News & Announcements

Kabale University in the Western Region of Uganda has sacked a Nigerian lecturer, Dr Nafiu Lukman Abiodun, the Head Department of Economics and Statistics in the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, over his alleged involvement in the sexual harassment of female students.

A Ugandan newspaper, ‘Kampala Dispatch’ reported on Tuesday that the don demanded sex from female students and made those who refused his demands have been forced to retake classes.

The varsity’s board found Abiodun guilty of sexual harassment after investigations and asked him to leave the institution in a letter revealed by the report, a development that was confirmed by the Chancellor, Jay Constance Kwesiga.

The letter partly read: “I regret to inform you that the Appointments Board of Kabale University Under Min.598160/AB/21122 found you guilty of Sexual Harassment, failure to follow examination regulations, and professional negligence. The board, therefore, directed you be severely reprimanded and your interdiction be lifted.

“The board further resolved not to renew your contract as a Senior Lecturer of Statistics when it expires on 11 November 2022. You are therefore required to hand over all University property in your possession to the dean of the faculty of Economics and Management Science in the presence of the financial auditor.”

Dr Abiodun, a Nigerian national is also the Director of Research at the University. He was banned mid-year to pave way for investigations into complaints that he was demanding sex from female students in exchange for marks.
The report further said: “Our reporter understands that Lukman would give retakes to female students that refuse.

“But his luck run out when some of the female students recorded him demanding sex on phone. Now in a November 11, 2022 letter addressed to Dr. Abiodun, the Kabale University Secretary Canon Johnson Munono Byaryantuma says that investigations found him guilty of sexual harassment, failure to follow examination regulations, and professional guidance.

“Kabale University Chancellor Joy Constance Kwesiga, confirmed the development when contacted on Sunday 13, November 2022 but declined to divulge details, saying that they have information that Dr. Lukman may petition the court.”

A baby born somewhere on Tuesday will be the world’s eighth billionth person, according to a projection by the United Nations.

“The milestone is an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements while considering humanity’s shared responsibility for the planet,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

The UN attributes the growth to human development, with people living longer due to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene, and medicine.
It is also the result of higher fertility rates, particularly in the world’s poorest countries – most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa – putting their development goals at risk.

The current population is more than three times higher than the 2.5 billion global headcount in 1950.

However, after a peak in the early 1960s, the world’s population growth rate has decelerated dramatically, Rachel Snow of the UN Population Fund told AFP.
Annual growth has fallen from a high of 2.1 percent between 1962 and 1965 to below one percent in 2020.

That could potentially fall further to around 0.5 percent by 2050 due to a continued decline in fertility rates, the UN projects.

The UN projects the population to continue growing to about 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and peaking around 10.4 billion in the 2080s.

Other groups have, however, calculated different figures.
The US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimated in a 2020 study that the global population would max out by 2064 without ever reaching 10 billion and decline to 8.8 billion by 2100.

Child rights activist, Ambassador Wale Ojo-Lanre has sued the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi for allegedly involving an underage girl-child in his political rally in Lagos.

The child activist is suing for a sum of N50m as damages
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Ojo-Lanre had on October 27 filed the originating motion on notice before a family court in Ikeja High Court.

Ojo-Lanre is suing the respondent as a “Concerned Nigerian and litigation friend” of the toddler.

Other respondents in the suit marked ID/6332GCM/2022 included: the Labour Party, Queen (mother of the underage), Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN). The petitioner is seeking an award of N50m damages against the first, second, and third respondents for violating the child rights of the underage girl-child.

According to him, it is illegal, misleading, unlawful, exploitative, and abusive for the presidential candidate to post the picture and video of the toddler via his Twitter handle dated October 2 to refer to her as “a poster child.”

He said, “The first defendant allowed participation and usage of a toddler in an adult political rally, which took place on the street of Lagos on October 1.

“This is contrary to Sections 29 and 33 of the Child Rights Act of Lagos State and Article 36 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Children, 1981.

“We seek an order for the first and second respondents to delete their respective tweets and several other posts on their social media accounts in reference to the underage girl-child.

“We also seek an order mandating the fourth and fifth respondents to withdraw the toddler from the care and custody of the third respondent.

“We are seeking a court order to foster the child in any welfare home under the accreditation and supervision of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs or other appropriate authorities for proper care, education, protection, and upbringing until she turns 18 years.

“In addition, we seek an order to disqualify the second respondent from participating in the 2023 presidential election for condoning, adopting, encouraging, and allowing the usage of the toddler for his rally.”

Ojo-Lanre also urged the court to prevent the first, second, and third respondents from posting, circulating, and printing the picture of the toddler.

He further submitted that the fourth and fifth respondents should initiate criminal complaints, arrest, and prosecution of the first, second, and third respondents for alleged exploitation and flagrant violation of the toddler’s rights.

