The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nasarawa

  • Dangote, Nasarawa sign MoU on Sugar refinery

    Dangote, Nasarawa sign MoU on Sugar refinery

    Nigeria’s dream of becoming self-sufficient in sugar production is coming to fruition, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), between Dangote Sugar Group, and the Nasarawa state Government

    The project is expected to gulp $700m .

    The signing ceremony of the deed of acquisition, lease and development agreement, took place at the National Sugar Development Council, Sugar House, Abuja, yesterday.

    President/CE, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said the integrated sugar complex to be located in Tunga, Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, comprises 60,000ha of sugar plantation and two sugar factories, with capacity to produce 430,000tpa of refined white sugar, representing about 30 per cent of the country’s consumption and would be the largest plant in Nigeria.

    The sugar project would also provide 30,000 jobs for the teaming youths in Nasarawa State.

    Dangote said Phase II of the project, when extended to cover 100,000ha, will make the sugar plant, the largest in Africa.

    Dangote Group has already committed N250million for community development of Tunga in line with its corporate social responsibility initiative to improve the people’s well-being.

    He said the project is to further align Dangote Group with the present government’s policy of diversifying the economy.

  • Strike: Nasarawa invokes ‘no work no pay’ policy

    Strike: Nasarawa invokes ‘no work no pay’ policy

    The Nasarawa State Government has invoked the ‘no work no pay’ policy on striking public sector workers, the state Head of Service, Mr. Thomas Ogiri, announced on Thursday.

    Ogiri said in a statement issued in Lafia that the action was in line with the labour law which stipulated that worker on strike would not be entitled to wages or remuneration throughout the period of the strike.

    The official, however, assured that civil servants not participating in the ongoing strike would be paid their salaries.

    The government directed all Permanent Secretaries and Accounting Officers of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to undertake table payment for May 2017 salaries to “deserving staff.”

    Reacting to the order, Ahmed Naibi, Secretary of the state chapter of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said the government had no right to take the action.

    According to him, the no work no pay policy applies only if workers abscond from duty for no good reason.

    The NLC scribe stressed that the law quoted by the government also gave workers the right to embark on strike, adding that the striking workers would not be intimidated.

    He explained that the strike was over non payment of February and March 2017 workers salaries.

    “The government only paid January 2017 salary then jump to pay April salary without paying the February and March salaries,” he said.

    The state NLC scribe, therefore, called on the workers to ignore any threat by the government and remain at home until otherwise directed by the union.

  • FG alerts on birdflu outbreak of in 7 states, FCT

    FG alerts on birdflu outbreak of in 7 states, FCT

    The Federal Government on Friday alerted the public to the outbreak of Avian Influenza or Bird Flu in the FCT and seven states of the country.

    raised the alert at a meeting with state Commissioners of Agriculture in Abuja on Friday.

    Mshelbwala listed the states affected by the outbreak to include Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa, Plateau, FCT and lastly, which reported a case on May 30.

    He said that the disease had spread across 26 states of the federation and the FCT since it started in 2008 affecting 800 farms in no fewer than 123 local government areas.

    Mshelbwala, who said that there were no scientifically proven vaccines for bird flu, noted that the Federal Government was adopting quarantine, movement control, stamping out, decontamination and bio-security measures to curb the spread.

    The director expressed regret over the poor bio-security practices by some poultry farmers, adding that it was the major reason for the continuous spread of the disease.

    According to him, the Federal Government has paid over N674 million in compensations to 269 farmers across the affected states.

    “Our national action plan encourages proper regulation of the poultry industry and enforcement of annual registration of all actors along the poultry value chain including farmers, traders, egg merchants and feed millers.

    “It also encourages the creation of veterinary extension services to facilitate the control and proper inspection of poultry and poultry products,’’ he said.

    Mshelbwala said that the way forward to the containment of the disease was to ban importation of poultry and products, quarantine and bio-security measures, among others.

    He, however, warned poultry farmers against illegal vaccination of birds, saying that it was a deadly alternative to the control of the disease.

  • Management of Breeze FM goes to court over demolition

    Management of Breeze FM goes to court over demolition

    The Management of Breeze FM, a Lafia-based private radio outfit, whose station was demolished on May 20, says it has gone to court “to seek justice”.

    The Nasarawa State Government had claimed that the station was demolished because the structure violated land approval laws by citing the media outfit in a residential area.

