The Harbingerngr News

*It’s archaic — Atiku, *Says FG acting like military regime, *FG’s declaration unacceptable, draconian — CSOs, *It’ll lead to capital flight —Don, *We’ll subject it to public hearing — Senate, *We haven’t been briefed on the matter — Reps THE National Assembly has waded into the controversy generated by the Federal Government’s plan to peg the age limit for students to write the West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate, WASSCE, examination at 18 years. It would be recalled that the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, recently announced plans by the Federal Government to set the age limit for the examination at 18 years. This is even as government’s decision elicited more condemnations, as former Vice President Abubakar Atiku and civil society organisations, CSOs, described it as archaic and draconian. They also asked the government to put it on hold and call a meeting of stakeholders in the education sector to deliberate on the matter. It’ll be subjected to public hea

  *As organisers gear up for October protests Organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests have issued a 17-point ultimatum to the Federal Government ahead of their planned demonstrations on October 1, 2024. The demands include the immediate and unconditional release of detained protesters, the unfreezing of their assets and compensation for the distress and hardships endured during peaceful demonstrations. The movement also called for the removal and prosecution of government officials accused of suppressing protests and violating human rights. One of the organisers, Omoyele Sowore, released a list, yesterday that seeks the scrapping of the 1999 Constitution, its replacement with a people-made constitution, and the restructuring of Nigeria to accommodate its diversity. Other demands include: “Pay Nigerian workers a minimum wage of no less than N250,000 monthly. “Invest heavily in education and provide Nigerian students with grants, not loans, aggressively pursue free and compulsory ed

*Calls for govt intervention amid rising insecurity *Kidnapping not by Fulanis in Iwoye Ketu — Dende RESIDENTS of Iwoye-Ketu, in Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State, under the auspices of “The Iwoye-Ketu Development Forum,” have called on Nigerian government and international community to intervene in the killings of natives and residents of the community by suspected Fulani arsonists. Meanwhile, reacting to the allegation, the Ogun State Chairman of Myetti Allah Cattle Dealers Association, Alhaji Abubakar Dende, exonerated his people, saying the kidnapping was not by the Fulanis living in Iwoye Ketu, but foreigners. The community said the recent attack on the town has threatened peace and security of the community and evoked painful memories of the tragic events of 2002. The community in a statement by the Chairman, Chief Semiu Usman-Legitan and Secretary, Wale Fadipe, said the current violence was eerily reminiscent of the violent clash between the indigenes of Iwoye-Ketu

*Condemns incessant harassment by security agencies   THE Media Rights Agenda, MRA, has condemned the continuous harassment and intimidation of journalists in Nigeria by security and law enforcement agencies.  The organisation expressed concern over recent cases of abductions, arbitrary arrests, detention and other attacks on media professionals, stating that these incidents pose a serious threat to media freedom and democracy in the country. According to Head of MRA’s Legal Department, Ms. Obioma Okonkwo:  “The harassment and intimidation of journalists by the Police and other security agencies have reached alarming levels and are posing a grave danger to media freedom and democracy in Nigeria.” MRA cited the recent cases of Ms. Ayomide Eweje, Managing Editor of Alimosho Today; Mr. Wisdom Okezie, a former reporter with the same organisation, and Mr. Oluwamodupe Akinola, the Publisher, who have been summoned to report to the office of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2 C

THERE is high level of corruption in the country because there is lack of trust in the society wherein the ruled do not believe in the rulers and everybody doing things for his or her personal gains. This was stated by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Lagos State University, LASU, Prof. Olufunsho Omobitan, while delivering the 97th Inaugural Lecture of the institution. The title of the lecture was: The logic in corruption and development: Is corruption bad? Is development good? Credence and perception. According to him, “transparency matters a lot and determines individuals’ levels of trust in the government and various individuals at large,“ and called for more transparency in the public and private lives of people. Omobitan opined that poverty and corruption are interrelated and that corruption determines the poverty level in a country, while poverty also results into more corrupt practices.  Proferring solutions to how corruption and poverty could be tamed, he said: “Policymak

