Nation

THE STATES

Published

9 years ago

October 10, 2016

Adamawa
National President, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka
Ike, on Saturday called on the Federal Government to probe the utilisation of the N3 billion Nollywood Intervention Fund.
Ike alleged that the money had been “hijacked by a cabal” to the detriment of the film industry.
The AGN president told newsmen in Yola that the film industry had not benefited from the grant.
Ike further claimed that most of the 247 actors said to have been trained at the cost of N899 million abroad from the fund, could not be traced.
Ike advised the government to always relate directly with associations in the film industry such as AGN, ANTP and Kannywood, instead of individual actors.

Benue
Benue State Government on Saturday condemned Friday
night’s attack on a social media activist, Mr Armstrong Chir, by unknown hoodlums suspected to be political thugs.
This is contained in a press statement issued by Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Information and Communication Technology, Mr Tahav Agerzua, in Makurdi
Agerzua said the governor had already directed security agents to track and apprehend those responsible for the act, which he described as reprehensible and condemnable.
He said that the governor was determined to eliminate thuggery and violence and their use to achieve political objectives in the state.

Borno
The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), yester
day launched skills acquisition training for 1,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno State as part of its empowerment programme for victims of the Boko Haram insurgency.
The UNHCR Country Representative, Ms Angele Atangana, opened the training at a ceremony in Maiduguri.
Atangana, who doubled at the UNHCR Representative at the Economic Commission for the West African States (ECOWAS), said that the programme was targeted at IDPs residing in Maiduguri and Jere Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno.
She said that the objective was to impact skills on the beneficiaries so they could be self reliant when they return home, and commended the trainees zeal to learn.
The Coordinator of the programme, Malam Idris Alooma, said that the training was in collaboration with the Borno and the Federal Government toward preparing the IDPs for their eventual return to their homes following the liberation of commodities by the military from the Boko Haram terrorists.

Ekiti
Armed men have kidnapped the wife of a chieftain of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Mr. Ajibola Oyedele.
The kidnappers have since demanded a ransom of N40million from Oyedele.
Oyedele, popularly called 50-50 by his political fans, revealed on Saturday night that he was able to speak with his wife at about 5:45pm.
She was abducted late Friday at about 8:30pm at the family home in Omuo Oke, a town in Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State. The woman did not resist her abductors.
According to Oyedele, the kidnappers claimed that he was their actual target.
Oyedele, who defected to the APC in July this year, was the only PDP member of the last Ekiti State House of Assembly.
But he resigned from the government on May 31, 2016, citing poor remuneration.

Gombe
The Paramount Ruler of Kaltungo in Kaltungo Local Gov
ernment Area of Gombe State, Alhaji Sale Muhammad, on Saturday appealed to the state government for more health centres in Garin Bako and Garin Korom.
Muhammad made appeal when the President of Imperative Initiative for Motivation of Global Care (IIMGC), and officials of the state Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources, visited him in Kaltungo.
According to him, the only health centre in the community is located in Garin Korom, a mountainous area without a good road for vehicles.
Besides, he said “there is no school in Garin Bako with 1,429 households, and appealed to the NGO to come to their aid.
The Commissioner for Environment and Forest Resources, Hajiya Sa’adatu Sa’ad, said the NGO was in Gombe to address the challenges of the citizens, particularly in the rural areas.
Ibadan
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Lateef Fagbemi,
on Saturday canvassed for the creation of state police in Nigeria, to effectively tackle insecurity challenges.
Fagbemi said in an interview with newsmen in Ibadan that current security challenges warrant the decentralisation of policing in the country.
He stressed that stemming crime was the collective responsibility of local, state and federal governments, as such it was necessary to allow people to monitor and secure their areas by devolving policing duties to states.
According to the senior lawyer, the country can no longer afford to run away from the issue in spite of the misgivings expressed by opponents of the idea.
Fagbemi said that any step in life involved risks, as such the country should explore the benefits inherent in the establishment of state police.

