Nation
THE STATES
Bauchi
The Bauchi State Fadama 111 Office says it has disbursed N58 milion to Fadama Community Associations (FCAs) in the state between January and March 2011.
The State Coordinator, Mr. Ali Garba, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Bauchi recently.
Garba said that the money was disbursed to FCAs in the 20 local government areas of the state.
He urged the benefiting associations to make judicious use of the fund to enhance their economic well-being.
Benue
Mr. Terseer Tsumba, Speaker of Benue House of Assembly, recently congratulated members of the House who were successful in the Assembly election.
He also appealed to his colleagues who lost in the election to put in their best in their new endeavours.
Tsumba, who made the remarks in Makurdi, said that those who fought the battle and won as incumbents needed to be supported.
He urged the members to continue to co-operate with one another in the House so that their names would be written in gold.
Ekiti
The ACN said recently that it would work with President Goodluck Jonathan’s proposed unity government if he followed democratic norms acceptable to the party.
The Chairman an of the party in Ekiti State, Chief Jide Awe, made this known in Ado-Ekiti recently while addressing reporters.
Awe said that ACN did not see anything wrong in joining the government of the President-elect if it was to add value to governance and move the nation forward.
According to him, Jonathan will have to first convince the party that he will not derail from the good attributes which made him secure the votes of people in ACN strongholds.
FCT
A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Monday in Abuja called on INEC to conduct a comprehensive study of the 2011 elections to identify successes and failures.
Mr. Auwal Rafasanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, and spokesman of the group, made the call at a news conference.
He said the exercise would serve as a guide to INEC in conducting future elections.
Gombe
The Independent National Elecoral Commission (INEC) recently cancelled the governorship and State House of Assembly elections at the Jankai polling unit in Gombe metropolis.
Mr. Godfrey Miri, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the State, told nesmen that the elections had to be cancelled because voting commenced in the unit ahead of the scheduled time of noon.
“We received reports that voting had commence in the unit as early as 8 am. Consequently, we sent our men who confirmed the early commencement of voting, as a result, the elections in the unit had to be cancelled.
“Apart from commencement of voting ahead of schedule, we discovered a lot of under aged voters in that polling unit,” he said.
Kano
The incoming Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso administration will sustain the implementation of the Sharia legal system in Kano State, a party official said.
The Chairman of the Publicity Committee of the State Chapter of PDP, Alhaji Gambo Danpass, made the statement in Kano on Monday in an interview with newsmen.
Danpass said “the PDP government under Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso will continue to pursue the Sharia code with an approach better than the one being implementated by the out-going ANPP administration in the state.
“It was Dr. Kwankwaso who started Sharia during his first tenure as governor of the state, and so, he cannot truncate what he initiated”.
Katsina
Musawa Local Government Council of Katsina State says it has designed programmes to sanitise the operations of food vendors and patent medicine dealers in the area.
The Council’s Director of Water and Sanitation Department, Alhaji Adamu Hussaini, told newsmen recently in Musawa that the programmes were aimed at promoting public health.
Hussaini said the council had introduced special teams of trained environmental health officers that monitor the activities of food vendors and patent medicine stores across the area.
Kwara
An IIorin-based lawyer, Mr. Razaq Gold said recently that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had justified the confidence reposed in it by conducting credible elections in Nigeria.
He told newsmen in Ilorin that the Professor Attahiru Jega-led commission had shown the world that Nigeria was a leading light in Africa.
“The successful conduct of the general elections by INEC has shown that Nigeria is blessed with people who can organise credible elections contrary to the beliefs of many.
Lagos
A 41-year-old civil servant, Mr. Afeez Ojedele, on Tuesday urged the Mushin Grade “a” Customary Court to dissolve his 13-year-old marriage to Risikat, as both of them had remarried.
Risikat, who concurred with the petitioner, also pleaded with the court to end the marriage, saying “My heart now belongs to somebody else”.
Ojedele had told the court that Risikat packed out of their matrimonial home in February 2005, following a misunderstanding between them.
He adjourned the case till August 31 for further hearing and ordered the petitioner to pay Risikat N5,000 for the upkeep of their younger son.
Nasarawa
Nasarawa State governor elect Tanko Al-Makura has promised to be fair and just to every citizen of the state irrespective of tribe and religious affiliation.
