ASUU slams Senate over botched meeting

UMUAHIA—Chairman, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, chapter of ASUU, Dr. Uzochukwu Onyebinama, has accused the Senate Committee on Education of according leaders of the union shabby treatment, warning that the ongoing strike would last longer than Nigerians expected.

The Senate Committee on Education, headed by Senator Uche Chukwumerije, had invited the leadership of the union for discussion over the ongoing strike but the meeting was aborted without prior notice to the union.

Onyebinama said the ASUU team, led by its President, Professor Nasir Isa, was neglected by the Senate committee as no attention was given to him.

He said the team waited for several hours after arriving the venue of the meeting on time without the committee chairman and his colleagues receiving the union leaders.

He recounted how the team was shoddily moved from one place to another while waiting for over two and half hours for the meeting which never held.

Speaking with newsmen in his office, Dr. Onyebinama said ASUU members were making sacrifice for the development of Nigerian higher education system which he lamented had been steadily dwindling.

According to him, the current strike has nothing to do with the lecturers welfare but purely on issues of improvement of academic facilities in the universities,.

He said the Senate was not sincere in meeting ASUU leaders, noting that there was no reason to play hide and seek after the committee on its own invited the union for talks.

2Face's Babymama, Sunmbo Ajaba Weds Church's Pastor In Lagos Today!!!

It has been claimed that one of 2Face Idibia's ex-lovers and mother of two of his (2Face) children, Sunmbo Ajaba is secretly getting married today, Monday, July 22, 2013 in Lagos to her church pastor, Pastor Tunde Adeoye. The source says that the wedding ceremony will only be attended by just few people, that even most of the church members were told not to bother coming for the wedding.

Sunmbo, a choir member in the church - The Royalty Christian Centre, began her affair with Pastor Adeoye after the Pastor lost his wife to a brief illness in November, 2012; is getting married to her General Overseer, Pastor Tunde Adeoye of Royalty Christian Centre, Lagos.

PDP Convention: More Northern Govs To Meet With OBJ

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Nigeria, is far from over as more northern governors have scheduled a meeting with former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to strategise on how to torpedo President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid in 2015.

Sources told P.M.NEWS that the crucial meeting would take place before the party’s convention on 31 August. President Jonathan himself has expressed worry about the gang-up against him by governors.

Our correspondent reliably gathered that part of the discussion the four northern governors, Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Dr. Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto and Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, had with Obasanjo on Saturday at the closed door meeting held in Abeokuta was to check the excesses of the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, whom they have described as the most troublesome chairman the party has ever had.

It was also resolved at the meeting, which lasted for almost one and half hours, that the northern governors will be meeting with Obasanjo, the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, at his Presidential Hilltop mansion on the weekend that will precede the Id-el-Fitri festival early August.

The governors, as part of their discussion with Ebora Owu in the Ogun State capital during the weekend, narrated how the supporters of the President, the Minister for State for Education, Neysom Wike and the Rivers State PDP Chairman, Obuah humiliated them when they went on solidarity visit to the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi last week.

While speaking with newsmen inside his vehicle when they were leaving at exactly 2:50p.m., Governor of Adamawa State, Rear Admiral Muritala Nyako (retd.), said that they had come to “greet Obasanjo as a father and leader in the party”.

According to Nyako, “we have come to meet with the most accomplished Nigerian ever on a very important matter.”

Governor Rochas Okorocha Sacks Nkiru Sylvanus

Famouse Nigerian actress Nkiru Sylvester has been relieved from her job at the cabinet of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State.

 

She served as the Special Assistant on Lagos Affairs for the Imo State Government. She was sacked following a cabinet dissolution which affected all commissioners, special advisers, senior special assistants and special assistants in the cabinet.

A statement from the government of the state explains that the ‘the dissolution was necessary to give room for more capable hands into the system in order to fully actualize the rescue mission agenda of the State Government.’

A lot of eyebrows were raised when Okorocha appointed the Abia State-born ‘Final Tussle’ star as Special Assistant on Lagos Matters in July 2011.

