Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state

The Students Union Government (SUG) “vehemently and unequivocally” rejected the proscription, saying it trampled on their right to freedom of association. “We dare the government to make the announcement and to allow the caretaker committee to come to Ago-Iwoye. They will feel the wrath of OOU students; and if they escape lynching, they would never be able to enter Ago-Iwoye again,” they wrote.

Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, as well as the management of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye are facing severe criticism for announcing on Tuesday that students union activities on the campus had been banned.

The Students Union Government (SUG) “vehemently and unequivocally” rejected the proscription, saying it trampled on their right to freedom of association.

“The released news by the School Management as regards the proscription of OOU SUG is not coming as a surprise, because we saw it coming before now having informed the OOUites and the public yesterday with the plan to put in place caretaker committee that will be puppet to government,” President of the union, Ifade Olusegun and Public Relations Officer, Bamgbopa Olawale said.

“However, the Union without any reserved apology, vehemently and unequivocally reject such illegal proscription, owning to the fact that the ground given by the management is baseless, unverifiable, fallacious and inconsequential.

“Moreso, the formulation of the Students’ Union was by the entire students of OOU in respect to their right of freedom of association which is entrenched in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and so, the school singularly lacks the constitutional power to proscribe the Union.

They implored students of the school to disregard the proscription order and be patient, as the SUG would inform them of the next step. They also urged them to be rugged, calm, lawful and resolute as the quest to fight for reduction in school fees continues.

The Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) said the move was “bizarre and senseless” and assured “Amosun and his minions” that the last had not been heard of the matter.

“Today, the Acting Registrar of Olabisi Onabanjo University announced the proscription of the OOU Students Union on the university website. As bizarre as the announcement sounded, even more bizarre was the reason given for the proscription”, James Ogunjimi, CDHR Coordinator, said.

“They said the SUG was proscribed for ‘collaborating with unregistered group and external influences’. Whatever that means, it makes no sense to anybody.

“As an organisation, we see this announcement as ‘the voice of Jacob but the hands of Esau’. We see this announcement as yet another anti-student move of the anti-student government of Ogun State carried out by the university management. We reiterate the fact that neither the Ogun State government nor the University management voted in these executives; the students who empowered them are still very much behind them and as such the SUG retains its power and influence.

“We are also very much aware that following the announcement of scrapping the union, they want to follow it up with an announcement of a caretaker committee led by the ‘suspended’ OOU SUG Welfare Director, Awobotu Charles (aka Main Man), who has been pinpointed as Government spy in our struggle thus far.

“We dare the government to make the announcement and to allow the caretaker committee to come to Ago-Iwoye. They will feel the wrath of OOU students; and if they escape lynching, they would never be able to enter Ago-Iwoye again.

“If Governor Amosun and his minions think the announcement has stopped anything, they have no idea how determined we are. It has escalated things and has only made us more determined. The fees will be reduced and implemented this session or there will be no peace. We will fight this with all the strength that we have and with the last drop of our blood.

Similarly, the Labour Party in Ogun State said the proscription was proof of Governor Amosun’s immaturity. It called on every citizen of the state to see it as a battle for everyone and support the students.

“Mere thoughts, even insinuations being baseless, could be swept under the carpets of different make-ups. With time, they may mature to real time tangible facts, such that their voices and conspicuousness cannot be shielded or covered the-more”, Adeyemi. A.Azeez, the party’s Director of Students Affairs, said.

“Yesterday’s pronouncement of OOU SUG BAN by Governor Amosun-led government is another pointer to Nigerian Student’s in Ogun State and the national at large, that APC-led administration in Ogun State is a structure that lacks respect and honour for the fundamental human rights of the masses.

Recall, in 2011 Governor Ibikunle Amosun in his manifesto, promised a 50% reduction in school fees of all tertiary institutions in Ogun State, people of Ogun State never knew that it was a mission to steal their mandate.  If the government could not maintain STATUS QUO, the fee should not be increased unbearably.”

He noted that education in Ogun State is no longer affordable to the sons and daughters of the poor, as state-owned institutions are on clear competition with private institutions in terms of school fees.

“Labour Party in Ogun State, strongly condemns the ban of OOU SUG by Ogun State government, it is a clear mission to enslave the ever-articulate Nigerian students in Ogun State”, he added.

“We call on all well meaning and intellectual Nigerian students to see the struggle for the entire students ‘ populace in Nigeria. An Injury to one is an injury to all. We must fight all counterproductive policies with a view to driving this state to that point we can stand tall and be proud of.

“Therefore, arise o compatriots and let us embrace the Labour Party to fully resist the return of Amosun in 2015. Together, we can build a greater Ogun State with strongest economy in Nigeria and an enviable among the league of states in Nigeria”.

-@Sahara Reporters

“The withdrawal of the earlier letter was as a result of the suit I initiated against the university before [the] National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in suit No. NICN/KD/19/2014 on 4th August, 2014.

Officials of Kaduna State University have retreated from moves to sack a lecturer, John Danfulani, over his criticism of the state’s governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero. Administrators of the state-owned university were miffed by the lecturer’s biting commentaries on the policies and politics of the state government.

In a short interview, Mr. Danfulani, who holds a PhD, confirmed to SaharaReporters that university administrators had withdrawn their threats to fire him after he dragged the university to court. Earlier the university had written a letter to the lecturer dated June 20, 2014 threatening to terminate his services.

