Rumbles in the Borno health sector as workers continue their grumbling for better packages

By: Bodunrin Kayode

For the second month running some health workers in the Borno State health sector have continued their grumbling over the discriminatory wages dished out to them by the government.

They are frustrated that in spite of their lingering protests, the lopsided salary payment continues among the Borno State Health team believed to be one of the best in the country.

They argued during a recent chat with this reporter that “nurses and junior doctors with lesser certificates and qualifications are being paid and rewarded higher than others just because they belong to trade unions that have perfected the act and practices of trade union melancholy, greediness and selfishness.”

The aggrieved workers who preferred to remain anonymous posited that the Borno health workforce are working at crossroads with suspicion, envy and hatred adding that there is total lack of trust and love among their ranks since such virtues are seemingly lost.

The professionals maintained that Pharmacists, Laboratory Scientists, Radiographers, Physiotherapists and other allied Specialists are obviously frustrated even as they work with deep grudges against the system showing so much apathy to them.

They wonder why nurses and junior doctors with lesser qualifications, experience or skills were better renumerated, given quarters to stay and enjoy other broader privileges while they are treated like trash.

“The leadership of the Health sector made up of three Professors of medicine for reasons best known to them continuously misadvice the highly rated executive Governor of Borno State and have succeeded in reducing the once agile and effective Borno State Health service to it’s lowest ebb.” One of them said.

Speaking further, they regretted that pregnant women despite the free maternal drug program set up for them by the government, they still suffer neglect and abuse by some care givers who are disgruntled.

They added that sadly, in spite of all the efforts of the government, “majority of citizens stay on endless queue waiting for several hours to access basic medical service especially in our secondary healthcare facilities.

“Laboratory orders and medical investigations are conducted by Ill motivated staff with disenchantment.

“Drugs are being prescribed indiscriminately to citizens without drug-drug or drug-food interaction screening and safety checks by certified Pharmacists because of the very few numbers of Graduate Pharmacist Staff in employment.

“His Excellency, the best achieving Governor in the History of Nigeria and also known worldwide should not allow His envious records of sub regional governance job perfection to be dented by bad and self seeking advisers and gluttonous union officials” The concluded.

Borno is suffering from a huge deficit of health workers but recently the Government has been doing all it can to lay the foundation for the correction of this lapse.

Rumbles in the Borno health sector as workers continue their grumbling for better packages

Nigeria Reiterates Support for Two-State Solution, Insists It’s Key to Ending Israeli-Palestinian Perennial Crisis

By: Michael Mike

Nigeria has reiterated its support for two state solution to ending the perennial Israeli- Palestinian crisis, insisting that for peaceful coexistence in the area the two warring states should be given autonomy.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dunoma Umar disclosed this at the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the United Nations in Abuja.

The Permanent Secretary who was represented by the Director of Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Wahab Akande, said: “Nigeria like the rest of the world, stands and says, without doubt, that a two-state solution remains the only path to lasting peace for Israel and Palestine, where both States live in peace and prosperity.

“We attest the opportunities that peace brings, just as the extremist hopes to drive apart rival communities and different religions. We thus work through multilateral platforms within the rule of law, to build the consensus and support that makes this immensely difficult and dangerous task that much easier.

“This is how to deny the enemies the space to stoke tension and cause despair. By our experience that this offers the best, perhaps only hope for peace, reconciliation and victory for the civilised values of a shared humanity.”

On the need for reforms at the UN, Umar said that Nigeria demand for permanent seat at the Security Council is a demand for fairness, for continental equitable representation.

He added that the demand for reform is one that projects credibility to the very institution upon which the hope of multilateralism hinges.

He said: “The United Nations will discover its true relevance only when it sees the world as it is, not as it was. Nigeria’s journey tells this story with clarity: when the UN was founded, we were a colony of 20 million people, absent from the tables where decisions about our fate were taken; today, we are a sovereign nation of well over 200 million, projected to be the third most populous country in the world, with one of the youngest and most dynamic populations on earth by 2025. A stabilising force in regional security and a consistent partner in global peacekeeping, our case for permanent seat at the Security Council is a demand for fairness, for continental equitable representation, and for reform that projects credibility to the very institution upon which the hope of multilateralism rests.”

