Stop posting NYSC members to schools; they cause mass failure – Teachers Council

The Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, have attributed partially the cause of the mass failure witnessed in various examinations for primary and secondary school students to youth corps members who are posted to teach without relevant qualifications.
The Director of Operations of the Council, Steve Nwokocha, made the declaration at the maiden induction/graduation of 118 Professional Diploma in Education graduates held at the Federal College of Education, Osiele, Abeokuta on Tuesday.
He advised authorities of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to stop deploying corp members who lack basic teaching knowledge to schools, emphasizing that this act contributed to the mass failure being witnessed in the country in recent years.
“The issue of having mass failure is a process. Part of the people contributing to the process are these corpers. It is an abuse to our profession.
“Government should stop posting youth corpers to teach in schools. We at the council are against posting of NYSC without teaching background to schools,” he said.
Nwokocha condemned the hundreds of thousands youth corpers deployed to schools to teach, emphasizing that only graduates of education should be posted to schools to teach students.
DailyPost

Presidency in 2015: Northern youths oppose elders

The race to the next general elections is getting fierce with every passing hour with intrigues, betrayal, acrimony, horse-trading and underground politicking – just to mention a few – being the order of the day.
What may be regarded as a house divide against itself, is the open rejection of the decision by Arewa Leaders, that whoever will occupy the nation’s number one seat in 2015 must come from the zone
The opposition to the group’s stand however, is coming from the Arewa Youths Forum (AYF), which many had thought would obey the consensus recently reached by the elders.
Last week, the leaders had met in Kaduna with a view to closing ranks as the next elections is barely three years away. The gathering it was learnt, was organized to resolve all grievances and ensure that there was unity in the zone.
But the AYF in a statement on Monday dissociated itself from the leaders’ position, saying the region with persistent violence and insecurity, has no moral claim to the presidency.
The organization accused Northern leaders of ignoring the huge task of governance, chasing only the political ambition of a few.
President of AYF, Mallam Ibrahim Gambo Gujungu, said: “while our leaders talk more, they are doing nothing tangible to curb the ugly monsters threatening the peaceful and once accommodating region”
He called on the Governors of the region to embark on meaningful projects, as rapid infrastructural development would bring about the change the people desire.
DailyPost

Sucker Punch: Ten Provocative Demands from Dr. Okonjo-Iweala to President Jonathan

