Nation

THE STATES

Published

9 years ago

September 29, 2017

Adamawa
Country Director, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr Samuel Bwalya has urged Governors of the North-East to invest in youths’ enterpreneurial, vocational and skills acquisition programmes.
Bwalya, represented by Mr Mathew Alao, UNDP’s Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Analyst, made the call at the graduation ceremony of 179 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) last Tuesday in Yola.
The director said that investing in the youth was the only way to address some of the underlying causes of instability and youths restiveness in the region.
According to him UNDP, with the support of Norway, is focusing intervention on the root-causes of the crisis in the region.

Borno
The Bama Initiative for Human Development, an NGO, recently in Maiduguri staged a peaceful demonstration demanding the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their respective communities in Bama.
The group’s Chairman, Alhaji Muhammad Hassan, said that the IDPs would want to return and continue their normal activities in view of the prevailing peace in the state.
Hassan noted that about 70 per cent of the reconstruction and rehabilitation projects had been completed in the area, saying that they were tired of living as displaced persons.
“We are in Maiduguri for more than three years without meaningful means of livelihoods. The condition of our people is pathetic.

Ekiti
The Ekiti State Police Command said they had arrested five men for allegedly kidnapping a 67-year-old pharmacist, Mrs. Florence Popoola.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Alberto Adeyemi gave the names of the suspects in Ado Ekiti as: Ogunlayi Seun, 25; Adeusi Dare, 26; Bamgboye Damilola, 27; Adeoye Sunday, 30; and Ojo Tope, 32.
According to the PPRO, the suspects have confessed to the crime as well as gave details of their specific roles in the crime.
He said that the suspects abducted their victim 11 days ago at her residence in Ikere Ekiti, few minutes after she and her husband returned from a church service.
Adeyemi said the suspects took her away to an unknown location in her Nissan Sunny Car with number plate: AG 08 KR.

FCT
Former Minister of Sports and Youths Development, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja says the December elective National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be a massive test for the party’s democratic credentials.
According to Adedoja, the convention will give members the opportunity to see whether or not the party will continue to act with impunity and impose candidates on members.
The former minister said this in Abuja while speaking with newsmen about his desire to occupy the position of National Chairman of the party.
He said that the method that would be used to provide the outcome of the December convention would serve a political laboratory for testing the democratic credentials of the PDP.

Kebbi
The Kebbi State Police Command has arrested a 23-year-old herdsman, Umar Muhammad for allegedly beheading his friend in a dispute over a missing cow.
Its spokesman, Mr Suleiman Mustapha who confirmed the arrest alleged that Umar killed his friend, 22-year-old Mustapha Muhammad in an uncompleted building along Kalgo road in Kebbi.
“We have arrested the suspect; he is currently being investigated and will soon be charged to court,” he told newsmen last Tuesday.
A family source told journalists that the victim had invited the suspect, who was his friend, to help in the rearing of cows given to him by a relative.
“Mustapha wanted to concentrate on rearing goats given to him by the same man, and invited his friend, Umar, to tend the cows.

Kogi
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division last Monday commenced a two-week special session in Lokoja for expeditious determination of over 209 pending appeals emanating from Kogi State.
President of the Court of Appeal,Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, who disclosed this at the special inaugural session of the court in Lokoja, said the session would be handled by two regular and one Sharia panels.
“The two panels will sit over the 198 appeals consisting of 150 civil appeals and motions with 48 criminal appeals and motions and another panel of Justices will sit over the 11 Sharia Appeals,” she said.
Bulkachuwa said the team of judges was ready and capable of dealing with the cases expeditiously.

Kwara
Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed last Tuesday sworn-in another woman, Mrs Susan Dupe Oluwole as the state’s 20th Head of Service.
Swearing in the new Head of Service at the Government House, Ilorin, Ahmed charged her to introduce innovations that would not only move the service forward but create conditions for high performance by civil servants.
He tasked the new head of service to come up with new initiatives to ensure efficiency and enhance government’s capacity to meet the aspirations of the people.
Ahmed also tasked the new head of service to focus more on internally generated revenue and optimal resource utilization.

