National Open University Admits 120 Inmates in Enugu

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July 7, 2022

One hundred-and-twenty inmates of Enugu Custodial Centre have gained admission into the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

NOUN has a special study centre at the custodial centre.

Addressing the matriculating students and 11 others, who just graduated, the Controller-General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa, said the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) focused on using education as tool for reformation and re-orientation of inmates.

“The NCoS has committed resources to ensure that inmates develop themselves while in custody to ensure public protection.

“I thank non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations and NOUN for their partnership over the years,” he said.

Nababa was represented at the occasion by the Controller of Corrections in Enugu State, Nicholas Obiako.

In his remarks, Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Olufemi Peters, cautioned the matriculating inmates to be of good behaviour and to shun acts capable of truncating their educational pursuits.

He also presented first degree certificates to 11 inmates who graduated from the centre.

Peters was represented by the Director, Enugu Special Study Centre, Prof. Alexander Onyia, who administered the oath of allegiance on the newly-admitted inmates.

Officer-in-charge of the custodial centre, Mr Joseph Usifo, commended the inmates over the educational feat they had attained.

Usifo, a Deputy Controller of Corrections, urged other inmates to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the NCoS to better their lots educationally.

Present at the event were representatives of the state’s Ministry of Justice, the National Directorate of Employment, the state’s Ministry of Education, Federal Road Safety Corps and Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action

ASUU; Sanwo-Olu’s Aide Seeks End to Strike, Says New Varsities Over-subscribed

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 7, 2022

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Worried by the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Special Adviser on Education (SAE) to the Lagos State Governor, Tokunbo Wahab, on Tuesday, appealed to the federal government and stakeholders to intervene and end the five-month-old strike.

Wahab, who made the appeal when members of the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN) paid him a courtesy visit in his office at Alausa, Ikeja, acknowledged the association as partners in the development of education.

He said ASUU strike has to be called off to enable the students go back for their studies that had been truncated for over five months. According to him, “ASUU needs to change its approach to strike as no nation can develop with its youths at home for months because an idle hand is a devil’s workshop.”

“We can’t continue to keep Nigerian youths at home for several months. No nation can develop with its active youths at home for over five months. The federal government and concerned stakeholders must act fast to end the prolonged strike.”He said

Since Lagos State University (LASU) is not on strike, many applicants in the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) chose its three public universities.

“LASU, Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUST) and the Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) are now oversubscribed in the 2022 UTME application.“LASU and the two new universities are not on strike, but we are worried that at the national level, students have been at home for months. Because of absence of strike in LASU and the new universities, we are currently over subscribed,” Wahab stated

The SAE disclosed that by September, the first set of new students would be admitted and that the two universities would run 96 programmes with one particularly course over subscribed by 1,000 applicants. He further revealed that Governor Sanwo-Olu is doing so much in education, but his achievements is under reported.

The admonished EWAN to showcase the numerous achievements this administration has recorded.

“The governor is doing a lot in the sector, but it is underreported. Education is critical to this administration and to develop the state, we invested huge fund in education. His investment in education is unprecedented.

“The state is heading towards a positive direction. In WASSCE, we moved from 38.79 per cent to 79.64 per cent in terms of students’ performance.“Our primary schools are doing well. The introduction of Ekoexcel has changed the landscape of education in the state.”

The Chairman of EWAN, Mojeed Alabi, commended the SAE for assisting the governor to transform the tertiary institutions in the state and pledged its support to partner with the state government to promote education.

“As a product of popular struggle, you have demonstrated your understanding of the need to prioritise the needs of the masses, and we are happy that you have not derailed. We will fight when the need arises and when you are doing well we will commend you.“Therefore, this token of presentation from us is an extension of our own hands of fellowship in honour of your humility and commitment to reposition education for good.”

Updated: Lagos PDP Clears Air on Funke Akindele’s status

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 7, 2022

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The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the governorship candidate of the party, Olajide Adediran, has not named Nollywood actress Funke Akindele as running mate.

The Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary, Hakeem Amode, said the party was not aware of any running mate yet.

Amode was reacting to reported emergence of Akindele, as running mate nominee to the PDP governorship candidate.

