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  • JAMB releases UTME results on Saturday

    Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board ( JAMB ), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, on Friday said the board would release the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Board on Saturday.

    He said the board would give details of the results to reporters on the same day.

    The 2019 UTME was conducted between April 11 – 18 this year.

    He said: “We had a meeting on Friday. And so, we are releasing our results tomorrow.”

    Meanwhile, the board on Friday paraded one of its staff caught collecting N25, 000 from an admission seeker in 2018.

    Adamu Martin, a jamb worker attached to the Information Technology Service, was said to have promised an unnamed candidate admission in 2018.

    Oloyede said the board was conducting internal scrutiny of its staff, noting that any staff caught would be dealt with.

    The registrar said: “He collected N25,000 for admission. So, we are not hiding anything. Even internally, we are doing scrutiny. Anybody caught will be dealt with according to the law.”

    Read Also: JAMB VS university admission fraudsters

    The culprit, Musa confessed to the crime, adding that he had refunded N10,000 to the admission seeker when the admission did not come through.

    He said: “The person came to me for admission and I now told him that I knew people who would help. I collected N25,000 from him. But it did not work. So I now refunded N10,000.

    “He was the one who reported to the registrar. The person I contacted to assist the admission seeker said they had already closed the admission. So I had refund part of the money.

    “I apologise and I want JAMB to temper justice with mercy. This is the first candidate I collected money from.”

    The co-suspect, Bakare Damilola, who paid Musa N25,000, for the admission said: “I am not the candidate. I was sent by the father of the candidate involved. So I came and explained everything to this man. I wrote the registration number down and I was asked to wait outside. Later, he told me, this thing would involve money.

    “So the father of the girl, Mr Olaoye, who is based in Lagos State, sent the money to Musa’s account and I have the teller.

    “Mr Olaoye was desperate for the admission of his daughter because she had stayed home for eight years. Eventually, the admission did not come through. We asked Musa to refund the money. He kept postponing and I reported him to the registrar.”

  • A season of great comebacks

    Times and seasons are natural phenomena of life. There is a season to sow, a season to plant, a season of rains, a season to laugh and a season to weep. A new season, it would seem, has come for the sporting world. It is the season of great comebacks.

    From the world of golf to the world of football, a common trend has taken over and it is leaving hearts inspired. The two nearly opposite sporting worlds have experienced great unprecedented comebacks in the first few months of 2019.

    In golf, Tiger Woods delivered the greatest comeback ever seen by winning the 2019 Masters more than a decade after a great lapse. So great was his extraordinary feat that it earned him the highest US civilian honor. This award was presented to him by US President himself, Donald Trump.

    For someone who had lost his wife to divorce, lost key sponsors and underwent different surgeries ranging from his knee to his Achilles tendons, and to his back, his win on Sunday, 14th April 2019 was a great inspiration to many.

    Delving into the world of football, Liverpool completed one of the greatest comebacks in football history, beating Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield and 4-3 on aggregate thrusting the club to the Champions League final. This occurred on Tuesday, 7th May 2019.

    As with Tiger Woods, so great was the comeback that popular singer KCee lost a whooping sum of 1million Naira to a @mrchidozie on twitter. The singer had placed his confidence in Barcelona and promised 1 million Naira if Liverpool won.

    Read Also: Seven interesting facts about Awujale of Ijebu at 85

    The singer’s confidence wasn’t out of place. After all, the chances of Liverpool winning against Barcelona was next to impossible given that Barcelona was coming into the game with a 3-0 lead against Liverpool from their first leg. However, Liverpool shocked the world by winning the match with an irrefutable 4-0 win.

    And just when we thought comebacks were over, Tottenham pulled off a beautiful 96th-minute last-gasp comeback by beating Ajax 3-2 just a day after Liverpool’s defeat of Barcelona. The win enabled them join their Premier League rival, Liverpool in the final of the Champions League.

    Indeed it is a season of comebacks that leaves the same quote on everyone’s lips: “never give up”. For the sporting world, one question remains, is the comeback season here to stay? And if it is, in whose court or field will it land next?

  • Seven interesting facts about Awujale of Ijebu at 85

    One might be quick to assume Awujale of Ijebuland Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona is a regular monarch. However, this is not the case; he is a monarch with a difference. His very ascension to power was a pacesetting novelty that broke the traditional practice of ascension to power.

