Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
The Adamawa Director of Diseases Control, Dr L.C Barka, on Thursday confirmed the outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in Lamurde Local Government Area of the state.
CSM is a dangerous epidemic and endemic, febrile disease, characterised by inflammation of the membranes of the brain and spinal cord, giving rise to severe headaches, tenderness of the back of the neck, paralysis of the ocular muscles, etc.
It is sometimes marked by a cutaneous eruption, when it is often called spotted fever. It is not contagious.
Barka told newsmen in Yola that the outbreak was recorded in Rugange and Gyawana villages of the area.
The director said that 29 persons were affected, out of which five were confirmed dead.
“We have already dispatched a medical team to the affected villages to contain the situation and the report we have now is that things are under control.”
Benue
The Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Makurdi, Bishop Nathan Inyom, has challenged the church to lead the crusade against corruption in the country.
Inyom told the newsmen in Makurdi that it was important for the church to enlist its members in the fight against corruption.
He said the call had become imperative owing to the high level of corruption in the country.
According to Inyom, the church with a large follower-ship, and which spans the social strata, is better positioned to tackle the menace of corruption in the country.
The cleric stated that the job was too much to be left in the hands of the anti-graft institutions.
Borno
Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has approved the employment of 200 fresh graduates into the state civil service.
Malam Isa Gusau, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communications, announced this on Wednesday in a statement in Maiduguri.
Gusau said the recuitment would involve qualified university and polytechnic graduates.
“Governor Kashim Shettima has given a go ahead to the Borno State Civil Service Commission to recruit 200 fresh graduates into the service.
“Those to be recruited will include both university and polytechnic graduates.”.
Gusau explained that the gesture was aimed at reducing graduate unemployment in the state as well as fill existing job vacancies in the service.
FCT
First Lady Patience Jonathan has stressed the need for Nigerians to unite “to tackle the security challenge in some parts of the country.’’
She made the call in a statement signed by Mr Ayo Osinlu, her Special Assistant, Media, in
Abuja.
The statement, which was her message to commemorate the Easter celebrations, urged Nigerians to unite, irrespective of their differences to assist the government and security agencies to tackle the challenges.
She said: “Christians should continue to do good to all and embrace peace, selflessness, tolerance and truthfulness.
“Nigerians must unite, irrespective of their religious, political, ethnic or tribal differences to assist the government to tackle the security challenge in some parts of the country.’’
The president’s wife urged Christians to “seize the opportunity to reflect on the essence of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the Cross of Calvary to bring salvation to mankind and ensure it is not in vain.’’
Gombe
Health officials in Gombe and Akko Local Government Councils in Gombe State on Tuesday said that they have solved the problem of resistance to application of polio vaccines in six wards of the councils.
In Gombe council, the Immunisation Officer, Malam Abdulraham Mohammed, told newsmen that areas with high resistance cases such as Shamaki, Bolari West, Nasarawo and Pantami had been successfully settled.
Mohammed said no single case of non compliance was recorded in the areas due to the intervention of the ward committees, comprising traditional and religious leaders, who prevailed on parents to allow their children to be immunised.
“For example, in Shamaki Ward, the District Head, Alhaji Usman Mohammed, marked the houses that resisted the immunisation and they were revisited immediately and they complied,” he said.
Jigawa
The Commissioner of Police in Jigawa, Mr. Kayode Theophilus, on Thursday in Kazaure warned that any policeman caught extorting motorists would face the full wrath of the law.
Theophilus gave the warning during an interactive session with officers and men of the Police and members of the Police Public Relations Committee drawn from Kazaure zone.
He described as “embarrassing to police leadership” the attitude of some policemen who continue to collect N20 bribe from motorists.
He said the command would no longer condone such attitude, warning that anyone caught would be seriously sanctioned.
Kaduna
The Peace and Reconciliation Committee set up by the Kaduna State Government to investigate the causes of post-election violence in the state has received over 120 memoranda.
Co-chairman of the committee, Air Vice Marshal Ishaya Shekari, disclosed this in Zaria, while fielding questions from newsmen.
“People have really responded. So far, we have received over 120 memoranda from the public.
“Don’t be surprised that the figure may rise to 200 before the end of the exercise.
“We are impressed with the level of compliance by the public, and we hope to come out with good and workable recommendations at the end of this exercise,” he said.
Lagos
The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) on Thursday called on the Federal Government to float a national carrier to eliminate fare discrepancies among foreign airlines.
