Category: Daily Trust

The Sokoto State Government and Sightsavers Nigeria have intensified efforts to curb child mortality and improve immunisation coverage following the recent meningitis outbreak that claimed the lives of 33 children in the state.

The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Faruk Abubakar-Wurno, disclosed the figure during separate engagements with traditional rulers and local government chairmen ahead of the May 12 statewide vaccination and azithromycin administration campaign.

The intervention, being implemented under the Safety and Antimicrobial Resistance of Mass Administration of Azithromycin on Children in Nigeria (SARMAAN) project, targets about 1.2 million children aged between zero and 59 months across the 23 local government areas of the state.

Speaking during a media orientation in Sokoto at the weekend, the Director of Advocacy at the Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SSPHCDA), Mr Kamaru Gada, appealed to media practitioners to support sustained sensitisation on immunisation, tetanus prevention and administration of azithromycin to eligible children.

He said the state recorded over 90 per cent coverage during the last round of the exercise, expressing optimism that wider community mobilisation and media support would help sustain the gains and reduce childhood deaths linked to preventable diseases.

Sightsavers Programme Officer, Mr Olayinka Lawal, said the SARMAAN project aligned with global efforts to improve child survival outcomes in low and middle-income countries through bi-annual administration of azithromycin.

He added that the programme particularly supports communities affected by neglected tropical diseases such as schistosomiasis, among others.

At a separate engagement with 87 district heads and local government chairmen, Sightsavers State Team Lead, Mr Muhammad Ridwan, said traditional institutions and council authorities remained critical to achieving community acceptance and effective coordination of the programme.

He noted that previous rounds of the intervention recorded significant success with minimal resistance, urging district heads and council chairmen to cascade awareness campaigns to ward and village levels to strengthen participation.

Also speaking, the Sultan of Sokoto, represented by the District Head of Wurno, Alhaji Kabiru Cigari, assured continued support for immunisation campaigns and other public health interventions, stressing that the fight against meningitis, tetanus and other childhood diseases required collective action from government, traditional institutions, health workers and the media.

The outgoing Chief Medical Director of Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, Professor Anas Sabir, has raised concerns over the impact of insecurity on healthcare delivery, revealing that some staff of the institution have relocated to areas they consider safer.

Speaking during an interview with Daily Trust, the CMD said insecurity, alongside the growing trend of brain drain, has contributed to manpower challenges in the hospital.

He said, ‘There is ongoing brain drain, especially with people going to Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. In addition to that, some prefer to move to other parts of the country, which they consider safer.’

He explained that the situation has led to a depletion of skilled personnel, further compounded by the recruitment of health workers by non-governmental organisations.

Despite the challenge, Sabir noted that the hospital has managed to sustain its workforce through its internal training programmes.

‘By the grace of God, we have training schools here. As others are leaving, if we get the necessary waivers, we are able to replace them. That has helped to stabilise the system, and the impact has not been felt as much,’ he said.

He added that the institution’s residency training programmes have also played a critical role in producing specialists to fill existing gaps.

The CMD, however, said insecurity is only one of several challenges facing the hospital, pointing to poor electricity supply as a major constraint affecting operations.

‘A hospital needs electricity 24 hours a day, and not just any electricity but stable, high-quality power because our equipment is very sensitive,’ he said, noting that erratic supply and high tariffs have increased operational costs.

Sabir also highlighted the problem of overcrowding, explaining that the tertiary hospital is often overwhelmed with patients, including cases meant for primary and secondary healthcare facilities.

‘As we are talking now, every case comes here – whether primary, secondary or tertiary. That is why sometimes you see patients on the floor because we cannot turn them back,’ he said.

Despite these challenges, he said the hospital recorded significant progress during his tenure, particularly in infrastructure and service delivery.

He listed key achievements to include the upgrade of critical units such as the Accident and Emergency department, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and construction of new facilities, including wards, a molecular laboratory, and a brachytherapy centre.

