Nation
THE STATES
Mr Markus Gundiri, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Governorship candidate for Adamawa, Mr. Markus Gundiri, has promised to resuscitate the ailing agro-allied industries in the state, if elected in April. Gundiri, who made the promise in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, said he planned to achieve the goal by collaborating with the private sector.
He said the major challenge of such industries had been the lack of sufficient electricity supply.
Gundiri said he would also concentrate on the exploration of the mineral deposits, to enable the state to earn foreign exchange.
He expressed the desire to contest the seat, to enable him to change the lot of the people by addressing poverty and underdevelopment in the state.
Poverty, he said, would assume an alarming proportion if left unaddressed.
Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa has appealed to politicians in the country to shun sentiments in their campaigns for votes.
Lamido made the appeal at Yankwashi, Jigawa, while inaugurating a new road linking Yankwashi Local Government Area with other parts of the state.
“It is unfortunate that my fellow politicians use religion, tribalism and sectionalism to seek support from people.
“This time around we are no longer going to tolerate this; we are all Nigerians and we belong to one nation, one destiny and one family,’’ the governor said.
He appealed to the people to come out en-masse and vote for President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo.
According to the governor, the Goodluck/Sambo ticket on PDP platform is a good omen for the country.
The Commandant, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA),Kaduna, Maj.-Gen. Chukwu Onwuamaegbu, has described social interaction with the civil society as necessary for the Nigerian Army to succeed.
Onwuamaegbu made the remark in Kaduna, during the West African Social Activities (WASA)/Physical Military Training, organised by the Nigerian Army depot. The event was held in honour of 65 Regular Recruit Intakes in Zaria, Kaduna State.
He said that social interactions remained vital in fostering unity between the army, their friends, families and the public.
According to him, it promotes peace, unity, understanding and affinity, thereby keeping soldiers’ minds alert.
The Kano State chapter of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) has begun negotiations with the state government to find ways of improving its health care delivery.
The Chairman of the union, Malam Kabir Ado, who disclosed this to newsmen in Kano, said the decision followed the procurement of medical equipment and drugs for government hospitals in the state.
He said the forum was being attended by the representatives of the health workers in the state and officials of the state government, adding that the outcome of the meeting would determine the union’s next line of action.
On the implementation of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) for the members of the union, Ado said the body had rejected the offer of 70 per cent implementation by the state government.
The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has charged five persons to a Magistrate’s Court in Jega, Kebbi State for allegedly violating the Electoral Act during the nationwide voter registration.
The state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Alhaji Kabir Ahmed, told newsmen that two of the accused persons engaged in double registration in Gwandu and Birnin Kebbi Local Government Areas. He said the commission registered a total of 1,638,325 voters during the exercise. Ahmed said the exercise was successful, stressing that some of the challenges it encountered were addressed while registration officers were orderly.
The REC said apart from the initial protests by NYSC Assistant Registration Officers who objected to their non engagement for the exercise, no negative incident was recorded.
The Kogi State Government has commenced full implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) for doctors in its health institutions. Dr Dorcas Onuminya, the state’s Commissioner for Health, who disclosed this to newsmen in Lokoja said payment of the new salary commenced in July last year.
The commissioner said that nurses and other health personnel in the Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, had also started enjoying the Consolidated Health Salary Scale (CONHESS).
She, however, confirmed that nurses and other health personnel in the state’s Health Management Board and the health ministry were yet to benefit from the new scale because of its high financial implications.
The National President of the Nigerian chapter of Junior Chamber International (JCI), Mr Julius Mmejim has called on the Federal Government to train more youths in information technology and agriculture.
He made the call in Ilorin recently at a news conference held to announce the group’s Area ‘A’ National Conference tagged “Garin-Alimi 2011″.
Mmejim said that such youth-training activities would go a long way to address the menace of unemployment and youth restiveness in the country.
He urged the government to empower the youth through various skill acquisition activities, saying that the menace of unemployment had forced many youths to go into crime.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday took to court the former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Raymond Omatseye, over alleged illegal transfer of the agency’s funds.
In an 11-count charge brought before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Lagos, the EFCC said that the ex-NIMASA boss illegally transferred 300,000 pounds sterling from the agency’s account.
