Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
The Adamawa State Government said last Tuesday it had
employed more than 13,000 teachers to boost secondary school education in the state.
The state Commissioner for Education, Mr Gabriel Hamman-Adama, said in Yola that the measure was to address the problem of inadequate teachers and to enhance the quality of education at the schools.
On the issue of non payment of some of the teachers salaries for months, the commissioner blamed the delay on non compliance with due process.
“The affected teachers were employed and posted to schools without following the necessary due process of their data being captured in computer due to some unforeseen circumstances, he said.
Benue
The Benue State Commissioner for Education, Dr Elizabeth
Ugo, announced last Monday that the State Government had closed down three colleges of education for poor staffing and infrastructure.
Ugo, who made the announcement in Makurdi at a news conference on the activities of the ministry, named the colleges as Emmanuel Ebije Ikwe College of Education, Otukpa, Ityiav-Gar College of Education, Mkar and Malamin College of Education, Gboko.
The commissioner regretted that the schools were being managed solely for commercial gain noting that the standard of the colleges had fallen below the expectations of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).
She said the closure of the schools was to ensure that tertiary institutions in the state complied with the minimum requirements of the NCCE.
Borno
The Public Complaints Commission (PCC) last Tuesday
said restriction of movement in some areas in Borno had hindered effective resolution of cases filed by the public.
PCC Director of Investigation in Borno, Malam Muhammad Kyauta, said in an interview in Maiduguri, that only 24 out of the 128 cases recorded in the state had been resolved so far this year, due to the situation, while 104 cases were still pending.
The director said some of the cases were on delay in payment of gratuities and wrongful termination of appointments.
Others include seizure of lands by traditional rulers and non refund of contributions to retiring civil servants by national funds such as the National Housing Funds (NHF).
FCT
The Federal Government said last Monday that it reduced
debts owed marketers on oil subsidy from N2.2 trillion in 2011 to N971 billion in 2012.
A statement issued from the office of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in Abuja signed by the minister’s spokesman, Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, said the amount represented a reduction of over N1.2 trillion or 56 per cent of the total sum.
It said the Federal Ministry of Finance had released N46. 76 billion as latest payment to oil marketers whose claims had been verified.
The statement said that the latest payment brought the total verified claims paid to marketers so far in 2013 to N287. 35 billion.
Jigawa
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in
Jigawa State said last Monday it arrested two men for allegedly stealing building materials.
Commandant of the corps in the state, Mr Muhammad Gidado, said that the suspects were arrested in Dutse Local Government Area.
He said the suspects were arrested after the owner of the house lodged a complaint with the command that they stole the building materials in his house at Fagoji quarters.
Gidado said the materials included 20 pieces of roofing zinc, 17 bags of cement, shovel, digger and hammer.
He said the suspects confessed to committing the offence and would soon be charged to court.
Kano
The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in Kano State last
Tuesday called for the termination of the contract for the rehabilitation of Kano-Gwarzo road.
The rehabilitation work is being carried out by an indigenous construction firm, Muslac Techno Company limited.
FERMA Engineer in the state, Mr Michael Akuyo, who made the call in an interview in Kano said the agency found it necessary to seek for the immediate revocation of the contract because the contractor had failed to execute the work as expected.
According to him, the agency has written to the contractor early this year, threatening to terminate the contract before he moved back to site after abandoning the work.
He said the contract, which should have been completed in December 2012, had to be extended.
Kogi
Chairman, Ofu Local Government Council in Kogi State, Mr Isah
Ameh, has called on traditional rulers and faith-based organisations (FBOs) in the area, to be involved in the campaign against the spread of HIV and AIDS.
He made call lastMonday in Ugwolawo at a one-day sensitisation workshop on the control of HIV/AIDs, organised by the Local Government Action Committee for the Control of AIDS (LACA), for traditional rulers, faith based organisations and officials of the council.
Ameh, represented by the Vice Chairman of the Council , Dr Friday Alih, described HIV and AIDS as a “national problem which must be tackled with all seriousness in view of its devastating effect.’’
He assured that the council would support Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) with human and material resources and urged traditional and religious leaders, to sensitise their followers on how to curtail the spread of the disease.
Kwara
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State last Monday in Ilorin
flagged off disbursement of N3 billion car loans to civil servants and teachers in the state.
Speaking at the presentation of cheques to some civil servants, the governor said that about 5, 000 government workers were expected to benefit from the loan scheme.
He said the number included staff members of the Teaching Service Commission, State Universal Basic Education Board and local government areas.
The governor said artisans and transport workers in the state would receive N100 million each for their members, adding that the loans would be managed by First Bank Plc.
Lagos
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State last Monday backed
the concept of plea bargain in the nation’s justice system, saying it has helped in the speedy conclusion of cases.
At a special service marking the commencement of the 2013/2014 Legal Year of the state’s judiciary, the governor, who was represented by Mr Ade Ipaye, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, said plea bargain which should be sustained had helped to decongest the prisons.
Delivering a lecture Prof. Tajudeen Gbadamosi National Education Secretary, Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, advised them not to allow selfish interests to interfere in the dispensation of justice.
Earlier at a church service, the Most Revd Adedayo Akinde, the Archbishop of Lagos Province, Anglican Communion, urged judges to shun corruption.
Plateau
The Plateau State Government said it had earmarked
about N600 million, in conjunction with its local councils, for two immunisation programmes in the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Fom Dakwak, announced this while addressing newsmen in Jos after the State Executive Council meeting, last Monday.
Dakwak said: “ The immunisations, which are national exercises, are very important to the people of the state. The state and local governments have put together more than N600 million for the two exercises.’’
According to him, the immunisation against measles will take place between Oct. 5 and Oct. 9 and will be for children of between the ages of one month and five years.
“We also have a very important immunisation against meningitis now that the dry season is setting in and the weather is getting hot. “It will come up from November 2 to November 11 and would be for the children of ages of one to 29 years,’’ he said.
Sokoto
The Sokoto State Government said it would spend N120
million on the renovation of structures at Army Day Secondary School, Sokoto.
The Commissioner for Education, Malam Danladi Bako, said in an interview last Monday in Sokoto that the government was embarking on the project as part of its efforts to provide environment conducive to teaching and learning in all schools across the state.
He listed the structures to be renovated in the school to include: classrooms, offices and perimeter fencing, among others.
“The renovation is in line with our efforts to provide environment conducive to working for both the teachers and students in the school,” he said.
Bako pledged that government would accord priority to education.
“The only legacy any responsible government can leave behind for the future generation is sound education,’’ he said.
Zamfara
Governor Abdulazez Yari of Zamfara State last Mon
day said gunmen had killed 160 people and abducted 10 married women in different villages of the state in the last three months.
Yari who made the disclosure when he addressed members of the House Assembly on security situation in the state in Gusau, said the situation had caused disaffection between residents of the affected villages and the state government.
The governor said the hoodlums, who continued to terrorise villages in parts of the state, stole no fewer than 6,000 cows and 4,000 sheep within the period.
The Speaker of the house, Alhaji Sanusi Rikijin, assured the governor of the assembly’s support.
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.