The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has vowed to join hands with other notable persons to lift the Igbobi College in Yaba, Lagos.
Gbajabiamila in a statement signed yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, said he had already attracted some infrastructural projects to the college.
The Speaker, who is an old boy of the college, said he would personally attend the events lined up for the 90th anniversary of the college, which will take place on February 2.
Speaking during a courtesy call by the Igbobi College Old Boys Association (ICOBA) led by the first Vice President, Yomi Badejo, Gbajabiamila expressed delight that Igbobi College is already 90 years old.
“On the 90 years, it’s amazing. It sounds just like yesterday. A lot has changed, and we must try as much as possible to change with the times and maintain the nature and the feel of Igbobi College, he said”.
“January 29 is a day that I’ve already marked. It’s going to be our pride, our joy that we’re here to celebrate our college at 90. Together, we will do most of the things we set out to do for the college.”
The 1st Vice President of Alumni group, Badejo, according to the statement, said they had a list of things they want to do for the college, including the improvement of infrastructure.
He added that they have put together a series of events to raise the sum of N1 billion during a fund-raising dinner on January 29.
“You’re one of us; so we’re looking forward to you to bring the kind of personalities that are worthy of this 90th anniversary.”
Badejo requested the speaker to inaugurate some of the projects executed in the college on February 6.
He noted that “ICOBA would honour the Speaker during its merit award where some key personalities would also be honoured.”
Nigeria’s manager Augustine Eguavoen says he countenances a tough duel between his Super Eagles and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 encounter in Garoua.
Tunisia’s campaign has been somewhat ravaged by positive COVID tests and the team only qualified for the knockout stage as one of the best losers, finishing in third place behind The Gambia and Mali, and winning only one of their three matches while losing the other two.
“I expect a very tough game against the Tunisians. Our group will not be lulled into any sense of superiority over any team here until we do the business on the field. Tunisia is a big name in African football and we must acknowledge that, despite the manner in which they reached this stage.
“We have watched some of their games and from what we know of them in the distant past and in lucid memory, they are never a team to take for granted.”
Eguavoen’s 51 caps for Nigeria did not include an encounter with Tunisia, but he was head coach of the Super Eagles when Nigeria upended the Carthage Eagles on penalty shootout in Port Said in Egypt 16 years ago to send the Cup holders out of the tournament at the quarter final stage.
“That was a huge, huge game and a memorable one for me. The match ended 1-1 in regulation and extra time and we had to go into penalties. We lost two of our first three kicks or something like that and then bounced back when our goalkeeper (Vincent Enyeama) stopped two of their kicks. It was a sweet victory,” Eguavoen said.
At the Al Masry Stadium on 4th February 2006, Obinna Nsofor scored for Nigeria before Karim Haggui levelled for the Cup holders. In the shootout, Joseph Yobo and Yusuf Ayila missed as Chedli and Ben Achour did for Tunisia. Taye Taiwo, Nsofor and Obafemi Martins scored, as did Namouchi, Guemamdia and Jose Clayton for Tunisia. In sudden death, John Mikel Obi and goalkeeper Enyeama scored for Nigeria as did goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel and Hadj Massaoud for Tunisia, but after Nwankwo Kanu scored for Nigeria, Riadh Bouazizi saw his kick saved by Enyeama.
In dim and distant memory, Tunisia reached the final round of the 1978 FIFA World Cup African series after an own goal by Godwin Odiye in Lagos on 12th November 1977 eliminated Nigeria, but the following year, Nigeria earned the bronze medals of the 11th AFCON when Tunisia abandoned the match in the 42nd minute following an equalizer by Baba Otu Mohammed. Nigera were awarded the match 2-0.
In 1980, both countries tied 2-2 on aggregate in a Spain 82 World Cup qualifying fixture, with Nigeria proceeding after penalty shootout. In 1985, Tunisia edged their 1986 World Cup qualifying fixture 2-1 on aggregate – a lone goal by Okey Isima cancelled out with a two-goal blitz in the first 15 minutes of the return inside the Stade El Menzah in Tunis.
