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Soludo Receives new Governing Council Members of Federal Poly, Oko, Harps on Revamping Higher Institutions in Nigeria

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**By Christian ABURIME

Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, today, Friday, 19th July, 2024, received the new Governing Council of Federal Polytechnic Oko.

The Council members led by its Chairman, Senator Barnabas Gemade were received at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia.

Senator Gemade who was the former National Chairman of People’s Democratic Party, described Governor Soludo as the most famous former Central Bank Governor in the history of the nation.

He explained that their visit was to officially inform him that they had assumed duty in the institution as members of the governing councils members”As Governor of the CBN, you brought tremendous innovation and we have seen that in your style of governance.

“Part of our work in the institution is to ensure that we collaborate with your government.

“This council will ensure that the institution is close to your government in programmes of technological development.

I am delighted to be here eith my members”; he concluded.Responding, Governor Soludo congratulated them on their well-deserved appointment, illustrating his emotional attachment to the institution.

“I knew it when it was Oko arts of science. It later changed to Anambra State and finally, Federal Polytechnic, Oko.

“It has grown in number and size, but you have a humongous task ahead of you.

“I look at the institution with mixed feelings of hope and opportunities but also of despair.

“We know where the dream was, but whether we are heading to the position, I don’t know.

“This is not peculiar to Federal Polytechnic, Oko. Most of our institutions are turning into glorified secondary school.

“We need to start asking the pivotal question of what our various individual institutions are known for.

What comes to mind when our institutions are mentioned?”Sadly, many of our institutions have gone down.

We need to go back to the fundamental ideas of our forefathers.

“I’m still looking at the glass as half full,” the governor stated.

He revealed that the new composition of the Council is an opportunity for something unique to be done in the institution, rather than being a place where people are given paper certificates without something to do when they graduate.

“In our own Polytechnic here in Mgbakwu, I have a team reviewing their status.

They will soon submit their report on whether the institution is fit for purpose.

“It is a general problem of our education, particularly tertiary education.

“I call them the “villagization” of our institutions, but I see Nigeria in terms of composition of members of the board.

“There is huge work to be done, to be able to rescue our education sector.

“I’ve seen university when it was universal, not minding where one came from but the value being added.

“Here in Anambra, we recruited 8115 teachers from 18 states of the country because the interest of the Anambra child is to be taught by the best teacher.

We are already practising what we preach.”Re-invent Federal Polytechnic, Oko.

It has been villagized to a glorified high school.

“I’ve seen how it works elsewhere and it pains me to see what is going on here.

“We have a job to rebuild because education remains the ladder of opportunities.”In terms of strategic partnership with you, there is a whole lot we can do to assist you, though yours is a Federal Institution in Anambra State.

Let’s do it together”; Governor Soludo added.Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Ernest Ezeajughi, Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Mr. Tony-Collins Nwabunwanne, The Acting Rector of Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Dr. Uche Onyegbu, among others, attended the event.

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JUST IN: Tinubu Departs Paris for Nigeria After Extended Vacation

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President Bola Tinubu has ended his working vacation in Europe and departed Paris for Nigeria on Tuesday, with his aircraft expected to land at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos later in the evening.

The announcement was made by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. Tinubu left Abuja on August 30 for what was initially billed as a three-week working vacation.

He spent one week in London before proceeding to Paris. The trip was later extended, bringing his total time abroad to about 30 days.

The President chose to return through Lagos rather than Abuja to honour the memory of the late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

On Independence Day, October 1, he is scheduled to attend the premiere of a movie celebrating Abiola at the Wole Soyinka National Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos.

While in Lagos, Tinubu will hold strategic meetings with political leaders and associates over several days as preparations for the 2027 general elections intensify. He is expected to return to Abuja after those engagements.

During his stay in Paris, the President attended a private dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and held meetings with business leaders, including Vincent Bolloré of the Bolloré Group.

He also met with First Holdings Chairman Femi Otedola and witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ogun State Government and DP World for a deep seaport and Blue Marine Economic Zone.

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National Assembly Plans to Translate Laws into Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba

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The National Assembly plans to translate Nigerian laws into Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba and other indigenous languages as part of a broader effort to digitise parliamentary records and make legislation more accessible to citizens.

Henry Nwawuba, Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, announced the initiative on Monday in Abuja while declaring open the 2026 National Assembly Library Week. The event was themed “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People.”

Nwawuba said the translation would help more Nigerians, especially those not proficient in English, understand the laws that affect their daily lives. He described the library as the knowledge infrastructure of the legislature and a repository of its institutional memory.

The move forms part of a digital overhaul that includes upgrading the e-library, creating electronic repositories, developing a National Assembly Library mobile application, and introducing a Bills Tracker to allow the public to monitor the progress of proposed laws in real time.

The library will also produce infographics, audiovisual materials and short video explainers to simplify bills, Acts and legislative procedures. Officials said the upgrades would help curb the spread of fake or unverified legislative documents online.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented by Senator Osita Ngwu, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Abbas Tajudeen, represented by Professor Julius Ihonvbere, both stressed the need for lawmakers to use the digital tools while prioritising cybersecurity.

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BREAKING: Court Order Threatens Dangote Kenya Refinery Launch

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A Kenyan court order requiring parties to maintain the status quo on disputed land has cast uncertainty over the planned groundbreaking of Aliko Dangote’s multi-billion-dollar oil refinery in Lamu, scheduled for Wednesday, September 30.

The Malindi Environment and Land Court, in an order dated September 25 and made public this week, directed that the existing situation on Land Reference No. 13061 in the Hindi/Manda Magogoni area be preserved until a hearing on October 14. The order followed a petition by 133 residents of Chandavai in Lamu County, who claim the land is ancestral property their families have occupied, farmed and developed for generations. They allege inadequate recognition, compensation and resettlement in the acquisition process.

Judge Jane Onyango declined to certify the application as fully urgent in a way that would explicitly cancel the ceremony and refused a separate request to restrain the Office of the President, Dangote Industries, the Lamu County Government and other respondents from proceeding with the groundbreaking. However, the status quo directive bars clearing, excavation, fencing, demolition, construction or other interference with occupied portions of the land in the interim.

Dangote Group said the ruling has not halted the groundbreaking ceremony itself. “The court has not halted the groundbreaking ceremony of the refinery at this stage. However, activities at the site may be affected by the ruling as both parties are required not to carry activities until the case is heard on 14th October,” the company stated.

Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi confirmed the ceremony would proceed as planned. Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, downplayed the development while speaking to investors in Nairobi, describing such legal challenges as “normal for us in Africa” and comparing it to past disputes elsewhere on the continent. He insisted the project would continue.

The proposed facility is a 700,000-barrel-per-day greenfield oil refinery and petrochemical complex estimated to cost $15–16 billion (roughly Ksh2 trillion). It is intended to process crude from Kenya’s Lokichar fields and other East African sources, reduce the region’s heavy reliance on imported fuels, create jobs and support industrialisation. President William Ruto is expected to attend the ceremony alongside Dangote. Heavy equipment has already begun arriving at the Port of Lamu.

The case returns to court on October 14, when respondents will have the opportunity to file responses and the matter will be heard inter partes. Until then, the legal constraint on site activities remains in force even as organisers press ahead with the ceremonial launch.

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