IT is certain that very little education would be going on in the universities for some time to come. Whenever the strike is off, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, would return to conduct examinations on things its members did not teach, or which the students have forgotten.
Nobody really bothers about these things. In the past 20 years, education at that level has been more an issue of completing the years and not necessarily the curriculum. In many universities abroad, graduates from Nigerian schools (except the private ones that run without interruptions) are subjected to series of degrading tests to determine their suitability for the grades that they parade.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
ASUU has tried various ways to impress it on Nigerians that their wages are miserable. They have finally decided to compare their wages with local government councillors, the lowest rung in the cadre of elected political officers. A councilor reportedly earns N1.29 million monthly, for the professor it is N321, 000. A senator earns N3 million monthly to a vice chancellor’s N1.8 million.
Even ASUU would admit that this line of argument would not get it very far. We agree that the government should pay ASUU its dues. Politicians who have wriggled themselves into power award themselves pays they believe reflect their enterprise. Lecturing is almost risk free, if we discount the occasional activities of cultists. The wages could also be government’s statement on the unimportance of education.
The Federal Government after walking out on the negotiations at the final stages has resorted to familiar subterfuge, including the ridiculous claim that it should not negotiate pay of universities, some of which belong to States.
Nigerians saw the same rigmarole with the primary school teachers last year. It took some nudging for government to grudgingly obey the Constitution. Labour is under the exclusive legislative list of the 1999 Constitution, meaning only the Federal Government can make laws on it.
Second Schedule, Legislative Powers, Part I, Item 34 states, “Labour, including trade unions, industrial relations; conditions, safety and welfare of labour; industrial disputes, prescribing a national minimum wage for the Federation or any part thereof, and industrial arbitrations”, are under the imprimatur of the Federal Government.
Where does the Constitution give the authorities of the various universities the right to negotiate wages? Can States prescribe wages when the Federal Government has to set “a national minimum wage for the Federation or any part thereof”? Has the Federal Government amended the Constitution to award other authorities powers to prescribe wages?
The important thing about this strike is that it has to end. The compromised standards of education are doing lots of damage to this society which government, if it cares about the people should tackle rather than resorting to lies, including ones that flagrantly fly in the face of constitutional provisions.
It is unlikely the young people whose future this strike suspends would be interested in who earns what and who has powers to do nothing.
campusflava
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
REDEEMERS UNIVERSITY
About RUN
We have a vision for a better nation; a Nigeria of frank and candid academicians, dependable and honest artisans, God fearing and faithful pastors, decent and law-abiding citizens, trusworthy and upright youths, caring and compassionate doctors, honourable and truthful politicians, open and sincere business community, courageous and reliable public servants.
We have a vision for a country where judges are just and impartial, soldiers, policemen and women are compassionate and considerate, traditional rulers embody distinction, dignity and decorum, bankers are honest and honourable.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
We have a vision for a future generation of creative, innovative and inventive enterpreneurs. We want to mould a generation of kind, thoughtful and gentle adolescents, who are motivated to build and sustain a better Nigeria where peace, justice fairness and Godliness reign. We are looking forward with optimism and intense anticipation for a Nigeria we can all defend, protect and be proud of. We have a desire and an aspiration for a nation whose trust is in the Lord God Almighty. This is our vision at the Redeemer's University (RUN), where we want to build the future of Nigeria, today.
Because you embody this vision, we are honoured and privileged to have you with us as our core partners, as we RUN with the vision for a better Nation.
We have a vision for a better nation; a Nigeria of frank and candid academicians, dependable and honest artisans, God fearing and faithful pastors, decent and law-abiding citizens, trusworthy and upright youths, caring and compassionate doctors, honourable and truthful politicians, open and sincere business community, courageous and reliable public servants.
We have a vision for a country where judges are just and impartial, soldiers, policemen and women are compassionate and considerate, traditional rulers embody distinction, dignity and decorum, bankers are honest and honourable.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
We have a vision for a future generation of creative, innovative and inventive enterpreneurs. We want to mould a generation of kind, thoughtful and gentle adolescents, who are motivated to build and sustain a better Nigeria where peace, justice fairness and Godliness reign. We are looking forward with optimism and intense anticipation for a Nigeria we can all defend, protect and be proud of. We have a desire and an aspiration for a nation whose trust is in the Lord God Almighty. This is our vision at the Redeemer's University (RUN), where we want to build the future of Nigeria, today.
Because you embody this vision, we are honoured and privileged to have you with us as our core partners, as we RUN with the vision for a better Nation.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
ASUU LATEST-FG told to re-open talks with ASUU
The Federal Government has been told to immediately re-open negotiations with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). According to the Action Congress (AC), this is necessary to end the strike that has paralysed academic activities in public universities for over two months.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
“Calling off negotiations with ASUU is a wrong step. Whatever the provocation, if at all there is any, by the union, the federal government must go the extra mile to keep negotiations going so as to end the strike,’’ AC said in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The party described as sheer insincerity on the part of government its preference for decentralised negotiations between the various chapters of ASUU and their governing councils, because the councils do not have the power or the mandate to make any binding commitments on behalf of the government. In any case, even the commitments entered to by the government itself have not been respected!
It said since the issues that precipitated the strike touch on the very future of Nigeria - which is what the education of our children is all about - the FG must be willing to bend over backwards to meet the demands of ASUU, which are very reasonable.
“This is not just about the emoluments of the lecturers, which of course are very important, but also about the state of our public universities, the decaying infrastructure, the empty libraries and laboratories, the dwindling research work and the autonomy of the institutions, just to mention a few.
“Whatever we may be dreaming of achieving as a nation in 2020 or beyond, such dreams will not come to fruition if we continue to pay scant or no attention to the education of those we like to refer to as the leaders of tomorrow. With the way our public universities are today, it is doubtful if they can produce those that will propel the nation to the top of the ladder,’’ AC said.
The party said no efforts should be spared to put university teachers in a good stead to carry out their academic duties effectively, noting that the responsibility with which the teachers are saddled - moulding tomorrow’s leaders - are too critical to be toyed with.
“It is sad that a country where those saddled with less onerous responsibilities are disproportionately rewarded, teachers are left to hold the short end of the stick. Equally sad is the fact that many students are made to rely on handouts because libraries are empty and books are beyond the reach of many. Little wonder then that many of our graduates are simply unemployable, their degrees totally worthless.
“No responsible government will allow this anomaly to go on for a day longer. Nothing can justify the fact that the affected universities have almost lost a whole semester. Enough is enough,’’ AC said.
It said part of the reasons the strike has been allowed to go on is that many of the nation’s public officials have their children in schools outside the country, or at worst in private universities in the country, hence do not give a hoot if the schools are shut down for a year or more.
“If the children of these same people who are eager to cut off negotiations with ASUU for whatever reasons are in the affected public universities, the strike would have been over by now,’’ AC said
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
“Calling off negotiations with ASUU is a wrong step. Whatever the provocation, if at all there is any, by the union, the federal government must go the extra mile to keep negotiations going so as to end the strike,’’ AC said in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The party described as sheer insincerity on the part of government its preference for decentralised negotiations between the various chapters of ASUU and their governing councils, because the councils do not have the power or the mandate to make any binding commitments on behalf of the government. In any case, even the commitments entered to by the government itself have not been respected!
It said since the issues that precipitated the strike touch on the very future of Nigeria - which is what the education of our children is all about - the FG must be willing to bend over backwards to meet the demands of ASUU, which are very reasonable.
“This is not just about the emoluments of the lecturers, which of course are very important, but also about the state of our public universities, the decaying infrastructure, the empty libraries and laboratories, the dwindling research work and the autonomy of the institutions, just to mention a few.
“Whatever we may be dreaming of achieving as a nation in 2020 or beyond, such dreams will not come to fruition if we continue to pay scant or no attention to the education of those we like to refer to as the leaders of tomorrow. With the way our public universities are today, it is doubtful if they can produce those that will propel the nation to the top of the ladder,’’ AC said.
The party said no efforts should be spared to put university teachers in a good stead to carry out their academic duties effectively, noting that the responsibility with which the teachers are saddled - moulding tomorrow’s leaders - are too critical to be toyed with.
“It is sad that a country where those saddled with less onerous responsibilities are disproportionately rewarded, teachers are left to hold the short end of the stick. Equally sad is the fact that many students are made to rely on handouts because libraries are empty and books are beyond the reach of many. Little wonder then that many of our graduates are simply unemployable, their degrees totally worthless.
“No responsible government will allow this anomaly to go on for a day longer. Nothing can justify the fact that the affected universities have almost lost a whole semester. Enough is enough,’’ AC said.
It said part of the reasons the strike has been allowed to go on is that many of the nation’s public officials have their children in schools outside the country, or at worst in private universities in the country, hence do not give a hoot if the schools are shut down for a year or more.
“If the children of these same people who are eager to cut off negotiations with ASUU for whatever reasons are in the affected public universities, the strike would have been over by now,’’ AC said
Friday, August 28, 2009
Lightening Bolt bursts Beijing blues in Berlin
With his ‘Lightning Bolt’ poses, play acting for the cameras and care free attitude, he delighted fans at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, but Usain Bolt is very serious when it comes to sprinting.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Bolt dominated the World Athletics Championships just as he did at the Beijing Olympics, shattering the world records for the 100m and 200m, while Jamaica won the 4×100m relay to complete his hat trick of gold medals.
Bolt, who regularly pleased the Berlin crowds with his trademark pose, sliced 0.11sec off both his 100m and 200m world record times to be crowned the undisputed sprint king.
But behind the smiles and jokes, Bolt says he came to Berlin to prove Beijing was no fluke and a rare false start in the semi finals of the 100m showed there were a few nerves.
“Last year I was a joker, but I showed people that this was no joke here,” he said.
“I did almost everything the same as I did in Beijing. Winning three gold medals in Berlin is wonderful, I am proud of myself.”
Had security guards not been present, Bolt would have been mobbed by a noisy crowd of adoring fans on his way to the 4×100m press conference.
Bolt’s humour translated well to the Germans and he delighted fans when he had “Ich bin ein Berlino” written on his warm up T-shirt in honour of the championships’ cuddly mascot.
The over-sized bear, who patrolled the sidelines, returned the compliment with a T-Shirt reading: “Ich bin ein Bolt”, but there is room for only one global superstar in athletics.
“For me it is not too hard to do what I did, because I am just trying to be myself and have fun,” Bolt replied when asked if he thinks he is the saviour of a sport which for years has been tarnished by numerous doping revelations.
“I just wanted to come here and show people my personality and they love it,” he added. But having admitted his aim is to eventually be known as a track and field legend, Bolt says only hard earned success will earn him the accolade.
“I am not there yet: year after year, I have to become a champion again and again.” But the smiles and clowning around mask a serious side to Bolt who says he learned the lessons to take his 200m silver from Osaka two years ago and convert it into world championship gold in Berlin.
“When I started out in track and field, I was injured a lot,” he said.”In Osaka I came second and realised my talent, so I sat down with my coach Glen Mills and he explained what I was doing wrong.
“I wasn’t running well off the curve as I wasn’t strong enough, I had problems. “I worked hard on my abdomen and back muscles and did a lot of speed endurance. I have worked on my reactions and my start times are brilliant this year, so I am just getting things right, year after year.
“I am finding out what is wrong and working on it.”His reaction time in the 200m final bears out his hard work he needed just 0.133 of a second to start running compared to 0.179 of his nearest rival.
But while he says there is nothing else he wants to work on, the training will not stop as he looks to future success. “I just want to finish the season injury free, go home and get the vacation, go on the beach and do all the fun things I can’t do now.”
While Bolt admitted it would be “very nice” if Queen Elizabeth ever decided to honour him with a knighthood, the city of Berlin has already honoured him with a giant piece of the Berlin Wall.
The Jamaican, who turned 23 last Friday, was on Sunday presented with an original segment of the Wall weighing nearly three tons by the host city.
The 3.5m high section will be delivered to his training camp in Jamaica and is painted with a life size portrait of him on the Olympic stadium’s blue track and shows his world record of 9.58secs for the 100m and 19.19 for the 200m.
“I will never forget Berlin,” Bolt said at the ceremony. “Ich bin ein Berlino.”
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Bolt dominated the World Athletics Championships just as he did at the Beijing Olympics, shattering the world records for the 100m and 200m, while Jamaica won the 4×100m relay to complete his hat trick of gold medals.
Bolt, who regularly pleased the Berlin crowds with his trademark pose, sliced 0.11sec off both his 100m and 200m world record times to be crowned the undisputed sprint king.
But behind the smiles and jokes, Bolt says he came to Berlin to prove Beijing was no fluke and a rare false start in the semi finals of the 100m showed there were a few nerves.
“Last year I was a joker, but I showed people that this was no joke here,” he said.
“I did almost everything the same as I did in Beijing. Winning three gold medals in Berlin is wonderful, I am proud of myself.”
