Local

By Uzair Adam Imam

A young man who murdered his stepmother in Kano, Sagiru Wada, was sentenced to death by hanging by the Kano State High Court on Thursday.

The man was arrested some eight years back after killing his stepmother, Zainab Dan-Azumi, and subsequently cut her into pieces with a sword.

Justice Aisha Mahmud, who presided the judge, said the court was satisfied with all the evidence presented before the court.

She added that the court convicted Wada under Section 221 of the Kano State Penal Code, adding that the prosecution counsel had proven their case beyond reasonable doubt.

However, Barrister Rabi’u Abubakar, who was the defence counsel, argued that the suspect was mentally ill.

However, the court rejected his claim reiterating that the evidences presented before the court were enough to convict Wada of murder.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Nigeria Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement Working Group (Naija MAYE) has called for the involvement of youths in politics and urged political parties to ensure health and development agenda in political parties manifestos in the country.

The call is an aftermath of a one-day summit organized by MAYE and held at Belmont Hotel in Abuja on Wednesday.

In a press statement signed by the Chairman of MAYE, Olympus Ade Banjo and other leaders of the group, the group charged the Nigeria political class to ensure the involvement of youths in politics and prioritize health and development in their party manifestos

The group also lamented the slow implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They noted that many Nigerians are yet to experience the economic and political dividend of the SDGs.

At the end of the summit, Naija MAYE was quoted to have made the following suggestions:

1:- “Ensure inclusivity of youth health and development agenda in all 2023 party manifestoes blueprints, and campaign messages.

2:- Review the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to recognize adolescent and youths as part of vulnerable population by improving access to quality youth friendly health care services.

3:- Adopt innovative and diverse approaches in financing social health insurance for young people taking into consideration that they are about 70 percent of Nigeria’s population and the high rate of unemployment which is about 40 percent.

4:- Ensure National Council on Health should approve reduction of age of independent access to sexual and reproductive health services including HIV testing from 18 to 14years.

5:- Ensure a comprehensive range of sexual and reproductive health services required by diverse groups of young people is integrated into training curriculums of healthcare providers at all levels of training
Ensure that policies supporting youth and female engagement in governance is actively implemented. Ordinary people should be given opportunity to serve from the local government to the Federal level.
Strengthen Micro Finance to give reduced interest rates to young people’s mini and small scale businesses.

6:- Create meaningful occupational counselling structures for young people in secondary schools and institutions.”

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The management of Federal University Lokoja (FUL), has demanded that more than one thousand students of the institution pay the sum of one thousand naira for their unruly behaviour in the varsity’s campus.

FUL Registrar & Secretary To Council, Dr Rebecca Aimiohu Okojie disclosed this in a memoir she signed and dated Wednesday, December 14, 2022. She noted that the students destroyed a school property and were rude to the members of staff of the university

Consequent of the alleged bad behaviour, the school management requested that the students must do the following:

1. Payment of one thousand naira ( N1000) at resumption in January 2023.
2. Evidence of payment to be presented at Student Affairs Division in order to be cleared to write examination
3. Presentation of Stamped Affidavit of good behaviour from High Court.

The management further condemned the act and urged the students be be of good character.

Part of the memoir reads:

“Management notes with discomfort the unruly and highly condemnable behaviour you displayed during the CBT examination that took place on 6th December, 2022 at the ICT centre Felele Campus. The said unruly behavior behavior led to the damage of university property, in addition to you being rude to Principal Officers at the venue

Federal University Lokoja as an institution of transformative learning, whose certificates and honours must be bagged by students found worthy in both character and learning, has neither place nor tolerance for the kind of reprehensible displayed during the examination under reference.”

However, The Daily Reality gathered that not all the students affected by the general punishment were present on that day for the examination.

An affected student who spoke to the Daily Reality on the ground of anonymity said it was the lack of coordination on the part of the institution that caused the chaos that led to a door being damaged.

“It was lack of coordination that led to chaos and a door being damaged as a result. Many exams were already taken that day and thousands of students couldn’t write the examination. Many suffocated and fainted as a result of their way the school handled the situation.”

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Reports reaching The Daily Reality show that gunmen stormed certain towns in Gombe State on Friday night, leaving three people dead.

