Education
FG, ASUU trade blame as strike enters 50th day
The Minister of State for Education, Mr Emeka Nwajiuba, has said striking university workers including the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions are mean and wicked for shutting down universities across the country.
This is just as the ASUU’s strike enters its 50th day on Tuesday (today).
The unions are currently on strike over failure by the Federal Government to honour the various agreements reached with them.
Nwajiuba, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said it was an act of wickedness for the unions to go on strike for entitlements that the government would still give them.
The minister said, “We are negotiating with the Polytechnics and Colleges of Education and the same thing ASUU is asking for is the same thing they are asking for but they are willing to continue working.
“The only place we have a suspension of work is the ASUU, SSANU and NASU on account of things they believe are owed them. We believe every union is entitled to make these requests. The government has agreed with them. Government is only releasing money as they have it.
“The renegotiation committee has always been constituted; the only departure is in the willingness of ASUU, SSANU and NASU to continue working while the same entitlements are on.
“The others have same demands but are willing to continue working while they get their entitlements. We have consistently said if you disrupt academic programmes because of one entitlement you are supposed to get, you will eventually get the entitlement but our children would have lost the time they are supposed to learn, you are just being mean. There is no point disrupting everybody’s life, those people can’t regain their lives but you can regain yours, because you haven’t gotten it everybody else must lose something.
“The strike has not produced the money they are asking for, if the money was there they would have been paid the day they started the strike.
“Government has heard them, they are not wrong but the same way government has said they will get the money, for every strike they have embarked on they still get their money but human beings have lost times.
They are not only being wicked to the government but they are wicked to the human beings that constitute Nigeria.”
In his reaction, the National President, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, wondered why the Federal Government had refused to meet the union’s demand.
“I will not honour people like Nwajiuba with my response. If the government wants the children of the ordinary Nigerian people to have good education like their children who are schooling abroad, they would have resolved the problem within one week.
“Ask Nwajiuba why the Ministry of Education has refused to meet with the ASUU?”
Also, ASUU chairman, University of Lagos, Dr Dele Ashiru, described Nwajiuba’s statement as callous and provocative.
“This is the kind of reaction you get from those who became ministers of the Federal Republic based on quota system. If the minister knows that ASUU would eventually get what it wants why wait until the system is shut down?
“Is it sane for the conditions of service of a worker to remain the same in the last 12 years? The remark by the minister is therefore, to say the least, provocative, callous and insensate.
“As for ASUP and COEASU, if they are comfortable with empty promises from an insensitive ruining elite, good for them.”
Osodeke had earlier told The PUNCH that despite the strike entering its 50th day, the government had not done anything new.
“They have not done anything new, there is no new update as we speak. However, one thing is certain and that is the fact that our ultimatum still stands. The extension of the warning strike will elapse by May 14 after which the NEC will meet on the decision to take,” he said.
Meanwhile, the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination/Direct Entry examinations are set to commence on May 6, 2022 amidst the ongoing strike.
On the impact of the strike on the 2022 admission process, the spokesperson for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, Fabian Benjamin, said, “It is not the duty of the board to meddle into admissions of institutions. We conduct the examinations and the schools conduct the admissions. However, the strike will have an impact on everything. Even the person who is on strike is feeling the impact.”
PUNCH
Education
UniAbuja: ASUU declares indefinite strike over disagreement with varsity management
UniAbuja: ASUU declares indefinite strike over disagreement with varsity management
University of Abuja’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared an indefinite strike.
The union announced the decision on Thursday during a congress held at the permanent site of the institution.
A communique issued by the varsity’s branch of the union declared the “total and indefinite strike” over a lingering disagreement with the UniAbuja management.
The issues involve ASUU’s interest in a multi-stakeholder microfinance banking venture; promotion procedures in the absence of a governing council, election for faculty deanship, and alleged illegal appointments.
Abubakar Kari, the UniAbuja student affairs dean and ex-convener of ASUU’s national political committee, confirmed the development.
