The National Universities Commission (NUC) has said that it is working with relevant stakeholders to set minimum guidelines for the conduct of convocations, special lecturers, and other ceremonies by universities in Nigeria.

Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki, made this known in Abuja during a retreat organised by the Commission for the members of the governing councils in Abuja on Thursday.

The NUC boss lamented the decline in the quality of conduct of these ceremonies and special lectures, noting that this constituted the hallmark of a university and tertiary education.

He noted that the unique ceremonial occasions such as the Matriculation, Convocation, and the Lectures that traditionally preceded them as well as Inaugural lectures, University Lectures, Distinguished Lectures, Faculty Lectures, and Valedictory Lectures, have, not only declined in quality but have also lost the aura for which they were once known and cherished, because of the adoption of unsavoury local mismatches.

Maiyaki stated that to correct the anomaly, the Commission has resolved to work with relevant stakeholders to establish the minimum guidelines for the conduct of university ceremonies.

He noted that there was an urgent need to enthrone a legacy of good governance values, principles, standards and best practices in our respective institutions of higher education.

He called on the council members to demonstrate good leadership and stewardship towards the growth of their Institutions.

According to him, the members have a pivotal role to play in ensuring that the reputational capital of the nation’s universities is protected, adding that they must give all necessary assurance to stakeholders, emphasising that the university system places a high premium on quality.

He stated: “It is with this goal in mind that the National Universities Commission (NUC) has organised this Retreat, aimed at providing insights into the various instruments as well as relevant legal and regulatory requirements that define the functions of governing councils.

“Our hope is that the retreat will help you to understand the cross-cutting issues that are required to ensure that our Universities are positioned for greater effectiveness.

“Your appointment is, no doubt, a testament to the unwavering commitment you have demonstrated over the years to the development of the Nigerian enterprise. I am optimistic that you will bring this commitment and your wealth of experience to bear fully on the noble task of enabling our Universities to attain their full potential.

“Good governance is at the heart of the success of all organisations in the world over. It is, particularly, important in higher education because a university is, in many ways, a far more complicated organisation than an ordinary institution.

“Governance in higher education requires an appropriate framework for accommodating a diverse group of stakeholders. Indeed, good governance informs and facilitates decision-making which, in turn, enables a university to grow and prosper.”

He noted that it was only through accountability, transparency and innovative strategies that a university can be sustained in the long term.

Maiyaki said: “Our institutions have a proud tradition of fostering intellectual curiosity, nurturing talent, and contributing to society through knowledge and discovery. In their set-up, higher education institutions are meant to be highly democratic institutions.

“The committee system which serves as the basis of decision-making, exists from the level of Council, down to the level of academic departments. The system allows issues to be freely debated and democratically decided upon at scheduled meetings. It is therefore essential for Council members to acquire extensive knowledge about the issues faced by their various institutions.”

[TheNation]

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has broken his silence on the recent judgement recognising Martins Amaewhule and 24 other lawmakers as the legitimate Speaker and members of the State House of Assembly. In a reassuring tone, Fubara declared that the worst is over and that God has prepared a table for him in the presence of his enemies, citing Psalm 23:5.

Speaking after inspecting the ongoing reconstruction of the Zonal Hospital project in Bori Town, Khana Local Government Area, Fubara assured that his administration remains committed to providing critical infrastructure for the state's speedy development. He emphasized that healthcare, education, and agriculture are top priority areas that will receive utmost attention.

Fubara expressed satisfaction with the progress of the zonal hospital project, which will benefit not only Khana but also neighboring communities. He noted that his administration inherited non-functional zonal hospitals and has released funds for their reconstruction and expansion.

The governor reiterated his commitment to fulfilling his administration's promises, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and policy objectives. He expressed optimism that the completed facilities will meet the healthcare needs of the people and address key issues in the sector.

Armed robbers on Friday attacked an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps, simply identified as Abu, who was returning from a bank and heading towards his house in the Zango area of Lokoja, Kogi State capital.

Abu was dispossessed of a yet-to-be-ascertained sum of money after shots were fired at him.

Eyewitness accounts stated that the armed robbers trailed the officer, who was riding a motorcycle from the bank up to Phase I Lokongoma in front of Lokongoma market.

He was stopped by the armed robbers who started dragging the bag containing the money with him and, in the process, shot him three times in both legs and shoulder.

