News

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, has inaugurated its students’ judiciary.

The inauguration ceremony was held at the Faculty of Law, ABU Moot Court, Kongo Campus, on Monday. 

The event was attended by teachers and students of the faculty and other faculties across the country. 

Mustapha Abubakar, an award-winning final-year student, emerged as the Chief Justice of ABU. 

Mr Abubakar, who, until his appointment, was Justice of the ABU Court of Appeal. He is a recipient of several awards.

In 2019, Abubakar emerged as the best Advocate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. 

The same year, advocacy took him to the national level as he emerged as the best and winner of the 2019 National LAWSAN moot competition.

He was also announced best and winner of the NAMLAS Moot and Mock competition in 2019.

In 2019, he also won Best Brief Writer and Best Oralist Of The Clinical Legal Education (CLE) Annual Mock and Moot Championship.

Mr Abubakar left the student Bar to the student Bench in 2020 as a Justice of the Court of Appeal, where he received a Medal of Honour as a distinguished justice of the court 2020.

The ABU Faculty of Law is where the country’s most distinguished jurists and legal practitioners were thoroughly bred. This explains why there is something particularly unique and different about the ABU student judiciary. It is the microcosm of the Nigerian Judiciary. The Courts are arranged from the Supreme Court down to the Sharia Court of Appeal.  

The Supreme Court is headed by the ABU Chief Justice, who must be a final-year Law student and must be knowledgeable in procedural and substantive law. Other final-year students are appointed as justices of the Supreme Court. 

Then we have the Court of Appeal headed by the President Court of Appeal, who must be a final-year Law student. Other justices of the Court of Appeal are appointed from the 400 level. 

The High Court is headed by a Chief Judge of the High Court, and a Grand Khadi heads the Sharia Court of Appeal. Other judges and Kadis are appointed to aid the efficient learning of the law. 

The arrangement of the court helps students in the procedural and practical aspects of the law. This is because procedures might be similar but are different in all courts.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

The Lagos State University, LASU, has issued fifteen new guidelines for students’ on-campus dressing that are deemed inappropriate.

The university also instructs lecturers to make sure that no student is wearing inappropriate clothing when in class.

This was contained in a statement issued by Olaniyi Jeariogbe, the interim head of the Center for Information, who warns it is no longer condonable for the students’ continued disregard for its rules and regulations on the manner of dressing on campus. 

According to the statement, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, Vice Chancellor, has notified the College Provost, Deans of Faculties, Heads of Departments, and faculty officials on both the main campus and satellite campuses to work together to implement the new dress codes.

The Institution’s list of fifteen indecent dress codes prohibits wearing transparent dresses, tattered clothing, “baggy,” “saggy,” “yansh,” “ass level,” and all other varieties of indecent trousers.

It also forbids wearing dirty jeans with holes or offensive subliminal messages.

Others include body piercing and tattoos, wearing necklaces and earrings by male students, wearing necklaces and nose rings by students, tight-fitting clothing, rolling sleeves or flying shirt collars, obnoxious or seductive writing, improperly buttoned dresses, shirts without buttons, completely covering faces (with very dark glasses), wearing face caps, and wearing necklaces and earrings.

The list of the banned dress codes also includes male students braiding, weaving, or glueing their hair or wearing distracting footwear like stiletto heels in the library and lecture halls. 

The rest include lousy footwear, untidy, vividly coloured eyelashes or eyebrows, highly fake or coloured artificial hair, artificial dreadlocks, and the extension of long fingernails or eyelashes.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A campaign director of the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmad Tinubu, has resigned from her position.

Najatu Muhammad was the Director of the Civil Society Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) before her resignation on Thursday, January 19, 2023.  

Ms Muhammad, in a letter, addressed to the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, said she is resigning from partisan politics due to a lack of ideological differences amongst political parties.

The letter reads in part, “In line with article 9.5 (i) of the Constitution of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I am writing to you to intimate you of my resignation from the All Progressive Congress (APC). I am by this letter also informing you of my resignation as the Director of the Civil Society directorate of the Presidential Campaign Council of the APC.

“It has been a great honour working with you (Mr Adamu) to contribute towards the building of our dear nation. However, a number of recent developments in the country’s political and democratic space make it impossible for me to continue to participate in party politics.” 

Ms Muhammad is the third member of the PCC to officially resign from the Council. In early January, Ahmed Ibeto and Zanna Ali resigned. 

