Bauchi

The Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), has urged the Federal Government to punish perpetrators of the Plateau crisis and other crisis in the country.

This is contained in a communique issued at the end of the first quarter meeting of the council held in Bauchi, Friday.

It sated that punishing the perpetrators, promoters and facilitators of the crisis would serve as deterrent to others.

The council urged government to compensate victims of crisis and other disturbances to enable them to mitigate the effects of their losses.

It also resolved to “caution reckless religious preachers who conduct inciting sermons without regard to the feelings of others and therefore fan the embers of religious misunderstanding and disturbances.”

Damaturu

The Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Adamu Waziri, says the new concept of community policing will drastically reduce crime rate in the society.

He told newsmen in Damaturu that the concept would be all inclusive with crucial roles for every member of the community to play in maintaining peace.

He explained that the system afforded the community the opportunity of checking the activities of the police too.

“It is a system where everyone will be a stakeholder in maintenance of law and order.”

The minister said there would be massive transformation in the police with improved commitment to providing security to lives and property.  

He noted that the police was making efforts to face the challenges of the 2011 elections.

FCT

The Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) on Friday in Abuja expressed displeasure over the demolition of the 500 year-old Kofar Na’isa Gate by the Kano State Government.

Mr Umaru Aliyu, the President of ARCON, made the council’s feelings known while speaking with newsmen on the sideline of this year’s “Architects Colloquium.

The gate was demolished last week by a construction firm to pave way for the expansion of a state road, which leads to the Emir’s Palace.

It would be recalled that during the reign of Sarki Gijimasu, a 17-km perimeter fortress was built around Kano City (the old city) with Kofar Na’isa Gate as the main gate leading to it.

According to a Kano-based historian, Alhaji Maje Gwangwazo, Kofar Na’isa means “I can do it or I can prove my mettle’’.

Ibadan

 Sports enthusiasts and other eminent Nigerians on Thursday showered encomiums on the late Vice-Chairman of the defunct Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Chief Nathaniel Idowu.

At the wake-keep ceremony, which drew a large crowd at his Iyaganku GRA residence in Ibadan, Idowu’s death was described as not only a loss to Oyo State, but also to the whole country.

Idowu, a renowned sports financier, died at Cromwell Hospital, London on February 20 at the age of 75.

Popularly called “Okanlomo of Ibadanland,’’ the late Idowu was until his death, an industrialist and sports financier.

He was also a staunch supporter of the Super Eagles and the national female teams.

The deceased was particularly noted for his annual sponsorship of the N. O. Idowu Under-18 soccer competition.

Ilorin

The Kwara Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board said more than 1,000 people from the state had obtained forms for this year’s pilgrimage.

The board’s Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Abdulhameed, who said this in an interview with newsmen in Ilorin on Friday, added that the board would ensure a hitch-free Hajj.

Abdulhameed urged the intending pilgrims to pay up the N400,000 deposit on time.

“We started selling the forms more than a month ago and we are now in April. We don’t have enough time left because we have to start making preparations, so people should pay up in good time,” he said.

The chairman explained that the N400,000 was arrived at as a fair deposit because about N360,000 would be remitted to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in Abuja.

Jos

 The Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Aladesanmi, has advocated regular exchange of visits among royal fathers in order to build bridges of unity across the country.

Ewi, who spoke when he visited the Gbong Gwom Jos, Jacob Buba,  in Jos on Thursday, said  traditional rulers must work together to ensure Nigeria did not become a failed state.

He said traditional rulers, as custodians of the people’s culture, should always live up to the expectations of their subjects in times of crisis.

“We need to encourage regular visits among ourselves at the royal fathers’ level so that we can build the bridge of friendship and unity across the country.

“ This is what we can do to move this country forward.

“It is only when we the royal fathers work together as one that this country can be peaceful, progressive and be secured for all.

Kaduna

Alhaji Ibrahim Bio, the Minister of Sports and Chairman, National Sports Commission (NSC), said the commission would offer scholarships to deserving athletes.

Bio made the pledge in Kaduna at the closing ceremony of the first underage championship organised by the commission.

The championship was held at two venues, Kaduna and Ibadan between April 17 and April 22. The six geo-political zones participated in the competition, which featured Taekwondo, Athletics and Boxing.

He said the award of scholarships was to promote the overall development of the athletes.

“The National Sports Commission will take over the training programmes of the athletes and ensure the provision of qualitative education through the award of scholarships to  them to ensure their all round development,” he said.

Katsina

 The Katsina State Government will spend N68 million to address the perennial flooding in Malumfashi, an official has said.

Mr Danjuma Alti, the Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Works and Housing, disclosed this in Malumfashi on Friday in an interview with newsmen.

Alti said government had constructed a drains protector in Malunfashi and was constructing a canal outside the town to divert the ‘Asha da lafiya’ stream which always wreaked havoc in the area.

He noted that when the canal project, which would cost the state N68 million was completed, the entire water of the Malumfashi stream that passed through the town would flow outside it so that the flood would be avoided.

The permanent secretary disclosed that the canal project, which comprised two box-bridges, was awarded to the Boriri Prono company and would be completed before the rains set in.

In May 2009, three people died, 450 houses were destroyed and many families rendered homeless in Malumfash as a result of  flooding.

Lagos

 The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, says the new oil industry local content bill just signed into law will generate about 30,000 jobs in five years.

She made the assertion on Friday in Lagos in a statement released by Mr Levi Ajuonuma, the Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The statement quoted the minister as saying that the law had far-reaching implications for the issues of technological advancement and long-term cost effectiveness.

She said the law would take care of post amnesty programmes in the Niger Delta and improve the impact of the oil and gas industry on the nation’s GDP. 

Alison-Madueke said the law would transform the industry from a major importer of goods and services to an industry “that sources a substantial proportion of its inputs locally”.

Our correspondent reports that the bill was signed into law on April 22 by the Acting President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, alongside the nation’s N4.6 trillion budget for 2010.

Sokoto

Kebbe Local Government Council in Sokoto State has embarked on developmental projects that would gulp N287.4 million, its Chairman, Alhaji Bala Kokani, said.

Kokani disclosed this on Friday in Kebbe, headquarters of the local government when  a team of journalists under the auspices of the state council of the NUJ visited the area as part of the monitoring of projects across the state.

The chairman said 40 per cent of the total amount had since been paid to the various contractors as mobilisation fees and listed the projects to include 10 solar powered boreholes which would cost about N 100.74 million.

The boreholes, he added would be located in Dukura, Gaddace, Guru, Tungar-Lambo, Kuchi, Gurundi, Indare, Tune, Fakku  and Runtuya-Yamma.

He explained that N99.07 million would be spent in the construction of 10 upgraded dispensaries in Sangi, Arusaya, Gadace, Karma, Nasagudu, Ungushi, Umbutu, Fakku, Dukura and Girkau.