News, Events and People.

 

  Northern states owe NECO N2.8bn, exam body laments National Examination Council (NECO) The National Examinations Council has said that the northern state governments owe it examination fees of N2.8bn. The Registrar and Chief Executive of the council, Dantani Wushishi, made the disclosure while speaking in Minna on Saturday. Wushishi, however, said despite the debt, the council did not withhold results of defaulting states in the spirit of mutual respect togetherness and understanding. He added that they were already engaging the affected states towards resolving the matter amicably. He reminded them that it is with the money NECO utilise in the payment of staff who participated examination exercise as well as purchasing He reminded them that it is with the money NECO utilise in the payment of staff who participated examination exercise as well as purchasing of materials for smooth conduct of the Examination.  of materials for smooth conduct of the Examination. “State Governments offe

  Umezurike wins Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism 2021 The Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism 2021 has been awarded to Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike. Umezurike got the award for his critical essays – “Self-Publishing in the era of military rule in Nigeria, 1985 – 1999,” “Postcolonial Ogres in Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow,” and “Land of cemetery: funereal images in the poetry of Musa Idris Okpanachi.” This was announced by a member of The Nigeria Prize for Literature Advisory Board, Prof. Olu Obafemi.

  Law professor, Onyemelukwe, wins $100,000 NLNG Prize for Literature Prof. Cheluchi Onyemelukwe Author and professor of Law at the Babcock University, Ogun State, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia, has been announced the winner of the 2021 Nigerian Prize for Literature for her book, Son of the House. The Chair of the Advisory Board for the prize, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, made the disclosure at the award ceremony and public presentation of the winners of the 2021 edition of the three NLNG prizes at Expo Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. Her work beat Abi Dare’s  The Girl with the Louding Voice and Obinna Udenwe’s , Colours of Hatred, to clinch the prize. In the presentation, Adimora-Ezeigbo, said the novel was chosen not only because it was full of suspense and intrigue but for how it was able to “tell human and indeed universal stories of rural as against urban life, suffering and survival, loss and redemption, decline and renaissance, destruction and reconstruction, and death

  ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE eNAIRA The eNaira is a digital version of the paper naira issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Playing a purely complementary role to the naira, the digital currency will have equal value as physical cash that we use in our day-to-day activities. Contrary to what many think, the eNaira is not a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin or any other kind of crypto. It is not decentralised and cannot be privately controlled the way cryptocurrencies are. However, like these currencies, the eNaira is built on a blockchain open ledger technology; this is to ensure that a holder of the CBDC cannot have a duplicate or fake eNaira because each eNaira note will be unique. Another concern that comes to mind is the stability of the eNaira. Before venturing into the unknown, especially in financial matters, security and stability are matters of key interest for any party in a given business transaction. When it comes to the eNaira, people want to know if it

  FG extends NIN-SIM linkage till Dec 31 as enrolment hits 66m The federal government has again extended the ongoing national identification number (NIN) and subscriber identity module (SIM) integration exercise till December 31, 2021. The deadline was shifted from the previous date of October 31. Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, conveyed the approval of the federal government to extend the deadline in a statement issued on Saturday. The statement was jointly signed by Ikechukwu Adinde, director of public affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Kayode Adegoke, head of corporate communications at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), has conveyed the approval of the Federal Government to extend the deadline for the National Identity Number (NIN)-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) data verification. Citizens and legal residents are urged to com

  Italian varsity confers honorary degree on Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Okonjo-Iweala receives doctorate degree from Liuss University. Similar report:  https://www.edoborsblog.com/2021/09/dr-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-calls-herself.html The Liuss University in Rome, Italy has conferred a honotary doctorate degree on the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The former Nigerian Minister of Finance shared the goodness via her verified  Twitter  page on Friday. She shared pictures of the ceremony, noting she was awarded the honorary doctorate degree in Politics. She shares the pictures  below:           Okonjo-Iweala said, “So honored to have been awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree today in Politics by Luiss University @UniLUISS, Rome, Italy. A wonderful graduate institution with a global reach, educating students to solve problems of today and be prepared for those of tomorrow.”

  ASUU rejected planned N1m undergraduate school fees, says Osodeke ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Emmanuel Osodeke, has revealed how the union, during its last negotiations, rejected Federal Government’s plan to increase school fees of all university students to N1m. He said government’s plan was to open an education bank and give each student a loan of N1m annually at five per cent interest rate to sponsor themselves in school and then pay back when they graduate and start working. Osodeke stated this while answering questions from participants at a one-day ‘state of the nation summit’ organised for ASUU members by the Bauchi zone of the union. He said, “At the last negotiation, the first thing they told us was that we should negotiate for our allowances and salaries but we said no, let’s  discuss funding first. When we know how much you’re going to pay, then we can negotiate salary. Reluctantly, they went on.

  Why I resigned as Enugu Commissioner for Lands - Victor Nnam Victor Nnam: Explains why he cannot continue as Enugu Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development in a letter to Governor Ugwuanyi In a letter dated Oct. 29, 2021 and addressed to the state governor, Nnam said that his resignation was due to undue interference from certain quarters. The resignation letter partly read: “ Sir, when you appointed me in 2019, I accepted the appointment with hope that I was going to be allowed to bring world best practices in land administration. “I immediately proposed for establishment of a GIS land administration system to enable the ministry stamp out land grabbers and create investors’ confidence in our land system. “The proposal was rejected without explanation till date,” he said. Nnam, however, said that the reason for the resignation was due to the recent removal of the professional heads of department under him on punitive grounds. He said that such people were removed for simply doin

  Manhunt is launched after convicted killer, 54, who strangled a woman with a belt went on the run from open prison in Gloucestershire  Convicted killer Marcus Coates, 54, was jailed for manslaughter in 2012  He absconded from open prison HMP Leyhill in  Tortworth, Gloucestershire  Avon and Somerset Police warned the public to stay away and call 999 Coates was last seen at Bristol bus station between 8.30-9.30am on Thursday +4 Marcus Coates, 54, has a number of tattoos A convicted killer who strangled a woman with a belt is at the centre of a police hunt today after he absconded from an open prison. Marcus Coates, 54, was serving a sentence for manslaughter at HMP Leyhill in Tortworth, Gloucestershire.  Coates, who killed Jennie Banner, 32, in August 2011 and left her body for five days, was last seen near Bristol's bus station on Thursday night.   He was convicted of manslaughter in 2012. Following the court case, Detective Chief Inspector Jon Clayden described him as having a &#