THE STATES

Adamawa

The National Centre for Islamic Thought, Adamawa branch, has called for the adoption of true federalism system in Nigeria.

The group’s call was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of its eight annual seminar in Yola and signed by the secretary of the centre, Adamu Dodo.

“The seminar in session agrees that Nigeria must consider the idea and adoption of true Federalism as the only solution for current situation in the country,’’ the statement, in Yola recently, stated.

It called for inter-religious dialogue aimed at peaceful co-existence among Nigerians

It advised Muslim to encourage their children to seek both Islamic and Western education and to live in peace with one another and shun criminal and immoral acts.

Borno

The Borno State Government said on Wednesday that it would reactivate the 67,000 hectares South Chad Irrigation Project (SCIP) located on Lake Chad shores.

The project, which was conceived by the Federal Government in the 70’s, had been abandoned for years.

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno, who visited the site, said he would collaborate with the Chad Basin Development Authority (CBDA) to revive the project.

Shettima promised to inject the needed funds to actualise the revitalisation of the project.

He lamented that the project had been allowed to degenerate over the years in spite of its great economic potentials to the country.

FCT

The Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Merit Awards (NMA), Prof. Oluwafeyisola Adegoke, has said that inadequate budgetary provision is hindering research institutes from carrying out research and development in the country.

Adegoke made the disclosure in Abuja on Thursday in an interview with newsmen

“Nigeria is the only country I know of in the whole world where there is no research support. When you take a place like the U.S, the National Institute of Health alone in the U.S, the budget to support research is more than Nigeria’s national budget every year.

The board chairman appealed to the Federal Government to increase allocation to the NMA to enable it carry out its functions effectively.

According to him, the NMA has concluded plans to liaise with Nigerians all over the world to see how to promote excellence and to improve Nigerian universities as well as research institutes.

To this end, he said the organisation had set up the “NMA Policy Committee’’ that would take an in-depth assessment of critical issues affecting the country with a view to providing solutions to them.

Gombe

Twenty National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) batch ‘B’ members have received awards for meritorious service in Gombe State.

Mr Igyuse Manasseh, the Coordinator of the scheme in the state, announced the awards in Gombe in a message to the passing-out of the 1,003 corps members posted to the state.

Manasseh, represented by the Head of Mobilisation of the NYSC in the state, Mr Ochi Onyike, said the recipients were recognised for their tremendous contributions to the social and economic growth of the communities where they served.

He said the scheme would continue to recognise such efforts and urged serving corps members to strive to excel in their places of primary assignment.

The coordinator attributed the low-keyed passing-out ceremony to the security challenges facing the nation, saying “the security situation in the country calls for greater caution and proactive measures to forestall unnecessary loss of lives.

Jigawa

The Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JISIEC), has fixed January 28, 2012 for the conducting of local government elections in the state.

The Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Sani Ahmed, who made the disclosure to newsmen on Wednesday in Dutse, urged political parties to conduct their primaries in time and submit the names of their candidates to the commission not later than December 23 this year.

He said the commission would screen and verify the candidates to ensure that they were qualified for the positions they were contesting for.

The chairman told political parties in the state to cooperate with JISIEC to achieve free, fair and credible elections in the state.

Ahmed who promised to be fair and just to all political parties, noted that the election would be held in 3,527 polling units and 187 wards across the 27 local government areas in the state.

Katsina

Katsina State police command has arrested a 25-year-old man, Mannir Goma, for allegedly raping an 80-year-old woman in Matazu local government. .

Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed, the state’s Commissioner of Police, confirmed the arrest in Katsina recently while parading 15 other criminals, including armed robbery suspects arrested across the state.

He said that the suspected rapist was arrested last week in Yelwa village shortly after raping the woman.

The police boss added that Goma had confessed that he committed the dastardly act, which seriously injured her, noting that she had been receiving treatment at Matazu Health Centre.

Mohammed disclosed that the command had also arrested nine suspected armed robbers at different times in Kankara, Batagarawa, Katsina, Musawa and Malumfashi local government areas.

Lagos

The Lagos State Chapter of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) on Wednesday appealed to the Lagos State Government to intervene in the planned removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.

CLO Chairman Ehi Omokhuale made the plea during a courtesy call on Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN).

He said that there was a need for the state government to join in pleading with President Goodluck Jonathan to shelve the idea.

President Goodluck Jonathan, in a letter on Tuesday to the National Assembly conveying his administration’s Medium Term Expenditure Framework, said that the Federal Government would begin the removal of fuel subsidy next year.

The president said that removal of the subsidy would free up about N1.2 trillion in savings, part of which could be deployed to providing safety nets for the poor to ameliorate the effects of the subsidy removal.

Niger

The Acting Governor of Niger, Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto, has attributed the recent mass failure of the state’s students in external examinations to the unprofessional attitude of teachers in the state.

Ibeto made the observation during the celebration of this year’s World Teachers Day on Wednesday in Minna.

“The level of our students’ mass failure in examinations is a clear indication of the poor quality of teaching and learning in our schools,’’ he said.

Ibeto particularly urged primary and secondary school teachers to be more dedicated, resourceful and committed to their duties.

Ogun

The massive drift of Nigerian students to study abroad is a huge challenge to education planning in Nigeria, Dr Taiwo Edun, a lecturer at the Olabisis Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye in Ogun, has said.

Edun who made the remark on Wednesday in Ijebu-Ode in an interview with newsmen said that the lack of confidence in the quality of education in Nigeria by parents was responsible for the massive exodus of students.

Osun

The Osun State Government on Wednesday approved a 75 percent increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) paid to health workers in the state.

The state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akele, announced the increment while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the State Executive Council Meeting in Osogbo.

Government’s announcement of the increment in CONMESS came just as health workers in the state called off their strike after fruitful negotiations with the state government.

Dr Oluwole Fabiyi, the Chairman, Osun Coalition of Health Workers, directed all the affected workers to immediately go back to their duty posts.

Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, represented the state government at a meeting where a truce was reached.

Sokoto

Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State has called on Muslim pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia for this year’s hajj to pray for God’s intervention in the affairs of Nigeria.

He made the call on Wednesday, while addressing 520 prospective pilgrims at the Sultan Abubakar International Airport in Sokoto.

Wamakko said that Nigeria was in dire need of prayers for God’s guidance in the task of building a virile nation.

“We need you to pray fervently for our country to overcome the security challenges facing it,’’ he said.

The governor advised the intending pilgrims to refrain from taking prohibited items to the Holy land, adding that they should also respect the traditions and laws of Saudi Arabia.

Taraba

Mr Jonah Kataps, the NLC Chairman in Taraba, has said that the state’s education sector is in serious crisis.

The labour leader made the remark in a goodwill message to teachers during the celebration of the World Teachers’ Day in Jalingo on Wednesday.

He stressed that the state of education in Taraba would continue to deteriorate unless the state government initiated pragmatic measures to overhaul the education sector.

Kataps said that the WAEC and NECO results of the state’s schools had been abysmally poor in the last three years, adding that the results reflected the rot in the education system.

He, however, apportioned a substantial portion of the blame to the government, saying that a situation where some secondary schools had only the principal and one or two teachers was unacceptable.

“We need the immediate recruitment of at least 5,000 teachers,’’ he said, adding that 407 post-primary schools in the state had only 2,169 teachers.