The hospital also acquired modern equipment such as a radiotherapy machine, CT scan units, and advanced surgical tools, enabling it to handle complex procedures like open-heart surgery, neurosurgery, and renal transplants.

Sabir further noted that improved computerisation has enhanced accountability and efficiency in service delivery.

There is a dangerous trend gradually becoming normalised in Nigeria, and many people no longer notice it is because they have become too familiar with it. Survival has quietly become the defining experience of the average Nigerian. For millions of people, life is no longer about growth, innovation, fulfillment, or even ambition in the true sense of the word. It is now primarily about making it through the day, the week, or the month without collapsing under economic, emotional, or social pressure.

This culture of survival is not merely an economic issue. It is beginning to affect the quality of our institutions, our productivity, our relationships, our professionalism, and ultimately our national potential. A society that constantly forces its citizens into survival mode eventually weakens their capacity for excellence because people gradually lose the stability and mental space required for creativity, discipline, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Across the country, survival has become so deeply embedded into everyday life that people now admire endurance more than efficiency. The Nigerian who sleeps four hours daily while juggling three jobs is celebrated as hardworking. The doctor doing endless locum shifts across hospitals to supplement an inadequate salary is considered resilient. The civil servant running multiple side businesses just to afford basic necessities is seen as responsible. Students now combine academic life with intense financial struggles that leave little room for intellectual development.

In many ways, the ‘hustle’ has become our national identity. While resilience is admirable, there is a point where a society must ask itself whether constant struggle should really be the standard measure of success. Human beings are not designed to function indefinitely under chronic instability because survival mode changes how people think, behave, and make decisions. It narrows focus to immediate needs and reduces the mental energy required for long-term planning, creativity, and excellence.

Excellence requires stability because excellence depends heavily on consistency, concentration, emotional balance, and the freedom to think beyond immediate survival. A young doctor who is mentally exhausted from overwork may still show up physically at the hospital, but exhaustion eventually affects concentration, empathy, and performance. A teacher struggling with unpaid salaries and rising living costs may still enter the classroom daily, but passion gradually gives way to frustration. A public servant constantly anxious about transportation, food prices, school fees, and electricity bills may still remain at work, but institutional commitment becomes difficult when personal survival is permanently under threat.

This is how nations slowly begin to lose quality without immediately realising it. One of the greatest dangers of prolonged survival culture is that it slowly lowers standards across society because people begin to normalise poor outcomes when everybody is struggling. Mediocrity becomes easier to excuse. Ethical compromises become easier to justify. When survival becomes intense enough, many people stop asking whether something is right or excellent and begin asking only whether it is profitable or sustainable for them personally.

This is one reason corruption becomes difficult to fight in economically distressed societies. While corruption can never be morally justified, it is also true that systems that place citizens under constant pressure weaken ethical resistance over time. The civil servant whose salary no longer meets basic needs becomes more vulnerable to compromise. Even ordinary citizens gradually lose trust in merit because they begin to believe that survival depends more on connections than competence.

Over time, this creates a dangerous cycle where weak systems produce exhausted citizens, and exhausted citizens struggle to build strong systems. Institutions themselves begin to deteriorate because the people operating within them are mentally drained, financially unstable, and emotionally fatigued. The healthcare sector offers one of the clearest examples of this crisis because Nigeria continues to produce brilliant healthcare professionals who are respected globally, yet many of these same professionals work under conditions that constantly drain their energy and motivation.

Poor remuneration, overstretched facilities, inadequate equipment, and overwhelming workloads make excellence difficult to sustain consistently. This is not because Nigerians lack talent. It is because survival consumes talent before talent fully matures. The same pattern is visible in education, research, governance, entrepreneurship, and public service because many talented Nigerians spend their most productive years navigating avoidable hardships that should not exist in a functioning society.

Instead of dedicating energy toward innovation and growth, people spend enormous mental and emotional effort solving basic survival problems. Entrepreneurs spend more time solving electricity and transportation challenges than building businesses. Researchers struggle to access funding and stable infrastructure. Young professionals spend years trying to achieve basic financial stability before they can even think about mastery, specialisation, or long-term impact.

