Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos
Refinery
By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Lagos, May 8, 2018 (NAN) The University of Lagos says it is planning to set up a modular refinery and obtain a mining license to operate it.
Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, made this disclosure shortly after his investiture as the 12th Vice Chancellor of the institution, on Tuesday in Lagos.
In his acceptance speech, Ogundipe promised to take the institution to its desired heights.
“It is my vision to produce graduates that are locally competitive and globally relevant.
“We intend to build a spirit of possibility and clear reorientation among students and staff.
“We are also deploying human and material resources towards rebranding, especially in the area of research,’’ he said.
Ogundipe said that prominent among his goal would be “the setting up of a modular refinery, as well as obtaining a mining license’’.
According to him, when in place, the refinery will serve as laboratories for students of the Faculty of Engineering.
Speaking earlier, the Pro-Chancellor, University of Lagos, Dr Wale Babalakin, said the institution needed about N48 billion per annum to effectively reposition its academic activities.
Babalakin, also the chairman of institution’s Governing Council, said that with a population of about 40,000 students, Unilag receives only between N10 billion and N11 billion from the Federal Government annually.
The pro-chancellor said that for academic activities to thrive, more investments and commitments from key stakeholders must be in place.
According to him, Ogundipe’s appointment is coming at a time when education in the country needed rejuvenation.
“There has been a clamour for free education at all levels, but I will prefer good education at levels.
“Ogundipe is coming at a time when the university is being classified as beneath the top 800 in the world.
“He is coming indeed at a time when we have challenges in restoring our legacy and we cannot afford to tell Nigerians that you did not succeed,’’ Babalakin said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ogundipe was appointed vice chancellor on Oct. 27, 2017 to last till 2022. (NAN)
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Beijing, May 8, 2018 (Xinhua/NAN) Chinese stocks continued to rise on Tuesday, boosted by strong performances of heavyweights including insurance and banking shares.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went up 0.79 per cent to end at 3,161.5 and the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.77 per cent higher at 10,707.8.
Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 443.8 billion yuan (about 69.7 billion U.S. dollars), up from 421.9 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Customs data showed Tuesday that China’s goods trade rose 8.9 per cent year-on-year to 9.11 trillion yuan in the first four months of this year.
China’s goods exports rose 6.4 per cent year-on-year to 4.81 trillion yuan in the January-April period, while imports grew 11.7 per cent to 4.3 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 506.24 billion yuan.
Lifted by the strong data, heavyweights such as insurance and banking sectors rose across the board.
Ping An Insurance surged 3.09 per cent to end the day at 63.08 yuan per share, while China Merchants Bank closed 2.59 per cent higher at 29.68 yuan.
The ChiNext Index, China’s NASDAQ-style board, rose 0.24 per cent to close at 1,856.87 Tuesday. (Xinhua/NAN)
Beijing, May 8, 2018 (Xinhua/NAN) China’s goods trade rose 8.9 per cent year-on-year to 9.11 trillion yuan (about 1.43 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first four months of this year, customs data showed Tuesday.
China’s goods exports rose 6.4 per cent year-on-year to 4.81 trillion yuan in the January-April period, while imports grew 11.7 per cent to 4.3 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 506.24 billion yuan.
The surplus is narrowed by 24.1 per cent, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).
In April, goods trade surplus shrank by 27 per cent to 182.8 billion yuan, as exports rose 3.7 per cent year-on-year to 1.27 trillion yuan, while imports grew 11.6 percent to 1.09 trillion yuan, according to the GAC.
In the first four months, exports and imports of products under the general trade category surged 12.8 per cent year-on-year to 5.34 trillion yuan.
This is accounting for 58.6 per cent of the total foreign trade volume, 2 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
Chinese private enterprises played a bigger role in the trade by contributing 38.6 per cent to total trade, up 1.2 percentage points compared with the same period last year.
