AFOLABI
Only candidates 16-years at time of admission will be considered eligible – JAMB insists
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has raised alarm over an upsurge in the number of doctored and upwardly adjusted age declarations on NIN slips being submitted by candidates.
The exam body expressed worry that the trend of underage candidates falsifying their age to gain admission into the university has become dangerous, inimical and unnecessary.
JAMB has now insisted that only candidates who will be at least sixteen years old at the time of admission will be considered eligible for admittance into the university.
A statement by the board’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, said the directive came from the Chairman of the 2024 tertiary admission policy meeting and Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman.
He said the extant 6-3-3-4 on education will be enforced only from the 2025 academic session.
The statement partly read, ”This position is informed by the discovery of widespread and unwholesome practice whereby some institutions collude with candidates to falsify vital details, such as backdated year of entry and subsequent age adjustments, to utilise certificates of genuine candidates with similar names to facilitate illegal admissions to enable participation of fake candidates in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.”
It’s time to probe ourselves as northerners, after blaming other regions – Shehu Sani
Former Senator representing Kaduna North Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, has said it’s time for northerners to look at themselves instead of blaming other regions.
Sani, who wrote on his verified Facebook page on Sunday, lamented that most public schools are free, yet our young ones still don’t want to go to school.
He said, “Many of us don’t want our spouses to work or use their skills or talents to earn a living or contribute to the family. When we die, we leave them as helpless widows at the mercy of a hostile society.
“Most young people don’t want to serve as apprentices in workshops or retail outlets because they lack the heart and patience to serve.
“Many parents in rural areas hand over their children to a religious teacher in the city, who depends on the children to beg or steal in order to feed himself and his family. For ethnic, religious, and sectional reasons, we have protected, defended, praised, and refused to hold accountable all our kinsmen who led the country at every wasted opportunity for five decades.
“The bandits and terrorists who kill and kidnap our people, deny our farmers access to their farms, and prevent our children from going to school are not from any foreign country or from the south; they come from our homes and families up north. We worship with them in the same mosque. We used to live together as one region in peace, brotherhood, and love, but then we divided and began to hate ourselves along religious lines.
“We don’t vote for people who will serve us; we vote for those who will provide us with spaghetti and grains. We concoct and spread all sorts of religiously inclined conspiracies to deny our children free health immunization against diseases, resulting in hundreds of thousands of blind, lame, crippled, and deaf children who grow up as victims of polio, glaucoma, or leprosy, begging in northern and southern cities. Many of our women and girls don’t have a business capital of 100k but own an iPhone worth N1.5m. They don’t have capital of 100k but can ‘struggle’ to meet up with a wedding asoebi of 500k.
“We deny most of our girls the right to go beyond secondary school due to negative perceptions about higher education. We don’t want our female children to wear uniforms. Whenever recruitment portals for the Army, Police, Customs, Immigration, and Civil Defence open, we don’t want our female wards to apply.
“When our children graduate from universities, especially public universities, most of the parents who attend to celebrate and appreciate their children are from the southern regions. Most of our industries and factories in Kano, Kaduna, and Jos have since closed down when our kinsmen were in power. Our farmers in rural areas are still farming with hoes throughout the period our kinsmen were in power. The groundnut and cotton pyramids disappeared long ago when our kinsmen were at the helm.
“All the spare parts, building materials, and pharmaceutical stores in the north are private businesses owned by people from other regions who were not backed, funded, or supported by any government. When our kinsmen were in power, we attributed our poverty and insecurity to God and to our sins; when our kinsmen are out of power, we attribute our sufferings to the King.
“The FCT is in the north. Can anyone explain why people from the region couldn’t dominate the private businesses in the FCT, Suleja, and Mararaba? Who should be blamed for this?
“God gave us the largest land mass, the largest number of people, most of the rivers, and resources and livestock, and gave us power for the most part of our history. Which of the favours of our Lord can we deny? The North; eighty percent of our problems are ourselves and not anyone ‘outside of ourselves.’”
Protest: ‘Terribly underwhelming to read’ – Oby Ezekwesili trashes Tinubu’s Sunday address
Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s Sunday address to Nigerians concerning the ongoing nationwide protests against bad governance in the country.
The ex-minister said the speech was terribly underwhelming to read.
Ezekwesili said Tinubu’s speech was a monumental missed opportunity to placate citizens with sound answers and an outline of convincing evidence-based actions that his government will take to address bad governance in the country.
