Mary Konye, the 21 year old jealous friend being
accused of attacking Naomi Oni with acid in Dec.
2012 made some shocking allegations of her own in
court today. She told the courts through her lawyers
that Naomi set up the attack and asked her (Mary
Konye) to 'play the stalker' and throw the acid on
her face, which was all part of an elaborate plan to
be rich and famous.
This makes no sense to me. Why would you want to
do that to yourself to be rich and famous? How
many rich and famous people have their faces
disfigured by acid? The things you hear.
Today Miss Oni insisted she was not 'obsessed'
with plastic surgery or the story of fellow acid
attack victim Katy Piper, despite an internet
search history on her laptop suggesting
otherwise.
In cross examination Sally O'Neill asked her to
explain to jurors the story of Ms Piper before
asking whether she had become obsessed by the
disfigured model.
Miss Oni said: 'I wouldn't say obsessed but it
deeply moved me. I read about other attacks but
it was not an obsession.'
Ms O'Neill said it was the defence case that she
hatched a plan with Konye to pour acid over
herself to improve her future prospects.
She said: 'You said if something similar to that of
Katy Piper happened to you then that wouldn't be
the end of the world because Katy Piper probably
had a career boost.'
Miss Oni simply replied: 'No.'
The defence barrister asked her why she had
visited a series of plastic surgery websites.
Miss Oni answered: 'I do not think I was very
pretty at all.
'I went on the sites for no reason in particular - I
had body issues and I was interested in plastic
surgery for my body but there was no particular
reason.
'I remember searching for my eyelids because I
had double eyelids which I didn't like so I planned
one day to see if I could do something about it.'
But Ms O'Neill said: 'You formalised a plan in
which you would become the victim of a random
acid attack in the hope that you would receive the
same type of fame and fortune as Katy Piper
had.'You were of the view that Katy Piper still
looked lovely after the attack but that you would
need something else to support the attack
because the police wouldn't believe you and that
was where you brought Mary Konye into it.
'Your play was, I suggest, that you would make
an allegation that you had been followed and
attacked and you wanted Mary Konye to be part
of that - you wanted her to follow you and also,
initially, wanted her to throw the acid.
'She absolutely refused to do that and you said
that you were actually going to throw the acid
yourself towards your neck area.'
Miss Oni replied: 'That is very untrue.'
Mary Konye, 21, admits disguising herself in a
niqab and stalking Naomi Oni, also 21, on her way
home from work, but denies she doused her in
sulphuric acid. Miss Oni yesterday described the
moment she was attacked and told Snaresbrook
Crown Court after she saw the damage done she
thought: ‘I’m ugly, no one’s going to marry me
now.'
Jurors were also shown CCTV of student Konye
disguised in a Muslim veil as she followed her
friend on the Tube, before she was attacked late
at night on an east London street.
Yesterday, she described how, on her way home
from work at a Victoria’s Secret lingerie store,
she got off at her bus stop in Dagenham, East
London, and felt a ‘presence’ before turning to
see someone in a niqab.
She then felt a ‘massive splash’ as the acid was
thrown at her, scarring her for life and disfiguring
her face, dissolving her hair and eyelashes and
burning her tongue as she screamed.
Describing how she felt after the attack, she said:
‘Am I a bad person? Why has this happened to
me? I work hard ... No one’s going to marry me
now.’
Miss Oni also revealed that when she told her
alleged attacker what had happened, her friend
texted back: ‘OMG. Can’t believe it.’
She also cried down the phone to Konye, who
offered her support, Snaresbrook Crown Court
heard.
She said: ‘I just had my bandages removed and it
was the first time I saw my face after surgery
and I broke down and I had spoken to Mary that
night and I was crying on the phone to her and
she was on the phone to me telling me, “don’t
worry, you’ll be OK”.’
Giving evidence yesterday, Miss Oni described
how she felt a ‘presence’ behind her as she
walked home.
