PAAAVART Advocated for the Use of Sport to Promote Peaceful Coexistence

 

Sport has been described as a veritable tool in the promotion of peaceful and harmonious coexistence, President of Peace Advancement, Action Against Violence and Rape Foundation Lady Vivien Abara stated this during an event organized by the NGO to marked the international day for sport and development for peace.

The event which had a theme “only together will we play and dance again” took place at Jos Museum Auditorium.

Lady Abara reiterated that sport strengthened social ties and provide sustainable development and peace as well as solidarity and respect through individual’s unique skills and collective power. She said “we can come together and share creative ways to improve our health, wellbeing, our goal and happiness through physical activities like dancing”.

She explained that in celebrating this year event dancing was added because, the foundation was unable to carry out the normal sporting activities because of the restriction put in place due to the Covid 19 pandemic. “This however, provided us the opportunity to invite several other communities across board for them to come together to laugh, discuss and be friends again” she added.

Lady Abara maintained that International Day For Sport And Development For Peace 2021 looked to reaffirmed the place of sport in recovering from the pandemic and beyond, to foster equality, solidarity, communities in team spirit in response to the pandemic, encouraged healthy habit through physical activities and emotional wellbeing and inspire hope through sporting analogy, with collective efforts we aim to strengthened the peaceful coexistence of the people of this state and the country atlarge.

“As we celebrate today I called on all groups and stakeholders in the state to strive for for togetherness to building a unified block of peace, to bridge the gap across all tribes, ethnic group, culture or tribe. Let us continue to play and dance together for development and peace; let us come together and end the fight and leave as one” she noted.    

Resources persons Prince Charles Diction and Kabiru Garba Mai Akwala both said the country need genuine peace and sporting activities are a powerful driver towards harmonious coexistent and nation building.

In a goodwill message The Director General Plateau State Peace Building Agency Joseph Lengman and Matron of the Foundation Professor Patricia Lar of the Department of Microbiology University of Jos both eulogized PAAAVART for organizing the event, while calling on Nigerians to key into the initiatives.

Joseph Lengman noted that the event is very important; saying what the society need to day is social cohesion, noting that over the years the society was too divided, and to repair the fracture relationship and make sure that we understand one another, we need to come together.

He said If there is any event that can push such an agenda is this occasion where you see young people coming together to play to meet people from other religion, tribes and ethnicity this means a lot and that underscores the importance of this event.

Lengman reemphasized that everywhere in the world sport brings people together, noting that sports, arts and music create an opportunity for people to come together. 

 

Professor Patricia Lar said peace is a desire of every community and sport is needed to be organized to allowed room for interaction, saying that sport is indeed a melting point for people coming together. “Peace is a currency for every individual, we need peace to grow, it is very important for the development of our nation. Lack of peace hampers general wellbeing of individuals” she added.   

Other line-up of activities to marked the day was board games and dance competition as while as presentation of awards and certificates.

GOV. LALONG DELIVERS 11TH AREWA LECTURE, CANVASSES FOR REDUCTION IN COST OF GOVERNANCE TO FUND DEVELOPMENT

 Chairman of Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Bako Lalong says all tiers of Government in Nigeria must as a matter of urgency cut down on the high cost of Governance in order to fund critical areas of development that will address challenges of Nigerians. 

 Governor Lalong said this while delivering the 11th Annual Memorial Lecture in honour of late Sir Ahmadu Bello at the Arewa House, Kaduna. 

 Governor Lalong whose lecture was entitled "Reducing the Cost of Governance for Inclusive Growth and Youth Development in Post COVID-19 Northern Nigeria" said the high cost of governance has further increased the inability of the governments at all levels to meet the basic needs of the people. 

 He said factors such as corruption, insecurity, large number of Government appointees, high salaries, corruption, among others are among some of the factors that drive the high cost of governance in the country. He insisted that this must be addressed immediately to change the trajectory of growth in Nigeria and the North in particular. 

 Lalong said the high cost of governance has worsened the standard of living in the Northern part of the country which continues to battle with infrastructure deficit, poverty, illiteracy, culture of patronage laziness, diseases and insecurity. 

 He said the Northern Governors Forum has seriously examined the economic situation in the region and is working in unison to address the high cost of governance and other obstacles to development. 

 Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari who represented President Muhammadu Buhari said the Federal Government has continued to implement various cut-cutting measures to reduce the cost of governance and free resources for development. 

 He said so far, the results are positive and the Federal Government will work with State Governments including those of the Northern region in adopting measure that will reduce huge spending and wastages so that funds will be available for development. 

 Chairman of the occassion, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said the discourse is timely as the nation needs to prioritise its spending and get more resources towards addressing the problems of the common man.

 The Lecture was attended by many dignitaries from across the country as well as Governors from the northern region. 

