Author: Isah Mukhtar

1. Judgment in the case of an alleged N7 million fraud instituted against Dayo Ariyibi and two others comes up at the Federal High Court, Ibadan.

   2. Distribution of free eye glasses and free eye test for 10,000 residents by Ekiti government comes up at Efon Alaaye.

2. Management of National Library of Nigeria to pay a courtesy visit to the Deputy Governor of Osun.
3. Commissioner of Police, Sokoto state Command addresses journalists in Sokoto.
4. Zamfara House of Assembly deliberates on Zamfara Agricultural Revolution programme.
5. Budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) continues at the Kaduna State House of Assembly.
6. Commissioner for Information holds news conference in Jos on the upgrading of facilities at Plateau Radio and Television Corporation.
7. Taraba Commissioner for Agriculture briefs newsmen on efforts of the state government to encourage modern fish farming in rural areas.
8. The National Family Planning conference continues.

10 .Justice Nnamdi Dimgbah of the Federal High Court gives ruling on a case of N4.5 million fraud filed against Emeka Ugwu.

11. The Federal High Court continues hearing in a case filed by Justice Gladys Olotu against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
12. A Wuse Zone 2 Chief Magistrates’ Court hears a case of alleged assault and causing hurt filed against a 26-year-old man.
13. An FCT High Court continues hearing in a case of breach of contract between Sani Mohammed and Tobias Ohdugha.

NAN-H-76
Dangote
By Kola Adeyemi
Abuja, Nov. 8, 2016 (NAN) Dangote Group said on Tuesday that it would take advantage of the forthcoming dry season to complete the 45-kilometre Obajana-Kabba Road in Kogi.

The group’s Executive Director, Communications, Alhaji Ahmed Mansur, gave the assurance at a media parley in Abuja.

Mansur said that cement products from the company would be used to tar the road.

He said the company used cement to construct a 25-kilometre road from Otori to Ibese, adding that cement was effective in road construction than asphalt.

Mansur also promised that the Dangote Skill Acquisition Centre, currently under construction in Lokoja, would soon be completed.

He said that the project, which had reached 80 per cent completion stage, suffered a setback due to the change of government in the state.

Mansur said that all issues relating to the centre had been resolved with the present government.

The executive director said that the centre, to be equipped with modern equipment, would reduce unemployment and restiveness among youths.

According to him, the company is also in the process of acquiring hectares of land in the state for a sugarcane plantation.

He said that the company’s target was to have 150,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation in the next five years.

Mansur said that the plantations would be located in Kwara, Niger, Sokoto and Taraba. (NAN)
KKA/GOK
Edited by Olagoke Olatoye
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NAN-HE-24

Refinery

Dangote refinery begins operation in  2018

Abuja, Nov. 8, 2016 ( NAN) Dangote Group said its 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery currently under construction in Lagos would come on stream by the end of 2018.

Alhaji Ahmed Mansur , the group’s Executive Director, Stakeholders’ Relations/Corporate Communications, announced this during a media parley in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said this would ultimately end fuel importation.

He said the refinery’s daily production capacity would be 150 per cent of the current total demand of petroleum products in the country, saying that the excess would be exported to other countries.

Mansur said a 1.3 million metric tonnes per annum petrochemical plant was also under construction at the refinery site in Lekki area of Lagos .

In addition , he said that a fertilser company with capacity to produce 2.8 million metric tonnes of assorted fertilisers was also being added to help the country to achieve food security.

Mansur disclosed that the company had also diversified into gas business as it had started constructing a gas pipeline from the South East to Lagos.

He said that the gas plant, when completed, would have the capacity to produce three million standard cubic metres of gas per annum.

The executive director said the project would help the country to record appreciable improvement in power and manufacturing sectors.

According to him, the company’s huge investment in the oil and gas sector will impact positively in the economy, especially in the areas of employment and preservation of foreign exchange . (NAN)
KKA/IA
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NAN-H-78

Examination

Osogbo, Nov. 8, 2016(NAN) An education expert, Mr Bunyamin Zakariyah, on Tuesday, advised students to shun examination malpractice in order not to destroy their future.

Zakariyah, who is the Coordinator of Unique Success Academy, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo.

He decried the level of examination malpractice in the country, saying that the development, if not quickly checked, had the potency of destroying the future of students.

” The most annoying part of the mess is that some parents do encourage their children to toe this line of dishonour, indirectly making their future bleak in a way.”

He also urged all stakeholders in the education sector, including parents especially, to collaborate and fight the menace.

“We cannot continue this way; there is so much rot in the education sector, and this mess has totally eroded the reading culture in our students and makes the future look so bleak.

“Obviously, a nation that considers reading as an alternative forgone, is bound to fail in all ramifications.

“That is why I always say that examination malpractice is `future destroyer’.