    He authored his biography titled: “Awujale: The Autobiography of Alaiyeluwa Oba SK Adetona, Ogbagba II” where he revealed attributes and events that single him out as a one-of-a-kind monarch.

    1. The third child of seven children, Oba Adetona was born to Omo-oba (Prince) Rufai Adetona and Wolemot Ajibabi Adetona (née Onashile) on May 10th 1934.

    2. For his primary school education, he attended Baptist School, Ereko, Ijebu Ode; Ogbere United Primary School, Oke Agbo, Ijebu Igbo and Ansar-Ud-Deen School, Ijebu Ode between 1943 and 1950. He proceeded to Olu-Iwa (now Adeola Odutola) College, Ijebu Ode for his secondary school education from 1951 to 1956.

    3. On the 2nd of April 1960, he ascended the throne much to his surprise. He had been called back from London where he went to study accounting and was only 25 years old at the time.

    4. He was nominated along with 5 others for the ascension as the Awujale of Ijebuland. Despite him being an unlikely choice and his obvious young age, he was unanimously selected by the kingmakers to ascend the throne.

    5. He has reigned since 1960 making him the longest serving monarch in Nigeria. For an initial unlikely candidate, he has exceeded expectations by sitting on the throne for 59 years.

    6. He has several honorary degrees including the Doctor of Law (LL.D) from the University of Technology, Yola and Doctor of Civil Law (D.CL) from Ogun State University, now Olabisi Onabanjo University.

    7. Oba Sikiru Adetona has three wives and nine children. He is also a proud grandfather.

    Hearty cheers to his majesty, Kabiyesi Alaiyeluwa Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona CFR, Ogbagba II The Awujale of Ijebuland as he celebrates his 85th birthday.

  • NDLEA nabs 32 drug suspects in Gombe

    The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA ) in Gombe state said it arrested 32 drugs suspects and seized 16.82 kilogrammes of hard drugs between January and March, 2019.

    The Commandant of the agency in the state, Mr Aliyu Adole, made this known in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Friday.

    He said the suspects comprised 30 males and two females.

    Adole said that 18 of the suspects had been charged to court, adding that 16 were awaiting trials, while two had been convicted and serving their sentences.

    He said that the other suspects were “patients’’ currently being counselled for rehabilitation.

    Read Also: NDLEA arrests 9,824 drug suspects

    Adole decried the use of Pentazocine injection by some youths in the state in the absence of Tramadol.

    “Some of the youths have become so addicted to drug and this has resulted to the damage of their hands which may no longer function well,” he said.

    The commandant, therefore, urged parents and guardians to counsel their children to stop the abuse of drugs because of the adverse effects.

  • Abacha didn’t believe in private universities, says Jibril

    A former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Universities Commission, Prof. Munzali Jibril, on Friday said late General Sani Abacha believed that the Nigerian private sector was not responsible enough to be entrusted with the delicate task of owning and running universities.

    Prof. Jibril said Abacha gave a verbal directive in 1996 for action to be suspended on the processing of applications for private universities.

    Jibril spoke while delivering lecture at the Igbinedion University, Okada to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the institution.

    He said Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, the Esama of Bénin Kingdom went on to work on General Abdulasakami Abubakar to plead that the applications for the establishment of private universities be brought out of the freezer.

    Prof. Jibril stated that General Abubakar was favourably disposed to the processing of the applications.

    He, however, said high level poverty and the middle-class lack of capacity to afford private universities’ fees was the cause of shortcomings of private universities.

    Jibril said many privates universities in the country neglected staff development and welfare as they only provide staffing for accreditation.

    The former NUC scribe called on private universities to reduce their fees saying that the successful private universities of the future would not be for profit.

    General Abubakar praised Chief Igbinedion for relentlessly pursuing the licence for private universities for nine years.

    Chief Igbinedion said his vision for establishing the university was to bequeath to future generation university education of international standard where academic calendar is run without interruption.

    Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, said the institution has championed educational revolution in higher education in the country.

  • We never passed no confidence vote against Dokubo, says IYC

    The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, critical stakeholders and other leaders in the Niger Delta region have said there was no time they passed a vote of no confidence in the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Prof. Charles Dokubo.

    They insisted that a report suggesting that such development took place was false and should be ignored by members of the public.

