Report a Project Radio Program

On the 12th of September, 2019 the Centre for Information Technology and Development conducted its weekly Radio Program (41st edition, the 2nd in this quarter) title Report a Project which is been aired every Thursday at Freedom Radio, Duse between 5 to 6pm with Ali Sabo of the Centre and Nura Garba Tsanyawa of Freedom Radio. The program designed specifically to encourage students to report projects that are either abandoned, poorly done or that have elements of corruption on them. And it is also looking at the ways that can be used to fight corruption and ensure transparency in governance.

This week program centred on dangers and hardship abandoned projects are inflicting in the affected communities and the waste of resources associated with it. The presenter of the program discussed on the problems abandoned projects in the communities are bringing to the immediate communities, the waste of resources accompanying it, staggering development in the country and how they are affecting development. The presenter explained to the listeners that for them to change the status quo they must raise their voice and start reporting such kind of bad attitude of politicians to the appropriate agencies and organizations.

While discussing on the issue of abandoned projects in the communities, the presenter reminded the audience about CITAD’s report a project and anti-corruption essay competition which is been conducted bimonthly. He urged the listeners to leverage on this opportunities introduced by CITAD to be reporting such kind of projects in their communities.

Audience Response:

  1. Yawale Sani Takai: first of all I will say I have been following this program since from its inception to date and you must be commended for doing a job well-done. Secondly, like what you have been saying about tracking budget and reporting abandoned projects, I will say that because of this awareness you are creating a lot of us have started to track government spending in our areas. There is an issue I complained about regarding Marke’s people; they were deceived by one government official who collected their money and promised to construct a borehole for them and refused to do it. Last time Ali Sabo connected me with one of their staff in Kano who asked us to find out the root cause of the problem, where we interviewed the people of the community and took some pictures. My appeal to CITAD is to look into this matter again and see where it can help because up to this time the man did not return the money he collected from the people. And lastly, I want talk about our road in Takai, the road was started since last administration and up till now it has not been completed but we are still following.
  2. Yusuf Muhammad: my questions are:
  3. The presenter said that in writing an essay on anti-corruption and abandoned projects it shouldn’t exceed 1000 words, so what will happen if it exceed that?
  4. As a youth do I have the right to ask why some of the state governments did not make political appointments?
  • And lastly, do I have the right to track this year’s budget?
  1. Aminu Darau: first I want once again thanks CITAD for this program because it is through this program that I complained about our nomadic school which has only one teacher and that problem has been solved, because another teacher has been sent. And secondly, I’m appealing to the state government to come and build us classrooms because the students are taking classes in an open veranda and we have more than 300 students. Finally, we are in lack of drinking water in our village because our people have to travel to neighboring villages before they can get drinking water
  2. Muttaka Muhammad Musa: I just want make some comments regarding what Ali Sabo discussed. Yes it is good for us youth to be tracking our budget and abandoned projects in our communities and hold our leaders accountable. Then my question is, in the past I have complained about our road from Karfi to Shagu which is not more than 3 kilometer to which we have met with Takai local government chairman regarding the road when we heard that local governments are now accessing their funds directly from federal government but up till now nothing has been done. So my question here is since the local government refuse to do this work can we also send it to the link provided?
  3. Ya’u Mai Garan Takalmi: I really enjoyed what the presenter discussed, and to the best of my knowledge the most important aspect that we should focus our attention to if we really want fight corruption is to provide jobs for our teeming unemployed youth. And secondly, our road which is under construction that links Sabuwar Takur, Morpol Base and DanMasara, to be sincere it is only morpol base that is benefiting from the road because in our area, Sabuwar Takur the contractor is not doing what he ought to have been doing.
  4. Muhammad Barangu: I think the best way is to provide jobs for the youths, if government can be able to do this all other problems will be solved.

In all ten calls were received.

CITAD Hosts District Head of Rogo, Bauran Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Mahraz as Guest Speaker of August ILERIS

For the first time in three years, since the inception of the Inspiring Leadership Reflection Interactive Series (ILERIS), the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has today hosted a traditional leader, Alh. Muhammad Mahraz Karaye, the District Head of Rogo and Bauran Kano as Guest Speaker of August 2019, ILERIS. In his opening remarks, Engr. YZ, Ya’u, the Executive Director of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) said that CITAD used in the history of ILERIS to host people from academia, civil servants, entrepreneurs etc to the monthly lecture series to provide youth with skills, ideas and inspiration but today and for the first time in the history of this event we are hosting a traditional leader. According to him, people with robust experience in life are not only restricted in the academic environment or from the civil servants. He then said that you can stimulate youth by either providing them with skills to build their life or to bring somebody to encourage them and learn from his own life style.

