By Muhammadu Sabiu

A total of 286 foreigners, including 86 Lebanese, 14 Britons, and 4 Americans, received Nigerian citizenship on Thursday in Abuja from the Federal Government.

At the State House, President Muhammadu Buhari granted the affected foreign nationals the status of Nigerian citizens.

By means of naturalization, 208 qualified individuals who signed the declaration declaring themselves to be Nigerians received citizenship.

After they had formally uttered the national pledge and oath of allegiance for Nigeria, the remaining 78 were granted the same status by registration.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Buhari gave the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) instructions to present the new Nigerians with the proper credentials right away.

According to him, this would allow people to start enjoying the prestige bestowed upon them, regardless of where they reside in the nation.

Mr Buhari asked them to uphold national beliefs and make an effort to positively impact the communities in which they live.

The president noted that the event was required under the constitution and was intended to exonerate all lawful citizens of the nation from the label of “statelessness.”

Meanwhile, Rauf Aregbesola, the interior minister, had earlier disclosed that the foreigners had undergone a series of exhaustive examinations by the country’s security agencies before being deemed qualified and deserving of Nigerian citizenship.

He was quoted to have said: “Today’s ceremony is a reminder of our common human ancestry.

”These people came from near and distant lands, from different races, religions, ethnicity, and other social affiliations and identities.”

By: Ibrahiym A. El-Caleel

British multinational oil corporation, Shell is set to wear a new face of leadership effective 1st January, 2023.This was highlighted by the corporation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ben van Beurden.

Beurden, a Chemical Engineer and Dutch national announced the development through his LinkedIn page earlier today.

“After a great 39-year career at Shell, I’ll step down as Chief Executive Officer at the end of 2022. Wael Sawan, currently Integrated Gas, Renewables & Energy Solutions Director, will take over from 1 January 2023.”, he said.

While wishing the incoming CEO the best term in office, Beurden remarked that he has great confidence in Wael as his successor. “He is a principled and dynamic leader, who I know will continue to help deliver our #PoweringProgress strategy purposefully and profitably.”, he said in the statement.

Shell is one of the oil multinational corporations involved in the exploration of oil in Nigeria. The company has been working in Nigeria since 1937, and currently has the largest footprint of all the international oil and gas companies in Nigeria.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Federal Government of Nigeria, today Thursday, has said that the family of Kaduna-Abuja train victims should be at ease as the arrest of Tukur Mamu will not halt the efforts to rescue those in captivity.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Maigari Dingiyadi, disclosed this in Abuja after the NSC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chambers.

The Daily Reality reported how more than 60 passengers were abducted when terrorists attacked the train conveying them from Abuja to Kaduna. However, today marks exactly 186 days after their abduction and 23 of the victims are still in captivity while others, on the hand, who regained their freedom, were said to have allegedly paid N100 million as ransom.

The Daily Reality also reported that the bandits negotiator was first arrested in Egypt on the orders of the federal government of Nigeria on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.

He was later brought back to Nigeria where he was, again, arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS).

Our reporters learned that the train victims have not communicated with their families since Mamu’s arrest.

Industrial Training (IT), Industrial Attachment or Internship, whatever name it is called, is no doubt, students’ first shot at the competitive, congested and already overcrowded labor market.

Indeed, many people who get employed with several public or private agencies in Nigeria today without a godfather made their inroads into such agencies through their IT. Too many examples abound to mention, a fact that underscores the relevance of the scheme in the course of training students in skills-based disciplines.

It is, however, unfortunate that nowadays, students make nonsense of this lofty scheme, and rubbish their chances of gainful employment after graduation. Sadly, such students think they are cheating on either their places of IT, or the educational system that includes IT as one of the key requirements for certain courses.

And funny enough, they would always fall back on their parents, lecturers and uncles to ‘hook’ them up with employers of labor when they messed up their golden opportunity of securing gainful employment at their places of IT.

As a lecturer, sometimes I go on IT supervision and see students who are tracing their ways to their IT posts for the first time! Today, many students are total strangers to their IT stations, and this denies quite a number of them valuable employment opportunities.

