Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, SOKAPU, says moves have commence to establish community institutions of higher education following the non-reopening of public owned higher institutions in the area.
Kaduna state government, last year, following incessant attacks on southern Kaduna by Fulani herdsmen have closed down higher institutions in the area, comprising College of Education Gidan Waya, School of Nursing Kafanchan and Kaduna State University, Kafanchan campus.
A communiqué issued Tuesday, jointly signed by its President and National Secretary, Solomon K. Musa and Anto Ogah Amb, said, “In view of the trauma and losses caused to students and parents by the continued closure of the tertiary institutions and also by the disconcerting fact that Southern Kaduna has no alternative private institutions, it was settled that SOKAPU should make wide consultations and take all necessary steps to establish its own community institutions.”
The stakeholders also in a move to strengthen the operations and implementation of all initiatives of Southern Kaduna, called on all bona fide Southern Kaduna people worldwide to obtain the registration form of SOKAPU through their CDAs, branches and chapters for the purpose of registration.
“Persons of Southern Kaduna who have attained adult age shall not claim membership of SOKAPU unless registered and allotted membership identification number. Membership registration, it was agreed, will confer several benefits to registered members.
The Summit which recorded an unprecedented gathering of thousands of key stakeholders from Southern Kaduna unanimously agreed that, “The closure of tertiary institutions in Southern Kaduna from December, 2016 to now, was examined and Summit could not find any justification or rationale for their continued closure in view of the fact that the government has given assurances that security has been restored.
“More so that Primary and Secondary Schools, government agencies, markets and other public institutions have been normally carrying out all activities peacefully.”
SOKAPU called on the government to re-open the closed institutions immediately, pointing out that unless the government has some hidden motives for their continued closure.
“With regards to the structure of traditional institutions including the position of District Heads, Summit noted that the structures arose as result of the yearnings, desires and aspirations for those institutions as they came to be constituted. The traditional institutions became necessary in Kaduna State, taking into account the rich diversity and plurality of the State.
“Summit also noted their critical roles in bringing peace and stability to the entire State. The Summit noted that the major reason advanced by government’s rationalization or sacking of the District Heads was paucity of funds for their remuneration,” the communiqué stated.
It noted that the sacking of the District Heads was done with scant regard to the feelings of the people and without any form of consultation with the communities in Kaduna State.
It condemned the sacking of the District Heads as retrogressive and not in sync with the yearnings and aspirations of the people while calling on the state government to reverse its decision.
It reaffirmed the readiness of the 53 community development associations of Southern Kaduna to take over the responsibility of the payment of emoluments and remunerations of all the district heads affected.
The communiqué viewed negatively the directive/call on persons/individuals to apply or re-apply for the available position of District Heads as divisive, autocratic, in bad faith and unfathomable.
The summit believes that it would be imprudent, improper and not in good taste for anyone to apply or re-apply for such positions which are and ought not to be vacant in the first place.
On the call for restructuring Nigeria, the meeting supports the agitation but insists Southern Kaduna must be represented at the negotiating table with all other groups in a fair, balanced and acceptable manner.
SOKAPU agreed on the resolution reached in the June 21 Communiqué of the Middle Belt Forum which insists that Nigeria be restructured into 12 confederating regions.
The communiqué unanimously called for the implementation of the 2014 Confab report as the starting point for the restructuring of Nigeria, while calling for the continued agitation for the creation of Gurara State from the present Kaduna State.
It rejects and condemned the call for the expulsion of the lgbos from the North come October 1st, 2017. “SOKAPU disassociates itself from the expulsion order. SOKAPU stands in solidarity with Igbos against the parochial and sectional threats issued by a Coalition of exclusionists and sectional Youth groups,” it observed.
It expressed the double standards in failing demonstrated by government for not doing to effect their arrests, whereas government has shown more than enough capacity to arrest, incarcerate and prosecute Southern Kaduna people.
SOKAPU reiterates its resolve to continue to have cordial and robust relationship with all progressive people in Kaduna state, communities and nationalities of the South-South; South-West; South -East and other parts of Nigeria.
