The Nation Newspaper

Tag: solution

  • Ranching as solution

    •Benue seeks a permanent solution to the open-grazing crisis

    The call by Dr. Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue State, for the nationwide adoption of the ranching of cattle could not have come at a better time.

    The governor was speaking in the wake of the first month of his state’s Open Grazing Prohibition and Establishment of Ranches law, signed into force on November 1. The law restricts the grazing of animals to ranches, limits their movement to rail and truck, and punishes cattle rustling and attacks on farmers, among others. The state’s Livestock Guards has also been inaugurated to help enforce the law.

    With the arguable exception of Ekiti State’s Governor Ayo Fayose, Ortom has been the nation’s most consistent voice on the viable resolution of the deadly confrontations between herdsmen and sedentary communities that have erupted across the country with increasing frequency.

    This is unsurprising, because Benue State has been at the epicentre of these disturbances. Renowned for its agricultural prowess, the state has been a major grazing destination for nomadic herdsmen whose clashes with farmers in host communities have resulted in significant losses of life and destruction of property.

    Between 2013 and 2016, an estimated 1,878 lives were lost in these clashes, with 750 wounded and 200 missing. An estimated N95 billion was lost between 2012 and 2016. Schools, hospitals, bridges and other social infrastructure have been destroyed, and the resultant unrest has negatively impacted commercial and social life throughout the state.

    By making the ranching of cattle and other animals mandatory, the law is simply insisting on the modernisation of an activity which has stagnated in the medieval era for far too long.

    In agricultural superpowers like Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile and the United States, ranching has been standard practice for decades. The practice enables animals to be grazed within the confines of ranches which can be hundreds of thousands of acres in size, thereby facilitating their care and processing for agro-allied industry.

    Instead of being exposed to the elements, vulnerable to cattle rustlers and other hazards, the animals raised on ranches are better protected, are less likely to encroach on farmland, and help put agriculturally unproductive land to better use. Cattle raised on ranches are almost always far more robust and healthier than their open-grazed counterparts.

    Herdsmen are freed from the rigours of nomadic life, as they are no longer forced to wander across the nation in search of pasture and water for their animals. Their families can enjoy healthcare, education and other benefits of sedentary life without sacrificing their attachment to the cattle they value so highly.

    The Benue anti open-grazing law has sought to be scrupulously fair by containing safeguards for all parties. Section 19 protects livestock from theft, while Section 20 protects farmers from attacks.

    Ekiti State was the first to promulgate laws against open-grazing, but Benue State appears to have shown the way forward on the vexed issue of herdsmen-settler clashes. Its combination of consistent advocacy and carefully-worded legislation could succeed where threats and coercion have failed.

    Much remains to be done, however. The practical concerns raised by stakeholders like the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) must be addressed. MACBAN has claimed that the process of acquiring land for ranches is difficult and that no provision has been made for legal cattle markets in the state. If these fears are speedily addressed, they might help to reverse the alleged exodus of herdsmen out of the state since November 1.

    Other states should follow the Benue example. Legislation should not target herdsmen as an ethnic group, nor seek vengeance for the past, but should ensure that cattle-grazing is simultaneously modernised, safe and turned into an economic benefit instead of a security threat.

  • Finding a solution to our national problem

    It is difficult for any sentient being not to have a feeling of enveloping global insecurity. What with the possibility of nuclear holocaust being threatened by Donald Trump and Kim Jon Un, the uncertainty in Europe following the Brexit vote in the U.K.; the hurricanes destroying the Caribbean and several states in the USA, the rim of fire and the earthquakes in Mexico and the perennial suffering in Africa as a result of bad governance, sit- tight rulers, economic problems and poverty occasioning ethnic conflicts.

    Charity begins at home and in Nigeria we have more than our own share of conflicts and insecurity. The demand for devolution and restructuring is a manifestation of political instability. Demands for action in this respect range from calls for a return to the independence and republican constitutions of 1960 and 1963 respectively championed by opinion leaders in western Nigeria to outright secession by the so-called Biafrans in Eastern Nigeria. In the North of the country, we have heard people like Professor Ango Abdullahi apparently in moments of exasperation asking for outright independence for the North. Yet men and women of good conscience in Nigeria know we have no other country than Nigeria and in the words of the then General Muhammadu Buhari as military head of state “we must stay here and solve the problem together”.

    Our problem is that rather than finding practical solutions to whatever structural inadequacies confronting our country in a win-win situation that will endure for a long time and making adjustments where and when necessary, those in power see it as losing power and all the benefits that flow from it .But the point is that it will be better to hearken to the people’s demand for devolution than allow revolution from below. Local government workers, their counterparts at state level and even some staff of federal bureaucracy and parastatals have not been paid their salaries for months, most roads and vital infrastructure are dilapidated yet we pretend all is well. With everybody blaming the federal government, this is the time for the federal government to shed some of its weight and burden to the devolved proposed regions and states.  If this is done, the federal government will have breathing space and the problems of the country will not fall on the head of whoever is unlucky to be president at a given point in time. The share of honour and or blame will fall not on the federal government alone, but on all the regions to which power, responsibility and financial resources  would have been transferred .How this is to be done remains the problem.

