The Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil, is confronting a potential shutdown after the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) disconnected its power supply despite the university paying N20 million of its N60 million monthly electricity bill.
The abrupt disconnection has plunged the university into darkness, posing significant challenges to its operations, particularly in supplying water to the campus, according to Prof. Abdulkadir Dambazau, the Dean of Students’ Affairs.
Speaking to reporters in Wudil on Monday, Prof. Dambazau revealed that the university administration is now contemplating three options amidst the crisis: shutting down the university, advising students not to return after their semester vacation, or requiring them to endure living without electricity.
“The management has been diligent in meeting its financial obligations, but KEDCO’s decision to escalate our monthly bill from N16-17 million to N50-60 million, along with an accumulated debt of N248 million, has placed us in a dire situation,” Prof. Dambazau stated.
Read also: Wike challenges FCT Senator Kingibe, predicts loss of support in 2027
He further appealed for assistance from the government, philanthropists, and concerned citizens to prevent a complete shutdown of the university, emphasizing that the institution cannot operate effectively without uninterrupted power supply.
“The university community is hopeful that with support from stakeholders, we can overcome this challenge and continue providing quality education,” Prof. Dambazau concluded.
Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil belongs to the Kano State government.
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Aliko Dangote University faces shutdown after power disconnection despite partial payment
Galatasaray sign Batshuayi from Istanbul rivals
Michy Batshuayi on Monday became the first foreign footballer to sign for all of Turkey’s big three clubs when he joined Galatasaray.
“An agreement has been reached for the transfer of professional football player Michy Batshuayi for three seasons,” Galatasaray announced on its social media account on X.
The 30-year-old striker, who was 55 Belgium caps but was not included in the country’s Euro squad, has appeared for both the other Istanbul giants.
He played the last two years at Fenerbahce, who finished as runners up to Galatasaray last season. He spent the 20201-2 season on loan at Besiktas from Chelsea.
Ahead of the confirmation of the transfer, Batshuayi’s wife Amely Maria said she received threats on social media from fans.
“Shame on those who threaten my family and wish death on my child for football, and you dare to talk about family?” she wrote in a post she later took down.
“What a shame!!! Racism and death threats? God sees you all.”
AFP
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France beat Belgium 1-0 to reach Euro 2024 quarter-finals
France, on Monday, beat Belgium 1-0 to advance to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
Antoine Griezmann returned to France’s starting XI against Belgium in Duesseldorf on Monday.
Atletico Madrid forward Griezmann was dropped for Bradley Barcola by coach Didier Deschamps for France’s 1-1 draw with Poland, Les Bleus’ final Group C fixture.
But the 33-year-old returned for the heavyweight contest, while Kylian Mbappe started up front with what he called his “horrible” face mask protecting his broken nose.
Details later…
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Sen Kingibe seeks legislative backing for women inclusion in governance
Federal Capital Territory, FCT, senator, Ireti Kingibe, has emphasized the need for new legislation in Nigeria to ensure the inclusion of women in governance.
Speaking as a guest on Arise Television on Sunday, Kingibe highlighted that countries with women in governance demonstrate a direct correlation between economic development and women’s participation in policy and decision-making.
She said, “In the parties you know, let me give you an example. When they ask for three delegates from each Ward, they’ll just bring male delegates.
“Immediately the parties say three delegates from each Ward, but one must be a woman, they’ll start to bring in the women.
“I’m not trying to say that we are law abiding, but it would help if it was the law, number one.
“Then it means that the onus will be on the parties, government agencies, whatever to look for competent women, do you understand. And, they are there.”
Addressing the notion that women do not support each other in elections, Kingibe stated that this is a thing of the past, noting that there is now greater awareness among women.
She revealed her efforts to create a database of women across the country to use women voters as a lobbying block.
Kingibe said, “I’ll tell you, the truth is that, maybe that was so in the past, but the awareness and thinking of women has changed somewhat.
“I know that I got a lot of support from women across board, across parties, across everything, number one.
“Number two, myself and some other women are working on creating database of women all across the country. So we can use women voters as a lobby block because it’s not enough to say do something.
“You have to show me that so, if I don’t do it, what will you do? Do you understand. And that would help.
“And the second thing, why women are not voting for women, how many women do you see on the ballot? That is also a problem.
“Even as proactive as I expected Labor Party to be, out of a hundred and nine tickets, maybe only two or three were women, and that is across board.
“So, unless women are on the ballot, you can’t say they’re not being voted for.” She added.
Women representation in government in Nigeria remains a topical issue in the political space.
Currently, the Nigerian Senate has only four women.
Sen Kingibe seeks legislative backing for women inclusion in governance
Police kill two bandits in Benue
Policemen in Benue, on Sunday, killed two suspected bandits in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of the state.
In a statement on Monday, the state Police Command Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, said men of Operation Zenda invaded the hideout of the bandits located at Tse Uza, Mbatyula Council Ward in Katsina-Ala LGA.
She said, “Upon arrival at the camp, bandits engaged the police in a gun duel to resist invasion into their camp but were overpowered by the superior firepower of the police team.
