Benue

The Conference at Nigerian Political  Parties (CNPP), Benue State chapter, has described as unfortunate the passage into law of a bill giving Governor Gabriel Suswan un-fettered powers to seek credit borrowings from the capital market and other sources.

Speaking with journalists at the weekend, Benue State chairman of the CNPP, Baba Agan, stated that the action at the state House of Assembly, was a negation of members responsibility to their constituents, which is to protect them from the exploitative actions of  the state government. But Deputy Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, William Edor, who presided over the passage of the law, said the House had to pass the bill in record time to assist the government complete on-going projects stalled by funding.

Again he said the passage of the bill did not come as a surprise to the opposition, alleging that there is a plot to mortgage the future of the state.

According to him, when the House in September passed a resolution permitting the state government to borrow N13.1 billion, the CNPP had written letters of protest to the lending institutions informing them that the Benue State Government did not enjoy the legal support of the people, which led to the creditors demanding the passage of a bill to that effect to protect their funds.

Plateau

The Plateau State Government has signed an agreement with Akintola Williams Deloitte, an accounting firm, to resuscitate Jos International Breweries (JIB) Plc.

The managing director of JIB, Mr Albert Kattlems, told  news men recently in Lagos that Deloitte would not only restructure the firm, but review the company’s strategic options for growth.

The JIB,  one of Nigeria’s blue chips in the past, is owned by the Plateau State Government. According to Katlems the agreements, which will last for six months with an option of renewal also includes the recruitment of a competent technical partner/core investor for the firm.

He said that the core investor, which will acquire the state government’s 63 per cent stake in the company, also had the opportunity of increasing its equities from the issued share capital  the company.

Abuja

The Federal Government will today make public the final report of the 2008 National Health Demographic Survey after the last one conducted in 2003.

The report is expected to provide details of the nations health indicators as the trend occurs in the rural and urban communities.

Wife of the president, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua is to launch the 2008 NDHS report in Abuja. The document captured fertility, Human Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and other sexually-transmitted infections, family planning, woman status and household trends in the country.

The survey was jointly conducted by the National Population Commission (NPC), United State Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Population Funds (UNPF), with support from Macro International.

It is expected to provide insight into the statistics on health and population.

Lagos

The federal government has been urged to employ exterior vector control specialist in the roll back malaria programme.

The call was made recently at a day seminar titled “Management of Pest in Stored Products and in food industry” by the pest control association of Nigeria (PECAN), at the Nigeria Education Research and Development Council (NERC), Agidingbi Lagos.

The association noted that since the federal government has approved the use of treated net to combat malaria, efforts should be made to involve exterior vector control specialists.

PECAN noted that there is need for National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Federal Ministry of Heath and Environment as well as health managers to work together to manage and control pest and regulate hazardous effects of pesticides.

Earlier, the Association president Dr. Tokunbo Coker, emphasised that since PECAN provide services mainly in the industrial institutions on health related issues and for the association to give effective services, practical knowledge needs to be acquired on a wide variety of pests, their life – span, pesticidal formation appropriated for their management and methods, to avoid contamination of goods and pollution of the environment.

In another development, Tom Williams, an expert in tropical diseases from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), has said that 90 percent of children born with sickle cell anaemia in Africa die before they are diagnosed and can get treatment and half of those lives could be saved if sufferers were protected from bacterial infections.

Williams said that sickle cell anaemia kills more children in Africa than HIV, stressing that HIV commands vast attention from the international community, sickle cell anaemia is “Virtually Invisible”.

Sickle- cell anaemia affects millions of people worldwide, but more than 50 percent of the cases are in Africa, where around 200,000 children are born with the disease every year, he said.

Borno

To prevent fresh outbreak and further spread of cholera and other water-borne diseases in Borno, the state and local councils have procured and distributed N100 million worth of drugs, drips and other hospital consumables to the 27 councils.

The cholera treatement camps at biu, Gwoza, Ngaram-Bulabuli, Konduga and Dikwa have been provided with drugs and doctors to bring an end to further spread of water born diseases, Governor Ali Modu Sheriff has stated.

