By Suleiman Yakubu

Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has called on the Northern States to return to agriculture as a sure means to food security in the country.
The governor made the call in an interview shortly after the turbanning of Sen. Halliru Dauda Jika as Dokajin Bauchi.
Nine other personalities were conferred with traditional titles, including the governor, Shaban Bauchi, by the Emir, Alh Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu.
He said agriculture was the mainstay of Nigeria's economy before the advent of crude oil and stressed that the northern region was blessed with vast arable land and natural resources enough to feed the nation and even export.
According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mal Bologi Ibrahim, Governor Bago said Niger State has already taken the lead in terms of mechanised agriculture, calling on other states to follow suit.
The farmer governor disclosed that the state was considering a partnership with the Bauchi State government on agriculture extension services and livestock.
He said both states have many things in common; hence, the collaboration would be effective and result-oriented.
Governor Bago appreciated the Emir of Bauchi and Chairman Bauchi State Coumcil of Chiefs, Alh. Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu, for the traditional title he conferred on him while congratulating his friend Sen. Dauda Jika and nine others who were turbanned.
He urged them to support the emir in strengthening, preserving, and promoting their rich cultural heritage.
The Bauchi State Governor, Sen. Bala Mohammed, commended the Emir for his purposeful leadership style geared towards uniting not only his subjects but all the people of the state.
He congratulated those who were turbanned and charged them to do their best to uplift the traditional institutions in the state.
The event was attended by many eminent Nigerians, including the former governors of Bauchi State, National Assembly members, religious leaders, and traditional rulers.

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Five persons suspected of vandalising railway tracks and sleepers, who were intercepted and arrested by the military at Sarkin Pawa, Munya Local Government Area of Niger State, were paraded yesterday before newsmen by the state commissioner of police, CP Shawulu Ebenezer Danmamman, at the police command headquarters in Minna.
The commissioner of police, while briefing journalists during the parade of the suspects, along with 10 other suspects who were involved in various criminal offences, said the efforts were part of the command's achievements recorded this year for the second time.
CP Danmamman, however, revealed that the track record of the officers and men of the command was a renewed effort and determination of the police to keep the state safe from all forms of criminal activities, and he said that Niger will not be used as a transit by criminal elements and go free, adding that anyone caught will be made to face the law.
According to him, the suspects were intercepted and arrested by the military components at Sarkin Pawa with a RAF truck vehicle with registration number KTN 246 YZ along Katima Bridge, Sarkin Pawa, fully loaded with railway tracks and sleepers suspected to have been vandalised from the railway site.
The suspects were Adekunle Saheed, 44 years old, from Oyo State; Saifullahi Umar, 36 years old, from Katsina State; Awal Mansir, 25 years old, from Katisna State; Kabiru Lawal, 36 years old, also from Katisna State; and Aminu, 19 years old, from Katisna State.
During the police interrogation, Adekunle Saheed confessed that one Engr. Ali, his boss, detailed him through a phone call to hire a truck and convey the railway infrastructure from Katama village, Kaduna, to Kwara state.
Efforts were ongoing to arrest the said Engr. Ali as the case was under investigation in SCID Minna.