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Tag: Ahmadu Bello University

  • All hail the best

    All hail the best

    For deploying their innovative ideas in solving the challenges of Baggega community in Zamfara State, some students of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria, Kaduna State, have won the first prize at the just-concluded ENACTUS National Competition. The team will represent Nigeria at the ENACTUS global challenge holding in London in September. WALE AJETUNMOBI reports.

    Feeling from the devastating effect of lead poisoning, which killed no fewer than 1,500 people in 2009, Baggega community, a village in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State, struggled to hold itself together after the environmental disaster. The means of livelihood in the community – farming – was destroyed, posing a great risk of food insecurity to the community and rendering many of the villagers impoverished because they could not go to farm.

    Access to potable water also became a challenge for members of the agrarian community with a population of 7,535, due to the contamination of the community stream.  These problems lingered until last year when succour came to the villagers through innovative ideas of a group of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) students, who moved to the village to help residents solve the challenge.

    To tackle the community’s water challenge, the students, who are members of the ABU chapter of Entrepreneurial Action In Us (ENACTUS), fabricated a bio-filter devices that can purify contaminated water for domestic consumption.

    The device is fitted with an overhead tank in which contaminated water is pumped, using mechanical pumps. The water is made to pass through filtration sand, which forms the bio-layer in the tank. The bio-layer removes pathogens and dissolved contaminants in the water. The device has gravel zone, which helps to hold the filtration sand in place and allows adsorption process to take place.

    Before the technology was commercialised, the students tested the efficiency of the device by passing a sample of contaminated water for a continuous flow in the system for 15 days. The lead concentration in the water was reduced from an alarming strength of 0.164mg/L to 0.0061mg/l, meeting up with the standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

    The students trained seven youths in the community on how to build the device at low cost of N1,450. The device sells for N2,500, yielding a profit of N1,050 per product and it can last for three years.

    To tackle the food insecurity facing the Baggega community, the ENACTUS team partnered with National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and United for Climate Change to set up aqua-fresh integrated farm, which comprises a weather-friendly materials, and an aquaponics system, which grows vegetables and fish.

    The innovation allows ammonia solution to recycle from the fish tank to growing pods, where plants are grown using a pump and a piping system. The pods convert excess ammonia into useful nitrates by bacterial action. The nitrate solution is absorbed by coconut fibers, which comes in direct contact with the plant roots, giving the plants nutritional value. The recycled water flows back into the fish tank and the process repeats itself continuously.

    Given the impact made by these two innovative projects, the ABU students won the first prize at the three-day ENACTUS National Challenge held at Civic Centre on Victoria Island, Lagos. With the feat, the ABU team earned a ticket to represent Nigeria at the ENACTUS World Cup Challenge holding in London, the United Kingdom (UK) in September, where the students will present the projects before international business leaders.

    No fewer than 20 ENACTUS teams from various tertiary institutions participated in the three-round national competition. The students’ teams implemented various community-based projects which were targeted at addressing real developmental, social and economic problems. The objective of the projects is to equip young people with viable entrepreneurial skills to help them transform lives and solve developmental challenges facing communities around them.

    At the opening round, the teams’ projects were evaluated by a set of judges, comprising business leaders and industry professionals. Eight teams moved to the semi-final round, while four teams contested at the final round.

    Having assessed the teams’ projects in relation to the impact made in their communities, the ABU team was declared the first prize winner. Covenant University (CU) team came second with Tunse project – an online platform that connects blue-collar workers and artisans to customers of closest proximity. The University of Lagos (UNILAG) team came third.

    The event featured Youth Leadership Summit, where successful entrepreneurs and business leaders engaged the participants on value-driven leadership.

    The students were told to imbibe the virtue of integrity, selflessness, honesty, transparency, accountability, justice and compassion in their personal and official engagements.

    The summit was followed by panel of discussion, which hosted the Chief Executive Officer of Vertex Energy Limited Mr. Olusegun Olujobi, who spoke on Values-driven leadership as a tool for personal growth and national transformation. He highlighted the key values in leadership and how the values could help transform the nation.

    Other members of the panel included a leadership and management consultant, Mr Adetokunbo Obayan, CEO of Zolts Ltd, Mr. Chike Onyia, and Head of Corporate Development of Capital Alliance Nigeria Ltd, Mrs Uwa Osa-Oboh, among others.

    Highlight of the event included a cultural fair, during which participants adorned colorful attires to showcase the nation’s rich cultural diversity.