Sheriff, who spoke on the further spread of cholera and measures taken by government to contain the situation at the Maiduguri Government House, said the outbreak of cholera in August in Adamawa State spread to Borno through the Madube community of Gwoza council.

Ondo

President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwaheed Omar, has restated the readiness of the labour movement to resist any attempt by the government to deregulate the downstream sector of the nation’s petroleum industry.

Omar, who spoke in Ikaram-Akoko, Ondo State at the weekend, disclosed that the NLC had reached out to the federal government to stop the deregulation policy and that “for now, we are expecting the government to announce that the proposed deregulation has been cancelled.”

However, he added: “If government continues with the planned deregulation, we will call out our members and we will take necessary steps to frustrate the exercise. We will invoke the full power of organised labour to protest and we will frustrate it.”

The NLC chief, who spoke at the burial of Prince Samuel Kayode, father of Labour Minister, Adetokunbo Kayode, blamed the current scarcity of petroleum products on the proposed deregulation policy.

Osun

The nation’s health institutions may witness yet another round of strike following a threat issued  last weekend by the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists to withdraw their services unless it demands were met by the authorities.

Rising from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Osogbo, Osun State capital, the association expressed surprise that the federal government, having recently met the demands of medical doctors, was yet to release a circular to facilitate the implementation of reviewed salaries and allowances of laboratory scientists.

Briefing journalists on the outcome of the meeting, first vice president of the group, Godswill Okara, said the association would no longer stand by and watch while the authorities treat members as second class citizens when the welfare of other stakeholders in the health sector were given prompt attention.

Oyo

The Minister of State for Finance, Mr Remi Babalola, has advised the three tiers of government to look inwards to generate sustainable resources to meet the minimum requirements and needs of their economies, particularly the infrastructural development.

He gave the advice in Ibadan, Oyo State at the 2009 Ibadan week conference organised by the Jericho Businessmen club at the Banquet Hall of Premier Hotel.

The Minister, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Mr. Bode Agunbiade, advised the tiers of government not to solely depend on the monthly allocations from the federation account.

Delivery a paper on the theme of the conference “Infrastructural Development of Ibadanland,” Babalola explained that the provisions of infrastructures require further increase in government spending, especially in these modern times.

Katsina

Dana Steel Limited, the core investor in Katsina Steel Rolling Company, has recorded a milestone in its privatisation Post Acquisition Plan (PAP) with the commissioning of its new 180,00 metric tons billet manufacturing plant.

The N5.4 billion plant (Steel Melt Shop) is a major step in the company’s backward integration strategy and is sure to boost the operations of the steel mill significantly.

Excited by the development, managing director of Dana Steel Jacky Hathiramani expressed appreciation to the Federal Government, and people of Katsina State, for their belief in Dana Steel, and their support in ensuring that the plant comes on steam.

Sokoto

The Sokoto state chapter of the Judicial Staff Union has called off the strike action embarked upon two weeks ago in the sate.

The judiciary workers had 19 days ago embarked on the strike action demanding improved welfare and condition of service to their members.

A communiqué at the end of its meeting signed by its chairman Malam Isa Saidu said the union is satisfied with the recent measures adopted by the state government towards improving judicial workers condition of service, which is expected to commence this week.

It regretted the inconvenience and suffering it subjected members of the public, during the strike action. It also commended the various workers in the state for their resilience and maturity through out the period of strike. 

Kaduna

The Federal Government has said that it will establish the Universal Internet Service and viewing centre across tertiary institutions in the state.

This is said is aimed at tackling the problem of how access to cutting edge Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources among Nigerian students.

Minister of state for Information and Communication Idris Bibis announced this at the weekend while commissioning a public viewing centre built by the Ministry in collaboration with the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in Kaduna.

He said the importance of information technology cannot be our emphasised, adding that the idea aims at putting information at the finger trips of the Nigerian students and their school communities in order to equip them to meet global challenges.