Nation
THE STATES
Bauchi
The Dass Local Government in Bauchi State has released N1.9 million as scholarship for students undergoing studies in various institutions of higher learning within and outside the country.
The chairman of the council, Malam Ado Maigoro, told newsmen in Dass that the money would assist indigent final year students of the council to complete their studies.
He said students studying degree programmes would be paid N10, 000 each as allowances for their thesis while those undergoing HND and NCE programmes would be given N5, 000 each.
Maigoro added that some of the final year students studying Engineering, Medicines and Law would be paid N50, 000 each.
The chairman also said that the council had purchased JAMB forms for students in the area that sat recently for the examination.
FCT
A PDP presidential aspirant in the April elections, Mrs Sarah Jibril, recently urged President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint more women in his cabinet.
Jibril, who made the call in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, said the legislature at the state level had set the pace with the election of speakers and deputy speakers.
According to her, the challenge was now with the executive arm of government to ensure that women were given the chance to contribute to the development of the nation.
The former aspirant noted that Nigeria as a signatory to several international conventions on good governance had no excuse not to carry its womenfolk along.
She said that she contested for the position of president because she believed in actualising the cause of Nigerian women.
The politician maintained that Nigerian women had contributed considerably to the development of the country, adding that more than 50 per cent of the votes that brought politicians into the various positions came from women.
Kano
Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, has pledged to improve library services to enhance the educational development of the people.
Kwankwaso made the pledge when he paid an unscheduled visit to the state-owned Murtala Muhammed Library.
“Libraries are veritable sources of knowledge for our students in particular and for our people generally; we will do our best to develop them,” he said.
He specifically promised to complete the projects which had been abandoned at the complex in order to avail them to the general public.
The governor directed the director of the state’s library board to liaise with the vice-chancellor of the state-owned university of science and technology in Wudil to examine how the institution could benefit from the library.
Kwara
Kwara State Muslims’ Pilgrim Welfare Board has warned its co-ordinators at the Local Government Councils against airlift of pregnant women, under-aged and over-aged pilgrims.
The Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Muslims’ Pilgrims Welfare Board, Hajia Fatimah Jimoh, gave the warning at a parley with the State’s Local Government Hajj Co-ordinators on Saturday in Ilorin.
According to her, the Saudi Arabian authority has vowed to severely sanction any state that violates its rules or airlifts pregnant women and under-aged or over-aged pilgrims.
The Executive Secretary explained that the Saudi Arabian authority had ruled that for every absconder in any state, 10 seats would be deducted from the allotted slots of the state.
She pointed out that the state was ready to ensure a successful Hajj operation this year by eliminating every hitch and unethical practices.
Jimoh further said that preparation for this year’s Hajj and Umrah were in top gear, noting that the welfare of the Pilgrims would be improved upon to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
Kebbi
The Bright Capacity Initiative for Rural Community Enhancement, an NGO, has donated 20 computers to the Gwandu Local Government Development Centre in Kebbi State for training.
Presenting the computers and accessories in Gwandu recently, the NGO Board Chairperson, Dr. Aisha Adamu, said it was aimed at training people who lacked access to credit facilities.
She said that the group had trained 2,000 family members since its inception in 2006.
“To create for them the enabling environment for economic independence, reduce poverty and support assets creation management”.
Adamu said the group was in partnership with SMEDAN for building the capacity of rural dwellers, stressing that an endowment fund would be raised to support operational cost of the centre.
Kogi
The new chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lokoja branch, Mr Mohammed Musa, has called for the establishment of a Court of Appeal Division in Kogi.
In his post-inaugural speech after his election on Friday in Lokoja, Musa said absence of the court in the state was working against the interest of litigants.
Musa, who promised to be diligent, transparent and honest in his new assignment, also pledged that his team would complete the on-going NBA secretariat project .
The new NBA leadership, he said, would liaise with the Judiciary to build a warehouse for safe-keeping of goods seized from litigants.
In the election which took place at Lokoja Chief Magistrate Court 1, Musa polled 72 votes while his opponent, Chief Moses Enwere got 16.
Mr Osas Erhabor, the 2nd Vice President of the NBA who monitored the election, urged the two contestants to the chairmanship position to exhibit maturity over the outcome of the election.