In an e-mail statement, Mr. Danfulani said, “I am in receipt of the withdrawal letter dated 14th August, 2014 from the Registrar which read thus: ‘I write to withdraw the letter addressed to you dated 20th June, 2014 on the above subject matter which was written due to the seeming communication gap that existed as at the time of the letter.’”

The lecturer continued: “My lawyers are studying [the] contents of their 20th June and 14th August 2014 letters. Their counsel will inform continuation or otherwise of my case before [the] Industrial Court of Arbitration in Abuja. Whichever decision [is] reached, the public will be told. The letter hinged on the allegation that I am denigrating the person of Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, Executive Governor of Kaduna State, who is also a Visitor to the university being chief executive of the state.

“The withdrawal of the earlier letter was as a result of the suit I initiated against the university before [the] National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in suit No. NICN/KD/19/2014 on 4th August, 2014.

“I dragged the university to the court seeking determination as to whether my status as a university lecturer barred me from commenting on issues related to peace and development of both Kaduna State and Nigeria at large. And if it also contravened Sections 36, and 39 of [the] 1999 constitution of [the] Federal Republic of Nigeria and Section 20:4 of the law establishing the university, while I am also seeking perpetual injunction restraining the university from further acts of harassment, intimidation and unjustifiable actions against my person.”

He concluded: “I also wish to make it clear that my being critical of [the] government at state and federal levels are for common good and part of weaving genuine democracy. My records are there in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where my activism climaxed with my election as President of Students’ Union Government in 1992. Since the inception of Students’ Union Government in Ahmadu Bello University in 1964 after its establishment in 1962, I was the 15th elected President of the SUG and the first Kaduna State indigene to be elected. The second student to attain such a feat was the late Abubakar Hayatu, 14 years after I left the institution.

“No amount of blackmail and intimidation can deter me; I am not guided by religious and ethnic bigotries instead by a sense of justice, equity and freedom. My students, colleagues and contemporaries cutting across our diversities are my witnesses and source of strength. For those hell-bent in victimizing me, I leave them to Almighty God and posterity but they should learn from history that evil never triumph forever. Our demand for better Nigeria and Kaduna State is uncompromised; our demand for change and better system for all to pursue their dreams in life is unstoppable. If they think they have their day, the oppressed too will have their own sooner or later.

“I am grateful to the media and the lawyers without whom, I would have been a helpless victim and the civil society that stood firm by my side. Aluta continua.”

-@Sahara Reporters

late Prof. Dora Akunyili

The College of Medicine at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka on Wednesday held its last college assembly in honour of the late Prof. Dora Akunyili who was once its lecturer.

The assembly which held at the Ituku/Ozalla campus of the institution in Enugu State was attended by many emeritus and serving professors of the college as well as the staff of the university’s teaching hospital.

Speaking on the occasion, the Provost of the college, Prof. Ernest Onwuasigwe, said Akunyili’s death was a loss to pharmacology, the university and the country as a whole.

Onwuasigwe said the former minister of information left legacies in the college which students who did not meet her in person still enjoyed.

Also speaking, a member of the college, Prof. Paul Okonkwo, said that apart from her life in public offices, the late Akunyili was an accomplished scientist and pharmacologist.

Okonkwo said she had between 20 and 30 publications in journals and co-authored at least two books while working in the college.

Reacting the encomiums on the late professor, her husband, Dr Chike Akunyili, recalled how he met her at the pharmacy in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, saying she instantly warned herself to him in spite of the general lukewarm attitude of pharmacists.

He called on health workers generally to change their attitude to patients, while also calling on managers to be good to their workers to get the best in them.

The highlight of the occasion was the roll call of the college assembly, during which the late Akunyili was called three times to show that she was gone. (NAN)

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Thursday endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan to run for a second term in office.

The President of NANS, Mr Yinka Gbadebo, who led the National Executive members of the association on a courtesy visit to the First Lady, Dame Patience Faka Jonathan, expressed their support at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The delegation, which passed a vote of confidence on Jonathan, also presented a certificate of credence to Dame Jonathan for her pursuit of peace and empowerment of women and the youth.

“As pragmatic and visionary Nigerians, we can see through the veil of distraction and boldly applaud the Goodluck administration for infrastructural and social transformation.

“We have unflinchingly determined to put all political detractors and evil geniuses to shame in 2015 by giving Mr President the singular and total support of all Nigerian students.

“As a united association, all students have been mandated to cast their votes for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to emerge victorious and continue the good works of transformation,’’ he said.

Gbadebo noted that in order to actualise this, NANS had floated the Nigerian Students Transformation Vanguard to champion this cause.

The NANS president commended Jonathan for his support to Nigerian students and youths by appointing six past NANS leaders in his administration.

According to him, the past leaders included the Ministers of Information and Education, Mr Labaran Maku and Alhaji Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, respectively.

Others are the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Kingsley Kuku, and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students and Youth matters, Mr Jude Imagwe.

Responding, Dame Jonathan while expressing her love and support for NANS, commended its leadership for consistent constructive engagement on national issues.

“Especially at this time when some Nigerians take advantage of every situation without concern for national security.

“This really shows that our youths are coming of age and that they can be relied upon in the task of nation building.

“Today, our youths in the tertiary institutions are hard-working and are hopeful of a better future for this country, in spite of our challenges,’’ the first lady said.

