Smart Agriculture: NNPC foundation trains 15,000 farmers

Describes programme as a national journey toward resilience, food security and economic empowerment No fewer than 15,000 farmers have benefitted from the Smart Agriculture Initiative of the NNPC Foundation. The beneficiaries received intensive training under the NNPC Ltd/Gte Vulnerable Farmers Training designed to encourage agricultural productivity in Nigeria. Mrs Emanuella Arukwe, Managing Director, NNPC Foundation, said this during the closing of the training exercise on Saturday at Kaktungo in Kaltungo Local Government Area of Gombe State. She described the programme as a national journey toward resilience, food security and economic empowerment. Climate-Smart Agriculture Represented by Bala T. David, Executive Director, Programme Development, NNPC Foundation, Arukwe said the initiative exposed over 2,000 beneficiaries to climate-smart agriculture under the Gombe Cluster comprising Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba. Arukwe said the exercise targeted about 4,000 farmers in the North-East, and 15,000 across the country. “What began as a bold intervention to strengthen rural livelihoods has evolved into a nationwide movement that embodies hope, resilience and sustainability,” she said. READ ALSO: Nigeria Aims to Refine More Oil Locally – Lokpobiri According to Arukwe, the programme is designed not just for short-term relief but for long-term transformation, equipping farmers with practical knowledge in climate-smart agriculture, market access, post-harvest handling and agribusiness competitiveness. “We are proud of the lives transformed and the future we are cultivating. The real heroes are our farmers, their enthusiasm and discipline reaffirm our faith in Nigeria’s agricultural future,”  Arukwe said. While highlighting the inclusive nature of the training to ensufing over 35 per cent participation by women and youth, Arukwe said it also focused on improving farmer access to market, packaging and climate adaptation strategies. Arukwe said the programme has been yielding visible results through increased cooperative formations, improved farming practices, and better market access in participating communities. “Let us see today not as the end of a programme but the beginning of a new agricultural awakening across Nigeria,” she said. Please Read: PENCOM Inaugurate Leadership Council to Shore Up Coverage Gaps “In terms of health, safety and security, we are proud to report zero Lost-Time Injuries (LTI) across all phases and zero security incidents during implementation. “This was made possible through close collaboration with key stakeholders including traditional leaders, local authorities and security agencies. Ensuring safety and peace remained our highest priority at each training centre,” she said. Transformation in Gombe State Dr Barnabas Malle, Commissioner for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperatives, lauded the gesture, adding Gombe state witnessed major transformation under the leadership of Gov. Inuwa Yahaya. According to Malle, the ministry is collaborating development partners to train over 5,000 women and youths in modern agricultural practices for sustainable development in the sector. The Paramount Ruler of Kaltungo, Alhaji Saleh Mohammed, appreciated the foundation and encouraged beneficiaries to take farming seriously. The royal father was represented by Habila Garba, District Head of Ture, He commended the Federal Government for maintaining peace across the region and praised the Gombe State Government for its efforts in addressing farmer-herder conflicts and creating an enabling environment for agricultural growth. Some of the beneficiaries, Habila Bitrus and Serah Yakubu, commended the gesture. They said the beneficiaries had acquired valuable skills to practice climate-smart agriculture in response to impact of global warming.

Gombe Enforces Night Curfew Over Security Concerns

The Gombe State Police Command has announced a night curfew due to growing security concerns.  The restriction will be in effect from 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. daily, starting Friday, February 7, 2025.   The police stated that the measure aims to curb rising threats in the area.  Security forces are ready to enforce the curfew and protect lives and property.   Residents have been urged to comply, while parents are advised to ensure their children do not violate the order.  Authorities have warned that anyone caught defying the curfew will face strict consequences.

