Long queues for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are beginning to resurface at filling stations in Lagos and Ogun states, and in few other locations in South-Western states.
It was gathered that queues were not seen in Abuja and other states in the North, it was learnt that depots in Lagos were gradually running dry of petrol.
Queues were sighted at many stations, particularly those on the Oshodi-Ojodu Berger Expressway and some sections of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, as vehicles that waited to purchase petrol stretched into the expressway, slowing down movement on the service lane.
North-West filling station had the longest queue, as it dispensed petrol at N568/litre. Others such as Eterna – N568/litre; NNPCL – N568/litre; TotalEnergies – N570/litre; and Mobil – N570/litre had shorter queues.
Conoil, Enyo and Oando at Berger in Lagos, had no product to dispense.
While some of TotalEnergies stations were seen dispensing, a branch of the station located on the Berger axis was locked.
A few others such as Worldoil, Fatgbems and Quest in Ogun State shut their outlets.
The Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Satellite Depot, Akin Akinrinade, told newsmen that the depot had not loaded products in the last three weeks.
According to him, even the NNPCL Retail depot is currently operating skeletal dispatching of products.
“From our end, the issue has been with the pipeline vandalism which we raised an alarm over since July. Satellite depot has not loaded any product in the last three weeks, and whenever there is a problem here, it is going to affect Lagos and the whole of South-West.
“Although I don’t know what has been happening in other depots, from what we gathered yesterday, even NNPC Retail has been operating skeletal product dispatching.
Designer of Nigeria’s national flag , Pa Taiwo Akinkunmi, has passed on at the age of 87.
Pa Akinkunmi’ s death was announced on Wednesday August 30, 2023 by his son Samuel Akinkunmi via a post on his Facebook page.
Samuel in the post wrote “Life is indeed transient; I can say boldly you lived a life with a landmark. Continue to rest on, my father! Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi (O.F.R) Great Man has gone.”
The late Pa Akinwumi who hails from Owu in Abeokuta, Ogun state was born on May 10, 1936.
He attended Baptist Day Secondary School, Ibadan for his Primary education and Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan for his Secondary education.
He took up an appointment as a Civil Servant at Secretariat Ibadan.
After some years of service, he travelled overseas to study Agricultural Engineering at Norway Technical College.
In 1958, during his stay abroad, late Pa Akinkunmi stumbled on an advertisement in a national daily calling for submission of designs for the Nigerian national flag in view of the imminent Independence from British governance.
He immediately began work on his own entry which was eventually selected as best among the roughly 2000 entries submitted.
The original design of the flag featured a white band flanked by two green ones; a red sun with streaming rays was located on the white band.
The sun was eventually done away with by the overseeing committee to produce the present design.
Akinkunmi’s design was selected because of its ingenuity and profundity (the green bands represent the forests and abundant natural wealth of the country, while the white band represents peace).
The flag was officially hoisted on Independence Day (October 1, 1960) instead of the British Union Jack.
Akinkunmi was awarded 100 pounds by the government when his design was selected.
He has also been honoured with the MON (Member of the Order of the Niger) Award by President Goodluck Jonathan.
To mark his 77th birthday, a Christian organisation called G-Next did a home makeover in his Ibadan residence.
A group of senior military officers has gone on national television in Gabon saying they have seized power because elections held over the weekend were not credible.
The officers, appearing on Gabon24 in the early hours of Wednesday morning, said they had cancelled the elections, dissolved all state institutions and closed the country’s borders.
They said they represented all security and defence forces of Gabon.
The announcement came shortly after the state election body said President Ali Bongo Ondimba had won a third term in office in Saturday’s disputed elections.
“In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers said.
The Gabonese Election Centre said Bongo had secured 64.27 percent of the vote compared with 30.77 percent for his main challenger Albert Ondo Ossa, after a process beset by delays.
Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from Kenya, said that “there are lots of uncertainties” surrounding the military action.
“There is a lot of tension as well. They [military leaders] are claiming that the government has not been respecting the will of the Gabonese people for so many years and they say that has to change,” said Soi.
On Saturday, the opposition camp said the election was a “fraud orchestrated by Ali Bongo and his supporters” after the internet was cut and a curfew imposed. French media outlets France 24, RFI and TV5 Monde were also banned, accused of “a lack of objectivity and balance … in connection with the current general elections”, the government said.
President Bongo was the candidate for the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), the party founded by his father, Omar Bongo, who led Gabon from 1967 to 2009. After his death, his son, then the defence minister, took his place as president and has been in power ever since.
