gpt-MT/evaluation/system-outputs/wmt-best/haen/test.ha-en.en

Why I left the PDP.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has revealed some of the reasons why he left the PDP and joined the APC.
It will be recalled that the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara defected from the PDP to the APC this week.
Dogara said that when he stopped being humiliated by Governor Bala of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bauchi State, which helped him win the 2019 election, he should have resigned from the party and joined the APC.
The main reason why I left the party is because of the way the PDP is governing Bauchi State.
Everyone knows the role I played in the governorship election where the former minister of Abuja, Bala Mohammed defeated the incumbent governor, Mohammed Abubakar.
But now there is confusion and chaos in Bala's government.
Instead of staying in the PDP, I was told to leave and go back to where I came from.
Dogara wrote a letter of resignation from the PDP which he sent to the chairman of his local party, Bogoro C, in Bauchi State.
Finally, he said that just as he had shown other governors where they had failed and where they needed to make amends in the past, Bala was no exception.
I'd rather walk away and leave them.
A fire broke out at a house in Kano.
The fire broke out at about 10 p.m. and lasted for about two hours, despite the efforts of the Kano State Fire Service, security agents and the local community.
When Freedom Radio visited the site, it found a large number of people and various security personnel at the site. The site is connected to a major bus station known as Kuka station, which transports passengers from Kano to other states as well as neighbouring countries.
Apart from the famous Water Gate Market in Northern Nigeria.
Freedom Radio spoke to a number of eyewitnesses who said the fire caused panic among the people.
A conductor at the Kofar Ruwa station said they had cooperated with patrol officers to evacuate passengers who were panicked by the fire.
The Kano State Fire Service confirmed the incident and said that as at the time of writing, it was still gathering information to ascertain the cause and extent of the damage caused by the fire, according to its spokesperson, Saidu Muhammad Ibrahim.
On the other hand, there were reports that some miscreants tried to break into the Kofar Ruwa market to steal, but police officers and patrol officers tried to chase them away and protect the property of the community.
We contacted the spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, DSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, who confirmed the incident.
CORONATION: We have not yet finished testing the efficacy of the drug that has been synthesised in Nigeria.
While European countries continue to test the efficacy of their anti-coronavirus drugs, Nigeria has not been left behind in conducting its own drug trials.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has revealed that it is testing 40 anti-coronavirus drugs submitted to the agency by traditional medicine manufacturers.
The chairman of the commission, Mojisola Adeyeye, made this known on Tuesday in Abuja.
Mojisola said the quality of the drugs is being tested so that there is no compensation for obesity.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, traditional medicine makers have been scrambling to see if they can find a cure for the disease.
Many of them have submitted their drug samples to the government for testing and quality assurance.
NAFDAC has also laid down some criteria and rules for them to follow in the preparation of the drug.
The efficacy of the drugs will be tested in animals for the first time.
Mojisola warned drug users not to try any drug without the agency's permission.
In May, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said that only in the media and newspapers were there stories of people claiming to have discovered a traditional medicine that could cure the coronavirus.
Adeyeye disclosed that only one person had approached NAFDAC to check the efficacy of a traditional medicine he claimed could cure Coronavirus.
The other man did not claim to have found a cure for the disease.
He claims to have found a cure for the symptoms that are considered to be the hallmarks of the disease.
Since then, however, other drugmakers have approached the agency with their own proposals.
Ramaphosa faced questions in parliament.
This is the first of a series of questions that President Ramaphosa has faced in front of MPs since corruption scandals involving senior members of his government and other members of his administration.
Ramaphosa pledged to further investigate and reform the department responsible for overseeing the procurement of COVID-19 supplies.
South Africa has become the fifth country in the world to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but the president says corruption is playing a major role in the country's fight against the disease.
Nigeria will open its international airports on Saturday.
Authorities in Nigeria say they will open airports for flights in and out of the country from next Saturday for the first time after five months of closure.
Since March 23, the government has suspended the entry and exit of flights in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The government said the first four flights from foreign countries will land in Abuja.
The city of Lagos, but so far it is not clear where these ships will come from.
According to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, the decision to open the airport was based on the fact that there have been no problems since the opening of domestic flights on July 8.
Sirika added that it will be ensured that all necessary protocols are followed for the successful resumption of flights.
591 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Nigeria.
On Friday, 591 new COVID-19 cases were reported.
The new cases bring the country's total to 39,539 with 16,559 recoveries and 845 deaths.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, gave the number of people and states on its Twitter page.
Corona cases have been added to our team - Marseille.
French football club Marseille says three more players have tested positive for the coronavirus, following five cases last week.
The group made this known in a statement released to the press on Tuesday.
The club also said France's Ligue 1, which was due to start on Friday, had been postponed after five players tested positive for COVID-19.
Marseille also said it had informed Ligue 1 organisers of the three new cases after the first five, in a bid to resolve the situation.
APC Accuses Niger Governor of Trying to Create Crisis in the Party - Leadership Newspapers
In a statement issued by the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, the party accused the Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, of attempting to create a crisis within the party.
The document, which was signed by the Chairman of the Engineering Party, Muhammad Jibrin Imam, and the Secretary of the Barista Party, Muhammed Liman, stated that during the six years the party ruled the state, it received only 512 million naira.
The paper went on to say that the stakeholders' meeting called by the governor, which he chaired on Sunday night last week, would help to sustain the agitation in the party, adding that they had written to the national secretary of the party on the ongoing developments in the state.
According to Engineer Imam, "we understand that the Niger State Governor has been trying to divide the members of the party by organising a stakeholders' meeting, which is illegal, so that any complaint against the leaders of the party should be written to the secretary of the party so that they can investigate."
He went on to say that in the six years since the formation of the party, N512 million has been deposited in the party's account.
He said that his understanding as governor was to be part of the National Steering Committee set up on July 25, 2020, which was chaired by the President to guide the resolution of issues between party members and the withdrawal of complaints in court between party members.
He said the money we earned was used to pay the salaries of secretaries of the party, as well as for other activities related to the party, elections and to solve some problems of party members such as health care subsidies due to the lack of access to government subsidies, not any party money that we spent illegally. We challenge anyone to bring us proof of embezzlement of party funds.
As I said, the last local government elections in the state were the most important local government elections in the country, which we conducted with former commissioners and current commissioners in all the twenty-five local governments in the state. The money spent on the elections was distributed to the commissioners to bring their constituencies.
Therefore, it is a mistake for anyone to say that the party's funds are being spent illegally. It is almost unfair to try to give the party a bad name and try to hang it by saying that there is no committee set up to investigate how the party's funds are being spent and who set it up.
Of the money that the complainant alleges to have been embezzled, it was money provided by the national secretariat of the party, not any other kind of money, so I challenge anyone on this point to produce his evidence to substantiate his allegation in any way.
Imam said we stood firm to protect the APC from any attempt by any person or group to disrupt the party, adding that any allegation against the party or any leader of the party at the state level would be referred to the party's disciplinary committee as stated in Section 21 (B) (bi), (d) on page 82 of the party's constitution.
Therefore, the party's stakeholders have no role to play, especially if they attempt to usurp the power of the committee, so their decision has no effect.
For this reason, they are the legitimate leaders of the party recognized in the state, according to the 21st paragraph of the 6th paragraph of the 87th page of the party's constitution, anything contrary to this will not be used.
Because it is a mistake to despair of the leaders.
He said those who presented and endorsed the motion at yesterday's inconclusive meeting, which included Alhaji Abubakar Magaji, General Muhammed Garba, Hon. Ahmed Dogonkoli, Alhaji Ibrahim Balarabe and all the commissioners, were not members of the party's state executive committee.
The steering committee of the party's stakeholders will be headed by the chairman of the party, Engineer Mohammed Imam, and not by the governor.
According to the document, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello recalled that the issue of fulfilling the promises made to the people of the state during the elections, and bringing the parents of the party into the government so that everyone will benefit in the state and all the states through political positions, which is the problem of the governor and the party.
The paper commended the federal legislators who refused to attend the meeting and drew attention to the need for reconciliation on all issues between party members. This is not surprising for legislators who know their own pain and refuse to accept falsehood as the law of the party.
Therefore, there is the need for the Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee to draw the attention of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello to the fact that he should not attempt to disrupt the politics of the state.
Nigeria is ready to take its place in the Internet economy - Freedom Radio Nigeria
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, said the country was ready for a revolution in the digital economy.
He also said that the government is ready to work hand-in-hand with experts from universities and other stakeholders to ensure that the country is kept abreast of all technological developments.
Dr Isa Ali Fantami stated this during an international conference on the development of communication technology, which was held via the internet.
The minister also added that one of the first steps taken by the government to improve the country's access to information technology was to change the name of the ministry from the Ministry of Communications to the Ministry of Communications and Internet Economy.
How food preservatives are affecting the health of people in Nigeria.
Some scientists have warned people to avoid eating foods that have been treated with chemical preservatives, saying that eating such foods is harmful to human health.
The scientists made the warning after conducting a study on the quality of food eaten in the country.
The results of the study showed that there are some foods that are sprayed with chemicals to prevent them from spoiling.
The study also showed that the chemical was most commonly used in beans, flour and dried fish sold to the public.
The chemical is used so that when people see it, they will be interested in buying and using it.
And eating foods containing this chemical can cause cancer, kidney disease, heart attacks and other diseases.
The people of the country have been urged to focus on avoiding the consumption of these food items for their health.
Meanwhile, a food safety expert, Grace Olasumbo, has called on Nigerians to avoid eating products made with calcium carbide.
Olasumbo explained that Sodium Calcium Carbide is the chemical most used by traders to grind the raw material of fruits and vegetables.
Research has shown that a lack of patience and tolerance are among the factors that lead traders to use this chemical to ripen fruits and vegetables in just one day.
Olasumbo explained that what traders fail to realise is that the use of this chemical in the manufacture of luxury goods is very harmful to people's health.
For this reason, diseases such as vomiting, diarrhea, eye pain, diarrhea, sore throat, mouth, liver and others are contracted.
President of African Development Bank cleared of charges - Freedom Radio Nigeria.
The head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has been cleared by a panel of experts chaired by former Irish Prime Minister Mary Robinson.
According to the committee, Mr Akinwumi Adesina is not guilty of the alleged bribery.
Earlier this year, a 15-page report accused Mr Adesina, 60, of favouritism, mismanagement and self-enrichment, AFP news agency reported.
But a panel of experts led by Robinson, along with the Gambia's chief justice, Hassan Jallow, and the World Bank's vice-president for sustainability, Leonard McCarthy, cleared the former Nigerian agriculture minister of all charges.
In the past, it was the United States that insisted on the need to investigate Mr Adesina over the allegations, following a whitewash by the AfDB's board of directors, which led to the formation of a committee of experts to investigate the scandal.
COVID-19 Halts Trump Campaign Rally in Florida
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he was canceling next month's Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida, due to a surge in coronavirus cases.
The convention will still be held in North Carolina.
"A large gathering is not appropriate at this time," Trump said in Jacksonville.
President Trump moved part of the GOP convention to Florida last month after clashing with Democratic leaders in North Carolina over holding a closed-door event with supporters without face masks.
A small number of Republican delegates will gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, to formally elect Trump on August 24.
Trump said he would give his acceptance speech in a different format.
Trump, who has spent months downplaying the impact of the pandemic, recently said that 99 percent of the increase in cases seen in the United States would not be harmful.
Buhari Will Not Receive Congratulatory Messages
The Chief Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement issued by the Presidency on Wednesday.
The statement also said that the President will not receive guests this year who usually come to greet him.
Shehu said the decision was taken as a result of recommendations received from the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs to contain the Coronavirus.
President Muhammadu Buhari also reiterated the measures recommended by the council to avoid large gatherings.
At this year's Eid prayers, the president said his Eid prayers at home with his family instead of going to the mosque as he usually does every year.
KORONA: An additional 322 cases were reported on Sunday. There are now 52,227 cases in Nigeria.
The NCDC announced 322 new cases of coronavirus in Nigeria on Sunday.
The figures released by the NCDC on Sunday showed that Lagos State recorded an increase of -130, Bauchi-36, FCT-25, Edo-17, Bayelsa-14, Ogun-14, Oyo-14, Anambra-13, Kaduna-12, Ondo-11, Abia-10, Osun-6, Plateau-5, Kwara-5, Kano-4, Ebonyi-3, Sokoto-2 and Borno-1.
There are now 52,227 cases in Nigeria, 38,945 recoveries and 1002 deaths.
So far, 12,280 people have been infected in Nigeria.
Lagos state still has the highest number of cases with 17,894 FCT -4,994, Oyo - 3,050, Edo -2,537, Delta -1,701, Rivers 2,048, Kano -1,708, Ogun - 1,614, Kaduna -2,011 Katsina -771, Ondo -1,512, Borno -740, Gombe - 709, Bauchi - 643, Ebonyi - 960, Plateau -2,118, Enugu - 1,043, Abia - 749, Imo - 521, Jigawa - 322, Kwara - 936, Bayelsa - 356, Nasarawa - 396, Osun - 768, Sokoto - 156, Niger - 237, Akwa Ibom - 271, Benue - 430, Adamawa - 206, Anambra - 194, Kebbi - 90, Zamfara - 78, Yobe - 67, Ekiti - 218, Taraba- 78, Kogi - 5,
China Achieves Food Security Goals - Leadership Newspapers.
Food is the lifeblood of all living things. You cannot live without food.
This is the reason why the Chinese authorities are increasingly determined to ensure the nation's food supply.
In the past 71 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country has made great achievements in the field of food supply, which has surprised the world to look at the country's population, which is estimated to be more than 1.4 billion Chinese.
