Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
Adamawa State Government says it has established and
renovated 64 earth dams in 30 grazing reserves in the state ahead of the establishment of National Grazing Reserves programme.
The State’s Commissioner for Livestock Production, Dr Isa Salihu, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Yola.
Salihu said that the state government had equally established nomadic schools in some of the grazing reserves.
He said that the state government was committed to giving all necessary support and cooperation to the Federal Government towards the establishment of the grazing reserves and cattle ranches in the state.
Kebbi
The Kebbi State chapter of the Rice Farmers Association
of Nigeria (RIFAN), has vowed to exceed the targeted one million metric tonnes of dry season rice production to 1.1 million metric tones.
The state chairman of the association, Alhaji Samaila Augie, made this disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Birnin Kebbi.
He said the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrower Programme, was aimed at mass production of rice, so as to achieve food security and the diversification of the economy.
Augie said the association had registered interested farmers, who were supplied with incentives that included, cash, water pumping machines, fertiliser and insecticides to boost productivity.
Kogi
Protesting students of Kogi State University, Ayangba,
yesterday blocked major roads leading into and out of Lokoja, thereby paralysing socio-economic activities for hours.
The students, who were protesting against three months closure of the university due to lecturers’ unpaid salaries, said they were tired of staying at home.
Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi had repeatedly appealed to the lecturers to call off the strike to no avail.
Bello had at stakeholders’ forum on July 5, said government had met 80 per cent of the lecturers’ demands, wondering why they were still on the strike.
Kwara
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has ap
proved the elevation of eight traditional rulers in the state to First Class status.
This is contained in a statement issued in Ilorin and signed by Alhaji Haruna Mohammed, the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development.
Our correspondent reports that the upgraded chiefs include Alhaji Idris Abubakar, Emir of Okuta; Alhaji Sabi Idris, Emir of Gwanara; Prof Halidu Abubakar, Emir of Ilesha-Baruba.
Others are Alhaji Usman Seriki, Oba Salihu Adasofegbe, Olosi of Osi in Ekiti local government council, Oba Abubakar Adelodun Olupako of Share in Ifelodun Local Government Area.
Lagos
A former Executive Secretary, National Universities Com
mission (NUC), Prof. Peter Okebukola, has criticised the recently announced method of admitting students into tertiary institutions, saying it amounts to admitting candidates blindly.
Okebukola made the assertion while speaking with newsmen on the sidelines of the 2016 Speech Day and Prize Giving ceremony of Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos, recently.
He said that the current criteria or guidelines put in place for admission of candidates into the country’s tertiary institutions would only allow unqualified candidate to be admitted.
Okebukola, who was reacting to the recent cancellation of the Post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) by the Federal Government, said the criteria were still unclear to stakeholders.
Nasarawa
The Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre, Keffi,
Nasarawa State, Dr Joshua Giyan-Ndom, has commended the Federal Government over efforts at transforming the country’s health sector.
Giyan-Ndom told newsmen in Keffi that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration was making funds available to strengthen the health sector with infrastructure, equipment, facilities and personnel.
He also acknowledged the government determination to make FMC Keffi one of the best health facilities in the country through funding and provision of modern equipment.
Our correspondent reports that FMC Keffi was established in year 2000 to provide modern tertiary medical and healthcare services.
Niger
The Niger State House of Assembly has asked the State
Government to refund deductions made from workers salaries with immediate effect.
The House passed the resolution following a motion by Mr Bello Ahmad (PDP- Agwarra) and seconded by Mr Salihu Edati (APC-Edati).
Ahmad said that the legislative arm was not consulted before the deductions, adding that the governor’s action was unconstitutional.
“As far as this issue of slashing workers’ salaries is concerned, none of us was consulted and we are primary stakeholders in matters that affect the people.
“If you look at the constitution and the labour act, you will see that there is no provision that empowers the state government to slash salaries, no matter the state of the economy.
Ondo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
says it has commenced the training of 204 e- collation staff of the commission for the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State.
Head of Voters Registration and ICT in the state, Mr Olubunmi Egbeeye, told newsmen in Akure that the training was necessary for the conduct of the election.
Egbeeye said the training, which would last for six days, was for all INEC staff in the 18 local government areas of the state.
He added that the training would enhance the staff’s computer knowledge and keep them abreast of vital concepts and terms.
Oyo
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Oyo State has
decried the living condition of workers in the state, vowing to embark on mass action if the situation does not improve.
The TUC Chairman, Mr Emelieze Andrew, told newsmen in Ibadan that urgent steps must be taken by states and the Federal Government to tackle the development.
He also said TUC would embark on a mass protest at the expiration of a 15-day ultimatum it issued recently.
Lamenting that the economic challenges were biting hard on Nigerian workers, Andrew advised governors finding it difficult to pay salaries to rise up to the challenge or consider resignation.
The Executive Director, Girl-child Right Awareness Ini
tiative in Africa, Mrs Olayinka Ojomo, has advised governments at all levels to evolve education policies that will enhance qualitative education for the girl-child.
Ojomo told the newsmen on Tuesday in Osogbo that the measure became necessary in order to build an egalitarian society.
She said that the only way the society could be sanitised and become sophisticated was to educate the custodians of families from the beginning and prepare them for better future.
Ojomo explained that young girls of today would eventually become wives and mothers that would be in charge of families, hence the need to make them more enlightened and educated.
Plateau
Farmers in Plateau State, have called on the State Gov
ernment to hasten the distribution of its subsidised fertiliser, three weeks after it inaugurated the sales offer.
Our correspondent reports that Governor Simon Lalong, had at the inauguration in Bokkos on June 28, said that government had subsidised the commodity for a bag to sell at N4,000.
“Realising that most of the farmers are peasants, who can hardly afford the high price of fertiliser in the open market, government has subsidised the product by 50 per cent.
“The subsidy makes it possible for farmers to access the product at N4,000 per bag,” Lalong had said.
Sokoto
The Sokoto State Government says it will spend N1.2
billion on the construction of a secondary school in Balle, headquarters of Gudu Local Government Area.
The State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Jabbi Kilgori, disclosed this to newsmen in Sokoto recently.
“Gudu Local Government is reputed to be the only one without a senior secondary school in the whole of the country.
“That was what informed the decision of the state government to conceive this noble project which was duly approved by the state executive council penultimate week.
Zamfara
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai in Gusau
said that intelligence reports indicated that many cattle rustlers and bandits were already fleeing the forest in Gusau.
Buratai made the disclosure during activities to mark the Army Day celebration in Gusau.
“We have also got the report that many of the criminals are already on the run in the forest.
“We understand that they are trying to escape from the ongoing operation but this will not deter us from going on with the operations,”he said.
He noted that the Army would sustain the offensive against the criminals until all known enclaves in the forest were cleared.
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