By Bukola Adewumi

The Managing Director of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA), Sen. Tijjani Kaura, has appealed to the host communities of investors operating in the nation’s free zones for peaceful coexistence.

Kaura made the appeal in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

According to the statement, Kaura paid a familiarisation tour to host communities in Ogu, Rivers, where his team was received by King Nicolas Nimenibo (Amanyanabo Of Ogu).

Kaura said the purpose of the visit was to accord respect and recognition to the highly regarded traditional institution in Ogu community.

He called for peace and security of business enterprises in the host communities.

He told the community how he took over leadership of the authority from his predecessor, Mr Umana Umana, with assurance to consolidate on the achievements of his predecessor.

He described the free zones as an initiative of the Federal Government which relaxes taxation for both foreign and domestic investors.

He assured them that OGFZA would work with the community to thrive; adding that it is strategic in economic and commercial activities to enjoy benefits of investments.

He further assured the management of the authority of his readiness to add value to business establishments in Ogu community.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng).

Fire

By Lucy Osuizigbo-Okechukwu

The Anambra State Fire Service on Sunday said it recorded and attended to 119 fire incidents across the state from January to December 2022.

Dr Martins Agbili, Director, State Fire Service, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka.

Agbili attributed the incessant fire outbreaks in the state to high level of unconsciousness in the handling of fires and other inflammable materials.

He lamented that valuables worth millions of naira were being lost daily to avoidable fire outbreaks.

According to him, the rate of fire incidents calls for concern, and as a responsible and responsive government that places safety of its citizenry at premium, efforts were being made to address the situation

”Fire outbreaks in the state have become a perennial problem. It leaves enormous material damages, injury to persons and disruption of economic and social life.

”Some of the fire cases are mostly caused by negligence on the part of those who use it, hence the need to prioritise the management and prevention of fires in our environment to avoid destruction of lives and properties, ” he said.

While calling for the support of residents, the fire chief promised that the firefighters would continue to intensify efforts to reduce fire outbreaks in the state.

“Everyone has a role to play in the mitigation of fire outbreaks. You need to adhere to fire safety rules to save your property, your life and the lives of people around you.

“Fire officials as first responders to emergencies and incident management have been empowered and equipped by Gov. Chukwuma Soludo’s administration to tackle any form of natural and man-made incident across the state,” he said.

He appealed to residents to utilise the emergency toll free lines to report any case of fire incident to avert loss of lives and properties. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Idris Abdulrahman

By Deborah Coker

No fewer than 4,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the IDP camp in Uhogua, near Benin, are said to have been re-united with their families.

Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, Coordinator of the camp, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Tuesday, in Abuja.

NAN reports that Folorunso on Tuesday received the Leadership Newspaper award as the “Social Impact Person of the Year 2022”

He however said there were still more than 3,000 IDPs in the camp, adding that they were those whose families were completely wiped out during insurgency and various crises in different parts of the country.

“But the population of the IDPs in our camp is not diminishing because of the crisis that escalated in different parts of the country,” he said.

He noted that it had been very challenging feeding the thousands of IDPs and even funding the education of more than 200 of them in tertiary institutions.

He explained that the motivation behind rendering and providing succour to the IDPs against all odds was because of his love for humanity.

“Another motivation is being your brothers’ keeper, joy and pleasure in seeing others out of pain, suffering and backwardness.

“We have about 200 of them in the universities now, and 14 of them are on scholarships.

“We have to be knocking on doors and talking to people to help out. We really need help, because we don’t want them to drop out of school.

“Because if such happens, our efforts would have been wasted. These children need their fees to be paid. They are brilliant children and very hopeful.

“This is the only way their future can be guaranteed,” he said.

Folorunsho said the award would however spur him to continue his good work in the lives of the IDPs.

