The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Plateau

  • Jos: 80 houses for completion in June – Minister

    Eighty units of houses, built under the National Housing Scheme, have reached 70 per cent completion and would be inaugurated in June, Mr Mustapha Shehuri, Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, has said.

    Shehuri disclosed this on Tuesday in Jos, when he paid a courtesy call on the Deputy Governor of Plateau, Prof. Sonni Tyoden.

    He said that Plateau was one of the beneficiaries of the pilot scheme ‎ of the housing programme.

    According to him, the project consists of 4 units of 1-bedroom semi-detached houses, 48 units of 2-bedrooms, semi-detached, and 28 units of 3 bedroom semi-detached homes.

    He said that the project, which commenced in February, would be completed and occupied in June this year.

    The minister said that Nigerians, who could contribute a specified amount to the Federal Mortgage Bank, were qualified to own a house in the scheme.

    Shehuri appealed to the state government to construct feeder roads that would link Rayfield to Laminga, where the houses were being constructed.

    Responding, Tyoden assured the minister of the state government’s readiness to construct feeder roads that would link Rayfield to Laminga.

    He appealed to the minister to address the issue of the abandoned 132 KVA line from Makara in Pankshin, noting that the abandonment had caused much hardship to the communities.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister, who had earlier inspected the housing project, expressed delight at the level and quality of work.

  • Plateau confirms three cases of CSM

    Dr. Kunden Deyin, the Plateau Commissioner for Health, said on Monday that the State had confirmed three cases of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM).

    Deyin told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos, that the three cases manifested clinical symptoms of the disease and laboratory tests confirmed them to be cerebrospinal meningitis.

    He added, however, that the tests were yet to ascertain whether the cases were type “A” or “C”.

    Deyin recalled that Plateau last administered vaccines for CSM type “A” in 2013, stressing that the vaccine was expected to last for 10 years in the individual’s system.

    The commissioner said that the first suspected cases, reported from Lantang South and Mikang Local Government Areas, turned out to be false after laboratory tests.

    According to him, for a state to qualify for the type “C” vaccines, it must have recorded three confirmed cases of the disease.

    “It means that Plateau has qualified, but accessing the vaccines for type “C” is very difficult; currently the vaccines available worldwide are five million doses,” he said.

    He said that the state was working toward curtailing the spread of the disease, and identified its major symptoms to include severe headaches, fever and neck stiffness.

    The other symptoms include altered consciousness, vomiting and photophobia (fear of light), while convulsions could manifest in children.

    The official urged Plateau residents to be vigilant and to report any of such symptoms to the nearest health facility.

    He also advised people to avoid overcrowded places and to ensure that their bedrooms were well ventilated.

  • Plateau churns out 2889 youth entrepreneurs

    Plateau churns out 2889 youth entrepreneurs

    Plateau State has tapped into the axiom of teaching people to fish rather than giving them fish. Thus, there was a sense of fulfilment and relief when 2889 youths completed a six-month entrepreneurial training and were given tools to kick-start their trades. The new entrepreneurs will no longer need to look up to anyone for food and sustenance; they will not only feed themselves but also start helping others in need.

    The training was captured under the Simon Lalong Empowerment Scheme (SLEMS), an empowerment programme coordinated by the Plateau Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (PLASMEDA).

    In his welcome address, Director General of PLASMEDA, Mr. Hagai Gutap said, “This number of 2889 represents the first batch of youths trained on business enterprise for them to attain economic independence from this moment on. This is a deliberate poverty reduction policy of the Governor Simon Lalong administration; we want to reduce poverty through skill acquisition. That will also reduce youth restiveness in the state which will have the goal of consolidating on the ongoing peace building.

    Speaking further, Gutap said, “Plateau is on its way out of poverty and to economic prosperity. This government is matching words with action, the governor promised to take the youths out of the streets and make them contribute to the economy of the state in a positive way; this graduation therefore is a partial fulfillment of campaign promises. Governor Lalong is desirous to make every segment of the population across the state feel the positive impact of government. As we are graduating this first set, we are also using this very occasion to flag off the training for the next batch.

    In his remarks, one of the training facilitators, Mr Solomon Chika, founder of Plateau Entrepreneurial Academy, said, “This project is not only about poverty reduction, it is also wealth creation, a very major boost to the growing economy of the state. Because this set of trained entrepreneurs are going to be self-employed having been trained and government has provided them the necessary tools to start business immediately.

    The state chairman of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon Steven Jings confirmed that all the 2889 trained entrepreneurs were carefully selected from all the 17 local governments of the state, and the governor has also directed that for the next batch, there should 200 youths from each local government to also be trained. He acknowledged that the 5-pillar policy of the rescue administration of Governor Lalong is working.

