Nation
THE STATES
Borno
Borno State Government says it plans to construct street gates
in strategic areas of Maiduguri, the state capital, to consolidate the return of peace to the metropolis..
Governor Kashim Shettim stated this while receiving members of the Borno Welders Association who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Maiduguri.
Shettima pointed out that the project would commence in Gwange Ward as a pilot scheme,and later extended to other parts of the metropolis.
“Gwange has been selected for the take off of the project as part of the pilot scheme; we plan to erect eight gates to cover all the eight access roads in the area.
“Depending on the success of the project, we hope to extend it to other areas, like Kumshe, Mafoni and other parts of the city,” he said.
The chairman of the association, Mallam Ibrahim Idris, thanked the governor for the reception accorded them and assured of their supports towards developing the state.
Benue
A couple, Mr and Mrs Terhemba Makka and their two-year-old
baby were last Tuesday burnt to death at Katsina-Ala Street in Makurdi.
An eye-witness, Mr Uche Nnorom, said that the fire started at about 2 a.m., when the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) restored electricity to the area.
He said that some youths, however, made efforts to put out the fire by breaking open a portion of the house, but could only rescue the deceased’s nine-year-old son, Aondongu.
The eye-witness said that the boy was immediately rushed to Bishop Murray Medical Centre, Makurdi, for immediate treatment.
He said that the entire house had been completely gutted before the arrival of men of the Fire Service at the scene.
Kaduna
Finetex Nigeria Limited, a textile company closed down in 2003
in Kaduna, has commenced the payment of over N200 million benefit to its disengaged workers.
The General Manager of the company, Alhaji MT Usman said in an interview with The Tide source in Kaduna that, more than 2, 200 workers would be paid off.
According to him, the money is the final agreed benefit to be paid the affected workers through their various banks.
Usman said the company was forced to shut down due to uncontrolled inflow of cheap textile materials from China, a situation, which he noted, had also affected most textile industries in the country.
The general manager disclosed that the management of the textile firm was working hard to resuscitate it to full production.
Katsina
The Youths Forum of Sayaya in Matazu Local Government Area
of Katsina State has threatened to boycott polio immunisation until the state government repaired the road in the area.
The threat was issued by the Chairman of the Forum, Malam Zaharuddeen Abdullahi, in an interview with newsmen recently in Katsina.
Abdullahi noted that lack of good road was the major problem facing the community, adding that the road was just about 17 kilometres long.
According to him, people of the area were facing difficulties, particularly during the rainy season, while taking their pregnant women to health facilities during labour.
The chairman also said two streams by the roadside have equally made it difficult for residents of the area to bury their dead during the rainy season.
Kebbi
The Kebbi Pilgrims Welfare Agency has embarked on the enlight
enment of pilgrims from the state against violating Saudi Arabia laws during the forthcoming Hajj.
The Chairman of the agency, Alhaji Abdullahi Imam said during one of the sensitisation campaigns in Kalgo and Bunza local government areas last Tuesday that, it was necessary for the pilgrims to exhibit good conduct during their stay in Saudi Arabia.
Represented by Alhaji Abdullahi Musa, a director in the agency, Imam noted that pilgrims from the state had in the past exhibited good conduct and urged those travelling this year “to sustain the unblemished record”.
Earlier, chairman of the sensitisation committee, Alhaji Sa’idu Maigishiri, said the state government had secured befitting accommodation close to the Holy Ka’aba and advised the intending pilgrims to ensure cleanliness.
Also, a member of the agency’s board, Alhaji Sani Dododo, said proactive measures had been taken to ensure that pregnant women did not participate in this year’s Hajj exercise.
Lagos
The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka
Oladunjoye, recently urged parents to make the education of their children and wards utmost priority.
Oladunjoye made the plea in Lagos at the inauguration of School-Based Management Committee (SBMC)’s policy and guide book organised by the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board.
SBMC is a voluntary group comprising community members, traditional rulers, students, parents’ forum, community development associations, religious leaders, teachers and head teachers.
The committee was established in 2007 to enhance effective governance of the 1004 primary and junior secondary schools in the state to attain free and qualitative education.
Nasarawa
The Nasarawa State House of Assembly recently banned media
outfits owned by the state from covering its activities.
The assembly took the decision after deliberating on a letter from the Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service (NBS), demanding N10 million monthly as against N500,000 for live coverage of the assembly’s sitting.