Al-Makura made the promise on Sunday when newsmen paid him a courtesy visit in Lafia to congratulate him on his election victory.
“I promise that my government will not bear any prejudice against anybody, I will also make sure I do justice and be fair to all the citizens of Nasarawa State,’’ he said.
“Let us forget about our differences, politically, religiously and culturally and come together to lift Nasarawa up.
“Let us also put aside the struggle and propaganda behind us, as election has come and gone and let us now focus on the development of the state.”
Oyo
The Federal Government has expressed concernover the frequent occurrence of road accidents on Nigerian roads, resulting to loss of lives and material resources.
Alhaji Muhammad Sidi-Sani, the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), made the announcement at a sensitisation workshop, held for stakeholders in Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) management recently in Ibadan.
Sidi-Sani who was represented by the South West Zonal Coordinator of the NEMA, Mr. Iyiola Akande, said the agency had decided to organise the workshop with a view to reducing loss of lives on Nigeria roads.
Plateau
The Labour Party’s Publicity Secretary in Plateau State, Mr. Sylvanus Namang, says the party will not congratulate Governor Jonah Jang over his election victory.
Jang defeated Pauline Tallen, his deputy and LP candidate, in the just-concluded governorship election to secure a second-term tenure.
Namang told newsmen in Jos recently that the LP would not congratulate Jang as it would mean consenting to “a wrong”.
“We have all the information on how the governorship poll was manipulated in favour of Jang and I don’t think it is politically right to congratulate him.
Sokoto
President Goodluck Jonathan has been called upon to lay emphasis on workers’ welfare to enhance their productivity.
Dr. Shehu Sidi, the Head of European Languages, Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, gave the advice in an interview with newsmen in Sokoto recently.
“Paying attention to the welfare of the nation’s workforce will ensure the smooth implementation of Federal Government’s programmes,” Sidi stressed.
Zamfara
Zamfara State governor-elect Abdulazeez Yaei Abubakar has promised to run an open government that will accept criticism as a check and balance mechanism for good governance.
Yari made the promise at his Talata Mafara residence recently when executives of Zamfara council of the NUJ paid him congratulatory visit.
He noted that for any administration to be transparent, the Media must be allowed to function without undue censorship.
“I will make my administration open for advice and criticisms so that where I am right, the Media will encourage me and where I am wrong, I will be criticised,” he said.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), has urged the national assembly to expedite action on passage of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Bill 2021.
The Secretary-General of NUT, Dr Mike Ike-Ene, made the appeal in an interview with The Tide yesterday in Abuja.
He said the passage of the bill and its eventual signing into law by the President would go a long way in giving teachers the hope that their profession was being given the needed attention.
Ike-Ene said the hope of passage of the bill on June 30, having been mentioned on the Order Paper, was dashed because of the controversy that followed the debate on the Petroleum Industry Bill, now an Act.
“We are expecting that as the national assembly has resumed, the bill will be one of the first few bills to be passed.
“We expected the bill to be passed on June 30 concurrently by the two houses having been mentioned on the Order Paper but the debate of the Petroleum Industry Act and debate of the Electoral Reform Bill took the day.’’
The Secretary-General commended the National Assembly for its commitment to ensuring conclusion of work on the bill.
He expressed optimism that when passed, President Buhari would not hesitate in signing it into law.
He thanked the President for the effort to reposition the teaching profession, saying the union had been in the forefront in the struggle for elongation of tenure for teachers, among other things.
According to him, we have actually been fighting for some of the things the President promised to do for teachers, for instance, the elongation of years.
“We have been agitating for 65 years retirement age or 40 years by service and one of the reasons for the agitation is that we discovered that about 26 states did not recruit a single teacher for over 20 years.
“Yet teachers were retiring in their dozens, in hundreds and more deaths were being recorded as a result of the growing insecurity, particularly in schools.
“Some died naturally, others were resigning, yet teachers were not being employed.”
He further said, “We have also been agitating for Teachers Special Salary Structure (TSS) but hazard allowance was granted instead.
“The hazard allowance accumulated to 27.5 per cent of the basic of teachers’ salaries which were not what we were agitating for.
“We thank God that the Buhari’s administration has promised to implement the TSS and since that pronouncement, NUT, government and other stakeholders have been working to ensure implementation.’’
