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Herdsmen crisis: I don’t believe Buhari is in charge, says Soyinka

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Nobel Laureate , Prof . Wole Soyinka, says he does not believe the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd . ) , is in charge of the captaincy of the nation.

Soyinka spoke on Arise TV programme monitored by newsmen .

He said if the Commander – In – Chief of the Armed Forces were indeed in charge, the insecurity situation in the country won ’ t have degenerated to the present state.

The South – West region has been in the eye of the storm lately over the activities of herdsmen who invade farmlands with their cattle , harass farmers , and in some cases kill them. Some herdsmen have also been accused of kidnapping , rape and other vicious crimes .

Some herdsmen also trespassed on the compound of the respected academic with their cattle despite repeated warnings .

Many Nigerians including the Nobel Laureate had urged the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ) , to address Nigerians and make it known publicly that he does not support the criminal activities of some herdsmen in parts of the country.

“Buhari does not appreciate the situation, he doesn ’ t understand, I see no evidence that he understands how grave the situation is.

“ I have said it again and again . I don ’ t believe he is in charge because it is not possible in my view for a head of state , a commander – in – chief of the armed forces to say he is presiding over a nation and things get to this level .

“ Something is critically wrong within the leadership of this nation and that is where we civilians must come in , we must pick up the slack for our own situation, for our own salvation .

Punch

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JUST IN: Get ready for another hike in petrol price –FG

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As crude price hits almost $60/barrel, the Federal Government has asked Nigerians to prepare for another hike in petrol price because the international price has a direct bearing on the cost of refined products.

The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, gave the hint at the launch of the Nigerian Upstream Cost Optimisation Programme (NUCOP).

According to him, “the higher the price of the crude oil at the international market, the higher the price of refined products like petrol, diesel and the rest”.

He said that the increase would reflect market realities, assuring the citizenry that mechanisms were in place to insulate the consumers from predatory practices of oil marketers.

The President of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Mr Yusuf Lawal Othman said the body was awaiting the Federal Government’s pronouncement on the new bridging cost (freight rate) of N9:11k per litre, as against the current rate of about N7.51/litre.

According to him, the new bridging cost was long overdue considering the unsavoury environment members of the association operate in.

Analysts note that once the new bridging cost comes to play, it will increase petrol cost to a new price, regardless of crude cost.

Meanwhile, Nigerians may face another round of horrendous petrol scarcity, as depot owners reportedly shut down their operations on Monday, claiming that they have run out of products.

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Reopening: Youths plan counter-protest at Lekki tollgate

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The counter-rally, which is trending on Twitter as #DefendLagos and #DemNoBornYourPapaWell, is to protest against protesters of #OccupyLekkiTollGate.

The poster of counter-rally shared on social media showed that it is holding at the same venue and time as the one planned by the #OccupyLekkiTollGate protesters.

“Let us protect what the destroyers left behind while we rebuild Lagos. Join the ‘defend Lagos’ rally at the Lekki toll plaza,” a message on the poster read with pictures of destructed buildings and other facilities during the violence that followed the #EndSARS protest in the state.

One of the promoters of the #DefendLagos protest, Olusoga Owoeye @olusogaowoeye said, “Show your love for our Lagos. Get your friends and your neighbors to be there. Join the DefendLagos Rally at the Lekki toll plaza on the 13th of February. We will not cede our city to criminals and insurrectionists. Lagos is our pride.”

Another promoter, @salamhunters, said, “We will defend and protect our Lagos from looters and arsonists.”

“We say no to all retard and opportunists planning evil towards Lagos,” @Adetade6 added.

@Kazeem_AS lamented that he is yet to recover from the damages caused by the last protest.

“I must be there to defend Lagos. I was born in Lagos. Even though I am from Ondo State, I lived all my life in Lagos. I will never allow any miscreants to destroy Lagos again, never will it happen,” Olumide Akin @holumyne said.

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EXCLUSIVE: Nigerians are not preparing for God’s Kingdom – OBJ

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said developments and happenings in the country at the moment do not show that Nigerians are preparing for the Kingdom of God.

This is just as it has been revealed how his intervention helped to preserve the tomb of the Founder of the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, St Moses Orimolade, in Ojokoro area of Lagos during the construction of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

Obasanjo, who was the Guest of Honour during the dedication of the St Moses Orimolade Holy Land, the Cenotaph of C&S Founder, on Saturday, noted that most people were acting as if everything starts and ends on Earth.

