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UK-Aid, Silvex International Train Famers on Climate Smart Agriculture in Jigawa

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The participants

 

Rice farmers in Jigawa state have received a climate-smart training on system of rice intensification (SRI), a new approach to rice production that increases the crop productivity and reduces methane emissions by at least 22 per cent to a maximum of 64 per cent.

The training was part of a tripartite partnership between the Foreign and Common Wealth Development Office (FCDO) of the British Government through its intervention on investment promotion under the LINKS Project, the Jigawa state government and a leading commodity trading firm Silvex International Limited.

While delivering the training, Mr. Muhammad Adamu, an Agribusiness consultant and the CEO of a training firm Green Sahel Agric Ventures revealed that the system of rice intensification (SRI) uses a cultivation system of alternate wetting and drying that creates aerobic soil conditions that reduce the production of methane. It uses less seeds and less water, whilst increasing yields.

“As such it can increase farmer incomes whilst reducing Green House Gases (GHG) emissions. Despite the benefits of SRI having been demonstrated in over 60 countries, it has not been demonstrated at any scale in Northern Nigeria. It also utilises different techniques to the traditional norms and widespread adoption in Nigeria will require farmers to be trained in these new techniques and be convinced of the benefits” he reiterated

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The two-day training of trainers for the lead farmers and field coordinators is expected to be stepped down to at least 50 farmers in each cluster of 27 communities across 9 Local Government Areas in both Kano and Jigawa to cover at least 12, 150 farmers in the two states.

Speaking at the venue of the training in Dutse, Jigawa State, the Managing Director/CEO, Silvex International Limited, Alh Abubakar Usman Karfi assured the commitment of the company in supporting farmers to move towards a sustainable means of commodity production in Nigeria.

This training and field visits indicated the commencement of the System of Rice (SRI) project anchored by the FCDO LINKS project in Kano and Jigawa States where Silvex International Limited serves as a major implementing partner.

In a side meeting at Dutse shortly after the training, Silvex International Limited and the delegation of the British FCDO/UKAID which include Mr. Chris Pycroft, the Director of Development, Mrs. Gail Warrender, Senior Economic Team Leader and other senior officials of the FCDO Nigeria have agreed to focus on Innovation, Investment and Infrastructure development in the agricultural value chains in Nigeria.

The MD/CEO, Silvex International Abubakar Karfi has on behalf of the company assured the delegation of their full commitment and more investment into the backward integration to support small holder farmers improve their income and livelihoods through providing steady access to market especially for commodities produced in an eco-friendly practice for employment and wealth creation.

You may recall that within the week, the Officials of the British government paid a courtesy visit to the Jigawa state Governor Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar where both parties renewed their commitments to promoting Agribusiness and investments. Jigawa state has in recent times intensify efforts in attracting investors within and outside the country.

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KAROTA Confiscates Beer Worth Millions of Naira, Hands It Over to Hisbah

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Kano State Roads Traffic Agency KAROTA today handed over three trucks of Liquor(beer) worth millions of naira to Kano State Hisba Command for onward destruction.

This was contained in a press statement signed by Abubakar Ibrahim Sharada Anipr
PRO KAROTA Kano State and made available to in Kano.

The trailers containing Four Hundred and Ten Cartons of Beer were impounded by the KAROTA Personnel on night patrol along major streets in Kano Metropolis.

Handing over the Bear trucks to the Commander General of Hisba, the Managing Director of KAROTA Hon Faisal Mahmud Kabir said the vehicles contained 4,920 bottles of beer meant to be off-loaded at different locations in Kano Metropolis.

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The Managing Director represented by the KAROTA Director Administration and General Services, Alh Mahmud Haido said impounding the trucks was part of KAROTA’s responsibilities to arrest any suspicious goods playing the streets in Kano and reporting the suspected culprits to appreciate security agencies.

Alh Mahmud Haido assured that KAROTA would continue to remain vigilant in checking all intoxicants that could be harmful to the health of the citizens.

Receiving the impounded Bear trucks, the Commander General of Kano State Hiba Command, Sheik Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa commended KAROTA personnel for their vigilance and promised that due process would be followed before the final destruction of the impounded Bear Cartons.

Sheik Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa represented by the Head of the Intoxicants Unit of Hisba Command, CSH Sani Nasidi Uba Rimo pledged that the Command would continue to collaborate with KAROTA in checking of such prohibited goods being snuggled into the state capital.

He then prayed Almighty Allah to reward the management of KAROTA and its personnel who impounded the Bear trucks.

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Battle Against Corruption Is Like Fighting Colombian Drug Cartels, Says Kano Anti-Corruption Tzar

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The fight against corruption in Nigeria is as dangerous as fighting armed Colombian drug cartels, former Chairman of Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC), Muhyi Magaji Rimin Gado, has said.

The Medellín Cartel led by Pablo Escobar and the Cali Cartel dominated cocaine trafficking, leading Colombia to vast illicit wealth for the few whose crimes promoted corruption, violence, mass public revenge, and prolonged bloody gunfights with the authorities. The PCACC was established in April 2005 to fight corruption in Kano State.