In his speech, Alh Muhammad Mahraz said that he was born in Karaye town in 1954 and attended Karaye primary school. He then proceeded to Birnin Kudu secondary school in 1969. Going to Birnin Kudu those days according to Bauran Kano is far journey because of the difficulties attached to the journey and remoteness of the area but he managed as a royalist to attend the school. After accomplishment of the secondary school he secured admission in Zaria, Kano and Ogoja. He wished to study in Ogoja but was advised by Sarkin Dawaki Mai Tuta, late Alh Bello Dandago to study at home town. He studied NCE in History/Education in 1974. At that time NCE students undertook National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), he served together with present senator and former governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau at Higher School Ececeni, Umo Dike, Imo State. He was discouraged by the family members not to go due to the growing tension of the civil war then, but successfully completed the scheme together with Malam Ibrahim Shekarau.

Bauran Kano said that he has four wives and 16 children. He was employed first at Kumbotso Teachers Collage in 1978 after establishment of the school. He also served as Vice Principal at Harbo Junior Secondary School, Jahun Jigawa State.  He was Assistant Chief Inspection Officer of Education in charge of Hadejia Local Education Authority, Assistant Director, National Primary of Education, Kaduna and once a Team Leader in Ondo State. He was turbaned as Barden Karaye and District Head of Karaye by late Alhaji Ado Bayero emir of Kano in 1996. He said that he is a farmer who used to harvest about 70 to 150 bags in a year. “I used to hire a land for farming in my own district area, I never own a land to maintain my dignity”, he said.

He finally decried about the state of insecurity in the entire north. He decried about the problems of kidnapping, drug abuse, robbery, cultism, cattle rustling, prostitutions, homosexual and spread of fake news and rumors and finally attributed them to the problems of corruption. The lecture ended with CITAD publications presentation to Alh Muhammad Mahraz Karaye, by CITAD’s Program Coordinator Malam Isyaku Garba.

By

Sagiru Ado Abubakar

Report of Fun –Fair Celebration at Angwa Gwalada, FCT

Fun fair is important for Kids to have some fun. Centre for Information, Technology and Development (CITAD) with support from ActionAid organized a fun fair for Angwa Gwalada community children to entertain and show them some love. The main objective of the fun fair is to entertain and support the community children with writing materials.

It was such a fun to see the community come together to have some excitement. Angwa Gwalada is one out of the nineteen communities in FCT, where the impact of CITAD/ActionAid work is been felt.

The children had different games and competitions such as dancing and spelling competition. At the end of the competition the winners were presented with gifts.

They were sensitized on the benefits of good personal hygiene and the importance of education. Some of the parents were present at the fun fair, they also participated in the competition.

Overall, it was a fun-filled day with learning.  At the end of the fair each child went home with a gift of writing materials. The children enjoyed the fun fair very much.

Rethinking Our Counter Insurgency Strategy

Text of Press Conference Addressed on Friday 23, August by Y.Z, Ya’u, Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development on the Unfortunate Attacks on Gubio and Magumeri in Borno State

 

I like to on behalf of the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) welcome you to this press conference onthe simultaneous and coordinated Attacks on Gubio and Magumeri Local Governments by Boko Haram Insurgents.

In the evening of Wednesday 21stAugust, Boko Haram Insurgents launched a simultaneous and coordinated attacks on both Gubio and MagumeriLocal Governments of Borno State. The attackscoming a week following an earlier one on Gubio has witnessed massive destruction in the community. So far, fatality figures are not yet clear. the attacks lasted till morning hours of Thursday. The destruction and killings are serious setback to the efforts at resettling, reconstruction and rebuilding of these communities that have been ravaged by the insurgency for almost 10 years now. It has now pushed back many more hundred people to new displaced, some of themfor the second or third time.

Coming at the height of the farming season, it also means thatthese attackswouldhave serious impact on food security in the region. This can exacerbate the already humanitarian disaster that is rooted in the region.

CITAD is shocked and worried that inthe last couple of weeks attacks by Boko Haram have become more frequent, more brazen and very destructive. We express our condolence to the families of all those who lost their loved ones and wish speedy recovery for those who have sustained injuries in the attacks.

