Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
The Mubi Emirate Council of Adamawa at the weekend honoured some of its illustrious sons for their contributions to the socio-economic development of the area.
The PDP National Vice-Chairman (North East), Sen. Paul Wampana bagged the traditional title of “Zannan Mubi’’, while the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Alhaji Sali Bello, was honoured with the title of “Dan Masanin Mubi’’.
Similarly, Alhaji Gidado Sajoh, a member representing Mubi South Constituency in the State House of Assembly, bagged the title of “Katukan Mubi’’, while Alhaji Gambo Abba, a retired custom officer, was honoured with the title of “Jakadan Mubi’’.
In a speech at the occasion, the Emir of Mubi, Alhaji Abubakar Isa, tasked the title holders to be good ambassadors of the Emirate. Isa, who lauded the peaceful coexistence among “the diverse people’’ of the Emirate, condemned the recent sectarian violence in Jos and said that those found to be responsible should be dealt with accordingly.
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, Wampana lauded the leadership quality of the Emir, who, he said had been able to unite the diverse people of the Emirate.
Borno
Mr Asishana Okauru, Director-General, Nigeria Governors‘ Forum (NGF), has urged the federal government to urgently address the poor state of federal roads across the country.
Okauru made the call in an interview with The Tide’s source in Ngala, Borno State.
He said that the poor state of the roads was impacting negatively on the nation’s economy. He spoke to the source after the visit of the NGF peer review team to the International College and the mini stadium being built by the Borno State Government.
He noted that the deplorable state of federal roads made nonesense of the efforts of state governments across the country to achieve economic development.
According to him, the deplorable state of the highways is a major hinderance to the realisation of the vision of states in regards to the empowerment of the people and economic growth. “Unless the federal government resolves to deliberately invest in the immediate rehabilitation of these federal roads, the investments of state governments would not yield the desired results.
“And this will not be in the interest of the less privileged, most of whom look up to states to have their poverty alleviated,” Okauru said. He said that the poor condition of federal roads particularly in the north east zone, made it difficult for the states in the area to achieve their economic potentials.
FCT
A water expert, Mr Hope Ogbeide, has called on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to advocate for increased access to water and sanitation in the country.
Ogbeide, the Coordinator of the Society for Water and Sanitation in the south-south, made the call while speaking with The Tide’s source in Abuja. He said the CSOs should remind the federal government of its commitment in the endorsement of various water and sanitation declarations at regional and global levels.
The coordinator recalled that Nigeria had in 2008 ratified various protocols on water and sanitation at meetings in Egypt, South Africa and Tunisia, to fast track its water and sanitation goals.
“Usually, when there is a law in place, it becomes easier for a group of people to take advantage of it to pursue their goals.
“In this case, CSOs have an opportunity in the fact that we have signed those conventions, to begin to mobilise to ensure that the National Assembly domesticates such conventions.
“Once that is done, the next step and next thing to be done is to advocate for its implementation because it is one thing to have those things in place and another for them to be implemented,’’ the expert said.
He advised the CSOs not to stop at advocacy, but to also monitor the impact of the particular activity they were advocating for.
Kaduna
The Kaduna command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), says it arrested 92 suspects in the past three months.
A statement sign by NDLEA State Commander, Epeso Ngale, in Kaduna, said the command also intercepted 591.1 kilograms of various drugs from the suspects. The statement said the arrests were made during raids at seven hideout of the suspect traffickers in Kaduna and Zaria.
It stated that seven persons had been convicted, while 11 addicted persons were admitted for counselling and rehabilitation. The commander appealed to the public for useful information that would lead to the arrest of traffickers in the state.
Kano
Sheikh Muhammad Tudunwada, a Kano-based Islamic scholar, on Saturday in Kano called on Muslims and Christians to live in peace with one another.
Tundunwada, who made the call in an interview with The Tide’s source, said that Easter, Christmas, Sallah and Maulud celebrations were the best periods to advocate for peace.
