The Nation Newspaper

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  • ‘Politicians greatest problem of true democracy’

    Justice of the Supreme Court, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammad, has

    described politicians as the greatest problem of democracy.

    He urged them to desist from do-or-die politics even as he decried their recklessness and disregard for court orders.

    Justice Mohammad spoke at the 2012 Dr. Felix Okoye memorial lecture held at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Lagos.

    In his lecture entitled “judicialism and electoral processes in Nigeria: what the Supreme Court did; what the Supreme Court may do”, the judge described the recommendations as enduring and durable.

    Highlighting the roles the apex court has played in shaping the political sphere of the country, Justice Mohammad said a lot of Nigerians have criticised the Court without examining facts.

    He maintained that no matter how hard the Supreme Court tries to put things right, its hands were tight as a result of the constitutional provisions.

    The judge said: “We should not forget that the role of the judiciary is to implement the law and not to make laws. So, when there are bad laws like Section 85(7), which provides that the court should hear and dispose of an election matter within 60 days from the date of delivery, the Supreme Court cannot do anything about it because any contrary action by the apex court will amount to a disregard for the ground norm.

    “The politicians who did it had their reasons; maybe so that they can enjoy their offices as cases that are not filed within 60 days are struck out. Still, it has some positive sides because I can tell you that before we went for vacation, there was not one election matter at the Supreme Court.”

    He urged the Federal Government to implement the recommendations of the Muhammadu Uwais Panel on Electoral Reforms.

    Using the case of Governor Rotimi Amaechi against Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and Sir Celestine Omehia over the substitution of the former’s name by the party, the judge said it was obvious some judges and lawyers were being used to delay the course of justice.

    According to the judge, the judgments delivered by the Supreme Court clarified the issues of substitution of candidate’s name by political parties as well as elongation of tenures of elected officers, among others.

    He said:”It is for us as a people and the politicians in particular to learn to accept defeat gallantly. There must be an end to the culture of do- or-die politics in this country.

    “Both the leaders and the led must appreciate the role of the Court in general and the Supreme Court in particular in the development of the democratic values and practices.

    “It is if and only when this is done and we all learn to accord respect to the orders of court that we will join the rest of the democratic comity of nations as having arrived.”

    Justice Mohammad said if the request of the Chief Justice of Nigeria to the National Assembly that all interlocutory appeals terminate at the Appeal Court is accepted, the burden on the Supreme Court would be lessened.

    He said: “As at yesterday (Monday) we were still treating matters of 2001, yet there is no week that we do not deliver an average of 10 judgments unlike our counterparts in other countries.”

  • Mark inspects flood ravaged communities in Benue

    Senate President David Mark yesterday sympathised with flood victims in Benue State.

    He urged the Federal Government to intervene in the disaster to save lives.

    A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, said Senator Mark gave the advice when he and Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam inspected flood-ravaged communities and resettlement camps where some of the victims are taking refuge.

    It quoted Mark as saying that the predicament of the victims required attention “because the situation is disturbing.”

    Mark said nobody anticipated the disaster, adding, “though we need rains, we don’t want torrential rains.”

    He said: “I share in your pains. We can only ask you to be patient until the rains begin to subside. This is beyond the state government. I urge the Federal Government to come to the aid of the state government.”

    Senator Mark enjoined Nigerians to take measures against the strange water that “has ravaged parts of the country this rainy season.”

    He hailed the government and medical team that have been assisting the flood victims and urged them to be hygienic.

    The Senate President donated N4 million to enable the victims purchase drugs and foodstuffs.

    Conducting him round some of the flooded communities, Governor Suswam thanked Senator Mark for the visit and enjoined the Federal Government to assist the state.

    He said the state government has provided four resettlement camps accommodating about 5,000 victims.

    Mark was accompanied by the Chairman, Senate Committee on National Planning, Senator Barnabas Gemade and the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro.

  • Jonathan suspends introduction of N5,000 notes

    President Goodluck Jonathan has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the proposed introduction of the N5,000 notes.

    Dr Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this to State House correspondents on Thursday night in Abuja.

    “The introduction is being suspended for now to enable the CBN do more enlightenment on the issue.

    “Yes, President Jonathan has directed that the implementation of the new N5,000 note be suspended for now.

    “This is to enable the apex bank to do more in terms of enabling Nigerians to understand why it proposed it in the first place.

