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Tag: Oyo

  • Oyo college shut over lecturers’ strike

    The Oyo State College of Agricultural Technology (OYSCATECH) in Igboora has been shut, following a 21-day strike  by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) over alleged non-payment of  salaries.

    The union went on the warning strike after an emergency meeting held last Thursday, following the expiration of the ultimatum given management to pay workers nine-month arrears. The union said its members had been working without pay for months, noting that many of them are dying of hunger.

    ASUP said it had exhausted all avenues, including goodwill, to resolve the matter, but said strike was the only language understood by the management.

    In its letter to the registrar signed by the chairman, Afees Adeniyi, and Secretary, Mr O.O. Opadijo, ASUP asked the management to pay the nine months salary arrears to ameliorate members’ financial predicament, saying doing so would save its members from untimely death.

    “We demand constitution of a high-powered Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) Monitoring Committee outside the Bursary department to monitor the income and expenditure of the college in order to ensure transparency.

    “We demand immediate stoppage of payment of our salaries in fractions. We want the government to grant 100 per cent subvention to our college. This strike will be total. There will be no activities on campus. No examination, no project supervision and no attendance of any statutory meetings, either in academic board, faculty, department or committee.”

    The union also called for improved infrastructure and provision of modern teaching materials to aid learning. The 21-day strike is expected to end on December 27.

  • Water for Oyo communities excites residents

    Water for Oyo communities excites residents

    Residents of five communities in Ogo-Oluwa Local Government Area of Oyo State have commended the chairman of the council, Mr Jesutowo Inaolaji, for providing potable water for their communities.

    They gave the commendation at the inauguration of the boreholes sunk for them by the council.

    The communities had grappled with lack of potable water for years until Inaolaji made it a priority.

    While inaugurating the projects, the council chief described drinkable water as a must for the health and wealth of humankind. He said he had always felt uncomfortable about lack of potable water in many of the communities, stressing that it was a major way to prevent diseases and ensure good health for rural dwellers.

    Inaolaji further explained that the discontent informed the council according the project a priority when he was given the opportunity to serve his people as chairman of the caretaker committee of the council by Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

    According to him, the project was in line with the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) whose overall aim is to make life more comfortable for the citizenry.

    He urged them to make the best use of the facilities through proper maintenance.

    Leaders of the communities expressed their satisfaction with the water project, particularly with the additional power generating set that was a component of each borehole. The power generating sets, they said, would help immensely in overcoming poor power supply in the communities.

    The communities are Ajaawa, Pontela, Owode, Oniru and Moleru.

    While expressing gratitude to the council chief, the traditional ruler of Pontela, Oba Solomon Ogundipe, promised to ensure good maintenance of the facilities. He also pledged continued support for the APC in his community.

    One of the leaders who spoke on behalf of the Owode community, Elder Zachariah Olojede, said the project was a realised dream for the community.

    According to him, their children always trekked for about one kilometre to get potable water.

    He promised the community’s support for the APC government. Seven more boreholes are still being sunk for other communities.

  • Oyo unfolds education reforms

    Oyo State Government has released a White Paper on its education reform which it hopes would end six months of crisis in its education sector.

    Under the new reforms, each public secondary school would get a School Governing Board (SGB) that would oversee the smooth running of the school.

    The white paper is the product of a committee of stakeholders inaugurated on July 12 in the wake of protests in May over alleged plans by the government to sell some schools.

    The 30-man committee, chaired by the Vice Chancellor, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Prof. Adeniyi Gbadegesin, had other members drawn from Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Market Advisory Council and the Muslim Community of Oyo State.

    Others included independent education experts, community leaders, retired civil and public servants, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and representatives of the state’s ministries of education and justice.

    Apart from the SGB, the committee’s recommendation adopted by government include: classification of the schools into five, restructuring of education agencies for effective interaction and information management, adoption of schools by willing partners, equitable distribution of teachers, improvement of quality assurance and implementation of Education Trust Fund (ETF).

    Others are retention of N1,000 school levy to be administered by each SGB, restructuring of science and technical education and linkages of technical schools with polytechnics and universities of technology in the state, introduction of short-term in-service training for artisans in technical schools, and improvement of ICT education in schools.

    Under the new dispensation, schools would be categorized into three according to their population, infrastructure and other criteria. The categories are: Urban Schools (with1000 pupils and above), Semi-Urban Schools (250 – 999), and Rural Schools (60 – 249).

