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Gov. Wamakko’s great wall of Sokoto

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By Alkasim Abdulkadir

One of the most important phrases unifying modern states was the statement made by President Ronald Reagan in a speech to the then Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall, the barrier dividing Eastern and Western Germany. The Challenge was “tear down this wall”. The wall that had become a gulf between brothers; you see walls have always been used by men not only as physical structures but also as metaphors.

From the great walls of China to the walls of Troy and Babylon, to Australia’s Rabbit Proof fence the world has always had mixed feelings when it comes to intimidating walls – from fascination to the feeling of being oppressed. In Nigeria too the city of Kano is famous for its walls; with foundations laid by Emir Gijimasu during his reign from 1095-1134.

According to news reports Gov. Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto is bequeathing to the future governors of Sokoto State and the good people of the state a befitting fence to be constructed at the cost of N772 million.  A Daily Trust newspaper report states the reason “In view of the security challenges confronting the nation and the north in particular, Sokoto State government has hinted that it will construct a new perimeter fence round the Government House, Sokoto”.

Former ace broadcaster and now commissioner in the cabinet Danladi Bako further informed newsmen that aside insecurity, another reason was the height of the old fence. Also the pre-cast concrete fence with two high quality car packs will be constructed within four months.

Evidently, on the scale of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs we all know that this does not rank very high; but definitely somewhere at bottom of the pyramid.

According to the Statistician-General of the federation Dr. Yemi Kale, releasing the data of the country’s poverty profile for 2010 said Sokoto State had the highest poverty rate of 86.4 per cent. However, the governor has vehemently rejected the appellation of the poorest state. But going by the NBS data, why then should a state with 86.4 percent poverty rate spend N772 Million on constructing a security fence for the government house.

The governor of Sokoto State, presented a budget of N115, 830,000,000, for the 2013 fiscal year it was tagged “Budget of Economic Growth and Peoples Empowerment, it means out of this sum almost a billion naira is going for the construction of this fence.

There are other walls that the sum can build, on the 8th of September last year Governor Wamakko informed a visiting delegation that the devastation that affected 50 villages and submerged 20 others around Rima Basin Dam in Goronyo local government was caused by the release of excess water from the dam, the flood also washed away 4 bridges with one of them impeding access to Usman Danfodiyo University. These funds can be spent in the re-channelisation of the water ways, building of higher embankments and aqueducts to also aid in irrigation farming. Same for other dams like Lugu dam.

N500 million was proposed for the agricultural sector, N272 Milllion less than the great wall, as such the state’s viable agricultural landscape can also receive a boost so that the Sarkin Noma and other 3,000 irrigation farmers in Goronyo and other agricultural settlements in the state can benefit from fertilizer, improved seeds, herbicides and pesticides, storage silos, a commodity security exchange market and above all migrate to mechanize farming thereby resulting in an incremental yield in their value chain thus tearing down the walls of poverty.

In July Governor Wammako made a commitment to construct an ultra-modern orthopedic hospital in Wamakko of the state at the cost of over N450 million. It means instead of building just one he can build another health facility at either Tureta or Tambuwal Local government areas thereby making Sokoto State a medical hub. This will be in order since he has repeatedly said that effective healthcare services remained the state government’s top agenda.

At N3 Million per class room block, the sum for the construction of the Sokoto State government house fence will construct approximately 250 class room blocks. This will go a long way in tearing down the walls of illiteracy by building four walls of class rooms across the state. This will no doubt begin educational regeneration. Alas, if only walls had ears…

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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.

Source: Citizens Platform

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Nigeria News

Kano Transfers Over 1,000 Almajiris To Different States Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.

The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.

Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.

Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.

Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.

Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.

In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.

Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.

However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.

Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria

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Nigeria News

COVID-19: ‘Bakassi Boys’ Foil Attempt To Smuggle 24 Women Into Abia In Container

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By Ugochukwu Alaribe

Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The market women, said to be  from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.

Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.

A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.

Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that  smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.

 

Sourced From: Vanguard News

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Nigeria News

Woman Kills Her Maid Over Salary Request

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Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole

The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.

Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.

He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid  in January 2020.

‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.

She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.

He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.

The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police  Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.

Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.

He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’

He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.

Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.

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Boko Haram Attacks: Buhari Summons Urgent Meeting Of Service Chiefs

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President Buhari and the Service Chiefs in a meeting. (File photo)

Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend. 

He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart. 

Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.

The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad  problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”

The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad,  saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts.  This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose. 

Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them. 

Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter. 

“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said. 

 

Sourced From: Tribune

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