Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Raji Fashola, Thursday, said efforts are being made to overcome the problem of lack of infrastructure in higher institutions.

Represented by the Borno State Federal Controller of Works, Engineer Amos Tongman, during the handover ceremony of 2.5km internal roads at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), the minister said the gap of infrastructure was steadily being bridged by gradual processes of repairs, renewal, reconstruction and construction on major highways and schools.

He said there were 43 road interventions within higher institutions across the country out of which 29 were completed and 17 handed over to the institutions in 2020.

He further said 80 people were directly and indirectly employed during the construction exercise and by UMTH which contributed to the job creation initiative of the government.

The Chief Medical Director, UMTH, Professor Ahmed Ahidjo, said the manner the project was handled showed “resilience, experience, knowledge and critical thinking,” adding that the work “will bring a lot of insights into solving our road network problems.”

He also noted that the completed roads were named after prominent personalities in such a way that Ring Road was named Babatunde Raji Fashola Road, Kidney Centre to Engineering Junction named Muhammed Bukar Road, Engineering Junction to Polio Lab named Professor Jibrin Aminu Road while School of Nursing Road was named Babangida Hussaini (Walin Kazaure) Road.

The President, Students Union Government, UMTH, Hakuri Tawus, said most of the difficulties faced by students during the rainy season, including increase in transport fare by tricycle taxis, were resolved by the project.

State governments on Thursday differed on ranching for herdsmen as a solution to killings and kidnappings by herders.

Officials of Oyo, Cross River, Kogi, Enugu, Ondo and Ekiti state governments in separate interviews with The PUNCH, said their states had no plans to establish ranches for herdsmen.

But their counterparts in Zamfara and Gombe states said they had begun plans to set up ranches for herdsmen.

While Gombe State’s Director General, Press Affairs Government House, Ismaila Misilli, said the state had allocated 130 hectares of land for the project, Zamfara State Director General Media, Publicity and Enlightenment, Alhaji Yusuf Idris, said the state Ruga settlements would soon be completed.

But officials of other states described ranching as a private business, adding that interested investors should establish it.

Following increasing killings and kidnappings by herdsmen in the country, there have been renewed calls on state and federal governments to establish ranches for herdsmen.

For example, the Vice President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Sheikh Abdur’rasheed Hadiyatullahi, in an interview with journalists in Osogbo, Osun State on Thursday last week advised, governors of South-West states to consider creation of ranches before banning open grazing.

Recall that the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, had on January 18 issued a seven-day ultimatum to herdsmen to vacate the state’s forest reserves.

Although Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria initially opposed the order, after a peace meeting on January 25 involving Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Akeredolu, the cattle breeders accepted Ondo State Government’s directive.

In an interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday, the Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State governor, Taiwo Adisa, said herdsmen in the state were free to apply for land to build ranches for their livestock.

Adisa added that the state government would not establish a ranch.

Yobe State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (YSCHIMA) has commenced enrolment of 22,500 vulnerable individuals from across the state under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) scheme.

Speaking while flagging off the programme, the Executive Secretary of the agency, Dr Babagana Tijjani, explained that BHCPF was established as a principal funding vehicle to increase the fiscal space and overall financing to the health sector toward the country’s drive to achieve universal health coverage.

Dr Tijjani said the objective of the scheme, in its initial phase over the next three years, was aimed at reducing maternal mortality ratio from 576 to 400 per 100,000 live births representing 31 per cent reduction towards the attainment of the global target.

He noted that the programme would provide free healthcare access and services to the targeted group among poor and vulnerable, including pregnant women, children under 5, aged people, physically challenged and indigent.

He said the agency accessed the sum of N270 million for 2019 from the federal government to implement the scheme in the 178 political wards in Yobe State.