Exports and imports made by foreign-funded companies totalled 3.91 trillion yuan, up 4.6 per cent, contributing 42.9 per cent of the total foreign trade volume during the January-April period. (Xinhua/NAN)
U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani trade words over nuclear deal
Deal
Washington, May 8, 2018 (dpa/NAN) “Insane,” “ridiculous,” “worst deal ever” are some of the descriptions used by US President Donald Trump for the Iran nuclear agreement, which he has bitterly opposed since early in his campaign for the White House.
The world will soon find out whether Trump’s rants about the 2015 deal will produce a concrete shift in US diplomacy, regarding one of the most important foreign policy issues of his presidency.
Trump officially has until Saturday to decide whether to reintroduce US sanctions on Iran, which among other things could spell an end to the accord.
But he has said he will announce his decision at 2.00 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Tuesday.
In January, Trump renewed waivers for US sanctions on Iran but warned that it was the last time he would do so unless several “disastrous flaws” in the agreement were addressed.
His ultimatum triggered a 120-day period that ends this weekend.
There is a growing consensus in the United States that his decision will effectively pull the US out of the deal, and that prospect has been accompanied by a range of speculation over what comes next.
French President, Emmanuel Macron, said he didn’t know what Trump would decide.
But after several meetings with the president over a three-day state visit recently he said: “My view is that he will get rid of this deal on his own for domestic reasons’’.
“The president campaigned on getting out of the deal and I think that he’s going to do so,’’ Lieut.-Gen. William G Boykin said on Thursday on Fox News.
Iranian leaders already have pledged to abandon the deal if the US withdraws.
But it could remain in the deal with Britain, France and Germany, along with China and Russia, which have expressed their continued support.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has warned that if Trump withdraws, it could risk war.
Since Trump issued the ultimatum in January, U.S. and European negotiators have met a number of times to address US concerns within and beyond the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal is formally known.
The U.S. side has raised four main issues: Iran’s ballistic missile programme, its involvement in regional conflicts, inspection of Iranian nuclear sites and so-called sunset clauses.
The sunset clauses, which let some restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme expire, have proved the most difficult of these.
The U.S. claims that the clauses provide Iran with a pathway to building nuclear weapons over time.
Trump has pushed the European partners to search for possible compromises.
Determined to stay in the deal, the bloc has argued that abandoning it would not help address the ballistic weapons issue or Iran’s role in the region.
“The JCPOA is a non-proliferation agreement.
“Other issues of concern are addressed separately,’’ a senior EU official said on condition of anonymity.
“If the deal falls apart, you would not be in any better position to tackle these issues.’’
Furthermore, the deal is doing what it is supposed to do, by curbing Iran’s nuclear activities, the official noted.
If the agreement falls apart and there’s no substitute, he said, it would “probably trigger a nuclear arms race in the region.’’
The dramatic developments on the Korean Peninsula may also influence Trump’s thinking on the nuclear deal.
Pulling out of the JCPOA could erode the trust he’s tried to build in the effort to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, ahead of a planned meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un; or it could send a strong message to Pyongyang that Trump is prepared to deliver on his threats.
Domestic politics could likewise have a role to play, as Trump could be thinking about fulfilling a campaign promise ahead of the November mid-term elections to boost his Republican Party’s chances of maintaining its majority in Congress.
In recent weeks, Trump has manoeuvred aggressively.
He has changed his secretary of state, switching the moderate Rex Tillerson for the more hawkish Mike Pompeo, a fierce critic of the Iran deal.
He has also brought in John Bolton, a foreign policy hawk, as his national security adviser.
Pompeo met Israeli President, Benjamin Netanyahu, on his first foreign trip after taking office, stressing that if the Iran nuclear deal cannot be fixed, Trump will withdraw.
The “full array of threats,’’ including Iran’s missile systems and support for militant groups in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen must be addressed as part of a revised agreement, he said.
Pompeo also said documents that Netanyahu revealed April 30 show that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons programme for years and lied about it.
