Sunday, May 19, 2019
LAGOS—best graduating student at the faculty of Engineering, Lagos State University, in the 2017/18 academic year, Ola-Gbadamosi Ridwan Oladotun, yesterday, told a courageous story of how he had to do menial jobs to educate himself.

Oladotun, at the 23rd convocation ceremony of LASU in Ojo campus, held the audience spell bound with his story of breeding chickens before attending classes just to gather enough money for books and school fees.

The 22-year old Mechanical Engineering graduate, who made a cumulative grade point average, CGPA of 4.88 to emerge overall best graduating student, said in his valedictory speech that he was determined to succeed and therefore did not mind what he had to go through.

Oladotun, who disclosed that he lost his mother at age 12, expressed happiness that his achievement has wiped off all his hardship in school.

His words: “Precisely, I attended Federal Government College, Ijanikin in Lagos where I finished as the best graduating student in 2013. My flair for Physics and Mathematics was at its peak, driven by my inquisitiveness to unravel what was behind the functioning mechanisms of structures and systems. I found for myself, an academic niche in my area of strength and interest. Hence, I decided to study Mechanical Engineering. With God’s guidance, this is how far my zeal has brought me.

“Worth mentioning is that tuition of LASU Engineering students as at 2013 (N284,750) was a big task, considering that two of my younger siblings were getting ready for tertiary education and my dedicated father had the onerous responsibility to shoulder our financial requirements. Meanwhile, my late mother, Mrs. Aishat Adejoke Ola-Gbadamosi died while I was 12 years old.”

Poultry farming

“Eventually, my father was able to pay the full tuition, while I had to take charge of other associated obligations. In order to assist him financially, I decided to invest the cash prize I received at my secondary school Speech and Prize Giving Day in the production of 150 broilers which I successfully raised from day old chicks till maturity during the 2013 ASUU strike. I remember using bandage to wrap their broken talons and straws to administer drugs on one of the birds not because I cared about its health but because I was determined to succeed. The return on the investment was used to cater for my personal and academic needs.”

While thanking those who played significant role in his life, he said: “My story is that of zeal, passion, inquisitiveness and sheer determination. It typifies passion for success, a recipe in every degree award recipient in this hall that I have been chosen to represent today.”

In his speech, Vice Chancellor of LASU, Professor Olanrewaju Fagboun said this year’s ceremony was unique as 57 graduated in first class.

Sunday, May 19, 2019
Another UNN student Nnemelu Shalon has been declared missing by friends and family after she posted suicide thoughts on Facebook.

According to reports, members of her department – Library and Information Science – are frantically looking for her.
UNN student Nnemelu Shalon reported missing after posting suicide thoughts.
UNN student Nnemelu Shalon reported missing after posting suicide thoughts

Before she went missing, Shalon an 100-level student of the University in Nsukka, has always been posting weird quotes and poems that bothered on death and how sweet the after life would be.
Most of what she wrote were clear indications that she intended to take her life.
Even more, on May 15, 2019, she dumped her previous profile picture and started using the same photo serving as the profile image on Chukwuemeka Akachi’s page.

Saturday, May 18, 2019
According to data received from the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Nigerians are now the largest nationals seeking refugee status in Canada with 12,138 pending applications as of December 2018.


The Canadian authorities, however, pointed out that two out of every three Nigerian applicants claim to be victims of homophobic attacks. The Federal Government led by former President Goodluck Jonathan had in 2014 signed the Same Sex (Prohibition) Act which outlawed gay marriage and prescribed a prison term of 14 years for persons found guilty of such. 



According to the RPD, which is in charge of hearing and deciding claims for refugee protection made in Canada, Nigeria has overtaken crisis-ridden Haiti which was number one the previous year. The total number of pending applications from across the world stood at 71,675 which implies that Nigeria represents about 17 per cent of total pending applications from amongst the over 170 countries. 



Haiti comes a distant second with 6,811 pending applications while India has 5,175. Mexico has 3,525; Colombia, which ended a civil war barely three years ago, has 3,056 while China has 2,105. Jawad Kassab, who led the refugee and immigration programme at Legal Aid Ontario in 2017, said the agency had identified an unusual pattern in sexual orientation claims filed by Nigerian refugee seekers.



Kassab told CBC News that he was concerned that if claims were fabricated, refugees with legitimate claims might have a harder time getting the help they need.“ It galls me because of the potential impact it could have on the refugee system and the Canadian public’s perception of refugee claimants and refugees in a very vulnerable time globally,” he said.   



Kassab said Legal Aid Ontario, which covers the legal costs for most refugee claims heard in the province, became suspicious after a routine review of refugee applications showed that 60 to 70 per cent of about 600 Nigerian claims made in Ontario since April 2017 were based on persecution because of sexual orientation.



The National Orientation Agency has therefore cautioned Nigerians against desperation while seeking asylum abroad, saying even though the body could not stop anyone from seeking better life somewhere, Nigerians should not do it by all means.

