Adamawa

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State said  that his adminis

tration spent more than N40 billion to establish 14 technical schools in the state.

Nyako who announced this in Damare, Girei Local Government Area, during a visit to the newly established Agricultural Skills Acquisition School, said the 14 schools specialised in various aspects ranging from engineering, carpentary and agriculture.

He said the Damare school was strictly established to provide students with the necessary qualitative skills in agriculture, to meet the current challenges of modern agriculture.

According to him, “students will get the type of training you get in Europe”, and explained that a trainee of the school in fishery for instance, after graduation, would be able to produce 20 tons of fish from a 20 square metre pond.

“ For somebody taught how to handle cow, such person can make N1 million from a single cow per annum, unlike the normal herdsman who roams around with 50 cows, but can not make N50, 000 per annum, “ Nyako said.

Benue

Cult activities have taken a turn for the worse in Makurdi, the Benue

capital with many persons losing their lives in recent days.

At least four persons were killed by cultists within the past one week in Makurdi.

One James Adangbe, a final year student of History at the Benue State University, Makurdi was hacked to death by a group of cultists on January 12 at his residence at Modern Market Area in Makurdi.

Other killings that took place at the weekend were at Inikpi Street in High Level, Opposite Federal Secretariat and behind Makurdi Community Secondary School where the victims were said to have been stabbed and shot to death.

Confirming the incident, the DPO of ‘D’ Division Police Station, SUPOL. Arit Ekpe, said that the corpse, a boy identified as Tavershima Aluna, who was killed and dumped behind the Community Secondary School had since been identified by his relations and taken to the mortuary.

The Assistant Police Public Relations Officer, ASP. Alaribe Ejike, said that they were aware of the killings by cultists, saying that the police had mapped out strategies to tackle the problem.

Gombe

The Gombe State Ministry of Health is to conduct a survey to

determine the number of  local government areas with cases of Schistosomiasis or Bilharzia.

Dr Obiageli Nebe, the Assistant Director and Coordinator

of the National De-worming Programme in the Federal Ministry

of Health, made this known in Gombe, when she visited the state’s commissioner of health on Monday.

Nebe said the aim of the survey, was to identify and treat those who had contracted the disease, adding that she was in Gombe to conduct a training exercise for those who would carry out the survey.

The Gombe State Commissioner for Health, Dr Kennedy Ishaya, said the State Government had distributed drugs, worth over six million naira to some 15,000 persons who had schistosomiasis in Galdamawo Village in the Kaltungo Local Government Area.

Ishaya appealed to the Federal Government to extend the survey to Taraba and Adamawa, because Galdamawa Community,  shared boundaries with the two states.

Jigawa

The Jigawa  State Government has donated N60 million to the Nigeria

Legion to enbale it to improve the wellbeing of its members.

The state Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, announced the donation at the Armed Forces Emblem, Appeal Fund and Remembrance Day in Dutse, Tuesday.

Lamido, represented by his Deputy, Alhaji Ahmad Muhammad, said the gesture would assist the legionnaires to assuage difficulties experienced while in retirement.

The Chairman, Jigawa chapter of the Nigeria Legion, Alhaji Lawan Isa commended the government for its support to the organisation.

Isa called for proactive measures to hasten the release of monthly subvention provided to the chapter by the state government.

Kano

The Kano State Hisbah has called for partnership with parents in a bid

to end the persistent abuse of the girl-child in the state.

The Deputy Commander of the Hisbah in charge of Special Service, Barr. Yusuf Nabahani, made the call in an interview in Kano, said  the abuse of the young girls in the state had reached an alarming proportion.

Nabahani said, “I would like to use this opportunity to call on the parents to take good care of their children to know their whereabouts, friends and monitor their movements.

“The number of cases being received by the board involving girls is terrible and unless the movements of our youths are checked, the repercussions will not be good.”

He explained that a research recently conducted by the board indicated that hawking exposed most of the young girls to such abuses, and appealed to people in the state to complement the efforts of Hisbah in  checking girl-child abuse.

Kaduna

Kaduna State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Ramalan Ibrahim

has said that the N8.7 billion budget for the ministry would be dedicated to ensuring food security.

Ibrahim said while defending the 2013 budget before the state House of Assembly on Tuesday that the ministry would ensure adequate provision of fertiliser and other farming inputs.

He told the house that the ministry had paid for all the fertiliser supplied to the state last year and would procure more for early distribution to farmers.

