The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SOKOTO

  • Muslim youths observe weekly fast for Buhari

    The National Council of Muslim Youth Organisation (NACOMYO), Sokoto state chapter has embarked on voluntary prayer and fasting for peace, and success of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    The President of the organisation, Aliyu Ibrahim Kyautawa said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Sokoto.

    “We are praying and fasting every two weeks for peace, tranquility and success of President Muhammadu Buhari who means well for the people of this country.’’

    Kyautawa stated that the organisation does not have any link with the President or any of his ministers, nor belonged to any political party.

    According to him, our resolve is borne out of love for the country.
    “We are not sponsored by anybody and we don’t belong to any political party and we are not doing it for any material gain,’’ he said.

    Kyautawa said that the members of the group were convinced that Buhari had the ability to liberate the Nigerian masses from the bondage of poverty, insecurity and bad governance because of his track records.

    He explained that the prayer and fasting was first conceived in 2014 when the country was bedeviled by a myriad of challenges.

    “This is why we decided to embark on voluntary prayer and fasting every two weeks for peace in the country.

    “We are also praying for the success of Gov. Aminu Tambuwal in Sokoto state.

    “Buhari has the masses at heart, but his efforts are being frustrated by some unpatriotic Nigerians.

    “They have been sabotaging his efforts in a bid to make this nation ungovernable for him, but all their efforts would be in vein,’’ he said.

    According to him, the organisation has been sponsoring media campaign to educate the public on the need to also change their attitude and support the government, both morally and spiritually.

    Kyautawa said he was optimistic that the hardship being faced by Nigerians would soon be a thing of the past. (NAN)

  • ‘Tradition hinders girl-child education in North’

    Dr Balkisu Sa’idu, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, says tradition is the major problem with girl-child education in the North.

    Sa’idu made the observation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto on Thursday.

    ”Traditionally girls are considered to be mere visitors in the family who would pass to another man’s house.

    ”The girl-child has very limited time to spend with her family in the northern part of the country before she is being betrothed to a man.

    “So, the time she will spend with her family is very limited.

    ”For that reason, any system of education that requires six years in primary school, six years in secondary school and four to five years in higher institution means a lady cannot get married until she is 23 years or there about.

    “This is not acceptable to a community that marries out their daughters at the age of 13,” she said.

    Saidu said there were also misconceptions that the Western education exposed girls to some modern behaviours that were not acceptable to the communities.

    ”All these are part of the challenges militating against the development of girl-child education in the North.”

    Saidu, who is an expert on international law, however, urged the government to focus on mass enlightenment on the importance of girl-child education.

    She said this could be done through the use of traditional and religious leaders within the communities, among other strategies.

    She said that searching for knowledge was compulsory to every male and female Muslim.

    Saidu said: “according to UNESCO report, about 90 million children are not in school and majority of them are children.

    ” Most girls do not have access to education despite the fact that it is their rights.

    ”The girl-child is often saddled with responsibilities which may make her not to have access to quality education.

    ”A 2007 UNESCO and UNICEF report addressed the issue of education from a rights-based approach.

    ”Three inter-related rights are specified and must be addressed in concert in order to provide education for all,” Sa’idu said.

    According to her, these rights include access to education and the right for respect within the learning environment, among others.

    ”Beyond the basic needs for education to support one’s self and family in later years, every girl-child in the society should stand tall and be a role model for the growing up girls.

    ”This is in order to build a great nation in later years, many social ills occur in the vacuum of free and accessible education,” she said.

  • Sokoto, Niger to run joint border schools

    A cluster of new schools with dual curriculum in English and French is to be jointly established at border towns by the Sokoto State-Nigeria and the government of Niger Republic.

    Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal announced this weekend, shortly after he attended the inauguration of President Mahamadou Issouffou in Niamey, the Niger capital.

    Tambuwal said the first school to come on stream before the end of 2016 will be sited in Gudu Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

    “The schools will promote cultural ties between the two governments and will train new set of students that will be proficient in both English and French,” the governor said.

    Tambuwal who also noted that the people of Sokoto have long cultural and historical ties with its neighbours across the border, assured that the government would introduce wide ranging policies that would enhance the ties.

    Noting that his administration  is determined to raise the standard of education in Sokoto State, the governor said the state of emergency declared in the sector in December last year, has made appreciable impact, as  its benefit would be felt for a long time.

  • Girl-child education: Sokoto, UNICEF collaborate on teacher training

    No fewer than 830 female teachers are undergoing training under a pioneer scheme anchored by Sokoto government in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).

