Nation
THE STATES
Benue
Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State has urged people of the state to indulge in writing in order to preserve their culture and tradition for generations yet unborn.
Suswam, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Steve Lawani, made the call on Tuesday in Makurdi during the public presentation and launching of two books.
The books are entitled: “Retirement: Management Challenges and Strategies” and Lessons for a Christian Woman,” written by Mrs Rhoda Tor-Agbidye.
The governor said people’s culture and tradition could only be preserved through books which could be documented for posterity.
FCT
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Sen. Ita Enang (PDP-Akwa Ibom) said the 7th Senate recorded “tremendous achievements’’ from June 6, 2012 when it was inaugurated till date.
Speaking to senate correspondents in Abuja, Enang said that the Senate passed 17 bills, took landmark resolutions, confirmed appointments and carried out effective oversight on the executive and judiciary.
He named some of the bills passed to include; the Terrorism Act Amendment Bill, the Money Laundering Act Amendment Bill, the 2013 Appropriation Bill of the FCT, the State of the Nation Address Bill and Bills establishing 10 universities.
The rules and business chairman hinted that the National Assembly might invoke its veto power on the Nation Address Bill if President failed to assent to it.
Gombe
A Gombe-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Hope For the Lonely, has constructed a maternity home worth N3.5 million in Ponguru village of Billiri Local Government Area of the state.
The Programme Manager of the organisation, Mr Bachama Yusuf said in Gombe on Monday that the project was aimed at reducing the maternal mortality rate in the community.
He said the community was far from the local government headquarters and had neither access roads nor health facilities, hence the need to construct a maternity there.
Yusuf said the organisation constructed the building while the local government would equip it and deploy staff to it adding that by June 27, the organisation would officially hand over the structure to the local government.
Jigawa
The Rector of Jigawa Institute of Informatics, Alhaji Aliyu Kiri, said the school had spent about N168.5 million ocapital projects in the last two years.
Kiri said on Monday in Kazaure that the money was spent on different infrastructure development projects between 2011 and 2012.
He said that the projects executed include the expansion of administrative blocks, purchase of lecture rooms’ furniture, and construction of metal fencing of the institution.
The rector noted that the school was affiliated to Informatics Academic International, Singapore.
Kiri said the institution trained students to specialise on network cabling-copper based system, fibre optic system and integrated voice and message.
Kano
The Kano State Hisbah Board, has arrested a middle-aged man, who allegedly specialises in trafficking of children and selling children at between N30,000 and N60,000 each.
The Director-General of the board, Alhaji Abba Sufi, who made the development known to the in Kano on Monday who said the suspect was arrested on Wednesday by staff of the board in Gwale Local Government Area and had since been handed over to the police for further investigation.
Sudi said the suspect was arrested after selling a three-year-old girl at N60,000 to his customer at Rijiyar Lemo quarters in Kano metropolis.
Kaduna
Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State last Monday urged the Nigerian Army to manufacture its equipment and armaments locally.
Yero made this known at the opening ceremony of the Combat Arms Training Week of the Nigerian Army at the Infantry Corps Centre, Jaji, in Kaduna.
The governor, represented by his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Aminu Yahaya, said the military could not continue to rely on foreign arms for its operations.
He said that the success of any warfare did not depend on the number of soldiers deployed, rather on the sophistication of training received and the capability to operate modern arms and ammunition.
“Wars today are not only fought in the battle field, many wars are now won or lost from the confines of control rooms; from where men direct sophisticated unmanned equipment to wreck havoc on the enemy side,” he said.
Nasarawa
A Mararaba Upper Area Court in Nasarawa State last Monday sentenced a 22-year-old student, Huseni Sumalia, to four years in prison for stealing a motorcycle.
The convict, of Orange Market Mararaba, was sentenced to three years in prison for theft and one year for trespass.
The presiding judge, Mr Vincent Gwahemba, however, gave the convict the option of paying N10, 000 in fine for theft and N5, 000 in fine for trespass.
Gwahemba, who sentenced Sumalia after he pleaded guilty to stealing the motorcycle, ordered that the sentences should run concurrently.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Mr Jospeh Ahwa , told the court that Yusuf Butus of Aku Village, Mararaba, on behalf of Ayuba Yusuf of the same address, reported the matter at Sani Abacha Police Station on June 7.
Ogun
The Judicial Commission of Enquiry set up by the Ogun State Government to look into the crisis that engulfed Ado-Odo community began hearing last Monday at the premises of the Abeokuta High Court.
The state government had on May 8 inaugurated a five-man panel to look into the crisis that occurred in the area between April 13 and April 14.
The crisis led to the physical assault launched on the town’s monarch, Oba Lateef Akanni, and his wife as well as the setting ablaze of his palace by some irate youths.
Speaking at the inaugural sitting, the Chairman of the commission, Justice Elizabeth Osinuga, said the commission had received several petitions on the matter.
