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Obafemi Awolowo University To Begin Generation, Distribution Of Electricity

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, will soon begin to generate and distribute electricity to the university community when the ongoing 8.03MW power project is completed.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede stated this at the press conference to herald the 60th anniversary of the institution on campus within the week.

The Vice Chancellor who said the institution has obtained Marketing License from the Transmission Corporation of Nigeria to distribute electricity to the university community said the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) 8.03MW power project would soon be completed.

He said this will enable OAU generate its own electricity hence reduce the economic burden of high tariff and ensure regular electricity supply to enhance its various academic activities.

Ogunbodede added that the University presently pays over N80m per month for electricity and additionally over N2m per month on Diesel to power generators.

He expressed hope that while the project was aimed at the University community, it may have no choice but to benefit the immediate community with the excess power, since the university could not exhaust the 8.03MW.

He said the university has made significant advances in research, resulting in nationally and globally significant success stories.

The VC stressed that the OAU has achieved rapid growth and development, particularly in the areas of Academic programmes, Research, Infrastructural Development and human resources development.

Ogunbodede said that the university has produced, among its staff, a Nobel Laureatte and six Nigerian National Merit Award Winners.

While commending the University Alumni and friends for their assistance in supporting various projects and programmes in the institution, he asked for more interventions and support in the face of inadequate and dwindling resources from the Federal Government.

Ogunmodede explained that OAU had recorded significant achievements in all its areas of competencies, particularly in learning, research and community service, leading to innovations and patents in the areas of Health, Drug, Agriculture and Technology.

Also Speaking, the new Chairman of the OAU Governing Council, Owelle Oscar Udoji peomised that during his tenure, OAU will break fresh grounds in research and contribution to National Development.

Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Gambia, Professor Faqir Anjum who siezed the occasion to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the OAU, thanked Nigeria for her contributions to the educational development of Gambia.

Obafemi Awolowo University was established on the 8th of June 1961 as University of Ife by the then government of Western Region of Nigeria.

Twitter Adds ‘Arabic (feminine)’ Language Option In A Bid To Further Diversify

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Twitter has introduced an “Arabic (feminine)” language setting enabling the social media site to speak to users using feminine grammar, part of what it said was towards its inclusion and diversity drive.

“We want our service to reflect the voices that shape the conversations that take place on our service,” said Rasha Fawakhiri.

In Arabic, just like French, verbs agree with the gender of their subject and usually masculine forms are used to address mixed or unknown audiences and are the default in most texts.

Until now, the instruction for the user to Tweet in Arabic had appeared only in the masculine form “gharrid”. With a change of settings, this command can now appear on Twitter as “gharridi”, the feminine form.

While Dubai-based global logistics company Aramex in April added a similar language option to its corporate website. Twitter says it is the first social media site to introduce an “Arabic (feminine)” language option.

Last year the company amended some of the language used by its engineers in their processes to be more inclusive replacing “man hours” with “person or engineer hours”, and “master/slave” with “leader/follower”

China’s Education Ministry Sets Up Office To Oversee After-School Tutoring

China’s education ministry has opened an office to oversee after-school tutoring in a move that comes as part of a national clamp-down on the private tutoring sector.

China has framed tough new rules for the industry, aiming both to ease pressure on school children and boost the country’s birth rate by lowering family living costs, sources told Reuters last month.

Recall in a major policy shift recently, China said that it would allow all married couples to have three children, ending a two-child policy that has failed to raise the country’s declining birthrates and avert a demographic crisis.

The official Xinhua news agency said following a politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping, the policy change will come with supportive measures, which will be conducive to improving our country’s population structure, fulfilling the country’s strategy of actively coping with an ageing population.

Delicious ways to prepare Chicken Breast

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Whether baked, grilled or stuffed, there are several ways to cook your chicken breast to bring out the very best of flavour and taste in them. Many people like them because it is fast to cook and seems to be a healthy choice.

Some people find chicken breast boring, but Greatist top chef say Chicken breasts are a blank canvas for a zillion different flavours and cultural influences.

In this article we will at some of the variety of recipes ranging from baked, stuffed or grilled chicken breast. Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Breast Recipes

Baked Lemon Chicken

Lemon steals the show in this easy dinner party-worthy dish. You can cook the chicken breasts on a sheet pan. You know what that means: Add a vegetable (that cooks in 20 minutes) to the pan and you’ve got dinner.