The most discussed subject in Nigeria today is what is called “restructuring” and indeed so popular is this subject that it has attracted the attention of roadside commentators, the bright, the not-so-bright, the mischievous and the outrightly unintelligent all united by the singular claim that Nigeria belongs to all of us and we all have a right to determine its future. The last person who brought up this subject with me is a mechanic in Abeokuta! He had heard about Biafra, the Arewa youths, the President’s absence, Professor Osinbajo, Nnamdi Kanu, what Igbo leaders, Northern leaders and Yoruba leaders have said about restructuring and he wanted a conversation. That’s how democracy works, not so? The inclusiveness is actually very good for us…
But the point I have always made stands proven: that Nigeria remains an unanswered question, more than a century after the amalgamation of 1914. Before and after independence, virtually every government has had to deal with this same question, viz, the national question. Brought together in an unwieldy, unequal and uneven union by the British, Nigeria’s about 400 ethnic nationalities have been unable to transform into one nation, one union, a community of people and communities driven by a common purpose – to create a united, progressive nation, under the umbrella of patriotism and the common good.
We have fought each other since 1950 to date, we did not even all agree on independence, and since that happened, we have been at each other’s throats. We ended up fighting a civil war, and from all indications we are at this moment, seemingly preparing for another one. The laziest excuse is that the British caused all our problems, but more than 50 years after independence it should be clear enough that we are the source of our collective agony.
Other countries who were at the same level with us in 1960 have since moved on and developed into better nations despite their own internal contradictions. Nigerian leaders have perpetually lived in denial. Every step forward has resulted in our country taking two steps backwards. A combination of the big-man-syndrome, the too-know syndrome, the us-before-others-mentality, ethnic politics, sectarian politics, greed, cronyism and a terrible leadership recruitment process has turned our process of nationhood into an unending struggle. Today, fewer Nigerians believe in the idea of Nigeria.
In 1977/78, the Constituent Assembly whose deliberations resulted in the 1979 Constitution almost ended with fisticuffs. The 2005 National Political Reforms Conference did not fare better either, as the Niger Delta conferees staged a walk-out and the politics of Third Term or no Third Term sabotaged the entire process. In 2014, the outcomes of yet another National Conference could not be followed through because a succeeding administration declared it would not even look at the report. At every stage when it looks as if this country is faced with an opportunity to address the national question, certain interest groups erect the roadblocks of denial and wishful thinking. No country can live perpetually in denial. This is the message of former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union and their disintegration. As for the military, they merely worsened Nigerian politics.
Fifty years after the outbreak of the civil war, we now have a man called Nnamdi Kanu. He may well end up as Nigeria’s nemesis. He is the most frightening product of our many years and acts of denial and he may well throw the country into a nightmare worse than Boko Haram, if care is not taken. He started out as the leader of a group called the Indigenous People of Biafra and as director of Radio Biafra. He and those who bought into his rhetoric of secession and the renewal of the Biafra dream organized protests across the world, and they looked, from afar, like a group of disgruntled Nigerians in diaspora. In the foreign lands where most of the members lived, they looked like persons over-enjoying the freedom of speech from a safe distance. They didn’t appear to have the force of MASSOB, which is locally based and seemingly more malleable. The renewed struggle for Biafra that Kanu and his crowd talked about could have been nothing more than an internet and television revolution. But everything went wrong the moment Nnamdi Kanu chose to visit home and he was arrested, detained and taken through a court trial.
Whoever ordered Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest and prosecution did this country a bad turn. Kanu is a character that could have been better ignored. His trial and travails have turned him into a hero and a living martyr among Igbos. And the young man so far, understands the game. Since he was released on bail, he has been taunting the Nigerian state and government. Daily, he dares those who granted him bail and he laughs at the conditions they gave him. He associates with more than 10 persons. He moves about Igboland freely, like a spirit. He addresses rallies and grants interviews. He has been busy issuing statements. On May 30, he ordered a shut-down of the entire South Eastern region and that order was obeyed not only in the South East but also in parts of the South-South, and Abuja.
Nnamdi Kanu who probably barely struggled to survive as a black man in Europe, has been turned by the Nigerian Government into a credible apostle of a resurgent Biafran revolution. The other day when he held a meeting in Umuahia, over 5,000 persons trooped to his compound. Kanu is a master of symbolism. He is exploiting the Jewish symbol: to signal to the world that Igbos are being persecuted. He visits symbolic sites of the civil war to prick the injured part of the Igbo consciousness and mobilise the people. His pre-eminence is a comment on the quality of the state and its strategic intelligence system. If he succeeds with his threats, we should know those to blame. A few days ago, someone on social media further compared him to Jesus Christ and described him as the true saviour. Every revolutionary in history graduates from ordinariness to being messianic, propelled by opiumized endorsement.
