Dr Jesse Ashumate, a Peoples Democratic Party senatorial candidate for Taraba South, has unveiled a comprehensive legislative blueprint aimed at transforming the agricultural sector, restoring lasting peace, and driving economic empowerment across the district.
Ashumate unveiled the agenda at a press conference to officially begin his campaign in Abuja on Thursday, highlighting the untapped agricultural potential of Taraba South, particularly in rice, yam, and fishery.
He stressed that while Taraba south is a primary driver of the nation’s food supply, the region had long been deprived of vital agricultural infrastructure.
“People call Benue the food basket of the nation. While Benue has the basket, I feel that the food is from Taraba.
“Taraba yam and rice are among the highest quality food crops in the country,” he said.
Ashumate said that his legislative priority would include sponsoring bills to establish specialised institutions, such as a school of fishery along the River Benue basin and dedicated crop research institutes that would directly support local farmers.
He also promised to advocate for a shift from traditional rainfall-dependent farming system to a modern and high-yield techniques.
On the recurring security and communal challenges in the zone, Ashumate promised to use legislative mechanisms to blur tribal divides and foster social cohesion.
On farmer-herder conflicts in particular, the candidate called for a modern ranching and stakeholder reorientation rather than outdated nomadic practices.
“With Nigeria’s population exceeding 200 million, open grazing is no longer viable,” he said.
Highlighting successful ranches on the Mambilla Plateau, he emphasised the need for proper sensitisation of herders to see ranching as a profitable business that improves yield and protects farmland.
Ashumate expressed support for well-articulated state policing frameworks and laws protecting the right of every citizen to live and trade freely across the country.
“My vision centres on expanding rural healthcare infrastructure, securing federal job placements for constituents and supporting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises to reduce unemployment and redundancy.
“If elected, I will build an egalitarian society where economic growth and harmonious coexistence allow all citizens of Taraba south to thrive,”he promised.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ashumate, an indigene of Wukari Local Government Area, is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians.
He served as a Principal Medical Officer in some public health facilities in Taraba, Director of Health Services at the Federal University, Wukari, and a two-term Commissioner of Finance in the state.(NAN)
For Remilekun Fayose, what started as a simple decision to watch her first football match at the stadium turned into an experience that changed how she sees the game. Sport247 reports how the young fan shared her excitement after attending the Lagos derby at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena on the 30th of September 2026 admitting that the atmosphere inside the stadium changed her view of watching football.
Remilekun explained that she initially had doubts about going to the stadium because she had always seen football as something mostly enjoyed by men. She described herself as someone who does not normally follow sports closely, but decided to attend the match and she found herself enjoying every moment. What stood out most to her was the atmosphere created by the supporters. She found herself in a large, energetic crowd that reacted passionately to events on the pitch. Although most of the supporters around her were men, Remilekun said their excitement eventually rubbed off on her. “I started feeling excited,” she said, recalling how she found herself shouting at a player who kept falling on the pitch She also compared the atmosphere in the stadium with watching football on television. She admitted that the game can sometimes feel boring when watched from home, but being inside the stadium gave her a completely different experience. According to her, the drums, trumpets, chants and reactions from the fans made the match much more enjoyable than watching it from home. Her first experience has also changed her mind about attending football matches, as she confirmed that she would definitely return to the stadium. Remilekun also encouraged other young women who may not be interested in football to give live matches a chance “You never know until you try,” she said, explaining that people might assume football will be boring without experiencing the atmosphere for themselves Her experience highlights how live football can attract new fans when they get the chance to experience the passion and atmosphere of the game firsthand. Sports 247 continues to bring fans closer to the stories and experiences of shaping Nigerian sports.
MTN Group Foundation and the Gates Foundation have launched a four-year digital health initiative in Nigeria aimed at using artificial intelligence, mobile connectivity and affordable digital devices to improve maternal healthcare for women, particularly those in underserved communities.
The Nigeria Maternal Health Multiplier, announced by MTN Group, parent company of MTN Nigeria, is designed to create an integrated digital ecosystem linking pregnant women, frontline health workers and primary healthcare facilities.
