The Nasarawa State Health Insurance Agency (NASHIA) said it has enrolled 351,610 residents into the state health insurance scheme.

Executive Secretary of the agency, Dr Yahaya Ubam, said this at a quarterly press briefing to update the public on the agency’s activities and performance indicators.

He said that the beneficiaries were registered under different packages, including the public sector, the informal sector, vulnerable groups and students.

He said that the programme was inaugurated in 2019 with zero enrollees, but now has 351,610 persons.

Ubam said many of the enrollees are benefiting daily from the medical services rendered at 268 healthcare facilities spread across 147 electoral wards of the 13 local government areas (LGAs) of the state.

He said that NASHIA had digitalised all its processes to ensure easy access to effective healthcare services for enrollees which had so far improved efficiency and transparency.

He called on healthcare providers in the state to be professional in their conduct and to give enrollees the desired services, saying such conduct would increase public confidence in the scheme.

The executive secretary expressed gratitude to the state governor, Abdullahi Sule, for the progress made so far in the agency.

He appealed to the governor to give the agency some vehicles and office accommodation for the headquarters and zonal offices to enhance their operations.

He appreciated spirited individuals whom he said had helped some indigent persons in their communities, and urged others to emulate the gesture.

Ubam assured that the agency would continue to strive hard towards achieving its mandate, which aligned with the broader goal of universal health coverage.

He said that the agency’s enrollment drive was deliberately targeted at civil servants, artisans and traders in the informal sector, students in tertiary institutions, as well as the poor and vulnerable households.

He said that the 268 accredited facilities, delivering services under the scheme, were distributed across the 147 electoral wards of the 13 LGAs to ensure that enrollees in both urban centres and rural communities have access points for healthcare.

The executive secretary added that the agency had digitalised its system to cover registration, premium tracking, claims management and feedback mechanisms.

“The digitalisation has helped in reducing bottlenecks and allowed enrollees to interact with the system more seamlessly,” he said.

At least 30 people have been killed in floods and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall in the Gamo Zone of southern Ethiopia, local officials have said.

Authorities reported that most people had died in highland areas, where saturated slopes gave way after days of intense rain.

Officials have urged residents in vulnerable areas to take precautions.

Torrential rains have unleashed widespread flooding across East Africa in recent days.

Dozens have also died in neighbouring Kenya.

Forecasters say storms are becoming more intense in the region, partly due to climate change.

The Southern Ethiopia regional state governor offered his condolences to the affected families.

“On behalf of myself and the regional government, I express my deep sorrow over the loss of 30 lives due to landslides and floods in the highlands of Gamo Zone caused by heavy rains,” Tilahun Kebede said in a statement on Facebook late on Tuesday.

Officials said the disaster followed sustained rainfall in surrounding districts.

The town of Arba Minch and neighbouring areas have experienced continuous downpours for two days, causing widespread damage to homes, infrastructure and farmland.

Authorities have warned that further flooding and landslides remain possible.

Mudslides have blocked key roads and several bridges have been flooded, prompting calls for the public to remain vigilant. Emergency teams are monitoring the situation.

Over the past two decades, numerous studies have documented a rise in both extreme wet spells and prolonged dry periods across East Africa.

Scientists have repeatedly cautioned that human driven climate change is making severe weather events – such as intense, long-lasting downpours – more frequent and more severe

More than 229 people, including rescuers, were killed by a landslide in the neighbouring Geze Gofa Zone in July 2024.

From Aliyu Askira, Kano

Women in Kano State have taken the transportation sector by storm with the introduction of ‘Mata Zalla’, a tricycle service designed exclusively for female passengers and operated by trained female drivers.

The initiative, which translates to ‘exclusively women’ in Hausa, not only provides safer and more comfortable rides in line with the state’s conservative cultural values but also creates vital employment opportunities in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.

Under the Mata Zalla model, female drivers handle pink electric tricycles that pick up only women passengers, while men continue operating separate services for male riders.

The service stands out with lower fares than regular keke to encourage greater patronage among women on selected routes across the city.

Co-founded by Hauwa Ahmad Tarauni as a women’s cooperative, the project started with around 100 female drivers – many of them widows and divorcees – with a waiting list of 200 more. Drivers receive proper training at the city’s vehicle inspection office and follow a unique ownership model: part of their daily earnings is deducted over three years to help them own the electric rickshaws outright. The fleet is supported by two solar-powered charging stations and a smartphone app for monitoring.

Hauwa Ahmad Tarauni explained the vision behind the move: “We thought that this is a lucrative business which women were not benefiting from and had been left for men  adding that the service tackles vulnerabilities in mixed transport, where a man can get too close to a woman, abuse her over small things or the operators… quarrelling with female passengers.

One driver, Umma Hani Yusuf Khalid, who left selling footwear to join the initiative, stressed the strength required for the job: “As a female rickshaw operator, you need to be strong because you made the resolve to go through all kinds of challenges… just remain composed behind the wheel.

The challenges faced by women in mixed-gender commercial transport have long been a concern in Kano, prompting innovative solutions like this one that align with Sharia law principles and Hisbah guidelines on gender segregation.