Unknown armed individuals assaulted the villages of Amtawalam and Pobaure in the state’s Billiri Local Government Area on Friday night, according to Adamu Kupto Dishi, the commissioner of homeland security for Gombe State.

Dishi confirmed the incident on Saturday following an emergency State Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya of the state.

“We responded immediately to calls about the attack by mobilising security operatives, including the police, the military and our local vigilantes, to the area. So far, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has carried out assessment for immediate deployment of relief materials,” he said.

Security agents are presently conducting an investigation to identify individuals responsible for the heinous act, the commissioner assured.

By Ibrahim Garba.

Since the announcement of the success of oil discovery by the Muhammad Buhari-led administration through Nigeria National Petroleum Company, NNPC Ltd., people from different parts of the country rejoiced over the milestone achievement.

However, the development came with many controversies by the citizens who are, in one way or another other, have a direct or indirect connection to the development that is from some groups of people and individuals from the host community.

Immediately after the ground-breaking ceremony, which was attended by his Excellency President Muhammad Buhari, Bauchi State Governor Bala Muhammed, the Group Managing Director NNPC Mele Kyari, among other dignitaries in Nigeria, an argument broke between the neighbouring states, Gombe and its mother state Bauchi, about who owns the Kolmani oil well.

Besides, Bauchi may be right to claim the ownership of Kolmani oil because the oil well is located in Barambu, a village under the Alkaleri local government area of Bauchi state. Bauchi cites the presence of their governor at the breaking ceremony as one of the reasons that they own the oil well.

Gombe state, on the other hand, has more than a reason to claim the ownership because of their closeness to the point where the oil was drilled. Therefore oil as liquid stuff cannot just be for Bauchi alone.

Unfortunately, farmers operating within the host community of MaiMadi, Kwaimawa, among the other 7sevencommunities, complained that they were not paid for the damage done to their farmlands during the oil drill.

Among them, one claimed the ownership of the Kolmani oil well, which according to him, was inherited from his father and yet to be compensated. Also, the report indicates that workers who served during the seismic operation were not adequately paid but only promised to be paid on unspecified dates.

Farmers and other people from the host community should be well informed about the operation of that kind to seek entitlement associated with the oil drill operation in their localities.

With the allegations above, one must note with dismay challenging the Public Relations section of that particular for failing the Social responsibility service expected to render to those communities.

Above all, what Nigerians need to know is how much we need to poster national development above our interest to build Nigeria of our dream. We should also learn from the experience of our people down the south. There is a need for cooperation and mutual understanding between the two states, the farmers, and the entire host community to benefit from such a remarkable achievement. 

Ibrahim Garba writes from Bauchi.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Bauchi State Commissioner for Education, Aliyu Tilde, has resigned from the Bauchi State Executive Council.

Mr Aliyu Tilde announced his resignation as the State Commissioner for Education in a Facebook post on Monday.

According to Mr Tilde, the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Muhammad, has approved his letter of resignation and same have been communicated to him through the Secretary to the Bauchi State Government.

Stating his reason for resignation, he said he resigned in order to attend to a call of an associate who direly needs his services.

Part of the statement reads : “A few minutes ago, Today, 5 December 2022, I received a letter from the Secretary to the Government conveying my release by His Excellency.

“In it, the Secretary conveyed ‘the appreciation of the Executive Governor for your contribution to the Education Sector and wish you well in your future endeavor…’”

“With this, my tenure as Commissioner of Education has come to an end. I am happy to see the peaceful ending of what have been very exacting but fruitful years and will ever remain grateful to God who stood by me until the last minute.”

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Fire destroyed six shops in Jigawa State’s Hadejia Local Government Area.

In a statement, Adamu Shehu, the state spokesperson for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, confirmed the incident.

“On Friday, December 2, 2022, at about 01:15hrs, the NSCDC Divisional Office received an emergency call on a fire outbreak at Gadar Kogi in Hadejia,” he said.

According to him, emergency response personnel were immediately dispatched to the location to put out the fire and save any unburned property.

He added that when the team arrived, the fire had destroyed around six shops owned by Usman Mai Shago and five other people, although there were no human casualties.

The Daily Reality understands that electricity sparks from one of the shop’s wires were the cause of the fire.

By Aisar Fagge

The gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Eng. Abba Kabir Yusuf, popularly known as Abba Gida-Gida, said we never said we would abolish Kano’s new emirates.

