Nation
THE STATES
Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi on Monday swore-in Alhaji Jaafar Adamu as Commissioner and 23 new permanent secretaries.
The Tide’s source reports that with the swearing-in of the new permanent secretaries, the state now has 52 permanent secretaries.
Speaking during the ceremony, Yuguda enjoined the commissioner and permanent secretaries to ensure transparency, due process and accountability in the discharge of their duties.
He urged the permanent secretaries to show diligence and accountability in the conduct of government business.
Benue
Members of the Benue House of Assembly in Markudi on Monday held an Executive Session in honour of late Mr. Baver Dzeremo, who died on Friday.
Dzeremo, who represented Tarka State constituency, travelled to Germany in November last year for medical treatment and returned on May 19 after he was discharged.
Announcing the death of Dzeremo in his office during the session, the Speaker, Mr. Terseer Tsumb said members of the Assembly were in grief because the deceased was an astute politician.
He promised that the Assembly would do everything possible to give him a befitting burial.
Panic has gripped residents of Maiduguri over incessant suspected ritual killings in some parts of the state.
Barely two weeks after the body of a teenager was found in Lagos street in Maiduguri, with his head, arms, private organs and legs removed, another person was on Tuesday found mutilated in Bama town in Borno.
The Tide’s source reports that this is the third incident in the last two months.
The Borno Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Isa Azare, who confirmed the Bama killing to newsmen in Maiduguri on Tuesday, said the victim, 35-year-old Ali Karama, was found slaughtered in an uncompleted building with his throat removed.
He advised parents to monitor the movements of their children and report persons with questionable characters to the nearest security outfit.
The police patrol team had intensified its operations to
all suspected criminals’ hideouts in the state, he stressed.
The Police authorities in Ekiti State have dismissed six policemen attached to the command over alleged misconduct.
The command’s spokesman, Mr Mohammed Jimoh, told newsmen on Tuesday, in Ado-Ekiti, that the six policemen were dismissed two weeks ago.
He added that one officer was also demoted, while 11 others were sanctioned.
The spokesman said that the affected officers, who were between the ranks of constables and corporals, were tried by the disciplinary committee constituted by the command.
Prof Pai Obanya, an educationist, in Abuja, on Monday, urged stakeholders in the education sector to lay emphasis on quality education and not quantity.
Obanya, who was a resource person at the National Examination Summit, said the government should be more concerned with how resources spent on education impacted on children and not how much was spent.
“Invest on education and not spend on it because how much you spend is not an investment unless it produces positive results, only then would one say you have invested on education.”
A downpour, accompanied by strong winds has damaged hundreds of buildings, electrical poles and other installations in Danja local government area of Katsina State.
The council chairman, Alhaji Balarabe Dabai, newsmen who visited the area on Tuesday that more than 12 settlements were affected but that Danja town was the worst hit.
Dabai said the incident occurred on Sunday night and that the affected buildings included residential houses, schools, hospitals and government establishments.
A delegation of traditional rulers from Bauchi State arrived in Kebbi, on Monday, to understudy “the Systemic Engagement of Traditional Rulers’’ to immunisation.
The delegation, led by the Emir of Dass, Alhaji Usman Bilyaminu, will also study the revitalisation of Primary Health Care (PHC) in Kebbi.
The delegation, which includes USAID, WHO and UNICEF representatives, visited Governor Saidu Dakingari in Birnin Kebbi and commended the leading role of Kebbi in the eradication of the six child killer diseases.
“We will spend the next three days here to understudy the enviable role being played by the traditional rulers in this state on the eradication of child killer diseases for implementation in our state,” Bilyaminu said.
Workers in the steel sector have urged the Federal Government to immediately set machinery in motion to pay the N7.4 billion gratuities and pension arrears of some of their retired colleagues.
The workers, who made the demand in a position paper made available to The Tide’s source in Ajaokuta ,on Tuesday, said the amount had been outstanding since 2005.
In the position paper sent to the government through the Minister of Mine and Steel Development, Mr Musa Sada, the workers said that N5.2 billion of the amount was the outstanding severance benefit of their colleagues disengaged in 2005 by the Delta Steel Company, Warri.
The paper represents the joint position of the two major unions in the industry; Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSAN) and the Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN) on the protracted crisis plaguing the steel sector.
Lagos State lawmakers on Monday in a rowdy session disagreed over a bill for the registration of residents of the state for purpose of setting up a data bank.
The Executive bill, which went through its second reading is entitled the “Lagos State Residents Registration Agency Bill”, and seeks to establish the state residents’ registration agency.
There was a sharp division among the lawmakers over the provisions of the bill, with some lawmakers who opposed it claiming that it lacked vital information required by members.
The members said the bill as presented was inadequate and should be sent back to the executive arm for more information.
Members in support of the bill, however, disagreed with their colleagues, arguing that because of the importance and merits of the bill, it should be read and allowed to proceed to the next stage.
The Nasarawa Government has released the sum of N30.4 million being the balance of its 2009 counterpart fund for the implementation of the Fadama III programme, an official said on Tuesday.
The Project Coordinator, Alhaji Abdullahi Alkali, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Lafia.
Alkali, however, said the counterpart fund for 2010 amounting to N56.3 million was still outstanding.
He said the programme was working to ensure the attainment of food security and sustainable income generation through the farmers.
He appealed to the state government to continue to meet its obligations in regard to the payment of counterpart funds to ensure immediate access to the World Bank contribution.
Health workers or institutions who fail to report the death of a mother during childbirth in Ondo State risk a three-month jail term or closure, a new law states.
According to the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths law, signed by Governor Olusegun Mimiko in Akure on Monday, an individual offender will be jailed three months or fined N30,000.
Similarly, an organisation will be closed or pay a fine of N100,000 or both, Mimiko who also signed into law the Ondo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (ODSACA) bill, said.
The governor said the Confidential Enquiry Law would assist in checking professional negligence that could lead to the death of pregnant women, “thereby providing a strategic information base for meaningful preventive interventions”.
As part of efforts to strengthen the peace-building process in Plateau, stakeholders have recommended the establishment of grazing reserves for Fulani herdsmen.
This was part of the resolutions reached at the stakeholders meeting convened by Governor Jonah Jang on Monday, in Jos to find solution to the incessant crises in the state.
A communiqué read by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Samson Dimka, at the end of the meeting, identified indiscriminate grazing by Fulani herdsmen and other cattle rearers as a threat to farmlands and security.
The communique therefore, recommended that there was the need to demarcate cattle routes and published in the Gazette by both the Federal and Plateau governments.
Government and commercial activities in Gusau, the Zamfara capital, on Tuesday, came to a stand still in honour of visiting President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Tide’s source reports that Jonathan was in Zamfara for a one day visit to the state.
On arrival, Jonathan was expected to pay a courtesy call on the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Muhammadu Danbaba as well as inspect and inaugurate some projects executed by the state government.
The Tide’s source in Gusau reports that most commercial centres and shops around the Gen. Sani Abacha Way, Umaru Yar’Adua road and the Ahmadu Bello Way, remained closed, while awaiting the arrival of the president.
Government offices and some schools also remained closed, while thousands of people lined up on both sides of the roads to have a glimpse of the president.
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.