Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu. Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Nigeria.
Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), lauded the All Progressives Congress (APC) state party congress, which took place on Saturday in the Federal Capital Territory and Kogi state, for its peaceful conduct.
The minister congratulated Hon. Abdulmalik Usman and Hon. Abdullahi Bello on their re-election as APC state chairmen in the FCT and Kogi state chapters, respectively.
The minister commended the appearance of other members of the state executive, saying that their re-elections and the calm conduct of the state congresses demonstrated the party’s readiness to win the general elections in 2023.
“I am ecstatic by the conclusion of the APC conference in the Federal Capital Territory,” she said.
There were a large number of FCT stakeholders and other party supporters in attendance.
It was serene and devoid of hostility.
According to her , “I am delighted with the outcome of the APC congress in the Federal Capital Territory. It witnessed the presence of majorities of the FCT stakeholders and other party faithful. It was most peaceful and rancour free.
“The re-election of Hon Abdulmalik Usman along side his other executive members is a clear testimony that dedication and hard work never remains unpaid.You always bring positive energy to the party. Your re-election is one of the best decisions our party has ever made. Congratulations!”
Similarly, the minister said she was overwhelmed by the joy of seeing, Hon.Abdullahi Bello’s, emergence as the chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Kogi state, noting that the party would be more focused come 2023.
Saying, “I feel so overwhelmed by the joy of seeing you being re-elected. You made us all proud with this win. I’m so happy that your talent and hard work had finally been rewarded. You really deserved this position more than anyone else”, she affirmed.
While calling on others to join hands with the newly elected executive members of the party, Aliyu, however, assured that with the peaceful conduct of the state congresses, the APC is more than prepared to challenge any opposition party in the forthcoming general elections.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said data on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) delivered in September 2021, 49,453.081MT of LPG supplied nationally was generated locally, whereas 27,125.905MT was imported.
Kimchi Apollo, the General Manager, Corporate Services, stated in a statement that Nigeria now produces a significant portion of the LPG consumed in the country due to the enabling environment created by the Federal Government through its programs and policies to attract investment into the entire gas value chain.
Saying, “In the month of September 2021, PPPRA LPG data show that 49,453.081MT was supplied into the domestic market by Algasco, Stockgap, NIPCO, 11 plc, Prudent, Greenville Natural Gas, PNG Gas, NPDC and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd with 66.58% of the supply sourced from the NLNG, whilst 27,125.905 MT was imported by Rainoil, Algasco and Prudent.
“It is worthy to note that the quantity of LPG sourced locally rose from 38,040.457MT in August to 49,453.081MT in September, while importation reduced from 47,224.346MT to 27,125.905MT.
“The marked improvement in local production reflects the success of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva in providing the right enabling business climate for the Gas industry to thrive.
“Government policies and programmes such as the National Gas Policy (NGP), Nigeria Gas Flarek Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP), National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) and the Decade of Gas declaration are responsible for the quantum of investments we see today in the gas industry.
“Some of these investments include the NPDC Oredo Integrated Gas Handling Facility, Kwale Hub Gas Processing Plants (PNG, Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon) Greenville LNG, Rivers State and OSO/Bonny River Terminal project.
“In terms of polices, the waiver of import duties on LPG production equipment as well as the Zero VAT for locally produced LPG have indeed heightened the prospects of domestic investment in the sector.
“In addition, a Pioneer Status Incentive for some categories of LPG Investments was also introduced” reads the statement in parts.
Apollo assured that the PPPRA remains committed to the development of Nigeria’s vast gas resources and strengthening the entire value chain.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) stated it had arrested a phony police officer and soldier, as well as a youth corps and 660 others, for alleged illicit drug activities.
The suspects were apprehended after a raid on infamous drug dens in Lagos, Abuja, Benue, and other parts of the country where varied illicit substances weighing over 153, 256.876 kg were either destroyed or recovered in the previous week, according to the Agency.
According to a statement signed by the agency’s Spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the renowned drug haven, Akala in Mushin area of Lagos state, was raided on Friday, October 15, by a combined team of 70 NDLEA agents and 30 soldiers in a joint operation codenamed “Operation Still Waters.”