Theseincidences raised a serious question on the efficacy of our counter insurgency strategy. Rather than driving and squeezing out the insurgents, it appears they are daily gaining grounds and coming more atrocious against our people.

We note that the insurgents took advantage of the fact that both Gobio and Magumeri have no military presence or cover to protect the communities form attacks by the insurgents, in otherwords, the communities are an open target for these attacks. In fact, entire stretch between Maiduguri to Damasak, at the border with Niger republic, spanning over 160 kilometres, had been left without military presence and may be vulnerable to attacks. The remnant of military fled Gubio following the first attack on the military brigades that was stationed there.

While we commend the patriotism and gallantry of our soldiers, we call on the government to: as a matter of urgently:

  1. Review and fine tune the National Counter Insurgency Strategy as to make it an effective tool to end the insurgency and secure our citizens and the territories they live. As it is the insurgents seems to be gaining strength
  2. Should investigate and find immediate solution to the growing influence of the allure of war economy in which top military brassare benefiting and becoming more interested in exploiting such an economy for their personalaggrandizement than in savinglives and ending the conflict. It known that in some communities, soldiers have taken over control of major economic activities such as fishing. There are even allegations of appropriation of cattle herds of villagers by some of the military leaders.
  3. Government must ensure that our troops are well equippedandsupported with high quality of intelligence. Given the high handedness of the military, they are not likely to get the best from the communities
  4. Should investigate the allegations of the nonpayment of allowances of soldiers. There have been reports about these and such situation is capable of damping the morels of soldiers.
  5. Investigate cases of militaryhigh handedness on community membersand abuse of rights and dignity of ordinary citizens. For instance, in March 2019, few weeks before the forceful displacements of over 5,000 people from Jakana to IDP camps in Maiduguri, villages in Kukawa had their market burnt to the ground by soldiers because people that were linked to the fighters were reportedly patronizing the markets.
  6. Compliment military strategy with efforts that will engage communities and enhancingtheircommunity resilience to not only repel but also make it difficult for the insurgents to launch an attack on them
  7. Finally, we call for the immediate restoration of military cover in the two local governments

 

JOPIS Takes Interview Techniques and Enterpreneurship Grants Opportunities Training to Federal University Dutse (FUD) and Jigawa Polytechnic Students

The Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) through it’s Job Placement and Information Services (JOPIS) organized a one day workshop on Job Interview Techniques, Employment and Entrepreneurship Support Opportunities to Federal University Dutse (FUD) and Jigawa State Polytechnic graduating students. JOPIS is a department initiated by the organization to help teeming unemployed youths with skills of becoming self reliant. In his welcome remarks, the coordinator of the Center in Duste, Ali Sabo welcomed the participants to the workshop and urged them to listen to the presenters with interest and also pass what they learn to others who could not attend the workshop.
In his introduction, the coordinator of the unit Sagir Ado Abubakar stated activities of the unit saying that the main objective of the unit is to gather and sensitize the job seeking youths on the entrepreneurship opportunities as well as properly train them on how to be innovative and develop business plans so that they can benefit from loans and grants opportunities meant for startup businesses. He urged the students to start thinking on how to explore new ideas and be more creative. Hamza Ibrahim who took the participants on the importance of developing a good CV and Interview techniques while advising them to be truthful and state only what they can be able to do and depend in their resumes.
Three presentations were made at the workshop, namely: JOPIS Unit of CITAD and its activities by Sagir Ado of Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Interview Techniques/CV Development: How to Excel and Sale Yourself during interview by Hamza Ibrahim Chinade of the same center, Job Scams and Entrepreneurship Opportunities also by Sagir Ado. All the papers presented dealt extensively with topical issues, and they revolved around pressing areas bedeviling the teeming unemployed graduates and at the same time exposed the participants to think beyond eyeing white color jobs.
The programme ended with vote of thanks by Usman Aliyu, President of Students for Peace, Federal University Duste, he thanked the presenters and the Center for organizing the educating workshop and at the same time advised the participants to start applying what the learned at the workshop immediately and wished everyone a successful journey back to their destinations.

BUK, KUST, Northwest University Graduating Students Receive Entrepreneurship Support and Interview Techniques Training

Job Placement and Information Service (JOPIS) of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) is a unit that scouts for job and entrepreneurial grants opportunities and disseminate for the benefit of especially the teeming job-seeking youths in the society. The unit has today organized a workshop for the graduating students of Bayero University Kano, Kano state University of Science and Technology (KUST) Wudil, Northwest University Kano, Federal College of Education Kano as well as Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education, the participating students were selected from Peace Clubs in their various institutions.

