The Nation Newspaper

Category: Uncategorized

  • Don blames poor varsity system on brain drain

    A Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Science, Prof Ikenna Onyido, has blamed the dwindling standards of the nation’s university system on the mass exodus of academic staff for more lucrative jobs.

    “Many academic staff are leaving for greener pastures outside the university system,” Onyido lamented while addressing reporters in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

    The former Vice-Chancellor of the Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, said the situation is injurious to the system. For instance, he said former vice-chancellors prefer more lucrative posting to the classrooms after their tenure.

    He said, “Former Vice Chancellors hardly return to their classrooms and laboratories after their tenure; they are associated with seeking elective offices as governors or members of parliament. Alternatively, they look for other agencies of government where they relocate as Director-Generals and Chief Executive.”

    He said that losing such caliber of academic staff was a great disservice to the system, because of the long period it takes to nurture them to such status.

    “Take count of those who wield one level of power or the other in the university (Vice Chancellors, Deputy Vice Chancellors, Deans and Heads of Departments); these are all academic staff. If the vast majority of former executives in the university leave the system, there is incurable loss of institutional memory,” he noted.

    Onyido said the only way the Nigerian university system can be salvaged is for the various stakeholders to re-dedicate themselves to academic pursuits.

  • Abuad: Leading light in academic sector

    Abuad: Leading light in academic sector

    Veteran journalist and columnist Olutade Makinde   visited the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) and was amazed at what he saw. Here are his comments: 

    Today, the mustard seed which Aare Afe Babalola, Founder and President of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), planted at the commencement of academic activities on January 4, 2010 has grown into an awesome, durable oak tree, metamorphosing into a leading light in the tertiary educational sector.

    I was at ABUAD recently when Chief Babalola asked his Chief Security Officer (CSO) to take me on a tour of the campus and I marveled at what I saw.

    At the Law College, what I saw in the Library was close to what I saw at Yale and Harvard when I was on a seminar tour to the US in August 1984. And when I saw the Yale and Harvard references segment at ABUAD library, including access to such resources as LexisNexis, I became certain that Aare Babalola is set to lift law studies. And it has to be so because with ABUAD’s Law e-library and other facilities, including high quality law lecturers, Babalola is playing the urban game in which he is a genius.

    This much was confirmed by the NUC Executive secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie, when on his visit to ABUAD Law College, he said:” I came to visit the Law faculty of this institution and I am marveled with the books and facilities provided at the faculty. It is certainly the best Law College in West Africa. I want to believe that the faculty got all these things because of the pedigree of the owner of the university. That is why we tell people not to dabble into what they don’t know. I know they also have good facilities for other faculties and I am impressed with what I saw because what they have here can be compared with the best anywhere in the world”.

    In all, Aare Babalola’s aspirations to take the University to the high level has put him on the same page with his dainty, workaholic pioneer Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Sidi Osho, regarded as the Iron Lady of the University community, whose resolve is to ensure excellence, high academic and moral standards for the University.

    A sticker for standard and discipline, the “impossibilities made possible”, self-made man, Afe, has the dream of establishing ABUAD as a means of practising, by example, how problems militating against the growth of Nigerian Universities can be solved and wanted to effectuate this in the philosophy of “leading by example”. This was why he has got all infrastructures on ground at its permanent site before the commencement of operations, as opposed to the practice whereby some universities exist only in name with no infrastructure of their own but operated from rented buildings.

    As former Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Babalola was able to gain insight into the myriad of problems confronting tertiary education in the country – problems such as indiscipline, cultism, strikes, unstable university calendar and inadequate funding – all of which have adversely affected the quality of education in Nigerian Universities. Babalola’s dream of a university with a stable academic calendar has been realised. That is why he is able to produce graduates under four years, because with the level of discipline, teaching and learning at ABUAD, there are no carry-overs, re-sits or extra years.

    Living up to the tenets of its motto, which translates into “Labour (work), service and integrity”, ABUAD has shored up the dictates of the 3 – word motto in its daily routine of academic operations, with Babalola blazing the trail during his romance with the dignity of labour (work) syndrome when he worked as a labourer in Clayton factory, Chelsea, London between 1962-63, where he was singing and smiling while sweating as a common labourer, hypothetically signposting the first word “labour” in his later – year ABUAD motto. The other two words in the motto, “service and integrity” were earned, crystal clear, by him during his future life. (Methinks: Does Afe Babalola’s Chelsea stay make him a Chelsea fan? No, Afe is an Arsenal fan (laughs).

