From Adesola Ikulajolu and Comfort Olafare

The Nigerian Youth Parliament has canvassed expanding the age limit requirement for jobs in public and private sectors in a bid to end unemployment in Nigeria.

This call was made by the member representing Bauchi State Imrana Garba, while presenting a motion at the first sitting of the Nigerian Youth Parliament. The motion was titled: “The need for the expansion of age limit as one of the requirements for job recruitment in Nigeria’’.

The sitting was held at the Kano State House of Assembly Complex, Audu Bako Secretariat.

Garba pointed out that different administrations have instituted programmes to reduce unemployment but none has solved the menace among the youths.

He said: ‘’Many administrations both military and democratic have come up with different programmes such as National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P), Social Investment programme  coupled with the effort of National Directorate of Employment ( NDE ), among others. These all aimed at reducing the rate of unemployment; yet its scourge is still ravaging the youth population.’’

Garba added that unemployment cuts across youths whether literate or otherwise, and regardless of whether they reside in urban or rural locations.

He contended that age limit would give room for people with slow education to get employed without age barrier.

The motion was seconded by Esther O. Sharon representing Enugu west senatorial district.

In his contribution, the co-sponsor of the motion Ugonna Okafor, representing Imo west senatorial district, expressed concerns over how age limit has denied some graduates employment opportunities in both public and private organisations.

The motion was deliberated at the floor of the House in which members-Comfort Olafare, Claude Orike Ndubisi, Saliu Shinawu, Prince Olufemi, Nita Biyack George, Daniju Sultan among others, contributed.

In a related development, member representing Osun East Senatorial District, simply known as Costly  Aderibigbe, also presented a motion on: ‘’The need for intentional investment in youth capital development to harness the demographic dividend’’.

She urged the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development to ensure that youths who are survivors of war and conflicts as well as young people living in IDPs camps are well captured in Digital Skills Entrepreneurship Empowerment and Leadership (DEEL) programme.

Aderibigbe called on the NYP’s Youths Legislative Body to be at the forefront of advocacy and implementation of Nigeria’s demographic dividend road map.

The motion was seconded by Imrana Garba, an engineer and member representing Bauchi central.

Also at the plenary, the Chairman the Northeast caucus and Member representing Bauchi Nnorth Kamal Jibrin Jama’ar, raised a motion titled: “Youth unemployment and restiveness in the Northeast: The need for North East Development Commission (NEDC), to engage the young generation in resolving the menace’’.

Read Also: Ekweremadu seeks removal of age limit for political offices

He said NEDC was established in 2017, with the assent of the Bill on October 25, 2017 by President Muhammadu Buhari; and charged with to, among other things, ‘receive and manage funds from allocation of the federal account international donors for the settlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, houses and business premises of victims of insurgency, as well as tackling menace of poverty, illiteracy level, ecological problems and any other related environmental or developmental challenges’ in the Northeast ,which consists of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

Also, a motion co-sponsored by the members of Northeast, NEDC is expected to engage the teeming youth in skills acquisitions and vocational training to improve their standard of living through the establishment of Youth Development Centers in all states nationwide.

Jibrin, therefore, called on the commission as a matter of urgency, to rehabilitate schools affected by insurgency and establish new ones.

Jibrin also urges NEDC to establish guidance and counseling/rehabilitation centers in all the states of the region for de-radicalisation of victims and repentant insurgents.

Contributing to the motion, Shettima Umar representing Borno north, expressed concern over the level of out-of-school children in the region, advocating concerted effort towards ameliorating the problems.

Shettima also urged NEDC to create an office in Maiduguri, the headquarter of Borno State in order to have firsthand information on the plight of the people of the area.

By Sampson Nnamka

Rector of Lagos State Polytechnic (Laspotech), Samuel Sogunro, has advised matriculating students to key into the institution’s computer education programmes, saying they were designed to aid national advancement.

He also said technology is now central to every facet of human discipline including agriculture.

Sogunro made this known at the institution’s 2019/2020 matriculation which held at its Ikorodu campus, Lagos. A total of 2,108 National Diploma and 800 Higher Diploma students took the oath of matriculation.

“I want to urge you all to please embrace the compulsory Computer Education programme, which is a vital part of our academic programmes in the polytechnic, as well as the compulsory Agriculture course. We have a full-fledged Centre for Entrepreneurship and Skills Acquisition(CESA), which is well equipped for the training of students in various skills-sets and manned by competent personnel capable of stirring the entrepreneurial spirit in our students, “said Sogunro.

He admonished the students to adopt the aforementioned initiatives, which according to him, were inspired by the Federal Government and complemented by the Lagos State government through its ‘Ready Set Work’ initiative.

