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UN Resident Coordinator Leads March Against Violence Against Women in Abuja
UN Resident Coordinator Leads March Against Violence Against Women in Abuja
By: Michael Mike
The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mohammed Fall on Saturday led some prominent women activists in a march on major streets of Nigerian capital city of Abuja to demand for the end of violence against women.
The march was part of activities marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV) celebrated worldwide.
During the march which was organized in Abuja by the UN Women in conjunction with Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), Medicaid Cancer Foundation, the UN Resident Coordinator alongside the women carried placards demanding for an end to violence against women and spoke against what they termed crime not only against women but humanity.
Addressing the media after the long walk, Mr. Fall said there was urgent need for an end in violence against women, girls and boys, insisting that everyone needs to be involved in the campaign as it affects the entire human race.
He lamented that the statistics of violence against women is still very much alarming and showed that it needed to be approached with all round strategies that would make people to know its harm and get offenders no hiding place.
Fall said there is still much told be done by government, law enforcement agencies and leaders in all sectors to build awareness against violence against women and to expose it for what it is: crime against humanity.
Speaking on the need to put an end to the crime, the former First Lady of Kebbi State and Founder of Medicaid Cancer Foundation, Dr Zainab Bagudu said with the law against violence against women in place, there is still need to fight on until the society shows it does not tolerate violence against women.
She said after the law, “then the next step becomes the implementation and general awareness, the mindset of the average, person from our environment, is that they don’t even understand what constitutes abuse. So we need to educate them, to make them aware, and most importantly, to combine the facilities that they need if abuse should take place, we focus on women and young adolescent girls, but boys are also victims of abuse, and they can turn out to be perpetrators once they have been abused.”
She said “there is continuous need
to organize educational classes in schools and different places, so that we can educate our boys and they can prompt be supportive.”
She noted that there is need for much more efforts at ending the violence against women, insisting that: “Well, it’s (campaign) never enough. We’re a very large country. The population is high, so we know the challenges that we have and different conflicting priorities. So it’s important that we don’t get tired, and one of the advocacies that we do, to call on government to provide more resources, and donor partners, to help us. The task can be quite big, and the police can sometimes not be as responsive as we would like them to be, due to other reasons, but we hope that they will be more acute to the trauma that this causes to women, children and some men when it happens, and that’s why we keep on advocating so it’s not enough. We need to have more. We need to have more action. We need to have more understanding. There are also programmes that focus on educating our security forces so that they really understand how they should be reacting. Every police station should have a desk against gender based violence and women should have the confidence, or abused victims should have the confidence to approach these desks, make their point without fear of stigmatization.”
On her part, the Mandate Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, said the campaign was on in all parts of the Federal Capital Territory to drive the message to the grassroots.
She noted that: “We need to keep aggregating and scaling like what is happening today. We need to have more of this advocacy. We need to have more of the intentionality of collaborations between governments and private, public individuals, people who are able to invest and engage not just the interest, but in terms of the action and bringing interventions from messaging to the place of invested empowerment, of the mindsets of cultural traditional practices.”
Project Manager of WARIF, Adeola Potts-Johnson, on her part, said the campaign has been a success so far for it has grown from just being held in a city to many important cities of Nigeria and prominent cities across the globe.
She said WARIF would continue to push the bar until violence against women becomes history.
UN Resident Coordinator Leads March Against Violence Against Women in Abuja
Zulum Approves ₦1 Billion for New Agric University’s Take Off
By: Our Reporter
Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has approved ₦1 billion for the immediate commencement of the Federal University of Agriculture and Entrepreneurship in Bama.
Governor Zulum announced the donation on Monday while receiving an inter-ministerial delegation on an assessment visit to the Government House.
The team included officials from the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission, the Budget Office, and the Office of the Head of Service.
The institution was established after a bill sponsored by Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan was signed into law by the President on May 22, 2025.
Governor Zulum had previously handed over the existing Umar Ibn Ibrahim Elkanemi College of Education, Science and Technology in Bama to the federal government to facilitate a quick start of academic activities.
“I want to announce the donation of ₦1 billion for the take off of the University,” Zulum stated. “I hereby direct the Commissioner for Education to facilitate the process and identify the immediate priority areas and gaps to channel the resources.”
He explained the state’s proactive role, saying, “The federal government announced the establishment of the university, but the state has to provide the enabling environment for the immediate take off of the institution.”
“Although the institution belongs to the federal government, the services that would be rendered is for the good people of Borno State,” he added. “For me, every federal institution, especially the tertiary institutions belong to Borno State government.”
