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ASUU extends strike by four weeks

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has extended its ongoing strike.

The association, in a statement on Monday signed by Emmanuel Osodeke, its president, said decision was made after a meeting of ASUU executives on Sunday.

It said the rollover was to give the federal government time to resolve the outstanding issues.

On February 14, ASUU declared a one-month warning strike to protest the non-implementation of its demands by the federal government.

The union extended the strike by eight weeks on March 14, citing the government’s failure to fully address its demands.

It thereafter extended the strike by another 12 weeks on May 9.

ASUU, in its statement, said it viewed the recent directive given by the President Muhammadu Buhari that the minister of education should resolve the lingering crisis, with seriousness.

“The Union wonders why it had taken five full months and needless muscle-flexing for government to come to the realisation of the need for honest engagement,” the statement reads.

“NEC acknowledged the growing understanding of the issues and the groundswell of support for the Union’s principled demand for a globally competitive university education in Nigeria. Nigerian universities must not be reduced to constituency projects that merely exist on paper and our scholars must be incentivised to stay back and do what they know best, here in Nigeria.

“NEC observed that non-signing of the draft renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement more than one month after it was concluded by Professor Nimi Briggs-led Committee is further tasking the patience of ASUU members nationwide.

“NEC further observed that the on-going trial of the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Ahmed ldris, on allegation of monumental fraud has vindicated ASUU’s rejection of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information (IPPIS). The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is enjoined to release reports of the latest tests on the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) vis-à-vis IPPIS without further delay. ASUU shall resist any attempt to truncate the deployment of UTAS with all legitimate means available to the Union.

“NEC noted that cumulative indifference by the political class gave vent to pervasive atmosphere of insecurity which now threatens seamless provision of educational services in the country. The unceremonious closure of educational institutions in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), following the recent attack on Presidential Guards, betrays a panicky measure to addressing a malignant ailment. Nothing short of a comprehensive overhaul of the security architecture of the country will sustainably address the problem.

“Following extensive deliberations and taking cognisance of Government’s past failures to abide by its own timelines in addressing issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA), NEC resolved that the strike be rolled over for four weeks to give Government more time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues. The role-over strike action is with effect from 12.01a.m. on Monday, 1st August, 2022.”

Education

4-year-old boy dies after being fed meat in Abuja school

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Miguel Ovoke, a four-year-old pupil of Brickhall School in Kaura, Abuja, has died during feeding hours.

Ovoke was said to have been pronounced dead upon arrival at Excel Specialist Hospital, following complications during his lunch on Wednesday.

PUNCH reports that the hospital issued a death certificate stating the boy was brought in by his teachers around 11 am in an unconscious state.

The report, signed by Akinwande Ajayi, on behalf of the medical director, indicated that he was brought in “on account of aspiration on meat while feeding at school”.

The hospital said upon examination, the medical team found that “the boy’s pupils were fixed and dilated with a nonreactive response to light”.

Ovoke’s peripheral pulses were said to be “impalpable, blood pressure was unrecordable, and there was no cardiopulmonary activity or respiratory excursions, silent chest”.

The medical report indicated that all efforts to resuscitate him failed while concluding that he was “brought in dead”.

The sudden nature of Ovoke’s death has, however, prompted his parents to seek justice by contacting Deji Adeyanju, a human rights lawyer.

Brickhall School is said to be owned by Joy Emodi, a member of the 5th and 6th senate. She was appointed chairman of the senate committee on education.

Emodi also served as the special adviser on national assembly matters to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Efforts by TheCable Lifestyle to get the authorities of the school to comment did not materialise as of the time this report was filed.

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Education

Father arrested for writing UTME for son

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The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says cases of people having double national identification numbers (NIN) made impersonation possible in the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The statement from the exam body came after a father and his son were arrested for alleged impersonation in the ongoing UTME.

The father, whose name has not been disclosed, was said to have impersonated his son to help the latter pass the university entrance examination.

Ishaq Oloyede, registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), confirmed the development in an interview on Wednesday.

Oloyede inspected the Kaduna State University (KASU) Computer Based Test (CBT) centre after which he spoke to the press.

He said it is unfortunate that some parents have descended so low in morals to the extent of resorting to such shameful acts.

“Two of them are now in custody. I can’t understand what the father will tell his son when they are locked in the same cell,” Oloyede said.

Oloyede said the 2024 examination recorded huge success, except for a few cases of impersonation.

He said impersonation became possible because some people now have multiple NINs.

“For those who engage in cheating, they should know that it does not pay. The technology is helping us to check that. Across the country, most of the problem we have is impersonation,” he said.

“For instance now, we say we have NIN. We now have cases of people with two NINs. That has defeated the purpose of identity verification. We will take that up with NIMC; that there are people who have two NIN.”

Oloyede said a total of 1.94 million candidates sat for the 2024 UTME.

He added that those who have missed the exam for reasons not caused by JAMB should forget about it.

The registrar said the board cannot spend millions to reorganise a session for candidates who missed it due to their recklessness.

“Most of those candidates who missed the UTME are students from hostels who were made to register through schools because of the money the schools want to collect from the parents in the name of JAMB, They would now put 30 students in one bus,” he said.

“They will now be dropping them in different locations. By they get to the last student’s centre, he is already late for the exam. You will now see the principal writing to me. What business do I have with a school?

“Even a religious body wrote to me that ‘the following 100 candidates, I want them to write their exams on a particular day of the examination’. They were even deciding for me the school to post the candidates. How is that possible?”

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Education

Haruna Dlakwa appointed acting VC of Borno State University

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Babagana Zulum, the Borno governor, has approved the appointment of Haruna Dlakwa as the acting vice-chancellor (VC) of Borno State University in Maiduguri.

Bukar Tijani, secretary to the state government, confirmed Dlakwa’s appointment in a statement on Wednesday.

Tijani said the appointment followed the recommendation of the university’s governing council at its 10th meeting on April 15.

‘’Zulum extends warm congratulations to Dlakwa and expects the best until the substantive Vice-Chancellor is appointed for the university,’’ he said.

Until this appointment, Dlakwa was the deputy vice-chancellor of academics at the university.

Borno State University was only established in 2016. It has five faculties — including Sciences, Management, Arts, Social Science and Education — with over 20 departments.

The pioneer vice chancellor of the university was Umar Kyari Sandabe.

In June 2021, the university’s senate building was inaugurated by Muhammadu Buhari, former president of Nigeria.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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