 3000 teachers for the secondary schools. It was during my time that the governor, in collaboration with the local government areas, built additional secondary schools, about 100 of such, in order to reduce congestion in our secondary schools. The foreign scholarship programme, which is now popular in and out of the country, had just started at that time. A number of people thought it was not going to be sustained, perhaps because of the enormity of the resources involved. We started with only one programme when we started. About 111 students of Katsina State origin were recruited and gotten admission into universities in Sudan. Sudan has some kind of peculiarities with Katsina State, particularly with reference to the girl- child education. A number of parents here will not allow their daughters to go for the western education.

    How was your tenure at the justice ministry?

    In justice ministry, it is basically service delivery, you don’t normally see tangibly what is being done; most of what is being done is rooted in service.

    How would you describe your relationship with the governor?

    I think if there is a word better than cordial, I will use it because that is what it is. I don’t have any problem with my principal probably because of a number of reasons. The governor himself is a straight forward person. And once you understand his own approach to issues or things, it will be easier to go along with him. The governor is a professional colleague. He is a lawyer of international repute. Don’t forget that I was Attorney – General in the second administration of the late Musa Yar’Ádua. The governor was privileged to be the first Attorney- General to the late president; he served from 1999 to 2003 and I took over from him. And I was reappointed by the governor in 2007 still as Attorney- General. And he later redeployed me to education because of my background in education. So, all these steps have given one enough time to understudy him on what he likes and doesn’t and how one can key into his vision for the state.

    How true is the assertion that deputy governors are mere spare tyres?

    I don’t think that phrase is applicable to me because I know of my own peculiar circumstance and system. If others have problems with their principals, it should not extend to me because this can be attested by everybody in the state that the number of work I have here is enormous.

    Beyond the fact that one is the deputy governor, I also supervise the local government affairs.

    As an agrarian state, to what extent is the government assisting farmers in agriculture?

    There are a number of programmes directly affecting agriculture and production in the state. The governor distributed 340 tractors to farmers at subsidised rate, not only at subsidised rate but the payment method is five years. So, in a way, you can say the tractors are free. The issues of fertilizer which of course is very crucial to agricultural production, the governor took it upon himself to provide fertilizer equally at subsidised rate, both for dry and raining season farming. There is also loan to the farmers, free of interest. There is also a scheme going in the state now in partnership with the Shanghai, also initiated by the governor.

    What brought about the idea of building a new government house, what happens to the present one?

    If you look at Katsina, I don’t know how conversant you are with the state. The Katsina of 10, 5 years ago is different from the Katsina of today. Things have dramatically changed in terms of infrastructure. You find people who, for sometime had not been to the state, asking people before they can locate their way. Things have really changed. If you see the ring road, you see that things are changing because it is connecting major townships in the state. The essence of the new government house is not because the present one is not good but not in consonance with the new trend of what is happening in the state.

    Having been in government for more than 10 years, are you fulfilled?

    Why not? You know I have been in government for more than 10 years now. And you know that there are a lot of people who are equally and even more qualified than I am but they didn’t have the opportunity to serve. I can even say I have taken more than my share in the state in relation to the number of citizens of the state. If you are to distribute this among those eligible, you will understand that I have taken more than my share and that is why I am grateful to God.

  • FG to inaugurate 10 power plants by Dec – Maku

    FG to inaugurate 10 power plants by Dec – Maku

    The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, says the Federal Government is expected to inaugurate 10 power generating plants by December 2013.

    Maku stated this on Monday when he inspected N78 million Maigora electrification expansion projects being executed by the Katsina state government in Faskari Local Government Area (LGA).

    The Minister, who is on `Good Governance Tour’ in Katsina state, said other separate power generation projects were awarded in Niger and Adamawa states with combined capacity to supply huge megawatts for nation’s consumption.

    Maku expressed satisfaction with Katsina State Government’s preparation to maximally harness the Federal Government power generation projects.

    According to him, such efforts will surely boost economic activities of the rural areas.

    `When the plants became operational, Katsina will be among the high benefiting states from the development on the ground.

    “The effort would facilitate active performance of local entrepreneurs, cottage industries and other small scale businesses that would rejuvenate economic growths in the communities.”

