Nation
THE STATES
Benue
The Conference at Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Benue State chapter, has described as unfortunate the passage into law of a bill giving Governor Gabriel Suswan un-fettered powers to seek credit borrowings from the capital market and other sources.
Speaking with journalists at the weekend, Benue State chairman of the CNPP, Baba Agan, stated that the action at the state House of Assembly, was a negation of members responsibility to their constituents, which is to protect them from the exploitative actions of the state government. But Deputy Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, William Edor, who presided over the passage of the law, said the House had to pass the bill in record time to assist the government complete on-going projects stalled by funding.
Again he said the passage of the bill did not come as a surprise to the opposition, alleging that there is a plot to mortgage the future of the state.
According to him, when the House in September passed a resolution permitting the state government to borrow N13.1 billion, the CNPP had written letters of protest to the lending institutions informing them that the Benue State Government did not enjoy the legal support of the people, which led to the creditors demanding the passage of a bill to that effect to protect their funds.
Plateau
The Plateau State Government has signed an agreement with Akintola Williams Deloitte, an accounting firm, to resuscitate Jos International Breweries (JIB) Plc.
The managing director of JIB, Mr Albert Kattlems, told news men recently in Lagos that Deloitte would not only restructure the firm, but review the company’s strategic options for growth.
The JIB, one of Nigeria’s blue chips in the past, is owned by the Plateau State Government. According to Katlems the agreements, which will last for six months with an option of renewal also includes the recruitment of a competent technical partner/core investor for the firm.
He said that the core investor, which will acquire the state government’s 63 per cent stake in the company, also had the opportunity of increasing its equities from the issued share capital the company.
Abuja
The Federal Government will today make public the final report of the 2008 National Health Demographic Survey after the last one conducted in 2003.
The report is expected to provide details of the nations health indicators as the trend occurs in the rural and urban communities.
Wife of the president, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua is to launch the 2008 NDHS report in Abuja. The document captured fertility, Human Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and other sexually-transmitted infections, family planning, woman status and household trends in the country.
The survey was jointly conducted by the National Population Commission (NPC), United State Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Population Funds (UNPF), with support from Macro International.
It is expected to provide insight into the statistics on health and population.
Lagos
The federal government has been urged to employ exterior vector control specialist in the roll back malaria programme.
The call was made recently at a day seminar titled “Management of Pest in Stored Products and in food industry” by the pest control association of Nigeria (PECAN), at the Nigeria Education Research and Development Council (NERC), Agidingbi Lagos.
The association noted that since the federal government has approved the use of treated net to combat malaria, efforts should be made to involve exterior vector control specialists.
PECAN noted that there is need for National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Federal Ministry of Heath and Environment as well as health managers to work together to manage and control pest and regulate hazardous effects of pesticides.
Earlier, the Association president Dr. Tokunbo Coker, emphasised that since PECAN provide services mainly in the industrial institutions on health related issues and for the association to give effective services, practical knowledge needs to be acquired on a wide variety of pests, their life – span, pesticidal formation appropriated for their management and methods, to avoid contamination of goods and pollution of the environment.
In another development, Tom Williams, an expert in tropical diseases from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), has said that 90 percent of children born with sickle cell anaemia in Africa die before they are diagnosed and can get treatment and half of those lives could be saved if sufferers were protected from bacterial infections.
Williams said that sickle cell anaemia kills more children in Africa than HIV, stressing that HIV commands vast attention from the international community, sickle cell anaemia is “Virtually Invisible”.
Sickle- cell anaemia affects millions of people worldwide, but more than 50 percent of the cases are in Africa, where around 200,000 children are born with the disease every year, he said.
Borno
To prevent fresh outbreak and further spread of cholera and other water-borne diseases in Borno, the state and local councils have procured and distributed N100 million worth of drugs, drips and other hospital consumables to the 27 councils.
