By Adewale Owoade

The Aare Ona-Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has called on Southwest governors to invest in the promotion of Yoruba culture and harness its tourist potential for economic growth and global recognition.

Adams said that the promotion of the culture would turn Yoruba states to tourist destinations and thereby enhance rapid social and economic development of the area.

The Aare, who made the call at the Grand Finale of Ayo olopon, drama, masquerade, music and dance, poetry and chant rendition.

Source: NAN News

By Usman Aliyu

The Deputy Governor of Edo, Philip Shaibu, on Monday led the state male football team to win the gold medal at the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Benin.

In the match, Edo bounced back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Lagos team 3-2 in the final at the main bowl of the University of Benin Stadium Complex.

Hassan Akinkunmi put the Lagos team ahead in the 10th minute of play while Chisio Orji extended the lead in the 19th minute to silencethe hosts cheering fans.

Solomon Usia, however,reduced the tally for Edo in the 20th minute before first half substitute Godwin Chukwu levelled up for the hosts before the break.

Meyiwa Samuel scored from the penalty kick spot in the second half to giveTeam Edo the winning goal.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the stadium was filled to brim for the match graced by Amos Adamu, erstwhile director of the now-dissolved National Sports Commission (NSC).

Shaibu, who was a registered player for the football event, came in three minutes into the end of the match when the captains band was handed over to him.

The win secured the second gold medal for Edo from the football event as their female team had earlier beaten Lagos by a lone goal in the womens category.

Reacting to the victory, the deputy governor who is also the Chairman of the festivals Local Organising Committee (LOC) said the teams commitment and doggedness led them to the victory.

He said he was delighted to have led the team to victory just as he commended Gov. Godwin Obaseki for his support for sports development in the state.

Source: NAN News

By Olajide Idowu

The Police Command in Osun has arrested four persons with guns at the venue of the South-West Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Zonal Congress in Osogbo.

The Command Spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola, told newsmen that the suspects were arrested Sunday evening with two loaded pump action rifles.

Opalola said that the suspects were undergoing investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Osogbo.

She also added that two suspected cult members, who were part of a gang disrupting the peace of the state and had been on police wanted list, were arrested on Sunday.

The commands spokesperson said the arrested cult members were part of those that caused mayhem in the state some weeks ago when two rival cult members were killed in bloody supremacy battle in Osogbo.

Opalola, however, said the suspects would soon be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP South-West Congress earlier scheduled for April 10 in Ibadan, was shifted to April 12, in Osun, by the partys National Working Committee. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Ismail Abdulaziz
The management of Dangote Cement Plc says the price of a bag of cement from its factories and plants across Nigeria as at April 12 is N2,450 in Obajana and Gboko, and N2,510 in Ibese inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT).

The company made the clarification in view of recent insinuations that the company sells cement in Nigeria at significantly higher prices relative to other countries, particularly Ghana and Zambia.

Dangotes Group Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development

By Muhammad Nasir

Mr Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has urged the judiciary not to be partial in delivering judgments.

Malami gave the task in Sokoto on Monday while speaking at the inauguration of the reconstructed Sokoto State High Court complex.

He said that as the last hope of the common man, the judiciary should remain impartial at all times.

The judiciary should ensure fairness at all times, the duty to be impartial is sacred and must be respected, he said.

The justice minister commended Gov. Aminu Tambuwal for reconstructing the court complex and equipping it with the state-of-the-art facilities.

This should be a morale booster towards effective justice delivery, the job done on this complex shows how seriously the state government takes the judiciary, he said.

Malami said that high level conversation was already ongoing concerning better welfare package for judicial officers.

Several meetings have been held to ensure that the welfare scheme for judicial officers reflect current realities.

A committee on the review of judicial officers salaries and conditions of service has been constituted to ensure a better welfare scheme.

Let me assure you that the efforts of that committee will soon come to fruition and to the advantage of judicial officers, he said.

Tambuwal said that the court complex project offered an opportunity to overhaul the judicial system in the state.

We are doing our best to support the judiciary, this is because we believe in its independence and ability to give hope to the common man, he said.

The governor commended the minister for accepting the state governments invitation to inaugurate the project.

