Masari urges traditional rulers on schools visitation

GOVERNOR Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, has called on traditional rulers and ward heads to regularly visit the various schools in their domains and monitor what goes on there.
He also directed heads of various schools in the state to safeguard the new project being put up by the government in such schools to ensure their longevity.
The governor gave the directive when the Emir of Daura, Dr. Umar Faruk Umar, paid him a courtesy visit in Katsina.
Governor Masari said his regime met the state of education in a terrible condition, adding that he has since been putting in place various strategies to improve the situation.
He said aside from putting up new structures in many of the schools in the state, his administration was also working on the employment of teachers and instructors to teach the pupils/students.
He said on the education of our children our administration will not reject to give our children the best of education.”

Special Adviser clears air on military expedition

THE Special Adviser to Niger State Government on Security, Retired Brigadier-Gen. Nda—Gulu Abubakar Imam, has admitted that the military has the mandate to embark on security expeditions without necessarily informing the state government.
This came as Niger State government denied knowledge of military invasion of communities in Bosso LG.
More revelations have continued to unfold at the on going sittings of the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Niger State government to investigate the immediate and the remote causes of the bloody clashes between some communities in Bosso Local Government Area of the state and the military as more witnesses testified.
The Security Adviser to the Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, retired Brigadier General Nda-Gulu Abubakar Imam, debunked the earlier claim by the Brigade Commander, 33 Field Artillery of the Nigeria Army, Brigadier General Olanrewaju Jimoh that the information that arms and ammunition were being stockpiled by the communities was revealed during a security meeting in government house.
Gen.Imam in his testimony before the commission last Saturday, said that as a retired intelligent officer in the Nigeria army and as a security adviser to the governor, he was not aware of any security report of arms stockpile and gun running about these communities.
According to him, “the issue of gun running and arm stock piling by the communities was never discussed in any security meeting which I attended”.
It could be recalled that the Brigade Commander, during a cross examination by the counsel to the communities, Mohammed Abubakar earlier claimed that the government was aware of the operation but that, the time and date of the operation was not communicated to the government.
But the security adviser maintained that prior to the August 4th, invasion by the military, there was no report of arms stock pile by the communities, nor was the issue mentioned in any of the security council meeting which he, as a security adviser attended.
He also disclosed that the military never informed the government before the operation until he got a distress call from a member of the communities to inform him that they (communities) were under attack from some armed bandits dressed in military informs.
“The youth leader in the communities call me around 3am to inform me that the villages were under attack from some armed bandits in military uniform. I immediately called the brigade commander who confirmed to me that they were his men and that the operation was legal one.
“At this point, I immediately got across to the governor who was away through a text message. I also got across to other members of the state security council on the development, thereafter the governor directed the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Ketso to take charge and ensure everything is brought under control”, he remarked.

Envoy urges Nigeria to adopt South Korea programme.

THE model adopted by South Korea to developing its rural areas can be applicable to Nigerian communities if certain variables are put in place for the greater good of the people, the country’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Noh Kyu-Duk, has said.
Speaking when he visited Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the envoy said, South Korea achieved important milestones in nationhood when it introduced the ‘Saemul Undong’ (New Community) movement in the 70s.
“This model was a drive for self-support based upon the principles of diligence, self-reliance and cooperation. It achieved a lot of success because it did away with poverty and importantly closed the gap between cities and rural areas,” he stated.
The envoy also said that the Saemul Undong movement also trained rural dwellers in ways to raise their income and upgrade their skills in various areas of human endeavor.
In his response, Sokoto State Governor, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal commended South Korea for its commitment to world peace and efforts to developing key sectors in the country adding that the Saemul Undong programme will be adopted and modified to suit Sokoto’s needs considering its cultural and religious peculiarities.
He also stated that vast majority of its population reside in the rural areas so it was determined to ensure that the people in those localities feel the presence of government in every way possible as government was studying various developmental models and certainly, Korea’s Saemul Undong programme excites the people and will modify it to suit the needs and way soft life of all in the state.
Our Sokoto Correspondent also reports that while thanking the ambassador for the visit, Tambuwal also said Sokoto and South Korea will collaborate in areas of education, agriculture, cultural exchange, youth empowerment and sports.