In his welcome remarks, coordinator of the unit Sagiru Ado Abubakar noted that it is one of the objectives of JOPIS to gather and sensitize the job-seeking youths on the entrepreneurship support opportunities as well as properly train them on how to succeed at job interviews, “you may have the qualification but lack the basic knowhow to succeed at interviews, the public sector cannot offer everyone a slot for meal ticket, as such some of us have to establish their own businesses and eventually employ others too, that is why we have a session on grants opportunities in this workshop to guide you on how to initiate business ideas and access startup grants, Sagiru added.

Three sessions were facilitated during the workshop, namely: Interview Techniques: How Best to Succeed at Interviews by Adamu Muhammad of Integrated Corporate Services Kano Regional Office, Enterpreneurship Support Opportunities by Sufyan Lawal Kabo of Digital Film Base Kano and CV Development by Sagiru Ado Abubakar of CITAD. The three sessions have extensively treated essential concepts that are capable of adding value on the graduating students. Commenting, a medical student of BUK Khadija Aliyu Adam said before attending the workshop her perception was that medical students can hardly benefit from entrepreneurship support, but the workshop has completely changed her mindset, also commenting Ahmad Tijjani Zubair of Agricultural Economics and Extension (another BUK student) said the workshop really opened his eyes to start practicalizing the business ideas he has.

It could be recalled that JOPIS has organized a similar workshop on 19th January this year for interns and volunteers of the organization. A total number of sixty (60) students participated in the workshop from the five tertiary institutions, the workshop ended with a closing remark offered by Senior Programmes Officer Kabiru Saidu Dakata of the Center for Information technology and Development (CITAD).

Alqalam and Umaru Musa Yar’adua University Students Trained on Entrepreneurship Support Sources, Interview Techniques and CV Development By Hamza Ibrahim Chinade

The Job Placement and Information Service (JOPIS) unit of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has organized a workshop for the students of Alqalam University and Umaru Musa Yar’adua University Katsina on how they can secure loans or grants from either governments initiatives, Bank of Industry, foundations and wealthy individuals in order start their own businesses and become self reliant, the workshop also prepared the participants on how they can pass employment interviews alongside mastering the secrets of developing a winning Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume.

Giving his welcome remarks, Huzaifa Yakubu Musa of CITAD expressed optimism with the turnout of the participants and observed that the workshop is timely considering the present situation of unemployment and a growing number of graduates emerging from various institutions that he said government alone cannot accommodate as such engaging in entrepreneurial activities will be a way out as well as make the youths realize their potentials by initiating different businesses, he urged the participants to consider the workshop as a challenge and engage in various self reliant businesses.

Three presentations were made, the first being “Developing a Winning CV and Employment Interview Techniques” by Mr. Ahmadu Adamu, the regional manager of outsourcing company Integrated Corporate Services which is based in Kano, the second “Job Scams” facilitated by Sagiru Ado Abubakar, the coordinator, Job Placement and Information Service (JOPIS) and the third “Enterpreneurship Support Sources” by Hamza Ibrahim, a research assistant with CITAD. All the presentations treated various relevant concepts.

The participants have asked many questions and made comments and suggestions, some of them appreciated CITAD for organizing the workshop while others observed that the next time a workshop like that will be organized they want business proposal writing be included as many students have sound business ideas but to carefully develop a proposal for them is a problem. The workshop ended with a vote of thanks and a group picture of the facilitators and the participants.

 

CITAD Trains ATBU and Federal Polytechnic Bauchi Students on Enterpreneurship Support Opportunities and Employment Interview Techniques

After conducting Interview Techniques and Entrepreneurship Support Opportunities Workshop for graduating students of Bayero University Kano, Northwest University, Kano state Polytechnic, Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education, Federal University Dutse and Jigawa state Polytechnic, the Job Placement and Information Service (JOPIS) unit of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has organized another similar workshop for the students of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) and Federal Polytechnic Bauchi.

The workshop which took place at the Bauchi office of CITAD exposes the participants into various skills that help job seekers succeed at employment interviews and entrepreneurship support opportunities in form of loans and grants for startup businesses in order for the youths to become self reliant. Earlier in his opening remarks, JOPIS Coordinator, Sagir Ado Abubakar urged the participants to feel free and ask questions where necessary as the workshop is meant to prepare towards becoming innovative entrepreneurs or succeed at employment interviews.