    They made the clarification in a joint statement signed by the National Spokesman of the IYC, Daniel Dasimaka, Niger Delta Working Group, Akwa-Cross Youth Coalition for Peaceful Nigeria, (ACYCPN), MEINBUTUS, Coalition of Ijaw Leaders (COIL) and the Niger Deltans for Accountability and Good Governance (NDAGG).

    They appealed to the general public to disregard a statement purportedly made by the President of IYC, Oweilaemi Pereotubo, saying he only expressed his personal opinion.

    The leaders and groups noted that the National Executive Council (NEC) of IYC, leaders of the Niger Delta region and other critical stakeholders never met at any time to take make the ungodly statement expressed by Pereotubo against the PAP Coordinator.

    The leaders said: “The purported statement represents the personal opinion and views of the National President who was acting as a loner and not in the collective interests of the Ijaw youths and the Ijaw Nation in general.

    “The general public should be mindful of these conflict entrepreneurs. The vision of Dokubo is at variance with the old order which has led to his continuous resistance. If they have had the best solutions, why is there no permanent solutions to the region’s problems.

    Read Also: IYC to Wike: No harm should befall Awara

    “We make bold to say that the region is satisfied with the performance of Dokubo and we urge President Mohammed Buhari to retain him in the new cabinet.

    “To say that the Ijaws have taken such position is nonsense. IYC is happy with the gains the PAP has made by sustaining the empowerment program, training and the lasting peace we enjoy in the region, which we hope to take advantage of rather than casting selfish aspersions and trying to pull down a worthy son of the Niger Delta region.

    “We appeal to Nigerians to disregard the purported statement credited to IYC President as the statement represents the opinion of the author and his cohorts”.

  • Alleged N650m fraud: EFCC to re-arraign ex-minister Akinjide

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will re-arraign former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Mrs Jumoke Akinjide for alleged money laundering on June 11.

    The anti-graft agency charged her along with a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader in Oyo State Chief Olarenwaju Otiti and a former Senator representing Oyo Central Senatorial District Ayo Adeseun.

    Former Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, said to be at large, is also named in the charge.

    They will be re-arraigned before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

    The defendants were arraigned on January 16 last year before Justice Muslim Hassan on an amended 24-count charge.

    Read Also: Why we arrested Naira Marley, by EFCC

    Trial had begun before Hassan before the case was transferred to Justice Aneke.

    Otiti and Adeseun had on February 6 prayed Justice Hassan to recuse himself from the case.

    They accused him of bias, claiming that as a former head of EFCC’s legal unit before he was appointed a judge, they did not believe they would get justice in his court.

    Although the judge had refused to recuse himself, the Chief Judge eventually reassigned the case to Justice Aneke.

    Defence counsel Messrs Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), O.F.A Adeosun and Akinola Oladeji prayed the court for another date for the re-arraignment.

    Ayorinde said he and prosecuting counsel Rotimi Oyedepo were to appear in another trial before another judge.

    He told the court that Oyedepo would want to be present during the re-arraignment.

    EFCC accused the defendants of conspiring to directly take possession of N650million from Mrs Alison-Madueke, which they reasonably ought to have known was part of proceeds of an unlawful act, and without going through a financial institution.

    The alleged offence, EFCC said, contravenes the Money Laundering Act.

    The defendants pleaded not guilty.

     

     

  • Help us battle Kaduna bandits, kidnappers, El-Rufai tells Navy

    As the Nigerian Navy commissioned its School of Armament Technology in Kachia, Kaduna State, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has appealed to the force to assist in battling armed bandits, kidnappers and other criminals terrorising the state, especially in South Kaduna.

    Nigerian Navy school of Armament Technology, (NNSAT) is an institution responsible for providing support in desert warfare and redeployment training for the Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service Operatives.

    NNSAT, relocated to Kachia in 2009 has trained 46 OLC officers, 279 STC officers, 158 instructor refreshers course (IRC) ratings, 3 special duty post commissioning training (SDPCT) officers, 866 fire control grades I-III ratings and 911 quarter armourer grade I-III ratings.

    While speaking as the Guest of Honour at the commissioning ceremony, Governor El-Rufai noted that, efforts of the Naval personnel and the synergy with other security agencies has significantly contributed immensely in curbing insecurity in southern part of Kaduna and the state at large.

    The Governor however challenged the Navy not to relent in its security duties, especially towards battling the menace of armed banditry, kidnapping and other criminality in Kaduna State.

    According to the Governor, “The courage of your men and women, and the synergy with other security agencies has significantly contributed to curbing insecurity in most part of the state.