    The ENACTUS Country Director, Mr Michael Ajayi, said: “Beyond the competition, ENACTUS programmes provide the unique opportunity for capacity development for the students in the areas of leadership and entrepreneurship, while we encourage selflessness and promote volunteerism.”

    Guests at the event included the Deputy Head of Mission of the British High Commission in Nigeria, Mr Andrew Davidson, Managing Director of Cardinal Developer Trust Ltd and Chairperson, ENACTUS Nigeria, Mrs Bernadine Okeke, Principal of African Capital Alliance Foundation, Mr. Segun Adebanji, and Vice President of Lekoil Ltd, Mr. Hamilton Esi, among others.

  • Bi-cameral legislature too expensive – NNPP

    Bi-cameral legislature too expensive – NNPP

    Mr Shakirudeen Olofin, Lagos State Chairman, New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), says the the bicameral legislature the country operates is too expensive.

    Olofin spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

    He said the party aligned with the view expressed by Gov. Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State on Monday that Nigeria would save costs with a unicameral legislature.

    Al-Makura had made the suggestion while hosting some Alumni members of Ahmadu Bello University at Government House, Lafia.

    The NNPP Chairman said the Senate and the House of Representatives were merely duplicating functions and the country would be better with just one chamber.

    Olofin, however, said that only the people could decide which of the systems they preferred, and asked that the issue be subjected to public debate.

    “The current system of two chambers of National Assembly, for us, is not cost effective as it is a drain of resources.

    “The two chambers are duplicating functions, and we don’t think we need that in the country.

    “However, we suggest Nigerians should decide on the issue. The should decide whether to keep the current system or do away with one,’’ he said.

    The State Secretary of the Labour Party, Mr Bolaji Oshinowo, who also spoke on the matter, described the two-chamber National Assembly as “a burden on the country’s resources.’’

    Oshinowo said the contributions of the two houses to national assembly are not commensurate with the huge annual budgetary spending on them.

    He suggested either the scrapping of one of the arms or adoption of part-time legislators, in which representatives held sessions when they had serious deliberations.

  • Institute develops three new maize varieties for farmers

    Institute develops three new maize varieties for farmers

    The Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria says it has secured approval for the release of three new high-yielding nutrient maize varieties for planting in Nigeria.

    The Institute made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

    The institute said the approval was granted by the National Varietal Release Committee at the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology in Ibadan.

    It said that the maize was developed by IAR in collaboration with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

    The institute said that the maize varieties tagged: SAMMAZ 52, SAMMAZ 53 and SAMMAZ 54 were offshoots of extensive “on-station, multi-locational and on-farm’’ evaluations with strong farmer participation.

    It said that the varieties were desirable to many maize farmers, seed companies, and food processing entrepreneurs, agro-allied industries as well as consumers across Nigeria.

    “SAMMAZ 52 is an improvement over previously released varieties as a result of bio- fortification with pro Vitamin A.

    “This Vitamin A bio-fortified maize variety has yield potential of 6.0 ton/ha, about 24 per cent higher than earlier release varieties in the same category.

    “It has medium maturing of between 110 and 120 days, tolerant to maize streak virus, rust, leaf blight and curvularia leaf spot.

    “The SAMMAZ 53 and SAMMAZ 54 varieties are bred for high grain yields up to 7.6 t/ha and 7.2 t/ha. Both varieties are extra early maturity (80-85 days) and resistant to maize streak virus, rust, leaf blight andcurvularia leaf spot.

    “They perform very well in northern Guinea and Sudan savanna environments where climate changes are manifesting in the form of droughts, dry spells and in ecologies where parasitic Striga hermonthica attacks are severe owing to declining soil nitrogen.”

    The institute added that the varieties were produced to strengthen farmers’ resilience in coping with the changing production environments in which irrigation water and rainfall had become increasingly scarce.

    It said that the commercialisation and adoption of the varieties was expected to significantly improve food and nutrition security as well as the livelihood of actors along the maize value chain.

  • Badminton sport in Nigeria needs unity to grow

    Badminton sport in Nigeria needs unity to grow

    Faruk Haruna, a presidential aspirant in the upcoming national sports federation elections, says stakeholders in the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) need to be united for the sport to record success.

    Haruna said on Wednesday during a visit to badminton stakeholders in Kaduna that the Federation needs progress which would not only benefit the country but the African continent as a whole.

    “A situation where several camps and fragments are emerging in the Federation just because of elections is unhealthy for the development of the game.

