Month: April 2023

Leadership Newspaper

Between April 25 and 26, 2023, academics and industrial relations experts gathered in Ilorin, Kwara State capital to brainstorm on how to put a permanent end to incessant strike actions, especially by lecturers in the nation’s universities.

The participants at a 2-day training workshop organised by the Michael Imoudu Institute For Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, Kwara State for the leadership and members of the newly registered Congress of Nigerian Universities Academics (CONUA) were unanimous in their opinion that strike actions had done more damage than good to the university education system in the country.

They lamented the unstable academic calendar which kept the students in campus more years than the stipulated time frame for the completion of their courses.

The participants also reasoned that the universities unstable academic calendar is the major reason why Nigerian students find solace in foreign universities which at times endangered their lives, citing the current example of the trouble that the Nigerian students are going through in Sudan.

In his opening remarks, the CONUA chairman, Comrade Niyi Sunmonu, had thanked the management of MINILS for organising the training programme for members of the newly registered union in the nation’s university system.

He added that: “our expectation is hinged on our core belief – uninterrupted academic calendar without our welfare suffering,adding that, “strike takes so many things away from students, especially time which is irretrievable.”

Saying that the union will not be confrontational in addressing issues affecting its members’ welfare, Sunmonu said:” When you are confrontation, you create a bigger problem than the issue that led to the strike in the first place. We are not afraid of the government, but we shall not be confrontational.”

The CONUA chairman clarified that their expulsion by the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) during the recent strike action by the university lecturers, necessitated the formation and registration of the new academic union.

Declaring the training programme open, the director general of MINILS, Comrade Issa Aremu said the workshop on “Building Harmonious Labour-Management Relationship As a Tool for University Education Stability and National Development” was jointly organised by the Institute and the office of the registrar of trade unions for the newly elected executive members of CONUA drawn from various universities in the country.

Aremu observed that the inclusive nature of universities with diverse academic staff, non- academic mass of workers and university administrators makes work relations “all comers affairs” with respect to inevitable grievances and grievance handling process.

He, however, said union officials in academic Institutions require specialised knowledge and wisdom about industrial relations through training and retraining to manage the challenges arising from the dynamic world of work.

While commending the two ministers of Labour for facilitating the capacity building for CONUA officials, Aremu said the incessant disputes in universities are reflections of deep knowledge gap on the part of all stakeholders about collective bargaining process, mediation, arbitration, social dialogue and legal framework guiding industrial relations management.

“In today’s world of work, direction has shifted from the traditional methods of organising, mobilising and collective bargaining to a more constructive, social dialogue, cooperative partnership and collaboration through social democratic unionism in conformity with best practices.

“The university management and union leaders must be articulate and embrace the modern industrial relation skills in organising, mobilising, bargaining and management in general,” the director general stated.

Aremu also urged the organised labour in trade unions to forge a sustainable partnership for decent work agenda and national development with the in-coming administration of the president- elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

He said the inauguration of the new administration of Tinubu will offer a new opportunity for unions, governments and employers to “rethink and deepen Nigeria/ ILO decent work agenda with respect to secured and well paid private and public jobs, freedom of association, productivity and workers’ motivation.”

He noted that the president- elect values labour as a critical success partner in his commendable Renewed Hope agenda through mass youth employment programme and end to avoidable strikes in universities through social dialogue.

Aremu said the record of labour administration of the president-elect as former two-term governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007 and campaign programme of APC positioned him “as the possible best labour-friendly president” in the waiting.

The former labour union leader added that Tinubu was the first Presidential Candidate to engage both NLC and TUC members on critical p market issues with promises of social dialogue as means for resolving inevitable disputes in the world of work.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has filed a preliminary objection to a suit instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and a chieftain of the opposition party, Senator Dino Melaye seeking an order of mandamus to compel the anti-narcotics agency to arrest and prosecute the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu over alleged forfeiture of some funds in his bank accounts over two decades ago in the United States.

In its notice of preliminary objection signed and filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday 26th April 2023 by its Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Joseph Nbona Sunday, NDLEA submitted that the application by the PDP, which is the 1st applicant with Melaye as 2nd, is incompetent, adding that the court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain it and as such, should be struck out.

Listing its grounds for the objection, the NDLEA said both PDP and Dino Melaye “do not have a locus standi, they do not possess an interest peculiar to them and above the interests of all other Nigerians, the only underlying specific interest of the 1st Applicant then becomes political in nature”, adding that the investigation and prosecution of Tinubu was targeted at removing him as a bona-fide candidate in the February 25th 2023 presidential election.

The Agency argued that “Order of mandamus is an equitable remedy and should only be applied for in good faith and should not produce an indirect or underlying result. The Doctrine of Judicial Self-restraint precludes this Honourable Court from delving into matters with political colouration or matters aimed at getting direct or indirect political goals.

