Nation
THE STATES
L-R: Former Governor Of Bauchi State,Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, Bauchi State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hajia Amina Katagum, Vice President Namadi Sambo and Governor Isa Yuguda, during the inauguration of fertilizer blending company in Bauchi last Saturday.
Borno
The Nigerian Army says it has destroyed two
suspected operational vehicles of the Boko Haram sect in the ongoing operations in Maiduguri.
The spokesman of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Lt.-Col. Mohammed Dole, announced this in a statement.
Dole said that the destruction was to clear the insurgents terrorising motorists on high ways in Borno State.
“We have been able to identify camps used by the terrorists in planning attacks against motorists and innocent villagers in Kaga Local Government Area of the state.
Ekiti
A 31-year-old man, Joseph Idowu, has divorced his
wife, Omolara, for insulting his landlord.
Idowu had filed a suit before an Ikole Customary Court in Ekiti on August 31, seeking the dissolution of his five-year-old “mere association“, which was blessed with two children.
The plaintiff told the court that Omolara insulted his landlord when he was trying to settle a dispute between the couple, and later moved out of his house because she got annoyed for being corrected.
The woman, who denied the allegation, gave her evidence on oath to the effect that she did not insult their landlord.
Kaduna
The Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, Alhaji
Usman Tahir, has constituted a seven-man adhoc committee to investigate alleged abuse of recruitment guidelines by the Zaria District office of Nigeria Railway Corporations (NRC).
The investigation was prompted by a motion moved on the floor of the assembly by Alhaji Yakubu Soja (APC-Zaria Kewaye) on alleged abuses in the recruitment of junior staff on grade levels 01-06 by the district office.
According to him, the recruitment violated the provisions of the Federal Civil Service, which provided that such vacancies be filled by applicants where the government offices were located.
Soja informed the members that applicants from Zaria district of the NRC had been sidelined from the exercise.
Katsina
The Katsina State Government has approved N159
million for the repairs of all damaged rural electrification projects across the state.
The General Manager of the state Rural Electrification Board (REB), Alhaji Abdullahi Tanwa, disclosed this at a press briefing in Katsina.
Tanwa said the resolution for the repairs of the projects followed Governor Ibrahim Shema’s directive to that effect, adding that it was to enhance power supply to rural areas.
According to him, some of the rural power installations were damaged by windstorms and car accidents, while “others were vandalised or stolen by unscrupulous persons”.
Kebbi
The National Association of Fish Farmers in Kebbi
State has started updating the database of its members as it gets set to provide soft loans and equipment to them.
Its Chairman, Alhaji Hussaini Raha, told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi that the database would enable the association to obtain loan from a bank so as to expand the scope of fish farming in the state.
Raha said the association has 2,145 major fish pond owners located in Argungu, Birnin Kebbi, Bunza, Bagudo, Shanga, Yauri and Ngaski local government areas that have high production of tilapia and cat fish.
He said there were 4,000 artisans and 300 cooperative societies registered under the association.
Jigawa
The Jigawa State Government has earmarked about
N2 billion for the construction and renovation of schools in the state.
A permanent member of the state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Bala Ahmad, made this known during the award of the contract in Dutse.
Ahmad said that the projects would cover Early Child Care, Primary and Secondary Schools, and would be funded under the 2012/2013 Universal Basic Education Commission intervention fund.
He said the projects were meant to provide conducive environment for teaching and learning in the schools.
Lagos
Two sales assistants were charged before an Igbosere
Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, over alleged theft of their employer’s goods valued at N469,500.
The accused — Isaiah Uduak, 19, and Esther James, 37 — whose addresses are unknown, are standing trial on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, receiving of stolen money and theft.
The duo pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
But the prosecutor, Cpl. Okete Ejime, told the court that the accused committed the offences sometime between August and September at House L10, Road 13, Close 16, Victoria Garden City Estate, Lagos.
Nasarawa
The Nasarawa State Government has granted pardon to
three prisoners serving various jail terms in the state.
Notice of the pardon is contained in a statement issued by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Innocent Lagi, in Lafia.
The statement quoted the attorney general as saying the inmates were freed from the Lafia, Nasarawa and Wamba prisons respectively.
Lagi noted that the government pardon was in accordance with Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
Ogun
The Ogun Commissioner for Forestry, Mr Ayo Olubori,
in Abeokuta said the ministry had generated N116.6 million between January and June of this year.
Olubori said this when members of the state House of Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Forestry paid an oversight visit to the ministry.
“The ministry, however, generated this figure out of the N375 million proposed for the same period,’’ he said.
The commissioner further said the ministry raised 450,000 tree seedlings of various species between January and April.
Osun
The Osun State House of Assembly says the 2013
budget performance by ministries, agencies and parastatals of the state government is “below average’’.