Lagos
A subsidiary of SIFAX Group and Operator of Terminal ‘C’ Tin’Can Island Port, Lagos, Ports & Cargo Handling Services Ltd. has improved the general cargo component of its services with a brand new vessel, ‘MV Maritime Challenger’, from Singapore.
According to a statement by the Group Managing Director, Sifax Group, Mr John Jenkins in Lagos, the brand new bulk carrier which made its first voyage to any port in the world from Singapore is owned and operated by the IMC Shipping, China.
“IMC Shipping China has major trading routes in the Asia-Pacific that serve markets in South America and Africa, focusing on major and minor bulk cargoes.
“The vessel, which has installed capacity of about 39,744 tonnes of cargoes, in its first call to Ports & Cargo Terminal, brought both major and minor bulk cargoes.

Niger
The Niger State chapter of the Association of Physically Challenged Persons has called on the state government to establish a commission to cater for people living with disabilities.
Malam Usman Kogo, Chairman of the state chapter of the Spinal Cord Injury Association, made the call in an interview with newsmen last Tuesday in Minna.ý
“We have made various submissions to the government on this request without success; the only thing government has done is to appoint 10 of our members as Special Assistants on disability matters.
“We do not have any problem with that; our only worry is that we do not feel the impact of our members that are special assistants to the governor.

Ogun
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said last Tuesday that it had constituted a task force to resolve the incessant gridlock in the Apapa area of Lagos State.
The Ogun FRSC Public Education Officer (PEO), Florence Okpe, disclosed this in a statement she issued on Tuesday in Ijebu-Ode.
She said the task force was set up to support the Lagos State Government’s effort in containing the Apapa traffic situation.
“In continuation of efforts to ameliorate the Apapa gridlock, the FRSC Ogun State Sector Commander, Corps Commander Clement Oladele, met with expanded stakeholders at Ogere.
“In attendance were representatives of security operatives, the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba community leaders and the Dangote Group.
“Others were the Petroleum and Tanker Drivers’ Union of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and Independent Marketers and Road Transport Associations.

Oyo
Gunshots were fired by unknown gunmen at the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji last Monday.
Reports that the incident occurred at the Popoyemoja palace of the traditional ruler where he was conducting the installation ceremony for some Mogajis and Baales.
Sources said four gunmen, who came in a black Toyota Sienna, arrived the palace at about 11:45 a.m. and fired several shots at some vehicles of visiting dignitaries.
A former Secretary to the Oyo State Government and Labour Party chieftain, Sharafadeen Alli, and some journalists were among those who escaped death while the shooting lasted.
Alli’s car and several others were, however, riddled with bullets in the shooting which was said to have lasted about 10 minutes.

Sokoto
The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Sokoto State chapter has appealed to the Federal Government to intervene in the nationwide strike recently embarked upon by the association.
Chairman of the state chapter of the association, Abubakar Shehu made the appeal in Sokoto while speaking with newsmen.
Shehu said: “Government should consider the matter as urgently as possible bearing in mind the pains and suffering of the citizen.
“The Federal Government should consider the pain people are going through in the country, sit down with the labour leaders and find a lasting solution to the strikes.
“Moreover, if you give everybody his or her deserved right, to me you have finished with that person and he or she will have no option than to continue to do their jobs.”
He further explained that initially, members had no intention of embarking on strike and that it was the situation on ground that informed the action.

Nation

HYPREP Marks 15 Years Of UNEP Report, Highlights Major Cleanup Milestones

Published

1 week ago

August 10, 2026

The Tide

The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has commemorated the 15th anniversary of the release of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Environmental Assessment Report on Ogoniland, reaffirming its commitment to restoring the environment and improving the livelihoods of affected communities.

In a statement signed by the Project Coordinator, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, to commemorate the anniversary, HYPREP described the anniversary as a significant milestone in Nigeria’s environmental restoration efforts, noting that the project has made remarkable progress in implementing the recommendations of the landmark UNEP report released on August 4, 2011.

