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Tag: Adamu Adamu

FG dismisses rumour on cancellation of Post UTME

…Urges institutions collecting more than N2, 000 from students to make refund.

The Federal Government on Wednesday urged candidates seeking admission into tertiary institutions to ignore any rumour on cancellation of post UTME usually conducted by universities.

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu made the clarification in a statement issued late night by the ministry’s Director of Press, Mrs. Chinenye Ihuoma, in Abuja.

Adamu described the statement allegedly issued by a former Deputy Director of Press of the ministry, Ben Goong as completely false and without foundation.

The Minister, in the statement, urged universities to go ahead with their Post- UTME arrangements as earlier planned.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Honourable Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu has been drawn to a news report in the media claiming that the Minister had issued a directive to universities to cancel the Post-UTME examinations already scheduled.

“The statement, according to the report, was issued by Mr. Ben Goong, Deputy Director of Press.

“The Ministry would like to assert emphatically that:-

The report is completely false and without foundation.

“The Minister therefore urges universities to go ahead with their Post- UTME arrangements as earlier planned.

“Mr. Goong, who purportedly issued the statement, ceased to be a staff of the Ministry since November, 2016.”

Adamu also directed institutions collecting more than the N2, 000 pegged for the screening to refund such money to the students.

It added that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has been directed to compile names of institutions that collected ‎more than the stipulated amount.

“The attention of the Minister has also been drawn to some of the institutions who are charging more than the stipulated N2, 000.00 (Two Thousand Naira) only.

“The Minister views this as an act of insubordination and emphatically redirected that every institution that runs in violation to the directive will be made to face disciplinary action.

“He therefore, asked such institutions to refund to the students immediately.

“Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been directed to compile list of violators for appropriate sanctions.

“The Ministry also urges the media to always endeavour to cross check facts with the relevant officials of the Ministry before going to the press, particularly when such sensitive matters of national importance are involved,” the statement added.

October 11, 2017
FG appeals to states to pay teachers

The Federal Government on Tuesday urged state governments who are owing teachers’ salaries to pay them.

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu made the appeal at a briefing to mark this year’s World Teachers Day, in Abuja

The Minister, said teachers, despite their contributions to the society and nation building, had continued to be neglected.

He said the federal government directed state governors to use the bailout it released twice to them to settle salaries including that of teachers.

Adamu said: “I think it is very necessary that we pay our teachers right here on earth and celebrating this day just underscores the issues and their basic needs.

“Teachers deserve to be appreciated for their great role in nation building.

“The federal government has given out largest bailout twice to the states to settle salaries. We are doing the best we can.”

Earlier in his remarks, National President, Nigeria Union Teachers, Michael Alogba-Olukoya, there was need for teachers to be treated well in the society.

Alogba-Olukoya, who was represented by Acting Secretary General of the union Dr. Mike Ikeme, commended the teachers for their dedication and resilience in carrying out their professional tasks.

“The annual observance of this important day has helped reawaken the consciousness of nations and citizenry to the important role of teachers and the need for teachers to be accorded a status commensurate with the role they play in society.

“I salute them for their passion in their chosen profession and their sacrifice and courage in keeping the flag flying despite obvious odds against their calling.

“I urge them to continue to be patriotic and contribute their best to the growth and development of our dear nation,” he said.

October 3, 2017
FG to improve reading culture

The Federal Government ( FG ) has reaffirmed its commitment to promotion of reading culture among Nigerians.

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, said this at the Grand Finale of the 2017 Readership Promotion Campaign of the National Library of Nigeria in Abuja.

The theme of the programme is “Working Together to Build a Virile Reading Nation: Challenges and Strategies’’.

Adamu, who was represented by the Director of Education Support Services, Mrs Justina Ibe of the ministry, said that it was imperative for all to cultivate a positive attitude to reading.

He said the ministry had partnered with the National Action Committee on Read Campaign and this partnership had yielded immeasurable benefits.

According to him, readership promotion is a strategy which will address the issue of falling standard of education in the country.