    It is not often that people realise the importance of having people like Babalola in their lives until it becomes late. But for students and workers at ABUAD as well as those who have gained from his philanthropy, free legal services and scholarships, see him as a man of integrity. No doubt ABUAD will produce graduates imbued with these qualities traceable to their Founder.

    At an address to ABUAD students and staff at the Founder’s Dinner held on July 14, 2011, Aare Babalola urged the students to develop interest in their chosen courses. He added: “If you do so, you will never find learning and class attendance difficult in order to obtain a degree. If your interest in the chosen course is cultivated and sustained, then you will find learning very easy and interesting”. That sermon, according to St. Emmanuel Afe Babalola, had got tattooed into the students’ brains, in the pursuit of their individual academic laurels at ABUAD.

    During my visit, I found that the Law College boasts of a Moot Court where mock litigations are carried out, with real judges on the bench, while students argue cases as are done in regular courts. This is to prepare the law students practically for the tasks ahead after graduation.

    New multi-capacity male and female hostels and cafeteria are being built to supplement the existing ones. Feeding arrangements are on “pay as you eat” system, the staff quarters and Guest House, in which Gen. Yakubu Gowon once stayed, are spectacles to behold while ABUAD operates the best security system ever known to mankind in any University society.

    Added to all these infrastructures is the state-of-the-art Engineering College building near completion. In all that it takes to make a university tick, ABUAD is self sufficient in all spheres, callings and departments, which makes the institution an independent community on its own.

    In the words of the university’s Pro-chancellor, Prof. Iyorwuese Hagher, CON, Afe Babalola “is a priest in the temple of justice, an uncommon man with a vision in an uncommon environment and a man with extraordinary courage”. Lending fillip to Prof Hagher’s assessment of the ABUAD Founder/President, I will describe the Aare of Oyo Empire, Chief Babalola, SAN, CON as an extraordinary person – a person with a vision that is in motion at ABUAD.

    •Makinde, columnist, publisher and veteran journalist, sends this piece from Ado-Ekiti

  • NANS, AASU condemn Mubi killing

    The leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the All African Student Union (AASU) have condemned the killing of 26 students of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi in Adamawa State on Monday last week by yet-to- be identified gunmen.

    In a statement signed by the NANS Vice President, Comrade Moreno Ehimemenn in Benin City, the Edo State Capital the students gave one week ultimatum to relevant authorities to produce the perpetrators of the heinous crime and punish them accordingly.

    “What did the harmless students do? We cannot fold our arms to see our colleagues being horribly killed. Failure to investigate and produce the militants, we would not hesitate to mobilise to Abuja after the seven-day ultimatum to peacefully protest against the ungodly acts. We also urge parents, well meaning Nigerians and friends of Nigerian students to join us in the peaceful protest,” he added.

    Ehimemenn expressed worry that if the situation is not quickly checked, it will further reduce the interest of education in Nigeria.

    The statement further added that the students should not be buried if adequate compensation is not duly paid.

    Similarly, the members of AASU from different African countries, condemned the killings when they visited Yola to confer the Nkwame Nkrumah Leadership Award on the Provost of the Federal College of Education, Yola, Prof Abdul-Mumin Sa’ad.

    The Deputy Speaker of the AASU Parliament, Yinka Gbadebo, while condemning the killing of the students called on the Federal Government to engage any aggrieved group in a dialogue to prevent loss of lives and property.

    He said, “We want to use this opportunity to strongly condemn the killing of our fellow students at the Federal Polytechnic Mubi on Monday. We call on the government and all parties involved to dialogue to prevent further loss of lives. “

    Speaking on the award, he said the Provost was found deserving because of his leadership qualities and commitment toward uplifting the FCE Yola.

  • Six states plan summit

    Governors of five states, Bayelsa, Rivers, AkwaIbom, Cross River, Edo and Delta (BRACED states) are putting heads together to improve education service delivery in their states.

    They will meet at a summit to hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State from November 15 – 17.

    Ambassador Joe Keshi, Director-General of the BRACED Commission, the secretariat of the group, said the summit would provide the six states a forum to find solution to problems bedeviling the education sector and improve the learning environment and over all wellbeing of the various stakeholders in the education process especially the teachers and the students.

    Keshi said the summit would help the governors, school administrators and other stakeholders to compare notes and seek ways of breathing fresh life to the sector.

    “The conference will therefore review the state of basic, secondary and technical vocational education, higher education, teachers’ education and training of teachers, in addition to reviewing the standard of science and technology education”, he said.

    The education summit, a sequel to two successful economic summits by the commission, would be attended by the governors of the BRACED states, ministers of Education, Science and Technology; commissioners for education, permanent secretaries, Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts of universities, colleges of education and polytechnics in the states.