A total of 27 people were apprehended, and a total of 2,463.876 Kg of drugs, including cocaine, heroin, tramadol, rohypnol, and cannabis, were seized.
The statement read in bits, “A day earlier, operatives also raided drug joints in Ojo and Maryland areas of the state where six persons were arrested and different quantities of drugs seized. This followed another raid of Alhaji Lasisi Street, Idioro, Mushin as well as Okota in Oshodi-Isolo area of the state during which 12 suspects were arrested and over 165kg of assorted illicit drugs recovered.
“In Ogun State, operatives on Friday, October 15, intercepted one Williams Esuabom along Ore- Shagamu expressway with 562.5kg Cannabis being conveyed in a Toyota sienna bus, while in Benue state, narcotic officers in a joint operation with soldiers raided Lafia park where six suspects including a youth corps member, Paul Ndubuisi were arrested with different quantities of drugs. This came on the heels of the arrest of a suspected fake soldier, Abel John along Apir- Makurdi-Aliade road with 3.5kg Cannabis on Wednesday, October 13.
“In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, a suspected fake Assistant Superintendent of Police, Joshua Yusuf who claimed to be serving in Kano was arrested along Gwagwalada expressway while conveying 45.5kg of Cannabis.
“Three suspects were arrested during raids in Dabba and Luku village, Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State where over 64kg drugs were recovered on Wednesday, October 13.
“In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives in their numbers stormed the forest reserve along Uso Road, Ise-Orun LGA, where they destroyed over 150,000 kilograms of cannabis being harvested on 40 hectares of land during an operation that lasted more than three days. The operation, which began on Tuesday continued till Sunday, October 17.
In raids across other states in the country, no fewer than 615 suspects were arrested and illicit drugs with a total weight of 3394.2031 kilograms recovered.
While commending officers and men of the Lagos state Command and their counterparts in Benue, FCT, Ogun, Ekiti and other parts of the country for their resilience and commitment to the war against illicit substances, Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) charged them not to rest on their oars. He called for continued collaboration between the Agency and other stakeholders especially the armed forces and other law enforcement agencies.
The Federal Government announced a collaboration with BKG Exhibitions Limited to hold an International Oil Palm Technology, Agric Tech, Cassava Africa Expo and Conference, dubbed PAC Africa Expo & Conference, to unleash the potentials of oil palm and cassava products for long-term economic prosperity.
Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Minister of Industries, Trade and Investment, made the announcement this weekend when Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Agwu, Chief Executive Officer of BKG Exhibitions, escorted some members of the PAC Africa Expo & Conference organizing team on a courtesy visit to the Minister.
According to Otunba Adebayo, the proposed expo, which will be held from the 2nd to the 5th of November 2021 at the Nicon Luxury Hotel in Abuja and organized by BKG Exhibitions in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Raw Materials, Research and Development Council, and other related government agencies, will have the theme: Agric Business in the 21st Century: Unlocking the Potentials of Oil Palm and Cassava P
The Minister lamented that, despite being a world leader in cassava production, Nigeria is not an active player in cassava trade in the international market, despite the fact that available statistics show that the country is a leading producer of cassava, with a production capacity of 45 million metric tons per year, valued at approximately $18 billion.
He said, “Cassava and Oil palm are strategic commodities in our quest for growth and development of the non-oil sector of our economy. Available statistics points to the fact that Nigeria is a leading producer of cassava with a production capacity of 45 million metric tons per annum, estimated at about 18 billion US Dollars, thus, accounting for a fifth of the world’s cassava production followed by Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana, Congo and others. However, though a world leader in cassava production, Nigeria is not an active player in cassava trade in the international market”
The Minister also recalled that Nigeria has maintained a leading position in the Global production of palm produce within the year 1950 to 1960 and controlled well over 45% of the Global market but at present, ranks 26th in Global production, stressing that ‘this is a clear indication that the fortunes of both commodities are declining drastically’.
