Nation
THE STATES
Bauchi
A Consultant Endocrinologist, Dr Sule Bathner, has
advised people with diabetes ailment to feed more on fiber and starchy food.
Speaking in Bauchi at the monthly meeting of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria, Bauchi chapter, Bathner also said that moderate consumption of fat, cholesterol and protein and other classes of food items was advisable.
According to him, a combination of mixing food items that had starch and fiber slows down the digestion process, making it convenient for the system of diabetics to assimilate.
He said that this process assisted greatly in ensuring a controlled sugar level in the person’s system. The physician also advised against the common practice of moving the outer layer of grains before preparation.
Borno
The Borno State Government will prosecute contrac
tors found wanting in the execution of projects, Gov. Kashim Shettima has said.
The governor stated this while laying the foundation stone for the construction of the N823 million Bama Ultra Modern Market in Bama, heaquarters of Bama Local Government Area.
Shettima said the government would also sanction site engineers who failed to ensure that contractors executed standard job.
“Let me warn that government will henceforth apply sanction on any site engineer who allows contractors to execute poor jobs. “Government will also blacklist and prosecute contractors who execute bad jobs.
FCT
The Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) has approved
the commencement of clinical training for students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Abuja. The university disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Gwagwalada, FCT.
It said the approval followed a visit to the institution by the VCN’s Accreditation Committee on December 4, 2012.
The statement signed by Malam Waziri Garba, the institution’s Information Officer, said the approval was contained in a letter written by VCN to the university.
Kano
A group, under the aegis of Concerned Arewa Patri
ots (CAP), has called for the fielding of a credible candidate from the north to contest for the country’s Presidency in 2015.
The North-West Co-ordinator of CAP, Mr Maiyaki Idris, made the call in Kano while briefing newsmen.
‘’CAP hereby appeals to the North to passionately address the crucial choice of a presidential candidate with credible standards devoid of ethnic, political and religious sentiments,’’ he said.
The group appealed to politicians from the north to ensure the selection of a candidate who is “incorruptible, sellable, reliable’’.
Kogi
Farmers in Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi have
appealed to the Federal Government to provide seedlings and relief materials to cushion effects of the 2012 flood disaster.
The farmers, in separate interviews in Ibaji, told newsmen that they lost all their crops and granaries to the disaster. The Tide reports that Ibaji Local Government Area was the worst hit area in the state by the 2012 floods.
This had led the Federal Government into evacuating all residents to Idah town in the state.
The area is a border riverine community between Kogi and Anambra, comprising no fewer than 34 villages with farming as the major occupation of inhabitants.
Kwara
Alhaji Nurudeen Mohammed, a former Commissioner
for Finance in Kwara, has urged the nation’s anti-graft commissions to intensify their efforts at tackling corruption to engender development.
Mohammed, who stated this in Ilorin, appealed to the EFCC and ICPC to live up to their mandates of ridding the menace of corruption, which he said had reached an alarming rate.
He pleaded with the judiciary to ensure quick dispensation of justice, especially in matters that related to corruption.
The former commissioner, who is the Tafida of Kaima in Kwara, urged Nigerians, irrespective of religion and social cultural background, to work with security agencies in their bid to ensure a crime-free society.
Lagos
A university lecturer, Dr Oluyombo Onafowokan, on
Sunday in Lagos urged the Federal Government to intensify efforts that would further reduce poverty among Nigerians in 2013.
Onafowokan who is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Financial Studies, Redeemer’s University, Mowe in Ogun, told newsmen, government needed to be pro-active.
He said this would help it in achieving an improved standard of living for the populace.
Nasarawa
Mr Raphael Saka, the Chairman, Nasarawa State
House of Assembly’s Committee on Education, in Lafia decried the low level of school enrolment of the girl-child in the North.
Saka told newsmen, there was the need to address the imbalance if Nigeria must attain its set target of Education For All (EFA) by year 2015.
‘’It is only in the North that people are forced to go school, especially the females. It is a hard sell convincing parents that a girl should be educated first before getting married.
