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Tag: Oyo

  • Police arrest four suspected killers of Oyo Assembly member

    Police in Oyo State have arrested four suspects in connection with the killing of a member of the state House of Assembly, Gideon Aremu.

    Aremu was shot dead by three gunmen in his Alakia, Ibadan home on July 1. The assailants were said to have trailed him to his house on a motorcycle.

    The late lawmaker represented Oorelope State Constituency on the platform of the Labour Party (LP).

    Until his death, he was the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Public Relations and Security.

    Governor Abiola Ajimobi offered a N5 million bounty for members of the public that could supply useful information that could lead to the arrest of the gunmen.

    Police Commissioner Leye Oyebade, in a statement yesterday, said the arrest of the suspects was made possible by a combined team of Intelligence Response Team of the Acting Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and detectives from the state police command.

    The statement reads: “Refer to gruesome murder of Hon. Gideon Aremu on July 1, 2016 by some gunmen, who made away with his Samsung phones and some money, I wish to inform you that four suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime.

    “The arrest was made possible by combined efforts of the Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and detectives from the Oyo State Police Command.”

    The four suspects would be paraded today at the police headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan.

  • Why Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara, others can’t access N64.8b UBE cash

    Why Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara, others can’t access N64.8b UBE cash

    To enable them access the N64.8 billion Universal Basic Education (UBE) funds with ease,  the 36 governors have started to lobby President Muhammadu Buhari to amend the Universal Basic Education Act 2004.

    The governors are demanding amendment to a clause in the law which makes it compulsory for every state to pay counterpart funds before accessing matching grants.

    In the alternative, they are begging the President to prevail on the National Assembly to reduce the counterpart funding to 10 per cent.

    The UBE initiated by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration seeks to provide free education for children between the ages of seven to 17 from primary school to Junior Secondary School three (JSS III).

    About two per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund is set aside for the funding of the UBE.

    The enabling Act says that the distribution formula shall be decided by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    About 50% of the funds go to states as conditional grant; 14% non-conditional; 10% for professional development; 15% for instructional materials among others.

    But there had been apathy from states in accessing the UBE funds because of the counterpart funding, accountability and transparency criteria put in place by the government.

    According to investigation by our correspondent, about N64, 896,175,821.64 has not been accessed in the last 10 years because most states could not afford to meet up with the payment of their 50 per cent counterpart funding.

    The breakdown is as follows: N50.67m(2005-2006); N4,865.00(2007-2008); N0.68m(2009-2010); N2,600,296,649.74(2011-2012); N19,587,372,036.86b(2013-2014);N23,431,002,218.82b (2015); and N19,277,499,999.87b (2016).

    Out of the 36 states and FCT, only nine states accessed their matching grants in 2015 as the rest 28 could not afford to pay counterpart funds.

    States with highest rates of un-accessed grants are Abia(N4,260,232,474.13b); Oyo (N4,233,801,580.17b); Nasarawa(N4,233,801,580.17);  Ekiti(N3,381,392,172.95b); Enugu(N2,955,192,649.43);  Bayelsa( N2,350,067,568.95); Plateau ( N2,350,067,568.95); Rivers ( N2,350,067,568.95); Zamfara( N2,350,067,568.95); Kwara ( N2,350,067,568.95);  Niger ( N2,350,067,568.95);and FCT ( N2,350,067,568.95) among others.

    A reliable source said: “Due to the cash crunch, most of the governors are lobbying President Muhammadu Buhari to amend the UBEC Act 2004 to make the conditions for accessing matching grants affordable.

    “They want the counterpart funding either removed as a condition for getting the grants or have the percentage reduced from 50 per cent to 10 per cent.

    “They said the matching grants will continue to lie fallow leaving primary and Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in dilapidated state. They are actually begging the President to prevail on the National Assembly to review the Act.

    A top UBEC source, who gave insights into the challenge of un-accessed grants, said: “The counterpart funding by the states used to be 75 per cent. It means if a state is entitled to N1billion, it has to provide N750million to collect the matching grant which will amount to N1.75billion. But during the tenure of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, the governors asked that the 75 per cent be reduced to 50 per cent, which was approved.

