Ex- President Olusegun Obasanjo has said he wished to live beyond 100 so as to have more opportunities to celebrate with the Agura of Gbagura , Oba Sabur Bakare , Jamolu II .
Obasanjo was part of the dignitaries present at the first anniversary of the monarch held in Abeokuta .
Oba Bakare received the staff of office from former Ogun State Governor , Ibikunle Amosun , on May 21 , 2019 , as the 9 th Agura of Gbagura in Egbaland
The monarch while commemorating his anniversary held interdenominational service with believers of all faiths and commissioned a borehole for the community.
Obasanjo , who clocked 83 this year , while speaking at the interdenominational service , said he wished to be at the 20 th anniversary of the monarch.
He said , “ I will be here to celebrate your 20 years anniversary with you whether I am invited or not .
“ By the time I also partake in celebrating your 20 th anniversary with you , if God wishes , He can call me to come and meet Him in heaven because I know by that time, I will be above 100 or more . ”
The former president , however , advised the monarch to propagate unity among traditional rules in Yorubaland .
The Osun State Government has declared August 20 as a public holiday for hijrah – Muslims ’ new year.
This was contained in a press statement by Osun Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode .
The statement read , “The State Government of Osun wishes to inform the public that Thursday , August 20 , 2020 , shall be a work- free day across the State .
“ This is to commemorate the beginning of a new Islamic year – 1442 AH , and afford the Muslim Community in the State the opportunity of celebrating this year ’ s Hijrah.
“ The State Government wishes to emphasize that the holiday is no approval for large gatherings or unauthorized meetings under any guise . Residents are enjoined to observe the safety guidelines against COVID- 19 as outlined by the government and the NCDC .
“ All workers in the State are expected to resume work on Friday, August 21 , 2020 . ”
Malian President has said he was resigning to avoid “ bloodshed ” , hours after his arrest by troops in a sudden coup that followed a months- long political crisis in the fragile West African nation.
Rebel soldiers detained Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse on Tuesday afternoon and drove the pair to a military base in the town of Kati , near the capital Bamako , which they had seized that morning .
Jubilant crowds in the city centre , gathered to demand Keita ’ s resignation , had cheered the rebels as they made their way to the 75 – year -old ’ s official residence .
Keita appeared calm as he appeared in a state television broadcast after midnight to declare the dissolution of the government and national assembly , and said he had no choice but to resign with immediate effect .
“ If it pleased certain elements of our military to decide this should end with their intervention , do I really have a choice ?” he said of the day ’ s events.
“( I must ) submit to it , because I don ’ t want any bloodshed . ”
It was unclear whether Keita was still in custody at the Kati base , which in a twist of fate was also the site of the 2012 putsch that brought him to power .
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has told the Federal Government that the University Transparency and Accountability Solution , which it developed as an alternative to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System is read for integrity tests .
According to ASUU , the software for UTAS was unveiled and demonstrated to the Minister of Education and senior management staff of the Ministry of Education, including the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission , Prof . Abdulrasheed Abubakar .
The national President of ASUU , Prof . Biodun Ogunyemi , made this known during a press conference held at the Gwagwalada campus of the University of Abuja, attended by almost all its national officers .
But Ogunyemi maintained that it would not suspend its ongoing strike until the Federal Government honours its 2019 agreements .
“ It is our sincere hope that the government would not renege on its promise because the benefits of UTAS to the university system ( both public and private ) cannot be found in any other software in Nigeria today . Now that the union is close to meeting the government ’ s demand on an alternative to IPPIS, it is our sincere hope that the substantive issues in the ongoing strike action would be given the desired attention , ” he added .
The ASUU president also lamented that five months’ salaries of their members at the University of Maiduguri and the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture , Umudike are still withheld by the Accountant-General of the Federation on account of non – registration on IPPIS.
“ Thousands of other academics across the Universities are suffering the same fate . So , while we counsel that government at both the federal and state levels must meet the Taskforce specified guidelines for reopening of educational institutions, we insist that all the arrears of the withheld salaries of our members in federal and state Universities must be paid immediately to pave for further discussion on the outstanding issues in the Memorandum of Action of February 7 2019 , ” he added .
MINISTER of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, has said that the 30 slots given to each member of the National Assembly in the 774,000 jobs nationwide was just a privilege and not a right.
The Minister, who was reacting to the statement credited to the the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Ndidi Elumelu, said whether the federal lawmakers accept the slots or not was irrelevant because their constituents will still be the beneficiaries of the position.
According to him, “The question of slots to certain persons was never a question of a right or entitlement, it is just a privilege given to them to recommend persons within their constituencies.
“The template is that 1000 persons will be picked from each local government area. That means, that whether they reject or accept is irrelevant because their constituents will still have their full entitlement of 1000 per local government.
“Except they want to tell Nigerians that it is only a section of those local government that they represent and not all the persons in the local government.
“Or except they want to tell Nigerians that they are opposed to certain persons in the local government getting those jobs.”
MINISTER of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, has said that the 30 slots given to each member of the National Assembly in the 774,000 jobs nationwide was just a privilege and not a right.
The Minister, who was reacting to the statement credited to the the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Ndidi Elumelu, said whether the federal lawmakers accept the slots or not was irrelevant because their constituents will still be the beneficiaries of the position.
According to him, “The question of slots to certain persons was never a question of a right or entitlement, it is just a privilege given to them to recommend persons within their constituencies.
“The template is that 1000 persons will be picked from each local government area. That means, that whether they reject or accept is irrelevant because their constituents will still have their full entitlement of 1000 per local government.
