By Ankeli Emmanuel (Sokoto)

The federal government through the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farooq, on Monday, distributed engagement letters to no fever than 167 trained independent monitors of the National Social Investment Programme (N-SIP) in Sokoto State.

By Ankeli Emmanuel (Sokoto)

The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, (NSCIA), Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar 111, said he would continue to collaborate with UNICEF and every other international donor organizations on development issues while assuring that he believes firmly in girl-child education.

By Chinwendu Agoha (Governance Reporter)

The motivation and philosophy behind the Kano- Maradi rail project are the same as that of the 403-kilometre highway linking Enugu to Bamenda in Cameroon.

According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, it would be sheer hypocrisy for anyone to condemn the rail project but remain silent on the highway project in the South.

"We find it strange that many people, including opposition elements who saw everything wrong with President Muhammadu Buhari's approval of a rail project linking three States in Northern Nigeria to a border town in the Niger Republic, are unusually silent about the government's decision to stick with the 2007 agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Cameroon.

"But for us, the same economic factors that the Buhari administration took into consideration in committing itself to the $1.96bn standard gauge rail project are not different from the decision to link one of the major cities in Southern Nigeria to a city in Cameroon.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the 387-km railway line is to run through Kano, Jigawa and Katsina States which are significant trade hubs with massive markets including Dawanau which is believed to have an annual trade volume of $2.5bn, to Maradi which is the major transport and agriculture hub of Niger's south-central region.

"It is also important to note that 11 out of the 12 stations on the route are in Nigeria with the terminal point at the border town of Maradi which is 622 kilometres from Niamey, the capital of Niger while the highway into Cameroon will terminate within 300 kilometres of Yaounde, the capital city.

"The Enugu to Bamenda highway will drive a lot of economic activities in several Nigerian communities in the South, up to the border with Cameroon, but it is only the rail project that has the potential of opening up a vibrant export route into our landlocked neighbours, especially as it is to be linked to the Lagos-Kano rail line which already has an extension to the Apapa Ports via the Lagos-Ibadan rail line.

"So we make bold to affirm that the economic considerations for the two projects are similar and both will add a lot of value to commercial activities along the corridors".

BMO also took a swipe at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which was critical of the Kano-Maradi rail project.

"Of all the criticisms that trailed the project, the one that many discerning Nigerians found hard to live with was that of PDP which through its media handlers described it as wasteful.

"However, it is the same party under the Goodluck Jonathan administration that conceived the idea of linking Nigeria to Niger and in fact had a more elaborate plan that would have began in Zaria, in Kaduna State and terminate in Niamey which is almost 700km from Maradi where the current project is ending.

"So on President Buhari's watch, Nigeria is making considerable investments on two major cross-border infrastructure projects and the administration deserves credit for remaining committed to actualising them even if it did not originally conceive them.

"And as the President said in one of his recent TV interviews, it's all about economics though some sceptics opted to ignore his justification of the Kano-Maradi project".

BMO reassured Nigerians that the President will keep to the terms of his vow to improve on the country's infrastructure, regardless of dwindling oil revenue. NNL.

By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)

Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) and Prof. Melaku Desta, a Professor of International Economic Law from the Leicester De Montfort University in United Kingdom, will on Monday, be part of a two-day physical and virtual capacity building for Nigerian negotiators.

By Mohammed Munirat Nasir (Zamfara State Correspondent)

Zamfara state first lady, Hajia Aisha Bello Matawalle, has donated a new 18 seater bus to Government Girl's Secondary School Tudun Wada, Gusau, Zamfara state.

By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)

A Non-Governmental Rights Organization, SPACES FOR CHANGElS4C, has called on the Imo state government to urgently implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Imo State Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Police Brutality and Related Extra-judicial Killings which was recently submitted to governor Hope Uzodinmma.

By Ankeli Emmanuel (Sokoto)

Achieving successes against enemies of the country requires robust collaboration between all the security agencies, Custom's Comptroller Bashir Hamisu, has said.

By Chinwendu Agoha (Governance Reporter)

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has challenged the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to show evidence of how its administrations spent over $300bn that accrued to the country from crude sales between 2010 and 2015

* Returns To Abuja In Mid July

By Janet Bassey (Governance Reporter)President Muhammadu Buhari will proceed to London, the United Kingdom on Friday, June 25, 2021, for a scheduled three-week routine medical follow-up.

By Cecilia Ogezi (Senior Correspondent)

Civil Society Action Coalition On Education For All (CSACEFA) in partnership with El-meela Heritage Support Foundation (ELMHST) has reaffirmed its commitment to the rights of the African child to education.

By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)  

* Says Nigeria A Great Country

By Ankeli Emmanuel (Sokoto)

Sokoto State governor, Amimu Waziri Tambuwal, has said the unity of Nigeria is very crucial hence the call on all and sundry to continue to work towards sustaining a country that works for all irrespective of region, religion, political inclination and ethnicity.