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Tag: KOGI

  • Melaye survives gun attack in country home

    Melaye survives gun attack in country home

    Sen. Dino Melaye’s country home at Ayetoro-Gbede in Kogi state was shelled by gunmen early Saturday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), gathered that gunmen surrounded the house after midnight and opened fire from different directions.

    Two of the senator’s vehicles parked in the house were damaged. The Senator was not harmed.

    Melaye, (APC-Kogi West), was in his country home at Ayetoro-Gbede in Ijumu Local Government Area for the Easter holiday at the time of the attack

    The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP William Aya told NAN that the police received a distress call from the senator at about 1 a.m. and immediately responded.

    He said the hoodlums escaped before the police arrived, thereby making any arrest impossible.

    Aya said the Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilson Inalegwu had set up an investigation committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations to unravel those behind the attack.

    On his part, Melaye said the hoodlums arrived at about midnight and started shooting sporadically at the main building in the compound.

    He said the shooting lasted for almost one hour, adding that apart from the building riddled with bullets, two of his vehicles were damaged.

    The senator said he suspected Mr Taufiq Isa, the Administrator of Ijumu Local Government to be behind the attack.

    According to him, the attack was politically motivated, because of his criticism of the State Government.

    He said: “I got a rousing welcome from Kabba to my home town on Friday and I know it angered the power that be in the state which mobilised for this assassination attempt on my life.

    “At about midnight, we started hearing gunshots. They fired more than 200 rounds of bullets into the house. This attempt to kill me will not stop me from speaking the truth.

    “If I speak the truth, I will die. If I lie, I will die. I’ve decided to speak the truth and die. I’m not afraid of death. I only respect men, I don’t fear them.

    “I am championing an administrative cause. I will continue to speak and be the voice to the voiceless. I’m not deterred; I remain resolute to make Kogi better. Noting will stop me from coming home.”

    Melaye also chided the police for not responding quickly to his distress call, saying that the house of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the town was a stone-throw from the scene of the attempt on his life.

    “The DPO did not come to my house until three hours later. Even the area Commander in Kabba was not notified until I called the Commissioner of police. I suspect a Satanic collaboration between Taufiq Isa and the police in Aiyetoro because the duo held a meeting two days ago.

    “Only God will protect us in this country but definitely not the police”, he said.

    In a swift reaction, Isa denied having a hand in the attempt on the life of the Senator, saying that he had been busy for sometime taking care of his sick wife.

    “I’ve never been a violent man. My running battle with Dino Melaye, if any, is because I have asked him to stop villifying the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

    “Let him (Dino) prove it. I lost my uncle a week ago; I’m still attending to my sick wife and busy supervising the APC re- registration programmes. I’m a democrat and law abiding. I challenge Dino to prove his case,” he said

  • Good governance in Kogi

    SIR: In these past 13 months, the Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and his team have tried to build and lay solid foundation that would guarantee that the flight of the state whose take-off had suffered years of man-made delay, takes off without further delay.

    We have seen the governor deliver on his electoral promises, especially in key areas of education, healthcare, infrastructure, youth and women empowerment, civil service and pension reforms.

    The administration has commenced the construction of roads in several communities across the state. Interestingly, the road projects are evenly spread across the three senatorial districts. It would also be interesting to note that the administration in its determination to ensure that all roads in the state are made motorable, promised to undertake the Egbe-Kabba Road which is a federal road. Lokoja, the state capital, is now wearing a befitting look as roads in the ancient town are receiving due attention with solar street lights and traffic light being fixed accordingly. The Ankpa township road and the long neglected Umomi-Idah Road are not left out. So are other roads critical to the socio-economic development of the state receiving attention.

    In the health sector, the state is simply going through a revolution as efforts are on to upgrade several state-owned health facilities with new ones also being contemplated. Equipment, including ambulances and personnel, are also being provided to boost healthcare delivery in the state.

