The Nation Newspaper

Tag: appointment

  • AAUA don bags international appointment

    A Lecturer in the Department of Banking and Finance of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Dr. Tomola Obamuyi, has been appointed as Nigeria’s representative for the international Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS) research project.

    GUESSS is a global research project initiated at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland in 2003 to investigate students’ entrepreneurial intentions and activities across the world. Its Project Manager, Prof. Philipp Sieger, of the University of St. Gallen, confirmed the appointment in a statement.

    Last month, Dr. Obamuyi also attended the second collaborative research workshop on entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa, which was held at Yiri Lodge, University of Ghana, Legon.

    The workshop was organised by the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, in collaboration with the Danish government’s Building Stronger University (BSU) initiative and the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA).

    The don is also a member of the Nigeria Team in the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project.

     

  • Salisu Buhari’s UNN appointment

    SIR: In April, the Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government, in exercise of its executive powers, reconstituted the governing councils of federal universities and made elaborate appointments therein including, the appointment of Salisu Buhari into the Governing Council of the University of Nigeria, (UNN).

    As a proud alumnus of that great institution, I feel thoroughly scandalized by the thoughts and decision of the Jonathan administration to embarrass the entire university community and her alumni with such unmeritorious appointment. This particular appointment, like the Alamieyeseigha’s pardon, sends a very clear signal that crimes and criminal activities are not only condoned but rewarded, under the present administration.

    It would be recalled that the beneficiary of the present appointment, Alhaji Salisu Buhari, was the first elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1999 upon the return of civil rule in Nigeria. He was tried and convicted for forging a certificate purportedly obtained from a Canadian University which subsequently enjoyed the infamous notoriety otherwise known as the “Toronto Certificate saga” . He was accordingly removed as Speaker on account of the forgery. Although he was allegedly pardoned by the Obasanjo administration, yet such alleged pardon does not detract from the fact that he was once convicted for a criminal offence of forgery and misconduct. The integrity of the University of Nigeria conceived by visionary leader Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and founded on high academic and moral grounds with a distinctive mission statement and motto: To Restore the Dignity of Man cannot afford to parade men and women of questionable characters in her Governing Council. Such would be antithetical to the objectives and the high moral pedestal on which the institution is founded.

    As an institution that is resolute on the quality and content of its grandaunts particularly in Learning and Character, this development constitutes a dangerous set back as the signal already created is one that justifies moral transgressions and misrepresent the values for which the institution is known and associated.

    Mr. President, as the Visitor of the University is enjoined to invoke his powers under Sections 14 and 15 of the University of Nigeria Act Laws of the Federation and remove or drop Buhari from the Governing Council of the university.

    To be sure, the appointment of Salisu Buhari, is ill-advised, Unmeritorious, totally completely condemnable and accordingly rejected.

    • Malachy Ugwummadu

    Legal Adviser, University of Nigeria Alumni Association

    Lagos Branch.

  • Activist Shehu Sani rejects appointment

    Activist Shehu Sani rejects appointment

    Rights activist and President of Civil Rights Congress Comrade Shehu Sani last night rejected his nomination by President Goodluck Jonathan as a member of the Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North.

    He said he was not consulted by the Federal Government before the appointment.

    Sani, who spoke with our correspondent, said: “I have formally declined to be a member of the committee.

    “The earlier suggestion that I had given that there must be consultation before dialogue still stands.”

    Sani, who facilitated initial talks with Boko Haram, also gave a hint that the sect would not listen to the committee. He said: “I do not think the insurgents would accept a committee which they were never consulted on.”

    A former Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Prof. Nur Alkali, also reacted to his nomination as a member of the committee. He said: “Well, I have not received any formal communication rather than the announcement in the media and it is not proper to say anything at this stage.

    “So far, there is no communication with me, it is what the people have read about in the media and what I have also got to know from the media. The Professor, however, said he will no hesitate to heed the call.

    Alkali said: “Certainly if it is a national duty, I will accept.”

    Former Foreign Affairs Minister Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, who was named a a member of the panel, declined to comment on his appointment.

    He told The Nation that the time was not ripe for comment, though he was aware that President Jonathan announced the constitution of the committee.

    He said: “I have not been briefed and have not seen the list. We have not been inaugurated, therefore, I cannot say anything about it now but I know about it.”

  • Sharks’ fans hail appointment of Gbenga Ogunbote

    Sharks’ fans hail appointment of Gbenga Ogunbote

    Football fans in Port Harcourt said on Wednesday that the appointment of Gbenga Ogunbote as the new Technical Adviser of Sharks FC, would move the club forward.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ogunbote had worked in an assistant’s capacity with Dolphins FC of Port Harcourt in the 2003/2004 Nigeria Premier League season. He was also a former Technical Adviser of Sunshine Stars FC of Akure.

    Peter Abaje, Sharks’ Media Officer, told NAN that the arrival of the new coach would help the club to prosecute its matches in the 2012/2013 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) season successfully.

    “The coach has been presented to the media at half-time during a local derby between Sharks and Dolphins FC in a Week Five fixture at the Sharks Stadium, Port Harcourt. We are confident that he will do well; we may not have started well this season, but I have the hope that we are going to finish well,” Abaje said.

    One of the fans, Martin Okoye, who is a student, told NAN that Ogunbote had the potential to breed new players and take them to stardom.

    According to Okoye, the coach is the key to the success of any sport and I believe that new coach has the quality to deliver the best. “The coach is an old soldier in football. He has promised to take the club to a higher pedestal; may he have the strength to carry out the task,” he said.

    Bernard Emeka, a businessman, expressed optimism that with the new coach, the club would get the best in the 2013 NPFL.

    Ogunbote said that though Sharks position in the league was not too good, he had the potential to salvage the situation. Sharks have four points from five matches it has played so far, placing 19th of the 20 teams on the league table.

  • Youths oppose appointment of new VC for FUT Minna

    Some youths in Niger State yesterday protested the appointment of the new Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, Prof Musibau Akanji.

    The youth, under the aegis of Concerned Citizens of Niger State, staged a peaceful rally at Gidan Kwano campus of the school.

    Another group, on Monday, wrote the Governing Council of the university, threatening to burn down both campuses if Akanji was sworn in as the sixth Vice-Chancellor.

    The council, at its 97th meeting on November 20, announced the appointment of Prof Akanji, despite a suit filed by three professors in the institution at a Minna High Court challenging the selection process that produced the new Vice-Chancellor.

    It was learnt that the development and a pending suit may be the reason the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqqayatu Ahmed Rufa’i, directed that Prof Akanji’s swearing-in be put on hold.

    He was to take oath of office during the valedictory Senate session in honour of Prof Mohahammed Audu, the former Vice-Chancellor, whose five-year tenure ended on Monday.

    Locking the main gate of the campus as early as 7.30am yesterday, the 100 placard-carrying youths vowed to make the institution ungovernable if Prof Akanji was not dropped for their preferred candidate.