Adamawa

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa  State has stresseed an urgent need for cultural rejuvenation in the country.

The governor stated this in Yola while declaring open a one-day sensitisation workshop on Role of Media in Promoting Culture for journalists.

The workshop is organised by the National Museum in Yola in collaboration with the Fombina Palace Museum in Adamawa.

Nyako said the cultural rejuvenation had become necessary to “enable us integrate our cultural values as a nation”.

“We must find ways and means of integrating our cultural values of peace, tolerance, hard work, good neighborliness, respect for constituted authority and elders into our youths, who are the future leaders,” he said.

The governor, who was represented at the forum by the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr Ahmadu Batuwa said, “Culture is our identity and any society that loses its identity had lost its essential value that guarantees its existence.”

Ekiti

The Ekiti State Government said that it committed N66 million on the renovation of six secondary health facilities in the state in the second quarter of this year.

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Olusola Fasuba, disclosed this to newsmen  in Ado-Ekiti after an inspection tour of some health facilities in the state.

Fasuba said that the hospitals wer located in Ikole-Ekiti, Ikere-Ekiti, Ijero-Ekiti, Aiyede-Ekiti, Ise-Ekiti and Aramoko-Ekiti.

He said that the state government also expended the sum of N72 million on settlement of the medical bills of indigent patients in the last 18 months.

The commissioner also said that a laboratory block and a new accident and emergency block were constructed at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti, during the period under review.

He said that N54 million was approved for the renovation of structures in the health facilities, adding that a separate sum of N6.7 million was approved for the provision of facilities at the Central Sterile Supply Department of the Ministry of Health.

FCT

The Advocacy for Women with Disabilities Initiative, an NGO, has

called on stakeholders to invest in educating children with disabilities by incorporating them into development programmes.

The National Coordinator of the NGO, Ms Patience Ogolo, made the call at the annual national conference of the association in Abuja .

She said there was the need for such children to be educated, so as to reduce the culture of dependency.

Ogolo also said that parents of children with disability needed to be informed on the importance of education, as this was the only way they would be part of the development process in the country.

“Over 19 million people in the country live with one kind of disabilities or another; there is the need to integrate them into all spheres of the society.

Jigawa

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Jigawa  has decried the rate of accident in the state.

The state Sector Commander, Aminu Umar, made the remark at a one-day sensitisation workshop on road safety.

He said that it had adopted effective measures to enforce traffic rules and regulation on the road users in the area.

The theme of the workshop, “Advocacy as a tool for improve road safety activities’’, he said was designed to equip corps marshal and to educate motorist on traffic rules.

According to him, the commission has intensified its public enlightenment campaign to reduce carnage on the road.

He said the commission would continue to support its personnel as well as special marshal to enable them discharge their duties diligently.

In his remarks,  the Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Special Service, Ibrahim Alhaji, pledged the State Government’s support toward curtailing road accidents.

Kaduna

Malam Habibu Ahmad of Kabala Costain, Kaduna, has sued his mother-in-law, Gambo Alhassan, at a Kaduna Sharia Court for allegedly hiding his wife.

Ahmad told the court that his wife left home on Sallah day to deliver Sallah food to their families but did not return.

“Before I left for Eid-el-Fitr prayers, my wife, Asma’u, was cooking and on my return, she had finished. She told me that she would stay with her relations till evening before returning.

“After waiting for long, I called her mobile phone and it was switched off. I called the people she visited and I was told that she did not stay long there.”

He further alleged that Asma’u had never spent six months in his house without moving to unknown destination, adding:“She always returned to me after plea dings through phone calls.”

Katsina

Flood has again ravaged the Mani Local Government Headquarters and its environs in Katsina State, claiming two lives and destroying more than 100 houses.

Eyewitnesses told our correspondent on Tuesday in Mani town, that the flood affected Randawa, Galawa, Tabalawa, Gidan Gewayau villages and part of Mani town, the council headquarters.

According to the eyewitnesses, one person died in Galawa village, while another death was recorded in Mani during the ravaging flood.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the state Rehabilitation and Emergency Relief Agency (RERA), Alhaji Hassan Rawayau, has visited the affected areas to sympathise with the victims.