    Maku also inspected the ongoing N167 million Yankara water supply project in Faskari LGA awarded by the state government.

    The minister expressed optimism that the initiatives would improve the wellbeing of the people.

    He also inspected the 35 km Yankara-Maigora road, 40 km Shema-Kankara road as well as the 45 km Kakume-Guga-Bakori road, among others in Katsina south senatorial zone.

    Speaking during the inspection tour, Katsina State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Garba, reiterated the state government’s determination to provide people oriented projects, aimed at enhancing the standard of living of the people.

    He said the projects executed have touched all aspects of their standard of living, such as education, health, agriculture, infrastructure and economic growth.

    Abdullahi said that all projects were in line with the Federal Government development policies as well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) initiative.

    Also speaking, the Transition Committee Chairman of Faskari LGA, Alhaji Isiyaku Faskari-Ahmad, said that adequate arrangements were made to ensure that people benefited with the electrification project.

    He said that rice processing mills and other agro-allied industries as well as domestic businesses would be encouraged at the grass root.

    NAN reports that the Minister was received by Katsina State Deputy Governor at the Zamfara state boarder.

  • 19 die in Niger, Katsina road accidents

    •PHCN worker electrocuted in Minna

    NINETEEN people died at the weekend in road accidents in Niger and Katsina states.

    In Niger State, the dead include a Superintendent of Police (SP), Benjamin Ofulue, and 11 others. They died at Kompani Dorowa on the Minna-Suleja Road in Niger State.

    Ofufule was the Officer-in-Charge of Transport and Workshop at the Niger State Police Command.

    The accident, which occurred on Sunday morning, involved a Minna-bound commercial Volkswagen Sharon station wagon car from Abuja and an 18-seater Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Sports Council Hiace bus. They had a head-on collision at 7am.

    The police officer, a juvenile and seven other passengers died on the spot.

    Police spokesman Richard Oguche, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said all the occupants of the Volkswagen car died. The driver and some passengers in the 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus also died.

    Oguche said the bodies of the accident victims had been deposited at the Minna General Hospital’s mortuary for identification.

    The police spokesman said Ofulule was returning to work after visiting his family in Abuja at the weekend.

    A casual worker with the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Habibu Isah, was electrocuted, also at the weekend, at Maikukule, a suburb of Minna, the state capital.

    The electricity worker was reportedly electrocuted on Saturday following a sudden restoration of power when he was rectifying a fault on a high tension line.

    He was said to have begun the repairs when there was an outage. However, while on the job power was restored.

    The body of the electricity worker hung on the pole.

    Oguche blamed the electrocution on Isah’s alleged negligence.

    He said the victim did not take the necessary safety precaution by wearing rubber hand gloves before starting the repairs on a high-tension line.

    A motor accident has killed a family of seven on the Katsina-Kano Road in Rimi Local Government Area of Katsina State.

    Police spokesman Aminu Sadiq, a Deputy Superintended of Police (DSP), told reporters that the accident occurred at 8pm on Saturday at Lambar-Rimi town.

    Sadiq explained that the accident occurred when a Peugeot car from Katsina and a Honda Civic car from Kano had a head-on collision.

     

  • Jonathan approves N5.7bn for victims of 2011 post-election violence

    President Goodluck  Jonathan has approved the release of a total sum of N5,747,694,780.00 to nine states of the federation for direct disbursement to those who suffered losses of properties, means of livelihood and places of worship in the post election violence of 2011.

    Special Adviser (Media) to the President, Dr Reuben Abati said in a statement that the approval was based on the submission of the Sheik Ahmed Lemu’s panel and its adoption by the Federal Executive Council.

    Following the post election violence and civil disturbances in some states after the April 2011 elections, President Jonathan set up a Panel of Enquiry headed by Sheik Ahmed Lemu to among other things, identify the spread and extent of losses suffered across the country.

     The Federal Ministry of Lands and Housing was later  mandated to assess the reported losses and damage to properties in all affected states.