Niger
The Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, has appealed
to religious leaders to use religion to foster unity, peace and harmonious coexistence among Nigerians.
Abubakar made the appeal at the 4th graduation ceremony of 70 students of Madarasat Tahfizil Quran Wa Tarbiyatul-Islamiya School, Bida, and the school’s N20 million appeal fund in Bida.
“The two major religions of the world, Islam and Christianity preach peace as such the leaders of both religions should join hands to foster unity among Nigerians.
He cautioned all those that were aggrieved to always use dialogue to resolve their differences rather than confrontation.
Osun
Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun on Saturday in Ile-
Ife unveiled an Ife ancestral monument, popularly called Ori-olokun, as part of activities marking the inauguration of Ori-olokun garden.
The governor performed the unveiling of the huge Ori-Olokun sculpture at the Ori-Olokun Roundabout, formerly Mayfair Roundabout in Ile-Ife.
He described the monument as a precious heritage of the Yoruba race, and urged the people to protect and preserve it.
Mr Taiwo Olaiya, the Executive Secretary, Ife Central Local Government, under whose jurisdiction the garden is situated, also described the monument as the most famous in history.
Oyo
The Anti-Vandal Squad of the Nigeria Security and
Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Oyo State Command, has arrested four suspected pipeline vandals.
The four suspects, Tijjani Abdulahi, 33; Sarafa Sanusi, 35; Wasiu Ajibola, 35; and Sunday Solomon, 40, were paraded at the Command Headquarters at Iyaganku, Ibadan, by the State Commandant, Mr Clement Adesuyi.
Adesuyi, while parading the suspects, told newsmen that the suspects were arrested late Friday evening at Ajanla farms area in Sanusi Village along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.
He said that the alleged culprits had already tapped into an NNPC petroleum pipeline that passed through the area and were only waiting to convey the products when they were apprehended.
Yobe
The Yobe Ministry of Sports will develop a new
scheme of partnership with schools and institutions in the state to promote sporting activities at the grassroots.
Alhaji Yusuf Yahaya, the state Commissioner for Sports, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Damaturu.
He explained that the scheme was intended to develop potential to make good use of sporting facilities at the zonal community sports centres.
The commissioner noted that the zonal community sports centre in Geidam, which was designed to improve sports development at the grassroots, would be completed in 2013.
The President General of Ogbakor Ikwerre Cultural Organisation Worldwide and the Mgboh XIII of the Mgboh Royal Family of Emohua Kingdom in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, Eze (Barrister) Godspower Onuekwa, penultimate Friday celebrated his 80th birthday with pomp, pageantry and fanfare.
The celebration, which commenced with a symposium organised in his honour at Rivers State University on Thursday, August 21,2025, got to a resounding climax on Friday at Suntai Event Centre in Port Harcourt, where people from all walks of life, including business associates, friends, well-wishers, relatives, community folks, traditional rulers, and admirers, gathered to pay glowing tributes to the celebrant.
Before then, a well attended thanksgiving service was held that same Friday at Emmanuel Anglican Church, Okoro-Nu-Odo, to honour him and return gratitude to God Almighty for the fruitful and eventful life and accomplishments of the Emohua leader and icon.
The service which was officiated by Rt Rev Wisdom Budu Ihunwo, Bishop of Niger Delta North had other renowned and respected clerics like Most Rev(Dr) Blessing Enyindah, Dean, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion); Rt Rev(Dr) Emmanuel Oko-Jaja, Bishop, Diocese of Niger Delta; Rt Rev Innocent Ordu, Bishop, Diocese of Evo; and Ven Solomon Eze Nelson, Archdeacon, Okoro-Nu-Odo; among others lined up as officiating ministers.
The service lived up to its billing, as it featured powerful and soul-lifting praise and worship; point-blank prayers; and beautiful renditions, which electrified the entire atmosphere, essentially packaged to thank God for the life of the celebrant.
However, the crowning moment actually came when the who is who, the crème de la crème of the society, thronged the terraces and fabulously decorated expansive hall of Suntai Event Centre, to celebrate Eze Onuekwa, amid accolades, aplomb and panache, wining and dining, and clinking of glasses with him and all.
