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FG’s CCT Beneficiaries Raise Alarm Over Extortion by Traditional Rulers

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By Abdulgafar Oladimeji.

The beneficiaries of federal government Conditional Cash Transfer(CCT)programme, on Thursday, raised alarm over what they described as their being allegedly extorted by community leaders.

The victims spoke at a meeting organized by The Resource Centre for Human Rights and  Civic Education, CHRICED titled Conditional Cash Transfer, CCT  Redress Mechanism held at Chilla Luxury suites, in Kano.

They alleged that they were compelled to pay between N500  and N1000 each from their monthly CCT  allowance of N5000 to some corrupt ward and village heads in some parts of the state.

A woman leader, who spoke under the condition of anonymity said “to be honest, initially I was afraid to speak out at this meeting,  but with what is happening here today, I feel I should speak out.

“ as a group woman leader, I normally collect monies from the beneficiaries and proceed to hand over the monies  to traditional heads in my area in Gwarzo local government.”

Also, a CCT payment monitoring exercise conducted by  CHRICED led by Huraira Isiyaku revealed most of the beneficiaries had alleged that they were been intimidated to remitted parts of their transfers for onward transfer to community  leaders in their domain.

Huraira stated  that  investigations conducted by her in  Mallamawa community in Gwarzo local government area revealed how community leaders were illicitly benefiting from the federal government initiative at the expense of the targeted benefactors.

Kano state CCT  Grievance Redress Officer, (SGRO) Halima Mohammed confirmed that several complaints bordering on  extortion of CCT beneficiaries  have been severally  lodged against community  leaders, in the state.

Halima stated that those leader queried  over the allegation have continued to explain  that “ the proceeds been remitted to them by CCT beneficiaries is in respect the agreement they had reached with the beneficiaries before they were been enlisted into the programme.”

The head  Kano state Cash Transfer Unit(SCTU) Aisha Sani Gezawa cautioned that the era of extorting the beneficiaries of the CCT project were numbered.

According to her,   beneficiaries of the federal government initiative have continually complained of been victimized by their communal leaders.

She warned that mechanism have been erected to address the ongoing abnormally surrounding the project, stressing that any staff caught in the act of extortion would be severely penalized..

She decried that  a vast number of the beneficiaries were extorted by their community leaders, hinting that some of the beneficiaries are been extorted by their husbands.

Explaining that some husbands deny their wives the vacuum to properly utilize the monies transfer to them to improve their household economy and hygiene.

The chairman,  CCT, Grievance  Redress Officers Forum, Nalado  Saidu, said to  proffer solutions to the challenge  confronting the CCT project in Kano state would require the  continuous sensitization of beneficiaries o nCCT  policies  and  their rights  to access and enjoy the benefits that accrue from the FG project

 

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African Media Network (REMAPSEN) Appoints Nigerian Journalist Khadija as Deputy National Coordinator

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Khadija Aliyu

 

REMAPSEN, an African media network, has appointed Khadija Aliyu as Deputy National Coordinator for its Nigeria office.
This announcement was made in a statement signed by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Bamboo Yousuf.

Khadija Aliyu is an ace broadcaster and a senior correspondent with Radio Nigeria. She graduated from the Department of Mass Communications at Bayero University Kano in 2008 and later obtained a master’s degree in Communication Studies from the same institution.”

REMAPSEN, AN OVERVIEW
REMAPSEN is an African media network for the promotion of good health and environment.

It was established on June 13, 2020 by some journalists in the Francophone countries with passion for public health concerns as they affect children and women as well as environment.

The aim is to build a network of African journalists who are committed to using their platforms to help people overcome challenges from health emergencies, epidemics and other health concerns, and environment issues.

The Nigerian arm; REMAPSEN NIGERIA, was inaugurated at an international conference of the forum in Lome, Togo on 23rd November, 2023, along with Ghana, Liberia, Mauritania and other Anglophone countries.

REMAPSEN International headquarters currently sits at Abidjan, capital of Cote d’ivoire with Mr Bamba Youssouf as the President.

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Dangote Cement Plc Launches Malaria Programme in Edo

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The Sustainability and Social Performance Department of Dangote Cement Plc will be implementing a malaria intervention programme at communities in Okpella, Edo State.

