Two Local Government offices of the Independent National Electoral omission, (INEC) in Ogun and Osun states were Thursday attacked by suspected hoodlums, that set them ablaze.
Affected are offices in Abeokuta South Local Government Area and
in Ede-South Local Government Area of Osun state
It was gathered that the fire started early hours on Thursday but the prompt intervention of fire service department in the state which prevented the incident from spreading from the conference hall, where it started to other sections.
Some hoodlums, suspected to be arsonists had set ablaze an Abeokuta South Local Government’s office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) located at Iyana Mortuary in the Abeokuta metropolis early morning on Thursday.
It was gathered that the hoodlums, about eight in number, had gained entrance into the Abeokuta South INEC office by jumping over the perimeter fence and set the INEC building on fire from the back, having soaked some pieces of foam mattress in petrol and thrown same onto the building at different angles to put up the INEC office in flame.
In Osun, findings at the scene of the incident at Oke-Iresi area of the town, revealed that unknown persons set the building on fire using bread soaked with petroleum otherwise known as bread bomb.
Reacting to the incidents, in a statement, INEC national commissioner for information, Festus Okoye “notes that the attack was carried out by unidentified persons that overpowered the security personnel on duty and set the entire building ablaze.
“The main building and all the Commission’s movable assets in the office were destroyed.
“Materials affected include 904 ballot boxes, 29 voting cubicles, 30 megaphones, 57 election bags, 8 electric power generators and 65,699 uncollected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).
“Similarly, the INEC office in Ede South Local Government Area of Osun state was attacked and set ablaze.
“The incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday, 10th of November, 2022 when some unidentified persons attacked the building and set a portion of it ablaze.
“Fortunately, the damage was limited to a section of the building and only some furniture items were destroyed.”
Senator Chimaroke Nnamani: Tinubu, City Boy, is a winner
General Azubuike Ihejirika: After Buhari, another President, most likely from the South-west will take over
Two prominent Igbo sons have said that the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, will win the Presidential election in 2023.
In hard-biting posts in a space of 48 hours, they asked the Igbo to prepare themselves for a Tinubu Presidency.
In their separate posts a PDP Senator, former two-term Governor of Enugu State, Dr Chimaroke Nnamani, and General Azubuike Ihejirika, the first Igbo to be appointed Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff since after the Civil War, lamented the position of the Igbo in National politics, but were quick to say “It is self-inflicted.”
In his post titled Foolish Is Not Igbo, Ihejirika chided Igbo elders and the elite for misleading those who ought to look up to them, especially, the youths.
He said: ” You can hear some highly placed Igbo leaders/opposition politicians shouting loud and clear that only the South-East has not produced a President since 1999 while all other zones have done so, and that this is injustice and inequity against Igbos and that Nigeria cannot survive without justice and equity.
“That’s like insulting the sensibilities of other members of the Nigerian space, as well as issuing a threat. And those leading this chorus are well educated, very knowledgeable and internationally exposed persons who the less educated and ignorant masses look up to for facts and guidance.
“When the base human emotions, the animal human nature, takes over, intellect and enlightenment is relegated. Such brazen lies are told to whip up rash emotions and victimhood mindset which lead to dishing out insults, abuses and hate speech against some other members of the Nigerian space.
“You cannot win the free-will votes of Nigerians by such method. Or do we think we can go to court, obtain an injunction, then come back to nominate a President which Nigerians must accept without voting, or must vote for, all because “it is our turn”? Meanwhile some other leaders from other parts of the country have been busy building and mobilising grassroot support from across the zones, with a view to gaining their votes in next year’s Presidential election.”
The General said the Igbo have created a monster in its land and must take responsibility. He said: “Now that the monster we created has turned back to attack us, we must take responsibility with a spirit of forthrightness and atonement in seeking for solution to the problem.”
He said that some of those he dismissed as “loud voices”, believe “so much in Josef Goebbels of Big Lie. Tell the lies boldly and repeatedly, and the masses will believe it to be the truth.
“If some of the Igbo leaders of today continue to rely on such strategy, then we could expect a similar backlash because form of dirty politics breeds violent conflict and destruction.”