These efforts have helped make China a major contributor to the eradication of hunger in the world, as Zhang Wufeng, head of China's State Administration for Grain and Commodities, once said. From 1949 to the present, China has always put the issue of combating hunger at the forefront of all the country's management activities.
But in recent days, some people and some Western media have once again "expressed concern" over the issue of whether China can raise its own people in the shadow of the COVID-19 respiratory disease outbreak across the world.
We are very grateful to them because they always care about the presence of Chinese people in this world.
Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the country has managed to produce enough food according to its own efforts.
The issue of providing enough food for the Chinese people is always at the top of the agenda of the ruling JKS party.
At the end of last week, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of the People's Republic of China, issued an important order to stop wasting food, pointing out that everyone knows that any food is obtained with hard work.
Although this year the impact of the COVID-19 respiratory disease that has hit the world is also hurting China's economy, China can provide enough food for its people.
Figures released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on the amount of agricultural products, especially rice, that the country will produce in 2020 show that the amount of rice produced in the country in the first quarter of 2020 reached 27.29 million tons, an increase of 1.08 million tons, or an increase of 3.9% compared to the same period in 2019.
Ke Bingsheng, former president of the Agricultural University of China, also said that China has made great achievements in terms of the country's food supply compared to the beginning of the implementation of the policy of reform and opening up.
Huang Jikun, director of the China Agricultural Policy Research Institute of Peking University, said during a meeting with a representative of the newspaper "The China Science Daily" that the greatest challenge facing China now is whether China can reduce the amount of wheat and rice stored in grain warehouses in the next two or three years.
Now the amount of grain received by each person is 474 kilograms instead of the 400 kilograms that every person in the world should receive every year.
And now China is importing millions of tons of other agricultural products just to raise livestock.
Therefore, those who are concerned about the issue should calm down, take a bath and go to sleep, or focus on the internal affairs of their country.
The Chinese are able to feed themselves with food they produce themselves.
Why I took Ganduje to court - Abba K. Yusuf - Freedom Radio Nigeria.
The Kano governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abba Kabir Yusuf, has explained his reasons for suing the governor of Kano, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and some businessmen before the state High Court.
Abba Kabir stated this through his lawyer, Bashir Tudun wuzirci, who said that he filed the suit on the allegation that some businessmen owned government buildings that the people of Kano State were benefiting from.
In addition to the Governor of Kano and the traders, Abba Kabir Yusuf also sued the State Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport, the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of Kano and the State Lands Commission.
Abba Kabir Yusuf has accused the Kano State Government of taking possession of the former Daula Hotel, which is now under the management of the University of Science and Technology, Wudil, and the Shahuci Station site, saying it is against the provisions of the law.
Only Abi is eligible to take up the post in 2023.
Uwa's son and a close confidant of President Muhammadu Buhari, Mamman Daura, has said that the old style of governance in Nigeria has become obsolete.
Mamman Daura said Nigeria has already made the decision to abandon the quota system and focus on electing the best candidate in 2023.
BBC Hausa published an interview with Mamman Daura in which he said this.
The process of selecting a president in Nigeria, which began in 1999, has not been without controversy.
On the contrary, Daura said that the focus should be on appointing the right person and not following the process of selection.
However, the Igbo people, the Inyamirai, reacted to Daura's statement.
They said that he and his brother, President Buhari, had flirted with the idea of taking power through a coup and that he would now come out and say that he was advising against it in 2023.
Buhari himself was not elected by the majority of Nigerians.
Similarly, the country's top security officials, who have been sitting in their seats for many years, have not been removed, nor are they more capable than others.
Inyamirai's reaction.
A political storm engulfed Nigeria's presidency on Wednesday as the Movement for the Defence of the Igbo Zalla, Ndigbo, lashed out at Mamman Daura over the president's comments on the Inyamurai community.
In a conversation with Daura, who is a cousin of President Muhammdu Buhari, he said that the presidential election in 2023 would be free and fair.
On the other hand, Ndigbo was quick to issue a statement condemning Mamman Daura, calling him a partisan.
In a statement issued by Ndigbo on Wednesday, the group said the Igbo people in the South and the South East would be allowed to elect the president in the 2023 general elections.
Emeka Attamah, the spokesperson for the President of the Igbo Zalla Community, said that Mamman Daura's comments were like a shot across the bow of the 2023 presidency to the Igbo people.
Apart from greed, what has prevented Mamman Daura from talking about receipts since 2019?
They almost ousted Jonathan, and now Daura is telling the south who will lead Nigeria in the 2023 elections.
Only when he has finished digging up the dirt on his brother, the current president, will he come up with something we don't know about in 2023.
As an adult, he should embrace the truth and handle it well.
It is not that the arrogance of the declaration of the presidency of the country in 2023 has come out, the arrogance also shows selfishness and selfishness.
VOA's Situation Room.
The issue of sexual abuse of women and children through rape is common in northern Nigeria where there have been reports of children being deprived of their rights.
People from many walks of life attended the meeting on July 23 to discuss how the situation is getting worse in the country and how it should be tackled.
Participants in the room attributed the problem to factors such as advertising aimed at girls and the negligence of some parents.
One of the mothers who attended the meeting, Hajiya Fathi'a Shaibu, the wife of the former governor of Plateau and Niger State during the reign of the late Sani Abacha, described poverty as one of the factors that make parents burden their children.
Hajiya Maryam, a member of Nasir, the head of a group that works to combat this scourge, said, "First of all, we should go around and educate mothers on the effects of letting their children go out to advertise, because if a child goes out, he will be seen and harmed."
We will also call on teachers to start preaching loudly to parents and relatives who rape their children and grandchildren.
Honourable Shehu Mohammad, a member of the House of Representatives representing Maiyama, Koko and Besse in Kebbi State, expressed outrage over the incident and support for the enactment of a stringent law to punish anyone found guilty of rape in the country.
At the end of the Hajiya, Madina David and Nasiru El-hikaya, who led the meeting, thanked those who attended the meeting on behalf of the VOA for accepting their invitation.
Contribution of 'Arewa Media Writers' to North's Unity.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Bakandamiya and others have long played a role in creating spaces for dialogue, cooperation and friendship between different peoples of the world, as well as delivering messages, news, and promoting political, educational and business goals.
Young people in Nigeria are embracing this new technology by using social media platforms to stay up-to-date, give their input or vent on issues that affect their lives.
We can say that these rooms have brought us a lot of progress that the youth of the North are benefiting from in business, economy, education and politics of the region.
Many others make a living by writing and delivering messages on the Internet, have found jobs or have developed their activities.
However, it is unfortunate to see that some young people, instead of taking advantage of this opportunity to benefit from the progress that has been made, have been following the corrupt children of the south of the country who have become world-renowned for harassing the public, both inside and outside the country, or writing about the abuse of judges and predecessors.
There is a lack of awareness in the development of the lives of the youth of this country.
The arrival of the Arewa Media Writers in the country is a great blessing, in order to provide the youth of the North with a perspective, a good relationship and to clean up the things that young people do in Soshiyal Midaya, so that they can write meaningful articles and spread the goals of the North.
It is imperative that we give this group the cooperation it needs to achieve its noble objectives, which will bring benefits not only to our Northern region, but to Nigeria as a whole.
I advise our youth, especially social media users, to come together to defend the North's dignity and independence, and create a system that will be transformative for all.
Just as our late leaders in the North such as Sardaunan Sakkwato, the first Prime Minister of the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and his close associates aspired to provide for the people of the North.
It was reported that the late Malam Aminu Kano, who fought against oppression and poverty, once said that Nigeria is one country, but everyone knows his father's house!
Therefore, we say that indeed, while we call for national development and improvement of governance, at every level, we further call for the unity of the people of the North, without religious or ethnic discrimination, to bring our region forward.
If we consider how the North used to be, it is not what it is now.
Therefore, we should use our God-given insight to make contributions and suggestions, in order to provide the North with a satisfactory way to revive its economy.
The North should create revenue sources to implement its budget without waiting for the federal government to waste money.
In addition, if we want the development of the North, we must attach importance to education, agriculture, tourism, health and science and technology.
We don't always have to donate money, there are different ways to do it.
We think this is how the North will fulfill the wishes of our enemies!
The North is our pride.
The government has allocated N126 billion for the renovation of hospitals in the country.
The federal government has allocated N126 billion from the country's economic stimulus package to renovate hospitals in the country.
The hospitals to be renovated include the FMC hospital, diagnostic laboratories, emergency departments, isolation wards for patients with incurable diseases, and teaching hospitals in 36 states in the country.
In recent years, some health experts have called on government departments to work together to allocate sufficient funds to improve the country's health sector.
The experts made the call at a conference on access to affordable and quality healthcare in Abuja.
In his speech, Sadiq Umar, the Kwara North senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the Nigerian government should take the issue of improving the country's health seriously.
He said the failure to do so has caused the sector to suffer from a lack of funding, making it increasingly reliant on foreign aid.
Umar said that despite these subsidies, there was no role for the government in the health sector, which is why they started withdrawing their subsidies.
KORONA: Nigeria has surpassed 53,000 cases in Nigeria.
The NCDC announced 221 new cases of coronavirus in Nigeria on Wednesday.
According to the figures released by the NCDC on Wednesday, Lagos State recorded -17, Plateau-60, FCT-33, Kaduna-26, Rivers-18, Enugu-9, Kwara-9, Ondo-9, Nasarawa-6, Gombe-5, Anambra-5, Delta-4, Abia-4, Imo-3, Edo-2, Ogun-2, Oyo-2, Osun-2, Bauchi-1 and Kano-1.
Nigeria now has 53,021 cases, 40,281 recoveries and 1,010 deaths.
So far, 11,730 people have been infected in Nigeria.
Lagos State still has the highest number of cases with 18,035 FCT -5,079, Oyo - 3,060, Edo -2,555, Delta -1,719, Rivers 2,108, Kano -1,722, Ogun - 1,633, Kaduna -2,085, Katsina -771, Ondo -1,524, Borno -740, Gombe - 719, Bauchi - 645, Ebonyi - 965, Plateau -2,245, Enugu - 1,096, Abia - 759, Imo - 526, Jigawa - 322, Kwara - 945, Bayelsa - 378, Nasarawa - 427, Osun - 771, Sokoto - 156, Niger - 239, Akwa Ibom - 271, Benue - 451, Adamawa - 217, Anambra - 207, Kebbi - 92, Zamfara - 78, Yobe - 67, Ekiti - 238, Taraba - 87, K
People killed by hunger in Africa will exceed those killed by Coronavirus -IFAD.
According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), at least 23 million more people will go hungry in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2020.
IFAD President Gilbert Houngbo made the announcement at the World Economic Forum.
At this year's meeting, the issue of food security in Africa during the Coronavirus pandemic was discussed.
Houngbo said that studies, forecasts and calculations on how to face the food crisis show that in 2020, those who will be killed by hunger in the African region will surpass those killed by the Coronavirus, by far.
IFAD is a well-known institution for supporting people living in rural areas to develop agriculture, increase the supply of nutritious food for their children and generate income for themselves through farming.
Houngbo said that the coronavirus has shown that there is a serious problem in the system of food production, distribution and preparation.
Many farmers are struggling with not being able to access fertiliser because of the lockdown.
Moreover, they are not able to go to the fields and those who have cultivated crops are selling them, the markets are closed and they are not able to sell their crops.
The report added that in 2019, hunger affected 135 million people worldwide, of which 73 million were in Africa, in 36 countries.
In Northern Nigeria, hunger has affected 5 million people in 2019.
NNPC earns $378.42m from gas in June
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that its crude oil and gas export earnings in June stood at $378.42 million, up from $133.16 million in May this year.
The Nigerian oil company added that this was the largest increase in tax revenue since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the world, which led to the imposition of travel restrictions and a fall in oil prices in the global market.
In a memo signed by the company's Chief Public Relations Officer, Dr. Kennie Obateru, the NNPC disclosed that in the month, the NNPC added that it received a total of $4.60 billion from crude oil and gas between June 2019 and June 2020.
Similarly, the company disclosed that it earned a total of $378.42 million from crude oil and gas exports in June 2020, while it earned $133.16 million in May 2020.
As previously disclosed by the company, $230.65 million was received from crude oil, while $75.97 million and $71.80 million were received in total.
The financial report issued by the company in June 2020 is the 59th report published by the company every month.
According to the report, between June 2019 and June 2020, $4.60 billion worth of crude oil and natural gas was stolen.
The report also indicated that in order to ensure the successful delivery and distribution of fuel across the country in June 2020, the NNPC distributed 1.34 billion litres of fuel.
According to the report, 950.67 million litres of oil were sold in May 2020, as a result of the travel ban imposed in the country, which disrupted business activities.
According to the report, in June 2020, more than 1.3 million litres of petrol were sold, while 5.10 million litres of gas were sold and 1.65 million litres of diesel were produced and distributed across the country.
Overall, between June 2019 and June 2020, more than 19.104 billion litres of oil were sold, of which more than 18.9 billion litres or 99.36 per cent was gas.
According to the report, the total sales revenue in June 2020 was N134.22 billion, compared to N92.58 billion in May 2020. The total sales revenue between June 2019 and June 2020 was N2.267 trillion, an increase of 99.12 per cent.
In the same month, there were 33 pipeline ruptures, which is 11 per cent, down from 37 in May 2020.
According to the NNPC's financial report for the month of June 2020, the corporation has partnered with communities and stakeholders to tackle pipeline spills across the country.
The EU will intervene between Turkey and Greece on the Mediterranean Sea.
EU ministers have agreed to intervene after a row broke out between Turkey and Greece over the Mediterranean.
A date has been set for next Thursday to discuss how to end the standoff.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan ruffled feathers when he said that no one would budge on the issue of the sea because it belonged to them.
And they are prepared to take whatever action is necessary, from political to military.
