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Tag: Institute

  • Safety institute urges professionalism at induction

    Safety institute urges professionalism at induction

    Graduating trainees of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON) have received the best gift they could ever ask for: a thorough orientation on how not only to succeed in their jobs but also to ensure the safety of everyone.

    At an induction session in Ikeja, Lagos, ISPON chiefs urged the graduating trainees to be devoted to their jobs and to discharge their duties with “dignity, discretion and honour, “ their focus being to “serve mankind”.

    The President of the institute, Mr Shaw Fregene told the inductees to always observe the ethics of their profession, noting that it is by doing so that they uphold the institute in addition to serving their clients or employers better.

    The institute draws some of its membership from a wide range of service providers and professionals including engineers, occupational hygienists, environmentalists, medical and health practitioners, fire fighter and security professionals.

    “Our mission,” said Fregene, “is to achieve excellent safety performance of organisations and create safety awareness through information dissemination, courses, seminars, audits and publications, thus promoting, encouraging and improving occupational methods and procedures in the industries, public sector and institutions.”

    Addressing the new members, the ISPON president urged that they update themselves in order to perform at their optimum. Fregene told them to attend meetings called by the institute, adding that they should equally participate in workshops and seminars “in order to succeed as safety professionals.”

    In a paper, Dr Nicholas Okere, a member of ISPON, advised that private organisations, welders and small-scale entrepreneurs, and indeed every service provider, need to operate in healthy and safe environments.

  • Institute okays cashless policy

    The Chartered Institute of Financial and Investment Analysts (CIFIA) has urged the Federal Government to enforce the Anti-Money Laundering Prohibition Act (MLPA) and the new Terrorism (Prevention) Act, to fight corruption through the cashless policy.

    The CIFIA President, Mrs. Bibiana Okereafor, said the Federal Government must implement certain laws to enable the nation battle corruption.

    She spoke in Abuja at the weekend during the fifth CIFIA induction of new members and educational training.

    Mrs. Okereafor said government should sensitise Nigerians concerning the cashless policy in order to adopt the policy.

    She added that the benefits of adopting the policy included a reduction in corruption, mass job creation and economic development.

    Said she: “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has no cashless policy as at now. It is mandatory that the Federal Government adopts this policy as it will help the country to reduce the level of corruption and launch it into international commerce.”

    “The CBN should embark on an intensive awareness campaign and sensitisation of the populace, including the educated and the uneducated, the urban and the rural population, about the newly- introduced cashless policy.”

    During the presentation of a paper with the theme: “Global Order on Cash-less Policy: The Nigerian Economy”, Mr. Chris Kaka said cashless policy is considered as a regime where the currency issued by the CBN has ceased to exist.

    He explained: “No one uses cash, all purchases are made by credit cards, cheques, or direct transfer from one account to another through mobile banking.”

    Kaka, who admitted that challenges like interoperability, indiscriminate account deductions, and e-fraud would abound with the full operation of the cashless policy, urged the government to admit electronics transactions as an evidence in cases of fraudulent transactions as against the new Evidence Act in 2011.

    He said: “The inadmissibility of such evidence constitutes a major hindrance to the effective implementation of the cashless policy.

    “To encourage trade with foreign investors in Nigeria, the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System Pls (NISS), the Nigeria Central Switch NCS) and the CBN should enforce compliance with the provisions of the Guideline on Transactions Switching Service (TSE).”

     

  • House, Legal Studies Institute to collaborate

    The House of Representatives has pledged to partner the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) to improve the administration of justice in the country.

    Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said the Institute for Legislative Studies and the House Committee on Justice will also collaborate with NIALS to deepen democratic ethos.

    Tambuwal, represented by Hon. Osai N. Osai, spoke at the public presentation of two books: The Restatement of Customary laws in Nigeria” and Traditional Administration of Justice in Nigeria by NIALS in Abuja.

    He said the House has passed the bill on customary law, adding that the law makers also approved the panel of seven justices for the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal in the ongoing amendment of the constitution.

    According to him, the House will continue to work towards strengthening judicial processes.

    He said an economy grows when there is a virile judiciary, as entrepreneurs are confident that they will get justice when disputes arise.

    Tambuwal praised NIALS for publishing the two books, and praised its Director-General Prof. Epiphany Azinge (SAN) for taking the institute to greater heights.