On what it will be like in 2023, Ihejirika said:
“President Buhari will soon complete his tenure of office and another President (most likely from the South-west) will take over, and we could again start attacking him with insults, abuses and hate propaganda, which will lead us nowhere and cannot succeed in intimidating the new person to do our biddings.”
Senator Chimaroke in his post titled “The Igbo Insularity and its Yoruba Wahala”, without mentioning names, dismissed the candidacy of both the Presidential candidates of the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, respectively.
He said of them and their ambition: “One a pure exercise in self-driven political catharsis, the other a known abuser and denigrator of my people.”
On the position of the Igbo in politics, the Medical Doctor-turned politician noted:
“The Igbo are out of the power echelon of an African State they helped found. Product of self-injury and own goal. We need a restart. Based on a paradigm shift. Careful but calculated risk.”
On what to do, Nnamani advised:
“The Igbo has to retrace the steps of (Michael) Okpara and (Obafemi Awolowo), the United Progressive Grand Alliance. An Igbo-Yoruba Alliance.
“It is not late for the Igbo to reflect on and carefully X-ray the looming reality of a President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Then, the PDP Senator heaped praises on Tinubu and what he sees as his imminent victory.
“A marathon politico Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, City Boy they call him, paid his dues over decades, performed creditably in governance and politics.
“With an A-Game, decades of hardwork, patience, resilience and tenacity. And a lot of swagger and chutzpah, Tinubu is it. A consummate and well navigated City boy. A winner always.
“Only saw him complain once, and probably his last. The rest is history.”
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Alkali Usman, has highlighted what can be described as a code of conduct for states owned security outfits.
The IGP declared that activities of Ebubeagu and other state-owned security outfits are being regulated and checked to curb excesses.
He spoke on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while featuring in the 57th session of State House Briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team.
He said that the state-owned security outfits have been created to curb crime and criminality as states were told not to use the outfits for political reasons.
“Ebubuagu in Ebonyi, we have on many occasions, checked their high handedness by arresting and investigating those who have actually gone out of their way to commit crime and we have charged them to court.
“If we can charge our personnel for high handedness and other activities, there is nobody who is going to be exempted.
“If there is any specific case that the police have not gone into concerning those outfits, you mention it; but to the best of our knowledge, theory and practice may differ.”
According to Usman, the outfits should avoid being influenced by either primordial loyalty, inducement or other things in discharging their duties.
He warned that officers of the outfits who derail from their legal duties would be prosecuted.
“Some people go out of their way to do the wrong thing and they will be charged.
“And that is why, if these outfits are created by the governors, we are invited to educate them on the extent of their engagement in crime prevention and control.
“We are checking them; they are also good, bad and ugly; they have their good sides. That is why they needed to be checkmated and we doing that.”
The IG pointed out that the scope of crime prevention was wide; hence everybody was being encouraged to join in community policing.
As preparations for next year’s election are in top gear, the police boss also advised politicians to shun violence and abide by extant rules and agreements on peaceful conduct of campaigns.
Usman said: “The issue of violence in our politics; it takes two to tango; there are laid down procedures to do rallies and campaigns.
“On our part, we have gone out to appeal to politicians to play the game by the rules; and at the same time, allow us to regulate political campaigns, processions and rallies to avoid clashes and so forth.
“The three things which Civil Society Organisations, (Chaos) have spoken about—involvement of security outfits; I think I have even made announcements and pronouncements even before their letter.
“On the day the peace accord was signed by the political parties, I reiterated and observed that we have not less than 64 security outfits that were created by state governors in different names for different purposes.’’
As the hike in price of Petrol remains unabated with Consumers lamenting bitterly over this development, the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, has further dashed the hopes of Nigerians by saying that Petrol cannot be sold for N170 per liter.
Kyari disclosed that the NNPC cannot maintain a pump price of N170 per litre for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol or fuel, stressing that the actual cost alone is thrice that amount.
Boss of the former Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, made this disclosure while speaking at the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Summit organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption in Abuja on Wednesday, stated that the landing cost of fuel was thrice the amount.
Kyari stated, “It is not possible for you to buy fuel at N170 when your actual cost is thrice that value.
“For instance, today, when PMS comes into this country, we transfer to marketers at N113 per litre for us to ensure N165 at the pump.
“So, you must sell at N113 to them to be able to deliver at N165, that means whatever the cost, anything after that value; that is subsidy. Somebody has to pay for it.