“It will also mobilise the citizenry to read, write and contribute to rejuvenation and actualisation of total literacy culture in Nigeria.

“Appropriate measure should, therefore, be adopted to turn the country to a reading nation and her citizens to a reading people.

“Federal government ( FG ) will also strive to provide adequate funds to acquire sufficient, current and relevant library materials for schools and libraries.’’

Adamu urged Nigerians to encourage shared reading, saying that children should be educated on the importance of books and reading to their education and future lives.

He further called on civil servants to have the veracity to read letters, memoranda and reports, minute to them to handle as this would add to their career development.

Earlier in his remarks, the National Librarian, Prof. Lenrie Aina, said that the target of the National Library of Nigeria had been to encourage secondary school children to embrace a reading culture.

Aina said that it would also extend such exercise to pregnant women, saying that studies had shown that in the later stages of pregnancy, unborn babies are aware of the vibrations that the voices produce and can recognise them with ease.

“Our objective is to cover the whole strata of the Nigerian society. It is my desire that as many as that have come to witness this occasion would imbibe the culture of reading, particularly the students.

“Also representatives of schools, especially teachers, should ensure that students are encouraged to read and parents should endeavour to read always to the admiration of their children.

“Parents should make books available to their children; to lavishly present books as gift to their children during special events of their lives such as birthday, religious and cultural festivals,’’ he advised.

He encouraged Nigerians to establish libraries in their domains as waiting for the government to do everything may take time.

In his remarks, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said that the importance of reading in any nation could not be overemphasised.

Mohammed, represented by Mr Makna Sallau, the Acting Director, Entertainment and Creative Services in the ministry, said a nation which citizens had lost interest in reading would be backward.

According to him, there is no developing or developed nation where the culture of reading is not given adequate attention that it deserves in order to promote and advance socio-economic, technological and infrastructure development.

“It is worthy to note that knowledge is power and most of the ideas that rule the world today are all written in book form for us to figure them out.

“Hence, there is an urgent need for us to promote the culture of reading in our country,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that about 12 schools within the FCT participated in the readership promotion campaign.

September 21, 2017
‘Illiteracy rate in Nigeria alarming’

The Federal Government on Thursday described the illiteracy rate in the country as alarming.

The Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu, made the remark when he paid a courtesy call on Gov. Alhaji Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN ) reports that the minister and the delegates were in the state for a two-day International Literacy Day conference organised by the National Commission for Mass Education.

Adamu said the country had about 65 million to 75 million illiterates, describing the figure as unbecoming and high, considering the country’s population.

“Education is the bedrock of any country’s development and any country that does not educate its populace is bound to fail.

“Unfortunately, in Nigeria we have a very large population of illiterates; the illiterates figure, considering our population, is unbecoming,’’ he said.

Adamu, who was represented by Mr Jonathan Mbaka, the Director of Basic and Secondary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, said that the federal government was targeting educating out-of-school children.

The minister said this was part of its strategic plan to reduce the number of the illiterates in the country.

“The government is doing all it can to reduce the number of children that are out of school.

“This includes the adoption of inclusive education where every Nigerian will be given the opportunity to go to school, regardless of background, ethnicity and gender,’’ he said.

Adamu commended the governor’s wife, Hajiya Aisha Bagudu, for reducing the number of out-of-school children and illiterates in Kebbi State through her Mass Almajiri Literacy and Poverty Alleviation Initiative ( MALPAI ).

Responding, the governor said that most of the security challenges the country faced were manifestations of the level of illiteracy in the country.

“We have an army of people whose inability to read can be exploited by divisive elements in the country

Bagudu commended them for ignoring the fears and tension created by a few group of people by assembling in the state to deliberate on how to reduce illiteracy in the country.

“I am very proud that we are hosting eminent delegates from across the federation at the time like this,where there is tension, and fear in Nigeria.

“For you to ignore fears that a few people cannot intimidate us is commendable.

“Our destiny remains in our hands and not allowing inconsequential elements to determine our fate is also commendable,’’ he said.

