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Prince Harry, Meghan arrive Lagos

Nurudeen AKEWUSHOLA
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Prince Harry, Meghan arrive Lagos

THE Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan, have arrived in Lagos State as part of their three-day visit to Nigeria.

They are expected to meet with the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at Lagos House in Marina.

In Lagos, the British Royal couple were guests of the Giant of Africa Foundation at the Dream Big Basketball clinic held at the Ilupeju Grammar School.

The President of the Giant of Africa Foundation, Masai Ujiri, commended the royal couple for inspiring young kids in Africa through sports.

The couples said they were delighted to be involved in programmes empowering young people in Africa.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle landed in Nigeria on Friday as part of their promotion of the Invictus Games, the sporting event he founded for wounded military veterans.

While visiting the officer’s mess complex in Abuja, on Saturday, Harry’s team dressed in yellow played off in an exhibition against a team led by Nigeria’s chief of defence staff, the country’s top military commander.

The prince’s team took an early lead with players seated on foam mats, some with missing legs.

But his team lost the match to the commander’s squad Team CDS.

The couple later attended a reception for military families where they were greeted by traditional dancers who also performed acrobatics.

They also visited a Light Way Academy to open an event on mental health in Abuja, where they were welcomed by students.

The couple had visited Kaduna State where they were received by the state Governor Uba Sani and other government officials.

Prince Harry and Meghan are in Nigeria at the invitation of the Chief of Defense Staff, Christopher Gwabin Musa and the final day of their official itinerary is today, in Lagos.

After the basketball clinic with Giants of Africa, they will attend a cultural reception and conclude the day at a polo fundraiser for Nigeria’s ‘unconquered’.

The national charity dedicated to veterans’ works in collaboration with the Invictus Games Foundation.

It had earlier been announced that their visit to Nigeria would showcase Prince Harry’s adaptive sports tournament for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.

Nigeria to receive $2.25bn World Bank loan in June

Nurudeen AKEWUSHOLA
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Nigeria to receive $2.25bn World Bank loan in June

THE Federal Government is set to receive a fresh $2.25 billion loan from the World Bank on June 13.

The loan is expected to fund two major development projects. The first is the Nigeria Reforms for Economic Stabilization to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing, which will receive $1.5 billion.

The second project, the NG Accelerating Resource Mobilization Reforms Programme-for-Results, seeks $750 million.

Recent information suggests that the government may have secured a loan.

During the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Minister of Finance Wale Edun announced that the nation qualified for a loan of $2.25 billion from the World Bank, described as almost a grant due to its favourable terms.

The package, approved by the World Bank’s Board of Directors, offers a 40-year term, including a 10-year moratorium, and a nominal one per cent interest rate.

He stated, “We have qualified for the processing just this week to the Board of Directors of the World Bank of a total package of $2.25 billion of what you can call ‘the closest you can get to a free lunch’- virtually a grant. It’s for about 10- 20 years moratorium and about one per cent interest.”

Based on the information on the international lender’s website, the two projects aim to improve Nigeria’s economic stability and ability to mobilise resources.

The funds are expected to support Nigeria’s efforts to reform its economy and improve government resource mobilisation, which are crucial for its long-term financial health and economic resilience.

The document outlines that the primary goal of the PforR programme is to increase non-oil revenues and protect oil and gas revenues from 2024 to 2028 at the federal level, with a focus on significant tax, excise, and administrative reforms.

The programme encompasses three key areas of results: implementing tax and excise reforms to boost VAT collections and excise rates on health and environmentally friendly products, strengthening tax and customs administrations to enhance VAT compliance and audit effectiveness, and safeguarding oil and gas revenues by enhancing transparency and net revenue contributions.

Additionally, the PforR programme provides technical assistance to support the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Customs Service in improving taxpayer and trader compliance.

“The principal programme development objective is to raise non-oil revenues and safeguard oil and gas revenues. This result area aims to increase the transparency of NNPCL’s financial and operational performance through audits and regular production of enhanced reports submitted to FAAC, including all relevant information; and increase net oil and gas revenues transferred to the federation,” the report read.

The ICIR reported that Nigeria has taken multiple loans from the World Bank since President Tinubu became the president amid debt crisis facing the country.

The first was approved on June 9, 2023 with a loan of $750m to boost Nigeria’s power sector. The World Bank said the loan would serve as additional financing for the power sector recovery performance-based operation.

