Surge in number of immigrants deported

The number of illegal immigrants deported from Norway leapt 37 percent in the first three months of the year, as the country's new right-wing government brings in a more hardline policy. The country's immigration police deported 1,705 people, up from 1,248 in the same period last year. Of those deported, 157 were minors, with three sent home without their parents.

A total of 147 Nigerians were deported, followed by 138 Afghans, 102 Romanians, 92 Albanians, 84 Russians, 82 poles, 76 Lithuanians, 72 Iranians, 63 Iraqis, 60 Eritreans, 60 Syrians and 59 Somalis.

Source: The Local
*Naija topping the list as usual*

Lawyer wins $100,000 NLNG Literature prize

An Ibadan, Oyo State-based lawyer and poet, Tade Ipadeola, has won the 2013 Nigeria Prize for Literature.

Ipadeola, who is also the President of the PEN Nigeria, won the prize worth  $100,000 with his collection of poetry, ‘The Sahara Testaments.’

The prize is sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited.

‘The Sahara Testaments’, clinched the prize ahead of Promise Ogochukwu’s ‘Wild Letters’ and Chidi Amu’s ‘Through the Window of a Sandcastle.’

The three works had been short-listed from  201 entries received  for the prize.

Ipadeola was announced winner of the prize, which rotates annually  among poetry, fiction, drama and children’s literature at a world press conference held at Oceanview Restaurant, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Wednesday.

Officials of the NLNG, led by Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, General Manager, External Relations; the judges headed  by their chair, Prof. Romanus Egudu, and members of the Advisory Board for Literature jointly addressed newsmen.

Also present was Ghanaian academic and writer, Prof. Kofi Anyidoho, the international assessor of the entries.

Explaining the choice of Ipadeola’s The Sahara Testaments  in their report, the judges described it as “a remarkable epic covering the terrain and people of Africa from the very dawn of creation, through the present, to the future. The text uses the “Sahara” as a metonym for the problems of Africa and, indeed, the whole of humanity. True to epic tradition, this work encompasses vast stores of knowledge in an encyclopeadic dimension. It also contains potent rhetoric and satire on topical issues and personalities, ranging from Africa’s blood diamonds and inflation in Nigeria to ‘contrite…Blair’.”

The judges added that Ipadeola’s use of poetic language demonstrated a striking marriage of thought and verbal artistry expressed in the blending of sound and sense.

“The work is replete with historical, geographical, and literary allusions and tropes. On the whole, the poet demonstrates an outstanding level of intellectual exposure and knowledge, language use, and awareness of literature, which should be beneficial to readers and writers alike,” the judges said.

Prof. Molara Ogundipe and Dr. Andrew Abba were the other jurors.

In a related development, no winner emerged for the literary criticism prize also sponsored by the NLNG.

With respect to the literary criticism aspect of the competition, the panel observed that no literary criticism entry was qualified for assessment because none met the criteria advertised for the prize.

punch

Rebel governors, others suffer double setback

Abubakar Baraje

The New Peoples Democratic Party  has suffered a double blow  as its quest to have  Dr. Bamanga Tukur sacked and be recognised by the authentic PDP have been rejected by the Independent National Electoral Commission and a Lagos High Court in Ikeja.

While INEC said it would not withdraw the recognition already given the National Working Committee of the Tukur-led  PDP,  the Lagos High Court  on Thursday said it lacked  the jurisdiction to entertain a suit in which the New PDP sought an order stopping Tukur from parading himself as the authentic chairman of the ruling party.

The commission  was responding to two separate letters dated  September 1  and 23, 2013 by the  Alhaji Baraje-led  New PDP   asking  that it should be   recognised as the real PDP.

The Baraje faction has seven  PDP governors and a former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as its arrowheads. The governors, who are generally referred to in the media as  ‘rebel or aggrieved governors’  are Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto);  Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano); Muritala Nyako (Adamawa); Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara); and  Sule Lamido (Jigawa).

INEC,in a letter addressed to the National Secretary of the New PDP, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, which was obtained exclusively by The PUNCH on Monday, argued that Tukur and other NWC members of the PDP  were duly elected  during  two  conventions  monitored by its officials.

The letter which was  signed by INEC  Acting Secretary, U.S.Usman  and dated  October 2, has   reference number INEC/LEG/PDP/19/III/245.

It  reads, “Re: Notification of changes in the leadership of the PDP  and request for formal recognition.

“The commission acknowledges the receipt of your letters dated   September 1  and 23, 2013 respectively wherein you requested the commission’s recognition of the Baraje-led faction and the newly elected NWC.

“You will recall that the commission monitored the national convention and special national convention of the PDP  held on   March 24, 2012 and   August 31, 2013 respectively, at  the Eagle Square, Abuja after notices to the commission.

“An  NWC  was elected at the two conventions with Alhaji  Tukur as the national chairman. The commission will not withdraw recognition from the leadership of the PDP  elected at elections duly monitored by the commission. Please be guided.”

In Lagos,  a high  court  presided over by Justice Oludotun Adefope-Okojie,  said it  had no power to assume jurisdiction over a matter which originated outside its territory.

Baraje,   Oyinlola, and  the National Deputy Chairman of the New PDP,  Dr. Sam Jaja,  had asked  the court to restrain  Tukur and other NWC  members  from further parading themselves as the officials of the PDP.

They said in the suit filed on September 1, 2013  that  they were  the authentic members of the National Executive Committee of the PDP elected on August 30, 2013 at a parallel congress.

PDP itself was joined as the fourth claimant in the suit, while Tukur and others were  the respondents.

Ruling on the preliminary objection  by the respondents,  Justice Adefope-Okojie noted  that the applicants had averred in their affidavits that  the course of action and the dispute leading to the action,  were  the special conventions  of the PDP  in Abuja.