    “Now, most of the states that cannot pay salaries are begging the President to reduce the counterpart funding to either zero or 10 per cent. The fear of stakeholders is that the governors may waste these funds if the conditions are relaxed.

    “Whenever we ask states to draw plans for what they will use matching grants for, it is always difficult to get their proposals. We have had experience in the past when some governors went to banks to borrow money to meet up with counterpart funding only for such funds to get trapped or diverted to other use.

    “You can see why primary and JSS schools are suffering from neglect. States do not want to meet up with their obligations at all.”

    The Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar confirmed that governors have made a case for the review of the UBEC Act.

    Abubakar said: “Although Bauchi is one of the few states that have accessed their UBE matching grants, some states are on their knees to do so.

    “The governors have asked the Federal Government to amend UBEC laws on counterpart funding. It is either matching grants do not require counterpart funding or the conditions are easier.”

     

  • TUC issues ultimatum to Oyo over unpaid salaries

    TUC issues ultimatum to Oyo over unpaid salaries

    •Union condemns govt, NLC deal

    oyo State Trade Union Congress (TUC) has issued a five-day ultimatum to the state government to “immediately offset” a backlog of eight months’ unpaid salaries to workers.

    Its Chairman, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, issued the warning in Ibadan following the expiration of the period offered to the government.

    The union, which described the alliance between the government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as unholy, emphasised that a recent deal signed to end the industrial deadlock was not a true reflection of the yearnings of the various unions.

    “We condemn in strong term the agreement between Oyo Government and NLC. It is totally condemned and vindictive. We shall not accept these conditions. It is a fraud and we will not be part of such agreement that is inimical to the future of workers.

    “An extra five days ultimatum will be given to the state government to pay all outstanding arrears with interest. The people should start preparing for a mass action to occupy the state secretariat on August 8, 2016, should the government refuse to meet our demands.

    “You will recall that the Oyo State Government and the NLC entered into an unholy alliance by signing a lactiferous and satanic agreement that is inimical to industrial harmony in the state. The agreement is illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable to the TUC.

    “We condemn it in strong term as we see the sophisticated and nonsensical resolution, which allows government to sack workers and reduce work-force. The agreement is baseless and callous; we reject it in all its form and entity. It is a product only good for the dust bin,” Emelieze said.

    He condemned the pronouncement by the state government to restructure the public service, which, the TUC leader claimed, is aimed at sacking workers.

    Similarly, Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) Chairman Comrade Emmanuel Ogundiran said there was a subsisting Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the government and the unions.

    But he noted that the leadership of the public service, the JNC, was not carried along in the agreement that was signed.

    “Our jurisdiction has been encroached. All stakeholders must come together to put an end to this shortcoming. Government should do the needful,” Ogundiran said.

     

     

  • Oyo to restructure 105,000 workforce, says Ajimobi

    Oyo to restructure 105,000 workforce, says Ajimobi

    Oyo State is to restructure its 105,000 workforce and will not retrench as being speculated, Governor Abiola Ajimobi said yesterday.

    Ajimobi, who clarified this in Ibadan, said restructuring of the workforce was aimed at enhancing its productivity.

    He put the workforce at 105,000, saying many workers were unproductive.

    Ajimobi said the restructuring would place each worker where he or she would be more productive.

    “You know we have three types of workers. We have workers, who have the expertise and are ready to work. We have those without expertise, but are ready to learn and work. We also have those who don’t have the expertise and are not ready to work or learn.

    “We want to ensure that every worker has something doing and doing well for government to justify his or her salary. Today, we need to drive our revenue to be self-sufficient,” he said.

    He said restructuring was also reason for the government to strengthen its educational system, because development is knowledge-based.

    Ajimobi said a knowledge-based economy produces development, stressing the need to develop pupils to be able to compete around the globe.

    Quoting a philosopher, Ajimobi said: “If we keep doing same thing all the time, we will continue to have same result.”

    The governor called on the workers to always embrace dialogue, saying the last strike drew the state backward.

    “We told them all that is available to pay salaries, but they did not believe us. They embarked on the strike based on speculations that we were not sincere. Today, we have shown all to them and now they have seen that we are sincere and transparent on all we have told them.

