News

By Muhammadu Sabiu

A 12-year-old boy has been detained by officers of the Bauchi State Police Command for allegedly abducting a three-year-old daughter.

The girl’s father informed the police that his daughter had been abducted after receiving an anonymous phone call notifying him of it.

The caller demanded N150,000 from the father of the girl as a ransom before releasing his daughter.

These were revealed in a media statement issued to journalists in the state on Saturday by Ahmed Wakil, the public relations officer for the Bauchi State Police Command.

After questioning the suspect, SP Wakili stated that the kidnapper teenager confessed that he learned about kidnapping when his friend was kidnapped some years ago, and money had to be paid as a ransom before he was released.

“Upon interrogation, the suspect stated that he is from Kano state and came to Bauchi state in search of petty business with his siblings. From the little he earned while hawking fried yam in Magama Gumau, he raised money and bought a mobile phone, the Tecno Camon model.

“The investigation also revealed that the suspect got to know about kidnapping when some time ago his friend was kidnapped in Kano state until a ransom was paid before he was released from his captors, that is how he learned about kidnapping and money must be paid to set a victim free.

“He also said he would have used the ransom money to buy his desired clothes and phones, but cut short upon his arrest by the Police operatives,” the police said.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Police in Bauchi State have apprehended a teenager, 12, for allegedly kidnapping a 3-year-old kid in Magama Gumau, Toro Local Government Area.

The police spokesman for the state, SP Ahmad Wakil, made a statement on the incident on Saturday in Bauchi.

The suspect was said to have lured the victim into an isolated area and phoned to her father demanding N150,000 as ransom.

SP Wakili said in the statement, “A discreet investigation revealed that the suspect lured the victim to an isolated place near a football field at Kara Area of Magama Gumau and called the victim’s father on phone and made the demand.

“On hearing the demand, the victim’s father hung up and refused to take subsequent calls.

“After a while, the victim’s father called the suspect and identified him through his familiar voice.”

By Ibrahim Mukhtar

The Governing Council of Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, at its 25th meeting held from Monday, 21st to Thursday, 24th November, 2022, has approved the appointment of Prof. Muhammad Zaiyan Umar as the new Vice Chancellor of the University.

In a press statement sent by Alhaji Jamilu M. Magaji, the
Public Relations Officer,
Federal University Birnin Kebbi, he noted that the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Prof. Funmi Togonu-Bickersteth announced the development at a Press Briefing held on Thursday, November 24, 2022 at the Council Chamber, Senate Building, University Main Campus.

The statement received by The Daily Reality states that “the Pro-Chancellor who revealed that the appointment of the new Vice Chancellor was sequel to the advertisement in the Daily Trust and The Punch Newspapers of Saturday, 2nd July, 2022 and subsequent interview by the Governing Council, added that the tenure of the outgoing Vice Chancellor ends on December 3, 2022.

Until his appointment, the new Vice Chancellor was the immediate past Deputy Vice Chancellor, Sokoto State University.

Muhammad Zaiyan Umar, a Professor of Political Science at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), comes with over three (3) decades of professional and administrative experience. He started his professional career at the UDUS as a Graduate Assistant in 1989 and became a Professor in 2009.

The immediate past Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Sokoto State University, Sokoto, Prof. MZ Umar also served as the University’s Ag. Director, TETFund’s Research and Development Centre of Excellence. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Centre for Open and Distance Education (CODE) at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. Prof. Umar was, at various times, the Ag. Head of Department of Political Science, Deputy Dean and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, as well as the Dean of Postgraduate School at UDUS.

The new Vice Chancellor served as Resource Person to several organizations including the Institute of Security Studies, Abuja; National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru, Jos; The Electoral Institute of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the House Committee on Marine Transport, National Assembly, Abuja.

A Fulbright Fellow, Prof. Umar served at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA between 1988 and 1999. He served as an External Examiner and Assessor for promotion to Reader and Professor for various State and Federal Universities in Nigeria as well as the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), in Dakar Senegal. He is a member of the Fulbright Alumni Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) and Social Science Academy of Nigeria (SSAN).

Prof. Umar was born on June 12, 1963. He is married with children.”

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Some villages in Zamfara State’s Zurmi LGA have to pay a “compensation charge” of varying amounts.

Aliyu Buhari, a resident of Moriki, one of the settlements in the local council, claimed that the bandits had demanded payment of the levy through released hostages before allowing villagers access their farmlands.

According to Buhari, some villages have paid the bandits and reached a reconciliation agreement with them.

He also noted that people in Moriki are actively striving to increase the tax.

He was quoted as saying, “People living in Moriki ward were asked to pay the sum of N20 million to be able to enjoy some level of peace.”

There have recently been reports of abduction in the state as the bandits have yet to demand a ransom for some of the abductees.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A lecturer with Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr Nadir A. Nasidi, has been declared winner of the African Studies Review prize for ‘Best Africa-Based Dissertation’

The Public Affairs Directorate of the institution announced Dr Nasidi’s success in a statement on Thursday, November 24, 2022.

According to the statement, “Dr Nadir A Nasidi’s dissertation ‘ A Contextual Analysis of Sufi Saint Paintings in Kano Nigeria’ has won the 2022 African Studies Review (ASR) Prize for the ‘Best Africa-Based Doctoral Dissertation”.

