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Zulum Advocates Youth Empowerment, Skills Acquisition, and Scholarships to End Youth Restiveness

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Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has called for the implementation of robust skills acquisition programmes, enhanced educational opportunities and scholarship schemes as strategic measures to combat youth restiveness and unemployment in society.

Speaking at the 7th National Council on Youths Meeting (NCYM) held at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Government House in Maiduguri on Thursday, Governor Zulum emphasized the need for governments to prioritize youth development. He described the youth as “future leaders” who require adequate support to fulfill their potentials.

Themed “Transforming and Repositioning the Nigerian Youth to Thrive and Catalyze Economic Development,” the meeting provided a platform for dialogue, innovation, and collaboration aimed at advancing youth development in Nigeria.

Governor Zulum, the Chief Host of the event, expressed pride in Borno State’s role in hosting the significant gathering.

He highlighted his administration’s unwavering commitment to youth empowerment since assuming office in 2019, despite the challenges posed by the prolonged Boko Haram insurgency.

Governor Zulum also underscored the immense potential of Nigeria’s youth population, noting that recent statistics reveal that 70% of the country’s population is under the age of 30. “This demographic is a significant asset, offering the potential for a highly productive economy in the near future,” he remarked.

He noted that since inception into office in 2019 to date, the present administration which has been battling with over a decade old Boko Haram crisis has been very committed to supporting youths through implementation of various initiatives aimed at empowering the youths, which include; provision of vocational training skills programmes, education, scholarships, distribution of Keke Napep, electric motor vehicles, establishing mechanical village at Molai and other entrepreneurship support programmes across the 27 local government areas of the state.

“In our society, the youths have faced numerous challenges, ranging from economic uncertainties, educational barriers and insufficient opportunities among many others.

“However, it is inspiring to see how many of our young people are stepping up, driving change and becoming the architects of their destinies and our tomorrow.”

“It is on record that youths in Borno have greatly contributed to peace and security and the overall socio-economic development of the state. The emergence of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) has brought a great
respite to the security architecture of the state.

“Borno indeed has reclaimed its glorious position of Home of Peace and Hospitality. So please feel at home and enjoy the centuries long hospitality of the good people of Borno State.

“As a government, we recognize that our youth are the backbone of our society and it is our responsibility to provide you with all the necessary support and resources to thrive and develop to your full potentials.

“We believe that investing in our youths is investing in our future and we are committed to creating opportunities for you to grow and be successful”, the governor stated.

He therefore commended the Federal Minister of Youth and Sports Development (FMYD), Mr. Ayodele Olawande, Borno Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Saina Buba, and all other stakeholders for choosing Borno as venue of the meeting, even as he urged participants to feel free and brainstorm critically towards complementing efforts of the government in revamping the future of youths in society.

In his address, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, expressed deep appreciation to Borno State government for hosting the NCYM.

“This meeting reflects President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s collective commitment in advancing the interest of Nigerian Youths in line with his Renewed Hope Agenda,” Olawande said.

He called on other state governors to emulate and follow the good steps of Governor Zulum in revamping the future of youths for the best.

Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Saina Buba highlights the importance of youth in national development.

He said Governor Zulum, who has passion for the youths, has spent billions of naira in establishing 17 skills acquisition centres, sponsored thousands of indigenous students on scholarship in various tertiary institutions within and outside the country, with empowerment and jobs creation for the teeming and vulnerable youth groups across the state.

During the event, the National Youth Workers Association (NYWA) decorated Governor Babagana Zulum with fellowship award and renamed its national headquarters after the governor.

Dauda Iliya
Special Adviser to Borno State Governor
(Media/Spokesperson)

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My defection rumor orchestrated by political comedians – Gov Idris

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Kebbi State Governor, Dr. Nasir Idris, has firmly denied rumours suggesting he plans to defect from the All Progressives Congress (APC), declaring his loyalty to the party.

In a statement issued on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Ahmed Idris, the governor described the speculation as “ridiculously malicious” and the handiwork of “uninteresting political comedians” trying to create instability.

Reacting to reports linking him to a coalition allegedly led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Governor Idris stated categorically, “I am made in APC, by APC, and for APC.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I am not a political prostitute. I will be the last person to leave my formidable and reliable party for any coalition, no matter who the architects are,” he added.

Idris, popularly known as Kauran Gwandu, emphasised that his focus remains firmly on delivering good governance to the people of Kebbi State and supporting the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“If they tell you again that Kaura is likely to leave his APC, tell them I will be the last man standing,” he declared.