Kaduna
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) on Saturday said
it would institute a legal action against the Kaduna State Government for declaring the group illegal..
Spokesperson of the movement, Ibraheem Musa, told newmen in Kaduna that the ban announced by the government was illegal.
“Its an infringement on our basic right as citizens of the country.
“We are not going to be intimidated into taking any violence or unlawful activity but will take legal action against the Kaduna State Government for the infringement.”
It would be recalled that the government had on October 7 declared the IMN an unlawful society.
The government, in a statement, said that it took the decision to preserve peace and security in the state.

Kano
The Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria (WFAN) in
Kano State said it had so far registered no fewer than 5, 000 wheat farmers for the CBN anchor borrower programme in the state.
The state WFAN Chairman, Alhaji Faruk Rabiu disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Kano on Saturday.
He said the number was still far below the target number of 75, 000 farmers expected to participate in the programme in the state.
The chairman said the association had recently established four new offices in addition to the existing 24, to encourage more farmers to register.
Rabiu called on farmers, who have not returned their completed forms to do so, pointing out that the wheat planting season would be flagged off by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje on Thursday, October 20.

Niger
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)
has blamed the surge in demand for hard drugs in the North-East to insurgency in the area.
The agency’s Commander in Niger state, Mr Joseph Iweajunwa, said this in an interview with newsmen in Minna on Saturday.
He said that operatives in the command had intercepted many suspects in parts of the state, moving illicit drugs to the area in concealed consignments.
The commander said that skunk was a compressed odourless improved cannabis sativa, which currently sold at N1, 000 per rap in the North-East because of the high demand.
Ogun
The Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission
(OGISIEC) adopted simultaneous accreditation and voting system for Saturday’s election into the 20 local government councils and 37 LCDAs to ensure an orderly exercise.
A commissioner in OGISIEC, Mr Mutiu Agboke, told newsmen at the Muslim Model Nursery and Primary School Polling Centre, Abeokuta, that the system had contributed to the peaceful and orderly conduct of the ongoing exercise.
“The simultaneous accreditation and voting system adopted by the electoral commission has enhanced a peaceful coordination of the election process.
“Many of the voters left as soon as they voted, and so, there has been peace.”
Senator Lanre Tejuosho (APC-Ogun Central) also commended OGISIEC for adopting the simultaneous accreditation and voting system.
Tejuosho, who addressed newsmen at the Muslim Model Nursery and Primary School Polling Centre, noted that the same system was adopted by INEC in the recent governorship election in Edo.

Plateau
The Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Pla
teau State chapter, Chief Letep Daban, has described the defection of Sen. Joshua Dariye from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC as a welcome development.
He made the remark in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Jos.
Daban, who said that the party was highly delighted to receive Dariye, (former PDP-Plateau Central, added that his defection would make the APC
stronger.
He noted that defection was the best decision to take as a politician at the moment “because it will be unwise for the distinguished senator to continue to be in a party that is enmeshed in crises both at the state and at the national level.
Other PDP defectors into the APC include Pauline Tallen, Hon. Diket Plang and Hon. Abbas Wolgum, former members of Plateau House of Assembly, he said.
The APC chairman added that many former commissioners during Jonah Jang’s tenure have also defected to the APC.

Taraba
The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nige
ria (AMLSN) has said that Nigeria has over two million recorded cases of cancer with 100, 000 new cases annually.
The association made this known in a communiqué issued by its President, Alhaji Toyosi Raheem, at the end of its 52nd Annual Scientific Conference and workshop in Jalingo on Saturday.
Raheem attributed the high rate of tumour and cancer in the country to a shift from the consumption of natural to artificial food and lack of regular physical exercise by citizens.
According to him, indiscriminate, unregulated and over use of herbicides and insecticides on the farms also contribute to development of tumours and cancer in humans.
He commended the Federal Government for the establishment of National Cancer and National Cancer Control Programme.
Raheem also called on the Minister of Health, Prof. Issac Adewale, to integrate Nigerian Medical Laboratory Scientists into the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) and Save 1 Million Lives Initiative of the Federal Government.

