Kano Bans Smoking In Public Places

Kano State Government has banned smoking in public places to fight the tobacco epidemic as Nigeria estimates more than 16,100 annual death from tobacco-related diseases.

In an effort to protect future generations and improve the health status of the people in Kano, the state government said it has committed a lot of resources to the control of non-communicable diseases in the state such as hypertension, sickle cell diseases, asthma, and tobacco-related lung diseases such as cancers among others.

During a press briefing held on Monday at Kano Ministry of Health to commemorate the World NO Tobacco Day (WNTD), the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa disclosed that the state government is working tirelessly to reduce the number of smokers and rate of smoking in the state.

We have an act that specifically talks about the ban of smoking in public places and to also stop the selling of it to children less than 18 years. Also, the Government will keep sensitizing the public to understand the risk of smoking and why they should quit smoking”, he said.

The commissioner added that there is currently a bill before the State House of Assembly to establish an agency to be called “Drug Abuse Control Agency” which will be saddled with ensuring that the rate of drug abuse is reduced in the state.

Tsanyawa added that the state government will soon establish the agency to work hand in hand with other stakeholders to control drug abuse in the state because tobacco is the major risk factor for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) which is also associated with a higher risk of developing severe Covid-19 outcomes and death.

In line with the theme of this year’s event “Commit to Quit”, the Government in collaboration with World Health Organziation (WHO) and Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) has provided a helpline number: +41798931892 for smokers who want to quit smoking.

Niger Gov Flies Abroad After Abduction Of School Children

Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State flew out of the country hours after an unspecified number of children were abducted from an Islammiya School in the state.

The reported how bandits abducted the students during the weekend.

The whereabouts of the victims have been unknown as the bandits have not contacted their family.

In a statement on Monday, Mary Noel-Berje, Chief Press Secretary to Bello, said the governor had issued a directive for the release of the victims from his base overseas.

She said he left the country on a security mission.

“He has, however, given directives to the security operatives and state government officials to do all they can towards ensuring the safe return of the abducted Tegina Islamiyya children and others.

The Governor, who is expected back in the country within the shortest period of time, has assured the rescue and safe return of the children,” she said.

While assuring the parents of the abducted children of their safe return, the governor urged citizens to cooperate and share intelligence that will help in the quick rescue of the children.

Bello also directed that a situation room be reactivated to update the public.

Gulak’s Assassination Sparks Outrage

Gulak was shot dead by assailants who trailed him to Obiangwu village as he made way to Sam Mbakwe Airport, in Owerri, Imo state.

There was outrage and mourning Sunday over the assassination of Barr. Ahmed Gulak, a former political adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, by gunmen in Imo State.

Gulak was shot dead by assailants who trailed him to Obiangwu village as he made way to Sam Mbakwe Airport, in Owerri, the Imo State Capital, on his way to Abuja.

Funeral prayers for the Adamawa-born politician were conducted yesterday evening at the National Mosque, Abuja, after which his remains were interred at the Gudu Cemetry at around 8 pm.

Police in Imo last night said they had tracked down suspected killers of the of the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, and killed at least six of them, after a fierce encounter.

A statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bala Elkana, said that “On 30th May, 2021 following a distress received by the Command on the gruesome murder of Ahmed Gulak, Police Special Forces made up of Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Police Mobile Force (PMF) and Tactical Units from the command were deployed to the scene at Obiangwu Junction at Ngorokpala LGA of Imo state.

The teams were given a clear instruction to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of the act with a view of bringing them to justice.

Eyewitnesses account, especially the account given by the Driver of the vehicle that was conveying Ahmed Gulak to the Airport before the attack, gave a vivid description of the assailants and the vehicles they used in carrying out the attack.

The assailants were said to have used a Toyota Camry 2005 model with silver color; Toyota Sienna 1998 Model with golden color; Toyota Hilux with white color; and a Lexus RX 330 with golden Color. (Registration numbers are withheld for security reasons).

Having established the identity of the assailants and the description of the vehicles used in carrying out the attack, the teams further got details of the direction the hoodlums have taken. With further leads, the team was able to establish the location of suspects.

The suspects were rounded up at Afor Enyiogugu junction in Aboh-Mbaise Local Government Area. The hoodlums where met distributing onions to locals from a trailer they confiscated. The trailer was loaded with Onions from the Northern region of Nigeria.

On sighting the Police, the hoodlums providing security coverage to those sharing the onions opened fire on the Police teams.

The Gallant and battle ready Police Officers swiftly returned the fire. The six hoodlums who carried out the killings and four other members of their gang were fatally injured. Three out of the four vehicles used in attacking Gulak were recovered.

Three AK 47 Rifles, one Pistol, five AK 47 magazines with ninety two rounds of live ammunition and criminal charms were recovered. The assailants were identified as members of the proscribed IPOB and ESN.

The driver who drove late Ahmed Gulak and a co- victim who survived have all identified the dead body of the IPOB/ESN members positively as their attackers and also identified the three vehicles recovered as those used by the attackers.

During the encounter, two of the police armored personnel carriers (APC) were riddled with bullets but survived the gun battle.

A video clip on the aftermath of the attack shows Gulak in a pair of Jean trousers and a blue T-shirt lying in a pool of his own blood, besides the abandoned car.

Gulak was the chairman of the controversial Imo All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election that produced Hope Uzodinma as the party’s flagbearer. He was also said to have remained close to the governor visiting the state frequently.

Why he was in Owerri’

Though Gulak is said to be a regular visitor to Owerri since the ascension of Uzodinma, his last trip was however to attend the public hearing of the constitution review committee held in the city.

After the conclusion of the committee’s sitting, Gulak stayed back while other members of the committee departed the city on Friday.

A source close to Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, who chaired the public hearing in Owerri said the deceased was offered to fly on Kalu’s private jet after the public hearing, but he declined.

According to the source, Kalu’s team left Owerri on the day the public hearing ended but Gulak stayed behind saying he had things to do in the city.

The source said: “We left Owerri on the day the public hearing ended and we asked him to join us on our private jet and we had enough security with us. But he said he had things to do in the city.

Nigerians knock FG, political actors over killing

Nigerians on social media berated the federal government and political actors for his killing.

A commentator on the Facebook link of the story published by Daily Trust, Ifeanyi Maduako, while describing Gulak’s death as ‘’distasteful’’, linked the incident with politics.

This killing is very distasteful to me. It appears political and those behind it should be unraveled. The killing will expose those behind the current insecurity in Imo State.

Who invited him and why killing a northerner in Imo State? I am very afraid what fate awaits innocent Imo State people in the coming days in the hands of northern controlled security agencies,’’ he wrote.

Another commentator on the thread, Oloruntobi Micheal Omo, noted: ‘’The police report proves that this killing is political and hence calls for an in-depth investigation. Police I guess have some questions to answer.

On his part, Comr Umar Hassan Ahmad wrote, “The soul of our innocent people is more important than this scam which is called Nigeria unity.

This illiteracy will not be acceptable to us, enough is enough we are peacemakers but those are pushing us to the wall that this peacemaking can no longer be sustained. I am warning our retaliation will be worst. Buhari you failed us woefully, am urging Imo police to confront the culprit.

Nasiru Inuwa wrote, “A wake up call to the northern elites, they’ve started with the innocent Fulani herders & now turned to northern govt officials & prominent politicians.

Count us out – IPOB

The outlawed IPOB, in a statement by its secretary, Emma Powerful, faulted reports linking it to the murder of Gulak, noting that the assassination of politicians is not part of its agenda.

We, therefore, state without equivocations that IPOB knows nothing about the said assassination. In the first place, what threat did the late Gulak constitute to our cause to warrant his elimination? We had nothing in common with him and could not have in any way killed him.

Pointing accusing fingers at IPOB for this barbaric act is only meant to divert attention away from the real masterminds. This is the same way terrorists in security uniform commit various atrocities in South East and turn around to blame IPOB for their crimes just to tarnish our global reputation.

This is purely a smokescreen to justify their long-awaited plan to declare another special military operation in the Eastern region to kill more innocent Biafrans.

Instead of the security agencies to properly investigate the incident and possible factors, they switch to accuse IPOB of a crime we know nothing about. Did IPOB have the itinerary of the late Gulak to have waylaid him at the airport?”