The UNEP report had revealed extensive oil pollution across Ogoniland, severe environmental degradation, and serious public health risks resulting from decades of petroleum operations. It also recommended an initial $1 billion fund to commence the cleanup of the affected communities.

According to HYPREP, the Federal Government formally launched the Ogoni clean-up in 2016, while the Project Coordination Office was established in 2017 to drive the implementation of UNEP’s recommendations.
Zabbey said the current administration has continued to prioritise the project under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

Providing an update on the cleanup, the Project Coordinator disclosed that 30 of the 65 contaminated sites identified by UNEP have been fully remediated, while work is ongoing at several medium- and high-risk locations. It also stated that more than 1.5 million mangrove seedlings have been planted as part of what it described as the world’s largest restoration of oil-degraded mangroves, with over 1,000 hectares of shoreline already rehabilitated.

Zabbey further revealed that 49 Ogoni communities have been connected to potable water schemes through multiple water projects and booster stations aimed at providing safe drinking water across the region.

In the health sector, he said the 100-bed Ogoni Specialist Hospital in Kpite and the 43-bed Cottage Hospital in Buan are nearing completion, adding that several existing health facilities have been upgraded with modern medical equipment, while five ambulances have been donated to improve emergency healthcare services. The Project Coordinator also disclosed that a three-year human health biomonitoring study is being conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

On economic empowerment, Zabbey stated that the Project has created more than 8,000 direct jobs and trained thousands of Ogoni youths and women in various vocational and technical skills, including software development, cybersecurity, aviation, commercial diving, seafaring, mechatronics, and creative arts. The project also reported awarding scholarships to more than 1,000 students, providing grants to small businesses, and supporting persons living with special needs through skills acquisition programmes.

The statement further highlighted ongoing legacy projects, including the Ogoni Power Project and the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, which it said is about 96 per cent complete. HYPREP also welcomed the recent designation of the Ogoni Wetland as a Ramsar Site of International Importance and pledged to continue promoting biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of the ecosystem.

Marking the anniversary, Zabbey said the progress achieved over the past 15 years demonstrates the collective commitment of government, development partners, stakeholders, and local communities to restoring Ogoniland. He called for renewed collaboration to sustain the cleanup effort, promote environmental sustainability, and support the long-term development of the region. 3

Nation

REAN, SON synergise to curb fake renewable energy product

Published

2 months ago

June 29, 2026

The Tide

The Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) says it has strengthened collaboration with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to enhance quality control and enforcement frameworks.

Mr Oisereime Lloyd-Dietake, the Head of Communications, REAN, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said the collaboration would also involve stakeholder engagement on testing, certification and capacity building in Nigeria.

He said the synergy would strengthen quality control and enforcement frameworks, promote policy alignment, and ensure stronger regulation across the renewable energy value chain.

“REAN reaffirms its commitment to standardisation and quality assurance; tighter collaboration with SON is critical to eliminating fake and substandard renewable energy products from the Nigerian market.

“Enforcement and gaps in existing standards have continued to allow inferior products to circulate, undermining consumer confidence and slowing sector growth.”

Lloyd-Dietake said that at high-level discussions, REAN also highlighted the need for stronger regulatory coordination to address emerging challenges in the renewable energy space.

According to him, the issues include inconsistencies in standards, affordability issues linked to certification processes; and the increasing presence of substandard solar and renewable energy equipment in the country.

“The association further raised concerns about delays in product testing and approval, calling for the establishment of more testing laboratories and certification facilities to improve efficiency and reduce bottlenecks in the system,’’ he said.

Lloyd-Dietake urged closer collaboration among key regulatory bodies, including the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, and the Rural Electrification Agency.

He said such team work would ensure harmonised standards and more effective enforcement against fake renewable energy products in the Nigerian market.

In response, SON acknowledged the important role REAN continued to play in supporting standardisation within Nigeria’s renewable energy industry and reaffirmed its willingness to deepen collaboration with the association.

SON further confirmed that REAN would be actively involved in future standard review processes and upcoming stakeholder engagements related to renewable energy and electric mobility standards development.

