Former Chief Medical Director CMD of Jos University Teaching Hospital, JUTH, Prof. Ishaya Pam has received a meritorious award of excellence tagged “FRIEND OF NURSES AWARD”. The award was given to him by the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, JUTH branch in recognition of his excellent result oriented and friendly leadership style to the nurses when he held sway as the former CMD of JUTH Responding, Prof. Ishaya Pam said he felt so delighted to be honored with such a meritorious award, six years after he served for two terms as CMD of JUTH. He appreciated the nurses for considering him worthy of such an award. He eulogized the nurses, saying, no hospital can succeed without the immense contributions and cooperation of the nurses considering the critical role they play in patients’ treatment and management. Truly, Prof. Ishaya Pam’s administration was not only friendly to nurses but to all JUTH workers / health professionals. It would be recalled that one of the giant strides of Prof. Ishaya Pam’s administration besides other indisputable achievements, was the successful relocation of JUTH from her temporary site to her permanent site at Lamingo. May God take him to higher position to serve Him (God) and humanity.
As the Plateau state Executive Council fully kicks off today, with the inauguration of 23 commissioners to help steer the rescue ship in Plateau state to berth successfully in 2023, the member representing Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency, Rt Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi felicitates with the five Commissioners from Pankshin, Kànke and Kanam ( Dr Dayyabu Garga, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Uban Development, Dr Istifanus Finangwei, Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs Tamwakat Weli, Commissioner for Tourism, Hon. Kakmena Goteng Audu, Commissioner for Higher Education and Mrs Regina Soemlat, Commissioner for Fianace) on their successful inauguration as members of the Plateau State Executive council, and charges them to justify the confidence reposed in them by Gov. Simon Bako Lalong, by being good ambassadors of PKK in their various assigned responsibilities so as to bequeath a more prosperous Plateau state to the coming generations.
The quintessential lawmaker acknowledges the daunting task ahead of the newly sworn in Commissioners, but assures that with determination and the right frame of mine, the enormity of the tasks ahead of them can be easily summounted.
Gagdi implored the commissioners to see their appointments as a clarion call to serve humanity, rather than an avenue for personal aggrandisement and self enrichment. He noted that posterity will judge them according to their doings and undoing with the responsibility bestowed on them, while the choice remains exclusively theirs on whether to be remembered for good or bad when taking stock of their performances in office.
The vibrant and workaholic perliamentarian was full of eulogies for the five state lawmakers from the PKK for ensuring a smooth screening for the Commissioners, and charges them to keep the brotherly spirit alive in the discharge of their legislative duties to the state. He reminded them that a cordial working relationship with the executive without necessarily being rubber stamps, is the needed impetus for the development of the state and attracting democracy dividends to their various constituencies.
Gagdi concluded by imploring the people of Plateau state to give the necessary support to the executive and legislative arms of government Plateau in order to reap bumperly from the Lalong administration, while coveting the prayers of all and sundry for the success of National Assembly members from the state, without recourse to party, ethnic or religious sentiments, as they all strive to attract federal presence in their various constituencies, posing that leadership is not a bed of roses, but a serious business that requires the cooperation of the led for the desired result to be accomplished.
SIGNED:
Pharm Mizim Haruna
Senior Legislative Aide to
Rt Hon Yusuf Adamu Gagdi
Chairman Committee on
Nigerian Navy and member Representing PKK.
SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, RT. HON. (DR.) SIMON BAKO LALONG, EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF PLATEAU STATE AT THE SWEARING-IN CEREMONY OF COMMISSIONERS DESIGNATE. BANQUET HALL, NEW GOVERNMENT HOUSE, LITTLE RAYFIELD, JOS. MONDAY 7TH OCTOBER 2019.
PROTOCOL.
Today marks another very important day in the history of Plateau State as the team of Commissioners that will assist in delivering on our second term mandate is being inaugurated.
Similarly, this event is holding few days after our electoral victory was affirmed by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. We thank God and dedicate this collective victory to the entire people of Plateau State. Let me reiterate my call to members of the opposition to join hands with us to move our state forward as there is no winner no vanquished.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, you recall that following the return of this administration for a second term in office, I made a solemn commitment that with politics and campaigns over, we must hit the ground running in the Next Level for greater productivity.
You will also recall that during the swearing in of the Secretary to the Government of the State and the Chief of Staff last month, I responded to the perceived delay in appointing Commissioners by explaining that I was being strategic and careful because this time, I am taking full responsibility for those that will eventually be selected to serve our people as Members of the State Executive Council.
