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Tag: lecturers

  • N-Power: Lecturers, students fault exclusion of NCE holders

    N-Power: Lecturers, students fault exclusion of NCE holders

    The N-Power initiative of the Federal Government to recruit 500,000 graduate teachers to teach in schools and communities is ongoing.  However, students and teachers of education have condemned the scheme for excluding products of colleges of education who are specifically trained to be teachers.

    It was with enthusiasm that Nigerians received the announcement that the Federal Government would employ 500,000 teachers last December.

    Hopes were high that the job opening would give opportunity to many trained but unemployed teachers.  However, when the initiative tagged N-Power Graduate Teachers Corps was unveiled last month and advertisements calling for application came up, it excluded holders of the National Certificate in Education (NCE), who train in colleges of education for three years to teach at the primary and junior secondary education levels.

    Only graduates of universities and polytechnics (Higher National Diploma) can apply for the N-Power teacher slots under four categories – teaching, health, community education, and agriculture.  But only those recruited for the N-Teach category would be deployed to primary and secondary schools to serve as support teachers and “also assist in taking basic education to children in marginalised communities.”  The graduate teachers, who do not need to have studied an education-related field, would serve under the initiative and get training in other areas for the two years that the programme would last.

    Nevertheless NCE holders can still apply for the 100,000 slots dedicated to non-graduates in the areas of technology, construction, and knowledge.

    Many lecturers and students of colleges of education are unhappy about the relegation of NCE holders in the scheme, particularly as the teachers are to be deployed at a level they are competent to handle.

    A top official of the College of Education, Akamkpa, Cross River State (names withheld), faulted the policy, saying it was tailor made for NCE graduates, yet excluded them by recruiting only graduates who have undergone the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

    “The essence of the NCE programme we offer here is to prepare to produce manpower for the Universal Basic Education (UBE) level. So how come now that those who really trained for that purpose are left out? Basically those who should be given preference are those originally trained. I don’t see how if you want to give loan to farmers or empower them, then you rather give the facility to economists or bankers.  It is just not right. It ought to favour those mandated for such level of education. Preference should be given to College of Education graduates before anyone else in this programme because they have the basic training.

    A teacher at the Adeniran Ogundanya College of Education (AOCOED), Oto/Ijanikin chapter, Adeyemi Adesanya, said it would be difficult for the government to achieve its aim of training the teachers adequately in such a short time.

    “At present, Nigeria has so many unemployed professional teachers.  So when the information was first announced, a lot of us out there were happy that for the first time, government specifically put teachers in their plan. But we were later disappointed when we read the breakdown and realised the policy was an all-comers affair. The exercise will end disastrously.

    “Government cannot just employ fresh graduates and say they want to train them as teachers for two years; the exercise will fail because a lot of things are attached to producing qualified teachers, not the kind of fire brigade approach they want to embark on,” said Ogundanya, a former chairman of COEASU at the college.

    Another lecturer at the Faculty of Education, Adekunle Ajasin University (AAU), Akungba-Akoko, Prof Clement Daramola, also condemned the exclusion of NCE teachers, saying it rubbished efforts to professionalise teaching.

    “The substance of professionalism must become part of each nation’s identity so that professional attitudes and values are not compromised.

    “Sociologists tell us that society uses professions to organise the essential complex services that it requires.

    “Unless we truly believe there has been a conspiracy to deny good educational practice to our children, we need to acknowledge that the present decision to exclude trained teachers from teaching and replace them with untrained ones has serious challenges to our future educational development.

    “It is widely assumed that teachers do not need a great deal of training because the tasks are rather simple and straight forward and could be performed by any educated person. This is erroneous and fallacious,” Daramola said.

    Mr Francis Olaoye, a lecturer at the Department of Home Economics, FCE (Tech), said even if the government did not want NCE graduates, the initiative should have been limited to education graduates of universities only, and not made an all-comers affair.

    “This scheme should only be for education departments in the universities; even if they don’t want graduates of the colleges of education.  I don’t think people who have BSc at the university would even agree to go and teach at primary schools. They will see it as beneath them,” he said.

