By Rabiu Sanusi
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has said the state government has introduced quite a number of initiatives to tackle the root causes of violent extremism, banditry and kidnapping among others in the state.
Governor Abba Kabir stated this when he received a delegation from the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA and ActionAid Nigeria led by Director, Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, PCVE from National Countering Terrorism Centre, Hajiya Mairo Abbas and her counterpart from the AAN Deputy Country Director, Hajiya Suwaiba Muhammad Dankwabo who were on an advocacy visit to the state.
The Governor was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Abdullahi Baffa Bichi, said the government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the menace does not rare it ugly head in the state.
Governor Abba Yusuf who identified poverty as one of the major root cause of so many crimes, said it has initiated empowerment programmes for the women and youths and also declared state of emergency on education sector towards taking out of school children back to school and others tailored to prevent violent extremism in the state.
“Women and Youths where selected across the 44 local government areas of the state gave N50,000 each in the monthly empowerment targeted at enhancing micro and small scale economy to be independent.
The initiative is to ensure that women and Youths in a financially disadvantaged position are self-reliant and independent minded through financial support for trade and skill acquisition.
“Empowering the women and youths are folk to regenerative investment will not only increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the state,but also positively improve rural economy, boost business activities and create a sense of pride to the beneficiaries.
“Our administration will continue to cherish the sacrifice made by Youth and Women in the state in bringing about his government by committing to the transformation of the lives of good peoples in Kano State.”
“Our bid as government to boost food security in Kano, where We had the pleasure of flagging-off the distribution of 52,800 free bags of NPK fertilizer to smallholder farmers across the 44 Local Government Areas of the State.
“This Government is ready to sustain food production through regular supply of fertilizer production by the state owned company (KASCO).
He added that KASCO and other state manufacturing centres are also being strengthened to revitalize revenue flow and sustain the economy of the state.
A part of Healthcare the Governor added that They Upgrades some of primary Healthcare to General Hospital and renovated some like Hasiya Bayero, Muhammad Buhari and Murtala specialist to next level among others.
“This project is part of our efforts to ensure quality and affordable healthcare access to all in Kano State.”
“This administration shall continue to work hard to uplift the standard of all healthcare facilities and make sure of Security by securing the lives and property of good peoples accross the state.
In her remarks Hajiya Mairo Abba said her team comprising, the NCTC-ONSA, the ActionAid, Nigeria and PAVE network are in Kano to discuss their partnership with the Global Community Engagement Resilience Fund (GCERF) and Dispute Resolution and Initiatives(DAG) with Kano state Government.
Hajiya Mairo explained that in 2022 the office of National Security Advicer (ONSA) approved series of projects aimed at addressing violent extremism in Northwesten Nigeria.
These initiatives where funded by GCERF, are implemented by one of its grantees-ActionAid Nigeria and Democratic Action Group(DAG) in Kano state.
Hotpen reports that, ActionAid had over the past 3 years implemented a project “System and Structure Strengthening Approach Against Radicalization to Violent Extremism (SARVE III)” aimed at identifying the underlying causes of radicalization to violent extremism and developing strategies to address the problem.
The project is being implemented in 4 Local governments areas of Kano State, namely, Nassarawa, Bichi, Bebeji ,Gwarzo, Gwale, recently, ActionAid received additional grant from GCERF to support the PAVE Network.
PAVE is a network of Nigerian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) founded to foster coordination between government, CSOs, community actors, and other non-state actors to prevent and counter violent extremism in Nigeria.
She added that the main objective of their visit to Kano is to seek His Excellency’s support and collaboration on the interventions already being implemented by AAN and DAG also to scale up these initiatives as government support is crucial for ownership and sustainability.