The governor also promised to construct staff quarters and provide additional support.
He commended President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, sponsor of the bill, Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan, minister of education for ensuring that the university becomes a reality.
Leader of the federal delegation, who is also the Director of University Education at the Federal Ministry of Education, Hajiya Rakiya Gambo Iliyasu, reported that the team was impressed after inspecting the Bama facility.
“Your Excellency, the team went round the institution this morning and what we saw was quite encouraging,” Rakiya said. “We can tell His Excellency that the institution has everything it needs to take off.”
She confirmed that the institution is ready to begin operations and that the team would proceed with staff verification.
The event was attended by the Deputy Governor, Hon. Umar Usman Kadafur; Senator representing Borno Central, Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan, SAN; Member representing Monguno, Marte and Nganzai federal constituency, Hon. Bukar Talba; Acting Chief of Staff, Dr Babagana Malumbe; other members of the State Executive Council as well as Special Advisers.
Zulum Approves ₦1 Billion for New Agric University’s Take Off
45 kidnapped victims regain freedom under peace accord in Katsina
By: Zagazola Makama
Forty-five kidnapped persons have been released from captivity in Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State following engagements under the Operation Safe Corridor peace accord.
The victims, comprising men and women abducted from Guga in Doguwar Dorawa Fulani settlement camp and Gidan Danmayaki villages, were freed on Monday through a negotiation channel linked to a bandit leader identified as Isiya Kwashen Garwa.
Zagazola Makama report that the victims regained freedom at about 1400hrs and were immediately received by the member representing Bakori Constituency in the Katsina State House of Assembly.
The lawmaker transferred the victims to the Comprehensive Health Centre, Bakori, where medical personnel conducted evaluations to ascertain their physical condition after prolonged captivity.
Authorities said the freed hostages have since been reunited with their families.
Security personnel and community leaders are maintaining close monitoring as part of efforts to consolidate the peace process and prevent further attacks.
45 kidnapped victims regain freedom under peace accord in Katsina
News
Propcom+, Welcome2Africa International target £5 million investments into Nigeria’s agricultural sector
Propcom+, Welcome2Africa International target £5 million investments into Nigeria’s agricultural sector
The UK Government, through its climate-smart agriculture programme, Propcom+ in collaboration with Welcome2Africa International, is spearheading a Strategic Agribusiness Deal Room designed to mobilise private capital into Nigeria’s agricultural value chains while supporting inclusive, market-led economic transformation.
This initiative underscores the UK’s commitment to strengthening agribusiness value chains, fostering sustainable partnerships, and driving inclusive economic growth across Nigeria.
Positioned as a high-impact investment marketplace, the Deal Room, which will be held from November 18 to 19, 2025, in Lagos, is expected to unlock over £5 million in potential investment and trade commitments, featuring more than 20 pre-vetted, investment-ready agribusinesses.
These enterprises operate across priority sectors, including grains, cassava and starch derivatives, livestock, bioethanol, food processing, mechanisation, agri-tech, and renewable energy, all demonstrating clear growth pathways, commercial traction, and scalability.
“The Deal Room represents a strategic opportunity to accelerate private investment into Nigeria’s agrifood sector and deepen the pipeline of climate-smart, inclusive enterprises,” Olumide Ojo, Propcom+’s Strategy Director, noted.
“By connecting high-potential SMEs with investors, we aim to drive capital mobilisation that strengthens market systems, improves resilience, and expands economic opportunities for farmers, women, and rural communities.”
Echoing the investment rationale, Welcome2Africa International CEO, Bamidele Seun Owoola, reinforced the platform’s role in facilitating cross-border capital flows.
“At Welcome2Africa International, our focus is to catalyse sustainable investment into Africa’s agrifood sector. Co-hosting the Deal Room with Propcom+ presents a unique opportunity to position Nigeria’s most promising agribusinesses before global investors. This platform is fundamentally about unlocking capital and forging long-term investment partnerships that deliver shared prosperity.”
The Deal Room forms part of Propcom+’s broader mandate to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural markets, empower SMEs, and drive low-carbon, climate-smart growth. Following the event, Propcom+ will continue to support participating enterprises through technical assistance, investor engagement, due diligence, and transaction facilitation, advancing businesses toward investment closure.
Propcom+, Welcome2Africa International target £5 million investments into Nigeria’s agricultural sector
Zulum Approves ₦1 Billion for New Agric University’s Take Off
45 kidnapped victims regain freedom under peace accord in Katsina
Propcom+, Welcome2Africa International target £5 million investments into Nigeria’s agricultural sector
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