In recent and decent memory, Nigeria edged their opening encounter of the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations 4-2 in Lagos, with Jay Jay Okocha and Victor Ikpebe earning a brace each. In 2009, a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture ended 0-0 and 2-2 in Tunis and Abuja, and in 2019 Nigeria won the bronze medals of the 32nd AFCON 1-0 in Cairo at the expense of the Carthage Eagles.
Their most recent encounter was a friendly game in Austria in October 2020, which ended 1-1 with Nigeria’s goal scored by Kelechi Iheanacho.
On Sunday at the Stade Roumdé Adjia, Nigeria will file out with three wins in three from their group phase campaign. The Tunisians were only able to defeat Mauritania while losing to Mali and The Gambia. Both countries are led by indigenous coaches. Mondher Kebaier will sit on the Tunisians’ bench.
The match will be Eguavoen’s 16th for Nigeria across three stints, during which he has walked off the pitch victorious in 13 of the previous 15, with only two narrow defeats. He is also the only man to have coached Nigeria to win all three group phase matches at the AFCON, achieving this in both his AFCON odysseys in 2006 and 2022.
The usual in-tournament extra incentives – a practice entrenched over the decades – have started flowing in for the Eagles. Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has dedicated the naira equivalent of $250,000 for the team to win the trophy, just as airline owner Allen Onyema has promised N50million if the team marches to the final on 6th February and is triumphant.
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele says the CACOVID (a coalition of private sector companies set up to fight COVID pandemic in Nigeria) will shell out the sum of $120,000 for the six goals already scored by the Eagles in Cameroon, and $50,000 (naira equivalent) for every goal in the Round of 16 clash with Tunisia.
Airline owner Onyema had earlier promised the team the sum of N10million for every goal.
Peruvian President Pedro Castillo declared an environmental emergency as clean-up teams struggled to contain a huge oil spill at the country’s biggest refinery after rogue waves rocked a ship unloading crude there.
The spill, blamed on unusual swells caused by a volcanic eruption thousands of miles away in Tonga on Sunday, has dirtied waters and beaches along Peru’s Pacific coast, with dead birds and seals washing up onshore.
“We are at a critical moment in environmental matters,” said Castillo, before signing the emergency decree on one of the beaches hit by the spill. “This is the most worrying ecological disaster on the Peruvian coast in recent times.”
“We cannot shy away from responsibilities, it is about assuming them, in this case the company that caused this ecological disaster,” he added.
A spokeswoman for La Pampilla refinery, owned by Spanish energy firm Repsol, has said the firm was not responsible for the spill and blamed the Peruvian Navy for not issuing a tsunami warning after the Tonga eruption.
Unlike other Pacific countries, Peruvian authorities warned of unusual waves only after the eruption.
Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez has said that some 6,000 barrels of oil were spilled in the incident, which has left oil on 21 beaches.
Peru’s Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA) said in a statement that as of Thursday the area affected included 1.7 million square meters of land and 1.2 million square meters in the sea.
Repsol said in a statement that a team of divers was exploring underwater damage from the spill, and said it had deployed more than 2,500 meters of containment booms and 10 boats to recover oil from the sea.
“We regret not having adequately communicated all our commitments and the actions that have been carried out to address the impact,” Repsol said, after facing criticism for its response.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, says it is closer to finding a cure for HIV by targeting infected cells that could be lying dormant in the body.
In a study published in the journal Nature Communications this week, researchers improved upon a method originally developed in 2017 to kill hidden HIV-infected cells using cells that are naturally produced by the body’s immune system.
The advance brings scientists one step closer to controlling or even eradicating the virus, which attacks the body’s immune system.
“These findings show proof-of-concept for a therapeutic strategy to potentially eliminate HIV from the body, a task that had been nearly insurmountable for many years,” Jocelyn Kim, the study’s lead author, said in a press release. “The study opens a new paradigm for a possible HIV cure in the future.”
Statistics claim about 38 million people are currently living with HIV globally and an estimated 36 million have died of AIDS-related diseases since the 1980s. Over time, HIV can develop into acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, a chronic and potentially life-threatening condition.
