26yr old Nigerian, Olutosin Oduwole, Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison in the US for Terrorist Threat

A 26yr old Nigerian, Olutosin Oduwole, was on Wednesday December 21, sentenced to five years in prison in Madison County, for writing what prosecutors say was a note demanding money and threatening a Virginia Tech-like killing spree.

A jury convicted t he former Southern Illinois University student in October of attempting to make a terrorist threat and unauthorized possession or storage of a weapon.

The judge sided with jurors in dismissing Oduwole's claim that he was an aspiring rapper, and that the threatening words were innocent lyrical musings. He was sentenced to five years on the threat charge and a year on the weapons charge to be served concurrently.

The threat note was found in Tosin's abandoned car by cops in July 2007, just a few months after the Virginia Tech massacre. The writing demanded payment to a PayPal account, threatening "if this account doesn't reach $50,000 in the next 7 days then a murderous rampage similar to the VT shooting will occur at another highly populated university. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!

The aspiring rapper insisted in court that he "did not mean to incite fear. That was never my intention. That is not my character." But he failed to convince the court the writing was innocent lyrics and other musings. Also, unfortunately for him, when they searched his on-campus dorm when he was arrested, cops found a loaded gun.

5.8 million die of injuries yearly, says WHO

No fewer than 5.8 million people die yearly from injuries suffered in accidents, the World Health Organisation has said.

According to the President, Association of Resident Doctors (ARD),National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos (NOHIL), Dr Shopekhai Itakpe, 90 per cent of the casualty figure is from Nigeria and other low and medium income countries.

He added: “The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) also identified injuries as the main cause of death that people from one to 44 years, in its last report. Of the figures, it said, road traffic injuries kill an estimated 1.3 million people yearly, stressing that it would become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030.”

For these reasons, the ARD, focused its yearly scientific conference on emergency trauma care, to gain insight into its challenges and proffer way forward.

It advocated prevention rather than cure to address the problem which has orphaned many children and cut many lives of bread winners short.

The experts drew their conclusion at the yearly scientific conference of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos (NOHIL).

Their resolve was borne out of the urgency to reduce the number of admissions in hospital due to recurring incidences of accidents in Nigeria, particularly on the roads.

Although, accidents happen every day, the majority of them were due to the carelessness of the people, experts said at yearly scientific conference of the ARD, NOHIL. It is with the theme Emergency trauma care in Nigeria.

According to Head, Accident and Emergency Surgery, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Dr Olakunle Badmus, it is a wake-up call for professionals in the trauma care system to help reduce accidents and improve the trauma care system. This, he said, would be achieved by suggesting accident prevention and prompt emergency response.

He charged trauma care system experts, police, Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA), and traffic wardens whose job is to redirect and control traffic, call ambulances for victims and ensure compliance to road safety rules, to do more.

Drawing comparison of emergency trauma care in Nigeria with other developed countries, he said, the latter were far beyond the former, which he noted, was below par.

Hope, however, he said, was not lost if professionals in trauma care system could advocate accident prevention, because “prevention is better than cure”. He said measures, such as enlightenment, enforcement and engineering should be employed to reduce it.
by wale Adepoju(The Nation)

LASU will emerge from its crisis better, says Fashola

The Lagos State University (LASU)  will emerge from its crisis a better institution, its visitor, Governor Babatunde Fashola, has said. Fashola said his administration will ensure that LASU offers quality education.

He spoke at the inauguration of the Sobowale Benson Hall at the institution’s Faculty of Science.
He said: “Our administration has not wavered from our commitment and mission to provide the citizens of Lagos State with quality education that is comparable to the best available anywhere. In this regard, we shall ensure that the Lagos State University remains true to the best ideals of its founding fathers. As you may be aware, the Lagos State University is the only state university that was ranked in Nigeria in the latest world university ranking, and it is our wish and determination that it remains and retains this earned global recognition.”

Fashola, represented by his Special Adviser on Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoga, described the new structure as ideal, promising to take LASU to the next level.
He thanked the donor, Chief Babatunde Benson (SAN), for redeeming the pledge he made when he was conferred with an honorary doctorate by LASU in 2009.

“Chief Benson has kept to his word that he would reciprocate the gesture of the Lagos State University that conferred on him the deserved honour of an LLD (Honoris Causa) in February 2009. By the provision of this hall, Chief Babatunde Benson has written his name in gold and has left an unforgettable legacy that the present and many generations of students that will pass through this portal of this institution will benefit from for many years to come.”

As a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, and an illustrious son of Lagos, Fashola said Chief Benson’s decision to donate a hall was borne out of his desire and passion for education and excellence in his state of origin.

