Group tasks Adamawa govt. on sports development

Sports
Lamurde (Adamawa) Dec. 30, 2018 (NAN) The Lamurde Youth Development Association in Adamawa has called on the state government to show greater commitment to youth sports development.
The Chairman of the association, Mr Timothy Gwalashawai, made the call on Sunday in Lamurde, while addressing a delegation of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which visited Lamurde Local Government Area to consult with stakeholders.
Gwalashawai opined that sports could be used to foster peace and unity in the state, if properly developed.
He expressed concern that government allegedly neglected sports, in spite of “the unique role sports play in peace building and youth empowerment.”
He said: “Look at the poor showing by Adamawa contingents at the just concluded National Sports Festival where the state came 33rd.
“That will show you how sports have been neglected in the state,” Gwalashawai said.
He said that stakeholders in the area wanted a government that would help to restore Adamawa’s lost glory in sports.
“I want to commend our former Gov. Murtala Nyako for his administration’s support to sports and hope we will have such an administration again in the state,” he said.
He appealed to the state government to support the initiatives by some youths and sports enthusiaists to revive sports in the state.
In his speech, the state Chairman of ADC, Alhaji Yahaya Hammanjulde, said the party’s governorship candidate, Sen. Abdul-Azeez Nyako, was committed to youth development.
Hammanjulde said that the former lawmaker played a key role in the passage of “Not too young to run” bill.
He assured the people of the area that the party’s governorship hopeful would sponsor sporting competitions among the youths of the area, if voted into office.
He urged the youths to vote for him, describing the youthful Abdul-Azeez as one of their own.
He said, “If you look at Lamurde today, the only projects you see were executed by former governor Nyako, who is here to assure you that Abdul-Azeez will continue where he stopped,” Hammanjulde said.
In his remarks, Nyako, who led the delegation, said he was in Lamurde to commiserate with the people over recent conflicts between herders and farmers.
He urged the people to embrace dialogue in conflict resolution and called for the enforcement of the law on the compensation of victims of conflicts enacted during his administration. (NAN)
YMU/USO
Edited by Sam Oditah

APC in grief as Rep dies in Lagos

Grief

By Bolaji Buhari

Lagos, Dec.30, 2018 (NAN) The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the death of Mr Abayomi Ayeola, a member of the House of Representatives, as sad and shocking.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Aiyeola (APC-Ibeju Lekki Federal Constituency) died on Sunday at a private hospital in Lagos, after a brief illness.

The two-term lawmaker had clinched the APC ticket at the party’s last primary to seek a third term in the federal lower chamber come 2019.

He was the leader of the Lagos caucus at the Federal House of Representatives until his death.

Confirming the lawmaker’s demise to NAN, Assistant Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Mr Abiodun Salami, said the party was pained at the passage of Aiyeola.

He described the deceased as a committed and loyal party man who did his best to impact on his constituency.

“This is a great loss.

“In fact, we have lost a rare gem. He was a loyal and committed member who never did anything outside of the wishes of his people and the party.

“The confidence in him by people of his constituency earned him a ticket to represent them again in 2019 and that he was leader of the Lagos caucus showed the trust the party and colleagues had in him.

“We will sorely miss the departure of this perfect gentleman and a legislator par excellence,” he said.

Salami said the party shared in the grief of his family and members of his constituency at this difficult time.

He prayed for the peaceful repose of his soul while asking God to grant those he left behind the fortitude to bear the loss (NAN)
BHB/KTO/WOJ

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Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo/Wale Ojetimi

NAF Alpha Jet neutralises several terrorists at their hideout near Baga

Insurgents
By Doris Esa
Abuja, Dec.30,2018 (NAN) The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE has neutralised several Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters at their hideout near Baga in Northern Borno.

NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the operation was carried  out on Saturday.

He explained that the attack was conducted after a NAF Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform spotted the terrorists assembled under some trees around the Fish Dam near Baga.

Daramola said the ATF therefore, dispatched an Alpha Jet aircraft to attack the location.

” The aircraft multiple attack passes, killing several of the terrorists and causing serious injuries to others.
“The surviving terrorists were mopped-up in subsequent follow on strikes,” the spokesman said. (NAN)
ORD/IA

Roads
By Akeem Abas
Ibadan, Dec. 30, 2018 (NAN) The Oyo State Government on Sunday said the maintenance of roads across the state was a responsibility of all stakeholders and it has since shown this by its commitment.

Mr Olugbenga Akintola, the Special Adviser to Gov. Abiola Ajimobi on Infrastructure, said this was why the state government has continued to be committed to roads’ maintenance.

“This is why the Oyo State Public Works Department (OYPWD) has commenced roads repair and rehabilitation since the beginning of the dry season,’’ he said in a statement in Ibadan.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government has recently commenced the rehabilitation of some roads which are in a deplorable state across Ibadan metropolis.

