NASU, SSANU begin indefinite strike on Monday

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, have directed its members to proceed on a nationwide indefinite strike from Monday over the non payment of the four months withheld salaries. The strike according to the leaders of the two unions would commence on Sunday night of October 27, 2024. The bodies in a circular to all branch chairmen of NASU and SSANU in the universities and inter-university centres, with the title: “Latest development in respect of the withheld four (4) months salaries,” explained that the strike initially billed for 23rd October, was rescheduled because of the Trade Group Council meeting of NASU branches on the said date. The circular which was signed by Prince Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary of NASU and Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, SSANU President, explained that the strategic change in timing was for effective co-ordination and for both Unions to be on same page. The bodies regretted that despite President Bola Tinubu’s approval for the 50 percent of the four months withheld salaries to be paid, the alleged inaction of the Minister of Finance raised question about the government’s commitment to resolving the issue. According to the circular, “It is on record that JAC of NASU and SSANU has issued multiple notices to the government to redress this ugly situation. However, the sincerity of government to our cause is in doubt. “However, the Trade Group Council Meeting of NASU branches in the Universities and Inter- University Centres has been scheduled to hold on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th October 2024 at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, and the arrangements for the meeting already concluded. “In view of this, the leadership of JAC has decided that the effective date for the strike be moved to mid-night of Sunday, 27th October 2024, to allow the Branch Officers of NASU to be on ground before commencing the strike. “We have to do this strategic change in timing for effective co-ordination and for both Unions to be on same page. “We express our deepest appreciation for your steadfast commitment to the leadership and we affirm our determination to persist in this struggle until ultimate victory is secured.”

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Nigeria pushes for solutions to climate change at CHOGM 2024

Nigeria has called for urgent and aggressive measures to combat the catastrophic impact of climate change, emphasizing that it is a global crisis that demands immediate action. It also restated its support for the preservation of democracy, the protection of civil rights across the Commonwealth, as well as ongoing reforms in the organisation, focusing more on results-oriented value creation. These, among others, were Nigeria’s priorities at the just-concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Apia, the capital of the Independent State of Samoa, between October 21 and 26. The Nigerian delegation to the meeting was led by the Minister of Environment, Alhaji Balarabe Lawal, after technical flight issues prevented Vice President Kashim Shettima from representing his boss, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at the summit. Meanwhile, a New Secretary General of the Commonwealth has emerged. She is Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, currently Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration. Nigeria and other nations voted for her during the meeting of the Commonwealth leaders on Saturday. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has already congratulated Ghana and the new Secretary General. Speaking shortly after a visit to the Moataa village, a community in Apia decorated with Nigerian colours and flags, Lawal, who was immediately delegated by the President to stand in for VP Shettima, told world leaders at CHOGM 2024 that Nigeria has had its unpalatable share of the devastating impact of climate change through flooding, degraded lands and rising sea levels. “We need to address the climate challenge very strongly because of its effect on our society; it is a global phenomenon. We have experienced flooding in our country, degraded lands and rising sea levels, among others. “Now is the time to join forces at the level of the Commonwealth to address these issues,” the Minister stated, adding that Nigeria’s positions on the environment, democracy, security, and other issues were prompted by current challenges faced across the world. Lawal noted that Nigeria also made its position clear “in support of democracy and the protection of civil rights across Commonwealth nations, including the processes for strengthening the Commonwealth to make it stronger and more vibrant.” He emphasised that Nigeria also backed and encouraged ongoing institutional reforms at the Commonwealth, reaffirming its commitment to the organisation’s renewal. The Minister also reiterated Nigeria’s support for the new Secretary-General of the body, expressing hope that, with Botchwey’s emergence, there would be more robust engagement between Africa and the Commonwealth. Commonwealth leaders had earlier in their executive session,  “welcomed His Majesty, King Charles III, to his first CHOGM as Head of the Commonwealth.” In a communiqué issued by the Commonwealth secretariat at the end of the meeting, the leaders commended the King’s unwavering commitment to a more sustainable and resilient future for the 56 member countries of Commonwealth, and to strengthening education, health and climate resilience, particularly in small island developing states (SIDS), a commitment that has inspired the King’s Commonwealth Fellowship Programme. The leaders reflected on the gathering being the first CHOGM since the loss of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who served as Head of the Commonwealth with extraordinary duty for over seventy years. The meeting also named Antigua and Barbuda as the host of the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2026.

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Tinubu places limitations on Ministers 

President Bola Tinubu has restricted Ministers, Ministers of State, and Heads of Agencies of the Federal Government to a maximum of three vehicles in their official convoys. No additional vehicles will be assigned to them for movement. The cost-cutting measure was announced on Thursday in a statement signed by the President. In January this year, President Tinubu took significant steps to reduce government expenditure by reducing his entourage on foreign trips from 50 to 20 officials. For local trips, he reduced it to 25 officials. He similarly reduced the Vice President’s entourage to five officials on foreign trips and 15 for local trips. In the directive issued today, President Tinubu also ordered all ministers, ministers of state, and heads of agencies to have at most five security personnel attached to them. The security team will comprise four police officers and one Department of State Services (DSS) officer. No additional security personnel will be assigned, he ordered. Tinubu instructed the National Security Adviser to engage with the Military, Paramilitary and Security Agencies to determine a suitable reduction in their vehicle and security personnel deployment. All affected officials are expected to comply with these new measures immediately, underscoring the urgency and seriousness of these changes.