On one of my supervision tours, a company supervisor told an IT student (who he had never seen before and thought was his visitor) to wait, that a lecturer on supervision tour to his students was going to use his office, and he would attend to him- presuming that he was his visitor- after I was done with my students! I had to inform him that the person he thought was his visitor was actually one of the students I was going to supervise, to his greatest shock. Yes, that is how bad it could be sometimes.

During my IT, I had it at the back of my mind that I was embarking on one of the most important exercises that would shape my post-graduation life in the industry, and that guided my exploits in the industry from the choice of the agency to attach with, and my actual performance while on IT. I must confess that I had a very fruitful IT experience, and the contacts I established during IT are still beneficial to me to this day.

I must also be quick to emphasize that the establishment where one chooses to do his IT is as important as what they’re likely to learn or gain from the place. For instance, during my IT, I submitted a letter of placement in a certain media station and had several issues getting accepted. The station was skeptical of accepting pioneer students of a new university.

All the same, I was determined to press on until they accept me. However, my frustration with the administrative officer was unbearable at some point, and I had to explore other alternatives. I approached another media establishment and got immediate acceptance. In fact, in one visit, I submitted my application letter and got the acceptance letter. However, the circumstance of the acceptance was so funny that I had to dump the media house immediately after acceptance and go back to the initial station: why?

The administrative officer of the new media house promptly accepted my application for placement. Quite strange, however, his secretary had to use a manual typewriter to type my acceptance letter. And the funniest part of it is that he had to ask me for money before printing the acceptance letter which he typed for me in the manual typewriter! N100 or so I think at that time.

He apologized for the inconveniences though, but explained that he had to collect the money so as to fast-track the process of printing the acceptance letter. I guess there was no paper on which to print the letter.

I totally understood and gave him what he required to print the letter for me, but concluded I was not going to do my IT there again. Of course I had to walk away: one more look at the miserable office apartments, worn-out furniture, out-dated equipment, dilapidated structures and bureaucratic practices etc. all convinced me beyond what words would say, that the station was not a place to build career, so I took the letter and bade them a final goodbye.

Back to the initial media house: I had to press harder and disturb the administrative officer- emboldened by my serious disappointment at the other station- until he reluctantly accepted me. I was handed a neatly typed, well parceled and carefully sealed acceptance letter; and warned sternly that should I mess up during my IT; the station will NEVER accept interns from my “baby” university. Ourch!

That hurts! All the same, the packaging, the environment, the “swags”, the prestige, the caliber of persons I saw etc. all convinced me that the station was the right place to be for my IT. I reported on the appointed date and vowed never to let down my “baby” university.

My IT experience was rich, oh yes, very rich! I started going out with reporters and writing reports by the second week of my IT, and since then, was consistently in the daily bulletin throughout the period of my IT. Needless to state that I made money- like good cool cash, good friends, enjoyed good working relationship with my bosses and fellow interns from other institutions, and learned as much as I could.

But that was not all: after graduation, I went back to the same media house as a volunteer/casual staff and was promptly accepted! It was already a familiar terrain and I worked with the station for about five months before I eventually left for my NYSC, never to return again.

While I was at the NYSC orientation camp, the Manager News, together with the Deputy Manager and other key staff of the news room called to ask if they should facilitate my coming back to the station for my NYSC. The deal was that I would be placed on the priority list of competent hands awaiting a formal recruitment exercise, in which I would be a special candidate when it was time.

God bless my bosses, Alh. Suleiman Ibrahim – the Manager News and Alh. Umar Bakari, the Deputy Manager, and indeed, their accommodating lieutenants- producers, reporters and other staff with whom I had a great working relationship. However, I told them my Alma Mata indicated serious interest in me.

Already, my Head of Department was working tirelessly to have me posted back to the department where I graduated for my NYSC, after which I would be recommended for retention as a Graduate Assistant with the university. They appreciated the gesture and wished me well, even as I remained grateful to them for the offer too.