Had security guards not been present, Bolt would have been mobbed by a noisy crowd of adoring fans on his way to the 4×100m press conference.
Bolt’s humour translated well to the Germans and he delighted fans when he had “Ich bin ein Berlino” written on his warm up T-shirt in honour of the championships’ cuddly mascot.
The over-sized bear, who patrolled the sidelines, returned the compliment with a T-Shirt reading: “Ich bin ein Bolt”, but there is room for only one global superstar in athletics.
“For me it is not too hard to do what I did, because I am just trying to be myself and have fun,” Bolt replied when asked if he thinks he is the saviour of a sport which for years has been tarnished by numerous doping revelations.
“I just wanted to come here and show people my personality and they love it,” he added. But having admitted his aim is to eventually be known as a track and field legend, Bolt says only hard earned success will earn him the accolade.
“I am not there yet: year after year, I have to become a champion again and again.” But the smiles and clowning around mask a serious side to Bolt who says he learned the lessons to take his 200m silver from Osaka two years ago and convert it into world championship gold in Berlin.
“When I started out in track and field, I was injured a lot,” he said.”In Osaka I came second and realised my talent, so I sat down with my coach Glen Mills and he explained what I was doing wrong.
“I wasn’t running well off the curve as I wasn’t strong enough, I had problems. “I worked hard on my abdomen and back muscles and did a lot of speed endurance. I have worked on my reactions and my start times are brilliant this year, so I am just getting things right, year after year.
“I am finding out what is wrong and working on it.”His reaction time in the 200m final bears out his hard work he needed just 0.133 of a second to start running compared to 0.179 of his nearest rival.
But while he says there is nothing else he wants to work on, the training will not stop as he looks to future success. “I just want to finish the season injury free, go home and get the vacation, go on the beach and do all the fun things I can’t do now.”
While Bolt admitted it would be “very nice” if Queen Elizabeth ever decided to honour him with a knighthood, the city of Berlin has already honoured him with a giant piece of the Berlin Wall.
The Jamaican, who turned 23 last Friday, was on Sunday presented with an original segment of the Wall weighing nearly three tons by the host city.
The 3.5m high section will be delivered to his training camp in Jamaica and is painted with a life size portrait of him on the Olympic stadium’s blue track and shows his world record of 9.58secs for the 100m and 19.19 for the 200m.
“I will never forget Berlin,” Bolt said at the ceremony. “Ich bin ein Berlino.”
Monday, August 24, 2009
We’ll sustain ASUU strike until FG signs’
National Association of Academic Technologists [NAAT], sister Union of Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU] has said that unless the Federal Government signs and implements the re-negotiation of 2001 agreement, it will sustains the current nationwide strike.
NAAT in a communiqué signed by its Vice President, Sani Mohammed and General Secretary, Sani Suleiman at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja and made available to Daily Sun at the weekend accused the FG of being responsible for delay in calling off the on-going strike embarked upon by university lecturers.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
The academic technologists also described as “unacceptable” government’s position of directing them to negotiate their requests with the various university governing councils, insisting that the councils do not fund the universities.
“That the FG’s position not to sign the agreement with NAAT because of state universities is not tenable as both Federal and State governments were duly represented at the re-negotiations,” NAAT said.
The Union, however, berated government’s refusal to sign and commence implementation of the 2001 agreement on collective bargaining as contained in International Labour Organization Convention of 46[1984], 91[1950], 154[1981] and 163[1981] respectively.
The Union argued that government’s blunt refusal to respect an agreement earlier reached was a clear case of breach of contract and collective bargaining against the union and called on government to retract its steps.
The technologists NEC maintained that its negotiations was in conformity with section 91 of the Nation’s Labour Act of 1990, stressing that its negotiating team was also in line with the Udoji Commission of 1974, Kalu Anya Commission of 1981 among others.
“The National Association of Academic Technologists remains committed to the education of our children who are the leaders of tomorrow and would not do anything that would jeopardize their future.
“Having considered submissions from NAAT branches nationwide, NEC resolved to sustain the current strike action until government signs and implements the Re-negotiated 2001 agreement,” it stated.
NAAT in a communiqué signed by its Vice President, Sani Mohammed and General Secretary, Sani Suleiman at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja and made available to Daily Sun at the weekend accused the FG of being responsible for delay in calling off the on-going strike embarked upon by university lecturers.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
The academic technologists also described as “unacceptable” government’s position of directing them to negotiate their requests with the various university governing councils, insisting that the councils do not fund the universities.
“That the FG’s position not to sign the agreement with NAAT because of state universities is not tenable as both Federal and State governments were duly represented at the re-negotiations,” NAAT said.
The Union, however, berated government’s refusal to sign and commence implementation of the 2001 agreement on collective bargaining as contained in International Labour Organization Convention of 46[1984], 91[1950], 154[1981] and 163[1981] respectively.
The Union argued that government’s blunt refusal to respect an agreement earlier reached was a clear case of breach of contract and collective bargaining against the union and called on government to retract its steps.
The technologists NEC maintained that its negotiations was in conformity with section 91 of the Nation’s Labour Act of 1990, stressing that its negotiating team was also in line with the Udoji Commission of 1974, Kalu Anya Commission of 1981 among others.
“The National Association of Academic Technologists remains committed to the education of our children who are the leaders of tomorrow and would not do anything that would jeopardize their future.
“Having considered submissions from NAAT branches nationwide, NEC resolved to sustain the current strike action until government signs and implements the Re-negotiated 2001 agreement,” it stated.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
ASUU Strike Threatens Varsities’ Capital Vote
The ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may soon take a heavy toll on capital projects in the 27 federal universities, THISDAY has gathered.
The newspaper learnt that only 30 per cent of the over N9 billion allocated for capital projects in the universities in the current financial year has been spent.
By the end of September 2009, all unspent funds will be returned to the federal treasury, in accordance with the public financial rules introduced by the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Contracts for projects are awarded by the University Senate, comprising mainly of all professors and heads of departments (HoDs) – who are currently on strike.
With another strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), the proposed projects may effectively be unrealisable before the fiscal year for capital projects closes next month.
Concerns are now mounting over how the outstanding 70 per cent will be implemented in the next five weeks before the closure of capital accounts for the fiscal year.
Some of the projects, THISDAY learnt, are infrastructural in nature and are meant to improve the overall conditions of the universities.
“The university system, grossly under-funded over the decades, is in desperate need of cash, and severe consequences await the nation if most of the funds provided for capital development in the 2009 budget are not utilised,” a government official lamented to THISDAY last night.
The strike by university teachers for better conditions of service and improved funding of the education sector is now over two months old, although most of the contentious issues have been resolved.
The Federal Government recently pulled out of negotiation with ASUU, asking the teachers to suspend the strike before it would return to the table.
Efforts to reach the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, were unsuccessful but his Technical Assistant, Prof. Stephen Okecha, confirmed that the retirement age for professors had been increased from 65 to 70 years, “as is the case with Supreme Court justices. Only professors can retire at this age so as to encourage other academics to work hard to reach their professional zenith”.
Also, universities are now more autonomous. Okecha said that their councils now recruit both the academic and non-academic staff, in line with the recently amended act of the National Assembly.
“The vice-chancellors of the University of Maiduguri, University of Nigeria, Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University and Nnamdi Azikiwe University have been appointed solely by the respective councils, with the Federal Ministry of Education merely informed for record purposes,” he stated.
The Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in Anambra State, Prof. Boniface Egboka, said: “The Federal Government made no input whatsoever in my recent appointment.”
The new arrangement makes for greater accountability and transparency, according to a lecturer, Alphonsus Shireku.
“When a vice-chancellor knows he is answerable to the university council, rather than some unseen forces in far-away Abuja, he works hard for the university,” he said, acknowledging ongoing progress at the University of Ibadan.
The 40 per cent increase in the salaries of federal university teachers which will see a professor earn N450,000 per month and a graduate assistant almost N100,000 monthly will take effect from July. Their salaries had also been increased by 15 per cent in 2007.
The Ministries of Education, Finance and Justice as well as the office of the Accountant General of the Federation have worked out the details of the new salary structure captured in the supplementary budget now before the National Assembly.
"I should think the fact that the president and the vice-president as well as both Education Ministers are academics made them escalate this year's Education vote from N210.5 billion to NN224.7 billion, in spite of the global economic meltdown and the profound problems with meeting oil production targets in Nigeria," observed Dr. Ifediora Amobi, Senior Special Assistant to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan on economic matters.
The only outstanding issue is the alleged refusal by the Ministry of Education to endorse an ASUU proposal that it signs an agreement compelling state governments to pay the same enhanced salary to ASUU members in state-owned universities.
ASUU accused the Federal Government of “stifling collective bargaining” for this stance.
But such an agreement will be unconstitutional and a violation of the federalist principle, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and visitor to Lagos State University (LASU), said.
The Education Minister is believed to be working towards charging the ASUU leadership with contempt of court if it fails to call off the strike by August 24 as directed by the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP).
“The charge is part of the strategy to ensure that the over N6 billion yet to be spent on university capital projects is not lost,” a director in the Ministry of Education said.
It is understood that Egwu will in the next few days apply the “no-work, no-pay” policy if the strike continues.
The university authorities will be directed to open attendance registers for lecturers who return to work and provide enough protection for them against ASUU activists who may want to molest them.
The newspaper learnt that only 30 per cent of the over N9 billion allocated for capital projects in the universities in the current financial year has been spent.
By the end of September 2009, all unspent funds will be returned to the federal treasury, in accordance with the public financial rules introduced by the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Contracts for projects are awarded by the University Senate, comprising mainly of all professors and heads of departments (HoDs) – who are currently on strike.
With another strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), the proposed projects may effectively be unrealisable before the fiscal year for capital projects closes next month.
Concerns are now mounting over how the outstanding 70 per cent will be implemented in the next five weeks before the closure of capital accounts for the fiscal year.
Some of the projects, THISDAY learnt, are infrastructural in nature and are meant to improve the overall conditions of the universities.
“The university system, grossly under-funded over the decades, is in desperate need of cash, and severe consequences await the nation if most of the funds provided for capital development in the 2009 budget are not utilised,” a government official lamented to THISDAY last night.
The strike by university teachers for better conditions of service and improved funding of the education sector is now over two months old, although most of the contentious issues have been resolved.
The Federal Government recently pulled out of negotiation with ASUU, asking the teachers to suspend the strike before it would return to the table.
Efforts to reach the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, were unsuccessful but his Technical Assistant, Prof. Stephen Okecha, confirmed that the retirement age for professors had been increased from 65 to 70 years, “as is the case with Supreme Court justices. Only professors can retire at this age so as to encourage other academics to work hard to reach their professional zenith”.
Also, universities are now more autonomous. Okecha said that their councils now recruit both the academic and non-academic staff, in line with the recently amended act of the National Assembly.
“The vice-chancellors of the University of Maiduguri, University of Nigeria, Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University and Nnamdi Azikiwe University have been appointed solely by the respective councils, with the Federal Ministry of Education merely informed for record purposes,” he stated.
The Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in Anambra State, Prof. Boniface Egboka, said: “The Federal Government made no input whatsoever in my recent appointment.”
The new arrangement makes for greater accountability and transparency, according to a lecturer, Alphonsus Shireku.
“When a vice-chancellor knows he is answerable to the university council, rather than some unseen forces in far-away Abuja, he works hard for the university,” he said, acknowledging ongoing progress at the University of Ibadan.
The 40 per cent increase in the salaries of federal university teachers which will see a professor earn N450,000 per month and a graduate assistant almost N100,000 monthly will take effect from July. Their salaries had also been increased by 15 per cent in 2007.
The Ministries of Education, Finance and Justice as well as the office of the Accountant General of the Federation have worked out the details of the new salary structure captured in the supplementary budget now before the National Assembly.
"I should think the fact that the president and the vice-president as well as both Education Ministers are academics made them escalate this year's Education vote from N210.5 billion to NN224.7 billion, in spite of the global economic meltdown and the profound problems with meeting oil production targets in Nigeria," observed Dr. Ifediora Amobi, Senior Special Assistant to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan on economic matters.
The only outstanding issue is the alleged refusal by the Ministry of Education to endorse an ASUU proposal that it signs an agreement compelling state governments to pay the same enhanced salary to ASUU members in state-owned universities.
ASUU accused the Federal Government of “stifling collective bargaining” for this stance.
But such an agreement will be unconstitutional and a violation of the federalist principle, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and visitor to Lagos State University (LASU), said.
The Education Minister is believed to be working towards charging the ASUU leadership with contempt of court if it fails to call off the strike by August 24 as directed by the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP).
“The charge is part of the strategy to ensure that the over N6 billion yet to be spent on university capital projects is not lost,” a director in the Ministry of Education said.
It is understood that Egwu will in the next few days apply the “no-work, no-pay” policy if the strike continues.
The university authorities will be directed to open attendance registers for lecturers who return to work and provide enough protection for them against ASUU activists who may want to molest them.
