Despite receiving their January salary without enrolling into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have still shown high interest in mobilising for a nationwide strike.
The union is mobilising for a strike this time around for the delay by the Federal Government in honouring the agreement reached with the union in February last year (2019).
“We will hold a National Executive Council meeting anytime from now to decide what action to take on government’s refusal to implement the Memorandum of Action, MoA, that both parties endorsed on February 7, last year” ASUU Declares.

Without looking at the calendar, can you tell the day of the week of October 2,1983? You think it is impossible? Shiju Olawepo, a 9-year-old pupil of Carol School, Lagos, will give you the correct answer.

Olawepo can spontaneously tell any day of the week in any year – whether in the past or future – without looking at the calendar.

In an interview with CGTN, a Chinese international English-language news channel, one of the teachers of the genius narrated how he discovered his rare talent.

Speaking with Deji Bademosi of CGTN, the parents of the primary five pupil said they did not know about that aspect of their child until they received a phone call from the school.

Watch the video.

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has urged the federal government to constitute a committee that will renegotiate the agreement they entered into since 2010.

Anderson Ezeibe, the new president of ASUP, made the call while addressing news men over the weekend in Abuja.

“We are worried because we do not see any form of sincerity, if this level of insincerity is demonstrated at the point of negotiation or renegotiation, then it means that there is no guarantee that we are going to have it implemented,” Ederson said.

Also, the institution decried the non-composition of a visitation panel to federal polytechnics in line with the recent Federal Polytechnic Amendment Act 2019.

“Periodically, the government sends visitation panels to go and see how these institutions are faring but as we speak, we have forgotten the last time a visitation panel visited federal polytechnics,” he said.

He added that if these key issues are not addressed, that may affect industrial harmony in the system.

The polytechnics lecturers however expressed hope that their concerns would be addressed as a matter of urgency.

The management of the Kano University Of Science And Technology (KUST), Wudil, has released the acceptance fee and medical fee payment procedures for the 2019/2020 academic session newly admitted candidates.

KUST Acceptance & Medical Fee Payment Procedure.
Payment of the sum of Five Thousand Naira only (N5000:00) Acceptance Fees and Pre-Medical Screening Fees (N5000:00) non-refundable, through KUST, Wudil online payment platform and printing of the University Provisional Admission Letter and Pre- Medical Screening form from KUST portal KUST portal

https://applicationportal.kustwudil.edu.ng/

This is to inform all the candidates admitted into the Kano University Of Science And Technology (KUST), Wudil, during the 2019/2020 academic session that the management of the institution has announced the matriculation ceremony date to officially usher them in as bona fide students of the institution.

KUST Matriculation Ceremony.
KUST 2019/2020 academic session matriculation ceremony will hold on 26th March, 2020.

The management of KUST Wudil invites parents and guardians of all freshmen and the general public to the event.

The National Universities Commission, (NUC), has approved the establishment of the University of Abuja Business School to run both Master in Business Administration (MBA) and Executive Master in Business Administration (EMBA).

The Commission, in a letter to the Vice Chancellor, Professor Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, said the approval was given after a panel of experts on resource verification certified the University fit to run the programmes.

The letter which was signed by the Commission’s Director of Academic Planning, Dr N.B Saliu, read in part, “The Vice Chancellor is please invited to recall that a resource verification visit was carried out by a panel of experts to the proposed Business School of the University with a view to assessing the human and material resources available for its establishment.

“I am directed to inform you that the Executive Secretary has considered and approved the establishment of the Business School for the purpose of running the following programmes (Master in Business Administration and Executive Master in Business Administration) in the Main Campus with effect from the 2019/2020 academic session.”

The Commission enjoined the University to provide adequate human and material resources for the development and growth of the approved programmes.

This is to inform all the newly admitted students of the University of Medical Science (UNIMED), Ondo State, that the management of the institution has released the date, time and venue for the 2019/2020 matriculation ceremony.

UNIMED Matriculation Ceremony Schedule.
UNIMED matriculation ceremony meant to officially usher in the new students of the university has been scheduled to hold as follows:

Date: Thursday, 27th February, 2020.
Time: 10:00am.
Venue: Main Auditorium, UNIMED Odosida Campus, Oke-Igbala, Ondo City.

This is for your information and compliance

Ostensibly to stave off the looming strike by universities teachers, under the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), if it failed to pay January salaries of members who refuse to enroll onto the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), the Federal Government may have extended the deadline for them to key into the scheme, as it has paid their January salaries.

