FEATURES
The House of Representatives, on Thursday, called on the management of the nation’s universities, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions to adopt a semester-based school fee payment model.
This, the Reps noted, will ease the difficulties associated with the current session-based system.
The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion moved by Taura Sa’ad, a member of the All Progressives Congress representing Ringim/Taura Federal Constituency, Katsina State.
Leading the debate on the motion titled, “Call on Nigerian universities and tertiary institutions to adopt a semester–based school fee payment system,” Sa’ad noted on behalf of the House that there’s a high demand for cost-effective and efficient education financing models in tertiary institutions across the country.
“The House notes that the current annual school fee payment system in Nigeria presents financial challenges for students and families given the recent subsidy removal and single-window forex policy,” adding that the House is “Aware of the anticipated benefits of adopting a semester-based school fee payment system for tertiary institutions,” he said.
The lawmaker further maintained that international universities, “Including the University of California and the University of Sydney, recently implemented semester-based fee payment systems to maximize financial convenience and reduce the strain on students and parents.”
He stressed that the House “recognises that adopting the payment system can minimise the financial strain on students, improve access to higher education, and create a more transparent financial structure for institutions.”
Subsequently, the lawmakers urged tertiary Institutions to adopt a semester-based school fee payment system and also directed the Federal Ministry of Education “to work closely with institutions and stakeholders in the education sector to provide the necessary support for adopting the school fee payment system.”
They further mandated the Committees on University Education, Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education, and Federal Colleges of Education “to investigate the viability of adopting a semester-based school fee payment system while considering the specific needs and circumstances of each institution and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.”
The number of psychiatric patients admitted to the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, increased by 100 per cent in 2023.
The hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr Olugbenga Owoeye, made this known at the Annual Score Card presentation tagged: “A Day With the Medical Director” organised by the hospital on Wednesday in Lagos.
Owoeye said the total number of new cases increased by seven per cent, while there was a three per cent increase in the number of follow-up patients male and female.
He added that the increase in admission cases can be attributed to the rising cases of mental health conditions in the country due to the current economic challenges accompanied by other socio-economic factors.
He said, ” It can be deduced that in 2023, the total number of all patients attendance increased by three per cent. There was a seven per cent increase in new cases attended, compared to no increase in 2022.
“We also have 100 per cent increase in admission cases in which the drug abuse cases is 10 per cent increase and discharge cases is reduced by 10 per cent.”
Men of the Lagos state police command have arrested two persons identified as Imo Lawrence and Magnus Nwonka, for allegedly operating a fake factory where fake drinks were being produced.
A statement released by the spokesperson of the state police command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, says the two suspects were arrested after they were found in possession of fake drinks. He said in the course of investigation, the suspects led detectives to their inconspicuous, multi-room ‘factory.'”
Hundeyin added that investigation was ongoing on the discovery.
‘’Officers of Ojo Division today arrested the duo of Imo Lawrence ‘m’ aged 35 and Magnus Nwonka ‘m’ aged 42 in possession of fake drinks.
In the course of investigation, the suspects led detectives to their inconspicuous, multi-room ‘factory.’
Investigation is ongoing.''
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The Federal Workers Forum (FWF) has raised an alarm that the N35,000 wage award given to workers by the Federal Government to cushion the effects of the economic crisis caused by the fuel subsidy removal has been stopped.
The workers, on Thursday, alleged that the Federal Government paid only one month out of the six months promised to the workers.
National Coordinator of FWF, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, in a statement made available to DAILY POST noted that the workers are passing through tortuous moments since the removal of fuel subsidy.
He noted that minimum wage has remained at N30,000 monthly while prices continue to soar and a bag of rice now is above N60,000.
“Federal Government workers nationwide have been going through tortuous moments since the removal of petroleum subsidy. Our take home pay has been made meaningless as a result of the rising cost of living crisis and the constant devaluation of our naira. Salaries have remained the same while prices of goods and services have tripled within this period.
“We are surprised to note that the meager 35,000 naira wage award grudgingly given to the federal workers by the federal government to cushion the effects of the economic crisis caused by the subsidy removal have been stopped. The federal government paid only one month out of the six months promised.
“We the federal government workers feel betrayed by the federal government. Our employer has been very unfair and unfaithful to us. We have not been treated as if we matter. We are citizens, we are not beggers and we are supposed to be worthy of a fair wage. We the federal workers feel cheated.
“Civil servants have been financially embarrassed. Minimum wage has remained at 30,000 naira monthly while prices of everything continue to soar and a bag of rice now is above 60,000 naira.