“Everyone knows the price of PMS around the world. There is nowhere today that you can land a litre of PMS to the pumps at the N445 (to a dollar) exchange rate. It is not possible.
“In some places, you are subsidising up to N290 on every litre. With this regime, it is impossible for you to avoid all the wrong things that are happening – round tripping, cross-border smuggling, document forgery.
“Anywhere you have arbitrage, you will have these issues. As long as arbitrage is there, you will continue to have these issues and you cannot hold NNPC accountable for it because it is a value chain that involves everything and everybody.
“You cannot price it at the market today because of the socio-economic impact on the prices of PMS. Every country is doing something about high energy costs. Some have removed taxes on petroleum; this is a subsidy. NNPC Limited will no longer go to FAAC because we are expected to pay taxes, dividend and royalty.”
The GMD also stated that he has been receiving death threats over the reforms he was spearheading in the oil and gas industry.
Kyari further stated that he was not deterred by the threats.
He said, “Without mincing words, I want to say that this industry is at a threshold of change.
“There is massive change going on and it is very expensive and of personal cost to many people, including myself. There is a threat to life; I can say this.
“I have several death threats but we are not bothered about this. We believe that no one dies unless it is his time.
“But this is the cost of change. When people move away from what they are used to, to something that is new; that will take away value and benefit from them, they will react.
“That reaction is of benefit to all of us and we will work together to make sure it works out.”
Not so long ago, he was the poster boy of what looked like an African renaissance. Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo didn’t only know what to say, he also knew when and how. I still remember 2018. Barely one year after Akufo-Addo was inaugurated, he was on the big stage.
He was the first African leader to address the National Governors Association (NGA), a cross-party platform of all 50 governors of the United States of America. At that meeting, he laid out his plans and dream to consolidate Ghana’s record as Africa’s gateway and the beginner’s paradise.
The same year, he was also at the Concordia Annual Summit, a New York yearly redoubt of the world’s most prominent business, government and non-profit leaders. At the summit, he shared a vision of an endowed and ready-for-business Africa and also of a “Ghana-beyond aid”.
He didn’t stop there. He met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and told him of Ghana’s plan to launch a 100-year $50billion bond that would pull his country out of stagnation and poverty, into progress and prosperity.
As if to prove it, in 2019, Ghana raised $3billion in Eurobonds and outperformed its order book by $21billion. Akufo-Addo took the boom message to London and Davos, the icy haunt of the world’s great and mighty.
But before that, you should have watched his video when French President Emmanuel Macron visited Ghana in 2017. In a speech that raked up 3.4m YouTube views in viral hits and left Macron who was standing beside him in speechless awe, Akufo-Addo admonished Africa for its dependency.
European taxpayers, he said, should not forever bear the burden of the continent’s misery. Africa has come of age. The continent ought to be able to pull itself up by its own bootstraps and Ghana, under him, would show the way. You couldn’t listen to Akufo-Addo and not enjoy the music in his delivery.
At the height of COVID-19, when most of the continent’s powerhouses – South Africa and Nigeria – seemed to lose their way, Akufo-Addo’s Ghana was exemplary. It deployed drones in remote areas to take samples, conduct tests and coordinate medical help and supplies.
On a continent with some of the direst post-COVID-19 forecasts and equally dire forecasts for commodity prices, Ghana seemed like fresh air for business. In what was seen more in neighbouring Nigeria as a slap rather than an endorsement, global giants like Twitter, Hyundai, Kia and Toyota set up major offices in Ghana and praised the country for its stability and ease of doing business. It looked like the continent’s leaders could use Akufo-Addo’s Master Class.
President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana
That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. In what might end up as one of the most unlikely political tragedies of Africa’s recent history, Akufo-Addo’s legacy is unravelling and it’s unlikely that he might be able to stitch it together again before his tenure expires in two years’ time.
“When we voted for him about six years ago,” said the Editor of The Chronicle, an independent Ghanaian newspaper, Emmanuel Akli, “our hopes were very high that he would deliver. We expected overall stabilisation of the economy and the local currency. Now, we’re in a very difficult place. We didn’t expect this.”