    Participants called for more constitutional roles for the Customary court.

    They want the court vested with jurisdiction to be the court of first instance in chieftaincy matters.

    Azinge said he conceptualised the Restatement of Customary Law in Nigeria project as one of the flagship projects of his administration.

    “Informing my resolve in this regard was the need to elevate Nigeria’s customary jurisprudence to its rightful position in our nation’s legal system.

    ”This project, being the first at this scale of coverage, blazes a very important trail in our legal system. The enormity of what was implicated by a project of this magnitude required that our only hope for its completion lies in the unwavering commitment of all academic staff of the institute engaged in various aspects of the project.

    “This yellow bound volume of 385 pages is the product of three years of a massive research undertaking involving 33 researchers who participated in various stages of the research work involving the desk review, field research, presentation of field research findings to stakeholders, further desk review to test findings from the field research, and the core restatement exercise by a select committee of reporters.”

    Azinge said no other area of law in Nigeria is in dire need of a restatement as much as Nigeria’s customary law.

    “A number of reasons inform this position: the cultural diversity of the country has meant that customary practices differ in so many respects on the same issue; the oral tradition of our customary system has placed it in the ‘endangered species’ list; the paucity of authoritative works on customary law has created a yawning gap for the scholarship in this vital area of law; and no matter how we may choose to pretend not to care, customary law continues to play a very significant role in moderating our values system in society.

    “For these reasons, the Restatement of Customary law was conceptualised with the objective of identifying the COMMON LAW of Nigeria’s customary jurisprudence. Our researchers were mandated to identify commonalities in customary practices in four thematic areas: Chieftaincy/Traditional institutions; Inheritance/Succession; Land; and Marriage.

    “Within the three years span it took the institute to carry out this work, certain fundamental foundations had to be laid out.

    “At the conceptualisation stage, a lot of scholarships went into deciding what path was to be followed in the work. At this point, the debate centred on what exactly the restatement work was going to look like – was it going to be a code of applicable customary laws or something else?

    “I held several deliberation sessions with senior researchers and academics in the institute with the sole purpose of deciding this question.

    “At last it was settled that what was expected was something less than a code but more than a treatise, although it would read like a code. It had to be such that it would speak authoritatively on what applied as common custom in the thematic areas pursued by the research.

    “It had to qualify as the purest form of secondary evidence on the issues treated.”

    Azinge said while the work is by no means the final word on the Restatement of Customary Law in Nigeria and Traditional Administration of Justice in Nigeria, it represents an important contribution to the scholarship in these areas.

    He said hopefully, future endeavours would build upon the foundation they have laid.

    Presenting the book, Prof. A. O. Obilade said: “Restatement identifies common rules and principles governing a particular area of the law.

    “Restatement of customary law of Nigeria deals with four areas namely: chieftaincy / traditional institutions, inheritance / succession, land and marriage. The project is not a codification exercise.

    “The ultimate human authority on the correctness and validity of a restatement on any particular point is the judiciary.”

    According to him, Customary Law forms the root of the prevailing values in society.

    “This bold step taken by the institute is highly commendable.

    “I find in the two projects a proper blending of scholarship, commitment foresight and courage which are prerequisites of effectiveness in the type of enterprise.

    “The Director-General has, through the projects, performed a great feat.

  • YABATECH partners Irish institute

    The Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) is to partner Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), Ireland, on research and development.

    The alliance will also cover advanced articulation arrangement for undergraduate and post graduate students, staff exchange programmes and joint conferences.

    A statement by the YABATECH Public Relations Officer, Mr Adekunle Adams, noted that the Rector, Dr. Margaret Kudirat Ladipo, received representatives of the institute, last week.

    She told the visitors that YABATECH had maintained a very high standard in the past 60 years.

    Dr. Ladipo praised the management of the institute for partnering with the college. She assured them that YABATECH will work towards the success of the collaboration.

    The Head of the WIT delegation, Dr. Paul Barry, said plans to visit YABATECH had been on for two years.

    He said the 42-year-old institute awards diploma, degree as well as postgraduate and doctoral certificates, assuring the YABATECH management of its commitment to ensuring that the collaboration achieves its desired goals.

    Barry commended the efforts of the Nigerian community in Waterford for facilitating their visit to Nigeria.

