Nation
THE STATES
Bauchi
The Senior Special Adviser to Governor Isa Yuguda on
Pilgrims Affairs, Alhaji Sanusi Sarkin-aska has solicited the establishment
of a pilgrims’ camp near the Bauchi
International Airport, currently under construction.
He made the call in Bauchi while speaking at a farewell
ceremony organised for intending pilgrims from Bauchi State.
Sarkin-aska said that if the pilgrims’ camp was close to the
airport, it would make things easier for pilgrims and officials during hajj
operations and commended the state
governor for aiding the Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board to discharge its duties
effectively.
In his message, the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Adamu,
urged the intending pilgrims to be mindful of the fact they were travelling to
Saudi Arabia purposely to perform their religious obligations.
FCT
The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters,
Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, has called on Nigerians to support government to nurture
democracy to maturity.
Gulak made the call on Sunday in Abuja in an interview with
our correspondent.
“All Nigerians must
put their hands on deck to see to it that this democracy is nurtured to
maturity and it is sad that many have failed to see national issues different
from partisan politics,” he said.
The special adviser urged Nigerians to believe and genuinely
contribute their quota to the success of the Nigerian project to actualise and
enjoy the dividends of democracy.
Jigawa
The Jigawa State Government on Saturday said it would
prosecute parents who reject the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) for their children in
the on-going immunisation exercise in the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Tafida, told
newsmen that defaulters would be sentenced to between six months and one year
imprisonment without an option of fine.
Tafida said this at the beginning of the October round of
Immunisation Plus Days (IPDs) exercise in Dutse, pointing out that the state
House of Assembly had enacted a law which was assented to by the governor to
deal with “anybody who rejects the vaccine and also to promote participation in
the exercise.’’
He said that the state had also adopted effective campaign
measures to sensitise communities on the importance of presenting their wards
for vaccination and also mobilise participation in the exercise.
Jos
The Association of Architectural Educators in Nigeria
(AARCHES) has advised the federal and state governments to always engage
architects in urban design to avoid ecological problems arising from climate
change.
The advice is contained in a communiqué issued at the end of
the three-day biennial general meeting of the association, held at University
of Jos.
“Government should create consultancy services for
architects in urban design so that such professionals can solve ecological problems
arising from climate change.
“The architects are in the best position to advise
government and suggest ways out of incessantly changing climatic conditions,”
the communiqué stated.
Kano
The Kano State Government has donated 52 truckloads of
relief materials to flood victims in neighbouring Niger Republic.
The items include 5,000 bags of maize, 5,000 bags of millet,
5,000 bags of guinea corn, 5,000 blankets, 5,000 pieces of “Shadda’’ brocade
and 5,000 pieces of female textile wax.
Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso, who presented the items at
Bandirawo, Dawakin Tofa Local Government
Area of the state, said that the donation was aimed at alleviating the
suffering of the flood victims.
Kwankwaso, who spoke about the long-standing relations
existing between Kano State and Niger Republic, stressed the need for people to
be their brothers’ keepers so as to strengthen harmonious living and promised
to continue to work with the Nigerien government in efforts to promote
socio-economic ties between Kano State and Niger Republic.
Kogi
Four persons from Ajaokuta Local Government Area in
Kogi State are still missing after the
flood that ravaged the area recently, a council official said.
The acting Chairman of Ajaokuta Local Government Council, Mr
Aloysius Okino, said in Lokoja on Sunday that the missing persons included
three women and a man, pointing out that
when he visited the displaced persons in Gadumo camp in Ajaokuta the victims were from Onakumi Island, which
was completely submerged in the flood
He said all efforts to trace the four had been fruitless.
The Tide recalls that the Red Cross had earlier confirmed
the death of two male adults in Ajaokuta area during the disaster.
Apart from Onakumi village which was completely washed away
by the flood, Okino said that fishing which was the traditional occupation of
the people, had been disrupted while rice farms and livestock were washed away.
Lagos
A former President, Association of National Accountants of
Nigeria (ANAN), Dr. Samuel Nzekwe has urged the Federal Government to
effectively implement the budget, particularly the capital expenditure.
Speaking with the newsmen in Lagos, Nzekwe said that
effective implementation of the budget would create the enabling environment
for the productive sector of the economy to thrive as well as create job
opportunities.
According to him, it will increase the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) and solve the problem of infrastructure deficit.
Nzekwe further asked government to evolve people-oriented
projects aimed at creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths, pointing
out that creating more job opportunities
would reduce the level of criminal activities in the country.
Nasarawa
The Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa in Nasarawa State has
expelled 59 students for examination malpractices.
The Registrar of the polytechnic, Hajiya Fati Jimeta, told
our correspondent in an interview in
Nasarawa that the students were caught
during the 2011/2012 academic session.
She said the management of the polytechnic reached the
decision to expel the students at a meeting of the Academic Board.
Jimeta said 18 were full-time students, while 41 were
part-time students, adding that the students had been blacklisted by the
institution.
The registrar warned that any of the students seen within
the premises of the polytechnic would be arrested by the security.
Niger
The Commander, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA),
Niger State Alhaji Abdullahi Abdul has called on the state government to
sponsor a bill for the control and sale of cough syrups in the state.
Abdul made the call in Minna in a paper he presented at the
Niger Security Awareness Summit, tagged “Grass Roots Campaign on Internal
Security as a Sustainable Developmental Tool in Minna”.
He said that the drug had the same adverse effect with
cocaine, heroin and cannabis when abused.
“It will be recalled that these brands of cough syrup with
codeine content, have the same effect as cocaine, heroin, cannabis etc, when
abused and thus jeopardising security,’’ he said.
He further said that users of the cough syrups got easy
access to any patent medicine store where the drugs were sold indiscriminately
and without prescription.
“Most youths, especially in the higher institutions of
learning, are into this practice and the consequences are alarming.
Ogun
Nine persons, including an infant, died on Saturday morning
in a fatal accident on Abeokuta-Sagamu expressway in Obafemi Owode Local
Government area of Ogun State.
The Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun State
Command, Mr Ayobami Omiyale told newsmen that the accident occurred a few
kilometres to the Police College in Kobape area of the road.
Omiyale said that two vehicles, a Volvo tipper, marked LAGOS
JJJ 489 XB and a Toyoa Hiace bus with registration number, XF 795 AAA, were
involved in the accident.
He said that although 20 people were involved in the
accident, only nine could be confirmed dead by the FRSC.
Omiyale added that “nine persons, which include an infant
less than a year old, were confirmed dead by my men.’’
Oyo
The Treasurer, Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, Oyo
State Chapter, Mr. Bernard Adegoke has called on government to support a
first-generation commercial bank in assisting cocoa farmers with loans.
Adegoke told The Tide
in Ibadan on Sunday that the collaboration of the government with the
bank in giving out loans to cocoa farmers would boost production.
“ We need the government to support us, to assist us and
support the First Bank of Nigeria to help the farmers in giving us the loan.
“We all are seeing what is happening in the oil market now,
oil is going to finish either we like it or not, it’s going to remain farming
and if we are talking about farming we are talking about cocoa.
“If we are talking about cassava or maize or whatever, you
cannot be comparing that with cocoa.’’
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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