Bauchi
Bauchi State Muslim Pilgrims  Welfare Board said last Thursday that it would consolidate on successes recorded during 2016 Hajj operations to ensure the smooth conduct of the  2017 Hajj.
Chairman of the board, Alhaji Abdullahi Hardawa, stated this in Bauchi during a review meeting of 2016 Hajj operation, held at the headquarters of the board.
Hardawa said he was impressed with successes recorded during the 2016 exercise, emphasizing that “the 2016 operation was one of the best recorded in the history of the state.”
“The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) even commended the state for excellence after the 2016 operation.
“We will ensure that we improve on the orderliness of pilgrims, feedings, accommodations, environmental health  and respect for laws of the Saudi Arabia to enable us perfect the situation,” he said.
Hardawa was optimistic that the 2017 hajj would be more successful than that of the 2016, especially that the board had commenced preparation earlier than it did in 2016.

Borno
The  desire to acquire tertiary education before marriage has made most females in Borno State to prefer enrolling in Polytechnics and Colleges of Education instead of universities, some education stakeholders in the state, have observed.
They told newsmen last Thursday that polytechnics and Colleges of Education  were more convenient for females because of the shorter years of studies, thereby enabling them to complete their A-Level education before getting married.
Some of them told our correspondent that it was easier for applicants to secure admissions into such institutions than Universities.
Alhaji Babazannah Abdulkarim, Borno state Focal Person of N-Power, said Colleges of Education had higher numbers of females enrolling for their higher education.
“The girl-child has limited time. Most girls, especially in Northern Nigeria, find it more convenient to go to colleges than Universities because they always got married before 18 years.

Gombe
Chairman, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Gombe State, Malam Abba Jato-Damboa has called on governments and wealthy individuals to assist his colleagues toward settling house rents.
“Paying house rents has become a major challenge faced by IDPs in Gombe; we need urgent assistance in that area,” Jato-Damboa told newsmen last Thursday in Gombe.
He said that many IDPs had been ejected from their abodes because they could not pay house rents.
“IDPs are worst hit by the economic problems and the landlords hardly consider our plight,” he said.

Jigawa
Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Jigawa State, Alhaji Idris Maiunguwa, has called on farmers to repay loans given to them by the government to enhance sustainability of the agricultural financing scheme.
Maiunguwa made the call in an interview with  The Tide last Thursday in Hadejia, Jigawa.
Maiunguwa said that the loans were disbursed to rice farmers during the last cropping season in the state.
He said it was imperative for the farmers to offset the remaining balance of the loan to facilitate sustainability and mobilise participation in the programme, adding that so far, about 90 per cent of the loans had been recovered.
Maiunguwa commended the farmers over the prompt repayment, stressing that their action indicated  support to government programmes.

Kogi
The Kogi State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya,  has warned against indiscriminate dumping of waste, and promised severe sanctions against anyone caught.
“Government is disturbed by the discriminate of waste, especially in the urban areas. We are committed to checking this trend and shall not spare anyone involved,” Osikoya said in Lokoja, last Thursday.
Osikoya spoke at a one-day sensitisation campaign on sanitation and waste management, organised by the ministry in collaboration with the NYSC Environmental Protection and Sanitation CDS group.
The commissioner, who was represented by Mr Taiye Peters, director in charge of sanitation, said that sensitising the public had become imperative to educate everyone on the need to maintain clean environments.

Kwara
The National Anti-corruption Volunteers Corps (NAVC) would continue to champion activities aimed at curbing  incessant sharp practices among traders, especially at the grassroots, through enlightenment.
The Corps Commandant in Kwara South Senatorial District, Mr Olushola Babalola, said this last Thursday during a meeting between NAVC and  the officials of the Master Bakers’ Association of Nigeria (MBAN) in Omu-Aran, Kwara State.
The Tide reports that NAVC is an arm of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences’ Commission (ICPC).
Babalola said that the meeting was part of the organisation’s campaign strategies to educate, inform and enlighten traders and bakers on the dangers inherent in indulging in fraudulent practices.
He decried traders arbitrarily increasing the prices of food items such as rice, yam flour, vegetable oil, without consultation with stakeholders.