Further, Sogunro explained that personally the ceremony was significant for him as it marked the last matriculation he would preside over as the institution’s helmsman.

He described his journey as ‘rough’.

Read Also: Rector canvasses support for alma mater

“It has been very rough since 2016,” he lamented.

“We have been on one issue that deals with staff welfare, especially money. I inherited two major issues from the previous administration-2010 retirees and Issue of CONTIS 16 migration”.

He said the government has intervened by setting up a panel which is currently looking into CONTIS 16 migration.

Recounting his achievements, Sogunro mentioned infrastructural development which includes School of Agriculture which, according to him, was the first to be set up in Ikorodu campus, courtesy of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).

However, other schools like Mass Communication structures and others are in progress, he added.

While congratulating the matriculating students, Sogunro urged them to consider themselves lucky to witness this year’s ceremony which he said, could not be conducted the previous year owing to industrial crisis.

Our Reporter

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Osogbo, Most Rev. John Akin Oyejola, has charged Nigerian youths to embrace farming as an alternative means of livelihood. Oyejola warned youths not drag the country’s reputation into the murky water of disgrace through shady deals and sharp practices.

Oyejola, who is also the Osogbo Diocesan Prelate, stated this at the 25th Anniversary of the Rural Development Programme (RUDEP) and Annual Farmers’ Forum of the Sustainable Farmers Association of the Justice Development and Peace Makers’ Centre, (JDPMC), held in Oke-Ayepe, Osogbo.

Said: Oyejola:”The crime rate is  alarming in Nigeria. This is more often than not attributed to the high unemployment rate in the country.

To me however, it will be more beneficial if Nigerian youths take turns to the profitable farming system which our founding fathers had built over the years by a dint of hard work, rather than damaging the hard earned reputation of the country through internet frauds and other nefarious activities.

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“In many of the developed societies today, most rich people are farmers and they carry out their operation via mechanised farming. I believe that it is not too much if Nigerian youths can take a cue from this. It is crucial they do before they reduce Nigeria to nothing among comity of nations.”

Similarly, Osun State Commissioner for Rural Development and Community Affairs, Mr Oladimeji Adesegun, who was represented by Mrs Bamidele Akinola, expressedthe  government’s passion to turn the agricultural and rural potentials of the state into a common wealth for all.

In his remark, the General Coordinator of JDPMC Rev. Peter Akinkunmi, said 25 years of the Rural Development Programme’s interventions had paid off and made landmark impacts of multiplier effects in terms of creation of peaceful co-existence between the herders and rural farmers, prevention of worse climatic condition and food security system.

The Great Auchi Polytes Club is an association of Auchi Polytechnic Old Students. The body held its  maiden reunion recently. In this interview with Ogechukwu Nwankwo, its President Prince Egbe Humphrey Omorodion, explains thevalue of coming together for common good and giving back to their alma mater.

What is Great Auchi Polytes Club all about?

Great Auchi Polytes Club is all about a group of old students of Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, with a desire for continued interaction and reunion with contemporaries.

This quest has given rise to old students and alumni association respectively. It is instructive to note that the whole idea of our coming together was muted by the visionary chairman of our Board of Trustees, Mr. Preston Toghanro.

What were the events that birthed the association?

Basically, it is the drive to bond together and continue to relate intimately as in the good old school days during our stay on campus which we nicknamed ‘Golan Heights’ because of its unique topography. This led to some former students of the old Auchi Polytechnic to come together to initiate and nurture to fruition Great Auchi Polytes Forum (GAPF).

What is the population of the association at present and what efforts are you making to attract more?

As I said earlier, GAP Club is an international social organisation of elites from the old Auchi Polytechnic in Edo State.Our membership spans across the globe with branches in North America, Europe, and Africa.

A member of GAP Family is known as a Gapian. We actually took off from ground zero and today, we have over 100 members.

We are confident that as we continue to meet and project our very laudable objectives, more persons will obviously identify with us, not just for our individual good, but also for our collective good and that of our alma mater.

How do you intend to incorporate all members across varying financial backgrounds?

Well, as a group, we are very conscious of the fact that all hands are not equal. Nonetheless, we are a group of responsible people and the reason for our gathering is not for stock taking but how we have fared.

It is rather a genuine reunion and everyone, irrespective of their status in society is welcomed; you only need to have attended the Great Auchi Polythecnic to qualify.

Read Also: ‘We’re glad to support our alma mater’

You held a maiden reunion tagged in Lagos. What did you intend to achieve?

