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Tag: Goodluck Jonathan

  • Youths condemn Lamido’s sons’ arrest

    Youths condemn Lamido’s sons’ arrest

    Hundreds of youths yesterday marched on the streets of Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, to protest the arrest of Governor Sule Lamido’s sons.

    The protesters, under the aegis of the National Volunteers for Sule Lamido (NVFS), marched on the city and House of Assembly where they were received by the Speaker, Adamu Ahmed Sarawa.

    The group’s leader, Musa Gambo Guri, condemned the arrest and detention of Lamido’s sons by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and called for their release.

    Guri expressed their support for the governor and hailed his socio-economic performance in the state.

    He said: “The Lamido-led administration is the most transparent and accountable in the country. It is only Governor Lamido, who has achieved over 90 percent budget implementation in all his six years in office.

    “President Goodluck Jonathan witnessed these improvements when he visited the state to inaugurate projects and laid foundation of some others.”

    The group called on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman Bamanga Tukur to resign. It urged the Presidency to stop harassing and intimidating the Group of Seven Governors (G7).

    The Speaker assured the protesters that their message would be presented to the Assembly for deliberation.

    Sarawa said: “As you know the Assembly is not a one-man show, so your complaint would be presented to all the members during plenary.

    “The PDP is one family in this state and we will remain united under the able leadership of Governor Sule Lamido.”

     

  • Reality or perception?

    That was our President Goodluck Jonathan speaking at the fifth edition of the Presidential media chat late September. As if you didn’t know already, the kernel of his submission was that corruption, among the many ills afflicting the Nigerian polity, is simply exaggerated. For proof, he referred Nigerians to the operative word “perception” in the annual rating exercise by Transparency International of which Nigeria ranks pretty among the top rung of the most corrupt nations on earth.

    Far from accepting that the unrestrained self-help that goes on in Abuja and the 36 state capitals in the name of governance is a major problem, the President chose to locate our problems in the hype that normally attends every reported incident of heist by highly placed officials!

    Just when the deliberate misdiagnosis of the problem expectedly rankled to no end, the President would, days later, further expound his treatise by insisting that Nigerians – not his administration that has made an open show of harbouring tainted officials in its ranks – were the main culprits in fostering the environment of corruption.

    I don’t think anyone should lose sleep over the specious dissection of the national pathology by a leader under whose watch the industry of graft has grown to monstrous proportions. Situated in the context of its appalling helplessness in combating the monster, the statement provides a window into why the fight against graft under the Jonathan presidency not only went tepid but ineffectual.

    Of course, a lot has happened since those statements were uttered. We have had Stellagate – a scam which not only threatened to rip the innards of the Jonathan presidency open, but has since unleashed a burst of adrenalin across the land the result of which the administration is presently utterly breathless. And now, with a related event in Ghana in which a cabinet minister got the boot from her plum cabinet position merely for dreaming about cornering some future gravy, the welter of media commentaries and the not-so-subtle prodding that the President off-load his own “damaged good” has simply reached the heavens.

    As it is, the surest evidence of how far apart the President and Nigerians are on the subject would be the deliberate stone-walling over the Stellagate affair. This is even when the evidence in the public domain has exposed several layers of graft for serious administration to act upon. Is it a case of someone being convinced that the dust would blow away sooner than later? For this, we must grant that this President should know a thing or two things about perception as a subject and its links with the messy business of corruption that the whole world is yet to know.

