• We’ll mobilise nationwide, shut down Presidential Villa, NANS warns FG
• Wike signs laws for compulsory treatment of gunshot victims and women’s right to inherit property in Rivers
• Hardship, as inflation rate hits 20.5%, highest since 2005
• Bandits invade Niger LG, kill one, abduct 10
• 2023 Election: Don’t allow religion to divide us, Sanwo-Olu urges Nigerians

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn‘t miss:

We’ll mobilise nationwide, shut down Presidential Villa, NANS warns FG  

Due to the federal government’s failure to negotiate an agreement with the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, or ASUU, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has threatened to shut down the entire nation, including the Presidential Villa.

The students said they won’t stop their protests until the federal government agrees with what the academic union wants.

NANS issued this warning in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by its Chairman, NANS National Task Force on ASUU Ojo Raymond Olumide.

The statement said, “The national leadership of NANS, since the commencement of this struggle has declared that it is a “no retreat, no surrender” agitation. And, the implication of that is that, what is being witnessed today is more like a preamble to the real struggle of Nigerian students to come, whereby economic activities in the country would be grounded by the mass of Nigerian students.

“And, in living true to the threat of sustaining the struggle that we have begun is why we are here today in protest against the gross failure of the Buhari-led administration to invest in the educational sector. 

“It cannot be overemphasised that Nigerian students have been rubbed of education, not even ‘quality’. We can only talk about quality when there is the presence of education. But, in this case, there is no education at all for the Nigerian students. 

“And, this governmental failure has led to the invention of a phrase which is gaining momentum amongst Nigerian people, both old and young, that “education is a scam”. Meanwhile, education is not a scam. But, unfortunately, this phrase has really endangered the values that clothe the institution of education in Nigeria.

“This government is working effortlessly to weaponize ignorance in the country while embarking on an expansion of their attempt to commercialise the educational sector and take it out of the reach of the poor. Alas! 

“They will be the one to approach Nigerian youths with a slogan that has already become a cliche in the political terrain that “youths are the future of the country.” Regrettably, the youths are not being empowered with education which would fortify them to be the future that they ought to be.

“As you could see, we have the National PRO of NANS, Giwa Yisa Temitope, Deputy Senate President, Ekundina Elvis, Vice-President (External Affairs), Akinteye Babatunde, NANS/JCC Chairmen from Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Lagos and Ondo at the forefront of the struggle.”

See NANS demands below.

Tomorrow, we shall be at the Benin-Ore expressway in continuation of the protest. 

• We already have a line-up event and we shall sustain it until the Federal Government heeds our demands.
• We pass a vote of No Confidence on both  Ministers of Labour and Education!
• We call for the proper funding of the educational sector as against what has been attainable in the past 7years.
• We Call on the Buhari government to pay all outstanding arrears and salaries of the lecturers. The policy of “No Work No Pay” is a Fascist one; it’s, therefore, condemnable and non-acceptable to all the millions of students in Nigeria!
• We will, by this statement, not beg again. We will be mobilizing all students to Shut Down the country (without excluding the Presidential villa)
• No Education! No Movement! 

Wike signs laws for compulsory treatment of gunshot victims and women’s right to inherit property in Rivers

GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike signed three new bills passed by the State House of Assembly into law on Thursday, putting a stop to the denial of women’s inheritance widespread among cultures and traditions in Rivers state.

Wike signed the Rivers State Prohibition of the Curtailment of Women’s Right to Share in Family Property Law No. 2 of 2022, the Rivers Compulsory Treatment and Care of Gunshot Victims Law No. 3 of 2022, and the Rivers Pension Reform (Amendment) Law No. 4 of 2022 at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

Explaining the significance of the new state laws, the Governor said he couldn’t comprehend why it is considered taboo in many parts of Rivers for female children not to share in family inheritance.

He said, “Because you’re a girl, you’re a woman, you’re not entitled to inherit what belongs to your father. It is not you who decides to have a girl or a boy. It is God. So, put yourself in their shoes today where, by God’s mercy you have three children, all girls and you struggle in life to see what you can keep for them.

“Tomorrow, one of their uncles comes, and says, my friend, girls don’t inherit their father’s property. With all your efforts in life, somebody comes to discriminate against them, why?

“We have even found out that women are more useful to us than even the men. The day, you’re getting old and dying you’ll know that you need more daughters than men. They will leave their husband’s houses and come to take care of you.”

Concerning mandatory treatment and care for gunshot victims, Wike stated that within the boundaries of the law, any victim of a gunshot would be expected to be properly recognized so that such person could be tracked if the person disappears following treatment.

