09102019 - 2020: Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation budget to NASS

More documents

Recommendations

Info

14—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 By Adesina Wahab, Elizabeth Uwandu & Esther Oyeniyi LAGOS—- THE embattled lecturer in the Department of European Languages, University of Lagos, UNILAG, Dr Boniface Igbeneghu, who was caught on camera soliciting sex from an “admission seeker,” has been alleged to have tried committing suicide. This is as Vanguard gathered that Igbeneghu, who had since been suspended by UNILAG authorities and also by Foursquare Gospel Church, where he is a pastor, may have his full conferment of professorship slated before the end of the year being denied, following his alleged involvement in the sex-for-grades saga. I won't be coerced to speak — Igbeneghu Meanwhile, the embattled lecturer , when contacted to comment on the issue. stated that he would not be coerced to speak. His word: “I work for the University of Lagos; if you want any reaction, talk to the university. “Contact the information unit and they will tell you the correct position. If I talk, I will be running foul of the varsity’s law. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on me to say beyond what I have said.” I’ve received threats over investigation —BBC journalist However, the undercover journalist with the BBC Africa Eye, Kiki Mordi, yesterday, disclosed that she received threats after completing an investigation that exposed sexual harassment in some West African universities. Mordi, an undercover reporter, posing as a 17- year- old admission seeker, in a 13-minute video, had exposed Igbeneghu trying to have carnal knowledge of her. In an interview with Sahara Reporters, Mordi said since the investigation was completed, she had been receiving subtle threats. She said: “I have received subtle threats since this work was completed but I am not bothered because the BBC takes the security of employees seriously. “Before embarking on this project, the team prayed a lot and also sang because it helped to calm the nerves. But I had to go through the training I received over and over again because I wanted to get it right. “The bulk of the rituals I performed are reading, research and preparation. The biggest goal of this work was to be louder than the aggressor because sexual harassment is very loud. I wanted it to be silenced.” SEXUAL HARASSMENT: Embattled UNILAG lecturer contemplates suicide •I’ve received threats over investigation —BBC journalist •No evidence against our lecturers, says Ghana varsity •Sexual abuse victims speak out Dr Boniface Igbeneghu UNILAG gate Mordi expressed gladness that things have been changing since the documentary was released, adding that more needed to be done to halt sexual harassment in African universities. She said: “I am happy that a lot is changing already since the documentary was released and I can confirm to you that one of the lecturers at the University of Lagos caught sexually harassing a prospective student has been dismissed by the institution. “I believe it doesn’t stop there until there is a conviction. We have to break that culture of impunity.” No evidence of sex-forgrades against our lecturers—Ghana varsity In a related development, the Chairperson of Antisexual Harassment Committee of the University of Ghana, UG, Margaret Amoakohene, said there is no evidence that two of its lecturers seen in the sex-forgrades video documentary slept with their alleged victims. Yaw Gyampo, a Professor of Political Science, and Paul Butakor, a lecturer at the College of Education, were seen soliciting sex from students in a 13-minute video documentary released by the BBC Africa Eye on Monday. Amoakohene was quoted as saying though she agreed that the lecturers’ behaviour was unacceptable and should be investigated, there was no evidence that they slept with any student. According to Citi News, she said the allegations could only be justified in a case where the lecturers were caught having illicit affairs with their students and awarding them marks that they did not deserve or marking them down because they refused their advances. He said: “If you look at the transcript that they added, there is no evidence of sex for a grade. I agree that the lecturers misbehaved and so you will discuss these as unacceptable behaviours that should be investigated but there was no indication of sex for grades,” Kiki Mordi Amoakohene was quoted to have said. “In one case, it was about the national service placement. Who needs grades at national service? She completed and she was looking for placement. “In the other case according to the transcript, the lady approached him and said she wanted him to be a mentor. She confirmed she wasn’t his student but asked that he mentors her. So where is the grade involved in this? “You can discuss grades and sex when you find a lecturer who is dating his students, and either unnecessarily giving them grades that they don’t deserve or marking them down because they have refused your advances. But in the two cases that are cited, I don’t see sex for grades.” Cooperate with ongoing investigations,UG President tells students Also, President of UG Student Representative Council, SRC, Isaac Agyemang, was said to have advised students who are victims of sexual harassment to cooperate with ongoing investigations. “As it stands now, these are allegations that have come up. Until they are proven guilty, our remarks will be speculative,” Agyemang was quoted to have said. “But all these people captured in the video will duly be investigated within the remits of the University of Ghana. Our fingers are crossed as an SRC, so any student who has been a victim shouldn’t shy away from the SRC.” Sexual abuse victims speak out Following the investigation by BBC Africa Eye that exposedIgbeneghu, sexual abuse victims have continued to share their