-The wife of the governor of Ekiti state has spoken on her experience in the university

– Bisi Fayemi said she was harassed by her lecturer during her days in the university

– According to Bisi, her ordeal with the unnamed lecturer was unpleasant Following the recent outrage on the #SexForGrades report by BBC Africa, the wife of the Ekiti state governor, Bisi Fayemi, has also opened up on her experience as a university student.

The Cable reports that Bisi while speaking on Monday, October 7, at the premiering of the #SexForGrades video, a 53 mins documentary exposing some obscure activities by university lecturers against their students said the acts are condemnable.

Stating that some lecturers have developed a culture of entitlement on the bodies of their female students, Bisi said, she shed a tear over the experience the young students get to face.

“I cried because what these young women have to experience is the story of many of us who passed through higher institution in this country,” Bisi said.

“I was educated here in Nigeria and I too was a victim of sexual harassment during my university days. I was luckier than these victims,” Bisi added.

Explaining that her ordeal with the unnamed lecturer was unpleasant, Bisi also said that there was a code of silence during her time on issues such as this.

“It didn’t go that far but it was extremely unpleasant and of course, back in the days when all these things happened you can’t tell anyone because if you do even up till now people ask you to keep shut,” she said.

Abductors of Kaduna female pupils and staff of the Engravers College, Kakau Daji, in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Monday insisted on N10m per head for the pupils and the two staff of the school as ransom.

Some gunmen in the early hours of Thursday lat week stormed the college and took away six female pupils and two other staff resident in the school to an unknown destination.

The spokesman for the Kaduna State Police Command, DSP Yakubu Sabo, confirmed the incident.

On Friday, the kidnappers were said to have contacted the management of the college where they demanded N50m as ransom after jettisoning their earlier demand of N30m per head for the pupils.

The abductors later settled for N50m for the six female pupils and the two staff.

However, on Monday, a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told PUNCH on the telephone that the abductors declined on the earlier collective bargain they started “which was N50m per student and the two staff of the college.”

The source added that the abductors were furious over media reports and that the college should seek assistance from the state government on settling the ransom.

He added that the abductors again called that each parent of the six female pupils should pay N10m ransom while the two staff should pay the same amount, bringing the total amount to N80 million.

“They(kidnappers) are insisting on N10 million per head from the parent and the two staff. They said they wanted the money today(Monday),” he said.

The source added, “We are praying and still negotiating with them.”

Meanwhile, Special forces drawn from the Nigerian Army, Department of State Services as well as the Police were on Sunday, deployed to rescue the Engravers College pupils and teachers from their kidnappers unhurt.

It was also gathered that the security operatives were close on the kidnappers and the abductees, PUNCH has learnt.

The forces, it was gathered were being careful in the operation as according to the source, the kidnappers might be “using the pupils and teachers as human shields.”

“Pressure is being mounted on the kidnappers and victims but we have to take into consideration the lives of the victims,” the source added.

Here is a list of the winners of the Nobel Medicine Prize in the past 10 years following the announcement of the 2019 award on Monday:

2019: William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza of the US and Britain’s Peter Ratcliffe for establishing the basis of our understanding of how cells react and adapt to different oxygen levels.

2018: Immunologists James Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan, for figuring out how to release the immune system’s brakes to allow it to attack cancer cells more efficiently.

2017: US geneticists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young for their discoveries on the internal biological clock that governs the wake-sleep cycles of most living things.

2016: Yoshinori Ohsumi (Japan) for his work on autophagy — a process whereby cells “eat themselves” — which when disrupted can cause Parkinson’s and diabetes.

2015: William Campbell (US citizen born in Ireland) and Satoshi Omura (Japan), Tu Youyou (China) for unlocking treatments for malaria and roundworm.

2014: John O’Keefe (Britain, US), Edvard I. Moser and May-Britt Moser (Norway) for discovering how the brain navigates with an “inner GPS”.

2013: Thomas C. Suedhof (US citizen born in Germany), James E. Rothman and Randy W. Schekman (US) for work on how the cell organises its transport system.

2012: Shinya Yamanaka (Japan) and John B. Gurdon (Britain) for discoveries showing how adult cells can be transformed back into stem cells.

