THE STATES

Adamawa

Governor Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa State, has di
rected all contractors who abandoned their contracts to return to site with immediate effect.
The governor gave the directive in Yola at a meeting with the management of Skip Engineering Nigeria Ltd, a contracting company in Yola.
He said that though his administration was not interested in digging into the past, all contractors that collected part of their contract funds and disappeared must go back to their sites.
He said that the directive became necessary to enable the people, who are the direct beneficiaries of the contracts reap the dividends of democracy.

Benue

A social critic and Finance Consultant, Mr Nath Apir,
has advised Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State to sack non-performing political appointees in his administration for efficient service delivery.
Apir gave the advice in an interview with newsmen in Makurdi.
According to him, such cabinet shake-up will inject vibrancy in government, stimulate economic growth and enable political stability.
He expressed regret that most sensitive political positions in the state were given to people with neither requisite knowledge nor experience in the portfolios assigned to them.

Ekiti

Some farmers in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State
have expressed worry over delay in accessing the Federal Government’s guaranteed loan and other farms inputs.
The farmers, under the banner of ‘Congress of Farmers’, headed by Mr Ezekiel Ishola, stated this in an interview with newsmen in Oye-Ekiti . Ishola said that the farmers depended on the Federal Government’s promise to assist them with funds to boast their farming activities.
“Our members have registered under various agriculture programme of the Federal Government since 2015 and have been expecting the government to disburse the soft loans as promised. “Many of us abandoned other sources we used to access funds with the hope that the soft loan from the Federal Government would serve us better, but our expectations are yet to materialise.
Gombe

The Gombe State Commissioner for Health, Kenndy
Ishaya, says the 177 nurses and midwives serving in the state are grossly inadequate.
Ishaya spoke in Gombe when he received accreditation team from the National Council of Nursery and Midwifery
He said the nurses and midwives were working in 22 hospitals including the army, police and House of Assembly clinics.
“The workforce is grossly inadequate, considering increase in population following influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) into the state,’’ he said.
Ishaya said before 2011 the College of Nursing and Midwifery in the state was graduating only five nurses and midwives, but later increased to 30 annually.

Kaduna
The Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU),
Zaria, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, says the teaching of Mathematics must be simplified, to arrest the phobia of the subject among students.
Garba made the suggestion in a message to the 53rd Annual Conference of Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN) held at the ABU main campus in Samaru, Zaria, Kaduna State.
The Vice Chancellor said that the Federal Government must design new strategies to improve teaching methodology to make mathematics easier to comprehend by students.
He attributed the failure of the subject in WAEC and NECO to poor teaching methodology, adding that the teachers must also be retrained, to improve their teaching ability.
Kebbi

Flynas Air Services says it has successfully transported
22,435 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia from seven states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Official Agent of the air carrier, Alhaji Umar Kaila, told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi that the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON) allocated 22,435 pilgrims to the company.
He explained that “we were allotted 22,435 pilgrims by NAHCON; the pilgrims were from Abuja, Bauchi, Kaduna, Gombe, Borno, Adamawa, Niger and Kwara states and we successfully transported them to Saudi Arabia on scheduled.”
The agent said that the company was able to accomplish the assignment on time despite the challenges it encountered in the process.
Kogi

Kogi State House of Assembly has directed the state
Ministry of Works to furnish it with list of abandoned projects in the state since its creation in 1991.
The assembly gave the directive in a resolution after debate on a motion by Sunday Shigaba (PDP-Bassa) calling on the state government to reconstruct the abandoned Oguma-Sharia Bridge, which collapsed last year.
Shigaba noted that the abandoned bridge had caused untold hardship to his constituents as it was affecting economic life of the people
He said that the immediate past government of former Gov. Idris Wada awarded contract for the reconstruction of the bridge towards the end of his tenure.
In their various contributions, Linus Eneche (PDP-Olamaboro), Godwin Osuyi (PDP-Ogori-Magongo) and John Abba (PDP-Ibaji) said reconstruction of the bridge would boost economic activities and revenue generation.

Kwara

The Kwara State Government has reaffirmed its deter
mination to partner with relevant stakeholders to alleviate the sufferings of vulnerable children and physically challenged in the society.
Hajiya Ayinke Saka, the state’s Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, said this in Ilorin when she received members of a Non Governmental Organisation, Passionate Heart Empowerment Foundation, who paid her a visit.
Saka said that the ministry was saddled with the responsibility of catering for vulnerable children and physically challenged people in the society.
According to her, government alone cannot shoulder the responsibility, hence the need for stakeholders and relevant organisations to partner with it to improve the lives of the people.
She then sought the collaboration of the NGO to assist in attending to the needs of abandoned children at recreation centres.
Osun

An expert in peace and conflict resolution, Dr Goke
Adesiyan, has advised the Federal Government to constitute a conflict resolution panel, to end incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria.
Adesiyan, who gave the advice in an interview with newsmen in Osogbo, noted that the clashes were becoming “dangerous” and needed to be tackled to ensure peaceful coexistence.
According to him, a conflict resolution panel is necessary to aggregate the diverse interests of the warring factions and set up terms of engagement to address differences.
“It is so disheartening that this is happening now, when the level of insurgency in the country is becoming more worrisome and unbearable.

Oyo
A commercial motorcyclist, Azeez Kehinde, who pleaded
guilty to the theft of a motorcycle, has been sentenced to three months imprisonment in Ibadan.
An Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court said the convict should serve the term with hard labour at Agodi Prisons.
The Chief Magistrate, Mr Abdulateef Adebisi, who gave the verdict, said the court had no option than to sentence the motorcyclist since he had pleaded guilty.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp. Sunday Fatola told the court that Kehinde stole a motorcycle valued at N60, 000, property of a man, Sanya Salau, at Ajeigbe area of Challenge, Ibadan.
Plateau

The special committee set up to look into the activities
of the Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB), says with adequate equipment, the board could generate N1.2 billion annually.
Chairman of the committee and Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Housing and Urban Development, Mr Fabian Etonk, said this while submitting its report in Jos.
JMDB is a parastatal under the Housing and Urban Development ministry.
Sokoto

Sokoto State Government has concluded the transpor
tation of its 4,750 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the 2016 Hajj.
Our correspondent reports that the pilgrims were transported to the Holy Land through the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto, in ten flights.
The Director-General, Sokoto State Pilgrims Welfare Agency, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar, expressed happiness over the successful conclusion of the pilgrims’ airlift which began on August 10. “We had in all, conducted ten flights to the Holy land and none of our intending pilgrims had faced any problem during the security and immigration screenings, either in Nigeria or Saudi Arabia.
“All our pilgrims are conducting their hajj rites without any hindrance in the Holy cities of Medina and Mecca.”