The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kolade Adeyemi

  • Easter: Kano CAN Chairman supports FG’s economic road map

    Easter: Kano CAN Chairman supports FG’s economic road map

    The chairman, Kano chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Ransom Bello has urged the Federal Government not to relent in its effort to revamp the economic even in the face of activities of economic saboteurs who are hell-bent on frustrating the good intention of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    Bishop Bello who disclosed this during his Easter message to Nigerians also frowned at the activities of economic saboteurs, describing it as detrimental to the national development.

    He prayed for the success of the current economic team put together by the Buhari’s administration and hoped that at the end, their decisions and policy formulation will bring the economy back on the right track for the interest of all Nigerians, particularly, the masses.

    According to him, “though Nigeria is going through trying period, things will change for the better. There is no room for despair. There is no reason for suicide. We should not kill ourselves because of hardship. I hope things are going to change in this country, but how it is going to happen, I don’t know.

    “For a man that believes in Christ, there is always hope for tomorrow. I am sure when Jesus Christ was crucified and buried, it is like the disciples lost hope and when he rose from the grave, and their hope came alive again.

    “Darkness is not supreme to light. The light will always overcome darkness. Nigeria will witness the light of God economically and politically. I always believe that there will be a better tomorrow. As I give credit to the present administration for what they are doing, I believe that a better government will evolve.

    “Now, here is the irony, Jesus raise the dead from the grave, and the same Jesus eventually entered the grave for the sake of man; but he rose again—he conquered the power of death. So, Nigerians should not be worried about the level of hardship and depression we are passing through because very soon, things will be better.”

    Bishop Bello who is also the General Overseer of Calvary Life Assembly, however, urged President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to “wake up to its responsibilities and ensure that the common man has food on the table. The government should ensure that we have employment for the young people. The government has to ensure that Naira is well stabilised, and the dollar should continue to depreciate.”

    He, however, urged economic saboteurs to desist from their evil way or face the wrath of God.

     

  • Shekarau calls for policy to encourage online studies

    Shekarau calls for policy to encourage online studies

    Former governor of Kano, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau yesterday called for the introduction of a policy that is designed to encourage online studies in the country, which will enhance the knowledge and the process of learning.
     
    Shekarau, who is the immediate past Minister of Education made the call in his private residence where he received the founder of Islamic Online University, Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips.
     
    The Sardaunan Kano further noted that “at the time the online studies became a policy in Nigeria, the better for us; because online studies is a very good way for promoting education in a developing country like Nigeria.”
     
    He, however, hailed Dr. Bilal Philips, for not only encouraging online studies but also introducing Islamic angle to learning and university education.
     
    “Another aspect that is very important is the Islamization of knowledge; and the Islamization of the process of learning because all knowledge belongs to God,” he stated.
     
    Malam Shekarau, however, offered prayers to God for guidance, just as he promised to do everything within his powers to ensure the success and establishment of the tuition-free Online Islamic University in Nigeria.
     
    While speaking on the need to establish the university in Nigeria, founder of the institution, Dr Philips, a renowned Islamic scholar, stated that already, “over 300, 000 students across the world are enrolled in the institution, with 12, 000 Nigerians who are already benefitting from the online free education.
     
    “In the Online Islamic University, we don’t only offer Shari’a, we offer degree programmes in education, Banking and Financing, Agriculture, Information and Communication Technology, Mass Communication, among others.”
     
    The Chief Imam of Kano, Prof. Sani Zahradeen, in his speech, described the establishment of Online Islamic University in Nigeria as a welcome development that will liberate the Islamic North from education backwardness.
     
    The Nation reports that Dr. Bilal Philips is expected to meet with the Emir of Kano, His Highness, Malam Muhammad Sanusi 11, to further discuss ways of making the Online Islamic University a dream come true in Nigeria.
  • Kano Police smash kidnapping gang

    Kano Police smash kidnapping gang

    The Police in Kano have squashed a syndicate that specialises in the kidnapping of adolescents in exchange for ransom, within Kano metropolis.
    Abubakar Umar, alias Kafi Giwa, a resident of Meyere quarters, Kaduna, and his girlfriend, one  Hafsat Auwal, 18 years –old a resident of Tsamiyar Boka, Kano, fell into the net of Kano state police command special anti-kidnapping squad for allegedly  specializing in the theft of children around, Hotoro, Kawo, Tisharma, Wala Lambe areas within, Kano metropolis.
    The suspects confessed committing the crime, disclosing that they were arrested, through a N100,000,000 trait, which was paid to them, as a ransom, for the release of an  8 year-old captive.
    According to the suspects, their last victim, Sadiq Mustapha was lured away from the residence of his parents in Yadodo Hotoro quarters, they proceeded to demand N1 million as ransom with a threat that, failure to comply with their demand, the child will be killed., they later settled for N100.000.00.
    The suspects further confessed that they once engaged in the kidnap of a child from a private secondary school located within Rijiyar Zaki quarters, Kano., adding that, the parents of the child parted with an undisclosed amount as ransom, facilitating the release of their victim.
    The spokesman, Nigeria Police Force, Kano command, DSP Magaji Musa Majiya confirmed the bursting of the kidnapping syndicate in the state.
    Majiya revealed that the command has been inundated with complaints over missing children, from residents of Hotoro, Tishama, Kawo and environs, noting that, the command swift into action, by deploying a special squad to the area to curb the menace.
    The swift response by the police under the supervision of the state commissioner of police Rabiu Yusuf led to the smashing of the syndicate, disclosing that, prosecutorial exhibits have been retrieved, stating that, on completion of investigation, the suspected kidnappers would be arraigned in court.
  • Use mosques as classrooms, Emir Sanusi tells northern governors