    Consequently, President Jonathan has approved the release of funds to nine of the 14 affected states as follows:

    1.      Bauchi                 –        N1,574,879,000.00

    2.    Sokoto                 –        N55,888,506.00

    3.    Zamfara               –        N93,253,485.00

    4.    Niger                    –        N433,375,875.00

    5.     Jigawa                 –        N208,667,634.00

    6.    Katsina                –        N1,973,209,440.00

    7.     Kano                    –        N944,827,000.00

    8.    Adamawa            –        N420,089,840.00

    9.    Akwa Ibom          –        N43,504,000.00

    Total                –        N5,747,694,780.00

    President Jonathan has also directed that an Implementation Committee for the disbursement of the funds to beneficiaries in  the nine states be constituted as follows:

    1.      Executive Governor  or Deputy Governor        –        Chairman

    2.    Representative of State Government                –        Member

    3.    Secretary of the Sheik Lemu Panel                   –        Member

    4.    Representative of the OSGF                              –        Member

    5.     Representative of the FMLH&UD                    –        Member

    Inspection and assessment of damages and losses suffered are yet to be carried out in Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna and Nasarawa states as modalities and further instructions for the exercise are still being expected from the state governments.

    Funds to cover the losses sustained by victims of the post election violence in theses five states will be approved and released at the conclusion of the assessment exercise.

  • Kidnapping: Katsina sets up committee on expatriates

    Kidnapping: Katsina sets up committee on expatriates

    Katsina State Government on Monday constituted a committee to provide security cover to expatriates working in the state.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Magaji, disclosed this to journalists in Katsina shortly after the state security meeting chaired by Governor Ibrahim Shema.

    The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that the decision followed the kidnapping of a Frenchman, Mr Francis Colump in Rimi Local Government Area of the state two months ago by gunmen.

    It was also prompted by the recent abduction of seven expatriates in Jama’are, Bauchi State and similar incidents in other parts of the country.

    The commissioner said that members of the committee were drawn from police, State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the army.

    Magaji said the committee was mandated to identify the number of expatriates working in the state, their location and telephone numbers, to be able to provide adequate security cover for them.

    He added that the committee had already begun action and solicited for the cooperation of people of the state for the attainment of the goal.

  • Govt creates 3,000 jobs for youths, others in Katsina

    About 3,000 jobs have been created for youths, women, disabled among others, under the Federal Government’s Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) in Katsina State.

    The state Programme Coordinator, Alhaji Garba Kurfi, told The Nation that 30 per cent of the jobs were reserved for women, 20 per cent for persons living with disabilities, while the others were reserved for males.

    He said youths would be engaged in jobs, such as road rehabilitation, teaching in primary schools, as well as home management for women.

    According to the coordinator, every local government is expected to select three communities for such projects. He added that the beneficiaries should be between 18 and 35 years.

    Kurfi said the programme was aimed at creating employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths in the country.

    He added that it would also prevent youths from indulging in societal vices, such as armed robbery and prostitution, among others.

    The coordinator urged local government authorities to register qualified persons irrespective of their political party affiliations.

  • Gunmen bomb police station in Katsina

    …Abduct Frenchman

    Gunmen have bombed a police station and kidnapped a Frenchman, Mr. Francis Colump in Rimi Local Government area of Katsina State.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that two people were killed and a mobile policeman injured in the attack, which occurred at about 10pm on Wednesday.

    Those who died are Rabe Dan’Unguwa (45), a security man at the residence of Colump, and one Abubakar Sale (25), a passer bye.

    The abducted Frenchman works with S. A. Vergnet France, the firm handling the contract for the 10 megawatt wind mill power project in Rimi.

    An eyewitness told NAN on Thursday in Rimi, that the attacks on the station and the residence of Colump were carried out simultaneously by about 30 gunmen, who divided themselves into two groups.

    According to him, the attackers arrived the town in three vehicles and began shooting before setting off the bomb which badly damaged the station but recorded no casualty.

    The mobile policeman was injured in the attack on the Frenchman’s residence.

    It was gathered that as soon as they shot the trio, the gunmen forced themselves into the residence and abducted the Frenchman.

    When the NAN correspondent visited the town, the residents including the Caretaker Chairman of the council, Alhaji Nasiru Ala were conducting the burial rites of the two persons killed in the attack.

    Ala, who described the incident as “tragic”, prayed God to expose those involved in the act.

    When contacted, the state Police Commissioner, Alhaji Abdullahi Magaji, confirmed the incident, saying that the gunmen used a gas cylinder to bomb the police station.