Reaffirming Kebbi State’s strong allegiance to the APC, Idris dismissed the defection rumours as nothing more than the dance of mad fellows in the marketplace.

He assured citizens that his administration remains committed to the welfare of the people and the continued growth of the state under the APC banner.

“I remain steadfast with the people of Kebbi State, and together, we will consolidate on the successes of the APC to deliver the dividends of democracy,” he concluded.

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Adhere to our party’s ideology – SDP’s Adebayo tells defectors

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The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Prince Adewole Adebayo has called on defectors to the party to strictly adhere to its Ideology and not to bring their shenanigans from their old parties.

Speaking on News Central breakfast show on Monday, monitored by our correspondent, Prince Adebayo said party structures across the thirty six states and Abuja have been sufficiently informed on how to educate the new members no matter their status in life.

He said the party welcomes all the new entrants, disclosing however, that “what we have managed to do is to define what our party stands for.

According to him, “That is why you have seen some of the reactions as people are joining our party, we welcome them and we tell them ideological issues and we also tell them all these shenanigans that you do in your party, don’t bring them here.

“We spend a lot of time educating our members. Do not suddenly get used to money you did not ask for or monies you did not work for.

“Do not start to learn a bad habit, start to set up fake structures,don’t start to do unlawful registration, don’t start to fragment yourselves, don’t start talking about ethnicity. So we keep educating our people.

“And if you go around the state, you will see a lot of tension because when they come and they say, ‘oh, we want to move into a bigger secretariat, we need to buy this and that’, people say, ‘no, that’s not what we need in this party’, may be you should keep your money to yourself.”

Continuing he said: “You saw that there was a press conference by all our state chairmen where they said, look, you guys who are coming newly should study our ideology, don’t try to impose anything on us. We don’t need anything from you, just join the party and start behaving well.

“We don’t want them to come and change us, we want to change them and we don’t want to be used for things that are not in the interest of the people.

“You remember in my speech which went viral last week on my wife’s 50th birthday, I said, if you have arrangements in your former political party, if you were a former supporter of President Tinubu and you had your conspiracy against the people and you promised your own reward for that and they didn’t give it to you, that is not the basis to come to the SDP, and if you come to the sdp, don’t tell us, we don’t want to know, we’re not interested in it.”

Asked if the policy of the current administration is yielding any result, he responded that:

“It is known that we are are opposed to President Tinubu vehemently on policy, We do not have a history with him,we have no understanding with him.

“When they won the election and they were offering us positions, we did not accept, we did not dramatize it, we just told them sorry keep your position to yourself, run your government, we will be here offering alternative policies.

“The same thing with the coalition we are talking with the people. What we are saying is if you plan something out there on how to wrest power, don’t come to us.

“If you want to wrest power for the benefit of the people, you can start talking to us on what you are going to do differently.

“Start talking to us about how you are going to show to the people that you are repentant and you are accountable for your past actions, past words, past mistakes, past misgovernance.”

“Once you do all of that, you can then join our party, grow in the structure and when we see that you have behaved very well, maybe not in this election, maybe in future election, we will start to feature you,” he explained

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Senator Adeola denies saying Buhari’s govt borrowed $400bn to stabilize local currency

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Senator Adeola
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Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District, Solomon Adeola has denied saying the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari borrowed $400 billion to stabilize the naira, claiming he was misquoted at his Saturday event in Ayetoro, Ogun State.

The lawmaker reacted through a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Kayode Odunaro on Monday, saying the report which was published by major newspapers and online platforms was a misquotation of his speech in Yoruba local language during a town hall meeting of his constituents.

He said the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu and the floating of the exchange rate were the best ways to go, noting that without these fiscal policies, the Nigerian economy was headed for a collapse.

He said: “The previous administrations have been spending trillions of naira on fuel subsidy and defending the naira against the dollar, this was to the benefit of a very negligible number of Nigerians while Nigeria accumulated huge national debt.

“At no point did the Senator mention the name of the former President Buhari or make specific reference to his administration as incurring a debt of $400 billion. It is therefore clear that the debt figure attributed to former President Buhari’s administration is a misquotation from reporters’ translation of the senator’s speech from Yoruba to English language.

The statement said the misquotation must have been as a result of transcription from Yoruba to English, adding that most correspondents of papers that published the report were not in the town hall meeting.

Adeola said he respects former President Buhari and acknowledged his valiant efforts in piloting the economy under the circumstances he found during his tenure.

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