Former Gov.Godswill Akpabio Nearly Die in a Motor Accident

A former Governor of Akwa Ibom

State, now Senate Minority Leader,

Godswill Akpabio, escaped death

Monday morning after his car got

involved in an accident along the

Airport Road in Abuja.

The accident occurred near the Bolingo

Junction close to the Ship House,

Abuja.

A witness said Mr. Akpabio was

moving in a convoy of vehicles towards

the City Gate when his vehicle ran into

another car.

“My wife and I were coming from the

NNPC Mega Station and we stopped at

the traffic light by Bolingo Hotel

Junction. When the green light showed

and we made to move, there was this

siren blaring Mercedes Benz jeep that

came from the town and almost

crashed onto my car. I don’t know

how we dodged but another that was

behind the jeep hit the car behind me

and tumbled on its side.

“I and my wife rushed out of our

vehicle and helped the driver bring out

his boss. When we brought him out,

we found that it was former governor

Godswill Akpabio.

“At the time we brought him out, the

siren was still blaring. We put him in

the other vehicle and he was rushed to

the National Hospital.”

The witness said Mr. Akpabio was

badly shaken and was in a traumatic

condition when he was brought out of

the crashed vehicle.

He said the former governor was

apparently rushing out of the city

when his convoy beat the traffic and

crashed.

A security official said the former

governor was at the National Trauma

Center.

The source however noted that Mr.

Akpabio was later moved to a private

section of the hospital for X-ray and

other investigations.

The driver to the former governor,

simply called David who confirmed the accident.

Mr. David said his boss was in stable condition but

declined to say how the accident happened. He wore

a black jeens trouser with a white stripped shirt.

When contacted on the telephone, the Chief Medical

Director of the hospital, J. Momoh, said he could not

speak on Mr. Akpabio’s case because he has no

authorisation from the family.

Mr. Momoh, who argued that it is against medical

ethics to speak about a patient in admission, did not

however deny that Mr. Akpabio was being admitted

in the facility.

“I cannot speak about a patient in admission without

getting approval from his family. You should

therefore excuse me,” Mr. Momoh said.

When reminded that Mr. Akpabio is a public official

and Nigerian Senate Minority Leader and not a quiet

family man, Mr. Momoh still insisted he cannot

speak on the matter.

At about 12.25p.m. Mr. Akpabio’s successor,

Governor, Udom Emmanuel, arrived in a three-

vehicle convoy, led by a Toyota Jeep, with

registration number, Yab 474 BG.

Mr. Udom was driven in a BMW salon car with the

number plates covered.

