Adamawa

Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Board (ADSUBEB) has commenced distribution of motorcycles to head teachers of the 800 rural primary schools in the state.

The Executive Chairman of ADSUBEB, Dr Salihu Bakari, made this known in an interview with newsmen  in Yola.

Bakari said the measure was aimed at checking transportation challenges facing the head teachers in the rural areas, adding that the development would make them more effective teachers and managers of their respective schools.

Bakari said already head teachers of 300 schools had been provided with motorcycles in the first batch of the programme while the remaining 500 would get their own soon.

“There is a very serious problem of transportation which is affecting our managers of rural schools and that is why we decided to start by providing motorcycles to head teachers of “extremely rural areas’’

Benue

Clerics in Makurdi have urged youths to shun immoral behaviour and violence as they celebrate St. Valentine’s Day last Tuesday.

St Valentine’s Day is observed on February 14, for lovers to express love for each other, present flowers, offer confectionery and send greetings.

The clerics told newsmen in Makurdi on Tuesday that they were more concerned about youths because they are the ones mostly involved in the celebration.

Rev. Fr Titus Igyese of St. Gabriel’s Mission, Makurdi said that the love which St. Valentine stood and died for was divine and not physical.

Igyese urged youths to refrain from indulging in immoral acts under the pretext of Valentine’s Day.

FCT

The National Secretary, Democratic People’s Alliance (DPA) Mr Sam Onimisi, has urged the Federal Government to strengthen security at the country’s borders to address trans-border crime.

He made the charge on Tuesday in a telephone interview with newsmen  in Abuja.

Onimisi said the security agencies must live up to the task by ensuring that the nation’s borders were secure.

“Government should make sure that movement of illegal migrants into Nigeria is restricted and I believe this would help a lot in alleviating the security problems in the country.

“The Nigeria immigration service should ensure that foreigners do not enter Nigeria without valid papers.

Kano

The Kano State Government has relaxed for the second time the curfew it imposed on the state by four hours.

Our correspondent  recalls that the state government imposed the curfew on Jan. 20 as a result of the multiple bomb explosions which rocked the Kano metropolis.

The state Commissioner for Information, Dr Umar Faruk, said in a statement in Kano on Tuesday that the curfew would now hold from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Faruk explained that the decision to relax the curfew followed the improved security situation in the state.

He, however, stated that commercial motorcyclists were not affected by the new order as they were expected to operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Kebbi

Suru Local Government of Kebbi  has spent N3.5 million on the purchase of 2,800 goats to be distributed to women on loan as part of efforts to reduce poverty in the area.

The Chairman of the council, Alhaji Sahabi Dan-Baba, told newsmen in Dakingari on Tuesday that widows, divorcees and less privileged persons would benefit from the scheme.

He said 1,300 beneficiaries would receive between two and three goats to rear and generate  income for their families.

Dan-Bababa also said the council planned to expand the scheme and sustain it.

Kogi

The Kogi State office of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has confirmed that 61 people lost their lives in 485 road crashes recorded in the state in January this year.

The state’s Sector Commander of the FRSC, Mr Michael Olapade, who confirmed the figure while speaking to newsmen on Tuesday in Lokoja, said that the crashes which occurred in different parts of the state involved 123 vehicles.

Olapade said that a total of 385 persons were involved in the accidents with 324 of them sustaining varying degrees of injuries, attributing the accidents to dangerous driving, speed limit violation, tyre burst and bad state of roads.

The statistics also indicated that 10 out of the 28 children victims of the accidents were among the dead with the Lokoja-Abuja highway accounting for most of the deaths.

Olapade said that the commission would continue to pay special attention to the road, charging motorists to comply with traffic rules to reduce carnage on roads in the state.

Lagos

Head, Lagos State Voluntary Blood Donation Organisation, Dr Temilola Alayande,  has advised Nigerians to develop a more positive attitude towards donating blood voluntarily, as this could help save lives.

Alayande said this in Lagos on Tuesday at a workshop organised by the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee on “Blood donor recruitment and retention“. It was for youths in the state.

She said that the aim of the workshop was to recruit voluntary blood donors among the youths, as it had been observed that there was an enormous lack of adequate blood in blood banks in the state.

Alayande added that one of the major impediments to having adequate blood was the lackadaisical and nonchalant attitude of Nigerians towards voluntary blood donation.

Nasarawa

Governor  Umaru Almakura of Nasarawa State has said that government is to embark on the demolition of illegal structures on government’s lands in the state soon.

Al-makura made the announcement on Monday in Lafia during the inauguration of 13 newly appointed Special Advisers.

He noted with dismay the trend whereby persons and groups converted government’s property and land to personal use, especially at Government Reservation Areas (GRAs) in Akwanga, Keffi, Nasarawa and Lafia.

“It is for this reason that all those who are in the habit of indiscriminately acquiring such property do so at their own peril”, he warned.

“Accordingly, government warns that it will soon embark on reclaiming of its lands as well as demolition of illegal structures within government’s lands,” he said.

He called on the people of the state, irrespective of political differences, to safeguard public property and work toward the overall development of the state.

Ogun

The Chief Judge of Ogun State, Justice Olatokunbo Olopade, has freed 47 prison inmates in the last one week, according to the Chief Registrar of the state’s High Court, Mr Sikiru Owodunni.

Owodunni told newsmen in Abeokuta on Tuesday that the exercise began on February 7 and February 14 and the released inmates were drawn from Abeokuta, Ilaro, Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode.

She said the judge made the release after a scrutiny of the list of the prisoners and their different case files as submitted by the prisons services.

He said some of the inmates were charged for offences ranging from murder, robbery, stealing, kidnapping and unlawful carnal knowledge among others.

Osun

Some educationists have urged the Federal Government to make Yoruba language one of the compulsory subjects required for admission into tertiary institutions by students from Yoruba speaking areas of the country.

They told newsmen  in separate interviews on Tuesday in Osogbo that the measure would improve the study of Yoruba language at the tertiary level.

An official of Osun State Ministry of Education, Miss Odunayo Olawore, said Yoruba language should be made a course to be taught and spoken from primary to tertiary levels in South West geo-political zone.

She suggested that all private schools in Yoruba land should be required to have classes in Yoruba language from nursery to secondary school levels.

Plateau

The Plateau Government has donated relief materials to victims of the protracted violence in Damaturu, Yobe, who fled the violence-wrecked state to take refuge in Jos.

Governor  Jonah Jang of Plateau, who donated the items worth more than eight million naira, said that more than 400 persons were taking refuge in the state.

Also offered to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were drugs and temporary accommodation at Tati Hotel, Jos.

Among the items donated to the IDPs are 100 pieces of mattresses, 100 bags of rice, 80 bags of maize, 100 pieces of wrapper and 250 pieces of blankets.

Zamfara

Four months after the armed banditry incident at Lingyado Community in Dansadau area of Zamfara, the state’s police command has arrested one Muhammadu Bugge, suspected to be among some bandits terrorising the area.

Bandits attacked Lingyado Village last November in a night raid, killing 19 persons.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police in Zamfara, Mr Saidu Madawaki, told newsmen in Gusau on Tuesday that Bugge was arrested by a police anti-crime patrol team at Mashaya Zaki Village also in Dansadau area.

Madawaki said that Bugge and one unidentified accomplice, now at large, were intercepted on a motor cycle by the patrol team on January 31.