    On the implication of the exclusion, Prof Daramola said it would make trainee NCE teachers feel inferior.

    “Our children who opted for teaching career should feel inspired as well as encouraged about their career choice.  It is clearly a statement of lack of faith in the innate capacity of teachers as such decision would lead to low efficacy and lack of professionalism in Nigeria and should be reversed forthwith.

    “Many of the NCE teachers may misinterpret government action as being their own personal fault to pursue a career in teaching,” he said.

    Glory Akpan, a student of COE Akamkpa, feels that way.  She queried why those not trained to teach should get better opportunities than trained teachers.

    She said: “The whole situation just makes us unappreciated. We almost feel like what we are doing here is a waste of time. It is a total disregard for the certificate we obtain from this place. It once more brings to the fore the issue of the superiority of a university certificate over all other kinds of qualifications. A situation where the university certificate is treated as such would not augur well for the society. I am not trying to undermine university education or anything, all I am saying is that everyone should be respected.

    “This particular case is very painful to me because we are particularly trained to teach especially at the primary and junior secondary level, but rather university graduates who are mostly not trained to teach, except few in Education Faculties, are given the opportunity.  I believe it is very unfair and something should be done immediately about it, else the essence of the entire programme would be defeated.”

    Lola Adekunle, a 200-Level Accounting student of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos, attributed the failure to include NCE teachers as the practice of government to initiate programmes without conducting research.

    “I don’t think the government made proper research before embarking on this project. Why would they disallow college graduates from the scheme? It is wrong and should be reviewed please,” she said.

    But Ife Sodipo, 400-Level, Primary School Education student, is not optimistic that the government would reverse its decision because NCE trainees are unhappy.

    “I am sure we don’t have a choice but to follow government’s directive. If they say college graduates are not qualified, then that is it. Even if we complain, government would not listen to us. It is unfair, but there is nothing we can do about it,” she said.

    In future, Provost, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, Prof Kamoru Usman, said the Federal Government should consult more with stakeholders before announcing new policies, so it may not end up wasting public funds.

    “You cannot quarrel with government policy; they are entitled to their decision.  Had they consulted us (stakeholders) before the policy, perhaps we would have advised them more appropriately. What they said was that they would engage these people and train them before dispatching them to schools; maybe they would engaged us at the point of training; that I still don’t know.

    “At the end, they are not going to make the teachers permanent. Government will engage some while leaving many others. I think that’s just government policy of wasting money.

    “A very good policy such as this should have been backed up by research. Government was supposed to have commissioned people as in: ‘What exactly do we need? Which areas do we require teachers?’ and all that.”

  • My plans for lecturers who can’t keep their Libidos -Ekiti State ‘varsity VC Prof Bamidele

    My plans for lecturers who can’t keep their Libidos -Ekiti State ‘varsity VC Prof Bamidele

    Recently appointed Vice-Chancellor of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Prof. Samuel Oye Bamidele, will superintend over the 21st convocation ceremony of the university next week, barely six months after his appointment. In this interview with ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA, the senior pastor of Deeper Life Bible Church speaks about his experience on the VC’s seat so far, his vision, his achievements, and how, as a lecturer, he managed to overcome temptations from the opposite sex. 

    How has the experience been for the six months you have been in the saddle as Vice-Chancellor?

    I want to thank God for the experience and the great challenges. And in the midst of the great challenges, I want to say that it is a sort of experience that I was able to go through with the help of God and His grace. All through the time when I resumed and till now, my experience has had a positive impact on the university community.

    Recently, the West African Students Union (WASU) gave you an award, the Kwame Nkrumah Award for Excellence in Academia and Administration. How did you feel about the award which came less than a year after you assumed office?

    I want to say very categorically that I am averse to taking awards, and that was the first award that I would take since I became Vice-Chancellor. It is good to say that many people and bodies contacted me with letters, saying they wanted to give me awards, but I said no. I told them that they should let me settle down first, measure my performance before giving me awards. But when these people came with suggestions, I said that I was going to reject it until I was educated that this one was a credible international award and I accepted. Then they came, and when I saw the pedigree of those who came, about 16 of them. They were introducing themselves, one said I am from Ghana, another said I am from Côte d’ Ivoire. I saw all of them coming virtually from all the West African countries. Therefore, I accepted this award. To say the least, I was particularly elated that I have this privilege of being recognised to be given this award.