“During those periods, people are relaxed and they worship their God whole heartedly and are always attentive to what their leaders say,” he said.
Tundunwada noted that both Christians and Muslims worshipped one God, and said that they should avoid unnecessary sentiments that could lead to blood shed.
He condemned the recent crisis in Jos, adding that it was created by unnecessary sentiments that had no basis in either the Christian or Islamic religion.
Tudunwada advised the federal government to ensure that all those behind the crisis were brought to book.
Katsina
The Katsina State Government says it has donated N25.5 million to 17 registered community colleges of Arabic and Islamic studies to enhance their operations.
The state Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Abdullahi Garba, disclosed this in an interview with The Tide’s source in Katsina. Garba said that each community college received a donation of N1.5 million from the state government.
The gesture, he said, was to assist the colleges to address their pressing problems with a view to complementing the government’s efforts at improving education in the state.
“The state government is giving the desired attention to Arabic and Islamic education.
“That is why it established an additional college of Arabic and Islamic studies in Fago, apart from the exisiting ones in Katsina, Dutsin-ma and Kabomo towns of the state,” he said. The commissioner also disclosed that the state government had sponsored many students to study Arabic Language, Arabic Caligraphy and Computer studies at the University of Sudan. According to him, more than 60 of such students have graduated, while 175 of them are currently pursuing their various courses in Sudan.
On the dearth of Arabic and Islamic teachers in the state, Garba said the government was making efforts to address the problem.
Lagos
The Surulere Local Council in Lagos State says it has begun an enlightenment campaign at motor parks to check drug abuse and sale of alcohol. The Chairman, Dr Razak Folami, told The Tide’s source in Lagos that the campaign was aimed at re-orientating youths and commercial bus drivers. He expressed concern over the problem of drug abuse and alcoholism which, he said, had reached an alarming dimension. Folami said the council decided to take the campaigns to motor parks because they had become a haven for hard drugs and alcohol. “We have commenced a campaign to enlighten drivers and commercial motorcyclists on the harmful effects of such drugs.
“The local concoctions mixed with gin are part of the hard drugs which they consume; they are injurious to health and also affects safe driving,’’ he said.
Folami stressed the need to prevent accidents at parks by discouraging the consumption of drugs and alcohol by the drivers and commercial motorcyclists.
He threatened that after the campaigns, the council would clamp down on erring drivers and sellers of local gin and alcohol at parks. “Consumption of such drugs causes abnormal behaviour which leads to accidents.
“Council officials have been deployed to parks to enforce the law banning sale and consumption of alcohol at parks,’’ Folami said.
He said the council was also collaborating with Federal Road Safety Corps in enforcing traffic rules and regulations to reduce accidents in the area.
Niger
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger has ordered the release of N160 million to the state eight emirate education foundations as part of government support for their activities.
Aliyu gave the order during the combined annual general meeting of the Minna Emirate Education Foundation (MEEFO) held at the emir’s palace, Minna.
According to the governor, the Minna Emirate Education Found will get N30 million, the Bida Emirate Education Foundation, N25 million; while the Kontagora, Borgu and Suleja emirate foundations will each receive N20 million.
Similarly, Aliyu also directed that N15 million each should be released to Lapai, Agaie and Kagara emirate foundations for their activities. He directed the emirate foundations to ensure that part of the money was used for the construction of toilets and locally dug wells, in order to make public schools more conducive for pupils and students.
Aliyu, however, ordered that the funds for Kagara Emirate Education Foundation be withheld, until it accounted for the funds already given to it.
“We heard that some people in the area have misused the foundation’s funds and as such their share should be withheld until the previous allocation is properly accounted for,’’ he said. The governor urged officials of MEEFO to re-vamp the foundations so that they could live up to the goals of their founding fathers, among which “are the construction or rehabilitation of schools structures and award of scholarship to indigent students.
In his speech, the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Faruk, expressed his concern about the mass failure recorded in the November-December 2009 NECO examination and called on the officials of the foundations to work toward improving the standard of learning.
