The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Katsina relishes fruit of dialogue with bandits

    After causing much trouble and shunning several overtures from the Katsina State government, bandits in the state seem to have had a rethink. They are freeing their captives in droves. No fewer than 51 persons abducted by the hoodlums have so far been released.

    This has changed the atmosphere in the state, spreading joy among families and friends of the former abductees, as well as the administration of Governor Bello Masari.

    People across the state have hailed Masari for the latest development, though some also questioned the idea of negotiating with criminals. Non-governmental organistions, including those helping to rehabilitate residents sacked from their homes by the bandits, have praised the administration for the new lease of life in the state.

    Dr Umar Dikko Radda of Gwagware Foundation said the release of the abductees has restored peace and tranquility in the state.

    Read Also: Air Force to battle banditry in Niger

    Radda himself sent relief materials to internally displaced persons in Batsari, one of the eight hardest hit local government areas.

    The hoodlums made a habit of raiding those councils, going from house to house and taking anything they fancied. The attacks sent residents fleeing their homes.

    Governor Masari made several appeals to the hoodlums, urging them to stop the attacks and embrace peace. They paid him no attention.

    Masari tried again, asking them to lay down their arms and get some compensation and rehabilitation. They ignored him again.

    The governor kept talking to them. Eventually, the talks have begun to yield fruit.

    Thirty kidnapped victims were released to Governor Masari by the bandits last Saturday. The released victims are 15 women, including nursing mothers, and 15 children, most of them toddlers.

    A businessman in the state Alhaji Barau Mangal said the dialogue with the bandits will heal wounds and bring peace, a development that will help the Masari administration achieve its programmes.

    He said, “Governor Masari‘s initiative and peace efforts are moving Katsina State forward, we must all work with him, I commend his determination to take the initiative to secure peace and tranquility in the state.”

  • Aero Contractors’ maiden flight lands in Benin

    As part of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s sustained drive to open up Edo State to investors and tourists, commercial airline operator, Aero Contractors has reopened flight operations on the Benin-Lagos route, as the maiden flight arrived the Benin Airport on September 16.

     

    Commissioner for Arts, Culture, Tourism and Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Osaze Osemwengie-Ero, who witnessed the arrival of the flight on Monday, said the airline has been assigned the official flight carrier for the 2019 National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST) holding in the state from October 19th to 26th.

     

    He said participants visiting the state for the 2019 NAFEST will get discounts on air tickets, noting “We are going to have reduced prices for persons coming for the 2019 NAFEST.”

    The commissioner added that the operations of Aero Contractors in the state will boost tourism in the state on the back of the influx of people to the state through the airport.

     

    “The investment drive of the Governor Obaseki-led administration is paying off. We are recording influx of people in and out of the state via air transportation. The coming of Aero Contractors into the state’s aviation sector will encourage competition,” he said.

     

    The Head of Ground Operations, Aero Contractors, Peter Omata, said the airline was coming back to Benin with more efficient services, adding, “Aero is a reliable way to fly. This year is our 60th year in aviation in Nigeria. We are coming back to Benin to stay and to build up the economy in the state.”

     

    He assured passengers of affordable flight prices, satisfaction for customers and partnership with the Edo State Government.

  • 500 women screened for breast cancer in Ilorin

    Five hundred women have benefited from a free-breast-cancer screening in Ilorin, in order to curb its prevalence.

    The Medical Director of Lifefount Hospital, Ilorin, Dr. Yemisi Adeyeye, told reporters that there was the need for women to be aware of the existence of the disease at its early stage.

    She said this is because women are usually the most affected victims and their early awareness of its existence in their breasts will lead to a cancer-free society.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three-day medical outreach was organised by the hospital in collaboration with the African Research Group for Oncology.

    Adeyeye advised women to always embark on self-breast examinations through frequent checks of their breasts for lumps and other strange features around their breasts.

    Read Also: Group launches silicon breast forms and mastectomy bras for breast cancer survivors

    She said: “Those who are still menstruating should also check their breasts between the seventh and 10th day after menstruation.

    ”This is because by that time, the breasts will not be as bulky as they used to be in the rest days of the month.

    “For women who are already in their menopausal years, they can choose a particular day of the month to always check their breasts.

    “Besides checking one’s breasts by oneself, they also should create time to visit the hospital.

    “This can be once in a year or once in six months for doctors to conduct clinical breast examinations for them; which is very good.’’

    The medical director advised women from 40 years and above to do mammography at least once in a year, while those below 40 years should do breast ultra sound.

    She said but for the free medial outreach, it would have cost each of the beneficiaries between N50,000 and N60,000 to do a breast-cancer screening.

  • Assembly urges Ganduje to rescue communities from erosion

    Kano State House of Assembly has urged the government to rescue the residents of three communities in Ungoggo Local Government from erosion.

    The advice followed a motion yesterday by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member representing Ungoggo Constituency, Alhaji Aminu Sa’adu.

    He said the erosion, which affected Zangon Marikita, Gayawa and Dankunkuru communities, has destroyed houses, schools and business places.