    On the other side of the question, the challenge I have taken is that I will continue to increase my tempo and my passion for the students because it is historical and strategic that the first award I would receive as the Vice-Chancellor of this university came from international students. They said many things I didn’t know they were ever aware of, because since I came on board, I have been fighting a great crusade on behalf of the students. I believe that this starts from parents. We are here, the biological parents have committed the lives of these students into our hands and my own simple analogy is that we should be the closest parents to them while they are in school.

    I was not fighting my colleagues. It was just like a battle to say let’s change our mindset; let’s know that when parents gave these children to us, the intention was that we should let them get out of this university as better materials than they came in. It is like a factory; you put the raw materials into the system and you want to get a very good product. That has been my crusade in this university.

    Shortly after you assumed office, you held revenue and academic summits. Have these policies had positive impact on the university since you concluded them?

    I came into this university with a vision. In fact, in my application, I said brighter vision, bigger mission. I came here as a Vice-Chancellor with a brighter vision because I am an insider and I have taken time to critically examine the condition of our university and I felt that I should be able to understand this place more than an external candidate. I came with a vision. I knew that in this present situation in our state, in our country, except one wants to deceive himself or herself, there is no higher institution, no university that can say it would rely on the government to fund its educational activities. Therefore, I came with a vision for IGR (internally generated revenue). I also came with a vision for academic quality, because it is not enough to have money as an institution without an equal effort at improving quality.

    So we had two summits. We had the academic summit and then we had the IGR summit. I am happy to say here very clearly today that these two summits are bringing positive dividends to our university. The IGR summit has radically changed the face of our university. As you are entering the university, we have a building by the right. That is our water project. I am not rushing it because we are being strategic. I could have as well restructured one of the old buildings, but I said no. We want to make it international, and when we have the water, it will be one of the best in this country.

    If you get through our roadside, you will see that our bakery is growing. The building is under construction. We didn’t have a bookshop before we came on board. The shelves of the bookshop are being installed now. Our block industry before I came was comatose. It was leased to an external consultant, but I said this is a university and we are talking about IGR. It is already our own and we have tons of blocks now. Any building that is erected on the soil of this university must use blocks produced from here. We are reviving our press. Because the university is an academic environment, we have publications, journals, exam booklets. How can we rely on printers outside alone? So, these are some of the good things that came from the IGR summit.

    Let me also mention that we have what we call the university auto care. That will be a masterpiece by time we complete it. Other universities will come here, by the grace of God, to look at it. In the auto care, we are going to have a quadrangle. We will have a petrol station, a service bay, a car wash, a theatre. We are going to have our own inverter, batteries and distilled water. Some of the things we go outside to buy, there is a particular sector that is working on that under the leadership of Prof. Akintayo, who is a chemist. So work is going on that particular area.

    If I have my way, I would tell them to go and harvest some of our mushrooms for you and you give to your wife to cook for you. So, a lot of things are happening with this IGR. I want to believe that it is a confirmation of my vision which came through the channel of this IGR summit. So, academic summit was out to bring quality to our academic enterprise in this university. This we are already achieving.

    I said it in the last Senate that I have just spent six months and I have started the second six months. This second six months, I am focusing on academic quality and discipline in the university. This is where I want to showcase again the products of the academic summit that we had, which would impact on students. It would impact on the staff and it would impact on the entire academic community. I want to say that the two summits have been fantastically productive.

    Staff and students welfare is key to the output of staff and students. What is your agenda for their welfare?

    In fact, if you ask any question from either the students or staff of this university, the quick answer you are likely to get is that the VC is a welfarist vice-chancellor. My passion is to see to the welfare of staff and students of this university. I want to say that if somebody comes to the helm of affairs and does not put the welfare of staff and students first, what is he or her coming there to do? Since when I came, there has been no strike because they know that I pursue the welfare of members and unions. If you are an ASUU chairman or NASU chairman, we are to pursue the welfare of staff and students. Some think I am pampering them, but it is because I also believe that I am a parent, even a grandparent to them; that I am here to passionately take care of them and pursue their welfare just like that of the staff.

