NAN-H-55
Rehabilitation
By Kudirat Ogunyemi
Abuja, Dec. 8, 2016 (NAN) The World Bank, under the FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF11), has set aside $50 million (N15.25billion) to rehabilitate the agricultural needs of the North East in 2017.

The National Coordinator of the project, Mr Tayo Adewumi, disclosed the plan in Abuja on Thursday when members of the Agriculture Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ACAN) visited him.

Adewumi listed the six benefiting states as Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe.

He said the support which would be 100 per cent World Bank-funded, would help the beneficiaries to make a decent living.

The coordinator said the support would include certified improved seeds, foodstuff and other inputs, depending on the Communities’ Action Plan (CAP).

“ We are putting in a lot of safeguards, caution in moving into the region but we are convinced with the package we have in our hands.

“ We will be working with households and from the theoretical point of view, we are targeting more than 24,000 households.

“ There will be some elements of infrastructure that would support agricultural activities and restoring livelihoods in some communities,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the programme which officially started on March 1, 2016 was presented to the Board of Trustees of the World Bank in June for approval and inaugurated in October in Adamawa and Kebbi States.

Adewunmi said that the selection of communities was done through Community Action Plan (CAP) and the project was working in line with the communities’ needs.

The coordinator explained that the support would be aimed at ensuring food security and better livelihood for citizens in the affected areas.

Adewumi said the support project would run for between 15 months to 19 months.

He assured that Nigeria could be self sufficient in food production and export to other countries when citizens began to see agriculture as business.

Earlier, Mr John Oba, President of ACAN, said that the association had been working with the Ministry of Agriculture and other agencies to promote agriculture in the country.

“ Our mission is to work cordially with every agency under agriculture to help the Federal Government’s mission in the diversification of the economy.

“We are here to introduce ourselves and know more about the activities of the Fadama and we are ready to collaborate with the programme.

“ Fadama activities need to be well known to all Nigerians and our partnership will go a long way to showcase this,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Fadama support clusters of farmers in selected states with comparative advantage, high potential to increase production and productivity of cassava, rice, sorghum and the horticulture value chain. (NAN)
ROK/MNA/PIO
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(Edited by Maureen Atuonwu/Idonije Obakhedo)

‎
NAN -DS-4

Vigilante

Lokoja, Dec 8,2016(NAN) Mr Isaac Benjamin, ‎the leader of Kabba/Bunu Local Government vigilante group in Kogi has advised commuters plying various roads in the state to be security conscious as yuletide approaches.

Benjamin gave the advice while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the group’s meeting in Lokoja on Thursday.

Benjamin said that the group had arrested several criminals on Obajana-Kabba road, few months after it set up the Watch Dog Group to tackle rising cases of criminal activities on the road.

According to him, the group remains committed to ensuring that crime along most roads in the area is drastically reduced.

Benjamin commended the Nigerian Army, the Police toward and other security agencies for effectively tackling crime and criminality in the state. (NAN)

WAL/DUA
Edited by Dada Ahmed
====================

Khurto Hajji Ismail, the Yazidi Baba Sheikh, said an edict he issued to reintegrate former captives has helped overcome traditional resistance to accepting back women who were raped or members who converted to another faith, even if it was under force.

Hundreds of women freed from captivity, either by escaping or in return for ransoms, have been baptized as Yazidis again in the spring that runs under temple of Lalesh, a ceremony that symbolised admission into the community.

Islamic State enslaved thousands of Yazidi women and children when it overran parts of Iraq in 2014.

Thousands of captured men were killed in what a UN commission termed a genocide against the Yazidis, a religious community of 400,000 people who live mostly in the Sinjar mountain of northwestern Iraq, near the Syrian border.

They speak Kurmanji, a Kurdish language.

Yazidis, whose beliefs combine elements of ancient Middle Eastern religions, are considered infidels by the hardline Sunni Islamists who declared a caliphate over parts of Syria and Iraq.

The militants have been retreating in both countries since last year and are now fighting off a U.S-backed offensive on their major city stronghold, Mosul, where some Yazidi captives are believed to be held. Many were also taken to Raqqa in Syria.