However, the Governor noted that the law is in furtherance of the government’s role to safeguard life, as even the offender must be alive to be prosecuted and punished for his crime.

Hardship, as inflation rate hits 20.5%, highest since 2005

Nigerians are gasping for breath as the inflation rate rose by 0.92 basis points to 20.52 percent in August from 19.6 percent in July, the highest since October 2005.

This represents the seventh consecutive monthly rise in Headline inflation since February. Food inflation also rose to 23.12 percent in August 2022, representing a 1.1 percentage-point increase compared to 22.02 percent recorded in the previous month.

In its Consumers Price Index, CPI, report for August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the “increases were recorded in all divisions that yielded the headline index”.

The Bureau stated: “In August 2022, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 20.52 percent. This was 3.52 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2021, which was 17.01 percent.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate increased in the month of August 2022 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (August 2021). On a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in August 2022 was 1.77 percent, this was 0.05 percent lower than the rate recorded in July 2022 (1.82 percent).”

On food inflation, NBS further reported: “The food inflation rate in August 2022 was 23.12 percent on a year-on-year basis; which was 2.82 percent higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2021 (20.3 percent).

“This rise in food inflation was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, food products, potatoes, yam, and another tuber, fish, meat, oil, and fat. On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August was 1.98 percent, this was a 0.07 percent decline compared to the rate recorded in July 2022 (2.04 percent). This decline is attributed to a reduction in prices of some food items like yam tubers, garri, local rice, and vegetables.”

Bandits invade Niger LG, kill one, abduct 10

Bandits invaded some villages in Niger State’s Lapai Local Government Area, killing one person, wounding another, and kidnapping ten more.

According to reports, one of the villages attacked was Ebbo, where the vigilante office was attacked, killing one vigilante member and critically injuring another.

The event happened at 11 p.m. on Wednesday, according to sources.

The bandits were alleged to have invaded communities including Angwan Dajin Gomna in the Kpada community, where they kidnapped five people, and afterwards Zago and lLafiyan Zago villages, where they kidnapped another group of five people.

The bandits had earlier stormed Ebbo village but were defeated by the vigilantes following a six-minute gun duel.

Aside from the deaths and kidnappings, the bandits were alleged to have walked from home to house and looted the inhabitants’ food and other goods.

According to DSP Wasiu Abiodun, Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, suspected armed men attacked the vigilante office in Ebbo village via Lapai, shooting sporadically.

“One of the vigilantes was, unfortunately, shot dead by the bandits while one other sustained injury. Police tactical team has been drafted to the area and effort is ongoing to apprehend the bandits,” the PPRO assured.

2023 Election: Don’t allow religion to divide us, Sanwo-olu urges Nigerians

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has advised Nigerians not to tolerate religious divisions, particularly in relation to the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket for the presidential election.

Sanwo-Olu provided the advice on Thursday in Ikoyi at the Yoruba Tennis Club’s 96th Anniversary Lecture, titled “Social Club and the Search for National Cohesion.”

He stated that the next President of Nigeria should be chosen for his or her leadership, character, boldness to think, and ability to think deeply and solve problems.

“I am a Christian and my wife is a Christian but we know too well that it is not about religion.

“We have forgotten that in 2011 when Action Congress at that time gave a platform to Malam Nuhu Ribadu and his vice presidential candidate then was Mr Fola Adeola.

“It was a joint Muslim-Muslim ticket and we did not see any problem at that time.

“But suddenly, because there is a likelihood of this ticket emerging as a winner, people now want to divide us. We will say no because that is not who we are.

“It is about leadership. It is about character. It is about audacity to think. It is about the ability to be able to think deep and solve problems.

“We do not want to despair other candidates. We all know too well what their antecedents are. We all know too what their credentials are. But we know that as a nation, we need a strong launch pad. We need to think out of the box and be able to put our best foot forward,” he said.

The governor also commended the leadership of the Yoruba Tennis Club for making the right choice of inviting the APC Vice Presidential candidate, Sen. Kashim Shettima as the guest speaker.

While delivering his lecture, the Vice Presidential candidate of the APC, Sen. Kashim Shettima, said that there had been so much talk about the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the party.

Shettima said that Sen. Tinubu is a Muslim but his wife is not only a Christian, but a senior pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God as well.

“Some of Asiwaju’s children are Christians. How can you convince someone that Asiwaju is going to Islamise Nigeria when he did not Islamise his own family?,” he said.