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  • Samsung donates relief materials to Plateau violence victims

     

    As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Nigeria, Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) has donated electrical equipment, clothing and other relief materials to victims of herdsmen and Boko Haram’s attacks in Jos, Plateau State.

    SHI’s new gesture is coming less than one year after the Korean shipbuilding giant funded the cost of eye surgery for 102 Nigerian patients with cataracts.

    The patients at the risk of blindness successfully recovered their eyesight with Vision Care, an organisation under the World Health Organisation (WHO).

    Since 2015, Samsung has worked with Vision Care in the annual Eye Camp to give free cataract surgeries to individuals who cannot afford the treatment.

    SHIN, in a statement, explained a missionary group from Korea constructed school in Jos for the villagers in Rhizha where four missionaries are teaching about 560 children and providing counselling to victims, mostly women, suffering from the trauma sustained from Boko Haram attacks.

    As part of its humanitarian assistance, SHIN said it has continually made donations to the missionary group over a number of years and lent a helping hand to the community and its people.

    READ ALSO: Samsung’s Egina wins French project award

    The statement added that the villagers have suffered from attacks by herdsmen with many losing their family members and livelihoods to these acts of violence.

    However, these acts of violence have not deterred the missionary from creating this initiative to assist the community.

    The missionary group from Korea has been able to construct a church and a school while Samsung has donated electrical goods, which including televisions which will be used in the school by the children.

    Samsung has also donated other electrical items for the benefits of the entire community.

    Items of clothing were also delivered to the villagers.

    In a letter of appreciation addressed to SHIN, a member of the Korean missionary, Jae Seo said: “I have been working in Nigeria since 1991 as a Korean missionary.

    “Among our works here in Northern Nigeria, one of our joys is that we see a big progress of the children at our school.

    “Presently we have 88 students and soon in September 25 more students will join us.

    “Our school is still at the baby-stage since it is only three years old. We have hardly any electronic equipment.

    “Thank you for your donation of 10 laptop computers, 10 TVs and 10 refrigerators along with 100 pieces of T-shirts and caps.

    “All of us at EMS Rija Academy say ‘Thank you so much for your generous donations.”

    According to the statement by SHIN, the community was also extremely pleased with the donations and SHIN’s support.

    “Samsung has actively been participating and involving in CSR activities not just in Nigeria, but on a global scale, in more than 70 countries.

    “It is our belief and philosophy that we have the responsibility to contribute to the society as one of the largest corporations in the world.

    “Apart from providing succor to these victims of violence, Samsung’s social contributions in Nigeria also include the establishment of a world-class Welding Qualification Centre in Lagos.

    “This centre has trained 530 young Nigerians and they have received international certifications which they can use for many job opportunities.

    “Due to the success of the programme, structures have been put in place to ensure the centre is lively and will keep providing high-end technological transfer to Nigerian youths,”  SHIN explained.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Breaking: Australia’s former PM, Bob Hawke dies at 89

    Bob Hawke, a transformative and charismatic left-wing lawmaker with a “larrikin’’ streak who served as Australian prime minister from 1983 to 1991, died on Thursday aged 89, his family said.

    “Today we lost Bob Hawke, a great Australian, many would say the greatest Australian of the post-war era,” his wife and former biographer Blanche d’Alpuget, said in a statement.

    While others may have struggled to dismiss a reputation for boisterous, if well-meaning, behaviour, silver-haired Hawke said it helped him win favour with working-class voters.

    Prime Minster Scott Morrison hailed Hawke’s ability to speak to all Australians.

    “Bob Hawke was a great Australian who led and served our country with passion, courage, and an intellectual horsepower that made our country stronger,” he said on social media.

    Hawke’s death comes ahead of a Saturday general election, with his opposition Labor party is narrowly ahead in the polls.

    “The Australian people loved Bob Hawke because they knew Bob loved them, this was true to the very end,” Labor party leader Bill Shorten said in a statement.

    Hawke earned his reputation as a “larrikin”, or loveable rogue, in part due to his world record for drinking a “yard”, or 1.4 litres of beer in 11 seconds while at Oxford University.

    Robert James Lee Hawke, a former trade union leader, was first elected to parliament in 1980 and was named leader of the centre-left Labor Party less than a month before a snap general election in 1983.

    Voters embraced Hawke and Labor won an unlikely landslide against a conservative government led by Malcolm Fraser, who had been in power for nearly a decade.

    Hawke became Australia’s 23rd prime minister.

    “I regard Bob Hawke as the best Labor prime minister this country has ever had,” former conservative leader John Howard, who served as Fraser’s treasurer, said this year.

    Inheriting an economy languishing in recession and with double-digit unemployment and inflation, Hawke embraced economic deregulation that belied his connections with Australia’s largest trade unions.

    Hawke won support from the political left to float the Australian dollar, remove controls on foreign exchange and interest rates and lower tariffs on imports within months of his inauguration.

    Read Also: Osinbajo promises FG collaboration with Lasu

    The reforms triggered a wave of economic growth, allowing Hawke to introduce universal healthcare, strengthen social security for poor families and enact stronger environmental legislation.