He said that “Nigeria stands firmly behind the UN80 Initiative of the Secretary-General, and the resolution adopted by this Assembly on 18 July 2025, a bold step to reform the wider United Nations system for greater relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness in the face of unprecedented financial strain. We support the drive to rationalise structures and end the duplication of responsibilities and programmes, so that this institution may speak with one voice and act with greater coherence. None of us can achieve a peaceful world in isolation. This is the heavy burden of sovereignty.”

He also added that “In cognizance of Nigeria’s belief in the value and power of democracy, Nigeria, as a diverse country, we are working with the United Nations to strengthen Democratic institutions in our region and beyond, through the Regional Partnership for Democracy. The increasingly difficult security outlook has prompted many Member States to count the cost of the emerging world order. Nigeria is already familiar with such difficult choices and our view is that the path to sustainable peace lies in economic growth and prosperity. The government has taken the difficult but necessary steps to restructure our economy and remove distortions, including subsidies and currency controls.”

He added that: “Nigeria with other members of the African continent have made significant strides in recent years to put our affairs in order. We can take that progress to the next level, a level that presents new opportunities for trade, investment and profit, if we can access reforms to strengthen the international financial architecture. We need urgent action to promote debt relief – not as an act of charity but as a clear path to the peace and prosperity that benefits us all. The African Continental Free Trade Area is a remarkable achievement of co-operation. We remain fully committed to the achievement of SDGs – and are convinced this can be best delivered by focusing principally on our primary mission of socio-political growth and shared economic prosperity.”

He stressed that Nigeria welcomes steps that will improve peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), stating that: “We agree that international investment and engagement offer a way out of the cycle of decay and violence. Access to strategic minerals, Sierra Leone in the 1990s and Sudan today, has for too long been a source of conflict rather than prosperity. “Africa has in abundance the critical minerals that will drive the technologies of the future. Investment in exploration, development and processing of these minerals, in Africa, will diversify supply to the international market, reduce tensions between major economies and help shape the architecture for peace and economic emancipation, on a continent that too often in the past has been left behind by the rivalries and competition between different blocs.

He advised that: Let’s lstrive for a world where the freedom, dignity and worth of every person are upheld, and no one is left behind. I join you today to reassert that Nigeria’s commitment to peace, to development, to unity, to multilateralism, and to the defence of human rights is beyond compromise, for none of us is safe until all of us are safe. Let’s seize this opportunity to build a better UN, one that will be more inclusive, responsive, and effective in promoting global peace, security and prosperity for all of us and the generation yet to come.”

The Permanent Secretary also warned that the “anniversary of the UN must not be a sentimental retreat into nostalgia. It must be a moment of truth, an opportunity to examine where we have stumbled and how we could have done better in turning our values into action that meet the demands of today.

“The United Nations will discover its true relevance only when it sees the world as it is, not as it was.”

On his part, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall commended the achievements of the body in the last 80 years.

He said: “Eighty years ago, a world broken by war chose peace over pain, dialogue over division, and humanity over hope. That choice gave birth to the United Nations, a home of all nations, a voice for the voiceless, a bridge across difference. And also a promise to future generations that peace is possible when we all work together.”

He urged all member countries to be intentional in building the future together in line with the theme of the 80th celebration “building our future together.”

He said it is more than a slogan, “It is a call to action. Our future will not be built by chance. It will be built by choice.”

He noted that the future is alive in Nigeria, especially with the roles the country has been playing globally.

He said: “Here in Nigeria, that future is alive. The land of promises, courage, creativity, show that unity can be achieved. Since 1960, Nigeria has been a pillar of multilateralism, a steadfast voice for peace, a leader in the African continent, and a partner to the world.”

He added” We need to rise together or we will fall together. So today, I make an appeal to the member states, to the government of Nigeria, to development partners, to young people, and to everyone. Let us believe in the power of the world that defined the chapter with the purpose of the United Nations.

“Those historic words that opened the chapter remind us that the UN belongs to all of us. Let us support the United Nations. Let us make multilateralism work for the many, not only for a few.

“Let’s make sure multilateralism works for peace, that it works for the planet, that it works for people, that it works for prosperity for the generations yet to come. “As we build our shared future, may we remember the UN remains a hope for those who have no hope at all, the bridge between despair and possibility, and as we look to the next 80 years, let us remember the words of the former Secretary-General, Baye Kamashole, the UN was not created to take us to heaven, but to deliver us from hell and of God. May this world remind us why we are here.

