The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Anyigba

  • Elections: Two feared killed in Kogi East

    There were conflicting reports over the number of persons that died Saturday in Anyigba, Dekina local government, Kogi State, as suspected thugs made to disrupt voting in the area.

    Two persons reportedly lost their lives at the Ajetachi polling unit, opposite OLS, Anyigba, in the Kogi East Senatorial district, when political thugs stormed the area.

    They shot sporadically in all directions, leading to the death of a nineteen year old boy, simply identified as Usman, while a woman who was on the queue to cast her ballot was seriously injured.

    At Agbeji, thugs who invaded two polling unit tried to force the Presiding Officers (PO) to sign completed result sheets.

    The POs however refused, and took to their heels, resulting in the disruption of the exercise.

  • Kogi varsity students protest death of colleague

    Kogi State University students on Monday protested the death of a fellow student, Comrade Offor Israel, a fresh graduate from the faculty of Agriculture.

    The student was reportedly killed in a motor accident that occurred on the Ankpa-Lokoja road, Anyigba.

    Offor Israel

    He was said to have been hit by an upcoming vehicle when he was trying to cross the road leading to the school.

    On hearing his death, students of the institution were reported to have  staged a protest at the school gate.

    Ameh Nissi, a student of Mass Communication who witnessed the accident, told The Nation that the student was hit by an upcoming vehicle when he tried crossing.

    In his reaction, Onuh Destiny, a fellow lodge mate of the deceased says, ” I am still filled with disbelief… someone we had breakfast together this morning. Lumio lodge is down!”

    According to Jeff Friday, the CEO of KSU Newsline told the students on his facebook page to stay calm over the issue.

    “All students are advised to stay calm and not to put law into their hands. Return to your hostels and lodge.

    “As any further misconduct can lead to total shut down of this current academic section which in turn can risk your own admission as well,” he warned.

    Attah Amos, one of the SUG aspirants described the death as a painful exit and ceases the opportunity to call  the students’ attention to a Student Union Government that will bring about a positive change.

    “The above incidence I must say, is another pain we feel for not having a well defined Student Union Government. If only we had a functional SUG, our deceased comrade would have received a well deserved parade.

    “I would like to solicit to all concerned persons to arise and listen to our plea and give the students a chance to have a body that can stand tall to defend and speak for them in the face of crises.

    “May the Almighty accept your gentle soul Uncle Israel and grant your family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss,” he said.

  • FG to commit more resources to space research

    The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonaya Onu, has said that the Federal Government will commit more resources to space research and development.

    The minister made this known to our reporter on Monday at Anyigba,  Kogi, while inaugurating a new laboratory complex and engineering workshop built by the  Centre for Atmospheric Research (CAR).

    He noted that science, technology and innovation were critical to the development of any nation, saying this informed the decision by the Federal Government to provide more funds for the sector.

    Onu said there was the need to establish the centre because the country could not continue to be indifferent to global trends in space research.

    “We want to be at the frontier of knowledge. We cannot afford not to participate in space research and development,” he said.

    He also lauded the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) for establishing the centre, stressing that it was of critical importance to the country.

    The Director-General of NASRDA, Prof. Mohammed Seidu, said that the centre’s mandate was to provide sound education, research and knowledge in lower atmosphere, upper atmosphere, atmospheric chemistry and environmental sciences.

    He said that the centre was also mandated to conduct environmental research, tropospheric and trans-ionospheric radio propagation research, solar physics, solar terrestrial interactions, space weather, human space technology initiative and space debris among others.

    Seidu said that the centre had researched into safer air travel system and better security for space assets, space weather study and study on the cause, impact and mediation of 2012 flood over Nigeria.

    He said that Monday’s inauguration marked the successful completion of the first phase of the project and the commencement of the second phase.

    The second phase, he said, would include administrative block and ground receiving station to enable the installation of required equipment for research activities.

    In his address of welcome, the Director of CAR, Prof.  Babatunde Rabiu, said that the centre was one of the seven autonomous research and development centres of NASRDA in the country.

