Dr D.K. Olukoya appointed as Professor of Biotechnology

Dr Daniel Kolawole Olukoya, the General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries and Chancellor of Mountain Top University has been appointed as Professor of Biotechnology by one of Nigeria's top Universities.This is the result of the positive consideration by relevant review Committees and Council of the University following the assessments of his publications by some of the world’s best scholars in Biotechnology, each of whom found him to be eminently appointable as Professor of Biotechnology.

It needs to be underscored that this appointment is indeed well-deserved by Prof. D. K. Olukoya, who is an epitome of all-round excellence.

He bagged a first-class honours degree in Microbiology from the University of Lagos in 1980. He obtained his doctoral degree (Ph.D) at a record time in Molecular Genetics, from the prestigious University of Reading in the United Kingdom, in 1984. Thereafter, he taught Genetics at the University of Lagos and was an external examiner to a number of Universities in and outside Nigeria. He also engaged himself as a distinguished researcher and exceptional Geneticist at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research between 1984 and 1998, during which he produced more than 70 scientific publications in the best local and international journals in the area of Microbiology and Biotechnology. He has also been cited more than a thousand times by scholars across the world.

Not only has the new Professor of Biotechnology cut a niche for himself among eminent scholars in Microbiology and Biotechnology across the world, he had equally supervised many postgraduate students and continues to serve as a mentor and motivator to many Nigerian Microbiologists and Biotechnologists, many of whom have risen to professorial cadres in Universities in and outside Nigeria.

It needs to be mentioned that Prof. D. K. Olukoya was severally offered this position in 1990s, by many Universities. But, he chose to pursue his ministerial destiny, as directed by God.

The authorities, members and friends of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, across the world, heartily congratulate our leader and mentor, Prof. Daniel Kolawole Olukoya, on his very eminently deserved appointment as a Professor of Biotechnology.

Ondomind 

Just In: CBN limits cash withdrawals to N100,000 weekly, limit POS withdrawals to N20,000 daily

 The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has limited weekly cash withdrawals over the counter to N100,000 for individuals and N500,000 for organisations regardless of their size.Withdrawal at POS terminals has also been limited to N20,000 per day. The directive will take effect from January 9, 2023.

 

The directive comes as the CBN prepares to effect a change of naira notes in circulation starting next week, precisely on December 15.

 

 The directive is contained in a December 6 memo classified as Confidential titled: “NAIRA REDESIGN POLICY-REVISED CASH WITHDRAWAL LIMITS.”

 

Signed by Haruna Mustafa, Director of Banking Supervision, the memo reads:

 

“Further to the launch of the redesigned Naira notes by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 and in line with the Cash- less policy of the CBN, all deposit money banks (DMBS) and other financial institutions (OFIs) are hereby directed to note and comply with the following:

 

The maximum cash withdrawal over the counter (OTC) by individuals and corporate organizations per week shall henceforth be N100,000 and N500,000 respectively. Withdrawals above these limits shall attract processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari & CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

 

 Third party cheques above 50,000 shall not be eligible for payment over the counter, while extant limits of N10,000,000 on clearing cheques still subsist.

 

 The maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated Teller Machine (ATM) shall be #100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.

Only denominations of #200 and below shall be loaded into the ATMs. 

The maximum cash withdrawal via point of sale (POS) terminal shall be N20,000 daily.

In compelling circumstances, not exceeding once a month, where cash withdrawals above the prescribed limits is required for legitimate purposes, such cash withdrawals shall not exceed #5,000,000.00 and N10,000,000.00 for individuals and corporate organisations, respectively, and shall be subject to the referenced processing fees in (1) above, in addition to enhanced due diligence and further information requirements.

 

 Further to (6) above, you are required to obtain the following information at the minimum and upload same on the CBN portal created for the purpose.

