Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
A group of unknown gunmen has kidnapped the mem
ber representing Toungo Counstituency in the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Alhaji Adamu Usman.
Usman was said to be kidnapped by the gunmen who stormed his residence at Kofare Ward of Yola around midnight.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Adamawa Police Command, Mr Othman Abubakar, said the lawmaker was taken away at gunpoint.
He however said that the police were investigating the incident.
Bauchi
Arewa Youths and Women Coalition for Good Gover
nance (AYWCGG), a Bauchi-based non-governmental organization, has called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to be fair to all in their zoning formula.
The North East Coordinator of the group, Alhaji Aminu Sidi, made the call at a press conference in Bauchi.
Sidi said that Nigerians had entrusted the future of the country in the hands of APC because of their belief that the party would help restore the country’s lost glory.
He called on the leadership of the party, to be fair, just and carry every geo-political zone along in its power sharing formula, to reflect the aspiration of Nigerians, who voted APC as the nation’s ruling party.
FCT
The Federal Government has agreed to go into partner
ship with the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) in its Youth Education Development project.
The Country Representative of the institute, Mr Dickson Omoregie, made the disclosure in a statement issued recently in Abuja.
The Education and Youth Development Department of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development is expected to host ICD in its Youth Education Development project.
The project will be domiciled in the youth ministry because of government partnership, to gain accessibility and easy dissemination of information, Omoregie stated.
Gombe
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
has presented relief materials to over 1,000 individuals and organisations affected by bomb blasts, insurgency attacks and fire disasters in Gombe State, recently.
Our correspondent learnt that the affected groups comprised those affected by the bomb blast at Dukku motor park and fire disaster in some areas of Gombe metropolis and Billiri town.
Others are victims of insurgency attacks in Gombe metropolis, Dadin Kowa, Hinna and Kwadon towns of Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking during the presentation ceremony in Gombe the Head of Operations, NEMA, Gombe, Alhaji Ahmed Minin, said the materials were to serve as succour and not compensation to the victims.
Jigawa
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in
Jigawa State, Alhaji Ubali Hashim, has called on the Federal Government to complete the Hadejia Valley project to encourage agricultural activities in the area.
Hashim told newsmen in Hadejia, Jigawa State, that the call was imperative in order to mobilise participation in agriculture, accelerate paddy rice production and reduce poverty in the country.
He said that the project would open up lands for irrigation farming in Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Yobe and Borno states.
He added that more than one million farmers in Jigawa could be engaged when the project was completed as it would immensely contribute to sustainable socio-economic development of the state.
The APC leader also advised the new administration in the state to utilise the agriculture and water resources to address the problem of unemployment among youths.
Kaduna
Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, has solicited the assis
tance of the Federal Government and other stakeholders for funds to support the less privileged in need of legal services.
The Director-General of the Council, Mrs Joy Bobmanuel, made the appeal on Friday in Kaduna in an interview with newsmen.
The Legal Aid Council was set up to assist the less privileged who could not afford legal services in courts.
Bobmanuel said the council was constraint by inadequate funding from both the federal government and international donors.
She said that additional funding would help the council assist more persons in need of its services.
Kwara
Women in three rural communities in Kwara State would
be sponsored under a girl education programme by the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication, an NGO.
The Chief Executive Officer of the centre, Alhaji Sulaiman Kareem, disclosed this recently in Tunga Maje, Kaiama local government area of the state at a community dialogue.
The forum was convened to chart a new course on ways to improve girls’ education in rural communities, he said.
Kareem noted that the NGO, a partner of Actionaid Nigeria, was working in three communities of Tenebo, Tunga Maje and Gatte because of the decline in girls’ enrollment in schools in the area.
According to him, the centre will set up business for the women and proceeds from it would be spent on sponsorship of girls’ education alone.
Lagos
The Librarian, National Open University of Nigeria
(NOUN), Dr Ukoha Igwe, has called on librarians in schools across the country to step up efforts in sustaining school libraries.
Ukoha made the call at the close of the week long Nigeria International Book Fair, held in Lagos.
According to him, the libraries remain the power house of knowledge, adding that without them, there will be no innovation.
He said that librarians must be able to develop their capacities to improve on library services.
The NOUN librarian said that for librarians to remain relevant, they must ensure that they train and retrain, to be at par with new technologies and other developing trends.
Ukoha said that libraries should be torchbearers that must constantly provide light for people to come out of darkness.
He said that the failure of libraries to provide light for people would promote conflicts among the young people in the society.
Nasarawa
The Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Keffi, Nasarawa
State, has commenced the digitisation of keeping information relating to patients.
The Medical Director of the centre, Dr Joshua Giyan, stated this during the inauguration of the new technology at the information management unit of the centre in Keffi.
He said that the move was part of the centre’s commitment to ensure that patients’ information were kept safe as well as to ensure quality service delivery for the benefit of all.
“The aims and objectives of this new technology are to ensure that patients’ information is kept for a longer period without entertaining any fear.
“The new device will help to curb cases of misinformation about patients’ details,” he said.
He said that all modalities had been put in place for proper maintenance of the new device, to ensure its durability.
Oyo
The Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan(UI), Prof. Isaac
Adewole, says in Ibadan, that the institution would partner Galilee Institute of Management, Israel, in the areas of research development.
He said that the two institutions would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)that would include modalities to deepen? research in technology and health.
Adewole, who spoke at the ?64th Interdisciplinary Discourse of the Postgraduate School, decried under-funding of research in Nigeria.
The vice-chancellor said that Nigeria cannot compete globally without strengthening research.
“The successes recorded in Israel are a pointer to the fact that only Nigerians can turn around positively the fortunes of Nigeria with determination and commitment” he said.
He urged the incoming administration to invest in research, and properly fund tertiary institutions in order to place Nigeria tops among the comity of nations.
Yobe
The Nigeria Red Cross Society has distributed relief ma
terials to 3,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Yobe State under the Presidential Initiative for the North-East zone.
Red Cross Distribution Officer for Yobe, Malam Kabir Umar, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Damaturu.
“Under this Programme, we have carefully screened 3,000 genuine victims of insurgency to benefit from the package.
“The beneficiaries who are taking refuge in Damaturu, Potiskum, Fika and Geidam were screened and authenticated by leaders of the affected communities.
“The society is working in partnership with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for easy location and identification of the victims to benefit from the programme,” Umar said.
R-L: Apc Taraba Gubernatorial Cadidate, Senator Aisha Alhassan, President-elect, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Chairman of APC in Taraba State, Alhaji Jika Hassan and Chief Whip Rep Ishala Baurau during their visit to President, elect, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja
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.