THE STATES

Adamawa
A philanthropist, Mr Richard Daniel, has renovated
the General Hospital, Garkida in Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa, at the cost of N65 million.
He told newsmen that the gesture was informed by his desire to ignite community responsiveness in the people as well as restore the lost glory of Garkida community.
Daniel, who is a native of Garkida, regretted that the community was becoming a ghost of its former status as essential services such as medical care, potable drinking water and quality education were lacking.
He advised the people to imbibe the spirit of self-help and endeavour to maintain and safeguard facilities provided for them.
The philanthropist said that his vision to empower women and youths in the area was also sacrosanct.

Bauchi
A vigilante group in Bauchi, Peace and Vanguard
Committee, said it had assisted in curtailing activities of about 300 miscreant groups popularly known as ‘Sara Suka’ in the state.
The Commander of the group, Alhaji Isa Madaki, disclosed this in Bauchi during a grassroots mobilisation and sensitisation campaign organised by the group.
Madaki said that the group, had in the past five years, tried to nip in the bud activities of these miscreants who daily terrorised innocent people in the state.

Jigawa
The Jigawa State Government has inaugurated a 19-
member committee to organise a mass wedding for widows and divorcees in the state.
This is contained in a statement issued by Malam Ibrahim Isma’il, the Public Relations Officer, Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in Dutse.
The statement disclosed that the SSG, Alhaji Adamu Abdulkadir, while inaugurating the committee, said the gesture was to checkmate social vices in the society.
The statement said that the Committee was to identify the total number of widows and divorcees in each of the 27 local government areas of the state.
According to the statement, the committee was to also obtain the beneficiaries’ consent for the marriage and trace and establish trade or profession of the male beneficiaries.

Kaduna
The Chairman, National Caretaker Committee of the
Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has advocated institutional reforms to shield security votes from abuse.
Makarfi, a former Governor of Kaduna State, gave the advice in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna.
He said it was important to set up a machinery for an institutional reform on how security votes should be managed.
“This affects not only the federal government, because if you come down to the states, you are going to find similar happenings.
“Even local government chairmen have security votes and you are going to find that their expenditure follows a similar pattern.”

Kano
Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Kano
State has advised farmers to register with the association to enable them benefit from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) anchor borrower programme.
The Chairman of the association in the state, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, made the call while fielding questions from newsmen in Kano.
Aliyu said the advice was necessary as the Federal Government was committed to ensuring success of the programme.
“Those who have not been able to register for the wet season farming, can do so for the dry season farming because the federal government is serious about the programme.”
Kogi
A Lokoja-based agriculturalist, Mr Ademola Oladoyin
has advised youths in Kogi State to embrace small scale farming like fishery and poultry to earn a living.
Oladoyin gave the advice in Lokoja in an interview with newsmen recently.
He said youths should be encouraged to embark on fishery and poultry and other farming activities that would not require big capital to establish rather than seeking white-collar jobs.
Oladoyin also appealed to government at all levels to create empowerment programmes for youths in order to reduce restiveness and unemployment in the country.

Ogun
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ota Unit
Command, Ogun State, has confirmed the death of a truck driver in an auto- accident at the Lagos-Ogun border toll-gate.
The unit commander, Mr Leye Adegboyega, who confirmed this to newsman  said the accident occurred around 12 midnight.
Adegboyega, who blamed the accident on the deplorable state of the roads, said the truck with registration number XN 233 LSD was fully loaded.
According to him, the truck was heading to Lagos from Sango-Ota when it ran into a pothole at the toll-gate and lost control.

Ondo
The Ondo State Ministry of Education has released
the results of the Common Entrance examination conducted for candidates from its public primary schools.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Steve Awosika, and made available to newsmen in Akure.
According to the release, 64,000 candidates sat for the examination in 874 centres across the 18 local government areas of the state.
It said that the ministry’s releasing the results of the examination within a week after its conduct was in conformity with its established tradition.

Osun
The Federation of Informal Workers Organisation
of Nigeria (FIWON) has charged the three tiers of government to adopt best practices from other countries in the implementation of social schemes toward poverty elimination.
The Osun State Coordinator of FIWON, Mr Olayinka Ibrahim, made the call in an Interview with newsmen in Osogbo.
He said that the government needed to consider variables if poverty in the country must be reduced to its minimal level rather than implementing policies that would not benefit the masses.
According to him, the gap between the rich and the poor has continued to widen and the government needs to quickly address the predicament before it becomes more problematic.
Plateu
Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, has
condemned the killing of Mr Lazarus Agai, the Saf Ron-kulere and First Class traditional ruler of Bokkos in Plateau State by unknown assailants.
The 76-year-old monarch, who reigned for 42 years, was attacked on his way to Bokkos after visiting his farm in Sha District of the chiefdom.
Also killed along with him were his police orderly, his wife, and his son.
Lalong, in a reaction in Jos, described the murder as “very gruesome, babaric and sad”.
“I received the news (of the killing) with a heavy heart. The cold blooded murder is despicable and cowardly,’, Lalong said in a statement signed by Mr Emmanuel Nanle, Director of Press Affairs.
He said that the people and government of Plateau were pained by the unfortunate wave of killing of traditional rulers in Bokkos Local government Council, and reiterated his determination to end the trend.

Sokoto
A former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association
(NBA) in Sokoto State, Mr Mustapha Abubakar, has advised the Federal Government to adopt stringent security measures to curb the increasing menace of Niger Delta Avengers.
Abubakar said in an interview with newsman in Sokoto that the group’s activities posed serious threat to Nigeria’s corporate existence.
He advised President Muhammadu Buhari to adopt the same security measures taken against cattle rustlers and insurgents in dealing with the militants.
He noted that the ongoing fight against cattle rustling and insurgency in North East and some parts of North West had made it possible for residents to feel safe.

Yobe
The Islamic Medical Association of Nigeria
(IMAN), an NGO, has advocated a psychological therapy for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the Kukareta camp in Yobe.
Chairman of the association in the state, Dr Abdullahi Nur, made the call in an interview with newsmen  in Damaturu.
Nur said the appeal became necessary following an evaluation and discovery by the association of three cases of insanity among the IDPs in the camp.
He said that two ladies and a man were diagnosed to have suffered mental insanity among the IDPs from careful evaluation of members of the medical team who visited the camp.
“I am calling for urgent psychological therapy for the IDPs for the shock suffered from the attacks on their communities.’’