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International Day Of The Girl-child: Bauchi Govt Urged To Promote Digital Learning

Published

4 years ago

October 5, 2021

Our Reporter, Bauchi

Some female children in Bauchi State, have urged the state government to provide an enabling environment to promote digital learning, to enable the girls realise their full potentials.

Aishatu Abdullahi, President of the Girl-Child in the state, made the call at an event organised to mark the 2021 International Day of the Girl Child.

It could be recalled that on Dec. 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare Oct. 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child.

The Day is aimed at encouraging girls to know their digital realities and the solutions they need to pave way to freedom of expression, joy and boundless potential.

The event was organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), as part of activities to celebrate the Day in the state.

Abdullahi, a student of the Government Day Secondary School, Sa’adu Zungur, Bauchi, said the call was imperative towards reducing the number of Out-of-School children in the state.

She also urged the state government to initiate a policy that would facilitate establishment of post basic school attached to every primary school across the state.

This, she said, would ensure continuity of learning and reduce the dropout rate in the state.

“The girls ask the state government to help in providing an enabling environment for teaching and learning with focus on digital and technical innovations.

“The girls also ask for recruitment of more female teachers in schools to encourage the retention of girls in schools.

“To also help in creating specific policy that will ensure availability of a junior secondary school attached to every primary school, to enhance continuation of learning and reduce the dropout rate of girls in schools,” Abdullahi said.

In her remarks, Hajiya Halima Umar, UNICEF Focal Person in SUBEB, said that Oct. 11 had been set aside by the UN, to promote the rights of girls and address challenges facing the girl-child.

Umar said that the day would enable diverse groups with the same goal to deliberate and act towards the promotion and advancement of the rights of the girls.

“This day also highlights gender inequalities that remain between boys and girls as well as highlights the various sorts of discriminations and abuse suffered by girls around the world,” she said.

According to her, the gender gap for internet users has grown from 11 per cent in 2013 to 17 per cent in 2019, adding that in a developing country like Nigeria, the percentage hoveres around 43 per cent.

On his part, Mr Tushar Rane, UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, said that sequel to that closure of schools occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the UN agency in collaboration with the state government developed a strategy to ensure that students continue to learn while at home.

Rane, represented by Mr Raphael Aiyedipe, Bauchi UNICEF Education Specialist, said that the organisation realised that teaching and learning could be taken out of the four corners of classroom.

“This means teaching and learning can go on even while the children are at home and that is why the theme of this year is, “Digital Generation not without Girls”.

“We know that the world is becoming a global village and while at home you can learn and that has taught us a very good lesson.

“But there is the need for us to build the capacity of all the children to be digitally inclined,” he said.

Hajiya Aisha Mohammed, the Wife of the State Governor, said that the girls were truly of the digital age, adding that they should be prepared to present themselves anywhere as girls of the digital generation.

She charged them to take up the challenge of the digital age.

“Let me use this opportunity to call on you to be ready to exude your readiness to learn, use technology and become women in technology in a few years to come.

“Make Bauchi state proud by becoming software, hardware and competent engineers that will help to solve development and social challenges facing our state and country at large,” Mohammed said

The governor’s wife also urged parents to take the advantage of digital entrepreneurship as a means of retaining girl-child in schools and help them to attain their potential.

She also urged government at all levels to provide necessary support to assist the girl-child to become educationally empowered.

She, however, said that the Gov. Bala Mohammed’s administration had invested extensively in the education sector and would continue to do so to help the children to attain their potential.

Headline

Russian Strikes Kill Five In Ukraine, Cause Power Outages

Published

7 hours ago

October 5, 2025

Editor

Russian strikes Sunday on Ukraine killed five people and badly damaged energy infrastructure, temporarily severing power supplies to tens of thousands and prompting neighbouring Poland put ground defence on high alert.

Russia has stepped up strikes on energy networks, increasing fears Moscow would resume its widespread campaign of attacks on power facilities, which have plunged millions into darkness in past winters.

Russian forces fired 496 drones and 53 missiles at Ukraine, the majority of which were shot down, according to the Ukrainian air force.

“Sadly, five people were killed. My sincere condolences to everyone who lost loved ones to this terror,” Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Strikes killed four people near Lviv, which lies in western Ukraine and is hundreds of kilometers from the front line, and has been largely spared the attacks that have hit cities further east.

“Near Lviv, an entire family of four was killed in their home, including a teenage girl,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.

Emergency services released photos showing firefighters battling flames in a destroyed building, and helping elderly residents to safety.
Attacks also killed one person in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and wounded people near the eastern front, local authorities said.
“Russians once again targeted our infrastructure -– everything that ensures normal life for our people,” Zelensky said.

The strikes cut power to over 110,000 subscribers across several regions, Ukraine’s emergency services said, with the hardest hit being Zaporizhzhia.

– ‘Gas, heat and light’ –
Overnight, more than 73,000 people in Zaporizhzhia were left without electricity, regional head Ivan Fedorov said, though power had been partially restored by the afternoon.

Ukraine’s state-run gas company Naftogaz network also reported damage to its network.
“These maniacal terrorist strikes are aimed solely at one thing — depriving Ukrainians of gas, heat, and light,” Naftogaz CEO Sergii Koretskyi said in a statement.

The Russian army said it launched an attack “against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine and gas and energy infrastructure facilities that ensured their operation.”

Russian attacks have also rattled Ukraine’s European allies after a spate of alleged Russian airspace violations into Europe.