The House Committee Chairman on Finance and Appropriation, Mr Kamil Oyedele, made the observation when the budget and planning office of the governor presented budget performance of the organisations between January and September.
Oyedele said the statistics given by the budget office showed that the 2013 was “poorly implemented”.
He said it was time for the organisations to buckle up and be more aggressive, to generate revenues for effective implementation of the budget.
Oyo
The wife of the Oyo State Commandant of the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mrs Foluke Obafaiye, has described the home as the bedrock of peace.
She spoke in Ibadan while inaugurating the state’s chapter of the Civil Defence Officers Wives Association (CDOWA) at the command’s headquarters.
According to Obafaiye, the choice of CDOWA’s motto, “Peace at Home; Peace in the Nation,” showed the importance attached to peace at home.
“Peace is associated with growth and development in any society, but before the society knows peace at all, the home is the starting point.
Yobe
The Yobe State Government has inaugurated trucks and
equipment worth N361 million procured for the construction of roads through direct labour in the state..
Gov. Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, who inaugurated the equipment in Damaturu, said it would be used for the construction of short roads linking villages and towns.
He said the direct labour programme would hasten execution of road projects and save cost.
Gaidam expressed satisfaction with the quality of the equipment saying, there is value for money in the machines.
Zamfara
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Zamfara State
has dewormed 102 children of Gusau Orphanage Home as part of activities marking its 2013 Physicians’ Week.
The Chairman, Dr Sunday Onazi, said the exercise was aimed at ensuring that the inmates lived a healthy life.
He pointed out that it was important to deworm children regularly to protect them against malnutrition.
“If worms are allowed to grow in children, they would eat up most of the important nutrients in their body and then diseases such as malnutrition will take over.”
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project(HYPREP) has inducted and given orientation to 100 Ogoni youths for training on Creative Arts. The beneficiaries were drawn from Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
The induction and orientation ceremony, which took place at the CRAB of the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt on Wednesday, was a prelude to the training proper, billed to commence next Tuesday.
As usual, HYPREP issued undertaking forms to the trainees, for them to complete and submit as a guarantee that they would subject themselves to the requirements of the programme as well as be of good behaviour throughout the four-month duration of the training.
HYPREP also announced that it would pay N150,000 to each of the beneficiaries monthly, as transport and feeding allowance, stressing, however, that only those who fully participate in the training would be entitled for the allowance.
Speaking at the event, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, welcomed the trainees to the programme, saying, HYPREP’s projects are evolving and that one thing that is happening today is that the Project has gotten leadership right, by making promises and keeping those promises.
According to him, the Project had equally promised to move away from rudimentary skills acquisition to high impacts acquisition levels, which it has kept today by sponsoring the training on Creative Arts.
He noted that in planning its livelihood programmes for Ogoni youths, HYPREP has taken time out to look for skills that would add value to the lives of the beneficiaries.
Zabbey, who was represented at the event by the Director of Technical Services, Prof Damian-Paul Aguiyi said by packaging the Creative Arts training, it was expected that the Ogoni people would have their own version of Nollywood known as Ogoniwood just as Nigerians are familiar with Hollywood, Bollywood, Kannywood and Nollywood.
To achieve this goal, the Project Coordinator explained that it was the reason for choosing a reputable establishment like Halibiz Consult Limited, to partner with the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt, which he described as one of the most prestigious in the Niger Delta, for the training of the beneficiaries.
He also indicated that in doing this, HYPREP was desirous of going for talents that would help the Ogoni people grow in the film industry, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously.
Zabbey equally enjoined the trainees to put in their best so that in the next three to five years, they would carve a niche for themselves and become forces to reckon with in the film industry.
On her part, HYPREP’s Head of Sustainable Livelihood, Mrs Josephine Nzidee said HYPREP does what it says it will, stressing that the process of training Ogoni youths on specialised skills started three years ago.
According to her, the selection process for the training was rigorous and transparent, and was carried out by renowned actors actresses.
She disclosed that the training consists of three major aspects, which include acting, script writing and make-up, while Nollywood actors like Charles Nnoje, Ngezu J. Ngezu and award-winning make-up artist, Jude Odo would be on hand to drill and groom the beneficiaries.
Mrs Nzidee noted that the programme is a specialised training that does not have anything like starter packs but that it is purely a professional certification programme that would launch the beneficiaries into the Nollywood industry in Nigeria.
According to her, the Creative Arts training is one of the four specialised trainings organised by HYPREP to ensure that the Ogoni people are well positioned in vital industries like Aviation, Maritime, Creative Arts and Mechatronics.
She said the last of such trainings on Mechatronics would take place in the coming months, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously so as to put the Ogoni people on the Nollywood map.