    In the new era, each agency is to gather, store and provide dependable data on its purview. However, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology must be the repository of the data, authenticate same and be the sole issuing authority.

    The SGB for each school is to be composed of representatives of the old students association, Parent-Teacher Association, two community members, traditional ruler, a community-based Non Governmental Organisation, the Head Boy and Head Girl, principal, Local Inspector of Education and two faith based organisations in the community.

    Members of the board, who will not be paid by government, will administer the levies collected from students for infrastructural development. However, government is to continue with payment of salaries.

    Reacting to the reforms, the Assistant Secretary NUT, Bayelsa State, Mr Abiodun Oyediran, said the union participated in drafting the report and hopes that they would work fine.

    “We have no objection to the reform. It is a welcome development. We were part of the committee that made the recommendations. We are only waiting for the implementation to start to enable us assess its effectiveness.” He said.

    Also, an education consultant and proprietor, Educational Advancement Centre, Ibadan, Mr Muyiwa Bamgbose, said the reforms would help the government run schools better with the help of the community.

    He said: “The whole essence of the White Paper is for people to take ownership of the schools because things are not working well as they are right now. Even employers of labour know there is need for a new policy to help education. Parents, communities, teachers, old students association etc are all stakeholders. When given the opportunity, they will make meaningful contributions. If the reform is well implemented, it will totally transform the sector.”

  • When students went wild in Oyo

    When students went wild in Oyo

    Incessant undisciplined behaviours among students nowadays have become a source of worry to parents, government, school administrators and other stakeholders.

    The situation has affected the school system, as academic calendars are often disrupted.

    The most recent manifestation of undisciplined behaviours among students was the violent protests by students of some public secondary schools in Oyo town, which resulted in loss of life and wanton destruction of properties worth millions of Naira.

    For several hours penultimate Monday, secondary school students poured to the streets of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to protest what they termed government’s intention to return some schools to stakeholders.

    The state government had notified the public of its intention to return some schools to their original owners. Organised labour unions in the state, however, expressed their displeasure at the plan, describing it as “privatisation”.

    Apart from the secretariat, other places the students visited included the All Progressives Congress secretariat Oke Ado, which was vandalised as well as the governor’s private residence in Oluyole Estate.

    Recall that under the new academic policy of Oyo State Government, students would no longer be promoted to another class on trial, as was the situation in the past; they have to meet up with reasonable cut off marks in joint promotion examinations.

    After the examinations, answer scripts were swapped among schools before markings, to prevent favouritism and other forms of malpractices.

    After markings, results are collated and sent to owner schools for distribution to students.

    However, on the ill-fated day, managements of Isale-Oyo Community High School, Oroki; Anglican Secondary School, Apara and Oba Adeyemi High School, Agbogangan, located in Atiba and Oyo-East Local Government Areas respectively, distributed the joint promotion examination result cards to their students.

    On receiving their results, the irascible students, it was gathered, felt enraged and immediately mobilised themselves to wreak havoc on their school structures.

    At Oba Adeyemi High School, students were to have stormed the school in groups, hounded, and armed with dangerous weapons such as cutlasses, sharp knives, broken bottles, fetish objects, iron rods and sticks.

    Narrating the ordeal to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, who paid unscheduled visits to the affected schools, the school’s Principal, Mrs Oyewo Olufade, said the incident was like ‘guerilla warfare’.

    She said: “The students, who covered their faces with masks and armed with dangerous weapons, stormed the school in groups. Immediately the teachers saw the rampaging students, they ran into my office. The students were hurling stones continuously at my office.

    She explained the school’s night guard sustained similar injury and has also been hospitalised.

    Our correspondent gathered that one person, who was neither a member of staff nor student died in the incident.

    The deceased, who allegedly wore a mufti to the school premise during the crisis, according to some source, was sent by his parents to take his brother home from the school, while the crisis lasted.

    “On entering the school, he (the deceased) went straight to the night guard who was writhing in pains and in a pool of his blood for an enquiry.

    The night guard mistook his identity for one of the students who injured him. The night guard, out of anger, brought out a fetish object and hit the deceased in retaliation. He died on the third day,” she said.

    At the Anglican Secondary School, Apara, office louvers, classroom windows and part of the fence were destroyed.

