By Salisu Sani-Idris

The Federal Capital Terriory Administration (FCTA) Education Secretariat on Tuesday gave parents, guardians and stakeholders the assurance of the safety of their children and wards in FCT schools.

Malam Leramoh Abdulrazaq, its Acting Secretary, gave the assurance during a routine strategic school security programme known as School Security Guidelines Watch (SSGW), in Abuja.

Abdulrazaq, who is also the Acting Director, Administration and Finance, said that reports of insecurity of schools in some neighbouring states necessitated the intensification of efforts to secure schools.

He said that the measure was by being proactive and putting in place measures to avert unforseen incidents in the FCT.

He recalled that ahead of the current security concerns in December 2020, the FCTA organised a security meeting for all the boarding schools’ principals, stakeholders, security personnel and traditional rulers.

He said that the forum provided the opportunity to engage in a robust discussion on how to further enhance security in schools in the FCT.

He explained that the resolutions reached at that meeting received speedy attention from the administration.

Abdulrazaq said that although no security breach was recorded in the FCT, but as custodians of students no stone would be left unturned.

He added that management of schools were working round the clock to ensure a safe learning and teaching environment since resumption of schools following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The secretary, therefore, advised parents on the need to complement government’s efforts and sustain the various safety measures the FCTA had already put in place, stressing that security was everybody’s business.

Abdulrazaq reiterated the commitment of the education secretariat to continue to place the safety of the students and members of staff as its key priority.

“We are not unmindful of emerging challenges as we are also able to respond to such situations appropriately.

“FCT schools are safe, our teachers are teaching effectively while the students are learning in a safe environment and the authority is intensifying its efforts to ensure the security is further enhanced,” he said

The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes it is unlikely the Coronavirus pandemic （COVID-19）will come to an end  by the end of 2021.

“I think it will be very premature and unrealistic to think that we are going to finish with this virus by the end of the year,” Michael Ryan, director of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, said at a briefing on Tuesday.

“What we can, if we are smart, finish with is the hospitalisations and the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic,” Ryan added.

The WHO’s focus at present was to keep transmissions as low as possible and vaccinate more and more people.

The situation regarding the delivery of vaccine doses had already improved compared to 10 weeks ago, Ryan said, although there were “huge challenges” in distributing them and the virus still had the upper hand.

“If the vaccines begin to impact not only on death and not only on hospitalization, but have a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risk, then I believe we will accelerate towards controlling this pandemic,” Ryan said.

The number of new cases of COVID-19 rose by 7 per cent worldwide, last week, the WHO said later on Tuesday.

This is the first increase following a fall in case numbers over the past six weeks.

In the last week of February, 2.6 million cases were reported to the UN agency in Geneva in the last week of February.

The increase could be due to new and more contagious strains of the virus, the WHO said, citing easing of rules and fatigue with regulations as other possible causes.

The Middle East saw the largest rise of 14 per cent, followed by a 9-per-cent rise in South-East Asia. Case numbers also rose by 9 per cent in Europe and by 6 per cent in the Americas.

In contrast, nearly a quarter fewer cases were reported in Africa compared to the week before.

Likewise case numbers fell slightly in the Western Pacific region including East Asia and Australia.

According to WHO， vaccines do not provide immunity immediately but need several weeks before they become effective, and noted it would take even longer to protect whole populations.

That means testing, contact tracing, social distancing, masks and other hygiene measures remain critical.

By Precious Akutamadu

Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Tuesday urged media practitioners to be more circumspect while reporting issues that could further polarise the country.

Wike gave the advice in Port Harcourt at a meeting held to reconcile Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed.

He advised media houses to play a role in stabilising the peace and unity of Nigeria.

“The press should have a role to play in stabilising the country; it is not everything you must report. You don’t try to escalate things and when you do that you are not helping the country,” he said.

Wike thanked the two governors for amicably resolving their differences.

“We give God the glory today that the differences have been sorted out,” he said.

Similarly, Ortom thanked Wike and Gov. Ahmed Fintiri of Adamawa for arranging the meeting to reconcile him and his Bauchi State counterpart, pointing out that the outburst between them was unnecessary.

“We have accepted that it was wrong for us to have that kind of outburst that went out, but as from today we have learnt, we are all fallible human beings and we are subject to mistakes and so when we make mistakes, it is a plus for us if we correct them.

“We shall live together, the Fulani and Tiv people have cohabitated for a long time and there is no issue whatsoever,” he said.

He urged the Federal Government to find a lasting solution to the security challenges facing the country.

Gov. Mohammed stated that the outburst between him and Ortom over Fulani herders was regrettable.

“We didn’t mean to divide the country, to divide our people. We are still friends and brothers… we will move forward because most of those issues are fully resolved, the Bauchi State governor said.

On his part, Gov. Fintiri of Adamawa said as national leaders, it beholds on him and Wike to intervene in the disagreement between their Benue and Bauchi State counterparts.

By EricJames Ochigbo

Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello has advocated that the Federal Government should apply “local solutions’’ in tackling major national challenges, including insecurity and economic issues.