The cholera treatement camps at biu, Gwoza, Ngaram-Bulabuli, Konduga and Dikwa have been provided with drugs and doctors to bring an end to further spread of water born diseases, Governor Ali Modu Sheriff has stated.
Sheriff, who spoke on the further spread of cholera and measures taken by government to contain the situation at the Maiduguri Government House, said the outbreak of cholera in August in Adamawa State spread to Borno through the Madube community of Gwoza council.
Ondo
President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwaheed Omar, has restated the readiness of the labour movement to resist any attempt by the government to deregulate the downstream sector of the nation’s petroleum industry.
Omar, who spoke in Ikaram-Akoko, Ondo State at the weekend, disclosed that the NLC had reached out to the federal government to stop the deregulation policy and that “for now, we are expecting the government to announce that the proposed deregulation has been cancelled.”
However, he added: “If government continues with the planned deregulation, we will call out our members and we will take necessary steps to frustrate the exercise. We will invoke the full power of organised labour to protest and we will frustrate it.”
The NLC chief, who spoke at the burial of Prince Samuel Kayode, father of Labour Minister, Adetokunbo Kayode, blamed the current scarcity of petroleum products on the proposed deregulation policy.
Osun
The nation’s health institutions may witness yet another round of strike following a threat issued last weekend by the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists to withdraw their services unless it demands were met by the authorities.
Rising from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Osogbo, Osun State capital, the association expressed surprise that the federal government, having recently met the demands of medical doctors, was yet to release a circular to facilitate the implementation of reviewed salaries and allowances of laboratory scientists.
Briefing journalists on the outcome of the meeting, first vice president of the group, Godswill Okara, said the association would no longer stand by and watch while the authorities treat members as second class citizens when the welfare of other stakeholders in the health sector were given prompt attention.
Oyo
The Minister of State for Finance, Mr Remi Babalola, has advised the three tiers of government to look inwards to generate sustainable resources to meet the minimum requirements and needs of their economies, particularly the infrastructural development.
He gave the advice in Ibadan, Oyo State at the 2009 Ibadan week conference organised by the Jericho Businessmen club at the Banquet Hall of Premier Hotel.
The Minister, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Mr. Bode Agunbiade, advised the tiers of government not to solely depend on the monthly allocations from the federation account.
Delivery a paper on the theme of the conference “Infrastructural Development of Ibadanland,” Babalola explained that the provisions of infrastructures require further increase in government spending, especially in these modern times.
Katsina
Dana Steel Limited, the core investor in Katsina Steel Rolling Company, has recorded a milestone in its privatisation Post Acquisition Plan (PAP) with the commissioning of its new 180,00 metric tons billet manufacturing plant.
The N5.4 billion plant (Steel Melt Shop) is a major step in the company’s backward integration strategy and is sure to boost the operations of the steel mill significantly.
Excited by the development, managing director of Dana Steel Jacky Hathiramani expressed appreciation to the Federal Government, and people of Katsina State, for their belief in Dana Steel, and their support in ensuring that the plant comes on steam.
Sokoto
The Sokoto state chapter of the Judicial Staff Union has called off the strike action embarked upon two weeks ago in the sate.
The judiciary workers had 19 days ago embarked on the strike action demanding improved welfare and condition of service to their members.
A communiqué at the end of its meeting signed by its chairman Malam Isa Saidu said the union is satisfied with the recent measures adopted by the state government towards improving judicial workers condition of service, which is expected to commence this week.
It regretted the inconvenience and suffering it subjected members of the public, during the strike action. It also commended the various workers in the state for their resilience and maturity through out the period of strike.
Kaduna
The Federal Government has said that it will establish the Universal Internet Service and viewing centre across tertiary institutions in the state.
This is said is aimed at tackling the problem of how access to cutting edge Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources among Nigerian students.
Minister of state for Information and Communication Idris Bibis announced this at the weekend while commissioning a public viewing centre built by the Ministry in collaboration with the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in Kaduna.