The government had earlier threatened to stop payment of the salaries by the end of last month. In response, ASUU, at the last National Executive Congress (NEC) held early January in Minna, Niger State, resolved to activate indefinite strike as soon as government enforces its no IPPIS, no salary policy.

The payment of the salaries has put paid to any industrial action by the union, at least for now. Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Lagos Zone, Prof. Olusiji Sowande, confirmed to The Guardian that ASUU members received their salaries at the early hours of yesterday.

According to him: “The tension will be high for as long as the government does not see the university as different from civil service and also continue in failing to implement our MOA after the February 2019 suspended strike.

“However, January salary has been paid early this (yesterday) morning.”Chairman of Bayero University, Kano branch of the union, Prof. Ibrahim Barde, who confirmed receipt of salaries for the month of January, said that action has averted the planned strike.

Barde, who earlier told The Guardian that ASUU was merely waiting for the action of the government regarding the January salary and the threat to launch no-IPPIS, no salary, stressed that the industrial action was no longer necessary.

The ASUU chairman, however, stressed that despite the settlement of their January salary, the union was not leaving anything to chance and would launch immediate response to government’s next line of action.“ASUU has made several submissions to the President on IPPIS during our last meeting with him. Apart from that, we also made submission on university funding, renegotiation on 2009 ASUU agreement, sources of funds for universities to augment the federal government subvention, we have made submission on visitation panel to universities, which is the real way of checking corruption in the university system and others.

“But we were surprised that despite the President’s directive to the Minister of Education to commence work on all our submissions, the next information we heard was that the federal government was suspending our salaries, which we considered as clear indication that it was working in uncoordinated manners,” Barde explained.

Government’s threats, which is often greeted with ASUU’s insistence and yet another threat to shut down the university system, always heats up the polity, thereby creating panic among undergraduates and their parents.

Just recently, there was news of yet another circular from the Director of IPPIS in the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Joshua Olufehinti, with reference number OAGF/IPPIS/19/11/54.

The memo was reported to have been sent to the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, requesting the stoppage of the release of funds for January salaries to federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, particularly to workers yet to be registered on the scheme.

ASUU, as usual, fired back by announcing that they won’t hesitate to activate their no pay, no work policy should the directive of the memo be implemented.Stakeholders, students and parents have always appealed to the warring parties not to do anything that could jeopardise the future of the youth.

ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, had in a recent interview with The Guardian, said government should be held responsible for any breakdown, saying the union was fighting a just cause that would benefit the students and the entire society on the long run. He stated: “Nigerians should hold government responsible for whatever consequences that follow the stoppage of our members’ salaries and failure to address our earlier demands. These other demands are captured in the FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action of 7th February 2019.

“Our members have taken their resolution on what they would do and there is no going back. The only way to diffuse tension is for government to go back to where our discussion stopped during the union’s visit to the Presidency on January 9, 2020.”

Meanwhile, a faction of ASUU, known as CONUA, has restated its unwavering support to the federal government towards achieving IPPIS in all tertiary institutions.

National Coordinator of the group, Niyi Sunmonu, told The Guardian recently that its members were in full support of every policy and effort of government to reform the Nigerian public financial system with a view to combating corruption and sanitising the country’s educational system.

Ogun state college of health Technology, in Ilese Ijebu, Ogun State, has announced the expulsion of 21 students from the institution,Campusnewsinfo News reports.

The college of Health technology also placed 3 others on indefinite suspension, according to a statement signed by the institution’s public relations officer, Ayodele Alaga.

The statement, published on January 30th on the school’s bulletin, contained the names, department and matriculation numbers of the expelled and suspended students.

Although no reason was given for the action, in the bulletin, according to the report from students disciplinary committee at its emergency meeting has directed that the following underlisted students be expelled/suspended from the college as their continued stay in the college is inimical to the wellbeing of the students populace.

Meanwhile, effort is ongoing to reach the management..

Following allegation of sexual harassment of a female student levelled against the former Head of Department Civil Engineering, the Kaduna Polytechnic Management has terminated the appointment of Engineer Danjuma Alhassan. The termination of the lecturer’s appointment was approved by the Governing Council of the Polytechnic during its 91st regular meeting held on 30th January, 2020.

The decision of the council was contained in a letter issued on 31 January, 2020 which signed by Samuel Y. Obochi, Deputy Registrar, Information & Protocol For the Registrar.