The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UNIJOS

  • Fresh crisis in UNIJOS over payment of salaries

    University of Jos chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and management of the university are at dagger drawn over payment of salaries and allowances to lecturers following the release of funds by the federal government.

    The situation arising from the disbursement of the fund is causing fresh stir in the university with it’s lecturer threatening to frustrate resumption of academic activities Monday.

    The Unijos chapter of ASUU has said it members will not participate in any academic activity of the school until all its members are paid their full earned allowances out of what has been so far sent to University of Jos by federal government.

    University of Jos has slated Monday for resumption of academic activities in the institution following the suspension of the six month old strike embarked upon by ASUU last year

    In a press statement issued in Jos and signed by David Jangkam branch ASUU chairperson  said shortly after the commencement of the strike the branch wrote and intimate the administration of the University of seven local issues that agitate the minds of its members and the need for the administration to use the strike period to address them.

    According to the statement, ” in the course of the strike, federal government in an attempt to resolve the strike released the sum of 30 Billion Naira for the settlement of earned allowances owed to staff of Nigerian Universities who have earned same from 2009 to 2012.

    The statement pointed out that University of Jos got the sum of 1.16 Billion Naira as its share for onward payment to  staff that had worked and earned same based on computation done in 2011 submitted by department and units.

    They lamented that neither the initial computation in 2010 through 2012 nor the verified computation in 2013 was used by University of jos administration in disbursing the 1.16 Billion Naira it got from federal government as part payment of the earned allowances.

    The statement read in parts, “Instead the University of Jos administration shared the money as it deemed fit without regard to weather staff earned same entitlement or not, thus resulting in some members getting far less than what they are entitled to and most members getting nothing at all.”

    The Statement further stressed that most others who are not entitled to the allowance got 3 to 4 times what those who are entitled to should have got adding that ASUU University of Jos chapter have met and have written to call the attention of the University administration
    on this misapplication of their members money but no  avail.

    The union vowed that despite the suspension of the strike embarked by their National Secretariate ASUU University of Jos chapter will not resume academic activity today Monday until their internal demand are met by the University of Jos administration, the statement added.

    However, management of the university insisted that the situation is not enough to suspend resumption of academic activities of the school.

    Jilly-Dandam, registrar of the university announced yesterday in a statement that there has been some misrepresentation of facts on issues relating to earned allowances.

    The registrar explained that, “Earned allowances were paid to all staff of the University on 4th October, 2013 and 4th December, 2013 respectively.

    “Management has noted the observations of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Jos Chapter, of a few errors in the payment made. This is now being addressed with despatch.

    “The University of Jos has completed payment of the 5-months withheld salaries during the ASUU strike to all the academic staff of the University of Jos.

    The registrar said, “ASUU, Unijos Chapter held two meetings during the Christmas Break when most of the academic staff were still enjoying the vacation and thereafter took decisions that are detrimental to the continuous academic pursuit of the University.

    “Management wishes to re-affirm that the academic calendar approved by Senate of the University of  Jos which directed that lectures should commence on Monday January 6, 2014, subsists.

    ” Management therefore welcomes all students and staff of the University of Jos to a fruitful academic pursuit” said Jilly-Dandam

  • UNIJOS VC orders lecturers to resume class

    THE University of Jos (UNIJOS) has directed its lecturers to resume work immediately.

    The university’s management reopened yesterday, urging the lecturers and students to return to the classroom.

    A statement yesterday in Jos, the Plateau State capital, by the Registrar, Jilli Dandam, said: “Following the Federal Government’s order for the resumption of academic activities in all federal institutions, the academic workers, the pro-chancellor and chairman of council, on behalf of the Governing Council, has directed all academic workers …to return to their various departments, units and commence work immediately…”

    Bu the university’s ASUU chapter described the directive as laughable.

    The UNIJOS-ASUU chairman Dr David Jangkam said: “It is only the union that can ask its members to call off the strike and go back to the classrooms. The strike was not declared by the VC. So, I wonder why he will be the one to call it off.”

  • Varsity teachers divided over strike

    Varsity teachers divided over strike

    Varsity teachers met yesterday on the campuses to discuss President Goodluck Jonathan’s offer to end their more than four months strike.

