Nation
THE STATES
Borno
Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, has called on local government chairmen in the state to do all within their powers to protect government property in their domain against attacks by Boko Haram.
Speaking, when he visited the Pivot Irrigation project in Konduga, Yumirgo and Gora in the Askira -Uba and Shani Council Areas, the governor charged the 27 caretaker council chairmen in the state to provide security operatives, especially police, civil defence corps and vigilante groups to man all the ongoing and completed projects in their domains.
He disclosed that most attacks on public infrastructure in the state were done by the opposition, stressing that government would not fold its hands and watch.
FCT
An Abuja Senior Magistrates’ Court last Thursday issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a 38-year-old woman, Safiya Ahamed and her 19-year-old son, Aminu Mohammed for jumping bail.
The two are facing a four-count charge of joint act, criminal force, assault and battery in a case now in its second year.
The accused are alleged to have beaten up their neighbour, Miss Vivian Ani, at their residence at No. 11, Carnival Street, Jikwoyi Phase 1, Abuja, sometime in October 2011.
Senior Magistrate Celestine Odo issued the warrant after the accused failed to appear in court either in person or by proxies for the third time in violation of their bail terms.
Gombe
The National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) is to distribute nine million Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN) in three states of the federation for the control of malaria.
The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of the NMCP, Mrs. Bilhatu Jarmai, made this known to newsmen in Gombe last Thursday.
Jarmai, who is also the Nigerian Inter-Faith Action Association (NIFAA) Focal Person for Malaria, said the nets would be distributed in March in Kogi, Osun and Delta States.
According to her, those states did not get the nets when they were distributed.
Jigawa
Jigawa State Polytechnic last Thursday matriculated 1, 366 students for the 2012/2013 academic session.
The Rector of the Polytechnic, Prof. Garba Goje, urged the new students to be dedicated to their studies and be obedient to the school’s Authority.
Garba warned that any student that was not serious with his studies would be shown the way out of the institution.
He said that the matriculation was designed to welcome new students to the institution as well as to tell them the rules and regulation of the school.
Kano
The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, has returned to Kano from the routine medical checkup in the United Kingdom.
Our sources said that the Emir arrived at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on board an aircraft around 7 pm.
Bayero was received on arrival at the Airport by retired Brig.-Gen. Idris Danbazau, the state Commissioner for Special Duties, and other top government officials.
Others who were at the airport were members of the Emirate Council and traditional rulers from the 44 Local Government areas of the state.
Kaduna
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) last Thursday educated cattle breeders on the need to observe safety and road signs to prevent road crashes.
Our sources said that members of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), the Ministry of Agriculture, and other stakeholders participated in the one-day safety awareness forum.
The Kaduna Sector Commander of FRSC, Corps Commander Olumide Olagunju, said the forum was held to educate Fulani cattle rearers on the need to imbibe the culture of safe road use.
Kogi
A Deputy Political Editor with the Guardian Newspaper, Mr. John Ogbodo, was last Thursday killed in a ghastly motor accident on the Ajaokuta-Anyigba Road in Kogi State.
Ogbodo was travelling in a Siena Space Wagon bus with four other journalists when the accident occurred.
According to reports, the journalists were travelling to Awka, Anambra, to cover the convocation lecture of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University scheduled to be delivered by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ikweremadu.
The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr. Garba Mohammed, who confirmed the incident, said the accident occurred at Achijili village, near Ayingba.
Katsina
The annual Katsina State Agricultural Show has been re-introduced after 21 years, the Managing Director, Katsina State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KTARDA), Alhaji Abashe Sa’idu, has said.
Sa’idu, in an interview with newsmen in Katsina last Thursday, said the show, which was last held in 1992, would hold between March 3 and March 5.
The managing director, said the show, tagged “Katsina State 2013 Agricultural Show,’’ would hold in Kafinsoli town in Kankia Local Government Area of the state.
“The re-introduction of the agricultural show followed the state government’s commitment to promoting the agricultural sector of the state’s economy,’’ he said.
Kwara
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State last Thursday in Ilorin called on the nation’s youths in tertiary institutions to be innovative in their field of studies.
Ahmed made the call during the First Kwara State Tertiary Education Summit entitled, “Repositioning Tertiary Education in Kwara State.”
The governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Elder Peter Kisira, said his administration was committed to providing the necessary technological equipment for proper training in tertiary schools.
Lagos
An Agege Customary Court in Lagos last Thursday dissolved a 23-year-old marriage of a medical doctor over battery and infidelity on his part.
The Court President Emmanuel Sokunle, held that the union of Dr Billy Ojelam and Amaka has broken down beyond repair.
He said that Billy failed to show up in court throughout the proceedings in the divorce suit filed by Amaka on October 23, 2012.
“The court was informed that the doctor filed a similar suit in another customary court when we were still handling the very matter.
Nasarawa
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State, Mr. Yunana Iliya, has urged the CPC-led government in the state to step up efforts at providing basic amenities to the people.
Iliya gave the advice while reacting to the recent protest by students of the state university over water scarcity in the institution in Lafia on Thursday.
He said until basic infrastructure, such as water and electricity promised by the State Government were provided, “the much needed change the people yearned for will only be a farce’’.
The chairman commiserated with the families of students who lost their lives during the protest and sympathised with the injured.
Plateau
The Chief Medical Director, Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Dr. Ishaya Pam, has urged the Federal Government to establish a Lassa fever diagnostic centre in Plateau.
“The first case of the fever was diagnosed in Plateau in the late 1960 when some medical workers died after looking after a Lassa fever patient that came from Lassa village in Borno.
“The state has recorded some cases over time; so it is only very important to establish a diagnostic centre for the ailment here to serve the north. We have made a request to the Federal Government and it is receiving attention.
“For us to increase the survival rate of the victims, it is important that we have a diagnostic centre that will particularly serve the middle belt region because quick diagnosis is very important,’’ Pam said in Jos last Thursday.
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.