    Mr Omotesho, President of the Nigerian community in Waterford, said the institute’s visit to Nigeria is as a result of efforts made to be good ambassadors of Nigeria in Ireland and invest in the country’s development.

     

  • Institute for oil and gas, energy makes debut

    A new institute that will bridge the gap and bring affordable research aid and training opportunities to Nigeria students, administrators, judges and government officials among others is now on board.

    When functional, the Institute of Oil, Gas, Energy, Environmental, and Sustainable Development Law (OGEES), which was established in 2012, and based at the Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) College of Law, hopes to bring to Nigeria’s doorstep training opportunities being provided by some leading oil and gas institutes outside the country.

    “The gap in research, information and training opportunities in oil and gas, energy, environment, and sustainable development law have forced many inquisitive Nigerian law graduates and graduates in other social science fields to seek training opportunities at leading oil and gas training institutes and universities abroad, particularly the reputable ones in Houston, Calgary, Dundee and Aberdeen,” says the institute’s Executive Director Mr Patrick Tolani.

    According to him, the Institute is engaged in seven primary areas-oil and gas law and policy; mining, energy and natural resources; trade, investment and sustainable development; international environmental law and policy; climate change; agriculture and renewable energy; as well as water resources management.

    “In the future, the institute would seek to work with the relevant colleges at the Afe Babalola University to develop specialised interest research-based masters and doctoral programs in these seven thematic areas of research of the institute. If achieved, this would be the very first of its kind in Nigeria. It would provide home-based opportunities for Nigerians to pursue these programmes in locally without the necessity of having to travel outside the country to seek learning and training opportunities. We have commenced discussions with some research institute abroad for joint collaboration in this area.”

    “This institute seeks to be at the vanguard of providing high quality research, training, capacity development, consultancy and publication that would help examine, analyse and ultimately resolve these perennial problems of unsustainable resource management that tend to stagnate Nigeria and Africa’s potential for growth and development,” he added.

    Tolani said OGEES will pursue four core mandates – research, training, consultancy and academic publications. The vision of the institute, according to him, is to achieve sustainable energy development; while its mission is to use legal and policy framework to achieve more inclusive and equitable management of the nation’s energy resources within safe, healthier and wealthier communities.

  • Institute graduates 250 drivers

    The Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) in Zaria, Kaduna State has graduated the first batch of 250 drivers under the Kano State Government luxury taxi drivers’ training scheme.

    In a statement by Mr Paul Mshelizah, Chief Public Relations Officer, NITT, the institute said it held a two-week training programme on defensive driving, operations and entrepreneurship management of road transport for the drivers.

    During the training, NCE, OND, HND, B.SC and postgraduate certificate holders were trained on how to operate the Kano State luxury taxi service.

    It said the training was designed to equip the participants with skills in safety and security of business operations as lives and property were important part of business, particularly in the transport sector.

    It said the training was designed to update the drivers’ knowledge on new techniques of basic maintenance of vehicles, driving laws and traffic regulations as well as emerging technologies in vehicle and infrastructure design.

    According to the statement, the target for the training is 500 drivers.

    It said the institution was committed to collaborating with the government and private organisations in transport and logistics training programmes.

    It said the training and involvement of mature, educated and disciplined youths in the transport system would sanitise the sector.

    The institute lauded Gov. Rabiu Kwankwaso for initiating the programme aimed at providing jobs for the teeming youths of Kano State and building a foundation for lasting wealth for the beneficiaries and the citizens.

    It urged other state governments to emulate the work of the Kano State government.

     

  • Institute gets cultural clubs

    The National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) Southsouth Zonal Office has inaugurated NICO Cultural Clubs in selected secondary schools in Bayelsa State.

    Speaking at their inauguration in Yenagoa, the state capital, the Commissioner of Culture and Ijaw National Affairs, Dr. Felix Tuodolo, praised institute for its efforts in reviving the language and culture of the people.

    His ministry, he said, would support the Institute, not only in organising programmes for the clubs, but also partner the Institute on programmes geared towards the promotion and preservation of culture.

    Dr. Tuodolo said the state government, as part of efforts towards reviving the language and culture of the people, is working on a curriculum for teaching of Izon language in schools.

    The state Commissioner for Education, Salo Adikumo, said that the Hon. Seriake Dickson-led administration in Bayelsa is culture-friendly and has put the machinery in place to ensure that the language and culture of the Ijaw people are preserved, urging the students to be proud of their language and engage in activities that reflect the Ijaw culture.