In line with relevant constitutional provisions for constituting the State Executive Council, in September 2019, I transmitted a list of twenty-three (23) Commissioner nominees to the Plateau State House of Assembly for screening and clearance. The Honourable House went into action promptly and all members were successfully screened and cleared without delay. I wish to commend the diligence and commitment of the Rt. Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members of the House in doing a thorough work, all in an effort to ensure the governance system operates smoothly.
As soon as the Commissioner nominees were appointed and cleared by the Plateau State House of Assembly, we took a unique decision by approving a state-wide familiarization tour of the seventeen (17) Local Government Areas, cutting across the three geo-political zones of the State.
The philosophy was to appreciate the Royal Fathers on behalf of the people who gave us the mandate to serve them and further receive their Royal and fatherly blessings as partial preparations for the effective take-off as Honourable Commissioners who have been called to serve the State
Also, the tour provided the opportunity to interact and engage in a quasi-peer review with policy makers at the grass roots, which included the Local Government Chairmen and their Management Teams with the view to providing further insights into wholistic policy implementation and understand their vision, challenges and expectations. This will certainly shorten the learning curve after being sworn in.
From the reports of the tour, I am glad that you had a very successful outing and in a better position to appreciate issues as you take informed decisions for the common good of the people and state.
Now that you have been sworn in and taken your oath of office as Commissioners, you have been legally equipped to discharge your duties in your respective Ministries. Let me on behalf of the government and good people of Plateau State congratulate all of you and that you should see yourselves on this appointment as first amongst equals. This mandate however goes with huge responsibilities of service delivery to our people within the ambit of the policy thrust of the second phase of the Rescue Mission.
Shortly after securing victory for another second term, I commissioned the famous Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to undertake the task of developing a five-year Development Plan for Plateau State, which will shape our final term in office.
After months of engagements with Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Local Government councils, the Economic Advisory Team and other stakeholders, they have since submitted their report to me.
This document provides the roadmap for the implementation of our Next Level Rescue Agenda in serving our people effectively.
All appointees are expected to study the document, as directed to enable them hit the ground running and stay on target in implementing our Party’s agenda and campaign promises.
As Commissioners you are the highest Political Heads of your Ministry, Department and Agency as the case may be. Similarly, as Members of the State Executive Council, which is the highest policy formulation organ, you are expected to advice on technical or procedural matters towards informed decisions on developmental issues.
Above all, you should see yourselves as part of history in meeting up to the challenges ahead, towards ensuring a seamless governance.
In achieving these, you are expected to ensure good synergy and working cooperation with your Permanent Secretaries, Directors and other support Staff in the machinery of government towards successful implementation of programmes and projects.
Honourable Commissioners, with some of these charges, you will appreciate that the burdens on your shoulders are very heavy and your position is not for glamour, but of absolute responsibility. Your appointment is a patriotic call to duty, which should be devoid of betrayal of trust.
Since I discouraged every lobby and influence to personally select you, I am going to drive you so hard and hold you to the highest standards as you carry out your assignments to ensure we achieve tangible results.
I therefore expect nothing less than loyalty, diligence, commitment, probity and accountability to our development plans within the three pillar policies of the administration, namely;
• Peace, Security and Good governance;
• Physical Infrastructural Development; and
• Sustainable Economic Rebirth.
I will therefore not hesitate to reprimand, chastise, query and where necessary discipline by removal from office, any of you who goes contrary to the agenda of our Rescue Government and indeed extant public service rules.
Certainly, to fulfil the challenges of leaving a lasting legacy, you need every support from all and sundry. However, without prejudice to your different affiliations and the right to demand for quality service and good governance, let me specially plead that relations, friends and party loyalists should not exert unnecessary pressures on your wards as these could easily derail them and have negative effects on their effective performances in service delivery.
Your Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen, you will agree with me that we have so much to do within the short time available to us. We are very ambitious in marketing Plateau to the World as the most favourable destination for investment and true home of peace and Tourism that it is.
As we consolidate on the peace we have restored to Plateau State, we hope to generate more revenues to complete ongoing projects, continue implementing our legacy projects as well as create more jobs for our teeming youths and women.
This is why we have engaged a reputable Firm of Professionals to not only advise us on how to increase our revenue base, but also work with our Revenue Generating Agencies through the process. I urge all and sundry to cooperate with these Agencies in accomplishing positive results.
In same vain, we shall soon hold an Economic and Investment Summit, which will also assist us to change the trajectory of Plateau to an investment destination of choice.
