Boy, 13, Kills Classmate over Damaged earphone

The police in Kogi have arrested a 13-year-old boy, Yinusa Halilu, for allegedly killing his friend and classmate, Mustapha Kazeem, 12, over a damaged earpiece.
ACP Austin Evakhabokun, the Acting Commissioner of Police in Kogi, made this known to journalists on Monday in Lokoja.
Evakhabokun said that a scuffle ensued between the suspect and the deceased, both primary school pupils, when the suspect demanded the return of the earpiece he lent to the deceased.
He said that the late Kazeem said that the earpiece was damaged and Halilu demanded monetary compensation for the damaged earphone.
He said that the demand enraged the deceased who reportedly called the suspect a thief, adding that this resulted in an exchange of hot words, as Halilu insisted on collecting the money by force.
Evakhabokun said that Kazeem became furious and rushed into the house, brought out a sharp cutlass and inflicted cuts on the suspect’s head.
He said that the suspect reportedly rushed to a nearby restaurant with his machete cuts and picked a sharp knife, with which he stabbed the deceased in the chest, leading to his death.
In an interview with newsmen, the suspect said that he borrowed the telephone earpiece from someone, saying that he insisted on replacing it since he did not know what to tell the owner.
He said that Kazeem was his friend and that they were both in Primary Five.
Halilu said that the deceased hit him on his head with a machete, adding that in retaliation, he stabbed him in the chest, which led to his death.
The police also paraded 14 armed robbery suspects, including an 85-year-old man, whose nephew was involved in car robbery, and a homicide suspect. (NAN)

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NLC restates support for unions, blame FG

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has stated that the Federal and State Governments were responsible for the ongoing ASUU strike, as well as threats of other strikes by different unions in the country.
While blaming the government for failing to abide by agreements reached with different unions in the country, it hailed the sustained action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The acting General Secretary of the NLC, Mr. Chris Uyot, in an interview with our source, said ASUU deserved more attention than it is currently receiving, as it has to do with the improvement of facilities and standard of education in the country.
“ASUU is our affiliate and for every step they have taken, we have been with them; we have been briefed. The NLC is as invested in this case as ASUU itself. The vice-president has been appointed to take over the negotiations and the ball is now in the court of the government as it were. We do not think that the government has given it the type of attention it deserves,” he said.
He said government’s refusal to honour agreements, negates its much publicized concept of the rule of law and order.
“The essence of negotiations for collective bargaining to bring about an agreement is to ensure that there is peace and harmony in the workplace, to bring about better understanding between employers and employees. So if we decide to manipulate agreements that have come through mutual negotiations, we are distorting the very concept of industrial relations which is the foundation of peace and harmony and stability in the workplace. It means we are trying to distort our own laws that guide these things,” he added.
“The world this day is guided by social dialogue and one of the tenets of social dialogue is mutual respect for agreements that have been entered by the partners. When you want to extricate the outcome of something that came through social dialogue, then you are invariably calling for chaos. Both federal and state governments seem to be more interested in violations of agreements and this is the major cause of industrial crises.”
Uyot expressed the readiness of the labour movement to honour agreements entered though collective bargaining and urged the government to do same.
“On our part as labour, we are ready at anytime to respect agreements that are mutually reached, but government is making it a tradition to disrespect the same agreement; you cannot run a workplace or a country like that.
“Government needs to rethink on the issue of collective agreements seriously. We feel sad that the country has been made to experience these problems because our leaders are running a system that respects the same laws which they have set,” Uyot added

Source: THISDAY

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Meet 9-year-old Jomiloju, Nigerias' youngest Microsoft certified professional

