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Tag: Jos

  • N45,000 new fee a directive from FG – Jos varsity

    N45,000 new fee a directive from FG – Jos varsity

    The Management of the University of Jos has said that its new charges of N45,000, a 67 per cent increase from the former N27,000, was a directive from the Federal Government.

    A statement by Mr Monday Danjem, the Registrar, said on Saturday in Jos, that the fee was compulsory for all undergraduates.

    Danjem was reacting to a directive by the Students Union Government (SUG), asking students not to pay the reviewed fee.

    “The statement is to clarify issues raised by the students union, which are capable of misleading students and members of the public, into believing that management just decided to hike the charges,” he said.

    He advised students seeking to be accepted by the school to pay the new charges at the commencement of the 2016/2017 academic session.

    The statement said that the university received the directive to review the charges from the National Universities Commission (NUC) on Jan. 22, 2015, and presented it before the Governing Council and Senate, who both ratified it for implementation.

    He faulted the students’ claims that the university was charging tuition fees.

    “The students will only pay charges approved by government and captured in the budget.

    “Every charge is tied to a specific cost for the services provided like hostel maintenance, students health insurance, library, ICT bandwidth and network maintenance, I.D. card among several others.

    “The charges are verifiable facts and are clearly listed in the university’s school charges schedule,” he said.

    Danjem said that the old charges were no longer realistic in view of the increase in the cost of most goods and services like cleaning services, electricity and other utilities, accreditation expenses, stationery, examination expenses, among others.

    “For instance, we used to pay a monthly charge of N12 million for electricity supply per month, but that has gone up to N23 million. We must take steps to make up for the shortfall,” he said.

    He said that management consulted widely before implementing the new charges, and particularly noted that it held three meetings with the SUG, before taking a final decision.

    “It was in this spirit of openness and transparency that management also convened a meeting with parents and guardians during which it was collectively resolved that the new charges be implemented,” he said.

  • Expert says 20 percent of new mothers experience depression

    Mrs Ijeoma Laluwoye, a clinical psychologist, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, on Tuesday, said 20 per cent of new mothers usually experience depressive disorders.

    She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos that there were various forms of depression a woman might experience during and after pregnancy.

    She said one of such was pre-natal depression; a form of clinical depression that could affect a woman during pregnancy, and could lead to postpartum depression if not properly handled.

    Laluwoye explained that the symptoms of pre-natal depression include crying, sleep disorders and change in eating habits.

    According to her, some women often assume it is normal pregnancy symptoms that will go away with time, but if left untreated, can result in preterm delivery or low weight babies.

    She said pre-natal depression was often mistaken for baby blues, but that it was completely different.

    The psychologist explained that baby blues usually occurred between the third and tenth day after delivery due to the changes in hormones, following child birth.

    She said such women usually exhibited traits of irritability, frustration and they often cry.

    She noted that those feelings, however, disappeared within few days without any professional intervention.

    Laluwoye further explained that postpartum depression, which occurred after child birth, was associated with persistent sadness, fatigue, feeling of inadequacy, intense worries over the baby, family or activities, headaches and heart palpitations.

    Symptoms of postpartum depression, she said, often persisted for more than two weeks.

    She, however, said women who experienced the two symptoms might be inhibited by denial, shame or fear of disapproval in disclosing the symptoms.

    “Women who experience any form of depression during and after pregnancy should be open about it and seek medical help as there is absolutely nothing shameful about it.

    “Family members who notice these symptoms should help by being understanding, supportive and helping the woman get medical help, rather than criticising and comparing the woman with other women who do not experience such.

    “Women who experience such symptoms should never be ashamed or make you feel you are a bad mother,’’ she said.

  • Jos varsity students’ parents endorse N45,000 new schools fees

    Jos varsity students’ parents endorse N45,000 new schools fees

    Parents of students of the University of Jos have accepted to pay the reviewed school fees of N45,000, which represents a 67 per cent increase from the current N27,000.

