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  • Anegbe is MAN FBT chair

    The Food, Beverage and Tobacco (FBT) sectoral group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has appointed Patrick Anegbe as its new Chairman.

    He also doubles as the President, Association of Food and Beverages Tobacco Employers as well as the Chairman, Blenders and Distillers Association of Nigeria, a sub-sectorial group of MAN.

    Anegbe is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Distillers Limited (IDL), a distillery company.

    Since he assumed duties at IDL, the company has witnessed a tremendous turnaround and hasgrown at the fastest pace both in turnover, profitability and brand portfolio than any other period since the founding of the company.

    Anegbe attended the Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State, where he obtained Higher National Diploma (HND) in Electrical Engineering, Power/Machines options. He  bagged Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Lagos State University, Ojo.

    An alumnus of the Lagos Business School-Pan African University: IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain; Harvard Law School, USA; the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, USA; and IMD Business School, Brazil, among others, the new FBT chair is a member of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Governing Council and a Knight of Saint Mulumba (KSM).

  • FUTO SUG advises students against rape, ritual killing

    President of Students’ Union, Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) Comrade Frank Chigozirim, has urged the entire students of the institution to desist from immoralities.

    Chigozirim spoke with CAMPUSLIFE at the flag-off of ’War against vices in FUTO’ a student advocacy group against social vices in the university.

    “We are also saying no to rape and indecent dressing in our campus,” Chigozirim added.

    He explained that the essence of the awareness campaign was to encourage students not to be part of social decadence.

    “As students of the institution, we are intelligent, good Nigerians who want to be part of the development of the nation,” Chigozirim added.

    The campaign, which began with a roadwalk was launched last week by the Institute of Women, Gender and Development Studies (IWoGDs) in collaboration with the Federal University of Technology, Owerri Women Association (FUTOWA).

    The Director, IWoGDs, Prof Gloria Okwu, told CAMPUSLIFE that FUTO has begun the fight today because it could no longer tolerate such vices in on campus. She frowned at vices such as internet fraud which she said is now prevalent across institutions nationwide.

    “There is a lot of internet fraud happening around here which we also want to also stop. We are beginning the fight in our institution and we want to encourage others to join in the fight against these vices.”

    “We don’t want these vices. There is no need for any boy to co-habit with any girl. It cannot be heard of, we cannot tolerate such a thing around us,” she said.

    She the campaign aims to first to sensitise the students after which sanction might then be applied to defaulters.

    Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (Administration) Prof Julius Orebiyi who represented the vice-chancellor, Prof Francis Eze, described the war against these vices as a remarkable project in the annals of FUTO.

    “I have served the institution close to 30 years but I’venot seen this kind of development. FUTO is known for its good performances and the institution cannot lag behind in this aspect.

    Also, the president of FUTOWA and wife of the VC Mrs Eze Egejuru, observed that anti-social tendencies such as drug abuse, rape and ritual killing creeping into FUTO are not part of the culture of the institution.

    Eze warned that students caught in any of the aforementioned vices after the sensitisation campaign, stands the risk of being dismissed.

    “This is a warning to all our youth. We are doing this so that they will be guided,”

  • Alumni donate musical instruments

    It was happiness all the way last Thursday when members of Saint Joseph Secondary School, Idi Mangoro, Agege Lagos (SJSS) 2001 set visited their alma mater to donate musical instruments.

    They were warmly received by the Principal, Mr. A.A. Iseyemi , who ensured all members of the staff and pupils were on the assembly ground to witness the donation – two big marker boards,  a Yamaha Keyboard with a keyboard stand, and a guitar.

    The 01 set was represented by Akintan Akinyemi (Chairman); Florence Makinde (Vice Chairman) and Segun Avresivu (Project Coordinator).

    While addressing the current pupils, the Chairman reminisced on school days by getting the pupils to sing the school Anthem with him.  He admonished them to inculcate the spirit of social responsibility by giving back to their alma mater no matter how small because little drops can make a mighty ocean.

