Speaker Of Ecowas Parliament, Sidie Tunis Have Congratulated Nigeria And Political Parties For The Smooth Conduct Of Primaries Across All Levels.
Tunis Gave The Commendation During The Opening Of The 2022 First Ordinary Session Of The Parliament On Thursday In Abuja, Nigeria’s Seat Of Power.
He Urged The Nigerian Government, Political Parties And The Citizens To Sustain The Tempo As The World Looks Forward To Nigeria In Conducting A Free, Fair And Credible General Elections In The Year 2023.
1190 Third Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa drowns while crossing the Saleph River (modern Turkey) leading an army to Jerusalem
1786 A landslide dam on the Dadu River caused by earthquake ten days earlier collapses, killing 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China
1898 US Marines land in Cuba during the Spanish–American War
1916 Great Arab Revolt begins against ruling Ottoman turks
1963 US Equal Pay Act signed into law by President John F. Kennedy
1977 Apple Computer ships its first Apple II computers
2003 The Spirit Rover is launched, beginning NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover mission
More Historical Events
Jun 10 in Film & TV
2007 “The Sopranos” series finale on HBO (infamous “cut to black” ending)
Jun 10 in Music
1865 Richard Wagner’s opera “Tristan und Isolde” premieres in Munich, Germany
Jun 10 in Sport
1977 American golfer Al Geiberger becomes first player in history to post a sub-60 score, 59 (−13) in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, during the 2nd round Danny Thomas Memphis Classic at Colonial CC in Cordova, Tennessee
MORE FACTS…
1720 Mrs Clements of England markets first paste-style mustard
1845 Andrew Jackson’s African Grey parrot “Poll” is removed from his funeral for swearing at The Hermitage, Tennessee. Funeral attendee William Menefee Norment recorded: “Before the sermon and while the crowd was gathering, a wicked parrot that was a household pet got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house”
Ò
The Senior Staff Union in Colleges of Education, Nigeria SSUCOEN has called for the mainstreaming of demonstration schools staff in its entire Colleges of Education (COE).
President of the Union, Danladi Msheliza, disclosed this during a meeting with the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu in Abuja on Friday.
Msheliza said that this was a requirement for graduating of students of primary Education Studies (PES) and Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE).
”I want to bring to your attention a document that emanated from your office dated Dec. 29, 2021 to the Chairman of Salaries and Wages Commission in response to our letter that was written to you because we wrote to you that demonstration schools should not be seen as private entities”
”But when salaries and wages commission wrote to your office to give clarification on the status of possession of schools in colleges of education and the need to be mainstreamed, in your response to them signed by the permanent secretary you stated that the ministry has carefully examined our document”
“And that the 2021 edition of the NCE on minimum standards for Early Child Care and Primary Education Studies should be established in demonstration schools”
“But if the institutions are not able to do so, it should adopt school community of their reach which is also against the content of this document,” he said.
He therefore clarified that there was no 2021 edition of the minimum standards but only had 2020 edition saying the minimum standards had clearly stated that demonstration schools shall be established within the vicinity of colleges.
He called on the minister to also give more prominence to issues of colleges of education especially as it relate to the non-payment of arrears of minimum wages for its staff.
Speaking on the revitalisation fund of the colleges, the president called on the minister to resume the stalled renegotiation of the 2010 FGN/SSUCOEN Agreement.
He added that there was also the need to release the approved revitalisation fund to colleges arising from the NEED Assessment exercise.
Responding, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, promised to look into the gray areas that the union had brought before him.
On the demonstration of colleges of education, Adamu said that the ministry would constitute a committee to look at the letter and amend necessary areas appropriately.
The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, has said the Fund will waive its planned sanction for polytechnic lecturers who collected money for conference attendance but failed to embark on the exercise.
Echono, who stated this in Abuja on Thursday, during a courtesy visit by association of heads of polytechnics and colleges of technology in Nigeria, said, “Many institutions have not been able to access our provision for conference attendance, those that are able to access, some have not attended.”
“Indeed, for those who have not been able to attend their conferences that we are trying to punish or introduce sanction for, we will offer this (Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa, ATUPA, conference) opportunity, this window for those who have outstanding, who has collected money that have not used it, we will approve, so that they utilize it and go and attend the conference to take them off the hook of those that will be asked to refund the money they collected without attending the conference.”
While commending the association for ensuring stability in the polytechnic sector, the TETFund boss harped on the need to mass-create innovation hubs and skills development centres in polytechnics to boost the employability of graduates, adding that the Fund would ensure the desired support in that regard.
“Everyone agrees that the work of tomorrow is not so much about certificates as in the skills set that you have. The things you can do and the soft skills; about critical thinking, skills on creativity, the ideas that you have and that is why we must cautiously and progressively create innovation hubs in our polytechnics, that level of manpower is what is required in today’s workforce,” he said.
When I was in the ministry, we received a briefing about an earlier intervention by TETFund in polytechnics and universities in supplying equipment intended to facilitate this and the feedback we had was that most of them were not being utilized, and were not even sure whether they were actually supplied.
