The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ilorin

  • Rainstorm renders many homeless in Ilorin

    Heavy rain destroyed property worth millions of naira and rendered many residents homeless in Ilorin on Monday,.

    News Agency of Nigeria ((NAN), reports that the downpour that started at about 7am lasted for about one hour forty five minutes in many parts of the capital.

    NAN reports that the rain was accompanied by storm that led to the damage of many houses.

    The areas where the rainstorm wreaked havoc included Isale Banni, Oloje, Okelele, Alore and Offa Garage.

    Two children, who were reportedly injured at Isale Banni, Kilanko, Oloje Area of the city were said to have been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

    NAN gathered that for the period that the rain lasted, roofs of many houses were blown off and electrical poles dislodged, causing blackout in many parts of the city.

    A victim of the rainstorm, Ahmed Abubakar told NAN that he lost virtually all his belongings to the disaster.

    Abubakar appealed to the state government to provide succour for the victims.

    Some of the victims shed tears, saying the development would worsen their current economic predicament.

  •  Kwara denies owing workers, pensioners

     Kwara denies owing workers, pensioners

    The Kwara Government on Wednesday denied owing salaries and pension arrears.

    The Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Demola Banu, made the denial in a statement issued in Ilorin while reacting to a media report.

    Banu stressed that the government was up-to-date with payment of salaries and pensions to workers and retirees.

    The commissioner, however, said that payment of local government workers was being delayed due to decline in allocations to local councils from the federation account.

    Banu said that the challenge was a reflection of the current national economic downturn which had limited the capacity of governments at all levels to meet salary obligations.

    He said that the state government had on different occasions assisted the local councils by augmenting their allocation to enhance their capacity to pay salaries.

    The commissioner said that the government would use its share of the second tranche of the Paris Club refund, to assist the councils to clear their salary and pension arrears.

    Banu recalled that the state government had released N3.4 billion to the local councils as their share of the first tranche of the Paris Club refund.

     

  • Kwara Govt. sets continental target for Falcons basketball team

    The Chief of Staff to Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara, Alhaji Abdulwahab Babatunde, has said that the government would support its basketball club, Kwara Falcons, to play in the continental championship next season.

    Babatunde told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Ilorin that the players must give their all in every one of their games.

    According to him, it will be good for the players and the state in general, if the team gets a continental ticket at the end of the season.

    Babatunde said that his recent romance with the Kwara Falcons was meant to support the team because of the governor’s love for sports.

    “We are giving serious support to all sportsmen and women in the state. We are also working out plans for the special basketball players too.

    “We are working on how to get them wheelchairs to play with and other equipment,” the governor’s aide said.

    Babatunde said that as part of the government’s target for a continental ticket, the Indoor Hall of the state’s stadium complex would be remodeled to international standard.

     

     

  • Cleric charges govt. on youth empowerment

    Pastor Timothy Kehinde of Christ’s Tabernacle Church, Fate, Ilorin, has called on the Federal Government to make youth empowerment a priority.

    The cleric made the call in Ilorin on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), stressing that youths were the future of any nation.

    According to him, if a country is to attain its greatness, the youths must be well equipped and catered for.

    He said government must understand that the future of any nation was in the hands of the youths, noting that  “Nigeria is blessed with gifted youths who are ready to work and be productive. I think it is time government emulates the western world and provide for the youths.

    “Government should implement more programmes that will favour the youths and provide for the unemployed graduates.”

    He, therefore, called on government at all levels to make youth empowerment a priority and not just an option to move the nation forward.

    The cleric, however, advised the youths to be creative and not solely rely on government for survival.

     

  • Frequent strike threat to education sector – Lecturer

    Mr Ibrahim Oseni, Senior Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering Department, Kwara State University (KWASU), has said that the frequent strike in schools is a serious threat to Nigerian educational system.

    Oseni told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Saturday, that the constant strike embarked upon in schools was gradually killing the education system.

    He said that due to the frequent strike, there was no more consistency in the academic calendar.

    According to him, strike has become a regular practice in Nigerian schools which has crippled the educational system.

    “Strike has disrupted many school programmes and has affected students negatively.

    “Some schools have turned strike to their holidays and semester breaks which is bad for the system.

    “These regular strike result in schools rushing their students beyond their capacity and as well leads to uncovered syllabus.

    “Strike has rendered our educational system useless and it baffles me when schools go on lengthy strike. The future of our education is at stake,”Oseni said.

    He, therefore, called on government at all levels and stakeholders in the educational sector to ensure that lecturers, teachers and students’ welfare were put into consideration in order to avoid strike.

    “Education is the bedrock of a nation and therefore deserves special attention. Avoiding strike will go a long way in taking our education to the next level,” he said

  • Agriculture can take Nigeria out of recession – CIBN chairman

    Mr Abdulraheem Yusuf, the Chairman, Kwara chapter, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), on Wednesday, said the Federal Government’s agriculture intervention programme could take the country out of recession.

    Yusuf, who gave this hint while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin, added that the effective management of exchange rate could equally take the country out of recession.

    He therefore called on Nigerians to ensure that they added value to agriculture in all its ramifications in order to earn foreign exchange.

    “With food production and reduction in the level of corruption and unemployment, the government can get us out of the situation we have found ourselves,” he said.

    Yusuf said that the government also needed to police the borders more effectively to reduce smuggling.

    According to him, smuggling is harmful to the economy because people are making sacrifices to produce for export as well as for local consumption.

    “Regrettably, people still smuggle goods, so effective policing of our borders through the custom officers will help a lot to encourage local production,” he said.

  • Igbo traders want adequate security in Kwara market

    Igbo traders want adequate security in Kwara market

    Traders under the auspices of Kwara Igbo Traders Association (KWAITA) on Monday demanded adequate security in all the markets in the state.