She said: ‘I was still on the phone to my boyfriend
and I felt a presence. I turned to my left and I
saw someone and a black abaya [cloak] or a
black niqab.
‘I remember it facing me, staring. A presence
directly looking at me. All I could see was eyes.’
She then said she felt the splash as the acid was
thrown in her face and ran home shouting ‘acid,
acid’.
The court heard that the pair had a ‘rocky
relationship’ and had stopped speaking from April
to September 2011 after a row over Konye
sending text messages to Miss Oni’s boyfriend.
Miss Oni said: ‘I remember asking her why she
wanted to do that and I said she’s a monster or
something like that.
'I said you are a monster, you are an ugly
monster. I remember us insulting each other’s
looks.
'She also told me she was so angry she wanted
to throw acid at me, but she was advised not to
by her friend.
'Her friend said, “That’s stupid, you could go to
jail for that”.’
Asked what she thought at the time about the
threat, Miss Oni said: ‘I thought it was quite
bizarre, I felt insulted again. But she seemed like
she wasn’t serious. I thought she was trying to
frighten me a little bit.’
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the
opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, were
yesterday, locked in a war of words over use of
religion to achieve political goals.
While the PDP, which first threw the gauntlet that
the APC was shaped in Islamic fundamentalist robe
insisted on its claim yesterday and challenged the
opposition party to name its 35 interim officers.
The APC on its part said the use of religion by the
PDP was a new low for a party it claimed stands for
incompetence, looting and election rigging.
Reiterating its earlier accusation that the APC was a
party adorned in religious attire. The PDP in a
statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary,
Chief Olisa Metuh, thus dared the leading opposition
party to name its interim officials for the world to
know.
Metuh said “it is shocking that the APC would
attempt to hoodwink Nigerians even in the face of
incontrovertible facts exposing its religious
inclinations and plots to divide the nation along
religious lines.”
The PDP said contrary to the denials posted by the
APC in a hollow statement yesterday, “the
revelations by an Islamic cleric, Ambassador Yusuf
Garba and the Religious Equity Promotion Council,
REPC, that APC seeks to impose an agenda like the
Egypt Muslim Brotherhood remains a fact that
cannot be brushed aside.”
Counter to clams by the APC that the PDP was
playing a religious card to overheat the polity, the
ruling party said it decided to “buttress an alert to
Nigerians on the evil machination of the APC with
every sense of duty to ensure that Nigeria remains
united as one and not fall to the evil plot of the
APC.”
The ruling party reiterated that it “remains
committed to the interest of all Nigerians
irrespective of religious, tribal, ethnic or regional
affiliations” adding that it will continue to expose
and resist anything that seeks to cause divisions
among the people and balkanize the country.
“It therefore called on Nigerians not to succumb to
the antics of the APC which is now bitter that its
plans have been exposed, but to be alert and
ensure that the enemies of the nation are not
allowed to have their way.”
The APC in a sharp riposte articulated by its Interim
National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed
said: “this irresponsible accusation by the PDP that
the APC is dividing Nigerians along religious line is a
new low even for a party that stands for nothing but
incompetence, looting and election rigging. It is an
indication that the desperadoes in the PDP will
throw everything, including the kitchen sink, into
their campaign to stop the wave of change blowing
across Nigeria.’’
According to the party, the reason it has refrained
from joining issues with the PDP, despite its
sponsored campaign to portray the APC as an
‘Islamic party’, is because it knows the dangers
that religious politics portends for any nation that
brings religion into politics, and that no nation which
has descended into religious warfare has survived
intact.
The APC said no party wishing to lead Nigeria aright
can do so on the basis of religion or ethnicity.
Therefore, we are compelled to warn the PDP not to
play what it believes to be its trump card, the
religious card, against the APC, because whatever
politicians do, they must refrain from ethnic or
religious politics and put the country above selfish
considerations. Only an irresponsible party will play
the religious card for any reason.