While noting that the foundation of the PDP application was the proceeding of the US District Court of the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division in the US, “the judgment in the said proceeding was given “with prejudice”, adding that “the said proceedings and judgment have no judicial value”, and as such “the supposed cause of action of this suit as constituted is baseless and legally unsustainable.”

In a sworn affidavit in support of the Agency’s preliminary objection, a litigation officer attached to its Directorate of Prosecution and Legal Services, Chia Cosmas Depunn said that
as an independent agency of government saddled with the responsibility to investigate, arrest and prosecute persons involved in drug trafficking and other related offences in Nigeria, the NDLEA has a healthy relationship with the government of the United States of America, the name of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu “by whatever acronyms or combination of names has never featured in the exchanges we had with the United States of America.”

He further claimed that the name of Tinubu has also not featured in the radar and data base of the Agency as a person arrested, investigated or prosecuted in connection with drug or other related offences.

While noting that though NDLEA relies on intelligence and information from foreign and domestic partners as well as public spirited individuals, both PDP and Melaye have never for once since the establishment of the Agency in 1990 made or forwarded any complaint, information and/or intelligence on Tinubu or any other person in Nigeria or outside the country relating to illicit activities on drug matters until 17th January 2023.

To further justify the position of the Agency, the litigation officer in the sworn affidavit also made the following submissions:

“That this suit as presently constituted does not confer the Court with jurisdiction.

“That the 1st Applicant does not have locus standi to institute this suit as it does not possess interest peculiar to it and above the interests of all other Nigerians.

“That the only peculiar interest of the 1st Applicant is to get rid of the 6th Respondent as a candidate of a rival political party.

“That the interest of the 1st Applicant is political in nature.

“That the 3rd Respondent is an independent Government Agency that has no political colouration or affiliation.
“That the Court has a duty to insulate the 3rd Respondent from political controversies.

“That the suit is baseless, frivolous and brought in bad faith with the sole aim of achieving a political objective using the instrumentality of the Court process.

“That the facts and circumstances of the case require the Court to apply the doctrine of judicial self-restraint.

“That the 2nd Applicant is not an officer or executive or management committee of the 1st Applicant.

“That the 2nd Applicant has no locus standi to institute this suit as he does not possess any interest peculiar to him and above the interests of all other Nigerians

“That an Order of Mandamus is an equitable remedy.

“That the Order of Mandamus must be applied in good faith to promote the public interest.

“That the Order of Mandamus should not produce an indirect or underlying result.

“That he has gone through the supporting judicial proceedings and noted as follows:

“That the matter was a civil forfeiture proceeding in rem brought by the United States of America as plaintiff against certain accounts held in the name of the 6th Respondent.

“That the object of the suit was to forfeit the funds or a certain part thereof in the said accounts as proceeds of illicit traffic in drugs.

“That the suit was not taken out against the person of the 6th Respondent.
“That the suit was not a criminal indictment or charge.

“That the standard of proof in civil forfeiture is based on the balance of probabilities.

“That the standard of proof in a criminal indictment, charges and proceedings is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
“That the burden of proof in criminal procedure is much higher than that of civil procedure.

“That the Orders of the United States District Court of Illinois delivered by Magistrate Judge John A Nordberg in Suit No. 9C4483 relating to the release of the funds held in Citi Bank N.A. and Citi Bank International which funds were the 2nd and 3rd Defendants in the suit were made “with prejudice”.

“That the Orders of the District Court in the Citibank Accounts places a barrier on any further proceedings relating to the Account.

“That only the Orders relating to the funds held in Heritage Bank where the sum of $460, 000.00 was forfeited was made simpliciter and without a caveat.

“That the Orders made by the US District Court of Illinois were made to incorporate “the stipulation and Compromise Settlement of Claims to the Funds Held by Heritage Bank and Citibank” earlier filed by the parties in Court.

“That the judgment of the US District Court of Illinois put to an end to issues relating to the forfeiture and release of funds as contained in the Settlement Agreement.

“That the cause of action for mandamus requesting the 3rd Respondent to investigate and prosecute the 6th Respondent is founded on the judgment of the District Court of Illinois which has put the matter to rest.

“That the cause of action of the Applicants is dead and legally unsustainable.
“That it is in the interest of justice to dismiss this suit with substantial cost.”

Punch Newspaper

President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, talks to EMMANUEL OJO about the recent 40 per cent salary increment implemented by the Federal Government, among other issues.

What is your reaction to the implementation of the 40 per cent increment in salary for public servants under the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure, which excluded lecturers and doctors who are not under that salary structure?