“Two of the bandits received gunshot injuries, they have been confirmed dead by a doctor and corpses deposited at General Hospital, Ukum, while other suspects escaped.
Anene listed the exhibits recovered from the camps to include; two Pistols loaded with ammunition, three (3) locally made short guns, thirteen (13) motorcycles, camouflage uniforms, six (6) walkie-talkies, one (1) Toyota Corolla and one (1) tricycle.
The Command spokesperson said that the command had intensified efforts to clamp down on bandits in the Sankera axis of the state in the last three months.
She added that several operations carried out in the axis had led to the arrest of suspects who have been charged to court while others were neutralized in the course of the exchange of firearms and ammunition that have been recovered and many camps dislodged.
Anene said that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Hassan Yabanet commanded the bravery exhibited by the officers and, at the same time, enjoined the people of Sankera to make available useful information to the police about suspects at large who may be seen with gunshot injuries.
The Sankera axis, which comprises Logo, Katsina-Ala and Ukum local government areas, is the flashpoint of criminality in the state.
Wike challenges FCT Senator Kingibe, predicts loss of support in 2027
Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), engaged in a verbal exchange with Senator Ireti Heebah Kingibe, warning her that she would lose popular support in the upcoming elections in 2027.
Speaking at the Flag-off of the Mabushi Bus Terminal in Abuja on Monday, Wike expressed disappointment over Senator Kingibe’s criticisms of the FCT Administration instead of collaborating with them.
“I overheard somebody on Arise TV this morning. Unfortunately, I hear the person is a member of the National Assembly and it is unfortunate I say so. With all due respect, what you don’t know, you don’t know, what you know you know, and the good thing for you is to tell people you don’t when you don’t know, then people will educate you,” Wike remarked.
He continued, addressing the criticisms directly, “The Honourable Minister of state and my humble self-have not been in office for more than 11 months and the person is angry that they are praising us. If you don’t want or you are angry about that, go and hang yourself on a transformer. If we have done well, we have done well. If we haven’t done well, we haven’t done well. I am proud to say that in the short time that Mr. President has appointed us, we have done well.”
Read also: INEC lacks constitutional mandate to conduct local govt elections – Mahmood Yakubu
Wike challenged Senator Kingibe’s legislative record, questioning her contributions to improving the education and health sectors in the FCT. He also issued a political challenge, stating, “I challenge that legislator. If you are very popular, 2027 come and run under Abuja, we will fail you.”
Asserting his position as the FCT Minister, Wike emphasized, “Luckily for me, I am the FCT Minister now. So that is my territory and I’m not afraid.”
Wike also dismissed the need for seeking political alliances, stating, “We are not begging for anybody to become our friend; we have so many friends that we cannot even carry along.”
Senator Kingibe had earlier criticized the Wike-led administration on a television program, distancing herself from any personal rapport with the minister.
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Oyebanji swears in new permanent secretaries
The Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has charged civil servants in the state to be committed to probity, transparency, and prudence and also allow teamwork in their undertakings.
Oyebanji, who spoke in Ado Ekiti on Monday, while swearing in four new permanent secretaries, urged them to embrace innovation and technology in their official duties and ensure they brought “creativity, compassion and vigour to bear on their job as permanent secretaries”.
The new permanent secretaries are Mrs Funke Ajibola, Mr Michael Boluade, Mr Foluso Akinwumi, and Mr Rotimi Akomolede.
The governor, who urged the permanent secretaries to justify their appointment by giving their best at all times, said, “You must see yourselves as both managers of human and material resources of government.
He said, “You must therefore be committed to probity, transparency and prudence, especially at a time like this. As human resource managers, you will be expected to foster an atmosphere of teamwork, confidence building and collective responsibility.
“You should be a leader who inspires others and a solution provider. You must also embrace innovation and technology.
“In the next few months, this administration will be two years in office, we therefore need to run faster than we have been. Accordingly, all permanent secretaries must double up and increase the tempo of service delivery to achieve the shared prosperity agenda of government as it relates to their ministries, departments and agencies.”
The Head of Service, Sunday Komolafe, who expressed his appreciation to Oyebanji for allowing him to serve, also lauded the governor for his various welfare packages for civil servants, which have bettered the lives of workers in the state.
Boluade, who spoke on behalf of the new permanent secretaries, thanked the governor for the appointment, assuring that they would remain committed to developing the state.
Cargo boom drives NRC revenue to N1.4b in three months
The Nigeria Railway Corporation has disclosed that it made an 84:91 per cent increase in its revenue in 2024 compared to its 2023 first-quarter performance.
This was according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics.
Unlike the first three months in 2023 when the corporation made a total of N768.44m, in 2024 the corporation recorded N1.42b in the same time under reference.
The corporation also recorded a significant increase in the amount of revenue made from carrying cargo.
Also in the same period, NRC collected N607.32m from goods and cargo conveyed via rail, against N181.27m received during the same period in 2023.
“In terms of revenue generation, N1.42 billion was received from passengers during the reference period, showing an increase of 84.91% from the N768.44 million recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.
