Agency Report
By Muhammad Tijjani
An empowerment group, Old Panteka Development Association, says it has trained no fewer than 600,000 youth in Kaduna State on various trades since its establishment in 1970.
The Chairman of the association, Alhaji Suleiman Shehu, stated this during an advocacy on voter education convened by Kaduna Progressives Group, on Saturday in Kaduna.
Shehu said the youth were trained on carpentry, welding, painting, roofing, plumbing, electrical work and other trades.
According to him, the Panteka market is an industry in itself with 38 sections, each engaged in different trades.
"We produce so many things that people buy from abroad, we train and retrain the youths.
"Our market has been supporting government programmes and we have members across Kaduna state running businesses and earning a living.
"In panteka we have graduates from all over the state and those still going to school.
"We have collaborated with Kaduna Polytechnic on skills acquisition.
"Currently, government is in the process of intevening through SMEDAN to give us some machines that will assist us," he added.
He also said that the Chairman of Kaduna South Local Government, Alhaji Kabiru Jarimi, had allocated a piece of land to the association to enhance its empowerment activities.
"Prof Idris Bugaje, the then Rector of Kaduna Polytechnic selected 20 people from panteka market for quality assurance training which was concluded and they have started monitoring of our products.
"Today from panteka youth can be certified on various trades because of our collaboration with Kaduna polytechnic.
"Our hope is that in future, we will build hostels to accommodate trainees and students on internship, attending our skills acquisition programmes," Shehu said.
On voters registration, the Chairman said that the association has been mobilising its members to obtain the permanent voters card.
He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC) to set up voters registration unit to register eligible voters working in the market.
Malam Murtala Usman, the association's Welfare Officers, said they had also began the Almajiri skills acquisition training, to empower the almajiri school pupils with skills to be self-reliant.
He added that Panteka market is also a research centre on small and medium scale enterprises.
The Chairman, Kaduna progressive group, Dr Bashir Ibrahim, said that the market, which has more than 4, 000 shops and 50,000 registered members, contributes greatly to the economic development of Kaduna state.
"Our coming today is to seek for your support on creating awareness on voters registration and general support in all our activities," Ibrahim added.
Don't fall for social media drama, wait for your time, Melaye advises Obi
Melaye said even though Obi has the potential to be president of Nigeria, the time isn't yet ripe for him to actualise such ambition.
A former lawmaker representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, has asked the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to bide his time before having a go at the Nigerian presidency.
Melaye's appeal was contained in a video clip shared of his Facebook page on Friday, July 1, 2022.
The former lawmaker admitted that Obi was indeed a good product, but argued that the time was not right for him to actualise his presidential ambition, adding that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is a better fit for purpose.
he said, “By the grace of God he (Obi) has the potential of being the president in the nearest future. I celebrate you and I celebrate your movement for a new Nigeria. While I celebrate you, I want to advise you that your time is not now. You have to wait for your time.
“I have listened to your postulations, arguments, deliveries, and campaigns and I can say 90 percent of your campaigns are dwelling on reducing the cost of governance.
“You are a great Nigerian and I salute your political and intellectual sagacity. You are one Nigerian that I know that tomorrow, there’s a space for you. But for today, let us forget the social media drama and Diaspora euphoria.
“The truth of the matter is that we need a unifier and a Nigerian than can solve the problem of insecurity and that will have intel from every security facet of our national life. We need a Nigerian that will get intel from Cameroon, Mali, Chad, Benin Republic and others.
“We need a Nigerian that has that capacity to solve the problem of Boko Haram, bandits, and others because he has intel from all the neighboring countries and that Nigerian today is Atiku Abubakar,” Melaye said.
Obi is one of the frontline candidates ahead of the 2023 presidential election owing to his growing popularity in the southern part of the country, as well as his strong followership on social media.
Meanwhile, Obi and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, are currently in talks to form a coalition that will give the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP a run for their money.
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