Rivers Government renames state polytechnic after Ken Saro Wiwa

Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike has renamed the Rivers state Polytechnic after late author and environmental rights activist, late Ken Saro-Wiwa. In a statement released yesterday July 9th and signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, Governor Wike said the school is being re-named after the late activist because of his achievements and legacies

"In honour of his monumental achievements and legacies, the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has renamed the Rivers State Polytechnic in Bori as Ken Ule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic. The memories of avatars like the late Saro-Wiwa, who fought selflessly for the betterment of society and humanity, should not be consigned to oblivion, more so, when such personalities are revered beyond the shores of the country,” he said

Former Adamawa gov, Murtala Nyako, son, granted N350million bail

A Federal High court sitting in Abuja has granted former Adamawa state governor, Murtala Nyako and his son Abdulazeez bail of N350 million. Both men are standing trial for a N15billion fraud.

EFCC alleges that the former governor and his son along with two others used five companies- Blue Opal Nigeria limited, Serore Farms & Extension Limited, Pagoda Fortunes Limited, Towers Assets Management Limited and Crust Energy Limited which have been traced to the governor to siphon N15 billion belonging to Adamawa state government.

At the court hearing today, both men pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.

SSS OFFICE ABUJA ,BREAKING NEWS!

Security alert!! Privileged information reveals the mass arrival of BOKO HARAM Fighters to Southern Nigeria, especially to LAGOS and RIVERS States. We have been advised to take urgent and adequate security measures in Churches, especially on Sundays and in places with large gathering such as markets, shopping malls, cinemas, parks. etc. Pls pass on to other friends & family members, especially those residing in PH and Lagos. News is that our enemy is planning something bigger than Nyanya bomb blast btw Tuesday n Wednesday in Abuja. Mind ur movement and be careful, the place is still unknown. Pls pass round to save ur love ones. May God help us & save our country. Pls the message is from a reliable source in the UN office, dont disregard, pls share. These are d police control numbers of each state in Nigeria, kindly call for rapid response to any criminal incident: Abia - 08035415405.Admwa- 08089671313.AkIbom - 08039213071. Anmbra -07039194332.Bauchi - 08151849417.Bayelsa - 07034578208.Benue - 08066006475.Borno - 08068075581.C-River - 08133568456.Delta - 08036684974.Ebonyi - 07064515001.Edo - 08037646272.Ekiti - 08062335577.Enugu - 08032003702.FCT - 07057337653.Gombe - 08150567771.Imo - 08034773600.Jigawa 08075391069.Kaduna - 08123822284.Kano - 08032419754.Katsina - 08075391255.Kebbi - 08038797644.Kogi - 08075391335.Kwara 07032069501.Lagos - 07055462708.Nasarwa 08123821571.Niger - 08081777498.Ogun - 08032136765.Ondo - 07034313903.Osun - 08075872433.Oyo - 08081768614.Plateau - 08126375938.Rivers - 08032003514.Sokoto - 07068848035.Taraba - 08140089863.Yobe - 07039301585.Zamfa - 0810658012Please forward this to your loved ones NOW.

Oliseh remains best choice for Eagles —Odegbami •As NFF set to name new coach today

Sunday Oliseh

FORMER international, Chief Segun Odegbami (MON) has thrown his weight behind Sunday Oliseh’, saying he remains the best man to handle the Super Eagles for now.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is expected to name a substantive coach for the Eagles today, following the sack of Stephen Keshi last Saturday for applying to coach Cote d’Ivoire while having a subsisting contract with Nigeria.
Odegbami, while speaking on a local television programme on Thursday, said he will be the first person to go in the streets if a foreigner is brought back to tinker the Eagles at the expense of exceptionally qualified Oliseh, who he said has what it takes to transform Nigerian football.
“To start with, after Keshi, no Nigerian should be talking of a foreign coach for the Eagles again. In fact, I will be the first to protest openly if this happens. We have Nigerians who are qualified for this job.
“The choice of Oliseh is fantastic because he is well qualified and has the intellectual capacity to take our football beyond where we are. Listen to his analyses, listen to his commentaries and you will know that he has something which our past coaches didn’t have. I don’t think Oliseh will beat Keshi’s record, but he has the technical savvy to lay a solid foundation for football development in Nigeria,” said the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winner.
Odegbami, however, faulted part of the terms of reference to be given to Oliseh.
“I understand he (Oliseh) is to organise seminars, clinics and so on, that is why (Shaibu Amodu) is there as the technical director of the NFF.
“Oliseh’s mandate should have been limited to the Eagles, how to look for players who can play for Nigeria and deliver. So, he is supposed to be rated by the performance of the Super Eagles alone. By this arrangement, Amodu and Oliseh are bound to clash.
“Also, I don’t like the choice of having a foreign technical assistant for Oliseh because we have many competent coaches who can work with him. By the time the so-called foreign assistant will be named, I’m sure he is not going to be a coach who is well known. He will not possess the credentials Sam Okpodu even has.
“So, when you are talking about having a foreign coach, Okpodu is one of the best coaches in the United States today. He is a trainer of coaches in US. Look at (Mike) Emenalo too who works for Chelsea, we have intellectually sound Nigerian coaches abroad who are qualified,” said the Shooting Stars legend.
The former Director of the National Institute for Sports (NIS), Lagos, maintained that the era of Oliseh will bring a new dawn in Nigerian football.

