Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
The Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Barkindo
Mustapha, has commended the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) for its commitment to peaceful co-existence in the state.
Mustapha who made the commendation last Thursday, when he received Nemuel Babba, the Archbishop of LCCN in Yola said that Adamawa Emirate Council appreciated the role played by the Church to promote peace in the state.
He assured Babba of the council’s commitment to work with Christians to promote peace and unity in the state and nation at large. The monarch congratulated the Church for its centenary celebration and wished it successful celebration.
FCT
Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi of an FCT High Court last
Thursday adjourned to October 28, adoption of final written addresses by Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in a N10 billion damage claims.
Okonjo-Iweala, on March 5, 2012, filed a libel suit against a U.S.-based online news medium, Pointblank News Communication and its directors.
Oniyangi gave the order when counsel to Okonjo-Iweala, Munachiso Michealm failed to appear in court.
“I will grant this final adjournment at the instance of the claimant and the defendants because parties have not made known to the court why they are absent. If on the next adjourned date the parties are not present, the applicable provision of the rules will be invoked,” he said.
Kaduna
A house wife, Zainab Auwal, who claimed her husband,
Sani Yunusa had abandoned her one year after their marriage, has gone to the Magajin gari Sharia Court II, Kaduna, seeking for divorce.
According to her, the husband is also in the habit of beating her, failing to provide food, accommodation and other services expected of him.
Auwal told the court last Thursday that since they got married a year ago, the man only provided food steadily to the family for two months, and was unable to pay house rent.
The situation, she said, had led to their ejection from their rented accommodation four months ago, forcing her to live with her parents.
Kano
Hundreds of patients receiving medical attention at
the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, have deserted the facility following the indefinite strike action embarked upon by resident doctors in the country.
A relation to one of the patients, Musa Lawan, said most of the patients left the hospital last Wednesday. According to him, the hospital has discharged patients with minor cases to enable them seek medical attention elsewhere.
The Assistant Director of Information in the hospital, Alhaji Aminu Inuwa, said the strike had paralysed medical services in the institution.
“The General Outpatients Department, where more than 250 patients are being attended to daily, is also affected as the few consultants cannot attend to them.
Kebbi
The Principal, Government Girls Secondary School,
Bunza, Kebbi, Mrs Helen Audu, last Thursday urged Kebbi Government to fence the school to enhance security of the boarding students.
Audu told newsmen in Bunza that the absence of fence had overstretched security arrangement for the students.
She also urged the state government to provide additional hostels, water supply and staff quarters to take care of the increasing number of students in the school.
The principal said the establishment of the school in the area had encouraged parents to send their female children to school.
Kogi
Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State has appealed to the
Federal Government to resuscitate the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company in the state.
Wada who made the appeal in Geregu last Thursday at the inauguration of the Geregu 11,434- megawatts power plant said that this was necessary to enable the state to reap maximally from the new power plant.
He also appealed that the National Iron Mining Company (NIOMCO) at Itakpe should also be resuscitated to revitalise economic growth and development in the country.
Kwara
The Kwara State Government says it has expended the
sum of N30 billion on construction and rehabilitation of rural-urban roads in the last two and half years.
The state Commissioner for Works, Alhaji Abubakar Amuda- Kannike, disclosed this in Ilorin last Thursday while speaking with Journalists during an inspection of some on-going road projects in the Ilorin metropolis.
He said the state government would complete all inherited road projects in all parts of the state by December.
Some of the projects inspected include the Catchment-Agba Dam Road, Umar Audi Road, Flower Garden Bridge, GRA road network, Oke-Andi-Taoheed Road, Akerebiata channelisation, Opo Maalu-Isale Maliki Road and Alawonla-Dad Road.
Others are the Abayawo-Guniyan Asalapa Road, Kokoronkan Road, Henry George-Mini Campus Road, Apron-Taxi way in NAMA Building, Lao-Airport Road, Garage Offa-Dangote Road, NNPC Pipeline Bridge and Abdulsalam Alao Road.
Lagos
The Nigerian Institution of Electrical Electronics Engineers
(NIEEE) last Thursday urged protesting electricity workers to be patient with the Federal Government on the payment of their outstanding severance package.
National Chairman of the institution, Mr Adekunle Makinwa, said in Lagos that Federal Government was sincere about the power sector reform.
The NIEEE chairman said the government would ensure that all electricity workers received their entitlements before the final handing over of PHCN structures to the new investors.
He said that it was natural for the workers to protest because of the fear that they might be thrown into the labour market without receiving their entitlements.
“It is normal and natural for the workers to be worried that by the time the Federal Government hands over PHCN to investors, the successor companies will not want to foot the bill.
Ogun
The Head of Service in Ogun State, Mrs Modupe Adekunle,
last Thursday said the office generated over N14 million between January and June.
Adekunle said this in Abeokuta in a message to members of the Ogun House of Assembly Committee on Establishment and Public Matters who were on oversight visit.
The Head of Service, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Foluso Osunjimi, said the money was generated from rents collected on government quarters adding that the amount generated so far was more than the approved revenue target.
The Permanent Secretary, State Bureau of Pension, Mr Adesina Badmus, said that non-remittance of workers’ deduction and employers’ counterpart 7.5 per cent of contributory pension as at when due was a major problem.
The Chairman, Civil Service Commission, Mrs Aderonke Folarin, said that over N6 million had been realised between January and June.
Osun
The Osun State Government has reiterated its commitment
to enhance the standard of education through government’s re-classification programme.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr Lawrence Oyeniran, said last Thursday in Osogbo that the programme would facilitate planning and administration in the education sector.
The permanent secretary said Governor Rauf Aregbesola was committed to the programme just as he was to government’s computer programme for students.
He said the government introduced the programme to improve the standard of education, expand students’ knowledge and learning capability, as well as download text books into computers (Opon Imo) to reduce the financial burden on parents.
Oyo
The Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development
Authority (JDA) and Addax JDZ block 4 Limited last Thursday handed over projects worth $ 120,000 (N18.4 million) to Soun High School, Ogbomoso.
The projects donated were a block of four classrooms, a block of four toilets as well as furniture for students and teachers.
Also donated were 150 copies of English and Mathematics textbooks for students in Senior Secondary School.
Speaking at the presentation, Mr Luiz Prazeres, the Chairman of the JDA Board, said the institution’s social projects scheme was designed and implemented to add value to the lives of youths.
Taraba
The acting Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba Umar,
last Thursday urged the Federal Government to impose outright ban on the importation of rice to encourage local farmers and millers.
Umar made the call during the Taraba State Special Day at the 8th Abuja International Trade Fair in Abuja.
The acting governor, who was represented at the event by his Chief of Staff, Mr Ahmed Yusuf, urged the Federal Government not to rescind plan to ban the product.
He also urged the Federal Government not yield to pressure against the ban on the importation of the commodity, stating that the country needed to start developing its agriculture sector which must start from somewhere.
Zamfara
Chairman Zamfara State Businessmen Association, Alhaji
Ibrahim Sani, says the association will sponsor the wedding of 100 widows to interested suitors in the state.
Sani said in Gusau last Thursday that the gesture was part of its efforts to complement the state government in reducing the number of widows in the state.
He said that the association decided to intervene considering the increasing number of widows in the state and the need to assist in addressing the problem.
Sani said that all the arrangements toward the exercise had been concluded and a suitable date would soon be fixed.
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