Although we have not got the details and we have not heard from the ministry about our own directly, what you are seeing is that the outgoing Minister of Labour (Dr Chris Ngige), is trying to create confusion in the system and for the next administration because I don’t see why you deliberately increased the salary of one sector by 40 per cent and left the others. I think that is just to create confusion or ensure that we, the workers, and the unions within the system fight one another but that will not happen. It’s just deliberate.

What do you mean?

Look! When there is a salary raise in the government service that is not a negotiated structure, it goes round for everybody, whether you are in the police, the military, or the civil service and what have you. The fund comes from the same source just as when you have a minimum wage review, everybody gets it but the quantity may not be the same because it’s a minimum wage and not a salary increase. Everybody got something. So, why will you create (an increase) for one sector and leave the others just to create confusion? That is the impression I have because this is the first time we are hearing of such. The non-negotiated salary is just to create confusion and maybe he (the minister) can explain.

We have been negotiating with the government for the past six years but they have not acceded to anything. Two times, we have reached an agreement with the government team. First, with the (Barau) Jibrin team. We reached an agreement, but they didn’t reply until we went on strike in 2022, then they came and set up the late Nimi Briggs committee and this same Minister of Labour truncated that agreement, went and told a lie to the President which the committee refuted. Later, one minister wakes up one morning and says they have raised the salary for one sector. It’s so funny.

They reached an agreement with us twice. They didn’t say no. They also didn’t give other suggestions of what they could do since they didn’t have funds. For six years, they have set up three committees: the Babalakin committee, the Barau Jibrin committee, and the late Nimi Briggs committee, where we had some agreements, and all of a sudden, he just threw them away, just woke up one morning and decided the raise the salary of one sector by 40 per cent and the administration has a few weeks to go. I don’t understand.

The government said the increase was to help cushion the economic hardship faced by the beneficiaries. Do you think there are other underlying motives?

The Minister of Labour and Employment and the Director of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission need to explain to Nigerians what they have done and the motive behind it. Is it to create confusion for the next government? Is it to pretend that they have done the right thing? It’s not clear and everybody is agitated because it has not happened before, that the government will just say that they are increasing the salary of one sector alone by 40 per cent while those sectors you have been negotiating with, you have not done anything about it.

What percentage did you arrive at with the government during your negotiation?

Well, we arrived at a percentage. It’s when they have agreed to sign that it becomes a public document and I will keep on saying this.

A lot has been said about the brain drain in the health sector. Has it affected the tertiary level of the education sector of the nation in any way?

Well, thank you very much for that. You can go round the universities and see. The best brains we have in this country are, permit me to use this word, those who do not really have their commitment in this country and have all left, for two reasons. The first is what they are paying the lecturers today.

When we signed an agreement with the Federal Government in 2009, the salary of a professor was between $1,500 to $2,000 per month, when converted from naira, but today, if you convert what a professor earns, it’s about $500 to $600 which means that if a professor gets an offer to earn $2,000 and more outside the country, they will leave, especially for those who are not really committed to this country. Many are leaving. You can check, even the younger ones are leaving. They get funded training and they move because they have a better offer there. So, what are they staying here to do?

Secondly, to compound the problem, this so-called IPPIS (Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System) that they have introduced has actually created the biggest crisis in the Nigerian university system. How is that? All the foreign civil servants and lecturers we had from Cameroon, Ghana, and the likes have left because they were not paid for a year or two because they were told they were not on regular employment. Meanwhile, by our law, you cannot employ a foreigner and give them employment from which they can retire. So, they have left.

Punch Newspaper

Nigerian students stranded due to the ongoing crisis in Sudan have accused the Federal Government of abandoning them in Khartoum, the country’s capital.

This is just as the hopes of Nigerians stranded in Sudan returning to Nigeria on Friday were dashed, amid the controversy surrounding their evacuation from the crisis-torn country.

The government had released N150m for hiring 40 buses to convey its desperate citizens from Sudan to Cairo in Egypt.

The money was said to have been paid to an undisclosed transport company on Tuesday at 12:37 pm by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the National Emergency Management Agency.

This was as the Federal Government on Thursday said that the Nigerian Air Force, Air Peace, and other airlines had received clearance to fly to Egypt to pick up stranded Nigerians.

The evacuation of 2,400 students and other Nigerians trapped by the ongoing conflict in Sudan took off on a slow start on Wednesday as only 15 out of the 40 buses required for the exercise were provided.

Despite the end of the ceasefire by the warring Sudanese forces, stranded Nigerians, especially students, said the embassy had not provided any buses for evacuation as of Thursday.

