Katsina (Nigeria) – Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, northwest Nigeria has announced plans by his administration to introduce a law compelling parents to send their children to school.
He described low school enrolment and poor educational development as detrimental to societal growth, acknowledging it as factor responsible for backwardness in northern Nigeria.
Masari decried lack of qualified teachers in schools and overcrowding in classrooms as major problems facing the educational sector, especially in primary schools.
He expressed dismay over the experience where children spend six years or more in the school but can’t spell their father or mother’s name, whereas a month in the Islamic school they can recite a verse in the Quran.
Masari warned parents and teacher not to solely depend on government, but tighten up their belts and ensure their children go to school.
Masari was speaking after receiving a presentation of school improvement grants to the tune of N48m made by UNICEF to the State.
UNICEF Chief Field Officer, Padmavathi Yedla said the grants was for the School Based Management committee, SBMC to provide conducive atmosphere of learning in the schools.
“we felt the community needs to get involved in… Because the community are close to the school and know what are the challenges and constraints.
“So the grant is to improve the quality of and learning. It is to bridge the gaps wherever it exists. Take for instance, the need for school clinics,” She said.
Katsina (Nigeria) – United Nations Children Education Fund, UNICEF is to support Katsina State Government in northwest Nigeria to strengthen Maternal and Child Health, Nutrition, Polio Eradication, Water and Sanitation, as well as Basic Education.
To this end, the duo have designed an operation plan for year 2017 costing about N3.4billion.
UNICEF Chief Field Officer, Padmavathi Yedla, said, the current figure was higher than the 2016 which she put at N2.036 billion.
The UNICEF representative called for prompt release of Fund, especially to the ministries, départments and agencies for the implementation of projects.
Governor Masari of Katsina State assured of transparency in the disbursement and utilisation of funds for the projects.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has assured of its readiness to provide emergency operation at the Kaduna Airport in case of any eventuality.
Already, NEMA has deployed a rescue helicopter, three (3) Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) Ambulances and three (3) Rapid Intervention Vehicles to Kaduna State to join other stakeholders in providing support for Emergency operations in the State, following the closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Spokesperson of NEMA, Sani Datti, explained that the helicopter was to be used for medical patrol while the three MICU ambulances with the Rapid Intervention Vehicles are stationed along Jere and Katari Towns, Kaduna-Abuja road and Kaduna International Airport.
According to him, the MICU ambulances are used to administer first aid treatment and stabilization for trauma victims on their way to the hospital as it serves as a mobile hospital with the capacity to carry one critical and one less critical victim.
He added that, the Rapid Intervention Vehicles are used for Search and Rescue, fight fire rapidly and extrication of victims trapped in accident vehicles or collapsed structures.
The Federal Government had announced the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja for six weeks effective from last Wednesday to allow for extensive repairs on the runway, diverting all flight to Kaduna international airport.
Humanitarian aid workers in Mali have appealed to the Malian government to tighten security in its region of terrorism to secure lives and property.
The appeal was made by a United Nations Human Right Independent expert in Mali, Suliman Baldo who was on an eight day commission to the country.
The expert disapproved the check points that have been set up by security agents in Mali as rebels now use those check points to attack local citizens, peace keepers and United Nations, UN, workers.
“One indicator of this growing insecurity is the very high number of closed schools in Central and Northern parts of the country, which may deprive many children of their right to education.
“The parties owe it to the Malian people to continue to find consensual solutions to their differences and to accelerate the deployment of state resources, including security forces and administrative and judicial personnel to Northern and Central areas of the country.
“The well-being and security of the communities that the parties claim to represent is at stake,” he observed.
A record from UN states that, “The Malian government has been seeking to restore stability and rebuild following a series of setbacks since early 2012, including a military coup d’état. Renewed fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels, and the seizure of its northern territory by radical extremists. The country has also been wracked by a series of humanitarian crises.”
Violent extremists groups have united under the Al-Qaida and have posed a threat to the efforts made by UN peace keepers to end the violence by rebel groups.