    The female train-the-trainee scheme is being executed under UNICEF’s Girls Education Project (GEP3) and aims to provide enough role models for female students especially in rural communities in different parts of the state, says the information on UNICEF website.

    The target is to train female teachers from rural areas who would in turn go back to their communities to teach.

    Maryam Usman Na’ibi, a Consultant overseeing the implementation of the project, told the wife of the state Governor Hajiya Mariya Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, that the project also aims to get out-of-school rural children back to school without further delay.

    Na’ibi, who led a team on a sensitisation visit to Mrs Tambuwal, said: “We have discovered that among the reasons behind girls dropping out of school are poverty, religious misconception, ignorance, cultural beliefs and insecurity. Parents are afraid of sending their girl children to school because of fear that they may be molested by male teachers.

    “So to reassure communities holding such misconceptions, we decided to train female teachers from among themselves who will in turn take the lead in teaching children from their localities,” she added.

    Na’ibi said to take care of poverty issues, the Sokoto State government and UNICEF introduced a cash transfer programme where mothers or care givers get N5000 monthly for sending a girl child to school to assist them buy books and other things for the girls.

    The trainee female teachers are getting paid to aid their education while at the end of their studies, they are absorbed into the state civil service as teachers in their localities.

    In her remarks, Mrs Tambuwal lauded the partnership and promised to support the project by forwarding their complains to the government for further action.

    So far, the GEP3 is implemented in six local government areas: Binji, Bodinga, Gudu, Goronyo, Kebbe and Wurno.

  • Tinubu bags Danfodiyo University Honourary doctorate degree

    Tinubu bags Danfodiyo University Honourary doctorate degree

  • Sokoto targets 1.2million enrolment in 9 months

    No fewer than 1.2 million school age children have been targeted for enrolment in primary schools in Sokoto State in the next nine months.

    Governor Aminu Tambuwal stated this in Sokoto yesterday at the maiden Youths Education and Empowerment Summit.

    The governor explained that the target for the year was 1.4 m pupils but said “we have now targeted 1.2 million to see how far we can go from, now to October, this year.”

    He added: ‘’It is by then that we can assess whether we have been able to achieve this laudable target.

    ‘’ We have taken this bold step because of our displeasure with the enrolment of a paltry 480,000 pupils in primary schools in 2015.’’

    Tambuwal, who spoke through Commissioner of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Jabbi Kilgori, stressed his administration had allocated the lion’s share of the 2016 budget amounting to over N34 billion to the sector.

    The governor said the essence was to reverse the obnoxious trend in the state where the education sector was lagging behind, reiterating that his administration was fully committed to sustaining its huge investments in its youths.

    He said: ‘’Education, including Science and Technology will continue to be prioritised while the empowerment of the youths, women and children will not be toyed with.”

  • Sokoto gets N876m from UBEC

    •Absentee head teachers suspended 

    Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has so far accessed N876 million from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for the 2015 intervention funds.

    Executive Secretary of the Board, Alhaji Faruk Shehu, told reporters that the funds would boost infrastructural development in schools.

    “We are highly pleased to have accessed these funds provided under the commission’s 2015 provisions.  It will go a long way in complementing the efforts of the state government.

    “These funds will be used to shore the provision of basic infrastructure to all the primary and junior secondary schools in the 23 local governments of the state,” he said.

    According to him, the money would be used to construct new structures, renovate dilapidated ones, as well as provide assorted furniture to the schools.

    Shehu added that the board would only engage competent and pious contractors to execute the projects.

    “We will also organise sensitisation workshops for all our registered contractors and intimate that the board will not condone the execution of shoddy projects. We had since read the riot act to all supervising engineers and anybody found to have received any form of gratifications from the contractors would be sanctioned appropriately,” he said.

    Meanwhile, two headmasters were suspended by the board, while 87 primary school teachers’ salaries for this month would be withheld for absenteeism.

    The Executive Secretary, Alhaji Faruk Shehu, announced the suspension when he addressed reporters shortly after paying unscheduled visits to some primary schools in Bodinga Local Government of the state.

    He said that the headmasters were absent during his visit to their schools.

     

  • Sokoto gets N876m UBEC funds

    •Suspends absentee head teachers 

    Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has so far accessed N876 million from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for the 2015 intervention funds.

    Executive Secretary of the Board, Alhaji Faruk Shehu, told journalists that the funds would boost infrastructural development in schools.

    “We are highly pleased to have accessed these funds provided under the commission’s 2015 provisions.  It will go along way in complementing the efforts of the state government.

    “These funds will be used to shore the provision of basic infrastructure to all the primary and junior secondary schools in the 23 local governments of the state,” he said.