    He advised the students to take their academics serious to guarantee a secured future.

    Speaking on the gesture, Isiyemi thanked 2001 set for its yearly contribution to the school. He prayed for their unity to grow stronger and for God’s blessings on them.

    Head Girl of the School, Onome Isibawo, appreciated the Alumni for deeming it fit to contribute to the school’s growth and development through the donation.

  • Group accuses NANS member of disrupting election

    THE Public Relations Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr Azeez Adeyemi, has been accused of disrupting the election of the National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS).

    A group led by Comrade Ade Bash from the University of Lagos, described as ‘spurious’ the NAOSS election conducted at Iwe–Irohin in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, which produced Olamileke Ogunronbi as president.

    It, however, endorsed another election conducted at NSCDC’s College of Security and Management, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta where Saka Azeez Abidemi also emerged president.

    Bash told CAMPUSLIFE that ahead of the election, Adeyemi allegedly sent some threat messages to some NAOSS contenders, asking them to drop their ambitions or be dealt with.

    But Adeyemi described the group as’ impostors’, adding that their action amounts to ‘impersonation’ because Ogunrunbi is NAOSS’ legitimate president.

    CAMPUSLIFE learnt that the accusations and counter accusations, were the fallout of NAOSS election, which appeared to be producing to parallel leaderships.

    CAMPUSLIFE checks revealed that the crisis started during a run up to the election, held in June after the electoral commission was instituted at a pre-convention earlier.

    The election produced Comrade Kehinde Olaonipekun Olusegun of the National Open University (NOUN), Abeokuta as the electoral committee chairman, alongside other members.

    Bash further alleged that Adeyemi mobilised some armed people to the election venue to disrupt it.

    “Nobody knew who they were. But, it was ascertained that they were not senators neither were they members of NAOSS,” said Bash,  a leading supporter of the Abidemi-led NAOSS.

    Read Also: NANS hails improved security in Katsina

    The group said the invaders were sponsored by Adeyemi who was also bankrolling a presidential candidate.

    “The NANS members came up with various moves and antics to disrupt the peace and serenity of the elections. They lured the security officials into dancing to their tunes to have their ways,” the group said.

    “While everyone was patiently waiting for the arrival of the electoral commission to conduct the elections, NANS agents were seen preparing for the election on their own and insisting that the election must hold for that day. We were wondering why they were adamant on the election holding when they are not even members of NAOSS,” he added.

    The source further explained that Adeyemi, alongside some NANS executive members, ensured they had access to the voting arena, while NAOSS members were shut out.

    Bash said as is the tradition, the outgoing president, who was also barred from entering the venue, was expected to declare the convention open as a prelude to voting. He said certain key members of NAOSS, who were observers in the election, were also denied access into the hall.

    “Out of 21 offices, they conducted election into three offices without the use of any ballot papers which is against the rules of NAOSS and election guidelines and the electoral chairman was forced to declare the results,” the group said.

    Bash noted that after the election, some students of Ogun extraction  summoned a peace meeting of stakeholders in the student unionism.

    The fallout was a resolution for fresh election, which held at the state Command of NSCDC, Oke-Mosan, where Abidemi emerged winner.

    Adeyemi, however, described the allegations as tissues of lies.

    Speaking through NANS Press Consultant Olasunkanmi Akinlotan, Adeyemi  said the election followed due process.

    Adeyemi denied ever mobilising thugs to the election venue. He described the elements behind the story as ‘irrelevant group of individuals’ desirous of heating up the polity.

    “The election held at the Iwe Iroyin was free and fair. It was keenly contested to the extent that it dragged till nightfall.

    “Many of your colleagues (refereeing to CAMPUSLIFE reporter) from national dallies as well as police and other security officers were in attendance as witnesses. In the end, Olamileke Ogunronbi from Ogun State Cooperative College Ijeja-Abeokuta won, and was declared president by the chairman of the electoral committee, who was also shielded by security officers while announcing the results.

