School teachers at the Baga area of Borno State were caught unaware following the visit of the state governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, to the area on Monday.
It was gathered that the governor visited the area to determine the level of their qualifications and ability to teach.
A statement released on Monday by the governor’s spokesman, Isa Gusau, said Zulum conducted an impromptu test for the teachers and also supervised them.
Gusau, however, noted that the governor told the teachers that the test was not to sack anyone but to determine their teaching capacity.
“Those that have no capacity to teach would be given a choice, either to redeploy them to the administrative department or send them for further training.
“At the end of each year, every teacher and his pupils will be evaluated and the government will also support them with accommodation and other related services.
“After interacting and revealing their aptitude test results, Zulum announced a package of 20,000 Naira and 10 yards of fabric (Shadda) to each teacher.
“The Senior Secondary School’s Principal and the Primary School Head Teacher each got 50,000 Naira and 10 yards of fabric (Shadda),” the statement read.
The statement quoted Zulum as saying: “As long as you will make a meaningful impact to the society, we shall support you. We shall evaluate you, and those of you whose salaries need to be upgraded will be updated.
“Whenever I come back to this town again, I will call a teacher by name and determine the level of his capacity and that of his pupils.
“We would encourage more pupils’ intake, especially by providing a meal and other support.”
We will keep doing everything to grow Lagos – Speaker Obasa
Gives reason for the creation of Neighbourhood Safety Corps
Urges taxi operators to device better means to win patronage
Lagos Speaker Obasa with LCCI
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. (Dr) Mudashiru Obasa, has promised that the legislative arm of government would continue to work for the progress of the state.
The Speaker noted that Lagos enjoys an enviable environment for businesses to thrive. He also said the state currently enjoys a great level of security of lives which the government constantly improves upon.
According to the Speaker, the legislature had continued to make efforts, through lawmaking and feedback mechanisms, at ensuring that Lagos moves up from being the fifth largest economy in Africa.
Noting that Lagos is a mini-country with representatives from different parts of Nigeria, Obasa, who commended LCCI for its collaboration with the state legislature, said the House had made laws relating to security, transportation and other sectors and that these had helped to boost the state’s economy.
He, however, lamented the refusal of some critical stakeholders to honour invitations to public hearings on bills being considered by the House, only for them to raise complaints when such bills are passed.
“We realised that it is important to have security and protection of everybody because investments can only grow when you have safety. That led to the creation of the Security Trust Fund and the Neighbourhood Safety Corps to ensure we support the Nigeria Police.
“There is also a need for continued collaboration with industries in the state. We will continue to work together for the progress of Lagos,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Mrs. Mabogunje commended the House for the various bills it has passed for the improvement of businesses in the state.
“We appreciate your laudable efforts in this regard and look forward to more bills passed into law to promote enabling environment for the private sector to thrive so that they can generate more revenue for the state,” she urged.
Mabogunje, who noted that the mandate of the chamber is to protect the welfare of its members, appealed for consistency in policy implementation.
“Lagos State needs a multi-modal transport system to solve the traffic congestion on our roads today,” she said among other suggestions while promising more collaboration with the House and the government.
Meanwhile, Speaker Obasa has urged the Lagos State Taxi Drivers and Cab Operators Association to device strategies that would make them effectively compete with other organised operators in the state’s transport system.
Obasa said this when some members of the association paid him a visit.
President of the association, Otunba Omolekan Taiwo, had complained that some transport organisations engaging in taxi services had taken over the state.
He lamented that many of the members of his association have been left handicapped especially by the competitors who engage the use of the internet.
He pleaded with the House to assists with laws and resolutions that would favour the association.
In response, Speaker Obasa noted that the transport sector remains an important aspect of the commerce of a state or country.
“Transportation is a big industry that we cannot allow any single body to dominate. You have to create room for others to participate.
“What I want to suggest is that there is need for your organisation to be proactive and bring about new dimensions to your operation,” he told the transport operators.
The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) has explained why special transportation was availed Chidinma Ojukwu, the prime suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, as she was driven out of the court premises on Monday.
This medium reports that NCS used to be known as the Nigerian Prisons Service until the Federal Government changed the parastatal’s name.
Minutes after she was remanded by Chief Magistrate Adeola Adedayo, a prison official put Miss Ojukwu, without handcuffs, in the front seat of a Toyota Camry car with Lagos plate number EPE 671 BD, and whisked her away from the Yaba Magistrates’ Court.
