Blog

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BOA
Ile-Ife (Osun), Oct. 27, 2016 (NAN) The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) says it is ready to provide financial assistance to farmers and youths in the country to boost food production through mechanised farming.

Mr Babatunde Igun, an Executive Director of the bank, said this during a courtesy visit to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Thursday.

He expressed the bank’s willingness to partner with the traditional ruler on engaging youths in farming.
Igun added that with the dwindling effects of crude oil price and the negative impact on the economy, there was urgent need to assist farmers and youths in diversifying the economy.
“We have all seen the dwindling effects of crude oil price on our economy in the last one or two years.
“We need to feed ourselves, stop importation of unnecessary food items and that is why BOA is relevant.
“We are ready to assist farmers as well as youths to go back to farming. Our plan is not for them to go back to hoes and cutlasses farming but rather mechanised farming.
“I believe with the assistance BOA is ready to give, our agriculture system will begin to take a new shape in the next few years,’’ he said.
Igun also said that the bank was ready to partner with the Ooni’s agriculture development initiative for the youths in the town.
He said that BOA would assist 150 youths who were being trained by the traditional ruler on agriculture mechanisation and production skill with loan facility.
“The most important thing for anyone going to agriculture is skills acquisition.
“That is where the Ooni has played a dominant role by bringing 150 youths together in the last four months to train them in agricultural mechanisation.
“And that is why we are interested in giving them loan after their training.
“In BOA, once we see an organisation, state or individual that is passionate about youths, women and agriculture, we try to come to them and find a way we can work together,’’ he said.
Igun added that more than 400 farmers had been empowered in Ile-Ife with N500 million loan facilities in the last few years, adding that the bank would do more.
In his remarks, the Ooni said he was ready to partner with the bank to encourage youths in food production.
The monarch, who noted that there were a lot of unemployed youths, said governments and the private sector, should be willing to assist youths to embrace farming.
He, however, urged BOA management to make their presence more visible by providing loans to farmers.
“If BOA can be used as a proper conduit in terms of giving soft loans on a long term basis, it will encourage the youths to go back to the farm,’’ the monarch said.(NAN)
VE/ENN/OJO
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(Edited by Edwin Nwachukwu/Mufutau Ojo)

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Children

By Aminu Ahmed Garko

Minna, Oct. 27, 2016 ( NAN) ‎The National Council of Child Rights Advocates of Nigeria ( NACCRAN), Niger chapter, on Thursday solicited the support of religious leaders in mobilising parents against child abuse in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ms Niki  Ajagbe, NACCRAN team leader, made the call during a courtesy visit to the League of Imams and Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Thursday in Minna.

She said that proper sensitisation about child right would enable parents to comply and fully enforce it while dealing with their children and wards.

Ajagbe stressed the resolve of the council towards ensuring that every child was given proper care for the overall growth and development in the state.

She said that every Nigerian child must be provided with qualitative education, health care and protection from all forms of abuse and violence, saying that “an end must come to violence and abuse of all forms of every Niger State child”.

The chairman, League of Imams, Sheikh Ibrahim Fari,‎ thanked the team and gave assurance of the league’s support for the NACCRAN agenda in the state.

“We will offer special sermons at Friday Jumma’at mosques focusing on child related issues,” he said.

The Niger CAN President, Rev. Mathias Echioda, said the association also identified with ‎ the councils’ agenda.

He assured the team of the readiness of the Church support and partner with the team to succeed.

Echioda also promised to create a platform for the team to meet and sensitise the various church leaders in the state to the Child Rights Act. (NAN)
AAG/IS/IA

Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz/Idris Abdulrahman

Be proactive in waste management, don urges Kwara Govt.

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Waste

By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus

Ilorin, Oct. 27, 2016 (NAN ) Dr Henry Sawyer,  Dean of School of Allied Health and Environmental Sciences, Kwara State University, has called on the state government to be proactive in waste management. 

Sawyer told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ilorin, that the state government should revive abandoned waste management industries.

”I recall that during the time of former Minister for Environment Halimah Alao, who is from Kwara, we had what was supposed to be an integrated waste management facility at Amoyo.

”And at the same time, around Oko Olowo area, there was a well established plastic recycling facility there.