    To be sure, we must be clear about the President’s diagnosis of the problem particularly his rather effusive distinction between the popular perception about the cancer and the reality he sought to paint, I guess, almost entirely in his own colours. Just as the president believes that the two are miles apart, the question must arise as to whether those accusing his administration of either fuelling the cancer or is at least indifferent to it are not entirely uncharitable. Conversely too, for a menace that has not only persisted, but has earned the nation notoriety as the global capital of graft, Nigerians would also be right to wonder about the President’s line of thought which appears to suggest that negative perceptions are at least tolerable in so far as the facts are beyond establishing! The truth of course is that perceptions, no matter how exaggerated or distorted they may seem, oftentimes have more than a whiff of reality. We must also acknowledge that the business of separating facts from fantasies in a clime riddled with corrupt practices is certainly not helped by the sheer scale of impunity that borders on schizophrenia. Whether it is the latest issue infamously described as Stellagate, in which a serving minister reportedly directed a parastatal head “to do the needful” as in the purchase of two fancy cars for a whopping N255 million; or the well-reported extravaganza of another cabinet member said to have ratcheted a bill of nearly N2billion to hire private jets, the point is that the scale of impunity in these parts simply beggars belief! And the President, as the leader of the team has done pretty little to dispel the image of his administration as one that condones impunity.

    Again, it goes to the fundamental point about what facts say. Beyond deniability, I think the issue is well established that corruption is not just real but has under this presidency become the driver of governance processes. Didn’t subsidy payments balloon from N300 billion under the Umaru Yar’Adua presidency to an unprecedented N2.5 trillion under this presidency? Yes, we are talking of one product line, petrol – jumping in multiples of eight under 18 months – the sheer stuff of fairy tales happening right under our very eyes!

    How about that for perception? Today, the subsidy figure is in the neighbourhood of N1.2 trillion. Has anyone been called to account for the deviation? Now, thanks to the Swiss non-governmental advocacy group, the Berne Declaration, the nation has just begun to find confirmation of how the triumvirate of NNPC, Vitol and Trafigura –two Switzerland-based oil traders, and their local minions numbering seven, used their offshore ‘letterbox companies’ to defraud the country of over $6.8bn in subsidy payments between 2009 and 2011.

    Are the documented findings of the Swiss body also in the realm of perception? What about the jumbo loans at a time of record oil earnings? At least, to its credit, the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, converted the benefits of the bumper oil earning to exit from the creditor-cartels of London and Paris Clubs. Today, not only is the nation back on the ruinous path of debt peonage even when the promise of infrastructural renewal remains undelivered.

    Former United States Ambassador Walter Carrington recently framed the issue rather succinctly when he quipped: “The question must now be asked, why is Africa’s most endowed country which earn $57billion a year in oil revenue not yet able to solve its persistent problems of electric power and infrastructure?”

    Well, the President has supplied the 10-letter answer: Perception.

    Surely, there must be something in the Villa that inures its occupants to the putrefaction.

     

  • Laboratory scientists urge FG to implement court ruling

    Laboratory scientists urge FG to implement court ruling

    THE Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to order the Federal Ministry of Health and all agencies to implement the judgement of the National Industrial Court (NICN).

    AMLSN had approached the NICN for judicial interpretation of the laws and statutory documents for efficient and effective medical laboratory services delivery in Nigeria.

    The court granted all the reliefs of the association, noting that medical laboratory scientists are distinct professionals and consequently entitled to be accorded due recognition.

    The court also granted that AMLSN is legal and entitled to operate and work under a separate department.

    AMLSN National President, Dr. Godswill Okara, lamented that the rulings have not been implemented, a development he said is affecting effective medical laboratory and healthcare services in the nation.

    He said: “We call on President Goodluck Jonathan whose government has an avowed commitment to the rule of law to order the Federal Ministry of Health and all agencies of government to enforce and fully implement the judgement.’’

    Okara said all relevant agencies of government will be served with the court judgement to avoid denying knowing about the rulings.

    Speaking on the e-learning programme for members of the association, Okara said: “Since professional practice is a knowledge- based occupation, it is imperative that practitioners imbibe the culture of continuous education to be at the cutting edge of knowledge for efficient service to patients and society.”

    H also revealed that AMLSN with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) developed online training opportunities for members.

    3,421 medical laboratory scientists, he said, have so far registered with the e-learning website with 3,057 successful course completions.