Honey-Baked Garlic Chicken

Honey and garlic! Oh yes, we’re so in. Chunks of chicken breast are breaded in panko, baked, and then tossed with an Asian-inspired sweet and spicy sauce of honey, soy, and Sriracha.

Stuffed Chicken Breast Recipes

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

This is not the boring steamed broccoli you ate as a kid. Here the veggie gets an adult makeover when it’s stuffed into chicken along with mozzarella cheese. With just seven ingredients, this recipe is a snap.

Pizza-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Skip the crust and stuff all the best parts into the chicken breast. Surprisingly satisfying, this pizza chicken is awesome on a bed of greens or on its own or with pasta.

Grilled Chicken Breast recipes

Spice-Rubbed Grilled Chicken

This grilled chicken recipe combines lots of spices (paprika, chili powder, cumin, thyme, and garlic powder) for maximum flavor. Just combine the spices, sprinkle over the chicken, grill them and glaze with honey-vinegar sauce.

Thai-Grilled Chicken

Craving Thai? In this grilled chicken recipe, the breasts marinate in a high-flavor blend of lemongrass paste, fish sauce, garlic, lime, and red chile. You’ll need to prep ahead of time, since the chicken needs to sit in the marinade for at least 3 hours to soak up the entire flavor. Serve over salad or Asian noodles.

There are a whole lot more ways to prepare delicious chicken breast just go ahead, explore and enjoy an inexhaustible array of recipes.

Commissioner Education Says Tablet Of Knowledge To Return To Osun Schools

The Commissioner of Education in Osun State, Folorunsho Bamisayemi, says the renowned Tablet of Knowledge, popularly called Opon Imo, earlier withdrawn from students of Senior Secondary Schools will soon be re-introduced in grand style.

The Commissioner said in a chat with journalists in Osogbo, the state capital.

He said the popular Opon Imo which won a lot of accolade across the world as a phenomenal ICT innovation in schools, was only temporarily withdrawn to be refurbished and be improved upon.

He noted that the Opon Imo had to be withdrawn because the state did not have an ICT policy on education before it was introduced into schools, hence, its ineffective use.

The withdrawal was to enable the state develop a comprehensive and robust Information and Communication Technology policy in the education sector

The Commissioner noted that some of the ICT facilities had been laying fallow since 2010 as teachers and students lacked requisite capacities.

The Commissioner maintained that the ministry was working on ICT policy that would ensure teachers were adequately trained to equip them with proper skills to manage the Tablets, and other ICT facilities and centers.

Senate Opens Inquiry On Alleged N61.1 billion diversion by NSITF

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The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has begun a probe into alleged diversion of N61.1 billion by officials of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

Scheduled to hold of Tuesday in Abuja, the panel led by Senator Matthew Urhoghide is hinging the Investigation on the 2018 report of the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF).

Urhoghide acknowledged that the agency has over 50 queries to respond to and according to submitted documents, the agency is being accused of diverting N5.5 billion.

In one of the submitted queries, NSTIF was said to have paid N38.2 billion as personnel cost from 2012 to 2017 without approval of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, in addition to payment of N17.1 billion to some persons and companies from the organisation’s accounts.

In his reaction, the Director-General of NSTIF, Dr. Michael Akabogu, urged the committee to duly scrutinise the report and summon him only for those that concerned him and refer others to his predecessor.

The submitted document reads: “Audit observed that the Fund has been implementing a salary structure that is not approved by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission. As a result, irregular payment of N38,219,919,530.32 by way of personnel cost was made to the staff from 2012 to 2017.

“Risk Implementation of unapproved salary structure may result in wastage of public funds, as remuneration may be higher than the productivity level of staff. The Managing Director is required to provide the approval of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission for the implementation of the Fund’s salary structure”

A second and third query noted that “Audit of the Fund’s bank statements for the period under review revealed that contributions received from the Federal Government in 2014, amounting to N 5,500,000,000.00, were diverted.

“Audit observed that for the period January 1 to December 20, 2013, N 17,158,883,034.69 was transferred to some persons and companies.

“However, payment vouchers relating to the transfers together with their supporting documents were not provided for audit. Consequently, the purpose(s) for the transfers could not be authenticated.”

2020/2021 Academic Session: Petroleum Training Institute Matriculates 1,901 Students

The Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, Delta State has matriculated 1,901 students for its 2020/2021 academic session.