Meanwhile, the case has not been fixed for hearing.

The Head of the Olawoyin royal family, Prince Tijani Olawoyin-Atiba, has said it is the turn of their family to producing the next Alaafin of Oyo.

He stated this on Monday during a press briefing in Oyo Town.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, died on April 22 at the age of 83 and the stool has been vacant since then.

He said their progenitor, Alaafin Atiba birthed 21 male children contrary to the assertion from some quarters that he birthed 11 children, so as to deny other children the opportunity to contest for the stool.

Olawoyin-Atiba said the names of the male descendants of Alaafin Atiba are, “Adelu, Adelabu, Adesiyan, Adeyemi, Adediran, Adejumo, Olawoyin, Tella Agbojulogun, Ala, Adewusi, Adesetan I, Adeleye, Adesetan II, Adedotun, Afonja, Agbonhin (Allah ni basiri), Tella Okitipapa, Ogo, Momodu Adesokan and Adejojo.”

He further stated that Alaafin Atiba did not leave behind any instructive decision banning or excluding any of his male children from contesting or ascending the stool when vacant.

“To this end, I make a passionate plea to the Oyo State Government to toe the line of justice by ensuring Olawoyin royal family in conjunction with other male descendants of Alaafin Atiba are not only captured in the declaration but also recognized in the selection and appointment to fill the vacant stool.”

In attendance at the press briefing were; Prince Ahmed Olawoyin-Atiba; Prince Yinus Abiodun Olawoyin; Prince Ismaheel Olawoyin; Prince Yusuff Olawoyin-Atiba; Prince Rasheed Olawoyin; Prince Abdulganiyu Olawoyin; Prince Ismaheel Olawoyin; Princess Fatimah Olawoyin-Omolakanbi and Princess Bello Olawoyin.

Daughter of Donald Trump, former American President, Tiffany Trump on Saturday married her Nigerian-bred lover Michael Boulos.

Recall Tiffany made her engagement known to her 24-year-old lover on 19th January 2021, which was her father’s final full day in office, and she planned to wed in Greece this summer.

At the wedding held at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Donald Trump and his wife, Melania was present.

Tiffany and Michael started dating in the summer of 2018 after she dumped her longtime lover Ross Mechanic.

According to reports, the two connected right away after partying together in Mykonos, Greece, over the summer.

They kept their connection private at first, but Tiffany made it public by inviting him to Thanksgiving with her family at Mar-a-Lago later that year.

Nyesom Wike,the governor of Rivers State,has attacked people who have criticized him for the special guests he chose to commission his project.

The governor was addressing on Monday in Port Harcourt at the dedication of the newly built Dr. Peter Odili Cardiovascular and Cancer Screening Center.

He advised anyone who intended to raise their blood pressure as a result of his actions to do it right away.

He said: “Those who are asking why I’m not inviting them to commission the project, you, invite me to commission in your own place? I have a choice to invite whomever I want to come and commission projects.”

Continuing, he said: “On Wednesday, Adams Oshiomole will come and commission, on Thursday Peter Obi will come and commission on Friday President Buhari will commission the Nigerian Law School. On Monday Kwankwaso will come and commission. So I chose those I wanted to come and if you want to have high blood pressure it’s your business.”

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja Monday adjourned indefinitely the trial of the Biafra nation agitator, Nnamdi Kanu in the terrorism charges brought against him by the Federal Government.

The trial Judge, Justice Binta Nyako put off the trial, at the instance of Kanu, pending the resolution of the Federal Government’s appeal against the October 13 judgment of the Court of Appeal that discharged him from the terrorism charges.

The Federal Government’s appeal seeking a reversal of the Court of Appeal judgment is pending before the Supreme Court.

Two other cases billed for hearing before the court were also put off indefinitely for the same reason.

Meanwhile, Kanu refused to appear in court in protest against the Federal Government’s refusal to obey a Court of Appeal judgment that ordered his release from detention.

Kanu’s refusal to appear in court was conveyed to Justice Binta Nyako by the government’s counsel,  Mohammed Abubakar.

British-Nigerian heavyweight boxer, Anthony Joshua has pushed back his ring return once again as his promoter, Eddie Hearn gives an update as to when we can expect to see the former two-time world heavyweight champion fight next.

The original plan was to see Joshua return to action in December, but when a proposed Tyson Fury fight fell through, that date was pushed back to January or February, it now seems we’ll have to wait a little longer for Joshua’s comeback.
Speaking to iFL TV, Hearn explained why fans will now likely have to wait until late March to see the Brit in action again.

“When you miss an opportunity like Fury, then your mojo goes a little bit, then you get to November and you’re like, ‘I’m probably not going to fight in December’ then it’s like ‘I’ve got Christmas and I’m not going to fight in January’ and then February’s there and before you know it you’re looking at March.