    Other attendees expected are deans of education faculties, principals, head teachers, teachers associations, chairmen of States Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEB), faith-based educational organisations, NGOs, as well as donor agencies.

    At the end of the summit, Keshi said the states will produce a common education policy that will impact on science and technology, improve and strengthen the content of basic education, revive technical and vocational education.

    Other outcomes expected from the summit include infrastructural development, provision of instructional materials; and enhancement of creativity and innovation through the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT).

  • UNN resumes on schedule

    Current and fresh students of the University of Nigeria (UNN) have resumed for the 2012/2013 academic year, marking a return to normal school calendar in the federal university for the first time in nearly a decade.

    UNN welcomed fresh students on September 27 while returning students resumed last Thursday in all campuses of the university that clocked 52 on Sunday.

    A statement from the university quoted Vice Chancellor Prof Bartho Okolo as expressing the joy at the return to normalcy in the school calendar following years of elongated or truncated academic calendars caused by strikes by academic and non-academic staff, internally or nationally, and students’ unrest.

    “We have worked hard to get to this point. We project that the 2012/2013 academic year would run from September 2012 and end on June 30, 2013. That way, students can expect to have the hitherto normal three-month vacation at the end of the session”, Okolo stated.

    The VC called on all stakeholders of UNN to work with the university administration to ensure attainment of the projected academic calendar, urging them to utilise all avenues for dispute resolution within the system so that there are no further disruptions internally.

    “We cannot control external factors, but we can work together, university administration, staff and students, to ensure that we sustain this return to normalcy and never have reason to rush through our academic year again or shift it forward because of problems,” he said.

  • ‘Strengthen security in schools’

    The Senate Committee on Education has called for the upgrading of security system in tertiary institutions to curb the increasing wave of violence and crime.

    The Committee Chairman, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, spoke when the committee visited the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in Osun State.

    Chukwumerije condemned violence in tertiary institutions, calling for more security votes in the universities.

    A minute silence was observed for students killed in Mubi, Adamawa State and Aluu, Rivers State.

    He said if the committee had envisaged the increase in crimes in the universities, it would have passed an extra ordinary budget for security.

    Chukwumerije said: “The essence of our visitation is in accordance with Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution.

    He said it is an avenue for stakeholders to move the sector forward.

    “We urge the university to improve its town and gown relationship.

    The host community must be impacted on by the university community.”

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole, appealed to the Federal Government to increase the budgets of federal universities.

    He said inadequate funding of universities is affecting their performance.

    Omole said most universities are underfunded and that government subvention is not enough to take care of universities expenditure.

    Other members of the committee Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Prof. Olusola Adeyeye, Senator Atiku Bagudu.

  • On UNIPORT, Mubi killings

    I could not bring myself to watch the video of the murder of four undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) on Friday. With the help of social media the video must have gone viral within minutes of the incident.

    I was at work on Sunday when an intern on my desk mentioned he had the video but I told him I was not interested in watching it. Hearing about the barbaric act of inhumanity was enough torture for me. The mental video in my mind was disturbing enough for me to make matters worse by viewing the recording of what actually transpired. But I was forced to see a bit of the graphic details when a correspondent sent the story and photographs to me.

    When incidents like this happen, you hear various versions of the story. One version has it that the students were robbers caught stealing a laptop and cell phones in Omuokiri-Aluu, a community that had recently suffered robbery attacks. Another said they were cultists who seized the items from somebody that owed them some money. They were apprehended as thieves after the person raised an alarm. They were beaten, stripped naked, then set on fire. I also learnt fellow students were involved in the murder, jeering as the victims struggled to cope with the beating and burning.

    Whatever the version, the way they were killed was wrong. What I cannot quite get over is how whoever produced the video could hold his phone with steady hands long enough to record such cruelty. It was a case of jungle justice at its worst because we do not know whether the victims were truly guilty of the allegations. If they were, the law clearly spells out how they should be treated once apprehended.

    The unfortunate incident occurred a few days after 46 students of the Adamawa State Polytechnic were killed around their off-campus residences in Mubi Monday last week – a day before their examinations were meant to start.

    I agree with the Education Minister, Prof Ruqayyat Ahmed Rufa’i that Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts need to do more to protect registered students in their care. Like she rightly noted while inaugurating the JAMB Zonal office in Kwara State on Tuesday the safety of the students should be a “major priority” for authorities of any tertiary institution whether they are resident on campus or outside.

    The two incidents took place outside the campuses of both institutions. It is not like bad things do not happen on campus. But there is greater security on campus. As such, tertiary institutions should make efforts to accommodate more students on campus.