    Justifying the demolition, information commissioner Abdulhameed Kwara explained that it was carried out to avert radioactive radiation on people living around the station.

    But Mr Nawani Aboki, Executive Director of the radio station, at a press briefing on Tuesday in Lafia, said that management was compelled to go to court because government had ignored overtures by well meaning Nigerians, to apologize for its action.

    “The state government has not apologized. It has not taken any measure toward an amicable resolution of the issue. We think this is not fair.

    “Our lawyers are already working on our papers and will soon file them in court. The general mood in Nasarawa has propelled us to seek legal redress to stem the rising cases of tyranny and dictatorship in the state,” he said.

    He dismissed government’s claim that it demolished the structure to avert radioactive radiation on people living around the station.

    “I wonder how government arrived at that lame reason. There are numerous masts of various communication network providers that dot every space around residential areas. One is even standing in government house.

    “They accused us of operating in a residential area on a plot of land approved for residential purposes, but the question is, why didn’t they ask us to relocate instead of demolishing the station and its equipment?”, he said.

  • Nasarawa spends over N1bn on construction of bridges

    Nasarawa spends over N1bn on construction of bridges

    Nasarawa State Government has spent over N1 billion on the construction of major bridges in the state within the last two years.

    Alhaji Ahmed Yahaya-Wada, Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport stated this in Lafia on Tuesday while giving the scorecard of the Governor Umaru Al-Makura-led administration.

    Yahaya-Wada said the construction of the bridges linking several communities had opened up the state and eased the transportation of both persons and goods, especially farm produce thereby boosting the economic wellbeing of the people.

    He said the government had constructed over 300kms of asphalt roads across all the headquarters of the 13 local government areas of the state in line with its urban renewal policy.

    He added that the rural areas had also been given attention through the construction of roads, drains and culverts to ease transportation and check erosion ravaging parts of the state.

    According to the commissioner, construction of the alternative road linking Lafia to Abuja through Abaji has started.

    He explained that the 65km first phase of the project from the ongoing Lafia airport site through Bassa-Kokona-Keffi have begun in earnest while the feasibility study for the second phase to Abaji has been done.

    Yahaya-Wada said when completed, the road would shorten the journey from Lafia to Abuja by about 70kms.

    He said the preliminary cost of the project was put at about N15 billion considering the challenging terrain and the quality of the road. It includes bridges and drains

    “A lot of traffic is anticipated on the road when completed. We have to ensure the best standard

    “This road would link the Lafia airport, which we believe would become the alternative airport to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja given the proximity”, Yahaya-Wada said.

  • Wadada begins consultations, visits Nasarawa legislators

    Wadada begins consultations, visits Nasarawa legislators

    Alhaji Ahmed Wadada, a two-term PDP member of the House of Representatives, who recently defected to the APC, has begun consultations toward contesting the Nasarawa governorship seat in 2019.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Wadada took his preliminary consultations to the Nasarawa House of Assembly on Tuesday in Lafia, where he formally informed the legislators of his ambition.

    “My visit is to fraternize with members and inform the House of my intention to contest the state’s governorship seat come 2019,” he said.

    While soliciting their support, he commended the legislators for their cordial working relationship with the executive arm, saying that it had sped up development and quality governance.

    Wadada appealed to Nasarawa residents to respect constituted authority and embrace peace irrespective of ethnic, religious and political affiliation.

    Responding, the Speaker, Ibrahim Balarabe-Abdullahi, said that the floor was open for aspirants to test their popularity, stressing that no one had been anointed by any group.

    “The House will support any credible candidate capable of bringing the much desired development; at the right time, we shall sit down, examine the options, and make our stance known,” he said.

    He urged the aspirant to play by the rules in the interest of peace and national development.

    NAN reports that Wadada, a businessman, contested the Nasarawa South senatorial seat in the 2015 general, losing narrowly to then incumbent and former Nasarawa Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, by a very narrow margin.

  • Nasarawa pays N500m for World Bank programme

    Nasarawa state government has paid its counter fund of N500 million to the World Bank for participation in the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project. (NEWMAP)

    The state Deputy Governor, Mr. Silas Agara, made the disclosure on Tuesday in Lafia during a meeting with members of the steering committee for the project.

    He explained that the World Bank assisted programme was aimed at tackling gully erosion as well as the challenges of watershed management facing most states in Nigeria.