    According to the operating guidelines of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the local chapters are expected to vote on whether they agreed with the proposal and that the strike should end or whether they disapproved and the strike should continue.

    Decisions reached on the various campuses are to be taken to tomorrow’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, which will take a decision after aggregating the opinions.

    Opinions were divided yesterday, although many ASUU chapters failed to disclose their decisions.

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State University (LASU), University of Calabar (UNICAL), Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Federal University of Technology Minna and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso chapters voted that the strike should end. Some of them, however, gave conditions.

    The University of Jos (UNIJOS), the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and the Nasarawa State University chapters voted that the strike should continue.

    UNIJOS chapter chairman Dr. David Jankam said members did not see any substance in the dialogue with the Federal Government to warrant calling off the strike.

    He said: “We have just rounded off our meeting. As a matter of fact, our members voted overwhelmingly for the continuation of the strike.

    “I can also confirm to you that five of the eight universities that make up the Bauchi Zone of ASUU have also voted for continuation of the strike, and the general saying is that the government has not shown any commitment so far.

    “We started the meeting by briefing our members on issues resolved with the Federal Government in the last meeting with the president of ASUU.

    “But in responding to the briefing, our members observed that the main issues that led to the strike were not discussed at the Aso Rock meeting.

    “As such, my members said President Jonathan is taking them for a ride by trying to divert attention from the core subjects of the strike.”

    Jankam went on: “I will now convey the resolve of our branch to our national president at the NEC meeting tomorrow.”

    Shedding light on how the meeting will decide the mater, he said: “If the majority of the chapters vote for its end, it will be called off, but if majority of chapters vote for continuation, so be it.”

    The congress of the Union at the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna was divided, with majority of the members supporting the suspension of the action. Others would want it suspended with some conditions met by the government.

    The minority demanded that in calling off the action, the leadership of the union should insist that no member is victimised for his roles in the strike. They also insisted that government should indicate in the final agreement that the 2009 agreement was due for negotiation and the payment of the balance of their academic earned allowances.

    As soon as Dr. Fatai Jimoh briefed the congress of the outcome of the meeting between President Jonathan and the union, the house was divided, with the majority of the members pushing for suspension.

    The few dissenting voices argued that the union should not fall prey to the government’s ploy. They cautioned that the union cannot take the government for its word, maintaining that if the union had to embark on a strike after series of correspondences and strike in 2011 that led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2012 were not honoured.

    But majority of the university teachers said the plight of the students and their parents should be considered.

    After an exhaustive debate, the congress directed its chairman to convey to the National Executive Council meeting holding tomorrow at the Bayero University in Kano that the union could consider suspending the action, but insisted that the three conditions be met.

    Chapter chairman Dr. Fatai Jimoh, who initially refused to divulge the outcome of the congress, later said: “I have the mandate to take the decision of the congress to NEC. But, if you insist to know, majority of our members called for the suspension of the strike but with the government fulfilling three conditions.

    “Don’t ask me the conditions, because we don’t want it yet in the public domain. All I can tell you is that the strike is still on, until the NEC of the union decides otherwise.”

    The chapter chairman also refused to assess the impact of the action. He said: “As long as NEC has not suspended the action, it will be premature to assess the success or otherwise of the action. When the strike is called off, I’ll give my candid assessment.”

    At Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, ASUU chair Comrade Yahaya Badeggi said: “The congress at IBBU Lapai resolved that the strike continues until when the National Executive Council of the union decides otherwise. We know they are still negotiating. We shall abide by the decision of NEC.”

    On the gains of the action, Badeggi said: “I make bold to say that the action has produced some positive results. From the N100 billion released, our university got N450 million. This would not have been so but for the strike. I believe that at the end of the day, the university system will be better for it.”

    The following are the decisions at the various ASUU chapters on the strike.