Chidinma seated in the car about to be driven to remand by a Prisons official
The front windows of the car with tainted black glasses was wound down such that Chidinma could be seen looking straight ahead as the car sped out of the courthouse parking lot. They left behind a green prison bus, which was used to convey other inmates to the courthouse.
Explaining that there was a good reason for the treatment Miss Ojukwu got, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Rotimi Oladokun said the Correctional Service often makes special transportation arrangements for defendants in high profile cases, as a security measure.
“It’s not the usual practice. It was a security diversion. It is a high profile case, so it was part of our security diversion. It was just to create a diversion,” Oladokun told The Nation
Chief Magistrate Adedayo on Monday remanded Ojukwu and her co-defendant Adedapo Quadri for 30 days following an application by the police counsel Cyril Ejiofor.
The defendants were accused to have conspired to kill Ataga and stole his laptop, phones and cash valued at N3.8 million.
They allegedly committed the offences on June 16, at No. 19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.
The court adjourned till September 6, for review of remand and Directorate of Public Prosecution’s Advice (DPP)’s advice.
Miss Ojukwu, a 21-year-old Mass Communication student of the University of Lagos, was arrested by the police on June 23, 2021. She was said to have been in a romantic relationship with 50-year-old Ataga for about four months before the incident.
Following her parade by the police on June 24, the undergraduate said she and Ataga were “having fun” when an argument broke out and she stabbed him twice.
On June 29, she pleaded for forgiveness saying she was not ready to die. She attributed her action to influence of hard drugs and smoking. But things took a dramatic turn on July 13, 2021 when Chidinma recanted on her earlier confession.
The caretaker chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yola South local government of Adamawa State, Alh. Sulaiman Adamu has taken a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari saying that if wishes were horses, he would have wished coronavirus kill the president.
Adamu who made the spiteful and denigrating remark, said, if he is asked to choose between Buhari and his Vice, Yemi Osinbanjo he would pick the latter with dispatch.
The APC chairman according to reliable sources made the statement during a meeting of some high profile stakeholders of the party, including the immediate past Governor of Adamawa State, Muhammadu Umar Jibrilla Bindow and the immediate past Speaker of Adamawa State house of assembly, who is the incumbent member representing Yola south constituency in the state house of assembly, Kabiru Mijinyawa.
Other APC stalwarts present at the meeting are, Yusha’u Adamu who served Bindow as adviser and Abubakar Umar Sirimbai who was a former development area chairman.
Sources privy to the development said the meeting took place on Sunday August 8, 2021 at the residence of the former commissioner of local government and chieftaincy affairs, under the Bindow administration, Mustapha Barkindo Aliyu Mustapha, between 3:00pm to 5:00pm.
In an audio clip made available to our reporter, the APC chieftains were heard making spiteful and denigrating remarks against the person of President Muhammadu Buhari without let or hindrance.
“I don’t know why coronavirus did not kill Buhari. If the president is placed side by side with Osinbajo I will pick Osinbajo and leave Buhari,” the chairman was heard lamenting in the viral audio clip spoken in Fulfulde.
Also lambasting the president, Abubakar Sirimbai in another sneering vituperation, said, it is better for the accursed president to die so that Osinbajo could take over the reigns of power.
“It is better for the accursed president to die so that his vice can assume the reigns of power. We sold our properties to help the president win the election. We bought under wears, braziers, and cosmetic which we used to give him a make up. If I’m averse to Osinbajo becoming the president, may God not give me the privilege of living till evening.
” Buhari has achieved nothing in Adamawa in the last six years. APC in Adamawa thrives on the legacies of Bindow. We heard that Buhari used to be extremely happy whenever he learnt someone has gone bankrupt. We can’t be worshipping him like others, ” Sirimbai said.
Also chipping in, the former speaker of the state house of assembly, Mijinyawa in apparent approval of what others have said added that, “Osinbajo is our own.”
The Kaduna State government has denied giving permission for primary and secondary schools in the state to resume on August 9.
This is as the state government emphasized that schools are to remain shut until security operatives give clearance for the safety of the students and teachers following series of attacks on schools by bandits and kidnappers.
The State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Shehu Muhammad, stated this in Kaduna at a joint press conference with the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan.
According to him, students, parents, proprietors, and all other stakeholders are to ignore the fake news making rounds that approval has been given for schools in the state to resume for the third term on August 9.
He reiterated that the indefinite postponement of school resumption announced by the government on August 6 remains in place until otherwise stated.
“We were, however, surprised that for mischievous reasons, some individuals are circulating misguided information, claiming it was from the ministry, asking schools to resume.