Nnamdi Kanu is certainly capable of doing more damage to the system than the MASSOB, OPC, and such other groups, and should he push things further, he could ignite a crisis worse than Boko Haram. My gut feeling is that some people in certain places are beginning to realize this and that is why Nnamdi Kanu out of detention appears untouchable; it is the reason he is able to dare the state, and ridicule his bail conditions. The lesson here is obvious enough: the brazen use of force and intimidation to deal with certain situations could create really bad unintended consequences.
The Federal Government under Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has been holding meetings with key stakeholders within the Federation. The consultations are in order, but the Acting President is yet to talk to the right people. He is talking to people who carry their international passports in their pockets because they don’t know what tomorrow promises in Nigeria. He is consulting persons whose family members are mostly one-leg-in-one-leg-out Nigerians; many of them in fact have dual nationality. Nigeria is their trading post, the place where they make the money they and their children spend in Dubai, UK and wherever.
The people the Federal Government should be talking to are the angry Igbo youths who now kneel down to greet Nnamdi Kanu and call him their god, the Arewa youths who have told the Igbos to get out of Nigeria and get away, and who have called the Yoruba names while further insisting that they are not afraid of the Nigerian government arresting them. The people to talk to are the leaders of the various other groups who are taking sides. Leaders of the Middle Belt and the South South are holding talks; some Yorubas are planning to hold theirs this week in Ibadan. Draw the map of the emerging rhetoric in Nigeria today; what you have is a divided country. The scenario is so painfully reminiscent of the early 60s. Every Nigerian leader since the civil war has boasted that he would not preside over the dismemberment of Nigeria. Some of those leaders have suddenly started saying restructuring is the answer, how nice!- the same restructuring they never wanted and that they didn’t want as at 2015.
Crisis management is an important part of nation-building. We have failed to manage most of the crises that have befallen our nation, on a sustainable basis, and that is why every proverbial snake that is killed suddenly resurrects. It is the reason we have produced a country where the population of the aggrieved appears to be growing daily. It is the reason Nnamdi Kanu and his followers have become the fish-bone in the throat of government. As things stand, there is no stronger voice in Igboland today than that of Nnamdi Kanu. The Igbo elites and the self-styled political leaders of the East know that Kanu is more influential than all of them put together. How many among them can command a willing crowd of 5, 000 to their doorsteps? The politicians hire crowds, but the crowds go to Kanu and obey him.
With the kind of influence he wields, Kanu is in a position to dictate the political future of the South East. The same political leaders who posed for photographs at the Aso Villa will go to him at night and beg him to support their candidates if future elections hold in that region. They will condemn Kanu during the day, but lick his boots at night.
The ancillary challenge however is the worsening trend of ethnic polarization with regards to the control of power at the centre. I describe this as the conflict between the na-my-brother-dey-there syndrome and the no-be-my-brother reactive tendency. It used to be the case in this country up till the time President Olusegun Obasanjo left in 2007, that whoever held power in Abuja was openly and strongly supported by other Nigerians, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Obasanjo got more support from outside Yorubaland, and probably felt more reassured by persons from outside his own ethnic group and religion.
With the death of President Yar’Adua in office, ethnicity, a long-standing threat to Nigerian unity became more potent. The Boko Haram, with its base in the Northern part of the country gave the succeeding Jonathan administration hell. With the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, the same Boko Haram suddenly became tame. Curiously, the militants of the South East and the South South, who had been significantly quiet during the Jonathan years, also became more vocal and calls for secession became more strident the moment their kinsman and in-law left office. By the same token, the conflict between pastoralists and farmers, an old problem, became worse, with the former asserting themselves more arrogantly for no reason other than that they are sure of better protection under a central government controlled by the North. Our point: Nigeria’s stability should not be so dependent on the whims and caprices of ethnic gladiators. No Nigerian President should be at the mercy of ethnic or religious politics, now or in the future.
The debate about restructuring and renegotiations is therefore useful and most relevant. It is indeed urgent if we must take the wind out of the sail of the secessionists and nihilists. Those who have always blocked or hijacked the people’s conference must by now realize that we are close to “the point of no return” on a review and rephrasing of the Nigerian question, in order to make every Nigerian feel a part of the Nigerian project. The alternative in all possible shapes appears ominous.
