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Pensioners in the University College Hospital(UCH)Ibadan, Nigeria have called on the 21 Pension Funds Administrators(PFA) in the country to explain how their entitlements are calculated for eventual payment.
This call was made on Wednesday on behalf of the pensioners by the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners(NUP) Contributory Pensions Scheme(CPS) South West zone, Chief Joseph Oyadiran, at a  retirees forum organized by a PFA Forum in Ibadan.
''We want to know how you calculated our money. It is dubious. Have you started receiving retired workers 2013 IPPOIS money from the Accountant General of the Federation(AGF)? The money of workers who retired in 2013 was not calculated with the lump sum. They are yet to release the IPPIS fund to our members at UCH. It is running into millions of Naira.
Chief Oyadiran lamented that the PFAs were non-chalant in matters concerning pensioners, saying,''you are not assisting us. I have a list of those affected.. Some of the PFAs have not paid 2.5 per cent. The government promised that the enhancement allowances would be released between January and February, 2023. Up till today, what is delaying it? It is May. How can I invest N5.6 million and at the end of three years give me N300.00? PFAs ought to back us up for the release of our money. They are not backing us up,'' Chief Oyadiran declared.
Meanwhile, members of unions in the UCH have expressed reservations over the curious attitude of the union leaders to issues pertaining to the PFAS operating in the hospitals just as they expressed hopes that there would be an improvement.

The Non Academic Staff Union and Associated Institutions(NASU) has traced the non-payment of their five-month salaries to the indiscretion of the leadership of the union which did not consult with members before suspending the strike action.

This position of NASU was made known by a former chairman of the union in Oyo state, Comrade Fatoki Olusola-Cole.
''Out of frustration, the national leadership of NASU signed the agreement and they announced the suspension of the strike at the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja, without consultation with members. As at today, none of the agreements have been fulfilled. Up till this hour, we have not heard anything about it. And we have been asking, but the government has not been able to tell us anything.''
''As a result of the strike our five-month salaries were with held and this has caused a lot of havoc and problems for members. As a result, some are paralyzed, some have died, some have lost their wives and children. It has brought about unquantifiable sorrows for our members. Thank God for some of us that are still alive. We are living but not balanced. It will take  the grace of God for us to be balanced financially. They never reviewed our salaries. Psychologically, financially, emotionally, we are not stable. We can not show 100 per cent devotion to work because we have a lot of debts to pay. 5 months at a stretch, the government did not pay us. Our children are in school, some have just got admission, we pay for their rent and feeding. Similarly, we the parents, we pay rent and we feed. The prices of electricity, petrol and other goods and services have gone up astronomically and even beyond our reach. Our prayer  is that God will fight for us. This government came with the intention of destroying workers, it has succeeded. God will surely reward them. We are sad, we are not happy at work and at home. We are suffering. There is nobody to fight for us, but God will fight for us. No motivation, no rest of mind, no joy, you leave home in the morning, no hope of meeting food in the evening at home. There is hunger in the land,'' Comrade Olusola-Cole lamented.

Higher institutions in the country have for long contended with the activities of students and non-students, which causes  lawlessness, deviant behavior and criminality-on and off the various campuses in Nigeria.

Indeed, workers, petty traders and visitors have also been crucial participants in these problems, while the managements of the affected institutions  feign ignorance or are oblivious of the problems.

Of worry, is the unwritten consent by some members of management for the despicable acts.

Indeed, homosexuality is now prevalent in these citadels of learning and, surprisingly, members of the communities have taken the abnormal to be normal.

Stakeholders in the education sector have for long been silent, but rather dissipated energy on the establishment of more institutions. Perhaps.

However, for the Dean of Students' Affairs, University of Ibadan, Prof. Adekeye Abiona, the University, does not have such issues.

''We don't have such issues at the University of Ibadan. Maybe it is in Agbowo, where there are Polytechnic and other students who are not our students. If you want more information, ask the law enforcement agents. There is no way  non-students can get into our halls of residence. Besides, we have hall wardens. Students enter the halls with their identity cards. We are so strict about this, no one can get into the halls without permission. We don't have it in U.I, nobody has reported such.We have an Anti-Cultism Committee, we were at the College of Medicine for a social re-orientation program. The Center for Social Orientation(CSO) was established to take care of such vices. Our students will never indulge in that. There is what we call students' handbook. They have the matriculation oath. Our students are well behaved and we have the Students' Disciplinary Committee(SDC) to handle such issues,'' Prof. Abiona stated.

Cultivate the habit of giving  as a means of expressing to the great Provider our Love and Thankfulness.
2 Corinthians 9 : 1-15

For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:

2 For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.

3 Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:

4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.

5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.

10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;

13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;

14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.

15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

Nigerians have been called upon to be vigilant by watching out for those with criminal intentions residing in communities across the country.
This call was made by a cleric, Pastor Opeyemi Ajayi.
''Nigerians must always be security conscious and vigilant wherever they  live because criminals are moving into communities in droves with the intent of committing crime and only pretend to be neighbors while they seek information and observe communities for criminal purposes,'' Pastor Ajayi disclosed.

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Joshua is a Junior Secondary Schools student(JSS) of the Royal Seed College, Irepo Street, Idi-Odo, Challenge, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Influenced by his parents, Joshua always scales a neighbor's fence to steal at Olorunsogo, Molete,.
Be vigilant, watch out for the ''Joshuas'' in your community.

When we listen carefully with the ears of faith, God reveals His presence  in awe inspiring ways that are  unmistakable.
Psalm 29

1 (A Psalm of David.) Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.

2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.

4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

5 The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

7 The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.

8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

10 The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.

11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

Members of the University College Hospital(UCH)branch of Ibadan,Nigeria of the Non-Academic Staff Unionand AssociatedInstitutions(NASU) have declared that they are not among the beneficiaries of the 40 per cent increase in the allowances of civil servants in the country.
They made this declaration through the union's chairman,Comrade Kehinde Abiona.
''The issue has been put to rest with the payment of April salaries,then we discovered that UCH and other teaching hospitals in the Consolidate Health Salary Scale(CONHESS) were not captured. The only respite we have in the health sector for now, is the latest video released by the Minister of Labor and Productivity,Dr. Chris Nigige wherein he promised that some category of us would enjoy a 25 per cent increase,''Comrade Abiona disclosed.

The journalism profession in Nigeria is under intense siege within and outside the circle of practitioners.Standards have been eroded and it is now an allcomers affair.

Dr.Francis Amenaghwon who holds a Ph.D in communication, is a former staff member of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria(FRCN).

Dr. Amenaghwon is presently a lecturer in the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan.

He opines that sanity ought to be restored in the profession. Excerpt: For me,it is increasingly becoming difficult to define who a journalist is in Nigeria.

In these days of citizen journalism,I-Reporter,online radio,online radio and television channels.The minimum standards of practice ought to be restored. Every profession has its own minimum requirements. When we have a meticulous registration of members,the problem will have been half solved. This is the way forward. Let's set minimum standards for media organizations and institutions correcting the worrisome situation.