    The last and which is the most devastating was the Isale Oyo Community Grammar School, Oroki, where blocks of classrooms were

    Speaking with reporters after visits to the affected schools, the Alaafin of Oyo, who was accompanied by the Oyo traditional council (Oyo Mesi), some traditional rulers from Oke-ogun area and three out of the four Councils’ caretaker Chairmen, described the incident as “disheartening, worrisome and disturbing”.

    Oba Adeyemi said the rate of indiscipline and crime among youths, and in recent times, among secondary school students, was becoming worrisome.

    “It is also sad to note that students’ indiscipline has had a lot of negative effects on the school system and learning, as many academic calendars are being disrupted as a result of this undisciplined behaviour.

    “Many students now form themselves into gangs; they threaten lives of fellow students and even teachers. It is as a result of this that we now have secret societies or secret cults even in our primary and secondary schools. It is necessary for the stakeholders to pay attention to the frequent unruly behaviours among our students, if the country is to achieve fame and progress in all fields of human endeavour. This is because the fate of any nation depends on the youth she breeds, as they are the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.

  • Governing board for Oyo schools

    The Oyo State government, at the weekend, announced School Governing Boards (SGBs) for public schools.

    This is a major highlight of the White Paper on report of the Committee on Participatory Management of Schools.

    The SGBs will provide management functions for the schools and meet performance targets.

    The aim is to raise performance quality in the schools.

    A statement by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Toye Arulogun, said the government released the White Paper after weeks of analysing the report benchmarking it with international best practices on government policies.

    Arulogun added that the recommendations will serve as the strategic framework to improve quality and performance in the sector.

    The statement said the government adopted most of the recommendations but with variations in nomenclature or scope.

    The government said the SGB model would be in two categories with membership from accredited representative of Parent-Teacher Association, accredited representative of Old Students’ Association, accredited non-partisan community leader, head boy/head girl, the headteacher (as secretary), local inspector of Education (LIE), representative of the local government or Local Council Development Area (LCDA) and identified philanthropists.

  • Violence in Oyo schools shakes community

    Violence in Oyo schools shakes community

    Oyo East Local Government, which fell victim of an orgy of violence unleashed on three schools by aggrieved pupils over their failure in promotional exams, is setting some precedence by organising a stakeholders’ meeting. The aim is to ensure that public schools in its domain are more secured, to avert such uprising in future. Bode Durojaiye reports.

    Following the violence  last week caused by pupils of some public schools in Oyo-East Local Government of Oyo State, the host community has convened a stakeholders’ meeting to forestall such ugly occurrence in future.

    The mayhem, which left one person dead and several others injured, jolted the principals, teachers as well as the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, who, with his entourage, paid unscheduled visit to appraise the scenes of destruction.

    The Caretaker Chairman of Oyo-East Local Government, Mr. Azeez Ojetunde Tirimisiyu, had, equally, summoned an emergency meeting of traditional rulers. This was followed by another gathering which comprises the All Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools [ANCOPPS], chairmen of Parents Teachers Association, local inspector of education in the area, as well as representatives of the Divisional Police Officer, among others.

    In the wake of the unrest, Oyo State Commissioner for Education Adeniyi Olowofela announced an indefinite closure of the affected schools, in addition to two other schools across three local government areas.

    In another development, the police said they had arrested 22 suspects in connection with the mayhem.

    Oyo Area Commander Oyeniran Oyeniyi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, confirmed this to our reporter on phone.

    Oyeniyi said since the incident, police had begun a 24-hour intensive surveillance of public and private schools in the area to thwart a reoccurrence.

    “We have met with all stakeholders, including PTAs, and urged them to warn their wards to refrain from roaming about and loitering during school hours as this will no longer be tolerated. Enough is enough. Untrained and intractable children constitute societal nuisance.”

    It was the first time the schools will have a taste of violence on such a scale. Isale-Oyo Community High School, Oroki; Anglican Secondary School, Apara; and Oba Adeyemi High School, Agbogangan;  all in Atiba and Oyo East Local Governments were shattered by the violence perpetrated by pupils on Monday, last week.

    The hooded protesters, The Nation learnt, had mobilised themselves, stormed the schools in groups, wielding dangerous weapons and charms destroying school  properties. In a flash, the once beautiful structures that adorned the schools, became mere shadows.

    It took men of the state fire service hours to put out some of the building torched by the rampaging youths.

    Sources told The Nation that the deceased who was said to have worn a mufti to the school premises during the crisis, was sent by his parents to pick his sibling who was trapped in the crossfire.

