I lost a good fried, Dr Obadiah (Obed) Mailafia on Sunday at the young age of 64 years, apparently, from the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes, another casualty in the long list of distinguished Nigerians lost to this dreaded disease. As I always say to all my friends and relations, take your vaccination, follow the prescribed protocol and pray. I knew Obed from our student days at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), he was just a year behind in the university and I knew him from his first year – 1975-1976. He was a very cultured human being, very well read. I was…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
…An Agenda for the New Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Now that the Nigeria’s Agriculture sector has a new Minister after a period of quiescence, with the new Minister’s performance in the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) and the Ministry of Environment, there is high expectation that the sector will be put in the right trajectory that will ensure Nigeria’s food security, economic diversification, and industrial growth. The sectoral dormancy under the erstwhile Minister has plunge the Agric sector into uncoordinated and rudderless growth path and it was impossible to define the policy direction on the food sector as sectoral development through the food…
Zakia Hussein Ahmed, Somalia’s first female Brig. General in the Somali Police Force Brigadier General Zakia Hussein Ahmed has become the highest ranking female in the Somali Police Force after recent promotion from her previous rank as Colonel. She becomes the first woman in the country’s police history to attain the rank. Zakia Hussein Ahmed has been promoted from the rank of a Colonel to Brigadier General, making her the first woman in Somalia to occupy the position in the Somali Police Force. Brigadier General Zakia also occupies the new position of Somalia’s Deputy Police Commander. General Zakia’s new position…
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in New York reaffirmed the commitment of the federal government to attain national food security. Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s spokesman, in a statement, said the president stated this at the Food Systems Summit, as part of the High Level meetings of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. He said that Nigeria had developed a “food system focused development agenda that prioritizes healthy diets and affordable nutrition, inclusive, efficient, resilient, and sustainable, which will contribute to rebuilding our economy, create jobs and spur growth across sectors, while sustaining our ecosystems.” Buhari disclosed…
Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai has inaugurated the ultra-modern Kasuwan Magani Market, constructed at the cost of over N2.78 billion. The market has 2,024 shops which include lock up shops, open stalls, meat dressing slabs, abattoir, warehouses and 398 car parking spaces. It also has a police post, clinic, banking hall, fire service area, electricity and clean water supply. The governor said at the inauguration of the market on Thursday that it was part of deliberate investment by government towards peace-building and economic prosperity in a diverse community. The area has suffered long years of conflict, and El-Rufai said that the…
The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared N696.965 billion as federation allocation for August. This is contained in a statement issued on Thursday by Mr Oshundun Olajide, Deputy Director (Information), Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. The statement noted that the meeting of the committee was held virtually on Wednesday. The committee in a communique said from the N696.965 billion shared, the federal government received N289.257 billion, the states got N217.183 billion and the local governments (LGs) received N161.541 billion. It said that the total amount shared was inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT), Exchange Gain, Excess Bank…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it shifted its state congresses from Oct 2 to Oct. 16 to allow members participate in Nigeria’s independence celebrations on Oct 1. Sen. John Akpanudoedehe, National Secretary, APC Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) gave the explanation in a statement on Thursday in Abuja. “The need to honor the country’s 61st independence anniversary, which holds a day before the initial date fixed for the state congresses, informed the new date,” he said. He added that the decision was based on the fact that many governors, ministers, and party faithful would be involved in the…
The Kwara state government has again restated its commitment to the training and re-training of its workers to further reinvigorate the civil service. The State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Yisa Gideon, stated this at the opening ceremony of a two-day refresher training workshop organised by the Veterinary Department of the Ministry in Ilorin on Thursday. Gideon said that the present administration under the leadership of Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq was not oblivious of the importance of in-service training for its workforce especially the mainstream Civil Servants. “We are aware that some staff do have the rare privilege to attend…
The Lagos state government and the German Development Agency (GIZ) have entered into a strategic partnership to address the effects of COVID-19 on Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs). The partnership was solidified on Thursday in Lagos, at a workshop on “Validation for the Draft Report on Assessment of the Impact of Policy Options to address the effects of COVID-19 on MSMEs and Jobs in Lagos State”. The partnership was under the auspices of both the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and the Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria (SEDIN-GIZ) programme. Mr Charles Anyawu, the Director, Fund Raising/Stakeholders…
ECOWAS will be proactive in pre-electoral processes towards maintaining democracy in the region. Dr Sidie Tunis, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament made this known on Thursday during a meeting with the ECOWAS representative to the Republic Cape Verde in Praia. The Communications department of the Parliament disclosed this in a statement on Thursday. The ECOWAS Parliament Speaker and his Delegation are currently on a Fact-finding mission to the country to assess pre-electoral processes, level of preparedness for the upcoming general elections, and to engage relevant stakeholders. He revealed that most of the political issues unfolding in the region is as a…