No Epidemic in Kwara, Govt insists

The Kwara State Government has insisted that there is no any outbreak of epidemic in the state, describing a media report on the alleged strange illness  in Oro-Ago area of Ifelodun Local Government area as a mere rumour.

The State Commissioner for Health, Alh. Sulayman Alege said in an interview today that no iota of truth in the newspaper report.

Alh. Alege said the Ministry had however deployed the State Epidemiological Team to the area for assessment and the team's preliminary report confirmed that there was no outbreak of any disease in the community.

According to him, report of samples taken from the community with the support of World Health Organisation (WHO) is still being expected from the Virology Centre in Lagos.

The Commissioner said the Epidemiological team is still on ground in the community for continuous surveillance in line with the directive of the State's Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed.

He explained that the Ministry has one of the best response teams in the country to handle epidemic, saying that there is Health Information Officer in all local government areas of the state.

"Let me make this clear, there are procedures to report outbreak of diseases if at all there is any and not on the pages of newspapers. You will recall that when there was an outbreak of cholera in parts of Ilorin, we took necessary actions, our Epidemiological Team swung into action and it was immediately contained."

Alh. Alege added that more health workers from the State Ministry of Health and General Hospital, Offa would be deployed to health facilities in Oro-Ago and Ajase-ipo to fortify the area.

Kwara partners banks on agriculture

Kwara state government has secured another investment in agriculture to the state as part of efforts to turn the state to agricultural hub in the North central part of the country and provide sustainable employment for the youths. 

The Managing Director, Quinn Mc Grath Nig. Ltd, Mr Didi Ndiomu during a courtesy call to the state governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed, disclosed that the company in conjunction with the Bank of Industry will be investing in a 120,000 tonnes per annum feedmill in the state. 

According to Mr Ndiomu, the company has acquired 1,800 hectares of land for farming in Malete, Moro local government area of the state and another 900 hectares for animal husbandry in which they hope to generate a minimum 700 direct jobs. 

Similarly, the Executive Director (Finance) Bank of Agriculture, Prince Niyi Akenzua who called on the state Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed, requested for collaboration with the state government in agriculture stating that kwara state has taken a major leap in commercial agriculture in the country, especially with the Shonga farms initiative.

According to Prince Niyi, Bank of Agriculture intends to fund purchase of tractors to increase yield of farmers thereby expanding rural farming and helping to diversify the economy.

The Executive Director acknowledged the state government's existing structures in agriculture, which according to him does not exist in many parts of the country. 

Responding, Governor Ahmed said agriculture is a major programme adopted by the state government, especially by the previous and current administrations in the state. 

The Governor disclosed that the off-taker demand driven scheme in the state was designed to make the youths key into agriculture as a busuness. "We partner with prospective anchor farmers to move farming in the state to the much desired level", Gov Ahmed said.

He said the state is fully engaged in the production of rice, maize and cassava with successful poultry farms saying youths of the state are willing and ready to go with the agricultural revolution of the government.

The Governor called on the Bank of Agriculture to play a helping hand in the issue of anchor grower scheme in order to upscale and ensure full implementation as a way of ensuring that farmers would not get discourage whenever there is glut in the market.

2017: Kwara budgets N16m for fistula repairs

Plans are underway to increase fistula budget line in the Kwara State 2017 supplementary budget.

The State Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Sulayman Alege announced this at Sobi Specialist Hospital, Ilorin during the formal opening of free fistula repairs organised by the Kwara State Government in conjunction with the USAID Fistula Care Plus Project.

Alhaji Alege who said the sum of N10m was budgeted for fistula repairs in the 2016 budget promised that the government had increased the budget line to N16m.

He sought the support of Engender Health Fistula Care Plus Project for the establishment of Fistula Centre in Ilorin with a view to serving as service centre for fistula cases in the North Central geo-political zone.

Alhaji Alege said Kwara as a gateway between the North and South would is at vantage position to handle fistula repairs in the region.

The Commissioner added that the state is ready to partner with relevant Non-Governmental Organisations in improving the health care delivery of the people.

In his remarks, the State Commissioner for Planning and Economic Development, Alhaji Wasiu Odewale said the state is in the process of reviewing the 2017 appropriation Law and promised further support to the health sector.

Alhaji Odewale assured that the ongoing Supplementary budget process would favour increased in budget line for fistula repairs.

Also speaking, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Ayinke Saka represented by Hajia Aminah Yahya described the fistula repair exercise as women project, saying that women lost dignity as result of stigma against fistula clients.

She enjoined women to attend antenatal care regularly and deliver under the supervision of skilled birth attendants to avoid coming down with fistula.

Earlier in his remarks, the Country Project Manager, Engender Health Fistula Care Plus Project, Chief Iyeme Efem explained that the pooled effort was organised to assist fistula clients in living normal lives.

Chief Efem said the Project is supporting a number of hospitals across the country in organising pooled fistula repairs and called for routine repairs to reduce backlog of fistula cases.

The Chief Medical Director of Sobi Specialist Hospital, Doctor Musa Sanni said the Hospital had managed two hundred fistula cases since the intervention begun in 2011 with the clients from rural communities and neighbouring states of Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, Kogi and Lagos.

Fish out attackers of EFCC headquarters, MURIC

PRESS RELEASE:

FISH OUT ATTACKERS OF EFCC HEADQUARTERS 

Daredevil gunmen have shot into thepremises of the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) located at Wuse Zone 7, Abuja. The incident occurred yesterday, Wednesday 16^th August, 2017 around 5 am. 

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)strongly denounces this attack. It is not only cowardly but also devilish. Thisattack is an open challenge to the Nigerian security agencies.