For her part, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer of Germany began to look at how to resolve the issue, and said that German Chancellor Angela Markel planned to meet with President Erdogan next Friday by telephone.
President Buhari has congratulated a Nigerian on his appointment as a minister in Canada.
President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Kaycee Madu, a Nigerian, on his appointment as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Alberta, Canada.
According to a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Nigerian President, Femi Adesina.
Madu made history as the first African to be appointed a provincial minister in Canadian history, and is the provincial secretary who holds the seal of the province of Alberta.
Describing the award as "historic," President Buhari said it once again honoured Nigerians as gifted individuals who have distinguished themselves in various walks of life.
The President said that as the first black Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Madu has entered the history books. The President also called on Nigerians, at home and abroad, to continue to be good representatives of their country.
LACK OF SECURITY: 415 killed in July in Nigeria.
At least 415 people were killed in various incidents in Nigeria in July, according to a report published by a group called Nigeria Mourn.
In its July State of the Nation Report, Nigeria Mourn, whose mission in the country is to monitor and report on mass killings across Nigeria, said the figure it recorded was for 21 states out of the country's 36 states and Abuja.
The group examines reports published by credible media outlets, as well as information gathered from the families, relatives or friends of those killed that was not reported in newspapers.
A recent report by the group showed that the states of Barno, Kaduna and Katsina had the highest number of killings in Nigeria in July.
Here's how the report calculated the number of people killed in the 21 states it counted.
Kaduna - 139 Barno - 113 Katsina - 80 Kogi - 17 Nasarawa - 13 Taraba - 10 Benue - 9 Ebonyi - 8 Zamfara - 7 Plateau - 5 Edo - 2 Akwa Ibom - 2 Lagos - 2 Oyo -1 Ogun - 1 Bayelsa - 1 Delta -1 Kebbi - 1.
The report says 185 people were killed by assailants and gunmen.
Boko Haram killed 123 people.
Sixty-seven people were killed by armed herdsmen and 26 others were killed in ethnic clashes.
Six people were killed in the clashes, and six others were killed by security forces before they could be brought to trial.
There were also two men who lost their lives at the hands of gang warfare.
Of those killed, 283 were civilians and 132 were security personnel.
The group's previous report showed 731 people were killed in June and 356 in May.
As the killings continue, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has asked the Federal Government to allow Nigerians to obtain gun licences.
Senator Kabiru Marafa had made a similar call in 2018, when he was a senator representing Zamfara.
Buhari is not the only one with the right to national security - Nanono - Freedom Radio Nigeria.
The Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Sabo Muhammad Nanono, has challenged state and local governments on the security situation in Nigeria.
In an interview with the Hausa service of Radio France International, the minister spoke about how the security crisis has affected the agricultural sector.
The minister said, "The truth is that it is not only the federal government that is responsible for the security of this thing, the state governments and local governments, if you go down to Dagatai and the communities, they have allowed this security situation to become what it has become, but everyone stands up and says the federal government."
Yes, the federal government has the right to protect the lives of the people, but those who are close to these people should first start saying that we think we have a problem with these things.
Alhaji Sabo Nanono added that the federal government was doing its best to boost agriculture and food production in the country.
President Trump Signed the Drug Price Reduction Act.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed four executive orders aimed at reducing the amount Americans pay for prescription drugs as he faces a re-election battle and criticism over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump had previously said he would make almost all of the changes in the law he signed on Friday, but this is the first time it has been signed into law.
One bill would allow cheaper drugs prescribed by doctors to be legally imported from countries like Canada, while another would require drug companies to lower their prices, Trump said.
Another law would require a reduction in the price of insulin injections, while a fourth law, which may not be implemented if negotiations with drug companies are successful, would require Medicare to buy drugs at prices that other countries pay, according to Trump.
Nigerian Wins Award At UNICEF Competition.
80,000 Nigerian youths have participated in the UNICEF COVID-19 Innovation Challenge, a project sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to create a COVID-19 technology solution for the community.
Those who received awards from Nigeria started from the age of 14 to 35.
One of the young people, 28-year-old Chukwuma Nwachukwu, presented how to use sunlight to produce water to help fight the virus.
The solar-powered fan invented by Chukwuma Nwachukwu won the first week of the competition.
Chukwuma Nwachukwu said that his goal is to provide clean drinking water to communities in Abuja that do not have access to clean water.
Nwachukwu is among thousands of young Nigerians who participated in the UNICEF COVID-19 Innovation Challenge, which was launched in May and ran for six weeks.
UNICEF said the new inventions show how young people can make a real difference when times are tough.
About 60 million Nigerians, or nearly a third of the country's population, do not have access to safe drinking water, according to the Water Resources Development Authority.
Kano elders sue Ganduje over Buhari - Leadership Newspapers.
A coalition of Kano people's rights groups has sued the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, and President Muhammadu Buhari over his attempt to borrow money from a Chinese bank to build a railway line.
A coalition of more than 15 organisations under the umbrella of Kano Forum has described what it calls the huge debt that the Ganduje administration wants to incur for the construction of the first phase of the railway line in Kano city as useless in view of the major challenges facing the state.
The group alleged that Governor Ganduje would incur a debt of 684 million euros, or about three hundred billion naira, which they said would take 50 years for the government to pay off.
The chairman of the group, Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa, said it was almost impossible for Kano State to take on any more debt than it was already burdened with.
The only judge in Nigeria is the best judge.
A social activist in Kaduna State, Alhaji Aliyu Maigidaje, has pointed out that the death penalty for rape in the country, especially in Northern Nigeria, is the only solution.
Alhaji Aliyu Maigidaje made this known in an interview with LEADERSHIP Today in Kaduna, adding that if it is confirmed by the authorities after investigation, the death penalty is the only solution.
He added that the decision will reduce the number of rape cases that can be easily solved, but the biggest solution is to fix our hearts.
Alhaji Aliyu Maigidaje said, "As Muslims, we should worship God, worship the Prophet, stand up and change our hearts, because we never know when we will die.
He said it was shameful for a grown man or an old man to rape a little girl or a three-month-old, a three-year-old or a five-year-old.
He went on to say that, in the name of God, we will not insult the leaders or kings of the country, pointing out that there is no way for the country to make progress if such insults are made.
He added that this is why there is so much pain and suffering in the country, because the country has refused to move forward, and the kings, governors and the president themselves have lost control of the situation.
He added that it was necessary to mend our hearts so that God would give us a solution to the issue of rape.
He announced that even if they are doing it for self-glorification, they should leave everything to God because He is the one who removes all sorrow and poverty from the society.
According to him, no matter what situation a person is in, God knows you and there is nothing you can do but ask for forgiveness and repent and always think that you are going to die and always think that you are going to be left behind, no matter what happens to you.
He pointed out that the police are also doing their best to send those accused of rape to court and the judges are doing their best to deal with this scourge in our part of Northern Nigeria and in the country.
He called on parents in particular to keep a close eye on their children, citing the example of advertisements in which women are blamed by their parents, adding to the problem.
He said that some parents did not pay attention to their children's lives, whether they went to school or did not go, whether they returned home on time or did not return, adding that part of the fault was the negligence of some parents, because they should know that it was God who gave them the children and the next day he would ask them what kind of education they had given their children.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria has reached 40,000.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 591 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, July 24.
In a statement posted on Twitter on Friday night, the agency said Oyo state had recorded 191 new cases while Lagos state, which has the highest number of cases in the country, had recorded 168.
Other states include the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja with 61 cases, Ondo 29, Osun 26, Ebonyi 24, Edo 23, Ogun 14, Rivers 13, Akwa Ibom 12, Kaduna 10, Katsina 6, Borno 4.
Delta, Ekiti and Imo states have 3 each and 1 in Niger.
The total number of confirmed cases has now reached 39,539, 16,559 people have been discharged and 845 people have died.
The government received more than 651 billion as revenue.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the federal government's revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT) in the first six months of this year amounted to N6.57 billion.
In a report published by the NBS on its website, the report indicated that the figure was higher than that collected in the same period of the first six months of last year, which stood at N6.98 billion.
The report shows that there was an increase of 8.5 percentage points compared to last year.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) also said that the professional sector was the largest contributor with N95.2 billion.
The industrial sector collected goods tax amounting to N67.63 billion.
The commercial sector also generated N30.1 billion.
On the other hand, the sector of furniture, furniture, hospital equipment, plumbing, etc. generated VAT of more than N1.25 billion.
Rice farmers in Biniwe expect bumper harvest this season - Leadership Newspapers.
Rice farmers in Biniwe State are expecting a bumper harvest about two months after planting.
Some of them who were gathered in Makurdi expressed hope that the harvest would be anytime between October and November.
A small farmer in Mbatiab-Gboko town of the state, Titus Atondo, said he planted his rice in a two-hectare area in July.
Atondo said he got the seeds from the market in his area and they are in two groups of CP and OC rice while he uses Dazzle to clear land for planting and fertilizing.
According to Titus Atondo, the challenges of rice farming in rural areas such as Maina are many because we rely heavily on labour as customers cannot access the farm roads.
Titus Atondo added that we are recruiting people to work on the farm from the ground level to the harvest, adding that it is tired and there are many.
Atondo said all the money spent on his farm which currently stands at N2020,000 includes planting, clearing, fertiliser application and expected harvest.
Titus Atondo went on to say that, however, he expected at least 50 bags of harvest from two hectares to be sold at a price of 29,000 naira per 100k bag.
Another major rice farmer, Bitalis Tarnongu, planted 274 hectares of rice between June and July at a cost of N14,500 per hectare, while land cost N25,000 per hectare.
He planted 44 (Supi) and 61 (OC) varieties sourced from the National Seed Council (NSC) and some sourced from Olam Nigeria.
He added that the stages of growth at this time are in different areas while others are in the process of breeding, and others are in the early stages of killing animals as the farm is cultivated in stages.
Tarnongu added that the challenges so far have been financial as the cost of producing the selected animals is expensive and labour costs have increased.
He said the harvest is expected to start in October to November.
He added that the total price of consumer goods at the end of the day will be a minimum of 246,000 naira per hectare while production is expected to be three tons of honey which can translate to 360,000 naira at a rate of 120 naira per kilogram.
Tarnongu does not use pesticides on his rice farm, instead, he advocates and practices traditional agriculture, adding that, therefore, we use highly pesticide-resistant plants, pesticides and fertilizers.
Also, the Chairman of the Benue State chapter of the National Farmers Association (AFAN), Comrade Aondongu Saaku, expressed the hope that the rainy season this year would be suitable for large-scale rice cultivation.
According to the Chairman of the National Farmers Association (AFAN) in Benue State, Comrade Aondongu Saaku, more farmers entered the rice farming business at the end of this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, which prevented many people from leaving their offices and staying on their farms.
He said that this year it will harvest 20 percent of the 2019 production, which is estimated at more than one million tons.
According to him, the data collectors are currently taking statistics of various farmers and when the project is completed, the number of rice farmers in the state will be determined.
The president of the National Association of Farmers (AFAN) Benue State chapter, Comrade Aondongu Saaku, who said he cultivated three hectares of rice farm, noted that some farmers planted the rice in June while those who are short-term farmers are doing it at the time of harvest expected in late November or early December.
The AFAN president added that rice farmers use consumer products to kill old weeds, as well as chemicals and pesticides.
He expressed concern about the challenge of animals threatening rice cultivation, adding that farmers were erecting fences, placing ropes and clearing the edges of the fields to deal with the problem.
COVID 19: Two million free face masks distributed in Kano.
The Kano state government in northwestern Nigeria has distributed more than two million face masks.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje led the inauguration of the distribution of the items at a meeting held at the State House.
Governor Ganduje said the use of the mask across the state was necessary following the state's success in the fight against the spread of Covid-19, also known as the Corona Virus.
According to him, they have already involved the traditional rulers of the state in this drive, where the chiefs, elders and community leaders are working assiduously to ensure that it does not spread.
In addition, the governor said this has made them distribute the sanctions to labour unions in the state.
On his part, the Emir of Kano, Alh Aminu Ado Bayero, thanked God for the ease of the spread of the Covid 19 virus in Kano State.
He also urged the Ummah to continue to support the government to end the virus and pray for those who lost their lives.
He advised the public to observe Eid al-Adha while taking precautions against the Covid 19 virus.
Self-protection guidelines set by health authorities should continue to be followed, especially in places of worship.
"All unnecessary celebrations should be avoided at all costs," said the Emir of Kano.
Speaking earlier, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, commended the state government for the precautionary measures it was taking to contain the spread of the Corona virus.
In addition, he said that the number of cases of this disease is decreasing, and various government departments and private organizations appreciate the government's efforts to fight Covid 19.
Commenting during the meeting, the State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Kabiru Ibrahim Getso, said that apart from the spraying they have carried out in government offices, private homes and markets, they have so far distributed more than seventy thousand pairs of protective gloves.
Some of the groups that have benefited from the distribution of two million face masks include the three-legged TOAKAN motorcycle club, NURTW, NARTO, RTEAN, car dealerships, local government workers and others.
The meeting, which took place in the open air at the Kano State Government House, was attended by key stakeholders in the health sector, traditional rulers, labour unions and thousands of people.
A meeting was held to review the security arrangements for the Republic of Niger elections.
As explained by Dr Dita Idrissa, spokesperson for the MRN coalition of Niger's ruling parties, the issue of respecting the quota set by national laws for women in order to give them full access to the electoral process so that they can play a greater role in governance was one of the key issues discussed at the CNDP meeting.
The so-called liberal parties have also adopted this policy of bringing women into politics, starting with the issue of giving them voting tickets in political parties, as stated by the leader of the alliance of these parties, Mr. Hambali Dodo.
A review of the electoral system under which elections are held in Niger was one of the demands made by the participants in this meeting, as it was seen as a possible way to prevent fraud.
