Ahmed Dodo: …And Death stole my Mother

Ahmed Dodo: …And Death stole my Mother:   By Ahmed Dodo    Death stole into my life on the 10 th , April, 2024 in its habitual unannounced nature and cogently stole my MOTHER a...

…And Death stole my Mother

 

By Ahmed Dodo

 

 Death stole into my life on the 10^th, April, 2024 in its habitual unannounced nature and cogently stole my MOTHER away. On this unforgettable day, I lost my most precious and unquantifiable jewel at the time Muslims across the world were celebrating the Eid-el-fitri (Small Sallah) after the holy month of Ramadan.  Her death was painful, but my solace in Almighty Allah as the owner and giver of everything under the sun reinforced my faith, cheered up my broken heart  and spurred  me  more into submission to the power of the creator who always decides when and where it will always Be!.

 

My mother Malama Hauwawu  Aliyu  Umar was God’s light in my life. She was the full space that occupied all my striving and all the vanity treasure I ever owned, dream to own and planned to own. She was the positive element that daily spurred me to go forward and the soft voice that always propelled me to be patient and be kind. She was the ray that always shines brightly whenever darkness displayed its gloomy face on my path. She was the impenetrable pillar that held us together as a family. She was the most faithful human being around me and the most unshakable patient woman I have ever seen.  She fought her obstacles and challenges gallantly and was blunt. She showered me with blessings and extended same to family and friends. She was that human that never pressured me into doing anything in life. She gave me freedom and unquantifiable love and affection and showed me how to epitomize respect over fear.

 My mother taught me so many things that would be too long to reveal in this tribute.  But among some of this wisdom of life was the important need to be patient, forgiving, faithful and loyal in my dealings. She taught and showed me why to always pay evil with good.  She equally taught me how to be fashionable and proud of myself and be bold in confronting every negative element around me. And to always stay firm against all the conflicts of life. She smiled and taught me how to smile against any force that tried to steal my joy.  She drummed love into my ears and whispered generosity into my heart.  

 My mother was the reason I could read and write today. She was the one who insisted and sacrificed that I must go school. She was the woman who escorted me to primary school and persisted that her son should be enrolled despite the fact that I was then too small to be enrolled.  She had pleaded in her jovial manner to the headmaster that he should give her  ‘small boy’ a chance to prove to him that I could also do all the things the registered pupils could do perfectly without being a nuisance to the school. And I proved her right that day by the grace of God.

 I could still remember the very moment she took me to Bata Shoes to buy me my first brown Cortina sandals, white socks and the famous Green Beret.   I recollect when she brought me my water jug and my school box.   I recall all the educational exercise books and textbooks she went to all length to ensure I had in my school box, including my slate. Not forgetting all the pencils, cleaners, sharpeners and crayons she ensured I never lacked among my mates despite her low income.  Her focus and generosity in  my schooling extended  forward into my secondary school where she dished out more of her sacrifices  with numerous  words of encouragement  and  all the necessary tools and foods that sustained me both as a day and boarding  student.  She refused to give up her contribution as I entered higher institution ensuring that her positive words and generous heart stamped their presence around me. I now realized that I never gave her an inch of all she gave to me nor did I surpass all her sacrifices with all my education, knowledge and all the vanity and illusive things I ever owned and still owing alive. .

 I saw nothing but an empty space around me the very moment my younger ones called to inform me about the departure of ‘Mama’ on that inevitable journey to the land of the dead. That mysterious land where we must all embark  on one day no matter our statue, position and class in life. Nothing means anything to me any longer. I see and feel so empty without my dear mother.  I now see nothing but an empty space around me as everything now turns to nothing across my view but dust and sand.

 Death has finally punched me hard on the face and inflicted the deepest cut in my heart. But my solace in God in whose Hands belong everything that dwells in heaven and on earth still stands as the strongest pillar around me and on this I have placed my fate.  And I have also resolved to  adore my heart  with that smile my mother taught me to  always wear  against any force that tried to steal my joy. On this premise I succumb and on this resolve I  will continue to live till my own time beckons to depart on the inevitable journey  of  death whenever Allah wills it to Be! 

  I pray that Almighty Allah gives us her children, Dauda, Abu big, Mudi, Amina and Abu small the fortitude to bear this irreversible loss and munificently grant our mother the sweetest abode in Aljanna Firdausi.