The acting Principal/Chief Executive, PTI, Henry Adimula, who administered the matriculation oath on the students urged them to shun unlawful assembly and protest on campus.

He said the management does not tolerate any social vices as spelt out in the Institute’s Handbook, adding that anyone caught would face the consequences.

The acting Principal/Chief Executive urged the students to take their study with all seriousness which was their primary aim of coming to the Institute.

Adimula disclosed that the PTI, which is the foremost institute of oil and gas in Africa, was being reorganised in line with the current trend in the oil and gas industry.

He noted that, that the Institute being specialised for the training of manpower for the oil, gas and allied industries, placed the students at advantage over their peers in other tertiary institutions.

University of Ilorin To Patent Students’ Inventions – Vice Chancellor

The management of the University of Ilorin says plans are currently underway to perfect and patent some of the inventions of the final year students of the Department of Computer Engineering.

Speaking at the opening exhibition of the projects, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the university, Professor Sulyman Abdulkareem, applauded the final year students for their project inventions

He advised the students on various ways to perfect the projects while also pledging his support in developing some of them.

On his part, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology in the institution Professor David Ogunniyi, explained that the institution would patent the inventions for commercial purposes.

The exhibition featured over 12 inventions from the students of the Department of Computer Engineering.

Ogunniyi lauded the efforts of the students while advising them to strive harder in developing the projects for commercial purposes so as to enhance their knowledge and further contribute positively to society.

Similarly, the Head of the Department of Computer Engineering, Tajudeen Ajiboye, said that the exhibition was organised so that the authorities could witness the brilliant inventions of the students.

He added that the exhibition was to help the students turn their inventions into products, so as not to rot away.

In his remarks, the Director of Academic Planning, Professor Isaac Adimula, also commended the students for their innovation.

He advised them not to relent on their discoveries while expressing the hope that the knowledge they had gained would make them independent and self-sufficient in the nearest future.

The inventions exhibited include an automated irrigation system, a pilot-free drone, a mater magnetizer system with a cloud-based data storage unit, an electrically enhanced walking stick for the visually impaired and a Voice control for home automation.

Others are electronic keys for residential access control using fingerprint technology; a parking space notification system; an automatic quiz buzzer; and an automatic change-over for three power sources.

They also include a medical parameter measurement system with a cloud-based data storage unit.

UN Security Council Calls For Free, Fair Elections In Mali

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A large majority of the 15-nation UN Security Council called Monday for free and fair elections to go ahead in coup-hit Mali without the participation of its current leaders.

The volatile west African nation has announced a new government with army figures in key roles, in the wake of an internationally condemned coup led by Colonel Assimi Goita last month.

Fighting in the vast semi-arid Sahel on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert began in 2012, when Islamist militants joined a local insurgency in northern Mali, capturing swathes of territory.

Former colonial power France intervened in January 2013 to beat them back, in an operation called Serval.

Serval was succeeded in 2014 by the broader Barkhane mission, which has some 5,100 soldiers deployed across the Sahel.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians have died and more than two million people have been displaced, adding to the woes of an already impoverished region.

France announced last week that it was planning to wind down Barkhane — although De Riviere said it would maintain a “significant military presence” in the region.

Several Security Council members backed a one-year extension of MINUSMA, the UN stabilization mission in Mali whose mandate expires on June 30, without any change to current personnel levels.

China and Vietnam said they were in favour of “maintaining the ceiling” of authorised military and police at around 15,000.

New Zealand To Apologise For ‘Racist’ Historic Police Raids

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she will offer a formal apology to New Zealand’s Pacific community over demeaning police raids which targeted them in the 1970s.

Ardern said the notorious “dawn raids” were carried out by police and immigration officials seeking to identify and deport visa overstayers.

In addition, she said Pacific islanders were racially profiled, with officials subjecting them to random stop and search without justification.

She said the raids and what they represented created deep wounds, but while history cannot be changed, it can be acknowledged with the aim to seek to right a wrong.

Ardern said the apology would take place on June 26 at Auckland Town Hall.

New Zealand encouraged migration from Pacific islands such as Samoa, Tonga and Fiji after World War II to fill worker shortages as the economy expanded.

But they faced a backlash when there was a downturn in the 1970s, with claims they were taking jobs from New Zealanders.

Minister for Pacific Peoples William Sio, who has a Samoan background, and who fought back tears as he described his own family’s experiences said the raids were “racist and discriminatory”.