However, this request was not granted because, according to the Electoral Commission, any amendment to the law at this stage of the campaign is illegal.
The opposition, which continues to boycott all forms of electoral process, did not attend the meeting, a move linked to the alleged illegitimacy of the CENI.
Local government elections are expected to be held on December 13, 2020, while the first round of presidential and parliamentary elections will be held just two weeks later, on the 27th.
Supporting orphans will improve their lives - Foundation - Freedom Radio Nigeria.
The Foundation for the Support of Orphans and Refugees in Wudilawa has urged the community to be committed to supporting orphans and refugees in Kano.
The President of the Foundation, Abubakar Hassan, disclosed this in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Foundation, Albdullahi Ahamad, and made available to newsmen in Kano.
The foundation also said that there is a need for God-given communities to share orphans in their neighborhoods and refugee camps.
The statement also called for the donation of skins, meat or money for distribution to the needy and others with special needs.
Donations can also be made by calling the following phone numbers: 08106211786 and 09036287631.
The head of the Foundation stated that helping orphans improves their lives.
Nigerian students in Cyprus have refuted Abike Dabire's claim that students are being murdered in the country.
Nigerian students studying in Cyprus (TRCN) have slammed the head of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) for warning their parents not to send their children to Northern Cyprus, saying they are being raped.
On Monday, Abike Dabiri-Erewa warned that hundreds of Nigerians were being killed in Northern Cyprus without proper investigation by the government.
Dabiri made the claim after news broke of the killing of a student named Ibrahim Khaleel.
The student, a Nigerian, was killed and to this day no further information has been heard.
The murder of Ibrahim Khaleel will be a lesson for parents to stop sending their children around the world to be killed in vain, especially in Northern Cyprus.
The problem is that people do not know that the whole world does not recognize the existence of North Cyprus.
The country is also not recognized by the United Nations.
But thousands of Nigerians are living and studying in the country, but hundreds of Nigerians are being killed in the country.
She also hinted that Nigeria would reveal the names of hundreds of Nigerians who have been murdered in the country.
However, while responding to her, Nigerian students studying in the country said, "Peace in North Cyprus is better than Nigeria, far from it."
The president of the National Association of Nigerian Students Abroad (NANS), Evidence Akhayere, said that while Nigerian students in their home countries face challenges, students in North Cyprus do not face any problems, challenges or harassment.
This is what Evidence told PREMIUM TIMES in a recent interview.
He said it was not true that hundreds of Nigerian students had died in Cyprus.
He said the claim that 100 students had died was false.
The few who died were all of terminal illness, not homicide.
Africa: Coronavirus Cases Decline.
But John Nkengasong, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said this did not mean a return to the past because the pandemic was not yet over.
Correspondents reported the official as saying that the testing and safety procedures followed by the community are being met and it is good to continue to maintain.
So far, 23 out of 54 countries on the African continent have reported a decline in cases.
More than 1.2 million people are living with the disease in Africa, half of them in South Africa.
The train will continue to operate between Kaduna and Abuja.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that the train service between Abuja and Kaduna will resume on July 29.
Amaechi stated this while testing some new aircrafts that will ply between Kaduna and Abuja on Saturday.
The project was suspended in March this year in a bid to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Minister, a large number of people from different walks of life demanded that the work be resumed before this week's Eid.
The minister stressed that the government has already taken measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic at this time in the railway sector.
Fidet Okhiria, the head of the national railway company, said the service would resume on Wednesday this week.
Let's discuss a solution to the conflict in Mali.
Five West African leaders began a meeting on Monday to try to resolve the political crisis in Mali.
The meeting, the third since the crisis erupted, will focus on building bridges between President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and opposition leader Imam Mahmoud Dicko.
Interventions by the heads of state of Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal, as well as one led by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, have all failed.
According to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), there is no reason to believe that a settlement will be reached, even though they have expressed their disagreement with the dispute over the motives of the opponents of IBK's resignation from power.
Now all eyes are on how it will turn out.
Religious leaders are telling their followers that there will be no violence.
The Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Yusuf Zailani, has cautioned religious leaders to speak the truth to their followers instead of inciting their followers to worship and propagate hatred.
Zailani stated this while speaking at the State House, Kaduna, when the state government received the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria who visited Kaduna last week.
Zailani added: "Truth be told, if you go to some places of worship, you will hear their leaders inciting and promoting hatred of their non-religious fellow citizens.
This is to sow discord among the people.
Finally, he said that until unity is restored and religious leaders teach the followers of the message of Allah the Exalted as it is in our religious books, there will be no peace.
Also, the senator representing Kaduna Central, Uba Sani, who was present at the meeting, asked non-residents of Kaduna to chew their words before uttering them.
This conflict has been going on for more than 40 years.
For the first time, a brave governor has taken up the sword to put an end to this problem.
But because of the way some people twist the story of what is really going on, many people only hear one side and not the other.
Thousands of N-Power youths are scamming the scheme.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Relief, Sadiyya Farouk, testified that many of the beneficiaries of N-Power, that is, receiving Alawus every month, work in other areas, according to research.
In the document released by the minister on Thursday, she said that there are certainly those who have not been paid, but it is not from her office that this problem has occurred. The office has already submitted the names of more than 500,000 people for verification and payment of their previous fees.
She said the verification of names was being done to weed out fraudsters in the agency, who were receiving funds after working elsewhere.
This scheme is for those who are unemployed, but thousands of those receiving the allowance are working elsewhere and receiving the N-Power allowance.
Now the race is on to identify them and remove them from the payroll.
She pleaded with the beneficiaries of the scheme who have not been paid their past dues to be patient, saying they would soon feel the pinch.
N-Power members protest their suspension by Sadiya in Abuja
Hundreds of youths who attended a rally in Abuja on Friday to protest the suspension of the N-Power subsidy programme across the country said the government's decision to suspend the youths was ill-advised.
The youths marched to the National Assembly to protest the short-term suspension of the programme.
One of those who attended the rally and a representative from Kano state, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES HAUSA, said they were calling on the government to postpone its decision and pay those who have not yet been paid their three months' salary.
They also called for financial support, noting that the youth have been benefiting from government support for a long time.
After meeting with some of the legislators who listened to the outcry, they went to the Federal Government Staff Unit to see if they could meet with the Minister of National Development, Sadiya Farouk.
A prominent human rights activist, Komared Mustapha Soron Dinki, who marched from Kano to Abuja with the youths, said the rally was to remind the minister that many beneficiaries of the programme did not avail themselves of their rights before they were suspended.
In the morning, young people gathered in the National Assembly.
We hope that the government will hear the cries of these youths and provide them with solutions that will help them resume their normal lives.
The youths held placards calling on the government to look at them with mercy.
Tolutope Arotile, Nigeria's First Female Helicopter Pilot, Dies
Tolulope Arotile, Nigeria's first female helicopter pilot, has been honoured with a state funeral in Abuja.
Arotile died after she was hit by a car driven by her former classmates at the Air Force Academy when they saw her suddenly on Monday, July 14.
Senior Air Force officers and government officials, including the governor of Kogi State, Ms Arotile's home state, attended her funeral at the Nigerian Military Cemetery in Gudu, Abuja.
The deceased was said to have contributed immensely in the fight against armed banditry in Niger State, where she was the pilot of Gama Aiki.
President Muhammadu Buhari commended her for her dedication to the development of the country.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, said the death of the officer was a great loss to the force and commiserated with her family on behalf of all officers of the Nigerian Air Force.
A black man is a king, I have praised them.
Beyonce's anthem-filled film "Black is King" continues to draw praise and criticism around the world for its depiction of African culture.
In South Africa, where the 85-minute film was shot, many people said it was more than a film.
Black is King is a film full of songs that the famous American singer and songwriter Beyonce led the planning, composition and completion of.
The film featured her song "The Lion King: The Gift."
It was filmed in the US, South and West Africa, and Europe, and features a number of African artists.
The film, which was released in July, has been well received by audiences, but there have been critics.
Some say that Beyoncé, who was born in Houston, Texas, in the United States, has illegally appropriated African elements, especially the African characters in the film, which traditionally have no roots in the African continent.
But in South Africa, the joy of those who played a part in making this film is palpable.
Sibusiso Mathebula, a film student, said he was honoured to be included in the cast.
He said he was impressed by the film.
The film touches on many things that are not taught in school about black history.
He said that when he saw the film, he also began to see the story and the clothes she was wearing and all the elements of the film, which led to much more than expected.
Kgosi Motosoane, a fan of Beyonce's music, said Africans abroad - including black Americans - have access to what some consider to be African heritage.
He said he was interested in the film.
Kgosi said women were largely relegated to the lower rungs of society.
So for them to be involved in something so impactful is very encouraging.
Mathebula, a film student, said Beyonce's film made him want to start his own film to spread awareness about Africa.
Beyonce's African fans have one thing in common: If man is king, then Beyonce is queen.
VOA's Anita Powell contributed to this report.
Minister Sadiya praises journalists and aid workers.
Nigeria's Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, has commended the efforts of the media, humanitarian workers and partner agencies as the ministry marks its first anniversary.
This institution was created by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 21, 2019 to implement policies and relief activities, disaster prevention and emergency relief, and to carry out applications to help the needy people.
In a communique shared by the women's media aide, Halima Oyelade, the minister noted that this has been a challenging and exciting year in which we have learnt about disaster relief and management, but in all our activities, we have focused on fulfilling the mandate given to us which is to reach out to the people, prevent disasters and provide relief to the victims, as well as come up with ways to mitigate disasters when they occur, which has helped us improve our performance for the future.
While commending the President for his vision in creating the ministry which has been at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk thanked him for putting her in the driver's seat of the ministry.
She also considered that in the past year, she has learned important lessons and gained a new understanding of the open and closed ways in this work.
While praising the media, the minister said these media are fellow travellers who must be united for success.
She said, "I want to make it clear to you today that you are doing the right thing."
She also said that it is not up to her to take credit for her achievements, but she and her colleagues are ready to continue their work with dedication and commitment to fulfill their work commitments, which is in line with the theme of their one-year anniversary, Service2Humanity.
The Minister paid special tribute to "humanitarian workers and our partners in this sector from UN agencies such as OCHA, IOM, UNHCR, the World Food Programme, the World Bank, USAID and the European Union (EU), as well as other partner agencies who have continued to provide assistance despite the insecurity and hardships they face.
She also paid tribute to those who have died in unsafe places in the past year.
The minister explained that the one-year anniversary of the creation of the ministry made it necessary for them to persevere.
"As we celebrate our one-year anniversary, I want to say that the time is right for us to redouble our efforts," she said.
We must find ways to expand disaster management, provide relief and develop public support mechanisms that will help us improve our performance in the future.
At a time when farmers are about to reap the benefits of their crops in Nigeria, farmers in Sokoto State have begun to grapple with the threat of birds, which could hamper the expected harvest.
The threat of red-winged blackbirds in Sokoto State is back with a vengeance, as there are signs of a good food season in 2020.
As a result, some farmers in the area have resorted to the traditional method of chasing away the birds, according to a young man named Faruk from the Dange Shuni area.
Sambo Abubakar, one of the farmers in the area, said the birds are now attacking all the crops that have started to grow in the fields.
Murtala Gagado Minannata, the president of the Sokoto State chapter of the Farmers Association of Nigeria, said two-thirds of Sokoto State is currently affected by the problem.
He also said that they are now waiting to hear the situation of the local government areas in the state so that they can compile a report to send to the state and federal ministries of agriculture for action to be taken to help farmers.
An official of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Ya'u Maƙeri Kagara, who is in charge of the Department of Avian and Pest Control, said that it has been less than a month since the completion of the spraying of pesticides in the Sokoto region.
He added that the birds were coming from Niger Republic and Benin, and the international community had to come to an agreement before the problem could be solved.
In June, the federal government launched a project to spray birds in the 12 northern states of Nigeria that border foreign countries through which the birds enter Nigeria.
But a recurrence of the problem could set back the progress seen in agriculture, which governments claim to be paying special attention to.
Listen to the full report by Muhammad Nasir.
There is a surplus of N4 billion daily after the implementation of IPPIS - Akanta.
The federal government says it has received a surplus of N21 billion from ministries, agencies and departments after the launch of the IPPIS payroll system.
She also said that the government is receiving a surplus of N4 billion daily as a result of the launch of the IPPIS system in 62 ministries, agencies and government departments.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, disclosed this during a meeting with members of the Senate Committee on Communications who visited him at his office in Abuja.
The Union general also said his office was working with the Office of the National Security Adviser to curb the release of sensitive government information to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Communications, Senator Yakubu Oseni, said the country was facing a number of problems related to the hacking and leaking of sensitive government information on the internet.
Three men have been arrested in connection with the murder of a king's wife in the North.
The Kogi State Police Command has announced the arrest of three persons for allegedly killing the wife of the state's Chief Imam.
An eyewitness reported that the terrorists killed Yemisi Baderu in front of her husband and children.
The spokesperson of the Kogi State Police Command, DSP William Aya, confirmed the incident and said the suspects are being investigated. At least three persons have been arrested by the Kogi State Police Command for allegedly killing the woman.
The killing took place in Stereo area, where they killed Yemisi Baderu, in Ijumu Local Government Area of the state.
An eyewitness said the woman was killed inside her home in front of her husband and children.
The Punch reported that the woman was killed by chopping and stabbing.
The spokesperson of the state police command, DSP William Aya, while confirming the incident, said the suspects were arrested and charged.
On the other hand, the Senior Regional Security Adviser, Taufik Isa, who visited the area on Saturday, described the incident as unbelievable.
Buhari is presiding over the Executive Council meeting.
President Muhammadu Buhari is chairing a meeting of the National Executive Council in Abuja.
