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Tag: Nasarawa State

  • Fire service records 36 fire incidents, 40 distress calls in Nasarawa

    Nasarawa state Fire Service has confirmed that in the first quarter of 2018, it has recorded 36 fire incidents, 40 distress calls and four rescue calls with one life lost and three others saved across the state.

    Alhaji Dogara Dalhatu, Chief Fire Officer, in the state made this known in an interview with newsmen in Lafia on Thursday.

    According to Dalhatu, out of the 40 distress calls received across the state so far, 36 were actual fire calls with properties lost estimated to be about N54.9 million while estimated worth of properties saved stands at N531.8 million.

    “I must say that the rate of fire incidents for the first quarter of 2018 was controlled compared to other periods. This is so because from the available statistics for the period, the command recorded 40 distressed calls. Out of these calls, fire incidents stood at 36”.

    “We recorded four rescue calls, that is people that fall into a dam or open water. From the available statistics, one life was lost from these incidents and we were able to save three lives. The properties lost is about N54.9 million while estimated worth of properties saved is about N531.8 million,” he said.

    Dalhatu advised that to further reduce rate of fire incidences in the state, the public should also be alert in case of fire eventuality and should acquire modern fire fighting equipments such as fire extinguishers in their environments.

    Dalhatu admitted that if some victims of fire infernos across the state had reported in time, more lives and properties would have been saved as fire fighters would reach the venue of the fire incident early enough to quench it before it does much damage.

    “Apart from that, people should have the pre-knowledge of fire prevention and fire fighting techniques. That will be through workshops and public enlightenment by the fire authorities. Also people should adhere fire safety rules and regulations,” He said.

    The Nasarawa Chief Fire Officer then appealed to the state government for more manpower to handle existing stations and to engage its fire fighters in modern training and re-training so that the fire fighters can be capable of managing modern equipments for fire fighting.

     

  • Fire service records 36 incidents in Nasarawa in Q1

    The Nasarawa State Fire Service recorded 36 fire incidents out of 40 distress calls in the first quarter of 2018. Alhaji Dogara Dalhatu, Chief Fire Officer in the state made this known to newsmen in Lafia on Thursday.

    Dalhatu said there were four rescue calls, one life lost and three others saved across the state in the period under review. According to him, properties lost were estimated to be about N54.9 million, while estimated value of property saved stood at N531.8 million.

    “I must say that the rate of fire incidents for the first quarter of 2018 is controllable compared to other periods.

    “This is so because from the available statistics for the period, the command recorded 40 distressed calls. Out of these calls, fire incidents stood at 36.

    “We recorded four for rescue calls. That is, people that fall into either a dam or open water,’’ he said.

    Dalhatu said that to further reduce the rate of fire incidents in the state, the public should also be alert and should acquire modern fire-fighting equipment such as fire extinguishers in their environment.

    He said that if some victims of fire across the state had reported in time, more lives and property would have been saved as fire fighters would reach the venue of the fire incident early enough to quench it before it does much damage.

    “Apart from that, people should have the pre-knowledge of fire prevention and fire -fighting techniques.

    Read Also: YCE urges Buhari to fire service chiefs

    “That will be through workshops and public enlightenment by the fire authorities. Also people should adhere to fire safety rules and regulations,’’ Dalhatu said.

    He appealed to the state government to provide more manpower to handle existing stations and to engage its fire fighters in modern training and re-training in order to manage modern fire-fighting equipment.

    “The fireman needs special training and constant retraining to adjust to modern trends in fire-fighting.

    “Modern equipment are coming in; thereby making it imperative for firemen to be trained on how to use them, ‘’ Dalhatu said.

    He also called for insurance cover for all fire fighters in the state against unforseen hazards in the course of fire outbreaks and other special allowances to be paid to them.

    NAN

  • Al-Makura rejects call to enact anti-grazing law

    Governor Umaru Tanko Almakura of Nasarawa State has stated that his government has no plans to enact anti-grazing law, but assured that efforts would be intensified towards  ensuring lasting peace between herders and farmers in the state.

    Almakura disclosed this when he received the participants of Defense Intelligence College at the government house in Lafia who were in the state as part of their national tour focusing on the theme: “Aniti-grazinig laws as panacea for incessant herdsmen attacks in Nigeria”.

    Regretting the dimension the farmers/herders clashes has assumed over the years, Governor Almakura explained that his administration had evolved measures that have put the situation in check.

    He attributed the farmers/herders clashes to the absence of grazing routes and the activities of bandits and rustlers.