    Project Manager of Apurimac Onlus, Mr. Godwin Okoko who trained the beneficiaries gave the breakdown of the beneficiaries thus; 25% of them are mothers while the rest are teenagers.

    Governor Lalong, in his remarks, said, “Today’s gathering is another step in the avowed demonstration of Government’s resolve, to strategically empower her citizens through entrepreneurship training and the provision of Business Support Inputs.

    He said, “The commitment of our Rescue Administration to Small and Medium Enterprise Development is what led to the immediate establishment of the Plateau State Micro-Finance and Enterprise Development Agency (PLASMEDA), so that as an institution of Government, it will coordinate and stimulate entrepreneurship and business development, for the socio-economic advancement of the State.

    “I am happy that PLASMEDA has hit the ground running by collaborating with APURIMAC Nigeria and a Consortium of Six (6) other Non-Governmental Organizations, to swiftly recruit and train youths of the State, in a Four (4) months intensive skills acquisition training in various enterprise areas that include; Aluminium Works, Catering, Computer, Decorating and Event, Management, others are Fashion Designing, Hair Dressing and Beauty Therapy, Beats Making, Knitting, Leather Works, Welding and Metal Fabrication.

    “These 4 months intensive skills training under the first phase has produced 2889 trainees, of what has been Christened the Simon Lalong Entrepreneurship Scheme (SLEMS), and for which we are sending-them off today, to become self-reliant entrepreneurs. You will agree with me that as these new entrepreneurs contribute their quota in growing the business industry in the State, they will serve aseconomic backbones to their respective families, while also providing the opportunity for others whom they will be engaging, to be trained and supported to develop their own small businesses. This is the multiplier effect we seek to achieve as the trainees become trainers themselves.

    “Let me thank our partners, Apurimac Nigeria and the network of NGOs that provided the training, for taking their time to impact entrepreneurship skills on the graduands. I am confident that the same zeal and commitment you have put to train the 2889 trainees, will be passed on to the second phase of trainees who we are lining up for training, in the various skills enhancement and trade areas we have outlined for their economic empowerment.

    For the second phase of the Skills Acquisitions training, I have directed the PLASMEDA to ensure that we are training a minimum of Two Hundred (200) People per Local Government Area, in three batches spread across the three (3) Senatorial Zones of the State.

     

  • Plateau has suspected cases of cerebra-spinal meningitis – Commissioner

    Plateau has recorded some suspected cases of Cerebro-spinal meningitis in Langtang South and Mikang Local Government Areas.

    Dr. Kunden Deyin, the state Commissioner for Health, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Jos.

    Deyin said that findings from the suspected cases were consistent with cerebra-spinal meningitis, clinically.

    He said that the national policy on meningitis now stipulates that before any case is confirmed as being that  of meningitis, a blood sample or cerebra-spinal fluid must have been diagnosed at a government approved medical laboratory.

    It is the results from such a laboratory that will confirm the case as being that of cerebra-spinal meningitis, he said.

    The commissioner said that those persons suspected to be suffering from the diseases had commenced treatment with antibiotics.

    He, however, said that two others, suspected to be victims of the disease, were yet to commence treatment because their blood-samples had just been taken to the laboratory for analysis.

    Deyin said that the major symptoms of cerebra-spinal meningitis are: severe headaches, fever and neck stiffness (whereby the individual can’t turn his or her neck).

    According to him, other symptoms are: some altered consciousness, vomiting and photo-phobia (such persons don’t want to see light), while in children some of them might twitch (convulsion).

    He appealed to the public to be vigilant and report any of such symptoms promptly to the nearest health facility.

    Deyin said the disease was usually more prevalent between December and June.

     The commissioner also advised people to always desist from staying in overcrowded places and  sleep in well ventilated rooms.

  • Dismissed soldier in court for killing lover over phone call

    A military man, Sunday Umaru, has been dragged before a Barkin-Ladi High Court in Plateau, for allegedly killing his lover, Charity Thomas, over a phone call.

    Umaru, a married man, was a Private in the Nigerian Army and on posting at the Special Task Force (STF), sector 7, Barkin Ladi, at the time of the incident, on Jan. 23, 2016.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the hearing, scheduled for March 30, could not hold following the absence of Justice Samson Gang, who was said to be attending a function elsewhere.

    Umaru was first arraigned on July 14, 2016 on a one-count charge of culpable homicide.

    He was specifically accused of killing his lover, Charity, who came to visit him from Kaduna, by stabbing her with a knife in the stomach and slaughtering her thereafter.