The government critic claimed the speech was written from a mindset focused on “getting back at Tinubu’s imaginary enemies.
DAILY POST reported that Tinubu addressed the nation on Sunday concerning the ongoing nationwide protests.
The President in his speech ruled out the return of fuel subsidy and asked organizers of the protest to withdraw from the street.
However, in a statement on her X handle on Sunday, the former Minister said it is unfortunate to see Nigerian public “Leaders” talk and behave like losers on matters of public governance.
She said: “@officialABAT , As one of millions of Nigerians who were at church when you delivered your late-in-coming Speech to Citizens on the #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria protests, let me loudly say it was terribly underwhelming to read.
‘Your Speech reads like a page from your party manifesto and terribly failed to connect to what our Citizens on the Streets are angry and protesting about.
‘Your speech is quite a monumental missed opportunity to placate citizens with sound answers and outline of convincing evidence-based actions that you and your @NigeriaGov will immediately take to address the priority #BadGovernance concerns.
“Your Speech was sadly again written out of a mindset that is focused on “getting back at our enemies”. Imaginary enemies at that! No true Leader has the luxury of having “enemies” among their Citizens. Not at all. A Public Leader becomes the Leader of ALL with a mind that does not think of any as their enemies.
“This is why it is ever unfortunate to see Nigerian public “Leaders” talk and behave like Losers on matters of public governance where they are expected to rally their ALL Citizens behind the common purpose of nation building.
“It is nauseating to observe this recurrent innate unwillingness of Nigerian public leaders to admit responsibility for the demands of the same public leadership that they kill and maim citizens to assume.
“@officialABAT, Citizens know when they are being badly governed and from what one can see, Nigerians have now realized that they must collectively speak up and take action otherwise their self-obsessed rulers (and not leaders) will not pay them any heed at all.
“As we remember and pray for families of all our citizens mauled down or maimed for demanding an End to Bad Governance, let me call on you @officialABAT to immediately instruct the IG @PoliceNG and his men to “STOP KILLING PEACEFUL PROTESTERS NOW!”
“Also fish out all law enforcement personnel that have killed and maimed citizens and ensure they are sanctioned as a deterrence to their colleagues.”
EndBadGovernance: President Tinubu’s speech flaccid, danced around issues – Nwaokobia
Political activist, Chris Nwaokobia has described the nationwide broadcast by President Bola Tinubu as flaccid and an uneventful dance around the issues that brought about the EndBadGovernance protests.
Nwaokobia also claimed the president’s speech only sought to validate the policies that traumatised the people and also to decree an end to the protests without addressing the issues.
In a statement made available to DAILY POST on Sunday, Nwaokobia alleged that President Tinubu’s speech did not make concrete promises, announce some far-reaching reforms or say a thing about cutting the cost of governance, cutting wastage, wanderlust and profligacy.
DAILY POST reported that President Tinubu addressed the nation on Sunday where he revealed that he was aware of the pains of Nigerians and that he was speaking with a heavy heart.
The president addressed the nation after day 3 of the planned 10-day EndBadGovernance nationwide protest which started on Thursday, August 1.
Nwaokobia’s statement read, “Mr President’s speech this morning was a flaccid and uneventful dance around the issues that brought us to the nadir. He sought to validate the policies that traumatize the people. He sought to decree an end to the protests without addressing the issues.
“Without making concrete promises. Without announcing some far-reaching reforms. And without saying a thing about cutting the cost of governance, and cutting wastage, wanderlust and profligacy.”
Nwaokobia, who held that the speech was not the mind of the president, accused the writers of being utterly wicked, mischievous and treacherous.
“The person who wrote that speech may be utterly wicked, mischievous and treacherous because I do not believe that such is the mind of Mr. President. But what do I know?”
“Shame on the handlers of this Presidency. Shame on Mr President. Shame on the All Progressive Congress APC. Shame on all those who have direct access to Mr. President but cannot tell him the Truth. And shame to all those who undermine the extent to which an aggrieved people can go.
“Unfortunately, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appears to have been ensconced and removed from all those who can tell him the Truth.
“Mr President has continued on the same trajectory as his aides who believe that threats and orders can attend and assuage the anger in the land. Mr President is apparently far from the truth and away from reality.
“Clearly, Mr President is badly surrounded by sycophants and hypocrites, and so cannot apprehend the enormity of the anger in the land. I pity Mr. President.”