On June 27, the World Bank Group announced the approval of a loan of $500 million to help Nigeria drive women’s empowerment. This was the second loan approved by the Bank under Tinubu’s administration. It provided a scale-up financing for the Nigeria for Women Programme.

In September 2023, the Group approved a loan of $700 million to bolster educational opportunities and empowerment for adolescent girls in Nigeria. The loan was to support the ongoing ‘Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment’ (AGILE) project. It aimed to encourage secondary education accessibility for girls residing in specific target states within Nigeria.

On December 14, $750 million was disbursed for Distributed Access through a Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project in Nigeria. The project aims to provide over 17.5 million Nigerians with better access to electricity via distributed renewable energy solutions and tackle the electricity access deficit.

AMVCA 10: Breath of Life tops with 4 awards + full list of winners

Itoro ETUKUDO
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AMVCA 10: Breath of Life tops with 4 awards + full list of winners

THE tenth edition of the biggest award show in the African movie industry, African Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) held on Saturday May 11, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos State, with Breath of Life leading the list with four awards in different categories.

The annual event, which recognises outstanding performances in television, film, and entertainment was hosted by IK Osakioduwa, while the red carpet was hosted by Toke Makinwa, UTti Nwachukeu and VJ Adams.

Celebrating the 10-year milestone, the award event however commenced with an opening speech by the Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, followed by a welcome address by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Multichoice, John Ugbe.

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Kehinde Bankole bagged the award for ‘Best Lead Actress’, while Wale Ojo clinched the award for the category Best Lead Actor’.

The award ceremony featured music performances from artistes including Congolese music star, Awilo Longomba, Kcee, Chike, Adekunle Gold, among others.

Full list of winners

Best Lead Actor
Richard Mofe-Damijo (The Black Book)
Wale Ojo (Breath of Life)-Winner
Stan Nze (Afamefuna)
Marc Zinga (Omen)
Lateef Adedimeji (Jagun Jagun)
Gabriel Afolayan (This is Lagos)
David Ezekiel (Blood Vessel)
Gideon Okeke (Egun)

Best Lead Actress
Funke Akindele (A Tribe Called Judah
Adaobi Dibor (Blood Vessel)
Ireti Doyle (The Origin: Madam Koi Koi)
Kehinde Bankole (Adire)- Winner
Evelyne IIy (Mami Wata)
Omowunmi Dada (Asiri Ade)
Segilola Ogidan (Over The Bridge)
Lucie Debay (Omen)

Best Supporting Actor
Timini Egbuson (A Tribe Called Judah)
Alexx Ekubo (Afamefuna)
 Demola Adedoyin (Breath of Life)- Winner
Itele D Icon (Jagun Jagun)
Gregory Ojefua (This is Lagos)
Levi Chikere (Blood Vessel)
Ropo Ewenla (Over The Bridge)

Best Supporting Actress
Joke Silva (Over The Bridge)
Bimbo Akintola (The Black Book)
Fathia Williams (Jagun Jagun)
Genoveva Umeh (Breath of Life)- Winner
Tana Egbo-Adelana (Ijogbon)
Ejiro Onajaife (Madam Koikoi)
Eliane Umuhire (Omen)

Best Movie
A Tribe Called Judah
The Black Book
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti
 Breath of Life- Winner
Over The Bridge
Blood Vessel
Mami Wata

Best Director
C.J Fiery Obasi
Moses Inwang
Adebayo Tijani And Tope Adebayo
 Bb Sasore- Winner
Johnscott Enah
Kayode Kasum
Tolu Ajayi

Best Series (Unscripted)
LOL NAIJA (SEASON 1)
NIGHTLIFE IN LASGIDI
THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF LAGOS (SEASON 2)
GH QUEENS (SEASON 2)- Winner
MUTALE MWANZA UNSCRIPTED (SEASON 1)

Best Series (Scripted)
Volume
Wura (Season 2)-Winner
Slum King
Itura
Chronicles

Best Documentary
Ormoilaa Ogol (The Strong One)
Lobola, A Bride’s True Price?- Winner
Empalikino (Forgiveness)
The Water Manifesto: Osun (Water for Gold)
Sowing Hope

Best Writing Movie
A Tribe Called Judah (Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele, Collins Okoh and Akinlabi Ishola)
Mami Wata (CJ Fiery Obasi)
Jagun Jagun (Adebayo Tijani)
Breath of Life (BB Sasore)
Over The Bridge (Tosin Otudeko)
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (Tunde Babalola)- Winner
Afamefuna (Anyanwu Sandra Adaora)