Disaffection with Akufo-Addo has boiled over, spilling onto the streets on November 4, with more than 1,000 placard-wielding protesters calling on him to step down. The protesters are also asking the government to say “No” to an IMF bailout and to discontinue ongoing talks with the Fund for a relief package.
The boiling streets are just one of the battlefronts. Opposition lawmakers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have also laid a siege to the government in Parliament where they are expected to press a motion of censure for the resignation of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on November 17.
When did the honeymoon end and how did Akufo-Addo lose his way? How did a president who spoke so passionately against dependency, structural or voluntary, suddenly find himself on the verge of swallowing his own vomit?
In an article on November 2, Bloomberg traced the problem to the binge that followed the export of oil in Ghana in 2010. After failing to learn lessons from the bitter years of wild price swings in its major export commodities, especially cocoa and gold, and also turning a blind eye to the misery that oil brought on its neighbour, Nigeria, Ghana is doomed by its own mistake.
According to the Bloomberg report, with the discovery of oil the country’s GDP leaped by almost 14 percent, with impressive single-digit year-on-year performance. With the country floating on oil money, however, came the temptation to spend and borrow and spend.
This vicious cycle was not created by Akufo-Addo’s government. And like in many parts of the world, the headwinds from COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war have upended economies and retarded growth. But Akufo-Addo’s splurge also did little to curtail matters.
Consumer inflation was 37 percent as of September, a 21-year record despite belated efforts to tackle it. The country’s currency, the cedi, is one of the region’s worst performing, with a depreciation of more than 55 percent between January and October this year.
“The price of bread has gone up by over 100 percent this year alone,” Akli told me from Accra. “One gallon of petrol is about 81cedi or $6.22 (N2,675 per gallon or about N668 per litre). The price of petrol drives everything. Things are terrible and everybody is feeling it.”
To mitigate the impact, the country’s labour unions demanded and received a 20 percent increase in the Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA) two months ago, the first such adjustment in six years, which came on top of the annual adjustment in public sector salaries to reflect the cost-of-living index.
Yet, angry voters cannot quickly forget that they are also partly responsible for their current misery. One of the major reasons they voted the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) for a second term was because they feared that NDC would scrap the free senior high school tuition, a clearly unsustainable programme.
Maintaining that programme, along with other pork-barrel projects such as subsidising private power producers and failing banks, cost over $3billion at a time when the government could hardly find money.
But a desperate public is looking elsewhere for scapegoats and their representatives in parliament are determined to serve the head of the Finance Minister on a platter. Not only have they accused him of misleading the country into excessive borrowing, they have also accused him of using Databank Group, a company in which he has interest, to broker the loans.
The Minister’s response that Databank’s involvement in such transactions for Ghana preceded his involvement in Akufo-Addo’s government appears to have fallen on deaf ears. Yet, even if parliament succeeds in sacking Ofori-Atta, which is unlikely, it is doubtful if his execution will a) stop things from getting worse before they get better or b) stop the government from taking the IMF bailout, with its attendant stringency.
While the storm gathers, Akufo-Addo appears upbeat. On the sidelines of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, he tweeted on November 8, “My government is happy to announce that Ghana is about to launch projects in these areas, which will tackle, at the same time, climate change at global and domestic levels, and social issues, by providing people with dignified and sustainable jobs.”
He didn’t say where the money for the “projects” would come from or how his plan might change the price of bread for protesters on the streets of Accra. If the rib-cracking memes on the thread of the President’s message are a measure of what Ghanaians think of him, then today’s Akufo-Addo needs to retrieve his head from the clouds and rediscover the common touch of the poster boy.
The Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba has set up a committee to investigate the alleged attack on Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Maiduguri, Borno state capital on Wednesday.
The IGP disclosed this at the 57th ministerial briefing on Thursday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Atiku, his party claimed was attacked when his convoy was leaving the palace of Shehu of Borno after a political campaign in the state. Several people were said to have been injured during the attack while a slew of vehicles was also destroyed.
The police in the state had earlier dismissed the alleged attack after the PDP called for a thorough investigations into the matter. The opposition party blamed the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC for the attack on Atiku.
In his call for investigation, Kola Ologbondiyan, a spokesman for the Atiku Campaign Council his party “has information about how agents of certain APC leaders mobilised the thugs with the aim to escalate violence in Maiduguri and prevent the PDP from holding its Presidential Campaign Rally in the State.”