NATO boosted its defences along its eastern borders throughout the month as it accused Moscow of testing the alliance’s air defences with drone incursions into several members and by flying military jets in Estonian airspace.

Overnight Poland’s armed forces said on X that they had mobilised planes and put ground defences on high alert to secure the country’s airspace, especially in areas close to Ukraine.

Ukraine also said Russia was intensifying a campaign of air strikes on its railway network in an attempt to isolate frontline communities ahead of winter.

Russia launched drones at two passenger trains in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region on Saturday, killing one person and wounding dozens, according to Ukrainian officials.

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Badenoch Unveils Strict UK Immigration Plan, Targets 150,000 Yearly Deportations

Published

8 hours ago

October 5, 2025

Editor

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has unveiled an aggressive immigration reform plan aimed at detaining and deporting 150,000 illegal migrants annually, in what she described as the “toughest reforms Britain has ever seen” in border policy. The announcement was made in a video message posted on her X account on Sunday.

The plan, dubbed the Radical Borders Plan, envisages the establishment of a new Removals Force modelled after the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which would replace the current Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit. According to Badenoch, the Removals Force will have a mandate to remove all illegal entrants, foreign criminals, and undocumented migrants, while also monitoring illegal work. She stated, “My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported.”

Badenoch sharply criticised previous administrations, accusing both Conservative and Labour governments of failing to manage the migration crisis effectively. “Successive governments have failed on immigration. Labour promised to smash the gangs. Instead, in just a year, they delivered record small boat crossings, over 50,000 illegal arrivals, 32,000 people in asylum hotels, billions wasted. It’s pure weakness. Britain needs a serious, credible plan and the backbone to deliver it,” she said.

The proposed plan includes several controversial measures. Asylum claims from illegal entrants would be banned, the Human Rights Act repealed, and the United Kingdom withdrawn from the European Convention on Human Rights. Badenoch added that all new illegal arrivals would be deported within a week, with legal obstacles to mass removals removed and visa sanctions imposed on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens. She also pledged to “shut down the asylum hotel racket,” which she said would save taxpayers billions and restore public confidence in the UK’s border controls.

The Removals Force, if approved, will operate with an annual budget of £1.6 billion, double that of the current Immigration Enforcement unit, funded by savings from the closure of asylum hotels and other measures within the asylum system. The force will have sweeping powers, including the use of facial recognition technology without prior warning, and will integrate closely with the police. Priority for removals will include new illegal entrants, foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers, visa over-stayers, and others identified as residing in the UK illegally.

In an interview on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch faced criticism for her refusal to specify the destinations to which deported migrants would be sent. She responded, “I’m tired of all of these irrelevant questions about where they should go. They will go back to where they should be or another country, but they should not be here.” When pressed further, she added, “They will go back to where they came from.”

According to the Conservative Party document detailing the plan, the proposed measures are intended to increase removals from the current 34,000 per year to approximately 150,000, marking a five-fold increase in enforcement activity. The party argues that the reforms are necessary to address what it describes as uncontrolled migration and to strengthen public trust in the country’s border system.

Badenoch’s announcement has intensified the ongoing debate in the UK over immigration policy, balancing border security with human rights considerations. Critics have expressed concern over the repeal of the Human Rights Act and the use of facial recognition technology without oversight, while supporters have welcomed the proposed measures as a decisive step in tackling illegal immigration.

The Radical Borders Plan is expected to be submitted for parliamentary consideration in the coming months, with its implementation contingent on legislative approval and coordination with existing law enforcement structures.

Headline

Trump Threatens To Unleash ‘Hell’ On Hamas

Published

2 days ago

October 4, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has given Hamas until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan for peace in Gaza, warning the Palestinian militant group faced “all hell” if it did not agree to the terms.

The US leader set the deadline — which would fall at 1:00 a.m. Monday in Gaza — after an official for the Islamist movement told AFP earlier on Friday that the group still needed time to study the proposal to end nearly two years of devastating war in the Palestinian territory.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

The proposal, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

That would be followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

“Hamas is still continuing consultations regarding Trump’s plan… and has informed mediators that the consultations are ongoing and need some time,” the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

On Tuesday, Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to accept his plan, which has been welcomed by world powers, including Arab and Muslim nations.

Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement Friday that the “plan has points of concern, and we will announce our position on it soon.”

As Hamas mulled Trump’s peace plan this week, a Palestinian source close to the group’s leadership told AFP on Wednesday that the Islamist movement wanted to amend some clauses, including the one on disarmament.

Hamas leaders also want “international guarantees” for a full Israeli withdrawal and that no assassination attempts would be made inside or outside Gaza, the source added.

Another source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that the group was split over Trump’s plan.

Structurally, the group’s leadership is divided between officials based in the Gaza Strip and those abroad, particularly in Qatar.

Much of Hamas’s leadership has also been wiped out in Israeli attacks throughout the war.

The source told AFP that “the first (opinion) supports unconditional approval, as the priority is a ceasefire under Trump’s guarantees, with mediators ensuring Israel implements the plan”.

“The second has serious reservations regarding key clauses… They favour conditional approval with clarifications reflecting Hamas’s and the resistance factions’ demands,” the source added.

Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said “ultimately it’s not just about convincing Hamas leadership in Doha, but also the leadership in Gaza, as well as Hamas members and fighters in Gaza.”

“Additionally, Hamas must then be able to convince other factions in Gaza,” he added.

The war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.