    According to the prosecutor, Mr W.T Awe, of the Plateau State Ministry of Justice, the accused person committed the crime on Jan. 23, 2016 in Barkin Ladi.

    Awe, during the arraignment, told the court that the Nigeria Army had court-martialed the accused, dismissed him after they found him guilty, and handed him over to the police for prosecution.

    He said that the accused person had told the police, in a confessional statement, that the deceased visited him sometime in January 2016, after which they had a misunderstanding which led to her death.

    “In the statement, the accused alleged that the deceased used a kitchen knife to stab herself after which he (accused), removed the knife and `helped’ her to complete the act by slaughtering her,” Awe stated.

    Awe further quoted the accused as saying that he was in the sitting room while Charity was in the kitchen at 7 p.m. on Jan. 23, when Charity’s phone rang and he picked the call.

    The accused, in the statement, said that a man’s voice at the other insisted on speaking with Charity, but that he (accused) demanded to know who he (caller) was.

    He claimed that instead of answering his inquiries, the voice rained insults on him.

    Umaru, according to the statement, dropped the call, went to the kitchen and asked Charity who the caller was, but that Charity refused to provide answers to his questions, opting to remind him that he (Umaru) was a married man.

    The accused further claimed that Charity, in a fit of anger, called off the relationship and declared that she was no more interested in him (Umaru), especially since her parents had consistently warned her against the affair.

    “Umaru said that he got angry and slapped her, which angered Charity, who quickly picked a knife and stabbed herself in the stomach,” Awe told the court.

    The statement further indicated that Charity failed down thereafter, with the accused removing the knife from her stomach and slaughtering her “to complete the job she started”.

    Umaru thereafter took her body outside, left it there and reported for duty at 8 p.m.

    The prosecutor said that the accused, from his duty point, went to to see his family at the Maxwell Kobe Cantonment, Rukuba Barracks, after telling his boss that his wife wanted to see him over “a very pressing issue”.

    “Charity’s lifeless body was found the next day by neighbours, while military men, who came to evacuate the body, trailed the blood marks to the accused person’s house.

    “Friends of the accused also recognised the girl as Umaru’s lover, who was seen with him the previous day,” Awe told the court.

    He said that a team of military men, mobilised to go after the accused, arrested him at his home in the barracks, while in the company of his family.

    According to Awe, the accused was court-martialed by the military and dismissed, after which he was handed over to the police for prosecution.

    He said that during investigation, the police discovered several gory pictures and videos of the deceased that the accused took in his phone, immediately after the murder.

    The accused has, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge

    NAN reports that at his first appearance in July 2016, Umaru’s counsel, David Adudu, prayed the court to grant his client bail, citing section 36(5) of the 1999 constitution which says that an accused is presumed innocent until otherwise proven.

    Adudu had added that if the bail was granted, his client would neither jump bail nor interfere with police investigation.

    Justice Samson Gang admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N200,000 and two sureties in like sum.

    Gang, who ordered that the sureties must reside within the jurisdiction of the court, said that they must submit two copies of their recent passport photographs, copies of their national ID cards, GCE certificates and copies of their Rights of Occupancy.

    He thereafter adjourned the matter to March 30, for hearing.

    NAN reports that with the judge not available to hear the case, the matter was adjourned to May 25.

     

  • Bill for Plateau penal code passes second reading

    A bill seeking to enact the Plateau Penal Code on Tuesday scaled through the second reading on the floor of the State House of Assembly.

    Presenting the bill for deliberation at Plenary, Majority Leader of the House, Mr Henry Yunkwap, said that the bill, if passed into law, would capture penalties for contemporary crimes.

    He said that Plateau needed its own penal code because the penal code of  Northern Nigeria, being used in the state, had become “out-dated and obsolete”.

    He further explained that the bill, which contained 398 clauses and 31 chapters, would address primary, secondary and tertiary crimes in the state.

    “Mr Speaker, considering the new dimension of crime in our present day, the need to have our own penal code law in the state is long overdue.

    “The existing one, adopted from Northern Nigeria, was enacted since 1963 and has become obsolete.

    “There is the dire need for us to have our own penal code so as to capture new crimes that go with our globalised world”, he said.

    Contributing, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr Yusuf Gagdi, said that the bill was apt “especially since it is seeking to address the problems of jungle justice and administration of bad customs by some communities”.

    He noted that the bill, if passed into law, would reduce petty crimes, stressing that “a lawless society is a hopeless society”.

    He, therefore, called on his colleagues to give the bill an accelerated hearing and passage into law.

    On his part, the Chief Whip of the House, Mr Joshua Madaki, said that the dynamism of the present society called for the enactment of the law, and declared that its importance to societal growth could not be over-emphasised.

