THE STATES

Adamawa

As political activities pick up in Adamawa State for the coming January 14, governorship election, the ACN said that the PDP led government of Gov. Murtala Nyako was living on borrowed time.

A statement by the ACN Publicity Secretary, Mr Mathias Yohanna said the PDP government had failed the people of Adamawa who were now yearning for change.

Yohanna condemned what he described as the growing insecurity in the state and non payment of workers salaries for the past three months as the latest problems added to the people of Adamawa by the state government.

“This is what the state is reaping under a retired admiral, a former chief of naval staff, a former chief of defense staff, a former member of defunct supreme military council, a former governor, and currently a failed governor.

Borno

Col. Victor Ebhaleme, Field Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Maiduguri, on Sunday confirmed the arrest of a number of people by the force.

Ebhaleme told newsmen that the arrests were in connection with the recent indiscriminate shooting in the metropolis.

He however said he could not give an exact on the number of suspects apprehended, adding also that they are still undergoing interrogation.

“Anybody that is found guilty will however face the full wrath of the law at the end of the day,’’ the JTF Field Commander said.

FCT

Over 21,000 members of the Nigeria Police Force have so far benefited from the on-going Police Reform Training Programme to address the current security challenges across the country.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd.), made this known to the newsmen in Abuja on Saturday.

He said the affected personnel were both trained locally and abroad as part of government efforts to beef up security.

Olubolade expressed optimism that the training would enable the police utilise more effectively some of the newly-acquired security equipment, including helicopters and communication gadgets.

Gombe

Alhaji Adamu Yakubu, the Emir of Pindiga in Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State, has helped in resolving the problem of resistance among the people to polio vaccines in two districts.

Yakubu told newsmen last Sunday in Pindiga that he with the assistance of traditional rulers and opinion leaders in the districts, including Kashare, to re-orient the people to participate in polio immunisation.

He attributed the problem of resistance by the people to communication gaps between the traditional rulers and their subjects.

“We organised awareness campaigns several times in this emirate in order to reach out to the people and we were able to make them understand the importance of immunisation.

Kaduna

Governor Patrick Yakowa has directed the 23 Local Governments in the state to reactivate their task forces on polio immunisation.

He gave the directive on Saturday during the flag-off ceremony of the Seventh Polio Immunisation Campaign in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State. Represented by his wife, Mrs Amina Yakowa, the governor said the directive was aimed at making the state free from polio cases.

He described the four-day exercise as very important to the current position of the state as a high-risk area and urged the people of the state to embrace the campaign.

He said a report had showed that Kaduna was the only state that had not recorded a single polio case between Jan. 2009 and Nov. 18, 2011.

Kano

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the president of Dangote Foundation, has donated N440 million to 44,000 unemployed women in Kano State.

Dangote announced the donation at the third meeting of the state’s Community Re-orientation Committee held in Kano.

He said that 44,000 women, drawn from the 44 local government areas of the state, would benefit from the donation.

Dangote also announced another donation of N160 million to empower youths in “work-bull farming’’ scheme.

Kogi

Dr Tunde Arosanyin, the National Financial Secretary of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), has commended the Federal Government for the removal of subsidy on fertiliser.

Arosanyin told the newsmen in Lokoja on Saturday that the subsidy’s removal was a welcome development because the proceeds would be used to aid the peasant farmers.

He said the revelation that less than 11 per cent of farmers were benefiting from the subsidy was well-researched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

He said the arrangement to channel the money spent on the subsidy to 50,000 genuine farmers nationwide through credit facilities was laudable.

Kwara

Mr Alhassan Akor, the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Kwara, has reiterated the commitment of the corps to reduce the risk that will throw the country into mourning.

He made this known in Ilorin when he received members of the Kwara chapter of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists.

Akor said that the Risk and Disaster Management Unit of the command had commenced sensitising the public on the standards required of the goods and services capable of throwing the society into mourning.

Lagos

An Islamic cleric, Alhaji Nurudeen Okuleye, has appealed to Nigerian leaders to urgently address the increasing rate of poverty and insecurity in the country.

Okuleye, Lagos State chairman of the Ansar–ud–Deen Society of Nigeria, made the appeal last Sunday at the 6th Ola-Ayinde Foundation Memorial Lecture, held at Ebute-Metta, in Lagos.

The annual lecture is organised in memory of a former chairman of the religious body, Alhaji Surajudeen Ola-Ayinde.

Okuleye said that the increasing level of poverty and insecurity posed a grave danger to the country’s progress and continuous peaceful co-existence among the citizenry.

Ogun

The Ogun State Sector of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has impounded 18 right-hand-drive vehicles, its head of operations, Mrs Anne Abhiele, said last Sunday.

Abhiele told newsmen in Abeokuta that such vehicles had been banned from Nigerian roads since 1972 and wondered why they were still being imported and driven.

Abhiele quoted the provisions of the National Road Traffic Regulations (2004), which states that “no motor vehicle shall be registered, or driven on any public road, if the steering apparatus of the motor vehicle is fitted on the right-hand side.”

She expressed regret that right-hand-drive vehicles were still being cleared at the ports and licenced by the relevant authorities across the country for use on Nigerian roads, despite existing laws against such vehicles.

Sokoto

The Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, has embarked on the construction of a 50-room hotel in Abuja, at the cost of N321 million. The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Riskuwa Shehu, who disclosed this to newsmen in Sokoto  last Saturday, said that the project had reached about 70 per cent completion.

He expressed the hope that, when completed, the hotel would be leased out to a yet-to-be ascertained partner for effective management.

“Part of the proceeds from the hotel, is to be used to construct additional structures at the hotel which is expected to be completed before the end of the first quarter of 2012.

“The rest will also be reinvested in other ventures to further shore up the revenue base of the university rather than depending solely on grants from the Federal Government,” Shehu said.

Yobe

People Living with HIV/AIDS in Yobe, last Saturday said that they had been able to access anti-retroviral drugs in the state.

They said that the drugs had kept them in good health, adding that they had been able to overcome discrimination and stigmatisation in the society.

Abubakar Mustapha, one of those living with the condition, told newsmen in Damaturu, that the provision of drugs and other supplements to them by the state government had improved their health.

Baba Alkali, who is also living with the virus, said he was no longer ashamed of revealing his status “because with the drugs and supplements provided by Yobe State Agency for the control of HIV/AIDS (YOSACA), I feel healthier than some people suffering from other ailments.”