Nigeria
JAMB conducts first, second choice admissions next month
File Photo Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), on Sunday, confirmed that 1st and 2nd choice admission exercise would be conducted for all institutions from 21st August, 2020, to a later date that would be determined by the Federal Ministry of Education and communicated to all the institutions. It promised to abide by the already established admission process/criteria, particularly as it concerns academic qualifications for admission, quota system as prescribed by the regulatory bodies; UTME brochure as published and on IBASS; guidelines on admissions as prescribed by the institutions’ Proprietors (Federal, State and Private); and policy decisions on 2020 admissions exercise. It also announced that the revised 2020 admission guidelines as approved by the Federal Ministry of Edu...
Eseme Eyiboh: NDDC suffering from faulty leadership recruitment process
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State and the Chairman, Cross River Basin Development Authority, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh has said the root cause of underperformance and corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC and other public institutions was faulty leadership recruitment. Eyiboh who spoke on Saturday in an interview in Uyo against the backdrop of the ongoing investigation into financial recklessness in NDDC said recruiting wrong people to man right places and sometimes right people into wrong places had been responsible for weak institutions in the country. He said to make headway, institutions must be strengthened by recruiting the right leaders into the right positions. He, however, regretted that 20 years after its establishment, NDDC was yet to ac...
NAF rules out foul play in first female combat pilot’s death
The Nigerian Air Force has ruled out insinuations of possible conspiracy in the death of first female combat helicopter pilot, Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, who was knocked down by an old schoolmate at the NAF Base in Kaduna. Giving details of its preliminary investigations, the Director Public Relations and Information, Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, disclosed: “The death of Flying Officer Arotile was caused by blunt force trauma to the head and significant bleeding resulting from being struck by the vehicle”. According to him, it would have been ideal for the entire investigation to be concluded before details on the incident are released but “the NAF, in sensitivity to public concerns occasioned by the spread of false information, appreciates the imperative to p...
Adamawa governor urges prayers to end insurgency, kidnapping, coronavirus
Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa on Sunday appealed to religious leaders to intensify prayers to end insurgency, kidnapping and COVID-19 pandemic. Fintiri made the appeal at the inauguration of new executive officers of Zawiyyatu Dariqatit Tijjaniyat Foundation of Nigeria, Adamawa branch in Yola. The governor, represented by his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Alhaji Bamanga Nuhu, said kidnapping, insurgency and the pandemic were among major challenges slowing the nation’s development. Fintiri expressed readiness to support religious bodies to ensure peaceful coexistence among faithful in the state. He congratulated the new executive officers and urged them to contribute their time and experience for the success of the Foundation. The governor advised members of the Foundation to embrace ...
NCDC: Coronavirus presents malaria symptoms but it’s not
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says though Coronavirus (COVID-19) presents symptoms similar to malaria such as fever, both diseases are caused by different organisms and differ in mode of transmission. The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle, while warning Nigerians against taking COVID-19 and malaria as the same infection. The health agency also identified 12 symptoms that could point to the existence of COVID-19 in the human body. According to NCDC, the listed symptoms will help Nigerians “take responsibility” by quickly calling the available holtines if they experienced a combination of this symptoms. The NCDC urged Nigerians to alert its officials, “If you have COUGH or FEVER and one of these symptoms: Loss of Taste; Loss of Smell, Difficulty Breathing, D...
CCTV reveals Gokada founder’s ex-PA buying electric saw
Fresh facts have emerged that the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of Gokada founder and Chief Executive Officer, Fahim Saleh, bought an electric saw and some cleaning supplies seen at the scene of the incident. Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said Closed Circuit Television showed 21-year-old Tyrese Haspil buying the electric saw suspected to have been used in the grisly murder. Manhattan prosecutors revealed the details in a criminal complaint filed against Haspil, who was arraigned on a second-degree murder charge on Saturday, according to The Wall Street Journal. The video surveillance from a hardware store showed Haspil purchasing the saw and cleaning supplies found at the seventh-floor apartment on the Lower East Side, according to the complaint. Haspil, a former personal ass...
