The Lumine News

Author: News

  • Commissioner For Humanitarian Affairs Pledges More Support For Refugees In Cross River State

     

    In a significant move towards supporting refugees and host communities, the Honourable Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs in Cross River State, Mrs. Helen Isamoh-Egodo, PhD, actively participated in a conference organized by the UNHCR in collaboration with the Global Refugees Forum, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and other key partners, during which she pledged the Cross River State Government’s support for refugees, IDPs and other vulnerable individuals in the state. The event focused on the ‘Global Compact on Refugees).

    Expressing gratitude towards UNHCR, the Commissioner emphasized the crucial role of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in refugee management. She explained that since its establishment in August this year, the ministry has prioritized safeguarding, protection, and social assistance for vulnerable individuals, including refugees and IDPs in the state.

    She highlighted the ministry’s commitment to alleviating the burdens faced by refugees and ensuring their well-being. The commissioner stressed the importance of addressing refugees’ basic needs through sustainable engagement, including livelihoods, food, and financial assistance. She urged collective efforts to embrace and provide for refugees, emphasizing the significance of human comfort and the need for a united approach to replace their current challenges with relief and support.

    ” …I want to commend the UNCHR for organizing this workshop on Global Compact on Refugees.Our ministry, is assigned with the responsibility of providing protection and social assistance to all vulnerable people, including the refugees and the IDPs and I am particularly excited about his Excellency, Sen. Prince Bassey Otu’s commitment to the welfare of refugees in the state. Apart from the fact that he has provided palliative for refugees, their welfare has also been captured in the state budget.”

    The event was attended by the Deputy Governor of Cross River State, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey, Honourable Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Helen I. Egodo, Commissioner for International Development and other government Functionaries, Directors, and other stakeholders.

    Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs,
    Cross River State

  • C’River Deputy Governor Flags Off Global Compact Refugees Meeting In Calabar

     

    By Ukongikwen Adie

    Cross River Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey, today, declared open the Global Compact On Refugees high level meeting holding at Transcorp Hotel in Calabar.

    The Global Compact On Refugees is a United Nations High Commission programme to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard refugee rights and their well-being, ensure also that everyone can exercise the right to return home voluntarily, intergrate locally or to resettle in a third country.

    Rt. Hon. Odey, in his opening remarks, extended the sincere gratitude of the state governor, Sen. Bassey Otu for convening the gathering which offers a platform for dialogue and collaboration.

    “As a State, our commitment to the principles of the GCR aligns with our national ethos of unity in diversity. We believe that together, we can address the challenges faced by refugees or forcibly displaced persons. This is why Cross River State is happy to play host to 52, 000 out of the over 84, 000 registered Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria. Our administration will not only continue to provide land in various host communities; we are also committed to improving security and social infrastructure within these communities to promote peaceful co-existence and integration between the host communities and persons concerned,” the Deputy Governor remarked.

    Odey commended the UNHCR for their role in providing technical expertise to guide nations on the path of GCR implementation, while urging them to strive to build a future where the rights and dignity of refugees are protected.

    Earlier, the Head of Sub Office, Ogoja-UNHCR, lrene Omondi, said the primary objective of the meeting is to take stock and discuss practical ways to support the Cross River state government in the implementation of the pledges and objectives of the GCR through a comprehensive refugee framework approach in Nigeria ahead of Global Compact on Refugees Conference holding in Geneva later this month.

    She seized the occasion to recognize the tremendous leadership Nigeria and Cross River State has shown in responding to the refugee crises by ensuring that refugees have access to essential life saving services, including livehood opportunities where possible. She added that despite her own challenges, including the additional strain of hosting a large number of refugees, Cross River state continues to support refugees.

    On behalf of the Nigerian representative of UNHCR, Chansa Kapaya, she affirmed the full support of UNHCR in Nigeria for the GCR and their continued commitment to working closely with the Cross River State government under the able leadership of Governor Otu to implement the GCR on refugees by ensuring that the needed national systems and structures are in place.

