Cross River assembly finally confirms Justice Ikpeme as Chief Judge after rejecting her twice because of "state of origin"

 

The Cross River State House of Assembly has confirmed Justice Akon Ikpeme as the substantive chief judge of the state after rejecting her twice on grounds of "not being from Cross River state". 

 

Ikpeme's state of origin (Akwa Ibom state) had stirred up controversy in the assembly even though she was born in Cross River, schooled in the state, practised law in the state, married a Cross Riverian and also gave birth to children who are all from Cross River state. 

 

In spite of the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) and Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) backing, the state assembly rejected the appointment of Ikpeme, who is the most senior judge in the state twice on grounds of “state of origin”.

 

Ikpeme was however confirmed on Thursday January 28 following a motion moved by Peter Odey, the lawmaker representating of Ogoja constituency and seconded by Okon Ephraim, the lawmaker representing Calabar south 1.

 

The new Chief Judge was born in Calabar, Cross River, when Akwa Ibom was a part of Cross River. She has been working for decades as a judicial officer, including being a director of public prosecution and a judge in Cross River.

 

Akwa Ibom was created out of Cross River on September 23, 1987, by the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida.

Family of four killed in ‘murder-suicide’ after ‘dad bought gun and cancelled visit from relatives

 

A Pennsylvania father and his family have died in a suspected murder-suicide just weeks after the husband purchased a gun. 

 

Deepak Kulkarni, 50, and his wife, Arti Adya Kulkarni, 47, with their sons Shubham, 14, and Sharvil, 7, were found dead in the basement of their Chester County home on Sunday. 

 

The county coroner said all four of them died from gunshot wounds.

 

West Whiteland Police Detective Scott Pezick said it’s unclear who was behind the murders but confirmed that Mr. Kulkarni had bought a gun two weeks prior to their bodies being discovered. 

 

 

According to authorities, relatives from out-of-state called police to request a welfare check. Once inside, officers found four family members dead

 

Law enforcement is investigating the case as a murder-suicide.

"There's no indication that anything that happened was caused by somebody outside of that residence," said West Whiteland Twp. Police Det. Scott Pezick.

 

Arti’s brother Anand Adya said there were 'red flags' in the months leading up to their deaths. He also said they had tried to make plans with his sister and her family, only for them to be cancelled at the last minute. 

 

“It was obvious, she wanted to meet, but he didn’t let us.” Adya said. “I would ask Arti if everything is OK, and she would never say anything.’’

 

Adya said that his sister would refuse to give them even an ‘’inkling that things weren’t perfect’’ in her marriage. 

 

He described his sister as the “most devoted wife, and an even more devoted mother, sister and daughter”.

 

“They definitely did not deserve this,” he told the paper.

 

Kulkarni worked as a software analyst at Education Management Systems, according to his LinkedIn profile. His wife was also thought to be in the same field, but worked as an application developer, most recently for the University of Pennsylvania.

 

West Whiteland police and the Chester County District Attorney’s Office are still investigating.

NAS inducts first female president, Professor Braide

 

The Nigerian Academy of Science on Thursday, Jan 28, inducted its first female president, Professor Ekanem Ikpi Braide.

 

Braide, who is the 19th President of the Academy, is the Academy’s first female President in its 44 years of existence.

 

Professor Braide, a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria.

 

In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria.

 

She was nominated by the Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR).

 

She also served as Vice Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as Pioneer Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Lafia, Nigeria (2011 to 2016).

 

She is currently the Pro-Chancellor of Arthur Jarvis University, Akpabuyo, Nigeria.

 

She took over from Professor Mosto Onuoha FAS (Professor of pure and applied geophysics), and will lead the Academy, for the next four years, in achieving an improved quality of life for the Nigerian society through the promotion and application of science and technology; as well as strengthen the nation’s ability to deliver the fruits of science to society by the acquisition, growth, and dissemination of sound scientific knowledge and facilitation of its use in the solution of major national problems.

 

In her acceptance speech, Professor Braide promised to build on the achievements of her predecessor and to ensure that NAS attain its potentials.