Rita Dominic wins Face of Nollywood award this year 2013

Sultry actress Rita Dominic has always been known to be on top of her game. Her efforts in the industry have continued to earn her a lot of laurels, and last weekend was not different as she added another feather to her cap when she won the Face of Nollywood award at this year’s edition of the City People Awards.

Rita beats the likes of Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Funke Akindele, among others, to win the coveted prize. It would be recalled that she won the Most Outstanding Actress award in 2004.

The recent award ceremony, however, held at Heavens Event Centre, Ikeja, Lagos, and was graced by who is who in the industry. Rita, in her usual style, looked stunning in her black outfit which stole the hearts of fashionists at the event.

In her acceptance speech, the Imo State-born actress thanked the organisers of the show for recognising her contribution in the industry. “ I am very happy today. This is the second time I am winning this award. I dedicate this to God Almighty, my late parents and my manager. I am short of words. I don’t know what else to say,” she said.

Other winners were Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim, who won the Best Celebrity Foundation award, Mercy Aigbe(Best Actress In Yoruba). Singer Praiz won Best Rhythm and Blues Singer of the Year and Kcee’s Limpopo bagged Best RnB singer award, among others.

Among the celebrities that graced the award ceremony were sexy Ghanaian actress Yvonne Nelson, Benson Okonkwo, Kunle Afolayan and Princess Chineke.

ASUU STRIKE: Adamawa State University Lecturers withdraw

 

The Adamawa State University’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been thrown into controversy over the ongoing nationwide strike by the union, with a faction announcing its withdrawal from the industrial action called by its national body.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the development followed a vote of “no confidence” passed by some lecturers on the chapter’s executive council in Mubi on Thursday.

The vote was passed during a special congress where a Dr Kamkwis Zira was nominated as the new acting Chairman.

Mr. Zira, who announced the withdrawal, accused the ousted executive council members of joining the nationwide strike without due consultation with members.

“The new executive council has met with the university authorities and resolved to resume lectures on Monday,” the new acting Chairman said.

In a swift reaction however, the ousted chapter chairman, Molem Ishaku, said he was still in charge and that the strike would continue.

Mr. Ishaku described his removal as “an illegal development that cannot stand”.

When contacted on the development, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Alkasum Abba, said all he knew was that the chapter’s ASUU had withdrawn from the nationwide strike.

ASUU has been on strike for almost three weeks, paralyzing academic activities at all Nigeria’s public universities.

Underage marriage our right as Muslims – Dokubo tells critics,

A prominent Niger Delta Muslim, Alhaji Mujahid Abubakr Dokubo-Asari, has lashed out at critics of the moves by Nigeria’s Senate to approve under-age marriage.

Expressing his opinion on the issue this morning, Dokubo, who converted to Islam as an adult, insisted that it is the right of Muslims to marry or give out their daughters at any age they wish, adding that this is not the business of non-Muslims.

Said the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) leader through Facebook:

“People should learn to respect other people’s sensibilities…We Muslims have the right to marry when we want or give out our daughters at any age we want. It is not your business and the law must respect our right to do so. Anything short of that is an infringement on our rights. We did not ask you to marry ladies of that age or give your daughters out in marriage at that age. Plzzzzzzzz respect our sensibilities.”

News Express reports that the Nigerian Senate has come under fire from outraged Nigerians and the international community after being convinced by Senator Ahmad Yarima to drop a constitutional amendment outlawing marriage to girls under 18. The former Zamfara State governor who once came under fire for marrying a girl believed to be aged 13 had argued that Islam recognises under-age marriage.

Issues pertaining to religion usually evoke strong reactions in Nigeria, a deeply religious nation that has Christianity and Islam as the dominant faiths.

Governor Obi Betrayed My Late Father – Ojukwu Jr

 

Emeka, first son of late Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Thursday, accused Governor Peter Obi of betraying his father, following the continued crisis in All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA.

Emeka, who spoke at Nnewi, Anambra State, further alleged that while pockets of crises in APGA lingered when his father was alive, he did all he could to resolve the problem only for the governor to upturn the ideologies and ambitions of the party as pronounced by his father in death.

Emeka, who spoke with reporters while addressing Nnewi North chapter of APGA, noted that the governor chose to personalise the party and annihilate the real grass-roots members of the party only to bring in strangers who he wanted to do his bidding.