    I have been pleading with my staff members that, please give them quality attention and let them pass. I am not saying that they should mortgage standards, but give them quality attention and let them come out good. Don’t cut your lecture. Don’t organise a single lecture and then you do exam, because these students will fail. If you reel out failures to the society, we are reeling out expert armed robbers, expert miscreants, and I don’t want that. I want my university to reel out products that will impact positively on our society.

    A university cannot survive in isolation. How do you intend to explore partnerships and exchanges with universities all over the world in order to take EKSU to a higher pedestal?

    We are working seriously in that regard. My little experience before I came into this university, we are already trying to re-engineer partnerships with foreign universities. I just came from the meeting of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities which we attended in Jos, and one of our major agenda was this area of realistic collaboration. We were told in that particular place that most of what is called collaboration in Nigerian universities is just jamboree and opportunity to travel out of the country. But that is not what is going to help our universities. I have asked for a list of all foreign universities collaborating with us and they are about 10. My plan is to just zero in on two for now. By July, God helping me and God willing, I want to travel out and visit two of the major universities we are collaborating with and these are the University of Nottingham in the UK and I want to visit the University of Houston in Texas (USA). I intend to go there, study their programmes, look at the areas of collaboration.

    We are not going to look at everything together; we are just going to pick one. Initially, we had a collaboration with the University of Nottingham on engineering, I want to see how we can revive that one, then our Engineering students and staff will be going there and they will be coming here. That of Houston may not be engineering; it will be in another direction. It can be on entrepreneurship and we can also collaborate. If it can be Houston on entrepreneurship, I will do it critically, I will go deep. That is the part of the vision and inspiration I got from this meeting of the Association of Vice Chancellors of the Nigerian Universities, and that we are going to accomplish from mid-July to early August. The intention is for us to have a symbiotic relationship with the local universities and the international world so that we can be really international.

    You are a pastor and at the same time an academic. How do you cope with the challenges of both callings?

    I want to put it to you today that every human being is also a spiritual being. And that is the mistake many people make. There is no single person that stands and just says I am for the physical. That is pretence. Even those who don’t pray, those who don’t believe those things, they still pursue other spiritual things either when they run into problems or when they have some needs.

    I want to say that God has helped me to balance the two. The problem of people in the world is that they cannot find the balance. I am an academic person and I have been a pastor for more than 30 years. I am a senior pastor in Deeper Life Bible Church, and that has never affected my academic life. My academic life can never affect my spiritual life, if you meet me in the office, you can never tell that this one is a pastor because I don’t believe in bringing or importing pastor things into academic matters. Also, if you see me in the church, you will think that I am a full-time pastor because I am there to do pastoral work. If human beings can balance and know that as we are in the physical and so also we are in spiritual realm and both must be balanced. I want to thank God that He has made me to balance the two, and that’s why I have not been found wanting at both ends.

    In the course of your career as an academic in this university or elsewhere, have you ever been tempted by female students?

    I want to say that every human being is tempted at one point or the other. And maybe I should say it today, the power of being a Christian is that God will give you the ability, the unusual supernatural power to be able to overcome temptation without falling into it. There is a difference between temptation and falling into temptation. For example, we are all men here and that makes it good. Supposing a woman is here now, the atmosphere will not be the same. I will not say I have not been tempted in the sense that maybe an amorous person comes in, wanting to show a quarter of her breast. I will say, ‘Excuse me, go out and dress properly. As a lecturer, you can’t come into my office like that.’

    Some students will come with the intention to tempt you, trying to make eye contacts, and I will say, what are you trying to do? For you to be able to overcome temptation, you must resist it. But some people don’t resist the picture of temptation, so they run into it. So, to respond to your question directly, I want to say that to God be the glory, since I gave my life to Christ, I have not been tempted to the extent of falling, touching another person’s wife or student; never, never. And it is not only girls or women that cause temptation; some are tempted with money. They supervise students and collect money on projects. I supervise Ph.D students and I don’t take anything from them. You cannot even try me. So, all those ones, if you can keep yourself from being attracted by women or by money or material things of this world and you are contented, it will be easy for you to overcome temptation. But summarily, every human being will face temptation at one point or the other, but the power to overcome that temptation can only come from Christ.