2011: Bruce Beutler (US), Jules Hoffmann (French citizen born in Luxembourg) and Ralph Steinman (Canada) for work on the body’s immune system.

2010: Robert G. Edwards (Britain) for the development of in-vitro fertilisation.

A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National assembly to revisit the sexual harassment bill passed by the Eighth Senate.

Weighing in against the allegations of sexual harassment ongoing in West African tertiary institutions, Saraki noted that the Eighth Senate, which he presided over, had passed the ‘Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Education Institution Prohibition Bill.’

The bill prescribed a five-year jail term for any lecturer, educationist or person in a position of authority in any tertiary institution in Nigeria found guilty of sexual misconduct, he tweeted on Monday via his verified Twitter handle, @bukolasaraki.

He had tweeted, “As a father, I’m appalled by the actions of lecturers captured in the #SexForGrades exposé. We cannot allow this sort of deplorable behaviour to fester.

“In 2016, my colleagues and I in the Eighth Senate passed the ‘Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Education Institution Prohibition Bill’ to prescribe a five-year jail term for any lecturer, educationist or person in a position of authority in any tertiary institution in Nigeria found guilty of such conduct.

“I appeal to the Ninth Senate and President Muhammadu Buhari
to revisit this Bill so that we can implement the institutional reforms necessary to safeguard our children in educational institutions in the country.

“I also urge the institutions to conduct robust investigations, not only on the accused but also for all other reports and complaints that come in.

“We need to believe victims and make institutions safer for our students.”

The Nigerian Governors Forum has promised to abide by the approved national minimum wage for workers in states

This was made known by the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum Kayode Fayemi on Sunday, October 6

The governor also said that governors across the states are not divided on the issue of the new national minimum wage as widely reported

The Ekiti state governor, Kayode Fayemi, has opened up on the plans of Nigerian governor on the issue of the controversial N30,000 new minimum wage. Fayemi who is also the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum said on Sunday, October 6, that governors will pay 9% of the approved minimum wage.

The Nation reports that the governor also denied reports that his colleagues were divided on the issue of minimum wage implementation across the nation.

He said Nigerian governors do not view the issue of the N30,000 new national minimum wage increase as a general wage review.

“We are not divided. We have agreed to the national minimum wage and we are paying. Even if we do not agree, the National Minimum Wage is already a law which is binding,” Fayemi said.

He also said that the forum had proposed N24,500 as Nigeria’s minimum wage but N30,000 was approved by the federal government. Nothing that the members of the forum will abide by the new approved figure which he said is now a law.

“Whilst we know that there may be a need for a minimal consequential adjustment, we (governors) are together with the Federal Government that this should not exceed 9%.

“We think nine per cent is too much for those who are already earning above the minimum wage,” Fayemi added. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Fayemi assured Nigerians that Ekiti state would begin payment of the new N30,000 minimum wage by the end of October.

The governor also said the payment of the new minimum wage will improve the standard of living household members in the state.

LOSC Lille were predicted to dispatch Nimes Olympique easily at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy to maintain their 100 percent record at home. However, when they found themselves 2-1 down to a Kevin Denkey strike in the 71st minute, it seemed like the Great Danes were set to lose.

But Osimhen had other ideas, netting the equaliser for Christophe Galtier’s side in the 79th minute to spare their blushes, and remain unbeaten on home turf this season.

By scoring on Sunday, Osimhen maintained his run of scoring in every home fixture since his debut. He now leads the scoring charts with seven goals, one more than the trio of Wissam Ben Yedder, Moussa Dembele and Habib Diallo.

How far will Manchester United sink? Just two points above the relegation places, the one-time powerhouses of English football are without an away win since March and are enduring their worst start to a league season for 30 years.

Old Trafford has witnessed a decline in fortunes since Alex Ferguson stepped down in 2013.

Under Ferguson, United finished in the top three every year from 1992 until 2013, winning 13 league titles. In the six seasons since the Red Devils have finished in the top four just twice.