He reiterated that the Conference will bring together experts from diverse fields in the Oil Palm, Cassava, Agricultural Technology and allied industries to discuss, educate, review and make informed inputs on current trends on Global Best Practices and technology geared towards the development of the Commodities in Nigeria.
Earlier, Ifeanyichukwu Agwu, the Chief Executive Officer of BKG Exhibitions Limited, told the Minister that preparations are in top gear to ensure a successful outing during the conference.
According to Agwu, well over 300 local companies have been invited for the expo, adding that the committee is in talks with the Immigration Service to facilitate easy entry to Nigeria for the many international organizations that would be coming from Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, Ghana, among others countries.
Agwu called on the Minister to bring on board states governments who would ensure easy acquisition of lands for the investors who shall be willing to invest in Nigeria’s cassava, and oil palm sub sector.
“We seek the Ministry’s support in the area of speaking to the governors with a view to making lands easily available for agric investment. Our findings show that 24 states in Nigeria grow palm and our intention is to harness this for greater economic sustainability. Oil Palm is said to be more costly in the international market than even the crude oil” he said.
He said the proposed expo is third in the series with the first and second held in Enugu and Owerri respectively.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is collaborating with the Kogi State Government to address the ongoing cholera outbreak and to improve surveillance for other Health Security concerns.
The Kogi State Government recently held a town hall meeting to rally multi-level state leadership for the Cholera outbreak response.
Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Representative in Nigeria, addressed at the meeting via a zoom link and praised the state administration for bringing together the diverse state leaders, which included local government chairmen, traditional, religious, and private sector leaders in the state.
He emphasized the significance of increasing surveillance for all epidemic-prone diseases and other health security challenges in the state.
He stressed the critical significance of greatly improving government surveillance and response capabilities.
He commended the Kogi State Government for quickly containing the cholera outbreak and emphasized the importance of building on previous successes with additional investments in critical areas to reduce the risk of multiple disease outbreak threats such as COVID-19, cholera, Lassa Fever, Yellow Fever, Cerebral Spinal Meningitis, vaccine-derived polio virus, and others.
He believes that providing additional laboratory reagents and testing kits, encouraging staff, improving community awareness, providing treatment centers and supplies, and training health workers can help achieve this.
The town hall meeting was sponsored by WHO as a platform to galvanize state leadership, review the response to the ongoing cholera outbreak, and raise public awareness about the importance of good health practices.
Nigeria has reported periodic cholera outbreaks in numerous states, notably Kogi State, since the beginning of 2021.
As of October 3rd, the number of confirmed and suspected cases recorded countrywide (88, 704) exceeded the number of cases reported in 2000 and 2019.
As a result of delayed diagnosis and treatment of initial cases, Kogi State has recorded 151 suspected cases, 34 deaths, and a 22.5 percent case fatality ratio.
This was immediately remedied with the establishment of four treatment centers, the abolition of user fees, medical supplies, increased cholera surveillance, training of health professionals, and community indoctrination on best practices for water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Since week 34, the state has not reported any new instances.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio Cholerae. Cholera is fatal if not quickly treated.
Dr Mulumbo, however, assured that WHO will continue to work closely with Kogi state to support capacity building for evidence-based decision making and ensure effective guidance on monitoring and evaluation of your policies and interventions on health.
“I would therefore encourage your Excellency to accelerate the implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Funds (BHCPF) activities, address the inadequacies, maldistribution and motivation of skilled health personnel, and pursue to obtain the full benefits of rolling out of the State Health Insurance Scheme” he said.
Meanwhile, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello appreciated WHO for its support and assured that the state government would not relent to provide health security for its citizens.
The governor who was represented by his Deputy, Chief Edward Onoja, said some of the government’s achievements in the health sector included – the construction of a new referral tertiary hospital in Okene, the renovation of the specialist in Lokoja, the renovation of other general hospitals across LGAs in the state, the establishment of the Kogi State Health Insurance Agency and enactment of the Primary Health Care Under One Roof Law.