Saturday, May 18, 2019
ALL is not well in the IT Department of Covenant University, Otta, Sentry can authoritatively report. A guru in information technology (IT) attached to that department is in the police net after he was found to have devised a means by which he diverted funds meant for the university into his private pocket. By the time the university woke up to his antics, he had succeeded in siphoning a whopping N180 million!

Before the bubble burst, not a few people were said to have wondered how the loved and trusted official was managing to get the funds with which he maintained a lifestyle the Chancellor of the university and Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, would call “riotous living.” He was said to have bought some flashy cars which he kept in a mansion he bought with stolen funds in highbrow Lekki part of Lagos, even though he had a house in the school where he lived with his wife.

Every Friday, he would cruise with his wife to the posh house in Lekki to enjoy the weekend. But what really gave him away was the habit of flying back to his duty post in Otta in a chopper that landed at the premises of The Bells University, which is only a stone’s throw from Covenant University.

Tongues began to wag from onlookers who started to wonder who the big boy could be. Word about his lifestyle soon got to the authorities of Covenant University who decided to put him under surveillance and realised that he had stolen the university’s money amounting to more than N180 million. The funds were mainly school fees paid by students. The fees were paid into the accounts of the university in designated banks but the disingenuous inventor found a means of diverting the money into his private account. The discovery alarmed the authorities of the school. Oyedepo, sources said, was flabbergasted.

The IT guru was promptly reported to the police, who arrested him. Covenant University authorities expected the police to fast track his prosecution but that was not forthcoming. Words got to the university that the suspected fraudster was greasing the palms of the police. Again alarmed by the development, the authorities sidelined the police and handed the suspect to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Upon interrogation, the suspect admitted stealing the said sum and even agreed to refund N56 million in cash immediately. Sentry will keep you posted on further developments....

Saturday, May 18, 2019
No young man or old man would pray to be in the shoes of Elias Audu. The accursed fate that has befallen him is terrible and a huge blow to his ego.

Last year, one month before he reported at the NYSC camp in Osun State, Audu had married his young wife. The graduate of Nasarawa State University Keffi, an indigene of Keana Local Government Area of the state, then patriotically proceeded to Osun State where he is presently serving his fatherland. In the meantime, the wife he wedded 10 months ago, Tessy, continues to live in their rented apartment in Lafia. The native of Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, a Second Year diploma student at Nasarawa State Polytechnic, had embarked on and completed a three-month industrial attachment.

The couple agreed to put on hold pregnancy till he completes his national service and return to Nasarawa to find a good job. Then they can turn their attention to the critical matter of giving his aged and anxious mother a grandchild. Now, three months to the end of his national service, Audu’s world came crashing down. He returned home last week to find his wife pregnant. Guess who impregnated his wife: His best friend.


The crisis before marriage

Audu, still dazed by shock, recounts the sequence of events leading to the scandal in an exclusive chat with our correspondent.

His narration: “I got married 10 months ago to my wife after we resolved our differences due to my discovery that she was going out with someone else. Initially, I did not intend to go into a serious relationship after that discovery I mean, I was so much in love with her only for her to have jilted me. I vowed never to have any serious relationship with any woman until after my service year. But we got over the episode. She convinced me and proved to be a different woman. She loved me genuinely, and despite my resolve, I found myself falling in love with her again. It began gradually and with time, I could not do without her. She made me forget the past. In no time, all I could think of was to be with her for the rest of my life.”


The pressure to marry

“The pressure to get married from my old mum was overwhelming. My father had put pressure on me to get married and bear him grandchildren before his death. Unfortunately, he died six years ago without seeing my children. Being the only son in the family, my mother understandably also put me under pressure, that her time is almost up in this world and she would want to see me bear children before her final exit. That was the pressure that pushed me into getting married before my NYSC. When I took her to meet my mother, she fell in love with her on the spot and told me she was the very woman who would give her grandchildren. We got married soon after and look forward to a happy family with our kids. But we both agree that she will not “take in” until after my service year, little did I know that the devil would use my best friend to destroy my home.”


The man who got her pregnant

“I grow up together with Mike Agu in Keana. We are childhood friends. We attended the same primary school and also the same secondary school, Government Science School Lafia. He was fortunate to have gotten admission into the university before me. Nonetheless, we were very close friends. When I joined him at the university the following year, we were like brothers. Our relationship grew beyond ordinary friendship.

“When my name came out for the 2018 Batch B NYSC, I proceeded to Osun State immediately. My wife could not visit me in Osun because three of us who are corpers lived in one room. There was no need for her to come around since accommodation will be a problem her coming around means I have to rent my own apartment which is beyond my means. Since I did not have the means, I decided she should not visit. I was not happy to leave my new wife all alone for one year, but she was equally in school and we needed to understand ourselves; more so, with my close friends and relations in Lafia, I felt she was in safe hands.

