45
N igerian TrIbune ~day.
.
FG releases Vitamin Acassava to improve public health TI E Federal Governmcnl has an nounced the re lease OrUlree newvllamln
The new yellow varietIcs are also high yIelding and reslslanllo major dlseases and pests.
rlcUes has a lready started, bUI It will take some time before we have cno~gh quantities to gh'c
Nigeria. TIle yellow cassava Is already being multiplied through stem cutUngs. In
Ufted stcms are available. HaTYcslPius and Its partnelS will thcn dlstrtbule these to abOUI 25,000
A-rich 'yell ow' cassava vartelles that could pro-
"Demand for these va-
ouL said Paul Ilona. the for
2013, when sufficient eer-
(arming households in!-
vide more Vitamin A In the diets of more than 70 million Nigertans who eal cassava every day. The yellow colour (cassava 15 generally white) 18 due 10 Lhe higher vitamin A contenL
Vitamin A denclency (VAD)1s widely prevalent in sub·Saharan Afrtca. [t afflicts almost 20 per cent of pregnant women and about 30 per cent of chll· dren under-five in Nigeria VAD can lower Immu ' nlty and Impair vision. which can lead to blindness and even death. Chtldren a nd women will be the main benendaries of these new yellow varieties, which could provide up to 25 per cent of their dally vitamin A needs . Varlelles wlll1 enough vttamln A to pro· vide up to haJf of dally needs are already in the breeding pipeline and shou ld be: ready for r e lease in a few years. These new yellow vari· eUes were bred using traditional (non-transgenic) methods by the IntemalIonal insUtute of Tropical Agriculture IIITAI and t he Nlgcrlan Nationa l Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRII and were liked by farmers durtng neld lr1als. Cassava is an extremely adaptable crop: It is drought tolerant, re quires limited land preparation. and grows well In poor soils.
-Som e Odua People 's Cong ress (OPC) m e mbers In Lagos State d u ring a s o lidarity march from Ikorodu to th e National Stadi um, Surule ,.e, Lagos to ma,.k Odua day.They also ch a n ted war songs. warning m e mbers of th e Boko J-Iaram sect 10 d esis t f rom their d eslruc tl C)e ac ts.. Photo; Sylvester Oko l"UUIa
Police arrest 6 ope members in Lagos O l a i eka.o Olabuio, Lagos
pnnlses of the company. A pollee source In formed the NI erlan Tri. 9 bune tha I about 30 rully armed members of the grou p had a fewda sago stormed the p re m rses of CI SI W arion lIppi n g est Afrtca, Navy Town. Old OJo Road. "laklja. and sueceeded In forcefully evicti n g owners of the company and their staff. Preliminary tn vesugalions by the pollee reo vealed that the heaVily armed men were InVited by a directo r of the shlp-
TI
E police In Lagos Slate 'have a rrested SIX peop le, SUs" pected to be members of t h e O d ua People's Congress (OPCI for allegedly forcefully taking over a shipping company In Apapa a rea of the state. n,e police In Ihe state are also on the tra il of about 20 members of th e group, who escaped, afler a learn of anti-riot po. IIcemen stor med the
Oyo ACN group protests board appointment petitions chairman I
~e Ade kan.mbl
Ma
p within the /I.etlon Congress of NI fACN) from the Ogbomosho area of Oyo Stale. Action for Justice
appointments as the se.c:retal)' to ()rtj~ Local Government Area as well as being the kx:aJ govemment educal1onsecretaJyoftheCOWl-
ell. He descrtbed as unjust.
~~),~: c:;":;;"':.:;';~~; ~~~;~~~ Aderogba as a member of the Hospitals Management Board recently announced by the state government. The protest agaIns1 the nomlnatlonofAclerogba.according to the group's spokesperson. Mr &gun Obadara, was Informed by the fact tha t the nominee
InILlaUy pencilled tn roc the position. w ith that of Adc:rogba. Obadara sald a peUUOn had been sent to Governor Ab\olaAJlmobiandthestat.e chatrman of the party, Chkf Akin Oke againSt the normnauon of Aderogba. Ch ief Oke. who ts from
J oe Nw.c:.bukwu. Owerri
At the workshop en" titled 'Cha ll enges and managemen t o f cervical a n d breas t ca n cer." Iheanacho sa Id t h a t r e search had shown that the Incldence.of breast and cervical cancer was on the Increase kIll ing women . "Mosl emphasis I n health care pollees and Im plementation fo r the past yea r s, " he ex" p la lned -have. been roo cused on othe r areas like I-lI V I AIDS. m a larIa
Umt he had reoeM:d phone calls from those protesting against the board appolntment and assured them that their grouse would be looked Into.
ORMER. Minister of (nterlor, Cap tal n Emmanuel Iheanacho has sa.ld Ulat des pite the devastating nature of cancers in NIgerla, maJortty of these cancers eould be pre ve n ted and cured If de te<:ted on time. He made this s tatement at a iwo - day awa reness workshop for women In the 27 local govemmcnt areas In Imo Slate on DlOcsd ay
plngeompany who had a misunderstanding w ith
the management. The u n named dIrectOr was saId to be havtng an tssueWlth the compa ny. over unpaid debt. whiCh aceordl ng 10 him must be paid " by all mea ns~ A senior management staff of the company who pleaded anonymity: conressed to the police that the unnamed dl rector was octually being owed some amou n t of mo n ey by the company's management. He. however. added
Th I k I e mage rna e r n charge of the s ta te pollee command Samuel J d . r d h Ina u. con Irme t e a rrest and said that several live ammun ition. maehetes a.nd charms we re recovered from the suspec ts . In a related deve lopment. there was conruslon In Lagos on Thursday, as heavily a,.med members of the Odua Peop le's Congress IOPC}p rotested In some pans of the Slale. The OPC members.