 Awards were bestowed on six former Governors of the Northern region who served meritoriouly and founded the Arewa House. Among them is former Governor of Benue Plateau State, late Joseph Gomwalk.

 Dr. Makut Simon Macham 

Director of Press & Public Affairs to the Governor of Plateau State. 

27th March 2021.

 

SENATOR HEZAKIAH DIMKA ON THRESHOLD OF PLATEAU MOUNTAINS

 By Orgak Walbe

Since his inauguration as the Senator Representing Plateau Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly the positive impact of Hezakiah Dimka is undeniable been felt not only in the central zone but the state atlarge.

Working with the conventional calendar, two years might be seeming as too long for the provision of dividend of democracy to be felt, to some it is a mark of failure therefore, changes must be made regardless of whatever the situations. All of these are right in their own ways, but as in all life situations what matters most is not the beginning but the ending.

True to type, to some Senator Hezekiah might be slow at the beginning, but that should not in any way be seen as a mark of flaw or letdown because in every life accomplishment most of the actions carried out hastily never stand the test of time, therefore, it is pertinent for any right thinking person to appropriately set exceptional strategies in motion through appropriate planning.

If you failed to plan, then you have failed already and the ending will always be catastrophic; just as a vehicle a changes gears at the start with slow motion and gradually picking up speed so does any good planning and strategies.

Two years at the Senate Chamber was a period of strategizing and planning, Hezekiah Dimka larger than life image as well as his legendry simple and unassuming personality had greatly endeared him to the heart of people that had come in close contact with him.

No sooner had Senator Hezekiah Ayuba Dimka was inaugurated on the 11th June, 2019 into the red chamber to represent the cherish people of the Plateau Central Senatorial District that he embarked on vigorous appraisal of situation on ground with the aim at providing purposeful representation guided with the philosophy of peace, unity and love anchor on the moral obligation that he will never let tribalism, religion nepotism, ethnic biasness or political witch-hunt get in the way of representation.

His scorecards at the senate as seen to the bill for the establishment of the Institute of Information and Communication Technology Kanam, Bill for the upgrade of NDLEA Training Institute, Jos, advocacy and sensitization on Narcotic Drugs and rehabilitation programme, empowerment programme for 150 Youths and Women across the constituency, rural electrification project and solar power project in the senatorial district, employment of youths into federal establishments, this is just to mention a few as over 600 beneficiaries of Federal Government Survival Fund courtesy distinguished Senator Dimka receives their N30,000 grant across the five LGAS of Plateau Central with the assurance that the beneficiaries of the other categories of the Survival Fund would be verified soon and payment effected on time.

The social media propaganda against Senator Hezakiah Dimka is an exercise in futility and has failed woefully because he has proven his mettle at the upper Chamber.

His uncommon spirit of undiluted patriotism for his fatherland, coupled with his abundant philanthropic endeavors’ particularly in his home state, whom he treasured profoundly and so zealously, are indeed potent demonstrations of Distinguished Senator Hezekiah Dimka great and enduring legacies and no political or media conspiracy will take that from him.

Diket Plang's Midas Touch as Member Plateau State House of Assembly

LIST OF APPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS

 

"APC is growing and deepening its acceptability among the people"- Gov. Lalong

TALKING POINTS FOR H.E. RT. HON. (DR) SIMON BAKO LALONG, KSGG AT THE PLATEAU STATE APC STAKEHOLDERS MEETING HELD AT ON 27TH JANUARY 2020.

PROTOCOLS

1. I welcome you to this family meeting of our great party, the All Progressives Congress in Plateau State.

2. Let me first wish us all a happy new year and pray that this year will be a great year for our State, our people and our great party the APC.

3. The last time we met here, we had fruitful discussions and also fashioned out strategies on how to secure victory at the bye-election for the Southern Senatorial Seat.

4. To the glory of God, the commitment and hardwork of our party leadership and members, as well as the support of the electorate, the APC emerged victorious by defeating our opponents with a clear margin.

5. Let me therefore congratulate our brand new Senator, Distinguished Senator (Professor) Nora Dadu’ut on this well-deserved victory and for being the first woman from Plateau State and one of the few in the country to seat in the Red Chambers of the National Assembly.

6. I also thank and congratulate the party leadership led by Chief Letep Dabang and the Campaign Council led by Senator Victor Lar as well as all our party structure throughout the Southern Zone who mobilised our people to victory.

7. This is evidence that our party the APC is growing and deepening its acceptability among the people of Plateau State. We have to continue to build on this trajectory.

8. As an APC led Government, our administration has continued to implement the blueprint of our party despite the harsh economic realities that came up as a result of the Corona virus pandemic and economic recession.

9. Our three point policy of peace security and good governance, infrastructural development and sustainable economic rebirth is very much on course.

10. We have continued to complete abandoned projects that we inherited as well as those we initiated across the State. These cut across health, education, security, infrastructure, social development and the economy. 