The group said security agencies should first investigate “Gulak’s host, Hope Uzodinma, as well as his political opponents to establish their possible involvement”.

Buhari: Those behind Gulak’s murder won’t go unpunished.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that those behind the murder of Gulak and other incidents across the country will not go scot free.

President Buhari, in a statement issued Sunday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, expressed outrage and disgust over “the heinous murder.

The president, who expressed sadness over the incident, said: “I’m repulsed by such premeditated and gruesome murder of Gulak by evil people who are determined to undermine the peace, unity and territorial integrity of our country.

Let me warn however that nobody or group of people who engages in such despicable acts should expect to go free. We will deploy all resources at our disposal to ensure that such callous and criminal elements are brought to justice.

Gulak’s killing unacceptable – Akeredolu

Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu described the news of the assassination as very shocking and disturbing.

In a statement personally signed by the governor, he said this is one murder too many, describing the action as senseless and wicked.

The perpetrators of this heinous act are enemies of this country. This contrivance is meant to mislead, confuse and destroy. It bears the unmistakable, despicable imprints of fifth columnists bent on setting the country on the path of conflagration. These criminals must not be allowed to succeed.

We want to use this medium to express our solidarity with our brother, Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma. We admonish him and other governors in the South Eastern States to brace up, and confront the current security challenge to put an end to the bloodbath in the land. The enemies of the people always employ the weapon of fear to create disaffection in the polity.

This cowardly act is calculated to instigate Nigerians against each other, particularly Northerners, against the Igbo living outside the South East. We must confront the enemies of the people with a view to neutralising them. This is definitely not the time for political correctness. Banditry should not be allowed to subvert the legitimacy of the current government at all levels.

We call on all security agencies to collaborate with a view to unveiling the criminal elements sponsoring and undertaking terrorist acts. They must be punished, severely.

Fintiri mourns

The Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri described as shocking the gruesome murder of Gulak who was a former Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly.

Governor Fintiri said the death was painful and a reflection of the wickedness of the wicked.

Governor Fintiri described the late Gulak as a witty, determined and practical politician whose rise in life was as a result of sheer hard work.

It is unfortunate that death has taken from us The Rt. Hon Ahmed Gulak in such a gruesome manner. He was a lively politician who loved and worked with everyone, and always held the interests of the country at heart.

Recalling his interactions with the late Gulak, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri said, “He was a brother and a mentor, and a fighter for human rights as a lawyer. Madagali community has lost a true son.

In a statement issued yesterday in Yola through his Chief Press Secretary, Hunwashi Wanisoukou, the governor noted that “Our country has lost an astute fighter for human rights. We all remember how passionate he fought for the plight of those displaced by insurgency and the downtrodden.

ACF condemns assassination

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has condemned Gulak’s assassination, describing it as a “monumental loss” to the nation.

The ACF in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Yawe, said it was sad to receive news on the assassination of Ahmed Gulak describing him as a dynamic and progressive politician from the north.

“You liked or hated him that was your business. He had class. He had style. May God bless him and give his family and his state, Adamawa the strength to bear this monumental loss,” it stated.

Assassination part of plans to replicate 1966 coup – CNG

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has described Sunday’s assassination of Ahmed Gulak, a prominent northern leader and former Political Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan as coordinated and as well as incessant attacks on police formations in Nigeria’s southeast as part of a wider plan to replicate the coup of 1966.

The CNG in a statement signed by its Spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman said it was the reason why the northern part of the country cannot be reasonably expected to live with the south east as a nation alleging that the “violent rascality” by the Indigenous

People of Biafra (IPOB), the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and other armed Igbo gangs are funded, fully supported and emboldened by every component of the Igbo society at home and in the diaspora.

Boat Capsizing - Kebbi Gov’t Plans Strict Regulation Of Marine Transportation

The Kebbi State governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, has hinted that the government will enforce a strict regulation of marine transportation in the state following the death of over 100 people in a boat mishap.

This was in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Abubakar Mu’azu Dakingari, on Saturday.

The statement said: “Kebbi State Government will from now, strictly regulate marine transportation in the state in furtherance of efforts to safeguarding lives and property of commuters.

“Consequently, a law is underway to enforcing safety measures in the operations of boat and canoes, plying waterways.

 A boat carrying about 200 passengers and heading to Warra in Kebbi State from Minna in Niger State had capsized, claiming about 100 lives.

Of the passengers on the boat, who were mostly traders and food vendors, 23 others were rescued.

The governor donated the sum of N11 million to the families of victims of the boat mishap.

Dakingari said Bagudu announced the donation when he visited warrah to condole with the bereaved families on Friday.

Before departure, the governor donated more than eleven million naira to the families of those who lost their lives as well as to defray the cost of search and rescue, commending all volunteers who partook in the rescue operation.

Zamfara governor donates too

Zamfara State governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle also donated the sum of N30m to the families of the deceased.

Matawalle announced the donation on Saturday when he visited the Kebbi State governor on condolence in Birnin Kebbi.

He prayed for the souls of the dead to rest in peace.

Witchcraft: Community Banishes Man For 20 Years In Abia

Obohia Community in Amuda Isuochi, Umunneochi LGA of Abia State has erupted in frenzy, following the banishment of a man, Mr Obioma Ubani from the community for allegedly witchcraft.

Obioma, in his late 50s, was accused of being responsible for the some evil events in Obohia, particularly the death of one Prof Chike Ubani.

Obioma was also accused of using his witchcraft powers to destroy the fortunes of some male youths, whose means of earning money he allegedly ‘blocked’.

Apart from male youths, some young girls also claimed that their suitors usually ran away, even after approaching them for marriage.

The suspect, who pleaded to be allowed to explain himself, did not get the chance as he was sent out of his village by youths, elders and women, who sang as he left the village with only a plastic bag while his body was dressed with fresh palm fronds.

The jubilating crowd prayed to God to expose more evil men in their community, even as they warned the man to remain in banishment for the next 20 years before he could be allowed back to perform land cleansing.

Meanwhile, anxiety still pervade the community as it was gathered that a few natives sympathetic to the banished Obioma were silently unhappy over the manner he was disgraced, as they saw it as a jungle justice.

A youth who simply identified himself as Uche claimed that more suspected ‘evil men’ in Obohia may face the same music soon as Obioma unless they repented.

But the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abia State Police Command, Mr Geoffrey Ogbonna when contacted by our Correspondent, said the matter had not been reported to the Police.

Effects Of E-Learning On Students

Technology is significant to our daily life, activities as well as development of the society. In the education sector, we are no longer limited to the traditional face to face classroom setting but are now evolving and adapting to online learning. There is need for constant readjustment, especially when it comes to a new way of doing things which is a part of learning.

E-learning can be referred to as an alternative method of learning. One of its characteristics is that, it is not the typical classroom setting that is limited to the four walls, exhausted teachers and students, but a whole world of flexible learning environment.

E-learning could be in form of online classes rather than physical classes and even taking online certificate courses on various certified platforms. It is basically learning on the internet with the use of electronic devices. Some of the features of e-learning are really great, while some make you to want to drop the whole flexible learning and stick to the traditional classroom learning. After all, the devil you know is better than the angel you do not know.

The ability of E-learning to save cost is one of its major attractions. Students and universities do not need to worry about accommodation or feeding payment because everything can be done from home online. It is a great back-up plan for unforeseen circumstances. 

This is evident in the advent of the COVID-19 for schools that could afford it. During the period, E-learning became a backup plan.

It also enhances their technological know-how. E-learning has created a paper-less community instead of always printing out assignments.

E-learning helps students to manage their time. It helps you to understand that every second, minute and hour counts. E-learning also enhances class participation. 

With E-learning, students that are very shy in physical class, could comfortably contribute to learning processes from the comfort of their homes.


In a research carried out in Covenant University on “The impacts of E-learning in Facilitating Academic Performance Among Private Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions,” it was stated that E-learning has effects on academic performances. This ranges from improvement in results and more engagements in academic activities etc. However, as effective as this might sound, E-learning is not a bed of roses. It has its bad sides too.