    He said that Nasarawa is one of the 18 states in Nigeria currently benefiting from the project.

    Agara added that execution of NEWMAP would go a long way to address the challenges of erosion and environmental degradation in parts of the state.

    He said the government was committed to putting measures in place to curb erosion, soil degradation and other adverse effects of climate change plaguing the state.

    The deputy governor lauded the efforts of the federal government to avert environmental hazards through programmes such as NEWMAP.

    He expressed the willingness of the government to partner the federal government and other relevant agencies in this direction.

    He said that the meeting would ensure that the execution of the project in the state was in conformity with the national development plan.

    He added that the meeting would also approve the annual work plan for the project.

    Agara said the meeting would also provide guidelines for the operations of members of the technical committee for the project.

    He added that the meeting would also deliberate and resolve conflict that might arise in the affected communities.

    The Commissioner for Environment and Solid minerals, Mr. Gabriel Aka’aka, who chairs the committee, assured that members would work assiduously to ensure success of the project.

     

  • Gunmen kidnap Nasarawa lawmaker’s mum, sister

    The sister and mother of the lawmaker representing Akwanga South in the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Kassim Mohammed-Kassim, were  kidnapped by gunmen on Saturday.

    Police spokesman Kennedy Idirisu confirmed this to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia, yesterday.

    According to him, the gunmen stormed the lawmaker’s home at Moroa, Akwanga, about 8pm, shooting sporadically, before whisking the two women away.

    He said the police was collaborating with the vigilance groups to locate the victims.

    “As we speak, our men are already searching for the victims and to arrest the perpetrators,” Idirisu said.

    A family source, who pleaded for anonymity, said the abductors have contacted the family and demanded a ransom of N30 million.

    Efforts to speak to Mohammed-Kassim were unsuccessful.

  • Nasarawa: Assembly audits quality of N700m Al-Makura bridges

    The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has assured that current inspection of bridge projects by its Committee on Works was to ensure quality execution of the contracts.The Chairman of the committee, Mr Mohammed Okpoku, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Agwada on Tuesday that every local council must account for the money released to it for the construction of bridges and culverts in their locality.

    NAN reports that Gov. Tanko Al-Makura had in February released over N700 million to the 13 local councils and 18 development areas in the state to construct bridges and culverts.
    Okpoku said that the oversight visit by the committee was not meant to witch hunt any local government chairman, but ensure that monies released were accounted for.
    According to him, contractors handling the various projects have no reason to delay the work as the governor had released their money in full.
    “The inspection exercise was not meant to witch hunt anybody. It is part of the Assembly’s oversight functions to ensure that quality job is done in the interest of peace and development.”
    The committee chairman commended Gov. Al-Makura for the initiative, saying it would open up rural areas, stimulate agriculture and socio-economic activities across the state.
    “The construction of the bridges and culverts would not only reduce the hardship faced by the people but would also improve on agricultural production, fight poverty, boost revenue base and socio-economic activities of the people,” he said.
    He said that so far, the quality of most of the bridges and culverts inspected by the committee was high.

     

  • Feeding Programme: Nasarawa approves over N32m for 29 secondary schools

    Nasarawa state government has approved over N32 million for school feeding and other logistics for the 29 boarding secondary schools in the state.

    The Commissioner of Education, Malam Aliyu Tijjani, made the statement on Thursday in Lafia at a meeting he held with principals of secondary schools from the southern senatorial district of the state.

    Tijjani, who was represented by Aliyu Abdullahi-Agwai, permanent secretary in the ministry, said that the monthly allocation for the school feeding programme was N20 million.

    “However, the state government decided to increase the allocation by over N12 million due to some inadequacies and other basic needs in the schools in view of the free education policy,” he said.

    The commissioner said the gesture was in line with the government’s quest to re-position the education sector.

    He urged the principals to monitor the implementation of the programme in collaboration with other stakeholders.

    He called on the principals to ensure discipline and commitment of staff and students in their various schools.

    Tijjani warned the principals not to engage in or condone social vices such as examination malpractice, cultism and molestation of female students.

    He said the ministry had put measures in place to sanction erring principals and staff.

    Responding, Malam Umar Ubangeri, the state chairman, All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) lauded the efforts of the government to revitalise the education  sector through its free education policy and school feeding programme.

    He assured the government that the principals would do their best to ensure that the free education policy in the state succeeds.