    The meeting which had the Commissioner for International Development Corporation and that of Humanitarian Affairs in attendance, drew stakeholders and participants from CUSO International, Ministry Of Women Affairs (MOWA), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Police Force and representatives of Commissioners of Finance and Information.

  • Why The Next Governor Of Kano State is Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna BY OKOI OBONO-OBLA 

     

    I always advised social media denizens or even people who don’t know the mechanics and intricacies of the law not to comment on it. issues concerning judgments of courts or law or election tribunals.

    But the age of techno apologies to Wole Soyinka has made it possible for everybody to become a lawyer and attempt to interpret judgments of courts even without reading them to digest the reasoning of the judges; to evaluate how they assess the evidence adduced by both parties during trial.

    After evaluating the evidence he put it into the mythical scale of justice he holds in his right to weight, and you see which side the scale tilts.

    After that, the judge will apply the law to those facts before he delivers his judgment.

    When you read the judgment of the tribunal and that of the court of Appeal and grasp it well you will see the predilection of politicians to be so desperate for power that most times they disregard rules, regulations and the law with recklessly abandoning all decency, all in a frenzied bid to grab power by all means.

    Then when they reach the cul de sac they expect judges to close their eyes to their murder of the law and proceed to use sentiments to wriggle them out.

    But judges are blind to public opinion sentiment and emotional outbursts of the social media mobbers.

    Governor Kabir Yusuf was a member of the PDP and a governorship aspirant in the party. Kano State.

    When it dawned on him that he would not grab the party ticket he recklessly and quickly made a volte-face and hurriedly joined the NNPP and grabbed its ticket.
    He didn’t know that APC political intelligence was scooping him to gather hard evidence against him.

    By the time Governor Yusuf was purportedly given a ticket by NNPP; the period prescribed by the Electoral Act for political parties to submit the list of their candidates to INEC had closed.

    What is the implication of all this?

    Simple; at the time Governor Kabir Yusuf purportedly joined NNPP and filed his nomination under its platform, he was not a member of the party.

    Membership in a political party is a must for anybody who wants to be a governor of a State and is indeed a fundamental constitutional requirement he must fulfil.

    Section 177 (1)(c) of the constitution makes it obligatory for someone to be a member of a political party that wants to sponsor his election.

    This is the provision of the constitution that Governor Kabir Yusuf NNPP brazenly and with ignominy breached which the Court of Appeal found against him.

    Governor Yusuf and NNPP had a bad case.
    Even at the Tribunal, they called one witness. This witness strangely told the Tribunal that it should use all the documents rendered by INEC to decide the case!!

    The documents tendered by INEC demonstrated that the results sheets were not stamped and signed by presiding officers at more than 16,000 polling stations.

    That will amount to a sheer waste of precious judicial time to appeal this judgment to the Supreme Court.

    The Supreme Court is an appellate court and ordinarily would not substitute its findings with those of the trial court and intermediate appellate court save in rare cases.

    The Supreme Court will not disregard the findings made by a trial court that hears the case, or observe the demeanour of the witnesses during cross-examination save in exceptional circumstances.

    I have not seen any exceptional. circumstances that will cause the Supreme Court to do otherwise in the case of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf & NNPP versus INEC & APC!
    Governor Kabir Yusuf and NNPP should just throw in the towel, period.

    @ Okoi Obono-Obla

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Okoi Obono-Obla and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • Save Our Souls: University of Calabar’s Unjust Tuition Hike Sparks Outcry BY OGAR EMMANUEL OKO

    Save Our Souls: University of Calabar’s Unjust Tuition Hike Sparks Outcry

    In a shocking and frightening development that has echoed across the academic community, the University of Calabar’s administration, amidst a series of unfavorable policy changes, has opted to increase tuition fees by a staggering 200 percent. This surge has not only sparked widespread public criticism but has also placed the education of financially disadvantaged students in peril, leaving them grappling with the stark possibility of discontinuing their studies due to the astronomical fee hike.

