Nation
THE STATES
Bauchi
The Bauchi Territorial Headquarters of the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) said it generated over N25 million as revenue in 2010.
The Area Postal Manager, Alhaji Dauda Musa, made the disclosure on Wednesday in an interview with our correspondent in Bauchi.
He said that the increase in the use of mobile telecommunications had not affected the services rendered by NIPOST.
Musa explained further that the organisation was able to meet its financial target in 2010.
He also confirmed that about 300 cargo luggages belonging to Bauchi State Muslim Pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia had been dispatched to their owners.
“In 2010, we were able to achieve our target because people continued to patronise our services.
“The existence of mobile telecommunications did not make our customers stop patronising us and as a result, 2010 was a successful year for us,” he said.
The NIPOST Territorial Manager expressed gratitude to the Bauchi State Government for its continued support and patronage.
Ekiti
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ekiti State yesterday secured the conviction of 275 persons who contravened road traffic laws during the yuletide.
They were among the 310 offenders arrested by the Ekiti command of the corps.
Seven mobile courts, headed by magistrates, sat simultaneously in Ado-Ekiti, Ikole-Ekiti, Ifaki-Ekiti, Aramoko-Ekiti, Ido-Ekiti, Omuo-Ekiti and Ado/Ikare road to try the offenders.
During the trial, 120 persons were convicted for riding motorcycles without helmets while 155 were found guilty of violating the seat belt and number plate rules as well as overloading.
The magistrates fined the convicts between N500 and N3,000 as stipulated in the road safety laws.
Speaking with our correspondent after the trial, the Sector Commander of the corps, Mr Francis Udoma, said the offenders were arrested by officials of the command at various locations in the state.
FCT
The Minister of Finance, Dr Olusegun Aganga, has described a recent letter by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to President Goodluck Jonathan on the state of the nation’s economy as “mischievous and a deliberate misrepresentation of facts”.
He told State House Correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday that the letter, dated Jan. 2, was “a desperate attempt to mislead the electorate with a view to making political gains ahead of the 2011 general elections”.
Aganga said: “Atiku, who is contesting the PDP presidential primaries with Jonathan, purportedly wrote the letter berating the Nigerian economy.
“I will not want to believe that the letter was written by Abubakar. For an individual with aspirations to govern the country to resort to outright lies and misrepresentation to seek cheap political points, is regrettable,” he said.
The minister said Nigerian economy had continued to grow, both the oil and non-oil sectors, and outperformed many global economies.
Kaduna
The Kaduna State Agricultural Development Project (KADP) has said that the targets of the Community Based Agricultural and Rural Development (CBARD) programme for 2010 were achieved.
The KADP Programme Manager, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kasum, spoke through the Head of the Media Unit, Mr Shehu Aliyu.
Kasum told newsmen in Kaduna yesterday that the targets included equipment procurement, capacity building and production development.
Others were provision and distribution of farm inputs, community development and extension services.
Kasum said that the KADP carried out a successful management, monitoring and evaluation services in the participating local governments of the state.
Kano
The Kano State Governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, says he has administered the state to the best of his ability.
Shekarau, at an interactive session with newsmen on Wednesday in Kano, expressed satisfaction with the way and manner he discharged his mandate to the people of the state.
The two-term governor, however, noted that governance was a continuous affair, saying that subsequent administrations would build on his achievements.
“I am aware of criticisms of my administration by some people but there will always be agitations for more service.
“I am sure by the time we leave government, there will still be a lot of things undone; there will still be a lot of things we would have wished to do, but probably we are unable to do,” the governor said.
He expressed happiness for improving the situation he met “in virtually all sectors”.
Katsina
A Malumfashi Chief Magistrate’s Court in Katsina State, has sentenced a 30-year-old commercial vehicle driver, Nasiru Lawal, to 14 months imprisonment for mischief and breach of trust.
Lawal, a resident of Kurnan Asabe, Kano was convicted on Wednesday by the court after he had pleaded guilty to the two-count charges.
The Prosecuting Police Officer, Mr Garba Magaji, had earlier told the court that one Alhaji Sani Bature of Aston Road, Kano, complained to the police that he entrusted his articulated tanker with registration number XE 253 GWL to the convict.