Bello gave the advice on Tuesday in Abuja when he received a delegation of Nollywood actors, who came to pledge their support to him in his plan to run for the nation’s presidency in 2023.

He said that his administration had been able to achieve success in every sector by applying “a mixture of local solutions, knowledge and human-based solutions to tackle challenges’’.

Bello said that his administration had taken cognizance of the fact what would endure was a knowledge-based economy rather than a resource-based economy.

He emphasised the need for Nigeria to develop human and knowledge-based resources, through inclusion of youths in governance.

The governor lauded Nollywood actors for their contributions in the creative industry, which he said, had increasingly contributed to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, employment, youth empowerment and showcasing Nigeria to the world.

“Let me appreciate all of you for the wonderful contributions and for presenting Nigeria to the world, showcasing our rich culture, our unity in diversity and all the good things about Nigeria and Africa.

“I appreciate you for identifying with me on our modest achievements in Kogi State.

“Kogi State, prior to Jan. 27, 2016 when I was sworn in as the fourth Executive Governor used to be a state that was divided among herself, a long ethnic line, religious line, class line and several other types of criminality used to be the order of the day.

“But by the special grace of God, by our leadership style and the touch of quality of the young men and women I was able to assemble, the reverse is the case today in Kogi State.

“Let me appreciate you for urging me to run for the position of president in 2023.

“Kogi State will soon be an oil producing state. It would be celebrated but oil has been the greatest undoing of Nigeria.

“What will last longer than our generation is knowledge-based economy, not resource-based economy.

“There are some of you that did not read arts at tertiary levels, just raw talents and you learnt on the job.

“That is why in Kogi State, we believe in our own local solutions to our own problems. We do not import solutions.

“If we say there is problem coming, we want to see it first, evaluate it, know how it would enter our own territory then apply our own solution to solve the problem.

“That is what we should apply to our problems in Nigeria.

“In Kogi State, we apply the mix of our local solutions and that is how we have solved our problems of insecurity. We have applied our own local solutions and we are developing our infrastructure.

“We have been able to discover that we have solid minerals and we are establishing a university, which is coming up this year. The university will be second to none in Nigeria. It is where we are going to develop our knowledge.

Bello said that another strategy the state had used was women inclusion in governance, explaining that women always played critical roles in peace building.

He also advised youths to key into the opportunities offered by the present administration, pleading with them to join the All Progressives Congress.

“We applied our local knowledge when a certain ailment came in and we simply said we did not want any alien to come in. We are living healthy, we are good.

“This is our leadership style, we are proactive. Can we replicate this in Nigeria, the answer is yes, is it possible, the answer is yes.

“If you are urging me to run for president in 2023, I will simply listen to you and I will throw it back to you because me as a person, I have contributed my own quota, I am still contributing my own quota.”

The leader of the delegation, Mr Seun Oloketuyi, commended Bello for his efforts in promoting youth inclusion in governance, saying that the inclusion was what the country needed.

Oloketuyi pledged the support of Nollywood to Bello in his bid to become president.

“Nollywood is the second largest employer of labour today in Nigeria. We believe that ahead of the 2023 elections, Nollywood has a great role to play as most of the actors have huge followers, making them influential in whatever they say.

“Going into 2023, Nollywood actors have said they will not just sit down and fold their hands; they will sensitize their followers on voting for a youth as president in the person of Gov. Yahaya Bello,” Oloketuyi said.

In his remarks, Dr Segun Okeowo, Director-General of the Best of Nollywood (BON) presented a notification of interest to Bello, seeking Kogi to host the 13th edition of the BON award in November this year.

By Edeki Igafe

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has promised that the storm drainage projects being executed by his adminstration in parts of Warri and Effurun will be ready next year.

Okowa made the promise on Monday while speaking to newsmen after inspecting the ongoing flood control projects in the two towns.

The governor was conducted round the projects by the Director-General of Warri-Uvwie and Environs Development Agency, Mr Ovuozourie Macaulay.

“Apparently we are several months behind,  they were supposed to be two years projects.

“I believe with the rate of work, we will not be able to keep to time but we will be able to finish the projects sometime in 2022,”  Okowa said.

He said the challenges posed by coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic slowed down the pace of work on the projects.

Okowa, however, pledge that his administration would scale up activities to enable the government to deliver them in 2022.

“Before we started these projects, I had already informed you that there are going to be four different storm drainage projects for us to fully drain Warri of the flood water.

“We have taken on the first two major projects, one in Warri South Local Government Area and the other in Uvwie Local Government Area. The other two are smaller drainage projects.

“We have gone to several points today and you have seen the two different contractors, CCECC Nigeria Limited and Levante Nigeria Limited.

“They have taken us through their various sites and the various works they are doing.

“It’s quite a lot of work and I have noticed that a lot of work has been done already and a lot more is going to be done.

“The contractors are on course and I am happy with the standard of work,’’ he said.

The governor, however, said that his administration would not pay compensation for buildings which would be pulled down because they were sited on the right-of-way and obstructing the drainage projects.