Kano State is witnessing a decline in the spread of COVID-19 cases, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has said.
He thanked the Almighty Allah for the decline, even as he appreciated the unrelenting commitment of the frontline health workers, media men, traditional and religious leaders among other stakeholders.
Ganduje spoke during the State Task Force Media Briefing, held at Africa House, Government House, Kano, on Wednesday
The Deputy Governor, who is the Chairman of the state Task force, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, Secretary to the State Government Commissioners, Co-Chairman of the state Task Force, Prof. Abdurrazak Garba Habib, Special Envoy of the Minister of Health on COVID-19 to Kano, Prof Abdussalam Nasidi, among others, were at the event.
“Though we are aware that there is no definite time for the pandemic to leave us completely, but the success story for all of us here is, we are witnessing a decline in the spread of the disease in Kano state,” Ganduje said.
“While we should learn to always optimise our compliance with the protocols, we also understand that there are areas that we must strengthen our strategies towards them. Areas like community engagement, is absolutely necessary,” he added.
He urged that cooperation is direly needed from the public. “We understand that face mask wearing has not gone down to grassroots. So we are producing more Masks through our local tailors, that will help in getting them to grassroots.”
On the Almajiri system, Governor Ganduje insisted that the system must be remodelled to comply with the state free and compulsory primary and secondary schools education policy.
Lamenting that some of those Almajiri were even crying to be taken to their parents, he added that, “Those of them that were Kano indigenes and brought from other states, are being quarantined. Those that are found negative for COVID-19 we take them to their parents. While those that are positive we take them to Isolation Centre.”
He vowed that all children either Almajiri or non-Almajiri must be in school. “We also said whoever insists to run Almajiris school he must follow the guidelines we put in place for running an Almajiri school. Parts of the guidelines include, that, school must have a curriculum which must integrate conventional fields of study, like English, Mathematics and Craft training.”
Other guidelines, he listed are “…teachers must provide pupils with decent accommodation, good feeding system, they must have qualified teachers, there must be a system of evaluation and control, like quality assurance and there must be system of examination among other guidelines.”
Governor clarified that, the process was not meant to strip Almajiri teachers off their tutorship, but to further incorporate them into the mainstream teaching program of their pupils with new set of mentoring system, as teachers.
“Some of those Alarammas (Almajiri Teachers) are being employed and we are going to use them in the schools we are commissioning specifically for Almajiris. We are therefore calling on others to come forward and be recruited to teach in those schools,” governor reveals.
Giving details on the Almajiri relocation to their states of indigene, at the media briefing, the Chairman of the Committee saddled with that responsibility, the state Commissioner for Local Governments, Murtala Garo, reveals the distribution of Almajiri in terms of those taken to their states of origin and those received by the state from other states.
Garo said “Your Excellency we took 419 Almajiris to Katsina state, 524 to Jigawa state, 155 to Kaduna state, 38 to Bauchi state and 36 to Gombe state. While we received 179 Almajiris from Adamawa state, 220 from Nassarawa state, 96 from Gombe state, 18 from Katsina, 92 from Kaduna state.”
Adding that, “Out of the 1,146 Almajiris who were tested for COVID-19, 28 of them were tested positive. While 311 were identified with other illnesses like fever, malaria, stomach pain among others. And also over 1,000 Almajiris were arrested roaming about the streets in the metropolis.”
Garo further discloses that, 723 Almajiris, who are indigenes of Kano state, that were brought to the state, have been taken to their parents, “… and they would be the automatic students/pupils of our new schools designed to for them,” he said.
In his remarks the Chairman of the Task Force, Deputy Governor Dr Gawuna, disclosed the new organogram of the Task Force, detailing that, “Your Excellency the Co-Chair Prof Abdulrazaq Garba Habib, is now the Deputy Chairman Technical, Commissioner of Health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, is now the Deputy Chairman, Operations and Dr Tijjani Hussaini is the Technical Team Coordinator.”
He commended the frontline health workers and journalists, whom he described as “…another set of frontline professionals. We are grateful that journalists are giving their best in disseminating accurate information in the fight against the pandemic. We also commend our traditional rulers, other community leaders, civil society groups among others.”
Abba Anwar
Chief Press Secretary