“We want to categorically say that all schools – public, private and religious, including federal schools in the state – are to remain close.
“We will reopen as soon as we are advised to do so by security agencies, assuring us that schools are safe to open,” he said.
On his part, Aruwan said that the government ordered the closure of schools so as not to endanger the lives of the students, parents, teachers, and others.
He added that security operatives are working round the clock on the situation and schools will resume once everything is in place.
“It is for this reason that the government was advised against opening so as not to endanger the life of students. The government is concerned for the safety of lives and property and will give clearance for the schools to reopen as soon as security improves,” he said.
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu has allegedly undergone another knee surgery at the John Hopkins University Hospital in Maryland, the United States.
It was gathered that the former Lagos State Governor returned to the United Kingdom on crutches after undergoing the successful surgery.
According to SaharaReporters, sources revealed that the 2023 presidential hopeful wanted the surgery in Paris, France but changed his plan over rumour of his death.
The source said: “Tinubu had his second surgery at John Hopkins University in Maryland recently. He was accompanied by a popular Nigerian doctor in Chicago.
“He had wanted the surgery in Paris but when rumour was rife about his death, he hurriedly left for Nigeria and went to John Hopkins.
“He left the US for the UK on crutches.”
Recall that SaharaReporters had on July 13 claimed that Bola Tinubu was hospitalised in Maryland, the US.
the former Governor was reported to have had his first surgery.
Tinubu had been away from the political scene for a while, amidst reports of him planning to take over from President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
“Tinubu is hospitalised in Maryland, US. His health is failing. He couldn’t participate in launching his Arewa library, and he couldn’t participate in the Local Government Area elections last week. He could not attend today’s APC congress due to health reasons.
“He had surgery last week,” an authoritative source had disclosed.
Tinubu was also reported sick and hospitalised in Paris, France in January, 2021.
He had earlier complained of exhaustion and had travelled out to rest before the news of his collapse gone viral.
He was flown to Paris for medical attention in the first week of January.
“Tinubu is in Paris, France for a medical checkup. His health is deteriorating. Old age and other stuff, but he still wants to be president. This could mean another medical tourism presidency for our country,” a top source had at that time revealed.
But an aide to the former governor, Tunde Rahman, disclosed that his principal has not been hospitalised.
He insisted that Tinubu has no medical problem that would required hospitalization, saying the APC leader would soon be back.
Rahman said, “His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is fine. He is hale and hearty. He is not in any hospital. He has no medical problem that would require hospitalization. Yes, he is out of the country at the moment. He will be back shortly.
“Anytime he travels out of the country, the next thing some mischievous people would say is he is sick, hospitalized or has died. It is shameful that perpetrators of this evil are not deterred by the fact that each time this fake news has been propagated, they have been proven wrong.
“Who is afraid of Asiwaju Tinubu? Those wishing Asiwaju Tinubu evil or dead should be careful. They should know the matter of life and death is in the hand of only God Almighty.”
Governor Babajide Sanwo of Lagos State had after a recent visit to Tinubu maintained that the APC national leader is in good health.
According to the Governor, Tinubu is well and healthy contrary to some reports about his ill health.
“My going to see our leader was really around the rumours flying around about him.
“He is well and healthy. We discussed happening in our party and country at large. All is well with him as I saw myself and there is nothing to worry about,” Sanwo-Olu declared.
Usifo Ataga: Court remands Chidinma, One other in prison
Chidinma Adora Ojukwu, the Prime suspect in the killing of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, and one Adedapo Quadri, were, on Monday, remanded in prison custody by a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court.
Magistrate Mrs Adeola Adedayo remanded Ojukwu for 30 days, pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
Ojukwu, 21, was alleged to have murdered Ataga in a shortlet in Lekki area of Lagos State. She and the deceased had been ‘dating’ for sometime.
She confessed killing the deceased because she needed money from him. She has been in the custody of the Nigerian police Force until her remand today. Ataga, on the other hand, has been buried.
Simon Ekpa Rubbishes Kemi Olunloyo’s Claim, Says FBI did not freeze IPOB’s account
Simon Ekpa, a self-styled disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has dismissed a claim by blogger, Kemi Olunloyo that the account of the pro-Biafra group was frozen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Olunloyo had about a week ago in an online interview with media personality, Samklef, said: “Nnamdi Kanu was offered $10 million dollars – to fund him with his Biafra agitation. Sponsors were going to give him $10 million. America has frozen their account.”
Reacting, Ekpa described Olunloyo as “very sick” and “mentally unstable”.