Even the country’s growing ‘japa’ phenomenon reflects more than migration alone because it also reflects emotional exhaustion and declining faith in national systems. Many young Nigerians no longer believe that excellence is rewarded or protected within the country. Others are not necessarily leaving because they hate Nigeria, but because they are tired of constantly fighting battles that should not exist in the first place.

A country loses more than manpower when this happens because it also loses belief, optimism, and emotional investment from some of its brightest citizens. Perhaps one of the most worrying aspects of all this is how Nigerians have gradually romanticised resilience.

But resilience should never become an excuse for dysfunction because there is a difference between resilience and forced adaptation to failure. A society should not pride itself on how much suffering its people can tolerate. At some point, endurance without improvement stops being inspirational and starts becoming dangerous normalization. No nation can sustainably build excellence on top of exhaustion because exhausted societies eventually lose the energy required for innovation, accountability, and meaningful progress.

The countries that consistently produce innovation, strong institutions, and high-performing systems are not necessarily populated by more intelligent people. In many cases, they simply provide citizens with enough stability to think beyond survival. Predictable systems allow people to plan long term. Functional infrastructure frees mental energy for productivity. Institutional trust encourages professionalism and merit. Economic stability allows individuals to focus on growth rather than constant crisis management.

Nigeria is filled with extraordinarily gifted people, and this has never really been the country’s problem. From technology to medicine, business, academia, arts, and public service, Nigerians continue to demonstrate exceptional potential both locally and internationally. The tragedy is not the absence of talent. The tragedy is how much talent is being exhausted, delayed, distracted, or exported because the environment does not adequately support excellence.

This is why governance must move beyond symbolic gestures and political performances because citizens do not merely need motivational speeches about resilience. They need systems that reduce the burden of survival. Functional healthcare systems, quality education, stable economic policies, reliable infrastructure, and institutional accountability are not luxuries. They are the foundation upon which excellence is built.

Nigeria must begin to intentionally create an environment where people can breathe again and where survival no longer consumes the best years of people’s lives. Young people should be able to dream beyond escape plans. Professionals should be able to focus on mastery instead of mere survival. Institutions should reward competence instead of endurance because great societies are not built simply by people who survive hardship. They are built by people who are given the opportunity to think, create, innovate, and excel.

The Federal Government government says it is seeking private sector partnership to drive growth and development of the housing sector.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Rabe Darma, stated this ahead of the second edition of the Renewed Hope Housing PPP Summit scheduled for May 12, 2026, in Abuja.

Darma spoke while receiving the Chief Executive Officer of Shelter Advisory Services, Dr. Olayemi Rotimi Shodinmu, who visited the ministry to brief him on preparations for the summit.

According to the minister, the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is partnering with Shelter Advisory Services to drive conversations and investments capable of transforming Nigeria’s housing sector through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).

‘Our ministry is proud to partner Shelter Advisory Services for the second edition of the Renewed Hope Housing PPP Summit holding at the Yar’Adua Centre on May 12,’ he said.

Darma described housing as a critical driver of economic development, stressing that beyond providing shelter, the sector has the capacity to stimulate employment, attract investment and boost national productivity.

He explained that under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the government is prioritising stronger PPP frameworks to unlock investments, scale housing delivery and expand access to affordable homes across the country.

Speaking earlier, Shodinmu said the summit was designed to move discussions on housing beyond policy conversations to practical implementation and measurable results.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has said it is proud of the 12 Chibok girls, who are among the 236 graduating students of the Class of 2026 at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, Adamawa state.

The government assured them apart from sponsoring them through the university, more was yet to come their way as part of government support to enable them achieve their great potentials.

Vice President Kashim Shettima gave this assurance on Saturday during the 17th Commencement event of AUN in Yola, where the 12 graduands, from the 106 Chibok girls being sponsored by the federal government, received their Degree certificates.