Monday, August 10, 2009
America pledges aid for African scientists, help fight hunger
CHRONIC poverty and hunger in Africa have come under the searchlight of the continent's women scientists and the United States (U.S.) government.
Under its new response to the twin problems in Africa, the Barack Obama administration is counting on the continent's women farmers/scientists to bail out millions of Africans from poverty and hunger in the region.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
These were some of the decisions taken in Nairobi, Kenya, during a parley between the African women and visiting American officials led by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
And when she arrives in Nigeria tomorrow, Clinton will discuss security matters and how to foster greater transparency and participatory governance in Nigeria with the Federal Government.
The Guardian learnt at the weekend that the idea of giving democratic power to the people in a more demonstrable way enhanced by reliable public institutions would dominate the bilateral talks.
The American-African women forum agreed that the absence of women in decision-making institutions in agriculture in Africa had contributed to the rising rate of poverty and hunger in Africa.
The women scientists under the aegis of African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), who urged African leaders and the U.S. policymakers to put women at the centre of efforts to address chronic hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, argued that it was only when women could exert more influence on public policies and programmes that sub-Saharan Africa could ward off future food crisis, drought and other impacts of climate change.
Besides Mrs. Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, featured in the talks held during their recent visits to research facilities outside Nairobi.
In her response, Vilsack said: "The outstanding achievements of the women of the AWARD initiative serve as a model and inspiration to women farmers all over Africa. As part of President Barack Obama's international initiative to help millions become food secure, a focus on women farmers will be an important and integral part of this effort."
Women account for about 80 per cent of Africa's food production. But their access to land, vital services, such as credits, and improved technologies, is extremely limited. They receive only five per cent of agricultural extension training and 10 per cent of rural credit.
Also, a few agricultural projects are designed to address women's specific needs. Only a quarter of its researchers and development experts are women and only 14 per cent of the management positions in agricultural research and development are female.
In a statement made available to The Guardian in Abuja by the organisers of the event, Sheila Ommeh, a Kenyan scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), said: "Science is crucial to building a pathway out of poverty. Yet, a few young Africans are pursuing careers in agricultural research and science. We need support in expanding that number."
Measures like the American Global Food Security Act of 2009 are a step in the right direction, the group said. But the impact of this initiative would be limited unless it was reinforced by targeted efforts to provide Africa's women farmers with the technical and financial resources to respond to new economic opportunities, the women stated.
"Investing in women is the smart solution to Africa's hunger. It will help ensure that U.S. development resources yield maximum returns in reducing food insecurity and poverty," Kenyan horticulture, Prof. Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, said.
Co-ordinated by the Gender and Diversity Programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), AWARD provides 60 fellowships yearly to boost the female talent pool supporting Africa's farmers, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Diplomatic sources in Abuja confirmed to The Guardian at the weekend that apart from a shared vision of how best to secure Nigeria's prosperity and collective future, the bulk of issues in the envisaged "New U.S.-Nigeria Engagement" presented by the Nigerian delegation to influential groups in the U.S., including the Black Congressional Caucus and the American Centre for International Studies (CSIS) during Obama's inauguration of last January would be appraised.
Responding to The Guardian's inquiry on Clinton's visit in Abuja, American Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Renee Sanders, said: "We do not have that information yet. It's a tour of nations and when we have the timing of her coming to Nigeria, you will be told."
During a press briefing in Abuja, Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, said: "The Secretary of State has called in on phone to say that America is not just working with Nigeria this time around but is going to work more closely with the biggest black nation on earth. And I thought this is very significant for all our efforts in the new time. And with this, we are now going to see multilateralism, a restoration of the shared values of the United Nations (UN), and just as what President Obama represents, which for Nigeria means a triumph of diversity."
Under its new response to the twin problems in Africa, the Barack Obama administration is counting on the continent's women farmers/scientists to bail out millions of Africans from poverty and hunger in the region.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
These were some of the decisions taken in Nairobi, Kenya, during a parley between the African women and visiting American officials led by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
And when she arrives in Nigeria tomorrow, Clinton will discuss security matters and how to foster greater transparency and participatory governance in Nigeria with the Federal Government.
The Guardian learnt at the weekend that the idea of giving democratic power to the people in a more demonstrable way enhanced by reliable public institutions would dominate the bilateral talks.
The American-African women forum agreed that the absence of women in decision-making institutions in agriculture in Africa had contributed to the rising rate of poverty and hunger in Africa.
The women scientists under the aegis of African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), who urged African leaders and the U.S. policymakers to put women at the centre of efforts to address chronic hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, argued that it was only when women could exert more influence on public policies and programmes that sub-Saharan Africa could ward off future food crisis, drought and other impacts of climate change.
Besides Mrs. Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, featured in the talks held during their recent visits to research facilities outside Nairobi.
In her response, Vilsack said: "The outstanding achievements of the women of the AWARD initiative serve as a model and inspiration to women farmers all over Africa. As part of President Barack Obama's international initiative to help millions become food secure, a focus on women farmers will be an important and integral part of this effort."
Women account for about 80 per cent of Africa's food production. But their access to land, vital services, such as credits, and improved technologies, is extremely limited. They receive only five per cent of agricultural extension training and 10 per cent of rural credit.
Also, a few agricultural projects are designed to address women's specific needs. Only a quarter of its researchers and development experts are women and only 14 per cent of the management positions in agricultural research and development are female.
In a statement made available to The Guardian in Abuja by the organisers of the event, Sheila Ommeh, a Kenyan scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), said: "Science is crucial to building a pathway out of poverty. Yet, a few young Africans are pursuing careers in agricultural research and science. We need support in expanding that number."
Measures like the American Global Food Security Act of 2009 are a step in the right direction, the group said. But the impact of this initiative would be limited unless it was reinforced by targeted efforts to provide Africa's women farmers with the technical and financial resources to respond to new economic opportunities, the women stated.
"Investing in women is the smart solution to Africa's hunger. It will help ensure that U.S. development resources yield maximum returns in reducing food insecurity and poverty," Kenyan horticulture, Prof. Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, said.
Co-ordinated by the Gender and Diversity Programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), AWARD provides 60 fellowships yearly to boost the female talent pool supporting Africa's farmers, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Diplomatic sources in Abuja confirmed to The Guardian at the weekend that apart from a shared vision of how best to secure Nigeria's prosperity and collective future, the bulk of issues in the envisaged "New U.S.-Nigeria Engagement" presented by the Nigerian delegation to influential groups in the U.S., including the Black Congressional Caucus and the American Centre for International Studies (CSIS) during Obama's inauguration of last January would be appraised.
Responding to The Guardian's inquiry on Clinton's visit in Abuja, American Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Renee Sanders, said: "We do not have that information yet. It's a tour of nations and when we have the timing of her coming to Nigeria, you will be told."
During a press briefing in Abuja, Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, said: "The Secretary of State has called in on phone to say that America is not just working with Nigeria this time around but is going to work more closely with the biggest black nation on earth. And I thought this is very significant for all our efforts in the new time. And with this, we are now going to see multilateralism, a restoration of the shared values of the United Nations (UN), and just as what President Obama represents, which for Nigeria means a triumph of diversity."
Sunday, August 9, 2009
ASUU’s strikes as a game of musical chairs
YET, why is the central government unwilling to implement genuine fiscal federalism to encourage the constituent parts of the country to develop their resources and deploy them to meet the peculiar needs of the people?
The minister should have carried his line of reasoning to its logical conclusion by demanding (a) that the Federal Government should accept what is vaguely known as resource control and (b) permit university councils to stipulate appropriate tuition fees and accommodation charges in the federal universities. Over the years, the federal government has emasculated the constituent geopolitical configurations that make up Nigeria, and made itself a big Santa Claus to the states.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Thus, it should not complain when the hour of reckoning arrives, since it could as well shed some of its burdens by allowing different parts of the country exploit their human and natural resources and apply them to meet developmental needs. It is simply unrealistic for the government at the centre to greedily corner the bulk of the nation’s resources and then turn around to shirk its responsibility to the states in particular and to Nigerians in general.
Therefore, before the attainment of true federalism there is urgent need to modify the current revenue allocation formula so that more money could accrue to the states. But the most important problem for the federal government is the issue of official corruption and the obscene emoluments of top political office holders, including members of the legislature at the three tiers of government.
On a daily basis, our people are inundated with sordid reports of corruption perpetrated by top government officials. To add insult to injury, high ranking political appointees and legislators award themselves “elephantine salaries” and allowances. Indeed, recently it was reported that about N1.2 trillion are expended annually on slightly over 17,000 political office holders in the country, part which should have been used to improve our universities.
Moreover, the opulent lifestyles of big men and thick madams in government and their families and hangers–on, create the impression that the federal is actually deceiving lecturers when it argues that it does not have adequate resources to meet the demands of ASUU.
If, in truth, the economic meltdown worldwide has adversely affected Nigeria ’s economy, why are members of the executive and legislative arms of government at all levels spending (or rather wasting) money as if they have money– making machines in their bedrooms?
Why the lavish and expensive parties all over the place? Let us face it, Yar’Adua’s government, like all the ones that have emerged since 1970, with the possible exception of the Buhari–Idiagbon regime, is irredeemably corrupt, and has no radical ideas and political will to deal with corruption among “the high and mighty”.
Thus, unless there are visible concerted efforts by government to genuinely fight corruption in high places, unless we began to see frugality and prudence in the lifestyles of our political leaders, we can never accept that government does not have the financial wherewithal to implement agreements it reached with ASUU over the years.
The comments of government officials sometimes do not help in promoting expeditious and quick resolution of the strike problem.
For instance, it was reported that the chairperson of the senate committee on education, Joy Emordi, while commending the federal government for its “understanding in this matter”, stated that “it is unfortunate that the fate of our children is left to hang on the unpatriotic zeal of some individuals”.
In Nigeria , it appears that people lose the sense of decorum in speech when they assume public office either in the executive or the legislature. Power and easy access to a lot of cash make them uncouth and irresponsible in defending government against those they facetiously describe as disgruntled or unpatriotic elements.
Members of the ASUU negotiating team and majority of lecturers may be unpatriotic; but Emordi is not in a position to know this, because she has not investigated the issue properly.
However, I am sure that given the very fat salaries and allowances which members of the National Assembly collect every month, Emordi and her colleagues are in a much better position than most university lecturers, if the failing state called Nigeria collapses under the weight of its leadership–generated anomies, to relocate overseas or send their children to study in better funded and well-organized universities abroad.
Therefore, the logic of the current situation in Nigeria indicates that lecturers are more likely to be patriotic, in the real sense of that word, than senators and other “pigs” in the Animal Farm called Nigeria . In fact, it would be interesting to compare the ratio of children of top government officials in institutions of higher learning abroad with that of lecturers’ children.
I strongly suspect that the former would be higher, since the “pigs” have the financial power to pay tuition fees and other “incidentals” required for university education in foreign institutions. Because top government officials benefit from the skewed emolument system in Nigeria , they do not really appreciate the daunting sacrifices lowly paid Nigerians, including lecturers make daily to keep things going.
If government officials are really serious about the negative impact of the current global economic situation on our fragile economy, why are they still collecting outrageous while at the same time calling for understanding by university teachers?
Why has President Yar’Adua failed to trim down his over–bloated cabinet? Why is Nigeria ’s democracy still among the costliest, if not the costliest, in the world? The fact is that this government is not really serious about the improvement of education at all levels in the country.
If it were, then serious efforts should have been made to drastically reduce the cost of running the system by the “servant–leader”, Yar’Adua, and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
There is no reason, apart from corruption and planlessness, why the federal government should not meet the 26 percent of budgetary allocation recommended by UNESCO for education. In the knowledge – driven world in which we live presently, education is the most important ingredient for national development.
The minister should have carried his line of reasoning to its logical conclusion by demanding (a) that the Federal Government should accept what is vaguely known as resource control and (b) permit university councils to stipulate appropriate tuition fees and accommodation charges in the federal universities. Over the years, the federal government has emasculated the constituent geopolitical configurations that make up Nigeria, and made itself a big Santa Claus to the states.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Thus, it should not complain when the hour of reckoning arrives, since it could as well shed some of its burdens by allowing different parts of the country exploit their human and natural resources and apply them to meet developmental needs. It is simply unrealistic for the government at the centre to greedily corner the bulk of the nation’s resources and then turn around to shirk its responsibility to the states in particular and to Nigerians in general.
Therefore, before the attainment of true federalism there is urgent need to modify the current revenue allocation formula so that more money could accrue to the states. But the most important problem for the federal government is the issue of official corruption and the obscene emoluments of top political office holders, including members of the legislature at the three tiers of government.
On a daily basis, our people are inundated with sordid reports of corruption perpetrated by top government officials. To add insult to injury, high ranking political appointees and legislators award themselves “elephantine salaries” and allowances. Indeed, recently it was reported that about N1.2 trillion are expended annually on slightly over 17,000 political office holders in the country, part which should have been used to improve our universities.