    “As we speak and dream badminton, let badminton be our main concern. Interests and sentiments that will further divide us should be put aside and those that will unite us be embraced,” Haruna, who is Provost of the College of Education (COE) in Minna, said.

    He appealed to all members of the badminton family to ensure that they pursued the activities leading up to the elections with all sense of decency, maturity and patriotism.

    “They should be activities that would be geared towards a better Federation and a better Nigeria.

    Haruna said his 40-year experience has seen him learn as a national player, a coach and an administrator in several capacities.

    He said this had helped him to prove that if given a higher responsibility he would deliver the much-needed results.

    “As a Director of Sports at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria, I was able to facilitate the raising of N600 million for the construction of a sports complex which provided the first-ever wooden floor of an indoor sports hall in Nigeria.

    “Also, during my tenure, ABU always maintained first position in the Nigeria Universities Games (NUGA). Presently, COE Minna is the best in sports in Nigeria in terms of performance and facilities,” the former BFN board member added.

    He said his knowledge in sports and psychology of athletes has always been an advantage of getting the desired result, as the athletes are selected scientifically and motivated to become champions.

    Haruna added that the bulk of national team players in badminton and judo were discovered and groomed in the academies he founded while at ABU.

    He also said he was instrumental to the inclusion of badminton as one of the sports to be competed for at the World Universities Games.

    Also speaking, a former Kaduna State Badminton Association Chairman, Mohammed Sodangi, described Haruna as an accomplished sportsman, coach and sports administrator.

    He said the Badminton Federation of Nigeria stands to gain a lot if Haruna emerged president.

    “During his eight years as Chairman of Technical Committee of the Federation, there were national competitions held.

    “In the last four years when he was not on the board, not a single national competition was held,” Sodangi said.

    He argued that, as the Coordinator of Prof. Haruna’s campaign, he could safely submit that his presence on the BFN board contributed to the staging of national competitions.

    “This is because none was held in his absence,’’ Sodangi said.

  • Association to construct postgraduate hostel in ABU

    Association to construct postgraduate hostel in ABU

    The Alumni Association of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, is to spend more than N200m on the construction of a postgraduate hostel at the main campus of the university.

    The National President of the association, Prof. Ahmad Tijjani-Mora, made this disclosure while speaking to newsmen in Gusau on Wednesday after meeting with the members of the association in Zamfara.

    Tijjani-Mora said that the construction of the hostel was one of the four major projects proposed to be executed by the association for the development of the university.

    “We give priority to this project, considering the problems of inadequate accommodation in the institution.

    “The university is having more than 60, 000 students but with only 14, 000 bed spaces for the their accommodation.

    “Although, the problem of inadequate accommodation is not limited to ABU alone, it affects all the Nigerian universities.

    “As old students, who benefited from the university, we have to try our best to support the university in this regard,” he said.

    Tijjani-Mora said the construction of a pedestal bridge at the North-gate of the main campus of the university was the effort of the members of the association and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    He said the project, worth N80m, had reached 50 per cent completion, which, when completed would improve the wellbeing of the students.

    “We also introduced a new programme, in which we want to assist the students of the university with loans for laptops in order to improve their capacity in computer literacy.

    “Under this programme, any interested students will apply for the loan through the association and get the laptop at the cost of N86,000  to pay back in 36 months.

    “We also planned a new transportation system aimed at reducing the transport problems being faced by the students of the university,” he explained.

    He said the association embarked on a nationwide tour to visit its members in all the states of the federation in order to mobilise and encourage them to support the association’s programmes for the development of the university.

    “We have finished with the North-East, we are now in the North-West, after which we will continue in other parts of the country,” Tijjani-Mora added.

    The alumni president lauded the support and cooperation of the State Government and the Council of Chiefs under the leadership of the Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, who is also an alumnus, towards the development of the association.

     

  • Senate opens probe of N298m SUV car purchase

    Senate opens probe of N298m SUV car purchase

    • ABU VC clears Melaye of certificate forgery

    The Senate Monday commenced an investigation into the allegation of purchase of N298 million Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) with fake customs papers levelled against Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

    The high-profile probe is coming as Saraki said that the upper chamber was being tackled by unnamed persons for resolving to order the reversal of the controversial policy of retrospective duty payment on vehicles introduced by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

    The Senate President spoke when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, probing the alleged importation of N298 million bulletproof Ranger Rover SUV.

    The Senator Samuel Anyanwu led committee also questions Senator Dino Melaye over the allegation that he did not graduate from Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria.