The Special Adviser however explained that the slow pace of work by the agency’s officials during the festive season was due to the end-of-year holidays by the companies supplying asphalt.

He said the agency had continued to sketch-mark some of the roads to be rehabilitated, adding that the maintenance efforts would cut across the state.

“We have been making a lot of efforts in the rehabilitation of our roads in Ibadan. Currently we are fixing all the bad roads within the city.

“We are committed to having a zero level tolerance for potholes across the state and we want to maximise the opportunity of this dry season to maintain the roads.

“Our maintenance efforts will be of high quality and we shall endeavour to complete the works in due course.

“Our maintenance activities always cut across the seven geo-political zones of the state. So, we will still extend our services to other areas,’’ Akintola said.

He then appealed to the people of the state, especially those in other zones outside Ibadan, to bear with the state government on the matter.

“We will strive to ensure that the maintenance cut across all the zones in the state,” the governor’s adviser said.

He noted that the maintenance of roads was a collective responsibility and not just that of government alone.

“This is why people should desist from burning tyres, cooking and setting up mechanical workshops on our roads.

“They should also avoid pouring petroleum and associated products like petrol, diesel, engine oil, brake oil and grease on the roads, while domestic waste water should be properly channeled into the right drains.

“Our people should stop plying roads with excessive axle loads and we must stop indiscriminate cutting and digging of the roads.

“We must desist from driving vehicles with flat tyres on roads with asphalt pavements, as public roads are our collective heritage and we must use it appropriately,” Akintola added.(NAN)
TAA/FAT/OLAL
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(Edited by Fatima Sule and Olawale Alabi)

Donation

By Sunday John

Lafia, Dec. 30, 2018 (NAN) Alhaji Abdullahi Ubandoma, African Democratic Congress (ADC), candidate for the  Obi/Lafia Federal Constituency seat, has donated cash and food items to patients at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Ubandoma made the donation on Sunday, in Lafia.

“This donation is my modest contribution towards improving the living standards of of the needy. This is not the first time I am doing this. But it is the first time I am doing it publicly.

“I have great pleasure in donating items to orphanage homes, patients in hospitals and other vulnerable persons in the society,” he said.

Ubandoma promised to roll out a social investment programmes to empower the youths, women, farmers and traders, if elected in 2019.

“Given my background as an outstanding legal practitioner, I will always speak out in defence of my constituency. I wont be a bench warmer,” he said.

The ADC candidate appealed to voters to go for credible candidates rather than political parties.

Among items the candidate donated were packs of indomie, bags of rice, and an undisclosed cash, to 300 patients in the children, men and women wards. (NAN)

SDJ/CHOM/ETS
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Edited by Chioma Ugboma and Ephraims Sheyin

1. Dismissal
   By Moses Omorogieva
   Lagos, Dec. 30, 2018 (NAN) Three policemen attached to Ijanikin Division in Lagos State have been dismissed from the Force for robbing a Togo-based Nigerian of 350,000 CFA (about N221,508).

The Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs), namely: Sgt. Gbemunu Afolabi, Sgt. Afolabi Oluwaseun and Cpl. Adigun Omotayo, were dismissed over corruption charges.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had reported on Wednesday that four policemen were arrested for allegedly robbing one Theodore Ifunnaya of 350,000 CFA (about N221,508).

The dismissed personnel accosted the victim, a Nigerian based in Togo, who came to celebrate Christmas in Nigeria, and subjected him to tortuous search and interrogation.

When the dismissed officers discovered the sum of money on him, they collected the money, exchanged to Naira and gave N2000 to the victim to go home.

The policemen also threatened to arrest him for alleged robbery if he speaks out.

Lagos State Police Command Spokesman, CSP Chike Oti, confirmed the dismissal on Sunday, stressing that the fourth policeman, an Inspector, was recommended to the AIG Zone 2 for dismissal.

“The authorities of the Lagos State Police Command wishes to inform members of the public that the Command’s Provost Section, trying four policemen attached to Ijanikin Division for discreditable conduct and corrupt practice, has found them guilty on all counts and accordingly recommended them for dismissal from the Force.

“Based on the recommendation of the adjudicating officer, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Imohimi Edgal, approved the dismissal.

“Meanwhile, the recommendation for the dismissal of Insp. Amiete has been forwarded to the Assistant Inspector- General of Police, Zone 2 for approval,” Oti said.

Oti said that the policemen had conducted themselves in a manner unbecoming of their status in the Force.

He said the CP has redeployed the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ijanikin Division, CSP Eugene Ubine, for lacking in supervision of his men.

