Bauchi
The Bauchi State Government says it has spent
N425 million for the payment of local and foreign scholarships for the 2011/2012 academic session.
The Executive Chairman, Alhaji Kulloma Hardawa, Bauchi State Scholarship Board, said this in Bauchi  in an interview with newsmen.
Hardawa said the amount had been released by the state government to effect the payments to local and foreign students in both tertiary and religious institutions across the world.
According to him, 48,075 students studying different courses in various tertiary institutions across the country have been paid.
“Additional 35 students studying in over 20 foreign countries were also paid.

FCT
The President,  Federation of Africa Journalists
(FAJ),  Mallam Mohammed Garba has called on the Egyptian Government to  release the four Al Jazeera  reporters detained without conditions.
Garba, who is also the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), made the call at a rally organised by the NUJ in Abuja to press for the release of the detained journalists.
Our correspondent reports that the names of the detained journalists are: Abdalla Elshamy, Peter Creste, Mohammed Fahmy and Mohammed Baher.

Gombe
The Gombe State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board
has advised intending pilgrims to stop making payments for Hajj seats through individuals.
The Executive Secretary of the board, Alhaji Usman Gurama, gave the advice in an interview with newsmen in Gombe.
He said that the advice became necessary following reports that some of the intending pilgrims had started paying for the seats through unauthorised persons.
According to him, some of intending pilgrims during last year’s Hajj have also fallen victims of the fraudsters.
Jigawa

The  Education Sector Reform in Nigeria
(ESRIN) said in Dutse, Jigawa State, that it had sunk  87 boreholes and provided toilet facilities in primary and junior secondary schools across the state.
The representative of the organisation, Mr John Kay, said this in his speech at the inauguration and handing over of the facilities to the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
Kay added that the boreholes were constructed to provide safe drinking water for the  teachers, pupils and students in those schools.
He also said that the toilet facilities were provided for both the students and their teachers so that they could always defecate and urinate in a hygienic environment.

Kaduna
The National Agency for Food and Drugs Ad
ministration and Control (NAFDAC) has cautioned motorists against patronising drug peddlers.
The Kaduna State Coordinator of NAFDAC, Mrs Mukosolu Nzekwe gave the warning at a sensitisation campaign against drug abuse held at Kawo motor park in Kaduna.
“The drug hawkers are not pharmacist or doctors, when you stop patronising them there will be no market for them and they will fade away.
“If these drugs are exposed to the sun, they become poisonous, and when people take them, they are subjected to various health conditions due to consumption of these low-quality drugs.

Kebbi
A Kebbi-based Non -Governmental Organisation
(NGO), Youth Advancement Organisation (YAO) of Nigeria, said it had inaugurated a campaign on child survival and malaria prevention in the state.
The Project Director, Alhaji Haruna Alkassim, told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi that the campaign was focused on communities in Yauri and Bagudo.
He said the campaign would later spread to seven local government areas in the state.
Alkassim said the initiative was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Population Services International and the Society for Family Health.

Lagos
The Fertiliser Suppliers Association of Nigeria
(FEPSAN) has said that about one million tonnes of fertilisers would be distributed in 2014
The FEPSAN Executive Secretary, Mr Ahmed Rabiu, told newsmen in Lagos that in 2013, about 900,000 tonnes of the commodity were distributed.
Rabiu said that two private investors had begun work to produce more ammonia and urea.
“Presently, two private investors  Dangote Fertiliser plant and Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited have started work to produce more ammonia and urea fertilisers this year.

Ondo
The Deputy Speaker of Ondo State House of
Assembly, Mr Dare Emiola, has  promised  a befitting state burial for the late Speaker, Mr Samuel Adesina.
Emiola made the promise  when he led the lawmakers to the Alagbaka residence of the late speaker  to commiserate with the family of the deceased.
Our correspondent reports  that Adesina, 61, died last Tuesday.
He said  the house would not forget the wisdom and knowledge which the late speaker deployed  in conducting the affairs  of the house in the last four years.
Ogun
The Ogun State Government has issued a warning to
11 parents state whose children were caught hawking during school hours.
The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Elizabeth Sonubi, gave the warning in Abeokuta.
It would be recalled that the state government recently banned street hawking  by  children of school age.
According to the commissioner, the ban on street hawking and trading is still in force.
She said any child caught violating the order twice would be warned through the issuance of “yellow card.’’

Osun
The Osun State House of Assembly has urged the
people of the State not to allow the location of headquarters of the proposed Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to ignite crisis among them.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Wasiu Adebayo, made the appeal during a tour of  the headquarters of the proposed LCDAs.
Our correspondent reports that Gov. Rauf Aregbesola had on December 16, 2013 presented a bill for the creation of 27 LCDAs.
Adebayo said since the creation of the new councils was awaiting the approval of the lawmakers, the people must promote the economic development of their areas and not engage in violence.

Plateau
A Jos Upper Area Court has sentenced a 28-year-
old carpenter, John Taiwo, to six months imprisonment for breaking into the shop of one Mr Kelvin Egomoles.
The court did not give the convict an option of fine as he was said to be a habitual criminal.
It also ordered the convict to pay Egomoles N2, 000 as compensation for damaging the shop doors.
In his judgment, the Presiding Judge, Malam Mustapha Hassan, said the prosecution had convinced the court that the accused committed the offence.
Sokoto
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has
urged the Standards Organisation of Nigeria ( SON) to establish mobile courts to prosecute producers of fake and sub-standard products.
Abubakar made the call o in Sokoto when the Director-General of SON, Dr Joseph Odumodu, paid him a courtesy visit.
The Sultan said “such a court will close all companies producing fake and sub-standard products in the country’’.
“It will also prosecute proprietors of these companies as they are wrecking havoc on Nigerians and the nation’s economy.

L-R: Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, Mr John Kennedy Opara, Ambassador of Israel to Nigeria, Mr Uriel Palti, Israeli Minister of Agriculture, Mr Yair Shamir and Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina during a cocktail in honour of the Israeli Minister of Agriculture in Abuja last Saturday