“Parents who are aiding their children to perpetrate this atrocity are big enemies of the country’; they are not helping the children in any way,” Zakariyah said. (NAN)
DO/DUA/NKO

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Edited by Dada Ahmed/Nkechi Okoronkwo
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NAN-AE-5
Mining
By Aminu Ahmed Garko
Paiko ( Minna) Nov. 8,2016 (NAN) The Federal Government has promised to develop a framework that would legalise artisan mining activities and provide them with legitimate land in the country.

Dr Kayode Feyemi, Minister of Solid Mineral Development, disclosed on Tuesday this after inspecting artisan mining site at Muye Kafinkoro in Paiko Local Government Area of Niger

He added the Federal Government planned to develop a framework that would legalise artisan mining activities.

“We will encourage them to register so that government can come to their aid in the area of capacity training, modern equipment and financial assistance,“ he said.

According to Fayemi, the plans when materialised, will enable the artisans to organise for safety during their business and excel in their endeavour.

The minister, however, urged the miners to cover all wells they use for their activities to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

“Mining must be become job-creative avenue and revenue generating vehicle for Nigeria,” he said.

He also called on artisan miners to form mining cooperative societies to enable government to support and encourage them.

Fayemi said that the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development were ever ready to issue licence permit as long as the artisan miners would form cooperative societies.

The minister said that if they were registered, they could be employed by registered mining companies and contributes positively toward enhancing the nation’s revenue.

He described the participation of children in artisan mining as child labour, adding that the ministry would ‘’carefully monitor to prevent the participation of underage children in the trade.’’

Fayemi called for active participation of local government chairmen and stakeholders in monitoring the activities of children to prevent them from indulging in artisan mining.

“Any Nigerian child must be seen in school and not in artisan mining activities,” he said. (NAN)
AAG/DUA/AFA
Edited by Dada Ahmed/Felix Ajide
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NAN NEWS EXPECTATIONS FOR TUESDAY NOV.8, 2016

1.Plateau Commissioner for Information briefs newsmen in Jos on the upgrading of facilities at PRTVC.
2. Taraba Commissioner for Agriculture briefs newsmen in Jalingo on efforts to encourage modern fish farming in rural areas
3.Commissioner of Police in Benue briefs newsmen on measures to check rising cases of petty thefts in rural areas.
4. Kogi House of Assembly deliberates on steps to contain the menace of erosion in Ankpa, headquarters of Ankpa Local Government Area.

5. Nasarawa State chief judge begins tours prisons in the state from Lafia.

7 . Federal High Court, Ibadan, delivers judgment in an alleged seven million naira fraud instituted against Dayo Ariyibi and two others.

8. Distribution of free eye glasses and conduct of free eye test for 10,000 residents of Ekiti by the state government takes place at Efon Alaaye.

9. Management of National Library of Nigeria to visit the Deputy Governor of Osun.

10. Senate resumes plenary to consider a motion on the Provision of Medical Attention for Critical Condition Victims.

11. House of Representatives resumes plenary to deliberate on ‎ National Security Agencies Protection of Whistleblowers Identity Bill.

12. National Assembly to pay an oversight visit to the Federal Fire Service at its Headquarters, Abuja.

13. Ministry of Interior, in Abuja organises a seminar on Pastoralist/Farmers conflict.

14. Minister of Finance holds sensitisation programme on Continuous Audit in Government Financial Business, Abuja.

Synergos to assist farmers move from subsistence to core agribusiness

NAN-AE-4
Farmers
By Kudirat Ogunyemi
Abuja, Nov. 7, 2016 (NAN) The Synergos Nigeria says it will upgrade farmers from subsistence level to core agribusiness through its project called State Partnership for Agriculture (SPA).

Mr Victor Adejor, Project Leader, Kogi, gave the assurance in Abuja on Monday during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He expressed the hope that the success of its last workshop on visual facilitation would help farmers to increase their agricultural activities.

He said that project which started with three states of Kaduna, Benue and Kogi, would impact and increase the earnings of rural dwellers.

“The project will be a success because it is basically on converting waste to wealth by turning the cassava peels, which had be wasted in the past to livestock feed.

“The life of farmers will be changed by increasing their productivity, standard of living, job creation and it will serve as poverty reduction projects.

“Our farmers will not just produce, for only family consumption alone, but for commercial purposes which will make them see agriculture as real business and embrace more youths to participants, “ he said.

He added that Synergos has enhanced the capacity building of its facilitators on graphic, map, chart and pictures to communicate with the farmers in a simple manner.

“We have acquired the knowledge and skills that will help us organise, facilitate meeting, partnership and collaboration with state governments, private sector and any organisation in the country.

“We have been able to come out clearly to know who the key stakeholders that are ready to share our vision of moving farmers from subsistence farming to agribusiness.

“The project will continue training stakeholders as well as policy development, gender balance in the allocation of the resources among others,“ he stated.