LASU, Fashola said, believes in Public-Private Partnership, and therefore, open its hands to co-operation’s and participations of interested stakeholders and corporate organisation parents, philanthropists and well meaning individuals who intend to partners with the university.
Re-echoing Fashola, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof John Oladapo Obafunwa, told the gathering comprising students, traditional rulers from Ikorodu of the need to assist government in providing qualitative education in the state university. 

Obafunwa recalled the giant strides LASU has made to the development of the state in its nearly three decades of existence, thanking the university’s founding fathers, successive governments and, particularly, Fashola who, according to him, has rubberstamped certain costly projects, which will soon adorn the university landscape.

“The university management will leave no stone unturned in its bid to uplift the standard of the university in line with current aspiration and reformation of the state government. We wish to assure the governor that the management will continue to work tirelessly to justify the confidence reposed in us, to ensure LASU is the most preferred citadel of learning in Nigeria.” 

The donor recalled that LASU’s pioneer Vice-Chancellor,Prof Afolabi Olumide, had appointed him the university’s council with retainer fee of N50,000, which the legal luminary said he willingly returned to the university.
By Adegunle Olugbamila 

Revive reading culture, lawmaker urges

There is need to revive the reading culture to develop the country, Deputy Whip of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rotimi Abiru, has said. 

Abiru, who pointed out that parents and guardians, must educate their children and wards on the importance of reading, added that unless the knowledge base of kids is built, efforts to transform the nation would not yield results. 

The lawmaker, at an interactive session with House Correspondents in Lagos, said pupils these days derive much pleasure from listening to music than reading books.

According to him, for our nation to develop, we must as a matter of urgency revive and start to promote our reading culture right from our homes, up to the primary, secondary schools and higher institution of learning. 

“If you listen to most of the music that some of our youths are listening to these days, you will agree with me that some of the songs are capable of corrupting their minds and corruption starts from the mind.  

“A lot needs to be done in our music industry because most of the songs they release into our market daily are not pleasant to the ears. So, if nothing is done to address this issue, it will cause a major disaster to our nation. These youths who are listening to some of these songs are the future of this great nation, so we must find a way of bringing back that reading culture as an alternative to all these obscene songs,” said Abiru.

He, however, called on President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Assembly, to as a matter of urgency, sanitise the music industry to ensure  that proper songs that will educate the minds of the youths are released into the market.
by Oziegbe Okoeki(The Nation) 

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Activities of deceitful schools

The National Examinations Committee (NEC), the highest decision-making body of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) said more than 81,000 candidates were involved in examination malpractices during the 2011 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
The NEC was appalled by the large number of cases and the involvement of schools, teachers and ministry officials in perpetrating examination malpractice, and announced during its meeting at the Excellence Hotel, Ogba last month that the guilty parties would be punished.


Schools will be blacklisted; candidates, in addition to having their results seized, will be barred for one or two years from retaking the examination; and officials will be stopped from participating in WAEC examinations and reported to their supervising authorities.
The NEC also mentioned the possibility of publishing the names of blacklisted candidates – like was done by WAEC Ghana recently, and I sincerely look forward to that happening.  I don’t know whether it will ever happen but if it does, it will be interesting to discover the names of schools and officials that will feature.


Will such a move check malpractice?  It should – except if our schools and officials have developed the thick skins some of our politicians have to shame (because we know in government circles, politicians who are exposed for stealing and other wrong doings somehow find their way back into positions of authority).  


As I said, I do hope that WAEC will publish the list, online, if not in the dailies, because I was shocked to my bones when I got inside information from a former pupil of one of the most popular elite private schools in Lagos State that they are taught during external examinations.  


Years back, I met a teacher at the school’s 20th anniversary.  He had just joined from another school, which I found named among the top 50 schools based on aggregates of 50 candidates in the WASSCE in 2006.  When I told him of the news, he scoffed at it, and said, “I know what they do”.  But he assured me that the elite private school in question condoned no such nonsense.  That was why when I learnt of the true happenings in that school, which has many branches in Lagos and prides itself for providing top class education at a cost that creates craters in parents’ bank accounts, I was truly mortified.  


The pupil, who I know to be naturally intelligent, told me that at during the last NECO Junior School Certificate Examination (JSCE) they wrote, many times, they got help from invigilators and supervisors.  The teenager spoke specifically of the Mathematics paper, how a man went from desk to desk giving them the objective answers.  The same thing happened for the Yoruba paper.  


The teenager also recounted a particular incident during the Technical Drawing paper where candidates had to produce drawings thus:  “When one boy was delaying after we had all finished, the invigilator asked who the best TD student in the class was.  We all pointed at another boy.  Immediately, she gave the second boy the slow coach’s paper to draw for him.  When he protested, saying, ‘But Ma, that is cheating’, the woman slapped him and forced him to do it.”


