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A total of 57, 000
candidates are expected to be screened for the 4, 500 vacancies
available for the 2010/2011 academic session in the Auchi Polytechnic,
Edo State.

The spokesperson of
the polytechnic, Mustapha Oshiobugie, who gave the figure, said that
the screening was for candidates who chose the institution as their
most preferred, more preferred and preferred school.

Mr Oshiobugie also
said that the post matriculation screening exercise would hold between
August 25 and August 27, and that the figure was 50 per cent more than
the number screened by the polytechnic in the 2009/2010 session.

More than 1.3 million candidates had applied to study various
courses in the country’s tertiary institutions of learning for the
2010/2011 session, while according to JAMB, only 550, 000 admission
spaces are available for the candidates.

The National Assembly Service Commission has confirmed the appointment of Salisu Maikasuwa as its substantive Clerk.

A letter signed by the Executive
Chairman of the Commission, Ahmed Dogondaji, dated August 17, said the
appointment followed the retirement of Oluyomi Ogunyomi from the
service.

Mr Ogunyomi, who had proceeded on a
mandatory three-month leave beginning May 13, finally left the service
on August 15. While he was on leave, Mr Maikasuwa, a former Deputy
Clerk, was appointed in acting capacity.

The letter quotes Mr Dogondaji as
saying that the appointment was in recognition of “his work,
dedication, responsible conduct and loyalty to the leadership of the
highest law-making institution in the country”.

The commission charged the new clerk to continue exhibiting good
conduct and attributes of exemplary leadership, to justify the
confidence reposed in him. The appointment takes effect from August 16.

Courts in Ekiti
State on Monday proceeded on the 2010 annual vacation, with the state
Acting Chief Judge, Silas Oyewole, saying in a statement in Ado Ekiti
that normal court activities would resume on September 24.

He said the legal
year for 2010/2011 would commence on September 27 and that the vacation
would not lead to closure of court activities, as criminal cases might
be heard subject to the leave of the court.

The statement added
that during the period of recess, courts would remain open and operate
throughout the vacation. Meanwhile, the state judiciary has released
the results of examinations conducted for the post of Higher Registrar
on Grade Level 08.

A statement issued
by A.J Apuabi, a Deputy Chief Registrar, on behalf of the Registrar,
said 24 out of 29 candidates passed the examination with more than 50
per cent, with the remaining five candidates scoring below.

Afrobeat creator,
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, his brother, Olikoye, Nobel Laureate, Wole
Soyinka, and novelist, Abubakar Imam, are among 28 eminent Nigerians to
be inducted into The Nigerian Hall of Fame for Letters and The Nigerian
Hall of Fame for Science.

The induction
ceremony of the quartet and others including the late mathematician,
Chike Obi; psychiatrist, Adeoye Lambo; neurologist, Benjamin Osuntokun;
artist, Ben Enwonwu; poet, Christopher Okigbo; and Oladipo Akinkugbe
will hold at a gala night on Saturday, October 9.

Honour for excellence

A statement from
Ifeanyi Mbanefo, manager, corporate communications and public affairs
of Nigeria LNG Limited, said, “They will be honoured for outstanding
contribution to science and letters, which has put Nigeria on the world
literary and scientific map, promoted learning and scholarship, and
bettered the lives of Nigerians.”

The gas company is co-organising the ceremony with The Nigerian Academy of Science and The Nigerian Academy of Letters.

Mr. Mbanefo added
that the list of 28 people was arrived at after “three months of
extensive consultations and scrutiny by eminent panellists empowered by
The Nigerian Academy of Science and The Nigerian Academy of Letters.”

President, Nigerian
Academy of Science, Oye Ibidapo-Obe, and two other academics, Ekanem
Braide and Sunday Bwala, were on the science panel; while Romanus
Egudu, president, Nigerian Academy of Letters, worked with Ayo Banjo
and novelist, Zaynab Alkali.

Author of the popular ‘Things Fall Apart’, Chinua Achebe; the late
master potter, Ladi Kwali; and Gordian Ezekwe of the Biafran Ogbunigwe
fame, are also amongst the 28 people that will be honoured at the event
where winners of The Nigerian Prize for Science and The Nigerian Prize
for Literature will receive their prizes.