Mr Michael Agon, Project Leader, Benue, said that Synergos has drafted work plans which comprise farmers’challenges, success story and ways to change farmers` conditions of living for better.

“The project will identify satellite clusters to supply raw material, support them to run as business and influence policy on land tenure system.

“We are going to do everything according to the Synergos goals which is capacity building for both farmers and stakeholders in those three states.

“We have prototype which is the use of cassava peels for livestock feed and encourage our farmers in producing healthy livestock, “ Agon added.

He promised farmers under its project that Synergos would make sure they have access to inputs, land, bush clearing and funds, to increase their activities. (NAN)
ROK/MOL/AFA
Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Felix Ajide
======================

Kogi Gov’s wife targets 10,000 vulnerable persons for empowerment

NAN–H–41
Empowerment
Lokoja, Nov. 6, 2016 (NAN) The wife of Kogi State governor, Hajia Rashidat Bello, says that 10,000 vulnerable indigenes of the state will benefit from her newly launched programme – Direct Reach Out Project (DROP).

Bello, who spoke at a ceremony to flag-off the programme in Okene on Sunday, said that DROP, an arm of her pet project – Kogi Women and Youth Advancement Foundation (KOYAF), was geared towards reaching out and touching the lives of people at the grassroots.

She said that 10,000 persons would benefit from the first phase of the programme, and explained that religion, tribe or political affiliation would not play any role in determing those to be selected.

She said, however, that such beneficiaries would be spread across the 21 local government areas.

“When you look into the innocent faces of children, the downtrodden and the less privileged, it ignites in the mind the need to reach out to them and bring joy to their being,” Bello said.

According to her, beneficiaries will receive soft loans, food stuff, clothing, among other items.

“The idea is to improve the quality of every life in Kogi because everyone is very important,” she said.

She expressed government’s determination to better the lots of the people by providing dividends of democracy that would reach all corners.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the ceremony was attended by the wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Eunice Achuba, wives of local government administrators, traditional rulers, among others. ( NAN)
KKA/ETS
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NAN-H-26

Ban

Lokoja, Nov. 6, 2016 ( NAN) Authorities of Adavi Local Government Area in Kogi have banned the sale and consumption of cassava flour brought into the area from neighbouring communities and states between Oct. 26 and Nov. 1.

The Information Officer of the local government, Mr Shaibu Obeito, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that the move was to forestall more deaths associated with the consumption of the flour.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that eight person, two women and six children died on Oct. 26 in Ogaminana community in the local government are after a meal of the flour.

Obeito said that the council had started buying back all cassava flour brought into the council within the period from sellers and those possessed by residents.

According to him, the aim is to retrieve the poisonous cassava flour and destroy it before it got to the public.

He, however, stated that more deaths had not been reported in the area in connection with the consumption of the flour. (NAN)

KKA/OPI/OPI

Edited by Olisa Ifeajika

Boko Haram: Kogi people mourn Lt. Col. Abu Ali

NAN-H-10
Mourning
Lokoja, Nov. 6,2016 ( NAN) Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi has expressed shock and sadness over the death of Lt. Col. Abu Ali, an indigene of the state, who was killed in an ambush by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno on Friday.

In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mrs Petra Akinti-Onyegbule, on Sunday in Lokoja, the governor described the death of Ali as “ unfortunate and a monumental loss to Kogi and Nigeria ”.

He commiserated with his father , the Etsu Bassa Nge Kingdom, retired Brig.-Gen. Abu Ali, and prayed God to give him and the entire people of Bassa the fortitude to bear the loss.

Late Ali died at about 10 p.m. of Friday, when suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked 119 Battalion, Nigerian Army location at Mallam Fatori area of Borno.

The governor commended Ali’s gallantry as an officer , saying that he served the nation with dedication and commitment and paid the supreme price by laying down his life for the peace of the country.

“ The late Col. Ali will be remembered for his sacrifice and commitment to the cause of the Nigerian Army to rid the country of insurgency which has been a source of concern to everyone.

“Kogi, and indeed Nigerians, will never forget your gallantry as you led a team of the Nigerian Army to recapture Baga from the control of terrorists and you died in active service, as a gallant soldier, “ the governor said.

He admonished the colleagues of the deceased in the army not be discouraged by the incident but to regard it as a duty to renew their efforts to fight against insurgency to a standstill at Mallam Fatori in Borno .

Lt.Col. Abu Ali, was until his death, the Commanding Officer of 272 Task Force Tank Battalion.

Due to the late senior officer’s exceptional bravery and gallantry, he was given an accelerated promotion from the rank of major to Lt. Col. and was decorated by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Tukur Buratai, at Gamboru Ngala on Sept. 9, 2015, during an operational visit.( NAN)
KKA/AMY/AMY
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Edited by Abdullahi Yusuf