     

  • DICKSON IROEGBU bags African Youth Ambassador award

    DICKSON IROEGBU bags African Youth Ambassador award

    AWARD-WINNING Nollywood movie producer, director and writer, Dickson Iroegbu, who was recently appointed as Executive Assistant, Creative Entertainment and Tourism, under the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Youth and Students Affairs, has been honoured again.

    The filmmaker was on Wednesday, November 7, given a special award as African Youth Ambassador by office of the Secretary to the Federal Government of Nigeria (SFG).

    Speaking concerning the recognition, Iroegbu disclosed that his appointment as Executive Assistant, Creative Entertainment and Tourism shows that entertainers are not only a set of people who focus on creating leisure for people, but also they contribute to nation building.

    According to him, entertainment has values and such values have to be shown through appropriate and concrete contributions to build the nation. He therefore urged other showbiz practitioners to make their contributions count.

  • Jonathan, Mark, Fayemi condole with Shema

    Jonathan, Mark, Fayemi condole with Shema

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday condoled with Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema on the death of his father, Shehu Shema, at the National Hospital, Abuja.

    Jonathan, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, urged the governor and his family to thank Allah for the elder Shema’s life.

    He believed that at 86, the governor’s father would return to his Maker in peace, having produced worthy offspring like the governor, who will proudly carry on his legacy of worthy and selfless service.

    Senate President David Mark also commiserated with Shema. In a condolence message, he said the late Shema lived a life full of passion and sacrifice.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Kola Ologbondiyan, Mark urged the family to see the death as the utmost will of God and remember that only God gives and takes at will.

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi also condoled with Shema.

    The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, urged Shema and the family to be consoled that their father lived a long and fulfilled life as an accomplished farmer and notable community leader.

     

  • Jonathan, Mark, Tambuwal advises African lawmakers on democratic growth

    Jonathan, Mark, Tambuwal advises African lawmakers on democratic growth

    President Goodluck Jonathan; Senate President David Mark and House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal yesterday advised African parliaments to pursue legislation that will engender democratic growth on the continent.

    The three leaders spoke at the maiden African Legislative Summit 2013 with the theme: Emerging Legislatures in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities.

    Jonathan, who inaugurated the summit, urged African parliaments to legislate against issues and actions that could lead to the collapse of the democratic arrangements on the continent.

    African parliaments, he said, should legislate to discourage thuggery, terrorism and organised cross-border crimes.

    The President described the summit as a laudable effort, which would give Africa a new vision and a new initiative to rapid development.

    He said: “The summit is coming at a critical period when the African continent is in search of a means of strengthening the various democratic institutions to pave the way for an enduring democratic structure.

    “There is the need for strategy for networking and capacity-building. The legislature has a critical role to play in lawmaking and oversight function to consolidate democratic practice and norms.”

    Mark noted that the summit was desirable because African democracy was at the crossroads with mixed results of consolidation in some countries and regression in others.

    The Senate President said there was need to underscore the central role of the legislature in giving true meaning to democracy on the African continent and reassure the people that functioning and institutionalised legislatures would contribute to reversing the poverty, corruption, underdevelopment and disenchantment and cynicism about democracy.

    He said: “…Having been in the Senate for the last 14 years and having been involved with regional and global parliamentary movements, I have some practical experiences to share with parliamentarians, scholars and civil society activists preoccupied with the functioning of the legislature. My remarks will draw from my experiences as a legislator and secondly from my interactions with scholars, parliamentarians across the globe as well as close watchers of parliaments, especially in emerging democracies.

    “Let me take the liberty to assert that as a continent and a people, we have every cause to be proud of our achievements in establishing democracy as the most acceptable mode of governance. This summit is an affirmation that democratic governance and its ideals, such as the rule of law, respect for human rights and the triumph of the will of the people have unquestionable acceptance among Africans.”

    Tambuwal decried underdevelopment of the parliament in contrast with the Executive arm and the marginalisation of the parliament in policy making.