According to him, the candidate will soon announce his running mate without delay and everybody will know.

“It is not in my place to announce who the running mate to our governorship candidate, Jandor, is. Let us wait for the candidate himself to announce.

“Has the candidate of the party announced anywhere that he has picked his own running mate?

“What you are reading online on this, is it from the candidate of the party?

“The candidate of the party will announce who his running mate is and he has not done that. We should wait for the official announcement,” Amode said.

When probed further to know if the party had settled on anyone for the running mate slot for PDP governorship candidate, Amode declined response.

The party’s spokesman added that he could not also confirm the choice of Akindele as the running mate of the party’s governorship candidate.

According to him, it is the candidate, not the party, that will announce who the running mate will be just like the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar did when he announced Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta as his running mate for the 2023 election.

“He will do that in no time and you all will hear. I will not confirm anything, the candidate of the party will do so,” he said.

Kaduna Govt Threatens To Sack More Unqualified Teachers

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 7, 2022

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The Kaduna State Government has threatened to sack more unqualified teachers in the state even as the controversy over the June 19, sack of 2,357 primary school teachers for failing the government’s competency tests, is still raging on.

This came as the government said it plans to recruit 10,000 primary school teachers to replace disengaged ones and improve teacher-pupil ratio, saying the children from poor homes deserve competent teachers.

The Deputy Governor of the state, Hadiza Balarabe, made this known at the inauguration of the distribution of learning materials to pupils in 4,260 public primary schools and 838 learning centres.

The state government had on June 19, announced the sack of 2,357 primary school teachers for failing the government’s competency tests.

Recall that the state government had in 2018 sacked 21,780, for failing a similar test while 233 others were sacked in December 2021 for allegedly presenting fake certificates.

According to the deputy governor, the government would continue to weed unqualified teachers in public schools and no amount of distraction would stop it, saying “The quality of instruction is very important in determining the educational outcomes of our children and we cannot allow only the children of a few to steal the advantage that education provides.

“Nor shall we continue to allow poor quality education to be available to the children of the weak and vulnerable in our society, who attends public schools.

“Children of the poor also deserve competent teachers, and it is our sworn responsibility to ensure that they get it.”

Balarabe said the state government had renovated more than 500 public primary and secondary schools and provided perimeter fencing in many schools as required by UN agencies for the security of children.

She noted that new schools were built including new science secondary schools and many blocks of classrooms constructed in primary and other secondary schools across the state.
Balarabe said that the Better Education Service Delivery for All, BESDA, and the state primary education development projects had ensured construction of more classrooms at the primary school level.

According to her, “This is to accommodate the return of out of school children to classes. However, as important as classrooms and physical structures are in creating conducive learning environments, lack of access to books pose an even greater challenge to learning.
“Therefore, our free book policy is to increase access to textbooks, exercise books, sandals, sharpeners, pencils, erasers, school bags and magnetic boards.”

According to the deputy governor, When poor children are exposed to books early, they would learn to read better, adding that the more children had access to books the more likely they would learn better.

She noted that the problems in education were “simply overwhelming” adding that the government alone could not bear the burden.

“That is why other stakeholders must come in with more commitments if we are to make any meaningful progress.”

ASUU: Medical Lecturers Distance Selves From Strike

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 7, 2022

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The ongoing strike embarked upon by four university-based unions has taken a new twist, as lecturers in medical schools of some Federal Universities have distanced themselves from the industrial action.

This came on a day the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, said the Federal Government’s promise of immediate reply to its submission to the committee set up to negotiate with it had not been fulfilled, nearly a month after.

In a letter to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, by the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, MDCAN, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, UMTH, branch, the lecturers said they never joined the strike and, consequently, requested for payment of their withheld salaries from March to June 2022.

The lecturers also sent the same letter to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, as well as the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

The letter, dated June 29, 2022, signed by the Assistant Secretary of the union, Mohammed Abdulahi, and entitled: ‘Request for Payment of Our Withheld Salaries from March-June 2022’, read: “We, members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital branch, majority of which form the College of Medical Sciences Academic Board, University of Maiduguri, wish to kindly request for payment of our withheld salaries from March 2022-June 2022.

