The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has alleged threat to his life and an attempt to burn down his residence.

Iwuanyanwu said some Igbos, whom he described as anti-Igbo, have orchestrated plans to either kill him or burn his house over his leadership of Ndigbo.

He spoke while addressing a briefing at the secretariat of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Enugu on Wednesday evening.

The Ohanaeze president linked those threatening his life to the death of his predecessor, Prof. George Obiozor.

He said: “This has become very dangerous. These people have carried this too far. Some time ago, I got some information that some people were coming to burn my house; that people said they were hired to come and burn my house.

“Some people also said they were hired to come and kill me; all sorts of stories like that. And I started asking myself: what is it that I have done that would warrant that my house should be burned, that I should be killed?

“I told those people that they shouldn’t worry. Fortunately, one of them said that the person they hired said that I trained his brother in the university. You know I had a scholarship scheme that trained over 5, 000 young people in the university. So he said his brother was trained by me and so he cannot burn my house.

“I feel sad that I should be confronted by some of these types of threats just because I want to serve my people.”

He said the group traced Obiozor to his village to kill him and when they failed to get him, they set his house on fire.

“Obiozor died as a result of that attack on his country home because as a diplomat, all his books, awards and recognition were totally burnt and these were things he cherished so much.

“In the case of Nnia Nwodo, as President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, they trailed him to his village in Ukehe, Enugu State and threw bomb into his house,” he said.

[DailyPost]

A Nigerian woman, Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi, has made history as the first black woman to bag a PhD in Robotics at the University of Michigan in the United States.

Speaking at the university’s College of Engineering convocation, Dosunmu-Ogunbi, a daughter of Nigerian immigrants, spoke on the support she received in realising her aspirations.

She said,  “I do not stand here on my own two feet alone. None of us got here by our individual merit alone, whether it be teacher, friends, family, mentors, or role models, we each have one or multiple people to whom we are grateful for making this moment possible.”

She added that she wants to be remembered as the University’s of Michigan’s first black woman to get a PhD in Robotics and she wants to use her knowledge in engineering to improve the lives of others. 

She added, “A Michigan Engineer is one who does not just provide scientific and technological leadership, but is also one who is intellectually curious, socially conscious, creates collaborative solutions to societal problems, and promotes an inclusive and innovative community of service for the common good.

“We each have a solemn duty to make positive contributions to the world. Well, my reasons for becoming an engineer were initially frivolous, but they eventually moved into something more meaningful. I want to have a positive impact on the world.”

The University of Michigan Robotics Department website describes Dosunmu-Ogunbi’s journey as one shared by many PhD students who initially lack a clear vision for their final goals.

It added that Dosunmu-Ogunbi has been an active community builder in robotics, earning an MLK Spirit Award from the College of Engineering for mentoring and inspiration as well as being named an outreach ambassador by Robotics for three years, 2021–2023.

The Department also disclosed that she was named a runner-up in the
College of Engineering’s three–minute thesis competition and has been inducted into the Bouchet Society, which recognises outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes diversity in graduate education and the professoriate.

Dosunmu-Ogunbi is currently interviewing for faculty positions, the department revealed.

[Punch]

The Editor of FirstNews, Segun Olatunji, has resigned hours after the publication apologised to the Chief of Staff of President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Olatunji, who spent 14 days in the custody of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) Abuja for a report on Gbajabiamila, said he resigned for his safety and that of the family.

The report titled: “How Gbajabiamila attempted to corner $30bn, 66 houses traced to Sabiu” was written by Olatunji.

The First News Management, in a statement on Wednesday, May 8, said it had discovered the said story contained “falsehoods and fabricated stories handed out to us as facts by a misleading source which was highly negligent on our part and for which we deeply tender an unreserved apology to the Chief of Staff to the President.”

Hinting that he was unhappy about the apology, he hoped that the truth would come out soonest on what transpired over the report.

His resignation letter reads: ”In view of the latest development regarding the Gbajabiamila story and the stance of the company’s Management, I hereby tender my resignation as the General Editor of First News.

