The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Frank Ikpefan

  • Procurement Act: CISLAC petitions Dogara, committee over mobilisation fees

    Procurement Act: CISLAC petitions Dogara, committee over mobilisation fees

    An advocacy group, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has petitioned Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and the House Committee on Public Procurement to suspend moves to increase contract mobilization fee from 15 to 50 per cent.

    CISLAC mobilisation Director, Auwal Ibrahim during a briefing, yesterday in Abuja, stressed that such decision would amount to promoting corruption in the procurement processes.

    Auwal argued further that the development is contradictory to provisions of the extant laws, adding that the Act was setup during administration of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo as an instrument to check corruption.

    The House is on the verge of reviewing the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007 to reflect an increase in the mobilization fee to 50 per cent, removal of the Finance minister as chairperson of the public procurement council and plans to include national defense and security agencies in procurement processes.

    He explained that, “As contained in the extant law, a mobilization fee of 15 per cent to contractor is to enable the contractor to move their equipment to site, while another 30 per cent payable after an inception report, otherwise referred to as interim performance certificate is submitted.”

    “This is followed by another 50 per cent payment when half of the work is done and a balance of 5 per cent is payable after completion of the work. This is the standard worldwide and any contract that fails to meet up with the above is deemed to have commit an offence and punishable under section 58.

    “From the above, it is very clear that payments to contractors are in sequence to guide against abandoning the work and not drag government into unnecessary controversies. The recommendation therefore to give up to 50 per cent mobilization fees will not only further encourage corruption. The 15 per cent as contained in the law (Section 35 of the PPA) is purely a mobilization fees, which implies assisting or mobilizing the contractor to site, and not advance payment,” Auwal added.

    However, the group advised President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute and inaugurate the National Council for Public Procurement (NCPP) in order to sincerely fight corruption and sustain the change agenda.

    CISLAC added that the bill as read on the floor of the House should be discarded because it is allegedly against the principle of transparency and accountability.

  • NUC approves new varsity for Borno

    NUC approves new varsity for Borno

    The National Universities Commission (NUC) has given approval for the establishment of a new university in Maiduguri, Borno state by the state government.
    The letter of approval for the establishment of the university was presented to the Governor of the state, Kasim Shettima by the Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Rasheed Abubakar, at the headquarters of NUC in Abuja on Monday.
    The NUC boss said the commission was satisfied with the infrastructures put in place for the take-off of the institution.
    He expressed his appreciation to the state government for its desire and commitment to the restoration of the educational reputation and credibility of the state that had been strongly affected by the activities of Boko Haram in the past four years.
    Prof. Rasheed urged the government to shun mediocrity, promote excellence and professionalism in order to continually enjoy the support of NUC and to successfully run the institution.
    “Consequent upon the formal presentation of the relevant gazette law, Academic Brief and Physical Master Plan and satisfactory report, I write on behalf of the National Universities Commission (NUC), to inform His Excellency, that with effect from Monday 7, November 2016, Borno State University, located in Maiduguri, has been recognized
    “Boko Haram insurgents were literally expressing their ignorance and opposition to education but thanks to federal and state government’s resistance efforts that have yielded positive results,” he stated.
    In his remarks, Shettima said the new university would go a long way in tackling the menace of Boko Haram insurgency in the state.
    He said the state has planned to establish two more universities next year to bring the number of higher institutions in the state to 10.
    The newly established university, he said, would take off in January next year.
    Shettima added that the state would focus on education to restore the glory of the state through educational development.
    He said: “I know it will be a major responsibility to add a university to our too many expenditures that include ongoing reconstruction of destroyed communities, but then, if we are serious about ending Boko Haram, if we are serious about rebuilding Borno and repositioning it for the future, there is nothing like providing quality and affordable education to our teeming population of uneducated youths.
    “Borno State has been taken 50 years backwards, no thanks to the vicious Boko Haram we inherited in 2011. As we all know, hate for education is the fundamental principle of the Boko Haram. This explains why they focused so many attacks on educational institutions.
    “They regularly encourage us, without failing to tell us areas we needed to improve in the progress we have made.”
  • ‘Past leaders never considered youths as future of Nigeria’