But while they kept their heads above water in the immediate aftermath of Scot’s departure, winning a handful of cups and finishing second under Jose Mourinho, they are now in the middle of a full-blown crisis under beleaguered boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Mourinho, speaking a few weeks after his rancorous departure from Old Trafford last year, spoke about how taking the club to second in the table in 2017/18 was one of his best achievements.

Eyebrows were raised as Solskjaer oversaw a dramatic turnaround in fortunes during his caretaker spell in charge, but the wheels started to come off towards the end of last season.

United’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle on Sunday left them languishing in 12th spot in the Premier League — an incredible 15 points behind leaders Liverpool after just eight games.

Goalkeeper David de Gea apologised to United supporters, saying it was the toughest time he had experienced since moving to Old Trafford in 2011.

“It’s difficult to say something. Sorry to the fans, we will keep fighting for sure,” he told Sky Sports. “We will come back but at the moment we are in a difficult situation.”

– No goal threat –
United are woefully short of midfield spark and clinical finishers. Just two goals in their past five games are part of a longer-term trend, with Solskjaer’s men scoring more than once in a game just three times in their past 23 matches.

The risk in allowing forwards Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez to depart to Inter Milan without signing a replacement has massively backfired, with an out-of-sorts Marcus Rashford shouldering the attacking burden alone in the absence of the injured Anthony Martial.

Over-reliant on a crop of raw youngsters, Solskjaer pointed to a spate of injuries after the Newcastle defeat but said it was not an excuse for their lame display.

United have spent hundreds of millions of pounds under four different managers since Ferguson’s departure and have the highest wage bill in the Premier League, but are still miles behind rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.

Former United defender Gary Neville said the club’s hierarchy should take responsibility for the mess, saying they were getting the pain “they deserve” for poor decisions at board level related to recruitment and managerial policy.

“They (the club board) have cocked this up over many years,” Neville told Sky Sports. “They’ve cocked it up. They are responsible for this.”

Last month executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, himself in the fans’ firing line along with American owners the Glazers, pledged his faith in Solskjaer and the Old Trafford hierarchy will be wary of making yet another managerial change.

But since the Norwegian was appointed permanently in late March, United have won just 17 points in 16 Premier League matches, the fourth-worst tally among the 17 ever-present teams in that time.

United remain one of the richest and biggest clubs in the world but their lustre is rapidly fading.

Liverpool, who dominated English football during the 1970s and 1980s, have taken 30 years to get back to the top.

Ferguson famously quipped his biggest challenge at United was to knock Liverpool “off their perch” in his early years in charge.

“We are back on our perch, as we famously say,” Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore said at a conference last month.

Liverpool are flying high after winning their sixth European Cup last season and opening up an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Next up for the league leaders is a visit to Old Trafford after the international break with few expecting the gloom over United to be lifted anytime soon.

AS preparations for the November 2019 off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states pick up, the vexed matter of prohibitive and non-refundable expression of interest and nomination fees in the major two political parties – the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP – come back into focus.

In September last year, the two parties announced the fees amidst a flurry of murmurings from aspirants that these non-refundable fees were exorbitant, more so as in most cases, party leaders collect these huge sums of money from unsuspecting aspirants though they have no intention of allowing all the candidates a free and fair contest.

The grumbling that goes with this process was reflected in the angry tweets of the wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, directed at the Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, after her brother, Dr. Mahmood Halilu, was disqualified to make way for a primary contest eventually won by former governor, Jibrilla Bindow.

Many people believe that taking huge sums of money from aspirants and for any reason failing to allow them contest the primaries amounts to unfairness and impunity. Calls have been made that those disqualified should be given back part of their money after deducting administrative costs.

Party leaders usually defend themselves by saying that such calls for refund do not arise since it was clearly indicated before hand that the fees are non-refundable. They insist that aspirants ought to know that out of a field of contestants in a primary election, only one candidate will emerge.

Political parties resort to the shylock exploitation of aspirants because they need funds in their kitties to fund the secretariat, party activities as well as campaigns.

They strive to raise these funds to minimise the influence of governors whose financial clout enables them to seek control of the parties and thus rob them of their independence and supremacy over their members.