E-learning inhibits interactions among students. Humans are social beings but E-learning does not create avenue for that. There is also a limitation on the type of course that can be done via E-learning. 

Such courses are mostly theory-oriented. Practical courses that may require laboratory practicals or other forms of practical applications cannot work effectively and efficiently with E-learning It is done on the internet, hence, there are lots of rooms for distractions. 

Students can easily get carried away to other sites. It also creates an avenue for cheating as there is little or no supervision. Online learning has a two-way effect on the average Nigerian student. It could be positive or negative.

A major negative effect of E-learning on Nigerian student is on their mental health. With online learning, there in increased anxiety among students to meet up with deadlines and attendance. 

In some cases, uncontrollable forces like bad network could occur and most of the lecturers are not flexible enough to extend the deadlines. This can result in panic, tension and frustration. Mental health is very important and in learning, you need your sanity and peace of mind.

With E-learning, much information is dumped at once and the student needs time to process them. This cycle of mental exhaustion would in turn push the students to a peak where they either tune out or get distracted with something else.

Online learning encourages procrastination. It makes it easy to get carried away with other things at home and keep pushing back on when to do a task. This leads to workload and panic when deadlines dawns.

One major effect of E-learning is the one that has to do with the inability of those in rural communities to use online platforms.

Students must be able to take note of both negative and positive effects of E-learning and adapt accordingly.

Alhaji Aminu Dantata at 90

Aminu Dantata was one of the eighteen surviving offsprings of Alhassan Dantata when I was growing up in the 1960s. Most of them lived on the same street founded by their father, around 1910, when he relocated to Kano from the Gold Coast, following the emerging groundnut trade in Nigeria. The kilometre long Sarari Street was lined with warehouses on both sides of the road, with few residential houses sandwiched in between.

The first house belonged to Alhassan. The houses of his children followed, including that of my late father – Ahmadu Dantata; my uncle and adoptive father – Aminu Dantata, who adopted me after the death of my father in 1960; as well as Sanusi Dantata, the maternal grandfather of Aliko Dangote, who adopted Aliko after the death of his father in 1965.

The warehouses on Sarari Street and adjoining alleys of Sarari District were demolished over the years to pave way for more houses as the Dantata family grew. My house today stands on land where a warehouse stood when I was a child. The warehouse was demolished in 1988 to make way for my house, in line with family tradition.

Nigeria was the world’s biggest exporter of groundnuts. Kano was the epicentre of Nigeria’s groundnut trade, and the Groundnut Pyramids the trademark of the phenomenal trade. At its peak in the 1930s, groundnut was Nigeria’s leading export. The image of Groundnut Pyramid – on the Nigerian currency, postage stamps and post cards – doubled as the iconic symbol of Nigeria’s agricultural wealth, when Nigeria was a net exporter of agricultural products.

The big three – cocoa, palm produce and groundnuts, accounted for over 70 percent of Nigeria’s exports. The Kano-Lagos rail, opened in 1912, was the first transnational rail in Nigeria, purposely built to carry exports of the north to Lagos. 

Construction of the Apapa Port, begun earlier than the Kano rail, was the first infrastructural project of the colonial administration in Nigeria, conceived as terminus for the Kano to Lagos rail. Nigeria was a tale of two cities, with Lagos as hub for goods from southern Nigeria ferried to Apapa Port by lorries, and Kano as hub of northern Nigeria, receiving goods by lorries from across the north for trans-shipment by rail to Lagos.

This arrangement lasted for ten years before the rail was extended to Port Harcourt, Enugu, Jos and other newly built stations across the country.

Last man standing” is a tribute to Aminu Dantata, as he turns 90, as well as a tribute to his generation who participated in the phenomenal exports of colonial Nigeria and the 1960s.

Baba Aminu joined the family business in 1948 after leaving school and was posted to Argungu as a dan-gyada (groundnut buying agent). He was promoted to District Manager of Sokoto Province of Alhassan Dantata and Sons Limited, before eventually heading the company in 1960. 

Alhassan Dantata and Sons Ltd supplied so much groundnuts to the Nigerian Railway Corporation that it became the only indigenous company granted a private railway siding; a privilege enjoyed by the European companies. 

Railway sidings connected compounds of major exporters to the main grid of the railway for trains to enter and collect cargo directly from their warehouses. One family’s dominance over Nigeria’s groundnut trade continued after the death of the patriarch.

Two brothers, Aminu Dantata and Sanusi Dantata  well into the 1960s and 1970s, between them supplied more than half the annual groundnut purchases of Northern Nigeria Marketing Board, the government agency mandated to buy groundnuts, cotton and other commodities for export.

The Groundnut Pyramid was the invention of the Kano merchants. It all began as stopgap for storage of groundnuts when an overwhelmed Kano Railway Station – in its second year of operation – shut its gates to groundnuts in 1912. 

The weekly train to Lagos could not accommodate any more groundnuts. The European companies stopped accepting groundnuts with warehouses full to the brim. More groundnuts were pouring into the city with the harvest season just beginning.

Unlike the annual torrential rain that Kano was used to, the ancient city was not prepared for the sudden downpour of groundnuts. The Kano merchants, rather than turn back the precious nut when European companies stopped buying, continued to accept supplies from the farms. They resorted to piling up sacks of groundnuts in heaps, in front of their homes, and on the streets of Kano. 

They called the heap “Dalar Gyada”, Groundnut Hill in local parlance. The Colonial administration stepped in to create an official standard for the heap – setting its length, width, height, and number of bags – and officially named it “Groundnut Pyramid” after its pyramidical shape.

My generation may be the last to have seen the Groundnut Pyramids, buried under the dust of Nigerian history. Growing up in the 1960s, we played around the Groundnut Pyramids that adorned the landscape of Kano as the major economic and touristic icons of the city.

Placing the last sack atop the pyramid was the most interesting aspect of the pyramid. It was difficult and dangerous, requiring both strength and guile. A slip could cause the labourer, and the heavy sack, tumbling down to the ground. “Buhun karshe” was always placed with pomp and pageantry, watched by a huge crowd of spectators, including the owner of the pyramid and invited guests.

Drummers and praise singers urged the labourer on as he scaled his way up cautiously with a sack on his head. A prize awaited him immediately he came down, usually a for himself and fabric for his wife. Dapge was Alhassan’s expert, enjoying the rare privilege of placing Alhassan’s last sack. I never saw Dapge in action for he was a frail old man on Sarari Street when I met him in the 1960s.

Newly independent Nigeria was a big construction site in the 1960s, reminiscent of a developing country. This prompted Baba to venture into construction business. He got his big break in 1962, a contract to build the old Nigerian Defence Academy complex in Kaduna city.

We were driving through Kaduna to Kano from Abuja one day in 1991 when Baba pointed to the NDA buildings with pride and told us that he built the complex, worth half a million pounds, the biggest building contract ever awarded to an indigenous contractor then. His second big break, he said, came two years later in 1964, building the School of Aviation complex in Zaria which consolidated his position as a market leader in the construction industry.

NAMCO (Northern Amalgamated Marketing Company Ltd) was a major importer and wholesale distributor of essential commodities such as rice, sugar and fertilizer. Dantata Motors Ltd held a Mercedes Benz dealership importing saloon cars from Germany. 

Main Line Transport Ltd – a haulage company, imported trucks from Hino Motors of Japan and was Hino’s biggest African customer in the 1980s. They and many more were subsidiaries of Dantata Organization. The group also invested in companies outside its fold, particularly in the manufacturing sector, such as the Flour Mills of Nigeria, manufacturers of Golden Penny products. Dantata Organization also ventured into the down stream oil sector by the 1990s with Express Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd.

I never met my grandfather, Alhassan Dantata. He died in 1955, two years before I was born. I hardly know my biological father, Ahmadu Dantata. He died in 1960 when I was barely three years old, three months to Nigeria’s independence. The two were gladiators of the colonial era.

My foster father, Aminu Dantata, is a gladiator of both colonial and independent Nigeria. Born in 1931, he is an embodiment of the old and the new Nigeria. He has seen it all. He came to the world a British subject and is leaving as a Nigerian citizen. 