UN has it the 32 of its workers lost their lives while on duty in 2016, 51 in 2015 and 58 in 2013.
Following the peace initiative by the Zamfara state government, North West of Nigeria together with 1 Division Nigerian Army in 2016, repentant armed bandits and cattle rustlers have surrendered their weapons to the military in the State.
Spokesperson of the Nigeria Army, Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman, in a statement on Friday noted that; “On Wednesday 8th March 2017, repentant armed bandits and local vigilante group called ‘Yansakai’ in Ruwan Tofa, ‘Yar Galadima and Babban Doka in Maru local government area, Danwaren Daji in Tsafe local government area and Mada in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State, handed over large quantities of dangerous arms and ammunition.
According to him, some of the weapons surrendered include; three AK-47 Rifles, one foreign made Pistol, 1,169 Dane Guns, 323 Locally Made Pistols, 54 X Locally made revolvers, 102 Locally Made Multi-Barrel Pistols and 22 X Locally Made Double Barrel Rifles.
“The weapons were handed to 223 Battalion, 1 Brigade Nigerian Army in the presence of some State government officials and representatives of the various heads of security agencies in the State, ” he explained.
In the last few months, over a thousand assorted weapons have been surrendered across Northwestern Nigeria.
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, Friday morning returned to Nigeria from a 49 day medical vacation.
He flew from London to Kaduna in a presidential plane and landed in Kaduna Air force Base , Kaduna where he was welcomed by the deputy governor of Kaduna state, Barnabas Bantex and other government officials.
He was later flown to the Presidential Villa, Abuja where he was welcomed by his Vice president, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, ministers and some members of the National Assembly.
President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier written to the Senate for a 10 day medical vacation to United Kingdom from January 23rd to February 6th but later extend his date of return based on doctors advice.
However, thousands of President Buhari’s supporters took over Ahmadu Bello Way, Kaduna, North West Nigeria celebrating his safe return to the country. They enjoined other Nigerians to pray for the President’s good health, God guidance in order to lead the country to greater heights.
Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development in Kaduna State, North West of Nigeria, Hafsat Mohammed Baba, says her state government is poised to give women opportunity to showcase their potentials for the development of the state.
Baba, who was speaking on the 2017 International Women’s Day celebrations, noted that the predicament of women calls for concern, and there was need to give them a chance to contribute to government programmes aimed at enhancing the welfare of its citizens.
At a round table discussion with journalists on ‘Violence Against Women and Children’ held at Africa Media Development Foundation Office in Kaduna, the Commissioner said, the media has a role to play in ensuring a level playing ground for women’s particpation.
“Every day is a day for the woman. She is the mother, the wife, sister, auntie and more. The woman takes care of everyone around her. Setting a day aside for the woman is in recognition of the hardships women have been going through and evaluating how far women have come and where they are going.
“In as much as we are celebrating, we also have to look at our issues as women and how we can address them. The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is going to make sure women in the state, especially women in rural areas feel the impact of the government in the next international Women’s day celebration.” She assured.
International Women’s Day, IWD, originally called International Working Women’s Day, is celebrated on March 8 every year. It commemorates the movement for women’s rights. The theme for 2017 is #Beboldforchange.
Some Nigerian women interviewed spoke on their achievements as women and how far they have come.
“My name is Mrs. Juliana Abu. I have been a nurse for 29 years. I was lucky enough to be educated. Thank God my father was a teacher and felt the need to educate all his four girls. He used to tell us he had nothing to offer us but education so, he invested in me and I became a nurse.
“I had a choice to be what I wanted to be and right from the start, I wanted to become a nurse. Thank God my husband had the dream of marrying a nurse. That brought us closer and after we got married, we had the desire to invest in educating our children.
“Education is more valuable than anything else. Women are going through challenges and have limitations, there are men who have the mentality of reducing their women to domestic helps in the house,” she explained.
