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Bauchi To Benefit From $500m NG-CARES’s Financing – Mohammed

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Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has directed the State Implementation Unit for the NG-CARES programme to urgently work out the necessary modalities of assisting the State to access additional financing from the programme.

The Governor gave the directive at the official launching and distribution of ICT Enhancement facilities to 7,000 Beneficiaries under the Nigeria Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) Bauchi-Cares Result Area 3 MSEs held at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Bauchi.

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Mohammed said that presently, the World Bank has provided an additional financing package of $500 million to support the rollout of the next phase of NG-CARES 2.0 where participating states would access $12 million with additional $46 million set aside as unallocated funds to be redistributed during the programme’s mid-term review meeting.

He observed that the successful implementation of the NG-CARES Result Area 3, in Bauchi that focuses on strengthening the capacities of small and medium enterprises through the distribution of ICT enhancement facilities worth over N1 billion was made possible through the assistance of the World Bank.

READ ALSO: Group Advocates Sexual Education, Teachers Training In Bauchi

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According to him, the distribution of the ICT enhancement facilities marked a significant milestone in the collective efforts to harness the power of technology for the sustainable development of the state and to alleviate poverty through the empowerment of the people.

“With these tools, our youths, small business owners, farmers, and traders will now have the means to expand their businesses, improve their livelihoods, and contribute to the economy in a more meaningful way.

“This programme is not just about distributing technology, it is about creating a sustainable ecosystem where businesses can thrive and poverty can be reduced.

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“My administration remains fully committed to tackling poverty in Bauchi State as we have shown with this programme, addressing poverty requires multi-faceted solutions.

“This is why we will continue to work closely with the World Bank and other development partners to expand and strengthen our social protection programmes,” he said.

READ ALSO: Bauchi Govt. Presents N4m to 4 Best JAMB Students

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He reiterated the unwavering commitment of his administration towards empowering its citizens with the tools needed to create opportunities, build resilience, and participate meaningfully in economic development.

Mohammed added that his vision for Bauchi was to be a state where every citizen regardless of background, has access to the resources required to succeed.

On his part, Abdulkarim Obaje, the National Coordinator of NG-CARES programme, congratulated Bauchi on the milestones achieved in the implementation of the programme and highlighted that the distribution of the ICT gadgets is a key component of the NG-CARES initiative.

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Represented by the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Atiku Musa, Obaje explained that the programme was designed to promote digital inclusion and empower beneficiaries with the skills and tools needed to thrive in today’s technology-driven world.

READ ALSO: Don’t Be Victims of punishment, Bauchi Teachers Warned

On his part, Sadiq Shira, the state’s Commissioner for Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, said the initiative reaffirmed governor Mohammed’s vision of leveraging technology for economic growth and underscored the state’s commitment to empowering its citizens in the digital era.

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According to him, the distributed gadgets include smartphones, tablets, laptops, and POS machines providing recipients with access to digital tools that would help them improve their businesses, education, and overall livelihoods.

“I would like to express my profound gratitude to the state governor for his visionary leadership and continued support for the advancement of small and medium enterprises in Bauchi State and for making this initiative a reality.

“We are not in this for notoriety, but to paint the right colors on the fabric of history so that posterity will be right by us”. He said.

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OPINION: Children’s Day And The Scam Of Tomorrow

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By Israel Adebiyi

Once upon a time in many Nigerian homes, there was a rhythm to childhood. It echoed in the laughter of children gathered under the moonlight, listening to folktales from wise grandmothers—stories of Tortoise and the hare, morality and mischief, hard work and honesty. It echoed in warm evenings of family dinners, morning treks to school in uniforms neatly ironed, and the comfort of knowing that adults were in charge—parents, teachers, and a government that at least pretended to care. That rhythm has long faded.

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Today, the Nigerian child is born into chaos, grows up amid contradictions, and learns too early that promises mean nothing. Each May 27, we gather to recite that children are “the leaders of tomorrow,” but what we fail to admit is that this tomorrow is deliberately being sabotaged. It is not just lost; it is being stolen in broad daylight.

Let’s Begin with Education. Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world—an estimated 18.5 million. That number alone should spark a national emergency, yet it is spoken of with such casualness you’d think it were a weather forecast. Millions of children roam the streets hawking sachet water, fruits, or plastic wares when they should be in classrooms. In the North, Almajiri children continue to be abandoned in large numbers under a system that provides neither education nor security. In many Southern states, children are seen as economic props, pushed into trade or house help servitude.

Those who make it to school are not necessarily lucky. Public schools across the country are crumbling. From leaking roofs and broken chairs to the absence of toilets, blackboards, and learning aids, many Nigerian classrooms are not places of learning but sites of struggle. The curriculum remains outdated, irrelevant to modern realities, and poorly delivered. While the world is building coding academies for toddlers, we are still teaching children to cram colonial poetry and 1980s textbook diagrams.

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MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:[Opinion] From Classroom to Crisis: The Slow Death of Nigeria’s Education System

Teachers, the supposed nation-builders, are grossly underpaid and in many cases, underqualified. In some schools, a single teacher manages four to six classes. Training and capacity development are either nonexistent or political rituals. How does a child receive quality education when their teacher is themselves a victim of a broken system?

Worse still, our schools are no longer safe. With rising cases of abductions—from Chibok to Kagara to Dapchi—parents are forced to weigh the risk of education against the price of safety. This is a dilemma that should never exist in a sane society. A government that cannot secure its schools has no business sermonizing about the importance of education.