It was celebration in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, when the 1983 set of Government Secondary School Kagoro, now Government College Kagoro, and their then principal, Inuwa Kadima Bahago, rejoiced at a reunion after 30 years.
The reunion party took place in what the then principal, described as a ‘thank you’ party after the 1983 set hosted him during his 70th birthday, last year, 2016.
Mr. Bahago described the 1983 set as the best he nurtured as a principal, stressing that it was during his tenure as principal that they were admitted as students of the school and graduated while he was still the principal of the same school.
“I remain grateful for these young men who are now successful in their chosen careers. You can see how they are rejoicing with each other after a very long time of missing themselves, after their graduation in 1983. I am happy that l am part of their success story.
“I can still remember in those days that l had to urge them to take their studies serious. I thank God Almighty that they hid to my advice and today, they have success stories to tell of how it was in those days and what it is today.
“I personally see these students of mine as my own children, irrespective of where they come from, their religious or tribal affiliations. The way l was with them and treated them is left for history, but l am convinced that the way they left Kagoro in 1983 was well made and necessitated the reunion you see taking place today,” Bahago recounts those days with his former students.
The Head Boy of the 1983 set, Nuhu Yahaya Dikko, who could not hide his joy still recalls how in a Christian dominated area, Mr. Bahago, a Christian, made him, Dikko a Muslim the head boy of the school, adding, “My colleagues, mostly Christians, rallied round me and gave me all the necessary support needed and l was successful in the task ahead of me.”
He added that it was the same spirit of togetherness that has kept them together for over thirty years. “This is kind relationship we are lacking together in Nigeria, and the kind of vision which made Mr. Bahago appoint me the head boy that is still lacking among us. These are things we are emphasizing for the country to live in peace.
“In all honesty, the likes of Mr. Bahago are very rare to find. What do we see taking place in our midst these days? Tribalism and all such of evils that is drawing us backward instead of facing issues that will unite us as a people for our overall peace, unity and development of our dear country, Nigeria,” he observed.
Other former students also praised Mr. Bahago for his foresight, wisdom and sterling leadership qualities in leading the affairs of institutions, organizations and agencies during his working career as a civil servant.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria, has said that the country will miss the wise counsel of Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Sule.
The Governor prayed Allah to grant peaceful repose to the soul of this titan who reached out to young and old alike, who earned and retained the respect of many and was blessed to live to a ripe old age.
In a condolence message through his spokesman, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, governor El-Rufai described the late Ambassador as a statesman and noted that he was an orator who was among the generation that laid the foundations of modern Nigeria.
“As a young minister in the First Republic, and in other roles in public life, Ambassador Maitama Sule served the people of this country with panache and refreshing optimism,” governor El-Rufai observed.
The governor said that it was a privilege to have known the elder-statesman, and to have benefitted from his prayers and counsel.
He observed that the generation that secured independence and partook in the daunting task of governing a young country wss disappearing, saying that, “We thank Allah for their lives and service. We pray for Allah’s mercy on the departed and guidance for those of us that remain as we seek to do our duty to our people and our country.” END
This piece written by Olusegun Adeniyi on Nigeria’s population growth first appeared on Thisdaylive.com, dated June 29, 2017
A United Nations (UN) population estimate released last week reaffirmed earlier projection that Nigeria is set to overtake the United States in population by 2050. Titled, “2017 Revision of World Population Prospects”, the UN report added rather ominously that the concentration of population growth in the poorest countries will pose a challenge of improving healthcare, education and equality to end poverty and hunger in most of the developing world.
While that inevitable conclusion is ordinarily worrisome, one issue hardly ever discussed in our country is population control; not only because we like to live in denial about what ails us but also because once we cloak an issue in the garb of religion, we make it almost a taboo for any serious engagement. That explains why when the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, recently advocated that men should be compelled to fulfil certain conditions before they can qualify for polygamous marriages, all hell was let loose.
Yet, in the light of a population explosion that is becoming a serious national security problem, the prescription by the emir is worth discussing. Men who are not capable of maintaining one wife, yet marrying four, according to Sanusi, most often end up with many children that become nuisance to themselves and the larger society. From Lagos to Enugu to Port Harcourt to Maiduguri to Kano and Jos, we see evidence of this state of affair on our streets almost on a daily basis. Many of the children in this unfortunate situation were fathered by men who believe their responsibility begins and ends with impregnating a woman.