Also speaking, the Chief Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko, described the reconstructed project as a good omen to judicial service delivery in the state.

Represented by Justice Amina Augie, Tanko commended the state government for the gesture, and urged judicial officers in the state to exude good maintenance culture while using the complex.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 20 high court judges in the state were given Ford Explorer Sport Utility Vehicles during the event to boodt their morale. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Bukola Adewumi
The Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) says it has empowered farmers, extension workers and extension agents on Sustainable Rice Production, 3D video and field demonstration in the Federal Capital Territory.

Hajia Salamatu Garba, Executive Director of WOFAN, said on Monday in Abuja that the training would expose them to modern best practices in rice and groundnut farming as well as effective weed, pest and disease control methods.

Garba said that the two-day training would deepen participants knowledge on good agricultural practices (GAPs) to enable them succeed in the technical aspects of rainy season farming.

She said the activities of extension agents and the cluster farmer groups in the implementation of the WOFANs ICON of Hope project would improve yields and incomes for farmers.

She also said there was 3D video presentation and practical demonstration pesticide and fertilizer applications for the participants.

The WOFAN boss disclosed that the training was supported by the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) and other partners.

Garba also explained that WOFAN also collaborated with other groups like as part of its efforts to enlist all stakeholders support for the successful implementation of the project.

According to her, the training will also be replicated in Kano State to enable other farmers, extension agents, cluster groups leaders benefit from the knowledge.

They will also have better understanding on how best to harvest, process, store and ultimately market their crops for improved incomes.

We want to thank NAERLS and other partners for collaborating with us on this capacity-building initiative undertaken in furtherance of the WOFANs ICON of Hope project in the various states, she said.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Lizzy Okoji

Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mr Sidie Tunis, says the Fifth Parliament is keen on taking concrete actions to ensure the empowerment of women across the West-African sub-region.

Tunis made this known on Monday at the Liberian and Sierra Leonean Bo Waterside border Post where he was received by representative of the Liberian government, Sen. Edwin Snowe.

Tunis was received by the representative of the Liberian authority ahead of the ECOWAS Parliaments delocalized meeting on Women Empowerment scheduled to hold from April 13 to April 17 in Monrovia, Liberia.

Tunis said the focus of the delocalised meeting was to transform the talks and protocols concerning women empowerment into actions, and for women to become more inclusive across all sectors.

He said that the fifth legislature under his leadership is pushing to ensure that women have a mandatory 30 per cent representation in the ECOWAS Parliament.

According to the speaker, it is time to look and work with women as partners so that they can be present where decisions are taken on their behalf.

The Speaker noted that twenty five years down the line after the adoption o, noting that twenty five years down the line after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration, not much impact has been made in women empowerment.

Tunis however noted that Liberia was chosen by the ECOWAS to host the delocalized meeting on Women Empowerment considering the success attained by producing the first female President ad Vice President in the sub-region.

We are here for a very important meeting, a delocalized meeting. I decided that we will have the first Extraordinary Session in Sierra Leone and the first delocalized meeting in Liberia.

And the topic for Liberia is so interesting. That is, the empowerment of women in the West African Sub-region.

There is no way Liberia cannot be a venue for that kind of topic considering that it is Liberia that has produced the first female President and just few years down the line, they also produced the first female vice President.
And we do not know whether we are going to have more and more female Presidents coming from Liberia so we are her to discuss as Parliamentarians how we can empower women.
Twenty Five years after the Beijing declaration it has just been talks and talks but now, we are talking about actions and how we can transform the talks to action.
That is why we are going to be in Monrovia for the whole week, from April 13 to April 17, Tunis said.
Tunis also appreciated President George Weah of Liberia for his support to the ECOWAS Parliament.
Speaking on behalf of the Liberian Authority, Sen. Snowe commended Tunis for his efforts in strengthening regional integration since he became speaker of the fifth legislature.
Snowe noted that Tunis coming into Liberia crossing through the border was significant which further highlights his interest on strengthening regional intergration.
We have come this morning to welcome his Excellency, Hon Mohamed Sidi Tunis, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament to Liberia.
Liberia and Sierra Leone is only defined by this little water and the constituency of the speaker is just across.
When this mission was planned to Liberia, the Speaker said there was no way he could fly over his people into Liberia but he will drive in.
Today I am very happy to receive Mr Speaker on behalf of our President. For me this visit means a lot.
As you know, many years ago, we had a civil crises in Liberia and this bridge was used to trade arms that killed our people but today, this very bridge is being used to unite our two people.
When the speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament comes from Sierra Leone, driving through this bridge to enhance regional integration, peace and security in our region, Snowe said. (NAN)
LIZ/SH