Lagos
Mr Sijibomi Olusanya, the Acting Provost of Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, on Saturday said that the World Bank’s 250,000-dollar-grant to the institution would be used to facilitate ICT-based learning.
He said this in Lagos, while speaking at a forum organised to sensitise the staff and students of the college of the need to embrace the Science and Technology Education Post Basic (STEP B) project
He said that the project targeted only science and technology-related educational institutions, senior secondary schools, polytechnics, colleges of education and universities, as well as research institutes.
Olusanya said that the primary objective of the project was to improve the quality and relevance of science and technology education, while enhancing the development of positive attitudes and values in ICT practitioners.
He said that with the grant, the college would now join the league of educational institutions and research organisations that had benefited from the immense opportunities provided by the project.
Olusanya said that modern teaching and learning could only be meaningful and purposeful, if they were ICT-based.
He said that the STEB B project was a planned effort of the Federal Government, in partnership with the World Bank, to adopt modern approaches to educational processes.
Niger
The Governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida-Aliyu, has identified disunity among the Nupes as bane of development of Nupe land.
Babangida-Aliyu made the observation on Saturday as a quest speaker at a lecture entitled: “Democracy and the Development of Nupe Land,’’ as part of activities to mark the 3rd Nupe Day festival.
He noted that the Nupes as an ethnic nationality had produced prominent Nigerians who had contributed numerously to the development of the country.
The governor, who was represented at the ceremony by his Deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Musa-Ibeto, said that lack of unity among the Nupes had retarded the progress and development of the people and the land as a political entity.
Babangida-Aliyu also commended the effort of the Etsu Nupe for bringing together all the people of Nupe extraction for the purpose of assisting one another.
Plateau
Ten years after it was established, the Plateau State Emergency Management Agency is still fighting for the enabling law to function effectively, according to its Executive Secretary, Alhassan Barde.
Barde told newsmen in Jos on Sunday that the absence of such statutory recognition was hindering the efficiency of the body hurriedly put together to coordinate emergency activities during the 2001 Plateau crisis.
“We should also be able to link up with other stakeholders and reach out to sister agencies to work out ways to coordinate the proactive measures. But we just cannot do these without legal backing. We cannot move if we are not recognised by law,’’ Barde said.
According to him, a bill for the establishment of SEMA passed the first reading in the Plateau House of Assembly last year, but was abandoned during the second reading when it was pointed out that it should actually originate from the executive arm of government.
Sokoto
The Sokoto State wing of the NLC has condemned the demand by state governors that petroleum subsidy be removed to enable them to implement the new N18,000 minimum wage.
The Nigerian Governors’ Forum had recently set the removal of the petroleum subsidy by the Federal Government as one of the pre-conditions for the implementation of the minimum wage.
Ahaji Abubakar Tambuwal, the Auditor of the congress in the state, told our correspondent that the call for removal of subsidy would visit untold hardships on the people.
Tambuwal, who is also the state’s Chairman of the Agriculture and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria, said the withdrawal of the subsidy would pitch civil servants against others who are not.
Rather, he said, the governors should look for other means of improving on their internally general revenue to be able to implement the new minimum wage.
Zamfara
Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara on Saturday in Gusau inaugurated a committee to review the dethronement of the Emir of Bakura, Alhaji Muhammad Sani.
The committee, which was given one week to complete its assignment, is headed by a former Assistant Controller General of Prisons, Alhaji Muhammad Jekada.
Sani, who is the elder brother of the former governor of Zamfara, Sen. Ahmad Yarima, was removed last year in the heat of the political rivalry between Yarima and the then governor, Mahmuda Shinkafi.
Shinkafi’s second term bid was, however, truncated by an ANPP opposition led by Yarima which won the April 26 gubernatorial election.
Inaugurating the committee, Yari said the review of the emir’s removal was a fulfillment of his administration’s promise to correct all wrongs irrespective of political leanings.
Yari, who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Ibrahim Muhammad, said the committee had the mandate to verify the insinuation that the removal was politically motivated.
He advised the committee to make wide consultations and listen to variety of opinions so as to be guided by the truth in handling its assignment.
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.