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Bauchi Gov Inaugurates N4.2bn Farmers’ Capacity Building Project

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Our Reporter, Bauchi

Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State on Monday inaugurated a N4.2 billion capacity building project for small holder farmers in the state.

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INFO DAILY reports that the training was a collaboration between the state government and Africa Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa Development (AUDA-NEPAD).

Mohammed said at the inauguration ceremony in Bauchi that the state government would contribute a counterpart of N2 billion out of the N4.2 billion.

The governor, who was represented by Mr Ibrahim Kashim, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), said that the programme was expected to run for a period of 10 years.

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He said that the N4.2 billion was budgeted for the first year of implementation.

READ ALSO: 1,549 Bauchi Women Die In Childbirth, APC Gov Candidate Alleges

“It is my pleasure to be part of this momentous and auspicious occasion of the flag off of a giant agricultural project of the African Union Development Agency tagged innovative strengthening of small holder farmers capabilities towards productive land restoration amid COVID-19 in Nigeria.

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“Considering the fact that the majority of our people have agriculture as their economic mainstay, it is only natural that necessary support is given to crop production and animal husbandry.

“This project is in line with the agricultural blueprint of our government.

“It is against this backdrop that our government without hesitation, accepted to partner with AUDA-NEPAD by signing a counterpart fund with a commitment of funds to the tune of N2 billion,” Mohammed said.

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Earlier, the state Coordinator and Focal Person of AUDA-NEPAD, Mrs Esther Ahmed, said AUDA-NEPAD is a socio-economic flagship programme of the African Union which was geared toward eradication of poverty and promotion of sustainable growth and development.

She said that it was also aimed at integrate Africa and the world at large as well as to accelerate the empowerment of women.

Ahmed said that a total of 5,400 beneficiaries would benefit in the first year of the project, with 2,895 males representing 53.61 per cent and 2,505 females representing 46.39 per cent and 10 per cent of the total beneficiaries for Persons with Disabilities.

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“The programme is focused on some selected activities that will be implemented on strong agricultural footing towards sustainable development in the medium and long-term.

“These activities include; drip irrigation farming system and other irrigation facilities, and greenhouse construction.

“Others include; livestock production/husbandry farming which will mostly involve women and People with Disability, agricultural equipment and infrastructure, post-harvest storage and processing, capacity building of farmers and other stakeholders.

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READ ALSO: CITAD Rates CSO’s Involvement In Procurement Process Low In Bauchi

“The state government has earmarked 2,400 hectares of land for the project to the three senatorial districts of the State,” she said.

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Arrears: AAU Management Replies ASUU Over

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The management of Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma has responded to a recent publication by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), AAU Chapter, alleging that the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sunday Olowo Samuel, claimed to have cleared all staff arrears.

A statement issued by Otunba Mike Aladenika, Principal Assistant Registrar and Head of Information, Protocol, and Public Relations, described the claim by ASUU as far from the truth.

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Aladenika said the Acting Vice-Chancellor’s 31-paragraph address to journalists did not state that all outstanding salary arrears had been paid.

He noted that instead, the VC emphasized the administration’s commitment to gradual liquidation of these arrears.

READ ALSO: AAU Acting VC Meets With Journalists, Rolls Out Achievements

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According to the imagemaker of the university, the Vice-Chancellor, in his speech, rather highlighted prompt payment of salaries and pensions as a hallmark of his administration, and noted that the university had implemented the new minimum wage of N70,000 as soon as it was approved.

Aladenika questioned where ASUU got their information from, given the Acting Vice-Chancellor’s clear statements.

“It’s worth noting that when the current administration took over, ASUU members were owed over 35 months in arrears.

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“However, the debt has since been reduced as those owed 35 months and above were paid 10 months emblock in the 1st tranch, while in the 2nd tranch, those owe 20-months and above were also paid 10 months salary arrears, emblock. Apart from individuals among them who got paid on personal requests, the payment of the backlogs is still ongoing as various applications on salary arrears are been attended to, demonstrating the management’s commitment to gradual payment.

READ ALSO: Okpebholo Approves Construction Of 500-room Hostel For AAU

“On the issue of the 13th month salary, it’s essential to clarify that this has never been a right, but rather a subject of tripartite negotiations between workers, management, and the state government. There has been no prior agreement or understanding on this matter, and it has always been a point of negotiation for our unions.