    Education is a fundamental right, and the astronomical increment in tuition fees undermines the university’s commitment to providing accessible and affordable education. The management’s decision appears to disregard the socioeconomic realities faced by many students and their families in this biting ‘tinubuic’ economy.

    Students are protesting. Parents and guardians are alarmed. Concerned Nigerians are worried and disturbed. The protests at the university’s gate by concerned students are a poignant expression of the frustration and despair caused by this unilateral decision. It is a call for justice and fairness, a plea for the right to education without undue financial burden.

    It is imperative for the university’s management to reconsider this ill-timed decision in the interest of maintaining peace and order on the campus. The occupation of the university’s gate by protesting students serves as a stark reminder of the potential consequences of such a drastic and unpopular policy. The risk of escalating tensions leading to lawlessness is a road no educational institution should tread.

    This is not merely a matter of policy; it is a matter of social responsibility. The university has a duty to nurture an environment where learning flourishes, unencumbered by financial distress. A rollback of the tuition fees to their previous status is not just a demand for fairness; it is a plea for the preservation of the very essence of education.
    Undoubtedly, there is consensus that the Federal Government inadequately funds the university. Consequently, many inefficient and unscrupulous administrations resort to disproportionately raising tuition fees as a relentless and arbitrary strategy to alleviate the financial strain on the institution, employing draconian and unsympathetic measures to enforce these increases.

    In conclusion, we at the RABBIT PUNCH implore the University of Calabar’s management to heed the voices of the students and the broader community. Revert to the previous tuition fees to ensure that education remains a beacon of hope rather than a privilege reserved for a select few. The potential consequences of disregarding this call for justice are far-reaching, and it is in the best interest of all parties involved to find a solution that prioritizes the welfare of the students and upholds the principles of accessible education for all. If this humble solicitation is waved with the sleight, we shall be compelled to explore other measures under the precinct of the law to make this plea more louder and clearer.

    Comr. Ogar Emmanuel Oko
    RABBIT PUNCH

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Ogar Emmanuel Oko and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • Citizen’s Solution Network Condemns Hike In UNICAL School Charges, Calls On FG To Interven

    Citizens’ Solution Network’s Press Release on University of Calabar demonic Fee Hike

    4th December, 2023 | 15.30pm

    We are in receipt of the University of Calabar’s Management documents showing the new hike in fee that took the fees of the University between N110,000 and N155,000 for fresh and old students cutting across medical, science and non science courses.

    While we received this information with intense displeasure knowing that have been directives from the Federal Ministry of Education and The Presidency few months ago that had declared new fee hike illegal and as something that won’t happened in tertiary educational institutions.

    Today, that memo containing the directives have be flagged down and the Management of University of Calabar has gone ahead with the unbearable and unacceptable hike in fee charges.

    Citizens’ Solution Network condemns this hike in the strongest terms and reject it completely. We are seizing this moment to ask the Nigerian President and the Minister of Education to reverse this hike in school fee through clear directive to the Vice Chancellor and Management of University of Calabar, as well as to all tertiary institution Management and their VCs and Provosts.

    Nigeria currently represents 15% of the global population of all out of school children and the statistics need not get any worse. We presume the President is against fee hike, hence we ask that the hike be reversed.

    Nigerians are suffering extremely as due to the fuel subsidy removal as admitted by the President on the 4th paragraph of his 2024 Budget Presentation Speech at the National Assembly recently, additional burden in form of fee hike will only make an already dire national situation worst.

    The country needs not push its youthful population outside of the four walls of the university, and into an arm struggle that may cost the nation unprecedented setbacks and national security.