There are many critical infrastructure and services that require urgent attention that I expect the new Commissioners to immediately address.
Among them are health facilities such as the Trauma Hospital in Riyom, which was abandoned, but our administration has virtually completed and equipped it. I expect that hospital to be operational by next month, while others in Kanke and Mabudi in Langtang South should be completed and operational before April next year.
While we work on completing ongoing road projects, I am directing the Ministry of Works to immediately implement a zero tolerance to pot holes in the State, particularly in our urban roads to prevent them from further damage as well as enhance the convenience of motorists.
Waste management and refuse evacuation is also another area that requires urgent attention. I am directing the ministry of environment to immediately rid the Capital City of Jos and other urban areas of waste dumps in the interim, and also set in motion a concrete and sustainable waste disposal mechanisms that will involve all stakeholders and the private sector.
In order to ensure consistency and faithful implementation of projects and programmes of government, the Project Monitoring and Result Delivery Unit to be headed by the Chief of Staff has been created in line with the recommendations of the State Strategic Development Plan. The unit is to ensure that the state gets value for money and to track the implementation of all Projects and Programmes.
As part of our efforts to deepen transparency and ensure the prudent management of scarce resources, I have approved the setting up of a Liquidity Management Committee. This will ensure that budgetary provisions and approvals, efficient financial management and adequate project financing are built into our governance system. This is consistent with the best practices in line with our strategic plan.
We must live up to expectation and work together with the public to trace bad influence amongst our youths for possible rehabilitation through the different Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
All stakeholders including Government Functionaries, Traditional Rulers, Religious Leaders, Party Leaders and Supporters, Women, Youths, Organized Labour and Civil Society, shall enjoy unlimited privilege of actively participating in this great enterprise of building a prosperous and progressive State. Since we are living in times of great changes, we must team up for purposeful development and progress.
It is now my singular honour and privilege to announce the following Portfolios for the Commissioners: …………………..
As you assume duty in your various Ministries, remember that everything you will be engaging in revolves around our three-point policy thrust and the Strategic Plan document of the Administration.
This is why after the swearing in and taking over the Instruments of Office, you will proceed on training programme as was recently done for Permanent Secretaries and Directors.
The thrust of this programme is to enable you prepare your Medium Term Revenue Framework with specific action plan for each MDA. This will further form the input for the Policy Retreat that will come up in the third week of October.
Finally, and once more, I congratulate you on your appointment as commissioners and Members of the State Executive Council and look forward to a memorable journey in the service of our people.
Thank you for your attention.
God Bless Plateau State.
God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Rt. Hon. (Dr.) SIMON BAKO LALONG
Executive Governor.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVANT & A TEAM BUILDER.( NDE.VICTOR DIMKA fsi,fnim,phf.).
I join your family, friends,colleagues,political associates,captain of industries &numerous friends to congratulate you sir on the occasion of your Birthday.
Your modest leadership qualities are incredible.
I am so proud &highly honoured to have associated with you &your leadership qualities.
I have learned from your spirit of love &deep recognition of human dignity.i admire your courage, & willingness to speak for what is right,just and fair all the time.
Sir,GOD anointed you for a time like this considering your extraordinary contributions towards mentoring many in education,Agriculture, social welfare,job creation, security,politics and Leadership.
I find delight in your insistence on oneness of men which is compelling to the conscience of many,and that explains how GOLDEN &the uniqueness of your thought process.
May the Good Lord continue to enrich you with wisdom, good health,protection, and guide you through the path of greatness beyond &above all grant you more fruitful years ahead.Amen.
Once Again Congratulations Sir.
Signed.
Maxwell Gowon
BIRTHDAY FELICITATIONS TO A DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVANT, FATHER, EMPLOYER OF LABOUR,A TEAM BUILDER, AND A COURAGEOUS OFFICER.( NDE.VICTOR DIMKA.fsi,fnim,phf.)..
We join your family, friends,colleagues,political associates,captain of industries and millions of people to congratulate you sir on the occasion of your Birthday. Your modest leadership qualities are incredible. We are proud &highly honoured to have someone like you and your leadership qualities. We have learned from your spirit of love and deep recognition of human dignity, we admire your courage, and willingness to speak for what is right,just and fair all the time. Sir,GOD anointed you for a time like this considering your extraordinary contributions towards mentoring many in education,Agriculture, social welfare,job creation, security,politics and Leadership. We find delight in your insistence on oneness of men which is compelling to the conscience of many,and that explains how GOLDEN and the uniqueness of your thought process. May the Good Lord continue to enrich you with wisdom, good health,protection, and guide you through the path of greatness beyond and above all grant you more fruitful years ahead Amen. Once Again Congratulations Sir. Signed.