In 2014, more than 200 teenage were abducted from their school in Chibok town, Borno state. More than a hundred have been rescued since then leave others still in captivity, more than 12 years later.

‘Your country sees you. Your country is proud of you. Your country has not finished its obligations towards you,’ Shettima who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Abdullahi Ribadu, said.

He commended the leadership of the university for opening the academic community to the Chibok girls, surrounding them with academic rigor and human care, and holding them to the highest standards.

He said,’ This is more than an educational effort; it is a declaration that no young woman’s life should be permanently defined by the violence or hardship of her past.’

To the graduating class, he said, graduating at this point in Nigeria’s history is both a privilege and a responsibility. ‘Your families made sacrifices to support your education. Your country has invested resources, time, and hope in your future. That investment must be repaid through service, innovation, leadership, and commitment to national progress,’ he said.

‘Nigeria needs graduates who are willing to engage with the country’s challenges honestly and courageously, in technology, agriculture, research, policy, and development. Your country needs you.’

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of AUN, DeWayne Frazier, described the graduating students as ‘difference makers, time changers, market disruptors,’ and ‘people with a mission and a motive to improve the country by their leadership.’

He said, for the 12 Chibok girls who walked across the commencement stage, ‘this graduation is far more than the completion of a degree. It is a sacred moment of triumph over fear, resilience over trauma, and hope over everything that once tried to silence their future.’

He added that ‘when they cross that stage, they will carry with them not only their own dreams, but the prayers of families, communities, Nigeria, and people around the world who believed that their story must not end in captivity, pain, or loss.’

‘Their graduation is a living testimony that education is still one of the most powerful forces on earth which says to every young girl that her life has value, her mind has power, and her future can still be reclaimed,’ Frazier said.

The VC, who expressed deep emotions, said the graduation of the girls is not simply a university ceremony; it is a moment of humanity, healing, courage, and grace.

‘To see them stand tall, receive their degrees, and step into the world as graduates of the American University of Nigeria will remind all of us why we do this work. Their courage will bless that stage, and their achievement will forever be part of AUN’s story. For many years, our cry was ‘Bring Back Our Girls,’ but today, we sent our ‘girls’ forward.’

In her remarks, the Commencement Speaker, Stephanie Busari, also urged the girls to carry their certificates as a form of power that belongs entirely to them and not a burden.

She said: ‘To the 12 other girls, you were taken from your hostel in the middle of the night by men who believed that your education was a threat worth eliminating. They understood that education has power. What they failed to understand is that once that power takes root, in the present, it cannot be removed by force.’

Busari, an award-winning journalist and founder of SBB Media, was the journalist whose exclusive 2015 proof of life interview with the Chibok schoolgirls was vital in pushing the federal government in negotiations that led to the release of over 100 of the abducted girls.

She further said, ‘You are not merely survivors of a story. You are authors of what comes next, and what you do from here will matter. Not only for yourselves, but for other young girls who are watching to see what is possible.’

‘Among the 12 young women who were told that their story was over, sitting here, alongside every one of you who made your own quiet decision to keep going. Class of 2026, that part belongs to you now. Go ahead and live it forward.

Busari, who expressed satisfaction with the quality of students graduating from the institution, said, ‘Every person in this room today has had to push through something. The circumstances may be different, but the effort is real.’

To all the graduands, she said, ‘Your journeys may not be the same, but you made the same decision. To stay and push through and to finish, more importantly. You shared a way of thinking and of approaching difficulty.’

A Nigerian pilgrim, Mallama Aishatu Muhammadu, has died in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, days after arriving for the Hajj exercise.

The 73-year-old woman from Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State reportedly suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on Saturday while travelling from Jeddah to the holy city of Madinah.

The Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Ismail Abba Yusuf, conveyed the Federal Government’s heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased.

Ambassador Yusuf, during a telephone conversation with the deceased’s brother, Umaru Jauro Koko, prayed that Almighty Allah grant Mallama Aishatu Aljannatul Firdaus.