    “So, for now, the full implementation is on hold,” he said

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the CBN recently announced that it would introduce the note, and coins to replace the current N5, N10 and N20 notes.

    The policy was endorsed by the National Economic Management Team, an advisory body coordinated by the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

    NAN, however, recalls that both the Senate and the House of Representatives have passed separate motions calling for the suspension of the introduction of the note. (NAN)

  • A medical college’s push for recognition

    A medical college’s push for recognition

    Despite its reputation, the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) is facing some challenges threatening its growth. But it is not losing hope for a better tomorrow report ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA and KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE.

     

    Its founders did not foresee the problems it is now facing. When the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) was formed 33 years ago, it was with high hopes of giving qualified medical doctors further training. It has been discharging this obligation diligently despite its challenges.

    These challenges now seem to be getting to the institution, especially that of getting the National Universities Commission (NUC) to recognise its graduates, who are conferred with fellowships of the institution. The fellowship is supposed to be the equivalent of Ph.D

    No matter, the institution is forging ahead. It is graduating 264 medical doctors who have spent a five years earning qualifications that will make them into specialists in different medical fields.

    It will be a happy ceremony for the fellows and their families having passed the required three-stage examinations (Primary, Part I and Part II) to become specialists in the 15 faculties of the college including Anaesthesia, Dental Surgery, Family Medicine, Pathology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, General Dental Practice, Opthalmology, Radiology, Orthopaedics, Surgery, Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Public Health, Psychiatry and Internal Medicine.

    Their qualifications and experience will earn them career progressions in the medical profession as they can aspire to become consultants.

    The college’s leadership will also be celebrating its production of more than 4,000 fellows – 3,132 of them by examination. It has 3,801 candidates still seeking to attain this position after passing the examinations, which is evidence that its training is sought after by medical doctors

    But, poor funding, inadequate infrastructure and recognition by some agencies like the NUC remain its headache and may make it difficult for the institution to effectively achieve its mission to “plan, implement, monitor and evaluate postgraduate programmes required to produce medical and dental specialists of the highest quality, competence and dedication, who will provide teaching and optimal healthcare for the people.”

    Explaining how these factors are slowing down the college, its President, Prof Victor Wakwe said said despite its role of training and regulating highly-specialised medical personnel, it only depends on subventions from the Federal Ministry of Health, which are grossly inadequate to meet its needs for equipment, infrastructure and manpower.

    It receives N2.5 million as overhead monthly, and the ministry foots the salary bill of its 116-strong workforce.

    To be better positioned to carry out its statutory duties under Cap N59 Laws of the Federation, Wakwe is seeking that the college be recognised by the Federal Ministry of Education as a tertiary institution. That way, it will benefit from intervention grants from agencies like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), and NUC which it can dedicate to building infrastructure, conducting training and carrying out researches.

    Lamenting the dearth of infrastructure and manpower, Wakwe said: “As at now we have a staff strength of about 116 carrying the load of work in the college. The number of candidates that puts in for our fellowship examinations are increasing tremendously. For the September to November 2012 examinations, we have 2,395 candidates for the Primary Examination; 1,118, Part I; and 288 for Part II.

    “This is a big load for the college to carry judging that our infrastructure is very poor. We do not have an examination hall that can take up to 500 candidates presently. The second wing of the Learning Resources Building we were authorized to construct since 2010 is about 50 per cent completed.

    “The money for the building comes in trickles. There are supposed to be four wings of this building. We moved to our present sight in 1997 which means this wing was completed by then. If it took 15 years to build half a wing of a building, how many years will it take to build the remaining two and a half wings? Something must be done and urgently too. We need help both from government and outsiders.”

    Apart from the building, the college is in need of a Clinical skill and simulation laboratory valued at N500 million, used to examine patients and make diagnosis; e-library, equipment for all 15 faculties, among others.

    Recognising that the funding it requires will not come with the present structure of operation, Wakwe said the college wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim seeking audience with the Ministry of Education; Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Science and Technology; on collaborative funding of the college. However, he said they got no response to date.

    “We need a lot of help to improve our infrastructure and purchase equipment for our college activities. We want the Federal Ministry of Education to recognise us as a tertiary education institution and request the TETFUND to give us a grant to build an examination/multipurpose hall that will take 1,500 candidates.

