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Discussions on Niger fruitful, war must unlikely, says ECOWAS envoy

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Retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, the ECOWAS envoy on the Niger Republic crisis, said discussions with the military junta was fruitful on the way forward.

He said this on Monday in Abuja after submitting a report on their visit to Niamey to President Bola Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.

Abubakar, who was accompanied by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, said the ECOWAS would continue to explore all options.

He said that the ECOWAS delegation met with the military junta in Niamey on Saturday and discussed on amicably resolving the imbroglio.

‘’As you are aware, the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government have made me an envoy to Niger Republic and we were there over the weekend to see the military people and discussed to find a way out of the lacuna we find ourselves.

‘’I must say that our visit to Niger has been very fruitful and that it has opened an avenue to start talking and hopefully we’ll get somewhere,’’ he said.

Abubakar said that the delegation also presented the three years transitional plan of the junta to Tinubu who would table it before the regions Heads of State and Government.

‘’Well, like I said, we’ve started talking, they have made their own points and then I made my report to the Chairman of the ECOWAS Heads of state and President.

‘’He will now consult with his colleagues and then the ding-dong starts and we’ll get somewhere hopefully,’’ he said.

On the possibility of engaging in dialogue instead of military options to resolve the Niger crisis, he insisted that the leaders still wants to employ diplomatic options.

‘’Hopefully diplomacy will see the better of this. Nobody wants to go to war. It doesn’t pay anybody, but then, our leaders have said if all fails and I don’t think all will fail, we’ll get somewhere we’ll get out of this mess.’’

During the Niger meeting in Niamey on Saturday, Abubakar met with President Mohamed Bazoum who was reported not to be receiving adequate health attention along with his family.

The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government at its meeting last week had ordered the deployment of a military standby force to restore constitutional rule in Niger.(

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FCT Town Planners Decry Poor Implementation of Urban Planning Law

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The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), has decried the ineffective implementation of the Urban Regional Planning Law and rampant disregard for approved master plans in Nigeria’s major towns.

The NITP new Chairman, FCT Chapter, Queen Phillips stated this during her inauguration on Wednesday in Abuja.
Phillips stressed that inadequate implementation of urban planning laws hinders Nigeria’s progress toward sustainable development.
She outlined her plans to include, strengthening professionalism and capacity building.Phillips also said that providing ongoing professional development through workshops and training to equip members with contemporary planning skills among others would be part of her administration’s focus.
She said that effective sensitisation of citizens and strict enforcement of urban regional laws are essential to bringing order to the cities and promoting socio-economic growth.Phillips said that the issue of ongoing demolition of illegal structures in the FCT would persist until the elites in the society change their mindset.She called for a collaborative effort to address the issue of illegal structures that have become widespread in the FCT, saying that proper implementation of physical plans was crucial for economic growth.According to her, there is the need for orderliness in urban development, because sustainable cities and environments can only be achieved through meticulous planning and adherence to master plan.“The institute has faced significant challenges in fulfilling its official responsibilities due to some residents’ refusal to comply with the Abuja master plan.“We urge residents to fully support the FCT administration’s current efforts to develop Abuja into a world-class city,” she said.Philips assured that the new executive would prioritise capacity building for town planners to ensure effective service delivery.She also assured that the new executive would collaborate with the national body of the institute to ensure that relevant government authorities adhere to the physical plans and address the operations of unqualified practitioners in the country.Earlier, the NITP National President, Dr Ogbonna Chime, stressed the importance of town planners in any society.Chime emphasised the urgent need for the protection of professionals in the field, citing the recent violent attacks on town planners during routine duties.He however, commended the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for his timely intervention in handling the situation.In his remarks, a former FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr Olusegun Adekunle, emphasised the importance of all professionals supporting the current administration’s initiatives to attract foreign investment into the country.In her valedictory speech, the immediate past chairman, Mrs Lami Ayuba, expressed gratitude for the support she received, emphasising the importance of continued dedication to sustainable urban planning.She said that the historic moment of Phillips’ inauguration held additional significance as it marked a milestone in gender representation within the NITP.“With me and the incoming chairperson being women, this is an accomplishment that has been rare in the organisation’s history,” she said. (NAN)

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World Bank Approves Request for Additional FCT FADAMA NG-CARES

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The FCT Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS), says the World Bank has approved request for the second phase of the FCT FADAMA COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) programme.