“What this means is the deal was not constructed on a foundation of good faith or transparency,’’ Pompeo said. (dpa/NAN)
Chinese yuan weakens to 6.3674 against USD Tuesday
Currency
Beijing, May 8, 2018 (Xinhua/NAN) The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 90 basis points to 6.3674 against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
In China’s spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)
Moscow, May 7, 2018 (Sputnik/NAN) Raising the real income of the Russian citizens will be a major task for the country’s leadership in the coming years, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, told top government officials, ahead of his inauguration.
“In general, our key task for the next few years is a significant rise of the citizens’ real income.
“And there is a good foundation for that now.
“The economy has grown more stable, it has handled the sharp fall of oil prices, attempts to put pressure via sanctions, the changes of the global political settings,” the president said, as quoted in the press release of the Kremlin, issued Monday.
The president noted that the actions of the government allowed to overcome the slump in the economy, ensure the restoration and revitalisation of many sectors.
Putin said that the increase of salaries of state employees, including doctors, teachers and other professionals, was an important result.
Earlier, the presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that Putin had gathered the government members in the Kremlin and thanked them for their work.
“In the evening on Sunday, the president met with the members of the government.
“In his address to them, Putin thanked all cabinet members, the staff of ministries, agencies, the government, for the significant results in tackling the challenges that Russia is facing,” the spokesman said.
The president stressed that the last six-year term of the government had been filled with “new challenges and extraordinary events in the country as well as in the world,” according to Peskov.
“The government has been working extremely well, as a good team, and that, as Putin noted, was largely possible because of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev,” Peskov said.
Putin was re-elected as president in March election. (Sputnik/NAN)
Lagos, May 2, 2018 (NAN) Four students of Chinese language are among 245 first class graduates to take part in the 49th 2016/2017 Convocation of the University of Lagos.
The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, announced this at a news conference on Wednesday in Lagos.
Ogundipe said activities lined-up for the three-day ceremonies would begin on May 8.
According to him, the university will, for the first time, produce graduates in the Chinese language, with four out of 14 of them, in the first class division.
He said the university would confer degrees, diplomas and certificates to 12,638 students in various disciplines at the convocation.
He explained that 62 of the entire first class graduating students are from the Faculty of Engineering.
The vice-chancellor noted that three students emerged best graduating students with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.97.
They are Jude Mathew from the Department of Biochemistry, Abbas Roy-Larinde from the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and Emmanuel Babawale, Department of Early Childhood Education.
Giving a further breakdown of the graduating students, Ogundipe said 6,816, representing 53.9 per cent, would get first degrees and diplomas, while 5,822 others, representing 46.1 per cent, would bag postgraduate degrees.
Out of the graduating students, 1,892 are in the Second Class Upper division, while 2,958 others are in the Second Class Lower division.
Also, 1,227 graduates are in the Third Class, 93 with Pass degrees, while 400 others would be awarded degrees or diplomas that are not classified.
In the postgraduate category, Ogundipe said 123 would be awarded Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in various disciplines, while 5,190 others would be conferred with Masters’ degrees in their various fields of study.
He said 509 other students would be conferred with Postgraduate diplomas.
The VC expressed the determination of the university to attain unequalled national recognition and global relevance.
“We have initiated some partnerships and collaborations with institutions and organisations that will help us to achieve our dream of providing a world-class learning and research environment that will produce great scholars and researchers, with national impact.
“We are reaching out to both private, public organisations and individuals to support us.
“The ultimate goal is to make University of Lagos the African hub for research and innovation by 2022.
“We shall escalate research activities that focus on solving real-life challenges,’’ the VC said.
He noted that the university was ready to provide the lead in attending to urgent national issues through evidence-based research.
He added that the institution had challenged staff and students to make good use of their ingenuity and resourcefulness.
Ogundipe added that the university was also poised to develop its students by honing their skills through the introduction of entrepreneurship training to the curriculum.
