Zulum Flags Off Rep Talba’s Palliative for 3,000 Constituents

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has flagged off the distribution of palliatives provided by the House of Representatives member for Marte, Monguno, and Nganzai Constituency, Engr. Bukar Talba.

About 3,000 constituents benefited from the distribution, with each receiving food items and cash donations.

Zulum, who was represented at the occasion by the Secretary to the Borno State Government, Alhaji Bukar Tijjani, commended the lawmaker for providing succor to his constituents, many of whom have been devastated by over a decade of insurgency.

Each of the three local government areas had 1,000 beneficiaries, with each person receiving a bag of rice, a bag of maize grain, and ₦20,000 in cash.

In his address, Engr. Bukar Talba recalled that in his two years in office, he has constructed classrooms, provided farm implements, and supported thousands of his constituents through livelihood programs and skills acquisition training.

The event was attended by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Dr. Babagana Mallumbe; a member representing Monguno at the State House of Assembly, Maina Garbu; commissioners; local government chairmen; party stakeholders; and senior government officials.

Zulum Flags Off Rep Talba’s Palliative for 3,000 Constituents

Troops Neutralize Kidnappers, Rescue Abducted Victims in Plateau

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of 3 Division and Operation Safe Haven have neutralized two kidnappers and rescued a woman and her daughter in Gindiri, Mangu Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the operation took place on Feb. 23 at about 8:30 p.m. after troops received intelligence on the abduction of the victims in Gindiri Town.

Acting on the information, troops swiftly mobilized and pursued the kidnappers, making contact with them on the outskirts of the town. In the ensuing gunfight, two of the kidnappers were neutralized, while another was captured with fatal injuries.

The abducted woman and her daughter were successfully rescued without harm and taken to the Jos University Teaching Hospital (Gindiri Branch) for first aid before being reunited with their family.

Troops have since intensified patrols in the area to enhance security and boost public confidence.

Troops Neutralize Kidnappers, Rescue Abducted Victims in Plateau

Kazakhstan Expresses Willingness to Improve Volume of Trade with Nigeria

By: Michael Mike

Kazakhstan has expressed its willingness to improve on the trade relations with Nigeria

Currently, the trade volume between both countries stands at about $1 million.

The Asian country’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,Alibek Kuantyrov, who is in Nigeria leading 30 delegates from both public and private sectors, said on Tuesday in Abuja that his country and Nigeria have the potential to improve on the current trade relations.

This, Kazakhstan Deputy Foreign Minister said, his country is so much interested in an upsurge in value-added trade between the two countries.

While explained that the visit to Nigeria is aimed at exploring all avenues, he said: “The trade is not that big. I think it’s less than one million dollars. And, of course, we have to raise this figure in manifold, because we have a great potential for that.

“On the one hand, Kazakhstan is rich in one kind of resources, mineral resources and agricultural resources, and Nigeria is also rich. And more than that, we should develop the value-added trade between two countries.

“And that’s why we are here, and that’s why we are discussing this potential, not only in trade, but also in mutual investment and in cooperating in the ICT, IT and AI spheres.”

Kuantyrov disclosed that some agreements have already been signed.

He said, “We already, for example, today, signed a memorandum between Astana International Financial Centre and the Taj Bank. So, this in particular is directed at developing the Islamic banking and Islamic finance in Kazakhstan, where, you know, Nigeria has a great experience. So, we have quite a big Islamic population in our country.
“So, this is just a particular project that we are developing at the moment. And of course, there will be other projects.”

He disclosed that the delegation had been involved in government to government and business to business meetings.
The issue of visa was also part of discussion, he noted.

He said: “Well, for the last two days, these have been very active days, and we had plenty of G2G and B2B meetings. Well, yesterday we started with a meeting with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where we discussed issues on political consultations, visa requirements, and also mutual support at international platforms, including the UN. After that, we had a meeting with the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment.

“And we are very much interested in developing cooperative projects in the sphere of solid minerals with Nigeria, and, of course, increasing our bilateral trade. For example, one of the interests is directly importing cocoa beans, of which the chocolate, the Kazakhstani chocolate, is made. And, of course, there are many, many other spheres where we can cooperate, including exporting Kazakhstani grain, high-quality grain, wheat, to be particular, to Nigeria.

“After that, we also had a meeting with two ministers, one of the Minister of Oil and also the Minister of Gas, where we also expressed mutual interest in developing oil and gas projects together and exchanging technologies and expertise in developing these spheres. Also, we had a meeting with the EXIM Bank that is helping trade operations, export and import operations. And we decided to have close cooperation with the Kazakhstani EXIM Bank as well.

“And today, we also had a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, where we discussed phytosanitary and other restrictions, that elimination of them will be helping us in boosting our bilateral trade, especially in the agricultural sector. I personally had a meeting with the Minister of Digital Economy, where we also agreed upon cooperating in the spheres of cost monitoring, in the sphere of IT development, ICT development, smart bridges, e-golf, etc., where Kazakhstan has a lot of experience and is one of the forerunners in the world in e-golf and ICT. And Nigeria has a great potential to do the same, and Nigeria has been developing very rapidly in the sphere of ICT and smart cities.”

He insisted that the visit, which was facilitated by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has been a great success.

He said: “So, I consider this visit to be very successful, and we’re going to continue our joint work with the Nigerian side. And in the coming future, we’re also awaiting a business delegation led by His Royal Majesty, His Royal Highness, to Kazakhstan, to Astana International Forum, where we’re going to go on with mutual realisation of investment and trade projects.”

Kazakhstan Expresses Willingness to Improve Volume of Trade with Nigeria