The health intervention programme, according to a statement from the company, will run for two days around the host communities of the Dangote Cement Plc, Okpella.

The statement said the “intervention is part of efforts to advance the Safer and Healthier Communities (SHC) initiative to promotes access to health and wellbeing of our host communities and their neighbours through structured health interventions and public health awareness campaigns.”

It added that: “Malaria is another key area of the DCP Group’s public health focus besides HIV/AIDS.”

It said that Dangote Cement Plc had initiated its Safer and Healthier Communities (SHC) programme in 2022 with the implementation of the pilot phase of the HIV/AIDS intervention programme in three transit communities in Gboko, Benue state.

Speaking, Head of Social Perfomance of the Dangote Cement Plc, Mr. Wakeel Olayiwola, said the two-day event (9th and 10th May) would feature awareness campaigns testing and referrals, distribution of treated nets, mosquito creams, ultrasonic anti-mosquito insect repellant, rechargeable electric mosquito killer swatter and other mosquito repellant paraphernalia. The Public Health officials will also offer counselling and referral services.

The intervention is the company’s response to reports that Edo state records an estimated 1.2 million malaria cases with a 317/1000 per location or geographical area. As a socially responsible company, Dangote Cement implements this initiative as contribution to safeguarding the lives of populations of high risk of malaria, which includes children, pregnant women and the elderly.
The Head of Sustainability, Dr. Igazeuma Okoroba providing context on the partnership of the programme expressed appreciation to the Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Edo State chapter, the Edo State Primary Health Care Development Agency, and Nigrowth Consults Services – implementing partner.

According to her, the project which supports Sustainable Development Goal 3_ Good Health and Wellbeing, is another effort of the Dangote Cement Okpella to demonstrate its solidarity with stakeholders in Edo state and the health sector at large.

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Nile leads as MAAUN ranked 2nd best private university in Northern Nigeria

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The AD Scientific Index ranking 2024 has ranked the Nile University, Abuja, as the best private university in Northern Nigeria.

According to the ranking made available on the website of the AD Scientific, titled: ‘Nigeria Private Universities Ranking 2024’, the Maryam Abacha American University, MAAUN, emerged second best university in the North.

This is as the American University of Nigeria, AUN, was ranked third in the same category.

In the overall ranking, Redeemers University was ranked 1st University in Nigeria, followed by Covenant University Ota and Afe Babalola University, which emerged 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Nile University, founded in 2009, was ranked 10th, MAAUN, established in 2021 in Kano, was ranked 11th, while AUN got ranked as the 13th university.

Al Qalam University in Katsina was ranked 33rd, Al Hikmah University Ilorin 39th and
Skyline University 42nd

MAAUN was established in 2021 by renowned philanthropist Professor Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo, who is also the founder of Niger’s best private university, Maryam Abacha American University of Niger.

Prof. Dr Bikash Sharma, co-founder and president of International Academic and Management Association, described the ranking as a stepping stone for MAAUN.

“It’s high time that we did a complete overhaul of the education system globally, employing the best lecturers, and equipping our universities with the best facilities.

“MAAUN achieving this feat in less than 3 tears is not surprising. The founder has proved his commitment to standard and internationalisation.

“It is high time that we move from traditional teaching to experiential learning,” he said.

On his part, Isa Gwadabe, an educationist, hailed MAAUN for projecting its image through commitment to academic excellence.

“This is not an achievement to the institution alone but to the entire Kano State and Nigeria in particular. Among all the universities that were given licences together, MAAUN is leading in just less than 3 years.

AD Scientific Index is one of the best rankings for scientists in the world.

“I hope other institutions will emulate MAAUN towards achieving this great feat.”

The “AD Scientific Index” in its website said the University Rankings will not only show the areas in which a university is best or focused but also reflect the results of the institutions’ scientific recruitment policies.

This feature reveals the ability of institutions to attract successful scientists and the ability of institutions to promote advances and retain scientists.

“AD Scientific Index” is the only university/institution ranking system that analyzes the distribution of scientists in an institution according to the top % 10, %20, %40, %60, % 80 percentiles and total scientists.

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