”It has become imperative for me to resign my appointment for the safety of my person and my family.

”However, I want to state that in no distant time, the truth will come out and then it’ll be my word against theirs.

”I hope the Management of First Media Network Limited, publishers of First News newspaper, will be magnanimous enough to fully settle the one year outstanding salaries I am being owed, in no time.

”I thank the company’s management for giving me the opportunity to contribute my quota to its operations in the past four years.”

[TheNation]

Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo, the lawmaker Representing Bonny Local Government Area State Constituency at the Rivers State House of Assembly, has emerged as the new speaker of the state assembly.

Jumbo emerged as the speaker of the three-man assembly members that is loyal to the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, during its sitting in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

Jumbo is emerging after the resignation of Rt. Hon. Edion Ehie, now the Chief of Staff to the state government.

This emergence is coming when the APC and the LGA chairmen in the state are calling for the impeachment of the governor.

APC said the impeachment process was necessary given the governor’s blatant refusal to honour the peace agreement initiated by President Bola Tinubu between Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, some months ago and his recent declaration of the lawmakers’ seats vacant.

Recall that on Monday, Fubara had declared, for the first time since the commencement of the crisis, that the APC lawmakers do not exist in the eyes of the law.

In his reaction, the caretaker committee chairman of the Rivers State APC, Chief Tony Okocha, who addressed newsmen in Port Harcourt, said the statement of the governor was tantamount to re-writing the constitution of Nigeria.

He said: “He has re-written the books. Elementary politics taught us there are three organs of government and their roles. And goes further to talk about the separation of powers and checks and balances.

“What the governor was implying clearly is that he is ruling Rivers State without laws. That Rivers State runs an executive arm and judiciary. So, what that implies is simply absurdity.

“You can now see the tendencies of a dictator. As an opposition party in Rivers State, we will not keep quiet, we will shout. Regrettably, the governor has taken up to this point and we will not take it.

“The governor said that the President’s intervention in Rivers State which he signed was not constitutional but a political solution. But he assented to it, not under duress. The agreement was signed in a friendly environment and the governor assented to the proclamation and had the opportunity to speak where he thanked Mr President.”

Vanguard News

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will arraign Hadi Sirika, a former aviation minister, before the federal capital territory (FCT) high court on Thursday.

Sirika would be arraigned on six-count amended charges related to an alleged N2.7 billion contract fraud.

NAN reports that the former minister will be arraigned alongside Fatima, his daughter; Jalal Hamma; and Al-Duraq Investment Ltd.

The EFCC was said to have detained the former minister on April 23, as part of investigations into the financial malfeasance allegedly committed by him, including fraudulent contracts awarded by the ministry under his watch.

“The former minister (Sirika) was invited for questioning by investigators handling the alleged contract fraud under his watch in the ministry,” NAN quoted an EFCC source as saying.

“He honoured the invitation and has been detained as I am talking with you.”

The source also said the EFCC had been investigating the alleged contract fraud when Sirika was in office as the minister, noting that he also met with investigators at the time.

The arraignment was earlier slated to take place on Tuesday, but due to an EFCC prayer to amend the charge, a new date was given.

[TheCable]

Anytime the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations are written, there is bound to be headline news! No wonder, then, that JAMB is every newsman’s delight! The down-to-earth disposition of its Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, apart, the many battles and wars that JAMB perpetually fights against election malpractice and its beneficiaries before, during and after its examinations always make headline news. The last JAMB exams were no exception.

When one had thought that the hijab controversy had been finally laid to rest, some overzealous CBT centre officials exhumed its ghost again, barring a hijab-wearing candidate from the examination hall. Bedlam! You would think this was more than an isolated case! Mercifully, the prompt intervention of the JAMB officials on ground and the explanation, afterwards, of JAMB’s image-maker, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, arrested the situation and prevented the fleeing ghost from escaping into town to wreak havoc! Religion issues are damn too touchy here - and needlessly so. If hijab or any form of dressing is not employed to aid cheating in examinations, I think the wearer should be at liberty to do so. Avoid trouble!