Ekiti bans traditional festivals in towns, villages
The Ekiti State Government has directed traditional rulers in towns and villages to either postpone or cancel for the rest of the year, all pending local festivals in their domains to curb the spread of Coronavirus. The State Coordinator of COVID-19 Task Force Response Team, Prof Bolaji Aluko, made the announcement in a statement in Ado Ekiti. He disclosed that Ekiti State had cumulatively recorded 78 positive Coronavirus cases, with 29 active, 2 deaths and 47 discharged, warning that the cases can rise dramatically if public assemblies continued unchecked. He said as the state was gradually entering the full blown season of Traditional Festival, therefore, travels from within Ekiti State and various parts of Nigeria by indigenes and visitors to the various towns and villages during this p...
Edo court orders driver, two traders to cut grass for three days
A Mobile Court in Uselu, Egor Local Government Area of Edo, on Saturday, sentenced two traders and a driver to community service for displaying wares and parking vehicle in unauthorised places. The Chief Magistrate, Mr Mutairu Oare, handed down sentence after they had pleaded guilty. Oare directed the convicts to cut grass at the unused Government House gate on Golf Road, GRA, Benin, for one hour for three days. He, however, gave the traders, Francis Nwatu and Emmanuel Lele, an option of N3,000 fine each and the driver, Monday Imaduvbanyi, an option of N10,000 fine. The chief magistrate ordered that the vehicle be impounded until the driver served the sentence. He directed that the correctional centre in Benin should supervise the convicts to serve out their punishment if they failed to pa...
Governor Wike: I want to be remembered by my legacies
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, said he wants to be remembered for quality projects he has done for people of the state after his tenure as governor. Governor Wike said this yesterday, during the inspection of some ongoing projects in the state. The governor said he was happy that the construction of three flyovers in Port Harcourt are near completion less than a year the construction company started work. He expressed: “It is not up to one year. This project started in October last year (2019). We are in July and you can see it is almost completed. It is amazing to me. “That’s what I have always said that it is good you give jobs to those contractors or companies who have the capacity to be able to execute and deliver on time. “It is important that when you are giving the opportunity,...
Governor Obaseki, PDP mourn ex-Edo speaker
Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party have mourned the death of former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Alhaji Zakawanu Garuba. Garuba (54), who was speaker between 2007 and 2009, was said to have died in Abuja in the early hours of Saturday after a brief illness. Obaseki, in a statement, said the former Speaker’s passing was “a deep personal loss to him.” According to him, “I received the news of the passing of Rt. Hon. Zakawanu Garuba with a heavy heart. He was an outstanding Nigerian and a good man. He worked for the good of the people and contributed his quota to the development of his immediate community and the state. “As Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services & Supervising Executive Commissioner, Operations at the Secu...
Nigerian government assures Zamfara residents of fairness in palliative distribution
The Federal Government on Saturday assured Zamfara residents of fairness in distribution of palliatives it donated to the state. Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, gave the assurance in Gusau on Saturday while inspecting the storage of the items donated to the state. The Federal Government brought 104 trailers laden with food items and 29,800 bags of fertilisers to be distributed to communities affected by armed banditry in the state. The minister said that a committee comprising both State and Federal Government officials would be set up to monitor the distribution exercise. “We are very optimistic that these interventions will get to the targeted beneficiaries. “As you can see, the Federal Government is very commit...
Grand jury indicts Woodberry for ‘wire fraud’
Olalekan Ponle, a Nigerian held in the United States for alleged multi-million-dollar fraud, has been indicted by the grand jury, a group of lawyers empowered to conduct legal proceedings and investigate potential criminal conduct. Ponle, popularly known as Woodberry, alongside Ramoni Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi, was arrested in the United Arab Emirate on June 10 for multiple fraud charges after a raid by operatives of the Dubai crime unit. According to the complaint, an unnamed Chicago company was defrauded into sending wire transfers totalling $15.2 million. Companies based in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New York and California also were victims of the fraud, prosecutors say. Newsmen reported how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) nabbed Ponle through details accessed from his What...