Ondomind 

OAU Students Representative Council hosted Dignitaries, Students and Lecturers in Summit

The Political Science Students' Representative Council of Obafemi Awolowo University, hosted dignitaries, Lecturers and students in its first-ever parliamentary summit themed "Building the Nigeria dream: The role of the legislature and advantage of Policy Making". The summit was held on Tuesday, 6 December, 2022 under the leadership of Hon. Oluwatobi Oluwaseun Faturoti, the Political Science Students' Representative Speaker. 

The PSSRC Speaker, Faturoti Oluwatobi Seun in his welcome address gives all thanks to God for making the event a possibility and he reiterates the reason why youth especially students can no longer sit on the fence or take the back sit in the affairs that shape their lives. In his words "as students of politics and citizens of Nigeria, we cannot afford to be disinterested in the issues of nation building because in there lies our dream future ambitions and aspirations. So, therefore we can't continue to be feelings pessimistic but rather face the challenges by looking for lasting solutions."

The Honourable member of the Osun state House of Assembly representing the Oriade constituency, Hon. Babatunde Desmond Ojo commended the speaker of the PSSRC on his doggedness in making the event a reality. he buttresses the issue of building Nigeria that it is a collective effort, not a man's job nor is it something that will happen overnight. Citing himself as an example; "l thinks politics is a devil's discipline "I had to join, leave the cooperate world and join politics" the Honorable said. He admonished the audience saying; "you will have to queue into the sector where your dream can be actualized and take politics matter serious that is when we can begin the process of nation building."

OAU Students Representative Council hosted Dignitaries and Lecturers in Summit | Image credit: OAU

The chief whip of the Osun State House of Assembly , Hon. Babatunde Lekan Olatunji dissected the theme holistically by highlighting the importance of legislation in a democratic government, he said any form of government can have its executive in any firm maybe in a presidential or parliamentary or tyrannical or monarchical. Executive will always exist but parliament only has its full expression in a democratic government. He states further that "the most voluminous constitution in the world is that of the people of India and the least is that of the province of Monaco but when living conditions GDP per capital and prosperity of these two state is place side by side, Monaco seems to be doing well by far, so it not by the volume of the policy the legislature implemented that determines the prosperity of the country that is why quality leadership must be stressed when electing leaders into public offices." He ended his speech with a resounding assurance that the future is still bright in Nigeria.

With a standing ovation, the audience and members of the high table welcome the Hon. Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye as he mounted the podium with excitement sang the great ìfẹ́ anthem to honor and further reiterated the fact that he is also a great alumnus of the citadel of learning.

The sixteen years serving honorable stated with the full singing praises of the PSSRC Honorable speaker, he began his speech with a rhetorical question, is there a future for Nigeria?

The speaker continued his speech stating "that Nigeria is in the place it is today due to individuals chasing individuals interest and not the collective interest of the society, the Nigeria dream, where everyone is given equal opportunity"

He reiterated comically stating "for us not to jápa there must be something to jáje" and for us to get to where we want to be it takes "collective responsibility."

The event featured the presentation of awards to the guests, giveaways, music, merriment and lots more. Policymakers of Osun State House of Assembly representing various constituencies were in attendance and also some notable Great Ife Students' Union leaders .

EFCC Declares APC Senatorial Candidate Wanted Over Alleged $1.3Million Fraud

The arraignment of Abdulsalam Saleh Abdulkarim, the Kano Central senatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress, could not go on today due to the absence of the judge.

Zaura was scheduled to be arraigned before the Federal High Court Kano on allegation of $1,320,000 (One Million, Three Hundred and Twenty Thousand Dollars) fraud

At the last adjourned date, the arraignment was also stalled due to Zaura’s absence, the third time he would fail to appear before the court.

The Supreme Court also rejected his application to stay proceedings of the trial court and ordered him through his counsel, to present himself before the Federal High Court Kano for arraignment.

At the resumed hearing today, counsel for the prosecution Ahmed Arogha appeared in court for the arraignment of the defendant but was informed that the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Yunusa was attending a seminar in Lagos

The matter was then adjourned until the 30th January, 2023.The Commission is prosecuting Zaura for defrauding a Kuwaiti Citizen of $1,320,000 (One Million Three Hundred and Twenty Thousand Dollars) under the pretext that he is into properties business in Dubai, Kuwait and other Arab countries.