Best Writing TV Series
Skinny Girl in Transit (Season 7)
Wura (Season 2)
Visa on Arrival
MTV Shuga Naija
 Volume- Winner
Masquerades of Aniedo
Slum King

Best Sound Design
Ava Momoh (Over the Bridge)
Daniel Pellerin and Amin Bhatia (Kipkemboi)
Grey Jones Ossai (Breath of Life and Blood Vessel)- Winner
Samy Bardet (Mami Wata)

Best Makeup
Feyisayo Oyebisi (A Tribe Called Judah)
Francesca Otaigbe (Over the Bridge)
Campbell Precious (Mami Wata)- Winner
Hadizat Gambo (Mojisola)
Hakeem Onilogbo (Jagun Jagun)

Best Costume Design
Daniel Obasi
Demola Adeyemi
Bolanle Austin Peters, Ituen Basi, Folake Coker and Clement Effanga
Lola Awe- WINNER
Bunmi Demilola Fashina

Best Art Direction
Mami Wata (C.J Fiery Obasi)
Blood Vessel (Victor Akpan)
Over The Bridge (Abisola Omolade)- Winner
Breath of Life (Okechukwu Frost Nwankwo, Kelechi Odu)
The Black Book (Pat Nebo and Chima Temple)
Jagun Jagun: The Warrior (Tunji Afolayan)
Omen (Eve Martin)

Best Editing
Chuka Ejorh and Onyekachi Banjo
Holmes Awa
Alex Kamau and Victor Obok
Dayo Nathaniel
Antonio Ribeiro- Winner
Nathan Delannoy

Best Cinematography
Mami Wata
Jagun Jagun
Ijogbon
Blood Vessel
Breath of Life
Over The Bridge-Winner
Omen

Best Short Film
Broken Mask- Winner
Eighteenth Year
Masquerades of Aniedo
A Place Called Forward
T’egbon T’aburo

Best Indigenous M-Net Original
The Passenger
Nana Akoto
Apo
Irora Iya-Winner
Love Transfusion (Kiapo Cha Damu)

Best Indigenous Language (Southern Africa)
Service to Heart
Uncle Limbani
Motshameko O Kotsi- Winner

Best Indigenous Language (East Africa)
Where The River Divides
Wandongwa
Nakupenda
Itifaki
 Ormoilaa Ogol (The Strong One)- Winner

Best Indigenous Language (West Africa)
Mami Wata (CJ Fiery Obasi)
 Jagun Jagun (Femi Adebayo)- Winner
Ijogbon (Kunle Afolayan)
Orisa (Odunlade Adekola
Nana Akoto (Kwabana Gyansah)

Best Unscripted M-Net Original
What Will People Say
Date My Family Zambia
Nwuyee Bekee (Foreign Wives)- Winner
Royal Qlique (Season 2)
The Irabors’ Forever After

Best Digital Content
Layi Wasabi (Medical Negligence and Copyright Infringement)- Winner
Taooma (The Boyfriend)
Lizzy Jay (National Treasure)
Elozonam, Jemima Osunde & Angelina Idoko (Hello Neighbour)

Best MNet Original Series (Scripted)
The Slum King- Winner
Half Open Window
Itura
The Passenger
Magic Room

Best MultiChoice Talent Factory Series
Grown
 Her Dark Past-Winner
Somewhere In Kole
Full Time Husband
The 11th Commandment
Mfumukazi

Trailblazer of the Year

Chimezie Imo

Industry Merit Awards

Idowu Philips (Iya Rainbow)

Richard Mofe Damijo

 

CSO asks Niger Speaker to rescind planned marriage for 100 female orphans

Nurudeen AKEWUSHOLA
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CSO asks Niger Speaker to rescind planned marriage for 100 female orphans

A Civil Society Organization, Take it Back Movement, has called on the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, to rescind his decision to marry off 100 female orphans in the state. 

This follows a report by The ICIR that the Speaker is set to marry off the female orphans to the grooms selected for them in a marriage scheduled for May 24.

In a statement signed by its Head of the Gender Department, Omolola Pedro, the Take It Back movement condemned the Speaker’s action and called for sustainable investment in women and girls.