“We spoke with the French, with the Germans, with Washington, we went to Moscow,” said the Baba Sheikh, adding that it was up to the international community to find “the best way” to protect the Yazidis after Islamic State is defeated.

The Baba Sheikh published an edict in February 2015 that those rescued “remain pure Yazidis”, and calling on “everyone to cooperate so that the victims can return to their normal lives and integrate into society.”

However, more than 3,500 remain in captivity, said Hussein Alqaidi, the director of the Kidnapped Affairs department at the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Kurdish self-rule administration in northern Iraq.

A “network of good people”, active in the Islamic State-held region, is helping secure the release of the captives, he told Reuters.

He declined to give details of how they operate, but some released captives say ransoms were paid for their freedom.

“The financial aspect is very important, but there are also operations to bring them back by telling them to go to a certain location, and we rescue them from there,” Alqaidi said.

Nearly 2,800 were freed, of which more than 1,030 are women, 1,450 children and 300 men, Alqaidi said.

A former captive, Warida Haji Hameed, said she was freed with her four children after $35,000, or $7,000 for each person, was paid to her captor in Raqqa.

The 27-year-old woman is among those who went to the temple of Lalesh to be baptized again after her forced conversion to Islam. She was released about a year ago and now lives in a camp near the Kurdish city of Duhok.

“We were so happy at the baptism,” she said. “We prayed for those still missing and for my husband,” who was kidnapped at the same time as the rest of the family.

But Heloua Hussein, another ex-captive, said she cannot afford to make the trip to Lalesh. “We have nothing, no heating fuel, no food,” said the 44-year-old, who lives in a construction site in Dohuk with two other Yazidi families.

“The community has in general welcomed them back with love and consideration, and many got married with Yazidi expatriates in Europe,” said Saib Khidir, a Yazidi lawyer and human rights activist in Baghdad.

“But still, the level of violence inflicted on them is such that they need special care and special therapy that unfortunately the local governments are not providing.” (Reuters/ NAN)

(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)

Trump’s choice of China envoy a positive sign for ties, Xinhua says

NAN-F-23

Trump
Beijing, Dec. 8, 2016 Reuters/NAN)  U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as ambassador to China sends a positive sign for ties, Chinese state media said.

But it warned that, the envoy will have to live up to earlier statements rejecting confrontation with Beijing.

The appointment of Branstad, seen in China as a longstanding friend who first forged ties with President Xi Jinping 30 years ago during an agricultural research trip to Iowa, may help ease trade tension between the world’s two largest economies, diplomats and trade experts have said.

But the move comes even as Trump has directed fiery rhetoric at China, and surrounded himself with advisers and cabinet members who advocate a tough line on Beijing.

Branstad had rejected China-bashing campaign rhetoric in an interview during Xi’s 2015 state visit to the United States, China’s official Xinhua news agency said.

Xinhua cited the governor as saying he was “hopeful” the next president would “lead to additional cooperation, additional trade and not confrontation” with China.

“Now it is his turn to walk his talk together with Trump,” the news agency said in a commentary on Thursday.

“His expertise on China and friendship with Chinese and U.S. leaders are expected to facilitate him in lubricating the development of the most important bilateral relationship in the world,” Xinhua said.

Branstad’s nomination, if confirmed, “will be a positive move made by Trump toward a healthy and stable relationship between Beijing and Washington,” it added.

China’s Foreign Ministry has called Branstad an “old friend of the Chinese people”, and welcomed his selection.

Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in last month’s election, has said that when he takes office he intends to declare China a currency manipulator, meaning it keeps the yuan artificially low to make its exports cheap, and has threatened punitive tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the U.S..

Added to that, his unusual decision to accept a call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen this month, provoked a diplomatic protest from Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a renegade province.

Trump’s transition team played down the exchange as a courtesy call, but the White House had to reassure China that its decades-old “one-China” policy was intact.

Branstad’s nomination, which will be formally made once Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, was well received in the U.S., even among some Democrats. (Reuters/ NAN)

(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)

White South African men accused of forcing black man into coffin denied bail

NAN-F-22

Trial
Jo’burg, Dec. 8, 2016  (Reuters/NAN) A South African court on Thursday denied bail to two white men charged with assault and kidnapping after a video showed them forcing a wailing black man into a coffin, an act the judge described as “brutal racism”.

