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AMAC chairmanship aspirant vows to boost agriculture,

By Taiwo Adeniyi

An All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant for the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) chairmanship position, Prince Tanko Abubakar said he would boost agriculture and eradicate political differences in the area council if elected council boss during the 2016 area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Tanko who described Abuja as an agrarian area said international organisations would be involved to reposition agriculture in the area council to ensure that it emerges as a major exporter of agricultural produce.

The Galadiman Karshi made this known on Wednesday while inaugurating wards coordinating committee for his campaign ahead of the area council polls.

He called for a political synergy where anybody in the area council would be able to aspire for any political position regardless of his or her political background, religion or ethnicity.

On the possibility of APC wrestling power from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said PDP has failed everybody and people are moving towards the APC now, “because they believe that it can actually impact change, not only in the area of leadership, but also the socio-economic perspective of the people of AMAC and by extension, the Nigerian society in general.”

Tanko however urged his campaign coordinators in all the 12 wards in AMAC to ensure that they work diligently for the course, adding that anybody found insincere would be shown the way out.

The campaign director, Halilu Kado, explained that the campaign would take off from the grassroots hence the inauguration of a five-man committee across the 12 wards in the area council.

He urged the coordinators not to see themselves as ‘alpha and omega’ but always take useful suggestions from members and see them as equals.

Police arrest 2 for stealing phones in Kubwa hospital

By Emma Elekwa

Two persons were arrested by the Police in Kubwa on Wednesday for allegedly stealing phones in the General hospital, Kubwa, a satellite town of the FCT.

The suspects, Adekunle Shola, 20, and Ayo Dele, 22, all of Sabon-gari village in Bwari Area Council were caught in the act around 12.00midnight by the security guard on night duty in one of the units of the hospital.

City News gathered that one of the suspects, who had worked at the canteen section of the hospital before he was disengaged, claimed to have visited the hospital with his accomplice to spend the night there.

The source said the suspect who had served jail terms for three times, was sighted by the security guard while collecting the phone of a patient who was fast asleep and immediately raised alarm which attracted other hospital personnel.

“They were immediately apprehended and handed over to the police who stormed the hospital, following a tip-off,” it added.

When contacted, the Kubwa Divisional Police Officer, Chief Superintendent Nurrudeen Sabo, confirmed the arrest, saying they would soon be charged to court.

Barwa land owners’ protest revocation of lands by FCDA

By Chidimma C. Okeke

Members of Barwa Land Owners Association in Abuja has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to restore their rights to their parcel of land earlier allocated to them at the Barwa lay out in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.

Chairman of the association Chief Tobias Obiechina made the appeal during a protest march embarked by members of the association in Abuja.

He said the group is planning a court action if the government does not urgently intervene to address their grievances.

Narrating the ordeal of the members of the association, Obiechina said they were never given advance notice of government intention to revoke the land, neither were they told in whose interest the revocation plan is meant to serve.

He further maintained that the land in question was duly acquired by members of the association after certification and recertification with AGIS and that they were shocked to see a new developer who forcefully entered the land and started pulling down their structures, adding that some of the members of the association have individually gone to court over the matter.

Don wants dilapidated public schools in FCT refurbished

By Abubakar Sadiq Isah

A University don in the faculty of Education, department of Arts and Social sciences at the University of Abuja, Dr. Usman Abdullahi Manu, has said the need by the federal government to accord priority in refurbishing all dilapidated public schools in the FCT and across other states of the country has become necessary.

Speaking during an interview with newsmen, Manu said there was also the need for the government to also update all outdated facilities in various public schools across the country, saying refurbishing and upgrading all facilities would put them at par with other tertiary/secondary institutions across the globe.

He also proposed the need for the federal government to increase lecturer’s salaries, which he said would motivate them in putting in their best to ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills.

“A situation where you design a system of education, it is basically the expectation one has for the country, as it is the backbone of development of any economy, ‘’ he said.

He said despite there are some qualified teachers in public schools; some of the schools are still facing challenges of lack of facilities, which he said have been affecting the teaching profession.

According to him, a situation where a teacher is well paid and motivated, such teacher would be bound to give the best to his students so that he compete with his colleagues in other institutions.