1260 Qutuz, Mamluk Sultans of Egypt (1259-60), is assassinated by Baibars, a fellow Mamluk leader, who seizes power for himself
1648 Treaty of Westphalia ends The Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire; Switzerland’s independence recognized
1869 John Paton observes the Lord’s Supper with his first converts on Aniwa in the New Hebrides.
1929 “Black Thursday”, start of stock market crash, Dow Jones down 12.8%
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet ships approach but stop short of the US blockade of Cuba
2008 “Bloody Friday” saw many of the world’s stock exchanges experienced the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.
Today’s Historical Events
Today in Film & TV
1962 “The Manchurian Candidate”, directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey, is released
Today in Music
1979 Guinness Book of Records presents Paul McCartney with a rhodium disc as all-time best selling singer-songwriter
Today in Sport
1857 Recognised by FIFA as oldest existing club still playing football in the world, Sheffield FC is founded in Yorkshire, England; now based in Dronfield, Derbyshire
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Gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years for tax evasion, on this day in 1931
Would you believe this fact about today? Would You Believe?
Alleged teleportation of Spanish soldier Gil Perez from the Philippines to Mexico, on this day in 1593
The Public Administration Theories and Practice Forum says it is working to unify public administration academics in the various tertiary and research institutions in the country.
Chairman of the conference Local Organising Committee (LOC), Dr. Nwamaka Ibeme, said this at a maiden three-day conference of the forum in Abuja.
The theme of the conference was: “Good governance, public sector management and sustainable development.”
Ibeme, who is also the Head, Department of Public Administration, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), said the forum which emerged from the traditional political science would direct the interest of the tertiary and research institutions in the country to critical thinking for greater understanding of governance and development of the public sector.
“Our role will not just anchor on advising on policy issues but supporting the system that will make sustainable development possible even in the face of national and global uncertainties.
“To deliver on this mission, our core objectives will among others include, to use the forum to serve as a platform for engaging in constructive dialogue with the scholars of public administration and allied disciplines on critical public policy issues and challenges in Nigeria and the ways to address them.
“Our approach will not just be dwelling on the theories but to a large extent drawing from the wealth of knowledge from the practitioners in the field, in the real practice of public administration.
“It’s also our hope that this public administration theory and practice forum will facilitate academic cooperation and collaboration between public administrations and policy scholars in Nigeria and cognate disciplines and international political, economic development organisations, across the globe.
“It’s also our dream that this conference will become pan African and eventually global, as we take our rightful place in the public administration space and in defining the way the public related issues and challenges are dressed to the benefit of our institutions and government,” Ibeme said.
The Vice Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Olufemi Peters, who declared the conference open, said the institution would always support any move aimed at developing the tertiary and research institutions.
The V.C who was represented by Prof. Samson Osoba, Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences, said that NOUN would support any forum or professional body ready to take education to the next level.
President of the forum, Prof. Akongbowa Amadasun, a professor of Public Administration and Political Economy, Federal University Wukari, Wukari, Taraba, said the forum would interface with stakeholders in best practice governance in the country in all ramifications.
“It is high time, a body of Public Administrators, particularly for academicians, is in place for sustained research.
“In addition, this will provide a valuable opportunity for exchange of knowledge and experience in public management.
“This occasion marks a watershed in the history of our young and dynamic association; it also marks a new beginning in the transformation of public administration as a discipline and practice in Nigeria,” Amadasun said.
Papers were presented on the benefits to be derived from the conference and the forum at the long run as participants were drawn from various tertiary and research institutions in the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other unions within and outside the university system to always give peace a chance.
He said that dialogue is always better than conflict for No one gains from crisis.
“While government alone cannot solve all challenges facing society, this administration is willing to listen to complaints and alternative points of view to managing a situation”.
The President, represented by Prof Ignatius Onimawu of the National University Commission (NUC) made the appeal at the grand finale of the 36th coronation ceremony of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN).
He added that the nation’s universities have a role to play in the efforts at combating covid-19 in the interest of the nation and humanity.
“I expect our universities to conduct researches targeted at discovering an antidote to Covid 19. Universities are expected to focus their research attention on the challenges facing our societies and find practical solutions within the context of national development.
“I, therefore, challenge the universities to give their best in the fight against this common and unrelenting enemy of humanity. I enjoin our researchers to collaborate among themselves and look forward to bringing an effective solution to this medical challenge”.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has welcomed the delisting of Nigeria’s Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) from the UN’s 2021 report on Children and Armed Conflict.
UNICEF reacted to the development in a statement released in Abuja, describing the UN’s decision as “a step forward for child protection”.
