₦airaland Forum

A suicide bomber earlier today in Jos the Plateau state capital, blew himself up in a church, killing at least three.

The church attacked is the Church of Christ in Nigeria COCIN.

A photograph of a man believed to be the suicide bomber taken by an eyewitness.

Plateau State Governor, Chief Jonah Jang, worships at the Church, but he was not present this morning.

Jang was yet to get to the church, located close to the Central Bank of Nigeria building in Jos, at about 8am when the bomb went off.

Three persons have been confirmed dead in the attack, which was carried out by a man dressed in the uniform of the Nigerian Army, and reportedly drove a bomb laden car into the church.

The man was reported to have smashed the car in which he drove into the wall of the church, before the explosive device went off.

The Plateau State Commissioner for Information, who also worships in the church as a pastor, Abraham Yiljap, was reported wounded in the attack, which was carried out while the morning service was on.

As at press time, the police had cordoned off the area, with the Red Cross providing help to the injured. see link for more http://pointblanknews.com/new/exclusive/3740-boko-haram-kills-3-in-jos-church.html

To many people in Abia State, the health sector is one of the areas the administration of Governor Theodore Orji has scored high. They believe the administration has touched virtually all the sectors in the state but beyond that the health sector has been revolutionised
A top government official in Abia State spoke in tandem with the views expressed by the people. He said, “The state government, in line with Millennium Development Goals [MDGs], has built over 200 health centres across the 17 local government councils of the state.
Most of the health centres, which are mainly located in the rural areas, have been equipped, while some of them are being equipped. Health personnel have been posted to those already equipped.
Though they don’t have resident doctors, visiting doctors are sent there but qualified nurses are permanently there to attend to patients with the visiting doctors coming regularly”.
According to him, Orji recently directed the transition committee chairmen in the 17 local government areas to ensure that all the health centres that were ready have relevant health personnel. “The governor told them to inform the state government if those in their council areas lack personnel, especially nurses and visiting doctors.
He said the health centres were set up to ensure that health care services are within the reach of the rural masses who sometimes due to lack of health centres die or lose their children to minor illnesses that could be easily handled at the health centres,” the government official added.
The health revolution of the Orji administration also shows in the building of two world class diagnostic centres in Umuahia and Aba. The centres are run in partnership with Mecure, a first class Indian health institution.
The diagnostic centres, according to government sources, have been a huge success as ailments hitherto taken overseas are now diagnosed at the centres.
And as a result of the success recorded, the government has acquired more space at the Umuahia centre to set up a dialysis centre for patients with kidney problems.
According to the state health commissioner, Dr. Okechukwu Ogar, the governor has paid the counterpart funds that concern HIV/AIDS programme in the state.
health commissioner said that the state government “has given grants to the state ministry of health and other agencies that have health related matters on AIDS, to run an awareness programme and also funds other organizations to manage the AIDS programme at Owaza in Ukwa West council area”.
Ogar noted that Orji has given approval for the employment of about 11 consultants to man the health centres across the state, saying once they are employed, the health situation in the state will improve.
He said that when the consultants resume duties, they will bring their wealth of experience to bear on the health sector in the state and also help to train general practitioner doctors that will be working with them.
The wife of the governor, Mercy Odochi Orji, has also been playing some role in the Abia health sector with her active involvement in the sensitization and mobilization of the rural women in the various maternal and child immunization programmes.
In one of the immunization programmes, she indicated strong interest in the health of the rural women and their children because “as a mother, I know the pains associated with child delivery. I’m therefore committed to the success of this follow-up action to combat deaths associated with child delivery. It is a comprehensive package that cares for both pregnant women and under five children.”
She added: “Mothers need not die in childbirth. We must give our young women information and the support they need to control their reproductive health, help them during pregnancy and care for the new born in childhood”.
Less than one year into the governor’s second term, the performance of Abia in the health sector gives hope for many people that, before his second year runs out in 2015, the state must have been taken to the desired level of affordable health services in the rural areas.