She  had  added that the respondents confirmed that the PDP had its registered office in Abuja and that none of the defendants was resident in Lagos State.

According to  her,   the doctrine of enforcement of judgment is not relevant to the suit before it.

Adefope-Okojie therefore  dismissed the claimants’ argument  that  the court  had jurisdiction over the matter .

But  the judge said the doctrine of judgment enforcement was not relevant at the present stage as the court   had no jurisdiction to hear the matter in the first place.

She said, “I hold that with the defendants not resident in Lagos and the subject matter originating in Abuja, the High Court of Lagos State has no power to assume jurisdiction over this suit.

“I accordingly make an order striking out the suit.”

Counsel for the respondents, Mr. Joe Kyari-Gadzama (SAN), and Mr. Emeka Etiaba, had in their preliminary notice of objection, asked the court to strike out the suit for lack of jurisdiction.

The lawyers  argued that the writs of summons did not comply with the mandatory requirements of Section 97 of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act because they were not endorsed.

But the claimants’ counsel, Mr. Robert Emukpaeruo,   insisted that the court had jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

President Goodluck Jonathan, in his capacity as the leader of the PDP, had held a series of meetings with the  seven aggrieved governors with the aim of finding a lasting solution to the party’s crisis.

The  Baraje-led faction however said in a statement by its  National Publicity Secretary,  Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, that    there was no cause for alarm over the court ruling.

It  said   the ruling had nothing to do with the merit of the case but the place of its filing.

The statement added,  “As advised by Her Lordship, we shall hasten to re-file the suit, this time in Abuja, as we are convinced about the merit of our case.

“Our determination to sack the usurper, Tukur, and rescue our great party from his misrule has never been stronger.”

The faction  therefore urged its supporters and members  not  to despair or exercise   fear  but  should continue to support its leadership.
Punch.

Boy,9, becomes Nigeria’s youngest Microsoft certified professional

 

Jomiloju

A primary six pupil of Role Model School, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, has emerged one of the youngest pupils to obtain the Microsoft Certified Professional certificate.

A nine-year-old pupil of Role Model School, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, Jomiloju Tunde-Oladipo, has emerged the youngest Nigerian Microsoft certified professional.

He came tops among 21 pupils who sat for the professional examination in Lagos.

He is now a Microsoft office specialist in office word 2010.

Jomiloju scored 769 out of 1,000 in the examination held in August.

In his examination score report, the slim-built boy performed well in Sharing and Maintaining Documents, Formatting Content, Applying Page Layout, and Reusable Content, among other subjects.

By the feat, Jomiloju has joined the league of young Microsoft certified professionals, including Nigeria’s 10-year-old Anjolaoluwa Seyi-Ojo;  an eight-year-old Indian, Lavishnashree, and two Pakistanis, named Arfa and Thobani.

Microsoft Certified Professional is a certification programme provided by Microsoft Corporation. The certification is tailored towards building skills on Microsoft business solutions, focusing on client-end operating systems such as windows XP, Vista, Windows7 among others.

Jomiloju, whose certificate was signed by the Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Corporation, Steven Ballmer, says he did not achieve this feat easily, but through persistence and hard work.

He says, “It was not all that easy, because I had attempted the examination last year, I did not make it then. But I remained focused and I put in a lot of hard work.

“At home and in the school, I am always on the computer. After school hours, if am not doing anything, I will go to my Information Communication Technology teacher, to learn more.”

Jomiloju sat for the examination when he was in primary Five.

Relating his experience, Jomiloju says, “In all, I answered 20 questions, after answering a question, the computer takes you to another one. And at times, there will be an instruction to skip the next question. But the programme still directs one to come back to those questions one had earlier skipped.”

But was he really scared having failed once to meet the cut off mark? He stresses that he was really afraid due to his earlier experience but he was optimistic of having success, because according to him, he has prepared well.

He also gives kudos to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Tunde-Ladipo, for their support and imbuing in him the ‘can do’ spirit in achieving the success.

He says, “My mum and dad were very supportive. They always tell me never to give up and eventually it paid off. Moreover, they had bought the latest Dell laptop. Again, I am always fascinated about computer. The way it works and the process, and the way it organises data.”

Jomiloju who is a left-handed writer, according to his parents, has been a gifted child. He has always been in love with gadgets. His mum, Toyin, says, “Jomiloju since he was baby had loved playing with gadgets, he was never interested in toys. He would pick up remote controls for both TV and air-conditioner, and he would correctly use them for their specific functions.”

His father adds, “It is not that we are unnecessarily indulging him but he is such a brilliant child. He’s multi-talented. He plays the saxophone, he’s good on keyboard, he acts very well and he’s a good swimmer.

“Each term, he participates in school drama and quiz. He also gets prizes in other subjects, apart from ICT.”

Does Jomiloju want to pursue a career in software/hardware project like Bill Gates and Steve Job?  Spotting an innocent smile, the youngster nods his head in affirmative.

His school administrator, Mrs. Adesimbo Banjo, who speaks glowingly about Jomiloju, says the feat recorded by her pupil is a tonic for other pupils.

His ICT teacher, Mr. Mathew Alo, also commends Jomiloju for the feat.

He adds, “Jomiloju was taught all the necessary things he needed to know and he came out as the most outstanding among  20 others from different schools in Lagos.

His class teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Ogunrinola, says Jomiloju takes his studies seriously. She states, “He is not only good in ICT, but in other subjects. He is hard working and well behaved.”

For Jomiloju, he’s not resting on his oars yet, as he says he is still going to seek more Microsoft certifications.

“I still want to sit for more examinations. I will still do excel and power points,” he says.

Punch.