    He said the Centre on Feb.12 commenced the daily dissemination of space weather condition in West Africa.

    Rabiu said that atmospheric and space facilities at the centre were running perfectly and had afforded it to run 19 weather stations in 19 locations in the country.

    He thanked the Federal Government for releasing funds for the completion of the centre, promising that the facilities would be put to good use.

    NAN

     

  • Colleagues attack CAMPUSLIFE reporter over report

    The CAMPUSLIFE reporter at the Kogi State University (KSU) in Anyigba, Mohammed Yabagi, has come under verbal attacks by his colleagues, following his exclusive report detailing how graduating students resorted to contributing money to pay off sacked lecturers to facilitate the release of their results.

    The graduating students vented their spleen on Mohammed for what they described as his “disappointing report”.

    CAMPUSLIFE, penultimate week, exclusively exposed the students’ covert arrangement whereby they raised funds to pay their lecturers being owed by the institution. The effort was to placate those still in possession of graduating students’ results.

    Miffed by the report, the angry students invaded Mohammed’s social media pages to rain abuses and curses on him. Some called him on telephone, accusing him of being “an agent of darkness”.

    Another group of attackers described him as “someone who courts controversy”, noting that the reporter should not have written the report to “aggravate the precarious situation” being faced by graduating students.

    One of them, Sunday Abah, who  commented on Mohammed’s Facebook page, simply told the reporter: “Your article in The Nation has done more harm than good. You are a disappointment.”

    Grace Jonathan, another graduating student, noted that the report had done irreversible damage to the covert arrangement, warning that the consequences would be borne by the entire students.

    Ibrahim Salafi, in a long epistle, expressed disappointment on the reporter’s action, describing the report as “a misplacement of professionalism and unintelligent article”.

    Others employed unprintable terms to describe the reporter, saying that he was conscious about the allowance he was being paid for the writing, rather than thinking of the future of the affected students.

    One of them asked the reporter, “Were you paid to do this story?”

    Mohammed replied those who felt he was being paid to write the report, telling them that he was spurred by the need to draw public attention to the plight of KSU graduating students.

  • ‘I’m ready to take bullet for KSU students’

    The last may not have been heard about the recent proscription of activities of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Kogi State University (KSU), Anyigba. Governor Yahaya Bello said it was a tough decision, but it came as an option of the last resort in order for his administration to find a lasting solution to the incessant  closure of the school.

    The governor made this known during the flag-off of the ultra-modern GYB Primary School Project in Lokoja, the state capital.

    Bello said he banned ASUU in the school to prevent a situation where the students would become victims of disagreements between the government and lecturers. He added that his decision was to give the youth and children in the state a better future. He said: “Despite the fact that several commentators have expressed discordant views on the matter, I stick to the ban of ASUU. And I am ready to take bullet for the students and indeed the entire people of the state, if it gets to that.”

    He said his administration had continued to make necessary financial sacrifices towards ensuring that the state’s tertiary education was stabilised.

    Bello stressed the need for a law on perennial struggles between what he described as “the might of unions in institutions” and “the rights of owners and the fate of beneficiaries”.

    He wondered whether there was no provision in law to adjudicate on matters concerning unions in tertiary institutions whenever they go on strike due to genuine constraints of government in meeting all their demands.

    Bello reminded those aggrieved by his government’s decision to proscribe ASUU in KSU that they had rights to approach the court and allow the judiciary to provide answers to the questions agitating their minds.

  • Teachers kick as Kogi varsity bans ASUU

    Teachers kick as Kogi varsity bans ASUU

    The Kogi State University (KSU) has re-opened, five months after it was shut when workers went on an indefinite strike. The resumption followed a peace deal initiated by Governor Yahaya Bello. But, the agreement is being threatened by the proscription of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). MOHAMMED YABAGI reports.

    The Kogi State University (KSU), Anyigba, has been re-opened, five months after it was shut when workers went on an indefinite strike.

