THE STATES

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State (right), presenting certificate to the new Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, during the Oba’s coronation in Ibadan on Friday . With them is the Oba’s eldest wife, Alhaja Rafiat Adetunji.

Bauchi

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wikki Spring Water
Company, Mainamaji, Bauchi State, Mr Ojile Alfa says the company has engaged 2,050 youths working for the company.
Alfa announced this at the commissioning of the company in Mainamaji, Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
Alfa said that the company was currently producing 5,000 bottles of water per hour but could produce 40,000 bottles in eight hours.
He further explained that the company produced 80,000 sachet water per hour while it was working to provide additional two production lines.
The CEO called on the state government to re-construct the two-kilometre road linking main entrance to Yankari Games Reserves to Badara, to motivate the villagers who were sugar cane farmers.

Ekiti
The Ekiti State Government says it has expended over
one billion naira (N1 billion) on ecological projects between October, 2015 and February, 2016
The State Commissioner for Environment, Mr Bisi Kolawole told newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, that seven of the projects had been completed, while three were ongoing.
He said that the projects executed include dredging of stream channels, construction of access culverts and reconstruction of failed culverts.
Kolawole, who frowned at the careless attitude of the citizens to their environment, appealed to them to compliment the efforts of the state government at ensuring a clean environment.
“The attitude of our people to their environment is not encouraging because there are so many culverts that were blocked with waste and filth thrown inside them by the people.
“I want to appeal to our people that they should complement the efforts of the state government by ensuring that they clear their drains at least once or twice a month.
“If our people can inculcate that attitude of cleanliness, the state will be clean and government will have less work to do.
FCT

The Director of FCT Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board
(FMPWB), Malam Muhammad Bashir, has pledged to ensure hitch-free 2016 Hajj operations in the territory.
Bashir gave the assurance in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
He said as part of early preparations for the 2016 Hajj, the board held preliminary discussions with service providers such as accommodation and feeding providers in Mecca.
“Immediately after the 2015 Hajj, we began preparations for the 2016 by reviewing our performance in order to improve the standard of future operations.
“We reviewed all aspects of the operations to make sure that we identify what we did perfectly and where we were found wanting.
“This was to enable us to adjust where necessary and to improve the 2016 Hajj exercise,’’ Bashir said.

Gombe

The Inspector- General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase,
has been urged to prosecute the police officer who reportedly shot and killed Sadiq Yunusa, a student of Government Science Secondary School, Gombe.
The Executive Secretary of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Bem Angwe, made the call in a statement issued by Chief Press Officer of the commission, Fatimah Mohammed in Abuja.
The statement, which said that Yunusa was shot by a policeman on Friday, described the death as senseless.
It urged the Inspector- General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, to ensure that the officer responsible was prosecuted in line with the relevant laws.
It also appealed to officers and men of the police force to always abide by the rules of engagement while on duty.

Kaduna
The Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) on Tuesday
said it had released new high-yield cowpea (beans), maize, groundnut and sorghum’s varieties to farmers in Kaduna state.
An IAR Director, Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar, made the disclosure at the IAR’s 2016 Annual Cropping Scheme Meeting held in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Our correspondent reports that the meeting had “Revamping Agriculture for Economic Growth and Sustainability’’ as its theme.
“Our research scientists, together with technicians and technologists conducted different researches covering; genetic improvement of our mandate crops, crop production, irrigation, farm mechanisation, crop production management practice, economics and extension.
“The institute had projected the university and the country in positive light through developing and releasing two cowpea (beans) varieties (SAMPEA 16 and SAMPEA 17) which are striga tolerant, alectra and drought resistant.

Kano

The Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO)
has appealed to its consumers to exercise patience over the drop in power allocation.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the company, Muhammad Kandi and issued to newsmen in Kano recently.
It said that current generation profile had descended to less than 3, 697 MW against the peak of 5, 074 MW achieved earlier in February.
“The management of KEDCO hereby calls on all its customers not to panic as concerned authorities in the sector are working assiduously to address the problem”, the statement said.
The statement quoted the company’s Chief Technical Officer, David Omoloye as attributing the situation to poor gas supply to generation companies (GenCos) in the country.
Kogi

A food processing company, Ahiaba Global Resources
Limited in collaboration with U.S-based Techno Serve said it had commenced production of cashew juice from cashew apples in Kogi State.
The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Stephen Ahiaba,disclosed this at the inauguration of the processing plant in Ochaja, Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi.
“The initiative, apart from adding value to cashew production in the state, is part of efforts to improve on the national economy and curb unemployment among youths and rural women.
“Farmers in the rural areas will no longer harvest cashew nuts and waste the apples as they have now been trained on how to preserve them for our company to process,’’ Ahiaba said.

Nasarawa

The Curator, National Museum and Monuments in
Nasarawa State, Mrs Elizabeth Kefas, says the major challenge confronting the commission is the lack of a gallery or museum to display its works.
Kefas told newsmen in Lafia that it was important for the commission to have a gallery or a museum where it could display the state’s cultural heritage for the public.
She said that such a gallery would also help to protect the cultural heritage of different ethnic extractions that abound in the state.
“The diverse ethnic groups in the state have a lot of artifacts which can be displayed.

Osun

The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has appealed to
both the Federal and state governments to allocate more funds for the upgrade of government-owned hospitals.
The Osun State chairman of NMA, Dr Suraj Ogunyemi, told newsmen in Osogbo that the upgrade would create opportunities for more medical doctors to be employed.
Also, it would afford the hospital managements the opportunity to train and retrain existing ones and recruit new ones for housemanship, Ogunyemi said.
According to him, most doctors cannot get placement for their internship in government-owned hospitals because of their poor and deplorable states due to underfunding.

Oyo

Students of the Polytechnic, Ibadan have staged a protest
over the introduction of insurance and ICT fees in the institution.
Our correspondent reports that the placard-carrying protesting students were seen matching from the south campus to the north campus chanting solidarity songs.
The students also barricaded all the entry points into the campus, making it impossible for people to gain entry.
The students were also demanding for the presence of the student union president whom they accused of being behind the introduction of the fees.

Sokoto

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, has
announced that card reader machine would be used in the conduct of this month local government election in the state.
The governor made the announcement in Binji Local Government Area at the commencement of the APC campaign in Sokoto North Senatorial district.
He said that the state would set new standard by being the first state in Nigeria to use the new voter card and the card reader machine to conduct the local government poll.

Taraba
A retired officer of the State Security Service, Mr Hosea
Danjuma, has been abducted by gunmen at his residence in Baisa, headquarters of Kurmi Local Government Area of Taraba.
The Caretaker Chairman of the council, Mr Steven Agya, confirmed the development in an interview with newsmen in Jalingo.