Arsenal will face Turkish club Besiktas in the Champions League play-off round.

Arsène Wenger’s side will travel to Istanbul for the first leg of the tie on either 19 or 20 August, with the return at the Emirates the following week.

Celtic have been drawn to play the Slovenian champions Maribor after being reinstated to the tournament on Friday morning. The second leg will be in Scotland.

See full draw @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/arsenal-draw-slaven-bilics-besiktas-in-champions-league-play-off-see-full-draw/

Mexico gained a small dose of revenge for their 2012 elimination against Nigeria by holding the African powerhouse to a 1-1 draw in their Canada 2014 opener.

The two teams shared a goal apiece in the first half in what proved an entertaining affair in Moncton.

Nigeria displayed their trademark speed and strength from the outset, and Asisat Oshoala had a glorious chance to break the deadlock when she latched onto a long ball, but her clipped shot over the advancing goalkeeper narrowly cleared the crossbar.

However, Mexico soon settled and it was they who opened the scoring. Fabiola Ibarra slotted home from 20 metres after an inadequate headed clearance from Nigeria goalkeeper Sandra Chiichii as she attempted to nullify a swift counter-attack.

See more photos and detail match report @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/fifa-u-20-women-world-cup-mexico-11-nigeria-full-time-see-match-report-and-photos/

Graphic new video footage from northeastern Nigeria shows the country’s military carrying out abuses against civilians as part of their fight against the armed group Boko Haram, human rights group Amnesty International has said.

One video, obtained by Amnesty and released on Tuesday, shows what appear to be military personnel and civilian vigilantes calling five detainees out from a row of 16 young men and boys, then slitting their throats one by one before dumping their bodies into an open grave.

The violence against civilians constitutes “war crimes,” Amnesty alleged.

Amnesty said it obtained the footage from “numerous sources” in Borno state, Boko Haram’s birthplace and stronghold.

The rights group said it independently confirmed from several military sources that the armed captors in the footage “were indeed military personnel.”

Amnesty also accused the military of killing prisoners.

Some of the footage was apparently taken on March 14, the same day that Boko Haram broke into a military detention centre in Giwa barracks, freeing hundreds of prisoners. Amnesty says the military recaptured more than 600 of these prisoners and killed them.

The Nigerian military is studying the video footage “with a view to identifying those behind such acts,” Defence Headquarters spokesman, Chris Olukolade, said in an email.

He added there will be “legal action against any personnel or anyone found culpable.”

Nigerian authorities have rejected past accusations, insisting the military follows international best practice in its fight against the group.

More than 4,000 people – mostly civilians – have been killed this year alone “by all sides” of the conflict, said Amnesty.

Watch the video @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/new-nigeria-videos-show-military-abuses-watch-the-video/

General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has announced some changes in the church hierarchy. Daddy GO, as he is fondly called made this announcement after a meeting of the Governing Council of the church, yesterday. Two members of the council were retired after attaining the retirement age as stipulated by the constitution of the ministry.

A statement by the head of Media and Public Relations, Pastor Segun Adegbiji, said the two officers retired include Pastor Oluwalogbon and Pastor C.O. Osho and two other members of the church who have served the church meritoriously have now been appointed to replace them. They are Pastor Johnson Funso Odesola who had served the church for 40 years and Pastor Remi Akintunde who had equally served the church for 38 years.

The statement further explained that the Governing Council, the highest organ of the church was made up of 18 members, with Pastor Adeboye as chairman. Other members now include Pastors Kuo, Ezekiel Odeyemu, Elijah Daramola, Gbadebo Lawal, Joseph Obayemi, Johnson Odesola and Remi Obayemi. The number of special assistants to the General Overseer has also been increased from 12 to 19 with the inclusion of seven other members including; Pastor Kola Bolanta in charge of South America; Pastor James Fadele in charge of North America; Pastor Agu Irukwu in charge of United Kingdom and Pastor Olowu in charge of Europe.

Others include Pastor Tosin Macaulay-in charge of the North Africa; Pastor J.K.-in charge of Region 10,Abuja and Pastor Charles Adegoke is on his way to the Middle East. Adeboye also announced the constitution of a World Advisory Council which is expected to meet every December to propose the consideration of the Governing Council. Members include all former members of the governing council and all Special Assistants to the G.O. The foreign outposts have been restructured as follows: Europe which has been divided into three smaller regions with headquarters in Holland, Spain and Sweden.