Dear students, IT is a golden opportunity. You can choose to be serious or unserious with it at your own expense. Like an African man would say: you’re doing yourself. No one cares. If you want to learn, depending on where you go, you will learn. If you choose to waste away the whole period, that is still fine; it’s entirely up to you.

But note that as you waste away that valuable time, you equally waste a wonderful opportunity that would have given you your first real shot at the competitive and already overcrowded labor market. The choice is entirely yours.

I hope this note of caution helps a determined soul.

Tordue Simon Targema writes from the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Taraba State University, Jalingo. Email: torduesimon@gmail.com

By Aisar Fagge

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has awarded another set of Covid-19 vaccine champions on identifying, tracking and countering Covid-19 related false narratives, rumours, misconceptions and disinformation on social media platforms.

The program tittled “Public Education on COVID-19 Vaccine Project” was aimed at educating, informing and sensitizing people on the importance of Covid-19 vaccine with a view to counter false narratives about it.

Supported by MacArthur Foundation, the centre has been working with 18 partner organizations and social media influencers in six selected states from Northern Nigeria to enlighten the public about the vaccine through various activities and programmes.

Recalled that, Covid-19 is a communicable respiratory disease that terrorises the entire world, leading to the death of number of people and set the economies of hundreds of nations in limbo.

The details on the event was in a statement signed Wednesday, 14th September 2022, by the coordinator of the campaign, Mal. Hamza Ibrahim.

The statement reads in part: “CITAD received 93 applications from young people who want to be champions and 18 of them were selected from six northern states – Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, Plateau and Kogi State and trained for two days.”

“After their training, they embarked on daily campaigns on tracking, countering and persuading people to take the vaccine. They submitted reports of their campaigns at the end of every month and the reports were shared with panel of judges who review, assess and subsequently selected the best three who are then regarded as the Covid-19 champions.”

“In this fourth round of the competition, Sumayya Abdulaziz from Kaduna emerged in the 1st position with 97 points and got Hisense refrigerator. Mundi Ilyasu from Kogi State emerged 2nd with 75 points and was rewarded with Plasma TV. From Bauchi State, Abdullahi Barau emerged in 3rd position with 70 points and went home with a mini laptop.”

By Ahmadu Shehu, PhD

For the first time in history, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Poland, H.E. Andrzej Duda, visited Nigeria on 6^th September 2022. Apart from being a landmark in history, this visit has renewed the longstanding alliance and friendship between these great nations and has substantially reduced miscommunications and misperceptions among the citizens and officials of both countries.

The visit has yielded bilateral agreements of enormous importance to both nations, especially on agriculture and technology transfer. Moreover, judging by its history and relationship with Nigeria, nay Africa, Nigeria and its sister nations stand to gain more level playing ground in bilateral negotiations with Poland than many other more advanced western countries. This, however, is a topic for another day.

The resilience of the Polish – Nigeria relationship was tested in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the Russian army steadily and mercilessly advanced toward major Ukrainian cities, foreign residents scampered for safety across all Ukrainian borders in search of safety. Thousands of Nigerians, mostly students, found themselves at the Polish border, which was already overwhelmed by destitute refugees struggling to cross into Poland. The scenes and images of the border control points shall never be missed!   

While a lot of misinformation and deliberate spinning of Poland as a racist, intolerant country was being cooked and distributed, the Polish diplomatic mission in Nigeria busied itself with solutions and helping Nigerians trapped in this conflict. A few days later, news surfaced that Polish officials were actually particularly kind to all citizens, especially Nigerians who were given special treatment by various missions based in Poland.  

Back at home, Polish companies and financiers have landed significant business deals to ramp up Nigeria’s solid minerals sector to ameliorate the foreseen global energy crises occasioned by the war. In addition, the Polish agro sector looked at Nigeria as the next solution to the food crises, raising the hope that the Nigerian agricultural value chain would become a global competitor.

Tracing the roots of Poland’s contribution to the growth of Nigeria’s tertiary education in the ‘60s, ‘70s and even ‘80s, several Nigerian universities have found valuable opportunities to collaborate with major Polish universities in various academic fields.