“It alleged that even when President Goodluck
Jonathan decided to wear religion on his sleeve,
kneeling down before respectable religious leaders
and pushing the pictures into the media in an
apparent ploy to score political gains, the APC
refrained from making any comments on it.”
The party further alleged that when President
Jonathan also decided to lead a bloated delegation
of his cabinet to an extended pilgrimage in Israel
and ferret to the media back home the pictures of
the delegation members at the Wailing Wall and
other religious landmarks, the APC did not make an
issue of the glaring exhibitionism.
“The basis of our circumspection is that in the first
instance, we believe that all Nigerians are
constitutionally guaranteed their right to any faith of
their own, and that playing their religious card
should be avoided at all cost in the larger national
interest,’’ APC stated.
The party said it is neither logical nor rational to
accuse a party whose 35 interim officials are
almost equally split between the adherents of the
two major religions (18 Muslims and 17 Christians)
and cuts across all ethnic lines; a party whose
elected officials – Governors, Senators, House of
Representatives members etc – profess various
faith and a party that has never expressed any
preference for one religion over another as an
Islamic party.
“We are therefore warning the PDP to stop this
dangerous campaign forthwith, unless of course it
has decided that its interest supersedes that of the
nation. If the PDP fails to stop this campaign, we will
be compelled to conclude that the party (PDP) is
trying to plug in to the global stereotype against
adherents of a certain religion just to spread fear
and garner support in certain circles,” it said.
APC appealed to Nigerians to ignore the dangerous
game that the PDP is playing by labelling the APC an
“Islamic” party as a scaremongering tactic that the
comatose ruling party hopes will revive it.
The Glo/CAF African Player of the Year Award 2014
will hold tomorrow Thursday January 9th at Eko
Hotel and Suites in Lagos and one of its nominees,
Super Eagles and Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel
Obi, will be specially flown into Lagos for the
ceremony in a jet provided by his club, Chelsea.
“I am coming for the CAF awards, I will be flown
in and out of Nigeria by the Chelsea jet. I will
arrive on the awards day and return immediately
after,” Mikel told MTNFootball.com “It is an
honour to be selected and nominated for the
award. I am looking forward to winning it for my
country.” He also said
Mikel is up against Cote d'Ivoire and Man City
player Yaya Toure and Cote d'Ivoire and
Galatasaray player, Didier Drogba. Yaya Toure won
it last year..you think Mikel deserves to win it this
year?
The Nigerian NYSC scheme was established in a bid
to reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country
after its Civil war. The pre-civil war innocence that
Nigeria lost in the midst of bloodshed and untold
hardships also played out in human relationships,
thereby threatening the 'One Nigeria' dream. This
necessitated the need to create an avenue for both
human, cultural and geographic exchange. The
scheme also aims to inculcate in Nigeria’s youths
the spirit of selfless service to the community,
irrespective of their social, ethnic or religious
affiliations...
Gidi Culture Festival is a strong advocate of the
NYSC scheme; with a strong belief that youth
empowerment is key to the development of the
society. It understands that a society must invest in
its youth in order to position itself for advancement.
As the cliché goes, 'they are the leaders for
tomorrow'.
The Road to Gidi Culture Festival kicked off with
a free concert at the Lagos State NYSC Camp in
November last year.
"The Gidi Culture Festival is all about empowering
the youth as well as ensuring that entertainment is
affordable and accessible to the youth" said Chin
Okeke, Founder of Eclipse Live.
The show provided unknown artistes such
as Uchman an opportunity to showcase their music
to a crowd of over 3000 people, as well as sharing a
stage with upcoming acts such as Nedu, Flowsick,
Blink, Tesh Carter and Sammy. The exposure that
these young artists got from theGidi Culture Festival
initiative has helped to foster their careers and has
created more exposure for them in the music and
entertainment space.
‘We are looking forward to organising a similar
concert after the success that we had last year.”
