AS the federal government is claiming not to have the required fund to meet with the demands by striking unions in public universities, the federal government on Wednesday justified the approval of the sum of N1,145,000,000.00 for the purchase of vehicles for Republic of Niger. The government expenditure was exposed by investigative journalist and popular social media influencer, David Hundeyin. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, confirmed the report when asked at the media briefing after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. She said even though Nigerians have the right to question…
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THE federal government has blamed petroleum marketers for the latest increase in the pump price of petrol; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, gave the blame on Monday, stressing that government was still paying subsidy on imported petrol. “I can tell you authoritatively, we have not deregulated. The government is still subsidizing petrol prices. If there are increases in price, it is not from the government,” he told journalists at a stakeholders’ consultation forum on regulations organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, (NMDPRA) in Abuja. He said increased prices implemented in the last two…
THE Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, on Monday pledged the support of the Federal Government to the National Council of Women Society (NCWS) in promoting the cause of women in the country. Mustapha said this when the President of NCWS, Hajiya Lami Adamu Lau, led members of the Women in National Service (WINSERVE) Week Implementation Committee on a visit to his office in Abuja. Mustapha described women as the backbone of a nation who need the support of every stakeholder to achieve their aspirations, especially the protection of women and children’s rights. He said…
THE Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) has expressed displeasure at the closure of unity schools across the country. The National Moderator of CSACEFA, Mr Sale Abdullahi said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday. Abdullahi said that Nigerian children had witnessed horrific moments in the heat of attacks on learning facilities across the country arising from the activities of bandits. “The past weeks have witnessed waves of school closures across the country, both secondary and tertiary. “Bandits have made good their threats of holding the nation…
THE Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says there is no uniform minimum national Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) score for any of the tiers of tertiary institutions and neither does JAMB decide any such requirement for any institution. The board made this known in Abuja on Monday by its Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that JAMB had in September 2021 cancelled general cut-off marks for entrance into tertiary institutions, allowing the schools to set their minimum benchmarks. Benjamin said the board did not and had never determined any uniform…
THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has extended its roll-over strike by another four weeks to give government more time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues. The President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Monday. Osodeke said that the roll-over strike action would take effect from 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 2022. He said that the decision was reached at an emergency meeting of the National Executive Council of the union held at the Comrade Festus lyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, on July 31. He said that the meeting…
WE live in a baffling world in which many leaders believe that their people can be led by the nose. They assume they are wise and that those they govern are stupid. This leads to all sorts of situational comedies, some with tragic consequences. A few definitions. A joke is when a ruling party in order to restructure, sacks all its members, directing them to re-register; making it the first party in history without a single member. A sick joke is when former members of the party admit the president as the first member. Hollywood is when the leader of…
LIBERIA, which along with Ethiopia, are the two African countries never colonised, marked its bicentennial as an emergent country, and this Tuesday, July 26, 2022, observed its 175th Independence Anniversary. On that historic date, the five most prominent persons on the dais who are from four countries, were of contrasting natures. Liberian President, George Manneh Weah, the 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year, seemed subdued as he delivered his speech which was long on protocols but short on content. The Liberian Vice President, Dr Jewel Howard Taylor, is the former First Lady, whose ex-husband, Charles Taylor, is held hostage…
By Vera E. Abah NIGERIAN workers under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) with massive support from civil society organisations on Wednesday defied the uncertainty and sense of siege over the country’s seat of power to show their angst against the laissez-faire attitude of the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari towards striking unions in Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions. Protesters besieged the Unity Fountain, which has now become the take-off point for protests in Nigeria’s federal capital, as early as possible, to stress the point began yesterday in mass protests across states of the federation that the…
Expresses Support for NLC’s National Protest THE Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has called on the federal government to immediately resolve all outstanding issues with the Academic Staff Union of Universities without further delay. In a press release signed TUC’s new President, Comrade Festus Osifo, made available to National Record on Wednesday, the TUC condemned the continuous disruption of academic calendar in public tertiary institutions and the condescending attitude of political office holders towards government-owned educational institutions. The press release, entitled: “Persistent ASUU Strike; the Time to Act is Now,” noted the centre’s support for the national protest by…