    The university, in a statement signed by Mr Abdullahi Abdullahi, a Principal Assistant Registrar, indicated that the parents endorsed the new fee during a stakeholders meeting involving parents, guardians and the university management.

    The statement quoted Prof. Sabastian Maimako, the Vice Chancellor, as telling the stakeholders that the charges currently being paid by students were no longer realistic “in view of current economic challenges”.

    “The situation is not peculiar to University of Jos; other Federal Government-owned universities are facing similar challenges owing to the competing demand on government’s limited resources.

    “In order to harmonise the school charges, the Federal Government, through the National Universities Commission (NUC), issued a directive in 2015, approving a new fee structure of N45,000.

    “The fee is for each undergraduate student across board and is principally aimed at providing them with the basic learning materials and conducive learning environment,” Maimako was further quoted as saying.

    The Vice Chancellor also listed other areas of huge expenditure to include payment for electricity, stationery and the provision of accreditation requirements.

    Maimako regretted that management had been forced to abandon some projects because of the rising cost of running the university at a time that resources were dwindling.

    He advised parents and stakeholders to ensure that school charges were paid at designated channels provided by the university, so as not to fall victims of fraudsters.

    The Vice Chancellor also told the stakeholders that the school community was contributing monies to address some of its challenges, one of which was the restocking of the Library Complex burnt in October 2016.

    “The university has launched ‘Operation Beauty from Ashes’ campaign, to raise funds to restock the Naraguta Campus Library.

    “Principal officers of the school have contributed N1 million each, Deans and Directors, N200,000 each, students N1,000 each, while staff unions are paying lump sums,” he explained.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), however, reports that the students have protested against the rise in the fees.

    The students, who took to the streets of Jos on Monday, to register their dissatisfaction with the new fee structure, told NAN that the hike was not fair “in view of the economic recession”.

    Miss Juliet James, a student of the Pharmacy Department, wondered why the students were not involved in the meeting even when they were those that would be affected by the decisions.

    “They should have invited officials of the Students Union to contribute.

    “When you call parents, many students will not even be represented because many of them pay their school fees by engaging in all manners of menial jobs,” she said.

    Another student, Samuel Karshi, told NAN that the parents that attended the stakeholders’ meeting were “too few” to represent the general interest and views of those that were not there.

    “Paying the current fee of N27,000 has not been any easy. An upward review is certainly going to create more headache for us,” Karshi said.

  • Gov. Lalong urges banks to revert to 4 p.m. closing time

    Gov. Lalong urges banks to revert to 4 p.m. closing time

    Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau state has called on banks operating in the state to revert to the 4 p.m. closing time, instead of the 3 p.m. they adopted when the state was in crisis.

    Lalong made the call on Wednesday in Jos, when the President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Prof. Segun Ajibola, paid him a courtesy call.

    “Peace has returned to Plateau; there is no need for banks to hold unto the 3 p.m. closing time.

    “Please appeal to your members to start closing by 4, instead of 3, because closing by 3 gives an impression that we are still crises-ridden,” he said.

    He appreciated the institute’s contribution to the Plateau economy, and promised to engage more chartered bankers as senior government officials and civil servants.

    Lalong promised to attend the 22nd International Conference of Bankers slated to take place April 25 in Lagos, and also promised to look into CIBN’s request for a property for its branch in Jos.

    Ajibola had earlier said that the group was in in Jos to invite Lalong to its Lagos conference.

    He commended Lalong for restoring peace to Plateau, and regretted that the state, which was once revered by many as the home of peace and tourism, became a scary environment in the past few years.

  • A code for peace from Jos

    A code for peace from Jos

    At a meeting in Jos, the Plateau State capital, religious leaders from the Northcentral states fashioned out a formula for much-needed peace. YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU reports

    Why were youths the focus of a meeting held in Jos, the Plateau State capital, by religious leaders in search of peace in the Northcentral states?

    The answer is not farfetched. Youths have become a veritable tool in the hands of unscrupulous elements who foment trouble.