Facilitating a session on Interview Techniques and CV Development, Mr. Ahmadu Adamu, the regional manager of Integrated Corporate Services encouraged the participants to always take their time to develop a “Winning CV” that will sell them before their prospective employers and prepare well and adhere to ethics and skills of attending an employment interview emphasizing that it is a foundation for securing a job.

Some people use the unemployment scenario to dupe gullible and desperate youths in search of employment, said Sagiru Ado Abubakar who presented on “Job Scams”. Sagiru identified several tricks used by 419ers such as asking for payment for appointment, interviews, lacking concrete and verifiable address by the scammers, using fake identity on social networking sites, having no websites etc, he warned the participants to beware of dubious people who normally lure job seekers with fake claims.

The last session on “Enterpreneurship Support Opportunities” was facilitated by Hamza Ibrahim. The participants were presented with series of entrepreneurial support opportunities sources as well as procedures and requirements for applying. The facilitator explained in detail the thousands of untapped business ideas that can be utilized by the participants and get some grants or loans to startup their own businesses. The participants asked many questions regarding the qualification of a business to win grants or secure loans, and whether or not graduating students of Urban and Regional Planning can establish estate management service and can have a grant to startup etc. The questions and comments were clarified by the facilitator. Websites of grants and loan sources were given to the participants and many of them indicated interest in developing business ideas and applying for grants or loans in order to become self reliant.

Why closure of Kebbi mining sites could cause violent crisis

 

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has expressed concern over the possibility of violent crisis due to the ban on mining activities in Kebbi state by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

Addressing a news conference in Kano on Tuesday, Executive Director of CITAD, Dr. Yunusa Zakari Ya’u explained that the total closure of mining sites in the state deprived means of livelihood to tens of thousands of miners.

He added that a research conducted by CITAD shows that the 24 mining sites in the state provides livelihood to at least 156,000 residents, apart from others who also earn from the trade such as transporters, food vendors and traders.

“We studied three mining sites namely Mararrabar Yauri, Makeri both in Ngaski local government and Tungan Zakara in Shamga local government of the state. In these three sites, there are about 20,000 people making a living directly on mining. These are just three sites. If we take a crude estimate that a site has on average 6,500 people, and that each of the local governments where mining takes place has on average two sites, this will mean looking at 24 mining sites in the state, giving employment to about 156,000 people,” he said.

“This means that a substantial number of people of the state are employed in mining and earn their means of livelihood through it. It can in fact be said that mining is the single biggest employer of labour in the state,” he added.

Dr. Ya’u noted that it was wrong for the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu to unilaterally ban all mining activities in Kebbi state without consultation with stakeholders.

“Since the ban of mining in Kebbi state, at least 17 miners have been detained and are facing charge of illegal mining before a Kebbi court. by a stroke of the pen and with no consultation with stakeholders, no thought about alternative means of livelihood for those affected and without any iota of justification, the police deprived these thousands of people their means of livelihood and make them unemployed overnight,” he said.

According to him, communities in Kebbi state have already begun to witness a rise in petty theft, which he said could soon spiral into armed robbery and banditry because people are being pushed into poverty and deprivation.

“This has serious security implication. Illegal mining is said to be a contributing factor to the conflict in Zamfara state. If this is not quickly addressed, the possibility of illegal mining turning into violent confrontation especially between illegal miners and the police and security agencies is high.

“Comparing the dynamics in Zamfara state and the closure of the mines in Kebbi state, it is clear that criminality and violence are not due to the nature of mining but by the way in which government manufacture illegal mining. There are two ways in which illegal mining is produced: The first is when conditions for registration for artisanal miners are made difficult to access and acquire licenses. The second is when government closes mines and make mining activities illegal without consultation and not provide for alternative means of livelihood for those dependent on mining…then use police to repress any effort by miners to disregard arbitrary decision…,” he said.

Dr. Ya’u also observed that while other communities in the state like Mararrabar Yauri and and Makerin could fall back on farming activities as an alternative, there is no such alternative in another community like Tungan Zakara.

“As it is now, without any alternative means of livelihood, when miners out of desperation in Kebbi began to ignore the ban order, they will be met with police violence. This has already happened when the police razed to the ground all shelters/houses, stores, shops, facilities and equipment of miners in Tungan Zakara,” he said.

The CITAD boss therefore called on the federal government to immediately lift the ban on mining activities in Kebbi state in order to restore employment to the mining communities in the state.