    ‘Past leaders never considered youths as future of Nigeria’

    Minister of Youth Development and Sports, Solomon Dalung, on Tuesday, said the failure of past leadership in the country to develop sound youth empowerment programmes was responsible for the current rate of youth unemployment in Nigeria.
    Dalung said leaders who ruled the country from 1999 till date neglected the youths because they (leaders) never considered them (youth) as future leaders of Nigeria.
    He stated this in Abuja at a national stakeholders’ meeting on youth employment with the theme: “Cross-sectoral Collaboration for Youths Skills Development and Entrepreneurship Training” organised by The Education Partnership Centre (TEP).
    The minister said: “Personally I do not stand in the zone of those who shower blames on the young people, but even as who I am today, I will still stand with them with the way they think and reason because we have not been fair to them and I am saying this without apology. 
    “As leaders, we have never been fair to the future, we have been very hypocritical with the question of youth development and it is this spirit of hypocrisy that graduated into a policy of a sort that explains some of the various issues the keynote speaker analysed.
    “Youths are national assets if we invest in them, we are sure of a country tomorrow. If we neglect them, we are also sure of what the country will be tomorrow, there is no pretence about this. 
    “Sadly, we have decided to turn the tide against the young people and I believe that it is a deliberate conspiracy. It is a conspiracy because the majority of our leaders since 1999 till date have their children studying out of this country.
    “This deliberate neglect which in my opinion is a criminal measure is responsible for the enormous challenges we are facing today. Instead of innovation on how to develop this country, the young people have now misdirected their destiny to kidnapping, robbery and insurgency.
    “There is a need for us to come back and address the issue of youth development sincerely. That informed why we decided to resuscitate this particular committee to come back and look at all that we have been discussing theoretically in the past without seeing the effect of how we can move youth development forward.”
    He said the introduction of various youth empowerment programmes by past governments have failed to yield the desired impact in reducing youth unemployment in Nigeria. 
    “The absence of synergy and data in the evaluation and assessment of youth empowerment programmes in this country is the bane of the insincerity and commitment of the government to youth empowerment programmes, we need to streamline. 
    “The absence of this synergy, fraudsters have taken over the issue of youth empowerment programmes, thereby casting credibility questions on credible partners who have been working in this particular sector. So our partners have just had the imposition of incredibility because of the actions of some very dubious people who have taken advantage,” he added.
  • Utomi to FG: Invest in infrastructure to end recession

    Utomi to FG: Invest in infrastructure to end recession

    Political Economist and Management Analyst, Pat Utomi on Monday called on the Federal Government to invest massively in infrastructural development in order to dig the country out of recession.
    He also called on the government to make funds available for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) and production of raw material to finished goods within the country as a way out of the nation’s current economic challenges.
    Prof. Utomi, who gave the advice at the quarterly lecture on monetary policy, competitiveness and development, spoke on the topic “The Role of Monetary Policy in Job Creation,” in Abuja.
    The event was organised by Economic and Business Strategies (EBS), co-hosted by Dr Magnus Kpakol.
    He stressed the need to strengthen the nation’s institution, adding that strong institutions and policy stability would, in turn, strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
    Utomi said: “Our institutions are weak. We need to strengthen our institutions as a nation. We deserve strong institutions and not strong men. A good leader also should focus on purpose and not power.
    “There is the need for a strong political will to end poverty. All around the world, politics is all about how jobs can be created because it is through jobs that people can better their lives. Also, the nation’s monetary policy should have value to create wealth.”
    President Connexux Corporation, Ms Anita Campion, called for reform in the agricultural sector, saying that Nigerian economy is blessed with series of natural resources and don’t have to suffer in the midst of plenty.
    Also in his address, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Obadiah Malafia, urged the government to carry the youth along while formulating strategic policies giving the population of the youths.
    He described Nigerian youths as hardworking and resilient.
    Dr Malafia said that Nigeria will be sitting on a time bomb if it fails to reduce the rate of unemployment.
    He identified over-dependency on oil, infrastructural deficit such as poor and erratic power supply and poor quality of education as major problems that should be tackled by the government to reduce unemployment.
  • UNIABUJA: IBB tasks governing council on development