Determined to change the situation, especially within his domain, Emir Sanusi explained the structure he has already instituted. “As I speak, in the palace in Kano, a sub-committee of scholars, which I set up and has been working for about a year, is finalising the final sections of a family law we intend to introduce in Kano. The law will address what Islam says on marriage, it will outlaw forced marriages, it will make domestic violence illegal, it will put in conditions that you need to fulfill before you can marry a second wife, it will spell out the responsibilities of a father beyond producing a child. It is a big law which covers a whole range of issues from consent to marriage, to divorce, to maintenance of children and inheritance. It will be the first time in northern Nigeria that a Muslim law on personal status will be codified,” said Sanusi.
In a society where hypocrisy is a national ideology, it was easy for Sanusi to be crowded by a cacophony of voices, even when the fact remains that it is the poor segments of our population that account for majority of the children that have been left without much prospects in life. That then explains why even when the number of poor people continue to decline in other regions of the world, Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries currently account for half of the global poor, according to World Bank reports.
Before going further, let me quickly dispel the notion that this is a class issue or that I am canvassing that poor people should be denied the number of children they desire. As son of a village carpenter who understands the full meaning of poverty, I subscribe to the argument of Zina Jayne, a mother of three who, in a recent piece, defended the reproductive rights of poor people. Whatever may be the challenges, she argued, the number of children should not be limited by income “because the world has been immeasurably enriched by quite a number of people born to low income parents–including presidents, athletes, writers, comedians, inventors, business leaders, musicians, and on and on.”
The point she, however, failed to make is that education still remains perhaps the only means of escape from the vicious cycle of poverty, especially for children of those low income people. Indeed, the opportunities that some of us have in life are due to the sacrifices of our parents who ensured that we went to school against all odds. That is not what obtains today. A prominent Nigerian recently shared with me a discussion he had with his driver who has many children from several women. The excuse given by the driver was amusing but also very typically Nigerian: “Oga, God knows how He distributes His favours. To people like you, He gave money; to people like us, He gave many children.”
Rather than accept his lifestyle as a choice he willingly made, the driver had to drag God to the issue. But then, the religious lobby in Nigeria would support such argument since they don’t ever want you to discuss population control. “If you compare Nigeria with developed countries like Italy, a Catholic dominated country or even the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is a Muslim country, you will understand that these countries have maintained same population for several years and this has caused them to organise their lives better and provide for their people,” said Mr. Dimos Sakellaridis, a population control advocate.
The major concern about the rapidly growing population in Nigeria, according to Sakellaridis, is the fact that there are no infrastructures to support it since social services like schools, health care facilities etc. are not also growing at an equally comparable rate. In fact, they are deteriorating everyday which means that the only thing we are producing at a comparative advantage in Nigeria today are babies. Unfortunately, two stories that have been trending online in the past one week reveal that this has become an African malaise.
The first story is that of an 80-year-old farmer in Ghana who has more than a hundred children from 12 wives. “If I get a lady today, I will marry her and have more children”, said the man who reportedly once proposed to one of his own daughters. “He met the lady and said he loved her and later on, the lady said she was his daughter. He said his eyes were worrying him; that was why he didn’t notice it was his own daughter and we laughed over it”, recounted one of his sons.
As if that is not disturbing enough, also trending is the story of a 37-year-old Ugandan woman who, at 37, has already given birth to 38 children with the oldest of them being 23 while the youngest is just four-month old. She has had six sets of twins, four sets of triplets, three sets of quadruplets and single births. Ten of these are girls and the rest are boys. Yet, the husband fathering all these children has practically left the poor woman to bear the burden alone. There are many of such men in Nigeria and that is why emir Sanusi’s proposal is important because it goes to the heart of our largely unproductive population.
I have highlighted in the past on this page, a 2010 report sponsored by the British Council and coordinated by David Bloom, Harvard Professor of Economics and Demography, titled, “Nigeria-The Next Generation” which speaks to this same issue. The report remains instructive as it states inter alia: “Nigeria is at a crossroads: one path offers a huge demographic dividend, with tremendous opportunity for widespread economic and human progress, while the other path leaves Nigeria descending into quicksand.”
