₦airaland Forum

OldNairalander:
What did I just read?

The Zamfara Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Hajiya Rabi Shinkafi, has resigned her appointment to take up another commissionership appointment in Imo.

“I resigned my appointment as commissioner in Zamfara to enable me to pick another appointment as commissioner in Imo,’’ Shinkafi said in Gusau on Thursday.

“I am immensely grateful to Gov. Bello Matawalle and his Wife, Hajiya Aisha Matawalle, for their kindness to me and for giving me the opportunity to serve Zamfara in different capacities.

“All the speculations in the social media about my resignation are completely false; it was just work of mischief-makers,’’ she said.

“I have a perfect and cordial relationship with the governor and his wife. I consider them as my family and they were in the picture of my going to Imo.

“Both Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo and Matawalle discussed it as fellow All Progressives Congress governors and as friends too,’’ Shinkafi added.

"My attention has been drawn to a publication captioned:
"THE MANY RUMORS OF GIMBIYA RESIGNING AS ZAMFARA COMMISSIONER" by Thunderblowers.

It is quite unfortunate that a so called media outfit could spread such falsehood. I wonder what happened to investigative journalism?

Well, I want to set the record straight and ask the general public to disregard the trash penned down by the Thunderblowers.

The truth is that I actually resigned my appointment as a Commissioner in Zamfara State but not for the reasons that are completely untrue as stated by them.

I was actually appointed a Commissioner by my state Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma almost the same time my State Governor by marriage Hon Dr Bello Matawalle Maradun also appointed me a Commissioner in Zamfara State. Don't forget that prior to that, I was already serving under the government of His Excellency Governor Bello Matawalle Maradun as a Special Adviser on Investment and Public Private Partnership.

I decided to pick Zamfara Commissioner offer against that of Imo because of my close relationship with His Excellency Governor Bello Matawalle and his wife, Zamfara State First Lady Hajia Aisha Bello Matawalle who I both see as my family, and I have enjoyed a lot of their good will and benevolence over the years. Infact they have 0always been my benefactors, and I am eternally grateful to them.

The real reason I resigned my appointment as a Commissioner in Zamfara State is never connected to any ill feeling or dissatisfaction of any kind on the part of His Excellency the Governor who has treated me favorably, or on the part of Her Excellency the First Lady who has been absolutely wonderful to me.

I resigned my Zamfara appointment because my father His Royal Highness the oldest Monarch in Imo State and the Imo State Governor Senator Hope Uzodinma who is also quite close to His Excellency Governor Bello Matawalle as a fellow APC governor pleaded with me to serve in Imo State, however I kept His Excellency Governor Bello Matawalle in the picture from the onset. infact both Governor Hope Uzodinma and Governor Bello Matawalle discussed it at a certain stage. I had to resign as I cannot be Commissioner in two States at the same time.

I find it very disturbing how some mischiefmakers are using this issue to paddle all sort of untrue stories.

Governor Bello Matawalle is a brother, I have a lot of respect and regards for him and I thank him and his wife the First Lady immensely for the several opportunities they gave me to serve in different capacities.

Zamfara is home to me and will always be home. Despite my resignation, I still wish to continue to serving in Zamfara State and as a result i am still pleading with my father His Royal Highness and my Governor to oblige me.

Let me at this point say it categorically that there is no rancor between me and the visionary and amazing First Lady of Zamfara State, neither is there any case of administrative loggerhead between the office of the First Lady and Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, as a matter of fact, the Ministry for Women and Children Affairs enjoy cordial working relationships and tremendous assistance from Her Excellency Hajia Aisha Bello Matawalle.

Please mischief makers should be properly guided.

Hajiya Rabi Ibrahim
Gimbiyar Shinkafi
21/12/2021"

The Federal Government has secured a $700m loan from the World Bank for specific water projects in the country, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has said.

According to him, most of the problems associated with water supply in the country are the responsibilities of state governments.

The minister said these in an interview with journalists on Monday night during the maiden edition of the Rewards and Recognition Awards ceremony organised by the ministry in Abuja.

He said seven states, comprising Imo, Delta, Bauchi, Ekiti, Katsina, Kaduna and Plateau, were expected to benefit from the first tranche of the loan.

According to him, the duty of the Federal Government in the area of water supply is to provide support to states.

The minister noted that lack of access to potable water had been a major problem for Nigerian communities.

He said, “What Nigerians need to understand is that the Federal Government is not responsible for providing water in their taps; that is the responsibility of state governments and that is why we don’t have a federal water board.

“We are just trying hard to support them (states). All the incentives, like P-WASH (Plan–Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Action Plan, declaration of a state of emergency by the President, and many more are efforts by the Federal Government to push the states to invest more in water.

“The states are primarily responsible for providing water for the people. If they don’t invest, what can we do? We have drawn the policies; we have done so many things. We are the first to even put a budget line to support state governments for water supply.”

He noted that the water resources policy was relaunched in 2016, saying, “We have been able to generate from the World Bank $700m. This money is not going to be spent by the Federal Government; it is going to the states for them to improve their water supply situation.

“There is nothing the Federal Government has not done. It is left to the states; Some are doing very well, while some are not doing as much as we wanted.”

Adamu expressed confidence that the National Water Resources Bill, currently before the National Assembly but had generated controversies, would be passed in 2022.