    “I also challenge you not to rest on your oars, I urge you to be relentless in your determination to decimate the menace of armed banditry and criminality from Kaduna and other states.

    “I assure you all that Kaduna state remains committed to providing you with any support needed for you to attain your constitutional mandate,” El-Rufai said.

    Read Also: NYSC DG to Corps members: Don’t lose faith in Nigeria

    Earlier in his welcome address, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas said the school will spur the Nigerian Navy to be more proactive in the course of its duties, as it will enhance professionalism within the naval family.

    He disclosed that NNSAT would collaborate with similar institutions and relevant universities beyond the shore of the country to maximize the benefits of the facilities.

    The Chief of Naval Staff further explained that the school has been designated as one of the cells of the Directorate of Research and Development of the Nigerian Navy.

    He added that the concept behind the establishment of the school is to have a centre of excellence in naval armament capable of word class in terms of design, fabrication, manufacturing and testing of weapons; weapons systems, prognostic reports and sensors.

    According to him, the school is one of the Nigerian Navy’s four core seaman professional training schools to train personnel of Above Water Warfare specialty in weapons handling and internal security operations.

    “The school is expected to boost Nigerian Navy’s response capacity by sharpening knowledge on operational concepts and doctrinal practices towards addressing threats in the fifth operational spectrum of the Nigerian Navy total spectrum maritime strategy,” he said.

  • NYSC boss to Corps members: Don’t lose faith in Nigeria

    Anambra State Coordinator, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr. Kehinde Aremu has charged corps members in the state not to lose faith in Nigeria.

    He cautioned them against acts that could further tarnish the already dwindling image of the country.

    Aremu spoke during an interactive session organized by the Accountability Lab Nigeria for corps members in the state.

    He said their little individual efforts at making the nation home of honest and accountable people meant a lot.

    The NYSC helmsman, who recently bagged the Integrity Idol award, advised them to embrace honest living.

    He said, “It has become pertinent to mainstream the ideals of honesty, accountability and integrity into corps members because the Scheme possesses the spread capable of sensitizing and conscientising the grassroots towards imbibing such objectives.

    He argued that Nigerians could be like Americans if the corps members agreed to enthrone the virtues of honesty, integrity and accountability.

    In his remarks, the Team Lead of the Accountability Lab, Samuel Emenogu, said the emphasis of his organization was team building.

    Read Also; New NYSC DG assumes office, sets 5-point agenda to improve scheme

    He said its mission was to build hubs of integrity among colleagues in the civil service, which he believed would promote good governance.

    “Our target is to get the NYSC to collaborate with us in our efforts to curb these ugly trends among government officials in Nigeria and to instill desired values in them,” he said.

    Emenogu expressed hope that the organization’s little acts of integrity in its own space were being noticed.

    While lauding the NYSC coordinator for distinguishing himself for the award, Emenogu however regretted that he was one of the few persons the corps members would come across worth emulating.

    A corps member, Okechukwu Okoronkwo, while appreciating the facilitators and the NYSC management, described the session as timely and enriching.

    He said, “The call could not have come at a better time, particularly for those of us desirous of working in the public service.”

    Highpoint of the event was the recognition of some corps members whose acts in the past earned them commendation.

  • NLC wants judicial Commission to investigate NSITF

    The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to institute a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the activities of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) since the dissolution of the last board to unearth the financial dealings in the organisation.

    The call is coming as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige on Friday asked workers who are members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to disregard the directive by their President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba to come out on a national protest on Monday, May 13, 2019, over the attack on workers on Wednesday while picketing his house, describing the call as unlawful.

    At the end of its Central Working Committee meeting on Thursday at the Labour House in Abuja, Wabba told newsmen that the congress has decided to embark on a national protest in Abuja on Monday against the Minister’s action of “inviting thugs” to attack workers.

    The workers had gone to the house of the Minister to picket him over failure to inaugurate the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) headed by Chief Frank Kokori.

    President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said the call for a commission of inquiry has become necessary since the Minister has alluded to the fact that there was corruption in the agency which handles social welfare of Nigerian workers.

    Wabba said “since the Minister has been talking about corruption in the NSITF, we are calling for a judicial commission where everybody including the minister should go and make presentations so that at the end of the day, we should be able to unearth those behind the corruption he is talking about.

