FG saves N3trn in contributory pension scheme, says Okonjo Iweala
The Co-ordinating Minister for Economy and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has disclosed that the contributory pension scheme which is a compulsory saving for workers, has made a total savings of over N3 trillion. The Minister who was speaking at the Ministerial Briefing in Abuja assured Nigerians that the scheme was in good health, adding that the government was reforming the old scheme to make it more transparent, “Compulsory pension scheme is fine. We have more than N3 trillion there. It’s working well and I want to reassure Nigerians of its good health. So, it’s only people who are still under the old scheme which we are reforming that are affected. We are…
Mary Did Not Have Other Children (2)
See the previous part of this article Again crowning the above truth, the episode of John 19:25-27 makes us to understand that Mary had no other children. If all these men were the sons of Mary, the natural thing Christ could do was to entrust her to other children for them to take care of their mother. But He gave her to john the beloved, whom we know as the son of Zebedee. John (19:26-27) captures it thus: “Jesus saw his mother and the disciple she loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “He is your son”. Then he said to the disciple, “she is your mother”. From that time the disciple took…
ACHEBE AND THE INVENTION OF AFRICAN LITERATURE (2)
The novel narrative possesses limitless capacity to explore space and time to tell an extended story, commenting on particular events and characters. It has the advantage of travelling to distant places and different locations to influence individual minds. On the other hand, the novel is an individual enterprise which some critics, like Eustace Palmer, have argued is a western genre which does not suit the African literary environment. In the West, Ian Watt observes the influence of the philosophical thinking of Descartes and John Locke in the development of the novel. Descartes’ self definitive statement, ‘I think therefore I am’ (Cogito ergo sum) is the novelist’s motivation to first and foremost assert the primacy of…
Man who put mum’s body in cupboard Banished …Also baby factory suspect
Imo State traditional rulers have banished Dr. Chimezie Osigwe, in whose home was found the embalmed body of his 73-year-old mum declared missing 10 years ago. Also banished is the proprietor of the Ahamefula Motherless Babies Home, “Madam One Thousand” where 26 expectant teenagers were rescued. “Madam One Thousand”, is no longer to reside in the state, the traditional rulers ruled. Dr. Osuigwe, a native of Ezuru Umuagwu village in Ejemekwuru Autonomous Community, Oguta LGA Imo State is a member of the Satguru Maharajji sect. Announcing the verdict, the Chairman of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri, said the action of the duo desecrated the land, warning that henceforth all forms…
Silver Jubilee anniversary: An act of thanksgiving – Bishop Ukwuoma
– As Prof. & Mrs. Tony Uzoma clock 25 years in marriage It was all joy and merriments as Prof. Anthony Uwandu-Uzoma and Mrs. Beatrice Ifeyinwa Uzoma marked their silver jubilee wedding anniversary at St. Gregory’s Catholic Parish Amaigbo, Nwangele LGA, Imo State on Saturday, May 11, 2013. The silver jubilee celebration commenced with a concelebrated Eucharistic Mass presided over by the chief shepherd of Orlu diocese, Most Rev. Dr. A.T. Ukwuoma and assisted by about 50 priests from different dioceses of Igboland, including Very Rev. Fr. Patrick Ibole, Vicar-General Owerri Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Dr. Alphonsus Oha, Chancellor, Owerri Archdiocese and Rev. Fr. Prof. Louis Asiegbu of the Federal University of Technology Owerri. Delivering a…
VIRUSES ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN CANCER (1)
Cancer may be described as any tumor arising from abnormal and uncontrolled division of cells that then invade and destroy surrounding tissues. Most of them are named after the organ or cell in which they start e.g. liver cancer, cervical cancer, skin cancer etc. Cancers are grouped into: carcinoma when they arise in the epithelium, sarcoma when they involve connective tissues, leukemia with origin in blood or bone marrow, lymphoma arising from B or T lymphocytes (white blood cells), myeloma originating from plasma cells, and central nervous system cancer when the cells of the CNS are involved. Cancer is a public health problem world-wide and affects all categories of persons. It is the second common…
Nigerian Physicians and Our Right to Know
Chioma called again! You remember her? The woman her boss was pressing for an affair (See https://theleaderassumpta.com/category/columns/ethics-corner/ or www.csaaeinc.org/blog for full story). I thought she was going to talk about this affair. No. This time it was about her sick mother. “Could you please pray for her, she is in a hospital at Owerri”, she said. I know her mother, a 65 year old “rural woman”. I called this woman. “Mama, what’s the matter?” “The Doctor has not told me anything”, she answered. “What medication has he given you?” “He did not tell me, he just said that I will be fine.” I have heard this several times, especially from poorer and less educated Nigerians. Regardless…