People diagnosed with HIV typically take antiretroviral medication to keep the virus at bay, but the HIV still has the ability to elude antiretrovirals by lying dormant in cells called CD4+ T cells.
The researchers’ recent findings build on a strategy designed in 2017 called “kick and kill.” During that study, mice whose immune systems had been altered to mimic those of humans were infected with HIV and given antiretroviral drugs.
After a synthetic compound was administered to activate the mice’s dormant HIV, they observed that up to 25 per cent of the previously dormant cells died within 24 hours.
This time around, researchers used the same compound to “flush HIV-infected cells out of hiding,” before injecting “healthy natural killer cells” into the mice’s bloodstream.
In 40 per cent of the infected mice, HIV was completely cleared.
According to Kim, her team’s next objective is to develop an approach that eliminates HIV in 100 per cent of the mice they tested in further experiments.
Life-saving water supplies from a New Zealand navy ship were distributed across Tonga’s main island on Friday, as other countries battled the logistics of delivering aid to one of the world’s remotest communities.
Six days after the South Pacific archipelago was devastated by a volcanic eruption and tsunami that deposited a blanket of ash and polluted its water sources, the HMNZS Aotearoa docked in the capital, Nuku’alofa.
The ship carried 250,000 litres of water and desalination equipment able to produce 70,000 litres more per day, New Zealand’s High Commission said.
“Trucks … have begun collecting and delivering water supplies from Aotearoa,” the Commission said on its Facebook page.
The first flights from Australia and New Zealand landed on Thursday with some water as well as shelter, communication equipment and generators.
Underlining the complexity of mounting a contactless international aid operation to one of the few countries free of COVID-19, the Australian plane was turned around mid-flight after PCR tests showed a positive result, an Australian defence spokeswoman told Reuters.
All crew had earlier returned negative rapid antigen tests, she said. The supplies were moved to another flight that took off on Friday.
The salt water from the tsunami spoiled most sources of water and Tongans have been struggling to find clean water as they clear away the ash.
“We are cleaning the ash and have been since Monday,” said Branko Sugar, 61, who runs a bottle shop and fishing charter business from Nuku’alofa.
“Everything is so dusty, and we are running out of water,” he said over a patchy telephone line. “We only have the tap water, and it’s been contaminated. We… can hardly breathe for all the dust.”
Global energy company TotalEnergies has joined Masdar and Siemens Energy on a project that aims to produce green hydrogen to decarbonise the aviation industry.
An agreement signed by TotalEnergies, Masdar and Siemens Energy at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week will see the three companies co-develop a green hydrogen production plant under a pilot project in Masdar City.
Other project partners include the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa Group, Khalifa University of Science and Technology and Marubeni Corporation.
The project will leverage TotalEnergies’ experience within the energy sector and Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) production.
The initiative aims to pave the way for the commercial production of sustainable aviation fuels by reducing production costs.
Since the project was announced in January 2021, Masdar and partners have completed a range of evaluations on technology suppliers, feasibility studies and conceptual designs, while working closely with regulators on compliance issues.
President Muhammadu Buhari has called for a change of attitude towards education for genuine change and progress in the country.
Speaking at the 52nd convocation ceremony of the University of Lagos, Buhari said; “It is therefore imperative for universities in the country to take the lead in opening our minds to the emerging scenarios and equipping ourselves to meet the challenges posed by these changes.”
The Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Maiyaki, representing the president, also tasked universities to be in the forefront of generating and disseminating knowledge and innovations to ensure the country’s participation in the global knowledge society.
He added, “Government on its part will continue to encourage our universities and other tertiary institutions to produce the necessary skilled manpower with a view to building a strong economy.”
The president stated that the current administration has recently shown its commitment to the university system by releasing N22.5 billion as Earned Allowances and N30 billion as Revitalisation Fund for the universities.
He also ensured that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is responsive and proactive, by providing among others, funds for research, infrastructure and staff development.
1525 The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union
1781 Robert Aitken petitions the U.S. Congress to officially sanction his publication of the first English-language Bible printed in America.