An entrepreneur par excellence, he has successfully participated in two diametrically opposed business regimes – the economies of the British colony of Nigeria and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. While the British focused on export of raw materials that greased the machinery of industrial Europe, subsequent Nigerian governments came up with industrialization programs, with varying success, to boost local production and satisfy the needs of teeming populations.

As Baba Aminu attains the enviable age of 90, he is the sole survivor of Alhassan’s children – uncles and aunts I grew up with. We thank Allah for Baba’s long life. Allah knows best why he kept him alive, surviving his father and over thirty siblings as the last man standing.

Munzali Dantata

Baba was appointed commissioner in newly created Kano State in 1967. He served for five years before leaving in 1973 to return to his business. By then, the business landscape of Nigeria had changed dramatically, from an export driven economy to an economy driven by imports, supported by only one export – crude oil. 

The Ground Pyramids had disappeared from the landscape of Kano, I was about to complete secondary school, and Dantata Organization was making its debut.

World Bank approves $700 million credit for Nigeria

The credit will provide six million people with basic drinking water services and 1.4 million people access to improved sanitation services.

The World Bank has approved a $700 million dollar for the Nigeria Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme (SURWASH).


It made the announcement in a statement on its website in Washington D. C. on Thursday.


According to the statement, the credit will provide six million people with basic drinking water services and 1.4 million people access to improved sanitation services.


It would also deliver improved Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services to 2,000 schools and Health Care Facilities and assist 500 communities to achieve open defecation-free status.


These would be implemented as part of the Federal Government’s National Action Plan (NAP) for the revitalisation of Nigeria’s water supply, sanitation, and hygiene sector.


In 2019, approximately 60 million Nigerians were living without access to basic drinking water services, 80 million without access to improved sanitation facilities and 167 million without access to a basic handwashing facility.


In rural areas, 39 per cent of households lack access to at least, basic water supply services, while only half have access to improved sanitation and almost a third (29 per cent) practice open defecation, a fraction that has marginally changed since 1990,” said the statement.

The bank, however, said in recent years, the Federal Government had strengthened its commitment toward improving access to WASH services, spurred on by the need for Nigeria’s WASH sector to catch up with its regional counterparts.


This, it said, led to the government declaring a state of emergency in 2018 and launching NAP aimed at ensuring universal access to sustainable and safely managed WASH services by 2030, commensurate with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Cholera Kills 7 People In Gombe Village

A cholera outbreak had claimed the lives of seven people, with six others still receiving treatment at a Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in Garko Ward of Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State.

The state’s Commissioner of Health, Dr Habu Dahiru, in a statement yesterday, said the outbreak was confirmed by the ministry’s Rapid Response Team, which established a treatment centre at Bogo Model PHC.

According to him, the deployment of the team followed a surveillance report of suspected cases of cholera and death of a two-year-old child in Kalajanga village of Akko.

He said within the last seven days, 32 cases were treated and discharged from the health centre with six others currently on admission.

According to him, the cholera outbreak was attributed to drinking of contaminated water by the victims.

“The onset of rainy season at times heralds the period of cholera outbreaks from drinking contaminated water. Therefore, it is easily spread in the community if control measures are sub-optimal,” he said.

Dr Dahiru added that he has activated a multi-sectoral Incident Management System for a prompt and coordinated response to the outbreak, with adequate resources for the management of cases and treatment.

The commissioner called on residents of the state to ensure use of clean water, consumption of hygienically prepared meals, observing personal hygiene and environmental sanitation.

N385 Fuel Price Would Harm Economy, Nigerians

A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) have said the proposed N385 petrol pump price will not be in the best interest of the nation’s economy and its citizenry.

President of the Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI), Dr. Douglas Fabeke, who spoke on behalf of others at a media conference on Thursday in Abuja, rejected the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) proposal, saying it would harm Nigerians and destabilise the nation’s economy.

Also, there is an underground plan to influence Mr. President to remove the GMD NNPC, Mele Kyari, for refusing to unilaterally approve the N385 per litres and also his commitment to address all the bad things that happened in the system and make a sustainable change in the oil and gas industry.”

He recalled that on May 19, 2021, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) held a virtual meeting and adopted the recommendations of the report of a six-man committee headed by the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, recommending that the pump price of petrol should be increased from N162 to N385 per litre.

The report and recommendations were presented to the National Economic Council headed by the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo at its meeting held on May 20, 2021.

We vow to utilise every legal means possible to resist any attempt by the government to further deepen the suffering of Nigerians by increasing the pump price of petrol as this will bring an unbearable hardship to all Nigerian, and further push the Nation to brink of collapse of the system,” Fabeke said.

154 Feared Dead In Kebbi Boat Mishap

It was learnt that a heavily loaded boat heading to a village in Niger State from Kebbi in North-West capsized.

A total of 154 persons are still missing following Wednesday’s boat mishap in Kebbi State, relevant authorities said Wednesday.

It was learnt that a heavily loaded boat heading to a village in Niger State from Kebbi in North-West capsized.

There are fears that many of the victims would not be removed from the river alive considering the low pace of rescue efforts occasioned by poor equipment.

The incident occurred in Ngaski Local Government Area of Kebbi State at about 10am.

Apart from the people onboard, the wooden boat was said to be carrying bags of sand for gold miners, motorcycles and other equipment as the locals were heading for a local market.

Sources said that while authorities were using out-dated equipment to bring out those trapped under the water, many local divers were using crude methods to search for the missing passengers including men, women and children.

The Area Manager of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) in Yauri, Kebbi State, Mr Yusuf Birma, confirmed the incident adding that it was caused by overloading and weak boat.

He said that four people had been confirmed dead, 20 rescued alive while 156 people are still missing and that rescue operation was still ongoing.

The boat is carrying 180 passengers with 30 Bajaj motorcycles. The victims were going to a market in Malele in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State from Kebbi and the incident happened just a few hours into their trip.

“We are still rescuing the victims and the mishap occurred as a result of overloading. The boat does not have the capacity to carry 180 passengers. 156 people are still missing and they are believed to be underwater,” he said.

Rickety boats responsible

Speaking further on the cause of the mishap, Birma said that most of the boats being used by locals across riverine states were old.

He said in the latest incident, the overloaded and old boat hit a log while sailing.

“The boat involved is a wooden boat which is old and very weak but these people will not listen when we speak to them to reduce the number of passengers they carry,” he said.

The chairman of Ngaski LGA, Abdullahi Buhari Warra, described the accident as fatal and pitiful.

He said five people including two women, two men and a girl have been buried.

According to him, those in the boat included artisanal gold miners, traders and some Nigerien nationals. He said more corpses were expected to be recovered today.

As I am speaking to you now, there are many people in the river who are yet to be rescued there is no hope of getting them alive,” he told one of our correspondents.

In fact, many people have died and nobody can precisely know their number.

We are able to rescue only 22 people who have been rushed to the Warra General Hospital for medical attention.

In fact, we went to the main river in Wara town where there were people crying when they came out of the water. Someone who came out of the boat said there were many small children who drowned because there was no one to rescue them.

Someone people from Zamfara State told me that there were eight members of the same family and they all drowned,” he said.

He, however, said it was not the fault of the Kebbi authorities for overloading the ship and accused the people of refusing to wear life jackets.

We are currently providing seven boats to the navy and other rescue workers to search for corpses and some survivors,” he said.

The Niger State Emergency Management Agency also confirmed the incident adding that it didn’t happen in their state.

It’s devastating – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari last night described the incident as devastating.

President Buhari, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, condoled the families of those affected by the tragedy.

The President extended his gratitude to all those involved in the rescue efforts and wished those injured from the accident quick recovery as the efforts to recover more survivors continued.

Recurrent mishaps

The early this month, 30 people drowned when an overloaded boat capsized in central Niger State.

The boat ferrying local traders split into two after hitting a log during a storm as they were returning from a local market, according to emergency officials.

The incident happened in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

The Director General of the State Emergency Management Agency, Ahmed Inga, said the occupants of the boat were 100 passengers coming from Tija village of Munya Local Government Area of the state.

He said 65 people survived, 28 corpses recovered by local divers while seven people are still missing.