It was a three-day reunion tagged: “Barracuda Bonding”in Lagos. The event was the culmination of about four years of interactions on social media across different states of Nigeria and other parts of the world.

We achieved several mileages particularly with respect to reunion. First, people were happy to meet face to face, having left school many years ago. More fundamentally is the commitment by a member who is a top notch in the banking industry to build an amphitheatre for our great institution.

Moreover, the reunion further reinforced the bond of true brotherhood, because the event afforded many to see that the association was not just a media hype, but a reality.

In your address, you spoke on the association’s achievements.

We are an association keen on a better future. We have plans to lift our members from pains and the shackles of deprivation. Such schemes include, but not limited to, GAP Life, which is an insurance scheme that guarantees members families some money in the event of death.

There is also GAP Family Scholarship, which is available to members’ children, especially our late members’ widows and widowers.

The GAP club places much premium on education, given the fact that it is the bedrock to all round development, we therefore decided that none of our members’ children for lack of fund or untimely death of their parents, will be deprived of quality education.

From Roland Bayode, Deborah Omoare

Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), has denied reports that its Health Centre operates ‘below expectation’.

The management is reacting to a CAMPUSLIFE cover story on the second of this month where some CAMPUSLIFE correspondents interviewed some students of the institution that shared mixed views about the state of the facility.

Director of the Health Centre, Dr Mathew Igboku, admitted that things were once rough at the centre, adding that at present, the situation has improved.

Speaking with CAMPUSLIFE, Igboku said the Health Centre has just introduced a new scheme known as Tertiary Institute Social Health Insurance Programme (TSHIP), which aims at ensuring adequate and proper treatment of students.

According to him, every student is expected to pay certain amount of money for the scheme, which is already included in their school fees.

Said Igboku: “In the past, we did not have enough drugs to give to patients but things are different now.

“Every student is expected to pay for TSHIP, which is written somewhere on the school fee receipt. This takes care of the drugs we give to students. The good thing about this scheme is that we use money gotten from TSHIP to treat students who have not paid their school fees and those who have paid.

Through TSHIP, we now have a good and regular supply of drugs. Therefore, the problem of sourcing for money to buy drugs is gone.”

Igboku disclosed that the scheme also covers the treatment of severe cases like minor surgery and the likes.

He added: “Another thing I need to clarify is that when we refer a patient to the state hospital, the person does not have to pay for anything if he or she has paid the school fees.

This is also under the TSHIP arrangement. The state hospital will send the bill to the organisation covering the health centre, which is known as Health Maintenance Organisation.

This organisation will pick up the bill. At the health centre, we have performed minor surgeries, cured tooth problems and other significant treatments.”

Read Also: Rotary Club of Maryland plans community health centre

Igboku further explained that the functionality of the scheme is not limited to the school health centre only but also functions in any hospital that is NHIS (National Health Insurance Scheme) accredited.

“If you are residing in Lagos and you are sick, you can go to any hospital that is NHIS accredited. When you go there, and you call us that you are a registered student and have paid your school fees, that hospital will treat you free of charge and send the bills to the Health Management Organisation. However, you must have confirmed from us through a phone call. We are pleading with students to pay their school fees so that TSHIP will continue to function effectively,” he said.

Igboku urged students to desist from self-medication and consult the centre for any health issue.

“I have met some students who indulge in self-medication. Some even end up spending over N2000 on drugs instead of spending it on feeding.

I want to admonish every student to visit the Health Centre whenever they are ill, especially those who have paid their school fees, and those who have not when it is an emergency.

TSHIP covers almost all the drugs that a patient needs, but if there is need for any specific drug, and it is not under the coverage of TSHIP, then the patient can talk to his/her guardian. Also, if it is something we cannot do at the Health Centre, we would refer the patient to a state hospital,” he explained.

He advised students to henceforth the facility regularly.

“It must be noted that we attend to only emergency from 2:00pm.

“If you have catarrh and come to the Health Centre to complain at the wrong time, you will be given only paracetamol. If you have any complaint, come between the hours of 8a.m. and 2p.m. Students should come to the centre at the right time, but if it is an emergency, you can come anytime.

“However, if a patient that has not paid his/her school fees and is being referred (that is not an emergency case), the hospital will find it difficult sending the person’s bills to HMO, and the amount they pay if a patient is being referred to a state hospital is more than N2000. So, we implore students to pay their TSHIP dues because it has many advantages,“ he added.

From Everistus Onwuzurike

Vice Chancellor of Benson Idahosa University (BIU), Prof Sam Guobadia, has enjoined the 616 newly admitted students of the institution to be disciplined and dedicated to their studies. He advised the students to work hard, shun all forms of deviant behaviours, and focus on the purpose that brought them to school.