Mr Godiya Akwashiki (PDP-Nasarawa Eggon West) raised the issue at a plenary session while discussing the letter sent to the house by the management of the NBS.
Akwashiki, who is also the Majority Leader of the house, told his colleagues that the General Manager of NBS, Mr Yusuf Musa, said that five commissioners and some advisers had directed that the outside broadcast van (OB Van) should not be brought to the house for live coverage during proceedings.
Ogun
The Ogun Police Command has arrested a 37-year-old man for
allegedly having unlawful carnal knowledge of a six-year-old girl last Saturday.
A statement issued in Abeokuta on Tuesday by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the suspect resided at Ayedi Street, Isale Ake, Abeokuta.
It said that the suspect, who confessed to the crime, lured the girl with a N50 note and took her to his room where he forcefully had carnal knowledge of her while the mother of the victim was away.
Adejobi, who said that the medical report on the girl confirmed that she was defiled, added that the suspect had been taken to the state CID in Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation and prosecution.
The police spokesman said a bed sheet stained with blood and a pant were recovered from the suspect’s room adding that the command would work with relevant agencies, particularly the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, to stop rape in the state.
Ondo
The Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Mr Jide Adejuyigbe,
tasked Christian and Muslim faithful on the need for peaceful coexistence.
Adejuyigbe made the appeal at Ikare Akoko in Akoko North-East Local Government Area of the state during a peace meeting with the representatives of Christians and Muslims of Ekan and Oyinmo communities.
The meeting was held to address concerns over the planned building of a mosque at Ikare Grammar School.
“Christians and Muslims in the state must shun violence and see themselves as members of the same family to avoid religious crises. They should continue to co-operate with the government of the state in sustaining the peace being enjoyed,” he said.
He advised individuals, groups and organisations planning to erect any structure within the premises of government-owned schools to seek approval from the appropriate authorities.
Osun
The Osun State Government has released N245 million for the
payment of the July salary of staff of the Ladoke Akintola Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH) in Osogbo.
The Chief Medical Director of LAUTECH, Prof. Femi Fadiora, said this in an interview with our correspondent last Tuesday in Osogbo.
Fadiora said that the July salary was to be paid by the Oyo Government, adding that the delay prompted the Osun Government to intervene.
He said the hospital jointly owned by the two states share the responsibility of salary payment, with Osun paying for between January and June while Oyo pays the balance.
Fadiora, however, expressed optimism that ‘’the delay in the payment of July salary will not repeat itself in respect of August salary.’’
Oyo
A former Minister of Sports, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, has urged
Nigerians to be patient with the Goodluck Jonathan administration, saying it ushered in the first true democratic government.
Adedoja, who made the plea at a forum organised recently in Ibadan by the League of Veteran Journalists, Oyo State Chapter said that in spite of some national challenges, Jonathan had ensured that the nation remained on the path of development.
He commended the president for promoting Public Private Partnership to boost infrastructural development across the country.
Adedoja also said the challenges facing the nation’s education sector could only be dealt with in phases and urged Nigerians with developmental ideas not to give up on Nigeria.
Plateau
The Plateau Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil De
fence Corps (NSCDC), has arrested seven suspected pipeline vandals in the state.
The Commandant, Mr Vincent Bature, told newsmen recently in Jos, that the culprits were caught red-handed with 88 Jericans containing petrol and diesel.
Bature said the five suspects were arrested with the diesel while on their way to Saminaka town in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
He solicited the cooperation of traditional rulers in Bassa Local Government Area where NNPC pipelines had passed through, to assist in educating their people on the dangers of vandalising the facilities.
Sokoto
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is to inaugurate the N2.6
billion, 20-million gallons per day Asare Water Treatment Plant constructed by the Sokoto State Government on August 29.
The Commissioner for Water Resources in the state, Alhaji Dalhatu Tangaza, made the disclosure in an interview recently in Sokoto.
According to Tangaza, the plant has since been test-run since last April and the test-running is still going on.
The commissioner said that some areas of Sokoto metropolis to benefit from the project include Arkilla, Damboa, old airport, Kasarawa, army barracks and Bado, among others.
Tangaza stated that the state government had earmarked N75 million for the relocation of water pipes along the 4.5-km Gidan-Man-Ada-Kalambaina-Cement company road, undergoing dualisation.
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