    In the absence of a listening government, an alternative pathway for arm struggle may become more attractive as a corrective step, and nobody is certain that public arms in the care of the military and police, won’t end up in the hands of citizens who have had enough and feel they have been abandoned while their natural resources are been exploited by an insensitive government.

    We ask that urgent and immediate steps be taken to end this hike in fees.

    Thanks

    Richard F Inoyo,
    Country Director,
    Citizens’ Solution Network

  • UNICAL Protest: Management Bows To Pressure, Suspends Payment Of School Charges

    By Elijah Ugani 

    The management of the University of Calabar, has bowed to pressure from her students and suspended the payment of school charges by undergraduate students.

    The management had reached a decision to increase school charges on December 1st 2023.

    This decision did not sit well with the students and they took to the street to protest the increment.

    In a swift reaction, the University management released a memo suspending payment of the increased charges pending when the issue will be resolved.

    In a release made available to TheLumineNews and signed by the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Effiong Eyo, indicates that the Vice Chancellor had directed that payment of school charges by undergraduate students should be put on hold till further notice.

    The release reads in full, “The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar has directed that the payment of school charges by undergraduate students be put a hold until further notice.

    “A release issued by the Registrar of the university of Calabar, Mr Gabriel Egbe, disclosed that the directives is coming on the heels of a protest embarked upon by the students of the institution over the recent adjustment in undergraduate school charges.

    “In the release, the Registrar said the management of the institution is a listening administration and has accordingly assured the students as critical stakeholders that appropriate arrangements has been put in place through constructive engagement with the students to resolve the matter.

    “Management however, commended the students for the matured, reasonable and civilized manner exhibited towards resolving the matter”.

  • Consider This Before You Hate… BY AGBA JALINGO 

    Consider This Before You Hate…

    Hate is in part what keeps us going when our lives have been put on hold. Every time there are severe disruptions in our lives, the stronger the hate we have for everything around us. Hate avails a major form of catharsis for releasing, and providing relief from such repressed emotions.

    Hate is also an intense repulsion for something or someone, which falsely inflates the ego and makes one feel very superior and self-righteous against the thing or person who is hated. It makes the one hating, feels better, or so it seems.

    It is very important not to equally forget that hate is a very potent and mind consuming emotion. It is a mental poison that can contaminate your mind, rot your nervous system and depress your soul.

    If you suddenly set eyes on a thing or person you hate, the sudden surge of adrenalin into your entire system persists until that thing or person gets out of sight and mind. That sudden surge takes a huge adverse toll on your nervous and circulatory systems and even the brain.

    When you hate, you must also be strong enough to let people hate you back. Because the emotion and energy you give out is what you get in return. The aura of a hate-filled person attracts exactly what that person emits into his or her own magnetic field.

    So to balance this equation, we should accept that it is more liberating to let go of hateful emotions by deliberately practicing empathy. We may need to also reevaluate the circumstances that may have led us to hate that thing or person and work on overcoming the same. We should as well, reflect on what is our abiding fate if other things or persons keep hateful emotions against us. These will guide us back to the path of purposely reconciliation with ourselves.

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • War On The Poor: Nigerian Political Leaders Firing Series Of Shots BY RICHARD INOYO 

    War On The Poor: Nigerian Political Leaders Firing Series of Shots

    By Richard Inoyo.
    4th December, 2023 | 1:40pm

    According to a recent statistics published by _United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)_ , “1 in 3 children across Nigeria are out of school children”. The revelation further showed that, “10.2 million of these out of school children exist at the primary level and 8.1 million at the junior secondary school (JSS) level1. Whereas, 12.4 million children never attended school and 5.9 million left school early.”

    The bulk of that last statistics left the Universities, Monotechnic and Polytechnics, and this is largely due to the socioeconomic condition in the country.

    What this means is that, Nigeria’s out of school children now account for 15% of the global population of all out of school children worldwide. What a feat on negative scale for a nation! That notwithstanding, the Federal Government through its yes-ma and yes-sir proxies are rolling out new policy to further worsen the Out of School Children Statistics of the Nation.