Okeke said. “ It is important that we carry on
engaging with the youth through the power of music
and reminding them of their responsibilities to their
communities and the society as a whole”.
The Gidi Culture Festival itself is scheduled to take
place in March 2014, with a line-up that boasts
some of Nigeria's hottest young musical talents in
the industry.
The NYSC scheme remains a key development
initiative in Nigeria, with the ultimate goal of
establishing a united, strong and self reliant nation.
To the NYSC March campers in Lagos, are you
ready for the fun?
A paper authored by a team from the Federal
University of Technology Akure, FUTA, has been
adjudged the best presentation at the 8th
International Conference for Internet Technology
and Secured Transactions (ICITST-2013) held in
London, United Kingdom, in December 2013.
Entitled DGM Approach to Network Attacker and
Defender Strategies, the paper, which was
presented by Dr Kayode Alese, was co-authored by
himself, Iwasokun Gabriel Babatunde and Haruna
Danjuma Israel (all from the Department of
Computer Science, FUTA), beating 1,241 papers
received from 96 countries to emerge the overall
best according to the panel of assessors.
The paper, which was later adjudged as the best for
the year 2013, dwelt on novel strategies to
checkmate infiltrations of secured transactions on
the information super highway. A lot of uplifting
remarks from the international faculty went in
favour of the ambassadors of FUTA who presented
the award-winning paper.
Alese, who is the current Dean of Students Affairs,
said the general consensus at the conference was
that FUTA showed great strength in global
competitiveness through excellence in technological
advancement, learning and research.
LAGOS—With the polity still rumbling over the
exchange of letters between President Goodluck
Jonathan and his predecessor, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, the National Human Rights Commission,
NHRC, will meet next week. The meeting is to
consider the request by the Federal Government for
it to investigate the allegation by Obasanjo that
President Jonathan was training snipers and had
placed 1000 political opponents on his watch list.
Vanguard gathered that the commission’s extra-
ordinary meeting of its Governing Council, slated for
January 15, will discuss modalities and parameters
under which to proceed with President Jonathan’s
request.
The Federal Government through the Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,
Mr Mohammed Adoke, SAN, had on December 23,
last year, asked the NHRC to probe former
President Obasanjo’s letter.
Adoke had said: “May I draw your attention to the
above and the attached State House memorandum
dated December 23, 2013 in respect of the above
subject matter (Before it is too late). I am to request
you to investigate the allegations bordering on the
human rights’ violations contained on pages 9-10 of
the letter written by former President Obasanjo to
President Jonathan, attached to the memorandum
under reference.
“In order to properly delineate the issues within
your sphere of competence particularly as other
issues raised in the letter are being investigated by
appropriate agencies of government, I have decided
to reproduce the relevant paragraphs below.
“Allegations of keeping over 1, 000 people on
political Watch List rather than criminal or security
Watch List and training snipers and other armed
personnel secretly and clandestinely acquiring
weapons to match for purposes like Abacha and
training them where Abacha trained his own killers.
If it is true, it cannot augur well for the initiator, the
government and people of Nigeria.
“Here again, there is lesson to learn for anybody
who cares to learn from history. Mr. President
would always remember that he was elected to
maintain security for all Nigerians and not for
personal or political ambition or interest of anyone.
“The Yoruba race adage says, “the man with whose
head coconut is broken, may not live to savour the
taste of the succulent fruit”. Those who advise you
to go hard on those who oppose you are your worst
enemies. Democratic politics admits and is
permissible of supporters and opponents. When the
consequences come, those who have wrongly
advised you will not be there to help carry the can.
Egypt must teach some lessons.”
NHRC summons council members
Vanguard gathered from an authoritative source that
the commission had invited all members of its
Governing Council for meeting, which will decide
among other things, how to treat President
Jonathan’s request.
The meeting, according to the source, would also
decide who to invite during its investigation and how
to probe Obasanjo’s allegation and perhaps at what
level to invite the former president, if the need
arises.
