Author: Isah Mukhtar

Carbide

Biola Lawal

Abuja, March 26, 2018 (NAN) The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) has warned members of public to shun consumption of fruits ripened with calcium carbide.

The agency gave the warning on Monday in Abuja in a statement signed by its management, saying that dangerous effects of carbide-ripened fruits include cancer and other illnesses.

According to the management, consuming such fruits can also cause heart, kidney and liver failure.

“NAFDAC hereby warns farmers and the general public against the dangers of using calcium carbide for ripening fruits such as banana, mango, plantain, orange and cashew,” the management said.

On how to identify carbide-ripened fruits, the management said that “naturally ripened fruits usually have brown or black spots while those artificially ripened have traces of powdery substances and peel off quickly’’.

The Agency further warned that “ripening fruits and vegetables with calcium carbide is a criminal offence’’,adding that henceforth, perpetrators would be prosecuted.

It advised the public to “report suspected cases to the nearest NAFDAC office or call 09094262773, 09094262772 and 08133630600’’.

The Agency reiterated its commitment to safeguarding the health of Nigerians.

NAFDAC, established in 1993, is mandated to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, chemicals, detergents, medical devices and packaged water.

Prof. Moji Adeyeye, founder of Drugs for AIDS and HIV Patients, a non-profit organisation, is the Director-General of the agency.

The organisation is committed to prevention, education, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS children in Nigeria.

Adeyeye is a Professor of Pharmaceutics, Manufacturing Science and Drug Product Evaluation, College of Pharmacy, Roosevelt University, Schaumburg, IL and Chair, USA.

BL/DUA

Edited by Dada Ahmed

Dino Melaye denies fleeing Nigeria, blames Bello for travail

Dino

Lokoja, March 25, 2018 (NAN) Sen. Dino Melaye said on Sunday that he had not fled the country as being reported in some quarters.

The Senator,who is representing Kogi West Senatorial District, said this in a statement personally signed by him in Lokoja .

He described the report about his fleeing the country as “ uncoordinated lies “ against his person.

“ For the records, I did not flee Nigeria and have no reason to flee my country leaving behind my family as the online paper wants Nigerians to believe.

“ My attention was drawn to their lies this night, hence this public statement, lest the unsuspecting members of the public and my supporters believe the lies.

“ The lies in the so-called news report is nothing but to cause serious disharmony in the Senate and among united majority Senators, who are resolute in defending democracy and its institutions no matter whose ox is gored,” Melaye said.

He also stated that he was yet to receive any court summon from the police on the latest allegation against him and the purported case coming up in a Lokoja high court on March 28.

“Last Monday’s stage-managed parade of crime suspects in Lokoja by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Jimoh Moshood, where a suspect was tutored to implicate me is just a continuation and expansion of the Police attempt to have me arrested at all cost,” he said.

He recalled attempt by a detachment of SARS operatives from Kogi State to arrest him on March 1 within the premises of an Abuja high court , saying that the latest action was a continuation of that episode.

“ It is worrisome that the Police Headquarters has got itself entangled in the Kogi political crisis and has taken side.

“ It is however bizarre and unprecedented that the FPRO, Mr. Moshood, will have to travel to Lokoja last Monday in order to act a script written by Gov. Yahaya Bello.

“ A discerning mind will ask that, how many times has Mr. Moshood travelled to Sokoto, Enugu or Lagos States to parade suspects on behalf of a police Commissioner.”

The senator said that he had taken the matter up with the international community to call global attention to this undue intimidation and harassment.

However, he , reiterated that  no amount of intimidation, blackmail, arrests or threats will stop him from championing the cause of the masses.

In a swift reaction , Kogi State government said it had no problem with Melaye, saying that the matter was between him and police.

The Director -General, media and Publicity to the state governor, Mr Kingsley Fanwowho stated this while reacting to the allegation made against the governor by the senator.

“ He should face the issue and leave the governor out of the issues surrounding his face off with the police.

“ The governor is a law abiding citizen of Nigeria who would not involve himself in such criminality. Home or abroad, no organization has ever indicted the governor of such crime. He has respect for human life, “ Fanwo said.

He said that the issues were not as complex as the senator wanted the world to believe, advising that he should meet with the police to give his own side of the story as a law abiding citizen.

“ What has the governor got to do with that? Criminals were nabbed by the Police and those criminals disclosed the persons behind the supply of arms to them.

“ The simple thing to do here is for him to prove his case and leave the Governor out of it. On our part as a government, we are pleased that our anti-crime efforts are yielding fruits.

“ Gov. Yahaya Bello is committed to ensuring the safety of all Kogites and Kogi residents. That is his primary responsibility to the people of the state.