ANOUNCEMENT/CONGRATULATION TO OUR DEAR COMISSIONERS.
The Hon Member Representing Pankshin/Kànke/Kanam, and the Ploitical Leader Kanam and PKK Rt Hon Yusuf Adamu Gagdi congratulates Hon Dayyabu Yusuf Garga and Hon Hosea Istifanus Finangwei on their appointments as Commissioners in the Plateau State Government and wish them happy inauguration on the 7th of October 2019.
The Leader wishes to use this opportunity to equally congratulate Hon Comissioners from Pankshin and Kànke over their appointment and thank the Leader of Plateau People, RT Hon Simon Bako LALONG for finding them worthy of service.
The Hon Reps Member wishes to invited all Kanam Sons and Daughters to a brief reception in his house at Rayfield, Jos Immediately after the inauguration.
He will thereafter visits all the reception venues for Commissioners from Pankshin and Kànke to celebrate with them.
He assure the appointees of his continue support and collaboration for the collective good of plateau state.
Signed: Bar Adamu Nuhu Executive Personal Assistant to Hon Reps Mamber.
Six herders grazing their cattle at Gurin, Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State were on Saturday abducted by armed bandits. An eyewitness told Reporters that the bandits, who invaded the community, abducted the herders some four kilometres away from the Fufore-Gurin Highway. One of the victims was, however, set free by the gunmen to inform others’ relatives of the abduction. The Adamawa State Police Command confirmed the incident. However, the police spokesperson DSP Suleiman Nguroje said four herdsmen were kidnapped. “The information reaching us is that four persons were kidnapped, but the bandits freed one of them to inform relatives of the others. The victims were kidnapped some four kilometres away from the Fufore-Gurin Road in the early hours of Saturday. “They were grazing their cattle when the kidnappers whisked them away and left their cattle wandering around,” Nguroje said. Kidnapping for ransom has raised concerns among residents, though recently, the police, in collaboration with local vigilantes and leaders of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, arrested some kidnap kingpins terrorising the state. Some police collaborators have been murdered in recent times, including a local vigilante leader, Abdul Bali, and another leader of the MACBAN, Tabital Pulaaku Jam.
I promised to run a weekly column every Sunday on facebook. This is the first edition. “When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change of ourselves”
– Viktor E. Franklin
18 YEARS LATER: REMEMBERING JOS CRISIS OF SEPTEMBER 7th 2001
Yesterday marked the 18 years of the Jos Crisis. On that day neighbours and friends became foes. The quiet and serene city of Jos erupted in smokes and ashes as people bayed for the blood of those they could kill or maim. The land became so odious with the stench of human blood.
So much has changed since September 7th 2001, yet unfortunately certain truths have remained all too persistent. The threats we face today as Plateau people are tied to the same sword that pierced us so deeply 18 years ago. Now more than ever, we as Plateaunians must stop to reflect on such devastation, the essential lessons it taught, visceral anger it provoked, and the immeasurable patriotism it awakened.
For those who remember the horror of that day, the reality that we have marked the 18th year anniversary of September 7th seems remarkably surreal. It was a day that despite the time that has passed, still seems more like a nightmare than reality. So vivid are the details we can recall from such painful catastrophe and yet, how often so many go about their daily lives as if this world altering event never even occurred.
When I view the images of places in Jos before September 7th, I am immediately reminded of what an invaluably beautiful symbol Jos City was. Though aesthetically striking, J-Town was more than an architectural medallion. The city served as an unequivocal symbol of freedom, prosperity, Plateau ingenuity, and the most peaceful city in Nigeria.
But that which made the city so special, simultaneously made it the quintessential target of wicked people. It wasn’t until our peace came crashing down that we realized how much peace represented, and how lucky we were to have lived in a State that built it. Today, we have compartmentalized the city to settlements based on religions – Rikkos, Gangare, Bauchi Road, Ali Kazaure, Dadin Kowa, Massalachin Jumma’a, Angwan Rogo and Dilimi became predominantly Muslim communities while the rest of Jos became Christian settlements. I was born in Rayfield, grew up in Jenta Adamu and had my teenage years in Gangare. Today, I cannot enter Gangare without some fears that the Muslim friends I grew up could slash my throat. And they fear coming to my own part of town less “my people” burn them alive as well.