“The question is, if you don’t put these things to use, you also cannot begin to have positive results,” he said.

Sawyer said that the government should take cognisance of the kind of waste generated to know what could be derived from them.

“We are largely a state that is not heavily industrial, but mostly agrarian.

“If we look at what we generate in terms of our waste in markets and other places, our waste stream is largely about 55 per cent potential organic manure waste.

”We can now look at how we can tap into that organic manure and see whether we need to fortify them and be able to have them as agricultural products support.

“ That can give us the potential of being a state that produce organic based agro produce.

”That does not exclude our recycling plastic and metals,’’ the don stressed.(NAN)

BAY/ORO/OU

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Edited by Razak Owolabi

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Remand
By Mohammed Lawal
Zaria (Kaduna State), Oct. 27, 2016 (NAN) A Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting at Chediya G.R.A. Zaria, Kaduna State, on Thursday, remanded 4 among 14 youths from Unguwan Kaura, Zaria-city, for alleged attempted homicide.

The Police Prosecutor, Sgt. Abubakar Ibrahim, told the court that the police received a complaint on July 6 that the accused conspired and attacked one Abdurrahman Tanimu of No. 127 Anguwar Kaura, Zaria-city.

He said that the accused attacked Tanimu with dangerous weapons at his residence and left him with injuries.

Ibrahim added that the police arrested four of the 14 accused persons found with dangerous weapons in their possession.

The prosecutor identified the four accused persons as Abdullahi Khalifa, Abdullahi Dandila, Ahmed Dankuli and Bashir Raga.

He listed the charges against the accused as trespass, impersonation, illegal possession of dangerous weapons and attempt homicide, which he said, contravened Sections 366, 277, 319(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The Chief Magistrate, Auwal Musa, said that magistrate courts had no jurisdiction to grant bail to cases of such magnitude.

Musa therefore referred the case to the  Kaduna State Ministry of Justice for advice on the next line of action.

He, however, advised the defence counsel to follow due process with a view to obtaining bail at the High Court, ‘’if it warrants doing so”.

Musa ordered that the suspects be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the case till Nov. 22. (NAN)
KLM/DUA/YEMI
Edited by Dada Ahmed
Controlled by Yemi Idris-Aduloju

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Education

Dutse, Oct. 27, 2016 (NAN) The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Buji Local Government Area of Jigawa, Alhaji Hashim Ahmad, has called on parents in the area to encourage their children to acquire Islamic education.

Ahmad made the call at the commencement of the 31^st edition of Qur’anic Recitation Competition in Buji.

The chairman said the education would make the children good citizens, productive and excellent leaders of tomorrow.

Ahmad urged parents to send their children to Islamiyya schools to learn more about their religion which would be a guide for them in the present world.

Ahmad said it would also save them from the punishment of hell fire in the hereafter.

The chairman called for peaceful coexistence among residents of the area, adding that there will be no progress without peace.

He urged the participants to work hard in order to excel, as there will be national and international competitions.

Fifty seven participants drawn from the 11 wards of the council are participating in the competition.

Secretary of Education in the council, Alhaji Aliyu Danbazau, lauded the state government for giving the council the necessary support that made it possible to organize the competition.

District Head of Gantsa village, Alhaji Shehu Muhammad called for the establishment of education committees in all Islamiyya schools in the area. (NAN)
MNB/ORO/IEA
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Edited by Razak Owolabi/Idahosa Asowata

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NGO
By Aisha Ahmed
Kano, Oct. 27, 2016 (NAN) A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Exit Lane, said in Kano on Thursday that it had started mobilising youths in the Northern parts of the country against violent extremism and radicalisation.

The founder of the NGO, Alhaji Ahmad Umar, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano.

He said that the mobilisation was planned to re-orient the youths to counter extremism and radicalization, and to also use them as tools for conflict resolution and management.

Umar revealed that some of the Boko Haram victims from the North-Eastern parts of the country had experienced firsthand knowledge of extremism, terrorism and radicalisation.

According to him, “we will identify and create new links to bridge the gaps between the victims and the government, in order to create an effective platform for dialogue’’.