The case has laid bare the racial tensions that endure more than two decades after the end of apartheid rule in 1994, as well as the inequalities between black and white people.

A 20-second video circulating on social media showing Victor Mlotshwa cowering inside a coffin as one man pushes a lid on his head and the other threatening to set the casket alight has caused public outrage.

The two accused, Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Jackson, told the court Mlotshwa was trespassing on their farm in Middelburg about 162 km (100 miles) east of Johannesburg and was in possession of stolen copper cables.

Denying the accused bail, Magistrate Jongilizwe Dumehleli said public outrage would worsen if the applicants were freed on bail.

“When the court looked at the tragedy as it unfolded, it is clear that the assault was triggered by brutal racism,” he said. The case was adjourned to Jan. 25.

Black people make up 80 percent of South Africa’s 54 million population yet most of the economy remains in the hands of white people, who account for about 8 per cent of the population. (Reuters/NAN)

(Edited by Julius Emehikhuere)

UN court lacks jurisdiction to halt French case against Equatorial Guinea

NAN-F-20
Jurisdiction
Malabo, Dec.8, 2016 (Reuters/ NAN) International Court of Justice (ICJ), has said it lacks jurisdiction to grant an interim request by Equatorial Guinea to halt a French money-laundering case against the tiny African country’s vice president, Teodorin Obiang.

Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) did however approve Equatorial Guinea’s request to have a building it says is part of its diplomatic mission in Paris be given diplomatic immunity.

This would mean the building cannot be searched again by French authorities.

The ICJ’s decision will clear the way for France to pursue its case, which has led to the seizure of assets in Switzerland.

Teodorin Obiang, 47, is the eldest son of 74-year-old President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea since a 1979 coup.

He was re-elected in April.

Obiang, who is in charge of defence and security affairs, denied wrongdoing and has said his wealth, which has enabled him to buy luxury real estate in Paris, a private jet and exotic sports cars, was amassed legitimately.

Last month, Swiss authorities confiscated 11 luxury cars, include a Bugatti and several Ferraris, as part of a French legal request in the case.

The ICJ said it had decided to intervene in the French case because of the urgent nature of the request and the risk that the diplomatic mission was at risk of being searched again.

“France shall, pending a final decision in the case, take all measures at its disposal to ensure that the premises presented as housing the diplomatic mission of Equatorial Guinea” be granted diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention, the ICJ said in its ruling.

The court’s decisions are binding under international law.

Equatorial Guinea first launched the case in The Hague in June, arguing the French proceeding violated Obiang’s immunity.

The ICJ stressed that Wednesday’s ruling on preliminary measures sought by Equatorial Guinea was no indication of how it would ultimately rule in the case.

Obiang’s trial would be the first to result from a broader French investigation into money laundering, also targeting the families of Gabon’s late president, Omar Bongo, and Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso. (Reuters/ NAN)

(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)

NAN-HG-3
Prevention
By Maureen Ojinaka-Nwanosike
Enugu, Dec. 8, 2016 (NAN) A laboratory scientist, Mr Chineye Nwekpe, on Thursday in Enugu advised Nigerians to adopt lifestyles that could prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Nwekpe, a former Chairman, Laboratory Scientists Association of Nigeria, Enugu Chapter, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The laboratory scientist urged people to desist from unprotected sex and sharing of sharp objects such as razor blades, syringes, clippers, pins and nail cutters.
“Since it is better to prevent this disease without any pain, I think we should go back to the basics of prevention and enlightenment campaign in churches, schools, market, motor parks etc,’’ Nwekpe said.
He advised pregnant women to always go for HIV test while attending antenatal clinic in order to ascertain their status.
“This will prevent the child in the womb from contracting the disease from the mother,’’ scientist said.
He also advised medical practitioners attending to pregnant women to always ensure that delivery rooms and equipment were kept safe.
According to him, most private hospitals in the country had no drugs for treating HIV/AIDS while government hospitals with similar facilities could run out of the drugs. (NAN)
OJI/AOM/WOJ
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(Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed / Wale Ojetimi)

Gambia’s army chief pledges allegiance to President-elect Adama Barrow

NAN-F-19
Allegiance
Gambia, Dec. 8, 2016 (Reuters/ NAN) Gambia’s army chief has pledged allegiance to President-elect Adama Barrow, Barrow’s spokeswoman has said, reinforcing hopes that the tiny West African nation will see its first peaceful change of power in more than half a century.