“Police are not responsible for issuing or revoking mining licenses in the state. This is the duty of the ministry of mines and steel. We call on government to commit to implementation of the provisions of the Mining Act of 2017 as well as the Minerals and Metals Policy of the same year,” he said.

He further recommended among others the following steps that should be taken to improve mining activities in Nigeria:

  1. The government should order the immediate re-opening of the mines in Kebbi and that no such closure should be done in future without consultation with miners and plan to provide an alternative means of livelihood to them.
  2. Clarify within policy instruments  the terms artisanal mining and illegal mining, which are often used interchangeably even by researchers.
  3. Establishing less cumbersome processes and procedures for licensing artisanal miners including ceding this to state level agency such as mineral resources and environmental committee so as to bring the process closer to the miner.
  4. There is need for regular and comprehensive assessment of quality of environment and water sources of mining communities to ensure early detection of possible contamination so as to take measures to prevent disaster.

 

Report of the Stakeholders Consultative Meetingon Education Held on the 8th of August 2019 at Flourish Hotel, Gombe

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) convened a one-day consultative meeting of education administrators from the six states of the Northeast. The meeting held on August 8, 2019, at Flourish Hotel, Gombe, Gombe State.

The meeting started at 10: 00 am with opening prayers and the participants introduced themselves. Isah Garba briefed the participants on the objectives of the meeting which were: to galvanize the stakeholders on how the objectives of the SACE project which was on Improving Social Accountability in the Education Sector of the states will be fully achieved after the grant and share with the stakeholders CITAD initiative of conducting the first Education Conference n the Northeast as a move to generate stakeholders input and contributions in solving the problems of the education sector in the region.

He stated that the meeting was part of the CITAD initiative to move forward from where its project of Social accountability in the education sector supported by USAID/SACE stopped so that the gains of the project could be sustained and to ensure that initiatives started in during the life of the project were taken to the logical conclusion.

Furthermore, it was also to present to the stakeholders the concept of the Northeast education, Books conference, and Exhibition (NEBECE) and solicit the contributions of the participants on how the conference will be more successful and achieve its desired goals.

After the presentation on the concept of the conference, the participants made some observations on a different aspect of the conference. These observations are:
1. Most of the interventions in the education sector are only targeted toward basic and tertiary education while the secondary schools’ education is not given the desired consideration. Therefore, it is important that the conference also draws the attention of the stakeholders on that.
2. The poor capacity of the teachers is one of the identified problems of the sector in the region, so, there should be a topic on the importance of building teachers’ capacity in improving the educational standards of the region.
3. Another area that needs to be discussed is the issue of quality assurance through monitoring and evaluation.
4. A traditional or very high-profile community leader should be invited to make a presentation on the role of community involvement in running the education sectors
It was also observed that:
Most of the new state governors have the political will of revamping the education sector especially Yobe that just conducted its education summit and committees have been set up to identify the needs of different sectors of education to effective intervention.
In Gombe also a similar initiative is on-going and if the new executive will continue as they are doing now things will be good for the sector.

Recommendations
There should be advocacy visits by CITAD to the new executives to sensitize them on how to leverage cooperate social responsibilities of corporate organizations in their states and also to brief them the conference.

More stakeholders should be brought in, therefore CITAD should extend the invitation to:
1. UNICEF
2. USAID
3. UNESCO
4. UKAID
5. EU

Attendance
1. Bauchi: Permanent Secretaries of Ministry of Education and SUBEB
2. Gombe: Permanent Secretaries of Ministry of Education and SUBEB
3. Yobe: Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Education
4. Adamawa: representative of Ministry of Education
5. UBEC: Deputy Regional Director
6. Two CSOs from Gombe
7. Professor Amina Kaidal

Text of Press Conference Address by Y. Z. Ya’u, Executive Director, CITAD on Tuesday, 20th August 2019 at CITAD’s Office, Kano

Introduction

Gentle men of the press, I welcome you to this press conference on an important issue that has serious security implications for the country which is the continued closure of mines and banning of all mining activities in Kebbi State.

 

The Issues

CITAD has undertaken a research on mining in Kebbi State. As of 2017, there were over 142 licenses issued for different minerals, however much of the mining is done by artisanal miners while most of the title holders are not mining. Gold, iron ore, copper, aquamarine, Beryl, Manganese, Gypsum, coal, Lithium, Limestone, Kaoline, Bentonite, Silver, Lead/Zinc, Tourmaline, Granite,Gemstone, Mica, Cassiterite and Topaz. Data from the Cadastral office indicate that various mining titles have been issued in 17 out of the 21 local governments of the state.