    Take Plateau State, the venue of the meeting, for instance. Between 2001 and 2011 when the state momentarily lost its homely and peaceful status due to incessant crises, it was youths who were at the forefront of the destruction. They targeted churches and mosques, burning them down, amid other acts of violence.

    Plateau was not the only theatre of violence. Crisis has also engulfed several parts of the North, even when you take Boko Haram out of the picture. Wherever trouble broke, youths were readily recruited to perfect the plan, and worship centres have almost always been worse-off.

    That was why the clerics made youths their focus, arguing that if you give them a good orientation not just about the dangers of bloodletting but also the grave error of attacking spiritual centres, there would be peace.

    The religious leaders had a lot of help from a Jos-based international organisation known and Search for Common Ground (SFCG) which has been building peace in the state since 2011.

    The NGO identified major causes of religious violence in the North and initiated moves to tackle them. To tackle them, it engaged the clerics from several Northcentral states, knowing their prime role in the society.

    In fact, it was the NGO that noticed that churches and mosques and other sacred religious centers like cemeteries, even praying grounds are often attacked when violence breaks.

    In a two-day meeting organised by the NGO for religious leaders of the Northcentral zone, participants unanimously adopted a universal code of conduct which aims to protect and preserve holy sites even during crisis.

    A communique issued after the meeting which was attended by religious leaders from Niger, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Plateau states, pointed out that, “The North-Central Zonal meeting examined the provisions of the Universal Code of Conduct on Holy Sites. The Code contains 10 articles on the protection of Holy Sites, defined as ”places of profound significance and holy religious attachment such as mosques, churches, cemeteries, synagogues, etc, whose special character and integrity are to be preserved and protected against all violence and desecration.”

    The adopted code encourages religious leaders, traditional institutions and other interfaith bodies to see it as a template for cooperation in protecting holy sites. In the spirit of the code, the participants suggested the adoption and implementation of the code.

    How is the code to be implemented? By education, monitoring, documentation, joint visits and denunciations by religious leaders of attacks on holy sites, among other activities.

    As part of the strategies agreed by the religious leaders in the zone, the adopted universal code will be translated into local languages, while worship centres will be used for conducting research on faith-based issues. This means that holy sites shall be promoted as centres for learning for religious adherents. The sites will also be made a role model to religious practitioners while both religions will be made to empower families especially mothers as the first and best teachers for the restoration of family values.

    The religious leaders who have already formed an inter-faith group also resolved to facilitate key religious leaders to advocate for the inclusion of religious studies in schools. They also made a strong case for the education of youths as well as teaching them relevant entrepreneurial skills.  Even social media will be used to  counter misinformation and indoctrination.

    The increasing use of hard drugs among youths was also an issue at the meeting. To solve this, the group wil liaise with relevant government agencies to prohibit these identified drugs.

  • Dismissed police officer asks court to jail I-G

    Dismissed police officer asks court to jail I-G

    A dismissed police officer, one Mr Michael Agha, on Tuesday asked the Federal High Court, Makurdi, to commit the Inspector General of Police to prison for disobeying court order.

    Agha who claimed to have been wrongfully dismissed from the force dragged the I-G to court to show cause why an order of committal to prison should not be made against him.
    The committal was because of I-G’s refusal to pay him all his entitlements as ordered by Court of Appeal, Jos Division on May 12, 1997.

    Joined in the suit were the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Benue Commissioner of Police.

    Agha in his affidavit filed before the Federal High Court, Makurdi, deposed that he enlisted in the Nigerian Police Force in 1977 and was unlawfully dismissed from the force in 1988, while serving at 13PMF, Makurdi, Benue.

    The explained that he was dismissed because he wore a Mobile Police face cap to the Police Headquarters, Makurdi on a day it was drizzling.

    He said an ASP asked why he wore a face cap when the then Commissioner of Police, a few days earlier had banned it.

    Agha said he explained to the ASP that he did not know about the ban, but the ASP took up the issue with him which eventually led to his dismissal from the force.