Also speaking on achievements, Tope Sherrif, a fashion designer said, “my focus is basically on male fashion. Over the years, I’ve had men tell me they cannot have a woman sew for them, what does a woman know? I’ve lost clients who became clients because they were hoping they could have some sort of relationship with me. Finally I’ve lost clients because their wives or girlfriends weren’t comfortable having a beautiful woman sewing for their partners.”
“My name is Faith Garba. I am a lecturer. Well my happiest achievement right now is the fact that I have lost 25kg, I know it sounds very superficial but believe me, it’s something a lot of people wish they could do but cannot.
“My weight hindered me from doing a lot of things I naturally would have wanted to do. It made me shy because of peoples negative comments and looks but today, I’m still on my weight loss journey and I am happier and feel accomplished in that aspect,” she noted.
“My name is Esther Pwajok. I am a chef. I cater for events both outdoor and private, render private chef services also run culinary training and serve as a food consultant.
“So far, it has not been easy as a young lady like me but so far I have been able to have my own food service (Veelicious Cuisine). I have been able to work with some professionals in the food service. I have been able to build my career around food business and also impact the younger generation by pursuing a career,” she said.
“My name is Amira Taiga. I was born on the 29th of April,1996. I obtained my BSc degree from Babcock University in Economics with a second class upper. I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Business Administration at the American university of Nigeria, Yola.
“Getting to this level of achievements at such a young age is nothing but dedication, hard work and faith in God. The 100% support from family plays a vital role in my achievements. Being the youngest in the midst of grown-ups actually contributes to my growth as a person and at the end of my Masters programme, I plan to pursue a PhD,” she explained.
Nigeria minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, Limited, as a shinning example of the Nigerian success story in management and technical competence.
A statement from Segun Adeyemi, Special Adviser to the minister said the Minister stated this on Bonny Island, Rivers State, on Tuesday after a facility tour of the plant of the NLNG, a company that is being managed 100 per cent by Nigerians and has 95 per cent Nigerian Staff.
“Until I came here I did not know that Nigeria has a humongous asset as the NLNG. I have been reading about NLNG but coming here and having a first hand experience and information, the briefing and the tour of the place have actually changed my mind completely about the NLNG.
“I am inspired, excited and proud to be a Nigerian. This probably is the best success story of this country and my pride largely derives from the fact that this company is run by Nigerians. The management entirely represents Nigeria and when you look at the complexity of the operation, I’m also very proud that this is coming from Nigeria,” he noted.
Alhaji Mohammed said the NLNG was the incubator for the growth of the nation’s oil and gas industry, stressing that if adequately encouraged, the company will replicate in Nigeria the kind of transformation that Qatar did with its gas reserves.
The Minister urged the media to continue to project the NLNG positively to ensure that the vision of the company wss realized.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of the NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, said the time has come for Nigeria to unleash its gas potential and power the economy, especially as the country has the ninth largest gas reservoir in the world with a proven 187 trillion cubic feet.
Mr. Attah said in order to realise the dream, the NLNG is embarking on the ambitious project for the construction of Trains 7 and 8, that would attract $25 billion Foreign Direct Investment and the creation of 18,000 jobs in the construction phase alone.
“It’s time for gas and it’s time for Nigeria and we believe this is possible. We see that opportunity from Trains 7 and 8 unleashing the gas potential. We see deliberate opportunities of the country going after the 600TcF of gas (reserve). In building Trains 7 and 8, potential investment that will be coming is about $25 billion,” he explained.
Mr. Attah said the country, through the NLNG, had succeeded in reducing gas flaring from 65 per cent to 20 per cent, pointing out that it would continue to diversify the energy resources and monetize gas in the country.
According to Mr. Attah, the NLNG had so far paid $5.5 billion in taxes and $15 billion in dividends to the Federal Government and has spent $13 billion on the purchase of gas to process into liquefied form.
Katsina (Nigeria) – Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, northwest Nigeria has announced plans by his administration to introduce a law compelling parents to send their children to school.