Ahmed Ibeto, The Assistant Secretary of the North-central Directorate of Mobilization, in a letter dated January 3, 2023, which was addressed to the APC Ibelu Central Ward, Magama Local Government, Niger State, said his resignation was due to lack of unity of purpose and unending litigations, among others.

Another PCC member, Zanna Ali, a member of the Directorate of Youth Mobilization, North-east, also said his resignation was based on the inability of the ruling party to present a credible presidential candidate.

By Uzair Adam Imam

There was excitement on the faces of inmates and tears in their eyes when Darus-Sunnah Foundation Wednesday visited the Goron Dutse Correctional Center, Kano, to bail out some of the inmates.

The foundation, under the leadership of Sheikh Muhammad Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, was able to secure the release of 14 inmates, who, amidst joy, departed to reunite with their families.

The development was contained in a statement issued and signed on Saturday by Malam Aisar Salihu Musa, the committee secretary.

Salihu said the foundation had bailed out the inmates charged with civil offences and debts, where N250,000 was spent in the process.

He added that the foundation also paid for medical treatment for some sick inmates.

Need for authority to intervene

The foundation also called on the authority to intervene in feeding and bailing some of these inmates, whose offences are not criminal.

“There is a need for our rich people and politicians to be taken their annual alms (zakka) to such correctional centres and bail out inmates.

“They need to know that these people suffer because of the little debt or fine they couldn’t afford to pay.

“We need to help them with food, water, clothes, shoes, etc. Some of these inmates will go down on their knees to thank you because of just one Maggi cube.”

Inmates jailed for minor offences

“There is also a need for lawyers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to visit such places because some inmates are jailed for minor offences.

“They need to interview them, review their warrants, and ensure their constitutional rights are not injured.

The leadership of this foundation also instructed Malam Anas Madabo and Malam Aisar Salihu Musa to preach to the freed inmates before they left.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

Almost all banks are now attending to long queues in their banking halls as the deadline for the use old currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) draws closer, investigation by The Daily Reality has revealed.

The rush by customers to deposit old currency generated much chaos in and around banks premises across the Kaduna metropolis throughout the week. The queues at banks in Yakubu Gowon Way, Station Road, Kano Road and Sabon Tasha were characterized by commotion caused by slow speed of the deposit process and impatience by customers.

Some of the customers who spoke to TDR said they were scared of losing their monies as the CBN had warned that those who failed to remit their old currencies would lose it after the deadline.

Officials of these banks had a very hectic time controlling the huge crowd in their premises, even as customers complained of slow services by the banks. Some of the customers expressed frustration queueing in the sun and the difficulty in remitting their monies, suggesting that further extension of the deadline would ease their pain.

It would be recalled that the CBN had given all Nigerians up to the end of January, 2023 to remit their old currencies as it ceases to be a legal tender after the stipulated time.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

According to findings obtained by The Daily Reality, Kano State has been experiencing a diphtheria outbreak since last Friday, and as of Thursday, at least 25 people had died as a result.

It was discovered that the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano are treating the killer disease, which was first discovered in the state in the late 2022.

Diphtheria infection is a dangerous infection of the nose and throat, according to medical professionals, and it is easily avoidable through immunisations.

Experts say that a sore throat, hoarseness, swollen glands (enlarged lymph nodes) in the neck, trouble breathing or quick breathing, nasal discharge, fever and fatigue are some of the signs and symptoms of diphtheria.

The state’s Ungogo Local Government Area is where the illness, which is thought to be communicable, was originally identified.

According to the state ministry of health’s records, at least 58 probable instances of the disease were recorded during the outbreak, six of them were admitted, and 25 patients had already passed away as of January 13, 2023.

The National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), according to our source, sent medical personnel to the state last week due to the severity of the outbreak.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Kaduna State youth leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Aliyu Bello, has affirmed that the PDP Presidential candidate in the 2023 Presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar remains the best among the presidential candidates in the presidential race.

Alhaji Bello said that Atiku has the prerequisite experience, contacts internationally and across the country, and has impacted many lives through his philanthropic works.

While speaking with The Daily Reality reporter, he disclosed that Atiku understands how to bring deliberate steps and actions to create big ripple effects that can impact an economy and make life far more abundant for the people in the country. 

He urged Nigerians of voting age to pick up their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) from the various Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices in their localities to participate in the forthcoming general elections.

By Aisar Fagge

The Dangote Cement Plc. has Thursday appointed Arvind Pathak as the group Managing Director with effect from 1st March, 2023.