    Aggrieved by the treatment, he headed to a Makurdi High Court to contest his dismissal, where his case was thrown out.

    Agha appealed the judgment at the Court of Appeal, Jos, and the appeal was allowed.

    He said the appellate court on May 12, 1997 set aside the judgment of the Benue High Court and ordered that he be reinstated forthwith and paid all his entitlements.

    The applicant stated that all efforts to get the Police to comply with the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal had failed.

    He therefore, headed to the Federal High Court, Makurdi, and filed a contempt proceeding against the I-G and two others.

    When the case was called for hearing, counsel to the applicant, Mr Tarfa Achinge, informed the court that the case was for hearing of Form 49 of the Judgment Enforcement Rules.

    He however, said that he got information from counsel to the 1st and 2nd respondents, Mr Gabriel Ebonyi, that a window of opportunity for an out-of- court settlement had shown up, and asked for adjournment.

    Ebonyi who did not oppose the application, promised the court that he would make further effort to get his bosses to comply with the judgment of the Court of Appeal without necessarily hearing the Form 49.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the Form 49 of the Judgment Enforcement Rules filed before the court required the respondents
    to show cause why an order of committal to prison should not be made against them.

    In his ruling, the judge, Justice Hassan Dikko, told counsel to the 1st and 2nd respondents to urge his bosses to take pity on the poor applicant and comply with the order of the Court of Appeal.

    Dikko adjourned the matter till April 5, 2017 for report of settlement.(NAN)

  • Two jailed 14 months for drug trafficking

    Two jailed 14 months for drug trafficking

    A Federal High Court in Jos on Friday sentenced two men to 14 months imprisonment for hard drug trafficking.

    The convicts — Adamu Garba, 25, and Mujaheed Yusuf, 31 — both residents of Jos were arrested on July 12, 2016 with 250 grammes of Hemp, 500 grammes of Tramadol, 90 grammes of Diaspha and 66 grammes of Exol-5 by officials of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    The offences contravened Sections 14 and 19 of the NDLEA Act, 2004 (As Amended).

    The duo had pleaded guilty before Justice Dorcas Agishi, and begged for leniency.

    “Please Ma, we are guilty of the offences and we are pleading for leniency; we will not do it again. We now know our mistakes and we will not repeat it again.

    “We are very sorry Ma; we have spent eight months in detention before appearing before you ma. I am very sick as I have ulcer and typhoid,’’ Garba said amid tears.

    The NDLEA Prosecutor, Mrs. Ramatu Oketola, told the court that since the duo had pleaded guilty to the crime, the court should give them summary trial.

    “My Lord, since the suspects have pleaded guilty to the charge, I pray that they should be given summary trial and convicted as spelt out by the law to serve as a deterrent to others, ’’ she said.

    Oketola tendered the suspects’ statements made on the day of their arrest, three certificates of laboratory tests results carried out on the substances and the substances as exhibits.

    Justice Agishi consequently sentenced the two accused persons to seven months imprisonment each, saying the sentence should start from the day of their arrest.

    “Having confessed to committing the offence, this honourable court has the power to sentence you to 25 years imprisonment but because you begged for leniency and you have spent eight months in detention and have fallen ill, I hereby sentence you to seven months imprisonment each.

    “This means that you have served your prison terms already while in detention; you can now go home and never to repeat such a crime again, else you will meet a stiffer punishment next time you are brought before me,’’ she ruled.

     

  • Boko Haram: New IDPs found in Jos

    Another group of persons  displaced from the Northeast as a result of the activities of Boko Haram has just been discovered in Jos, the Plateau State capital. Apart from the one that has been camping at a school hostel at Zawan Commercial College Bukuru since 2014, another group has been found camping in a village in Bassa Local Government Area the state.

    In the Bassa camp, the inmates are mainly children who became orphans when Boko Haram invaded their communities and killed their parents. These children numbering over 200, according to our investigation, were brought from some of the displaced camps in Maiduguri to their current camp in Jos.