Exit Lane, he added, is also working with women and children who have been directly affected by violent extremism and radicalisation, so as to re-adapt them into effective tools for nation building.

Umar noted that the NGO would support some of the out-of-school youths in the region to be re-absorbed into the conventional schools, as part of efforts to stem violent extremism and radicalisation.

“We will equip the youths with tactics in handling terrorism in a process known as `The born- again process, and evolve a strategy to adapt them as drivers of the initiative against violent extremism and radicalization through advocacy,’’ Umar explained.

He added that his NGO had also embarked on awareness creation on its aims and objectives in  the Northern States, stressing that the feedbacks so far had been encouraging.

Umar said the association was also working with local, national and international organizations, as well as the security agencies, to achieve its objectives. (NAN)
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(Edited by Idonije Obakhedo)

Osinbajo addresses `Nigeria in the World’ seminar in U.S. focusing on fight against insurgency

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Osinbajo
By Donald Ugwu
Abuja, Oct. 27, 2016(NAN) Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will continue the global campaign against Boko Haram insurgency in a lecture he would deliver at the Harvard University, Boston, in the U.S. on Thursday.

According to a statement issued by the Vice President’s Spokesman, Mr Laolu Akande, on Thursday, the lecture at the university’s ‘Nigeria in the World’ seminar is at the invitation of the university.

It added that Prof. Osinbajo would be talking on “Destroying Boko Haram and the Rebuilding of Nigeria’s North-East”.

Akande said Osinbajo would highlight the progress made by the Buhari presidency in degrading Boko Haram resulting in the freedom of thousands of Nigerians in Boko Haram captivity, including some of the abducted Chibok girls.

He also said that Osinbajo’s lecture would be a clarion call for a more concerted global action against terrorism and an increasingly effective international collaboration regarding the humanitarian crisis in the North-East.

He said that the Harvard’s ‘Nigeria in the World’ seminar is hosted by the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs.

Akande said the seminar served as a forum for scholars, researchers, policy makers, and professionals to reflect on critical issues pertaining to Nigeria’s relations with the world by focusing on strategic issues of security.

He said it also focused on regional stability, economic development, interreligious relations, health policy, human rights, justice and gender, while its overall goal is to bring Nigeria into dialogue with world issues.

While in Harvard, the VP would be received by top officials of the university and would also visit the Divinity School and the African Studies Centre, the statement said.

It added that Osinbajo would participate on Friday in a town hall event in Houston, Texas, and also a business conference organised by U.S.-based Nigerians on Infrastructure development issues.

It said the VP would round off the visit in Houston by attending an evening gala to honor high flying U.S.-based Nigerians.

The Vice President who left Abuja on Wednesday after attending the Federal Executive Council meeting (FEC) and the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on the Northeast Initiative (PCNI), is expected back on Sunday, Akande said.(NAN)
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Edited by Abdullahi Yusuf

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Petrol
By Azubuike Okeh
Port Harcourt, Oct. 27, 2016 (NAN) Some commercial drivers in Port Harcourt on Thursday expressed happiness over Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s (NNPC) statement allaying fears of possible increase in petrol price.

Some of the drivers, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt, said the NNPC’s statement was very timely.

NAN recalls that the NNPC had recently announced that there was no plan to increase the price of petrol as was being rumoured in some quarters.

The company had also said that it had a robust supply arrangement capable of ensuing sustained supply of petrol for a long time.

According to Mr Monday Lesi, a taxi driver, the announcement by the NNPC that there was no plan to hike petrol price was a cheering news.

He said the statement had restored hope and brought great relief to drivers who were already panicky following the rumour about increase.

Another driver, Nduka Obihiele, said that the statement had brought down the tension that was caused by the rumour of possible petrol price increase.

“The NNPC has shown itself as a responsible body, the whole issue got us all confused, but we are better informed now,’’ he said.

Also,Amadi Nnamdi, a bus driver, said that the announcement would prepare the minds of drivers, saying it was needless going on panic buying of petrol.