    Use mosques as classrooms, Emir Sanusi tells northern governors

    The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II has advised northern governors to use mosques to offer primary education instead of constructing more classrooms, in the midst of scarce resources.

    Emir Sanusi who spoke during the combined graduation of 2,000 in-service teachers under the Kano state Teacher Upgrade Training Programme, maintained that the idea was feasible and cost-saving.

    He said: “Since there are many mosques in the northern part of the country, across local governments, they could function as primary schools during the day time and in between afternoon and evening obligatory prayers.

    “By so doing, we can limit the amount we spend on school infrastructure and devote the funds to the training of teachers, which is among the critical factors that lead to positive learning outcomes.”

    According to him, “as proof that the idea will work, he stated that during a visited to Fez, a city in Morocco some time ago, he visited a mosque which, besides its traditional function as a place of worship, was also conveniently serving as a university with a structured course outlines and lecturers.”

    The Emir maintained that “the separation of mosques from the teaching of formal education contributed significantly to the notion, among misguided people, that Islam is against western education.”

    He, however, expressed happiness that for the first time, the government of Kano state has understood that the problem of education is not principally about infrastructure and teaching materials, but placed emphasis on teacher capacity building for better leaning outcomes.

    The governor of Kano state, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje told the gathering that Kano has over 3 million pupils in public primary schools, over 52,000 teachers and 6,000 public basic education schools, with multiple challenges, including that of infrastructure.

    “Despite the current economic hardships, there are still ongoing construction of new schools, more renovation works in many schools, procurement and provision of essential teaching and learning materials,” he assured.

    Besides, the governor stated that administration is determined to improve the quality of human resource in the education sector for effective teaching and learning, saying, “we are surely obliged to continue to demonstrate our commitment to the development of education in the state.”

    Dr. Ganduje explained that his vision is to ensure that “by the end of year 2017, all unqualified basic education teachers in Kano State will become professional teachers through Teacher Upgrade Programme and other in-service Training opportunities.”

  • Hostility: KAROTA, motorists clash in Kano

    National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Kano chapter on Friday staged a protest at Nai’bawa on Zaria road, Kano, as well as other parts of the metropolitan city over what they described as a hostile policy of Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA).

    Among others, the irate bus Drivers accused KAROTA officials of incessant arrest, extortion and intimidation, following a directive, compelling all commercial bus drivers to compulsively paint their commercial vehicles, with the colour approved by the State Government.

    Already, the situation has degenerated to rampant clashes, which consequently lead to a daily arrest of defaulters, with the imposition of the subsequent payment of N10, 000 fine.

    To this end, the Commercial bus drivers appealed to the KAROTA officials for more time for them to liaise with their vehicle owners before complying with the directive.

    When our Correspondent visited the scene of the protest, it was observed that the Police have already arrested some of the protesters, while many passengers became stranded, as most of the commercial bus drivers temporarily suspended services.

    Consequently, business and commercial activities have been paralysed in the metropolis, thereby forcing commuters to walk long distances to their various destinations.

    In reaction to the development, the KAROTA Managing Director, Mohammed Abdulhadi Zarewa, said it was part of the provision of the law that all commercial drivers must paint their vehicles, hence what informed their action.

    However, he promised that the Agency would meet with the Executive members of the NURTW to resolve the issue amicably.
  • IGR: Kano warns FRSC officers over fake drivers’ license

