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Straight from the Headlines! What Everyone was Talking About This Week

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On Saturday 24th March, 2012, 1.5million students would be sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations to enable them gain admission into tertiary institutions across the country. However, the JAMB registrar, Professor Dibu Ojerinde noted in a press conference earlier this week that the admission capacity across all tertiary institutions in the country is only 500,000. This puts the fate of 1million students in the balance as no matter how brilliant they are, the capacity of the tertiary institutions to absorb intending undergraduates in the country is a meagre one-third of the entire student population.

This is a hard pill to swallow for most Nigerians as we live in a  society where there exists only few opportunities for the uneducated. Even among the educated, the struggle for employment opportunities is one that gets thicker by the day without an end in sight. Tomorrow’s examinations would be a classic case of ‘survival of the fittest’. The upsurge of Private Universities in the country has alleviated the clamour for government-owned tertiary institutions in the country, but that is only for a ‘privileged’ few. For the majority who are left to clamour for the seemingly few admission slots, let them do so with diligence and tenacity because they will surely need it.

Best of luck to all!

Here is a recap of some of the stories that made headlines this week:

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In response to the public outcry over the daily ceiling on cash withdrawals and deposits, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the weekend said it has raised the limits. The banking sector regulator has increased the daily cumulative cash withdrawal/deposit limit for individual accounts from the previously announced N150,000 per day to N500,000. Similarly, the limit for corporate accounts has also been raised to N3million per day from the N1 million earlier announced.

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Agiliti,  Mile 12, Lagos, erupted in violence that lasted for hours on Monday 19th March, 2012 as  some Hausa youths clashed with their Yoruba counterparts. The  clash, which started around 7am, began when some Hausa youths allegedly  attempted to dump the corpse of a man they had reportedly slaughtered  in the Maidan River. According to witnesses, the Hausa youths were caught trying to dump a corpse in the river. The  body showed that the man had been brutally beaten. It was noticed that  he had been slaughtered too. Later, there was a scuffle between the youths which escalated to a disturbance in the area. A large crowd of youths, who were  speaking Hausa, were seen destroying shops and kiosks on three streets  in the area. A  police helicopter hovered in the sky, while nine police patrol vehicles  and a Rapid Response Squad’s Armoured Personnel Carrier were stationed  at the scene, but this did not deter the youth from destroying shops.

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Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) Registrar, has said a record total of 1, 503,931 are expected to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on Saturday 24th March, 2012. Ojerinde, who spoke to newsmen at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, 20th March, 2012 said the examination will hold in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin, London, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. The registrar explained that the number shows an increase of about 10,338 candidates when compared with the 1,493,603 students that sat for the examination last year. In Nigeria the 2012 edition of the examination will hold simultaneously in 3,001 centres spread across 375 towns compared with 2,872 centres used last year.

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Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has placed a total ban on commercial motorcycle (okada) operation in Ikeja area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. As a result of the ban, okada riders in Ikeja have sued the Lagos State Government for banning them from carrying out their legal trade at the Federal High Court, Ikeja, while the matter came up at the court on Wednesday, 21st March, 2012. As a result of the ban, okada operation in Ikeja has been paralysed, except for the few brave ones who dared to move as police are everywhere on the order of the Commissioner of Police to arrest any rider found operating in major roads in Ikeja. Hundreds of motorcycles have been impounded by the police.

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An Upper Area Court sitting in Mararba, Nasarawa State, yesterday sentenced two men, Ifeanyi Benedict Ahah and Rabiu , both found guilty of unnatural tendencies or having intercourse with each other, to two years in jail each, without bail. The pair were sentenced yesterday Wednesday 21st March by Judge Mariga Abdullahi, and ordered to pay a fine of N5,000 each at the beginning of their sentence. Just before the sentence was passed, Mr. Rabiu pleaded for leniency, saying that he is married with six children. Ifeanyi, on his own part, pleaded the court to forgive him. He claimed to be repentant and promised not to go into the act anymore if pardoned.