  • ASUU leaders meet on national strike

    ASUU leaders meet on national strike

    The national leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may meet today in Kano to decide whether or not to end its four-month-old strike.

    The meeting was planned following the Federal Government’s offers to the union to return to the clasasroom. But the death of one of the union’s leaders, Prof Festus Iyayi, yesterday, may cause the postponement of the Kano meeting.

    The ASUU leadership, last week, met with the Fedral Government, led by President Goodluck Jonathan, in Abuja.

    The meeting, which lasted several hours, however, ended in a stalemate, as the union did not end the strike.

    ASUU’s National President Dr Nasir Fagge told State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting that he needed to consult various chapters of the union before he would make a statement on the strike.

    As the union met in Kano yesterday, hopes were high that it would end the action.

    The University of Jos (UNIJOS) chapter of ASUU, which voted against ending the four-month-old strike, has said it would resume classes, if directed by the national body.

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter also voted in favour of ending the strike.

    The Chairman of the UNIJOS chapter, Dr. David Jangdam, spoke yesterday in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

    He said: “Yes, the local ASUU chapter voted 159 to 88 against ending the strike at its congress on Monday, but we shall abide by any decision taken by the national body on Wednesday.”

    ASUU’s central body is expected to meet in Kano today to take a final decision on whether or not to end the strike after collating resolutions from various local branches, which considered the offer by President Goodluck Jonathan during their congresses on Monday.

    Jonathan, at a meeting in Abuja, had made the offers to persuade the lecturers to end their strike.

    The lecturers are seeking better funding for the universities and improved welfare packages for the teaching staff.

    Jangdam told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos that the decision of the national body was final and binding on all local chapters.

    He said: “Even the strike was not supported by all the universities. Many local chapters of ASUU opposed it, but majority wanted it and we embarked on it.”

    The Chairman of the UNILAG branch, Dr Karo Ogbinaka, could not be reached for comments on the outcome of the union’s meeting.

    But a member of the union, who spoke in confidence, said the lecturers agreed to suspend the strike.

    He said: “We are calling off the strike. We have sent our referendum to the national leaders of the union so they will collate the results and decide what to do…”

     

  • Boko Haram: After committee’s report, what next?

    Boko Haram: After committee’s report, what next?

    Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North and its implications for the on-going anti-terrorism campaigns.

    The Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North has submitted its final report to President Goodluck Jonathan. The committee recommended the setting up of an advisory committee on continuous dialogue to advise the President on all matters related to dialogue and resolution of crisis.

    The implication of the committee’s recommendation is that the Boko Hararm insurgency cannot be resolved by military alone. Many Nigerians have faulted President Jonathan’s approach to the volatile issue. The government had in April set up the Tanimu Turaki Committee, which was given a three month-deadline. The deadline was later extended by two months. The committee was mandated to come up with recommendations on how to end the insurgency. Less than a month after its inauguration, the Federal Government declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, where the Boko Haram group has been on rampage. The government outlawed the dreadful Islamist sect and ordered a military action to subdue them.

    Critics have said that it is contradictory to declare war on terrorists, while the government claims to be negotiating with them. In reaction, the sect rejected the proposed dialogue. This rejection of dialogue is reflected in the committee’s report. “Some of our difficulties in having a productive dialogue include the refusal of their leaders to submit to dialogue”, the report said.

    President Jonathan had opted for dialogue with Boko Haram when he realised that the issue truly required a political solution. It was against the backdrop of the fact that the terrorists enjoy sympathy in the North among the political elite and security officers. Many observers felt that the President should have sustained the courage to sincerely discuss with the group, listen to their demands, present the government’s view, proffer solutions and reach a consensus.

    According to critics, this route was ignored because the government was averse to contrary views in a federation with diverse religious, social, political, economic, cultural, educational and professional interests.

    Five months after the declaration of state of emergence and the military operation, the terrorists are yet to surrender. The government has extended the state of emergency in the three states by another six months, an indication that the end of the war is out of sight. The President has admitted that the situation is still dicey. He said: “Though, we cannot say we have won the war. But listening to the address by the chairman, we believe that the document you have submitted will help us with the follow up action.”

