Vanguard , THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2013—43
Retrenched ABS workers petition Anambra House
Lagos CJ to release some awaiting trial inmates BY ONOZURE DANIA
BY OKONKWO EZE
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NITSHA—DISEN GAGED 148 staff of Anambra Broadcasting Service, ABS, Radio/Television, Awka and Onitsha, have petitioned Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, Mrs. Chinwe Nwaebili, asking her to look into their predicaments. In the five-page petition jointly signed by 18 of the workers, the y complained that their disengagement memo of March 1, this year which was captioned: “Rationalization/ Redeployment of 148 ABS staff”, had directed them to report to the office of the state Head of Service for redeployment to other relevant ministries. The petitioners stated that when they assembled at ABS headquarters, Awka, on March 4, hoping to be issued with their letters of redeployment as stipulated in the public rule, they were again asked to go to the Head of Service who referred them back to ABS. They quoted the head of service as saying there was no such arrangement by the state government to the best of his knowledge.
Lagos Prisons command gets new comptroller
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DISTRIBUTION—Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State flanked by his wife, Mrs. Mercy Orji and his deputy, Sir Emeka Ananaba flagging-off the distribution of vitamin A cassava stems to farmers in Abia State in Umuahia.
2015: Gov Orji denies endorsing any candidate BY ANAYO OKOLI
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MUAHIA—AHEAD of 2015 governorship race in Abia State, Governor Theodore Orji has denied endorsing anybody to succeed him, insisting that the race was opened to qualified and interested aspirants. Orji spoke when the member representing Aba North and South in the House of Representatives, Chief Uzo Azubuike, whose name has featured prominently as likely successor to him, was honoured by the traditional rulers in Aba. Governor Orji said he had to make the clarification before peo-
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him, because he has done well. “When it comes to 2015, I have said it severally, it is not what Ochendo will do alone. It is going to be the people; the stakeholders would sit and decide on the person to take over from me. “All of us will cooperate and support the person and if it is Uzor’s turn, we will equally support him. Therefore I want it to be on record. “The essence of our gathering is to join our traditional rulers of Aba North and South to celebrate one of our own, Uzor Azubuike. That is why we are here. Uzor is one of those people in the State that are making things to turn around for good in the State.
PDP 'll win Imo in 2015 — Iheanacho
Land dispute: Abia Assembly sues for peace BY ANAYO OKOLI
HE Nigerians Prisons Service has deployed Mrs. Kate Nonye as the new comptroller for Lagos State Command, Alagbon. The deployment of Mrs Nonye from Abia State Command was one of recent deployment of 197 senior officers of the Nigerian Prisons Service, NPS, across the country by the Comptroller General of Prisons, Mr Zakari Ibrahim. The deployment as explained by the CGP, was part of the ongoing transformation effort, following recent promotion and retirement in the NPS, as well as measures taken to tackle the security challenges facing NPS facilities and commands. CP Nonye promised to enhance service delivery which would take the command to a higher level of progress.
ple would begin to misinterpret his presence at the reception to honour Azubuike. His words: “Let me say this for purposes of records, Aba is the centre of rumour. If you go to one beer parlour now and spread one rumour, by the time you get to your house, it is everywhere in Aba. “What we have come to do is to join Aba people to celebrate Uzor Azubuike. We have not come to endorse anybody for 2015. “I want you to know that, because when we leave now, the rumour will be that the Governor has come to endorse somebody. What we have come to do was to come and celebrate
HE Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, has said some awaiting trial inmates would be released from prison before the end of next month. Justice Phillips said this during a visit to the Nigerian Prisons, Ikoyi, by members of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikeja branch, which is part of activities marking the 2013 Law Week. The judge, who was represented by Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Ogundare, noted that the chief justice was already working on the list of those recommended for release from among the prison inmates. She stated that some of them had stayed in the prison as awaiting trial inmates longer than they would have stayed if they had been tried and convicted. "I can assure that before the end of this quarter in June, I will visit you and release those that are qualified to be released,” she assured them".
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MUAHIA—ABIA State House of Assembly has directed the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, and one of its host communities, Amaoba Ime, to steer clear of the disputed land between them, pending the resolution of the matter Amaoba had petitioned the House, complaining that the university authorities had encroached on its land and threatened to resist it, irrespective of whether it would breach peace in the area. In the petition, the community claimed that the university illegally appropriated extra eight hectares of its land. “Our community willingly donated to the university 171.14 hectares of land, not 179 hectares it claims now. “However, the university’s master plan will require 179 hectares of contiguous real estate. The extra eight hectares were not
in the original agreement. “We are surprised that the university is currently erecting some structures on our land without the consent of Amaoba Ime,” the petition alleged.
Based on the petition, the House, through its Committee on Boundary and Security Matters, headed by the deputy speaker, Alwell Okere, invited the two parties.
Parents advised to focus on vocational studies
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ARENTS have been ad vised to send their wards to vocational schools rather than harp on academic pursuit. This advice was given by an educationist, Chief Christian Ipoola Olaniyan, during the 23rd graduation/ matriculation of students of Victory Institute of Catering and Hotel Management in Lagos. Olaniyan, who was the Managing Proprietor and Director of Studies of the school said: “It is high time to focus more on vocational
courses because many graduates are roaming the streets searching for collar jobs. "He cited the recent statement credited to the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqqayat Rufai that out of 1.7 million students who wrote JAMB this year, only 520,000 will gain admission into universities' while 1.2 million candidates will have to wait. He said if this trend was not checked, the future of Nigereian students was bleak and portended danger for education advancement of the country.
BY CHIDI NKWOPARA
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WERRI—FORMER Minister of Interior, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, has said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would bounce back and reclaim Imo State as the citizenry did not vote against the party but an individual. Iheanacho, who stated this at a briefing, also declared his intention to run for the gubernatorial election in 2015 on the PDP platform. Describing the 2011 general elections in Imo State as “a watershed”, Iheanacho predicted that in 2015 general elections, primodial sentiments would be set aside. He pleaded with fellow politicians to refine their politicking and base it on issues and ideas.