    What measures has your administration put in place to prevent cases of sexual harassment of female students by their male lecturers?

    We are going to work on that. I have said I am committing my first year to IGR and this other one is academic and discipline. We are trying to put some things in place that will checkmate some lecturers that cannot keep their libido, and to that extent, we are going to go through management and then the Senate to fashion out some strategies to protect our female students from sexual harassment. That one is being planned, I may not feel out everything now.

    Things are changing in this university and that is the truth. The head matters. If there is seriousness at the top, everybody will fall in line. They know that if I catch you sexually harassing female students, you will be in trouble. If as the vice-chancellor I am also one of those carrying girls and ladies around, I won’t have the mouth to tell those who are doing it to stop or sanction them in line with the rules. Now, it is no longer going to be business as usual. Some regulations will come out in a short while to checkmate all those things in terms of the dressing of the students, because students also can be harassers. Female students can harass male students by their amorous outlook. We want to checkmate those things and for the staff, admin, teaching and non-teaching, we are going to have some codes that will create a level of restriction as to how they can harass female students.

    The university is having its 21st Convocation next week. What will you be showcasing to the world through the event?

    I am happy to tell you that this year’s convocation will be a celebration of excellence; a celebration of emancipation for a university that has come of age. We are now on the path of making ourselves known nationally and internationally, that this is a university that is growing into prominence. One, we want to showcase our students. Our students in this university are excellent, and that is the truth. They are very excellent. Recently, we had a literary competition and my university came first in the entire South West. We have a lot of talents in our university. We have some of them who are making waves in their disciplines. We want to showcase them. Apart from this, we want to showcase our current developmental innovations. Our ICT platform has moved to the next level and we want to have some of our eminent members of the society honoured by recognising and celebrating them. We are giving honorary doctoral degrees to two eminent personalities in this country. The Governor of Bayelsa State (Seriake Dickson), we want to give him a honorary award. Then our own here, Gbenga Oyebode, who has made it in the business world, in the corporate world and in the legal world, we want to showcase and celebrate him.

    So, this year’s convocation will be a celebration that is unique; a celebration to which we are inviting our alumni. They are also going to be part of it. We want to celebrate excellence. We want to celebrate the Fountain of Knowledge that has become the pride of education. It will be a weeklong programme featuring a press conference, convocation environmental sanitation, convocation lecture to be delivered by no other person than the indefatigable pillar of law, pillar of education, legal luminary who is recognised beyond the shores of Nigeria, a business mogul, that is Aare Afe Babalola. All this will precede the award of diplomas, first degrees and postgraduate degrees. It promises to be historic in all respect.

  • Rector threatens sanctions against erring lecturers

    The Rector Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic Uwana (AIFPU), Ven Ogbonnia Ibe-Enwo, has threatened to deal with any lecturer caught demanding undue financial reward or sexually assaulting the students.

    Ibe-Enwo gave the warning during institution’s 35th matriculation.

    According to him, appropriate measures have been taken to eradicate or curtail extortion, adding that  sanctions will be meted out on defaulters.

    He urged the Federal Government to review the Federal Polytechnic Act, noting that the move would revolutionalise polytechnic education and ensure the production of manpower from bachelor of technology to doctorate of technology.

    “The review will also enable us be at par with universities while allowing our core mandates to remain.

    The rector noted that the move will ensure productivity and a level playing ground for all members of the sector such that they would attain the peak of their careers.

    “We should abrogate all dichotomies militating against productivity, as obtained in the career progression between the university and polytechnic graduates,” he said.

    He said the institution matriculating 6,025 students for the 2015/16 academic session, in 30 departments spreading across six schools.

    He noted that 3, 911 students were granted admission in National Diploma (ND) programmes, while 2, 114 students were offered admission into Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes.

