Nation
THE STATES
Benue
At least five persons have been arrested by the Police
in Benue in connection with the recent rampage at Kanshio area of Makurdi.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, ASP Austin Ezeani, disclosed this to newsmen last Wednesday in Makurdi.
Ezeani said the people of Kanshio Community went on rampage last Saturday and burnt down the house of Ter Makurdi, Sale Abenga, claiming that his son was the head of cultists that had been terrorising the neighbourhood.
He said the rampaging group blocked the roads in the community and prevented people from going about their normal businesses.
Borno
The 79 Composite Group of the Nigerian Air Force
(NAF) has donated foodstuff to the Fatima Sheriff Motherless Babies Home, Maiduguri.
The Commander of the group, Air Commodore Christopher Egoba, said the gesture was part of the NAF 51st Anniversary celebration.
The items include: five bags of 50kg rice, eight cartons of noodles, eight bags of semovita, 10 cartons of custard powder and five tins of Nido milk.
“We are here to present our token donation to the Fatima Sheriff Motherless Babies Home, Maiduguri, as part of our 51st Anniversary celebration nationwide.
He said that the aim of the gesture was to identify with the babies in the home by showing them love and care.
Ekiti
The Chairman of Ekiti State Petroleum Products Con
sumer Protection Agency (PPCPA), Mr Samuel Adeyemi, has warned petrol dealers in the state against inflicting hardship on the people by hoarding the product.
Adeyemi gave the warning in an interview with newmen in Ado-Ekiti, recently.
He said that any fuel marketer caught hoarding the product or selling above the approved pump price of N87.00 would be made to face the wrath of the government.
“Meanwhile, anyone caught, the dealer, filling station, manager of such station, the trailer and its attendants will be dealt with,” he said.
He, therefore, appealed to the marketers to bring the allotted supply to the state to reduce the hardship currently being faced by the people.
FCT
The Federal Ministry of Finance said the Federal Gov
ernment was not responsible for the failure of state governments to pay workers’ salaries.
This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, spokesman to the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in Abuja last Wednesday.
“Regarding difficulties in salary payment, certain governors are trying to blame the federal government for their predicaments.
“This is wrong. They had been told through the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee to prioritise salaries, they chose not to do so, hence the backlog that some states are experiencing”, it said.
Gombe
The Women Wing of Christian Association of Nigeria
(WOWICAN), Gombe State chapter, says it has trained about 500 women on various skills acquisition.
Chairperson of the association, Mrs Ruth Ramadan, said this in an interview with newsmen in Gombe recently.
Ramadan said that the women were trained in tailoring, knitting pomade and soap making as well as poultry production.
She said the training was conducted at CAN centres across the 11 local government areas of the state.
She said the three-month programme was free of charge as participants only paid N100 for registration.
“Most of the women that benefited from the programme became self reliant as they cater for the immediate needs of their families,” he said.
Jigawa
The Jigawa State Government has given approval to
its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to recruit 2,882 personnel to fill existing vacancies in 2015.
The state Head of Civil Service, Alhaji Mustapha Aminu, made the disclosure in Dutse when officials of ministries presented their hand over notes to members of the transition committee of the incoming government.
He said that the budget for the payment of the salaries of the personnel was included in the 2015 Appropriation Bill.
He said that 85 new staff had so far been recruited and posted to various ministries, agencies and departments.
Katsina
The Katsina State Elections Tribunal has received pe
titions from the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), governorship candidate, Alhaji Musa Nashuni, and three others.
According to sources, Nashuni is challenging the election of Alhaji Aminu Masari of All Progressives Congress (APC), on three grounds.
Nashuni insists in the petition that Masari was not qualified to contest the election at time of the said election.
He alleged that the election was “characterised by corrupt practices and non-compliance with Electoral Act.’’
Nashuni stated that Masari was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast during the election.
Lagos
The Lagos State Government says it rehabilitated 456
classrooms in 28 primary, junior and senior secondary schools in the last one year.
The Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, gave the figure at the presentation of the ministry’s scorecard in Lagos.
Some of the rehabilitated schools include GRA Primary School I and II, Ogudu; Pobuna Junior Grammar School, Poka, Epe, Festac Junior and Senior College and Ilupeju Senior Grammar School, Mushin.
Estate Senior Grammar School, Mushin, Iju Junior Grammar School II, Iju, Navy Town Junior Secondary School, Agboju, and Central Junior High School, Okota are also among the schools.
Nasarawa
President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to
give adequate attention to agriculture to fight unemployment and enhance food security in the country.
The Proprietor of Odumu Memorial Nursery and Primary School in Nasarawa, Nasarawa State, Alhaji Idris Odumu, made the call last Wednesday in Mararaba Udege, Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen he said the incoming administration would also be able to fight poverty and boost the socio-economic development of the country, if it prioritises agriculture.
Sokoto
A total of 52 new medical doctors that graduated from
the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, have been inducted into the medical profession last Tuesday.
