The Nation Newspaper

Tag: need

  • Varsities need proper funding, says Ekiti deputy governor

    Ekiti State Deputy Governor Prof. Modupe Adelabu has urged the Federal Government to fund universities adequately.

    She said this would ensure the production of quality graduates.

    Lamenting that graduates of Nigerian universitieswereunemployable in the local and international markets, Mrs. Adelabu said “our higher institutions have become shadows of their glorious past”.

    She spoke with reporters in Ado- Ekiti, the state capital, on the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Mrs. Adelabu said it was shameful that the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, which has been ranked the best in the country, occupies the eighth position in Africa.

    She urged stakeholders to return to the drawing board and come up with a lasting solution to the recurring issue of varsity under-funding.

    The deputy governor said: “I am sure it will end very soon. It cannot go on like this. More so, our universities are no more competitive. Our graduates are unemployable because the universities are shadows of themselves. Instructional materials are no more there; the environment is no more conducive and the varsities are under-funded. We cannot go on like this.

    “OAU, which has been ranked No. 1 in Nigeria, is No. 8 in Africa. This is disturbing. There was a time when Nigerian universities ranked among the best internationally. I think it is better for the Federal Government and ASUU to settle the matter once and for all, so that we will not have to revisit the funding of varsities and some other issues again.”

    On allegations that the lecturers were pursuing their personal agenda, she said: “I do not think ASUU is concerned for selfish reasons. They are trying to protect the future of the children they are training, so that they would be able to compete with others in the market when they graduate.

    “We will continue to wallow in poverty if our gradu ates are unemployable. We cannot go on like this. Research has shown that Nigerian graduates are unemployable, except those who have very rich parents, who can send them to schools abroad or to private institutions. We want our public institutions to be well funded, so that teaching and learning can take place.”

  • Keshi: I need Joel Obi

    Keshi: I need Joel Obi

    Super Eagles Head Coach Stephen Keshi says he needs the services of Inter Milan ace Joel Obi in the national team.

    The former Togo and Mali national team coach said Obi would have been very useful to the Eagles, but for his frequent injuries.

    “Joel Obi is the type of player I would always want to have, but he is prone to injuries.

    “He is a good player, young and very brilliant in the mid-field. He is also very creative.

    “I spoke to him severally, but recently he his not been reachable. I don’t know if he is at Inter Milan, because I want to re-establish contact with him, to know how he is doing and know his recuperation programs.

    “I need him, and the country needs his services,” the Big Boss said” Joel Chukwuma Obi was born on 22 May 1991 in Lagos and made his international debut for Nigeria on February 9, 2011 in a friendly game against Sierra Leone in Lagos. He has made 12 senior appearance for the country.

    At club level, Obi made his debut for Inter on September 29, 2010 in a UEFA Champions League group stage game against Werder Bremen. He played the final 10 minutes of the match.

    He made his Serie A debut on October 17, 2010 against Cagliari when he came in the 66th minute.

    In January 2011 he was sold to Parma with a tag of 750,000 euros. He was loaned back to Inter for half season. In January 2012 Inter acquired the other half of Obi from Parma.

  • Uhuru and Raila will always need each other

    Uhuru and Raila will always need each other

    Going by Africa’s latest political landscape, election results separating front runners by a slim margin does not augur well for the welfare of the respective country.

    Many countries have ended up in civil strife after the leading candidates had almost locked horns. Kenya’s 2007 General Election is a case in point.

    Results of the presidential election had polarised the nation immediately after they were announced. They showed incumbent President Mwai Kibaki had beaten his rival Raila Odinga with a small margin.

    Thanks to President Kibaki’s swift swearing in ceremony. The neighbouring country plunged into a bloody skirmish countrywide, killing over 1,000 Kenyans and injuring hundreds, thousands others.

    Kenya has just conducted its next General Election after strongly debating and crafting a new Constitution which was agreed that it would tame the 2008 post-election skirmishes.

    Barely 12.5 of the provisional results started trickling in by press bed time on Monday, showing the presidential candidate on The National Alliance (TNA) ticket Uhuru Kenyatta claiming an early lead in the race.

    His rival on the Coalition for Reform and Development (Cord) Raila Oding closely behind with the remaining candidates trailing far behind.

    Although there was no clear indication yet to show who would win the presidency, it was obvious that it was a two-horse battle between Uhuru and Raila.

    Chances were either Kenyatta or Odinga would win even if the final results would compel the duo to face off in a runoff.

    Whatever the outcome of the Monday election would be, the winner celebrating the results after the first round or the runoff cannot effectively lead the polarised Kenyans.

    Each of the two candidates enjoying the support of almost half of the country’s population, the winner will certainly face a strong opposition from almost half of the losers.

    Unless the winner wins legitimacy from the losers immediately after the election, he cannot manage the country well.

    Will any of the front runners, especially the loser, be bold enough to put interests of his country ahead of his camp and assist the winner in governing the country, it remains to be seen.

    An overwhelming turnout of voters during the Monday General Election was among the polls’ surprises.

    Any analyst would believe a majority would shun the polls for fear of the 2008 post–election violence repeating itself.

    But Kenyans proved the skeptics wrong by trooping to polling stations in large numbers and creating rare scenes in the country latest political history.

    Some enthusiastic women pretended to be expectant or breastfeeding mothers to get a favour of casting their vote first and evade long queues.

    The Kenya Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) estimated the country’s record turnout in its recent history to be at 70 per cent, posing many questions to observers.

    Massive campaigns by almost all candidates for voters to show up in large numbers and vote was partly attributed to the turnout.