11. In health for instance, the abandoned hospitals in Riyom, Kanke, Mabudi are almost completed while ongoing ones including the Lalong Legacy Projects are at various stages of completion. We are building a Teaching Hospital in Shendam to serve the new faculty of health sciences soon to take off at the Plateau State University Bokkos.

12. Apart from establishing the Plateau Contributory Health Insurance Scheme, we recently recruited more health workers including doctors to ensure that our people get access to quality, affordable and timely healthcare.

13. The same is happening in the education sector where we are building and upgrading more schools both under the legacy projects, SUBEB and SDGs. Our tertiary institutions are also receiving attention as we are making them better. 

14. Apart from providing funds for on-going road projects, we recently re-awarded contracts for Tahoss/Ganawuri road, Mangu by-pass road, Shinkwan/Tunkus/ Shendam bye pass road as well as the rehabilitation of Kwande Byen-Byen Road.

15. In the area of security, we have commenced the implementation of the Community Policing with the training and deployment of the first batch of 592 constables. We have reinvigorated the Operation Rainbow and also provided more support to security agencies for better performance.

16. To address the ugly cases of kidnapping, land grabbing, cultism and other violent crimes, we passed and signed into law the bill that provides death sentence for anyone convicted of kidnapping in Plateau State. We are waiting to make an example and I am ready to sign the death warrant for anyone convicted.

17. We have equally pushed on with our human capital development initiative to train, empower and re-orientate our citizens towards entrepreneurship, job creation and independence. Thousands of youths and women have been trained and empowered by PLASMIDA with support from the ITF on various skills.

18. We have kept faith with the regular payment of salaries despite the economic crunch and have also gone ahead to implement the new minimum wage for workers. 

19. We are taking a bold and historic step to settle the issue of pension, gratuity, death benefits and other liabilities of our retired civil servants through a partnership with some financial institutions. This we hope to implement with the issuance of promissory notes to willing beneficiaries. Of course when the discussions are concluded, the initiative will be totally voluntary and there will be no compulsion.

20. I have taken time to highlight these among many of our achievements because of the propaganda by our detractors and the opposition who are bent on discrediting our good work. As members of the APC, it is our collective responsibility to project our achievements wherever we find ourselves.

21. As we set out to revalidate and register more members into our party, we should realise that it is our works that we speak for us and that our opponents will naturally stage their propaganda to try to dissuade people from registering. The people of Plateau State know where we took over from the PDP and the difference we have made. There is substantial peace and more visitors and investors are coming into the State.

22. We have to consolidate on these gains and draw in more people into our party during this exercise. Let us not allow our individual interests and ambitions to interfere with the process as clear guidelines have been set out by the national leadership of our party for a smooth exercise. 

23. As stakeholders, we must show good conduct and lead by example to deny out opponents any window of distraction.

24. I wish to draw our attention to the ravaging impact of Covid 19 particularly in this second wave. As at today, we have lost about 53 people to the disease in Plateau State including VIPs. Myself, the Party Chairman and many of us seated here are victims who were lucky to survive. 

25. Let us please talk to our followers to observe the protocols and also show an example to them. The rate of infection is growing and we cannot afford another lockdown.

26. Finally, I wish to commend some of our members who got appointed into various positions at the Federal and pray that more of those appointments will come. 

27. Thank you and God bless Plateau State and our great party, the APC.

Rt. Hon. (Dr) Simon Bako Lalong, KSGG

Executive Governor, Plateau State.

27th January 2021.

NORTHERN GOVERNORS WELCOME APPOINTMENT OF NEW SERVICE CHIEFS

The Northern Governors Forum has welcomed the appointment of new Service Chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari and also commended the outgone Service Chiefs for giving their best in the service of the nation. 

Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Plateau State Simon Bako Lalong in a statement commended the President for taking the decision and asked the new Service Chiefs to put in their best not only to meet the expectations of the Commander-in-Chief, but also that of Nigerians who have high expectations for enhanced security and safety of lives and properties. 

He charged them to build on the successes of their predecessors and also learn from their challenges in order to address the lingering problems of terrorism, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes that the nation has been battling to contain. 

Lalong assured the Service Chiefs of the support and collaboration of the Northern Governors Forum in addressing insecurity in the region and the nation as a whole in order to enable the citizens pursue their legitimate businesses without any hindrance. 

He appealed to Nigerians to support and pray for the new Service Chiefs as they provide leadership for the patriotic officers and men of the Armed Forces to put up a final onslaught against protracted security challenges. 

Governor Lalong also thanked the former Service Chiefs for their courage, sacrifices and commitment to protecting Nigeria's territotial integrity and dealing with internal threats during their stewardship, and wished them well in their future endeavours. 

Dr. Makut Simon Macham 

Director of Press & Public Affairs to the Governor of Plateau State and Chairman Northern Governor's Forum. 

27th January 2020.