Ike-Ene disclosed that the promise made to teachers by the president would be implemented at different levels, stressing that while some would be passed into law, others would be implemented as policies.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in June, transmitted a letter on a Bill to increase the retirement age for teachers from 60 years to 65 years.
The Bill also seeks to extend the years of service for teachers from 35years to 40 years.
Meanwhile, the president at the commemoration of the World Teachers Day on October 5, 2020, approved a special salary scale for teachers and special pension scheme.
He also said the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) will begin to fund teaching practice in universities and colleges of education.
He further promised to ensure provisions for rural posting allowance, science teachers allowance and peculiar allowance.
The president also promised sponsorship of at least one refresher training, construction of low-cost housing for teachers in rural areas and reintroduction of bursary award.
Other promises are, expansion of the annual Presidential Teachers and Schools Awards and payment of stipends to Bachelor of Education students and automatic employment after graduation.
The Federal Government is collaborating with Ogun State Government to secure the Right of Way (RoW) for the construction of three bridges and an interchange on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said this during an inspection of the highway last Wednesday.
Fashola, who was joined by Gov. Dapo Abiodun at the Lotto Bridge under construction, said the highway accommodated over 40,000 vehicles daily, hence the urgent need for additional flyovers and interchanges for decongestion.
The bridges are under construction at Makun, MFM and Lotto (Mowe) areas on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
“We are trying to execute an interchange that will separate the main carriageway and give commuters choice, especially those going to religious places to worship, those going to universities and so on and so forth.
“So that what used to cause the congestion is limited to the barest minimum if not totally eradicated when the road is finished.
“So, we now require additional land to build the interchange, that is why I called the governor (Dapo Abiodun),” he said.
He said that the Buhari administration inherited several stalled projects which he was committed to completing by adequately funding the projects
Fashola expressed satisfaction with progress of work on the ongoing reconstruction/rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
On his part, Gov. Abiodun assured that the state government would give all the land and support needed.
Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, gave the measurements and dimensions needed for the bridges and interchange.
Popoola also gave details on the number of buildings and services on the Right of Way of the bridges which, without paying compensations, would stall the project.
He said that section one of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project, which spans from Ojota in Lagos to Sagamu Interchange, “has achieved 56 per cent completion”.
Also, during inspection of section two of the project, which spans from the Sagamu Interchange to Ojoo in Ibadan, the Federal Controller of Works in Ogun, Mr Umar Bakare, said that the section was 63 per cent completed.
North-East Development Commission (NEDC) in collaboration with the Bauchi State Government has commenced the construction of 500 mass housing units in Bauchi, to address housing deficit in the state.
NEDC’s Managing Director, Alhaji Mohammed Goni-Alkali, stated this at the ground breaking ceremony of the project yesterday in Bauchi.
Goni-Alkali said that 300 houses would be built in Bauchi metropolis while 200 others would be spread across the 20 local government areas of the state.
According to him, the project is to ease the accommodation problems as well as fast track the rapid social and economic development of the state, to mitigate the devastation caused by the insurgency.
Goni-Alkali said that the commission had so far constructed 1,000 housing units in Marte LGA of Borno, adding that the houses had been handed over to the state government.
He said that the commission would also construct one primary school in each of the senatorial districts across the six states in the region, to promote educational development.
The managing director said that the commission had presented food and non-food items to the Bauchi State Government for distribution to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
He listed the items to include 10,000 bags of rice; 2,000 bags of sugar; 10,000 gallons of palm oil; 3,000 cartons of pasta; 2,000 blankets; 2,000 plastic mats and 1,000 mosquito nets.
In his remarks, Gov. Bala Mohammed, lauded the impact of the commission in the North-East with regard to the construction of schools and roads.
Mohammed also commended NEDC for the provision of other essential services since inception in 2019.
He said that the commission had constructed one block of six classrooms each across the 20 local government areas of the state.
“We have recieved the intervention of the commission in health and agriculture,” he said.
Mohammed promised to distribute the donated items judiciously to the deserving families.
The Goni-Alkali and other officials of the commission would inspect road projects in Alkaleri and Kirfi, and Visco Vaginal Fistula (VVF) Centre in Ningi
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