Moreover, the opulent lifestyles of big men and thick madams in government and their families and hangers–on, create the impression that the federal is actually deceiving lecturers when it argues that it does not have adequate resources to meet the demands of ASUU.
If, in truth, the economic meltdown worldwide has adversely affected Nigeria ’s economy, why are members of the executive and legislative arms of government at all levels spending (or rather wasting) money as if they have money– making machines in their bedrooms?
Why the lavish and expensive parties all over the place? Let us face it, Yar’Adua’s government, like all the ones that have emerged since 1970, with the possible exception of the Buhari–Idiagbon regime, is irredeemably corrupt, and has no radical ideas and political will to deal with corruption among “the high and mighty”.
Thus, unless there are visible concerted efforts by government to genuinely fight corruption in high places, unless we began to see frugality and prudence in the lifestyles of our political leaders, we can never accept that government does not have the financial wherewithal to implement agreements it reached with ASUU over the years.
The comments of government officials sometimes do not help in promoting expeditious and quick resolution of the strike problem.
For instance, it was reported that the chairperson of the senate committee on education, Joy Emordi, while commending the federal government for its “understanding in this matter”, stated that “it is unfortunate that the fate of our children is left to hang on the unpatriotic zeal of some individuals”.
In Nigeria , it appears that people lose the sense of decorum in speech when they assume public office either in the executive or the legislature. Power and easy access to a lot of cash make them uncouth and irresponsible in defending government against those they facetiously describe as disgruntled or unpatriotic elements.
Members of the ASUU negotiating team and majority of lecturers may be unpatriotic; but Emordi is not in a position to know this, because she has not investigated the issue properly.
However, I am sure that given the very fat salaries and allowances which members of the National Assembly collect every month, Emordi and her colleagues are in a much better position than most university lecturers, if the failing state called Nigeria collapses under the weight of its leadership–generated anomies, to relocate overseas or send their children to study in better funded and well-organized universities abroad.
Therefore, the logic of the current situation in Nigeria indicates that lecturers are more likely to be patriotic, in the real sense of that word, than senators and other “pigs” in the Animal Farm called Nigeria . In fact, it would be interesting to compare the ratio of children of top government officials in institutions of higher learning abroad with that of lecturers’ children.
I strongly suspect that the former would be higher, since the “pigs” have the financial power to pay tuition fees and other “incidentals” required for university education in foreign institutions. Because top government officials benefit from the skewed emolument system in Nigeria , they do not really appreciate the daunting sacrifices lowly paid Nigerians, including lecturers make daily to keep things going.
If government officials are really serious about the negative impact of the current global economic situation on our fragile economy, why are they still collecting outrageous while at the same time calling for understanding by university teachers?
Why has President Yar’Adua failed to trim down his over–bloated cabinet? Why is Nigeria ’s democracy still among the costliest, if not the costliest, in the world? The fact is that this government is not really serious about the improvement of education at all levels in the country.
If it were, then serious efforts should have been made to drastically reduce the cost of running the system by the “servant–leader”, Yar’Adua, and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
There is no reason, apart from corruption and planlessness, why the federal government should not meet the 26 percent of budgetary allocation recommended by UNESCO for education. In the knowledge – driven world in which we live presently, education is the most important ingredient for national development.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Govt has little regard for university teachers, says Egudu
PRESIDENT of the Nigeria Academy of Letters (NAL), Prof. Romanus Egudu, has identified indiscipline as the root cause of the country's numerous woes. According to the university don, the problems of ineffective leadership, inefficiency in public offices and government-owned establishments, lack of concern for others, deception, hypocrisy, fraud and lawlessness point to only one thing: Indiscipline.
Egudu, who spoke on a wide range of issues in an exclusive interview with The Guardian, as the Academy prepares to hold its annual convocation at the University of Lagos next Thursday, also stated that the Academy had, through its public lectures, addressed the issues of governance, morality and materialism. "Indiscipline is the major cause of the country's inability to provide uninterruptible electricity, and without power and energy, how does one wish away unemployment or wish for a healthy economy, except for the sake of hypocrisy and deceit? He queried.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Asked to rate the Federal Government's budgetary allocation to the Education Sector this year, Egudu was blunt: "It is really not a matter of how one rates the allocation but of the fact that it is characteristically low. The allocation to education is only 7.9 per cent of the total annual budget, as against 26 per cent, which is UNESCO's standard for education. But even more important in our circumstance, is the issue of whether the much allocated will be strictly and judiciously utilized for purely educational purposes. Traditionally speaking, one would say that two major factors of education are the "learner" and the "teacher". It is therefore logical to advise that the allocation be used for providing maximal conducive environment and adequate learning facilities for the learners, as well as just and equitable conditions of service for the teachers.
On the current strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Egudu was unpretentious: "As an academic and Nigerian, I would say that the strike is a moral issue. If, as ASUU has made people understand, there was an agreement between it and the accredited representatives of Government, Government should, in the spirit of justice and fairness, honour that agreement.
"But, if Government has any genuine reason for being unable to honour the agreement, it should, for the sake of respect for human dignity and concern for others, discuss that reason with ASUU. Generally speaking, however, one may say that Government's apparent low rating of the functions and relevance of university teachers in the country is reflected by the abysmally low pay level of these teachers vis-ˆ-vis workers in other public-service establishments and the Civil Service-a phenomenon that is illustrative of the topsy-turvy nature of the society's value system-a system in which the most highly trained and qualified brains are callously rewarded with penury!"
On the contributions of NAL to the country's education sector, Egudu listed several efforts. His words: "The Academy gives Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship Awards to some young lecturers in Nigerian universities. About 10 such lecturers are currently enjoying the award. Furthermore, the Academy is discussing with relevant bodies, the ugly issues of the falling standard of the use of the English language in our education system, and the fate of History as a discipline that is facing extinction in the system. And that is with a view to finding solutions for these problems.
"The entire membership of the Academy is drawn from the academia, for all full professors of not less than five years' standing. Professors in all the disciplines within the Arts/ Humanities are qualified to be members. The Academy provides a forum for continuous interaction among these scholars, which makes for improvement in research and teaching at this level of the education system."
He continued: "The Academy has contributed to and impact on Education, which is listed as the seventh point on the Agenda. And over and above this, the Academy is indispensably relevant to the other six points-power and energy, food security, wealth creation, transport, land reforms, and security. All the points on the Agenda are about development; and, according to Emeritus Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi, a renowned historian and Foundation Fellow of the Academy, in the Academy's early Convocation Lecture, "development is about people."
"While Science and Technology cater for the material needs of man, the Arts/ Humanities of which the Academy consists, will provide the moral and ethical considerations involved in the actualization of the Agenda for the purpose of ensuring that the technical operators of the Agenda cultivate and exercise the virtues of integrity, honesty, judiciousness, and selflessness, and that they eschew the contrary vices of fraud, dishonesty, and hypocrisy. It is the necessary duty of the humanists in the Academy to insist that the operators observe this human and humane principle, in order that the points on the Agenda may yield the desired fruit."
Asked to enumerate the Academy's objectives and role in the country, Egudu's response was swift: "I would say that the objectives culminate in the generation of ideas for the guidance of the leaders and people of this country. And it has been said that ideas rule the world. The Arts/ Humanities are particularly oriented towards the moral/ spiritual, as against the physical dimension of the human being, so that ideas about morality, justice, integrity, ethical behaviour, altruism, which reflect the nature and essence of the Arts/ Humanities as "humane letters", are normally generated by them. These virtues are indispensable for the well-being and development of any nation.
"And one would like to think that Francis Bacon, perhaps, had the Arts/ Humanities particularly in mind when he said: "Abeunt studia in mores" (Studies culminate in manners). All the themes of the Academy's Annual Convocation Lectures since its inception, reflect its consistent concern about high-level morality and ethical standards in public and private life in Nigeria. A few of the themes are "Language and Good Governance", "Is There Not Amongst You A Righteous Man: The Nigerian Factor and the Nigerian Condition", "The Wages of Obsessive Materialism", "Man in Society as Template of Good Governance", and the one for this year's Convocation: "Religion and Morality in Nigeria", which comes up on the 13th of this month of August, 2009, at the University of Lagos."
However, when Egudu was told that the Academy as a body and its activities were not as popular as they should be, and asked to reveal plans to create more awareness about them, he tone squeezed up a little bit. He declared: "The existing activities which include the Annual Public Lectures that take place in different universities all over the country, the Annual Convocation with the Ceremony for Investiture of new Fellows, the production and distribution all over the country of the Academy's publications referred to earlier, interaction with the mass-media such as is taking place between you and me right now, as well as the Academy's plan to organize Academic Conferences from time to time in co-operation with the Learned Societies in the area of the Arts/ Humanities-all these should be enough to make the relevant audience in the society aware of the existence and relevance of the Academy.
"But if the truth must be faced: one has reason to think that in a society permeated by unbridled materialism and anti intellectualism, academic activities cannot gain such popularity as your question implies. Such a society is appropriately represented by that Poundian character who prayed to "Mercury, patron of thieves" to "install (him) in any profession/ Save this damn'd profession of writing/ where one needs one's brains all the time." Such people are not likely to even want to be aware of the existence and relevance of the Academy."
Egudu, who spoke on a wide range of issues in an exclusive interview with The Guardian, as the Academy prepares to hold its annual convocation at the University of Lagos next Thursday, also stated that the Academy had, through its public lectures, addressed the issues of governance, morality and materialism. "Indiscipline is the major cause of the country's inability to provide uninterruptible electricity, and without power and energy, how does one wish away unemployment or wish for a healthy economy, except for the sake of hypocrisy and deceit? He queried.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Asked to rate the Federal Government's budgetary allocation to the Education Sector this year, Egudu was blunt: "It is really not a matter of how one rates the allocation but of the fact that it is characteristically low. The allocation to education is only 7.9 per cent of the total annual budget, as against 26 per cent, which is UNESCO's standard for education. But even more important in our circumstance, is the issue of whether the much allocated will be strictly and judiciously utilized for purely educational purposes. Traditionally speaking, one would say that two major factors of education are the "learner" and the "teacher". It is therefore logical to advise that the allocation be used for providing maximal conducive environment and adequate learning facilities for the learners, as well as just and equitable conditions of service for the teachers.
On the current strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Egudu was unpretentious: "As an academic and Nigerian, I would say that the strike is a moral issue. If, as ASUU has made people understand, there was an agreement between it and the accredited representatives of Government, Government should, in the spirit of justice and fairness, honour that agreement.
"But, if Government has any genuine reason for being unable to honour the agreement, it should, for the sake of respect for human dignity and concern for others, discuss that reason with ASUU. Generally speaking, however, one may say that Government's apparent low rating of the functions and relevance of university teachers in the country is reflected by the abysmally low pay level of these teachers vis-ˆ-vis workers in other public-service establishments and the Civil Service-a phenomenon that is illustrative of the topsy-turvy nature of the society's value system-a system in which the most highly trained and qualified brains are callously rewarded with penury!"
On the contributions of NAL to the country's education sector, Egudu listed several efforts. His words: "The Academy gives Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship Awards to some young lecturers in Nigerian universities. About 10 such lecturers are currently enjoying the award. Furthermore, the Academy is discussing with relevant bodies, the ugly issues of the falling standard of the use of the English language in our education system, and the fate of History as a discipline that is facing extinction in the system. And that is with a view to finding solutions for these problems.
"The entire membership of the Academy is drawn from the academia, for all full professors of not less than five years' standing. Professors in all the disciplines within the Arts/ Humanities are qualified to be members. The Academy provides a forum for continuous interaction among these scholars, which makes for improvement in research and teaching at this level of the education system."
He continued: "The Academy has contributed to and impact on Education, which is listed as the seventh point on the Agenda. And over and above this, the Academy is indispensably relevant to the other six points-power and energy, food security, wealth creation, transport, land reforms, and security. All the points on the Agenda are about development; and, according to Emeritus Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi, a renowned historian and Foundation Fellow of the Academy, in the Academy's early Convocation Lecture, "development is about people."
"While Science and Technology cater for the material needs of man, the Arts/ Humanities of which the Academy consists, will provide the moral and ethical considerations involved in the actualization of the Agenda for the purpose of ensuring that the technical operators of the Agenda cultivate and exercise the virtues of integrity, honesty, judiciousness, and selflessness, and that they eschew the contrary vices of fraud, dishonesty, and hypocrisy. It is the necessary duty of the humanists in the Academy to insist that the operators observe this human and humane principle, in order that the points on the Agenda may yield the desired fruit."
Asked to enumerate the Academy's objectives and role in the country, Egudu's response was swift: "I would say that the objectives culminate in the generation of ideas for the guidance of the leaders and people of this country. And it has been said that ideas rule the world. The Arts/ Humanities are particularly oriented towards the moral/ spiritual, as against the physical dimension of the human being, so that ideas about morality, justice, integrity, ethical behaviour, altruism, which reflect the nature and essence of the Arts/ Humanities as "humane letters", are normally generated by them. These virtues are indispensable for the well-being and development of any nation.