    Each of the front runners had go beyond the call of duty and encourage his supporters to vote in a bid to beat his rival right in the first round of the neck and neck poll.

    None of them being assured of garnering sufficient votes to win in the second round, each had no alternative but to persuade his supporters to vote in a bid to prevent his rival from beating him in the first round.

    The politicians also must have feared that a marginal victory would make it difficult for any of them to govern well and pleaded with their supporters to turn out in large numbers.

    But the surprise turnout can also be explained to be as a result of Kenyans’ own interest in the rights and powers they now enjoy through their new Constitution.

    Some of them said in an interview with Political Platform shortly after casting ballot that they had been waiting for this time for five years so that they could decide the destiny of their country after the 2008 mishap.

    After listening to the candidates’ rhetoric for about two months, the suffrage right provided for in their new Constitution was the only opportunity for them to silence politicians, others said.

    •Nyanje is The Citizen Political Editor

     

  • House doubts need for N161b fuel subsidy

    House doubts need for N161b fuel subsidy

    House members were not convinced yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan should be given N161,617,364,911 for fuel subsidy — two weeks to tthe end of the fiscal year.

    This year, N888.1 billion was approved for payment of fuel subsidy.

    The debate on the supplementary budget was suspended by the House on Wednesday when it was first considered to allow for input from committees, particularly Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream); Finance and Appropriation.

    The President wrote to the National Assembly, saying the cash would be used to settle accumulated fuel subsidy arrears and will assist to “maintain a steady flow of petroleum products, especially to the run-up to the festive season”.

    But members deliberating on the N161.6 billion additional request at plenary yesterday insisted that the forensic audit be presented before the House for scrutiny.

    The Chairmen of House Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Dakuku Peterside, Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Ajibola Muraina, and Appropriation, John Enoh all agreed that the House may be stampeded into a hasty decision, if the consideration is done at plenary. They suggested that it should be treated at committee level.

    The lawmakers said the late presentation of the request was an attempt by the President to blackmail them into passing the proposed supplementary budget.

    Minority Leader/Leader of the House Femi Gbajabiamila while speaking against a hasty approval, said, incorrect valuation of the 2012 fuel subsidy budget was an indictment on the budget office.

    Peterside said there was a need to see the forensic audit and the actual consumption figures of subsidised petroleum products.

    “The government needs to block leakages in the system (subsidy fraud). We agree that subsidy is not in our best interest but, in the interim we have to live with it and make it work,” Peterside said.

    Speaker Aminu Tambuwal enjoined the committees to ensure better budget tracking in the interest of Nigerians.

    He said: “Throughout this debate, issues around forensic report, actual subsidy figure, actual requirements have been raised. We can only know this if we allow this Bill to get to the committee for them to work on it and come back with all these details that we require either for us to pass it or to justify why their request should not be passed.

    “Because, as at now, we are not sure whether they truly need this fund. So, in the committees’ work, the committee should be able to come up with justification for whichever way we are going either which way, justification for approving it or dis-allowing it.

    “The gamut of the entire debates serve as a wake up call to our committees. Issues on oversight, we need to do more of budget tracking and ensure that we are not been taken for a ride by our executive counter-part.

    “So, I believe that at this point issues have been raised, fundamental issues have been raised; we need to be more discerning in whatever position we take. We have the window of opportunity, we have the expectations of the public and, in any case, all of us are aware that those in the Executive never wanted this fuel subsidy.”

  • ‘We need more food producers’

    ‘We need more food producers’

    With flood washing off farmlands and homesteads in large parts of the country, the private sector has been urged to set up agro-based industries to shore up food supplies.

    Many farmers who would have been on their farms have been huddled up in relief camps alongside their families, posing grave danger not just for the moment but also next year.

    Already, prices of food items have gone up in several places, a development from which Abuja residents are not insulated.

    That was why Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, called on the private sector to establish agro-based industries in the territory as part of efforts to increase food production.

    The minister, who made the call at the 2012 World Food Day in Abuja, advised that food production should not be the sole responsibility of government.

    She noted that the new policy thrust of government was to empower the farmer groups and the private sector to drive the agricultural transformation process.

    “The challenge before us is to produce food for the teeming population in this country. This cannot be seen as the responsibility of government alone. The private sector should take up the challenge of establishing agro-based industries in the FCT in particular, since there are tremendous potential and elaborate marketing outlets for these products,” said Akinjide, who was represented by her Special Assistant on Area Councils, Mr. Peter Fwa.

    She assured that the FCT Administration was ready to collaborate with any viable group to promote agriculture in the nation’s capital, particularly in the areas of improved farm inputs distribution, tractor hiring services, produce marketing and other value chain processes.

    “We have registered 8,000 co-operative societies of different economic backgrounds in the FCT. These include primary, secondary and apex co-operative organisations with total membership of about 1.2 million.

    “The FCT has already keyed into the Agricultural Transformation Agenda

    (ATA) of the present administration, and is at the forefront.

    Under the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES), FCT has surveyed and captured

    over 50,000 farmers in its data bank. Of this number, a total of over 38,000 farmers have benefited from 3,279 metric tons of assorted fertilisers and improved seeds,” Akinjide revealed.

    GES is one of the key initiatives under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda aimed at revamping the agriculture sector, ensuring food security, diversifying the economy, and enhancing foreign exchange earnings.

    The minister advised small-scale farmers to unite and form viable commodity groups to maximise their entrepreneurships.

    “The FCT Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS) under the Farmers’ Technology Empowerment Programme and the Public-Private

    Partnership (PPP) arrangement has procured 80 tractors with complete set of implements which have been distributed to FCT large scale farmers and farmers’ co-operative groups through the area councils for the farming season,” she added.