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Tag: Kwara

  • Kwara set to remodel primary and secondary schools across the state

    Kwara set to remodel primary and secondary schools across the state

    The Kwara state has revealed that it will soon commence the remodelling of primary and secondary schools across the state, by ensuring pupils study in conducive environment in line with international best practices.

    This was made known by the Governor of Kwara state Dr. AbdulFatah Ahmed at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Joint Consultative Committee on Education Meeting in Ilorin earlier today.

    Represented by the Deputy Governor, Elder Peter Kisira ,he pointed that the schools will be benchmarked against the global standard in terms of teacher/ students ratio and provision of infrastructure.

    Earlier in her address the Chairperson Joint Consultative Committee on Education Dr. Mrs Chioma Nwadei pointed that for Nigeria to join the commity of nations in achieving the 2030 agenda on education, there must be concerted efforts to increase the funding of education.

    She noted that the government current commitment of about 6.0 percent of the 2017 budget to education is a far cry from the United Nations benchmark of 26 percent.

    She however charged delegates to come up with a flagship project on financing education and strategies for tracking the spending of funds allocated to educational institutions to ensure sustainability and attainment of the goals.

  • Kwara mourns as ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Saidu Isa dies at 71

    The Kwara State government has confirmed the death of a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Saidu Isa.

    Isa, who until his death was the Chairman Governing Council, Kwara State University, Malete, died on Thursday morning at 71.

    Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahab Oba, described Isa’s death as shocking.

    The statement reads in part, “My heart goes out to the families, friends and well-wishers of the former ambassador and Pro-Chancellor of Kwara State University, Malete. Indeed, this death is shocking.

    KWASU authorities, in a statement issued from the office of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, said the deceased served the institution with total dedication to the vision of KWASU.

    Isa was educated at Barewa College, Zaria, and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.

    Isa was a core civil servant who rose to become the Secretary to the Kwara Government and the state Head of Service.

    Isa was also the chairman of the Federal College of Education, Abeokuta.

    KWASU has declared seven days of mourning to honour the late statesman.

     

    (NAN)

  • Flood destroys 2, 000 hectares of Kwara farmland

    About 2, 000 hectares of farmland have been destroyed by water across the three districts of Patigi Local government area of Kwara.

    Special Adviser to Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed on Emergency and Relief Services, Alhaji Duro Mohammed, disclosed this while inspecting the havoc caused by flood in Patigi yesterday.

    He said rice farms in Lade, Patigi and Sepondi districts cultivated near the River Niger were mostly affected as well as a clinic, a cemetery and a primary school at Gbaradogi.

    Mohammed, who led the state government’s delegation to the flooded farms, described the damage as devastating.

    He called on the Federal Government to come to the aid of the state in ameliorating the suffering of the affected farmers.

    He said the magnitude of the disaster was too much for the state to bear alone.

    He also called for urgent dredging of River Niger and construction of a drain that would permanently secure the rice farms against flooding in the future.

    The Etsu Patigi, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar, expressed concerns over the perennial flooding in the area.

    The monarch also suggested that dredging of River Niger and construction of drain would permanently safe the community from the disaster.

    Umar said the flood had increased poverty level in the community, noting that compensations were not enough in ameliorating the suffering of the people who are predominantly farmers.

  • Kwara cemetery rejects corpse of man killed by lightening

    The management of llorin Muslim Cemetery on Friday rejected the corpse of a 47-year-old civil servant, Salami Adekunle, who was killed by lightning in Oro, lrepodun Local Government Area of Kwara.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Adekunle was struck to death on Thursday after a downpour.

    The Coordinator of the cemetery, Abubakar Aliagan, told the News Agency of Nigeria in llorin that the cemetery had rejected the corpse.

    According to Aliagan, the cemetery management unanimously rejected the burial of the deceased following an instruction that the corpse should not undergo the normal Islamic prayers and bath.

    Aliagan noted that while the deceased was described as a practising Muslim during his life time, Muslims in his vicinity refused to accept that his death was an act of God.

    He said the performance of traditional rituals on the corpse after his death and the instructions warning against conducting Islamic rites on it was unacceptable to the management of the cemetery.

    “If the late Salami will sleep in our Muslim cemetery, we have to do it in line with lslamic rites,” Aliagan said.

    The deceased, who hails from lnisa in Osun state, was until his death a staff of the Registry Department at the Kwara College of Education, Oro.