“We have no idea where President Bongo is. The military did not say where the president is. Things are moving very fast,” reported Soi.
The ten kingmakers arrived the palace at ten in the morning after security men have cordoned off the place to forestall any break in law and order since early Tuesday morning and voting process started, as planned by the officials of the Iseyin local government and security agents.
Reports emerging from the selection process of the new Aseyin of Iseyin at the king’s palace indicated that Prince Olawale Semiu Oyebola has emerged as the preferred candidate of the kingmakers.
The ten kingmakers arrived the palace at ten in the morning after security men have cordoned off the place to forestall any break in law and order since early Tuesday morning and voting process started, as planned by the officials of the Iseyin local government and security agents.
The outcome of the votes cast showed majority votes in favor of the 53year old.
Prince Oyebola is the 30th Aseyin after the demise of late Dr. Abdganiy Salawudeen Adekunle Oloogunebi Ajinese 1.
Men of combined security team of Oyo State have been stationed at Iseyin Palace as a result of the ongoing meeting between the kingmakers who have been given mandate by the Oyo State government to conclude the selection process of the new Aseyin of Iseyin.
It was gathered from another reliable source that the last meeting of the kingmakers and community leaders concluded that September 5th or 6th, 2023 would be picked for the program but the State government directed that the process be hastened, so that a new king would emerge in due time without any rancor.
The people of Iseyin woke up early Tuesday morning to see police detachments cordoning the Aseyin palace, sending mix reactions as to why could such happen when the new Aseyin is yet to emerge, but were told by palace source that kingmakers were meeting to pick a new Aseyin.
ODUDUWA NEWS gathered from another reliable source that the last meeting of the kingmakers and community leaders concluded that September 5th or 6th, 2023 would be picked for the program but the State government directed that the process be hastened, so that a new king would emerge in due time without any rancor.
Our Correspondent also gathered and reported earlier that the decision of the community leaders, committee of Iseyin Princes and Princesses and kingmakers agreed that any kingmaker that fail to cooperate with the process would be replaced with a Warrant Chief.
The details of this morning’s meeting and the reaction of all fourteen candidates who applied to be the next Aseyin of Iseyin would be revealed later.
The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Southwest Nigeria, has announced the imposition of a dress code on its students by banning any skimpy dress or one that covers faces.
The school management said sexually provocative dresses would no longer be allowed in the school.
The university which made this known in a statement announcing the review of its students’ handbook with specific jurisdiction of students’ code of conduct, also banned backless clothes, transparent wear, off-shoulder clothes, bum shorts, tattered jeans, dreadlocks, earrings for male/cowries for female, and micro/mini dress.
The university also banned sagging of trousers or knickers for males and females, hair braiding for males, nose, mouth, eye or extra rings, crop/jump tops, unconventional wearing of caps, tattoo/indelible markings for males, multi-coloured braid for females, haircuts with inscriptions, T-shirts with obscene inscriptions depicting immorality, hooliganism, etc., heavy make-ups, rumpled and dirty clothes, and hair plaiting or weaving by male students.
According to the school, violators of any of the dress codes will be rusticated from the school for one semester while in addition, any student found with coloured hairstyles, hair braiding for males, or spangled hairstyle for males will be rusticated for two semesters from the school.
The school management said it would rusticate students found touching, kissing and hugging a member of the opposite sex and students found massaging or sitting on the lap of the opposite sex for two semesters.
The school management urged male students to note that their hair should be neat and well-combed at all times and that the hair should not be coloured (except it is a natural colour).
Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU Bans Veils, Skimpy Dresses, Tattoos, Coloured Hair, Others For Students, To Rusticate Defaulters
The school management said, “The Students’ Code of Conduct applies to student and organization behaviour that occurs on university premises; at university-sponsored/related activities, and to off-university.
“Students are expected to engage in responsible social conduct on and off campus that reflects credit upon the university community and to model good citizenship in any community. Each student is responsible for his/her conduct from the time of admission through the actual awarding of a degree, even though the conduct may occur before classes begin or after classes end, as well as during the academic year and during periods between terms of actual enrolment.”
It recalled that the University Governing Council, at its meeting held on Tuesday, February 19, 2002, considered the adoption of a Dress Code for students in the University and that the Council recognized the need for the dress code “mainly in the interest of public decency, as well as ethical and security reasons which necessitate the need to identify every member of the community and impress on them the need to be decently dressed. Council also reiterated its decision in this regard at its meeting of June 20, 2018.