     

    Is military action the solution?

     

    Former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Martin Luther Agwai has said that the Boko Haram insurgency cannot be resolved by the military. “You can never solve this problem with military solutions. The military can always be an enabling force. They will sensitise; they will stabilise the area. It is a political issue. It is a social issue. It is an economic issue and, until these issues are addressed, the military can never give you a solution. If anybody expects the military to give a solution to this problem, it is not possible because it is not a military problem. It is not a war. You are not fighting another country invading Nigeria. So, you cannot get a military solution to that.”

    An expert in conflict resolution, Mr Gab Okweselise, said that combating the insurgency requires military, political and communal solutions. According to him, the military role is simply to restore law and order, protect lives and properties of citizens and create an enabling environment for political solution to take place which, he said, the Joint Task Force (JTF) has creditably achieved.

    Okweselise noted that the JTF’s achievement is based on the premise that the government has the capacity to checkmate the activities of the terrorists and crush them. “Once an enabling environment has been created, concurrent actions should take place with the aim of bringing the menace to an end. The time for political solution to the insurgency is now and the security agencies must remain in a staging position to act decisively and appropriately when the need arise.

    “On the other hand, the communities have a lot to do in the area of giving timely and credible information and to stop youths from being recruited into the group; otherwise, the Boko Haram terrorism will linger for a long time. All forms of litany will not solve the insurgency, except concerted, coordinated, selfless efforts and resolve of the government, citizens and the security agencies”.

    A sociologist, Dr Hassan Abdullahi, advised government embrace dialogue in solving the insurgency. He said: “Obviously, dialogue, like in the case of Niger Delta militants, could lead to amnesty. Government needs to properly organise the solution by engaging in thorough discussion and negotiation with the terrorists so that, at the end, we will have solutions that can give us sustained peace that we need, instead of living with fear, which the military operation represents.

    Abdullahi said the solution approach should have short and long term measures. In the short term, the government should quickly constitute a discussion and reconciliation committee made up of respected leaders in the country. He said that they should be given six months to discuss with Boko Haram, tender apology for the past mistakes of the government, seek to know their grievances, persuade them to understand the secularity of the Nigerian state, reach a common understanding of what should be the solution to the their problems, reconcile them with government, and allow the government to implement the agreement.

    “Government may have to rehabilitate the group and this is where the idea of amnesty comes in. For an ideological group like Boko Haram, Nigeria needs amnesty to support the political solution. The use of force cannot provide the needed support and it must be dropped forthwith. Amnesty will assist in moving them out of their thinking, engage them economically and assuage them.

    “The next stage is to disarm them and discourage them from bombing, destroying and carrying arms to attack fellow Nigerians. Thereafter, government should discretely determine and prosecute any person, who had used and dumped them or who had encouraged them in any form in carrying out their dastard acts. Government needs to provide little support to all those identified to have lost properties or lives arising from the insurgency”.

    On the long term solution, Abdullahi asked the government to restructure the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to carry out its functions with re-energised focus. “NOA should put in place a national reorientation programme through which they can regularly interact with the idling Nigerian youths. NOA needs to learn how to deepen the use of inspirational leaders from across the world to calm the raging nerves of the youth and gradually identify what else the youths can do to earn a living. It should be able to discover the talents of the youths, retrain them along their talents through robust free education”.

     

    ICC stand on amnesty

     

    In a move to assist the country in the fight against terrorism, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is making concerted efforts to address the challenges posed by the sect. According to a status report by the ICC Prosecutor on its preliminary investigation, Boko Haram “has attacked religious clerics, Christians, political leaders, Muslims opposing the group, the police and security forces, Westerners, journalists and UN personnel”.

