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The federal
government is determined to fast-track the completion of the dredging
of the lower Niger River, the resuscitation of the Ajaokuta Steel
Company, as well as the resuscitation of the National Iron Ore Mining
Company, in Itakpe, Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday.

Speaking while
delivering an address at the official commissioning of some key
projects in Kogi State during a one-day working visit to the state
yesterday, Mr Jonathan also made a pledge to see to the completion of
the construction of ports in Baro, Lokoja, Idah, Onitsha and Sapele, to
boost our nation’s economy.

President Jonathan
said the completion of the projects “will be of immense benefit not
only to the people of Kogi State, but other Nigerians at large. I am,
therefore, committed to an early completion of these projects”.

While
congratulating the Kogi State governor, Ibrahim Idris, on the
inauguration of the international market and other projects, Mr
Jonathan said the completion of the projects will go a long way in
delivering the dividends of democracy to the electorate.

Mr Jonathan, who
arrived at the Lokoja old Stadium aboard a helicopter at 11.20am,
headed straight to the Lokoja Specialist Hospital, where he
commissioned the project. Thereafter, he proceeded to commission the
Ganaja-Ajaokuta Road, despite heavy rain fall, before inspecting the
stadium and the Lokoja water project which was constructed at a cost of
N9.9 billion and has a capacity to provide 10 million gallons of water
daily.

The president’s
final task was the commissioning of the Lokoja International Market,
which was constructed at a cost of N3.8 billion.

The governor later said that the two projects would be completed by the first quarter of 2011.

Completing the road

In an address at
the commissioning ceremony, Mr Idris urged the federal government to
revive “the Lokoja Port project, which has been abandoned, and
graciously ensure the construction of the Idah Port in order to ensure
their completion and to complement the commendable dredging project
which your administration has embarked upon”.

“I implore your
excellency to actualise Ajaokuta project to incorporate all the major
components and ensure the full realisation of this project. If you can
do this sir, your name will be in gold when the history of this nation
shall be written for posterity,” he said.

While also thanking the president for the ongoing dualisation of the
Abuja-Lokoja-Okene Road, Mr Idris said, “we, however, appeal to your
excellency to use your good offices to fast-track the completion of the
project, to reduce the high incidence of road accidents which has
consumed so many lives”.

Former minister of
the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir el-Rufai, has said that Nuhu
Ribadu, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, has all it takes to become the president of Nigeria.

Speaking at a
leadership forum for the youth yesterday in Abuja, Mr el-Rufai blamed
our nation’s economic failure on bad leadership. “Anyone that has been
in the corridors of power in those days should retire and allow people
like my brother, Nuhu Ribadu, to rule,” he said.

“I am not campaigning for anybody, but you know where my heart is.”

He lamented that
young people have not participated fully in the politics of the nation,
except in their use as thugs for political parties. He noted that since
2006, when the last voter registration exercise took place, about 16
million people have reached the voting age of 18.

“It was young
people that got Obama elected in America,” he said. “Young people
should do it in Nigeria and elect their own Obama.”

Pat Utomi, founder
of the Lagos Business School, agreed that a failure of leadership in
past administrations was the nation’s foremost problem.

“What this means is that our future does not lie in past leadership,
otherwise, we will have the same result in our future as we had in our
past.”

Only 42 per cent
of students, which represents 677,007 candidates of the 1,351,557
candidates that sat for the May-June 2010 West African Senior School
Certificate Examination (SSCE), obtained five credits and above, the
Head of Nigeria National Office (HNO) of WAEC, Iyi Uwadiae, said in
Lagos on Thursday.

Mr Uwadiae said
only 534,841 candidates obtained six credits and above in the
examination, while 337,071 candidates obtained credits in English
language, mathematics and at least three other subjects.

The West African
Examinations Council (WAEC) also said it has withheld the results of
77,168 candidates who sat for the May-June 2010 West African Senior
School Certificate Examination (SSCE). Mr Uwadiae said the withheld
results were owing to alleged involvement of the affected candidates in
examination malpractice.