I stared, wide-eyed in surprise, with my mouth agape while listening to the pupil, who made good grades in the said examination.  Of course, the school was happy to boast about the results that did not allow its candidates to test their level of preparedness.  


If at that level, where the certificate does not count for so much, schools can go such lengths to cheat for their candidates, we can then imagine what happens at the SSCE level.  Unfortunately, institutionally-organised malpractice does not just happen at the SSCE level, but even during Cambridge O and A Level examinations written by these so-called big schools.  


Unfortunately, parents support these activities.  They patronise such dubious schools and pay teachers to cheat on their wards’ behalf.  But they do their children no good because they do not actually learn what they ought to.  It is also a disincentive for hard work and innovation.  When pupils know they can be taught during examinations, they lose interest in studying.


So, parents should be wary when schools boast of the exploits of their pupils in examinations.  It is simply not enough.  Good schools should normally record good performance in examinations.  But parents should also be interested in how pupils of such schools perform in competitions, where it is more difficult to cheat.  They should consider the quality of the competition, its organisers, the calibre of schools involved, and their performance.  That way, they can get a fair idea of how grounded the school is.
by Kofoworola Belo-Osagie(The Nation)


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Please read if you eat shrimps - Very Educative:
A woman suddenly died unexpectedly with signs of bleeding from her ears, nose, mouth & eyes.
After a preliminary autopsy it was diagnosed that death was due to arsenic poisoning.
Where did the arsenic come from?

The police launched an in-depth and extensive investigation. A medical school professor was invited to come to solve the case.
The professor carefully looked at the contents. In less than half an hour, the mystery was solved.
The professor said: 'The deceased did not commit suicide and neither was she murdered, she died of accidental death due to ignorance!'
Everyone was puzzled, why accidental death?
The professor said: 'The arsenic was produced in the stomach of the deceased.' The deceased used to take 'Vitamin C' everyday, which in itself is not a problem.
The problem was that she ate a large portion of shrimp/prawn during dinner. Eating shrimp/prawn is not the problem that's why nothing happened to her family even though they had the same shrimp/prawn. However at the same time the deceased also took 'vitamin C', that is where the problem was!

Researchers at the University of Chicago in the United States , found through experiments, food such as soft-shell contain much higher concentration of five
potassium arsenic compounds.

Such fresh food by itself has no toxic effects on the human body.

However, in taking 'vitamin C', chemical reaction occurs and the original non-toxic elements change to toxic elements.

Arsenic poisoning has magma role and can cause paralysis to the small blood vessels. Therefore, a person who dies of arsenic poisoning will show signs of bleeding from the ears, nose, mouth & eyes. Thus as a precautionary measure,

DO NOT eat shrimp/prawn when taking 'vitamin C'.

Protests rock varsity over strike

Students of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAD) have protested the ongoing strike embarked on by the Academic Staff union of Universities (ASUU). The students complained that they were not given the opportunity to study after they resumed back on campus. They called on the local chapter of ASUU to back out of the strike.

It would be recalled that the school was closed down because of the activities of the Boko Haram sect some four months ago. However, the students were asked to resume for their first semester exams after which they went for a week break. Two days after resumption, ASUU went on a warning strike and the UNIMAID chapter of the union joined the strike.
A source told CAMPUSLIFE that the management of university resolved to meet with ASUU to decide whether UNIMAID would join the strike or not. “However, during the university senate meeting before the indefinite strike, it was rumoured, by a group of students that the university is making plans to embark on the strike . This particular group of students, rushed to the hostels and started chanting solidarity songs calling on their colleagues to join in the demonstration and fight against the strike,” the source said.
A final year student of Biological Sciences, who pleaded anonymity, said he was in his room when he heard the chants of solidarity songs. “I came out and saw students chanting ‘no strike, no strike’, some carrying placards. I entered my room, put on my trousers and joined in the demonstration.”

The students marched to notable places in the school, calling on their colleagues to join the demonstration. They said the strike was to the detriment of their career. The students blocked the entrances into the institution. 

When the news of the demonstration got the authority, the management immediately announced that the institution had backed out of the strike.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. M M Daura, addressed the demonstrating students, confirming that the school had backed out.

The shout of victory rented the air and the students dropped the tree branches they were holding. They signaled other students positioned at the university to return to their hostels. A graduating student who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: “It is good that we fight against the strike.

The strike might not be too bad for other universities but certainly not for UNIMAID. We are at loss here and the academic calendar of the school has been seriously distorted. We were supposed to graduate this December but now, we are not even sure when we will graduate. This is why we fought against the strike.”

by Taiwo Isola (The Nation)