50 Achievements of Buhari in Office over Jonathan

1. Implementation of UNEP report on Ogoniland
2. NNPC reforms
3. Revamp of the Niger Delta amnesty program through proper
verification of beneficiaries and payment of funds.
4. Enforcement of fuel price at Naira 87 in most places through
DPR
5. Gradual stabilization of fuel supply
6. Ban on fraudulent foreign vessels lifting oil
7. Stream line of local oil importers to check corruption.
8. National carrier relaunch project
9. Alignment of biometric databases
10. Reduction of police allocation to VIP’s
11. Restriction of family from use of presidential jets
12. Rejection of new official cars worth 400 million naira
13. Abolishment of office of first lady
14. Presidential salary cut by 50%
15. Appointment of quality persons in key roles
16. Appointments of persons from perceived opposition States
17. Rehabilitation of IDP’s
18. Meeting with Bring Back Our Girls campaign group
19. Mobilization of Neighboring countries to fight Boko Haram
20. Reverse of sack/ conviction of 2500 soldiers
21. Relocation of military command to Borno state
22. Equipping and morale boosting of military to fight Boko
Haram
23. Revamp of Nigeria local arms manufacture
24. Audit of military arms procurement since 2007
25. Dismantling of unnecessary police checkpoints
26. Police reform processes
27. Single treasury account
28. Increased monthly allocation to States despite oil price fall
29. Increase in excess crude account by 200 million naira
30. Increase in foreign reserves by over 2 billion dollars
31. Conversion of State debts to bonds
32. Plugging revenue leaks and loopholes
33. Increased transparency through regular presentation of
Federation accounts
34. Audit of federal agencies and parastatals by KPMG and co
35. Meetings with Nigerian diaspora groups in South Africa,
Niger, USA, etc.
36. Reset of relationships with USA one of the Nigeria’s main
trading partners
37. High level international shuttle diplomacy
38. Mediation in Guinea Bissau crises
39. Enhancement of power generation through payments to gas
suppliers, etc.
40. Audit of electricity companies
41. Saving funds by ending pilgrimage sponsorships
42. Audience and interaction with media
43. Establishment of new level of process and procedure in
corridors of power e.g. well planned schedules at Aso Rock
(based on Dele Momodu’s reports)
44. Bringing back a culture of proper planning and thorough
process.
45. Demonstration of commitment to anti-corruption war-
restoration of focus on non-corrupt public officers.
46. Constitution of anti-corruption advisory committee
47. Revamped and active EFCC and ICPC
48. Timely funding of Nigeria Sports commission in preparation
for All Africa Games
49. Operation of open door policy where both allies and
perceived opponents are given access
50. Encouragement of new culture of accountability in Army
(e.g. formal apology from Army to Benue Governor for
soldiers indiscipline and GOC in Lagos order to soldiers
against harassment of danfo(bus) drivers)

If You Need Special Protection, Go and Hire Private Security - IGP

Arase warned police officers against illegal operations ,
whereby they attached themselves to some individuals ,
adding that any officer caught doing so would be
arrested .
“ Any individual who feels that he needs special protection
should go and hire private security. The police is for all , ”
he added.

Arase, who disclosed this during his private visit to
Lagos, noted that the rank and file were the officers doing
the major jobs , including arrests, investigations and other
special duties .

On the dismantling of checkpoints across the country , the
I - G said he insisted on their removal because they were
not a veritable platform for good security, revealing that
“ Safer Highways’ Points ” had since replaced them .
He said about 555 safer highways points had been
created to aid policing of the entire highways across the
country .
Arase added that officers assigned to these points were
given some
allowances to prevent them from engaging in corruption .
According to him, human rights violation by the police is
not allowed, stressing that officers must have sufficient
evidence before arresting anybody and such fellow must
be charged to court within 48 hours of arrest .
The I - G urged members of the public to be part of
community policing , saying one million policemen were
not enough for the country .
“ All community leaders should take interest in who
comes to their domain, their family background and what
the person does for a living .
“ If people in all areas give regular information to the
police , ensuring security would be better, ” he said.