Mr. Magaji also warned that the increase in violence and banditry in the North is partly linked to the naked abuse and stealing of public funds by corrupt officials whose self-serving policies create a stagnant pool of poverty and human misery from which criminals find many potential recruits.

He said it was when he started investigating corruption petitions, doing his statutory duties, that he discovered the suspect companies were linked to his former Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, discovering that a lot of Public-Private Partnership Initiatives were actually linked to the former Governor. He said he also discovered billions of illicit funds relating to the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), especially concerning fraudulent land rents.

The anti-corruption crusader said his experience while investigating an avalanche of corruption cases in Kano indicated that corrupt politicians are like cancerous ailments that should be removed through a painful but necessary surgical operation before Nigeria can reclaim her pride in the comity of nations.

He said Nigerians should explore democratic opportunities to the brim by casting their votes against a league of corrupt elites that have sold the birthrights of the people.

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He said his decision to investigate the looting of billions of public funds in Kano State under former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje spurred ceaseless threats to his life and that of his family, culminating in his arrest last week Friday by tens of armed security guards who drove him from Kano to Abuja in the night where he was locked up. He said for 17 hours he and his family were subjected to harrowing experiences. He said the armed men bundled him into a vehicle where he was sandwiched between armed policemen who drove in the night from Kano to Abuja in order to gag him. He said if armed bandits had attacked the convoy, there was only a slim chance that any of them would escape.

“The cases I started investigating in Kano involved billions of public funds diverted by public officials. They are desperate to kill in order to sit on stolen funds. They are as dangerous as drug cartels in Colombia. Fighting them is like fighting drug lords.”

He said corruption cannot be fought effectively when law enforcement agents are compromised by the same corrupt politicians who have no respect for accountability.

Rimin Gado said some policemen are currently being used against him by powerful but stupendously corrupt politicians who feed on the misery of the toiling masses. He said he was deeply concerned that the Police initiated criminal investigation into a judicial process, duly initiated under Section 211 of the Nigerian Constitution, and that it is prejudicial for the police to hunt and malign someone who has filed corruption charges on behalf of the State against politicians that consistently ruin the frontiers of democracy and human prosperity.

“I was given fiat by the Attorney General to prosecute allegations of offenses against the laws of Kano State. Why arrest me for doing what I have a legal duty to do? Why not arrest the State if they can?

“The police have no legal or moral reasons to enquire about what is already before the Court of Law, especially a criminal matter which the court had already taken cognizance of,” he said.

He spoke as a Keynote Speaker on the topic Youth as Catalyst of Integrity: Building a Corruption-Free Future for Nigeria, at the Public Presentation of the 19th Edition of the Compendium on 100 Profile Corruption Cases in Nigeria held in Lagos on Tuesday. The event was organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) in partnership with local and international groups to mark this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day celebration. The theme of the conference was Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity.

Rimin Gado said from his experience in Kano, corrupt politicians are as vicious as the world’s most violent drug lords who are prepared to kill and burn the country down rather than face justice or give up their crimes. He said prosperity and development in Nigeria would remain stunted as long as corrupt actors dominate the political economy.

 

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BIKOBA Set for 41st Annual General Meeting in Birnin-Kudu

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Arrangements have been completed for the successful conduct of the 41st Annual General Meeting of Birnin-Kudu Old Boys Association (BIKOBA), the umbrella body of the Old Students of the famous Government Unity College, Birnin-Kudu (formerly Government College, Birnin-Kudu), Jigawa State.

The event, scheduled to take place on Saturday, the 13th of December, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. in the Assembly Hall of the College, will feature a public lecture to be delivered by Alhassan Mohammed, an Assistant Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The lecture, titled “Enhancing Career Development Through Information Technology”, will focus on the importance of acquiring information technology skills, and the appropriate and effective use of its tools for efficient career building in the digital age.

Pharmacist Hashim Ubale Yusuf will chair the occasion, with the Governor of Jigawa State, Malam Umar Namadi, FCA, as Special Guest of Honour, while former Governors of Kano and Jigawa States, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (CON) and Alhaji Sule Lamido (CON), will serve as Guests of Honour, respectively.

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Additionally, prominent members of BIKOBA, such as the richest man in Africa and President of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Senator Mustafa Habeeb representing Jigawa Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, and many distinguished personalities from all walks of life produced by the College, are expected to grace the occasion.

His Highness, the 15th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, CFR, JP, who is also an alumnus of the College, will be the Royal Father of the Day, while the Chief Host of the event will be the National President of BIKOBA, Alhaji Ja’afar Usman Muhammad (Turakin Gaya).

In a statement, the National Publicity Secretary of BIKOBA, Mahmud Ibrahim Kwari, said major highlights of the AGM include awards presentation to deserving distinguished personalities, as well as the ratification and approval of an audited account report containing financial transactions of the Association in the outgoing year, by the General Assembly.

Government officials, members of traditional institutions, community leaders, officials of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA), School-Based Management Committee (SBMC), as well as members and friends of the BIKOBA family, are expected to fully attend the historic annual event.

 

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