    Ordinarily a constitutional conference should be convoked made up possibly of all elected persons at the Senate and House of Representatives including all governors, members of the Council of State, special interest groups like the intelligentsia, the press, labour, religious bodies, retired federal permanent secretaries, select groups of generals and former secretaries to the federal government to dialogue on the way forward. This body should be given legal status by a presidential proclamation. What I am suggesting means that I do not believe we can leave the future of Nigeria in the hands of the elected representatives alone. Whatever they agree upon must be the grundnorm on which our future constitutional architecture must be based. This can be accomplished within months and a new constitution can be put in place well before 2019 election. If the government embraces this suggestion, we can lay to rest the current agitations and while people are working on the evolution of a new constitution, government can face the task of governing. This country’s problems cannot wait while we engage in interminable disputes on the form of government and its underpinning structure. Whatever is worked out must be in consonance with our local reality and cultural environment. There is room to borrow front existing global best practices but we must not be too pedantic in the emulation of what works in other climes.

    One of our major problems is the fear of non-inclusion in government by certain areas or ethnic or religious groups in the country. While I feel that this fissiparous tendency needs not remain with us for ever, yet while it remains we must take care of it. In Singapore and India, minorities’ fears are taken care of by allowing them to hold posts of presidents albeit in ceremonial positions. Thus ethnic Indians in majority Chinese Singapore and so-called harijans( untouchables) and Muslims become president in India. The idea of rotation which has been embraced informally in Nigeria could be written into the constitution just to allay the fear of power being perpetually resident in any region or religion.

    Since I have been observing Canadian politics, power has oscillated between French-speaking Canadians and their English fellow citizens. Despite the fact that French speaking Canadians constitute only 28 percent of the population, they have occupied the post of prime minister more times than their English counterparts. In a well-developed economy, it will really not matter who is in or out of power. So the solution to our problems is the economy.  An economy based on extraction of minerals whether liquid or hard is not sustainable. I say this to warn those who glibly say we have enough hard minerals under our soil to replace the diminishing hydrocarbon resources that we need to build our economy on the principle of self-reliance. We must produce what we eat and what we wear as well as what we need. We must move away from foreign imports and unnecessary esoteric goods that add no value to our lives. An economy based on using our hard earned foreign reserves on importing junks from India and China is not contributing to the growth of the country. Industries that produce consumer goods and that add value to our agricultural produce must receive highly favoured priority. Industrialization based not on imports substitution but on adding value to local produce and raw materials must be the new industrial paradigm. The point being made is not that we should cut off ourselves from global trade because we cannot isolate ourselves from the global economic community, but we must build on our comparative advantages in tropical produce and cheap labour to build a formidable economy that would not be subjected to the vagaries of global commodity prices manipulated by the advanced global capitalist economies. Once done, then we will have enough food in the national port to go round. Each of our constituent states or regions would also produce what it is best at. Thank God our country spreads across four geographical and vegetational belts namely  mangrove swamps, rain forest , savannah and Sahel each of which if well exploited is suitable for one kind of agricultural ecology or the other. This is where we should direct our research and development effort in such a way that we can bake a national cake that we can share among ourselves while each of the states will  be baking  its own  cakes without waiting for the national cake.

    This is why we must move away from revenue allocation based on population, geographical size and so on to sharing revenue on the basis of contribution, national development, innovation, peaceful coexistence, production and productivity as well as stability of the country. It is obvious to everyone that what is at the root of our ethnic conflict is economic disequilibrium and sharing of scarce resources. These resources are in most cases not earned but are products  of locational accidents of oil or other minerals being found below the ground of one ethnic group or the other. This locational accident has bred a life of laziness and indolence whereby our people have abandoned the land and are now quarrelling over commission paid by foreign oil companies. Is it not even a shame that unlike all other oil producing countries that started this oil journey with us in 1956, we are the only one who cannot fabricate the means of production and cannot even maintain the refineries built at great cost and because of our failure we are spending the proceeds of crude oil export on importing of refined petroleum products with little resources left for diversification of the economy?

    Our sins of ineptitude and corruption have caught up with us because soon the hydrocarbons which have caused us so much  problem  over sharing will soon be rendered useless or no longer the black gold it once was because of advancing technologies and concern for the global environment.  With our galloping population, we do not have the advantage of time to waste in solving our structural problems or it will be the “fire next time” in the words of James Baldwin when our young people may kill those of my generation who survive the crash of the fast approaching train of violence in the country unless we change our current political trajectory of doing nothing and politics as usual as if the rest of the world owes us a living.