Gold which was the focus of our research is found in commercial deposit in 12 local government areas of the state for which titles have been awarded.  As at 2017, there were 63 gold mining titles across the state (Cadastral Office, 2017). Many of these licenses are prospecting titles, not actual mining. Indeed, by 2016, NEITI Report indicates that there was a total of 69 valid mineral titles in Kebbi State, out of which 43 were for exploration and only 19 were for small scale mining (NEITI, 2016: 32).

We studied three mining sites intensely namely MarrarabarYauri, Makerin both in Ngaski Local Government and Tungan Zakara in Shamga Local Government of the State.In these three sites, there are about 20,000 people making a living directly on mining. These are just three sites. If we take a crudeestimate that a site has on average 6500 people, and that each of the local governmentswhereminingtakesplace has on average two sites, this will mean looking at 24 mining sites in the state, givingemployment to about 156,000 people in the state. Thisconservative estimate does includethose who make a livingindirectly such as transporters of mining products, food vendors, traders, etc.

This means that a substantial number of people of the state are employed in mining and earntheir means of livelihoodthrough it. It can in fact be said that mining is the single largest employer of labour in the state.

Following the escalation of violence in nearby Zamfara state and the allegation that illegal mining was responding for the violence, the InspectionGeneral of Police,without consultation with stakeholders in thestate ordered all mines to be closed and banned all mining activities. Sincethe ban at least 17 miners have been detained and are facing charge of illegal miningbefore a Kebbi Court.  By a stroke of the pen and with no consultation with the stakeholders, no thought about an alternative means of livelihood for those affected and without any iota of justification, the Police deprived thesethousands of people their means of livelihood and make them unemployed overnight.

 

The Implications

Already out of desperation, community leaders as well as the policiesinthe mining areas have seen a rise in petty the theft. as many more become press, these will escalate and likely to graduate from mere petty theft to robbery and armed confrontation.  This will lead to violence.

This has serious security implication. Illegal mining is said to be a contributing factor to the conflict in Zamfara State. If this is not quickly addressed, the possibility of illegal mining turning into violent confrontation especially between illegal miners and the police and security agencies is high. The logic is simple. Miners are dependent on mining for their livelihood. While in MararrabarYauri, and Makerin they have farms and community to fallback to and there is community structure that may exert some measure of acceptable conduct, in Tungan Zakara, there are no such fall back facilities and structure. As people become more desperate, they can become more engaged in illegal mining. The police could become more repressive as their conduct in TungarZakara has shown. In Tungan Zakara, they razed done the dwelling and all other structures in the mining camp. Now desperate miners could react to increased repression with counter force. In the process, it is not inconceivable that they could come into contact with sources of light weapons and the rest will be the rooting of conflict that with time with go beyond confrontation with between miners and police but will also involve the communities as miners with weapon could become bandits.

Comparing the dynamics in Zamfara State and the closure of the mines in Kebbi State, it is clear that criminality and violence are not due to the nature of mining but by the way in which government manufacture “illegal mining”, there are two ways in which illegal mining is produced. The first is when conditions for registration by artisanal miners are made difficult for artisanal miners to access and acquire licenses.  The second is when government closes mines and make mining activities illegal without consultation and not provide for provide alternative means of livelihood for those dependent on mining activities  for their livelihood and then use the police to repress any effort by the miners to disregard such an arbitrary decision, this reproduction of illegality by people legitimately registered or licensed to carry out mining is met with violence from police, they resort to self-help and counter with violence. Illegal mining is therefore not the source of violence as some researchers tend to portray (SPD, 2019), rather it is the action of itgovernment and its agencies that creates and generate the conditions for violence to catalyze

It is clear that it is government that manufacture illegal mining and then police action to impose this definition of illegal mining generates a dynamic of violence as communities of miners who have losttheir means of livelihood response in self-help to the repression and atrocities of police. As it is now, without any alternativemeans of livelihood, when miners out of desperation in Kebbi begin to ignore the ban order, they will be met with police violence.This has alreadyhappened when the police razed to the ground all shelters/houses, stores,shops, facilities and equipment of the miners in Tungan Zakara.