Police nab four in Gombe for vandalising electrical transformers

Four individuals have been arrested by the Gombe State Police command for allegedly damaging electrical transformers in the city of Gombe. The Spokesman of the command,  ASP Buhari Abdullahi said this while parading the suspects on Friday in Gombe. He said the suspects allegedly vandalised and removed armoured cables from power transformers in the area. “On Wednesday about 3 pm, information from one Abubakar Sulaiman of Hayin Kwari Misau quarters, Gombe Local Government Area that some groups of boys were sighted with armoured cable suspected to be have stolen around Hayin Kwari Misau quarters. READ ALSO: Good governance is required to end terrorism – CDS “On receipt of the information the Divisional Police Officer led patrol team to the scene where four suspects were arrested in connection to the case,” he said. He said the police recovered 20 meters of 300mm armoured cables, and 20 meters of 500 mm armoured cables. Abdullahi said preliminary investigation showed that the items were stolen from transformer 1 & 2 at Gandu quarters in the metropolis. He enjoined the residents to be vigilant and protect public assets in their domains, as well as report suspicious persons and movements to security agencies. The spokesman said that operatives of the command detained 21 other suspects for alleged criminal conspiracy; theft, possession of dangerous weapons, kidnapping, robbery, culpable homicide, among others. According to him, the suspects will be charge to court upon completion of investigations. He reiterated commitment of the command to tackle crimes, protect lives and property in the state.

SFTAS: Gombe State Attracts N26bn World Bank Grants In 4 Years – Commissioner

Gombe State received N26 billion as grants on its achievements under the performance-based grant component of the World Bank-assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme in four years. The Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Mr Muhammad Magaji, made this known in Gombe shortly after the inaugural State Executive Council meeting. Magaji said that the grants were attracted as a result of the Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme reforms implemented in the state. “The various reforms initiated by the Gov. Inuwa Yahaya made the state transparent enough to attract such grants. “The grant has helped the state government execute a good number of projects from infrastructure to improved healthcare amongst others which had impacted positively on the lives of the people of the state. “We were able to implement the SFTAS reforms and earned over N26 billion for Gombe State in grants. “The grant is between 2019 and 2023, that’s the first administration of Gov. Yahaya and it had helped in executing good projects for the benefits of the people,” he said. This, he said, means Gombe state is more transparent, accountable and whatever we are doing is out in the public for people to see and we are not hiding any skeleton. “We have initiated reforms and abided by them. Our account books are there for everyone to see according to the national chart of accounts. “We publish our annual accounts for the state government. Our budgets are in order and also published on time and regularly for everyone to see.” He also added that the state government had adopted the SFTAS requirements that ensured that the state cleared up its arrears while paying contractors on time. The commissioner said the reforms had essentially helped the state government to continue to move forward in the transparency index. “We were also able to reform a lot of areas in governance and we achieved a lot making Gombe the first in ease of doing business, ranking Gombe in the transparency index from 36 to number seven. Magaji said that the state government going forward would concentrate efforts at driving in more investments that would lead to establishment of industries and creation of jobs for youths in the state. The SFTAS programme is a hybrid with two components of activities that support Nigerian states to achieve the key result areas of the programme. These are a performance-based financing component for state governments, which will be implemented as a PforR; and a technical assistance (TA) component for states and selected national-level institutions, which will be implemented as an investment project financing (IPF). The programme also supports the full and sustained implementation of a strategic subset of reforms from the FSP and the open government partnership (OGP) commitments that are implemented at the state-level. The programme also provides performance-based financing on an annual basis to states which have been verified through the annual performance assessments (APA) as having: (1) complied with the annual eligibility criteria; and (2) achieved the annual disbursement linked results. 

Gov Inuwa rounds-off 1st phase palliative distribution to 420,000 vulnerable persons