‘How I left U.S. to build tomato company in Nigeria - Mira Mehta

Mira Mehta runs the promising firm that has received $10 million worth of investment.

is the CEO of Tomato Jos in Kaduna State. The firm has received $10m (N4 billion) worth of investment. Ms Mehta says Nigeria needs infrastructure to boost agriculture.

Aside from tomatoes, she grows corn and wheat.

In this episode of our Women in Agriculture, she shares her experience on how she engages rural farmers.

Your farm is located in Kaduna not Jos, and your farm is called Tomato-Jos. Why is not Tomato-Kaduna?

Ms Mehta: The name came before the location in 2013 when I first came about the idea. I was thinking more of the company, the brand and the product. And the tomatoes from Jos gets the premium in the market. They usually sell at a higher price so I wanted to mark my product with that quality, that when you buy my product you’re buying a high-quality product.

Another thing is that the name grounds the brand in Nigeria unlike other top tomato brands in Nigeria with Italian sounding names but I really wanted to make the name Nigerian and the last thing is that the name is like the Igbo slang to a girlfriend “my Tomato-Jos” which means very clean; very fresh; when we were looking for land, Kaduna ended up being the best part for us.

Aside from this, what actually inspired you to go into agriculture?

Ms Mehta: I wanted to do something that was going to be highly impactful for a rural community and basically, I had been working for four years and I had done a lot of healthcare-related work and what I saw travelling around these clinics and hospitals, how poor most of the patients coming to seek medical attention are and I wanted to make a profit while touching lives so that was why I was drawn to the sector.

You established this company since 2014, how has been the journey so far?

Ms Mehta: It has been quite uneasy and there are times when people don’t really understand what you’re trying to do and nobody else has your back through your ups and downs. Even up to our first production till now, there have been ups and downs. It has not really been easy.

Capital for Nigerian farmers is usually difficult. How much did you invest when you started in 2014?

Ms Mehta: I can’really say now but since then till now we’ve raised the capital to about $10 million. It has been quite difficult though.

Having a capital of $10 million in Nigeria is big for an individual. Are you in partnership with anybody?

Ms Mehta: Well, we have investors, we are exploring a strategic partnership with other large companies in Nigeria but so far we have not made any partnership with anyone in Nigeria.

Your seven years journey is long enough to be an expert in the sector, what will you say is the most difficult part of the sector?

Ms Mehta: There are many difficult challenges in the industry like having sufficient capital to work. Basically, we started business in 2014 and we’ve not yet launched a consumer product and have not started making a reasonable amount of money so I have investors that are super super patient and willing to give me the time to build all the infrastructure that I am trying to build. The bulk of the capital goes into infrastructure due to the lack of infrastructure in Nigeria. No good roads, no power supply, no network where we are, with very bad Internet.

All those basic things that are supposed to be in place are not so you’ll have to provide some fire yourself. Another challenging part of agriculture is figuring out how to source materials, how to get farmers to do something that they’ve never done before, change their behaviour, getting our staff to do what they’ve never done before. The way we operate is different from the way even a professional farm operates.

Ms: Mehta: We have about 500 hectares but we are not cultivating all that. We are cultivating about 60 and 220 over the next 12 months.

You run a large farm that requires both manual labour and machines. How many employees do you have and how are you able to manage them?

Ms Mehta: We have about 60 permanent employees to add 15 more soon and is pretty hard to manage people, to even get an effective manager too. Something I’ve learned over the years is that to be a good manager you have to be a good listener and possess good communication skills.

How do you manage issues with fertilizers, seeds and inputs which are the basic necessity for cultivation?

Ms Mehta: There are frequent national shortages in Nigeria of things like fertilisers and other inputs that we take for granted in the US. So what we do is make purchases of thing we need over time due to the chances of scarcity when needed.

We get to build a long time line into our purchasing plan and it’s had taking us time. Before we buy fertilizers from the retailers but now we buy from the distributors directly.

You started in 2014, there were already security challenges in the country and you definitely saw more coming. Why did you choose Nigeria, not other countries?

Ms Mehta: I was already here in Nigeria before starting the company. I lived in Nigeria from 2008 to 2012 so I already knew Nigeria pretty well and I went back to the U.S. for business school and when I finished, the business I had in mind I was like starting it in Nigeria or Ghana but honestly, there is a much bigger market in Nigeria as the population is larger and it’s a wealthier country. And also I’ve lived here before and had the connections that were useful for me to start a company here in Nigeria than in Ghana.

Kaduna is a state suffering from a high level of insecurity. So how are you able to manage it?

Ms Mehta : I think about security all the time and it is getting worse all across the country. It’s quite difficult to recruit staff from other parts of the country because they’ll first say “these things that are happening, there’s no way I’m going there”. We try to make our environment safer through working with federal operatives like the military and NSCDC that are within the area.

We make them know about us and be aware of who we are and what we are doing. We are also in touch with the community and the local vigilante group. We’ve been fortunate over time. We try to make it safe for our staff that we have escorts accompany the staff bus to the farm. It’s quite expensive but I care a lot about my staff very much and I want them to feel safe coming to work every day, so security is a priority for me.

Have you ever been harassed because you’re a woman because there’s this belief in Nigeria that agriculture is for men and women should not meddle into it?

Ms Mehta: I think the fact that I’m foreign, that has been cancelled out but I get a lot of sayings that goes like this which is supposed to sound as a compliment but I don’t take it as such; “You’re stronger than a man”, “you’re a man in woman’s body”, etc, but that’s not a compliment and guess what?

Women are capable of doing these things. I try to make it balanced though, that it is a male dominated thing and I don’t have a lot of women on the team who are more in the labour management team and I know how hard it is to do it at all and do it in a male dominated area.

It’s pretty difficult for women in Nigeria to own land. Being a foreigner, how are you able to acquire land?

Ms Mehta: I don’t own any land, it’s the company that owns the land. We have a lot of farmers and women in our programme and they don’t have access to their own land so we have special point of trying to bring more women in our programme and letting them use our land to farm and learn all the techniques they need to learn on how to farm. When they graduate, we help them lease land because a lot of the community don’t lease land to women. So we are trying to support women farmers in our community to be able to learn and continue farming.

When these women graduate and begin their own farming, are you in any kind of agreement with them?

Ms Mehta: Before they start training with us we get into this contract with them. After training, we help them with loans which includes the inputs they need on their farms, the education and extensions services we provide to them, and at the end of the season they pay us back in tomatoes or maize.

They pay back with a certain tonne of produce and anything they grow above that, we pay them in cash. We put a small markup on the products to enable us do the programme but to really make money we are going to process those tomatoes into paste to give us the revenue that’ll make us sustainable. The farmer programme that we do is just a way to help us get the required raw material to make our consumer products.

Before the training begins, is there any financial commitment?

Ms Mehta: They enroll with a commitment fee of N10,000 which makes them liable for a loan of N300,000 after the training as well as many other inputs they’ll get from us. The training lasts as long as a season which is about 4 to 5 months. So over the course of the season, the farmer will get a lot of different types of training.

As a commercial farmer, have you gotten any form of support from the government?

Ms Mehta: Presently, we are in the middle of finalising and drawing down a loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria to support the construction of the factory. That is the only form of support we have gotten and are appreciative of the government of the state for allowing us operate with ease in the state.

If the Ministry of Agriculture were to empower the industry, what recommendations would you give?

Ms Mehta: Irrigation infrastructure should be one of the major things they should really invest in. Irrigation is probably the biggest challenge in tomato farming and farmers really struggle to get the resources to irrigate their tomato farms.

Has family life slowed you down in any way since you started?

Ms Mehta: Yes, there are people who are distractions who do not want to see me succeed but there are situations where I need something urgently from someone but he doesn’t see the priority in that, not that it is intentional though but something that is super important for me will end up not being achieved because the other person felt it was not a priority.

The present administration wants young Nigerians to venture into agriculture, some of them usually don’t have the knowledge of what they are asked to do. Let’s say a young person walks up to you seeking advice on how to go about agriculture, what advice would you give the person?

Ms Mehta: For me, you’ll have to have a vision in mind of what your goals are. Is it something you want to do full-time or just like a side hustle for supplementary income, or something you want to grow into something big? So what your goals are, is really important.