    The resumption followed a peace meeting held on the campus, at the instance of Governor Yahaya Bello.

    But, the agreement is being threatened by last week’s proscription  of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).  Lecturers said they might not return to work, if the school did not unban the union’s within two weeks.

    The school was a beehive penultimate week following the visit of Bello, who met with members of ASUU, Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and students.

    The visit was not without drama. The meeting, earlier scheduled to hold on July 10, was cancelled because of what a source called “an unfavourable security report”. The meeting was deferred till July 11.

    On sighting the governor’s entourage moving towards the campus, students trooped out to welcome him. They trailed the governor’s convoy from the school entrance to the Professor Idachaba Lecture Theatre, venue of the meeting.

    As the stakeholders settled down for business, Bello said the meeting was to seek an end to the strike. But he rejected the kolanut offered by the workers as a symbol of peace.

    He told his hosts: “I know kolanut symbolises peace, but what is the essence of offering and eating it, if we cannot arrive at a compromise that would bring amicable solution and allow the students return to their classes?”

    The governor said it was no longer realistic for the government to continue paying the workers’ salaries when the payment voucher was over-bloated. This, he said, necessitated the extension of the staff screening and verification to the state-owned tertiary institutions. He appealed with the workers to consider the students’ plight and end the strike.

    Bello said he would no longer fire workers employed between 2015 and last year, promising to pay them, and lecturers on sabbatical.

    The Auditor-General, Yusuf Okala, who chaired the staff screening and verification, gave the  university’s staff strength before and after the exercise.

    According to Okala, the university had 1,744 workers before the screening started last year; 1,193 staff were cleared and had received their full salaries. Okala said 337 workers were found wanting, out of which 161 were given clemency by the government. He said that 63 workers had no records, adding that six were found to have been collecting salary from double sources.

    Okala said institution’s wage bill as at January, last year, was N194.3 million monthly or N2.3 billion yearly.

    The Students’ Union Government (SUG) leaders went on their knees and begged the governor to prevail on the  workers to end their strike. Replying, Bello said ASUU would not go on strike again under his watch.

    After a July 13 congress, ASUU said its strike would continue. However, the students were disappointed when ASUU announced that the strike would continue.

    Its action drew the students’ ire. Many abused the teachers, describing them as selfish.

    ASUU Chairman Dr. Gbenga Aina told our reporter that the matter was being handled by the union’s zonal leadership. The university chapter of ASUU, he said, could not decide to call off the strike. He said experiences had taught the lecturers not to trust the government.

    In a memo signed by the Registrar, Dr Idu Abubakar, the management ordered lecturers back to work. It directed the Provost of College of Health Sciences and deans of faculties to open an attendance register to ensure compliance.

    But, ASUU said its members would not resume “fully”, if the school did not unban the union.

    The memo proscribing the union reads: “All members of academic staff are advised to note that they will be treated based on their individual terms and conditions of employment. Any member of staff that fails to resume …’’

  • Kogi varsity students protest lecturers’ strike

    Kogi varsity students protest lecturers’ strike

    Students of Kogi state university, Anyigba trooped out to the streets Monday morning protesting their unnecessary stay at home due to the prolonged strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on the 27th of February this year.

    The students came out in large numbers displaying placards and screaming “we want to resume.”

     

  • Don urges Kogi to invest in cassava peels conversion project

    Prof. Samson Aribido on Wednesday urged the Kogi Government to invest in the fabrication of a newly-developed gadget that could convert cassava peels into animal’s feeds.

     

    Aribido, a professor of Animal Science at Kogi State University, Anyigba, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ojapata.

     

    He said that the gadget, whose prototype was developed via a joint venture between Synergos Nigeria, Fadama III and Kogi State Government, should be mass produced for use in the cassava-producing areas of the state.

     

    He said that Synergos came up with the technology for processing and converting cassava peels into livestock feeds in its waste-to-wealth programme to assist cassava farmers, under the Fadama III Agriculture Financing (AF) intervention in cassava production.

