The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Category: Education

  • ASUU ready to call off strike – Falana

    A senior human rights lawyer and counsel for the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Femi Falana, on Monday stated that his clients were ready to call off its nearly eight-month strike. He revealed this at a book launch ‘Breaking Coconut With Your Head’ by Lanre Arogundade on Monday in Lagos.

    He hinted that the industrial action will be concluded outside the courtroom in his reaction to the appellate court’s order that the public universities’ lecturers should return to classrooms.

    In a terse message to our correspondent, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria also called on the Federal Government to fast track and finalise its negotiations with ASUU.

    He expressed confidence that the meeting between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the presidency over the matter, would yield positive results.

    Responding to enquiry on the state of the ASUU strike, Falana said, “Our clients are ready to call off the strike. The Federal Government should fast track the and finalise the negotiations.

    The federal government and ASUU since February 14 have been at loggerheads over demands of proper funding of the university educational system to a global standard.

  • 60% of candidates pass with 5 credits, as NECO releases results

    60% of candidates pass with 5 credits, as NECO releases results

    The National Examination Council (NECO) says no fewer than 727,864 representing 60.74 per cent of the 1,198,412 candidates who sat for this year’s Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) got five credits and above including English language and Mathematics.

    A total of 889,188 candidates out of the number who sat for the school-based examinations that sat for this year got five credits for English language, representing 74.89 per cent.

    In the same vein, 929,140 candidates scored credits and above in Mathematics.

    The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of NECO Professor Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi who announced the release of the result at the NECO headquarters in Minna Niger State capital on Thursday said a total number of 1,209,703 with males 636,327 and females 573,376 registered for this year’s Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations.

    (Sun)

  • ASUU: Nigerian govt withdraws directive asking VCs to reopen universities

    ASUU: Nigerian govt withdraws directive asking VCs to reopen universities

    The Nigerian government has withdrawn its earlier directive asking the management of federal universities to reopen the institutions “to ensure that the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) resume and commence lectures immediately.”

    The latest development was contained in another letter by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and dated 26 September.

    Like the earlier copy containing the “marching order,” the new letter was also signed by NUC’s Director of Finance and Accounts, Sam Onazi, on behalf of the Executive Secretary, Abubakar Rasheed.

    The agency had earlier on Friday directed the management of all federal universities to comply with the order of the National Industrial Court (NIC) directing ASUU members to return to classrooms pending the determination of the substantive matter before it.

    The government had asked the pro chancellors and vice-chancellors to ensure that the striking lecturers resume and commence lectures immediately.

    U-turn

    The government’s directive had caused confusion for the university management as the vice-chancellors were unsure of how to go about the decision.

    The confusion is reinforced by the pending application for a stay of execution at the appeal court by the counsel to the striking union, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

    Femi Falana (SAN)

    But the new letter by the NUC which was addressed to the pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors of the federal universities is titled; “Withdrawal of Circular Ref: NUC/ES/138/Vol.64/135 Dated 23rd September 2022.”

    The new letter referenced NUC/ES/138/Vol.64/136 and dated 26 September, reads in part; “I have been directed to withdraw the National Universities Commission (NUC) circular Ref, NUC/ES/138/Vol.64/135 and dated 23rd September 2022 on the above subject. Consequently, the said Circular stands withdrawn.

    “All Pro-Chancellors and Chairmen of Governing Councils, as well as Vice-Chancellors of Federal Universities are to please note. Further development and information would be communicated to all relevant stakeholders.”

    The letter, however, did not give reasons for the withdrawal but it might not be unconnected to the criticisms by many Nigerians who have taken to social media to comment on the development.

    Backlash

    Many Nigerians including the members of the management of various institutions had earlier on Monday condemned the government’s directive for reportedly “ignoring the stay of execution application filed at the appeal court against the NIC order by the lecturers’ union.”

    While some university management members spoken to on the phone on Monday by PREMIUM TIMES said they were yet to take a decision on the matter, others said they were unaware of the development.

    An official of NUC who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity earlier on Monday said the agency only carried out the instruction by its supervising ministry and that it was not in a position to query the decision.

    “On how the directive would be implemented NUC has no say on that. It is a different matter entirely. We were only asked to communicate the decision and we did,” the official who does not want to be quoted for fear of sanction said.