By Churchill Okonkwo

A rare good news for Nigerians: two prominent Nigerians made the list of the “100 Top Global Thinkers of 2012” according to Foreign Policy magazine.
They are Prof. Chinua Achebe, for “forcing Africa to confront its demons” and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for “showing Africa how to break the resource curse.” While the inclusion of Chinua Achebe is welcome without hesitation, the inclusion of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala vis-a-vis the record monumental corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas sector may raise some eyebrows.
While I agree with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala on the concept of oil subsidy removal, I disagree with her on the roadmap. While Dr. Okonjo-Iweala believes that our resource curse will be reversed by simply removing subsidy, I believe that corruption and corrupt practices in Nigerian oil industry remains the main problem and as such, should be the starting point.
Of what use is oil subsidy removal for a government that cannot account to its crude oil production(with a fifth of our crude oil stolen), running an inefficient and oversized NNPC with dilapidated refineries? Of what use is oil subsidy removal in a country that spends over 70% of its budget on recurrent-expenditure, servicing bogus and extravagant lifestyle of the executive and legislative arms of government? Has Dr. Okonjo-Iweala learnt anything from the present subsidy scam with President Jonathan's unwillingness to prosecute the likes of Otedola and co that financed his campaign?
I sincerely hope by now that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has realized that she is being used by the GEJ administration as a camouflage while confusion and corruption reigns. To truly succeed in helping Nigeria overcome the oil curse and corruption, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala must force President Goodluck Jonathan to confront the demons in his (himself) administration. To help her, I came up with ten provocative demands she should confront Jonathan with.
1.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that he is not just incompetent but that he is impotent in fighting corruption in Nigeria. She should thus advise him to honorably resign. We know President Jonathan will not resign so, she has to demand a pragmatic approach to tackling corruption with this second demand;
2.    Paraphrasing Benjamin Netanyahu, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that the fight against corruption in Nigeria should not be fought with Diezani Alison-Madueke on his laps but with a rocket-propelled grenade between his teeth.  She should tell President Jonathan to stop his eyes from beholding and his concupiscence from coveting his concupiscible and corrupt mistress at NNPC.
3.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke must be removed as the Petroleum Minister as a condition for her continued involvement with the establishment of the sovereign wealth fund to manage our oil riches
4.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should then admit to Dr. Jonathan that she was wrong with her approach to tackling the endemic corruption in the oil sector through subsidy removal. She should then tell him that all our refineries must be sold out rightly, the management and board of NNPC sacked and restructured as a pre-condition to future subsidy removal
5.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that EFCC as currently constituted and empowered is not effective because of the obstructive interference from him, through his Attorney General Adoke. She should therefore go ahead and ask him to sack Adoke and appoint someone that will not only assist EFCC in fighting corruption in Nigeria but one that will ensure that corrupt judges are not rewarded by appointment to Supreme Court and federal high courts.
6.    In the words of Chinua Achebe, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that he has surrounded himself with corrupt “Politicians with plenty of money and very low IQ.”She should remind Mr. President that money without brains is dangerous. She should ask him what he is doing with second-rate friends including Dr. Doyin Okupe and Tony Anenih. She should remind him that since the start of the oil boom in the 70s, we’ve had all the money, but unfortunately not the brains to take the country in the right direction.
7.    With her mouth closed, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should shout to Dr. Jonathan's hearing that the few smart people he appointed to work with him are intellectually lazy (including herself and Dr. Abati). With her gaze firmly resting on Mr. President’s nostrils, she should tell him that there is little excuse for obviously well paid and well educated professionals to be deceiving themselves and those around them that Nigeria is being moved in the right direction by this administration.
8.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that he is a diet of underdone roasted yam and owner of the trumpet of misery and deceit
9.    Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should bluntly tell Dr. Jonathan that he is an epitome of a school master that cannot read nor write. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should tell Mr. President that she sometimes wondered how he managed to engage his students in critical problem solving in designing research as a professor. She should then pick a piece of paper, write this down and hand it to Mr. President:  “I’m afraid Mr. President, but you are a model of foolish consistency.”
10.    Finally, Okonjo-Iweala should advise Dr. Jonathan not to run for office in 2015 if he has ever cared for Nigeria in his adult life. She should quietly tell him that he is dumb and does not possess the leadership qualities needed to take Nigeria to where we should be heading to. She can simply convince him by reminding him that his administration has been not just one of poor moral level of leadership and competence, but also one with blurred vision.  Vision blurred by corruption, intellectual dullness and moral depravity. 
Then Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should turn in her resignation, tell Jonathan to call her when demands 2 – 10 are met, quietly go home and think. Between oil subsidy removal and addressing the oil theft and government-assisted corruption in the oil sector, she should take time and think about what should come first. Critical thinking, that’s what “Global Thinkers” do.
Saharareporters.com

Tambuwal Signs Warrant Of Arrest For Sanusi, Yakubu, 14 Others

Speaker Aminu Tambuwal

Following the adoption of a motion moved by chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin (PDP, Kano), on matters of urgent public importance, informing the House of failure of revenue collecting agencies to honour their several invitations and provide details of their Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) as part of the 2013 budget revenue frame work, the speaker of the Huse of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, yesterday, signed a warrant of arrest on heads of the affected agencies.
Tambuwal then directed Jibrin to write to him and list the erring agencies.
A copy of the arrest warrant signed by the Speaker indicated that CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, NNPC Group Managing Director Engr. Andrew Yakubu are among those listed.
To face arrest also include heads of AMCON, FCT, FAAN, Pension Commission of Nigeria, NIMASA, NPA, among others.
Meanwhile, the force police spokesman has said it has not received any warrant from the National Assembly for the arrest of anybody.
It would be recalled that heads of the government agencies in charge of revenue collection had been invited to appear before the House Committee on Finance over the non-remittance of N1.3 trillion revenue to government coffers with most of them failing to appear at the meeting.
InformationNigeria.org

Jigawa Governor's Son Arrested For Money Laundering At Kano Airport

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa state

By SaharaReporters, New York

One of the sons of the Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, was arrested around 12 midnight at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport as he prepared to board an Egypt Air flight to Cairo.