    Security is one key area that has been accorded enormous support. It started with the procurement of over 100 well-equipped vehicles and several motorcycles that were distributed to security agencies in the state. The administration also ensures regular helicopter surveillance over the state to track down criminals. Recently, the governor gave a bite to the law on kidnapping as he led a team to pull down structures that harbour criminals. For once, the state is being made too hot for criminals and that way, the socio-economic prosperity of the state is being guaranteed.

    Yahaya Bello has been able to introduce a number of empowerment programmes aimed at ensuring that food is put on the table of many families. For instance, engaging corporate outfits to ensure that the state is kept clean is one of several initiatives as hundreds of unemployed youths have been engaged. The government has also employed agriculture to economically empower many.

    In the area of internally generated revenue, the administration has recorded landmark success. The IGR has really gone up and to sustain and improve on this, a number of youths have been recruited and an architectural masterpiece is now standing at the heart of the state capital as Revenue House.

    If there is single action that would ensure that posterity is fair to the governor, it is the ongoing reform in the civil service and pension matters.

    In its resolve to curb wastage in government and reduce cost of governance, the governor has kept a slim government. In all, the administration does not have up to 70 political appointees on its payroll.

    These past months, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has proved beyond doubt that he embodies the key essentials of a remarkable leader. He is decisive in taking tough decisions, has empathy guiding subordinates through challenges, he is focused; always planning ahead and, most importantly, his unquestionable commitment to changing the fortunes of his dear Kogi State. Obviously, there are going to be challenges. Each step the governor has taken so far has been reassuring and, of course, daring.

     

    • Ahmed Ododo,

    Kogi State Auditor-General for Local Government

  • Cassava farmers in Kogi laud FADAMA

    Cassava farmers in Kogi have commended the World Bank’s FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF) programme, saying that it has elevated cassava farming to a lucrative venture.

     

    The farmers from the three senatorial districts of the state extolled the programme in separate interviews with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ojapata after a visit to FADAMA III AF project sites across the state.

     

    Mr Patrick Attah, the Chairman of the 80-hectare Ojapata cluster farm, said that the FADAMA III AF initiative was the best of all the agricultural projects ever undertaken in the area.

     

    “My experience with FADAMA is full of surprises because we did not view it as a serious thing initially.

     

    “Few of us decided to partake in it, and with the cooperation of our traditional ruler who gave us land, the programme has turned out to be the best of all the agricultural projects we have seen. It’s just like a dream.

     

    “The price of cassava has increased tremendously, the quality and varieties of cassava we have on the farm have also improved.

     

    “We are joyful because we know that at harvest, we are going to make a fortune from cassava sales; more so now that we have many off-takers waiting,” he said.

     

    The traditional ruler of Onu Emekutu chiefdom, Alhaji Hassan Shaibu, who is also a cassava farmer, said that the FADAMA III AF intervention had greatly reduced poverty in his domain.

     

    He said that the Ojapata cluster farm intended to cultivate 250 hectares in the 2017 planting season, as against the 80 hectares it cultivated in 2016.

     

    At Odo-Ape, Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area, Mrs Esther Rufus, the leader of women farmers, also commended the FADAMA programme for introducing the TME 419 cassava variety to the farmers.

     

    She said that the cassava variety had the advantage of “polymorphism”, as it could produce up to 15 tubers, against the four to five tubers that were normally produced by the traditional cassava type.

     

    Rufus said that FADAMA had also assisted farmers with land clearing and provision of chemicals, while sinking a borehole and constructing 6.27km feeder roads to help the farmers.

     

    Besides, Mr Ibitoye Kehinde, one of the farmers at the 35-hectare Magongo cluster farm in Ogori-Magongo Local Government Area, was full of praises for the FADAMA III AF project.

     

    “We were reluctant to participate in the programme initially but FADAMA came to open our eyes by exposing us to better farming methods.

     

    “Now, our farms are larger, we were hitherto using manual methods with little yields but we are now fully mechanised,’’ Kehinde said.

     

    Mr Sadiku Otaru, Chairman of the 25-hectare Iresuare FADAMA III AF cluster farm, said that the 4.1km-road and a borehole, among other benefits of the intervention, were clear testimonies of the feats of the programme in the area.