According to the EFCC, Omatseye allegedly used the money to fund the candidacy of one Mrs Mbanefo as the Secretary-General of International Maritime Organisation.
The EFCC also alleged that Omatseye used his position as the Director-General of NIMASA to award contracts to 10 companies without approval from the NIMASA board.
The companies included Wabil Nigeria Limited, Franxeel Limited, Layol Commercial Services Nigeria Limited, Harmach Integral Services Ltd and Njamu Nig. Ltd.
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has admonished Nigerians to remain united to ensure the country’s rapid development.
Obasanjo made the call in Minna recently at the launch of the re-election campaign of Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger.
He expressed dismay that those fuelling disunity in the country were those who had benefitted immensely from Nigeria through sound education and good positions in government.
The former president said that it was regrettable that these Nigerians were now calling for the country’s disunity, using religious and ethnic sentiments.
He advised all the citizens to endeavour to promote Nigeria’s unity, noting that such concerted efforts would engender the country’s development in a pragmatic way.
Obasanjo said he believed that the mistakes of Nigeria’s past leaders could be corrected by the current generation of Nigerians if they supported their leaders in efforts to foster quality governance.
INEC in Ondo State says it registered about 1.55 million eligible voters during the recently-concluded voter registration.
The INEC administrative secretary in the state, Dr Samson Awujoola, told newsmen in Akure that the electoral body was able to overcome the initial hiccups.
He said Akure North local government had the highest number of voters with about 251,468 people registered.
He said Akoko South East local government recorded the lowest eligible voters with 26, 875 people.
Awujoola further said that the all the 18 Local Government Areas of the state supported the corps members and relevant security agencies to ensure success.
Education stakeholders have advised the Osun State Government to be cautious over its plan to return some public schools to their original owners.
The stakeholders gave the advice in a communiqué, issued at the end of the two-day Osun Education Summit, held in Osogbo from February 7 to Feb. 8.
Members of the Summit Committee, Mrs Modupe Ajayi-Gbagbo, Mrs Kemi Adesina and Mr Semiu Okanlawon signed the communiqué.
The conference said the return of schools to their original owners in Osun was a very sensitive issue that needed serious deliberation and consultation before action could be taken.
The 18-point communiqué also stated that education policies should be devoid of political considerations, while appointments, recruitment and execution of projects in the education sector should be based on merit.
It also urged the state government to give the deserved priority to education to rescue it from crisis.
Automobile spare parts dealers at the Delimi market in Jos have announced their relocation to Jos-North shopping complex in the wake of the reccurrent crisis in the state.
Mr Anselem Ebosie, Chairman, Jos-North Automobile Spare Parts Association (JASPA), told newsmen in Jos that the relocation was necessitated by incessant attacks at their former base.
He said: “The crisis at Delimi has led to the loss of so many lives. The market is on the street, and we were always victims of the riots. That made it difficult for us to operate.
“The recent killing of many of our members around the market was the last straw.”
Ebosie said the traders would not return to Delimi, but listed challenges facing them at the new market to include the absence of toilet facilities and the lack of adequate security.
He appealed to Jos North Local Government authorities and managers of the market to provide the facilities to ensure a more conducive atmosphere for business.
Former Chairman of Isa Local Government Area in Sokoto State, Alhaji Abdullahi Yusuf, has expressed optimism that the people will massively vote for Governor Aliyu Wamakko during the April polls.
“Sokoto people are not clamouring for any political change because we are comfortable with the manifesto of the PDP-led administration under Wamakko,” he said.
Yusuf told newsmen in Isa that the “people-oriented programmes” embarked upon by the administration had reformed the state for optimal goals.
He said the government’s creation of jobs for over 70,000 youths and women through the skill acquisition programmes had enhanced socio-economic and political development of the state.
“What we fail to achieve in eight years was made possible by Wamakko administration in less than four years.”
He called on the electorate to vote for all PDP candidates in the April polls, to ensure continuity.
“Any person that offers you money, collect it but make sure you cast your votes for Wamakko in April,” he said.
A professor of English linguistics at the Rivers State University (RSU) Nkpolu Oroworukwu Port Harcourt, Prof. Isaac Enyi Ngulube, has advocated for better and improved funding for language centres in Nigeria, such as NINLAN Aba and Nigeria French Language Village, Badagry, for optimum value and effective local languages development.