    “These people later approached the Ogun State chapter Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC College of Security and Management and misled the provost that they wanted to have a students event, only for them to conduct a kangaroo election that produced Abidemi.

    “We later reached out to the Provost of the college, who said the students lied to him that they wanted to organise students activities, but he didn’t know it was election they wanted to conduct.

    “How could you conduct election with about 15 members on ground? What they have committed is simply impersonation.

    “They have been going from place to place to finding legitimacy to their faction. At a point, we wanted to take up the matter with them, but it was this same that Adeyemi who felt as the chairman of NANS, he would not close his eyes while his colleagues are being harassed.

    “They have been going around sending fake stories with scam mails to certain media houses without revealing their identities. Let them come out as we are coming out, if they are sure they have nothing else to hide. We are ready to honour any invitation by anybody since we have no skeleton in our cupboard.”

    Meanwhile, a top police source, who also witnessed the election at Iwe Irohin, described the Bash-led group as ‘unreasonable’.

    “To the best of my knowledge, the election was very peaceful and a winner unanimously emerged,” said the source who also craved anonymity.

    He continued: “We ensured we mobilised enough police officers to the venue. All efforts by some unscrupulous elements to thwart the election were resisted. So, if some people are saying the election was disrupted, that was a lie from the pit of hell.’’

  • ‘Why power generation is low’

    Though gas shortage is the main problem of electricity generation firms, experts say other challenges, such as the rising debts profile of the power firms, gas price and transmission bottlenecks, are also threatening the sector, writes AKINOLA AJIBADE

    THE power sector is in dire straits. With a population of close to 200 million people, experts say the country needs between 50,000 megawatts (mw) and 60,000 Mw of electricity to survive. Although the industry has an installed generation capacity of 12,962mw, it generates 7,562 mw, of which only 5,375mw is available for transmission. Generating companies (GenCos) do not have the incentive to increase their capacity, because the country’s capacity for transmission is limited to about 8,100mw.

    In all these, the country relies on two energy sources, gas-fired and hydro power plants for survival, while its off-grid electricity segment is still at the infancy stage. While the hydro power stations are not more than five, representing about 20 per cent of the country’s generation, the gas-fired or fossil fuel plants are 32, which represent 80 per cent of the power being generated in the country.

    The hydro power plants are Kainji (760mw), Jebba (576.8Mw), Shiroro (600mw), all in Niger State; Zungeru (700mw), Kadin Kowa hydro (480mw), and Mambila Power Plant in Taraba State which is under construction.

    On the other hand, the gas-fired plants are in Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Cross-River, Akwa Ibom,  Edo, Abia, and Rivers states, among  others. There are also Egbin (1,320mw), Sapele (1,020mw), Transcorp-Ugbelli (972mw), Afam 1-4 Power Station (977mw), Geregu 1 Power Station (414mw), Omotosho 1 Power Station (335Mw), Olorunsogo (335mw), Kwale Okpai (480mw), Afam V1 (642mw), Akwa-Ibom Power Station (500mw), AES Barge (270mw), Omoku (150mw) and Trans Amadi(136mw) and Rivers State Generator( 180mw).

    Others are Aba Power Plant (140mw), Geregu 11 (434mw), Sapele (450mw), Olorunsogo (675mw), Egbema (338mw), Calabar (561mw), Ihovbor (450mw) and Azura (450mw).

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    Worse still, is that the country is surviving on less than 5,000mw, a far cry from what South Africa is generating to meet the needs of its 56.7 million population.

    One issue, which has been canvassed by stakeholders, as the major hindrance to the growth of the power sector, is the shortage of gas and its cumulative effects on the production of electricity in the country.  Though the issue has been discussed at local and international fora, with a view to proffering solutions to it, the solution appears not in sight.

    According to close watchers of unfolding events in the sector, making gas available for production of electricity remains a challenge, because stakeholders, including the Federal Government, have not deemed it fit to address what they termed ‘specific problems’ in the sector.