    UNIABUJA: IBB tasks governing council on development

    Former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), has charged the Governing Council of the University of Abuja not to relent on the path of making the institution one of the best in the world.
    Babangida, who is also the First Visitor to the University, said he was impressed with the current level of development at the University.
    According to a statement by the institution’s Deputy Registrar (Information), Waziri Garba, the ex- president said this when he received members of Council and Management of the University at his residence in Minna, Niger state.
    He said: “It was our own creation. It is always of interest for me to know how the University is doing. I want to say that I am most impressed by the development that is currently going on in the University.
    “I am glad that you are doing well, I am glad that it is one of the Universities that I was the Pioneer Visitor. I want you to continue with the zeal and determination to make it one of the finest and best institutions, not only in Nigeria perhaps Africa and in the world.”
    According to the statement, Babangida thanked the delegation for the visit which was to felicitate with him on his 75th birthday and to wish him well on the health challenges he had faced.
    The leader of the delegation, Dr. Mahe Dange who is also a member of the Governing said the visit was an opportunity to officially pay compliments to the former President for his foresight in according a dual status to the University.
    He said the university is serving the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the nation to advance learning and foster national unity.
  • Edo polls: WAEC relocates candidates to Delta, Ondo

    Edo polls: WAEC relocates candidates to Delta, Ondo

    The West African Examination Council (WAEC) on Tuesday said it has secured examination centres in Agbor, Delta state and Ore in Ondo state for candidates writing the General Certificate Examination (GCE) on Saturday,  September 10 in Edo state.

    It will be recalled that Edo state governorship election is expected to hold on the same day secondary schools students in the state are expected to sit for their mathematics paper.

    This is just as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed on Tuesday that it would go ahead with the poll as planned despite protest from secondary school students who called for a shift in the date of the election to allow them write their papers.

    INEC through the Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of the commission, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, also said it would not be involved in the relocation of the candidates.

    It added that the idea to relocate candidates to other states for examination is purely the responsibility of the state government, adding that INEC would not compensate any candidate.

    The Head, Public Affairs for WAEC Nigeria, Demianus Ojijeogu, who spoke with our reporter in Abuja yesterday, said the council would go ahead with the examination on that day.

    Ojijeogu also stated that WAEC would not be responsible for the relocation of the candidates to the two states, adding that the council is hoping the state government would assist with the relocation of the candidates.

    He added that WAEC officials would be on ground to conduct the examination for candidates who would be at the venue of the examination.

    “We went to Agbor, we have already secured venue. We went to Ore in Ondo state to secure exam centres for them. So that is where we are. Yes we have. Agbor in Delta state and Ore in Ondo state. We have secured centres already.

    “No. It’s our belief that the Edo State Government being the guardian of the candidates can make such an arrangement & also provide security for them.

    “If push comes to show, we will go and wait for them. Our exam officials will be in Ore in Ondo and Agbor in Delta state in the centres designated for that exams on that day. Those that come we will conduct exams for them but we still believe that something is going to happen between now and tomorrow,” he said in a text message sent to our reporter.

    He explained that WAEC wrote a letter to INEC to allow the candidates and WAEC officials free movement on the day of the examination after proper accreditation.

    According to him, the request was turned down for security reasons, adding that the police insisted on restriction of movement on that day.

    He said: “We wrote to INEC headquarters in Abuja and copied the state INEC in Edo state, copied the commissioner of police alerting them that our mathematics paper is clashing with the election.

    “Our view was that they should exempt our examination officials who will be properly accredited and candidates who will also be identified, they should grant them exemption from the restriction of government on that day so that they can write the paper because the subject is a core subject. It is mathematics.