"And one would like to think that Francis Bacon, perhaps, had the Arts/ Humanities particularly in mind when he said: "Abeunt studia in mores" (Studies culminate in manners). All the themes of the Academy's Annual Convocation Lectures since its inception, reflect its consistent concern about high-level morality and ethical standards in public and private life in Nigeria. A few of the themes are "Language and Good Governance", "Is There Not Amongst You A Righteous Man: The Nigerian Factor and the Nigerian Condition", "The Wages of Obsessive Materialism", "Man in Society as Template of Good Governance", and the one for this year's Convocation: "Religion and Morality in Nigeria", which comes up on the 13th of this month of August, 2009, at the University of Lagos."
However, when Egudu was told that the Academy as a body and its activities were not as popular as they should be, and asked to reveal plans to create more awareness about them, he tone squeezed up a little bit. He declared: "The existing activities which include the Annual Public Lectures that take place in different universities all over the country, the Annual Convocation with the Ceremony for Investiture of new Fellows, the production and distribution all over the country of the Academy's publications referred to earlier, interaction with the mass-media such as is taking place between you and me right now, as well as the Academy's plan to organize Academic Conferences from time to time in co-operation with the Learned Societies in the area of the Arts/ Humanities-all these should be enough to make the relevant audience in the society aware of the existence and relevance of the Academy.
"But if the truth must be faced: one has reason to think that in a society permeated by unbridled materialism and anti intellectualism, academic activities cannot gain such popularity as your question implies. Such a society is appropriately represented by that Poundian character who prayed to "Mercury, patron of thieves" to "install (him) in any profession/ Save this damn'd profession of writing/ where one needs one's brains all the time." Such people are not likely to even want to be aware of the existence and relevance of the Academy."
9 Nigerians Get £35,000 Scholarship
Preparation for Life (PFL) Nigeria, a UK- based career counseling firm has awarded scholarship worth 35,000 Pounds to nine Nigerian students to pursue postgraduate programmes in various universities in the United Kingdom.
The firm also opened another branch of its Nigerian operations at Eric Moore Close, a highbrow area of Surulere, Lagos. This is in addition to its existing offices in Abuja, Ibadan , Port-Harcourt , Victoria Island and Ikeja.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
The nine recipients were selected out of the 24 people that applied for the offer through a draw carried out by guest at the weekend in Lagos. A breakdown of the scholarship fund shows that Miss Michelle Iyalla-Harry received 10,000 pounds, Ayodeji Adelegan, Linda Eseoghene Efetie and Ikenna Ochei received 5,000 pounds each, while five others shared 10,000 pounds.
Presenting the awards, Chairman of the company, Mr. Lawrie Green emphasised the importance of quality education, particularly in these days of global recession. “Education has never been more important, as more and more employers tighten their belts; many are reducing the numbers of staff they are employing. Only those with top quality education and skills behind them can expect to be competitive in today's employment market. So I would urge you and your loved ones to be making your investment for life right now.”
He added that his organisation was committed to assisting students who have excelled in their academics and also give back to the system it was working with. “PFL is demonstrating its commitment to excellent students coming out of Nigeria by putting back into the system and help students who are exceptional. We believe this scholarship will go a long way in assisting the selected students with their education in UK ”, he said
Green noted that his organisation does not intend to contribute to the problems of brain drain, but to encourage students to come back and contribute to the upbringing of their country.
Regional Director, Africa , Mrs. Femi Sangowawa said the organisation offers services such as visa and interview guidance; a comprehensive range of advice on studying in the UK; admission as well as scholarship opportunities in UK universities.
The Human Resources Manager, Mrs. Yinka Yomi-Edun said its expansion to the Lagos Mainland through the new branch in Surulere would further avail its numerous clients of the company's services, which is a sure way to acquire university education in the UK. “Our personnel and first class facilities in the new branch will ensure that we deliver quality services that we are known for.”
While commending the organisation for the initiative, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Sarah Adebisi Sosan said it was assisting the government in educating the students by offering them scholarships that would enable them become good citizens.
Sosan who was represented by the Director of Higher Education in the Ministry, Mrs. Abimbola Awoyinfa said, “we are aware of the civil disturbances going on in some parts of the country where unemployed youths are burning down properties, PFL is not living everything to the hands of government alone, but helping to educate the students.”
The new office was commissioned shortly after the award ceremony by Green, assisted by the company's Regional Director, Africa, Mrs. Femi Sangowawa, Country Manager Mr. Godson Ideozu, and the Regional Manager Nigeria Mrs. Bukky Awofisayo.
By Uchechukwu Nnaike and Funmi Ogundare
The firm also opened another branch of its Nigerian operations at Eric Moore Close, a highbrow area of Surulere, Lagos. This is in addition to its existing offices in Abuja, Ibadan , Port-Harcourt , Victoria Island and Ikeja.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
The nine recipients were selected out of the 24 people that applied for the offer through a draw carried out by guest at the weekend in Lagos. A breakdown of the scholarship fund shows that Miss Michelle Iyalla-Harry received 10,000 pounds, Ayodeji Adelegan, Linda Eseoghene Efetie and Ikenna Ochei received 5,000 pounds each, while five others shared 10,000 pounds.
Presenting the awards, Chairman of the company, Mr. Lawrie Green emphasised the importance of quality education, particularly in these days of global recession. “Education has never been more important, as more and more employers tighten their belts; many are reducing the numbers of staff they are employing. Only those with top quality education and skills behind them can expect to be competitive in today's employment market. So I would urge you and your loved ones to be making your investment for life right now.”
He added that his organisation was committed to assisting students who have excelled in their academics and also give back to the system it was working with. “PFL is demonstrating its commitment to excellent students coming out of Nigeria by putting back into the system and help students who are exceptional. We believe this scholarship will go a long way in assisting the selected students with their education in UK ”, he said
Green noted that his organisation does not intend to contribute to the problems of brain drain, but to encourage students to come back and contribute to the upbringing of their country.
Regional Director, Africa , Mrs. Femi Sangowawa said the organisation offers services such as visa and interview guidance; a comprehensive range of advice on studying in the UK; admission as well as scholarship opportunities in UK universities.
The Human Resources Manager, Mrs. Yinka Yomi-Edun said its expansion to the Lagos Mainland through the new branch in Surulere would further avail its numerous clients of the company's services, which is a sure way to acquire university education in the UK. “Our personnel and first class facilities in the new branch will ensure that we deliver quality services that we are known for.”
While commending the organisation for the initiative, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Sarah Adebisi Sosan said it was assisting the government in educating the students by offering them scholarships that would enable them become good citizens.
Sosan who was represented by the Director of Higher Education in the Ministry, Mrs. Abimbola Awoyinfa said, “we are aware of the civil disturbances going on in some parts of the country where unemployed youths are burning down properties, PFL is not living everything to the hands of government alone, but helping to educate the students.”
The new office was commissioned shortly after the award ceremony by Green, assisted by the company's Regional Director, Africa, Mrs. Femi Sangowawa, Country Manager Mr. Godson Ideozu, and the Regional Manager Nigeria Mrs. Bukky Awofisayo.
By Uchechukwu Nnaike and Funmi Ogundare
Thursday, August 6, 2009
‘Our leaders lack a sense of direction’
Professor Idowu Sobowale, former Commissioner for Education in Lagos State has said that Nigeria does not have the infrastructure for the kind of education that can make it compete globally.
In an interview with Daily Sun recently, Professor Sobowale who was a former lecturer in the Department of Mass Communications, University of Lagos lamented that education at all levels in the country is not properly funded.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
He said: “When you have a class of a thousand plus, people are sitting on widows to receive lectures, many people are outside, they don’t even hear what is going on in the class, yet at the end of the semester, are expected to pass...”
He also spoke on the ongoing ASUU strike and why government should adequately fund education.
State of education
The present state of education in Nigeria is a very sad one. God has given us every thing on a platter but we have not utilized those resources to the benefit of our people, rather, our leaders have interest in amassing wealth far in excess of what they and their generation even to the fourth level can use.
Those that are stealing billions and billions, how much of it can they spend, how many people can sleep in two houses at the same time, even in two rooms in one house at the same time, even in two bed in one room at the same time, even the bed you can only occupy a section of it at a given point in time. What is that for?
Most of us who even trained abroad, we see how things are. We see efficiency at its best but the moment we get back here, it is a different thing all together. If it is a curse, I am optimistic that some day the situation will change, God will bring those who will change the situation because I really do not know how to describe our plight.
Poor rating of education
I would say education has not been properly funded at any level, we do not even have the infrastructure: When you have a class of a thousand plus, people are sitting on windows to receive lectures, many people are outside, they do not even hear what is going on in the class and yet at the of the semester they are expected to pass and you are telling me that such product will be the type that will be able to face the challenges of development, no sir, no sir.
Time was in this country when if you went to any university in Nigeria if you get abroad, your certificate will be highly respected.When I went to the US, my certificate was highly respected and many of the things that I did at my undergraduate level were just an advance when I got to the U S. Now, you own a certificate from Nigeria and you want to use it any where, they will have to re-examine you. I do not know if Nigeria is among the first one hundred with our resources, with our exposure, with the number of years of being independent ah ah, that is not good enough.
ASUU’s strike
I am a teacher, I am a parent, the strike like any other one before has put me in a dilemma but I think the time has come for every body to do what is needful in order to get this country moving. Tell me what you can do without education in the twenty first century, virtually nothing. And do we have the infrastructure for the kind of education that can make Nigerian compete favorably with their counterparts else where in the world? My answer is as good as yours. So we need to pay serious attention to education at the primary level, we need to pay attention to education at the secondary level; we need to pay serious attention to education at the tertiary level. Let us resolve the issue once and for all so that when schools resume in the next ten, twenty years, nobody will be thinking of closing or what ever. I do not know any Nigeria university other than the private ones that can boast of a steady calendar, I mean no Nigerian Student can boast of when he/she will pass out. That is not good, that’s not reasonable, that is not desirable, that’s does not make sense that it does not make for growth and development.
How did we get to this bad state
Honestly I wish I knew, I will probably be in a better position to proffer solutions but I think basically greed, ethnicity or tribalism, lack of patriotism, and principally indiscipline are the problems we have and they have militated against our growth and development. In the energy sector for instance, any little money one has will be spent on diesel or petrol to power your generator. As generally known, generators are meant to be stand by but the reverse is case.
It is the PHCN that is the stand by in this area we will be lucky that you have light for two, three hours consecutively usually an hour, one and the half may be two hours and that is it in a whole day. Whereas for about six going to seven years now, Ghana celebrated ten years of uninterrupted power supply. Ghana does not have one tenth of the resources that Nigeria is blessed with. What is our problem? And we are talking about education, we are talking about the Millennium Development Goals or vision 2020, well it will be a mirage until we have people in government who are really dedicated and committed to the improvement of the situation of Nigeria.
For as long as we have people who will not be honest, who will not be committed, who are not disciplined to know that they should not do certain things that they indulge in, people who will only think of themselves and their immediate relations, then we are going know where. For instance, it is not as if our leaders do not know what to do to give us uninterrupted power supply but who will do it? Are they not the same people who will import generators? It amounts to cutting one’s nose to spite his face. We know our problems and if we are sincere, we know how to tackle them.
The way forward
By the time our problems will be turned around for the better, it will be like a miracle. For instance, we know what we should do, but why is it so difficult to do? Simple election we cannot conduct, census we cannot conduct, education we cannot fund. Look at our roads, so bad. If you go from here to Ibadan, Ijebu, Abeokuta anywhere then you will really be sorry for your vehicle. What are we talking about?
There are countries that are far less endowed than we are that are proud of solid roads. Take Swaziland in southern Africa, for instance, it is a very tiny country of 1.7 million, sugarcane is the only thing they have and maybe corn but they have good network of roads, their electricity does not fail, water flows regularly. Last year, when we were there, they had a pipe burst and it was going to take a few days to fix the thing for one week they were advertising apologies in their two newspapers for people that were affected assuring that they were working. They gave a time but before that deadline, they have to inform the people.
I mean we can do the same thing here, we can even do far better. We have people who have the competence, who have knowledge, who have every thing but when comes to doing the right thing here it become a different story. It is the same Nigerians that are making waves in developed countries in their critical sector, you find Nigerians there contributing to the growth of development of those nations but when they come here, even for those who are genuinely motivated, the resources are not there.
Well I have stated this several times, government must rededicate itself to education funding, aside that, government will have to scale down activities in other sectors in order to give education a serious boost unless that happens, we can not achieve vision 2020.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
ASUU/FG Re-negotiating Team Adjourns
The resumed re-negotiation between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government adjourned yesterday to reconvene on Thursday morning.
Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, who briefed the Minister of Education, Dr Sam Egwu , yesterday, along with the Chairmen of the Federal Government�s negotiating teams with the academic staff unions of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education disclosed this.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
�We made significant progress today to the extent that the Federal Government�s offer has been presented to the union and we hope to have appropriate response from them by Friday, � he said.