Guobadia spoke during the university’s matriculation for the 2019/2020 academic session.

His words: “I, therefore, charge you to make the most of the opportunity afforded you by your parents/guardians. Ensure that you attend classes, shun all forms of deviant behaviours and focus on the purpose that brought you here.

“At Benson Idahosa University, we have zero tolerance for any form of misconduct. We do not hesitate to sanction students who disobey our rules and regulations. Be modest and decent in your dressing and approach to issues and adhere strictly to the rules and regulations in the Students Handbook.”

Read Also: College of Tech holds 6th matriculation

He noted that the university would continue to focus on its core purpose which is to ‘change Nigeria’. This, he said, management hopes to achieve by instilling the vision and mission of BIU in its students.

He assured parents/guardians that their children/wards are in safe hands.

“Finally, I wish to assure you of adequate security on both of our campuses. We, however, plead with you not to hesitate to report any suspicious activities to the Dean of Student Affairs, security officers or any worker of the university for immediate response. Your safety is our number one priority.’’

He praised the new students and their parents for choosing BIU, promising that the institution would not disappoint them.

By Agbo Agbo

During a visit to see my mother some years back, she brought out a series of old pictures she has meticulously kept which showed how skinny I was some years back. While we were laughing about some of my boyhood escapades, some tiny sheets of paper slipped from within some of the pictures.

Taking a closer look they turned out to be a 1983 note I took from a public lecture I attended at the then Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

The FASS used to be the hotbed of intellectual and academic excellence which was why successive governments paid close attention to what happened there.

My note turned out to be a 1983 lecture titled the “Marx and Africa Conference.” It suggested it was organised to mark the centenary of the death of the great revolutionary, Karl Marx. It was surprising that I attended the conference years before I became an undergraduate!

These were some of the names on my sheet; Professor Eskor Toyo, the highly revered university of Calabar Marxist economist, who died four years ago. Others include late Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman, a world class historian, Professor Claude Ake, a notable political economist who died in a plane crash and Professor Bade Onimode, another Marxist economist some of us grew up to love.

Professor Toyo was the last of these renowned scholars and thinkers on the Left in my list to pass on. Following these intellectuals from that time onward, my stay in the university was smooth as my intellect was sharpened even before I gained admission. It is in this light that I remember Eskor Toyo whom I only saw physically from afar in 1983.

For the benefit of those who may not know, our varsities were once a citadel of ideological debates. Yes, in this same country! From my note, Toyo’s presentation at the conference was made during the session called “Methodology” where he made clarifications on misconceptions about Marxist philosophy.

Ever since that 1983 encounter I followed his writings and submissions diligently. As a Marxist, his approach to politics was clearly class based. He believed in and worked for the political power of the working class.

He challenged socialists to move from the margins of national politics to the mainstream. This he demonstrated by being an active member of the late Aminu Kano led People’s Redemption Party (PRP).

Toyo took the practical aspects of the struggle seriously, believing that a progressive politician should be immersed in the people for his activities. That perhaps explains his immense admiration for the late Gani Fawehinmi – who incidentally was his student.

He declared Gani “the greatest politician in Nigeria” for always standing with the people. A man who always stood on the side of justice, Toyo played a prominent role within the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for the improvement in the conditions of lecturers’ and the universities.

During the “great” Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) debate of the late 80s to early 90s, Toyo was quite eloquent. He wrote series of articles in newspapers and magazines arguing why Nigeria should not accept the International Monetary Fund/World Bank loan. Most of his thoughts were later encapsulated in his 2002 book titled ‘Economics of Structural Adjustment.’

Looking backward to the debate and forward to present realities, this books relevance cannot be discountenanced. Our country is still in the vice grip of neo-liberal components of privatisation, currency devaluation, deregulation, removal of subsidies and restriction of the sphere of the state in economic matters as espoused by these institutions.

These policies are more glaring today than they were even in the late 80s. We are still battling with the exchange rate for the naira. Some are arguing that we allow “market force” to determine the “true” rate of the naira against foreign currencies, while others argue that government should play a role by fixing an official rate. Most – if not all – government owned companies have been privatized or “unbundled” over the years. Most importantly, the “good old” subsidy debate is still ongoing!

Apart from being a Marxist, Toyo was also a realist. He identified three types of critiques of SAP. The first sees the programme as necessary, but with a caveat; it should not be solely private sector driven because of the often unbridled quest for profits.

The second questions the actual design of SAP and some of its component policies. The third – which Eskor Toyo identifies with – offers a more fundamental critique of SAP as a set of policies designed to save capitalism as a global economic system.

