ASUU to meet over strike, says not under pressure

THE National Strike Coordinating Committee, NSCC, comprising of principal officers and Zonal Coordinators of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU will be meeting Saturday to take stock of the ongoing strike embarked by the union that is entering the fourth months.

Meantime, ASUU said that it was not under any pressure to call-off the strike despite what it called sponsored protests and rallies against the union, stressing that before the union decided to embark on the strike, it holistically took objective assessment of the situation.

One of the branch Chairmen of ASUU and member of NSCC who spoke exclusively to Saturday Vanguard on the condition of anonymity said that the meeting will take place in Ondo state and that there would be a situation report including the meeting representatives of ASUU had with the Federal government last week’s Friday.

He said,”We are meeting tomorrow, National Strike Coordinating Committee. Tomorrow is arrival. Our Principal officers and Zonal Coordinators met with government last week Friday, one week today, so we want to discus the outcome of the meeting, after that we will now meet.”

Commenting on the plethora of protests by different groups over the strike which could be mounting pressure on the union to call off the strike, he said that “There is no pressure on us. We look at things objectively and remember that even me as I am talking we cannot suspend the strike.

“We have to get inputs from the branches that is why our strike is always very tight, because before we declared the strike, we have collected inputs from all branch officers in the universities in Nigeria, we collated it, discussed it extensively for two days before we declared the strike.

“And if there is any offer made by government, we have to look at it, that is the principal officers ten of them in number, the zonal coordinators who take over functions of NEC during the strike, so, they will look at what government has offered, brief us the branch chair persons then it is at this point we will now know whether to convene an emergency NEC to look at it holistically.

“By the time they are briefing us, they will also ask us to brief our committee members and take the issue to the congress, it is not a one man show, all these ones they are talking about politics it is not true, the process right from the least of all the lecturers to the highest that is the professor from each branch, we collate all their responses, it is only when they advice us to suspend that we suspend, it is not just one man show.”

He explained that during strike situation, the National Strike Coordinating Committee comprising of principal officers and zonal coordinators always take over the functions of NEC, adding, “every single week, the zonal coordinators will take the information to the various branches who will now take the information to congress, collating information from congress, the branch chairman will take it back to the zonal coordinator, the zonal coordinator takes it back to NSCC, the reason is that NEC has the larger component, we are many.”

He said that the reason behind allowing the smaller number of officers to meet during strike situation was to cut cost.

“Why NEC cannot meet during the strike is because of cost, we are more in number. In NEC we have over 100 people, but NSCC will be between 10 and 20, so it is manageable, we have a channel of communication.”

All attempts made to call the National President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Fagge failed as he neither picked calls put across his GSM line nor replied the text message sent to him.

See Jim Iyke's Response To People Criticising T.B Joshua

 The Jim Iyke deliverance saga at the Synagogue Church of all Nations, SCOAN, raised a lot of dust online a few weeks back and till now its still been talked about.

Well, it seems like people have been tweeting at the Nollywood's bad boy, Jim telling him that T.B Joshua was fake.

The actor on Thursday replied the critics, saying he's not in the position to judge the Prophet, who was instrumental to his deliverance.

See his response below:

Teen sells kidney to buy iPad

Five people have been charged with intentional injury in China after a teenager sold a kidney so he could buy an iPhone and an iPad.

The government-run Xinhua news agency said the 17-year-old boy's kidney was removed last year.

The surgeon who performed the operation is among the five charged.

The boy, identified only by his surname Wang, now suffers from renal deficiency, or decreased kidney function.

According to Xinhua, one of the defendants received about 220,000 yuan (about £22,000) to arrange the transplant.

He paid Wang 22,000 yuan (£2,000) and split the rest with the surgeon, the three other defendants and other medical staff.

The report did not say who received and paid for the kidney.

The teen was from Anhui, one of China's poorest provinces, where inhabitants frequently leave to find work and a better life elsewhere.

He bought an iPhone and iPad, and when asked by his mother where he got the money, admitted selling a kidney.

Apple products are hugely popular in China, but are priced beyond the reach of many Chinese with iPhones starting at 3,988 yuan (£400), and iPads at 2,988 yuan (£300).

Only a fraction of the people who need organ transplants in China are able to get them, leading to "transplant tourism" where patients travel overseas for such operations, and turn to a black market for human organs.

Several other suspects involved in the case are still being investigated.

Photo: See what a Nigerian governor is doing to a little girl in his private jet.

This is Nyako, one of the rebel Governors fighting the president. Look what he does with a little girl in his private jet. 

Bravest girl in the world; Malala Yousafzai meets Queen at Buckingham Palace reception

Malala Yousafzai arrives at Buckingham Palace in London. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, spoke to the Queen about the importance of education when they met at Buckingham Palace on Friday.

The 16-year-old schoolgirl was shot in the head in Pakistan last October after campaigning for the right of girls to go to school without fear in a part of the country where Islamic fundamentalists were trying to impose a strict form of sharia law.

Malala was one of the guests at a reception for Commonwealth, youth and education hosted by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

She was reduced to laughter by a comment from the duke, who quipped that in this country people wanted children to go to school to get them out of the house. Malala covered her face while in a fit of giggles at his joke.

The teenager, accompanied by her father Ziauddin, gave the Queen a copy of her book, I Am Malala, during their meeting in the palace's White Drawing Room, telling her: "It is a great honour for me to be here, and I wanted to present you with this book."

Accepting the gift, the Queen replied: "That's very kind of you."

Malala told the Queen she was passionate about every child having a right to an education, everywhere around the world.

She added: "Especially in this country as well. I have heard about many children that can't go to school, and I want to continue our work."

Mr Yousafzai also spoke to the Queen and duke about their past visits to his home country.

Malala was flown from Pakistan to the UK for emergency treatment after the attack. Surgeons who treated her said she came within inches of death when the bullet grazed her brain in the attack on a school bus.

She was treated at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham and has now settled in the city with her family. Since the attack she has addressed the United Nations and been nominated for the Nobel peace prize.

Princess Beatrice and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were also present at the reception, attended by 350 guests from academic institutions around the world. It included a performance from the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and choir.