    “We want to find out if the board that has not been inaugurated is responsible for this fraud he is talking about or whether this corruption was carried out under his watch as a sole administrator of the NSITF.

    “We are against corruption. That was why, when he said he wanted to clean up the place after EFCC forensic audit of the place, we agreed with him. But he has been looking for different excuses not to inaugurate the board even when the President directed him to do so.

    “The NLC had two representatives in dissolved board and after the EFCC investigation, nothing was found against any of our people there. It was his Permanent Secretary that was arraigned in court. So, we are asking the President to set up the commission so that we all go there and tell them all that we know for the whole world to see”.

    Wabba insisted that workers would be on the street in Abuja on Monday on a national protest which is the first in the series of activities lined up to ensure that the Minister does not have his way.

    However, Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Nwachukwu Obidiwe said in a statement made available to newsmen that calling out workers on a flimsy and selfish excuse of non-inauguration of the board of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) with Comrade Frank Kokori as the Chairman did not constitute a Trade Dispute as contained in the Labour Act.

    “ The issue in question is political. It is about the exclusive right of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to make an appointment. This is clearly outside the purview of the Trade Union and Trade Disputes Act, hence imperative for workers to go about their normal businesses.

    Read Also: Ngige to workers: disregard NLC’s call for protest on Monday

    “It is important to state here that every worker is supposed to put in eight hours of work per day, for five days in a week in line with the ILO Convention. Therefore, using the office hours for such protest without the approval of the employers is unlawful.

    “The forty hours a week which the Nigerian workers subscribed to should be used for productive ventures especially in view of the new National Minimum Wage and the consequential financial adjustments.”

    He dismissed the directive by the NLC to workers to attack him and his family members anywhere they were sighted, describing it a criminal offence for which he was already taking necessary legal action.

    It added that the Minister remained the Competent Authority in all issues concerning labour in Nigeria, including its external relations in line with the ILO Convention, warning that internationalizing what was clearly the exclusive right of the President on political appointment was a unpatriotic.

    Meanwhile, a civil society organisation, Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy wants President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the crisis saying the long silence of the President was not helping matters.

    The group in a statement signed National President of the group, Comrade (Engr.) Igbini Odafe Emmanuel, however, condemned the invasion of the residence of the Minister, saying even though Dr. Ngige was a Minister of the federal republic, he was still entitled to his privacy, adding that the person of Chief Frank Kokori does not deserve the level of humiliation being extended to him by the controversy surrounding the inauguration of the board of the NSITF.

    He said: “While we sincerely commend and appreciate the support being given by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to Comrade (Chief) Frank Kokori (NLC) for him to be sworn in as Chairman of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) given his enviable track record in the struggle and sacrifice for the enthronement of Democracy in Nigeria in 1993 that we all now enjoy, his record of integrity and vast knowledge of public management, all of which eminently qualifies him to be appointed Minister of Labour, we however strongly condemn the reported decision by the leadership of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to picket the residence of the Minister of Labour (Dr Ngige Chris) which led to violence and injuries.

    “This picketing was not only unlawful and against the Trade Dispute Act of Nigeria and gross violation of the Fundamental Right of Dr Ngige to his private life, but also an embarrassment to organise Labour Organisation. Labour Organisations are not lawless Organisations and not expected to act lawlessly no matter the perceived provocations.

    “Assuming without conceding that Hon. Minister Ngige, acted unlawfully to refuse the inauguration of Comrade (Chief) Frank Kokori as Chairman of the Management Board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), how then does such act constitute a Trade Dispute which allows NLC the Right to peacefully picket Offices or Businesses where the dispute arises?

    “It must be made very clear to NLC that there are laws (Acts of National Assembly) that established and regulate Trade Unions and Trade Disputes which must be obeyed by all parties (Employers and Employees) of Trade Unions.
    “NLC should have restricted its protest or picketing to the official office of the Minister of Labour, the Presidential Villa (Office of President of Nigeria) or any Federal Government Office it deems has relationship with the NSITF with a view to putting pressure on President Buhari to direct the Minister to inaugurate Comrade Kokori as Chairman of the Board.

    “To take their protest to the residence of a government official for matters that are wholly and strictly official is strongly condemned and should not be tolerated by Nigerians because such act is not only lawless but violates the private life of Hon. Min. (Dr Chris Ngige) and indeed any official of Government and Private sector and including even leaders of NLC who are also not immune from being protested against by their members or employees of NLC.

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