16—Vanguard, WEDNEESDAY, JUNE 12, 2013
NADECO’S 19TH ANNIVERSARY OF MKO ABIOLA’S EPETEDO DECLARATION IN LAGOS, YESTERDAY
From left: Chief Ayo Opadokun, General Secretary, National Democratic Coalition, NADECO; Rear Admiral Ndubisi Kanu, Chairman, NADECO and Mr. Kayode Opeifa, Lagos State Commissioner for Transportion and others, at NADECO’s 19th anniversary to mark late Chief MKO Abiola’s 1994 Epetedo Declaration as the President-elect, at Epetedo Multipupose Hall in Lagos. Photos: Shola Oyelese.
From left: Mrs. Titilayo Alade; Mr. Egwuatu Ogene and Col. Tony Nyiam (rtd).
Chief Fred Agbeyegbe, Colloquium lecturer and Mrs. Dupe Onitiri Abiola, wife of late Chief MKO Abiola.
Baba Omojola (right) and Dr. Keziah Awosika.
Dr. Kolawole Lucas (left) and Chief Tokunbo Ajasin.
ALLEGED SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF PREGNANT WOMAN:
Husband wants Prof’s appointment terminated D
BY TINAAKANNAM
UTSE—THE husband of the pregnant woman, Mrs, Bushira Isyaku, who was allegedly sexually harassed by Professor Festus David Kolo of Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, Malam Muhammad Isyaku, has asked the university to terminate the appointment of the don. A Chief Magistrate Court in Kiyawa Local Government Area of Jigawa State sentenced Professor Kolo of the Faculty of Education at Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria to two months imprisonment last week for knowingly enticing a married woman who was a student in his department contrary to Section 389 of the penal code law. Principal State Counsel, Mustapha Adamu, who read the First Information Report, said that on May 21, one Muhammad Ghali of Takur Quarters Dutse “reported you, Prof. Festus David Kolo of ABU, knowing fully well that Mrs Bushra Ghali Muhammed is his wife, and you have been making advances towards her, inciting her, calling her often, sending her love SMS messages C M Y K
using your phone...” Adamu further said: “You, Prof. Kolo, was caught red handed by the police at Dan Musa Guest House, Room 109 with Ghali’s wife after he reported the case to
the police and after several warnings and pleas by the husband.’’ Malam Isyaku who spoke in an interview with Vanguard
yesterday said that the two-month imprisonment for the 66- year professor was too mild. He argued that since the court had found him guilty of commit-
ting the offence and sentenced him, he should face dismissal from the university because of the integrity of the institution.
How to make LGs functional, by Aregbesola, Sagay, Among those who proffered Nigeria Bar Association, Ikeja They spoke at the second ediothers solutions to the decay in the branch). tion of the National Public Dis-
L
BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE
AGOS—ONE thought dominated the comments of discussants on how to make local councils in Nigeria effective at a forum in Lagos yesterday: There is so much rot in the councils and decisive actions are needed to make them deliver democracy dividends. However, the discussants were divided on how to ensure effective governance at the grassroots. While some asked the National Assembly to remove the Local Councils as a tier of government and tie them to the states in line with the dictates of classical federalism, others said the councils should be allowed to operate as currently enshrined in the 1999 constitution.
councils were Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; legal icon, Professor Itse Sagay, SAN; Professor Francis Oluyemi Fagbohun; and Mr. Onyekachi Ubani (Chairman,
This came as Aregbesola attributed his inability to conduct council polls in Osun State to pending litigations, assuring that once the legal fisticuffs were resolved he would hold the polls.
course organised by CMC Connect in association with O’Ken Ventures, at MUSON Centre, Lagos. It was themed: “Local Government Authority: How Autonomous?”
Boko Haram insurgency displaces over 6,000 forces are continuing from time people —UN agency to time, and that planes are reg-
T
HE UN High Commis sioner for Refugees, UNHCR, yesterday, said that antiinsurgency operations and general insecurity had uprooted over 6,000 people in north-eastern Nigeria. This is contained in a report presented in New York by the UNHCR spokesperson, Mr. Adrian Edwards. According to the agency’s re-
port, more than 6,000 of those affected have fled to neighbouring Niger republic for safety. “Those that have spoken to UNCHR say they fled for fear of being caught in the government-led crackdown on insurgents linked to the Boko Haram sect, particularly in the Baga area of northern Nigeria, close to the Niger border,” Edwards said in the report. He stated that “refugees reported that air strikes by government
ularly flying over the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa where the state of emergency has been in force since May 14. “People arriving in Niger also mentioned the increasing presence of roving armed bandits in several states in Nigeria. The people also spoke of rising commodity prices coupled with pre-existing food insecurity which is also becoming a major concern for the populations of the affected states.”