Nation

THE STATES

Published

11 years ago

August 14, 2015

Chairman, Transition Committee, Prof. Sonni Tyoden (left), presenting the committee’s report to Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, in Jos on Wednesday (12/8/15). Photo: NAN

Bauchi

Some operators of Cyber Café in Bauchi engage in sharp
practices by down-loading fake police recruitment forms and extorting money from unsuspecting applicants.
Spokesman of the Bauchi Police Command, DSP Haruna Mohammed, revealed this in a statement made available to newsmen recently in Bauchi.
“It has come to the knowledge of Bauchi State Police Command that some Cyber Cafes have started down-loading police recruitment forms for applicants and extorting money from them under false pretense.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no recruitment going on at the moment in the Nigeria Police Force.
“The Command, therefore, wish to use this medium to advise members of the public, to disregard any recruitment adverts, in order not to fall victims of such extortionists,” he said in the statement.

Borno

The Borno State Government has said it has purchased
a recycling plant that could convert polythene wastes into positive use.
The Coordinator of the Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA), Alhaji Nasiru Surundi, told newsmen in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State.
Surundi said that the decision was imperative as thousands of tons of waste were being generated by the increased population without a dump site to keep them.
“In the absence of an approved dump site, the recycling machine will come handy in ensuring that the streets of Maiduguri will no longer be littered with heaps of garbage that have continued to constitute environmental nuisance.”
Surundi attributed the annual flooding in most parts of Maiduguri to the wrong attitude of people toward waste management.

FCT

The National Peace Committee has dismissed reports
that it was lobbied by former President Goodluck Jonathan to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from probing his administration.
A member of the committee chaired by retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah dismissed the report while answering questions from State House correspondents after the committee’s closed-door meeting with Buhari in Abuja.
According to him, though everybody is free to contact the committee to intervene in promoting peaceful coexistence in the society, the former president never talked to the committee for any form of intervention.
“Anybody is free to come to our committee, but President Jonathan never by telephone or by any other means sought to see the committee.
“We went to see him, but that was after we had already seen members of the political parties; we saw a few members of the civil society; we plan to see the speaker.

Gombe

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
has asked the Gombe, State Government to promptly complete work on the state’s waste recycling project to facilitate the conversion of waste to wealth.
In a communiqué after a one-day workshop organised by NEMA to seek out ways to mitigate flood, the agency said waste conversion would equally help in averting the risk of flood.
Our correspondent reports that the workshop, held in Gombe on Tuesday, focused on flood risk and the management of solid and liquid waste.
The communiqué expressed the need for the state government to hold sanitation twice a month, with an effective restriction of movement from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Kaduna

Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State has appointed
new Accountant-General for the state and announced the retirement of three Permanent Secretaries from the civil service.
The new Accountant-General is Malam Umar Waziri.
A statement issued by the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Governor Mr Samuel Aruwan, in Kaduna described the changes as part of ongoing reorganisation of the state’s public service for greater performance.
The statement listed the retired permanent secretaries as Adamu Makadi (Local Government); Ibrahim Balarabe Musa (Youth, Sports and Culture) and Ishaku Shekari (Accountant-General).

Kano

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has enjoined
residents of the state to register for their National Identity Cards.
Ganduje spoke when members of the National Identity Management Commission presented him with his national identity card at the Government House, Kano.
The governor, who explained that efforts were being made to make registration easy for the people, revealed that 10 centres had been established across the state.
He said that the government would soon inaugurate a sensitisation committee to enhance registration of people for their identity cards.
Earlier, state Coordinator of the commission, Hajiya Bilkisu Dalhatu, promised to sensitise the people of the state to enrol and collect their cards.

Katsina
The Katsina House of Assembly has approved the re
quest of Governor Aminu Masari to secure N2billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to develop Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the state.
This followed a motion moved by the Majority Leader of the House, Alhaji Lawal Isa (Charanchi), which was seconded by Abubakar Yahaya, (Kusada).
The Majority Leader said the state government and the CBN had earlier explained to the House the importance of the loan to the state.
“We were convinced by the explanations because the loan would assist to boost socio-economic activities and eradicate poverty in the state.”
Isa further said that 60 per cent of the loan would be disbursed to women, while 40 per cent would be for males.

