Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-rufai, of Northern Nigeria said the State government decided to sell its inherited 3,300 houses because it gets only N1m as rent yearly from record of the previous government.
Speaking at the annual ministerial press conference in Kaduna on Tuesday, the governor who spoke through the state commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport, Alh Hassan Mahmood Usman, said civil servants were not paying for the houses as it was expected.
He said the record showed that most civil servants paid as low as N690 per annum as rent on government houses.
According to him, what the State is spending in the maintenance of these houses were not in conformity with what the government is getting.
“When we came on board, we inherited 3,300 houses and we only got N1m as rent from these houses.
“It was based on this premise that we decided to sell them to interested buyers and at that we gave those living in these houses the opportunity to buy.
“Apart from that,even those who can not buy these houses ,we have invited mortgage bank to help them get the houses,” he explained.
El-rufai remarked that the bidding for the houses would be transparent to allow the citizens of the State acquire these houses, promising to ensure that proceeds from the sales would be judiciously used in other sectors.
He also disclosed that his government had invited 60 investors to develop and build houses that would take care of the growing housing demand in the State.
Youth members of All Progressive Congress, APC, from Southern Kaduna in northern Nigeria have called on Kaduna State governor Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai to dissolve the management of the Kaduna State University, KASU, with immediate effect for closing and relocating the Kafanchan Campus to the University main campus.
The youth reminded governor El-Rufai of his earlier promised prior to his election as the governor to upgrade infrastructure of the Kafanchan campus to international standard.
Making their position known in a press statement through its national Secretary, Mr. Victor Asat, said, “Our attention has been drawn to an internal memo with the heading ‘Notice of Resumption’ purportedly written by the management of Kaduna State University urging students of Kafanchan Campus of the institution to resume studies at the main campus in Kaduna
“Your Excellency Sir, you may recall that before the last general elections, precisely, January 1st, 2015, during the Annual Afan Festival, in Kagoro, Kaura Local Government, His Excellency, Muktar Ramalan Yero, the ousted governor, promised the people of Southern Kaduna a University of Science and Technology, while you promised us an upgrade of present infrastructures to international standard.
“We instead, opted for quality rather than quantity, owing to the fact that we are witnesses to most South Western States merging their multiple state universities into one because of acute shortage of funds to keep the institutions going. It was on this premise, among others, that our people trusted and voted you into office.
“The decision of the management of the institution to fold up the Kafanchan Campus of the University therefore, wasn’t part of our political bargain. And having actively participated in mobilizing our people enmasse to vote for our party in the last general elections, we are under intense pressure to answer certain questions.”
The youth noted that there had been series of attacks and suicide bombings in University of Maiduguri, the federal government never dimed it fit to close the institution for any reason, adding, “Why is the case of KASU Kafanchan campus different? Or is there any record of attack/murder of any student (s) if not a mere attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it?
“Why shutting down KASU Kafanchan Campus that is surrounded by the proposed mobile police base, military base and Kafanchan Zonal Police Headquarters but allowing College of Nursing that is 1Km away from security formation or Kaduna State College of Education Gidan Waya that is more than 10km from permanent formations of Security Agencies? Why the special interest in KASU?
“Nigerians are concerned about youth restiveness, hence, self-reliance is the key factor, and Agriculture is the key to economic diversification. The demonstration farm of the Faculty of Agriculture of the university is located in Kafanchan, how can students be trained without practical experience? Is the World now expecting the birth of theoretical Agricultural science graduates without practical experience?
“The university is a product of law; established by State Assembly Act, and to the best of our knowledge, there was never a time a motion to that effect was moved and debated upon in the State Assembly.
“It is also verifiable from the compendium of laws you have signed since the inception of this administration on the state official website that the law establishing the institution has not changed, hence, why the brazen illegality by supposed Professors? We wonder if such a morally challenged University Senate can produce graduates of right moral standing.
“Having completely removed curfew in Jema’a Local Government occasioned by security reports certifying the Local government safe for human habitation, why relocating the campus?
“You swore with the Holy Qur’an to protect all citizens of the state, why giving special priority to University Students and neglecting those in primary, secondary and state owned Colleges of Nursing and Education who are more vulnerable? Or are you planning to equally relocate them to safer zones?”
Meanwhile the Vice Chancellor, Kaduna State University, Professor Muhammad Tanko, has refuted rumour trending in yhe social media that the Kafanchan camous of the state University has been closed down with the view to reclating its activities to the Kaduna main campus.