She urged them to continue in their constructive engagements on national issues and lend voices to positive moves in the interest of the nation.

“Your organisation should continue to champion the cause of peace in our nation as no nation progresses in an atmosphere of insecurity.

“As students, you cannot stay in school if there is no peace. Therefore do not allow anyone to use you as agents of destabilisation.

“You must resist the temptation of being used by politicians as thugs during elections.

“You should learn to be patriotic and not be a willing tool in the hands of those bent of sowing seeds of discord among our people,’’ she charged them.

She said “as mothers, we are praying for you because we love you, you are our future, our hope. You must therefore remember the children of whom you are and face your studies squarely’’. (NAN)

By Abdullahi Ibrahim

A total of 449 schools have been denied approval by Kogi State government for operating illegally and contravening the guidelines on the establishment and operation of private schools in the state.

The state Commissioner for Education, Dr Agnes Okai, made this disclosure while submitting the report of the committee on the operations of illegal educational institutions in the state to Governor Idris Wada in Lokoja recently.

According to her, a total of 999 primary schools, 332 secondary schools and 13 tertiary institutions were captured during the exercise that lasted six months.

She further explained that out of the 1,331 schools screened, 536 were officially approved, 346 schools still processing their documents for approval while 449 were not approved for operation.

The commissioner, who described the exercise as a giant stride by government geared towards repositioning the education sector for effective service delivery, appealed to the governor to accord the report urgent attention to curb the excesses of the illegal school operators.

Responding, Governor Wada, who described education as a vital component of the nation’s transformation agenda, reiterated his administration’s resolve to accord priority to the enhancement of education in Kogi State.

He used the forum to call on residents of the state to join hands with the present administration in its strive to reform the education sector, which he described as the collective responsibility of all stakeholders in the public and private sectors.

While thanking members of the committee for their efforts, Gov Wada said the administration would study the recommendations of the report with a view to taking necessary actions.

Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin,Prof. Abdul-Ganiyu Ambali

The Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Prof. Abdul-Ganiyu Ambali, says the institution is set to inaugurate its Moringa processing factory to boost the medicinal values and revenue base of the institution. 

Speaking at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja on Sunday, Ambali said the factory located within the university campus is completed and ready for inauguration.

 The vice chancellor said the university had also established other plantations to serve as training outlets for the students.

He said: “We have started a plantation of moringa during this year’s convocation ceremony, the moringa processing factory will be inaugurated because it has also been completed. 

“We also have other plantations like Jatropha, tick; we have date palm and we have the palm oil plantation that is coming up soon. All these were established to serve as practical training outlets for our students.

“Most especially those from the forestry department, from biological sciences, from even economics and other management system.’’

Ambali said that the harvesting, processing and marketing of the moringa plant required the expertise of those in the marketing, accounting departments and management system. 

The vice-chancellor, however, urged the Federal Government to involve youths in mechanised farming to boost food production in the country. 

According to him, the government should access the agriculture sector to refocus on two main areas in order to achieve the feat.

He advised government to refocus on involving youths in mechanised agriculture to enhance food security and to create job employment.

“We have to re-assess our focus. There are two ways to look at it. Do we want youths be in agriculture because we want more food to be produced for Nigerians?

“Or do we want to put more youths into agriculture because we want to address unemployment?

“When you look at the developed World and calculate how many per cent of their population are in agriculture, it is very few, very small per cent of them are engaged in agriculture, because most of the practices are mechanised.

“But if you want to get more youths out of the street to go into agriculture, then, we are thinking of subsistence form of agriculture and it would not work.

“If we want more food, then, we have to mechanise our agriculture,’’ said the veterinary professor.

Ambali said that with mechanised agriculture, one of two persons would be able to feed the population of a local government. 

“If our aim is to give the youth hoes and cutlasses and ask them to go to farm, they will not cooperate because the youth of today are ICT youths.

“They are not like youths of 30 or 50 years ago. There is no amount of money as incentive that you will give them that will attract them to go into subsistence farming,’’ he said. (NAN)

Mercy Johnson has sent off her first child, daughter Purity off to school. The actress shared these pictures on her Twitter page yesterday. Mercy is in the States to have her second child, and has decided to put Purity in daycare so as to have more time to herself.

But like most first time mothers, the actress found it hard to leave her child behind.

http://www.nollywoodmagazine.com

By Godfrey Sunwar, Jos

Hon. Lyop Mang, the chairperson of the Plateau State Universal Basic Education, has reiterated the commitment of the agency to provide accessible and qualitative basic education for the Plateau child.

Mrs. Mang disclosed this during the bid opening ceremony for the award of contracts for the construction/renovation of classrooms for public schools in Plateau State recently.

She said: “There are ninety-four (94) contracts to be awarded, spread across the three senatorial districts of Plateau State, which include nine (9) renovation work and eighty-five (85) construction of a block of two classrooms office and store.”

She said they are going to be working within a budget of N872 million in the first phase of construction.

The chairperson maintained: “Undaunted by the seeming decay this administration inherited in the education sector, which was characterized by infrastructural deficits and dilapidation, amongst other challenges, an emergency was clamped down on education in order to turn around the situation.”

Royal Times gathered that about two hundred and seventy (270) bids were submitted as at the time of the bidding ceremony.

The chairperson, who made sure that the bidding process was transparently done, urged successful bidders to execute quality and timely delivery of their projects.