Seventy percent of
Nigerians believe that the country’s judiciary is corrupt, says a
survey released by a group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability
Project (SERAP).

The survey is part
of a report titled “14-Point Programme for Promoting Ethics and
Integrity at the Magistrates’ Courts” released recently.

The report, written by SERAP consultant, Modupe Atoki, also had the backing of the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

Speaking during the
launch of the report last Thursday, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the Executive
Director of SERAP said that “our research reveals that the absence of a
national action plan and policy to comprehensively address corruption
and the impunity of perpetrators is a major contributory factor for the
prevalence of judicial corruption in Nigeria”.

While pointing out
that corruption in the judiciary is not limited to magistrate courts,
the report said that the magistrate court was made the focus “given the
important role it plays in the administration of justice in the
country.”

The report said the
magistrate court “is the first point of call for all minor offences and
for all minor civil matters. Except offences that attract capital
punishment like murder, most of the offences created in our penal laws
are handled by the magistrate courts”.

It further stated
that “Over 80 percent of criminal cases end up before the magistrate
courts. Statistics show that in Lagos State magistrates have up to 1000
cases in their docket.” It identified the lack of judicial independence
and accountability as the major cause of corruption in the magistrate
courts.

It further stated
that corruption in the judiciary also stems from “undue influence from
the executive and legislative branch of government, low remuneration
and poor condition of service, the administrative nature of the roles
of judges [magistrates] which gives far reaching discretionary powers
but weak monitoring of the execution of those powers, lack of
transparency and the absence of computerised, comprehensive and
regularly updated database and backlog of cases which further worsen
the effects of corruption in the judiciary”.

The report revealed that support staff of court were identified as the arrow heads of corruption.

Ways of promoting judicial integrity

In order to
establish integrity in the magistrate court, the report recommended,
the security of tenure of magistrates through transparent appointment,
promotion and discipline regime; the advancement of professionalism,
continuing education and training of magistrate and support staff; and
ensuring sufficient transparency to command public confidence.

The National
Environmental Standards, Regulations and Enforcement Agency (NESREA) on
Monday in Abuja sealed a base station belonging to MTN Nigeria, located
at N0 2, Oyo Street, Area II, Garki.

Speaking to
journalists after the exercise, Timothy Okeowo, the Director,
Administration and Finance, of the agency said the action became
necessary after several complaints by residents of the area.

Mr Okeowo said that residents had complained about noise pollution which disturbs their sleep and other environmental hazards.

“People complained
and we wrote to MTN and they did not show any interest. That is why we
are here to enforce the provision of the law. We gave them up till
August 23 to submit their audited Environmental Impact Assessment
Report. As we are talking, they have not done anything concerning the
issue.

“We cannot sit down and fold our hands and let people suffer, the director said.

Bola Odugbesan,
the Director, Legal Services of the agency, also said that the exercise
marked the beginning of a clampdown on base stations of
telecommunications operators that had not complied with the deadline.

“The agency does not give deadlines and go to sleep; the clampdown has taken effect from today,” he said.

The agency has been having problems with telecommunications
operators over the location of masts and base station in residential
areas without an environmental impact assessment report.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday
that it had recorded more than 3,000 cases of cholera in northern
Cameroun, Nigeria and Niger.

According to the UN agency, Cameroun had the highest cases with more than 2,800 cases and more than 200 deaths since May.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, Nigeria’s Health Minister had
indicated that the death toll and infection rate from the epidemic
could be higher.

Last Thursday, Mr Chukwu told the Hausa service of
the BBC that the death toll from the cholera outbreak in northern
Nigerian had risen to 231 while 4,600 others had been infected.

The UN agency said the fatality rates linked to
cholera in these countries were too high compared to the 1.0 per cent
threshold tolerated.

The Coordinator of the WHO’s group on cholera,
Claire-Lise Chaignat said there was clearly an epidemic of cholera
around the Lake Chad Basin where access to safe water is very scarce.

“We know that cholera is food-borne disease that
is in fact food that has been in contact with contaminated water is, of
course, at high risk of transmitting cholera to people.

“So, very good food hygiene is actually very important for preventing the disease from spreading,” she said in a statement.

Maybe Barack Obama should have stayed out of it.

