Headlines
ACF rewards Youth Innovators with cash prizes at Conference In Kano
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Kano state chapter has rewarded Youth innovators across the North who emerged as winners at a conference and exhibition held in Kano with cash prizes for their sterling ideas and inventions.
KANO FOCUS reports that the one-day conference was organized by the ACF Kano chapter in collaboration with Dangote Business School and Media Trust.
Announcing the winners at the end of the event the Chairman of the Kano State chapter of ACF, Dr Goni Umar, said the victors emerged after careful scrutiny of the innovation, creativity and novelty of products.
According to him, the aim of the conference was to ginger youths toward entrepreneurship development and draw support from leaders and investors to invest in their innovative ideas.
“The essence of this conference and exhibition is to ginger our youths in the North so that they can be more productive. Experts are going to discuss how our youths can be more productive.
“Secondly, the exhibitors normally when they exhibit their talents that is the end of it and nobody tries to assist them in developing the ideas in a factory for instance. So this conference aims to show our leaders how they can support the youths,” he said.
He urged the youths to be deliberate in learning and delay gratification while building business entities.
The state chairman told the youths to focus on learning and not spend their money on luxury while trying to build a business, stressing that they should learn to delay gratification and keep on learning new innovations to build on.
The chairman also stated that ACF is determined to contribute to addressing issues of poverty, economic deprivation and social exclusion that usually bred the insecurity bedevilling the North.
He said the programmes will empower the youths to be more productive in their lives, adding that youths must be employed or actively engaged in productive means, stressing that unemployment encouraged problems like the banditry currently afflicting the North.
The chairman also highlighted the need to have community police, as each community needs to defend itself and the government should approve of it.
During the event, experts from various walks of life observed that the North must address issues of unemployment and abject poverty through youth empowerment, innovation and improving their productive capacity.
In his remarks, the chairman of the occasion, Dr Ibrahim Ida, Wazirin Katsina, commended the organisers of the conference, noting that the North can explore the approach to address abject poverty and create job opportunities as well as other societal vices.
Dr Ida decried that a large chunk of the poverty in Nigeria is said to be domiciled in the Northern region.
He lamented that “foreign direct investment in Northern Nigeria between 2019 and 2021 amounted to less than 100 million dollars while in the South the amount is put at 32 billion dollars.”
In his contribution at the conference, Wazirin Dutse, Alh. Bashir Dalhatu, challenged the ACF to raise the bar by walking the talk with practical actions, stressing that it should not be business as usual.
He decried that poverty is more prevalent in the North and people must get up to the challenge by doing what is expected of them individually and collectively for the solution.
“So many exhibitions have been held in the North but nothing came out of them. We should ensure that this one should be different,” he urged.
He appealed to the government and individuals to invest in the products and ideas that the youths exhibited, calling on the northern political leaders, especially governors, to learn from their southern counterparts.
In their separate remarks, the emirs of Kano and Bichi, Alh, Aminu Ado Bayero and Alh. Nasiru Ado Bayero submitted that for the North to reclaim its glory and overcome multiple challenges, youths must be supported to realize their potential.
The conference was subtheme into two sessions where Alh. Tajuddeen Dantata chaired the first session on “The North in a Dynamic World: Creating New Generation of Productive and Innovative Youths”, while Alh. Adamu Aliyu Kiyawa chaired the second session on “Building Elite Consensus on Income Diversification, Financial Inclusion and Wealth Creation in the North’.
At the end of the conference, it was announced that the chairman of Union Bank Board of Directors, Faruk Gumel, donated N1 million to the winner; N500,000 to the runner-up, and the third position N250,000 while other participants were given N50,000 each.
It was also announced that retired Gen. Halliru Akilu donated the sum of N200,000 to the fourth position while the 5th, 6th and 7th positions were given N150,000; N100,000 and N50,000 respectively.
Some of the innovative products exhibited during the conference included drone, aeroplane, incubator, and locally fabricated DNA testing machine among others.
Headlines
Abdulaziz unveils project inspection initiative, trains APC social media inflluencers at Arewa media summit
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Media and Public Enlightenment, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, has unveiled a regional project inspection initiative aimed at showcasing key development projects in Northern Nigeria, while urging journalists and social media influencers to uphold ethical communication and combat misinformation.
Speaking on Monday at the maiden Arewa Media Summit in Kano, organised by his office, Abdulaziz said the gathering was conceived to strengthen dialogue between government, citizens and the media through accountability, responsibility and ethical communication.
He said effective governance depends on transparency, responsible civic engagement and a professional media that serves as a bridge between leaders and the people through factual and balanced reporting.
The presidential aide also cautioned social media influencers, who command large online audiences, to verify information before publication and avoid content capable of creating division, particularly as the country approaches the 2027 general elections.
According to him, more than 100 All Progressives Congress (APC) social media communicators were trained ahead of the summit to enhance their capacity to communicate government policies, programmes and achievements effectively.
