Mukhtar Yahya Usman

The judicial commission of inquiry on public properties and assets established by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State to probe the previous administration led by former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has scheduled its inaugural session for Monday, 29th April 2024.

The commission’s secretary, Salisu Mustapha, said this in a letter addressed to the Director General Media and Publicity on Saturday.

Mustapha specified that the session will take place at High Court No. 3 within the Audu Bako Secretariat.

Earlier this month, Governor Yusuf inaugurated two judicial commissions of inquiry (JCI) to investigate instances of misappropriation of public properties and assets, political violence, and missing persons between 2015 and 2023.

During the inauguration of the JCI members, Governor Yusuf pledged to hold accountable anyone found culpable, emphasizing his commitment to uncovering and prosecuting those responsible for political violence in the state before and during previous elections.

The governor urged the Commission to thoroughly investigate cases of misappropriated public properties and assets during the tenure of immediate past administration.

He instructed the commission members to uphold their integrity, remain true to their oath, and serve the people of Kano State by ensuring justice is served. Governor Yusuf clarified that the initiative was not politically motivated or directed at any individual but rather a response to the mandate of the people of Kano State.

You may recalled that credible Justices of the State High Courts, Farouq Lawan Adamu and Zuwaira Yusuf a long with other eminent personalities were selected and appointed as chairmen and members of the two commissions of inquiry respectively.

Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim

Media practitioners in Nigeria have been urged to set media agenda on salient issues around women’s health in order to bring some of their challenges on the front burner for stakeholders.

KANO FOCUS reports that the Center for Communication and Social Impact CCSI made the call in Kaduna during a one day training organised for Kano based journalists on media advocacy for women’s health with support from the Pathfinder International.

Oluyemi Abodunrin, the CCSI Technical Advisor, Programme, while delivering his lecture on the role of the media in improving women’s health, said journalists need to always explore available data in their reportage.

“You don’t just use data percentage; you need to operationalize the data by putting human angle to the figures especially on women’s health to raise awareness about their challenges.” He said.

Abodunrin said this could be simply achieved by initiating women’s health related topical issues to hold people in power accountable through investigative journalism and fair and balanced reporting.

He advised the health journalists to also use their reports to combat stigma against women’s health, promoting diversity and always ensuring accuracy and balance reports.

According to him, there should be a paradigm shift in the media contents which mostly focus on politics and economy by also prioritizing other compelling health issues and women’s health in particular.

Also speaking, Beevan Magoni, one of the facilitators, identified gender imbalance, stereotype and lack of diversity in health journalism among others editorial issues in reporting women’s health in the country.

Magoni outlined some of the challenges in covering sensitive women’s health topics to include limited representation, narrow focus and lack of training for health reporters.

He however, harped on the importance of intersectionality in women’s health coverage and the need for journalists to be ethical by respecting the women’s privacy, seeking consent and being empathetic in their reportage.

On her part, Mrs. Toyin Akande, the CCSI Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, delved on the existing policies for women’s health planning in Kano State that could enhance reports of the health reporters.

The policies, according to her, include Health Sector Task Shifting and Sharing Policy (TSSP), Family Planning Policy and Kano State Health Financing Policy.

Others are Kano State Action Plan for Health Security (KSAPHS), Free Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Policy, Policy on Building Capacity of Healthcare Providers.

In her earlier remark, Dr. Sekina Amin Bello, Senior Technical Advisor, Pathfinder Nigeria said journalists were expected to facilitate visibility of the women’s health project in Kano on their respective platforms.

Dr Bello noted that the one year project focuses on the key challenges affecting women’s health in Nigeria including high maternal mortality rate and limited access to healthcare and poverty.

She noted that the project was aimed at identifying factors that contribute to good health outcomes for women in Kano and using the AFP SMART approach to develop advocacy strategies for improvement of their health.

The participants were selected from members of Kano State Led Accountability Mechanism (KanSLAM) and other journalists practicing in Kano state.

KanSLAM is a coalition of Civil Society, Media and Government Officials which serves as an accountability, advocacy, evidence & transparency mechanism in Kano State, Nigeria.

Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim

Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf has condoled with the family of late Alhaji Sidi Ali who died Thursday evening at the age of 86.

KANO FOCUS reports that Governor Yusuf described late Ali as a trusted Public Affairs Officer who worked hard to ensure the flow of true stories during the Civil war.

In a statement by the Governor’s Spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the Governor also noted the positive contributions of the deceased as a Senator in the Second Republic in shaping the Senate and the overall development of democracy in the country.

On behalf of the Government and people of Kano State, Governor Yusuf extend condolences to his family and prayed for Aljannah be his final resting place.