This exploitation of aspirants must stop. It encourages corruption among election winners and bitterness among those who fail. To some, it is actually a scam to collect money from someone for a contest and refuse to refund the money if the person is disqualified from that contest.

Over 20 years into our third democratic experiment, political parties should return to the age-old culture of raising funds from their members for their operations. Squeezing political candidates and governors with impunity seriously corrupts our democracy.

A 54-year old woman who acted as a midwife at the baby factory in the Ijegun area of Lagos state, Sherifat Ipaye, disclosed that she collected N15,000 for each delivery, while her partner in crime, Happiness Ukwuoma was paid N20,000 monthly, with free accommodation.

Her job specification according to her, was to take care of the ladies and move them to Ipaye’s place whenever they were due for delivery. Her husband according to her was aware of the shoddy deal, as he was alleged to be assisting in bringing the girls down from the eastern part of the country, in connivance with a driver of a popular transport company.

Residents react

When Vanguard visited one of the baby “factories” in Ijegun, one of the residents, who simply gave her name as Modinat, said “the occupant of the two-bedroom flat moved in three months ago. They were not on talking terms with us, but we started suspecting all was not well when we noticed all the girls there were pregnant. They only came out when they wanted to fetch water.

We had no choice but to inform the police, only to discover the place was used as a baby factory”.

At Hassan Adeola street, where two ladies were rescued, a resident, Mrs. Adanne Jocelyn told crime guard that “it was the owner of the house who visited two weeks ago, and discovered that her property had been converted into a baby factory. The gate of the building was always locked from outside to make people believe that the occupants had gone pout”.

However, on the day the landlady visited the compound with her daughter, they knocked for close to thirty (30) minutes before the gate was opened. While inside she refused to raise alarm for fear of being killed. By the time she came out, she called her agent who is in charge of the property to notify him of her discovery.

She immediately sent a message to NAPTIP on the activities of her tenants. But that same night, the pregnant girls were relocated to another location. By the time the Police and NAPTIP officials arrived at the building, they had moved the girls to SMART Hotel, where they were eventually apprehended”.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, CP Zubairu Muazu has launched a manhunt for the principal fleeing suspect, Madam Oluchi, who hails from Mbano, Imo state.

LAGOS — Organised Labour weekend rejected the proposed plan by the Federal Government to re-introduce toll gates on federal highways.

Labour spoke as the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, yesterday called on the Federal Government to put in place an efficient policy before returning toll gates.

While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, said the toll gates would worsen people’s misery and raise the poverty level in the country, the United Labour Congress, ULC, said the only condition for Nigerians to accept a return of toll gates on federal roads is a drastic reduction in pump prices of petroleum products.

It contended that the money to be realized from toll gates was factored into pump prices of fuel before they were dismantled in 2003.

The ULC also urged Nigerians to reject the planned tax on GSM calls, lamenting that government had in recent times been emasculating the ordinary Nigerians with several tax burdens. The Trade Union Congress, TUC, on its part, also rejected the planned re-introduction of toll gates by the Federal Government.

Return of toll gates not welcome — NLC

General Secretary of NLC, Emmanuel Ugboaja, said: “It is not welcome news at this point in time. It is going to put extra pressure on the ordinary people and worsen the poverty level in the country because it will affect the prices of goods and services.

“The roads are in very bad shape across the country, how can you toll a bad road? If you have fixed the roads and you now talk of tolling to recoup the money spent and to generate money to maintain the roads, people could consider it.

“But now, it is unacceptable because roads have remained the only means for transportation for humans, goods and services because the rails are not working. It is desperation by government to raise money at all cost.

“Ordinary Nigerians who have been overburdened will be forced to bear the extra burden the reintroduction of the toll gates will bring. In other words, it will add to the pains and suffering of the masses because the prices of goods and services will go up. This is not what we need now.

“Let the government fix the roads first before it could talk about tolling. If people can travel from Lagos to Port Harcourt in less than seven hours, travel from Lagos to Benin City in three hours on road, or from Abuja to Lagos, to Port Harcourt in less than seven hours on a smooth road, when you talk about tolling, people will listen.

“But today, the roads are in terrible conditions. It is unacceptable because it will bring nothing but more misery to the ordinary man.”

