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NEFGAD: Students Loan Unsustainable, Harmful to Nigerian Youth

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NEFGAD: Students Loan Unsustainable, Harmful to Nigerian Youth

By: Michael Mike

The Network for Social Growth and Actualization of Viable Development (NEFGAD) has criticized the Students Loan Bill of President Bola Tinubu, describing it as unsustainable and injurious to the country’s development.

The group in a statement signed by its head of office, Mr Akingunola Omoniyi and made available to newsmen in Abuja at the weekend maintained that the series of postponements and uncertainties around the launch of the scheme showed that the idea is weak and looking more like a mere campaign slogan that should have ended with the 2023 general elections.

Akingunola said the bill is anti-development and psychologically harmful to Nigetian youth, while further stating that the policy lacks adequate support system necessary for efficient operations, and will end up killing the morale, drive and esteem of Nigerian youth at the long run.

He noted that since the hope of gainful employment remains the only collateral for the loan, government should first address the challenges of unemployment/underemployment and be certain that loan takers have high assurance of gainful employment after graduating from school before commiting them to employment-tied loan repayment plan, unless the government intend to breed high population of insolvent citizens.

He said that: “A country with over 40% unemployment rate and more under-employed should expect over 50% students loan defaulters rate, hence putting over 50% of a country’s supposed productive youth population automatically under perpetual burden and stigma of insolvency is retrogressive and detrimental to the aspirations of a developing nation.

Unlike Nigeria, in countries where such policies work, governments of those countries have proper employment and retirement plans for their citizens right from their day of birth.

He decried that the Students Loan Scheme if allowed to stand will further worsen the situations of nigerian youth and render them more distressed by combining the trauma of joblessness with the burden of insolvency.

Akingunola admonished President Tinubu and the National Assembly that if at all the bill must succeed they should ensure that a robust and sustainable job creation strategies and frameworks are in place before considering such a delicate proposal.

He however canvassed for the conversation of the Loan to grants for deserving indigent students instead and rather than creating an entirely new agency/board for the Fund at a time that the country is considering the implementation of the Steve Oronsanye report in order to reduce overbloated size of government, the extant law establishing the National Scholarship Board can be strengthened to administer the fund, he advised.

NEFGAD: Students Loan Unsustainable, Harmful to Nigerian Youth

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Governor Buni commended for selecting Maigari for appointment as Commissioner of the Federal Character Commission

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Governor Buni commended for selecting Maigari for appointment as Commissioner of the Federal Character Commission

By: Yahaya Wakili

Yobe state Governor, Hon. Mai Mala Buni CON, and Chiroman Gujba have been commended for doing the best thing for selecting Hon. Jibrin Maigari, Commissioner, Federal Character Commission, representing Yobe state.

The commendation was made by the executive chairman of the Nangere local government council, Hon. Samaila Musa FICN, while receiving the commissioner of the federal character commission, Hon. Jibrin Maigari, who was on a sensitization visit in his office.

He said Hon. Maigari is performing excellently because since this commission was created, we have never gotten the federal commissioner who has brought something tangible to Yobe, because in the past five years we have seen the result when he assumed office.

Musa maintained that, “His Excellency, Governor Mai Mala Buni CON, has done the right thing by appointing the right person in the right place, because I was a director in the federal service. I know how difficult it is to secure employment for the teeming youths.

He advised that His Excellency, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, should continue to put the right people in that place so that the right people will be employed. Adding that, before I came here, I had something in mind that we have youths who have completed their secondary education, and they could not secure admission into tertiary institutions.

According to the chairman, these youths performed; they had gotten the requirements to be admitted, but because of the family background of the family, they could not, and they feel that the local government should bring a package whereby the youth will compile their CVs and go to university, polytechnic, or college of education to secure admission for them.

“We have graduates who are diploma holders, NCE, HND, and degree holders. There is nothing doing; I had to believe that we are going to adopt entrepreneurial activity within Nangere, training them three months after training them. We come up with different varieties of skills for them to engage in different businesses and activities,” he said.