Nation

Youths Vow To Continue Protest Over Dilapidated Highway

Published

3 days ago

February 16, 2026

The Tide

Youths from five local government areas in Northern Cross River State have concluded a one-week warning protest and blockade of the dilapidated Ikom-Wula-Obudu federal highway over the weekend.
They have vowed to resume the road blocks if by this week the authorities do not intervene to fix the road.
More than five thousand locals, mostly youths from Obanliku, Etung, Obudu, Ikom and Boki LGAs trooped out everyday for one week, used palm trees to block the highway to draw state and federal government’s attention to their plights, requesting the repair of a road has has been unmotorable for about 40 years.
They warned that if they do not see any actions from the state or federal governments, they will resume their Plan B protest, stop revenue collections and make governance unpalatable.
The youths also warned that without interventions on the road which has claimed several lives, including that of last week when a pregnant woman died with her baby in the full glare of the protesters because of the terrible road, no election can hold in the area next year.
One of the leaders of the No Road , No Election protest, who is also the Abo Youths in Boki LGA, Dr Martins Assam said both the federal and state governments have neglected the region, which generates more than 70 percent state revenue from agriculture.
He said if machinery is not deployed by next week, they will not have any option than to embark on unpalatable and disastrous protest, and stop revenue collections in the area.
“Last week we had only a warning strike for one good week. We’ll embark on a more elaborate, disastrous one-month blockade of this highway until they intervene. We call on our Governor and representatives in the National Assembly to act now by impressing on the federal government to immediately fix this road else. We’re not asking for two much but to be treated as human beings.”
Another protester, Clinton Obi from the Etung axis said, “We’ve been neglected for 40 years. This Ikom-Obudu federal highway had been impassable. The government has removed its concentration from our plights. By this one week protest, we want action on this road otherwise the next phase of protest will be costly.”
Reverend Father Francis Amaozo, priest in charge of St. Nicholas parish in Nashua, Boki LGA said, “I have also been a victim of this very deplorable road. Enough is now enough. We’ve been betrayed by our representatives and other leaders, so that we in this axis have become endangered species on this road. I have lost some many members on this road.”
Member, representing the Boki-Ikom federal constituency of the state in the House of Representatives, Bisong Victor Abang had pleaded with the locals to be a bit more patient with the government as action will commence shortly.

Nation

UNIPORT VC Receives Inaugural Lecture Brochure As Professor Highlights Urgent Need For Drug Repurposing In Malaria Fight