1789 1st American novel, WH Brown’s “Power of Sympathy” is published
1793 Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine in Paris, following his conviction for “high treason” by the newly created French Parliament (Convention nationale), during the French Revolution
1811 Baptist missionaries John Chamberlain and H. Peacock, with their families and Vrundavun, a baptized Hindu, set out from Serampore to establish a mission work among Hindus in Agra, 800 miles away. Their work will include a successful school.
1901 At the Academy of Music in Kansas City, Charles Parham preaches his first sermon dedicated solely to the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
1952 Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress party wins general election in India
1968 The Battle of Khe Sanh – one of the most publicized and controversial battles of the Vietnam War – begins at the Khe Sanh Air Base
2008 Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 9/11, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15%.
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1978 Bee Gees’ album “Saturday Night Fever” goes #1 for 24 weeks
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1990 John McEnroe becomes 1st ever player to be expelled from the Australian Open
Do You Know This Fact About Today? Did You Know?
1934 Parisian baker and “student of medieval life” Henri Littière appears in court charged with forcing his adulterous wife Juliette to wear a chastity belt. Having committed the same offence in 1932, he was sentenced to three months in prison and fined 50 francs for cruelty to his wife
Would You Believe This Fact About Today? Would You Believe?
1908 “Sullivan Ordinance” is passed in NYC, making it illegal for a woman to smoke in public places. It was vetoed 2 weeks later by mayor George B. McClellan Jr.
The Governor of Lagos State and Visitor to the Lagos State University, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has approved the reinstatement of Olayinka Mohammed Amuni, as Registrar of the University, with effect from Tuesday, 1st February 2022.
This is according to a statement released by Ademola Adekoya, the Co-ordinator, Centre Centre for Information, Press and Public Relations (CIPPR).
Recall that Amuni had been directed by the state government to step aside from his position on Friday, 21st May 2021, in the wake of the dissolution of the former Governing Council of the University, until the completion of the process of the appointment of the 9th Substantive Vice-Chancellor of the University
The process eventually culminated in the appointment of the current Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello.
Aminu has been the university’s registrar for three and half years.
“The Vice-Chancellor, on behalf of the entire university community, congratulates Amuni on his reinstatement and wishes him well in the remaining part of his tenure”, the statement reads.
Responding to the development, Amuni expressed his appreciation to the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his approval and also the SAE, Tokunbo Wahab for driving the process.
A bill to establish a National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund has scaled through second reading at the House of Representatives.
This was as the lawmakers also passed into law the electoral bill.
The bill Titled “A bill for an Act to establish the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund Bill 2021, it was sponsored by Hon. Samuel Akinfolarin.
Details of the bill showed that it consists of 31 sections, 1 schedule and a supplemental of regulations of the proceedings of the Board, committees and miscellaneous of the trust Fund.
Principally, the Bill seeks to establish the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund Bill; control of Special Intervention Fund established under section 3; provide sustainable sources of funds for National Youth Service Corps; train and retraining of Corps Members under the National Youth Service Scheme; development National Youth Service Corps camps and Skills/Entrepreneurial training centres across the country; improve the general welfare of corps and corporate with all relevant ministries and agencies of Government to in improving corps members human capital development.
Leading the debate on the general principle of the bill, Akinfolarin said the bill will help promoting the spirit of self reliance in the corps members.
He further said: “This bill, if passed by this Honourable House will have an everlasting impact on job creation and empowerment of thousands of Nigerian youths.
“In the early years of the establishment of National Youth Service Corps, the scheme has been able to carry out diligently its objectives under the National Youth Service Corps Act, the management of the Scheme has not only trained, equipped and empowered corps members enrolled under the scheme alone, but has instilled patriotism and the spirit of nationalism in Corps members.
Corps Members and supporting staff would be trained and introduced to various skills which would make them establish a self-sustained business after the completion of the mandatory National Youth Service Corps.
“I am very mindful of the skills development training of Corps Members during their camps before being deployed to their various places of assignment. The Entrepreneurship Development programmed of the National Youth Service Scheme (i.e SAED), is not total, and comprehensive to harness the endowed potentials, skills and chosen field of Corps Members”.
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