 

Recommendations

We call for the immediate lifting of the ban on mining and opening of the mines in the state so that the ordinary citizens can have their means of livelihood restored. In addition to this, we call on government to commit to implementation the provisions for the Mining Act of 20107 as well as the Minerals and Metals Policy of the Same year. In particular:

  1. Government should ensure that all relevant departments of the Ministry of Mines are positioned to carry out their mandates, particularly the mines inspectorate department that shroud ensure regular mines inspection to make sure that mining is done under safely and that miners and their communities are not exposed to poisonous hazards
  2. Make the of small scale and artisanal mining department carry out the functions for which it was established as contained in the policy. In particular, it should provide training, support, and equipment for artisanal miners and also support infrastructure deployment in mining communities
  3. Make the environmental protection and rehabilitation functional so that it can help in transforming mining operations
  4. Establishing less cumbersome processes and procedures for licenses artisanal miners, including ceding this to state level agency such as the Mineral Resources and Environmental Committee so as to bring the process closer to the miner. Also clarify within policy instruments the terms artisanal mining and “Illegal Mining”. Often actors, including researchers tend to use the two interchangeably. And this has a way of under-recognizing the contribution to Artisanal mining to the economic growth of the country
  5. Establish mechanism, structures and processes for ensuring that mining products are accurately captured and recorded and sales including export are properly reported so that there would be accountability and Improved transparency
  6. There is need for regular and comprehensive assessment of quality of environment and water sources of mining communities to ensure early detection of possible contamination so as to take measures to prevent disaster from striking,
  7. While it is good to promote mining, it is important to do this bearing in mind that it is likely to impact on farming and food security.
  8. Deepening of the process of mainstreaming of the NEITI principles in the mining sector

Communiqué Issued At The End of a Two-Day Training for Hate Speech and Violence Against Women Online Monitors Held At Ni’imah Guest Palace Kano, Kano state.

Date: Friday 16th August, 2019.

#No2HateSpeech #No2ViolenceAgainstWomenOnline

Introduction

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) organized a two-day training for monitors of Hate Speech and Violence Against Women Online in Nigerian cyberspace. The monitors training is part of the project CITAD is implementing with support from National Democratic Institute (NDI) on addressing gender hate speech and violence against women online. twenty (23) young social media activists comprising male and female from different religious, tribal and regional backgrounds were trained on hate speech, monitoring and countering, hate speech identification, classification, dangers, etc as well as violence against women online.  Gender hate speech and campaign against and violence against women online were thoroughly discussed.

Our Concern

Hate speech and violence against women online are gradually becoming threats especially to Nigeria’s diversity. Nigeria being a multi ethnic and religious country stands vulnerable in the midst of the two cyberspace monsters. While hate speech keeps polarizing ethnic and religious backgrounds of Nigerians, violence against women online discourages most women and girls from leveraging the social media for educational, entrepreneurial, research, political participation and expression, etc purposes, and in some cases violence against women online completely stop women from using social media. The foregoing and couple of other disturbing experiences hinder women and girls’ usage of social media platforms. It is on this basis that we wish to recommend the following:

  1. We recommend having a nationally agreed definition of hate speech to avoid ambiguity or misinterpretation or political abuse of the term.
  2. Government should be sensitive and concerned about gender hate speech and deploy punishable mechanisms against perpetrators of gender hate speech
  3. The federal government should have a functional agency with skilled personnel to embark on continuous sensitization of Nigerians on hate speech and violence against women online.
  4. Perpetrators of hate speech and violence against women should be punished and the punishment be publicized.
  5. Our educational curriculum should incorporate lessons on hate speech and violence against women right from primary schools.
  6. Religious and traditional leaders should collaborate with civil society organizations and sensitize Nigerians on gender-based violence and hate speech.
  7. Newspapers should monitor comments/posts/ on hate speech and gender-based violence on their websites/social media platforms to ensure hate speech and gender-based violence do not thrive.
  8. Media organizations should enlighten the public on the dangers of hate speech and gender-based violence.
  9. Social media users should be conscious of Nigeria’s diversity while making posts, commenting or reacting to content online.
  10. Nigerian entertainment industry should join the campaign against hate speech and gender-based violence through their content.

Signed:

  1. Hamza Ibrahim – Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD)
  2. Nahimah Ajikanle Nurudeen – Lagos state.
  3. Jimoh Ogere Wosilat – Kogi state.
  4. Apreala Violet Wealth – Bayelsa state.
  5. Bulus Miracle Ayenajeyi – Abuja
  6. Joy Buba Ndirpaya – Bauchi state.
  7. Nwafor Chiamaka – Enugu state.
  8. Bashir Sharfadi – Kano state.