He also called for funded research on the development of orthographies and language documents across the country to rescue local languages from extinction, as well as having a well-planned and implemented mother tongue education in all institutions in the country, from primary to tertiary.
Prof. Ngulube made with these assertions while presenting his inaugural lecture at the university’s 121st inaugural lecture with the topic “The Career of Rough Beats: Language, Literature and the Development of our Common Humanity” held in Port Harcourt, Wednesday.
The erudite scholar, in the lecture, stressed that the study of English language, linguistics, and literature is very broad, large, and difficult, adding that he overcame the rough roads through resilience and determination.
He described language as “a purely human and non-instinctive means of communicating ideas and emotions,” noting that “the word is a fundamental need in language; you cannot study language without the use of language.”
He urged parents to be cautious with their utterances, warning that “what they refer to their children as is what they will automatically end up becoming.”
He recommended a branded English language for every profession or course of study, stressing that embedding oral literature in the teaching of students from primary to tertiary level will enable them to know their traditions and roots of origin.
“Tell them the folk stories and moonlight tales; you are sending them back to their people. You must be a human being first before becoming a medical doctor, engineer, or anything else,” Ngulube said.
He also called for better and improved production of quality language and literature teachers, provision of modern teaching/instructional materials, improved welfare packages for teachers, and provision of better infrastructure at both primary and secondary school levels.
He used the opportunity to appreciate the Vice Chancellor for the approval of the Department of English Language and Literature, adding that it had been his long-held dream for the university.
In his speech, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Zeb-Obipi, while highlighting the lecture, opined that the lecturer x-rayed the lecturer’s journey into the study of English language, linguistics, and literature, describing the field as broad, large, and difficult, but with determination and focus, he was able to defeat the beasts he encountered on his way.
Zeb-Obipi agreed with the lecturer’s recommendations on ways to improve indigenous languages in the country and directed that modalities be worked out for the university to have the Department of English Language and Literature, among others.
He highlighted RSU’s recent victory in the Bilingual Community Project organized by the French Embassy, describing it as proof of the university’s rising excellence in language studies.
The Federal Government through the implementation of the various projects of the Ogoni cleanup programme is demonstrating a strong commitment to national peace and the development of Ogoniland.
The Project Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project(HYPREP), Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, who made this assertion at a two-day training on Mechanism for Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) and other Peacebuilding Techniques for Community Leaders In Ogoni, held in Port Harcourt, said through the ongoing environmental restoration effort, potable water provision, livelihood restoration, public health interventions, and the Ogoni Power Project, HYPREP is contributing to national peace and development.
He explained that by improving the living conditions in communities and creating new opportunities for young people, the Project is also reducing the social pressure that often fuels conflict, stressing that the Project is proud of this service to the Ogoni people and the nation.
Describing traditional leaders and stakeholders as peacebuilders and guardians of community harmony, Zabbey noted that the workshop would strengthen their capacities and reinforce the Ogoni dialogue process, which HYPREP continues to support in line with its mandate on peacebuilding.
He said HYPREP is actively promoting ADR alongside other mechanisms across its project sites and other areas of operation aimed at fostering unity, fairness, mutual respect and faster dispute resolution, stressing that these are qualities necessary for the future of Ogoni people and their communities.
He further indicated that the Minister of Environment and Chairman of HYPREP’s Governing Council, Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal is disposed to promoting peace and stability across Ogoni communities and HYPREP project sites.
The Project Coordinator, therefore, charged Ogoni leaders to be mindful of their actions, words and body language, as what they say or do can either promote peace or fan the embers of conflict.
Continuing, he stated thus,”We must always ask ourselves: Is my position on this matter in the people’s interest? Does it promote unity and progress? Will it enhance development?”
The Project Coordinator assured the participants that HYPREP is working tirelessly in line with the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the accelerated implementation of the Ogoni cleanup programme and ensure that its benefits reach the grassroots where they are needed most.
Stressing the need for Ogoni leaders and stakeholders to explore communication and trust options to prevent disputes from degenerating into violence, the Project Coordinator noted that it was time for all Ogonis to be united for development, leaving behind perceptions that do not serve collective progress.