    IGR: Kano warns FRSC officers over fake drivers’ license

    Kano State Government on Wednesday warned some Officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to desist from issuing fake drivers’ license to motorists so as not to sabotage the efforts of the state government to improve its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
    Chairman of the Kano State Board of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Sani Abdulkadir Dambo, who gave the warning at a press briefing, said the security agents have been instructed to henceforth fish out those who issued the fake drivers’ license to motorists, so as to prosecute them.
    Dambo also noted that though it is legally acceptable for Nigerians to purchase plate numbers from any state of their choice across the country, the state government will start clamping down on those motorists who are patronising fake plate numbers from neighbouring states such as Kaduna, Jigawa and Katsina at a cheaper rate. 
    The Chairman, who debunked the rumours making the rounds among tricycle drivers that the government is collecting almost N500 daily tax from them, said the state government will soon launch a unified tax system where motorists are expected to pay just N100 daily to discourage multiple taxation. 
    He advised drivers to always purchase their plate numbers and licenses as well as other IGR payments in their respective Local Government Councils, saying that the performance of each LGA on IGR will determine the sharing method of allocation for developmental projects in their localities.
  • Pre-registration: NCC arrests six, confiscates hundreds of SIM cards

    Pre-registration: NCC arrests six, confiscates hundreds of SIM cards

    The Nigeria Communications Commission, (NCC), on Monday arrested six men in Kano for being in possession and sale of hundreds of pre-registered SIM cards which had been banned by the agency since 2O11.
    The suspects were arrested in two separate raids carried out by the NCC operation unit backed by security operatives in the GSM village located at Farm Centre and the Yankura market in the Kano State metropolis.
    Head of the NCC operation unit, Mallam Salisu Abdul said the operation became imperative following the rampant sales of pre-registered SIM cards in Kano by unregistered individuals.
    He described the sales of pre-registered Sim cards as a criminal offence, adding that “the commission will continue to raid markets across the country until we are able to stop such nefarious activities.”
    Abdul blamed the various agents of service providers who sell or give out a large quantity of such pre-registered SIM cards to individual to unsuspected prospective buyers without proper registration.
    He noted that with the high rate of Kidnapping and other criminal activities are usually carried out with this pre-registered SIMs without proper control by those agents who gave them out in large quantity to these unlicensed individuals for sale to innocent people.
    According to him, the six suspects arrested will be handed over to the police for proper investigation and eventual prosecution and in addition authenticated the sources of the SIM cards.
    He added that similar operations are being carried out in Lagos, Abuja, Minna and now Kano, stressing that the raid will be a continuous one.
    “Today, we have carried out a raid, at the end of which we arrested six suspects in connection with the sale of pre-registered sim card. It is a criminal offence to sell pre-registered sim card. The NCC had issued a directive since 2011 that all sim cards must be personally registered.
    “However, you can go to the market now, buy as many sim cards as possible if you want, put it on your phone without personally registering the sim card and carry out some telecom activities.
    “We are in Kano, we have done a lot of exercises, ranging from Abuja, in Minna and many parts of the country. The exercise is going to be continuous until when you cannot see any pre-registered sim card on the streets.
    “Like I earlier said it is a criminal offence to sell pre-registered sim card. We will hand over the six suspects arrested to the Nigeria Police to enable the law enforcement agents, carry out a proper investigation and whoever is found guilty would be prosecuted.
    “Our mission is to find out how the dealers were able to acquire the pre-registered sim cards. NCC had earlier issued a directive because when you register a sim card and fail to carry out any activity with the sim card within 48 hours, that sim card should be reverted to inactive but if you buy and register, that is proper registration. However, if you buy and register and decided not to make a call or conduct data activity with the sim card, that sim card should be reverted as inactive by the operator.
    “We don’t really know how they do it. Probably, they are breaking the sim card, put them in their phone, make calls and return back to, indeed, I do not know how they do it. That is the essence of the exercise. So far, we have recovered more than 100 sim cards.
    “We have bought one from each of the suspects, we have tested and confirmed that those sim cards are active and they are contrary to our regulation. Meanwhile, the Police would go ahead and investigate in respect of the remaining sim cards we have recovered to establish whether they are fully registered or not.
    “However, one sim card is enough and perhaps all these sim cards are used to commit crimes in this country. It is the same sim card they are using to kidnap people. You can fall victim of this atrocity,” he stated.

  • Recover looted funds stashed in Middle East, Shehu Sani urges EFCC

    Human Rights activist and Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Senator Shehu Sani has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to beam their searchlight on the  Middle East and Far East where he alleged some corrupt Nigerians stashed looted funds.

    The chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts spoke in Kano while on a Nigeria at 56 anniversary visit to Elder Statesmen, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai and Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule.

    According to him, “hundreds of billions of tax payers’ money have been stolen over the years and we have a duty to recover them, but it is very evidently clear that the idea of looted funds and the recovery from outside Nigeria seems to be beginning and ending with Abacha as if it is only Abacha that stole money and he is the only person whose money should be returned back to Nigeria.

    “I believe that we should go beyond that and check on how our own money was filtered away and taken to countries of the Middle East and also the Far East.”

    The radical politician further noted that, “it is disturbing that at this very critical moment of our country’s history, we have been faced with a series of economic challenges that clearly if not managed very well will lead us to self-destruction.