The U.N Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in his annual report, delisted the CJTF as one of the armed groups recruiting and using children in North-East Nigeria.
U.N Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres
The UN report which was released in May 2021, covered the period January to December 2020.
The annually published UN report aims to highlight trends with regards to the impact of armed conflict on children from countries around the world and provide information on violations committed.
Guterres’s statement reads: “In Nigeria, the CJTF armed group has been delisted following a significant decrease in the recruitment and use of children, through the continued implementation of its action plan, which was signed with the U.N in 2017.
UNICEF said that since signing the 2017 Action Plan, the CJTF had released more than 2,000 children, adding that many of the children have enrolled in school and provided psychosocial support.
“This is a welcome development for children in Nigeria. We must remember, however, that this is the first step in a long journey.
“Formed in 2013, to support efforts of the Nigerian military to protect communities from Boko Haram attacks, the CJTF expanded in size and influence in the north-east region.
“At the height of its operations in 2016, the group was listed in the annexes of the secretary-general’s annual report for children and armed conflict for the recruitment and use of children.
“In his latest report released this year, the U.N Secretary-General credited the delisting of the CJTF to a significant reduction in the number of children recruited into the ranks of the CJTF.
According to UNICEF, Guterres also credited the delisting to the armed group’s commitment to implement the action plan it signed with the U.N Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) in 2017.
It said that the action plan signed by the group was aimed at stopping the recruitment and use of children.
UNICEF said that children have been most affected by the northeast conflict as between 2013 and 2020, more than 3,500 were recruited by parties to the conflict as combatants.
The U.N agency said that children used as soldiers were at great risk of death or disability, while undergoing armed training and initiation rites, as well as during combat.
It said that girls and boys had also been used as suicide bombers, spies, laborers, cooks, messengers, and wives adding that girls recruited by armed groups often suffer Gender-Based Violence (GBV), including rape.
“They are forced to witness or participate in tortures and killings, triggering lifelong physical and mental health challenges.
“Similarly, they are denied access to education, nutrition, and conducive living conditions, among other grave violations of their rights.
The statement quoted Phuong Nguyen, the Chief of UNICEF’s Maiduguri Field Office, as saying “I urge the leadership of the CJTF to establish child protection units across its offices.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has welcomed the delisting of Nigeria’s Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) from the UN’s 2021 report on Children and Armed Conflict.
UNICEF reacted to the development in a statement released in Abuja, describing the UN’s decision as “a step forward for child protection”.
The U.N Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in his annual report, delisted the CJTF as one of the armed groups recruiting and using children in North-East Nigeria.
U.N Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres
The UN report which was released in May 2021, covered the period January to December 2020.
The annually published UN report aims to highlight trends with regards to the impact of armed conflict on children from countries around the world and provide information on violations committed.
Guterres’s statement reads: “In Nigeria, the CJTF armed group has been delisted following a significant decrease in the recruitment and use of children, through the continued implementation of its action plan, which was signed with the U.N in 2017.
UNICEF said that since signing the 2017 Action Plan, the CJTF had released more than 2,000 children, adding that many of the children have enrolled in school and provided psychosocial support.
“This is a welcome development for children in Nigeria. We must remember, however, that this is the first step in a long journey.
“Formed in 2013, to support efforts of the Nigerian military to protect communities from Boko Haram attacks, the CJTF expanded in size and influence in the north-east region.
“At the height of its operations in 2016, the group was listed in the annexes of the secretary-general’s annual report for children and armed conflict for the recruitment and use of children.
“In his latest report released this year, the U.N Secretary-General credited the delisting of the CJTF to a significant reduction in the number of children recruited into the ranks of the CJTF.
According to UNICEF, Guterres also credited the delisting to the armed group’s commitment to implement the action plan it signed with the U.N Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) in 2017.
It said that the action plan signed by the group was aimed at stopping the recruitment and use of children.
UNICEF said that children have been most affected by the northeast conflict as between 2013 and 2020, more than 3,500 were recruited by parties to the conflict as combatants.
The U.N agency said that children used as soldiers were at great risk of death or disability, while undergoing armed training and initiation rites, as well as during combat.
It said that girls and boys had also been used as suicide bombers, spies, laborers, cooks, messengers, and wives adding that girls recruited by armed groups often suffer Gender-Based Violence (GBV), including rape.
“They are forced to witness or participate in tortures and killings, triggering lifelong physical and mental health challenges.
“Similarly, they are denied access to education, nutrition, and conducive living conditions, among other grave violations of their rights.
