NAN editor loses wife

By: Michael Mike

Mr Isaac Aregbesola, a senior editor with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), has announced the death of his wife, Favour Aregbesola.
Aregbesola in a statement said his wife passed away at the age of 52 on Friday, April 11, 2025, after illness.

The editor described his late wife as a pillar of strength, support, and a source of inspiration to her family, friends, and colleagues.

“Her kind-hearted nature, compassion, and generosity touched the lives of countless individuals, making her an exceptional woman who will be dearly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

“”Throughout her life, she demonstrated exceptional dedication and commitment to humanity service ”

Describing her as a God-fearing woman, a great manager of resources, and a devoted wife, Aregbesola said his late wife life was a testament to humility, kindness, and enduring service.

According to him, Favour a seasoned accountant and entrepreneur impacted positively the lives of everyone who came across her

NAN editor loses wife

Zulum orders rehabilitation of Dikwa-Marte road

By: Our Reporter

Following a directive from Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, Borno State Road Maintenance Agency (BORMA) has completed palliative repair work on the Dikwa-Marte road which links the central and northern parts of the state.

The Executive Chairman of Borno State Road Maintenance Agency, Engr Sadu Auno, stated this on Thursday, emphasising that the measure was to prevent further deterioration ahead of the rainy season.

According to Auno, “the Executive Governor has directed swift action on this vital road, and we immediately swung to action. Now the repair work has been completed.”

“The Governor expressed his deep concern about the condition of the road and he instructed that we should not wait until the rains begin before acting. This road is a lifeline for thousands of people including displaced families who have returned to their homes. We must take swift action to ensure their safety and mobility,” he stated.

He further explained that the palliative measures would include grading critical sections, filling potholes, and reinforcing the damaged pathways to mitigate the risks of rain completely washing them away and disrupting movement.

The Executive Chairman also hinted at the long-term rehabilitation plans for the road which are pending further assessments and funding allocations. However, he stressed that the immediate focus remains to prevent the road from deteriorating completely.

Zulum orders rehabilitation of Dikwa-Marte road

FG Moves To Curb Flood Disasters, Climate-Induced Crises As VP Shettima Launches Preemptive Action Plan

By: Our Reporter

As the rainy season sets in, with its attendant torrential downpour, the federal government has taken proactive steps to prevent flooding through strategic measures to enhance disaster preparedness and risk management across the country.

To this effect, Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday launched Nigeria’s Anticipatory Action Framework, designed to shift disaster management from reactive responses to proactive preparedness by leveraging early warnings, local empowerment, and pre-arranged financing to save lives and livelihoods.

A key component of the strategy involves establishing a dedicated trigger group comprising meteorological and emergency management agencies that will synthesise data to enable forecasts up to two weeks in advance.

Speaking during a framework validation workshop held at the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser in Abuja, VP Shettima described the framework as a timely intervention to confront the rising threats of climate-induced disasters such as floods, which affected over five million Nigerians in 2024.

“These disasters are no longer distant threats. They are here, knocking at our doors, sweeping through our streets, flooding our homes, and testing not only our moral sensitivity but the depth of our preparation,” he said.

The Vice President stressed the urgent need to dump the costly and inadequate reactive approach to disasters for a more proactive measure.

He stated, “For decades, our response has been reactive. We wait for the waters to rise, for the homes to vanish, and then we scramble for relief. This late arrival of support costs more and saves fewer lives.

“We lose close to 5% of our GDP every year to reactive disaster responses. This approach is not only unsustainable, it is also deeply unjust to the most vulnerable among us. This is why we must act before disasters unfold”.

The VP explained that the new framework is built on three strategic pillars, including “early warning systems powered by satellite technology and delivered through community-based networks to provide life-saving information in real time.

“The second is pre-triggered financing. No plan can succeed without resources made available before the storm arrives. The third is localised preparedness.

“Studies have shown that anticipatory action can reduce losses by up to 60 per cent. That is not just a statistic. It is hope. It is the future of millions salvaged before ruin,” he added.

Senator Shettima drew instances from Benue State where trained volunteers, responding to early warning alerts, evacuated over 80,000 people within 72 hours.

“That is what it means to build early warning systems that work. It’s not just about integrating forecasting tools, but delivering timely alerts in languages our people understand,” the Vice President stated.

He explained that the trigger group is composed of national agencies, including NiMet, NiHSA, NEMA, NASRDA, and NOA, working in collaboration with UNOCHA, WFP, FAO, and the IFRC.

“We cannot leave here with only communiqués and good intentions. We must take ownership of this framework, embed it into our institutions, and stay accountable to its promise,” the Vice President told participants at the workshop.

Earlier in his keynote address, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, said the Tinubu administration is committed to supporting the operationalisation of the Anticipatory Action Framework for Nigeria.

He stressed the need for response agencies and intervention organisations to utilise the National Social Register to lay the foundation for a flood-resistant nation, noting that the register is a national resilience infrastructure.

The Minister recommended the enactment of a risk management and data sharing protocol, the establishment of a national risk and sustainable coordination centre, early funding for anticipatory actions, and the deployment of technology to enable real-time monitoring of situations across the country.

On his part, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall, commended Nigeria for taking the bold step in leading the institutionalisation of coordinated humanitarian response to disasters in the region.

According to him, the rest of West Africa is looking up to what is being done in Nigeria, as successes recorded in the country will permeate the rest of the region.

In his welcome remarks, the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, said the workshop is a crucial step towards building a resilient and progressive nation, emphasising that poorly managed disasters can exacerbate insecurity, enable displacement, disrupt critical infrastructure and deepen societal fragilities.

He also noted that efforts aimed at strengthening the anticipatory capacity of the nation are a priority of the Tinubu administration, as it is essential in sustaining lives and securing national assets, among other goals.

On her part, the Special Assistant to the President on Humanitarian Affairs and Development Partners, Mrs Inna Audu, said the workshop was designed to accelerate the country’s journey towards a national early warning system that is integrated, inclusive, and anticipatory.

She noted that President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima are deeply committed to building a disaster-resilient Nigeria, stressing that the time for piecemeal responses was over and that stakeholders must shift to systems thinking where data, people, and policies are interconnected, and where foresight guides interventions.

There were also goodwill messages from the European Union and representatives of response agencies, development partners, Civil Society Organisations and the private sector, among others.

FG Moves To Curb Flood Disasters, Climate-Induced Crises As VP Shettima Launches Preemptive Action Plan