    “It was necessary for me to call on the assembly to urge the government to rescue our communities because the situation caused by the erosion has crippled businesses, which is a great challenge to the economy,” he said.

    Read Also: Why I don’t have a cabinet yet – Ganduje

    Sa’adu said due to the collapse of some schools, as a result of the erosion, children in the affected areas cannot go to school, adding that “this is a threat to education in Kano.”

    “To tell you how serious the erosion affected the area, in a normal situation, from the Airport road it can take you only 10 minutes to get to these communities. But now it takes motorists not less than two hours before they get there.

    “The condition in which the residents live is bad,” he said.

    The session, presided over by Speaker Abdulazeez Garba-Gafasa, unanimously adopted the motion and urged the government to rescue the victims.

  • Emir decries falling standard of education

    Emir of Lafia Justice Sidi Bage (retd) has expressed dismay over the falling standard of education.

    He said all hands should be on deck to improve it.

    Bage, Chairman, Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, spoke when the management of National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Nasarawa branch, visited him yesterday.

    The emir, represented by Madakin Lafia, Alhaji Isiaka Dauda, underscored the roles of the institute in training and retraining of teachers for the development of the country.

    “I want to commend you for the visit and to urge you to continue to discharge your duties without fear or favour.

    “The activities of your institute, which involve training and retraining of teachers, will restore the lost glory of education,” he said.

    Bage urged the management of the institute to work towards tackling the challenges facing education.

    He assured them of his emirate council support to enable them carry out their activities effectively.

    The first class traditional ruler enjoined his subjects and other Nigerians to live in peace and tolerate one another irrespective of their affiliation.

    Mr. Abubakar Audu, the state coordinator of the institute, said the visit was to seek royal blessing and inform him of the activities of the institute in the state.

    “Our mission is to train and retrain teachers to ensure that quality teachers are produced,” he said.

    Audu said the institute would maintain standard in order to produce qualified teachers.

  • Polio immunisation compliance rate high in Sokoto

    AS the polio immunisation for children between 0-59 months began last Saturday across 10 local governments in Sokoto State, it is observed that mobilisation and awareness advocacy have influenced compliance in communities, as against the previous exercise.

    Most of the local governments have designed work plans to ease and encourage compliance by the residents.

    This has made it easy for vaccinators to access homes, to enable children get immunised.

    In some cases, some of the children defied their parents’ attitude against immunisation and get vaccinated.

    Wurno Local Government targets 69,280 for the MOPV4 exercise.

    Read Also: Why we chased away polio immunisation officials — Kano community

    On the first day of the exercise at Wamakko town, in Wamakko Local Government, over 50 pupils of Marassatul Hadith Islamiyya were vaccinated out of a targeted 70,340 children expected to be covered in the exercise.

    Addressing reporters who monitored the exercise, the headmaster, Malam Abubakar Liman, said the efforts of stakeholders for creating awareness, mobilisation and persuading households with the support of the community and ward leaders had changed the attitude against compliance.

    Listing the progress so far made, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Local Government Area Facilitator, Mr. Dahiru Arkilla, said it had immunised 47,540 children from the start of the exercise, adding: “We embarked on a two-day Direct Observed Polio Vaccine Exercise before commencing on the house-to-house immunisation.”

  • Samsung’s nominations for Dubai’s award places Nigeria on global maritime map

    Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN), the leading operator of the SHI-MCI fabrication and integration yard, has been nominated for an impressive count of four awards at the prestigious Seatrade Maritime Awards Middle East, Indian Subcontinent & Africa.

    SHIN is the only nominee to be listed for four individual awards as an entrant from Africa, underlining the breadth of its recent achievements in successfully fabricating and integrating the Egina FPSO, the largest FPSO in the world.

    The Seatrade Maritime Awards are recognised internationally as the gold standard in the industry and will drive increased interest among the maritime industry into what Nigeria and the whole West African region has to offer.

    The awards hold in Dubai on September 22 and are the most influential awards in the maritime and shipping industry.

    They celebrate global achievements in a wide range of categories across shipping and services to the maritime industry.

    Read Also: Samsung Shines at Africa Assembly despite challenges to Foreign Businesses

     

    Samsung has been nominated for the following categories:

    Shipyard of the Year Award,which recognises excellence in newbuilding and/or repair yards in the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa.

    Contribution to Development of the Regional Maritime Cluster Award, which recognises a company, association, individual or system that has made a substantial contribution to strengthening the links between the region’s maritime elements.

    Africa Maritime Award, which recognises an organisation that has made a significant positive impact on the maritime industry within Africa.

    Education and Training Award, which recognises an educational institution, commercial organisation or an individual that has made a major contribution to maritime education and training in the region

    Commenting on the nominations, Managing Director of Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria, Mr. Jejin Jeon, said: “When we conceived the idea of building a maritime construction facility in Nigeria, we aimed to fuse the technical know-how of Korea with the human power of Nigeria.