     

    Hajiya Aishatu Musa, Treasurer of the cluster farm, who noted that the farmers’ earnings had improved significantly, lauded the FADAMA initiative for supplying improved varieties and farm inputs.

     

    Mr Paul Ogunmola, the state Project Coordinator, said that the objective of the FADAMA III AF was aimed at increasing the incomes of FADAMA farmers, while harnessing the water resources in their neighbourhoods in a sustainable manner.

     

    “For us here in Kogi State, our farmers have told us how the price of cassava has dramatically increased from N10,000 per tonne to around N140,000 now.

     

    “Initially, the project development objective was that at the end of the project, the yield of cassava should have increased by about 40 per cent.

     

    “But by the middle of the project, the yield had gone way up by over 100 per cent and that is very commendable,’’ he said.

     

    Besides, Ogunmola said that it was initially envisaged that the income of farmers, who participated in the FADAMA programme, would increase by 20 per cent, adding, however, that their income had shot up by 200 per cent.

     

    “So, in all angles, I think the project development objective of FADAMA III Additional Financing in Kogi State has been achieved; the farmers are happy, everybody is happy,” he added.

     

  • Police foil Kogi students’ protest

    Police foil Kogi students’ protest

    The police have foiled a protest by students of Kogi State-owned tertiary institutions. The police cited security reasons for their action after meeting with student leaders. But, students are accusing their leaders of being compromised. MOHAMMED YABAGI reports.

    Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, received unusual visitors last weekend. Higher institution students from all parts of the state gathered for what they called “mother of all protests”, following the expiration of the March 31 deadline given the government to re-open all state-owned tertiary institutions, which had been closed down since January. The students planned “10,000-man march” to shut down the town and paralyse activities in government’s offices to draw attention to their plight.

    Just before the students hit the highways and streets for the demonstration, which was spearheaded by the leaders of Students’ Union Governments (SUGs) of the affected schools, the police moved in to stop the protest, raising security concerns.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the Commissioner of Police, Wilson Inalegwu, invited the conveners of the protest for a meeting at the Police Command, where he advised them to shelve the planned demonstration for security reasons.

    Pro-student groups, who had mobilised their members to join the protest in solidarity, accused the students’ leaders of “compromise”. Students, who travelled from far places to partake in the protest, left in disappointment when the conveners did not show up at the meeting point. They alleged that government had “bought over” their leaders.

    All state-owned tertiary institutions were closed down in response to ongoing screening of state workers by the government and non-payment of workers. The SUG leaders in the affected schools took to social media to galvanise students for mass action. Students, initially expressed doubt about  the demonstration, insinuating that there could be possible connivance between the government and the students’ leaders to make personal gains.

    Students expressed disappointment when the demonstration was canceled in the last minutes. They described their leaders’ reasons as “April Fool”, suggesting that the government may have bribed them to stop the protest.

    The SUG president of the Kogi State University (KSU), Philip Omepa, who spoke on behalf of the protest’s conveners, denied being compromised by the government. He said the protest was canceled after a meeting with the Commissioner of Police on Friday.

    He said: “There is no truth in the insinuation that we have been bribed by the government to stop the protest. We were set for the demonstration before we decided to cancel it based on the security information made available to us by the Commissioner of Police at the state Police Command. We were informed by the Commissioner that the police would not be able to provide adequate security.

    “If the police that are supposed to protect us say they could not guarantee our security, there is no need to embark on the protest. We were told the protest could be hijacked by non-students who may want to politicise the students’ demonstration. That is why we stopped it.”

    But, one of the students’ leaders, who attended the meeting with the Commissioner, told CAMPUSLIFE that Inalegwu threatened them with arrest if the planned protest degenerated into violence. It was gathered that the Commissioner told the students’ leaders that the atmosphere in the state did not support their protest, and that it could be hijacked by the miscreants to precipitate large-scale destruction.

    When the students’ leaders left the Commissioner’s office to share the information with their colleagues, their explanation could not convince students, who had gathered for the protest. Students described their leaders’ excuse as “expensive April Fool joke”, saying the protest’s conveners had been bribed. They said the development confirmed their earlier concern about the credibility of their leaders.

