Headlines
Why Kano population may hit 50 million by 2050–expert

Nasiru Yusuf
The population of Kano state may hit over 50 million people by 2050 due to high fertility rate and low practice of family planning in the state, an expert Habib Sadauki has warned.
Mr Sadauki, a consultant gynecologist, revealed this on Thursday during a consultative meeting on family planning organized by Development Research and Project Centre (dRPC).
He said currently, the use of modern contraceptive methods in the state stands at 5.8 percent, which is far below the national average.
The reproductive health expert recalled that family planning usage in Kano in 2013 was 1.3% but rose to 5.8% in 2018.

According to him two decades ago it was a taboo to discuss family planning in ministry of health, talk less of demanding for budgetary allocation.
Kano Focus reports that despite the shortage of contraceptive commodities and consumables in public hospitals, no budget was allocated to family planning in the 2020 Kano state appropriation law.
“Presently Kano has 5.8 fertility rate, which is above 5.3 national average. Based on this trend, the state population would be more than 50 million by 2050.
“The state government has anticipated the implication of this uncontrolled population growth and adopted free family planning services, national family planning costed implementation plan and integrated outreach,” Mr Sadauki said.
In a message sent to the conference, the director general of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Habu Gumel said the institute is collaborating with dRPC for advocacy to increase funding for family planning, routine immunization, ending child killer diseases and primary health care.
Mr Gumel, a professor of political science revealed that at current population rate, Nigeria will be among four most populous countries in the world by 2050 with estimated population of 289 million.
He noted that failure to address this challenge will be detrimental to any kind of economic development of initiatives to improve living condition of the citizens.
The director general emphasized the need for continuous engagement and dialogue on how to manage Nigeria’s population growth for sustainable development.
“In 2019, NIPSS and development research and project centre with support from Bill and Melinda Gates foundation collaborated in the implementation of the NIPSS senior executive course 41, with theme: funding universal healthcare delivery in Nigeria. The report was well received by President Muhammad Buhari and his cabinet last November with a pledge to implement the recommendation.
“This year 2020, President Buhari has mandated the senior executive course 42 of the national institute to conduct a study on population growth and the challenges of human capital development in Nigeria.
“There is no doubt that population issues are related to so many other issues such as demography, economics, education, human capital, urbanization, gender, religion, politics, food and nutrition, health and human rights. How a nation manages its population no doubt determines the level of its development,” Mr Gumel observed.
In his address, Ubale Rano an official of dRPC, said the meeting was to brainstorm and discuss the key emerging issues related to the adequacy of family planning funding in Kano state and the implication of the new practice of states being granted approval to procure commodities apart from the consumables they used to purchase.

Headlines
Kano Governor-elect pledges to reintroduce Kwankwasiyya free education, healthcare schemes

Aminu Abdullahi
The Kano State Governor-elect, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, has reaffirmed his government’s readiness to fix quickly the problems with the provision of potable water, basic education and good healthcare which are fundamental duties of a responsive government.
KANO FOCUS reports that the Spokesperson to the Governor-elect, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa revealed this in a statement issued on Friday.
Dawakintofa said, “despite huge tax payers’ money the outgoing administration claimed to have committed to the provision of basic water, Kano households strive in the twenty-first century to access safe drinking water in the State endowed with functional dams and resources to provide basic amenities.”
In his acceptance speech, the Governor-elect reassured Kano people that beyond fixing basic water supply, the incoming government will uphold the Kwankwasiyya philosophy with a wider scope of free education at primary and secondary levels involving provision of school uniform, learning materials, meals, conducive environment, paying SSCE fees for the students, training and motivation for the teachers to impart good quality education.

The incoming administration, which he said will be an off-shot of Kwankwaso administration, will be committed to free maternal and child healthcare programmes just as plans are underway for the upgrading of local health facilities across the 44 Local Government Areas of Kano State.
To bridge the human capital gap in the various public institutions, Engr. Abba administration will rebirth Kwankwasiyya scholarship scheme for tertiary education and terminal degrees in special areas such as medicine, science and engineering in foreign countries.
It is a resolution that the incoming government will complete abandoned projects and continue with laudable populist policies of Kwankwasiyya administrations just as youth empowerment and enabling environment for MSMES and entrepreneurship to flourish will be provided as enshrined in the Campaign Blueprint.