“So we have to undertake an audit and to our surprise, we discovered these equipment were supplied and unfortunately, they were lying idle and those that were trained at the time had moved on.”
Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo said the 1,000 teachers sacked in the state were not qualified teachers as they were employed in hazy manner.
The governor stated that the affected people thereby remained unqualified for the job.
Soludo, who made the clarification in a statement signed by his Press Secretary, Chris Aburime on Thursday said that no qualified teacher was sacked by the government.
Soludo said that the termination of the appointments was in line with his administration’s effort at repositioning the education sector according to standard practice.
“The attention of the Governor has been drawn to publications on protest by Parents/Teachers Association (PTA) teachers, purportedly converted to permanent staff in Anambra schools.
“The protesters, who barricaded the entrance of the state House of Assembly, displayed placards with various inscriptions, claiming to have been engaged by the state government before the termination of their jobs.
“For the avoidance of doubt, no qualified teacher in the state’s school system has been relieved of his/her appointment.
“The affected PTA teachers who were “converted” to the school system in the last days of the last administration in irregular, hazy circumstances, the statement said.
“They were only asked to regularise their employment with the government by taking part in the online teachers’ recruitment test.
“The idea is to ensure that only those with requisite qualifications, proven capacity and commensurate experiences are recruited into the system.
“At all times, Prof. Soludo means well for the good people of Anambra State and will stop at nothing in giving them the best, education inclusive.”
Some of the affected teachers said they were duly employed and issued appointment letters by the last administration in November 2021 but were sacked in April 2022.
They said they had served Anambra education school system for between two years and seven years as Parents/Teachers’ Association (PTA) teachers.
They argued that if they could be engaged in that capacity, they should also be worthy of regularised employment.
The sacked teachers said it was unfair to sack them unceremoniously after working for about seven months without pay and called on the governor to kindly reinstate them.
The state government had advertised 5,000 vacancies in the Education and Health sectors, in which no fewer than 31,800 were shortlisted for Computer Based Test.
The online examination is scheduled to hold on June 11.
The National Youth Service Corps has said the Call Up Letters for Prospective Corps Members that will participate in the 2022 Batch ‘B’ Orientation Course will be available on Sunday.
The NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Muhammad Kaku Fadah disclosed this during a webinar jointly organized by the NYSC and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as part of efforts to sustain the safe conduct of Orientation Exercise.
Fadah said that the Scheme has made adequate preparations to ensure the safety of all Camp participants across the 37 Camps nationwide.
He said since the post-lockdown resumption of Orientation Courses, the Scheme has adopted strict compliance with all safety guidelines before, during and after the exercises.
He enjoined all Prospective Corps Members to ensure strict compliance to all the established safety protocols in camp.
The Director General used the webinar to advise all Prospective Corps Members to be security conscious, especially when travelling to their States of deployment.
“You are strongly advised to board vehicles at only officially designated motor parks. You must also avoid night journeys at all cost” the DG said.
In his contribution, the Director General of National Centre for Disease Control, Ifedayo Adetifa said all Prospective Corps Members including other camp participants must undergo the COVID-19 test, and only those that test negative will be admitted to the Camps.
Adetifa stated that in the event of any positive result, arrangements have been made with the NCDC and State Health officials for the cases to be handled in designated treatment Centers outside the Orientation Camp.
He further added that no single death has been recorded in any NYSC Orientation Camp since the outbreak of the pandemic in Nigeria till date.
Netflix Inc shares fell again by 5% on Friday after Goldman Sachs downgraded the streaming giant, which is facing a slowdown in consumer spending and tough competition from Amazon.com and Walt Disney Co.
The streaming platform in April lost subscribers for the first time in more than a decade in a sign of troubled times ahead for the industry as rising prices of food and gas left people with little to spend on entertainment.
Suspending its services in Russia after the Ukraine invasion also took a toll on Netflix.
However before all this, the service had come under fire for attempts at indoctrination as subscribers complained about the streaming platform indiscriminately pushing the LGBTQ agenda, which made many boycott the company.
Goldman downgraded the stock to “sell” from “neutral” and slashed its price target to $186 from $265, the lowest PT among analysts covering the stock, according to data.
Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at PP Foresight said to “Expect to see high levels of churn given the very nature of how streaming services are marketed and sold. Therefore, expect some to pivot more towards a yearly discounted bundle to entice users and increase loyalty.”
Netflix is already considering a cheaper subscription that includes advertising, following the success of similar offerings from rivals HBO Max and Disney+.
Of 48 equity analysts covering Netflix, 12 rates the stock “buy” or higher, 31 “hold” and five recommend “sell” or “strong sell”. Their median price target on the stock is $297.50.
A huge tax scam investigation has been launched into a string of American candy stores swamping Oxford Street and the West End of London including the major Kingdom of Sweets chain.
The brits are saying that there have long been concerns about the deluge of overpriced US-themed sweet and souvenir shops that have been taking traditional high street retailers on one of the world’s most famous shopping streets, including HMV’s old flagship site.
