Bauchi

The Executive Secretary, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare
Development Agency, Dr Nisser Umar, has refuted reports on the outbreak of new
cases of Diphtheria in the state.

He told The Tide in Bauchi that the cases being reported
occurred two months ago at Duzun in Katagum Local Government area and that 36
children were affected in the incident and only one tested positive to
diptheria.

Umar said that the children were immediately treated, adding
that all children under five years in the community were vaccinated and
provided with nutritional supplements and antibiotics.

The executive secretary said the agency had also organised
awareness campaign on the importance of utilising healthcare services.

FCT

A 26-year old actor, Bestwood Chukwuemeka, was last Monday
sentenced to three months imprisonment by a Karu Senior Magistrates’ Court,
Abuja, for having sexual intercourse with another man through the anus.

The convict, who resides at Gidan Mangoro, had pleaded
guilty to the charge.

“I am guilty of the charge against me. I was under the
influence of alcohol and I want the court to temper justice with mercy’’, he
said.

The police prosecutor, Mohammed Umar, had told the court
that the convict committed the offence in August when the complainant was
sleeping in his bed, pointing out that since he had pleaded guilty to the crime
he initially denied, the court should trial him summarily.

Gombe

The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and
Control (NAFDAC) on Monday confiscated many expired, counterfeit and banned
drugs in some patent medicine stores in Gombe State.

The agency seized the drugs during raids on some shops by
different enforcement teams in Gombe, Kaltungo, Billiri and Kumo town.

Mrs Comfort Makanjuola, Deputy Director, Ports Inspection of
NAFDAC, told newsmen that the raids were aimed at ensuring compliance with the
law prohibiting the sale of unwholesome products.

She said “NAFDAC has acquired cutting edge technology,
called truscan technology, for a quick and on-the-spot assessment of
counterfeit and fake drugs.

Jigawa

The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), has
spent N30 million on the purchase of audio recorders for intending pilgrims
from the state.

The Secretary of the association, Alhaji Abba Daguro, told
The Tide in Dutse that the tapes were meant to assist the pilgrims to record
and learn the etiquette of Hajj.

Abba said that the gesture was a moral obligation on its
part to ensure the success of the pilgrimage.

“Last year, we purchased the same gadgets and it is our hope
that we will continue with the gesture, annually.

Jos

The Plateau State Agricultural Development Programme (PADP)
and the ADP-assisted Fadama II has advised farmers in the state to embrace the
Community Seed Multiplication Programme (CSMP) as it has the potential of
increasing production.

Mr. Luka Kefas, the leader of the technical team of the
Fadama II programme made the call during an inspection tour of some selected
farms.

He said that the crop farms were earmarked for seed
multiplication in various parts of the state, adding that the CSMP was aimed at
making improved and high yielding varieties of seeds available to farmers at
affordable prices.

Kefas, who is also the Director of Technical Services of the
PADP, said that the Community Seed Multiplication Programme was necessary to
remove middlemen syndrome in the procurement of farm inputs.

Kaduna

The Federal Government on Tuesday declared that the Kaduna
River Bridge was safe for motorists.

Mr Sa’ad Tukur, the Federal Controller of Works, Housing and
Urban Development in Kaduna, told The Tide that the bridge was last maintained
in 2009 and was still safe.

Tukur frowned at speculations in Kaduna metropolis over the
safety of the River Kaduna Bridge, saying that visualisation inspection had
been carried out on the bridge by the ministry to verify and correct the erroneous
impression created by some opposition elements.

Tukur said that the only problem identified during the
inspection was that the walkway slabs had been removed by mobile phone
operators in the state and were not properly replaced.

Katsina

The Country Programme Manager, International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), Ms Atsuko Toda, has stressed the need to
consolidate the impact of the Community-Based Agricultural Development
Programme (CBARDP).

Toda said this in an interview with our correspondent as the
16th Supervision Mission of the IFAD-assisted programme got under way on Monday
in Katsina.

The programme is being implemented in the seven northern
states of Borno, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.

While commending what she called “strong buy-in” into the
programme by the State Governments, she underscored the importance of ensuring
the viability and sustainability of programme implementation.

Kebbi

Governor Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi State has advised the new
local government council chairmen in the state to ensure accountability and
good governance in the discharge of their duties.

The governor who made the call in Birnin Kebbi during the
swearing-in ceremony of the chairmen, promised to give them free hand to
perform their statutory responsibility of improving the lives of the people.

Dakingari commended the people of the state for the peaceful
election and urged the chairmen to reciprocate the gesture through hard work.

“The popular choice of the people put you in office and such
popular opinion can remove you from office if you do not perform for the
people” he warned the council bosses.

Kwara

Kwara State Government has inaugurated a 22-member committee
for the celebration of the 52nd independence anniversary of the country.

The Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Mr
Anthony Towoju, inaugurated the committee in Ilorin on Monday.

Towoju said the committee would design an acceptable
programme and organise a hitch-free ceremony.

The Chairman of the committee, Hajia Aishat Mohammed,
promised that the members would organise a colourful event.

The committee has Alhaji Aliyu Ahmed, an Assistant Director
in the ministry as the Secretary.

Lagos

The Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola
Johnson, has said that the Federal Government would soon formulate a regulatory
framework for the protection of intellectual property rights in the country.

The minister said this at a dinner jointly organised by the
Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN) and the National
Association of Computer and Software Companies of India (NASSCOM).

Represented by her Special Assistant on IT, Mr Ola Ogunleye,
the minister said that the proposed regulatory framework would support the
privileges of local entrepreneurs on technology biased policies like tax
breaks, tariffs, levies and concessions.

She said that the Ministry was creating enabling
infrastructure to boost Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

Nasarawa

The Nasarawa State Investment and Property Development Company
(NIPDC) on Tuesday disclosed that about 400 contractors had submitted bids for
the rehabilitation of the Karu International Market in Nasarawa.

Mr Daniel Ajegena, NIPDC General Manager, disclosed this to
our correspondent after the biding process in Lafia.

He said that about 400 bids had been received, adding that
the applications would be scrutinised to determine the technical and financial
capacity of the companies.

He said: “their bids will pass through a consultant who will
evaluate the contractors based on their technical and financial capacities,
adding that that NIPDC advertised for submission of interests for the
renovation of the market three weeks ago.

Oyo

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Oyo State
Command, on Monday recovered 224 laptop computers worth N17 million from an
accident scene in Ibadan.

The FRSC Oluyole Unit Commander, Mr Sanya Adeoye, said that
the accident occurred at Onigari area along Lagos-Ibadan express road on Sunday
evening, pointing out that the accident involved a Toyota 18-seater Hiace bus
with registration number Lagos RN 210 AAA.

The commander said the driver of the bus, which had four
occupants, lost control of the vehicle as a result of over-speeding before
skidding off the expressway.

Zamfara

An Islamic scholar in Gusau, Sheikh Hamisu Anka, has urged
the Zamfara  State House of Assembly to
drop its plan to reduce the tenure of local government councils in the state to
two years.

Last week, the House said it would soon commence
deliberations on a bill seeking to amend the tenure of the councils from three
years as provided by the existing law to two years.

The Tide reports that the bill has attracted criticisms from
many commentators who viewed the move as an avenue to waste public funds.

Anka, who was speaking at a preaching session in Gusau, said
the legislators should focus on laws that would fight poverty, ignorance and
unemployment among the youths and women of the state.