Floods in Jigawa: Death toll raises to 100 as no help from neighbouring states
By Aisar Fagge & Ahmad Deedat Zakari
Following days of torrential downpour, floods have submerged many Jigawa communities and have killed scores and rendered many homeless in the Northwestern State.
Jigawa State is at the epicenter of climate crisis in the country owing to incessant rainfall in the state. This has caused dams and rivers to break their banks and destroy bridges, roads hospitals and several homes.
Over 100 people have been reported to have died as a result of the flood and thousands of people have been displaced. Farms and lifestocks are also not safe from the overwhelming effect of the flood.
Auyo, Hadeija , Ringim, Dutse, Gwaram, and Birnin Kudu Local Government Areas of the state are the most devasted by the flood.
The State Emergency Management, SEMA, through its Head, Sani Ya’u has disclosed that the government is doing everything to mitigate the effects of the flood on the affected communities.
However, the response to the humanitarian crisis by the government and civil society organizations have been said to be abysmal.
Mal. Naziru Chobal who spoke to The Daily Reality from Hadejia said only few villages are above water level and the government is doing very little in addressing the menacing flood. He also said governments of neighbouring states like Kano and Katsina have not taken any step to help salvage the situation.
“There was adhan [prayer calling] at 12: 00 am [which signifies emergency situation] and people in hundreds came out to block the embankment that broke. It’s scary. I was in the water carrying sand bags and the water level was up to the waist. I was scared because I don’t know how to swim.”
“The water level is high that you can’t cross any bridge, you’re not sure if there’s one. Especially Kafin Hausa to Auyo, Hadejia – Gamayin,” he said.
Commenting on the extent of the damage in Auyo, Naziru added, “In Auyo, their hospital, police station, INEC office are all flooded.”
The people displaced by the flood in Auyo and Hadejia are seeking shelter in a primary schools as the government is yet to commence evacuation of the victims. The villagers spend most of their time making sand bags to create embarkment to stop the water from entering the towns.

Of the things the flooded people needed the most according to Naziru are: sand, working tools, food, clothes, medicine, volunteers, etc.
NANS describes ruling against ASUU as ‘black market judgment’
By Uzair Adam Imam
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has described the ruling against the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) by the Industrial Court as black ‘market judgement’.
NANS said the ruling betrayed equity because the Federal Government, at the first place, ought not to drag the academic union before the court.
The court Wednesday has ordered ASUU to suspend its ongoing strike immediately, saying the strike was a breach of the Section 18(1)(2) of the Trade Disputes Act, which prohibits their action.
The students’ union disclosed this in a statement by its National Public Relations Officer, Giwa Yisa Temitope, who described the ruling as a “black market judgment.”
The statement read in part, “Our attention has been drawn to a news of a court judgment mandating the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call of its 7 month strike. As an association, we feel disturbed to read the news of the judgment because we believe that it betrays equity.
“Ordinarily, the Federal Government is not meant to have dragged ASUU to court. But, the fact that they had to drag ASUU to court is a signal that this government cannot handle crisis. And, we want to state categorically that the court cannot force members of ASUU back to lecture theatres.
“And, as it stands today, with that court judgment, we maintain that the court has not resolved the problem and we reject the judgment in strong terms.
“The court could have said that the Federal Government should go and pay rather than say that lecturers who are on strike should go back to classrooms. We were expecting the court to have understood that lecturers are on contract of personal service hence, they cannot be compelled to render a service they don’t want to render.
“The only remedy to this strike action is for the Federal Government to accede to the demands of ASUU which the government willingly entered into with them and properly fund education.”
Magistrate Court remands Chinese killer, Geng
By Muhammad Aminu
A Magistrate Court number 30 in Zungeru road Kano has ordered a Chinese immigrant, Geng Quangrong, to be remanded in Kurmawa Medium Security Custodial Center.
The Nigeria Police has charged Geng Quangrong for culpable homicide under section 221 of the penal code for killing his former girlfriend.
However, Magistrate Hanif Sanusi Ciroma ordered that the accused be returned to the custodial facility as the Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the case.
Geng is being accused of tresspassing and murdering 23-year old Ummulkulthum Buhari in Janbulo area on Friday night.