“Similarly, N607.32 million was collected from goods/ cargo conveyed via rail in Q1 2024, up by 235.03% from N181.27 million received in Q1 2023. In addition, revenue generated from the movement of goods/cargo via pipeline stood at N59.14 million in Q1 2024. Other receipts amounted to N25.40 million, indicating a decline of 25.65% in Q1 2024 from the N34.17 million received in Q1 2023.”
The report further showed that more persons travelled via rail this year, putting the passengers’ number at 675,293 “relative to 441,725 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2023, indicating a growth rate of 52.88 per cent.
“The volume of goods/cargo transported via rail in Q1 2024 stood at 160,650 tons compared to 59,966 tons recorded in Q1 2023. In the quarter under review, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) reported an additional volume of goods/cargo transported via pipeline which stood at 8,000 tons.”
Renowned Albanian writer, Ismail Kadare, dies at 88
Albanians mourned Ismail Kadare, their “greatest cultural monument”, Monday after the acclaimed novelist – tipped several times for the Nobel Literature prize – died of a heart attack at a Tirana hospital aged 88.
Prime Minister Edi Rama led the tributes with the president of neighbouring Kosovo Vjosa Osmani hailing Kadare’s “remarkable contribution to Albanian and world literature.”
Through the epic sweep of novels like “Broken April” and “The General of the Dead Army”, the writer used metaphor and quiet sarcasm to chronicle the grotesque fate of his country and its people under the paranoid communist dictator Enver Hoxha.
Despite being branded a traitor by Albania’s communist leaders when he defected to France in 1990, Kadare was accused by some of enjoying a privileged position under Hoxha, who cut the Balkan country off from the rest of the world.
It was an accusation he dismissed with withering irony.
“Against whom was Enver Hoxha protecting me? Against Enver Hoxha?” Kadare told AFP in 2016.
– ‘Should have won Nobel’ –
Rama referenced that debate in his tribute on Facebook, thanking the novelist for the “extraordinary pleasure” of the worlds, characters and emotions “he conjured up with the ease of a magician”.
He said he also took pleasure in the jealousy Kadare’s success stirred in the “mediocres” who criticised him.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said “Kadare was the gleam of creativity, of humanity and of individual genius… in the darkness of dictatorship.
“He found ways to illuminate, to question and to laugh” even “within the harshest political and artistic restrictions,” he added on X.
While Kadare was the eternal Nobel bridesmaid, he won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005 for his life’s work, with judges saying his storytelling “goes back to Homer”.
British novelist and biographer Nicholas Shakespeare said Kadare “should have been given the Nobel”, with former prime minister Tony Blair’s ex-right-hand man Alastair Campbell also taking to X to hail “such a great writer”.
– ‘Magician’ –
Albanian writer Lea Ypi, author of the award-winning memoir “Free”, posted that he was an “all-time magician of words”: “The first verses I learned to recite were from you.”
Translated into more than 40 languages, the prolific Kadare put Albanian literature on the map internationally from the 1970s.
“He reshaped both Albanian letters and society thanks to works published during those dark times (of dictatorship) and afterwards,” said Persida Asllani, head of literature at the University of Tirana. “He may have left this world” but his work would go on influencing people, she said.
In one of his last interviews in October, he told AFP his writing helped him subvert the repression he suffered.
“The hell of communism, like every other hell, was smothering in the worst sense of the term,” he said.
“But literature transformed that into a life force, a force which helped you survive and hold your head up and win out over dictatorship.
“Which is why I am so grateful for literature because it gives me the chance to overcome the impossible,” said the writer, who despite being visibly frail, was still working.
AFP
INEC lacks constitutional mandate to conduct local govt elections – Mahmood Yakubu
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has clarified that the commission does not possess the constitutional authority to oversee local council elections across Nigeria, except within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Yakubu made this statement during a two-day induction retreat for INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) held on Monday in Lagos on Monday.
Addressing concerns about the possibility of INEC taking on the responsibility for local government elections nationwide, Yakubu emphasized that such a decision hinges on constitutional provisions.
“It is a constitutional matter,” Yakubu asserted. “Unless there are necessary amendments to the constitution, INEC will continue to organize national and state elections only.”
He explained further, “The constitution that establishes INEC also creates the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), and we cannot usurp their roles.”
Yakubu highlighted that INEC currently conducts local government elections solely within the FCT, overseeing elections for six area council chairmen and 62 councillors. He commended the commission’s performance in the FCT elections, noting their commitment to conducting them effectively.
Read also: Abia Speaker denies expelling journalist from press briefing, calls reports false
“While there is advocacy for INEC to handle all elections, constitutional amendments are required for such a shift,” Yakubu emphasized. “At present, we have not reached that point.”
The ongoing constitutional amendment process has seen some Nigerians advocating for the dissolution of SIECs to enable INEC to assume control of local government elections. They argue that this move would curb alleged irregularities and ensure fair distribution of local councils’ allocations currently influenced by state governors.
It will be recalled that earlier this year, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), supported the scrapping of SIECs, advocating for INEC to assume their responsibilities. Fagbemi cited the need for independence and transparency in the conduct and outcomes of local government elections nationwide.
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