“Except they want to tell Nigerians that it is only a section of those local government that they represent and not all the persons in the local government.
“Or except they want to tell Nigerians that they are opposed to certain persons in the local government getting those jobs.”
The Oyo State Government, has announced a shift in the Common Entrance examination dates into its schools of science from Wednesday , August 19 to Tuesday , September 1 .
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in the state , in a statement signed by the Commissioner, Olasunkanmi Olaleye, said the postponement was due to a clash of the examination date with the ongoing West African School Certificate Examination .
The statement indicated that students in Oyo State were expected to write Economics and Agricultural Science in their year 2020 West African Examination Council on the said dates.
It added that the date of the screening test for placement of pupils in terminal classes in public and private primary schools into Junior Secondary School 1 in Oyo State had been shifted from Thursday , August 20 to Saturday, August , 22 also due to clash of the date with another WAEC subject .
“ All parents and guidance are advised to note these changes and prepare their wards for the exercise at the stipulated periods with strict compliance with the state’ s COVID- 19 protocols, ” the Commissioner advised.
The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has rejected the 30 -job slot allotted to each member of the House for their respective local government areas , in the recruitment exercise for the Federal Government’ s Public Works Scheme.
The Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, in a statement issued , described the allotment of 30 out of the 1000 slots per local government to each member of the House as “ grossly unfair and unacceptable by Nigerians and the lawmakers who are the true representatives of the people. ”
The statement was titled ‘ 774 , 000 Jobs: Reps Minority Caucus Rejects 30 Slots for Members . ’
The National Assembly and the Minister of State for Labour , Employment and Productivity , Festus Keyamo ( SAN ) , had clashed over the scheme.
Political office holders had been allocated 15 per cent of the slots in the programme designed to employ 1 , 000 artisans from each of the 774 Local Government Areas of the country. The scheme had been allocated N52 bn in the 2020 budget .
The beneficiaries are to work for three months, between October and December , with each of them earning N20 , 000 monthly .
Chairman of the Extended Special Public Work Selection Committee in Rivers State , Dr Innocent Barikor, was quoted to have said , “ The directive given to us is that every state governor has 40 slots of the job in each LGA ; serving senators have 30 each ; members of House of Representative have 25 slots ; a minister has 30 slots in every LGA in his state of origin . ”
The minority caucus of the House, however , alleged that the formula used is in favour of “ certain interests in the ruling All Progressives Congress at the detriment and disadvantage of majority of Nigerians . ”
Elumelu insisted that “ the 30 persons allotment to be supervised by a member in each of the Local Government Areas , cannot by any criteria , said to be a true representation of the people they are mandated to represent. ”
Elumelu stressed that the 774 , 000 jobs were meant for the people and that the people look up to the lawmakers as major channels through which they are reached for social – economic empowerment .
The Minority Leader said , “ The 30 persons allotment per local government for lawmakers is grossly unfair, inadequate and unacceptable to Nigerians . As the representatives of the people , we are closer to them and they directly interact with us , irrespective of religion , class and political affiliations .
“ All Nigerians living in our constituencies are our constituents , irrespective of political leanings . We have a responsibility to protect their interests at all times . As such lawmakers ought to have been carried along on the allotment.
The Federal Government, said the ongoing evacuation of Nigerians from abroad as a result of the COVID- 19 pandemic would end on Saturday, August 22 , 2020 .
The Chairman , Presidential Task Force on COVID- 19 , Boss Mustapha , disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja .
Mustapha , who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation , said with the stoppage of evacuation , the nation’ s airports would be given sufficient time to prepare for reopening .
He also disclosed that some countries , such as the United States of America , United Arab Emirates and Egypt, had expressed their readiness to repatriate convicted Nigerians , who had been pardoned and paroled.
Mustapha stated , “ A number of countries have signified intention to repatriate Nigerians convicted and pardoned and paroled in those countries . They include the UAE , Egypt and the United States of America .
“ Coming in the midst of our national response to COVID- 19 , all relevant agencies of government are taking multi – sector steps to ensure that the process remains within acceptable international protocols and in line with bilateral agreements .
“ For the purpose of clarity, this should be distinguished from the normal evacuation flights and we wish to state that all evacuation flights will end on August 22 , 2020 , after which the airports will be given sufficient time to prepare for reopening . ”
Mustapha said the PTF had continued to observe “ noticeable decline in fatalities , high discharge rates and consistent under 500 daily cases” for the past four weeks in spite of the huge increase in testing capacity and increase in the number of daily tests conducted.
He , however , said the nation had not attained the desired level that would enable the PTF to make conclusive statements on the rate of infection in the country.
“ We must , therefore , continue to do that which is giving us record improvements and desist from actions capable of undermining our successes , ” he said .
Mustapha stated , “ A number of countries have signified intention to repatriate Nigerians convicted and pardoned and paroled in those countries . They include the UAE , Egypt and the United States of America .
“ Coming in the midst of our national response to COVID- 19 , all relevant agencies of government are taking multi – sector steps to ensure that the process remains within acceptable international protocols and in line with bilateral agreements .
“ For the purpose of clarity, this should be distinguished from the normal evacuation flights and we wish to state that all evacuation flights will end on August 22 , 2020 , after which the airports will be given sufficient time to prepare for reopening . ”
Mustapha said the PTF had continued to observe “ noticeable decline in fatalities , high discharge rates and consistent under 500 daily cases” for the past four weeks in spite of the huge increase in testing capacity and increase in the number of daily tests conducted.
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