    A source disclosed to The Nation that the children were brought from their camps in Borno to enable them have Christian education.

    The source who pleaded anonymity said, “We realised that in the IDP camps in Maiduguri, they were teaching children in the camp Islamic education and not Western education, but most of these children came from Christian families. So, if these children are allowed to remain in the camp in Maiduguri, they might end up being converted to Islam forcefully. That was why some of them that their parents are alive decided to look for any organisation in Jos that can give their children Christian education. Most of these children don’t even have parents anymore, but we need to rescue them from forceful conversion to Islam, the kind of education the IPDs camp in the far North is mainly Islamic education which is not favorable to victims from Christian backgrounds. That was how this camp was created in Jos for Christian children.”

    Meanwhile, the displaced and orphaned children in Bassa camp, Jos, are under the care of a non-governmental organisation known as Youths With a Mission, City of Refuge Centre, Miango, Bassa LGA. The NGO was founded 12 years ago by a couple, Mr. Michael Kurams and his wife Joy, to help the less privileged.

    Mr. Kurams said, “Our attention was drawn to the plight of these children at the IDPs camp in Maiduguri and even some that are not in camp in Adamawa, so we went out to fish for such groups of orphans, some of them, their parents brought them voluntarily to enable them access formal education. At the moment we have about 200 of such children in the camp and we have organised formal education for them. We have employed a few teachers to teach them, but there are some youths that have come to do voluntary jobs here to educate the children because my NGO cannot pay to employ enough teachers.

    The founder said, “We started the school for them in October last year in whatever way we can hoping that one day government will come to their aid. But even though no government has come to our aid, this particular woman got the information of this camp and visited last year and promised to bring some help to us. Today she has come to make some donations for the food and education of these children. She is God-sent, I don’t know how she got to know we are here, she came on her own. Maybe because she is a mother, she has shown a lot of concern for these children, I hope other Nigerian will emulate her and come to the aid of these orphans,” he said.

    The woman in question, Eunice Ayisa Sambo, a Good Samaritan, is a native of Jos East Local Government Area of Plateau State. Mrs Sambo, an All Peoples Congress (APC) stalwart, who resides mostly abroad, involved an international NGO based in the United Kingdom to help the orphans at the Bassa camp when she discovered that they were brought from the Northeast.

    The APC stalwart said, “My decision to bring help for these children should not be mistaken as a political campaign because these children are not even from Plateau state, neither are they from my constituency, a time will come when they will return to their original state of origin, so I’m just doing this out of compassion, as a mother I can’t have the knowledge of these kinds of orphans and pretend I don’t know, they are vulnerable, they need help, they have lost their parents, who will cater for their needs. So all these thoughts moved me into coming with the little I can do to help, they are my children, if I’m rich enough I would have adopted all of them and kept them in my house, but I can’t. But I know I am a trustee in an NGO that can help, hence I went back to U.K, and this is how they decided to help these children with this token donation.

    While presenting the donations to the camp manager, Mrs Sambo said, “On behalf of myself, a trustee of and co-founder of Amazing Grace Charitable Trust, UK and founder of Jos Wallgate Foundation Nigeria, we make this visit to internally displaced persons including women and children from Borno state domicile in Jos Plateau state. The situation in the North Eastern part of Nigeria over in the past and present has affected lots of communities and forcing inhabitants of affected communities into unimaginable traumatic experiences.

    “In our own little way we make this visit and donation to the displaced persons particularly the children whose future has been endangered as a result of the insecurity in the Northeast. It is our belief that the immediate needs of these vulnerable children is not limited to food and shelter, but their education is of utmost important. The future of these children is basically anchored on their education, which is why we decided to support the NGO hosting these children in our little way to an ale the children receive quality education while in this camp” she said.

    Items donated during the visit includes; 10 bags of maize, 10 bags of locally-milled rice, 9 bags of beans. The donation also includes the cash sum of N240,000.00 (Two Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira) for the payment of two teachers to be employed for the education of the children for the period of one year begging from January 2017.