Thousands of innocent Plateau people woke up that Friday morning, kissed their family’s goodbye, and went off to work never to see their loved ones again. These were not soldiers engaging in armed conflict. These were ordinary civilians, whose lives were cut short by the same maniacal movement that continues to plague us.
Most People cannot wrap their minds around the rationale for someone to commit such a heinous atrocity as that which we witnessed eighteen years ago. Consequently, some foolishly attribute these actions to mental illness or most appalling, try to rationalize them as acts of self-defense. The reality is, these acts were carried out on innocent civilians by individuals who believed they would be rewarded in paradise with 72 virgins for their heroism.
It is this kind of belief that motivates an individual to slit a child’s neck with a butcher’s knives and decimate villages like Dogo Nahawa years later. Later we got people killing themselves in suicide missions along with thousands more in consequence. This ideology has also served as the motivation for the Jihadists to crucify children, strap bombs on infants, and burn unbelievers alive.
Our State rose so valiantly in the immediate aftermath of September 7th. We came together in ways not seen in our history. Total strangers running from violent areas suddenly found homes with people they have never met before. As chaplain of St. John’s College in 2001, we housed 18 people who ran away from their homes in Nassarawa Gwom, Ali Kazaure, Filin Ball etal. We gave shelter to a mother of twins who had just undergone Ceasarian Section (CS) five days before the terror. Churches opened their doors, united through both sorrow and anger.
Today, What has happened is that we value tolerance over toughness, feelings over facts, and politics over patriotism. We owe it to those who lost their lives or loved ones to this inherently evil belief to change course immediately. We the people must demand our politicians prioritize safety over sensitivity and if they should fail to do so, we must replace them with those who will.
For almost two decades since the sad events of September 7th 2001, Plateau State became a killing field where blood has been shed in the city as well as LGAs like Bassa, Barkin Ladi, Jos South, Bokkos and Riyom. I always know that someday I would tell my story of Jos. I have to tell it to my children and then to my grandchildren. I believe that they should know what it was like to be a Plateau man in the midst of the killings and to have survived this far. My children had heard snippets of the Plateau killings at the dinner table and at family gatherings, but it was never the whole story. It is, after all, not a story that lends itself to such occasional telling. But it is a story that must be told and passed on, particularly in a family that is, for all practical purposes, surviving by God’s grace . Only thus can the link between the past and the future be re-established for our family.
For example, I never really managed to tell my children, in the proper context, how my parents, wife, parents-in-law behaved during the 2001Jos mayhem and the strength of character they displayed at a time when other people under similar circumstances lost their moral compass. The story of their courage and integrity enriches the history of our family, and it must not be allowed to be buried with me. Because they were all living either in Dilimi or Gamgare in Jos at the time of the horror.
Someday I would recount the story of the killing fields of Plateau to a wider audience, not because I think that my part in it is all that noteworthy in the grand scheme of things, but because I have long believed that the Killings in Plateau cannot be fully understood unless we look at it through the eyes of those who lived through it. To speak of the tragedy in terms of numbers of those killed — 7,500 — which is the way it is usually done, is to unintentionally dehumanize the victims and to trivialize the profoundly human tragedy it was. The numbers transform the victims into a fungible mass of nameless, soulless bodies rather than treating them as the individual human beings they were. Each of us who has lived through the various killings on the Plateau has a personal story worth telling, if only because it puts a human face on the experience. Like all tragedies, the attacks (crisis, bomb blasts, killer herdmen etc) produced heroes and villains, ordinary human beings who never lost their humanity and those who, to save themselves or for a mere piece of wealth, helped send others to their early graves. It is also the story of some people from both sides of the divide who, in the midst of the carnage, did not lose their humanity.
I pray writers from Plateau would someday write of these events from their own perspective. The idea is so that we force the world to remember and never forget that we survived and are still surviving a genocide (an offensive word that politically correct people won’t want me to use!)
September 7th 2001 was a wake-up call from hell. To fall back asleep would result in devastation so catastrophic that the loss of life we witnessed eighteen years ago will pale in comparison. Although precious to us, life is meaningless to our enemies. Today, another new terror threatens us – they are variously called Killer herdsmen, or unknown gunmen.
As we look back on the heinous attacks in Jos that later went on for more than a decade and more; and now with villages and communities being decimated, let us not do so without heeding its tragic lessons.
Let us not forget who attacked us and why.
Let us not forget those who were taken.
Let us not forget that which we promised we wouldn’t.
Never forget and by God, never again.
MiddleBelt Reporters 