Magaji said the convict stopped a tanker loaded with petroleum product from Lagos to Kano on the way and dishonestly dispossessed part of the product valued at N390,000 at Yar’tasha Village in Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Lagos
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it is discussing with the Italian government on partnering for effective anti-money laundering and global drugs control.
In a statement by the NDLEA spokesman Mitchell Ofoyeju, the Agency’s Chairman, Mr Ahmed Giade was quoted as saying the move was aimed at tightening the noose on illicit drug syndicates seeking to operate in Nigeria.
The two parties, the statement said, had already had a first round of discussions where Giade was represented by the Agency’s Director of Administration and Finance, Dr. Daniel Ismaila.
Sokoto
The ECWA Church located in Wuse II, Abuja, has donated food items, clothing and foot wears worth more than N500,000 to the Sokoto flood victims.
The items were delivered to Dr Kulu Haruna, the Special Adviser to Governor Aliyu Wamakko on Relief Matters in Sokoto late on Tuesday.
Mr Mike Achimugu, the elder in charge of welfare at the church, presented the items to the governor’s aide on behalf of the Senior Pastor of the church, Rev. Barje Maigadi.
Achimugu said the donation was aimed at alleviating the suffering of the victims.
He prayed God to prevent a recurrence of the disaster.
While receiving the materials, Haruna commended the church for the provisions and gave assurance that they would be distributed to the victims equitably.
The items donated included 45 pieces of 50kg bags of rice , one carton of three-litre gallons of vegetable oil, six bags of used clothes as well as shoes and hand bags.
Yobe
One corps member died while 17 others sustained various degrees of injury in a road accident on Jos-Bauchi-Damaturu-Maiduguri Federal Highway.
The accident occurred on Tuesday, when the bus conveying the corps members to Damaturu from Jos, after the New Year holidays had a burst tyre and somersaulted.
Alhaji Habu Sani, Secretary of Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital, Damaturu, told our correspondent that one of the corps members died on the spot.
He said two of the corps members sustained serious injuries while others suffered various degrees of injury.
The accident occurred at about three kilometers to Damaturu following a burst tyre.
”They were said to have hired the bus in Jos to convey them to Damaturu and Maiduguri but unfortunately they had the accident just before reaching Damaturu,” Sani said.
He said some of the victims were receiving treatment at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital, Damaturu, while the two with severe injuries had been referred to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
Strategic regulators and other stakeholders have expressed satisfaction with the pace, quality and magnitude of work carried out by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in Ogoniland, in line with the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
In their separate speeches at the 2025 4th quarter key regulators / asset owners meeting held in Port Harcourt, the strategic stakeholders commended HYPREP for the significant milestones achieved with excellent efficiency and transparency, demonstrating capacity and commitment to sustaining collaboration with development partners for the overall success of the Project.
The regulators particularly lauded HYPREP for the landmark success in the implementation of the land and shoreline remediation, mangrove restoration, provision of reticulated potable water, the various sustainable livelihood programmes, donation of ambulances to health facilities in Ogoni, the construction of Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, as well as the ongoing Ogoni Power Project, adding that their independent field reports have shown proofs of HYPREP driving even beyond its mandates.
The goodwill messages were made by representatives of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Centre for Environment and Human Rights Development (CEHRD), Society for Women and Youths Affairs (SWAYA), Stakeholders Democracy Network (SDN), Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company (NPSC), and Federal Ministry of Environment. Others are the Rivers State Ministry of Environment, the Rivers State Ministry of Health, the National Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Rivers State Ministry of Power, the Rivers State University, the Rivers State Ministry of Water and Rural Development, and Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited.
Following the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit’s presentation on the status of HYPREP projects, participants offered feedback on areas of concern. They reassured HYPREP and the people of Ogoni of their continued support for the Project’s success. They also suggested that the quarterly review meeting be sustained as it enables them to report, evaluate and proffer solutions to areas of concern.
Participants also commended HYPREP for improved community and stakeholder engagement and for adding to what they saw the previous time. “We commend HYPREP for the quality work done at sites. The progress is phenomenal, because HYPREP is scoring good grades, above average,” Prof. Iyenemi Kakulu from Rivers State University said.