According to sources, the doctors that graduated during the 2012/2013 academic session, were sworn-in at a ceremony in Sokoto.
The state Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association ( NMA), Dr Abdulgafar Jimoh, who represented the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, advised the new doctors “to be advocates of clinical governance.”
He also advised them to serve with decorum and respect laid down rules governing the profession.
In his comment, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Abdullahi Zuru, urged the doctors to abide by their professional oath and be good ambassadors of the institution and their families.
Yobe
No fewer than 6,000 Nigerians dislodged from Islands
on Lake Chad have returned home through Geidam, Yobe State.
Director Search and Rescue, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Air Commodore Charles Otegbade, stated this in Geidam.
The director said Nigerian authorities relocated inhabitants of the Islands to pave way for military operations against insurgency in the area.
He said NEMA, along with security operatives, was profiling the returnees for onward transportation to their states.
“The returnees are mostly from Taraba, Benue, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Adamawa, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi and Borno states, who were fishermen and displaced persons taking refuge on the Islands.
“There are two categories of the returnees; we have those who settled there living a normal life and those taking refuge from the insurgents’ attacks, they are all returning,” Otegbade said.
Zamfara
The United Kingdom Department for International De
velopment (DFID) will spend N3 billion on child development grant programme in Zamfara State.
DFID National Project Manager, Alhaji Abubakar Ahmad, made the disclosure in Gusau when he paid an advocacy visit to the State House of Assembly.
He said the pilot programme was being undertaken in Jigawa and Zamfara states, adding that Anka and Tsafe local government areas had been selected for the commencement of the programme in Zamfara.
The manager said the five years programme is being implemented under the International Non-governmental Organisation (INGO) the Save the Children International, which started in April 2013.
He said the programme would end in April, 2018.
Ahmad said the advocacy visit to the legislature was to solicit the support of the legislative arm of government to ensure smooth implementation of the programme in Zamfara.
L-R: Minister of State for fct, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, Senator representing fct, Sen. Philip Aduda, chairman, Senate Committee on fct, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, Minister of fct, Sen. Bala Mohammed and the Chief of Staff, Brig.-Gen. Jones Arogbofa, welcoming President Goodluck Jonathan to the official inspection of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua express road project (airport road) in Abuja. Photo: NAN
The Alliance Française Port Harcourt in conjunction with the Embassy of France Nigeria over the weekend joined the globe to campaign against the 2025 gender- based violence (GBV) with the theme: “16 Days of Activism Against Gender- Based Voice”
The event which took place at the event Hall of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt was in collaboration with the Female in Gaming Network, ( FIGN) and partnership with Nexal a body that seeks to promote online safety and responsible digital behaviour.
The Tide reports that the project which was aimed at promoting digital safety and girls inclusion in Gaming, with the initiative tagged ‘Gameover Gender- Base Violence’was part of the global campaign against gender- based Violence.
The activity which experienced a flavour of festivity was full of fun and excitements as participants took part in tournaments on popular digital games such as Mario kart and EAFC 25, with an intent to creating safer and more inclusive digital spaces.
The Director of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt, Mrs Marina Lacal said that these activities were designed to encourage inclusion of girls, team work and fair play on online gaming spaces, saying that the gaming world reflects these inequalities, where female players are often under represented.
According to her the main objectives of the initiative was to provide a supportive environment for girls and female in gaming network.
“GameOverGBV” is a project created to reshape this landscape by offering an innovative inclusiveness of girls on online digital Gaming community and digital environments that provide opportunities for creativity, learning and connection, but also fight against Gender-Based Violence Digital Gaming,”she said
She however, explained that the Digital Game, sport competitions, was launched to strengthen social and digital skills through games, workshops, and raise awareness among all young participants about respect, equality and digital citizenship.
The Tide News reports that in Port Harcourt, the competition brought together 100 young participants from three major universities: University of Port Harcourt, ( UNIPORT),Ignatius Ajuru University of Education(IAUE) and Rivers State University (RSU)as well as students from four selected secondary schools, Oginigba comprehensive Secondary.School, Vine lnternational, Virgo predicanda lnternational, and Excellent Montessori Secondary school.
“This is an approach where girls and boys can learn, play and collaborate in a more respectful and safe space for young women, while ensuring a safe, enjoyable and respectful digital environment. It also expose young women to cyberbullying, exclusion, sexist comments and online hate,” Mrs. Lacal said.
Earlier, a game developer Sophia Nei and her. team had engaged participants in an interactive session with the theme: “Can Video Games Be Safe Spaces For Girls?”
However, Mrs Nei and her team educated the girls on the benefits and violence on online digital gaming and urged them ( participants)to learn to say ‘No’ to Online hate, sexist and cyber bullying, while encouraging them(students) to stand up for themselves by reporting such issues to the appropriate authority.
Highlight of the competition was the awarding of prizes to winners by the Director of Alliance Française, Mrs Marina Lacal.