    The Public Relations Officer of the institution, Adesola Adewoye, said the family of the deceased would meet and decide on the next line of action to take on the burial arrangement.

  • FG confirms outbreak of Yellow Fever disease in Kwara

    FG confirms outbreak of Yellow Fever disease in Kwara

    The Federal Government has confirmed a new case of yellow fever in Oke Owa in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.

    In a press statement released on Monday, the ministry said the case was confirmed in a young girl from the community after a laboratory diagnosis at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital at the Institut Pasteur, Dakar, Senegal on the September 12.

    Following the confirmation of the case, the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, said the State Epidemiology Team has begun investigation into the affected area and neighbouring communities.

    “A joint team from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, National Primary Health Care Development Agency and the World Health Organisation Country Office has been deployed to support the State in carrying out a detailed investigation and risk analysis,” he said

    Adewole added that an Outbreak Control Team had also been constituted to ensure rapid and coordinated decision-making.

    He assured the public that all the agencies of the Federal Ministry of Health and their partners would work together to support the government of Kwara to respond in order to prevent spread.

    Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected aedes mosquitoes.

    The disease is preventable, the most important measure to in prevention being vaccination against the disease.

    A single dose of Yellow Fever vaccine is part of Nigeria’s routine immunisation schedule given to children at nine months and the dose is sufficient to confer sustained protection of up to 10 years.

    It is meant to be given free at all primary healthcare centres and other children immunisation point.

    According to fact sheets on the disease from the World Health Organization, yellow fever virus is endemic in tropical areas of Africa and Central and South America.

    The international health agency said a small proportion of patients who contract the virus develop severe symptoms and approximately half of them die within seven to 10 days.

    But since the launch of the Yellow Fever Initiative in 2006, significant progress has been made in combating the disease in West Africa and more than 105 million people have been vaccinated in mass campaigns.

    There is currently no specific anti-viral drug for yellow fever.

    Adewole said a vaccination campaign is already being planned in the affected area in Kwara State to prevent spread.

    Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.

    Some infected people may, however, not experience any of these symptoms. In severe cases, bleeding may occur from the mouth, nose, eyes or stomach.

    Other methods of prevention include using insect repellent, sleeping under a long-lasting insecticide-treated net, ensuring proper sanitation and getting rid of stagnant water or breeding space for mosquitoes.

    Adewole advised health care workers to practise universal care precautions while handling patients at all times and also urged to be alert and maintain a high index of suspicion.

  • Kwara won’t use card readers for November council polls – KWASEIC

    Kwara won’t use card readers for November council polls – KWASEIC

    The Kwara State lndependent Electoral Commission on Friday said it would not use card readers for the forthcoming council polls in the state.

    The commission’s Chairman, Dr AbdukRahman Ajidagba, announced this at a meeting with representatives of registered political parties in his office in Ilorin on Friday.

    The chairmanship and councillorship elections into the 16 local governments have been scheduled for Nov. 4.

    Ajidagba said the state was not financially buoyant to acquire card readers for the council polls.

    “We abandoned the use of card readers for the local government elections to avoid hitches that may occur from the machines while the elections are in progress.”

    The Kwara electoral commission boss, however, promised a credible, reliable and fair election even without the card readers.

    Ajibagba, who described the political parties as the major players in the conduct of the election, solicited their cooperation and support for the success of the exercise.

    He also advised the representatives of the parties not to incite the electorate before, during and after the elections, saying no credible poll could be achieved in an atmosphere of chaos and acrimony or violence.

    He said the commission would soon release the time table for the polls to enable stakeholders to fully prepare for the exercise.

    Speaking on behalf of the parties, Mr Theophlius Sunday, the Vice-Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party and former Chairman of Moro Council, assured the commission of their readiness to ensure a successful poll.

    Representatives of 30 political parties attended the meeting.

     

    (NAN)

  • Saraki has returned pensions collected as ex-gov – Kwara Govt

    The Kwara State Government has said the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has returned all the pensions he collected so far as a former two-term governor of the state.

    The Secretary to the Kwara State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, in a statement on Wednesday said the attention of the state government had been drawn to issues surrounding the payment of pensions to former governors of the state, especially Saraki.

    The SSG said Saraki, as a two-term governor of the state, was entitled to pensions as stipulated by the third schedule, Paragraph D (i) of the Governor and Deputy Governor (Payment of Pension) Law, No. 12 of 2010 of Kwara State.