“Most unfortunately, it is within this period that salaries are been delayed, some workers are being blocked from receiving salaries, promotion arrears not paid, etc,” he said.
Former Big Brother Naija winner, Josephine Otabor, popularly known as Phyna has been invited by the Nigeria Police over her alleged failure to return a rented wig after the expiration of the rental period.
Recalls that a hair vendor recently called out Phyna for allegedly refusing to return a “rented” wig after the expiration of the rental period.
Despite initially denying the allegations, Phyna in a video shared via her social media page recently, admitted renting the wig, saying she returned it after she was called out but the hair vendor rejected it.
According to her, she decided to keep the wig because the damage the hair vendor did to her was more than the price of the wig.
She said the hair vendor came to her house with some police officers and dropped a letter after they met her absent.
Phyna said, “Yesterday, my younger sister called me and said I’ve visitors in my house. I asked who they were and she said two policemen, the hairstylist and one woman. I asked who the woman was but she said she doesn’t know the woman.
“And they dropped a letter. Because it’s from the police I want to know what to do. It reads, ‘This is the Nigeria Police. Invitation to the police.’ They now put my name, my address. Then it continued, ‘From the DPO Nigeria Police Ogudu.’ I don’t know where Ogudu is, but I will find out.”
Justin Dean, the estranged husband of popular US-based Nigerian dancer, Korra Obidi, has said being a single Dad is much easier than being married to his ex-wife.
He said he had thought that being a single Dad would make dating “harder” but reality has taught him that “girls like a single Dad.”
The American doctor disclosed this in a recent interview with media personality, Daddy Freeze.
He said, “Being a single Dad is easier than the alternative [being married to my ex-wife]. I thought it would make dating harder but girls like a single Dad. They see a single Dad as responsible and family-oriented. Because a lot of guys here are not. I love it. Honestly, I love it.
“Being a single Dad is an important part of my life. Everything I do is for my kids. So, I work hard for them. I am a family man. I don’t like girls who don’t do anything.”
Recalls that Dean’s marriage to Korra crashed in 2022 after he accused her of infidelity.
Nollywood actress Tricia Eseigbe Kerry has stated that she and her husband experienced wickedness from friends, family members and domestic workers this year.
The actress said this in an Instagram post while celebrating her wedding anniversary with her husband, Kingsley Kelly.
“A lot of wickedness has happened all through these past years from trusted family members to ungrateful staff we raised.
“The domestic helps that we gave space but wanted to occupy entire house to friends who we supported when there was nothing but showed their awful colours just when they saw tiny oil wells that they did not know was shallow.
“Today I give God almighty praise for bringing us this far and showing us so much love and mercy. Take all the glory Lord for all ur blessings and testimonies,” she wrote.
Nigerian singer Augustine Kelechi, popularly known as Tekno, says he is “selfish” because he loves himself “so much.”
According to him, his priority in life is to enjoy himself.
He stated this in a recent interview with content creator Franck Fun, in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.
Tekno said, “My name is Kelechukwu Augustine. I am an indigene of Ebonyi State. I’m from Ivo local government.
“I love myself so much. I am a very selfish person. But it’s okay to be selfish. Because for life na only dem born and na only you go walka go.
“I’m happy to be home in Ebonyi. I’m here to try the foods. I’ve eaten so many foods abroad. I’m an American boy. So, I’m back home now to taste some local dishes. And I’m happy to be back home.”
The ‘Pana’ crooner said his advice to young people is “in everything you do, make sure you enjoy life.”
Popular Yoruba actress, Awoyemi Bukola Grace, professionally known as Bukola Arugba, has survived a car accident.
The accident occurred on Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos on her way from a movie premiere.
Arugba, in a lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday, stated that the accident, which left her Toyota Venza car destroyed, happened a day to her birthday.
Sharing the video of the incident, the actress appreciated God for preserving her life.
She said, “We came down unhurt , and started calling friends , while waiting, I started sensing something bad was about to happen again, then I started praying at the top of my voice by the car.”
Video:
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The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has said the average retail price of a litre of petrol rose from N202.48 in November 2022 to N648.93 in November 2023.
NBS said this in its Petrol Price Watch for November 2023 released in Abuja on Thursday, stating that the November 2023 price of N648.93 represented a 220.49 per cent increase over the price of N202.48 recorded in November 2022.
It said, “Comparing the average price value with the previous month of October 2023, the average retail price increased by 2.90 per cent from N630.63.