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Breaking: Tinubu scraps Niger Delta, Sports Ministries

President Tinubu and Federal Executive Council have scrapped Niger Delta Ministry and the Ministry of sports development.  According to the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, there will now be a ministry of regional development to oversee all the regional development commissions, such as Niger Delta Development Commission, North West Development Commission, South West Development Commission, North East Development Commission. The National Sports Commission will take over the role of the Ministry of Sports.  The FEC also approved the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy.  The decisions were taken today at the meeting of Federal Executive Council in Abuja.

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EFCC docks fake nurse for alleged N28.2m fraud

The Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has arraigned one Blessing Amaka David-Agwa, a fake fertility nurse before Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu State. The defendant was arraigned on 45-count charges bordering on fraudulent impersonation, forgery and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N28,278,600.00 (Twenty-eight Million, Two Hundred and Seventy-eight Thousand, Six Hundred Naira). Count 41 of the charge reads: “That you, Blessing Amaka David-Agwa sometime in 2024 in Enugu, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria with intent to defraud, did obtain the total sum of One Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira (N1,600,000.00) only from one Okenwa Joy Chiamaka, under the pretence of being a Medical Fertility Nurse (Specially trained to assist women get pregnant with ease) which pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”. Count 24 of the charge reads: “That you, Blessing Amaka David-Agwa sometime in 2024 in Enugu, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria with intent to defraud, did obtain the total sum of One Million, Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N1,250,000.00) from one Amarachi Okpala, under the pretence of being a Medical Fertility Nurse (Specially trained to assist women get pregnant with ease) which pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”. The defendant pleaded not guilty to all counts when they were read to her. In view of her pleas, counsel to the EFCC, Blessing N. Obasi prayed the court for a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded at the Enugu State Correctional Facility. However, defence counsel, G. C. Madubuegwu informed the court about a pending motion on notice for bail, dated October 4, 2024, and filed on the same date. “It is brought pursuant to Section 162 and 165 (1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ” he said. After moving the said application, he prayed the court to grant the defendant bail on liberal terms. Obasi vehemently opposed the application for bail on the grounds that the allegation against the defendant was a weighty one, citing the mental health of the defendant’s victims. After listening to both sides, Justice Umar adjourned the matter to November 12, 2024, for ruling on the bail application. The defendant was thereafter remanded at the Enugu State Correctional Facility. David-Agwa’s criminal issues commenced on August 28, 2024, when the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA handed her over to the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the EFCC for investigation and possible prosecution after discovering that the defendant paraded herself as a medical fertility Nurse, thereby defrauding unsuspecting victims. Investigation into the matter revealed that the defendant allegedly forged the certificate of Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria and the Certificate of University of Nigeria, Nsukka and used the same in parading herself as a Medical Fertility Nurse, specially trained to assist women in getting pregnant with ease. It was also discovered that the defendant successfully defrauded over 45 innocent women who fell for her false claims.

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Reps move to split Oyo State into two

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed for second reading, a bill seeking to create the New Oyo State with Oyo town as the Capital City. The bill was sponsored by Hon. Adeniyi Adeyemi and six other lawmakers. Leading the debate on the bill, Adeyemi, who observed that the bill was not new to the parliament. He recalled that the bill was successfully passed in the Second Republic by both chambers (National Assembly) awaiting the presidential asset before military takeover. Adeyemi explained that the  National Assembly in 1983 successfully passed a motion on the creation of New Oyo State with Oyo Town as its Capital. (See National Assembly Debates (Senate) Official Report. Volume 2. No. 24 of Wednesday 23” February, 1983). “The 2014 National Conference held in Abuja also recommended in its final report for the creation of New Oyo State with Oyo town as its capital.  “This is stated in volume II page 708 of the report, It’s noteworthy that present Oyo State deserves to be split into two being the largest state in terms of landmass in the South-West geopolitical zone with thirty-three Local Governments and it has a population of 5,580,894 people (2006 census). 

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Subsidy: Tinubu reels out gains in governance

Here are the gains Nigeria has achieved and what the President Tinubu-led government has been able to actualize from the removal of Fuel Subsidy among other ongoing reforms in the country… Economic Gains: Investment Gains: Transparency and Accountability Gains: Energy Sector Gains: Social Gains: Environmental Gains: Overall: These gains demonstrate the positive impact of fuel subsidy removal on Nigeria’s economy, energy sector, and society. It has been a challenging year so far, but it must be said that so much progress has been made in the bid to reposition the economy for a sustainable future.

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