By Joseph Edegbo

A PDP Gubernatorial Aspirant in Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria, Isa Ashiru has vowed to revisit the case of what he called unfair mass sack of workers by the el-Rufai led Administration when elected governor

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had claimed that not less than 35,000 workers in Kaduna state were retrenched from work in the past 3 years under controversial circumstances.

Ashiru , also promised to tackle what he described  as ‘unacceptable’ level of insecurity in the state and the widened socio-political gap between the people of the North and Southern part of the state.

The two-time member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007 and House of Reps member (PDP, Kudan/Makarfi Federal Constituency) from 2007 to 2015, gave the assurance in Kafanchan, Jemaa Local Government Area (LGA) in continuation of his consultation visits to LGA/Ward officials and delegates to the September Primaries of the party.

He said: “Our state has never witnessed the kind of backwardness we are now forced into. It is very unfair to lay off thousands of workers at a time when other alternatives are very hard. You cannot arbitrary sack thousands of workers and refuse to pay them their entitlements knowing fully well that hundreds of thousands depend on then to feed.  When you do so, you are only creating more insecurity and social problems. When I get the ticket of the PDP, it will be easy for our party to win the elections, and we shall look into the matter and ensure justice for all that were unjustly forced out of their jobs. I just want to plead with them to endure for the next few months that the present bad leadership in the state will last,” he told the crowd.

According to him, his team has made a blue print for the rebuilding of the once bubbling economy of Kaduna state and a model for genuine reconciliation between the people of North and Southern parts of the state.

“I have been privileged to travel throughout this vast state and I know every major village while I was the Chairman of Appropriation Committee of the KDHA,” he said.

“I have made great and enduring friendship among ordinary and important individuals in Southern part of the state and I am from northern part of the state. It will be easy for everyone to trust me and work with those that will help forge reconciliation unity among us. I have been part of Southern Kaduna right when I was a child, because my senior brother is married to a Bajju woman in Unguwan Rimi, Bajju where I also visit as my second home.  What the present government is doing is to make it look as if the northern part hates the southern part. I want to assure you that those in the northern part are not better off than our people here in terms of suffering and marginalisation.  Those who have never lived in Kaduna state have deliberately brought in and they have taken over our economy and administration and they are destroying the state. If by the grace of God, I become governor, I shall bridge the gap between the people of Kaduna state,” he said.

“As a true native of Kaduna state, I have developed a master plan to rebuild our economy and remove the unacceptable level of insecurity in the state, because it looks like that those who should be protecting us are no longer interested in that. They have alternative places to run to. I only have Kudan as my final bus stop,” he said.

Former Commissioner for Information, Mr. Ben Bako and Ambassador Sule Buba, the Director General of Isa Ashiru Campaigned Organisation (HIACO), echoed the same view when they posited that Ashiru was the best candidate that the PDP in Kaduna could offer if the party desired a return to power.

“Everyone that is worth his salt as long PDP in Kaduna state is concern is in this camp,” said Bako, adding that, “anyone not with us, has missed his way.”

“All the past PDP Chairmen of the state are here and Ibrahim Yaro Suleiman and pa, Yaro Makama all former PDP chairmen of Kaduna state are here to testify.

“We have among us, two chairmen of other political parties that are in the opposition. Again, all the past Speakers of Kaduna House of Assembly, former commissioners, former Permanent Secretaries, former LGC Chairmen, are in this camp among others,” he said.

The team was in Kagarko, Sanga, Kaura, Zango Kataf LGAs. Elites, stakeholders and delegates to the September PDP gubernatorial primaries turned out in large numbers from their wards to assure Ashiru of their votes.

The tour continues today with Zone 2.

The Chairman of the APC in the Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo, Sunny Ejiagwu, was murdered early on Friday by gunmen, suspected to be assassins.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ejiagwu, popularly known as ‘Ohaneze’, was one of the 27 council chairmen inaugurated on July 23 by the newly- elected Chairman of the APC in Imo, Mr Daniel Nwafor.

The Commissioner of Police in Imo, Mr Dasuki Galandanchi, who confirmed the murder in a telephone interview with newsmen in Owerri, said that Ejiagwu’s corpse had been evacuated to a mortuary.

According to Galandanchi, the incident took place along Akokwa road in the Ideato North Local Government Area.

“The APC Chairman in Ideato North has been murdered. I was at the scene of the crime. His corpse has been evacuated to a mortuary.

“There is no preliminary suspect but the investigator would find out but the blood of the innocent would expose the killers,” the commissioner said.

The Imo APC Chairman, Nwafor, also confirmed the incident while speaking with reporters at the state secretariat of the party, saying that the killing was condemnable.

Nwafor said that Ejiagwu was double-crossed and that when he tried to move back he fell into a gutter with the assailants going after him and shooting him at point-blank range.

“The killing is condemnable because APC preaches peace and political tolerance. People should play politics without bitterness and violence.

“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees freedom of association. We, therefore, call on the inspector-general of police to compel the commissioner of police to nab the culprits.

“Imo State is a peaceful state and an example of how politics should be played.

“The deceased was in our meeting on Thursday and he expressed concern about political violence in his area. He told us that his area is volatile and called on us to come to his rescue when the need arises.