    They said the problems are debts, rising cost of transporting gas to generation companies, where it is needed to produce electricity, poor storage facilities and difficulties in evacuating power to power distribution firms by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), among others.

    The Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) Executive Secretary, Dr. Joy Ogaji, said the growth of the electricity industry was endangered, because the debts owed generation companies were yet to be paid.

    She said the payment of debts owed generation firms is key to their growth, adding that the delay in paying the debts has untold effects in their businesses. According to her, power output would continue to be low for as long as the GenCos are still being owed in the industry.

    Dr. Ogaji said: “Where do you expect generation firms to recoup the money spent on procuring gas for production? She said neither the energy distribution firms nor the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) Limited was making moves to offset the debts.

    “The power generation companies are  being owed over N1 trillion by DisCos and NBET. The energy distribution firms paid 16 per cent and 17 per cent of the debts in  June and July, this year. How can the GenCos survive under this environment? “

    NBET was set up by the Federal Government to administer and control energy pool. She said the debts were accumulated because the DisCos decided to take electricity on credit from the GenCos. She said the GenCos have enough gas to produce power at the moment.

    Energy, Dr. Ogaji said, is not a physical product  that can be displayed in the shop, arguing that operators, such as DisCos, should be able to pay for the electricity given to them by the power generation firms.

    Another problem, which the sector is facing, she said, has to do with energy transmission.The transmission capacity, she said, is limited and the development is hindering the ability of TCN to transmit enough electricity to DisCos.

    “What is the benefit of generating energy, which cannot be transmitted to DisCos  for onward supply to consumers? The problems in the sector vary from one section to another. The three arms – transmission, distribution and generation – have their own challenges. But it would be good if the money owed the power generation firms is paid to enable them stay in business.”

    However, the former Chief Executive officer, Nigerian Gas Company(NGC), Dr. Godswill Ihetu, said gas is not a problem. he the country is blessed with huge gas reserves to grow its economy.

    With  600 trillion of unproven gas reserves and over 187 trillion of proven gas reserves, he said the country has enough gas.

    Ihetu said: “If it is to meet the needs of the international and domestic market, the country has enough gas to do so. He said the Nigerian Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited was not established to meet domestic needs like providing gas to the power firms.”

    Ihetu, also a former managing director of NLNG, said the firm only provides Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to the country, not natural gas.

    “This explains why some International Oil Companies (IOC) that are operating in the country and their local counterparts are made to provide gas for the power generation firms in the country,” he said, adding that the sector has problems, such as pipeline vandalism, a development that has made it difficult to supply gas to thermal plants.

  • Philosophy behind Nigeria’s foreign policy on decolonization

    I am writing this to elucidate some of the principles that has guided Nigeria’s foreign policy since independence. This is necessary in view of the casual and glib talk among Nigerians who while deprecating the violence directed against Nigerians in South Africa always say “we after all, liberated the ungrateful country”. This is wrong history. We as a country contributed to the liberation of South Africa, we did not liberate the country. As far as I know, no Nigerian died any where in the liberation of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola and South Africa. South Africans liberated their own country with the support of fraternal countries including our own.

    When Nigeria became an independent and sovereign country, the principle guiding our foreign policy was clearly articulated by our prime minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who for some time doubled as our foreign minister before Jaja Wachukwu was appointed foreign minister. Sir Abubakar, while addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations in October 1960, said Nigeria will support and protect the interests of all black peoples in the world wherever they may be. This presumably extended even beyond Africa to the Americas, South and North and the Pacific islands where blacks live. This was an ambitious declaration and many doubted the capacity of Nigeria to carry out this policy.  It is the hope and not its practical application of the policy that mattered. It gave hope to black Americans and other blacks under one kind of oppression or the other. Sir Abubakar was a cautious and conservative politician. He must have read the speech over and over and digested it. He must have asked his principal officials the import of his declaration. He also wanted to undercut his critics at home and the radical elements within his cabinet who must have convinced him he had to snatch leadership of the black world from Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana who since the independence of his country in 1957, three years before Nigeria attained independence, had become the acknowledged leader of the black world. This policy was unanimously supported by the critical mass of our people. It is remarkable that since 1960 till now, this policy has endured in spite of the several changes of regimes and personalities at the helm of our country’s national affairs.