A self-made real estate developer who once worked as a security guard at retailer Argos in London, Barrow beat incumbent Yahya Jammeh in last Thursday’s election.

Jammeh, an autocrat who had banned opposition protests and pledged to rule Gambia for a “billion years”, shocked Gambians by admitting defeat, raising questions about what had persuaded him that the game was up.

“General Badjie called to congratulate Barrow on his victory and to offer his allegiance,” spokeswoman Amie Bojang told journalists in Banjul.

An army spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

Though Jammeh called Barrow to congratulate him on his victory last week, the pair had not met since the vote. The constitution says he must hand over a month after the poll.

Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup that unseated Dawda Jawara, the country’s leader since its independence from Great Britain in 1965.

Welcomed at first on a promise of ending corruption, Jammeh became increasingly intolerant of dissent, jailing and torturing opponents, human rights groups say.

His unexpected defeat was greeted with joy in Banjul, the capital, with crowds pulling down the ubiquitous posters of a grinning Jammeh and trampling them under foot.

Gambians are hoping the quiet businessman Barrow will bring a new era of stability, after living under a president who arrested people for being witches and wizards and claimed to have magical herbal cures for AIDS and infertility.

Barrow has promised to end rights abuses and step down after three years as a boost to democracy.

A heavy police presence remains on the streets, a hangover from an era many Gambians are hoping is now behind them.

In the last two days, 31 political prisoners have been released or granted bail.

Mai Ahmed Fatty, the head of Barrow’s coalition transition team told journalists in Banjul that he was not worried that a meeting between Jammeh and Barrow has not yet taken place.

“We take the outgoing president at his word,” said Fatty. “Part of our request was to release the political prisoners. This was done and it shows good will.” (Reuters/NAN)

(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)

UN seeks record $2.7 billion aid for Boko Haram-hit Sahel

NAN-F-18
Aid
Dakar, Dec. 8, 2016 (Reuters/NAN) Poverty, conflict and climate change will leave 15 million people across Africa’s Sahel belt in need of life-saving aid next year, the UN said as it launched a record $2.7 billion humanitarian appeal for the region in 2017.

Around 40 per cent of the money will be used to help some seven million people in Nigeria affected by the jihadist group Boko Haram’s seven-year insurgency, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

OCHA has increased its appeal for eight countries in the semi-arid band stretching from Senegal to Chad more than tenfold in as many years, but each year funding has fallen short.

This year’s $2 billion appeal has been less than half-funded to date.

“The lack of funding this year has worsened the humanitarian needs of 11 million people in the Lake Chad Basin, where the crisis is most acute,” the U.N.’s regional humanitarian coordinator, Toby Lanzer, said.

One in six people across the Sahel are hungry, while in many communities throughout the region, a fifth of children under the age of five are malnourished, according to figures from OCHA.

In addition to violence involving militant groups, climate change is a major factor behind the growing number of vulnerable people across the region, as increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns disrupt local food production, aid workers say.

“We are adapting by equipping farmers and policymakers with climate information and early warning forecasts, and being prepared not just weeks, but months and years ahead,” said Arame Tall, Africa regional coordinator of the U.N.-led Global Framework for Climate Services.

The vast number of vulnerable people, and those forced from their homes by violence across the Sahel, some 4.5 million, is fueling migration to Europe and driving more young men to join militant groups, according to the UN.

Nigeria is the main country of origin for migrants arriving in Italy by sea this year, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

At least 34,000 Nigerians have crossed from Libya so far in 2016, up from 22,200 last year, IOM data shows.

“Families and communities are separated and split, education is disrupted, and dreams of success dashed,” said Anne Moltes, regional director of the peace building group Inter peace.

“If there is no structure, young men leave to find figures of authority elsewhere,” she said at the launch of the appeal.

Africa’s booming population, estimated by the UN to double to 2.4 billion by 2050, will only exacerbate the situation and leave more people in need of aid, Lanzer said.