    Our inability as a continent to solve our problems and our remaining global laggards is already giving some right wing ideologues to think of a second era of recolonization. If this were to happen, the down trodden people under the rulership of people who had been in power for up to 30 or 40 years may actually welcome this. Nigeria owes it to the black humanity to prevent this from happening but it must not be a wish only but it must be followed by positive action. The only way we can prevent a future tragedy arising from the present chaos is to ensure that the foundational structure of our country is solid.

  • Identity management solution coming

    A leading provider of identity management solutions, SEAMFIX,  plans to unveil an innovative data management solution named BioRegistra.

    It said the solution is a state of the art Know Your Customer (KYC) as a service online platform developed primarily for individuals and business owners with the aim of ensuring they are able to capture data, store the data, and have access to the data at any time.

    The solution allows a fully automated process that ensures seamless execution of all KYC business processes, thus enabling faster customer on-boarding and increasing customer satisfaction.

    Its Managing Director, Chimezie Emewulu, described solution as a game changer in data capture and management. He said: “With BioRegistra, the difficulty associated with knowing and identifying your customers is a thing of the past. The platform enables you to capture and store your customer’s KYC details and allows you access and to view the captured information or data whenever required. Your customer in this context is not limited to any sector.”

    According to him, the solution has an intelligent quarantine engine designed to detect fraudulent and fictitious records and prevents them from being processed by running the records through security and inbuilt validation checks.

  • Traditional/herbal solution for family planning

    Traditional/herbal solution for family planning

    Managing Director, Health Forever Product Limited, Lagos Otunba Olajuwon Okubena writes on this.

    I am delighted to submit my ideas on the issue of how Traditional or Herbal medication could be of tremendous relevance to the problem of family planning in Nigeria and also contribute to its potential for earning foreign exchange.

    Nigeria was represented at the Family Planning Summit held in London a couple of weeks ago by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, who explained why the country is investing $4 million in the Global Family Planning initiative.

    According to the Minister, family planning is one of the strongest anti-poverty strategies and low-hanging fruit for reducing maternal mortality. The success of the introduction of family planning as part of basic health in the health sector is to ensure that a woman’s right as a human right is realised. Nigeria wants to include Family Planning as part of basic healthcare to complement ante-natal services, and immunisation routine.

    The new contraceptive methods would include sub-cutaneous Depo Medroxyprogesterone Acetate injections) which is an injectable, progestin-only contraceptive that provides highly effective, private, and relatively long-acting (three months), reversible contraception. Use of DMPA eliminates both the need for user action daily or near the time of sexual intercourse and the need for partner cooperation.

    DMPA is a good contraceptive option for the following groups of women: Women who do not want to take a contraceptive pill daily, women who have a contraindication to, or wish to avoid, an estrogen-containing contraceptive and women who would like to eliminate regular menses.

    This initiative on the part of the Federal Government is commendable, but I want to remind the Minister that we should to look inwards for solutions to our problems.

    The Minister during his briefing with Health Editors in Lagos to mark his one year in office said there were many things Nigerians could benefit from traditional medicine. Some of them, according to him, are bone setting and healing with herbal plants, saying that his ministry will explore how to assist herbal healers on how to improve their practice, especially in standardising their products.

    I quote: “That will help us as a country to export them, instead of the plethora of foreign herbal products that have taken over the market. We have a lot to learn from China and even Ghana, but gradually we are getting there. The way traditional medicine is now can’t be compared with what obtained some centuries ago,” Adewole said.

    He said Nigeria was in the forefront of research and development of herbal plants. “A quick search into National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRID) shows how indigenous herbal-plants have been researched, developed and packaged into life-saving products, so we have a lot to boast of in that sector. We only need to hone the skill of the practitioners,” he said.

    According to World Health Organisation (WHO), traditional medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not. It is used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.

    “To ensure that this sector is re

    As far as Traditional Medicine is concerned in Nigeria, it seems to me that we are only experiencing what I would describe as motion without movement.In China, India, Germany and other parts of the world, Natural and Traditional Medicine is well set up and could be clearly identified within the healthcare delivery system. Unfortunately, the case is different in Nigeria. The African Union (AU) mandated that the member states of which Nigeria is prominent should use the decade of 2001-2010 to set up the institution of Traditional medicine and ensure that the establishments stand side by side with the orthodox clinics and hospitals to give citizens a choice for their healthcare requirements. It is another extra decade after the expiration of the AU’s mandate and nothing is visible in Nigeria. All hopes are not lost, thanks to the current Minister of Health, who had expressed strong believe and conviction in the relevance of Traditional medicine to our healthcare system. But his term will expire in less than two years. The question to ask is: Has he got any magic wand to make an indelible mark in this matter within this short space of time? If he works very hard, he could at least lay a solid foundation which would not be easily demolished by his successors.