For me, it is trying to build a business worth over a hundred million dollars, and to get that I have to work in things that have a really big market. But generally knowing what you want to do is very important. Secondly, starting small and you know agriculture can be super expensive so experience is key which when you start small, you can learn and understand before increasing your value.

So as a commercial farmer, you should have attended many international events, considering the events you’ve attended, do you think Nigeria can compete globally when it comes to agriculture?

Ms Mehta: Honestly, in today’s environment it’s very difficult. But I think there’s a world in which Nigeria can be competitive in agriculture but there are a lot of policies and infrastructure that have to be in place for our farming to be competitive. I’ll give you an example. Besides road and power I said earlier, even just having access to agricultural companies, the support services, will improve our system.

A tractor broke down and we could not get the repair parts in Nigeria so we had to order for in America. It took us three months to get the machines back to work on what should have been in three days. So to compete globally, Nigeria must put infrastructure that supports agriculture in place.

Ms Mehta: We have made big investment security and I’ve talked about irrigation earlier as one important part of agriculture in the dry season. Even though it looks like a bunch of pipes sitting on the ground, it’s quite expensive. It costs about $4000 per hectare to get irrigation access. We also have machines in our factories that also cost a lot. Also, tractors because they pull most of the other attachments that carry out different other functions.

You earlier said your crops are seasonal and there are times when you wait after cultivation for plants to grow before harvest. During these times, what do you do?

Ms Mehta: We don’t just wait around to see them grow. Tomatoes are one of the hardest crops to grow and they have a lot of things that could go wrong. You have to irrigate the crop at least once in three days depending on the type of soil you’re cultivating. So you have to have people moving the pipes around, weeding, checking for abnormalities, applying fertilizers etc, a farmer is expected to be in the farm every day to check on his plant. We actually have a farming protocol that explains to the farmers what they are supposed to do at each point of the plant cycle.

At that time you’re not selling anything so what are the financial implications?

Ms Mehta: It’s hard because in farming you literally have to put all your money into the ground and wait for your money to come back from the ground. It is really quite capital-intensive and also difficult. There is this cash cycle, how long do you put your money in the ground before you begin to get it back? In farming, it is very long but then for processing it becomes longer because you take the cultivated tomatoes for processing into paste and then sell for a very long time. From the time of cultivating to actually selling the last product can take up to 18 to 24 months.

Can you give us an overview of your company? What else do you do?

Ms Mehta: We are a farming and processing factory. We farm tomatoes and process them into retail packaged tomatoes and we start selling them in the market. We grow maize and cereals. We do farming and processing.

Assuming you’re not into agriculture, what other line of business would you have ventured into?

Ms Mehta: When I was in business school I was looking at different opportunities post graduation. Real Estate was one among other opportunities.

Can you give us a brief background about yourself?

Ms Mehta: I grew up in Boston, I went to Brown University where I got my first degree, I was a student athlete and was a member of the team and became a captain where we were doing well. That really shaped a lot of my college year being an athlete and a very competitive person. After graduation, I worked in a financial institution for two years and in 2008 I moved to Nigeria to work for the company.

But my work was not really impactful as I wanted with my life. So after working for four years, I went back to the U.S. in 2012 where I went back to school to acquire my MBS, Masters in Business Studies. That was when I started to consider what it will require to develop tomatoes into a company. I had the idea but I never had the courage to start anything at that time but going to school helped me gain confidence and courage to start the company.

\Do you belong to any association or cooperative?

Ms Mehta: Yes I do. I belong to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and we are in a tomatoes policy group through the industry trade investment.

Your journey looks like it just started, where do you see yourself in five years?

Ms Mehta: Well, hopefully in five years, Tomato-Jos will be a household name across Nigeria as I’ll love to see this compost reach that in Nigeria. That’ll be the dream.

Buhari Hates Causing Gridlock, Garba Shehu Defends President’s Absence At COAS’ Burial

Malam Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, has made an attempt to defend President Muhammadu Buhari’s absence at the burial of General Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of army staff.

Malam Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, has made an attempt to defend President Muhammadu Buhari’s absence at the burial of General Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff, and 10 other military officers.

The officers, who died in a plane crash in Kaduna on Friday, were buried in Abuja on Saturday but neither Buhari nor Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo attended the funeral.

The absence of the president had triggered an outrage, especially on Social Media. Many had circulated pictures of past Nigerian presidents and even some world leaders attending the burials of those who died in the line of duty.

Speaking when he featured on an ARISE TV programme, Shehu said although he has not discussed the issue with Buhari, he knows the president hates causing gridlock.

He cited the instance of Buhari observing Juma’at at Aso Rock in order to avoid closure of roads.

I was in Europe myself on assignment and I have not spoken to the president on this but let me give you just one example: the president is somebody who is so concerned about the safety and wellbeing of ordinary Nigerians on the streets.

“Do you know why he now prays his Juma’at in the state house and doesn’t go to the national mosque? Because he doesn’t like this idea of closing roads, security men molesting people on the road for the president to have the right of way.

These are small things for many people but they are important for President Muhammadu Buhari. So, it is a mourning situation and the president didn’t want to take away attention from that.”

Borno Closes 10 Shopping Malls Over Tax Defaults

Borno Internal Revenue Service (BO-IRS) on Tuesday sealed off 10 shopping malls where owners had allegedly failed to remit withholding tax to it after receiving notices.

Addressing Journalists in Maiduguri during the exercise, Head, Legal Services and Board Secretary, BO-IRS, Barrister Ardo Buba, said the service was left with no option but to seal off the buildings because the owners failed to remit 10 percent of their gross rental incomes as withholding tax to it.

The exercise was in line with the Borno State harmonised law on revenue, 2020 as amended. The service decided to make enforcement on collection of withholding tax on rental income in 10 shopping malls within Maiduguri metropolis. The service had issued assessment notices, reminders and demand notices to the buildings and it appeared that all efforts on our side to make them comply proved abortive,” he said.

According to him, the service was losing a lot as a result of the inability of individuals and businesses to pay taxes, adding that the state targeted over N500 million as withholding tax alone this year.

He said the state has to strengthen its revenue collection system and so far, N100 million has been collected as withholding tax this year.

One of the landlords, Barrister Abdu Jidda, agreed that notices were sent to him by the service but said he was supposed to remit his tax by June.

My late husband dreamt of plane crash a day earlier – Pilot’s widow

Jennifer Olufade, the widow of Flt Lt Alfred Olufade, the pilot of the ill-fated aircraft that killed 11 military officers, including the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, in Kaduna on Friday, said the late pilot dreamt of the crash a day earlier.

Jennifer, who got married to the late pilot three months ago, disclosed this in an emotion-laden tribute to her husband which she posted on her Instagram page, @joba_star, on Monday.

She said she prayed with her husband when he woke up and narrated the bad dream to her.

She added that after the dream, her husband made successful trips to Enugu and Owerri and returned to Abuja.

Jennifer said when she received a message from him that they were again heading to Kaduna, she tried reaching him to dissuade him from embarking on the trip but without success.

She wrote, “Oh sparkle, you left me so early. Oh, my best friend, where do I start from? I am broken and pierced, my heart aches. This wasn’t what you promised me; you said you will always be there for me.

On 20th of May, at about 4am, you woke me up with fear and said ‘baby, baby, I had a bad dream. I dreamt that I crashed on my way to Kaduna.’ You said it looked very real. I prayed for you seriously that morning and asked you not to worry and asked you your mission order and who you were flying with and you told me Flt. Lt Asaniyi.

I said ‘don’t worry, you will go and come back.’ You went to Enugu, Owerri and back to Abuja. We did video call and also spoke at length and you were just smiling. Little did I know that was your last smile.

The next message I received was that you were going to Kaduna. My heart shattered, I smelt danger, I started calling you, you didn’t pick. Why didn’t you pick? Why? I wanted begging you not to go.

These three months have been heaven for me. We eat together in the same plate, we prayed together, we laughed and cried together. This wasn’t the plan you had for me.

You said you will always be my side. It is still like a dream that I can’t see you. I know you are coming back to me. All I see is condolence messages. How do I stand them? Reading them pierces my heart even more.

I feel like a failure, I couldn’t stop you, I couldn’t stop Asaniyi, oh my God, Oh My God. You saw this.