The Nasarawa State University, for instance, had a significant project that translated the works of a Polish scientist whose contributions to the Nigerian academic community cannot be quantified. Several first-class Nigerian universities, such as Bayero University, Kano, have maintained a functional MoU with the University of Warsaw for many years.

In line with its cultural heritage and educational development support, the Polish mission in Nigeria built a specialized school to support Almajiri and out-of-school children in Kaduna State. Although many foreign non-governmental organizations do these kinds of projects, Poland is the only country to start this foresighted initiative as part of its foreign mission activities.

The Polish mission established and sustains a vibrant Polish Alumni forum, which is meant to foster and strengthen the understanding between the citizens of the two countries. Nigerians who studied, trained or visited Poland in a working capacity discuss relevant issues of interest to Nigerians in Poland and the bilateral relations and areas of cooperation between the two countries. This initiative has led to mutually beneficial opportunities for Nigerians and Polish people willing to study, live or do business in either country.    

Polish – Nigeria relations is a sixty-year-old business that stood the test of time. However, to whom do we owe this enthusiastic revival of the friendship between these crucial countries? The bulk stops at the table of Her Excellency Joannah Tarnawska, the Poland ambassador to Nigeria.

Tarnawska is an African-born and bred Polish lady with a degree in African studies from the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the University of Warsaw. Mrs Tarnawska is currently doing a PhD in economics, with a research interest in economic issues in Africa.

Her cultural ties, deep understanding and love for Africa are unmatched. Thus, the amount of success she will record as a diplomat in Africa is promising. Her resilience and understanding of the murky waters of the Nigerian political landscape give her an edge to thrive. The balanced, respectful and dignified way in which the Polish mission now treats Africans will undoubtedly bring back the glory of the Republic of Poland as a true, non-colonial ally of this continent.         

Africa is the future! Therefore, this shall be a win-win for Poland and Nigeria!

Ahmadu Shehu is an Associate Professor at Kaduna State University. You can reach him at ahmadsheehu@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Board of Trustees (BoT), Send. Adolphus Wabara has vowed to resolve the internal crisis in the party.

The Acting Chairman assured this when he led some members who called on Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State at his country home in Umuobiakwa.
Wabara added that the board would visit state governors and other stakeholders with view to restore peace in the party.

He was quoted as saying, “Our ineptitude in the things we did not do well led this country to where we are heading now; otherwise we will have not gone into the hands of APC in the first place.

“We are not in the same place we were in 2015. We need to look at the variables that have changed and respond to these variables and dynamics accordingly.

“We need to remain hungry for power so that our adrenaline level will remain optimum and drive us towards attaining that goal.

“All countries in this world that have risen from the ashes of civil war, quarrels, and bitter clashes are countries that did genuine truth and reconciliation. I pray that we would realise that there is no half measure to victory in politics,” he said.

The Daily Reality recalls that PDP has been in a long crisis since it’s presidential primary election in Abuja whereby former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, emerged a winner.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was involved in a car mishap early Thursday morning in Kyiv. 

In a brief statement by his spokesperson, Sergii Nykyforof, it was disclosed that the president did not suffer serious injuries

“The president was examined by a doctor, no serious injuries were found,” Nikiforov said.

Explaining how the accident happened, Nikiforov said another car collided with the president’s vehicle in Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv

He also disclosed that the driver in the car was treated by the president’s medics and driven to an ambulance.

By Ibrahim Mukhtar

There is a continued misunderstanding between the Academic Staff Union of Universities, state chapters and some state governments who feel that the strike action embarked by the national body of the association should not be bound on the state chapters. This is why some state governors, instead of mediating and putting efforts into reconciliation between the ASUU and FG, are now trying to divide and break the hierarchy of the association. This made some of the governors start confronting and intimidating ASUU members in their states. This is contained in a press release sent to The Daily Reality by the Zonal Coordinator (Kano Zone) of ASUU, Professor Abdulkadir Muhammad.