According to reports, before the commencement of the meeting, a minute's silence was observed in honour of Alhaji Abdulganiyu Abdurrazak, the father of the governor of Kwara State and the first lawyer in the northern part of the country, who died recently in Abuja.
The father of the Kwara State governor died last week after a brief illness.
King of Hausa Africa asks students to learn to speak Hausa - Freedom Radio Nigeria
The Emir of Hausa Africa and Sardaunan of Agadaz State, Dr Abdulkadir Labaran Rivers, has asked students to focus on learning and mastering the Hausa language.
Dr Abdulkadir Labaran made this known today on Freedom Radio's "Welcome to Hantsi" programme, which focused on the upcoming World Hausa Day on Wednesday.
Dr Labaran also said that the Hausa language plays a role in perpetuating the culture of ignorance, saying that the youth of today are trying to borrow the culture of other languages which is wrong.
According to him, the Hausa language has invaded fifty-nine countries around the world, which has allowed them to rule in other countries in the Hausa language sector.
Also present at the event, the president of the National Union of Hausa Students, Nura Sulaiman Janburji, said that the Hausa language is so sacred that in foreign countries, students are given the opportunity to establish a kingdom.
The two guests called on governments at all levels to promote the Hausa language in their parliaments in order to protect its reputation in the eyes of the world.
Germany tightens measures to fight corona
Angela Merkel is in favour of imposing a tax of 50 euros, equivalent to 22,000 naira, on anyone caught not wearing a mask in public.
It also calls for a ban on large gatherings of people, both indoors and outdoors.
The prime minister said she supported the health minister's call for an end to free testing for returning overseas travellers.
Germany had previously managed to contain the epidemic, but following the lifting of restrictions imposed at the start of the year, new cases are now on the rise.
New COVID-19 Relief Bill to Be Reintroduced in U.S.
As figures show that the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in the United States, Republicans in the Senate are expected to introduce a relief bill on Monday.
The aid package is thought to be worth up to $1 trillion to ease the pain caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The plan comes days before the deadline for the first round of aid to millions of Americans who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
On Sunday, after days of negotiations with congressional Republicans, the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said the aid included an expansion of a program to provide money to those who have lost their jobs.
But according to them, this time, Americans will see only 70 percent of the money they were previously given.
On Friday, the first aid package for those who have lost their jobs will expire, with 600 weekly payments in addition to those provided by the states.
Republicans have complained that the program means some people are being paid more than they would be if they were working, when federal and state benefits are combined.
But Democrats, for their part, have challenged that assertion, saying that as coronavirus cases rise, some workers may not feel safe returning to their jobs.
Why I joined the APC after leaving the PDP.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has explained why he switched his allegiance from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the party's chairman, Mai Mala Buni, announced his return to the party.
In a letter he wrote to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his constituency of Bogoro, Dogara said the collapse of governance in his home state of Bauchi under the Bala Muhammed administration, which he helped to win, was the reason he left the party.
Dogara said he could not open his mouth and question the management of the state government without being accused of insubordination, so he took off his shoes and left the party.
The former Speaker of the House of Assembly said he would be a traitor if he dared to say anything about the state of affairs in Bauchi State under the administration of Bala Muhammed. After the time of Governor Isa Yuguda and Mohammed Abubakar, everyone heard his voice and expressed his opinion when he was wrong.
The Federal Government has launched an agriculture programme to provide food and employment.
The Federal Government has launched the Agriculture for Food and Jobs Programme (AFGP), which is a sub-programme of the Economic Recovery Plan.
This agricultural programme was launched to alleviate the suffering of farmers due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
This statement was made by the Minister of Agriculture, Sabo Nanono, during the launch of the programme in Katsina.
The announcement was made by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, on Thursday.
The project will address the human suffering caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the country and around the world.
The programme will also increase farmers' options for growing, processing and transporting food in Nigeria.
The Minister, as reported, said that the launch event represented more than 1,100,000 smallholder farmers across the country.
He said these more than 1,100,000 smallholder farmers are part of the Farmers Group, which is owned by 6 companies including AFEX, BabanGona, Value Seeds, Universal, Thrive Agric and Oxfam.
In the near future, we will announce the second group, B, of beneficiaries of this agricultural project.
Nanono recalled how President Muhammadu Buhari set up the Economic Recovery Committee in the aftermath of the Coronavirus outbreak.
He said that one of the ways to revive the economy of the country, including the AFJP Program, and that the program will develop agriculture from being a subsistence farming to a modern and abundant food producer.
He said the programme included the government's plan to distribute up to 100,000 metric tonnes of food to cushion the poor from food shortages and hunger during the coronavirus outbreak.
He said that within one year, the ambitious project is expected to employ 5 million to 10 million youths.
And it will produce about 10 million metric tons of food per hectare from 20,000 to 100,000 in each state, for at least 2.4 million farmers.
People need to know about the Judiciary Act, 2019 - KCSF
The Kano Civil Society Forum (KCSF), in collaboration with the European Union (EU), the British Council, the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (Rolac), has launched an awareness campaign on the 2019 Criminal Justice Reform Bill.
The meeting, which took place at the Aminu Kano Centre for Democracy and Empowerment Research at Mumbayya House, looked at the new laws and how the system is working for the people and was organised by 150 civil society organisations in Kano and journalists.
Speaking, the lead author of the article, Dr. Nuhu Musa Idris, from the Faculty of Law, Bayero University, Kano, commented on some of the more controversial laws.
He called for a review of some laws that had become outdated as a result of the trial.
On his part, the chairman of the Kano State Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (KCSF), Ibrahim Wayya, said ignorance of the law had played a major role in the violation of the rights of the people, hence the need to know the law.
Some civil society participants at the event, which was the third of its kind organised in the three senatorial districts of Kano, explained how they viewed the structure of the laws and their message.
Our representative, Aminu Halilu Tudunwada, who attended the awareness-raising meeting, told us that the problems of some laws that have been passed and which the nation is facing challenges over were discussed.
Those who are mostly unaware of their rights, given that the law has more than 400 provisions, have made additional awareness-raising statements.
A new law on the registration of places of worship is being debated in Nigeria.
A human rights and economic development group, SERAP, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to reprimand the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and the Director-General of the Registrar of Companies to stop the process of registering places of worship.
According to SERAP, this action is a violation of human rights as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.
Even before human rights groups complained about the government's action, religious leaders of various faiths had already submitted their complaints to the Buhari administration, saying that the law should be sent back to the National Assembly for review and approval so that it does not conflict with the constitutional right to freedom of religion and belief.
Pastor Yohanna Buro, a Christian leader in Kaduna state, told Voice of America that the law is baseless, unless the government is seeking to ban worship or the wearing of masks.
It should just use its means to monitor and track all violators without imposing any new laws.
On his part, Dr Bashir Yankuzo, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Science, Minna, said that although it is not a crime for the government to monitor companies and organisations for national security, it does not mean that it is acceptable to violate the rights of anyone.
Now it remains to be seen whether the government will listen to this public outcry.
How the Akure University of Technology (FUTA) tried to bring down PREMIUM TIMES online.
The Akure University of Technology (FUTA) has sponsored a hacker to bring down the website of PREMIUM TIMES, Nigeria's leading online newspaper.
The hacker tried every trick in the book to break into people's websites, but was unsuccessful.
He began experimenting with "hacking" on 28 February, setting up his equipment on the university's campus and launching attacks using the university's "data."
On the other hand, when he tried to break into the PREMIUM TIMES' network with a computer, he launched another attack with his GSM phone.
He spent five days trying to break into the PREMIUM TIMES Main Archive site, but was unsuccessful, despite the use of various high-tech weapons.
He did not succeed in breaking in, because the university did not know that PREMIUM TIMES had a solid plan in place, which built a front and back door that could not be breached by an intruder.
On the other hand, PREMIUM has a team of top-notch cyber security experts, including the King of PREMIUM TIMES and the Chief Security Officer of PREMIUM TIMES.
These state-of-the-art security operatives are adept at thwarting any marauding band of hoodlums or any lone gunman or suicide bomber trying to infiltrate the PREMIUM TIMES Data Repository.
PREMIUM TIMES has been attacked by a cybercriminal:
At 8 o'clock in the morning, he started knocking and sliding on the door of the PREMIUM TIMES Main Archive, to see how he could break in and destroy the entire archive.
Unsuccessful during the night, he tried again the next morning at 6:15 a.m., this time using "WPScan," which is designed to detect the strength or weakness of the security measures of major websites such as PREMIUM TIMES.
After 90 minutes, he began to attempt to break in using the power of modern computer technology, namely "custom script."
In the morning, he made every effort through his computer to shut down the PREMIUM TIMES website completely.
How The Farmer Dealt With The Monkey King:
The intruder did not know that PREMIUM TIMES was well-prepared to deal with small rodents and large apes that infiltrate social media sites to shut down or take over a site.
It was because of his ignorance that all the equipment he used was old and could not do any harm to PREMIUM TIMES.
On that day, he had to go through the tedious and tedious process of launching a DDOS attack on the NTP's Rariyar Likau, which is an old route that has been used since Kano was a village.
On March 3, he tried every trick in his brain and mind, but all failed.
The attempted break-in came days after PREMIUM TIMES broke the story of a feud between President Muhammadu Buhari's National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and his former Chief of Staff, the late Abba Kyari.
Some insiders at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, have told PREMIUM TIMES that the university has hired a team of giant web-hacking rats to manipulate, deface and destroy the PREMIUM TIMES website and archive.
However, when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, FUTA University denied that it had attempted to hack the PREMIUM TIMES Online Archive.
FUTA said that unless a whistleblower who is a student at the university tried to do it on his own, not through FUTA.
KORONA: The number of cases in Nigeria has risen by 604 to 38,948.
The NCDC announced 604 new cases of coronavirus in Nigeria on Thursday.
The figures released by the NCDC on Thursday showed that Lagos State recorded 203 cases, Oyo-87, FCT-79, Edo-41, Osun-35, Ogun-24, Rivers-22, Kaduna-22, Akwa Ibom-20, Plateau-18, Delta-9, Ebonyi-9, Imo-8, Enugu-5, Kano-5, Cross River-5, Katsina-4, Nasarawa-3, Borno-2, Ekiti-2 and Bauchi-1.
There are now 38,948 cases in Nigeria, 16,061 recoveries and 833 deaths.
So far, 22,054 people have been infected in Nigeria.
Lagos State still has the highest number of cases with 14,009 FCT - 3,376, Oyo - 2,306, Edo - 2,105, Delta - 1,453, Rivers -1,587, Kano -1,452, Ogun - 1,227, Kaduna - 1,289, Katsina -717, Ondo - 1001, Borno -605, Gombe - 558, Bauchi - 535, Ebonyi - 724, Plateau - 780, Enugu - 726, Abia - 527, Imo - 462, Jigawa - 322, Kwara - 707, Bayelsa - 326, Nasarawa - 292, Osun - 394, Sokoto - 153, Niger - 166, Akwa Ibom - 196, Benue - 294, Adamawa - 115, Anambra - 132, Kebbi - 90, Zamfara - 77, Yobe - 64, Ekiti - 88, Taraba - 54, Kogi - 5,
Ways to avoid COVID-19 infection.
The disease is caught through contact with animals because they carry it.
The results of research on the disease show that it is transmitted through contact with domestic and wild animals.
Wash your hands frequently with soap and water.
Hand sanitizer can be used to clean hands if soap and water are not available.
Always cover your nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing.
Wash and cook meat thoroughly to expose tubers before eating as well as eggs.
Stay away from or sit next to someone who shows signs of illness, especially a cold or cough.
Use a face mask, especially when going out or being around people.
Go to the hospital immediately and seek medical treatment if you are unwell.
Yoruba leaders have threatened to boycott the 2023 elections.
Leaders of Yoruba groups in Nigeria have threatened to boycott the 2023 elections if their demand for "Restructuring" is not met.
Yoruba groups vowed in a communique released after the meeting that only a change in Nigeria's constitution would save the country from its current predicament, especially in the areas of security and the economy.
The leaders who attended the joint meeting included the leader of Afenifere pa Reuben Fashoranti, Prof Banji Akintoye, the president of Yoruba World Congress and the former governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko.
Yoruba groups have also complained about the unequal distribution of power by the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari.
While the Kano State government has reduced its annual budget by about N70 billion due to the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the state's economy, the State House of Assembly has passed a new law to manage the state government's financial management system.
However, local leadership groups say that the issue of creating a law is easy, but implementing it is the challenge.
One of the objectives of the new law in Kano State, which has been introduced at the federal level in recent years, as well as in other states in Nigeria, is to create a new paradigm for the management of government funds in a democratic manner.
The Majority Leader of the Kano State House of Assembly, Hon. Kabiru Hassan Dashi, told Voice of America that the law will give ministries and the state government guidelines on how to spend their money, as well as how the state will allocate its money.
Now, local leadership groups have welcomed the law, as long as it is revised.
The Director of the Organization for Community Civic Engagement based in Kano State, Comrade Abdulrazak Alkali, said they hoped government officials and the state government would implement the law properly.
However, the Kano State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Affairs, Alhaji Shehu Na'Allah, said they were well prepared to implement the law.
The governor of Kano state, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, signed the new law at the end of last week, and it is expected to take effect immediately.
INEC prepared for Edo election - Prof Yakubu
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has said that the commission is fully prepared for the Edo State governorship election slated for September 19.
Yakubu made this encouraging statement on Thursday when he met with the Consultative Committee on Electoral Security in Benin, the Edo State capital.
The professor said INEC has so far successfully implemented 10 out of the 14 programmes it had planned to implement for the election.
Yakubu added that the reason for the visit was to see the preparations that have been made ahead of election day.