Similarly, a childhood friend of late Olufade, Esther David, in an interview with our reporters described the late pilot as a gentle and easy going man.

He was my very good friend. We were close, very close. I am still in shock; I wish it is all a dream. I haven’t been able to sleep since Friday,” she said.

Why We’re Targeting N16bn Revenue This Year — Chairman, Borno IRS

Mohammed Alkali is the Executive Chairman of the Borno State Internal Revenue Service (BO-IRS). Here, he explains the changes carried out to improve accountability and efficiency in the service.

You worked with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) before your appointment as Executive Chairman of BO-IRS. How did you meet BO-IRS?

We found it doing well, but there were gaps which should have been closed. In fact, what we are doing now is to build on what they were doing and try to close some of the gaps. We discovered that there were gaps in terms of compliance with the relevant acts, as well as in human resources, because there were only 113 employees, and the last time a recruitment exercise was conducted was 20 years ago despite the fact that the work and the scope of the service was expanded. 

So, we immediately engaged 88 ad hoc personnel, mostly graduates in business-related courses, including economics, finance, banking and statistics, in February and we paid their salaries punctually. They have impacted our operations because we are using them to raise the compliance level in terms of taxation.

How do you handle the many challenges associated with revenue collection?

We collect through Remita, an electronic payment platform, but the majority of the taxpayers go to the banks and pay into our accounts. We do not collect cash.

We have a unified revenue collection system, and there are 41 generating agencies on it; we are getting the remaining agencies to join the system by June, 2021. 

The second automation project we have is automating capital base tax and stamp duty tax administration. We are working with the same vendor that worked with the FIRS. Once the system is automated, people paying stamp duty can use the online payment channel to pay.

There are over five LGAs that are on the unified system, including Maiduguri Metropolitan, Jere, Kaga, Konduga, Goza and Biu. In Maiduguri and Jere for instance, about N200,000 each was collected daily, but with the arrival of the system, we now collect about N1.2m daily in each; which translates to about 400 per cent increase. The system has blocked some leakages.

You generated N4bn between January and April, was that your target?

The money generated was over N4bn. The House of Assembly gave us a target of N8.2bn and we almost hit the target because we generated N7,367,905,988 as at May 18, which was 85 per cent of our target. 

The service also set a target for itself; which was N12bn, and from the look of things, we should be able to generate N16bn before the end of the year.

This is despite the insurgency which has disrupted economic activities in the state. There are inaccessible areas. Out of the 27 LGAs, only 16 are accessible, and luckily for us 90 per cent of the population and economic activities happen in these relatively peaceful 16 areas. 

Northern Borno for instance is inaccessible because of the insurgency and no one is talking about taxation; you do not tax anybody, unless they have taxable income and taxable activity.

How do you handle withholding tax collection on rent?

Section 69 Sub-Sections 1 and 2 of the Personal Income Tax 2004 (as amended) requires that as an individual or enterprise, if you have a facility, be it a residential quarters, shopping complex, office or warehouse and you receive rental income from them, you are required to deduct 10 percent and pay it to the service. 

This is rather not a tax, but an advance payment of personal income tax, because the payment shop-owners do on rent will drop into their revenue accounts as a credit and at the end of the year when they file their personal income taxes they use the withholding as a credit to offset the personal income tax. 

Our consultant has mapped 10,000 shops and offices in highbrow business areas in Maiduguri. We received the mapping data and issued assessment notices and demand notices and many of the owners have paid. So far we have collected N100m from it. We intend to do further mapping and issue notices because the plan is to cover the entire state.

For the mapping of the 10,000 shops, we paid just N2m and each shop was given a unique number and linked to the GPS.

To improve personal income tax compliance activities, we use banking data of taxpayers so that if a person or enterprises has not filed, we bring them to pay, and if they have filed and the filing information is inadequate in light of this data, we give additional assessment to regularize their filing.

You may not have all the data you need to work with, do you collaborate with other agencies?

We mostly reach out to the federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) and collect a copy of the audited account of each taxpayer in the state, and so far we have over 60 annual accounts.

We are doing a similar collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Finance on their Light House Project which has the database of all individuals that have property in Nigeria and abroad. 

We bring those from this state to tax and collect the withholding tax on the rental income they receive on the property in the state and personal income tax.

Governor Babagana Zulum has been supportive because when we started the unified revenue collection system, some of the agencies tried to resist and reported to him, but every time he referred them back to us.

Also, every month, we render our collection returns to the accountant general of the state. We get our collection dues to carry out our operations. The House of Assembly has given us adequate support too.

Reps’ Bill Seeks Scrapping Of NYSC

The House of Representatives is mulling the scrapping of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) as a bill to that effect is set for a second read integration reports that, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Alteration Bill 2020 is seeking to repeal the NYSC Act.

The sponsor of the bill, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, in the explanatory memorandum of the proposal, cited growing insecurity, killings of corps members and other issues.

He said: “This bill seeks to repeal Section 315(5)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended) on the following grounds:

Incessant killing of innocent corps members in some parts of the country due to banditry, religious extremism, and ethnic violence; incessant kidnapping of innocent corps members across the country.

“Public and private agencies/departments are no longer recruiting able and qualified Nigerian youths, thus relying heavily on the availability of corps members who are not being well remunerated and get discarded with impunity at the end of their service year without any hope of being gainfully employed.

Due to insecurity across the country, the National Youth Service Corps management now considers posting corps members to their geopolitical zone, thus defeating one of the objectives of setting up the service corps, i.e. developing common ties among the Nigerian youths and promote national unity and integration

The NYSC scheme was established on May 22, 1973 by General Yakubu Gowon under Decree No. 24 to foster unity and reintegration among Nigerians after the Civil War.

Inside Sokoto Clinic Where Locals Troop For ‘Surgery’ By Quack Doctor

Basansan primary healthcare centre in Kware Local Government Area of Sokoto State where ‘illegality’ is taking place in the name of saving lives...

The primary healthcare centre at Basansan, a community in Kware Local Government Area of Sokoto State is very popular in the eastern part of the state.

This is not because of the quality of services it renders, but because of the ‘illegality’ taking place there in the name of saving lives.

The investigation revealed that the clinic which was meant to treat minor sicknesses and for vaccination has turned out to be a centre for illegal surgery despite the absence of a qualified surgeon, a theatre room and other surgical equipment.

The ‘surgeon’, according to our findings, was a community health officer based in Zamfara State, while the health worker, Nura Muhammad is currently working with a primary health centre in his hometown of Mayanchi, in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

It was gathered that Nura had been coming to the clinic without the consent of the local authorities to conduct surgeries on patients having hydro cells and hernia since 2017. He usually discharged his patients immediately after the operation, no matter the severity of their condition, it was gathered.

Our reporters reliably gathered that he was being invited to the village by the locals who were hitherto taking their patients to Mayanchi for such services.

The Village Head of Basansan, Hamza Muhammad, said: “Our people used to take their patients to him at Mayanchi, where he carried out surgeries on them at the primary health centre and they were getting better.”

He added that they were attracted by his low charges and effectiveness, stressing that in every 20 cases he treated, “we hardly recorded two problems.

“My elder brother was one of the people he operated on and it was successful, although, he died much later due to natural causes,” he said.

He recalled that Nura started coming to the village about four years ago when the demand for his services were extremely high.

When the demand for his services was high, an arrangement was made on how he would be coming to the village and the management of our primary health centre agreed to allow him use their facility. In fact, some of their workers assisted him during the surgery,” he said.

Asked about his qualification, Muhammed simply said, “Well, all I can say is that he is succeeding and even the neighbouring communities are patronizing him.

On whether it was right for such kind of surgeries to be conducted in a clinic that lacks competent personnel to manage patients, a theatre room or surgical

Surgery conducted in store

When our reporter visited the hospital, he discovered that surgery was taking place in a room that was tagged “store and dispensing room”, without restriction.

The room had two parts; the first one was used as Open Registry, while the inner one was used for the surgery and for keeping the hospital items.

There was only one bed in the room and some items for dressing wounds, which were also believed to be used by Nura in performing the surgery.

Contacted, the officer in charge of the clinic, Isa Sa’idu admitted that the room was not conducive for medical surgery because “it is not hygienic and lacked all that is needed for surgery”.