At the end of the students’ degree programmes, he said they would be awarded bachelors’ degrees and an Entrepreneurship Certificate. (NAN)
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(L-R) A Guest, Chief lecturer- Ustadz Saheed Salmon, Deputy-Imam of the Railway Community Central Mosque and Malam Ibrahim Mamanga -Managing Editor/Head of Lagos Operation (HLO) of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Pre-Ramadan Lecture organised by The Muslim Congress (TMC) in Lagos.
Lecture
By Abdulfatah Babatunde
Lagos, April 27, 2018 (NAN) As Nigeria prepares for 2019 general elections, an Islamic scholar, Saheed Salman, charged Muslim faithful to get involved in the political process toward contributing to nation-building.
Salman gave the charge on Friday at a pre-Ramadan public lecture organised by The Muslim Congress (TMC) at the Railway Community Central Mosque, Ebute Meta, Lagos.
Salman, who is a Senior Assistant Registrar at Yaba College of Technology, said that religion and politics go together, contrary to the notion of secularism being promoted by some Nigerians.
He traced the genesis of the idea of labelling Nigeria as a secular state to the colonial era.
“The colonial masters divided the world among themselves.
“These colonial masters, whenever they want to leave a colonised country, always leave behind the evil ideology of separating spirituality from governance.
“Such ideology as secularism, which means that there is no relationship between religion and governance of the nation, is alien to the history of Islamic society,” he said.
The Islamic scholar said that the colonialists left Nigeria with the myopic belief that whenever people worship God, it should be confined to the religious space.
“They insist that religion is personal between an individual and God, so you must take religion away from governance. This is the genesis of secularism,’’ Salman said.
According to him, Islam places a lot of responsibility on those who professes the religion.
Quoting relevant portions from the Holy Qur’an and traditions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the scholar said Islam revolved around all aspects of human endeavour.
“Faithfulness in God must manifest in all our dealings.
“All Muslims, who believe in Allah must always show perfection in whatever they do.
“Any Muslim that has strong faith will always strive towards doing well and reforming the society.
“Where there is a strong faith, there will be less corruption and there will be near perfect society.
Salman said a Muslim has responsibility to bring development to the society.
“It is when we take away God from our affairs that we are witnessing all the challenges facing our country.
“ We must return back to Allah, be faithful in all our dealings and get involved in politics to impact the society positively with our faithfulness.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the TMC medical team provided free medical check up and drugs for various ailments to over 500 members of the Railway community at the occasion.
Among the common ailments treated at the event were malaria and hypertension. (NAN)
Security
By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Lagos, April 26, 2018 (NAN) The principals of Federal Unity Colleges in the South-west zone say they are beefing-up security around their schools in the face of the growing security challenges facing the country.
The Chairperson of the group in the zone, Dr Agnes Owolabi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
Owolabi spoke on the side-line of the statutory meeting of principals of Unity Schools in the South-west region that opened on Thursday at the Federal Government College Ijanikin in Lagos State.
Owolabi, also the Principal, Federal Government Girls’ College, Sagamu, said that one of the key issues the meeting would deliberate upon was how the principals could better secure their schools.
They would also discuss how they would keep the schools safe from external aggression.
“This meeting is usually convened every three months and it is rotational.
“It has always helped us in the repositioning of these colleges and improved human capacity development.
“This meeting will also afford us the opportunity to deliberate on common issues, rub minds and chart a way forward on challenges facing our colleges,’’ she said.
According to her, the security of the colleges has been a topical issue that cannot be ignored.
“That is why we want to put heads together to see how we can put effective machinery in place to ensure that security in our colleges is not compromised.’’
She said the principals needed to remain on top of all security issues concerning their colleges at all times.
This is in order to respect and protect the sanctity of human life, she said.
Owolabi said that many of the principals had attended several workshops in the past meant to equip them with skills necessary to function as the chief executive officers of their schools.
“This knowledge is what we want to share among ourselves for the betterment of our sister colleges.