North America has been divided into Canada -one region and USA – five regions. UK has been divided into four regions including Wales, Scotland, Northen Ireland and England. Similarly, Asia/Middle East has been divided into Malaysia and United Arab Emirate. This came just as the church announced tremendous growth in Nigeria within the last two years as the church planted 28,582 parishes in the year 2012-2013 and 32,036 parishes in 2013-2014. In Nigeria, within the period under review, a total of 332,800 souls were won for Christ in 2012-2013 and 507,472 others gave their lives to Christ in 2013-2014. Consequently, six new regions have been created in Nigeria, bringing the number of regions in the country to 24 just as 28 new provinces have been created.

Read more @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/rccg-reshuffles-governing-council-appoints-19-special-advisers-for-pastor-e-a-adeboye/

Saudi Arabia is testing a man for suspected Ebola infection after he returned recently from a business trip to Sierra Leone, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

It said the man, a Saudi in his 40s, was at a hospital in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after showing “symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fever”, which resemble symptoms of the Ebola virus.

The ministry said it had taken precautionary measures, including isolating the patient at a specialist hospital and had sent blood samples to an international laboratory in coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO) for further checks.

Saudi Arabia has been on alert against the spread of the virus from West Africa, where more than 800 people have died.

The Saudi authorities said it would ban pilgrims from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia from performing this year’s hajj taking place in October by suspending issuance of visas to the pilgrims from the affected West African countries for the annual hajj pilgrimage or for other visits to Muslim holy places.

Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases known in humans with a case fatality rate of up to 90 percent. The death rate in the current West Africa outbreak is around 60 percent.

WHO chief Margaret Chan said last week that an outbreak of the virus in West Africa was out of control but can be stopped with more resources and tougher measures. The outbreak is the worst since the disease was discovered in 1976.

There are no effective treatments and no vaccine to protect against Ebola infection. The disease is transmitted by direct contact with the blood or fluids of the infected, including the dead.
Read more @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/ebola-virus-lands-in-saudi-arabia-nigerian-pilgrims-face-ban/

A SOUTH Korean university has rescinded an invitation for three Nigerians to attend a conference and a group of volunteers called off a trip to West Africa amid growing concerns about the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

The Duksung Women’s University in Seoul said in a statement that the school “politely withdrew” its invitation for three Nigerian students to attend an international conference that it is co-hosting with the United Nations starting from Monday. Fears about a possible spread of the deadly virus had prompted a student from the university to post a plea on the country’s presidential office Web site asking for the cancellation of the entire event.

The university has said it was going ahead with the conference to be attended by students, including 28 from Africa.

South Korea on Monday advised people to refrain from visiting Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, while a group of South Korean medical volunteer workers scrapped an annual trip to African countries including Ivory Coast and Ghana scheduled for August.

South Korean bloggers have posted online petitions, including one urging South Korean missionaries working in the region be barred from returning home.

West African leaders agreed last week to take stronger measures to try to bring the worst outbreak of Ebola under control and prevent it spreading outside the region, including steps to isolate rural communities ravaged by the disease.

Read more @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/ebola-south-korea-bars-nigerians-from-varsity-confab/

Students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, have maintained different stand-points over the donation of a bus to the Students’ Union by the governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

While some of the students welcomed the receipt of the bus by the Students Union, others negated it. One of the students, who negated the receipt of the bus, Sola Adebola, accused the SU government of selling the rights of the students.

He explained that it was not right for the executives of the SU, led by Isaac Ibikunle, to receive the bus during the period of election.

Another student, identified simply as Bimpe, lamented that political aspirants wanted to use students to achieve their ambition.

He said, “I am surprised the Students Union would collect such in our absence. We are not on campus and I see no reason why the SU will proceed to collect the bus despite the hike in fee challenges and the shutdown of the institution. It is wrong. We don’t need a bus. What will the bus do in the problems we are facing?