    This policy was grounded on the principle of when  a man, any man, suffers any where in the world, humanity as a whole suffers a little but when a black man suffers any where  in the world, because of the pigmentation of his skin colour and not because of his character, all black people every where suffer a lot. From this reasoning, it was clear to foreign policy makers and executors that in defending black people everywhere, Nigeria was vicariously defending its own honour and humanity. In other words, whether in the case of Sir Abubakar’s government breaking diplomatic relations with France in 1961 over the third nuclear test of that country in the Sahara thus protecting the entire African continent from radioactive fallouts, or Yakubu Gowon assisting to pay the salaries of police and civil servants in Grenada in  the Caribbean 1973, or Muhammed/ Obasanjo buying weapons for the MPLA government in Angola in 1976 and assisting the FRELIMO government in Mozambique and the various liberation movements in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, or, Shagari government’s intervention in Chad in the 1980s, Babangida’s assistance to Jamaica after the devastation of the Island  by hurricanes in  the 1990s, sending Technical Aid Corps to Fiji and his continued support for the liquidation of the apartheid regime in the 1990s and final emergence of  Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa and recently Buhari’s commitment of Nigerian troops to secure a peaceful transfer of power from  Yahya Jammeh to Adama Barrow in The Gambia; all fall within the rubric of protecting the interest of the black man and in so doing protecting our own interest.

    If blacks all over the world are doing well, we as a black people will not suffer the indignity of being looked down upon because of our black colour. In other words, the fate of Nigeria is intricately linked with that of all black people in a world where racism thrives. Even though everybody denies the place of race in foreign affairs, it is however without doubt central to politics among nations.

    This was the political phase of our foreign policy. Nigeria has succeeded to a certain extent in our foreign policy of decolonization. The continent has been rid of colonialism and imperialist domination but neo-colonialism still thrives in the sense that African economy is still largely dominated by former colonial powers of Britain, France and to a certain extent the West generally. In what was called economic diplomacy, Nigeria wanted to engage with other African countries including those it had assisted in joint partnership for mutual economic development to free the continent from neo-colonial domination. This was why Nigeria in the  1990s encouraged Nigerians to participate in fishing off the coast of Angola for example and in the development of Bauxite mines of Guinea in the 1970s and investment in cement and sugar industries in Benin in partnership with the governments of those countries.

    It must be admitted  that these economic ventures did not always succeed as expected but there was no attempt by Nigeria to exploit for its national benefit, inappropriate crude exploitative way western  countries exploit the countries they give aid and a technical assistance to. To do this would have destroyed the high moral grounds on which our foreign policy was founded. This policy of assistance with no strings attached informed the Technical Aid Corps put in place to assist other African countries and black countries in the Caribbean and the pacific countries during the Babangida’s regime. We could not have been criticizing the West and be following a post-assistance policy of exploitation. This however does not preclude individual business people doing businesses in countries where as a result of Nigeria’s goodwill, the environment is favourable for Nigerian private investment. In pursuit of this, we need not rub in the fact that the country so involved benefited from our largesse in the past. That would be immoral and unChristianly and unIslamic. Of course, there is no morality in politics but in the case in which we based our policy of decolonization on the wrongness and immorality of colonialism, standing on a high moral principle was appropriate.