Part of the statement reads, “It is worrisome that girl children who have lost their parents to banditry in the state are about to be ’empowered’ by being married off like some tubers of yam. Mr. Speaker has some explanations to do, about his definition of empowerment.

“One would expect that the Niger State government will compensate these girls for the unfortunate loss of their parents, leaving them to live lives alone, a result of the incompetence of the government in tackling insecurity, by providing them with education and opportunities capable of turning their lives around, but rather chose the easy way out to marry them off, a very insensitive, and careless decision.”

The organisation called on the state government to prioritise tackling the scourge of out-of-school and how it affects female children rather than giving them out for marriage.

“Child marriage remains prevalent in Nigeria because the federal and state governments have not adequately enforced laws to prevent it, such that a Speaker of an Assembly is emboldened to identify it as a worthy constitutional project,” it added.

The movement expressed dissatisfaction over how Nigerian girls are still being forced into child marriages despite the Child Rights Act.

The movement therefore called on the Speaker to “terminate the plans to marry these girls off and see to their education and equip them with sustainable life skills.”

In 2023, The ICIR reported rampant practice of forced child marriage in Niger State. The report covered the Bida Emirate of the state.

It detailed how young girls in the Emirate were tortured while resisting marriage. The girls were hypnotised by a prominent herbal doctor, scolded by relations, forced to marry in court, fled to the bush and allegedly lived in the mountains for days to escape being compelled to wed.

The girls’ parents also shared their views in the report. While some regretted the actions, others condemned their girls for rejecting their decision and going against tradition and the prevalent Islamic religion in the state.

In 2021, a report by Save the Children International revealed that about 78 per cent of girls in Northern Nigeria were victims of forced child marriage.

The report showed that Nigeria had one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world.

Even though the Niger State Speaker admitted that the brides were carefully selected for the planned wedding, it remains unclear whether they consented to it.

Another aircraft skids off Lagos Airport

Ehime ALEX
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Another aircraft skids off Lagos Airport

AN aircraft belonging to XEJet Airlines skidded off runway 18L at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Ikeja Lagos on Saturday, May 11.

The incident happened barely 16 days after Dana Air skidded off the MMA and its operations were suspended by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

The 5N-BZZ Airbus, with 52 passengers and three crew members on board, departed Abuja and landed in Lagos at 11.29 am.

On landing at the Lagos airport, the aircraft veered off the runway into the grass verge at the point of landing.

The ICIR gathered that following this development, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has shut down the 18/Left runway of the airport.

It also gathered that airport fire and rescue teams were on the ground to help in the evacuation of the passengers.

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) had confirmed the incident on its verified Instagram account.

It said the bureau’s ‘Go Team’ had been deployed to the scene for the evacuation of passengers and crew members

“NSIB confirms that an aircraft belonging to Xejet airlines skidded off the runway at the domestic wing of Murtala Muhammed Airport this morning. A go team has been deployed to the site of the incident.”

The ICIR reported that Dana Air airline skidded off the Lagos airport, had the aircraft grounded by its management, and the Nigerian aviation authorities subsequently suspended its operations pending the outcome of its investigative bureau.

Government begins six-month traffic diversion on Lagos Island roads

Ehime ALEX
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Government begins six-month traffic diversion on Lagos Island roads

THE Lagos State Government said it would begin a six-month traffic diversion on roads within Lagos Island from Monday, May 13.

The plan is to carry out major repairs of deteriorated asphaltic sections of the roads along Adeniji through Falomo, Bourdillon and Queens Drive on Lagos Island.

The Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, May 10.

He said the repair work was scheduled to begin on Monday, May 13, and to last until November 7.

To mitigate the inevitable traffic implications the closure would cause, Osiyemi said the repair works would be conducted in phases.

“Phase one will focus on the stretch from Glover Road Junction on Alfred Rewane Road to Falomo Roundabout, starting from Monday, 13th May 2024. During this phase, the portion of the road from Glover Junction to Falomo Roundabout will be closed to traffic.

“For the period of the 1st Phase repair works, motorists on Alfred Rewane Road heading towards Falomo Roundabout will turn left at Glover Road Junction onto Thompson Avenue to access Falomo Bridge through Bourdillon Road and continue their journeys.

“The other side of the road will be open to traffic (i.e. Falomo Roundabout heading towards Mainland).”

Osiyemi urged motorists to exercise patience as, according to him, the partial closure is an integral part of the traffic management strategy for rehabilitating the asphalt pavement on the affected road sections by the Federal Ministry of Works.