The governor attributed the high illiteracy rate in Nigeria to Boko Haram insurgency, saying that many of the sect’s followers only knew the Quran but could not interpret and digest its meanings.

September 21, 2017
FG releases unity schools’ admission list

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Wednesday approved the release of list of successful candidates into the Federal Unity Colleges (FUCs) for the 2017/2018 academic year.

A statement issued by the Federal Ministry of Education quoted the minister as saying that admission list into JSSI was on notice boards in the colleges and their websites.

The statement signed by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Priscilla Ihuoma, said the list was also online: http://www.fmeinterviewtest.com or the ministry’s website www.education.gov.ng.

“Students who have been offered provisional admission have two weeks after the release of the results to accept the offer, otherwise, they will be replaced by other candidates,’’ the statement said.

NAN

August 23, 2017
ASUU strike: Varsities won’t be exempted from TSA, FG insists

…. Agrees to release N23bn Earned Allowances to ASUU

The Federal Government Thursday said that the request of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that federal universities be exempted from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) will not be granted.

The government however agreed to release the balance of N23billion Earned Allowances to the striking lecturers.

Education Minister, Adamu Adamu, stated this in Abuja at a meeting with the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND.

Adamu said that the Ministry of Finance has promised to undertake a forensic audit of the N30billion allowance earlier released to the lecturers, bringing the total to N53billion.

The Minister said: “They (lecturers) asked for N23billion to be paid. But we said the condition for that N23billion to be released was for them to account for the N30billion they had taken, which is a total of N53billion. And they were not able to account for it.

“The Minister of Finance undertook to do the audit from the ministry. We agreed that the result will be known in six months. During that six months, government undertook to be paying them N1.5billion each month during the time they are waiting for this.”

The Minister added that the Ministry of Finance has already approved the release of the funds but not yet cash backed.

“Probably, by Monday, they will be able to receive the cheque. And we will do forensic audit on the entire N53billion,” Adamu said

ASUU, an umbrella body of all university lecturers in the country, declared an indefinite strike action over Federal Government’s failure to fulfill the 2009/2013 Agreement made with the Union.

Issues in involved in the agreement included: funding for the revitalization of public universities, earned academic allowances, registration of Nigerian universities pension management company, university staff school, fictionalisation and non-payment of salaries among others.

Adamu who expressed optimism that the industrial action would be called off within the next one week, insisted that the request for TSA exemption would not be granted.

He said: “There are other issues which we didn’t agree. And that was their request to be taken out of TSA. I told them that it is not possible because this is a new policy and government is not going to change it for anyone”.

On the registration of Nigerian universities pension Management Company, the minister said it would be resolved with the Pension Commission in the next one week.

On the non-payment of salaries, Adamu attributed it to the decision of federal universities to illegally recruit staff, without recourse to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The situation, he said, has partially affected government’s effort to eliminate thousands of ghost workers through thorough personnel verification exercise and salary payment process.

He said, “For instance, a university can just decide to go and recruit 50 people. And IPPIS is not aware. So, what they are going to get is they are going to get the money they got last month. And it will not be sufficient for them. They normally spread it among the entire staff. Let’s say they pay 70 percent to 80 percent but that is their fault. So, institutions, we said, must now stop doing that. And they accepted.”

Chairman of the committee, Jibrin Barau, expressed confidence that the minister would resolve the issues with the striking lecturers as soon as possible.

Barau pleaded with the lecturers to call off the strike while negotiation continues.

The Union was not represented at the meeting.

August 17, 2017
ASUU strike didn’t follow due process – Minister

The Federal Government on Wednesday insisted that the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) did not follow due process.

Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, admitted that the Federal Government has failed to meet up some ASUU’s demand.

He said “Very sad that I am here and ASUU is on strike, late last year we had a meeting because ASUU gave one week notice of strike and we were able to work out some agreement, I must confess government has not fulfilled its part of the bargain, even though we are unhappy that ASUU went on this strike without following due process and giving us good notice, we realised that we promised something and we didn’t fulfill it.

