Bauchi

The Bauchi State Government last Thursday, said it spon
sored 2,308 Christian Pilgrims to Israel between 2007 and 2013.
The Chairman of the state Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Rev. Shuibu Byel, said in an interview with newsmen in Bauchi, that 257 Christians were sponsored in 2007; 306 in 2008; 224 in 2009; 299 in 2010; 385 in 2011; 418 in 2012 and 419 in 2013.
The chairman commended Gov. Isa Yuguda for the gesture and urged the state government to continue to carry everybody along in spite of religious, cultural and political differences.
“His emphasis was that we should go there and have quality time with God and pray for the country for peace and tranquility. “Generally, I will tell you that the governor has been generous, kind and supportive of the Christians Pilgrims Welfare Board”, he said.

Borno

The new Emir of Shani in Borno, Alhaji Nasiru Mailafiya,
has  promised to be fair and just to his subjects by following the legacies of his late father.
Mailafiya made the pledge Sunday shortly after he was installed at the Emir’s Palace in Shani, headquarters of Shani Local Government Area of Borno as the Emir of Shani.
He suceeded his late father, Alhaji Muhammadu Mailafiya, who died on December 31, 2013 in an Indian hospital.
The new emir said “I promise to carry everyone along in the emirate as the emir of Shani.
“I also promise to follow the footsteps of my late father in the discharge of my responsibilities as the father of the people.’’
FCT

The Minister of Interior, Mr Abba Moro last Sunday in
Abuja, said there were internal mechanisms for resolving issues within a ministry and other paramilitary agencies under it.
Moro made the disclosure while reacting to questions by newsmen about a suit filed against him and Dr Ade Abolurin, the Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the termination of their appointments as unlawful, null and void and that the defendants should be ordered to reinstate them and to pay all their entitlements from the date of termination.
Moro said the ministry and the corps had carried out a verification exercise and found that many officers were improperly employed into the corps.

Gombe

President, Al-Mustapha Peace, Unity, Development Ini
tiative (APUDI), Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, says his organisation will empower majority of the 22 million unemployed Nigerian youths with skills.
Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer to late former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, who made this known while speaking with journalists in Gombe on Sunday said the organisation was compiling the list of youth organisations across the country with a view to assisting the unemployed youths with skill acquisition and other entrepreneurship development schemes.
According to him, after the data of the unemployed youths is compiled, he will make a comprehensive report on which group of youths would be assisted by local, state or the Federal Government.
Al-Mustapha added that some of the unemployed youth would be assisted by national and international donor agencies noting that no country or society would develop if its youths were jobless.
Kaduna

Frontline politician, Alhaji Balarabe Musa says the time
table released for the 2015 general elections has given reasonable time for the conclusion of litigations before the inauguration of elected officials.
He said the time given was “reasonably enough” to dispose of all cases that would arise from the election “provided the judiciary would do its work dispassionately”.
According to him, before now some of the politicians have been campaigning discreetly with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not calling them to order.
The former Kaduna State Governor and leader of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) was however pessimistic of a free, fair and credible election.
“The impunity with which the laws are ignored and consistency of election rigging in the country will make it very difficult to have a free, fair and credible election.”

Kebbi

Governor Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi State has provided
financial assistance to families of 12 members of the Islamic group, Jama’atu Izalatul Bidi’a Wa’iquamatu Sunnah (JIBWIS), who died in a ghastly motor accident on the Abuja-Suleija Road, on January 19.
A  statement issued by Alhaji Abubakar Mua’zu, the chief press secretary to the governor, in Birnin Kebbi last Sunday did not, however, indicate the amount provided to the beneficiaries.
The victims, who were from the Zuru Local Government Area of the state, were returning from Abuja, after attending a function when they died in the crash.
The release said the governor had since condoled with the families of the deceased noting that the governor had commended the group for its peaceful propagation of Islam, as well as the existing peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians in Zuru.
Kwara

Some religious leaders in Omu-Aran, Kwara State, have
commended President Goodluck Jonathan, for signing into law the same-sex marriage prohibition bill recently passed by the National Assembly.
The Bishop of The Cathedral Church of St. Paul’s, Omu-Aran, Rt. Rev. Phillip Adeyemo, said the president had the right to protect the sovereignty of the country and also sustain the values of its cultural heritage and practises.
Prophetess Bosede Adimabua, the President of the Women’s Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (WOWICAN), Kwara Chapter, said President Jonathan’s action deserved praises from Nigerians.
Pastor Alex Adefikayo of the 2nd ECWA Church, Agamo, Omu-Aran, said the passage of the same sex marriage prohibition bill was a move in the right direction.
Ondo

Chief Medical Director, Mother and Child Hospital,
Akure, Dr Adesina Akintan, said last Sunday that the hospital recorded 7,962 safe deliveries and 1,231 caesarean operations in the last one year.
Akintan, who made this known in an interview in Akure, said that the hospital was specifically established to reduce infant and maternal mortality in the state.
He noted that the hospital always witnessed an average of 20 safe deliveries per day, which amounted to 600 child deliveries per month.
The chief medical director noted that the hospital had impacted positively on infant and maternal care services in the state and beyond.

Plateau

A PDP Woman Leader and its ex-officio member in the
North-West Zone, Mrs. Naomi Waziri, has applauded the nomination of Mrs. Lawrencia Malam as minister, saying that it was “very encouraging’’.
“The appointment of Mrs Malam is a huge encouragement to women ready to serve their local communities and Nigeria; the nominee has been a great role model for the womenfolk, especially in the rural areas,’’ Waziri said in Jos on Sunday.
Mrs. Malam, a ministerial nominee from Kaduna, is among the 12 persons awaiting confirmation by the Senate.
Waziri said that the appointment of a woman from Kaduna State was a testimony to the growing belief that women were indeed capable of contributing effectively to national development.
She promised that the entire women in the North-West of the country would rally round the nominee toward a successful tenure as minister, and advised her to pay special attention to the plight of Nigerian rural women.

Sokoto

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, last  Satur
day, urged leaders at all levels to seek for knowledge on leadership.
Abubakar, who was represented by Alhaji Isma’il Abubakar, District head of Gumbi, said “it is very necessary for the leaders to seek for knowledge for that will give them the right way of leading the society.
The Sultan commended the author for the sacrifice he made to remind the people of the importance of knowledge in leadership.
Speaking at the event, the Vice Chancellor of Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, Prof. Riskuwa Shehu, commended the author for the gesture saying “the book touches the lives of the people in the society.”
The author said that he wrote the book as his contribution towards entrenching good leadership in Nigeria.

Families of 2002 victims of Ikeja Bomb blast in a peaceful protest in Lagos last Monday. Photo: NAN