Infrastructure: The springboard of investment by Gov. TA Orji.
Let me in quick succession; graciously acknowledge the torrents of solidarity and felicitations of good will that followed our recent outing during the yuletide season. I was particularly enthralled by those exhilarating feed backs and genuine feelings of camaraderie. In the light of that, and following from popular demands and suggestions, my humble pledge is that as often as time permits, we will interact through credible mediums such as this.
With that understanding, let me in today’s endeavour, acknowledge the incontrovertible place of infrastructure in driving investment. It is indeed the latitude that expands the breathing space of investment. Our desire to propagate this position stems from the gains of our avowal to create a convivial and enabling environment for investment.
At different interactions we have reiterated the position of our mandate as enunciated in our blue-print that government has no business being in business. The understandable reason is premised on the laissez affaire attitude prevalent in government establishments and which had adversely affected the growth of government enterprises. Besides, the private sector demand on government in terms of encouragement is of minimal effect. This is against the back-drop of their organizational ability, which has endowed them with undisputable capacity to galvanize and or institute huge and impact making sectors which over-time acquire lives of their own.
This submission synchronizes with the on-going national challenge of de-regulating the down-stream sector of our petroleum industry. As we recall the constancy of change, let us remember the nature of man in resisting change. But history is replete with emulative feedbacks of glad tidings that followed the triumph of positive changes. It is only what is given a chance that will drive through and affect lives positively. I would rather we buy into the desire for optimal funding of the federating states (one of the eventual gains of deregulation) and be encouraged if not compelled to provide platforms for healthy display of private sector skills, rather than subsidizing to keep duplicating the mega-fortunes of the players, most of whom as it where, have metamorphosed into dreaded principalities known as cabals. Our heightened age of reasoning and awareness has provided us with the capacity to design effective means of monitoring and evaluating performance vis-à -vis the value of monetary resources at the disposal of each state’s chief executive.
Our persuasion is that the long run effect will positively permeate every facet of our system, with the recipe to jump-start every latent and moribund institution, which, hitherto may have been screaming under the crushing grip of infrastructural black-out. The pledged palliatives will cushion what will be the short-lived biting effects and if amenities are provided for the encouragement and revival of ailing small and medium enterprises, the rate of joblessness and idleness will significantly crash.
I may not be a soothsayer, but let me prophetically posit that the eventual out-come of encouraging private refineries as is the case in other climes, is that it will one day usher us into the advertorial race of players, jostling to announce the cheapest price of petroleum motor spirit on electronic and print media and providing other value added services, with a view to attracting patronage as is presently the case with the tele-communication sector. Granted that past failures and large scale insincerity may have been the bane of successive government, we must admit and call to mind, the words of our late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo “the problem is not in never falling, but in rising each time we fall.” Every pit fall or mistake must be seen and used as a spring board for tomorrow’s mile-stones.
The fore-going, has largely and evidently inspired us to leave very bold-prints in the sands of time. The deliberate man-made studs which sought to maliciously and mischievously truncate our first tenure drive to access an interest free loan for purposes of accelerating our infrastructural provision, is today's stepping stone to success. We have graciously leaped forward in the Public-Private Sector synergy demonstrated by some remarkable and striking instances like the Abia State Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, located in Umuahia and Aba. The rapid nature of its expansion has given rise to the birth of Amachara annex also in the State Capital. With the essential and rare capacity to diagnose and treat delicate and sensitive health situations like heart, liver, eye and other allied cases, the specialist hospital was a break through that buoyed us to fast-track our working relationship with Millennium Development Goals, with over 210 health centres located in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
As our Nation grapples with prongs of security challenges, it evokes in Abia the memories of unsavoury experience which in the past menacingly starred us in the face. Social and economic activities took a flight, leaving animals and creeping things to in-habit the abode of men. But our implicit confidence in God produced the strategic formula which saw light overwhelming and triumphing over darkness. Comparatively, it was a child’s play to today’s catastrophic and cataclysmic upsurge occasioned by the ill-wind of Boko-Haram, which must be nipped in the bud for the Nigerian project to move forward.
It should not be a case of aligning with the centripetal government, only if the chief executive is of the same ethnic stock with us and failure which we un-leash all manner of may-hems in the polity. Peace and tranquility, as is the case in a secured environment, remains one of the global antidotes for attracting and embracing investments. The restoration of normalcy in Abia State has showered us with the favour of playing host to retinue of genuine investors, whose variety of wares will extensively deepen the concerted war against poverty.
