The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Bala Mohammed as the governor of Bauchi State. Recall that Monday morning, a seven-man panel of Justices of the apex court led by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, postponed the delivery of judgment till 3 pm.
According to Mr Ngwuta, the decision would avail them more time to consider the merit of appeals lodged against Governor Bala Mohammed. Delivering the lead judgement, Justice Mohammed Dattijo held that the appellant failed to demonstrate the “perversity” in the concurrent findings of the Bauchi state Governorship Election Tribunal and the Court of Appeal in Jos. Also, other members of the seven-man panel of justices concurred with the lead judgement.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Aisha Alkali Wakil, alias Mama Boko Haram, and two other persons before a Maiduguri High Court on a 5-count charge of conspiracy and cheating. Mama Boko Haram is the Chief Executive Officer of an NGO, Complete Care and Aid Foundation. The two other persons arraigned along with her are: Tahiru Alhaji Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyade, the Programme Manager and Country Director respectively of the NGO. Delivering the five charges before the court, presided over by Justice Aisha Kumalia in Maiduguri today (Monday) the prosecutor, Benjamin Manji, said the three persons and one Saidu Mukhtar (at large) sometime between June and August 2018 at Maiduguri, Borno State conspired to do an illegal act of obtaining under false pretence which amounts to an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Fraud Related offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act. The three persons and Saidu Mukhtar (at large) were also charged with obtaining, “with intent to defraud”, the sum of N45 million from one Mohammed Umar Mohammed of Nyeuro International Limited under “the false pretence” of executing a contract, which is an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (b) of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act and punishable under the Act. They were also charged with obtaining, “with the intent to defraud”, N1.65 million from the same Mohammed Umar Mohammed of Nyeuro International Limited under “the false pretence” of executing a contract, which is an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (b) of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act and punishable under the Act. The fourth and fifth charges were that the three persons and Saidu Mukhtar (at large) did an “illegal act” of cheating, contrary to Section 96(a) and punishable under Section 97 of the Borno State Penal Code Laws Cap 102; as well as induced, “with the intent to defraud”, Umar Mohammed of Nyeuro International Limited to deliver 3000 bags of 50kg white beans worth N65 million under a “false” contract, contrary to Section 320(a) and punishable under Section 322 of the Borneo State Penal Code Laws Cap 102. The three accused pleaded not guilty of all the charges. With the pleas and agreement of Abdulkahi Musa Audu and Habu Waziri, Counsels to the 1st accused (Mama Boko Haram) and the 2nd accused (Tahiru Daura) respectively, the court adjourned to 10th, 11th and 12th February, 2020 for trial.
Words of the late American poet and educator, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, that “lives of great men all remind us that we can make our lives sublime and departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time,” define his philosophy about life. Indeed, Dr. Fassy Adetokunboh Yusuf had his eyes set on causes that would make him relevant to the society from the moment he could take decisions on issues that concern him. Today, he is a multi-dimensional scholar of international repute with over 50 publications including books, chapter publications, articles, projects and research engagements. He has also attended conferences, workshops, seminars and other intellectual and capacity building programmes in over 40 countries in the six continents of the world.
With a Diploma in Journalism in 1974 from the School of Journalism and TV, England, Yusuf proceeded to bag a Certificate in Public Relations from the Chartered Institute of Public relations (1975); Diploma in Advertising and Marketing from the Communication, Advertising and Marketing Education Foundation, London (1981); Communication, Diploma in Marketing from the British Chartered Institute of Marketing (1983); and Advertising and Marketing Diploma with Honours from the Communication, Advertising and Marketing Education Foundation, London (1984).
He bagged his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1984 from Brunel University/Henley Business School, United Kingdom and his Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Mass Communication in 1997 from the University of Lagos. Still hungry for knowledge, Yusuf enrolled to study Law at the Ogun State University, Ago-Iwoye and graduated in 2000 with Second Class Honours. In 2009, he enrolled for his Ph.D studies in Communications (Media Policy and Deregulation) and was awarded the degree in 2014. Last year, he became a Chartered Secretary and Administrator from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria.
With these qualifications, Yusuf says he is still willing to acquire more knowledge. According to him, his multi-disciplinary status as a scholar was not dictated by circumstance but the outcome of determination backed with hard work. “It’s not by circumstance but by dint of hard work, perseverance and a vision that saw beyond the ordinary. I wanted a situation where no matter what happens, I will be relevant to the society.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, under the leadership of Godwin Emefiele, has recorded a number of policies, which have a direct bearing on the viability or otherwise of the nation’s economy. One of such policies is the cashless policy.
According to the CBN, Nigeria must join the rest of the world in the practice of a cashless economy. In other words, cash transactions must reduce, if not completely done away with, while electronic transactions must be adopted by all. Where cash transactions are inevitable, the cash in circulation must be controlled by the apex bank. In support of this cashless policy, the CBN imposed some charges on cash deposits and withdrawals as well as on transactions done on automated teller machines.
