THE STATES

Adamawa

The Adamawa Universal Basic Education Board (ADSUBEB) has decried the increasing rate of consumption of alcohol by some primary school teachers during working hours.

The board’s Director of School Servives, Hajiya Fuloh Maikano, made the observation on Tuesday in Yola at a “train the trainer” workshop on abuse of alcohol for primary school headmasters.

The workshop was organised by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in collaboration with ADSUBEB.

Maikano said such teachers, who were mostly in the rural areas, engaged in the consumption of local gin, popularly known as “Ogogoro” which had adverse effect on their health.

Borno

Another bomb exploded on Monday in Maiduguri near the customs round about, killing two children.

Maj.-Gen. Jack Nwaogbo, the Commander of the Military Task Force code named “Operation Restore Order’’, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri.

Nwaogbo said that three customs officers were also injured in the explosion, suspected to be a car bomb.

“Two people died in the blast; they are children believed to have accompanied their mothers hawking in the area.

“Three custom officers were also injured although the injuries were not life threatening,” he said.

Ekiti

The Ekiti Government has said that its decision to raise bonds from the capital market was because of the need to fast-track development in the state.

Mr Oladapo Kolawole, the state’s Commissioner for Finance, gave the explanation in Ado-Ekiti on Monday while addressing stakeholders at a public hearing on a bill to raise the bonds.

The bill is titled, “Ekiti State Bonds, Notes and Other Securities Issues Bill 2011”.

In the bill, the state’s governor is seeking the state legislators’ approval to enable the state government to raise bonds from the capital market for the execution of pressing capital projects at minimal and affordable interest rates.

While debating the bill during its first and second readings, most of the lawmakers expressed support for the executive bill.

FCT

The Cameroonian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Salahudeen Abbas, has commended the remarkable progress recorded so far by the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola.

A statement by Mr Abbas Tahir, AUN’s Vice-President, Public Relations and Communications, on Tuesday said.

Abbas made the commendation when he visited the university while leading a 10-member Cameroonian officials to Yola for a diplomatic meeting on interconnection of power between the two countries.

The meeting also facilitated the inauguration of a bilateral technical committee of 23 members with respect to electricity sharing between the two countries.

Jigawa

The Commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in Jigawa, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul, has decried the high rate of drug trafficking and drug abuse in the state.

Abdul bared his mind at a seminar to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse, last Tuesday in Dutse, saying that the development had led to an upsurge in other crimes in the state.

He said that the high intake of hard drugs in the state had also caused a wave in the rate of armed rubbery, prostitution, pastoral and farmers’ conflicts as well as kidnapping.

The commander said that within five months, his command alone had arrested 156 suspects with 46 kilograms of various drugs of abuse in the state.

Kaduna

Bee-keeping Extension Society, a Kaduna-based NGO, has appealed to the Federal Government to engage youths in bee-keeping business to curb restiveness.

The president of the society, Mr Idris Mohammed, made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Zaria, Kaduna State.

Mohammed stressed the need for the government to provide the enabling environment to enable bee-keepers compete favourably with their international counterparts, as Nigerian honey had been adjudged the best worldwide.

Lagos

The Chairman of Conoil Plc, Dr Mike Adenuga, says exposure of shareholders to the provisions of International Finance Reports Standard (IFRS) will aid corporate governance.

Adenuga, who made the observation at a workshop in Lagos said that there was the need to educate shareholders on the new accounting method.

He promised that his company would train members of its audit committee on the new method.

Our correspondent reports that Adenuga, who was represented by a director in the company, Dr Moses Omatsola, charged shareholders to organise “exploratory workshop” on IFRS.

Oyo

The Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CAFAN) has suggested channelling flood waters to dams as an effective flood control strategy.

Mr Rotimi Oloye, the national Secretary-General of the association, made the suggestion while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Tuesday.

Oloye said that the strategy could also pave the way for more fish ponds in the country, adding that the numerous inland waterways in the country could be made viable for fish production.

Ogun

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun last Tuesday said that given the poor financial situation of the state, his administration might not be able to pay the N18,000 minimum wage.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minimum wage issue has pitched most of the state governors against labour, for claiming that they had no adequate resources to pay.

Some of the governors had recently hinged the payment of the new wage on the upward review of the revenue allocation, which they said was grossly in favour of the Federal Government.

Osun

Chief Adelowo Adebiyi, the Chairman Osun Action Congress of Nigeria

(ACN) has called on the people of the state to support the state government’s environmental sanitation programme.

Adebiyi, who made the call in a statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo, noted that the programme was one of Aregbesola’s promises to give the state a face lift.

He said that the cause of restoring healthy living in the state, which is one of the items on the administration’s six-point agenda might fail if nothing was done.

“The battle to rid the state of filth is a major task without which the health of our people might be in danger.

Sokoto

Hajiya Luba Hassan, a PDP Ward Secretary in Sokoto South Local Government Area has appealed to the state government to provide some infrastructure in Gagi, to prevent floods in the area.

Hassan told newsmen in Sokoto that the infrastructure, including drainage, if provided, would prevent houses from collapsing.

“We lost two girls and several houses as a result of heavy rain fall about a week ago.

“Our Governor is a listening one and I am very optimistic that he will urgently do something about it because he is concerned about the yearning and aspiration of the governed.’’

Zamfara

The Zamfara Government says it will partner with France to develop irrigation agriculture to facilitate economic growth and place agriculture as a major revenue earner.

The Acting Governor of the state, Malam Ibrahim Muhammad, said this in Gusau when he received the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Jean Michel Dumont, who paid him a courtesy visit.

Muhammad noted that Zamfara is an agrarian state which requires modern agricultural systems to boost its production capacity for enhanced revenue generation and the development of its economy.

According to him, the state looks forward to a partnership that will be mutually beneficial .

He commended the French Government for its foreign policy of non-interference in the internal politics of other countries.

Earlier, Dumont said he was in Zamfara to seek collaboration with the state in area of agricultural development.