According to the released statement, the “Academic Staff Union of Universities, Kano Zone comprising of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABU), Bayero University Kano (BUK), Kaduna State University (KASU), Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil (KUST), Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano (YUMSUK), Federal University Dutse (FUD), and Sule Lamido University, Kafin Hausa (SLUK) met on 12th September, 2022 at SLUK. The Zone deliberated on the ongoing strike action which has entered its seventh month due to the failure of government to honour the Agreements it willingly reached with our Union. The issues discussed include among others, the intimidation of members at Sule Lamido University, Kafin Hausa (SLUK) by the government of Jigawa State through the University Administartion.

This intimidation takes the form of withholding of salaries and sack threat among others. It was hinged on the premise that ASUU SLUK members are on ‘Solidarity Strike’. For the avoidance of any doubt, ASUU-Kano Zone wishes to state that ASUU-SLUK is a Chartered branch of our Union and is bound by all the decisions taken by the Union. Recently, the University Management resorts to emotional blackmail against our members using close relatives to persuade them into signing return-to-work register in desperate attempt to undermine the Union struggle to salvage the Nigerian University System.

It is pertinent to note that SLUK has benefitted immensely from the proceeds of ASUU Strike in terms of Tetfund projects, revitalization funds and staff development. To say the least, Jigawa State Government has so far invested very little to the infrastructural development of the University as majority of infrastructure in the University was funded by Tetfund, which is a brain child of ASUU struggles. Recall that the Union had previously intervened to ensure the restoration of the 2% Local Government contribution to funding of SLUK. This intervention by the Union was to ensure that students of SLUK continued to enjoy subsidized education.

Furthermore, the University heavily relies on academic manpower from other Universities in the zone, making it difficult for SLUK to operate even if the government succeeds in its agenda of forceful reopening of the University. It is on record that similar antics have failed in Kaduna State University where shamble examinations were conducted, to the extent that students were made to invigilate examinations. These were also the case in Gombe State University, Yobe State University, Ekiti State University, Ambrose Ali University Ekpoma, to mention but a few.

At this juncture, the Union urges the good people of Jigawa State to prevail on the State Government to desist from its desperate attempt at undermining the Union’s patriotic efforts towards improving the condition of teaching and learning in Nigerian public universities as it is a futile effort that would only compound the current challenges in SLUK.

Parents and students should note that proper academic activities cannot run in the University under the forceful reopening, especially due to the heavy reliance of teaching manpower from other universities. Hence, the zone call on students not to waste their limited resources to return to the University when no meaningful academic activities can take place until the strike action is properly called off by the Union.

Our union strongly believes that government must fulfill its constitutional responsibility of providing quality and affordable education to ALL Nigerians as enshrined in Section 18(1) of the 1999 Constitution. We call on well-meaning Nigerians to join hands with the Union in its efforts at salvaging the Nigerian Education System.
In conclusion, ASUU wishes to commiserate with the people of Jigawa State over the resent flooding that has resulted in the loss of lives and property and calls on the authority concern to render all the necessary support to victims of this disaster.”

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Join Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has urged the House of Representatives to grant the examination body total financial autonomy.

The Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, who made the plea on behalf of the examination body, asked the lawmakers to remove them from the annual national budget.

He made the call on Wednesday when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

He added that in 2017, after remitting N7.5 billion, the examination body reviewed its registration fees downward from N5,000 to N3,500. However, Oloyede said the Federal Government should allow JAMB to revert, considering the current economic development in the country.

He stated, “There is nowhere that government funds this type of examination. They actually provide some support for the institution because students pay some token as registration fees, and from it, they bear the responsibility of salaries and provide some succours.

“We are comfortable to be taken off the budget, but there are conditions. One of the conditions, for example, when students registered in 2016, we collected N5,000, and that had been on for five years before I joined.

“When we came in, we remitted N7.5 billion. We felt it was too much and approached the federal government to reduce the fees. We have not added a Kobo since.

“I believe we should revert to the N5000 we were charging. Given the inflation, if we charge N10,000– I am just giving it as an example, nobody will ask the federal government for one kobo.

“I am not aware of anywhere in the world, except maybe Finland— that charges as low as JAMB is charging. In Finland, we know that everything is free,” he said.