He said while the government is doing its part to provide amenities for the residents, they should play their part by imbibing hygienic practices because most outbreaks like cholera are traceable to poor hygiene.
He, therefore, called on the traditional and religious leaders to be vanguard for public health issues and sensitize their people about the importance of maintaining good hygiene. He also urged organised labour to sensitise their members on the importance of the health insurance scheme and the need to subscribe to reduce medical out of pocket expenses among the people of the state.
The town hall meeting was attended by government officials, traditional and religious leaders, local government chairmen, market women, organized labour leaders and health experts.
WHO is currently supporting Kogi state in all pillars relating to health emergencies including Cholera, Covid-19, and other Vaccine-Preventable Disease outbreaks. In line with the WHO Transformation Agenda, and the Country Cooperative Strategy, the WHO Nigeria is focusing on shaping priorities and investments to improve Universal Health Coverage and provide resilience for health insecurities.
As states plan their post-COVID-19 development strategy, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, has advised countries to embrace a more aggressive and virile local government administration.
Local government, according to the minister, is critical in bridging the gap between policy measures and local realities for the coordination of actions in a post-COVID-19 development strategy. She spoke at a conference in the United Kingdom over the weekend.
This was contained in a statement signed by her Special Assistant on Media, Mr Austine Elemue, and made accessible to newsmen in Abuja.
In her paper titled “Towards a Sustainable Development for Local Government in a Post-Pandemic Nigeria: Lessons from the United Kingdom,” Aliyu, pointed that the global health crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the envelope on ways of achieving political, economic and social responses to issues.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly changed the way that people live, work, study and perform basic surviving tasks, such as shopping, communicating, using medical facilities or even dying.
“At the same time, institutions in general, and local governments in particular, face the most hard and painful test to their capacity to seek and achieve political, economic and social responses to this health crisis”, she stated.
While making reference to the Nigerian experience during the pandemic, Aliyu said though the local government acted as the local arm of the state in many aspects, however, managing the impact of COVID-19 in Nigeria faced some level of challenges due to epileptic health infrastructure, uneven state capacity for infection control, and endemic poverty.
According to her, “grave challenges exist in operating in many rural areas, where state presence is often highly variable. In such settings where access to basic, well-defined social services remains uneven at best, effectively tracing, testing, isolating, and monitoring quickly developing infections is likely to be a monumental undertaking indeed.
“Thus, local governance is likely to be especially important in bridging the gap between policy measures and local realities for the coordination of responses in a post COVID-19 development strategy.”
Drawing from her experience at the peak of impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Abuja, where she took on a supervisory role over the local councils, Aliyu noted that local government may be better able to reach the public with various disease control and social security functions at times of unprecedented distress.
She, therefore, advised that local governments should be strengthened in their ability to respond to, learn from and mitigate the impact of potential crises.
The minister also called for a rejig of Local government operations in Nigeria where state governments have had great influence and control over local authorities to suit their interests and political agenda.
Aliyu also called for a clearly defined statutory provision for local government as obtainable with federal and state governments, expressing fear that there is a risk that the world could be yet more divided, conflictual and nationalistic after COVID-19.
For Nigeria to strengthen its present reforms at the local government administration Post-COVID 19, Aliyu said it was important to draw strength from the United Kingdom experience by clearly dividing functions between national and local governments, between different social sectors as well as various arms of local governments.
With its exponential growth, the Executive Director/CEO of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Alh. Adedayo Thomas, has hinted that the Nigerian film industry is currently the largest employer of labour.
While adding that in 2019, CinemaCon, the world’s largest gathering of movie theater owners, honored Nigerian Cinema with the ‘Emerging Market Award,’ an award Nigeria still retains unrivaled to this day.
He hinted at this when he paid a courtesy call on the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Chris Isiguzo, at the NUJ’s National Secretariat in Abuja, stating Nigeria’s cinema had been recognized for three years in a row of exponential development.
According to him , “In fact, since 2017, the number of cinemas in the country has increased to 62. These are clear indications that, as governments at all levels grapple with economic challenges and consider diversification of their economies, the film industry is “the new oil” that can attract investors, create jobs, and boost the nation’s GDP if adequate attention is given to it.