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In the health sector, Nigeria’s infant and child mortality rates remain among the highest globally. According to UNICEF, one in ten Nigerian children dies before their fifth birthday, mostly from preventable causes. Many Nigerian children still die from diarrhoea, malaria, pneumonia, and malnutrition—ailments the world conquered decades ago. Our immunization coverage is poor, especially in rural areas where vaccine hesitancy and infrastructural gaps persist.

Traditional birth attendants continue to thrive in areas where government clinics are either too far, too expensive, or simply unavailable. Expectant mothers still deliver on floors or with torchlight. Where children are born into such conditions, the cycle of vulnerability begins at birth.

Here are the unspoken scars of the Nigerian Child – Abuse and Rights Violations. The Nigerian Child Rights Act (2003) is a comprehensive legal document that affirms the rights of every Nigerian child to survival, development, protection, and participation. Yet, over 20 years later, some states have still not domesticated this law. And in states where it exists, enforcement is patchy at best.

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MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Trodding On The Winepress: All Hail The Nigerian Workers

Children suffer physical abuse, sexual exploitation, forced labour, trafficking, and emotional neglect daily. From baby factories to underage marriages to child soldiers in conflict zones, Nigeria has become a theatre of child rights violations. It is one thing to be poor. It is another to be unprotected.

When we say children are “the leaders of tomorrow,” what exactly do we mean? A child growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse, and hunger will not suddenly blossom into a competent leader because we proclaimed it. Leadership is cultivated. And cultivation requires care, systems, and consistent investment. We are not preparing children for tomorrow; we are abandoning them to survive today.

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In many homes, the idea of parenting has become largely transactional. Economic hardship has eroded family bonding. Tales by moonlight have been replaced by cartoons on phones. Parents, stressed and underpaid, often have nothing left to give emotionally. We are raising children in isolation—physically present but emotionally disconnected. The result is a generation growing up without empathy, values, or vision.

Parents and communities must take back the moral responsibility of shaping children. Government cannot parent our children for us. But government must provide the basic scaffolding—schools, clinics, protection, and justice.

In the final analysis, May 27 must stop being a day of sugar-coated statements. It must become a mirror—a day of national reflection, policy accountability, and renewed investment in our children’s future.

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The Nigerian child is not asking for luxuries. They are asking for classrooms with roofs, teachers who show up, clinics that work, and laws that protect. They are asking for the basic dignity of being raised in a country that sees them not as statistics, but as citizens. Until then, the phrase “leaders of tomorrow” remains a grand deception—a scam coated in celebration.

It is time to give children more than cake and fanfare. It is time to give them a future.

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CBN Donates Motorized Fire Caddy To Federal Fire Service In Bauchi

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Bauchi State Branch has donated a Motorised Fire Caddy to the Federal Fire Service (FFS) Headquarters, Bauchi State Command.

Speaking during the handing over of the mobile fire suppression system on Tuesday, Mr James Laburta, the CBN Bauchi Branch Controller, said the gesture was part of its corporate social responsibility.

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He commended the Federal Fire Service for its dedication toward fighting fire outbreaks in the state and reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to community safety.

According to him, the gesture underscored the importance of partnerships between government agencies and corporate institutions in safeguarding lives and property.

READ ALSO: Flood: NEMA Launches National Preparedness, Response Campaign In Bauchi

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Responding, DCF Babangida Abba, the Acting State Controller of the Federal Fire Service in the state, expressed profound gratitude toward the gesture.

He emphasised the critical role of such support in enhancing the command’s capacity to respond swiftly to fire emergencies, especially in hard-to-reach areas.

Abba noted that the donation came at a crucial time, given the recent surge in fire incidents across the state.

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While encouraging the general public to remain vigilant and proactive about fire safety, he assured that the equipment would be effectively deployed for emergency response and training.

READ ALSO: FG Renews Exploration License Of Oil In Bauchi – Minister

Also, speaking at the sideline of the event, ASF Umar Lawal, the Public Relations Officer of the Fire Service, said the equipment is used in areas where traditional fire hydrants or fixed systems are not readily available.

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This unit is typically portable and easy to maneuver, making it suitable for various locations.

“The motorised fire caddy is designed for skilled and unskilled Firefighters to use as a quick-response method for Firefighting in their early stages.

“As it beats response time to emergencies, it’s also used for institutional training reaching out to incident ground scene especially in hard-to-reach areas where our Fire truck can’t have access to the fire ground,” he said.

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75-year-old Edo Pilgrim Dies During Hajj In S’Arabia

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A 75-year-old woman from Edo State, Adizatu Dazumi, died during the 2025 Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

Dazumi was from Jattu Uzairue in Etsako West Local Government Area.

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According to The PUNCH, pilgrim died on Monday at King Fahad General Hospital in Makkah after a short illness.

The Chairman of the Edo State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Musah Uduimoh, confirmed her death on Tuesday.

READ ALSO: Hajj 2024: Nigerian Pilgrim Allegedly Commits Suicide In Saudi Arabia, Another Dies From Illness

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Uduimoh said Dazumi became ill shortly after performing Tawaaf (walking around the Kaaba) and was taken to the hospital on Sunday. She passed away the next day.

She was buried in Makkah on the same day, according to Islamic tradition, and her family in Jattu Uzairue has been informed,” Uduimoh said.

He sent his condolences to her family and assured other pilgrims that the board is committed to their health and safety.

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