“The Guidelines as approved by Council for strict compliance by students include the dressing which is sexually provocative and exposes vital parts of the body that are supposed to be hidden (such as the chest, navel and thighs) are prohibited; the identity of all students must, at all times, be visible, i.e., their faces must be fully visible. The form of dressing that obscures identification poses serious security problems.
“While the university recognizes the individual freedom of dressing, due cognizance must be given to decency and security.
“After more than twenty (20) years of implementation of the above Council decision on Dress Codes for students in the university, it has become absolutely necessary for the university to revise/review the above dress codes with a view to making them more specific and also recommending appropriate sanctions for deliberate/willful disregard or violations of the Dress Codes by students.”
Reacting to the imposition of the dress code on students of the university, an alumnus of the school, Hassan Taiwo Soweto, who is the National Coordinator of Education Rights Campaign (ERC), a non-governmental organisation, described the university’s action as “shameful”.
Soweto said it is “shameful that at a period when the education system is faced with multifaceted crises of funding, poor infrastructure, mass exodus of academics and declining teaching quality, a university administration that should have its hands full dealing with each of these crises curiously has time to monitor the length of its students’ skirts and the what colour of hair they carry on their heads.”
“If the University wants to build the character of its students, it can only do so by persuasion, not imposition,” he added.
The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has lifted the suspension order slammed on the Lagos state chairman of the union, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (MC Oluomo) and other members by former president of the union, Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa.
The suspension order was lifted by the newly inaugurated National President of the union, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, in his inaugural address in Abuja.
According to him, the suspension, which was given during the tenure of Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa was slammed on those he termed as enemies.
Agbede noted that the suspensions were illegal, adding in particular that MC Oluomo was unfairly treated, and therefore begged him to return to the union.
The new NURTW boss accused his predecessor of misusing power and destroying the union, particularly in the southwest.
“One of the main problems created by Baruwa was the arbitrary suspension and expulsion of members perceived as his enemies.
“Through this has destroyed the union, especially in the southwest. So, I, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, on behalf of other members of my executive, leaders and members of our union throughout the country, hereby lift the illegal suspension of our esteemed members throughout the country.
“Of particular concern is the suspension of Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya, the Lagos state chairman of our union. He was unfairly treated by Alhaji Baruwa. It was a pure case of misuse of power. We hereby appeal to Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya to come back home. NURTW is one big family and that is where you belong,” he said.
Speaking on his plans for the union, the new NURTW boss said they are ready to cooperate with all state governments as well as the federal governments and bring the union back on track.
“By the special grace of God, we shall be meeting all the governors in southwest for discussion on how to work together. We will cooperate with them in Oyo, Ogun,O Lagos,Ondo and Ekiti to get our union back on track. It is a new dawn in NURTW.”
“I have worked with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu before and it was beneficial so now that we are both at the national level we shall replicate some things we did in Lagos. For instance, we took part in the success story of BRT program and some of LAMATA projects. We shall replicate the same thing at the federal level,” he stated.
Fourteen persons were injured in a multiple accident that occurred at Magboro junction along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Sunday.
Journalists gathered that three vehicles were involved in the crash that occurred around 8.30am after a Mazda bus reportedly rammed into a yellow commercial bus from behind at the junction, causing the other vehicles to lose control, leading to the crash.
Residents who spoke with our reporters who visited the scene after the crash said the yellow bus was badly damaged after it was hit by the Mazda bus.
A driver, Salami Idris, who conveys passengers from Magboro to the Mowe area of the expressway, said he narrowly escaped, saying he and his passengers would have also been victims.
“The driver of the Mazda bus filled with passengers was speeding. It hit the yellow bus from behind, and the bus fell towards the sloppy part of the junction where commercial motorcyclists were usually stationed. It was God that saved us. The driver’s hand was badly injured and the bones on his hand were seen,” Idris said.
A motorcyclist who gave his name as Ahmed said he saw officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps taking the injured victims away, expressing fear that some people might have died in the crash.
But the spokesperson for the Ogun State Sector of the FRSC, Florence Okpe, when contacted, said nobody died and 21 passengers were involved while 14 of them were injured.
Okpe said, “No life was lost. It was a multiple crash and three vehicles were involved. The people involved were 21 in number, and 14 people got injured – eight males and six females. It was due to speeding and wrongful overtaking and one of the vehicles lost control.”
A student, Adesina Shalom Ololade, who sat for the just-concluded West African Examination Council (WAEC), examinations in June 2023, scored A1 in nine subjects.