    According to him, the money would be used to construct new structures, renovate dilapidated ones, as well as provide assorted furniture to the schools.

    Shehu added that the board would only engage competent and pious contractors to execute the projects.

    “We will also organise sensitisation workshops for all our registered contractors and intimate that the board will not condone the execution of shoddy projects. We had since read the riot act to all supervising engineers and anybody found to have received any form of gratifications from the contractors would be sanctioned appropriately,” he said.

    Meanwhile, two headmasters were suspended by the board, while 87 primary school teachers’ salaries for this month would be withheld for absenteeism.

    The Executive Secretary, Alhaji Faruk Shehu, announced the suspension when he addressed newsmen shortly after paying unscheduled visits to some primary schools in Bodinga Local Government of the state.

    He said that the headmasters were absent during his visit to their schools.

     

  • Sokoto uncovers N1.5b in 100 accounts

    Sokoto State government said yesterday that it uncovered N1.5 billion in its 100 redundant accounts in commercial banks.

    The development followed the introduction two weeks ago of the Treasury Single Accounting (TSA) system.

    Commissioner for Finance Umar Sa’idu, who spoke in Sokoto at the weekend while giving an update on the system implementation, said the government was determined to trace and close down dormant accounts.

    He said the introduction of the TSA prompted improvement in the reconciliation of public finance figures between the government and commercial banks.

    Sa’idu noted that the system reduced the risk of errors in reconciliation processes and enhanced timeliness and quality of fiscal figures.

    He said TSA enabled the government to monitor public cash balances and ensure higher quality cash analysis from the accounts hitherto operated by the government and its agencies.

    According to the commissioner, analyses were undertaken at intervals.

    Sa’idu said the benefit of the accounting system will be felt when the implementation of the budget starts.

    “The document is undergoing legislative action at the House of Assembly.”

    Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has approved the redeployment and posting of permanent secretaries and directors-general.

    A statement by his spokesman, Malam Imam Imam, said 23 permanent secretaries were redeployed and 11 directors-general were posted to departments and agencies.

  • Tambuwal, Wamakko empower Sokoto inmates

    No fewer than 107 inmates of the Sokoto Central Prisons have graduated from various Qur’anic recitation and memorisation courses and skills acquisition programmes. They received cash donations of N2.88 million from Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and his predecessor, Senator Aliyu Wamakko of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The donation was to enable them to set up their own businesses which will make them to be self-reliant.

    Forty-Four of the inmates graduated from the recitation and memorisation of the Holy Qur’an, while 63 graduated from various skills acquisition programmes.

    Theý donations were announced in Sokoto during the graduation ceremony of the inmates organised by the state command of the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) in conjunction with Senator Wamakko. As a result, Tambuwal donated N2 million while Wamakko donated N 880,000.

    Speaking at the event, Governor Tambuwal, who was represented by the Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Alhaji Mani Maishinku Katami commended the command for organising the event, which is second in its annual series.

    Also, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111, who spoke through the ý District Head of Sokoto North, Alhaji Buhari Abubakar, called on Nigerians to complement the efforts of the government in providing the welfare needs of prison inmates.

    In his brief remarks, Senator Wamakko, who pledged the commitment of the National Assembly towards decongesting Nigerian prisons, noted that the prisons were established in order to reform inmates and give them a new sense of life and not to expose them to hardshipý.

    ‘’I am also calling on Chief Justices in Nigeria, the police and the courts to make deliberate efforts to ensure speedy dispensation of justice.

    ‘’This is important in decongesting the prisons which are overwhelmed with awaiting trial inmates across the nation,’’ Wamakko said.

    He explained that his plea premised upon the adage that justice delayed, is justice denied.

    Senator Wamakko, who is Chairman, Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, had also donated copies of the Holy Qur’an, clothing materials and various working tools to the inmates.

    The items donated included sewing and knitting machines, equipment for welding and electrical electronics, as well as items for soap making, among others.

    The Controller-General of the Nigerian Prisons Service, Dr Peter Ezenwa, who was represented by Assistant Controller-General Budget and Finance (ACG), Mr Shehu Kangiwa said the Federal Government is fully committed to prisoners’ reformation.

    ‘’The service is also committed to improving staff welfare in accordance with the change mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari,’’ he added.

    The Controller of the state command of the service, Mrs Hauwa Shettima Bukar lamented that the prison was overwhelmed with awaiting trial inmates.

    ‘’The capacity of Sokoto Central Prison is 576, saying that the prison is hosting above its capacity. Currently, the prison is hosting about754.