    •University of Benin (UNIBEN). Members unanimously voted for the strike to continue because the Federal Government’s offer omitted some vital segments of the 2009 agreement;

    •University of Lagos (UNILAG) teachers want suspension of strike, but will await further directive from the national body after meeting tomorrow in Kano;

    •University of Calabar (UNICAL) lecturers voted for the suspension of the strike;

    Nasarawa State University, Keffi. ASUU chair Dr. Theophilus Lagi, said: “I can assure you that all members present at the congress today wanted the strike to continue because the documents from the government failed to address the grey areas in contention. We believe there is nothing practicable in the government’s offer, even with the N200 billion it promised to release. Before we can suspend the strike, all unpaid salaries of our colleagues must be paid and there must be solid assurance from the government that no member will be victimised after the strike is eventually suspended;

    •Ahmadu Bello University (ABU). When the issue was put to vote, the majority of members wanted an end to the strike, with the agreement that the government must sign a binding document on how it will release the N1.2 trillion it promised to release. They promised to abide by the decision of the NEC in Kano;

    •Delta State University (DELSU) members want suspension of the strike.

    •Ekiti State University (EKSU) lecturers would not disclose the outcome of the congress until after the NEC meeting tomorrow;

    •Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso (LAUTECH). The ASUU local chairman said he would not disclose the outcome of the congress but a lecturer who attended the congress said members were okay with the offer of the government and wanted the strike to end;

    •Lagos State University (LASU) chapter supports the strike suspension.

    A source who is from ASUU-LASU executive, but pleaded not to be mentioned, said the chapter only gave certain conditions under which the strike should be suspended.

  • Alumnus counsels UNIJOS students on leadership

    Undergraduates of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) have been told to prepare themselves to replace present leaders in the country after their time elapses.

    Air Commodore Sani Zakari Abdulahi, Commander 237 Base Service Group of the Nigeria Air Force, Minna, gave the charge while delivering a distinguished alumni lecture at the permanent site of the university. Zakari, who is an alumnus, said he returned to inspire the students to aspire for greatness in life.

    The guest lecturer who spoke extensively on the topic, “Empowering the youths motivation” pointed out that motivation comes before success in life. He added that they must prepare for future leadership roles.

    He said, “The reality of leadership all over the world is that no one will remain a leader forever, in other words, current leaders will go and new leaders will emerge; which means the present youths of today are tomorrow’s leaders.

    “Do you know as undergraduates, you are tomorrow’s leaders? It is high time you realise that as undergraduates. The responsibility of leadership in the country tomorrow lies on you and you have to strive and prepare yourself for the challenge.

    “In preparing yourselves, it requires that you have to read hard and graduate with the best grade. You also need to graduate as a disciplined and honest youth that the society can rely on tomorrow. It means you have to strive to excel right from now. The society needs quality leaders and if you must fit into that quality, you have to prepare yourself from the university.

    The military officer told the students that he was able to achieve some level of success in his military career because he prepared himself as a student over 20 years ago.

    He urged them not to be carried away by lack of facilities in the school and poor hostel accommodation but to make use of quality teaching provided by the lecturers.

    “Do not allow negative things or development to be your barrier to success in life,” he said.

    He warned the students, “In whatever position you find yourself tomorrow, don’t put money first, desire for responsibility and play your role will all sense of honesty and shun dishonesty.

     

    Earlier in a welcome remark,, chairperson of the lecture, Hon Josephine Tapgun, former minister of State for Education, challenged the students to emulate the discipline and leadership examples of the guest lecturer.

     

    Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Hayward Babale Mafuyai said the essence of the alumni lecture was to motivate the students into became great leaders tomorrow.

    The VC asked the students to wake up from their slumber and prepare themselves for tomorrow’s challenge.

     

  • Senate committee assures Unijos on take-off grant

    Senate committee assures Unijos on take-off grant

    The Senate Committee on Education said it will liaise with the Federal Government for the release of the take-off grant for the University of Jos.

    The Chairman of the committee, Sen. Uche Chukwuemerije, said this when he led his colleagues on an oversight visit to the institution.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the university, one of the second generation universities established in 1975, has yet to receive its take-off grant.

    According to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Hayward Mafuyai, the non-provision of the seed money is responsible for the slow development of the institution.

    Chukwumerije said that senate would assist the school in “pushing for the release of the grant.”

    He also promised that the senate would assist towards resolving the security challenges faced by the institution.