Headlines
TMG, CISLAC, CSOs dismiss report calling for review of Kano Governorship Election

Aminu Abdullahi
The Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, CISLAC and the Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room have distanced themselves from call seeking for the review of the Kano Gubernatorial Election.

KANO FOCUS reports that Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Chairman TMG on Saturday told journalists at a news conference in Kano the group which identified itself as Accredited INEC Elections Observers are “fake, faceless and politically sponsored”.
Rafsanjani who was flanked by the Convener, Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room, Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya lamented that the spread of the fictitious and malicious group at a time when Nigeria is having it’s political space heated up is not only worrisome, but also has the potential to further over heat the polity.
Mr. Rafsanjani, warned that “as genuine Transition Monitoring Group and Civil Society Groups are left without options but to take necessary legal actions against these faceless Group using their names to championed a Criminal minded, Politically Motivated and sponsored missions.”
Rafsanjani, warned that, “as Champions of Democracy, we will not allow smear-campaigners and people with politically motivated reasons drag credible Civil Society Organizations in Kano State and indeed in Nigeria at large into political wars with political parties”.
The CISLAC boss said “TMG, CISLAC and the Kano Civil Society Forum have done incredible Work towards electoral reforms in Nigeria, since 1998, TMG has Championed the Democratic path in Nigeria as the foremost elections Observation group with the widest membership across the Nation”.
He noted, “we will never interfere with the conduct of elections or seek to interfere with the Judicial processes leading up to a Redress of grievances resulting from the elections”.
For that the TMG called on public to disregard in totality the reports making round and using the names of credible organizations and called for the review of Governorship Elections in Kano.

Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya
Also in his speech, the Convener, Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room, Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya, urged the Media to filter credible Civil Society Groups from faceless, politically motivated sponsored groups who hide under the names of credible organizations to concoct fake stories that suits their narratives.

Headlines
Nigeria recorded 3.9m cyberattacks before, during, after governorship elections

Mukhtar Yahaya Usman
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim aww Pantami has drawn the attention of the digital economy stakeholders and the general public to the ministry’s activities before, during, and after the 2023 gubernatorial and states’ houses of assembly elections.
KANO FOCUS reports that Pantami said the committee, which he inaugurated to monitor Nigeria’s cyberspace, recorded a total of 3,834,244 attacks, originating from both within and outside Nigeria, before, during and after the gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections across the country.
According to a statement released yesterday by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and signed by the Senior Technical Assistant (Research and Development) to the Minister, Dr. Femi Adelusi, the daily breakdown of the attacks showed that on Friday 17th March, 2023, there were 1,046,896 cyberattacks; On Saturday 18th March, 2023, there were 1,481,847 Cyberattacks; On Sunday 19th March, 2023, there were 327,718 Cyberattacks and on Monday 20th March, 2023, there were 977,783 Cyberattacks.
The statement further stated that activities on the Nigerian cyberspace during the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections, we’re much lower than those during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

“This is neither surprising nor unexpected as, Nigeria being Africa’s largest democracy, the Presidential and National Assembly elections are bound to attract much attention of everyone, including cyberthreat actors than during the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections.
“The Minister is confident that the implementation of some recommendations as well as measures taken to fortify our cyber defence mechanisms might have helped in this,” the statement further said.
Pantami reiterated that the attainments would not have been possible without the continued support of President Muhammadu Buhari, in particular, and the administration in general, towards ensuring Nigeria’s successful transition into the digital economy.
“The digital economy sector has enjoyed Mr President’s unprecedented support and it is highly appreciated,” Pantami said.
Based on the Minister’s directives, the committee provided close oversight on the activities of the cybersecurity Centres, from Friday 17th March, 2023 to Monday 20th March, 2023.
During this period and as previously reported, a series of hacking attempts were recorded, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), email and Internet Protocol Spoofing (IPS) attacks, SSH Login Attempts, Brute force Injection attempts, Path Traversal, Detection Evasion, and Forceful Browsing, the statement further explained.