    “The bill seeks to review some existing fines to match present realities. Some fines are still N5; some N2o or N50. Such fines are certainly not realistic,” he said.

    After much deliberations, the House committed the bill to its standing committees on Judiciary, Finance and Security for further scrutiny and legislative inputs.

    The Speaker of the House, Mr Peter Azi, directed the to committee to ensure that a public hearing was held so to gauge the acceptability of the bill, and to also receive inputs from members of the public.

    The committees are expected to present their reports within two months.

  • Plateau 4-1 ABS: Bala nets hat-trick as United return to NPFL summit

    Plateau 4-1 ABS: Bala nets hat-trick as United return to NPFL summit

    •Coach Makinwa sent off

    Reuben Bala scored a hat-trick as Plataeu United returned to the summit of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) following a 4-1 home win against ABS FC at the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos yesterday.

    The match was eventful, as both sides gave it a real go from the blast of the referee’s whistle but it was the Bukola Saraki Boys that suffered the first misfortune of the encounter as coach Henry Makinwa was sent-off in the 12th minute.

    Eight minutes later, Joshua Obaje put the home side in front with a delightful header from a Mafeng Pam’s cross.

    ABS FC responded with a goal of their own when a direct ball into the penalty area came off Plateau United defender Hamisu Saleh and sailed past Dele Ajiboye.

    However, just before the end of the first half, the referee signalled for a penalty after ABS defender, Ernest Governor was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box. Reuben Bala stepped up and finished past Sulaiman Dogo to make it 2-1.

    The second half saw a total collapse by the Illorin based side as the home side ran riot.

    Bala rose highest to head home Daniel Itodo’s long throw-in to restore Plateau United’s two-goal cushion.

    And with the game in its final minutes, Ibeh Johnson was fouled inside the box by Ibrahim Omolayo and the referee awarded a penalty which Bala stepped up and finished with aplomb to complete his hat-trick.

    The 4-1 win saw Plateau United return to the top of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) log after leaders MFM FC lost 1-0 against Gombe United.

  • Lalong declares three days mourning for commissioner

    Lalong declares three days mourning for commissioner

    Gov Simon Lalong of Plateau has declared a three-day mourning period in honour of Mr Samuel Galadima, Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, who died on Wednesday during morning exercise.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the commissioner collapsed while jogging alongside the governor at the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos and was rushed to the Plateau Hospital, where he died. He was aged 64.

    Mr Rufus Bature, the Secretary to the State Government, announced the mourning period in a statement on Wednesday.

    He said that the mourning period was from Wednesday, 22 March, to Friday, March 24.

    The statement enjoined residents of Plateau to share in the burden of the loss and pray God to grant the family and the entire people of the state the fortitude to bear the loss. (

  • Plateau commissioner slumps, dies while jogging with governor

    Mr Samuel Galadima, Plateau Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, slumped and died on Wednesday, while jogging along with Governor Simon Lalong, at the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos.

    Mr Emmanuel Nanle, Director of Press Affairs, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    “Yes, the commissioner slumped while jogging and was rushed to the Plateau Specialist Hospital, where he died,” he said.

    Nanle said that the official was gasping for breath by the time he arrived the hospital.

    “Doctors tried to stabilise him but could not. We have lost him,” he said.

     

  • Tough lesson for Plateau teachers

    Tough lesson for Plateau teachers

    The teachers were sober when they heard the verdict. Primary school pupils were not speaking well, and it was because they were not being taught well.

    Chairman of the Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Professor Sule Matthew did not mince words when he addressed Plateau State teachers at the Olusegun Obasanjo Model School, Jos, the state capital.

    “The federal government is not pleased with the quality of children coming out of our primary schools all over the country,” he said to the teachers who were in the middle of a training programme. “It is not peculiar to Plateau State, and if the foundation at the primary level of education is not strong, such pupil will find the secondary school level difficult, and often lead to school dropouts.

    “Government has observed that the reading habit of children of public school nowadays is poor, there is the need to do something, and that something is the ongoing training for our primary schools teachers. It is hoped that after this training, these teachers will be equipped with [sufficient knowledge and skills] to teach our children how to read and speak English and solve mathematics with ease.”

    Speaking further, Prof Sule said, “This training is an intervention by Federal Government to get it right from the basic level. The foundation has to be on sound footing, we can’t continue to allow poor quality teaching…We the current leaders owe our children the best education required, if not, prosperity will not forgive us. So the target of this special training for teachers is our primary school children.”

    A consultancy firm, Universal Learning Solution, took charge of the training in collaboration with Jolly Learning Limited of United Kingdom.