    Also, the ministry should request NUC to give us grants to improve our research capabilities. There are monies they are they are begging the universities to come and collect,” he said.

    Another touchy issue Wakwe said the College has to deal with is the non-recognition of its fellows that do not have PhDs.

    Wakwe lamented that the rise of such fellows to professorship is being stunted because their universities insist on Ph.Ds based on the directive of the NUC that it should be the minimum qualification for lecturers in the system since 2008.

    But Wakwe said the following the NUC’s instruction, the college advised the agency against such measure on the basis that its fellowship is deeper and richer in content than a PhD.

    “NUC called a meeting with us in 2006 in which we reached a compromise; but it was not until this year NUC sent out a letter on July 24 that they agreed to our position, but the letter was badly worded because it stated inter alia that ‘in the interim’ our Fellowship is acceptable until NUC introduces a Ph.D programme.”

    Prof Wakwe added: “We don’t object their introducing the programme.

    “Our advise is that they should allow academic clinical lecturers who are voracious for knowledge to take up these degrees voluntarily as some of us have done. There are clinical lecturers in this country who have the fellowship plus masters or PhD certificates. They did it on their own without coercion.

    The information for the NUC is that any postgraduate medical programme it has drawn without the approval of the Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria will be disaccredited.”

    One of such is Prof Tolu Odugbemi, Vice-Chancellor of the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Okitipupa. In an interview with The Nation, he said the professional training provided by the various fellowships earn medical doctors requisite recognition in the workplace. He said academics need only to add publications to these fellowships to earn promotions, even professorship.

    “In medical circles, you can go into professional training by doing the various fellowships and you will be recognized by the hospitals and ministries. If you are an academic, once you have the fellowship, you just need to produce publications and you can become anything. I have always supported the idea that once you have a fellowship and publications, you can become a professor. That is why people who are not in medicine should not dabble into how much people can write. But there are some of us that just like acquiring degrees to keep us busy. I am a fellow of the postgraduate Medical College and I also have a PhD,” he said.

     

  • Lagos NUT equips teachers for e-learning

    Lagos NUT equips teachers for e-learning

    •Says no going back on strike

    With the new customised laptops the Lagos State wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has provided for its members, teaching and learning is expected to improve in public primary and secondary schools across the state in the 2012/2013 academic session.

    The customised laptops were launched at a colourful ceremony chaired by the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye at the Memorable Events centre, CBD, Alausa, Lagos.

    However, it may take a while before the teachers begin using the curriculum and customised lesson notes installed on the computers if the Lagos NUT joins 23 other states in a strike over non-payment of the 27.5 per cent Teachers Special Allowances (TSA) on Monday, despite pleas from the Lagos state government.

    Chairman of the union, Comrade Kayode Idowu said at the event that the government has had enough time to implement the TSA and faulted claims that the MoU did not force the government to pay the allowance.

    He said that the government started paying 9.2 per cent out of the 27.5 last year and promised to pay the remaining before April 2011.

    He said the union has rejected claims that the government may commence full implementation January next year.

    “The government set up a committee to look into the issues and they are now claiming that the MoU the national leadership of the NUT signed on the TSA did not force any state government to pay. But the Lagos State government has been paying 9.2 per cent of the allowance since last year. They are now saying they may pay the rest from January next year and we said no,” he said.

    Speaking about the customised laptop initiative, Idowu said the union has thrown a challenge to the government to complement its efforts with provision of projectors in the classrooms.

    “This is a new beginning in Lagos State and the government is also buying into it. What we are doing as teachers is taking our future in our hands. The idea is brought about to meet challenges all over the world,” Idowu continued ‘and teachers in Lagos should not be left behind. Today, we are talking of e-learning, e-examination so on. How do our teachers meet up with these challenges? We want to challenge the Lagos State government that they have to improve the standard of education in the state. We are challenging them to provide projectors where our teachers can fix in their laptops and beam the topic on the board for teaching to take place,” he said.

    About 500 teachers from all the 17 NUT branches across the state, including state executives, are benefiting in the first phase of the initiative. The cost of the laptop, which is about N140,000 will be deducted in installments from their salaries.

    The laptops boast of lesson plans are uploaded, questions and answers for pupils for revision, and textbooks on various subjects.

    One of the recipients Mrs Fayemi Yetunde from Ikeja Senior Grammar School, Ikeja, commended the innovation which she said was in accordance with Lagos teachers’ readiness to embrace new technology.

