Nation
The State
Kano
Kano State Government has urged the State board of Internal Revenue to find ways of generating more funds to augment its receipts from the Federal Government.
The State Commissioner for projects, monitoring and evolution, Alhaji Ibrahim Garba said at a meeting with officials of the board that the effort became necessary in the light of short falls in funds that the state received from the federation account.
Speaking through a statement from the office of the Project Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate in Kano the commissioner urged the board to support the government to successfully execute its programme.
Sokoto
Sokoto state government has sacked Alhaji Isa Bajini the ‘Galadima Garri who is a senior councilor in the sultanate councilor Bajini was also relieved of his membership of the state council of chiefs.
This information was contained in a statement signed by Malam Sani Umar the Media Assistant to Governor Aliyo Wamakko.
The statement said the state government and the sultanate council were only responding to the yearnings and aspiration of the people.
Taraba
Shelter Development Nigeria Limited has called on Taraba State Government to ensure adequate maintenance of the Jolly Nyame International Sprots Complex in Jalingo.
The call was made by a representative of the company’s managing director, Engr. Mohammed Tahir, at the finale handing over of the sports complex to the state Government by the company.
According to him, the complex has modern sporting facilities, and can seat 16,000 people. He said with the finale completion and handing over, of the project to the state government, Taraba can now serve as a hosting centre to any international sports event in the country.
Zamfara State
The Zamfara State Zakkat Endowment board has set aside N91 million for the construction of 28 schools to facilitate educational development among less privileged communities in the state.
The Executive Secretary of the board, Alhaji Atiku Sani Maradun, said on Thursday in Bungudu during presentation of cash donations to some less privileged that five out of the 28 schools have been completed at a cost of N16.2 million.
He gave the benefitting communities, as Madidi in Bungudu, Yargadaje in Zurmi, Jangeru in Shinkafi, Abarma in Gusau and Mabangala in Talata Mafara Local Government councils of the state.
He said the second phase of the project would cover Tsafe, Kauran Namoda, Maru Maradun and Anka Local Governments and is expected to be completed with in the next six months.
He said that the project was conceived out of the desire to encourage indigent communities to learn both Islamic and western education through the conventional school system.
The schools he said would be handed over to the communities under the supervision of the Ministry for Religious Affairs after completion, for proper co-ordination and guidance.
He also said that the board has contributed N15m to orphans and physically challenged persons under its small scale business support scheme across the state.
Speaking at the occasion, Governor Mahmuda Shinlkafi commended the board for its commitment to the welfare of their professional responsibility to the society.
While speaking at the occasion, senior environmental officer with KEPA, Mrs Maureen Oyedoja, expressed satisfaction and commended the ACPN members for willingly destroying the expired drugs.
Ogun
Pro Chancellor of the Olabisi Onobanjo University (DOU), Ago Iwoye Ogun State otunba Alex Onabanjo has attributed the rot in the university system to the lack of managerial exposure and training of successive vice chancellors.
Speaking as the guest lecturer in the maiden public lecture of the correspondents chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ibadan, Onabonjo decried the politicisation and ethnicisation in the appointments of vice chancellors and the constitution of governing councils of the nation universities stating that merit and vision have been sacrificed.
In the lecture entitled “Taking the public universities to the next level, the managerial challenged, Onabonjo said that politicisation of the appointments have robbed many universities of purposeful leadership.
He advised both the federal and state governments to always look for individuals who are successful in the business world to complement whatever theoretical knowledge academic and non academic members possess.
According to him, the primordial considerations has led to the emergence of universities leadership that lacked managerial abilities, purpose and vision complement the ideal of the founding fathers of tertiary education in the country.
Kaduna
Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) in partnership with the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Kaduna State Environmental Protection Authority (KEPA) have destroyed expired drugs and related products worth N2.9 million.