 

    

 

 

 

 

ACO Nigeria sets to provide Solution to Nigerian energy sector

 

 

By Bashir Bello, Abuja. 

 

The ACO Nigeria, a solar energy company based in Nigeria has announced its plan to provide energy solution to the Nigerian energy sector. This was disclosed by Mr. Ayman Azzam, the Nigeria country Manager, in an exclusive interview in Abuja. The company which has been providing solar energy to millions of people around the world said it is set to provide world standard energy solution to Nigeria as well.

 

According to him ACO Nigeria has the exclusive partnership with Suntech panels one of the biggest brands in solar panels in the world and has been doing this for more than 10 years. 

 

The company which is an expansion of ACO Egypt and ACO Sudan is set to provide services and solution to various sectors in the country, especially to government sector, business sector as well as residential sector. He said one of their major lines is to supply solar panels and developing the project.  The company he added has the capacity to provide solutions to engendering problems through their engineering department that can provide solution in small, medium and large scale projects. Speaking on the dinner recently held by the company at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja, the country manager revealed that the occasion was to formally announced the takeoff of the company in Nigeria and also announced their programs and activities as well. He said the ACO Nigeria has been in existence for a long but was new in Nigeria and was now prepared and ready to operate in country. He said the company was in partnership with some Nigeria companies and also has some group of Nigerian partners as well as individuals in different business sectors. The company he further announced was ready to work with everybody and is open for corporation.

 

Finally, he revealed that the company was also making partnership with JAIZ bank to provide financial solutions, according to him.

 

 ‘’ As you know the initial capital for our kind of projects is high compare to other energy sectors like diesel generator and others . The major obstacle to having our kind of energy solution is usually the initial capital. So we are making partnering with JAIZ bank to provide us with financial solutions to  most of our projects.’ He said.’

 

Nigeria a BETRAYED Nation

Who Betrayed Nigeria?
The Nigerian nation no doubt is one of the naturally endowed nations under the sun with vast concentrations of anything made by God. It’s been 58 years since the British colonist packed their baggage, filled with their culture, ideologies and vision out of the rich black nation. They left the heterogeneous country in the hands and tricks of the people. But something glaring seemed to have bedeviled Nigeria since then – underdevelopment in all facets of the country’s socio-economic and political structure. Who betrayed this giant and still holding it to ransom despite its size, strength and strive?
Could it be the under listed?
•The Nigerian bogey politicians and their bogey policies and visions?
•The Nigerian judiciary and their arbitrary segregated and discriminatory laws?
•The self-centered and self-fortified Nigerian elites and their returnees of offspring and stooges?
•The colonist, the capitalist and the new modern invaders?
•The politicized Nigerian army, its dented images and bullied frame?
•The corruption infested Nigerian police, its unprofessionalism and its neglected personnel?
•The Nigerian religious society and its unparallel congregation of pastors, reverends, bishops, imams, sheiks and mallams?
•The large number of Nigerian Diasporas, the brain drains and their unpatriotic abandonment of their fatherland?
•The large redundant Nigerian Civil Servants and their money induced service and unpatriotic annual strikes?
•The Nigerian Academia and their blight vision of money propel ivory towers and battle grounds for unpatriotic annual strikes?
•The Nigerian Journalists, the doctors, lawyers, writers, traders, artisans and the elderly, including those with disabilities and the ‘lazy’ Nigerian youth?

Nigeria the hitherto prosperous nation is a betrayed nation today trying to stand back on its feet as the furious rage of terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, banditry and ritualism unleashed their poisonous fangs on the country and its people. Their mission no doubt is to cripple the rich nation by all means.
Could the above listed group have anything to do with it? Well, the decision is yours as the readers...

https://okadabooks.com/book/about/nigeria_a_betrayed_nation/26743

Ahmed Dodo: Ahmed Bobboi: the Man who changed the Face of PEF

Ahmed Dodo: Ahmed Bobboi: the Man who changed the Face of PEF: ‘’The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.’’ -- Brandon...

Ahmed Bobboi: the Man who changed the Face of PEF

‘’The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.’’ -- Brandon Sanderson

By Ahmed Ali

Among the first positive things Ahmed Bobboi did when he took over the mantle of leadership at the Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) was to introduce a staff posting and deployment policy, the first of its kind in the history of PEF. It was a sign that the Petroleum Equalization Fund was into a new dawn.