“ He has also commended the Police for arresting criminals that were disturbing the peace of the state. Sen. Dino should rather face the law. The Governor has nothing to do with his travails,” he explained.( NAN)
KKA /YAZ

Kogi students laud government over 400 per cent increase in bursary allowance

Bursary

By Aledare Akinwale

Lokoja, March 24, 2018(NAN) Students in Kogi have commended the state government for reviewing their bursary allowance by 400 per cent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that students from the state in tertiary institutions, who used to collect N5,000 as their annual bursary allowance, will soon collect N25,000.

NAN reports that the review took effect from the 2017/2018 academic session.

Mr Yahaya Adeiza, National President, Okene Students Union, who spoke on the review, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lokoja, described the increment as “wonderful”.

“Gov Yahaya Bello deserves commendation for increasing our allowances. His action will encourage us to read harder,” he said.

He particularly noted that the allowances had not been paid over the past years, and hailed Bello for resuscitating and reviewing it upward.

“The review is a huge step that students will cerebrate for a very long time,” he said.

He, however, appealed to the governor to ensure transparency in the disbursement.

“Some mischievous workers and politicians are always out to hijack such laudable gestures and mess them up. We want the governor to pay close attention to the disbursement process,” he said.

Adeiza assured the governor of constant support, and urged him to sustain policies aimed at improving the living standards of the poor. (NAN)

WAL/ETS

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Edited by Ephraims Sheyin

Results
By Chukwudi Ekezie
Abuja, March 24, 2018 (NAN) In spite of plaudits for JAMB over the conduct of the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), investigations show that all was not well with the test.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has found while JAMB is congratulating itself for job well done, many candidates for the examination are hurting because of frustrations from the board.

Such candidates are those who cannot access their results  days after JAMB claimed that it had released the results of over 1.5 million of the 1.6 million candidates who sat for UTME from March 9 to March 17.

The candidates said  they had  followed instructions by JAMB that they checked their results using their credentials on the JAMB website: www.jamb.org.ng. but are  getting discouraging  messages.

They said the messages from JAMB were that they did not register for the examination or that they did not have any result yet.

A teacher, Mr Joseph Adebola, said five of his students who sat for the test had not got their results and wondered what the problem could be.

Adebola said that he had been worried, especially as some of the mates of the students had got their results and were concentrating on preparations for the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).

“I have been trying to comfort them so that they can concentrate on the WASSCE coming up in April but it has not been easy.

“JAMB should reduce the tension on the students by releasing their result,’’ he said.

Mr Ben Ugochukwu, also a teacher, said that by not letting the children know their fate in the UTME, the board was destroying their confidence.

“The children are going through psychological stress and need to be relieved.

“ By withholding information from a student who sat for a test you are destroying him or her, especially when the child is convinced he did not violate any rule,’’ Ugochukwu said.

A parent, Mr Stephen Ahmed, said that he personally drove his son to the examination centre and ensured that he followed instructions.

“I am surprised that I cannot access the result of my child, all I continue to see is: `You do not have any result yet.

“I have tried from many locations and devices, believing it was a network challenge but the answer has been the same.

“My worry is that this boy is to write the Certificate Examination in April; if he can’t get the result of the test earlier, what assurance does he have that the one for a future exam will be released?’’ Ahmed asked.

Inquiries by NAN about the fate of candidates in this situation have not yielded results.

The Head of Information of JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, has refused to address the concerns of the candidates  by not answering telephone calls made to him.

Signs that JAMB was not going to deliver on its promise emerged when it decided to release the results of the candidates who wrote the test on Friday, March 9.

The board released the results of the Friday test  on Monday, March 11, against its pledge to verify all results before releasing them.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, had said at a pre-test news conference that the board would take few days to verify results before releasing the.

However,  JAMB hastily released the first set of results but could not sustain the tempo.

On Wednesday, Banjamin announced the release of all results, except those of 110,000, whom he claimed might have been involved in cheating.

He alleged that some students entered the halls with foreign materials and that some centres colluded with candidates to cheat.

The board had claimed prior to the examination that it had acquired the technology to monitor all its over 600 Computer Based Test centres from its control room.
(NAN)

JCE/SH
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edited by Sadiya Hamza

Footballs
By Biola Lawal
Abuja, March 22, 2018 (NAN) The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia will be played with made-in-Pakistan football, Azim Khan, Head of Chancery at the Pakistani High Commission, said on Thursday in Abuja.

“The balls for this year’s World Cup tournament are being produced by my country,’’ Khan told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He said the 2018 FIFA World Cup would make it a record fourth time his country would be producing the balls for the FIFA competition.

The envoy said the quality of the balls produced in his country was high, adding that “70 percent of hand-made footballs used across the world are produced in Pakistan’’.