Of course, we get all the reports of the programs that are going on.
However, we thought it would be a good idea to come and see for ourselves.
The agency has released a roadmap for the conduct of the Edo and Ondo phases of the elections, starting from February 6, 2020.
We have given a space of about seven to eight months to prepare well for the two elections.
Today, I am happy that we have implemented 10 out of the 14 plans that INEC had planned to implement.
And no one was given any respite until it was too late from the day of its implementation.
The last thing is to register the total number of voters for the 14 parties that will compete for Inji Yakubu.
He said the four remaining tasks for INEC include the announcement of the elections to be held next Tuesday, the presentation of the names of the candidates of each party that participated in the election, all in one day.
It also suspended campaigning 24 hours before the election.
The 12 campaigns will be suspended Thursday night, ahead of Saturday's election.
So let's just say that we've already got it, we're just waiting for election day.
Says Jacob.
He, however, predicted that the Edo State governorship election would be the first to be conducted by INEC during the pandemic.
In this regard, he said that the Election Commission has come up with guidelines on how to conduct the elections in the current circumstances.
We tested the system and principles in a small by-election in Nasarawa State.
And we are ready to repeat the process in this general election in Edo.
Earlier, the Edo State Commissioner for Elections, Johnson Alalibo, said there were 2,210,534 registered voters in Edo State.
He said 1,159,325 were men and 1,051,209 were women.
Tensions have flared between the United States and China.
China has responded to the closure of the US embassy in the city of Chengdu on Friday.
The foreign ministry said it made the decision following the closure of its embassy in Houston, Texas, by the United States earlier this week.
Beijing has warned of retaliation if Washington does not immediately reverse its decision.
Thirty-five years ago, the United States opened an office in Chengdu with about two hundred employees.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic as they try to settle a dispute over a trade deal.
Atyap, Hausa-Fulani Reach Peace Agreement Between Them
The Atyap, Fulani and Hausa communities living in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State have successfully concluded a reconciliation meeting to establish lasting peace in their area.
The participants, who expressed their determination to promote peace and mutual forgiveness, deplored the killing and destruction of property in their region.
They also declared their readiness to help the security agencies with intelligence, in order to catch any miscreants hiding in their areas.
The meeting also commended the efforts of the government to deploy security forces in the region, as well as the various youth groups for their steadfastness in embracing each other and shunning anything that could destabilize the region, as well as the efforts of the youths to successfully establish this peace agreement among themselves.
The meeting, which was chaired by the governor of Agwatyap, Dominic Gambo Yahaya, brought the three communities together for peace talks.
The meeting was held at the Mary and Jacob Ebent Centre in Wakili.
The meeting was also chaired by ABM Stephen Shekari (rty) and Dr Salim Umar, who represented Atyap Kingdom, to mediate between the communities and stop the bloodshed and destruction of property between them.
All the leaders of the three communities of Atyap, Fulani and Hausa, signed the document after the meeting, including the Agwatyap dignitary.
In a 14-point document after the meeting, residents of the Atyap kingdom called for someone to take the law into their own hands, instead of appealing to the security agencies.
The meeting also reaffirmed the constitutional guarantee of every Nigerian to live freely in any part of the country, including the Atyap Kingdom, without fear or intimidation from any quarter.
The meeting also called on the authorities to speed up planning for the return of all the kingdom's refugees to their homes.
The meeting also recommended the establishment of a peace committee comprising the Hausa, Fulani and Atyap tribes and their youths to organise large-scale meetings and discussions on security issues from time to time in order to maintain peace in their kingdom.
The peace meeting comes hours after the Kaduna State government relaxed the curfew it had imposed in Kataf and Kaura local government areas of the state to stem the outbreak of violence among residents.
The way Ganduje has reinstated the justices sacked by King Ado and Sanusi, he will make them kingmakers in Kano.
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje wants the Kano State House of Assembly to amend the 2019 Kano State Constitution to ensure the succession of two emirs of Kano, the late King Ado Bayero and King Sanusi, so that the state constitution will confirm their succession as emirs of Kano.
The Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Gafasa, read Ganduje's request before the House and they are expected to meet before the end of July to discuss the issue.
The emperors who were returned to the Kingdom of Kano were Aminu the Great, and Sanusi Ado-Bayero.
Both of them were removed by King Ado and King Muhammadu Sanusi on charges of conspiracy.
The Grand Lodge challenged his impeachment in court.
The case dragged on for 17 years until the Supreme Court ruled that he had been impeached.
It is he who Ganduje wants to restore to his throne, and the law should be amended so that he is one of the kingmakers in the Kano Emirate.
Ado Bayero removed Ɗan'agundi in 2003 after he was found guilty of conspiracy and interfering in politics.
A committee was set up to investigate him, but he was invited and refused to appear before the committee to defend himself.
He then challenged his removal at the Kano State High Court up to the Supreme Court.
Before the Supreme Court, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that Aminu Babba should be restored to his seat.
But the Kingdom of Kano, under the reign of Muhamamdu Sanunmsi II, appealed, with the Supreme Court upholding the removal of him as Primate of the East, and King of Dawaki Mai Tuta, on June 5.
After the removal of Sanusi Bayero, Ciroman of Kano for refusing to accept the appointment of Muhammdu Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano in June 2014.
He was later appointed as the Chairman of the National Ports Authority during the Jonathan era.
He was appointed Wamban of Kano, under the current Emir of Kano.
The jigawa government is registering employees under the health fund scheme.
The Jigawa State Government has commenced the registration of state employees for the Health Fund scheme following the signing into law of the scheme by the state governor, Alhaji Muhd Badaru Abubakar, last year.
The Executive Secretary of the Jigawa State Health Fund, Dr. Nura Ibrahim Salisu, disclosed this to newsmen shortly after the commencement of registration at the Jigawa State Government House.
Listen to our correspondent from Mount Jigawa State, Muhd Aminu Umar Shuwajo, in the next series of stories.
NAPTIP has arrested human traffickers and rescued 71 persons in Kano State.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Kano State Command, has arrested three human traffickers and rescued 71 persons from their clutches in the state.
The Kano State Commandant of the agency, Shehu Umar, made this known on Friday during a meeting with the News Agency of Nigeria.
He said the agency had cracked down on human traffickers after receiving intelligence on human trafficking activities in the state.
For this reason, the agency conducted a manhunt from July 15 to July 19 and succeeded in apprehending them.
Of the three we arrested, two were Cameroonians, one was a Nigerian and they were all aged between 21 and 36.
The men were arrested on their way to Algeria, Morocco and Libya.
In addition, 18 of the 71 people to be smuggled were from Cameroon, including 14 men and 4 women.
The remaining 19 people are from Nigeria, 11 men, 8 women and all from Kano State.
Umar said 18 people would be handed over to the Cameroonian government for further investigation.
He said the agency had received 34 persons rescued by the NIS in Katsina State.
These people were caught without proper travel documents and there was every indication that they were trying to leave the country.
Effort, commitment and self-discovery are what's in the heart - Leadership Newspapers.
In Longyuan Village, Hongsipu District, Wuzhong City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwest China.
There is a brave woman named Li Yaomei or Sadiya (her Islamic name) who is famous for her struggles in life and her success in trying to get out of poverty.
Her story tells us that effort, commitment and self-sufficiency are in the heart.
First of all, she, Li Yaomei or Sadiya, never sat in a classroom to take a lesson, which made her unable to read and write.
However, God blessed her with great insight, intelligence and wisdom, and she became a role model in the fight against poverty.
About 20 years ago, Madam Li Yaomei suffered from stomach cancer, which led to three surgeries on her stomach.
After her recovery, she was involved in a serious accident and now walks with a metal plate in her foot.
These challenges put her in a difficult situation not only in terms of health, but also in terms of medical expenses, which is why she took out a loan of about 3,000 yuan, equivalent to more than 16 million naira.
Surprisingly, Ms. Sadiya's challenge became a way for her to make choices and take action to improve her life.
And the support given to her by the Chinese government has given her more confidence.
Her profession is to make different types of brooms using grasses.
Because of her hard work, her business has grown tremendously, with various ministries placing orders with her.
In addition, she has created a number of machines that help her make the job easier.
For example, it used to take her 15 minutes to assemble one large broom, but now in that time, she will assemble up to 5 brooms.
In addition, it has produced a number of additional machines that clean the weeds it returns to the broom.
Then there are additional machines that clean her pet food, and now she is even selling these machines to applicants.
Given the challenges that Ms. Sadiya has gone through, and the efforts that she is still making to improve her life and that of her staff, it is clear that the applicant must be successful.
The task of fighting poverty and improving the quality of life is not the sole responsibility of the government.
If the government will continue to provide subsidies, but people do not have the courage or interest to improve their lives by finding jobs for themselves according to their circumstances, then the back-and-forth will continue without achieving any goal.
Her story shows that running a business or income-generating activity does not require large sums of money or travel to other cities or foreign countries.
Because she took into account her situation, she used the resources available in her environment to improve her life.
In addition, Sadiya carried out these tasks on her own without relying on her husband, because he ran away and left her.
That is to say, effort, commitment and self-seeking are things that are in the heart.
It also shows the strength of women to change their lives and stand on their own two feet without asking for help.
This is also a lesson that no matter what you do, you should stand on your own two feet, because relying on someone else is not a sure thing.
Indeed, Ms. Sadiya was a committed, intelligent and resourceful person who served as an example and role model for others.
Also, by March of this year, Ms. Sadiya had paid off all her debts and stopped receiving government subsidies on her own.
Faeza Mustafa.
There are fears US politicians will sabotage efforts to contain COVID-19 - Leadership Newspapers.
Recently, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed concern over the measures taken by some countries to save the hoped-for COVID-19 vaccine, stating that it is necessary to avoid giving priority to different nations while sharing the pandemic vaccine.
And the vaccine should be distributed in an appropriate way around the world, because it will be of great benefit to different countries.
Indeed, some U.S. politicians are pursuing a policy of putting their own interests ahead of the sharing of vaccines, and undermining international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic.
Currently, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has already exceeded 23 million.
In addition, there are more than 800,000 people who have lost their lives to the disease.
Under such severe conditions, more attention is being paid to the effectiveness of the vaccine, and fortunately, in recent days, great results have been achieved in studying the vaccine in other countries, which has provided hope and faith to the entire international community.
But sadly, some American politicians have expressed a desire to take away the vaccine.
Even the journal "Science" revealed that the U.S. government has already cut deals to buy more than $6 billion worth of COVID-19 vaccines from several pharmaceutical companies.
Although the U.S. government's intentions are understood, as the U.S. is at the forefront of the spread of the virus, other developing countries also need to be vaccinated, given that they are more likely to suffer from a shortage of medical resources.
The magazine "The Ecologist" also pointed out that if the United States achieves the goal of eliminating the vaccine to be produced, the number of vaccines to be produced in developing countries will decrease.
The Director-General of the Africa CDC, Mr. John Nkengasong, also expressed concern over the issue.
As some commentators on current affairs have stated, even if the vaccine is successfully developed, it will not be possible to achieve the goal of eliminating the disease until the distribution of the vaccine is planned, which is a very important issue for the international community.
And it is appropriate for the countries of the world to strengthen their cooperation.
The director-general of the WHO, Tedros, also pointed out that if we want to see the end of the disease, it must be curbed from all aspects across the world, and it is not possible for some parts of the world, or a few countries, to achieve the goal of recovering from the impact of the epidemic alone.
Translator: Jamila from CRI Hausa.
Members of the Buhari administration were seen escorting the body of Abba Kyari to the cemetery in Kotu.
A Nigerian rights activist has condemned all members of President Muhammadu Buhari's government who accompanied the body of Abba Kyari to the cemetery.
Kyari, who was the Chief of Staff to the President, was buried at Gudu Cemetery in Abuja on April 18 after he died of coronavirus.
The prosecutor, Tope Akinyade, arraigned them at the Kado Magistrate's Court, Abuja, and asked the court to punish them for violating the home quarantine imposed by the federal government at the time.
He said there was a lot of injustice for Nigerians who were often arrested and punished during the mandatory stay-at-home period, but for a group of people who broke the law, none of them were punished.
He said that if the Buhari administration was committed to justice, he did not see why ordinary people should be arrested if they violated the Coronavirus Act.
A number of other government bodies also violated the law but were allowed to do so.
Among those Tope took to court were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar.
There is also the Presidential Spokesperson, Garba Shehu, the media officer, Bashir Ahmed, President Buhari's National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu and many other government officials.
Justice Celestine Odo sought to show that the prosecution erred as the defendants did not sign their names on the charge sheet.
However, Tope reminded the magistrate that he brought the case directly to the court and did not go through the police.
He said it was the judge's job to send the warrants to all the defendants to sign.
Because he did what the Nigerian law gave him the right to do in bringing the case to court.
The judge adjourned the case and said it would return to court on August 4 for a further hearing.
Adesina Re-elected President of African Development Bank - Leadership Hausa Newspapers.
Akinwunmi Adesina has been re-elected as the President of the African Development Bank (AFDB).
Adesina will lead the bank for another five years as a second term.
This comes after he was cleared of wrongdoing during his first term.
Mr Adesina was re-elected on Thursday during an online meeting attended by senior officials of the bank.
Adesina, a former Nigerian minister of agriculture, won a landslide victory after a special committee cleared him of charges of discrimination and favouring Nigerians in the award of jobs and contracts at the African Development Bank.
Nigeria to recover $200 million from Malabu scandal
The Nigerian government says it expects to receive $200 million from the sale of the Malabu oil well, which will come from the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has announced that under the anti-corruption programme of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Nigeria has recovered the sum of $62 billion from oil companies.
Malami also said that under this administration, Nigeria has recovered $311 million from the US and New Jersey governments from the Abacha loot and an additional $6,300,000 from the Republic of Ireland.
