The Migili nation of Nasarawa State is divided over the recent appointments of commissioners by Governor Abdullahi Sule. They allege that they were excluded from the list.

Chairman of the Migili Cultural Development Association, Dr Philip Ajeh had accused Governor Sule of lopsided appointments and marginalising the Migili nation.

However, in a chat with reporters yesterday, all the APC stakeholders in Migili nation led by the Director-General, Nasarawa Geographic Information Service (NAGIS) Sonny Agassi said the governor is fair to the Migili nation.

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He said: “Migili APC stakeholders and the generality of Migili people appreciate the several high ranking appointments the governor has given us as a matter of privilege,” he said.

He said the Executive Chairman of Obi Local Government Area of the State is a Migili man whom the Governor did everything humanly possible to ensure he was elected as council Chairman.

Stakeholders in the health sector have recommended the use of self-testing kits to reduce the prevalence of HIV in Nigeria.

The stakeholders included the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), AIDS Health care Foundation (AHF), the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA); the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

They noted that the self-testing kits have the potential to reduce the disease when properly monitored.

Project Director of Faith-based Action for Scaling-Up HIV Testing and Treatment for the Epidemic Response (FASTER) Project, Dr Chizoba Mbanefo, said HIV/AIDS remained a public health concern for the Federal Government which should be addressed.

Mbanefo, who spoke during a one-day symposium on “HIVST Programming in Nigeria: The Journey So Far” added that about 1.9 million people in Nigeria are living with the disease.

She said an improved understanding of the country’s HIV epidemic would allow for more efficient investments in the response to HIV and more effective planning for the provision of prevention, care and treatment services, including a focus on populations of interest such as children, adolescents and other key populations.

She said: “HIV/AIDS remains a public health concern for the Federal Government. Results from the Nigeria National HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) conducted in 2018 indicated a national prevalence in Nigeria of 1.4 per cent among adults aged between 15 and 49 years and estimates that there are 1.9 million people living with HIV in Nigeria.

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“The NAIIS data also differentiates HIV prevalence by state, indicating an epidemic that is having a greater impact in certain areas of the country.

“Available records from HIV treatment programmes in Nigeria show that the country has made remarkable progress in scaling up HIV treatment and prevention services in recent years, with an estimated 1. 2 million people on Anti-retroviral treatment. The improved understanding of the country’s HIV epidemic will allow for more efficient investments in the response to HIV and more effective planning for the provision of HIV prevention, care and treatment services, including a focus on populations of interest such as children, adolescents and other key populations.

“Nigeria has the second-largest HIV epidemic in the world and one of the highest rates of new infection in sub-Saharan Africa. Many people living with HIV in Nigeria are unaware of their status.

The key to achieving the global goal of HIV epidemic control in 2030 is ensuring that 95 per cent of people living with HIV know their status. HIV testing uptake is negatively affected by supply problems with HIV testing kits and logistic and sub-optimal awareness on the need for HIV testing.”

She added: “Innovative strategies are therefore required to increase uptake of HIV testing services, especially for populations with low access and those at higher risk that would otherwise not get tested due to one barrier or the other. One approach that shows promising outcomes is the use of HIV Self Testing services.

“The Faith-based Action for Scaling up Testing and Treatment for the Epidemic Response (FASTER) project is a two year (2019 – 2021) PEPFAR funded cooperative agreement between Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“FASTER is designed to accelerate progress in pediatric HIV diagnosis and treatment in four countries with high unmet need for child and adolescent antiretroviral therapy (ART): Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. In Nigeria, CRS leads the FASTER consortium, which includes Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and is implemented in partnership with governments, civil society organizations (CSOs), the private sector, and faith-based organizations.

“FASTER will catalyse progress towards achieving UNAID’s 95-95-95 targets by addressing structural barriers to pediatric HIV testing and treatment, expanding innovation, and scaling up what works through six priority actions: Which includes: Streamlining process of regulatory approvals for new drugs and diagnostics, improving the contribution of faith-based organisations and actors to the HIV response, expanding diagnostic platforms for HIV risk stratification strategies, and improving coverage of optimal regimen for HIV control. The FASTER project is implemented in 7 states (Delta, Rivers, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Benue, Nasarawa) and FCT.

“Today’s event provides a significant milestone and landmark achievement in detailing one of the strategies in the fight against HIV. It is indeed our wishes and prayers that the use of HIVST will be sustained and be catalytic towards achieving an HIV-Free generation in Nigeria by the year 2030.”

The Joint Unions of Academic Staff Unions of Plateau State Tertiary Institutions (JUASPTI), has suspended its three-month industrial action following the agreement reached with the government on the adoption of the minimum wage salary table signed on March 17, 2020, for implementation in January 2022.

It noted that agreement was also reached on the consolidation of salaries of the tertiary institutions and full payment of all third-party deductions.

Chairman of the Joint Unions, Comrade Simji Innocent Lumpye in a press statement issued on Friday in Jos said (JUASPTI)  received the endorsement of its members to suspend the strike.

He said, “We are delighted that on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, having reviewed and accepted the positive steps and progress attained by the Government and received the endorsement of our Congresses, we hereby agree to the terms for the suspension of the strike action as follows:

“The consolidation of salaries of the tertiary institutions; The full payment of all third party deductions (Cooperative and Union dues) and subsequent ones to be paid alongside salaries.

“The submission of a list of enrolled couples by various institutions for exemption in the PLASCHEMA scheme if both work with the Plateau State Government and the constitution of a Board for the Agency.