Chairman of ASUU/FG re-negotiating team, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, said �at the resumed negotiation yesterday, I think the most important single issue that had bothered (ASUU) was what they thought was Federal Government�s repudiation of the principle of collective bargaining. By the time we concluded the meeting, we had, I think, successfully explained that government did not repudiate the principle or the process of collective bargaining. But rather, its position, which, admittedly, was stated outside the negotiation, was that the collective bargaining should be continued and concluded at a different level, the individual university level. That is the employer- employee level. The employers of ASUU are strictly the council.�They did not find this amusing. Because, they feel, if government thought it should be concluded at a different level, it should have started at that level.
In the mean time, the law under which federal universities operate has since been reviewed, reference to the miscellaneous provisions amendment act of 2003, which was gazzeted in 2007.
"At the time the negotiation re-started, university councils did not have the kind of autonomy they now enjoy under the law. In law, the employers of academic and non academic staff are university council. That was the reason why the Federal Government said the negotiation which started in December 2006 should be concluded at the university level. The question that needs to be disposed of is, yes, the law has changed but should it change a process that was almost completed or should it just be noted so that it can apply to future negotiations?
"We hope we can find a definitive response from government. But I think the compromise which they seem to be seeking is that the current process of collective bargaining at the level at which it was started, at the national level, should be allowed to be concluded, provided the agreement makes it clear that in future, negotiations of that sort, collective bargaining would be at the strictly employer � employee level.�We have set up a committee made up of representatives from both sides, to look into the provisional draft agreement to see what adjustments need to be made to make it acceptable to the federal government. We have adjourned till Thursday morning in the hope that between now and tomorrow (Wednesday) night, we might have some development along those lines�, Onosode concluded."When contacted, ASUU President, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, referred the reporter to Onosode as the chair of the negotiation. �The discussions are not for daily reporting in the papers. All that we want is a quick resolution of the matter so that children can go back to school, � he said.
Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, who briefed the Minister of Education, Dr Sam Egwu , yesterday, along with the Chairmen of the Federal Government�s negotiating teams with the academic staff unions of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education disclosed this.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
�We made significant progress today to the extent that the Federal Government�s offer has been presented to the union and we hope to have appropriate response from them by Friday, � he said.
Chairman of ASUU/FG re-negotiating team, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, said �at the resumed negotiation yesterday, I think the most important single issue that had bothered (ASUU) was what they thought was Federal Government�s repudiation of the principle of collective bargaining. By the time we concluded the meeting, we had, I think, successfully explained that government did not repudiate the principle or the process of collective bargaining. But rather, its position, which, admittedly, was stated outside the negotiation, was that the collective bargaining should be continued and concluded at a different level, the individual university level. That is the employer- employee level. The employers of ASUU are strictly the council.�They did not find this amusing. Because, they feel, if government thought it should be concluded at a different level, it should have started at that level.
In the mean time, the law under which federal universities operate has since been reviewed, reference to the miscellaneous provisions amendment act of 2003, which was gazzeted in 2007.
"At the time the negotiation re-started, university councils did not have the kind of autonomy they now enjoy under the law. In law, the employers of academic and non academic staff are university council. That was the reason why the Federal Government said the negotiation which started in December 2006 should be concluded at the university level. The question that needs to be disposed of is, yes, the law has changed but should it change a process that was almost completed or should it just be noted so that it can apply to future negotiations?
"We hope we can find a definitive response from government. But I think the compromise which they seem to be seeking is that the current process of collective bargaining at the level at which it was started, at the national level, should be allowed to be concluded, provided the agreement makes it clear that in future, negotiations of that sort, collective bargaining would be at the strictly employer � employee level.�We have set up a committee made up of representatives from both sides, to look into the provisional draft agreement to see what adjustments need to be made to make it acceptable to the federal government. We have adjourned till Thursday morning in the hope that between now and tomorrow (Wednesday) night, we might have some development along those lines�, Onosode concluded."When contacted, ASUU President, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, referred the reporter to Onosode as the chair of the negotiation. �The discussions are not for daily reporting in the papers. All that we want is a quick resolution of the matter so that children can go back to school, � he said.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Lecturers’ New Pay to Gulp Extra N20bn
The current wage bill of a total of 108,336 academic and non-academic staff of federal tertiary institutions in the country is N105,759,117,709 per annum.
Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday gave the breakdown as follows: universities, with a staff population of 74,652 have a total bill of N70,238,273, 666; polytechnics have 19,052 staff with a wage bill of N19,470,041,306; while colleges of education have a staff strength of 14,632 and a wage bill of N16,050,802,737.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Egwu, who briefed the press on the ongoing impasse between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government said: “As a result of consultations, government has offered, through the various councils of federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, 40 per cent increase for academic staff and 20 per cent for non-academic staff.
“The overall implication of the increased salary package for all the federal tertiary institutions is an additional N20,662,216,956.00 with an effective date of July 2009.”
According to him, “government’s offer with regards to the entire re-negotiated package is hinged upon the fact that there must be unqualified commitment on the part of the staff unions and that in the pursuit of their avowed goals, they will respect the sanctity of the regular university academic calendar, which all must strive to return to and maintain.”
Not only that, he added: “ASUU should commit itself to the primacy of dialogue and due process over and above those tactics which undermine and disrupt good order in the conduct of university business.”
The minister said another round of negotiations begin on Monday, following the directive by the Vice-President.
ASUU President, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, confirmed this on telephone, adding that the negotiations are to be concluded within two weeks.
On the unresolved issue of signing the provisional draft agreement, the minister reiterated that the Federal Government could only go into an agreement with its own federal institutions.
“As you are aware, ASUU is currently composed of staff from state and federal universities. Any agreement entered into with state institutions is illegal as FGN cannot commit any state government since education is in the concurrent list in the constitution,” he said.
He then appealed to the general public to appreciate government’s effort at addressing the challenges within the sector, adding that despite the ongoing crisis, government’s doors remained open to dialogue.
He also appealed to all unions on strike to return to work and allow Nigerian children who have become the victims of the crises to go back to school.
By Bukola Olatunji
Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday gave the breakdown as follows: universities, with a staff population of 74,652 have a total bill of N70,238,273, 666; polytechnics have 19,052 staff with a wage bill of N19,470,041,306; while colleges of education have a staff strength of 14,632 and a wage bill of N16,050,802,737.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
Egwu, who briefed the press on the ongoing impasse between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government said: “As a result of consultations, government has offered, through the various councils of federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, 40 per cent increase for academic staff and 20 per cent for non-academic staff.
“The overall implication of the increased salary package for all the federal tertiary institutions is an additional N20,662,216,956.00 with an effective date of July 2009.”
According to him, “government’s offer with regards to the entire re-negotiated package is hinged upon the fact that there must be unqualified commitment on the part of the staff unions and that in the pursuit of their avowed goals, they will respect the sanctity of the regular university academic calendar, which all must strive to return to and maintain.”
Not only that, he added: “ASUU should commit itself to the primacy of dialogue and due process over and above those tactics which undermine and disrupt good order in the conduct of university business.”
The minister said another round of negotiations begin on Monday, following the directive by the Vice-President.
ASUU President, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, confirmed this on telephone, adding that the negotiations are to be concluded within two weeks.
On the unresolved issue of signing the provisional draft agreement, the minister reiterated that the Federal Government could only go into an agreement with its own federal institutions.
“As you are aware, ASUU is currently composed of staff from state and federal universities. Any agreement entered into with state institutions is illegal as FGN cannot commit any state government since education is in the concurrent list in the constitution,” he said.
He then appealed to the general public to appreciate government’s effort at addressing the challenges within the sector, adding that despite the ongoing crisis, government’s doors remained open to dialogue.
He also appealed to all unions on strike to return to work and allow Nigerian children who have become the victims of the crises to go back to school.
By Bukola Olatunji
University of Ibadan.
The University of Ibadan is the oldest Nigerian university, and is located five miles (8 kilometres) from the centre of the major city of Ibadan in Western Nigeria. It has over 12,000 students.
The University was founded on its own site on 17 November 1948. The site of the University was leased to the colonial authorities by Ibadan Chiefs for 999 years. The first students began courses in January of that year. Arthur Creech Jones, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, inaugurated the new educational institution. The University was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London, then it was called the University College, Ibadan. Some of the original buildings were designed by the English modernist architects Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew. A 500-bed teaching hospital was added in 1957. The University of Ibadan became an independent university in 1962.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
In late 1963, on the University playing fields, with the celebration marked by talking drums, the Rt. Hon. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, first Prime Minister of independent Nigeria, became the first Chancellor of its independent University. The first Nigerian vice chancellor of the university was professor Kenneth Dike, after whom University of Ibadan's library is named.
Besides the College of Medicine, there are now ten other faculties: Arts, Science, Agriculture and Forestry, Social Sciences, Education, Veterinary Medicine, Technology, Law, Public Health and Dentistry.
The University has residential and sports facilities for staff and students on Campus, as well as separate botanical and zoological gardens.
University of Ibadan boasts among its former students several eminent scholars, including Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart; Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature; Odia Ofeimun (a popular Nigerian poet); Jacob Ade Ajayi (one of Africa's foremost historians); Paul Iyogun (Distinguished Operations Management Professor), Abiola Irele and the writer Kole Omotosho. Its faculty also includes the renowned Nigerian poet and folksinger Niyi Osundare, who is Professor of English there. It remains a major pioneer in the development of research south of the Sahara.
Administration
The underlisted are some of the principal members of the University administration:
People Title Position
Dr. Wole Olanipekun (SAN) Pro-Chancellor
Professor Olufemi Bamiro Vice-Chancellor
Professor Elijah Bamgboye Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration)
Professor Adigun A.B. Agbaje Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics)
Professor Eyiwumi A. Falaye Dean of Students
Mrs. Omotayo O. Ikotun Registrar
Mr J. A. Bankole Bursar
Dr. Benedict A. Oladele Librarian
Faculties
Agriculture and Forestry
Arts
Basic Medical Sciences
Clinical Sciences
Dentistry
Education
Law
Pharmacy
Public Health
Science
The Social Sciences
Technology
Veterinary Medicine
Units
The Registry
Careers Placement and Counselling Unit
Foreign Students Unit
The Sports Council
The Library
The Computing Centre
The Press
The Bookshop
The Botanical Garden
The Zoological Garden
University Media Centre, which houses the campus radio station, DIAMOND 101.1 FM.
The Abadina Media Resource Centre
Advancement Centre
The University Health Services
Halls of residence
The University is primarily residential with Halls of residence for both male & Female students. There is also provision for accommodation of post-graduate students, the halls are listed below:
Tedder Hall ---- (Male, Undergraduate)
Queen Elizabeth II Hall ---- (Female, Undergraduate)
Mellanby Hall ---- (Male, Undergraduate)
Sultan Bello Hall ---- (Male, Undergraduate)
Kuti hall ----- (Male, Undergraduate)
Queen Idia Hall ----- (Female, Undergraduate)
Obafemi Awolowo Hall ----- (Mixed, Undergraduate & Postgraduate)
Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall ----- (Male, Undergraduate)
Independence Hall ----- (Male, Undergraduate)
Tafawa Balewa Hall ----- (Mixed, Postgraduate)
Alexander Brown Hall ----- (Mixed, clinical medical, dental & physiotherapy students)
Notable Alumni
Amongst the alumni of the University of Ibadan and other institutions that fall under that banner are:
John Pepper Clark
Wole Soyinka
Chinua Achebe
The University was founded on its own site on 17 November 1948. The site of the University was leased to the colonial authorities by Ibadan Chiefs for 999 years. The first students began courses in January of that year. Arthur Creech Jones, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, inaugurated the new educational institution. The University was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London, then it was called the University College, Ibadan. Some of the original buildings were designed by the English modernist architects Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew. A 500-bed teaching hospital was added in 1957. The University of Ibadan became an independent university in 1962.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
In late 1963, on the University playing fields, with the celebration marked by talking drums, the Rt. Hon. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, first Prime Minister of independent Nigeria, became the first Chancellor of its independent University. The first Nigerian vice chancellor of the university was professor Kenneth Dike, after whom University of Ibadan's library is named.
Besides the College of Medicine, there are now ten other faculties: Arts, Science, Agriculture and Forestry, Social Sciences, Education, Veterinary Medicine, Technology, Law, Public Health and Dentistry.
The University has residential and sports facilities for staff and students on Campus, as well as separate botanical and zoological gardens.
University of Ibadan boasts among its former students several eminent scholars, including Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart; Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature; Odia Ofeimun (a popular Nigerian poet); Jacob Ade Ajayi (one of Africa's foremost historians); Paul Iyogun (Distinguished Operations Management Professor), Abiola Irele and the writer Kole Omotosho. Its faculty also includes the renowned Nigerian poet and folksinger Niyi Osundare, who is Professor of English there. It remains a major pioneer in the development of research south of the Sahara.