Reacting, Baba chided the state police command for reaching a hasty conclusion on the alleged attack. He said he will set up a team to investigate what actually transpired to prevent a future recurrence.
In his earlier response to the attack, the police Public Relations Officer, ASP Sani Shatambaya said it was contrived, adding that Atiku’s rally in the state went unhindered.
He said: “I want to use this opportunity to inform the general public that the mischievous reports from the social media that Atiku’s convoy were attacked was a fake news.
“It is worthy to note that one Danladi Musa, who attempted to attack the convoy of Atiku along the Airport road was arrested by the police with stones as exhibit.
“I want to urge members of the general public that the suspect is with us, and the Command is doing everything possible to arrest other suspects”.
The Spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo has denied the allegation that Bola Tinubu the presidential candidate of the party was convicted in the United States of America, USA on drug-related charges.
The APC presidential hopeful has recently been challenged to explain his alleged conviction in the US in the early 1990s, following a document released a few days ago by the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Tinubu, a former Lagos state governor and APC National Leader has denied this allegation, blaming his political enemies for a plot to bring him down ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
The politician is considered one of the frontrunners alongside Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Labour Party, respectively.
Speaking on Channels Television Politics Today on Wednesday, Keyamo said Tinubu was not convicted of drug-related crime, and that he was only made to pay a fine for failing to pay taxes on some of his investments.
The APC spokesman also said the APC presidential candidate’s action was not deliberate after the documents showed that Tinubu was convicted by the court and made to pay $460,000 as settlements for alleged drug dealing and tax evasion allegations.
He explained that the plot by political rivals to discredit Tinubu ahead of the 2023 election using unfounded allegations will fail, blaming Tinubu’s ‘detractors’ in the PDP for peddling the lies.
He said, “The deposits he made there (in banks) are what bankers called investments; he kept the money there and he was getting interests. They (the US government) said he had not paid tax on those interests. That is all and guess what? The banks are supposed to deduct the tax from the source.
“Out of the 10 accounts, it was only one account – the one in Heritage Bank – that they took $460,000 as the tax on interest that he benefited on the investment he made in those accounts. All the money in Heritage Bank was not taken; they took only $460,000 as tax.’’
Keyamo explained further that Tinubu was roped into the drug trafficking case of two Nigerians who once stayed in separate flats in the same building where the ex-governor stayed at a time in the US.
According to him, “He, Asiwaju, went to open an account. The address by which he opened the account was already used by these people…investigated for narcotics,” he claimed.’
“His (Tinubu’s) detractors keep bringing up these issues over and over when his political profile is rising when he wants to run for office or any political turn in his life.
“The date on the papers flying up and down is 2022. So, they are using this to confuse people that these are fresh papers. If documents are 40 years old or 100 years old, once you go to court and apply for certified true copies of those documents, they will give you those documents, but they will stamp the day they are giving you those documents.
“This is what our detractors, the PDP did. Perhaps that is what they went to the US for when they pretended that they went for high-level engagement. This is part of the high-level engagement they went for,” Keyamo, the current Minister of Labour and Employment also said.
Less than six days to the end of his tenure, a Group in Osun state capital, the Osogbo Action Committee, has alleged plan by Governor Gboyega Oyetola to dethrone the traditional ruler of the town, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji.
But, Chief Press Secretary to Oyeta, Ismail Omipidan has clarified the allegation, saying it is part of ploy by agents of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) to cause trouble.
Omipidan, in a statement, advised the Group that is spreading the rumour, not to incite the people against Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
Omipidan, explained that the letter to the governor asking him to stay action on a non-existent process is not only mischievous, but also a wicked one, deliberately designed to pitch the people against the governor and his government by agents of the PDP, masquerading as community leaders.
“The author of the letter, Chief Ajadi Badmus, has unfettered access to Mr. Governor. If indeed he has the best of intentions, he ought to have found out from the governor before making his spurious claims.
“Recall that Chief Badmus had also authored a similar letter shortly before the July 16 governorship election wherein he claimed that the government had relocated the Airforce Base from Osogbo to Iragbiji.
“The wicked lie became the major weapon the PDP agents deployed to canvass for votes in Osogbo and its environs.
