Monday, 13 March 2017
Sunday, 12 March 2017
Saturday, 11 March 2017
Thursday, 9 March 2017
Navy dismisses personnel for illegal drug possession
For allegedly being in possession of 14.55kilogrammes of Marijuana, a Nigerian Navy (NN) Seaman, Haruna Umar, has been dismissed from service.
Umar was dismissed and handed over to operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) after a court martial found him guilty of the offence. The suspect was arrested in June last year after he was caught with the drugs.
A statement signed by the spokesperson for the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT, Lieutenant Elizabeth Ibrahim, warned people not to transact any business with him as a military man.
She said: “On June 7, 2016, a Seaman H. Umar with force number X13555 was arrested for being in possession of about 14.55kg of illicit substance suspected to be canabis sativa.
“He was summarily tried and the legal review of the trial indicated that the accused was properly charged and due process was complied with during the trial. He was found guilty and the sentence of dismissal was awarded to him for peddling illicit drugs. Accordingly, the ex-rating was handed over to the NDLEA for necessary action.
“This is to inform the public that the ex-rating is no longer a member of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Anyone who transacts business with him does so at his or her own risk.”
Meanwhile, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah, has given assurance of strict narcotic screening at the Kaduna airport. This, according to him, would help in preventing illicit movement of narcotic drugs by drug cartels.
Abdallah made the pledge following the interception of two suspected drug traffickers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja few hours to its closure on Wednesday with 2.150kg of heroin from Tanzania and 386 grammes of cocaine to Cambodia.
Preliminary investigation revealed that both suspects wanted to capitalize on the temporary relocation to Kaduna airport in moving narcotics at the Abuja airport but the NDLEA promptly arrested them. The suspects are currently under observation pending their arraignment in court.
NDLEA commander at the Abuja airport, Hamisu Lawan, said both suspects tested positive for narcotic ingestion during routine screening.In his words, “two suspected drug traffickers, Odogwu Augustine Ike, 57, caught with 110 wraps of heroin weighing 2.150kg from Tanzania on an Ethiopian airline flight and Lekwauwa Mark Otaka, 53, found to have inserted seven wraps of cocaine weighing 386 grammes into his anus on an Egypt airline flight to Cambodia have been arrested.”
Ike an automobile parts dealer in Onitsha, who excreted 110 wraps of heroin, said he was promised N600,000 to smuggle the drug. Ike, who is married with four children and hails from Anambra State, said he smuggled the drugs because of financial hardship.
Lekwauwa Mark Otaka, an Aba-based shoe merchant, explained that he was afraid swallowing the drugs, hence he decided to insert it into his anus. He is married with three children and hails from Abia State. He was promised N500,000 to smuggle the drug.
Abdallah described the action of the suspects as shameful. “This is a very shameful act and a bad influence on their children. Members of the society should draw lessons from these cases and shun drug trafficking.”He said the agency has taken measures to ensure comprehensive examination of passengers and goods for narcotics at the Kaduna airport.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2nl1u8j
Monday, 6 March 2017
FG urges Jonathan to stop buck-passing on Chibok girls (Read full details)
The Federal Government has urged former President Goodluck Jonathan to stop passing the buck over the Chibok girls who were abducted under his administration.
It described Jonathan’s blame game as an unnecessary distraction from ongoing effort to secure the release of the girls who remained in captivity long after they were abducted.
A British newspaper had during the weekend reported that the British armed forces offered to help the country to rescue the girls but such offers were rebuffed by Jonathan.
However, Jonathan while reacting to the report in a statement by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, said: “Some people who have obviously been playing politics with the issue of the Chibok girls will stop at nothing to further their interest.”
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said while Jonathan reserves the right to defend his administration, he should not engage in finger-pointing because if anyone ever played politics with the issue of Chibok girls, it was the Jonathan’s administration under whose watch the girls were abducted.
He said: “After the girls were kidnapped and the Jonathan administration did nothing for 15 days or made any determined effort to rescue them, the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) told the nation that the Boko Haram crisis was allowed to escalate by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government so they can use it as a political tool ahead of the 2015 elections.”
The minister added that the APC had in a statement on September 8, 2014 said that PDP’s political manipulation of the Boko Haram had to be understood as part of its poker-like calculus for clinging to power ahead of the 2015 elections.