Nasarawa
The Governing Council of the Federal University Lafia in Nasarawa State, has appointed Dr Abubakar Mamuda as the new Registrar of the university.
The university’s Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim Abubakar, made this known in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of a news briefing and handing over ceremony that took place in Lafia on Thursday.
Mamuda was the university’s Deputy Registrar (Council Affairs) before his present appointment.
He took over from Dr Idris Jibril whose tenure ended on February 15, 2016.
Abubakar explained that Mamuda’s appointment takes immediate effect and will last for five years.
Mamuda expressed gratitude to the council for the appointment while pledging to do his best to justify the confidence reposed in him.

Niger
Niger State Commissioner for Environment, Dr Aliyu Tangwagi, has warned residents of the state against bush burning during and after the dry season period.
Tangwagi gave the warning in Minna on Thursday in an interview with newsmen.
He said that the state government had established a security outfit, named ‘Green Guards’, trained and equipped them to preserve the forests against bush burning.
‘‘We have since issued an operational order to our field officers on various security measures to be taken to  prevent fire outbreaks during and after the harmattan period.
‘‘Green Guards would arrest and prosecute those found setting the bush on fire and cutting of trees,’’ he said.
He stated that members of the Green Guards had commenced patrols of the forests in the state to ensure the protection of the state‘s forests.

Ondo
A 35-year-old trader, Asiki Adesuyi, last Thursday appeared in an Okitipupa Magistrates’ Court in Ondo State for alleged N240,000 fraud.
Adesuyi, of no fixed address, is facing a charge of advance fee fraud, which he pleaded not guilty.
The Prosecutor, Insp. Zedekiah Orogbemi, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 12:30 p.m at No. 5, Akindele Street., Okitipupa on December  23, 2016
Orogbemi said the accused defrauded, Talabi Omogboye, on the pretext of supplying five bundles of “cameroon roofing sheets’’ to him.
He said that the accused absconded after collecting the money until he was later arrested by the police.

Oyo
A Senior Lecturer, Department of Biology, the Polytechnic, Ibadan, Mrs Mojisola Siyanbola, has emphasised the need for government at all levels to make pragmatic approach to the development of aquaculture in Nigeria.
Siyanbola, a Hydro-biology and Fishery expert, gave the advice during an inaugural lecture she delivered at the institution last Wednesday evening in Ibadan.
The lecture is entitled: “Nigeria’s Fish Supply Deficit: Bridging the Gap through Sustainable Aquaculture”.
Siyanbola said that,  there had been a serious threat to food security status of Nigeria with the animal protein sector severely affected.
According to her, Nigeria is the largest fish consumer in the world with over 1.5 million tonnes of fish consumed annually.

Sokoto
Sokoto State Government says, it has earmarked over N5.4 billion to feed no fewer than one million students in its primary and secondary schools in 2017.
It was gathered that the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Alhaji Mainasara Ahmed, disclosed this in Gusau lastThursday.
He spoke at a three-day workshop organized by a USAID-assisted Leadership, Empowerment, Advocacy and Development (LEAD) Project being implemented in Sokoto and Bauchi States.
“These pupils and students are currently studying in both boarding and non-boarding schools across the 23 local government areas in the state.
“This money also includes the homegrown school feeding programme to be jointly undertaken by both the federal and state governments.

Zamfara
The Zamfara State-owned Abdu-Gusau Polytechnic,  Talata-Mafara, has decried low enrollment of indigenes into the institution.
The institution’s spokesman, Malam Aliyu Damri, told The Tide in Talata-Mafara on Thursday that “the low enrollment is a threat for the future education of the state”.
Damri said that the polytechnic was established by the state government to educate its citizens, adding that the expected number of indigenes in the school was not there.
He noted that non-indigenes were  higher than the indigenes, saying that “as parents, we must make serious efforts to ensure we educate our children to guarantee their future.