The deceased and accused were said to have been dating before the relationship turned sour.
Prosecution Counsel Barr Khalifa Auwal Hashim has requested the Court to return the accused to the Facility since it had no jurisdiction pending the legal advisory from the Kano State ministry of justice.
The Margistrate Court therefore ordered that the accused to be remanded at the custodial facility till 13th October, 2022 for rearraingement in a court with a jurisdiction.
Governor Fintiri and the complex cattle tax increment
By Zayyad I. Muhammad
Taxes and royalties collection is a fundamental avenue for a government to generate revenues to fund infrastructure and human capital development.
Adamawa State needs other sources of revenue apart from the free petro-dollar from the centre. The state is poor, with a fragile economy, including thousands of unemployed youths and people engaged in unproductive jobs.
The World Bank says – most developing countries with fragile economies “often face the steepest challenges in collecting taxes.”
There is a correlation between the timing of introducing new taxes, peoples’ economic strength and politics. No government can survive local politics if it introduces new taxes at the wrong time- especially when it faces a re-election bid. Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri is seeking re-election in the 2023 governorship election.
Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri’s introduction of a new cattle tax regime appears ill-timed, unplanned, and poorly communicated to the concerned people. So many explanations from the Governor’s aides, yet no one understands them because the basics in tax administration were left out – new tax collection should be optimized, but with minimal burden on the taxpayers, it should be fair & equitable, and at the appropriate time.
The Adamawa state government said that the ‘Adamawa State Agribusiness Support Programme (ADAS)’ is designed to take full advantage of the agricultural opportunities within the state and will focus on three areas of the Crop Value chain, Livestock and Aquaculture. The government further said – the Agric bond will draw twenty-five billion Naira annually, which will be used to offset many of the state’s liabilities and loans, and open a window for generating huge revenue as well as galvanizing the market in the Agric business, especially the livestock subsector” including the upgrade of cattle markets in Mubi, Ganye, Song, Gombi, Ngurore, Tungo, Malabu, and Wuro Bokki.
The Fintiri government failed to do its homework in two areas – balancing the economic needs and political necessity. The cattle tax is as historic as northern Nigeria. The five thousand Naira (N5,000) imposed on every cattle is exorbitant and unaffordable according to many people in the business
On the other hand, there are thorny politics associated with the cattle tax’, and the people related to the business are complex and critical in the socio-political settings of northern Nigeria, thus before tinkering with the tax, there is a significant requirement for discussion, engagements, and understandings. The livestock business is a vital sector, so to speak! as a result of poor timing and lack of discussion with stakeholders on the new increase in the cattle tax, the Mubi cattle market, one of the biggest in the north, didn’t operate last week. The security agents sealed the market on Tuesday, September 13, 2022.
Well, the Governor has found himself in a catch-22 situation because the upward review on tax for cattle and grains was one of the conditions the government must fulfil in accessing the capital market’s 100 billion naira agribusiness bond. Governor Fintiri has already collected 25 billion Naira from the 100 billion. And the investors are the ones to be collecting the taxes
Governor Fintiri is a history, policy, and strategy student, but often some of his decisions lack political strategy. He doesn’t have good political advisers or seeks any advice most of the time.
Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Abuja, 08036070980, zaymohd@yahoo.com.
Court declares Taraba APC governorship primary invalid
By Muhammadu Sabiu
The Taraba governorship primary election that resulted in Emmanuel Bwacha being the APC candidate in the 2023 election has been declared invalid on Tuesday by a Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo.
A disgruntled candidate named David Kente had taken the party and its nominee to court over the designation of Bwacha as the party’s candidate.
In his decision, Justice Simon Amobeda, the presiding Judge, mandated that a new primary election be held within 14 days.
The court further ordered Bwacha to stop posing as the APC’s candidate for governor.
Buhari’s daughter-in-law graduates from foreign university
By Ahmad Deedat Zakari
Zahrah Buhari, one of the daughters-in-law of Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, has graduated from a foreign university.
Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, broke the news of the family’s milestone on Facebook on Tuesday.
The First Lady, who posted pictures from the graduation ceremony, congratulated her daughters-in-law on graduating with a first-class degree in architecture.