“The Boko Haram crisis was used by the PDP to rationalize the government’s abdication of its constitutional responsibilities, including visits and assistance to areas affected, as well as effective response to abductions. For instance, the then government was silent over the kidnap of the Chibok girls for over 15 days,” he added.
“Two-and-a-half years after that statement, we have been vindicated by the report that claimed that Jonathan rebuffed an attempt by the British government to help rescue the girls. We hope Jonathan will now refrain from stoking further controversy over the lingering abduction issue and allow the government of the day to focus on its ongoing negotiations to release the Chibok girls,” Mohammed said.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2lQtuiJ
Sunday, 26 February 2017
4,000 Osun varsity students risk expulsion over non-payment of fees
students. PHOTO: bellanaija.com
About 4,000 students of Osun State University may be expelled for failing to pay their school fees before the February 28, 2017 deadline set by the authorities of the institution.
The affected students may also miss the first semester examination scheduled to begin on March 6.
The management of the university disclosed this in a statement by the Corporate Affairs Unit yesterday.
According to the statement, as at Saturday, 4,410 students were yet to fulfill this obligation 48 hours to the expiration of the deadline.
The institution’s management set a deadline for payment of school fees when it discovered that many students had not done this, adding that the development has affected the smooth running of the system.
The Guardian learnt that many of the affected students owe the university school fees between two and more semesters. Some of them were alleged to have collected the money from their parents and “invested” it in the failed MMM Ponzi scheme or diverted same to other purposes.
The statement claimed that some concerned parents and guardians of the defaulting students have been making calls to the university’s phone numbers to report that they had given the money to their children.
The university, however, advised students who cannot meet up with the deadline and do not want their admissions terminated to apply to the school authorities to grant them leave of absence for the current semester with a sworn affidavit, pledging to pay before resumption.
The new Vice Chancellor, Prof. Labode Popoola raised the alarm over the issue recently. He said the institution was being owed a backlog of school fees of about N2 billion by students
In a bid to save the institution from financial crisis, the management warned all returning students upon resumption of 2016/2017 academic session that it would no longer tolerate non-adherence to the deadline for payment of fees and course registration as contained in the university calendar and students handbook.
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lpqyKF
Makarfi blasts APC over alleged intolerance, unpreparedness for governance
Ahmed Makarfi
Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of allegedly suppressing opposition, saying the act portrays it as being unprepared for the business of governance.
Speaking on the socio-economic problems confronting the nation, he claimed that the standard of living had declined greatly, adding: “We have learnt our lesson today and we would ensure that we wrestle power back from APC come 2019.”
He decried the deployment of security agents to halt a meeting of his faction following the recent ruling by the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal on the party’s lingering leadership crisis.
In a chat with The Guardian at the weekend, Makarfi said: “You see, the APC came on board unprepared to capture power. We have been in government, of course we made our mistakes, but we have learnt our lesson. We are no beginners. We will take off from where we left, but not making the mistakes that we made. So, we are prepared.”
He alleged that his rival, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, was being used by a powerful block from the outside to destroy the PDP.
But Makarfi was quick to point out that party stalwarts were resolute to put the political grouping on the path of progress again.
He went on: “You see, Sheriff is not even in control of himself. Of course, he may have his own agenda. We have heard that he planned to zone the chairmanship to South South so that he hands over to somebody from Delta State. We have heard that he plans to zone the secretary position to North East, particularly Yobe and gives other key offices to certain states so that nobody fights for those offices, all with the intention to return him as presidential candidate come 2019.”
Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mAT0Jy
Thursday, 23 February 2017
‘People in oil-producing areas are prone to cancer’ (Read full details)
PHOTO: Oxfam America
Again, more studies are linking crude oil products to cancer. A study suggests that with the rising cases of oil spills, pipeline destruction and gas production in the Niger Delta and over dependence on petroleum products, Nigerians are in for a massive health catastrophe.
A new study published in a journal, PLOS ONE, found that young people diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukaemia are more likely to live in areas of high-density oil and gas development compared to others diagnosed with other types of cancer. The researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health at CU Anschutz, United States, however, observed no association between non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and high-density oil and gas development.
The study is titled “Childhood hematologic cancer and residential proximity to oil and gas development.”