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“It’s worth noting that the university has never paid 13 months’ salary in a 12-month financial year. However, this doesn’t mean that the management is opposed to negotiations on the matter. Rather, we believe that it’s essential to approach such discussions in a constructive manner, rather than using it as a bargaining chip for blackmail.

“The management is open to negotiations, but we urge all parties to engage in good faith and avoid misrepresentations.”

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US Court Sentences Osun Monarch To Prison Over $4.2m Fraud

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A United States District Court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, to four years and eight months imprisonment over a $4.2million COVID-19 relief fraud scandal.

Justice Christopher Boyko while delivering the sentence on Tuesday, also ordered the monarch to pay $4.2 million in restitution.

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According Osun Defender, the monarch was also ordered to pay the sum of $195,000 to the IRS for filing a false tax return.

Justice Boyko also ordered Oloyede to forfeit $96,000 in money seized from his bank account and his home on Foote Road that he bought in 2021 for $130,000.

READ ALSO: US court Jails Five Nigerians 159 Years For $17m Fraud

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Boyko said Oloyede was a “very smart guy who did a lot of stupid things.”

Oba Oloyede, a US-based accountant and information system expert, was appointed the new Apetu in July 2019.

The monarch was arrested alongside alongside Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi in early 2024 for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $4.2m in COVID-19 relief funds.

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The two men were charged with 13 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property.

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OPINION: Ezekwesili, The NBA, And The Mirror Of Truth

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The air inside the hall was thick with expectation. Learned silks in flowing robes, young wigs eager to impress, and the weight of tradition hung over the Nigerian Bar Association’s 2025 Conference. It was meant to be another gathering where speeches would be given, pleasantries exchanged, and resolutions filed away into dusty archives. But then, like a stone thrown into a still pond, Oby Ezekwesili rose, and the hall shifted.

Her words did not flatter. They struck with the urgency of a fire alarm in the middle of the night. She asked the lawyers, the guardians of the nation’s constitution, to look into the mirror. Not to admire the silk of their gowns or the polish of their titles, but to examine the log in their own eyes. For too long, she said, they had been arbiters who excused their own failings while pointing at the speck in others.

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It was not a comfortable charge. Lawyers shifted in their seats. Some frowned. Some applauded. But the truth was laid bare: the Nigerian legal profession, once the conscience of society, has too often dropped the ball.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: [OPINION] Game Of Thrones: Ooni, Alaafin And The Ridiculing oF Yoruba Heritage

Think of the 2023 elections, where brazen infractions were documented, yet the courts delivered rulings that raised more questions than answers. Or the endless adjournments that have turned justice into a waiting game, eroding faith in the very system lawyers swore to uphold. Think of the silence of many senior advocates when judicial corruption is whispered about, as though the temple of justice can stand while its pillars are rotting.

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Ezekwesili’s charge was not merely to critique. It was a trumpet call. She asked them to confront the truth that Nigeria is where it is today because those who should have drawn the lines of accountability too often chose convenience over courage. Lawyers were once in the vanguard of change: the Gani Fawehinmis, the Alao-Aka-Bashors, the Akinola Agudases. Their names are etched in our collective memory because they fought when it was costly. But where is that spirit now?

The metaphor of the mirror is haunting. For what is a mirror if not a silent witness? It does not flatter or deceive. It simply reflects. The Nigerian Bar Association cannot continue as though it is an observer of the nation’s decline; it must admit that its silence, its compromises, its complicity have helped fertilize the soil of Nigeria’s failures.

And yet, in Ezekwesili’s provocation lies a possibility. To look into the mirror is not merely to mourn, but to begin again. To reclaim the nobility of the law not as a profession of prestige, but as a calling of service. To recover the conscience that once made lawyers the voice of the voiceless.

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MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: [OPINION] BUHARI: The Man Who Missed Redemption

This is not about throwing stones at others. It is about removing the log in one’s own eye. For until the Bar confronts itself, it cannot hope to help Nigeria see clearly.

The question then lingers beyond the echoes of that hall: when next the mirror is held up, will the Nigerian Bar Association be able to stand and say, “We did not look away”?

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