Katsina requires 13,000 teachers to boost education

ABOUT 13,000 teachers are needed by Katsina State government to meet its basic requirements for its primary and secondary schools.
Governor Masari while speaking shortly after inspecting renovation work at Government Science Secondary School Batagarawa, said the shortages were being addressed, and that approval had already been given for the recruitment of 1,900 teachers mainly for science subjects.
He disclosed that efforts were on to provide furniture and create conducive atmosphere for teaching, and learning in public schools, as it was the intention of the current APC administration to have 50 students per class in schools across the state, saying we are poised to restore glory in the sector
Meanwhile, the state government is to establish a Green Economic Zone that would host its proposed industrial park to boost economic base of the state.
Governor Aminu Masari disclosed this when he received the Belarus Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Viatche Vasilievich Bezeosti, when he led a delegation of Minks Tractor Company to donate five tractors and accessories to the Katsina State Government.
He said the Industrial Park which would be along Jibia road would serve as route to several West African countries, adding that “we are committed to boosting our economic base by diversifying”.
Masari said, Katsina was an agrarian state with huge agricultural potentials, saying that “We welcome your collaboration and urge you to key into industrial park to plan and boost farming and other agro-allied businesses.
“For us in Katsina there is no other option but to return to agriculture for the needed development” he said.
Earlier Amb. Bezeosti had said they have observed the state’s potentials and chose to look at areas of collaborations

Governor Shettima relocates office to Bama town temporarily

BORNO State Governor, Kashim Shettima on Wednesday temporarily relocated his office to Bama town, an urban centre, severely destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents during their nearly two years occupation before it was liberated by the military late, 2015.
Bama town, located 74 kilometers away from Maiduguri, is one of the third most populated local government areas next to Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and Biu in southern part of the state.
Insurgents had attacked the town killing dozens, destroyed more than 80 percent of the thousands of houses in the town, sacked the Emir and took over his palace after declaring it as sovereign territory with set of laws and ‘constitutional’ leader.
The military toppled the insurgents and recovered the area by the end of 2015, months after President Muhammadu Buhari took over affairs.
To fast track major reconstruction works which was flagged off on Wednesday, Governor Kashim Shettima now lives in Bama town with his close aides. The Governor departed Maiduguri at about 12:10pm and arrived Bama at about 2:18 pm and he went straight to supervising inspect reconstruction works on private residential houses, police stations, stores, schools, hospitals, the Emirs palace among others. The Governor had deployed construction equipment and hundreds of trucks of variety of building materials which are already in Bama for the reconstruction works.
Bama is the one of the worst affected areas and we will move from here to other parts of the state. While I am here, we have a full structure of government in place operating in Maiduguri so that activities of managing IDP’s, civil service, implementation of government policies and programmes will continue while I am here. I will be in constant touch with Maiduguri, I came prepared” Shettima said
The Governor also commissioned 500 newly recruited civilian JTF and vigilantes employed from locals in Bama to use community intelligence in working with the military to strengthen security in the area so as to forestall unanticipated attacks.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Dr Babagana Umara Zulum announced that the reconstruction activities has created nearly 1000 direct jobs beside stimulating the economy of the state through procurement of different building materials and payment for services.
The commissioner said with the support his ministry receives from Governor Kashim Shettima, his men were fully ready to make the Governor proud. He gave the indication that Shettima was bound to see new developments every day he goes out for inspection.

AIG seeks partnership with journalists

ASSISTANT Inspector-General of Police (AIG) incharge of Zone 1, Kano, Alhaji Ibrahim Adamu, has noted that seeking collaboration with the media by the police would be a major catalyst in building peace and achieving progress in an ideal democratic dispensation.
Addressing the executive members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kano State Council, during a courtesy visit at the NUJ press centre in Kano recently, Adamu said the media was an indispensable organ of progress that could be relied upon in building peace and achieving progress.
He said he was at the NUJ Secretariat to solicit the support and cooperation of the press in lending credence to the issue of providing security in his areas of jurisdiction, stressing that seeking such collaboration had become imperative in view of the prevailing security challenges.
On the persistent cases of Yandaba, which had rocked Kano in the past, the police has said courtesy of police’s relentless operations, the spate of such dastardly acts had drastically reduced.
In his remarks, the Chairman, NUJ Kano State Council, Comrade Abdulgalal Haruna said the visit had afforded both parties the opportunity to understand each other and that seeking such collaboration would be a good omen to the entrenchment of peace and ensuring peace.
He charged him to rise to the challenge of fighting crimes within his areas of jurisdiction.