    “The Lagos State government has been assisting us teachers by sponsoring lots of training including computer training. Many of us have gone for computer training ourselves, so we are ready for the e-learning. This customised laptop will go a long way in assisting us the teachers, especially reducing the stress for us in terms of imparting knowledge to our students. We will no longer be searching for textbooks elsewhere. Everything is in the computer.”

  • Ogun to address college welfare issues

    Ogun to address college welfare issues

    The Ogun State Government has assured Trade Unions of the Tai Solarin College of Education (TASCE), Ogun State, that all their demands for improved welfare packages would be met.

    Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Olusegun Odubela said this after meeting with leaders of major trade unions of the college who were agitating for increased welfare package.

    He said most of the demands by the unions were the ones left unattended to by the immediate past administration, adding that the present government has been paying subvention to the college and other public higher institutions since inception May last year. He therefore called on the workers to maintain the peace while the government finds lasting solution to the problem.

    “No solution can be provided in a rancorous environment, we must be patience and allow both the management and the state government to find lasting solution to the problem at hand,” Odubela said.

    The Non Academic Staff Union and Allied Institution (NASU), Tai Solarin College of Education, in a four-point demand signed by Comrades Osoba Olatunji and Osho Debowale Chairman and General Secretary, is among others demanding the immediate implementation of the new minimum wage; immediate payment of 10 months salary arrears and the constitution of the Governing Council of the college.

    Similar demands were also made by the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria (SSUCOEN) and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), TASCE chapter.

    Meanwhile, the Ogun State Government has re-iterated its call on wealthy individuals and groups to partner with it to improve the standard of education.

    Odubela made the plea at the handing over of an ultra-modern library donated by Pastor John Baiyewu to Anglican High School, Abeokuta, his alma mater.

    Odubela said the provision of qualitative education requires huge financial commitment which can not be shouldered by the Government alone, hence the need for the support of public-spirited individuals and groups.

    “If we must ensure standard and quality in our education system, there is need for individuals who are rich to join hands with us in our bid to improve the quality of education we give our children” he said.

    However, the Commissioner said that despite the lean resources at the state’s disposal, its free education programme, construction of Model Schools, rehabilitation of dilapidated blocks of classrooms and the newly introduced unified examination for secondary school students would be pursued with vigour.

  • Parents raise N180m for hostel

    The King’s College, Lagos Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) is seeking N180 million to construct an ultra-modern students hostel for the school.

    Chairman of the PTA Building Fund Raising Committee, Mr Segun Owolabi said at a briefing last Friday that when completed the building will boast of comfortable accommodation for 300 pupils, durable toilet facilities, porter’s lodge, dining room and common room – a departure from hostel accommodation in many unity schools.

    “If you look at most hostels in unity schools, they barely have enough facilities to take care of students, which is why many cluster in a room. But we are going to provide all the basic facilities that can make students comfortable. The hostel will be furnished so that students only to come in with their bags. There will be wardrobes, and the toilets will be state-of-the art, he said.

    Owolabi said before the formal fundraising event for the hostel takes place next month, the PTA would use the 103 anniversary programme of the college this week to seek support from corporate organisations, parents, philanthropists, and captains of industry.

  • Nigerian is first African to earn first class in Malaysian Varsity

    Nigerian is first African to earn first class in Malaysian Varsity

    Nigerian and indigene of Sokoto State, Muftahu Jibrin Salihu Goronyo from Goronyo Local Government Area has emerged the first African to graduate with a first class in Master of Educational Leadership and Management of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, but based in Malaysia.

    Accordingly, Goronyo’s academic excellence fetched him two separate offers from different universities, including an automatic admission and scholarship by his university to undergo a three-year Ph.D programme between 2012 and 2015.

    A congratulatory letter signed by Jim Campbell, Senior Media Co-ordinator of the university stated: “Firstly I can say a big congratulations on your upcoming – You should be very proud of this achievement. Besides bagging a first class degree, you are the only African student in the upcoming graduation, above all, the only Nigerian student who graduated from the university since its inception in 1971.”

    The 26-year old must, however, serve the university for 10 years upon graduation until 2025. The Nation gathered that, Goronyo had turned down the offer for the love of Nigeria and patriotism.

    The second offer of automatic admission by Ahia e-University, based in Malaysia, came open to Salihu but without scholarship.

