Nigerian Newspapers
A season of strikes
First, it was the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) strike. Then Primary and Secondary school tachers started their own. Now, it is the turn of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). What is happening in the education sector? Is there a plan to ground the sector? As the teachers insist on fighting for their right, their wards, who feel the pinch, are crying.
For the education sector, it is a season of strikes. First, it was the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) that downed tools nationwide, protesting the failure of the Federal Government to implement its 2009 agreement with the union. The union’s strike paralysed academic activities in many federal and state polytechnics.
Its demands include the non-reconstitution of the governing council of polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of technology; non-release of government white paper on the visitation panels to federal polytechnics; non-commencement of Needs Assessment of polytechnics, among others.
The strike by public primary and secondary school teachers under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) followed in some states to protest the non-implementation of the 27.5 per cent Teachers Peculiar Allowances at the beginning of last month. While some NUT wings have resolved the issue with their state governments, others are still in the trenches fighting to reach an agreement on the payment of the allowances.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) started its own strike last Tuesday. Unlike in the past, it did not embark on any warning strike; it took the public by surprise when it began the strike over the non-implementation of some parts of the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement.
The strike was announced after a meeting at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.
The bone of contention is the failure to pay lecturers some allowances.
These allowances were earned by lecturers while supervising examinations, serving as heads of department, or supervising postgraduate students, or other related activities.
In an interview, Comrade Idaevbor Bello, an ASUU member at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), accused the government of blackmail and refusing to implement the agreement after signing it in 2009. Contrary to the perceived suddenness of the strike, Idaevbor said ASUU had been working behind the scene to get the government to implement the agreement.
“In 2009, the government reached an agreement with the union. It was some sort of blackmail because the government just implemented the monetary aspect of the remuneration and ignored the rest.
“In the university system, people are constantly working round the clock on exams, as heads of department and other roles. For these, they ought to get responsibility allowances, excess workload, postgraduate supervision allowance; clinical supervision and all that.
“Earned allowances are an important component of the agreement that the government simply refused to implement. They started shifting responsibility to the universities, saying they will only pay a part and the university will source for funds to pay the rest. That was even after the union pestered the government to implement it. If they signed the agreement, they should be ready to fund it.
“Since 2009, we have been working round the clock trying to get the government to honour the agreement. Even in 2011 we went briefly but they refused to pay attention to the issues,” he said.
Some other components of the agreement are increased funding to universities; extension of retirement age of professors to 70, better condition of service, among others.
Chairman of the Lagos State University (LASU) chapter of ASUU Dr Adekunle Idris said the union is in total support of the strike because of the non-implementation of the agreement after five years. He added that even after the national strike is off, the local ASUU chapter may continue the strike if the Lagos State government fails to implement the agreement.
“A lot of the items of the 2009 ASUU-Federal Government agreement have not been implemented. The Lagos State government also freely agreed to execute the agreement at a meeting held with the governor and Head of Service (HoD) and ASUU-LASU, and signed by both parties on Friday, December 31, 2010.
“It is unfortunate that up till 2013, government has not implemented this agreement. Part of this agreement is that universities will comply with other Acts that have to do with the running of the universities. There is a major one – the 2012 Universities Miscellaneous Provision Act passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President of Nigeria.
“This Act states that the new retirement age of academics of professorial cadre shall be 70. The Lagos State government has not domesticated this law for LASU. Our academics on professorial cadre who are expected to produce new PhD and other professors have had to retire at age 65. As a matter of fact, the university management started writing some of them ahead of their retirement. A forward-looking management will not write off their best brains. This is frustrating our members and making them feel they are not wanted by the system.”
Other lecturers who spoke on the strike and the non-implementation of various components of the agreement said this time around, it would be a fight to finish.
One of the lecturers from the Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) who did not want to be named said the strike would go on for as long as the government refused to meet their demands.
“There would be no academic activity until the matter is resolved,” he said.
Dr Celestine Aguoru, ASUU Chairman of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi (UAM) also said the Federal Government should implement the agreement it voluntarily signed.
“ASUU has been pushed to the wall and left with no choice than to embark on the strike. ASUU is only trying to arrest the almost falling standard of education in the country. Nigerians should prevail on the Federal Government to save education,” he said.
If it takes one year for the government to implement the agreement, a lecturer in the Department of Geology, Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMINNA), said they were ready to stay out of classrooms, studios, laboratories and workshops. He added that the government’s willingness to allow students sit at home further underscores its insincerity.