    Most public-owned institutions have adequate landmass to build enough hostels that can accommodate all their students if they want to, but on-campus residents are hardly adequate for students. Even when available, they are in such bad shape that some students would prefer to rent rooms outside.

    Schools should seek partnership to expand their hostel facilities on Build Operate and Transfer basis. They can also dedicate grants from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) for that purpose.

    It should also be the business of school administrators to liaise with the host communities where their students take up residence and ensure the relationship is very cordial. Past incidents of clashes between host communities and students have shown that students are usually at the receiving end because the communities have the upper hand. It has happened in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Abia State University, Uturu, Federal Polytechnic, Offa and Ire Polytechnic within the past 12 years. And in all the cases, many students paid for it with their lives. This need not continue.

  • Arisekola’s son arraigned for alleged N1.11b fuel subsidy fraud

    Abdulahi Alao, son of Ibadan businessman Alhaji Abdulazeez Arisekola-Alao , has been re-arraigned on a new charge of fuel subsidy fraud for N1,110,049,444.35

    He was arraigned for the third time before Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos High Court, Ikeja, with four others, including two oil companies.

    Alao was arraigned with three others before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo on a nine-count charge for alleged subsidy fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in July.

    He and his company, Axenergy Limited, were also arraigned before Justice Habeeb Abiru of a Lagos High Court, Ikeja on a seven-count charge for alleged subsidy fraud in the same month.

    The younger Alao was also arraigned on a six-count charge for alleged subsidy fraud with four others- Axenergy Limited, Opeyemi Ajuyah, his company, Majope Investment Limited and Olanrewaju Olalusi.

    Alao and Axenergy are the third and fourth defendfants in the new suit filed by the EFCC.

    The EFCCaccused them of conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretences contrary to Section 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences.

    They were also alleged to have forged a document titled, “Shore Tank Certificate” dated January 22, last year, purporting the document to have been issued by an officer of Q & Q Control Services Nigeria Limited.

    The commission said the offence contravened Section 467 of the Criminal Code Cap. C17, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.

    All the accused pleaded not guilty .

    Their counsels, Taiwo Taiwo, West Idahosa and D.A. Awosika, pleaded for bail on their behalf.

    Justice Lateefa Okunnu adjourned the matter till October 19

  • IRS plane hits FAAN truck at Lagos Airport

    There was tension among the 91 passengers on an IRS Airlines aircraft yesterday, as the aircraft wing tip hit a truck belonging to the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on the runway.

    This forced the pilot to taxi the aircraft to the parking bay of Terminal Two of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, for passengers to disembark.

    The airline’s Managing Director, Yemi Dada, said the incident could have been avoided if there were airport personnel on ground.

    In a statement, he said: ” This morning, Flight LVB 3306, with 91 passengers, taxied out at 7:48am on a Lagos to Kano flight with a transit stop at Abuja.

    “On the taxi way, the captain observed a FAAN truck in a ditch. There were no marshallers around it neither was there any marking to indicate that it encroached into the taxi way.

    “There was no NOTAM issued to that effect as well.

    “The captain continued and the wing tip hit a protrusion from the truck towards the rear of the truck.

    “This made him request for a return to Ramp from the tower. He notified the tower about the incident and the danger posed by the truck.

    “The passengers were disembarked and re-accommodated on another aircraft, which departed Lagos at 10:15am.

    “The incident has been reported to the National Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and we await its clearance to repair and return the aircraft for service.”

    But FAAN in a statement by its General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Yakubu Dati, blamed the pilot for not doing what is right.

    Dati said: “The pilot, Capt. D Kelly, was informed by an Arik pilot of an obstruction on the taxiway towards Runway 18L.

    “Capt. Kelly felt he could manoeuvre the obstacle but this failed because the tip of the wing of the aircraft collided with a section of the gully emptier at about 7.45 a.m.

    “Capt Kelly did not stop but taxied back to the boarding gate of MMA2 to discharge his passengers.

    “Officials of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and the NCAA were invited.

    “FAAN engineers are on stand-by to evacuate the stuck sewage tanker as soon as preliminary investigations by both AIB and NCAA are concluded.”

  • Adenuga, Dangote, Elumelu, others to help flood victims

    Adenuga, Dangote, Elumelu, others to help flood victims

    Jonathan okays N17.6b for states

    HELP is on the way for flood victims, with the President approving yesterday a committee of eminent citizens to raise funds for their needs.

    Dr. Goodluck Jonathan announced yesterday that the Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation will join forces with the government to provide urgent relief for flood victims.

