PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

JOS-ABUJA AIR SERVICES TO COMMENCE ON 28TH SEPTEMBER 2020.

Following the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Plateau State Government and Max Airlines, commercial flight operations between Jos and Abuja are to commence on Monday 28th September 2020.

The flights operated by Max Air are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

On the scheculed days, the flight will depart Abuja at 1520 (3:20pm) and arrive Jos at 1600 (4pm).

Same days, the flight departs Jos at 1645 (4:45pm) to arrive Abuja at 1725 (5:25pm).

By this development, interested passengers are encouraged to take advantage of the new opportunity for easier and faster connection between Plateau State, the Home of Peace and Tourism and Nigeria’s Capital, Abuja.

Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong will flag off the inaugural flight on Monday 28th September 2020 from Abuja to Jos.

In view of this, citizens of Plateau State, businessmen, tourists, Nigerians, foreigners and all members of the public are called upon to take advantage of this new opportunity to explore the wonderful economic and social opportunities in Plateau State.

For more details, please contact Max Airlines or download the app and book online.

Announcer:

Hon. Dan Manjang
Commissioner for Information and Communication, Plateau State.
22nd September 2020.

*@70 HEARTY CHEERS TO A MAN OF HONOR, HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF SONNI GWANLE TYODEN:*

Septuagenarians are many but distinguished ones are few!

Men are many upon the face of the earth but honorable ones are scarce.

It is therefore an honor and a blessing to know, to be acquainted with and be privileged to celebrate a dignified gentleman among men.

A maestro leader of inestimable value you are. I celebrate you uncommonly on your 70th birthday.

GOD has so chosen that you be lifted and exalted to such a high pedestal, and HE shall continue to sustain your shine among men.

On behalf of my family and I, we say Happy Birthday! Sir.

Lt. Col Samuel Gulong Fwanje(RTD)
Fss, Mss, Psc.
The Barden Mangu
Rimin Langai

70 HEARTY CHEERS TO HIS EXCELLENCY PROF SONNI TYODEN.

Seventy represents strength, a completion of the natural order. And anything above it signifies a strength higher than the natural order.

It is what your life symbolises all through; an accomplished academic of the highest standing, an astute university administrator, a consummate politician and a loyal cum outstanding Deputy of the Rescue mission ship.

Your meritorious service to the advancement of knowledge as a Professor and in contributing in the rescue mission for the betterment of the lives of the people of our dear state as the Deputy Governor is quite remarkable.

Happy birthday your excellency, wishing you more years and strength in the services for our dear state and the nation at large.

Rt. Hon Yusuf Adamu Gagdi
(Danmalikin kanam, Danmajen Jahr)
Member representing Pankshin, Kanke, kanam federal constituency and Chairman house committee on Navy.

PRESS STATEMENT

GOVERNOR LALONG CELEBRATES DEPUTY, PROF. TYODEN @ 70

Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong has rejoiced with his Deputy, Prof. Sonni Gwanle Tyoden as he marks his 70th birthday, describing him as an achiever and accomplished gentleman.

Governor Lalong in a congratulatory message said he was delighted to join family, friends and associates of the academic guru in celebrating his achievements over the years.

He said “without doubt, you have distinguished yourself as a Scholar of repute, University Administrator and Patriotic Politician who has exhibited high sense of diligence, loyalty and excellence in all your assignments. As Deputy Governor of Plateau State, you have not only worked hard for the upliftment of our people, but also contributed immensely to the success of the Rescue Administration by deploying your vast knowledge and wealth of experience”.

Governor Lalong also said Prof. Tyoden’s attributes of honesty, humility and selflessness are well acknowledged within and outside the country, and have endeared him to many who have benefited from his benevolence.

He said Plateau State will continue to benefit from his wealth of experience, wisdom and goodwill as it confronts development challenges particularly the corona virus pandemic.

Lalong prayed God to give the celebrant good health, divine protection and peace.

Dr. Makut Simon Macham
Director of Press & Public Affairs to the
Executive Governor, Plateau State.
22nd September 2020.

PRESS RELEASE

GOVERNOR LALONG URGES CITIZENS TO PLANT TREES

Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong has urged the citizens of Plateau State to embibe the culture of tree planting in order to address deforestation which has increased the challenges of climate change.

Governor Lalong said this when he flagged off tree planting initiative at Nigeria’s oldest golf club, the Rayfield Golf Club Jos organised by Green Renaissance Africa in collaboration with the Plateau State Government.

Lalong said he was happy to perform the tree planting excercise which is meant to replace all the trees felled in the cause of upgrading the Rayfield Golf Course.