    Some students faulted the timing of the protest, wondering why its conveners fixed last Saturday for the demonstration when the government offices would not be opened for business. They said the protest would not have achieved its desired impact, if it was held on Saturday. They criticised their leaders for lack of idea on how best to organise protest.

    In a reaction, Omepa said the protest was called off after wide consultations with stakeholders, including security agencies and workers’ unions.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the government reached out to the students’ leaders, pleading for more time to conclude its talks with the striking lecturers. Our correspondent gathered that there were meetings held at the weekend, where government’s representatives asked for two weeks to allow talks with the workers’ unions.

    It was learnt that the government, as part of conditions given by the students’ leaders, agreed to stop screening of tertiary institutions’ employees and hand it over to the Governing Council of each school to conduct. CAMPUSLIFE learnt that the government took the step to pacify the workers’ unions, who had opposed the screening on the reason that school system is different from the civil service.

    At a meeting of KSU Governing Council with the students’ leaders, CAMPUSLIFE gathered the government had paid one month salary, promising to offset the backlog soonest.

     

  • Kogi confirms one Lassa fever case

    Kogi confirms one Lassa fever case

    The Kogi State government has confirmed one Lassa fever case at Angwan Kura in Lokoja, Kogi State.

    The patient, a male resident of Angwan Kura, reported at the accident and emergency unit of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Lokoja with symptoms suggestive of haemorrhagic fever.

    His blood sample was sent to the laboratory of the Federal Specialist Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, and it came back positive.

    The patient was later transferred to the Federal Specialist Hospital, Irrua, for optimal care.

    Commissioner for Health Dr. Saka Haruna Audu, who confirmed the case, said the State Rapid Response Team was summoned and provisions made for source/contact tracing and prophylactic treatment for medical personnel who had contact with the patient before transfer.

    He added: “All these have been concluded as those who had contact with the patient are being closely monitored.

    “It is important to note that the patient travelled to Ilorin, Kwara State, where he stayed for two weeks. He only developed symptoms of haemorrhagic fever two days after his return. We are, therefore, uncertain whether he contracted the virus there or here in Lokoja.”

    Audu added that measures are being taken “to prevent further spread of the disease as jingles and other means of public enlightenment are on.”

  • Ocheni: Kogi professionals hail Buhari

    Kogi Professionals Forum, (KPF) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Prof. Stephen Ikani Ocheni to replace late James Ocholi.

    The late Ocholi died in an auto crash Kaduna–Abuja Road alongside his wife, Blessing and one of his sons last year.

    The group, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Ibrahim Ali and National Secretary Dr. Olusola Thomas, described the appointment of Prof.Ocheni as a square peg in a square hole.

    The statement reads: “Ocheni’s appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari can be described as fixing a square peg in a square hole.

    “We believe he will bring his experiences in the civil and public service to bear thus repositioning any given portfolio.”

  • Armed robbers kill two policemen in Kogi

    The Police Command in Kogi said on Thursday that two of its officers were killed during an invasion of a commercial bank by suspected armed robbers.

    The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP William Aya, told newsmen in Lokoja that the officers died while warding off the armed robbers that stormed a branch of UBA at Odo Ere in Yagba East Local Government Area of the state.

    Aya said that the incident occurred on March 28, saying that the two slain officers were sergeants.

    He said the Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilson Inalegwu, had set up a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operation to investigate the incident.

    He also said that reinforcement had been sent to the town to enhance security of lives and property, saying that the robbers would soon be arrested.

  • Deaf persons decry societal neglect, discrimination

    Deaf persons in Kogi have accused the state government and the general society of “utter neglect”, declaring that no one cared about their existence.

    “No one knows we exist in this state. No one cares if we feed or if we are happy or sad,” Mr Kabiru Omale, the Secretary of the Kogi chapter of the Deaf Persons Union, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Wednesday in Lokoja.

    He said that deaf persons were facing serious discrimination in Kogi, and claimed that they had never benefited from government.