The partnership is backed by an initial investment of approximately $25 million between 2026 and 2030, comprising direct and in-kind contributions from MTN and the Gates Foundation. The organisations said the investment is intended to catalyse additional funding and potentially support expansion of the model into other markets.
The initiative targets 500,000 women by 2030, with plans to equip 5,000 frontline health workers with digital tools for earlier identification of pregnancy and childbirth complications and support 500 health facilities to provide more consistent maternal healthcare.
Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications Innovation and Digital Economy, on the left; Nompilo Morafo, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer, MTN Group and Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation. Image credit: MTN.
The partnership is backed by an initial investment of approximately $25 million between 2026 and 2030, comprising direct and in-kind contributions from MTN and the Gates Foundation. The organisations said the investment is intended to catalyse additional funding and potentially support expansion of the model into other markets. The initiative targets 500,000 women by 2030, with plans to equip 5,000 frontline health workers with digital tools for earlier identification of pregnancy and childbirth complications and support 500 health facilities to provide more consistent maternal healthcare.
Digital health tools to help identify potential warning signs, support follow-up
At the centre of the programme is the deployment of AI-enabled, phone-based decision-support tools for both healthcare workers and mothers. These tools are intended to provide timely health guidance, help identify potential warning signs and support follow-up throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.
The initiative will also address two practical barriers to digital healthcare adoption: the affordability of devices and data, and inadequate connectivity at primary healthcare facilities.
Under the programme, pregnant women will have access to affordable smartphones and mobile data, while frontline health workers will receive connected devices providing access to real-time clinical guidance. Connectivity improvements at healthcare facilities are also planned to ensure that digital services can function more reliably, irrespective of location.
The programme is to complement Nigeria’s existing maternal and child health reforms, particularly the Federal Ministry of Health’s Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII), deployed under the government’s Sector-Wide Approach to health.
Nigeria’s maternal health burden was a key factor in its selection as the first market for the Maternal Health Multiplier. According to figures cited by the partners, Nigeria accounts for nearly 30% of maternal deaths globally, while only 59% of women complete four or more antenatal care visits.
The initiative therefore places digital technology not simply as a communication channel, but as an additional layer supporting the country’s primary healthcare system. Its model combines connectivity, devices, mobile data and AI-enabled decision support with existing healthcare infrastructure and frontline personnel.
Dr Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, said the partnership demonstrated how digital transformation could be applied to foundational public services.
“For too long,” the Minister said, “the biggest barrier to improving service delivery in Nigeria, whether in health, agriculture, or education, has not been a lack of innovations, but a lack of focus on the foundational systems necessary to drive adoption.”
Dr Muhammad Ali Pate, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, said strengthening primary healthcare and frontline health workers remained central to the government’s health sector reforms.
For MTN, the programme extends the role of its telecommunications infrastructure beyond conventional voice and data services into digital public-health delivery. The group’s contribution combines its connectivity infrastructure, digital inclusion capabilities, mobile financial services, device distribution networks and local market execution capacity.
Ralph Mupita, MTN Group President and CEO, said artificial intelligence could make health information more personalised, predictive and accessible when deployed appropriately.
“Starting in Nigeria, our ambition is to demonstrate a scalable model for improving maternal and child health outcomes across Africa,” Mupita said.
The Gates Foundation says it brings expertise in maternal, newborn and child health, digital health innovation, responsible AI and evidence-based scale-up to the partnership.
Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, said the programme was intended to ensure that AI-enabled healthcare did not become concentrated among populations already able to afford digital services.
The partnership represents an emerging approach to digital health in which connectivity is treated as part of the healthcare delivery infrastructure rather than simply as a telecommunications service. For Nigeria, its effectiveness will ultimately depend on whether the AI tools are clinically reliable, usable by health workers and mothers, available in relevant local contexts, and supported by functioning primary healthcare facilities.
The four-year programme is expected to provide evidence on whether combining AI-enabled health guidance with affordable devices, mobile data and facility connectivity can improve access to maternal healthcare at scale.