He then directed that all students should be ready to plant a tree each when schools reopen in order to enhance environmental beauty of the State which is a natural attraction to people from within and outside the country.

Commissioner for Environment Hon. Yakubu Idi described the event as very important particularly because it reminds all that each tree cut down deserves to be replaced with at least three.

Director of Green Renaissance Africa, Amer Chami, explained that the target is to plant 250,000 trees and also encourage the culture of tree planting by Plateau citizens as a way balancing nature and human development.

In a remark, Captain of Rayfield Golf Club, Air Cmdr. Lazarus Mshelia said members of the club are very supportive of the exercise which helped in replacing 30 trees recently removed in the cause of improving the golf course with 960 new trees.

Dr. Makut Simon Macham
Director of Press & Public Affairs to the Governor of Plateau State.
20th September 2020.

CONDOLENCE MESSAGE FROM WASE EQUITY PROJECT ON THE DEATH OF HAJIA RAMATU ADAMU IDRIS(FIRST WIFE OF THE REKNA OF BASHAR)

21/9/2020

It is with profound grief and sadness that we received the news of the death of Hajia Ramatu Adamu Idris the first wife of the Rekna of Bashar,His Royal Highness Alhaji Adamu Idris which occurred today the 21st of September, 2020 in Bashar.

Hajia Ramatu who happened to be the mother of the district head of Bashar,His Highness, Alhaji Aliyu Adamu Idris was an icon of peace and a promoter of peaceful co existence in the chiefdom who contributed immensely to the success of our father the Rekna of Bashar in personal,family and governance matters with wisdom and foresight.

At this time of great pain and loss,we express our deepest condolences to the Rekna of Bashar,the Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, His Excellency, Rt. Hon Ahmed Idris Wase,the District head of Bashar,the Bashar Traditional council and the entire people of Bashar chiefdom.

Our thoughts and prayers also go to the family of the Rekna of Bashar. May Allah (SWT) grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.

Abubakar Muhammad Badu
Publicity Secretary

GAGDI COMMISERATE WITH THE DEPUTY SPEAKER; RT HON AHMED IDRIS MAJE, THE REKNA OF BASHAR AND THE BASHAR CHIEFDOM.

The member representing Pankshin, Kanke, Kanam federal constituency, Rt Hon Yusuf Adamu Gagdi received the sad news of the death of Haj Ramatu Adamu, wife to Rekna of Bashar, a mother to Hakimin Bashar and a step mother to the Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Ahmed Idris Wase.

The Honorable member extends his heartfelt condolences to the Rekna, the people of Bashar chiefdom, the Wase traditional council and to his elder brother, colleague and leader Rt. Hon Ahmed Idris Wase Deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

He prays for the peaceful repose of the soul of the departed in Jannatul Firdaus, and pray to God to comfort all the bereaved.

GAGDI MEDIA TEAM (GMT)

GOVERNOR LALONG BRIEFS CRITICAL STAKEHOLDERS ON COVID-19.

Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong continued his engagement with critical stakeholders to brief them on the fight against COVID-19 and the way forward.
He thanked them for their cooperation and support so far and also appealed to them to get more involved in addressing the challenges of the virus.
The Governor also used the opportunity to give them the economic, medical and social social response to the virus. Chairman of the State Economic Advisory Council, Ezekiel Gomos, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health Dr. Azzuwut, and Chairman of the Medical Research Committee Prof. Noel Wannang took turns to give highlights of the virus in their areas.
Below is the full text of the Governor’s speech at the event.
SPEECH BY THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF PLATEAU STATE, HIS EXCELLENCY, RT. HON. (DR) SIMON BAKO LALONG, KSGG AT THE COVID-19 ENGAGEMENT WITH CRITICAL STAKEHOLDERS HELD AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE, LITTLE RAYFIELD, JOS ON 21ST SEPTEMBER 2020.
PROTOCOLS