    “I pray that God rewards me based on my action towards the workers. If I lied to them, God will reward me and if I am sincere to them, God should continue to answer their prayers for me,” he said.

    The governor solicited support for the state’s growth in the face of the economic downturn, saying his administration will continue to give its best.

  • FAAC: Oyo, Lagos, others shared N76,349b in May’

    The Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) last monthsaid it shared a total of N76,349,365, 060.79 to the 36 states of the federation.

    Lagos got the lion’s share of N6,082,690, 933.64 while Oyo State  got  N2,105,441,605.75.

    The allocations were shared in June as revenue collections accrued to the account in May.

    Lagos was closely followed by Rivers which collected N4,354,473,497.62, including the 13 per cent share of derivation and Value Added Tax (VAT) allocations.

    The total net allocations were made after deductions from contractual and other obligations by some of the states including Bayelsa, Bauchi and Benue.

    Abia got N1,923,982,456.53 while Adamawa had N1,828,758,173.61 with Akwa-Ibom collecting N6,847,573, 681.87,  as Anambra got N2,116,807,667.14 during the period;

    The figures further showed that Bauchi State made N1,965,255,213.47;Bayelsa, N2,816,868,014.70; Benue, N1,534,960,334.09; Borno, N2,147,600,578.02 and Cross River, N804,060,982.38 in June.

    According to the  News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Delta received N2,890913, 486.26 after deductions from some contractual obligations while Ebonyi got N1.843,573,739.61 from the Federation Account.

    Edo, which also collected allocations from the 13 per cent derivation account, had a total of N1,162,645,899.11 as Ekiti got N903,602,952.88 from the account.

    Enugu got N2,003,137, 942.20;  Gombe had N1,237, 565,490.87; while Imo got N1,872, 879,765.17 from the revenues realised by the Federal Government.

    Jigawa also had its own share of N2,339,773,705.98, Kaduna got N2,537,735,912.75; Kano-N3,233,171496.48 while Katsina State made N2,397, 831,082.43.

    Kebbi received N1,978,817, 185.53; Kogi-N1,800,713, 440.93; Kwara, N1,554,650, 906.93; Nasarawa, N1,738,115 545.39 and Niger, N1,795,229, 811.70 as allocations for May.

    Ogun realised N935,421, 032.61; Ondo, N1,765,753, 396.69; Osun, N2,105,441, 605.75; Plateau-N1,033,584, 304.35 with Sokoto making N2,165,593,899.10 just as Taraba got N1,712,426,074.23.

    Yobe, without record of contractual obligation, made N1,999,612,020.31 while Zamfara which had deductions from some obligations, got N1,242,750,215.67.

    The FAAC is responsible for the distribution of revenue accruing to the  Federation Account among the federal, states and the local governments.

  • Immigration arrests 2,000 illegal immigrants in Oyo

    •131 children rescued from traffickers

    Over 2,000 illegal immigrants living in Oyo State have been arrested and deported by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) within the last two months.

    The state NIS Comptroller, Mrs. Victoria Isang, who disclosed this to reporters, added that 131 children were rescued from human traffickers in the last four months.

    Mrs. Isang spoke while addressing members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Oyo State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ibadan, the state capital.

    The NIS boss said the illegal immigrants were all nationals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), who either did not register their entry or renew their three-month ‘rights to stay’ in the country after its expiration.

    She said the arrest of illegal immigrants was largely made possible by the efforts of the border corps of the service, who were specially trained to mount surveillance on unregistered borders as well as men and officers combing various communities.

    Mrs. Isang said the Service does not delay in repatriating those arrested because of the security threat they constitute in Nigeria.

    On children trafficking, the immigration boss said  131 children were rescued from 144 suspected traffickers within the last four months. She said that 56 of the victims had been reunited with their Nigerian parents.

    The suspected traffickers, according to her, include 75 Nigerians and 69 non-Nigerians.

  • Oyo workers vow to continue strike

    Oyo workers vow to continue strike

    The Oyo State Chapter of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday vowed to continue with the ongoing industrial action in spite of Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s reopening of public primary and secondary schools.

