USAID: Zulum passionate on livelihood of Borno citizens

… Gov says we would focus more on medium, long term solutions to our problems

By: Our Reporter

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has commended Borno State Governor, Banagana Umara Zulum, for his passion for enhancing the livelihood of Borno citizens.

The Mission Director of USAID, Melisa Jones, made the commendation in Maiduguri on Wednesday while speaking to journalists at the Government House.

She said, “The governor (Zulum) is very passionate about ensuring the livelihood and well-being of his citizens. That is what we as USAID would continue to do.”

She added, “Our partnership is with this government, and our partnership would be strengthened by this visit and by the leadership of this Governor (Zulum). We are very appreciative of his thinking, thought leadership and direction and we will continue with this partnership.”

Earlier the USAID Mission Director to Nigeria, Melisa Jones, held a meeting with the governor of Borno State, Babagana Umara Zulum, which was concluded behind closed doors.

… Gov says we would focus more on medium, long term solutions to our problems

Meanwhile, Governor Babagana Unara Zulum said that Borno State Government would shift its focus from a short-term humanitarian solution to a medium and long-term development-driven approach.

Zulum made this known on Wednesday when he received the Mission Director of USAID, Melisa Jones, at his office in Maiduguri.

The governor said, “We are not objecting to the continuous provision of humanitarian support, but gradually, we want to shift our focus to the medium and longer-term sustainable solution.

He added, “However, we still need humanitarian support; all the concerns of the humanitarian partners will be addressed, and we shall work to see how areas in need continue to receive humanitarian support from our partners.”

The governor also extended gratitude to the government of the United States of America and the US International Development Agency (USAID) for their support to the government of Borno State.

“I convey our deep appreciation to the government of the United States, particularly USAID, for all the support they have been rendering to the government of Borno, the people of Borno State and indeed the entire northeast,” Zulum said.

USAID: Zulum passionate on livelihood of Borno citizens

Farmers/Herders Clash: IOM Impacts Over 30,000 Individuals in Taraba, Adamawa

By: Michael Mike

Over 30,000 individuals have been positively impacted through the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (IOM)‘s project on conflict mitigation between farmers and herders in Taraba and Adamawa states.

The revelation was made by the IOM Chief of Mission Laurent De Boeck during the official inauguration of the second phase of the mission’s project steering committee meeting in Abuja.

The project is on: “Contributing to the mitigation of conflict over natural resources between farmer and herder communities in Taraba and Adamawa States, Nigeria (COMITAS Il)”, and implemented by IOM through collaboration with Search for Common Ground (SFCG), Mercy Corps and funded by the European Union (EU).

De Boeck, who was represented by Juliana Dorr, Programme Manager of IOM said, “The COMITAS II project was built on the first one, in December, 2022 it successfully contributed to improving the lives of women, men and children in Adamawa.

“This is the start of phase-two and with the programme inclusion of Taraba, the contribution by partners has reached 30,000 individuals across nine local governments.”

Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, represented by the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof. David Jatan, said the COMITAS II project has been going on in the state since 2021.

He said: “The project has made tremendous impact on the community, particularly on issues of herders-farmers conflict; it has reduced incidents of conflicts between farmers and herders drastically.

Fintiri added that: @The peacebuilding programme of the project has brought sucor and peace among farmers and herders in Adamawa, and changed the livelihood of these communities.”

On his part, Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr. Jeji Williams, said the programme is ongoing in the state.

Kefas said: “We benefited so much and lots of women and children have improved in terms of livelihood; we are not Oliver Twist, but we will tell you there are more grey areas to be covered in the state.”

Programme Manager, Regional Team for West Africa of the EU, Eric Pitois, said the project remained important as it tackles the root causes of farmers-herders crisis in Nigeria.

He said: “This includes high competition of natural resources, climate change; we strongly encourage positive collaboration between Federal Ministries, Adamawa, Taraba and other stakeholders.

“They should work towards the noble goal for Nigerians, particularly women and children living in difficulties in some parts of the country.”

Staff Officer, Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE), National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Dennis Oziioko, commended the meeting for being timely in tackling conflict.

He said: “There is no doubt this meeting will provide an opportunity for all our key project officials to review updates on the COMITAS II project activities, since the last meeting held in 2023 in Abuja.

“We will be able to look at progress so far made, as well as discuss the sustainability plan of the project.”

The committee is tasked with overseeing the implementation of the project, make decisions and provide strategic guidance due to demographic growth, expansion of human settlements, privatisation of land, year-round farming practices, environmental degradation, and climate change.

Farmers/Herders Clash: IOM Impacts Over 30,000 Individuals in Taraba, Adamawa

Borno State University admits first set of medical students

By: Bodunrin Kayode

Borno State University has matriculated its first set of medical students in its five years of academic history.

Making his remarks during the fifth matriculation of the institution recently, the Vice Chancellor (VC) Professor Umar Sandabe stated that during the 2022/2023 academic session, the University applied to the National Universities Commission (NUC) to establish Bachelor of Medicine and surgery (MBBS).

The fifth matriculation also had an array of students for the course of Doctor of Physiotherapy, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of medical laboratory Science (BMLS), Bachelor of Radiography and Bachelor of health information management systems (BHIMS).

Other courses approved by the Senate included, Bachelor of Arts in history and Bachelor of Arts in Arabic, the Bachelor of science Biochemistry and the institution of Education.

The VC said that 2,400 students were admitted with 174 coming in through direct entry while jamb admitted 2226 from Borno and all the states of the Federation.

A break down of those who matriculated include 88 with the faculty of Agriculture, 774 in science, 631 Arts and education 527 with management science and 380 in the College of health sciences.

The outgoing VC used the occasion to announce that the institution has graduated its first set of 510 graduates who are already collecting their statement of results pending departure to the national youth service Corp (nysc).

Sandabe said that the University has completed and commissioned the mass communication studio which would give rise to the launch of its radio station soonest.

Other structures completed are the College of Health sciences and its being furnished and some lecture halls which will soon be commissioned.

On accommodations, he said that a new female hostel is been built to complement the existing one in a bid to accommodate more students on campus to ease their burdens on where to stay during sessions.

“At the temporary library site, we started with zero book and the library is now boasting with about 18,000 books with 700 volumes of journals with a very robust e-library with six data bases” said Sandabe.

Borno State University admits first set of medical students