“This is because our members (medical lecturers in the University of Maiduguri) have been patriotically doing their work, which includes teaching, training and conducting examinations of medical students throughout the period of the ongoing strike.”

They drew the attention of the minister to their earlier correspondences in March, with the Provost, College of Medicine, and Vice Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, notifying them of their resolve to remain at work, notwithstanding the strike declared by ASUU.

They explained that the proactive step was taken in case the Federal Government decides to stop the salaries of ASUU members.

The medical lecturers, therefore, appealed for the kind intervention of the minister to encourage their patriotic members to continue their services for the good of Nigerians.

It was reliably gathered that apart from UMTH, other institutions, which medical colleges pulled out of the strike, include Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, ATBUTH, Bauchi, and Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, UDUTH, Sokoto.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, could not be reached for his comment at press time.

However, a source in the Education Ministry said they had verified that medical lecturers were teaching and that Usman Danfodio even graduated medical doctors in March/April.

The source, who is a senior official of the ministry, showered praises on the lecturers for their patriotism and assured that their withheld salaries would be paid as soon as possible.

“Theirs is an act of patriotism. Persistent strike by lecturers is at the base of poor grading of Nigerian universities and part of the reasons for the falling academic standard.

”How I wish others will emulate those who have decided to remain in the classroom while the numerous challenges facing higher education are sorted out,” the official said.

Wimbledon 2022: Rafael Nadal Suffers 7mm Abdomen Tear Ahead Of Blockbuster Semi-Final Clash With Nick Kyrgios

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Emenike Agu

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July 7, 2022

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Former World No.1 Rafael Nadal has suffered a ‘seven-millimetre’ tear to his abdomen. Nadal defied injury to outclass Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday. Nadal will meet Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam event on Friday.

Former World No.1 Rafael Nadal is in a race against time as the Spaniard has suffered an abdominal injury ahead of his semi-final meeting with Australia’s Nick Kygrious at the Wimbledon Championships. Nicknamed the King of Clay, the record-time French Open winner had to battle an abdominal injury in his epic five-set thriller against 11th-seeded American Taylor FRITZ at Wimbledon 2022 on Wednesday. Nadal defeated Fritz to enter his eighth semi-final of the prestigious Grand Slam event at the All England Club.

Nadal, who won the Wimbledon title in the 2008 and 2010 editions, took a medical time-out in the second set during his quarter-final clash with Fritz at the Centre Court. Overcoming the abdominal pain and making adjustments in his style of play, Nadal managed to find a way to upstage Fritz in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam event. Nadal defeated the American 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4) to reach another semifinal at the All England Club.

According to a report filed by Marca, Nadal has suffered a “seven millimetre” tear to his abdomen. However, Nadal is expected to play in the semi-final of the Wimbledon Championships. Nadal will meet Kyrgios in the penultimate clash of the Grand Slam event on Friday. Nadal also suffered a two-centimetre tear during the 2009 edition of the US Open. Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro had crushed an injured Nadal in straight sets at the time.

TN Sports Desk

Ingrace Motors Obtains FG Approval To Assemble Cars In Nigeria

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faith Jegede

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July 7, 2022

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The Enugu state government has expressed delight at the commitment of Ingrace group in promoting indigenously manufactured vehicles in Nigeria.

Speaking when a delegation from Ingrace motors Nigeria limited, led by its chief executive officer Chinedu Onu, the secretary to the state government, prof. Simon Uchenna Ortuanya, and congratulated the automobile company for demonstrating the “we can do it in Nigeria” spirit.

The company displayed its brands and donated one of the vehicles to the Enugu state government recently, to assess the durability, flexibility and strength,

Ortuanya disclosed that the company’s vision is in tandem with the administrations’ cardinal policies of in investment promotion in investment promotion and protection of life and property.

Appreciating Ingrace motors for the car donation, prof. Ortuanya informed the company that the state government will come up with policies to foster its growth and actualize its vision in the interest of the people of Enugu State, Nigeria and humanity.

With the blessing of the federal government, the automobile company has acquired over 600 plots of land, completely cleared, for the assembly plant

The CEO who acknowledged the governor’s individual support to the company over the years, said: “we have come to the Enugu state government house to seek the state government’s support and blessings.