The Deputy President of NUATE, Mr Samuelson Aturu, made the call while speaking with newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
He said that Nigeria needed a national carrier to protect its interest in the global aviation industry, in spite the various flag carriers operating into the country,
He called for the establishment of a competitive commission to regulate the operations and fares of the mega carriers operating into the country, adding that such commission existed in other countries.
Aturu, however, condemned the mega carriers, especially British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airlines, for charging what he called “cut throat prices” in Nigeria, in spite the country’s huge market.
Ogun
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Ogun Command, Abdulmajeed Alli, has donated items worth over N300, 000 to the Stella Obasanjo Orphanage in Abeokuta in remembrance of his late daughter.
The items included foodstuff, baby pampers, soaps and medicare materials, among others.
Alli told newsmen that the gesture was part of his late daughter’s vision to encourage the less-privileged and also set up an orphanage before her untimely death.
Receiving the items on behalf of the Home, the Permanent Secretary, Ogun Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Aderonke Adeyokun, thanked the donor on behalf of the children..
Plateau
The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in Plateau has distributed 2,000 crates of eggs to hospitals and clinics to improve the nutritional quality of pregnant women and children.
The Commisisoner, Mrs Olivia Dazyam, told newsmen in Jos that the eggs were from the state government’s egg mop-up programme following a glut of the commodity this year.
She said that it was only the Northern Senatorial zone that had so far benefited.
Dazyam said that more eggs would be purchased in the mop-up initiative, and blamed the glut on security challenges facing the state.
She said that poultry farming had been a major occupation of many people in Plateau, and that the decision to intervene was a social service to minimise losses by farmers and encourage them to stay in business.
“Many farmers have so much eggs in stock and we felt that we should not allow the eggs to just waste away,” she said.
Sokoto
Chief Chaise Ejemeka, the leader of Igbo community in Sokoto State, has called on the security agencies to work out modalities to flush out those behind the spate of terrorism in the country.
“There is a need for the security agencies to adopt security measures to apprehend those involved in these deadly acts, Ejemaka told newsmen in Sokoto.
He stressed the need for the security agencies to provide an enabling environment for Nigerians to go about their normal affairs without harassment or intimidation.
“This will only be possible through a well coordinated security approach,’’ he said.
Ejemaka urged Nigerians to be watchful and report any suspected character to the nearest security agencies for prompt action.
The Igbo leader stressed the need for training and re-training of security officers to update their knowledge on how to tackle the current security situation in the country.
Yobe
The Yobe State Government plans to construct four dams before the end of the year to promote irrigation in the state, Alhaji Idi Gubana, the Commissioner for Agriculture, has said.
Gubana, who disclosed this in Damaturu while fielding questions from newsmen, said that feasibility studies on the projects had reached an advanced stage.
He explained that government was concentrating on dam construction to supplement rain-fed agriculture.
“Government is working hard to reduce dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
“The amount of rainfall in the state has been unreliable in sustaining agriculture so, government is placing emphasis on irrigation farming,” Gubana said.
The commissioner noted that 400 boreholes had been constructed across the state for irrigation farming this season.
“Irrigation farmers in the state were provided with fertiliser and improved seeds. I am happy to say that wheat, rice, maize and vegetables harvest were good and promising.’’
Meanwhile, a hungarian company is to establish tomatoes cottage factory in Gashua, the commissioner said.
The President General of Ogbakor Ikwerre Cultural Organisation Worldwide and the Mgboh XIII of the Mgboh Royal Family of Emohua Kingdom in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, Eze (Barrister) Godspower Onuekwa, penultimate Friday celebrated his 80th birthday with pomp, pageantry and fanfare.
The celebration, which commenced with a symposium organised in his honour at Rivers State University on Thursday, August 21,2025, got to a resounding climax on Friday at Suntai Event Centre in Port Harcourt, where people from all walks of life, including business associates, friends, well-wishers, relatives, community folks, traditional rulers, and admirers, gathered to pay glowing tributes to the celebrant.
Before then, a well attended thanksgiving service was held that same Friday at Emmanuel Anglican Church, Okoro-Nu-Odo, to honour him and return gratitude to God Almighty for the fruitful and eventful life and accomplishments of the Emohua leader and icon.