“He, therefore, warns Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers and Heads of departments to strictly monitor the activities of their men for better service delivery.

“He added that the punishment meted out to the undisciplined policemen is intended to serve as a deterrent to others. (NAN)
MIO/CHOM/WOJ
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Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Wale Ojetimi

Delays blight Congo’s presidential vote as opposition cries foul

Vote
Kinshasa, Dec, 30, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Long queues, broken-down machines and torrential rain in the capital disrupted voting in Democratic Republic of Congo’s long-anticipated presidential poll on Sunday, as the opposition alleged widespread irregularities.

Three opposition strongholds will see no casting of ballots at all after the authorities canceled the vote there, citing health risks from an ongoing Ebola outbreak and ethnic violence.

Some polling places in other opposition bastions in the capital Kinshasa did not open until more than seven hours after the 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) start because voter rolls had not arrived.

Elections are a rare event in Congo, which has been plagued by authoritarian rule, assassinations, coups and civil wars since independence from Belgium in 1960.

If President Joseph Kabila, in power since his father’s assassination in 2001, steps down after the vote it will be the country’s first ever democratic transition.

Kabila voted early in the morning in Kinshasa at the same school as the candidate he is backing, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, whom the latest opinion polls showed trailing two opposition candidates.

“My only concern is that we have this very heavy rain and probably voter turnout might be low, but hopefully the skies will clear, and the voters will turn out in numbers,” Kabila,  told reporters.

The Catholic bishops conference (CENCO) said electronic voting machines, criticised by the opposition as vulnerable to fraud, had dysfunctioned in at least 544 of 12,300 polling places it monitored.

It also said 846 polling stations were installed in “prohibited places” like military and police posts.

Some voters also complained they could not find their names on the rolls, and flooded streets in Kinshasa prevented others from reaching their polling stations.

Vital Kamerhe, the campaign director for Felix Tshisekedi, one of the two leading opposition candidates in the race, said he had received reports of fraud in Shadary’s favor.

In the Western city of Inongo, Kamerhe said, the head of a polling place was found voting several times for Shadary and three machines there were converting votes for Tshisekedi into votes for Shadary.

Reuters could not independently confirm the allegations, and the national electoral commission (CENI) said in a tweet that in Inongo and several other cities, “voting operations are underway and everything is going well”.

In spite of repeated delays to the contest, which was originally meant to take place in 2016, diplomats and poll observers have said authorities are ill-prepared.

That raised fears of a repeat of the violence that followed elections in 2006 and 2011.

Kabila’s agreement to stick to constitutional term limits should represent progress for the mineral-rich country.

But he could continue to exercise influence from the sidelines and has not ruled out running again for president in 2023.

Violent protests erupted this week after authorities announced that voting had been canceled in the Ebola-hit Eastern cities of Beni and Butembo, their surrounding areas and the Western city of Yumbi.

Together, they account for more than 1.2 million out of the Central African country’s 40 million voters nationwide and are all considered opposition bastions.

In Beni, dozens of voters lined up on Sunday morning to write their choices on sheets of paper, residents said.

Voting was mostly peaceful across the country, but there were a few violent incidents.

In the central city of Kananga, the head of a polling place was beaten up by voters who suspected him of trying to cheat when he moved a broken-down voting machine from the room, two local activists said.

In Eastern Congo’s Masisi territory, militia fighters were also reported around polling sites, pressuring people to vote for their preferred candidates, a Western diplomat said.

The most recent poll released by New York University’s Congo Research Group on Friday showed former Exxon Mobil manager and opposition lawmaker Martin Fayulu leading the race on 47 per cent, buoyed by discontent with Kabila’s 18-year tenure.

Under Kabila, Congo has seen strong economic growth from surging copper and cobalt output but only meager improvements to average people’s quality of life.

Another opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, trailed in the poll with 24 per cent, while Shadary got 19 per cent.

“I will vote for Martin Fayulu,” said Mama Wivine, 40 and unemployed, as she waited for the machine to arrive at her polling place in Kinshasa’s Camp Luka neighborhood.

 “We hope he can bring jobs and better conditions for us Congolese. We are fed up with the regime of Kabila.”

After voting in Kinshasa, Fayulu said: “Today, we mark the end of Mr Kabila, the end of the misery of the Congolese people.”

But Shadary has big institutional advantages, including round-the-clock coverage on state media. Kabila appointees also dominate national institutions.

“I think victory is on my side and that tonight I will be president,” Shadary said after casting his ballot.

The CENI has tried to reassure the opposition about the voting machines by saying that only print-outs from the machines counted by hand will be factored into the official results.

But any disputed outcome could lead to a wider security breakdown across Congo, particularly along its Eastern borders with Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, where dozens of armed militia are active.