A statement issued by the Vice Chancellor and issued to newsmen in Kaduna said, “This rumour emanated as a result of a notice of resumption issued by the management of Kaduna State University, Kaduna campus which directed all undergraduate students of Kafanchan campus that the KASU portal would be opened Monday, 22nd May, 2017 for those who were unable to complete their (first semester) registration, they should ensure they do so.”
What thickens the closure rumour, according to the statement was a paragraph in the resumption notice which noted that all students should resume at the Kafanchan campus.
The statement advised students of Kafanchan campus to report at the Consultancy unit of Kaduna State University main campus where they would be allocated accommodation at no cost.
However, making clarifications on the said notice of resumption, the Vice Chancellor explained that, “The current action was taken on the interest of the students so that they can cover the lost semester, catch up and continue with their normal studies pending when the campus is reopened, which academic activities were suspended last December owing to security breakdown in Kafanchan.
A Media Specialist, Iliya Kure, has expressed concern over Nigeria’s ability to meeting up with its set target of increasing Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) to 36% by 2018, saying the appropriate funding and investment expected to have been committed to Family Planning (FP) over the years by governments has not been met.
Nigeria at a London summit in 2012 made a commitment to achieving 36% CPR by 2018, promising to invest US$600 million dollars to FP, but since then, it only committed three million dollars annually, he added.
Kure raised the concern on Tuesday during a media round table on safe motherhood organized by Development Communications Network (Devcoms), to commemorate the 2017 Safe Motherhood day in Kaduna – northwest Nigeria.
While presenting a paper titled, ‘Child Birth Spacing, A Key Strategy to Reducing Maternal Death – Time to Act’, the Media Specialist explained that FP is one sure way of reducing Maternal Mortality, hence the need for adequate investment, saying, if women are supported to space their children, about one quarter to one-third of all maternal death could be averted.
According to National Demographic Health Survey, NDHS, 2013, in Nigeria about 576 women in every 100,000 live births dies as a result of pregnancy related complications, while the CPR (people using any form of contraceptive) is 15.1% which is not up to half of the next year’s target of 36%.
According to Kure, Safe motherhood entails ensuring good health for mothers and their offspring irrespective of age, race, nationality and status, noting that it comprises of antenatal care, skill attendant at delivery, post delivery care (including post abortion care and family planning) as well as breast feeding.
“Slowing down spread of HIV, promotion of gender equity, protection of the environment, poverty reduction and acceleration of socioeconomic development of a state are among the benefits of Child Birth Spacing” he added.
He however commended the Kaduna state government for creating a budget line of 100,000 for FP in the state urging other government to follow suit so as to reduce maternal mortality and encourage safe motherhood.
Zimbabwean Human Rights watch has claimed that President Robert Mugabe and his family have subjected local farmers to dehumanisation and police brutality.
The farmers are said to be in Mazowe, (a southern district in Zimbabwe).
This was as a result of a land conflict that came about from Mugabe’s interest in Arnolds Farm in Mazowe, Mashanaland central Province, Zimbabwe as confirmed by a court filing.
The security forces resolved to beating, harassing and evicting 200 hundred families from the farm.
Witnesses confessed that such acts of violence have happened in the past and recalled the last which was in March when about 100 anti-riot police evicted some farmers from the same land.
The police claimed to be acting under instructions from the first lady, Lady Grace Mugabe who had instructed them to beat occupants who resisted.
Zimbabwean Human Rights Watch also added that during the last eviction, houses were tied with across with ropes with the end of the rope attached to a truck, after which the truck starts off and pulls the house down.
Occupants of such homes are then bundled into the trucks and dumped about 400 kilometres away from the farm.
Residents of the farm later got a High Court order to stop the eviction without a valid court order.
However the police are back again and still without a court order but with claims to be acting under superior authority of the first lady.
“The police are illegally tearing down homes at Arnolds Farm, leaving hundreds of people homeless and destitute in heavy rains and cold weather.
“Residents have occupied the farm for 17 years, and any process to evict them should respect their rights and follow due process,” said Dewa Mavhinga, Southern Africa director at HRW.
Farmers on the land have lost their homes and their farms. They have also been restricted from going into the territory and have been told by the police that they would be trespassing if they do. Most of the farmers have no access to their farms to at least harvest or plant crops. 18 Police officers currently patrol the property. Two residents, Tapiwa Dhaisi, 39, and Sinikiwe Mizivei, 32, were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing. Lawyers representing Dhaisi and Mizivei claim police assaulted their clients during their arrest. According to court papers, the pair “illegally entered into Arnolds Farm, which is owned by the First Family.” They were later released.