Source: NAN News

By Taiye Agbaje

Two senior lawyers on Monday expressed support and solidarity for the industrial action embarked upon by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, (JUSUN).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that JUSUN began a nationwide strike on Tuesday, April 6, when the union directed all its members across the federation to shut down all courts after the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum earlier given over the failure of the government to implement the financial autonomy of the judiciary.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Paul Erokoro, told NAN in Abuja.
Absolutely, I support the agitation by JUSUN on the judiciary autonomy.

The 1999 Constitution is not working because the governors are just too powerful. The governors control everything in their states.

There are no checks and balances. He who controls the money coming in can dictate all the actions in that states, he said.
He said the judiciary should not be seen as another department of the government of the state.

It is an independent arm of government and so is the state house of assembly, he said.
The lawyer noted that presently, there was no state house of assembly that could disagree with its governor.

And the governors tend to see the judges as their staff. If the judges do not dance to their tune, they starve the judiciary of funding. So we must put a stop to this.

It is possible that constitution amendment will be required. I know Mr President tried to solve the problem via an Executive Order; whether that is constitutionally valid, this needs to be explored.

Each time houses are built for judges, the governors boast as if they have done the judiciary a favour. We really need to change that, he stressed.
On why the law has become difficult to be implemented despite the Executive Order 10 by President Muhammadu Buhari, the senior lawyer said:

The governors are very powerful people as I told you. They can frustrate anything.
He attributed the development to the weakness of 1999 Constitution which, he said, placed all the executive powers in the governors.

He said: If you compare this with the 1963 Constitution where the Provincial Commissioners were equivalent of todays governors, it shared the executive powers with the District Officers or Dos as they were called. Dos were very powerful people.

So in the context of the present arrangement in the state, every governor would have shared executive powers with, maybe, eight other sub-governors so that no single person would have been as powerful as the governors are.

Erokoro, who called on the appropriate agencies and departments of government to intervene in the matter, also urged all parties to embrace dialogue to end the strike.

On his part, Ahmed Raji, SAN, who said he was in support of the resolution to the crisis, urged federal and state governments to engage with the union.

I will plead with them to embrace dialogue in the interest of the society so that we dont give wrong signals to the international community because the court is a very important segment of the societal institutions which we cannot afford to close.

I will plead with both of them, not apportioning blames to anybody. However, that is not to say that the claims or agitations of the union should not be looked into, he said.

NAN also reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had, on May 22, 2020, signed into law an Executive Order granting financial autonomy to the legislature and the judiciary across the 36 states of the federation.

The Executive Order No. 10 of 2020 made it mandatory for all states to include the allocations of both the legislature and the judiciary in the first-line charge of their budgets.

The order also mandates the accountant general of the federation to deduct from source amount due to the state legislatures and judiciaries from the monthly allocation to each state, for states that refuse to grant such autonomy.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Sumaila Ogbaje

Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno has commended the Army for its renewed vigour in counter-insurgency operations by troops of Operation Lafiya Dole, in the North East.

Zulum gave the commendation when he paid a courtesy call on the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, on Monday, in Abuja.

He said that the military had achieved some level of success in the fight against Boko Haram and the Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in recent times in the state.

The governor said the current effort of the military had been yielding positive results, adding that more needed to be done to ensure that more farmers had access to their farmlands.

He called for increased support by troops to the governments efforts of resettling the displaced persons back in their communities.

Zulum assured that the state government would continue to support the army in all areas, to return peace and stability to Borno and the entire North East.

Honestly speaking, we have achieved some level of peace within the last two months not withstanding the recent attacks, but a lot still has to be done because we need to put heads together to say the right thing.