    The NICO Southsouth Zonal Head, Mr James Imohiosen, said the purpose of setting up the clubs was to ensure that the nation’s cultural practices, values and languages were imbibed by the young ones during their formative years.

    He said the Zonal Office would not only take steps to sustain the clubs, it would also extend the inauguration of the clubs to other states in the Zone. The wife of the Executive Secretary, NICO, Mrs. Letty Barclays Ayakoroma, in her goodwill message enjoined pupils to take issues of their culture and language serious, as it is the only way they can know their language and culture and pass it to future generations.

    No fewer than 10 cultural clubs were inaugurated in the event that was spiced with scintillating cultural dances, traditional wrestling and drama presentations by some students of the schools.

  • Institute opens new route to stock broking

    Institute opens new route to stock broking

    A window of opportunity has been opened for unemployed graduates and others who want to be brokers. The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) has charted a new path to its professional qualifications, which offers hopes of employment and self-generated income. Taofik Salako reports.

     

     

    The unemployment rate in Nigeria is rising. Although unemployment statistics differ from source to source, there is unanimity on the trend – it’s been rising. Unemployment estimates range from government’s official rate of about 24 per cent to World Bank’s estimate of more than 50 per cent to private sector estimate of about 70 per cent.

    With a growing population, increased tertiary enrolment has kept the unemployment rate on the rise. The hope of the teeming army of unemployed youths lies in attaining a professional qualification, which opens windows for the creative ones to earn self-generated income or enhance the chances of securing employment.

    Against this backdrop, the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), the statutory body that regulates stockbroking and investment practice – the hub of the capital market – has introduced a new professional qualification scheme that would enable undergraduates and those who aspire to work in the financial services industry to obtain initial qualification and proceed to qualify as chartered stockbrokers.

    With the CIS Professional Diploma in Securities and Investment, anyone with a minimum entry requirement of five ‘O’ Level credit passes, including English and Mathematics, or a non-finance graduate can undertake the professional diploma as a preliminary stage to the CIS professional examination. Upon successful completion of the professional diploma, candidates can proceed to the final stage of the CIS professional examination.

    President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Mr Ariyo Olushekun, said the introduction of the new qualification scheme was in response to the yearnings of several non-finance professionals and undergraduates who are desirous of obtaining qualification as chartered brokers or certified investment and finance professionals.

    According to him, the new professional diploma will serve as a foundation for anyone wishing to start or continue his career within the financial services industry. It has been designed to provide participants with an overview of all key areas of securities and investment.

    He pointed out that undergraduates can start and even complete the CIS professional examination before graduating, contrary to the previous provision that set first degree and equivalent qualifications as minimum entry requirement into the CIS professional examination.

    “With this new programme, an important gateway has been created to meet the demand of a teeming population of Nigerians who have been itching for an alternative entry route into the CIS professional qualification scheme,” Olushekun said.

    He added that the basic qualification provides attractive terminal value for employees working in financial services industry and would further enhance the professionalism in the industry.

    Besides the immense opportunity implied by the ability to proceed for qualification as chartered stockbroker, holders of the CIS Professional Diploma can serve as back office staff in the securities and investment industry.

    The Registrar and Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr Adedeji Ajadi, said the professional diploma gives holders a unique advantage with prospective employers as the qualification carries the emblem of the CIS and the institute’s reputation and record of accomplishment.

    According to him, the diploma opens the doors of opportunity to all those who aspire to work in the financial services industry, irrespective of their background and previous work experience. In addition, it provides a basic qualification with an attractive terminal value for employees working in, or aspiring to work in, the financial services industry.

    Ajadi said the diploma has been designed to gives graduates of non-finance disciplines who are not well grounded in finance and accounting an opportunity to build a solid foundation before proceeding to the professional qualification scheme.

    With a minimum entry requirement of five O’ level credit passes, including English Language and Mathematics in either of West African Senior Certificate Examination (WASCE), General Certificate of Education (GCE), Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), National Examination Council (NECO) and their equivalents, the new programme has opened the doors of opportunity to millions of Nigerians to create their own markets.

     

  • Omole orders probe of ‘fraud’ at research institute

    • Institute gets new director

    ALMOST one year after workers of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan, went on strike to protest the non-payment of their hazard allowances and alleged embezzlement of the fund voted for the payment, the Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Bamitale Omole, who supervises institute, has waded into the matter.