    Now is the time for the Federal Government to take the bull by the horn. In the Traditional system, there are herbal preparations that are affordable and do not need the elaborate implementation as required for the injectable options in the orthodox system.

    Herbal preparation with a promise for Nigeria

     

     About 30 years ago, I was a witness to a demonstration of the awesome power in traditional medicine to solve the family planning problem. A close relation who had for a long time been using the orthodox drugs got fed up because of the side effects and therefore consulted a herbalist who gave her a herbal formulation which worked. I waited for several months to watch the outcome of this intervention and confirmed that it was working and out of curiosity, I decided to investigate. The herbalist after a long period of persuasion agreed to reveal this formula to me. It was interesting and simple.

    There is a plant known as IROSUN (The botanical name is Baphia Nitida). The wonderful aspect of this preparation is that different parts of the same tree would be used for preventing pregnancy and for restoring fertility. The bark of the root prepared in a particular way would prevent pregnancy permanently (it has superior power to Depo Medroxyprogesterone Acetate which is only effective for three months). To restore fertility, the leaves of the tree are also prepared in a particular way and the effect was also immediate.

    I have tried this formulation on at least ten subjects and the result was excellent. I could not go on with further development and research owing to the huge financial implications. The orthodox drug being embraced by the Federal Government would have cost the manufacturers several millions of dollars and Nigeria is investing so much in this finished product. I believe that with a modest investment in research, Nigeria would likely have an exportable product if this type of product is developed.

    Delving deeper into the investigation on the wonderful Irosun tree, I found from literature that it is recognised by the Ifa worshippers as the mysterious tree through which Orunmila as the progenitor of humanity descended from heaven to the Earth for the first time. The tree is also known as The Tree of Life or Creation. The powder of the dried stem of this tree is the backbone of Ifa Oracular practice. It is used for divination and through it, the oracle communicates with humanity on any subject in nature.

    The ethnobotanical data in Dr. Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases confirmedsome of the Ethnobotanical and folk medicinal uses of Irosun plant (Baphia nitida) as follows:

    Arthritis, carminative, dysentery, enteritis, fungicide, gastritis,  Jaundice. Laxative, newborn,  parasiticide,  preventitive (Bee sting). Rheumatism, ringworm, skin, sprain, stiffness, swelling.

     

    Venereal, Wound

     

    In addition to its needed effects, some unwanted effects may be caused by medroxyprogesterone. In the event that any of these side effects do occur, they may require medical attention.

    While the Irosun plant medication has not been known to have side effects, information from the website drug.com showed a long list of major and minor sider effects of medroxyprogesterone.

     

    The way forward

    A couple of years ago, we set up an organisation known as  Research Institute of Traditional and Alternative Medicine(RITAM) with the following goals and vision:

    • To prospect, harness, evaluate and certify diagnostic, curative and preventive values of safe traditional medicine products thereby developing a resource compendium of medicines for the Primary Health Care Centre (PHC) in all the 774 local government areas as well as for the use of all Traditional and Alternative Medicine practitioners home and overseas.
    • To find lasting solutions to WHO priority list of diseases i.e. Malaria, Hypertension, Diabetes, Sickle Cell Anemia and HIV/AIDS through Nigerian Traditional Medicine.
    • To have a comprehensive data of traditional medicine products that should be recommended for preclinical and human trials at the Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and Nigeria Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) and other Research Centres particularly the Nigerian Teaching Hospitals in the process of their becoming Herbal Drugs.
    • To provide candidate herbal drugs that would be included in the National Drug Formulary.
    • To ensure that at least 50 herbal products would have been certified as being evidence based in the •To collaborate with all Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Education, Environment and other relevant government agencies to propagate Traditional and Alternative Medicine in Nigeria.
    • To position traditional medicine products from Nigeria in the international market, thereby making TM products the highest income generating industry for the country.
    • To encourage mass production of endorsed traditional medicine products.

    The organisation functioned for some time and became moribund for lack of financial support by the appropriate authorities. This is the type of private sector initiative that should be supported and encouraged by the Ministry of Health to jumpstart the needed revolution necessary for the integration of traditional/herbal medicine to the healthcare delivery system in the country.

    In concluding, I wish to emphasize that this article is not meant to encourage readers to try remedies, particularly herbal or traditional, that have not been subjected to scientific tests for safety and efficacy. Until, the Federal Ministry of Health endorses tested local remedies, it is advisable to embrace the efforts being currently championed by the Federal Government.

    I am willing to collaborate with doctors, scientists and other research centres in Nigeria to develop this formulation to a level where it would complement Government effort to find a lasting solution to family planning problems in the country.