Facilities for investment are like a tourist searching for a country with the best tourist attraction and we have God to extol for Abia’s receptive atmosphere which established the path-way for Juno-Hermes to berth in the state. The foreseeable success of that huge leap will usher Abia into the league of mass-employing cement producers. Our oil producing status, variously neglected and sidelined, is being enhanced and re-loaded.
Al-Kamali petroleum from far away Dubai will herald a major effort at the establishment of a refinery having accessed and endorsed the earmarked Owaza suitability. Same sense of serenity can also explain the coming on stream of the huge and massive workers secretariat, closely followed by the prestigious International Conference Centre due to seat over 3000 people. The workers secretariat will undoubtedly put paid to the perennial challenge inflicted by lack of office accommodation and increase government’s chances of converting several make-shift offices to better use. Our receptive atmosphere is being savoured by throngs of local and expatriate partners whose strategic input in our different development efforts will emphatically yield the expected results. Adequate security is indeed a strategic lee-way for investment, which cannot be overemphasized.
Each time I talk about light, it reminds me of the biblical emphasis: “and the light shinneth in darkness and darkness comprehendeth it not”. That Biblical analysis is a lucid and vivid illustration of the inexhaustible potentials inherent in the glowing of light. The redeemable case of Nigeria has been hampered by irregularities in policy formation and execution giving rise to age long decay of machineries. President Goodluck Jonathan is cleaning the Augean-stable which has contracted long and deep seated sludge. This effort will require the cooperation and understanding of all well-meaning Nigerians for light to become permanently lit in Nigeria. The on-going reform of government is an initiative rightly taken.
It has become a new vista which stake-holding investors are cashing in on to re-engineer the power sector. The merchandizing edge of Aba will further be explored as work is completed on the Independent Power Station at Alaoji. Motivated by the foresight of Geometric Power Company, it is one ground breaking initiative which small and medium scale enterprises in Aba cannot wait to consummate its reality. The strategic and indispensable role of power in driving the economy, has further convinced government to encourage investment in that regard which is why Mechanical Systems Limited is at the verge of activating the 132/133 KVA power station at Ohiya in Umuahia South Local Government Area. Electricity has been evacuated to relevant feeder stations awaiting the official commissioning of the power station. Hotels with a touch of class and star are dotting the landscape of Umuahia the capital territory ready to optimize their businesses as the 132/133 KVA Power Station goes full blast.
The first Abia State Economic and Investment Summit recommended the institution of a one-stop-shop. Its acceptance and adoption was done with military dispatch. This will insulate investors from the frustrating bottlenecks and red-tapisms prevalent in our systems and institutions.
We opened up access roads that were hitherto impassable and the cheering news is that those areas have been invaded by Private Sectors with the facility to develop properties for commercial purposes. Government is not relaxing in its oars in opening up more. Songhai Farms located in Okwoyi will largely benefit from the road, leading to that area, which is being asphalted. The new Umuahia modern market springing up in Ubani, will have several access roads leading to it, including the on-going Umueze-Emede road. Same genuine and concerted effort is being replicated in Aba to ensure drastic reduction in difficulties people encounter in going about their legitimate businesses. The on-going reconstruction of roads in Aba is massive and holistic. We are hoping that in a short while, completion of Aba-Port Harcourt road, Obohia-Ugwunagbo road and Railway axis of Aba–Owerri Road will be celebrated. This will stimulate the enterprising spirit of our people and make them more result oriented.
As I conclude this piece, may I assure our existing and upcoming development partners, that provision of infrastructural conveniences is our sacrosanct obligation, which we cannot shy away from.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief (Sir) Don Ubani, has reiterated the State Government’s commitment to turning the economic fortunes of the people of God’s Own State to a very high point of fascination. Chief Ubani gave the assurance in a press release he issued shortly after Governor T. A. Orji had paid inspection visits to project sites in Aba; the Commercial Centre of the State, where heavy Construction Works are going on concurrently, at the instance of the State Government. The Information boss stated that the magnitude of infrastructural work currently going on at Aba was a clear manifestation of the governor’s determination to give Abia an entirely new face. As Chief Ubani put it, for Governor T. A. Orji to have chosen 14th of February, which is a lovers’ day, to visit Aba, certainly means that Aba is, indeed, very dear to the State Government. Chief Ubani, who expressed maximum optimism that the numerous projects being handled in Aba by the State Government would be completed before the rain set in heavily, also reminded the people of Enyimba City to appreciate the simple fact that the development of any society is a collective responsibility between the Government and the governed. Hence it is important that residents of Aba should co-operate with the State Government by keeping the city clean and also paying their taxes, as stipulated by law.
link on the above website http://www.abiastate.gov.ng

