THE STATES

Adamawa

The Adamawa Government has spend more than N594 million in the provision of life insurance cover for its civil servants.

The state’s Head of Service, Alhaji Othman Mohammed, made this known on Friday while signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Adamawa State University (ADSU) for the training of civil servants.

Mohammed said government opted for the insurance cover following incidents of workers collapse and death while on active service.

“The government had to insure the more than 25,000 government workers in the state at the cost of N594 million”, he said.

Mohammed said it was also out of the government’s concern for workers’ welfare and quality of service delivery that the MoU was signed.

“The MoU was  for the training of 6,497 civil servants of different cadres by ADSU at the cost of N252 million”, he said.

Benue

Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue has approved N19 million as the state’s counterpart fund contribution toward the implementation of the Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN).

Mr Mathew Gbayan, the Permanent Secretary, state Ministry of Agriculture, disclosed this on Monday in Makurdi while welcoming the RUFIN Supervision Mission team to the state.

Gbayan said that of the amount, N12 million was for 2011 while N7 million was the arrears of 2010 contribution.

He said that the state government had directed the Ministry of Finance to release the funds this week.

He noted that the programme had made significant impact in terms of poverty reduction in the three participating local governments of Apa, Gwer-West and Logo.

Mr Marcellinus Atoo, the RUFIN state Coordinator, said that the programme had mobilised 491 informal savings groups and linked more than 322 cooperative groups to Micro Finance Banks (MFBs).

Borno

Suspected armed robbers on Monday ambushed officials of Shani Local Government Council of Borno on their way to pay staff salary, killing four persons. Alhaji Modu Walama, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council, told newsmen in Maiduguri

that the incident occurred at Marama junction in Biu Local Government Area.

Walama said that the officials were on their way to Shani after cashing the staff salary from a bank when they were ambushed by the bandits.

“The bandits shot three of the council officials and a police escort before carting away the entire June staff salary of the council.

“Another police escort was also injured by the bandits,” he said.

FCT

Mr Sunny Okpurhe, the Assistant Comptroller-General on Enforcement and Drugs, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has said that the agency seizeid goods worth N3.59 billion in the first quarter of the year.

Okpurhe told newsmen in an interview in Abuja on Monday that the seizures were achieved through proactive steps taken by officers in border areas.

He attributed the success to improvements in terms of equipment and welfare of officers.

“In January, we had 445 seizures, Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.86 billion, number of vehicles seized out of the 445 seizures was 214, while general goods accounted for 231.

“In February, the number of seizures was 669 with a DPV of N1.66 billion and this is made up of 441 vehicles and 228, general goods.

“In March, we had 611 seizures with DPV of N664.44 million, number of vehicles seized was 334, while general goods were 227.

“In a place where the seizure reduced, you will see a corresponding rise in revenue in terms of duty collection,’’ Okpurhe said.

Our correspondent recalls that in the first quarter of 2010, the total seizure made was N2. 11 billion, amounting to a difference of N1. 47 billion.

He said NCS was channelling a lot of goods into the normal service in terms of duty payment, explaining that in the month of March, the revenue collection increased even when there was a decrease in seizures.

Kaduna

The Kaduna State Government has said that the monthly sanitation exercise will resume in the state this month to ensure effective waste Management.

Alhaji Aminu Sani, the General Manager, Kaduna Environmental Protection Agency, disclosed this to newsmen  in Kaduna on Monday.

Sani said that the re-introduction of monthly sanitation would enable the state government to tackle the problem of indiscriminate waste disposal and associated challenges.

He said that the exercise would also help in meeting the MDG target on sanitation.

He noted that waste materials had blocked most drainage systems, adding that the activities of hawkers had further worsened the situation.

“Hawking and dumping of refuse on highways cause flooding,” he noted.

The general manager stressed that the clearing of and waste management was collective responsibility.

He, therefore, warned residents to shun unwholesome habits that compound the poor sanitation problem, adding that environmental marshals had been recruited to curb the menace.

He disclosed that the re-introduction of monthly sanitation would commence on the last Saturday of this month.

Kano

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Gali Na’Abba, has expressed confidence that the Presidential Panel on Post-election violence will execute its assignment well.

“I trust the members of this committee and I believe they will carry out their assignment with a high sense of responsibility,” Na’Abba told newsmen shortly after submitting a memorandum to the panel in Kano on Monday.

He urged the people affected by the post-election violence in the state and others to give information to the panel to enable it to discharge its duty effectively.

Na’Abba, whose house in Kano was destroyed during the crisis, commended the Federal Government for constituting the panel.

The Chairman of the panel, Sheik Ahmed Lemu, had said that the team was in Kano to determine the causes of the violence, establish the extent of destruction and suggest ways of checking future occurrences.

Katsina

Alhaji Ya’u Zakari, the District Head of Sandamu Local Government Area of Katsina State, has raised alarm over the migration of herdsmen into the area in search of pasture.

Zakari, who is also the ‘Bintirawan Daura’, raised the alarm at a joint meeting between traditional rulers and officials of the council on Monday in Sandamu.

He said the herdsmen came to the area two weeks ago from neighbouring Niger Republic, adding that had trespassed into the Sandamu Forest Reserves with their flock.

The stressed the need for the government to take measures to evict them from the reserve as they might enter into people’s farmland and destroy crops.

Zakari urged the local government committee on the prevention of farmers/cattle rearers clash to act quickly to avoid any confrontation between the farmers and the migrant herdsmen.

Kwara

Dr Emmanuel Ojo of the University of Ilorin, has appealed to the Federal Government to review the current revenue sharing formula to enhance the socio-economic development of the country.

Ojo, who teaches political science at the university, said this in Ilorin in an interview with newsmen.

The teacher believed that the current sharing formula could partially be responsible for the slow pace of the country’s development.

He therefore canvassed more funds for states and local governments, pointing out that this would enhance development at the grassroots.

“Under the current sharing arrangement, Nigeria’s central government gets 52.7 per cent of the revenue; the states receive 26.7 per cent and the local governments have 20.6 per cent.

Lagos

Arik Air has  named former Miss World, Agbani Darego, the airline’s brand ambassador for the next one year.

Arik Air Chief Executive Chris Ndulue, who unveiled Darego in Lagos, on Monday told  newsmen that the move was aimed at showcasing Nigerians who had distinguished themselves in their areas of endeavours.

”This is one of the many steps that we are going to take in trying to make sure that we are establishing a brand and a brand image that actually meets the aspiration of Nigerians as well as the founders of the business.

“It is part of the promise we made to Nigerians when we were taking off from the very beginning,”  Ndulue said.

He added that the contract was subjected to renewal, stressing that two more Nigerian brand ambassadors would be unveiled in the future.

A 25-year-old hairdresser. Mercy John, on Friday appeared before an Upper Area Court in Jos for shielding her boyfriend. Usman Isah, who had been declared wanted by the police for al1eged theft.

lsah was alleged to have stolen a car, with registration number, AL757LFA. belonging to a commercial driver, Haruna Ahmadu, and disappeared.

John of No. 40. New Ahuja Area in Lafia and girlfriend of Isah. appeared before Malam Mustapha Hassan on a one-count charge of shielding a criminal.

Sokoto

Alhaji Lawal Zayyana, the speaker of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, has urged the new ministers

to assist President Goodluck Jonathan to sustain his development agenda.

The speaker told newsmen in Sokoto that the minsters should give priority to the delivery of the badly-needed dividends of democracy to Nigerians .

“The president has good plans for Nigerians which will not come if the new ministers are not God fearing, patriotic and dedicated,’’ he added .