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By Ozioruva Aliu
ENIN CITY—THE Edo State
Bchapter of the All Progressives
Congress, APC, yesterday came
hard on the government of
Godwin Obaseki accusing it of
not disclosing how much the
state received from the arrears of
13 percent derivation paid by the
President Muhammadu Buhari
administration as recently
revealed by the governor of
Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.
The party also accused the
government of not disclosing the
financial position of the state and
accused it of hoarding the
derivation fund to “buy votes’
during the 2023 election
“particularly the election into the
House of Assembly”
Addressing a press conference
at the Secretariat of the party,
state chairman of the party, Col
David Imuse (rtd) claimed that
the activities of Obaseki were
because there is no properly
constituted state House of
Assembly.
He said: “Governor Obaseki
should explain why he has
deliberately refused to specify
amounts received as 13 per cent
derivation fund in his 2023
budgets estimates.
“Mr Obaseki has been busy
maligning the Federal
government accusing it of
printing paper money to fund
statutory allocations and
mismanagement of the national
economy whereas as a deliberate
:Vanguard
News
:@vanguardnews
Edo APC challenges Obaseki on 13% derivation,
fiscal policies, others
policy, he has been pocketing
Edo state monies by
mismanaging the derivation
funds.
“Since Edo State does not
have a functional House of
Assembly to checkmate
Obaseki, Edo people should
demand the Governor publicly
indicate the whereabout of the
We'll make Delta varsity renowned science,
tech institution globally —Okowa
By Ochuko Akuopha
UIfeanyi GHELLI—GOVERNOR
Okowa of Delta
State, has reiterated the
commitment of his
administration to make the
Delta State University of
Science and Technology, Ozoro,
one of the best and renowned
universities of science and
technology in the world in no
distant time.
Speaking during the first
anniversary/thanksgiving/
dedication of the university,
Okowa said his administration
would continue to support the
institution in terms of
infrastructure, teaching and
learning, adding that "in no
distant time, we shall
commence the construction of
the faculty building of
management sciences and we
hope that before May 29, 2023,
the project will be
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER, 23, 2022 —33
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said fund.”
Imuse also carpeted the Edo
Residency identity cards being
planned by the state government
for residents describing it as
unconstitutional even as he
accused the state government of
demolishing and acquiring peoples
properties in the name of new town
development.
He said: “This is a governor
who cannot account for all the
monies he has received from the
commissioned."
Represented by the State
Commissioner for Higher
Education, Dr. Kingsley
Ashibuogwu, the governor
commended the governing
council and management of the
university "for returning all the
glory to God Almighty" for the
establishment of the university.
He said his administration is
prepared to ensure that the vision
we had in establishing the
University of Science and
Technology alongside two newly
established universities will
continue to run even after our
tenure in office come May 29,
2023.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of
the University, Prof. Jacob
Oboreh, said the institution is set
to compete favourably with any
other university in terms of
teaching and research, thanking
Governor Okowa for his
Federation account since he took
office while wasting billions of
Naira on such white elephant
projects like the Benin Enterprise
and Industrial Park, the Benin
Innovation Hub, Edo Tech Park,
the Edo Refinery and
Petrochemicals Company, the
Gelegele Seaport, the University
of Innovation, the Benin
Technical College, claiming that
he has bolstered the growth of a
non-existent private sector.”
commitment towards the speedy
development of the nascent
university.
He said the university "has 45
departments with 45 programmes
duly approved by the National
University Commission, NUC.
Qualified lecturers have also
been recruited for all the 45
programmes approved by the
NUC for the university. It might
also interest you to know that
the Delta State Government has
procured several workshop and
laboratory equipment for the
university."
In his homily, Anglican Bishop
of the Oleh Diocese, Rt. Rev. John
Aruakpor commended Oboreh for
deeming it fit to lay a solid
foundation for the University by
organizing a thanksgivinh service
and dedicating the school to God
He described Okowa as a man
of his words, saying the Isoko
people would never forget the
initiative of the Governor in
establishing the university.
Agenda 2050: FG backs ECN for
clean energy supply
•As ECN commissions Centre for Energy Efficiency
Conservation
A
BUJA—THE Minister of
Science, Technology and
Innovation, Sen. Adeleke
Mamora has restated the
ministry’s commitment to
supporting the Energy
Commission of Nigeria, ECN,
to achieve its mandate for an
adequate, reliable, affordable
supply of clean energy in the
economy to support Nigeria’s
Agenda 2050.
Mamora made this known
while commissioning of
permanent offices and
laboratories complex for the
National Centre for Energy
Efficiency and Conservation
(NCEEC) located at the
University of Lagos (UNILAG).
The minister, commended
the ECN for the foresight to
seek approval for the
Private varsity reduces tuition fees to
encourage study of science, others
By Ozioruva Aliu
Bmanagement ENIN CITY—THE
of Glorious
Vision University in Ogwa, Esan
West local government area of Edo
state has announced a fifty
percent reduction on tuition for
B.Sc. Mathematics, B.Sc. Physics
and B.Sc. Statistics and 100 per
cent tuition free for the study of
Religious Studies and Philosophy.