The American
president intervened in an argument he could have avoided and
overshadowed almost everything else he was trying to achieve this week.

“Politically it
was not wise at all,” said Democratic strategist James Carville. But he
added “it was the right thing to do.” Right or not, the argument that
got Mr Obama’s attention, is about a plan to build an Islamic cultural
centre and mosque two blocks from New York’s Ground Zero, the site of
the attacks of September 11, 2001.

America’s
conservatives have been aghast at allowing a Muslim place of worship so
near a site where Islamic extremists killed more than 2,700 people.

In fact, CNN’s polling has found that nearly 70 percent of Americans are opposed to it.

Mr Obama said that
“Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else
in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship
and a community centre on private property in lower Manhattan, in
accordance with local laws and ordinances.” The president could have
concentrated on his other problems:

America’s anemic
economy and stubborn unemployment have turned voters against him. His
popularity is at an all-time low. Only 42 percent of Americans approve
of how he’s handling the presidency. His Democratic Party is bracing
for major setbacks in upcoming legislative elections.

This week, as Mr
Obama travelled the country to help campaigning candidates, some of the
most prominent were suddenly trying to distance themselves from an
issue they probably never wanted to address.

Even Senate
Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, a close ally who has leaned on
Mr Obama for support in his own tight re-election bid, issued a
statement “that the mosque should be built somewhere else.” New York
authorities have found no reason to stop the project and there is every
indication that if its supporters can raise the $100 million they’ve
budgeted for their 13-story centre, they will eventually be able to
build it.

So it’s not clear that the president needed to publicly help them along.

He and his party only stand to pay a price for his desire to make a principled stand.

He didn’t really have to do it.

The Education
Rights Campaign (ERC) has called for the sack of the Minister of State
for Education, Kenneth Gbagi, over his call for the deregulation of the
university system in the country.

The group described
the statement as anti-poor comments, saying Mr Gbagi has been making
such confusing statements since his assumption of office. “Many of
these statements have created serious apprehension and misgiving in the
education sector as to the intention of the federal government towards
the funding of education,” the group stated. Mr Gbagi had recently,
while receiving the management of the National Universities Commission,
led by its Executive Secretary, Julius Okojie, in his office, said the
federal government should stop sponsoring the education sector,
claiming that if students could afford sponsoring themselves abroad,
they should be able to pay such money in Nigeria universities too.

The group however said if deregulation is introduced into the
university system, the education system will be destroyed by an
increase in fees and other costs of education beyond what students from
poor working background can afford. “The implication of this is that
[the] university education will now be the preserve of the rich few,
thus shutting out of school millions of youths from poor working class
backgrounds,” the group stated. “Deregulation is a pro-rich and
neo-liberal economic policy inspired by the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) as a means to continue to keep the economy and social services of
neo-colonial capitalist countries like Nigeria underdeveloped and
subject to the imperialistic interests of the advanced capitalist
countries.” The group therefore advised the federal government to
shelve the idea of deregulating the university system, saying that
“Nigerian students will not accept any policy that makes education the
preserve of the rich few.”

A federal lawmaker
has called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to
urgently come to the aid of the victims of Uselu market fire disaster,
whose goods worth millions of naira were razed down over the weekend.

Ifaluyi Isibor, the
member representing Ikpoba/Okha federal constituency, made this appeal
while presenting a cash donation of N15, 000 each to the 28 victims of
the disaster when he carried out an on-the-spot assessment of damages
in the market.

Mr. Isibor’s visit,
which was almost marred by heavy down said, “I came to Benin basically
to sympathize with my sisters and mothers and to assure them that
government will not forget them. Before I left Abuja, I have prepared a
letter addressed to the National Emergency Management Agency in Abuja,
directing them to come to the aid of the victims with a view of
bringing relief to affected traders.”

He said his
observation was that about 95 per cent of fire disasters in markets are
traceable to electrical problems. He therefore appealed “to the
government that is in-charge of the management of the markets to ensure
that accredited technicians are usually in charge of markets to enable
they monitor electrical connections. Once that is done our people will
be happy for it,” he said.

In the early hours of last Friday, fire gutted goods worth millions
of naira at the Uselu market, in Egor local government. This happened
just as the state government was finalizing arrangement to start
rebuilding the Agbado market destroyed by fire on November 5 last year.