“May it remind us that we cannot escape our problems of today, but we can solve them if we work together.”

Nigeria Reiterates Support for Two-State Solution, Insists It’s Key to Ending Israeli-Palestinian Perennial Crisis

60 Years Old Orphanage Owner, Others Arrested for Child Trafficking

…26 Children Sold between N1-N3 million Each Recovered

By: Michael Mike

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested a 60 years old prominent member of the Orphanage Owners Umbrella body in Nigeria and founder of an internationally recognized Civil Society Organization, National Council of Child’s Right Advocates of Nigeria (NACRAN), based in Benue State, (name withed), in connection with an alleged large-scale case of child trafficking, child sale, and illegal adoption.

A statement by the National Press Officer of the agency, Vincent Adekoye, on Sunday read: in a major breakthrough led by operatives of the agency, Markudi Command, the agency rescued 26 children, out of the over 300 suspected to have been trafficked and sold to different persons within Benue, Enugu, Lagos, Nasarawa, and Abuja, while about 274 others are still being traced, as investigations intensify to unravel the full extent of the syndicate’s activities.

He said also arrested with the suspect is a suspected 34-year-old female accomplice, and two other orphanage operators in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and Nasarawa State, where some allegedly trafficked children were recovered.

The sad development came barely a few weeks after the Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello expressed concern over the unwholesome activities of some operators of orphanages in Nigeria and called on the various State ministries of Women Affairs to beam searchlights on the centres to checkmate their operations.

He said the latest operation by the agency was a continuation of the renewed crackdown on orphanages and care homes across the country ordered by the Director General of NAPTIP following a series of reported cases of alleged infractions and illegal activities by the operators of the orphanages.

He revealed that the detail of the case indicates that on 1st May 2025, a complaint was lodged by a man who reported that his four-year-old son was given out by his mother-in-law to an NGO without his consent. When he demanded the return of his child, he was told he could only see him after three years.

He noted that this prompted a petition to NAPTIP, leading to the arrest of several suspects and the uncovering of a wider network involved in trafficking and illegal adoption of children.

He said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects feasted on the vulnerability of the rural communities in Benue State through a voodoo initiative called “Back to School Project” to recruit children from crisis-ridden communities in Guma local government area, especially in areas affected by farmer–herder conflicts such as Daudu, Yelwata, and, and trafficked them to Abuja, Nasarawa, Enugu, and Lagos States.

He revealed that the suspects organized meetings with villagers and traditional leaders, convincing them that the project would sponsor children’s education. Parents were deceived into signing consent forms or verbally agreeing to release their children, with promises that they would see them again after three years, adding that over 300 children were reportedly handed over to the suspects. Some parents were unaware or did not sign any consent forms.

He said the children, aged between one and thirteen years, were transported to orphanage homes in Abuja and Nasarawa States, where they were allegedly sold to interested couples under the guise of adoption, for amounts ranging from ₦1 million to ₦3 million per child.

He revealed that some of the orphanages identified were used as holding centres where children awaited “adoption” or sale, include four orphanage homes located at Kaigini, Kubuwa Expressway, Abuja; Masaka Area 1, Mararaba, by Abaca Road; and Mararaba, behind the International Market, have been linked to the syndicate and are currently under investigation.

He said one complainant alleged that he paid N2.8 million as an adoption fee and N100,000 consultancy fee to a member of the syndicate.

He alleged the identities of many rescued children had been changed, complicating tracing efforts.

Speaking on the development, the Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello, described the situation as unbelievable and mind-bugling.

She said, “Arising from the case at hand, I wish to say that issues of child trafficking and adoption are becoming a national crisis that requires urgent attention from all relevant stakeholders.

“A few weeks ago, based on credible intelligence, I expressed concern and alerted the State Ministries of Women Affairs on the unpatriotic and illegal activities of some Orphanage Operators across the Country.

“It is painful that some unpatriotic elements with recognized entities and status, now use their social class to deceive the already vulnerable people in the crisis-prone communities, traffic their children, most of whom narrowly escape death in the wake of communal or farmer–herder clashes, and sell them to challenged parents in the name of adoption without the valid legal consent of the parents.

“This is unacceptable, and those already arrested in connection with this wicked act shall be made to face the full wrath of the law.

60 Years Old Orphanage Owner, Others Arrested for Child Trafficking