Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
The Adamawa Government said it would promote health
tourism by inaugurating Adamawa-German Diagnosis Centre at Yola in 2013.
Governor Murtala Nyako made this known in Yola while receiving a traditional ruler, the Gang Wari of Ganye, Alhaji Umaru Sanda, who paid him homage.
Nyako said that the development would not only improve health service delivery in the state, but also generate revenue and reduce high cost of foreign health tourism.
“Latest high medical facilities including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and laboratory diagnostics facilities are provided at the centre and will start operation very soon,” Nyako said.
Bauchi
Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State has described the
death of the Emir of Dukku, Alhaji Haruna Rashid as a great loss not only to Dukku, Gombe State, but to the northern Nigeria as a whole.
He said that the late Emir had contributed immensely to the peace and unity of the region and the country as a whole while he was alive.
In a statement, Yuguda said that the fatherly advise of the octogenarian monarch would be missed by all.
“At times like this when the country is going through political transformation, advise from elder statesman like the late Emir was needed in order to shape the political future of the country.’’
Ekiti
One Emmanuel Ene last Thursday appeared before an Ado-
Ekiti Magistrates’ Court charged with stealing jewellery and money belonging to one Ojo Oke at Anisulowo Hotel, Ado-Ekiti, in Ekiti State.
Police prosecutor, Caleb Leranmo told the court that the accused committed the offence on November 30.
“The accused stole jewellery worth N1 million, 25 pounds sterling and 400 dollars, property of Ojo Oke, in the hotel.
Counsel to the accused, Mr Emmanuel Adedeji, prayed the court to grant his client bail, saying that he would not jump bail.
FCT
The Police in Abuja last Thursday arraigned a commercial
bus preacher, Chukwuemeka Okere, 36, before a Karu Senior Magistrates’ Court for alleged cheating and being in possession of stolen items.
Police prosecutor, Eze Okechuckwu told the court that on December 10, Okere, who resides in Nyanya Gwandara area of Abuja, lured Zamani Zuneya of Garki II, Abuja, to a hill in Kubwa under the pretence of preaching to her.
“While praying for Zuneya on the hill, he stole her bag containing two cell phones and N15,000.
“During police investigation, one of the cell phones was recovered from the accused,” he told the court.
Gombe
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Gombe
recently said that four persons died in an accident during Christmas celebrations in the state.
The Gombe State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Mr Kuteb Galadima, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen.
Galadima, who attributed the accident to over-speeding, stated that it occurred on Christmas Day at Lafiyawo Village in the Akko Local Government Area of the state.
Galadima explained that the accident involved a Peugeot 406 car with the registration number: RBC 861 AA, which hit a tree a few kilometres outside the state capital.
Kaduna
The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Kaduna
State, recently pledged to support Governor Mukhtar Yero in the restoration of peace and unity in the state.
A delegation of the party, comprising the Senator representing Kaduna Central, Sen. Sani Saleh, its state Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Yaro and other members gave the pledge while on condolence visit to the governor in Kaduna.
Saleh said the visit was to commiserate with the family and people in the state over the “sudden and shocking” demise of the late governor.
Kogi
The Legal Aid Council said that it provided free
legal representation to 5,063 persons in Kogi between 1993 and 2012.
A Senior Legal Officer in the council, Mrs Flora Imo, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen last Thursday in Lokoja.
She said that the free legal representation was in criminal and civil cases in High Courts and Magistrates’ Courts spread across the state.
The officer said that the council had also offered free legal advise to people and facilitated granting of bail to a number of suspects.
Kwara
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin,
Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, recently said the institution would integrate sign-language into its academic system.
Ambali said this when staff and students of the Centre for Supportive Services for the Deaf (CSSD) visited him as part of activities to mark the International Day for the Disabled.
The vice-chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Management Services, Prof. Yisa Fakunle, said the university was doing what it could to support the centre.
Ambali, who gave an assurance that the university would ensure effective functioning of the centre’s equipment, said the introduction of sign-language was to foster effective lecture delivery.
Lagos
An economist, Dr Henry Boyo, recently advised
the Federal Government to pursue people-oriented policies in 2013 to reduce cost of living of Nigerians.
