Nigerian Newspapers
Another season of strike
Besides the loss of vital part of the academic calendar, incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, analysts opine, portends more implications for the nation’s tertiary institutions
By Olakunle Olafioye
The situation is disturbingly familiar. Once again, university students in Nigeria are wedged between their lecturers who many would accuse of not showing enough concerns for their students for their incessant resort to strikes as a means of pushing their demands and the Federal Government, who ASUU has accused of having penchant for reneging on its agreements. ASUU had on Monday, July 1, 2013 begun a nationwide strike, which according to its National President, Isa Fagge, would be total and indefinite. The union, at the end of its National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting held at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, announced the decision following what it called the failure of government to implement some of the issues contained in a 2009 agreement it had with the union.
ASUU’s grouse against the Federal Government is not a recent development. Indeed, the bone of contention predates the current administration. In June 2009 ASUU had ordered its members in federal and state universities nationwide to proceed on an indefinite strike over disagreements with the Federal Government on an agreement it reached with the union about two and a half years earlier. After three months of strike, in October 2009 the union and other staff unions signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU, with the Federal Government, resulting in the suspension of the strike.
But almost four years after both parties entered in to the agreement the Federal Government, according to the union, has consistently failed to honour its part of the agreement.
“Before now, there has been this issue of the implementation of the key issues contained in the 2009 agreement we entered into with the Federal Government. “We have had several meetings and deliberations to let government understand why these issues must be resolved but it is like the more we meet and deliberate, the messier the issue gets,” Fagge said.
One of the major prongs of the latest ASUU’s agitation is the lecturers’ earned allowances. The allowances, according to the union, take care of the excess workload undertaken by the lecturers, which include supervision of examination by examination officers, deans and supervision of postgraduate, masters and other programmes. While signing the MoU, which culminated in the union’s suspension of its strike in 2011, the Federal Government, ICON learnt, set aside N100 billion for the settlement of the allowance. But no sooner was it signed and the strike called off than it made a volte-face. Citing its inability to pay the amount, Federal Government appealed to the lecturers that the amount be scaled down by 20 percent.
The union, according to Karo Oghenekaro, chairman of the University of Lagos chapter acceded to the demand. Having pruned down the amount by 20 percent, the Federal Government, it was learnt, again failed to honour the agreement. Rather, the government requested for further reduction, this time by 30 percent, thereby making the total reduction 50 percent of the amount initially agreed. But the request was said to have been vehemently rejected by the union.
This 50 per cent, government said, will be a one off payment; that it was from that 50 per cent that we shall take care of everything, including the earned allowance. “This did not go down well with us and so we decided to meet and take the decision we have just taken,” Oghenekaro said. The Federal Government is believed to have made essential laws on some other demands of the union, which include 70 years retirement age of lecturers as well as the pension commission.
ASUU’s decision to embark on the strike shortly after its meeting at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, OOU, Ago-Iwoye attracted the flaks of the National University Commission, NUC, which described the strike as lacking decorum. Professor Julius Okojie, executive secretary of the commission, said NUC was not briefed by ASUU on the outcome of its NEC meeting before declaring the industrial action.
“I’m not aware of any strike. About three weeks ago, there was an offer made to them, they said they were going to their NEC,” Okojie said, adding that ASUU failed to get back to the government to inform the government about its resolutions at the end of the meeting.
Professor Ruqayyat Ahmed Rufai, minister of education echoed Okojie’s view shortly after declaring open the annual meeting of West and Central African Research and Education Network in Abuja. Rufai who said the Federal Government was in talks with the leadership of the union said there was no basis for the strike.
“I don’t have anything to say right now as regard the ASUU strike because we know that they are our colleagues. We discussed and had meetings with them and made an offer as government. We are expecting to hear from ASUU. Up till now, we are yet to hear from them,” she said.
Like some of its previous strikes, the effect of the union’s ongoing work to rule is being felt in virtually all the nation’s universities. Deborah Akintoye, a 200 level student of the University of Lagos, expressed the fear that the exercised might affect the school examination, which according to her, is slated for next month. “I hope they will resolve this problem so that it doesn’t affect our exams,” she lamented.
Tolulope Buraimo, a 200 level Economics student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, FUNAAB, has a similar lamentation. Buraimo who claimed the school has just resumed also hoped the crisis would be resolved in the interest of the students. “This has always been my major fear. I prayed the strike is called off on time,” Buraimo said.
Dr Adebisi Afolabi, a lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Lagos expressed optimism that the crisis would be resolved soon. “I do not see it as a big problem. The government only needs to respond to the demand of the union so that lectures can resume. But for now the situation remains the way it is,” he said.
Academic sessions being interrupted by strikes have been one of the banes of tertiary education in Nigeria, Mercy Ukwu, proprietress of Unique Academy observed. Ukwu opined that not many Nigerian graduates had the luxury of passing through tertiary institutions uninterrupted. And this to her portends serious implications. One of them, according to her, is that since valuable time required for delivering the curriculum is lost to strike, content that should be taught for a considerable period of time would be condensed and taught within a very short of time, which according to her, may not be in the interest of the students.
The poor perception of the Nigerian universities around the world is another by-product of incessant strikes in the country. “In Nigeria, the public is unimpressed with the universities as a result of the frequency of strikes. At the world stage, the situation is not different. There is the usual scorn when Nigerian universities are mentioned. It reminds them of the unstable university calendar due to frequent strikes. This image robs graduates of our universities of international esteem even when their worth has not been proven through employment,” she added.
Another implication of the crisis is in the area of loss of revenue. Ukwu opined that many potential students have shown their preference for tertiary education in neighbouring African countries where they are sure of relatively stable academic calendar. “Their preferences for education in African countries like Ghana, Togo, Benin is not borne out of the superiority of academic programmes in those countries but because of instability of academic calendar in Nigeria.”
A recent report claimed that about 71,000 Nigerian students spend N155 billion annually as tuition fees in foreign tertiary institutions as against the annual budget of N121 billion for all federal universities in Nigeria. Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, who made the startling disclosure, faulted the wisdom behind establishing nine new federal universities when existing ones have not been adequately funded by government. “In other words, the tuition paid by Nigerian students studying in Ghana with a better organised system is more than the annual budget of all federal universities in the country,” Sanusi said adding that, “Nigeria is today placed third on the list of countries with the highest number of students studying overseas.”
Yet there are more to the incessant strikes in Nigerian universities in the opinion of many analysts. The possibility of many idle students going into crime during the interregnum occasioned by strike, analysts claim, is another major source of worry during strike period.
But indication that succour might come the way of the aggrieved university lecturers emerged with the intervention of the National Assembly. The House of Representatives, last Tuesday vowed to probe the strike. Similar indication also came from the Senate. The Senate Committee on Education, ICON learnt, may have scheduled a meeting with the leadership of the academic union.
Such interventions in the past are known to have yielded positive results. But with the stance of the union against further reductions in the earned allowances of the lecturers, only time seems to have an answer to when the impasse will be resolved.
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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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