Speaking shortly after the destruction the chairman of ACPN, Kaduna State chapter, Mr Alphonsus Okoye said that the products destroyed included anti-cancer drugs, anti-biotics, anti-malaria, cough preparations and analgesics, among others.
He further explained that the expired drugs and related products were submitted to the association by its members to be destroyed based on the demands of pharmacy ethics.
According to him “this is an annual exercise aimed at safeguarding the health of the public by preventing them from accessing expired drug products.”
Okoye appealed to the government at all levels of always patronize registered pharmacies for their drugs so as to avoid buying expired ones and also called on the management of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to ensure that Nigerians access drugs only from NHIS accredited pharmacies.
He also advised pharmacist to continue to submit expired drugs to the association for destruction as part of their professional responsibility to the society.
While speaking at the occasion, senior Environmental officer with KEPA, Mrs Maureen Oyedoja, expressed satisfaction and commended the ACPN members for willingly destroying the expired drugs.
Lagos
Worried by the menance of land speculators (Omonile), the Lagos State House of Assembly has urged the State Security Service (SSS) to assist the government in arresting the trend, especially around Ikorodu.
Speaking at the weekend when he and other members of the House Committee on Information, Strategy and Security, visited the Director of SSS, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, the committee chair, Hon. Ipoola Omisore, said the activities of the land speculators could throw the state into chaos.
“We need to look at the Ikorodu axis on the Omonile issue; it is very explosive and capable of causing crisis in the state,” Omisore said.
He spoke on the need for state police to enhance security.
Replying, Abubakar said the service recognised the importance of legislature and was prepared to enhance security.
“We share information with various states and federal agencies to aid the security situation not only in Lagos but throughtout the country,” Abubakar said.
On land speculators, the Director said it was within the purview of the outfit and “and we have been doing a lot about that and we are sure that by God’s grace we shall surmount”.
Abubakar praised the state government for its support for the security agencies, adding “we will continue to do our best to improve the situation.
Oyo
Oyo State Commissioner for establishment and poverty Alleviation, Jeleel Agboola has stressed the need for skill acquisition among women, describing it as a veritable tool for driving away hunger and creating sustainable employment among the womenfolk.
Agboola who said this at a poverty reduction workshop also urged for attitudinal change among the womenfolk, if the effort of the government to reduce poverty must have the desired effect.
The commissioner also urged the womenfolk and the youths to embrace acquisition and thus become self reliant, stressing that the focus on women was deliberate due to their sensitive nature and home support.
“Women constitute a large percentage of the population of this state and playing significant economic roles in the family as opposed to the past when they are limited to just taking care of children.”
In her goodwill message, of the event, the wife of the Oyo State Governor Mrs Oluwakami Alao-Alala lamented the second class role being conferred on the women by political office holders in the country, insisting that they constitute an important stake in the democratic project of the country.
“Clearly, empowering women through capacity building is on essential step to confronting the challenges of poverty and hunger” she said.
Abuja
The South South parliamentary caucus in the House of Representatives, has urged the federal Government not be in a haste to withdraw the Joint Military Taskforce ( JTF) deploy to the Niger Delta until it has been fully ascertained that there were no armed groups anymore in the region.
Secretary to the caucus Hon. Daniel Reyenieja said there should be a limit to the amount of pressure interest groups can bring upon government when it comes to issue of national security.
Reyenieju who spoke to newsmen in Abuja said that every Nigerian should applaud the amnesty programme and the success achieved so for, stressing that urging for the immediate withdrawal of the military from the region w’re doing so move out of the euphoria of the moment than out of the knowledge of the red security situation in the region.
“This is a national security issue and we cannot force the federal government to take certain decisions without considering their implications.
The decision to disown the militant groups was taken by the government in the best interest of the citizenry and as such when the peace has been achieved, to a relative height, government knows what to do.
He also said that the Niger Delta is so vast and so polarized that there are certain parks of the region that would not want the military to move out yet, because of the peculiar security situation prevalent in such places over the years.
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
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.
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.
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