     

    Aribido said that the prototype was the outcome of a joint scientific research carried out by Synergos and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

     

    He said that in developing the prototype, the university’s scientists were mainly concerned with the determination and standardisation of the chemical composition of the animal feeds to suit various livestock categories, ranging from ruminants to birds.

     

    The don said that the initiative would somewhat serve as a poverty alleviation tool, as it would particularly empower women economically, while taking care of “wastes’’ from cassava harvests and their effects on the environment.

     

    “On our own part, we came in to see how we can enrich the cassava peels with nutrients like minerals and vitamins that will make the feeds balanced.

     

    “We are also going to process cassava peels into feeds for fish from this work.

     

    “We are also going to look at the whole marketing mix that can be generated, in our efforts to process cassava peels into materials like chips, crunches, pellets and cakes that can be stored for longer periods for distant markets.

     

    “Our vision is that if we are able to get this done, then, it will be easy for anyone to adopt whole cassava processing techniques — producing cassava products for human consumption, industrial uses and animal feeds,” he said.

     

    Aribido said that the one of the objectives of the project was to promote agriculture as business initiative, while further boosting the economic value of cassava.

     

    “This prototype is there for the government to study carefully and develop; it should promote its acceptance and use in all the cassava-producing areas of the state.

     

    We can achieve our set targets if we are all involved in the project,’’ he added.

     

  • Kogi varsity students protest three months’ closure

    Kogi varsity students protest three months’ closure

    The students of the Kogi State University, Anyigba yesterday brought commercial activities in the state Capital, Lokoja to a standstill as they embarked on a peaceful protest over the three month-old strike by lecturers of the school.

    Members of the institution’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had embarked on the strike over alleged unresolved salary issues with the state government.

    The students in their numbers occupied the popular Ganaja Junction as early as 8.30am, paralysing business activities in parts of Lokoja.

    They demanded for immediate resolution of the impasse between ASUU and the state government and ASUU, saying that their concern remains the immediate reopening of the university.

    They lamented that they have over stayed at home, saying that those who are expected to graduate will miss the annual NYSC programmes.

    In apparent dissatisfaction with the leadership of the student union body interventions, the students said they will not shift the ground, chanting anti-establishment songs, just as they demanded the immediate resolution of the logjam.

    “We want immediate resolution to the lingering crisis. We have over stayed at home. When it started, we thought it would be addressed immediately. Now we have spent three months at home while all other institutions in neighbouring states are graduating”, they stated.

    Efforts by the National President of the National Association of Nigeria Students whose name was not immediately made available to journalists was turned down by the students, as they alleged that the union leaders may been settled by the government.

    Similarly the angry mobs also manhandled the President of SUG who was trying to address the crowd, stating that his in actions has caused the students “three months at home”.

    Also, efforts by the State Commissioner of Police (CP) Yakubu Usman, the Director of State Security Service (SSS) and state Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to pacify the students were rebuffed, as they insisted that they will only dialogue Governor Yahaya Bello.

    However, they later soft peddered, as they listened to the SSS boss, but insisted that the university must be reopened before they will agree to go back to Anyingba.

    Travelers passing through the state capital were worse off for it, as those caught up in the protest were stranded, as the angry students barricaded roads leading the Eastern part of the stat and the South East and South South parts of the country.

    Efforts to speak with government officials at the scene proved abortive as they refused to talk, just as the students refused to dialogue with them.

    It would recalled that the institution’s chapter of ASUU have been at loggerheads with the state government over unpaid salary and eventually embarked on the strike.

    The state government said it has paid  four months salary arrears to the striking workers but ASUU insisted that the it offset all before it can return to work.

    The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Mohammed Awwal at a press conference however appealed to the striking lecturers to return to the classrooms.

    He appealed with them to return to the classrooms for the sake of the students.

    “The ASUU strike affects not just the psyche of the students, but also causes further stress to the parents and ultimately tarnishes the reputation of our great state. ASUU is reminded that they were the first to be paid even when government could access only 40 percent of the bailout funds requested”, he stated.