The chairman of the colourful ceremony, Chief Evans Woherem, who was represented by Eze(Prof) Christian Akani of the prestigious Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, praised the celebrant for his youthfulness in spite of clocking 80 years, generosity, humility, humaneness and selfless services to the Ikwerre ethnic nationality, the Niger Delta and Nigeria, and called on all and sundry to emulate his good legacies and simple disposition towards life and existence.
Goodwill messages also poured in in torrents to underscore and salute the doggedness, resilience, astuteness and uniqueness of the endearing life of the celebrant, with Prof Emenike Wami, the Ochia Ohna Ikwerre(XIV), taking the lead.
Prof Priye Iyalla, the wife of late renowned writer, novelist and playwright, Dr Elechi Amadi, held the audience spellbound as she masterfully reeled out the profile of the celebrant, amid intermittent applause from the crowd.
The Tiv Community from Benue State, resident in Rivers State, were not left out, as they honoured and decorated Eze Onuekwa in their complete traditional regalia.
Cultural displays from Baptist Church, Rumuowhor; ADNA Wogbuji Dancing Group, Egbeda; Tiv Dancing Group; and Promoter Eze and Rumu-Mgboh Emohua Wrestling Group, equally added colour and grace to the occasion, with the celebrant and his wife, Dame Ann Onuekwa, joining them to wriggle their waists and bodies in ecstasy.
In his response, the highly elated celebrant, Eze Onuekwa thanked all those gathered to celebrate with him, saying, celebrations would never cease in their homes, and attributed everything he represents in life, including his modest accomplishments to God.
Eze Onuekwa, while addressing newsmen, harped on the need for hard work among the youths and members of Ogbakor Ikwerre Cultural Organisation Worldwide, as a way of sustaining and giving meaning to the motto of the organisation, which he noted is anchored on peace, unity and progress.
He specially thanked God for sustaining his life, and for making everything possible for him and his family, saying, he was joyous that he has today become an octogenarian and elder statesman in Rivers State.
His son and medical practitioner, Dr Samuel Chizia Onuekwa expressed delight that people from far and near had come together to celebrate the father, whom he described as a role model and great inspirator.
He said it was a good thing that the children were celebrating their father when he is alive, stressing that the last time Eze Onuekwa was celebrated in such magnitude was 20 years ago, during his 60th birthday celebration, and prayed God to grant him many more years in good health.
Among dignitaries who graced the event were Senator Andrew Uchendu; Chief Sampson Agbaru; Prof Emenike Wami; Dr Peter Didia; Eze(Prof) Samuel Ugo Onyeka; and a host of others. Justice Iche Ndu(rtd); and C O Kattey were among personalities that attended the thanksgiving service, while the Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University, Prof Isaac Zeb-Obipi led the academics who graced the symposium, alongside Eze G A O Omodu.
As the 100 Ogoni youths trained by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in Creative Arts close out their training on Tuesday at the Theatre Arts Department, University of Port Harcourt, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, has urged the beneficiaries to use the skills acquired to ensure that the Ogoni stories are told and heard in the right way.
The trainees, who had completed a four- month training in script writing, film production and make-up are beneficiaries of the HYPREP sustainable livelihood programme, aimed at providing high demand skills to Ogoni youths in the lucrative creative arts and entertainment industry.
Zabbey described the Creative Arts training as well as other programmes and interventions as HYPREP’s strategic sustained effort to create alternative sources of livelihood.
”Targeted capacity building for Ogoni youths and women remains a central strategy in HYPREP’s livelihood restoration and improvement efforts. Our goal is to reach every part of the Ogoni community and ensure that no group or talent pool is left behind. This training is a deliberate step to empower young people who aspire to make their mark in the creative and entertainment industry”, he said.
While commending the trainees for producing four short films within the training period, one of which was premiered at the ceremony-Dirty Festival, the Project Coordinator noted that the training would serve as a springboard into the industry, and enable them earn a living, become entrepreneurs, and open new doors of opportunities for themselves and their communities. The three other movies are Open Pain, Bomu and Green War.