“For me, if we will have to stay away for a year let it be. Government is not sincere about our demands and if we do not put our feet down now, I can not see any positive thing from this government. Earlier, the government sent people to appeal to ASUU, we yielded; let them not think we will this time. Our leaders are insensitive.
“I know the students will suffer and our leaders care less about them because if they care, government ought to attend to ASUU and now ASUP has joined. This development speaks volume about our leaders,” he said.
A lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), who pleaded anonymity, said if implemented, the demands would benefit students as well.
“Well, this ASUU strike is not just for our interest but that of the students too; because there has been a memorandum of understanding between Federal Government and us, and the Federal Government approved it. So, why should it relent since 2009? Each time they go for meetings the representatives of the Federal Government would either not come or say they could not do it until when they make it official,” he said.
Lecturers may be insistent on the strike, but many of the students, who are forced to stay away from the classrooms, are not happy about it. Some are worried about the elongation of their courses and the attendant effect on the quality of education; others worry about increased costs of their programmes.
University and polytechnic campuses across the country visted were desolate, and devoid of the usual student activities.
However, some students of the striking universities are luckier than others as their lecturers voted to allow them complete their examinations before embarking on the strike fully. This was the case at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, (ESUT), the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and others.
Kemi Busari, a 400-Level Political Science student of OAU, said they were lucky to be allowed to complete their examinations.
“When we heard about the strike, I felt very bad about it. Though it is affecting my school presently but they allowed us to finish our exams last Friday before joining the strike,” she said.
However, she said this did not take away from the implications of the strike.
“The major implication of this strike to OAU students is that it will give us automatic extra year like some of us that had experienced up to three or four ASUU strikes since we got to campus. So, most of us go home being idle and those that are not idle indulge in criminal activities. So, for ASUU, I think it is high time our lecturers sought better means of bargaining with the Federal Government rather than going on strike,” she said.
Students from other schools such as the University of Calabar, CRUTECH, UAM, Benue State University (BSU), FUTMINNA, Usumanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), Bayero University, Kano, and others were not so lucky. Their examinations have been suspended because of the strike.
Already, students of the Bayero University Kano BUK and their Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil counterparts have all vacated their hostels and headed for their states and homes.
Some of those who spoke said: “We appeal to the Federal Government to address the demands of the teachers/lecturers and save the sector from another crisis.”
Some final year students lamented their fate and the effect of the strike on them. One of them, Zanaib Yan-Mohammed, said: “The strike would surely take its toll on us. We would have started our examination on Monday but the strike has paralysed it.”
At UDUS, examinations for the second semester have been truncated by the strike. Yet, the university only just resumed after an unrest by students caused a month-long closure.
A female student said of the strike: “We are put in bondage of sort, especially we final year students. I am privileged to hear that the hostels will under lock and key. Those students relying on the fact that they could hang around for lack of finance to travel home will have no option than to quit the campus.”
She pleaded to the academic body to, for the sake of their future, call off the strike, “not for the Federal Government’s but for our sake. Its affecting our intellectual abilities and exposing our parents to financial losses.”
Students’ Union Government President of BUK Sani Saidu Ibrahim, a 400-level student of English, said December graduation date was no longer feasible for them.
“We ought to have started writing our final examination in two weeks time but ASUU struck, we are now taken aback, as some of us are due for graduation in December; you can see what ASUU has done to us,” he moaned.
Ibrahim further said about 500 Law students may miss Law School if the strike was not called off.
“About 500 Law students, whose names were shortlisted for Law School, should be writing their exams in two weeks,”he said, adding that “their fate is hanging in the balance if the strike persists.”
Miss Joyce Ugochukwu of Kogi State University, Anyigba, is not finding the strike funny. She told The Nation that it has compounded her education because her poor parents had to borrow to finance her education.
“As I am speaking with you now, I am stranded; I cannot even transport myself back to Anambra State where I come from. Most of my course mates have since gone home. I am at the mercy of God,” she said.
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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: The Nation Newspaper
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•Deploy more personnel as army chief vows to wipe out terror group
•Security beefed up at N’Assembly
Deji Elumoye and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, is under a massive security cordon following threats of attacks by insurgents and the increasing wave of banditry in the contiguous states of Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger States, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.
There has been a wave of kidnappings in the outskirts of the federal capital, notably Pegi, Tuganmaje and Kuje among others, which the police have battled in recent times.
The security situation in and around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was heightened by the pronouncement of the Niger State Governor, Mr. Sani Bello, that Boko Haram fighters who he said sacked 50 villages in the state and hoisted the terror group’s flag, were about two hours drive away from the FCT.