1. Again I have the honour and pleasure to address you as critical stakeholders on our efforts so far in addressing the corona virus pandemic which has affected our State in very many ways.
2. By now, you are very much aware of the impact of the pandemic on the nation in general and our State in particular. You will recall the various steps we took before and after the disease was imported into the State.
3. Before the advent of the disease in Plateau State, we took difficult decisions to ensure that we guard against the pandemic. We closed all schools; banned public gatherings, cultural festivals and anniversaries; closed markets; and restricted movement along our borders.
4. Having constituted the Plateau State Task Force on Covid-19 which is personally chaired by me, we established sub-committees that carried out surveillance, medical assessments, enforcement, as well as embarked massive pubic enlightenment.
5. In addition to establishing isolation and quarantine centres, we worked on preparing treatment facilities within the State. This led me to visit the Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos University Teaching Hospital and the Bingham University Teaching Hospital where I ordered the purchase ventilators, personal protective equipment and medications.
6. Perhaps the most difficult decision we had to undertake was declaring partial and total lockdowns on the entire State. This brought business activities to a halt and led to restrictions on the freedoms of our people in such a manner that has not been witnessed before. However, we could not abdicate our responsibility in the face of such painful decisions because of our oath to protect our people at all costs.
7. In the course of consultations, we enjoyed tremendous support and cooperation from our people particularly critical stakeholders like you which made things a bit easier. I want to again thank you and the entire people of Plateau for the support you have continued to render to Government.
8. Such action demonstrates the true Plateau spirit of THINK AND ACT PLATEAU which I have constantly emphasized. At challenging times such as this, we need to put our political, religious and ethnic differences aside to work for the good of our people. Let us continue to keep this spirit alive.
9. While this was going on, I leveraged on my engagements with the Federal Government as Member of the Nigerian Governors Forum and Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum to facilitate the establishment of three testing centres in Plateau State.
10. Today, we have testing centres at the NVRI Vom, Plateau Specialists Hospital and the Jos University Teaching Hospital. In addition, we have ordered for Mobile Testing Vans which have capacity to diagnose over 30 health conditions including Covid-19, HIV, Ebola, Hepatitis among others.
11. We have received commendation from the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 for our community testing strategy as well as our sensitization and mobilization strides. Plateau State is now rated third best in the country in terms of testing which has given us a fair picture of the pandemic in our State.
12. I am sure many of you are worried by the fact that Plateau State in recent times has become the epicentre for Covid-19 cases in the country based on data released by the NCDC. This is not surprising considering our testing capacity compared to many States who rarely feature on such chart, because they are nowhere near us in terms of testing.
13. Apart from free testing that we carry out, we have also been consistent in treating those infected with the disease free of charge. The Commissioner of Health who is the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on health will give further details on the statistics of the pandemic and how we are responding.
14. Suffice to say, the biggest challenge remains the lack of compliance to guidelines and protocols, denials and resistance to contact tracing and testing by some individuals. That is why we need the support and cooperation of critical stakeholders like you to overcome these challenges.
15. Your presence here today is therefore very crucial as we work together to take measures that will lead to greater sensitization and enforcement within your spheres of influence. We need to curtail further spread of the disease by engaging our people to take personal responsibility for their health and the health of others.
16. Many people are not using facemasks, nor washing their hands or maintaining social distancing. Indeed others carry on as if there is no Covid-19, despite the fact that we have recorded deaths that are associated with the disease. We need to engage our people more and let them know that this pandemic may stay with us for a longer time.
17. In terms of financial commitment, the State Government has so far committed about N366.5 million naira to the fight against Covid-19. Additionally, we launched the Plateau State Covid-19 Endowment Fund which saw good spirited individuals and corporate organisations making donations.
18. We are grateful to kind hearted people including many of you that contributed about N123. 3 million naira as well as other food and medical items valued at about N155 million naira. We similarly appreciate the World Health Organisation that recently donated N100 million to the State Government which has greatly helped us to treat those infected by the virus.
19. Such donations also enhanced our capacity to distribute palliatives to the weak and vulnerable to cushion the impact of the pandemic. The distributions have been handled in the most transparent manner under the supervision of His Excellency, the Deputy Governor, Prof. Sonni Tyoden.
20. The Government also received donations by the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) comprising of Maize Flour, Pasta, Noodles, Sugar, Salt, and Semolina worth about N850 million naira for distribution to 39,993 households across the 17 local Governments. We are still expecting rice consignment from the CACOVID donation which will be distributed to the beneficiaries.
21. In order to reopen schools, we have set up a Committee headed by the Secretary to the Government of the State, Prof. Danladi Atu, with sub-committees on Readiness and Compliance headed by the Commissioner for Secondary Education and Chairman, SUBEB respectively.
22. We have also trained teachers and Principals, dis-infected schools, and established task teams towards ensuring that all laid down protocols are observed. Once we finish with exit classes, we shall gradually cascade to other classes within secondary and primary levels.
23. When the Presidential Task Force team inspected compliance to Covid-19 protocols during the just concluded WAEC examinations, Plateau State was rated first in the North Central Region. We hope to build on such record until we reopen tertiary institutions and indeed all our schools by the end of October if all things fall into place.
24. As the world continues to search for cure to corona virus, my administration has taken into cognizance of the natural endowment of Plateau State in terms of herbs and medicinal components. This is why I constituted the Plateau Research Committee on Covid-19 to come up with a cure to the pandemic and other related ailments using local remedies. Chairman of the Committee Prof. Noel Wannang will give you an update on the progress of their research.
25. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the global economy is in bad shape because of the corona virus pandemic. Our State is not immune as it has been seriously impacted. Nevertheless, we are taking various measures to ensure we mitigate such impact.
26. Among other things, we recently reviewed the approved 2020 budget and also initiated efforts to look inwards for revenue and diversification. The Chairman of the State Economic Advisory Council will also brief you on the measures we are taking so far.
27. I am also looking forward to receiving feedback from you on what you think we can do better to salvage our State from the threat of this pandemic. We are facing a difficult challenge that requires us to all work together in the interest of our people.
28. As Governor, I want to re-assure you and the entire people of Plateau State of the commitment of my administration to not only work towards overcoming this disease, but also ensure that our State makes progress. I am in constant touch with the Federal Government, the private sector and international partners to ensure that our State receives the attention it deserves.
29. Once again, I welcome you to this interaction and urge you to continue to play your part as we work to defeat this pandemic and move our State forward.
30. Thank you for listening. God bless Plateau State and our country Nigeria.
    Rt. Hon. (Dr) Simon Bako Lalong, KSGG
    Executive Governor of Plateau State.
    21st September 2020.
    📸📸📸 Josiah Jenvulu

