News
65 Nigerians sponsored by CCECC to China return with degrees

65 Nigerians sponsored by CCECC to China return with degrees
… To be deployed in Nigeria’s transport sector
By: Michael Mike
Sixty-five Nigerians sponsored by the CCECC Nigeria Limited to study at Chinese universities have returned to the country after graduation to contribute to the development of the transport sector.
The programme is a joint effort between CCECC Nigeria Limited, and two Chinese ivory tower, Central South University and Chang’an University.
The latest graduates make it 197 Nigerians that have benefitted from the sponsorship that commenced few years back.
Among the returned 65 students are 49 undergraduates and 16 postgraduates, majoring in Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering, and Road, Bridge, and River-crossing Engineering, amongst others.
They were received at a colourful ceremony held at the CCECC Nigeria Limited headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday evening.
Speaking at the ceremony, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr Magdalene Ajani, said they would contribute to the current move of the government to revatilise the railway system in the country.
She recalled that the federal government had moved railway construction to the concurrent list to allow the state governments to invest in the sector as a result of its importance to the development of the transport system in particular and the economy in general.
Ajani, while noting that there were many railway projects currently ongoing across the country, said the projects could only be sustained when there was capable manpower to man them.
The Permanent Secretary therefore called on the graduates to see their involvement in actualising the federal government’s agenda as a call to service to Nigeria, assuring them of a remarkable career path.
The Managing Director of CCECC Nigeria Limited, Mr. Wang Xixue, said the company had been working with the government of Nigeria, Central South University and Chang’an University in China in selecting and sponsoring young Nigerians to further their education in China since 2018.
He said: “In 2018, the first batch of 45 students who started their five-year undergraduate program in Ahmed Bello University were selected to attend this 3+2 program, which means that after 3-year study in Nigeria, they will be sponsored by CCECC to continue their study in Central South University, China.
“Among these 45 young talents, 25 students have already returned to Nigeria after their graduation in 2020. 20 are continuing their study for master’s degrees, and now these 20 students are also standing here after their successful graduation this year.
“Also, in the same year of 2018, CCECC started its 1+4 cooperation program with Chang’an University, China. Under this program, the students sponsored by CCECC will attend 1-year language study in China before they are officially enrolled in their 4-year study as undergraduate students in Chang’an University.”
Chairman of CCECC Nigeria Limited Zhang Zhichen, in his speech, congratulated the students on the successful completion of their studies, calling on them to join the company.
Zhichen also charged them to apply the knowledge and skills they learned in China to their work and contribute to the economic and social development of Nigeria, while urging them to become the ambassadors of friendship between the Chinese and Nigerians.
He said: “This year marks the tenth anniversary of “One Belt and One Road Initiative.” It is an inclusive and open platform on which member countries are cooperating and co-developing. As a member of this initiative, Nigeria is working with China not only in infrastructure development, logistics and trade, but also cultural exchange and technical know-how transfer. The graduates of 2023 are a testament of this great cooperation.
“The company is also actively playing a significant role in fulfilling its corporate social responsibility by donating at least 10 school buildings to the local communities and establishing the University of Transportation in Daura, Katsina State, to assist the technical knowhow transfer and capability building in the country.
“This cooperation program between CCECC, the government of Nigeria, and the best engineering universities in China like Central South University and Chang’an University, is another shining example of the dedication of the company to shoulder its responsibility.
“For CCECC, by sponsoring these young minds to study engineering majors, which are urgently needed in the country, the company is showing the true spirit of giving back to society, and is achieving its goal of carrying out the full industrial chain cooperation with technical knowhow transfer needed in the country,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Cui Jianchun,, while congratulating the students, said they have demonstrated how two countries could cooperate and jointly educate young talents.
He said: “It is a typical example of China-Africa cooperation in capacity building, and an epitome of in-depth cooperation between China and Nigeria.
“The students will be the promoters of cultural exchanges between China and Nigeria, and will play active roles in enhancing mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples.”
At the end of the event, the representatives of graduates and CCECC Nigeria Limited signed the letter of intent for their internship in the company.
65 Nigerians sponsored by CCECC to China return with degrees
News
VP Shettima’s Agricultural Assessment Visit To Ethiopia