Abia State Governor Chief T. A. Orji has embarked on a massive

construction of over fifteen buildings for some Ministries, Agencies,
Parastatals, Institutions of higher learning and some Federal
Government Agencies in the State, that will be commissioned soon.
In a press release by the Chief Press Secretary Ugochukwu Emezue, Abia
State helmsman embarked on these laudable projects to solve the
accommodation problems being encountered by staff of these Ministries
and Parastatals.
Mr. Emezue listed such building projects as Ministry of Justice office
blocks, the new High Court blocks in Umuahia and Aba comprising of
many court rooms and offices for the judges. According to Mr. Emezue,
the State Governor decided to intervene in the provision of befitting
office blocks for the Judges and court rooms, so as to enhance the
dispensation of justice in the State.
The Governor said that he is worried that Judges and Judiciary workers
do not have enough offices and court rooms to effectively carry out
their duties, Emezue added.
Speaking further, the Governor’s Spokesman disclosed that other
buildings under construction include a state of the art Dialysis
Centre at the Diagnostic Centre in Umuahia, School of Midwifery, and
residential accommodation for Doctors at the General Hospital
Amachara, as well as a new auditorium at the Abia State University
Teaching Hospital Aba.
Other projects Mr. Emezue mentioned are ASEPA building, new
Commissioners’ Quarters, NYSC building at Igbere, Broadcasting
Cooperation of Abia State office complex, International Conference
Centre, new Government House, Civil Service Secretariat and the
Planning Commission House.
The Chief Press Secretary stated that Chief T. A. Orji is now
inspecting these projects to see that they are completed on record
time.
Emezue hinted that some of these projects, especially the new Civil
Service Secretariat, BCA Office and the Dialysis Centre will be ready
in four months time, adding that the new Planning Commission House has
already been commissioned.

UGOCHUKWU EMEZUE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY

Abia State Governor has consoled the Acting Inspector General of
Police over the death of his wife.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ugochukwu Emezue, Chief
Orji described the death as painful. Chief Orji said that it is
disheartening that she died at a time the husband needed her motherly
care at the home front. Abia State Governor urged the Inspector
General of Police to bear the loss with fortitude.

In the same vein the Governor has condoled Hon. Emeka Stanley, former
House of Representative member on the death of the wife recently. The
Governor prayed God to continue to give Hon. Stanley the strength to
face this critical time in the family. He described death as an
inevitable end that every living being will experience one day.u can check www.abiastate.gov.ng

ABA—ABIA State government yesterday assured that it would complete the new Government House, international conference centre, secretariat, roads, and other projects already initiated by the present administration before its termination in 2015.
The government also promised to revive moribund industries to create jobs for teeming youths, as well as generate more revenue for its operations.
For more on this go to: http://thejuristlaws..com/