PRESS STATEMENT

NORTHERN GOVERNORS MOURN LATE EMIR OF ZAUZAU.

The Northern Governors Forum says it is saddened by the death of the Emir of Zauzzau Alhaji (Dr) Shehu Idris who passed on at the age of 84.

Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Plateau State Simon Bako Lalong in a condolence message described the death of the royal father as a big loss to the people of Zauzzau Emirate, Kaduna State and the nation at large.

Lalong said “the late Emir lived a very productive life and represented the virtues of truth, service and honesty in his 45 years on the throne. His leadership and goodwill attracted enormous development to the Emirate and also improved the living standards of his people. He connected easily with people from all parts of the country and offered wise counsel to Governments at all levels. He will surely be missed”.
Lalong also said the Northern Governors Forum benefited from the deep reservour of knowledge of the late royal father who consistently promoted the unity, peace and security of the region and the nation as whole.

The Northern Governors commiserated with his family, Zauzzau Emirate Council, as well as the Government and people of Kaduna State and prayed God to grant him eternal rest.

Dr. Makut Simon Macham
Director of Press &Public Affairs to the Governor of Plateau State & Chairman, Northern Governors Forum.
20th September 2020.

Federal Government, on Friday, cautioned the United States and the United Kingdom on the statements they issued on the governorship elections holding in Edo State on Saturday (today) and Ondo State on October 10.

The FG also expressed concern over the visa restrictions imposed by the US on unnamed politicians for alleged involvement in electoral violence during the Kogi and Bayelsa states governorship polls.


Both US and the UK had vowed to sanction anyone who perpetrated violence during the Edo and Ondo elections, including imposing visa restrictions and blocking them from accessing their assets and prosecuting them under international law.

But reacting to the comments by the two western allies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said it had taken note of their concerns regarding the elections in Edo and Ondo.

It explained that President Muhammadu Buhari has continually urged all parties and contestants to peacefully conduct themselves before, during, and after the elections.

The statement signed by the Ministry’s spokesman, Ferdinand Nwonye, added that Buhari also supported patriotic non-governmental initiatives such as the General Abdusalami Abubakar Peace Committee.

It further explained that there were ample provisions in the nation’s laws to sanction violators and perpetrators of electoral violence and fraud.

But it admonished the UK and US to cooperate with the relevant agencies by providing them concrete evidence of observed misconduct “to allow our laws and regulations to take their course.”

The statement further said, “It would be considered disrespectful of the sovereignty of Nigeria for any outside authority to sit in judgment over the conduct of our citizens and apply punitive measures such as visa restriction, unilaterally.”

The FG further highlighted that the responsibility for the conduct of elections in Nigeria solely resides with the Independent National Electoral Commission and State Independent Electoral Commissions.

It added, “The Federal Government, and especially the President, is committed to providing all necessary logistic, financial, and security support to the electoral process.

“While we appreciate the support and encouragement of our international partners such as the European Union, we urge our equally valued partners such as the UK and US to cooperate with our relevant agencies by providing them whatever concrete evidence of observed misconduct to allow our laws and regulations to take their course.”

The government also expressed solidarity with the American government and people as regards their forthcoming presidential election “which we hope will be free from interference and violence.”