Lead investigator and Assistant research professor at the Colorado School of Public Health, Dr. Lisa McKenzie, said: “Over 378,000 Coloradans and millions of Americans currently live within a mile of at least one oil and gas well, and petroleum development continues to expand into residential areas.
“The findings from our registry-based case control study indicate that young Coloradans diagnosed with one type of childhood leukemia are more likely to live in the densest areas of oil and gas sites.
Besides, studies published in American Journal of Environmental Sciences found that more Nigerians are at a greater risk of developing different types of cancer due to exposure to crude oil pollutants.
The studies, which predict ‘epidemic’ of cancers in oil producing areas of Nigeria by 2025, stated that more than 25 per cent of Nigerians are at an increased risk of developing cancer due to exposure to toxic chemicals from crude oil pollution, Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). They also suggest that PAHs can be genotoxic; that is, the damage caused can be inherited.
Another study had established that crude oil, even in low quantity, could harm not just human health but that of fish. The study concluded that people of the Niger Delta are at a higher risk of cancer because high concentrations of this toxic chemical were found in the fishes they eat.
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2l6aMTR
Sunday, 29 January 2017
Iran’s Oscar-winning director to skip awards over Trump visa ban (Read full details)
(FILES) This file photo taken on May 22, 2016 shows Iranian director Asghar Farhadi celebrating on stage after being awarded with the Best Screenplay prize for the film "The Salesman (Forushande) during the closing ceremony of the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi said January 29, 2017y he will not attend next month's Academy Awards, comparing President Donald Trump's visa ban on seven Muslim countries to the actions of hardliners in his own country. Farhadi, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film for "The Salesman", said in a statement carried by Iranian news agencies that he had initially planned to attend the ceremony in Los Angeles, but had been forced to change his mind.<br />Valery HACHE / AFP
Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi said Sunday he will not attend next month’s Academy Awards ceremony, comparing US President Donald Trump’s visa ban on seven Muslim countries to the actions of hardliners in his own country.
Farhadi, nominated for best foreign language film for “The Salesman”, said in a statement released to AFP by his representatives in Los Angeles he had initially planned to attend the ceremony, but had been forced to change his mind.
Trump signed an executive order on Friday prohibiting entry to the United States to all nationals of seven Muslim-majority states — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
“I neither had the intention to not attend nor did I want to boycott the event as a show of objection, for I know that many in the American film industry and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are opposed to the fanaticism and extremism which are today taking place more than ever,” Farhadi said.
“However, it now seems that the possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip.” He said hardliners in United States and Iran acted with the same mentality.
“For years on both sides of the ocean, groups of hardliners have tried to present to their people unrealistic and fearful images of various nations and cultures in order to turn their differences into disagreements, their disagreements into enmities and their enmities into fears,” he aid.
“Instilling fear in the people is an important tool used to justify extremist and fanatic behaviour by narrow-minded individuals.”
His lead actress, Taraneh Alidoosti, had already announced that she would boycott the annual awards ceremony in Los Angeles over Trump’s “racist” visa ban. Farhadi won the best foreign language Oscar in 2012 for his film “A Separation”.
The subjects of “The White Helmets,” an Oscar-nominated documentary about the volunteers who rescue victims of attacks in Syria, will also be unable to attend, it emerged later Sunday.
“We have always said that if we were to be nominated, we would bring Raed Saleh, the head of the White Helmets, who has spoken many times in (Washington) DC, and Khaled Khateeb, the young cinematographer who risked his life over and over again, as our guests,” producer Joanna Natasegara said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly.
“They’ve been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize — these people are the bravest humanitarians on the planet, and the idea that they could not be able to come with us and enjoy that success is just abhorrent.”
The White Helmets say on their website that their unarmed rescuers have saved more than 78,500 lives in Syria. They were nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize last year, although the award went to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos “The White Helmets” is nominated for best documentary short at the Academy Awards on February 26.
Iran’s Oscar-winning director to skip awards over Trump visa ban
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2ki0Eun
Saturday, 28 January 2017
Conte readies Chelsea for sterner tests after FA Cup stroll (Read full details)
Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Willian (R) celebrates with Chelsea's Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas (2R) on his back after scoring the opening goal during the English FA Cup fourth round football match between Chelsea and Brentford at Stamford Bridge in London on January 28, 2017. Glyn KIRK / AFP
Antonio Conte praised the depth of his Chelsea squad after they eased into the last 16 of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win over Brentford as he told the Premier League leaders to prepare for tougher challenges ahead.
