• President mourns chief Imam of Katsina
Gyang Bere, Jos, Agaju Madugba, Katsina, Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong has expressed optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari will navigate Nigeria out of its present quagmire.
Lalong, in a statement issued in Jos, yesterday, through Commissioner for information and Communication, Yakubu Dati, urged citizens to translate the love showered on him at his 55th birthday for the consolidation of peace in the state and beyond.
He challenged Plateau citizens to always be their brother’s keepers, be patriotic and submit themselves to the ideals of nation building.
Lalong said he is humbled by goodwill messages through different channels and pledged to improve on quality service delivery to people of the State within available resources.
The governor, who called for support for President Muhammadu Buhari assures that the president will navigate the country out of its present difficulties.
The Commissioner said Lalong deliberatedly kept his birthdays low keyed in line with his humble disposition.
A group of a women from seven states in the North, under the auspices of North West Women Movement for Buhari, converged on the Katsina Polo grounds at the weekend, to canvass support for the president’s bid for second term in office.
They also argued that the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors from the area equally deserve reelection citing what they referred to as their achievements within the period of the years at the helm of affairs in their various states.
Minster of Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Jummai AIhasan, who was represented by wife of former Governor of Kogi State, Ambassador Aisha Abubakar Audu, hailed the women for the large turn-out at the rally.
“This is a clear demonstration of the women support support for the APC-led government,” she noted.
In her address, wife of Katsina State Governor, Hajiya Hadiza Masari said: “Women have reaped so much dividends of democracy courtesy of APC-led administration, hence, our resolve to canvass support for the candidature of of President Muhammadu Buhari next year’s elections.”
She described the rally as another landmark in the political history of Nigeria, saying the current administration will continue to identify with issues related to women empowerment and development.
Some other prominent women who also addressed the rally included wife of Katsina State Deputy Governor, Hajiya Mariya Mannir Yakubu, wife of Kebbi State Deputy Governor, Hajiya Halima Samaila, who equally launched empowerment packages disbursed to about 3000 women in Katsina State.
Meanwhile, President Buhari has condoled the government and people of Katsina State over the passage of the Chief Imam of Katsina Juma’at Mosque, Malam Liman Lawal yesterday.
He said Liman, who passed on at the age of 95 years, lived a pious, worthy and highly recommendable life that will be remembered by posterity
The president urged Muslims in the state to immortalise him by living the virtues of love, peace and neighbourliness he lived and propagated.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement said, Buhari joined the Katsina Emirate, the immediate and extended family of the cleric, his associates and all Muslims in the state in mourning the cerebral religious leader, who spent his days praying and teaching values and precepts of the Quran.