    Its Chairman, Comrade Waheed Olojede, in a telephone interview, said teachers would not return to the classroom until government meets workers’ demands, which necessitated the strike.

    Ajimobi ordered the closure of schools last month following violent protest by pupils of some schools in Ibadan over claims that the governor was planning to sell some public schools.

    But the government has since insisted the new proposal was aimed at partnering with private organisations, alumni associations and other institutions on management of 31 out of 631 public schools.

    The organisations, the government said, would be those with rich history of managing schools.

    Ajimobi, on Saturday, announced that schools would be reopened today, but excluded 17 schools in Ibadan, which participated in the protest.

    But Olojede said yesterday that although the NLC had no power over the schools, teachers would stay away from the schools until the government acceded to the workers’ demands.

    His words: “This reopening of schools does not in any way affect the ongoing strike in the state. Our struggle towards payment of arrears of salaries and pensions for workers and pensioners is still potent and intact.

    “The entire workers in the state, teachers in particular, will not return to work. They should wait for the directive from the national NLC that asked them out of work since June 16. Under no circumstance should any worker go to work until otherwise directed by labour leaders.”

    The union leader, however, said a meeting between labour leaders and government had been scheduled for tomorrow.

    He noted that while labour would attend the meeting, teachers should entertain no fear of intimidation from government.

    “We have received invitation from government to a meeting on Tuesday at the office of the Head of Service to the state government. We are prepared to attend the meeting. We have resolved that government should inaugurate the two committees on labour and salaries on Tuesday (today) and to commence work immediately.

    “Our strike began before the closure of schools. So, there is no link between the two. Teachers should not entertain any fear about their job. The strike is still on. We were not party to the closure of schools; so, we don’t know anything about the government’s decision to reopen the schools,” Olojede said.

  • Re: Towards overhauling Oyo public schools

    Sir: In his piece in The Nation yesterday, Dr. Gbade Ojo, the Chief of Staff to Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, tried to shed lights on the new education policy of the state government. The policy has led to misunderstanding between the government and the National Union of Teachers in the state. The latter believes that Ajimobi administration wanted to sell some public secondary schools to private interests, with the possibility of sacking teachers and introduce exorbitant fees in the schools.

    One of the effects of altercation between the government and the NUT was the public protest by secondary school pupils in Ibadan few weeks ago, which was accompanied by destruction of government property by the irate pupils.

    However, instead of agreeing that there was a communication gap between the government and the people of Oyo State, including the teachers, he put the blame on the door steps of the opposition, which is virtually non-existent in Oyo State.

    There is no doubt that Senator Ajimobi’s policies over the years have impacted positively on the state in spite of the pain that accompanied his policies. The Oyo State policy thrust on education cannot be different. What the government needs to do is to involve all stakeholders in education in the state and get them informed on workings of the system and the desideratum for it. If possible, town hall meetings could be organized on zonal basis. As a matter of fact, Ojo’s stated reasons for the introduction of the policy were impeccable and any sane person will know that education in Oyo State needs overhauling as the government is planning.

    Nonetheless, Ojo’s enumeration of the rubrics of the Oyo State policy thrust on education was one sided and therefore confusing. According to him, the two rubrics are introduction of development levy in public secondary schools and the plan to partner stakeholders in the management of some of the public secondary schools in the state. He gave the dwindling fortune of the Oyo State candidates in the WAEC results ranking over long period of time as the reason why the partnership is inevitable. He pointed out the steps that Ajimobi led government has taken to stem the tide, which include recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff; 80% percent attendance for the students; cancellation of automatic promotion and the introduction of extra mural classes for pupils in JSS3 and SS3, introduction of N3,000 education levy and the payment of WAEC fees by parents, all in a bid to let the parents involve in the educational training of their wards.

    While Ojo succeeded in answering his fundamental question of “why is the need for partnership”, nevertheless, he has failed to address the major and contentious issue, that is, who are the targeted partners and what would be their role in the educational thrust policy of the state government? What would be their modus operandi? Simple explanation on this point would have allayed the fears of the concerned interests and garnered support for the Ajimobi led government efforts in reinvigorating education in Oyo State.