He also prayed for Allah to grant the family the strength to bear the irreparable loss.

Ambassador Yusuf assured the family of the government’s support in ensuring the safe return of the deceased’s personal belongings, including her Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) and death certificate, through the Adamawa State Pilgrims Welfare Commission.

The deceased is survived by several children, grandchildren and a great-grandchild, including Abdullahi Bello, Divisional Officer, Ganye Division of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

The first batch of intending pilgrims from Sokoto State for the 2026 Hajj exercise departed the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto, in the early hours of Monday.

The aircraft, operated by UMZA Airline, took off at about 6:21 a.m. with 484 pilgrims on board en route to the Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.

The pilgrims comprised 304 males and 180 females drawn from Tambuwal, Tureta, Wamakko, Sabon Birni, Isa, Shagari and Dange/Shuni local government areas of the state.

Speaking before the departure, Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, represented by his deputy, Idris Muhammad Gobir, said the state government had put adequate measures in place to ensure the welfare and security of the pilgrims throughout the exercise.

He urged the pilgrims to be good ambassadors of the state, stressing that the people of Sokoto were widely known for discipline, peaceful conduct and respect for constituted authority.

The governor described Hajj as a spiritual exercise that requires patience, humility and total obedience to Islamic teachings.

He also urged the pilgrims to pray for lasting peace, unity and development in Sokoto State and Nigeria during their stay in the holy land.

Also speaking, the Amirul Hajj and Chairman of the State Hajj Committee, Alhaji Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, expressed satisfaction with the level of preparation for the exercise.

Dingyadi, who is also the Minister of Labour and Employment, said all necessary arrangements had been concluded to sure a smooth and hitch-free Hajj operations.

According to him, committees responsible for transportation, feeding, accommodation and other welfare services had already been deployed both in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

He disclosed that Sokoto State would operate five flights to airlift its 2,404 intending pilgrims for the 2026 Hajj exercise.

Dingyadi added that all logistics and operational arrangements at the airport had been fully put in place to facilitate seamless movement of pilgrims.

He further advised the pilgrims to respect the laws of Saudi Arabia and conduct themselves in line with Islamic values throughout the pilgrimage.

‘The Hajj journey requires discipline, patience and total submission to the rules guiding the exercise,’ he said.

Gunmen suspected to be cultists have reportedly shot dead an undergraduate student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), identified simply as Alexander, and injured three others, including a female in an attack on Sunday in Benin.

The attack reportedly happened in the evening at about 6pm infront of the Ugbowo campus of the UNIBEN, along the Benin-Lagos road.

The deceased was said to be driving his GLK Mercedes Benz out of the campus with two other occupants when a white unregistered white GLK Mercedes Benz reportedly intercepted the vehicle.

Witnesses said some masked gunmen immediately opened fire on the vehicle, targeting the driver side and zoomed off, leaving the occupants of the vehicle in the pool of blood.

It was gathered that the deceased victim, a part time student of the department of Political Science, had finished his exams about an hour earlier when the incident occurred.

The three other victims, who sustained injuries in the attack, were said to have been rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital where they are currently receiving treatment.

The spokesperson of the Edo State Police Command confirmed the incident, saying one person died while three others sustained injuries in the accident.

She said investigation revealed that the GLK with three occupants was driving out of the UNIBEN main gate, when an unidentified white GLK intercepted them and opened fire on them.

She added that the gunmen opened fire on the vehicle coming out of the school at a close range, injuring the three occupants of the vehicle and a female passerby whose identity was yet to be ascertained.

She said the State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, had ordered investigations on the matter to unravel the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Meanwhile, the Management of the University had dissociated its staff and students from the violent clash.

The institution’s spokesperson, Benedicta Ehanire, in a statement, said preliminary reports indicated that the reported incident was a fallout of cult activities outside the campus and did not involve any university staff or student.

The statement, while expressing regrets over the loss of life, urged members of the University community to remain vigilant and to go about their academic activities on campus peacefully.

