INTERNATIONAL NEWS SYNDICATE

BY NEWS DESK  MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — The Borno State chapter of the National Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers Employers of Nigeria, popularly known asq AJAKUTA, has distanced itself from claims made by its national leadership and some individuals regarding the state government’s recent decision on scrap scavenging. The associqwqation declared its support for Governor Babagana Umara Zulum’s reforms, describing the decision as a positive step towards restoring members’ livelihoods and regulating scrap-related activities in the state. The state chairman, Umar Usman, stated the association’s position on Wednesday during a courtesy visit to Nasiru Ali Surundi, chairman of the committee reviewing the ban on metal scavenging in Borno State, in Maiduguri. “We welcome the governor’s decision in good faith and dissociate ourselves from the claims made by our national body and some individuals,” Usman said. “As law-abiding citizens, we support the state government’s effo...

By Adamu Aliyu Ngulde, Nigeria BORNO State has lost infrastructure, electrical cables and other metal assets worth billions of naira to scrap metal scavenging, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has said, defending a state-wide ban on the trade on security and economic grounds. Zulum said the losses, alongside concerns about the use of scrap metal businesses to support insecurity, prompted the government to prohibit the trade. The ban has raised questions about how authorities can protect public infrastructure and address security risks while preserving the livelihoods of people who depend on collecting and selling scrap materials. Speaking on Saturday to scrap metal operators, locally known as Ajakuta , the governor urged them to submit proposals outlining how they could continue their businesses without contributing to insecurity or damaging public assets. He said the restriction was introduced in the interest of the state, rather than to deprive legitimate oper...

By News Desk  Borno State authorities have allocated 39 of 43 reconstructed shops in the Post Office area of Maiduguri to people identified as the original occupants, the state’s Commissioner for Works and Housing, Adam Bukar Bababe, has said. Bababe made the disclosure during a live interactive programme on Al-Ansar Radio in Maiduguri, where he discussed the redevelopment of commercial areas and the allocation of shops across the city. He said the government conducted a verification exercise to establish the identities of genuine occupants of shops demolished during the redevelopment and ensure that allocations were made to people with verifiable claims. The remaining four shops, according to the commissioner, were allocated to the Borno Transport Management Agency (BOTMA), Borno Express, and associations representing tricycle and bus operators as part of efforts to reorganise the area. Bababe said the demolition and redevelopment of properties around the Post Offi...

By News Desk Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, represented by the Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Prof. Usman Tar, on Monday joined academics and other stakeholders at the University of Maiduguri for the launch and presentation of two books examining the relationship between Islam, communication, media and popular culture in Nigeria. The books, titled Communication, Media and Islam in Nigeria: A Multidisciplinary Reader and Islam and Popular Culture in Nigeria , were officially launched at an event attended by academics, government representatives, religious scholars and other stakeholders. Published in 2026, the books were edited by Dr. Ibrahim Uba Yusuf and Dr. Abdulmutalib Ado Abubakar, both of the University of Maiduguri, and Abubakar Alhaji Bukar of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The publications bring together scholarly contributions aimed at expanding knowledge and understanding of the intersection between communication, m...