“Adoption of the minimum wage salary table signed on March 17, 2020, for implementation in January 2022,  while the government looks into the issue of peculiar allowance.”

“Staff recruitment/promotion shall be looked into upon the conclusion of Nde John Gobak committee’s assignment; and Non-victimisation of staff for their roles in the industrial action.”

Lumpye noted that the strike which was embarked on to demand the de-consolidation of the statutory salary structure of 2020 which was unbundled in a manner that was not only unilateral but arbitrary and alien to any existing enabling laws governing their corporate existence, among others was avoidable if the issues were given serious consideration by the government.

He said JUAPSTI had also rejected the implementation of the Plateau State Contributory Health Management Scheme (PLASCHEMA) not because it was a bad policy but because of the imposition of the policy without prior clarity of purpose.

Lumpye appreciated the concerted efforts of all parties that ended the industrial impasse and expressed hope that the terms of the agreements shall remain the bond upon which a new future for institutions and education, in general, will be anchored in Plateau State.

He applauded the doggedness of his colleagues and the understanding of the teeming students, their parents, and the general public during the impasse.

He vowed that they shall continue to serve God and humanity through the hallowed responsibilities bestowed on them as teachers, and called on the government to prioritize education because it is the universal bedrock of human progress and development.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Friday, stormed a slum in Wuse Zone 3 and demolished shanties hosting scavengers, prostitutes, criminals, and drug peddlers.

Speaking on behalf of the administration, the Senior Special Adviser to the FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection, and Enforcement, Ikharo Attah, vowed to sustain the exercise to rid the city of all manner of environmental nuisances, saying this is not acceptable in a dream city.

Attah said, “This is the heart of the city and must not be turned into a den of criminals, scavengers, and prostitutes.”

According to him, “In the heart of the city, where you have scavengers, criminals, brothels, and shanties, there are bound to be drug peddlers who sell drugs to them.”

“When you get there, you see ladies’ ID cards whose bags were stolen, even those of policemen. If we remove this place, they won’t have a place to peddle drugs again or use it as a criminal hideout. We kept coming, we kept cleaning, and eventually, they would have to leave the city.

“We have cleared it before, but sadly, many of them rebuild it within one or two months. We felt so bad that we could see the scavengers in their large numbers returning very quickly, the illegal shops, shanties, and brothels all returning…many people believe that the holiday season is when the administration will not be doing much work, so they are using it to quickly rebuild to make brisk business. If we do not work towards the end of the year, we will be using a lot of resources to work in January.

“They said that they want to use it to make quick sales during the season, but if we leave it, when January comes, they will say, “January is a tough month.” They want to recover all the money they have spent during the festive season. We are telling them, you can’t build this is a rail corridor. You can imagine what happens to a rail corridor if people are building provocatively. It’s very disturbing, but we are determined to keep the city clean.

“This is a rail corridor. This particular lot has not been allocated and awarded for construction. If we sustain enforcement going forward, we will not have any problems. If not, they will come back. We have cleared here before and they came back. We keep clearing it and ensure that it is clear of all nuisances and encroachment. The park and recreation department is looking for a way to manage the greens around here before the rail line comes onboard, “he explained.

Meanwhile, the Assistant Director, Monitoring and Enforcement of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Kaka Bello said the purpose of the exercise was to remove all forms of environmental impediments around the proposed rail corridor. There are a lot of scavengers who have colonized this place and we felt that such things should not exist in the city centre.

He said, “Our daily routine is to ensure that such environmental nuisances are abated.”

He, however, lamented that the administration had removed the place more than five times and they came back, but today we are here with the Department of Parks and Recreation to ensure that sustainable places are put in place to ensure that these people will not come back.

He added that they will continue to come for mop-up exercises from time to time so that they will not regroup again.

The Plateau State governor, Simon Bako Lalong, has directed the total lifting of the existing curfew in Jos North, Jos South, and Bassa Local Government Areas.

The Nation reports that the curfew was earlier imposed on September 8, 2021, from 10 pm to 6 am as part of efforts to curb the insecurity that rocked the state some months ago.

The governor gave the directive after a State Security Council Meeting held at the Government House, Rayfield, Jos, where the Council reviewed the security situation in the affected Local Government Areas and the State in general.

On the strength of deliberations at the meeting and the advice of the Security Council, Governor Lalong directed that the existing curfew be lifted with effect from Friday, December 17, 2021, until further notice.

He directed that in place of the curfew, the relevant security agencies should mount well-coordinated and round-the-clock checks in strategic areas of the State to ensure the safety of lives and properties of the people during the yuletide season.

He advised the security agencies to ensure that they deploy security personnel throughout the State and gather requisite intelligence to thwart any attempt by criminals who might want to perpetrate their nefarious activities during the season and cause a breach of the peace.

Meanwhile, the total ban on motorcycles within the Jos-Bukuru metropolis is still in force while their operations in other Local Government Areas will stop at 8 pm.

Tricycles within the metropolis will continue to operate on the existing template of 6 am to 6 pm only.

While commending the citizens for their patience, understanding, and cooperation during the period of the curfew, Lalong urged them to be security-conscious and highly vigilant against any suspected criminal activity in their domains, which should be reported quickly to security agencies to enable them to take swift action.

He also hailed the security agencies for their sacrifices and patriotic service, urging them to continue to do more as the State Government will do its best to support them in carrying out their mandate of securing lives and properties.