COMMUNITY NEWS
Lawmaker seeks help for 59 communities in Delta member or Ihe Delta Stale lIouse or AMem bly. representing Ndokwa Easl ConsUtuency, Mr friday Osanebl , al the weekend . appealed for the statc governlllent suppo'" for 59 communllies submerged by flood In his conSUtuency. The News Agen cy of Nig e ria ( NAIf) recalled Utat the Speaker or thc slate lIou5le Assembly, Mr VIctor Ochel. had last Tuesday In Asaba. di rected lawmakers 10 visit Uletr various conslltuendr'S 10 assess the disaster. Osanebl said lhat more than 200 houses were destroyed and 5leV+ crnl ramllles displaced by Area can be healthy. - he the nooc:L -'Apart from reslden added. Various cash girts and ual buildings. the nood oUlcr empowermenl mao also damaged the Customary Court building, terlals worth millIons of police staff quarlers and naira were also dlstrib- the. offiCial residence of uioo to boUI young Bml Ihe local governmcnt old. arUsans and other chairman. ~ he saki professionals to better lie Il5ted !.he commu' nlUes affected 10 Include Ulclr standard of living. Aboll, lhe council head-
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OPn" t h e h ospital
Ido IlG,boss inaugurates projects, distributes empowerment -_. - ---materials _) By SeT'! Ad eni,l
ICNITARlES, In el.Jlllng poliU el II s, mcmbers or lh.. O~o Statc lIoUR: or Afi!!emJlr. lradiUonal chlels. cu"~munJt, and youth Ica .11 rs, as well as rcsld"nl!! from different CO!nuunl to 3 In ldo Local ~nlm.nl ~ 0/"010 Stni( bescl ~ thc head quart.' nI 0 thc council lallt "'ccl( 10 rellcltal c WI:h Ute lee 11 gove:nullcnl cbalrna 1 Profcssor Menl.,1 01 Jworela. who nmrtt:d 01 .. yMlr In ol'lke.. ()1owofd 1. in celebraltng orc year in oflltt. used thc O"C851on to tnaugurate fome proJCC13 and 11l3trl')l lk:d empowermOl- rnalC11aIs to pcq;tlc In !be CO! II dl.
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Inuagura U )D, ProrC5.S(lr Olom.rcla hJgtlllghtcd the l'llrh us challenges and Betti•.,.;roen.ts of his admlnls l rlUo n In the last :)l1e \'r.U. A.; t'or jlng 10 him, sino: lhe creaUon of Ido Local Go\e 'moent oul of the old '\ llnyde Local Gov1:mlU l:1 tin 1989. Uu: prese llt I( mlnlsLraUon has been Ible to touch the Ihes ')( ~Ie In Ule CU Ullt' J1 1)f,sIUvely and belt' T th 11' Ule (lrmous arunln!5l.n1llons. Profec.s-)T Olowofelll c:xplalnet1 Ihal peoplc or the .:oun ·:l can now reel thc irrpal tJ ofhls adminIstn.Uol1 'ven down 10 the grll5Jloots, addJng Ulat Ido local Governmimi wa j presc.ntly thc largt!S1 prO'Iucc::r of cocoa In Oyo S lll e as Ulls WiB.S abo connrmed by lhe stale dluh Dan 0/" Cocoa Fanner A 'Socia lion or NIgcI1a (<-, AN). T'lC. Cfuncll chatrrnan UJ1V01:llcd ,., er N2 millton
worth of medical equlpIDent and pharmac::cuUcaJ pfoduo' lS ",hlch wcre lau dl5t.r1bulcd 10 van, ous heulth care centres In the local govemment area. While handling over Ule medIcal and hospital equipment 10 Dr Nathaniel Adcblsl Adenlyl, Ule Medical Offl(er of Health Cenlrcs In Ido Loca.l Governmcnt ru-ca. Professor Olowufda 58k1 health of hls people was paramounl to him and as such. "no amounl 01 money would be loo much to Invest all their
healthy IMug. - I would contlnuc to Invesl on both malenlal alld tnrant heallh care systems Not only that, much ,,"'Quid be given 10 promote primary healUl care syslI:m because people at the gT85STOOI.!i should be heallhy ror Ollr society 10 be good and healthy_ Therefore. I want everybody to make good use or these health care laclilUes and equlpmcnt so !.hal Ido Local Government
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- Lagos armers lermlne whcn to start prqxu1llg to harvesi Utelr crops. " Many fannCnl do not know when to StB rt prepartng rOf" 113.rves1. which 15 one the effecl.!i of delayed ha~lIng and consequenUy caUSing pest InrestaUon and d«aytng of Ule maize ' this 15 so, espedally dUring prolonged rai n s, while the crop 15 sUIl In Ule fann_ ' "Some maIZe vanetJes malure early and If al· lowed to stay 100 long. the
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La~os- Iyede.