MEEFO spent N54 million on the renovation and construction of classrooms and award of scholarship to indigent students in the emirate in the last three years.
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project(HYPREP) has inducted and given orientation to 100 Ogoni youths for training on Creative Arts. The beneficiaries were drawn from Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
The induction and orientation ceremony, which took place at the CRAB of the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt on Wednesday, was a prelude to the training proper, billed to commence next Tuesday.
As usual, HYPREP issued undertaking forms to the trainees, for them to complete and submit as a guarantee that they would subject themselves to the requirements of the programme as well as be of good behaviour throughout the four-month duration of the training.
HYPREP also announced that it would pay N150,000 to each of the beneficiaries monthly, as transport and feeding allowance, stressing, however, that only those who fully participate in the training would be entitled for the allowance.
Speaking at the event, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, welcomed the trainees to the programme, saying, HYPREP’s projects are evolving and that one thing that is happening today is that the Project has gotten leadership right, by making promises and keeping those promises.
According to him, the Project had equally promised to move away from rudimentary skills acquisition to high impacts acquisition levels, which it has kept today by sponsoring the training on Creative Arts.
He noted that in planning its livelihood programmes for Ogoni youths, HYPREP has taken time out to look for skills that would add value to the lives of the beneficiaries.
Zabbey, who was represented at the event by the Director of Technical Services, Prof Damian-Paul Aguiyi said by packaging the Creative Arts training, it was expected that the Ogoni people would have their own version of Nollywood known as Ogoniwood just as Nigerians are familiar with Hollywood, Bollywood, Kannywood and Nollywood.
To achieve this goal, the Project Coordinator explained that it was the reason for choosing a reputable establishment like Halibiz Consult Limited, to partner with the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt, which he described as one of the most prestigious in the Niger Delta, for the training of the beneficiaries.
He also indicated that in doing this, HYPREP was desirous of going for talents that would help the Ogoni people grow in the film industry, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously.
Zabbey equally enjoined the trainees to put in their best so that in the next three to five years, they would carve a niche for themselves and become forces to reckon with in the film industry.
On her part, HYPREP’s Head of Sustainable Livelihood, Mrs Josephine Nzidee said HYPREP does what it says it will, stressing that the process of training Ogoni youths on specialised skills started three years ago.
According to her, the selection process for the training was rigorous and transparent, and was carried out by renowned actors actresses.
She disclosed that the training consists of three major aspects, which include acting, script writing and make-up, while Nollywood actors like Charles Nnoje, Ngezu J. Ngezu and award-winning make-up artist, Jude Odo would be on hand to drill and groom the beneficiaries.
Mrs Nzidee noted that the programme is a specialised training that does not have anything like starter packs but that it is purely a professional certification programme that would launch the beneficiaries into the Nollywood industry in Nigeria.
According to her, the Creative Arts training is one of the four specialised trainings organised by HYPREP to ensure that the Ogoni people are well positioned in vital industries like Aviation, Maritime, Creative Arts and Mechatronics.
She said the last of such trainings on Mechatronics would take place in the coming months, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously so as to put the Ogoni people on the Nollywood map.
She further indicated that while Charles Nnoje and Ngezu J. Ngezu would take the beneficiaries on the practical aspects, Jude Odo would take them on the make-up aspects.
Also speaking, the External Relations Manager of Halibiz Consult Limited, Alabo Experience Douglas said his company gives much premium to standard and quality, and assured that the firm would give the trainees value for the money spent on the programme.
While charging the beneficiaries to be dedicated and punctual, he stressed the need for them to approach the programme with the mindset of being empty so that at the end of the day, they would benefit maximally.
On his part, the Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Port Harcourt, Dr Ovunda Ihunwo said the CRAB is an acronym for Creative Review of Arts and Books, stressing that it was named by renowned playwright, Prof Ola Rotimi.