    “ We understand your peculiar security challenges and we are engaging the Federal Government to attract some funds that will assist you in handling the challenges.’’

    He promised that the committee would also assist the school to break more grounds in the area of research, noting that much had already been done in that area.

    Earlier, Mafuyai had highlighted the university’s challenges and identified major areas to include insecurity, inadequate accommodation and transportation.

    “We have a student population that is close to 30,000 but we only have accommodation for 7,000. Staff accommodation is equally inadequate,” he said.

    Mafuyai said the university’s infrastructure was also in bad shape.

     

  • UNIJOS holds 56th inaugural lecture

    UNIJOS holds 56th inaugural lecture

    A professor of Pharmaceutics and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), Musa Ibrahim, has called for vigilance by manufacturers to monitor fake drugs and unwanted reactions from their products.

    He made the call during the 56th inaugural lecture, which he delivered.

    The lecture was titled: Self thinking medicines: Automating pharmacotherapy for eliminating unwanted effects.

    He urged governments to sponsor pharmaceutical scientists to the developed nations to acquire the needed skills to combat the spread of adulterated drugs in the country.

    He added that natural and synthetic polymeric materials had been used frequently in the development of advanced drug and that Nigeria was blessed with abundant sources of natural polymers, many of which were being used to prepare edible soups such as okra and ogbono; carbohydrates from food stuffs like the tubers and grains; cellulose from many fibrous materials and their waste like sugar cane, groundnut and rice husks and proteins from animal skin and bones, among others.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Hayward Mafuyai, congratulated his deputy for the successful presentation and urged other lecturers, who were yet to deliver their lecture to do so and contribute to knowledge.

  • Following UNIJOS VC’s example

    There was a time students did not need to visit institutions they applied to for information about their admission status. They checked at the post office or the admission letters came to them at home. They did not need to know anybody to be admitted. They only had to satisfy the institution’s admission requirements – including making the cut-off marks and having the right ‘O’ Level combinations for the course they applied for.

    We all know the story is not the same today. Any candidate who sits at home expecting admission to come just like that, is like one praying for Manna to fall from heaven like it did in the time of Moses.

    But one Vice-Chancellor has declared that once again, admissions will be like that in his institution. He is Prof Hayward Babale Mafuyai of the University of Jos. He has warned people to stop putting pressure on him to admit by request. He even said his own son would not be admitted if he does not pass.

    Wow! Such noble declarations; but how hard to carry through! I do not doubt Mafuyai’s resolution. I admire his courage but I can imagine the pressure he would be under to bend a little to satisfy a superior from Abuja, a politician in his state, a colleague, former classmate, member of his club, or a member of his own family.

    Since he has said he would not change the rules to admit his own son let us hope no other influence can be stronger than that.

    More importantly, however, is the need for other school administrators to make similar resolves. Just last week, this columnist admitted for the umpteenth time that our tertiary institutions cannot accommodate those that desire higher education. But while this is sacrosanct for now, are all those admitted selected on merit to occupy each precious space? To what extent is the admission process based on merit or compromised by influence from high places or the greed of admission officers and other cadres of workers? Every institution, especially public-owned, where the competition for spaces is stiffer, should try and answer these questions as honestly as possible. If a large percentage of those admitted are accepted by request, then such institutions need to review their admissions policy and procedures.

    If Mafuyai succeeds in instituting a transparent admissions process, then those who try to enter the University of Jos and fail can be consoled that everyone selected was better one way or the other. In time, the university would attract the best of brains as serious minded students would work towards getting into the university. High quality students would mean the university would have less problems with poor performance, truancy, and other consequences of ‘unseriousness’ like rowdiness, cultism, students’ unrest, and unbridled partying.

    In time, once the society notices the unique qualities of its students, the university may begin to enjoy some goodwill from individuals, associations, NGOs and corporate organisations. While others would need to wait for government subvention to embark on capital projects, the university may find that it has a waiting list of people waiting to do some good to associate with it. When this happens, then we may be on our way to getting our own Harvard. I hope this picture is not too good to be true.

     

  • I will not grant my son admission if unqualified, says UNIJOS VC

    I will not grant my son admission if unqualified, says UNIJOS VC

    PRESSURE to admit students gives the Vice-Chancellor, University of Jos (UNIJOS), Prof Hayward Babale Mafuyai greater headache than insufficient funds.