    The governor noted that the home grown Community Based Conflict Resolution mechanism which allows for communities to settle problems on their own without outsiders or middle men who are not from the area or understand the root of their problems has proved effective since 2013 when it was put in place.

    He said the Nasarawa State Youth Empowerment Scheme (NAYES) which has employed over 5000 youths has reduced problems associated with youth restiveness.

    Speaking earlier, the team leader and Commandant of the Defense Intelligence College, Air Commodore E. O Jaiyeola, said the team was in the state to get firsthand information on the problems associated with anti-grazing law and see how to arrive at long term solutions.

    He explained that they were on a mission to look into the issues if ranching, grazing routes and the effect the laws has had, stating that by speaking to the people  they would get a better grasp of the issues at hand.

     

  • 2019: Former Nasarawa SSG joins governorship race

    The former Secretary to the Government of Nasarawa State, Mr Philip Dada, on Tuesday declared his interest to run for governorship of the state in 2019 under the All Progressives Congress ( APC ).

    Dada made the declaration when he met with APC ward officials of Karu, Karu Local Government Area of the state.

    He said that he joined the race because of his plan for the development of the state through people oriented programmes.

    “For the past one year, I have been consulting with stakeholders especially the Gbagyi among other elites about my interest to join in the governorship race in the state come 2019 to enable me contribute my quota.

    “The door is now open; I will continue my consultations to the zonal and state offices of the party even to the national party office.

    “I will also be consulting key stakeholders in the state to seek for their support and blessings,” he said.

    According to him, he has gathered enough experience to appreciate the problems of the state and best way to tackle them.

    “I want to use my experience in government to develop Nasarawa State, if given the mandate and opportunity to serve the good people of the state.

    “As a former SSG and a retired director at the State House Abuja, I can say I am qualified to rule the state,” he added.

    Dada solicited the support of all APC stakeholders across the state for the realisation of his governorship ambition.

    Read Also: Nasarawa to train 2,140 teachers on classroom management

    He commended Gov. Umar  Al-makura and the leadership of the party under Mr Philips Tatari Shekwo, for providing a free play field for all the aspirants to exercise their rights.

    Dada advised delegates to shun money bag politics, to guarantee the emergence good leaders that would take the state to the next level of growth and development.

    The aspirant also admonished the youths to avoid all acts capable of tarnishing their image, and allow politics to be played according to the rules.

    Alhaji Abdul Rauf, the Karu ward chairman of APC,  described Dada as a humble and dedicated party member who has contributed to the development of the state.

    He assured the aspirant of their support, noting that he is the only Gbagyi man to indicate interest to contest for the governorship position in the state.

    News men reports that Dada served as SSG under former governor Abdullahi Adamu.

    NAN

  • Easter: Traders lament low patronage

    As Christians celebrate Good Friday in preparation for Easter, traders in Mararaba and Masaka markets in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State have complained over low patronage from customers.

    In a separate interviews with our correspondent on Friday, the traders said that patronage this Easter season was low, adding that they expected more sales on Saturday.

    Malam Tanimu Dauda, a meat seller at the Mararaba market said patronage had been very low this year compared to what was obtained last year.

    “Good Friday is always like this, due to Christians abstinence from meat, many of them do not eat meat today.

    “More so people have not started buying what they need for the Easter celebration, I am sure as from tomorrow we will have better sales.

    “May the Almighty Allah give us patience to endure, in order to experience high sales according to how He planned it for us.

    “Even though patronage is low now, I am sure of high patronage as time goes on, people will patronise us because they cannot do without eating meat on Easter day,” Dauda said.

    Mr Bitrus Inuwa, who sales fish popularly known as ‘point and Kill’ said patronage was not encouraging even though he expected things to change by Saturday.

    “However, I expect it to record better sales because customers are still coming to buy though the number is negligble” he said.

    Miss Linda Ogwu who sales tomotoes and pepper at Masaka market, said she was not expecting high patronage in view of the fact that most Christians were celebrating Good Friday today.

    “Most Christians are celebrating Good Friday today; they will not eat stew and meat today, so they will not buy meat.

    “I believe that from tomorrow, patronage will improve,” she said.

    For Mr Peter Ejifor, who sells ladies shoes and bags at the Masaka Market, patronage was encouraging as the shop was filled with ladies trying to make their choice.

    Ejiofor said he was grateful to God for the patronage so far, adding that ladies are seriously preparing for the Easter celebration.

    “You can see them buying what they need in the shop, I thank God for the high turnover and know I will make reasonable sales today.

    Mrs Talatu Bawa who trade in Carbage inside the market said patronage was not high as earlier expected, but added that there was hope for it to raise.

