Yobe Government and the Biomedical Research and Training Centre (BioRTC), Damaturu, will soon embark on a community-based research project to tackle the increasing cases of kidney disease in the state.

The Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Mai Mala Buni on Media and Public Engagement, Alhaji Ibrahim Baba-Saleh, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Damaturu on Tuesday.

Baba-Saleh explained that the study, led by researchers from diverse backgrounds in the centre, was intended to tackle the prevalence of the disease in the state, particularly in communities around Yobe River.

“The research brings together a diverse team of experts, including nephrologists, cardiologists, and environmental specialists, to investigate the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle associations of kidney disease.

“The project has garnered support from international partners in the UK, USA, and Ghana as well as numerous collaborators from within Nigeria,” the governor’s aide said.

He recalled that the governor had, earlier in an interaction with the centre’s visiting scholars, urged them to deepen the research on the causes of the disease in Gashua, which is worse-hit, to enable the government to find a lasting solution to the challenge.

He further stated that the Commissioner of Health, Dr Muhammad Gana, who was at a virtual meeting with the team on Monday, said that the global cooperation the research attracted underscored its significance, and potential for positive outcome.

Baba-Saleh added that BioRTC Director, Dr Mahmood Bukar, who was also at the meeting, announced that field work would commence in Gashua in the first week of February.

He further explained that Bukar, who is also the Special Adviser to Buni on Science, Technology and Innovation, argued that the team would collect samples to gain valuable insights into the causes of kidney disease in the area.

“According to previous studies, kidney disease in Yobe is linked to various factors, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and environmental factors, such as limited access to clean water and sanitation,” Baba-Saleh quoted the director to have said.

MAP Media Africa, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has begun training of youths in the South-West on the need for their involvement in active political participation and electoral reform in the country.

The team leader of the NGO, Mayowa Adeniran, said during that the one day training in Osogbo, it was aimed at increasing youth’s active participation in political processes and electoral reform in the country.

Adeniran, who noted that the training would cut across the six states in the South-West geopolitical zone, said that the project was to mobilise, empower and engage young people for sustainable electoral participation.

He said that the NGO was training the youth by focusing on the top five “youth election reform priorities” in the country.

According to him, the reform includes; establishment of an electoral offences commission, timely transmission of election results, interpretation and amendment of continuous registration laws, pre-election petition resolutions and INEC leadership selection process reform.

“At the end of all these, we want to see how we can increase youths participation as the 2027 general elections approaching.

“The training is to stimulate conversation around electoral reform, the use of digital media to engage and the reason for the shift in voter apathy.

“The training is also to let the youth see how their participation can reduce political violence and how they can engage their fellow youths to participate in politics,” he said.

Adeniran, who noted that the training was a regional project, said it was supported by Canada Funds for Local Initiatives (CFLI).

He also said that the youth were expected to train other youths at their various senatorial districts.

Also speaking, Mrs Bunmi Eyelade, South-West Director of programmes, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), an NGO, said that the training was to encourage the youth to continue to participate in electoral processes and its reform.

“We know that at this point, the young people are disillusioned about elections in country, considering what happened in 2023 general elections and thereafter.

“This training, however, is expected to encourage the young ones to see reasons why they need to take active participation in electoral processes for a positive change,” she said.

Some of the participants commended the NGO for the initiative, describing it as an eye opener.

A participant, Adetunji Ajala, Chairman of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) in Osun, said that the training had deepened his understanding on how things should be done in electoral processes in the country.

Ajala, who commended the NGO for identifying with the relevant youth stakeholders in the state, said that they would stepdown the training at their various senatorial districts.

Mr Aghanti Smith, the General-Secretary of Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities in Osun, said the youth must be ready to take active participation in politics to ensure a better Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants drawn from the three senatorial districts in the state were taught on importance of electoral reform advocacy, role of youth-led movements and organisations in promoting political participation, among others.

An Area Court in Jos, on Tuesday, sentenced one Jeptha John, to three months imprisonment for stealing a Redmi mobile phone valued at N165, 000.

The judge, Shawomi Bokkos, sentenced the John after he pleaded guilty to the offence.

The judge, however, gave the convict an option to pay N20, 000 fine and N50, 000 restitution to the complainant.

Bokkos said that if the convict defaulted in paying the restitution, three months should be added to his sentence to make it six months imprisonment.

Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp Monday Dabit, told the court that the case was reported at the B Division Police Station, Jos, on Dec.  1, 2024, by Ms Nerat Danjuma.

He said that the complainant alleged that the defendant trespassed into her house and stole her mobile phone valued at N165, 000.

The prosecutor further told the court that the offence contravened the Plateau State Penal Code, Law of Northern Nigeria.