The last polls close at 5 p.m. (1600 GMT), although voting will continue for those still in line. Voters are also choosing representatives for the national and provincial assemblies.(Reuters/NAN)
DCU
====

Edited by Donald Ugwu

Shagari
By Emmanuel Mogbede
Abuja, Dec.30,2018(NAN) Mr Adams Oshiomhole, the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, has said that the late former President Shehu Shagari will be remembered as a true patriot, servant leader, fine gentleman, and epitome of humility.
He made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, while paying tribute to Shagari, who was Nigeria’s first Executive President from 1979 to 1983.
Oshiomhole also said that Shagari would be remembered as a poet, technocrat, and an elder statesman, who genuinely loved Nigeria.
He said he would also be remembered in several glowing tributes by the ordinary Nigerians, institutions and leaders, locally and internationally.
He noted that the deceased started out as a school teacher, and later joined politics, and held numerous high offices, culminating in his election as the President, under the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN
This, the APC national chairman said, was the “stuff of legends”, adding that his exemplary conduct, candour and principled stance in public office and private life remained an inspiration to many.
“The late Shagari was a stabilising personality, who was ever ready to lend his voice and influence when the country needed it. The country has indeed lost a rare-breed leader,”he stressed.
He added that the death of Shagari was a sad and painful loss to his immediate family, Sokoto State, the Council of State and indeed the entire nation.
He said the APC, however, took solace in the fact that Shagari lived an impactful life,adding that he long wrote his name into the history books.
“Truly, the story of our democratic and political development will be inconclusive without his footprint.
“The APC expresses its condolences and prays the Almighty Allah grant the late Shagari eternal rest and the family the strength to bear the loss,” -Oshiomhole said.(NAN)
EEM/FAT/MTM
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Edited by Fatima Sule/Tukur Muntari.

Weather
By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja, Dec. 30, 2018 (NAN) The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has predicted dust haze to moderate dust haze weather conditions with reduced visibility over most parts of the country and misty morning over the coastal south on Monday.
NiMet’s Weather Outlook on Sunday, in Abuja, predicted dust haze condition with visibility range of two to five kilometres over the central region throughout the forecast period.
It added that localised visibility of less than 1000m was anticipated over the region with day and night temperatures of 30 to 35 and 16 to 20 degrees Celsius respectively.
The agency predicted that the Northern states would experience dust haze condition with visibility range of one to three kilometres and day and night temperatures of 25 to 33 and 9 to 18 degrees Celsius respectively.
It also predicted localised visibility of less than 1000m over Nguru, Dutse, Potiskum, Katsina and Zaria throughout the forecast period.
According to NiMet, Southern states will experience dust haze condition with visibility range of two to five kilometres over the inland cities during the forecast period.
“There are chances of early morning mist over the coastal cities with day and night temperatures of 32 to 36 and 19 to 23 degrees Celsius respectively.
“Dust haze conditions are likely over the entire country in the next 24 hours,” NiMet predicted. (NAN)
OYS/FAT/MTM
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Edited by Fatima Sule/Tukur Muntari.

Shagari
By Akeem Abas
Ibadan, Dec. 30, 2018 (NAN) Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has described the death of the Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a former President, as a painful exit of a selfless statesman whose simple lifestyle was worthy of emulation.
This is contained in a statement issued on Sunday in Ibadan by Mr Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy to the governor.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Shagari, a former president of Nigeria in the second republic, died on Friday in Abuja at age 93 during a protracted illness.
Ajimobi said that Shagari had during his tenure as president shunned ostentatious standard of living and ruled the country with the fear of God in spite the relatively bouyant economy.
The governor said that the death of the former president would rob the country of his robust contributions to nation building and democratic norms.

“No doubt, the late president was an example in simplicity and modesty. As a president he lived by example by not amassing wealth or living large in spite the oil boom of the early period of his administration.
“His sterling democratic credentials and patriotism are noteworthy.
“Throughout his political career, during when he served as minister and federal commissioner, as well as a member of the federal House of Representatives before becoming president, he distinguished himself.
“The low-cost housing estate constructed across the country during the regime of Alhaji Shagari remains the template which successive administrations built upon to reduce the country’s huge housing deficit.
“The operation green revolution launched during his tenure, buoyed by mechanised farming and distribution of seeds and fertilisers to farmers nationwide inspired a boom in agricultural production during his regime,” he said.
Ajimobi said that late former president remained untainted and unblemished in spite a variance agenda with his incorruptible and simple lifestyle by some of his lieutenants as well as key party officials.
The governor commiserated with the family of the late president, the people and government of Sokoto State on the departure of whom he called an illustrious grandfather of the nation, praying for the repose of his soul.(NAN)
TAA/FAT/MTM
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Edited by Fatima Sule/Tukur Muntari.