JOMILOJU, A primary six pupil of Role Model School, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, has emerged one of the youngest pupils to obtain the Microsoft Certified Professional certificate.
He came tops among 21 pupils who sat for the professional examination in Lagos.
He is now a Microsoft office specialist in office word 2010.
Jomiloju scored 769 out of 1,000 in the examination held in August.
In his examination score report, the slim-built boy performed well in Sharing and Maintaining Documents, Formatting Content, Applying Page Layout, and Reusable Content, among other subjects.
By the feat, Jomiloju has joined the league of young Microsoft certified professionals, including Nigeria’s 10-year-old Anjolaoluwa Seyi-Ojo; an eight-year-old Indian, Lavishnashree, and two Pakistanis, named Arfa and Thobani.
Microsoft Certified Professional is a certification programme provided by Microsoft Corporation. The certification is tailored towards building skills on Microsoft business solutions, focusing on client-end operating systems such as windows XP, Vista, Windows7 among others.
Jomiloju, whose certificate was signed by the Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Corporation, Steven Ballmer, says he did not achieve this feat easily, but through persistence and hard work.
He says, “It was not all that easy, because I had attempted the examination last year, I did not make it then. But I remained focused and I put in a lot of hard work.
“At home and in the school, I am always on the computer. After school hours, if am not doing anything, I will go to my Information Communication Technology teacher, to learn more.”
Jomiloju sat for the examination when he was in primary Five.
Relating his experience, Jomiloju says, “In all, I answered 20 questions, after answering a question, the computer takes you to another one. And at times, there will be an instruction to skip the next question. But the programme still directs one to come back to those questions one had earlier skipped.”
But was he really scared having failed once to meet the cut off mark? He stresses that he was really afraid due to his earlier experience but he was optimistic of having success, because according to him, he has prepared well.
He also gives kudos to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Tunde-Ladipo, for their support and imbuing in him the ‘can do’ spirit in achieving the success.
He says, “My mum and dad were very supportive. They always tell me never to give up and eventually it paid off. Moreover, they had bought the latest Dell laptop. Again, I am always fascinated about computer. The way it works and the process, and the way it organises data.”
Jomiloju who is a left-handed writer, according to his parents, has been a gifted child. He has always been in love with gadgets. His mum, Toyin, says, “Jomiloju since he was baby had loved playing with gadgets, he was never interested in toys. He would pick up remote controls for both TV and air-conditioner, and he would correctly use them for their specific functions.”
His father adds, “It is not that we are unnecessarily indulging him but he is such a brilliant child. He’s multi-talented. He plays the saxophone, he’s good on keyboard, he acts very well and he’s a good swimmer.
“Each term, he participates in school drama and quiz. He also gets prizes in other subjects, apart from ICT.”
Does Jomiloju want to pursue a career in software/hardware project like Bill Gates and Steve Job? Spotting an innocent smile, the youngster nods his head in affirmative.
His school administrator, Mrs. Adesimbo Banjo, who speaks glowingly about Jomiloju, says the feat recorded by her pupil is a tonic for other pupils.
His ICT teacher, Mr. Mathew Alo, also commends Jomiloju for the feat.
He adds, “Jomiloju was taught all the necessary things he needed to know and he came out as the most outstanding among 20 others from different schools in Lagos.
His class teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Ogunrinola, says Jomiloju takes his studies seriously. She states, “He is not only good in ICT, but in other subjects. He is hard working and well behaved.”
For Jomiloju, he’s not resting on his oars yet, as he says he is still going to seek more Microsoft certifications.
“I still want to sit for more examinations. I will still do excel and power points,” he says.

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NUT gives FG and ASUU 14-day Ultimatum to end the lingering strike

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) on Thursday gave a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to resolve the strike embarked upon by university lecturers since 1 July.
The NUT President, Mr Michael Olukoya, gave the ultimatum in Abuja at the end of the union’s meeting with teachers’ representatives across the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ASUU, had on July 1, embarked on a strike it described as “comprehensive, total and indefinite”.
The lecturers are protesting the non-implementation of some issues, contained in an agreement the union had entered into with the Federal Government since 2009.
Olukoya said that members of the union would not hesitate to close down the nation’s schools, if the two parties failed to reach agreement after two weeks.
He described the current ASUU strike “as nationalistic, patriotic and self-sacrificing.
“We will not hesitate to shut down the education system in the country, if the government fails to fulfil or honour the agreement it entered into with the lecturers.”
The NUT president said that Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo’s call for a complete over-haul of teachers’ qualification as unacceptable to the NUT.
He said that the blame should be put on the doorsteps of the employers and not teachers.
“NUT will forever be proud of all its teachers, believing that all employment agencies are corruption-free, disciplined and quality conscious in their employment drives.”
Olukoya also urged the governors of Kogi, Benue and Cross River to honour the agreement they made with teachers on the payment of 27.5 per cent teachers salary structure.
Source: Vanguard

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