The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kaduna State University

  • Not too young to run bill: Youth not fully ready for leadership -Yero

    Not too young to run bill: Youth not fully ready for leadership -Yero

    A Political Science lecturer with Kaduna State University (KASU),  Mallam Aliyu Yero, says Nigerian youths are not yet ready to take up the mantle of leadership of the country.

    Yero made the assertion in an interview with the News men on Monday in Kaduna while reacting to the Not too young to run Bill passed by the National Assembly.

    According to him, Nigerian youths lack the required skills to run a political office effectively due to their poor quality education.

    “There is no doubt that the future of Nigeria is in the hands of the youth, but young people of today are not like that of yesterday, the literacy rate is low compared to other developed nations.

    “In as much as there is a need for new ideas as the world is gradually turning to a global village, the youth must have qualitative education first before running for political office”.

    The lecturer added that young people aspiring to run for any political office must first seek guidance and mentorship from experienced hands vast in Nigerian history and politics for effective leadership.

    He called on government to restructure the education system for the youth to have access to qualitative education that would make them better citizens.

    “Education plays a vital role in the development of any nation; therefore, government should give priority to qualitative education that will be accessible and affordable.

    “It is the only tool that will reshape and reorient the youths towards developing their nation,’’ he said.

    The news men reports,  the Not too young to run bill passed by the National Assembly in July 2017, cut down the age requirement for president from 40 to 30 years; Governors from 35 to 30 and Senate from 35 to 30 years.

    It also reduced the age of those vying for a seat in the House of Representatives and State Assemblies from 30 to 25 years.

    The bill, however, require the backing of at least 24 Houses of Assembly for it to become law.

    NAN

     

     

  • Unions shut down Kaduna State University

    Unions shut down Kaduna State University

    The Kaduna State University ( KSU ) chapters of Senior Staff Association, Non Academic Staff union and National Association of Technologists have joined the nationwide indefinite strike declared by unions on Monday.

    Mr Kantoma Bala, Chairman of the universities senior staff association, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Tuesday, that the three unions had formed a Joint Action Committee to monitor the strike.

    “It is a national strike and the non academic staff unions are part of the respective national bodies.

    “We began the indefinite strike as directed by our respective national leadership over the failure of the Federal Government to implement the 2009 agreement with the union,” he said.

    NAN reports that the agreement was supposed to address the problem of inadequate funding of public universities, poor governance and administrative lapses.

    Other issues that prompted the strike include poor infrastructure, abandoned projects, fragmentation of salary payments to staff, and lack of adequate teaching and learning facilities among others.

  • JAMB assures of smooth conduct of UTME

    JAMB assures of smooth conduct of UTME

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)  has assured of smooth conduct of the 2017 unified tertiary matriculation examination.
    The Deputy Director, Centre Inspection and Validation, Examination Malpractice, Quality Assurance Department, JAMB Headquarters, Munirat Lawal, gave the assurance during the conduct of the boards mock examination for candidates in Kaduna.
    Over 50 candidates wrote the mock exam at the Kaduna state university Information and Communication Technology centre and other computer based test centres in the state.
    The mock exam was conducted in 633 CBT centres across the country.
    She said all the technical issues relating to the conduct of the examination had been fully resolved by the agency.
    “We have fully resolved all the technical issues. That was why they are able to write the mock examination.
    “We have over 50 candidates sitting for this mock examination in this centre. Actually the centre was slatted for 250 candidates but maybe because it is mock. If it were to be real exam I know they will turn up more than what they did today.
    “We have about 50 and everything went on smoothly. We have two sections and in section we have 250. Assuming they turned up we would have had 500 candidates,” she said.
    A candidate who participated in the mock exam, Zainab Ibrahim, told reporters that she had no issue using the computer for the test.
    She commended the board for the smooth conduct of the mock exam.
    “it was very easy because the questions and arrangement are straightforward. I am just waiting for the real examination in May,” she said.

  • Economist backs IMF’s declaration on Economic Recovery Plan

    An economist, Dr Aminu Usman says he is in support of declaration by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the recently released Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) will resuscitate the country’s economy.