He said the importance of information technology cannot be our emphasised, adding that the idea aims at putting information at the finger trips of the Nigerian students and their school communities in order to equip them to meet global challenges.
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project(HYPREP) has inducted and given orientation to 100 Ogoni youths for training on Creative Arts. The beneficiaries were drawn from Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
The induction and orientation ceremony, which took place at the CRAB of the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt on Wednesday, was a prelude to the training proper, billed to commence next Tuesday.
As usual, HYPREP issued undertaking forms to the trainees, for them to complete and submit as a guarantee that they would subject themselves to the requirements of the programme as well as be of good behaviour throughout the four-month duration of the training.
HYPREP also announced that it would pay N150,000 to each of the beneficiaries monthly, as transport and feeding allowance, stressing, however, that only those who fully participate in the training would be entitled for the allowance.
Speaking at the event, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, welcomed the trainees to the programme, saying, HYPREP’s projects are evolving and that one thing that is happening today is that the Project has gotten leadership right, by making promises and keeping those promises.
According to him, the Project had equally promised to move away from rudimentary skills acquisition to high impacts acquisition levels, which it has kept today by sponsoring the training on Creative Arts.
He noted that in planning its livelihood programmes for Ogoni youths, HYPREP has taken time out to look for skills that would add value to the lives of the beneficiaries.
Zabbey, who was represented at the event by the Director of Technical Services, Prof Damian-Paul Aguiyi said by packaging the Creative Arts training, it was expected that the Ogoni people would have their own version of Nollywood known as Ogoniwood just as Nigerians are familiar with Hollywood, Bollywood, Kannywood and Nollywood.
To achieve this goal, the Project Coordinator explained that it was the reason for choosing a reputable establishment like Halibiz Consult Limited, to partner with the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt, which he described as one of the most prestigious in the Niger Delta, for the training of the beneficiaries.
He also indicated that in doing this, HYPREP was desirous of going for talents that would help the Ogoni people grow in the film industry, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously.
Zabbey equally enjoined the trainees to put in their best so that in the next three to five years, they would carve a niche for themselves and become forces to reckon with in the film industry.
On her part, HYPREP’s Head of Sustainable Livelihood, Mrs Josephine Nzidee said HYPREP does what it says it will, stressing that the process of training Ogoni youths on specialised skills started three years ago.
According to her, the selection process for the training was rigorous and transparent, and was carried out by renowned actors actresses.
She disclosed that the training consists of three major aspects, which include acting, script writing and make-up, while Nollywood actors like Charles Nnoje, Ngezu J. Ngezu and award-winning make-up artist, Jude Odo would be on hand to drill and groom the beneficiaries.
Mrs Nzidee noted that the programme is a specialised training that does not have anything like starter packs but that it is purely a professional certification programme that would launch the beneficiaries into the Nollywood industry in Nigeria.
According to her, the Creative Arts training is one of the four specialised trainings organised by HYPREP to ensure that the Ogoni people are well positioned in vital industries like Aviation, Maritime, Creative Arts and Mechatronics.
She said the last of such trainings on Mechatronics would take place in the coming months, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously so as to put the Ogoni people on the Nollywood map.
She further indicated that while Charles Nnoje and Ngezu J. Ngezu would take the beneficiaries on the practical aspects, Jude Odo would take them on the make-up aspects.
Also speaking, the External Relations Manager of Halibiz Consult Limited, Alabo Experience Douglas said his company gives much premium to standard and quality, and assured that the firm would give the trainees value for the money spent on the programme.
While charging the beneficiaries to be dedicated and punctual, he stressed the need for them to approach the programme with the mindset of being empty so that at the end of the day, they would benefit maximally.
On his part, the Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Port Harcourt, Dr Ovunda Ihunwo said the CRAB is an acronym for Creative Review of Arts and Books, stressing that it was named by renowned playwright, Prof Ola Rotimi.
