The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Niger

  • Nigerian businessman to sponsor Niger AFCON campaign

    Nigerian businessman to sponsor Niger AFCON campaign

    Nigerian tycoon Dahiru Mangal will fly a 540-strong Niger contingent to next year’s African Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    MTNFootball.com reports that Mangal, a Katsina-based major air transporter and businessman agreed to make available one of his Boeing 747 planes to transport Nigerien national team and its supporters to the former apartheid enclave for the continent’s premier soccer tournament.

    “Mangal is a good friend of our President and he has graciously accepted to support Niger at the Nations Cup by providing us with a Boeing 747 plane that will take us to and from South Africa.

    “We will fuel the chartered aircraft, otherwise he would bear the other costs.

    “This is a big assistance to Niger and we really appreciate it.

    “His airline, Maxair, operates in Niger and he has several other business interests also in the country,” top Niger Football Association official, Mohammed Sani, told MTNFootball.com.

    This sponsorship is believed would save Niger at least about 50 million Naira.

    Niger will be based in Port Elizabeth for the first round of matches. The Mena will meet Ghana, Mali and DR Congo in the tournament starting in January.

    Mangal rose to national prominence during the tenure of late Nigerian president, Umaru Musa Yar’adua.

    This year, his airline ferried the bulk of Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the annual Muslim pilgrimage.

     

  • Niger budgets N75m

    Niger budgets N75m

    • Annouces naira rain for athletes
    • Targets gold in Hockey, Handball

    Niger State is determined to make the best use of N75million on the table for this year’s National Sports Festival dubbed Eko 2012.

    The state which is parading hockey, handball and volley ball as the only three team events of comparative advantage remians optimistic that her athletes will shine, especially after their qualification at the zonal elimination at Ilorin.

    In the same vein, the state hopes to clinch the medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres races in both the male and female categories, as well as to sweep all the medals in javelin and shot put because of the calibre of athletes currently in camp.

    Most of the athletes numbering about 200 that make up Team Niger have expressed readiness to make sure that records posted at the last two festivals in Kaduna and Port Harcourt respectively are improved upon.

    Already the Secretary to the Niger State Government Daniel Shashere has assured the athletes that it is going to be a naira rain if they justify their selection, and reminded them that the state is known for recognising and rewarding hardwork.

    He said: “What is on the front burner in the recognition of athletes by this administration is to give cash rewards to any athlete that makes the state proud; it is now a policy that N2.5million should be given to teams that win gold medals and N1.5million for silver while N1m will go to a bronze medal team”.

    On the individual event each athletes with a gold medal will be given N300,000, silver medal N200,000 and the bronze medalist will go home with N150,000, this arrangement according to the Secretary to the state Government is to keep the athletes on high spirit.

  • Family of four crushed to death in Niger

    •Seven others too

    Eleven persons, including two children, were on Monday night crushed to death by a truck at Arindoki Junction, Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State.

    The children’s father, Mr Paul Jacob, and his wife, died with seven others.

    Seven of the victims were passengers in a Sienna passenger car.

    Two other passengers survived.

    Eyewitnesses said the commercial car was heading to Suleja when the truck ran into it at the junction, killing 11 occupants.

    The occupants comprised five men, three women and three children.

    It was gathered that Jacob was a worker at the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). He recently transferred to Sabon Wuse Sector of Niger State Command.

    He was reportedly returning to his work base from Minna, the state capital, with his wife, two children and a sister in-law, when the accident occurred.

    The sister in-law and another female passenger are the two survivors.

    The state Sector Commander of the FRSC, David Usman, explained that the two survivors are receiving treatment at IBB Specialised Hospital in Minna.

    He said Jacob worked at the Sabon Wuse Sector of the FRSC.

  • APGA advises Fed Govt to dredge River Niger

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) yesterday urged the Federal Government to urgently dredge River Niger to check the perennial flooding of its banks.

    The party noted that this would save the people along the coast of the river.

    Through its National Chairman, Sir Victor Umeh, it urged the Federal Government to send materials to the flood victims through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

    The party noted that the burden was too much for the Anambra State Government to bear alone.

    Umeh told reporters in Enugu, the state capital, that the floods have shown that the Federal Government needs to dredge the River Niger to make it contain the deluge that occurs during the raining seasosn.

    He said: “The over-flooding of the banks of the River Niger, starting from Lokoja down the coast of the river, happens because of the huge silt that has accumulated along the coast. This makes it impossible for the river to carry the volume of water occasioned by heavy rain.

    “If the River Niger had been de-silted through dredging, this flood disaster would have been averted.

    “A long-term solution to this over-flowing of the banks will be the government awarding contracts for the dredging from Niger State down to the Atlantic Ocean. The dredging will achieve two purposes: it will make it possible for vessels to come from the Atlantic Ocean into the River Niger inland waterways and in fact make the Onitsha Port facility be put into use, as large vessels can now berth at the seaport.

    “Secondly, the dredging will make it easy for River Niger to contain the water flowing through it, thereby averting the type of over-flooding experienced from Lokoja, in Kogi State, down to Anambra State.”