    Omale regretted that deaf persons were always ignored by government and society because of a general belief that they could not assist the society in any way, adding that their plight was worsened by the lack of education.

    “A lot of us beg on the streets because we are helpless; we have no access to education or any skills to help ourselves,” he said.

    He appealed to the governor to renovate the special school for the deaf, located at Zango-Daji, and regretted that the school had been abandoned by successive governments.

    Omale also urged the government to open a training school for the deaf so as to empower them with some skills that could enhance self-reliance.

    He also appealed to government to give jobs to the few deaf persons that had gone to schools and acquired certificates, so as to encourage more deaf persons to seek higher education.

    Omale also urged government to open a special information centre where the deaf could access information on available job vacancies.

    “We hardly get to know where job openings exist because we can’t hear. We are always left behind and keep missing opportunities,” he lamented.

  • CP to kidnappers: I wont allow you to use Kogi forests

    Kogi Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilson Inalegwu, has advised kidnappers intending to use Kogi’s forests for their activities to perish the thought.

    “We shall not allow any criminal to use the forests; we shall consistently patrol the forests against such elements and shall not rest until we rid Kogi of every bandit,” he said on Wednesday.

    Inalegwu spoke at a joint news conference with the State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya, on the sidelines of this year’s International Day of Forests in Lokoja.

    Inalegwu commended the Kogi government over the recruitment of forest guards, and described it as a critical step that would control the forest reserves, which hitherto had been a safe haven for kidnappers and other criminals.

    “Now that we have a joint collaboration between the police force and the ministry of environment, we will work closely with the forest guards to deny these criminals their sanctuary.

    “Once this is done, if they kidnapped, they will not be able to hold their victims in the bush, neither will they be able to organise to plan their attacks.

    “Let us join hands and deny kidnappers and other criminals the use of our forests to carry out their nefarious activities and launch attacks against innocent travelers,” he said.

    The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya, on her part, told newsmen that the government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello was committed to effective utilisation of forestry resources for the benefit of all.

    She said that efforts to diversify the economy should focus on afforestation much more than subsistence farming, noting that timber was the third highest foreign exchange earner for Nigeria.

    “In addition to increasing vegetation, people can make money for themselves by planting quality fruit trees like cashew plantation.

    “In Kogi, a lot of our indigenous trees like Iroko and others are dead. Today, we are encouraging everybody to go back and rebuild our forest,”  she said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the International Day of Forests is marked every March 21. This year’s theme is “Forests and Energy”.

     

  • Gov. Bello optimistic school feeding programme will succeed in Kogi

    Gov. Bello optimistic school feeding programme will succeed in Kogi

    Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi on Wednesday expressed “deep optimism” that the Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP), would succeed in Kogi.

    The governor, who spoke on Wednesday in Lokoja, at the official flag-off of Stakeholders’ Sensitisation Workshop on the HGSFP, said that government was determined to reap the massive fruits offered by the scheme.

    Bello, who was represented by his Deputy, Mr Simon Achuba, pointed out that children and parents would benefit from the programme.

    In his remarks, Mr Adoga Ibrahim, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Multilateral Donor Agencies, said that the technical workshop was to upgrade implementing bodies on the work plans and the working documents for the HGSFP in Kogi.

    “The HGSFP aims at giving children in public schools, from primary one to three, a meal per day.

    “The meal is fully funded and appropriated for, in the 2016 and 2017 federal budget.

    “All states are supposed to back up the programme with their own counterparts funding to support the operations; our governor has fully backed it up, and even provided a furnished and digitalised staff office.

    “Already, the visiting team from the federal government has certified the state for meeting most of the conditions required for the implementation of the programme,” Ibrahim said.

    Mrs. Abimbola Adesanmi, National Programme Manager, HGSFP, in her remarks, said that the programme provided opportunities to assist vulnerable families to feed their children, while providing an incentive to send them to school.

    “The programme provides a linkage to health and nutrition intervention packages and also enhances community development as the food will be sourced from small holder farmers,” she said.