Published

3 days ago

February 16, 2026

The Tide

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Prof Owunari Georgewill, last Thursday received the inaugural lecture brochure from the Inaugural Lecturer, Professor Udeme Georgewill, during a ceremony at the university’s Centre of Excellence attended by academics, researchers, students, and distinguished guests.
Delivering her lecture, Professor Udeme Georgewill described the occasion as the culmination of years of dedicated research, teaching, and service to humanity. He explained that his work as a pharmacologist has consistently focused on finding practical, affordable, and scientifically sound solutions to health challenges that disproportionately affect developing countries, particularly malaria, which remains one of Nigeria’s most pressing public health concerns.
She noted that Nigeria continues to bear one of the heaviest malaria burdens globally, accounting for a significant percentage of worldwide cases and deaths. The disease, largely caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite and transmitted through Anopheles mosquitoes, remains especially dangerous for children under five years and pregnant women, threatening not only present populations but unborn generations. Despite years of intervention efforts, malaria continues to strain families, health systems, and the national economy.
Prof Georgewill empha-sised that while Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies such as Artemether-Lumefantrine remain the gold standard for malaria treatment, emerging resistance patterns pose a serious challenge. He explained that drug resistance is a survival mechanism of the parasite, enabling it to adapt and reduce the effectiveness of medications designed to eliminate it. According to her, instances where patients do not feel better after initial treatment sometimes lead to repeated dosing or the search for injectable alternatives, practices that can worsen resistance and complicate treatment outcomes.
Against this backdrop, she advocated strongly for drug repurposing as a strategic and urgent response. Drug repurposing, he explained, involves identifying new therapeutic uses for already approved and widely available medications. He likened the concept to “old wine in new wineskins,” stressing that medicines already proven safe for certain conditions can be carefully re-evaluated and optimised for new roles in malaria management. This approach, she argued, offers advantages such as reduced research timelines, lower development costs, and faster clinical application compared to developing entirely new drugs from scratch.
She disclosed that her research had progressed from laboratory investigations to clinical evaluations, where his team is studying combinations involving Artemether-Lumefantrine and Ivermectin to determine their effectiveness in improving treatment outcomes and possibly reducing transmission. Clinical trials are ongoing, and findings will be communicated upon completion of regulatory processes. However, he cautioned strongly against self-medication, warning that misuse of drugs without proper diagnosis and prescription can lead to organ damage, treatment failure, and increased resistance.
Referencing global health commitments, Prof Georgewill highlighted Sustainable Development Goal 3.3, which seeks to end epidemics of malaria and other major infectious diseases by 2030. She questioned whether the goal remains attainable under current realities, especially with growing resistance and funding gaps. He also referred to strategies of the World Health Organisation aimed at drastically reducing malaria incidence and mortality while pushing toward elimination in several countries.
Looking ahead, she revealed that her team is building comprehensive research databases to support artificial intelligence-driven drug repurposing. He stressed that the integration of artificial intelligence, molecular docking, and advanced screening technologies is transforming global drug discovery, and Nigerian researchers must be equipped to participate competitively in this evolving scientific landscape.
In her recommendations, she called for the establishment of a National Centre for Drug Repurposing to coordinate research efforts and leverage artificial intelligence in identifying new indications for existing medicines. He urged policymakers to simplify and accelerate the translation of laboratory discoveries into clinical application, ensuring that scientific breakthroughs benefit the public more efficiently. She also appealed to the university and relevant authorities to increase funding and modernise laboratory infrastructure, including high-throughput screening facilities, to strengthen Nigeria’s position in global biomedical research.
The lecture concluded with expressions of gratitude to God, the university leadership, colleagues, students, and guests, as the event underscored the University of Port Harcourt’s commitment to research excellence and its role in addressing critical public health challenges facing Nigeria and the wider world.

Nation

Niger CAN Rejects Proposed Hisbah Bill, Urges Gov Bago Not To Assent

Published

3 days ago

February 16, 2026

The Tide

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Niger State Chapter, has rejected the proposed Niger State Hisbah Directorates Bill, describing it as controversial and capable of deepening religious division in the state.
In a statement signed by the State Chairman, Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, and made available to The Tide’s source yesterday, the association urged Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago not to assent to the bill if it is passed by the State House of Assembly.
The bill, sponsored by the member representing Chanchaga Constituency, Hon. Mohammed Abubakar, seeks to establish a Hisbah Directorate in Niger State.
CAN warned that the legislation could be perceived as discriminatory against Christians and may heighten tension in the religiously diverse state.
“Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, we, the entire Christendom in the state, wish to draw your attention to what could easily create division among the people you govern,” the statement read in part.
The association questioned the necessity and benefits of the proposed law, asking what economic or social value it would add to the state.
It further argued that existing security agencies, including the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, already have constitutional mandates to maintain law and order.
The Christian body also faulted the legislative process, disputing claims that it was consulted during a public hearing on the bill.
It insisted that it was neither invited nor notified of any such engagement, despite being a critical stakeholder in the state.