NASU shuts OAU over unpaid allowances

ACADEMIC, commercial and all forms of official activities have been completely paralysed on the campus of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, by the local branch of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) of Educational and Associated Institutions.
The industrial action, Nigerian Tribune gathered, commenced since last Friday, July 3, at the expiration of a  21-day ultimatum given to the management by the union to pay its members 64 months (accumulated) earned allowances.
Since then, NASU had ensured that all offices in the institution remained shut; and on Thursday, July 9, when Nigerian Tribune visited the campus, members of the union had shut all entrances to the institution and converged at the main gate of the university in a noisy, but generally non-violent protest.
Neither campus shuttle buses nor commercial motorcycles were allowed in or out of the campus, while only a very few cars (probably on essential duties) were allowed entry or exit.
Chairman of the union, Mr Wole Odewumi, told Nigerian Tribune that the earned allowances were part of an agreement signed with the Federal Government since 2009.
He said part of these allowances, ‘Responsibility Allowance’, had been paid by management, but described the payment as being ‘selective’, as only few senior staff were entitled to it.
According to him, the OAU management had refused to pay that which affects the majority of the people – ‘hazard allowance’, which he said had accumulated for 64 months.
Odewumi said: “They implemented the one that concerns them, but the one that concerns majority of the workers, they have left unpaid. We held several meetings with them over the matter. Eventually, we gave them an ultimatum which elapsed last Friday.”
Asked if the university authorities had made fresh offers to the union since the strike started, Odewumi confirmed that management held a meeting with the union on Wednesday, but described what was offered as ‘token’, thus unacceptable.
When contacted on the matter, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju, said the university had not paid NASU the allowances because the Federal Government had not paid the money and that this was not peculiar to OAU.
“We issued a circular that as soon as the Federal Government pays the second tranche of that money, we will pay everybody accordingly. We are just appealing to them to give peace a chance and go back to their offices. No federal university in this country has paid that money. They should just give us some time,” he pleaded.
On the allegation of ‘selective payment’, Olarewaju said: “I am not aware of any ‘selective payment’. If they are talking about ‘responsibility allowance’, members of NASU who head units were also paid that allowance.
“Responsibility allowance means if you head a unit and you are not given an official car, but use your money or car to run errands for the university, you are paid a stipend of about N6,000 or N8000. It is not selective.”

Oyo PDP leaders want Ladoja, Alao-Akala, Makinde, others back in party

•Protest rocks sitting of post-election committee in Ibadan
LEADERS of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State have called for the re-integration of Senator Rashidi Ladoja, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, Mr Seyi Makinde and others into the umbrella party, if the party must return to winning ways in future election.