    True to the source’s claim, the earlier directive issued by NUC was a follow-up to an earlier letter by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, conveying the enrolment order of the NIC to his counterpart at the Ministry of Education, Adamu Adamu.

    Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu

    Mr Ngige had written to request that the NUC and the universities be directed to “immediately re-open all the universities, recall the students of the various Universities, ensure that ASUU members immediately resume/commence lectures, restore the daily activities and routines of the various University campuses.”

    In response to Mr Ngige’s letter, Mr Adamu, through his ministry’s Director of Human Resource Management, David Gende, told the NUC to carry out the instruction.

    Background

    The government through the labour ministry had referred the dispute between it and ASUU to the NICN. The government counsel, James Igwe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, subsequently filed an application seeking the court to order ASUU to suspend the strike while the court heard the dispute.

    Despite ASUU’s objection, the court granted the government’s application ordering the lecturers’ union to suspend its seven-month-old strike. ASUU has appealed the judgement and filed an application for a stay of execution.

    ASUU embarked on the ongoing industrial action on 14 February, to compel the government to fulfil its part of the 2009 agreement, the Memorandum of Action signed in 2020 and to implement the recently concluded negotiations with the government-constituted committee which renegotiated the 2009 agreement.

    (Premium Times)

  • ASUU: FG directs VCs to reopen universities, resume academic activities

    ASUU: FG directs VCs to reopen universities, resume academic activities

    The Federal Government has directed all vice-chancellors of its institutions to re-open schools and allow students to resume academic activities.

    The directive came through the National Universities Commission (NUC), following the National Industrial Court ruling last week ordering the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off the over seven months of industrial action.

    This was contained in a letter signed by the Director, Finance and Accounts of the NUC, Sam Onazi, on behalf of the Executive Secretary of the commission, Professor Abubakar Rasheed.

    The letter was addressed to all vice-chancellors; Pro-Chancellors and chairmen of governing councils of federal universities.

    The letter partly reads: “Ensure that ASUU members immediately resume/commence lectures; Restore the daily activities and routines of the various University campuses”.

    Recall that the National Industrial Court of Nigeria on Wednesday ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities to call off its ongoing nationwide strike.

    ASUU had been on strike since February 14 to press home the demands for improved funding for universities, and a review of salaries for lecturers, among other issues.

    Details later…

    (Tribune)

  • BREAKING NEWS: National Industrial Court Orders ASUU To Call Off Strike

    BREAKING NEWS: National Industrial Court Orders ASUU To Call Off Strike

    The National Industrial Court has ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to call off the ongoing Strike.

    Delivering a ruling on the interlocutory injunction filed by the Federal government , Justice Polycarp Hamman restrained ASUU from continuing with the industrial action pending the determination of the suit.

    Justice Polycap who is a vacation judge ordered that the case filed be returned to the president of the Industrial Court for reassignment to another judge.

    This order comes a few hours after the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) threatened not to allow any political campaign hold across the country till students of public universities return to classrooms.

    Chairman, NANS National Taskforce, Ojo Olumide, announced this at a press conference in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Wednesday, some days to September 28, the official date for candidates to kick-off campaign as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

    “Our blocking of access to public roads and ports is just a warning. If the government fails to conclude all the negotiation and agreement with ASUU within the frame of two weeks, they will witness more protests and rallies all over the country, they will also witness the annoyance, anger and frustration of Nigerians Students who have been at home for the past seven months.

    “As we promise them that we will not allow any political campaign to hold across the country until we are back to class. This government has pushed so many Nigerians students into depression. We say enough is enough; we can no longer bear the brunt from this avoidable crisis in our nation public ivory towers again,” he said.

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike since February 14, 2022 as talks between the Federal Government and lecturers of public universities have not yielded a comprise upon which students can return to class.

    More details shortly…

    (Channels TV)

  • ASUU strike: Students block Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in protest

    Commuters were yesterday stranded on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as students protesting the ongoing strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) blocked the road.

    The students in their hundreds under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) brought traffic flow to a halt.

    Led by the chairman of NANS, Ogun State, Simeon Damilola, the students gathered at the Redeem axis and blocked both sides of the highway thereby preventing traffic flow both inward and outside Lagos.

    Many travellers were trapped in the logjam and commercial activities grounded for hours following the protest.

