Nation
THE STATES
Ekiti
The police have arraigned two men, Sunday Eyinafe, 23 and Adepoju Odunayo, 20, before an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court for alleged assault.
The police prosecutor, Cpl. Curtis Enabulele, told the court that the accused committed the offence on February. 13 at Sabo Area of Ado-Ekiti.
According to him, the accused persons unlawfully assaulted two police officers, Akpamu Nicholas and Faluyi Olalekan, by biting and beating them while performing their official duties.
He alleged that the accused stole one Samsung cell phone worth N21,000 and another item valued at N10,000 belonging to Nicholas.
FCT
The Methodist Archbishop of Abuja, Rev. Chimaroke Iweha, has charged Christians and Muslims to lead godly lives that will impact positively on the society.
Iweha spoke with newsmen last Sunday, in Abuja, after the presentation of the new Abuja Diocesan Lay President of the Church, Mr David Fadairo
Iweha urged adherents of the two faiths to reflect and practise their beliefs and teachings not only in their places of worship but wherever they found themselves.
“Our problem is that we leave God in the Church and our various places of worship, with the feeling that it is the only place we can see God.
Gombe
The Gombe State Government says it will meet the 2015 Millenium Development Goals’ (MDGs) aspirations and the yearnings of the people of the state.
The state Commissioner for Water Resources and Environment, Alhaji Idris Mahadi, said this while speaking to newsmen in Gombe recently.
Mahadi said that the state government had continued to execute projects inherited from the previous administration.
According to him, the state government, in collaboration with the MDGs office, had awarded contracts for the drilling of solar boreholes in over 60 locations in the state.
Jigawa
Alhaji Muhammad Sambo, the Coordinator, National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Jigawa has praised Governor Sule Lamido, for allocating 30 hectares of land to the directorate.
Sambo, who made the commendation in Dutse in an interview with newsmen, said that public works and housing units would be constructed on the 30 hectares land.
He said that the houses would be constructed on a two-bedroom and three-bedroom categories.
The coordinator said that the project would be financed by the Federal Mortgage Bank in collaboration with the directorate.
Kaduna
The Kaduna Agricultural Development programme (KADP) says it has registered more than 687 women groups under the KADP cooperatives project, to address the challenges of food security.
The Head of Women in Agriculture in the KADP, Mrs. Debora Bakut, told newsmen in Kaduna that the cooperative groups were registered to be able to access farm inputs and financial support.
Bakut said the groups were eligible to benefit from both the Federal and State Government soft loans to smallholder farmers and the newly introduced e-wallet fertiliser scheme, to enhance food production.
Katsina
President Goodluck Jonathan has given the assurance that the Federal Government will adequately fund and equip Nigerian universities to meet world standards and enhance development.
Jonathan gave the assurance at the maiden convocation ceremony of Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina.
“Our universities must be equipped and modernised to be able to play their role in nation building and compete with other universities in the world.’’
Jonathan, who was represented by the Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Dutsin-ma, Prof. James Ayatse, said the government planned to establish a research and education network to provide national bandwidth and Internet backbone for universities.
Kwara
The IIorin East Local Government Council in Kwara has commenced the rehabilitation of 20 rural roads to boost socio-economic activities of the area.
The Chairman of the Council, Hajiya Aminat Ishola, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Oke-Oyi, headquarters of the council.
Ishola said that more than 40 per cent of work on the roads spread across the 12 wards of the council had been achieved.
She listed some of the roads as Apado, Iponrin, Maya and Ile-Apa, among others.
She said that some of the groups would also benefit from the Bank of Agriculture loans as well as the World Bank Commercial Agriculture programme in the state.
Lagos
Prof. Nnenna Okore of Arts Department, North Park University, Chicago, USA, said on Sunday that the mindset of Nigerian youths could be changed for the better through creative arts.
Okore, who made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, said that changing the mindset of youths through arts was very vital for the country’s development.
The Professor said that engaging youths to develop their skills through the arts would also promote a better awareness of Nigerian arts internationally.
“It will also improve the level of intellectual pursuit in the visual arts sector.
Niger
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, says the Nigerian Army will establish a “reserve force’’ to be able to respond to emergency situations quickly.
“We want a situation where if there are some emergencies, we will have a force we can just call upon and immediately there will be response, whether the emergency is internal or external,’’ Ihejirika told newsmen in Kontagora.
“About 600 of the 2,904 soldiers who just graduated from the basic counter terrorism course at the Nigerian Army Training Centre in Kontagora will form the basis of the reserve force.
Osun
The Public Affairs Manager, Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Osogbo Business Unit, Mr Timothy Adesanya has said that there is adequate power supply in the area.
Adesanya told newsmen in an interview recently that the allegation in some quarters that there was a drop in power supply in the Osun State capital was not true.
He explained that the company was working hard to ensure there was stable supply of electricity across the country.
He said, “such an allegation that there is a decline in the supply of electricity in Osogbo as far as I am concerned is spurious and it is not objective in any way”.
Plateau
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau has tasked its youth wing to embrace democratic ideals and also keep abreast of developments so as to remain relevant.
The state Assistant Organising Secretary of the party, told some youths in Jos that they must seek out and understand what was expected of them as key vanguards of the party.
“The party undergoes all kinds of reforms on a daily basis and it is incumbent on all of you to be in tune with the changes.
“You must also get the party’s constitution so as to know the roles assigned to the local, state and federal levels,’’ he said.
Zamfara
The Zamfara House of Assembly has urged the state government to reconstruct the Birnin-Magaji road connecting Magami-Gabake road to Mesa-Teke and Barkeji and terminating at Zurmi.
The House passed the resolution following the motion by Alhaji Rufai Chiroma (Kaura-Namoda north), saying the people of the area had suffered a lot due to the poor condition of the road.
Chiroma further noted that farmers and business men in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area could hardly carry out their activities during rainy season owing to difficulty in transporting their goods and services.
He said that the roads were not motorable and that movement from Kaura Namoda to Zurmi as well as Birnin-Magajii local government areas for economic activities was almost impossible during the rainy season.
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.