Not many people, even among the staff envisioned the remarkable positive change that was to take over the running of affairs of this important government agency when President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Ahmed Bobboi as the Executive Secretary of Petroleum Equalization Fund (Management) Board in October 2016.

Although many who worked with him or have came in contact with the unassuming public servant described him as a man full with ideas and very passionate in doing his job. Ahmed Bobboi no doubt has etched his name in golden ink in the history of Nigerian petroleum management within the short time he took over an organization set up in the 1970’s to ensure uniform pricing regime of petroleum products across the country and its distribution.

 Most critics would agreed that the Bobboi led management effectively checkmated the hitherto scarcity of petroleum products and also efficiently ensured that the products get across the country as of when due. One glaring fact was that the Ahmed Bobboi led management stepped into the murky water of Nigerian oil and gas sector and made a tremendous impact in an agency that was facing a myriad of challenges. It is therefore logical to commend him going by the unprecedented achievements he has made just within one year in office. Among some of his achievements is the patriotic zeal at which he has been able to breakdown nepotism and favoritism the two degrading factors that had previously held down the wheels of the agency which has now been stabilized with his collective policy direction. The current giant stride being experienced today since the past four decades when PEF was established is as a result of this new visionary and nationalist approach by the Bobbi led management.

His unique staff posing and deployment policy has refocused PEF in as much that the staff now works in harmony as team players with refocused energies and a mindset blended with patriotic and nationalist focus.  The workforce is now more vibrant and skillful as they are constantly transferred to various departments in the agency to build up their skill and capacity.

It is also commendable to note how the Ahmed Bobboi led team have effectively improved and deployed Information Technology ( IT)  in the daily operations of PEF and the remarkable achievement recorded so far. Top on the list is the automation of the 130 locations of PEF operations at various depots and tank farms to deliver services at the best minimum cost.

Again, the fund synergy with various stakeholders and other government agency like the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is yielding fruitful results. Commendable is the innovative idea to develop software that will make it possible for PEF to ascertain the quantity of products available in ships, tank farms, depots, trucks, pipelines and outlets. Also worth mentioning is the idea by his management to implement transportation of petroleum products across the country through the rail, and already a task force is already in the peak of working out the logistic for a smooth take-off targeted at early 2019. It is reported that Ahmed Bobboi who is vigorously driving the process has given the task force all the necessary support and order to ensure that the take-off deadline was met.

 The current operations by PEF with its efficient IT arrangement have made payment easier to marketers and more credible. Payments and allowance are now being remitted regularly.    It is equally important to mention and commend his focus on staff development and training which are two important elements Ahmed Bobboi has so far deployed in his managerial proficiency. He has used these important factors to uplift the staff confidence and also brought out the best in them which in turn resulted in the current stable distribution and deployment of petroleum products being experienced by Nigerians across the country.

No doubt that the President Muhammadu  Buhari led administration rightly placed the right peck in the right hole when it appointed Ahmed Bobboi  to steer the ship of this cumbersome agency and so far the administration’s change agenda, including Nigerians are benefiting tremendously from his effective managerial skills and vision as he boldly steers the country petroleum fund towards prosperity.

Copyright SEE Magazine 2019

Abbas Idriss: The Quintessential Disaster Manager

‘’It is always pleasant to be urged to do something on the ground that one can do it well.’’

-George Santayana 

Photo: Top, Alhaji Abbas Idriss , DG,FEMA Bottom: Vice President  Osinbanjo, middle, FCT Minister  Muhammed Bello , left & Abbas Idriss

By Ahmed Dodo

In an interview he granted SEE Magazine few years ago, Alhaji Abbas Idriss, the Director General of the FCT Emergency Agency (FEMA), made a statement that has remain indebted in my conscious.  Responding to a question on an initiative he was credited to have mused as a professional disaster manager on the need to have a Local Emergency Management Committee with a strong grassroots footing, he said:

‘’ The general belief and emphasis is that emergency management cannot be done by this single agency and it must involve everybody and for you to really meet the requirement and get proper results , you need to go deep down the grassroots. That is the reason why the idea of having Local Emergency Management Committee came to the fore. We believe they are the first respondents. We decided to implement and create Local Emergency Management Committee, so that they can be near the people and also respond before our arrival.’’ He went further to explained, ‘’ You can agree with me that before you fly or go by road to fight an emergency, definitely there would have been some number of casualties before your arrival. But once you have some people trained and stationed there to manage such incidence, you would have fewer casualties.’’