    “The next thing we got a reply from INEC and even the commissioner of police inviting us for a meeting in Benin City. That was on august 25th. I was at the meeting and then when we got to the meeting we discovered that they had already met on the level of inter-agency consultative committee on election in edo state and trashed our issue that WAEC should relocate the candidates to states that is closer to Edo state.

    “We told them that this thing is not workable. Because one, research has shown that when you move candidates from where they have prepared for exams to another state or where they have been writing exams to another location if affects them psychologically.

    “On Wednesday, on the 29th of august we got a letter INEC sent to us saying that the commission in liaison with the security operating in Edo state after our joint meeting with officials of the organization advised WAEC to relocate the candidates to any state that are… to Edo state. This position is borne out of the fact that movement of every Nigerian living in edo state will be restricted on the election Day and such security arrangement cannot be compromised.

    They said that they cannot grant our request for the exemption of examination functionaries and candidates from any movement on the day of the election so we were left with nothing. There is nothing else to do. The exam must be conducted. It is an international exam in the sense that the paper will be written in the Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, as well as in Nigeria at the same time.

    “We have one other thing to do since they don’t want a gathering on the election day because they said it will compromise election security for the sake of these children let us move these centres to neighbouring states- delta, and Ondo.

    “We are also pleading with the government. We are expecting that the government can shift ground and say okay, since there will be free movement on that day for eligible voters that the candidates can also be allowed to go and write the exam as long as they are properly identified. We are still expecting that to happen.”

  • 25.3 million Nigerians out of school – FG

    25.3 million Nigerians out of school – FG

    The Federal Government on Monday said about 25.3 million Nigerian children and youths are out of school across the country.

    To reduce this figure, the government said it plans to enrol about 2. 9 million pupils annually in four years to reduce the figure of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

    Nigeria currently has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world with 11. 4 million out – of – school children out of the 20 million worldwide.

    Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, said 60 per cent of the 11.4 million out-of-school children in Nigeria are girls.

    Adamu, who said this at the presentation of “Education for change: a Ministerial Strategic Plan (2016-2019) to stakeholders in Abuja, said only 3.1 million or 17 per cent nomadic children of school-age had access to basic education despite decades of intervention.

    He therefore said government would urgently raise the national Net Enrolment Rate (NER) to ensure that are enrolled in basic education schools in the next four years.

    The Minister said: “About 25.3 million students at all levels of education are out- of- school in the country.

    “Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children in the world with 11. 4 million out- of-school children of the 20 million worldwide. These include the girl-child, Almajiri-child, children of nomadic pastoralists and migrant fishermen and more recently the children displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

    “60% of the 11.4 million out-of-school children in Nigeria are girls. Only a fraction (17%) of the 3.1 million nomadic children of school-age has access to basic education despite decades of intervention. Similarly, only a small proportion of the FME’s 20120 estimate of 9.5 million Almajiri children have access to any form of basic education.

    “An increasing number of displaced children (1 million) are being forced out of school in the insurgency-stricken states. These figures suggest that the educational process has given these groups of marginalized children very little access to education.

    “For the 11.4 million out-of-school children the most urgent concern is raising the national Net Enrolment Rate (NER) to ensure that all of them are enrolled in basic education schools in the next four years. To achieve this target, the government planes to enrol, 2, 875,000 pupils annually for the next four years.

    “The FME will come up with more effective strategies for engaging with states in addressing the problem of escalating numbers of out-of-school children including where necessary, the use of targeted funding that deliberately addresses the factors of exclusion.”

    Adamu said the government would renovate the schools destroyed by Boko Haram and construct additional 71, 875 classrooms annually for the next four years to accommodate the pupils.

    The minister also said the government would provide additional 71, 875 qualified teachers through the deployment of the 14 per cent of the new teachers to be recruited by the federal government annually to cater for the anticipated increase in pupils’ enrolment.

    “The government will renovate the schools destroyed by Boko Haram and construct additional 71, 875 classrooms annually for the next four years to accommodate the anticipated increase in enrollment of out-of-school children.

    “Provide additional 71, 875 qualified teachers through the deployment of the 14% of the new teachers to be recruited by the federal government annually to cater for the anticipated increase in pupils’ enrolment.