    Some months ago, University of Lagos rolled out new school fee hike that crossed into and above N100,000 per academic session, and when the students protested against the school fee hike, they were attacked by poor policemen, who were directed and dispersed to break the protest without any question at the front gate of UNILAG. Many of the armless students were shot at with teargas cannisters, arrested and locked up by the Lagos Police Force sent in by the School Authority under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education.

    Just two days ago, the leadership of University of Calabar led by its Vice Chancellor, Mrs. Florence Obi joined the shameless community of leaders who once attended education when it was fairly affordable, but now turned around to ensure that university education becomes needlessly expensive and far more exorbitant for the poor to send their wards and children to tertiary education. As it stands today, the new school hike introduced by the Management of University of Calabar means that, parents and guardians have to raise between N110,000 and N155,000 to have their wards and children attend the university in the next session and that will be the fee from henceforth. Imagine family with three children in the university.

    There is no where on earth any sane leadership can rationalize this new attack on poor people and the calculated erosion of access to national education for Nigerian family. One is foist to ask, what is the essence of leadership, or national governance? Is it to make life miserable for the poor and rob them to feed the opulent appetite of miscreants in power?

    As absurd as this indefensible affront on access to education would sound, the university called it fee adjustment, how ridiculous can it get? Lest we forget in Finland and Cuba education is free up to Master’s Degree Level. You don’t pay a dime.

    At _Citizens’ Solution Network_ we know the snake behind this hike in school fee, it is the Federal Government led by Bola Tinubu, a president that took the first shot at poor Nigerians when he pronounced policy on the day of his inauguration that saw the rise in the cost of PMS to over N591 per liter and the concomitant astronomical rise in the prices of things nationwide. We know that he is behind this latest school hike with his fraudulent and empty call for student loans. And his belief and confident is that the Nigerian police, army, airforce, navy and their sister arm-bearing organisations in care of public firearms and ammunition will open life fire on poor students and Nigerians if they decide to resist the school fee hike through picketing and protest.

    My question therefore is this: “Is it what the Military and Paramilitary have been reduced to, to defend all affront against Nigerian citizens and to defend even the worst of evil policies against poor people struggling to even send their children to school amidst the excruciating economic pains that are all man-made?

    Activist communities like Citizens’ Solution Network and _Citizens’ Assembly_ have taken the path of civility and not arm struggle, by using civil means to call on all levels of government and all public institution leadership to bring to an end the unholy war they have clandestinely declared on poor Nigerians which is now in the open that is bleeding the country’s poor via man-made orchestrated inflation and hikes, which is seen to be causing needless hardship and unnecessary pains.

    It will be unfortunate if calls from civil organisations like mine isn’t heeded, because the alternative might see the emergence of a new generation of youths ready to die and willing to risk their lives invading military cantonment and armament centres to pick up public firearms and confront the judicial, legislative and executive mismanagement of the expectations citizens have.

    Now is the time to reverse this school fee hike, least the country build the groundwork for unprecedented development of unexpected reactions. A word is enough for the wise, we are all aware that the military and paramilitary combined will not be able to defeat the Nigerian people if things get out of hand. The country does not need to push its youthful citizens outside the education community to join new arm struggle based on socioeconomic freedom from the current political mismanagement of our resources, time and expectations. The suffering, the hikes, the pains are all man-made and can be reversed. Reverse it.

    Signed

    Richard Inoyo,
    Country Director,
    Citizens’ Solution Network

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Richard Inoyo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

     

  • UNICAL Students Protests Hike In School Charges

    Students of the University of Calabar have taken to the streets to protest a hike in the charges levied by Varsity’s management.

    The students gathered at the Malabor Square which houses the Students Union Government secretariat and moved to the female hostels bearing placards.