“This is a sad development in our political process. We call on Nigerians to condemn political killings and violence,” Nwafor said.

https://www.africaprimenews.com/2017/12/07/governance/nigeria-imo-state-where-there-is-no-legislature/

By Amos Tauna

A gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria, Muhammad Sani Bello has officially declared his intention to contest the 2019 governorship election with a promise to rescue the state from what he called vagaries of pervasive mal- administration and restore public trust and confidence in government .

Declaring this at the State party office on Friday in Kaduna, the Aspirant promised that if given the mandate he would be the people’s servant, leading a people oriented administration, transparently run on the rule of law and fully accountable to the public.

Açcording to him, his mission to govern the state would include to “Restore peaceful coexistence and provide adequate safety and effective security of lives and property.

“Prioritize economic growth and development for all; where everyone has equal access to jobs, regardless of sex, gender, religion, age or physical conditions.

“Pursue increased community cohesion and civic identity through societal re -orientation programmes and representative participation in social, political and cultural spheres.”

Sani Bello emphasized that the vision of his government in the state is to secure, more prosperous and  a robust economy built on agriculture, mining and industry through good governance underpinned by justice and fairness to all.”

He lamented that the advent of governor El-Rufai administration has witnessed a gross alienation of the seven million citizens of the state.

“To date, tales of woe whether from hundreds of communities destroyed and displaced by insecurity and demolitions or from tens of thousands of sacked workers and their families , the hallmarks of  the Nasiru administration. This was because we accidentally voted in a governor who was never a part of the people and could never be expected to really understand where they are or where they wish to be.

“Kaduna State has not had it so bad on these two fronts since its creation in 1976. The number of lives and property lost to insecurity in the past three years surpasses the total,  for the rest of its existence.

“What is worse is  the government’s disregard for the rule of law as well as justice and fairness which  remains a continuous source of fresh conflicts among our diverse and heterogeneous communities.

“Economically, Kaduna State has moved from an agricultural and industrial hub to land of abandoned farms and graveyard for factories. Neither farmers nor herders in most parts are able to carry on the business of helping to feed our nation.

“Accountability and transparency in public administration and finance are no longer core values as the few contracts and appointments by the state government are now reserved for a tight circle of family, friends and cronies. The result is a plethora of unfinished projects, increased debts and intensification of mass poverty and unemployment.

“The All Progressive Congress, APC, government in Kaduna State has completely dislocated the entire fabric of our society. The revered traditional institution that prides itself as source of enhancing harmonious coexistence, preserving our heritage and traditions has been decapitated.

“The civil service, which is the engine room of implementation of government policies and a symbol of continuity has been systematically destroyed.

“Such severe shortcomings could have been avoided or be overcome if the Governor as the chief executive was not so all – knowing and had kept arrogance at bay,” the aspirant observed.

Responding, the state chairman of PDP, Felix Hassan Hyet said Kaduna State was looking for a governor that would build not destroy as well as a governor that would create job opportunities not the one that would send thousands to the streets of the state jobless

https://www.africaprimenews.com/2018/07/23/news/godfatherism-money-politics-bane-of-nigeria-democracy-ex-comm/

By Sophie Labari

Development is crucial part of life that everyone desires, especially in the area of infrastructure which can not be realised without subsequent maintenance.

In Nigeria, there have been developments ranging from provision of necessities of life such as water and power supply, healthcare and educational facilities, as well as road network among others by government, individuals or corporate bodies.

But the question is, how are these infrastructures maintained?

A typical example is at Sabo, in Chikun Local government area of Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria, where in 2016, a hand pump was dug for the community.

The facility, according to some residents who Spoke to AFRICA PRIME NEWS, functioned for only few months
though It produced smelly and coloured water”.

This is one among many other phenomenon, where the beneficiaries wait for providers either government
or individuals to repair every damaged facility put at their disposal.

Yusuf Saleh Samaila a staff of the Kaduna State Water Board, told AFRICA PRIME NEWS that people are to be blamed for either failing to report issues or contributing their own quota to the sustainability of such facility.

For example, he explained, busted pipes which affects water supply are not always reported to the appropriate agency and at the same time people failed to pay their bills “how then do we get the money for maintenance and yet they expect us to deliver, he wondered?”

He also spoke of “I don’t care attitude” common among Nigerians to protecting public property .

Another respondent, Mike Buba noted with dissatisfaction that some communities who were provided with certain amenities by philanthropists even expected the providers, to continue maintaining the facilities without them playing any role.

He stated that until communities in particular or Nigerians imbibed the spirit of regarding facilities provided by either government, donor agencies or philanthropists as they do to their individual ones, the country would continue to witness decays arising from the “I don’t care attitude”.

Buba however suggested maintenance budgetary provisions for public facilities to save costs rather than looking the other way, saying that a stitch in time saves nine.

From the foregoing, it is obligatory for Individuals, communities and government to strive to make sure that maintenance culture is observed on public facilities, adopt the attitude of collective ownership and protection, as well as supportive, where necessary for sustainable development to thrive in the country.

https://www.africaprimenews.com/2018/04/19/news/19025/

A 56-year-old businesswoman, Grace Okonwa, has urged an Agege Customary Court in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria  to dissolve her 33-year-old marriage.