The federal government yesterday announced that schools across the country should now re-open on September 22 after re-assessing the Ebola threat and its earlier directives to schools to re-open on October 13.

This is coming on the heels of the visit of Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu to the Rivers State EVD Isolation Centre at Oduoha, Emohua Local Government Area, where he reiterated that the federal government was in total control of the EVD emergency.

There was also good news for the Nigerian government with the highly influential Time Magazine commending it for the swift containment of the Ebola virus in the country.

The decision to bring forward the date for the re-opening of schools was the outcome of the series of meeting which concerned federal ministries had with relevant stakeholders over the Ebola Virus Disease crisis.

The Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau announced the new September 22 date after a meeting with commissioners of education from the 36 states and the FCT in Abuja yesterday.

He disclosed that the review was at the instance of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last Wednesday following a positive progress report from the Ministry of Health that Nigeria was successfully curtailing the spread of the virus.

The new date, he said was arrived at in consideration for the welfare of students among other factors.

Shekarau however reiterated that the training of a minimum of two teachers per school, in the earlier directive, continues and should end on or before September 22. He also directed that schools yet to procure basic requirements in terms of temperature measuring equipment should do so.

He also urged all state education ministries to put in place rapid response team to address any reported case of Ebola. This he said, was necessary, as no case should be trivialised or trivially handled.

Nigeria Will Contain Spread of Ebola, Says Chukwu…
The Minister of Health who addressed journalists in Port Harcourt after visiting the EVD Isolation Centre at Oduoha said although the outbreak of EVD was a national emergency, the federal government was in total control of the situation.

Chukwu said: “We are in total control of Ebola in Nigeria. We will deal with it in Rivers State the way we dealt with it in Lagos State. If we have one or two positive cases in Rivers State, we have world-class facilities to handle them.”

According to the Minister, no fewer than 403 contacts had been made with people who had both primary and secondary contacts with the carriers of the Ebola virus since the outbreak of the disease in the country, adding that 300 people who had such contacts had been discharged.

The minister who further disclosed that eight out of the 18 persons tested positive had been treated, cleared and discharged of Ebola symptoms across the country. He confirmed that only a patient was at the Ebola Isolation Centre in Oduoha, Emohua Local Government Area of the state while the other patient is at the National Treatment Centre in Lagos.

TIME Magazine Commends Nigeria…
Meanwhile, the highly influential Times Magazine has commended the Nigerian government for effectively containing the EVD outbreak. It reported in its latest edition that “fears that Africa’s most populous country would become a tinderbox for the disease have so far not come to fruition.”

The Magazine stated that though, Ebola was still running rampant in parts of West Africa, “but in nearby Nigeria, the government has largely contained Ebola in a single cluster traced back to the first imported case.

“Nigerian authorities quickly and effectively reacted to contain the disease, tracking people who had contact with patients, conducting widespread testing and quarantining suspected victims.”

John Vertefeuille, who leads the Nigeria Ebola response team of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also told the magazine that “the response of the Nigerian government has been robust.”

THISDAY

By Abdullahi Ibrahim

In spite of the reversed decision by the Federal Government that all public and private schools across the country be reopen on September 22, 2014, the government of Kogi State has maintained that no resumption of schools till the October 13 as earlier directed by the Federal Government.

The state Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Agnes Okai, who issued the directive, said henceforth all schools must abide by school calendar provided by the Federal Government of Nigeria, warning that no private school should embark on mid-term or holiday outside the timetables stipulated for it as in public schools.

Okai said any proprietor who goes against this directive would have his/her school closed down for not less than six months.

The commissioner further directed that all summer classes currently organized by some private schools across the state be put on hold till October 13, 2014.

All the tertiary institutions in the state, she said, are to suspend exchange of staff and students, programmes visit and major international seminars and workshops.

The state Ministry of Education, she said, would work in collaboration with Ministry of Health and other relevant bodies to ensure that adequate sensitization and preventive measures are put in place before resumption of schools, calling on all parents to enlighten their wards on Ebola disease and also monitor their activities.

The school holidays extension, the commissioner said, is a painful decision but it was done in the best interest of the students to ensure that adequate preventive measures are taken against Ebola disease.

On the lingering sit-at-home strike by primary school teachers, she disclosed that she has held several meetings with the Nigeria Union of Teachers and the chairman of SUBEB Interim Management Committee, assuring that the teachers were ready to resume but for the extension of schools resumption till October.

The state government, she said, has directed the payment of the June and July salaries to teachers, and commended the efforts and cooperation of NUT in the state.

Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu

According to a report published by Thisday online, the decision of the lawmakers is necessitated by growing concerns among the public, especially parents and guardians of students, over the recent decision by the education authorities to reopen schools for the 2014/2015 academic session on Monday, September 22, 2014 despite the threat of the Ebola Virus Disease which has killed seven people in Nigeria.

It would be recalled that the Education Minister, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, had announced a postponement of the resumption date of schools from September to October 13, in other to allow the health authorities enough time to ensure the containment of the disease.

However, following private school owners opposition to the postponement of the resumption date, the Federal Ministry of Education brought forward the date for schools to reopen to September 22, after a meeting with stakeholders in the sector.

While answering questions from newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, 9 September, 2014, the Deputy Chairman of Media and Public Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, stated that the House leadership has resolved to mandate its Committee on Education to take another look at the resumption date set.