They also expressed reservations over the choice of Uche Secondus as acting national chairman of the party, averring that “people with questionable character should not be allowed to hold positions within the party.”
These were part of the recommendations of the party’s chieftains, under the aegis of Oyo State PDP Leaders of Like Minds, presented to the Emeka Ihedioha-led PDP post-election review sub-committee sitting in Ibadan, on Thursday.
Those who signed the nine-page memorandum presented before the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives included Dr Saka Balogun, Senator Ayo Adeseun, Chief Jumoke Akinjide, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, Professoor Taoheed Adedoja, Professor Soji Adejumo, Mr Femi Babalola, Alhaji Kunmi Mustapha, Alhaji Bisi Olopoenia and eight others.
The leaders said the hijack of the party structure and consequent imposition of unpopular candidates with the support of some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) forced Ladoja, Alao-Akala, Makinde and others out of the party and led to its dismal performance at the last elections.
“The party should imbibe the culture of transparent internal democracy in all its dealings. If we want to regain our lost glory, conscious and concerted efforts should be made to bring back into our fold, all willing members of Accord Party, Labour Party and Social Democratic Party (SDP).
“Since primaries did not actually hold in Oyo State, all monies collected from aspirants should be refunded by the party”
“Party should strictly adhere to its guidelines on how delegates and party executives are to emerge.
“The party has a structure in place to resolve crisis that might emanate in the party. However, operators of the structure did not imbibe the spirit of equity, justice and fair play in handling disputes,” they alleged.
Just as the committee was receiving memoranda from Lagos, Ekiti and Oyo states, a group of protesters stormed the venue of the meeting to press demand for an all-inclusive party executive in Oyo State.
Speaking through their leader, Honourable Akinwumi Akinfemiwa, the protesters, under the aegis of new PDP, called for an all-inclusive PDP in the state, to enable the party to recover every inch of lost ground in 2019.

Meet the Nigerian wonder-woman who is a professional painter, tiler, and plumber

Freelance reporter Austin Edoho sent in the report. Read below...

Fatimah Ibrahim is a 39 year old widow, a mother of two, from Borno state. A chance encounter with her on the street would most certainly portray her as just one of the thousands of ordinary women walking the streets of Lagos. But meeting her at a building site would startlingly reveal the other side of her! This woman is a professional painter, tiler, and plumber! When asked how and why she entered into professions dominated by men, she had this to say,
“I have always loved painting .My friend’s husband who is a painter taught me how to paint, and I started painting even when my husband was alive. Later, I picked interest in tiling and plumbing profession, and I went for the training. Right now, after my husband’s death, I am proud to say I am a professional painter, tiler, and plumber. To me being a woman doesn’t really matter”

As must be expected, Fatimah is confronted with some challenges which centers mainly on gender disparity. “It’s been hard getting work. Some people give me jobs to do, and they are never disappointed; but others are just reluctant to trust me with their buildings, because they still find it difficult to believe the fact that a woman can do these jobs, and even do them better than men

"She called on the public and the government to give her contracts and test her level of capability. She also stressed that these were her means of livelihood. “I am a widow. I have two children aged 13 and 9.I am not begging the public for food, as I have been blessed with the means of providing for my children. All I am asking if for Individuals, contractors, Government to give me jobs so I can make money and take care of my children and other widows who are not so fortunate to have vocations like mine”

Buhari reportedly moves to pacify Tinubu - Ex-Governor to get more Ministerial nominees

This is according to a report by Tribune. They claim that president Buhari is considering giving former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu more ministerial slots as a way of pacifying the national leader of the APC who is said to be very angry about the goings on in the party...especially the national Assembly crisis.

"Sources close to the APC confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune that the presidency had discovered lately that Tinubu was angry and had been putting some measures in place to pacify the national leader of APC.

Tinubu’s camp was said to have been angered by Buhari’s failure to back its strategies that would have ensured the emergence of candidates of the party for the positions of Senate president and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

It was learnt that Tinubu was particularly angry that Buhari did not make good his promise to address APC legislators at the International Conference Centre on June 9, leading to the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate president.

It was also gathered that Tinubu’s loyalists fingered Buhari’s men in the uprising that shut out the former Lagos governor from the last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party, held in Abuja, last week.

Though Tinubu is not a member of NEC statutorily, no one really made an issue out of that until Buhari assumed office.

Some Tinubu loyalists said they suspected the presidency might have given tactical backing to the group of former governors, who threatened to storm the meeting if Tinubu was allowed at the venue.

It was, however, gathered on Thursday in Abuja that Buhari had resolved to pacify Tinubu, so that the party would not break up under his watch.

A source said the presidency was considering giving Tinubu four ministerial slots, to compensate for the loss of speaker and Senate president.

But sources in the party said that there are some hardliners who were of the view that Buhari could continue to call Tinubu’s bluff, having assumed the position of party leader.

Source: Tribune