News

By Sumayyah Auwal Usman

Amidst public outrage, the Kaduna State Executive Council, under Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufa’i, has rescinded its decision on the collection of nominal fees in senior secondary schools across the state.

In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor (Media & Communication), Mr Muyiwa Adekeye on Tuesday said, “the Council observed that the circular issued by the Ministry of Education to school principals on collection of nominal fees is not consistent with government policy, and is thus invalid. The circular from the Ministry of Education to the heads of schools, dated 1st November 2022, is therefore rescinded with immediate effect, and all monies that may have been collected should be refunded forthwith”.

Adekeye further reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to providing free primary, secondary and technical/vocational education to every child resident in the state.

It would be recalled that a memo emanated from the State Ministry of Education imposed the payment of nominal fees to all students of senior public secondary schools in the state.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The All Progressives Congress, APC Campaign Council’s Director-General, Governor Simon Lalong, has approved select Kannywood members to join the council ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

Lalong made the comment in a statement published in Jos, the state capital, signed by his spokesperson, Dr Makut Macham.

The inclusion of film practitioners, according to the director general of the APC’s presidential campaign, was done to increase the involvement of artists from the northern region in the campaigns.

According to Lalong, Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate, recently visited Kano and spoke with group members, which led to the approval.

He added that the APC presidential candidate had pledged to give Kannywood members a chance to participate in the campaigns, showcasing their skills while also aiding the party in winning the upcoming general elections.

The Kannywood group has Abdul Amart as Director, Ismail Afakallah as Deputy Director and Sani Mu’azu as Secretary, with other leaders heading different divisions.

By Uzair Adam Imam

A communication expert, Aisar Fagge, said the quest to keep up with breaking news has led to a high degree of error in online media reporting today.

Fagge, a lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Kano State Polytechnic, said the failure was due to the less or absence of proofreading and confirmation of facts by the editors.

He said this on Sunday when speaking on the “Fake News on Nigerian Cyber Space: The Role of an Ideal Journalist” at a One-Day Workshop for Early-Career Journalists on Reporting Northern Nigeria, Fake News and Journalism Ethics.

At the event organised by the management team of The Daily Reality Newspaper that took place in Bayero University, Kano, Fagge said the absence of or weak gate-keepers contributed to the lack of quality journalism in Nigerian cyberspace.

He also attributed the high degree of error in today’s online news reporting to poor staffing, which leads to the single-handed operation of the media.

He said, “Almost everyone wants to establish an online newspaper. A single person wants to be a publisher, a reporter and an editor all by himself. No doubt, the standard of journalism falls.”

The event had in attendance many communication experts and journalists from within and outside Kano state, including some that joined the workshop via Zoom from overseas.

By Muhammad Aminu and Uzair Adam Imam

A Senior Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano, Dr Ibrahim Siraj Adhama, has urged journalists to fact-check figures to change the narratives by the media that paint Northern Nigeria black. 

Adhama stated this at a One-Day Workshop for Early-Career Journalists on Reporting Northern Nigeria, Fake News and Journalism Ethics organized by a Kano-based online media organization, The Daily Reality. 

The workshop, which was held at Bayero University, Kano, was organized by the management team of The Daily Reality Newspaper to groom journalists in Northern Nigeria on reporting.

He said our northern reporters should have apparatuses to re-examine statistics by the World Bank and IMF, among others, before reporting them for public consumption. 

Adhama, who spoke on “Issues in Reporting Northern Nigeria: A Framing/Agenda Setting Perspective, said the north was represented in media as economically and educationally backward with a high number of out-of-school children. 

He said, “We need to stop swallowing statistics about us. Most of these statistics by the World Bank, IMF, etc., will never favour us. 

“Thus, we should have an apparatus to re-examine them before reporting them,” he added.

Speaking on how those reports affect Hausa-Muslim northerners and, by extension, other ethnic groups, Adhama maintained that all the things we read about us in the Southern media were in themselves, despite claiming objectivity, subjective.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The Federal Government announced on Monday that the restoration of train service between Abuja and Kaduna is scheduled for this month, November.