There are now at least ten candy stores between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road stations alone – equating to roughly one every 200 yards – with some offering other services like foreign currency exchange.
The Westminster city council is now probing more than 30 shops across the West End for allegedly avoiding business rates amounting to at least £7.9million.
These are owned by a variety of companies and include shops offering other items like souvenirs and vaping equipment. Shops are also being questioned in addition to candy stores selling packets of Jolly Ranchers sweets for as much as £45
Kingdom of Sweets, which has more than 15 branches, is among the shops being investigated by the Council for allegedly avoiding business rates.
The brand and some of its rivals have been accused of are TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to lure children into their stores. There has been a boom in videos where youngsters try super-sour or sweet American treats and drinks for the first time. Others filmed staff giving visitors, including some apparently still in primary school, free sweets just for popping in and giving a fist bump. Something many would refer to as a simple marketing strategy.
The campaign group Action On Sugar has accused the stores of exploiting a loophole that means imported US chocolates and candy do not face the same restrictions on sugar content as UK-made products.
According to the campaign, this means the American-themed superstores sell products containing almost triple the amount of sugar a British child should consume daily, even in a small single serving. Action On Sugar called the targeting of children ‘appalling’.
Officials probing retailers’ tax affairs are understood to be concerned about a purported tactic whereby bosses using a single store name set up numerous limited companies to serve as its legal owner, before closing the companies prior to them being liable for business rates. Two companies which share directors with Kingdom of Sweets – Croftray Limited and Old Green Limited – have already been wound up owing £2million in rates.
The Westminster city council is also understood to be concerned about another alleged tactic used by rivals of Kingdom of Sweets which sees shops set up in empty buildings to avoid the landlord having to pay business rates on an empty premises, before closing and leaving before the shopkeepers become liable for the tax themselves. There is no suggestion Kingdom of Sweets has been doing this.
The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Arc Sonny Echono says the issue of sharing formula for the normal intervention to public tertiary institutions is entrenched in the law establishing the Fund and it requires amendment for any change to take place.
Echono made this submission while responding to the request of the Association of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria, to reconsider the sharing formula in favour of Polytechnics during their courtesy visit on him.
The Executive Secretary, who shared in the desire of Polytechnics that globally trends now are towards skills, innovation, and entrepreneurship, however, assured the association that TETFund support some forms of intervention that would enhance capacity of the Nigeria Polytechnics.
“Concerning your request, there are things we can do and there are things that beyond us. For example, the issue of sharing formula is entrenched in the law establishing the Fund and required amendment of law to effect any change. But, however, in terms of special interventions, we do have some elements of input that the Board of Trustee can exercise and those areas we will support you,” said Echono.
He commended polytechnics for being in the front-line of providing manpower for development of the national economy, charging Union members to use the tremendous responsibility on them to ensure graduates are employable and are able to identify and fill skill gaps in the economy
To achieve this, Echono said it required providing enabling environment in terms of facilities, in terms of right faculty and also to embrace continuous professional Programme that would enhance quality of education.
Speaking earlier, Chairman Council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria, COHEADS, Engr.(Dr) Akinkurolere Olufunke Olanike who led the delegation on courtesy visit, felicitated with Echono on the well deserved appointment and tremendous improvement in the Fund’ s work and access to it quick responses.
Olanike acknowledged the role of the Fund in national development, affirmed that TETFund is leading in human and capital development.
She also acquainted the TETFund boss on the activities of the COHEADS which included, to provide a forum for Chief Executives of Polytechnics/ Colleges of Technology to exchange experiences, views and ideas on issues of common interest.
Meanwhile, in her address, the chairman informed Executive Secretary that National Skills Framework, NSQF, has been added to Polytechnics’ mandate, stressing the need for TETFund to assist in the development of skills acquisition centres in the Polytechnics through special interventions.
She also announced that polytechnics staff members are expected to attend their Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa, (ATUPA) biennial conference to present papers and discuss other issues relating to TVET.
The Chairman appealed to the Fund to allow Polytechnics to utilise the funds allocated for training to sponsor academic staff to attend.
Nigerian hurdler Tobiloba Amusan became only the fifth woman to successfully retain gold at the 100m hurdles event after claiming gold at the ongoing 22nd African Athletics Championships in Mauritius in 12.57secs.
The 25-year-old won the title for the first time in 2018 at the 21st edition of the competition and is now the third Nigerian to successfully defend the sprint hurdles title after Maria Usifo (1984 and 1985) and Glory Alozie (1996, 1998 and 2000).
She is the fifth African to achieve this feat.
Amusan was, however, denied the chance to break Alozie’s 12.77secs record set at the 11th edition of the championships in Dakar, Senegal in 1998 by an excessive 4.0m/s tailwind.
Amusan’s victory has increased Nigeria’s gold medal haul in the event to 12.
Meanwhile, quarter-miler Patience Okon George qualified for her straight fourth final in the women’s 400m after running 53.24secs to win her semi-final heat.
© 2026 LN247. All Rights Reserved