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A Nigerian couple, Alhaji Rashid Bello and Fauzia Bello, were arrested on Wednesday 21st March, 2012 by the Central Regional Police Command in their residence at Amosima near Moree, in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK) District of the Central Region, Ghana with human parts including two heads. Though they claimed to be Nigerians, Rashid, 42 and Fauzia, 37, had Ghanaian passports and voter ID cards bearing their names. Briefing journalists in Cape Coast, the Central Regional Police Commander, Stephen Andoh-Kwofie, disclosed that his outfit stormed the couple’s residence upon a tip-off.
The police learnt that suspected criminals and armed robbers were always trooping into the couple’s residence. DCOP Andoh-Kwofie noted that when his men got to the couple’s residence, they saw two children aged six and seven and were not sure if they were their children or victims

***

The Nigerian Customs Service has announced the seizure of  13 trucks of frozen chicken within the Cross River and Akwa Ibom States Area Command. Hassan Mundu, the Comptroller of the Nigerian Customs for the Free Port Zone, Cross River and Akwa-Ibom States Command, said that the seized products were worth over N200 million. He added that some of the contraband had already been destroyed in Calabar. The seizure was facilitated by a combined team of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); State Security Services, officials of the Cross River State Ministry of Health and Environment, and representatives of the Nigeria Police Force.

***

Fire broke out Thursday, 22nd March 2012 afternoon on the second floor of the National Assembly annex building. The fire started in the legal department and accounts departments of the National Assembly Service Commission. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FCT Fire Service deployed two fire engines to bring the fire under control before it could spread to other offices. Panic-stricken staffers, who had vacated the building, gathered some distance away to discuss the incident. The Director of FCT Fire Service, Mr Sani Saidu, who confirmed the incident, told journalists that the fire incident was caused by power outage as a result of power fluctuation. He said the situation had been brought under control and no damage was done.

***

Nura Mustapha, 28, is currently explaining to homicide detectives at the State Criminal Investigative Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos State, why he was allegedly caught having sex with the corpse of a lady identified as Faith Akin. Mustapha was arrested after an attendant at the Green Star Hotel, Alaba-Rago, raised an alarm that he would not allow the corpse to be retrieved. Police officers identified the corpse of the lady as Faith Akin, a resident of Ondo State, who visited her mother in Lagos.

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A 29-year-old Mathematics and Social Studies graduate of a College of Education, Mr. Seun Oyeleke, has been caught pants down with a seven-year-old female pupil in a school toilet. Oyeleke teaches at a private nursery and primary school on Church Street, Osogbo, Osun State. One of the pupils’ mother, Mrs. A Ajiboye, had been informed by her son, who attends Oyeleke’s tutorials with her five-year-old sister, that the teacher was fond of taking the girl out of the classroom to an unknown destination. Mr Oyeleke was subsequently arrested by the police who are now conducting their investigations.

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A construction worker, Matthew Adesuji, has been confirmed dead, and another injured, when a building at NITEL Training School Cappa, Oshodi, Lagos, collapsed on Thursday 22nd March, 2012. According to the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Joseph Jaiyeoba, the victims were workers of Bukola Concept Nigeria Ltd, Abuja, who was carrying out reconstruction works on the building. Adesuji’s mangled body was found under debris while the second person, whose identity is yet to be ascertained, was pulled out alive.

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Nigeria’s finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will run for the World Bank top job for nominations to succeed Robert Zoellick. Okonjo-Iweala had been rumoured as a possible candidate with emerging economies pushing for a representative at the 187-nation development lender whose top job had traditionally been held by an American since its founding nearly 70 years ago. Days after her spokesman denied she was pursuing the job, Okonjo-Iweala said she was “absolutely” confident of her bid. Okonjo-Iweala is a respected former World Bank managing director who joined Nigeria’s government as finance minister in August.

***

How do you feel about the news that made headlines in the country this week? What other stuff happened that you would like to share?

Have a great weekend!

Adeola Adeyemo is a graduate of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from University of Lagos. However, her passion is writing and she worked as a reporter with NEXT Newspaper. She believes that anything can be written about; anything can be a story depending on the angle it is seen from and the writer's imagination. When she is not writing news or feature articles, she slips into her fantasies and creates interesting fiction pieces. She blogs at www.deolascope.blogspot.com

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