The Arnolds Farm Residents Association claims the government has not provided them with suitable alternative land. Since 2015, the government has resettled just five families from the farm. They have received no compensation.
HRW urged the Zimbabwean government to ensure the farm residents “are not denied their rights under international law and Zimbabwe’s constitution, including the rights to shelter, food, health, and the prohibition of torture”.
Kaduna State government has budgeted over #100 million to ensure safe methods of child spacing with almost all the necessary commodities provided free in all facilities in the state.
The worthy investment is all geared to save mothers and babies through the partnership of the Kaduna State government and partners.
Sensitization and awareness in safe child spacing methods are continuously done in Kaduna state by the state government and partners with a view of ensuring couples understand and appreciate the importance of child spacing as a way of saving the lives of mothers and the newborns.
Speaking to newsmen in Kaduna on Safe Motherhood Day, the Executive Secretary, Kaduna S tate Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Hadiza Balarebe, said the health of mothers have been acknowledged to be a cornerstone of public health and attention to of high level of unecessarily high level of maternal mortality in the state.
She said the state government would continue to accord pregnancy women all necessary care during pregnancy and after childbirth as long as humanity continues to reproduce itself. “Failure to take action to prevent maternal death amounts to discrimination against women because only women face death risk,” she added.
“Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries.
“The maternal mortality ratio represents the risk associated with each pregnancy, that is the obstertric risk. It should be understood that pregnancy-related death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the cause of death.
“This includes conditions aggravated by pregnancy or its management but excludes accidental or incidental causes.
“Older women and women of black and other races continued to have higher mortality than younger women and white women,” she explained.
The Executive Secretary noted that the most common direct causes of death for all reported cases are hemorrhage, obstructed labour, sepsis, eclampsia, anaemia and unsafe abortions, adding that globally awareness of the issue of maternal mortality began in 1987 at the Safe Motherhood in Nairobi, drawing the attention of the world and developed countries in particular to safe motherhood issues and the commitment to strive for the reduction of mortality and morbidity related to pregnancy and childbirth.
She added that the commitment was reinforced in the International Conference on Population on Development, held in Cairo in 1994 where, in addition to the call to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity by the least 50 per cent by the turn of the century.
The Nigeria police Force, Akwa Ibom State command, has arrested eighteen male suspects for attempted examination malpractices during the just concluded Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations held nationwide.
Spokesperson of the Akwa Ibom command, DSP Chukwu Ikechukwu, said the men were arrested on Monday 15th May, 2017 in a rented apartment at No.13, Lutheran Road, Ikot Ekpene, while trying to hack into JAMB Website to have access to exam questions.
According to him, the leader of the syndicate, one Isaiah Akpan Eshiet, works for Gmail Computer Technology and Management Institute located at No.15, Lutheran Road, Ikot Ekpen as the Centre Manager.
“The Institute was one of the centres approved by JAMB for candidates to write the examinations. The Centre Manager rented the office, which is about a few meters away from the Institute, to specifically perpetrate the crime. He linked a cable from the rented office to a switch of the Institute’s Computer system in the proprietor’s office with the intention to connect the JAMB Server for access to JAMB questions. He had not succeeded when the police on information swooped on him and his associates.
“Among the accomplices in the Command’s custody were scouts for interested candidates and those on standby, popularly referred to as mercenaries, who were to solve the exam questions and transmit answers to candidates in the examination hall at the Institute,” DSP Ikechukwu explained in a statement.
Items recovered from the syndicate include 27 laptops, cables and a generating set.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Don Awunah, however reiterated the Command’s commitment in reducing all forms of crimes, adding that, they will continue to collaborate with all exam bodies to eliminate cheats from the processes and safeguard their collective integrity.
Nigeria's Minister of Health Isaac Folorunso Adewole
Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has challenged global leaders in health to invest in cervical cancer control.
Nigeria’s Minister of Health Isaac Adewole
Speaking recently during the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting, on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, Adewole called on the ministers to designate Cervical Cancer as a major public health challenge and to intensify efforts to attract investment in vaccines access and treatment.
He described Cervical Cancer as a disease of inequity citing an International Agency for Research on Cancer Report that revealed that almost nine out of 10 (87%) cervical cancer deaths occur in the less developed regions, adding that, “If we do nothing, your excellences the burden of cervical cancer will increase by 2035, an increase of 72%, far higher than the global increase of 43%. We will also record near 50% increase in mortality.”
The Minister further pointed out that the report showed that the poorest countries will suffer more from cervical cancer. “This is a systems failure and it occurs because the systems have failed, the people have failed and we have failed everybody.”