These were the words of this insightful disaster manager whose foray into disaster management in Nigeria has been acknowledged not only in the country, but globally, for his efficiency and effective management of emergency situations as the Director General of the FCT Emergency Mnagement Agency (FEMA). His approach to disaster management is acknowledge as one of the best initiatives in disaster management in the country, given the fact that he has always been proactive in his style and always on ground to fight an tame many of the emergency situations that had threatened the Federal Capital Territory since his appointment.

Abbas Idriss and his team have been noted to always be the first on ground in most of these life threatening scenes. He and his team held the record of being the first government agency to arrive the scene of the deadly EMAB shopping plaza bomb blast that occurred in Abuja few years ago. He was equally on ground with his team at the scene of the Four-Storey building that collapsed in Jabi recently.  His Search and Rescue Team was also on ground to search for the drowned body of a boy drowned in Orozo River, when 12 children went to swim in the river and two of them were drowned. The FEMA team was also conspicuous at the famous Mpape and Maitama earth tremor that occurred not quite long in the territory.

Writing about some of the Director General’s achievements and proactive involvement in disaster management in the country would take much space in this article, but all the same, I think it is logical to enumerate some of his vision and accomplishment as the pioneer Director General of FEMA and equally commend him for a job well done.

One quality that has glued to Abbas Idriss like a second skin is his penchant for always being proactive in his reasoning and actions; part of the reason why FEMA under his care proactively moved to save markets and other structures in the FCT from fire disasters by creating a special Fire Marshal, the first of its kind in the country.

A man who is known to speak his mind frankly, he had during one of his interviews with newsmen emphasized the need for a full implementation and enforcement of laws regulating markets in the territory. He pointed out that markets were susceptible to fire outbreaks because laws were not respected. A clear statement that is visible in most of the markets in the country.

Another attribute of the Director General of FEMA is his public enlightenment drive on emergency management. His zeal to ensure that people are enlighten and informed quickly in emergency situation, by setting up call centres, and giving out safety tips on radio, the social media and other arms of information dissemination is commendable. His public enlightenment drive has been acknowledged as a source of relief to residents of the FCT, who are gradually imbibing Safety Culture by limiting their domestic and environment risks factors.

A case in point was the recent news of earth tremor in Mpape, and Maitama Districts of the FCT. The news came as a shock to many residences of the capital city and across the country, creating a tensed fear among the people. But Abbas Idriss, as the Director General of FEMA, had quickly and professional rise up to the task by quickly dousing off the fear of Nigerians and indeed the world by stating why the tremor occurred. According to him, ‘’ the tremor was caused by sudden breaks along a fault line, resulting in sudden release of energy that makes the ground shake.’’  He pointed out that rock blasting and mining activities in an area could result in the underground rocks to experience stress. He then calmed many nerves by urging the public to remain calm and not to panic by the development. He further assured Nigerians that the likelihood of any earthquake in the country was low as Nigeria is not in an earthquake zone. His agency also patriotically issued safety tips for the public to follow in the event of continued occurrence of tremor.

Abbas Idriss and his agency has also been active and contributed to ease the plights of the various Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country. The displacement of these Nigerians caused by communal clash and the restive situation in the North-East led most of them to take refuge in Kwali, and Abaji Area councils in the FCT. And as usual with his character, the DG and his vigorous team  were on ground to ensure that the refuges were properly fed and secured in suitable accommodation, with  assurance that the IDPs would be repatriated, hopefully to their communities of origin, in line with international law which stipulates that reparation should be ‘’to place of choice, voluntary and dignified.’’

So it was no surprise that this quintessential disaster guru was recently awarded Fellow of The Risk Managers Society of Nigeria (RISCON), this in recognition of his contribution to risk management and  as a pioneer who has shown and led the way in disaster management  and equally brought some innovation to disaster supervision in the country.

It is the believe of this writer that Nigeria need more of Abbas Idriss professionalism and innovation in disaster management not only in the FCT, but equally at the national level, where his proficiency would benefit all Nigerians across the country. Tackling disaster as he rightly pointed out need to be proactive, and who better to tame this monster than a man whose ideas and innovations have helped curtained and averted many disasters in the nation’s rich capital.

Ahmed Dodo, is the Editor-In-Chief, SEE Magazine