He attributed the achievement to the high quality of leather materials used in his country for the production of footballs, adding “they have continued to draw global attention’’.

Khan also expressed optimism that the balls would produce the desired result when the tournament begins in June.

“The city of Sialkot in eastern Pakistan where the footballs are being made is famous all over the world for producing the finest quality sports goods.

“Footballs manufactured in the country have also been a part of the footballing extravaganza since a long time.

“Sialkot was also once the unassailable football production capital of the world — exporting about 30 million balls a year, an estimated 40 percent of global production.

“The production company, Forward Sports, which also makes footballs for the German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1 and the UEFA Champions League, was also the official football provider for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, according to a recent Aljazeera report,’’ he said.

“The footballs that will be used in the upcoming tournament is technically termed as thermo-bonded, and was first introduced at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“Before that, Pakistan had supplied hand-stitched football for almost all the World Cups from the 1990s to 2010.’’

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Aljazeera had quoted Khawaja Masood, the company’s chairman, as saying “this is an honour for us, that we are going to provide footballs for the World Cup once again. We are very excited to meet this challenge”.

Khawaja could not give the exact number of footballs the company was going to supply for the World Cup alone due to restrictions from Adidas.

He however said his firm produced a total of 700,000 footballs a month.(NAN)
BL/OLAL
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

IPOB
By Wandoo Sombo
Abuja, March 22, 2018 (NAN) The Federal Government called its first witness in the treason charge  against four members of Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) at the Federal High Court Abuja, on Thursday.

The witness, simply identified as Mr AB, gave his testimony behind a barricade, where only the judge, the defendants and the counsel could see him as he was shielded from the public.

Leading AB in evidence, Mr Shuaibu Labaran, counsel to the Department of State Security Services, (DSS), the prosecuting agency, gave him an assurance that he was fully protected by the court.

AB told the court that out of the four defendants in the dock, he could only confidently tell the court about the first defendant, Bright Chimezie.

The witness told the court that he met Chimezie in 2016 when he was brought to DSS office for interrogation.

“My boss asked me to interview him and in the process, he told me why and where he was arrested. He also told me that he is a member of IPOB and that he joined while in Port Harcourt.

“He also said that he took a delivery imported by the group containing a container from Lagos to Ihiala, Anambra, to the compound of Benjamin Madubugwu, the second defendant.

“It was also revealed that Chimezie, in 2016 was in-charge of the welfare of the members of the group and he collected money from some of the group’s sponsors based abroad for the members.”

Under cross examination by Mr Chukwudi Igwe, counsel to Chimezie, the witness told the court that he was not part of the officers who arrested Chimezie and that he was only asked to interview him.

He also told the court that Chimezie, in the statement he volunteered to DSS, said that when the container he took to Madubugwu’s house was opened on the arrival of Nnamdi Kanu, it contained a radio transmitter.

When asked by a member of the defence team, Mr Eric Ifere if he knew of any law as at 2016 where it was stated that belonging to IPOB was an offence, he answered in the negative.

The trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, adjourned the matter until May 21 for continuation of trial.

The Federal Government on March 20, re-arraigned Chimezie, Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi, on an amended three-count charge.

Their re-arraignment was sequel to the severance of their trial from that of Nnamdi Kanu, whose whereabouts has been unknown since Sept. 2017.

They are standing trial for charges bordering on conspiracy to commit treasonable felony, improper importation of goods and illegal possession of firearms.

They all pleaded not guilty to the three counts preferred against them.

Nyako had maintained that although the trial itself would not be secret, the identity of witnesses in the case would be protected from the public.(NAN)
WS/JCE
======
Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie

Commendation
By Auwalu Birnin Kudu
Maiadua (Katsina state) March 22, 2018 (NAN) The Education Secretary, Maiadua Local Education Authority, Katsina state, Malam Usman Maiadua, has commended the state government for constructing three additional primary schools and renovation of five schools in the area.

Maiadua gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiadua on Thursday.

He said between 2015 and 2018, the state government constructed primary schools in Kongolam, Dumurkol and Dansawa villages to increase access to primary school education and decongestant existing schools in the area.

The education secretary also said within the period under review, a total of 26 primary schools had been renovated and equipped with the necessary furniture to provide conducive teaching and learning atmosphere.

According to him, some of the affected schools are; Yarima jatau, Maifaru, Muludu, Sharta and Doguwa primary schools, adding that the renovation include headmasters’ offices.

He said that additional 75 teachers were recruited by the state government and promoted 735 teachers to their various grade levels, stressing, ‘’we have no pending staff promotion.’’

The secretary noted that teachers in the area were also exposed to series of capacity building workshops and training, to boost their intellectual capacity and enhance their performance.