    Saraki’s appearance before the Ethics Committee marked the first time since the return to democracy in 1999, that a sitting Senate President will appear before Ethics committee to clear his name.

    The Senate had on March 21st referred the two issues to its Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee for investigation.

    This followed a point of order motion raised by Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, (Borno South) that the issue is investigated to protect the integrity of the Senate.

    Ndume relied on some publications to draw the attention of the Senate to the damning allegations against Saraki and Melaye.

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, promptly referred the issues to the Ethics committee to investigate and report back within four weeks.

    Apart from Anyanwu, other members of the committee at the investigative hearing included Senators Mao Ohuabunwa, (Abia North), Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South) who excused himself from Saraki’s probe but participated in Melaye’s investigation, Tayo Alasoadura (Ondo Central), Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North), Mathew Urhghide (Edo South) and Albert Akpan who said he is a friend to Melaye.

    Before Saraki began his testimony, Chairman of the committee explained to him why he was invited by the committee.

    Anyanwu specifically asked Saraki whether he (Saraki) is an importer, whether he imported any vehicle in the name of Abubakar Bukola Saraki if it is true that he imported SUV Range Rover that was clear with fake customs papers.

    Saraki was also asked whether the SUV was cleared in his name or on his behalf and whether he asked anybody to clear the SUV on his behalf.

    The Senate President began his testimony with a warning those fighting the National Assembly should desist from the act in the interest of democracy.

    He insisted that democracy cannot thrive if institutions of government are deliberately weakened and ridiculed.

    Saraki said, “I use this opportunity to commend the good work that you are doing and your effort and contribution to building the institution of the Senate that we all have sworn to defend and we are all here to do that.

    “Part of my being here in person is all part of my belief that what you are doing here is to strengthen our institution.

    “I said I want to come here personally, subject myself to this process because I think we must continue to build this institution and this is part of the process of building this institution.

    “Most of the questions come to a basic issue.

    “I am not an importer and at no point did I import an SUV Range Rover. As you know this is a vehicle that is not a “personal vehicle. It is a vehicle which was processed through the National Assembly.

    “I don’t know anything about the importation; I did not appoint any clearing agent or anything like that.

    “Most of the vehicles that are here you only know when it is delivered to you. None of this did I import or getting any agent or going to the port.

    “This is not true, those that said it know it is not true, Customs knows it is not true because we all know that all treated vehicles have end user certificate and it states clearly who the importer is and these documents are available and there is no document anywhere that shows my name.

    “So I want to state categorically that this is not true and it is important that I come here and clear my name and put this matter to rest.

    “We all raised the issue of the policy that is anti-people in the interest of Nigerians. This policy that really had no value at all and that was why this motion came up and we debated it in the interest of Nigerians, but unfortunately those who want to fight back went and thought there was something to blackmail us with.

    “But I believe that the issue at hand regarding this issue as I said categorically I am not an importer and I know the documents you have will show clearly that it has nothing to do with me.

    “I believe that this process is good for us. It will further strengthen our institution. It is a great day for our democracy for me to come before you as the president of the Senate.

    “We must protect this institution. As members, we will come and go but we must protect this institution.

    “To ridicule an institution of this magnitude is not something we should take lightly and that is why I have taken the time to be here.

    “Today it is me but tomorrow it will be another person. I think it is part of the sacrifice we are making in the work that we are doing that we have these kinds of cases that did not hold water.

    “We must protect this institution because this is the only thing we can leave. The difference between military rule and democracy is the parliament. For as long as the parliament is weak, our democracy can never be strong.

    “That is why I told myself that I must come here no matter how ridiculous I felt it was because the documents are clear. There is nowhere it said I imported it, it is not my private vehicle.”

    On the importer of the car, Tokunbo Akindle, Chairman of the Committee Anyanwu told him that the allegation was that he imported an SUV and did not pay the import duties and that was the reason the Senate is having an issue with the Nigerian Customs.

    Tokunbo Akindele responded: In 2015 on behalf of the firm that I work for, Oando PLC, we imported a Range Rover Bullet Proof SUV vehicle.

    “We imported it as the company that needed to use it for the various operations that we have around the country.

    “The car took longer than was expected and by the time it reached Nigeria in 2015, September, we decided that we will no longer be using the car, so we effectively packed it.

    “Initially because we are not going to use it for any operations whatsoever because we already met the requirements needed.

    “The process of acquiring the car we mandated a company offshore, to buy the car, armour the car, ship the car, clear the car with Customs and just deliver the car to us as a full-fledged service.