Similarly, the Director of the Centre for Peace and Security Studies of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof Chioma Daisy Onyige, said the workshop is a strategic platform aimed at strengthening the capacity of traditional institutions and community leaders to sustain peace, foster dialogue and promote non-adversarial engagements in the implementation of the Ogoni cleanup programme.
Prof Onyige noted that the Ogoni leadership structure commands deep respect and legitimacy, and strengthening their capacity in ADR methods such as mediation, negotiation, dialogue, facilitation, and consensus building means strengthening the foundation of peace in the region.
Participants, comprising traditional rulers and key stakeholders in Ogoni, commended HYPREP for the initiative, and assured it of their continuous support to the Project by providing an enabling atmosphere for the smooth implementation of the cleanup project in Ogoniland.
Resource persons who presented thought-provoking lectures at the workshop included the Dean of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof Kinikanwo Anele; Prof Olariwanju Lawal; Prof Chioma Daisy Onyige; and Dr Gbenemene Kpae; among others.
With significant achievements recorded across thematic areas of the Ogoni cleanup programme being executed by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), the Project Coordinator of the Project, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, has said that all these are enabling pathways to the development of Ogoniland.
This is coming on the heels of milestone achievements in the following areas and their impact on Ogoni communities. They are mangrove restoration which is 94 percent complete; shoreline remediation which stands at 67.1 percent; and the phase 2 land remediation progressing to 36.55 percent.
Moreso, HYPREP has constructed 14 water facilities, providing potable water to 40 communities. With the commissioning of the water schemes in Bane and Gwara communities, the number of communities with access to clean and safe drinking water will be 45. The process of operationalising the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration (CEER) which is at 92 percent complete, is ongoing. The same for the Ogoni Power Project which is progressing with wayleave compensation and construction works at Bodo and Wiiyaakaara substations ongoing
Similarly, the Ogoni Specialist Hospital and Buan Cottage Hospital are at 76.8 percent and 98.7 percent respectively.
This is alongside other public health interventions and the Human BioMonitoring Survey also in progress.
Under the livelihood
programme, over 7,000 direct jobs have been created for Ogoni women and youths, while over 5,000 have been trained in multiple skills and provided start-up kits, workshops, education grants, scholarships and other empowerment programmes. This quarter, training will commence in other demand-driven skill areas, such as cybersecurity, full-stack development, mud logging, software development, commercial diving, and underwater welding.
Zabbey had reeled out these achievements, during the third quarter interactive session between the Project Coordination Office engagement with Ogoni youths in Port Harcourt on Friday, in line with HYPREP’s strategic stakeholders policy to provide an interface opportunity to abreast Ogoni youths on the Project’s activities, while garnering their feedback.
Zabbey noted that, “This
quarterly engagement was,therefore, designed as an inclusive strategy to ensure that youth voices are heard, concerns are addressed, and progress updates are provided transparently. Also, it reflects our firm belief that a project of this magnitude must be people-centred, accountable, and participatory”.
” I am delighted to inform you that the Project remains on course to achieve its mandate as outlined in the UNEP Report on the Ogoni environment and the official gazette establishing HYPREP. HYPREP is committed to transparency and accountability in the implementation of the cleanup projects and activities”, he said.
He stressed that HYPREP’s achievements are pathways to a better Ogoniland, assuring that the Project’s goals are aimed at benefiting all categories of Ogoni youths, whether in business, farming, advocacy, education, entrepreneurship or community development.
”This Project belongs to all of you, and its success depends mainly on your participation, unity and constructive engagement. And with your support, we are confident that all challenges will be addressed in the overall public interest,” Zabbey said.
The Project Coordinator urged Ogoni youths to continue to support the Project by promoting peace, discouraging misinformation, and collaborating with project teams working in the communities, and address challenges through dialogue, rather than confrontation.
Prof Dinebari Badey, a Professor of Development Sociology in the University of Port Harcourt, delivered the keynote address, linking the nexus between HYPREP and youths in the development of Ogoniland through unity of purpose while Engr Solomon Akere, gave a talk on Ogoni youths in business.
Participants raised questions concerning the maintenance of the water projects, remediation efforts, and compensation for the Right of Way (RoW), among others.
In attendance were management staff of HYPREP who provided responses to the interventions.