The kernel of that point is to ask: what kind of population are we breeding? Even when I have not conducted any research, most educated and relatively comfortable people in our society no longer subscribe to having many children. They have only the number they believe they can care for. On the other hand, those who are at the bottom of the society have no qualms about having as many children as they like without considering the welfare of those they are bringing into the world.
In a way, General Ibrahim Babangida should at least be credited for seeing this problem ahead and trying to do something, even if it failed. In 1988, he enunciated the first, and to date the only, National Policy on Population which sought to, among other things, “make Family Planning services available to 50 per cent of women of child bearing age by 1995 and 80 per cent by year 2000; reduce rate of population growth from 3.3 to 2.5 per cent by 1995 and 2 per cent in the year 2000 and provide suitable Family Life Education, Family Planning Information and Services to all adolescents by the year 2000.”
The challenge before the nation today is enormous. Last Friday, I was with Dr Iko Ibanga, the Executive Director of Pro-Health International who has spent the past 26 years on the medical mission field and he shared with me a recent experience at one of the IDP camps in Abuja where his daughter went to celebrate her birthday with the residents. The number of children currently resident in the camp, according to Ibanga, is about 250 with those of secondary school age being about 30 percent of the population and the remaining 70 percent being of primary school age. The surrounding community has schools that are willing to subsidize education for the primary school children to the sum of N2,000 per child and secondary schools for a sum of N15,000 but because their parents cannot afford such meager sums, the children are just roaming the streets with their future in jeopardy.
On Monday, at a meeting of “Men of Issachar”, the men’s fellowship of our church, we had to make contributions for a special fund for the education of children in Tunga communities of Abuja. The issue arose because in the course of a church planting mission, it was discovered that most of the children are not in school because their parents cannot afford to pay N1,500 per term. While our efforts may help in putting some of these children in school, and there are many such similar efforts that I know of, the problem is far deeper than what any ad hoc arrangement can handle.
Against the background that most Western countries are already grappling with the problem of ageing populations, Nigeria’s young population is a major potential. But without investing in education for them, this opportunity promises only one inevitable outcome which is disaster. Nigeria, according to the British Council report earlier referred to, is poorly positioned to maximise the economic opportunities created by its demographics yet if this potential is not harnessed, “it will become an increasingly disruptive force”.
The signs of this malaise are already all-too-evident on the streets of our major cities and in the millions of out-of-school children that we have across the country. I just hope that the authorities and critical stakeholders are paying attention. I also hope we can all come up with solutions to what has become a perplexing national problem. Before it is too late!
Association of Nigerian pensioners, Kaduna Polytechnic Chapter, has given Nigerian government three weeks ultimatum to resolve their problems or faced embarrassment.
Some of the problems include the non-payment of 33 percent pension increase arrears since 1st July, 2009 to December, 2013; nonpayment of full gratuity to some retired staffs and non harmonization of pension among others, says the chairman of the Association, Mr. Zacheus Adedokun.
Briefing newsmen on Monday in Kaduna, Adedokun said pensioners would no longer stomach the inhuman treatment meted out to them by the bureaucrat and agencies that serve as media of pension disbursement, hence, they should stop converting pensioner’s money for private use or business, but should be disburse to beneficiaries.
He added that, the various problems have exposed their members and their families to untold hardship and even dead.
According to him, “our gratuity due to our retirees since 2007 has remained unpaid till date, some received part payment. Many of them because of nonpayment of their gratuity could not vacate official residence and were later being humiliated with letters of ejection from their official quarters by their employers.
“The Non-payment of severed/disengaged pensionable staff under the Federal Civil Service Reform Program from January 2008 to December 2010. The disengaged staff whose enrollment should have been on CONTISS and not HATISS as obtained in other polytechnics; but severed staff in Kaduna Polytechnic are been paid their pension on HATTISS instead of CONTISS, whereas they exited from the service in 2008 when CONTISS had already been introduced and awarded.
“The Pre-1992 Pensioners are being owed their 33 percent increase and arrears with effect from 1st July 2009 to July, 2015.
“Pension of officers who retired between 1st January 1991 and 30th September 1994 in Kaduna polytechnic has not had their pension harmonized…
The chairman also complained of the non-payment of death benefits to the next of kins and the balance of 33 percent pension increase arrears from 1st July, 2009 to the time of their death, noting that some of the next of kins died while waiting to collect their spouse’s death benefit which according to them has not been paid till this moment.
