Category: Education

The aggrieved staff of The Polytechnic Ibadan (academic and non – academic staff ) said it has suspended its industrial action over the non – implementation of the new national minimum wage by the Oyo State Government.

The workers embarked on an indefinite industrial action since January 11 following the resolution of a special congress of the unions .

It was gathered that the strike was suspended for 21 days in honour of Governor Seyi Makinde and the Governing Council of the institution .

The staff unions of the Polytechnic, Ibadan , in a statement jointly signed by SSANIP Chairman , Biodun Abegunde ; NASU Chairman , Ibraheem Akande; and T. M . Oyebola , Representative of Academics , said , “ Members of staff of The Polytechnic, Ibadan , under the umbrella of NASU , SSANIP and Academics , had a congress this morning Thursday , 18 th February, 2021 at the Conference Centre of the institution to review its position on implementation of minimum wage , payment of obnoxious tax , the imposition of Platinum I . T Consultant on the institution among others.

“ After serious deliberations at the congress , it resolved to honour Governor Seyi Makinde and the sub -committee of the Governing Council of The Polytechnic, Ibadan who made an appeal and who had been listening to the yearnings of the Unions and other dignitaries within Ibadan metropolis .

“ The Congress unanimously decided to suspend its strike action for 21 days with the hope that The Polytechnic, Ibadan Council Committee headed by Prof . S . G. Odewunmi would liaise with the government to resolve the Unions ’ demands.

“ If the government and the Council fail to do the needful within the 21 days set , the Unions would not have any other option than to resume the suspended strike action .

“ The unions appeal to the stakeholders in the education sector in Oyo State and the general public to prevail on the Oyo State Government to accede to its requests and save the state and the institution from avoidable embarrassment . ”

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The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities , on Wednesday , says the planned industrial action by non -teaching staff in the universities may last up to three months.

SSANU National President , Mohammed Ibrahim, stated this while featuring on a Live Interview .

Non – teaching staff in the universities will commence a nationwide strike from February 5 , 2021 over the Federal Government’ s handling of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System , sharing formula for the N40 bn earned academic allowances and non – payment of arrears of the new minimum wage.

The planned strike by the non -teaching staff is coming barely weeks after the Academic Staff Union of Universities suspended its 10 – month strike last December .

Ibrahim said the planned strike by the non – teaching workers was a matter of necessity, adding that the only language the government seems to understand is strike.

He said , “ In the history of this union , we have never gone on strike beyond three months and this is probably because government realised also that there is no way they will allow us to go on strike for this long , because if our people should go on strike, the system would be shut , there would no water , no electricity , no security , no healthcare , you can imagine what will happen.

“ So , I believe having called us the first time though we have not agreed yet , we still believe and we are hopeful that the government will do the needful by attending to our demands. But if those demands are not met , I can assure you that our cups are full and this is the time for our members to drive home their point through strike if that is the only language the government listens to . ”

Ibrahim said , “ When IPPIS came onboard in February 2020 , before then , all the unions in the universities vehemently rejected the implementation of IPPIS for the payment of salaries .

“ From our own angle, we said we don ’ t throw away the baby with bath water , let us listen to the government , what it is that they have to offer on this IPPIS. Government came with the mantra of they want to block leakages and fight corruption and we all know that corruption exists in the public service .

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The Federal Government is currently meeting with the Joint Action Committee comprising the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities and the Non – Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.

Among those present in the meeting are the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige ; SSANU National President , Mohammed Ibrahim; and NASU General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi .

The non – teaching staff in the universities had announced that they would embark on a nationwide strike from February 5 , 2021 over the Federal Government’ s handling of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System , sharing formula of the N 40 billion earned academic allowances and non – payment of arrears of the new minimum wage.

Others are the non – payment of retirement benefits to former members , non – constitution of visitation panels to universities , poor funding of universities , teaching staff usurping the headship of non -teaching units, among others.

The committee had embarked on a three- day protest over the government ’ s failure to honour the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the unions on October 20 , 2020 .

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The Oyo State Government has commenced the distribution of appointment letters to the 5000 newly recruited teachers under the state Teaching Service Commission .

The Chairman , Oyo State Teaching Service Commission , Pastor Akinade Alamu, who made the disclosure in Ibadan said that the new teachers are to resume their duty posts immediately.

It was gathered that the distribution of letters of appointment to successful candidates started on Monday .

Alamu said that their appointment was a sequel to a long period of scrutiny and verification during which errors that might have crept in during and after the examination and oral test for the exercise had been corrected .

According to him , the state government approved the release of 5 , 000 appointment letters for distribution of which a total of 4 , 400 letters had been released by TESCOM while the remaining letters were withheld due to errors on the part of the applicants.

The errors , he said , included misspelled names as well as invalid email addresses among others.

However , he assured those who had yet to receive their appointment letters that they would be ready for collection immediately after the errors have been corrected by the applicants.

Alamu added that the letters were sent to the centralised centres in the 33 local government areas of the state for collection in order to avoid overcrowding and in compliance with the COVID- 19 protocols .

He , therefore , implored the successful candidates to resume duties immediately considering the fact that the academic session has commenced .

The TESCOM Chairman said , “ While congratulating the successful applicants, we want to appeal to those who are yet to get their letters to exercise patience .

“ We discovered that 600 among the letters have errors that need to be rectified . That is already being sorted and corrected as we speak and will be distributed as well. ”

The Permanent Secretary, TESCOM , Mrs Olabisi Oderinde , who congratulated the selected candidates on their appointment , urged them to show high sense of diligence, “ As this will be the way to bring the governor’ s passion for education to reality. ”

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THE West Africa Examination Council has extended the registration for its private West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination to February 5 , 2021 .