“Our children must feel safe while studying in any environment if our quest for accelerated growth and national development is to be realised.’’
The host principal, Dr Olufunmilayo Essien, also told NAN that the Federal Ministry of Education had done much to improve the infrastructure in unity colleges.
She, however, said that her college still had to cope with leaking roofs.
According to Essien, the leaking roofs are making effective teaching and learning difficult for both the students and the teachers each time it rained.
She added that other major challenges facing her college include inadequate staff in some key subjects, poor drainage system, erratic power supply and exorbitant electricity bills, as well as the inadequate security personnel.
Essien said that teaching and learning activities were accorded priority in her college, adding that many activities were put in place to promote and maintain academic excellence.
The principal lauded the robust relationship between the college management, the old students association and the parents’ forum.
She added that they had been a blessing to her administration in the school.
According to her, these two bodies have contributed immensely to the overall development of the college.
NAN reports that the Federal Government College Ijanikin, a co-educational secondary school, was established on Oct. 2, 1975.
It currently has a population of 2,853 students. (NAN)
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Lagos, April 23, 2018 (NAN) With the recent upturn in the world economy, countries are meeting in New York to harness potentials towards mobilising greater financing for sustainable development.
This is contained in a statement issued by the UN Department of Information and e-mailed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
The meeting is expected to deliberate on the inequalities within countries, lingering economic vulnerabilities and increased carbon emissions that continue to threaten the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The meeting, holding at the Financing for Development Forum at UN Headquarters in New York from April 23 to 26, will be reviewing how resources can be mobilised more effectively and allocated more responsibly to achieve the 17 SDGs.
“While world economic growth has reached three per cent, the highest growth since 2011 with East and South Asia accounting for nearly half of global growth in 2017, the progress has been unevenly distributed.
“Per capita GDP declined in West, Central and Southern Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean in 2016 and further setbacks are anticipated in these regions and Western Asia with many countries still suffering from the effects of the commodity price collapse of 2014-2016.
“Least Developed Countries’ economies grew by 4.8 per cent, well below the seven per cent target.
“There are still approximately 800 million people living in poverty, with women, children and other vulnerable populations bearing the brunt,” the statement read in part.
According to the Department, countries agreed on a plan in July 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to mobilise and deliver the resources, technology and partnerships needed to achieve the SDGs recognised as the blueprint for a better world by 2030.
“The Addis Ababa Action Agenda includes a set of policy actions with over 100 concrete measures that draw upon all sources of finance, technology, innovation, trade, debt and data to support the SDGs and the Financing for Development Forum is intended to review progress on the Agenda.
“There are promising examples of reform and gains in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development., underpinned by a broad-based recovery in the world economy.
“But the pace of change is insufficient and significant financial, political and environmental risks threaten to derail progress”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, was quoted as stating in the Foreword of the 2018 Inter-Agency Report on Financing for Development: Progress and Prospects.
While the financing needs to achieve the SDGs are large, the resources are available, if public and private investments are better aligned with sustainable development.
The Forum will feature addresses by leaders from the major financial institution including the IMF, World Bank, UNCTAD and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
During the Forum, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, will announce the launch of the Joint Fund for the 2030 Agenda which seeks to encourage innovative investments for the SDGs.
The Joint Fund developed by the United Nations Development Group has been designed to foster partnerships, innovation and policy coherence at the country level.
The guiding compass for the discussions will be the “2018 Financing for Development Report: Progress and Prospects”, which offers corrective action on the seven action areas of the Addis Agenda, domestic public resources, domestic and international private business and finance, international development cooperation, international trade as an engine for development, debt sustainability, addressing systemic issues, science, technology, innovation and capacity building and data, monitoring and follow-up.
The Report also calls for a shift from short-term to long-term investment, harnessing new technologies to support progress across the SDGs and a strengthened commitment to Official Development Assistance, especially for the most vulnerable countries.
The outcome of the Forum will contribute to the deliberations of the 2018 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which is the central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. (NAN)