    Narrating the ordeal to Oba Adeyemi, the school’s principal, Mrs Oyewo Olufade, who was close to tears, likened the incident to a ‘guerilla warfare’.

    She said: “The students covered their faces with masks and were armed with dangerous weapons. They stormed the school in groups, and immediately the teachers saw them, they ran into my office. But the students continued to hurl stones continuously at my office.

    “So, when the teachers sensed dangers they ran out of my office and scampered into the bush for safety through the swampy path behind the school. In the process, a female teacher, now on danger list at the hospital, had one of her cheeks battered.”

    She added that the school’s night guard also sustained injury and has been hospitalised.

    In his address, Tirimisiyu noted that there is hardly any child without certain negative tendencies regardless of how sound the child’s background is.

    “It is either the child steals, is rude, not well mannered, or runs away from class,” Tirimisiyu said.

    “If the child is a female, she might be sexually indulgent, which may create concerns for her parents. It is also possible that the child is a drug addict. In whatever way it is viewed, such a child is certainly a problem to the family and the society at large.”

    Tirimisiyu, who felt sad about the situation, accused many youths who, according to him, are suffering from what he called social, moral, and economic indiscipline.

    Speaking with reporters after assessing the schools, Oba Adeyemi described the incident as “disheartening, worrisome and disturbing.”

    He challenged the society to war against rising crime, general indiscipline among youths, and particularly secondary school pupils in recent times.

    The monarch said: “It is also sad to note that students’ indiscipline has had a lot of negative effects on the school system and learning, as academic calendar is often disrupted by their excesses.

    “Students now form themselves into gangs, threatening lives of fellow students and teachers. It is as a result of this indiscipline that we now have secret cults even in our primary and secondary schools. For the country to achieve fame and progress, it is necessary for stakeholders to pay attention to frequent indiscipline among our students. This is because the fate of any nation depends on the youth she breeds as leaders of tomorrow.”

    Oba Adeyemi said he instructed the police not to use live bullets on the young protesters in the face of provocation, adding that were the policemen not tactical, tolerant and responsible enough, the situation could have spiralled out of control.

    Under the new policy of the Oyo State government, pupils would no longer be promoted to another class on trial, unless they meet the cut-off marks in joint promotion examinations.

    Folllowing the last promotional examinations in the state, government mandated swapping of answer scripts among schools before markings, to prevent favouritism and other forms of malpractices by schools.

    After marking, results were collated and sent to owner schools for onward distribution to pupils.

    Some of the pupils, realising that they failed woefully, were enraged and immediately mobilised themselves for mayhem, The Nation gathered.

  • Oyo Assembly extends council chairmen’s tenure

    The Oyo House of Assembly has approved the extension of the tenure of Caretaker Chairmen for the 33 local government areas in the state for another three months.

    Th Speaker, Oyo House of Assembly, Mr Micheal Adeyemo said the development was to prevent a vacuum in local government administration.

    Adeyemo expressed belief that the local government election would hold as scheduled. The Assembly also approved Ajimobi’s request to appoint five additional special advisers.

    It also passed into law the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill, 2016.

    The bill sponsored by Mr Micheal Adeyemo, Abdulwasi Musah, Solomon Akande and Muideen Olagunju, addresses withholding charge, provides for compensation for victims rather than just conviction, and mandates that the police should not obtain statement from an arrested person without the presence of a lawyer.

    Chairman, Committee on Judiciary and Justice, Mr Olukayode Akande, added that the law recognises suspension of parole for a defendant serving a sentence, where it is established that the person had improved in character, upon a condition that such person will not commit an offence again.

    Also, with a view to reintroducing Higher School Certificate (HSC) and Advanced Level (A level) programme in public secondary schools in the state, the Assembly has mandated the House Committee on Education, Science and Technology to meet with relevant stakeholders on why the HSC and A level and the possibility of returning the programmes to public schools.

    On Sunday’s accident which claimed the lives of four students of Federal Government Girls’ College, Owinni, Oyo, the Assembly granted the prayer of Mr Gbenga Oyekola of Atiba constituency, on the need for the Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency to see to fixing roads in the state.

    END

  • INEC denounces Oyo Accord faction

    INEC denounces Oyo Accord faction

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Oyo State has denounced a break-away faction of the Accord Party.