He said that 34 teachers in the 75 existing primary schools in the area had been selected for various capacity building training to enhance to boost their productivity.

“Our pupils’ enrolment has reached 75 per cent with a dramatic increase in the girl-child,’’ he said. (NAN)
BKD/DUA

Edited by Dada Ahmed

Assailants
Lokoja, March 21 , 2018 ( NAN) The Kogi  Government has offered a N5 million reward for any information that can lead to the arrest of  the assailants  behind the recent bloody attacks on some communities in the state.

The government in a statement in Lokoja on Wednesday said that the offer was to ensure that the perpetrators were apprehended and made to face justice for the dastardly acts.

Mr Kingsley Fanwo, the Director -General, Media and Publicity to the Governor,  signed the statement.

“ Intelligence reports showed that the attackers at Agbenema on the afternoon of Monday, 19th March, 2018 appeared  to be the same group which attacked Ojuwo Ajamàgbe, near Oganenigu in Dekina Local Government Area five days earlier.

” Kogi State Government and the security services are sparing neither expense nor effort to track down these murderers and ensure justice is served.

“ The government is immensely saddened by the attack on Agbenema, a peaceful community in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State by mercenaries reportedly working for herdsmen in the area,” Fanwo  said.

He said three people, including the traditional ruler of Agbenema, Onu Musa Edibo,  were killed during the attack.

Fanwo said other persons injured in the attack are responding to treatment in hospitals.

He dismissed the report that the wife of the traditional ruler was among those killed.

Fanwo, however, reiterated government’s  commitment to the security of  lives  and property of residents irrespective of religious  or ethnic affiliation. (NAN)
KKA /OJO
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)

Synergos urges stakeholders to tackle problems bedeviling agricultural activities

Stakeholders
By Kudirat Musa
Abuja, March 21, 2018 (NAN) Synergos Nigeria, a global non-profit organisation, has called on all stakeholders to tackle problems bedeviling agricultural activities in the country to enhance productivity.

The Country Director of Synergos, Mr Adewale Ajadi, made the call in Abuja on Wednesday at the consultative committee meeting of federal and state policy alignment.

Ajadi identified problems confronting Nigerian farmers to include the practice of subsistence farming, land clearing, inadequate extension services and agronomic practices and insecurity.

‘‘With the stakeholders’ support and with the help of other committee, we can solve some of these challenges.

‘‘The Federal and State Governments are meeting to discuss agricultural issues to make sure that there is alignment between what they do and this will strengthen the leadership decision making capacity.

‘‘We are jointly responsible to shift this economy from mono-economy to a diversified economy,’’ he said.

Ajadi said the forum should be used to dialogue and design action plan to bridge the gaps and address challenges identified in all the states.

‘‘We can create atmosphere conducive for stakeholders such as agro-allied people and smallholder farmers to produce effectively.

‘‘We also need to discover the market needs, what they provide that the market needs and what Federal and State are doing here in creating enviable environment,’’ he said.

He stressed the need to be put together strategies to tackle challenges facing agriculture in the country to increase agricultural production and meet the foreign standard to earn more foreign exchange.

Committee members from Kogi, Kaduna, Niger, Oyo, Benue and Ebonyi that attended the consultative forum called for more synergy between the state and federal governments.

They mentioned some challenges affecting them in their respective states to include, lack of data, the recruitment process for N-Power that served as extension workers, land clearing, security among others.

They further called for more support in the area of modern technology to ease agricultural activities.

Responding, a representative of the Federal Government, said ‘‘Federal Government does not have all the solutions, hence a dialogue like this is necessary.’’

In a closing remark, Mr Azeez Muyiwa, Director at the ministry, thanked Synergos for organising the forum to strengthen the relationship between the federal and state governments.

Muyiwa, who was represented by Mr Dennis Goje, said that any state that has any viable commercial project should not hesitate to seek help from the Federal Government.

‘‘I want to encourage states that have viable commercial projects that need help from the Federal Government like road linkages, anything that our mega ministry budget can support.

‘‘The Federal Government is willing to help despite limited resources. I have seen it happening, I have seen people come and say this is what they are doing in states and needs help.

‘‘I have seen the minister going out of his way to use whatever resource he has to support such projects. Let us work on the action plan drafted here in our various states.

‘‘I want to assure you that the Federal Government would do everything possible to work with states to ensure that agriculture is taken to its rightful place in the country,’’ he said.

He, however, stated that with the level of commitment, experienced persons and expertise here present, he was optimistic that the agriculture would move to it greater height soon.

News Agency of Nigeria reports that the 25-member consultative committee was inaugurated on Nov. 30, 2017, to facilitate the alignment of federal and state policies in the agricultural sector. (NAN)
ROK/MOL/AFA
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Felix Ajide
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