*Acknowledges receipt of N2bn from FG Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON says Gombe State has received N2 billion out of the N5 billion relief funds that the Federal Government allocated to states for the purchase of food items for distribution to vulnerable members of the public to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal. He however stated that the government awaits the receipt of the balance as well as the 1 billion Naira worth of maize which the Central Bank of Nigeria is selling to each state from the national strategic reserve. The governor disclosed this while speaking at round-off of the first phase of statewide palliatives distribution exercise embarked upon by his administration.  He applauded the Federal Government for providing the relief funds to each state of the federation out of which 48% is a loan that will be paid back over a period of 20 months at N120,000,000.00 monthly starting from November this year.  Assuring that his administration will ensure effective and judicious use of the funds, the Governor revealed that “We will set up a special committee under the Deputy Governor, Dr Manassah Daniel Jatau to ensure effective distribution of the FG’s palliatives to the deserving people of Gombe State”. Governor Inuwa also assured of his administration’s continued commitment towards addressing the plights of the people. “This exercise will continue, we will not relent in our efforts until our people are taken out of this difficult situation”, he stressed. He said the palliative distribution exercise was the 8th in the series of interventions carried out by his administration, adding that he will not relent in attending to the plight of his people. “I am not happy distributing palliatives to the people, I will rather be happy if every household in Gombe State would be able to meet their basic needs”, he added. “Our intention is to make sure that the palliatives we have provided reach the most-deserving people at the grassroots. We have provided an effective and efficient framework to achieve this by taking the exercise to the polling unit level. In every polling unit, 10 beneficiaries have been selected from making up the 30 thousand beneficiaries for this phase”, he noted. “Our ultimate target is to help not fewer than four hundred and twenty thousand (420,000) people in in this phase”, he added. He decried the lingering food crisis in the country, describing the ugly trend as a complex problem that calls for comprehensive solutions from all stakeholders, cautioning that distribution of palliatives from the government will only provide a temporary relief. “Despite series of palliatives distribution from the government, the problem of rising cost of food commodities persists, because that is not the way to go. Palliatives will not provide permanent solution to the problem. It is therefore pertinent on all stakeholders to find a permanent solution to the problem. He enjoined the beneficiaries to use the items judiciously, cautioning them about selling the items as this will defeat the intent of the exercise. “Use the fertilisers and insecticides on your farms to cultivate what can sustain your families and avoid selling them out. Look for potential places suitable for dry season farming and venture into irrigation agriculture. This is the way to go as we cannot continue to rely on handouts from the government”, he said. He used the occasion to call on famers in the state to avoid selling their farm produce during harvest period as the practice afflicts more hardships to the farmers and their families in the near future. Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Secretary to the Gombe State Government, Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi thanked Governor Inuwa for his magnanimity in attending to the plight of his people at this difficult time. “It is out of his sympathy and magnanimity that Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya moved to rescue his people from the grab of economic difficulties”, he said, calling on people to continue supporting the polices and programmes of the government. In his address, the Executive Secretary, Gombe State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, who is also the chairman state distribution committee, Abdullahi Haruna Abdullahi said the committee has succeeded in inaugurating the LG level teams and flagging off of the distribution exercise in all the 11 Local Governments Areas of the state. Mr Haruna promised to uphold the trust and confidence reposed in them by ensuring judicious distribution of the item across the state, explaining that the exercise will commence in earnest in every LGA that finished setting up its ward level committees. The chairman said, the Items distributed include bags of Fertilizer, insecticides, rice and spaghetti and will draw 10 beneficiaries from each polling unit in the state.

Gov Inuwa inaugurates Jennifer Etuh Medical Centre in Gombe

Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya, on Monday inaugurated the Jennifer Etuh Medical Centre in Tula. The hospital was constructed in Tula village in Kaltungo Local Government Area of the State by a charity organisation known as ‘Jennifer Etuh Foundation. The Chairman of the foundation, Mr. Thomas Etuh, said the facility was constructed by the foundation to give the people of the village access to healthcare services. He noted that the foundation was established in 2020 in memory of his late wife, Jennifer Etuh, adding that her vision is to provide available, accessible, and affordable world-class healthcare services to women and children. According to him, this informed their decision to build and donate the medical centre to the village that is a hard-to-reach area. Etih said the foundation had constructed similar medical centres in Odu, Kogi, for the North Central; in Kagoro, Kaduna State, for the Northwest, and another at Ifewara, Osun State, for the Southwest, respectively. He stated that the foundation had equally built skills acquisition centres across the six geopolitical zones of the country and offered free medical outreaches. “We are deeply indebted to God for his countless mercies and favours in our lives. My darling wife will have been celebrating her 49th birthday today. But God knows best. Nevertheless, we are here to commemorate her legacy. “Before her passing, she gave very explicit and precise instructions of this vision, which over the past two years have continuously become a reality,” the chairman said. In his goodwill message, Alhaji Abubakar Atare, the Paramount ruler of Tula, said the ultra-modern health centre has been longed for by the community. Atare said the facility would serve the community and its environs. ”This health facility is the only one of its kind in the North East sub-region and the people of Tula will remain indebted to your show of love,” he said. He said the facility would go a long way in improving the health of the people of the community and beyond. Yahaya commended the foundation for the gesture, adding that it will complement the efforts of the state government in delivering healthcare services. The governor called on wealthy individuals and organisations to emulate the foundation to make life better for the teeming population. The foundation has organised five days of medical outreach as well as empowered over 1,000 widows with wrappers, toiletries, and N1,000 cash gifts each.