    Thus, the next phase of the examination by the ICC, according to experts, would be to evaluate the viability of the attempts to prosecute Boko Haram, to which Nigerian authorities would be required to fully cooperate and make all reports and past investigations available to the ICC.

    The United States has declined the request to list Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation. The President of the Chrisian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, faulted the United States for not classifying the group as a terrorist. He said that one year after he had testified before the Congress, US has not designated Boko Haram a foreign terrorist organisation, even though it has killed citizens of many countries, including Americans.

    Oritsejafor described America’s ambivalence over the terrorist challenge as a stunning betrayal. He recalled that, after the ‘9/11’ disaster, Nigeria was among the nations that cooperated with global efforts on tracing terrorist financing, adding that a designated foreign financial support was uncovered in Northern Nigeria.

    As a result of the mounting pressure, the US government was compelled to designate some members of the group as terrorists, but nothing was done about the group as a body. Three leaders of Boko Haram tagged as terrorists are Abubakar Shekau, who leads the militant group, and Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid el Barnawi are believed to have ties with a branch of al-Qaeda.

    Ironically, the ICC position has not stopped the federal government from going ahead with its intention to grant Boko Haram amnesty.

    A former university don, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), said that the position of the ICC overrides that of Nigeria. He said that, once they (Boko Haram members) have committed crimes against humanity, that decision is overriding. “In other words, whether we like it or not, it is not a domestic matter anymore. So, that is the status now in international law and in the law of any country that is a party to the statute of the ICC of which Nigeria is a party”, he added.

    The President of Yoruba Youths Assembly, Mr Thomas Olarinde opposed amnesty for the group. He said that it is wrong to reward crime.

    Olaniran said the issue of amnesty is beyond the Nigerian Government. “It is an international issue. If Nigeria grants them amnesty, the international community will see us as an unserious nation. We at the Yoruba Youths Assembly want the Federal Government to forget about the amnesty to protect the integrity of the country. Government should rather invite the international community to assist the country to urgently address the nightmarish of Boko Haram menace. But definitely, amnesty is no longer the option at this point”, he added.

    Human rights lawyer Festus Keyamo urged Nigeria to drop the idea of amnesty. This is in view of the fact that the international community has frowned at it.

    He said: “The amnesty proposal cannot continue. We are aware that the international community frowns on it and never negotiates with terrorist groups. The policy is never to negotiate with any terrorist group. It is therefore going to be difficult for Nigerian government to continue to negotiate with Boko Haram”.

  • Varsity teachers divided over strike

    Varsity teachers divided over strike

    Varsity teachers met yesterday on the campuses to discuss President Goodluck Jonathan’s offer to end their more than four months strike.

    According to the operating guidelines of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the local chapters are expected to vote on whether they agreed with the proposal and that the strike should end or whether they disapproved and the strike should continue.

    Decisions reached on the various campuses are to be taken to tomorrow’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, which will take a decision after aggregating the opinions.

    Opinions were divided yesterday, although many ASUU chapters failed to disclose their decisions.

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State University (LASU), University of Calabar (UNICAL), Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Federal University of Technology Minna and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso chapters voted that the strike should end. Some of them, however, gave conditions.

    The University of Jos (UNIJOS), the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and the Nasarawa State University chapters voted that the strike should continue.

    UNIJOS chapter chairman Dr. David Jankam said members did not see any substance in the dialogue with the Federal Government to warrant calling off the strike.

    He said: “We have just rounded off our meeting. As a matter of fact, our members voted overwhelmingly for the continuation of the strike.

    “I can also confirm to you that five of the eight universities that make up the Bauchi Zone of ASUU have also voted for continuation of the strike, and the general saying is that the government has not shown any commitment so far.

    “We started the meeting by briefing our members on issues resolved with the Federal Government in the last meeting with the president of ASUU.

    “But in responding to the briefing, our members observed that the main issues that led to the strike were not discussed at the Aso Rock meeting.

    “As such, my members said President Jonathan is taking them for a ride by trying to divert attention from the core subjects of the strike.”