    Usman, a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Kaduna State University said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

    He said the ERGP would help move the country out of recession and probably put the country on the path of sustainable development.

    The IMF had expressed confidence in efforts taken by the Federal Government in a document, which was recently obtained by NAN through the Executive Board at the conclusion of its 2017 consultation with Nigeria.

    The IMF noted that the economy had been negatively impacted by low petroleum price and production.

    The Fund commended the efforts already made by the government to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance resilience, including increasing fuel prices, raising the monetary policy rate, and allowing the exchange rate to depreciate.

    Usman, however, said the ERGP was announced without its implementation plan.

    “It is expected to impact on this year’s budget and we are already in April and yet the budget component of the ERGP is yet to be passed and signed into law.

    “So the optimism expressed by IMF is not misplaced but their recommendations are irregular.

    “The plan should be developmental and not revenue earning focus.

    “What we need is to lower corporate taxes but not to increase it,’’ he said.

    The don said the ERGP should promote local production and export but not to impose or increase excise duties.

    He also said that the government should allow zero excise duty as a way of promoting competitiveness.

    NAN reports that ERGP envisages that by 2020, Nigeria will make significant progress to achieve structural economic change with a more diversified and inclusive economy.

    The plan would deliver on five key broad outcomes, namely: a stable macro-economic environment, agricultural transformation and food security as well as sufficiency in energy.

    Other outcomes are improved transportation infrastructure and industrialisation with focus on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.

  • ‘Hike in kerosene price will aggravate environmental challenges’

    ‘Hike in kerosene price will aggravate environmental challenges’

    An economist, Dr Aminu Usman, on Wednesday said that the hike in Kerosene price would further cause deforestation and aggravate environmental challenges in the country.

    Usman, a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Kaduna State University, gave the advice in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

    The don said that kerosene, the main source of cooking for the common man, had become so expensive to afford.

    The National Household Kerosene Price Watch for January, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, states that Nigerians bought Kerosene at N434 per litre in the month against N231.85 in December 2016.

    The report stated that average price per litre paid by consumers for Kerosene increased by 87.12 per cent year-on-year.

    Usman, however, said most families had turned to cooking with firewood because they could not afford to buy kerosene.

    “A situation where petrol is cheaper than kerosene; even diesel is cheaper than kerosene; you will see that the direction of inflation is actually heating the common man much harder.

    “If the inflation is heating rich people, it is okay not the common man.

    “What it means is that we have to resort to felling tree that will further aggravate our environmental challenges, especially in the North here where we don’t have a rain forest.

    “The little available trees are being cut down and the government does not have the policy of replacing it,’’ he said.

    The don, however, called on the Federal Government to intensify its tree planting campaign to curb deforestation and provide an alternative for Nigerians to cook.

    He said if there was nobody to follow up the campaign, people would continue to use firewood as the only alternative to fuel for domestic cooking.

    “How many people can also afford to buy cooking gas? The price has doubled.’’

    Meanwhile, the average price for the refilling of a 5kilogramme cylinder for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) increased by 28.24 percent year-on-year.

    In the latest Price Watch on Cooking Gas released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), it stated that the product increased by 39.39 percent month-on-month to N2,567. 56 in January.

    The report stated that states with the highest average price for the refilling of a  five-kilogramme cylinder Cooking Gas were Abuja (N2,800.00); Kano (N2,750.00) and Oyo (2,700.00).

    States with the lowest average price were Borno (N2,511.11), Akwa Ibom (N2,520.00) and Bauchi, Benue, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Osun, Yobe and Zamfara (N2,500.00).

    Similarly, the average price for the refilling of a 12.5-kilogramme cylinder increased by 35.28 per cent year-on-year and 49.82 per cent month-on-month to N5, 508.16 in January from N4,071.63 in December 2016.

    States with the highest average price for the refilling of a 12.5kilogramme cylinder gas were Borno (N5,950.00), Delta (N5,933.33) and Katsina (5,972.22).

    Also, states with the lowest average price for the refilling of a 12.5-kilogramme cylinder were Benue (N5,083.33), Ogun (N5,030.00) and Kaduna as well as Kogi which  sold for N5,000.00