Ogene added that the latest move is “in the overall interest of the pupils and students, parents, guardians and the general well-being of the entire country”.

“You will recall that upon the outbreak of the dreaded Ebola virus in Nigeria, the House Committee on Health rose up to the occasion by interfacing with the health authorities, the result of which is the positive containment efforts and call-off of the strike by doctors in the country,” the lawmaker said.

The deputy spokesman of the House said given the reality that some persons are still under surveillance, and the likelihood of having other cases, there was the need to put the safety of the children and that of the entire country into consideration, in arriving at when best to reopen schools nationwide.

The Ebola virus disease has killed no less than seven persons in Nigeria, while 19 other people tested positive for the dreaded disease are still being treated in Lagos and Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

No vaccine has been approved as cure for the deadly disease yet though some Canadian researchers announced some weeks ago that a drug has passed first test of becoming a cure for Ebola after it was tested on monkeys with the virus.

-@Naij.com

Confusion ensued at the campus of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife on Tuesday, when a female student of the institution was reported to have contracted the dreaded Ebola Virus.

Preliminary investigation conducted by the management and the institution’s teaching hospital in Ile-Ife revealed that the suspected student had primary contact with an EVD victim in Port Hacourt, Rivers State before returning to the campus early this week.

DailyPost gathered that the student had suddenly taken ill and was rushed to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTHC) for treatment.

Sources in the institution also said the student confessed to have had primary contact with an EVD victim in Port Harcourt before arriving at the university.

It was learnt that the management of the university had made arrangement and has moved the suspect to Lagos where the state of her health would be determined.

When the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the University, Abiodun Olarewaju was contacted, he confirmed the development but asserted that student had been evacuated to Lagos for thorough screening to ascertain if she had actually contacted the dreaded disease or not.

Hear him, “a female student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, who is suspected to be a secondary contact of the Ebola Virus Disease in Port-Harcourt, presented sick at the University Health Centre.

-@Daily Post

A fake Professor of Statistics has been nabbed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) after suspicions were aroused during interactions for his bid to establish a private university: Nigeria British University.

The man whose name was simply given as Ambi P.N had claimed to be a Professor of Statistics from Universities in Ghana and Nigeria.

He had been invited for a meeting with NUC authorities to discuss the proposal for the University which is to be situated in Lagos.

His professorial claims were questioned by the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Julius Okojie, during the interaction on Tuesday, after he gave conflicting statements.

Ambi initially claimed to have obtained his Professorship from the Obong University, Akwa Ibom State and studied at the University of Science and Technology Kumasi Ghana up to PhD level.

He later claimed to have studied at the University of Ewe,Ghana and in a third account,he claimed to be a staff of Covenant University on sabbatical at Obong University.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW.

THISDAY

Prof. Julius Okogie, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), on Thursday, said Nigerian universities were not ranked high because their research findings were not published on the Internet.

Okogie made the disclosure when a team from the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASDRA) paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

According to him, Nigerian universities are at par with universities around the world in terms of academics and research but their findings are not made available online.

He said “the people that do these rankings do not visit university campuses; they get their data on the Internet; but most of our research findings are not there.

“What makes you a professor is that people have read your work somewhere else.

“We have to use Information Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance our learning; our children have all the ICT they need, but they are not using it to enhance themselves.”

The NUC boss said that for Nigeria to achieve vision 20:20:20, there must be advancement in ICT.

Earlier, the leader of the team and Director-General of NASDRA, Prof. Seidu Mohammed, said the team was at NUC to seek collaboration in areas of research.

He said that the agency had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some universities but came to formalise it with NUC as the regulatory body.

According to him, the agency has the mandate to design and build satellite using indigenous scientists as the first space agency in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Seidu urged universities to tap into the data from the launched satellites (NigeriaSat1, NigeriaSat2 and NigeriaSatX) for research and development.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that no Nigerian university appeared in the recent global top universities ranking. (NAN)

Three states comprising Edo, Anambra and Ogun, on Monday expressed readiness to resume academic activities following Federal Government decision to stick to the September 22, 2014, earlier scheduled date for resumption of schools across the country.

Vanguard reports that the information was conveyed by the Education commissioners of the aforementioned states, after several State Ministries of Education have also expressed readiness for schools to resume.

The ministries insisted that adequate measures have been put in place to contain any possible outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus Diseases, EVD, in schools.

According to Edo State Commissioner for Higher Education (Secondary, Tertiary and Technical), Barr. Washington Osifo, the date issued by the federal government to resume school was accepted by the state government.

He said the decision was based on the expert information they received from those saddled with the responsibility of certifying that schools are safe to resume. He revealed that the state government on September 11, 12 and 13, oranised training for all teachers across the three senatorial districts including those from private schools.

Osifo said since the outbreak of the EVD, the state has been certified 100 per cent free from the deadly EVD, adding that some of the training it organized was not just to contain the virus but also to enlighten them on other contagious diseases that could be caused by improper hygiene amongst children.

Also Prof. Kate Omenugha, Anambra State Commissioner for Education confirmed that the state had been ready to curb the outbreak before the federal government directive was issued.

She revealed that the state government on Monday, September 15, 2014, trained 1, 044 Head teachers of Primary Schools, 21 Education Secretaries, as well as 256 Secondary School principals. He said his ministry has also scheduled a meeting with the Ministry of Health to further train about 5, 000 teachers this weekend. She noted that after several meetings with relevant stakeholders, the state is fully prepared for the September 22 resumption date.