According to her, the commission will among others, establish the remote and immediate causes of the crisis.
Osun
The Osun House of Assembly on Tuesday confirmed, Justice Adepele Ojo, as the new Chief Judge of the state with a charge to promote justice at all times.
The Speaker of the house, Mr Najeem Salaam, said her confirmation was based on seniority, adding her earlier rejection was because of the pending legal action on the issue.
Salaam urged Ojo to “promote substantive justice over technicality and to allow justice roll down like water and righteousness, like a mighty stream.”
According to him, the judiciary must be united and act as one body to fight crime and corruption and advised him, to work as a team for enthronement of justice and maintain the name of judiciary.
Salaam advised the new chief judge to digitalise the judiciary and cooperate with the state government to move the state forward.
Sokoto
The Vice Chancellor, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Prof. Riskuwa Shehu, has decried the low level of research funding in Nigeria.
Shehu, said in Sokoto on Tuesday, noted that funding of researches had not been adequately catered for.
He said this trend should be reversed to uplift the quality of tertiary education in the country. “Universities must be able to conduct researches relevant to the society. Such researches should be aimed at providing solutions to the problems in the society,” he added.
Shehu, however, stressed that researchers in the universities should not solely depend on the government for research funding, but should seek additional funding from stakeholders.
He said that the university lecturers should tap their myriad of sources of funding of researches locally, nationally and internationally.
Taraba
The Taraba State Government has directed that only genuine local government workers should be paid the 18 per cent minimum wage.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Alhaji Bashir Marafa made this known in Jalingo on Tuesday.
Marafa announced government’s directive at the inauguration of the committees for the payment of the minimum wage, urged the committees to justify the enormous resources spent in the biometric staff verification of the 16 Local Government by discharging their duties without or favour. staff to show understanding during the exercise and report all grievances to the committees’ chairmen for appropriate action.
The state Chairman, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Mark Ishaku, commended the state government for fulfilling its promise on the implementation of minimum wage for the local councils and warned the committees against dishonesty in their duties, saying that the NLC would monitor their activities.
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project(HYPREP) has inducted and given orientation to 100 Ogoni youths for training on Creative Arts. The beneficiaries were drawn from Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
The induction and orientation ceremony, which took place at the CRAB of the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt on Wednesday, was a prelude to the training proper, billed to commence next Tuesday.
As usual, HYPREP issued undertaking forms to the trainees, for them to complete and submit as a guarantee that they would subject themselves to the requirements of the programme as well as be of good behaviour throughout the four-month duration of the training.
HYPREP also announced that it would pay N150,000 to each of the beneficiaries monthly, as transport and feeding allowance, stressing, however, that only those who fully participate in the training would be entitled for the allowance.
Speaking at the event, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, welcomed the trainees to the programme, saying, HYPREP’s projects are evolving and that one thing that is happening today is that the Project has gotten leadership right, by making promises and keeping those promises.
According to him, the Project had equally promised to move away from rudimentary skills acquisition to high impacts acquisition levels, which it has kept today by sponsoring the training on Creative Arts.
He noted that in planning its livelihood programmes for Ogoni youths, HYPREP has taken time out to look for skills that would add value to the lives of the beneficiaries.
Zabbey, who was represented at the event by the Director of Technical Services, Prof Damian-Paul Aguiyi said by packaging the Creative Arts training, it was expected that the Ogoni people would have their own version of Nollywood known as Ogoniwood just as Nigerians are familiar with Hollywood, Bollywood, Kannywood and Nollywood.
To achieve this goal, the Project Coordinator explained that it was the reason for choosing a reputable establishment like Halibiz Consult Limited, to partner with the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt, which he described as one of the most prestigious in the Niger Delta, for the training of the beneficiaries.
He also indicated that in doing this, HYPREP was desirous of going for talents that would help the Ogoni people grow in the film industry, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously.
Zabbey equally enjoined the trainees to put in their best so that in the next three to five years, they would carve a niche for themselves and become forces to reckon with in the film industry.
On her part, HYPREP’s Head of Sustainable Livelihood, Mrs Josephine Nzidee said HYPREP does what it says it will, stressing that the process of training Ogoni youths on specialised skills started three years ago.
According to her, the selection process for the training was rigorous and transparent, and was carried out by renowned actors actresses.
She disclosed that the training consists of three major aspects, which include acting, script writing and make-up, while Nollywood actors like Charles Nnoje, Ngezu J. Ngezu and award-winning make-up artist, Jude Odo would be on hand to drill and groom the beneficiaries.
Mrs Nzidee noted that the programme is a specialised training that does not have anything like starter packs but that it is purely a professional certification programme that would launch the beneficiaries into the Nollywood industry in Nigeria.
According to her, the Creative Arts training is one of the four specialised trainings organised by HYPREP to ensure that the Ogoni people are well positioned in vital industries like Aviation, Maritime, Creative Arts and Mechatronics.
