Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE  October 1st 2013 In the last 53 years, the education sector has witnessed a mix of successes and failures, CHARLES ABAH writes “The decline in the system in the past 53 years was gradual, but sure. The end is not in sight. As long as the government of a developing country like ours needs reminding that education is important in the growth of a nation, there will be no amelioration of the country’s loss of bearing academically.” This is the thought of a university lecturer, Dr. Fidelis Okoro, as he assesses the nation’s education sector since independence. Of course, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka teacher, has every reason to hold this view. In the last 92 days, Okoro and other teachers in the country’s public universities have abandoned the classrooms for their homes, following a strike called by their umbrella body, the Academic Staff Union of the Universities. They are protesting against the non-implementation of an agreement the Federal Government...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE  October 1st 2013 As Nigeria marks 53 years of independence today, one of the salient issues bordering the citizenry is the development of its gas resources. This is because despite the abundant gas reserve estimated at about 187 trillion cubic feet and a further undiscovered potential estimated at 600 trillion cubic feet, gas is not yet available to every household or industrial concern in the country. In the last few years, the country has launched its Gas Master Plan, GMP, aimed at improving its gas supply from the current one billion cubic feet per day to about 10bcf/day by 2020. In spite of the master plan, Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of the policy. Thus eliciting the pertinent question, how has the country fared in its gas development since independence? Prof. Joseph Ezigbo, managing director, Falcon Petroleum, a company that has handled many gas projects, said the federal government has achieved about 30 percent in its gas development pla...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE  30th September 2013 David Moyes. Replacing Ferguson always looked like being a tough task for the former Everton manager, especially when all the main title challengers invested heavily in new players during the off-season while United stood still. In terms of managing expectations, David Moyes has done a splendid job so far at Manchester United. Raising them might prove tougher though as United's worst start to a season since the early days of his predecessor Alex Ferguson in 1989 has left them down in 12th place in the Premier League after six games. Replacing Ferguson always looked like being a tough task for the former Everton manager, especially when all the main title challengers invested heavily in new players during the off-season while United stood still. The Reds made only one addition for the new season and Marouane Fellaini, whom Moyes signed from Everton on deadline day, did not even start in the 2-1 defeat by West Bromwich Albion on Saturday...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE  30th September 2013 President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed to check crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the nation’s oil and gas sector, noting that if past administrations had taken decisive actions against the crime, it would have been checked. The president, who made the claim during the presidential media chat on Sunday in Abuja, also said the issue of corruption in Nigeria is exaggerated. Jonathan said: “The problem of oil theft has started long ago, if governments at that time had done something to check it, it wouldn’t have developed into the level it is now. Today, people within and outside the country are involved in the crime. Crude oil stealing is not done by the poor because you need a vessel to do it and to sell outside the country, you need connections. So, it is not done by the poor. But I assure Nigerians that we are doing everything to check it.” Reacting to question on allegation of massive corruption in the country, Jonathan ...

BY: FUNMI OJUROYE  30th Sept. 2013 The All Progressives Congress says it has uncovered a ‘grand and serpentine’ plot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Presidency to rig the 2015 general elections, especially the presidential poll, and to destabilize Nigeria. In a statement issued in Lagos today by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the multi-faceted strategy includes suppression of votes in areas where the President's chances are slim, using the police and the military. According to APC, the PDP and the Presidency also plan to use what they have tagged a ‘Third Force’ to:     •    Bamboozle Nigerians and project the image of a performing Presidency, even when they admit that the current public perception of the government is less than salutary because of its weakness and lack of vision;       •    Engage in the destabilization of the APC using moles and fift...

  By: Funmi Ojuroye  29th Sept, 2013 The eerie calm in  the security and sociopolitical space of Kaduna State, on Monday, burst into cataclysmic political excitement never seen since the death of its former governor,  Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, and the swearing-in of his deputy, Alh. Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, last December, to succeed him. Three closely linked events took place. And they may well set the agenda that would profoundly determine the fortunes or otherwise of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the state and that of the characters that ride on it. First, like bad dream turn real, Vice President Namadi Sambo, whose outings in the last three polls in the state showed that he could not win even his own street and ward, woke up to find that the  party had developed a very bitter faction that announced its loyalty  to the Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led “New” PDP’. This would make his political relevance both in the state, the No...

By: Funmi Ojuroye  29th Sept, 2013 No fewer than 11 people were on Saturday killed in a renewed attack in Zangang village in Attakar Chiefdom, Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The gunmen attacked the village early in the morning, leaving several houses completely burnt. A resident of the village, Isuwa Jiga, said more corpses were likely to be discovered as many residents were still missing. “We have not seen some of our family members yet,’’ Jiga said. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP. Aminu Lawal, confirmed the incident. Lawal said that a combined team of security operatives had been deployed to the area. Zangang village had witnessed three consecutive attacks since the beginning of this year, while several lives and property were lost in the attacks.