' h" 'hOI II" ma n ag'· menl of th e company h ad al ready paid about 80 per cent of the money and was making p lans 10 make t he final 20 per cent. w h en the armed me n In vaded the pre mlses.
wh o wo<' carrying plae· ards with tlle Inscnptlon "NO TO BOKO HARAM IN LAGOS • created fears among many resldents of the state as they shot Into the air Intermltlenlly.
by the corps marshal of the FRSC, Mr Oslta Chldoka dunng the public demonstration of road c r as h manageme n t In vestigation techniques on Wed nesday In AbuJa. Chldoka said that this latest development was a step further to Ihe quest of FRSC to maintain an Occident free road In the nation. He said thai the rnsc could not tOIaBy control road acciden ts without Imbibi n g the curre n t technologies arou n d the world. The corps marsh al l'ur_ t her said that FRSC would adopt any new teeh noJ....gy In order to ac h ieve t h e three main alms of the corps which were reduction of road accident by 50 per cent by 2015 , make Nigeria n r oads t h e wo r ld safest road by 2020 and making
FRSC a world class organization . The new technOlOgy. according to him, Is used to monltor andHnvestlga te road accide n ts and
FRSC displays new technology to track traffic defaulters Clement Idoko a nd Colllo a Noab u U e T HE Fede r al Road Safe ty Co r ps (FRSC) has rearfinned Its commItment to reduce Ihe level of rood accidents by 50 per een t In Nlgerta by 20 15.
1fue~st~nce~canbepreVenTedl1)det~teii o~dUm~
F
NEWS Briefly
9 December, 2011
etc, while research has show n that breast , and ee r vlcal ca n cer a r e more killer t h a n J-I IV/AIDS and ma laria. ~ He urged t h e med l· cal doctors In t he country to do more on prevenllve mediC i ne lh an cu r ative of slck ness. Sa i d he ~so many state governors a r e Invesung more In preven· li ve medici n e beca u se p reven tion Is better lh an cure"
~~~m~a~~~~~I~~~e a~:~~ bers of vehicles. It will make U\ e FRSC to monlt or any traffic defauher down to the owner of the vehicle. Commenting on this technology, the Surveyor Gene r al of the Federa lion. Professor Pete r Nwllo thanked that FRSC fo r embracing this n ew technology. He said. re garding the recent InCidents ofbuUdlng eollapse especially In Lagos, hIs omce would adopt a similar technology which w1ll tell In advance the conditio n of buildings So that the InhabltanlS can be evacua ted before the collapse o f Ule building.
Da:oiyan's death . II. g r eat loss -
Mark
PRESIDENT' of the Senate, Senator David Mark, has descrlbcd the death of foml .!r NaUOnal Plan ning Minister, Chief Silas Oanl·(8n. as a great loss. In a condolence message to the people and gavemmem of Kegl Statc as wcU .-5 the lmmedlatc famUy of the deceased, Senato.-MMit saids \'8CUum had been ~ted In the poIiUcal Uld soclo -economlc lanilicape of the natlon_ Nark said 'Ch ief Dan t ,an's dr:a ti lls not only a l~; 10 the people of Kogi Stale but to all N1gertanS. In 111'1 lIfe time, hc made appn:clable impact politically and economIcally In the Uvcs of many Nlgertans. -Ie W'dS a communlly tide-. an astute poiHklan and patriot who promoted peacl'ful co-exls(cnce between and among ethnle and religIOuS groups". HI' added thaI late Danlyan would be remembered fOl' his upright poslUon and commitment toward:1 uplifting the Uves of the l(!ss priVilege In the sode1y adding that he promoted good nelghborllness whld. ensured peace and unity In the Slate and be-
'"""HI! urgl!d the family of late Canlyan to take solace In the .fact t hat he fDanlyan) IJved an evtnt~ ful lif( \\."Orthyof emulation. Ayodcle Adesanml Ahuja
Islamic hospital berths in lwo NOTABLE LsIamlc: do1cs. led
by
th ~
Presldent-Geneml..
Suj:re:nr: Co.lndl b' islamic
Affatrs (NSCIA) and the S ultan or Sokoto. AlhaJI MuhammadSa'3dAbubakar would converge on Iwo. headcuartr.rs or lwo Local Government area of Osun S tate on Sunday. for the b..nd!LW1Ia}'ir~ ccmtlIXl)' d a RLulU-mlilion naIra lrllcmatmallsbmlc 1-IaspitaL In a statement. jointly ~ by lite dlaln'nan 1\\"0 Muslim Community. Shdkh Alxhll Rasa1-: Abdlll Rahman
and the clulnnan. islamic tlospllalBu£dlng~
ADlaji Ya AIlahu Najirrdecn. the oo::asiaI wID also f~ N500 rnilID'L fund-rn~ rc.the hu'pltaI. ThL: Aare MusuJum i of Yorubaland. A1haJI Abdul~ Azeez Arisckola -AJao Is cxped<!d to rnsIde CMI' the oa::osOl while the E:u:cutt-.'C 5t:cttt;uy. MlJSilm Ummah d SoUU1·West of Nigeria (Ml5WENL Professor D.OS NellI wlll deli..,::r a ~ 10 mark the oo:1lSfon. The Inlernali:nallslamt: HospIr.al. \l,11Cl compleurl. is expect;x'\ topL"OVkkcp.13lltath'C health can= services for the teemlrLg t. hr.1im5 In 1....'0 ar:l tls mvrnns aa:ordir-g to the tenets. ethic; and vtrtues c:l Islam.