The Mandate Secretary of ARDS, Mr Lawan Geidam, said this at the inauguration of the Pre-Field training of Enumerators responsible for the generation of field data for the conduct of FCT FADAMA CARES programme.
Geidam said that the programme was for the Endline and Beneficiaries Impact Assessment Survey on Wednesday in Gwagwalada.
He said that the Federal Government had initially requested for additional financing to continue the implementation of the CARES programme following the successes recorded during the FCT FADAMA (NG-CARES 1.
0) programme nation wide.He said that the World Bank had approved the request and renamed the programme-Nigeria Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES 2.0) programme expected to commence in June.According to him, the training is one out of a series of events marking the commencement of technical closure processes for the first phase of NG-CARES Programme (NG-CARES 1.0).“I am glad to inform all that under the NG-CARES 1.0, FCT FADAMA CARES had successfully disbursed grants to 12,423 individual beneficiaries from 181 Farmers Community Association across the FCT.“Out of these, 8,190 beneficiaries representing 66 per cent of the total disbursements were supported within less than two years period of our administration.“The FCT CARES Programme is an emergency response supported by the World Bank to help farmers recover from the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”The programme has been supporting poor and vulnerable farmers in the FCT since 2022″, he said.He said that the programme signified the attainment of another significant milestone by the secretariat towards ensuring the attainment of food and nutritional security in the FCT.Giedam commended the efforts and the achievement by the FCT FADAMA CARES programme during the implementation of the first phase of NG-CARES 1.0.The mandate secretary assured the beneficiaries of the secretariat’s support as they commence the second phase.He urged the trainees to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the FCT FADAMA CARES programme to enhance their knowledge.He said that this would significantly facilitate the successful conduct of the endline and beneficiary impact assessment survey.The Acting FCT FADAMA CARES Coordinator, Hussaini Iliyasu, said that the objective of the FCT CARES was to increase food security and safe functioning of food supply chain.Iliyasu said that the programme was a World Bank budget support to the FCT, targeted at existing and newly emerging vulnerable and poor households on agricultural value chains.He assured the secretary that the team would continue to give its best towards ensuring the successful closure of the NG-CARES 1.0 programme and the commencement of NG-CARES 2.0.The FCT CARES Coordinator, Mr Uba Bala, said that the World Bank had recommended that a programme Implementation Completion Report be carried out to appraise the team’s performance for future remedies.The highlight of the event was the handover of office equipment to the FCT FADAMA CARES desk offices in the six area councils. (NAN)

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JOSTUM Shuts Down Over Abduction of Students In Benue

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Following a kidnapping incident on the campus of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi (JOSTUM), the management has ordered all students to vacate their hostels with immediate effect.

The directive follows the abduction of three students by unknown armed assailants near Zamfara Hostel and Ring Road in North Core on Tuesday night.

The University management has therefore, granted a one-week mid-semester break to all students, providing them with time to regroup and ensuring their safety as security agencies work on resolving the situation.

An internal memo released by the school, signed by the Registrar, Dr. John U. David, mandated that students vacate the hostels by 4:00 pm today.

The memo reads: “Sequel to the unfortunate incident that occurred on Campus (Tuesday, February 25th, 2025) at about 8:00 pm, where unknown armed men abducted three students between Zamfara Hostel and Ring Road in North Core, the University Management, after a series of consultative meetings with Security Agencies and stakeholders, resolved the following:

“The University Management condemns the incident in its entirety. The Government and the Security Agencies have been duly informed about the unfortunate incident.

“All staff, students, and the general public are enjoined to remain calm as security agencies are working tirelessly to secure the release of the abducted students.

“The Inaugural Lecture scheduled for today, February 26th, 2025, is postponed indefinitely. In solidarity with the students and parents of the abducted students, the University Management has granted a one-week mid-semester break to all students to adequately address the security challenges on campus.

“Consequently, all students are to vacate their hostels by 4:00 pm today, Wednesday, February 26th, 2025.”

However, it has been reported that protests are ongoing at the university, as students who are not from Makurdi and whose homes are far away are protesting the late notice to vacate the hostels.

As of the time of filing this report, the students were still protesting the management’s decision to require them to leave the hostels on such short notice.

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