    Addressing journalists at a pre-convocation briefing, Mafuyai said the age long Nigerian tradition of parents influencing the university to admit their wards is the beginning of decline of quality education.

    The VC noted that the most difficult challenge facing universities in Nigeria is not how to manage inadequate fund but how to manage long lists of request from various authorities every year for admission. He said he would no longer honour such requests.

    He said: “I have made it a policy to change this aged long tradition, I have insisted on admission on merit. If the university will admit on request from above, then I will be compromising quality and causing serious problems for the school.

    “I never got admission into the university by request in those days, I got it because I merited it, so I will not encourage granting admission on request. I have made up my mind, I will not even grant my son admission here if he does not have the maximum qualification”.

    “I want to use the opportunity to appeal to those in authorities, friends and staff of the university, government officials that the best contribution they can make to the growth of the school is to ensure their wards pass through the due process, subject themselves to quality test to earn the admission.

    “They should understand that my headache is that list, quality should not be compromised when it comes to admission of students, there are laid down criteria, minimum qualification benchmark and maximum qualification benchmark, anything outside that is fraud.

    “So let it be known that University of Jos does not admit students through request and we will further advise candidates to come with maximum qualification scores if they want to make it. Minimum qualification is not a guarantee for admission.

    “Any candidate who tried once and failed should try again. Do not compel or influence us to admit you through another means other than merit.

    “This is a standing policy of the institution because we want to continue to produce quality graduates who will do the university proud any where in the world, and we can achieve that by ensuring only those with merit come in. We don’t encourage garbage in, garbage out”

     

  • UNIJOS students give back to alma mater

    UNIJOS students give back to alma mater

    Final year students of the University of Jos have donated 40 podiums to the authorities of the university as parting gift to the institution by the outgoing students.

    The outgoing students said the gift is in line with the “leave a legacy program” initiated by past students of the school since 2011.

    President of the student Union, David Ojah Igbang who led his set for the presentation said: ‘Leave a legacy program is an opportunity provided for students to contribute their widows might to the school and as a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the school that trained us.’

    Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof Haward Babale Mafuyai while receiving the podiums on behalf of the authority said, “The greatest assets of the institution are its alumni trained by the school over the years.

    Mafuyai added: “Our alumni begins with our final year students because when outgoing students decided to donate such items to the school as parting gift, the school has hope that its alumni will never forget the school when they left.

    “This is why I will always ensure that the school produces quality graduates. Our students remain our assets in the society and we are so proud of them because they are contributing meaningfully to economic development and excelling wherever they are.

    “It then means that the more we continue to produce quality graduates, the better for the school because if our students do well they always come back to show appreciation to the school.

    Similarly, The Advancement Office of Unijos has organised a leave a legacy workshop for the final year students. Chairman of the occasion and alumni of the institution Justice Yergata Nimpar, admonished the students to always remember their alma mater which trained them and learn how to sho appreciation. Nimpar also called on the final year students to remain good ambassadors of the institution.

     

  • Anambra Law students demand bursary

    Students of Anambra State origin studying in the University of Jos (UNIJOS) have called on their state government to speed up the payment of bursary for the Law students in tertiary institutions to prevent them from dropping out of school.

    The called was made when the National Association of Anambra State Law Students (NAALS), UNIJOS chapter, visited Prof Nnamdi Aduba, an indigene of the state and Law lecturer in the institution, in his office at the main campus of the university.

    Speaking to the students, Prof Aduba criticised Anambra State government for “not doing well educationally”, saying the state had highest number of young men in business rather than in school among the southeastern state.

    He said: “It is nothing new to assist students through human capital development as this is very important to youth employment in order to reduce the rate of unemployment and kidnapping amongst young people in the state.

    “I want to lend my voice to appeal to the Anambra State government to alleviate the suffering of the students through the prompt payment of their bursary as is obtainable in other states.”

    Earlier, the president of the association, Obinna Ofodile, said they were in his office to commend him for his continuous support to the association as the patron and to complain the non-payment of their bursary by the state government.