According to him, the CRAB had nurtured, groomed and produced Nollywood actors and actresses like Bobmanuel Udokwu, Ejike Asiegbu,Francis Duru, Hilda Dokubo, Monalisa Chinda, Julius Agwu, and a host of others, assuring the beneficiaries that they were on fertile environment to hone their talents.
He noted that symbolically, the crab is a nutritious seafood common in the Niger Delta, and reiterated the need for the beneficiaries to come empty for the training, as it were.
Ihunwo disclosed that the theory classes of the programme would run for three weeks while the fourth week would be for the master classes, and urged the trainees to avail themselves of the opportunity to make a difference by telling the Ogoni story, which he described as inexhaustible by themselves, in order to put Ogoni on the map.
A 23-year-old student of Nasarawa State University identified as Jatau Rilokwah, has been reportedly found dead in the university’s senior staff quarters.
A counter-insurgency expert, focused on the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed this on his X handle on Tuesday.
According to him, the discovery was made on April 27, 2025, by a security officer at the university, Emmanuel Gyawo.
He stated that Gwayo was directed by Prof. Shedrack Jatau to check on his son upon arriving at the residence, and he found Rilokwah hanging from the ceiling.
“Professor Jatau, who was reportedly out of the State at the time, was informed of the incident. A team of police detectives, led by the Divisional Crime Officer of Angwan Lambu, was dispatched to the scene.
“The body showed no signs of violence, and no suicide note was found. Rilokwah was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi, where he was confirmed dead by a medical doctor,” he further stated.
He added that the student’s corpse had been deposited in the hospital morgue.
He also quoted police sources as saying that investigations were ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Ogun State Government has partnered with Nike Art Gallery to establish a new exhibition space at the Olumo Rock Tourist Centre in Abeokuta, a move Governor Dapo Abiodun says is aimed at boosting annual tourist visits from 20,000 to over 100,000.
Abiodun disclosed the plan on Wednesday while receiving the founder of the Nike Art Gallery, Chief (Mrs) Nike Davies-Okundaye, at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
“I went to Olumo Rock about a month ago and I decided that we needed to do something about restoring Olumo Rock to its old glory. From statistics, Olumo Rock hosts about 20,000 people a year in its current state, and I felt that we could increase that to at least ten times,” the governor said.
As part of the plan, an events hall within the tourist centre will be repurposed as a permanent gallery operated by Nike Art Gallery.
“I told them to shut it down. Practically, we want to bring it down and turn it into a gallery for you to use as an exhibition gallery,” he told Davies-Okundaye.
He added that the gallery will be ready before the National Sports Festival in May, when the State will host about 15,000 visitors.
“I want them to be able to see our tourist sites,” he said, listing attractions such as the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, the Ransome-Kuti family home, and the Adire market among key heritage spots to be showcased.
Highlighting Ogun’s improved infrastructure, the governor said, “Now that we’ve succeeded in having the intra and inter-state roads in place, you can come to Ogun State by rail; you can come by air. We’ve constructed one of the best airports in Nigeria, and very soon, you will be able to come by sea.”
Davies-Okundaye, in her remarks, praised the state’s efforts to promote tourism and pledged to use the new gallery to attract global attention.
“This gallery will bring many Heads of State. The one I opened in Abuja already has more than 10 Heads of State, including those from South Korea and the Czech Republic. The same will happen here,” she said.
She also applauded the Governor for his commitment to the Adire fabric industry.
“Adire is all over Nigeria, but Ogun has been promoting Adire for over 50 years. Today, the only cloth we can call our own is called Adire. This is what we can sell to the Europeans,” she said.
Abiodun reaffirmed his administration’s backing of the Adire industry, citing policies such as the Adire Ogun Digital Marketplace, compulsory wearing of Adire in the state, and provision of solar-powered production equipment to support artisans.
He also revealed plans to open a creative arts and entertainment village in partnership with Bolanle Austen-Peters, expected to be completed within two months.