    The convoy of a prominent traditional ruler in the South West, the Olowu of Kuta, Adekunle Makama Oyelude, Tegbosun III was caught in the protest.

    The monarch who addressed the students’ body urged them to open the expressway to ensure free flow of traffic while promising to take up the issue with the authorities concerned.

    He appealed to the federal government to resolve the lingering crisis without further delay.

    Speaking on behalf of the students, Simeon lamented what he described as the death of tertiary education in the country following the strike.

    “There is no point arguing about who is at fault or what is to be done. It is very clear that the rulers underfund education and the Buhari government is failing in its promises to revamp education.

    “As it is today, no higher institution in Nigeria is world class! Yet, our so-called public servants travel all over the world spending billions to send their kids abroad for studies.

    “As major stakeholders in the educational sector, we are the ones who can save ourselves. Our lecturers suffer the same hardships and mal-developments we suffer,” he said.

    While the blockade lasted, the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) spokesperson in the state, Florence Okpe, advised motorists to use alternative routes in order not to compound the logjam.

    (Daily Trust)

  • We will no longer negotiate with FG – ASUU

    There are strong indications that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may have declared an indefinite strike following the federal government’s failure to meet their demands.

    ASUU President, Osodeke

    It was learnt that the lecturers made the resolution during their National Executive Council meeting, which began at about 12:15am on Monday and lasted for hours at their National Secretariat at the University of Abuja.

    The communiqué of the meeting, which will give details of the decisions taken had not been released yet, but credible sources said the majority of the ASUU chapters across universities keyed into the decision to go on indefinite strike.

    It was also learnt that beyond the indefinite strike, some lecturers had advised that the union should boycott further talks with the federal government until when another government is formed after the exit of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023. ASUU had declared the commencement of a strike on Monday, February 14, 2022, and has been lingering for over six months.

    When our correspondent visited UniAbuja, on Sunday, an ASUU member said the meeting was not for coverage by the media.

    However, a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the union, who spoke to Daily Trust in confidence because he was not authorised to speak, said with the declaration of indefinite strike, “There would be no more negotiations with the federal government.”

    When asked to explain what he meant by that, the NEC member declined further comments.

    He had earlier told our correspondent that there was a shouting match among ASUU members at the beginning of the meeting over some issues, including a comment credited to the ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke when he appeared on Arise Television where he reportedly called state universities “quacks”.

    The official explained, ‘’Some people faulted him for saying that, while others backed him. The two camps shouted at each other but we later resolved everything. Let me tell you, no more negotiations until when our demands are met.”

    ‘Some members want negotiation stopped until Buhari leaves office’ 

    A source close to the ASUU leadership at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria said that even though there was no resolution yet at the top level, some members of the union were of the opinion to stop negotiation with the federal government until when President Muhammadu Buhari leaves office in May 2023.

    “I can assure you that this view is gathering momentum in many universities,” the lecturer said.

    “Many lecturers believe that there is no need to keep dissipating energy talking to government officials because they are not ready to listen.

    “I know that many lecturers here in ABU and others at BUK, Federal University, Dutse and in the South are of the opinion that ASUU should also foreclose talking to the government until after this government leaves.

    “It is not that we don’t have empathy. We are all affected. I am also affected because I have children in the public university and they have been at home for over six months. I have also not been receiving my salary but the fact is that the government should do the right thing to save the universities from collapsing,” he said.

    Another NEC member also said that ASUU members would ensure they mobilise against current public office holders during the 2023 general elections.

    When contacted, the ASUU president told our correspondent yesterday that an official statement would be issued after the meeting but the statement had not been issued as at the time of filing this report.

    It would be recalled that after one month following the February 14 strike, ASUU extended the strike by two months on March 15. When the 8 weeks rollover strike ended, the union added another 3 months.

    ASUU President, Prof. Osodeke had explained that the action to roll over the strike became inevitable, given that the federal government’s “Failure to satisfactorily address all the issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA).”

    (Daily Trust)

  • ASUU: Minister for Education jets out of country amidst strike

    Amid unresolved issues between the federal government and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Minister of education, Adamu Adamu has jetted out of Nigeria.

    According to reports, Adamu is expected back on 2 September.

    Adamu is said to have been mandated by President Muhammadu Buhari to lead talks with a view to resolving the long-running ASUU strike.

    But, the minister’s trip has further dragged the reconciliation moves by the government without meaningful offers to resolve the strike.

