Borno

The Borno State Government says it will start paying parents who enrol their children to acquire Western education, especially in the northern part of the state.

Governor Kashim Shettima disclosed this while interacting with some Bama elders at the GRA, Maiduguri last Sunday

Shettima said this initiative was part of the government’s ‘Conditional Cash Transfer’ scheme for poor households.

The governor urged parents to send their children to school to safeguard their future, adding that the objective of the scheme was to ensure that parents sent their children to school rather than allow them roam the streets.

He blamed the Boko Haram insurgency for the poverty and ignorance in the state, noting that it disrupted the socio-economic activities in the state.

Gombe

Motorists were held in a gridlock for over three hours following a five-hour downpour which flooded the Gombe-Bauchi Road last Saturday.

Hundreds of cars were held up in the gridlock at Wuro-Dole in Akko Local Government of Gombe State. The flood took over the road, forcing motorists to park at safe distance.

A commercial driver, Malam Ibrahim Benjamin, said that he had been plying the road for the past seven years, adding that the road was flood-prone.

Hajiya Hadizatu Hamisu, a motorist, called on the government to reconstruct a culvert to address the problem.

Hamisu wondered why government did not address the problem at that spot earlier, considering the prediction of heavy rains in August by the Nigeria Metrological Agency (NIMET).

Another motorist, Mr Ezekiel Atuman, called for the construction of a high-tension bridge on the spot, which he said, was flood-prone.

Kaduna

The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Church) last Saturday called on the Federal and Kaduna State Governments to compensate all churches destroyed during the 2011 post-election violence.

In a communiqué issued at the end of an annual clergy retreat by the Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province of the church with a theme, “Persevering through Persecution”, and signed by Most Rev. Edmund Akanya, the Archbishop of the Province, urged government to step up efforts at addressing insecurity in the nation and declare a total war against corruption..

The communiqué noted that persecution was a global phenomenon and that Christians should not feel isolated when they passed through it. “Persecution comes in different forms like same sex marriage, defamation of character, partiality and unfaithfulness,’’ it said.

It urged them to shun those vices and live a Christ-like life. The communiqué decried the decay in the educational sector, and called on government to declare “a state of emergency’’ in the sector.

Kano

Kano State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has dissociated itself from the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the Medical and Health Workers Union in the state.

The Chairman of the state Chapter of the association, Dr Sheihi Abubakar told newsmen in Kano last Friday that the action did not in any way involve its members.

He said that the unions had the right to embark on such industrial actions when it had pending issues with the government, but it had no such issues.

The Chairman said that all its members continued with normal routine jobs at their duty posts to provide clinical services within the limits of the current industrial action by other health workers.

Abubakar, however, assured the public that its members were ready to provide medical services at all the hospitals in Kano state to the best of their ability.

Kebbi

The Kebbi State Government last Saturday denied reports that some insurgents were arrested in a raid in parts of the state.

The Senior Special Assistant to the State Governor on Media and Publicity, Alhaji Ibrahim Argungu, made this known when he addressed newsmen in Birnin Kebbi.

Argungu said the state had not witnessed any act of insurgency.

He said the state government had inquired from security operatives and they said the report was false.

“I plead with journalists to verify their sources of information with relevant authorities before publication to avoid panic and tension in the society,’’ he said.

Similarly, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Sylvester Ume, said the media report on the arrest of insurgents was not factual.

Ume urged journalists to always verify their facts before publication, and advised heads of media organisations to monitor their reporters.

He called on the general public to remain law abiding and report suspicious persons and movements to the police.

Ogun

Some 150 casual workers of a private food and beverages company in Irewon, Ijebu North-East Local Government Area of Ogun State last Saturday embarked on a street protest against alleged exploitation by their employer.

The workers alleged that contrary to the management’s decision to pay them N1,000 per day, some “middlemen” in the company paid them N400.

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions, such as “Pay us our entitlements’’ and “No to 7.30 a.m.-7.30 p.m. new order.’’

Leaders of the protesting workers, Mr Victor Adesegun and Mariam Ibrahim said that they decided to protest so that the management would be aware of what was going on.

“We work as casual workers at the company between the hours of eight in the morning and six in the evening. Suddenly, management increased our working hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to 7.30 a.m. to 7. 30 p.m. with an additional N80 stipend.

“We do not agree with the extension with the little change added on top because it is like stretching us beyond our limits,’’ Adesegun said.

Osun

A former National Officer of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) last Friday said that developmental journalism was key to the growth of democracy in Nigeria.

Adedayo, an ex-Vice President of the NUJ, Zone B, said while delivering a lecture entitled, “Journalism, Democracy Inseparable’’ at Oke-Ila town hall in Ifedayo Local Government Area of Osun that  it was high time that journalists realised that the success of democracy depended on the vibrancy of the mass media.

He said that a performing government needed no image laundering, adding that what a performing government needed was public relations.

Ayoade said that the media were obliged to provide government the needed feedback with a view to assisting the government in responding to the yearnings of the people.

Oyo

An Ibadan-based Muslim preacher, Dr. Dawood Amoo, has advised Muslims to shun gambling, saying that those who indulged in it were losers at the end.

Amoo gave the advice as the guest speaker during the 10th biennial conference of the Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association (UNIFEMGA), Ibadan chapter. The conference was held at the Islamic centre, Bodija, Ibadan.

Speaking on the topic “Gambling: Baba Ijebu Dimension’’, he cited various portions of the Qur’an where Allah forbade gambling in all ramifications.

The speaker listed some forms of gambling as betting on horse races, lotto, predicting league results, pools betting, ram fighting and pyramid sale promotion and attributed the high rate of gambling in the country to poverty, unemployment and greed by majority of the down trodden in the society.

Sokoto

Sokoto State Government has spent more than one billion naira on arrangements for the 2013 hajj, the Chairman of the Pilgrims Welfare Agency, Alhaji Muntari Maigona, said.

Maigona said in Sokoto last Saturday that more than N325 million was used to subsidise accommodation for 5,170 intending pilgrims, in Makkah adding that each pilgrim got N63,000 (1,500 Riyals subsidy.

The chairman added that part of the money was used for the payment of hajj fares for 300 intending pilgrims, who would be sponsored by the government.

It also includes other sundry expenditures for 60 members of the state delegation and the 102 members of the nine hajj sub-committees.

These sub-committees include those of publicity, media and security, among others.

The chairman explained that the agency had concluded arrangements to ensure the success of the  hajj.

“We will start sending the passports of the intending pilgrims to the Saudi Consulate in Kano for visas on Aug. 27,” he said.

Zamfara

One person died last Saturday when the motorcade of the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, Malam Ibrahim Wakkala, was involved in an accident in Jere town on the Kaduna-Abuja highway.

The Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Malam Yusuf Idris confirmed the incident to newsmen in Gusau, saying that the driver of the pilot vehicle died on the spot.

Idris said the accident occurred when a motorcyclist suddenly crossed the road while the motorcade was passing.

He said that four security men sustained various degrees of injury in the accident.

“The body of the deceased has been deposited at the Tafa health facility while those injured are responding to treatment,” Idris said.