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Sasakawa Inaugurates Funded IsDB Mechanization Hub to Boost Smallholder Farming in Kano

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The Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), under the Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project (KSADP), has commissioned the Kadawa Agricultural Mechanization Centre in Garun Mallam Local Government Area, one of three agricultural mechanization hubs established to transform smallholder farming in Kano State.

It was gathered that, the intervention, funded by the Kano State Government, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF), will see similar centres established in Danbatta and Gaya LGAs.

The effort is part of a six-month extension to the five-year KSADP, which began in 2021 and now runs until December 2025. While the Kano State Government provided land for the hubs, SAA is responsible for construction and equipment installation under the project’s crop component.

Speaking during the commissioning, SAA Nigeria Country Director, Dr. Godwin Atser, represented by the Project Coordinator, Abdulrasheed Hamisu Kofarmata, said the intervention would “lift thousands of smallholder farmers out of low-productivity cycles.”

Kofar Mata explained that improved access to mechanization will empower farmers to compete in larger markets, create jobs, and strengthen food security.

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According to him the hubs will also generate opportunities for youth and women in machine operation, maintenance, and agro-processing. To ensure sustainability, he noted, the project is anchored on a Private Service Provider (PSP) model that integrates cooperatives and private operators.

In his remarks, Dr. Rami Ahmad, Vice President (Operations) of IsDB, expressed satisfaction with the commissioning of the Kadawa hub, describing it as a milestone that will significantly boost farmers’ productivity.

“This project is aimed at touching the lives of three million people. It is something for all of us to be proud of, as it benefits Kano State and farmers across the surrounding areas,” he said.

On his part, Kano State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Danjuma Mahmoud said that the project’s full impact would be felt in the years to come.

“From crop production, irrigation, value addition, processing, and livestock productivity enhancement to climate-resilient initiatives, the benefits of this project will crystallize over time,” he said, expressing hope that the state and private sector partners would sustain and expand the initiative beyond donor involvement.

A beneficiary of the mechanization support, Sagir Abubakar from Ciromawa community, revealed that farmers under the project had collectively generated and saved N21 million.

“Out of this, N20 million has been deposited in the bank, while N1.3 million was distributed among members to enable them to purchase seedlings,” he explained.

Each of the hubs, according to report, will provide clusters of farmers with access to modern machinery and technical services for land preparation, planting, harvesting, processing, and storage. The facilities are equipped with tractors, power tillers, planters, harvesters, and threshers, operated by trained technicians.

Other highlights of the event included the formal commissioning of the Kadawa hub by Dr. Rami Ahmad, tour around the facility and a tree planting exercise.

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None of Nigeria’s Presidents have Brigadier Generals as ADC, as the promotion of Tinubu’s ADC was shelved.

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None of Nigeria’s Presidents have Brigadier Generals as ADC, as the promotion of Tinubu’s ADC was shelved.”

The controversial plan to decorate Nurudeen Yusuf, aide-de-camp (ADC) to President Bola Tinubu, as a one-star general on Monday evening was shelved at the last minute after an intervention by two former chiefs of army staff.

Yusuf, who was only decorated as a colonel last January, was to be promoted to the rank of brigadier-general through “special presidential promotion”.

Under normal process, an officer has to be a colonel for at least four years after which he or she will attend the National Defence College (NDC) before they are considered for promotion.

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The approval to bypass the process was conveyed in a letter from the office of the national security adviser (NSA) to the Chief of army staff.

No brigadier has ever been ADC to the president of Nigeria, leading to further disquiet within the military establishment.

Ahead of the planned decoration on Monday, the minister of defence, Chris Musa — who is a retired general — and the chief of army staff, Waidi Shaibu, a lieutenant general, had cut short their visit to Lagos state and returned to the federal capital.

However, two highly respected former army chiefs eventually succeeded in persuading Tinubu to shelve the plan because of the dangers to the military establishment, TheCable learnt.

A presidential source told that the promotion is not going to happen “anytime soon”.

 

 

The cable

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Breaking:Former Chief Justice Of Nigeria Ibrahim Tanko Is Dead

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Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad (retd.), is dead.

A close source confirmed to SaharaReporters on Tuesday morning that the former head of Nigerian judiciary passed away at a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

“Ex-CJN Tanko Muhammad is dead. He passed away this morning at a Saudi Arabian Hospital,” the source said.

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Nigeria Tracker reports that Late President Muhammadu Buhari appointed late Justice Ibrahim Tanko into the exalted seat after the sacking of his predecessor Justice Samuel Walter Onnoghen over the issue of code of conduct in January 2019.

In Late 2022 Justice Ibrahim Tanko suddenly exited the seat due to what many said intense pressure from cabals in Late President Muhammad Buhari’s presidency and was succeeded by retired Justice olukayode .

Late Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad hails from Bauchi state .

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The Aso Rock Gossip That Made Late President Buhari Lock His Wife Out

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

In a new biography, former First Lady Aisha Buhari has revealed that late President Muhammadu Buhari began locking his bedroom door, preventing her from gaining access, after hearing rumors within Aso Rock that she intended to kill him.

This personal account is featured in the 600-page book, ‘From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari’, where Aisha Buhari details her experience managing her husband’s health challenges during his presidency.

She stated that the former president, trusting the gossip circulating within the presidential villa, altered some of his personal habits as a result.

The biography, which was authored by Charles Omole, director-general of the Institute for Police and Security Policy Research, was launched at the presidential villa in Abuja.

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Many high-profile persons and political chieftains, including President Bola Tinubu, attended the launch.

In the book, Aisha said Buhari’s 2017 health crisis was not a mysterious ailment or the effect of poisoning, but began after a broken feeding routine and mismanaged nutritional habits.

The former first lady said she had long managed her husband’s meals and supplements at specific hours, adding that the regimen helped Buhari to maintain stability.

“According to Aisha Buhari, her husband’s 2017 health crisis did not originate as a mysterious ailment or a covert plot. It started, she says, with the loss of a routine; ‘my nutrition,’ she describes it, a pattern of meals and supplements she had long overseen in Kaduna before they moved into Aso Villa,” the book reads.

When they moved to the villa, she said she convened a meeting with close staff including Suhayb Rafindadi, the physician; Bashir Abubakar, the chief security officer; the housekeeper, and the DSS DG to explain the plan.

After some time, the plan was discontinued.

“When the Presidency’s machinery took over our private lives, I explained the plan: daily, at specific hours, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oil, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there. Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” Aisha was quoted as saying in the book.

“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him.

“My husband believed them for a week or so,” she said, adding that the president began locking his room, changed small habits, and crucially, “meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped”.

“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she added.

Aisha denied stories of plots to poison her husband, adding that Buhari’s health began deteriorating because of “loss of a routine, ‘my nutrition,’ was the genesis of the crisis”.

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