“We are on strike and OAU is a federal school, being governed by the Peoples Democratic Party. Why can’t he resolve our strike challenge first? The last time he (the President) promised to solve the problem, we later realised it was a lie. This is propaganda from him. It will not make us vote him in.”

But the Students Union, in a communiqué signed by its President, Ibikunle Isaac and Secretary-General, Shittu Olatayo, said it collected the bus to aid students’ movements during protests.

The communiqué read in part, “Since the inception of our administration, it is a known fact that the political gladiators from major political parties have been engaging us, seeking our support just, as it is being done all over the state. But our position has always been that they should do projects for OAU students, such as donation of buses and scholarships, among others. In particular, both the All Progressive Congress and the PDP have promised us a bus each.

“Meanwhile, on Thursday July 31, 2014, the PDP gubernatorial aspirant, Omisore, donated a brand new 18 seater bus to the Students’ Union. This indubitably will aid the mobility of the Union, especially in times of struggle, and make the Union enjoy mobility autonomy as against the constant seizure of the Union’s bus by the management whenever the Union has issues with the University.”

Read more @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/oau-students-tongue-lash-one-another-over-omisores-bus-donation/

The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof Dibu Ojerinde, in this interview with ADELANI ADEPEGBA sheds light on controversies surrounding university admissions in the country

What informed the Computer-Based Test?

We believed it’s one of the ways we can reduce examination malpractices. The global trend now is the use of technology and we felt we should not be left behind in Nigeria. On the other hand, the issue of problems being encountered by the candidates in terms of missing results, malpractices and things like that will be eliminated totally. These are some of the reasons and in any case, we think also that it would improve the technological know-how of our kids in this country.

Did the board take into account the literacy level in the country before adopting the CBT?

Our design is such that if you can use a mobile handset, you can do our exams; you can do the CBT if you can read ABCD. When the answers come up for you, and you know that the answer is A or B or C or D, you punch and that is it. You don’t even need to use the mouse except you know how to use it. If you don’t know how to use it, you don’t need to. The cursor goes up to your right then, to your left, that is all and we give them maximum of 15 minutes orientation and before you know it, they are coping. So, that is our experience so far and it’s been very wonderful.

What are the measures and arrangements you have in place to make the CBT succeed?

Last year, we had 55 centres all over the country but now, we have about 159. That is about three times what we had last year which is a very wonderful development. The tertiary institutions that we didn’t use last year have now come up; even private establishments, institutions and individuals have established computer-based test centres. We had about 300 applicants, willing centres, but when we screened them, we discovered that we could use only about 159 for this country. I think we are lucky that a lot of people are now anxious about the use of CBT and we discovered that last year, they performed relatively better. There were no examination malpractices or missing results; no hues and cries. So, I think we should continue. On our part, we have constructed about 10 centres, at least in nine offices outside Bwari. In our own centre in Bwari here, we can take about 250 candidates. In other offices across the country like in Jigawa, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ekiti, Delta, Abia, Taraba and Benue, those places can take about 120 candidates each and we hope with time, we will be able to expand our horizon to other parts of the country. But our centre in Abuja here can take 250 candidates at a go and that is our plan for other places too, if God helps us.

With the epileptic supply, how is the board addressing the issue of power supply at CBT centres?

When I said 300 establishments applied (for the CBT centres), they did not all qualify because they didn’t have back-up electricity like inverters or generators. In fact, we have told them we will consider generators rather than public power supply because it can fail us. But if they have inverters that can last for the next 20-30 minutes before they change to generators, so be it. If you don’t have all these facilities, we won’t accredit you. And that is what has led to a sharp reduction from over 300 applicants to 159 acceptable applicants.

So, what would happen to candidates in the rural areas who have no access to computers?

Well, I have said it, if you can use a handset, then you should be able to do our exams. It has been designed. I think seeing is believing, when we are conducting exams, just come along or go to a rural place where the examination is taking place and see the reaction of these young kids in the various centres. It is not a sophisticated design; it’s a very simple one. Of course, in future, there will be what we call multimedia approach. In terms of the things in place, do you know that prison inmates are now ready to take our CBT? We have about 150 or so in Kaduna prisons and another 25 or so in Ikoyi, Lagos. We are going to give them opportunity to take the exams using the computer-based approach.