The Kogi State Police Command, while confirming the robbery, said N139,000 was recovered from the scene while the officer was rushed to the hospital where he is currently receiving treatment.

“At exactly 1.30 pm, officers received a distress call and rushed to the scene at Lokongoma, Phase I in Lokoja, and met Abu, a eoad safety officer, in a pool of his own blood after being shot at both legs and shoulder.

“He was coming from the bank when a Toyota Camry Ash colour car accosted him and blocked him in front of Lokongoma Market, Phase 1 in Lokoja, and was dispossessed of an unspecified sum of money,” the state Police Public Relations Officer, William Aya, said.

Aya added that the state Commissioner of Police, Bertrand Onuoha, has drafted officers to the scene to ensure the safety of lives and property and trail the armed robbers to bring them to book.

[Punch]

The newly-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer has announced his first cabinet appointments following the Labour Party’s decisive victory in the general election.

This landmark win ends 14 years of Conservative governance.

This was Starmer’s first cabinet confirmation, with Downing Street making the announcement shortly after his assumption of office.

In a historic move, Rachel Reeves has been named the Chancellor of the Exchequer, making her the first woman in the UK to hold this critical finance minister position.

The full list of Starmer’s initial cabinet appointments includes:

Angela Rayner – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities
Rachel Reeves – Chancellor of the Exchequer
David Lammy – Foreign Secretary
Yvette Cooper – Home Secretary
John Healey – Defence Secretary
Pat McFadden – Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Ed Miliband – Energy Secretary
Bridget Phillipson – Education Secretary
Wes Streeting – Health Secretary
Shabana Mahmood – Justice Secretary

Vanguard News

President Bola Tinubu extends his warm congratulations to Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, on the victory of his party in the United Kingdom general election.

As a former leader of the opposition in Nigeria, President Tinubu specially notes the determination and courage the incoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom demonstrated throughout his years in the opposition and as the leader of the Labour Party.

The President states that the party's ability to reform, mobilize, and position itself for victory after 14 years clearly affirms the leadership qualities of Sir Starmer.

President Tinubu also congratulates the citizens and the government of the United Kingdom, describing the Kingdom as an abiding model of democracy and Nigeria's long-standing partner.

The President looks forward to deepening relations between Nigeria and the United Kingdom in mutual areas of interest and in strengthening democratic institutions, as well as in building a safer and more prosperous future for the people of both countries.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Lagos State Command has beefed up security at its entrance in the wake of a planned protest.

The Nation reports Friday that operatives of the Lagos State Anti-Crime Outfit – Rapid Response Squad and men of the Department of State Services are among the joint security forces stationed at all routes leading to the EFCC office located at Awolowo Road in the Ikoyi area of the state.

On Thursday, the commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale said intelligence at the disposal of some Civil Society Organisations showed that a former governor and two former ministers are behind the protests being organised against the EFCC.

This is coming after the commission had raised the alarm that some groups were planning a series of protests against it. 

A user on X.com identified as #PidomNigeria had shared the demands of the protesters – Concerned Nigeria Youths, in a letter dated July 4, 2024, and addressed to the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede.

The protest is due to take place with a hashtag on X.com as #ReformEFCC.

As seen by PUNCH Online, the demands include, “Respect our fundamental human rights, Stop indiscriminate arrest and invasion of people’s homes/businesses in the middle of the night like armed robbers, Stop the stereotyping and profiling of young innocent Nigerian youths, Be more professional and civil in your operations,” among others.

The protest will take place in some other states across the country — Edo, Enugu, Kwara, Oyo, Gombe, and the Federal Capital Territory, among others.

[Punch]

THE CNN American Presidential Debate showed humanity is in a catch-22 situation while the European high speed far-right turns on the cliffs, threaten to plunge humankind into an uncertain world.

The far-right turns have been taken in countries like Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Serbia, France and to some extent, Germany.

The only light visible at the end of the European tunnel is the British elections in which the Labour Party is set to end rudderless Tory rule. The British Conservative Party rule has been so chaotic that it has in the last 14 years produced five Prime Ministers: David Cameroon, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Despite this welcome change, it is difficult, to distinguish the migration policies of the main British parties. They follow the emerging pattern in most of Europe where the policies of the far-right, right-wing, centrist, liberal, labour and left-wing parties on migration and commitment to a common humanity are blurred.

In fact, some European governments have lost all sense of humanity in dealing with the issue of migration as they deliberately ensure that migrants are drowned in the seas, or they do the drowning themselves.

