The Clerk of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Ibrahim Isa Amoka and Mr. Abu O. Michael, Publisher of the Nigerianpost Newspaper, have won the 2019/2020 edition of the AREWA TRUST NEWSPAPER PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS OF PRODUCTIVITY IN AREWA (PAPA).

Hon. Ibrahim Amoka emerged the Arewa Humanitarian Service Man of the Year while Mr. Abu Micheal emerged as the Arewa Journalist of the Year.

The 2019/2020 PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS OF PRODUCTIVITY IN AREWA (PAPA) was held at the weekend, took place at the Royal Tropicana Hotel, Kano, also had Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, FNSE, mni, Governor of Borno State emerging as the Best Governor of the Year.

Similarly, Hajiya Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu the Minister of State FCT, bagged the Arewa Woman of the Year award.

The 2019/2020 edition of PAPA award was not only colourful, drew dignitaries from across the Northern States of Nigeria, was held amidst a public lecture.

Speaking after receiving the award, Hon. Ibrahim Amoka, Clerk of the Kogi State Assembly, dedicated the award to Gov. Yahaya Bello, for finding him worthy to serve, said the award would spur him in contributing more to the service of the state.

Hon. Amoka also thanked the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly for the understanding and support that has enabled him commit to the service of the State and humanity.

Also speaking, Mr. Abu Micheal, Publisher of the Nigerianpost Newspaper, described the honour of being selected as the Arewa Journalists of the year as coming as a surprise, said the award would enable him put in more efforts in the Journalism profession.

Mr. Abu assured of his unwavering and professional commitment to developmental Journalism, dedicated the award to all working Journalists in Kogi State

The Guest Speaker at the investiture, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi Kaulaha, from Borno State whose lecture titled: The way out of the insurgence in the North East, lamented the destruction the years of insurgency has done to the North.

The guest speaker who was full of regrets, said thus far, the Norrh has suffered unquantifiable losses owing to the activities of insurgents, said the time for Government and all Nigerians to rise up to the occasion and stop in the wanton destruction of a region once referred to as the Nation’s economic nerve bone cannot be over emphasised.

He advocated multi dimensional socioeconomic approaches in short and long terms towards making the once revered North to once again take its rightful place and continue to be the giant that it was in the years past.

In a welcome remarks, S. R. Audu, the Chief Operating Officer/SRA Media Ltd, publishers of Arewa Trust Newspaper, Kano said the Investiture aside serving as a platform to honour personalities that have made the North proud, was borne out of the need to proffer solutions to the challenges posed to the North by the activities of insurgents.

The Arewa Trust Newspaper is a publication of SRA MEDIA LTD, based in Kano State, Nigeria.

It was reliably gathered that the bill is currently at the committee stage in the house.

The chairman, Joint Committee of Women Affairs and Judiciary representing Igalamela Odolu State constituency, Barrister Cosmos Atabor disclosed this on Wednesday when he received the sponsor of the bill, Challenged Parenthood Initiative, (CPI), in his office.

The CPI team who were received on behalf of the committee chairman by the Deputy Clerk of the house Alfa Ndagi, were told that the Assembly is working round the clock to see that the bill is passed into law and assented to by executive arm of government.

The chairman explained further that the committee for several weeks held a technical session where salient issues about the bill were raised and the opinion of various stakeholders was judiciously considered.

Speaking further, Atabor averred that the bill is left with three processes before it will be passed to law.

He however opined that the biggest hurdles to climb is the enforcement of the bill.

Earlier, the Executive Director, Challenged Parenthood Initiative. (CPI), Eunice Abimbola Agbogun told the lawmaker that they were in his office to do a follow up on the bill after a successful public hearing and to get first hand information on the progress report of the bill.

Agbogun while lauding the Kogi State House of Assembly for writing their names in gold like many other states who had passed the bill into law pointed out that the organization and its partners has continued to received positive feedback on the important of the bill to stop domestic and other related violence in the society.

The Joint Committee of Women Affairs and Judiciary is expected to submit it report in the floor of the hallow chamber in the next couple of weeks.

It could be recalled that, twenty three out of the 36 states of the federation are yet to domesticate the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, five years after the Act was signed into law.

The VAPP Act is a law that guarantees protection of the rights of victims of all forms of sexual and gender-based violence in the country.

Fifteen out of these 23 states, representing 65 percent, are Northern states, six, representing 26 percent are in the Eastern region, while one is a South-western state, according to data collected by an organization called TechHer.

The states are; Sokoto,Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Borno, Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Niger, Nassarawa and Taraba.

Others are Kwara, Kogi, Ondo, Delta, Imo, Abia, Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom.

Only 13 states including the FCT have domesticated the Act since it was enacted five years ago.

They are Kaduna, Plateau, FCT, Benue, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ogun, Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Cross River.

Signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan on 2nd May 2015, the VAPP Act is the single law in place that transcends the criminal and penal code in guaranteeing justice and protecting the rights and properties of victims of sexual and gender-based violence across the country.

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