experience. I was victim of sexual harassment —Gov Fayemi's wife One of such is the wife of the Governor of Ekiti State, Bisi Fayemi, who revealed that she was a victim of sexual harassment during her university days in Nigeria. Mrs. Fayemi made her revelation during the screening of the documentary in Lagos, which has Mrs. Aisha Buhari and Fayemi’s wife, among others in attendant. Mrs. Fayemi, however, said she was lucky it did not go far “but it was extremely unpleasant.” She urged women to speak out, saying the culture of silence “has endured for too long.” Mrs. Fayemi, who is the Chairperson of Nigerian Governors’ Wives Forum, said the forum would push for a political action in the 36 states to end the scourge. She said what was missing has been the political will to end the menace, stressing that the problem affects everyone. Mrs. Fayemi did not mention her university but research shows that she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from University of Ife, now the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. ...Ibim Semenitari, too Also, a former acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Ibim Semenitari, has said she was sexually harassed by a male lecturer while she was doing her undergraduate programme in a Nigerian university. Mrs. Semenitari, while weighing in on the #SexForGrades conversation, said on Facebook, yesterday, that she was just 15 years old when her lecturer at the University of Benin sexually harassed her. “I was 15 when I got into university at first trial. I studied hard. I was a staunch member of the Christian Union. I didn’t go to the lecturers’ offices. I was from a home where I was well provided for and well-loved by my family so I didn’t have any problem but I was harassed and it cost me two years of my university education and a change of faculty,” she said on the social media site. Semenitari studied English Language and Literature from 1982 to 1989 in the university, according to her profile on LinkedIn. She said: “The matter of sexual harassment in Nigeria is worsened by the fact that society doesn’t understand the matter of power relations and always manages to find an excuse always for the violators. “Children are regularly abused by trusted family members, child domestics are routinely violated by bosses without a care in the world, children who get into school are harassed, assaulted and if they do not give in might lose the opportunity of graduating as at when due or graduating at all. And no, you do not have to go to a lecturer’s office to be harassed. “When I read comments that suggest that only weak students are harassed or only those who cannot pass their exams, it is like a knife piercing through my heart, and it just takes me over 30 years back. “Why must we always find a reason to blame the victim as if the pain and humiliation are not enough?”
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019—15 I feel fufilled, says veteran journalist, Emeka Mamah Mr. Emeka Mamah(3rd left), family and friends in church during the thanksgiving. By Ikechukwu Odu NSUKKA— THE former South-East Regional Editor of Vanguard Newspaper, Emeka Mamah, Sunday, thanked God for a successful career in journalism. Mamah, who went for a thanksgiving Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Imufu, By Peter Okutu, Chinenye Ozor & Ikechukwu Odu N SUKKA—GOVERNOR David Umahi of Ebonyi State, yesterday, expressed optimism that with proper investment in both physical and human development, Nigeria’s economy can survive without relying on oil. The governor who was a guest lecturer at the 59th Founders’ Day Lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, posited three vital things Nigeria needs to pursue a zero oil economy. Umahi, who said none of the 20 most prosperous nations on earth are heavily reliant on oil exports, named the vital steps to include insulating the economy from the risk of being vulnerable to a single commodity, creation of jobs that can raise the living standard of an average Nigerian Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, also said he was celebrating the peace in his marriage/family as well as his daughter’s graduation from the university. He said: “I retired from Vanguard Newspaper on June 2, after several years of being in the field. I worked in several newspapers such as ThisDay, and preparing for life beyond the oil revenue. In his lecture entitled Preparing Ebonyi State for Zero Oil Economy, Umahi said Ebonyi has started laying the foundations for sustained economic growth and prosperity beyond the era of oil. His words: “Nigeria’s economy potentially lies beyond oil. In 1960, Nigeria had a leading position across several of its export crops, especially groundnut, cocoa, cotton and palm oil. At that time, its share of the world agriculture exports was in excess of one percent. “By the mid 1980s however, agriculture exports collapsed as the country shifted towards petroleum exploration and by the 1990’s, Nigeria’s share in world export of agriculture had declined to less than 0.1%.” Stressing the need for diversification, Umahi noted that the “USA is the world Punch, Daily Star, Satellite among others. “When you have passion for a job, you won’t even know the way you feel. But I feel fulfilled. I did so many things and I know that as a journalist, you make enemies and friends. “I made more friends and also some enemies not because I willingly had to do that, but my largest economy by nominal GDP with a diversified economy operating in a free market. “Her biggest industries are tourism, international trade, agriculture and aerospace with the major income to the government as income tax and payroll taxes from private individuals. She has a GDP of $21.2 trillion, hence an advanced country. “China is the second largest economy by nominal GDP. The success in the economic growth of this country is attributed to mixed economy