The service which was officiated by Rt Rev Wisdom Budu Ihunwo, Bishop of Niger Delta North had other renowned and respected clerics like Most Rev(Dr) Blessing Enyindah, Dean, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion); Rt Rev(Dr) Emmanuel Oko-Jaja, Bishop, Diocese of Niger Delta; Rt Rev Innocent Ordu, Bishop, Diocese of Evo; and Ven Solomon Eze Nelson, Archdeacon, Okoro-Nu-Odo; among others lined up as officiating ministers.
The service lived up to its billing, as it featured powerful and soul-lifting praise and worship; point-blank prayers; and beautiful renditions, which electrified the entire atmosphere, essentially packaged to thank God for the life of the celebrant.
However, the crowning moment actually came when the who is who, the crème de la crème of the society, thronged the terraces and fabulously decorated expansive hall of Suntai Event Centre, to celebrate Eze Onuekwa, amid accolades, aplomb and panache, wining and dining, and clinking of glasses with him and all.
The chairman of the colourful ceremony, Chief Evans Woherem, who was represented by Eze(Prof) Christian Akani of the prestigious Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, praised the celebrant for his youthfulness in spite of clocking 80 years, generosity, humility, humaneness and selfless services to the Ikwerre ethnic nationality, the Niger Delta and Nigeria, and called on all and sundry to emulate his good legacies and simple disposition towards life and existence.
Goodwill messages also poured in in torrents to underscore and salute the doggedness, resilience, astuteness and uniqueness of the endearing life of the celebrant, with Prof Emenike Wami, the Ochia Ohna Ikwerre(XIV), taking the lead.
Prof Priye Iyalla, the wife of late renowned writer, novelist and playwright, Dr Elechi Amadi, held the audience spellbound as she masterfully reeled out the profile of the celebrant, amid intermittent applause from the crowd.
The Tiv Community from Benue State, resident in Rivers State, were not left out, as they honoured and decorated Eze Onuekwa in their complete traditional regalia.
Cultural displays from Baptist Church, Rumuowhor; ADNA Wogbuji Dancing Group, Egbeda; Tiv Dancing Group; and Promoter Eze and Rumu-Mgboh Emohua Wrestling Group, equally added colour and grace to the occasion, with the celebrant and his wife, Dame Ann Onuekwa, joining them to wriggle their waists and bodies in ecstasy.
In his response, the highly elated celebrant, Eze Onuekwa thanked all those gathered to celebrate with him, saying, celebrations would never cease in their homes, and attributed everything he represents in life, including his modest accomplishments to God.
Eze Onuekwa, while addressing newsmen, harped on the need for hard work among the youths and members of Ogbakor Ikwerre Cultural Organisation Worldwide, as a way of sustaining and giving meaning to the motto of the organisation, which he noted is anchored on peace, unity and progress.
He specially thanked God for sustaining his life, and for making everything possible for him and his family, saying, he was joyous that he has today become an octogenarian and elder statesman in Rivers State.
His son and medical practitioner, Dr Samuel Chizia Onuekwa expressed delight that people from far and near had come together to celebrate the father, whom he described as a role model and great inspirator.
He said it was a good thing that the children were celebrating their father when he is alive, stressing that the last time Eze Onuekwa was celebrated in such magnitude was 20 years ago, during his 60th birthday celebration, and prayed God to grant him many more years in good health.
Among dignitaries who graced the event were Senator Andrew Uchendu; Chief Sampson Agbaru; Prof Emenike Wami; Dr Peter Didia; Eze(Prof) Samuel Ugo Onyeka; and a host of others. Justice Iche Ndu(rtd); and C O Kattey were among personalities that attended the thanksgiving service, while the Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University, Prof Isaac Zeb-Obipi led the academics who graced the symposium, alongside Eze G A O Omodu.
As the 100 Ogoni youths trained by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in Creative Arts close out their training on Tuesday at the Theatre Arts Department, University of Port Harcourt, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, has urged the beneficiaries to use the skills acquired to ensure that the Ogoni stories are told and heard in the right way.
The trainees, who had completed a four- month training in script writing, film production and make-up are beneficiaries of the HYPREP sustainable livelihood programme, aimed at providing high demand skills to Ogoni youths in the lucrative creative arts and entertainment industry.
Zabbey described the Creative Arts training as well as other programmes and interventions as HYPREP’s strategic sustained effort to create alternative sources of livelihood.
”Targeted capacity building for Ogoni youths and women remains a central strategy in HYPREP’s livelihood restoration and improvement efforts. Our goal is to reach every part of the Ogoni community and ensure that no group or talent pool is left behind. This training is a deliberate step to empower young people who aspire to make their mark in the creative and entertainment industry”, he said.
