Television Nigerian

Uwheru Kingdom in Delta State has banned the sale and consumption of cow meat in the kingdom following incessant herdsmen attacks on farmers and other residents of the kingdom.

Uwheru is one of the 24 traditional kingdoms in Urhoboland in Delta State.

The decision to impose the ban arose from a meeting held on Saturday and attended by prominent sons and daughters of Uwheru Kingdom, including Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, the Delta State Commissioner for Higher Education.

The decision which takes immediate effect followed last week’s repeated attacks on the communities by Fulani killer herdsmen in which no fewer than 10 persons died.

Sources close to the meeting revealed that no fewer than 86 farmers in Uwheru communities have been killed in herdsmen related attacks in the last 12 years.

A source said, “By this ban, nobody can bring cow meat to any of the communities that made up Uwheru Kingdom for any function, be it burial or any other celebration. You can’t kill our people and expect us to be eating cow meat when our people can’t go to the farm. The ban takes effect immediately.”

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, on Saturday advised people who beg for alms or other forms of assistance from individuals and relatives to rather direct their begging to the government.

Sanusi gave the advice at the National Conference on Alarammomi (Qur’anic Teachers) organised by Centre for Qur’anic Reciters in Nigeria with the theme: “Sanitising Almajirchi In Tune With Today’s Realities”.

He urged parents to stop sending their children to Almajiri schools, maintaining that children could study the Qur’an, at there schools and with the teachers in their respective communities.

The emir said that if sending children to such schools become necessary, then parents must send them with all the necessary provisions to ensure their wellbeing and welfare.

According to him, it is wrong for parents to send their children away without proper arrangements and necessary provisions, as the children will end up begging for food and alms.

Mr Sanusi, who quoted verses from the Holy Qur’an and Hadith, said whoever begs, would resurrect on the day of judgment without flesh on his face.

He, therefore, urged husbands to see it as God-given duty to feed their wives and children adequately in order for them not to resort to begging for alms and assistance from individuals or relatives.

“Begging is disallowed in Islam and if you must beg for alms beg the government, not individuals or relatives.

“It is better for you to cut firewood and sell to earn a living than to beg.

“Those who beg or seek assistance from individuals will be resurrected on the day of judgement without meat/flesh on their faces.

“And if you must beg, then beg the government, not individuals or relatives. This is because they should be responsible for the welfare and wellbeing of citizens.

“Individuals, relatives or neighbours can assist you as gestures of kindness and generosity, but that’s not necessary.

“So, those who are saying that begging is not prohibited in Islam are just misleading you,” Sanusi said.

The emir, therefore, urged government at all levels on social protection programmes in order to check such menaces in society.

“Programmes like cash transfer and many more can assist in tackling these problems. So, we urge the government to sustain the cash transfer programme and come up with many more,” the emir said.

Reno Omokri, famous for dropping words on issues he called nuggets, has spoken about unmarried women and the cause for their marital delay.

The former aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan said that the sole reason why many women stay unmarried is that they cannot find a rich man. He added that the women want rich men so that the wealthy men can pay for the expensive wedding that they and their family cannot afford.

Many women are unmarried, not because they can’t find the right man, but because they can’t find a man rich enough to pay for the wedding that they and their family are too poor to afford, yet want to have, because their neighbour had a big wedding#FreeLeahSharibu #RenosNuggets

— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) February 22, 2020

Omokri said that the problem stems from the fact that these women want to have the kind of big wedding that their neighbours had.

The federal government has begun the process of overhauling the N-Power scheme, school feeding programme and other National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs).

This development was communicated by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. It noted that the overhaul is to ensure maximum transparency, greater efficiency and more prudent application of resources.

According to a statement by Rhoda Ishaku Iliya, the ministry’s Assistant Director (Information), the process of overhauling the programmes will involve observing and enforcing due diligence in the NSIP processes to ensure full compliance with extant regulations and best practices in public sector financial transactions.

“To that effect, all present processes, especially beneficiary enrolment and payments including for consultancies, are being scrutinised and stakeholders are being consulted for inputs that will lead to the total overhaul of the programmes in order to achieve the purposes for which they were established,” she stated in the copy sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday.

She also announced that the ministry will place all transactions under the microscope to ensure that the massive resources which the present administration is channelling to place in the hands of the most vulnerable groups in the country reach them instead of ending in the pockets of middlemen or double-dealers, who while receiving payments from the specific programmes also take up other paid jobs.

“It is hereby emphasised that the Ministry is determined to give maximum effect to the laudable decision of the government to institutionalize the NSIPs, the implementation of which is costing the government billions of Naira annually.”

“The Ministry acknowledges that this effort to overhaul the programmes may temporarily slow down the tempo of implementation and will certainly not go down well with vested interests sure to be frustrated with the new direction, and who may, therefore, resort to the use of traditional and new media as well as misdirected public advocacy to distract government and derail the process.”

“The Ministry is, therefore, appealing for maximum understanding and cooperation of all stakeholders and appeals to any misinformed members of the public to desist from actions that may distract the Ministry from discharging this important national mandate or even delay the implementation of these life-changing programmes.”

“The Ministry and its agencies will continue to render services to Nigerians in humanitarian situations effectively, deliver relief to those affected by disasters, evolve and implement policies that drive social development and facilitate economic inclusion for the benefit of the most vulnerable in the country especially through the N-Power, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Conditional Cash Transfer, as well as the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme and other programmes, rolled out by the present administration.”

Of all the NSIPs, N-Power is perhaps the most abused by beneficiaries through incessant absenteeism from duty posts.

The N-Power was introduced in 2016 with the aim of reducing unemployment among Nigerian graduates and non-graduates between the ages of 18 and 35.

The volunteers are paid N30,000 monthly as stipends and given tablet computers to aid further learning.

One of the many hurdles characterising the N-Power programme has remained the issue of beneficiaries absconding from duty at their various PPAs.

According to a special report published by PREMIUM TIMES in July, some N-Power beneficiaries absconded from duty and abused their opportunities in three selected states: Kano, Katsina, and Adamawa.

The agency then sacked 2,525 beneficiaries for absconding from their PPAs.

The agency also announced that about 18,674 other beneficiaries of the initiative “have voluntarily resigned, having secured permanent employment.”

The police in Anambra State have arrested a man for allegedly raping six underaged boys in the state.

The man was arrested in Awka, the state capital, and has confessed to sleeping with the boys who are between the ages of 10 and 14 years.

According to the police spokesman, Haruna Mohammed, the man, who hails from Cross River State, blamed his actions on demons.

Mr. Haruna said: “On February 21 at about 3:27pm, following a tip-off, police detectives attached to B’ Division Awka arrested one Emmanuel Bassey ‘m’ aged 38years of Abi LGA of Cross Rivers State but resides at Ngozika Housing Estates, Awka.

“Suspect allegedly had unlawful carnal knowledge against the order of nature with over six small boys of between 10 and 14 years on different occasions.”

Mr Haruna said the “suspect has equally made a voluntary confessional statement to the police and blamed his act on demons.”

Mr Haruna noted that the scene of the crime was visited by police detectives and the six victims have been taken to the hospital for medical examination.

“Consequently, the Commissioner of Police, John Abang, has ordered for immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for discreet investigation after which suspect would be charged to court for prosecution”, he added.