Ondomind

FG Unveils New Curriculum For Varsity Education

The Federal Government has introduced a new curriculum for university Education in the country to “reflect 21st-century realities”.Ondomind reports that the new curriculum unbundled the Bachelor of Agriculture, Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication and the Bachelor of Architecture Programmed while establishing some emerging specialisations in these fields as obtained Worldwide.

The Allied Health Sciences was also carved out as a new discipline from the existing Basic Medical Sciences discipline.

Speaking at the unveiling of the new curriculum on Monday in Abuja, the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo said the development was part of an effort to make university education more responsive to the needs of society.

Professor Osinbajo who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said the introduction of the “Core Curriculum and Minimum Standard to university education” also addresses local issues, meet international standards and “uplifts scholarship in our universities”.

The Vice President commended the National Universities Commission (NUC) for the unbundling of such disciplines as Agriculture and the emergence of three courses, namely, Allied Health Sciences, Architecture and Communication as well as the media services, the three new courses in Nigerian Universities.

He said the new document has truly taken cognisance of the need to provide greater academic autonomy to universities with regard to the development of some percentage of course content.

He therefore, recommended the NUC of the decision to share the minimum credit unit required for graduation in the Nigerian university in the ratio of 70 to 30 percent. Saying it will further create institutional peculiarity.

Professor Osinbajo also applauded the foresight of other disciplines, like agriculture and the emergence of three new disciplines in the Nigerian university system, such as allied health sciences, architecture and communication as well as media studies.

Earlier, Tlthe Executive Secretary, National University Commission, Professor Abubakar Rasheed said in keeping with its mandate of making university education in Nigeria more responsive to the needs of society, NUC commenced the journey to restructure the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) in 2018, introducing in its place the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS), to re-examine existing and introduce new disciplines and programmes in the Nigerian University System.

He explained that the new CCMAS is a product of sustained stakeholder interactions over two years, adding that the composition of each panel took into consideration the triple helix model, as a unique feature.

“This involved a blend of academic experts, academies, the government represented by NUC, professional bodies and of course, the private sector, represented by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).

“In order to enrich the draft documents, copies of each discipline were forwarded to all critical stakeholders including the relevant academic units in Nigerian Universities, the private sector, professional bodies and the academies for their input.

He further said “These inputs, along with the curriculum of programmes obtained from some foreign and renowned universities, served as major working materials for the various panels constituted for that purpose.”

NUC explained that the CCMAS documents are uniquely structured to provide for 70% of core courses for each programme while allowing universities to utilise the remaining 30% for other innovative courses in their particular areas of focus.

Ondomind

Photostory: Stadium 974 is one of Qatar’s stadiums that will be disassembled after the World Cup

It was named 974 because it was built by using 974 shipping containers, which makes it fully recyclable structure.Qatar spent $717 million to build the Stadium 974. The multimillion dollar stadium will be completely dismantled after hosting seven World Cup games. It is the first temporary venue in FIFA World Cup history.

Africanreportfiles

That was the stadium where Ghana played its match against Portugal.Qatar announced t that it will give away the 974 Stadium as a gift to Jordan as an expression of appreciation for the Jordanian assistance to Qatar during the World Cup.The stadium will be disassembled back into 974 containers and shipped to Jordan to be re-assembled again there permanently.That is called: innovative engineering

Ondomind 

Social media is where truth goes to die in Nigeria - Shettima

Kashim Shettima, vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says a series of fake stories on social media against him are coordinated and sponsored by top Nigerian politicians.

The former Borno Governor described social media as the place where “truth goes to die” in the country.

Shettima spoke on Sunday in Abuja during a reception in his honour by the Borno Indigenes Forum.

The vice-presidential candidate said the social media spaces playing a host of fake stories have also served as platforms where the truth is being murdered in Nigeria.

Ondomind