The Minister of Justice said that Nigeria managed to recover N685 million in one year with the help of whistleblowers, while the government also recovered N500 million from ships and oil tankers used to steal the country's oil.
Malami said his ministry had helped to organise the collection of postal tax, which rose from N22 billion to N66 billion in the last six months.
The Presidency has reacted to the PDP's call for President Buhari's resignation.
The Presidency says the main opposition party in Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Furuci and its values are against the law.
The Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, made the announcement in a statement on Friday night.
He was reacting to a statement made by the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) calling for the resignation of President Buhari.
Shehu said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria's opposition party, had started campaigning at a time when the entire world was united on a single issue.
Calling for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari for granting search warrants to several government agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), this is unconstitutional behaviour.
Based on the explanation given by the chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, it is clear that they would like the president to stop the investigation but cover things up.
don't wake a sleeping lion, as one of their leaders said.
The PDP cannot intimidate the government from acting on the serious allegations levelled against the MDAs and their leaders as failure to do so would be a historic betrayal of the people.
ECOWAS Leaders Continue Efforts to Resolve Mali Crisis
West African leaders will hold an online summit on Monday 27 July to propose measures to end Mali's worsening political crisis, after a group of five heads of state met the Malian government and opposition in the capital Bamako on Thursday 23 July.
The leader of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Mahammadou Issoufou of Niger, has said that the West African regional bloc will do all it can to resolve the political crisis in Mali, according to a statement sent to the press by the Nigerian government.
The meeting on Thursday, which was attended by the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, the host President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubakar Keita, President Machy Sall of Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, and Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire, heard speeches from the ECOWAS Special Representative, former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, as well as the Malian opposition leader, Imam Mahmoud Dicko, representatives of the opposition coalition, and civil society groups.
The President of Mali spoke to the Heads of State about the social and political situation in the country, in particular the tensions that have led to protests and violence.
Keita said the ECOWAS leaders had already agreed that an agreement was needed to preserve the peace and integrity of the country.
He added that allowing Mali's political crisis to worsen could affect the security situation in West Africa, especially in Mali's neighbouring countries.
The Nigerian government will spend $6 billion on electricity.
Nigeria's minister of electricity, Sale Mamman, says the government has allocated $6.15 billion, equivalent to N2.37 trillion, to end the country's decades-long power crisis.
In a statement issued on the one-year anniversary of his appointment, the minister said the current plan is to achieve an electricity generation capacity of 25,000 megawatts by 2025 under a $2.3 billion project agreement with Siemiens.
Additional projects that the Minister of Electricity said will be implemented for 6 billion dollars include the construction of 105 small distribution stations and the construction of 70 new ones, as well as the provision of more than 5 thousand kilometers of power lines or cables.
At present, Nigeria has a capacity of 5 thousand megawatts, and sometimes it drops to less than 4 thousand.
Gunmen abduct students in Chukun Local Government Area, Kaduna.
The communities in Udawan, Chukun Local Government Area said that apart from the six WEAC students who were abducted, there are others who have been missing for months.
Attacks by bandits in some areas of Kaduna State have prevented the community from mobilising but the Kaduna State Government says it is doing everything possible to end the attacks, the Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Mr Samuel Aruwan has said.
Militant attacks in rural areas have prevented many farmers from going to the fields, which some fear could lead to food shortages in Nigeria.
The reconciliation between the Katsina State Government and bandits is a waste of public money, says Justice Ummaru Abdullahi - Leadership Hausa Newspapers.
We must return to the truth that there will be peace in Nigeria.
Former President of the National Court of Appeal, Mai Shariah Umaru Abdullahi (Walin Hausa) has said that the Katsina State Government's reconciliation with bandits was a big mistake and a waste of public money.
Because it did not have any impact or sign of ending the killings by gunmen that have plagued Katsina State.
Justice Umaru Abdullahi made this known during an exclusive interview with newsmen at his residence in Katsina, including Leadership Today.
After the foundation stone is laid for the construction of a women and children's ward with a capacity of twenty-five beds, which will be built by a businessman at the Katsina General Hospital, who is the Chairman of the meeting.
The former President of the National Court of Appeal added that the reconciliation with the gunmen should not have been carried out in this manner.
Because, he said, a terrorist would be said to have brought a gun with a loan of two hundred and fifty thousand, and when he returned to the bush, he bought an AK-47 rifle.
Walin Hausa went on to say that there is no place in the world where war has led to victory, and they should be reconciled by improving the lives of herdsmen, that is, providing them with grazing land, schools, drinking water and health care.
There used to be a Department of Animal Husbandry in the Northern Province, and every year the Government, at every level, budgets only for farmers, but not for herdsmen. There must be reform and justice, and there must be lasting peace.
But this war will not bring back the prodigal son, because they are all citizens of this country. Reconciliation is the right path.
If it is done with good intentions, there will be peace.
We are not the only ones affected.
The future of our children and grandchildren, how they will live in the future, that is the biggest problem.
In this world there has never been a battle with a gun that was settled with a gun, it was settled over a table.
Security experts say that not making peace with terrorists is a bad idea, because even if the United States says that it does not make peace with terrorists, their own terrorists are not American citizens, they are people from another country who are attacking them.
We, the gunmen, are citizens of this country, and there will be no compromise with them.
FEPSAN Partners With Farmers - Leadership Newspapers.
FEPSAN, the National Fertilizer Producers Association, has declared that it will join hands with farmers' organizations in the country to fight fertilizer polluters.
The Secretary General of FEPSAN, Mr Gideon Negedu, made this known in an interview with the Banguard newspaper.
The Secretary-General of FEPSAN, Mr. Gideon Negedu, explained the efforts being made by FEPSAN to tackle the illegal activities that pollute the soil in the country.
According to the Secretary General of FEPSAN, Mr. Gideon Negedu, the fertilizer tax, which has now become law, will go a long way in addressing the problem.
Also, the Secretary-General of FEPSAN, Mr. Gideon Negedu, stated that this would also enable the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to use the law to prosecute anyone found to be polluting the fertiliser.
The Secretary-General of FEPSAN, Mr. Gideon Negedu, also issued two new telephone numbers for the public to call to expose the perpetrators of the illegal activities, 08175077773 and 08175777724.
According to the Secretary General of FEPSAN, Mr. Gideon Negedu, all we want to do now is to expand our channels or dialogue with the farmer groups so that they can monitor the people involved and report immediately.
He also added that the organization has done a lot of work to curb the shortage of fertilizer, this is the only way we have done a lot of work.
The Secretary General of FEPSAN, Mr. Gideon Negedu We have been working on the legal framework.
He also said that FEPSAN as a group under the leadership of Mr. Thomas worked very hard to get the bill passed into law.
FEPSAN Secretary General Mr Gideon Negedu said there was a lot they could do.
The law has been passed into law.
He said that every member of FEPSAN knows how to dispose of fertilizers, and not only that, every member of FEPSAN is encouraged to ensure that he takes care of the quality of his products because there are legal penalties in that law if he destroys the fertilizers.
The Secretary General of FEPSAN, Mr. Gideon Negedu, announced that, "We have been working on this and we are working on this to ensure that the Ministry of Agriculture, which is in charge of them, implements the law."
The Secretary General of FEPSAN, Mr Gideon Negedu We are working with them to ensure that there is good compliance.
The Secretary-General of FEPSAN, Mr. Gideon Negedu, said FEPSAN has its own monitoring committee to work from time to time to check, but the idea is that as soon as we can get these things, we can now get the Ministry of Agriculture or the Ministry of Sanitation to implement this law directly.
South Africa's president lashes out at contract dispute
South Africa's president has lashed out at corruption in the country's ruling ANC party.
Cyril Ramaphosa, in a letter dated Sunday 23 August and sent to all ANC members, began by addressing the controversy over the awarding of contracts to help the country fight the coronavirus.
What is troubling is that there are private companies and individuals, including government officials, who have taken advantage of the medical, social and economic crisis to enrich themselves, according to the letter.
This deception will not be forgiven by the millions of South Africans affected by the COVID-19 situation, facing daily hunger and lack of jobs.
In the letter, Ramaphosa also wrote that millions of dollars had been found that should have been used to improve transport, provide infrastructure for the poor, improve electricity, help black farmers grow and develop the country as a whole, which had been stolen by criminals and put in their pockets.
President Ramaphosa said the public should not think that the ANC was only a vehicle for power, wealth and influence.
How the Lagos State Commissioner of Health contracted Coronavirus.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has tested positive for coronavirus.
This was contained in a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso.
In the statement, it was revealed that Abayomi contracted the disease after coming into contact with a patient who was unwell and tested positive for Covid-19.
The statement added that Abayomi has already taken the decision to quarantine himself following the confirmation of his infection, although he has not felt any symptoms of the disease.
Nigeria is facing its worst recession this year.
Published date: 24/08/2020 - 16:33.
The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics has announced that the country's economy has experienced a recession unprecedented in the last 10 years, as a result of a recession of more than 6% seen between April and June this year.
Figures released by the agency today show that between April and June, as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the suspension of daily activities, the Nigerian economy entered an unprecedented situation between 2010 and 2020.
The agency listed the reasons for the problem as forcing people to stay at home across the country, blocking road and air travel, and closing schools and markets.
The agency added that such measures around the world have caused oil prices to fall sharply, while factories around the world have been shut down in response to the crisis.
In May last year, Nigeria's Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, said that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had predicted that the country would be in such a situation, as a result of these problems that hindered the day-to-day operations, forcing the government to cut its budget.
Akpabio has broken his silence on the contracts of Nigerian legislators.
The Minister of Niger Delta Development, Godswill Akpabio, has revealed the names of the legislators who have been awarded contracts by the NDDC to carry out major projects.
This comes at a time when leaders of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) have been accused of misappropriating funds.
The names of the legislators who received the contracts include the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Peter Nwabaoshi who received a list of 53 contracts as announced by Minister Akpabio.
Mr Akpabio also said that Senator Mathew Urhoghide received six contracts, Senator James Manager also received six contracts, while former Senator Samuel Anyanwu received 19.
Also, the former chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on NDDC, Nicholas Mutu, received 74 contracts, which is the highest figure as disclosed by Akpabio in some documents he sent to the committee investigating allegations of corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission.
There were also some minority legislators from Ondo and Edo who received contracts from the NDDC.
The documents released by Akpabio show that most of the contracts were awarded in 2018, but the amount of money spent on them was not disclosed.
This comes after the Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, threatened to take Akpabio to court over his alleged attempt to defame members of the House.
The UN has advised Buhari to use politics to address the security situation.
The United Nations has urged Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari to use dialogue and political means to resolve the security challenges facing the country.
The Council's Chief Envoy to Nigeria, Edward Kallon, made this known when he led a delegation to the Presidential Villa, saying the security challenges facing the multi-faceted country were difficult to address.
Kallon said that while the military is there to fight, it is very important to support them in negotiating and using political means to achieve peace.
The official outlined three problems that have plagued Nigeria, including the problem of citizenship, ownership of national assets and the crisis of leadership.
Kallon said the council spends at least one and a half billion dollars every year on humanitarian projects in Nigeria, especially in the region where the Boko Haram insurgency is raging.
The official commended President Buhari for his role in the fight against corruption, the recovery of public assets and the restructuring of government services, and urged the president to expand the participation of rural residents in the campaign.
Boko Haram kills 75 elders in Gwoza
Published date: 27/08/2020 - 10:55 Edited date: 27/08/2020 - 13:04
A member of the Nigerian Senate representing Borno South, Senator Ali Ndume has revealed that Boko Haram militants slaughtered 75 elders in Gwoza Local Government Area of the state in one night.
The lawmaker added that in addition to the elders who lost their lives in recent months while leading attacks in parts of Borno State, Boko Haram fighters also massacred scores of youths in the Gwoza area by lining them up and shooting them one after the other.
Speaking at a stakeholders' meeting organised by the House on the crisis recently, Senator Ndume said up to now, his Gwoza constituency has been plagued by insecurity and he could not go there.
The lawmaker, who commended the soldiers for their efforts, said the Boko Haram insurgency was not yet over as they continued to kill people in his state.
Senator Ndume also complained that thousands of people in Borno State and other parts of north-eastern Nigeria are still suffering from hunger.
Kano recruitment committee to tackle hacking - Abubakar General - Freedom Radio Nigeria.
The Kano State Local Government Employment Committee, of which the federal government will employ 774,000 in the 36 states of the country, has said it will not interfere with the job creation programme that will be implemented soon.
The press secretary of the Kano State Labour Recruitment Board, Abubakar Muhammad general, disclosed this today, shortly after the completion of the "Barka da Hantsi" programme of the Freedom Radio, which focused on how the youth employment system would be in Kano State.
According to the General, the committee here in Kano, which has twenty members, has designed the distribution of the certificate of employment to young people in order to deal with hackers in such cases.
Abubakar Muhammad also said that the programme would start on the first day of Okotoba and would take three months to complete with the payment of twenty thousand workers at the end of each month.
General Abubakar said the committee included traditional rulers, clerics and other dignitaries.
Therefore, there is a need for the people of Kano State, especially those who are employed, to enable the unemployed to access the programme in order to address the problems of youth unemployment in the country.
How I escaped from the clutches of the police - Notorious killer Shodipe.
A notorious terrorist wanted by the police for murder, Sunday Shodipe, has revealed how he was able to escape from the Mokola Police Station, Ibadan, Oyo State on Tuesday.
The suspect said that a new head of the branch, who was recently brought to the police station, ordered an officer named Funsho to let him take a bath.
He said the officer warned him not to try to escape while he was taking a bath, adding that at the time he did not even think about running away.
Shodipe explained that he managed to escape when he saw that the officer was distracted by a conversation with another man and did not notice him.