The school said this gesture is
to encourage the development of
technology and produce religious
leaders.
The Vice Chancellor of the
University, Professor Babatunde
Idowu stated this when he
unveiled activities marking the 8th
graduation of ceremony of the
university where he said a set of
twins, Taiwo Abigail Olude and
Kehinde Mary Olude emerged
with First Class Honours in
Economics Department and
Department of Chemical Sciences.
He said: “the proprietors felt that
as part of their contribution
Africa must adopt space, digital
tech to develop —Experts
By Emmanuel
Elebeke
BUJA—EXPERTS in the
Aspace and technology sector
say Africa must adopt space, and
digital technology to develop.
They spoke at the National
Conference and annual General
meeting of the Nigerian Institute
of Space Engineers, an institution
under the Nigerian Society of
Engineers held in Abuja.
The conference themed: Role
of Space and Digital Technologies
in Sustainable Energy and
Environmental Development’’,
provided a platform for experts
drawn from relevant government
MDA’s, defence, security,
intelligence establishment,
academia, science and technology
industry and private sector to
share ideas and further the impact
of the space and digital technology
industry in the development of
Nigeria.
They, however, called for
synergy among African nations
establishment of the NCEEC for
the nation in 2007 and for
locating it at the prestigious
university.
“Energy efficiency and
conservation, as well as
deployment of renewable energy,
are the pillars of the United
Nation’s Sustainable
Development Goal, UNSDGs,
which has the goal of ensuring
universal access to clean, reliable
and affordable modern energy
services by 2030,” he said.
In his remarks, the directorgeneral,
ECN, Prof. Eli Bala said
the choice of the university as the
site was informed by the fact that
Lagos had the highest energy
consumption demand, with a
high population, homes,
transportation system, industries
and commercial activities driven
by electricity and fuels.
towards the development of the
nation, they can afford to encourage
some people to go to the university
and also encourage technological
development. Most of our students
nowadays don’t want to study
physics, mathematics, or statistics;
most of our students want to go into
social science. As a way of motivating
them, that idea of 50 percent discount
came to be. The church also wants
to train pastors and religious leaders
so they want to give opportunities to
people in furtherance of evangelism
to study these courses for free.”
The VC said though the
institution, formerly known as
Samuel Adegboyega University and
owned by The Apostolic Church had
since its inception, graduated 670
students.
"By the grace of God, this year we
are producing 101 with seven (7)
graduating with First Class honours,
33 with Second Class (Upper
Division), 46 with Second Class
(Lower Division), 7 with 3rd Class
and 4 Postgraduates."
to be able to achieve inclusive and
mutual benefits of emerging
technologies.
The Keynote speaker, and
Managing Director of the Rural
Electrification Agency, REA, Ahmad
Salihijo said the role space and digital
technology in sustainable
development is one that plays out
in developed and developing nations
alike, describing solar energy as one
of the most important technologies
for decarbonising the energy sector.
‘‘The space science, the
proliferation of digital technologies
and data sciences have over the
years, transformed the earth’s
ecosystems, contributing directly and
indirectly towards the achievement
of the SDGs.
‘‘We are trying to move away from
the traditional lighting system. We
are talking about sustainable energy.
With our location in Africa, we can
maximise solar energy. We have sun
light throughout the year and there
is no part of Nigeria that does not
sun light energy."
Sanwoolu, Makinde, Zenith Bank, others
emerge finalists for 2022 GRC awards
L
AGOS—THE board of judges
for the 2022 GRC & Fincrime
prevention awards has selected
finalists for the second edition of
the annual award. The awards
has been scheduled for Friday,
November 25, 2022, at Oriental
Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Award categories include GRC
& Financial Crime Prevention
Excellence Awards, GRC &
Financial Crime Prevention
Journey Awards, GRC & Financial
Crime Prevention Achievement
Awards, and others.
The organizations who
emerged as the finalists are
Guaranty Trust Bank, Access
Bank, Jobberman, Opay,
Interswitch, Citi Bank, Zenith
Bank, Deloitte, KPMG, Stanbic
IBTC Arise TV, Channels TV,
ARM Pension Managers Limited
and others.
In addition, Governor Babajide
Sanwoolu and his Oyo State
counterpart, Governor Seyi
Makinde of Oyo State have been
shortlisted for the Special Recognition
Award for Governors Supporting
GRC and Anti Financial Crime
Initiatives.
A new category has also been
introduced this year which is focused
on recognizing and celebrating
Women in GRC and FinCrime
Prevention.
Speaking on the awards, the
Chairman of the Organising
Committee, Dr. Foluso Amusa PhD
said: “Governance, Risk, Compliance
& Financial Crime Prevention
Awards was inspired by continuous
effort of firms keeping abreast and up
to date with evolving and changing
regulatory landscape across the
various services, products and
industries.“