    Readers can send their reaction to this article to:

    okubena@health-forever.com

  • APC chieftain urges political solution to crisis

    APC chieftain urges political solution to crisis

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Mr. Collins Idahosa, has called on the leadership of the party to step into the crisis between Hon. Sunday Aghedo and Mr. Sunday Adanomo in Ovia Southwest Constituency.

    He said the opposition would take advantage of the division, if it was not properly managed, ahead of the 2019 general elections. He called on the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to intervene to prevent the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from making inroads to the area, which has been an APC stronghold over the years.

    Idahosa said the crisis in the constituency started when the party could not amicably resolve the political feud between Aghedo, a member of the Edo State House of Assembly and Adanomo, a member of the party.

    He said: “The crisis can be resolved.  It is not a crisis with the opposition, but that between members of the same party. It is the same party. I am using this medium to call on our national and state leaders to step into the matter.

    “We have great leaders in the party who can manage the crisis in order for us not compound the problem ahead of the 2019 elections. Though Adanomo is determined to allow the court to determine the case, which is currently at the Supreme Court level, he should tread with caution; the way he is going about it is not healthy.

    “His recent mobilisation of some youths to demonstrate ahead of the Supreme Court judgment will further create bad blood within the party. So, he should wait for the court to make its pronouncement.

    “If our leaders can still step in and bring the two gentlemen together, we can make progress. Doing this will salvage the dwindling image of the party leadership in crisis management. This can prevent a bad situation in the future; otherwise it might lead to what we don’t expect in the party.”

    Idahosa said the constituency and local governments within the zone were important to the APC, adding that the party could find political solution to the problem.

    He added: “I think a political solution is better than allowing the case to go on; we are members of the same party. The party has the right to withdraw the case from the court. For the fact that we are one, there is no need of washing our dirty clothes outside; the party can handle the matter internally.

    “Aghedo played a very important role in ensuring that the APC won the recent governorship election in Edo State. The party leaders should call them and compensate whoever felt aggrieved. I am calling on Odigie-Oyegun and the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to step into the matter.”

  • Group endorses firm for solution to piracy

    Group endorses firm for solution to piracy

    The Alliance of Nollywood Guilds and Association (ANOGA), an umbrella body for the Nigerian movie industry, has announced that it has found a solution to piracy, one of the problems facing the movie industry.

    This was disclosed during a meeting of the association which held last Friday in Lagos.

    The body came up with a resolution to tackle piracy in the movie industry.

    They resolved that the solution to the challenges experienced by practitioners in the industry lies in the framework designed by the media distribution networks limited (an organisation based in Surulere, Lagos- Nigeria which specialises in providing world class physical and digital distribution systems for music, films, video, books, software, etc).

    The company is trusted to provide an efficient and effective distribution system for the Nigerian movie industry.

    The group announced in a communique signed by ANOGA president, Victor Ashaolu: “That the alliance of Nollywood guilds and association, ANOGA, has unanimously endorsed the Media Distribution Networks (MDN) project framework as designed by Media Distribution Networks limited and officially entered into a MoU with the framework for and on behalf of the Nigerian movie industry.”

    It also revealed that the ANOGA has also entered into an MoU with the Media Distribution Network limited specifically to aggregate for and on behalf of its members with the Nigerian interbank settlement system (NIBSS) concerning the digital distribution of creative on the online platform.

    “In addition, the Media Distribution Network Limited also appointed ZENITH BANK PLC as their LEAD BANK in the process of integrating the MDN project with NIBSS and harmonizing payment to content owners directly,” the group said in the statement.

    “The umbrella body unanimously endorsed the coding and tracking framework as proposed by the MDN Limited and opened by the Global Standard one (GS1). This will form part of the coding, tracking and logistics framework of the MDN project.

    “ANOGA however calls on all stakeholders in the telecommunication and broadcasting industry, digital distribution platform and all federal government relevant agencies and parastatals should take note of this new and progressive development in the film and entertainment industry in Nigeria.”

  • Ganduje-Kwankwaso rift defies solution

    Ganduje-Kwankwaso rift defies solution

    The political career of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State and that of his predecessor and erstwhile close associate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, between 1999 and now, clearly illustrates the age-long saying that there are no permanent friends or foes in politics, but only permanent interests. Between 1999 and 2015, the two politicians tolerated one another, because they had a common interest. But, they appear to have gone their separate ways, after the 2015 governorship election, when they no longer shared a common interest. Correspondent KOLADE ADEYEMI, who has been following the career of the two leaders, examines their deep-seated disagreement and its implications for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Northcentral state.

    Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano and his predecessor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has come a long way politically. In 1998, at the dawn of the Fourth Republic, both of them had the ambition of governing the state. It took the intervention of major political stakeholders to persuade Ganduje to step down for Kwankwaso. To pave the way for him to succeed the latter after the expiration of his tenure, Ganduje was made the running-mate to Kwankwaso. They contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — and they won the election, with huge financial commitment by Ganduje.