Security has also been beefed up at the National Assembly as operatives, yesterday, thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The deteriorating security situation nationwide prompted the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, to warn that the 2023 general election may not hold, demanding the declaration of a state of emergency as well as the convocation of a national conference.
However, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, yesterday restated the Nigerian Army’s determination to annihilate Boko Haram.
But the Governor of Katsina State, Hon. Bello Masari, cautioned against declaring a state of emergency, saying doing so isn’t the solution to combat the security challenges facing the country.
The security of the nation’s airports was also in focus yesterday as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said there was no threat to them.
THISDAY’s investigations showed increased presence of troops, police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel and intelligence operatives at the three strategic entrances to the city notably, Keffi, Zuba and Gwagwalada.
More checkpoints were also mounted around Gwagwalada and Keffi.
THISDAY also observed increased intelligence deployment at the entrance and the borders of FCT with contiguous states.
Beyond the borders, there were more deployments and police patrols inside the city and increased intelligence deployments as well.
Security sources told THISDAY: “There are deployments here and there but they are routine. Alertness is key to a secure environment.”
It was also learnt that security agencies were involved in frenzied meetings throughout yesterday.
The meetings, coordinated by the office of the Chief of Defence Staff under the new joint operational strategy of the armed forces, were aimed at coordinating a joint response to possible threats of attack to the FCT.
“I understand the security teams have been meeting for some days now and if you look around you, you will notice that there are increasing patrols and numbers of security personnel. The threats are not been taken lightly,” a source said.
National Assembly workers, lawmakers and visitors also had a harrowing experience accessing the legislative complex due to heightened security in the area.
Security operatives thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja, impeding both human and vehicular traffic.
The Sergeant-at-arm of the National Assembly and other security agencies supervised the operations, leading to huge traffic build-up inside the complex.
Legislative staff, visitors and lawmakers were seen patiently waiting for their cars to be searched so that they could go ahead with the business of the day.
Some staff and visitors at some point got tired of waiting and were seen alighting from their cars to trek from the gate to the complex.
Meanwhile, the ONSA has said there is no threat to the nation’s airports.
A statement by the Head of Strategic Communication, Mr. Zachari Usman, said the reports of threats to the airports were an internal correspondence of security threat assessment misconstrued as security threat to the airports.
PDP Demands State of Emergency
In a related development, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, yesterday demanded the declaration of a state of emergency, warning that the 2023 general election might not hold if the federal government failed to tackle insecurity.
He called on the federal government to summon a national conference to address the spike in insecurity.
Secondus added that the national caucus of the party will meet today to discuss the state of the nation.
Addressing members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja, Secondus said: “We are worried Abuja is not even safe. It is no longer politics. We got alert of plots to bomb and burn down our airports.
“We urge the federal government to declare a national state of emergency in security. There is the need to call a national conference to discuss the insecurity in the country.
“There may not be any election in 2023 in Nigeria due to insecurity. This government must listen to the people. The Buhari government should call a national confab to discuss security and state of the nation. It is no longer politics. This time we are not playing politics. Let’s keep politics aside and move the nation forward.”
He said the country had been grounded, regretting that there had been no matching response from the federal government.
Secondus said in the past, terrorism in the North was confined to the North-east, but with the report of Boko Haram occupying villages in Niger State, terrorism had spread to the North-central
“Herdsmen are also menacing in the West; gunmen causing havoc in the East; and the militants in the South; all killing, looting, raping, maiming and burning down homes. The situation is bad; Nigerians all over are living in fear,” he said.
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the problem of Nigeria was outside of the PDP headquarters, while pledging the support of the Senate to the declaration of state of emergency in security.
Abaribe said he deliberately decided not to speak on the floor of the Senate but to allow the APC senators to speak so as to avoid being accused of giving a partisan colouration to the issue of insecurity.
He stated that only electoral reforms would give victory to the opposition party in the 2023 general election and ensure a democratic defeat of the APC-led federal government.
Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, commended the NEC and the PDP leadership for their collective efforts at resolving the House leadership crisis.
The NEC meeting adopted the position of Secondus, calling on the federal government to convoke a national conference to discuss the state of insecurity in the country, according to a communiqué read by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
Army Chief Vows to Wipe Out Boko Haram
The army yesterday reiterated its commitment to wipe out Boko Haram.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, told reporters in Maiduguri, Borno State that Boko Haram had been defeated in many encounters and would continue to be defeated until it’s annihilated from Nigeria.
“We will take on Boko Haram decisively, and we are committed to the focus of the operations, which is the total annihilation of Boko Haram from Nigeria,” he said.