“A clear observation reveals that Nigerian pensioners in general and polytechnic in particular are treated with ignominy and levity by the bureaucrats and agencies which serve as media pension disbursement.
“Government in general has no regard for the elder statesmen and women who use their youthful strength to serve her. In other countries, government do pay pensioners even before workers salaries are paid which symbolizes total respect to the senior citizens of such country, but is not the case in Nigeria,” the body noted.
The group added that they will appreciate any Government that takes care of pensioners with responsiveness, sensitivity and responsibility.
The Kano state government as declared Tuesday July 4 as public holiday to mourn the death of its illustrious son, Maitama Sule, (Danmasanin Kano), who died early hours of monday at an undisclosed hospital in Cairo, Egypt.
He died at the ripe age of 87.
In a statement, the state Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Garba, confirmed the death, saying he died in Cairo during a protracted illness.
The statement says the body on arriving Kano from Cairo would lie in state for some hours at the Emir’s palace, Mohammadu Sanusi II, to enable prominent Nigerians to mourn him before he would be laid to rest.
The statement reads: “The death has occurred today (Monday) of Alhaji (Dr.) Yusuf Maitama Sule, Dan Masanin Kano.
“Dr. Yusuf Maitama Sule died at a hospital in Cairo, Egypt, where he was receiving treatment for an illness.
“Funeral prayer for the deceased will be conducted tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Emir’s Palace, Kofar Kudu, by 4:00pm.”
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has declared tomorrow Tuesday a work – free day in the state to mourn the death of the elder statesman.
Confirming his death, one of his surviving sons, Alhaji Mukhtar Maitama Sule, said he died in Egypt, 24 hours after his arrival at the hospital.
According to him, his dad’s remains would be flown to Nigeria tomorrow for burial.
His Political Profile In Brief
Maitama Sule became a member of Nigeria’s parliament at age 24, and a Minister at the age of 29.
He became the federal commissioner of public complaints in 1976 under the military government of Olusegun Obasanjo, a position which gave him the nickname ‘anti-corruption minister’.
In 1979, he contested as a presidential aspirant under the National Party of Nigeria but lost to Shehu Shagari, eventually won in the main election and became president.
The same year, he was appointed Nigeria’s representative to the United Nations, where he later emerged as chairman of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid.
In 1983, he returned back to Nigeria and was made the minister for National Guidance, again, another portfolio designed to tackle corruption within government circles.
Rabi Abdulsalam, Special Adviser on Women and Youth development to Governor Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna State, has noted with delight that Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, have crucial roles to play towards ensuring that government meet the needs of the people.
Speaking at a learning meeting organized by Civil Society Organizations, the Special Adviser enjoined CSOs and residents of Kaduna state to strengthen their support for government programmes, adding that they were meant to enhance the living standards of the people.
She assured that Governor El-Rufai is open and always ready to listen to people’s opinion on the affairs of the state and how it is being run, “Governor El-Rufai has a listening ear to the yearnings and aspirations of the people.
“He has a dream of making Kaduna great and that is exactly what he is doing in these four years of his stewardship to the state,” se said.
The Executive Director, Aid Foundation, Emmanuel Bonet, said the meeting was an opportunity for Civil Society Organizations and other stakeholders in the state to appreciate what the state government was doing with a view to offering ideas that meant to help the government understand the challenges people are paasing through.
He said the meeting was meant to share experiences among different implementers of government projects as well share amongst various groups challenges some communities were facing in terms of provision of social amenities by different government departments in the state.
A participant, Malam Mohammed Ahmed from Angwar Muazu, Kaduna expressed confidence that the meeting would give the various participants the opportunity to express problems various communities were facing in terms of lack of social amenities.
He called on Kaduna State government to ensure the sustenance of Civil Society Organizations in the state, pointing out that they would serve as a strong force that will provide the government with the necessary information for a better result at the end of its tenure.
“The only way government can get to know the real challenges some communities are experiencing is through the Civil Society Organizations that are spread all over the state and know the problems of the people especially in the rural areas,” he noted.
Other participants who also shared their views on the outcome of the meeting noted with satisfaction steps taken by the Kaduna State government to get the view of people, groups and organizations on the best way they should be governed.
Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, SOKAPU, says moves have commence to establish community institutions of higher education following the non-reopening of public owned higher institutions in the area.