    But, they could not return for a second-term in 2003, because former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, who flew the banner of defunct All Peoples Party (APP), defeated them. However, even after leaving Government House, Kwankwaso and Ganduje remained close political associates. They had a minor face-off in 2007, but this was settled amicably.

    They joined forces once again in 2010, when they ran on PDP platform and won. Halfway in their second-term, some political circumstances forced them to jump ship from the PDP to the then emerging mega party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Even throughout their second-term — from 2011 to 2015 — their relationship was cordial.

    Things, however, went sore few days after the 2015 governorship election, which Ganduje won. Some observers however insist that they fell apart during the build up to the 2015 electioneering campaign, because Kwankwaso secretly worked against Ganduje’s ambition. Nevertheless, Ganduje was able to clinch the APC ticket and eventually won the election with an overwhelming margin.

    The crack noticed in their relationship prior to the 2015 general elections widened just before Ganduje’s inauguration as governor. The two leaders disagreed over the make-up of the new cabinet. Kwankwaso, it was said, insisted on certain juicy positions for his men; a demand Ganduje did not totally accept. Another issue came up when the transition committee headed by Ganduje’s deputy, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, made startling revelations on the debt profile of the state. The committee said the state was indebted to the tune of over N300 billion. Kwankwaso however countered the claim, saying that he left only N21 billion debt behind.

    The outcry of some contractors who worked for the government and was not paid by Kwankwaso’s administration further aggravated the situation. The management of the debts and the need to complete a number of uncompleted projects left behind by the Kwankwaso administration inflamed more passions between the two leaders. It was alleged that Kwankwaso collected undisclosed amounts of money from the contractors, as ‘percentage’; a situation which forced some of the contractors to abandon site.

    The disagreement between the duo however came out into the open when Kwankwaso paid condolence visit to Ganduje over the death of his mother. In fact, that visit was nothing less than a show of violence, as armed political thugs invaded Ganduje’s country home, chanting war songs and anti-Ganduje slogans; a development the current governor did not take lightly. Over one month after the controversial condolence visit, the dust refused to settle, as a serious confrontation over the control of the soul of Kano APC ensued. This claimed a number of political casualties in its wake, including the indefinite suspension of the then APC chairman, Alhaji Haruna Doguwa.

    Doguwa’s trouble started when he recanted statements attributed to him at a press conference, where he condemned Kwankwaso’s action. The former governor had visited Ganduje’s village with armed thugs who chanted anti-Ganduje slogan and promoted Kwankwaso’s 2019 presidential ambition, as if they were dancing on the grave of the incumbent governor’s mother.

    About one week after the said press conference, Doguwa organised another press conference, where he chewed his words and claimed that he was under duress to condemn Kwankwaso, who installed him as APC chairman, when he was governor. The embattled APC chieftain featured in the second press conference with the party’s Organizing Secretary, Sanusi Kwankwaso. The two APC leaders were accused of anti-party activities and later suspended.

    Following this development, former Commissioner of Environment and then Special Adviser to Governor Ganduje on Political Affairs, Alhaji Abdullahi Sanusi, emerged as APC Acting Chairman. Briefing Reporters at the Maiduguri Road headquarters of the party, its scribe, Abbas Sani Abbas, advanced reasons for the suspension, saying: “Having received complaints and petitions from card-carrying members of our great party, the APC, about the case of misconduct and abuse of office by the state party chairman, Haruna Doguwa and the state Organising Secretary, Sanusi Kwankwaso of which the former, after issuing out a press conference duly agreed upon by the state APC Working Committee and Elders Committee respectively, later betrayed the trust by making a unilateral statement that refuted the party’s position.”

    That was when the die was cast and the Kwankwassiyya political movement known for its red-cap logo became divided — some people left to form the Gandujiyya Akida, showing loyalty to Ganduje, while others remained with the former. In fact, in Kano Government House, the only politicians that now wear the red cap which is a symbol of the Kwankwasiyya movement are Ganduje and his deputy. However, while Ganduje’s red cap is fashioned with white stripes, his deputy’s looks like that of the late Malam Aminu Kano. Also, all the commissioners and members of the state House of Assembly and National Assembly members (excluding Senator Kwankwaso), including Ganduje’s political loyalists and associates, have practically dumped the red cap, as they now wear different colours of caps that fit their attire. Besides, political hangers-on and touts loyal to Kwankwaso who before now besieged Government House on daily basis are no longer sighted within the premises.

    Ganduje’s loyalists have also dismantled the political structure of Kwankwaso, known as Kwankwasiyya Amana within the government circle and replaced it with Gandujiyya Akida. Their reasons are to allow the governor take full control as the leader of the APC in Kano, following what they described as undue interference from Kwankwaso. Special Adviser to the Governor on Print Media, Alhaji Bala Kudu hinted that everything that has to do with Kwankwasiyya, including the red-cap, have been defaced in Government House.