He said: “I stayed in many hospitals before being posted here. I was at General Hospital, Dogon Daji, Specialist Hospital, Sokoto and Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital. This is not how a theatre room should be.

It is supposed to be secured, conducive, and very hygienic and the floor and ceiling are supposed to be intact. The surgical equipment are supposed to be intact and there must be some machines like oxygen machine among other necessary things in case of complication.

Another important thing is stable electricity supply. But here, there is no light or even a standby generator,” he said.

Commenting on Nura’s qualification, he said, “I think he is a medical doctor, but I am not sure, because I am not privy to his qualification.

On why they were allowing him use their facility, he said it started long before he came and found out it was based on a request by members of the community.

So, being a new person in town, I could not stop it else I would start having a problem with them,” he said.

When asked whether the local authorities were in the know of his activities, he said, “I don’t know, because I resumed just one month ago.

however, that the self-acclaimed surgeon has some agents in the hospital who notify him of the number of patients waiting for his services.

One of them, Abbas Muhammad told Daily Trust that people were patronizing his services because his charges were low. “He charges like N15, 000 which is very meager compared to what one can pay in bigger hospitals,” he said.

Muhammad, who is a volunteer health worker in the hospital confessed to be receiving a percentage on every payment made.

Malam Aliyu who was operated upon in the hospital about four months ago, said he was not subjected to any test before the surgery.

On whether his blood pressure was taken, he said no, but that he was on hypertension drugs at the time prescribed for him by his doctor at the Specialist Hospital, Sokoto.

Before the operation, he said he could not walk, adding: “ But now I can walk to anywhere without any pain.

On why he preferred to be operated there while there are many general hospitals in the state, he said it was because many people were operated there and had all recovered and gone back to their normal businesses.”

He further confessed that: “This one is very cheap; we only paid a meager amount which I can not disclose,” adding that he entertained no fear before the surgery “because I know whatever happened is the will of God.

For the family of Sodangi Aliyu Ruggar Liman, it was a different story as their father could not survive the hernia surgery performed by Nura at the Mayanchi Primary Health Center.

The second son of the deceased, Abdulmutalib Sodangi, said their father had been suffering from hernia for years.

Residents decline surgery at Teaching hospital

According to him, there were several attempts for his surgery at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital and Noma Hospital, which he declined.

“The last attempt was at UDUTH. Everything was prepared for the operation, including drugs for his management after the surgery. But his condition stabilized before he was wheeled into the theater room.

He told us he was no longer feeling any pain and that we should return him home which we did,” he said, adding that on the 19th day of Ramadan, while working on his farm, he started complaining of excruciating abdominal pain.

“The next day, we took him to Mayanchi and he was operated upon by Nura at the clinic. And because it was already night, we decided to delay our return till the following morning.

We thought the operation was successful until after two weeks when pus started coming out from the place and when contacted, the doctor asked us to take him to Basansan Clinic where he died a day after,” he said.

He also said that there was no blood test conducted before the operation, adding that, “we believed the doctor was an experienced man, because, I know over ten people that he had successfully operated on and are doing well now.

When our reporter contacted Nura, he admitted conducting surgeries in the two facilities, primary health centres, Mayanchi and Basansan despite lacking the requisite knowledge.

According to him, he was a staff of Maru Local Government Area and had studied at the school of health and school of nursing and currently attached to Mayanchi clinic.

When asked whether it was right for a community health officer to be conducting surgery, he said, “Well, like I told you earlier, I have worked in many places and under experienced surgeons, that was how I garnered the experience.

The Commissioner of Health in Sokoto State, Dr. Ali Inname, who spoke through the Director, Medical Services, Dr Shuaib Gobir, said they would investigate the matter and take necessary action.

Journalist - How I Survived Attack On Abuja-Kaduna Expressway

Here, he narrates his ordeal after gunmen in military camouflage opened fire on his car.

 Our reporter asked him: Can you narrate your experience during last Friday’s attack along the Abuja-Kaduna highway?

Abdullahi Aminu: One of my friends Munnir had appealed to me to attend his younger sister’s wedding in Kano and I promised to attend. But a week before the wedding, the former Sarkin Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, had visited Kaduna and so I visited to see him. However, another issue brought me to Kaduna on Monday to sign some documents and I left the same day using public transport because I was on

casual leave. I did not come with my car because I had hoped on bringing it for the wedding journey on Friday.

That Friday, we set out on our journey with Munnir and two of his relatives who sat at the backseat. As we approached Olam farms in Chikun Local Government Area, I overtook a truck and immediately, I noticed some people fully kitted in military camouflage coming out from the forest and one of them began loading a magazine and then aimed his gun at me. 

My heart sank and I uttered Innalilahi wainnailayi rajiun. Before I could close my mouth, he shot at me and a bullet penetrated from below my dashboard, hitting me on the leg. I told Munnir that I had been shot but I refused to stop the car. 

Instead, I stepped on the accelerator and having escaped the first assailant, there was a second one who shot at the car by the passenger side and the car began to make a terrible sound from the rim, but still continued to drive. 

As we were trying to evade the attackers, a third person (wearing a blue jean and a black striped tee shirt) came out and aimed directly at my windshield. That was the only time I panicked but Alhamdulillah, he missed.

The ambush was strategic because they came out one after the other with the hope that if the car doesn’t stop after the first attempt, it will stop after the second or third attempt. But after avoiding the third shot, I moved further and sighted some people near a barricade ahead of me but because I was not sure of their identity and with a gunshot wound and a flat tyre, I parked by the shoulder of the road and asked the occupants of the car to run into the bush.

 From my rear-view mirror, I noticed the last assailant attempted to come after us but was distracted by another approaching vehicle. I then opened the door and tried to flee but I fell because my leg couldn’t carry my weight.

I crawled into the bush and because it was raining, I got a lot of bruises and thorns on my body. When I get to a puddle, I will jump on one leg until I eventually got to an area with many leaves and I hid there and used the leaves to cover myself. 

After about 15 minutes, I heard someone making a phone call asking for reinforcement, but unknown to me the caller was a SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) operative. The reinforcements came after 20 minutes and I started

hearing voices telling people not to approach the area due to the operation.

When I noticed that vehicles had converged in the area, I concluded that it must be the police so I tried to get their attention. One of the mobile police officers sighted me and asked who I was, so I explained to him that I was a victim of the attack. 

They assisted me out of the bush and that was when I started feeling the pain from my gunshot wound.

 What about your travelling companions, where they equally rescued?

Aminu: Already, they had informed the police that I had been shot and must have escaped into the bush. After I was taken out from the bush, I was laid on a pavement by the road before I was taken to St. Gerard hospital by the SARS. 

While there, the gunshot wound was treated and I was shown four holes in my leg, we initially feared that I had sustained four bullet wounds but the x-ray revealed that one bullet was still in my leg and I had a fracture. Also, when SARS brought me in, I heard them saying some passengers in an 18-seater bus were kidnapped and I believe they were the first victim on that day. There was also an empty white Hilux by the roadside but I can’t say what happened to the occupants.

 Despite being fully kitted in military uniform, how did you know your assailants were not security agents?

Aminu: They did not mount any roadblock and this is a road I have plied for over seven years. It was my first encounter with kidnappers even though I’ve heard of their operations. This was like drama to me, it felt like I was dreaming. 

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the first assailant despite being fully kitted in military uniform was that this cannot be real military personnel. I know this because I once covered the military as a journalist with NTA in Kaduna.

Another thing was that he crossed over from one lane to the other and I concluded that there was something amiss because security personnel would not jump from one lane to the other during patrol just to stop cars. 

My training as a journalist who has covered the military actually helped me and even while I was at St. Gerard hospital, I contemplated going to Kano for the surgery but with the help of the former Army spokesman Brig. General Sani Kukasheka (rtd) I decided to do the surgery at the 44 Nigerian Army reference hospital and Alhamdulillah the surgery was successfully done, the bullet was removed from my leg. I have received nothing but love and care since this incident.

Apart from my family that have been by my side, my superiors from the office such as our Zonal Director and the Director General have been worried and shown genuine concern and doctors here have been very kind and professional.