Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
Adamawa Deputy Governor James Ngillari said on Friday that 504 prospective Christian pilgrims from the state were set to perform the 2012 pilgrimage in Israel.
Ngillari stated this at the orientation and farewell service for the intending pilgrims at the Church of Brethren in Nigeria, EYN, in Yola.
The deputy governor, who is also the leader of the state government’s delegation, called on the prospective pilgrims to consider their journey as a religious obligation.
“I call on the intending pilgrims to marry what they have read from the Bible and what is obtaining at the religious site,” Ngillari said.
Ekiti
The Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, last Friday ordered the release of 27 inmates who have been on awaiting trial list for a long time.
He gave the order during an official visit to Ado-Ekiti Federal Prison in Ado-Ekiti.
Daramola, who also granted bail to seven inmates, expressed dismay at the congestion in cells in the state.
He criticised the inadequate facilities in all the prisons.
“Today we have attended to 292 cases awaiting trial; 27 were released outright and seven others were granted bail, based on unfounded claim of offence, health condition and long stay in detention without any evidence to try them,’’ Daramola said.
FCT
President Goodluck Jonathan has commiserated with the family of the former Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Archbishop Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye, who died early last Friday.
Jonanthan also sent his message of condolence on the death of the patriarch to the Anglican Communion.
In a condolence message, signed by Dr Reuben Abati, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, the President described late Adetiloye as a great man of God who would be missed, not only by members of the Anglican Communion, but all Nigerians.
Jonathan said that Adetiloye would be long remembered for his zeal and passion for evangelism and planting of churches and his interest in not only the spiritual life of church members but also their education, health and economic well-being.
Jigawa
The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said last Friday it arrested 30 alien herbal drug hawkers in Dutse, the Jigawa capital.
The Director of the agency in the state, Mr Kenneth Azikwe, told newsmen in Dutse that the drug hawkers were arrested with support from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
“In recent times, foreign nationals have been coming to Jigawa State to hawk herbal drugs; my men, in collaboration with the immigration service, have cleared all of them away and those herbal drug dealers from outside Nigeria are no longer there.
“And even the drug dealers that relocated to Dutse because of the clampdown on them in Kano, have been cleared; so Jigawa Dtate is free of drug hawkers.
Kaduna
Alhaji Kabir Shema, a junior brother to Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State is dead.
The Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor on Press Matters, Alhaji Abdulhamid Danjuma, said in Katsina that the deceased died at Katsina General Hospital last Thursday night at the age of 46, after a brief illness.
Until his death, he said, Kabir was a staff of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Katsina State Command.
He said Kabir had since been buried in Katsina town in accordance with Islamic injunctions, and that he was survived by one wife and four children.
Kano
Kano-based business mogul, Aliko Dangote, has pledged support for Kano State Government in health, education and other sectors.
Dangote made the pledge while launching the polio immunisation in Kano where he personally vaccinated his granddaughter.
He said it was “indeed very embarrassing” that Nigeria was still one of the three countries with persistence of polio virus.
“It is a point of concern to us because the other two countries still having the virus are war zones. That is Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Dangote said.
Kebbi
Health officials in Birnin Kebbi Local Government and Ambursa /Kardi Development Area in Kebbi State said they discovered 37 fresh cases of measles in rural communities.
The discovery came two weeks after seven children died of the disease.
The Director of Health in the area, Malam Yusuf Sani, told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi that the disease was discovered in Runtuwa,Gawasu in Ambursa/Kardi development area.
He said treatment and isolation of the affected children as well as provision of drugs had begun.
Kwara
An Islamic Scholar, Sheik AbdulAzeez Shitu, on Saturday said the adoption of the death penalty by the National Assembly would be helpful in fighting terrorism and kidnapping in Nigeria.
Shittu told newsmen in Omu-Aran, Kwara, that the adoption was a bold step and commitment by the assembly in curtailing the menace of terrorism and kidnapping.
Shittu who is also the chief missioner of the Islamic Development Association (IDYON), observed that terrorism and kidnapping had done much to damage the image of the country.
“It is not enough for the two arms of the National Assembly to adopt the bill on death penalty for the act of terrorism, kidnapping and other related offences.
Lagos
The late Abiodun Adetiloye, the second Archbishop and Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), was a faultless and humble Nigerian, some clerics said in Lagos.
The clerics made the submission in separate interviews with newsmen on the death of Adetiloye.
The late primate died at 1.30 a.m last Friday, few days to his 83rd birthday at Odo-Owa, his country home in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti.
Rev. Femi Asiwaju, Vice-President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Lagos State Chapter, expressed surprise over the death of Adetiloye, saying he would be fondly missed by Nigerians.
Niger
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State Saturday inaugurated the state’s chapter of the Association of Jerusalem Pilgrims, charging the body to bring peace and development to Niger.
Aliyu made the call in Minna after inaugurating the association and receiving an award from the state’s chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for contributing positively to the Christian Community in Nigeria.
He urged Jerusalem Pilgrims to use the teaching of Jesus Christ to bring peace and development to the state.
“If you go on pilgrimage no matter your sins or bad ways when you come back we expect you to be a better person in your family and the society at large.
Ogun
The Ogun House of Assembly on Friday urged the Ministry of Education to provide resources for the building of model schools and maintenance of existing ones.
The Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Mr Olusola Bankole, made the call in Abeokuta at the ministry’s defence of its 2013 budgets before the committee.
Bankole said government needed to renovate some schools in the state and build new ones.
The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Segun Odubela said the ministry planned to generate N293 million as revenue in 2013 and that N8.4 billion had been budgeted as total expenditure.
Oyo
British American Tobacco (BAT) Nigeria said that the company would continue to support Federal Government’s initiative on the promotion of agriculture through the provision of strategic inputs.
The Demand Chain General Manager of the company, West Africa Area, Mr Hugo Norman, gave the assurance on Friday during the company’s scholarship award ceremony in Ibadan.
Norman, who stressed the need for stakeholders to support government’s effort to restore agriculture to its leading position as a critical sector, said time had come for subsistence farms to expand into large scale mechanised ones.
This, he explained, would enable agriculture practitioners to design and implement sustainable methods that would revolutionise the sector.
Plateau
Plateau Government and a Brazilian firm, EBS Fedeta de Fedates, State on Friday signed a Memoranda of Understanding for the establishment of a cassava processing factory in the state.
Gov. Jonah Jang signed on behalf of the state government, while the President of EBS Fedeta de Fedetes, Mr Waldfried Schurt, signed for the firm.
Jang said agreement was a dream come true for the state as it would stimulate economic growth in the state.
The governor said the state produced large quantities of cassava, yam and potatoes which would be used by the factory to boost the revenue base of the state.
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.