that is incorporated with limited capitalism. Japan is also the world biggest creditor with the leading public debt ratio. She has the nominal GDP of $1,266.1 billion and GDP per capita of $49,500, with annual growth rate of 1.7%. “This over-concentration on a single commodity creates deep fault lines within the economy, as global oil price crashes travel job caused the strain in such relationship between some people and I, especially those in positions of authority. There are so many incidents I can remember that nearly cost me my dear life. “During the military regime, I stepped on so many toes. I remember that during the period, Emeka Omeruah was queried because of a story I wrote about his government’s decision to print his portrait in the United Kingdom, against Buhari’s government’s policy as Military Head of State and it nearly cost me my life. “Omeruah’s government accused late Pius Onuh of allegedly leaking the report to me. But that was not true. “ I spent seven years in Kaduna where I met good administrators like Mohammed Makarfi, his successor, Mohammed Sambo, who later became the Vice President, before I was sent to Lagos on promotion as the Deputy News Editor. “Makarfi is broad-minded and would have made a good President. Both Makarfi and Sambo are loyal to their friends.” Nigeria must shift from oil economy— Umahi Nwoye sets up Foundation to fight unemployment, poverty By Vincent Ujumadu A WKA—MEMBER, House of Representatives and governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2017 election in Anambra State, Dr. Tony Nwoye, has set up a foundation to assist youths, women and the aged. Addressing youths from all the 326 political wards in the 21 local government areas of Anambra State at his Nsugbe, Anambra East Local Government Area country home, Nwoye said he decided to place emphasis on youth empowerment because they (youths) have been assisting him immensely in his political career. According to him, the Foundation would primarily focus on employment for the youths from all parts of the state, assist people in meeting their health care needs, offer scholarship to youths and children of youths, as well as embark on annual empowerment, including giving cash and equipment to enable the lessprivileged people to fend for themselves. He said it was unfortunate that youths were remembered only during elections, after which they were usually forgotten, regretting that not up to five percent of the youths were gainfully employed, “yet they say youths are future leaders.” He observed that President Buhari, Olusegun Obasanjo and others led Nigeria when they were youths, asking “when will today’s youths take charge? Is it under this situation that our youths can build houses, buy cars and start raising families?” Nwoye said although the foundation was mainly to assist people, it would have political undertone since, according to him, he would still contest election in future. through all facets of the Nigerian economy. “Nigeria’s oil resources should be used as a down payment to build a robust diversified export basket of other products —to create jobs, earn foreign exchange and attract investments.” Umahi, who noted that the oil economy breeds low standard of living and widens the gap between the poor and rich; economic imbalance as well as encourages unemployment, said that Nigeria must “use oil to move beyond oil; our large population of 180 million people means we do not have enough oil to meet the needs of all our citizens. “A lower nation with a lower population than Nigeria has oil reserves of 9,900 barrels per person (for each citizen); Saudi Arabia has 9,241 barrels per person; while Nigeria has only 214 barrels per person.” SMILE rewards customers with news devices THE 4G LTE pioneer service provider in West Africa, Smile Nigeria, has launched a campaign designed to give brand new SMIFI and router devices to its loyal customers, who have spent a minimum of 12 months on the Smile network. A statement by Smile Nigeria’s Head of Brands and Communication, Lotanna Anajemba, explained that to be qualified, customers who have spent the required minimum duration of 12 months must have good data usage history and they must bring their old SMiFi or router device in exchange for the new device. Anajemba further explained that eligible customers can only benefit from this offer once a year and would have to update their Know Your Customer, KYC, record with SMILE to enable them get notification for the offer. The lucky customers, Anajemba added, will be contacted via SMS and e- mail and requested to visit their nearest SMILE shop or kiosk nationwide to claim their new device. According to Anajemba, “a vital aspect of this loyalty programme is that it offers the customer a router or SMiFi device at no extra cost. “However, customers will have to trade in their old device for the new one. The campaign primarily rewards unflinching loyalty. The offer is available in all the major Nigerian cities in which SMILE operates. “We recognise that the internet is becoming more and more important for nearly everybody in their everyday lives, and as such it is our goal to enable as many people as possible to enjoy the best customer experience on the SMILE network.”
Page 1 and 2: 40 Poverty and the Nigerian attitud
Page 3 and 4: Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 201
Page 5 and 6: vanguardnews @vanguardnews Vanguard
Page 13: VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 201
Page 19 and 20: Why disbursement of N5bn mining fun
Page 27 and 28: Vanguard, Wednesday, OCTOBER 9, 201
Page 37 and 38: NESG REPORTS Vanguard WEDNESDAY, OC
Page 39 and 40: Italy shrinks parliament to save co
Page 41 and 42: vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguar

09102019 - 2020: Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation budget to NASS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?