    He added that the institution was collaborating with the Federal University of Technology (FUTO) Owerri and the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (Umudike) Abia, to award Bachelor of Science Degrees

    He said: “We frown at laziness and examination misconduct which negate the objectives of parents and guardians in sponsoring you.”

    He enjoined them to shun cultism and its related activities as its membership pitches is not tolerated in this institution.

  • Students decry sack of 83 Ebonyi lecturers

    Students of Ebonyi State College of Education at Ikwo at the weekend expressed concern over Governor Dave Umahi’s sack of 83 of their lecturers.

    The lecturers were reportedly disengaged, following the governor’s directive when he received the report of a committee set up to investigate the institution’s administration, which was said to have uncovered irregularities in the school.

    Some of the students told our reporters in Abakaliki, the state capital, that with the sack of the lecturers, who were employed between 2011 and this year, over six departments in the school might be shut down by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

    Governor Umahi had said the sack should be done before the government reviewed the committee’s report or embark on visit to the institution.

    He said: “It is normal to recruit staff to achieve institutions’ accreditation objectives but the fact remains that they are not permanent staff.”

    A final year student in the Department of Primary Education, Miss Ifeoma Obinwa, regretted that the department was left with five lecturers while the minimum requirement for the department was eight lecturers.

    She said: “The governor’s directive, which led to the sack of the lecturers, does not just affect the lecturers. The students and parents, who have their wards in the affected departments, are the most hit because when the departments are shutdown, we have no other option than to either start looking for admission in other tertiary institution, as Year One students, or we would turn out as dropouts.

    “That’s not all. The money our parents have spent from our first year to our final year would now be fruitless. How many of them would survive the shock of getting to hear that their children, who were in their final year, have become dropouts for no fault of theirs?

    “Even if a department meets up with the required eight lecturers, the school’s prerequisite to establishing the Primary Education Department is now left with only one teacher. This would automatically mean a shutdown by NCCE.”

  • Don’t beg lecturers for marks, HOD warns freshers

    Don’t beg lecturers for marks, HOD warns freshers

    The Head of Department (HOD) of Mass Communication of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, has warned freshers against begging their teachers for marks.

    The department, she said, would recommend expulsion for any student who engages in such act. She said the school would not tolerate indiscipline, urging the students to abstain from what could make them lose their admission.

    She spoke last Friday at an orientation organised by the Mass Communication Students’ Association (MCSA) for the freshers.

    She said punctuality and obedience remained were the conerstone of their success, adding that the department was concerned about how students would get the best training to help them survive.

    Ogwezzy, an associate professor of Mass Communication, said: “Let me emphasise that punctuality and class attendance are very highly required. If any student doesn’t have up to 65 per cent attendance, the university rule is that such a student won’t write the examination. Therefore, you must manage your time well.”

    She warned them against joining unlawful organisations, urging them to be obedient.

    “Once you are obedient, no lecturer will maltreat you,” she said.

    A guest speaker at the event, Dr Shuaibu Husseini, urged the students to do away with assumptions and get the best from the department. He advised them to measure their level of engagement in social activities, noting that their primary aim in school is academic.

    He said: “Invest in books, especially the e-version. Identify friends that will assist you positively in your studies. Don’t be among students that will go and be begging lecturers for marks.”

  • FUTA workers protest sack as SSANU begins strike

    FUTA workers protest sack as SSANU begins strike

    Some disengaged workers of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), in Ondo State staged a peaceful protest Wednesday over their dismissal by the federal government.

    Already, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) said there is no going back on its plan to embarked on an indefinite strike on Thursday if the federal government fails to withdraw its circulars that sacked its over 2000 members.

    The disengaged staff were from 30 federal government University staff schools.

    The protesters from FUTA, carried placards with different inscriptions such as “Buhari this not the change we voted for. Save our jobs”, Daramola Don’t privatize FUTA Staff Primary School”, Teachers are not second class citizens. Stop maltreating us in FUTA staff primary School.”

    Speaking with reporters shortly after the protest, the FUTA SSANU branch Chairman, Benedict Chukwudi said about 45 of his members have received their dismissal letters.

    The SSANU Chairman faulted the government decision to go ahead with the sacking despite the fact that a case filed in the court to challenge the action was still pending.

