Jonathan appoints Tukur, Chairman, Nigerian Railway Corporation.

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and President Goodluck Jonathan President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the immediate past Chairman of the ruling PDP, as the Chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation. This is contained in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). Tukur, 79, resigned his position as the National chairman of the PDP on Jan. 15 and has since been replaced by former Gov. Adamu Muazu of Bauchi State. According to the statement, the president also approved the appointment of Dr Ghaji Ismaila Bello as the Director-General, National Population Commission with effect from Jan. 8, 2014. (NAN) source : vanguardngr.com

Lagos Assembly Bans Public Smoking...

The Lagos State House of Assembly, western Nigeria on Monday evening passed a bill that now places fine of N10,000, three months imprisonment or both for first offenders. Lagos Assembly bans smoking in public places The law for a law to prohibit smoking in designated places and vehicles, which was sponsored by Gbolahan Yishawu, the lawmaker representing Eti-Osa Constituency 2 at the House, had lingered since last year. The law, which scaled the third reading on Monday, prohibits residents of the state from smoking in public places such as libraries, museum, public toilets, schools, hospital, day-care centres, public transportation, restaurants among others. Section 12 of the 16-section law that has now been passed to the state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, for assent also instructs owners of public places to place signs with the inscription; ‘No Smoking’ or symbols as part of enlightenment for smokers and would-be violators of the law. Section 4 of the passed bill says that it shall be the duty of those who own or occupy public places to ensure that approved signs are displayed conspicuously at each entrance and in prominent locations throughout the premises to inform smokers about the prohibition. In such public places, the owners are mandated by the law to create areas where people could smoke but that it should not be close to the vicinity. Any person who repeatedly violates the provisions of the law, according to the bill, shall on conviction be liable to a fine of N50,000:00 or six months imprisonment or both. For non-compliance by owners of public places, the law states that such offenders shall be fined N100,000 or six months imprisonment or other non custodial punishment that the judge may deem fit. The law further states that any person who smokes in the presence of a child commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of N15,000 or one month imprisonment term. Where the offence of refusal to place the sign or symbol is committed by a corporate body, the director, manager, company secretary or any person concerned in the management of the affairs of the corporate body would be liable. In this case, he would be fined the sum of N250,000 upon conviction. The law states that it is an offence to obstruct a duly authorized officers from carrying out their duties under the provision of this law. It also give authorised commissioners of the state the opportunity to designate more places as non-smoking areas for the sake of effective implementation of the law. The law gives the state Environmental Protection Agency the powers to implement it while giving aggrieved residents who have complaints against officials of the state saddled with implementing it the opportunity to report to the state Ministry of the Environment. Source : pm news

RIP

UNIJOS moves to avert fresh ASUU strike ...

Jos – Management of the University of Jos has said it is addressing errors made in the payment of earned allowances to members of staff over which the institution’s branch of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared a fresh industrial action. The branch at a meeting last Friday resolved not to participate in any academic activities until members are paid their earned allowances as presented to the Federal Government and approved, dashing hopes of the resumption of lectures today (Monday) after over six months. Registrar of the university, Mr. Danjuma Jilly-Dandam said in a statement that earned allowances were paid to all staff in October and December last year but that a few errors were noted in the payment which are “being addressed with dispatch.” The statement said payment of five months salary arrears arising from the strike to all academic staff had been completed and described the action of the ASUU branch as “detrimental to the continuous academic pursuit of the university.” “Management wishes to reaffirm that the Academic Calendar approved by Senate of the University of Jos which directed that lectures should commence on Monday January 6, 2014 subsists”, the statement added. However, the institution’s chapter of ASUU in statement jointly signed by the Chairman, Dr. David Jangkam and Secretary, N. Wannang said members resolved not to participate in academic activities over some internal issues it alleged the management refused to address. It alleged that the N1.16 billion Naira released by the Federal Government to the university as earned allowances was disbursed arbitrarily without recourse to the initial computation for 2010 to 2012 or the verified computation in 2013. “Instead the University of Jos administration shared the money as it deemed fit without regard to whether staff earned same entitlement or not, thus resulting in some members getting far less than what they are entitled to and most members getting nothing at all”, the statement said. Meanwhile, a Senate meeting fixed for tomorrow with the agendum “Urgent Academic Issues” is expected to discuss the issue with a view to averting another long strike by lecturers. Source: vanguardngr.com

Police arrest members of gunrunning syndicate in Kaduna...