Kogi

A political group, Transparency Group, has advised the
leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to disqualify persons with pending corruption cases from contesting its forthcoming governorship primary in Kogi.
The Coordinator of the group, Mallam Ibrahim Ocholi gave the advice in Lokoja at a press conference.
He said the party swept the polls during the last general elections based on the integrity and honesty of its leadership.
He added that the message of hope the party had been selling to Nigerians must be maintained by preventing any politician already charged to court for corruption by the EFCC from contesting election.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is known by Nigerians as an incorruptible individual.

Lagos

The Lagos State Government has denied sponsorship of
pilgrims for the 2015 Hajj as being speculated in some reports.
The Amirul Hajj and Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on 2015 Hajj, Alhaji Abdul Lateef Abdul Hakeem, said in a statement in Lagos that the state has not sponsored any pilgrim for the 2015 Hajj operations.
He also said that the state had no plan to sponsor any pilgrim for the 2015 hajj operations, but was only interested in making sure that state pilgrims were taken care of.
AbdulHakeem was reacting to reports that some pilgrimage forms allocated to key officials of the state government had been hijacked.
Niger

Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Niger State
has, impounded 482 vehicles in Minna and Mokwa town for non compliance to road traffic rules and regulations, State Sector Commander Susan Ajenge, has said.
Ajenge made the disclosure in Minna in an interview with newsmen.
She said: “We made the arrests through our operation `Good Morning Minna’ which I introduced on my arrival to Niger State in July, 2015.
“The operation is aimed at checking the validity of drivers’ license and the state of vehicles using the roads in order to reduce road traffic crashes.
“We impounded 190 vehicles when we commenced the operation in July followed by 208 and 49 vehicles, respectively.
Oyo

The Muslim community in Ibadan has held special
prayers for the peace and progress of the country..
The Chief Imam of Ibadanland, Sheikh Abdul-Ganiyy Agbotomokekere, who led the prayers, stressed the need for all Muslims to promote efforts geared at promoting peace in the country.
“As Muslims, it is our duty to pray for the peace of our nation because this is our father land; we must come together and ensure unity in the fight against insecurity.
“We should realise that the challenges facing the country cannot be tackled with human knowledge but only through the help of God.
“ When we seek God’s face, He would hearken to our prayers,” he said.
Plateau

The Transition Committee set up by Governor Simon
Lalong of Plateau State says the immediate past administration of former governor David Jang left a debt of N222.3 billion for the Lalong administration.The Plateau Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Committee Prof. Sonni Tyoden,made this known when he submitted the report of the committee to the governor.
Tyoden explained that the committee was made up of 12 members of the central committee, 188 other members were broken into 27 sub-committees, each handling a particular aspect of government operations.
The deputy governor said that government records showed that between May 2007 and May 2015, the state received a total income of N525.35 billion.
“The sum of N747.65 billion was said to have been expended on Plateau citizens in the last eight years.
“The hand-over notes received from the previous government stated that the level of indebtedness of government was N103.9 billion as at May 2015 but our findings put the figure at N222.3 billion.
`
Zamfara

Zamfara State Radio Station has gone off the air follow
ing a lightning that destroyed the transmitter of the state.
The Managing Director of the station, Malam Nuhu Anka,told newsmen that the station’s power generation plant, was also affected.
The managing director however gave assurance that the station would soon resume full transmission of its programmes.
He said the state government had already supplied a new power generation plant and the destroyed spare parts of the transmitter, saying they were now being installed.

Nation

REAN, SON synergise to curb fake renewable energy product

Published

3 days ago

June 29, 2026

The Tide

The Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) says it has strengthened collaboration with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to enhance quality control and enforcement frameworks.

Mr Oisereime Lloyd-Dietake, the Head of Communications, REAN, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said the collaboration would also involve stakeholder engagement on testing, certification and capacity building in Nigeria.