Next was the news of parents caught in the act of writing the examination for their wards. What kind of parents are those? And what manner of children as well? In my own days, few parents knew anything about university education and how their wards got there. My father only knew I had gained admission when I went to ask him for the school fees. My mother only stepped her feet on the University of Ife soil on my graduation day. Now, when a father or mother writes exams for their child, how will the child cope when he gets into the university? He must continue to cheat and cut corners and the parents must be available to provide all the support and encouragement.

If standards are falling, this must be one of the reasons. Examinations are meant to determine competence and qualification for the next level but once the system is perverted and the incompetent and less qualified gain ascendancy by foul means, then, standards are bound to get compromised. Thus, we have students who get to the university and are unable to cope. It is only cases of lecturers stalking students for sex that make the headlines, what of students running after lecturers, vending whatever, to pass their examinations? All manner of unhealthy practices go on in our tertiary institutions orchestrated not only by randy lecturers but also by students who cannot cope with their studies on fair grounds.

The many layers of examinations that we have erected have failed to effectively arrest the slide in rectitude. WAEC and NECO, JAMB and Post-JAMB: Still, the cankerworms of examination malpractice remain with us. The quality of graduates that we produce today leaves much to be desired. We have certificate-flashing youths all over the place who are not employable. I was at a workshop recently where a Professor complained to the organizers that the Youth corpers assigned to work with him knew next-to-nothing. The workshop organizers fought back bravely: ”Sir, they are your products. You trained them for three, four or more years. You examined and certified them okay. You awarded them certificates and unleashed them on society. We are the ones who should be complaining to you and not the other way round!” Silence!

Are we surprised at the reported mass failure in the last JAMB examinations? According to reports, 77 percent of the 1,842,464 candidates whose 2024 UTME results were released by JAMB scored less than 200 marks out of 400; meaning that only 23 percent scored 200 marks and above. Now, only the first generation universities and a handful of state and private universities usually set their admission cut-off marks at not less than 200. Others fall as low as 120 marks over 400. I have heard demands of 100 marks shouted down at JAMB stakeholders’ meetings! With the general failure witnessed this time around, I wonder whether the cut-off marks for many will not be as low as 100 marks or even less! Where are we going?   

Another controversy raised during the last JAMB examinations was the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, hinting that the Federal Government plans to review and peg the minimum entry age into tertiary institutions at 18 years. That way, the FG plans to climb its tree from the leaves! Who did this to us!

In my own days, your right palm, passed over your head, must touch your left ear before you were deemed old enough to start elementary or primary school. That was in the sixties. School age then was six years minimum but how touching your left ear with the right hand passed over your head mathematically translated to six years, I cannot explain. In an age when birth certificates and declaration of age were not commonplace, that was the standard procedure that was strictly adhered to.

When I began to have children, I took my first child to Nursery school at age 18 months! My wife and I were working class. So, dumping her (for that, actually, was what it was) at Je’le-o-sinmi (give the home a break) was the best option available. Her first report sheet carried the teacher’s remarks: “Cannot read”, Cannot talk”, “Cannot write”. I was livid! But, truth be told, was it the teacher’s fault - or the baby’s? At 18 months, what else could I have reasonably expected from both ends?

Now that there are talks of making 18 years the minimum entry age to tertiary institutions, the right place to start is at the elementary level, reverting to the old school age of six years at the least. But we must learn from the Chinese how they engage their pre-elementary school children and do likewise. Videos of the Chinese model trend on the internet. So much havoc was done to us by colonization, which made us abandon our own traditional ways of life for the inferior quality imposed by the rampaging colonialists. The little good they did, we have ruined with the mindless corruption that has run riot in every facet of our national life.