The statement quoted Phuong Nguyen, the Chief of UNICEF’s Maiduguri Field Office, as saying “I urge the leadership of the CJTF to establish child protection units across its offices.
42 BC Roman Republican civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi – Brutus’s army is decisively defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian. Brutus commits suicide.
1803 Henry Martyn, later to become a remarkable missionary, is ordained and given charge of a church at Lolworth, Cambridgeshire, England.
1819 Hiram Bingham, Asa Thurston, and other missionaries sail for the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) to undertake what will be a successful evangelistic work.
1825 Death at age thirty-three of Pliny Fisk, missionary pioneer in Syria. He had just begun a regular Arabic Sunday service, and had nearly completed an English-Arabic dictionary.
1864 José Manoel de Conceição, a Roman Catholic priest, converts to Protestant Christianity in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under the instruction of Presbyterian missionaries Ashbel Green Simonton and becomes Brazil’s leading evangelist, founding many locally-operated churches.
1911 1st aerial reconnaissance mission is flown by an Italian pilot over Turkish lines during the Italo-Turkish War
1930 Under the influence of his mother, Chinese leader Chiang Kai Shek converts to Christianity.
1942 During WWII, Britain launches major offensive at El Alamein, Egypt
1977 Paleontologist Elso Barghoorn announces discovery of a 3.4-billion year old one-celled fossil, one of the earliest life forms on Earth
1981 US national debt hits $1 trillion
1984 Poisoned in his mind by slander, Urbano Gomez attends a Protestant church with his wife in Peru. Unknown to her he has a pistol and knife hidden in his saddlebag, intending to kill the pastor if he shows any sign of inappropriate behavior. He finds that all is decently done and is drawn to give his heart to Christ during the altar call. He will become an evangelist and teacher with Heart Cry mission.
2001 The Provisional Irish Republican Army of Northern Ireland commences disarmament after peace talks
Today’s Historical Events
Today in Film & TV
1941 Walt Disney’s animated film “Dumbo” released
Today in Music
2015 Adele releases her single “Hello” – becomes 1st song with more than a million downloads in 1st week (1.1m)
Do you know this fact about today? Did You Know?
Tornado (possible T8/F4) strikes the heart of London killing two and demolishing the wooden London Bridge (OS 17 Oct), on this day in 1091
Would you believe this fact about today? Would You Believe?
English newspaper “The Times” gives precise British positions in Crimea during Crimean War, on this day in 1854
Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi has promised a 30 percent allocation to the education sector in the state’s 2022 budget.
This shows a 10 percent increase from the current 20 per cent allocated in 2021.
Chief Press Secretary to Gov Bello, Onogwu Muhammed, disclosed this in a statement issued in Lokoja.
According to Muhammed, the governor made the pledge at the grand finale of the Pharmacist Abdulkareem Asuku Youth Empowerment Foundation (PAAYEF) inter-school quiz and debate competition held at Government House.
The governor also assured that teachers’ welfare would continue to be of priority to his administration.
“My government’s concentration will not only be on infrastructural growth in the sector, but a prioritised focus on the welfare of teachers to give leverage to public schools over their privately-owned counterparts .
“We will ensure that it is illegal for any student in the state to be out of school.
“We will also ensure that Kogi emerges first at the next West African Examination Council performance ratings through deliberate investment in the sector’’ Bello was quoted as saying.
Bello said also that the state was making efforts to ensure a safe and secure Kogi as no child would be abducted by any criminal under his watch.
The governor added that it was only when the state was safe and secure that students could go to school.
He expressed concern at the current dysfunctional education system in the country and said Kogi incorporated technical and specialised education in its school curricula to address the issue.
He cited the Korea Institute at the state’s polytechnic and the newly-established Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, as some of the achievements already made in that regard.
Bello used the medium to challenge government appointees and well-meaning individuals in the state to invest in human capital development, particularly in endeavours that would add value and have impact on younger generations.
In his remarks at the grand finale, Asuku, founder of PAAYEF noted that it was fully supported by the governor who gave the platform and the encouragement for him and many others to engage in humanitarian ventures.
Asuku, who is also Chief of Staff to the governor, lauded the performances of various public schools in the Spelling Bee competition and the written essay.
He said their brilliant performances indicated that public schools in the state had great tendencies to perform excellently and were already showing the huge investments of the Gov. Bello-led administration
Asuku expressed continued commitment to contributing to the lives of youths and young ones in the society.
Winners from the writing competition, Spelling Bees and the debate were rewarded with scholarships, school items and cash donations.
The Oyo State Government has promoted 16,500 public primary school teachers that were successful in their recent promotion examinations.
