Army troops quell communal violence in Southern Kaduna

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Army troops of Operation SAFE HAVEN on Tuesday quell communal violence in Kaura LGA in Southern Kaduna.

It was gathered that the troops while on patrol in Southern Kaduna received a distress call about tension in Kaura LGA where it was alleged that the locals were mobilising to attack a neighboring community.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the troops rushed to the area and recovered 9 rifles and 50 cartridges rounds while bringing the situation under control.

The sources said that monitoring continues as the situation remained fluid.

Army troops quell communal violence in Southern Kaduna

Borno’s Judiciary freely discharges its constitutional role – Zulum

By: Our Reporter

Borno Governor, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum, has stated that under his leadership, there has been no single case of executive intimidation of the judiciary or judges in the state.

Zulum disclosed this at the International Conference Centre in Maiduguri on Monday, while flagging off a 3-day workshop on the administration of criminal justice law in Borno State in 2023, organised by the Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS).

He mentioned that the state government will look into the issue of poor standards of legal education with a view to providing a lasting solution.

According to him, access to justice is one of the indices of good governance. For the state to reciprocate with the judicial sector, the state government will create educational opportunities for judicial workers, which will help enhance their capacity in the workplace.

“Let me assure the Attorney General of the Ministry of Justice and Chief Judge of Borno State that the state government under my leadership, In Sha Allah, will do everything possible to enhance the welfare of judges in the state before the end of my tenure.

“This is very critical for our success; we will continue to train judicial workers at both the local and national levels. It was in this direction that we deliberately started doing this training, and many more are coming.”.

Speaking, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, have advised the participants to actively participate in the workshop so that they can get new insight in relation to the administration of criminal justice.

In her remarks, the Attorney-General of Borno State and Commissioner of Justice, Barr. Hauwa Abubakar, Esq., noted that the aim of organising the workshop is to upgrade the knowledge of the judicial workers in connection with the administration of criminal justice law in Borno State in 2023.

She explained that the beneficiaries were strategically selected and assured that those selected would gain more knowledge in relation to the administration of the criminal justice law of Borno State 2923 and the prosecution of offences generally.

The President of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Prof. Yemi Akinseye, while welcoming the participants and stakeholders, said the lawyers and law gurus cannot solve the societal problems in relation to justice, but they need more support from other members of society.

“We make mistakes that we alone can solve the problems of society pertaining to law and justice, but we need other colleagues for doing that,” he added.

Borno’s Judiciary freely discharges its constitutional role – Zulum

Why Borno refused to sack 10,566 unqualified teachers

… Zulum approves N1 billion for teachers’ training

By Abdurrahman Ahmed Bundi

Long before the administration of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, Borno State was faced with a crisis of teacher recruitment and remuneration.

Some of the issues surrounding primary school education in Borno are complex, including the decision by Governor Zulum to retain those that were confirmed to be unqualified and the concern about their salaries.

Many people are angry and dismayed and have shared sentiments that are now trending on social media about why a state governed by a professor of repute like Gov. Babagana Umara Zulum will have some teachers still receiving paltry sums as salary.

The truth is that these category of teachers should be learners in a classroom and not teachers.

In 2020, the Zulum-led administration had sought to sanitise the state’s primary education system to ensure that quality education is imparted, following the devastation caused by Boko Haram insrgency. He constituted a committee headed by Dr. Shettima Kullima to determine the actual workforce of teachers and their competence to impart quality education. The final report revealed a scary outcome that less than 33% were fit to teach.

According to the 2020 report, a list of 26,450 teachers and non-teaching staff was submitted before the verification committee; among them, 18,451 teachers participated, and 2,628 with fake certificates were identified.

Zulum then constituted another committee in February 2022, headed by the current Commissioner for Education, Engr. Abba Wakilbe, to conduct a competency test on basic literacy and numeracy for the teachers who had been cleared for biometric capture.

The committee’s report confirmed that about 10,566 teachers out of 15,823, representing 66% of all Borno primary school teachers, failed the test and are not qualified to teach.

More so, 6,227 teachers were identified to be trainable, and 4,339 teachers were untrainable.

Upon receiving the report from the Engr. Wakilbe-led committee, Zulum instantly directed that 5,257 who have passed the test and are confirmed to be qualified to teach should be upgraded and start receiving N30,000 as minimum wage. I can confirm that the directive has been fully implemented and they have started enjoying the minimum wage.

The government also decided to retain those that were confirmed to be unqualified, because in a state like Borno that is coming out of the insurgency, sacking this number of people will further compound the rate of unemployment.

If not for his compassion, Zulum had the option to relieve all of them, but decided they should remain on government payroll and that all of them should be posted to work in other sectors within the local government workforce, including involvement in the planting of trees in the Ministry of Environment.

Among them, Governor Zulum directed 1,468 that had undergone Emergency Teacher Upgrade Programme with the National Teachers Institute and are certified to have obtained the minimum teaching qualifications start receiving the minimum wage salary next month.

Furthermore, an additional 3,000 under the trainable category were shortlisted for another training that would allow them to obtain the requisite teaching qualifications.

… Zulum approves N1b for teachers’ training

Resulting from the competency test, Gov. Umara Zulum has also approved that about 6,227 teachers that were certified to be fit for training should be sponsored to obtain the required qualifications and sent back to classrooms. Zulum, had on 19th of March 2024, approved N1b for the training of these teachers.

These feats were widely reported by Nigerian newspapers, including the LEADERSHIP, DAILY INDEPENDENT, THE SUN among other news outlets open for verification by the general public.

Since assuming office in 2019, Zulum has prioritised the enhancement of education in Borno State by putting in place all the necessary infrastructure and improving the workforce deficit.

The governor has, on other occasions, approved the recruitment of over 4,000 teachers, 1,000 for secondary schools and 3,000 for primary schools.

Abdurrahman Ahmed Bundi
Senior Special Assistant on New Media

Why Borno refused to sack 10,566 unqualified teachers