     

    • Adewuyi Adegbite

    ayekooto05@gmail.com

  • Oyo hails Japan over N2 billion classroom project

    Oyo hails Japan over N2 billion classroom project

    OYO State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has hailed Japan for committing about N2 billion to the construction of classrooms, renovation and equipment of 30 public primary schools through its donor organisation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

    The governor spoke during the symbolic handing over of one of the completed schools, St. Luke’s Demonstration School, Molete, Ibadan, on Monday.

    On hand to witness the colorful ceremony were the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Sadanobu Kusaoke; Chief Representative of JICA, Nigeria Office, Mr. Hirotaka Nakamura; a director in the Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Opeyemi Ariba, who represented the minister, Malam Adamu Adamu; top officials of the state government; and Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji.

    The governor urged indigenes of the state living within and outside the country to emulate the patriotic conduct of an indigene of the state living in Japan, Mr. Bobby Ologun, who facilitated the projects to his birthplace.

    Ajimobi stressed that his administration believes in public-private partnership in education management in its aspiration to raise the standard of education and secure the future of the younger generation.

    He said: “Our administration has anchored the progress of education on joint efforts of the government and the general public in view of the prevailing financial challenges in the country. As we already know, education is a social service that cannot be ignored by all.

    “We appreciate the government of Japan for helping us to develop our future leaders by this gesture and by extension, in assisting us to realise part of our lofty goals of providing a conducive learning environments for our students.

    “This gesture, no doubt, will improve the standard of education in our state and set a new target for the government and people of Nigeria. Let me also thank my dear brother, Mr. Bobby Ologun, for not forgetting his roots, though living abroad.

    “He did this for us because he has education.  Education is the largest industry in Oyo State. Let me again urge our school children to see people like Ologun as their role model and shun the type of brigandage they displayed recently.”

    The governor explained that project, which was spread across 30 schools in 19 local governments, comprised 231 classrooms, 3900 pupils’ desk and benches, 209 teachers’ tables and chairs, as well as 231 blackboards and 218 toilets.

    Ajimobi added that the government had also earmarked substantial fund to the education sector in the 2016 appropriation bill for the construction and renovation of classroom buildings, as well as for the provision of furniture for pupils and teachers.

    The ambassador said the project would enable teachers to concentrate on productive teachings, which, according to him, would in turn improve the quality of output from the schools in the state.

    He hailed the state government for placing high premium on education, without which, he said, that the project would not have been completed in record time.

    Kusaoke said: “We want to appreciate the government of Oyo State for putting education first among other priorities, despite the dwindling resources accruable to the state. Apart from these school projects, we are also engaged in rural water supply and training for government officials in the state.

    “The support of the state government, among other factors, has assisted us to concentrate, without let, on the completion of this project in record time. The JICA is working with other developing countries in so many areas and we are proud of our achievements in Nigeria.”

  • Oyo seeks understanding over N29b wage deficit

    •’N14.1b Fed Govt loan is staggered’  

    Oyo State Government has sought the understanding of workers and pensioners over the N29 billion wage deficit representing five-month salary arrears, which it blamed on dwindling allocation to the state from the Federation Account and paltry internally generated revenue.

    The state made the plea at a news conference addressed by the Commissioner for Finance and Budget, Mr. Bimbo Adekanmbi and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka, where they shed light on the financial status of the state, in Ibadan.

    The forum also provided opportunity for the government representatives to explain the rationale behind the decision of the state to apply for N14.1 billion from the latest financial sustainability plan of the Federal Government.

    He clarified that the N14.1 billion would be used to pay salaries, stressing that it would not be paid to the state in bulk, but in tranches of N1.3 billion monthly for the first three months and N1.1 billion monthly for the next nine months.

    The commissioner said the delay in the payment of salaries and pensions to workers and pensioners in the past five months was not a deliberate action as being rumoured in some quarters but due to non-availability of fund.

    As against the N84 billion being bandied around as the amount the state got from the Federation Account between May 2015 and May 2016, he clarified that only N37.48 billion accrued to the state coffers within the period after statutory deductions from source and irrevocable commitments.

    Within the same period, however, he said N40.48 billion was paid directly to the local government as its share of allocation, part of which was being used to cater for the salaries of primary school teachers and local government employees.