Lagos State has the worst road traffic among all cities, with at least 500,000 inhabitants around the world.

This is according to the Global Traffic Congestion Rankings 2023 by Traffic Index, putting Riga, the capital and largest city of Latvia, as second and Tehran, the capital and largest city of Iran, as third.

The ICIR reported recently that the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos was closed in November 2023 and reopened for public use in April, following comprehensive repairs that were carried out.

Two guards arrested for raping female student in Oyo varsity

Nurudeen AKEWUSHOLA
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0
Two guards arrested for raping female student in Oyo varsity

TWO members of the Ajayi Crowther University’s security guards have been arrested for allegedly raping a female student in the school.

Management of the institution, located in Oyo, Oyo State, disclosed this on Saturday, May 11, in a statement by its public relations officer, Olufemi Atoyebi.

Atoyebi said the university had set up its own internal panel of inquiry to investigate the allegation.

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Police arrest hotel manager in Osun for allegedly attempting to rape NYSC member

 

He added that the suspects had been handed over to the police with a vow to ensure heavy penalty on anyone found culpable after a thorough investigation.

Part of the statement reads, “Management of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo received with shock a report of alleged rape of one of our female students on Thursday, May 9, 2024, by two members of our vigilance group.

“The management promptly handed over to the police, the two people alleged to have committed the crime while the university has set up its own internal panel of inquiry to investigate the allegation.

“The management reiterated its intolerance for such misconduct and promised to meet heavy penalties on any culpable individuals.”

Sexual harassment has been a recurrent issue in Nigerian tertiary institutions, and female students are mostly the targets.

A survey carried out by the World Bank in 2018 showed that classmates and lecturers sexually harassed 70 per cent of Nigerian female graduates while in school.

“The effects experienced by victims were depression and perceived insecurity on campus,” the report said.

Although the Minister of Education Tahir Mamman has threatened to deal decisively with lecturers and other members of tertiary institutions involved in sexual harassment, the Nigerian government failed to assent to a bill criminalising the act, which was passed by the National Assembly nearly four years ago.

The bill, titled “A Bill for an Act to Prevent, Prohibit and Redress Sexual Harassment of Students in Tertiary Institutions and for Matters Concerned Therewith 2019,” was sponsored by former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege and 106 other senators.

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It proposed a 14-year jail term for offenders.

Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari did not assent to the bill till he left office in May 2023.

The ICIR reports that before the bill can be passed by the incumbent President Bola Tinubu, it has to be re-introduced to the National Assembly.

 

Fubara orders relocation of House of Assembly to Government House

Nurudeen AKEWUSHOLA
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0
Fubara orders relocation of House of Assembly to Government House

THE Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has ordered the relocation of the state House of Assembly to the Government House in Port Harcourt.

The directive came about 24 hours after Victor Oko-Jumbo, a lawmaker loyal to the governor emerged as a new factional Speaker of the Assembly and a few hours after a High Court in the state barred the pro-Wike speaker and 24 other lawmakers from parading themselves as members of the Assembly.

In a gazette dated December 14, 2023, Fubara cited the burning of the chamber of the House of Assembly as the reason for the relocation.

He explained that the current state of the chamber was unsafe and constituted a threat to the lives of the legislators and their staff.

Part of the document reads, “Now, therefore, I, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, the Governor of Rivers State, this 30th Day of October 2023, pursuant to the powers vested in me under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria hereby issue, order and direct that all proceedings and business of the Rivers State House of Assembly shall temporarily take place at the auditorium, Admin Block, Government House, Port Harcourt, until the repairs, renovation and reconstruction of the chambers of Rivers State House of Assembly.”

The ICIR reported that the caretaker committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, asked the lawmakers loyal to the state’s immediate former governor and Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to impeach the governor.

Recall that Fubara had alleged that some of his commissioners were working against him.

The governor who claimed that the state House of Assembly had been working at variance with his government threatened that the House members could cease to exist as state lawmakers if he so wished.

Fubara said these when he received a group of Bayelsa State political and traditional leaders who were in Port Harcourt, the state capital, to seek a resolution to the political unrest in the state and better ties between the two states.

Fubara told the delegation, led by the former Governor of Bayelsa State and senator representing Bayelsa West, Henry Seriake Dickson, that he had shown restraint since the crisis escalated in the state.