He further said he was in Abuja to personally receive the award, so as to use it to highlight the plights of the IDPs.i

He appealed to appeal to the government, the private sector as well as individuals to come to the aid of the IDPs. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Ikuru Lizzy
The Obolo Youth Coalition (OYC) in Rivers has donated over 720 school furniture to primary schools in Andoni Local Government Area of the state.

The coalition, is a non-political pressure group in the area council in Rivers and Eastern Obolo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom.

A statement on Thursday by the group’s President, Mr Mkpon Ijonama, said this was to address infrastructure deficit in the 13 benefiting community schools.

He added that the gesture was financed by well-meaning members of the organisation.

“80 per cent of this donation was funded by the group’s president, while the remaining 20 per cent were collectively sponsored by few other well-meaning members,” Ijonama said.

The Youth leader however, urged the school and the community to make judicious use of the items, adding that the gesture would enhance academic performances for beneficiaries.

He also noted that the only way to end militancy, cultism and other social vices plaguing the area was to support education of youths and children.

“So far, 12 community schools in Andoni council area have benefited from the gesture – Ajakajak, Ataba, Asarama.

“Others are- Uyenada, Egendem, Oyorokotor, Muma, Ilomtobi, Agwut-Obolo, Ngo, Agana, Unyengala, Samanga community primary schools,” he said.

By Joy Mbachi
Chief Bonny Nkwuaku, President-General of Enugwu-Ukwu Community, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra, has called on traders in the community market “Nkwo Enugwu-Ukwu” to always use nose mask.

He advised the traders and other persons who engage in street markets in the community to regularly put on their nose mask while attending to customers to avoid COVID-19 infection.

Nkwuaku, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Awka, that the call became necessary to make people change their mind set on reality of the existence of the virus.

“We need to do a lot of sensitisation on the control of COVID-19 spread into communities.

“Market men and women deal with the public always, they could be a source of spread or control, so once they are aware of the dangers of defaulting COVID-19 precautionary measure, compliance level will be increased,” he said.

Nkwuaku said the call would also enlighten the people against being caught by the COVID-19 task force team who are determined to check COVID-19 spread in the society.

“These team has the responsibility of arresting COVID-19 precautionary rules defaulters who fails to wear nose mask, place buckets, soap and water at their business centres.

“It is expected that people who attend to public or access public space are to put on their nose mark and other precautionary measures,” he said.

Nkwuaku, said that people should see government directives as a means to get them protected from the second wave of COVID-19 which is said to be more deadly than the first wave.

He appealed to the community to avoid been a source to spreading the virus, urging them to partner with the state to control the spread and avoid being arrested and charged to court.

By Ibrahim Abdulazeez
Residents of Oke-Ogun area of Oyo state Tuesday commended Sen. Abdulfatah Buhari, representing Oyo North for the provision of 33 boreholes across the senatorial district.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that residents, had recently appealed to government at all levels to come to their aids to resolve the hardship of lack of water/

NAN report that Oke-Ogun compromise 10 out of the 11 council areas the Senator represents at the red chamber.

Speaking in separate Interviews with NAN on Tuesday, residents said the provision of the motorised boreholes would ease the hassles of water scarcity and make life easier for them.

Mrs Olaide Azeez, a community leader at the Barracks area of Iseyin, said she was happy with the intervention and offered prayers for the senator.

Another community leader at Isale Oro area of Saki, in Saki West council area, also expressed happiness over the gesture, and expressed optimism over the maintenance of the borehole in his community.

A middle-aged business man at Otu in Itesiwaju council, said the intervention was timely and long overdue, noting with gratitude that people of the area would be eternally grateful to the senator.

For Mr Bashir Lawal, a unionist, maintaining the boreholes dug across the zone should be of priority to different benefiting communities.

“It’s a good thing that the Senator has decided to use parts of our money to dig boreholes for us, that’s fine but we must now talk about maintaining them because this is not the first time, we are seeing such.

“There must be a deliberate and concentrated energy to ensure those boreholes keep working even after the lawmaker leaves office,” he said.