Education
UTME results not available in paper format – JAMB
UTME results not available in paper format – JAMB
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has urged Nigerians to be wary of any candidate parading printed result slips as, currently, the results are not in any paper format.
The body also said that, unlike last year, the results cannot be found on the Board’s website at the moment.
JAMB made this known in a statement released by its spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, on Wednesday.
He stated that the information became necessary as some individuals were already circulating printed result slips on social media.
The statement read, “The Board, once again, wishes to state clearly that the only way to check the 2024 UTME result is to send UTMERESULT to 55019 or 66019 using the same phone used by the candidate in registering for the UTME exercise. Ensure that the SIM is not on any bundle.
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“This is different from what was obtained last year; hence, the results are not and cannot be found on the Board’s website at the moment.
“Candidates are urged to follow the method specified above to obtain their results. They need not visit any cybercafe or patronise any third-party entity to check their result.
“The public is also advised to be wary of any candidate parading printed result slip as currently; the result is not on any paper format as being circulated on social media by some individuals.
“A reasonable number of candidates have checked their results as seen on our monitoring dashboard but for the few still struggling, please follow the right channel.”
On Monday, the Board announced the release of the 2024 UTME results.
The Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made this known during a press briefing in Bwari, Abuja.
Oloyede also noted that the results of 64,624 out of the 1,904,189 who sat the examination have been withheld by the Board and will be subject to investigation. The Board Registrar noted that though a total of 1,989,668 registered, a total of 80,810 candidates were absent.
UTME results not available in paper format – JAMB
Education
78% of 2024 UTME candidates scored below 200 – JAMB
78% of 2024 UTME candidates scored below 200 – JAMB
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, on Monday, released the results of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, showing that 1,402,490 candidates out of 1,842,464 failed to score 200 out of 400 marks.
The number of candidates who failed to score half of the possible marks represents 78 per cent of the candidates whose results were released by JAMB.
Giving a breakdown of the results of the 1,842,464 candidates released, the board’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, noted that, “8,401 candidates scored 300 and above; 77,070 scored 250 and above; 439,974 scored 200 and above while 1,402,490 scored below 200.”
On naming the top scorers for the 2024 UTME, Oloyede said, “It is common knowledge that the board has, at various times restated its unwillingness to publish the names of its best-performing candidates, as it considers its UTME as only a ranking examination on account of the other parameters that would constitute what would later be considered the minimum admissible score for candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions.
“Similarly, because of the different variables adopted by respective institutions, it might be downright impossible to arrive at a single or all-encompassing set of parameters for generating a list of candidates with the highest admissible score as gaining admission remains the ultimate goal. Hence, it might be unrealistic or presumptive to say a particular candidate is the highest scorer given the fact that such a candidate may, in the final analysis, not even be admitted.
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“However, owing to public demand and to avoid a repeat of the Mmesoma saga as well as provide a guide for those, who may want to award prizes to this set of high-performing candidates, the Board appeals to all concerned to always verify claims by candidates before offering such awards.”
Oloyede also noted that the results of 64,624 out of the 1,904,189, who sat the examination, were withheld by the board and would be subject to investigation.
He noted that though a total of 1,989,668 registered, a total of 80,810 candidates were absent.
“For the 2024 UTME, 1,989,668 candidates registered including those who registered at foreign centres. The Direct Entry registration is still ongoing.
“Out of a total of 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80,810 were absent. A total of 1,904,189 sat the UTME within the six days of the examination.
“The Board is today releasing the results of 1,842,464 candidates. 64,624 results are under investigation for verification, procedural investigation of candidates, Centre-based investigation and alleged examination misconduct.”
Oloyede also said the board, at the moment, conducts examination in nine foreign centres namely: Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Buea, Cameroon; Cotonou, Republic of Benin; London, United Kingdom; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Johannesburg, South Africa.
“The essence of this foreign component of the examination is to market our institutions to the outside world as well as ensuring that our universities reflect the universality of academic traditions, among others. The Board is, currently, fine-tuning arrangements for the conduct of the 2024 UTME in these foreign centres,” he said.
78% of 2024 UTME candidates scored below 200 – JAMB
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