    Meanwhile, ASUU plans to declare an indefinite strike on 29 August, backed by its branches in federal and state universities, to escalate an industrial action that began on 14 February after all warnings failed to yield any result.

    Earlier, president of ASUU, Emmanuel Osodeke declined calls by the National Parents-Teachers Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) that parents of higher institution students be levied N10,000 each per session to fund tertiary education.

    Osodeke rather enjoined parents to join ASUU to press down its demands on the federal government to prioritise education by funding the sector in order to thrive.

  • WASSCE Results: Enugu leads, as South-East states dominate in performance

    WASSCE Results: Enugu leads, as South-East states dominate in performance

    The National Bureau of Statistics has released a breakdown of the results of West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) from 2019 to 2021 in Nigeria.

    According to NBS, a total of 1.53 million candidates sat for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in 2020, indicating a decline of 3.25% compared to 1.58 million in 2019.

    Of this, private and public schools recorded 707,478 and 830,756 candidates, lower compared to 710,552 and 879,431 respectively in 2019.

    By 2021, the total candidates who sat for the examination was 1.56 million, an increase of 1.42% from 1.53 million in 2020. Out of this, 721,666 sat in private schools, indicating an increase of 2.01% compared to the preceding year, while 838,486 sat in public schools, showing an increase of 0.93%.

    This further shows a higher number of candidates in public schools than in private schools.

    Analysis by geo-political zone shows that the South-West recorded the highest candidates over the reporting period, followed by the South-South.

    Breakdown of performance

    Analysis of performance trend shows a higher percentage success rate among private schools than public.

    NBS data showed that in the 2021 examination 73 percent of public school’s candidates scored a total with 5 credits and above including English and Mathematics.

    While Private schools’ candidates recorded a 86.55 percent exam success with 5 credits and above including English and Mathematics.

    Breakdown of performance by States

    On a state-by-state basis, data show the overall best States for private schools candidates are Edo (92.8%), Enugu (92.7%), and Anambra ( 92.2%).

    Other states in the top 10 are Benue: 91.5%, Ebonyi: 90.5%, Cross river: 90.2%, Delta: 89.5%, Rivers: 89%, Sokoto: 87.3% and Nasarawa: 87.1%.

    For the Public schools the best States are led by Enugu: 93.9%, Edo: 93.5%, Benue: 91.7%, Ebonyi: 91.3%, Anambra: 91.2%, C/river: 90.6%.

    Others are Rivers: 88.1%, Delta: 87.7%, Bayelsa: 86.4% and Abia: 86.1%.

    Breakdown of performance by zone

    When it comes to performance by zones, private candidates who scored above 5 credits including Mathematics and English are South-South: 89.4%, South East: 87.8%, North Central: 81.0%, South West: 76.2%, North East: 71.2% and North West: 69.3%.

    For public school candidates, the performance by zones stands at:

    1, South East — 89.8%

    2, South South — 88.1%

    3, North Central — 76.5%

    4, North East — 68.1%

    5, South West — 62.9%

    6, North West — 61.5%

    Take aways from candidates’ performance

    This aggregation of data is very consequential in many ways, especially for candidates of public schools.

    No northern State’s performance features in the list of top 10 States and the average performance is dropping yearly.

    The gap in performance between the north and south is now also widening.

    This, again, shows the impact of insecurity and other factors in the quality of education in the region.

    In all, the most curious part of the data is the performance of students from South-West States.

    The average performance of public schools in South-West region is the lowest in the last five years.

    (Ripples)

  • After 60 days, College of Education Lecturers suspend strike

    After 60 days, College of Education Lecturers suspend strike

    The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union,(COEASU) lecturers have suspended their ongoing strike for a period of 60 days.

    The suspension is contained in a state signed by COEASU President, Dr Smart Olugbeko and Dr Ahmed Bazza, General Secretary of the union on Friday in Abuja.

    The union said the suspension followed “enormous progress” made at the ongoing renegotiation with the Federal Government.

    Olugbeko said the decision to suspend the strike was taken at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Abuja, to re-assess the status of issues leading to the three-week roll-over of the national strike.

    According to him, as evident in the enormous progress made at the ongoing renegotiation and the appreciable level of progress made towards the amendment of the Colleges of Education Establishment Act, which is paramount for the development of the COE system.

