Adamawa

The Mubi North Local Education Authority (LEA) has distributed 630 economic tree seedlings for planting in primary schools in the area.

Presenting the seedlings to headmasters of primary schools in the area, Malam Danrimi Ahmed , the Secretary of Education in the local government, advised that mango seedlings should be planted within the premises of schools or in school gardens.

He tasked the headmasters to ensure that the trees were nurtured to maturity in view of their importance to humans and the environment.

“All things necessary must be done to nurture the trees to maturity for maximum benefit to humans and the environment,’’ Danrimi stressed.

Ekiti

The Ekiti State Sector Command of the FRSC says it arrested 728 cyclists in the state in the last four months, for offences ranging from overloading to non-compliance with the us e of safety helmets.

The Sector Command, Mr. Francis Udoma, made this known in Ado-Ekiti on Monday during an enlightenment campaign tagged, “Child Safety on the road always”, organised by the command chapter of the Road Safety Officers Wives Association (ROSOWA).

The Tide’s source reports that members of ROSOWA, led by its chairperson, Mrs. Francisca Fanola, used the opportunity offered by the campaign to distribute stickers and flyers to both motorists and pedestrians.

Udoma explained that an average of 182 cyclists, were arrested monthly for various traffic offences.

FCT

The International Organisation of Securities Commission (IOSCO) honoured the late President Umaru Yar’Adua on Friday by observing a moment of silence at its conference in Uganda.

The Nigeria’s Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director-General, Ms Arunma Oteh, who is attending the conference, said the capital market regulators were touched by the president’s demise.

“They were kind enough to give President Yar’Adua a moment of silence at the beginning of the event,’’ she said, in a telephone interview with The Tide’s source from Kampala.

Oteh said news of the president’s passing away was greeted with shock at the conference.

Yar’Adua passed away on May 5, after a protracted illness.

She said the late president would be remembered for his efforts in stabilising the capital market after the global financial shock.

The Nigerian capital market was shaken by the rippling effects of the global financial crisis in 2008, sending stock prices to crumble and revealing fault lines in the operations of the market.

The director-general said the reforms instituted to stabilise the market by the Yar’Adua administration was beginning to yield results.

Kano

Full commercial activities have now resumed in Kano, four days after the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The ancient city noted for its burstling economic activity, witnessed a lull following the announcement of Yar’Adua’s death on Wednesday,as shops and other business outfits closed, to mourn the death of the departed leader.

The Tide’s source  who went round the commercial town on Sunday, observed that trading activities were going on in full swing, with people trooping in and out of the city with vehicles loaded with various types of goods.

A visit to the Sabon Gari and Kantin Kwari markets showed that people were gradually getting over the shock of the president’s demise and continuing with their daily activities.

A trader, Malam Shehu Talata, told the source  that he closed his shop for two days, to mourn the death of the president, “but now, I am back to business.”

Katsina

Former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, has called on Nigerians to support President Goodluck Jonathan to enable him to move the country forward.

Abubakar made the call in a chart with newsmen shortly after attending the third day prayer for the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in Katsina.

He said the call had become necessary in view of the circumstances leading to his emergence as president of the country.

“I pray that Nigerians will give him the needed support to continue with all the good legacies the late President Umaru Yar’Adua left behind,” he said.

The former head of state, who described the death of President Yar’Adua as a great loss to the country, prayed God to reward him with “the best of Paradise’’.

Lagos

Independent candidacy recommended by the Justice Mohammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee is not practicable in the 2011 elections, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has said.

Mr Emma Eneukwu, the ANPP National Publicity Secretary, told newsmen  in Lagos that independent candidacy could be practicable only where there were two or three parties.

“Independent candidate is one of the things we advocated for, but where we differ a little is that where you have about 57 political parties, there is no need for an independent candidate,” he said.

The Tide’s source  reports that the House of Representatives had earlier in the week approved the committee’s recommendation on independent candidacy.

The candidate, however, will have to register with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at least 90 days before the election date.

Niger

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ogbonna Onovo, says the reform in the Nigeria Police Force was expected to gulp N400 billion.

The former Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Ibrahim Lame, had told newsmen that the three tiers of government had agreed to contribute N450 billion annually in the next five years to fund the Nigeria Police Force.

Onovo made the disclosure in Minna during the opening of the first policing executive forum, organised by CLEEN Foundation, an NGO.

He said it was heart-warming that all three tiers of government were working toward providing the needed funds.

“The good thing about this reform is that when fully implemented, it will give Nigeria a befitting police force.”

“It is my hope that the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Police Service Commission will work assiduously with the management team of the Nigeria Police Force to make these police reforms a reality,’’ he said.

Oyo

A former Judge at the International Court of Justice, The Hague, Mr. Bola Ajibola, has said that injustice in Nigeria is among the causes of terrorist acts.

Abjibola said this in Ibadan recently in a lecture entitled, “Towards a Terror Free Society: The need for Mental Transformation”, delivered at the 2010 Dawah Week of the Muslim Students Society of  Lead City University (LCU).

He said that the same factor bred international terrorism and urged the federal government  to spread development evenly to give every part of the country a sense of belonging.

“Those who subject others to inhuman or degrading living conditions will most likely end up as recipients of such people’s uncivil tendencies”, he said.

Ajibola, whose paper was delivered by Mr. Saheed Aweda, said Nigerian youths had great roles to play, especially in mental transformation to change their perception of terrorism and their orientation toward nation building.

He said the government must work sincerely and assiduously to eradicate poverty and not just reducing the subject to a campaign slogun.

Sokoto

Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll, the Sultan of Sokoto, has described the late President Umaru Yar’Adua as a consummate and an affable personality imbued with humility, a high sense of dignity and poise.

This was contained in a condolence letter he sent to President Goodluck Jonathan, a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Sokoto.

In the letter, the Sultan said: “His incisive vision, his selflessness and dedication, his exemplary leadership qualities and his unalloyed commitment to the promotion of the rule of law have all contributed immensely in moving this nation forward in the last few years.

“The late President Yar’Adua was, above all, a man of peace who worked tirelessly and assiduously in promoting peaceful co-existence and mutual understanding not only in the Niger Delta but also in all parts of the country.

“We write with a heavy heart and with sadness and sorrow to condole Your Excellency over the passing away of His Excellency President Umaru Yar’Adua”.