VP Shettima’s Agricultural Assessment Visit To Ethiopia
By: Our Reporter
An agricultural economist by training whose love for agricultural transformation and development has never been hidden, as demonstrated recently when he visited the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan for an on-the-spot assessment of the Institute’s crops and resource potentials, Vice President Kashim Shettima today embarked on an assessment of the popular Adama Industrial Zone near Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
Farms visited by the Vice President for the on-the-spot assessment included the Adama Dairy Farms, Luke Avocado Nursery site, Shera Dibandiba Mojo Family Integrated Farm, Biyyo Poultry Farm, and the Bishoftu Pea Farm.
While speaking on areas of agricultural collaboration between both countries, the Vice President ordered specialised coffee beans seeds for massive production in Nigeria while also directing the immediate training of selected Nigerian agricultural extension farmers on the production of specialized avocado seedlings for the Nigerian market.
VP Shettima also sought an exchange of mechanisation technologies between both countries, stressing that the potential of both Nigeria’s and Ethiopia’s agricultural sectors was capable of capturing world markets, especially when fully harnessed and exploited.
VP Shettima’s Agricultural Assessment Visit To Ethiopia
News
Leboku-in-Abuja 2025 Festival Celebrates New Year Festival to Bolster Nigeria’s Rich Cultural Heritage

Leboku-in-Abuja 2025 Festival Celebrates New Year Festival to Bolster Nigeria’s Rich Cultural Heritage
By: Michael Mike
One of the nation’s most celebrated events, the New Year Festival would berth in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the Kedei Seh Umor-Otutu, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy stage the Lenoku-in-Abuja 2025.
It promises to bolster Nigeria’s cultural heritage and showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Yakurr people in Cross River, the South-South and South-East in the nation and the world at large.

Addressing a pre-festival press conference in Abuja, President of Kedei Seh Umor-Otutu, a community-based association, Queency Patrick said the forthcoming festival with the theme: “A celebration of heritage, unity and harvest,” is one of the kind.
She explained that Lenoku-in-Abuja 2025 is an internationally acclaimed New Yam festival that is celebrated on August 30 in Abuja, under auspices of Kedei Seh Umor-Otutu, an association of Ugep people living in the FCT.

Patrick said: “Leboku-in-Abuja-2025 aligns with national goals of cultural preservation, inter-ethnic harmony and in promoting Nigeria as a cultural destination.
“The Federal Capital Territory provides the ideal backdrop to unite heritage and modernity, welcoming all who believe in peace, identity and pride of origin.

“For us, it is not just a cultural event, it is a call to national unity, peace and cultural tourism development.
“It is also an opportunity for us to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Yakurr people in Cross River, the South-South and South-East in the nation and the world at large.”
She further explained that: “The event fosters appreciation of Nigeria’s diverse ethnic-root and culture. Leboku-in-Abuja is more than a festival, it is a stage for celebrating our cultural identity, building bridges through tradition and encouraging investment in the creative economy and tourism sector.”

According to her, Mr Obi Asika, DirectorGeneral/CEO of the National Council for Arts and Culture, had in a letter which formally endorsed the association’s collaboration with government described Leboku-in-Abuja, as annual New Yam Festival celebrated in Abuja by Yakurr people of Cross River.
Patrick further quoted him by saying the Leboku festival, deeply rooted in the traditions of the Yakurr people of Cross River, has long been a symbol of unity, celebration, and agricultural prosperity.
Asika, in the letter noted that: “Bringing this renowned festival to Abuja will provide a unique opportunity for cultural exchange, tourism development, and deeper appreciation of our diverse traditions.
“It aligns with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and NCAC’s mandate to promote arts and culture, as essential drivers or Nigeria’s creative economy,” Asika added.

