NEWS
ASUU Decries Victimisation of Members in Some Universities
The University of Jos Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has decried the victimisation of its members in some public universities in the country.Prof. Jurbe Molwus, the Chairperson of the union in the university said this during a news conference on Tuesday in Jos.Molwus said that the affected members are employees of Lagos State University (LASU), Ojoo, Kogi State University (KSU), Anyingba, Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki, Ambrose Ali University (AAU), Ekpoma, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Igbariam.
The Chairperson explained that some of victimised lecturers had their appointments either illegally terminated or suspended, adding that others were denied promotion or had their salaries withheld.”At LASU, there has been a running battle against our union which manifested in the victimisation of some leaders of our union in the institution.”Due to the unpatriotic actions of the state government, KSU Anyigba is today a shadow of itself; it has fallen short of the dreams of its founding fathers with no allegation of infringements leveled against our members yet they are being punished.”At FUTO, the Vice Chancellor and her collaborators have continued to unjustly punish our faithful members because of their patriotic stance against the illegal appointment of Dr. Isa Pantami to the rank of a Professor.”Our secretariat at COOU is under lock and key and our members are prevented from holding meetings; their salaries have been withheld for over a year and some of them suspended mainly because they are against the violation of academic standard in the university.”In all of these, our members have suffered and still suffering untold hardship. So, we want a stop on the victimisation of our members in public universities, ”he said.Molwus explained that the continuous victimisation of ASUU members was responsible for the current brain drained in Nigerian universities.The chairperson called on the judiciary to speedily dispense justice on matters concerning ASUU of the union.(NAN)NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)