Bauchi

Efforts by Alkaleri Local Government in Bauchi State to immunise 56,334 children during the on-going polio immunisation exercise are being thwarted by resistance of some parents.

Journalists Against Polio (JAP) monitoring the exercise in the area, reports that Alkaleri West and East have apparently recorded the highest cases of rejection.

The reports said that more than half of the children under five targeted for the exercise are being prevented.

The Director of Primary Health Care in the area, Alhaji Idris Dan-Asabe, decried the attitude of the parents, adding that the rejection, if not checked, could mar the whole exercise in the area.

“It is regretable to note that Alkaleri LGA is one of the four high risk polio endemic areas in the state.

“We have been experiencing such unhealthy attitudes during previous exercises in the affected areas,’’ Dan-Asabe said.

Ekiti

About 1,800 Corps members have been deployed to Ekiti State to participate in the batch “C” orientation exercise, scheduled to begin next week, an official of the state directorate of the NYSC, has said.

Mrs Funso Olusoji, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the directorate, disclosed this on Sunday in an interview with the newsmen at Ise-Emure in Ise-Orun Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

Olusoji explained that out of the 1,800 corps members, 300 corps members were deployed from Lagos State to participate in the three weeks orientation exercise.

“No fewer than 1,800 corps members, including 300 dislodged members from Lagos State have been deployed to Ekiti State for the batch “C” orientation exercise.

She gave assurance that the directorate had put in place necessary measures to ensure the safety of lives and properties of corps members deployed to the state.

FCT

A paediatrician, Dr Emmanuel Gajere, has advised mothers to look out for persistent cough, poor eating habit, shortness of breath at intervals, as well as intense nasal congestion, to promptly tackle asthma in children.

Gajere told newsmen that a lot of children in recent times had been afflicted with asthma, a chronic respiratory ailment that could kill, if not properly managed.

He said asthma in children could be caused by a number of factors including allergies, strenuous exercises, emotions, viral causes, hereditary and early exposure to drugs like aspirin.

“Early cow milk feeding and exposure to dust, smoke and even drugs like aspirin can lead to a child becoming asthmatic. “Also, a child who has brown eyes called vernal conjunctivitis suggests that the child is at risk of asthma,’’ he said.

Gajere classified asthma in three different categories, and highlighted the number of expected attacks in each class.

Gombe

The Radiation Medicine Complex at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Gombe, was commissioned on Monday, with the Medical Director, Dr Aliyu Elnafaty, describing it as the most equipped and first of its kind in the country.

Elnafaty said on the occasion that the complex offered the latest technology in radiation and had been inspected by the regulatory authority and certified to meet the FMC’s compliance level.

He said the facility was long overdue, considering the prevalence of cancer-related afflictions in the North-East zone of the country.

The medical director, however, listed manpower shortage as one of the challenges facing the centre.

Commissioning the complex, Alhaji Suleiman Bello, the Minister of State for Health, commended FMC Gombe for its initiative and laudable achievements.

He said the centre was among the few hospital chosen to benefit from the Federal Ministry of Health’s Hospital Intervention Fund.

Katsina

The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, last Monday launched the Katsina State chapter of the Women for Change Initiative (W4CI), with a call on the womenfolk to improve their living conditions.

Speaking at the occasion in Katsina, Jonathan said: “I want to draw the attention of our women to the need to change their attitude socially, economically and politically.”

Jonathan, who lamented the low level of women participation in governance in the country, called on them to rise up to the challenge and change the status quo.

“This is non-negotiable irrespective of our socio-political and religious beliefs,” she said.

Kebbi

The Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero, will soon begin to produce artificial chemical fertiliser, Dr Amina Abubakar, the acting Vice-Chancellor, has announced.

“The liquid Nitrogen plant will use Nitrogen from free atmospheric air for the production of artificial chemical fertiliser,” she said at the opening of the 30th Annual Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Aliero.

Abubakar explained that the plant would transform liquid Nitrogen by using cheap raw materials to produce vital by-products needed to drive the economy.

She said a liquid Nitrogen production centre had been established “to strengthen the students with practical entrepreneurship education for them to become job givers and not job seekers”.