Abdulaziz also unveiled the Gani Ya Kori initiative, a regional project inspection tour designed to spotlight landmark projects executed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Northern state governors that have received limited public attention.
“The initiative will help ensure that citizens are adequately informed about development projects and government interventions across the region,” he said.
The summit also featured a keynote address by the Minister of Information and National Reorientation, Mohammed Idris, who urged journalists and social media influencers to deny bandits and terrorists the publicity they seek.
“The media has an indispensable role in denying violent extremists the publicity they seek while promoting unity, resilience and hope,” the minister said.
He stressed that democracy flourishes when government remains transparent, citizens participate responsibly and the media performs its constitutional role with professionalism, fairness and integrity.
Idris observed that while the digital revolution has transformed communication by making every smartphone a broadcasting platform, it has also accelerated the spread of fake news and disinformation capable of undermining national unity and public confidence.
Declaring the summit open, Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf called on other states to emulate Kano’s Special Reporters Initiative, through which more than 150 young people have been deployed to ministries, departments, agencies and the state’s 44 local government areas to strengthen government communication and public enlightenment.
KANO FOCUS reports that the summit attracted journalists, broadcasters, filmmakers, digital content creators, academics, policymakers and communication professionals from across Northern Nigeria to deliberate on the theme, “Government, Citizens: Accountability, Responsibility and Ethical Media Practice.”
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Kano State Government says it has executed 1,508 development projects worth more than N928 billion across the state’s 44 local government areas since Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf assumed office, with about 80 per cent of constituency projects awarded between 2023 and 2025 already completed.
KANO FOCUS reports that the Commissioner for Public Procurement, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation, Comrade Nura Iro Ma’aji Sumaila, disclosed this during an international press briefing on the administration’s infrastructure development programme.
According to Comrade Sumaila, the projects cover critical sectors including roads, urban renewal, education, healthcare, security and other social infrastructure.
He said 799 of the projects have been completed, while 709 are at various stages of execution. He added that the state is also implementing 619 constituency projects through members of the Kano State House of Assembly.
The commissioner noted that about 80 per cent of the constituency projects have been completed. However, he said some projects remain unfinished because of rising construction costs caused by inflation.
He said the government has submitted a request to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf for an upward review of contract sums to enable contractors complete the affected projects.
Breakdown of projects
Comrade Sumaila said the administration spent over N169 billion on urban renewal projects, including road rehabilitation, drainage construction and other metropolitan infrastructure.
He said another N118 billion was committed to constructing five-kilometre roads in 38 local government areas to improve connectivity across the state.
According to him, the government also awarded contracts worth over N6.8 billion for the construction of Kano State Neighbourhood Watch security divisions in 36 local government areas.
He added that rural infrastructure projects covering education, healthcare and other social interventions across the 44 local government areas account for contracts valued at more than N397 billion, while other ongoing projects have a combined value of about N255 billion.
Commitment to transparency
The commissioner said the Ministry of Public Procurement, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation would continue to ensure compliance with due process and technical standards in the execution of government projects.
He said the ministry’s mandate includes monitoring projects to ensure value for money and prudent utilisation of public resources.
According to him, the administration’s investments in infrastructure are intended to improve mobility, strengthen security, expand access to education and healthcare, improve water supply and stimulate economic growth across the state.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Kano State has emerged as the highest-ranked sub-national government in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for education spending, according to the latest Sub-National Education Spending Index developed by the University of Paris.
KANO FOCUS reports that the ranking places Kano State first among 209 first-level sub-national governments across 15 ECOWAS member countries, underscoring the state’s growing reputation for prioritising investment in education.
According to the published index, Kano topped the rankings with an overall S-WAESI score of 87.21, outperforming other leading regions, including Dakar and Saint-Louis in Senegal. Lagos State was the second Nigerian state on the list, ranking 16th overall.
The assessment evaluated states and regions using the S-WAESI (Sub-National Weighted Aggregate Education Spending Index) methodology, which measures government commitment to education through indicators such as actual education expenditure, spending per student, budget execution, education priority, transparency and evidence-based reporting.
The methodology assigns 35 points to actual education spending, 25 points to spending per student, 20 points to budget execution, 10 points to education priority and 10 points to transparency.
The report indicated that Kano excelled largely due to its strong actual education spending and budget execution, making it the best-performing sub-national government in the region.
The ranking covered states, regions, districts and municipalities across Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde.
Kano State Accountability Forum on Education (K-SAFE) said the recognition reflects Kano State Government’s sustained investment in expanding access to education, improving school infrastructure and strengthening educational planning and budget implementation.
KANO FOCUS reports that the achievement is expected to further boost the state’s profile as a leader in education reform within West Africa and provide additional momentum for ongoing efforts to improve learning outcomes across the state.
The latest ranking comes amid renewed attention on education financing across ECOWAS, with experts increasingly emphasising transparent budgeting, efficient resource utilisation and sustained public investment as critical drivers of quality education.
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