He said the new female DPO had asked Funsho to allow me to take a bath.
He warned me not to try to run away while I was bathing.
I escaped when I saw him talking to another man.
I climbed on top of the truck and over the wall.
People living in the area saw me when I was running but they were not exposed.
Sahara Reporters gathered that a young man from Akure, Ondo State, who asked not to be named, volunteered to help the police when he saw the news of the suspect's arrest and the bounty on his head.
He said he travelled to Ibadan with three of his friends with the intention of hunting the criminal for three days.
Once they arrived in the state, they camped out at a hotel where they spent the night before searching for him.
It is understood the three men followed him to where he bought cannabis in the city, but decided not to arrest him because of the large crowds in the area.
Later, the townspeople arrested him while he was alone in his cell.
The suspect killed about eight persons who were all women in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Yobe Spends Over N78.8m To Revive Leda - Leadership Newspapers
The efforts of the Yobe State Government, under Governor Mai Mala Buni, to revive the Yobe State Polythene Bag and Woben sacks Company, after more than 10 years of inactivity, has been commended.
This was revealed by the General Manager of the company, Engineer Sha'aibu Adamu Gadaka, in an interview with our correspondent at his office in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, earlier this week.
He said that the company had been closed for more than 10 years, but after the arrival of Governor Buni, it was difficult for him to commit to reviving it, who immediately ordered the withdrawal of N78.8 million to fix the company's critical areas and an additional N48 million for its management, while allowing the company to play its role.
Eng. Gadaka added that this gave them the opportunity to purchase the necessary equipment to start working in the company, which included a new 500 KbA power supply unit (Janareta), a 500 KbA power distribution unit (Taransifoma), a new machine for cutting bags, a machine for sewing bags (modern) and other equipment needed by the company.
He added, "Even today, the main objective of Governor Buni's move to revive the company is to create jobs for the youths, reduce unemployment and generate revenue for Yobe State."
Gadaka said.
On the other hand, he said that the company has won the favour of its loyal customers, as the state government has revived the Yobe Flour and Feed Mill in Potiskum and other traders are now interested in the company's products.
He said the success and efforts of the state government in revamping the fertilizer company was also a factor in the purchase of the company's products.
On the other hand, he said, "There are some challenges that we are facing due to the fact that the company has been closed for more than 10 years, while the machines have started working, but there is a need to replace them with other products to be able to operate without any fear."
We expect that before our work is done, we will try to bring in the rest of the supplies that we need.
In addition, Gadaka said, "On the other hand, we are asking the Yobe government to provide us with more equipment, trucks and vehicles that we can use to carry out our work easily, especially to transport our staff to the office to avoid being late when we start working late."
He also said that at the moment, the company has sent 25 young people to receive training on how to operate machines and devices, as well as manage the products that the company uses in its operations, and how to do business with the people they interact with.
Finally, he said that the company has now started to produce different sizes of plastic bags, including 100kg, 50kg and 25kg, and that the company is ready to satisfy traders according to the size and condition of the bags they want.
Five killed in California wildfires - Leadership Newspapers.
As more than 12,000 firefighters battle a raging wildfire in the US state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom said he had asked for help from Canada and Australia, in addition to funding from the federal government.
The governor said Australia was one of the countries with the "best bushfire fighters in the world."
On Friday, Newsom said wildfires were raging in the northern part of the state, where thousands of people have fled their homes and hundreds of homes and buildings have burned.
"It's been a number of years since the state has seen a wildfire like this," Newsome said, adding that the fire is costing them money and resources.
At least five people have died and 43 others, including firefighters, have been injured in the wildfires, which have scorched an area of 2,020km.
Coronavirus continues to spread in Nigeria.
New figures released by the NCDC show that hundreds more people have been infected with COVID-19 in the country.
According to the agency, 648 people were infected with the virus on Monday, July 27, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 41,180.
The agency also revealed that 18,203 people have recovered from the virus while 860 people have died.
The new figures are from 21 states and Lagos is still the state with the highest number of coronavirus cases, with 180 new cases.
It is followed by Plateau State with 148.
Other states with more cases include Abuja with 44, Ondo - 42, Kwara - 38, Rivers - 32, Oyo - 29, Kaduna - 21, Osun - 20, Edo - 17, Ogun - 17, Ekiti - 11, Kano - 9, Benue - 9, Delta - 9, Abia - 9, Niger - 7, Gombe - 3, Borno - 1, Bauchi - 1, Imo - 1.
Mali continues to search for a solution.
Mali's Prime Minister, Boubou Cisse, has called on Imam Mahmoud Dicko, a powerful and influential cleric, to accept the government's offer of reconciliation, especially in the face of growing anti-government sentiment.
On Monday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) urged President Ibarhim Boubacar Keita to form a coalition government and correct the political mistakes that led to the country's crisis.
But for their part, the opponents of the Malian government have rejected the ECOWAS proposal, which was made by some West African leaders at their second meeting in the capital Bamako.
The Nigerian government has changed its position on student testing.
The Nigerian government has changed its position on denying children who are about to graduate the opportunity to take this year's exams, as a result of its new position to open secondary schools from the 4th of next month to conduct the exams.
Ben Goong, a spokesman for Nigeria's Ministry of Education, said the government had reaffirmed its position in approving the plan to hold the exam, which will begin on August 17.
The official said that the opening of schools on the 4th of next month will allow students in the 3rd grade of senior high school to prepare for two weeks before the start of the exam.
The new position reverses that of the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who had announced the suspension of the exams due to the rising cases of coronavirus in Nigeria.
Speaking after assuming the position, the minister, who said it was his responsibility to the children of Nigerian students, said he would not mind if the exams were cancelled altogether this year for the safety of the children.
His position has drawn criticism from various quarters, including the Nigerian House of Representatives for preventing graduating students from taking the exam.
While on the other hand, the education commissioners of the 19 northern states supported him.
2,732 people killed in April and June in Nigeria - report
It is estimated that 2,732 people were killed in Nigeria in just two months, from April to June.
The report, which was released by SBM intelligence in Lagos, said it had gathered the information from reports published by various newspapers in the country.
The report compiled statistics from newspapers that included brutal killings, including killings by Boko Haram, killings by kidnappers, shootings by gunmen, attacks by herdsmen and killings linked to ethnicity and rural areas.
This remarkable statistical work is a collaboration between SBM Intelligence and a group called "Enough is Enough."
In April, the SBM published murder statistics for nearly 1,000 people, which it said was the number of people killed between January and March 2020.
The SBM said the report was based on evidence from security analysts, external and internal security monitoring groups.
And it all lists the names of the groups.
The killing of innocent bystanders is made worse by the lack of attention paid by the government and security forces to stopping the killings.
The report also comments on how the coronavirus lockdown has led to hardship and unemployment for an estimated 43% of young people.
One of the security analysts at SBM Intelligence, Confidence Isaiah, explained some of the reasons for the increase in killings from April to June.
Isaiah said there have been killings of soldiers by Boko Haram, and gunmen have switched from stealing cattle and kidnapping people to using automatic weapons to kill people.
They reported killings in 33 states and Abuja, including the killing of 221 security personnel including 173 soldiers, 39 policemen, 3 NSCDC, all within three months.
They also said that 845 terrorists and 502 gunmen were killed.
941 people were killed in Barno, 143 in Yobe, 113 in Taraba, 444 in Zamfara, 207 in Katsina, 99 in Sokoto and 179 in Kaduna.
Disaster has struck our region - Genesis Development Committee - Freedom Radio Nigeria.
The community development committee of Farawa town in Kumbotso local government area of Kano has expressed concern over the way some misguided youths have plagued their area and thrown the community into a state of fear.
The chairman of the committee, Alhaji Adamu Dahiru Farawa, said this while appealing to the people of the area to focus on their own security, especially among the youths.
He added that the committee had received reports of hoodlums breaking into people's homes at night, abducting them and threatening their safety, adding that they must support the security agencies through close monitoring and reporting.
Alhaji Adamu Dahiru Farawa also urged the Kano State Police Command to increase their security personnel in the area to address the problem they are facing.
Our correspondent, Shamsu Da'u Abdullahi, reported that the people of the town were in a state of anxiety and fear as soon as the earthquake struck, and they called on the rich among them to help the committee members with equipment.
Balbalin Gobara has served one term in Kano State.
The Kano State Fire Service has revealed that one person died in a fire at Kofar Ruwa in Dala Local Government Area on Monday.
Spokesman Saidu Mohammed said the incident took place on Monday night when a petrol tanker caught fire at the Audu Manager petrol station.
At about 10:30 p.m., a Bello Musa called our agency explaining that there was a fire at the Water Gate.
Our staff immediately rushed to the scene.
Officials tried to put out the fire but unfortunately, a man named Adamu Salisu died in the fire.
It will be recalled that in April, 700 refugee tents caught fire at a refugee camp in Mafa Local Government Area of Barno State.
Dozens of people were left homeless by the blaze, which broke out at around 11am and took a long time to put out.
He said the fire, which originated in one tent, engulfed the rest of the tents because there was no firefighting and emergency response at the camp.
Gunmen killed 20 people in Dafur.
Gunmen have killed 20 people, including children, in Sudan's war-torn Dafur region for the first time in years.
A tribal leader said that this was after an agreement was reached with the farmers that they would return to farming, but in the evening, the insurgents opened fire on them and killed 20 people, including women and children.
The incident took place in the Aboudous area, about 90km south of Nyala, the capital of the southern province of Darfur.
In 2003, conflict broke out in the Dafur region between ethnic minorities and rebels loyal to former Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
The UN says the conflict in the region has killed more than 30,000 people and displaced 2.5 million.
President Omar Al-Bashir was ousted in April 2019 following months of anti-government protests.
Polio Vaccination Will Not Be Stopped - Ganduje
Nigeria's success in dealing with polio does not mean that efforts to prevent the disease should stop, and health professionals and workers will continue to carry out the prevention and control of the disease, as stipulated in the guidelines agreed with the World Health Organization, in order to sustain this success and end polio in Nigeria, Shan'inna.
The information came from the Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, as stated by his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Abba Anwar.
The governor stated this in his opening remarks at the Executive Council meeting held on Wednesday at the Kano State Government House.
He added that this position followed a concerted effort to fight the disease.
I remember when I was Deputy Governor, I chaired the Kano State Polio Eradication Committee.
I must pay tribute to those who have contributed to the fight against this disease.
"I must mention the name of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Wada Aliyu Gaya, and other stakeholders, who stood with me during this war," he said.
People like Aliko Dangote, the chairman of the Dangote Foundation, and Bill Gates, the chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are all worthy of praise, according to the governor. These people have spent millions of dollars and no doubt they deserve our sincere thanks.
Other stakeholders include our coalition partners.
The governor added that we must express our gratitude, the sustainability of this victory is very important in all aspects of our daily lives.
That is why we will continue to monitor the situation, in order to maintain this position.
Muslims should do good deeds - Empathy Foundation - Freedom Radio Nigeria.
The Empathy Foundation has urged the Muslim community to engage in acts of kindness during the ten days of Zulhijjah.
The president of the association, Mansur Musa Gabari, stated this when the foundation visited the "Torrey home" in Tudun Maliki and the "Remand home" in Goron Dutse to distribute food items to the children.
Mansur Musa Gabari also said that it is good for the rich to support the poor, especially during prayer times.
Earlier in her speech, Lauriya Sagir Garba, the head of the "Torrey home" for mentally handicapped children in Tudun-Maliki, commended the Emphaty Foundation and called on stakeholders to
Our correspondent Abubakar Tijjani Rabi'u reported that today the Emphaty Foundation will visit Dawakin South to provide roofing support for a mosque whose roof was torn off by rain.
A US military base in Iraq has been hit by rockets.
Four rockets hit a military base used by the U.S.-led coalition south of Baghdad on Friday, July 24, causing damage but no casualties, according to a statement from the Iraqi military.
The rockets hit the Besmaya base, where Spanish troops are stationed to fight the U.S.-led Islamic State group.
But the coalition is reducing the number of its fighters in Iraq.
In the past few months, there have been a number of rocket attacks that have hit bases used by coalition forces, as well as near the US embassy in Baghdad.
The United States has blamed the attacks on militant groups backed by Iran.
So far, no Iranian-backed militant group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Court dismisses case against retired Emir of Kano - Muhammad Adamu - Freedom Radio Nigeria
The Inspector-General of Police, Muhammad Adamu, has urged the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to dismiss the suit filed by the retired Emir of Kano, Muhammdu Sunusi, seeking to bar him from entering Kano State.
According to Adamu, the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case filed by the retired king.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) made this known at a press briefing in Abuja.
According to him, the court adjourned the case indefinitely to another date.
On the 9th of March this year, the Kano State Government removed Muhammad Sunusi from office.
Nigeria changes date for resumption of international flights
Published date: 27/08/2020 - 20:38
The Nigerian government has announced the postponement of the start of international flights scheduled to begin on the 29th of this month due to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases.
The country's aviation ministry said President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the suspension of flights so as not to open the door for people infected with the virus from around the world to spread it.
The statement said the reopening of the country's borders would be delayed until September 5.
Nigeria recorded its first case of coronavirus in February when an Italian national travelled to the country.
So far, more than 50,000 people have been infected in Nigeria and more than 1,000 people have died.
New police officers promoted in Kano - Freedom Radio Nigeria.
The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Habu Sani, has asked newly promoted police officers to dedicate themselves to fulfilling their responsibilities.
This was contained in a statement signed by DSP spokesperson Abdullahi Haruna.
The statement added that among the officers promoted to the rank of superintendent of police were nine assistant superintendents who became SPs.
The rest are police officers who were transferred to the DSP and an additional 239 officers who were transferred to the ASP.