He said the synergy would strengthen quality control and enforcement frameworks, promote policy alignment, and ensure stronger regulation across the renewable energy value chain.

“REAN reaffirms its commitment to standardisation and quality assurance; tighter collaboration with SON is critical to eliminating fake and substandard renewable energy products from the Nigerian market.

“Enforcement and gaps in existing standards have continued to allow inferior products to circulate, undermining consumer confidence and slowing sector growth.”

Lloyd-Dietake said that at high-level discussions, REAN also highlighted the need for stronger regulatory coordination to address emerging challenges in the renewable energy space.

According to him, the issues include inconsistencies in standards, affordability issues linked to certification processes; and the increasing presence of substandard solar and renewable energy equipment in the country.

“The association further raised concerns about delays in product testing and approval, calling for the establishment of more testing laboratories and certification facilities to improve efficiency and reduce bottlenecks in the system,’’ he said.

Lloyd-Dietake urged closer collaboration among key regulatory bodies, including the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, and the Rural Electrification Agency.

He said such team work would ensure harmonised standards and more effective enforcement against fake renewable energy products in the Nigerian market.

In response, SON acknowledged the important role REAN continued to play in supporting standardisation within Nigeria’s renewable energy industry and reaffirmed its willingness to deepen collaboration with the association.

SON further confirmed that REAN would be actively involved in future standard review processes and upcoming stakeholder engagements related to renewable energy and electric mobility standards development.

Lloyd-Dietake said REAN affirmed its willingness to formalise the partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

He said the MoU is aimed at deepening cooperation, promoting quality assurance, and accelerating Nigeria’s transition towards reliable and standardised renewable energy solutions.

Nation

Self Help Africa programme expands water access for 320,000 Nigerians

Published

3 days ago

June 29, 2026

The Tide

The WASH Systems for Health (WS4H) Programme, implemented by Self Help Africa, has expanded access to safe water and sanitation services for more than 320,000 people in Kano and Cross River States.

The organisation disclosed this on Tuesday at the WS4H National Results and Learning Workshop in Abuja, where stakeholders reviewed achievements and lessons from the intervention.

Speaking at the event, Self Help Africa Country Director, Joy Aderele, said the programme demonstrated that sustainable WASH improvements require strong institutions, effective governance, adequate financing and collaboration.

Aderele said the UK-funded programme was designed to strengthen systems that support sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene services.

According to her, the intervention focused on improving governance, planning, financing, accountability and sector coordination to ensure resilient service delivery.

“More than 320,000 people now have improved or restored access to water services through programme-supported interventions,” she said.

She added that more than 5,520 household toilets were constructed in Yala and Makoda Local Government Areas, boosting sanitation, public health and efforts to end open defecation.

Aderele said the programme also strengthened public investment in WASH, with Cross River increasing its sector budget by 211 per cent in 2026 and Kano by 169.07 per cent.

She added that dedicated WASH budget lines had been established across 40 Ministries, Departments and Agencies in both states, strengthening accountability and institutional commitment.

According to her, both states reviewed and adopted updated WASH policies, while key planning documents were developed to guide future investments and service delivery.

She said Cross River also recorded a major legislative milestone through the passage of the Water Law and Open Defecation Prohibition Bill.

Aderele added that lessons from interventions in Yala LGA were already informing expansion efforts in Obubra Local Government Area.

While commending the achievements, she noted that capacity gaps, resource constraints and climate-related pressures remained challenges to sustainable WASH services.

“The sustainability of these gains will depend on continued government leadership, adequate financing, strong partnerships and investment in institutional capacity,” she said.

Also speaking, the Programme Manager of WS4H, Mr Timothy Ibeawuchi, said the intervention focused on strengthening systems needed to sustain gains and attract future investments.

According to him, the programme engages stakeholders in developing strategies that preserve achievements and support long-term service delivery.

“System strengthening work takes time because it addresses the fundamental issues responsible for sustainable and resilient service delivery,” he said.

Ibeawuchi said the programme strengthened policy development, planning, financing, monitoring and evaluation systems across the WASH sector.