The Sahel appeal was launched days after OCHA asked for a record $22.2 billion in 2017 to help almost 93 million people worldwide hit by conflicts and natural disasters. (Reuters/NAN)

Edited  by Julius Enehikhuere

NAN-H-5

Roads

Abuja, Dec. 8, 2016 (NAN) As the year draws to a close and many billed to travel, Nigerians have expressed divergent views on the Federal Government’s efforts to  provide road infrastructure.

The citizens’ feelings are based on the promise of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to address road infrastructure deficit nationwide.

The administration inherited 206 road contracts, according to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola.
Fashola said that the short-term objectives of the government was to complete unfinished contracts.

“In the medium to long term, we intend to cover more roads as our resources permit, and increase our maintenance capacity of road assets to ensure that we do not neglect our highways again in the manner we had done over the years to our collective detriment.

“With limited resources against liabilities, with debts already owed, we had to make difficult choices of deciding which of the 206 roads under contract we should start with, and how much.

“Our choices were informed by the realities of our economy and the size of our resources; we resolved that all roads are economic roads, but that some were more urgent and more impactful than others,’’ he said.

Fashola said that the ministry had N260 billion from the 2016 budget for its activities with the release of N70 billion in June (for Quarter I) and N60 billion in October for Quarter II).

He said priority would be given to roads that carried the heaviest cargo, allowed access to farmers, businessmen, industries and travellers for improved economic activities.

He named some of the most critical roads as Port Harcourt-Aba; Sokoto-Tambuwal- Makera-Kontagara; Ilorin-Jebba; Loko-Oweto Bridge; Shagamu- Ibadan; Shagamu-Lagos, and Ogbomosho-Oko-Ilogbo-Osogbo.
Others are Funtua-Katsina; Wukari-Akwana; Abriba-Arochukwu-Ohafia; Abuja-Lokoja-Airport; Oji-Achi-Obeagu-Mmaku-Awgu-Ndeaboh-Mpu-Okpanku; Ajase Ipo-Offa-Erinle; and Ikot Ekpene Border-Aba-Owerri Dualisation.
A survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) shows that while work has begun on some of the roads, many still wait for attention.

In places where the job has begun, the people lauded the efforts but in areas where work has yet to start, the people are complaining.

The Federal Controller, Ministry of Works in Abia, Mr Nasir Bello, said the rehabilitation of federal roads in Abia stopped   five years ago.

But in Delta, the state government is complementing the efforts of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

Mr James Augoye, Delta Commissioner for Works, said the state decided to take such step since the roads were used by people of the state.

Augoye said that the state government intervened in the repair of Warri-Sapele road.

“The Warri-Sapele Federal Road was having serious problem and had become deplorable, the state government intervened and we did a wonderful work there.

“At a point, we excavated 2.5m  deep and refilled with sharp sand to raise it to the level it is today and it cost the state government N230 million.

“We are also intervening on the Eku-Abraka-Umutu-Agbor Road, we are rehabilitating the 74km road at the cost of N150 million,’’ he said.

The commissioner also said the Federal Government had repaired bad portions of the Asaba-Onitsha Road.

He said the state had written to the Federal Government for reimbursement.

In Edo, Mr Benedict Okolo, the South-South 11 Zonal Coordinator of FERMA, said the agency was rehabilitating 69km of roads, namely, Muritala Mohammed Way, Benin,  and  Benin-Ologbo Road.
“We are currently rehabilitating the MM way and the Benin-Ologbo roads through direct labour at the cost of N10 million.

“We have also awarded the Auchi-Agenebode Road and  Oluku-Sobe Road contracts which are 61km and 60km respectively,’’ Okolo said.

According to him, work will soon begin on the Benin-Asaba Road, Oluku-Sobe Road and Auchi-Agenebode Road.
In Gombe State,  Mr Sulaiman Mohammed, FERMA Engineer, Gombe Field Office, said the agency had repaired  eight roads since 2012.

He listed the roads as Gombe –Biu,  Gombe –Numan,  Gombe -Bauchi , Gombe -Dukku-Darazo ,Gombe –Potaskum and Billiri-Filiya.
Mohammed said the jobs were executed through direct labour, noting that some of the roads linked other states and countries, such as Cameroon and Chad.