    Chukwudi, accused management of FUTA of spear-heading the battle, saying it is only FUTA among all the affected institutions that had issued sacked letters to its affected workers.

    He added that the management had also gone ahead to advertise the vacancy posts on national dailies.

    His words, “The plan to disengage some SSANU members in 30 federal universities started during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s regime but failed to achieve its aim before the government expired.

    “This same circular was also issued again on October 9, this year by the deputy director of ministry of education, Mr. E.O Fayemi directing the government to stop the salaries of the affected staff.

    “Despite the fact that the matter is in court, the present government had decided to shun the court and go ahead with the sacking.

    “The sacked workers are staff of FUTA because the primary school where they work is just an organ that cannot employ workers.

    However, the national body of SSANU has given only today to the government to reverse the circular or we embark on a national strike Thursday

    “I don’t know why the government had decided to bounce on the University staff school workers because the Navy, Police and other staff schools are still being paid by the government.”

     

  • Provost warns students against cultism

    Provost warns students against cultism

    Authorities of the Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo, have urged the new students admitted for the 2015/2016 academic session to shun cultism and other social vices.

    The Provost, Prof. Olukoya Ogen, gave the charge during the opening of the 2015/2016 orientation programme for new students.

    He urged them to comport themselves and act in line with the school’s vision.

    The Provost noted that the institution is known for its high academic standard since inception in 1964, preening on the quality of graduates it has produced over the years.

    Ogen, who congratulated the freshers for getting admitted into ACE, which is affiliated with three notable institutions in the country, urged them to be obedient to their lecturers, studious and shun cultism.

    He assured them that the management had made adequate provisions for them to access basic infrastructures and facilities in the course of their studies.

    The new students learnt about “Students and Financial Transactions in the College” from the Bursar, Mr. Ganiyu Abdul.

    He educated them about various requirements that would qualify them to be bonafide students of the college like the JAMB certification, payment of tuition fees, and administration of oaths among other things.

    In his address, the Dean, Student of Affairs, Mr. Olaniyi Olaluwoye admonished them to jealously protect the good image of the institution and shun vices.

    He said: “I will enjoin you to shun acts that will put you in trouble. Such acts among others are: cultism, drug addiction, examination malpractice, prostitution and other societal vices”.

    He reiterated the need to be ambassadors of the college as students and in the nearest future, saying “I am appealing to you to emulate these ones so that you can also become a good reference point in the nearest future.”

    Miss Awe Taiwo and Akinkuotu Love, who have been admitted to study Economics and Physics/Mathematics, expressed their enthusiasm at being among the lucky ones admitted into the school.

    They pledged to be of good conduct, obedient, studious and wished to be alumni, who will someday become the provost of the college like Prof. Ogen.

  • ‘We don’t see our lecturers until exam period’

    ‘We don’t see our lecturers until exam period’

    Sandwich students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) have protested against their lecturers’ attitude to work and state of facilities in the institution. They made their grievance known during the school’s  52nd anniversary. OLADELE OGE (NYSC Enugu) reports.

    While the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) basked in the euphoria of its 52nd anniversary, part-time students of its Institute of Education gathered to take stock of facilities and academic engagement.

    The Sandwich students expressed disappointment over the lack of commitment to work by some of their lecturers.

    Benedict Agaba, chairman of Caretaker Committee of Sandwich Students’ Union Government, said part-time students were disappointed that some lecturers only appeared in the class once to introduce the course outlines and never come back until examination period.

    The students urged the school management to monitor lecturers’ activities. He said if the development is left unchecked, it would not augur well for the school’s rating.

    Benedict said: “There should be effective monitoring of lecturers of the Institute of Education. Some of them, after introducing their course outlines, never show up again for lectures until the day of examination. This is not a good act and it can affect the academic image of the school. We don’t want a situation, where sandwich students, at the end of the day, are not given the quality training they paid for.”

    The part-time students also lamented the slow process in the issuing of certificates to graduates of Sandwich programme, saying they needed to wait for four years to get their final result computed by the institution. They appealed to the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Benjamin Ozumba, to introduce measures that make the school approve results of Sandwich students alongside their counterparts in regular programme.