He acknowledged the roles some political figures, particularly his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, played in his ascent to the governorship but stated that such efforts wouldn’t cause him to idolise a man.

In addition, the governor bemoaned the way some of his commissioners were working against him.

The ICIR reports that many of Fubara’s commissioners, whom he claimed were working against him, are Wike’s loyalists. Some of them served in the former governor’s administration.

Wike and Fubara have been at loggerheads over who controls the state’s PDP structure and other issues.

Though a PDP member, Wike currently serves in the APC government.

Following the hostility between the two leaders, 26 members of the River State House of Assembly members decamped from the PDP to APC in 2023, shortly after assuming office.

The feud had degenerated into nearly physical combat between their loyalists, and the possible chaos was so palpable in the state that President Tinubu had to intervene twice before tempers were calmed.

However, the camps of both leaders have continued to threaten a showdown less than a year after the leaders were gamboling in the same political space.

Students strip Kogi university lecturer over sexual harassment

Itoro ETUKUDO
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0
Students strip Kogi university lecturer over sexual harassment

SOME students at the Federal University, Lokoja (FUL), Kogi State, on Friday, May 10, reportedly stripped naked a senior lecturer of the institution after he was accused of making sexual advances towards a female student. 

The lecturer, whose full name has not been disclosed, was reported to have angered female undergraduates from the institution’s English Department, where he teaches, upon learning of his alleged misconduct.

They insisted he must be “publicly disgraced” and claimed that “his cup is full.”

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EXPOSED: Student accuses UNILAG lecturer of sexual harassment, releases nude photos

He was stripped to his boxers but was saved from further humiliation by the combined efforts of the school security unit at the Adankolo mini campus of the institution.

Upon interrogation, the lecturer claimed that his colleagues had provided him with the names of some students to “pass or fail” following their relationships with such female students.

Speaking on the issue, the institution’s spokesperson, Mr Daniel Iyke, noted that the management was aware of the incident and had set up a team to investigate it.

“The thing is that the university has its own internal mechanism for taking care of it. The report has been brought to the attention of the Vice-Chancellor, and he has set up a body to look into it.

“This was done immediately, and the report or outcome will be made known as soon as it comes out. At this point, this is all I can volunteer,”  Iyke said.

Efforts by newsmen to speak to the said female victim or her father, who is reported to be a serving policeman, were unsuccessful.

Sexual harassment has been a recurring issue in most Nigerian universities. There have been reports and instances of sexual harassment which have prompted increased awareness and efforts to address the issue.

In April, a video of a lecturer suspected to be a professor at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu State went viral after he attempted to sexually harass a female student.

Oga Lecturer reported that at least 43 lecturers were accused or indicted for sexual harassment between 2018 and 2023.

Dana Air sacks workers amid operational audit

Ehime ALEX
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0
Dana Air sacks workers amid operational audit

DANA Air has temporarily laid off some of its workers amid an operational audit being conducted on it by the Nigerian regulatory authorities.

The airline’s head of corporate communications, Kingsley Ezenwa, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, May 11.

The audit is to ensure the airline complies with necessary standards and regulations.

“In light of the ongoing audit, Dana Air has made the decision to temporarily disengage some staff members pending the conclusion of the audit.

“This decision has been made to ensure efficient management of resources and to facilitate a thorough review of operational procedures,” Ezenwa stated.

He said the management appreciated the sacked workers’ resilience and dedication and recognised the difficulties they had faced.

Ezenwa also said that the airline pledged to provide updates and support to its staff throughout the audit process, noting that the airline had commenced talks with lessors and was engaging stakeholders on the progress made so far.

“Dana Air therefore urges for calm and understanding from our very dedicated staff for their altruism,” he added.

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) recently suspended the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) of Dana Air after one of its aircraft skidded off the runway at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos State.

The ICIR reported that 5N BKI aircraft belonging to Dana Air, which was carrying 83 passengers from Abuja, suffered a runway excursion at the Lagos Airport.

Dana Air suffered a similar suspension in July 2022 by the regulatory authority that halted its operations on account of a financial and economic health audit carried out on the airline by the regulatory authority.

In the statement on Saturday, the management said it was working to address any concerns and was preparing a restart plan that would ensure the safe and efficient resumption of operations.

“Dana Air is confident that with the continued support of its staff and stakeholders, it will overcome these challenges and emerge stronger than ever,” the statement added.

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