    Two factions of the party held parallel state congresses in Ibadan, the state capital, on Saturday. The faction led by former Governor Rashidi Ladoja held its congress at the Green Springs Hotel on Old Ife Road, while the break-away faction held its election at the Olubadan Stadium.

    The latter had claimed that the congress was attended by staff of the electoral umpire.

    But the commission said none of its staff attended the Olubadan Stadium congress, because it was not recognised.

    INEC’s spokesman Ayodele Folami said it recognises only the Ladoja faction, because State Chairman, Bashir Lawal, wrote to the commission about the congress held at the hotel.

    According to him, Lawal is the only recognised party official who writes to the commission, pointing out that he did so at the appropriate time.

    Folami said no other individual is recognised by INEC as the state chairman.

    Though he pointed out that the second faction submitted the list of new state officers to INEC office, he said the list and the faction are not recognised by INEC.

    The unrecognised faction is being led by a team of party leaders who are opposed to Ladoja’s leadership. They held the former governor responsible for the party’s woes in the last year general elections.

  • More questions as Oyo, Osun resolve LAUTECH ownership crisis

    More questions as Oyo, Osun resolve LAUTECH ownership crisis

     Oyo and Osun states have agreed to sustain their joint ownership of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso. But many questions still agitate the minds of stakeholders in the area of funding. BISI OLADELE writes that while Osun State is accused of owing 15 months subvention, the recent decision of the Oyo State Government to reduce subvention to its tertiary institutions by 75 per cent may complicate the uncertainty of funding for the 26-year-old institution 

    The agreement reached by Oyo and Osun state governments in Ibadan on Wednesday to sustain joint ownership of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso came as a soothing balm for many stakeholders.

    The latest decision is expected to ease agitations by indigenes of Ogbomoso and many others in Oyo State for Osun State to cede the institution to Oyo for sole ownership.

    But some stakeholders are unsure if the mere pronouncement of the decision will placate the striking workers who are protesting non-payment of salaries as well as indigenes who believe that the joint ownership structure will continue to jeopardise efficiency at LAUTECH.

    The Oyo State Government had, last month, announced its decision to slash subventions to its tertiary institutions by 75 per cent. The decision came as a blow to some key players in the higher education sector.

    The government, in a letter dated September 20, informed chief executives of the institutions that no institution should expect subvention either in arrears or in the future.

    Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, in an interaction with reporters at the Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), Oyo, said the decision was necessitated by the current financial constraints, need to plug loopholes and stimulate creativity in managers of the institutions.

    According to him, the government would continue to support the institutions with 25 per cent subventions as a sign of its commitment to their well-being.

    His words: “The country is experiencing dwindling oil revenue which has affected virtually all aspects of our socio-economic life and we are unable to really cope.

    “Education is participatory. It is not for the government alone or for the government alone to pay for education. We believe that parents, teachers and everybody must participate…Nigerians must contribute to education and the development of our children.”

    He also pointed out that managers of the institutions need to work hard to plug leakages and be creative in serving their communities.

    “We have not cancelled subventions completely. We have reduced it from 100 per cent to 25 per cent.

    “Education is not absolutely free. Nothing is absolutely free.”

    The decision came at a time when agitations by indigenes of the host town, Ogbomoso, for sole ownership of LAUTECH by Oyo State were high.

    Their agitations were based on the alleged failure of the Osun State Government to fulfill its financial obligations to the institution.

    The indigenes posited that the problem has constantly led to the inability of LAUTECH to pay salaries regularly thereby leading to workers’ strikes and obstruction of school calendar. The students, they claim, bear the consequence even as the quality of teaching and learning in such an environment becomes questionable.

    Leading the agitation was the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi, who, in newspaper advertorial, advanced reasons why Osun State should cede full ownership of the institution to Oyo State.

    Members of the apex socio-cultural organisation in the town, Ogbomoso Parapo, also staged a protest against the decay at LAUTECH owing to alleged failure of Osun State to meet its financial obligations.

    To crown the agitation, on September 22, some members of the Oyo State House of Assembly moved a motion seeking full ownership of the institution by Oyo State.

    The motion was sponsored by the lawmaker representing Ogbomoso North, Olawumi Oladeji and nine other lawmakers.

    In the  motion entitled: “Reviewing the Joint Ownership of LAUTECH: A Step Towards Sole Ownership by Oyo State Government,” Oladeji noted that the Oyo State Government has been trying its best to ensure sustainability of the high standard of education which the university is known for through its commitment to fulfilling its own part of the financial obligations.

