BREAKING: KWARA STATE GOVT COMMENCES PAYMENT OF JUNE SALARIES IN SPITE OF DELAYS FROM ABUJA.

Govs Aregbesola and Ahmed of Osun and Kwara State respectively  (Osun state government)

The Kwara State government commenced payment of June salaries despite the deadlocked Federal Accounts Allocation Committee(FAAC) meeting over disputed payments into the federation purse.

State governments are often due a monthly percentage from the federal coffers and most States rely on this money to offset salaries due to civil servants.

Monthly allocations to federal, state and local governments are only released following successful FAAC meetings.

Alhaji Demola Banu, Commissioner for Finance in Kwara said the salary payments will continue on Monday.

Banu expressed optimism that the deadlock which has delayed June salaries  across the 36 states, as well as at local and federal levels, will be resolved this week, and added that the state government sourced the money from alternative sources to pay its workers in the interest of their welfare.

He commended state and local government workers for their patience over the late salaries, stressing that all hands are on deck to resolve the differences which led to the  delayed release of monthly revenue to all tiers of government in the country.

Crude oil accounts for a chunk of Nigeria's earnings. Most States in the federation primarily live off what is shared monthly from crude oil earnings. 

UPDATED: EX-ONDO DEPUTY GOVERNOR'S DAUGHTER FOUND DEAD IN BOYFRIEND'S HOUSE

 
The daughter of the immediate past deputy governor of Ondo state, Lasisi Oluboyo, was on Sunday found dead at her boyfriend’s house. 
Until her death, she was a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko.

The Adenike Oluboyo, daughter of the immediate past deputy governor of Ondo state, Lasisi Oluboyo, was on Sunday found dead at her boyfriend’s house in Akure.

Ms Oluboyo, who was a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, was found dead in her boyfriend’s house, Adeyemi Alao, popularly known as Q.S.  Until her death, Adenike was a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko.

Femi Joseph, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ondo command, who confirmed the story to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), described the incident as  saddening and very unfortunate. “It is not a rumour but it is a fact that the young lady was found dead this morning and it is saddening and very unfortunate. “We are on it and trying to get some facts but the commissioner of police will brief the press about the details in another 48 hours,” Mr Joseph said. 

Adeyemi denied involvement in Oluboyo’s death when he faced journalists at the headquarters of the Ondo State Police Command on Wednesday in Akure.

According to him, it was the slain girl that brought two boys into his room, who eventually killed her.

Adeyemi explained that he had dated Oluboyo for four years before they parted ways in 2015, and that they only reconciled after the last Ramadan celebration.

Adeyemi, who completed his National Youth Service in 2017, said he had no reason to kill her because he hoped to use her father’s connection to secure job.

He said that Oluboyo came to his house on Thursday because of her project which he was helping her to do.

According to him, they had finished chapter one and her supervisor had already approved it and she came for final correction so that she could move to chapter two.

He explained further that the girl later travelled to Lagos on Friday to buy some wrist watches but she forgot to drop her project with him.

“Meanwhile, on Saturday she snapped both the soft and hard copy of her project to me on my whatsApp for correction.

“On Monday, I believed she was already in school when she sent me a text message to send her N2,000. But I was able to send only N1,000.

“So, I was surprised when I heard a knock on my door later in the day and she entered my room.

“She later told me that she wanted to receive some visitors in my place, and few minutes later she brought two boys in. I was not surprised because that was not her first time to bring someone to my house.

“Later when they came in, we exchanged greetings and I left them in the room. But after 30 minutes, one of the boys called me in and I discovered he held a small gun in his hand while the other boy was on her, naked.

“And I heard Khadijat saying ‘I will not tell anybody’. The boy strangled her to death and threatened me not to shout or else they would kill me.

“They later forced me to find a digger with which they dug the ground in my room and buried her

“They are the ones that killed and buried her. I could not shout after they left because of the implication of what has happened, for I was sure nobody would believe me.

“On the fifth day, I was not comfortable anymore, so I exhumed her body and confided in my younger brother who advised that we should inform our father about the development.

“It was my father who informed the police before I was arrested,” Adeyemi said.

Mr Femi Joseph, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command who paraded Adeyemi with other suspects, said he would soon be charged to court after completion of investigation.

BREAKING: NUC MAY LIFT BAN ON DISTANCE LEARNING IN NIGERIAN UNIVARSITIES SOON

THE National Universities Commission has disclosed that it is developing quality assurance protocol for Open and Distance Education in Nigeria, signalling the readiness of the Commission to lift the ban on distance learning in Nigerian universities.

Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed made this known in Abuja on Monday while speaking at a two-day retreat, organized for all Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities as a way of sustaining the periodic review of the challenges confronting tertiary education.

He said the protocol being developed by a team of experts, when completed, would enable the Commission to properly regulate the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Nigerian universities when the ban is lifted.

Rasheed, therefore, charged the conventional universities in the country to accelerate efforts at introducing open and distance learning wings in order to expand access to tertiary education in the country.

He said: “We want to encourage our conventional universities to introduce Open And Distance Learning wings. We are working on developing the protocol for Open and Distance Learning so that we can have a quality distance learning education,” he said.

He noted that the high number of applicants for university education annually coupled with the population explosion, open and distance learning holds the future for tertiary education in Nigeria.

He, however, said the Commission would not allow 100 per cent online distance learning programme so as to give room for fraudulent individuals to make a caricature of university education in the country.

He insisted that the Open and Distance Learning would be complemented by face-to-face interaction in order to ensure the quality of products of the system.

NUC boss added that the Commission is re-engineering the universities curriculum in response to the needs of the nation.

Rasheed noted that for a successful tertiary education delivery in the country both private and public universities will have to come together as one and reinvent themselves in order to progress.

While stressing the need for a continuous review of tertiary education, Rasheed said: “Our system is growing. With over 164 universities with about 2 million students’ enrolment and over 60,000 academics in the system, we have a very expanding system that we need to become more regular with our review.”

~ NUC DENIES ANY VARSITIES RANKING YET

On the consistent rumours of Nigerian universities being ranked, Rasheed said the commission has not offered any ranking of universities, adding that the official ranking of all Nigerian universities would be released next year when all the accreditation might have been done.

He further challenged universities to come up with new programmes saying that the commission is ready to partner with them in order to move forward.