Ololade, who is a student at Rehoboth College, Ilorin, Kwara State scored distinctions in English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and four other subjects.
Asked about how he achieved the feat, Ololade said since his school instills discipline, and has zero tolerance for examination malpractices, he motivated himself to study hard, far, and wide.
The brilliant boy whose father and mother hail from Ondo and Kwara States respectively, urged the government to bolster reading culture among students by providing well equipped libraries in strategic places in the society.
He admonished students to continue to work hard and have no mind for shortcuts to success.
Congratulating the student and his family in a statement signed by the proprietors, Engr Sam Popoola (and Mrs Grace Popoola; and the chairman, board of Governors, Prof Alfred Adegoke; the school management described Ololade as a sterling example of the values of the school and another addition to the growing list of successful scholars churned out by the school.
Adegoke noted that the remarkable achievement again goes to show the pace setter, trailblazer, forerunner, and leader that Rehoboth College has been since its inception some 20 years ago.
For their part, the proprietors of the school, stated that Ololade , who was the head boy of the school during the 2022/2023 session, “showed excellent leadership qualities throughout his secondary education, which culminated in his enviable performance in the WAEC examinations, thereby positioning Rehoboth College, Ilorin, on the international map”.
They attributed the brilliant performances of the students of the college to the doggedness, tenacity and sacrifice of the teachers; as well as management’s unwavering passion to mould students’ lives on the foundation of Godliness and self-discipline.
The students of University of Lagos UNILAG have declared their intention to embark on protest September 6.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen through the SUG as read in part:
“It has become imperative to inform the public of mass protests against fee hike scheduled to start on September 6, 2023, as all Nigerian students, parents, civil society organizations, informal workers, are set to hit the streets to say enough of untold hardship meted on us.
“Recall that in the wake of the announced fee hike poorly orchestrated by the duo of the Tinubu-led Federal Government and the UNILAG Management, we in the Students Solidarity Group Against Fee Hike engaged in series of actions to enlighten members of the public of the dangers this anti-poor policy portends for the generality of the people.
“Our argument remains that the responsibility of funding public education can not be shifted to poor students and their parents even in a draining economy such as this. We also maintain that the decision taken by the UNILAG Management, supervised by their employers, remains authoritarian, illogical and economically inconsiderate.
“It is also important to state that after engaging in a discussion, and for over 4 weeks, the UNILAG Management has failed in its promise to reconvene the meeting with the student delegation. We are civil and we believe that our civility should be reciprocated with respect, especially from people saddled with the responsibility of serving the public.
“The social consequences of this menace at our door steps can not be overemphasized. If allowed to stand, many of our colleagues will drop out, says the survey we conducted. Dreams will be shattered. The social inequality gap will be widened by this inhumane action. Those who will manage not to drop out of school, will drop out of class, i.e- they won’t stay in class, as the fee hike will push everyone to become compulsory hustlers. Lecturers will justifiably sell “hand-outs” openly and bribes for grades will become the order of the day. Cases of sexual harassment for grades will also increase as students who do not stay in class will have to find unwholesome means to “excel” academically.
“Our lecturers, some of whom are postgraduate students, including those who are sponsors (parents/guardians) to many students would not be able to afford these fees. For example, a lecturer (earning a salary of 200,000) who has 2 children in UNILAG will be forced to pay a minimum of 1 million Naira as obligatory and accommodation fees. This is to say our lecturers won’t be able to afford the service they provide. An economy where workers are paid minimum wage of 30,000 has no business with public school fees of over 300,000.
All these social consequences are pointing to a sharp decline in the quality of education in our schools, as against the propaganda of the government and the management. We say No to the privatization and commercialization of education through the backdoor- the student loan scheme.
Evidence in the past has shown that nothing progressive can come out of the fee increment. Fee hikes have been monitored over time and have been found to be anti-progressive. They won’t improve any standard of learning or living conditions. A very close example is the increment of accommodation fees at the College of Medicine, Idi-Araba in 2019.
The hostel fees were increased from 23,000 to 44,500 but there was no commensurate change in the living standard of students staying in those halls of residence. What then is the assurance that at the new fee- 120,000, there would be any improvement? Education especially in a developing country, must not be reduced to a profit-making venture for private profiteers.
It is to this end, we call on every Nigerian to join the struggle for the survival of public education, to mobilize and march on the streets with us as we put an end to added suffering, starting from September 6, 2023. The protests will be comprehensive and total until fees are reverted.