Obasanjo to Jonathan
Obasanjo in his letter dated December 2, 2013 titled
“Before Its Too Late…” had said:
“Allegation of keeping over 1,000 people on political
watch list rather than criminal or security watch list
and training snipers and other armed personnel
secretly and clandestinely acquiring weapons to
match for political purposes like Abacha, and
training them where Abacha trained his own killers,
if it is true, cannot augur well for the initiator, the
government and the people of Nigeria.
“Let me repeat that as far as the issue of
corruption, security and oil stealing is concerned, it
is only apt to say that when the guard becomes the
thief, nothing is safe, secure nor protected in the
house. We must all remember that corruption,
inequity and injustice breed poverty, unemployment,
conflict, violence and wittingly or unwittingly create
terrorists because the opulence of the governor can
only lead to the leanness of the governed. But God
never sleeps, He is watching, waiting and bidding
His time to dispense justice.”
Jonathan to Obasanjo
Jonathan in his reply to Obasanjo’s letter, had
accused him of inciting Nigerians, saying
“Instigating people to cause problems and
disaffection within the party is something that you
are certainly familiar with. You will recall that
founding fathers of the Party were frustrated out of
the Party at a time. Late Chief Sunday Awoniyi was
pushed out, Late Chief Solomon Lar left and later
came back, Chief Audu Ogbeh and Chief Tom Ikimi
also left. Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo left and later
came back.
“In 2005/2006, link-men were sent to take over
party structures from PDP Governors in an unveiled
attempt to undermine the state governors. In spite
of that, the Governors did not leave the Party
because nobody instigated and encouraged them to
do so.
“Perhaps the most invidious accusation in your
letter is the allegation that I have placed over 1,000
Nigerians on a political watch list, and that I am
training snipers and other militia to assassinate
people. Baba, I don’t know where you got that from
but you do me grave injustice in not only lending
credence to such baseless rumours, but also
publicising it. You mentioned God seventeen times
in your letter. Can you as a Christian hold the Bible
and say that you truly believe this allegation?
“The allegation of training snipers to assassinate
political opponents is particularly incomprehensible
to me. Since I started my political career as a
Deputy Governor, I have never been associated
with any form of political violence. I have been a
President for over three years now, with a lot of
challenges and opposition mainly from the high and
mighty. There have certainly been cases of political
assassination since the advent of our Fourth
Republic, but as you well know, none of them
occurred under my leadership.
“Regarding the over 1000 people you say are on a
political watch list, I urge you to kindly tell Nigerians
who they are and what agencies of government are
“watching” them. Your allegation that I am using
security operatives to harass people is also
baseless. Nigerians are waiting for your evidence of
proof. That was an accusation made against
previous administrations, including yours, but it is
certainly not my style and will never be. Again, if
you insist on the spurious claim that some of your
relatives and friends are being harassed, I urge you
to name them and tell Nigerians what agencies of
my administration are harassing them.
“I also find it difficult to believe that you will accuse
me of assisting murderers, or assigning a
presidential delegation to welcome a murderer. This
is a most unconscionable and untrue allegation.
“It is incumbent on me to remind you that I am fully
conscious of the dictates of my responsibilities to
God and our dear nation. It is my hope that devious
elements will not take advantage of your baseless
allegation to engage in brazen and wanton
assassination of high profile politicians as before,
hiding under the alibi your “open letter” has
provided for them.”
Lagos — Lagos state House of Assembly,
yesterday, placed a bounty of N1.25 million to
unravel the perpetrators of the brutalisation of two
women in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area,
LCDA, last year.
Chairman of the five-man ad hoc committee
investigating the matter, Mr. Ajibayo Adeyeye
disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting on the
issue, at the Lateef Jakande Auditorium, Alausa
Secretariat, Ikeja.