ASUU to govt: set up Visitation Panel

          The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has
called on Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to
set up a Visitation Panel in the Lagos State University
(LASU).
The union said a panel was the antidote to the myriad of
problems facing the institution. ASUU also
recommended the implementation of the Universities
Miscellaneous Act of 2012, to put the 31-year-old
institution on the right path.
At a briefing on the university’s premises in
Ojo Lagos, Chairman, ASUU Lagos
Zone, Dr Adesola Nasir, said following the above
recommendations, Ambode should also constitute a
Governing Council to appoint a successor to the Vice
Chancellor, Prof John Oladapo Obafunwa.
He said Obafunwa being pelted with objects and chased
out of the institution by aggrieved workers on Monday,
March 16, and prevented from entering, meant he was no
longer accepted by the various unions.
Nasir said: “As ASUU, we are not proud when a whole
vice chancellor was pelted with sachet water by workers.
It shows such a vice chancellor has lost all forms of
respect from the community he is supposed to govern.
When this happen, the best for such vice chancellor is to
resign honourably.Obafunwa’s line of thought does not
agree with the people and things have degenerated to a
level where he can no longer enter his office.”
            He said no matter how deep a crisis is, an ideal vice
chancellor must reconcile warring parties through
dialogue and cross fertilisation of ideas, noting that
Obafunwa has failed to achieve both.
According to Nasir, the allegation by workers against
Obafunwa, including the latter’s victimisation and non-
promotion of workers, setting up of illegal Budget
Monitoring Committee to access the Federal Government
intervention fund, victimisation of union heads,
inappropriate appointment of underserving staff who are
Obafunwa’s cronies as well as using media to disparage
workers, among others, are documented in two volumes
submitted to government by ASUU LASU, who now
awaits its decision.
ASUU lamented that industrial crisis in the university is
getting out of hand; hence the union’s intervention to
end it for good.
“What we expect from Obafunwa whenever he grants
interview in the media is to tell us his achievements in
terms of grants that his administration has attracted to
the university, the number of Ph.D awardees, and how he
has consolidated on the university’s internally
generated revenue. But to our disappointment, he keeps
painting workers in black. Sincerely, we are all tired of
anybody saying: ‘LASU is this or that.’ LASU has had
enough problems. All we want are the strides and not
pronouncements that would foment more trouble,” ASUU
further stated.
ASUU said the union is informed of secret moves by
Obafunwa to use some students outside the university to
puncture the peace that has since returned.
“Our union is not unaware of some clandestine moves to
unleash some ill informed students group mainly from
outside LASU to foment additional crisis in the
university. Our union wishes to advice our students, who
are our ally in the restoration of dignity of LASU to focus
on their studies as our members are doing all within
their means to ensure a smooth session. Exams have
been concluded and scripts marked,” ASUU counselled.
Chairman, ASUU-LASU Adekunle Idris, said against
misconceptions in certain quarters, the union is in
understanding with the LASU Students’ Union, noting
that when the struggle is eventually won, it is the
students that stand to reap the greatest dividend.
Meanwhile, LASU Students’ Union has called on
Ambode to get the university on full swing with respect
to academic activities.
LASUSU PRO, Adebanjo Fatai told our reporter on phone
that LASUSU was not interested on whether Obafunwa
returns to LASU or not, noting that it is a staff/
management affair. Another condition, Fatai stated, was
that no leader of the union should be victimised for his
or her role in the ongoing crisis.
Fatai said prevention of vehicular movement in and out
of the university premises by students on Thursday, last
week, was to draw government’s attention to their
plight.
“Immediately government heard that we had locked up
the two gates of the university, Deputy Governor Dr
( Idiat) Adebule had to call and appealed to us on
phone.”
            He continued: “It is so sad that this is what we had to do
(protest) to get government’s attention. Ahead of the
protest, we had sent a letter which we copied to the
governor, his deputy, Ministry of Education, and all
unions in LASU as well as stakeholders in the state for
quick intervention, to no avail.
“You will also recall that before we commenced the (first
semester) exam, we had made repeated appeals to the
government but with no result until we eventually
stormed the Governor’s Office in Alausa in a protest,
before we could be answered.”

Fayose Appoints Graduate as PA to 72yrs-old illiterate council chair

Ekiti State governor Mr Ayo Fayose, yesterday, sent
tongues wagging with the swearing-in of a 72-year-old
illiterate carpenter, Pa Olatunde Afolayan, as the
caretaker chairman of Moba Local Government.
The governor, immediately after the inauguration held
at Abiodun Adetiloye Hall, Trade Fair Complex, Ado
Ekiti, also appointed a graduate to serve as the Personal
Assistant of the septuagenarian.
He also swore in two other caretaker chairmen during
the ceremony. The appointees, Mrs. Omolara Bayode
Ayeni (Ikole) and Owolabi Ajewole (Ijero) were
appointed to replace their predecessors who recently
resigned their appointments.
Fayose also swore in the new chairman of the State
Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), Justice
Kayode Bamisile a former Chief Judge of the state and
other members of the commission to set the stage for
the conduct of the local government polls before the end
of the year.
Elated by his appointment, Pa Afolayan, commended the
governor for the kind gesture, saying: “What I expected
was for the governor to make me a ward chairman. I
have never gone to school for a day, but that does not
diminish my intelligence. I may not be educated or
certificated, but I have the e__xperience to pilot the
affairs of the council. I promise to surpass the records
left behind by my predecessors to justify Governor
Fayose’s assertion that local people are intelligent and
visionary.”