 Aminu Lamido was flagged after he declared $10,000 in his possession to agents of of the Nigerian customs at the airport. However further checks  by agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)  at the airport revealed that he  was carrying a lot of money far higher than was disclosed.

 Custom officials at the airport told SaharaReporters that Mr. Aminu travels frequently with huge wads of cash ostensibly to launder money on behalf of his father and some officials of the state.

EFCC  spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren  confirmed the arrest to SaharaReporters,  saying that EFCC office in Kano will charge the governor's son to court as soon as practicable.

Okonjo-Iweala: Kidnappers more humane than Federal Government *Reduces ransom from N1b to N200m

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Kidnappers of the mother of the Coordinating Minister of the Economy for the Federation and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Mrs Nngozi Okonjo-Iweala have reduced their ransom money from the reported N1billion (US dollars) to N200million.
Interestingly, the people of Nigeria never got such a bargain from the government when it increased fuel from N67 to N141 in January and only later reduced same to N97.
For reducing the required ransom from N1billion to N200 million, the kidnappers seem to suggest that they are more humane than the federal government.
The Nijalundit earlier reported that “the kidnappers of the mother of the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, have reduced the ransom for the release of the victims mother from 1 billion Naira to 200 million Naira as negotiations have commenced between the Okonjo royal family of Ogwashi-uku and the kidnappers of Professor Kanenne Okonjo.
The negotiations are ongoing between the oldest son of the kidnapped royal, Onyema Okonjo, who has relocated to Ogwashi-Uku due to the kidnap of his mother, the queen of Ogwashi-uku.
Information reaching NaijaPundit reveals that Onyeame had spoken with his mother on Monday and the family may be putting resources together to come up with the money demanded.
Meanwhile 2 police men have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping. Their identities have not been released but it is suspected that they are the policemen attached to the palace where the victim resided.
Also, the Senate President, David Mark, has made a passionate personal appeal to the kidnappers to release the aged royal. In his appeal, David Mark urged the kidnappers to consider the biblical injunction that  “we should honour our parents and, by extension, those who are old enough to be our parents.”
LiberyReport

Men no longer need protection? There’s a new female condom that dissolves inside the body

A female condom which can protect against pregnancy and sexual diseases by dissolving inside the body has been developed.
Experts claim the ‘discreet protection’ can safeguard people from HIV and unwanted pregnancy by ‘melting’ and releasing chemicals.
Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) developed the condom from tiny microfibres through a method called ‘electrospinning’.

The cloth-like fibres can be woven from medicine into extremely thin ‘webs’
They are then designed to dissolve after use, either within minutes or over several days.
Not only would the condom block sperm, it could time-release a potent mix of anti-HIV drugs and hormonal contraceptives.
The team was given $1m to develop the technology, which uses an electric field to charge fluid through air to create the very fine, nanometer-sized fibres.
The team say it could replace existing contraception such as the pill

Kim Woodrow, a UW assistant professor of bioengineering, said: ‘Our dream is to create a product women can use to protect themselves from HIV infection and unintended pregnancy.
‘We have the drugs to do that. It’s really about delivering them in a way that makes them more potent, and allows a woman to want to use it.’
Prof Woodrow presented the idea, and co-authors Emily Krogstad and Cameron Ball, both first-year graduate students, agreed to pursue the project, at a meeting held last year.
Ball added: ‘This method allows controlled release of multiple compounds.
‘We were able to tune the fibers to have different release properties.’
One of the fabrics dissolves within minutes, offering users immediate protection, while another fabric dissolves gradually over a few days, providing an alternative to the birth-control pill, to provide contraception and protect against HIV.
While the researchers agree the technology is more discrete, they admit it people mayhave some doubts.
‘At the time of sex, are people going to actually use it? That’s where having multiple options really comes into play,’ Krogstad told the University of Washington.
YNaija.com