    “Raise the current enrolment of girls in the basic education schools by 1.5 million girls annually for the next four years if the 6 million girls currently out of school are to be provided with access to basic education as required by the UBE law.

    “Deploy 37, 500 qualified female teachers, (or 7.5% of the 500,000 new teachers to be recruited by the federal government annually), to serve as role models for female pupils/students; and determine the amount of resources in terms of the learning materials and other facilities, as specified in UBEC’s school norms and standards, required for training the Education For All (EFA) goals,” he added.

    Earlier, Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, said the education sector needed strengthening for Nigeria to meet goal four of the SDG.

    According to Anwukah, the efficient and effective implementation of the Strategic Plan when finalized by all levels of governments and stakeholders would offer Nigerians the means to optimize opportunities, create solutions and find new paths to a better future.

    He said: “For Nigeria to meet the targets of the SDG 4, the education sector needs strengthening, our dilapidated schools must be provided with befitting infrastructure to become learner-friendly for all learners, including girls, the vulnerable and those with special needs.

    “We must recruit and re-train existing teachers for quality delivery. Every child, girl or boy must not only enroll in school but must complete the full cycle of basic education and must be seen to learn. Our tertiary institutions must be citadels of learning that foster innovation to meet the needs of the workforce, strengthen research capacities and advance knowledge by increasing higher education opportunities for young people.

    “It is important also to say that education for change must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet the needs of their own times.”

     

     

  • Group accuses Annkio Briggs of supporting militant group

    Group accuses Annkio Briggs of supporting militant group

    The New Initiative for Credible Leadership (NICL), has accused Niger Delta activist, Annkio Briggs for tacitly supporting emerging militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers by endorsing their destruction and sabotage of oil installations, which she defended as fighting against injustice.

    The group warned the Federal Government to no longer disregard threats from Annkio Briggs and militant groups in the region as idle talks since it is becoming clearer that there is a concrete and sinister agenda backed by prominent persons to destroy the country.

    Reacting to Briggs’ expression of sympathy for the militant group in Abuja on Monday, a statement by NICL said her decision to endorse instead of strongly condemning the destructive group marks a new low in her ethnically motivated activism and that she has unveiled herself as the official spokesperson for the Niger Delta Avengers.

    The statement by NICL National Coordinator, Rev Steven Onwu, warned that it is dangerous for Nigeria to repeat the destructive years of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and Boko Haram, which were able to grow into killer groups because persons who should know better erroneously defended their crimes.

    It said: “It is frightening that Annkio Briggs did not for once in the interview condemn these criminals for what they are but was instead promoting them as right fighters. This is not a surprise to anyone as she threatened as far back as 2013 and later in February of last year that militancy will resume in the region for the people of Niger Delta to take ownership of the crude oil fields.

    “Briggs had also threatened immediately after former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the election that it was time for the Niger Delta to secede and this was after Nigerians refused to be cowed by ethnic threats from some section of the Niger Delta that the country will boil if their son loses the presidential election. She had also threatened mayhem if the military is not withdrawn from the Niger Delta and suspects with corruption cases pending in court are not left off the hook.

    “Her interview has brought clarity to the rapid ascent of the Niger Delta Avengers as a vicious group as it is now clear that her likes are the ones propping up the attackers. The authorities must therefore at this point revisit a letter from former President Olusegun Obasanjo that accused Annkio Briggs’ principal of training snipers and other armed personnel secretly and clandestinely acquiring weapons. It is apparent the trained terrorists are now using the acquired weapons against the Nigerian state.

    “We are even more worried at the international support that the emerging terror group is enjoying with the foreign minister of one of those countries that pretend to be Nigeria’s friend issuing veiled threats to the federal government on their behalf.

    “The federal government must not threat this ugly development as the activities of opportunistic criminals as the signs are far more ominous and Annkio Briggs’ interview has only served to reinforce this. Beyond the military that is going to after the rebels, steps must be taken on other fronts to eradicate this latest threat to Nigeria’s corporate existence.”