“While in Osun, I kept in touch with her as much as I could. My friends I spoke and chatted with also told me she was doing great. I had told Mike Agu, who was the closest to me, to always check my rented apartment in Lafia to see that my wife was doing well. Mike had finished his service year and was teaching in a private school in Lafia. How could I have known that I was putting my wife in harm’s way?”


The shocking discovery

“Throughout this year, I have not visited home due to the tight schedule of my duties at my place of primary assignment. My last visit was in November 2018. I had got some break and decided to visit home again. I arrived home with so much joy. The first warning sign was when I got to the park and my wife was not around to welcome me as usual.

“It was her next-door neighbour that came to welcome me at the park. Even Mike, my friend, whom I have been communicating with since I left Osun State, was nowhere at the park. When I asked why my wife was not at the park, her neighbour told me she was not feeling too well and they advised her to stay at home. I did not buy that explanation but I kept quiet and could not wait to get home. When I got home, I met the shock of my life. There stood my wife with a protruding stomach.

I was transfixed, trying to recall if there was any time she told me she was pregnant, but I could not remember any. Her neighbour was in an unusual hurry to leave. After her departure, I asked my wife what was going on. She broke down and confessed that Mike seduced her, they had sex and the pregnancy resulted. As for Mike, I have not called him since I came back home. I leave him to his conscience.”


My dilemma

“When I visited my mother in the village, she was so happy that her son’s new wife is pregnant. The news has reached her! My mother believes that I am responsible for the pregnancy. She is not aware of the arrangement we had to wait until after my NYSC programme. I am still in shock and confused about what to do at the moment. But one thing I know is that she can’t be my wife again and forever. I want her to take the decision herself instead of waiting for me to push her out. I am not even going to tell my mother. From here, I am going back to Osun State and I will not come back to Nasarawa State until after my passing out. I intend to settle down in Abuja or Lagos to look for something doing. Between me and her, it is over. I will move on with my life.”


Tessy’s story

When our correspondent contacted Tessy after her lectures at the Polytechnic, she burst into tears wailing that what ought to be a family secret (and hopefully settled internally) has been exposed to the media by her husband.

“I had never cheated on my husband since I got married to him,

I never even contemplated it, but the temptation of sex pushed me into it. I consider it the devil’s work. I am a victim,” she cries.

Tessy makes a clean breast of it: “The truth is that before I got married to him, I had four abortions from unwanted pregnancies, and I almost lost my life in the last abortion. The doctor warned me not to do abortion again, that it might damage my womb. I can’t explain actually how Mike, his closest friend, find his way into me. He actually lured me to his house after an outing. And truly, he was good in bed, which attracted me to make it regularly.

“Mike was so good in bed he soon wiped the memories of my husband’s touch from my mind. I lost control of myself. We had sex every day after he closed from work. I always joined him after I closed from my place of work where I was doing my IT. We had sex daily, including weekends for two months; I soon forgot that I was actually a married woman.

“As the second month, I began to notice changes in my body. I later found out from a test that I was more than a month pregnant. I told my neighbour that I had been doing it with Mike all these while. She asked me the way forward, and the answer till date is difficult because I didn’t want to lose either my life or womb due to another round of abortion; this child might be my last opportunity.

“For several weeks, I slept and thought over it; I was in turmoil, I never knew what to do, because how will my husband react to this when he got to know after we both agreed to hold ourselves until he completes his service? On the other hand, I prayed to God that when he eventually knows, he should allow me to keep the pregnancy because it might be my last opportunity to have a child. At the moment I am not prepared to abort it. So, I am waiting patiently for his decision.


So what about Mike Agu, who put her in the family way?

“He has left Lafia to an unknown place since he discovered that my husband is back,” Tessy says. “And since the sad development, his two lines have not been going through. I can’t reach him.”

Currently, she is distressed, at a crossroads. Says she: “ I don’t know what to do, I am waiting for his (Audu’s) final decision on me. But I have told my parents to seek a loan to pay my husband back his pride price. I know I have disappointed him, but I am pleading with him to forgive me.”


Mike Agu, the villain

An effort was made to reach Mike Agu, the man who got his friend’s wife pregnant, for his own side of the story. Eventually, our correspondent got to him through the Vice Principal of the school where he is a teacher.

Without mincing words, Agu blames Tessy for the misadventure.

Here is his response: “The girl demanded sex from me after I took her out; she actually begged for it and temptation overtook me. When she made it a regular thing without contraceptive, I raised the issue of pregnancy but she said she knows when to get pregnant and that she doesn’t enjoy sex with a condom.”

He is nonetheless ashamed of his conduct. “I feel so ashamed and disappointed with myself,” he laments. “This matter will linger long in our village and it will affect the cordial relationship between myself and Elias, including our parents. It is too bad that the devil has used me. I don’t know how to apologize to him. I have betrayed his trust and confidence in me. May God forgive me of my sins.”
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