“A report by some unscrupulous individuals claimed that FBI closed IPOB account. They claimed that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu went to collect $10 million, and transferred the money to IPOB account, and FBI froze this account. It’s a lie from the pit of hell,” Ekpa said in a broadcast on Enter Biafra Channel 1 on Friday.
“And the person that said it, we know she is not mentally stable. But even at that, we will keep the record straight. That was a very big lie from the pit of hell.
“No account of IPOB has ever been frozen anywhere in the world, because there is no need for that.”
Ekpa went further to say that there was “a complaint” by some disgruntled IPOB members, leading to the group changing its account.
According to the diaspora-based separatist; “every money in IPOB account is intact and accessible”.
IPOB is a banned group in Nigeria, canvassing for the sovereignty of Eastern Nigeria.
Breaking: Heavily Armed Police operatives Take Over APC National Secretariat In Abuja
A detachment of heavily armed police operatives on Monday, took over the surroundings of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national secretariat in Abuja.
Not less than five Hilux vans belonging to the Police were sighted along the Blantyre street location of the APC national secretariat.
The reason for the heavy security presence could not be immediately confirmed by our correspondent but there are suggestions that it may be part of efforts to prevent any protest against the continued stay in office of the Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni as the national chairman of the party’s caretaker committee.
It will be recalled that there have been diverse opinions within the party following the recent Supreme Court on the Ondo State governorship election as it affects the validity of the Gov. Buni-led Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC of the party.
NAOSRE was inducted in Lagos on Saturday, August 7, as part of the activities to mark the 81st Posthumous Birthday celebrations of Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti , who was one of the founding pillars of the foremost human rights organization.
Inaugurating the Comrade Femi Oyewale led NAOSRE, Comrade Kehinde Adeoye, Lagos State CDHR chairman and Barrister Malachy Ugwummadu, former CDHR President urged NAOSRE to live up to its billing as the fourth estate of the realm adding that as a constitutionally recognized institution, the media association must redouble its efforts in internalizing and externalizing the patriotic activities of CDHR through quality publicity to birth the desired Nigeria where the rule of law and respect for human rights would define the fabrics of governance.
In his welcome address, Comrade Adeoye called on journalists “To use the pen to expose all forms of human degeneration, corruption, oppression, suppression and repression until bad governance is completely eradicated.”
He described the Beko Kuti posthumous birthday lecture themed “Any Hope For Good Governance In Nigeria?” as “Highly significant because it is in honour of a foremost, uncompromising, altruistic, irrepressible and indefatigable human rights icon who fought for the emancipation of the Nigerian people from misrule, bad governance and abuse of human rights.”
Making his remarks at the public lecture, chairman of the occasion and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Femi Falana enthused that all hope is not lost but stressed that all hands must be on deck to steer the Nigerian ship to safe berthing for economic prosperity, political stability and social harmony.
He pointed out the “military junta” derailed Nigeria’s growth and steady progress during the first republic.
Therefore, he questioned the impudence of former President Ibrahim Babangida who claimed to be a saint in the face of the overwhelming corrupting that has enveloped Nigeria when he planted and nurtured the seed of corruption in the country.
Falana emphasized that one of the best ways to honour late Beko Ransome Kuti is to keep the struggle for the respect of human dignity alive which Beko lived and died for.
He reminded CDHR members and all human rights advocates, including the media, that the struggle is far from over until transparency and accountability are enthroned in democratic governance.
Highlighting the litany of Beko’s struggle for democracy, Falana disclosed that during the secret trial of Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and many others by late General Sanni Abacha “One of the convicted lawyers smuggled a small note through one of the lawyers, alerting the CDHR President of government’s plans to kill them any moment from now.
“Beko Ransome Kuti immediately organized a press conference, though it was stated that no local media published it. But BBC did.
“It was on that note, Beko Ransome Kuti was arrested and taken to a military tribunal. The only question Beko was asked was whether he owned telephone number 963-9534 and he said, I own it.
“Beko had called the BBC with that number and it was on that basis that he was sentenced to life in prison,” Falana stated.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria further enlightened members on their rights including bail which he said is free.
Barrister Affiong L. Affiong, Comrade Tunde Oladunjoye including Comrade Funmi Kuti who represented the Ransome-Kuti’s family added their voices as guest speakers and sued for commitment to the goals of CDHR so that Nigeria can be liberated from the grips of political buccaneers.
CDHR was incorporated in April 1989 during military rule and has, since then, provided invaluable supports to citizens in the defence and protection of their rights home and abroad.