    “NEC resolved that the nationwide strike that started on June 10, be suspended for a cool-off-period of 60 days.

    “This is to give the government the opportunity to perfect the progress made so far into tangible achievements that are acceptable to the union.

    ”After which the NEC shall reconvene to re-assess the status of the issues and decide the way forward, ”he said.

    He therefore commended critical stakeholders for their intervention and dogged commitment to the resolution of the issues.

    Olugbeko also said NEC decried the high level of insecurity in the country, as evident with the increase in the spate of kidnapping, banditry, killings and other social vices.

    “NEC, therefore, calls on governments at all levels to address the situation more proactively by beefing up security on all campuses.

    “As the system is being reopened for teaching and learning, and across the nation in general, ’’he said.

    The union president, therefore, commended the Government of Imo, Kwara, Osun, and Oyo towards the resolution of the lingering issues in their respective colleges of education.

    (NAN)

  • Minimum Wage: Strike still on course, LG workers, teachers remind Enugu govt

    Minimum Wage: Strike still on course, LG workers, teachers remind Enugu govt

    Members of the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, and the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, have reminded the local government council authorities that they were still on strike, which they embarked upon on July 28.

    The strike was embarked upon after two years of failure to include local government workers and primary school teachers in the state on the N30,000 minimum wage consequential adjustment.

    The state had commenced the implementation for other civil servants in 2020, exempting the primary school teachers and council workers.

    All the 17 local government council administrations, including Primary Health Workers and all public primary schools have been paralysed since that July 28, when members of both unions downed tool.

    Briefing newsmen, on Tuesday, on the development, the NULGE and NUT disclosed that they were being asked to call off the strike before negotiation could continue with both trade unions.

    Chairman of the state NUT, Theophilus Odo, in the joint press briefing with NULGE, appealed to the government to approve the minimum wage for the teachers, as they have done for other workers in the state, noting that teachers were not happy embarking on the industrial action.

    “Things are very difficult and we all buy from the same market, our children attend the same school with others and we all use the same means of transportation as workers in other ministries and parastatetals.

    “This is a high level of marginalisation. So we ask the state government to look into this matter for industrial harmony to continue in the state,” Odo appealed.

    Chairman of NULGE in the state, Kenneth Ugwueze, disclosed that several interventions and no less than three committees were set up by the state government in the past two years over the negotiation, without achieving any meaningful result.

    Ugwueze noted that this was the first time that some categories of workers were being paid lesser wage than others for over 30 months of the minimum wage implementation.

    “And to cap it all, from the improved federal allocations to all tiers of government, we can all see that allocations have improved tremendously within this period.

    “And we are surprised that with the improved allocations this minimum wage is still being denied these categories of workers.

    “So I want to join my colleagues in NUT to plead with the government to see that this consequential adjustment is implemented to these categories of workers so that we can be able to feed our families considering the hyper inflation in the country,” Ugwueze pleaded.

    (Vanguard)

     

  • NECO to release results in 45 days

    NECO to release results in 45 days

    ­Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Professor Ibrahim Wushishi, has promised that results of the 2022 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) would be released not later than 45 days after the conduct of the last paper.

    Wushishi disclosed this while monitoring the conduct of the ongoing SSCE in some centres in Lagos.

    The exams which began in June is expected to end on August 12.

    “We are on top of the situation and we are giving the assurance that the results of the ongoing exam will be released not later than 45 days after the last paper,” he said.

    He noted that the 1.29m candidates were sitting for 76 subjects in the ongoing examination.

    Commenting on insecurity in some parts of the country, the Council boss stated that adequate arrangements was made with security agencies to monitor movements of materials and staff.

    “We also have security agents to guide our custodian point. As far as movements are concerned, we have not encountered any security issue and we have not received any report from any parts of the country even in regions where we have sit-at-home, we have been able to conduct exams without any issues.

    “Though, some candidates missed some papers last year as a result of the ‘sit-at-home’ but those papers have been re-administered. Even now, we are not having much problems because we have our people on ground that understand the nature of the security challenge and have devised means of overcoming the challenges in the midst of it all. So, we are on top of the satiation,” Wushishi said.

    The outlawed Indigenous of People of Biafra (IPOB) had declared a weekly sit-at-home in the South East to protest the detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is standing trail for terrorism.

    (Daily Trust)