    “We received the car in September 2015 assuming that all of these things are done, all payments were made for the acquisition, the armouring, the shipping as well as the clearing of which we have necessary evidence.

    “The car was not imported for the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki.

    “In the process of clearing the car, we did not receive any documentation from the National Assembly.

    “We were not a part of clearing the car, we were the customer, we were expected to receive the car for our own use.

    “The vehicle was not to be used by Sen. Bukola Saraki, it was not imported or acquired for his use at the time the vehicle came into the country.

    “The National Assembly took receipt of the car through a consignment from us, through Lanre Shittu Motors in December 2015.

    “The car had been in the country for two months and had been sitting with no use and it was at that point that we released it to Lanre Shittu on consignment who sold it to the National Assembly.

    “At no point did we submit any fake document for the clearing of the car. We followed all due process in terms of payment to the company which handled the entire process for us.”

    Also speaking, the car dealer, Olarenwaju Shittu, told the committee that they facilitated the sale of the car to the National Assembly.

    He said that there was never a time they sold the car to Saraki.

    “It was when the car was intercepted sometime in 2017 that it was brought to my knowledge and we contacted Oando who gave us the papers that they said was fake,” Shittu said.

     

  • Not all judges are corrupt -Justice Abdullahi

    Not all judges are corrupt -Justice Abdullahi

    The former President, Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullahi, on Saturday said that not all Nigerian Judges were corrupt.

    Abdullahi made the remark during a public presentation of the journal on Private and Comparative Law, organised in his honour by the Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

    According to him, the Nigerian judiciary has come of age as a very solid institution.

    He said that in any human society, there must be good, bad and worst elements.

    “So, the judiciary is a human and Nigerian institution.

    “Therefore, it is not surprising that some few judicial officers are been picked up for going out of their parameters of the judicial function.’’

    He said the judiciary had been delivering services to the continuity of the country and was in the forefront in providing solutions to some of the problems facing the country.

    “We are not disputing the fact that there is no bad element in the judiciary, but not all in the system are bad.

    “If you compare the number of the bad ones, the good ones outnumber the bad ones.’’

    Abdullahi, therefore, said it was unfair to condemn the judiciary because of the few bad ones, as there is no sector in Nigeria that was insulated from corruption,

    He, however, said, “There is the machinery the government can use effectively to flush out bad elements in the judiciary.”

    Abdullahi added that the government also has the machinery to ensure that only credible persons were appointed as judges.

    Meanwhile, the President, Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, said the judiciary had been trying its best in the fight against corruption.

    Bulkachuwa said the judiciary has a standard of measuring judges.

    “We have our code of conduct the judicial officer is expected to abide with, If you see anything different from our code of conduct, that officer would have gone astray.

    “If you go strictly by the code of conduct you can’t go wrong; So, we are committed to the fight against corruption,’’ she said.

  • ABU Professor guilty for enticing married woman- Supreme Court

    ABU Professor guilty for enticing married woman- Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the conviction and sentencing to two months in prison of Professor Festus Kolo, a lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria for enticing a married woman.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the pronouncement was without an option of fine.

    Delivering the judgment, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi held that the appellant had failed to dispel the prosecution evidence that linked him to the offence.

    “It is ironical and intriguing that a Counsel for the appellant, who described the act of his client as condemnable and detestable, could in another tone dismiss the same act simply as mere allegation.

    “It was stated that the appellant had been warned severally by the husband of the woman both face to face and on phone to stay away from her.

    “He had refused to heed until he was caught red handed with the woman in a hotel room.

    “The appellant according to the evidence before the court had left his place and travelled for up to four hundred kilometres from Zaria to Dutse to pursue his illicit sexual act,’’ she said.

    Ogunbiyi said: “it was alleged further that the appellant was arrested by the Police in the hotel room and later charged to court for enticing the married woman.

    “This alleged offence is contrary to Section 389 of the Penal Code’’.

    The judge said: “ for purpose of recapitulation, a critical analysis of the behaviour pattern exhibited by the appellant will give a reasonable assessment of his character and intention.

    “This is well depicted in his persistent refusal to stay away from another man’s wife despite several warnings by her husband.

    “In addition to the foregoing, the open confession made by the appellant to the commission of the offence during police investigation is a further reason to discountenance the submission put forward by the appellant.

    “I have stated the position of this court earlier in the course of this judgment wherein it holds that the confession is the best form of evidence.

    “And an accused person can be convicted on his confessional statement alone’’.