Is it true that JAMB deliberately reduced the number of candidates that took the pencil test this year?

We didn’t reduce the number; we just told them these were the available spaces. Look, we have about 1 million who sat for the paper pencil test and if they say we reduced it, I won’t say we reduced it because we told them these were the available spaces and some of these spaces are not even full. Of course, it depends on where you are; some of the places were not filled up, to the extent that a place that would normally take 540, we had 400, in some places, 295. I know, particularly in my town, we had only about 442 candidates instead of 540. In fact, multiplied by about five centres that were available, so it was not deliberate; that was what happened this time around. It seems to me people are getting more conscious, more aware and are appreciating the use of the computer than paper and pencil.

Why does the board ask candidates to pay for admission letters by asking them to buy cards to print out letters, isn’t that extortion?

Pay for admission letter? They are not paying for admission letter. We are only saying, go and print your admission letters. Instead of mailing the letters which may never get to them because of unknown addresses or instead of telling them, “come and collect your letter here,” we say “don’t worry, go to the internet and print your letter of admission.” That is all. You see, we do five things online; you register online; two, you check your result online; three, you change your course or whatever you want to do or your name; four, you print your letter of admission and you don’t pay for it. That has reduced the crowd in our office here and other state offices. If you see anyone coming here, trying to cram into this place, they are not coming to say they don’t have their letters of admission, they may have other things to say or to worry about; this is the truth.

There are allegations that JAMB did not set questions on the literature books it asked candidates to buy. Why?

Who said that? This year, and even last year, 15 questions were set on the recommended literature texts. You see now, they give you wrong information; That is the point. If I bring a typical question for you, whether you are a science student, social student, engineering, agric, education, name it, they are supposed to answer those questions. Why are we doing it? To increase the reading culture of Nigerians and that’s it. And you now discover that they are not reading and that is why most of them are failing. They are not even reading their text books.

How true is it that the authors of some of the books are close to JAMB?

They should be close to us; we are using their books or should we use our enemies’ books? (Laughter). Obviously, they will be close…let me tell you the procedure. We said we wanted books that Nigerians can read; we approached the National Library of Nigeria. We also approached the Association of Nigerian Authors. So the two bodies worked together to say these books are good for the Nigerian child, we therefore went ahead and they recommended the books. And the books went through the normal procedure of acceptance. In fact, the Nigerian Education Research Development Council was also involved before we accepted it, but we don’t necessarily have to go to the NERDC. But in any case, that is the situation. I don’t even know Chukwuemeka Ike, I don’t know whether the author is still alive. They chose his book for us and we accepted it. Sincerely, that is the truth.

How many examination cheats has JAMB prosecuted since inception?

They are many. The only thing is that we are not supposed to be the prosecutor; we are supposed to be witnesses. What we do is to send them to the police and when the police take them to court, we become witnesses. But unfortunately, it’s not very easy, going by the penal code. It’s very difficult to prosecute them, but a lot of them have taken us to court before for all manner of reasons such as ‘they didn’t release my result,’ ‘they cancelled my result for no reason,’ but they have never won because we tell them, we know what we are doing, they have never won. There was a case of somebody who dragged the suit until he got his Master’s degree. Do you know that last year, his result was finally cancelled, even though he appealed, the Court of Appeal said JAMB was right. He joined the University of Ibadan and JAMB. He got Bachelor’s degree wrongly from UI and UI protested. He went to court and the court said, ‘let him continue his education’ and the case was going on. He finished his Bachelor’s degree, went for Master’s degree and now the case has been decided and all the Bachelor and Master’s degrees are null and void. Just last year, so things are happening.

Is it the intricacy of the penal code that is hindering the prosecution of exam cheats?

I am not a lawyer, but they know their tricks here and there, but we have a law, the 1999 Examination Malpractices Law, Act no 33. But it has been very difficult to implement it. I think now, the National Assembly is working on a new law for WAEC which we think would apply to us also. As soon as that law is passed, we are going to implement it.

Some parents are complaining of extortion on forms and scratch cards. What’s your reaction to this?