“I hope I will be meeting them later today or tomorrow and am sure we will be able to reach some agreement so that the strike will be called off as soon as possible.

“Am sure you are aware of the issues we agreed on, there is the issue of re-negotiation which is the only one they agreed government has done what it promised because we set up the re-negotiation team and negotiation is already ongoing.

“There is the issue of Earned Allowances and I think because of some miscommunication what we promised could not be done, but am assuring ASUU and the whole nation that this is going to be done.

“There is the issue of registration for Nigerian Universities Pension Commission. I think that one there are few issues that need to be sorted out with the Nigerian Pension Commission, I believe there will be no problem with that.

“The issue of their staff school which I think the court has given them verdict to go ahead with it, they have requested that they should be allowed to stay off TSA and I think government will not do this but there are some peculiar funds in the university like endowment which are monies kept and all the interest they generate, prices and so on are given.

“Government will exempt that one only, but universities it is part of the peculiarities, they just must log on. I hope later on when I meet them today there will be total agreement.” he said

He said that ASUU needs to give account of the releases made by the government for the Earned Allowances before more payment can be made.

According to him, the government has the money to pay.

Asked to reconcile the statement he made during the last dispensation about ASUU strike, when he said ‘So, instead of hectoring ASUU to call off its strike, the nation should be praying for more of its kind in other sectors of the economy,’ the minister said that was still his position.

He said if ASUU had not forced former President Goodluck Jonathan, he would not have created the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), without which he said, the university system would have collapsed.

The minister emphasized: “That is still my view. I believe ASUU is composed of patriotic people, very responsible.

“If I can look at what their struggle is, they force the then government to create TETFund and today, without TETFund, the university system would have collapsed.

“I’m not supporting ASUU, am supporting what is good. If it is something bad, I will condemn it.” he added

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed disclosed that FEC approved the memo from the Ministry of Transportation for rehabilitation contract for Itakpe-Ajaokuta rail line.

He said that the contract was awarded to CCECC at the tune of $122.62 million and to be completed in 15 months.

August 16, 2017
FG orders immediate separation of CRK, IRK in new curriculum

The Federal Government on Thursday bowed to pressure and directed the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to separate the Christian Religious Knowledge and Islamic Religious Knowledge subjects in the basic education curriculum.

The grouping of IRK and CRK under the Civil Education in the new curriculum by the NERDC had generated controversy in the last few months with religious leaders calling for their separate teaching.

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, gave the directive at a meeting of Ministers of Education with education stakeholders from six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja on Thursday.

The meeting, which was attended by Commissioners for Education from various States of the Federation, was part of the ongoing efforts to strengthen the partnership within the three tiers of government in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals 4 (SDG4).

Adamu, who was represented by Minister of State for Education, Anthony Anwukah, said the directive to separate the subjects became necessary because of the various complaints by Nigerians, especially the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that has been vociferous about the issue.

He explained that the collapse of the two subjects was done by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to reduce the number of subjects offered by pupils and students in schools.

The minister said: “There is this controversy over the merger of CRK and IRK in the school curriculum. There were complaints by parents that children were overloaded with so many subjects and the recommendation then was to merge one or two subjects. Unfortunately, water and oil were merged together and it is not working.

“So, to save ourselves the agony, the two subjects should be separated. We push that to the NERDC,”

Adamu, in his address, reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to revamping the education sector and appealed to state governments as well as relevant stakeholders to support the federal government effort.

He also expressed the commitment of the government towards achieving the SDG4 by 2030 in line with the global timeline.

The minister said Nigeria has selected the Goal 4 of the SDGs, which emphasizes inclusive and quality education for all and promotion of lifelong learning, for implementation in view of the importance of education as a fulcrum to national development.

He said the federal government was aware that in the journey towards achieving the Education 2030 Agenda, key issues including the phenomenon of out-of-school children, insecurity in and around the schools and infrastructure decay must be addressed.

The minister said there was also the need to have credible and reliable data, and how to address the challenge of poor teacher quality as well as teacher gaps, low carrying capacity in tertiary institutions, and poor learning outcomes.