The Kaduna State Police Command on Saturday in Kaduna paraded seven suspected members of a gunrunning syndicate involved in the sale, manufacture and repair of locally made guns. The Commissioner of Police, Mr Olufemi Adenaike, said that the suspected gun-runners were arrested following a tip-off from a member of the public. Adenaike said that seven suspects, including Malam Aliyu Yahaya, the Village Head of Sabon Gidan, Kakau, in Chikun Local Government Area of the state, were arrested in the operation. According to him, investigations are still going on, with a view to arresting other members of the syndicate and others involved in the manufacture and repair of locally made guns. He urged the public to continue to support security agents by providing them with useful information that would aid efforts to safeguard the state against terrorism and other crimes. Speaking to newsmen, Yahaya, who was accused of harbouring some of the suspects and being in illegal possession of guns, confessed his complicity in the crime, saying that he regretted his action. The village head said that he bought the gun from Mohammed Shuaibu for N150,000 to enable him to protect his household against the menace of armed robbers and assailants. He said that Shuaibu told him that the gun was licensed, adding that he paid him half of the price with a pledge to pay the balance when all the gun’s registration documents were given to him. Yahaya advised the public against engaging in criminal acts or possession of arms, irrespective of the circumstances. He stressed that people should rather report anything that could breach the peace and security of the society to security agencies. *Some of the arms recovered from the suspected insurgents Also speaking, Shuaibu, 45, confessed that some years ago, the police arrested him in connection with illegal possession of arms. He said that he had jettisoned the gunrunning business for over two and a half years before Yahaya contacted him to procure a gun for him. He said that that he usually bought guns from his tailor, Mohammed Abdullahi. Abdullahi, 55, said that he had been in the gunrunning business for sometime; adding that he usually purchased guns from a Nigerien (now at large) for subsequent sales to his customers. He attributed his involvement in the crime to economic hardship, saying that he had three wives, 21 children and nine children, left behind by his deceased son, to cater for. (NAN) source: vanguardngr.com

Tuface, Waje, others stir Mandela’s concert..

Despite the huge traffic along the ever busy Ahmadu Bello way, Victoria Island, Nigerians and lovers of entertainment, denied themselves the comfort of their beds to witness celebrities bid final farewell to the late former South African President, Nelson Madiba Mandela. 2face Idibia The concert which was tagged, “Mandela lives on”, kicked off at about 9 pm, with a stage performance by the Ebonylife band. The event Talented comedian, Julius Agwu, mounted the stage to do what he knows how to do best. Anchored by Obi Ebuka and Olisa, the event was graced by the cream of society and top music stars like, Tuface Idibia, Tiwa Savage, Waje, among others. The story of what happened in the show can never be complete without mentioning what happened when hip hop icon, Tuface Idibia mounted the stage to perform his award winning track, “ African Queen”. In his usual way of performing, he started by jumping up while singing and many fans followed suit. The Marvin Records songstress, Tiwa Savage stole the show as fans tuned “ Eminado” for her even before she climbed the stage. To show her numerous fans that she has it in stock when it comes to good tracks, she did not stop at only “Eminado” , she followed it up with one of her hit singles, “Oko mi” for the audience to dance away stress. What seemed to amaze fans about the show was that the Nigerian born talented singer, Waje, did not only climb the stage to perform as she was called, she also, counsel the audience. She urged people to try as much as possible, to impact positively on their next door neighbour so as to be remembered when they are no more. For her, it was not just to go and perform on stage, it was also, an avenue to advice her fans... Source: vanguardngr.com

Woman collapses, dies while testifying in church...

OWERRI — Tragedy struck in Umuogwuta, Ndegwu, Owerri West local council area of Imo State, as a lady who was giving her testimony during the New Year service suddenly collapsed and died. A villager, who spoke to Vanguard on ground of anonymity, said: “The Lagos-based lady, Ifeoma Anozie, collapsed and died while giving her testimony inside Saint John’s Anglican Church, Ndegwu.” Vanguard also gathered that Ifeoma returned to her country home not to only give testimony about her achievements in the passing year, but also felicitate with her kith and kin. “The lady had hardly commenced her testimony when she suddenly slumped and died in front of the officiating cleric and left the congregation completely perplexed,” the villager said. Speaking also on the issue, a woman who simply identified herself as Felicia, lamented that what ordinarily should have been a double celebration for the Anozie family suddenly turned sour. “The church service was designed to be a double celebration for the Anozie family. It, however, turned out to be a tragedy for the family, the church and Ndegwu community,” Felicia lamented. Other villagers that also spoke to Vanguard, said ifeoma was a very promising young lady but none could guess she would die untimely. Although Vanguard could not ascertain the cause of death at press time, as no member of the immediate family could be reached for comments. However, the remains of the lady had been deposited in an undisclosed hospital morgue. Source : vanguardngr.com

Salary arrears: ASUU commends FG on payment...

Dr Segun Ajiboye, the Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan chapter, has described the payment of lecturers’ five-month salary arrears by the Federal Government as encouraging. Ajiboye told journalists on Thursday in Ibadan that the federal government had with this started implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reached with the union. “It is encouraging that the salary arrears have been paid to members, and I believe this cuts across board. “Right now, members are ready to go back to work. We however expect government to be sincere in fulfilling other aspects of the MOU,’’ he said. Ajiboye expressed optimistic that government would not go back on the agreement.(NAN)... Source : vanguardngr.com