    Jankam went on: “I will now convey the resolve of our branch to our national president at the NEC meeting tomorrow.”

    Shedding light on how the meeting will decide the mater, he said: “If the majority of the chapters vote for its end, it will be called off, but if majority of chapters vote for continuation, so be it.”

    The congress of the Union at the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna was divided, with majority of the members supporting the suspension of the action. Others would want it suspended with some conditions met by the government.

    The minority demanded that in calling off the action, the leadership of the union should insist that no member is victimised for his roles in the strike. They also insisted that government should indicate in the final agreement that the 2009 agreement was due for negotiation and the payment of the balance of their academic earned allowances.

    As soon as Dr. Fatai Jimoh briefed the congress of the outcome of the meeting between President Jonathan and the union, the house was divided, with the majority of the members pushing for suspension.

    The few dissenting voices argued that the union should not fall prey to the government’s ploy. They cautioned that the union cannot take the government for its word, maintaining that if the union had to embark on a strike after series of correspondences and strike in 2011 that led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2012 were not honoured.

    But majority of the university teachers said the plight of the students and their parents should be considered.

    After an exhaustive debate, the congress directed its chairman to convey to the National Executive Council meeting holding tomorrow at the Bayero University in Kano that the union could consider suspending the action, but insisted that the three conditions be met.

    Chapter chairman Dr. Fatai Jimoh, who initially refused to divulge the outcome of the congress, later said: “I have the mandate to take the decision of the congress to NEC. But, if you insist to know, majority of our members called for the suspension of the strike but with the government fulfilling three conditions.

    “Don’t ask me the conditions, because we don’t want it yet in the public domain. All I can tell you is that the strike is still on, until the NEC of the union decides otherwise.”

    The chapter chairman also refused to assess the impact of the action. He said: “As long as NEC has not suspended the action, it will be premature to assess the success or otherwise of the action. When the strike is called off, I’ll give my candid assessment.”

    At Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, ASUU chair Comrade Yahaya Badeggi said: “The congress at IBBU Lapai resolved that the strike continues until when the National Executive Council of the union decides otherwise. We know they are still negotiating. We shall abide by the decision of NEC.”

    On the gains of the action, Badeggi said: “I make bold to say that the action has produced some positive results. From the N100 billion released, our university got N450 million. This would not have been so but for the strike. I believe that at the end of the day, the university system will be better for it.”

    The following are the decisions at the various ASUU chapters on the strike.

    •University of Benin (UNIBEN). Members unanimously voted for the strike to continue because the Federal Government’s offer omitted some vital segments of the 2009 agreement;

    •University of Lagos (UNILAG) teachers want suspension of strike, but will await further directive from the national body after meeting tomorrow in Kano;

    •University of Calabar (UNICAL) lecturers voted for the suspension of the strike;

    Nasarawa State University, Keffi. ASUU chair Dr. Theophilus Lagi, said: “I can assure you that all members present at the congress today wanted the strike to continue because the documents from the government failed to address the grey areas in contention. We believe there is nothing practicable in the government’s offer, even with the N200 billion it promised to release. Before we can suspend the strike, all unpaid salaries of our colleagues must be paid and there must be solid assurance from the government that no member will be victimised after the strike is eventually suspended;

    •Ahmadu Bello University (ABU). When the issue was put to vote, the majority of members wanted an end to the strike, with the agreement that the government must sign a binding document on how it will release the N1.2 trillion it promised to release. They promised to abide by the decision of the NEC in Kano;

    •Delta State University (DELSU) members want suspension of the strike.

    •Ekiti State University (EKSU) lecturers would not disclose the outcome of the congress until after the NEC meeting tomorrow;

    •Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso (LAUTECH). The ASUU local chairman said he would not disclose the outcome of the congress but a lecturer who attended the congress said members were okay with the offer of the government and wanted the strike to end;

    •Lagos State University (LASU) chapter supports the strike suspension.