While accusing the President of not being sensitive to the demands of the protesters and speaking without listening, Nwakobia said he hoped the speech would be followed by proactive and profound reforms.
Ladoja Bows To Pressure, Agrees To Become Ibadan Beaded King
The Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, High Chief Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja on Sunday changed his hard stance against his opposition to become a beaded crown monarch in Ibadanland.
Ladoja, a former Governor of Oyo State made the disclosure while featuring on ‘Agbami Oselu,’ a flagship radio programme on Fresh FM in Ibadan.
Ladoja is the next in the line of succession to the current Olubadan of Ibadanlan, Oba Akinloye Owolabi Olakulehin, Ige Olakulehin 1, who was officially installed as the 43rd Olubadan on Friday, July 12, 2024.
LEADERSHIP earlier reports that Ibadan has a unique and transparent traditional succession route to the Olubadan throne, which sees an individual – either from military or civilian line – from the lowest rung of the traditional ladder rise to the peak and ultimately becomes the Olubadan.
The throne of the Olubadan is traditionally swapped between the military and civilian lines, with the 89-year-old Oba Olakuleyin occupying the throne from the military line.
With the ascension of Oba Olakulehin, Ladoja is currently the most senior High Chief from the civilian line waiting in the wings.
However, a review to Section 4 of the 1957 Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration in a gazette issued by the Oyo State Government and signed by Governor Seyi Makinde since 2023, mandated the candidate for the throne of Olubadan to be a bead-wearing king.
Section 4 of the new Gazette states that, “The person who may be proposed as candidate by the Line whose turn it is to fill a vacancy in the office of the Olubadan shall be the most Senior Beaded Crown Oba in that line.”
Speaking on Sunday, Ladoja said numerous Ibadan and non-Ibadan people had mounted pressures on him to consent to becoming a bead-wearing monarch to pave the way for his ascension to the throne when the time comes.
“By the grace of God, I will become Olubadan. God has been merciful to me. My blood pressure has been stable.
“Anyone God destined to become Olubadan will become Olubadan. There is not amount of obstacles that they may put on the road, if God says someone will become Olubadan, he will become Olubadan.
“I will do what Ibadan people want. Everything is being determined by God. We have had many people who became Balogun that did not become Olubadan, we have had many people who became Otun Olubadan but did not become Olubadan. Omiyale and Kuye died ten days apart.
“It is a tough decision but the voice of the people is the voice of God. That is what the people want,” Ladoja said in Yoruba.
33 Oyo Council Chairmen Pull Out Of ALGON Over Supreme Court Ruling On Autonomy
The 33 council chairmen in Oyo State have dumped the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) over the Supreme Court’s judgment granting financial autonomy to local government across the country.
The chairmen, in a communique signed by all the chairmen, unanimously declared their unalloyed support for Governor Seyi Makinde.
ALGON’s Public Relation Officer in the state, Ibrahim Akintayo, described the chairmen’s stand as solidarity to Governor Makinde’s recent stand on local government autonomy as ruled by the apex court.
They attributed their unequivocal loyalty to Makinde for his exemplary leadership and unrivalled achievements since his assumption to office.
LEADERSHIP recalls that the Oyo State’s governor had during a meeting with some stakeholders after the court ruling, constituted committees to review apex court’s ruling on local government autonomy.
“I called this meeting because I felt that even though we have not seen the Certified True Copy of the judgment of the Supreme Court, we have to be proactive and discuss the decision of the Supreme Court as it concerns financial autonomy of the local government councils because I believe a lacuna has been created between the decision and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that we all swore to uphold.
“The law is the law, and when there is a conflict, yes, we should go to the court. But it behooves on us to look for our own home-grown solutions that can ensure that we have transparency and that our people do not suffer. This is because when two elephants are fighting, it is the grass that will suffer,” the governor had stated.
Makinde’s stand on the Supreme Court ruling had however received mixed reactions from the public with some supporting his stance and others criticising the governor.
According to a communique, the decision to move to a new association was arrived at due to the need to protect and provide for the people in their various local government areas.
It also said that the intended association for local government executive chairmen will be registered under the relevant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Part of the communique read: “At the general meeting of ALL the Local Government Councils of Oyo State, held on Saturday 3rd August 2024 at Ibadan, it was voluntarily agreed and resolved as follows:
“That in order to inter alia protect the interest of our people, we should forthwith form an umbrella association. Such organisation will be registered under the relevant Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its membership shall be institutional-represented by the chairmen of respective local government councils.