    In the case of recent  xenophobic attacks against our nationals in South Africa, we can make a case for African solidarity without harping on whatever assistance we rendered in the past. Our assistance in the past based on our enlightened national self-interest which happened to have been in the interest of blacks in South Africa was out of our free will and judgement of what was good for our country. It  is quite different from asking for compensation for  current economic damage and injury inflicted on our people. This should stand alone from the sentimental issue of past assistance. Secondly, the nature of our people’s business in South Africa in particular and in other parts of Africa where our people are coming under serious pressure and sometimes murderous attack, needs to be considered and if necessary changed. Any business bordering on criminal and illegal nature must be deprecated and wound up. It is disgraceful for our people to be involved in  human trafficking, prostitution, drugs peddling, and  advance fees fraud and swindling of innocent people of their hard earned money. It is sad that the few of our people involved in these nefarious activities have damaged the many genuine business men and women. We must some how find a way by which our people would be told that each and every Nigerian is an ambassador of this country and that their behaviour abroad will either enhance or damage the image of the country which previous generations have built. Unemployment at home should not be an excuse for criminality abroad. Our government also must take more seriously the issue of job creation at home and control and reduction of our geometrically growing and ballooning population. It is a pity that the issue of the population bomb has not received the attention it deserves. No matter what we do to build a thriving economy, if the population continues to outstrip the economy, we shall continue to create an underclass of criminals at home some of who will find their ways to other parts of the continent as is already happening in our neighbouring countries where the image of the “ugly Nigerian” looms very large.

  • Sokoto releases N300m for WAEC, NECO exams fees

    NOT less than N300 million has been approved for payment of Sokoto State pupils who sat for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO).

    In a statementd by the Public Relations Officer, Sokoto State Ministry for Basic and Secondary Education, Nura Bello Maikwanci, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal noted that the essence of the payment was to ensure prompt release of the results of its indigenes.

    The sum covered part of the cost of the 2018/2019 examinations for both bodies.

    “The  amount is meant for the payment of examinations fees for students who sat for the two examinations as it is expected that with this development the results of the students would soon be released”, the release stated.

    The government urged parents and candidates to exercise more patience, adding that” Sokoto State government is doing everything possible to ensure the release of their results in good time’’.

  • When blindness is no limitation

    President, National Association of Nigerian Visually Impaired Students, (NANVIS) University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter, Osho Abiodun Sunday, does not believe in impossibilities. He told DAMOLA KOLA-DARE that visually-impaired people wear their challenge with pride.

    For Osho Abiodun Sunday, President, National Association of Nigerian Visually Impaired Students (NANVIS), University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter, visual impairment is not a limitation and it does not diminish him in any way.

    Tall, lanky and soft-spoken, Sunday believes that being physically-challenged is not a disease and therefore he can compete effectively with those who are not physically challenged.

    Sunday, who comes across as an incurable optimist, noted that visually-impaired people have pain in their hearts but do not allow it to weigh them down.  Hence, he wants a society where visually-impaired people would be assisted and not treated as outcasts.

    He appealed to the government, corporate bodies, and well-meaning Nigerians to empower blind people.  He noted that poverty is the bane of those suffering visual impairment.   Further, he advised the government to borrow a leaf from advanced countries that have a fixed monthly allocation for their physically-challenged citizens.

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    “I am calling on the government, kind-hearted citizens and corporate establishments to help blind people.  Apart from job-creation, money should be made available.  In the Western world, there is a certain amount of money given to the physically-challenged every month. Government should look into that for blind people in the country not to be seen as beggars when help is not forthcoming from other avenues,” he said.

    The NANVIS President praised the management of (UNILAG for the yearly provision of endowment fund for every physically-challenged student.  For some of them, it is what they depend on it to cater for their needs.

    Despite being in need themselves, Sunday said the visually impaired also share with the less priviledged.

    He said the students demonstrated this when they visited Ikoyi Prisons in July.

    “We went to Ikoyi Prisons in July.  We came up with the prison visitation because people give to us and we decided that we would give back to the society to show that even in our current state, we have a loving heart,” he said.

    Always the optimist, Sunday sees hope on the horizon and declared that suicide was not an option even in the face of the stiffest odds.

    Sunday said: “We see hope in our lives. We believe the future will be good, and we remain strong. Though we might not be happy at times, it is very hard for us to contemplate suicide. In fact, if a blind person commits suicide, those in his environment should be questioned.

    He urged other visually-impaired people not to give up.