    A source who is from ASUU-LASU executive, but pleaded not to be mentioned, said the chapter only gave certain conditions under which the strike should be suspended.

  • Why budget presentation was shifted

    Why budget presentation was shifted

    President Goodluck Jonathan will no longer present today the 2014 Appropriation Bill – no thanks to differences between the lawmakers and the Presidency.

    The issues are being discussed for their resolution ahead of next Tuesday’s presentation of the proposal before a joint sitting of the National Assembly by the President.

    Though no reason was given for the sudden postponement, our correspondents gathered that part of the reasons is the non approval of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) by the House of Representatives.

    A senator noted that there was “no way Mr. President will present the 2014 Appropriation Bill when the House of Representatives is yet to pass the MTEF and the FSP”.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said: “I have just been told. I don’t really know the reason, but since both sides have agreed, it must be for good reason.”

    Another reason for the postponement, it was gathered, was the argument of lawmakers that the Executive failed woefully in the implementation of the 2013 budget, which they put at below 40 per cent.

    The House of Representatives is also unhappy that the Presidency snubbed its recommendation that the Director- General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh, should be removed.

    These were two of the caveats in the 2013 budget, which, according to representatives, President Jonathan had failed to honour.

    The House is also yet to debate the MTEF and take a position on the benchmark for oil price, among other parameters.

    The planned protest to disrupt the presentation of the budget today by the National Assembly chapter of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) was also partially responsible for the shift.

    The workers were planning to disrupt the budget presentation to drive home their grievances over the inclusion of some questionable employees in the Staff Welfare Committee by the NASS management.

    Though the protest was called off yesterday, the association’s spokesman, who signed the protest notice, Odo Chris, said a congress would be convened shortly to chart the way forward, adding that the shelving of the protest was due to attempts by the management to address the “raging staff welfare issue”.

    The Nation learnt that there were two meetings last weekend on the budget. One was between Senators and House members. The other was with the Presidency.

    At the meeting between leaders of the two chambers, efforts were said to have been made to arrive at a common position on what should be the oil price benchmark.

    While the Senate adopted $76.5 during its deliberation on Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) presented to the National Assembly by the President, the preponderance of opinion from members of the House (which is yet to deliberate on the MTEF) was that the benchmark should be $80 per barrel.

    To this end, the National Assembly leaders were said to have told the President to put his house in order before bringing the budget before the National Assembly.

    “Though a new date – Tuesday – has been set, other factors may still push the date out of contention, if no solid agreement is reached between the National Assembly and the Executive as the House gets set to debate the MTEF this week,” a source said.

    Ali Madaki (PDP, Kano) who last Thursday moved a motion to stop the President from making the presentation of the budget today, said the latest development had vindicated his position.

    The lawmaker said adherence to the constitution by Nigerians on the street and those in authority was the motive behind his opposition to today’s planned presentation.

    According to him, the basic prerequisites of presenting the budget were not met and it is a concern that should be addressed.

    “Has the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) been approved by the House? Has the President complied with the Appropriation Act? Though not a constitutional matter, but do we have a National Assembly Presidential Liaison Officer that is supposed to transmit Mr President’s correspondences to us? No.

    “If we act with emotion rather than in consonance with the provisions of the constitution, the effort can end up in futility because somebody can wake up one day and decide to challenge our action.

    “I raised an objection that the presentation could not hold yet because an agreement between the House leadership and the members on the eve of the passage of the 2013 budget was breached.

    “For instance, as contained in the 2013 Appropriation Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has zero allocation but the DG, Aruma Oteh, has been making expenditure in contravention of the Act. As we speak, Oteh is still the DG and spending money without appropriation.

    “That is another area of the breach of the Act by the Executive. So, it is not a personal matter but due diligence.”

    Saying that lawmakers should not be seen as condoning budget presentation as an annual ritual that stops after its dramatic presentation, Madaki urged his colleagues to remember that “any budget passed by the National Assembly becomes an Act that must be respected with all seriousness”.