Well, they will always complain. If you want something good, you must be ready to pay for it. Service is being delivered, but what is the extortion? Let me tell you: if you came around here around 2006/2007, you would see the crowd by the gate. They came all the way from Port Harcourt, from Lagos, from Maiduguri asking for their results, their letters and so on and we are saying no, forget it. Don’t come here again, stay where you are and you get it online. The money you’d spend to come from Lagos to Abuja, to Bwari here and back is about 10 times of what we are asking you to pay for services rendered in the comfort of your room. Well, if they don’t want it, let them leave it. We are not forcing them to check their results. When we are ready, we will send their result to the institution of their choice, so they can go and check it over there. It’s not extortion. As far as I am concerned, it’s more of paying for the services that are being rendered. Documents are on the internet and we have a bandwidth which the documents are occupying; the Internet Service Providers will not give it to us free. Are we going to pay for the bandwidth from the little money candidates pay for registration which is not even sufficient? Government is still subsidising. I am sorry, that allegation of extortion is a new dimension. Nobody said that last year, nobody said it two or three years ago when they were getting it easily. Now because they don’t read their books and they are failing, they are now saying we are extorting them. I don’t believe that is the way it should be. Let us learn how to pay for services being rendered. You can’t give me a copy of your newspaper free of charge because you are not a welfare organisation; you should make money from your enterprise. Of course, I am not saying we are making money from this exercise, but let people pay for the services. The Yoruba say, “ogun ti a ko ba fi owo ra, ehin aaro lo ngbe” meaning, if there is a medicine that you did not buy with money, the tendency is for you to keep it behind the oven where it would get burnt. That is what is happening.

How will the board tackle the problem of hackers and slow internet during the CBT?

Slow internet? The bandwidth must be increased. When we started, we used six units. Then, when we increased it to 12 units, we discovered that it was getting faster and now we are using between 18-24 units and it’s now quite fast. And that is what has happened. Now when we send a piece of information from the office here, within three minutes, it has landed anywhere in the world. So, that is one achievement, but of course, because of one reason or the other, it may last up to six to seven minutes. If I tell you what we are doing, I hope the hackers won’t go and counter it. But we are making efforts to ensure everything goes on smoothly.

In your own opinion, why do we still record mass failure in the UTME?

In my own opinion, there is nothing like mass failure. You see, there is no fail-pass dichotomy system in JAMB exams. Have you seen or heard about a candidate who scored 270 and could not gain admission into any tertiary institution, whereas, somebody scored 220 and he is admitted? Such things do happen, depending on your choice. A prospective medical student who scored 270 could not gain admission two years ago; it will still happen this year. But if you are applying for agric, education, environmental sciences, with 250 or 230, you will be admitted into a university. You will think that because 270 is greater, that the student should gain admission, but the fact is that the students did not sit for the same subjects, or apply to the same school. These are the things causing the discrepancy in the system in terms of who will gain university admission and who would not be admitted. The only thing we can argue about is that if somebody scores 280, and another person scores 240 or 260 and we are now giving admission to the candidate that scored 240, then we can query it. But of course, the caveat of post-UTME is there. You have to undergo further screening from the various institutions to prove that you are the rightful owner of that score. One of the things that would help us in this exercise is the Computer-Based Test so that when you get your CBT score, you know it’s your result. Nobody helped you, you didn’t spy, it’s your ability and therefore, if they confront you with another Computer-Based Test at Post-UTME, you will be able to say it is your result and you will prove it. We have seen that and it correlates more with the Post-UTME than paper and pencil. People don’t fail UTME, only they are not admitted. For example, if you have two million spaces in our tertiary institutions and only 1.6 million candidates took the examinations, and they have the prerequisite of SSCE, we will take all of them, you don’t even need to take JAMB again, but there is competition now, it is the survival of the fittest. That is what is happening.

Why do you think some candidates who did well in UTME could not repeat the same feat in the Post-UTME screening? .............
........Read more @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/varsities-set-irrelevant-post-utme-questions-and-blame-candidates-for-failing-prof-dibu-ojerinde-jamb-boss/

With a little over a week to the August 9 governorship election in Osun State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday released the list of the 20 political parties and governorship candidates that will be contesting in the poll.

This is as the security agencies are making early moves to secure the state ahead of the election, with the deployment of over 5,000 operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).