PROFILE OF Ag. ACP OLABISI KOLAWOLE, POLICE FORCE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER (FORCE PRO).

          Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ag. ACP Olabisi Kolawole is a graduate of Nigeria Police Academy; she studied Law in Ogun State University and graduated with Bachelor of Law degree (LL.B) in 2000. She graduated from the Nigeria Law School where she obtained a (BL) degree and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002. She attended University of Leicester, United Kingdom where she obtained a Masters degree in Police Leadership and Management (PLM). She is an officer with vast policing experience at both national and international levels. At national level she has held several positions including Legal Adviser, Administration officer, Intelligence officer and Force Gender Adviser among others. At the international level, she served in the following United Nations Missions; in East-Timor 2000, Kosovo 2004, Liberia 2006 and at the DPKO UNHQ, New York 2007.
            She is a member of the pool of investigators assisting the office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the investigations of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence as international crimes. Besides her core academic trainings and attainments, Ag. ACP Kolawole attended several professional Police courses within and outside the country namely; • Standing Police Capacity Training at the National Police Institute, Bramshil, London, United Kingdom in 2007 • Counter Terrorism Studies at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom in 2008 • POC/Sexual and Gender Based Violence Course at COESPU in Vicenza, Italy in 2013 • Investigating cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence as International crimes at the Rule of Law and Anti- Corruption Centre, Doha, Qatar in 2013. • Protection of Civilian Train of trainers course, National Defence College, Abuja 2014. • Policy, Strategy and Leadership Course, National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Jos 2014. • Tactical Leadership and Command Course (TLCC) Police Staff College, Jos 2014. • Public Relations Course, Public Service Institute, Abuja 2015 She is a member of a number of organisations and associations such as; Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA),Internat ional Association of Women Police (IAWP), International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), United Nations Women Police Network. Until her appointment as the Force Public Relations Officer, Ag. ACP Kolawole was the Deputy Director of the Directorate of Peacekeeping and the Police Force Gender Adviser.
                She is happily married with children. Her hobbies include reading and travelling, her sport is Table Tennis.

Delta State University has explled 21 students and suspended 129 students for malpractice

Authorities of Delta State Universit y, Abraka, has expelled 21 students for various examination malpractices while 129 others have been suspended for between two to eight semesters, Punch reports. The information was made known in the summary of the report of the disciplinary committee for second semester examination of regular programmes and first semester of weekend degree programmes, which was published in the University bulletin. The offences of the expelled students included impersonation and leaving the examination halls without permission and with answer booklets. The suspended students were involved in cheating and taking extraneous materials into examination halls, forgery of receipt and identity cards. According to the report, another 12 students were discharged and acquitted for the lack of facts, five were warned for insufficient evidence while one was to face a security panel to ascertain the source of his unauthorized students’ identity cards. It also disclosed that more names would be published in its next edition.