THE Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, has embarked on a seven-day warning strike over the abduction of their colleague, Dr. Ganiyat Popoola, who has been in kidnappers den for eight months. The President of NARD, Dr. Dele Abdullahi, announced the strike during a virtual emergency meeting of the National Executive Council held Sunday. Abdullahi said  the strike, which commenced midnight of Monday,  is a warning but total in effect. He said: “The strike is total, and there will be no concessions or emergency care during this period. All centres, both federal and state are to ensure full compliance even as proper handover of patients to Consultants should be done. “Any centre found to have defaulted the decision of NARD would be fined heavily and denied participation in the forthcoming NARD AGM.” A Registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, Dr. Popoola was abducted on December 27, 2023 with her husband and nephew. Her husband was release

Seventy-five Nigerians, including 22 minors, have been detained by the police for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests, with many denied basic needs such as food and water. A Federal High Court in Abuja granted a 60-day extension to detain the protesters, including minors, pending investigations, a decision criticised by human rights activists. The minors, aged 14 to 17, were arrested during the 10-day protests that ended on August 10, and have been held without trial or legal representation. The police have accused the protesters of terrorism, treason, treasonable felonies, arson and related offences.  However, human rights activists said these charges deny the detainees their fundamental rights. According to Omoyele Sowore, leader of the #RevolutionNow Movement, the detention of minors is ‘horrendous’ and must be resisted by all.  Sowore condemned government’s action, saying it was unbelievable that the protesters were accused of planning to overthrow the government with p

*It’ll draw back education — NUT, *We’ll go to court — Parents *We’ll  respond later — WAEC, *We want meeting of stakeholders — CONUA  *Why’re parents rushing their children? — ASUU PARENTS and stakeholders in education sector have condemned the decision of the Federal Government to peg the age at which students can write the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations, SSCE, at 18, saying it will simply draw the sector back. The groups reacted to the comment by the Minister of Education, Professor  Tahir Mamman, that from 2025, any candidate, who is not up to 18 will not be allowed to write the examination and without doing so, such candidate won’t be able to seek admission into tertiary institutions. Among the stakeholders are Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, the National Parents/Teachers Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, the Congress of University Academics, CONUA, the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU and a member of a non-governmental organisation, Concerned Parents and

A Federal High Court in Abuja has frozen 32 bank accounts allegedly linked to the recent #EndBadGovernance protests across Nigeria. The court order directed banks to place a Post-No-Debit, PND, on the accounts and to apprehend the account holders or any persons transacting business on these accounts. Justice Emeka Nwite’s ruling was in response to an ex-parte motion filed by counsel to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Mohammed, who alleged that the accounts were used to promote terrorism financing, treasonable felonies, cyberbullying and cyberstalking. According to the judge, the court order aims to prevent the suspects from transferring or withdrawing funds from the accounts, which could jeopardize the investigation and possible prosecution. He declared:  “The banks are hereby directed by this honourable court to issue details of the account package(s) and to place a Post-No-Debit, PND, on the accounts, disable the ATM, while allowing inflow into the said accounts from the dat

THE Inspector General of Police , Kayode Egbetokun , has said President Bola Tinubu transformed his life in 1998  within 24 hours of meeting him as a young officer. He said President Bola Tinubu made significant impact in his life and career. Egbetokun, who made the revelations at the unveiling of a book in his honour, titled, “Readings in Policing, Peace, and Security” at Police Conference Centre, Abuja, said:  “I thank the Almighty God by whose grace I'm alive today to receive this incredible honour. My life and career are a testament to God's infinite mercy. It has been God all the way for me. “As I'm standing here today, my mouth is filled with testimonies. I would have loved to share some of these testimonies, but today is not Thanksgiving Day. I will, therefore, reserve the details of that for another day. “I must, however, acknowledge the significant impact of a particular individual on my life and career. I met President Bola Tinubu in 1998, and that meeting produc

*Directs workers to shut down economy if Ajaero is arrested, *As global workers groups, CSOs, others raise alarm over worsening rights abuses in Nigeria *Why Ajaero turned down Police invitation—Falana, *Demands full details, nature of allegations *Says Ajaero can only honour invitation  August 29  NLC President, Joe Ajaero FOLLOWING the invitation of President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, JOe Ajaero, by the police on allegation of criminal conspiracy, terrorism financing, treasonable felony, subversion and cybercrime, the labour movement yesterday said it will not be silenced by state-sponsored harassment, intimidation, attacks and persecution. The NLC said it remained committed to its opposition to mass suffering and hunger occasioned by the anti-people policies of the Federal Government, saying some interest groups are doing everything possible to silence the current leadership of Congress. It also called on its affiliates to shut down the economy should Ajaero be arrested by th