“So by doing that, we are able to train 500 youths, and at the end of the day, every youth will be able to engage four people, so plus him, there are five. So you multiply five times five hundred, and you have 2,500 employed, and we called it a blue-collar job because what a cola job these days is too easy. So we have to develop a plan or strategies whereby the youth must survive.

The chairman said we have a work plan already, and very soon we are going to develop it, because we have adopted that in the 2025 budget, and very soon, by the second quarter, we are going to embark on it. He noted that I have already discussed with the consultancy services of Yobe State University in that regard.

Governor Buni commended for selecting Maigari for appointment as Commissioner of the Federal Character Commission

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World Medical Relief donates healthcare equipment to Yobe State

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World Medical Relief donates healthcare equipment to Yobe State

By: Yahaya Wakili

The Yobe State Executive Council has noted the delivery of healthcare equipment to the state donated by World Medical Relief in the United States. These equipment include hospital beds, infusion pumps, patient monitors, surgical instruments, and tools, amongst others.

Governor Mai Mala Buni CON disclosed this yesterday while chairing the first State Executive Council meeting held at the Government House in Damaturu.

The governor spoke about his administration’s human capital development effort, adding that in 2024, many people across the state were reached with various forms of support, particularly the students sent to India for undergraduate studies.

Briefing the newsmen on the outcome of the Exco meeting, The state Commissioner of Home Affairs, Information, and Culture, Alhaji Abdullahi Bego, said the governor reflected on the preceding year, noting it as one in which the state government was able to execute many projects and programs that have positive impacts on the lives of the people of the state.

He said the government has also built four modern sesame seed processing factories in Machina, Nguru, Potiskum, and Damaturu, and all of them have been completed 100% and will be commissioned soon.

In addition, all local government areas cut off by last year’s rains, especially in the northern part of the state, have been repaired and vehicular traffic restored, and the state government is also currently constructing a road from Potiskum to Ngojin and from Fadawa to Daya in the Fika local government area.

World Medical Relief donates healthcare equipment to Yobe State

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NAF AIRSTRIKES NEUTRALIZE SCORES OF BANDITS HIBERNATING AT ALAWA FOREST IN SHIRORO LGA OF NIGER STATE

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NAF AIRSTRIKES NEUTRALIZE SCORES OF BANDITS HIBERNATING AT ALAWA FOREST IN SHIRORO LGA OF NIGER STATE

By: Olusola F Akinboyewa

The Air Component of Operation FANSAN YAMMA (AC OPFY) has recorded another significant achievement in its counter-terrorism campaign, neutralising scores of bandits and dismantling their logistics base at Alawa Forest in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. This operation, conducted on 21 January 2025, was based on credible intelligence and follow-up confirmatory aerial surveillance efforts which indicated an influx of armed terrorists into the forest. These criminals were linked to widespread violence, including two Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks on 19 December 2024 in Bassa, Shiroro LGA, which claimed several innocent lives.

In response, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) launched a three-day sustained air operation, code-named KONAN DAJI, to degrade the terrorists’ capabilities and render the forest unhabitable for them. To this end, AC OPFY dispatched a formation of fighter aircraft to execute air interdiction missions in the area. Upon arrival, the jets swiftly engaged the identified targets with precision strikes, neutralising numerous armed fighters and destroying their logistics base, as confirmed by multiple secondary explosions.

The NAF, in close coordination with ground forces, remains resolute in its commitment to maintaining operational dominance across the region. Sustained efforts are underway to eliminate all criminal elements from Alawa Forest and surrounding areas, ensuring lasting peace and security for communities in Niger State and beyond.

NAF AIRSTRIKES NEUTRALIZE SCORES OF BANDITS HIBERNATING AT ALAWA FOREST IN SHIRORO LGA OF NIGER STATE

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