..Prof Chinua Achebe is dead

Professor Chinua Achebe, one of the world’s most celebrated writers, is dead.

Achebe who was based in the United States had been hospitalised in recent days in Boston, Massachussets where he passed away at 82 years.

                                                                  Chinua Achebe
Professor Achebe  was best known for his classical novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.

 He also authored several novels, short stories and poems.

His last book, ‘There was a Country’; A personal history of Biafra, was published last year. He was a professor at Brown University in the United States since 2009. More details later…

APC: ACN replies Jega, says merger plans on course

LAGOS—The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has assured that plans towards the formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC, were still on course irrespective of reservations expressed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC that a change of name would be required.

While assuring that the parties were on course, the party said that it and other parties in the merger plans were fully conscious of the legal processes involved and adhering to same.

The party’s assurance was on the heel of suggestions by INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega at the weekend that the merger parties would be required to adopt a new name upon the fact that the APC acronym had been adopted by another party seeking registration.


Jega had also said that he received the notice of intention of merger from the parties only last week.

Plans by three opposition parties including ACN, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP to collapse into the All Progressives Congress, APC, have lately been challenged by the aspiration of two other political associations seeking registration with the same acronym.


The two other associations are the African Peoples Congress and the All Patriotic Citizens.

ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, however, disagreed, yesterday, with Jega’s claim that the ACN only wrote to INEC of its plans for a merger last week.

Mohammed said that the letter claimed by Jega as a notice of merger was actually a letter inviting the commission to their national convention where the merger process was expected to be ratified.

Asserting that the process was wholly in conformity with the requirements of the law, Mohammed said that there was no reason to doubt the progress of the opposition parties towards their merger.

“So, if you want your application to be considered, go and change your name because it is not possible to register three groups with the same name.”

We have not even reached the stage of registering any group. When we get to that stage, we will take the appropriate decisions,” Jega had said during a radio interview last Saturday. He had also been quoted as saying that a notification to merge only came last week.

Responding yesterday, Mohammed said:

“What he is referring to is the notice of our convention, not notice to merge. We sent him a notice that we are going to convention where we are going to talk about the issue of our merger and invited INEC as the law provides.

“We understand what we are doing and the only time we are supposed to notify INEC is provided for in Section 84 (3) which states that the written request must be accompanied by the resolution of the party at their convention and since we have not gotten there how can we write them a letter.”

“There is no provision in that law that says that  we must notify INEC before that time. The only other section is 84 (2) simply states that the merging parties must notify INEC of their intention at least 90 days before a general election and we have more than two years before that election.”

“If you read the provisions of the law very well you will understand that the only time that we are expected to notify INEC is only after a convention and section 3 is very clear that such written requests shall be addressed to the national chairman of INEC and must be signed by the chairmen, secretaries and treasurers of the merging parties,” Mohammed added.

Mohammed also rejected Jega’s claim that he had written to the parties in the merger plans on the need to seek another name as he said the ACN as at last night was yet to receive such communication.

“That cannot be referring to us as we have received no letter as at today and we are aware that they have written to African Progressive Congress and All Patriotic Congress,” Mohammed said.

Mikel Obi set to wed Delta Soap beauty queen, Sandra Okagbue?

This is according to City People. Below is how they are reporting it:

"The two love birds who have been dating for almost 3 years now have decided to seal the relationship. Their introduction comes up next Sunday March 31 at Sandra's family home in Onitsha. This development will definitely not come as a surprise to most of their friends. This is because their romance has grown stronger by the day that Sandra has been a live-in-lover of the Chelsea midfielder in his UK home".

They met about three years ago during one of Mikel's visit to Nigeria and they've been together ever since. According to family sources, Mikel is so in love with Sandra that he has invested millions to settle her family, most especially the family's residence located at Ajao Estate, which had Mikel's financial blessing

Sandra Okagbue won Miss Delta Soap beauty pageant in 2010 and she's the daughter of the late Obi of Onitsha, Obi Ofala Okagbue.

Sen. David Mark denies buying the Chevy Corvette for 2face & Annie

The card on the car clearly says 'wedding gift from Senator David Mark', but the senate president's senior adviser on media, Kola Ologbondiyan, has released a statement denying it. Ologbondiya said:

Senator Mark did not visit Dubai for Tuface wedding rather he attended the 128th Inter parliamentary Union (IPU) conference currently holding in Quito, Ecuador. He was also not represented at Mr. Idibia's wedding. It is also instructive to state that the President of the Senate, Senator Mark, did not make a car donation of any kind to Tuface before departing Nigeria for Ecuador neither did he purchase nor send any car to Dubai as a wedding gift for the musician or his wife. Who made the donation on behalf of the President of the Senate?

It is therefore a puerile lie for anybody to state that Senator Mark bought a Ferrari car worth N47m for Tuface. The allegation is wicked, ridiculous and irresponsible. Signed: Kola Ologbondiyan Special Adviser, Media & Publicity to the President of the Senate David Mark The Chevy Corvette is worth about N7m and if the Senate president says he didn't buy it, then we should give him the benefit of doubt. I doubt a man of his caliber will buy a wedding gift and then publicly deny buying it. I'm sure 2face Idibia's team will address this when they get back from Dubai.

2face and Annie Idibia on their wedding da

First look: 2face and Annie Idibia on their wedding day... True love...so beautiful to see...