    Within months of Hawke becoming prime minister, Australia won sailing’s America’s Cup in 1983, ending 132 years of U.S. dominance over the oldest trophy in world sport.

    Hawke led the celebrations, famously sticking up of anyone who might over-do the revelry, declaring on television: “Any boss that sacks a worker for not turning up is a bum.”

    Australia also made its mark on the international stage under Hawke, who shifted diplomatic priorities away from Britain, fostering closer ties with the U.S., China, Japan and Southeast Asia.

    He also spearheaded international efforts to impose economic sanctions on South Africa over apartheid.

    Hawke was riding high in opinion polls by the mid-1980s and won re-election in 1987 in spite of an economic downturn.

    He won a fourth election in 1990 to become Australia’s longest-serving Labor prime minister however his popularity began to wane amid a recession.

    Paul Keating, Hawke’s treasurer and the architect of Labor’s economic policies, pressured him to step aside as his position weakened.

    However, with no sign that Hawke would retire, Keating challenged him for the leadership in 1991.

    Hawke saw off the first challenge however eventually lost to Keating a few months later in a party-room coup.

    He quit politics three months later.

    Hawke divorced his wife of almost 40 years, Hazel Masterson, after leaving politics and public life and married his biographer, Blanche d’Alpuget.

    He appeared as a media commentator and was in demand as a public speaker.

  • Photos: NLC protest against Ngige

    Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday, took to the streets of Abuja to protest against the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige.

     

  • Fuel subsidy removal will do Nigeria more harm than good – Expert

    Mr. Tunde Olatunji, an expert in Development Economy and Finance, has urged the Federal Government not to remove fuel subsidy as suggested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    Olatunji, who is a member of the Osun House of Assembly, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo on Tuesday that the removal of fuel subsidy would do more harm to the economy than good.

    NAN recalls that the IMF said in April that with the low revenue mobilisation that existed in Nigeria in terms of tax to Gross Domestic Product, it would be good for the country to remove fuel subsidy.

    Addressing a news conference at a joint annual spring meetings with the World Bank in Washington DC last month, the Managing Director of IMF, Christine Lagarde, said that by so doing, the country would be able to move funds into improving health, education, and infrastructure.

    But Olatunji said that before the Federal Government could remove the subsidy, it should ensure that it strengthened the country’s refining capacity.

    Read Also: Is fuel subsidy ideologically inevitable?

    “Nigeria should not talk about removing fuel subsidy now until we have another arrangement in place.

    “Removing subsidy is not rocket science, but we must develop our local capacity for refining our products.

    “Even if we are not exporting locally refined products, we can meet our domestic consumption needs and thereafter we can begin to plan on removing the subsidy.

    “Any attempt to remove the fuel subsidy without any other arrangement in place, will be like ‘solving one problem by creating another’.

    “If we take away fuel subsidy, the pump price will go up, which will have a ripple effect on all goods and services and at the end of the day people will begin to pay more,” he said.

    Olatunji added that the advice offered by IMF might be because of corruption which has affected the economy through the subsidy before the advent of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    “Most countries in the world decide which commodity to subsidise.

    “As a matter of fact, America as at today subsidises its agriculture products and I don’t think they are planning to take it away now.

    “Subsidy is not a crime. As a matter of fact, it is an economic tool.

    “It is when the subsidy regime gets abused and monies meant for it go into private pockets that it becomes an issue,” Olatunji said.

     

     

     

  • FG begins rehabilitation of 104 unity schools

    The Federal Government has begun the renovation and rehabilitation of 104 unity colleges in the country, Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has said.

    He said the rehabilitation exercise include replacement of broken toilets, ceilings, creation of additional classrooms and the renovation of existing ones.

    The minister said the renovation, directed by President Muhammadu Buhari, is aimed at expanding access to education in the country.

    He stated this during the monitoring of  2019 common entrance examination organised by the National Examination Council, in Abuja, on Saturday.

    The minister said about 25, 000 students would be given admission into the colleges nationwide.

    Adamu, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Sonny Echono, disclosed that the government had already begun recruitment of teachers to carter for the new intake next term.

    He said: “We have a challenge of access to education in this country, as part of our interventions to ensure that we bring more children into the school system and reduce the number of kids who are out-of-school, we are having so many programmes. One of it is to increase the spaces available in our unity colleges.

    “You are aware that each time we do this there are other consequential interventions that are needed. You need to have additional classrooms; you need to have additional teachers.

    “We are pleased that Mr. President graciously approved that we should begin to rehabilitate many of these unity colleges. Besides the security infrastructure, we are now providing both new classrooms and as well as rehabilitating the dilapidated ones and we are also dealing with the libraries, laboratories and so on.

    Read Also: Fear grips Ondo Community over ritual killings

    “We are recruiting additional teachers for the unity schools as we speak. Both the regularisation of PTA teachers and new recruitment are ongoing at the Federal Civil Service Commission as we speak and they will come in early enough for them to be inducted, trained, given some kind of preparation ahead of the opening of the schools next term.”

    He said the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has already approved four interventions in some unity schools in Abuja.

    The minister explained that the intervention is to rehabilitate broken toilets, ceilings and classrooms to compliment what the ministry of education is doing.