Lloyd-Dietake said REAN affirmed its willingness to formalise the partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

He said the MoU is aimed at deepening cooperation, promoting quality assurance, and accelerating Nigeria’s transition towards reliable and standardised renewable energy solutions.

Nation

Self Help Africa programme expands water access for 320,000 Nigerians

Published

2 months ago

June 29, 2026

The Tide

The WASH Systems for Health (WS4H) Programme, implemented by Self Help Africa, has expanded access to safe water and sanitation services for more than 320,000 people in Kano and Cross River States.

The organisation disclosed this on Tuesday at the WS4H National Results and Learning Workshop in Abuja, where stakeholders reviewed achievements and lessons from the intervention.

Speaking at the event, Self Help Africa Country Director, Joy Aderele, said the programme demonstrated that sustainable WASH improvements require strong institutions, effective governance, adequate financing and collaboration.

Aderele said the UK-funded programme was designed to strengthen systems that support sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene services.

According to her, the intervention focused on improving governance, planning, financing, accountability and sector coordination to ensure resilient service delivery.

“More than 320,000 people now have improved or restored access to water services through programme-supported interventions,” she said.

She added that more than 5,520 household toilets were constructed in Yala and Makoda Local Government Areas, boosting sanitation, public health and efforts to end open defecation.

Aderele said the programme also strengthened public investment in WASH, with Cross River increasing its sector budget by 211 per cent in 2026 and Kano by 169.07 per cent.

She added that dedicated WASH budget lines had been established across 40 Ministries, Departments and Agencies in both states, strengthening accountability and institutional commitment.

According to her, both states reviewed and adopted updated WASH policies, while key planning documents were developed to guide future investments and service delivery.

She said Cross River also recorded a major legislative milestone through the passage of the Water Law and Open Defecation Prohibition Bill.

Aderele added that lessons from interventions in Yala LGA were already informing expansion efforts in Obubra Local Government Area.

While commending the achievements, she noted that capacity gaps, resource constraints and climate-related pressures remained challenges to sustainable WASH services.

“The sustainability of these gains will depend on continued government leadership, adequate financing, strong partnerships and investment in institutional capacity,” she said.

Also speaking, the Programme Manager of WS4H, Mr Timothy Ibeawuchi, said the intervention focused on strengthening systems needed to sustain gains and attract future investments.

According to him, the programme engages stakeholders in developing strategies that preserve achievements and support long-term service delivery.

“System strengthening work takes time because it addresses the fundamental issues responsible for sustainable and resilient service delivery,” he said.

Ibeawuchi said the programme strengthened policy development, planning, financing, monitoring and evaluation systems across the WASH sector.

He said two pilot local government areas were supported to develop WASH strategic plans outlining sector goals, targets and activities between 2026 and 2030.

According to him, the plans will guide future interventions and improve service delivery in the affected councils.

Earlier, the representative of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Chidera Chukwu, reaffirmed support for Nigeria’s development efforts in spite of the programme nearing completion.

Chukwu commended the Self Help Africa-led consortium for delivering the programme with professionalism and a strong focus on systems strengthening.

He said the consortium contributed greatly to strengthening Nigeria’s WASH sector through policy reforms, improved coordination and enhanced accountability.

“Together, we have advanced key policy and legislative reforms, including open defecation-free laws and strengthened state WASH frameworks,” he said.

According to him, the reforms represent enduring system-level changes that will continue delivering benefits beyond the programme’s lifespan.

In his remarks, Mr Jamilu Habu, Director of Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, commended the programme’s achievements.

Habu, who represented the Permanent Secretary, said the intervention strengthened governance, coordination, evidence-based planning and institutional capacity in the WASH sector.

He described the workshop as an opportunity to review achievements, share lessons and identify pathways for sustaining and scaling successful interventions.

According to him, the programme’s innovations and best practices will guide future policies and investments aimed at expanding access to safe WASH services.

Habu stressed the need for continued collaboration among governments, development partners, civil society organisations, the private sector and communities.

He said stronger partnerships remained essential to achieving universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene services and meeting Sustainable Development Goal 6.