Boyo, the Chief Executive of Technol Systems Ltd., told newsmen in Lagos that many of the economic policies of government in 2012 were “not too people friendly“.
“The monetary profile of any country depends on its monetary policy model.
“In 2012, inflation ate up substantial part of people’s earnings in Nigeria, “ he said.
Niger
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State said the secu
rity threat by the Boko Haram group in the northern part of the country had stalled development in the region.
Aliyu made the remark during an interactive session with journalists at his residence in Minna.
He said that insecurity caused by the sect in the North had made it difficult for investors to invest in the region for fear of losing their investments.
“I am not satisfied with the slow pace of development in the northern region, but under my leadership as chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, we have given the region good leadership.
Osun
The Osun Commissioner for Health, Mrs Temitope Ilori,
says the state government has invited a team of ophthalmologists from Saudi-Arabia to carry out free eye surgery in the state.
Ilori, who announced this last Thursday at the treatment centre at the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo, said more than 2,000 people had been registered for the exercise.
She explained that the team would comprise of 20 experts from Saudi-Arabia and indigenous medical doctors on the ground.
The commissioner urged residents to register their names and ensure they were screened so as to ascertain their day of appointment and the condition of their visual problems.
Oyo
The Oyo State Government has collaborated with the Uni
versity of Ibadan on joint inspection of all public schools in the state.
The inspection is to ensure quality control, the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Adetokunbo Fayokun, has said.
Fayokun, in a statement issued in Ibadan said that the state had begun to reap the dividends of the education summit organised earlier in the year.
She said that some of the recommendations made by the summit had been implemented, adding that there was improvement in the education sector in the state.
Plateau
Senator. Gyang Pwajok (PDP- Plateau North), has filed an
appeal at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, against the December 20, nullification of his election by an Abuja Federal High Court.
The Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Adeniyi Ademola, while delivering judgment in a matter filed by the Congress for Progress Change (CPC) against INEC and PDP, had nullified the October 6 by-elections and asked Pwajok to “stop parading’’ himself as senator.
The CPC had approached the court to determine whether the first respondent, INEC, had the power to reject the names of its candidate for the by-election.
The Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government Council of Katsina State, Maharazu Dayi, has been impeached.
Maharazu Dayi was impeached yesterday by 11 out of 12 councillors, barely two days before the local government elections in the State.
The councillors reportedly took action following allegations of misconduct and poor governance against the chairman after a dispute over the distribution of the council’s Paris Club funds.
The development has sent shock waves across the local government area, especially as the impeached chairman is among those who failed to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the forthcoming election.
The Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association, Mile 1, Port Harcourt, has urged the state government to utilise the available spaces within the area to build phase 3 of the Rumuwoji Market in order to solve the ever increasing needs of traders.
The association, which said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, also described as a welcomed development the decision by the state Governor to open the phase 2 of the market for business.
According to the association, “We consider it as an answer to the various cries of the people, because he is a man on a mission who is out to place the interest of Rivers people first. It is a dream come true for the first time for the market to be dully allocated and open for business”
Chairman of the association, Hon Godspower Wobo, who briefed the press shortly after a meeting of the association in Port Harcourt, also urged the public to disregard the activities of some persons whose stock in trade is to cause disaffection in the market.
He said the attention of the association was drawn to the activities of some strange fellows who went about misforming the people about situation in the market, stressing that apart from his association, no other group exists in the market except subdiary unions.
Wobo also tasked the reallocation committee to tread with caution so as to avoid being deceived by any group.
According to him, time has come for the state government to engage in robust discussion with aggrieved shop owners who went to court and those who paid monies to the state coffers and issued with allocation certificates for the overall interest of peace.
He also advised the public to deal directly with his association, stressing that the meeting was to review activities for the last year as well as unveil their new Constitution.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the association, Deacon Kenneth Eze urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to open the phase 2 of the market, as it is long overdue.
Eze who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association also urged the public to do business with only the Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association as it is the only union recognised by the traders.
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has debunked reports linking him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Reacting to the report on his X handle yesterday, following a recent interview with Arise TV, the AfDB boss said his quotes were misrepresented and misinterpreted in several Nigerian media reports.
However, the AfDB president denied the media reports, stating that he never said that he wanted to contest for President.
“A segment of my recent interview on @Arise TV has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, “I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.