“On state profiles analysis, Kebbi paid the highest average retail price of N691.00 per litre, followed by Jigawa and Akwa Ibom at N677.67 and N675.00, respectively.
“Conversely, Taraba, Kaduna and Lagos paid the lowest average retail price at N618.00, N620.29 and N623.12, respectively,’’ it stated.
According to the NBS, analysis by zones revealed that the South-South had the highest average retail price in November 2023 at N663.59 while the North-East recorded the lowest price of N632.75 per litre.
The NBS also said in its Diesel Price Watch Report for November 2023 that the average retail price was N1055.57 per litre.
It added that the November 2023 price of N1055.57 per litre amounted to a 30.50 per cent increase over the N808.87 per litre paid in November 2022.
“On a month-on-month basis, the price increased by 5.03 per cent from the N1004.98 per litre recorded in October 2023,’’ it added.
On state profile analysis, the report said the highest average price of diesel in November 2023 was recorded in Benue at N1280.00 per litre, followed by Kaduna at N1183.45 and Sokoto at N1183.33.
On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Rivers at N875.00 per litre, followed by Abia at N900.77 and Bayelsa at N920.00 per litre.
In addition, the analysis by zones showed that the North-Central Zone has the highest price of N1123.75 per litre, while the South-East recorded the lowest price at N959.69 per litre.
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International sensation Rihanna has crowned ‘Unavailable,’ a collaboration between Nigerian artist Davido and South African singer Musa Keys, as her ultimate ‘Song of the Year.’
The Barbadian-American icon said this during an exclusive interview with Complex at a recent gathering for her fashion brand, Fenty, The Creeper.
When asked about her album of the year preference, the billionaire pop mogul dismissed the notion, stating that she leans more towards streaming singles.
She enthusiastically named ‘Unavailable’ by Davido featuring Musa Keys and ‘Mnike’ by Tyler ICU and Tumelo as her joint songs of the year.
“Album of the year? Am I an album girl, or am I a streaming single girl? ‘Unavailable’ [by Davido, featuring Musa Keys] on repeat,” Rihanna said.
“That and ‘Mnike’ [by Tyler ICU and Tumelo] are my songs of the year.”
In response to Rihanna’s acknowledgment, Davido took to social media, sharing a clip of the interview with the caption: “My Ri Ri.”
The viral hit track ‘Unavailable’ which is from the Davido’ is the fourth studio album by the Nigerian and was released on March 31, 2023. Primarily an amapiano record, the album explores other musical styles such as afrobeat, dancehall, ragga, konto, highlife, and afro pop.
It comprises 17 tracks and features collaborations with Skepta, Angelique Kidjo, Asake, Focalistic, and The Cavemen, among others.
THE Senate has asked the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun to compel the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, Ishaq Magaji, SAN, to appear before it within 24 hours.
Speaking, yesterday, in Abuja during an interactive session with agencies of government, Chairman, Senate Finance Committee, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), said that it had become imperative for IGP to intervene following the shunning of the committee’s invitation for the third time.
The CAC RG was expected to appear to defend the commission’s 2024 budget, but some financial discrepancies were spotted by the committee in the book of accounts submitted to it and needed further explanations, a development that seems to have scared the CAC boss from appearing before the committee.
The four senior officials of CAC, who confirmed several letter of invitation by the Clerk of the Senate Committee on Finance could not explain the absence of CAC boss before the committee.
The angry Musa said: “With all sense of humility, the CAC Registrar General has disregarded this committee.
“Colleagues, CAC was present when we treated MTEF/FSP and the Director of Finance was here. We saw discrepancies and we told you to go and come back.
“You have your book keepers, you have your records and we asked you to go and tidy up and report back, but you never did.
“I have cause to tell the Secretariat to send you a letter for you to appear here. When you came, you said the Registrar General just felt ill, I excused you expecting you were going to come back with documents expected.
“You know what the financial regulation of this country is. I had cause to tell the Committee Secretariat to write you again and you are here without the RG. You are the custodian of finances of the commission and there are discrepancies.
How many entities are registered in this country. How many? How much were you reporting there and you are taking us with levity.
“I am invoking Section 89(2) mandating the IGP to compel appearance of the Registrar General of the CAC before the Senate Committee on Finance within 24 hours.”
[Vanguard]
'Great deception' - archbishop opposes Pope Francis approval of blessings for same-sex couples
AdminTomash Peta, archbishop of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan, has condemned the Vatican’s approval of blessings for same-sex couples.