    “We are concerned about the persistent crisis in the university due to default in payment of salaries of members of staff of the university as and when due. Cumulatively, Osun State Government owes 15 months’ arrears of salaries of members of staff as at September this year.

    “Consequent upon this, members of staff of the university had embarked on an indefinite strike which has paralysed all activities in the university. It should be noted that if the industrial action  persists for too long, it may spell doom for the existence and growth of the university,” she said.

    The motion reads in part: “That Oyo State Government should demonstrate and be concerned about the sole ownership of the university since the Government of Osun State has consistently failed to honour its own financial obligation.

    “In view of the fact that Osun State cannot meet up with its obligations as regards the sustenance of the university, the House should urge it to hands off from the running of the university and allow Oyo State Government to take sole ownership.”

    In his submission, the Speaker Hon. Michael Adeyemo, said the House needed to revisit the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two states and which was passed into law on October 23, 2010.

    However, the alumni association of LAUTECH condemned the agitations, saying they (agitations) were against the spirit of brotherliness that was the foundation for the joint ownership.

    In a September 24 statement signed by its National President, Jide Bewaji, the association said the Assembly should have lent its voice to that of those calling for the resolution of the crisis that has engulfed the institution.

    As divergent positions by stakeholders raged, thugs allegedly invaded the university campus on September 27 and beat up some indigenes of Osun State who are members of staff.

    But the  Ogbomoso Parapo (home branch) dissociated itself from sponsoring any form of attack on members of staff of the institution.

    In a press release signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Messrs Saka Bello and Tunde Afolabi respectively, the organisation said:  “We state unequivocally that Ogbomoso Parapo (home branch) was not involved in the purported attack by thugs on members of staff of LAUTECH who are of Osun State origin as reported by some dailies recently. Neither was the association party to it nor sponsored any such thing.”

    According to the organisation, its involvement in the LAUTECH saga is not because the university is located in Ogbomoso but because of the overall interest of the university.

    “We state that our incessant outcry over the matter because of our genuine concern over the gradual decay being witnessed in the institution.

    “The university had been closed down since early June over matters connected with funding and non-payment of workers’ salaries. The strike is in its seven month,” it stated.

    But with the possibility of LAUTECH being ceded to Oyo State in the future, some stakeholders are already raising concern over funding, given the new decision by the state government to reduce subventions to 25 per cent.

    One of them is the Joint Action Forum of Academic Staff Union of Oyo State-owned tertiary institutions (JAFAS) which described government’s decision as unacceptable.

    JAFAS said the idea, which is being allegedly test-run at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), would certainly throw many students out of school due to high school fees.

    In a communique issued at the end of its meeting at the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EACOED), Oyo, JAFAS called for reversal of the policy.

    The communique was signed by the chairmen and secretaries of the academic unions at LAUTECH, EACOED, Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology (OYSATECH), Igbo-Ora, Ibarapa Polytechnic, Oke-Ogun Polytechnic and College of Education, Lanlate.

    It reads inter alia: “The position of the government on the stoppage of subventions to tertiary institutions is unacceptable.

    “That this ‘commodification’ of education is the surest way of producing an army of illiterates who are surely to be thrown out of schools as a result of their parents’ inability to pay school fees, which could be as high as 350,000 per student per session.

    “Members equally noted that the policy is a surreptitious sale of public institutions to private hands.”

    Reacting, the Oyo State Government described JAFAS’ statement as pre-emptive, stating that the government has not made policy pronouncements on some of the issues raised.

    The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun, said the state government said reduction in subventions to tertiary institutions was discussed with the head of the institutions, stressing that the government is still consulting with them to achieve a seamless education calendar run for tertiary institutions.

    “Rather than going to the pages of newspapers to express displeasure on some of government actions in the education sector, JAFAS should have sent a memorandum to the Education Reform Committee when it called for such, instead of misleading the public about the contents of the yet-to-be-made-public report,” the government spokesman said.

    As the two governors have resolved the joint ownership crisis, what is the future of the institution with regard to funding? This and many more questions in the minds of students, members of staff and other stakeholders remain unanswered.

  • In Oyo, worry over ATM card scam heightens

    Automated Teller Machine (ATM) fraud in Oyo town has become a worrisome phenomenon. Some of the banks whose customers were affected appear helpless. The situation has seemingly made some customers become confused, as the number of those who are victims has increased of late.

