Oyinkis Blog

Immediate-past President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, debunked allegations that his administration awarded contract for arms procurement to the tune of $2 billion.Jonathan, who spoke in Washington DC, on “Presidential elections and democratic consolidation in Africa: Case studies on Nigeria and Tanzania,” a conversational forum, co-hosted by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Center for Strategic and InternationalStudies (CSIS), stated categorically that “I did not award any $2 billion contract for procurement of weapons.”Former President Goodluck JonathanJonathan queried, “Where did the money come from? “I did not award a contract of $2billion for procurement of weapons,” reports Premium Times.At the forum moderated by USIP Senior Advisor to the US President and member,NDI Board of Directors, Ambassador Johnnie Carson, Jonathan also shared his views on those elections and their significance in the consolidatio...

UNIVERSITIES CUT OFF MARKAmbrose Alli University,Ekpoma (AAU) 180Adekunle AjasinUniversity Anyingba(AAUA) 180Abia state polytechnic(AbiaPoly) 150Abia State UniversityUturu (ABSU) 180Ahmadu BelloUniversity (ABU) Zaria 180Afe Babalola UniversityAdo-Ekiti (ABUAD) Not Specified.Akwa-Ibom StateUniversity (AKSU) 180Alvan Ikoku FederalCollege of Education 180Anambra StateUniversity Uli (ANSU) 180Auchi Polytrchnic 150Benson IdahosaUniversity Not Specified.Bauchi State University 180Bells University ofTechnology, Ota Not Specified.Bowen University Not Specified.Benue State University 180Bayero University Kano 180covenant university Not Specified.Cross River University(CRUTECH) 180Delta State University,Abraka (DELSU) 180Dental School Enugu 150Ebonyi State University(EBSU) 180Ekiti State University,Ado Ekiti (EKSU) 200Enugu State Universityof Science Technology(ESUT) 180Federal PolytechnicNekede 150Federal PolytechnicAdo-Ekiti 170Federal Polytechnic,Bida 150Federal Poly Ede 150Federal Polytechni...

From one traumatized person to another, the 275 women rescued last week from the evil forest of Sambisa told different tales of woes at the weekend.During a visit to Malkoi, one of the camps for displaced persons in Yola, Adamawa State, the Daily Times met women young and old, as well as girls who may need a long time to readjust to normal living.Some of the women disclosed that they trekked for three days before they were rescued and finally arrived in Yola.Their disheveled and gaunt looks drew sympathy from onlookers. Many of them looked hunger-stricken while the children kept wailing as a result of illness and malnutrition.Some of the women and children had to be assisted as they could not walk on their own. Another set could not alight from the vehicles that brought them from Sambisa following exhaustion and hunger.One of the returnees is Asabe Aliyu, a 23-year-old mother of four children from Delsak, a village near Chibok town. She intermittently vomited blood an indication that s...

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the establishment of two new private universities in the country. The decision was taken at the weekly meeting of the council, presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan. One of the new universities is Edwin Clark University located in Kiagbodo, Delta State. The university belongs to Chief Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader and major supporter of the President. Clark was also a former Federal Commissioner of Information in the First Republic. The Minister of Information, Patricia Akwashiki, announced the approval for the new universities during the post-FEC press conference in Abuja. Akwashiki also named Hezekiah University, located in Umudi, Imo State, as the second private university approved by the council. She said, “The Minister of Education tabled a memorandum to seek the council’s ratification of the President’s anticipatory approval for the issuance of provisional licence for the establishment of Edwin Clark Univer...

The Federal Government has condemned the execution of four Nigerians by Indonesian authorities over drug-related offences, despite pleas for clemency by President Goodluck Jonathan, describing it as a disappointment.The government however extended its condolences to the families of the deceased, demanding the repatriation of thecorpses of the executed persons for them to be given a decent burial in their various communities.A terse statement on Wednesday night from the Public Communications Division of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, gave the names of the executed Nigerians as Martin Anderson, Okwudili Oyatanze, Jaminu Abashin and Sylvester Obiekwe.The government however warned all Nigerians to desist from drug trafficking and other offences, which attract maximum punishment in several countries of the world.The statement read, “The Federal Government of Nigeria has received with deep disappointment, news of the execution of four Nigerians, Messrs Martin Anderson, Okwudili O...

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have warned against any move by the government to remove subsidy from petroleum products.Nigeria’s National Assembly had passed the 2015 appropriation bill without allocating any money for subsidy payment.Speaking on Wednesday, Deputy President of the NLC and chairman of the joint May Day celebration of the NLC and TUC, Peter Adeyemi, told journalists that organised Labour believed that government had never subsidised petroleum products.The Labour leader lamented that the bane of the sector had been corruption, pointing out that past government tried without success to address the issue.He said: “If you are asking whether we will back the removal of fuel subsidy, the answer is no. It is not as easy as that. You know that it has been a very contentious issue over the years. We have always said that there is nothing like subsidy. It is all about corruption.“Let me take your mind back and say that this sa...

Four members of an international robbery gang suspected to be from Ghana were yesterday shot dead by police in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital. The State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) men who carried out the operation also arrested two other members of the gang who were seriously injured during a botched attempt on a bureau de change office in Itoku, Abeokuta. The gang which fell into the trap set by the police was said to have attempted to rob the forex operators before they met their waterloo. Parading two of the suspects, Adamu Bamako and Ibrahim Tanko, who were injured during the shoot-out, the state police spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, described the suspects as cross-border bandits based in Ghana. Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, described the gang as notorious included nationalities of West African countries who invade Nigeria to commit crimes. He confirmed that the men of the SARS foiled the planned attack. He said the SARS operatives had been working on ...