Rawayau, on behalf of the state government, condoled with the families of those who lost their lives.

He assured the victims that the agency would assess the damage, with a view to recommending possible assistance from the state government.

Kogi

A former President, National Association of Kogi State Students, Mr Dare Michael, has hailed Governor Idris Wada’s administration for ensuring better welfare for students.

Michael made this known in a telephone interview with The Tide in Lokoja.

He commended the State Government for the prompt release of funds for the students’ convention which was held on August 25, 2012 in Lokoja.

He said that Wada had been of immense support to the association since his assumption of office.

“Wada has always given us better welfare and an atmosphere for learning,” he said.

Michael said that the convention could not have achieved the desired success without the assistance of the government.

He urged students to accept the outcome of the convention in good faith and support the newly-elected President, Mr Abdullahi Oshihana.

Lagos

A psychologist, Dr Oyesoji Aremu, on Tuesday said victims of rape might experience long-lasting severe emotional shock and distress.

Aremu told The Tide that such a girl-child could become physically and psychologically disillusioned and traumatised.

“Rape of a girl-child is the forceful carnal knowledge of a person who is physiologically and emotionally immature for sexual relationship,” he said.

The psychologist said; “The consequences of it are very grievous on the girl-child, and socially, the victim becomes stigmatised.

“This may have a lasting effect on her social wellness and on her inability to socialise.

“She may grow to either abhor sex and its associated gratification or she may become obsessed with sex by developing low sexual efficacy and low self-worth of herself.”

He said that the consequence of the victim blacking out sex, might affect her marriage in the future.

Nasarawa

The Executive Director of the Nasarawa State Adult and Informal Education AgencyMr William Ebuga,  has said the agency is to intensify its efforts to curb Illiteracy in the state.

Ebuga made the staement in an interview with our correspondent  in Lafia.

He said the objective of the campaign was to educate school drop-outs and people who had no opportunity to go to school, noting that the the agency had mapped out strategies to achieve the goal.

The executive director said: “majority of the people in the state do not know how to read and write, this situation will affect the state now and in the future.

“There is need for constant efforts to fight illiteracy in the state and looking at statistics, more than half of the population of of the state are illiterate.”

Ondo

The Commissioner for Education in Niger, Mrs Susan Gana, has called for concerted efforts to revamp the standard of education in the state.

Gana made the call in Minna at a one-week retreat for principals and vice principals of public secondary schools in the state, with the theme:“Effective Management of Public Secondary Schools in Niger State’’.

She said the development of individuals and the society at large, depended largely on the quality of education available.

“It is our collective responsibility to redeem the education system from the present state and move it forward.

“Quality of education has taken a downward trend for quite some time; from the primary to tertiary institution levels the educational standard has fallen to an extent that it no longer contribute meaningfully to individual and national development.

Sokoto

The Vice-chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, Sokoto State chap

ter, Mr Abubakar Malami,  has called on the state government to rehabilitate Kalmalo and Lugu dams.

Malami our correspondent in Sokoto that the rehabilitation of the dams would enhance irrigation farming in the state.

He said many farmers in Goronyo area had benefitted tremendously from the rehabilitation of Goronyo Dam and were planting rice, onion, garlic and maize, among other crops.

He also asked the state government to provide modern implements for farmers in the rural areas to ensure massive food production in the state.

The union leader said the state was blessed with abundant irrigable land capable of producing different crops but that the lack of modern farming equipment was hindering the potential.

Zamfara

Zamfara State Government says it would no longer give “special treatment to persons considered highly placed or connected in government’’ during Hajj operations.

This announcement was made in Gusau by the acting Governor , Alhaji Ibrahim Wakkala at the balloting of flight schedules to the 14 local councils for this year’s Hajj.

The acting governor, who was represented on the occasion which took place at the Pilgrims Welfare Agency office by the Leader of the state House of Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Tsafe, said the administration would continue to treat all citizens as equals “with justice and fairness.”