    It warned that efforts to contrive a new round of amnesty for criminals who do not want to do day jobs is not feasible in view of the collapse of oil prices and reduction of output arising from the destruction of critical oil infrastructure.

  • Okorocha seeks review of university curriculum

    Okorocha seeks review of university curriculum

    Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Wednesday urged the National Universities Commission (NUC) to review tertiary education curriculum to ensure that the curriculum is directed towards solving productive problems in key sectors of the economy.

    This, the governor said, would enable young graduates  to become thoroughbred entrepreneurs and professionals  while developing their capacity to become independent in specific fields of their choice.

    Okorocha said this in Abuja on Wednesday when he received a certificate of recognition of the newly established Eastern Palm University in the State from the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Julius Okojie.

    He said that universities were established to focus more on human capital development and to guide students into specific professional areas.

    Okorocha said: “The Eastern Palm University would focus more on human capital development, professionalism, not a situation whereby people read a course and just end up somewhere.

    “It would ensure that people are guided along their talent into a proper profession in order to enable them serve their country. I believe that our education system must be tailored towards developing the resources of our land and not being over import dependent.”

    Earlier, Prof. Okojie urged the governor to ensure all the academic principles of running a university as spelt out by commission are adhered to by the University.

    He called on Okorocha to ensure the running of relevant programmes for the universities.

    Okojie said: “Ensure you take off well. Follow all the procedures and academic rituals and ensure all the standards are met. Eastern Palm university must ensure it it operates programmes that are relevant.

    “We must be very careful in the way we use politics to run our education in this country.”

    With the issuance of certificate of recognition, the University becomes the 42nd  state University and  the 143 University in Nigeria.

  • Reps panel backpedals on use of CBT by JAMB

    Reps panel backpedals on use of CBT by JAMB

    House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education yesterday backpedalled on the use of computer-based test (CBT) by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for candidates seeking admission into tertiary institutions.

    The committee had earlier rejected the system.

    The House, in its sitting, had urged the Federal Government to direct JAMB to revert to the paper and pencil test (PPT) for candidates taking the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), following protests over the use of CBT.

    Chairman, House Committee on Basic Education, Zakari Muhammed during a visit to one of the centres in Bwari, FCT, Abuja yesterday, told reporters that the use of CBT was in line with global practice to sanitize the education system

    He noted that the House never took a position on the use of CBT by JAMB.

    Muhammed added that the House only discussed the conduct of the examination by the board.

    He said those who wrote the examination outside Nigeria were leveraging on the flexibility and advantage of CBT.

    According to him, the use of PPT by candidate was cumbersome and characterized with several irregularities and unwholesome activities.

    “The House of Representatives Committee on Education is in support of the use of CBT by JAMB. The world is flying and we cannot be crawling.

    “Today, those candidates are writing a rescheduled examination some of whom are sick because of the flexibility of CBT without which they would not have had this opportunity,” he said.

    The chairman advised parents to be patient with the board, adding that the process was not as complex as it had been made to look.

    He called on JAMB to identify the hitches and address them, adding that the House would support JAMB in putting infrastructure together to see that the new examination regime was stress-free.

    Registrar, JAMB Prof. Dibu Ojerinde said the rescheduled examination was one of the flexibility of the CBT.

    According to him, the conduct of the rescheduled examinations for candidates, who missed the UTME because of change in centres, was due to the use of the CBT.

    He noted that the major objective of the board was to completely eliminate malpractice through the conduct of the CBT.

    “Only CBT has the capacity to address all the challenge of the conduct of public examination in the 21st century.

    “The 21st century child in Nigeria irrespective of where he or she comes from has no problem with CBT. The complexity developed by perpetrators of malpractice can never be detected by Paper and Pencil Test,” he said.

    Ojerinde noted that so far, over 37 per cent of candidates scored 200 and above compared to the 32 per cent last year.

    He added that 59 per cent scored 180 and above compared to the 55 per cent recorded last year.

    He said this year’s performance was better than last year’s exercise.