According to him, the CRAB had nurtured, groomed and produced Nollywood actors and actresses like Bobmanuel Udokwu, Ejike Asiegbu,Francis Duru, Hilda Dokubo, Monalisa Chinda, Julius Agwu, and a host of others, assuring the beneficiaries that they were on fertile environment to hone their talents.
He noted that symbolically, the crab is a nutritious seafood common in the Niger Delta, and reiterated the need for the beneficiaries to come empty for the training, as it were.
Ihunwo disclosed that the theory classes of the programme would run for three weeks while the fourth week would be for the master classes, and urged the trainees to avail themselves of the opportunity to make a difference by telling the Ogoni story, which he described as inexhaustible by themselves, in order to put Ogoni on the map.
A 23-year-old student of Nasarawa State University identified as Jatau Rilokwah, has been reportedly found dead in the university’s senior staff quarters.
A counter-insurgency expert, focused on the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed this on his X handle on Tuesday.
According to him, the discovery was made on April 27, 2025, by a security officer at the university, Emmanuel Gyawo.
He stated that Gwayo was directed by Prof. Shedrack Jatau to check on his son upon arriving at the residence, and he found Rilokwah hanging from the ceiling.
“Professor Jatau, who was reportedly out of the State at the time, was informed of the incident. A team of police detectives, led by the Divisional Crime Officer of Angwan Lambu, was dispatched to the scene.
“The body showed no signs of violence, and no suicide note was found. Rilokwah was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi, where he was confirmed dead by a medical doctor,” he further stated.
He added that the student’s corpse had been deposited in the hospital morgue.
He also quoted police sources as saying that investigations were ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Ogun State Government has partnered with Nike Art Gallery to establish a new exhibition space at the Olumo Rock Tourist Centre in Abeokuta, a move Governor Dapo Abiodun says is aimed at boosting annual tourist visits from 20,000 to over 100,000.
Abiodun disclosed the plan on Wednesday while receiving the founder of the Nike Art Gallery, Chief (Mrs) Nike Davies-Okundaye, at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
“I went to Olumo Rock about a month ago and I decided that we needed to do something about restoring Olumo Rock to its old glory. From statistics, Olumo Rock hosts about 20,000 people a year in its current state, and I felt that we could increase that to at least ten times,” the governor said.
As part of the plan, an events hall within the tourist centre will be repurposed as a permanent gallery operated by Nike Art Gallery.
“I told them to shut it down. Practically, we want to bring it down and turn it into a gallery for you to use as an exhibition gallery,” he told Davies-Okundaye.
He added that the gallery will be ready before the National Sports Festival in May, when the State will host about 15,000 visitors.
“I want them to be able to see our tourist sites,” he said, listing attractions such as the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, the Ransome-Kuti family home, and the Adire market among key heritage spots to be showcased.
Highlighting Ogun’s improved infrastructure, the governor said, “Now that we’ve succeeded in having the intra and inter-state roads in place, you can come to Ogun State by rail; you can come by air. We’ve constructed one of the best airports in Nigeria, and very soon, you will be able to come by sea.”
Davies-Okundaye, in her remarks, praised the state’s efforts to promote tourism and pledged to use the new gallery to attract global attention.
“This gallery will bring many Heads of State. The one I opened in Abuja already has more than 10 Heads of State, including those from South Korea and the Czech Republic. The same will happen here,” she said.
She also applauded the Governor for his commitment to the Adire fabric industry.
“Adire is all over Nigeria, but Ogun has been promoting Adire for over 50 years. Today, the only cloth we can call our own is called Adire. This is what we can sell to the Europeans,” she said.
Abiodun reaffirmed his administration’s backing of the Adire industry, citing policies such as the Adire Ogun Digital Marketplace, compulsory wearing of Adire in the state, and provision of solar-powered production equipment to support artisans.
He also revealed plans to open a creative arts and entertainment village in partnership with Bolanle Austen-Peters, expected to be completed within two months.