Similarly, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Segun Odubela, remarked that the state was also ready to commence academic activities as scheduled by the federal government. He said the ministry would train teachers on how to avoid the spread of the deadly virus from Tuesday to Thursday at four centres in the state.

Meanwhile, the issue of resumption date that had caused rift between the federal government and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) was reportedly resolved on September 15, 2014, as both parties finally arrived at a compromise on the September 22 nationwide resumption date for schools, although the NMA was initially against the proposed resumption date. It would be recalled that Federal Government had earlier announced that primary and secondary schools across the country should resume academic activities on 22 September, 2014.

-@Naij

THE National Executive Council of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), on Tuesday, directed that primary and secondary schools across the country remain shut until October 13.

National President of the union, Michael Olukoya, urged teachers to ignore the September 22 resumption date announced by the Federal Government, saying the date was not realistic, in view of what was required to be done to prevent outbreak of Ebola in the schools.

President Goodluck Jonathan, however, said if schools were not reopened on September 22, it will send wrong signals to the international community about the Ebola situation in the country.

He said already, Nigerians were being stigmatised and segregated in other countries because of what he described as the negative narrative about the status of the virus in the nation.

Olukoya, who briefed newsmen in Abuja on the outcome of the NEC, meeting said based on the reports received from all the state chapters of the union, none of the states had adequately prepared for the resumption of the schools.

He said the teachers were not ready to endanger their lives and those of the school children when necessary preventive and protective gadgets had not been put in place.

Olukoya added that most of the state governments coming out to say that they were ready for school resumption were only making political statements.

“The union offers itself at this point to assist in mobilising the teachers for the task. Government should also use this opportunity to secure adequate sanitisers and body temperature scanners for all schools in the country,” Olukoya said.

The NUT NEC has, accordingly, cancelled the celebration of the 2014 World Teachers coming up on October 5, as a result of Ebola outbreak.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the teachers have, this day, resolved to resume classes in obedience to the Federal Government directive, in states where teachers have been trained to handle any outbreak and all the required preventive and protective gadgets, such as hand gloves, sanitisers, infra-red thermometers, running water and soaps have been provided as directed by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“In states where the training has not been done and necessary safeguarding gadgets not provided, teachers shall continue to remain at home, until their state governments respond positively or the union directs them to the contrary.

“Any state branch of the NUT, which gives the national council conflicting report, we shall not fail to mete out sanctions,” he warned.

According to Olukoya, the “power school proprietors” mounting pressure on the Federal Government to reopen the schools were only interested in what to be generated from school children.

President Jonathan spoke to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while reacting to threat by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) to embark on strike over government’s refusal to shift the date.

The president maintained that government had put measures in place to deal with any possible future outbreak of the virus.

He said if the late Patrick Sawyer was to arrive the country now, no Nigerian would contact the virus, because of the level of preparation by government.

“At present, there is no Ebola case in Nigeria; nobody in Nigeria has the disease now,” the president stated.

He said, “I am not saying we may not record Ebola case again. As long as the disease is still in the West Coast – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the likelihood that a character like the late Sawyer may come in through one way or the other is there.

“But government is also very mindful of that. At present, our air and sea ports as well as land border posts are properly protected.

“As long as we Nigerians close our public institutions because of Ebola, the dispatches that go out to the rest of the world is that Ebola is a problem in Nigeria.

“We have been able to manage the disease and the whole world is happy with us, and we must tell the world that we have managed Ebola and no Nigerian should be segregated because of Ebola.

“If NUT wants Nigeria to close schools until December, then invariably they are saying that until December, Nigerians should be discriminated against.”

Meanwhile, the leadership of NUT has denied receiving invitation from the House of Representatives Committee on Education to the consultative meeting on Monday, on the controversies over schools resumption date.

NUT president said as a responsible union interested in the growth and development of education in Nigeria, it would not have shunned such important meeting as reported in a section of the media.

In a related development, the Zamfara State government has further extended the resumption date for schools from September 22 to October 13.

The union also threatened to shut down the education sector, if the Federal Government goes ahead on its plans to scrap Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).

“This attempt at scrapping TRCN shows clearly that the Federal Government does not care about the standard of teachers of Nigeria and the much sought-for professionalism of the teaching industry,” he said.

Tribune

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of Osun state

Osun State House of Assembly has passed a bill which compulsory the teaching of Yoruba language, Culture and Tradition in both public and private schools in the state.

Other subjects made compulsory in the new bill are Civic Education and Physical and Health Education.

The bill was passed following a motion moved by the Deputy Leader, Hon. Afolabi Atolagbe, and seconded by the member representing Egbedore State Constituency, Hon. Abiodun Awolola.

On the policy thrust of the bill tagged “Osun State Education Amendment Bill 2014”, the Deputy Leader, Hon. Afolabi Atolagbe, explained that the bill was meant to promote the use of Yoruba Language, Culture and Tradition among students.

In their separate submissions, members of the House unanimously consented to the passage of the bill, saying it would help to prevent the language from going into extinction.

The members averred that the Physical and Health Education was included among the subjects that must be taught in schools to enhance the physical and mental alertness of the students.

In his remarks, the Speaker, Hon. Nojeem Salaam, said the bill was not to discriminate against any religious practice but to promote, culture, tradition and Yoruba language.