Administration
The underlisted are some of the principal members of the University administration:
People Title Position
Dr. Wole Olanipekun (SAN) Pro-Chancellor
Professor Olufemi Bamiro Vice-Chancellor
Professor Elijah Bamgboye Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration)
Professor Adigun A.B. Agbaje Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics)
Professor Eyiwumi A. Falaye Dean of Students
Mrs. Omotayo O. Ikotun Registrar
Mr J. A. Bankole Bursar
Dr. Benedict A. Oladele Librarian
Faculties
Agriculture and Forestry
Arts
Basic Medical Sciences
Clinical Sciences
Dentistry
Education
Law
Pharmacy
Public Health
Science
The Social Sciences
Technology
Veterinary Medicine
Units
The Registry
Careers Placement and Counselling Unit
Foreign Students Unit
The Sports Council
The Library
The Computing Centre
The Press
The Bookshop
The Botanical Garden
The Zoological Garden
University Media Centre, which houses the campus radio station, DIAMOND 101.1 FM.
The Abadina Media Resource Centre
Advancement Centre
The University Health Services
Halls of residence
The University is primarily residential with Halls of residence for both male & Female students. There is also provision for accommodation of post-graduate students, the halls are listed below:
Tedder Hall ---- (Male, Undergraduate)
Queen Elizabeth II Hall ---- (Female, Undergraduate)
Mellanby Hall ---- (Male, Undergraduate)
Sultan Bello Hall ---- (Male, Undergraduate)
Kuti hall ----- (Male, Undergraduate)
Queen Idia Hall ----- (Female, Undergraduate)
Obafemi Awolowo Hall ----- (Mixed, Undergraduate & Postgraduate)
Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall ----- (Male, Undergraduate)
Independence Hall ----- (Male, Undergraduate)
Tafawa Balewa Hall ----- (Mixed, Postgraduate)
Alexander Brown Hall ----- (Mixed, clinical medical, dental & physiotherapy students)
Notable Alumni
Amongst the alumni of the University of Ibadan and other institutions that fall under that banner are:
John Pepper Clark
Wole Soyinka
Chinua Achebe
Thursday, July 30, 2009
ASUU Strike: Govt needs to be more proactive, says UNAD VC
| Concluding part of our interview with: Prof Dipo Kolawole, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ado Ekiti. He narrates the challenges he is facing, and what he is doing to confront them. The interview was conducted IFEDAYO SAYO. Excerpts:
What efforts are you making to ensure that all courses in the university are accredited?
|
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
There is this issue of dearth of academic staff in some courses offered in the university. What are you doing to attract good hands to the university?
Let me say this: the location of our university does not help us in terms of manpower. I must acknowledge that. When I came here in 1983, I knew what I wanted. I thought of developing this place, but not many people feel that way, and that constitutes a problem to us. Our problem areas like Engineering, Law and Management Sciences, we have been doing all we can to attract good hands. For example, as at the time our Law programme was denied accreditation, there was no single person with a Ph.D there. But now, there are two Ph.D holders. Besides, just last week, I approved the appointment of a Reader from the University of Jos and two professors - all the three of them are Ph.D holders, and we are going to get some people from Ife to join.
In the Management Sciences, we have just got somebody with a Ph.D in Business Administration, who is coming to join at the higher level of that department. In Engineering, we have some people that we have brought in to deepen the manpower of that place. So, we are doing all things to attract, recruit, in fact lure people to come here.
Most Vice Chancellors often talk about legacy they intend to leave behind at the end of their tenure. What will yours be?
I want to leave a university that is far, far better than what I met. I'm aware that this university has had two previous vice chancellors who made an impressive impact on the university too. I also want to improve on what they did, therefore, I'm targeting history. History is very important to me. We are going to transform in terms of physical environment, transportation, in terms of human resources, because human resource is very, very important. For instance, we have promoted many of our staff. Those who were felt stagnated before have been moved up and they are now in the higher ranking of the system, contributing to our reform agenda.
Let's talk about the crisis in the university system at the moment. What implication will the agitation by ASUU and other unions have on the university system?
Unless government itself tries to be pro-active, by having a built-in mechanism for resolving some of the issues, the problem will continue. In other words, if there is an increment today, there must be an agreement when the next increment would be, and at what percentage. The system must have its own built-in mechanism. In Britain, you don't hear that, because they want to improve in the university system, they are going on strike before government reacts. In USA, you don't hear that. In France, you don't hear that. Why is it difficult for us to initiate what is good elsewhere? So, these dysfunctional factors, I think is on the part of government to do something about it.
For example, the ongoing crisis began with the 2001 FGN/ASUU agreement. Couldn't the issues have been resolved since that time? Could the various administrations since then have been making mistakes that are not resolving it? Now, you look at the destruction taking place, and then the fire brigade approach. It doesn't even give room for proper planning, it doesn't even give the impression of seriousness and I think these things government needs to do.
I want to believe that, if the crises are resolved, the universities are likely to be better off and be more stable.
But there are fears that, whatever the outcome of the current negotiation turns out to be, in terms of welfare, the state universities may not be able to cope in terms of funding.
Well, I don't want to preempt, but the universities in Nigeria are organic. So, whatever happens to the one at the center will affect others, because the danger is that, if you don't do it at the state level, people would move away. There is a higher level of opportunities elsewhere, coupled and a high level of mobility for those who want to go away. The number of universities is increasing everyday, the private universities are snatching people and therefore, you may have a federal or a state university that does not have any staff to dispense knowledge
So, whatever happens at the center, the state governments would have to go out of their way to look for funds. A university is a capital-intensive enterprise, so you don't embark on it unless you have projected that you can cope with its demands. It's not a child's play. You must looks at its implications
Recently, you were elected the chairman of the Peace and Security Committee of the African Union's ECOSSOC. What is the assignment given to this committee of yours?
Well, the assignment is very simple. ECOSSOC (Economic Socio and Cultural Council) of the African Union has 10 standing committees, one of which is on peace and security. The whole lesson is that, and that is why it's considered the most important, for whatever you want to do, you can only do it under a condition of peace and security, to be able to meet the demands of its people.
At a micro level of our own nation Nigeria, we need peace to be secured and we need security to have peace. Therefore, you can take that at a micro level of the continent. Every country in the African continent needs peace and security. But more importantly, there are some countries in the African continent that are in dire need of peace and security.
And therefore what the EXCOSSOC peace and security would do is to look at these five points and offer professional guidance, and advice for our heads of states on how these problems could be combated. And that is easy for us because we relate to the civil societies, we know what is happening at the grassroots. We do not approach issues as government to government, it must be person to person.
If you look at the African continent, from 1980 to now, there have been 28 flashpoints. And that is why, you find out whether in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and even in Nigeria, you can see problems that need to be looked into. If you look at Nigeria for example, economy now is getting worse because of the problem in the Niger Delta. It seems to me that if the Niger Delta issue is solved, then you can get more secured. Anybody who wants to go to Niger Delta now knows in his or her heart that anything could happen.
So, we look at the problem areas and advise the African leaders. But let me say this to you: one thing that occurs to me, is that some of these problems are products of lack of good governance. If you have good governance, if you are anticipatory and responsive and recapture to the yearnings and demands of the citizenry, you are likely to tie them to your government and once you tie them to your government, then you are likely to have peace and security.
I want to believe that many African countries or African leaders have not engaged in good governance.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Latest Update on NASU Strike
The Non –Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), has vowed that it would continue the current strike until the Federal Government implements the 52 per cent agreement reached with it. It also described the 20 percent increment in its salary as inconsequential.
Speaking at a one-day emergency Trade Group Meeting of delegates from all Nigerian Universities and Inter –University Centres, held at the University of Lagos last Friday, the General Secretary of the association, Comrade Peters Adeyemi said the 20 per cent salary increment that was approved for the members by the Federal Government was nothing to right home about and for that reason they would not accept it. According to him, about two years ago, Federal Government constituted a committee to look into the demands of NASU members. N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools. He said that after negotiation, the committee in which Gamaliel Onosode represented the Federal Government recommended 52 per cent increment to the government. Adeyemi said they were surprised that government later denied that there was no negotiation between NASU and government, adding that while the negotiation was going on, there was no time government came out to say that it had no confidence in its team which was ably represented by Onosode. His words" I want to say that this government is insincere. Two years ago, it constituted a negotiation team with Gamaliel Onosode as its representative to look into the demands of NASU.We negotiated for two years and came up with an agreement .The Onosode committee agreed on 52 per cent salary increment.We were surprised that government has now gone back on its words by saying that there was no agreement and therefore approved mere 20 percent. But government cannot impose a decision on us." The NASU scribe said a government preaching due process and rule of law should honour the decision of its representatives. According to him, the 20 per cent increment was based on nothing, adding that the same government approved higher percentage to the workers in the other fields without taking into cognizance that NASU was poorly paid. "Even if government approves 100 per cent increment for everybody, there will still be disparity and our salary will not be the same with others. For us to be producing quality graduates, we deserve to be well paid. We deserve to be empowered and motivated." He said government had started to employ different tactics to break the ranks of the members. According to him, one of the tactics was no work no pay. He also said what NASU was demanding was not only salary increment but also improvement in other conditions of service. According to him, one of their demands was that the retirement age of NASU members should be increased to 65 years from the current 60 years. At the end of the emergency meeting, newsmen were shown a copy of the 52 per cent agreement reached between Federal Government representatives and NASU officials. Both parties duly signed the agreement.
Forty-two branches of NASU nation wide attended the One-Day emergency meeting and all of them came with solidarity messages from their branches in favour of the strike continuing until all their demands are met.
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One Feared Dead in Students’ Rampage
| One person was feared dead and several others injured as police , yesterday in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital, clashed with protesting secondary school students who invaded the Lugard House, seat of Kogi State Government, in protest of the non-payment of the salaries of teachers and other civil servants by the state government. N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools. Also yesterday, in compliance with the directive of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, the civil servants commenced an indefinite strike action in protest of the non-payment of salaries of workers, indiscriminate removal of names of civil servants from payment vouchers and what they referred to as high handedness of Messrs Sally Tibbot, the consultant engaged by the state government to conduct staff audit exercise aimed at eliminating ghost workers from the civil service. Thousands of the students, drawn from Bishop Crowder Memorial Secondary School, Government Science Secondary School, Bishop Delis Secondary School, Muslim Community Secondary School and Government Day Secondary School, all in Lokoja, were irked that their teachers were to proceed on strike again barely a month after they called off a strike that lasted four months due to government's insensitivity to their plight. The students noted that a situation whereby government would continue to treat teachers with contempt and remain insensitive to their plight is no longer acceptable to them. They also said they would not tolerate anything that could lead to the teachers embarking on another strike, stressing that they have been on the receiving end of frequent face-offs between government and teachers in the state. Trouble started when students of Bishop Crowder Memorial Secondary School, who resumed schooling last month after eight months of closure of their school and were to start their examinations yesterday got to school and were told by the teachers that the examinations could not commence because of the non-payment of their salaries and removal of their names from payment vouchers. Like soldiers ready for battle, the students moved to Bishop Delis Secondary School which is about 300 metres to their school where they were joined by their mates to set up bonfires in front of Bishop Delis' gate. The students were however dislodged by policemen from the Area Command Office opposite the School who used teargas canisters to disperse them while the Principal of the school was whisked to the police station to make statements. Using cell phones, the students thereafter communicated with their mates in the remaining three schools after they were dislodged by the police and after mobilising themselves, they headed for Government House to register their protest to the Governor who, unfortunately had traveled abroad on an economic mission. On getting to Government House, they were prevented from gaining entrance by security operatives who dispersed them with teargas while the students responded by hauling stones and other dangerous objects at the policemen and thereafter pulled down the Governor's billboards mounted along Government House Road .After being dispersed from Government House, the students moved into the town and set up bonfires at various spots including Federal Medical Centre Junction, Specialist Hospital Junction, Old Living Faith Junction as well as Nostalgia Hotel Junction where they again clashed with security agents who fired live ammunitions in a bid to dislodge the rampaging students leading to a boy being hit by a stray bullet. Speaking with THISDAY on phone, the Police Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Salisu, revealed that several policemen who sustained varying degrees of injuries were receiving treatment in the hospital while several vehicles were vandalised just as he disclosed that those arrested among the students were being detained at the police headquarters in Lokoja. |
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Senate, ASUU, FG Talks End in Stalemate
The meeting convened yesterday at the instance of Senate Committee on Education to broker a truce between striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government ended in stalemate.
It was the second time the intervention by the Senate Committee in the lingering face-off between ASUU and the Federal Government would collapse. Yesterday's meeting was abruptly called off by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Joy Emodi, when it became apparent that ASUU and FG were not ready to shift ground.
N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools.