    One of the victims of ATM card scam, Alhaji Wasiu Alaka, a customer with one of the new generation banks in Oyo alleged that his bank account was burgled and about N2 million was stolen via ATM withdrawals while he had his ATM card on him.

    Alhaji Alaka alleged that as at June 5, this year, he had N1.756, 048.56 in his account. Out of this amount, the sums of N1.5 million  was withdrawn in the following manner: N190, 000 through ATM Card, N940, 000 by transfer through POS, and another N346, 000 through another transfer by POS.

    “As at the time the money was purportedly withdrawn through ATM Card, I was in my bedroom and in possession of the ATM Card for that account. It was the next day when one Alarape Moshood paid a sum of N70, 000 into my account, after which I received an alert from the bank that money had been fraudulently withdrawn from my account.”

    He alleged that the Bank Manager was promptly contacted with evidence of the ATM alert on his (Alaka) mobile phone, as well as statement of account.

    According to him, he was later issued with a form to fill.

    Said he: “After two months of futile efforts to get response from the bank, I contacted my lawyer who formally lodged complaints to the offices of the Director, Legal Services, national head office of the bank in Lagos; Customers’ Protection Unit, Central Bank of Nigeria; Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission, Oyo State and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibadan office through courier services. None of the agencies had responded to the complaints.”

    “I later proceeded to the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police in Lagos, where a superior police officer gave me a note to the then Commissioner of Police Oyo State, Leye Oyebade, who immediately directed the anti-kidnapping unit  to handle the matter.”

    Commenting on the matter, Mr. Muyiwa Alamu, an expert in Information Communication Technology (ICT) said: “Instances abound in banks when a customer would receive debit alerts right in the presence of a banker in the banking hall and he has his ATM card on him. When it happens like that, you don’t need to look far off because the perpetrators are right inside the bank. “Those in the banks could have the code; they are the ones who give out the ATM cards. They may have cloned the cards.”

    He further alleged that banks’ frauds perpetrated via the ATM may be more complex and may have gone far beyond the cloning of ATM cards.

    According to him, criminals may attach devices to Automated Teller Machines to record the account data stored on the magnetic stripe on the back of the ATM card. This practice, according to him, is known as skimming.

    “The card’s Personal Identification Number (PIN) can be spied with a secret camera or a fake number pad overlay.

    “Unfortunately, the victim of such scam may have to bear the brunt because it is always difficult to prove to the banks that the victim is not liable,” he said.

    When contacted, Head of Operation Oyo branch of the bank (name withheld), absolved the bank of any fault.

    He insisted that there was no way money could be transferred through the POS  without the use of an ATM card, adding that the fraudsters might be from within.

    “The issue of cloning is inadmisible here. The fraud was perpetrated from another neighbouring bank. The matter was reported to the police and they came for investigation. We wrote our report and submitted it to the police.

    “The issue is that the account into which the money was sent belongs to someone. Let the account be traced, so that the fraudsters can be unmasked. Those close to  Alhaji Alaka must be closely examined, because his ATM card might  have been taken for fraudulent purpose.”

    On the refusal of the bank’s legal department to respond to a written petition, he said the corporate head office had responded the legal department [though he did not show a copy as evidence], saying the bank’s branch was absolved of any complicity.

    Several efforts to speak with the branch manager were futile, as he was said to be away on official assignments.

    At the EFCC Zonal office and the Pubic Complaints Commission both in Ibadan, none of their officials was available for comment, despite repeated visits.

    At the state police headquarters, Eleiyele, Ibadan, our correspondent reliably learnt from two superior officers who pleaded anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter that the issue was being investigated.

    However, during a press briefing, a copy of a letter from the office of the Director Customers’ Protection Unit of the Central Bank of Nigeria Abuja was made available to our correspondent.

    The letter with reference number CPD/CMD/CON/ZBN/01267 dated August 30, 2016 and signed by Mr. B.E. Lartey for the Director, CBN Protection Unit was addressed to Alaka’s lawyer, Barrister Olawale Omoloye.

    The letter reads in part: “We write to inform you that we are unable to accede to your requests to compel [your client’s bank] to refund the money alleged to have fraudulently withdrawn from the account.

    “Our decision is predicated on the fact that the alleged fraudulent transactions were consummated with your client’s original debit card and authenticated by his PIN which is only known to him.”