The COAS, who was visiting the headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri for the fifth time since his appointment four months ago, said the visit was to boost the morale of the troops, reassure them and listen to any issues affecting them.
Earlier, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Farouq Yahaya, lauded the visit, which he said had continued to boost the morale of the troops.
“We are honoured, we are grateful, we are encouraged by those visits. You provided us guidance, logistics and other things we required. We are most grateful for those visits,” Yahaya said.
State of Emergency Won’t Solve Security Challenges, Says Masari
Katsina State Governor, Hon. Aminu Masari, has, however, said declaration of a state of emergency won’t solve the security challenges facing the nation.
Masari, who spoke yesterday with journalists after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari at the State House, Abuja stated that he was against the recent call by the House of Representatives for the declaration of a state of emergency in the security sector as it would not solve the problem.
According to him, declaring a state of emergency will not achieve the desired effect as the security structure and personnel to be used to execute the emergency are already overstretched in a bid to safeguard lives and property.
Sourced From: THISDAYLIVE
Tribune Online
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 62 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 165,110. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “55 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria; Lagos-21, Yobe-19, Ogun-6, Akwa Ibom-3, Kaduna-2, Plateau-2, FCT-1, Rivers-1.” YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE COVID-19: Nigeria Recorded […]
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Tribune Online
Sourced From: Tribune Online
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
The people of the South East region have been urged to explore the power of negotiation and mutual settlement in the face of ongoing killings and security challenges in the zone because the east can not afford another war at present.
Stakeholders from the South-East geo-political zone made the remark on Thursday, at the unveiling of the book, “Igbo, 50 years after Biafra,” written by Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Drainage Services, Joe Igbokwe, held at Ikeja G.R.A.
Speaking at the unveiling of the book, the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Cutis Adigba,
urged the people of the South-East to learn to build bridges across the country, so that they can realise their ambition of producing the next president of Nigeria.
Adigba urged leaders from the zone to discourage the move and agitation by some youths in the South East to go to war and secede out of Nigeria.
Also read: Banditry: Disregard viral video, Niger State gov’t urges residents
He said that Igbo have always found it difficult to rule Nigeria because they refused to build bridges across the six geo-political zones that made up Nigeria.
While describing the agitation as uncalled for, Adigba noted that after two decades that Nigeria returned to civil rule, the Igbo has predominantly identified with only one political party.
He maintained that remaining in one party can not advance the cause of the people of South East and cannot make them realise their objective of producing an Igbo man as president.
He maintained that the publisher of the book, Igbokwe played politics outside his state, so that the Igbo race can be integrated with one another race.
Adigba said the failure of the Igbo to reintegrate with other ethnic nationalities politically was responsible for the retrogression of the race in Nigerian politics.
Igbokwe, also addressing guests on the occasion, maintained that the Igbo are not advancing politically because they refused to be integrated into National politics, lamenting that, despite their success in business, they are not successful in playing politics at the national level.
Corroborating Dimgba, Igbokwe noted that there was the need for the Igbo people to stand up and build bridges so that their objective of producing the next president of Nigeria could be realised.
According to him: “I have decided to raise my voice, I hope my people will hear me while trying to quell the effect of the war, our people are spoiling for another war, mayhem is being unleashed in Igbo land, and there is palpable fear.
“Those who could speak have lost their voice, mindful of the consequences of their actions, I am calling on all Igbo leaders to speak up because all actions carry consequences, consequences of the silence will be too dastardly to sustain.
“Those silently supporting the wild wind should be careful or else they hand over to their children,” he said.
Igbokwe urged those spoiling for war to jettison their plan and embrace dialogue, urging them to learn from the South West region that despite the challenges faced after the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election, they did not go to war, and the region had the opportunity of producing two of her sons for presidential position in 1999.
“You have to build bridges to become president of Nigeria, but it is unfortunate the Igbo are burning bridges.”
Speaking at the event, Chief Uche Dimgba who is the coordinator of Igbo in All Progressives Congress, APC in Lagos, described Igbokwe as “a Frank, fearless and reliable leader, who based his views on issues and stand by his opinions, and we the Igbo have confidence in him and believe he can lead us aright.”
“He is a leader we Igbo believe in and we will follow him. If he can serve all the governors produced in Lagos State since 1999, he is a better man to follow because he possesses all the experience that can be of benefit to Igbo both at home and in the diaspora.”
The post Attacks on S’East: We must explore all options of negotiation — Stakeholders urge Igbo appeared first on Vanguard News.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
The government said that no worker should stay back beyond 6:00 p.m. within premises of buildings undergoing construction.
The post Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
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Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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