Concede Senate Presidency to Kalu, Shettima pleads with Yari

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The leader of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alhaji Yerima

Shettima has pleaded with the former Governor of Zamfara State and frontline Senate Presidential aspirant, Senator Abdulaziz Yari to concede the Senate President to the former Governor of Abia State and Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.

Addressing newsmen in Kaduna yesterday, Shettima hinted that allowing a South Easterner and a Christian to be the Senate President will help to strengthen the unity of the country.

He said the partnership between Senator Yari and Senator Kalu is well accepted in the North and have received silent endorsements across the country.

According to him,” We are happy with the strong partnership between the North and South with Senator Abdulaziz Yari and Senator Orji Uzor Kalu. We are aware they are yet to formally announce to Nigerians who becomes the Senate President and who becomes the deputy. We are happy that the two are ready to accept the decisions between the two groups.

“We also know that Yari has an upper hand in the partnership since he has about 42 Senators while Kalu has about 27 senators making the partnership to have 69 Senators in their fold. But we are appealing to Yari to consider the future of the country at this critical time and accept the Deputy

Senate President position. There is actually no difference between the Senate President and Deputy Senate President since the two are presiding officers.

“We only think that for religious balancing and for peace and unity of the country, the South East deserves to produce the Senate President. Senator Uzor Kalu is a detribalised Nigerian who has built relationships across all regions. He is very close with President Tinubu and his family. He is close to the North and the South South. “

From left: Mobilization Officer, Free Nigeria Movement (FNM), Princess Licia; President, African Emancipation Movement for Good Governance, Comrade Lucky Obiyan; Convener of FNM, Dr Moses Paul; and Co-Convener, Comrade Oby Elekwa, during a news conference against fuel subsidy removal without cushioning effect on alleged suffering Nigerians, in Abuja on Thursday (1/6/23).

WaterAid calls for direct policies on menstrual health

By Maryam Abeeb

While celebrating the World Menstrual Day,WaterAid Nigeria has called on the federal government to focus more on the menstrual hygiene of girls by formulating direct and clear policies.

The project manager, WaterAid Nigeria, Nanbam Michael made this call during an interview with pressmen at the sensitization programme for schools girls in FCT, Abuja as part of commemoration of 2023 World Menstrual health and hygiene day.

The programme was organised by Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in collaboration with other non governmental agencies such as , WaterAid, UNICEF, PG, Yagazie Foundation among others for teenage girls in secondary schools.

She explained that the it is the right of girls and women to be adequately informed about menstrual hygiene.

According to her, WaterAid is supporting the Federal Ministry of human affairs as part of the national technical group working on the guideline for menstrual hygiene.

“Generally,, to start from why the Nigerian government needs to focus on this day. This day is recognized by the United Nations General Assembly as a human rights. It is the rights of the girls and women to have all information and materials for menstrual hygiene. And then for the government of Nigeria, they are committed to the SDG goals and the SDG goal especially called Six 6.2 to be precise that talks about hygiene and sanitation having access to hygiene and sanitation and then paying special attention to the needs of women.

“And their menstrual hygiene is one of that special attention to the needle. So the government of Nigeria says they are committed to achieving achieving the SDG goal they should be committed to this day. And then what kind of commitment are we expecting from the Government of Nigeria? We need to have policies, policies that have direct and clear instruction about what to do about menstrual hygiene.

She stressed that menstrual hygiene should not be taken for granted because if not well managed can cause vagina infection for the girls and it could lead to lifelong infection in terms of reproductive health.

Also, the Water Sanitation Hygiene, WASH specialist, UNICEF, Job Omonyi also disclosed that the multi cluster indicators for 2021 revealed thT about girls or females aged between 15 and 24 as high as 17% are not participating in active social economic activities as a result of the limitation placed on them by menstruation.

He noted that most girl find it difficult to join others whenever they are menstruating, and this makes them loose opportunity of learning and making income . According to him, UNICEF is making efforts in providing information that will help in breaking the silence so that people don’t feel stigmatized, rather, they should be proud that they are not sick and that they are normal people.

Further speaking, Chairman of Yagazie Foundation, Kennedy Ezirim has called for more access to adequate facilities that will help menstrual management.

He noted that this will help reduce the mortality rates when it comes to women and girls, adding that in recent years a lot of lives have been lost people died as a result of improper menstrual care.

The Director, child development department, ministry of Women Affairs, Ali Madugu stressed that “We want to demonstrate how committed the ministry that because the ministry is committed in ensuring that every child, every child, particularly females get to make girl child. Most have the opportunity to have a good sanitary party when she is menstruating. And that can only be achieved. If we intensify our campaign as a tradition and bringing our partners together.

Inauguration: Northern elders hail president Tinubu, governors

By Abubakar Yunusa

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has congratulated the new President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Vice President, Kashim Shettima,who were sworn-in recently.

The Forum also congratulates returning and new State Governors, and reminds them of the oaths they took yesterday, which must remain their guide in office until their last days.

In a congratulatory message contained in a statement signed by its Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed noted that President Tinubu has made a number of key commitments and promises to Nigerians and hopes that he will honor them faithfully.

The statement read in part;”The Forum particularly wishes to remind President Tinubu of his promise to take on insecurity, poverty and high quality governance as priorities, and commends him for his vision of re-discovering Nigeria’s greatness which will be reflected in the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

“Issues such as inclusion, ensuring justice and fighting corruption should be prioritized as well. Policies that compound poverty should be avoided, and where difficult decisions need to be taken, they should be accompanied with compassion, sensitivity and adequate public awareness.

“The Forum will work with President Tinubu and Governors to actualize their promises to make Nigerians more secure and improve the economy to reduce poverty and desperation.

“It further notes that there are many cases before Election Tribunals, some of which may go all the way to the Supreme Court. The Forum appeals to members of the judiciary to show the highest levels of competence and integrity in the manner they treat these cases.”