Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE   19th Sept. 2013 The Bauchi State Chapter of the Academic Union of Universities has said that the union will not shift grounds on their demand for the hundred percent implementation of the 2009 agreement, saying that the federal government is not transparent and sincere in addressing the rot in the education sector. The State Chairman of the union, Dr. Lawan Abubakar who stated this Thursday in an interview at the  ASUU secretariat in Bauchi lamented that the federal government and the National Assembly have been gambling and playing politics with the future of students in the varsities by refusing to implement an agreement it consciously entered into with the union four years ago. According to him, “I can recall vividly in 2011 December, ASUU went on strike over this same non-implementation of the 2009 agreement. In January 2012,we sat down again with the government and drafted a memorandum of understanding,(MOU) on how the 2009 agreement will be im...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE   19th Sept. 2013 The leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, on Thursday stated that his controversial views on the nation’s contemporary politics were not an indication of his hatred for the North. The ex-militant leader, who said he had begun a nationwide peace move, however, noted that he was an “Ijaw tribalist.” This peace move started after a meeting he said he held last week with Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun and Chief Ralph Uwazuruike in Owerri, the Imo State capital. Speaking with journalists in his residence in Abuja, the former President of the Ijaw Youth Council said having spent a greater part of his life to defend the oppressed, it would be wrong for people to consider him as one who hates the North or any other part of the country. He said, “I am a tribalist, and I have no apology for that.” The CEO of NDPVF believed it was time for Nigerians fight f...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE   19th Sept. 2013 The All Progressives Congress (APC) has demanded that Information Minister Labaran Maku be relieved of his new assignment as the Supervising Minister of Defence, because he is an interested party in the spiralling crisis ravaging Nasarawa, where the FG has ordered the deployment of troops to help end the violence. In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the fact that Mr. Maku is of the Eggon ethnic stock, to which the Ombatse cult/militia group behind the Nasarawa crisis has been linked, has made his new role as the Supervising Minister of Defence untenable. It said even if the Minister has no sympathy for the rampaging Ombatse, whatever action he takes in his new capacity – as far as the Nasarawa violence is concerned – will be open to misinterpretation and allegation of bias, which can in turn aggravate the crisis. ”This is why we believe that the most prudent thing...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE  18th Sept. 2013 A 46-year-old man, Michael Unumahengie, was yesterday arraigned before an Ikeja magistrate’s court, Lagos, for allegedly raping and defiling three minors. Unumahengie, who was docked before Magistrate Mrs E. Daudu, is facing a three-count charge bordering on rape, preferred against him by the police. The prosecutor said that the defendant committed the alleged crime on September 6 at 9pm, in Alausa, Ikeja area of Lagos State. The three victims are aged 10, nine and six, respectively. The prosecutor said the offence is punishable under Section 137 of the criminal law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges read to him. But the magistrate refused him bail. The magistrate remanded the defendant in Kirikiri prison and adjourned the case till October 17 for hearing.

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE  18th Sept. 2013 TRIPOLI (AFP) – Seif al-Islam, son of slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, appeared in court Thursday in Zintan west of Tripoli on security charges in a trial that was adjourned until December, a lawyer said. “Seif al-Islam Gaddafi appeared before the Zintan court that decided to adjourn the trial until December 12 to allow the attendance of other accused in the case,” the lawyer who was present in court told AFP. He was also due at a pre-trial hearing in the capital on Thursday on security charges related to the 2011 uprising that toppled his father, but there were doubts whether his ex-rebel captors in Zintan would allow this.

BY: TIWA L'OODUA  19th Sept. 2013 The School management of Moshood Abiola Polytecnic has schelduled the HND, PART-TIME & ND F/T 2nd Batch screening examination for 11th and 12th days of OCTOBER, 2013.  This was revealed in a recent interaction with the school P.R.O Mr. Sulaimon Adebiyi. He further explained that neccessary publicity would be made soon. Meanwhile, it may interest you that the sales of FORM is still very much in progress and the deadline for application of forms for 2013/14 admission according to the school P.R.O will be made available in due course. Wish you best of luck as you prepare for the exam!

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE  18th Sept. 2013 The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, will participate at the High Level Forum for First Ladies at the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Tthe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event, with the theme “Building Bridges for Peace on Health Disability: Post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda Initiative”, is scheduled for Sept. 24. She is expected to deliver a speech for the opening of the workshop session, while Senior Advisor, RAND Corporation on the African First Ladies Fellowship Programme, Nicole Brzeski, will chair the workshop. The session will address various creative strategies in addressing and overcoming peace challenges on various forms of women’s health and wellbeing. Dr Ada Okika, the Secretary-General, U.S. Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations New York State Chapter, told NAN that the time had come for realistic understanding of the significance of a transfor...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE  18th Sept. 2013 Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan has urged the people of Niger Delta region not to be antagonistic to President Goodluck Jonathan, either to his policies or political aspiration, saying “opposition to him should not come from the South-South, his own region.” Uduaghan, in an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, yesterday said; “rather, we should put our hands and heads together to assist him achieve success because he means well for the country.” Speaking further, the governor applauded the President for his commendable performance in office in spite of the unprecedented challenges facing the country, wondering, “how many leaders can succeed like Jonathan in a situation where insurgence like the Boko Haram is the order of the day?” On the state of the nation’s economy, Uduaghan said calling for the resignation of the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was a misplaced consideration, saying “rather, we should blame a...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE September 19, 2013 Women In Politics Women In Politics NIGERIANS have continued to express outrage at the converging upon Eagle square, Abuja, of a “mass rally” last month, hosted by First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan. The carnival, co-hosted by the National Council of Women Societies, NCWS, tagged Nigerian Women Rally for Peace and Empowerment, reportedly had 15,000 women from different parts of the country in attendance. In an event with the First Lady’s signature, phenomenal traffic gridlocks, massive security deployments and road closures grounded activities to a halt in Abuja. It was a bad advertisement for women in politics. Though the “stock of the gains recorded so far in the empowerment of Nigerian women and the quest for peace in the country”, the carnival, debased women. The deployment of women as mere ‘side shows’ and for their entertainment value in political rallies is abhorrent norm. Nigerian women possess the requisite qualifications for politics,...