The lawmaker also saki Um t tbe rood lending to the local govemment headquartenl was also cut off by Ule and t h at tllcrc were fcars or possible outbreak or an epidemic. Accor"tllng 10 him. hun ger Is already staring thc faces of Ule peopIc due to the large: numberorranns destroyed by Ule nood. Osaneb\, t hcrefore , called on the Federal GoY erllment and the Na 1I0nai Emergency Man agemc n t Agency (NEMAI 10 provide relld malenals and alternative accornmodalton for UlC. v1cUms. IIc comm~nded th~ sta le govenlDlenl ror sci· tlng up a commillee on flood disaster and the UmeJy Inlll;fVenUon lie a lso appealed to the vlcllms to rdoca Ie from Ule fluodc:d areas. assuring that UJ(: statc gov emment had begun the provtslol1 of relief materi · als 10 sonM: flood V1Cums
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Abatemi·Usman commiserates with flood victims
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ENATOR Nurudcen Abaleml · Usman. rcprese n tlng Kogi Central Senatorial Dts\J1ct, has expressed sympathy to UlCabou t 73, 000 people reported to have
Poor storage, bad roads threaten food security OME rarm ers In Lagos Stale have Idenuned lack or storage facllily and poor transportation 8S the major factors responsible forpost-harvesl105SCS In the naUOD's agrtCUllure sector. They said In Lagos at !.he wcekend t h ai OIC exI!!illng silos and oUlcr stornge racUlUes wcn: Inadequate to slore volumes of produce being harvested . TIley also complatned about poor road netwodul thai ha~ made II. dlfficu11 for the cvncuaUOn of produce rrom the rarms 10 the market. They , however. profered measures thaI could be taken against the post· harvest losses, noting Utat UK losses coukI be mcasured In qualitative and quantitative tenns Mr Ernest Owunna. a commercial maIu: fanner, said t h at post- harvcst losses had been taking a toU Oll the fanneB., conSllmenl and Ule nallon as a whole. l ie ob8erwd Ulill IimT11C1S 1:u::I been taking bm the appopiatc ~ bthe hanocst or ~ According 10 him. many rarmC:nI cannot de-
quarters. Benekuku. Ase. Asaba- Ase. Okpal and
h usks will open and ex· pose thc grains to truceUOns and raJrtwater "'When thLs happens. Ih~ maize become dlscoloured a nd rotte n " AnoUler majOr prot>Icrn ts poor stornge fndllty and condiUon. The basic storage principles should be adhered to after h arIIeSt. ~ OWUUB said. He said that t h ~ Terrath: a farms had taken some measures towards reducing post harvest losses th is year. " We planted 30 hectares of matte . The expeeled yield per hectare ts four lonnes, he said. R
been displaced by Ule recenl flood disaster across nine load govemmcnl areas of Kag! Stale and OUIers In othcr paTUI the country. III a statement signed by 1115 media asslstanl. Mk:hacl Jegede. Ule Senator asked UlC. federal Government to act prolO pUy on UIe demand or UIe Senau: ror a supplemcntacy budget 10 address Ute 1mmedlale needs rI U·106e afrecled by tile flood. "My lleartfclt SympaUlY goes 1.0 tile 73,000 people in KogI State and those In othcr parts of Nigeria saki. to have been displaced by nood. and of coume, the ramilies of thoBe who hafl! lost their Uves to the: calamity . PreSident Goodluck JonaJhall must. as a matter of urgcncy. respond 10 the tiemand of the Senate asking him to come up with a
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suplementary budget to assist Un: victims of the flood , wblch has brought unlold hardship LO the people affected.· AbalemlUsman saki. While COfIUilCtlllJng the govc:nlment d KogI Stale 8J-.J Uw:NatknlI EmcrgenI..-y Manugemcnt Agency tNEMAI I"ormaktngdb1s to provide rclk{ aunp!I lor the vtctlms. he mafnlabled thai the situation in Kog'I was beyond the stale govern· ntent and NEMA. He In slsled thaI Ule fo' ederaJ Covenunenl had 10 come in and provide the needed support. sayIng 11181 "the vlcUms must not be left tn the lurch. They muSI be made to have a fed government gesture at tim trytng []}()+ mcnt for all 0( them. We should at least let them know UaalOlq have a gm.. CTT1mcnl Umt ~ aboul tllclr p lJgttL
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Residents appeal to FG to repair Lagos-Badagry road
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residents and road USf!rs In Lagos Siale have called on the Federal Govemmenl to urgenUy repair Ute deplorable LagosBadagry Cltpussway. The residents saJd Ule condlUOn or Ule road was affecting their socIa.I and economic acllvitles. Mr Laide Osoba, MWIaging Director. Oxygen 02, anc.ntertatnmc.nt outnt located on Badagty Marina, said Ulf! condition of U1C road was ' lemble'.
'-It Is unfortunate Utal an Internallonal road, which links Nigeria wlUI other ECOWAS natlorul. h as ~en Bllowed 10 get bad to U1811evc1, ~ he sakI.. Mr Pa l rick Qroblalu. Chalnnan, Assuc.latlon or Nigerian Customs LI ccnse Agell13 IANCLAI, Semf! chapler, said the contllUon 0( th e road ~ affecti n g reven u e drive an d buslncss u-ansaclions. " Oue lO Ole sony stale of UIC road, truck drivers
in Seme border n:cenUy
wcnt on strtke for weeks belore Ih cy returncd to work after severnl appeal that someUling would be done,M he said. A dearing agent, Chkf Abel OgunblyL saki Ihut Ux: road wa:!I ~ revalue drM: and acttvIUc:s of b:'.a.I ~menl neptJvely. " The condilion of Ule road Is arrecung eco · nomic activities including tourism devdopment and general merch andiSing. ~ he sald_
ogunbly6 said thalOle bad condition or Ule road had led to loss of many lives. atldlng that govemmenl should Intervene immediately. Mrs Mary Joseph. a trndcr at Agbalata Markclln BadagJy, saJd UlBl UlC condmofl rllhc road was maktng business transacuon dlfDcult lOr hr:r mid othr:B. She urged the Federal Govern ment 10 repair Ule road to aJlevlatf! lbelr sufferings.