She said the last of such trainings on Mechatronics would take place in the coming months, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously so as to put the Ogoni people on the Nollywood map.
She further indicated that while Charles Nnoje and Ngezu J. Ngezu would take the beneficiaries on the practical aspects, Jude Odo would take them on the make-up aspects.
Also speaking, the External Relations Manager of Halibiz Consult Limited, Alabo Experience Douglas said his company gives much premium to standard and quality, and assured that the firm would give the trainees value for the money spent on the programme.
While charging the beneficiaries to be dedicated and punctual, he stressed the need for them to approach the programme with the mindset of being empty so that at the end of the day, they would benefit maximally.
On his part, the Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Port Harcourt, Dr Ovunda Ihunwo said the CRAB is an acronym for Creative Review of Arts and Books, stressing that it was named by renowned playwright, Prof Ola Rotimi.
According to him, the CRAB had nurtured, groomed and produced Nollywood actors and actresses like Bobmanuel Udokwu, Ejike Asiegbu,Francis Duru, Hilda Dokubo, Monalisa Chinda, Julius Agwu, and a host of others, assuring the beneficiaries that they were on fertile environment to hone their talents.
He noted that symbolically, the crab is a nutritious seafood common in the Niger Delta, and reiterated the need for the beneficiaries to come empty for the training, as it were.
Ihunwo disclosed that the theory classes of the programme would run for three weeks while the fourth week would be for the master classes, and urged the trainees to avail themselves of the opportunity to make a difference by telling the Ogoni story, which he described as inexhaustible by themselves, in order to put Ogoni on the map.
A 23-year-old student of Nasarawa State University identified as Jatau Rilokwah, has been reportedly found dead in the university’s senior staff quarters.
A counter-insurgency expert, focused on the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed this on his X handle on Tuesday.
According to him, the discovery was made on April 27, 2025, by a security officer at the university, Emmanuel Gyawo.
He stated that Gwayo was directed by Prof. Shedrack Jatau to check on his son upon arriving at the residence, and he found Rilokwah hanging from the ceiling.
“Professor Jatau, who was reportedly out of the State at the time, was informed of the incident. A team of police detectives, led by the Divisional Crime Officer of Angwan Lambu, was dispatched to the scene.
“The body showed no signs of violence, and no suicide note was found. Rilokwah was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi, where he was confirmed dead by a medical doctor,” he further stated.
He added that the student’s corpse had been deposited in the hospital morgue.
He also quoted police sources as saying that investigations were ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Ogun State Government has partnered with Nike Art Gallery to establish a new exhibition space at the Olumo Rock Tourist Centre in Abeokuta, a move Governor Dapo Abiodun says is aimed at boosting annual tourist visits from 20,000 to over 100,000.
Abiodun disclosed the plan on Wednesday while receiving the founder of the Nike Art Gallery, Chief (Mrs) Nike Davies-Okundaye, at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
“I went to Olumo Rock about a month ago and I decided that we needed to do something about restoring Olumo Rock to its old glory. From statistics, Olumo Rock hosts about 20,000 people a year in its current state, and I felt that we could increase that to at least ten times,” the governor said.
As part of the plan, an events hall within the tourist centre will be repurposed as a permanent gallery operated by Nike Art Gallery.
“I told them to shut it down. Practically, we want to bring it down and turn it into a gallery for you to use as an exhibition gallery,” he told Davies-Okundaye.
He added that the gallery will be ready before the National Sports Festival in May, when the State will host about 15,000 visitors.
“I want them to be able to see our tourist sites,” he said, listing attractions such as the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, the Ransome-Kuti family home, and the Adire market among key heritage spots to be showcased.
Highlighting Ogun’s improved infrastructure, the governor said, “Now that we’ve succeeded in having the intra and inter-state roads in place, you can come to Ogun State by rail; you can come by air. We’ve constructed one of the best airports in Nigeria, and very soon, you will be able to come by sea.”
Davies-Okundaye, in her remarks, praised the state’s efforts to promote tourism and pledged to use the new gallery to attract global attention.
“This gallery will bring many Heads of State. The one I opened in Abuja already has more than 10 Heads of State, including those from South Korea and the Czech Republic. The same will happen here,” she said.
She also applauded the Governor for his commitment to the Adire fabric industry.
“Adire is all over Nigeria, but Ogun has been promoting Adire for over 50 years. Today, the only cloth we can call our own is called Adire. This is what we can sell to the Europeans,” she said.
Abiodun reaffirmed his administration’s backing of the Adire industry, citing policies such as the Adire Ogun Digital Marketplace, compulsory wearing of Adire in the state, and provision of solar-powered production equipment to support artisans.
He also revealed plans to open a creative arts and entertainment village in partnership with Bolanle Austen-Peters, expected to be completed within two months.