The colonialists imposed their language and we have, to all intents and purposes, lost hold of ours. It will take a lot of grit to claw our way back. Let our children spend the first six years of their life correcting that. The colonialists also imposed their religion and demonized ours. Religion thus became an opium which was employed to dull our intellect. They point us to paradise in heaven while they mindlessly exploit our human, material and natural resources to create paradise for themselves here on earth. To have a feel of the good life, we “japa”to their countries. The racial discrimination they inflict on us apart, the brain drain that goes with “japa” further accentuates our misery and deepens our penury. They imposed their educational system and took away our traditional educational system of passing knowledge and values from generation to generation. Today, we read and write but the education we get is not functional.

The colonialists subverted our value system while imposing theirs. Our culture is perverted. We hanker after their way of life - their food, their drink, their medicine, their mannerism, and their dresses. We are hardly original in anything again but are copy-cats of the ways and methods of foreigners. Yet, in virtually everything, we have found, to our chagrin, that our way of breastfeeding our babies, our diet of whole grains, our roots, barks and leaves, our culture, etc. are vastly superior to theirs. We have only been led by the colonialists “among the sharps of the forest” like Kofi Awoonor moaned in “Songs of Sorrow”. “Returning is not possible. And going forward is a great difficulty”.

But we must return! Those benefiting from the present system, who glamorize and glorify it, whose pot of soup it is and whose bread is buttered by it will not give up without a fight. The disadvantages of letting our children start school before attaining the school age of at least six years far outweigh its advantages. There are always prodigious children - but that is the exception rather than the rule. Robbing our children of their childhood; rushing them into an early adulthood that is beyond their capability; thrusting upon them responsibilities they cannot cope with at such a tender age; all of these visit upon them vicissitudes they are least prepared for. Education devoid of maturity is a disaster waiting to happen.         

LAST WORDS: JAMB, for good reasons after the Ejimeke Mmesoma forged result saga of 2023, decided not to release any official “best results” again! But with the avalanche of “best results” daily swarming the internet since May 1st when the latest JAMB results were released, we can safely echo William Shakespeare’s character, Cassius, in “Julius Caesar”, that the fault is not in our stars nor in JAMB but in ourselves that we choose to stoke the embers of needless controversy perpetually! Who gains?

The truth, however, is that many of these internet "best result" may still not qualify the candidate for admission because it is just one leg of a three-leg process of Ordinary or A Level result, JAMB score and Post-UTME score that combine to give a candidate his or her final score. We have seen some "best results" without the right subject combinations or good O or A Level result. There have also been "best results" with absymal post-UTME performance. When the aggregate of all the scores is taken and a so-called "best result" fails to make the cut-off marks, another round of needless controversy and pointing of accusing fingers ensue. 

Many "best results" also fail to gain admission because a disproportionate number of them want to read Medicine, Pharmacy, Law, etc where the competition is cut-throat because the carrying capacity of the universities cannot accommodate the avalanche of requests.

I have been privileged to attend series of JAMB stakeholders' meeting and I know that contrary to another fake news already making the news on social media, JAMB does not unilaterally fix admission cut-off marks; the universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and monotechnics congregate in the open, where they discuss, debate and decide for themselves and by themselves their cut-off marks session after session with the JAMB Registrar, Oloyede, merely playing the role of a moderator or an impartial umpire. 

How many candidates, their parents and the know-it-all emergency, half-baked and yellow journalism social media "journalists" have these useful information? Ignorance is costly! Deliberate falsehood more so!

President Bola Tinubu has condoled with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, over the passing of his brother, Salihu Ahmadu Ribadu, who died on Sunday in Yola, Adamawa State.

The President was represented by his Chief of Staff, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, who led a federal government delegation on a condolence visit to Yola, on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Ribadu family home in Yola, the Chief of Staff said President Tinubu is saddened by the loss and describes it as "painful and irreparable."

"Mr. President has mandated us to come to Yola and condole with a valued member of his team, the National Security Adviser, and by extension the rest of the family over the sad loss suffered by them. 