    “To my fellow visually-impaired brothers and sisters, even if your family is the poorest; do not lose hope and do not be discouraged,” he said.

  • Niger College of Agric, IBBUL sign MoU

    Niger State College of Agriculture, Mokwa (NSCAM), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL), in the areas of teaching, research and community development services.

    At the ceremony,Vice-Chancellor, IBBUL Prof Muhammad Nasir Maiturare, said the university appreciates and acknowledges the paramount role agriculture plays in the development of any nation; hence its determination to explore every opportunity towards facilitating the development of agricultural programmes being offered at the institution.

    Maiturare explained that the MoU would also cover staff training and exchange programme, together with the introduction of Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) programmes in crop science and production, as well as farm management.

    In his remarks NSCAM Provost Dr Aliyu Muhammad, said he was optimistic of fruitful collaborations between the two institutions. Muhammed is also upbeat the MoU would impact positively on the agricultural sector of the state, and the country, at large.

    Delivering the vote of thanks, Registrar, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, appreciated the Faculty of Agriculture of IBBUL for initiating several partnerships and collaborations with reputable institutions.

    The climax of the occasion was the signing of MoU.

  • Lessons from El-Rufai

    Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has been in the news this week for putting his money where his mouth is.  On Monday, he enrolled his six year old son, Abubakar, in the Capital School Malali, a public school in the state in fulfilment of a promise he made in 2017.

    He had promised back then to enrol his son in a public school in 2019.  He also said other public officers would be required to do same.  He said it was part of his plans to refurbish public schools and restore them to the standard he enjoyed attending public school as a child.

    El-Rufai has won my respect on this one.  I buy his argument that if public servants enrol their wards in public schools, then they would be more committed to ensuring the schools are good enough for the public.  It should become a standard nationwide.

    Recently, during the graduation season in UK and U.S., the social media was awash with pictures of our public officers and their children graduating from ivy-league universities.  We all know that they opted for greener pastures for their wards because of the rot in our own education system.  Starved of adequate funds, many of our schools do not measure up in terms of quality and infrastructure with those that our public officers send their wards to – enabled largely by funding from our commonwealth.

    Our leaders need to demonstrate faith in our public institutions once again.  They need to patronise local public schools and hospitals.  If their wards have to stay in classrooms with leaky roofs and broken walls; if they have to using a darkened wall as chalk board in an era of white and smart boards; if they have to use pit latrines without water instead of functional WCs; if they have to stay home for weeks or months on end because teachers are on strike agitating for unpaid salaries, perhaps they would pay the education sector the attention it needs.

    We do not seem to know how much we really need to prioritise education in this country.  It is practically the only option we have.  Natural resources are not taking us very far.  Already, Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II has warned that we do not benefit from oil price hike because we end up paying it all to import refined products.  However, we have a huge youth population that can become our biggest asset if only our government would make investment in Human Capital Development a priority.

    Various international agencies, including the World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others have underscored the need for Nigeria and other countries lagging behind in development to make the right investment in the health and education of its people.

    Attending the 2018 Goalkeepers meeting in Johannesburg last December was an eye opener for me.  The 2018 Goalkeepers report warned that Nigeria and Congo would be home to about 40 per cent of the world’s poorest people by 2050.  We cannot sit easy and watch this prediction come true.  We need to fix our education system.  We should domesticate the quality our leaders are seeking abroad for their wards in this country.  Every school – even the ones on the highest hill or the remotest village – should be conducive to learning.  Every community should have a health facility that caters to the needs of all including young ones so they do not die of malnutrition or preventable diseases.  This can happen if we put our money where our mouth is.

    Government needs to cut spending in some areas – especially the huge emoluments of public officers – so it can allocate more resources to health and education.  Government needs to block loopholes used by corrupt officers and punish them while seeking creative ways to diversify our economy.  Nigerians need to learn to hold the government accountable.  Public office holders are in position for our sake, not theirs.  We have the right to ask what they are doing and demand change if they are not doing well.  I hope we start to exercise this right.