An exasperated Emodi said: "I commend the Federal Government team on their understanding in this matter; it is unfortunate that the fates of our children are left to hang on unpatriotic zeal of some individuals; well, here is where we end this meeting, thank you." Both parties had stuck to their respective positions with ASUU insisting that the Federal Government announced an agreement without proper documentation, stressing, "as we talk now, there is no solid evidence of any agreement reached at the negotiating committee meeting." The Union, led by its President, Dr. Ukachukwu Awuzie, said that it wanted strong commitment from government that it would faithfully implement any agreement reached, arguing that the government was paying lips service to the critical issues. Awuzie noted that the grouse of ASUU was that government imposed its stance on the Union rather than observed the due process of placing their offer at the negating council.According to him, "whatever agreement reached must be on paper and on air or news media as the government has done over the increase of 40 percent in the salary."But the government side led by the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, agreed to represent its offer of 40% salary increase and other offers at a resumed negotiation meeting for further necessary action as demanded by the ASUU. When the meeting was about settling on a date for resumption of further negotiation, a member of the ASUU team, Dr. Dapo Fashina interjected, with a request that the Senate Committee should commit the government team to make a promise that it will sign any acceptable agreement to both sides reached at the negotiations. It was at this point that Emodi lost her temper and abruptly called off the meeting. Meanwhile, the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) has directed the ASUU to return to work pending determination of the case before it. Egwu promised that government would explore the option of the IAP to deal with the matter. |
Lagos rewards pupils, teachers
Gone are the days when teachers were comforted with the hope of a pie in heaven, as they now enjoy the fruit of their labour. Last Wednesday at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja, Mrs Olajumoke Taibat Odukoya walked up to the podium to receive her award, a brand new KIA RIO car, as the best teacher in Lagos State.
Tears of joy flowed from her eyes as the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan, handed her the key. She was one of the awardees at the 2009 annual education merit award organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Education. Along with her, 29 others in different categories also smiled home with different awards and prizes. N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools. Declaring the occasion open, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Princess Sarah Sosan, stated that the ceremony was an acknowledgement of the important role of teachers in the education of children. She noted that the joy of the occasion provided a golden moment for reflection and appraisal of individual goals and commitment to responsibilities. "Today's ceremony is in line with our tradition to recognise the acknowledged role of teachers as moulders of minds through transmission of knowledge to pupils and students, thus empowering them to function positively in their environment", she added. She explained that those that were selected for the award were meticulously screened, and have clear evidence of excellent service, stressing that the honour bestowed on them should serve as a boost to others to aspire to a higher level of dedication to work. Sosan acclaimed the commitment of the Babatunde Raji Fashola led administration in improving the quality of education in the state. She noted that the government will not relent in its effort in introducing and sustaining measures that will give verve to all sectors of public administration, including the education sector. She stated that teachers' welfare should be taken into consideration to achieve higher productivity. In her words: "We recognise that the quality of education cannot be improved without the continual improvement of our teachers and the environment in which they work. These are germane if we must reap the expected returns of this administration's investment in as against mere funding of education as obtained in the past". The Deputy Governor promised that the Fasola-led administration in the state would continually expose teachers to quality training programmes in order to give a new face to public schools. Hear her: "I want to assure you that your welfare will always get appropriate attention because we recognise your contribution to the development of our great state. We have a man whose word is his bond as the captain that steers the ship of this administration. Therefore, I appeal to you to continue to be hardworking, focused and co-operative to the educationsector". She also appealed to the teachers to uphold the glory of the profession. "We have been called to this ministry and we should do our bit especially as the Unseen Eye watches. We will all be recompensed by the Wise one for our service to humanity", she said. In his remarks, the Chairman, Sir Kessignton Adebutu said: "An occasion like this not only affords government an opportunity to reward hardworking personnel, pupils and students at different levels of performance, but also gives the recipients the opportunity to reflect on their work, attitude and contribution to the operations of the Ministry of Education." He explained that the award will encourage the winners to consistently work hard to improve their performance and reinforce their self confidence to ensure that the winning streak is sustained. He charged other workers not yet in the honours list to join the league. While commending their efforts, he expressed the hope that they will deliver more efficient and effective services that will make Lagos a clear leader in the education sector. The Chairman advised the awardees to continue to make hardwork their watchword. He said: "Success without honour is an unseasoned dish; it may satisfy hunger but it won't taste good in the mouth, thus it is better to strive for a combination of both success and honour through the quality of work. Recognition will of necessity follow when you continuously do the right thing over a period of time". He urged them to avoid actions or behaviours that could render the award void. Sir Adebutu, who was moved by the plight of one of the awardees, Master Hassan Gbeleyi, the best special pupil from Atunda-Olu School for Physically Challenged Pupils Surulere, donated the sum of N5m for his health and educational needs. He commended the government of Lagos State and the organizers for the initiative, noting that it is one way of taking education out of the doldrums where it has been over a long period of time. Also speaking, the Special Guest of Honour, Otunba Olanrewaju Folorunsho, stressed the need to improve the quality of education in public schools. Otunba Folorunsho, who advised the government to collaborate with the private sector, urged the teachers to support government's effort in providing qualitative education. "We must support government's worthy efforts. Government should find a way of involving the private sector. Private sector can collaborate only on worthy ventures. From what I see, we have a good programme on ground. I pray that tomorrow's government will sustain today's noble efforts", he said. Otunba also expressed faith that the rehabilitation work in public schools in the state would revive the institutions to glorious places of learning, adding that the decay witnessed in the past in the education sector was not a death-sentence after all. He described the award recipients as ambassadors, adding that the awards would inspire others to work hard. The auditorium became agog with excitement as they came out in turns to receive their prizes. In the primary school category, Mrs Funsho Adeola Olaniyi of Anifowose Primary School, Ikeja, clinched the Best Head Teacher award, while the Best Assistant Head-teacher award went to Mr Abdulmalik Abiodun Ahoton of Ansar-Ud-Deen Society Primary School, Badagary in Education District five. Miss Olayiwola Basirat of Community Primary School, Ijanikin-Ojo emerged the best pupil, just as Hassan Gbeleyi of Atunda-Olu school for Physically Challenged Pupils won the Best Special Pupil award. For his hardwork and diligence, Mr Michael Adesola Adeoye of Iju Station Primary School, Iju-Ifako, was named the best non-teaching staff. The best overall primary school award went to Araromi Primary School, Gbagada in Education District two. In the Junior Secondary School category, Mr Agidi Balogun Rasuki of Lagos State Junior Model College, Igbonla emerged the best principal and went home with a giant freezer as well as a plaque. The Best Vice –Principal award went to Mrs Orolu Jemilat Abike of Ijaye Housing Estate Junior Secondary School who got a colour television, while the Lagos State Junior Model College, Igbonla emerged the best Junior Secondary School. The best non-teaching staff award went to Awofala Babatunde Taofeeq of Immaculate Junior Comprehensive High School, Maryland. It was also a rewarding day for Joyce Moses of Eva Adelaya Girls Junior secondary School as emerged the best student in the junior secondary school category. In the senior secondary school category, Mrs Ogboye Sherifat Atinuke of Community Senior Grammar School, Surulere, won the Best Principal award, while the Best Vice-Principal award went to Mrs Adekanye Afoluke Oyebisi of Dr.Lucas Memorial Senior High School, Kirikiri Town. Also, Lagos State Senior Model College, Igbonla was honoured as the best school, while Master Okoli Kenneth of Keke Senior High School won the Best Student award. Mrs Lawal Funmilayo Odebunmi of Araromi Senior Secondary School, Iganmu was equally crowned the best non- teaching staff. Among the technical colleges in the state, Kamiloye Oluwatosin of Government Technical College, Epe in Education District three, emerged the best principal. Also, Government Technical College, Agidingbi was adjudged the overall best technical college, with Adelowo Amos Adebayo of the same school as the best vice-principal. The Best Non-teaching award went to Fakorede Michael of Government Technical College, Ado Soab, while Fiyebo Noah of Government Technical College, Epe, smiled home with the Best Student award. Members of staff were also honoured with the best staff awards for their outstanding performance in 2009. Those that won in that category were, Mrs Sherifat Akinsemoyin of Education District four, Olusegun Oluyomi Ekundayo of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Gabriel Oluguyiga of TEPO and Mrs Iyabode Kazeem of office of the Special Adviser on Education. Miss Basirat Idowu Akinlade emerged the best senior staff in the Ministry of Education, just as Ogedengbe Williams, a security staff was honoured as the best junior staff. They all smiled home with various home appliances and plaques. The climax of the occasion was the presentation of the Best Teacher award to Mrs Odukoya Taibat Olajumoke, a Biology teacher at Baptist Senior High School, Obanikoro. Consolation prizes were also given to the first runner-up, Mrs Omotehinse Hellen Ibileye of Iganmu Senior High School and Mrs Omoaka Lucy Emike Ojo of Lagos State Senior Model College, Meiran. In appreciation of the honour bestowed on her, Mrs Odukoya Taibat, paid glowing tribute to the government of Lagos State for the award, describing it as a great motivation. Speaking to journalists shortly after the car was presented to her, she said: "God made it possible. The work, my love for the children and my interaction with them are perhaps the reason why I was chosen. During my interaction with the children, I was able to bring out the other factor in them to help them achieve excellence". Mrs Odukoya, who has been a teacher for 11 years, advised her colleagues in the teaching profession to be dedicated to their duties and never to look to immediate reward, adding that she never bargained for the favour she received. Beaming with joy for the honour, Mrs Ogboye Sherifat Atinuke, who won the Best Principal in the senior secondary category, praised the Lagos State government for celebrating hardwork. "I always have that belief that it is good to work hard. And this is an honour to me by the Lagos State government. It will motivate and encourage me to put in my best which I have been doing. Moreover, I will not rest on this present achievement", she affirmed. Mrs Ogboye who has been in the teaching profession for 29 years, and a principal for 25 years, stressed that discipline has remained her watchword. She revealed that she does not tolerate indolent attitude among staff and students. In her words: "I am not a sit-down principal so no teacher in the school will sit in the staff-room during lesson period. Even for those who would opt to, seeing other teachers taking up their books at the beginning of every lesson period will definitely tell them that our school is not a place to sit down". |
Monday, July 20, 2009
FG plans N180,000 varsity fees per session - SSANU
After initial seven days warning strike action, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has ordered its members to embark on an indefinite action that may totally cripple activity in the nation's universities in protest against government's plan to increase students tuition fees to N180,000 per session.
Rising from an emergency National Executive meeting in Abuja at the weekend, the association resolved to protest the anti-people policy that is aimed at protecting and granting access to the children of only the rich and those in position of authority in the country. N.B Visit www.campusflava.com for updates and information related to other schools. National President of SSANU, Comrade Promise Adewusi who read the resolutions of his association's emergency meeting, said that it was worrisome that while minimum wage still stood at N5,000, the government was moving to impose on the same parents a whopping N180,000 fee per child. According to Comrade Adewusi, "Even at the paltry N20,000 or N25,000 they pay in the federal universities, most parents can still not conveniently and comfortably do this. If this is allowed to happen, what that means in effect is that education will be priced out of the reach of the children of the poor, which we do not want. It means the ministers will continue to produce ministers, the governors will continue to produce governors and the peasants, the labourers, the gardeners will produce gardeners because they will not go to school." The SSANU president further said; "So, we want a fair playing field because we have been blackmailed in most times that, look, if you want an enhanced condition of service, accept introduction of school fees in our universities. We have always maintained this solidarity with our students because even our children are in these universities, because we cannot afford to send our own children out of the country, like other government public functionaries who hardly have any of their children in Nigerian universities." In this wise, Comrade Adewusi announced that the association, having painstakingly studied the consequences of the government's plan, directed all of its members to resume its suspended strike with effect from July 20, 2009 even as it also rejected the proposed salary increase for its members but insisted on the full implementation of the product of its collective bargaining with Federal Government. According to Comrade Adewusi; "What this means, is that the universities have to be shut down, because our members are the one maintaining the services that keep the students in comfort, now we cannot guarantee this comfort. I think the best advice in this circumstance is for parents to reach out to their wards and their children because we cannot guarantee that there will be facilities that will continue to sustain them in classes and hostels. For avoidance of any untoward thing, even our members in the clinics, the doctors and nurses, we are withdrawing them until government sees reason. We are withdrawing all our personnel from the works and services, electricity, water." The SSANU national president also described the purported inauguration of the minimum wage committee last week Thursday as an exercise in futility saying that it was merely a ploy by government to buy time like what it did to members of the association in the past, if allowed to get away with it. Adewusi stressed; "It will just be for the purpose of buying time and by the time they take us on a rollercoaster and rigmarole for the next two years, they will say gentlemen, elections are here and a new government will be inaugurated soon, why not wait for the new government to be the one to implement it. It is difficult for us to trust the government with what they have done with this." Commenting on universities funding, Comrade Adewusi said that it was one of the issues that arose from the 2001 agreement during which it was agreed that government was supposed to progressively improve funding, adding that when former President Olusegun Obasanjo came, funding was inadequate but the administration managed to get to 11 per cent.
By AMOS DUNIA, Abuja
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