The Federal Ministry of Regional Development (MRD), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will on Monday commence a series of zonal technical validation workshops across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones to fine-tune the draft National Regional Development Policy (NRDP) 2026-2030.

The nationwide consultations, scheduled to begin on May 11, are expected to bring together stakeholders from federal and state governments, Regional Development Commissions, local government authorities, civil society organisations, the private sector, academia, and traditional institutions.

According to a joint statement issued by the Ministry and UNDP on Saturday, the workshops represent the final phase of consultations before the policy is consolidated into a single national framework for submission to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.

The statement noted that the NRDP was designed to address regional disparities, unlock economic potential, and promote inclusive and balanced national development across the country.

It added that the policy was developed with technical support from UNDP and aligns with the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the African Union Agenda 2063.

Speaking on the initiative, the Minister of Regional Development, Engr. Abubakar Momoh, described the policy as a strategic framework for coordinating development efforts nationwide.

‘This policy provides the guiding framework for regional development in Nigeria. Each Development Commission is expected to derive its master plan and operational agenda from it, in line with the Ministry’s mandate to coordinate regional development efforts. Stakeholders must now engage it critically to ensure it is robust, inclusive, and implementation-ready,’ he said.

The statement explained that UNDP supported the Ministry in strengthening the policy’s design, ensuring methodological rigour, and integrating global best practices in regional development planning, governance, and implementation.

Also speaking, the Resident Representative of UNDP Nigeria, Ms. Elsie G. Attafuah, said the policy signalled a major shift towards people-centred and inclusive development.

‘The National Regional Development Policy signals a decisive shift – one that takes a people-centric and inclusive approach. At UNDP, we are proud to stand alongside the Ministry of Regional Development, Regional Development Commissions (RDCs) and state governments in advancing this ambition through our Integrated Smart States Programme (ISSP) approach.

‘Through the ISSP, we are supporting a model of development that is balanced, locally driven, and connected – where trade, digital innovation, and sustainable energy converge to create jobs. By validating this approach across all six zones, Nigeria is strengthening its sovereign capability to turn regional diversity into a shared national collective advantage,’ she said.

According to the statement, the validation workshops are aimed at aligning governments, building political ownership, and generating evidence-based input on issues such as growth hubs and corridors, financing pathways, governance arrangements, gender inclusion, climate resilience, digital transformation, and youth development.

The zonal workshops are scheduled to hold as follows: South East in Enugu on May 11; South South in Port Harcourt on May 13; North Central in Lafia on May 25; South West in Ibadan on June 3; North West in Kano on June 8; and North East in Maiduguri on June 10.

The process will conclude with a National Consolidation and Political Validation event in Abuja on June 24, 2026.

The statement added that each zonal engagement would produce a formal communiqué and technical report to support the national consolidation process.

The Kano State Police Command says it has arrested a suspected arms dealer and recovered three fabricated AK-47 rifles and other exhibits in its fight against criminal activities in the state.

ýPolice spokesman, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, in a statement on Sunday, said operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad carried out a sting operation at Dandinshe Quarters, Dala Local Government Area, on Saturday, leading to the arrest of one Umar Danladi Usman, 35, of Kurna Layin Masallacin Juma’a.

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ý’The suspect was intercepted in a Honda Accord vehicle with tinted glass. A search yielded three fabricated AK-47 rifles (revolver type), five live cartridges, an empty AK-47 shell, a suspected fake police ID card, three sharp jack knives, a pair of jungle desert boots, among other items,’ the statement said.

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ýIt also said during interrogation, the suspect confessed to procuring the rifles from Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State.

ýThe police said discreet investigation is ongoing to track his accomplices and dismantle the supply network.

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ýKiyawa stated that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, commended the operatives for their professionalism which he said was aimed at tackling violent crimes through intelligence-led operations.

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ýHe assured residents that the Command will sustain aggressive operations against illegal arms trafficking, kidnapping, and other violent crimes, urging the public to remain vigilant and provide timely information.