According to INEC, the parties and their candidates to be listed in the ballot papers during the election include: Action Alliance — Babatunde Oralusi (Governor), Hon. Adekunle Rufai (Deputy); Accord Party – Niyi Owolade (Governor), Opawuyi Bolaji Abdulganiyu (Deputy); ACPN — Olufemi Adeleke Hammed (Governor), Famiran Lawrence Olusola (Deputy); Action for Democracy — Senator Sunday Olawale Fajimi (Governor), Ogundele Kamarudeen Adeyemi (Deputy); African Democratic Congress — Comrade Ojo Gbenga Gabriel (Governor), Comrade Adebiyi Adedayo Segun (Deputy); All Progressive Alliance — Agboola Azeez Obasanjo (Governor), Oseni Kazeem Adebisi (Deputy); All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Akintunde Adebimpe Adetunji (Governor), Oladitan Olabode Joseph (Deputy); and All Progressives Congress (APC), Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola (Governor), Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori (Deputy).

Others include: Citizen Popular Party — Alhaji Rafio Shehu Anifowose A. (Governor), Raji Sofiyat Bodemi (Deputy); Labour Party — Akinbade Fatai Akinade (Governor), Adenipekun Michael Isola Tunde (Deputy); MPPP — Chief Babatunde Adetoro (Governor), Faremi Raphael (Deputy); NCP — Afolayanka Olanrewaju Jimoh (Governor), Akinlabi Babatope Sunday (Deputy); NNPP — Prince Adefare Segun Adegoke (Governor), Mrs. Adebowale A. Mujidat (Deputy); Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) — Oludare Timothy Akinola (Governor), Wayilat Titilade Adeleye (Deputy).

Also listed for the election are Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — Senator Iyiola Omisore (Governor), Rafiu Adejare Bello (Deputy); PPA — Ganiyu Abiodun Lawal (Governor), Mrs. Grace Mabayoje Ojofakuade (Deputy); UDP — Funso Toyin Bunmi (Governor), Phillip Samuel (Deputy); UPN — Adeoti Ibrahim Abiodun (Governor), Salokun Folasade Bukola (Deputy); UPP — Prince Victor Olusegun Adeniyi (Governor), Mrs. Christiana Oluwatoyin (Deputy); and SDP — Akinwusi Olusegun (Governor), Alhaja Rashidat Taiwo Olaigbe (Deputy).

The statement from INEC said Osun State has 30 local government areas and 332 registration areas. The state also has 3,010 polling units and 3379 voting points.

INEC, the statement said, has accredited 29 local and foreign observers to monitor the election.

Read more @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/inec-releases-list-of-20-participating-parties-candidates-for-osun-guber-polls/

Youth Council [OYC] has given the Northern Governors’ Forum a 21-day ultimatum to take drastic action against the its youth wing, Arewa Consultative Forum over its statement concerning investments of Ndigbo in the North.

The group was reported to have cautioned that Ndigbo have billions of investment in the North which be at danger if Northerners in the Igboland were asked to leave on the allegation of being Boko Haram members.

It said the statement tantamount to placing the lives and properties of Ndigbo in the North at danger. OYC called Northern governors to reassure Ndigbo in their states of their safety.

According to OYC President, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the silence of the Northern Governors’ Forum in the midst of such threat was dangerous and warned that at the expiration of the ultimatum, it would be forced to take other appropriate actions.

“The Ohanaeze Youth Wing rejoices with our Muslim brothers on the occasion of this year’s Eid El Fitr celebration. In the spirit of Sallah, we enjoin them to promote peaceful co-existence by imbibing the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.

“In the same vein, we ask the Northern Governors’ Forum under the leadership of Dr. Babangida Muazu Aliyu of Niger State to reassure Ndi-Igbo domiciled in the North of their safety and their continued preparedness to ensure the safety of lives and properties of all Nigerians in their respective states.

“This has become necessary owing to recent statements emanating from the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) listing Igbo investments in the North as targets of possible attacks based on unfounded claims of victimization of Hausa/ Fulani Muslims in Imo State”, Isiguzoro said.