The British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, in its documentary of Monday, June 17, 2024 titled ‘Dead Calm: Killing in the Med?’ provided irrefutable evidence of Greece deliberately forcing migrants to their death in the seas or intentionally drowning them.

The BBC, which analysed 15 such cases, reported that: “In five of the incidents, migrants said they were thrown directly into the sea by the Greek authorities. In four of those cases they explained how they had landed on Greek islands but were hunted down. In several other incidents, migrants said they had been put onto inflatable rafts without motors which then deflated, or appeared to have been punctured.”

In one of the cases, a Camerounian man, and his fellow travellers, Didier Martial Kouamou Nana and Sidy Keita from Cameroun and Cote d’Ivoire, were hunted down by Greek authorities after they landed in September 2021 on the island of Samos.

They were beaten and thrown into the sea without life jackets. The first two drowned while the survivor managed to swim to shore.

A Somali migrant who was caught in March 2021 by the Greek army on arrival on the island of Chios, was handed over to the Greek coastguard. The latter zip-tied his hands behind his back and tossed him into the water. Luckily, one of his arms broke free and he swarm to safety. But the other three victims, tossed into the waters, died.

One of the most heart-wrenching cases the BBC verified, occurred in September 2022 when a boat carrying 85 migrants had its motor cut out near the Greek island of Rhodes. The Greek coastguard which responded to their May Day call, loaded them onto a boat, then put them in life rafts. Survivor Mohamed said the raft he and his family were given had not had its valve properly closed, so they began to sink. He said: “We immediately began to sink, they saw that… They heard us all screaming, and yet they still left us.” Seven or eight children had died before the Turkish coastguard arrived.

One year before the BBC report, the most criminal case against Greece occurred on June 14, 2023 off south-western Greece. A fishing trawler crammed with over 700 migrants sent a distress call the morning before. The Greeks merely sent out an helicopter to circle the ship. It was only at 11pm, a Greek coastguard boat arrive. Three hours later, the ship sank claiming over 600 souls.

Survivors claimed the ship capsized when the Greeks tried to tow it while the Greek Government claimed the vessel refused assistance.

Italy might be worse than Greece. While the latter ensures that distressed migrants at sea die out of deliberate neglect, Italy backs its actions by law. Its Piantedosi Act of February 24, 2023 makes it a criminal act for any vessel already having rescued migrants on board to rescue other distressed migrants at sea even if they were seen drowning.

As we might know, the policy of the current British government is to round up alleged illegal migrants, fly them to Rwanda and dump them in camps.

Given these official policies and acts, physical attacks on migrants in some European cities and a consensus towards a far-right swing, Europe might be losing its soul.

In the case of the USA, not a few were alarmed by the lacklustre performance of a clearly tired, slow and uninspiring 82-year-old President Joseph ‘Joe’ Robinette Biden in the June 27, 2024 CNN American Presidential Debate. After 36 years in the Senate, eight years as Vice President and four years as President, Biden should have given way to a younger, more energetic and mentally alert Democratic Presidential candidate. But a caucus, desperate to cling on to power, has pushed him to the point where four months before the Tuesday, November 5 Presidential election, questions are being asked whether Biden is mentally and physically fit to run.

It is not that some of us who are worried are Democratic Party or Biden supporters. We are just concerned that the road is being cleared for the return of his predecessor, Donald Trump, a mercurial character convicted on sundry cases, including “hush money” paid to porn actress, Stormy Daniels. We are worried that a narcissist adult who does not seem capable of distinguishing between truth and falsehood and, openly tried to carry out a coup against the American state, may be sworn in next January as the President of ‘God’s Own Country’.

But it is debatable whether Trump would have been worse than Biden in the on-going genocide in the Palestine. Biden poured $12.5b aid into Israel even when it was obvious that what is afoot is genocide against the Palestinians. To collectively punish the Palestinian populace, he stopped US aid to the UN Peace and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

As the Palestinian casualties rose, Biden said : “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed.” So for him, the issue is not the massacres, but that the figures might not be high or high enough. Thrice, the Biden Presidency vetoed the UN Security Council, UNSC, resolutions calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Palestinian War. Finally, as worldwide protests mounted, he submitted a ceasefire agreement to the UNSC to which he claimed Israel had agreed. It turned out that this was false.

The far-right swing in Europe, and the threatened Trump return might mean that the West is defining its own humanity and that its mask of civility has pulled off.