According to Adeyeye: “Anybody that gives
information that leads to the arrest of the
perpetrators of the heinous act shall be given N1
million. And I will add the sum of 250,000 from my
private account to increase the sum to
N1.25million.”
During the deliberation, the video clip of the incident
which ran for about eight minutes was played,
showing how the two women were tortured by the
perpetrators. The video clip moved the participants
at the meeting to tears.
The President of Women Arise Initiative, Dr. Joe
Odumakin, who had previously led a protest to the
House on the matter, explained that she saw the
video for the first time on December 7, 2013.
Odumakin said that the greatest gift anyone could
give the women was to get justice for them.
ASABA —TWO female undergraduate siblings have
been burnt to death following a midnight inferno that
razed their hostel in Agbor, Delta State, Tuesday.
The two girls were students of College of Education,
Agbor and were among those living in a private
hostel adjacent the college.
Their names were given as Favour and Ndidi from
Obiaruku in Ukwuani Local Government Area of the
state.
According to an eyewitness, “the unfortunate
incident occurred while they were sleeping in the
hostel. The fire started at about midnight unknown
to neighbours that the two girls were in their
rooms.”
The cause of the fire was not immediately
ascertained but Vanguard gathered that men of the
state fire service were called in for rescue
operation after the havoc had been done. The two
corpses were deposited at the Central Hospital,
Agbor.
State Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties, Dr.
Tony Nwaka, had while delivering his mid-term
report last year said 90 lives and property worth
over N7 billion were lost to fire in the last six years.
He said over N65 billion property were salvaged.
Many candidates registering for this year’s Unified
Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, UTME, were
shocked when they were given the choice to pick
only one university of their choice, contrary to the
traditional first and second choice options of
universities and/or polytechnics. The Joint
Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB,
responsible for the UTME, in a new policy has made
it compulsory for candidates to pick one university,
one polytechnic, one college of education and one
innovative enterprise institute (IEI) when registering
for their exams.
The Registrar, JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, believes
that this policy will go a long way in solving the
admission crisis bedeviling the country. In an
exclusive interview with Vanguard Learning, he said:
“Most university managements claim that they do
not run second class universities, and as a result,
do not want to admit students who choose them as
a second choice. From our experience, universities
refuse to take students who make them a second
choice, but they do not hesitate to collect the
students’ money when they want to write the post-
UTME. And this is not fair to students.
So last year, Vice Chancellors of universities,
provosts of Polytechnics and other stakeholders in
the sector decided that students should only pick
one university, one polytechnic, one college of
education and one innovative enterprise institute
when applying to write the UTME. If they do not
follow these instructions, they cannot apply. We are
also hoping that this will go a long way to curb the
admission crisis. A lot of times, there are spaces in
tertiary institutions other than universities, but the
bottle neck lies in the fact that everyone wants to
go to the university.
So, beyond this move, the government must go a
step further to make these tertiary institutions
degree-awarding institutions. Professor Oby
Ezekwesili had suggested this earlier. For example,
Polytechnics should be given the authority to award
Bachelor of Technology awards. This will go a long
way in solving the dichotomy that exists which
causes candidates to flock mostly to the
universities.”
As expected, most candidates are not pleased with
the development. One of such, Victoria Akachukwu
told our correspondent: “I don’t really like the idea
of choosing only one university,” she said, “because
it means that my chances for entering the university
are slimmer.
But on the other hand, it just means that I have to
work much harder so that I can get into the
university and study my dream course which is
Law. Last year, I got admission into a polytechnic,
but my Dad did not want me to attend. So I have to
try really hard so I can get into a university this
year.”
Other stakeholders are more concerned about the
implementation of the directive than the paper it is
written on. The chairman, Academic Staff Union of
Polytechnics, ASUP, Dr. Chibuzor Asomugha
argued: “There have been different kinds of policies
in the past, but the problem is always with the
implementation. Whatever step is being taken,
stakeholders should ensure that they follow up
implementation.”