Isiguzoro further said that it was challenging that “such Hausa/Fulani Muslims who were allegedly victimized by Governor Rochas Okorocha’s Government to make their identities known and in the spirit of oneness, the Ohanaeze Youth Wing shall use all legal means to champion their cause”.

According to the group, “based on intelligence reports that Boko Haram is working assiduously to setup bases in Eastern Nigeria, we ask security agencies in Ala-Igbo to be alert and not to be distracted by ongoing attempts to politicize issues of national security”.

“We urge Dr. Aliyu Mu’azu to emulate Governor T.A. Orji of Abia State, who as Chairman, South East Governors’ Forum has always assured Hausa/ Fulani Muslims and all other non-Igbos resident in Ala-Igbo of their safety.

“From our intelligence reports, Ndi-Igbo in North are apprehensive since no Northern leader, especially the Governors, has come out to condemn the anti-Igbo statement from the ACF.

“We commend Ndi-Igbo in the North for being peaceful and we enjoin them to remain vigilant while living harmoniously with their hosts. Obviously, the present threat to Ndigbo is in response to their perceived support for President Jonathan’s 2015 re-election bid.

“If within 21 days the Northern Governors’ Forum does not deem it necessary to reassure Ndi-Igbo in their domain of their safety, the Ohanaeze Youth Wing shall take necessary action”, OYC warned.

http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/ohaneze-youths-give-northern-govs-21-day-ultimatum/

Hello parents and students,

ASSURE Educational Services, a foremost educational services in Nigeria, will be conducting a holiday online quiz competition during the 2013/2014 summer holiday.

The holiday online quiz competition will focus on the following category of students:

Primary Pupils in class 4, 5 and 6 (2014/2015 academic session)
Junior Secondary Students in JS 2 and 3 (2014/2015 academic session)
Senior Secondary Students in SS 2 and 3 (2014/2015 academic session)

The quiz competition has been scheduled to start on the 8th of August, 2014.

Summer Holiday Online Quiz Competition for Nigeria Students - Primary, Junior and Senior Secondary will hold online @ www.holidayquiz.

Registration has commenced....keep your kid(s) engaged academically at home or anywhere in the world while the summer lasts.....

For more information and enquiries, call the Quiz Administrator on: 07063397940, 08050701465 ...... admin@holidayquiz.

Arik Air yesterday said it had suspended flight operations to Liberia and Sierra Leone following the death last week, of a Liberian, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, of the dreaded Ebola disease, even as it advised that all inbound flights into Nigeria from any of the Ebola affected countries be immediately suspended by the Federal Government.

Confirming the suspension of the flights yesterday, Arik Air General Manager, Public Relations, Mr Ola Adebanji said “As a result of the first Ebola virus death officially confirmed in Lagos, and involving a Liberian national who flew on a foreign (non-Nigerian) based airline from Monrovia via Lome (Togo) into the city last week, Arik Air will be suspending operations into Monrovia (Liberia) and Freetown (Sierra Leone) effective July 28, 2014.”

“The suspension will be in force until further notice. This decision is a pre-cautionary measure aimed at safeguarding the precious lives of Nigerians. Arik Air is taking this important measure as a concerned corporate citizen bearing interest of Nigerians at heart.“

Following the death of the patient, the duo said there was “orderly temporary shutdown of the hospital with immediate evacuation of in-house patients. This was followed by appropriate professional removal of the body and its incineration under WHO guidelines witnessed by all appropriate agencies,” noting that the reopening of the hospital would also be in accordance with WHO guidelines.

The statement added that in keeping with World Health Organisation guideline, the hospital had been shut down briefly for full decontamination.

Read the details @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/ebola-arik-air-suspends-flights-to-liberia-sierra-leone-first-consultants-medical-centre-shut-down/

A Sierra Leone woman who fled hospital after testing positive for the Ebola virus has died after turning herself in, health officials have told the BBC.

Her family had forcibly removed her from a public hospital on Thursday.

Since February, more than 660 people have died of Ebola in West Africa - the world's deadliest outbreak to date.

Nigeria has put all its entry points on red alert after confirming the death there of a Liberian man who was carrying the highly contagious virus.

The man died after arriving at Lagos airport on Tuesday, in the first Ebola case in Africa's most populous country.