“We are now sure that we will have petrol to operate with during the `Ember Months’ and the Christmas season, we think the NNPC did well clearing the air,’’ he said. (NAN)
AZU/AOM/OFN
Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed//Felix Nwadioha

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Preparations
By Mike Mbonye
Johannesburg, Oct. 27, 2016 (NAN) Osita Okeke, the Chairman of Nigerian Football Supporters Club in South Africa, on Wednesday called on the management of Rangers International Football Club to commence early preparations for the 2017 CAF Champions League.

Okeke told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Johannesburg, South Africa, that Enugu indigenes in that country had celebrated Rangers national league victory, 32 years after they last won it.

“ But, having won the league, the real test and challenge for Rangers is the CAF Champions League.

“ They are now flying the nation`s flag in the elite African football championship. It is important that they start early preparations for the big one.

` They will play against the best clubs from other African countries. It will be a thing of joy if Rangers repeat the feat of Enyimba International of Aba that won the cup back to back for Nigeria,” he said.

Okeke commended Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the support given to Rangers and called on the private sector to assist in sponsoring the team.

“ Gov. Ugwuanyi did well by motivating the team to win the league. I appeal to the private sector to sponsor the team in their national and continental engagements.

“ The private sector`s sponsorship will assist the state government and ensure that the team is well funded,” he said.

Okeke assured that the supporters club would give maximum support to any Nigerian team with engagement in South Africa.

He also expressed optimism that the Super Eagles would qualify for the Russia 2018 World Cup. (NAN)
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)

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Teachers

By Dianabasi Effiong

Ogoja (Cross River), Oct. 27, 2016 (NAN) Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River has approved the transfer of pay points of primary school teachers from the Ministry of Local Government Affairs to the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

The state Chairman of SUBEB, Dr. Stephen Odey, disclosed this at a meeting of the board with stakeholders in Igoli, Ogoja Local Government Area the state on Thursday.

According to Odey, the measure is part of government’s commitment to ensure prompt and effective system of payment of salaries of primary school teachers.

He said the measure was also aimed at checking the existence of ghost teachers on the nominal roll.

The SUBEB boss directed all head teachers to submit the nominal roll of their teachers to the board for implementation of the directive.

He said that Ayade’s administration regarded education as important to societal development and remained very passionate about education issues particularly teachers who are key drivers of the sector.

“With the step we are going to take now, I assure you that the issue of non-payment of salaries will be addressed.

“I believe that it is only when we work together that we can achieve this dream’’, Odey said.

He, however, contended that the state government’s resolve to improve its education system would only accommodate those who are ready to drive the process.

He said: “A lot of activities will be taking place between now and December in terms of projects, buildings, plastic furniture.

“I am going to flood the state with plastic tables and chairs, and I do not want to see any of our pupils sitting on the floor to learn.

“In the next one month, every school in Cross River state will be touched. I have placed an order for more than 45,000 plastic chairs and every school within each local government will be touched.

“Any SUBEB Staff that visits your school either on inspection, promotion interview and so on, and demand for one naira should be reported to me immediately.’’

Director of Administration, Mr Emmanuel Ojong, said the meeting cuts across the three senatorial districts of the state designed to find solutions to current challenges facing the teachers.

“Since the inception of this board, one of its aims has been to ensure that the welfare of our teachers is given a paramount place in all our dealings.

“The executive chairman who is very committed to this cause has been fighting all through to ensure that teachers’ welfare in the state are met at all costs.

“We are aware that the payment of our teachers’ salaries has had hiccups in the recent past and government is not sleeping, it is doing everything to correct it.

“The style of administration of this board is to always interface with all stakeholders that make up the primary and junior secondary school education.

“We do this to ensure that we get their problems, see how they can be handled and proffer solutions on how to improve our basic education sector and take it to the next level’’, he said.

Chairman of Nigerian Union of Teachers in the state, Mr Eyo-Nsa Itam, said the union had drawn attention to the non-payment of teachers for some months.

He thanked the governor for stepping in to salvage the situation and assured of the cooperation of teachers.

Itam said: “we were not on strike, we only told the teachers to remain at home so as not to take their frustrations out on the pupils.

“The working condition of the teacher is the learning condition of the child.’’

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that head teachers, education secretaries and the leadership of the NUT attended the meeting held at Government Secondary School, Igoli. (NAN)

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Edited by Idahosa Asowata