    He said: “I must tell you that Governor Ganduje and his political followers are now on their own. Enough is enough. There is no way you can have two captains in a ship. So, as far as we are concerned, very soon, you will not hear anything like Kwankwasiyya in Kano. Even the red-cap will go with it; we have finally dumped it because it has no political benefit, because that era is gone.”

    Kudu who expressed surprise at the attitude of the former governor also recalled: “For 16 years, Governor Ganduje has been very loyal, dedicated and humane to Kwankwaso who he served for two terms as deputy governor. So, one wonders why Senator Kwankwaso will forget so soon and now turn this long-rewarding relationship into a frosty one. When somebody loses someone, it calls for sympathy. Friends and well-wishers of the bereaved will come around and console him. Now, we ask and we want to know why Senator Kwankwaso will gather people to Ganduje town, just to insult Governor Ganduje. You have been the governor for eight years; what else do you want? Now that Ganduje is here, why not encourage him; instead you are stabbing him on the back.”

    On the other hand, loyalists of Kwankwaso have continued to complain that key decisions of the former governor have been reversed by Ganduje. They are also aggrieved, because many of Kwankwaso’s former appointees and aides have been shut out by the current administration, which they say they worked to install.

    President Muhammadu Buhari and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, waded into the political feud last year. The governors of the Northwest have also played a key role in trying to resolve the crisis. Last week, the management of Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training, Mambayya House began a fresh move to reconcile the two APC chieftains.

    Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State has also appealed to the two political rivals to sheathe their swords and allow peace to reign.  Masari said a lot of people had lauded the political marriage and deep understanding between Kwankwaso and Ganduje, saying that the erstwhile political jinx in Kano, which saw the late Aminu Kano and the late Abubakar Rimi or the late Sabo Barkinzuwo constantly disagreeing, had been broken.

    Given the winner-takes-it-all atmosphere that governs Nigerian politics, Ganduje appears to be winning at the moment. For instance, is enjoying the support of some major stakeholders like the Association for Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON). The body, in a recent press release signed by its chairman, Ibrahim Karaye, said it is throwing its weight behind Governor Ganduje. The state House of Assembly also impeached its Chief Whip, Zubairu Mahmud, because of his loyalty to Kwankwaso. Ganduje is also enjoying the loyalty and support of the party’s 24 members of the House of Representatives from Kano and two senators, Kabiru Gaya (Kano South) and Barau Jubril (Kano North).

    Be that as it may, as the next general elections approach in 2019, one cannot rule out reconciliation between the two former associates. Observers say Ganduje must create a formidable political dynasty, if he wants to survive beyond 2019. In other words, the fight is not yet over for Kwankwaso, who has been described as a politician with “an iron shoe”; he could be plotting Ganduje’s down fall, come 2019.

  • Chamber to proffer solution to $15b infrastructure gap

    The Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCC IMA) has unfolded plans to help the government bridge the infrastructure gap.

    Its Director-General, Mr. Usman Saulawa, said the Chamber would discuss the matter at its 38th International Trade Fair.

    The fair’s theme is:“Promoting public-private partnership as panacea for accelerated growth and development.”

    Noting that the theme was chosen in tandem with realities, Saulawa said  KADCCIMA intended to complement the government’s efforts at restructuring the economy, which is faced with dwindling resources.

    Speaking to reporters in Kaduna, he said the nation required between $12 and $15 billion yearly for six years to meet its infrastructural needs. Hence, the government needed help to actualise it.

    The second Deputy President and Chairman, Main Organising Committee of the Trade Fair, Mr. Suleiman Aliyu, said the economy was plagued by high exchange rates, scarcity of foreign exchange, high inflation rate and closure of businesses which have led to a rise in unemployment .

    He stressed that the government alone could not muster the resources to meet the infrastructural needs, which made it imperative as a Chamber and an advocacy group to partner to galvanise support for a collaboration between the public and private sector.

    On the security at the fair, Aliyu said the government was on top of the situation. Besides, Southern Kaduna, where the security infraction is most visible, is about 200 miles away from the city centre where the fair will hold.

    He assured of the security of lives and property not only in the state, but at the fair ground.

    Aliyu emphasised that the most effective way of building a nation was through partnership between the government and private sector.

    He said a combination of expertise from the private sector and financing support from the government remained the way to galvanise the economy on the path of growth.

  • ‘Women farmers are solution to poverty in Nigeria’

    ‘Women farmers are solution to poverty in Nigeria’

    A non-governmental organisation, Women Advocacy, Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) in collaboration with the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE) has said female farmers have the solution to poverty in the country.

    The NGO spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital when it led a group of women farmers to the state Ministry of Agriculture to present the farmers’ a-10 point demands.