Protest rocks Adeyemi University of Education, Ondo

But there were mixed feelings about the new status. While some members of staff were happy with the host communities, others were not. And those not favourably disposed to the new status allegedly worked against it. Although their identities are not known and some workers have refused to disclose those allegedly behind the move, investigations revealed that some lecturers, who had spent many years in the system, worked with some prominent people in the society to reverse the schools’ status. It was further learnt that the alleged sponsors have refused to improve themselves, especially in attaining their Ph.D degrees, and were afraid the new status of their institutions might either choke them, or make them inferior. The Nation reporters gathered that the ‘anti-university’ promoters secretly formed a group in the four affected colleges of education, using the platform to push their demands. The group was alleged to have been in touch with some highly connected people in government to get their message to the Presidency. Their agitation was anchored on the fact that majority of the teachers in the four institutions have no Ph.D degrees, raising the fear that they might be sent back to the labour market that is replete with unemployed. However, their argument was at variance with that of the non-teaching staff of the institutions. The non-teaching staff, through their unions – Non- Academic Staff Union (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), also formed a joint union called ‘Joint Non-Teaching Staff Action Committee’ (JNTSAC) to work against the planned reversal. The President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Femi Lademikan, was made their chairman at an emergency congress at an occassion which held at the institution’s premises in Ondo State. Some of the aggrieved workers, who stormed the congress venue, were armed with canes, ostensibly to go straight to the offices of those pushing for the reversal to flog them. Nonetheless, they were prevailed upon by leaders of the unions, who admonished them not to be violent in pressing for their demands. Addressing the workers at the congress, Lademikan said union leaders had not gone to bed, adding that they had been seeking assistance, particularly from prominent indigenes of the Ondo kingdom. “Immediately we heard about this (reversal to old status), we rushed to Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Kiladejo, but, unfortunately, the monarch was not in the country. That took us to his second in command; the Lisa of Ondo, Chief, Simeon Oguntimehin. “He expressed sadness on the issue and immediately called the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, his wife, Dolapo and President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide, Mr. Femi Adesina on the issue.They all said the news was strange to them and that there was no such plan in the Presidency. “We told him of our plan to stage a protest to the Osemawe’s palace and also the Governor’s Office, but Chief Oguntimehin appealed against the idea, fearing that some unscrupulous elements might hijack the process,” he said. But the aggrieved workers insisted that, despite Oguntimehin’s appeal, they must march to the gate of their institution on Ondo-Ore-Lagos Expressway. They displayed placards with various inscriptions, such as “Mr President take away corruption, not our university”; “University status, no going back”; “Forward ever, backward never”. Their action caused a gridlock on the route for about an hour. Addressing reporters, Lademikan said: “We want our university to remain, and we are appealing to the government through this peaceful demonstration. “We are telling President Muhammadu Buhari that we have everything- manpower, people, structures and resources that it will take to maintain the new status of this institution. We are peaceful and cooperative. Mr. President must not listen to people, who don’t love him, sycophants and those enemies of progress. “There are so many publications in the media that the institution should be returned to college, but because of this forum, we won’t mention names. We know them and we are waiting for them.” Teachers in the institution, under the umbrella of Lecturers’ Union of Adeyemi University, had quickly aligned with JNTSAC, describing the upgrade to university as a step in the right direction. A statement signed by its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Olaolu Olaniyan, said: “The union notes with utter dismay and outright displeasure, the rumour making the rounds about the purported reversal of the hard-earned university status of Adeyemi Federal University of Education and three other newly upgraded universities of education. “We want to emphatically express our rejection of such a reversal which is only capable of creating avoidable tension in the new university community and the host community by extension. “The upgrading of the institution into a full fledged university was premised on several factors, chiefly, the high quality of academic staff, who have worked assiduously over the years to produce an array of trained teachers for the primary and secondary school components. The institution also runs Post-Graduate Diploma in Education programme. ” It is, therefore, in the light of the foregoing that the union rejects in absolute terms any attempt whatsoever to truncate the upgrading of the institution to a full fledged university status. It is an ill wind that blows nobody no good, and capable of precipitating crisis in the immediate university community and the host community.” Also, the President, Students’ Union Government of Adeyemi Federal University of Education. Isiaka Kamarudeen, lent his voice. “We have celebrated this and that is how it should be. Nobody should reverse our status. It will look so bad on the side of workers and students of the institution if such negative decision is taken. Government must not take any decision that can cause students’ unrest,” Kamarudeen said. But a member of the management, who preferred anonymity, expressed shock over the development. He said “I was surprised that some of our lecturers were fingered in this plot and I don’t know why people will be against good thing? I still remember the efforts of the former ACE Provost, Prof. Idowu Adeyemi, the Osemawe of Ondo and other prominent people in the state in this drive. How come some few people will now be planning to scuttle what a large number of people had laboured for? “The former Provost gave room for lecturers to develop themselves and through that many of them got their Ph.D, and I don’t know why some people will now complain that we have fewer Ph.D holders?