Toyo – like most Marxists – was ‘boxed into a corner’ when the Soviet Union disintegrated into its constituent parts, and with it the entire Eastern bloc. Socialism also went under. The ideological dissolution of socialism and the triumph of capitalism and free market painted the picture of the superiority of capitalism as a “better” system of economic management.

However, any student of current studies will not fail to notice the persistent cyclical crises that continue to characterise capitalist economies throwing millions of people into unemployment, poverty and homelessness thereby increasing social inequality.

Just like was done during the SAP riots in Nigeria in the early 90s, proponents of capitalism have been clamouring to give the system “a human face.” In the West, there have been several bailouts of companies that were run aground by their managements. Ironically, they were bailed out with public funds!

Read Also: Toyo lived for the less-privileged – Buhari

Whether or not one agrees with Eskor Toyo’s ideological orientation, he raises certain critical questions which must certainly attract the attention and interest of the managers of a neo-colonial economy like Nigeria. For instance, he raises the key issue of the dichotomy between growth and development. He contends that the two cannot be conflated.

Over the years, we have been continuously inundated with Nigeria’s “impressive statistical growth rates.” It is brandished in our faces each time the government wants to score political points. Yet right thinking citizens could not fathom the high unemployment rate in the country.

Neither could they make sense of our infrastructural decay or the overall well-being of the vast majority of Nigerians. It is often during periods like these that some grudgingly agreed that we had growth without visible development.

Toyo’s argument was premised on his conviction that development means a qualitative change for the better in the capacity of man to control his environment while growth, by contrast, means mere expansion of scale without necessarily improvement in the environment.

Because our economic policies are managed by scholars and theoreticians trained to wholly accept the IMF/WB solutions without question, Toyo and his colleagues operate from the fringes by providing alternative solutions.

He once argued that “It is the facile focus on GDP growth rate as such that enables the World Bank and the IMF to mislead. A country can, in fact, be developing while the growth in per capita income is zero.”

He cites the example of a country that decides to save to build an iron and steel industry and train its own scientists and engineers to man it.

Even if nothing changes in terms of per capita income during the gestation period of this project, he argues, “because of the crucial transformational role of the character of the investment, the country by that investment has made an incalculable leap in development.” How true!

This great economist of the left was indisputably the master of his profession. He was diligent in what he professed. His liberal and conservative professional colleagues might not be comfortable with his ideological position, but none could dismiss his excellent scholarship; he was a scholar to the core.

His death reduced the rank of the true Nigerian left. He dreamt of a Nigeria where social justice and economic wellbeing will be the norm. I pray this dream comes true in my generation.

By Odekunle Ayishat Lolade

Paramount ruler of Iseyin land, Oba AbdulGaniy Adekunle Salau, has appreciated American Polytechnic of Nigeria (APN) founder Dr Dare Akande, for siting the institution in the town.

The monarch said it would open up the ancient town to commercial activities, adding that it would also boost science/technology in the town.

The monarch spoke during the foundation laying of the institution at its permanent site at Wasinmi in Araromi Local Council Development Area of Oyo State.

The monarch, who performed the laying of the sod alongside others, praised Akande for facilitating the location of the institution in Oke Ogun area. He prayed for its speedy take-off.

Akande promised that APN would enjoy technical support and student exchange programme with four American institutions: Lewis University, New England College, Liberty University; Gannon University, and Sprot Shaw College in Canada.

He assured that APN would change the education sector. Graduating students, Akande explained, would be well-equipped for the job market and future economic demand.

Read Also: Lawmaker seeks polytechnic in Badagry

According to him, a large part of the institution’s 200-acre land would be designated as Industrial Park. He adding that this would create  employment opportunities and assist its students to start up as entrepreneurs, a development also Akande hopes would boost not only the economy of the state, but also  that of the country.

He thanked Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde for his support to the education sector. He expressed his confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari’s initiative in the rail and road transportation.

He unveiled the departmental structure of the institution, which includes: departments of Computer Science and Engineering; Automobile and Mechanical Engineering, Smart Manufacturing, Electrical Engineering (with Electrical Transformer manufacturing specialisation), Cement Manufacturing; Agriculture/Dairy Farming, Tourism and Cultural Heritage.

At the event were Ayotunde Fatokun, who represented the Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, Debo Ogundoyin.

Other lawmakers include: Olamide Olagoke Akinajo, Hakeem Adedibu and the caretaker chairman of Iseyin South LCDA, Raheem Ajibola as well as the Baale of Wasinmi, Adegokewere.