    However, his elder brother Alhaji Mohammed Umar who is also the General Manager of the Sokoto state newspaper company, appealed to well-spirited individuals in the state and government to sponsor his postgraduate studies.

    “He should be sponsored to complete the Ph.D degree for three years as he wants to come back to Nigeria and serve the state and the nation after his graduation in 2015,’’ he said.

  • Nigeria’s don becomes first black VC of University of Illinois

    Nigeria’s don becomes first black VC of University of Illinois

    Nigerian Professor, Ilesanmi Adesida, has made history. Last mo nth he became the first black Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in the United States.

    Born in Ondo State, Prof Adesida,is a Nigerian engineer whose outstanding work in the field of Nanotechnology has received much acclaim in the scientific community.

    He obtained his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and subsequently went on to develop a body of work in the processing of semiconductors and other materials at the nanometer-scale level.

    After his studies, he worked in various capacities at what is now known as the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility and the School of Electrical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. He was also the head of the Electrical Engineering Department at Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria.

    “I’m honoured and humbled to be selected as provost of this great campus. This is something I take very seriously. I know how to work very hard and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get the job done,” Adesida said

    Prof Adesida is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Vacuum Society, and the Optical Society of America. He is also the past-president of IEEE Electron Devices Society.

     

    Culled from http://thecitizenng.com

     

  • Provost pledges support of campus excellence

    Provost pledges support of campus excellence

    As a professor, researcher and dean of the College of Engineering for the past seven years, Ilesanmi Adesida, the new provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, knows more than a little about what makes physical systems work.

    “Engineers look at the big system and then break it down to bite-size,” he said. “We’re optimistic in one sense, but also skeptical. We understand that the process can’t paralyze you.”

    It’s that “systems view” he believes will serve him well in his new position, considering the crux of it involves making operational processes easier for professors in all disciplines to navigate, as well as fostering bold new interdisciplinary connections that lead to real-world application.

    Adesida credits the strength and excellence across disciplines in the humanities, arts and social sciences – coupled with excellence in physical and life sciences – as making Illinois among the world’s very best.

    “The provost has to work with everybody and play to the strengths of this campus,” he said. “I believe everyone who walks through that door is very important. When the professors are successful, the students are successful, then, we are successful in our mission. I’m very excited about how we address the critical issues of undergraduate education as we move into the future.”

    Adesida, a UI faculty member since 1987, said he’s been listening more than anything in the early days of his administration, and will continue to seek the counsel of academic leaders moving forward.

    “I know a lot about engineering, but in this position I’m the student,” he said. “There’s a lot of people with deep knowledge on this campus and I’m seeking their advice.”

    He said he already has held roundtable discussions with the leaders of several colleges and is scheduling more. He said the broad spectrum of voices has already changed his perspective.

    “I’ve been meeting a lot of people on campus,” he said. “As provost, you see a lot more (broadly) than you see as a dean. We have challenges in funding, but there also are tremendous opportunities in terms of excellence. Whatever we do, we want to be excellent at it. That’s the aspiration I’m hearing from people on campus.

    “The questions we have to be asking are, ‘What are the opportunities? What are the challenges?’ It will be a difficult time for those (institutions) that can’t navigate it. We have to be very strategic and deliberative about what we’re doing.”

    He said he believes the campus can lead the way in developing a higher-education model built to address 21st-century issues.

    “As an institution, we have the option to choose our comprehensiveness. We must examine the range of activities taking place across campus and the resources in place to support those activities.” He said the newness of campus leadership, as well as changes across the campus, can be turned into a powerful positive for the university’s future. He is hopeful the changes will usher in an era of stability that will lead to solid planning and the development of successful strategies.

    Thankfully, he said, the university already has developed strong training and orientation programs designed to “nourish and develop” new hires. During the transition, Adesida also worked closely with Richard Wheeler, who had been the interim provost since 2010.

    Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise said she expects Adesida to flourish in the new spot and that the campus will greatly benefit from his leadership. The new provost will be the “point person” in implementing strategies stemming from the chancellor’s Visioning Future Excellence academic planning initiative.

    “He has an outstanding record of scholarship, a proven commitment to excellence and an ability to successfully collaborate with colleagues at Illinois,” she said. “He will be a critical asset for our campus as we seek to more aggressively advance our mission.”