PORT HARCOURT— TOXICOLOGISTS have advised residents of oil-bearing communities in the Niger-Delta to live with caution to ward off strange deaths and sicknesses caused by dangerous toxins deposited in their environment by oil companies in the course of oil exploration activities. Some of the toxicologists, who spoke to Niger-Delta Voice at the 4th International Conference of the West African Society of Toxicology, said many Niger Delta communities were prone to unsafe toxins.

IKOT EKWERE ITAM—THE people of Ikot Ekwere Itam, an agrarian and business community in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa-Ibom State have cried out over the lack of access road and appalling road network in the community. Community leader, Chief Enang Udo, who spoke with the Niger Delta Voice, lamented that during the rains, the community was always waterlogged, thereby impairing mobility.

IKOT EDEM UDO—THE people of Ikot Edem Odo community, comprising 11 villages in Akpabuyo Local Government Area, Cross River State, routinely cut off from other parts of the state by flood and bad road, during the rainy season, are sad that Governor Liyel Imoke failed to construct a link road to the agricultural area, a month to his exit from power.

EDEM EKPAT— RESIDENTS of Edem Ekpat, Etinan Local Government Area, Akwa-Ibom State are at daggers drawn with E. T. Dicks Construction Company, the firm handling the Ikot Akpabio-Edem Ekpat/Ndon Eyo-Oniong Road projects in the state over alleged destruction of their property and contamination of their only source of drinking water.

In the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, (UTME) brochure, candidates seeking admission into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions are listed under the following categories: University, Polytechnic/Monotechnic, College of Education (CoE) and Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs). Innovation Enterprise Institutions are institutions approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria to provide a veritable alternative route to higher education.

Igbinedion University illustrates the long and difficult road to travel by proprietors of new private universities. It was one of the first three private universities to be approved in 1999. The other two being Babcock University, Ilishan which received 2,139 applications and Madonna University, Okija, to which 1,021 applied. Thus, almost 15 years after opening its doors, Igbinedion is still struggling to fill its classrooms.

NIGERIAN youths have been called upon to make a positive change that would reflect on the country’s fortune and be ready to wrestle power from the aged so as to make the country a better place.

COMMISSIONER of Works and Infrastructure, Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, has stated that the massive construction projects going on in Lagos State University (LASU) will not only change the architectural landscape of the institution but boost learning.

THE administrator, Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Yaba, Lagos, Sister Patricia Oguejiofor, has stated that for anyone to achieve personal fulfillment in his aspirations, attitude must be brought to the fore. Speaking at the 46th prize-giving day

The Nigerian Institute of Architects, NIA, has embarked on tree planting nationwide. The Institute’s target is to plant a minimum of one million trees in the next ten years.

Chemistry and waste management are crucial in the development of small and medium enterprises. This view was canvassed by environmentalists who spoke at the just concluded 5th Mandatory Continuing Professional Development, MCPD workshop organised by the Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria, ICCON. The experts submitted that chemistry and waste management will boost the development of SMEs if well managed.

Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Kogi State University Chapter, Sylvester Osakwe Ukwuteno, has said that the ongoing strike by the union will continue because the Federal Government has not strengthened its vision for the sector.

A Kaduna-based environmental legal consultant, Mr Caleb Mutfwang, has ranked Nigeria high in the implementation of environmental multilateral agreements signed by the country.

Kogi State has signed a memorandum of understanding MoU, with the United Nations Human Settlement Programme, UN-Habitat for the development of a city structure plane for selected cities and towns in Kogi state.

The Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA has unveiled plans to construct 20 Transfer Loading Stations, TLS to serve 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas across the state.