Fully processed

The council said
that the results of 1,278, 843 of the 1, 351,557candidates who sat for
examination were fully processed, while 72,714 candidates had few of
their subjects still being processed.

“I am delighted to
announce the release of the results four weeks ahead of schedule. A
total of 1,058,806 candidates, representing 78.33 per cent, have two
credits and above, 936,470 68.84 per cent) have three credits and above
and 806,583 (59.67 per cent) have four credits and above.

“Also, 677,007
candidates obtained five credits and above while 534,841 candidates
(39.57 per cent) obtained six credits and above,” he said.

He added that
451,187 candidates obtained credit and above in English Language while
560,974 obtained credit and above in mathematics.

He said 98 blind
candidates sat for the examination, out of which 13 obtained credits in
five subjects, including English language. These special candidates
were exempted from taking mathematics and science practicals.

Out of the 1, 351,557candidates that sat for the examination, some 611,893 were female.

Abia
State governor, Theodore Orji, yesterday oversaw the swearing-in of
Acho Nwakanma as his deputy governor, saying the action marked the
completion of the liberation of Abia State from the shackles of
undemocratic governance and the entrenchment of true democracy.

Speaking at the
swearing-in of Mr. Nwakanma in Umuahia on Wednesday at the Government
House, he said that unlike his predecessor, the new deputy governor was
nominated by himself and has been approved by the state legislature.

Mr. Orji explained
that the need for a new deputy governor arose from the impeachment of
Chris Akomas, adding that contrary to insinuations in some quarters,
his impeachment was not instigated by the executive.

“We have liberated
Abia from the shackles of undemocratic government. I stand to be held
accountable for the actions of Mr. Nwakanma because I nominated him
personally and the house endorsed him,” he declared.

The governor said
that normalcy has returned to the state, as those who were at war with
him have reconciled with him and are now working with his
administration.

In his acceptance
speech, Mr. Nwakanma pledged his total loyalty to the governor and Abia
State, adding that since he survived a more difficult administration he
would have no problem with the present one, which he said was more
democratic.

The new deputy
governor, who had earlier served as the deputy speaker of the state
House of Assembly and later the deputy governor during the last lap of
Orji Uzor Kalu, said he was familiar with the office of a
second-in-command and would give his total support to the governor.

Mr. Nwakanma is the sixth deputy governor the state since the creation of the state.

Efforts
to reach a reasonable conclusion on modalities for the payment of 142
per cent arrears of pensioners in Oyo State were, on Wednesday,
frustrated as a meeting held between leaders of the state chapter of
Nigeria Union Pensioners and the government ended in a deadlock.

The union staged a peaceful protest to the office of the state governor, yesterday, to press home their demands.

The protest
followed a brief congress held at the pensioners’ office in Ibadan and
led to a meeting between the union’s delegations, led by its chairman,
Lateef Adegoke, while the secretary to the state government, Olayiwola
Olakojo, represented the state government.

According to a
communiqué issued after its congress yesterday, the union said the
parties could not agree on the time and modalities for the payment of
the owed money.

The union held a
congress in Ibadan yesterday to assess the level of commitment of the
state government to the promised it made on April 30, 2010 on the
prompt payment of the arrears.

It came up with a
six-point communiqué, in which its positions on the attitude of the
government and its representatives in the matter were viewed as well as
the way out of the current situation.

Jointly signed by
Lateef Adegoke and Olusegun Abatan, chairman and secretary
respectively, the statement said Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala did not
give any condition for the payment of the arrears when he was making
the promise in April.

The union also
frowned at the disdain the state’s Head of Service, Kudirat Adeleke,
has expressed on the plight of pensioners and vowed not to relate with
her on the matter any more.

Suffering pensioners

It then fixed
another congress for August 25 to “appraise government’s response (if
any) to pensioners’ demand for the payment of 142 % pension arrears”.

Advising the
government to pay the agitated arrears in three months instalments, the
union directed its leadership to return to the drawing board and come
up with strategy that will effect the payment quickly if the government
fails to respond before the date of the next congress.

Pensioners in the
Customs, Immigration and Prison Services, also, yesterday, cried out to
the Federal Government over the payment of the arrears of the
harmonized pensions, gratuities and allowances approved for them since
2000.

