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SUNDAY JULY 26, 2015, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
News
Benue varsity students deposit corpse at VC’s office
Cephas Iorhemen MAKURDI
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edical students of the Benue State University on Friday, deposited a casket containing the corpse of their mate, Nicholas Itodo Inalegwu, in front of the office of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Charity Angya, in protest against his demise. The students numbering more than 100, made bonfire and obstructed vehicular traffic along the busy Makurdi-Gboko Expressway. They had an inscription on the coffin, alleging that the student committed suicide following his expulsion from the university after spending over 10 years. One of Inalegwu’s mates, who pleaded to be anony-
mous, told Sunday Telegraph that his colleague, whom he described as an outstanding student, had questioned the rationale behind his expulsion by the school management during his clinical, noting that the trauma of the expulsion forced him commit suicide. “How can they expel a student at the stage of clinical? This is why we have quack doctors. A student who has spent over 13 years and just at the verge of completion of studies with clinical was expelled by the school. This is the cause of his death,” he said. Another female student who also bared her mind to our correspondent said, “He had been talking about it, that he wish he died a painless death,
that the school had finished him, that there was no where in the world a medical student was suspended after spending over 10 years”. When Sunday Telegraph visited the scene of the incidence, dozens of anti- riot policemen loaded in more than 10 trucks were deployed to the scene to dispel the protesting students. Dean of Student Affairs of the institution, Dr. Gowon Doki, debunked the claims by the students, and explained that the late student met his untimely death in a road mishap yesterday along the new George Akume Road in Makurdi. Dr. Doki added that the deceased had been withdrawn from the university having failed his clinical examination. He said: “So
his mates felt that it was improper to withdraw a student at that stage. They claimed that could be the cause of his death and so, decided to embark on this protest with a coffin.” He said normalcy had been restored to the institution after the Vice Chancellor addressed the students. The university had been shut down close to five months now following the failure of the state government to pay salaries of lecturers. Governor Samuel Ortom held several meetings with Academic Staff Union of the institution to resolve the face-off but all to no avail as they insisted that all their outstanding salaries must be paid before they would suspend the strike.
Be magnanimous in victory, Rep tells Dogara Temitope Ogunbanke
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member of the House of Representatives, representing Lagos Mainland Federal Constituency, Hon. Olajide Jimoh, has advised the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, to be magnanimous in victory. He said the general interest of the public should be paramount to the members of the lower chamber of the National Assembly and therefore cautioned the speaker and his group, ‘Consolidation Group’ against being overzealous in the affairs of House. Addressing a press conference in Lagos, Jimoh, a member of the Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila-led APC Loyalists Group, said there is nothing like zoning or House caucus in the House of Representatives’ rules, therefore Dogara should obey the decision of the leadership of All Progressives Congress on who becomes the Majority Leader,
Deputy Majority Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip of the Green Chamber. He said, “Nigerians are witnessing what I call display of legislative parochial interest as a result of selfishness on the part of winners, who are not magnanimous in victory. The Speaker should be magnanimous in victory and allow the House to be run in accordance with the Nigerian constitution and the rules of the House of Representatives. “The other positions in the House are principal positions which are party positions. Order 7, Rule 27 is very explicit. In our rules, there is nothing like zoning or House caucus. Without being a party member, you cannot be elected not to talk of being a member of the House of Representatives. The general interest should be paramount to the members of the House of Representatives for posterity to judge us.”
Don’t heat up the polity, Abia govt warns group
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bia State Government has cautioned a group, Save Abia Initiative for Change, to refrain from acts capable of causing tension in the state. Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Godwin Adindu, in a statement, said having submitted petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), against the out-gone government of the state, the group should wait for the findings of the regulatory body and stop
President Barack Obama and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony O. Elumelu, during Elumelu’s visit ahead of the President’s keynote at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Nairobi, Kenya…yesterday
Ambassadors urge unity against terrorism, insurgency
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group under the aegis of African Ambassadors Forum has called on Africans to unite in the fight against terrorism and insurgency. The Dean of the group, Mr. Oubi Bachir, who is the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic ambassador to Nigeria, made the call at the weekend in Abuja on the occasion of Africa and Mandela Day. According to him, terrorism and insurgency have become monumental threats to the growth of the continent. He expressed the group’s commitment to pooling resources to support the international community in its quest to combat terrorism in Africa. Also speaking, Mr. Abdou Abarry, Head, AU Liaison
office to ECOWAS, said that African countries had made lots of progress in democratic governance given the high number of democratically elected governments in the continent. “We have to consider this day as a call to action, to free our continent from poverty, insecurity, terrorism and extremism in order to achieve the AU goals. “Like Nelson Mandela who fought for 67 years, we Africans have to continue the fight individually and collectively to honour his memory,’’ he said. Also speaking, Amb. Bulus Lolo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said peace and security remained Africa’s major challenge. Lolo, who was represented by Director, African Bilateral
Affairs in the ministry, Amb. Ozo Nwobu, said the situation had been exacerbated by the purveyors of hatred and extremism. “I commend and endorse the AU initiative, `Silence the guns in Africa by 2020’, among other numerous other initiatives. “They are structured to institute political dialogue and tolerance in Africa’s governing processes as a necessary step towards the long journey to our political and economic freedom,’’ Lolo said. He said to achieve the aforementioned objective, Africa should commit to the ethos of democratic governance and the strengthening of democratic institutions. He said that Africa’s dream for a sustainable economic renaissance should
transcend being tagged the fastest growing economy and include a substantial capacity for self-reliance. The day commemorates Nelson Mandela’s values and his dedication to serve, not only his country or African continent, but humanity. In a related development, a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress in Sokoto State, Dr. Jabbi Kilgore, on Saturday advocated for dialogue a solution to ending insurgency in the country. Kilgore said that the Federal Government should parley with the Boko Haram insurgents ``in order to end the senseless killings of innocent Nigerians.’’ He observed that the activities of the insurgents posed a threat to the nation’s hard earned unity.
heating the Abia polity through unnecessary media campaign. The CPS said the current government, on assumption of office, received a handover note from the immediate past government which documents the assets and liabilities of government and obligations being owed third parties by government. He noted that the current government is presently studying these papers and has not come up with a clear position.
Group seeks active engagement of women in Politics Wale Elegbede
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n a bid to improve the participation of women in politics, a group, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), has called on political parties to tackle the cultural, attitudinal and religious obstacles to women’s equitable participation in politics. Speaking at a one-day thematic dialogue on Mobilising Women for Active Engagement in Political Parties held in Lagos, the Executive Director of the Centre, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, noted that the dialogue was meant to advocate a rebalance between men and women in politics. According to AkiyodeAfolabi, Nigerian women make up over half of the Nigerian population and even with their great potentials
continue to be faced with lots of obstacles preventing them from participating in decision making and political participation. “This project intends to build the capacity of not less than 40 young women between the ages of 18 and 25 who will possess the knowledge, skills and ability to mobilise human and material resources required to compete successfully with their male counterparts in electoral contests for party positions.” The dialogue, which identified issues like sexual harassment, discrimination on the basis of indigeneship, cultural and religion ideology, as well as political violence as some of the factors mitigating against women’s participation in politics, instituted a joint action plan team to address the issues ahead of the 2019 elections.