    Ogunbiyi held that: “consequently, the lower court could not be faulted when it went ahead to affirm the conviction and sentence of the appellant.

    “This was done according to strict compliance with summary trial procedure by the successive lower courts’’.

    The judge, therefore, held that the appeal at hand was devoid of any merit.

    “The concurrent judgments of the lower courts are endorsed while the conviction and sentence of the appellant by the lower court is also affirmed by me.

    “The appeal is dismissed and the judgment of the lower court is affirmed by this court,’’ she said.

    NAN reports that it was an appeal against the decision of the appellate session of Jigawa State High Court delivered on Sept.17, 2013 in appeal No. JDU/14/CA/2013.

    The court had affirmed the judgment of the trial Magistrate Court, Kiyawa, Jigawa state wherein the appellant was convicted summarily for the offence.

    Upon this conviction and sentence by the Magistrate, the appellant was dissatisfied and lodged an appeal before the appellate division of the Jigawa state High Court.

    Kolo had asked the court to decide whether or not the lower trial Magistrate, “Senior Magistrate’’ had the jurisdiction to try and determine the offence under Section 389 of the penal code laws of the state.

    After hearing argument from both sides, the High Court in its judgment delivered on Sept. 17, 2013 dismissed the appeal and upheld the decision of the trial court.

    NAN reports that the statement of facts indicated that Kolo was a professor and lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria while the victim was his student at the University.

    It was stated in the face of the First Information Report (FIR) that the appellant had been sending love messages via his phone number to the married woman through her phone number.

    The FIR also said that the convict had defied all warnings, adding that he was thereafter caught in the near sexual act with the victim in a hotel by the police.

    The convict had described the entire incident and trial as a set up. (NAN)

  • College dismisses six staff for gross misconduct

    College dismisses six staff for gross misconduct

    The Isa Kaita College of Education, Dustinma in Katsina State said it dismissed six of its academic staff for gross misconduct.

    The College said it had also demoted two academic staff and cautioned one person for misconduct against the rules of the institution.

    The Provost of the College, Dr Maigari Abu, disclosed these on Monday in Dustinma, Katsina State at a news conference.

    Abu said that the dismissal was part of recommendations of a disciplinary committee set up to investigate alleged offences committed by the affected staff.

    The provost added that the demoted staff and those issued warning letters contravened
    the rules and regulations of the College.

    “The college has its rules and regulations and any staff that violates them will be punished.

    “We have a committee that monitors the conduct of staff and students as the college will not allow any staff to compromise laid-down standards,” Abu said.

    He said the college sponsored 26 staff to study for doctorate degrees, while 38 were studying for their Masters degrees in various institution in the country.

    Abu explained that recently, the college signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, to commence degree programme in 2017 in some selected subjects.

    He said 330 students had been admitted and would be awarded with degrees after the completion of their programmes by the college in the next four years.

    The provost commended the Katsina State Government for providing funds which assisted in full accreditation of 23 courses by the National Council for Colleges of Education for the institution.

  • Court orders ABU to pay N2.6b to 110 disengaged staff

    Court orders ABU to pay N2.6b to 110 disengaged staff

    The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja, on Monday ordered the management of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to pay N2.6 billion to 110 staff whose appointments were illegally terminated in 1996.

    The court has also ordered the university to immediately reinstate all the 110 staff.

    Justice Peter Lifu, gave the order in his judgment delivered in a suit filed by the disengaged staff against the university.

    “The disengaged staff of the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria should be paid the sum of (N2, 585,130,678.21) as their entitlements from the date of disengagement till June 2016,” he ruled.

    Lifu held that the purported termination was illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

    The judge therefore directed the university to immediately reinstate the claimants as bonafide staff of the institution.

    He held that the university should comply with all the recommendations of the 2004 and 2010 Presidential Visitation panel of the university and ordered it to take the recommendations as binding on it.

    The 110 claimants, in 2013, instituted the suit to challenge the alleged illegal termination of their appointments by the university authority.

    The claimants, who are both academic and non-academic staff of the university, averred that they have variously served the institution for over 20 years without blemish before the unlawful termination.

    The claimants joined the Minister of Education, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice as defendants in the suit.

    Counsel to the claimants, Mr Femi Adedeji, expressed satisfaction with the court’s judgment.

    “The judgment is very fair; they deserve their entitlements,” he said.

    Mr Aliemeke Ewere, cousel to the university, however, refused to react to the court’s judgment.