The news was relayed to journalists in a corporate disclosure made available to the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. by Edward Imoedemhe, the company’s acting Secretary/General Counsel.

It was gathered that the Pathak appointment was prompted by the retirement of Michel Puchercos from from the group Managing Director/CEO.

The statement reads in part: “The appointment of Arvind Pathak will be included in the agenda at the next Annual General Meeting for ratification by the shareholders in accordance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act.

“The Board would like to thank Michel Puchercos for his commitment and contributions to the Board and wishes him well in his future endeavours, while welcoming Arvind Pathak back to the Dangote family and wishing him success in his new role,” the company said.

Before his appointment, Pathak worked as MD and CEO of Birla Corporation Ltd. and was described as the experienced and hardworking person.

It was gathered that Pathak is also the former Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement Plc.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Bingham University Nassarawa has banned the use of smartphones in the institution. 

The Registrar, Dr Esther J Dyaji, disclosed the development in an internal memoir on Wednesday. 

According to Dr Gyaji, the phones of defaulters of the ban would be confiscated while they face appropriate sanctions. 

The memoir reads, “Following repeated abuse in the use of smartphones in contravention of section 5.14 subsection i, ii and iii of the students’ handbook, the use of smartphones is hereby prohibited with immediate effect. Violators of this would have their phones confiscated and face appropriate sanctions.”

Bingham University is a private missionary university owned by the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA). It was founded in 2005.

By Ukasha Rabiu Magama

Youths in Bauchi state have been challenged to engage in community development projects and uphold the spirit of patriotism by providing a lasting solution to the severe hardship the rural dwellers are experiencing due to poor infrastructure in the nation.

Speaking with the reporters in an interview with Joshua Sanga, the Director General of Bauchi state Public Procurement in Kwagga, during the commissioning of the solar borehole project worth over N6 million executed by a corps member, Umar Abubakar Ahmed in Kwagga, Toro local government Bauchi state.

Abubakar, who sacrificed the money offered to him by Shibnobi Firm as an award of recognition for his selfless service to the company said to have spent it to provide a lasting solution to long decades of water scarcity in his community.

Commending the project initiator, Eng. Sanga emphasised that it’s high time for young men to start reaching out to their various communities with such a life-changing project to meet the yearning and aspirations of the people as the government alone can’t meet people’s demands up to a satisfactory level.

While commissioning the milestone project, the chairman of Toro local government of Bauchi state Alhaji Danlami Tashan Dami, represented by his deputy Alhaji Auwal Abba affirmed that when youth possesses patriotism, our rural areas would be developed, adding that it will go a long in reducing the hardship experienced by rural dwellers as well as the burden of the government. 

Umar Abubakar Danfulani, the project initiator, said he only forfeited the 6 million Naira offered to him by Shibnobi Firm not because he doesn’t have dreams but rather to provide potable drinking water to his community. He, however, stated that it pains him much to see his parents, sisters and among other well-wishers fetching drinking water from the mucky pond, adding that government must stand on its feet to end the water scarcity and other social amenities deficits in the rural areas hence the need is to provide a conducive atmosphere for living.

Abubakar asked the parents to take their wards to school, describing education as the bedrock of development, saying that without being educated, he won’t have Shibnobi Firm won’t offer him a job, not talk about bringing the project to the community. Abubakar, who is currently in his one-year mandatory service to the nation in Abuja, said that he struggled so much and sponsored his education as an orphan. Therefore, they called on parents to do everything possible to ensure their wards are educated for a better tomorrow.

In his remark, the royal father of the host community Kwagga, Mlm, Idris Abdullahi, on behalf of the entire Kwagga community, showed their appreciation to the young Umar Abubakar for remembering the town’s predicaments and by bringing them the timely succour, adding that only God almighty can bless him. He also urged the Bauchi state government to provide them with pipes to channel the water to their various houses.

Meanwhile, the Uplift Association presented an award of excellence to the young Umar Abubakar for his sacrifice and selfless service to humanity; while presenting the award Abdulfatah Mu’azu, the association chairman, challenged the youth to emulate his kind gesture as there were many gaps awaiting the youths to fixed, saying government alone can’t provide our needs.

The event had notable dignitaries, Toro local government Danlami Tashan Durumi who was represented by his deputy Alhaji Auwal Abba, a representative from the state ministry of water resources, royal fathers, politicians, corps members, and youths associations, among others.