Even a kindergarten kid can easilyguess those behind the attack. Desperate attempts have been made to get the EFCC boss out of the anti-graft body. These attempts included subterfuge, blackmail and harassment but they all failed to yield the required result. Yesterday’s attack shows that looters of the Nigerian treasury are tired of using a willing National Assembly (NASS) to achieve its diabolical objective. This explains their resort to armed confrontation.

Though disheartening, the invasion of EFCC headquarters has opened another phase in the war against corruption. It has revealed very clearly that looters will stop at nothing to frustrate the ongoing anti-graft war. They are ready to shed blood.

 
MURIC calls for a strong response tothis cowardly act. All arms of the Nigerian security agencies have a duty to unveil the identity of the hoodlums and their sponsors. EFCC headquarters and other offices must be well fortified from now on with quick-response squads on permanent standby.

 
We charge Nigerians to renew theircommitment to the war against corruption. This is a war between light and darkness, a struggle between truth and falsehood, a tussle between good and evil. There must be no retreat, no surrender. We must not allow agents ofdarkness to overwhelm EFCC. It is about our future and the destiny ofgenerations yet unborn.

To this end, we commend the resilience, steadfastness and outstanding courage of the duo of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. In particular, we appreciatetheir refusal to succumb to undue pressure from the NASS, their iron-castpolitical will to prosecute the war against corruption, their personalsacrifices and their commitment to prudence.

 
As we round up, we urge the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Director General of the Department of State Security (DSS) to rise to the occasion, accept the challenge thrown by the attackers and bring them to book within a reasonable time.

 
The personal safety of EFCC operatives must be guaranteed and this is the responsibility of our security agencies. Only thus can they be able to concentrate on their specialassignments. Only thus can confidence be restored in the ability of the FederalGovernment to effectively prosecute the war against corruption.
 

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
President, 
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

Workers Day: Ajibade expresses dismay over the plights of workers

A legal practitioner, Barrister Hassan Ajibade has called on Nigerian leaders to show serious concern to the plights of workers by raising their standard of living.

Barrister Ajibade made the call today in Saki, Oyo State in a statement to commemorate the twenty-sixteen world workers day.

The legal practitioner who shared in the pains of an average Nigerian workers said there was nothing to show for their dutiful and dedicated service to the country.

He called on labour leaders to guard against undue infiltration of its ranks by selfish and heartless leaders for the general good and wellbeing of members.

Barrister Ajibade urged workers to remain committed and dedicated to service of the fatherland despite various challenges.

Medical students to spend seven years, not 11 – NUC

The National Universities Commission has described as erroneous and misleading the news making the round that Nigerian medical students will now spend 11 years to obtain their first degree.

The NUC’s Head, Information Department, Mrs. Adebukola Olatunji, said in a statement on Monday that medical students will only spend seven years in school, rather than 11 years which was widely reported in the news.

Olatunji said newsmen misrepresented the NUC’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie, who was quoted to have announced the 11-year training period for medical students while giving the keynote address at the matriculation and inauguration of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, on March 12, 2016.

She said nowhere in the keynote address, entitled, “Development of Medical Education in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges,” was 11 years mentioned or implied.

According to Olatunji, what Okojie explained was that the NUC’s basic minimum academic standard for Medicine and Surgery had been reviewed such that anyone wishing to study Medicine and Surgery and Dentistry will first have to study any of the four-year basic medical science courses, such as Anatomy, Medical Biochemistry and Physiology, before proceeding to the clinical training that would run for three years.

She said, “Although, the so-called ‘11-year Medical Programme’ stories have been credited to the Commission’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie’s keynote address, titled, ‘Development of Medical Education in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges’, which was delivered at the Matriculation and Inauguration of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, on Saturday, March 12, 2016, nowhere in that lecture was 11 years mentioned or implied.

“Prof. Okojie, who was represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary l, Prof. Chiedu Mafiana, had explained that the new curriculum provides for a seamless seven-year programme.

“With the new curriculum, a medical student would be expected to graduate in Basic Medical Sciences, with options in Anatomy, Medical Biochemistry and Physiology in the first four years, before proceeding for the clinical training that would run for three years.”

Culled: The Punch

Medical students to spend seven years, not 11 – NUC

The National Universities Commission has described as erroneous and misleading the news making the round that Nigerian medical students will now spend 11 years to obtain their first degree.

The NUC’s Head, Information Department, Mrs. Adebukola Olatunji, said in a statement on Monday that medical students will only spend seven years in school, rather than 11 years which was widely reported in the news.

Olatunji said newsmen misrepresented the NUC’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie, who was quoted to have announced the 11-year training period for medical students while giving the keynote address at the matriculation and inauguration of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, on March 12, 2016.

She said nowhere in the keynote address, entitled, “Development of Medical Education in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges,” was 11 years mentioned or implied.

According to Olatunji, what Okojie explained was that the NUC’s basic minimum academic standard for Medicine and Surgery had been reviewed such that anyone wishing to study Medicine and Surgery and Dentistry will first have to study any of the four-year basic medical science courses, such as Anatomy, Medical Biochemistry and Physiology, before proceeding to the clinical training that would run for three years.

She said, “Although, the so-called ‘11-year Medical Programme’ stories have been credited to the Commission’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie’s keynote address, titled, ‘Development of Medical Education in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges’, which was delivered at the Matriculation and Inauguration of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, on Saturday, March 12, 2016, nowhere in that lecture was 11 years mentioned or implied.

“Prof. Okojie, who was represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary l, Prof. Chiedu Mafiana, had explained that the new curriculum provides for a seamless seven-year programme.

“With the new curriculum, a medical student would be expected to graduate in Basic Medical Sciences, with options in Anatomy, Medical Biochemistry and Physiology in the first four years, before proceeding for the clinical training that would run for three years.”

Culled: The Punch