The notice was contained in a short statement signed by Head, Public Affairs , WAEC, Mr Demianus Ojijeogu , titled, ‘ WASSCE For Private Candidates , 2021 – First Series : Extension of Registration Period ’ .

“ This is to inform intending candidates for the above examination that registration initially set to close today has been extended to Friday, February 5 , 2021 . ”

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The Lagos State Government has reduced the tuition fee for students of Lagos State University .

This was disclosed via the
Twitter handle of the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education.

“ Flash: Lagos State government reduces tuition fee for students of Lagos State University , ” a tweet read on the handle .

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Following requests by candidates to be given more time to complete the registration process for the 2020 SSCE ( External ), the National Examinations Council has fixed new dates for the examination.

In a statement by the Head, Information and Public Relations Division , Azeez Sani , the Council noted that the examination which was earlier scheduled to commence on Monday , February 1 , 2021 , and end on Wednesday , March 3 , 2021 , will now start on Monday , February 8 , 2021 , and end on Wednesday , March 10 , 2021 .

The Council also informed the set of candidates who missed some papers during the 2020 SSCE (Internal ) due to the EndSARS protests in some states to take note of these new dates and report for the examination accordingly at their various examination centres to be designated .

All candidates are advised to access the revised Examination Time Table on the Council ’ s website: www. neco . gov . ng.

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The non – academic workers at Nigerian universities have announced plans to commence an indefinite strike on February 5 , 2021 .

The Joint Action Committee of Non -Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions and Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities made this known in a press statement.

In the statement titled, ‘ Press statement on the ongoing industrial unrest in the Nigerian university system over the lack of respect for collective bargaining agreement ’ , the workers said the strike was necessitated by the Federal Government’ s failure to yield to their demands after a three- day nationwide protests.

Part of the statement read , “ The Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU had been very circumspect about embarking on a strike action . It has never been our style to undertake strike actions at the drop of a hat .

“ Sadly, it would appear that our non -belligerent modes of engagement have been taken for weakness and our belief in civil engagement and dialogue has been taken for granted. It is against this backdrop and in democratic spirit that the leadership of JAC of NASU and SSANU threw back the decision after the three- day protests to the various memberships across Branches on the way forward and the resolutions have been overwhelming .

“ The resolutions across the Branches have been overwhelming and convey the disenchantment of members over the sorry state of affairs.

“ It is in line with the resolution of our members nationwide , that the leadership of the Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU hereby resolve as follows – that members of NASU and SSANU shall embark on an indefinite , comprehensive and total strike with effect from midnight of Friday, 5 th February 2021 .

“ That two weeks ’ notice effective from today , Friday 22 nd January 2021 , is hereby given to Government and relevant stakeholders of this development. ”

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The Obafemi Awolowo University , Ile -Ife will resume academic activities on February 7 , 2021 .

This was announced after the institution ’ s senate meeting .

The Public Relations Officer of OAU , Abiodun Olarewaju, confirmed this to news correspondent .

In a subsequent press statement titled ‘ resumption of academic activities for 2019 /2020 academic session ’ , the institution also cancelled its 2020 /2021 session .

The statement read , “ Consequent upon the directive of the Federal Government that schools should re -open , the Senate of Obafemi Awolowo University at its meeting held today ( Tuesday ) , January 19 , 2021 , announced the following resumption time – table for the continuation of the 2019 /2020 academic session that was suspended in March 2020 following the outbreak of COVID- 19 :

“ February 7 , 2021 – Final year students in the Faculty of Pharmacy , Clinical Students in the College of Health Sciences and year four students in the Faculty of Agriculture are to come into residence . All other students are to attend their classes virtually .

“ February 8 , 2021 – Resumption of Lectures .

“ The approved resumption programme is subject to periodic review in line with the realities and trend of the COVID- 19 pandemic .

“ In addition , the Senate approved cancellation of 2020 /2021 Academic Session .

“ Furthermore, in line with the directives of the Federal Government on prevention of community transmission of COVID- 19 , the Senate was emphatic on the need for both staff and students to strictly adhere to the following COVID- 19 protocols – regular handwashing with soap and running water , use of hand sanitizer , compulsory wearing of face mask ; and social distancing .

“ Staff , Students and other members of the University Community must also adhere strictly to the recommendations of the COVID- 19 Committee of the University . ”

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The authorities of the University of Ibadan have approved February 22 , 2021 , for the resumption of academic activities in the institution .

The Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr . Olatunji Oladejo , earlier told news that the institution ’ s senate met on Thursday .

“ Academic activities will commence for those admitted for the renamed 2019 /2020 on February 22 , 2021 , ” he told news correspondent on the telephone .

He said the Senate approved the recommendations by the varsity’ s committee of provosts , deans , and directors who earlier met on Monday .

One of the approved recommendations is that the institution would not admit undergraduate students through the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board for 2021 / 2022 session .

Part of the approved recommendations are , “ The 2019 /2020 academic session be cancelled and the new session now renamed 2020 /2021 academic session . The proposed calendar for 2019 / 2020 be accordingly changed to 2020 / 2021 .

“ The University should notify JAMB not to list it in its brochure for 2021 /2022 session as candidates who have already registered for UI 2020 /2021 Post- UTME would be taken for that session ( 2021 / 2022 ).

“ The decision to not admit undergraduates for the 2021 /2022 session , however , exempts postgraduate students and direct entry students from affiliated institutions.

“ It also excludes those seeking admission into the distance learning programme in its centres ( DLC ).

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