“Congratulations to Mrs. Zahra B Buhari on your graduation with First Class Honors in Architectural Science. Wishing you all the best!” She wrote.
This is coming amidst the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, months-old strike. Consequently, many Nigerians condemn the first family for being insensitive to the plight of Nigerian students.
Bandits kill driver, abduct several passengers in Katsina
By Uzair Adam Imam
Unknown gunmen have attacked travellers along the Funtua-Dandume road, killed a commercial driver and abducted an unspecified number of people.
The attack occurred Sunday around 07:45 and involved travellers from both Funtua and Dandume who were kidnapped to an unknown destination.
A commercial car driver plying axis that spoke to Daily Trust, Bello Halilu, said he passed through the scene immediately after the incident.
He stated that “The incident happened at Kwanar Gamji around Hawan-Fulani. The bandits lay in ambush and opened fire at the moving vehicles, killing one driver and abducting an unspecified number of passengers. Some that escaped spent their night inside farms.
“Like yesterday (Sunday), some drivers manage to ply the route to cash in the booming economic activities in this harvest season,” he added.
Another driver, Malam Habibu, said, “When I ran into the bandits’ ambush, they already grounded one commercial vehicle and abducted its passengers; they shot at my car, a bullet struck me in the leg, but I managed to speed up for about two kilometres before I lost strength and parked. Police from the Dandume division later came and took me to the hospital,” he said.
Several flights rescheduled as Nigerian students protest against ASUU strike
By Uzair Adam Imam
Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, has rescheduled several flights as students stormed the airport to protest against the incessant strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The angry students threatened to shut down the airport if the conflict between the Federal Government and ASUU had not been resolved.
Our reporters gathered that the students were members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and had blocked the international airport as early as 07:00 am.
The decision of the protesting students was said to have caused gridlock on both ends of the airport, thereby leaving several passengers stranded.
However, they later moved to a domestic airport, causing traffic jams in the airport and Mobolaji Bank Anthony road leading to the local airport.
the protesting students were joined by a former Students Union Government President of the University of Lagos and Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore.
Many students have blamed both the federal government and ASUU over the ongoing dispute, which they said has ruined the dream of many promising Nigerian students.
ASUU has been on strike since February 14, 2022, making it over seven months now. However, the federal government has reportedly dragged the union before the court to end its strike that lingers.
Kano: Chinese Business Community condemns murder of Ummita
By Ahmad Deedat Zakari
The Chinese Business Community Association of Nigeria, CBCAN, has condemned the murder of Ummu Khulthum Buhari, alias Ummita, in Kano.
This was made known through a statement released on behalf of the Wakilin Mutanen China a Kano by his personal assistant, Ghuan Lei Zhan on Monday.
“The Chinese Business Community Association of Nigeria (CBCAN) under the leadership of Wakilin Mutanen China a Kano, Mr Zike Zhang, has condemned the Killing of Ummukuthum Buhari allegedly by a Chinese National, her lover Geng Quarong” Part of the statement reads.
The Chinese Business Community also said it supports law to take its proper course.
Ummukuthum was allegedly murdered by her Chinese lover on Friday night. Her murder has generated outrage on social media. Many people expressed concern over crimes allegedly committed by Chinese nationals working in Nigeria.
Reps to meet ASUU leaders in a bid to resolve seven months strike
By Ahmad Deedat Zakari
The House of Representatives have scheduled a meeting with the leadership of the Academic Staff of Universities, ASUU, in a bid to resolve the lingering impasse between the union and the government.
The Clerk of the Green Chamber, Yahaya Danzaria made the revelation in a statement he made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja .
According to Danzaria, the meeting will take place at the Representative Wing of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
“The House of Representatives is deeply concerned about the renewed strike which seems to have defied all efforts made to find a solution or reach an agreement between the Federal Government and the striking University lecturers.
The House is more worried about the negative consequences of the strike on the future and quality of education of our teeming youths who have been kept at home for the past six months despite the intervention of the House and several well-meaning Nigerians overtime to see that the matter was resolved.” Part of the statement reads
ASUU embarked on strike on February 14, consequent of which most Nigerians public universities have been shutdown.