    The traders also want the provision of a standby fire service and firefighter station in Oja-Tuntun market in Ilorin, the capital.

    The Oja-tuntun market was about two weeks ago, gutted by fire destroying no less than 40 lock-up shops and many attachments.

    The traders led by the President General of the Igbo community in Kwara state, Boniface Okeke, said this when they met with the Ilorin West local government Transition Implementation Commit (TIC) chair, Abdulhameed Ali in Ilorin.

    Mr Okeke who was represented by Mr Dennis Omukwe urged the TIC chair to constitute better, functional and competent market authority comprising of all stakeholders trading in the market for the day to day administration of the market.

    “We also plead for the reconstruction of those shops and several compensations to be instituted to alleviate the victims from this unexpected hardships.

    “Less than a year ago, we were called upon by our members trading in that market about a fire disaster that destroyed 40 lock-up shops and over 20 attachment shops and goods and property worth millions of Naira.

    “We appreciate Senate President Bukola Saraki, the state and local governments for their interviews reconstructing those shops and the financial aid given to the victims.

    “It is not up to one year on April 1st this year another fire outbreak was reported destroying another shops and attachment with goods worth millions of Naira. It was blamed on electricity. This claim is unacceptable. The market men and women trading in that market are in deep sorrow.”

    In his response, Always Ali said the state government had already approved the provision of a fire service station in the market.

    He promised to provide land for the Igbo traders to build shops in the council.

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  • One killed as cultists strike in Ilorin

    One killed as cultists strike in Ilorin

     

    There was an uneasy calm in some parts of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital Thursday as gunmen, suspected to be cultists, struck and killed one person.

    The victim, simply identified as ‘Abbey’ was shot dead around Ikokoro area, off Niger road, in Ilorin.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the unidentified gunmen, believed to be of a rival cult group, stormed the area at about 2.45pm and allegedly went straight to the apartment of the victim and murdered him.

    The victim was said to have been a member of another notorious cult syndicate.

    NAN learnt that while some residents stayed indoors during a fierce gunfight that ended Abbey’s life, shop owners hurriedly locked up their shops to avoid being caught in the  crossfire.

    A resident, who pleaded anonymity, said the area and its immediate environ, became deserted immediately the fracas began.

    When NAN visited the scene, the remains of the victim were said to have been evacuated.

    NAN recalls that a similar incidence occurred around the same Ikokoro Area in 2016, where a suspected cult member, Wasiu Adanri, was murdered.

    DSP Ajayi Okasanmi, the Public Relations Officer of the Kwara  Police Command, confirmed that a life was lost in the cult clash.

    He however said no arrest had been made yet was yet but assured that the command was on the trail of the suspects.

     

  • JAMB Registration: Candidates decry stressful, complex process

    JAMB Registration: Candidates decry stressful, complex process

    The prospective 2017 Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) candidates in Ilorin have decried the rigorous process of registering for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The candidates, who were seen in long queues in Banks and registration centres, including JAMB Office, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Ilorin on Friday that the registration process was frustrating, stressful and beyond human comprehension.
    A candidate, Biola Adams, told NAN in EcoBank, Ilorin, that he had being queuing under the sun since Wednesday to make payment and acquire pin code.
    “It is becoming unbearable as the process is tough. Every bank in Ilorin here is filled up with JAMB candidates under this hot weather as the process is very slow.
    “Just because we want to write JAMB and we are subjected to this kind of stress. It is unfair on the path of our leaders in this country.
    “They don’t care about the consequence of the stress,” he said.
    Another candidate, Folaranmi Oyekunle, who was in a queue in Zenith Bank at Unity, Ilorin, said she took ill when started the registration process.
    “I have being surviving on drugs as the stress of queuing for long under the sun is affecting me. The banks officials are too sluggish and are taking us for granted,” Oyekunle said.
    Similarly, Azeez Ibrahim, told NAN that he began the registration on Monday and was yet to achieve anything tangible because of the surging crowd at the banks.
    “We don’t know why it is like that this year. The process is too complex and stressful. One of us even collapsed on the queue on Thursday following the unbearable stress,” Ibrahim said.
    An official of Zenith Bank, who pledged anonymous, said the banking hall was congested with JAMB candidates, adding that it was not good for the security of the bank.
    “It is dangerous for the Bank to be filled up with this uncontrollable number of people queuing up inside and outside the bank.
    “I even pity their situations as the weather is too hot for young people to stand in it for hours,” the official said.

    JAMB staff in Ilorin, who pleaded anonymity, appealed to students to bear with the organisation and endure for a time being, adding that success doesn’t come easy.

    He said Jamb offices and banks are working hard to speed up the registration process in order to reduce the stress students are passing through at the moment.

    “JAMB wants a perfect and authentic registration this year. We don’t want any dubious registration. We are sorry for the inconveniences,” he pleaded.

     

  • ABS player undergoes successful surgery, says Coach Makinwa

    ABS player undergoes successful surgery, says Coach Makinwa

    Coach Henry Makinwa of Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) Ilorin FC, says  one of his players Muiz Adeoti,will be out for at least 12 weeks due to a fractured toe.
    Makinwa said on Wednesday in Ilorin that the young midfielder had undergone a successful surgery on the toe in a private hospital in Lagos on Tuesday.
    “We are very sad about the injury but we thank God the operation was successful.
    “He should be out for no fewer than 12 weeks.
    “We had tried a lot of corrective measures to get him back on the field, but it has not yielded any results.
    “This is why we opted for the operation, we will give him all necessary support to get him back quickly.
    “At a time, we asked him to run but he couldn’t very well then, hence, the reason we went for the operation” Makinwa said.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adeoti had not been playing regularly  in the league due to the injury sustained at the end of last season.