  • APC receives defectors in Jos

    APC receives defectors in Jos

    The National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief John Odige-Oyegun has  received defectors from the People Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

    Odigie-Oyegun was accompanied to the Rwang Pam Township Stadium, venue of the event by the Speaker House of Representative,  Hon. Yakubu Dogara, the National Secretay of APC, national women leader  and other national executive members of the party.

    Prominent among the defectors are Senator Joshua Dariye (PDP), from Plateau Central senatorial zone, former Deputy governor in the immediate past PDP led   Ignatius Longjan, former governorship candidate of ACN Pam Dung Gyang, Deputy Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly Yusuf  Gagdi, Hon. Jimmy Cheto, a former minister Chief Jethro Akun.

    Others are former member the of House of Representatives Aminu Jonathan.

    While receiving the defectors  Oyegun said: “The timing of this mass movement into the ruling party by highly placed politicians on the plateau is unique and historic to APC and to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “Unique in the sense that the decampees are coming when the APC government and Mr. President needed people to give him support that will enable him succeed changing the fortunes of this country.

    “Plateau people are coming into the party en mass at a time when President Buhari is facing a big battle with corruption and needed massive support, the president need people like you around him to defeat corruption which already fighting back.

    “Mr. President will ever remain grateful to these great politicians from plateau state and their teaming followers for their decision to come in and rally round his administration, president Buhari considered this move as energy boost to his administration.

    “He added: I use this opportunity to appeal to all Nigerians to remain calm in spite of the prevailing economic recession. “It is obvious that Nigerians are in tears, it is obvious that there is anguish in the land, it is obvious that Nigerians are hungry, Nigerians are angry etc, all these are due to the tough times the country is passing through, and I know that such tough times does not last, it is temporal.

    “I can assured all Nigerians that by this time next year, Nigerians will be smiling, because by this time next year, there will be no more hunger in the country. The economy of the country were bastardized by the 16 years administration of PDP, President Buhari has been working extra-hard to fix the battered economy, Mr, president is so passionate about this.

    “And that is why I’m telling you with confidence that by this same time next year, Nigerian citizens will have reasons to thank Mr. President for wiping away our tears.

    “I am sure Nigerians are not hearing much from Chief Audu Ogbe, the minister for agriculture, he is working with vigor to make sure Nigerians does not lack food next year, he is working sleeplessly to bring an end to the hungers on the land. The same thing apply to Rotimi Amaechi, Fashiola and other ministers, they are working silently to end our problems, and they have a president that will not take any excuse for failure.

  • NPFL: Plateau United defeats Enyimba

    NPFL: Plateau United defeats Enyimba

    Plateau United Football Club of Jos on Wednesday defeated Enyimba International FC of Aba 3-1 in their Match Day 2 fixture in the 2016/2017 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).

    Plateau United took the lead in the 11th minute of the encounter through a well-taken free-kick by Golbe Elisha, the club’s captain.

    Kabiru Umar doubled Plateau United’s lead in the 52nd minute during a goalmouth scramble.

    The hosts, who were clearly the dominant side, almost made it three in the 57th minute after a cross which the Enyimba goalkeeper had to push over the crossbar.

    Umeh Emeka, who came in as a substitute, made it 3-0 in the 80th minute of the match.

    Enyimba, however, reduced the deficit through Ikechukwu Ibenegbu less than two minutes after Emeka’s goal.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Plateau United have so far won their two matches in the league, and therefore lead the log with six points.

    They had on Sunday defeated Remo Stars 2-1 away in the opening week of the season.

    Kennedy Boboye, Plateau United’s Chief Coach, told newsmen that the Jos-based club were “on course to achieve their target of winning a ticket to play on the continent next year’’.

    Boboye said he was happy with the squad at his disposal and commended the players’ performance.

    The chief coach also expressed satisfaction with the support he was enjoying from the club’s fans, the management and the state government.