“We recognize that the task of revamping the education sector is challenging, the ministry of education cannot do it alone. Our task is to coordinate national efforts to meet our national goals and objectives.

“It is our believe that with good planning, appropriate investment of resources, transparency, due process, effective collaboration and coordination of inputs and activities of government and that of all stakeholders, we will realize our vision of providing quality education to build and sustain adequate human capital for national development,” the minister added.

July 20, 2017
School feeding programme to keep 24m in schools – Minister

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said on Monday that the Home-Grown School Feeding programme would keep at least 24 million children in schools when fully implemented.

Adamu stated this at the 3rd edition of Nigeria Education Innovation Summit (NEDIS) organized by The Education Partnership centre (TEP) in Abuja.

The minister also said the programme would increase enrolment of children in basic education and boost their cognitive performance and effective learning outcomes.

Adamu, who was represented by Executive Director, Research and Innovation, National Universities Commission, Audu Mohammed, added that the federal government has developed strategic plan to address the challenges of out-of-school children in the country

He said: “It is in recognition of the critical role education plays in the realization of sustainable development that the present administration has placed it among its key priorities.

“To drive this home, the federal ministry of education developed a strategic plan based on 10 pillars of core measureable goals. These include addressing the challenges of out-of-school children, strengthening basic and secondary education, teacher education, capacity building and professional development, adult literacy and special needs education.

“The federal government has embarked on innovative programmes like the Home-Grown School Feeding programme geared towards retaining at least 24 million children in schools upon full implementation. It would increase enrolment of the children in basic education and boost their cognitive performance and effective learning outcomes.

According to the minister, the government has initiated reform in the education sector to reassess the state of education in Nigeria and refocus the sector to meet the challenges of nation building.

“Nigeria is undergoing monumental changes geared towards unleashing the creative energies of the citizens to drive our national vision and aspiration as people.

“To this end, unprecedented reform initiatives are now being implemented in the education sector, with a clear intent on reassessing the state of the education system and strategically refocusing and repositioning the sector to meet the challenges of nation building in the 21st century,” the minister added.

The Managing Director of TEP Centre, Modupe Adefeso-Olateju, in her remarks, called for the continuous implementation of education programmes in the country.

July 10, 2017
FEC okays ministerial retreat to end educational crises

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the hosting of ministerial retreat to end crises in the education sector.

The retreat, which aims at reviewing education roadmap, also plans to brainstorm on how to boost standard of education in Nigeria.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Adamu, who was in the company of the Special Adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, said: “Council discussed very important issue on the road map of education sector and developments. We discussed many issues but the most important was education.

“Members agree that the fallen standard in education is so serious that we will need a ministerial retreat to look at all the issues. There are a lot of issues in solution and all of them are crying for attention.

“So there will be a ministerial retreat in the next two weeks to look at the issues and from there we will take off in what we are doing.

“Initially we had prepared blueprint but FEC felt the issues is beyond that because there are crises in all the areas of education, in children school, in technical education and training, in ICT, in all the areas you can think of.

“So ministers are going to start talking to themselves and come out with solutions.” he added

He also faulted the recent media reports on the issue of Christian religious knowledge teaching and history subject in schools.

He said “There is no truth in it at all. It was just somebody’s imagination probably somebody who wishes to raise tension in the country after the Biafra issue and then the quit order given by some young people in the north so the person just followed suit trying to stoic the embers of religion. There is no truth whatsoever, I repeat.

“Certainly there was a policy in 2012 which was given effect in 2014 that is even before this government came in. One of the things I did as minister was to speak to the national council on education to disarticulate history from the social studies curricula because we believe we want our young people to know our history.

“You cannot know who you are without knowing who your ancestors were in the past. And the national council of education did accept and agree that the teaching and learning of CRK has been made compulsory for all Christians students and teaching and learning of Islamic studies is compulsory for all Muslim students,” he added.

He pointed out that the reports were accusing the Ministry of doing the opposite of what it has done.

June 21, 2017