“He’s stayed out in the Middle East, he’s having a holiday and then he’s going to go back into camp. The plan for us is the middle or end of March really.

“Then you get comments like ‘why’s he going to March?’ Just because he wanted a couple more weeks’ holiday really. He’s still focused, still hungry.”

After losing his rematch to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in August, Joshua was called out by Fury, who appeared to offer him a shot at his WBC belt after Usyk declared he wouldn’t be ready for an undisputed clash until February or March at the earliest.

Joshua jumped at the chance of a proposed December 3 bout at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. For one reason or another, negotiations broke down at the end of September, and ‘The Gypsy King’ will instead fight Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the same date.

As for his next opponent, Joshua is likely to face the winner of Dillian Whyte vs Jermaine Franklin which takes place on 26th November at Wembley Arena.

Joshua and Whyte have a history having met in the amateur and pro ranks. Their last meeting ended in victory for Joshua, stopping Whyte in the seventh round to claim the British heavyweight title.

Rishi Sunak is promising to “call out Putin’s regime” at a gathering of world leaders in Indonesia.
The prime minister is travelling to Bali on Sunday afternoon for a summit of the G20 – the world’s biggest economies reports the BBC.

British officials had prepared for this get-together assuming Russia’s president would be there.

The prime minister was expected to join other world leaders in condemning Vladimir Putin to his face.

But Moscow said last week he wouldn’t be attending and the Kremlin would be sending Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, instead.

So the words of anger will be directed at him.
Speaking before setting off for Indonesia, the prime minister said: “Putin’s war has caused devastation around the world – destroying lives and plunging the international economy into turmoil.

Groceries Category“This G20 summit will not be business as usual. We will call out Putin’s regime, and lay bare their utter contempt for the kind of international cooperation and respect for sovereignty forums like the G20 represent.”

The G20 is a hotchpotch of countries with little in common beyond big economies.

An economic forum whose members have been hammered, economically, by one of their own, Russia.
So the backdrop is awkward, to say the least.

There won’t even be one of the basic diplomatic niceties of these gatherings this time, what is known as the family photo, where the leaders pose for a group picture.

The other leaders refuse to be seen smiling in the presence of Russia.

Recent precedent suggests another usual staple of these affairs, what is known as a communique, a set of agreed conclusions published at the close of the summit, probably won’t happen either.

Almost three weeks into the job, this is Sunak’s second overseas trip as prime minister, after last week’s dash to the COP27 climate summit in Egypt.

He managed to see a good number of fellow European leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh.

The trip to Bali will mean he can meet plenty from the Indo-Pacific region, a part of the world the government has been increasingly focused on since Brexit.

And, perhaps, a first chance to meet US President Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, back home, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will continue preparing what is called the Autumn Statement, a budget in all but name, to be delivered on Thursday, just hours after the prime minister gets back home.

Downing Street is seeking to frame both the summit and the Autumn Statement as responses to the same shock: the consequences of the war in Ukraine.

A desperate global economic situation, as they describe it, with big domestic implications, that they seek to be trusted to grapple with, after the chaos of the Liz Truss administration.
But a fractious summit followed by what many will see as a bad news Budget won’t make for an easy week for Sunak.

Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations, DCI, has announced the rescue of an 8-year-old boy who was kidnapped by his father on November 12 and used to demand an Sh50,000 ransom from his wife.

Everline Nandera, the boy’s distraught mother, told police at Embakasi that the incident happened after a domestic dispute with the boy’s father, Nemwel Ondari.

“Nandera told detectives that she had left their home in Embakasi’s Tel Aviv area at the crack of dawn, headed for Muthurwa market.”

“But upon coming back at around 9:20 am, she found her husband and son missing. A note had been left behind by the husband demanding a ransom of Sh50,000, for the release of the boy.

“In the note, the man also warned his wife that he would kill the boy using a kitchen knife that he had carried, should she try any monkey business.

“Immediately the woman filled her report at Embakasi police station, detectives from the elite Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) based at DCI Nairobi area were assembled and a manhunt for the suspect was launched.

“The detectives assisted by their Embakasi counterparts traced the suspect and arrested him at the NMS Green Park matatu terminus off Haile Sellasie avenue, a few hours later.

“The detectives established that the couple had a heated argument last night and after Everline left early in the morning for Muthurwa to fend for her family, the man packed his clothes and a kitchen knife in two bags, before taking off with the innocent boy.

“The detectives pounced on the man at around 4 pm, as he eagerly waited for the ransom to be deposited into his Mpesa account.

“Mother and child were reunited as the man was escorted to Embakasi police station, where he is cooling his heels awaiting arraignment.”