    “Their purpose was to kidnap the expatriate, Mr. Colump, but they attacked the police station to divert attention.”

    Magaji said two civilians were killed while the mobile policeman injured in the attack was receiving treatment at a hospital in Katsina.

     

  • Almajiris acquire skills in Katsina

    Almajiris acquire skills in Katsina

    The Almajiri phenomenon is coming to an end in Katsina State, thanks to the effort of the Ibrahim Shema administration. Food and clothing are delivered to the children; they are also acquiring skills.

    In Daura, an emirate in the state, Governor Shema has handed out food and clothing items to pupils of Qur’anic schools to keep them from begging on the roads.

    Many are concerned that the Almajiri phenomenon is endangering the children, who are enrolled in Qur’anic schools but are often out on the streets soliciting alms and food.

    There are worries that their school environments are unsuitable and that their health is compromised. There is also concern on safety and moral issues. But the greatest worry is that not much has been done to help the children.

    Shema has stepped in to address that challenge. He has started a pilot scheme with 70 Qur’anic schools in the state. Food and clothing are sent to those schools. The pupils are equally taught skills, on which to productive lives upon graduation. With the success of the pilot scheme, the state government plans to replicate the effort in every Qur’anic school spread all over the state.

    Many reckon that the scheme will not only help the pupils to acquire knowledge and self-improving skills, but will also fight poverty in the state, since many of the Almajiri children are from poor homes.

    The Federal Government launched an Almajiris Integrated Boarding School Programme in Sokoto, designed to fuse western education into Quranic curriculum and be domesticated in every northern states.

    The Katsina pilot scheme, however, does not have the western education component, yet, but may do so in future depending on the success of the trial programme.

    In driving the scheme, Shema has a dependable ally in Prof. Aminu Kado Kurfi, the state Commissioner for Education.

    While flagging off the pilot scheme at Alarama Mallam Bello Qur’anic School, Shema revealed that the plan has been on the government’s education drawing board since the inception of his administration in 2007.

    He explained that it will take time for government to effectively execute an important programme of this nature; it requires adequate planning to ascertain wha is involved.

    He revealed that N36m will be spent on the programme monthly in the first phase that would last six months, after which the programme will be assessed for possible expansion to other schools in the state.

    Shema said: “Our intention is that we should be able to promote effective teaching and practice of Islamic knowledge among the youth to inculcate the fear of God in the children.

    “You are aware that this administration always put education and acquisition of knowledge as the first priority of the government. That is why we will never stop propagating western education and Islamic education as both can always go together.

    The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Aminu Kurfi, said in order to properly educate the youthful Almajiri to make more impact in the society, government has decided to promote Quoranic education alongside western instruction.

    He said he drew inspiration from the state governor, urging him to continue with his effective leadership. The commissioner added that the governor has made Katsina the first state in the North to devise a workable solution to the Almajiri challenge.

    Kurfi said the Shema administration has constituted a committee that visited and assessed Quoranic schools before determining that feeding and clothing the pupils would drastically reduce the Almajiri menace in the state.

    Senior Special Assistant to Governor Shema on Almajiri Affairs, Mallam Lawal Mani Gambarawa, expressed appreciation for the pilot programme which is likely to be extended to thousands of similar Qur’anic schools in the state.

    Gambarawa said the Almajiri children go out begging because of hunger and poverty of their parents, but he added that change has come since the state government is now feeding, clothing and providing vocational training.

    The SSA said: “In Katsina State zone, we have 3,023 Qur’anic schools just as we have 2,689 schools in Daura and 2,653 schools in Funtua, making a total of 8,365 Qur’anic schools in the state. Also, our Almajiri who go about in search of food while studying in their respective Qur’anic schoosls also totalled 460,212 pupils”.

    Gambarawa insisted that the state government feed-the-children programme is in the right direction to put an end to excruciating suffering and begging  among the Allo school pupils as it would also ameliorate the prevailing insecurity in the northern states and indeed Nigeria.

    He therefore called for the co-operation of everyone to make the progamme succeed, as the government cannot unilaterally drive it.

    Gambarawa appealed to the well-to-do and the entire Muslim community to support the Allo Model School programme as its success will enhance co-existence in the north and entire country.