“The situation we have in the country today does not show we are preparing for the kingdom of God but we have to be prepared.

“There is always a day of reckoning. Christianity was brought to us and many of our people made great contributions and they are unsung heroes now.

“Missionaries came but we have our own missionaries and leaders and Moses Orimolade was one of them.

“It is because of the church that you and I have the assurance of salvation. Our own church leaders who paid their own prize also helped in spreading the gospel and we pray their efforts are not in vain,” he said.

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UPDATE: Strike may last up to three months, SSANU president warns

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The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities , on Wednesday , says the planned industrial action by non -teaching staff in the universities may last up to three months.

SSANU National President , Mohammed Ibrahim, stated this while featuring on a Live Interview .

Non – teaching staff in the universities will commence a nationwide strike from February 5 , 2021 over the Federal Government’ s handling of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System , sharing formula for the N40 bn earned academic allowances and non – payment of arrears of the new minimum wage.

The planned strike by the non -teaching staff is coming barely weeks after the Academic Staff Union of Universities suspended its 10 – month strike last December .

Ibrahim said the planned strike by the non – teaching workers was a matter of necessity, adding that the only language the government seems to understand is strike.

He said , “ In the history of this union , we have never gone on strike beyond three months and this is probably because government realised also that there is no way they will allow us to go on strike for this long , because if our people should go on strike, the system would be shut , there would no water , no electricity , no security , no healthcare , you can imagine what will happen.

“ So , I believe having called us the first time though we have not agreed yet , we still believe and we are hopeful that the government will do the needful by attending to our demands. But if those demands are not met , I can assure you that our cups are full and this is the time for our members to drive home their point through strike if that is the only language the government listens to . ”

Ibrahim said , “ When IPPIS came onboard in February 2020 , before then , all the unions in the universities vehemently rejected the implementation of IPPIS for the payment of salaries .

“ From our own angle, we said we don ’ t throw away the baby with bath water , let us listen to the government , what it is that they have to offer on this IPPIS. Government came with the mantra of they want to block leakages and fight corruption and we all know that corruption exists in the public service .

Punch

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Strike: FG meets varsity workers

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The Federal Government is currently meeting with the Joint Action Committee comprising the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities and the Non – Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.

Among those present in the meeting are the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige ; SSANU National President , Mohammed Ibrahim; and NASU General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi .

The non – teaching staff in the universities had announced that they would embark on a nationwide strike from February 5 , 2021 over the Federal Government’ s handling of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System , sharing formula of the N 40 billion earned academic allowances and non – payment of arrears of the new minimum wage.

Others are the non – payment of retirement benefits to former members , non – constitution of visitation panels to universities , poor funding of universities , teaching staff usurping the headship of non -teaching units, among others.

The committee had embarked on a three- day protest over the government ’ s failure to honour the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the unions on October 20 , 2020 .

Punch

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[UPDATED] Second wave: Schools will be shut “if cases continue to rise” —PTF

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The Presidential Task Force on COVID- 19 has said it won’ t hesitate to shut down schools in the country should there be a spike in COVID- 19 cases recorded in Nigeria.

PTF National Incident Manager , Mukhtar Muhammed, stated this in a video posted on Twitter by the PTF .

Muhammed said , “ The issue of school reopening is something that the PTF has discussed very extensively . The ministry of education decided to open the schools . Based on our own understanding , it was the states that actually wanted to have the schools reopened .

“ Now , the PTF is watching this very closely , we are monitoring what is going on and if we find out that cases continue to rise in the country and we start to have incidences in schools , certainly, we will have the schools closed .

“ In the first instance , we should have delayed opening of the schools but now that the schools are opened, the PTF will continue to monitor very closely with all the schools to ensure that they institute measures and ensure that people follow as much as possible . ”

Punch

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Oyo recruits 5000 teachers, orders immediate resumption

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The Oyo State Government has commenced the distribution of appointment letters to the 5000 newly recruited teachers under the state Teaching Service Commission .

The Chairman , Oyo State Teaching Service Commission , Pastor Akinade Alamu, who made the disclosure in Ibadan said that the new teachers are to resume their duty posts immediately.

