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‘FG, States Determined To Fight Insecurity’
The Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal yesterday said federal and state governments were fully committed to liberating Nigeria from its current security challenges.
He stated this at the opening of a four-day Annual National Conference of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
The theme of the conference is ‘’Security, National Integration and the Challenges of National development’’.
Tambuwal said that the nation’s security forces were being repositioned to be efficient and diligent in discharging their constitutional duties.
He explained that repositioning the agencies became necessary because insecurity was undermining the efforts of the three tiers of government to develop the country.
‘’In the past five years, resources meant for national development were often diverted to address issues of insecurity,’’ he said.
The governor said that the conference was timely and its theme apt, and urged the participants to chart the way forward for Nigeria.
Doing so, he said, was critical for the nation to restore its lost glory in the comity of nations.
He said that the state government would partner the university in training and retraining of nurses, midwives and agricultural professionals, among others.
The Guest Speaker, Prof. Tijjani Bande, stressed the need for social justice at all levels.
Bande, who is the Director-General, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State, called for a marshal plan to decisively deal with the increasing threats to security.
Represented by Prof. Salisu Muhammad from the institute, he listed some of the security threats as insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery, dearth of infrastructure, poverty and unemployment.
Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Abdullahi Zuru, commended the state government for its enthusiasm to promote education.
He said that security and welfare of the people should be the primary purpose of government, and promised that the conference would come up with ideas that would help to move the country forward.
Zuru, observed that Nigeria’s quest for national integration and sustainable development was being undermined by the menace of insecurity.
He said that the activities of insurgents, militancy, kidnapping, armed robbery, and communal violence had compromised national development and cohesion.
He explained that management of the university was ready to provide the necessary platforms for scholars from across the country, to discuss and proffer solutions that could effectively tackle the problems.
“The university’s intellectual community is ever ready to share its modest knowledge on how to deal with the current threat of insecurity,” he said.
Zuru, promised to continue to support the faculty in its bid to promote and advance scholarship to stimulate robust discourse on topical and timely issues affecting, not only Nigeria, but humanity as a whole.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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