    Bawa said that patronage would be higher from Saturday, because according to her, Good Friday is the beginning of the journey to Easter.

    “Easter is the main day for celebration; today is just like a normal day where people come to market and buy what they need.

    “Good Friday celebration is mostly done with activities in the church; but that does not mean that people will not buy thin

    “I thank God for the little sales I have made so far and I also hoped for higher sales tomorrow and Sunday,” Bawa said.

    Another trader, Mr Ikechukwu Onyema, a rice seller, said the patronage was not encouraging, compared to previous Esther celebration, where people came in large number to buy rice.

    He, however attributed the poor patronage to the current economic situation in the country coupled with the high cost of goods and services.

    NAN

  • North Central wants 2019 Presidency

     

    Ahead of the 2019 Presidential elections, the North Central geopolitical zone has said it has been relegated to the background in the Presidential race of the country, demanding however that it be allowed to produce the next President in 2019.

    To the end, the zonal chapter of the Action Democratic Party is asking the national leadership of the party to zone the Presidency to them, while asking the two other zones in the north to concede the seat to them.

    National Vice Chairman (North Central) of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) Senator Yusuf Nagogo who spoke the mind of the zone at a meeting of the party Abuja and it was time for the north central to be allowed to produce the net President, adding that he north west geopolitical zone has continued to dominate the political leadership of the country.

    Nagogo wants the national leadership of the ADP to zone the Presidency to the north central saying the zone has qualified personnel to occupy the office while also appealing to both the north west and north east geopolitical zones to willingly cede the Presidency to the zone.

    Nagogo insisted that since democracy took off in Nigeria, the North Central has never been considered for the Presidency, saying for the fact that North-central is a the heart beat of Nigeria, the region must be considered.

    The former lawmaker who is aspiring to govern Nasarawa state said “since the return of democracy in 1999, “this zone has been relegated. I am making this this request before the National leaders of ADP to please return presidency to the North-central zone. We have capable hands and we will not disappoint the nation”.

    He argued that Alhaji Shehu Shagari is from the North West and so is Musa Yar’adua and now President  Muhammadu Buhari, while the North-east also had Alhaji Tafawa Balewa in the first republic and Atiku Abubakar as Vice President, saying “If after 2019 we are deprived again we do not know when it will again return to the North.”

    Nagogo wants the Northern elders from the North-west and North-east to consider the North-central “if we are truly one” he concluded.

    Responding to the request the National Chairman of the Party , Engr. Yabagi Sani said the party has already zoned the Presidency to the north as a political bloc, stressing that the party has already set up committees in each of the Northern zones to look into the issue of Presidency and seek out a credible  Presidential material that will take Nigeria out of the woods.

    He said the party in the north should work as a a team to identify a credible candidate who will lead Nation out of the wood adding that North-central should work hard for it and put forward credible candidates that will be sellable to other geopolitical zones

    Speaking on the state of the nation, ADP chairman said democracy means everybody must have their say and ask qestion when things are going wrong, saying “We are calling on authorities to quickly ruse to tge occasion of insecurity in Nigeria because we believe that Nigerian Army is equal to the task.

    “Anger, hunger and killings currently going on in the country are not dividend of democracy. We are calling on APC government to leave a good legacy before leaving office in 2019.”

    While describing ADP as a child of necessity, Engr. Sani declared that the party for now is not merging with any political party or group, saying that “our doors are open to any group or political party. Though we are already having meetings with different groups and political parties on how to move the country forward.”

     

  • Nasarawa to train 2,140 teachers on classroom management

    The Nasarawa State Government will train its 2,140 newly engaged teachers on classroom management before deploying them to classes, Alhaji Tijjani Ahmed, the Commissioner of Education, said on Wednesday in Lafia.

    Ahmed told our correspondent that the teachers would be trained on the rudiments of managing classroom situations to acquaint them with effective skills to cope with students and pupils.

    “The training will last for two weeks; it will focus on building capacities for effective service delivery.

    “Most of those recruited are just fresh from schools; there is a differences between what they were taught in school and the experience in class.

    “As trained teachers, most of them did teaching practice while in school, but they were not in charge of the classes because of the presence of the permanent teachers,” he said.

    The commissioner disclosed that the newly engaged teachers were offered one-year employment.

    “After the one year probation period, the ministry will interview them again and offer permanent and pensionable appointments to those qualified,” he said.

    He said that teachers with degrees would be paid N25,000 per month, while those with NCE would be paid N20,000.

    On security, he said that measures had been adopted to secure boarding schools, and advised proprietors of private schools to equally beef up security in their schools.