She further indicated that while Charles Nnoje and Ngezu J. Ngezu would take the beneficiaries on the practical aspects, Jude Odo would take them on the make-up aspects.
Also speaking, the External Relations Manager of Halibiz Consult Limited, Alabo Experience Douglas said his company gives much premium to standard and quality, and assured that the firm would give the trainees value for the money spent on the programme.
While charging the beneficiaries to be dedicated and punctual, he stressed the need for them to approach the programme with the mindset of being empty so that at the end of the day, they would benefit maximally.
On his part, the Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Port Harcourt, Dr Ovunda Ihunwo said the CRAB is an acronym for Creative Review of Arts and Books, stressing that it was named by renowned playwright, Prof Ola Rotimi.
According to him, the CRAB had nurtured, groomed and produced Nollywood actors and actresses like Bobmanuel Udokwu, Ejike Asiegbu,Francis Duru, Hilda Dokubo, Monalisa Chinda, Julius Agwu, and a host of others, assuring the beneficiaries that they were on fertile environment to hone their talents.
He noted that symbolically, the crab is a nutritious seafood common in the Niger Delta, and reiterated the need for the beneficiaries to come empty for the training, as it were.
Ihunwo disclosed that the theory classes of the programme would run for three weeks while the fourth week would be for the master classes, and urged the trainees to avail themselves of the opportunity to make a difference by telling the Ogoni story, which he described as inexhaustible by themselves, in order to put Ogoni on the map.
A 23-year-old student of Nasarawa State University identified as Jatau Rilokwah, has been reportedly found dead in the university’s senior staff quarters.
A counter-insurgency expert, focused on the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed this on his X handle on Tuesday.
According to him, the discovery was made on April 27, 2025, by a security officer at the university, Emmanuel Gyawo.
He stated that Gwayo was directed by Prof. Shedrack Jatau to check on his son upon arriving at the residence, and he found Rilokwah hanging from the ceiling.
“Professor Jatau, who was reportedly out of the State at the time, was informed of the incident. A team of police detectives, led by the Divisional Crime Officer of Angwan Lambu, was dispatched to the scene.
“The body showed no signs of violence, and no suicide note was found. Rilokwah was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi, where he was confirmed dead by a medical doctor,” he further stated.
He added that the student’s corpse had been deposited in the hospital morgue.
He also quoted police sources as saying that investigations were ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Ogun State Government has partnered with Nike Art Gallery to establish a new exhibition space at the Olumo Rock Tourist Centre in Abeokuta, a move Governor Dapo Abiodun says is aimed at boosting annual tourist visits from 20,000 to over 100,000.
Abiodun disclosed the plan on Wednesday while receiving the founder of the Nike Art Gallery, Chief (Mrs) Nike Davies-Okundaye, at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
“I went to Olumo Rock about a month ago and I decided that we needed to do something about restoring Olumo Rock to its old glory. From statistics, Olumo Rock hosts about 20,000 people a year in its current state, and I felt that we could increase that to at least ten times,” the governor said.
As part of the plan, an events hall within the tourist centre will be repurposed as a permanent gallery operated by Nike Art Gallery.
“I told them to shut it down. Practically, we want to bring it down and turn it into a gallery for you to use as an exhibition gallery,” he told Davies-Okundaye.
He added that the gallery will be ready before the National Sports Festival in May, when the State will host about 15,000 visitors.
“I want them to be able to see our tourist sites,” he said, listing attractions such as the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, the Ransome-Kuti family home, and the Adire market among key heritage spots to be showcased.
Highlighting Ogun’s improved infrastructure, the governor said, “Now that we’ve succeeded in having the intra and inter-state roads in place, you can come to Ogun State by rail; you can come by air. We’ve constructed one of the best airports in Nigeria, and very soon, you will be able to come by sea.”
Davies-Okundaye, in her remarks, praised the state’s efforts to promote tourism and pledged to use the new gallery to attract global attention.
“This gallery will bring many Heads of State. The one I opened in Abuja already has more than 10 Heads of State, including those from South Korea and the Czech Republic. The same will happen here,” she said.
She also applauded the Governor for his commitment to the Adire fabric industry.
“Adire is all over Nigeria, but Ogun has been promoting Adire for over 50 years. Today, the only cloth we can call our own is called Adire. This is what we can sell to the Europeans,” she said.
Abiodun reaffirmed his administration’s backing of the Adire industry, citing policies such as the Adire Ogun Digital Marketplace, compulsory wearing of Adire in the state, and provision of solar-powered production equipment to support artisans.
He also revealed plans to open a creative arts and entertainment village in partnership with Bolanle Austen-Peters, expected to be completed within two months.