Branislav Ivanovic, in what could be his final appearance for the Blues if a reported move away from Stamford Bridge takes place in the closing days of the January transfer window, scored one goal and created another in a 30-minute substitute appearance.
By the time of Ivanovic’s 69th-minute goal, Chelsea were already 2-0 up thanks to early first-half efforts from Willian and Pedro. Michy Batshuayi completed the scoring with a penalty nine minutes from time.
Conte rang the changes ahead of Tuesday’s league match at Liverpool and the Chelsea manager said: “To win away at Liverpool is never easy and we lost the game against them here.
“It will be a really tough game but after that it will be 15 games to the finish line and you want to continue going this way to keep them in the distance,” he added of a Liverpool side who are currently 10 points behind Chelsea and will go into Tuesday’s match on the back of being knocked out of the FA Cup by second-tier Wolves.
“They can fight to the end,” Italian boss Conte insisted.
Chelsea have now won 10 successive home games but Pedro and Cesar Azipilicueta were the only likely members of the Blues starting side at Anfield that featured against fellow west London club Brentford.
But the second string still proved too strong for the Championship team who had no answer to the pace and movement of the hosts.
– ‘Idea of football’ –
“The FA Cup is a good opportunity to see the improvement of these young players,” said Conte. “I am satisfied with what I saw today.
“All the players are totally involved in our idea of football — in our project. It’s very important for me.
“For instance, to score a goal is always important for a forward. Michy works very hard for the team, and is improving,” he added.
Chelsea and Brentford last met in 2013 with the Blues needing a replay at the same stage of the FA Cup to see off the Bees.
A repeat never looked likely on Saturday. Chelsea had scored in their last 40 FA Cup ties, stretching back to 2000, and they continued that run through Willian’s early free-kick.
Pedro struck before the break and then Ivanovic got into the act before the Serbia defender was fouled for the penalty converted by Batshuayi.
“I’m pleased for Ivan to score a goal and it’s important to evaluate a lot of things,” said Conte, who was coy over Ivanovic’s future.
“This season he is not playing a lot with us. It’s not easy to accept this decision but he knows the situation. Players must make the best decision for him and his family and I’m ready to accept every decision.
“He deserves great respect for his Chelsea career and he has won a lot.”
Brentford’s biggest task now is to decide whether striker Scott Hogan is given the green light to join West Ham.
Hogan is rated at £15 million ($19 million, 17.6 million euros) but West Ham have yet to meet the valuation of fellow London club Brentford.
“I have no idea what’s happening with him,” said Brentford manager Dean Smith, who brought Hogan off the bench in the 64th minute against Chelsea.
“I fear interest all the time and I don’t know if his valuation will be met. If it’s not, then he will remain a Brentford player.”
Conte readies Chelsea for sterner tests after FA Cup stroll
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2kfthZS
Makarfi: Interfering In PDP Is recipe for crisis (Read full details)
PDP National Secretariat, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC) of instigating crisis in the PDP.
Chairman of the caretaker committee of the PDP, Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, warned that unless the opposition is allowed to perform its constitutional, the nation’s political future is bleak.
In an interview with The Guardian on various national issues, Makarfi pointed out that the current factional crisis in the PDP “has the potential of bringing avoidable disturbances in large parts of this country.”
According to him: “Where you have a dominant party and you have opposition party, and may be some elements in the dominant party are interfering, maybe to bring down genuine opposition, such can instigate ugly tendencies as we head towards local government elections.
“We believe and we have seen evidence that strong elements in the ruling party are behind the crisis the PDP is facing today. But as a government and a party decision, I don’t have evidence to say that.”
On the rumoured death of President Buhari, he said:“But you know within a party and government there are cells of interests. Some are more powerful than others and each cell with different ambition; we believe there are strong cells within the party and government of APC who are fuelling this crisis and who are behind this crisis, and whose aims and objectives are not even to help the president govern the country well or even return to power.
“We know that their ambition is to even wrest power from the incumbent. And also for that to be easier for them, there shouldn’t be opposition. This we know, but time will definitely tell whether they will even survive within the larger APC family, time will tell.”