“Ordinarily, the Ataoja is directly under the supervision of the Osogbo Local Government. Therefore, the governor has no business per se with his office. Besides, the governor has no issues with Ataoja.
“To this end, I appeal to leaders of thought and clerics in Osogbo to endeavor to find out the truth, know the truth and act based on the truth.
“I also urge the people to disregard the content of this fallacious letter as it does not fit the gentleman’s personality of a governor Osun people and the nation know too well.”
It will cost the federal government a whopping over N532 billion or more to conduct the 2023 National Housing and Population Census, the federal government has said.
The Chairman of the National Population Commission, NPC, Nasir Kwarra, made the disclosure on Wednesday, to a Senate committee the News Agency of Nigeria, NANS reports.
The NPC boss said N532.7 billion would be needed to conduct the 2023 National Housing and Population Census expected to commence in April next year.
Kwarra told the Senate Committee on National Identity Card and National Population Commission, NPC, in Abuja while defending the commission budget on Wednesday, saying all is now set to conduct a transparent census for the country.
H said, “Based on the budget for the census, what we need to be able to complete the conduct of the census as well as the post enumeration survey and all other post census activities is a total of N532.7 billion.
”Aside from the N10 billion budget for 2023, the NPC earmarked the sum of N532.7 billion for conduct of 2023 census.
”NPC is ready to re- write the history of the census in Nigeria by making the 2023 one not only accurate, credible, and reliable but acceptable to all Nigerians,” he said.
The last time a census was conducted in the country was in 2006.
The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has condemned the Federal Government”s decision to pay University Lecturers half salaries in October over the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, strike.
ASUU had called off its eight-month long strike mid-October, necessitating the payment of half salaries only for the month. The FG says it will not pay for work not done.
NANS in a Statement on Thursday, November 10, 2022, signed by its Coordinator, Deputy Coordinator and Public Relations Officer; Adegboye Olatunji, Alao John and Awoyinfa Opeoluwa respectively, said the Federal Government has failed to prioritise education under the present administration.
It stressed that paying half salaries to lecturers was capable of dampening their morale, which in turn, will affect the students.
NANS: “The actions, inactions and body language of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration have left us with no doubt regarding the low priority on education under this government.
“And like the proverbial King who reigned during a period of widespread discomfort, the degeneration and acute deterioration experienced in the educational sector will not be forgotten in a hurry by Nigerians.
“Just as Nigerian students are finally able to smile after the suspension of an eight-month-long ASUU strike, the Federal Government in their usual retrogressive inclinations has deemed it ‘wise’ to pay half salaries to members of ASUU. This ill-advised action, if allowed to stand, will not only set a bad precedence, but ruin the already tattered morale of our lecturers and further weaken the already debilitated trust between the said union and the government.”
It stated that ASUU listened to the plight of millions of undergraduates, Nigerians and intervention by well- meaning individuals and suspended its strike action, but the actions of the FG has dampened the joy.
“Ironically, those directly appointed and being paid from our commonwealth to oversee education and Labour matters namely: Mallam Adamu Adamu (the Minister for Education); Dr. Chris Ngige ( the Minister of Labour and Employment); and Festus Keyamo (the Minister of State for Labour and Employment) made meagre contributions to the development.
“As a matter of fact, we have it on good record that Ngige particularly was willing to crash the entire sector just to bring ASUU on its knees and massage his own fragile ego.
“From all indications, if drastic measures aren’t taken, the Federal Government and its overpaid employee; Ngige seems ready to bury the entire educational sector,” the students said.
NANS claimed that if ASUU choose to boycott work again as a result of the decision of the FG, “the government might as well forget about tertiary education completely.”
The student body, sympathising with the lecturers, said while the no-work-no pay policy may make sense in some instances, the peculiarity of Nigeria’s educational system must be prominently recognised and seriously considered.
“It is well established that upon resumption of academic activities, lecturers must continue from where they had stopped before the strike, and therefore perform all expected responsibilities.
“Consequently, the Federal government has no ground for paying only half salaries.
“As the leadership of all Nigerian students in the entire South-West, we demand that our intellectuals and the moulders of our collective future be accorded their deserved respect and their dignity not be tampered on.”In addition, procedure to pay the remaining balance of their remunerations should be put in motion immediately,” NANS concluded.