"The loss of a close family member like this is very painful, and it is therefore important for friends and family to come together and commiserate with the bereaved family," Honourable Gbajabiamila said. 

The Chief of Staff was accompanied by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris; Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman; Minister of Arts and Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musawa; Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and Special Adviser to the President on General Duties (Office of the Vice President), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar. 

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

Canadian rapper Drake’s Toronto mansion is at the centre of an investigation following a reported overnight shooting.

The OVO boss’ mansion was cordoned off by police on Tuesday after a shooting near his property left one person seriously injured after getting shot in the chest.

The Police confirmed that the victim is not Drake and has been taken to the hospital for emergency surgery, according to Toronto’s City News.

On X, Toronto police said they received reports of a shooting at around 2:09 a.m. ET in the city’s upscale Bridle Path neighbourhood.

The suspect reportedly fled in a vehicle, but no descriptions of either the person or the car were provided as of now.

Investigation and further probe in underway, according to reports.

While the motive of the shooting is unclear, it comes amidst the ongoing feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, both of whom have been releasing new diss tracks on a daily basis.

[Dailypost]

A total of 252 graduating students of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State, will bag first-class honours degrees at the 52nd convocation ceremony of the institution billed to hold between Thursday 9th and Friday 10th, May 2024.

The vice-chancellor of the university, Prof Charles Igwe, while addressing a press conference on the activities lined up for the event in Enugu on Tuesday, disclosed that a total of 12,526 students will be graduating from the university on that day.

He added that out of the total, 4,834 graduates will receive 2nd class Honours upper division, 5,883 will be awarded 2nd Class Honours (Lower division), 747 will be conferred with 3rd Class Honours, 25 with Pass, and 746 unclassified.

He noted that the unclassified degrees are awarded to graduates of some courses, such as medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine which are not usually classified into first, second, or third class.

The VC also announced that a total of 1,438 postgraduate degrees and diplomas from the University of Nigeria will be awarded at the 52nd convocation ceremony.

Giving a further breakdown, Igwe said: “412 persons will earn the Doctorate, while 961 persons will be awarded the Master’s Degrees. A total of 75 postgraduate diplomas of the university will also be awarded at the convocation.

“Four persons have been found deserving of the honorary doctorate degrees of the University. They are Professor El Anatsui who would receive the Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) and Brigadier General J. O. J. Okoloagau, rtd, who would receive the Doctor of Public Administration. The other awardees are Mr Igor Weli, who would receive the degree of Doctor of Public Administration (Honoris Causa), and Sir. Emeka Chuka Wilson Orakwue Offor, who would receive the degree of Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa)”.

He also disclosed that in keeping with the university’s tradition, two former Vice Chancellors of the University – Professor Bartho N. Okolo and Professor Benjamin C. Ozumba and elder statesman and pioneer Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Professor Anya O. Anya seven other deserving retired professors of the university will be elevated to the distinguished status of Professor Emeritus.

The vice-chancellor, however, revealed that Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State will deliver the convocation lecture on Thursday, May 9th, with the theme: “Why Nigerian universities should lead the way to a new country.

“The lecture will be chaired by another distinguished Nigerian, General Ike Nwachukwu (Rtd). General Ike Nwachukwu is a distinguished Nigerian who has served the country in various capacities, namely as the military governor of old Imo State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

[TheNation]

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has called on the 27 members of the State House of Assembly loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to immediately commence an impeachment process against Governor Siminlayi Fubara.

The State APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Tony Okocha, made the call at a news briefing in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

He said the Governor has continued to disrespect President Bola Tinubu by refusing to implement all the eight-point peace agreement reached in Abuja on the political crisis in the state, to which he appended his signature.

He further stated, “A state as crucial and all-important as Rivers State churned out a dunderhead. We cannot accept that. Our charge to the Assembly is to immediately commence an impeachment process against the Governor.

“And if they don’t do that there is what they call party discipline. We shall invoke the relevant section of the constitution.”

Details later…

[Punch]