    He has set up a panel to investigate the alleged fraud, and a monitoring committee to look at the panel’s report.

    He, however, told The Nation on the telephone that there was no reason for the strike.

    As part of efforts to resolve the crisis, a new Director Prof. James Adediran has been appointed to manage the institute’s affairs.

    He promised to resolve the labour issues that have grounded activities of the institute.

    Adediran, who assumed office last Monday, said his appointment was a major step towards resolving the lingering crisis.

    The ‘indictment’ by a panel of the former Director, Prof. B. A. Ogunbodede, the Chief Accountant, Mr. Z. K. Tejumola and Accountant, Mr. C. O. Adenose, of alleged fraud, financial impropriety and misappropriation of the IAR&T’s fund, particularly N177,571,609.50 posted in the institute’s Cash Book as payment of hazard allowance to workers is causing ripples, especially as it is claimed that the money was transferred to the IAR&T Staff Club Account (a non-statutory account) as staff deductions.

    But the insitute’s Head of Public Relations, Mr Amusat Adeniyi, said the former director, Prof. Ogunbodede, stepped down based on “alleged financial impropriety that is now being investigated by the EFCC.”

    Adeniyi recalled that the IAR&T had been comatose in the last 11 months because of the demand of the institute’s labour unions.

    He expressed the belief that workers would return to work as soon as the leadership of the unions met with the new director.

    “Everybody is ready to resume. But it has to follow a formal procedure,” Adeniyi added.

    Speaking for one of the aggrieved unions, General Secretary of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions (NASU), Comrade Peters Adeyemi, told The Nation that the appointment of a new helmsman “is likely to pacify the aggrieved workers because everyone was embarrassed by the action of the former director.”

    He added that the appointment was a plus, that the workers would reconsider the ongoing strike and give the new director a chance. Adeyemi said his union would not welcome the new director with a crisis because of the alleged fraud was not committed during his tenure.

    Efforts to reach Ogunbodede failed because he did not pick telephone calls made to him.

    The new director said other issues demanded by the unions would be resolved, adding that it is a challenge to the new administration.

    “The crisis has not been completely resolved because there are other issues on ground which I have started tackling since yesterday (Tuesday),” he said.

    Adediran said he had discussed the issues with Prof. Omole.

    “I have started to take action in order to resolve the problems and I believe in about two weeks, we will give you good news,” the director said.

    The labour unions went on strike to protest the non-payment of their hazard allowances. It claimed that N177.5 million withdrawn from the institute’s account during the tenure of Ogunbodede for the payment of staff hazard allowance was unaccounted for.

    The unions involved in the dispute included the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the National Association of Academic Technologists.

    Others were the Academic Staff Union of Universities and Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals and Research and Allied Institutions.

  • Lagos Airport Hotel opens institute to the public

    Lagos Airport Hotel has opened its training school to the public. The institute, the Lagos Airport Hotel Hospitality Institute, which has been in existence since 1997 as the training arm of the Lagos Airport Hotel, has now been approved by the government to award certificates and diplomas to its graduates.

    Speaking during a training programme for 50 students that are being sponsored by the Lagos State government, the Controller of Training, Lagos Airport Hotel, Mrs Ebunoluwa Oyaleke, said the institute was currently training 50 students on different areas of hospitality management.

    According to her, the four-week intensive training on housekeeping management would allow participants have broad knowledge of what housekeeping and cleaning are. It will give the participants the skills needed so that at the end of the programme, they will not only be self-employed, they would be fit into any organisation that requires their skills.

    In the four-week programme, students would be taken through both practical and theoretical aspects of the training.

    The institute is now officially opened to outsiders who want to be trained in hospitality management, catering housekeeping, event management and other things.

    A participant at the training, Olukoga Oluwafunmilola, a professional caterer was full of praises for the Lagos State government and Airport Hotel for the quality of the training. She said the training had broadened her knowledge. According to her, “The training is good. With the knowledge I gathered here, I can start my own business that will help those who are jobless.”

    Orekoya Basirat, another participant, who is a banking and finance graduate, also applauded the training, describing it as interesting and total. Like Olukoga, she is thinking of establishing her own business after the training.

    The training was done by the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in collaboration with the Lagos Airport Hotel Limited, Ikeja, Lagos.