But speaking with Saturday PUNCH on Friday, the President of the Association of Yoruba Student Union in Sudan, Mubarak Ahmed, said, “Students are still here in Khartoum, stuck. The government and the embassy here in Khartoum are playing cats and dogs with our lives.

“Evacuations are still ongoing for other nationals regardless of the cease-fire. The cease-fire is not an issue but the government is not ready to evacuate us.

“One of us needs a dental intervention because he was attacked three days ago while going to get water. Two or three of his teeth were removed and bleeding profusely internally and externally.

“We could not do much because we lack first aid and hospitals are shut down. We could only stitch the injury but not pretty good and he is among those stranded till now, (he is) a student at the International University of Africa. They are just confusing everybody,” Ahmed added.

As of 6:45pm on Friday, the President of the Nasarawa State Students Association in Sudan, Al-Ameen Ahmad, said, “Three buses came and left because the drivers said they are yet to be paid. No food, no water, no network. I do not know who keeps telling the government that buses are available to pick up trapped students. We are suffering.”

But the spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, Ezekiel Manzo, blamed the problem on a border issue.

“The border issue is the cause of the delay because all arrangements are in place. We are the ones that arranged for their road trip from Khartoum down to Aswan. We also have arrangements for their airlifting.

“But the problem is the border for them to cross into Egypt and that is the reason why their arrival in Abuja today (Friday) will no longer be possible. Assuming they are already in Egypt, the promised time for their arrival would still have been possible today.

“They are still at the border. So, we have to wait. I am not justifying this but these nationals are escaping from a war zone, and it is natural for the government of Egypt to tighten up its nodes around the border.

However, the Embassy of Nigeria in Sudan has said the second batch of the evacuation of stranded Nigerians in Khartoum to Egypt will commence on Saturday (today).

This was contained in a statement signed by the Charge d’ Affairs, H. Y. Garko, on Friday.

The first batch of evacuation took place on Wednesday.

The statement read, “The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Sudan, wishes to inform all Nigerian citizens who wish to be evacuated from the crisis in Sudan, that the embassy will commence the second phase of evacuation to Egypt for onward airlift to Nigeria, tomorrow (today) April 29, 2023.

“All those interested are expected to converge at Al-Razi University (Al-Azhari) and the International University of Africa (Madani Street) in the morning. Individuals are required to come along with one bag only. Please, adhere strictly.”

Similarly, the Federal Government on Friday called on relevant authorities along contiguous borders of Sudan to create a humane condition for about 7,000 nationals, including Nigerians, to have unfettered access to their various destinations.

The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who made this call, said the nationals were not being allowed to cross the border into Egypt since their arrival on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, no fewer than 10 Nigerians were among the 2,544 nationals evacuated by the Republic of Saudi Arabia from Sudan, according to a statement by the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Nigeria made available to our correspondent on Friday.

The embassy said 119 were Saudi citizens while 2,425 were from 74 countries, including Nigeria.

The statement read in part, “In continuation of the evacuation efforts being made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the directives of the kingdom’s leaderships, more evacuees continue to arrive Jeddah Port from the Republic of Sudan on Thursday, bringing the total number of evacuees from Sudan since the evacuations began at approximately 2,544 persons, 119 are Saudi citizens while 2425 are from 74 countries among which 10 are from Nigeria.”

The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Is-haq Oloyede, stated that the examination malpractice level has decreased drastically.

The Professor of Islamic Studies stated this while visiting Computer Based Centres (CBT) conducting JAMB examinations across the Lagos State on Friday.
Is-haq told the students there is no way to success other than working hard.

Speaking on his assessment of the examination, He noted that it is going smoothly and perfectly well in Lagos.

The Registrar, however, said there were delay due to human error but expressed satisfaction towards the centres.
He added that there were pockets of places were there were issues on the first day but resolved.

Oloyede appealed to those affected, noting that they had been reassigned with immediate effect.

“The level of malpractice has gone done drastically.

“The Candidates should know that there is no other way to success other than working hard particularly Lagos which used to be used to be hotbed but not anymore.

“Having gone to so many centres, i can tell you that thee exam is going very smoothly and perfectly well in lagos.

“Yes there was delay due to human error. But it is smooth now. I am impressed with the centres.

“There were pockets of places like kwara, borno with issues on the first day but we have been able to resolve the issues.

“Those who had disruptions on the first day will be rescheduled.
“We appeal to the affected candidates and they have been reassigned.” Is-haq stated.

Speaking also, The Chairman, JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), Peter Okebukola noted that the 2023 exercise is taking place in 11 centres nationwide, adding that it is in the interest of bringing the venue of the examination closer to the candidates especially with the security situation in the country.

Okebukola added that the centres are coordinated by seasoned academics and university adminstrators.

He stated that the total number of candidates within which the Group covers is 337.