” In the past four years, the current management of the NFVCB has aggressively taken on the challenges facing the Nigerian film and video industry through deliberate and practical steps towards repositioning the sector. These include sustained stakeholder engagement, rigorous capacity building for its workforce, enhanced enforcement operations, as well as building relevant partnerships to ensure that the sector does not just conform with global standards, but attracts investors, and thereby contributes more to the national economy.
” In its bid to effectively tackle the menace of unsuitable contents that threaten the sanity and preservation of Nigeria’s ethnic, racial, and religious harmony, the present leadership took deliberate steps to resuscitate the board’s National Task Force (NTF) that had gone comatose.
“The new task force formation, with the matching order to lead the board’s fight against unclassified films and exhibition centres across the country, is made up of NFVCB staff, industry stakeholders, and security agencies.
“In a bid to fulfill its mandate, the Task Force launched a nationwide raid on outlets selling illicit films and video works across the country, “he explained.
In his response, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Chris Isiguzo, appealed to the Federal government to invest massively in the creative industry, saying we do not need to rely solely on oil.
He said that a situation where we run a mono economy will not help the country at all.
He further stated that our creative industry has continued to grow in leaps and bounds and is competing favourably with Bollywood.
The Federal government through the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steal Development (FMMSD) has launched the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project (NIMEP), in 2018 to de-risk the mining sector and supply Geo-Science data.
This is in an ongoing effort to diversify the nation’s economy.
The project was established to exploit the country’s identified metallogenic belts for the exploration of gold, nickel, chromium, cobalt, rare earth minerals, lead-zinc, silver, copper, barite, and ore deposits.
Its objectives were to generate Geosciences information in Greenfield and Brownfield settings using integrated exploration methodologies in order to spur desired investment into the mining sector in order to generate foreign exchange, substitute for imports, develop local industries, create jobs, and create wealth along the mineral value chain.
Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, made this known in Abuja after receiving the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project (NIMEP) report that the ministry will begin mining and processing barite soon.
Barite is a naturally occurring mineral that may be found all across the country.
Adegbite noted that the policy would boost local production and attract investors, and that the Ministry would seek additional financing for natural resource exploration efforts.
Earlier , Dr. Abdulrazak Garba, Director General of the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency, disclosed that the project was working on the extraction of various mineral resources around the country.
Garba noted that the project’s design required international Competent Persons (CP) to be involved in contract execution and the consulting team to ensure compliance with international best practices.
The NGSA Director General stated that the exploration contracts were awarded following government and Bureau of Public Procurement vetting.
Meanwhile, one of the Project’s contractors, Dr Warwick Crowe, claimed that the research technique used was effective and would be used to investigate other minerals in the future.
Crowe went on to state that the research was divided into five stages, the first of which comprised desktop investigations, spectral geology, and the processing and interpretation of existing airborne data.
He went on to say that although geological mapping, sampling pitting, trenching, and sample preparation are finished in phase two, sample analysis from three media, ground geophysical survey and interpretation, and ground acquisition and interpretation are finished in phase three.
Drilling and analysis are the next steps, followed by data integration and reporting.
The Federal Government has began work on a new agriculture strategy known as the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP) for the period 2021-2025.
Dr. Muhammad Mahmood Abubakar, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, made the announcement on Friday in Abuja at a media event to mark World Food Day 2021.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, it should be remembered, announced the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) in 2012, which was an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development.
The goal of the ATA was “to build commodity value chains and the institutions required to unlock the country’s huge agricultural potentials with the targeted outcome such as add 20 million tonnes of food to the domestic food supply by 2015, create 3.4 million jobs and ensuring import substitution through the acceleration of production of local staples; aimed at reducing dependence on food imports and turning Nigeria into a net food exporter”
The ATA was built on the principle that agriculture is a serious business and should be supported.
Under President Muhammadu Buhari, Agricultural Promotion Policy (APP)(2016–2020) was floated, as it centred on food security, import substitution, job creation and economic diversification.