    “The award nominations not only recognise the hard work of our employees but also the trust of our local suppliers, the Nigerian government and our clients in having the courage to partner with us to create the Egina FPSO.

    “This recognises that Nigeria is at the forefront of industrial development in West Africa and a sign that the whole region is ready for the next step in the development of the maritime construction industry.

    “The high profile of these awards will certainly bring more international attention to our shores with an eagerness to learn more about doing business in this region for the benefit of all stakeholders,” he explained.

    Head of Group Marketing Services & Maritime Marketing, Seatrade Maritime, Emma Howell, said: “Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria has done exceptionally well in being the only company from Africa to achieve four nominations for the Seatrade Maritime Awards.

    “Our Awards aim to support the growth and prosperity of the regional maritime industry by recognising companies around the world for their achievements.”

  • Ayade warned against creating more ministries

    Association of Cross River Professionals in Diaspora (ACRPD) has warned Governor Ben Ayade against creating 11 additional ministries, to bring the state ministries to 39.

    The group said creating additional ministries will be too much of a burden on the lean resources of the state.

    The professionals said in a statement: “Cross River State currently with 28 ministries has the largest number of ministries for any state in Nigeria. An additional 11 would mean that it will now have 39 ministries. This would mean that Cross River, a state with the lowest net allocation in Nigeria, will now have more ministries than the Federal Government, which has about 28 ministries, with 36 senior and seven junior ministers. Incredible.”

    The group advised Ayade to focus on consolidating on the little gains and achievements he has made in the last four years “rather than embarking on such grandiose plan that will finally cripple the state’s economy”.

    The group opined that the move to create more ministries was to please some of the political interests in the state. It questioned the rationale for the creation of some of the ministries, which they said are a duplication of existing ones.

    Read Also: Industrialisation: Ayade gets Chinese award of excellence

    “What is the justification for a Ministry of Industry and a Ministry of Trade and Investment? This is a doubling of efforts and seems a conduit to siphon state’s commonwealth, at best it will amount to pure wastage.

    “What is the rationale for the Ministry of Construction and Fabrication, when there is a Ministry of Works, with other departments and agencies, such as Road Maintenance, and Rural Development Agency…”

    Where is the sense in having a Ministry of Internal Revenue Service when there is a Board of Internal Revenue and a Ministry of Finance? Where in Nigeria (both federal and state levels) is the revenue service a ministry? It is always an executive board…

    “What is the logic in having a Ministry of Marine Services when there is a Ministry of Transportation? This is absolute duplication and misuse of semantics. The Ministry of Science and Morality? Nothing to say here as it sounds like a pure joke. We just don’t believe it,” they added.

    ACRPD, therefore, cautioned the governor to abandon such a spurious move and stick to his pledge to be forward looking and practical in his second term in office.

  • Firm celebrates Udiroko festival

    La Casera has joined the people of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, to celebrate the 2019 Udiroko festival.

    The Udiroko festival is celebrated every August as a climax of the New Yam celebration. The 709 edition held between August 10 and 25.

    The La Casera team earlier visited the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe Aladesanmi III, to felicitate with him and the people. Kolanuts were broken and prayers said for the peace and prosperity of the community. The next stop for the train was the brand sponsored Ewi Cup Football Final, followed by the Udiroko Street Activation and Sampling Day, which held before the grand finale of the festival.

    The La Casera train also toured the beautiful city of Ado-Ekiti, leaving behind a trail of merriment, dance and invigorating apple goodness.

    Senior Brand Manager Ruth Ode said the brand will remain at the forefront of promoting culture and tradition in Nigeria, hence its continued participation in the Udiroko Festival and other cultural festivals in the country.

    Oba Aladesanmi in his address noted that the festival is devoid of the fetish practices associated with many traditional ceremonies.

    He said: “It is a fiesta organised to showcase the historical, cultural and traditional potentials of the people of Ado-Ekiti.”

    At the La Casera pavilion, the brand excited consumers and treated them to games such as Ayo, Ludo and drafts. Participants energised with refreshingly cold La Casera Apple, jostled to hold on their winning streaks for as long as possible, as they won various branded gift items and free cases of La Casera.

  • Governor restates commitment to accessible education

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has restated his administration’s commitment to make quality education accessible.

    Wike spoke on Monday while inaugurating the reconstructed and remodelled Sea-Bed Model Primary School in Port Harcourt.

    The school is one of the 253 upgraded and expanded in the last four years. The opening is part of activities to mark Wike’s 100 days in office.

    Wike promised to uplift the standard of education through critical interventions.

    He said: “We shall continue to engage in human capital development; and the best way to do that is to fund educational development.

    Read Also: Wike won election, says APC witness

    “We are awarding contracts for the construction of 69 primary and basic education schools. These projects will be handled by the people who will be empowered while executing the projects.

    “The government will continue to develop education to securing the state’s future.”

    The governor reiterated that fees and levies for primary and secondary schools remain abolished saying: “We shall sanction any school administrator or principal who collects … fee. We have provided funding for all schools…”