Headlines
Kano approves N48m contract for drainages in Kano Emir’s Palace

Aminu Abdullahi
Kano state Executive Council has approved the sum of 48, 010, 036.15 million for the construction of drainage and culverts within Kano Emir’s Palace.

KANO FOCUS reports that The state commissioner for information, Muhammad Garba announced this on Sunday while addressing journalists on the outcome of the council meeting, held at the Africa House, Government House, Kano.
He said the project is to prevent flood occurrences due to the absence of defined structures to effectively discharge storm water from the existing drainages to the outside of the Palace.
The commissioner also stated that the release of the sum of N26, 107, 038.04 million has been ratified by the council for the contract on flood intervention measures at Gaida Kuka Uku along Madobi-Panshekara Road.
Council ratifies N3.9b for roads network in 3 Emirates
Garba said Kano state Executive Council has also approved the ratification of contracts for the construction township roads network in the three Emirate Councils of Rano, Gaya and Karaye at the total cost of N3, 942, 564, 267.77 billion.
He said the projects are aimed at bringing about meaningful development, boost the general economic status of the state and further endear government to the teeming populace.
He said the council also granted approval for the augmentation of the sum of N42, 350, 998.31million as additional cost of the contract for the construction of Dala Inland Dry Port internal and access roads network at Zawaciki in Kumbotso local government area of the state.
Mr Garba explained that the increase in the contract some followed unearthing of additional works which were not captured in the initial Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation (BEME).
He said the additional works discovered after the contractor handling the project has achieved 37 per cent progress, upon advance payment of N250, 000, 000.00 million include, among others, removal of unsuitable materials, provision of fill material, construction of culverts, provision of vehicular slabs.
Garba stated that the new contract sum now stands at N1, 600, 917, 357.68 as against the initial sum of N1, 558, 556, 359.37 billion awarded in July, 2020.
Council approves N1bn special intervention project
The commissioner also announced that the council has approved the release of N1, 000, 000, 000.00 billion for the implementation of some special intervention projects in some local government areas in the state.
He said areas to be covered by the intervention include education, healthcare services, road infrastructure, environment electrification and water supply at various locations of the 17 local governments spread across the five emirates in the state.
Council earmarks N300m for ICT at Giginyu Hospital
Garba added that approval has also been granted for the supply/installation of Information and Communication Technology equipment deployment of Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) at the Kano Cancer Treatment Centre at Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital, Giginyu, at the reviewed cost of N307, 257, 323.02 million.
He explained that the supply and installation of the facilities at the centre, which is the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, is bound to enhance compliance with global standards in the management of such that emphasized on electronic medical record.

Headlines
Demolition: Kano govt appeals N30bn compensation judgement

Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Kano State Government has appealed a Federal High Court judgement that ordered it to pay N30 billion as compensation to some traders for the demolition of their shops.
KANO FOCUS reports that a Federal High Court sitting in Kano and presided over by Justice Simon Anogede, had, while delivering judgement in the case filed by the Traders Association, said what the government did was barbaric and unconstitutional.

The court however awarded N30 billion as compensation to the traders, instead of the N250 billion they demanded from the government.
However, the Kano State government says it has appealed the judgement, which it described as miscarriage of justice.
Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, explained that the court was not right in awarding judgement to the Traders Association because the Land Use Act is clear on the position of lands in every state.
He insisted that the court lacked the jurisdiction to even listen to the case because government is the sole owner of land, according to the Land Use Act.

Headlines
ACReSAL plans to increase city parks to 50 in Kano, laments indiscriminate felling of trees

Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim

The Kano Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL), has said that it will increase city parks to 50 in Kano.
KANO FOCUS reports that the Project Coordinator Dr Dahiru Muhammad Hashim made this known while addressing newsmen on Thursday in Kano.
He said the project is planning to recover and restore lost landscapes arising from natural causes and human activities.
”We are committed to addressing the environmental challenges that affect the state such as climate change, drylands, erosion and flooding, land degradation, and issues that affect the livelihood of communities which is mainly agriculture.
”The ACReSAL project is anchored on four broad components that speak essentially to the demand of the poor whose livelihoods have been distressed,” he said.
Hashim also said that the ACReSAL project has drilled solar-powered boreholes and established tree nurseries in some local government areas of the state.
He said that the intervention would boost agriculture and improve the standard of living of the people while the tree nurseries would help to combat desertification and soil erosion.
He expressed the commitment of the state in improving and protecting the Kano environment with priority and attention to the sector on issues of biodiversity conservation and restoration of degraded lands.
“ACReSAL plans to undertake Erosion control work in Rarin, Dawakin Tofa and Bulbula/Gayawa, Nassarawa, and Ungogo Local government areas.
“Construction of water conservation structure and provision of minor irrigation facilities in ‘Yartiti, Shanono, and construction of water conservation structure and provision of minor irrigation facilities in Fajewa, Takai Local government area.
“Establishment of 100ha individual farmer orchards and Woodlot plantations, 200ha of woodlot in communal forests and institutional plantings.
“440ha farmer-managed natural regeneration of indigenous tree species on individual farmlands and communal forests and promotion of climate-smart agriculture through FLID and CRF among others,” he said
KANO FOCUS reports that the World Bank’s 700 million dollar ACReSAL project is being implemented in collaboration with the federal government and the 19 northern states and the FCT was recently officially launched in Bauchi by Gov. Bala Mohammed, thus becoming the first among the participating states to unveil the project implementation.
The ACreSAL project is embarked on by the Federal Government to build community resilience as well as improve the sustainable productivity of its natural resources in Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Plateau, Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Kwara, and Kaduna.
These northern states including the FCT, the federal government said are faced by rapid desert encroachment ranging from severe to moderate and marginal.
Other incentives of the project are the strengthening of the environment for integrated climate-resilient landscape management, fighting issues surrounding desertification, drought, landscape degradation, and deprivation at community levels as well as resuscitating the sectors of agriculture, environment, and water resources.

Headlines
Kano NIPR conducts AGM, Public Lecture

The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations NIPR Kano Chapter has set to elect new leadership of the institution in Kano during its annual general meeting
KANO FOCUS reports that this was contained in a statement issued by Mahmud Ibrahim Kwari the instituted’s Kano branch chairman publicity sub-committee on Friday.
Mr Kwari said during the AGM a public lecture will be presented on the importance of Artificial intelligence (AI)
The event will be held today (Friday) the 29th of September, 2023 at the Tahir Guest Palace Kano.
,
The theme of the event is “Artificial Intelligence and Spin-Doctoring in Public Relations Practice in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges”
The lecture will be presented by Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu of the Faculty of Communications, Bayero University.

Also, the l public relations expert and the publisher of PRNigeria Malam Yushau Shuaibu will discuss the paper.
The Emir of Kano Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero who chaired the contact and mobilization sub-committee of the event will be the royal father at the occasion.
Similarly, Former Kano state Governor, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau will chair the Occasion while the president of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations Mr. Ike Neliaku, and the immediate past president of the Institute, Malam Mukhtar Zubair Siraj are expected to be in attendance.