The outbreak began in southern Guinea and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Read details and pictures @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/ebola-outbreak-sierra-leone-escaped-patient-dies-2/

Pastor Lawrence Okechukwu Amuruche, a 61-year-old father of two, has cried out for help after the anointing oil, water and prayer points given him by the General Overseer of his church, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Dr. Daniel Kolawole Olukoya failed to stop the cataract growing in his eyes.

Amuruche, who pastors the Alakija, Satelite town branch of the MFM, said for over a year, he has been battling with eye cataract which has already grown on one eye and threatening to start growing on the second eye if medical help does not come fast.

Narrating his ordeal when he visited The Sun head office in Lagos, Pastor Amuruche said the problem started when he noticed his eyes were always itching him, a which development degenerated into blurry sight later. According to him: “I noticed my eyes always scratch me and at a point my vision changed, my sight became blurring. I told my wife about it, she looked into my eyes and told me there was a growth forming in my eyes. So, we sought medical advice.”

See picture and details @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/mfm-pastor-close-to-blindness-cries-out/

Liberia’s finance minister Amara Konneh confirmed that Sawyer (the dead victim in Lagos) was a consultant for the country’s finance ministry.

“Our understanding is that the cause of death was Ebola,” Konneh told Reuters.

The Federal Government yesterday called for calm over Sawyer’s death ,saying there has been no other case of the virus in Nigeria.

Addressing journalists in Abuja Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu assured Nigerians that there is no cause for alarm as necessary steps has been taken by government to contain the disease from spreading.

A special information committee on Ebola has also been set up.

It is headed by Information Minister Labaran Maku and is charged with the responsibility of creating awareness in the country about the disease .

Measures put in place to prevent the disease include: quarantining all the passengers that travelled with Sawyer; placing all entry ports in the country on red alert; and deploying health personnel at entry points.

Details @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/update-on-ebola-victim-in-lagos-victims-sister-died-of-ebola-three-weeks-ago/

Van Persie v Spain – Robin van Persie scored the first headed goal of the World Cup. It’s unlikely that a header of such sinew-busting gravity-defying magnificence will ever be scored again.

Van Persie’s moment of inspired improvisation to get on the end of a 60-yard ball from Daley Blind had reminisces of Dennis Bergkamp against Argentina at France 1998. That single touch has already led to thousands of grass-eating imitations, the issuance of a Dutch commemorative coin, and it’s own noun: ‘Persieing’.

See more photos @ http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/brazil2014-fifa-world-cup-eleven-best-goals-see-photos

Although the ongoing National Conference will soon come to an end, history is about to be made.

When President Goodluck Jonathan made up his mind to convene the confab, he probably never knew that some people had another positive agenda.

While some delegates came to contribute their quota on how to solve the problems facing the country, some others have different missions.
A delegate from one of the vocal geo-political zones aged between 55 and 60 has fallen in love with another delegate aged between 60 and 65.

Source - http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/confab-two-lovers-delegates-to-tie-the-nuptial-knot-soon/

A Member of the delegate conference, Prof Jerry Gana, has shed more light on the rumour over inclusion of Edu state among the states recommended to be created by the conference.

The Edu state is recommended to be created from the present Nupe speaking areas of Niger state.

Jerry Gana who is the Dan Hasken Nupe and a member at the on-going National Conference said contrary to insinuations the proposed Edu State from the present Niger State is among the 18 new states recommended .

According to him in an interview with journalists in Bida, Niger State, Prof Gana said the proposed state by the Nupes was number 2 on the list of the Votes and Proceedings of Thursday, July3.

The former Minister of Information said other states were also recommended for creation with Edu State and that it was also recommended that the third state to be created in the South-South Zone will be named later, along with its state capital.

Source - http://newsnownigeria.com.ng/jerry-gana-explains-inclusion-of-edu-state-among-recommended-states/

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The result of the University of Nigeria Nsukka post UTME screening conducted between 18th and 19th July 2013, has been released online and can be accessed on UNN portal www.unnportal.com with a new scratch card different from the one used during your post-UTME registration.

The cards are sold for N1,100 only in Nsukka for now in the following banks:

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Tests Administrator
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Do you know Nigeria? Take our online quiz to determine your knowledge of Nigeria.

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