Benue

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has requested the assistance of the Benue Government to get the National Assembly to approve its Rice and Cassava Value Chain Programme.

The IFAD Country Programme Manager in Nigeria, Miss Atsuko Toda, made the request when she led a Supervision team monitoring the IFAD-assisted Rural Finance Institution Building (RUFIN) programme’s projects in the state on a courtesy visit to Gov Gabriel Suswam.

RUFIN is a seven-year programme designed to improve the performance of non-bank rural finance institutions to enable them to develop to sustainable Rural Microfinance Institutions (RMFIs) in the 12 participating states.

The goal of the programme is to improve the income, food security and general living conditions of poor rural households, particularly women-headed households, youth and the physically challenged.

Atsuko appealed to the governor to help expedite the approval process, saying that the state would benefit from the programme. According to her, the programme will attract more funding to micro-finance institutions in the state.

FCT

The Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) last Thursday expressed disappointment over the spate of allegations of bribery rocking the National Assembly.

The National Chairman, Mr Sam Nkire, made the condemnation in an interview in Abuja,  described the allegations “as not only shameful but also a terrible commentary on the nation’s legislative institution”.

According to him, it is quite disgraceful that the leadership of both legislative houses have never sanctioned members implicated in any of these allegations.

He called on the leadership of the National Assembly to redeem its image by suspending all those members who had cases to answer.

The chairman said this had become imperative in order not to leave the public with the impression that it condoned corruption. “ The NASS should realise that the public is anxious to know what steps it will take in respect of its members implicated in the power, SEC and fuel subsidy probes,” he said.

Jigawa

The Jigawa Government, has procured 3,000 tonnes of assorted fertiliser worth N359 million for sale to farmers during this year’s cropping season.

The Commissioner for Information, Youth, Sports and Culture, Alhaji Babandi Gumel, disclosed this in Dutse last Thursday in an interview after the state executive council meeting.

Gumel said the fertiliser bought included NPK, Urea and organic fertiliser for farmers’ use to increase agricultural production.

He explained that NPK and Urea would be sold to farmers at the cost of N2,500 per bag, while organic fertiliser would be sold at N1, 900 per bag adding that fertiliser would be sold to farmers at different locations across the state.

Gumel also announced the termination of the contract for the supply of fertiliser given to Allied Range and Fuldu Nigeria Ltd. for failure to supply fertiliser at the stipulated period of one month.

Kano

A former Military Governor of Kaduna State, Air Vice Marshal Muktar Mohammed, has called for collective efforts of the people to fight corruption in the country.

He made the call at a one-day sensitisation workshop organised for the senior management officers of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) in Kano on Thursday.

The workshop was organised by the Anti-corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of the hospital, in collaboration with the zonal office of ICPC in Kano.

Mohammed said the appeal was necessary because of the level of corruption in the various sectors in the country.

According to Mohammed , there is the need for Nigerians, irrespective of their religious or political inclination, to support the anti-corruption crusade.

Zakari urged the participants to make the best use of the forum, to ensure that their various departments were corrupt free.

Kaduna

The National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) centre in Kaduna, last Thursday honoured 150 voluntary blood donors.

The North West Zonal Coordinator of the service, Dr Abigail Bozegha, told journalists in Kaduna that the honour was part of activities to mark this year’s World Blood Donor Day, commemorated on June 14.

Bozegha explained that the donors were given various gifts items in appreciation of their sacrifice to save the lives of other people.

She urged Nigerians to embrace the culture of voluntary blood donation to prevent further unwanted deaths in the country resulting from blood shortages. The coordinator said the centre had collected 1,500 pints of blood in the first five months of the year.

Bozegha said the blood was screened and distributed to needy patients within the period under review. “In Kaduna State with an estimated population of 6.7 million people, about 67,000 people should serve as blood donors,’’ Bozegha said.

Katsina

Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State last Thursday appointed Alhaji Usman Daudawa as the new Managing Director of the state’s Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KTARDA).

Daudawa’s appointment followed the removal of the erstwhile Chief Executive, Dr Abba Jamo.

Jamo’s removal is contained in statement issued in Katsina by the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Head of Service, Alhaji Dalha Adamu.

The same statement named Daudawa as his replacement. It did not give any reason for Jamo’s removal.

Jamo was redeployed as director to the Monitoring and Evaluation (M & E) Department of the state’s Ministry of Agriculture as the director.

Kogi

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) last Thursday began the assessment of emergency provisions in public and high valued buildings in Kogi.

The exercise started in Lokoja with the assessment of emergency provisions in the state secretariat complex by officials of NEMA, Red Cross and the Kogi State Emergency Management Agency (KOSEMA).

The assessment will later be extended to other high valued and public buildings in the state.

The officials assessed the adequacy and state of alarm systems, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, exit doors, provision for disabled in emergency situations and first aid box and facilities at the staff clinic. The exercise also featured the demonstration of emergency staff evacuation drill for workers.

Commenting on the exercise, the Coordinator of Abuja Zonal office of NEMA, Mr Ishaya Chonoko said that the exercise was part of the agency’s response to current wave of terrorism and disasters in different parts of the country.

Kwara

A mobile court in Kwara State last Thursday convicted 34 drivers in Ilorin for violating various traffic rules.

The Magistrate, Mr Shuaib Olanikewu, convicted 34 of 35 accused drivers arraigned before him, while the 35th accused person, an NYSC member, was cautioned and discharged.

The convicts were fined from N1, 000 to N4, 000 depending on the type of offence committed.

The offences committed by the drivers included failure to use sea belts, overloading and driving without the driver’s licence, among others.

Most of the drivers were convicted of failure to use seat belts.

Commenting on the development, Mr Christopher Ademoluti, the Kwara Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said the exercise would continue to mitigate the level of road crashes in Kwara.

Plateau

The Plateau Government last Thursday threatened to stop forthwith, the payment of salaries of striking local government workers in the state.

The workers embarked on strike action two weeks ago to press home their demand for the full payment of the N18,000 minimum wage as against the half salaries they have been receiving since January.

Sokoto

The Sokoto State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Alhaji Aminu Kofar-Soro, last Thursday warned officers and men of the corps against misuse of fire arms.

Kofar-Soro said that the command would not tolerate any form of misuse of fire arms as any one found wanting would be sanctioned.

He said that the fire arms must be used to safeguard government property against vandals and enhance the security situation of the state.

The commandant said that the command had already drafted an effective operational order that would enable the officers to discharge their primary assignments without hindrance.

He called for the support of the members of public by giving intelligence reports about their communities.

Taraba

The Taraba Coordinator of the National Teachers Institute (NTI), Malam Saidu Yusuf, has decried the state’s low enrolment in the institute’s programmes, despite the number of unqualified primary school teachers.

Yusuf said in Jalingo in an interview that unqualified teachers in public schools in the state were not utilising opportunities provided by the institute to update their knowledge in recent trends in education development and teaching skills.

He said the National Certificate of Education (NCE), which was the minimum qualification for teaching in primary schools, had continued to elude such teachers because of their inability to improve themselves.

Yusuf, therefore, advised the unqualified teachers to enrol for NCE courses to enable them meet the minimum qualification to teach in primary schools.