He described PDP factional leader, Senator Modu Sheriff as a political soldier without troops, saying some elements in the APC have not relented in their avowed mission of destabilising the PDP.
On the continued insistence by Sherrif that he remained the party chairman, he said: “I don’t want to overlabour this matter, you say you lead people; but when you don’t have the people I don’t know what you are leading.”
He said that despite the crisis facing the PDP, the party is working assiduously to reclaim the mantle of leadership back from the APC in 2019.
Makarfi: Interfering In PDP Is recipe for crisis
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2jr9xOx
North East 500 years behind South in education, says VC (Read full details)
PHOTO: imeela.com
The Vice Chancellor of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Prof. Abubakar Njodi, has said it may take the North East 500 years to “recover from the destruction” of its education system by Boko Haram, and catch up with the southern part of the country.
Njodi, a Professor of Physical and Health Education, who made the disclosure yesterday stated that even before the advent of Boko Haram, studies had indicated that the region was about 150 years behind other parts of the country, particularly the South.
While receiving a delegation of the Presidential Committee on North East Initiative (), which came to condole with him and the university community over the January 16, 2017 bomb attack that claimed the lives of three staff members, including a professor, he stressed that “education in the North is endangered.
“I have said it at different fora that prior to Boko Haram, there were some studies, some real, some speculative, that showed the North, currently comprising 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; was 100 years behind the South. What it means here is that, at that time if the South should stop going to school, it would take the North 100 years to catch up,” Njodi added.
He further disclosed that: “When the northern part of the country was carved into North East, North West and North Central, the North East was 150 years behind,” adding that at that time, if the South stopped going to school, it would have taken the North East 150 years to catch up.”
He therefore pointed out that with “the situation that Boko Haram has put us now, if those studies are anything to go by, the North East may require about 500 to 1, 000 years to catch up with the other five geo-political zones in the country,” as the state of the educational sector there requires the support of all stakeholders, just as the future looks very “bleak and gloomy” for the next generation.
North East 500 years behind South in education, says VC
Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2kfAR6C
Conte readies Chelsea for sterner tests after FA Cup stroll
Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Willian (R) celebrates with Chelsea's Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas (2R) on his back after scoring the opening goal during the English FA Cup fourth round football match between Chelsea and Brentford at Stamford Bridge in London on January 28, 2017. Glyn KIRK / AFP
Antonio Conte praised the depth of his Chelsea squad after they eased into the last 16 of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win over Brentford as he told the Premier League leaders to prepare for tougher challenges ahead.
Branislav Ivanovic, in what could be his final appearance for the Blues if a reported move away from Stamford Bridge takes place in the closing days of the January transfer window, scored one goal and created another in a 30-minute substitute appearance.
By the time of Ivanovic’s 69th-minute goal, Chelsea were already 2-0 up thanks to early first-half efforts from Willian and Pedro. Michy Batshuayi completed the scoring with a penalty nine minutes from time.
Conte rang the changes ahead of Tuesday’s league match at Liverpool and the Chelsea manager said: “To win away at Liverpool is never easy and we lost the game against them here.
“It will be a really tough game but after that it will be 15 games to the finish line and you want to continue going this way to keep them in the distance,” he added of a Liverpool side who are currently 10 points behind Chelsea and will go into Tuesday’s match on the back of being knocked out of the FA Cup by second-tier Wolves.
“They can fight to the end,” Italian boss Conte insisted.
Chelsea have now won 10 successive home games but Pedro and Cesar Azipilicueta were the only likely members of the Blues starting side at Anfield that featured against fellow west London club Brentford.
But the second string still proved too strong for the Championship team who had no answer to the pace and movement of the hosts.
– ‘Idea of football’ –
“The FA Cup is a good opportunity to see the improvement of these young players,” said Conte. “I am satisfied with what I saw today.
“All the players are totally involved in our idea of football — in our project. It’s very important for me.
“For instance, to score a goal is always important for a forward. Michy works very hard for the team, and is improving,” he added.
Chelsea and Brentford last met in 2013 with the Blues needing a replay at the same stage of the FA Cup to see off the Bees.
A repeat never looked likely on Saturday. Chelsea had scored in their last 40 FA Cup ties, stretching back to 2000, and they continued that run through Willian’s early free-kick.