War against Boko Haram begins – We’ll crush them – Defence Headquarters
With a massive deployment of troops and equipment, the army, navy, air force and other security agencies have begun operation to “rid the nation’s border territories of terrorists’ bases and operations. President Jonathan had in a nationwide broadcast admitted that the Federal Government no longer controlled the entire territory of Nigeria. Three states where the emergency action was declared share common borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger. These border communities have become bases for training, insurgency and other criminal activities against Nigeria. The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) gave indication that the time was up for the Boko Haram sect and other terrorists groups in the country as it announced the deployment of massive troops to take…
Jonathan imposes emergency rule on Adamawa, Borno, Yobe
President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. However, the governors of the affected states are to continue in their constitutional roles. In a nationwide radio/television broadcast on Tuesday, President Jonathan ordered the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, to deploy more troops to the affected states for more effective internal security operations. The soldiers had been given full orders to take necessary action, within the ambit of their rules of engagement, to end the impunity of insurgents and terrorists. Full texts of the President’s broadcast on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 reads. It has become necessary for me to address you on the recent spate…
Priest raises alarm over extortion by lecturers -As KSM Owerri Sub-Council holds 2nd Degree investiture
A Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Dr. Casimir Nzeh has expressed worry over the increasing level of corruption and extortion going on in institutions of higher learning in Imo State and other parts of the Eastern Nigeria. Preaching during the Second Degree Investiture of the Knights of St. Mulumba, Owerri Sub-Council, Fr. Nzeh regretted that no serious academic work is going on in most institutions of learning in Igboland as marks are simply awarded to students who can afford them. The priest further revealed that most lecturers have become authors, churning out all sorts of junks from the internet and selling them to students in the name of “text books”. Fr. Nzeh who is the Owerri…
Catholics don’t donate enough time to God – Priest says
-As Ulakwo Sub-Council promotes four knights to Second Degree Catholics are always in a hurry to leave Mass or other church activities, a Catholic priest has revealed. Rev. Fr. Philip Ojimadu, Parish Priest, St. Thomas Parish Umuowa Ngor-Okpala, said that God gave us seven days or 168 hours in a week, yet we find it difficult to give him three hours in a week. Preaching during the investiture of four Knights of St. Mulumba, Ulakwo Sub-Council, who were promoted to Second Degree, Fr. Ojimadu said while other denominations stay up to six hours in their service, no Mass in the Catholic Church lasts for more than three hours, yet many Catholics will leave before it…
Let’s look at some words and their wrong use among us
When you hear that someone, especially a top politician, has dropped a “bombshell” you would automatically want to know what the big news is all about. The expression connotes an earth shaking event which is actually what an exploded bomb is. To those who must have experienced the early wars in history, crude bombs, when detonated, left their empty covers, shells or, if you like, lifeless relic or empty cases. A couple of years ago an angry war veteran, possibly from World War 1, complained in the prestigious “Letter to the editor” column of the Times of London that he couldn’t understand why the newspapers were excited by “bombshell” as an expression of something real…
Auto crash: Why Okorocha was not treated in Government hospital
Insecurity and protracted labour dispute between the State Government and staff of the Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH), were reasons why Governor Rochas Okorocha was not taken to the hospital for treatments when he was involved in an auto crash recently. Okorocha’s vehicle had head-on collision with another vehicle belonging to one Osita Nnawuihe on Friday, April 19, 2013 at Umuoma, Orlu, while driving himself without the usual outriders and government house ambulance. Daily Sun learnt that the governor was rushed to St. Mary’s Children and Community Hospital, Umuowa where he received first aid, while Nnawuihe was taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri for treatment. The State Government and the teaching hospital…