It was gathered that the distribution of letters of appointment to successful candidates started on Monday .

Alamu said that their appointment was a sequel to a long period of scrutiny and verification during which errors that might have crept in during and after the examination and oral test for the exercise had been corrected .

According to him , the state government approved the release of 5 , 000 appointment letters for distribution of which a total of 4 , 400 letters had been released by TESCOM while the remaining letters were withheld due to errors on the part of the applicants.

The errors , he said , included misspelled names as well as invalid email addresses among others.

However , he assured those who had yet to receive their appointment letters that they would be ready for collection immediately after the errors have been corrected by the applicants.

Alamu added that the letters were sent to the centralised centres in the 33 local government areas of the state for collection in order to avoid overcrowding and in compliance with the COVID- 19 protocols .

He , therefore , implored the successful candidates to resume duties immediately considering the fact that the academic session has commenced .

The TESCOM Chairman said , “ While congratulating the successful applicants, we want to appeal to those who are yet to get their letters to exercise patience .

“ We discovered that 600 among the letters have errors that need to be rectified . That is already being sorted and corrected as we speak and will be distributed as well. ”

The Permanent Secretary, TESCOM , Mrs Olabisi Oderinde , who congratulated the selected candidates on their appointment , urged them to show high sense of diligence, “ As this will be the way to bring the governor’ s passion for education to reality. ”

Punch

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FG, labour to consider electricity tariff, fuel price reports Feb 22

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The Federal Government and the organised labour will reconvene on February 22 for the consideration of the reports of the bipartite technical committees on fuel price and electricity tariff .

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige , disclosed this while briefing journalists after a bipartite meeting between the FG and the organised labour at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa , Abuja .

Ngige said they received and adopted the report of the Technical Committee on Premium Motor Spirit Pricing Framework, while that of the Electricity Tariff Committee was expected in a week ’ s time .

He explained that the organised labour requested for some time to subject the report on PMS pricing to their organs for further investigation .

“ It is a technical report , so they needed further investigation of the report by their own technical research team. The Technical Committee on electricity tariff has not finished. We expect the report in a week’ s time . So , cogently , we are reconvening on 22 nd of this month to take both reports , ” Ngige noted .

The report of the Technical Committee on PMS Pricing was presented at the meeting by the Chairman of the Committee , Onochie Anyaoku , a former Executive Director , Refineries Operations and Petrol Pricing in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation .

Anyaoku explained that the committee at its meeting on December 16 developed guiding principles and a work schedule, distinct from the primary function of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency to develop a transparent methodology and a template that will serve as the guide on realistic PMS pump price and benchmark all pricing elements of the PMS pricing template with neighbouring countries .

He stated , “ Based on extensive review of the pricing framework and in line with the terms of reference of the committee, the following recommendations were proposed and adopted:
“ PPPRA to convene periodic meetings with PPMC and other importers to ensure actual cost of supply reflective determination as an interim solution .

“ NLC , TUC , PENGASSON and NUPENG to witness the transparent determination at the periodic meeting .

“ PPPRA frequently monitor data of Rotterdam supply chain values . This should continue to form the basis of price determination until the West African basket is liquid and transparent enough to warrant its adoption in the pricing template.

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FG extends NIN-SIM linkage by eight weeks

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The ongoing National Identification Number and Subscriber Identity Module integration exercise has been extended by eight weeks , the Federal Government announced .

It said the new deadline was now April 6 , 2021 .

Director , Public Affairs , Nigerian Communications Commission , Ikechukwu Adinde , who disclosed this in a WhatsApp message to news correspondent , said the extension was conveyed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy , Isa Pantami .

Pantami conveyed the message during the meeting of the Ministerial Taskforce on NIN – SIM registration which held on the 1 st of February , 2021 .

On December 15 , 2020 , the Federal Government declared that after December 30 , 2020 , all SIMs that were not registered with valid NINs on the network of telecommunications companies would be blocked .

It later extended the December 30 , 2020 deadline following widespread opposition against the earlier announcement and gave three weeks ’ extension for subscribers with NIN from December 30 , 2020 to January 19 , 2021 .

It also gave six weeks ’ extension for subscribers without NIN from December 30 , 2020 to February 9 , 2021 , but many organisations had called for further deadline extension or outright suspension of the NIN registration process .

Punch