Patrick revealed the event would provide platform for public lecture, economic empowerment, traditional food festival, cultural and arts exhibition, sports, agriculture, trade and tourism development.
The event scheduled to hold at the Bolton White event centre, Wuse Zone 7, Abuja is centered on promoting unity and peace with the toga: “One Yam, One People.”
Leboku-in-Abuja 2025 Festival Celebrates New Year Festival to Bolster Nigeria’s Rich Cultural Heritage
News
Crisis brews in Gombe SDP as Yakubu emerges acting chairman

Crisis brews in Gombe SDP as Yakubu emerges acting chairman
The Gombe State chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has appointed a new chairman, Aaron Yakubu to serve in acting capacity following the suspension of its state chairman, Comrade Adamu Abubakar Modibbo, over allegations of mismanagement, lack of transparency, and misuse of party resources.
His suspension was announced at a news conference held in Gombe on Saturday by the party’s Welfare Secretary, Usman Yahaya, on behalf of concerned members of the state executive.
Reading the statement, Yahaya said there were countless complaints against the now suspended chairman, whom he said had side-lined party stakeholders and running the party like his personal property.
“Since Comrade Modibbo assumed office, the party has experienced no meaningful progress. Instead, the leadership claims he has used his position to witch-hunt loyal stakeholders and frustrated committed party members for his personal gain.”
He accused Modibbo of systematically “caging” the party’s executive members and aspirants, depriving over 90% of both returning and newly acting executive members of access to official SDP membership cards.
He further alleged that the selection of party candidates has been done without due process or consultation, with names being announced solely via national platforms involving prominent figures like Malam Nasir El-Rufai, thereby side-lining the state executive.
Yahaya also accused the suspended chairman of allegedly using his personal residence as the de facto party office.
This, the executives say, violates proper procedures and comes despite funds being made available to renovate the official state party office and rent offices across the local government areas.
“As it stands, the SDP in Gombe State does not have a functional or recognised operational office,”
In the light of the above weighty and numerous allegations against Modibbo, the Welfare Secretary said that the Gombe State chapter of the party has taken decisive action by suspending Comrade Adamu Abubakar Modibbo as chairman with immediate effect.
“In this regard, we hereby announce that the current State Secretary of the party, Mr. Aaron Yakubu, will now serve as the Acting State Chairman of the SDP in Gombe.
“Similarly, Ambassador Lukman Adamu Elkanem, previously serving as the Acting Assistant Public Relations Officer, has now been appointed as the Acting State Secretary of the party.”
Yahaya, on behalf of the state chapter of the SDP, appealed for intervention from the national body of the party to look into the allegations against the former chairman and to restore discipline, accountability, and credible leadership to the Gombe chapter of the party.
Speaking shortly in an interview, Yakubu said he would work to build inclusiveness in the party and ensure all party members were carried along in line with the constitution of the party.
He stated that out of the 13 working committee members of the party, nine were present and in support of the suspension of Modibbo.
-
News1 year ago
Roger Federer’s Shock as DNA Results Reveal Myla and Charlene Are Not His Biological Children
-
Opinions3 years ago
THE PLIGHT OF FARIDA
-
Opinions4 years ago
POLICE CHARGE ROOMS, A MINTING PRESS
-
News1 year ago
EYN: Rev. Billi, Distortion of History, and The Living Tamarind Tree
-
Columns1 year ago
Army University Biu: There is certain interest, but certainly not from Borno.
-
ACADEMICS1 year ago
A History of Biu” (2015) and The Lingering Bura-Pabir Question (1)
-
Opinions1 year ago
Tinubu,Shettima: The epidemic of economic, insecurity in Nigeria
-
Politics3 weeks ago
2027: Why Hon. Midala Balami Must Go, as Youths in Hawul and Asikira/Uba Federal Constituency Reject ₦500,000 as Sallah Gift