    “In the last four to five decades, we have been dependent on oil revenue and we have seen how over the years, the resources accrued from such revenue has not reflected or have not tallied with the level of social and economic development we have seen on the ground.

    “We have seen how a culture of waste and mismanagement over the years, how a culture of lack of saving has made it impossible for us to address some issues that are facing us as a country. It is a fact that Nigerians are suffering and the country that was seen to be very promising in Africa in the past is now lacking the capacity to stir the ship of our state and to lead other African states.

    “It is disgraceful that our political ruling elite over the years have not been able to save for the rainy day. It has reached a point today where by states can no longer pay salaries; they owe deeper and deeper into debt; and it also looks as if there is no clear plan on ground to exit ourselves from the problems we have found ourselves.

    “People like us with a background of activism are not (that) professional politicians. Our perceptions and views about issues are naturally different from those who are traditional politicians. But it is untenable for us to continue to give excuse to Nigerians.

    “We were elected into office to deliver, we were elected into office to take our people into the promise land, we were elected into office to give hope and to give succour, we were also elected into office to raise the social, economic and political profile of our country to the glory and to the pride of our people and also to the pride of the black race or Africa in general.

    “Nigeria is not the first country that has found itself in a very bad economic state, and it is most likely not going to be the last. There are people who think that Nigeria is dead and we should be on the receivership, but I don’t believe that Nigeria is for sale. Now, I have to say this very loudly, if the nation expects people to be patriotic, then it must be seen to be a nation for all of us.

    “I have said this continuously and I will continue to say it that a nation that robs Peter to pay Paul is most likely going to get patriotism from Paul rather than from Peter. Our people are suffering and how can we get out of this mess—however, we know that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.”

  • Police seal off Kwankwaso’s residence

    Police seal off Kwankwaso’s residence

    Heavily armed policemen on Tuesday in Kano sealed the residence of former Kano state Governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

    The residence, located at Lugard Road, is just a few minutes drive from Kano Government House.

    The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr.  Rabiu Yusuf,  confirmed the development, saying:  “We have directed our men to seal the residence, following an intelligent report that there is plan to conduct mass wedding in the house “

    Rabiu, who spoke through the spokesman for the state police command, DSP Magaji Musa Majia, said police did not issue permit for any mass wedding at the residence.

     

     

  • Sabon Gari market: Dangote heads fund raising panel

    Sabon Gari market: Dangote heads fund raising panel

    President of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote on Monday in Kano, assured Governor Abduallahi Umar Ganduje to go all out to meet those that matter to raise funds for  victims, whose goods was recently consumed by fire outbreak at the Abubakar Rimi market, so as to cushion the pains of the fire disaster.

    The business mogul, who is the Chairman of a Committee, just inaugurated by the Kano State Government to raise funds for victims of the Abubakar Rimi market, alongside four other different markets spread across the state, whose goods and property were also destroyed, promised that the committee will endeavor to complete its task within the six weeks stipulated time frame for members of the committee to complete its assignment

    His words: “We will first of plan before we start holding meetings because the most difficult aspect is  to plan how to raise money, as well as how to coordinate all our activities, which I believe will end within the next one week.’’

    In view of its enormous task, Dangote requested all members of the committee to readily make available all their direct mobile phone numbers, so as to be summoned for meetings as soon as possible.

    According to him, in the process of carrying out their mandate, they will also need the assistance of the governor in contacting his counterparts for assistance for a helping hand, just as he pointed out that Governor left out the National Assembly in his determined efforts to raise funds for the fire victims.

    However, the Chairman assured Ganduje that they will not disappoint him, noting that members of the committee are people of dignity and repute, just as he also prayed to Almighty Allah to prevent incessant fire disasters in Kano.

    Also, he promised that the report of the committee will be submitted within six weeks, so as to quickly embark on raising funds, adding that while compiling the report, they will fix a date for the fund raising, whether in Kano or in Abuja, but most importantly it’s better to hold the fund raising in Kano.

    Apart from that, Dangote pointed out that the committee members must unanimously agree on where to open a bank account, where the funds raised would be deposited.

    Earlier in his address, Governor Ganduje disclosed to members of the committee of the efforts the state Government is making toward resettling the displaced traders from the market.

    Also, he disclosed that as a matter of priority, the State Government constituted a Judicial Commission of Enquiry under Justice Wada Umar Rano to identify the actual cause of the fire, as well as to advice government on the necessary action to adopt.

    The essence of the fund raising committee, according to the governor is mainly to assist and raise funds to help the victims, adding that 7,000 stalls have been identified to have been razed by the fire.

    To this end, the State Government has also decided to underwrite at a cost of  reconstructing the stalls as a cost of N10,000 per shop, bringing the total amount to N70 million, so as to promptly resettle the traders.

    All the traders, the governor said will be given one year grace period, at the end of which they will start paying the owners of the shop.