Osun State senior secondary school students get computer tablets

Osun State government last week commenced the distribution of the Computer Tablets of Learning (Opon Imo) to the students of government-owned secondary schools in the state. The distribution of the tablets started at the Ataoja School of Science, Osogbo on Monday with 385 students in the Senior Secondary School 2 (SSS2), each receiving the technological device.The project, an initiative of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, specially designed for the students of public secondary schools in the state to improve their performance in internal and external examinations.

2013/2014 PTDF Scholarships in Nigeria & Overseas (UK & France) for Undergraduate, Masters & PhD

Introduction:
The PTDF Scholarship scheme 2013/2014 is now open for application for Undergraduate, Masters and PhD students to study in Nigeria and Overseas

Eligible Field of Study

List Of Approved Courses For Sponsorship

A. MSc
Scholarships will be offered for admission into the under listed courses (for overseas MSc). Candidates are advised, to apply for admission into Universities in the UK and France that offer these courses, while applying for the Petroleum Technology Development Fund Scholarship.
1. Asset Management (Engineering Asset Management)
2. Basin Evolution and Dynamics
3. Diving and Underwater Technology
4. Energy Systems Engineering
5. Environmental Engineering
6. Environmental Remote Sensing
7. Fire & Explosion Engineering
8. Health Safety and Environment
9. Marine Computational Fluid Dynamics
10. Maritime Operations
11. Occupational Health and Safety
12. Offshore and Ocean Technology
13. Offshore Engineering
14. Pipeline Engineering
15. Purchasing and Supply Chain Management
16. Refinery Design and Operations
17. Subsea Engineering
18. Thermal Power (Gas Turbine Option)
19. Welding Engineering
20. Design of Rotating Machines
21. Control Systems
22. Hydraulic Engineering (France)
23. Fluid Mechanics and Energetics (France)

B. PhD Priority Research Areas
The PhD research areas in addition to the afore-listed MSc program areas may also include any of the following related areas:
1. Environmental Studies and HSE (Health, Safety and Environment).
2. Marginal Fields Development.
3. Flow Assurance and Pipeline Engineering.
4. Geology and Petroleum Geology.
5. Civil and Marine Engineering.
6. Renewable Energy.
7. Reservoir Engineering/Production Technology.
8. Refining Technology.
9. Ship Building & Marine Technology.
Scholarship Type: Undergraduate, Masters and PhD scholarships in Nigeria and Overseas
Selection Criteria and Eligibility

A. UNDER GRADUATE (Nigeria Only)
1. Possession of 5 credits in WAEC/SSCE/NECO including English Language and Mathematics
2. Must have concluded the 1st year of their study in any of the PTDF upgraded Federal Universities listed above.
3. Must have scored a minimum CGPA of 3.0 on scale of 5 or 4.5 on a scale of 7 in their 1st Year.
4. Must scan and attach a copy of their admission letter
5. Students admitted into the University through Direct Entry i.e. 200 level must have either of the following:
i. Minimum of Upper Credit at the Diploma level
ii. Minimum of 10 points in interim Joint Matriculation Board (I.J.M.B) examination.
iii. Minimum of 8 points at the Advanced Level General Certificate of Education (G.C.E).

B. MSc (Overseas)
1. A minimum of Second Class Upper (2.1) in an Oil and Gas related field OR a 2.2 with oil and gas industry experience
2. National Youth Service (NYSC) certificate
3. Applicants must be computer literate
4. Possession of O/level with Credit in English Language in WAEC/SSCE (C6) or NECO (C4);
5. Applicants must not be above 30 years of age
Applicants without credit in English language as in (4) above but possess any of the following may apply
i. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
ii. G.R.E ( Graduate Record Examination)
iii. GMAT –for Management related courses
iv. International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
C. PhD
I. Applicants must be in the academics in Nigerian Institutions, teaching an oil and gas related discipline;
II. Applicants must possess minimum of 2.2 in their first degree and a good second degree certificate;
III. Applicants must submit a research proposal relevant to the oil and gas industry (of not more than 5 pages) to include: Topic, introduction, objective, methodology and mode of data collection;
IV. Applicants must include a valid admission letter;
V. Applicants must not be over 40 years of age; and;
VI. Applicants must include their masters degree project

Number of Scholarships: Several
Value of Scholarship
Full fee financial award and expense
Duration of Scholarship: for the duration of the degree programme
Eligible Countries
Nigeria
To be taken at (country): Overseas and Nigerian higher institutions
List of Nigerian Universities:
African University of Science and Technology – Petroleum Engineering
Institute of Petroleum Studies, Port Harcourt
University of Port Harcourt- Gas Eng
University of Ibadan- Petroleum Eng
University of Nigeria Nsukka- Geology
University of Benin- Chemical Engineering
University of Jos- Mining & Geology
University of Maiduguri – Geology
Ahmadu Bello University – Chemical Eng
Usman Dan Fodio University – Industrial Chemistry
University of Uyo – Chemical & Petroleum Eng
Bayero University Kano – Electrical Eng
Application Deadline
Closing date for applications is 26 March 2013.
Offered annually? Yes
How to Apply
Application Forms can be accessed online at APPLICATION WEBSITE .
Documents To Scan And Attach To The Application Form
Applicants are advised to scan copies of the following documents and attach to their online application forms:
First Degree Certificate or Statement of Result
NYSC discharge certificate
WAEC/GCE/SSCE/NECO Results or provide PIN numbers on the application forms to enable PTDF view the results on the relevant website.
Recent Passport Photograph
Local Government Identification Letter
Master’s Degree Certificate (PhD Applicants only)
Admission Letter (PhD Applicants)
Sponsors
The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF)

• Tweet This
• Share on Facebook