Adamawa

The Adamawa Government last Tuesday distributed 31 motorcycles to district and village heads to monitor ongoing government projects in their areas.

Speaking at the occasion, the Project Manager of Local Apprenticeship Scheme, Alhaji Sani Jada, said the distribution of motorcycles was aimed at encouraging village heads to monitor government projects in their respective areas.

He said: “I wish to state that the motorcycles are meant for the supervision of Local Apprenticeship Scheme training activities and other government projects in your respective districts.’’

He warned against the use of the motorcycles for other purpose, adding that government would not hesitate to retrieve them and assign them to more serious person.

Bauchi

Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State has appealed to religious, traditional and political leaders in Northern Nigeria to take urgent steps to re-build the region currently being ravaged by insurgency.

He made the appeal when he met with former President, Court of Appeal, retired Justice Mamman Nasir, in Bauchi, Tuesday.

According to him, the leaders have the responsibility to restore lasting peace by identifying the main causes of the insurgence that has devastated the development of the entire region.  Earlier, Nasir said the religious, traditional and political leaders had been disturbed by the lingering crises that had assumed communal and ethno-religious dimensions.

Borno

Gunmen last Sunday shot dead Malam Murtala Mohammed, a lecturer at the Mass Communication Department of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) at his residence in Maiduguri.

According to Eyewitnesses Mohammed was shot at his 202 Housing Estate, opposite the university campus.

Also speaking, Malam Yusuf Ibrahim, a neighbour of the deceased, said the victim appeared to have been trailed by his killers from the university campus before coming to his house. Ibrahim also said the killers fled immediately after shooting the deceased severally at close range.

FCT

Malam Mohammed Garba, the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, was on Sunday elected the new President of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ).

According to a release in Abuja on Monday signed by Mr Joseph Mutah, the Press Secretary to the Minister of Information the election took place at the third Congress of the Federation, which ended in Casablanca, Morocco, on Sunday.

“Garba had earlier been elected into the nine-member Steering Committee of the continental body, which unanimously elected him to lead the group for the next three years,’’ it said.

The statement said Mrs Louisa Rogerio from Angola was elected the Vice President, while Mr Stanislas Nkundiye from the Democratic Republic of Congo bagged the post of Treasurer. It said that 73 delegates from 28 countries voted during the election.

Kaduna

The National Youth Leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Mr Obadia Haruna, has blamed “intruders bent on disintegrating Nigeria” for the worsening security situation in some parts of the North.

Haruna made the observation on Tuesday in Kaduna at a unity forum organised by an NGO, Peace Revival and Reconciliation Foundation of Nigeria.

The CAN youth leader observed that the current violence and insecurity in the region had caused major set backs to the social and economic growth of the nation. The leader of the NGO, Pastor Yohana Buru, said the gathering was meant to bring together Muslims and Christians in the divided city to promote unity, love and understanding.

Kano

Local farmers in most parts of Kano State have started clearing their farms in readiness for this year’s planting season.

Farmers in Rimin Gado, Gwarzo and Kabo local government areas of the state, had commenced the clearing exercise about two weeks ago.

Investigation showed that some of the farmers who had completed the clearing of their farms had since been bringing local manure to their farms.

Farmers who travelled to some parts of the country in search of greener pastures during the dry season (popularly known as Ci Rani) had also started returning home.

Katsina

No fewer than 900 victims of last year’s flood disaster in Sandamu Local Government Area of Katsina State have shared N11.3 million as assistance by the Federal Government.

The Special Adviser to the state governor on Community Development Alhaji Abubakar Yusuf, stated this while distributing the donation to the victims in Sandamu, Tuesday.

Yusuf said the amount was part of the N300 million released to the state by the federal government to assist last year’s flood victims in addressing some of their problems.

The Caretaker Chairman of Sandamu local council, Alhaji Sani Sabo, said the victims had earlier received relief materials from the state and local governments, as well as Non Governmental Organisations and philanthropists.