While commending the trainees for producing four short films within the training period, one of which was premiered at the ceremony-Dirty Festival, the Project Coordinator noted that the training would serve as a springboard into the industry, and enable them earn a living, become entrepreneurs, and open new doors of opportunities for themselves and their communities. The three other movies are Open Pain, Bomu and Green War.
He enjoined them to utilise their skills and platforms to promote civic responsibility, peace, and environmental sustainability, urging them to ensure that Ogoni is heard in the right way, speak for HYPREP and highlight the progress being made in implementing the recommendations of the UNEP Report.
Other speakers at the event, including the Director of Technical Services of HYPREP, Prof. Damian-Paul Aguiyi; Dr Ovunda Ihunwo, Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Port Harcourt; Chief Douglas Experience, the Project Coordinator of Halibiz Consult Limited; and Mrs Josephine Nzidee, Head, Sustainable Livelihood of HYPREP, all applauded HYPREP for the training, and charged the trainees to maximise the opportunity.
The trainees were later presented certificates of participation.
Visibly elated Ms Lebee Tornwe, one of the beneficiaries, thanked HYPREP and the Project Coordinator for offering the trainees the rare opportunity to acquire skills in the creative arts and entertainment industry, and expressed delight that Dr Ihunwo and Halibiz Consult Limited gave their all in grooming them.
With the wrapping up of the Creative Arts training(100), HYPREP has trained 230 Ogoni youths in high demand skill sets ,viz; seafaring(100); and aviation (30). The Project will this year, commence training in other skill areas, including Mechatronic, Aviation, Full-Stack Development, Commercial Diving, Underwater Welding and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Still in the offing is the training for Ogoni Persons Living with Disabilities in five skill sets- fish farming; basic computer skills; photography; fashion and design; and shoemaking in line with their Needs Assessment and HYPREP’s policy of inclusivity.
The National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP) had called on stakeholders to work collaboratively towards the development and empowerment of Ogoni youths.
NYCOP made the call in a communique issue over the weekend after an emergency Congress in Port Harcourt and signed by its President, Comrade Raymond Nwibani Marcus.
In the communique, NYCOP endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s appointments of the Governing Council and Board of Trustees (BOT) members of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), particularly Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Nwika Deeyah as Chairman of HYPREP’s BOT.
It respectfully appealed to the President to consider appointing a representative from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) under the leadership of Engr. Olu Andah Wai-Ogosu, being the pioneering social vehicle for Ogoni advocacy since the inception of the Ogoni struggle, adding that it would significantly contribute to the decision-making process.
The body commended the overall management of HYPREP and urges the President to continue funding the HYPREP project.
NYCOP furthermore recommended considering the conversion of HYPREP from a project to a full-fledged agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The communique also stated that NYCOP thanked President Tinubu for establishing the Federal University of Environmental Technology, and for appointing key staff, forming a dialogue committee, and initiating infrastructural projects like the Eleme axis of the East-West Road and the Bonny-Bodo Road, significantly enhancing regional connectivity and economic prospects.
In solidarity with the Renewed Hope Agenda, the endorsed President Tinubu’s second-term bid, saying it believes his leadership embodies the aspirations of the Ogoni people and Nigerians at large.
“After thorough consideration of the Disciplinary Committee’s report, NYCOP resolves:
” To indefinitely suspend Comrade Nade Nade Burale from his position as Secretary General due to misconduct.
“To declare Comrade Saviour Imeabe persona non grata on Ogoni youth issues, given his actions’ potential to instigate crisis in Ogoni and beyond” the communique stated.
NYCOP in his resolution issued a 7-day ultimatum to former HYPREP BOT Chairman Mike Nwialeghi to explain the $100 million HYPREP fund investment, warning of potential litigation.
NYCOP reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding Ogoni youth interests and preventing personal aggrandizement.
According to the communique the resolutions demonstrate NYCOP’s efforts to promote the collective welfare and advancement of Ogoni youth.
“We will no longer tolerate any individual or group using the name or issues of Ogoni youth for personal aggrandizement.
” Our mandate is clear: to promote the collective welfare and advancement of Ogoni youth” the communique said.
NYCOP passes a vote of confidence in Hon. Emmanuel Nwika Deeyah, acknowledging his impeccable credentials and credibility to lead the BOT of HYPREP effectively.
Kiadum Edookor
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