Haiti Marks Anniversary Of Moise Murder

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Zoe Maven

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July 7, 2022

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Haiti on Thursday commemorated the one-year anniversary of the murder of President Jovenel Moise, whose killing created a power vacuum and allowed the country’s gangs to expand their territory and even take over the headquarters of the nation’s courts.

Haitian police have arrested more than 40 people, but have yet to charge anyone in the murder, in which a group of gunmen that included former Colombian soldiers stormed Moise’s home in a pre-dawn raid.

Last month a gang known as “5 segonn,” or “5 seconds,” took control of the Port-au-Prince Palace of Justice, the seat of the Haitian court system, dashing any remaining hope for progress in the investigation into Moise’s murder.

Samuel Madistin, a lawyer who heads Haitian human rights group Clear Eyes Foundation said One year later, the investigation has not advanced, adding that there are people that have been arrested for a year who have never seen a judge.

The office of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has been at the helm of government since last year, on Wednesday said July 7 would be a holiday to commemorate Moise.

Henry spoke on Thursday at a ceremony at Haiti’s national pantheon in Port-au-Prince, where a portrait of Moise was placed amid an arrangement of flowers.

Henry has faced accusations that he was involved in the plot, including by Moise’s widow Martine, who was wounded during the attack and was not present at Thursday’s ceremony.

July 1 statement issued by Martine Moise’s communications office said, “The Moise family will not participate in commemorative events supported by the Haitian state, whose Head of Government is the subject of grave accusations about the assassination of the President of the Republic.”

Polish Scientist Is Being Held In Iran, Government Confirms

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Zoe Maven

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July 7, 2022

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The Polish government says a citizen of Poland is being held in Tehran, confirming the detention after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard accused several Europeans of spying on military sites as tensions remain high between Tehran and the West.

Poland’s Foreign Ministry said that Iran had arrested a “highly reputed scientist” last September, adding that the government was providing consular assistance to the detainee and working to secure his release. The government provided no other details, citing privacy requirements.

Iran on Wednesday named a Polish scientist as being among of a group of diplomats and foreigners accused of spying and taking soil samples from prohibited military zones in Iran’s desert while the Guard was carrying out missile tests.

Iranian media identified the detainee as Maciej Walczak, a scientist at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland.

The Revolutionary Guard also alleged that it had detained the deputy ambassador of the United Kingdom, Giles Whitaker, on the same espionage charges — a claim dismissed out of hand by the U.K. Foreign Office.

British Ambassador to Iran Simon Shercliff described the Iranian media reports about Whitaker’s detention as “very interesting,” noting on Twitter Thursday that Whitaker “actually left Iran last December, at the end of his posting.”

Iran also claimed the Guard had arrested the husband of Austria’s cultural attaché — an allegation denied by Austria on Thursday. The Austrian government said that none of its staff or their family members had been detained.

Tensions have spiked between Iran and the West after former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposed punishing sanctions four years ago.

Flutterwave’s Accounts Frozen In Kenya

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Zoe Maven

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July 7, 2022

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A court in Kenya has frozen over $40 million in accounts belonging to Africa-focused payments giant Flutterwave under the country’s anti-money laundering laws.

The court order, which is dated July 1, stops Flutterwave from any transactions from more than a dozen accounts with three banks, which held $43 million in dollars, sterling, euro and Kenyan shillings.

Founded in 2016 in Nigeria, the San Francisco-headquartered firm, specialises in individual and consumer transfers, one of several fintech firms facilitating and capitalising on Africa’s booming payments market.

Earlier this year, the firm raised $250 million, valuing the startup at more than $3 billion.

Kenya’s Assets Recovery Agency sought and was granted a High Court order to freeze several accounts with three banks belonging to Kenyan-registered Flutterwave Payment Technology Ltd.

Judge Esther Maina said in a ruling pending a full hearing and final order at a later date, “These orders shall subsist for a period of 90 days as provided in section 84 of Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act.”

Flutterwave said its operations were regularly audited and it continuously engaged regulatory agencies to stay compliant.