    The Programme Coordinator, WARDC, Folake Kuti, said her group was out to sensitise government all levels to enunciate policies and programmes that are friendly to the women folk

    In her words: “The Federal Government right from the last administration has spent huge sum of money on agriculture and we discovered that women are lagging behind. Even though, they are the majority when it comes to labour in the agric sector, yet they are making less from agriculture. We discovered that they exist in small groups and that unless they come together and engage policy makers they cannot really get much from the money that government is spending.

    “The project is trying to make women have organised groups to be able to meet government to have access to agric grants. We also discovered that apart from the fact, that men are the ones making money in agric because they are the ones that own land, they are the ones accessing government grants and loans because they have collateral

    “We realised that most agricultural policies by successive governments do not recognise women as farmers. They are the farm labourers. If Nigeria must get rid of poverty it must first tackle women as they are the ones wearing poverty on their faces. In the last two years the project has been on in four states of Benue, Kwara, Enugu and Osun and the federal level so as to engage government that we need a gender policy on agric.

    “We discovered during our research that women small holding farmers do not have access to fertilisers which has been politicised; women are also lagging behind in terms of access to credit facilities.”

    In her presentation on behalf of small holder women farmers in the state, Fatima Garba said women farmers are yet to have special support and assistance necessary to realise their potentials in agriculture.

    Said she: “Despite government avowed commitment to drive the economy through agriculture and expand food production to reduce hunger to zero level, women farmers who constitute about 70 percent labour in food production, food processing and marketing are yet to receive special support.

    “Unfortunately, smallholder woment farmers’ concerns and needs have failed to attract government’s attention at national and state levels, thus policies and programmes relating to agriculture have not projected women in agriculture faily and this have implications for national development and food security.

    “We affirm that government must invest in smallholder farmers to be able to ensure food security, zero hunger, women economic empowerment and gender equality and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals for Nigeria.”

    Mrs. Garba listed their demands as agricultural policy; agricultural budget; farm inputs; machines; market access; herdsmen attacks; access to farmlands and employment of female extension workers. Others include provision of infrastructure and farm settlement scheme Responding, Permanent Secretary, Kwara state Ministry of Agriculture, Simeon Opowoye counseled the smallholder women farmers to identify with the ministry, as it has many activities that would be beneficial to the women.

    Mr. Opowoye said: “We have some programmes where women have been participating in the state especially the Fadama project. There is a need for all these groups to come out clearly and identify with the ministry so that when activities of benefit come, we can easily contact you.

    “For example early next year, we are expecting that a billion Naira is going to be made available to the farmers. The state government has finalised arrangement about that. The one billion Naira commercial agric loans are meant to be distributed to serious farmers to work with so that they can live a good life that you have advocated.

    “Many of us know that for most family’s women are the burden bearers and they need to be assisted. I think all of us will identify with your group. We are glad that you are out and by the grace of God we will do our best that your desires are met.”

  • Experts seek solution to air quality, others

    Environmentalists have met in Abuja to proffer solutions to some problems in the country.

    This was at the 10th Stakehol-ders’meeting of the National Evironmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) at NICON Luxury Hotel in Abuja.

    The event’s theme was Air quality: aspect of control and regulations.

    Participants discussed installation of emission control devices on vehicle generations, collaboration within relevant agencies in environmental management and encouraging urban to rural movements.

    They also discussed firewood as a cooking instrument versus gas cooker, deforestation, ozone friendliness, toxicity, biodiversity and species extension and cost.

    A member of the Nigeria Environment Society (NES) Chief James Nwachukwu said to get quality air in the country, the following must be done: awareness on the implications of air pollution and its health hazard, the menace should be tackled with scientific alacrity and there had to be sincere strategic plans by the government.

    Accappocco Global Services Nigeria Limited Managing Director Opone Valentine Ottis rooted for the establishment of an Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC), rejigging of the laws establishing some parastatals to avoid clash of interests, higher penalty for defaulters, and periodic Environmental social Impact Assessments (ESIA).

    The forum later went into technical sessions. Its chairman was Prof. Babajide Alo, a former DVC, University of Lagos.

    In a communique, it urged the Federal Government to provide adequate funding for effective implementation of air quality programmes, including compliance monitoring and enforcement. It askedthe Federal Government to build capacity for national monitoring of emissions from both stationary and mobile sources, including the development and management of national emission inventories for the major air pollutants and greenhouse gasses.

    It suggested that NESREA should establish an air quality monitoring network to link the geo-political zones for data acquisition.

    The participants said since the world would converge on Maracach in Morocco this month to discuss global air quality and its environmental and health impact, Nigeria had to attend with a ratified document on environmental management.

    Among those at the event were Minister of Environment, Hajia Amina J. Mohammed who gave the keynote address, House Committee on Environment and Ecology Chairman Hon. Osita Obinna and Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) Director-General.