The Executive Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Nureni Adeniran, disclosed this while he supervised the symbolic presentation of the promotion letters to teachers from each of the 33 local government areas of the state in Ibadan, the state’s capital
The promotion covered 2017 to 2020 which made some of the teachers got doubled promotions.
Adeniran charged the promoted teachers to double their efforts and put in their best “to ensure that teaching of pupils is taken with full seriousness and commitment.
He also charged the teachers to support Gov. Makinde’s administration to do what it has been voted into office to do in terms of bringing dividends of democracy to the people.
“I want to believe that before arrangement for the promotion exercise was made, the governor had already factored the issue of arrears into the finances of the state,” he said assuring the teachers that government would pay the promotion arrears.
Adeniran also disclosed that the process for the recruitment of more primary school teachers was already on, saying it will come into limelight very soon.
He recalled that the state government had completed the recruitment and enlistment of teachers into the public secondary schools sub-sector.
He said the public primary schools sub-sector, which also has shortage of teachers, would eventually get approval from the governor to go ahead with the recruitment.
The Oyo SUBEB Executive Secretary, Joel Olusanjo, in his welcome address, also charged the promoted teachers to reciprocate the gesture and redouble their efforts in carrying out their duties.
In their separate remarks, the state Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Adedoyin Adeniyi, and his counterpart at the Association of Primary School Heads, Kunle Adedeji, appreciated Gov. Makinde for his concern towards the welfare of primary school teachers.
The duo charged their colleagues to put in their best in enhancing the efforts of the state government in providing qualitative education to primary school pupils.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar while delivering a speech at the Baze University Graduation ceremony in Abuja recalled how his father was jailed by local authorities for failing to send him to school.
Atiku, who said his father later embraced the idea of education, noted that despite his humble background he enjoyed quality education free of charge.
In his speech titled, ‘Solving Nigeria’s Education Challenges’, Atiku said when he was young, anytime he came back from primary school, he would take his neighbour’s cattle to the bush for rearing in exchange for grains that he gave to his grandparents to feed the household.
“I was a schoolboy and a herds-boy, and I fed my family,” he said.
Atiku added, He lost his dad while he was only 11 years old and being an only child, he had to work extra to sometimes afford just a meal while been raised by his maternal grandparents.
In his words, “Despite my difficult background, I went to school for free and I furthered my education to other tertiary institutions. I was the Students Union President at the School of Hygiene, Kano.
“My journey to education is different from yours. Your parents may have paid tuition fees for your education, but you did not have to rear cattle for food. However, both you and I got educated eventually. The paths may be different; nonetheless the destination remains the same. Let us help others to reach their destination too.”
Atiku, who was the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 election, said without education, he might not have gone this far in life.
He told the graduating students that they should use their education and privilege to help others.
He further argued that both boys and girls must have equal access to education.
He added, “Societies are transformed when girls and women are educated. We see this all over the world. When women are educated, families are smaller and healthier. When women are educated, more children go to school.
“Let me repeat that very important fact. More children go to school when women are educated, infant and child mortality is reduced and national economic growth increases.”
He gave the current male illiteracy rate in Nigeria as 29 per cent and female illiteracy rate at 48 per cent.
The former vice-president said Nigerians must dedicate themselves to a better use of technology, to increasing access for all to cutting edge educational technology and using it effectively to improve performance at all levels of education in Nigeria.
The National Youth Service Corps, NYSC in Ebonyi State has commended the batch “B” stream 1 Corps members who are passing out after their service year for their good behaviour throughout their service.
The NYSC State Coordinator, Mercy Bamai said this particular batch has represented NYSC in a good manner and has upgraded the image of their various families where they are coming from and as well the country, Nigeria.
“From what I have seen, the corps members have been of good decorum, have maintained discipline throughout their service year, in their primary place of assignment, they have done well, in Community development service, they have also rendered selfless services to Ebonyi people,” Bamai explained.
Bamai while praising the corps members also urged them to continue to be disciplined in all they do in life.
She said, “With discipline, morality is assured. You can always get to the peak of your profession when you are disciplined”.
She urged them to learn skills that can help them improve instead of depending on certificates only.
“In this 21st century, it is all about what you can do and not the biggest certificate you are carrying,” she advised.
The coordinator condemned the actions of some Corps Members whose service year were extended for committing various offences while serving.
One of the passing out Corps Members, Ugbaje Achema from Kogi State said he was very happy to have been posted to Ebonyi State.
He commended the state for been up to date in payment of their allowances and having the best infrastructure in the entire Southeast.
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