    Benedict, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said: “We appeal to the school management to approve our results when the results of regular students are being computed to save us from stress of having to convince our employers of status of our certificates. We also want the management to allow Sandwich graduates, who are below 30 years to participate in National Youth Service.”

    The students wanted the school to renovate facilities and repair roads within the school. They said from the school’s old main gate and Zik-flat Road to the Faculty of Education, the school roads have become impassable.

    They also clamoured for permanent hostels to reduce the problem of accommodation they are facing, decrying a situation where all the school’s Halls of Residence are reserved for regular students.

    The Director of the institute, Prof Queen-Joy Nwoji, said she had noted the students’ grievances, promising to set up monitoring team that would check lecturers’ truancy.

    “We have been told some lecturers have not been going to class regularly. We want to ensure students that this would stop by next session. We have set up monitoring team that will fish out these lecturers. We will ensue that all the complaints of sandwich students are attended to,” she said.

    Nwoji listed challenges facing the institute to include poor funding, delay in students’ results, lack of accommodation and ineffective supervision of students on teaching practice.

    She added: “We appeal to the school authorities and other well-meaning people to come to our help to enable us to run the institute effectively.”

    The pioneer Director of the institute, Prof Maurice Nduanya, said the objective of establishing the programme was to train teachers that would drive quality teaching in secondary and tertiary institutions. She promised that the school would provide facilities that would make the programme stress-free for students.

    He said: “Since inception, we have trained countless number of teachers, who are contributing immensely to improve standard of education. We have continued to improve the facilities and we will not fail to do this.”

     

  • Benue varsity lecturers suspend strike

    After four months of industrial action, the local chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the Benue State University (BSU) in Makurdi, on Monday, called off its strike and asked members to return to work. The lecturers downed tools because former Governor Gabriel Suswam did not pay their salaries.

    The strike was called off after a peace meeting held by the ASUU leadership and representatives of the management and the state government. The parties, CAMPUSLIFE learnt, reached a “realistic” agreement after hours of meeting.

    The ASUU Chairman, Dr David Ikoni, said lecturers were satisfied with the commitment of Governor Samuel Ortom to the agreement.

    “We told our members that we agreed to the terms of the governor and suspended the strike on the governor’s appeal. He gave us his commitment and we felt that we should give him a benefit of the doubt,” Dr Ikoni said.

    He said the lecturers would not hesitate to embark on strike again if the governor failed to keep his promise.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Charity Angya, said the governor would do his best to ensure the school is not shut down again. She said: “Gov. Ortom has entered an agreement that is realistic. He had a good discussion with ASUU members and he agreed to the demands of the lecturers.”

    The development excited students, some of who expressed happiness. Mary Anyogo, a 300-Level Mass Communication student, said she could not afford to stay at home any longer. “I am so happy when I heard the news. I can’t wait to go back to school,” she said.

    Nana Ugoor, a 300-Level Psychology student, said he was no prepared to return to school, because of his financial challenge. He said: “Calling off the strike is good news, because it is what has been expected by students. But, I am not ready financially. I sponsor myself and it is not easy, getting money to return. I will resume in due time.”

    The management has advised both staff and students not to waste time in resuming back to work to make up for the lost time.

     

  • Lecturers storm INEC over unpaid allowances

    Lecturers storm INEC over unpaid allowances

    Academic staff in the University of Calabar (UNICAL) that served as returning officers in the May 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections Thursday, stormed the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Calabar to protest the non-payment of their allowances.

    They threatened to boycott Saturday’s Governorship and House of Assembly elections.

    One of the protesting lecturers told journalists that they embarked on the action to protest the ill-treatment meted out on them by the commission.

    He disclosed that what they have been receiving in previous elections was higher than what the commission offered them in this year’s elections, though he declined to disclose the figure.

    According to him, ‘they (INEC) slashed our honorarium without explanations, and could not even pay what they claim they were going to pay us.’

    Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Sylvester Ezeani condemned the protests by the lecturers describing their action as ‘unfortunate.’

    He said such action was expected of students and not academic staff, adding that efforts will be made to pay them.