“That the association shall remain committed to the democratic ideas of the system of Local Government as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“Furthermore, the association shall ensure the delivery of the real development in local councils in the overall interest of our people at the local level.”
US Woman Found Starving, Chained To Tree In India 'For 40 Days'
An American woman who went to India a decade ago to study yoga and meditation has claimed she survived without food and water for 40 days after being shackled to a tree by her former husband.
U.S. citizen Lalita Kayi Kumar, 50, was found starving and emaciated on Saturday by a local shepherd in a remote forest in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra about 25 miles from Goa, according to reports.
The shepherd broke an iron chain that was used to secure her to the tree. Police said she was severely dehydrated and unable to speak.
Officers said Kumar met and married an Indian man while studying yoga in Tamil Nadu, the same province in southeast India where Kamala Harris’ grandfather comes from. The couple reportedly fell out and the ex-husband has now been charged with attempted murder.
According to the Indian Express, the police case is based on a letter written by the American woman, who has not yet talked about her ordeal.
“Injection for extreme psychosis which causes severe locked jaw and inability to drink any water. Need intravenous food… 40 days without food in forest—husband tied me to a tree in a forest and said I would die there,” the note read.
Police are said to be skeptical that Kumar could have survived for 40 days without food or water.
“When we discovered her, she was seriously dehydrated. It appears that she was stuck there for a minimum of 48 hours. Although she was mute,” said Amol Chavan, an inspector at Sawantwadi Police Station.
Lalita Kayi Kumar, 50, was married to a man from Tamil Nadu, the same region in South India where Kamala Harris' mother is from
“She is currently not in a position to talk. We are trying to get more details about her background,” said Saurabh Agarwal, superintendent of police in Sindhudurg, the area where she was found.
Kumar had her U.S. passport with her when she was found along with various personal belongings, including an identity card with a Tamil Nadu address. She is said to be out of danger but suffering from psychiatric issues.
Police said she had been living in India for at least 10 years and that her visa had expired.
Hoodlums Attack Churches, Cart Away Chairs, Musical Instruments In Katsina
Hoodlums have invaded a Living Faith Church in Daura local government area of Katsina State, looting about 205 chairs, musical instruments, and other valuable items worth millions of naira.
The attacks took place in the wake of #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests on Thursday with attendant violent clashes between hoodlums and security operatives.
The pastor in charge of the church, David Jato, disclosed this to LEADERSHIP, lamenting that they couldn’t hold Sunday service in the auditorium of the church because the hoodlums went away with everything inside the church building during the protests.
Pastor Jato explained, “We have two security men working in the church, one was on duty while the other was off. When the protest began around 10:00am, the hoodlums just diverted to the church, many of them in Keke NAPEP (Tricycle), and broke the doors and classes and penetrated the church auditorium.
“They packed everything inside the church auditorium, including the wall digital clock, musical instruments, pupit, pastor’s chairs, plastic chairs, and a desktop computer at the reception, as well as a scoreboard where the accountant usually kept church documents. They scattered everything.”
He added that three churches were targeted but the hoodlums only succeeded in invading the Living Faith Church and Deeper Life Church, but couldn’t force themselves into the Anglican Church because of the strong iron protector at the gate.
“We’ve informed the police and the Army about it, and the police told us yesterday that they have made some arrests.
“I’m surprised by this attack; when we are thinking about ending bad governance, which now escalated to the invasion of churches, it is something that everyone should seriously condemn. It is not food that we store in the House of God. It is a place of worship. Why is it only church? The government should come to the reality they are serving humanity, and God will judge us all, whether political or religious leaders.
“My prayer to the perpetrators is that they should repent from what they are doing because for you to enter church, a place of worship, is wrong and you know you are not fighting man, they should seek for repentance. I know God is forgiving and He will forgive them,” he added.
Similarly, the former state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN), Very Rev. Nelson Onyekachuku, whose church is named ‘Power of Resurrection’, was also affected in Katsina town, where the hoodlums vandalised the church windows, but they couldn’t enter because of the iron protectors of the church.