He said two pilot local government areas were supported to develop WASH strategic plans outlining sector goals, targets and activities between 2026 and 2030.

According to him, the plans will guide future interventions and improve service delivery in the affected councils.

Earlier, the representative of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Chidera Chukwu, reaffirmed support for Nigeria’s development efforts in spite of the programme nearing completion.

Chukwu commended the Self Help Africa-led consortium for delivering the programme with professionalism and a strong focus on systems strengthening.

He said the consortium contributed greatly to strengthening Nigeria’s WASH sector through policy reforms, improved coordination and enhanced accountability.

“Together, we have advanced key policy and legislative reforms, including open defecation-free laws and strengthened state WASH frameworks,” he said.

According to him, the reforms represent enduring system-level changes that will continue delivering benefits beyond the programme’s lifespan.

In his remarks, Mr Jamilu Habu, Director of Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, commended the programme’s achievements.

Habu, who represented the Permanent Secretary, said the intervention strengthened governance, coordination, evidence-based planning and institutional capacity in the WASH sector.

He described the workshop as an opportunity to review achievements, share lessons and identify pathways for sustaining and scaling successful interventions.

According to him, the programme’s innovations and best practices will guide future policies and investments aimed at expanding access to safe WASH services.

Habu stressed the need for continued collaboration among governments, development partners, civil society organisations, the private sector and communities.

He said stronger partnerships remained essential to achieving universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene services and meeting Sustainable Development Goal 6.

Nation

Lagos Residents Stranded As Floods Cut Off Ajah, Mafoluku Communities

Published

3 days ago

June 29, 2026

The Tide

Residents of Ajah, Mafoluku and other flood-prone communities in Lagos have recounted how Thursday’s torrential rainfall left them stranded, submerged homes and cut off access to major roads.

The residents, who spoke with Tide source, on Friday called for urgent government intervention to tackle the recurring flooding blamed on poor drainage infrastructure.

Along Mobil Road in Ajah, Mrs Rukayat said floodwaters submerged about 200 metres of the road, forcing commuters to wade through waist-deep water.

“The water level was almost up to my lap. People literally had to wade through it to get home,” she said.

According to her, many motorists turned back, while others abandoned their vehicles and continued their journeys on foot.

“The only way to pass through the water was by walking or using a tricycle. Even then, the tricycles broke down and had to be pushed,” she said.

Rukayat said some youths assisted stranded tricycle operators by pushing their vehicles through flooded sections for a fee.

She said residents had repeatedly alerted authorities to the flooding but little had changed.

“We reported this when the rains started, but apparently nothing has been done about the problem,” she said.

She attributed the flooding to poor drainage and possible blockage of a major canal serving the area.

“There is a big canal here, but I don’t know what is preventing water from flowing through it properly,” she said.

According to her, overgrown vegetation and sand deposits might have obstructed the canal, reducing its capacity to discharge stormwater.

She added that although floodwaters usually receded after a few hours, sections of the road remained waterlogged.

In Mafoluku, residents said several streets, homes and access roads were submerged, leaving many unable to return home after going about their daily activities.

Mrs Iriagbonse Okunkpolor, a resident of Agboola Street, said what began as a short trip to buy household items became an hours-long ordeal.

“I left my house to buy a few items nearby, but the rain started suddenly and flooded the entire street.

“I was stranded for hours because there was no safe way back home,” she said.

Another resident, Mr Mukaila Idris, described the flooding as both dangerous and distressing.

“The current was very strong. I watched people pay young men to carry them across the water because they were afraid of being swept away or falling,” he said.

According to him, only physically fit residents could navigate the floodwaters safely, while many others waited several hours for the water level to subside.

Mr Williams Ekpo, who lives in the Eyinogun area, said the flood extended beyond the roads and entered residential compounds.

“The floodwater entered our compound and damaged some household items.

“This happens almost every rainy season, yet nothing seems to be done to address the drainage problem,” he said.

The residents urged the relevant authorities to investigate the persistent flooding and improve drainage infrastructure to prevent a recurrence during the rainy season.