In a press
conference addressed in Ibadan, the retirees complained that they
suffer hardship and deprivation due to the failure of the pension
office in Abuja to harmonize and implement the various circulars on
pensions due to them over the period.

The Ondo State Government yesterday said the Ondo
State University of Technology (OSUTECH), Okitipupa will take off from
a temporary site if the contractors at the original site refuses to
speed up action. Besides, government also promised to constitute the
Governing Council of the university next week.

Mr Mimiko, who disclosed this while presenting a
new 18-seater Toyota Hilux bus to the National Association of Ondo
State Students (NAOSS) in Akure, said his administration is committed
to the early take off of the institution and that his government is
striving hard to ensure that academic work start immediately.

“I also sincerely hope that the National
Universities Commission (NUC) will soon return to the state and return
the operational licence of the institution and I can assure you that
the University will be developed to be one of the best universities
across the globe,” he said.

He urged the students to shun all forms of social
vices capable of disrupting their academic pursuit and advised them to
be actively involved in the campaign against electoral malpractices.

“As leaders of tomorrow, you must devote your time
to your education in order to come out in flying colours and become
responsible citizens that will contribute to societal development”, he
said.

Maintain the bus

The governor said the state government would
provide a professional driver who will be in charge of the vehicle to
avoid its being misused and prevent damage.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Youth and
Students Affairs, Olamide George praised the state government for the
gesture, which he said will facilitate the operations of the members of
the association.

The president of NAOSS, Temola Temidayo expressed
the readiness of the association to prevent all forms of electoral
fraud in next year’s general election and enjoined the state government
to release money for the maintenance of the vehicle, which he said will
only be used for the association’s activities.

The Police Public
Relations Officer (PPRO) for the command, Altine Daniel, confirmed the
arrest of the suspect in Yola on Wednesday.

Hussaini Gambo, a
Youth Leader in Wuro-Jabbe ward, Yola South local government, where the
incident occurred, told journalists that the suspect had a quarrel with
his aged mother at her residence in Wuro-Jabbe on Saturday.

He said that the
quarrel led the son to beat her to a state of coma, forcing neighbours
to rush her to Yola Specialist Hospital, where she passed away on
Monday.

The Zone’s
Principal Manager, Public Affairs, Emma Anene, told journalists in Port
Harcourt that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) was
owing N7.4 million at the airport. He said the bill covered between
June 2008 and May 2010, adding that the airport would be disconnected
on August 24 if FAAN failed to pay up.

He recalled that
the FAAN at a meeting held with the management of the airport in May,
pledged to pay the debt in two instalments. The spokesman lamented that
nothing had been paid so far, adding that PHCN was now expected to meet
its financial obligations from generated revenue.

Mr Mamman,
popularly called Dashi, was said to have committed the offence on March
4 and had been remanded in prison after he was arraigned before a
Senior Magistrate’s Court in Katsina. The prosecution alleged that the
accused lured the girl with N20 and forcefully had carnal knowledge of
her.

The offence was allegedly committed at the accused person’s
residence in Gorar Dansaka village, while the girl sustained injuries
and was hospitalised at the Malumfashi General Hospital. Ruling on the
bail application moved by the defence counsel, Joseph Chukwuemeka, the
judge, Abbas Bawale, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000
with two sureties in like sum.

Mr Dambam told
journalists on Wednesday in Bauchi that the agency had recorded 1,742
cases in five of the 20 local government areas of the state since the
outbreak of the disease in June. He listed Bauchi, Shira, Tafawa
Balewa, Toro and Katagum Local Government Areas as those affected by
the epidemic, which started in Bauchi Metropolitan Council.

According to him,
Bauchi Local Government has recorded 1,368 cases with 31 deaths;
Ganjuwa 284 cases with 20 deaths, while Tafawa Balewa, Shira and Toro
recorded about 30 cases but with no deaths recorded in those areas.

Dambam claimed the source of the epidemic was from the neighbouring
states of Adamawa, Gombe and Borno, stating that “there were earlier
outbreaks of the disease in these states before Bauchi.”