Nigerians must resist tax planned tax on GSM calls — ULC

President of ULC, Joe Ajaero, while speaking at the inaugural Delegates Conference of Private Telecommunications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PTECSSAN, in Lagos, weekend, said: “Recently, members of the National Assembly have been talking about 10 per cent tax on calls you and I make.

“The way they are going to deduct it, we will not know. Nigerians should rise and resist any tax on GSM calls. It is unacceptable. The era of taxes in Nigeria is becoming unbearable. There is the issue of 7.5 percent increase in Value Added Tax, VAT, another tariff on electricity, and reintroduction of toll gates.

“The issue of toll gates will determine whether Nigerians are alive or not, because the amount that was supposed to be realised from toll gates was factored into the fuel pump prices when former President Olusegun Obasanjo dismantled toll gates in 2003. “Then Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was the president of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC. The government of Obasanjo increased the pump price from N26 to N42 per litre. We protested and the government, before we could enter into negotiation, dismantled toll gates and told us that the money to be realized from the toll gates were already factored into the pump prices.

“Now, any reintroduction of the toll gates must lead to the reduction of fuel prices in the country. That is the only way it can work or we can’t accept it. If you said you have factored in N2 or N5 into the prices of petroleum products that were supposed to be got from the toll gates, if you want to reintroduce the toll gates, you must reduce the prices of petroleum products.

“Otherwise, that is fraudulent and Nigerians must stand against and fight it. These taxes are becoming too much and unbearable. Nigerians should resist these taxes and put a stop to it.” On privatization of public enterprises, he said:

“The history of privatization in Nigeria is that of agony and woes. As they privatise, the people languished, suffer and weep. Privatization has brought untold hardship on Nigerians. “The formation of this union is to see through struggle to mitigate the effect of privatization on the workforce principally. The so-called investors laugh to the bank and Nigerians cry. If you know what happened in NITEL, you will cry.

“If you know what happened to Nigeria Airways, you will weep. In Nigerian Airways, workers were evicted from their official quarters, even without being paid their entitlements. In the power sector, it has been battle of life and death.

“We are happy we still have officials of the Ministry of Labour who insist there should be unions in these sectors, otherwise, if they hijack the Ministry of Labour, that will be the end. Already, there is regulatory hijack by all the regulatory agencies.

‘’Whether it’s the NCC or NERC in the power sector, they have been hijacked by the privateers. It is NERC that now determines tariff that should be charged, you and I have no input, so also is GSM, when you call, the call drops, they charge you. There is nothing you can do.” On his part, TUC President, Quadri Olaleye, said:

“This will increase the hardship people are already facing, especially now that the minimum wage has not been fully paid.”

Good policy needed before returning toll gates — NECA

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, has called on the Federal Government to put in place an efficient policy before returning toll gates on federal roads.

The Director-General of NECA, Mr Timothy Olawale, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos yesterday. Olawale urged government to engage relevant professional and business organisations to fashion out policies that would guide its operations for effective infrastructure development of the nation.

“We are conscious of the numerous benefits that the economy can derive from tolling.  However, we are concerned of the past failures which characterised the management of the toll system across the nation, which were marred by revenue leakages and unmet maintenance of the tolled roads.

“We will like to reiterate that not all roads are viable for tolling, especially subsidiary roads and roads with low traffic volumes,” he said. Olawale also said government should not place additional burden, in form of any tax or levy on businesses or individuals in order to fund the construction of the toll gates.

According to him, businesses and individuals have already been inundated with numerous taxes and proposed additional taxes, including the mobile phone tax, and increase in Value Added Tax. He said: “All these and many more will reduce the purchasing power of consumers with dire consequences for businesses.

“Private sector operators should be attracted through public-private partnerships, PPPs, in the construction, maintenance and management of the toll systems, as it is done successfully in other climes, such as Egypt and South Africa.

’’Olawale also called for the resuscitation of the rail system, as it remained the cheapest and most efficient of all modes of transportation worldwide. He said the rail system would reduce the high cost of maintenance as it carried more than 90 percent of domestic freight and passengers.

NECA is the umbrella organisation of employers in the organised private sector of Nigeria.