He said the rehabilitated roads had boosted commercial activities in Gombe State and enabled farmers to bring their produce to the market.

Malam Bala Mohammed, a commercial vehicle driver plying Gombe -Pitaskum Road, commended the government for repairing the road.
Malam Zakari Musa, another commercial driver, lauded the government for ensuring the safety of lives and property on the road.
However, in Bayelsa, the Federal Controller of Works, Mr  Charles Okonmah, said the lack of resources hindered work on federal roads in the state during the year.
Mr Ayoola Bolaji of FERMA in the state, however, said the agency was carrying out some maintenance works on some roads.
He said work had commenced on Kilometre 14.900 by Bridge Abutment along Yenagoa-Mbiama Road and kilometre 13.700 on Tombia-Amassoma Road.

“Another one is a carriage repair of Primary Road 1 along Julius Berger in the state; maintenance on these roads is currently on-going,’’ he said.
Mr Waibode Francis, Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers at Ekeki Park, decried the slow pace of work on the projects.
Also, traders along Yenagwe-Okaki-Kolo-Nembe Road said the poor state of the road had affected their businesses negatively.

Mr Christopher Egi, a plantain seller, called on the ‘’Federal Government to mobilise contractors to various road sites in the state, we are worried.”

In Cross River, the Federal Controller of Works, Mr Chinwuba Agbara said that the design of Odukpani/Itu Road as a dual carriageway had been produced.
“We have done the design work and all the relevant agencies are doing their own part of the process, as soon as that is completed, construction will take off before the end of the year,’’ Agbara said.
He also said rehabilitation work had commenced in the three sections of the 333km Calabar-Ugep-Ikom-Katsina Ala Road.
He said that CCECC Construction Company had mobilised to site at Ikom-Iyamoyon road.

Agbara said  Iyamoyon-Ugep section of the road was being handled by Sermatech Engineering; while  Mbok Junction-Abochiche section was  being handled by Well Stone Tam Construction Ltd.

According to him, clearing work has also begun around the 300m Ikom Bridge to pave way for the reconstruction of the bridge.

“In all, I think Cross River has federal presence in terms of road, ‘’ he stated.

“We have not encountered any problem from the communities so far.

‘’We engage their youths as artisans in the sites and we also engage their qualified engineers to work on the sites as a way of creating job opportunities for the people,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Muhammad Sani, FERMA Zonal Controller in-charge of Kano, Katsina and Kaduna states, said the agency would soon commence work on some roads in the states.
.
“We have so far received information about two of the works that were approved, one in Kaduna and one in Daura township, but no details were available yet,’’ Agbara said.

Similarly, the Federal Controller of Works in Kebbi, Alhaji Goni Mohammed, said work had begun on the 186km Tambuwal-Jega-Birnin Yauri Road, which links Sokoto State and Kebbi.

Mohammed said the job was estimated to cost N7.1 billion and would be completed in 36 months.

“The road is a major link with other towns within and outside the state.

‘’It will expand agricultural activities, boost economic activities as well as improve social and cultural relationships when completed.

A commercial driver, Usman Ibrahim, said the Jega-Koko portion of the road had been completed and that it had reduced travel time on road.
In Enugu State, the Federal Controller of Works, Mr Oluropo Oyetade, said 730 jobs had been created through the rehabilitation of Enugu-Onitsha Road.

Oyetade said the contractor, Reynolds Construction Company (RCC), employed 280 directly and 450 others indirectly.

“These 730 jobs exclude the daily food vendors and their assistants who supply edibles for the staff of the company.
“The multiplier effect of these new jobs would affect thousands of families in Enugu State,’’ he said.
Oyetade said work had begun on Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway starting from Lokpanta in Abia as well as four other federal roads.
‘’The 58km Enugu-Onitsha Road within Enugu State, starting from Amensa area boundary to Enugu was awarded to RCC in March,  2015, to the tune of N24 billion.
‘’RCC started work on the road in June, 2016 after they were paid part of mobilisation fee and in November, they were  paid another part of the mobilisation fee.
‘’The company, since June, had set up its yard along the road and rehabilitated potholes on the Onitsha-bound lane of the Enugu-Onitsha Road to allow motorists passage this yuletide.
‘’It commenced proper re-construction work about a month now from the Enugu-bound section of the road.
‘’The road re-construction is expected to be completed on or before March, 2018,’’ Oyetade said.
The repair of the Port-Harcourt bound lane of the Enugu- Port Harcourt road is to be completed a week before Christmas, he said.