Speaking to Vanguard Learning, Dr. Andrews
Jegede, the National President of the Association of
Innovation and Vocational Institutions, said: “If this
is well implemented, then the admission crisis the
country is facing is already solved. It means that
government is beginning to understand the need to
give technical, vocational and teaching education
their rightful place. What we must do now is to
encourage JAMB to ensure that the cut-off marks
agreed on are enforced across board. In other
words: 180 and above for universities, 160-169 for
polytechnics, 150-159 for colleges of education,
and 150-159 for innovative enterprise institutes.”
There are about 120 institutions approved by the
FME and accredited by the National Board for
Technical Education (NBTE), and have been listed
by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board
since 2007. IEIs cover areas such as computer
hardware engineering, software engineering,
multimedia technology, oil and gas, information
technology, creative arts, industrial welding, early
childcare education, paralegal studies, computer
networking and securities, film production and
many more.
The National Innovation Diploma (NID) is the
certification approved by the FME for IEIs. It is the
equivalent of the National Diploma, and it is equally
four semesters of course work spanning over two
years with Student Industrial Work Experience
Scheme (SIWES).
In the past few years, the nation’s higher
institutions have only been able to accommodate
about one third of the population of teeming
candidates who write the UTME every year.
Whether the new resolutions made by JAMB will
help solve the admission crisis, remains to be seen.
Although the six-month strike embarked upon by
the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU,
was called off on December 16, 2013, academic
activities have only just begun in earnest in
universities across the country.
The strike was called off just in time for the
Christmas holidays and stakeholders in the sector
took advantage of the situation to enjoy the
festivities. After spending nearly seven months
away from the academic environment courtesy of
the strike and the holidays, many students have
returned to school with mixed feelings.
A master’s student at the University of Lagos who
did not want her name in print told Vanguard
Learning: “I can barely remember the course titles
that I am offering this semester or even my
matriculation number. And from the feedback I am
getting from my colleagues, we would most likely
begin examinations in February as soon as the
undergraduate students are done. Meanwhile, there
are some classes that haven’t held in this semester
even before the strike. There aren’t even available
lecturers for about three courses in my
department.”
Excited to be back in school, an undergraduate
student of the University of Ibadan who simply gave
her name as Bisi, said “I thank God the strike is
over and we are back to school. Though serious
lectures are yet to start, but I have fully prepared
my mind for studying, studying and more studying
because that’s the only way to make up for all the
lost time.”
Daniel Igiekhumhe, a student at the University of
Benin also speaking to Vanguard Learning, said:
“The strike began just when we were about to start
writing our examinations in July. So we are
expecting that we will be welcomed by examinations
soon. But for now, things are a bit slow around here,
people are trickling in, but we all know that
examinations are around the corner. Even then, it
feels good to be back to school after such a long
time.”
Stanley Ekpa, a 200 level student of Law at Obafemi
Awolowo University, should be in this third year by
now had the six-month strike not stalled his
academic career. He said: “If the system was
stable, I and my classmates would be in the first
semester of 300 level by now. But we thank God
that at least, we are back to school. Work here
started in earnest on Monday, and we are not likely
to write examinations until early May.”
From a LIB reader
I am crazy about this guy I met about two
months ago. He swept me off my feet and made
me fall for him before he told me his ex-girlfriend
is 7 months pregnant for him. What I find odd in
all this is that they dated for 6 and a half years
and broke up just two months after they
discovered they were expecting. He told me they
grew apart and decided split which I find strange
because which pregnant woman wants to leave
the man she's pregnant for? I wish I could speak
with the lady and find out what really happened
between them but I'm too scared to contact her.
He told me that chapter in his life is over and the
only thing tying him to her is their unborn baby. I
feel guilty dating a man with a pregnant girlfriend,
but should I feel guilty? Should I go ahead with
the relationship? Also, what kind of a man leaves
his pregnant girlfriend?