    He added that the said pensions had been duly remitted to his (Saraki’s) account, like other former governors, since he left office.

    He, however, said that when, via a letter dated August 20, 2015 addressed to the state government, Saraki requested that the payment of pensions to his account be stopped and the amount already credited to the account be refunded to the (Kwara State) Government, the state government promptly complied.

    Gold said, “The (Kwara State) Government not only stopped the payment of the said pension, the amount already paid into Saraki’s account since he left office was deducted from the money owed to him as well as his other outstanding lawful entitlements.

    “In view of the foregoing, it should be noted that neither the Kwara State Government, nor Saraki, violated the state pension law or any other law for that matter.

    “The State Pension Law empowers the state government to pay pension to former governors of the state.

    “The Kwara State Government will want to reiterate the fact that it was Dr. Saraki who, of his own volition, considered the morality of the situation in which the pension would put him since he is still a serving Senator and chose to abandon his legal rights.

    “We believe he should be commended for the decision.”

    Gold added, “It is the hope of the Kwara State Government that this clarification will end all the controversy about this issue.”

  • Kwara 2019: My son won’t contest as governor – Saraki

    Kwara 2019: My son won’t contest as governor – Saraki

    The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has ruled out the possibility of his son participating in the governorship race in Kwara in 2019.

    He said, at a Forum in Abuja that it was untrue that his son was being groomed as the next governor of the state.

    According to Saraki, “the boy is not interested in politics. That is not in the offing at all; I am sure he doesn’t even want to hear politics at all”.

    “You know it is not easy for children who are born to politicians, especially at this time, to embrace politics.

    “When I was much younger, we were insulated from some of the political issues, and because we didn’t read the newspapers, we didn’t know what was happening.

    “I reluctantly went into politics, you can go and check. Once or twice, I was given the form to run for House of Representatives, and I remember I just travelled and disappeared for months.

    “After seeing what my father had been through I thought to myself that this is not for me,” he said.

    Saraki, however, said that the most important thing for him in the state was the legacy which had been left and the continuity and good relationship between former and the serving governor.

    He said that his successor had also done a good job in transforming the state by creating an environment for entrepreneurship.

    “In the agricultural sector, we have done a lot of things that drive commercial activities which are not in the blueprint of the country.

    “Even in the universal health coverage which we are now talking about at the national level, I started that when I was governor, and now my governor has continued and built on that.

    “This shows the importance of continuity and stability and today, we thank God that we are one of those states where there is a very good relationship between former governor and current governor.” he said.

    He denied insinuation that pensioners in the state were still being owed arrears dating back to when he was governor.

    “Majority of the amounts still being owed are at the local government level, most of the state level pensions are not outstanding.

    “There might be issues with pensions here and there but I don’t know the details. I know that the arrears and liability are at local government level, not at state government level,” Saraki stated.

     

    (NAN)

  • Double pay: Saraki replies SERAP, says ‘I have stopped receiving pension as ex-Kwara Governor’

    …urges other former governors in the Senate to follow suit

    The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said he had stopped collecting pension in Kwara as a former governor of the state.

    The Senate President revealed this at a forum of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. He insisted that he had written a letter to the state government to stop the payment of the pension.

    According to Saraki, the move was sequel to complaints from some quarters that former governors who are currently senators or ministers were receiving pension and salary in their new jobs, all from the government.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that a civil society organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), last month accused former governors who are now in the Senate or took up new appointments as Ministers or directors of agencies of receiving double pay from the government, and said it was illegal.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the group in an open letter sent to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN urged him to use his “good offices as a defender of public interest, and exercise your powers under Section 174(1) of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), to urgently institute appropriate legal actions to challenge the legality of states’ laws permitting former governors, who are now senators and ministers to enjoy governors’ emoluments while drawing normal salaries and allowances in their new political offices.”

    The organization also asked Mr Malami to “seek full recovery of over N40bn of public funds that have so far been received from those involved; and to begin to take these steps within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter, failing which SERAP will institute legal proceedings to compel the discharge of constitutional duty and full compliance with Nigeria’s international anti-corruption obligations and commitments.”

    However, Saraki in a response said: “No, I’m not collecting pension; the moment I saw that allegation, I wrote to my state to stop my pension.