Kogi

Victims of the 2012 flood disaster in Kogi have rejected the offer of N3, 000 compensation from the state government, describing the gesture as inadequate.

The flood, which affected nine local government areas of the state, destroyed more than 500 houses and rendered15,00 residents homeless.

Some of the victims said that they were paid N3, 000 compensation on Thursday by a team of government officials at LGEA Primary School at Gadumo, Lokoja.

Among the victims were Mr Zacheus Momorebe, Mr James Oguche, Mr Suleiman Ogidi and Mr Olaitan Ayorinde, who claimed to be landlords.

Kwara

The Catholic Bishop of Ilorin Diocese, the Most Rev. Ayo-Maria Atoyebi, has urged the three tiers of government to do more for the citizenry to ensure their well-being.

Atoyebi who made the appeal in an interview on Monday in Ilorin urged governments at all levels to embark on people-oriented programmes.

“Most of the political manifestoes and electioneering promises remain unfulfilled and many projects unimplemented. “Government exists for the welfare of the people, and as such, they are to cater for their common good and lift them up socially,’’ he said.He advised the political class to be honest and desist from acts capable of causing division among the people.

Ogun

Members of the various PDP factions in Ogun last Monday, held a closed-door reconciliatory meeting at the hilltop residence of former Olusegun Obasanjo.

Those who attended the four-hour meeting were Chief Segun Oni, a former PDP National Vice-Chairman, South-West, Sen Jubril Martins Kuye, a former Minister of State for Finance and Chief Sarafa Ishola, a former Minister for Mines and Steel Development.

Kuye told newsmen that the development was part of the moves to reposition the party ahead of the 2015 General Elections and that the intra-party crises had caused a lot of setbacks to the party in the state,

He said that it was necessary for elders of the party to come together and “mend broken fences”, to move the party forward.

Oyo

The Oyo State government said on Monday that its urban renewal programmes were geared toward safeguarding and empowering the people.

The Commissioner for Trade, Investment and Cooperatives, Mr Adebayo Olagbenro, said in an interview in Ibadan that to ease the hardship of the traders, the government had put in place temporary and permanent palliatives to further boost socio-economic development

He said that ownership of shops in the new complexes was not too rigid as they had been constructed on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) flexible payment module, for different business categories.

‘’We are poised towards aiding business development at all levels and not killing businesses as some people wrongly want to believe,” the commissioner said and called for patience on the part of the citizenry, saying that the ongoing restructuring in the state would be beneficial to all.

Plateau

The University of Jos will graduate 7,946 students, including nine in first class division, at its 26th convocation on Saturday April 6.

The university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Hayward Mafuyai, who made this known when he briefed newsmen on Tuesday, said 613 students graduated with second class upper degrees.

“Out of the total number of grandaunts, 50 will be awarded doctorate degrees, 491 will receive master’s degrees, 67 will have postgraduate diplomas.

Mafuyai said that the university had made landmark achievements in the academic year, adding that one of the major achievements was that it became an ICT-driven institution.

Yobe

Water and sanitation projects are to be commissioned in 256 communities in Yobe under the 10th European Union Development Fund (EDF.

The General Manager of Yobe Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Malam Mohammed Bukar, who disclosed this in Damaturu said that 256 rural communities would be provided with water and sanitation facilities under the 10th EDF intervention.

The manager said that under the programme, European Union will provide 70 per cent of the funds, Yobe government 18 per cent, while local governments of the communities would provide 12 per cent.

Bukar said that the programme would promote clean water supply and storage, household cleanliness and the culture of hand washing among women and children.

Zamfara

Vice President Namadi Sambo says the Federal Government will establish 100 “Almajiri” Special Schools across the nation as part of its efforts to prevent street begging.

He stated this in Gusau, Zamfara , on Sunday at the end of the week long National Qur’an Recitation Competition.

According to Sambo, the schools when fully established, will promote both Islamic and western education among school-aged children who are now roaming the streets.

He stated that although the schools would be built across the country, a larger number would be established in the northern part of the country.