While positing that the Assembly would set aside a day of its plenary for use of Yoruba language for its proceedings and conduct of its business, Salem said it was part of measures to promote the language.

Section 18 Subsections 2 of the bill stated that any person being the proprietor of a public or private school, who fails to comply with the directive, shall be liable to a fine of N10,000.

-@DailyIndependent

A lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria was arrested on Sunday night at a private female hostel in Samaru, Zaria.

It was gathered that, the lecturer disguised himself with Hijab (veil) and tried to sneak into the hostel before he was caught.

Khalifa Sha’aibu, one of the eye witnesses alleged that, It was not the first time the lecturer was entering the hostel to visit his girlfriend.

“The most annoying thing is the fact that the man uses Hijab. As a Muslim, I feel sad that somebody would use something that women of faith are known with to perpetrate crime. I wonder why the man would not get a hotel room to perpetrate his immoral act. It was a vigilante member that noticed the identity of the man and exposed him. After he was caught, we discovered that he has been entering the hostel with the consent of the girl. The owner of the private hostel had barred men from entering the rooms.” Shaibu said

It was further gathered that the lecturer was handed over to a team of army personnel that operate at a check-point close to the university and the officers have searched the lecturer’s house.

Director of Public Affairs in the university, Dr. Ismail Shehu, when contacted said he heard something like that but that no official report has been made. He said that immediately an official report is received, the university will take action.

“As you know, ABU does not tolerate indiscipline. Investigation would be carried out and both the lecturer and student would be punished accordingly. There is no doubt about that,” he said.

-@DailyPost

Many states across the South West Zone are putting in place new strategies to contain any outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in order to meet Monday’s resumption date announced by the Federal Government.

In Oyo State, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Solomon Olaniyonu, said government and relevant stakeholders had put in place mechanisms to ensure that schools resume on Monday.

Olaniyonu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan that sensitisation on the disease had been ongoing among the stakeholders.

“Oyo State schools will resume on Sept. 22 as promised because enough sensitisation campaigns has been going on the disease.

“We have been meeting with all stakeholders including principals, teachers and students,” he said.

Olaniyonu also said that his ministry met with the Board of Technical and Vocation Education and the All Nigerian Confederation of Secondary Schools Principals(ANCOPS).

The ministry, he added, had deployed top government officials to rural areas to sensitise residents on the disease before resumption of schools.

“If not for the fact that there is no proper demarcation of boundaries, there would have been no fear of Ebola in this state,” he said.

He said that the Federal Ministry of Education has requested for the number of schools so that the Federal Government could help out with the facilities needed to fight against Ebola.

Mr Waheed Olojede, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the state, however, told NAN that schools would not resume until adequate measures were in place.

“Until adequate measures are put in place by government to check the spread of the dreaded Ebola virus, no school will resume,” he said.
He said that apart from the sensitisation exercise carried out by the Ministry of Education, no facility was in place in schools to prevent the spread of the disease.

Mrs Olufunmilayo Ojoawo, the President of the All Nigerian Confederation of Secondary Schools Principals (ANCOPSS) in the state, said the resumption date was a source of concern to the body.

She also said preventive kits were yet to be put in place in schools to check the disease.

“ If an infected EVD child enters the school, it will just spread like wildfire and this will be very bad, ” she said.

In Ogun, the state government said it had trained no fewer than 12, 000 teachers to handle any possible outbreak of Ebola in schools, ahead of Monday’s resumption date.

The state Commissioner for Education, Segun Odubela, stated this in an in an interview with NAN.

Odubela said that the teachers were drawn from public and private primary and secondary schools in the state.

He added that an additional 3,000 teachers would be trained on Thursday.

The commissioner said that the training programme was facilitated by the state Ministry of Health and some private medical practitioners in the state.

He added that the state had also procured preventive and protective gadgets like hand-gloves and sanitisers for use in the schools.

Odubela said that the state government was already liaising with the Federal Ministry of Education for the procurement of infra -red thermometers to check the temperature of students before resumption.

He explained that the government was also making efforts to ensure that there were clean toilets and running water in the schools.

Odubela said that a special desk had been created in the ministry with a dedicated line for issues relating to the diasease.

Mr Anthony Kansi, the Head teacher of Lawson International Private School, said government had put in place adequate measure to contain any outbreak.

” We are fully prepared for Monday’s resumption; all our students will be properly screened before resumption.

” Their temperature will also be checked to ensure that any case of exceptionally high temperature is reported to nearest hospital for prompt health care,’’ he said.

In Akure, Ondo State, NAN investigations revealed that teachers may resume for duty on Monday.

Mr Solomon Igbelowowa , the Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Ondo State, said the state government had given an assurance that all necessary preventive measures would be in place before Monday.

Igbelowowa said the union had met with the government and was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.

“Our position is clear. We want the government to assure us that the lives of our children are not endangered by taking precautionary measures against outbreak of the dreaded disease in our schools.

“The Ondo State Government has assured us that sensitisation and training of teachers on prevention and early detection of the virus would start on Thursday.

“However, I can assure you that teachers will not resume if government reneges on its promise.

“ We have no problem with Sept. 22, we are only concerned with the wellbeing of our children,” he said.

Mr Yunus Junaid, the proprietor of Main Minaret Group of Schools, Oba – Ile, Akure, said the school had appointed a desk officer saddled with the responsibility of sensitising the pupils on basic personal hygiene.