    “So, I speak for myself on that part; I’m not doing that, I am not receiving pension from my state,’’ he said.

    On other senators involved on the issue, Saraki said “I think I will leave everybody to their individual decision.

    “Morally, if you have got another job, you should give it up until when you are truly a pensioner.

    “Some of these oversights are not addressing the issues. What the states should do is to go and amend their laws to say that if you have another appointment then you are not entitled to that benefit.

    “With this, we will just simplify the matter.”

    On the role of Bank of Infrastructure in the country, Saraki said that the Senate had not had any serious interface with the bank, but that it was involved in some projects.

    “We are not engaging with them particularly. I think that they were part of those involved in the Lagos-Ibadan road. But, I don’t think government should really put funds into that.

    “I have this strong view and I feel very strongly about it, that nowhere in the world has government funded infrastructure.

    “Government cannot, and even if government can fund infrastructure projects, the social sector will suffer – health will suffer and education will suffer.’’

    He said there were a lot of complaints that budgetary allocation to health and education was too low, attributing it to the fact that much money was being invested in infrastructure development.

    Saraki explained that due to the challenges, the National Assembly had passed Bills that would encourage private sector participation in infrastructure development.

    “What should happen is that we should try and get private sector to take over some of these infrastructure so that the money can go into education and health.

    “By doing that, banks like Bank of infrastructure will come in.

    “We are really pushing the idea of, particularly, the Lagos-Ibadan road, that appropriating that project from the budget does not show seriousness.

    “This is a road that is very viable; that is centre of the commercial activity and we should see how private sector can participate.

    “For example, even if you go by the budgetary allocation on that road, last year was N30 billion, this year, after back and forth, we took it back to N20 billion.

    “This was done so that if they don’t find private funding, we will take it up,’’ he said.

    According to him, even if the N30 billion was provided, it will not be enough because that road needs about N100 billion to be completed.

    “So, the point I’m making which I want to emphasise is that it is the kind of laws and policies that we pass that will encourage private sector that will make the infrastructure deficit to reduce.

    “Government alone cannot reduce infrastructure deficit,” Saraki said.

    He confirmed that the senators had fulfilled their October, 2016 pledge to contribute N300, 000 each to support Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East.

    He said that the senate would continue to tackle humanitarian crisis in the North-East through budgetary appropriations.

    “I think that to the best of my knowledge, that is happening but it goes beyond just that. I think that we have shown that we will continue to support in form of appropriation of adequate money.

    “As you saw just last week, we also approved some foreign loan that will go toward supporting activities in the North-East as palliative means to fight humanitarian crisis.

    “We are close to about 800 million dollars we approved for the executive from that point of view.

    “We are always ready to support our men and women in uniform to ensure that whatever they required was provided,” Saraki said.

    He added that the lawmakers had being meeting with a lot of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to provide support to the North-East.

    “We are looking at the possibility of what we can do to create more incentives for Nigerians.

    “We are approaching individuals and companies to make more donations and see what kind of concessions they can get for the kind of donations they are making in the North-East,” he said.

  • NFF resolves to build Football House in Kwara, five other states

    Kwara State in North Central Nigeria is one of the Six States to benefit in the first phase of the Nigeria Football Federation [NFF] Football House to be built in Ilorin.

    Also, two football pitches are to be constructed in each of the six selected states in the country.

    ‎These was part of the decisions reached at the NFF Board meeting held last night in Abuja.

    The Chairman of the Kwara State Football Association, Mallam Busari Ishola, while speaking with our correspondent on the outcome of the meeting, said six States were picked from the six geopolitical zones of the country.
    Ishola stated that other benefiting States are Bayelsa, Jigawa, Osun, Abia and Borno.
    The Chairman disclosed that construction work on the Football House Project would commence next week and is expected to be completed on or before the end of October this year.
    He explained that the benefiting States are expecting to provide the land, while the NFF would bear the cost of building and furnishing to standard.
    Ishola noted that the Football House would comprise of the State Football Secretariat, Conference room, Video Centre room among others.
    The chairman disclosed that the project would be sited inside the stadium, describing the initiative as a welcome development and well overdue.
    He explained that apart from the Football House, two football fields each would also be constructed in the six States.
    ‎Ishola commended the NFF for taking the bold steps of providing facilities in all the States of the Federation.
    Stakeholders have praised Ishola for using his connection to attract the project to Kwara State.