Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Discussion
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO BEGIN A FRIENDSHIP CITY AFFILIATION WITH BAUCHI, NIGERIA (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
This item is placed on the agenda at the request of Councilmembers Lula Davis-Holmes and Cedric L. Hicks, Sr.
Senator Bala Mohammed, Executive Governor of Bauchi State Nigeria, will be visiting Southern California from Sunday, March 29, 2020 - Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Life and Times in collaboration with the Coalition of African Chambers of Commerce in North America will be holding a Special Economic Roundtable for Bauchi State at the Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Senator Muhammed would like to visit the City of Carson on Monday March 30, 2020 to explore the possibility of establishing a sister city relationship between the ancient City of Bauchi and the City of Carson.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Authorize the Mayor to select the City of Bauchi, Nigeria and begin a Friendship City and move towards the establishment of a Sister City.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The City Council is being asked to consider Bauchi, Nigeria to begin as a Friendship City. Bauchi town is the capital of Bauchi State and traditional emirate, northeastern Nigeria. Bauchi town lies on the railroad from Maiduguri to Kafanchan and has road connections to Jos, Kano, and Maiduguri. The emirate was founded in 1800-10 by Commander Yakubu. After several successful campaigns, Yakubu founded the town of Bauchi in 1809.
With the coming of the railway in 1961, Bauchi grew as a collecting point for peanuts (groundnuts) and cotton and a trade center in sorghum, millet, cowpeas, corn (maize), cassava, and vegetables and in cattle, goats, and sheep. Cotton weaving and dyeing, tanning, and blacksmithing are traditional activities. The town’s industry includes an asbestos factory and a meat-products processing plant. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (originally called Federal University of Technology) and federal polytechnic colleges are in the town of Bauchi. The town of Bauchi has an estimated population of 415,000.
Councilmembers Davis-Holmes and Hicks, Sr. believe that there could be collective interest with Bauchi, Nigeria to broaden and strengthen the similar values on cultural understanding, training, environmental stewardship, educational opportunities and economic development. The opportunity to establish a friendship would potentially identify activities that can generate new initiatives to further nurture economic, social, and cultural relationships.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
No fiscal impact at this time.
VI. EXHIBITS
None
Prepared by: David C. Roberts, Jr., Assistant City Manager