NEWS
Unqualified Persons don’t Participate in NYSC Scheme, says D-G
The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Fadah, says the scheme will not relent efforts in preventing unqualified persons from participating in the national service.
Fadah gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja, at the opening of the 2022 Batch C Pre-Mobilisation Workshop.
The workshop with the theme: “Stemming Fraudulent Enlistment in the Mobilisation Process: Time for Drastic Action to Arrest the Menace”.
Fadah said he was concerned about the declining quality of graduates being presented for mobilisation for national service.
“During the 2022 Batch ‘B’ Streams One and Two Orientation programmes, field officers detected some Prospective Corps Members (PCM), especially those claiming to be foreign trained, with shocking inability to defend their supposed educational qualifications.
“Series of confessions were extracted from them, and these will hopefully assist us in carrying out further investigations.
“You will agree with me that there is the compelling need for school managers and other stakeholders in education to rise to the occasion and nip this problem in the bud,’’ he said.
This, he said, informed the choice of the theme of the workshop.
According to the director-general, at the maiden meeting with Registrars of Corps Producing Institutions in Nigeria held in April, they made commitments to strengthen their institution’s data security.
“We expect that, amongst other steps, the institutions will always ensure that only credible officers are entrusted with the task of handling the data of their graduates being processed for mobilisation,” he added.
The Registrar, Joint Admissions Matriculation Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, called on corps producing institutions to ensure that they followed laid down procedures to reduce mistakes in the mobilisation process.
He added that JAMB had also employed various measures to sanitise admission processes as some claimed that mistakes were made at that stage which affects them during mobilisation for NYSC.
“Such measures is the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS), an automated vehicle used for all admissions since its introduction during the 2017/2018 admissions exercise,’’ he said.
Oloyede said that the system had restored autonomy to the institutions with regards to admission process, ensured transparency and involvement of candidates in the admission process.
He, however, said that the current challenges experienced by the board includes menace of fraudsters defrauding candidates with illegal admissions and delay by institutions in processing genuine applications for service, leading to desperation by candidates.
Oloyede added that there were also attempts by students to compromise staff of the board and of institutions to be mobilised for national service.
He, however, said that JAMB had also diligently prosecuted officers forging or aiding and abetting forgery and other illegal activities.
The Director, Corps Mobilisation, Mrs Victoria Ango, said that previous pre-mobilisation workshops, had provided avenue for review of previous performances and in the process, brought new ideas to overcome observable challenges in the mobilisation process.
She also said that this had led to reduction in mobilisation of unqualified persons.
“The success should largely be attributed numerous innovations through enhanced level of collaboration with all stakeholders.
“A lot however needs to be done as we observe gaps in uploads, faking of academic credentials and many other acts of academic dishonesty.
“These little acts of deviance nonetheless, cannot vitiate the appreciable gains we have made in improving the mobilisation process.
“That justifies continued engagements with the hope that we shall surely attain desired level of excellence,” Ango said. (NAN)
NEWS
FG Declares Public Holidays for Christmas, New Year
The Federal Government has declared Wednesday, Thursday and Jan.1, 2025 as public holidays.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Ministry of Interior’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Magdalene Ajani, on Monday in Abuja.
According to Ajani, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said that the public holidays were to enable citizens to celebrate Christmas, Boxing Day and the New Year respectively.
“The Christmas season is a good moment for both spiritual reflection and national renewal.
“As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, let us demonstrate kindness and extend goodwill to one another, irrespective of our differences,” the Minister.
Tunji-Ojo emphasised the importance of the season as a time to foster harmony and to strengthen bonds across families and communities.
He assured citizens of the federal government’s continued commitment to ensuring peace, security, and prosperity across the nation.
He further expressed confidence in the renewed hope agenda of President Tinubu’s administration for a better and prosperous economy in 2025.
The Minister, on behalf of the federal government sent warm greetings to all Nigerians, urging them to use the festive period to reflect on the values of love, peace, and unity that the season signifies.(NAN)
NEWS
Hoodlums Attack Etsu Lokoja’s Palace, Raze Properties
Some suspected hoodlums on Saturday attacked the palace of Etsu Lokoja, Chief Emmanuel Dauda-Shelika, Nyamkpa IV, burning properties within the premises, including a vehicle.
The palace, located on plot 306, New Layout, Lokoja, was allegedly attacked by hoodlums at about 1:00 am on Saturday.
The Nupe Natives of Lokoja Development Union were planning to host the 2nd edition of the Nupe Natives end-of-the-year event, tagged “Lokoja ’24 Nupe Cultural Fiesta,” on Dec.
21, 2024, before the incident occurred.The event was, however, aborted due to the unfortunate attack.
Dauda-Shelika said this on Monday in Lokoja that he heard a big bang on my door at around 1 am.
“I woke up to check through the window, wondering what could have happened.
“Then, I suddenly saw wildfire coming out of my car that was set ablaze by attackers.
“I knew it was an attack on the palace, and therefore I could not come out because of fear of being attacked. So, I managed to come out through the back door and scaled the fence to escape for my life.
“Thereafter, I came out to the road and realised that all my neighbours in the community were on the ground trying hard to quench the fire, but unfortunately the car was burnt as well as other properties inside it.”
The traditional ruler appealed to the government and security agencies to investigate the cause of the attack and bring perpetrators and their sponsors to justice.
He admonished Nupe natives in Lokoja to avoid any reprisal attack but continue to remain peaceful and law abiding and allow the government and security agencies to conduct a thorough investigation of the attack.
“We are appealing to Gov. Ahmed Ododo and security agencies to please use their good offices to investigate this unfortunate incident and bring to justice whoever is concerned, whether directly or indirectly.
“We also want the government to kindly visit our issues by recognising and grading the stool of Etsu Lokoja, which had been in existence before colonisation,” he said.
He stated that the Lokoja Local Government Area chairman and his security team came for an on-the-spot assessment that Saturday morning, as well as the police and other security outfits.
The National President, Nupe Natives Union Lokoja, Alh. Abubakar Ndashite, said the event scheduled for Saturday was a celebration of Nupe cultural heritage and not any form of coronation as being insinuated from some quarters.
Ndashite, who doubles as the chairman of the planning committee, said the aborted event was to project the Nupe spirit and culture as well as the rich history of the diversely composed Lokoja community and the peaceful and harmonious coexistence among her.
He expressed his displeasure over the aborted cultural event, noting that the union had expended so much on it, and urged the government to bring perpetrators to book. (NAN)
NEWS
Eight Dead, Three Injured in Ohafia Road Crash
The Abia Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed the death of eight persons with two others injured in a road traffic crash that occurred along the Bende-Ohafia Road.
A statement by the Sector Commander, Mrs Ngozi Ezeoma, on Monday in Umuahia said that the crash occurred on Sunday along the Mmuri River axis of the road in Ohafia Local Government Area of the state.
She said the crash involved a Trailer carrying chippings which hit and fell on a Sharon Volkswagen vehicle with 10 persons on board.
“At the time of the crash eight persons had died including a woman standing by the roadside and three were injured.
“The injured victims were taken to the hospital while the dead ones were deposited at the morgue,” she said.
Ezeoma said that preliminary investigation revealed that the crash was caused by dangerous driving and excessive speeding. (NAN)