The statement said Dr Nasidi will also be given a certificate recognizing the award and a $500 e-certificate from Cambridge University Press.

The Vice-Chancellor of ABU, Prof. Kabiru Bala, has congratulated him saying that the “University always takes pride to see its students and staff excel in a given task.”

Dr Nasidi is a lecturer at the History Department of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and had defended the award-winning dissertation in 2021 at the same institution.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari has unveiled the redesigned naira notes in Abuja.

The President unveiled the new naira notes on Wednesday morning at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC ) at the state house, Abuja.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele was also in attendance during the unveiling ceremony.

While addressing the FEC members after the unveiling ceremony, the CBN governor debunked the rumours that the early unveiling of new notes is a means to target any Nigerian.

He therefore appealed to the public to refrain from perpetuating such rumours.

He added that the CBN will intensify the monitoring process and interrogate the process of withdrawals.

He stated that there will be strict restriction on the volume of cash that people can withdraw over the counter, as it works with the EFCC to monitor the purpose of any heavy transactions.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Nigerian media industry has adopted a new mechanism to address ethical and professional problems in the industry.

The decision was an aftermath of a media roundtable organized on Monday, 21st November, 2022.

The amalgam of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Broadcasting Association of Nigeria ( BON) and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) came together to arrive at the resolution.

Media leaders and operators at the roundtable noted that the success of the co-regulation would be attainable via a workable enforcement mechanism.

According to them, co-regulation is attainable when the Nigeria Press Organization (NPO), comprising NPAN, NGE, NUJ and BON work together to make the co-regulation system effective. This will be done through the establishment of the ombudsman at local and central levels.

This is contained in a communique issued at the end of the media roundtable convened within the context of the imperative of a strategic response to the challenge of institutionalizing self-regulatory mechanisms by the media for the media.

The communique was jointly signed by the president, NPAN/NPO, Mal. Kabiru A. Yusuf, FNGE, president, NGE, Mustapha Isah, president, NUJ, Chief Chris Isiguzo, MFR, president, GOCOP, Maureen Chigbo and the executive secretary, BON, Dr. Yemisi Bamgbose

The communique noted that measures must be put in place to avoid the creation of bureaucratic structures that may have high-cost implications and hinders the efficient operation of the ombudsman.

The communique reads in part:

“That sanctions for the violation of ethical codes and professional standards shall be determined by the Ombudsman, guided by the regulation.

“That media professional bodies and associations shall partner with media organisations to give wide publicity to the decisions of the Ombudsman,” the communique stated.

On the revised Code of Ethics of Journalists in Nigeria, the communique noted that a bill of rights would be incorporated into the revised code to address concerns over some industry practices that tend to undermine the welfare and safety of journalists.

The communique also said: “That the revised code shall protect investigative journalism by making the public interest exception to instances where undercover methods may be used to obtain information.

“That the revised code shall distinguish between paid content and editorial content to preserve editorial integrity; and a new clause would be inserted to obligate journalists to promote the right of the people to know, freedom of the press and responsibility.”

Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari said the Kolmani oil project has attracted over $3bn investment in the oil and gas sector at a time the world is unwilling to invest in fossil energy.

The President made the disclosure while flagging off the Kolmani Development Project in Bauchi on Tuesday. The president noted that his administration has done everything to de-risk the project and attract investors.

Buhari said:

“Considering the land locked location and the huge capital requirement, the economics of the project is a challenging proposition. Consequently, from the outset, I instructed NNPC Limited to utilize and leverage their vast asset portfolio across all corridors of its operations to de-risk the project to attract the much-needed investment.”

“It is therefore to the credit of this administration that at a time when there is near zero appetite for investment in fossil energy, coupled with the location challenges, we are able to attract investment of over USD 3 billion to this project.”

The President in his address also commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for their effort in discovering oil in the northern part of the country after so many futile attempts. He noted that the discovery foreshadows economic prosperity for Nigeria.

“This is indeed significant considering that, efforts to find commercial oil and gas outside the established Niger Delta Basin was attempted for many years without the desired outcomes,” he stated.

The Daily Reality had reported that the Kolmani oil exploration is the first of its kind in Northern Nigeria.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari is all set to flag off the exploration of oil exploration in Gombe and Bauchi states. The historic event is the first of its kind in the northern part of the country.

Amidst very tight security, the president and his entourage arrived in Bauchi on Tuesday, 22nd November, 2022 for the ground- breaking ceremony and inauguration of the first oil drilling in Northern Nigeria.

The ceremony is set to take place at the OPLs 809 and 810 sites in Kolmani, a border community between Bauchi and Gombe State.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, had announced the discovery of oil in commercial volume in October 2019. Crude oil, gas were said to be discovered in the Kolmani River region at the community between Bauchi and Gombe State.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has stated that he does not need a religion and does not worship any gods, stating that he does not practise any religion.

At a public presentation of his two-volume collection of essays on Sunday, Soyinka made this revelation and said he saw nothing wrong with embracing mythology as an integral part of his creative process.

As a mythologist, he added, people have the right to fabricate stories about themselves based on their personal experiences.

The professor was quoted as saying, “Do I really need one (religion)? I have never felt I needed one. I am a mythologist.

“But religion? No, I don’t worship any deity. But I consider deities as creatively real and therefore my companions in my journey in both the real world and the imaginative world.”