The Transportation Minister, Mu’azu Sambo, said this in Abuja while presenting his ministry’s scorecard.

He claimed that sufficient security had been put in place to guarantee the well-being of the travellers. 

However, the Minister did not provide a precise start date.

The incident in March, which claimed the lives of several passengers and resulted in the suspension of rail operations on the Abuja-Kaduna route, according to Sambo, taught the ministry enough lessons.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Qatari government is preaching and introducing Islam to World Cup fans through murals placed in public places.

TRT World reported on Saturday that as Qatar prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it has placed several murals in public places bearing Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) sayings and traditions written in Arabic and English.

According to the report, the murals feature various sayings on mercy, charity and good deeds. They are situated across the Pearl District, a popular tourist attraction in the Qatari capital, Doha.

The initiative of Qatar’s government has been applauded by many Arab journalists and Muslims worldwide.

Qatar’s government has been unpretentious about not compromising Islamic values because of the 2022 World Cup. However, their stance on homosexuality and the LGBTQ community has been critical; the government deems it unacceptable to their country’s values and norms.

The Head of Security for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari, in a statement, said the country does not want LGBTQ flags in the venues of the World Cup, and LGBTQ is not acceptable to the country.

He said: You want to demonstrate your view about the LGBTQ situation, do it in a society where it will be accepted. Don’t insult the whole society because of this. You cannot change the religion for 28 days”.

Qatar is the first country in the Middle East to host the World Cup, the biggest tournament in the football world.

By Habibu Maaruf Abdu

The Executive Director, Kano State Censorship Board, Alhaji Isma’ila Na’abba Afakallah, has tied the knot with veteran Kannywood actress, Rukayya Umar Santa (Dawayya).

The wedding fatiha took place on Friday, November 4, 2022, at Tishama Jumu’at mosque in Kano, after months of speculations about their relationship on social media.

The 37-year-old actress, who is also the founder of Dawayya Movies Nigeria Limited, appeared in hundreds of films in a career which spanned 22 years. Her last production, Ummi Sambo was released in Cinemas on 6 December, 2019.

This is her second marriage as she was previously married and has a son.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The United Kingdom has warned its citizens in the United States (US) that terrorists are planning to perpetrate an attack on the US.

It also urged its residents there to remain cautious and stay away from public gatherings.

In a new travel warning to British people in the US on Friday, the UK stated that terrorists may target crowded areas, places where foreigners congregate, or transportation routes.

This may be related to the security warning issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to Americans in New Jersey regarding terrorist attacks on synagogues.

Recall that a week ago the US and the UK issued security alerts warning that terrorists were preparing an attack on Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter and former CEO, has introduced a brand-new social networking platform called “Bluesky.”

This is only a week or so after business tycoon and investor Elon Musk bought Twitter.

Within two days of the announcement, over 30,000 individuals had already signed up for the new app’s beta testing, which is still in its testing phase.

According to reports, Bluesky allows designers the opportunity to build independently from platforms and developers while also giving users authority over their algorithms, allowing them to choose the experience they want.

On April 14, 2022, Musk started the acquisition of Twitter and completed the deal on October 27, 2022.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said the lingering security challenge in Nigeria had weakened the country’s education system.

The minister said the insecurity in the country also contributed to the rising number of out-of-school children today.

He disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during the ministerial session of the 66th National Council on Education (NCE).

In the event themed ‘Strengthening of Security and Safety in Nigerian Schools for the Achievement of Education 2030 Agenda, Adamu said the issue would soon be addressed.

He added that President Buhari’s administration was working tirelessly to reduce the number of out-of-school children and the illiteracy level in the country.

He said, “I’d like to call on all states to rise up to their responsibilities and provide a safe and secure learning environment for both students and teachers.”

Furthermore, the education minister also said that all schools must be safe and secure at all costs.