    “We hope that in the next few years, all those schools will be returned to their glory days,” he added.

    NECO’s Acting Registrar, Abubakar Gana, said 75, 635 candidates sat for the examination on Saturday in 457 centres nationwide, including one centre in Port Novo, Benin Republic.

    Gana said that the results of the examination will be released on Wednesday by the agency through the ministry of education.

    He urged parents to check NECO’s website for the released results.

    Lagos state had the highest number of registered candidates with 23, 459 while Zamfara had the lowest with 59 candidates.

    “The results are expected to be released by NECO to the Federal Ministry of Education on Wednesday 1st May 2019 after which the ministry would direct NECO to release it to the public after the selection exercise.

    “Candidates are to check the status of their admission both at the various Federal Unity Colleges and online via NECO website: www.neco.gov.ng as soon as the release of the results is announced,” the ministry added in a statement.

  • Southern Sun prepares ‘Easter Experience’

    In celebrating the Easter season and ensuring that guests have an opportunity to experience its luxury and culinary offerings with family, friends and their significant others, Southern Sun Ikoyi has unveiled its Easter offerings for guests.

    The package includes special room rates from Thursday, April 18 to Monday, April 22. The hotel is offering guests the opportunity to enjoy uncluttered room for a bed and breakfast stay at the hotel at.

    Famed for its fine dining and serene ambience, the Easter holiday’s package by Southern Sun Ikoyi is one dedicated to give guests a memorable treat of exquisite dishes designed to truly satisfy the taste buds and yearnings of guests with an experience of a culinary ecstasy through its wide varieties on its special Easter brunch on Sunday, April 21.

    Read also: Southern Sun Ikoyi introduces romantic Valentine day offerings

    For fitness enthusiasts, the gym is well-equipped to meet your needs and is run with staff who are extremely warm, friendly and working together in making your overall stay at the hotel, a memorable one. In making this year’s Easter celebration truly unforgettable, take advantage of the long weekend break and usher in the arrival of the Easter bunny in luxurious comfort and style.

  • Babalakin: Varsities can’t continue to survive on govt largesse

    The Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has said universities cannot continue to survive on government largesse, adding that they must learn to invest and improve on revenue generation.

    Speaking yesterday during the conferment of postgraduate and honorary degrees at UNILAG’s 50th Convocation Ceremony, the lawyer said Nigerians universities cannot continue to survive as” government departments expecting government largesse”.

    Babalakin said while there had been a raging battle on whether education should be funded by government alone or it should be funded by government and all stakeholders, his position was that quality education “is an inescapable necessity”.

    His words: “It is a must that we all have to be properly educated, so if government can afford to do it all on its own, so be it. But if government cannot afford it, then we all must join forces to do it. If the choice is between quality education and free education, I choose the former.”

    Citing examples of universities that have worked hard to be self-sufficient, Babalakin said: “Harvard University today has an average of $36b. Oxford and Cambridge Universities jointly have 22 Billion Pounds (about $30b). One College in Cambridge (Trinity College) has $1.3b. How did these universities achieve this? The founders of these universities realized that universities must invest, create value, save money and be productive.

    “Our universities cannot continue to survive as government departments expecting government largesse. We have to take advantage of what we’ve got. There are no less that 50 Nigerians today, who can rebuild UNILAG, but they have to know that their contributions would be used appropriately and they would be able to measure performance and monitor their money.

    “If you can assure them of these, then you will be on the road to rebuilding the university system in a manner that it can compete all over the world. There is nothing such as Nigerian education or Nigerian standard. Standard must be universal and world-wide.”

    Babalakin thanked President Muhammadu Buhari, for his “very keen interest and determination to reposition education in Nigeria”.

    He also thanked the Education Minister, Mallam Adamu Adamu, “whose commitment to the cause of repositioning the education system is unparalleled”; as well as the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Alhaji Abubakar Rasheed, who represented the president at the event.

    Urging the Ph.d graduates to see their degree as a pedestal for greater achievements, the pro-chancellor said: “I want you to be part of a great reformation of Nigeria. I want you to be instrumental to positive change. I want you to be developmental in your various fields and refuse to accept defeat. You are special members of the intelligentsia and you shouldn’t take it for granted.

    “I urge you to take the position of United States President John F. Kennedy when he came into power in 1959, that the torch had been passed to a new generation that will not be deterred by the frivolities and obstructions of the former. Let us decide that we’ll turn every stumbling block to a stepping stone for the attainment of greater heights.”

    Babalakin advised them to participate actively in activities of UNILAG’s Alumni Association, noting that “the greatest universities in the world have gotten to their peak largely because of great support from their alumni”.

    Honorary doctorate degrees were conferred on prominent lawyer, Alhaji Femi Okunnu (SAN); the General Overseer of Mountain & Fires Ministries, Pastor Daniel Olukoya; and Zenith bank Chairman Mr Jim Ovia.

    Also at the event were former Lagos State Deputy Governor Alhaja Lateefat Okunnu; Chief Adebutu Kessington; Lagos State Governor-Elect Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu; former Osun State Deputy Governor Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori; and Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, among others.