    They marched from the areas where hostels are situated, popularly referred to as ‘Malabor Republik’ as their numbers increased via the Senate building and currently occupy the roundabout next to the main gate which connects Etta Agbor Street and Mary Slessor Avenue.

    Some of the placards with various inscriptions read: “Florence Obia, UNICAL is not a private university, which one is ‘slight increment’, say no to billing”, “UNICAL VC, stop forcing girls into prostitution”, “this is a federal university, not a business center,” among others.

    Meanwhile, there were alleged sporadic gunshots within the school environment on Sunday 3rd December 2023 at about 8:30 pm.

    While our reporters keep tabs on the situation, vehicles have diverted to other routes as the Etta Agbor Road and Mary Slessor routes have been blocked.

    The versity management had over the weekend reached the decision to increase tuition fees.

    In the statement by the University’s Information Officer, Mr Effiong Eyo, the upward review of the tuition fees was taken at an emergency meeting of the University Senate on Friday.

    The release stated that the implementation of the upward review takes effect from the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic sessions.

    Findings showed that with the increase fresher’s, returning students and the final year students for the non science courses are expected to pay N111,000, N91,500 and N114,000 respectively.

    They are also required to pay N36,500, N21,500 and N21,500 respectively as third parties dues.

    Students in the science courses are expected to pay N155,000, N125,000 and N148,000 respectively for fresher’s, returning students and final year students. They are also to pay N38,500, N21,500 and N21,500 respectively as third parties dues.

    However, in the early hours of Monday, Student’s of the institution took placards with various inscription to protest the hike of tuition fees as well as other charges asking the management to rescind its decision.

    Some of the inscriptions include, return to the old fees, bring back our old fees/ charges , We can’t afford the news fees, UNICAL SUG , wake up ” amongst others.

    Findings reveled that previously, tuition fees for an average student, depending on the department, was N64, 050 for fresher’s, N52,050 for final year and N49,500 for the returning students.

    The management explained that the increment was necessitated by the current economic realities and the need to maintain the academic standard which the University was known for.

  • Gov Otu Charges Newly Sworn-in Corps Members To Embark On Laudable Community Projects

     

    The Governor of Cross River State Senator Prince Bassey Otu has enjoined the 2023 Batch ‘C’ Stream II Corps Members deployed to Cross River State to embark on laudable Community Projects which will stand them out at the end of their service year.

    The Governor stated this today, 28th November 2023 during the official opening /swearing-in ceremony of Prospective Corps Members for the 2023 Batch ‘C’ Stream II Orientation Course at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp Obubra.

    His Excellency, Senator Prince Bassey Otu whom Justice Emmanuel Ubua, the representative of Chief Judge of Cross River State also stood in for, while delivering His Excellency’s address said, ” l charge you to carry out laudable community projects which will stand you out at the end of the service year”, he opined.

    He reminded the newly sworn-in Corps Members that this is a period for them to make personal sacrifices and prepare themselves for the enormous challenges of nation building.

    The Governor said, his administration is people-driven, that will create a conducive atmosphere for Corps Members to operate, assuring them that their welfare will be given top priority.

    The Governor used the occasion to high light the importance of the NYSC in contemporary Nigeria and emphasized that against all odds the Scheme has remained a tool for national unity and integration.

    Earlier, while delivering his welcome address, the State Coordinator NYSC Cross River, Mr Zemoh Andrew said that the three (3) weeks Orientation Course is structured to prepare Corps Members for the compulsory one year national service.

    Mr Zemoh said Corps Members will be exposed to various Camp activities such as Leadership training, Drills, Lectures , Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) training programme etc to prepare them ahead for the future, encouraging them to be patriotic in their service to their fatherland.

    High point of the event was the administration of Oath of Allegiance on the Corps Members by the Chief Judge of Cross River State Her Lordship, Justice Akon lkpeme who was represented by the Judge of the State High Court Obubra Cross River State Hon. Justice Emmanuel Ubua.