Resign and go into farming, ASUU tells Education minister – Newstrends
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Resign and go into farming, ASUU tells Education minister

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has told the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba, to resign his appointment as minister “and take to farming as a worthy national service.”

The union stated this on Tuesday, October 6, in response to a statement credited to the minister telling the striking ASUU members to go to farm if they would not want agree with the government’s terms.

The union said Nwajiuba’s statement reflected his shallow understanding of the academic profession and the low premium the government placed on education.

ASUU Chairman, University of Ibadan, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, said this, adding that the minister had “displayed his naivety on educational matters”.

He said, “If the Minister of State for Education is interested in farming, he should resign his appointment and stop displaying his cluelessness of the problems in the education sector.

“We are on a just fight to ensure that those in public offices become responsive and responsible to the masses they swore to serve.

“They must fund public education. We have been on the same salary since 2009. That is no longer sustainable. The universities are being run with personal sweats of lecturers while politicians siphon monies for personal aggrandizement.

According to Akinwole, the scarcity of farmers is a reflection of the failure of the government.

He said lecturers decided to continue to fight parasites like Nwajiuba, presiding over a ministry where no Nigerian university had been ranked among the first 100 in the world.

He said if the President Muhammadu Buhari government was not paying lip service to education, he would not have consistently reduced budgetary allocation and funding to the sector since assumption of office.

He said public university lecturers were owed earned academic allowances from 2013 to date and challenged the minister to declare if he had been owed allowances since he assumed office.

He said available statistics showed salaries of university lecturers were below amount being paid to academics in polytechnics and colleges of education.

The ASUU chairman also said, “We cannot accept IPPIS that is against the laws of the land and which fails to recognise the uniqueness of the academic profession and culture. We have brought an alternative using our members’ money. People like this Minister of State mirror the disdain of the ruling class for the workers and the people of the country.”

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Just in: Tinubu swears in Rivers Sole Administrator Ibas

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Just in: Tinubu swears in Rivers Sole Administrator Ibok-ete Ibas 

President Bola Tinubu has sworn in Vice Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (Retd.) as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State.

The administrator was sworn in on Wednesday after a short meeting with the President.

Tinubu announced the appointment of the retired naval chief at a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, when he declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor, Ngozi Odu, and the state House of Assembly members.

The President said his decision was based on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he could not continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking concrete action.

The suspension of Fubara and other elected representatives has been rejected and condemned by many eminent Nigerians, legal luminaries, groups such as Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Nigerian Bar Association.

However, the emergency rule has been praised by the pro-Nyesom Wike Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule, accusing Fubara of contravening the Supreme Court ruling on the political situation in the state.

Ibas was the Chief of Naval Staff from 2015 to 2021.

He is from Cross River State where he had his early education.

The new sole administrator went to the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1979 from where he proceeded to have a successful career in the Navy, rising through the ranks to the very top.

He is a member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and the Nigerian Institute of Management.

President Muhammadu Buhari who appointed him as Chief of Naval Staff conferred him with the National Honour of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in 2022.

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Breaking: Tinubu declares state of emergency in Rivers State

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Breaking: Tinubu declares state of emergency in Rivers State

 

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday night declared a state of emergency in Rivers State following the protracted political crisis in the state.

Tinubu made the declaration during a nationwide broadcast, saying it is for six months.

He announced the suspension of the Executive Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy and all the members of the House of Assembly for six months.

He immediately named an administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Retd), to take charge of the affairs of the state for the six-month period.

Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution interprets a state of emergency as a situation of national danger or disaster in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures to regain control.

A state of emergency allows the President to immediately make any desired regulations to secure public order and safety. (Channels TV)

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BREAKING: Tinubu addresses Nigerians on Rivers political crisis

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BREAKING: Tinubu addresses Nigerians on Rivers political crisis

 

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday night will hold a nationwide broadcast to address the crisis in Rivers state.

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, said the broadcast will be transmitted by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).

The broadcast is expected to be held by 7pm today.

 

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