It focused on making Nigeria’s agriculture more productive, efficient and effective; creating jobs, generating foreign exchange and reducing food importation; while the APP was designed to address two main challenges – the inability to meet domestic food requirements, and an inability to export at levels required for market success.
Speaking on the upcoming NATIP, Abubakar said it is being developed to provide integrated approach to agricultural development in terms of access and application of improved inputs, linkages between agricultural research and training institutions, input provision for farmers, agricultural mechanisation, extension services, provision of rural Infrastructure, access to affordable funding, climate change management and sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and security of agricultural land and investments.
The Minister further disclosed that a National Policy on Agricultural Extension of Nigeria and the Policy Implementation Strategy (PIS) has also been developed, which is awaiting presentation to the National Economic Council, Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly for approval and legislation.
The policy, according to him, when approved would improve agricultural extension services in the country and help increase better production and better environment.
To boost food production, he said, the Ministry had partnered the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative to ensure adequate domestic production and marketing of NPK fertilizers at affordable commercial rate and timely delivery to farmers.
“This has aided resuscitation of 41 blending plants, quality control, created about 250,000 jobs, saved foreign exchange and support food security in the country.
“It has also increased annual production of cash crops. In addition, the National Fertilizer Quality Control Act 2019 to provide regulatory framework aimed at guaranteeing the supply and distribution of quality fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers for food security has been launched,” the minister explained.
General Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), has verified the assassination of Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, the leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
General Irabor addressed at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday at a ministerial briefing organized by the presidential communications team.
“I can authoritatively confirm to you that Abu Musab is dead. As simple as that. He is dead and remains dead,” said the CDS.
Recall that Al-Barnawi was the son of Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf who was also killed by security forces in 2009 when he launched a war against the Nigerian state.
More than one thousand people died during the uprising.
In 2016, the Islamic State (IS) militant group announced Al-Barnawi as the leader of its West African affiliate, Boko Haram, which was hitherto led by Abubakar Shekau.
Shekau took over as the group’s leader after the death of Mohammed Yusuf.
Before his dethronement, Shekau had sworn allegiance to IS in March 2015 and had killed thousands of people and destroyed countless communities during his reign of terror that extended up to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
His dislodgement in 2016 heralded the rise of the relatively young Al-Barnawi as ISWAP leader and at the same time, the split of the terrorist group into two factions.
It was reported that ISIS partly chose Al-Barnawi as leader in the Lake Chad region in order to punish Shekau who reportedly “violated all known norms” and to also retain the confidence of Boko Haram fighters who were loyal to his father, Yusuf, amid threats from other factional groups.
Al-Barnawi was also said to have been trained by ISIS for years ahead of his ascension to power.
Shekau, who was declared wanted by the United States with a price on his head, had led the Boko Haram faction with solid footing around the Sambisa forest and part of the Mandara Mountains bordering the Cameroon Republic.
On the other hand, Al-Barnawi sustained vicious attacks especially on military facilities and troops in the Lake Chad region while at the same time strategising on how to subdue Shekau.
He controlled large swathes of territory in Northern Borno, imposed taxes on the local population and earned serious income from fishing asides from the financial and material support he got from ISIS.
Al-Barnawi’s fighters had also destroyed many military super camps in Dikwa, Monguno, Abadam and Marte in Borno; and other military facilities around Geidam in Yobe State.
He equally established many cells on the Lake Chad islands and surrounding villages from where his fighters launched attacks on Nigeria, Niger and Chad. His death in August, after that of Shekau in May 2021, was seen as a turning point in the war against terror even as security experts had called for sustained offensive towards decimating the two rival groups to have a lasting peace after twelve years of uncertainty and carnage.
They said despite the massive surrender by Boko Haram fighters, nothing should be taken for a ride because there are many fighters who still believe in the course they are pursuing and could recover lost grounds if they get the slightest opportunity.
He had in an audio released in Kanuri language confirmed the death of Shekau and the triumph of his faction.