Officials of the Bureau for Religious Affairs were also at the assembly to defend their budgets.

Permanent Secretary, Christian Matters, Rev. Billy Felix said the main focus of the bureau was to ensure peace and stability in the state.

Kebbi

The prompt intervention of officers and men of the Kebbi

State Police Command on Monday saved the lives of officials at the office of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Birnin Kebbi.

The office was attacked by scores of irate ‘okada’ riders who were protesting alleged maltreatment of their members.

The FRSC Sector Commander in Kebbi, Mr Seyi Daniel, confirmed that about 300 angry commercial motor cyclists attempted to manhandle road safety marshals and burn the FRSC office.

He said the dispute was sparked off when commercial motor cyclists conveying two other passengers violated traffic rules by following the wrong lane to avoid arrest.

Daniel explained that in the process, they were knocked down by an on coming vehicle.

Kogi

Kogi  State of Assembly on Tuesday directed its Committee on

Local Governments to investigate alleged sack of 450 workers of Adavi Local Government on the recommendations of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission.

The directive followed the adoption of a motion, under urgent public importance, presented by Abdullahi Lawal (PDP-Adavi), at a plenary session in Lokoja.

Lawal urged the house to intervene in the matter, to ascertain its true position.

He said that the ICPC had in a letter dated July 31, 2012, recommended that the affected workers should be sacked based on a petition it received.

Nasarawa

The leadership of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ

(ERCC) Nassarawa, has appealed to the Nasarawa State Government to come to the aid of displaced persons in the state.

Administrative Secretary of the Church, Rev. Jerry Modibo, said  that the appeal had become imperative due to the increasing number of displaced persons in the ERCC camp in Nassarawa Eggon and other parts of the state.

Modibo condemned the communal clash in some parts of the state, saying, “it has led to the destruction of lives and properties worth million of Naira.’’

He called on the state government, civil organisations and other spirited individuals to assist the displaced persons with relief materials, and  urged the people to forget their differences and unite for meaningful development to take place.

Niger

Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger  said the State Government

would enact a law to curb the menace of street begging in the state.

Aliyu made the announcement at a one-day workshop on “Street Begging in Niger State, its Menace and the Need for Regulation’’ in Minna.

“We don’t want people to think that begging is a career. Therefore, we are directing the Niger State Law Reform Commission to come up with a legal framework to curb the menace of street begging in the state,’’ he said.

Also speaking, Dr Ibrahim Imam, the Head of the Department of Languages at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, cited the Holy Qur’an Chapter 70 verses 24 to 25, saying that begging leads to self-disgrace and loss of honour.

Imam, who is the guest speaker, said Islam only allowed persons, who had incurred huge debts and those, who suffered from disasters or misfortunes to beg.

Ogun

The Ogun House of Assembly has ordered commercial and private

motorcycle riders to obtain official rider’s permit before February 28.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, Hon. Salmon Adeleke, announced this in Abeokuta on Tuesday during a meeting to resolve all issues pertaining to the issuance of the rider’s permit.

Adeleke said that a consulting firm appointed by government would begin the enforcement of the order on March 1.

The resolution was borne out of the crisis between the firm and members of Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycles Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria and Amalgamated Motorcycle Rider’s Association of Nigeria.

Plateau

The Industrial Fund (ITF), says it trained 360,000 people in various

fields and trades in 2012.

The Director-General, Prof. Longwas Wopmuk said Tuesday in Jos that the fund trained 10,000 persons in each of the 36 states.

“Some of the people received three months rigorous training in skills acquisition and other important trades that assisted them to become self employed,’’ she said.

Wopmuk said that the fund would continue to assist trainees to secure capital to start their own businesses through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) loan scheme.

He stressed that the idea was to reduce the high level of unemployment and disclosed that the Federal Government had also agreed with ITF’s proposal to establish three special skills training institutions.

Zamfara

A corps member serving with the Federal Medical Centre, Gusau, Dr

Umar Shuaib, has donated drugs and mosquito nets worth N750,000 to pregnant women and children in Zamfara.

Shuaib, who made the donation at the King Fahad Women and Children Hospital, Gusau, said that the gesture was to reduce maternal mortality in the state.

The corps member said that it was necessary for pregnant women, especially those in the rural areas to access ante-natal healthcare for safe child birth.

He said that insufficient public enlightenment, poverty and lack of access to medical facilities had remained major impediment to the state government’s effort to reduce maternal and child mortality.