35 Indigents Get WAEC Scholarships In Imo

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June 27, 2022

The Old Peers of Owerri Development Initiative, a non-governmental organisation based in Abuja, Saturday awarded WAEC scholarships to 35 indigent students from seven schools in the Owerri Municipal Council of Imo.

The award is the second edition following the maiden project in 2021.

Presenting the scholarships in Owerri, the Interim National President of the organisation, Nina Nwulu, urged the beneficiaries to show determination in succeeding in life.

“Under no circumstance should you joke with your education or indulge in drugs.

“The mentality that education is a scam should be jettisoned because in Nigeria, your certificate counts,” she said.

Nwulu, who described education as the “hallmark to every development,” urged the Federal Government to do the needful in resolving its impasse with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

“The issue is not about salary but about the government putting in place all the infrastructure that would make reading and learning conducive for students.

“We want our students to be exposed to every facility needed to learn properly; the lecturers are equally going through hell in terms of their packages.

“If politicians taught by teachers can be comfortable, why not the teachers,” Nwulu, a senior lecturer at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), asked.

The Coordinator of the organisation, Jasper Opara, said the body aimed to assist the beneficiaries fulfill their academic pursuit.

According to him, if the students miss it at this stage of their major examination, they can lose it from there.

Opara, who explained that 25 students were sponsored in 2021, expressed delight that most of them performed excellently in the WAEC examinations.

He explained that the organisation, with different chapters in seven states and some countries, was made up of people from different tribes, who grew up and schooled in Owerri.

Also, the Secretary of the organisation, Olaedo Ike-Godson, said the body was passionate about helping government and doing charitable work, literacy, health programs, economic empowerment and sanitation.

One of the beneficiaries, Franklin Igwe from Emmanuel College, commended the organisation for the gesture.

“It will spur me to focus more on education so that when I grow up, I will be able to sponsor those around me,” another beneficiary, Precious Onyemuche, said.

National Aeronautics And Space Administration Launches 1st Rocket From Australian Commercial Spaceport

By

Angel Gimalo

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June 27, 2022

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An unassuming patch of red dirt in remote Australia has made history as the site of NASA’s first rocket launch from a commercial spaceport outside the US.

The sub-orbital rocket blasted off from the tiny site early on Monday local time.

It will enable astrophysics studies that can only be undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere, NASA says.

The launch was also the first in Australia in more than 25 years.

The rocket is NASA’s first of three to blast off from the newly constructed Arnhem Space Centre on the edge of the Northern Territory.

Scientists hope it will help them study the impact of a star’s light on the habitability of nearby planets.

Onlookers who travelled to the remote site glimpsed the rocket for only about 10 seconds before it shot out of view.

“It was in the blink of an eye, but to me, it was like it was in slow motion because the whole area just lit up,” Yirrkala School co-principal Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“It went up, and then the sound, it was just like a rumbling boom, like nothing I’ve ever heard. And I just shook with amazement.”

The sounding rocket’s tenure in space was similarly short – the 13m-long projectile fell back to Earth after a planned 15 minutes.

But the data gathered by the mission’s X-ray camera in that time will help illuminate the secrets of Alpha Centauri A and B, the closest double-star system to Earth that is located just 4.3 light-years away.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles hailed the launch as an “extremely proud” moment for Australia, adding it was conducted with the blessing of the region’s Aboriginal traditional owners.

“Here on Yolngu land, young Territorians can look up at the sky and know what can be done,” Ms Fyles said.

“When we see the oldest living culture combining with the science of space, as we have here, it’s something we can all reflect on and be very proud.”

Australia has stepped up its space efforts in recent times, unveiling a defence agency focused on countering Russia and China’s ambitions in space.

The Arnhem Space Centre is the first and only commercially owned and run equatorial launch site in the world.

“We have achieved a remarkable feat and made a huge mark in the history of Australia’s journey in space,” Mr Jones said in a statement.

“[It] confirms that we and Australia can provide access to space and this is just the beginning for us.”

The next launch is expected to take place on 4 July.

ASUU Strike: President Buhari To Receive Negotiation Update Wednesday

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Precious Obazee

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June 27, 2022

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Nigeria’s Ministry of labour and employment says President Muhammadu Buhari will be briefed on the state of negotiations between the government and striking university workers on or before Wednesday.

A statement by the ministry’s spokesperson, Olajide Oshundun, said the president will make decisions on the contentious issues of payment platforms, conditions of service and wage increase for the striking workers after the briefing.

The striking university workers had rejected the continuous use of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for the payment of their salaries and other entitlements, alleging irregularities on the platform.

While the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is requesting the adoption of University Transparency and Accountability Solutions (UTAS) it developed, both the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and other Allied Institutions (NASU) have requested the adoption of University Peculiar Payroll Payment System (U3PS).

In protest of the continuous use of IPPIS and refusal to implement the renegotiated 2009 agreement that was completed in May 2021, ASUU resumed nationwide strike on February 14.

The strike has been rolled over for more than 130 days since February.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU and NASU has also extended its strike by two months -to end by August.

Meanwhile, the ministry of labour and employment has clarified that it did not invite ASUU or any other union to the meeting it held on Thursday after reports alleged that the ministry was meeting with the striking lecturers union on Thursday.

The ministry said the meeting was only meant for the inter-ministerial departments and agencies committees of the Federal Government, including the Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Budget Office of the Federation, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

It said the meeting was to assess the progress it has made so far in negotiations with the striking university workers.

The two committees were empanelled by Chris Ngige, the minister of labour and Ibrahim Gambari, a professor and chief of staff to the President at the last tripartite-plus meetings of the unions and the government side.

The Ministry was reacting to ASUU President Emmanuel Osedeke’s comments that the ministry did not invite his union for any meeting on Thursday when he featured on a television programme on a Nigerian television station.