    NAN

  • Mysterious ailment paralyses 6 orphans of same parents in Nasarawa

    Mysterious ailment has paralyzed 6 children of the family of late Danladi Bawa of Gitata, Keffi local government area of Nasarawa state.

    Findings by our reporter revealed that late Mr and Mrs Danladi Bawa who died in 1990 and 2017 respectively, did not suffer or exhibit any signs of the mysterious ailment their children have contracted.

    Speaking with The Nation, the eldest son of the family, Mr. Danlami Danladi, who also suffers from the mysterious paralysis, called on the federal and state government and other well-meaning Nigerians to come to their assistance through provision of food and to take care of their medical needs.

    According to him: “Our parents did not die of this disease. They gave birth to 8 of us and six of us had paralysis from a mysterious ailment. Whenever we reach the age of 18 years, we will find ourselves gradually being paralyzed. We don’t know what is happening to us or the cause of this kind of disease”.

    “I am 38 years old and our parents are late. When our father died in 1990, it was our mother that usually provided us with our needs. Her death in 2017 affected us more as we find it difficult to eat and take care of our medical treatment”.

    “I am the second born of our parents and I was paralyzed in 2006 and  let me tell you, what disturbs us most is that, six of us got paralyzed when we were above the age of 18 years and it is after we’ve grown up that it occurs and we don’t know what is happening to our family”.

    “All of us went to Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, in Nasarawa state and Godiya Clinic in Jabba local government area of Kaduna state, after various tests, they told us that nothing was discovered to be wrong with us”.

    “We pray that we will be healed of this mysterious disease one day,” he said.

    Danladi appealed to the government, NGOs and other well-meaning Nigerians to come to their assistance, adding that with their conditions, they were unable to feed and take care of themselves.

    “I was repairing mobile phones before, but now I can‘t do the job again because I have been paralysed  and I pray that God will heal me  and my brothers and sisters from this kind of mysterious disease.”

    The Nation reports that, other children of the family who are paralysed are  Asabe, first child of the family and was married with 5 children.  Pius, the third child, Maikasuwa, Danjuma and Cecelia, the sixth child.

    The remaining children yet to contact the disease are the last two, Hanatu, the seventh child and Joshua the last born.

    Mr.Shuaibu Ahmadu, a resident in the area expressed shock with the mysterious disease that had paralysed the children of the same family, saying no coherent explanation has been given as to the course.

    “This disease will only paralysed them when they grew up, we wonder why. We pray God to heal them and protect the remaining two children of the family from the disease,” he said.

  • Nasarawa builds technology incubation centre for innovation

    The Nasarawa State Government, has built an incubation centre to encourage innovative enterprise in the state. Prof. Jonathan Ayuba, the Commissioner for Special Education, Science and Technology, made this disclosure in an interview with the News men on Monday in Lafia.

    The centre is part of the State Government’s measures to nurture young persons found to be interested in innovative enterprises. “The centre, when inaugurated, will be responsible for developing talents as a way of promoting science and technology.

    “The Federal Government is happy about the incubation centre and the Minister of Science and Technology will soon come to inaugurate the centres,” he added.

    He explained that science equipment to be used in secondary schools in the state would also be produced in the centre.

    “The government has concluded plans to establish the institute of technical education in Lafia.

    Read Also: Nasarawa employs 2,140 teachers

    “All that is needed in terms of planning was concluded by a team of experts engaged by the government; the institute when established, will award diplomas.

    “All technical schools in the state will serve as feeders to the institute and government will make it a policy for the technical colleges to supply candidates to the institute”.

    According to him, the institute will produce graduates, who are self-reliant and employers of labour.

    Ayuba added that the ministry was collaborating with the ministry of education to get all the courses at the three technical colleges in the state accredited.

    “Some of the courses were given interim accreditation by the National Board for Technical Education and we are putting measures to get full accreditation to all of them,” he added.

    He said that government would also upgrade facilities in the technical colleges, train and retrain the manpower for better service delivery.

    The commissioner said that government had already procured the equipment and would soon get them installed.

    NAN

  • Nasarawa employs 2,140 teachers

    Gov. Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State has approved the employment of 2,140 teachers.

    This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Aliyu Agwai, Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Education on Friday in Lafia.

    According to the statement, the employment is in line with the governor’s quest to provide quality education in the state.

    Agwai said that the teachers would be posted to public primary and secondary schools across the state.

    He said that the list of the employed teachers had been posted at all the 19 area offices in the 13 Local Government Areas of the state and the ministry’s headquarters in Lafia.

    Agwai advised the employed teachers to check their names and report at the ministry from March 26 to April 13 for documentation and orientation.

    NAN