     

  • Kwara, Niger, others to replicate Lagos traffic management

    The governments of Kwara, Niger, Edo, Oyo and some other states are set to establish traffic law enforcement agencies to be fashioned after the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), it was learnt.

    The Executive Chairman of LASTMA, Mr .Young Arebame, said the states are seeking assistance from the Lagos State Government to establish the traffic agency.

    He told our reporter that ’’we have begun action to replicate LASTMA in those states as requested by the governments. We have put structures in place for the take-off of traffic law enforcement agencies.”

    According to him, the development underscored the value of traffic management in an environment and the success of the Lagos State Government initiative in traffic management to enhance the economic development of the state.

    He said the economy of the state depended on free flow of traffic.

    Arebame said: “Eighty per cent of inhabitants of any city make use of highways in moving goods. Where government fails to ensure this, it affects the economy.

    ‘’If goods are produced by manufacturers and they cannot move them to market in time, such goods will lose value. Traffic congestion leads to loss of man hours and constitutes health hazards to road users. This is why governments are proactive in tackling traffic problems.

    ‘’With the establishment of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) in Lagos, you can travel from Ikorodu to CMS on Lagos Island within 25 minutes. Unlike before when a commuter could spend the whole day on the road.

    ‘’If Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had not established LASTMA that is sustained by Governor Babatunde Fashola, Lagos would have been groaning under traffic jam and the economy of the state would have suffered. That is to say the nation’s economy will be affected because Lagos is the nerve centre of the nation ‘s economy.”

    He said he is delighted that state governments are complementing each other in terms of development, adding, “this is what our leaders should be doing, instead of sabotaging themselves.”

    The LASTMA boss said: ’’It is on record that some politicians established a law enforcement agency called the Federal Road Management Agency (FERMA), with the intent of rivalling LASTMA on Lagos roads. The plan didn’t work. FERMA has become history.

    “We are not saying everybody in LASTMA is an angel. The founding fathers knew there would be bad eggs among the officials. That was why rules and guidelines were put in place, which are made known to them during the training. Officials who breach the rules are sanctioned.

    ‘’For the past two or three years, there has been a programme tagged: ‘The new face of LASTMA’, through which they undergo training and retraining on duty performance, human relations ,traffic rule enforcement and public relations. These trainings have impacted on the service delivery of our officials.’’

     

     

  • Retaining Niger State on the peace map

    SIR: One of the factors that has assured and sustained the atmosphere of peace and stability which Niger State enjoys is the respect for and recognition of the plural nature and multi-ethnic composition of the state.

    For those who believe that peace and stability are some of the most important ingredients for progress, Niger state under Dr Babangida Aliyu provides an ample case study.

    At a time when some states in the North are enmeshed in violence triggered by petty sentiments, Dr. Aliyu has obliterated such primordial differences in Niger State. Between 2007 when he came to power and now, he has turned Niger State into a monolith of peace in the way he has wiped out all forms of divisions in ethnicity and religion. For his administration in Niger State, everybody resident here is a Nigerlite and enjoys every amenity or provision of the government without discrimination. The concept of state of origin does not exist.

    Every school child in the primary school and students in the secondary school in the state enjoys free education without discrimination; every child up to the age of five, as well as all pregnant women and the aged are entitled to free and quality medicare without discrimination.

    The fears of ethno-religious disturbances that are threatening some states in the North would hardly have a perch in Niger State mainly because of the governor’s belief that encourages peaceful cohabitation among persons irrespective of ethnic or religious affiliation.

    This belief was reinforced last July when he inaugurated the Committee on Peace Building for Sustainable Democratic Culture in Niger State. The committee, which is made up of distinguished citizens of the state, representing diverse interest groups, has the mandate to forge a common purpose of peace and harmony for the state.

    The terms of reference of the Barrister Abraham Yisa-led committee include” to create awareness of the social, economic and political potentials and challenges facing the state and its people; consider and integrate issues like elections, media challenges, youth empowerment, rural urban migration, security and welfare etc into the subject of peace building.

    During the inauguration of the committee, Dr Aliyu struck the right note when he admitted the existence of serious security challenges in the country, especially in the North where the situation has presented alarming trends which have resulted in the loss of several lives and properties

    Essentially, the committee’s main assignment is peace building and conflict prevention/resolution activities with a view to creating a platform for the promotion of smooth communication between and among all stakeholders in Niger State, since confidence building and mindset change are important components in preventing conflicts.

    The good news is that the Governor Aliyu-led Northern Governors Forum took the fight for peace a notch higher when it inaugurated the Northern States Committee on Reconciliation, Healing and Security late last month. The initiative, which received applause from across the country, has been regarded as a bold attempt by the forum to tackle the growing insecurity and the fratricidal conflicts in the region.

    Niger State under the Chief Servant therefore presents a good template for other stakeholders to copy in being proactive in finding solutions to contemporary challenges.

     

    • Danladi Ndayebo

    Minna, Niger State