He, however, condemned the action in total, adding that the hoodlums should not add pain to the church, even as he called on the government to change its policy and address the grievances of the people and always ensure to protect the church whenever such an incident happens.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Sadiq Abubakar, was yet to repond to the message sent to him at the time of filing this report. However, LEADERSHIP observed heavy deployment of security personnel around churches across the state on Sunday to ensure hitch-free Sunday worship.
Hoodlums Chase #EndBadGovernance Protesters From Lagos Park
Hoodlums on Sunday morning chased #EndBadGovernance protesters who gathered around the Gani Fawehinmi Park in the Ojota area of Lagos State.
At 10:30 am, a major disagreement played out amongst the organisers of the protest in Ojota.
A lawyer, who simply identified as JP, came to address the protesters to leave the protest grounds, on the basis that President Bola Tinubu has addressed the nation.
But another group led by 70-year-old Adegboyega Adeniji of Peace Action Transformation insisted on remaining on the protest ground until further notice.
The police stepped in to speak to the small group of protesters to leave.
Shortly after the police addressed the protesters, a group, the protesters claimed, was sponsored, came from the other side of the road to disperse them.
By 11:30 am, the hoodlums returned, chasing all the protesters in Ojota away. The police have since occupied the protest grounds.
Before they were chased away from the area, the protesters chanted solidarity songs, shortly after President Bola Tinubu’s address to the nation.
The protesters said the President has not addressed core issues raised by them despite touching on efforts by his administration.
Security agents had on Sunday morning barred the protesters from holding a procession beyond the designated ground at Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota.
The protesters had complied without argument and returned to the designated point.
The nationwide protests against hunger and economic hardship entered Day 4 on Sunday. From the first till the third day, policemen dispersed protesters using tear gas, even as civil society organisations condemned the action of the police.
Hunger Protests: Atiku Reports Tinubu To UN, ICC Over Killings Of Unarmed Protesters
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar in a strongly worded response to the killings of unarmed protesters across the country has reported President Bola Tinubu to the United Nations and the International Criminal Court or ICC and asked them to immediately monitor the situation in order to step in.
This followed actions of armed policemen alongside operatives of the DSS, who on Saturday opened fire on innocent protesters in Abuja killing an innocent teenager, who was not partaking in the hunger strike in Kubwa while a police man was accused of pointing a gun at another teenage boy in the same place.
Also, security agencies stormed the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja on Saturday to force out unarmed protesters from the stadium shooting live bullets at them, shattering a car of one of the journalists from Premium Times.
Journalists were also shot at as were protesters, forcing them to run for cover.
Similarly, there were ugly scenes in Kano where police opened fire on unarmed protesters forcing them to scamper for safety.
All across the country, there have been tales of woes as the protest which began on Thursday entered the third day in a bloody fashion.
Journalists have been hounded, tear gassed, kicked and bundled into police vehicles to unknown locations in places like Calabar, Cross River State, Yobe, Delta, Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Adamawa, Lagos, Rivers in what human rights groups such as Amnesty International, HURIWA, religious groups have condemned as amounting to use of excessive force.
Atiku “vehemently condemned” what he called “heinous act of using live ammunition” on citizens peacefully protesting against bad governance.
Eyewitnesses and video evidence showed police in full battle gear descending on unarmed protesters including women with babies in places like Plateau where a nursing mother was reportedly arrested.
Atiku described the situation as “utterly intolerable” which he said is “reminiscent of the dark days of military dictatorship.”
The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party or PDP noted that it is crucial to remind the government and security agencies of their paramount duty to ensure a safe and secure environment where citizens can exercise their right to protest without fear.
“When security forces open fire on innocent protesters,” he said “they do nothing but exacerbate tensions, transforming peaceful demonstrations into chaos.
“I refuse to believe that inciting violence is the intention of our authorities,” Atiku stated.
He urged “the international community, including the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, to closely monitor the situation in Nigeria and hold its leadership and security apparatus accountable.”
He reaffirmed his “counsel to protesters to steadfastly exercise their right to peaceful protest and reject any form of violence.”
Those engaging in looting and the destruction of public and private property he said must be isolated and prosecuted according to the law.
By indulging in such acts, Atiku said they undermine the legitimate protests and play into the hands of those who oppose their right to protest.
President Tinubu, the former vice president said “must demonstrate true leadership by immediately addressing and implementing the demands of the Nigerian people.”
Amid the ongoing excessive use of force, the president has announced he would be making a national address on Sunday morning.