However, the CBN began to contradict itself when it was reported in some national dailies that, in a bid to generate revenue for the Buhari regime, Nigerians must begin to pay the sum of N50 as stamp duty for every transaction done through the point of sales machines. This new directive has since been in effect. If, for example, an individual makes as many as 20 purchases via POS machines in a day, such an individual would be charged N50 on each of the purchases, thereby parting with as much as N1000 of his/her hard-earned money. What offence has this individual committed other than attempting to ‘go cashless’ as the CBN has been preaching to us?
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Tuesday asked the Department of State Services to release the immediate-past National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki; and the convener of #RevolutionNow protests, Omoyele Sowore, from custody.
The directive by the AGF came barely eight days after he said he had no power to issue such directive to the DSS to release Sowore from custody without recourse to court.
The AGF was, in the statement by his spokesperson, Dr. Umar Gwandu, on December 16, reacting to the letter by Sowore’s lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), sent to the AGF’s office to demand the activist’s release.
Falana’s letter, dated December 13, had followed the announcement by the AGF’s office that it had taken over the prosecution of the Sahara Reporters publisher and his fellow detainee Olawale Bakare from the DSS.
The AGF’s takeover of the case was informed by the widely condemned invasion of the Federal High Court in Abuja by the operatives of the DSS to rearrest Sowore on December 6.
Falana, who heads the defence team of Sowore and his co-defendant, Bakare, informed Malami that Sowore had, since his rearrest on December 6, been kept in DSS custody without the backing of any detention order of court or arrest warrant.
Father to some, husbands to some, children to someone and also lovers to someone. Today is another wonderful day and a remarkable day in history of Nigerian. With all gratitude to God we join hands to celebrate with the failing heroes and also the one standing for there sacrifices and effort towards the citizens Having a sleepless night, discomforting there self just for the nation. God bless the Armed Forces and protect the life and life’s.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday that Israel would strike a “resounding blow” if attacked by arch foe Iran (AP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday that Israel would strike a “resounding blow” if attacked by arch foe Iran, as regional tensions soar after the US killing of a top Iranian general.
“Anyone who attacks us will receive a resounding blow,” the premier told a Jerusalem conference after Iran launched a salvo of retaliatory missile strikes on bases used by US troops in Iraq.
Netanyahu has described the target of last week’s US drone strike — Major General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards foreign operations arm — as a “terrorist-in-chief”.
“Qasem Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people, he destabilised many countries for decades, he sowed fear and misery and anguish and he was planning much worse,” Netanyahu said.
“He was the architect and driver of Iran’s campaign of terror throughout the Middle East and the world.”
The Israeli premier praised US President Donald Trump for “acting swiftly, boldly, and resolutely” in killing Soleimani in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
A senior Iranian official on Monday warned the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv would be turned “to dust”, if Washington carried out further military action in response to its retaliatory moves.
The drone strike has put the United States and key allies on alert for Tehran’s response to the killing.
Executive Secretary, NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed says mass communication has been phased out as a single course in Nigerian universities
NUC says the decision to unbundle mass communication as a single degree course in Nigerian universities, is to meet present demands.
Beginning March 2020, Mass Communication will no longer pass for a single course of study in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, according to the National Universities Commission (NUC).
In a chat with journalists in Abuja, Executive Secretary, NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, said the era of Mass Communication as a course in universities is over, as the commission has responded to meet present demands in the labour market.
This development follows the presentation of new curricula for communication studies in Nigerian universities by professors and communication practitioners in Nigeria.
The curricula, which sought the unbundling of mass communication and the creation of seven degree awarding departments to be domiciled under a School/College of Communication, was formally presented to the Executive Secretary of the NUC in Abuja, on February 5, 2019.
Providing update on the curricula, Rasheed, according to Tribune, said Mass Communication has now been unbundled into Journalism and Media Studies, Public Relations, Advertising, Broadcasting, Film and Multi-Media Studies, Development Communication Studies, and Information and Media Studies.
Rasheed said, “We have almost concluded the unbundling of Mass Communication. At the end of first quarter (of 2020), Mass Communication will not be existing as a stand-alone degree programme because it is too wide.
“We are unbundling the programme into seven different programmes: Bachelors Degrees in Public Relations, Marketing Communications, Media studies, Film studies, Cinematography or photography, Strategic Communication, and so many others.”
The NUC’s Executive Secretary however said that the commission will retain Mass Communication for the universities that are yet to develop the full competencies required in the newly-introduced areas.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Wednesday, met behind closed doors with the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mela Kyari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the agenda of the meeting was unknown as of the time of filing this report.
NAN reports that the meeting came amidst the escalating tension between the United States and Iran following the killing of an Iranian commander last week and the subsequent retaliatory attacks on military bases housing American troops in Iraq.
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