The controller said the re-construction of the 61km Enugu-Port Harcourt road portion of Enugu State starting from Lokpanta boundary was awarded to CGC at the cost of  N32 billion.

Oyetade also said government had mobilised contractors to site on four other roads in Enugu State.
A commercial bus driver plying Enugu-Onitsha Road, Mr Obinna Uwakwe, said the repaired portion had made travelling easier on the road.
‘’The repair has restored confidence of travellers, who previously plied the old road,’’ Uwakwe said.

In Oyo State, work the Oyo-Ogbomoso Expressway is being built at the cost of six billion naira.

The project, which is the second section of the Ibadan-Ilorin Expressway, was abandoned in the past.
Meanwhile, the first section of Ibadan-Oyo Road and the third section of Ogbomoso-Ilorin Road have been completed.

Other ongoing federal road projects in Oyo State are Iseyin-Okeho, Akinmorin and Ibadan-Oyo, Ogbomoso-Oko-Ilogbo-Osogbo  and Igbo Ile-Okun in Surulere Local Government Area.

Also undergoing rehabilitation are Abeokuta-Bakatari-Ibadan Road, Ibadan-Oyo-Ogbomoso-Ilorin (Section 2) Road and  Odooba-Takie-Gambari-Otte Road.

“The two major roads we are expecting to start work on are Sango Ota /Idiroko Road and Sagamu /Ogijo/Ikorodu Road,’’ Mr Alex Mazoya, the FERMA engineer in Ogun said.
Olaogun said remedial works would be carried out on all the portions of Sango-Abeokuta Road.
“The areas mapped out for repairs include Joju U- turn, Ijoko, Owode, Iyana Ilogbo and Ilepa axis of the Lagos-/Abeokuta Expressway,’’ he said.

In Kwara, the repair of Ajase-Ipo/Offa Road and Ilorin Jebba Highway, abandoned for years, have reached advance stages.

The Controller, Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing in Kwara, Omotayo Awosanya, said work had resumed on the roads.

“There is a budgetary provision of N600 million for the Ajase-Ipo/Offa Road and the outstanding sum has been paid.

“ That is why you see the contractor reporting back to the site,’’ he said.

He said the job would be completed before the end of the year and expressed optimism that the ongoing Ilorin-Jebba Road repair would be completed next year if money was available.

Awosanya said work was suspended on “Ilorin-Jebba Road for over one year because the contractors were not paid.

He said from Oloru axis of the road to about 41km was in perfect condition.

“Though the rain has slowed us down, the remaining 15km  from Beri-Beri about 79.3 kilometres  from Jebba town is in deplorable condition.

“We have an understanding with the contractor to make that portion passable during the rainy season and we have been doing that.

“The contractors came back this year and have requested now for another two years from January 2016 to January 2018.

“I can say that if the budgetary provision is sustained, the contractors have the capacity to deliver the project at the end of next year,” he said.

In Ekiti, residents appealed to the Federal Government to give priority to the rehabilitation of roads in the state.

Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, said the 15km expansion project between Ado Ekiti and Ifaki Ekiti, started four years ago, had yet to be completed.

Also, Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti, Oba Ayodele Adu, said the road linking Ikere Ekiti with Akure had become deplorable.

He also said the road linking Ikere Ekiti with Ado Ekiti  was bad until the state government rehabilitated it recently.

However, the Federal Controller of Works in Ekiti, Mr Tayo Obembe, said work would resume soon on the roads.

In Osun, the Federal Controller of Works in Osun, Mr Wasiu Atitebi said work had resumed on Gbongan-Iwo Road, Ogbomosho/Oko/Ilobu/Ifon/Osogbo Road and Osogbo-Ilesa Road, following a directive by the Federal Government. (NAN)
Reporters/DUA/JCE
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Edited by Dada Ahmed/Chukwudi Ekezie