We are here to interface with Nigerian Army, the Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Army Staff, with a view to letting them know the actual situation on ground because it is only when you are apprised of the facts and figures on ground that you can think of the kind of intervention.

By and large, we are optimistic that insurgency will come to an end and we plead with the military to ensure the filling of the existing gaps.

Most importantly, we have to look into the political, cultural and economic dimensions of this war, which is very key because farmers need to back to their farm lands during this rainy season so that they can earn their means of livelihood, he said.

The governor also assured that the government had put in place a robust institutional arrangement for effective flow of information from the locals.

Responding, the Chief of Army Staff, Attahiru, commended the governor for the visit, saying it would afford them the opportunity to interact and discuss issues that would bring peace to Borno and entire North east.

Attahiru also commended the government for its continuous support to the operation Lafiya Dole and the Nigeria army in general, as well as the wounded troops and families of fallen troops.

He assured that the Nigerian army was determined to defeat boko haram and conclude the operation, within the shortest time possible.

According to him, he had authorised a review of some of their activities, operations and strategies, adding that the issue of manpower, arms and ammunitions were being addressed.

He appealed to the governor to consider the rehabilitation of some roads in the state to enhance army operations.

Let me assure you that the Nigerian Army, under my watch, will continue to do its best to support all your programmes and activities aimed at bringing peace that would enable socio-economic activities to thrive in Borno.

Having said that, let me use this medium to appeal to you to, as a matter of urgency, consider the rehabilitation of roads and main supply routes that link some of the local government areas in the state and indeed the humanitarian hubs.

This will facilitate passage, keep open humanitarian corridors, as well as enhance our operations. It will equally reduce the threat posed to our troops by improvised explosive devices, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Zulum was accompanied by the three Senators representing Borno in the National Assembly, Kashim Shettima, Ali Ndume and Abubakar Kyari. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Muhammad Adam

Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa has inaugurated 86 housing units for Internally Displaced Persons in Girei Local Government Area (LGA) in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the housing units of two bedrooms flats, were built by Most Rev. Stephen Dami Mamza, Catholic Bishop of Yola Diocese.

Fintiri inaugurated the estate, with a Mosque in it, in Sangere-Marghi village, Girei LGA, on Monday.

The governor, commended the laudable initiative and commitment of Mamza, to serving humanity and to promoting religious tolerance in the state.

We are gathered to celebrate one of the outstanding humanitarian efforts in the history of care and support as a nation.

We are happy to be part of this effort to resettle our brothers and sisters that were displaced by insurgency since 2014 Fintiri said.

In his remark, Mamza disclosed that the Catholic Diocese built the estate with the support of national and international partners.

This project is a tall dream come true since the Catholic Diocese of Yola first opened its doors to host IDPs on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2014.

This was after the collapse of some local governments in Northern Adamawa, following Boko Haram attacks on villagers.

At the height of the displacement in October 2014, when Mubi town and environs came under Boko Haram occupation, thousands fled into Yola and approached us for food and shelter.

It was at this time that St. Theresas IDP Camp housed 4,700 persons.

We have been taking care of the IDPs for the past seven years with the little assistance we receive from our major partners.

The Catholic Diocese of Yola, with its local resources also constructed a Mosque for some of our Muslim IDPs, Mamza said.

He appealed to government and humanitarian actors for more assistance saying that displaced persons needed to be given opportunities to be productive and self-reliant.

According to him, this will prevent the IDPs from being passive recipients of aid, which results in dependency syndrome.

In his remark, the Most Rev. Matthew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, said that the significance of building the housing estate and the Mosque should not be lost.

Nigerians should learn to practice religion of tolerance and love for their neighbour.

It is important that Christians and Muslims appreciate what the Diocese of Yola has done today, Kukah said.

The renowned cleric charged Fintiri to impress upon other northern governors on the need for synergy between government and religious leaders to promote love and peace in the region, and the country at large.

Kukah said he would continue to pray that one day, the Muslims would reciprocate the gesture by building a Church for Christians in the state.

NAN reports that many notable personalities, including Rev. Bulus Yohanna, Bishop of Kontagora Diocese, representative of Lamido of Adamawa, other top clergy, government officials and politicians, attended the event.

Source: NAN News