According to Junaid, the desk officer would monitor pupils’ health and report any unusual health development to the relevant health bodies.
The proprietor, however, expressed regret at the high cost of infrared thermometer.

He said that the school could only encourage regular hand washing with soap and water “since we have sanitisers in place and water is running in our school premises.’’

Similarly, Mr Lanre Alajo, the Principal of Wexford College, Oba – Ile, Akure, said the school had complied with government’s directive to put in place all necessary facilities to check the Ebola Virus Disease.

“We place a high premium on the wellbeing of our pupils here.

“ That is why we have engaged the service of qualified medical personnel to screen pupils, staff and visitors before they enter our premises, ” Alajo said.
In Kwara, the state government said that it would soon commence training of teachers to contain the disease.

Alhaji Saka Onimago, the state Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, stated this in Ilorin.

He said all schools in the 16 local government areas would provide two teachers each to be trained on containing an outbreak.

The commissioner stated that the exercise would commence as soon as the Federal Ministry of Health and Education provided the necessary materials.

Onimago, however, said all public and private schools had been directed to resume on Monday for the First Term of the 2014/2015 academic session.

“All schools are also directed to provide basic hygiene materials such as soaps, washing bowl, towels and hand sanitizers for teachers and students,” he said.

In Osun, Mr Lawrence Oyeniran, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, said government had met with stakeholders on how to contain the disease.

Oyeniran told NAN in Osogbo that the states government had ensured that teachers and health
workers were given adequate training.

‘’Bearing in mind that children will be coming from different homes, it becomes important that teachers are given the basic knowledge on how to prevent the outbreak of the disease.

‘’Apart from updating them on basic health management issues, they will be refreshed on how to assist students to improve on personal hygiene.

“Two health workers will be on ground in each school, and for them to
work effectively; we have bought hand thermometers for their use.

“These thermometers will be used to check the temperature of each student as they come into the school to ensure that anyone who has high temperature or signs of fever will be excused to receive
medical attention before coming to school.

“We have met with the management of private schools, principals and health workers to sensitise them and encourage them to be up and doing in respect of the EVD.

” Parents bringing their wards to school will be rest assured that there will be no problem in terms of their children contacting the virus,’’ he said.

“ Training was held on Wednesday at Akinorun High School, Ikirun, Technical College, Osogbo and Baptist High School, Ede.

‘’There will be another training on Thursday at Oduduwa High School, Ile-Ife, Ilesa High School, Ilesa and Iwo Baptist High School, Iwo.

‘’On Friday, it will be the turn of teachers within Ife East Area office at Modakeke, High School in Ife East area of the State,’’ he added.

He enjoined parents not to leave the duties of ensuring hygiene to teachers alone as their wards often spend more time at home.

Some parents in Osogbo, however, expressed reservations at Monday’s resumption date for schools.

Some of them, who spoke to NAN, said that it was risky for students to resume when the disease
had not been totally contained.

Mrs Anike Giwa said: “This is a matter that confuses me most times when I think about it. Should I say schools should not resume under the health situation we have in the country?

“Yet we have witnessed mass failure in some of our public examinations; if schools do not resume, how then are we guaranteed better performance in future examinations.

“Honestly, looking at it the other way, we are talking about students, especially the primary school pupils.

“ Let us be sincere with ourselves, teachers cannot control the spread of such a disease.

“These children play a lot, you never can tell, if you contain them in the class, what about the toilets, playground or even other activities?

“These children do things together and we cannot stop them.

“Sincerely I am confused, I cannot keep my children at home but I am also scared to allow them to resume.’’

Another respondent, Suliat Mohammed said: “Even if schools do not resume in the next 10
years, will this stop the spread of EVD? This thing is not limited to schools alone, it is everywhere.

“Not allowing schools to resume in good time will only disrupt the normal school calendar and this is not good for our children.

“I am not happy about the health challenges we are facing as regards the EVD, in fact, I am scared but the only thing we can do is pray to God for protection.

“So the date of resumption declared by the government is not bad, we all have to take a risk because these children are doing nothing but play at home.’’

The Ekiti State Government, however, said schools would not resume until all precautionary measures had been taken.

The state’s Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu, told NAN that the state government would not unilaterally choose a resumption date for schools.

Adelabu, who is also the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, said a new date for resumption would be made public after a meeting with all stakeholders.

“There are critical stakeholders such as parents, Nigeria Union of Teachers, head teachers and medical personnel and their opinions have to be considered before taking a final decision,” she said.

Adelabu said a committee set up by the government had started making advocacy visits to create awareness on the disease while arrangement was being made to get necessary equipment.

She said stakeholders in the state would meet before Friday, after which a new resumption date would be announced.

Also speaking with NAN, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Olusola Fasuba, disclosed that government had procured 1,000 test kits for teachers and pupils in public schools.

He, however, said that owners of private schools would be made to procure their own kits.

The commissioner said 350 units of protective equipment as well infra red thermometers had also been procured.

The commissioner also said the state government was set to sponsor the training of 30 health workers on a “ training the trainer’’ programme.

The Chairman of the NUT in the state, Mr Samuel Akosile, said teachers would not resume until all preventive measures were in place.

The state Chairman of the Academic Staff union of Secondary Schools, Mr Sola Adigun, said the union was waiting for government to declare a resumption date.(NAN)