At another event themed ‘Cervical Cancer: A Non Communicable Disease’ we can overcome, Prof. Adewole explained that, “The poor people are affected, and for me, at governmental level, we need to improve socioeconomic status in the country; we need to improve wellbeing and build a strong system” The first thing I did last year was to say we will offer free screenings to about 200,000 women across the country and this year my main mission is to screen women free of charge in Nigeria for cervical cancer.
“And for the first time, I have been able to put Cancer Prevention in my health budget, which is also significant. It is not the quantum of money that is there but the fact that I have been able to include and I know that within the next 1 or 2 years I will be able to grow that money.“
The Minister also disclosed that the government is currently equipping 7 centers for cancer prevention and management, where surgical oncology, radiotherapy and medical oncology would be handled.
“we should treasure the environment as the only treasure that bears other treasure…”
The colossal figures that describe the loss of flora and fauna in Nigeria over the last two decades are so saddening. It simply points to the fact that the word “biodiversity” is just a well-known vocabulary or should I say, a terminology that only exists in books.
For the sake of pedagogy, “biodiversity” is evidently a coinage of two words – “biology” and “diversity” – hence the phrase “biological diversity”. It solely expresses the various forms of nature, its inherent beauties, and dynamism. Therefore, the depth of the word is a function of the level of awareness of the user.
May 22nd presents us another worthy opportunity to not only mark but understand out Biodiversity as a people. The International Day for Biological Diversity 2017 themed “Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism” has been chosen to coincide with the observance of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly.
This decision stems from the strong connection between biodiversity and tourism. The dependence of one on the other has helped both to thrive under varying anthropogenic factors. However, while using sustainable tourism as a fulcrum to raise awareness for biodiversity, it is also expedient to know that sustenance of biodiversity would require that all hands be on deck as several other competitive land uses have, over the years, succeeded in dwindling the world’s natural reserves.
By scholastic evaluation, the rain forests of West Africa have been earmarked as one of the world’s hotspots of biodiversity according to a research carried out in 2000. If it is so, Nigeria by virtue of her status should shoulder the weight of this responsibility. But on the contrary, according to World Conservation Monitoring Center, “Nigeria is home to at least 4715 species of vascular plant of which 4.3% are endemic; about 1417 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles”. Sadly, the total forest cover in the country is fast declining with just about 7.7% remaining in 2015 having lost nearly 80% of its old-growth forests between 1990 and 2005 giving the dubious distinction of having the highest deforestation rate on the planet.
These statistics affirm a single thing – mismanagement – mismanagement borne out of over-dependence on natural resources -Forest and water resources.
From social indices of which Poverty is topmost, local communities living around forest and water resources over-depend on these resources as a source of protein, fuel, food, herbs and protection, thus depleting its biodiversity, these they achieve through horrendous acts of poaching and deforestation.
Only close-access resources upon which economic importance, such as tourism has been placed escape this dastard situation. This explains why barely only 8 (eight) National Parks are remaining in the country at the moment.
What then is the way forward?
As much as an International Day for Biological diversity would help to raise awareness, its celebration in this part of the world seems already banal – one can almost predict the usual.
This time, it would take more than; a televised “speech” from the Minister of Environment, ritual exchange of handshakes and presentation of uncircumcised honorary awards to achieve the wanted change. It would require a fundamental approach from parents and other societal institutions to expose their children and members to environmental education.
For parents, it is an opportunity to environmentally prepare our children for the future; I personally suggest that urban settlers leave a small part of the compound bare, no cement, no interlocking stones.
Let your children learn from nature; let them see earthworm burrow into the soil. Let them see snail crawl on the fence. Let them see how a garden is nurtured. Let them see how banana suckers emanate. Let them mix soil with their hand trowel. Let them see prune flower with their secateurs, irrigate with their watering cans and more importantly, watch them pluck and eat from the purity of nature.
For adults, we should treasure the environment as the only treasure that bears other treasure knowing that it is a phenomenon to consider in all life’s endeavor. That way, “we” wouldn’t have to rely majorly on tourism as a factor to sustain Biodiversity, it becomes a lifestyle.
Written by Ogunjobi Muyiwa Felix, Port Harcourt Nigeria (Phelicks93@gmail.com, +234(0)7036895297)
Edited by Adebote Seyifunmi, Abuja, Nigeria (adeboteseyi@gmail.com, +234(0)8130979064
Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-rufai, of Northern Nigeria said the State government decided to sell its inherited 3,300 houses because it gets only N1m as rent yearly from record of the previous government.
