Headlines
Kano Govt inaugurates committee to screen 10,800 workers employed by Ganduje

Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Kano state government has inaugurated a 22-member committee to verify and screen about 10, 800 workers employed towards the tail end of former governor Dr.Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s administration
KANO FOCUS reports that the Secretary State Government (SSG), Dr. Abdullahi Baffa Bichi revealed this on Wednesday during the inauguration of the committee.
He said the Committee was primarily constituted to ascertain whether the employment of the identified 10, 800 Workers followed due process.

The committee was also given power to determine those that were genuine or not competent as well advising the state government on who among them should be retained
The SSG, however stated that if the committee through their investigation, discovered that all of them were genuinely qualified, government is binding to accept them, even if it was also discovered that there is need to employed more , government will also do the needful
Equally, if the committee arrived at the conclusion that all of them, were not qualified to be employed, the state government would not hesitate to terminate the employment
He said that “it will be recalled that the present Administration had, after its inauguration, inherited a number of challenges from the immediate past administration that currently have spillover effects on the state’s polity, which necessitated initiating measures aimed at addressing them.
He told the committee that ” Such challenges include unwarranted deductions of salaries and pensions of civil servants and pensioners respectively, non-evacuation of refuse that littered nooks and crannies of the State, abandoned healthcare and emergency services, non-supply of diesel to support the street lights in the metropolis and so on.
Dr.Bichi further added that ” Other issue, which informed our gathering here, was the last-minute employment of over 10,000 Civil Servants without following the laid down rules and regulations governing employment into the civil service.
The SSG said that the ” Government viewed this as an anomaly and, therefore, resolved to set up a committee to study and review the entire process, with a view to determining whether or not the employment process was informed by the expressed manpower need and requirement of the affected MDAS or are just based on certain primordial considerations suggesting nepotism as alleged;
“Other mandates assigned to the committee include compiling the list of the already employed staff as well as establish the financial implications on State finances and ascertaining whether budgetary provisions were adhered to.”
He charged them to ” Identity those already enlisted into the state payroll, sequel to their recruitment cum those that are yet to receive appointment letters following the stoppage of the exercise by the present Government;
“Government expects you to use your wealth of experience to assiduously execute this assignment and submit report within two weeks from this date of inauguration.”
The SSG then stated that the committee headed by the Chairman of the state Civil Service Commission, Alhaji Umar Shehu Minjibir, was given three weeks to complete their assignment.
While responding,the Chairman of the Committee Alhaji Umar Shehu Minjibir said, “certainly, on behalf of the members of the Committee, I will like to assure you (SSG) and through you, the state Governor, His Excellency, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, we have accepted to serve in this Committee, and we will do our best.
“I want to assure you also that we are going to do justice to those civil servants that were employed doing the last lap of the immediate-past administration, and that we will do our assignment without fear or favor.
”I assure the SSG and the governor that we will do this assignment within the stipulated time. We are not going to disappoint you. Like I said, we will look at both sides, the government side, and the side of those civil servants who were employed by the immediate-past administration.”

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.
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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.