In a significant shift in Catholic doctrine on Monday, Pope Francis permitted priests to look kindly on queer couples seeking favours from God.
Although the Vatican clarified that “such blessings should not be conducted with any church rites that offer the impression of a marriage”, the pope said “pastoral charity” requires patience and understanding.
He added that priests should not become judges “who only deny, reject and exclude”.
In a joint statement on Tuesday alongside Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop, Peta called the pope’s new stance a “great deception”.
The archbishop forbade all priests and parishes in his archdiocese from blessing same-sex couples, noting that it “directly and seriously contradicts Divine Revelation and the uninterrupted, bimillennial doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church”.
The clergymen said the Vatican’s orders do “not walk uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel” and called on the Pope to revoke the permission to bless couples in an “irregular situation” and same-sex couples, so that the Catholic Church may shine clearly as the “pillar and ground of the truth”.
Peta also warned priests that “this effort to legitimize such blessings” will have “far-reaching and destructive consequences” and, at least in practice, turns the Catholic Church into a “propagandist of gender ideology”.
Since Pope Francis took office in 2013, he has worked to reform church governance, making it less hierarchical and paying more attention to those who have expressed concerns about exclusion.
In 2021, the Vatican decreed that the Catholic Church would not bless gay marriages because God “cannot bless sin”.
But in a turn of events two months ago, the Pope hinted that he would be open to having the Catholic Church bless same-sex unions.
The Pope’s attempts at reforming the church has been met with stiff internal resistance with Peta being the first prelate to publicly condemn the Vatican’s declaration allowing same-sex blessings.
Former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun on Wednesday lampooned Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, over his role during the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries in 2019, describing him as “biggest and most destructive threat” to the ruling party.
Daily Trust reports that Amosun and Oshiomhole, then APC national chairman, had squared up during APC primaries in the build-up to the 2019 general election.
The clash followed the disputed governorship primary in Ogun State which edged out the Amosun’s anointed candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, in favour of Dapo Abiodun, once Amosun’s ally.
The seed of discord was sown in October 2018, when two governorship candidates emerged.
The Mohammed Indabawa-led panel sent to the state by the APC National Working Committee declared Abiodun winner, while the Derin Adebiyi-led state executive of APC announced Akinlade as the winner of another primary it conducted.
The emergence of two candidates in the party led to series of allegations and counter allegations. While Amosun’s camp was embittered that the Indabawa-panel did not conduct any primary, the NWC questioned where the Adeniyi-led executive “conducted a primary and declared Akinlade winner.”
Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee later backed Abiodun against Amosun’s man, a development which severed the former governors’ relationship.
More than four years after, Oshiomhole on Tuesday revisited the 2019 drama and hinted that the party spent a whopping sum of N2.4 billion to win the governorship elections in Kwara, Imo, and Ogun State.
Oshiomhole, who spoke at the book launch of the former APC National Vice Chairman North West, Salihu Lukman, also said that the party lost the Taraba State governorship election even though it invested N800 million into the election in 2019.
According to him, the need to spend N800 million in Imo, Ogun, Kwara, and Taraba was because they had strong opposition leaders in those states.
For Imo State, he said that there was Senator Rochas Okorocha, who was against the candidate of the party; Kwara had former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and in Ogun State, APC had Amosun who worked against the candidate of the party, Abiodun.
But Amosun in a statement he signed on Wednesday, lampooned the former Edo Governor, saying his narrative was not only fraught with lies, but also he (Oshiomhole) did not boast the requisite integrity to say the truth.
Amosun said APC conducted worst primaries in Nigeria’s history under Oshiomhole’s watch, describing him as
“APC’s biggest, most destructive threat.”
“It is not in doubt that I have participated fully in the formation and sustenance of our party, the APC, and I can boldly say that the party under Adams Oshiomhole conducted one of the worst primaries in the history of Nigeria’s contemporary politics and ended up shopping for his own enemies, leading to his eventual removal as Chairman of our party. Nigerians should not be in a hurry to forget the allegations that preceded the conduct of those primaries and his eventual invitation by the Department of State Service, DSS, to clarify certain grave allegations.
“If anyone was in doubt that Senator Oshiomhole posed the biggest and most destructive threat to the existence of the APC at that time, and the party’s best bet was to dispose of a canon folder that he was and unfortunately still is, his utterances and grandstanding yesterday at an occasion to find solutions to our democratic and party challenges, would have cleared such mindset,” he said.