The acting vice-chancellor said revenue generated from the sale of the chemical fertiliser would be used to improve academic work and facilities at the university.

Kwara

Any intending Christian pilgrim below 50 years will no longer be allowed to travel to Rome while on pilgrimage.

Pastor Gbenga Ogidiolu, Chairman, Kwara State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, made the announcement in Ilorin on Monday in an interview with newsmen.

He said such pilgrims would only be allowed to travel to Israel and Egypt for the religious obligations, adding that the measure was to prevent Nigerian pilgrims from using the opportunity to abscond to Europe.

Ogidiolu said: “This year, we are going to cover Israel, Egypt and Rome, but we must stress that going to Rome is not automatic.

Lagos

Some clerics on Monday called for a proper investigation of a report which alleged that arms were being imported into the country.

In separate interviews with newsmen in Lagos, the church leaders urged that those responsible for the illegal importation should be punished.

The clergymen, who were reacting to a report published in a national daily on Saturday, pointed out that arms proliferation would threaten the 2011 general elections, if unchecked.

According to the report, the National Taskforce on Illegal Importation of Goods and Light Weapons recently alerted the Nigeria Customs Service on the arrival of a vessel KOTAR NAZAR with voyage number VOYNZR017 laden with small arms and other contrabands.

The Anglican Bishop of Afikpo in Ebonyi, the Rt. Rev. Paul Udogu, told newsmen that the church had been persuading its members to vote for candidates of their choice in 2011, but would not want the members to fall victims of violence.

“The Federal Government should investigate this report and the people involved should be punished.

“If the report is true, we condemn the act outright and ask the government to act immediately to forestall any ugly action,” he said.

The Primate of the African Church Bethel, Most Rev. Emmanuel Udofia, urged proper training and equipment of security operatives at Nigeria’s borders and ports to enable them to detect arms proliferation.

Niger

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (NCPP) in Niger State has commended the efforts of Governor Babangida Aliyu in developing the state.

Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed, the CNPP Secretary, made the commendation while speaking with newsmen in Minna.

“There is no doubt that the present leadership of Aliyu has created new national consciousness and patriotic re-awakening in the minds of Nigerlites through the recent activities tat marked Nigeria at 50.

“The intangible values  may not be seen as physical development area;  the core essence of governance that the nation has been lacking over he years”, he said.

He said that the recent establishment of Independent Square by Aliyu’s administration was a clear testimony of an historical artifact for both the present and future generation to learn.

The secretary said the government’s gesture of employing non-indigenes into the civil service and not on contract bases was also worthy of emulation by other state governments.

Ogun

The Association of Small-Scale Agro Producers in Nigeria (ASSPIN) has canvassed for 10 per cent budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector by governments at all levels.

Mr Mabinuori Adeleke, the National Vice-President of the association in the South-West Zone, made the call on Tuesday in Ijebu-Ode in an interview with newsmen.

Adeleke said that the current 3.5 per cent of budgetary allocation to the sector was not adequate to engender sustainable development.

Plateau

Plateau is to receive 1,600 NYSC members for the 2010 Batch “C” orientation programme, scheduled to start on Wednesday, a statement said on Monday.

The statement, issued by Mr Sam Nwopara, Head, Public Relations of Plateau NYSC Directorate, in Jos, said the orientation would hold at the NYSC temporary camp in Zang Secondary Commercial School, Bukuru.

It further said that the state chief judge, Justice Lazarus Dakyen, would administer the oath of allegiance on the corps members.

The NYSC appealed to the people of Plateau to accord the corps members the usual hospitality they were known for.

Sokoto

Alhaji Ibrahim Gobi, a Senatorial aspirant on the platform of PDP in Sokoto State, has charged INEC to meet the expectations of Nigerians by conducting free, fair and credible elections in 2011.

Gobi told  newsmen that it was only through transparent elections that the desire of Nigerians would be met.

He said that the commission must put in place a formidable framework that would ensure full participation of eligible Nigerians in the election process.

Gobi, who is contesting for Sokoto East Senatorial Zone, added that it was only through credible elections that good leaders would emerge for the political growth of the country.

Gobi called for full participation of stakeholders in the election process to enable the commission perform its constitutional responsibility.