He enjoined them to utilise their skills and platforms to promote civic responsibility, peace, and environmental sustainability, urging them to ensure that Ogoni is heard in the right way, speak for HYPREP and highlight the progress being made in implementing the recommendations of the UNEP Report.
Other speakers at the event, including the Director of Technical Services of HYPREP, Prof. Damian-Paul Aguiyi; Dr Ovunda Ihunwo, Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Port Harcourt; Chief Douglas Experience, the Project Coordinator of Halibiz Consult Limited; and Mrs Josephine Nzidee, Head, Sustainable Livelihood of HYPREP, all applauded HYPREP for the training, and charged the trainees to maximise the opportunity.
The trainees were later presented certificates of participation.
Visibly elated Ms Lebee Tornwe, one of the beneficiaries, thanked HYPREP and the Project Coordinator for offering the trainees the rare opportunity to acquire skills in the creative arts and entertainment industry, and expressed delight that Dr Ihunwo and Halibiz Consult Limited gave their all in grooming them.
With the wrapping up of the Creative Arts training(100), HYPREP has trained 230 Ogoni youths in high demand skill sets ,viz; seafaring(100); and aviation (30). The Project will this year, commence training in other skill areas, including Mechatronic, Aviation, Full-Stack Development, Commercial Diving, Underwater Welding and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Still in the offing is the training for Ogoni Persons Living with Disabilities in five skill sets- fish farming; basic computer skills; photography; fashion and design; and shoemaking in line with their Needs Assessment and HYPREP’s policy of inclusivity.
The National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP) had called on stakeholders to work collaboratively towards the development and empowerment of Ogoni youths.
NYCOP made the call in a communique issue over the weekend after an emergency Congress in Port Harcourt and signed by its President, Comrade Raymond Nwibani Marcus.
In the communique, NYCOP endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s appointments of the Governing Council and Board of Trustees (BOT) members of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), particularly Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Nwika Deeyah as Chairman of HYPREP’s BOT.
It respectfully appealed to the President to consider appointing a representative from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) under the leadership of Engr. Olu Andah Wai-Ogosu, being the pioneering social vehicle for Ogoni advocacy since the inception of the Ogoni struggle, adding that it would significantly contribute to the decision-making process.
The body commended the overall management of HYPREP and urges the President to continue funding the HYPREP project.
NYCOP furthermore recommended considering the conversion of HYPREP from a project to a full-fledged agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The communique also stated that NYCOP thanked President Tinubu for establishing the Federal University of Environmental Technology, and for appointing key staff, forming a dialogue committee, and initiating infrastructural projects like the Eleme axis of the East-West Road and the Bonny-Bodo Road, significantly enhancing regional connectivity and economic prospects.
In solidarity with the Renewed Hope Agenda, the endorsed President Tinubu’s second-term bid, saying it believes his leadership embodies the aspirations of the Ogoni people and Nigerians at large.
“After thorough consideration of the Disciplinary Committee’s report, NYCOP resolves:
” To indefinitely suspend Comrade Nade Nade Burale from his position as Secretary General due to misconduct.
“To declare Comrade Saviour Imeabe persona non grata on Ogoni youth issues, given his actions’ potential to instigate crisis in Ogoni and beyond” the communique stated.
NYCOP in his resolution issued a 7-day ultimatum to former HYPREP BOT Chairman Mike Nwialeghi to explain the $100 million HYPREP fund investment, warning of potential litigation.
NYCOP reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding Ogoni youth interests and preventing personal aggrandizement.
According to the communique the resolutions demonstrate NYCOP’s efforts to promote the collective welfare and advancement of Ogoni youth.
“We will no longer tolerate any individual or group using the name or issues of Ogoni youth for personal aggrandizement.
” Our mandate is clear: to promote the collective welfare and advancement of Ogoni youth” the communique said.
NYCOP passes a vote of confidence in Hon. Emmanuel Nwika Deeyah, acknowledging his impeccable credentials and credibility to lead the BOT of HYPREP effectively.
Kiadum Edookor