Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

By: Funmi Ojuroye  October 29th 2013 Ex-Chief of General Staff, Mike Akhigbe A former Chief of General Staff, Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe, is dead. He died in a New York hospital at around 1.06pm, about 7.pm Nigerian time on Monday. Aged 68, Akhigbe, who was the second in command to the former military ruler, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, was said to have died of cancer-related ailment. Before his death on Monday, there was speculation over his state of health.  The Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, who confirmed his death, said his boss was the deceased’s course mate at the Nigerian Defence Academy. Mark, in a statement on Monday night described his death as the loss of “a brother, confidant, friend and comrade-at-arms.” Mark, who was overwhelmed by emotions, recalled their days together  at the Nigerian Defence Academy, noting that “Mike was fearless and very diligent in our course. “He took these attributes to all ...

By: Funmi Ojuroye  October 29th 2013 Stella Oduah President Goodluck Jonathan may have finally succumbed to public pressure to  move against the embattled Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, who is currently being probed over the N255m  bulletproof cars bought for her by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority. The development came to the fore with the last-minute decision to stop Oduah from signing the much-publicised Bilateral Air Services Agreement with Israel. The ceremony was given by Presidency officials as the  main purpose of her inclusion in the President’s entourage to Israel for this year’s Christian pilgrimage. In her stead, Minister of State I, Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, signed the agreement on behalf of the Federal Government while the Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr. Zeer Elkin, signed on behalf of the Israeli government. Presidential spokesman,  Dr. Reuben Abati, after releasing a photograph on Monday on the signing cerem...

By: Funmi Ojuroye  October 29th 2013 Citing strategic and sensitive considerations, the Nigerian Army has deployed the spokesman of the 7th Division, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa out of Maiduguri, a knowledgeable source told Mic at the weekend. Musa, who became widely-known at the height of Niger Delta militancy, was deployed to Maiduguri, the hot bed of the Boko Haram sect after the July 2009 when the sect became more sophisticated. The source added that Musa had on several occasions been active in tough operations against Boko Haram, refusing to sit back on his information desk, a doggedness that put him on Boko Haram’s spotlight as a potential target. On August 19, 2013, Musa returned to the limelight when he advanced that Boko Haram’s leader Imam Abubakar Shekau, may have died. “It is greatly believed that Shekau might have died between July 25 and August 3, 2013,” he announced.  “He was reported to have masterminded the kidnap of the seven French citizens and that of the elder...

By: Funmi Ojuroye  October 29th 2013 By Prof  Sola Adeyeye I was quite bemused by the reference by ASUU spokesman, Dr. Ajiboye,  to my enjoyment of Duquesne University’s reputed Flex benefits for its members of academic and non-academic staff while denying similar benefits to ASUU members.  First, in most instances, as its very name suggests, the Flex Benefits Program at Duquesne was flexible. It was also contributory.  The University simply matched, up to a predetermined ratio, whatever amount had been contributed by the staff. For example, each faculty or staff made individual decision about how much he or she would contribute towards retirement, pension, life insurance etc. In my case, I contributed 12% of my salary towards retirement and pension but the university was obligated to contribute not more than 6% of my wages towards my retirement portfolios which had been divided by me into different mutual funds like Vanguard, Lincoln, Traveler...

By: Funmi Ojuroye  October 29th 2013 Oshiomhole The All Progressives Congress (APC) has strongly condemned the sponsored disruption of Gov. Adams Oshiomhole’s presentation during a meeting of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue in Benin on Monday, saying the despicable action has vindicated the party’s decision not to be part of the proposed conference. In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the Committee must thoroughly be ashamed of itself that one of its members led the show of shame that was put up in Benin on Monday. It therefore demanded an unreserved apology from the Committee to Gov. Oshiomhole, while the member who acted so unruly and irresponsibly must be publicly cautioned at the least or be excused from the Committee. ”The truth is that in proposing the conference, the government has no sincerity of purpose, does not believe in engaging in any dialogue with a...

By: Funmi Ojuroye  October 29th 2013 THE advanced countries recognise that change is inevitable.   New ideas are tested and experimented on a daily basis,   a   constant jigging and re-jigging in the process of governance to keep up with the pace. There is a deliberate attempt to find cheap, shrewd and local solutions to problems   associated with governance;   the latest of which is the setting up of behavioural insight    teams. There is the belief that: ‘’Behavioural sciences can be used to help design public policies that   will   work better, cost less and help people to achieve their goal ‘’. Such policies which – encourage behaviour subtly rather than outright require it – have come to be known as nudges, after a book titled,  Nudge  by Cass Sustein and Richard Thaler. The goal is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government by using scientifically collected evidence to inform policy designs. The nudge...