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 Senate yesterday approved the bills for the establishment of Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences and College of Education, Bende at its plenary session.
The two bills sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon . Benjamin Kalu came to the Senate for concurrence after the approvals from the House of Representatives.
The Deputy Leader of the Senate, Sen. Lola Ashiru in the absence of the Majority Leader presented the recommendations of the Lower Chamber for consideration and Concurrence .
The Bill for an Act to establish Federal College of Education, Bende in Abia State seeks to provide full-time courses, training in technology, applied sciences, commerce, social sciences, arts and humanities among others.
Kalu had in his lead debate stated that Bende has remained undivided since its creation in 1976, even though with the size of four local government areas as found in comparative federal constituencies.
“Despite its strategic location in Abia and sharing a border with Akwa Ibom, with a growing population and landmass, there is no tertiary institution in the Federal Constituency operated either by Federal or State Government. Bende deserves to have the presence of a tertiary institution to serve the education need of the teeming youthful population, especially now that the need for well-trained educationists has risen. This is accompanied by the need to fill the gaps created by both the consequences of brain drain and the lack of qualified educationists to provide quality training at all levels of education,” he said.
For the bill seeking the establishment of Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Bende, Abia State, he said when it becomes law, the university will be charged with the responsibility to, among other things, offer full-time training leading to the award of degrees in medical and health sciences.
Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi
South East Caucus of the Senate has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immorttalise late Professor Humphrey Nwosu considering his commitment to achieving a practical democracy for Nigerian.
The Senators visibly angered by the Senate’s rejection of the need to immortalise the late National Electoral umpire who stood for democracy through the turbulent 1993 elections stormed out of the Senate Chambers and spoke to the press .
The Chairman of the South East Caucus, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe ( Abia South), as he did in plenary on Wednesday, presented a motion for immortalisation of Humphrey Nwosu by naming the national headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) , after him , for laying the foundation in 1993 and conducting the freest and fairest Presidential election in the country .
The late Professor Nwosu was the National Chairman of the National Electoral Commission ( NEC) , now known as Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) , who through option A4, conducted the June 12, 19993 presidential election , adjudged to be the freest and fairest in the country.
Abaribe in the motion co – sponsored by 15 other Senators , said late Humphrey Nwosu deserved to be immortalised like other heroes of the June 12 , 1993 presidential election .
He also urged the Federal Government to honour the late former electoral umpire with post humous national honours .
But Abaribe’s request , seconded by Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) and supported by Senators from the South East including forner Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi ( Kebbi North) , was roundly rejected by other Senators who said the deceased deserved no immortalization .
Specifically , Senator Adams Oshiomhole ( Edo North) , in his contribution to the debate said the motion to him, was nothing but an attempt to manipulate and rewrite history.
“ Professor Humphrey Nwosu as NEC Chairman in 1993, failed to deliver on the June 12 , 1993 Presidential Election for lack of Courage
“ He who is not ready to die for something , will die for nothing
“ If he was afraid of the gun from announcing the election results and winner in 1993 , he cannot be rewarded now , more so, when many Nigerians died for what he inadvertently created “, he said .
Nneka Amaechi -Nnadi
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, says the Nigerian Military is committed to facilitating sustainable food security in the country through the establishment of farms.
Musa said this in Abuja yesterday during the unveiling of the Defence Farm and Agro-Allied Products Logo.
He noted that the agricultural sector played crucial role in guaranteeing food security which was requisite for sustainable national security.
He said that the adverse impact of climate change, environmental degradation and conflict across some parts of the country had continuously threatened food security with dire consequences on national security.
According to him, to address this, the Defence Headquarters in May 2023, conceptualised the Defence Farm and Agro-Allied Products initiative.
“This is with the aim of keying into the federal government’s efforts at addressing food security challenges in the country.
“The initiative which aligns with the ‘People Centric’ policy thrust of my leadership concept is aimed at creating job opportunities and enhancing rural infrastructural development while significantly contributing to food security in the Country.
“Considering the extensive consultation, planning and preparation made by the committee thus far, I am optimistic that the Defence Farm and Agro-Allied Products initiative will have a positive transformative impact on host communities while enhancing national security.
“With similar initiatives replicated across the country, I envision a future characterised by modernised farming techniques in which the agricultural sector significantly contributes to economic growth and national development.”
The CDS enjoined all members of the Armed Forces and the general public to embrace the initiative and maximise its associated gains.
He expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu, for his sterling leadership and relentless pursuit of national peace, security and economic prosperity.
He also appreciated the efforts of members of the committee who worked assiduously to actualise the initiative.
Earlier, the Chairman, Defence Farms Committee,