Yusuf made this statement Tuesday during a continuation of interactive session series organised by a coalition of 21 Kano CSOs and NGOs aiming to promote peace and development of Kano State.

He said, “It is APC who are making this campaign of calumny. They went to Gaya Emirate, gathered their elders, feeding them with this blatant lie that Abba would abolish their emirate if elected. Don’t forget in our midst; we have politicians and followers from all these new emirates. They never see any evil intention in us. Had they seen anything like that, they would have abandoned us because they love their localities.

“What these people don’t understand is that Kano people are wise and educated. If you go for a campaign, use your projects and programmes. Stop spreading lies about us and our administration. They made another false accusation about five-kilometre roads that we stole money! [Who stole Kano’s money?] I have been challenging Ganduje for one-on-one debate on five-kilometre roads, but he refused”, he boasted.

Responding to a question about whether, if elected, he would continue with the APC’s uncompleted projects. Yusuf said, “We have been going around supervising their projects and seeing the ones that were properly planned and how they will be completed. Any meaningful project that has a direct impact on the life of the citizenry will be completed. But congested places that are making life difficult for people will be decongested.”

The convener, Dr Aminu Magashi Garba, thanked Eng. Abba Kabir Yusuf, his team, members of the press and all those who made the event successful.

By Aisar Fagge

The gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Eng. Abba Kabir Yusuf, also known as Abba Gida-Gida, said Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) are part of his government.

Yusuf made this statement on Tuesday during a continuation of interactive session series organised by a coalition of 21 Kano CSOs and NGOs aiming to promote peace and development of Kano State.

Yusuf said, “NGOs are part of my government. I need creative people who will assist us to make Kano State better. People seem to relegate the power of NGOs when it comes to good governance. They have important roles to play in the socio-economic aspects of human development. Our laws have recognized them. They can even take anybody who frustrates them to court and demand prosecution.

“Our administration will give special consideration to youth development. I, personally, have been supporting youths financially in various capacities, including national competitions. Social media activists and influencers are also part of our plans,” he added.

When asked about Child Protection Bill, the former commissioner said, “We’ll support it. We’ll implement it. We’ll give it maximum support. We’ll bring it back even if it is discarded. These poor kids are being victimized and molested. We’ll not tolerate it anymore,” he frowned.

The event gathered people from all walks of life. People living with disabilities sent their representatives who complained about how they have been constantly ignored by politicians. He assured them important posts such as advisers, MD and [possibly] a commissioner. He lastly appealed to an audience who are eager to see his blueprint, which he said will be unveiled very soon.

The convener, Dr Aminu Magashi Garba, thanked Eng. Abba Kabir Yusuf and his team spared their time to grace the event and interact with the audience on critical issues on health, education, youths, women, the environment, commerce, agriculture, and technology, among others.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Kano’s gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP) Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, popularly known as Abba Gida Gida, has called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Kano chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Abbas.

Abba Gida Gida’s spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, in a press statement made available to the Daily Reality on Monday accused the APC chairman in the state of instigating and orchestrating violent politics.

Abba Gida said the state APC chairman is notorious in making hate speeches and dishes out vitriol in every public gathering. He noted that this has be addressed in order to restore sanity in the polity.

On the allegations of orchestrating violence, Abba Gida said, there are numerous audio and video clips to support the allegations.

He therefore called on the security agencies to arrest and prosecute the APC chairman.

“We therefore to draw the attention of Security Agencies, all Stakeholders including other Political Parties that are also being intimidated by Abdullahi Abbas to as a matter of urgent public importance take all necessary actions against the person of APC chairman Abdullahi Abbas and his son Sani Abdullahi Abbas,” part of the statement reads.

The NNPP further stressed that if this is not addressed, they would be left with no option than to seek alternative means of protecting themselves and their members. They also said it may warrant them boycotting the signing of the peace accord

“We also want to state in clear terms that if the utterances of Abdullahi Abbas toward political violence are not squarely addressed, we will be left with no other option than to boycott the forthcoming signing of peace accord initiated by the National Peace Committee under the able Leadership of the Former Head of State, Gen. Abdussalam Abubakar and any other inter-party agreements toward 2023 elections as doing same may not guarantee the protection of lives and properties of the good people of Kano state,” the statement adds.