    Frontline businessman Alhaji Aliko Dangote is co-chairman of the committee. The President of commodities giant Dangote Group has already given N430 million to some of the victims.

    Right activist and respected lawyer Olisa Agbakoba is co-chairman of the 43-member committee.

    Chairman of mobile giant Globacom Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr. is chief fund mobiliser.

    The others are: Alhaji Karami Isiaku Rabiu (member), Alhaji Mohammed Indimi (member), Ngo Hannatu Cholum (member), Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija (member), former minister Prof. Dora Akunyili (member) and prominent banker and Heir Holdings chair Tony Elumelu (member).

    Also in the committee are: Secretary-General, Nigerian Red Cross, representatives of the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN), the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the European Union (EU), DFID and USAID.

    There are also permanent secretaries of the following ministries: Environment, Water Resources, Works, Agriculture, Health, Finance, National Planning and Director-General, NEMA.

    Other members are: Ag. Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Perm. Sec., Ecological Funds Office, Chairman, Senate Committee on Special Duties, Chairman, House Committee on Environment, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS), Tunde Lemo (Representing the Central Bank), Fatima Wali, Frank Nweke Jnr. and Senator Florence Ita-Giwa.

    The President announced the committee in a national broadcast yesterday.

    The Committee is to raise funds to complement the government’s resources for the provision of relief to flood victims and the post-impact rehabilitation of affected persons and communities, according to presidential spokesman Reuben Abati.

    The Committee, which is also expected to advise the government on the judicious utilisation of funds raised, “has been authorised by President Jonathan to co-opt any other persons or organisations that it may find useful in carrying out its assignment.”

    It has one year to conclude its task.

    The government has already voted N17.6billion for the affected states and government agencies involved in tackling the effects of the disaster.

    The breakdown shows that N13.3billion will go to states affected by flood and N4.3billion will be for government agencies.

    The affected states have been categorised into four groups, based on the present assessment, Category A states will receive N500 million each. Category B states, N400 million each; Category C states N300 million each and Category D states, N250 million each.

    Category A states are: Oyo, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Delta, Bayelsa and Anambra.

    Category B states are: Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, Taraba, Cross River, Edo, Lagos and Imo.

    In Category C are: Kwara, Katsina, Gombe, Ogun, Ondo, Ebonyi, Abia and Rivers.

    Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Yobe, Enugu, Ekiti, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Borno and Federal Capital Territory are in Category D.

    The Ministry of Works is to get N2.6 billion, NEMA N1.1 billion, Ministry of the Environment N350 million, National Commission for Refugees N150 million and technical committee on flood’s impact assessment N100 million.

    The allocation to the government agencies, according to the President, is to further intensify their intervention.

    The president commiserated with all those who lost loved ones, properties as well as all the affected communities and institutions.

    He noted that over the past few weeks, unprecedented floods have ravaged many parts of the country rendering tens of thousands of fellow Nigerians homeless and causing massive destruction of property, farmland and infrastructure across the country.

    “It is sad that this global phenomenon of devasting flood has come to Nigeria at this time. I want to reassure all Nigerians that the Federal Government is prepared to do everything possible to mitigate the impact of this natural disaster,” he added.

    The president also noted that the interim report of the presidential technical committee which assessed the impact of the floods has been presented to key stakeholders, including the leadership of the National Assembly and governors of of the affected states.

    The report, according to him, contained some recommendations.

    “The technical committee will continue to go around the country while the Vice President and I will also visit some of the affected communities.

    “When we receive the committee’s final report, the Federal Government will further initiate medium and long term measures to check future flood disasters.”

    He went on:

    “In the main time, relevant government agencies have intervened to provide relief to the affected persons in collaboration with the state governments. The National Management Emergency Agency, NEMA, has so far spent N1.314 billion to provide mediate relief material. The Minister of Works has spent 556 million on the repair of collapsed bridges and the construction of by-passes while the Minster of Environment has spent N95 million on sundry relief measures. “

    “In addition to this, the Federal Government has decided on a number of measures to further ameliorate the situation.

    “This include immediate provision of a total of 17.6 billion in direct financial assistance to the affected states and some Federal Government agencies responsible for disaster management.”

    President Jonathan thanked governments, members of the National Assembly, private individuals, agencies of government, private sector institutions, NGOs, faith based organisations, and philanthropic groups who individually and collectively have risen to the aid of persons communities affected by the floods.

    “This humanitarian and compassionate spirit that has been on display in the past few weeks, reassures us that at critical moments, Nigerians are able to come together in pursuit of a common purpose,” he added.

    The President also reassured Nigerians that this administration remains fully committed to the welfare and well being of all Nigerians at all times.