In his speech at the event, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, who was represented by Prof Damian-Paul Aguiyi, Director of Technical Services, commended the regulators and asset owners for their cooperation with the Project, and for making themselves available for fieldwork and the regular review meetings.
Prof Zabbey reiterated HYPREP’s commitment to best practice in waste management, particularly waste generation and disposal, calling on the Regulators for adequate logistics support, saying HYPREP’s priority is to focus on the core recommendations by UNEP, especially, remediation(soil, shoreline) mangrove restoration, provision of potable water, interventions in public health care services and sustainable livelihood for the people.
The Project Coordinator further highlighted the status of the Project, the successes achieved across all thematic areas, and assured that HYPREP will soon complete most of the ongoing projects and roll out others. He explained that the purpose of the meeting was to review the progress of the Ogoni cleanup, ensure quality control, and foster effective collaboration.
Consequently, the quarterly key regulators/asset owners meeting is HYPREP’s strategic stakeholder management model, further underscoring the Project’s commitment to transparency, partnership for development, and accountability, all of which are harbingers of effective project delivery.
Speaking to newsmen, HYPREP Project Support Lead and representative of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, Engr Ehioze Igbinomwanhia, described his involvement with HYPREPas an encouraging and insightful experience, saying, the Project is implementing a wide range of projects across Ogoniland, spanning immediate remediation works as well as livelihood support initiatives aimed at improving the welfare of affected communities.
Engr Igbinomwanhia emphasised that Renaissance Africa Energy remains fully committed to supporting the objectives of the Ogoni cleanup project, noting that the company has a long history of collaboration with HYPREP.
He added that the partnership has been characterised by continuous learning, adaptation and a willingness to respond to observations and recommendations aimed at improving outcomes.
He further emphasised the importance of safety in all project operations, particularly given the challenging terrain and operating conditions in Ogoniland.
He noted that safety is treated as a critical priority and that contractors are continually reminded to maintain high safety standards, stressing that lessons learnt from previous operational challenges like the collapse of the water tank in Gwara Community are being applied to strengthen safety practices and overall performance.
The Rivers state Government has identified six local government areas with the highest burden of maternal and Neonatal mortality in the state.
State Commissioner for Health Dr Adaeze Chidinma Oreh said this in an interview with newsmen at the Maternal and Neonatal Reduction innovation initiative ( Mamii)Rivers state activation workshop and state engagement meeting in Port Harcourt.
The event was organized by The Federal Ministry of Health in conjunction with its Rivers state counterpart in Port Harcourt.
Dr Oreh also restated the preparedness of the state government to support current efforts by the federal government towards the reduction of maternal and infant mortalities in the country.
She mentioned the affected Local Government Areas to include, Andoni,Akuku Toru and Ahoada West
The rest according to the Commissioner are, Bonny, Etche and Emohua Local Government Areas.
She said the workshop will enable the team from the federal ministry of health and social welfare to brainstorm with the view to finding solution to the problem.
The Commissioner also gave reasons why the Mamii initiative was the best as far as finding solution to maternal mortality was concerned.
“The uniqueness of the Mamii initiative driven by the federal ministry of health and social welfare was that we used evidence to elicit the reasons for this deaths, so that the solutions will be context specific and tailored to the particular environment where those deaths are occuring
“For us in Rivers state we have six Mamii LGAs , nationally we we have 172 local government areas “the Commissioner said.
Earlier in her opening remarks,Dr Oreh said the state government is prepared to work with the federal ministry of health and social welfare to check the rate of maternal mortality in the state.
She commended The Minister of Health and Social welfare Professor Ali Muhammad Pategi for driving the Mamii initiative across the country and expressed optimism that the programm will see to the end of maternal mortality in the country.
Also speaking the National Coordinator Nigeria health sector Renewal Initiative Dr Adam Ahmed said Rivers state is the last state among Mamii states in the country to host the team.
He said the team will visit the affected Local Government Areas with the view to interacting with the people on how to check the trend.
He expressed the hope that with continuous efforts, maternal mortality will be checked.
Also speaking the permanent secretary Rivers state Ministry of Health Professor Justinah Jumbo said the government is not leaving any stone unturned towards reduction in maternal deaths.
The permanent secretary said Governor Siminalaye Fubara is a health friendly Governor who is desirous in improving the quality of health of Rivers people.
John Bibor