Pedro struck before the break and then Ivanovic got into the act before the Serbia defender was fouled for the penalty converted by Batshuayi.
“I’m pleased for Ivan to score a goal and it’s important to evaluate a lot of things,” said Conte, who was coy over Ivanovic’s future.
“This season he is not playing a lot with us. It’s not easy to accept this decision but he knows the situation. Players must make the best decision for him and his family and I’m ready to accept every decision.
“He deserves great respect for his Chelsea career and he has won a lot.”
Brentford’s biggest task now is to decide whether striker Scott Hogan is given the green light to join West Ham.
Hogan is rated at £15 million ($19 million, 17.6 million euros) but West Ham have yet to meet the valuation of fellow London club Brentford.
“I have no idea what’s happening with him,” said Brentford manager Dean Smith, who brought Hogan off the bench in the 64th minute against Chelsea.
“I fear interest all the time and I don’t know if his valuation will be met. If it’s not, then he will remain a Brentford player.”
Vía The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jr3dq7
Makarfi: Interfering In PDP Is recipe for crisis
PDP National Secretariat, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC) of instigating crisis in the PDP.
Chairman of the caretaker committee of the PDP, Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, warned that unless the opposition is allowed to perform its constitutional, the nation’s political future is bleak.
In an interview with The Guardian on various national issues, Makarfi pointed out that the current factional crisis in the PDP “has the potential of bringing avoidable disturbances in large parts of this country.”
According to him: “Where you have a dominant party and you have opposition party, and may be some elements in the dominant party are interfering, maybe to bring down genuine opposition, such can instigate ugly tendencies as we head towards local government elections.
“We believe and we have seen evidence that strong elements in the ruling party are behind the crisis the PDP is facing today. But as a government and a party decision, I don’t have evidence to say that.”
On the rumoured death of President Buhari, he said:“But you know within a party and government there are cells of interests. Some are more powerful than others and each cell with different ambition; we believe there are strong cells within the party and government of APC who are fuelling this crisis and who are behind this crisis, and whose aims and objectives are not even to help the president govern the country well or even return to power.
“We know that their ambition is to even wrest power from the incumbent. And also for that to be easier for them, there shouldn’t be opposition. This we know, but time will definitely tell whether they will even survive within the larger APC family, time will tell.”
He described PDP factional leader, Senator Modu Sheriff as a political soldier without troops, saying some elements in the APC have not relented in their avowed mission of destabilising the PDP.
On the continued insistence by Sherrif that he remained the party chairman, he said: “I don’t want to overlabour this matter, you say you lead people; but when you don’t have the people I don’t know what you are leading.”
He said that despite the crisis facing the PDP, the party is working assiduously to reclaim the mantle of leadership back from the APC in 2019.
Vía The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kFUP75
North East 500 years behind South in education, says VC
PHOTO: imeela.com
The Vice Chancellor of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Prof. Abubakar Njodi, has said it may take the North East 500 years to “recover from the destruction” of its education system by Boko Haram, and catch up with the southern part of the country.
Njodi, a Professor of Physical and Health Education, who made the disclosure yesterday stated that even before the advent of Boko Haram, studies had indicated that the region was about 150 years behind other parts of the country, particularly the South.
While receiving a delegation of the Presidential Committee on North East Initiative (), which came to condole with him and the university community over the January 16, 2017 bomb attack that claimed the lives of three staff members, including a professor, he stressed that “education in the North is endangered.
“I have said it at different fora that prior to Boko Haram, there were some studies, some real, some speculative, that showed the North, currently comprising 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; was 100 years behind the South. What it means here is that, at that time if the South should stop going to school, it would take the North 100 years to catch up,” Njodi added.
He further disclosed that: “When the northern part of the country was carved into North East, North West and North Central, the North East was 150 years behind,” adding that at that time, if the South stopped going to school, it would have taken the North East 150 years to catch up.”
He therefore pointed out that with “the situation that Boko Haram has put us now, if those studies are anything to go by, the North East may require about 500 to 1, 000 years to catch up with the other five geo-political zones in the country,” as the state of the educational sector there requires the support of all stakeholders, just as the future looks very “bleak and gloomy” for the next generation.
Vía The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jCXOzn
